Exploring Creativity

Tooting My Own Horn (but I added a tutorial!!)

2012-02-08T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hey People! Hope your week has started out well! The Oldest Kiddo's JV basketball team (which is coached by the Toad) had back to back games on Monday and Tuesday but walked away undefeated in league! WooHoo!! Last night's game was an away game and the boys convinced the Toad that they should stop and eat on the way home to celebrate. So, I'm a tad late this morning getting this post up!!

Back in August I was asked by Papercraft Inspirations Magazine if I would consider being a contributor for their Masterclass article in issue 95 (January issue). Let's just say I'm amazed I was able to type Yes, thank you! with all my hootin' and hollerin!!

I actually had TWO cards published in this issue. Today I'm going to share the Thinking of You card that was highlighted for the technique, versus the entire card.

Supplies Used: Paper Gina K's Pure Luxury Ivory. Basic Grey's 6x6 Sweet Threads. Stamps: Hero Arts Stitched Frame. Inks: Distress Ink Gathered Twigs. Accessories: TenSecond Studios Kiss Me Pink and Poison Ivy metal, mat set, Teflon refiner and decorative wheel.

And as an added bonus, the step by step!!

Using Stazon Ink, stamp your image onto the front side of the metal

Place the stamped metal face up on the acrylic mat and trace around the image with the Teflon refiner. You could also use a stylus.

Place the metal stamped side down on the thin acrylic mat. Use a paper stump and stylus (or ball and cup tool) to puff out the image

Still on the thin acrylic mat, use a decorative wheel to add detail

Use the pointed tip Teflon refiner to add "scribbles" between the petal lines

Cut out the flower and leaves (which were done the same up through step #3). Using a sanding block (aka a burnishing block) lightly sand off some of the raised portions on the leaf to give highlights. You could also sand the flower petals to highlight the "scribbles", but I wanted a more subtle texture, so I chose not to sand the flower.

Stamp stitched frame onto decorative paper. Stamp sentiment onto scrap piece of Ivory card stock and distress edges with scissors or distressing tool. Ink edges with Distress Gathered Twigs. Adhere flower and leaves with strong glue dots, Humungo sticky tape or hot glue.

A few notes on the flower: I cut out two layers, but the bottom layer I did not add the decorative scribbles or lines. I liked the look of the contrast between the layers. You can gently form the petal leaves with your fingers to give shape to the flower.

When adhering metal to metal, I like to use E6000 glue, Humungo Killer adhesive (link above) or a hot glue gun. I find that these work best for keeping the metal on metal adhered. For adhering metal to paper, strong glue dots or the Humungo sticky tape work fine.

That's it for me today! I'll be back in a day or so with the SECOND card that was published!! (insert cheesy grin here_________).

'Till then..................

CHA Update

2012-02-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hey there People! I thought I had better pop in before someone sent out the Search and Rescue team to find me!

CHA was a blast! Daisy was the ultimate hostess and treated us to a luxury weekend at the California Grand Hotel and a wonderful tour of Disneyland. Sherry and I ended spending the afternoon exploring Disneyland together until our feet demanded we head back to the room before a FABULOUS dinner at Club 33 with all the E-Team plus a long time friend of Daisy's. I finally got to meet E-Team members Linda Ledbetter and Linda Duke for the first time! Let me just say that Linda L is as cute as I thought she would be and I'm sorry that her class schedule prevented us from spending more time together! Linda D is a RIOT! I ended up walking most of CHA with her and had fun being in the shadow of stamping royalty!!

You are probably wondering where are all my pictures of the new product coming out. Uhhhhh. Let me explain.

This year, I did a lot of meeting people in the industry (one of the perks of following Linda D and Sherry around). And I'm not the type to ask for photos with them. Not that I wouldn't love photos of these creative icons, but mostly because that would mean I would have to have my photo taken. And I HATE my photo taken. Yes, I know. I need to get over that. But that didn't happen this past weekend! haha.

Let's see if I can remember who I met:

Karen (imastampin on SCS) and Wendy (wendybell), who were both in the original challenge chasers group way back when I first joined SCS.

The wonderful duo of Stacy and Jeff, owners of Spellbinder's. And I got to say a quick hello to Heidi Blankenship , who I was on a previous design team with in the past. And the absolutely adorable Juliana Hudgins. I have to say that her new dies from Spellbinder's are something that I originally didn't think I would use, but after seeing them in the various projects the Spellbinder's design team came up with, and working with the die at Juliana's make and take, my mind was racing with different ideas for them! As soon as I save some pennies, these dies are going to come live with me!!

I also met Donna Salazar. She also has some new dies out with Spellbinder's and are also on my wish list. I'm afraid I may have to start working more to afford all of these dies that I want from Spellbinder's new release!!

Then I got brave and begged the incredibly talented Wendy Vecchi to please, please make the different modeling films in her art parts line on a roll. I would love to use that stuff for "sculpture" ideas floating in my head, but don't want the limitation of the size of the sheets.

And the grand dame herself, Suze Weinberg. I got really brave and stopped Suze when she was passing by me. She was so nice! She was very encouraging in my growing interest in making jewelry and using wax as a medium.

As far as products, I went off the paper craft trail and did some exploring of other booths. I have been finding myself wanting to explore more mixed media type creations and wanted to see what was out there. Let me tell you, there is sooo much out there to spark your creativity! I want the ENTIRE line of Viva Decor products. I played around with some ArtDeco paints for glass and fabric (which I also want). Then there was the Ice Resin booth. Oh yes! I'm going to get my desk top cleaned off so I can start pouring!! And there were other companies creative paints and molding compounds that I need to look into more. Very cool stuff.

And no pictures. I'm such a bad blogger! I was just caught up in the products and asking questions that pictures were forgotten. One of these days I'll get it all together!!

I will be patting myself on the back as well as tooting my own horn in my next post. I even have a tutorial to go along with all the self congratulating!! 'Till then.........

CHA!!

2012-01-27T06:51:00.000-08:00

Hey People! Things have been rather crazy around here (as usual!). I'm just dropping in real quick to say that I'm running around like a chicken with her head cut off getting ready to hit the road to CHA (craft and hobby trade show, for those of you who may not know)!! Daisy is hosting Sherry, Linda L, Linda D and myself for a wonderful weekend of walking around Newport Beach, Disneyland and of course a in person view of all the new craft and hobby goodies that are coming out in a few weeks!!

I'm hoping to post a few pics along the way, but we'll have to see if I can figure out my new camera, the borrowed notebook from my kid first! hehe!! Technology and I have a love/hate relationship!

'Till then....

Getting the Faux on..........

2012-01-20T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hey People! The E-Team is starting the New Year with a New Series: Getting Your Faux On!!

Of course, it wouldn't be an E-Team hop with out some goodies!! All you have to do is leave a comment on each Team member's blog for a chance to win one of THREE $25 eP gift vouchers! You will have from today, Friday, January 20 until Sunday, January 22 to leave a comment. Winners will be announced late Monday, January 23 on the eP blog.

E-Team Members

Me!

The lovely Wendy Vecchi posted a fabulous faux technique, Faux Crazed Porcelain, on her blog a while back, using Glue n Seal and Rock Candy Crackle Paint. Our fearless leader, Daisy, challenged the E-Team to use this technique and see what we could come up with to inspire you to give it a try!!

I did a lot of experimenting with this technique. Let me first share my project, then I'll share some tips on what I discovered.

Let's just ignore the fact that I put my cage on base at an angle. Yes, it really bothers me, as I was wanting it to be straight! The bent "bars" would be my failed attempt trying to correct the angle of placement after the fact. Obviously, sometimes you just have to let those little mishaps go. sigh.

I decided to make a decor item or wall hanging. The base is a piece of foam board that was cut to 6x6". Two layers of Pure Luxury Ivory card stock the bottom layer is slightly larger than 6x6") were distressed and form the base. All the decorative papers come from My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad Madison Avenue. The fall seasonal Distress Ink Gathered Twigs was used to add distressing along the edges of the papers. The cage was die cut from Ten Second Studios Dark Chocolate metal. It's difficult to tell from the picture, but the cage was bent to form a 3D effect off the base. The butterflies were punched using a MS butterfly punch and Alterations movers and shakers Mini Butterflies. The Clearly for Art modeling film was used to add dimension to the butterflies.

Other accessories used were Old Lace Glimmer Mist (on the base design paper and the Fleur de Lis "lace", made with the Spellbinder's die), 1/2 back self adhesive pearls (from my stash) and the decorative pearl swirls, also from my stash. The sentiment tag is just a scrap of Ivory card stock, distressed with Gathered Twigs ink that I wrote the saying on.

NOW for the faux porcelain!! One of the surfaces for this technique that I tested was the Clearly for Art modeling film. I brushed a thin coat of Glue n Seal onto the film and after that had dried, I coated again with the Rock Candy Crackle Paint. I die cut the flower pieces with the Tattered Floral die and then used the reinker for Distress Ink Spun Sugar to color the flower. I just dropped several pools of ink onto the film and used a paper towel to rub it into the cracks and wipe off the excess. The color and technique seemed to hold well, even with the heating of the film to mold the flower petals.

The center of the flower was made with a Viva Pearl Pen in Cream. I colored it with Copic markers to match the flower.

The leaves were done the same way, only I used a transparency sheet from Office Depot for my base.

Let me share some tips/tricks with you that I learned while exploring this technique.

Surfaces: This technique works on a variety of "slick" surfaces. I tested it on glass, transparency and Clearly for Art modeling film. You MUST use the Glue n Seal (or perhaps Elmer's Glue) for a base for the crackle paint to adhere too. Otherwise, the crackle paint will rub off!! A thicker layer of crackle paint will yield larger cracks, but I have found it takes a VERY thick layer to get large cracks. You can speed up the drying process with your heat gun once you notice the cracks appearing. Just beware that if you happen to hit a thicker pocket of paint, it may bubble with the heat gun. It can sometimes result in a different texture than the rest of the cracks. I'm not sure if that is from the paint or perhaps the glue bubbling.

I also tried this technique on Ten Second Studio's metal, using the same methodology. While the technique works on the metal, I found that the cracks were sooo fine, that they were difficult to see with the shine of the metal. And I'm still experimenting as to what type of inks I could use to highlight the cracks more. I really wanted LARGE cracking on the metal versus the fine cracking that I was getting more often than not. So far, I have found that it takes a VERY, VERY thick coat to crack large on the metal, but that is not consistent. I also tried to speed up the drying process of the paint, once cracking was noticed, with my heat gun, but it seems to have a reaction with the glue/paint/metal and results in a change in color of the metal. I will be experimenting more with this technique and metal and will let you know what I come up with at a later date!!

Coloring: Surprisingly, Distress Stains and the Distress ReInkers seem to color the faux porcelain without rubbing off. I found that I could get a second layer of color on if I allowed the first layer of color to dry. I still need to test permanent inks to see how those will color. The mottling effect of darker Alcohol inks tended to obscure the detail of the cracks since the ink will adhere to the smooth surface under the cracks. The lighter color of inks look FAB!

Other: I also tried using the glue as a base for other crackle paint on these same surfaces. Worked well, but you obviously don't get the transparency as you do with the Rock Candy crackle paint.

Tip: If you by chance find that your crackle paint has dried up, mix in some water. It doesn't seem to affect the crackling compound of the paint. DO NOT use a glaze to thin the paint. That, DOES seem to affect the crackling!! Also, Linda L, had a great suggestion to store your paints and Distress Stains upside down to help prevent air from getting into the jars and bottles. Just tip the paint jars upright for a minute or so, before using them, and the paint will drip off the brush back into the jar.

I hope that you found this technique inspiring and will give it a try!

'Till next time.................explore a new technique or experiment, with a twist, using an old favorite technique!!

Inspired for a Simple Embossed Thanks

2012-01-17T11:15:00.000-08:00

Hey People! I'm still having a hard time finding my mojo. Yesterday, I spent the ENTIRE day trying to get a couple of technique ideas to work for the next E-Team hop, to no avail. Frustrated does not begin to express my creative mind right now! haha!!

I decided to step away from that project today and focus on getting some very belated Christmas thank you's done. Since I need to mass produce a few and considering the fact that they are to be from my kiddos (no girly girl stuff allowed by my boys!), I went with a CAS (clean and simple) layout. I really liked the CAS Challenge for this week on SCS and used that as my starting point. I was also inspired by Joan's Tone on Tone Dimension card and added my own twist.

I spent more time trying to decide on what sized circles I wanted than I did die cutting and embossing the elements for 5 cards! HA! Go figure!!

Deets: Card base is Pure Luxury Ivory. Circles are from scap PL Ivory and were die cut using Spellbinders Circle Nestabilities. Embossed with a Cuttlebug folder Diamonds. The sentiment was die cut using Cuttlebug Olivia alphabet (this is a bonus die with the set). from SU's Taken with Teal card stock.

EASY!

I'm going to go finish assembling the rest of the cards. Then take a deeeeep breath and go back to work on another technique idea. Make sure and check back on Friday to see if I got anything to work! haha!

'Till then................remember that not all ideas are destined to work. Failure is the stepping stones to success.

S...T...R....E....T...C...H...I...N....G...

2012-01-12T16:55:00.000-08:00

Hey Peoples! Did you give up on me ever posting again? I was beginning to wonder! It is just rather weird. I have ideas that I really want to try, but just lack the motivation to sit down and actually work on them. Maybe I'm still burnt out from the mad rush of the holidays. Maybe it's the fact that I still haven't finished getting my creative area back up to a level of where I have space to work. I don't know. Maybe it is just plain and simple laziness!!

Despite all of the above (or none of the above, as the case may be) I got hit with bug to actually create last night. I was cruising the various challenges on SCS and the sketch challenge sparked an idea. In the flow of creativity, my third panel may be a bit of a stretch, but! I can see it clearly! haha

Deets: card base is 5.5 square Pure Luxury white. Red card stock was found in my scrap pile. Design paper is BoBunny Timepiece. Vintage Photo ink was used to distress all the edges. Idea-ology Findings Timepieces and Sprocket Gears were added with glue dots and dimensionals (under the clock).

Somewhere I got the notion that I wanted to use the old style of label makers for my sentiment, which was going to require me to make a run to an office supply store to buy one.

First: Did you know that electronic label makers are now the norm? I had to call the Toad at work to see if he would run to the office supply store by his office after my search failed. He did find one, but called me back to say that for a little bit more, I could have a nice electronic one.

Uhhh. Thanks for thinking of me, but I, uhhh, already bought one of those! I just want the old fashioned one for a card.

Silence. "So, I'm spending $13 so you can make ONE card?

No. You are spending $13 so that I will have it to make other projects in the future.

And being the prince that the Toad is, he came home with my old fashioned label maker!

Second: This is where the s...t...r...e...t...c..h...i...n...g comes in. I just happened to check out the Ways to Use It challenge on SCS this morning.

STICKERS.

I decided that since I had to peel off the backing for my labels, and stick it to my card, that counts as stickers.

Yes?!

I'm sticking with the theory that they count! BWHHAAAAA!!

I think that this will be the Toad's Valentine's card. I think it is only fitting, since he spent the $$ to make it! hehe. Plus, I really do think it is perfect for a guy card!

Alrighty then!! 'Till next time............strrrreeeetttcccchhh yourself creatively!!

And 2012 is off to a Roaring Start

2012-01-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

Hey Peoples! The first week of January is done. Have you found your groove yet?! This past week has been spent getting back into the schedule of school, sport practices and games and deal with a stomach bug that hit the household. Well, actually, it just hit me. But! When mom is down, it affects everyone!! The bummer part of this particular bug was, I wasn't sick sick to my stomach. Just had pain and slight nausea everytime I ate. So, I didn't eat.

