Beautiful Birthday

I played with this card for a few days as I was unpacking the shack.  I used to make a lot of more shabby-chic cards... I love that vintage and girly vibe. How's this?:

I plan to enter this into Seize the Birthday and Cute Card Thursday, both Anything Goes.  Woo-hoo, two Thursday challenges on a Thursday!  Whatttt???

Supplies:

• The background paper came from a DCWV paper pack, which I got for xmas from an awesome family friend.  I inked it with the following Distress inks: Mowed Lawn, Victorian Velvet, and Frayed Burlap
• The cake came from DP by Melissa Frances
• Doily by Wilton inked with Victorian Velvet and Vintage Photo Distress inks and stains, then I wiped the seam binding through those inks, then I sprayed them all with Picket Fence Distress Paint... got some overspray on the background as well.
• Liquid Pearls in White and Rose Gold
• Flowers bought in bulk and inked with Color Box Chalk in Creamy Brown.  Pearly stamen amongst the flowers are Wilton
• 
  

Red and gold

Here's a little creation that I really like the looks of...

I plan to enter this into Tuesday Throwdown: Anything Goes and Wicked Wednesday: Something New... the new item here being the gold sequin trim, which I picked up from the Target dollar bins on Sunday.  Love it.  Bought two.

Supplies:

• Library card base inked with a couple iterations of Aged Mahogany Distress Stain
• Used the sequin trim from Target, and had a snippet of the red ball-trim in my stash 
• The stamp is an Invoke Arts stamp, inked with MementoLuxe in black, then I colored the mermaid hair and tails with new Gel Pens from my sister (she got me the big Costco pack for xmas), then I used Liquid Leaf in Classic gold to accent a couple parts with a tiny paintbrush
• The heart on the stamp is glittered with Festive Berries in Distress Glitter

Stamps & Stencils... my first!

OMG... I totally though I would be crafting through the holidays!  Yeah, right!  Ain't nobody got time for that!

So, I occasionally mention that my hubs is building me a scrap-shack.  Well, it is all buttoned-up and heated!  It takes a while to warm up, but once it's toasty, it's comfortable. (I am one of those people who keeps the windows rolled-up in 100-degree heat, then turns on the seat warmers-- I LOVE the heat.)  Well, the shack is not insulated yet. That'll be the next big phase.  But with a Disney trip looming and xmas behind, insulation will come this spring.

Anyway, I'll post pix of the shack soon.  Some of you might really love it-- I think it's pretty awesome, and I feel pretty lucky!  Today I got out to the shack and actually crafted!  (I've spent a bunch of time just organizing).  This is my little creation for Stamps and Stencils: Grungy Xmas:

Shout out to my blog-friend Autumn who is now on their design team!  She's so nice and enthusiastic... she'd be a great addition to any team.

Supplies:

• The striped paper was from my scrap bin-- BG?  I'm pretty sure it was... wish I had more...
• Core'dinations cardstock in dark grey
• Black hemp from Michael's a couple years ago
• Walnut Stain Distress Paint
• Black Soot and Gathered Twigs Distress Ink
• Color Box Chalk in Creamy Brown
• Generic sequins from some trim I just bought at Target
• Stamp from Inkadinkado
• Handmade Modern canvas shapes from Target-- these were on clearance after xmas and they ROCK!  All of you: if you have a Target nearby, hurry up and go buy this pack.  The only thing I don't like is that they were not made in America.  

Blame the lengthy blog on the fact that the on;y adult I've really talked to in days is my hubs, and I try not to yak at him about crafts toooo much... And this is the first post from my new laptop!  I've been blogging from my phone and tablet. Whee!

And since the time I took this pic, I attached this tag to a bottle of Champagne and left it at my homegirl Susan's. :)

Fairly CAS, fairly happy...

