SOS!

Shopped my stash for a big boy and this is what I got:

Quick notes (busy, busy, busy):

• A scrap of paper
• Antique silver frantage  applied with Mod Podge
• Amy Tangerine and generic Target alphabet stamps 
• Spiced Marmalade Distress Paint

I made this to share at SOS #245: For the... Boys.

Summer Tanager

Not native to where I live :(

The summer tanager is beautiful... I'd love to see one! Here in the west we have the western tanager, of course, and it is beautiful and bright as well:

Supplies and notes:

• Postbox Red Dylusions spray through a Martha Stewart stencil, then monoprinted
• Pure Sunshine Dylusions spray all ova'
• The tanager was cut from an old day-planner.  The images are Sibley.
• I used Pebeo Dimensional Liner in Lead
• The tape is fabric tape from Daiso, a Japanese import store that I've never been into.  My best friend (the one getting hitched) keeps going there and buying me tape!  Thank you, Sarah!
• The pom-pom trim was a score from Michael's years ago.  It was on clearance!  Whatttt?

I'd like to share this at Simon Says Wednesday: Anything Goes and Crafting By Designs: April Anything Goes.

Try It On Tuesday

Omg, and this week at Try It On Tuesday is "Add a quote".  They are speaking my craft-language these past two challenges!

Supplies and notes:

• I recently went to Hobby Lobby (I try to only go once every 18 months for multiple reasons), and I picked up a few supplies I'd been out of.  One was carving blocks.  I've had a small stash of the SU! sets (thanks to crafting friends who aren't so into the carving thing), but I ran out.  So I picked up the cheaper "blue" Speedball... NEVER AGAIN!  Very crumbly, not for fine detail.  I should not have let the low price lure me from the vinyl or red.  BUT... I do love the stamp I busted out last night.  It's a quote from Modest Mouse... my fave quote by them, I think.  My next tattoo.  Anyway, I love the rough look of a hand-carved stamp, so I made no effort to clean it up.  I just need to keep it stored high... the Treeing Walker Coonhound loves hand-carved stamps best of all.  Brat.  
• Stamped it in MementoLuxe ink
• The paper is watercolor paper that got all-kinds of crazy love one night.  I think it was a scrap, then I focused on it, then it got some Dylusions Fresh Lime overspray... It was just in my sight last night as I was getting stamp-happy with this new one, so this is the finished product.
• Husband wondered if I meant it to be so offset.  Yes.

This will end up on my wall somewhere in a prominent position.

HLS March CAS

This month's challenge for Happy Little Stampers' CAS challenge was to create some faux mother-of-pearl.  Here's my quick project:

Here is the challenge graphic:

Supplies:

• Faux mother-of-pearl was made using cellophane wrap with Ranger Liquid Pearls in Rose Gold and White Opal plus Scribbles puff paint in Iridescent Charcoal Grey
• The feathers came from a pack from The Paper Studio
• Silver tape made by Martha Stewart

This is actually a tiny card. It will go to the kids this summer.

She's a rainbow...

That's my mom. She is a HUGE Rolling Stones fan, and I grew up listening to her Stones... and her singing along.

Supplies and notes:

• Embossed a library catalog card with a Sizzix folder
• Daubed Distress Ink in a rainbow with Festive Berries, Spiced Marmalade, Scattered Straw, Shabby Shutters, Stormy Sky, and Seedless Preserves
• Splattered water, dried, splattered again
• Added drips of Ranger Glossy Accents
• Cut a pic of my moms and popped it up on dimensional
• Thickers for "rainbow" and utility stickers for "she's a"
• Added a Tim Holtz easel die into the back

I'd like to enter this into  Sunday Stamps: Rainbow fun... Thanks to Monika for the encouragement.

I distrust camels...

Haha!

Supplies:

• I sprayed another project with a Martha Stewart Stencil and black Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, then monoprinted onto this card.  
• The stamp has no name and was from the thrift store (who would get rid of this?) and I used Distress embossing ink with Ranger Princess Gold EP.  What you may not be able to see is that the Glimmer Mist has gold shimmer which matched the EP well.
• I typed the quote and dipped it into Distress Ink in Seedless Preserves + H20
• I painted and flicked Dylusions in Fresh Lime

I made this into a card by scoring the back library card and adhering to the front panel.  It's at the local bookstore now...

I'd like to enter this into the current Simon Says Stamp: Food and Drink... yummo.

Old jar

Well, I hope it *looks* old...:

...that was my goal.  I had these pins in a jar that my brother tried to recycle (gasp) when he and his baby Viv were in town.  SHALL SHALT NOT DISCARD SMALL JARS IN A CRAFTER'S HOME!  "I can find a use for that..."