Now, that sounds like an ideal way to quickly drop a few of those extra holiday pounds. But let me tell you, this is NOT the way to do it.

Food = Calories = Energy.

No food = No Calories = NO ENERGY at all. I, sadly, am not one of those who can function on a piece of peanut butter toast for the day.

I also came to the conclusion that the reason those waif thin models lounge in all the photo layouts is because they don't have the energy to stand up. I am no where near 5'10" and if I can't move on eating nothing, it's no wonder they can't hold themselves upright under all those hot lights.

I may be stretching this comparison a bit between myself and tall, waif thin models. It is possible that I was starting to hallucinate due to lack of food. But, I do think it is a plausible theory!!

ANYHOOS! My lack of energy was absolutely pathetic. I'd get up, get the kids to school and go back to bed for a couple of hours. Then, try to get something small done, such as, unload the dishwasher, and have to rest again. I didn't even have the energy to spend time looking at Pinterest on the computer.

I'm telling you, it was BAD!!

But as quickly as it hit me, it went away. Yesterday I even went hiking for a couple of hours. AND FELT FINE.

Go figure.

So my first week of January was rather a bust. But I have high hopes for the next 3 weeks. The first step will be to clean off my desk. While in my energy deprived stupor, I actually came up with a couple of new ideas that I'd like to try. Exploring something new.

So, on with my supermom cape (no outfit. I didn't lose that much weight!) to tackle the laundry and my desk.

'Till next time...............think about exploring something new!!

A Simple Good-Bye to 2011

2011-12-31T16:30:00.000-08:00

Hey People! Did you all have a great Holiday? I sure did, even though life has been crazy busy! Contrary to popular belief, just because it is "vacation" time for the kiddos, the schedule does not stop! The Oldest kiddo has had basketball tournaments, and both kids have resumed basketball practice this week. Add to the normal chaos of the Holiday of me working full time covering for all the other therapists wanting to take time off and there has just been NO time for any blogging (or creating, for that matter!!). But, it's all good! Busy keeps everyone out of trouble! haha!!

I was originally going to pop in here and share some of my favorite creations from 2011. But, I decided to nix that idea. 2011 is just that.....2011!! It's time to move on and look forward to 2012!

So, instead, I'm going to close out the year with a couple of very simple, last minute gifts that I had to make before the Holiday.

Sometimes, simple is the only way to go.

First, tags made for some homemade Orange Cranberry Bread that I made to give to the oldest Kiddo's high school teachers.

I baked the bread in $1 ceramic pans that Michael's always carries this time of year. As the oldest kiddo put it, "the ceramic container's make it look like a better gift than the tin foil pans." hahha!! The tags came from an old SU set Christmas Punch. I colored directly onto the stamp with SU markers in Cranberry Crisp and Old Olive. Huffed onto the stamp (that really sounds like something you shouldn't be doing!) and stamped onto Pure Luxury card stock and punched out with the matching scalloped punch from SU.

Next, a quick gift set I made for the Toad's step grandmother. Six cards and envies put into a clear stationery box.

I used a LaBlanche stamp. These stamps are so detailed that I think you can get by without coloring (which, I did not have time to do!!). These stamps are silicon on a foam backing. I will admit, that I had to practice a bit to figure out how to get all the detail to stamp nicely. Memento ink worked best for me. And once I put the stamp to the paper, I "walked" my fingers over the entire image area (these stamps have the detailed picture cling on the back of the stamp). If I tried to put just straight pressure down on the stamp (like I do with a wood mounted stamp), I found that the image often was blurred. Just stamping left detail out. So, walking it was!! The sentiment came from another old SU set All Year Cheer, and was stamped in Wild Wasabi ink.

I do want to say that I'm so ever grateful for all of your comments and encouragement over this past year! You all make blogging fun and I appreciate the time that you take to share my exploration of creativity. I look forward to more creative adventures in the New Year!!

Have a Safe and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

From the Desk of......

2011-12-18T20:46:00.000-08:00

Hey People! Are you all ready for the holiday? I'm a bit closer, but still have a list that is long enough that I might need an extra week to get it all done! Oh wait...that isn't happening, is it?!

Thought I'd pop in and share the gift that was made for the Youngest Kiddo's teacher. She loves personalized gifts and just happened to mentioned how much she loves the vintage look. Sooo, I put the two together and made a vintage theme box that contains 12 cards/envelopes.

Graphic 45's An ABC Primer 8x8 pad was the PERFECT paper for this project. I made the box to fit standard 4.25" x 5.5" cards/envies. I made the box from the cardboard that comes in 12x12 paper packs and adhered the paper with Claudine's matte multi medium. I cut the ruler from one of the sheets and adhered it to a piece of the scrap cardboard to give it dimension. I used another sheet of the same image to paper piece some of the books and the top portion of the little girl giving a spankin' and adhered with dimensionals for even more dimension and interest.

For the personalization, I traced the shape of the paper's image that had ABC on it, and traced it around my personalization that was on the computer on Very Vanilla card stock. The edges of the box and personalization note were distressed with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink. I used the same ink to also distress my gingham ribbon. The apple was die cut with Spellbinders Nested Apples from SU's Riding hood Red paper and shaded with a mixture of Distress Brushed Corduroy and Vintage Photo. The highlights were added with Inkssential's white opaque pen and then the whole apple was coated in Glossy Accents.

Showing more of the dimension and the sides of the box

I made three cards of 4 different styles. All are on a base of Pure Luxury Ivory (which matches SU's Very Vanilla very nicely, but is much more sturdy, which I like for a card base) and measure 4.25" x 5.5". All the papers are again from the ABC Primer. The apple die cuts are a Cuttlebug die and all were shaded with Distress Vintage Photo, highlighted with the Inkssentials white opaque pen and covered in Glossy Accents.

These cards had some scored lines made with my Scor-Buddy to add a bit more interest

SU's More Mustard was used for the solid strip

All the card were CAS (clean and simple) as I did not want Ms. White to have pay any extra postage for added embellishments!

Geesh. I just realized that these are not the best photos! This is what happens when one takes the photos on a rainy day and forgets to check the outcome! The bases look white versus vanilla/ivory. The colors are a bit washed out too....I'd love to re take the photos, but. uhhh, I don't think that it would be proper to ask Ms. White for her gift back!! haha! Oh well.

Ok! That's it for me today! I'm going to go check my list again and see if there is something else I can check off before calling it a night!!

'Till then...................

Deck the Cards with Lots of Embellies.....

2011-12-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

Fala la la la la la la!!

'Tis the season to be decorating and adding all those extra little touches to the home, decor items and packages! Today and tomorrow, the E-Team is going to share some ideas on using Maya Road's Vintage Embellishments Bits Pack.

Thursday's Blog's to Hop

Linda L

Micki

Me!

Friday's Blog's to Hop

Broni

Daisy

Latrice

Sherry is sitting this one out, but make sure you stop by and wish her some holiday cheer!!

Daisy is REALLY in the Holiday Spirit and is generously picking 6 (SIX) winners for this blog hop! A winner will be chosen from each blog. 3 winners will win a $20 eP GC & 3 winners will win a fun box stuffed with eP embellishments that will include trims, brads, buttons, decorative pins, Stickles, & more!

•You can leave comments beginning Thurs - Sun (Dec 15-Dec 18)

•Winner's will be announced on Tues Dec 20th on the eP blog.

I don't know about you, but I'm soooo far behind in my holiday preparations, that I'm beginning to think I'm ahead of the game, haha! So, I'm looking for quick easy ideas to use on my (ahem) last minute gifts and projects. While looking through the Pottery Barn Teen catalog and BINGO!! Fun, quick and CUTE inspiration!!

First, the catalog inspiration:

Aaand....My Take!!

The main circle is from the Embellishment Pack. What is nice about this is, it has a different pattern on the "backside", so there is no wrong way to wear the necklace, or if it gets twisted, no worries! I just looped the chain and using jump rings, added the Findings Baubles and the smaller circle and beads from an old necklace. Easy Peasy!!

Then I just happened to notice the cute flower paper clips that were also in the pack.

Seriously.....how easy was this to make such CUTE earrings?!! All I did was use jump rings to hook everything together!! I think both these projects together took me under 15 minutes to make (I spent more time trying different layouts than the actual assembling!!)

I think that these would make a great stocking stuffer for a teen girl (or a young at heart lady! haha). Quick, easy and cute. What more could one ask for from a homemade gift?!!

I'll be back later this weekend with the project that I did for one of the teachers. 'Till then.....

Vintage Wishes

2011-11-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hey People! Are you all in full throttle for the holidays? I have my large, formal tree done, but that is it. Still need to put up the family room tree. Not even going to mention where I am in the scheme of things as far as holiday cleaning, baking, shopping or even making Christmas cards!!

Today work celebrated the December Birthdays (mine and one other gal) with lunch out. The other crafty gal in the office made my card, but I was asked to make the other gal's b-day card. Originally, I thought I would use a card I had in my stash. But, none of them flipped my trigger for N. So, in true Starla fashion, I decided at the last minute to make a new card! I LITERALLY finished photographing just as I needed to be leaving for the eats!

I started with the sketch challenge on SCS for my inspiration.

While I stuck pretty close to the actual sketch, I could not get the large panel to work for my embellishment and sentiment. Sooooo. This is MY take on the sketch!

Card base is Pure Luxury Ivory (vanilla) 5.5" square. All the decorative paper came from MME's Lost and Found Sunshine. I sponged Distress Ink in Vintage photo on all the decorative paper edges and on the tag that was cut and embossed with Spellbinder's Label Eleven. The b-day sentiment is from SU's It's Your Birthday and was stamped with Chocolate Chip ink.

The Flower. sigh...........I love the flower! hehe. I covered Clearly for Art Whiteout with Broken China Distress Stain. Now, you have to realize that CFA has more of a slick surface. The Distress Stain just wants to bead up on it, rather than absorb. But, that was ok with me! I covered both sides of the whiteout with the stain, then wiping off the excess. I repeated 2-3 more times until the color that did absorb was to my liking. I then die cut some with PaperArtsy's Grunge Flower and Grunge Flower #2 and #3. I snipped between the petals to separate them so that I could heat and mold the CFA better. Let me just say that I REALLY need to get me those thingamawhoppers that you put on your fingers to protect them when hot gluing or working with CFA film! Trying to heat this stuff BURNS!!! Either that, or I need to get me some hemostats!! After heating and molding my flower layers, I then sponged Distress Vintage Photo on the edges. Again, the ink wants to wipe off the slick surface, but I just wanted a hint of the color and it seemed to stick pretty well through all my handling of the flower to assemble it!! As I was running a bit short on time, I used my hot glue gun (why not?! My finger tips were already singed!) to assemble the flower and adhere it to the card. Colored a 1/2 pearl with Copics and ran out the door!!

*******

I just wanted to let you know that blogging is going to be even more sparse than usual the next few weeks! I'm going to be working full time, covering for the other therapists who are taking holiday vacations. Add to that schedule are the Kiddo's ball games, Christmas concerts (multiple performances for the Oldest Kiddo) and just trying to get ready for the holiday's myself! All in all, that is not going to leave much time for the ol' blog! I DO HAVE a couple of projects that I'm still hoping to complete and share and I know that there is one more eP blog hop in the works! So, until then.............

Remember to explore some creativity!!

A Very Good Day

2011-11-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

Found this on my cyber friend Gail's blog. It is too wonderful not to share. And trust me....it is worth the 10 minutes to watch it NOW.

Have a VERY GOOD DAY friends.

Merry and Bright

2011-11-23T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hey People! Yes, yes! Your eyes do not deceive you! I'm back with another project. It is amazing how much crafting one can do when off work!

Well, I made it to the semi final round for the SCS CAS winter DT challenge! Here is the card I came up with for this round.

Let me just say that in real life, the paper and metal match so much better! You'd think that as much as I like to use metal in my projects, I'd figure out how to photograph the stuff better!! Haven't figured out how to avoid over exposing and glares!!

Base is Pure Luxury 4.25"x 5.5" top fold. I started with some Barn Red metal and embossed it on TenSecond Studio's Christmas Kubka mold (Sorry, it must be currently sold out as I cannot find it in the eP store or TSS!!). I used a small wire brush to remove the metal color to a matte finish for the background of the package and a decorative wheel for the frame. Swiss dots embossing folder was used on the SU Real Red background. The sentiment is from Hero Arts Joy to All, and was stamped with SU's Real Red. Added the button and the twine and called 'er done!

Well, I'm off to go make the yearly requested cranberry salad. I'm also thinking of making some Ooey Gooey Caramel Pumpkin Blondie's. No one in the family is ever overly excited with Pumpkin pie. Everyone will eat it (except my FIL), but no one is thrilled with it. The last couple of years, I've been trying out different pumpkin recipes to take the place of the pie. I'm thinking that you can't go wrong with caramel and chocolate added to the mix!!

And lastly, but not the least: I hope everyone has a safe, wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow! I know that I am very thankful for the visits, comments and friendships that I have made through this blogging adventure!!

Joyous Holidays

2011-11-20T13:38:00.000-08:00

Hey People!! Are you sitting down? Yes, I am posting another card! Two days in a row! OH MY! I don't believe the world is ending or pigs are now flying, but, I haven't looked outside in the last little bit either!! haha!!

I recently bought a Memory Box die from my LSS that I have had some ideas floating in my noggin' on ways I might like to use it. Yesterday, I received a comment on SCS from Miss Boo (aka Jen), which alerted me to the winter CAS DT search going on right now. One of my ideas for using the die fit the first DT challenge, so I decided to LEAP and give it a go!!

My card base is 5.5" square Pure Luxury, with a side fold. I die cut the wreath from Echo Park's Season's Greetings by Lori Whitlock. TIP: I usually place my steel ruled dies face down on my papers or metal so that I can utilize my paper space as much as possible. I found that with this particular die, I had to run the die in the "traditional" way of having the die face up with the paper on the top. I also had to use a thin carboard shim for my machine to cut the image cleanly. I then cut some small pieces of SU's Real Red cardstock and cut out the largest of the flowers from the die again, adhering with a glue pen. I then used my VersaMarker and inked the red flowers and embossed with Ranger red embossing tinsel. I used my Fiskers stamp press to stamp the sentiment from Hero Arts Joy to All. I then adhered only the larger flowers and some random bits to the matting with the glue pen. Tied the ribbon along the side and she's done!!

I'm thinking that I will just try out for a guest spot on the CAS DT. My work schedule in December is HORRENDOUS and I really don't know if I can commit to creating for each week's challenge. Yes, I know that the CAS challenge is on Monday's, which would give me the weekend to stamp. But I'm thinking that since I'll be working late hours everyday, that maybe my weekends should be FAMILY focused versus stamping focused!!

Anyhoos! I've actually made a Christmas card before December 23!

Maybe I should go look out the window after all.

Just Another Note

2011-11-19T11:13:00.000-08:00

Happy Saturday, People!! It s a dreary, wet day here in California. What is up with that?!! But, the weather makes it easy to stay inside and tackle the holiday To Do List!!

I was editing some photos for the family calendar that one of the in-law uncles puts together each year. While scanning through the very limited photos I have of my boys in the last year, I came across a card that I haven't posted yet. Thought I would share today!

This was actually made for an attempt at publication. Obviously, since I'm posting it here, it wasn't accepted! haha! It was for a sketch in one of the popular magazines. I had just finished my Blue Note card and as everything was still out on my desk, I had this image on the brain and it seemed to me to work perfectly for the sketch (shows how much I know, huh?!).