I do like the outcome of this little number:

I plan to enter this into the following challenges:

• Freshly Made Sketches #217
  
• Creative Card Crew: Anything Goes 

Supplies & notes:

• Core'dinations card
• DCWV cardstock 
• Core'dinations kraft daubed with Liquid Leaf in classic gold over a Heidi Swapp stencil 
• The blue flowers are from BG, and the gold bling is from Studio 112
• I scrawled the sentiment with a Zig Emboss Writer with Ranger embossing powder in Princess Gold
• I edged everything with Aged Bronze Distress Stain 

Happy New Year!

Here's to 2016!

This little cutie is getting submitted to the following challenges (and please pardon the poor images-- I did the best I could with the lighting I had!):

• Creative Corner Challenges: Happy New Year
• Crafting By Designs: Here Come the Holidays 

Supplies & notes:

• The vintage image came with my latest receipt from The Funkie Junkie Boutique... it came in a little baggie with all kinds of festive confetti! How sweet.
• I painted the image with Tim's Distress Crackle Paint in Clear Rock Candy, then, while wet,  sprinkled some Distress glitter in Antique Linen. Lightly brushed the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Stain 
• The background was created in an old library card and lightly inked with diluted Distress stain in Aged Bronze. When dry, I used Teresa Collins modeling paste over a Hero Arts stencil, then sprinkled with some more Distress glitter 
• The ribbon is Martha Stewart 
• The brads are Recollections,  inked with Adirondack alcohol inks in Rust and Mermaid Lagoon

Sentimental Gift

Just another old library card randomly grabbed... lo': there's a name I recognize as my husband's co-worker's son!

As usual,  I try to pass these cards back to the people who would appreciate them... with a little crafty love added! (Hey, man!-- it's what I do...)

Anyway,  I plan to enter this little tag into the following challenges:

• Mod Squad Challenge Blog : Anything Goes 
• Share Joy Challenge #15: Sketch and/or Tic-tac-toe (I used the tic-tac-toe as indicated here:)
  
• Shopping Our Stash #232: My Precious (always read in a scratchy, low-volume control, extra-drooly voice like Gollum...)-- in this case,  my "Precious" items include the light bulb and the pin

Supplies & notes:

• Library card base aged with Distress Stains in Vintage Photo Aged Bronze 
• The edges are embossed with thick-ish Elmer's Craft Bond and Ranger EP in Princess Gold 
• Twine from stash with Liquid Leaf in classic gold wiped on here and there
• A Tim Holtz Ideaology pin that says "Ideas"... get it?: I paired it with a tiny antique light bulb, wired on (light bulb... idea... haha...) I wonder if the recipients will notice

Funkie Junkie 12 of 12!

Gasp... I did it!

Here is my final creation for The Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Xmas:

...sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique, which truly, truly rocks. In fact,  I just received a backordered item today (Princess Gold EP), and Linda and/or her elves included a little New Year's greeting and confetti-- so sweet!

Anyway,  here is Linda's tag:

I love the way she created a card out of a tag,  but after playing with the idea, nothing caught fire for me.  So I did what I've done on past tag challenges that vexed me: looked at Linda's tag to identify the basic components that spoke to me.  In this case,  I love her green and red, I always love the aged look,  I adore twine, and I coveted that polka dotted baby tag! Those were the inspirational components that grabbed me this time.

Supplies and notes :

• Instead of going with plaid, I stayed with stripes.  I felt like at this angle,  they are reminiscent of-- yes-- seasonal candy canes.  I used Mod Podge through a Martha Stewart stencil and added Festive Berries Distress Glitter. May I say: all of that thick Mod Podge really warped this tag!  Dang!
• The library card itself started out with some Evergreen Bough Distress ink
• After those two basic background steps, I swiped some Vintage Photo Distress Stain onto the mat then dragged the edges of the tag through it. 
• I made the tiny tag with scrap kraft and added the dots with a dull pencil tip (this pencil is officially a tool... I use it for all sorts of unconventional things) dipped in some Fired Brick Distress paint. The edges were daubed with Gathered Twigs.  I still may add a little charm... a bell maybe???  For now,  I'll just let it sit for a day... it will let me know what it needs!
• The twine was from my stash

I guess that's it! This tag will adorn a bottle of Whipped vodka for a friend of mine... mmmm...