Steps:

1. (DAY 1) I painted the lid with Liquitex gesso
2. Added yellow sand paste by Pebeo
3. Painted with Rich Espresso metallic paint by DecoArt
4. (DAY 2) Started to paint with Walnut Stain Distress Paint... then stopped.  The color was all wrong.  So I sprayed it with Distress Stain Spray in Black Soot
5. (DAY 3) Parts were still wet, so I wiped it with a baby wipe and now tried a little Walnut Stain Distress Paint... now that the background was dark, it was fine.  I painted it around and wiped a little off
6. I touched at the "corroded" parts with Spiced Marmalade Distress Paint, and wiped a little off with the baby wipe, then added a dab of matte Mod Podge and dabbed a little old nutmeg onto the corroded parts.  Actually don't love the nutmeg on it... too bright.
7. I also added a dab of matte Mod Podge to the top part of the lid and dabbed it to dull it even more (I hoped)
8. Finally, I added a few drops of Adirondack alcohol ink in Rust, then  added a drop of Mermaid... it was too much, so I did a quick wash with blending solution, then added one more drop of Rust.  That left just the right amount of turquoise...

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

• Creative Corner: AG but a card 
• Simon Says Monday: Food and drink (baby food jar... is that a stretch?)

Chicken wire fun

How cool is this?

I was working in the yard and had some remnant scraps of chicken wire.  Actually, I was working on the flower beds around the scrap shack.  What a great segue for me to yak about the shack...

Little daughter and I had planted bulbs in the fall and the @#$%^ squirrels dug up many of them... rrr.  So I had to carefully dig through the torn-up soil to see where some tulips were actually still in place... what a pain.  But it was sunny, and little daughter was playing with a buddy in the yard, so it was fine.  My folks had given me a bag of gladiola bulbs last week, and I had some leftover tulips and bluebells (!) that should have been planted in the fall.  I planted them all, and snipped some chicken wire to keep the varmints out!

See the chicken wire and wood around the flower beds?  I mean BUSINESS, squirrels!  Ya hear me???

Pardon the mess... we have't gotten back to construction since the fall.  So, here's where the magic happens.  I painted the stripes on the doors so the birds won't run into them--  I am looking into more attractive options, but that was a quick fix.  We obviously need to face the top, and trim out the corners and frames.  I'll need a step eventually, a few bird feeders, and a window box! (I'll show you the inside soon... it's a MESS!)  I've mentioned this before, I think, but my awesome hubs built this last summer/fall, and we finished it with 75-year old boards from the original mill in town.  The roof is also old corrugated metal from the mill.

Back to the project!  Supplies and notes:

• I used a Sizzix embossing folder on the library catalog card then sprayed it with LSG mist in Ethereal Emerald... of course the pictures seldom do the sheen justice...
• I used a piece of chicken wire that was roughly cut the size of the card and I used my pliers to curl the ends around the card.
• The birds are from my National Geographic bird guide for scrappin', and I popped them up on dimensional.  These are non-native in my area... They are actually mostly in Mexico.
• The flower at the top is from one of Tim's packs... I did not alter the color of it because the pewter that I bought it in went so well with the wire.  I glued it on with E-3000 

I'd like to enter this into the following challenges:

• Try It On Tuesday: Nature (my 4th...)
• Crafting By Designs: 3 or more layers (the card, the wire, the birds)

Intergalactic love...

Another result of playing with watercolor paper and various techniques:

(Blogging from my phone tonight-- pardon the formatting and grammar and brevity!)

The strange but fun thing I did on this watercolor panel was to scatter some hearts across the page when dry then spray with some glimmer mist. You can see the fainter hearts a little, but the moisture of it reacted with the ink already applied... Looks neat, though subtle. 

I'd like to share this over at Color My Heart Dare #186.

Hawaiian Birthday Love

Very Hawaiian, don't you think? Or at least tropical...

And here's one more floral watercolor to brighten the day: 

I made these a few weekends ago, and wanted to share them somewhere.  How about at Crafting By Designs for their March Anything Goes?  Okay.

It is precipitating again... this time the white stuff... which is actually welcome... I like to look at snow better than rain.  (My husband would disagree-- he loves the rain...)

Easter Bunny

Here's another project from my burst this weekend:

I actually have been working on this little card over the past few weeks.  This weekend I decided to just get it done-- I couldn't figure out how I wanted to complete the top-- nothing looked just right, so I added the pink pearls and called it good. It still looks like it's missing something... maybe a shabby bow? Hmmm.