Let's see if I remember the details on this!! Standard 4.25"x 5.5" top folded card base from Pure Luxury White. The image, Hero Arts Vintage Musical Clef, was found at Michael's. Since I lacked black embossing type ink, I first stamped the image with VersaMark, then over stamped with Archival Jet Black ink and clear embossed with Ranger's Clear embossing powder. While I had the clear ep out, I covered strips of black SU card stock in VersaMark and clear embossed to give the black card stock a nice glossy shine. I cut my black piano keys and set aside.

The white piano keys were cut from SU glossy card stock. Then both sets of keys were carefully layed out onto black card stock.

The sentiment was computer generated. Is it just me, or does anyone else lack sentiments in just the right size and font for sentiment flags?!! I trimmed the flag by hand and scored and adhered by the flattened area, so the the sentiment is raised over the note.

This will probably accompany a small Christmas gift to the kiddo's music teacher at school. I'm thinking that he might appreciate it, even if the magazine wasn't wowed, haha!

So, even though this didn't make the publication, I am proud to say that I tried. Will I submit again? Maybe, maybe not. To be honest, I'm trying to make a very conscious effort to use papers, embellishments and such that I have in my over flowing stash versus buying "new" stuff. Publication requires all the "new" stuff. I understand that people who read and get inspiration from the magazines want to be able to find the same product. But, lately, it just seems to me that I am wasting money on "new product" that only gets used for a very short time then is cast aside since it is no longer the IT" thing. Disclaimer: This is not to say that I won't be buying anything new, haha!! It just means that before buying something new, I'm trying to USE what similar "old" stuff from my stash first.

And on that NOTE (couldn't resist!), I'm off to tackle more of the To Do List. Fun, fun! 'Till next time....remember to take time to explore some type of creativity!!

Be Merry!!

2011-11-15T04:00:00.000-08:00

Hey People! I hope that your week is starting off with a BANG! I'm trying to catch up after falling to the season's first winter cold. Ick. But!! I mustered enough brain cells to come up with a project for another E-Team hop!! I didn't want to miss out on all the holiday fun!!

Be Merry Tag series #3

E-Team

Daisy

Broni

Latrice

Linda D

Linda L

Micki

Sherry

ME!!

And as you have all come enjoy and expect, it wouldn't be an E-Team blog hop without some wonderful goodies up for grabs!! Leave a comment on all the participating Team member blog's for a chance at 3 Be Merry Goody Boxes that will be chosen randomly. PLUS: make sure you leave a comment on the eP blog on what your favorite Thanksgiving dessert is (or your favorite dessert period! hehe) for a chance at 2 $20 eP gift vouches to the eP store!! Comments can be left from today, November 15 until Thursday, November 17. Winners will be announced on the ep blog Friday, November 18.

For this series Daisy gave us free reign as to what holiday stamps, papers, embellishments we could use from the wonderful eP store. Our only instructions were to make a Tag and an ATC.

Have you noticed that lately I have had a very hard time following directions?!! I'm going to grab onto the very thin life line that I have been sick and just did not have enough energy or mojo for two projects. BUT!! In my defense, I did create a project that required a few more ideas!

My Be Merry Chunky TAG ATC!!

Paper: Idea-ology Paper Stash Seasonal. Ink: Distress Vintage Photo. Accessories: TenSecond Studios Barn Red and Poison Ivy Metal altered with alcohol inks in Meadow, Cranberry and Current. Dies: Spellbinder's Layered Poinsettia. Idea-ology Findings Curio Knobs and Numerals. 1/2 pearls colored with Copics from Want2Scrap.

Paper: Idea-ology Paper Stash Seasonal. Accessories: Rock Candy Stickles (covering main image). Glossy accents to adhere fine glitter. Dies: Spellbinder's Create a Flake One. TenSecond Studios Peal metal altered with alcohol inks Denim and Cloudy Blue. 1/2 pearls from stash.

Metal: TenSecond Studios Barn Red. Cuttlebug Dots embossing folder. Letters are Idea-ology Grungeboard Mixed Mini Plain altered with Claudine Hellsmuth's Studio Paint Blank Canvas. Essentials Glue pad used to adhere fine glitter (from stash)

Metal: TenSecond Studios Barn Red embossed with Alterations Texture Fade Snow Flurries. Letters again are Grungeboard Plain altered as above. Snowflake is two layers of plain grungeboard cut with Spellbinder's Create a Flake One and altered with paint and glitter as above.

Metal: TenSecond Studios Barn Red altered with a Cuttlebug embossing folder (sorry, don't recall the name. It is a Christmas tree). Idea-ology Findings Curio Knob.

Other: 2x4 cut to ATC size. Claudine Hellsmuth's Studio Paint Dash of Red. Burnishing/sanding block from TenSecond Studios. Tombow Mono Metal liquid glue. TenSecond Studio's Killer Adhesive. E6000 to layer metal embellishments and glue to project.

I hope you enjoy! 'Till next time...................enjoy the creativity

Just a Blue Note

2011-11-06T11:33:00.000-08:00

Hey People! It would seem that fall has finally hit our little neck of the woods. It's dreary out, raining and rather cold for this part of California! haha

I thought I would share a card that I made that wasn't chosen for another project.

I spent my ENTIRE morning trying to figure out how to make a slide show video of the steps to make this card using Photoshop elements. Got a video made, but the slides were all blurry! I need to figure out what size settings to use for videos! After much frustration, I resorted to using Picassa. Much more user friendly, I must say.

So, here is a picture video of the process. Be kind...remember I have spent all day trying to get this to work and am beyond frustrated with technology at this point, LOL!!

I'm off to watch the oldest Kiddo play in the season's first basketball scrimage. The NBA may be on lockout, but the school season is soon to start!!

Till next time.............remember that trying something new may be frustrating (grrrrr on technology) but it keeps you on the path of exploring something new!

For the Love of Starbucks

2011-10-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey People! Are you ready to join the E-Team for another eclectic challenge?! Daisy thought it was time for some early Trick or Treating!! Today the Team was challenged to join in For the Love of Starbucks.

Here's the challenge recipe: Use any of the Maya Road Bottle caps.

Add some Seasonal Distress Inks

And combine in your favorite Starbucks inspiration!!

Since so many enjoy a treat from Starbucks, we're inviting YOU, dear readers, to join along in the fun!! Now, before you start stressing on all these creative calories, your challenge will be to use the Seasonal Distress Inks and find inspiration from Starbucks. This can be the colors, the smells, the atmosphere, whatever. If you happen to have some of the fun Maya Road bottle caps, by all means!! Drag them out and go for the full fledged grande! Just as a disclaimer: IRL, I REFUSE to say grande, latte or whatever Starbucks calls their cup sizes. Large, medium and small, works fine for me, thank you very much! We'd love to see what your Love of Starbucks inspires you to create! Post your creations to the ep blog to Mr. Linky, by November 15th (the E-Team's next scheduled blog hop), for your chance to win a $10 Starbucks gift card tucked into a box full of eP goodies!! Winner of the challenge will be announced at the next blog hop.

Of course there will still be three random winners chosen from all the comments left on the E-Team member's blogs. Those winners will receive a $20 gift voucher to the eP store! Leave your comments until Sunday, Oct. 30. The gift voucher winners will be announced late Monday, Oct. 31, on the ep blog.

E-Team Inspiration

Daisy

Broni

Latrice

Linda L

Micki
And
ME!!

Linda D. is sitting out this hop. She is taking time to welcome the newest grand baby to her family! Make sure you drop by and give some congrats!

Sherry is also sitting out this hop, but stop by and tell her she was missed!!

My project began with the embossed gift card that Daisy so generously tucked into my challenge package. I love the image and wanted to use it, but it had this annoying crease. I used a ink loaded sponge to bring out the contrast between the embossed image and the kraft card stock.

From an annoying crease came this idea:

Bottle cap magnets!!

I first applied a coat of Claudine's Charcoal Black semi-gloss paint to the inside of a Jumbo bottle cap and two Super Mega bottle caps. I didn't worry about perfect coverage, as I liked some of the aluminum peeking through the black.

For the largest magnet, I traced the image onto some tissue paper and then traced that image onto a piece of Poison Ivy metal. After embossing the image I filled it in on the back with some embossing paste, to prevent me from smashing all my hard work. Tip: light weight spackle will also work for this step. I chose not to sand off the color on the raised elements, but instead used a brass brush to give a matte finish to the background. I cut the image out with a Classic Circle Spellbinder's die and adhered the image to the inside of the bottle cap with dimensional tape. I die cut two stars from the smallest of the Star Five Spellbinders dies and popped those onto the front of the image with more dimensionals. Two oz of Ice Resin was then poured over the metal and set aside to dry over night. The next day, I cut another small star from the metal and adhered that to the Resin with a double layer of dimensional tape. Then another 2 oz of Ice Resin was applied.

I wish I could photograph how cool the Ice Resin looks with this!! Go figure that I would choose to create something that has multiple mediums that all show glare!!

The middle magnet was inspired by a quote that my cousin posted onto Facebook. I began with the Wrinkled Free technique, Version Me, with Distress Peeled Paint, Seasonal Seedless Preserves and Ripe Persimmon with a misting of Tattered Angel's Pearl and Antique Brass Glimmer Mist. I then covered both sides of the paper with Studio Matte Medium, which, to be honest, totally negated the Glimmer mist!! But! if the paper was not sealed, it would become transparent when covered with the Ice Resin. The paper was then cut out with a Spellbinder Classic Circle die and taped to the inside of the bottle cap.

The saying itself, was printed out onto regular copy paper and then traced onto more Poison Ivy metal. Some of the words were embossed and some debossed. The brass brush was again used to give a matte finish to some of the panels. I popped up some of the words with dimensionals. Just one layer of Ice Resin (2oz) was used to cover the metal.

The last magnet was inspired by my word for the year. At the beginning of the year, there were several blogs and conversations regarding what your word for the year was going to be. Mine was Leap. If you'd like to read the details of the choosing of that particular word, you can find it here.

Notice those tiny air bubbles by the "L" and "A"? This is the only magnet that ended up with them. I'm thinking that the cold night temperature that this one cured in may have resulted in those. Not terribly obvious, but there.

More Poison Ivy metal was cut with a Classic Circle die and embossed with Sizzix's Diamond embossing folder. I sanded off the raised parts, exposing the aluminum. The metal was adhered to the bottle cap with dimensionals. I then spelled out Leap with idea-ology Type Charms and covered the letters with the included epoxy sticker. The charms were attached to the chain of an altered swival clasp (I just removed the clasp part) with jump rings. I popped up the letter "E" with two dimensionals and "P" with one dimensional, but could not get a photo to show that. After carefully arranging the charms how I wanted, I covered everything again in one layer (2oz) of Ice Resin.

Self adhesive magnetic strips were applied to the back and WAH-La!! Inspriational magnets for my refrigerator!!

Hope you join in on the Love of Starbucks Challenge! I'll be checking the blog for your creations! Till then.......Believe and LEAP!!

Guilt

2011-10-26T15:20:00.000-07:00

Guilt. I swear I am the QUEEN of quilt.

As well as the QUEEN of procrastination.

And .....wait....we were discussing guilt.

I'm trying to work on relinquishing my crown of Guilt.

Guilt over the fact that my house is a disaster.
Guilt that I ate a PayDay candy bar for lunch (as in it was my lunch).
Guilt that I haven't exercised for 4 days. (did I mention that PayDay's are my favorite lunch of late?!)
Guilt that I haven't walked the dog for 4 days.
Guilt that I don't post every day. Or every other day. Or even weekly.

I wear a HUGE, blingy crown of Guilt.

But, I need to realize that the Princess Crown of Guilt fits me better. I can only be Queen of so many things, so I'm keeping the crown of the Queen of Procrastination. And the crown of Queen of the House (disaster that it is). And possibly a couple of other Queen crowns too. But, I'm going to try downsizing to the Princess crown of Guilt.

So, what does all this mean?

Yep. No actual project to share today. But, I can PROMISE you one on Friday. AND I think it is kinda cool. Out of my usual mold. Rather artsy, if I do say so myself.

Check back on Friday.

Riding a Bike

2011-10-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

Hey People! I hope that your week has been a good one! I'm not sure how it has gotten to be late Thursday already! But hey! The weekend is upon us!! The Toad and the Oldest Kiddo will be attending the Kiddo's first live rock concert this weekend, while the Youngest Kiddo and I take in the action movie Real Steel. I would vote for Footloose, but don't think that suggestion will fly until the manly man movie is seen!! LOL!!

Needed a birthday card for my father in law today. Now, just in case you are a new visitor to this little blog o' mine, bicycling is LIFE in this family. There was a time, before children, that it wasn't a matter IF we would ride, but WHERE we were going to ride. So, it seemed only appropriate that I incorporate the bicycle theme into the birthday card.

I searched the web for a bicycle type quote, got brave and used PSE9 to lay it out more fancy like, and printed it out onto SU's Very Vanilla because my printer HATES Pure Luxury!! I die cut the image with Spellbinder's Labels Twelve. While the die was still in place, I lightly sponged around the edges with Distress Ink Antique Linen. A very minimal sponging was done along the outer edge with Distress Gathered Twigs. The sentiment was then adhered using dimensionals.

The card base is (of course) Pure Luxury Ivory 5 1/2" square. A small mat of basic black is behind the dp from the Kraft Resist Idea-ology line Paper Stash. I lightly sponged more Gathered Twigs ink along the edges of the resist paper.

The bicycle is from a Glimmer Glass collection, Clear Destination, from Tattered Angel's that I have had in my stash for waaaaay too long! I snipped teeny, tiny little pieces of dimensionals and carefully placed them behind the more solid portions of the image. I did color the edges with a black marker to hide the white tape from a side view. Some 1/2 pearls were adhered in the corners, a little library clip to the sentiment and called it done!

Pretty CAS, but hey! It's for a guy who thinks riding a single speed is all you need. Actually, who thinks that riding period is all you need!! Perfect for him.

That's it for me today! I have another idea in the works on my desk. I'm hoping to get that finished this weekend! Until then.................enjoy the Ride.....

Thankful

2011-10-14T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey People!! It's time for another hop with the E-Team!! We are continuing with out Seasonal theme by show casing our Thanks with any type of project except a card!!

And what would a ride with the E-Team be without some wonderful goodies?! Leave a comment on the participating team member blogs and be entered at the chance to win one of THREE (3) $20 gift vouches to the eP store!!

But! That's not all!! Make sure you also leave a comment on the eP blog for Daisy, as I hear rumors that a random winner will be chosen from those comments to win a surprise box of goodies!!

The E-Team

and

Latrice and Micki are sitting out this hop. You can visit them and let them know how much they were missed!

When I think of things or words that are synonymous with Thanks, several thoughts come immediately to mind: Fall, Family, The Toad, The Kiddos. I chose to focus on the fall theme and my kiddos for this project.

It would seem that somebody, who shall remain nameless, forgot to read the fine print about using a "Tag or ATC" in the project!! oops!!

I am very thankful that while my boys are three years apart in age, they get along well (90% of the time) and are truly friends. I decided to make a wall hanging from a photo that was taken on a family hike this past spring. I LOVE photos of my kids from behind! They are totally in their own world, unaware of the camera. There is no obnoxious posing, goofy faces or rolling of the eyes when I ask for another "decent" picture attempt!!

