Saturday morning stamping

SUNFLOWER CARD: This is a new stamp which I'd recently purchased. It's by Inkadinkado. I aged the cardstock by spraying some Frayed Burlap Distress Ink (mixed with a little water). Then stamped with Artprint Brown (Memories) Ink. In the process of cleaning out my craft room, I was able to organize my embellishments and rediscover what I owned. Now, it's time to start using those embellishments in my projects.



SISTERS: I love these paisley and stripe patterned papers. I'm working on a set of cards, right now, with a "friendship" theme. I want to submit it as a set to Stampington. The "sisters" stamp is by Stampington and Co. I used a Quickutz photo corner die and ran it through my Cuttlebug between an embossing folder (I wanted the little flowers from the folder to show up on the photo corner).











Here is the card I made for my Cuttlebug swap on the Stamp-Shack. It's a gatefold card. The medallion stamp is by Stampin Up. I love how the Cuttlelbug embossing shows up on the gold cardstock.

STUCK A FORK IN IT......IT IS DONE!

Aaaaaahhhh!!!! You can see the carpet, once again, in my craft room! I called it "done" at 7:00 this evening. So, the winner of the guessing game is Leah! {Yay, Leah!} Leah had guessed by Wednesday evening, March 28th, at 8:30 PM. She came pretty darn close!

I bought a new bookcase to store my magazines and books, which were just pouring out of the old bookcase. I emptied out a laundry basket overflowing with embellishments, and divided them up in large baskets (sitting in the middle shelves of the bookcase). The baskets on top hold small gamsol bottles, re-inkers, alcohol inks, felt, cork, and the basket on the top left is my sewing basket.


I also bought four 12 x 12 Sterilite drawers to hold my patterned paper. Before, it just sat as one BIG stack on a filing cabinet. It was so disorganized. No rhyme or reason. No wonder I hardly touched the paper. I didn't even really know what already had!


Here is my new "cutting center" with my new Tonic guillotine (which I absolutely LOVE!) The crockpot holds beeswax that I use for collage work.



I rearranged my iris carts and placed all of my 8 1/2 x 11 paper inside of them. I cleaned out EACH drawer and organized them according to tools, inks, envelopes, etc. On top sits my various craft equipment, which are too cumbersome to place anywhere else.


I also bought this CD shelf for about $30. It holds 352 CD's. You guessed it! It's going to hold my unmounted stamps. It has so much room, it now also holds my bottles of primas; and small containers and projects that I adore.


Here is my new "ribbon" center. Chelsey on Stamp-Shack shared how she wrapped her ribbon around clothespins and then dropped them into jars. I found these jars at Wal-Mart. Since I had nowhere, originally, to place my plastic robin and dove eggs, I thought it would look really interesting to place them in a large jar, along with the ribbons. Thank you, Chelsey, for the inspiration!



And finally, here is the view from my table. It will take some getting used to (folks being able to see me as they drive by my house), but this is the best place to put the table as it gets a lot of natural light in the morning and afternoon.

Cleaning Update

Helloooooo! I continue to do a major overhaul of my craft room. Here are some of the questions that have popped up while I was cleaning:
1) How the heck did I fit ALL of that mess in my craft room? {The Answer: Plastic bags.}
2) I can't believe I like the colors blue and green that much! Do I really have that much blue and green paper?
3) I know I'm making progress. So, why does it feel like I"m taking two steps forward and four steps back?

LOL! So....the cleaning continues. I *still* don't know when I'll be done, but I am enjoying the process albeit how tiresome it is. I'm rediscovering tools, embellishments, and paper which I've forgotten about. I'm participating in an lss garage sale on April 14th. A LOT of what I'm no longer "in love" with will be sold at the garage sale.

I'll update the blog with the "after" pictures, once it's all complete. And, I will announce the winner of my guessing game! Thank you, everybody, for your words of support!

Spring Cleaning 2007 is in full swing!

This is my Living Room, at the moment. If you want to see how truly BAD it is, click on each picture to get a FULL FRONTAL view of the situation. I am warning you, though. It is pretty bad. What is that name of the show on TLC? Clean Sweep? Well, I almost need that show to come in and organize my Living Room and Craft Room. LOL! C'mon! At least give me some kuddos for being brave enough to share this with you! The bags in the living room are stuffed with papers that we moved with from our last base. The stuff in my craft room are just shopping bags filled with scrap papers and embellishments which I had bought but never put away. I don't know if you can see it, but there's a large basket in one of the photographs that's stuffed with embellishments, stickers, and "stuff." I am addicted to embellishments and ephemera. It's a sickness I tell ya! So, I am holding a little "contest." How long will it take for me to get my space cleaned up? Will it be days? Will it be weeks? Will it by just a few hours? Go ahead and leave me a comment on this thread, down to the day and hour that I'll have this mess cleaned up. Keep in mind that I work during the day and when I get home, I have my family to feed. Also, there's American Idol on Tuesday with the results show on Wednesday. What else? Hmmm....... Oh, and laundry that has to be folded and cats to look after; and my DH is gone so I have nobody to help me around the house. LOLOLOLOL! So, how long will cleaning take me? If you can guess down to the day and the hour (as in, "You'll have it done by Thursday evening, by eight o'clock." Or, "You'll have it done by Sunday afternoon, by three o'clock") you will win a rubber stamp from me! So, let's have fun! I'm under the gun to get this cleaned up, so I may as well have fun while doing it!