Sunday Stamps #116

I hatched this idea immediately after I saw the sketch for Sunday Stamps #116:

Here's the sketchy-sketch:

Supplies & notes:

• SU! striped washi-looking stamp from Gorgeous Grunge set, stamped with Color Box in Coral
• "Thank you" and the heart are both generic cheapies (that I love) stamped in MementoLuxe in black and embossed with Recollections EP in Clear

That's it! I'll be sending this to Deborah, the fearless leader at The Society of Stampaholics Card Chain Challenge. She just sent me a cheerful card along with some cute stamps and a bag die.  What a sweetie.

Sweet birthday treats...

I don't know if I've ever had a French Macaron. I set out to find a recipe after I bought these adorable stickers, and I discovered that,  nope, I won't be making them: not only do they seem a little complicated, they contain almond flour-- can't have nuts in the house (besides the human ones!)

Here's this sweet card and the palette that inspired the colors:

Initially, I made it for the 35th My Favorite Things Color Challenge, but I also want to enter it into the Anything But Xmas Challenge at Mod Squad.

This card also has a sister card HERE.

Supplies and notes:

• Brett Weldele Stampers Anonymous Scribbles stencil daubed with Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Shaded Lilac, Crushed Olive,  and Evergreen Bough.  I splattered a teeny bit of the Shaded Lilac across the stencil, then I splattered some Brushed Pewter across, and even swirled some around, but you can't really tell...
• The macaroons (I need to look up the spelling specifics-- macaron, macaroon, macarroon...) are from Jolee's Boutique 
• The sentiment is by Tim Holtz, inked with Distress embossing ink and powdered with Custer's Last Stamp in silver 

Sister card...

Here's a little card for a coworker whose been out:

This card was produced as the by-product of a project... so I'm going to be efficient as heck and double-enter.

Click HERE for the sister card (well, maybe "parent card" would make more sense??? I like "sister" better...)

I made the initial card for the 35th My Favorite Things Color Challenge, but I also will enter it into the Anything But Xmas Challenge at Mod Squad.

Here's the MFT palette:

Supplies and notes:

• Brett Weldele Stampers Anonymous Scribbles stencil daubed with Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in Shaded Lilac, Crushed Olive,  and Evergreen Bough over the original card. I then sprayed the stencil with water and pressed it to another piece of cardstock. I used a brush with water to drag some of the "thin" area through. I drew a "casual" black line around this art-part.
• The gull stamp is from Studio 113 (K & Company cheapies from Michael's... I love this image), stamped with MementoLuxe in black
• The sentiment is by Tim Holtz, inked with MementoLuxe in black also
• Don't know if you can tell,  but the entire panel is popped up with dimensional tape
  
  

Beautious maximus

This tag came to being because I was just playing around using my fave technique,  which is still adding paste through a stencil for dimension... I could wipe and swipe paste through a stencil all day.

Here she is:

I am entering this into the Crafting By Designs Anything Goes for December. 

Supplies & notes:

This began as I was just having fun with stencils, like I said.  I used Teresa Collins modeling paste over a Heidi Swapp stencil onto a library card.  I inked my mat with a scant amount of Aged Mahogany Distress Stain and a slightly less scant amount of Spiced Marmalade, then sprayed the heck out of it with water, and wiped the dried flowers through it.  Wiped up the excess juice with some vintage seam binding, which obviously then made the bow.  The stamen were made using gold Liquid Pearls. 

Another three-fer... UPDATED

Retitled: "Once there was a three-fer... that wasn't..."  Anyway...

"...and the stockings were hung..."