I first altered the photo in Photoshop Elements using the sepia effect. I then printed the photo out on Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas. Yes! This canvas works wonderfully in your printer! And trust me, if it goes through my finicky printer, it will work in yours! The leaves were made with the Wrinkle Free Distress technique, version Me. I smooshed some Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick and Peeled Paint onto my craft sheet and misted heavily with a combination of Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Tuscan Sun and Meadow Green. I then layed Pure Luxury Ivory card stock in the beaded ink. Falling Leaves were stamped on the paper with more Fired Brick or Peeled Paint and sponged along the edges. I love the fine, almost lacy detail, of these stamps! Alpha Parts, Ransom, letters were used to frame the photo.

close up of the canvas and detail of the leaves

To complete my wall hanging, I adhered the sticky canvas to black foam illustration board that I cut to size. I then made my dimensional frame with some braided trim that has been in the garage for years! I dug out The Toad's miter box and cut the trim to make a fitted frame. Not perfect, but not bad for my first time at a mitered cut!! I then painted the trim with Claudine's Charcoal Black studio paint. Note: this paint is soooo creamy! I did not prime the wood at all and the paint covered it beautifully! After the paint had dried (somewhat), I lightly sanded portions of the trim and added Distress Ink Vintage Photo to the sanded areas.

after I edited the first photo, I decided that another leaf was needed in the bottom corner!

I was very pleased that this turned out! I just need to decide where to hang it!

I am also very thankful for the visits here and comments that you leave. They really do inspire me!

'Till next time......................

Metallic Rock

2011-10-09T08:00:00.000-07:00

Hey there People! How has your weekend been so far? I spent the ENTIRE day yesterday in my room creating!! Unfortunately, I can only share one project now (what a tease!) as the other projects are for publication! Very exciting, not to mention, nerve racking, for me!!

By now, you'd think I'd have male teen cards down to a science. NOPE. While I have no clue as to what type of cards to make for female teens, I find I struggle with the male teen cards in a whole different way. All these kids are into Xbox, paintball and air soft guns and music. Great!! Except, how many different cards can one come up with, year after year, with these same themes?!! I'm tellin' ya~~~teens are a difficult bunch, in more ways than one!! hehe

For the life of me, I could not get a decent picture of this card to save my life! The background is a piece of Rock Star black metal embossed with the Alterations texture fade embossing folder Sheet Music. I sanded off the raised portions, exposing the aluminum metal. The guitar is from Inkadinkadoo's Rock Star, and was stamped with SU's Riding Hood Red. I then used my VersaMarker to go over the main body and the top of the guitar neck (I have no idea what the proper terms for these areas are called. Basically, the solid portions!) and clear embossed with Ranger clear embossing powder. I think the combination of the metal and the shiny embossing is what did this photo in! To much shine and glare no matter what angle I tried!

To finish it off, I stamped the sentiment, from Tami Mayberry's Live Life Loud, in the corner with more Riding Hood Red. Pretty CAS, but perfect for a teenager to give to his buddy! No gush allowed!

I'm going to try and clean up this mess so that I can finish up another project that I have in the works! I'm on a creative roll and I need to keep it going before the mojo decides it needs another break!!

'Till then................take some time for exploring some creativity in what ever medium tickles your fancy!

Nightfall

2011-10-04T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hey People!! Bet you are surprised to see me so soon, huh?!! Well, I thought I'd pop in and share a quick CAS card that I made for one of the young ladies who manages the front desk at our second office.

As you know, I am surrounded by testosterone in my family. Even the dog struts how much testosterone he has. And not being a girly girl myself, I REALLY struggle with girly cards. Especially, tween, teen or early 20's girly cards. Seriously. That is a whole world I have NO CLUE about. But, with that said, I rather like how this card turned out!!

I stopped in at my local scrap book store today and the Nightfall paper collection from Memory Box jumped into my hands. Since I'm horrible at saying "No", I decided to go ahead and bring it home with me. I absolutely love the colors in this collection! So, I let the paper do all the work.

Using the small Martha Stewart Butterfly punch, I punched out 18 butterflies from the collection. I mixed the patterns of the top and bottom butterflies and attached the two by a rolled glue dot just at the body. Adhered the bottom butterfly to a 5 1/2" square piece of Pure Ivory luxury card stock with 1/8" Scor-tape. Folded up the top butterfly wings to add some dimension and stamped the sentiment (retired SU) with Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink (one of the new seasonal inks). Rounded the corners on the card base and called 'er done!!

The layout is one I've seen used quite frequently throughout blog land. I like how it showcases the butterflies.

Like I said, a quick, CAS card!! Works for me!!

'Till next time...............remember to explore some type of creativity!!

Want to Scrap?

2011-09-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

The E-Team is excited to share in fun blog hop with the Want2Scrap Design team. If you are new to eclectic Paperie or Want2Scrap, here is a little information about these two creative companies. Each offer a unique line of products for all paper crafters.

eclectic Paperie(eP) is an online boutique for all who love paper crafts. There is an eclectic assortment of products, supplies, tools, and materials to assist you in your quest for creative expression. Stretch your basic paper crafting skills beyond simple scrapbooking and cardmaking. Take the next step into artistic expression by "feeding your creativity" at eclectic Paperie. You keep up new product offerings by following eclectic Paperie on Facebook, Twitter, or the eP Blog.

Want2Scrap™ manufacturers rhinestones lines including the Nestabling™ line that coordinates with the newly released Nestaboard™ chipboard line. A variety of Nestabling and Nestaboard shapes correspond with specific Spellbinders™ Nestabilities™ die templates. Want2Scrap also manufacturers their own line chipboard albums and accents, acrylic albums, and multi-layered laser designs and other fine scrap booking products. Want2Scrap brings ease of use and flexibility in their product lines by offering products uniquely tailored to its customers’ needs. Follow Want2Scrap on Facebook and the Want2Scrap Blog!

The E-Team and Want2Scrap Design Team were on a mission to create some fun projects using the Nestabling, Nestaboard with any coordinating Spellbinders dies, too. Come blog hop with the two teams to see what kind of creative juices resulted.

The E-Team

and

Me!

Linda L is actually on a cruise this week!! Lucky gal! But stop by and let her know she was missed!

Want2Scrap™ Design Team

Twice the number of blog hop participants means twice the fun that includes prizes, too!! Visit each E-Team and Want2Scrap participating member and leave them some feedback about their creations. One comment per person per blog, please. You have until today, Friday, September 30th to Sunday, October 2nd to visit each blog participant. eclectic Paperie and Want2Scrap will each be choosing 3 random winners from the blog hop participants. Three random winners will win an eP $20 gift voucher and three will win a Want2Scrap $20 gift voucher. Winners be posted on the eclectic Paperie Blog and on the Want2Scrap blog on Tuesday, Oct 4th so make sure you check back to claim your prize.

OK!! Onto the project!

I started with this empty Brie cheese container that I had saved for altering.

I then pulled out one of my favorite Graphic45 paper lines, Curtain Call, Want2Scrap Nestaboard Stars Five, the coordinating Spellbinders dies and some Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon. A combination of Studio matte Multi Medium, Antique Linen Distress Ink and some left over bling that I altered with a black Copic marker and this is what I came up with:

But wait! There's more!! Take off the lid and inside is a little mini album of various pictures of my kiddos, in costume at differnt stages of their young lives, ready to play the leading men in the show!!

I covered circles cut from thin cardboard (the 12 x 12 cardboard that comes in paper packs) with more of the Graphic45 Curtain Call and used them as my background for pictures that I edited to a sepia tone in PSE.

The "pages" of the mini album where adhered to a piece of black ribbon and covered over on the back with SU's Riding Hood Red card stock with Scor-tape. I'll write the details of the photos on the back for journaling. I did add a loop to the top of the ribbon, just in case I decide that I want to hang the collage for show.

A couple of observations:

1) The Nestaboard is sturdy, yet light weight. And I was very impressed that it matched PERFECTLY with the Spellbinder's coordinating dies.

2) The Multi Medium held up the best to adhere the Film Strip Ribbon. I tried to use Humungo Sticky Tape, as it adheres metal wonderfully, but the twisting of the ribbon caused it to pull off. The Multi Medium is still holding strong.

3) It would appear that my children stopped posing for pictures at age 3. I really have no excuse not to get caught up on my scrap booking (I'm only behind about 12 years) as I would only have a total of 6 years to scrap. sigh.............

I'm thinking that this idea would be great gifts for the grandparents for the holidays!

Till next time...............enjoy some creativity!!

Trying to Rock Kraft

2011-09-25T11:05:00.000-07:00

Are you sitting down? Yes, I'm actually posting a new project today!! I'm still fighting the lack of mojo, but seeing as I had yet to make the youngest kiddo's thank you cards for his b-day, it was time to grit my teeth and try to buckle down. I used the sketch challenge on SCS to launch myself off the cliff.

I always admire those who can use Kraft card stock. I have a really hard time getting it to "work" for me. So, of course, just to add to the frustration of not having any mojo, I pulled out my pack of Kraft card stock. HEY! I figure if I'm going to go down in flames, I may as well do a good job of it! LOL!!

I started by smooshing Distress Inks Vintage Photo, Shabby Shutters and Tumbled Glass in a random way on my craft sheet. I misted heavily with Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist Pearl. Then I layed a piece of Very Vanilla card stock in the beaded ink to make my Wrinkle Free Distress Background. The "glare" on the last guitar panel is actually the glimmer mist! I then stamped the guitar from Tami Mayberry's Live Life Loud set using the new Gathered Twigs Distress Ink.

Allow me to interrupt here: Let me just say that this now my most favorite brown ink in the Distress Ink line! It is the ink that was missing between Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain. I am already panicking that there are no reinkers for the new seasonal Distress Inks. What am I going to do when this ink pad has reached it's saturation limit?!! Hello, Ranger? We NEED the reinkers. This is the ink that MUST be added to the Distress Line. Just sayin'. Thank you for listening to little' ol' me.

Back to our previously scheduled post.

After stamping the guitars (I did mention that I LOVE the Gathered Twigs ink, right?!), I distressed the edges of the panels with my distressing tool and then inked the edges with Gathered Twigs ink. The sentiment, from the same set, was stamped and two score lines added with my Scor-Buddy.

This is a bit more involved than what I usually like to make for mass produced cards. But, seeing as I only had to make 6 cards, it wasn't too bad on the time. As far as the Kraft card stock~~not bad, not great, LOL!

That's it for me today! Have a couple of other projects that I need to get crackalacin' on! Till then..........

Bea A. Ware!!!

2011-09-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey People! Remember me?! I know that my posting has been very lacking lately. I'll spare you the long version excuse and cut to the chase: LIFE!! Not enough hours or energy in the day/week and the creativity time is the first to go!!

BUT!! Lucky for you, Mz. Daisy has issued another challenge for the E-Team!!

And no E-Team blog hop would be complete without the chance of winning some awesome goodies from the eP store! Daisy is putting together an "Tag/ATC" goodie box that will have a variety of tags and tag surfaces, some Twinery Samples and other eP goodies!! Three randomly selected winners will be chosen from the comments left from TODAY UNTIL SUNDAY, SEPT. 18, on each of the participating Team member's blogs.

BUT WAIT! There's more!! Leave a comment on the eP blog about your favorite Halloween treats and another lucky person will win a $25 eP voucher!!

The E-Team

and ME!

Micki and Latrice are not able to join in today, but make sure you stop by and let them know they were missed!!

Ok!! Onto the fun stuff!!

My project started out with this little guy:

It's an M&M mmmmMUMMY!! This little guy was so quick and easy to make! I started with one of these plastic tubes.(this is the smaller of the tubes).............

.............cut 1/2" and 3/4" strips of Sticky Back Canvas and haphazardly inked the edges with Distress Tea Dye Ink. Randomly wrap the strips of canvas around the tube and across the top and around the lid, glue on some googly eyes and MUMMY!! You've got yourself a cute little treat holder that your kids can make for their entire class or neighborhood!!

But then my brain got to thinking (yes, it hurt),that all Mummy's deserve a nice home to haunt. So I got out some Distress Ink in Weathered Wood and Pumice Stone. Randomly squished it on my craft mat and spritzed with Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Pearl and Patina and layed a piece of Pure Luxury card stock in the pooled ink (this is my version of Wrinkle Free Distress). A little selective shading with my Copic markers, using C1, C3, C5 and C7, a little dry embossing along one edge.

I REALLY wish the shimmer from the Glitter Mists showed up in the picture! It is just enough shimmer to make the tombstone look like granite!

Of course, it's the little decorating details that make a home stand out. Since I currently lack the Raven and Branched Tree dies in my collection, I had to resort to drawing my own! The great thing about ravens and barren, dead trees, is~~ they are suppose to look bad!! BWHAHAAAA!! I drew out my rough ideas on scratch paper and then traced the templates onto Black Pure Luxury card stock. I spritzed the raven with Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Cinder, which added a great blue/black shimmer. I deliberately left my pencil marks on the raven to add a faint definition of detail, with so much black!

The tree was embossed with the Texture Fade Woodgrain. Paper easel's were made to hold the leaning tombstone and tree.

After I was all done with the mummy's home, my kiddo's informed me that Mummy was too "cutesy" for the grave site!! Siiiigh. If you ask for constructive criticism, you better be willing to listen to the answer!!

So, Mummy will not be moving into this particular grave site. He will just have to haunt some cute little kid's candy bucket instead. Or, he would make a great ghoulish party favor!!

As for Bea A. Ware's final resting spot~~I think it would make a great table name tag setting. Change out the name for a guest's name. Or make each tombstone have some funny play on words. Both would be just SPOOKTACULAR!!

Until next time...........................

We Remember

2011-09-11T00:30:00.000-07:00

We Remember.

Today marks the 10th anniversary of that fateful day of 2001.

We Remember.

The Toad calling me from his office, which was a financial institution that was headquartered in in the Twin Towers, shortly after 6:30 am stating that a plane had gone into the First Tower....then the shock expletives that came as he watched the second plane hit on the news feed on his computer.

We Remember.

Waking up our guests from Alabama, sitting in front of the computer, trying to understand, trying to figure out fact, fiction, rumors.

We Remember.

The immediate action of local firefighters standing on every corner holding out the boot for the money they unfortunately knew would be needed for the families of the brave men and women who would give their lives in hope of saving someone else.

And in the middle of all that horror and destruction a new life was born.

*******

My neighbor gave birth to a healthy baby girl on that day. Life continued to go forward.

But We Remembered.

Shortly after, I was talking with the grandmother of that baby girl and congratulated her on her growing family. The grandmother started to cry, depressed that the baby had been born on that awful day. All she could focus on, was that for the rest of her life, that little girl's birthday would be associated with that horrible day. There was absolutely no joy in this grandmother for the birth of that little girl. Only sorrow and despair.

I looked at her and said, "You're wrong. This baby is a symbol that life goes on! In the middle of a horrible, horrible day, a perfect little being was born. Life did not stop. She PROVES that they did not win! We, as a country, stood together! And we are still moving FORWARD. They did not stop America! "

The grandmother just looked at me in shock. Then she said that she had never even considered that angle. For the first couple of months of her grand baby's life, all she saw was the destruction of life. She never saw the continuation of life.

I read the People Magazine article featuring some of the children born, just shortly before or after, to the families that lost a loved on that fateful day. These children are 10 years old. None of them remember the parent they lost. But they laugh. They play. They cry. They live.

WE REMEMBER.

Glitter on my Skull

2011-09-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Hey People! I hope you are taking the time for some creativity over this long holiday weekend! As for myself, I get to reminisce how I was in actual labor with the Youngest Kiddo. Yes, the Labor Day jokes get over used every year!

Staying true to my procrastinating nature, I am just now finishing his card. But, hey!! In my defense, I was called into work every day this past week, which makes my mojo go into hiding. Aaaannnd!! I did get the card done before the family party this evening! WhooHoo!! Bonus points for me! LOL!!

I usually have some idea as to what type of card I want to create for my kids on each milestone birthday. This time around, I REALLY struggled. I don't know why. I just couldn't come up with anything. Maybe it is my sub conscience way of trying to avoid the fact that my kiddos are bulldozing towards adulthood.

