Halloween on Xmas...

We can live like Jack and Sally if you want, 

where you can always find me, and 

we'll have Halloween on Christmas... 

-Blink-182,  I miss you

This creepy couple is out for a holiday stroll.  The box was made for the current Simon Says Stamp on Wednesday Challenge: "It's hip to be square."

My hubs said, "if we ever renew our vows, can we have this on our cake?"
Love him!

This just shows the dimension of the Stickles stars and the lovely snow...
and the inky moon! 

...and just so it isn't for naught, here's the cool back.  I think I should add the
Blink-182 quote to the back...

Supplies:

• Packing kraft used to build the box,  coated with Liquitex black gesso
• A hemi-circle added inside box for the base
• Human figurines are a mini wedding couple painted with Liquitex black and white gesso
• Moon created using various Ranger alcohol inks on photo paper, cut with a Fiskars punch and doodled with a fine black Sharpie
• Tree is from after-holiday sale, coated with black gesso and rolled in Tim's Distress Glitter in Black Soot
• Aleene's glitter snow along top and bottom of box
• Black Diamond Stickles used to create subtle stars in background
• All trim from my stash, affixed with Glossy Accents 

XO!

SOS: Try Something New

If you're stopping by to see what's up at Shopping Our Stash, you came to the right place!  If you are just stopping by for a drink as usual, HIIII, friends!  Clink-clink...

This week at SOS we are asking you to...

 TRY SOMETHING NEW! 

Some of us like to try new things, and some of us need a push... so either way, we all win!  It's time!

Here's my tag, in which my newly-tried technique was to add tissue texture:

Supplies!

This is my stash of remnant trim, ribbon, and string... anytime I cut excess, it goes in here.  

Supplies and notes:

• Library card base coated with matte Mod Podge, then some tissue from my youngster's back-to-school shoes crinkled on.  (I have glued tissue on to tags before, but this time I really focused on the texture I was creating...)
• Once dry, the excess tissue was trimmed away and I went to work with Tim's Distress Crayons... did not have a plan,  just colored and smeared
• The blue portion was added last by lightly dabbing Broken China Distress Stain onto the open spots
• The heart was just lying on my desk in a stack-- the results of a Fiskars punch into a failed inky panel (by the way,  the ink is Dylusions). It was accented with white Liquitex gesso and popped up with dimensional tape over one of Tim's arrows... I love this part. 
• An under-utilized stash item (Pebeo Relief Liner in clear glitter) was used to outline the sun's rays and parts of the heart
• The hanging apparatus is 100% stash also, made using a scrap of Tim's Eclectic Elements fabric,  which I braided with a few strands of red thread and attached with Recollections brads 
• The quote... ahhhh... the quote is from a library catalog card from a choose-your-own-adventure type book based on Stars Wars. How wonderful is that? 

Primary School

When I hear the word "primary," I think of it in botanical terms, i.e. primary growth. For this project, however, I am playing on the word by two more common uses: school and colors.

Supplies:

• I used a stencil cut from a stamp by Andrea of Snapping Monsters
• Dylusions sprays in London Blue, Cherry Pie, and Lemon Zest (primary colors) were sprayed through the stencil
• Amy Tangerine alphas for "primary"
• The trusty old typewriter provided the rest of the sentiment; each piece was outlined using Black Soot Distress Ink and Tim's water brush 
• Andrea's color words from her stamp set were added to the appropriate areas, and her inky splatters from the same set provided some artsy interest
• I mounted this into a panel of scrap DCWV cards to know

I'd like to enter this into the current Inkspirational Challenge:

I think I'll give this to our new principal. I will miss our old one, but this new gal promises to be fun!

Please!

Prepare for mildly offensive-yet somehow appropriate humor:

I said "mildly"... it's not that bad...

Here's the lastest of Millie (Millhouse, Millmo Maggins, Milma Flinstone...) at work:

She looks funny!  This is "full-woods" mode: ears perked up, tail going a mile-a-minute... I take a ton of pix of her at home, but only Hubs can get pix like this!  She looks like a different doggy.

Look at that tongue-- fully out of the side of her mouth!

This was made to enter into the current challenge at Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers:

...barky stampers... bahahaha...

Supplies:

• Background created by spraying Dylusions Vibrant Turquoise through a Hero Arts stencil
• The hand-carved Millie stamp inked with Distress Embossing ink and covered with Recollections EP in black
• The sweet sentiment written with a Tombow brush marker 
• Sequins from stash affixed with Glossy Accents 
• Dots around edge of panel are Viva Paper Pearls in Anthracite 

And just because I'm thinking about Millie, I gotta get weird and mention Buca... she was my main bitch for a long time... miss her!

