Sweet and lovely vintage

A lovely way to begin a weekend. I joined a swap on the Stamp Shack with "vintage" as the theme. Here, I used an image by Tuscan Rose; a stamp (the word "sweet") by Heidi Swapp; papers by Foofala; lace and prima flowers. For the swap, we have to create only the card front. This saves on postage costs.
We received an inch or two of snow last night, with a layer of sleet/ice beneath it. It made driving quite interesting today. We went out to a local restaurant for breakfast, ran a few other errands, and came home. It is certainly chilly, this weekend. My husband found some wonderful "chilli powder" that you add to your hot chocolate. I believe this is how many Mexican people enjoy hot chocolate. Neither my husband and I are Mexican, however, we have seen many shows on television where this spice is shown as a favorite addition to hot chocolate in Mexico. Well, we tried the chilli powder, and it is absolutely delicious!
I hope you are enjoying beautiful weather where you are! Thanks for stopping by!

Edited to add: Some folks have written to me about the "chili powder" I mentioned above. It's not regular chili powder (the red kind). It's a special chili powder called "Cocoa Chili Powder" made by McCormick's. So, please don't use regular chili powder. You have to find the kind that is designed specifically to be added to hot chocolate.

Victorian-theme pages

These are pages I created for Debbie C.'s Circle Journal (Victorianrose on Stamp Shack). Her theme is "Quotes", so I combined the theme with a vintage flavor (another request of Debbie's.) It makes so much easier for me, since I, too, LOVE everything vintage or from the Victorian-era.

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.

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.

Glimmer Mist

I'm still trying to get used to this new product in my tool box called Glimmer Mist. Before I stamped the image, I colored the cardstock with Distress Inks (pink and blue) and some Pink Grapefruit Glimmer Mist. If you see the card in person, you'd notice some gold dust glimmering from the card. After stamping, I colored it with prismacolor pencils. Layered on Anna Griffin paper.

I'm home and I'm ready to play!

Yes, I've neglected my blog. But, for good reason. I've been playing the "single mom" role for the past ten - eleven weeks, now, and this past week was just hectic beyond belief. But, after a wonderful weekend with my husband and son in Washington DC, I am back and I'm ready to play. This card is made using Glimmer Mist spray. It's a water-based ink that has fine mica mixed into it. I sponged the cardtock with Tea-Dye Distress Ink. Then, I sprayed Olive and Copper Glimmer Mist spray. After drying, I stamped the "Dutch Room" image (Queen's Dresser Drawers). I stamped it again on ivory cardstock, added party hats to each girl, and colored their dresses to match their hats.

My muse is back!

It's been a busy week at work, I am the HR person where I work, and this week, we had to conduct orientations and trainings for new and old employees, Let's just say my muse ended up falling asleep because I was too preoccupied with work. But, this Saturday morning, I got my tush in gear and whipped out the last collage card I'm submitting for a swap on the Stamp Shack, Eiffel Tower Collage stamp is by Stampers Anonymous, Woman collage image by Stampin Up and Postage cancellation stamp is by Renaissance Artstamps.

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!

It's Collage Day!

I created this collage using an image shared by Nancy Dooren, The Vintagestamper. It's a 6 x 6 collage on cardboard. I covered the entire piece with Modpodge, to seal it. Flourish stamp is by Purple Onion Designs. Heart stamp is by Stampin Up.

I LOVE 3-day weekends!

I "slept in" today and the three of us decided we would play "tourist" and head to Lincoln, for the day. After stopping at Noodles & Co at the Haymarket District, we headed to three antique shops. Scored again. I found 17 vintage photographs on various subjects. The crazy thing was one bag had 13 photographs for just $7! That is unheard of! So, I picked out three of my favorites to share with you. If you click on the thumbnail, it should open in a new window, and you'll be able to print it out from there. At some point, Lucas and Sean left me to hunt down vintage goodies while they stopped in at a "game store" nearby. After we were done browsing, we went to Granite City Brewery for dinner, and then spent a few hours at Barnes & Noble. The March/April Issue of Rubberstampmadness looks very interesting. I especially like the section on Art Dolls. So, tomorrow, Sean gets to stay home for an extra day (because he works for the Government), and Lucas is off from school, also. Another day to spend some time together! The BIG news of the day is I learned how to write an HTML code for "how to convert a thumnail to a larger image." This is my first try, so I hope it works. Enjoy the new images! Don't forget to leave me a message if you create something with them!

Found a few treasures at an antique store, today.......

After weeks of enduring below-freezing temps, we finally got above 30-degrees, today! Woo-hoo! I'm now sitting in an Internet Cafe in the Old Market area. Sean is drinking an Eskimocha (coffee, brown sugar and chocolate syrup) and I'm having a Turtle Mocha. Sean and I stopped at a couple of antique stores before coming in here. I scored with finding four old photographs. I don't have photographs of my own ancestors so I borrow from others (well, the photos that have been discarded, anyway).
Here are the photographs I picked up today (just click on the thumbnail, and it will open up in a new window for you to print out). Two were a dollar a piece, and the other two were three dollars a piece. These antique shop owners are getting smarter. They know people are "on the hunt" for old photographs. I found some really fun "Betsy McCall" (remember those?) paper dolls in another antique shop. But since the paper was stuck to those yucky magnetic albums, the paper started to yellow. It's too bad. Those paper dolls would have been so much fun to work with. Anyway, here are the photographs. Feel free to use them in your artwork. But, if you do.....I would LOVE to see what you've created. So, don't forget to stop back here and let me know or drop me an email, OK?

Finally.....I took the plunge......

Sean had always said I should start my own a blog. He said it would be a great way for my friends and family to keep tabs on what's going on with me, especially with my artwork. So, here I am. I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most savvy person when it comes to blogging, so forgive me if this isn't the most exciting blog you've ever visited. I'll try to update it when I can, and link my latest work and thought processes behind what I create. I hope you'll participate and leave me comments. It's Presidents Day weekend, and I hope to create "something." We shall see. Again, if I do.....you'll be the first to see it!