Here is a picture of the stamps that you will get to choose from. As I'm cleaning, I'm finding more stamps that I'm going to part with. But, for now....here are some which you'll get to choose ONE from (if you guess correctly).

Tutorial: Masking Tape Technique

These are the materials you'll need: cream or white cardstock, coordinating chalk inks, mod podge, foam brush, masking tape.












Take strips of tape and tear them lengthwise (for this card, I liked using long strips.) Depending on the look you want, you can also tear smaller pieces. Make sure the cardstock is covered completely with tape.














Dab or smear your chalk inks over the tape. The more ink you use, the more intense the finished product will be. Be sure you blend the colors carefully but try not to smear your chalks on top of each other too much or else it will look muddy.













Paint a layer of Mod Podge (matte) over the inked surface. Let it dry before going onto the next step. It takes about ten minutes to dry.














Stamp your image on the dry surface using solvent ink (StazOn). Ta-dah!

Falling in love again with Walnut Ink

I've had several bottles of Walnut Ink in my cart for a couple of years, and rarely take it out. Since receiving my ATRS order, I've been wondering what to stamp my new Eiffel Tower on. It's such a large image. I did consider heat embossing the image on black cardstock, using white powder. I may still do that. But, while rifling through my ink drawer, I found these three bottles of Walnut Ink, and that's when a lightbulb went off in my head (which is rare.) I took four pieces of cardstock and sprayed each one differently.

Then, I took one of the pieces and stamped the Eiffel Tower stamp on it, using aged mahogany Distress Ink. This stamp is more challenging than I thought. It's large, but it does have a lot of "empty space." I thought the mica tile, tearing the edges and adding the brads might make this card a little bit more interesting.

Busy Week!

This is the first week at home without DH, so I feel like I'm doing double-duty, of course, getting the chores done around the house. Not that it's an impossible task, but it leaves less time to create during the week. I made this simple card this morning, before getting Lucas out of bed. I had a window of about 1/2 hour to create. The tote purse stamp is by AMuse. The "Smiles and Laughter" ribbon stamp is by Hero Arts. I used my Stampin Up slit punch to make the scalloped strip along the bottom, and my Marvy-Uchida Giga Punches to encircle the tote. Paper (believe it or not...it's ANCIENT) is by Provo Craft Slab IV. (I still have papers from three years ago! Ick!) Background harlequin paper is by Foofala.

An awesome mail day, my friends!

Yay! The first of my "Addicted to Rubber Stamps" packages has arrived! So many friends helped me reach the maximum discount for these goodies! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I can't wait to dive in and start stamping! It has been an absolutely gorgeous day, here! We reached 75-degrees today. Tomorrow promises to be the same. I finished working on 2 art journals today, and got them mailed off. I've also been busy working on my next set of cards to submit to Stampington and Co. Before I go, here's a picture of the first flowers to bloom in my front yard (crocus). (DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT MY MARCH CHALLENGE! Look on the right menu bar. On the top is a link to my monthly challenges! Don't forget to check it out!)

Work in progress

I'm working on a Circle Journal for my friend, Heather. The theme of her book is Quotes. I got to use my Cricut and Cuttlebug for this project. I also got to see how well the Cuttlebug shims would hold up if used my Sizzix "fat" dies. I had heard rumors that Plate B would crack, but mine didn't. After cutting out the primitive hearts with the Sizzix die, I popped them in between the Cuttlebug Swirl embossing folder. Then, I ran some Colorbox chalk ink over the embossed areas, just to give them more of that "distressed" look. Fonts for the Cricut are Base Camp (the fat letters) and Printing Press (the skinny letters). Paper is My Mind's Eye.

Experimenting

I had some leftover embossed K & Co paper, so I thought I'd play with a layout for a swap I'm hosting. "Serenity" stamp is by Hero Arts. The wreath is made of "ash" leaves by Punch Bunch, and the flowers are Primas.

It's OFFICIALLY Spring!