I finally decided to make a card based on one of his favorite things: Skulls. I have NOOOOO idea where he got that fascination (wink). For those of you new to my blog~~I just so happen to like skulls. And skeletons. And no, I do not think that they are evil, satanic or morbid. I think I found them incredibly fascinating while in Anatomy and many years later, I am still drawn to them.

ANYHOOS! I digress! I have had TenSecond Studios Day of the Dead mold in my stash just waiting for me to buckle down and use it in a project. Combine that with the inspiration from a project that Cheryl did for CHA last year, this is what I came up with:

Can I just say that I would have to use two of the hardest elements to photograph in this project; glitter and metal!!

I started by using a 3 3/4" x 5" piece Rock Star Black metal with the Day of the Dead mold. After embossing and detailing the image, I sanded off the raised sections with my sanding block. I then used Glossy Accents to glue the various sugar coating glitters from Doodlebug Designs and Art Glitter into the recessed areas. Because I was lazy, I chose not to fill the back of the image with Spackle or embossing paste. I think that the way this particular image is created, I don't need to worry about the raised areas getting smashed down. I then used Humungo Sticky Tape to adhere the image to a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" top folding piece of White Pure Luxury card stock. Tip: though the metal is very light weight, you do want a stronger card base to keep the card from buckling under the weight.

And here is the inspiration piece that Cheryl made

Pretty cool, huh?!

I haven't forgotten that I still need to post my ideas and projects using Claudine Hellmuth's paints and canvas. I just need to try and remove some of the glitter that would be in every nook and cranny of my office (and me). Till then..................

My Colorful Life

2011-08-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey People! It's time for another installment of the E-Team's series It's Better With Color. Today the team is featuring Claudine Hellmuth Studio products.

Of course, it wouldn't be an E-Team ride without some goodies! Stop by all the E-Team member's blogs and leave a comment for the chance of being one of three winners who will each win a Claudine Hellmuth Mini Acrylic Paint Set along with some other EP goodies. Then mosey on over to the eP blog and leave a comment for the chance at a $25 eclecticPaperie voucher. We would welcome any comments with tips and techniques using acrylic paints in your projects. You will have until Thursday, Sept. 1st, to leave your comments.Winners will be announced on the eP blog on Friday, Sept. 2nd. 

Daisy/eP blog

Broni

Latrice

Linda D

Linda L

Micki

Sherry

ME!

Due to unforeseen circumstances of having to travel out of state this past weekend to attend a family funeral and the massive invasion of ants that are trying to claim my kitchen as their new home, I was not able to complete my project! I did start playing with a couple of techniques that I can't wait to share with you, but it will have to be at a later date. Bare with me folks. As usual, life is moving at warp speed and I'm just hanging on by a thread! LOL!

I am so disappointed that I wasn't able to participate today as I ABSOLUTELY LOVE Claudine's acrylic paints! If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that I do some back drop painting, as well as murals and such, from time to time. This means that I use acrylic paints quite often. To keep costs down, and because I often am painting on cardboard, I usually use the small tubes of paint that can be found in your local craft store. These work just fine generally for these purposes.

BUT! For my personal art projects I will be using Claudine's paints from now on! These paints are wonderfully creamy and smooth. There is no need to shake and mix the paint. And the coverage is great, with a rich pigmented color. Believe me, these paints are what you want for your projects!

Ok.....I am going back to battle the ants (again..........I think I'm actually just feeding the little buggers. They are having a feeding frenzy around the nice "snacks" that I've laid out for them!! ewwwww. HATE ants!!)

Thanks for dropping by! I hope to be back this weekend with my painting projects!

Till then...................

Leapin' Lizards!

2011-08-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday People!

Yesterday, I realized (quite belatedly), the the youngest kiddo has a birthday party to attend TODAY. Somehow, I got it in my head that it was next weekend. Doesn't matter. What matters is, I had to come up with a birthday card PRONTO. Which is a scary thought when my mojo and I are just holding polite conversation with each other versus chatting like old friends.

But! We managed to come up with this card, that was inspired by the picture of the birthday boy holding some reptile, on the invitation to join him at the local reptile store for his party.

So help me if my kid starts begging for another reptile. Been there, done that. I do NOT miss hearing crickets chirp at all hours of the night, nor do I miss finding the escapees throughout my house.

Anyhoos! I digress! Here is the card that I came up with!

I bought this lizard stamp years ago at a little stamp store in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I bought is purely for the fact that the wood mount has the imaged carved onto the block! It is a showcase of craftsmanship! I didn't care if I never used the stamp. The carving is an incredible piece of art.

See what I mean?! I can't imagine the time it took to carve this incredibly small detail!

I stamped the image with Memento Rich Coco onto a left over piece of paper that I had done my version of Wrinkle Free distress. This means, I have NO idea what particular distress inks were used. Or what Glimmer Mists I used. I think that Antique Brass was one as some of the shimmer looked brassy. I then had to fussy cut the lizard. It would seem that someone really didn't plan the angle of her stamping correctly! shhhh. I think that might have been mojo. But, heaven knows! I don't want to tick her off by mentioning it!

The lizard was then adhered to another Wrinkle Free sheet that was Pure Luxury white based. The inks that I ended up using were Distress Frayed Burlap, Weathered Wood and a touch of Shabby Shutters. I spritzed the ink with a combination of Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Antique Brass and Patina. I then roughly sponged around the edges with Distress Walnut Stain. I then ran the background piece through the Big Shot with an old Fiskers Leather texture plate, to give a subtle texture and added dimension. The lizard was attached with a combination of Scor-Tape and a Quickie Glue pen (for those little toes). I used my Copics, B45, C1, C3, to add some more shading around the lizard to make him pop off the background a bit more. The sentiment is from SU's, It's Your Birthday. I did some masking to have the words layered versus in a straight line as the stamp is. The whole shebang is attached to a Ivory Pure Luxury 5 1/2" square base.

That's it for me today! But!! Before I leave, I wanted to remind you all that you have until tomorrow, Sunday, August 21, to add your creation to to the Egg-cellent E-Team challenge!

You don't want to miss the chance at a $40 gift certificate to shop all the new goodies that Daisy has in the eP store!!

'Till then..........................

Stamping and Metal

2011-08-17T00:00:00.000-07:00

Hey People! Can you believe it is Wednesday already?! The family has been running around getting the last details ready for the kiddos to start school tomorrow. I would swear that we just got out for the summer just days ago!!

Have another tutorial to share with you today! Beate, from Splitcoaststampers, asked me to do another Wednesday tutorial using metal. Now, what is seen in the tutorial is NOT my original idea. It is just my version of a very common technique! Because I am lazy, I am not going to do the step by step here. I'm going to send you to the home page of Splitcoaststampers for the link. I will share the picture of the project and the youtube link here though!!

I used my stamped images two different ways today. Both cards followed the stamping and metal instructions the same. For my first card, I just cut out the stamped images after the backing paste had dried and I used them as metal embellishments for my card. The second card keeps the stamped image on the metal panel.

Here is the video of the technique

Ok. Seriously. I must have ticked off the technology gods sometime recently. NOW Splitcoaststampers is also down, so I can't link to their site!

What type of offering do you think the technology gods like? Insert a looong, heavy sigh here_______.

Supplies: Both cards use Pure Luxury Ivory cardstock as the base. Both cards use Wendy Vecchi's Be Happy, Make Art stamp set. Stazon Metallic Gold was used on TenSecond Studios Barn Red metal.

If you are not inspired to emboss your image, just stamping on the metal is a fabulous look too! I especially like the metallic Stazon on top of the metal. Very rich looking!

I hope this inspires you to try combining your stamps and metal. 'Till then..............explore some type of creativity today!!

Egg-cellent Challenge

2011-08-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey People! Today the E-Team is introducing a new challenge that will be open to YOU to participate in!

Have you ever watched the Food Network show Chopped? The premise is 4 cooks are given a basket of ingredients (some that you would NEVER think of using or combining) and are given 30 min to come up with an appetizing dish that uses the required ingredients. After each challenge, the "chef" who does not meet the requirements is "chopped" from the competition, until only one winner is left.

Daisy has issued as similar challenge to the E-Team and YOU! We are inviting you to join us in this new challenge!

It's an Egg-clectic Challenge!!

To enter, you must use the following 3 materials in your project.

Distress Inks

Any die from any manufacture of die cut machines

and an egg carton

Link your project to the eP blog any time beginning Friday, Aug 12 until Sunday, Aug 21st. A challenge winner will be chosen and posted on the eP blog Monday, Aug 22nd.

Of course, there is still the chance for other goodies! Just leave one comment, starting today, Friday, Aug 12 until Sunday, Aug 14, on the participating E-Team member blogs and two random winners will be chosen to win some of the new 6x6 paper pads that have arrived at eP PLUS some more surprises! The winners will be posted on the eP blog on Monday, Aug 15.

The E-Team

Me!

Linda L couldn't join us this week. But make sure to stop by her blog and see what she has been creating!

Ok! Onto my projects! Yes, I created two projects, using the same layout and techniques, but one masculine and the other feminine. To be honest, I had grand (dis) illusions of creating something "outside the egg carton", but it would appear that my mojo and I could not agree on the trial attempts. So, I decided to keep the frustration levle low and make it simple.

I began by misting the lid of a cardboard egg carton with water so that I could pull off the top couple of layers, removing the writing. I then heavily misted a portion with Tattered Angel's Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist and Antique Brass Glimmer Mist. I used Spellbinder's Classic Diamonds Nestabilities to cut my shapes and then ran the diamonds through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Here is a close up that (kind of) shows the glimmer and texture a bit better (I hope!)

To make my background, I used my favorite technique of Wrinkle Free Distress, randomly wiping Distress Inks in Weathered Wood and Brushed Corduroy along my craft mat and misting with more Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist again in Antique Brass. I then laid a piece of SU's Textured Very Vanilla in the beaded up inks. In real life, the glimmer makes a subtle shimmer, that is not too obvious to be used on masculine cards. The edges were sponged with Brushed Corduroy and then I just swiped the very edge along my Walnut Stain ink pad. The sentiment, from Tim Holtz's Just Thoughts, was stamped with Walnut Stain. The entire panel was then matted on Basic Black card stock and adhered to a 5 1/2" square base of Pure Luxury Ivory.

The die cut diamonds where then mounted on a piece of basic black card stock that was misted with Tattered Angel's Pearl Glimmer Mist. A thin mat of the textured Very Vanilla behind that finishes off the strip.

And for the girly version:

Exact same technique, Wrinkle Free Distress, for the background but this time I used Distress Inks in Victorian Velvet, Scattered Straw and Wild Honey. The mists used to bead up the inks were Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Tuscan Sun and Cherub Pink. The sentiment is from the same set, Just Thoughts, and was stamped using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

I left the egg carton the original thickness with the writing on it for the butterflies (cut with the Mini Butterflies die). The butterflies were again heavily misted with Tuscan Sun and Cherub Pink Glimmer Mists. I customed colored the 1/2 back, self adhesive pearls with Copic marker.

The green card stock is SU's Kiwi Kiss. The panel under the butterflies was stamped with Versamark, using the large stamp from Wendy Vecchi's Art Colors Life set. Another misting of Pearl Glimmer Mist was applied for a bit of shimmer.

Simple, yes. But think about it, eggs are pretty simple too, but can be the focal of a recipe! I think these egg carton embellishments add that extra element that makes this simple sketch pop!

I hope you will join along and play with this Egg-celant Challenge! Here's the positive on joining...you might win some goodies for your effort without having to worry about getting CHOPPED!! hehe

Wedding Vows

2011-08-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

First, let me just say, that it never ceases to amaze me how people I have only met in the cyber world are so willing to share, care and be there! I really appreciate the comments and encouragement about my hum-drum state of creativity of late. I'm still not sure that my mojo is back, but I'm forging on ahead!

This weekend we have a wedding to attend. The time frame didn't allow for me to wallow in despair about my absent mojo so this is what I came up with.

The card base is Pure Luxury Ivory (vanilla) in a 5 1/2" square. A small black mat frames the computer generated poem that was printed on SU's textured Very Vanilla card stock. The doves where re sized from the doves that were on the hand made wedding invitation. They were traced onto more textured Very Vanilla card stock, offset onto some black card stock and misted with Tattered Angel's Pearl Glimmer mist. The bottom dove is slightly smaller than the first dove and is adhered with dimensionals.

The flourish pearls were cut to fit the design. I'm sorry, I can't remember which company these come from and I'm at my in-laws borrowing their Internet and don't have the supplies with me.

To be honest, I'm not completely thrilled with how the doves look, but! I made a card!! It will fit the bill without embarrassing me (I hope!)

HEADS UP: Friday the E-Team will reveal a new RIDE for you all!! I think it is going to be the HIT OF THE SEASON! Stay tuned......

Catching Up

2011-08-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

Hey People!

I know it has been forever since I've posted. Tonight I thought I'd take a bit of time and update (aka giving my excuses) as to what has been going on in my prolonged absence.

Missing Mojo

While I have experienced my mojo taking a break before, I have to admit to a growing dismay and fear that my mojo has moved permanently and has no intention of sending me a forwarding address. I don't know if it is the climbing temperature, the fatigue of fighting the never ending ant invasion in every room of my house or the restless thoughts on creativity, being an artist versus being artistic (more on this in a bit) that have caused my mojo to up and leave. I do know that the old trick of getting out some supplies and letting things flow has only resulted in extreme frustration and the ruin of several sheets sheets of my favorite metal and card stock.

Thoughts

Recently, I have been reading about people following their dreams and taking the leap to make them a reality. In the absece of my mojo, I've been giving a lot of thought regarding what it means to be creative, artistic or an artist, as I feel they are all different, yet, each can be an integral part of the others.

While I will admit to having some artistic ability, I don't think that makes me an artist. I can draw and paint, yet I lack the skill to create from an image in my mind. I have to look at visual prompt in order to be able to create my version. Whether this would change if I devoted time and effort to refine those particular skills, I don't know.

I know I have the need and desire to create and I am drawn to various mediums of creativity. Yet I sometimes wonder if the lack of devotion to a particular medium is preventing me from reaching a higher potential in my creativity. Or is the lack of my potential due to the fact that I have yet to discover what medium of creating reaches my soul in a way that I'd risk all because I'd be unable to live without the joy and fulfillment that could only be met through that medium?

Lots of thoughts. No answers. But I've bought supplies to try some new things as I'm willing to keep exploring creativity. Maybe I'll discover the artist in me yet!, LOL!

Computer Issues

I've yet to find the time to sit on hold to figure out why my computer won't connect to the Internet. I had every intention of completing that task today. But time slipped away. So posting is still a bit of a chore since I'm utilizing my phone. But since I do enjoy connecting with all of you, I'll just have to figure out another block of time to get that done. But I have to say, that it has been good in the fact that I've spent more time hanging out with my boys in the evenings, versus us all connecting to our choice of electronics. And
that has been worth the disconnect.

I think that is about it! I am interested in hearing how you all deal with missing mojos, and what dreams you have, that you haven't quite taken the leap in making a reality and how you deal with that also.

Till then............if you see my mojo, would you tell her that I'd be willing to stop the deep thinking and be happy with what she has to offer if she would move back home? Thanks.

Finally!!

2011-07-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

I finally have Internet! I don't know how long it will last, so I'm going to try and get my project up ASAP with not much chatter!

This weekend the E-Team was challenged to play with new product from Tattered Angels. I personally, LOVE the glimmer mists and was very excited for the chance to play with the Chalk, Glam and Glimmer Glaze.