I planned to enter this into the following three challenges:

• Country View Challenges: Create a Scene 
• Dutch Card Lovers : new or different home-- my home is definitely different during the holidays... {I can't get my card to load through the blenza linky...}
• Frilly and Funkie: 'Tis the Season {aww, closed}

Supplies and notes:

• So, just like my other card today, this was made with the page of a 1950s handyman manual. My awesome friend made a snowman out of this book and then gave me the snowman and the scraps! 
  

• The bare fireplace looked so sad to me, and I immediately envisioned a holiday hearth!
  
• After I cut little prototype stockings, though, I realized that I liked how striking they looked on the black and white, so I kept it like that. 
• I added Aleene's snow to the stockings for the trim.
• I also like it with no sentiment-- somehow it looks modern and vintage at the same time... wait,  that means CLASSY!

Sketch Saturday #391 (Updated)

...been a while since I've been able to play a Sketch Saturday!  Here's my fabulous* card for #391:

*The card is fabuolous, right? This card was fabulous before it was even made-- the image is freaking awesome... details below.

Here's the sketch:

Oooh, and this challenge  is sponsored by Simon Says Stamp... now, that is fabulous.

Supplies and notes:

• The image is a leftover scrap from a snowman made from that my awesome friend/coworker made for me.  She is so smart.  She knows I use everything for crafting, and she brought me the scraps!  What a doll. The book she used was a handyman book from the 1950s... I got some awesome clippings from them!!! (Check my next post...)
  

(Here's the snowman my buddy made for me out of the old book. Isn't it so cute?  She also made these trees with a sixth-grade class. This one was her prototype... but look how awesome? ! She snuck in today and added the star!)

• Also have to say,  it was unplanned how PERFECT the star on top of the tree would go with the sketch. Magic happens!!!
• Scrap green from a DCWV stack 
• The star was the negative space from a Pink Paislee sticker page.   I coated the star with Aged Gold frantage
• The gold rubbing was from a generic sheet
• The red glitter is Stickles Xmas Red
• Busted out the old typewriter for the sentiment and edged the words and the image with Color Box chalk in Blackbird 

This card will go to my BFF from childhood... she has a new-ish sweetheart, and they don't have kids,  so this is how I picture childless people decorating their tree! The image is just missing martinis!  Cheers!

JUGS #323

It's Trend Week over at Just Us Girls... this is what I came up with using sequins:

Just for fun,  here's the JUGS challenge image:

Supplies & notes:

• Actually,  I made this card without the sequins initially,  and it sat around because I felt it needed something... so finally my brain tied the card to the challenge: sequins added make the card so much more festive!
• Craft Medley sequins 
• Tim Holtz Distress Paint in Mowed Lawn,  Fired Brick,  and Spiced Marmalade 
• Sentiment written with my Zig Emboss Writer with Stampendous Frantage in Aged Gold 
• The red mat is Tim Holtz + Core'dinations kraft-core 

Colour Q #320

I busted this out this morning because I loved the palette!

This is for the current Colour Q challenge:

Supplies:

• Sponged the following Distress inks through a Heidi Swapp stencil: Dried Marigold, Spun Sugar and Evergreen Bough 
• The feather was made using gold Texture-luxe paste  through a Balzer stencil 
• I edged the front panel slightly with the inks listed above, opposite of the colors through the stencil (if that makes sense)

Funkie Junkie #10

This was another tag that I had other visions for... gold and white, etc...

This is what I got:

Here is Linda's beautiful tag:

I was inspired by the gold and white.  I loved the idea of gilded cheesecloth (us crafters are so weird-- "gilded cheesecloth..."), but I tried it and did not like the outcome.

Supplies:

• I prepped the library tag with Aged Bronze, then used Teresa Collins modeling paste over Tim Holtz's honeycomb stencil 
• Then I wiped some gold Texture-luxe paste over the comb with my finger,  and after it dried,  I wiped out with a baby wipe to settle it in... you know what I mean! I then edged the entire tag with Gathered Twig (Tim's inkpad)
• The burlap leaves edged with glitter came from JoAnn's (with the berries)
• The little leaves were punched from scrap paper with an old old old tiny punch
• I went with red twine because I felt that it really balanced the card well... don't you agree? 

