Honey, You’re Sweet!

Just a quick Friday Night post to share a SWEET Inky Antics card! 

The stamp set is from Inky Antics - Bee Benton from The Inspiration Emporium.    I just kept the card pretty simple and had some fun coloring the image. 

I hope every one has a nice weekend.  Mine will be a busy one, but not as busy as next weekend so I’ll enjoy it while I can!!  Next weekend I’ll be making lots of cinnamon rolls for yet another 8th grade fundraiser (Since my kids are so close in age, this is my third one, third year in a row.)  So if you’re local – look for us at Napa on Saturday for a carwash/bottle drive and at Ray’s for a bake sale. 

Going Green – Inspiration Emporium

The Inspiration Emporium went (since I’m kind of late to the party) green this month! 

First, I used Tim’s Wrinkle Free Distress technique to create my green background paper.  Then I used the splatter image from Stampers Anonymous  Bitty Backgrounds – it’s such a great stamp set for the grunge look!  I also used it on my paper flower (which I also dyed to match with the Distress Ink).  If you can’t tell by the picture, the card says “You are so…. Wonderful”.  I combined a stamp from Pink Paislee Spring Jubilee (the word wonderful) and the “you are so” is from the Penny Black set Betsy Bluebell – both are such great sets – totally different styles but still you can build with any set!  And of course, the bird and cage are from Tim Holtz as well – Caged Bird and I added a little texture to the bird with a Bricked and Woodgrain Texture Fade.

Ha!  There.. two posts in one month……..not too bad : )

Be sure to check out the other fabulous green things (and all things inspirational) from the rest of the Inspiration Team!!

Hey Stamping Strangers!!

Woohoo?  Anyone out there?  It's been almost 10 whole months since I last blogged - WOW - and how things have changed!  I'm not even sure I remember how to blog...I even thought that I forgot how to stamp!!  Thankfully, I either still remember how to do it or I'm reteaching myself - haven't quite decided yet!! 

So where have I been you ask?  Working and not working.. both - yes.  Right around the day of my last post I started a new job (out of the house) while continuing with my old job of 16 years (working from my home).   There were some big changes, even some scary changes ... I had put my big girl panties on (and if you've ever seen me... you know they've got to be BIG!!).  But boy am I glad I did that.  I'm so thankful for this new chapter in my life; so thankful for the people I work with and I couldn't be happier about NOT working weeknights or weekends!!  Even though it's been 10 months - I'm still adjusting, but between work and kids, I have found time to stamp again!  (and speaking of kids - boy have they grown up too! One is driving with his license for almost a year now and another has her permit and the youngest will be in high school in only a few months - YIKES - time really does go by too fast!)

Okay - enough about me - let's look at something crafty - and I think it's perfect timing for this project!! 

I picked up where I left off, creating for the Inspiration Emporium Inspiration Emporium, and jumped right into this Pocket Watch project.  I have to say that it felt amazing!! 

This little girl comes from the Our Craft Lounge set called Treasured Friend - it's one of my favorite images that I created for OCL.  I thought she'd fit perfectly in the pocket watch - I added a little river rock and some Glossy Accents for the water so it looks as if she is wading in the water.  I also used an Idea-Ology Muse Token, which I felt sort of tied the metal together yet kept it soft and "wonderful'. 

Be sure to check out the other fabulous creations from the rest of the team over at The Inspiration Journal. 

Although I am officially back I can't promise how often I'll post - I can promise that I'm stamping and taking pictures though!!  My goal for now is once per week - perhaps a weekly journal of sorts.  I hope you'll stick around, and if you've stuck with me this long - you can probably handle a little longer, right?

Thanks!!

The Happiest Birthday Yet!!

Just a quick little card – I LOVE the sentiment .. It’s another from Big Birthday Wishes from Our Craft Lounge.  I LOVE that’s it clear and I love that the sentiment is long and can be curved like this!! I think it really makes the sentiment stamp more versatile AND makes the card a bit more fun! 

I just used some scraps from my Mabel paper, did some quick stitching and it was an easy layout!  The background paper is “stained” with a little bit of Wild Honey Stain and Vintage Photo Stain.  The bird and birdcage are from Tim’s Mini Bird and Cage Set, distressed with Walnut Stain ink and covered with Glossy Accents. 

Thanks for stopping by! I hope your DAY is the happiest yet!!

Bar’s Birthday Blog Hop!

Happy Birthday Beautiful Barbara Anders!!!  Today – we celebrate YOU!! 

Here are the Birthday Blog-Hoppers – so go check out their birthday cards for Barb!!! 

Tammy Hershberger

Broni Holcombe

Kristin Eberline

Laura Pryor

LeAnne Pugliese

Carole Burrage

Betty Wright

Jody Morrow

Makiko Jones

Cindy Haffner

Silke Ledlow

Julie Koerber

Jessie Rone

Frances Byrne

Lynda Benden

Vicki Garrett

Christina Fischer

Jodi Collins

Kim van der Sanden

Taylor Van Bruggen

Kirsty McIntyre

Iwona Palamountain

Wendy Bond

Jessica Diedrich

Lynn Put

Jackie Pedro

Joanne Basile

 

Card Info:  Paper used:  Mabel (of course).  Dies:  MFT – Die-Namics Fresh Cut Grass and   Open Scallop Border.  Stamp sets:  OCL – Out for a Spin (the little flag with the birthday sentiment) and Pretty Petals.  Ink:  Antique Linen Distress Ink and Walnut Stain Distress Ink.  Sparkle and Fluff:  OCL Sparkly Fluff - Real Juicy Orange. 

May we Challenge you?

The Inspiration Emporium has a new challenge for the month of May!! (Yes, I know I’m weeks late – but better late than never, right?)  So here it is…..  PACKAGING!! Create something with some sort of packaging – We want to see you upcycle your product packaging!  You can find all of the challenge information on the ‘packaging’ link!!