Quick details: You have until July 17th to leave a comment on each of the team member blogs for a chance to win one of three prizes. Two winners will be randomly selected from the E-Team blogs to win a $25 voucher from eclectic Paperie. One winner will be randomly chosen from the eP blog to win new Tattered Angels mist assortment and some other goodies.

ME!

One of my favorite techniques utilizing Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist is with the Wrinkle Free Distress technique. I swipe my Distress Inks in a random pattern on my Craft Sheet, but! Instead of misting with water, I mist with the Glimmer Mist. I love how it just gives a soft shimmer versus a "in your face" sparkle.

This gave me the idea to use various Glimmer Mists on my craft sheet versus Distress Inks. I randomly spritzed different Mists onto my sheet and then gave the overall puddles a misting of Glimmer Mist Pearl (my FAVORITE Glimmer mist!!). I then layed my card stock in the puddles, repeating until I got the look I wanted. The result was a mottled design paper with a soft shimmer. IN LOVE!! You'll be seeing this version of the Wrinkle Free Distress more often!!

The results:

I actually went back and added more Hay Ride glimmer glam along the edges of the flower and leaves and to the wings of the butterfly after these photos.

I wish I could get the shimmer to show in the photo, but with the Glossy Accents over the stamped image Time Flies (from Unity Stamp/Marah Johnson Itty Bitty line, with some selective masking to fit my project), it was hard to get an angle that didn't glare! All the papers used for the background, flower (created with the Chalkboard/Glimmer combo), leaves and butterfly are from the various papers I created with my combinations.

I painted one of Wendy Vecchi's Art Part Pocket Watches with some acrylic Antique Gold. I then coated the frame heavily with Glimmer Mist Antique Brass. LOVELY!

Supplies: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists: Antique Brass, Pantina, Pearl, Cranberry Zing, Tuscan Sun, Frost. Old Olive, Cherub Pink. Chalkboard: Apricot Nector Glam: Hay Ride and Dirty Martini. Paper: Pure Luxury Stamps: Time Flies from Unity Itty Bitty, Fabulous Flourishes. Other: Pocket Watch Art Parts, Chain, Glossy Accents, Spellbinders Posie, punches

Ended up chatting more than I thought! LOL! I'm going to get this posted before I can't!!

Till then................

Tattered Time

2011-07-15T04:00:00.000-07:00

Hey peoples! I'm still having computer issues (yes, I know, I need to do something about it. Reality is, it's not likely to happen soon!)

But! I wanted to drop in (via phone) and let you all know that the E-Team has another great ride for you today! Stop by the eP blog, http://eclecticpaperie.blogspot.com/, to get all the team member links and info on blog candy and specials that Daisy is offering.

Unfortunately, since I can't connect to the Internet, I will have to share my project at a later date. I hope it will be sometime this weekend! But, my connection is fickle, so who knows for sure!

Until then.........

Teenage Angst

2011-07-12T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Peoples!!

Have you all totally given up on me ever posting again? Between my psychotic computer (yes, yes, I know I need to do something about the stupid thing....but I'd so much rather spend money on other things!) work and life in general, things have been rather slow in the crafting department. I'm thinking that with some recent changes that have been made in our household, that I may find myself with some more time to get back to my creative side.

Over this past weekend I made a couple of interesting discoveries.
1) I have been immersed in a home, surrounded with testosterone for so long that I've found my tastes in movies now seem to run along the lines of Transformers (haven't seen the newest one yet...it's on the schedule) Ironman (I and II), and the likes. Still not as thrilled with The Three Stooges, but hey! Give me time, I'm sure I'll start rattling off lines from them too.

2) While I still have enough estrogen in me to appreciate a feminine card, it would seem I have NO STINKIN' IDEA how to make a card for a teenage girl.

3) When one gives her mojo an extended vacation and then tries to force her mojo back for a card that is needed NOW, it would seem that mojo will dig in her heels and scream and fight every last step of getting the needed card done in under 3 hours.

The oldest Kiddo needed a birthday card this past weekend for one of his classmates. Who just so happens to be a 14 year old girl.

Have I ever mentioned that I am surrounded by males in my household? Even the dog is male. I have NO IDEA what 14 y/o girls are into (besides 14+ y/o boys). Originally I thought to myself "Self (or mojo), just make a You Rock" type birthday card in girly colors, since all teenagers seem to have some type of music device forever attached to their noggins.

The the oldest Kiddo drops the bomb that this particular girl likes country music.

Uhhhhhh. While I can do western themes, I don't do rockin' country themes.

After literally 6 attempts at creating SOMETHING, this is the CAS card I came up with. Seriously people. Only give your mojo a couple of days off. Much longer than that and things start to get ugly.

Base is a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of Pure Luxury that is folded along the side. The circle collage, from my new set Live Life Loud (Gina K) was randomly colored with SU markers in Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Regal Rose and Melon Mambo. The sentiment is from SU's retired set It's Your Birthday. I inked it up with the Melon Mambo marker, since I don't own that ink pad.

6 attempts at this. Sad, so sad!!

I'm hoping that after this creative struggle, Mojo will decide to come back to work and help me out with less of an attitude.

Cross your fingers. I don't know if I can battle both a psychotic computer and a temperamental mojo.

Till then............................

Getting out the Alcohol

2011-06-30T04:00:00.000-07:00

.......INKS!! hehe

Yep! It's time for another ride with the E-Team! Today we are continuing our series It's Better With Color sharing tips and projects using Ranger's Alcohol Inks.

Of course, Daisy is offering goodies!! Here are the deets:

*4 winners chosen randomly from E-Team blog comments plus 1 from eP Blog

*4 winners will receive $20 vouchers

*eP Blog winner will receive a some alcohol inks goodies including an assortment of alcohol inks, blending solution, blending tools and some other surprises

*one comment per person per blog beginning Thurs June 30th - and ending Monday, July 4th.

Winners will be posted on eP Blog on Tuesday, July 5th

All alcohol inks will be on sale at 20%

Broni and Linda are already starting their long weekend celebrations, so they won't be participating in this hop (you might just want to stop by and tell them that you missed their creativity tho!! wink!), and in all honesty, I don't know if Latrice's new little one has kept her from creating. Again, why don't you just stop by and let her know that she is missed?! Here are the links to the rest of the team that is participating this weekend:

Starla (me!)

WARNING! DISCLAIMER OR HEADS UP!!

It would seem that the combination of covering for vacationing therapists and the fact that it is summer vacation and the preference for spending my evenings with the family enjoying the longer days has resulted in a lack of creative time spent in my craft area. Alas, I have no actual FINISHED project to share with you today. BUT!! I had a new idea that I wanted to explore and share some tips for using alcohol inks and metal. I really hope to finish my project idea over the long weekend or soon after. Stay tuned!

While alcohol inks are generally used on glossy surfaces or non porous surfaces, I had an idea to try something a bit different with the inks.

Start with one basic candle.

Apply some Cranberry and Red Pepper Alcohol Inks in a random pattern, using a dabbing, twisting motion.

Wait a couple of minutes for the ink to dry. Add another layer of inks, going just a bit more heavy on the Cranberry color

Hint: Do not make your random dabbing in a straight line vertically or horizontally.

GORGEOUS marbling effect on the candle!

I am sooo excited about this discovery! The alcohol inks work BEAUTIFULLY on candles! I have the hardest time finding candles in the shade of red and blue that are the accent colors of my home. Now, I will be able to custom color candles to match my decor!! Hopefully, I will have a finished project with this little discovery in a few days!! This is a very simple idea, but WOW!

*******

I happen to love my alcohol inks and use them quite often to customize embellishments to match my projects. Clear embellishments, ivory or white pearls are easily altered using the alcohol inks. I have found lately that I use them just about every time I make something with Metal. Metal sheets are easily altered with alcohol inks to customize the color to fit your project.

Start with Ten Second Studios Kiss Me Pink Metal Sheet and add the same Cranberry and Red Pepper ink.

Hint: You can add more layers of alcohol inks to deepen the color or add a different color, but you will need to let the ink dry before adding another layer, or you can start to "pull off" the still wet ink from the metal. It doesn't take long, just a couple of minutes.

Second layer with a bit of Current added to the previous mix

Another tip I wanted to share is the effect of different types of embossing with the alcohol ink altered metal. You can run the altered metal sheets through your machine of choice with an embossing folder and then sand off the raised portions with a sanding block to expose the aluminum.

If using a mold to emboss, I have found that I prefer to alter the metal with the alcohol inks AFTER I emboss with my paper stump and refine. It may be that I don't allow the ink to dry completely before I start to emboss, but to me, the paper stump doesn't glide over the inks as well. And, I will occasionally rub off the ink color when rubbing.

Notice the lighter "outline" on the image on the left? The paper stump rubbed off some of the color when I was embossing. Of course, I could "fix" this by easily adding another layer of color and then sand off the raised edges. It's not the end of the world if this does happen to you. I just wanted you to be aware that it COULD happen.

I thought I would just include a few of the past projects that I have done with alcohol inks to remind you that there are sooo many options with this medium.

Plaid background on glossy paper

Altering a large fragment with a resist

altering a clear bottle

altering the color of metal for the rose and custom coloring plain aluminum for the leaves

Altering the color of metal again

Altering Whiteout Modeling Film

Alcohol inks are so easy and fun to use, that even Kiddo's love them!!

I hope that you found some inspiration to either get out your alcohol inks again or to give them a try!!

The Lazy Days of Summer

2011-06-26T11:37:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when summer time meant sleeping in until the bright rays of the sun pulled at you stronger than the comfort of your bed?

When days were spent running around the neighborhood with friends and cousins until dinner time? Then the evening games of tag, hide and seek, with special effects of "Daddy shot all the bears last night, there won't be any bears tonight", and the screams when the "bear" would jump out and chase you all over the yard while screams of terror/delight filled the air?

The days where you had so much time that you could finish not one, but TWO books in a day?

Those days no longer exist. At least not in this household.

In the three weeks since school has been out, the Oldest Kiddo has participated in basketball boot camp, volleyball camp, started summer league basketball and will start cross country tomorrow. The youngest Kiddo, having the fate of being born second, hangs out in the gym all day with his older brother or in The Toad's office while I'm covering vacationing therapists at work.

There has been no lazy days of summer here. But as a family, we have been enjoying the lazy EVENINGS of summer.

Ice cream bars and fruit soup for dinner.

Windows open to the cool evening breeze (just a few more weeks of that PLLLEEEASE!!) while as a family we watch movies all night long.

Obviously no creating has been going on.

Except the creating of memories. I've decided that the creating of memories outranks the creating of cards or such right now. Not to say that I won't be doing any creating at all over the next month or so. I NEED to create for my own sanity. I'm just giving you all a heads up that the creating might be a bit more sparse than usual over the next month or so.

I want my kids to look back and say "Do you remember when we would sit around eating ice cream bars and watch Myth Buster's all night long?" Those summer evenings were the best"

The lazy days of summer might be jammed packed. But the lazy evenings of summer still exist.

Till then...............enjoy the evenings!

It's Better with Color, Part 2

2011-06-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for another epic ride with the E-Team?! Along with the amazing projects and helpful hints and tips you'll find on E-Team member blogs, there are the eclectic offerings and prizes that Daisy is so generous in giving! Check this out: For leaving a comment on each team member's blog from Thursday, June 16, until Sunday, June 19, you will have the chance to win:

a $25 gift voucher to eclecticPaperie (two random winners will be chosen from the E-Team member's blogs)

Leave a comment on the eP blog for an additional chance to win an assortment of flower stamps and 4 New Copic Color Sketch Markers.

Winners will be posted on eP blog on Monday, June 20.

NOTE: eP is going to discontinue to carry Copic ORIGINAL & CIAO styles so you will want to check out the clearance price on those items. Sketch Markers are also on sale. There are also some Copic cases that will be slashed to clearance price. There are also an overstock of the PALE Copic Color bundle that Daisy is going to slash at clearance price, too. Finally, there will be some "Flower Stamp" grab bags that will be available for purchase.

E-Team Blogs

Starla (me!)

Ok! Enough of the business details! Let's get this hop going, shall we?!

A frequent request of the E-Team follower's blogs has been for more details on how we color with Copics, and more specifically, how we color floral images with Copics. Today, I would like you to look at your Copics as more than just a way to color a stamped image. I would like you to consider using your Copics to CREATE your image.

I started by die cutting two of the largest daisy's from Spellbinders Daisy Head from Pure Luxury card stock. In case this is your first time visiting my blog, let me catch you up to speed on this paper. It is my FAVORITE paper for coloring with Copics! I started using it as a base for my cards due to it's 120# weight. I loved the fact that it was strong enough to hold up on all the layers, embellishments and various ink treatments that I wanted to use, without "buckling". THEN I discovered the bonus fact that I could color images for single layer cards with no bleed through. I will admit that I have not tried any of the other popular papers used with coloring with Copics, so I cannot compare. I am very happy with this paper and haven't felt the need to change (at this time, anyways!)

Lousy picture, but you get the idea!

I did not emboss the die cut image. There was a very faint impression of the center of the die that I used as my guide for cutting individual petals. You could also lightly trace a "center" with a pencil.

After I made my petals, I went online and found some pictures of daisy's for inspiration.

I then picked what colors I thought I might like to work with. I always pull out my Copic Color Chart to help me get started. I printed this chart out on Pure Luxury card stock and have filled in the "blanks" of the markers that I own. This gives me a more accurate idea as to what the colors look like on the paper that I am using, versus my previous method of "scribbling" on whatever scratch paper that I had lying on my desk. Starting with my lightest color (in this particular case, RV21, light pink), I made broad swiping motions from the center of the flower to the tips of the petals. I did not worry about covering everything evenly or any overlapping of lines. I wanted the texture this type of stroke makes.

I then took a slightly darker marker and made more random swipes from the center to the petals, but varied the length of the strokes and did not make as many strokes.

Already, this "image" looks more realistic! But to add a bit more detail, I then took two darker markers and repeated the above steps, but with shorter, swiping strokes with each color. I used the last two chosen markers to make the center of my flower. Instead of "coloring" the center, I just made random dots, first with the lighter of the two markers, then added more "shading" with the darker marker.

If you look closely at the photo (click on the image to see it larger), you will notice that one of the darker colors has a more "lavender" or "purple" hue to it. To me, this just adds to the realism. I do not stick to keeping my chosen colors in the same family of classifications. Don't be afraid to mix your color families!!

At this point, you may chose to leave your daisy image as is, or go back with the first, lightest, marker that you started with and again, make random, swiping motions to "blend" all the colors a bit more.

NOTE: I did color the backside of my "image", using the same technique, but in a much sloppier version! LOL! I wanted some color on the backside as I planned to curl the petal a bit, but wasn't too concerned with "details".

I also wanted to show that this "technique" of coloring will work on other mediums as well! I used the same markers as above (with R59, Cardinal, added to the mix) on Wendy Vecchi's Clearly for Art Whiteout.

The flower on the top of your screen was done on the Whiteout.

It is difficult to see, but in real life, the lines on the Whiteout are a bit more "streaky". Helpful hint: when using Copic markers on Clearly for Art Whiteout, or another "glossier" type surface, let the ink dry just a bit between colors. The alcohol stays "wet" longer and trying to apply more color or a new color too soon, will actually cause you to remove the previous color. After you have done your basic coloring, if you'd like to add more color, to increase the intensity, let the ink dry for a several minutes THEN apply more color. I used my heat gun on the alcohol ink on the Whiteout to shape the flowers with no change in the color intensity.

DONE! You've now created an image with your Copic markers!

And for a project using the daisy's cut from the Pure Luxury.

I am in need of a wedding card for this weekend. The jury is still out as to whether or not this looks like a wedding card or a fru-fru baby girl card! LOL!