This afternoon, when I came home from work, I saw daffodil leaves beginning to shoot up from the ground, near our birch tree. As far as I'm concerned....It's OFFICIALLY Spring! The idea for this card came from the Impress Rubber Stamps website. I used the "stem" stamp from a Stampin Up set that I have (I don't know the name of the set, though.) So this is my "Ode to the daffodils" card. LOL!
A lot of our neighbors still have ice and snow sitting on their lawns. Much of ours has melted away. In about a week's time, the ground should start to thaw out and I'll be able to start some "Spring Cleaning" around the yard. We're really lucky. The folks who owned the house before we bought it two years ago, planted a lot of lovely bulbs. So, each Spring, we get to enjoy daffodils, hyacinths, ground irises, and tulips. In the summer, our backyard is just full of lillies. It's so pretty.

It's the *MOST* wonderful time of the year!

NO....it's not Christmas! It's almost Spring, and that means eggs of every shape and size are widely available! I found these treausres at Cost Plus World Market; but I also found some awesome robin's eggs at a local art/gift shop in Old Market. The nest is just too cute! I have to find the perfect bird to perch on top of the eggs. Now, I can't wait to dive in and create some altered art pieces. I've been meaning to try to make a shrine. Maybe I'll incorporate these eggs into something I'll create.

One more for the road....

Well, I was definitely productive today. Three random projects. This last project involved mixing eight different Alchol Inks to lay a background for this card. After cutting out a black frame, and adding a heat embossed design on the corners, I added a sheet of acetate to cover the opening. Because the frame had shrunk slightly, the acetate didn't lay on there quite flat. But that's OK. I think it's awesome how the acetate picks up the light in its various "bumps."

Lost Treasures, Found Objects

As a rule of thumb, I try not to throw anything away. Yes, I'm a packrat of sorts. Using "found objects" in mixed media art not only enhances the artwork, it's a self-fueling desire to partake in the thrill of the hunt. Take this railway token, for example.
You may have one sitting in the attic (or your grandmother's attic). While it may seem "ordinary" in the palm of your hand, it makes for an interesting three-dimensional element on the top of my altered tag. The problem I have is forcing myself to actually use these found objects. Once they're stuck on something.....they're stuck. There's no pulling off and putting it back in my box! Stamp credits: (on the altered library envelope: Lost Aussie Designs); (on the altered tag): Paperbag Studios).

Early morning Alcohol Ink madness

There's nothing more pleasant a sound than having a cat pawing at your door, because his bottomless pit of a stomach needs to be refilled at 5 a.m.. Of course, I indulge the heathen creature (as not to wake up my husband and son). It's an opportunity in disguise, really. The silver lining in all of this is that I have a few moments to meditate upon what I can create, now that I'm wide awake. So, into my basket of unmounted stamps I dive into, and pulled out a new image I'd recently purchased from Lost Aussie Designs. While digging into my bags of scrap paper, I discovered a multitude of patterns and designs which I think I will put to use today. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

The winner of "I love vintage because....."

is none other than.......Teabear.....aka Tami!!!!! She wins the book "Get Creative with Heartwarming Vintage" by Crafty Secrets Publications. I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED reading everybody's response. (Just goes to show we're all kindred spirits). In my very scientific way of doing "contests" (a word I despise, by the way.....I should have called it a "drawing") I put all of your names in a basket, shook it up, and let a co-worker draw one name out. Thank you so much for sharing why you love vintage. After reading each response, I found myself nodding my head in agreement. It's so nice to see that many of us have an appreciation for days gone by; and we let those days live on in our artwork.

Thank You card

*** This card appears in the Autumn 2007 Stamper Sampler Take Ten Issue.***

I had purchased this Teesha Moore stamp (the three ladies) recently from Mary Rogers, and I've been anxiously trying to find the opportunity to use it. When I create cards, I try to keep in mind "who" I'm giving it to, and whether they would appreciate the images I've chosen. This card is going to a mixed-media artist, and I know she will DEFINITELY appreciate Teesha's design. The flower stamps are by Hero Arts.

DON'T FORGET TO ENTER MY CONTEST!

Read the entry for Wednesday, February 28th, and enter my little "I like vintage because...." contest!

It's not your computer.....this IS the view from my window...

I woke up at 4:30 this morning, to the sound of light hail falling on my house. I looked outside of the living room window and saw the wind whipping around, and hail/sleet falling. By six o'clock, there was lightning and thunder (they call it thundersnow) and the sleet had now shifted to large flakes of snow. I called the Creighton University campus, and it had closed (so, no work for me, today). They'd also announced that all schools in the Omaha Metro had shut down, and Offutt AFB (non-essential personnel) were to stay home.
I went back to bed, and woke up again, just before nine; turned on the TV, and we're now in a blizzard warning. The National Weather Service calls this a "blizzard warning." Well, if this isn't a blizzard yet, then I don't know what is. Wind gusts appear (and sound) to be blowing at least 60 mph. Our house is "crackling" and the tree branches are just swaying, like crazy. I probably have a good eight inches of snow on my back deck. We're expecting at least a foot of snow before this is over.

Here is Casper, checking out the view of the deck. The cats know something isn't right, and they're a little antsy.