Xoxo, hope ya'll got some crafting in amidst the hectic holiday season...

The 12 Tags of Xmas #10 is the specific challenge, and it is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique ... (but at this point in the challenge, I'm guessing you all know this...)

And pardon the pix... it snowed all weekend and I am such a baby... I dislike the cold and had no strong desire to march out the 20' to my "photo-studio"-- the side of the craft-shack. Btw, shack is all buttoned up-- we spent some time out there with the heater on insulating some gaps. :)

Brown Suga...

Omg, I grew up on the Rolling Stones. My mom is in love with Mick. Blucky! Not my type. Love the music.

Anywho, this is my entry for Brown Sugar #176:

Supplies:

• The image is from (?? Cut from a DP a few years ago) 

•  Liquid Pearls and Viva Paper Pearls 
• Buttons and twine and ribbon from stash
• Library card coated with Mod Podge and edged with Color Box chalk in charcoal  

TSTR and Simon Says

Convenient... Two challenges in one!

I am entering this tag into the following two challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Tag
• The Shabby Tea Room: 
  

Let's try a three-fer...

'Tis the season... to be busy-busy-busy.  So I have to triple-up on my entries!

Here's this festive piece:

I will enter this into the following challenges:

• Nacho Average Challenge: Here's the sketch... this was my starting point.
  
• Corrosive Challenge #239: Merry xmas
• Jingle Belles: December Creations

Tuesday Throwdown #273

Snowflakes! But does this guy look happy??? Hmmm...

No! He's a Grumpling from Taylored Expressions... check the site out... great stuff.

Supplies and notes:

• I already shared where my little fox and his thoughts are from. I stamped them both with a MementoLuxe pad in black, then I colored him with Rexel Derwent watercolor pencils... don't judge me too harshly-- stamp-coloring isn't my big thing.  But I think it turned out alright.
• I inked my craft mat with Tim's Distress inkpad in Broken China them misted and smooshed.
• I outlined my page faintly with a brown Prismacolor pen 
• The background paper is BG

I'm entering this cutie into the Tuesday Throwdown's Snowflake Challenge...  honestly, these snowflake blobs are start they've been looking like here in the mountains! Gawrsh!

Funkie Tag #11

Ahhh, here is my tag for The Funkie Junkie 12 Tags of Xmas #11:

This challenge is sponsored by The Funkie Junkie Boutique!  (I made my first order with Linda's elves and received it within days... over Black Friday weekend! I highly recommend checking her store out... even though this time of year we are all pinching pennies, the prices are phenomenal and her stock rocks!)

Believe it or not,  my tag was inspired by Linda's, here:

Supplies and notes:

• No really, my tag was inspired by Linda's! I was inspired by Linda's background.  Her tag is all about the background - - she allowed the background shine through, and by heck, I was going to do the same...(Nervous laughter...)
• I decided to add Stickles glitter glue in Ice, and while I love the way it looks, it wasn't what I had envisioned... a little more blingy than I was going for. (Prior to the Stickles Fiesta,  I used a library card base which already had some splatter on it from another project. I took a sheet of vintage xmas carols and sprayed it with water and Distress Spray in Picket Fence and crumpled it all up. Then I unfolded it and glued it to the card roughly with Mod Podge, then sprayed it with gold Perfect Pearls mist.)
• Okay... so I switched gears.  I still wanted to let the background shine through (and, boy, does it...), so I just added a little JOY using a Making Memories letter sheet from Valentine's back in 2010. Love it. 
• Then I added a little skirt with some scrap tulle, and trimmed it with Martha Stewart metallic trim, which is actually a bright and very reflective rose gold-- neither image captured that. 
• Finished it off with some generic red twine