Being in the overloaded, panicked phase of an over booked week, I used the Mojo Monday Sketch 194, as my starting inspiration. Card base is a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" Pure Luxury (I told you this is my favorite paper!) with an SU Pink Pirouette, sponged along the edges with Distress Spun Sugar, matted onto basic black card stock. Scrap Pure Luxury card stock was embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and scalloped along the bottom with SU's scallop punch. All the white panels and the flower were spritzed with Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Pearl to add a lovely shimmer in real life, that for the life of me, I could not get to show in a photo! The sentiment is from SU's retired Warmest Regards, and was stamped using Archival Jet Black ink.

And because the jury hung on the Wedding card versus Baby Girl card~~~same song, different verse

I used C1, C3, C5, C7 on the flowers. Shimmer applied to all the white panels. Still couldn't get that to show!!

I hope this little tutorial on creating your own image with Copics will inspire you to try creating your own images!

Grungy Thanks

2011-06-11T09:16:00.000-07:00

How is the weekend starting out for you all?! A couple of weeks ago I just kept telling myself that I just had to get through till the end of school and things would slow down.

Someone forgot to inform,what is my reality, of that fact.

Now I'm telling myself I just have to get through the month of June.

19 more days. But who's counting?!

I have been trying to finish up Thank You cards that the Oldest Kiddo needs to send for birthday and graduation gifts he got over the last couple of weeks. Seeing as these cards are being sent from a teenage boy, and the fact that he needs at least 13 cards, I kept them CAS, with just the right amount of grunge to keep them edgy.

Card base is Gina K's Pure luxury at 4 1/4" x 5 1/4", folded along the side. I randomly colored the various circles on Tim Holtz's Gunge Cirque with my SU markers in Old Olive, Not Quite Navy and Chocolate Chip, selectively repeating parts of the image to complete the circle strip to the edges of the card. The sentiment (from Annette Allen Watkins.....beats me. Have had it in my collection over 14 years!) was stamped with SU's Old Olive. Round the corners and call 'er DONE!!

That's all from me today! I have the daunting task of going shopping for an outfit that I can wear to a family wedding next week. How long do you figure it will take me to find something that will make me look 15 lbs lighter?

Yeah. I figure that it is going to be a looooong day with that goal!

'Till then................

Graduation at the Movies

2011-06-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well, after a week of my computer working without a hiccup, the dang thing is trying to give me heart failure by not wanting to connect again today! BUT!! HAHA! I fooled it!! I just disconnected the thing and waited (somewhat) patiently for a bit and WAHLA!! it is working again!

But as I am not one to test fate, I am going to try and quickly post the last of the graduation cards that I made. This one is my favorite. It is TOTALLY nontraditional. And, if I say so myself, perfect for the young lady for whom it was made.

J just so happens to be the daughter of my work out buddy (when our crazy schedules allow it, that is!). For the Junior/Senior banquet, the Juniors hosted a Masquerade Ball on the Queen Mary. In discussing the banquet, J happened to mention that the theme made her want to watch the Phantom of the Opera movie again. So one evening, all of us "girls" got together and watched the movie. And I discovered that the glamour of the old movies is not lost on today's youth. J LOVES old movies. You know, the GOOD ones....starring Audrey Hepburn, Clark Gable, Lauren Bacall, Humphry Bogart.....

ANYWHOOS!! I decided to make a card that brought out the glamour of the old movies.

(I seriously LOVE how this turned out!)

No stamping on this. I used Graphic 45's Curtain Call as the focus for all the elements on this card. Card base is 5 1/2" square piece of Vanilla Pure Luxury. Graphic 45 Curtain Call Let's Dance and Leading Ladies was used for my background. I then used my Classic Circle Nestabilities to cut the main images from Curtain Call and The Cinema from the same Curtain Call line. The main images were mounted on SU's Real Red. The year was die cut from Cuttlebug's Olivia from Real Red and adhered with Sakura's Quickie Glue Pen.

Probably my favorite element (besides the wonderful paper that is!) is the Film strip ribbon that was wound around and twisted among the main images. I used Glossy Accents to hold it in place.

Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the inside. I used a strip of the fine polka dot paper along the bottom and then typed the sentiment on more vanilla card stock and mounted on Real Red.

Imagination will often carry us to worlds

that never were.

But without it, we go

No Where

Carl Sagan

Did I mention how much I like this untraditional graduation card?! It's a style that I wouldn't make for everyone. But I just knew that J would love it (and she did!!)

I'll be back (computer willing) in a day or so with the Thank You cards that I'm in the process of making for the Oldest Kiddo to send out.

'Till then..................try something untraditional in your creativity this week!!

Still Marching for Graduation

2011-06-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Peoples! How is your weekend going? We are still in the graduation mode here as we have family friends celebrating High School graduations this weekend. I came up with another CAS (clean and simple) card that I can see being used again and again as the kiddos the Toad coaches graduate.

This is a very simple card to make in school colors and mass produce! Base is 6 x 4 1/4" Pure Luxury. SU's Real Red mat. The numbers are from PaperArtsy (clocks 7 and clocks 8), that were stamped with VersaMark and embossed with red embossing tinsel. In real viewing, the embossing tinsel adds a festive sparkle. Pulled out the retired SU set of Warmest Regards for the sentiment and stamped using Archival Jet Black ink and then drew a line to weight down the main image.

I made this also in the colors of another local high school for another family friend. Got a little blip of ink mishap by the zero, but decided that the kiddo (being male) probably wouldn't notice or care. I just wasn't up to redoing it, when in all likely, it will see the trash can!!

This still uses Pure Luxury for the base but substituted SU's Night of Navy for the mat. I used Distress Chipped Sapphire ink and clear embossed. Sentiment is the same as above.

That's it for today!! I'll be back in a day or so and share a very nontraditional graduation card!

'Till then.......................enjoy the start of a new adventure today!

Graduation, CAS

2011-06-03T14:47:00.000-07:00

I am now officially the mother of a High School student.

Just ignore that anguished wail of a mother who can do nothing to stop her babies from growing up.

Sigh. Ok. I'm not going to dwell on the fact that my little boy is quickly becoming a young man. A young man who received an academic award for a GPA above 3.5. A young man who also was pinned by The Toad for the Junior National Honor Society (Sorry. Had to brag just a bit!! What else is a proud mama to do?!!) A young man who is now officially 5 inches taller than me. Who has a wing span longer than The Toad's. A young man who borrowed his father's shoes for graduation. A young man who is is sprouting hair above his upper lip (really?!!)

I REALLY need to stop thinking of all this or I am going to need some serious medication to get through the next four years. This growing up thing was NOT in the "What to Expect" books that I read.

Or maybe I just skipped that chapter thinking it wouldn't happen for a VERY long time.

Reality has a way of smacking you right between the eyes!

******

OK!! I'm sure that none of you stopped by to listen to me whine about my kids growing up too fast. So, I'll put that all aside to share the card that I made for the kiddo's classmates. Since I was making 22 of these, I tried to keep them fairly clean and simple.

Base: 4 1/4" Pure Luxury. Mat: SU's Real Red. Die cuts of hat and diploma from QuicKutz. Not quite enough detail to suit me, so I did some shading with Copics and a Inkssentials opaque pen. Used my Scor Buddy for the embossed edge. Stamp is from SU (I think it is from All Year Cheer).

I'm off to make some more graduation cards. I need 5 more before the weekend is done! YIKES!

'Till then.................enjoy the moment. They tend to fly by before you know it!

Rockin' 14

2011-05-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

How was every one's Memorial Day? In our house, it is also a celebration weekend as the Oldest Kiddo just happen to be born on this holiday 14 years ago. The weekend was spent cooking, feeding, cleaning up, cooking, feeding, cleaning up after four teen age boys and one younger kiddo who so wishes he was a teenager!! haha! It was all good! There is nothing like the sound of kids cracking themselves up with a good time!

I finally managed to make the Kiddo's birthday card the morning of his birthday. Hey! I got it done BEFORE the family celebration, so that has to count for something! snort. I'm telling you, the lack of creative time has definitely caused some serious rust in my stamping skills! After FOUR attempts, I finally was able to get the main image panel to look somewhat as I envisioned.

I started by clear embossing the large splatter of SU's Extreme Elements onto a 4 1/4" square base of Gina K' Pure luxury. I then pulled out Distress Ink in Peeled Paint, Broken China and Vintage Photo, randomly swiped them across my craft mat and misted with Perfect Pearls Turquoise for a Wrinkle Free Distress look. I then sandwiched the panel between copy paper and ironed off the clear embossing (Faux Bleach technique). The main image was stamped with Azure Stazon using SU's Extreme Guitar. The other stamps (flourish, grunge dots and stars) are also from the Extreme Elements set and were stamped randomly with Stazon Timber Brown (the flourish over the removed embossed areas), Peeled Paint and Broken China inks. The sentiment was stamped with more of the Azure Stazon ink and hand cut. Light sponging with Peeled Paint, Broken China and some Vintage Photo along the edges blends it in with the main image. Pop dots raise the sentiment forward.

To finish off the card I used the Alpha Parts Ransom numbers to create the 14 in the corner. The main image was distressed. I deliberately did not sponge the exposed white edge as I liked the look against the white base. The image was then matted on SU's Pacific Point and everything layered onto a 5" square piece of Pure Luxury.

Life will continue to be crazy this next week as it is the last week of school and the birthday boy graduates from 8th grade on Thursday. I've got 6 graduation cards that still need to be made, but posting might have to wait until after the weekend, LOL! I'll be lucky to get them done between everything else that is on the schedule for this week!

'Till then....................................take time to Rock some Creativity!

QUICK!! Another Glimmer of Hope (and a card too)

2011-05-27T21:04:00.000-07:00

Do you think that computers can be possessed? I'm seriously thinking that mine is. Refuses to connect for, what, a week? Then, this afternoon, The Toad decides to try it and ABRACADABRA! The dang thing works. I REFUSE to think that the stupid thing was protesting at my demands for non stop blog hopping!!

Of course, tomorrow will probably bring back the "refuse to connect" story. BUT! In the meantime, I thought I'd share a quick card that was made a couple of weeks ago for the gal that does marketing for work.

This gal is a rather creative and crafty gal herself, so it was decided to get her a gift certificate from our local scrapbook store. The store puts the certificates in a clear cellophane bag with pretty tissue paper and ribbon. I was inspired by the tissue paper to make all these different punched flowers from various dies.

You are just going to have to trust me when I say that these resemble the flowers on the tissue paper. It would seem that once again, SOMEBODY was so flustered trying to get a half way decent picture of the card before running out the door for the lunch party, that she forgot that important photo of the gift packaging along side the card!!

This card uses so many different dies and punches!! The base is Pure Luxury (but of course!) in a 5 1/2 square layout. I believe the bright green is SU's Green Gable or Green Galore. The largest flower was made using PaperArtsy's grunge flower #2 and 3. Spellbinder's Peony dies and Snowflake were also used (EEEAAAKK!! My computer is starting to act up....no more links! Sorry!! Just going to try and get this posted QUICK!!). The circles were made from various circle punches.

Papers: SU's Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore or Gable Green (which ever one it was!) and Tangerine Tango.

(How's that for short and to the point?!!)

I hope you all have a safe holiday weekend! Remember to take a moment and remember those who have sacrificed so much in serving our country. whether in active duty or by being a family member of one serving!

A very sincere THANK YOU to all of you who are or have served!!

I'll be back (hopefully!) with a b-day card and graduation cards in the next day or so!!

'Till then.................explore some creativity!!

Treading Water

2011-05-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Peoples! Have you missed me? (did you even notice I was gone?!)

I'm still having computer issues. Stupid thing still refuses to connect to the Internet (I'm writing this on my phone. Who would have ever imagined that one day our phones would be capable of such tasks?!). Anyhoos!

I would REALLY like to get the dang thing fixed, but I have had no time to even think about sitting on the phone for the amount of time it would take to understand some computer geek to explain what I need to do. It would seem that somebody (ahem) scheduled herself to cover vacationing therapists all this week. DUH! What the heck was I (I mean SHE)thinking? We are in the last two weeks of school! This means a push for those last minute projects, field trips, "skip" days, etc.! Not to mention the oldest kiddo has a birthday this coming weekend, and is planning on having some friends over for a weekend of Xbox, movies, air soft shooting and eating me out of house and home.

Did I mention that this same kid graduates from 8th grade the first week in June? And that the same lousey secretary said I would decorate for the reception? Just smack me now!
I also have his b- day card, graduation card and the graduation cards for four other kiddos to make. Of course, this means that if and when I'm finally able to use my computer, I should have quite a few cards to share!

So. I hope you will all hang in there with me until I manage to get on top of things. I really do miss posting, and even more so, visiting my favorite blogs! But! This is just a crazy, busy time. Things will slow down in the next couple of weeks( well.....somewhat, anyways, LOL!) and hopefully I'll have my computer up and running by then and lots if goodies to share!

Until then.....

P.S. Please excuse any major typos or funky paragraphs. While it is incredible that I'm able to do this on my phone, it is NOT ideal! Lol! Not easy to see my whole screen or correct mistakes!

I'll be back!

World of Color

2011-05-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

eclecticPaperie and the E-Team are beginning another series of fun for you! And to kick off all the festivities, we are joining the Stampavie DT team!

Of course, as with any great party, there has to be goodies! Besides 10% off the Stampavie stamps that eP carries AND 10% off of the available preorders for the newest releases of Stampavie images, 5 random winners will be chosen from the comments left on the E-Team blogs and the Stampavie Blogs to receive a Stampavie image and some extra eP goodies!! All you need to do is leave a comment on the participating blogs between today, Friday, May 20, and Sunday, May 22. The winners will be announced on the eP blog on Monday, May 23.

E-Team

Broni Holcombe

Latrice Murphy

Linda Duke

Linda Ledbetter

Micki Harper

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson (me!)

Daisy~eP blog

Stampavie DT

Kittie

Michelle

Diane

Janna

Asa

Jay Jay

Leann

Monique

Tracy

Let's get down to to the fun stuff, shall we?!!

Today I chose to work with the Mo Manning image Swine Flu.

I decided to color with my current favorite coloring medium Copics. My favorite paper to use with Copics is Gina K's Pure Luxury, #120. It's smooth surface makes for wonderful blending and if I so desire to make a one layer card, NO bleed through!!

I usually stamp images with Archival Jet black ink, but for this image, I used Memento Tuxedo Black. Occasionally, I will find that when I am using the lighter shades (such as the colors used on Swiney), the Archival ink will smear. I don't know why, even if I heat set it. It doesn't always happen. But it did for this image and I just went with the Memento Tuxedo Black. No smearing!!

Now, I'm about to share my secret to coloring with Copics or any other coloring medium for that fact: I have no set rules for coloring and just go with my gut instinct. I don't worry about picking colors from the same classification (confession: I can't figure out the Copic classification system!). I'm not afraid to mix colors or color families. Sometimes this means I have to re color an image. That's ok with me. It's an experience that I don't mind repeating. I don't make a certain type of stroke with my pens. Sometimes I blend, sometimes I like the harsh lines. I DO try to remember where my light source is coming from, LOL! But have been known to mix that up too and usually, no one notices but me (unless I tattle on myself).

I don't follow "rules" for coloring. I just go with the moment and COLOR.

And because I just go with the moment of coloring, I usually will not share what colors I used for a project because I'm grabbing, hit or miss and in the end, really have NO idea which colors I actually ended up using!

I printed off a Copic Color Chart onto Pure Luxury card stock and filled in the squares with the markers that I do have. This is always out when I color for a starting point as to which colors I might like to use. I also usually start with my lightest base color and add the darker shading after. I have to say, that the Mo Manning images are so wonderfully drawn and detailed, that shading is pretty much pointed out for you! Some of my shading on the tissues was lost in the photo, as it is so slight (but a detail noticeable in real life).

