Life's a beach...

Few things are better in a crafter's life than when a best friend is engaged! 

Sarah, who's been my BFF since 5th grade, is getting married at the ocean. She is one of those "beaches" (hahaha, pardon me...) that LOVES all things nautical, and, by Neptune, she's going to have a nautical nuptual event.

We have a planning weekend scheduled next week, and OMG, lots to do.  I hope everybody has a BFF relationship like this one, though: she and I work together so well.  I think we'll get the majority of the planning done, including the fun stuff... like LOs for Save the Dates and Invites!  And thank Neptune for Pinterest!  What an awesome tool it is! 

Anyway, so I have beach on the brain.  Here is a little tag that takes kind of a sweet Victorian-ish era view of the ocean, pre-turn-of-the-century vintage, which I picture more with the anchors and stripes. (I like both-- I'm just explaining the "feel" this tag gives me.)

Supplies and notes:

• The base is a library catalog card, originally inked with Scattered Straw Distress Ink, then I added Teresa Collins Texture Paste through a Heidi Swapp stencil... a stencil which had green ink from a previous project on in... so my dots turned greenish... fine. Fine.
• Later on that day, during a different experiment, I had a puddle of some Chipped Sapphire Distress Stain on the mat, so i added a bit of water and smooshed.
• Next, I added the bow, made of vintage seam binding. But damn: the local thrift store must have a crafter as a pricer because this thing was $1!  Like I could walk away.
• After a day of resting, this tag took center stage again, and I brushed some matte Mod Podge over it with my finger and added Tim's Distress Glitter in Antique Linen (still my fave).
• The sticker is from K & Company

I plan to enter this beachy peach into the following challenges:

• Cute Card Thursday #416: Lace or Ribbon
• Crafty Catz: Ribbon and Bling
• STAMPlorations Stencil Sunday #36 and Mixed Media Challenge
  
• I wanted to enter this into HLS's Mixed Media challenge... the theme is WATER... but I didn't use a single stamp...that's okay!  After next weekend's wedding planning, maybe I'll have my mojo going this beachy direction again!

Green and Gold

Whoop-whoop! Ahh, green and gold... Not only am I an Oakland A's fan, but my alma mater's colors are green and gold! :-)

Here's a little decorative ATC/ hanging. Though this has nothing to do with baseball or college, I did go to school with this friend and also attend A's games at least once or twice a year together (though she's more of a Giant's fan...) This will go to her.

I plan to share this at the following challenges, both of which are asking for Green and Gold:

• Wicked Wednesday #200
• Brown Sugar #189

Supplies:

• Library card base painted with Mowed Lawn (corrected) Distress Paint, and edged with Victorian Velvet
• The dots are Faber Castell gold texture paste through a Martha Stewart stencil
• The image is old.. I think it is from a Heartwarming Vintage sheet. I brushed it thinly with Ranger Crackle, then popped it over some moss
• I typed the sentiment and edged it barely with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink

The Gift of Friendship

I love this quote:

I made this card with the intention of entering it into Addicted To CAS: GIFT.

The dots are a little busy, but this is still clean (no distressing) and simple (slapped a quote and a sticker into a card). Boom.

The birdie sticker is slightly puffy, made by Studio 112 (the cheap brand at JoAnn's).  Have had it for years. I typed up the quote over a month ago, and it was just in my stash. When I sat and thought about the challenge, I quickly thought of this quote and that was my jumping point.

Splish Splash

Okay, this is a pretty cute envelope:

We just had insane amounts of rain yesterday across California-- literally. I know: we were driving and covered a lot of ground... torrential downpours. So I think the meteorologists could classify yesterday's rain as "insane."

Entering this into STAMPlorations CAS for March, using the optional color yellow.

Supplies:

• Studio G $1 rainboots stamp in Scattered Straw Distress Ink
• Watercolored "rain" (though the rain I saw was gray, gray, gray... think I'll make a gray + yellow envelope as well... love those colors)
• Nothing special about the envelope. Got it at a thrift store last week in a bundle with some cool vintage air mail envelopes. 

Leap into the unknown...

Well, there is one thing that I haven't done: memorial programs.

There was a core-group of us that went all through forestry school together, from the JC to the University, and Wes was one of us.  His wife is also part of our group, and she has remained one of my best friends.  Wes died in a totally fluke auto accident.  It has shaken us all up, obviously, but I definitely found peace in helping his family... all I keep thinking is, "Thank goodness I have art as a tool."  Though I haven't been feeling crafty, I am so satisfied with these.  I keep wondering if it's weird that I'm sharing these, but then I'm like, "Nope.  Lots of people like me surely find peace through work." I did. 