Supplies and notes:

• Library card base inked with various pastel Distress Inks over a Brett Weldele stencil. 
• The trees are stamped in Sand, and the leaves are stamped in Forest Moss Distress Ink then spritzed.
• The white "flowers" are Liquid Pearls, and so are the pink pearls around the top edge.
• Corners rounded with a Fiskars punch
• Bunny stamp is by Tim, stamped in Sand
• Flowers at base are from a bulk purchase
• The grass is from leftover trimmings from Wes's program, which had Tim's treeline set stamped in Forest Moss
• The whole card was edged with Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink, and I sprayed some Picket Fence Distress Stain over the whole thing, though the splatters are not visible in this image! Maybe Friday, between making more of Wes's programs for Kelly to mail, and Save The Dates for Sarah's wedding, I'll continue my work on my photo situation...

I plan to enter this into:

• Simon Says Wednesday: Cute & Cuddly
• Cute Card Thursday #417: Easter

Cheers!  Happy Tuesday!

Rusted Star

Don't you know that you are a shooting star...

This was so fun!  Can't wait to play more with the rusty look.  I have a couple things in my Amazon cart... real industrial stuff... but I thought I'd try some lower-budget rust and metallic effects with things I have already.  I'm totally stoked on this, though!  I wish I had the week off so I could go-go-go!  (I like how my mojo shows up when I need to shut the shack down for the week.  To quote my teen, "Really?")

Supplies and notes:

• Cardboard star from Hobby Lobby, on extreme sale
• First painted with DecoArt metallic paint in Espresso
• Next rubbed with DecoArt Metallic Lustre in Brilliant Turquoise
• Then dabbed with Spiced Marmalade Distress Paint (on my finger)
• After that, I snipped some shanks off of brads and roughly tossed them into a small dabby-dab of Spiced Marm.  Before I glued the brad-heads on with Glossy Accents, I dotted the star where I planned to attach the brad-heads with Black Soot Distress Paint.  After the brads were affixed, I used a tiny brush in Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain Distress Paints to accent where the "rivets" were rusting

I want to enter this into the current Corrosive Challenge which is AG.  Also, I haven't played at SanDee & Amelie's in a while... I lost their bookmark when I upgraded my compute in December... haha, I found them :)

Purple birdie

Chirp!

The eye on this little guy is my fave.

Supplies and notes:

• Dina Wakley birdie stamped in MementoLuxe in black
• Shimmery watercolors... I tried to get a good pic of this... 
• Bird's eye painted with DecoArt metallic paint in Espresso then dotted with Glossy Accents... it looks so real!  (Just the eye... zoom in, might be worth it...)
• Library catalog card edged with Faber Castell Texture Paste in Gold

I'm entering this relatively CAS card into the following:

• CAS Mix Up #1: Stamp + H20color + (your choice)
• Try It On Tuesday: Nature (my third entry here... love it)

A little birdie told me...

Yes... I made this:

Not necessarily my typical style, but I was feeling crafty and trying to get my gears going... so I just went through some basic motions.  I definitely like this card, though.  It's cute.  It will make a cute card for a soon-to-be grandparent.

Supplies and notes:

• K & Company pink and patterned paper 
• Dina Wakley Media birdie stamp and sentiment, both stamped in Tim's Distress Embossing Ink then heat-embossed with Recollection EP in white (I think they call is "Snow"... it's white.)
• I added some moss from my stash like a little nest... awww...

I will enter this cutie into the following challenges:

• Crafty Catz #316: Baby
• MFT Sketch Challenge #272
  
• The Card Concept #51: Naturally Pink
  

Spring in the air

Ahh, the Vernal Equinox...

Supplies and notes:

• Library catalog card base originally sprayed with Dylusions in Lemon Zest, then I used a Dina Wakley stencil (that came with the sketched bird stamps) and sprayed with Dylusions in Cut Grass, then used the stencil and monoprinted this base.
• Fiskars corner rounder
• Dina Wakley's birdie stamps stamped using MementoLixe in black and painted with new shimmery watercolors.  I had seen people using these recently, and thought, "Wow, that's awesome..." then was shopping this weekend in a big city and saw some in a craft store!  Oh yeah, unexpected purchase!  So happy with them.
• Birdie eyes emphasized with Glossy Accents
• "Verbal" stamped with Amy Tangerine letter stamps in Distress Emboss Ink and heat embossed with Stampendous Stamp'n Stuff in Green Tinsel
• "Equinox" written with Pebeo Relief Outliner in Imitation Lead
• Flowers with pink Liquid Pearls
• Twine from Dollar Tree during the holidays

I plan to enter this ATC into the following challenges... what can I say?  Spring is definitely in the Blogosphere air:

• Wicked Wednesday #201: Springtime
• Stamps and Stencils: Spring is in the air
• Creative Knockouts #133: Spring is on the way
• Brown Sugar #190: Spring
• Dutch Card Lovers #251: Spring

Happy Bird-day x3

If you ever check in on me, you know I am a big fan of birds.  How do you guys like these cuties?  None of these are native to my area, and I have never seen any of them in real life.  But aren't they so cute?  Look at how awesome the Blackburnian looks?  I keep thinking that little orange bishop is a Le Conte's... also non-native to my area, but I have seen one who had lost it's way and ended up in Arcata, CA about 12 years ago. 