I really did intend to show a more step by step demonstration of my coloring! But, I got caught up in the "moment", and that quickly went out the window!! I DID manage to keep all the markers I used for this image separate today.

19 different markers were used for this project. I'm not kidding when I say I will grab, hit or miss!! LOL!

Other details on the card: I had pulled out some design paper that I had intended to use on this card. But one drawback of just going with the moment of coloring, is that very often, my finished product does NOT end up matching the colors I had intended to use! I ended up pulling out some SU papers from my stash (I know that Almost Amethyst and Wild Wasabi were used. The SU blue is unknown). I also went back to a basic of stamping, by stamping my own background. I used SU's Blue Bayou on the unknown blue with the retired SU Print Pattern. The image was die cut with Spellbinder's Classic Circles. While the paper was still in the die, I carefully went around the edge with the pale lavendar and gray that I used for the floor shadows. The base is 5 1/2" squre Pure Luxury. Black ribbon placed at an angle in the corners makes this a pretty CAS layout.

The main point that I would like you to take away from this project is Don't get hung up on what are suppose to be the RULES of coloring. Go with what the moment brings!

'Till next time.......................

Metal Tutorial

2011-05-18T00:30:00.000-07:00

Shortly after a friend introduced me to stamping, she brought to my attention an online community, that in all honesty, changed my creative life for the better. She linked me to Splitcoaststampers.

OH MY!

When I joined in 2006, the community was much smaller. There was a core group of us who "chatted" everyday and participated in the daily challenges. I found a very sharing and caring group of crafters, who were willing to share their expertise with me, the newbie stamper.

Even more important, I formed friendships that continue to this day. These special gals are the ones I look to for inspiration, a swift kick in the rear, when needed, and a resource for everything from crafting to daily life.

Today, I am sharing a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers on making Flower Embellishments Out of Metal, which are based on Lin Brown's ( of yoursartfully) metal flower tutorials.

Insert terrified look here___________________.

I'm not going to repeat the step by step written instructions here. Instead, I'll let you view them on Splitcoaststampers (insert VERY frustrated look here_____. My STUPID computer is still not working and I'm trying to edit this on my in-laws Mac. Which I have NO STINKIN' idea how to use. The link for SCS is above. I'm sorry!)

But I will share the project pictures again.

Supplies: Stamps--TenSecond Studios Life. Paper: 7gypsies Gypsy Market. Inks: Archivial Jet black

Accessories: TenSecondStudio Spiced Rum metal, finishing/burnishing block, Ranger Alcohol inks, Sizzix sizzlet leaf die, Tattered Florals die, Patchwork texture fade and Cuttlebug Swiss dots embossing folder, Wendy Vecchi's Large Circle frame Art Part, acrylic paint, 1/2 pearls. I believe you can find just about all these supplies at eclecticPaperie.

And the video version.
Be kind. My first attempt at making a video tutorial required learning how to edit and use a Mac on the same day.

I hope that this tutorial will show you how easy it is to use metal in your creations and inspire you to give it a try!

'Till next time................remember to explore some creativity every day!

Get Whale Soon

2011-05-15T08:52:00.000-07:00

So, it would appear that my computer is just psycho.

Seriously. I think it needs to be put on medication.

It would seem that said computer takes great pleasure in giving me false hope with little snippits of times where it will work, only to snatch it away when I'm in the middle of trying to get something accomplished online.

This is one of those snippits of time that it appears to be working. So, I am going to QUICKLY try and post a project.

*************

There are just some cards I wish I NEVER had to make. Sympathy cards are one. But this isn't a sympathy card.

This is a Get Well Soon card. For the 15 y/o daughter of good family friends. On Tuesday, she will undergo brain surgery to try and remove a 1.5 cm tumor from the cerebellum vermis (a very important part of the brain that controls proprioception and movement).

Scary.

But! This young lady has a very positive attitude and a whole lotta spunk! She posted on her Caring Bridge page that she thought that everyone should just "Save the Whales and Kill the Tumor".

Her Motto and design have been made into a T-shirt., which will raise money to help bring awareness to brain tumors.

I decided that I know NOTHING about what 15 y/o girls are into and wouldn't think as corney (as it would seem I'm surrounded by barrels of testostrone). So I went with the Whale Theme. The jury is still out on whether or not this is too cutsey or corney, but I will take refuge in the fact that I'm probably at the age where all 15 y/o kiddo's will just roll their eyes at me and think that I'm just another corney adult.

The 5 1/2" square base is Gina K's Pure Luxury. The design paper is from My Mind's Eye and comes from my "I've had forever stash". The Whale image, from Stampin' Up's Silly Sea Life, was stamped using Archival Jet Black ink onto a scrap piece of Pure Luxury. I die cut around the image with my Classic Circle Nestabilities. Leaving the image in the die, I made a mask of the whale and lightly sponged Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass for the sky and a combination of Distress Broken China and SU's Pacific Point for the ocean. I added some waves with Copic markers.

The whale was also colored with Copics and then covered with Glossy Accents. The waves were highlighted with Distress Rock Candy stickles. Hint: Do NOT try to speed up the drying of Glossy Accents (even from the back of your paper) with a heat gun. This poor guy has a blister on his head that required an attempted fix by adding more Glossy Accents. Just sayin'.

Finally, the image and design paper were matted with an unknown SU blue. It would seem that SOMEONE just bought all the blue paper's from her former upline when said upline decided to quit stamping. But SOMEONE has no idea what blue this particular shade is, as she has not kept up with the latest from SU. Robin's Nest Dew Drops finish off the bling on the card.

*********

That's about it for me today. I need to start tackling the mile long list of projects that need to be done over the next two weeks as school winds down! Keep your fingers crossed that my computer will continue on the "I like you phase".

'Till then..............give your loved ones a Whale of a Hug.

Stand By

2011-05-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

We are experiencing technical difficulties.

I am back in that dysfunctional, love/hate relationship with my computer. This past week the stupid thing (yes, I have stooped to name calling) refuses to connect to the Internet. And, if by chance I do get it too connect, it will only last for a short time.

Today, I can't even get a glimmer of hope out of it. The Toad called in reinforcement and hopefully that will fix things.

Until then, I'm trying to use my phone. But that means no uploading of projects. 'Cause I'm not savy enough to know if I can take horrible pics with my phone and get them to here.

Cross your fingers I get this mess straightened out. I have projects to share next week and blogs to visit!

Until then.........

Art Parts Meet Metal

2011-05-06T04:00:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for a RIDE?!! Oh Yeah!! The E-Team is featuring the creative genius that is

Wendy Vecchi! Her theme is "Make Art!" and believe me, her line of Art Parts and stamps will get your creative juices flowing!

Of course, no E-Team Blog Hop would be complete without some wonderful prizes!! Two random winners will be chosen from all the comments left on the E-Team blogs to receive 1 new Studio 490 stamp set, Art Parts Square & Rectangle Frame and some other fun surprises.

One more winner will be chosen on the eP Blog....you must leave a comment about your favorite mother's day gift you have either received or gave to your mom. The eP Blog winner will receive a $25 voucher to eclectic Paperie to spend on goodies of your choice!

The E-Team

Starla (me!)

You will have from Friday until Sunday night to blog hop and leave your comments. The winners will be posted on eP Blog Monday. Good Luck!

P.S. OOOOO!! Daisy is putting Wendy's stamps (aka Studio 490), both new and old on sale at 10% off. Aaaand! Art Parts will also be 10% off. NO EXCUSES!! Time to "Make Art!" as Wendy says!!

I decided that it was time for the Art Parts to Meet Metal.

What a fun meeting!! The two combined have LIMITLESS possibilities. This is only one:

I think you can click on the photo to see the picture in a larger format

The Table.

I actually started with the flower pedestal table, which is made up of a variety of Art Parts. The flower was covered in TenSecond Studio's Dijon metal and embossed with TSS's Kabuka #18. I then swiped some of Jenni Bowlin's Red Pepper paint across the metal and wiped it off with a damp paper towel.

The "stem" of the flower/table was done in Poison Ivy metal. The vine was done free hand. The base of the table is Dark Chocolate metal that I used one of the decorative wheels on and then sanded with the finishing block to remove the color from the raised areas.

Sorry for the dark photo. Had a HECK of a time trying to get a decent photo of all this metal without glares!!

The Vase.

I hunted through all my stuff and could just not find the type of vase that I needed to fit the idea of this project. So, I created my own vase out of the Clearly for Art Blackout modeling film.

Hint: make a template out of scratch paper first. You can make adjustments to your template as needed, eliminating the trial and error on your modeling film. Measure twice and cut only once!!

I will admit that it was a little tricky to try and hold the film, heat it and mold it all at the same time. May I recommend possibly the Plaid Hot Glue Gun Helpers? I think that this is a MUST have on wish list! I'm sure that my singed digits will be forever grateful too!!

The Flowers.

The flowers were die cut from TSS's Dijon and Spiced Rum metal, using the Tattered Florals die. Free hand squiggles and a small decorative wheel were used to emboss the metal. Again, the finishing block was used to remove the color off of the raised areas to add texture.

The flowers were adhered with hot glue to a couple of Art Part flower stems that had been painted with acrylic paint.

The Leaves.

The small leaves are die cut using the leaf from Spellbinders Daisy Head out of TSS's Poison Ivy metal. The large leaves were free hand cut from Whiteout modeling film. I painted both sides of the film with green acrylic paint then heated and molded the leaves.

The Butterflies.

The smallest black butterfly was made using a Martha Stewart punch on some Rock Star Black metal. Free hand squiggles and a small decorative wheel were used to emboss the two different layers. I used a bit of Clearly for Art Modeling film to suspend the butterfly above the flower.

The two larger butterflies were die cut from Peacock metal with my new mover's and shaper's Mini Butterflies. I used a couple of different Cuttlebug embossing folders on the meta, and sanded off the color with the finishing block. The metal was attached to black modeling film by the body only. After heating and molding, some self adhesive pearls were added. The butterfly near the base of the vase was suspended from more clear modeling film.

And the final project again

'Till next time...............I think Wendy says it best:

Make Art!

Exploring Creativity...........

2011-05-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

............in it's purest form.

This past weekend I went hiking in our local mountains with my friend up Spitler Trail. We went to where the trail meets up with the Pacific Coast Trail, not climbing the extra two miles to the peak itself.

Trust me, we still had an incredible view from where all the trail heads meet.

This hike is amazing in that fact that you go through so many different types of terrain.

And the views.

About 30 minutes or so into the hike, looking back down to where we started. The yellow in the far distance is a field of wildflowers

And speaking of wildflowers~~there were so MANY gorgeous flowers along the trail. I did not stop to take pictures of all of them (smack!). There were vibrant blues, red, yellows, purple and white. Some were growing in just rock and sand. AMAZING.

These yellow flowers are itty, bitty, growing in the rocks and sand.

Why, and how, they grow in these conditions is just amazing

Wild lilac bush. Smelled wonderful and reminded me of my grandmother.

The trail itself goes through wooded areas, desert/brush areas. Different terrain, with different ecosystems.

And the view at the top

Looking down into Palm Springs and Desert Springs. Desert in front of me and literally mountain terrain behind me.

Did I mention it was just AMAZING?!

10 miles. 4 hours. Good workout. Good company. Wonderful views.

It's all about enjoying the journey.

'Till next time.........................

Kinda Prickly..........

2011-04-29T00:00:00.000-07:00

............but Blooming!

Hello People!! Have you all just about given up on me EVER posting a new project? I've had moments (usually when I'm at work and can't do anything about posting) when I've thought that maybe I should just put up a sign on my blog saying

Out for Life. Will Return When Able

I, unfortunately, am NOT one of those mom's whose house is always organized and clean (I will spare you the details of the condition of my kitchen floor), who can manage to go to work more days than not, deal with the kids, laundry and all that other "life" stuff, exercise (because I can either exercise to relieve some of the stress or I can eat. Actually, I'm stress eating and need the exercise to offset that little bad habit somewhat!) and still create.

Nope. Somewhere along the line that particular gene skipped my family line.

I have been ~~stressing~~ working on a couple of projects in the few minutes I have found here and there. I just can't share them yet.

Sigh.

A couple of weekend ago, we went with some friends out to Joshua Tree National Park. A group of us went hiking to the Lost Horse Mine after lunch. While coming back down the trail, I happened to spot this cactus in bloom.

Don't ask me why, but it seemed so symbolic of my life.

All kinds of "prickles" but still a spot of wonder and beauty.

I can decide if I want to focus on the thorny spines or the bright, wonderous color of the flowers.

I'm trying to focus on the bright flowers. And sometimes, that means that some things have to be put to the side.

But that is ok. Because everything has it's season to bloom. Sometimes you just have to be patient.

'Till then.....................

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T10:31:00.000-07:00

All I need to know

I learned from the Easter Bunny!

Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.

All work and no play can make you a basket case.

A cute tail attracts a lot of attention.

Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.

Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.

Keep your paws off of other people's jelly beans.

The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.

To show your true colors, you have to come out of the shell.

'Till then......................

The Winner!! And: In the Library

2011-04-22T07:40:00.000-07:00

Since I know that you are all itching to find out who won the HoneyPop Stamp set and coordination Honeycomb Paper, I'll be nice and get to that first.

Hopefully, you'll stick around for a tour of the Library.

Ok....ok!! The winner from my blog is (insert drum roll here___________)

True Random Number Generator

Min: 1

Max: 60

Result:

Marilyn! (newfiecrafter)

Marilyn, contact me at offroadtoad@msn.com (subject HoneyPop) and I will give you the information on how to collect your HoneyPop prize!!

********

Yesterday, I spent the entire day standing on a ladder in the Library.

Nope. I wasn't looking for a book.

I was painting books. Yep. I spent my day painting books and other knic knacks in the Library.

Easter is upon us once again, and our church is putting on a production, Once Upon an Eternity. I have NO idea what the premise is of this production. Except a very small sneak peek I got when I was talking to the gal who was in charge of the backdrop leads me to believe that the idea is making a favorite story come alive.

I'll have to get back to you on what it actually was.

ANYHOOS!! My friend Jen asked if I could help with the painting of the backdrop. She actually did the majority of the work. First, she built Library shelves out of some VERY large pieces of cardboard and added some decorative molding. Then she did some painting.

pictures sent from Jen's phone

Jen wasn't happy with the lack of dimension on her painting. She claims that adding shadows and such are not her thing. I personally think she could do it. But, being the good friend I am, I helped out.

Now here is the hard part about painting backdrops: You can't get picky about the FINE details. You know, all the perfect shading that makes a Trompe L'oeil painting so realistic. One needs to keep in mind that A) one is painting on a piece of CARDBOARD, that may, or may not, be save in storage for another time. B) the fine details are lost when viewed from the back of a church, auditorium or other large gathering place. C) one is painting on CARDBOARD and how much time does one really want to invest for a temporary illusion? (about 5 1/2 hours it would seem in my case. geesh!)

Some of you with sharp eyes will also notice that only the top three shelves of the bookcases were done. That is because the 3-4 narrators sit or stand in the Library the entire time (the story takes place on the stage that is to the right of the bookcases). I did not feel that it was necessary to "waste" my time painting an area that will not been seen for the most part. And also, because, the viewer's eye is not drawn down towards the actors feet, but at their upper bodies. Again, one must keep in mind that this is a cardboard backdrop!!

That's about it for me today! I hope to be back with a b-day card for the Toad in the next day or so. If not, you'll know that he has a flakey wife and that she didn't get it done! BHWHAAAAA!!

'Till then........................