Can you find my repurposed packaging?    I used a Cherry Coke Zero Can! Can you find it?

It’s the bird!!  Cool, right?  I used Tim Holtz’ Caged Bird die cut – it cut the tin can beautifully!!  I added some rustic colors with my Copic Markers – they worked PERFECTLY on the tin too!!   Then I used the brick embossing folder from the Bricked and Woodgrain set – and it embossed beautifully as well!  In Oregon, I can get a 0.5 cent refund for this soda can, but a 0.5 cent embellishment?  NO WAY!   I used Adage Tickets AGAIN! I love those guys – especially perfect when I don’t have the perfect sentiment stamp!  I used the Sentiment Flat Die and stamp set from Lil’ Inker Designs to stamp and cut the ticket – gave it a fun new look!!  I had LOTS of fun with the Kaiser Craft Pearls – Pearl color and just created some free-flowing swirls.  The birdcage and paper behind it comes from the yummy Mabel paper pack as well.  I used a pre-cut Manila Craft Tag #8, as well as Wild Honey Stain and Vintage Photo Stain to create the background and distressed the edges  with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

Now go to the Inspirational Journal and check out some fabulous upcycled samples and join in the challenge! 

A simple card … not so simple

Boy, do I struggle with clean cards!?!   No sponging, no grunging, minimal layers… oh it was a struggle! I can’t say I love it….But I can say I did it : )

Here’s the Color Throwdown Swatch:

Ahh! What great colors!!  Of course I had to keep it clean : )  I did get to burn something though - the flowers!!  That was fun and a little dangerous!!  (Thanks Broni).  The fabulous Birthday Sentiment is from Our Craft Lounge’s set – Big Birthday Wishes.  A perfect sentiment-building set!  The floral print paper is of course Mabel – I should probably be ordering more of that wonderfulness!! 

Thanks for stopping by!! 

Be sure to check out the other Throwdown Girls for some more fabulous color inspiration!!

Barbara Anders

Broni Holcombe

Carole Burrage

Cathy Rulli

Danielle Kennedy

Tammy Hershberger

Kristin Eberline

Laura Pryor

Jen Mitchell, May Guest Designer

Horsin’ around with color

Clever title, right?  Ha!!  Here it is Color Throwdown Color Challenge 140 and  I’ve managed to keep up for 6 weeks!!! 

Now, isn’t he genuinely cute?  ; )  I adore this guy!!  He reminds me of Mr. Ed from YEARS ago on Nick at Night!  You know… I guess HE could be a She.. but today I’m going with he!   You can find him over at Paper Pretties.  The set is called Horsin’ Around.   I love that the image is fairly large – so it works perfectly for the front of a card and it’s a great size to color too!  The set also comes with some great sentiments too! 

The paper is Mabel AGAIN!!  I just LOVE it!  I used my Vintage Photo Stain to speckle it up a bit and give it some good ole’ farm grunge!  Love that stuff!!  I stitched it up, tied a bow, hung a Muse Token on it and called  ‘er done! 

Don’t tell any one but I’m pretty sure I didn’t follow the Color Throwdown swatch 100%…. I’m really, really stretching the Blushing Bride… ok…. and the Baja Breeze just a wee bit too.  Shhh..

Be sure to check out the other Throwdown samples at the Color Throwdown – as always, they are pretty darn amazing! 

Color Throwdown Challenge 139 (with a prize!!)

My sweet friend Kristin designs for My Time Made Easy and she’s sponsoring The Throwdown today!!  You can also check out her products on her blog and at MTME!! She has a fabulous prize of her beautiful stamps and paper over at the Color Throwdown so check it out and see how you can win!!  Here’s my card using her digi papers!!  They were so easy to print out – I even printed them in a few different sizes for some size variety!

 

I used 5 of her papers from the Fresh Cut Expressions Collections 2 digi paper set, did some sponging and sewing, a bit of die-cutting and viola a card!!  The ticket flags are made from Adage Tickets, sponged, then cut with Lil’ Inker Designs Sentiment Flags die and tucked under the button.  The butterflies are cut with the Mini Butterflies Movers and Shapers die. 

 

Ok, here’s the colors.. go soar with them!!

A dirty little beach…

Tag for a Treasured Friend! When I first started working on this tag I had NO idea what direction it would take me.

I started out with a blank Manila Craft Tag #8 ( I LOVE THESE), a bit of Walnut Stain Distress Ink, and a little bit of Broken China ink.  I used my non-stick craft sheet, a bit of water and the walnut stain ink and applied it mostly around the edges.  I felt like it sort of resembled a shore-line and a little light bulb light up in my head… so I sponged a tiny bit of the broken china ink in a few places and thought that the little girls from Treasured Friend would work perfectly!! 

It’s a pretty good-sized tag and the girls are pretty small, so I decided to leave the girls as their own scene at the bottom, but add some fun messy layers above them.  My eyes can’t really decide where to look first, but naturally they start at the top, which I think is just the way it should be.  One would think that the embellishments and layers would draw your attention away from what I feel is really the main part of the tag (the girls), but my eyes don’t spend much time up there at all – they are immediately drawn to the girls – which is PERFECT!!

I love that the seam binding looks so ragged and worn, like’s it’s been hanging out at the beach all summer with the girls! The cute tiny rose-buds are made with the dyed seam binding to match! I went with the alphabet paper because it reminded me of schoolgirls – it just felt right!  I used the back side of an Adage Tickets to stamp the sentiment on and I slid a Charm Clip tided with a tiny shred of seam binding on the edge for a little hardware look.  The Tiny Attacher was perfect to attach the MFT – Open Scallop Border. 

Thanks for stopping by!!