Anyway, how do you like my little notes?  Get it?: Overdue? Check you out? !!!  (My hubs would say, "dorkis malorkis.")

Supplies:

• Library catalog index cards and old due date cards in the background
• Background of cards daubed with Distress Inks in Rusted Hinge and Scattered Straw through Tim's SA Honeycomb stencil.  Well, the orange bishop's card had a monoprint from the aftermath of daubing, but then I made a little puddle and painted a few hexagons.
• Birds cut from my craft-copy of National Geographic's field guide to birds of North America
• Sentiments typed on typewriter
• Splatters made using the Distress Inks on my mat with some water, then flicked with a paint brush

I plan to share at Try It On Tuesday: nature, as my second entry. I'm a pretty big outdoorswoman. This is "my jam."

Dreamy...and a tree card

I am IN LOVE with these cards.  My kids would make fun of me for saying that, but it's kind of how I feel.  

First, let me give credit where credit is due: I got the idea to do this from Sweet Kobylkin's post last month.  OMG, check her out.  Everything this woman churns out is absolutely fantastic.  She is like a one-woman Hallmark.  She might be part wizard.  Anyway, I used her idea of masking between a torn sheet, but then I tried to go my own way with the spots and splatter.

I love the way these turned out, and actually did over four. (I say "over four" because some are only partially made :) )

Supplies:

• Various Distress Inks.  For the cards above, I used Scattered Straw + Spiced Marmalade, and Evergreen Bough + Broken China
• Various stamps stamped in MementoLuxe 
• I actually ran these through the typewriter for the sentiment... it was scary because I didn't want to mess up the card, but I knew the look I wanted, and I was not disappointed.  This is 110# paper, and the old typewriter punched it like a letterpress (my latest fantasy purchase... anybody have one they want to sell?)  I actually cut a large thin envelope to sheath most of the card as I ran each through.  Saved it from some old typewriter grime.

I'd like to play with the current Try It On Tuesday challenge: NATURE. My tree card makes me feel so in love with forestry, the same as I felt all those years ago.  Sigh. 

Sweet sunshine

Ahhh, I made this because I SOOOO need a little sunshine! It's been precipitating in all forms for like two weeks now...

And you know... the sun is a star.  It's actually only an average-sized star. Did you know that planets are the bi-product of star formation?  Think about the implications there... boom.

I made this yesterday, just shirking my duties, but I know an oppportunity when I see it!  I will enter this into the current Simon Says Monday Challenge asking us to use some lucky stars.  Well, I guess this card is only referring to one lucky star, but it's our lucky star!  Doesn't that count? 

Supplies:

• Distress Ink in Dried Marigold and Dylusions Spray in Lemon Zest on watercolor paper
• Lotsa water droplets
• Zig Emboss Writer with Ranger Princess Gold EP

Gotta run... daylight savings is going to kick my butt today...

Battle of the bay!

Take me out to the ball game!

It's that time of the year again... BATTLE OF THE BAY!  Oakland versus Giants!

I really need to do my nails...

My friend and I go every year... she is the Giant's fan, and I am an A.  We both root for both teams... during any other game, but during these games, we get all duded-up in our OWN colors and have a ball!  I think I'll used these tags to decorate treat bags for our hotel room!

I'd like to enter this set into Color Throwdown #383.

Supplies:

• Both tags' creations required a Heidi Swapp stencil and Teresa Collins modeling paste
• The A's tag had an inking of Scattered Straw Distress Ink in the background, while the Giant's tag had a monoprint from the stencil of Spiced Marmalade
• The A's tag has Ranger EP in Princess Gold, and the Giant's tag has Custer's Last Stamp EP in Silver
• The A's tag has a spritzing of Dylusions Ink in Mowed Grass (+ some water) and the giant's tag has a spray of Distress Stain in Black Soot

Just a bit...

...o' green:

I am not a huge glitter-user.  I mean, I really love it, but I guess it doesn't usually "go" with my stuff.  For whatever reason, it struck me that glitter was exactly what this bright card needed, and I am so glad I added it!  WooooOOOOooooohhh...

Supplies:

• Watercolor paper stamped with Inkadinkadoo stamps, which were stamped into various Distress Inks (and one Color Box ink) and spritzed prior to stamping.  I also painted some greenery where it was lacking.
• The sentiment was written with a Zig Emboss Writer and embossed with Ranger EP in Princess Gold
• The glitter is Stickles smeared around with my finger
• The gold vellum in the background is from the bulk racks at JoAnn's

I'll enter this into Simon Says: "Use a bit o' green on Wednesday"-- that I did... that I did.