Sunday, January 27, 2008

By the Way, I Like to Crochet


So, I have been saying that I would upload something that I made for one of my wonderful nieces, Olivia. Now, I do have to admit that this was supposed to be finished for her high school graduation back in June. I didn't quite make that deadline, but I did finish it for Christmas. I got the pattern from a Leisure Arts book called Color-Charged Throws. This really was very easy to do, though a little time consuming, especially all of the fringe, which you can't see very well in the pic. I wish I would have thought to take a picture before I wrapped it, oh well!! It's nice to see her smiling and holding it. That is it for now. I want to finish up the card I started for today's Featured Stamper challenge at SCS. If I hurry up I can post that tonight as well.
Thanks for stoppin' by...

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Me an Artist? Not So Much...





Okay, so I get up this morning already to check out the Inspiration challenge at SCS. I just loved the artwork and I really felt inspired. So, i thought about what I wanted to do. I decided that I wanted to incorporate some acrylic paint to go along with Thursday's Ways to use it challenge. So, this afternoon I went to work, creating my masterpiece. This is about the time I discovered that an artist I am not. I went through many attempts, some looking worse than the previous, until I said the heck with it and went with this piece. The stamped elements are just fine. it's the free-hand "stuff" that looks like a 5 year old's work. Anyway, I couldn't NOT upload a card that I spent so much time on , so here it is.
My basic Card Recipe (as if someone is gonna be interested)
Stamps: Pick a Petal, Stem Silhouettes, Mark the Date
Paper: True Thyme, Old Olive, Groovy Guava, Whisper White
Ink: True thyme, Groovy Guava, Stazon black
Accessories: acrylic paint(light green), marvy markers,
Techniques: ripped paper, sponging, free-hand drawing
At the bottom of my main image i have a piece of true thyme that is ripped. I used a sponge to apply the "windy" light green paint, and a brush to apply the paint at the bottom. The TT "wind" was also swiped on w/a sponge. My little dots of GG are stamped on with the dot stamp from SU Mark the Date. Now I just want to make a card that is a little more in my comfort zone, whew!
If I get time later tonight I will upload a pic of a gift I made for one of my nieces. If not, then I will get to it tomorrow. I gotta go spend some time with my hubby right now!
Thanks so much for stopping by...

Friday, January 25, 2008

I love Leftovers!!


I took a vacation today to stay home and get some much needed house cleaning done...so where am I? yup, I am in my 'crap' room making cards...I mean cleaning up...well you know how it goes, clean a little...play a little...play a little....etc! Anywho, I did a very quick card for Jen's Limited Supplies challange at SCS to use leftovers. We were to use as many leftover paper, card stock, ribbon etc. I grabbed a bunch of black and white DCWV scraps and whipped up this cute Quilted background. If you are interested in this technique, HERE is a quick tutorial from my gallery at SCS.
Card Recipe:
Paper: DCWV dp and textured cs, red textured cs unknown
Stamps: SU Occasionally, Mike's $1 sentiment
Ink: black stazon
Accessories: ribbon from my scrap ribbon jar
Techniques: Quilted Tag
Okay, so now I will do a little more cleaning, but expect to be back later to play some more.
Thanks for stopping by...

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

New Paper and a New Technique


I was so excited yesterday when I got home from work to find a box on my front porch from Eclectic Paperie!! I ordered tons of new paper and some new stamps. They were having an awesome sale on lots of neat stuff! Check it out! I felt like a kid on Christmas morning! Don'tcha just love getting stuff in the mail? So I made this card for my oldest daughter's birthday (the very same one who messed up my PC). The dp is from Basic Grey's BLUSH line and I just love it!! I can't wait to use the TWO SCOOPS paper that I also got! The colors for this card were chosen as the Color Challenge for this week at SCS:Real Red, Blue Bayou and Soft Sky. I don't own any Real Red so I used some Bazzill red cs instead. My Fluffles image was colored in using my fabulous PrsimaColor pencils and OMS aka odorless mineral spirits. My very first attempt at this technique! I just followed Cecilia's tutorial at SCS. I got a long way to go, but not bad for a first attempt, eh? I also used some stickles on the party hat and candle flame (another wonderful gift from my oldest son) and the balloon was topped with Aleen's paper glaze to make it shiny. Here are the stats;
Stamps: Fluffles by Stampendous
Paper: SU blue bayou, soft sky, whisper white, basic grey blush, bazzill textured red cs
Ink: balck stazon
Accessories: SU photo corners punch, marvy scallop punches, large brads, ribbon prismacolor pencils, mona lisa OMS, stickles, paper glaze
Technique: Gamsol Magic
Thanks for poppin' in! This weekend I will be posting some pics of some projects that I have been working on other than playing with paper. So, stop back again soon!

Monday, January 21, 2008

My Strugglin' PC--Yikes!


My oldest daughter came home from School in NYC for the week of Christmas and she spent most of her time on my 'puter. So I didn't get to upload alot of stuff I have been working on. Then, after she left, my 'puter wasn't working correctly!! Go figure...Anyway, luckily my 18 year old son is still at home and happens to be my savior when it comes to electronics and after a few adjustments here and there over a period of several days, my PC is almost back to normal! He said he still needs to do a couple more things, but I can at least upload pics and whatnot.
Here is a card that I whipped up fairly quickly for my father-in-law for his birthday. The stamp is from one of my fallback sets, Lovely as a Tree, that I use for any manly card that I need to make. I just love to color this tree in using blender pens and ink from my SU classic lids!! I wanted to us my brand new set of 132 PRISMACOLOR pencils that my oldest son got me for Christmas, but I still need to get some Gamsol and blending stumps!! I can't wait to try my hand at that technique. Here is my recipe:
Stamps: SU Lovely as a Tree, Warmest Regards
Paper: DCWV-Ole World stack, non SU card stock
ink: Stazon black, True Thyme, Old Olive, River Rock
accessories: green jute, small brads
This is really a pretty straight forward card! Nothing too fancy...I am please with the result. Check back again soon as now I can get more of my creations uploaded!! Have a wonderful Monday!

Monday, January 14, 2008

I got TAGGED!?

Being new to this whole Bloggin' thing, I obviously have loads to learn. Chat, aka nitestamper, "tagged" me and i went to her wonderful blog and found that she had more than 1 taggin' game going on. Here is what I got from her Blog and I decided that I will play the easiest one first and later on this week I will play the other one. So...Here are 7 Random/Weird Facts about myself:

1. I absolutely HATE to be cold

2. I could drink diet Pepsi all day long and never get sick of it

3. I consider dark chocolate a standard household staple

4. I haven't gotten used to being a mother-in-law yet (it's been 4&1/2 months since my son got married)

5. The first thing I do when I get home from work is take off my bra

6. My retirement age goal is 45 (I turn 43 in March)

7. I love socks so much that I can't close my drawer anymore

Okay, so now you know a little more about me. Hopefully I haven't scared anybody away!

While I am here, i want to post a set of cards I made yesterday for the SCS Featured Stamper challenge.
Veronica has a wonderful gallery at SCS and her ispiration helped me to create this fabulous set of cards. See all my details here. Thanks Chat for keeping me on my toes! I don't know how I will keep up with all the awesome crafty bloggers, but I am gonna keep trying!