I still cry... here's the big girl looking up into the scrap shack this past winter.

Llama make another...

I made my first llama card of 2016:

Late last year, I made this and this with the same sticker pack... OMG, I just love them... they are too cute!  Did you know llamas are related to camels?  I just learned that in the past year, although- duh- of course they are related!

Supplies used:

• Jolee's Boutique stickers
• Zig Emboss Writer with Recollections EP in black
• Background is Crushed Olive, Peacock Feathers, and Mustard Seed DI through Tim's Honeycomb stencil.  I also added a spot of shading with Weathered Wood DI behind the little camel... I mean llama.  I just think of them as little camels now.
• Martha Stewart punch used for the mounted panel.  It reminded me of a little llama blanket.

I would like to share this with the following challenges:

•  Color Throwdown #407: My color inspiration
  
• Mod Squad: Use a pet or an animal

August Creative With Stamps

I think I may have missed last month's challenge at Creative With Stamps, but I can't believe I haven't played yet this month.

Quick! Here's my card!

Actually,  the truth is: I did try to play earlier in the month... but I messed up my card by rushing a sentiment...

Anyway, here is a quick description of supplies and methods employed for the card:

• Panel with Teresa Collins modeling paste through a very-geometric Heidi Swapp stencil 
• Once dry, colored with various Distress Crayons and smeared with water.  I wiped it a little with a baby wipe when it was mostly dry which emphasized the texture
• Three different (old) stamps from three companies were inked with Ranger Archival 
• I wrote a tiny sentiment with a Tombow and also added tiny dots here and there around the panel
• The panel was affixed to a blank blue textured card from my friend Autumn... thanks!

Take care,  all.

SOS: Easy as 1-2-3!

There is a new challenge over at Shopping Our Stash:

"Stand up and be counted!"

Use numbers!

As easy as 1-2-3, right???

This is my tag:

Supplies and notes:

• Library catalog card base 
• After coating the base with a thin layer of Mod Podge, some Tim Holtz DP was attached and smoothed, then heat-dried to reduce warping
• The edges were sanded using my trusty emery board, then Black Soot Distress Paint was dripped here and there to "up" the distressed-factor
• Numbers from multiple ephemera packs by Crate Paper were attached with various methods: Recollections brad, dimensional foam, and Tombow adhesive
• Glossy Accents added detail to certain numbers
• Viva Paper Pearls in Cream 
• Red pom-poms from Target
• Tim's Idea-ology pin added for more number-power
• Gems inked with Adirondack alcohol ink in Mushroom 
• The quote (which has to do with numbers) was typed on my typewriter onto a scrap of paper, then inked with Frayed Burlap DI, and then dipped into a pool of Black Soot DI with water.  Each piece was adhered with Zig 2-Way Glue
• The last addition was the crown, which was in my stash-- it was from a JoAnn's dollar bin in a four-pack

So, go ahead and join in the fun of shopping your stash!  See you over at SOS!  Go check out what the rest of the Design Team has come up with, and if you're interested in being a Guest Designer, we're interested in you!  Come visit!  Join us in our stash-busting journey!

I want to remind you guys: use what you have!  Find somethin' with numbers!  We all have numbers.  I'm thinking about all of my extra Thickers number stickers. 

Tag... you're it!

I haven't played with the girls at the Tag! You're It challenge in a while...

Made this a few days ago:

Here's their cute CAS-CASE card:

I love the complementary colors (blue and orange) and the inky background.

Supplies:

• Broken China DI smoothed multiple times
• Feathers from The Paper Studio 
• "Hello" written with Pebeo Relief Liner in Faux Lead  on a scrap and popped up
• The black pearls are Viva Paper Pearls in Anthracite 
• ...almost forgot to mention the coolest part of this tag: the blue plastic heishi beads from Africa... not sure which country.  I got these from a vendor at the quilt show a few weeks ago.  They are like large, flat, dull, thick sequins. 

Cheers, people.  Enjoy the last month of summer!

Up and down...

Made this specifically for the CAS Mix-up and the Color Throwdown...get it: UP and DOWN!  LOL...

Here are those challenge graphics:

Supplies:

• Dina Wakley heart stamps inked with Ranger Archival
• Tim Holtz sentiment stamp inked also with Ranger Archival
• Dylusions Pure Sunshine, Distress Pumice Stone, and pink Glimmer Mist
• I popped the whole panel up on Ranger black dimensional tape

Coolness, huh!  I am surprised at how well these sprays worked together.

A Quickie...

