School Days Gothic Arch

This week's theme on the blog Gothic Arch Challenge is "School." I used stamps by Tim Holtz and Purple Onion Designs. The vintage image of the school girl came from one of my vintage CD's.

Take my poll (on the sidebar) and add your comments here

I'm curious about what people do with the cards/papercraft projects they make? Post below, and be as specific as you'd like, with your answer.

Thank you for taking my poll! Deadline is midnight, August 31st, 2007. Drawing will be held for some fun cardmaking treats/goodies!

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Doodling away

The image of this sweet little boy came from Bill's Antique Photo pages. I had the urge to doodle this morning, so I drew a little bit on the little boy's bloomers and then on the chocolate brown cardstock, using my silver gel pen. I've been wanting to do "something" with this cute little boy for the past four days, but it's been hectic at work. So, now, I'm at my craft table on this Saturday morning, and decided I just wnated to have a little bit of fun with him. His wings are stamps by Lost Coast Designs. The "original" definition stamp is by Stampin Up.

Wow! I've been nominated as..........

.....a "Thinking Blogger" by my Shackie/2peasinabucket pal, Beth of "Sunflower and Dragonflies." The original concept of the "Thinking Blogger Award" comes from this link: "The Thinking Blog." I will need to quote Beth on the "rules" of nominating someone for this award:

The participation for nominees' rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think. Please, remember to tag blogs with real merits, i.e. relative content, and above all - blogs that really get you thinking
2. Link to this post (click here) so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Now, keep in mind that I can think of (easily) at least 20 people who inspire me with their blogs. But, I have to abide by the rules set forth. So, here are my nominees for the "Thinking Blogger" award (in no particular order):

1) Jan of "Far North Designs." I like to think of Jan as my "partner in crime" when it comes to comparing results of "lab experiments." We think of a technique we've not tried before (remember our Northern Lights experiment from a few years ago, Jan?) and we both experiment with the technique and compare results. She just tries and tries again, tweaking a few steps a little, until she achieves the results she is going for. I call Jan my fellow "technique junkie."

2) Audrey Hernandez is one rockin' papercrafter. She is top-notch in every category in my book. Check out her blog "Small Creations" and you will see what I'm talking about. Is there anything Audrey can't do? She rubber stamps, takes awesome pictures of her cutie-patootie son, Montana, and her photograph is next to the word "humble" in the dictionary. Visit Audrey's blog, just once.....JUST ONCE....and I guarantee you will come away with so many inspiring images and ideas that will make your head spin.

3) Here's another "Rock Star" blogger. Barbara Smith's artwork is elegant, uncluttered and has a simplicity about it that makes you appreciate each detail of everything she creates. Check out her blog "Smith411" to get a glimpse of Barbara's mastery of collage, transfer techniques, rubber stamping and cardmaking.

4) Kerry is another papercrafting friend who I go w-a-a-a-y back with. She's another fellow technique-junkie. When we went shopping together at a rubber stamp store, back in May, Kerry shared so much information about different products in the market, and how to use them. Of course, that left me with buying a TON of stuff that I had to have because Kerry said the stuff was "cool!" LOL! Well, she was right. You can find Kerry's creations at "the stampinbug."

5) I can't have this list of five inspiring blogs without mentioning Godelieve. Who else isn't afraid of experimenting with ecoline ink, bleach and every ink or paint under the sun? Godelieve does it all, and she does it with flair! She's also awesome with giving me all sorts of technical/computer/HTML coding tips for my blog. Mine is not nearly as awesome as Godelieve's, but she is always willing to help and encourage me along. You can find Godelieve's blog at: "Stamping Mathilda."

I am having way too much fun with typoGenerator

One of my favorite bloggers, Dymphie, shared this website on her blog Papieren Advonturen called typoGenerator. Basically, you type in text (I used the words "I love you", and it generates a graphic design using the words you typed. It's so awesome! Just click on the word "typoGenerator" and it will take you directly to the website. Have fun!

We're getting to know each other on the Stamp Shack.....

I LOVE the musical "King & I". I especially love the song "Getting to Know You." I'm hosting a swap on the Stamp Shack, and it's a "Getting to Know You" theme. Each person is asked to include a photograph of themselves, and words which best describe them. I chose to poke fun at myself, as you can see; but in all honesty, sometimes I AM a drama queen. I know I'm rarely serious (unless I'm at work, and then I'm being paid to be serious). But, those close to me know that I'm 99% silly and I love to keep things light. The first version has me wearing a party hat. BTW, this is a picture of me when I was about 2 1/2 years old. Apparently, I was a handful. LOL! Some of the puzzle pieces were not large enough so that I could place a party hat on my head for each one. I tried to make all of the pieces a little different, so each person was getting a unique puzzle piece.

Reinkers experiment

I thought I'd play with my reinkers this evening. It's basically the same idea as using alcohol inks on glossy cardstock, but instead of AI, I used Stampin Up Bashful Blue reinker; and instead of Blending Solution, I used a fine mist spray bottle filled with water.

First, lightly sprtiz your cardstock. Don't soak it, just spritz it. Lay it on a flat surface and achor down the corners with something heavy. This wil help to prevent your cardstock from rolling up too much (or, if at all). Apply 3 to 4 drops of reinker to felt (which is attached to the daubing tool you normally use when you play with alcohol inks). Start daubing on the wet surface. Allow to dry for about five minutes before you start stamping on it. Voila!

Stamp used: Stampers Anonymous. Paper: Basic Grey.

My pages for Debbie's CJ

These are my pages for Debbie's CJ for the swap I'm hosting on the Stamp Shack. Paper (paisley) is vintage paisley by Basic Grey. I used coordinating papers and tags, also by Basic Grey. Stamps (fingers pointing) is from the "What's the Point?" set by Purple Onion Designs. The theme of the book is "Top 10 things you want to do before you die." Here are my Top 10:

10) Travel into space
9) Learn to ski
8) Learn to speak another language fluently
7) Travel to all seven continents
6) Wake up each morning to a view of the ocean
5) Become a photojournalist
4) Discover God's purpose for my life
3) Meet my grandchildren and possibly my great grandchildren
2) Celebrate my 75th wedding anniversary
1) Don't let a day go by without telling family and friends how much I love them