Here' the basic process:

A little "swipey-swipey" on Tim's SA treeline with Forest Moss.  

A little spritzing... I was able to ink-spritz-stamp, then re-spritz and stamp one more.
Then I'd just lightly swipe a bit more ink and spritz and stamp once more
before I'd wipe clean and start over.  

I tried to set with a heat tool to minimize the warping (textured  65# Vanilla Cream
cardstock... thinner than 65#, methinks.)  I recently bought a pack of cork-backed
placemats from Tuesday Morning, and they have been SOOO useful.
This was another good use: using it to heat over.

Here is a view of the first round. Ahhh, sweet variation.  

Happy Wes.  His wife took this picture on a hike, but what I'm trying to
 show in this picture is the lovely texture.
It really came out nicely. I'm proud of the result.  

I just like the way these look in a stack.
And you get to see another  glorious view of Wes's programs.  The reverse has
a map of the actual memorial site and list of  the speakers.
I also cut these at 8.5x5".  It is a nice size.  

This has definitely been therapeutic, though I'm not going to say it was easy at the beginning, or even now, looking at them. When the first set came off the printer, it was like, "Whoa, I'm really making these..."  Surreal, though it's sinking in.

I also had the thought, "Well, this is something I haven't done..." and thought of the later the Simon Says Stamp Monday "Leap into the unknown"... I hope none of you have to do this, but if you do, I hope this inspires you.  It was a labor of love, and fulfilling to know I was able to help.

RIP, Wes!  Love you, buddy!!!

Cute Card for Mom

Springtime is upon us... and apparently so is Mother's Day in the UK. Isn't every day Mother's Day???  Here's to you, moms!  I'm taking this opportunity to send my mom a card for spring. When I was growing up, she had this thing for white rabbits in the kitchen.  Some are still there, living on her counter.  Cookie jars... figurines. I know these guys aren't white, but this is a piece she will like.  My guess is she will tuck it up on the kitchen sink windowsill.

Supplies and notes:

• The rabbits are from Heartwarming Vintage (I believe-- I'll update if not.)
• They got a treatment of Tim's Distress Crackle Paint, and then I popped them up on dimensional tape
• I sketched some branches and buds on the library card base, then blended then with a wet paintbrush.  After that, I sprayed with an overspray technique using Pumice Stone Distress Spray Stain, which gave it a nice, speckled look
• The banners came from a Maggie Holmes die-cut pack. Ironically, one of the banners has printed due-date card! (That's like a forester with a plastic tree: AWKWARDDDD...)
• The bow is old (but not too old) seam binding in a charcoal grey/olive green color.  To me, it's a concentrated form of the Pumice Stone Distress Spray color, which to me is always more green than even Iced Spruce Distress Stain...

Do you see the star on my shack? My sister bought me two of those for xmas! :-)

Here's the link to Cute Card Thursday... go see the cute Mother's Day cards!  I guess maybe it wouldn't hurt if I got an early start and made a card specifically for the holiday!  But like I asked: isn't every day Mother's Day???

Two bright ones

I LOVE the looks of these! The bold colors of Dio De Los Muertos and the bright funky thread elicit a portion of the Mexican culture that has always appealed to my aesthetics.

Supplies and notes:

• Both library bases were sprayed with various shades of Dylusions ink
• The trim came from Tuesday Morning (shout out to Autumn at Sew.Paper.Paint for turning me on to that place!), and I just sort of loosely dotted Elmer's Craft Bond where the balls would end up. This gives each card such an awesome loose and much more dimensional look.
• The quotes were typed on my old typewriter, and the top one, as you can see, is outlined with a fine sea-green Sharpie (the Signature line?)
• I'll keep the birthday one in my stash at the school, and the Buddha quote will go to my friend Judi who is such a great person and values all good people.  I think she'll really appreciate this quote.

I plan to enter these into the following challenges:

• Obviously, the birthday card is my entry for Seize The Birthday: AG
• These both qualify as entries into Darnell's NBUS Challenge (new bright pom-trim), but I'm specifically entering the bottom one... more colorful...
  
• Again, both qualify, but I'll enter the second into Tuesday Throwdown's #283: Frame It