Busted this out for Color Dare #207:

Here are the colors requested by Color My Heart Dare:

Supplies:

• Recollections resist paper pack sentiment cut out. I did a little wrinkle-free distress with Wild Honey DI, which is my match for Color Dare's Saffron.  I outlined it a little with a gold gel pen and popped it up with some dimensional adhesive.
• DCWV Watercolor DP pack... the pineapples
• I used a tiny roll of gold floss... was going to smooth it out, but I thought actually the angles looked cute... like a little pineapple top :)

I'd also like to share this for the current STAMPlorations CAS Challenge:

Cheers, you guys!

Back to school-ish

Yep... back to school... with a side of "-ish"...

I've been putting in time at the el., distributing the new ELA curriculum.  Holy geez.  Only about 45 boxes left to distribute, but the awesome custodians are going to move them for me-- they kept offering to help,  and I finally accepted.

The teachers come back officially next week,  and the students are back the following week.  I think I'm finally ready to go back.  I wish we still had a month,  though...

This is a tag I made based on the first August sketch at Viva La Verve:

Here is the actual sketch:

Supplies and notes:

• The background was another result of mopping up excess Liquitex gesso with a 7 Gypsies tag
• A layer of Teresa Collins modeling paste through a Heidi Swapp stencil yielded the grid
• I used a scrap of old sheet music with an old Dennison reinforcer down the center 
• 7 Gypsies black masking tape created my horizontal element
• The scalloped circle is the reverse-side of an old calendar diecut from years ago... I think it was made by either SEI or October Afternoon... the packaging is long gone.  I inked it up with some Scattered Straw DI-- which I also added around the tag
• The black circle was punched with a Fiskars punch and stamped with an old sunflower (Stampendous  maybe...) and embossed with both black and white EP
• The ribbon is another stash item-- possibly 10 years old

This will be cute on a back to school gift.  

Along with VLV, I'd like to share this at Creative Corner where the challenge is "three layers." Then there's also the current Blog Named Hero challenge: "a pop of color."

Sending Love

I do love the heart with wings...

Supplies and notes:

• The art panel is a scrap of packaging that had a layer of Teresa Collins modeling paste through a Tim Holtz Honeycomb stencil 
• Distress Crayons were colored and smeared  using my fingers... so fun...
• The sentiment was written  (rather sloppily) with a Tombow brush marker 
• The ink splatters are an Andrea Ockey-Parr/Snapping Monsters stamp in Ranger Archival 
• The print is from an unmounted Fiskars stamp inked with Ranger Archival and just pressed into spots

Here is another panel made during the same session:

These were so fun... I hope to do more soon! 

I'd like to share them at the following challenges:

• Try It On Tuesday: Book pages
• Stamps and Stencils: "Time to take flight"
• The Mixed Media Card Challenge: Rainbow
  

Jingle Belles Rock!

I love to follow Jingle Belles and see the cool creations and punny challenges that Stephanie and Lauren come up with,  but I have not had the holiday bug for a while.  Actually, I love xmas 3/4 of the year, but something happens between August and October... I'm a Halloween-lover! (Well, that's a year-round, life-long thing, but my crafting heart follows the previously mentioned holiday love schedule).

Here's a card made for the current challenge at Jingle Belles, which is to create a little something predominantly red:

I came across the embossed background panel during my DP organizing/purge festival Sunday night and set it aside with this challenge in mind! It came all the way from Germany... thank you,  Monika!

The stamps are from Taylored Expressions, of course!  Duh... they are the Grumpling-makers!  Gotta love 'em. I colored thus guy with various gel pens and added some of Aleene's glitter snow.

Cheers!

Where are my keys?

It's a battle in the house, and our teen isn't even driving yet.

So... look what I made!

This is my fave part!

Supplies and notes:

• The base is a remnant of the old mill siding we used in siding the craft shack
• The nails are from the original siding 
• The arrow is a Tim Holtz piece, inked for another project with Stream Adirondack alcohol ink
• The hanging apparatus is extra chicken wire from the spring battle with the squirrels, affixed with E-3000 
• The label frame was pried off an old cubby shelf in the mill yard... husband pried a bunch off for me and I love to use them.  It is truly attached with E-3000 glue, but I used snipped Recollections brads in place of nails
• The bird and heart were cut from some Spellbinders Media Mixage Copper Sheets.  I traced the bird from a Sibley calendar and cut it out with utility scissors.  Then I used a little hammer to hammer them... so cute! I edged both with DecoArt Metallic Lustre in Brilliant Turquoise.
• The label is from the calendar.  I inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Stain and a bit of white Liquitex gesso.  The clear acetate over it is from Prima, and I inked it a bit with Gold Adirondack mixative

I love that this is functional art! It is so satisfying to me to meet a need!

I'd like to share this at Happy Little Stampers Mixed Media Challenge: August