All new!

"All new" meaning I made this 100% today, unlike many of the things I'm just catching up on posting.  I have have not had solid craft time-- just tinkering here and there, and spring sports aren't even in full-swing yet!  GEEEZZZ... my kids are going to start forcing me out to the shack because I'll start turning into a huge bi... big grumpy lady!

Supplies and notes:

• I started off by using a Martha Stewart stencil to mask off the circle, then I sponged Liquitex Gesso into the opening and heat-set
• Next I swiped Tim's DI in Evergreen Bough across the area and used Scattered Straw around the circumference, then squirted with water.  Actually, I spritzed lightly at first, but it actually reacted so well on the gesso'd area that I ended up getting generous with the spritzing, then quickly dried with the heat tool to minimize the weirdness of heavy kraft absorption...
• The stripes at the edge were made using another Martha stencil and gesso
• The die-cuts are from a Simple Stories summer pack. I stamped the "Destination" tag with my little $3 Target alphabet in ColorBox Archival in Coral. 

This will go away to camp this summer.  I am filling out registrations for one kid today!  

I will share this at:

• My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #275
  
• Color Throwdown #387
  

Simon Says "Resist!"

I thought this was a good one over at Simon Says Stamp on Monday, "Try to resist":

Supplies and notes:

• First, I played with all kinds of Ranger supplies through this challenge...
• Tim Holtz Distress products were used for resisting on multiple library cards... the card I'm submitting just happened to be the funnest this morning... it caught my sleepy eye
• First, I sponged Distress Paint in Picket Fence through a Brett Weldele stencil called Scribbles, I believe
• Then I sprayed with Dylusions ink basically in the primary colors: Lemon Zest, Cherry Pie, and London Blue
• I assembled the heart with wings probably six months ago.  I used a Tim Holtz grungeboard pack, painted with Fired Brick Distress Paint and Picket Fence Distress Paint... and it *looks like* I sprayed the wings with Perfect Pearls mist.  I also used Stickles to edge the heart.  Today I wiped some Picket Fence Distress Paint over the textured surface of the heart.  Glad I did, because I like the contrast of the geometric pattern against the scribbly background.
• I added the little "hello" which was written with a Zig Emboss Writer and embossed with Recollections EP in Snow and then popped up

Hola, Kiki!

What started off as just playing around turned into a really cool hanging.  I didn't notice until I looked at the pictures of this that the print from the catalog card clearly shows 03/81, which is my sister's and my birth month and year, so this will go to her. I know she'll like it a lot.

Supplies and notes:

Yeah, yeah... I know this is simple, but I really think it is cool!

• Ranger Glossy Transparent Texture Paste over a Heidi Swapp stencil
• Once dry, sprayed with Dylusions ink in Pure Sunshine, Funky Fuchsia, and Cut Grass, then slightly wiped away droplets from the texture paste
• Amy Tangerine alphabet stamps inked with ColorBox Archival in Glacier Lake
• The trim came from Tuesday Morning... this is one of my fave craft supplies in my collection.  I love this stuff.

I will share this over at:

• CBD: "You are beautful"... make something you'd love to receive
• Colour Q #336:  
  
  
  
• STAMPlorations Mixed-media Challenge #40
  

Butterfly...

This little number will go to a sweet coworker...

I like this image because this sharp contrast is more what this looks like
IRL, though IRL you can see more of the blues and greens in
the background.

This image shows more of what's happening here.  You can kind of see
the shiny stripes on the butterfly wings and really see the
library card through the paint, ink and stenciling.

My good pal at work tripped in her yard, fell on a rock, and broke her collar bone... and just handled the pain for a couple days before going to a doctor! Women, particularly mothers, are so funny: take care of everyone else before themselves! My mom is the same way. Here's a woman who had a heart attack... then drove herself to the doctor the next day to mention it!  Anyway...

Supplies and notes

• Catalog card base with Theresa Collins modeling paste through a Martha Stewart stencil
• Inked with Distress Stain in Iced Spruce
• Dabbed here and there with Distress Paint in Weathered Wood and Antique Linen
• When dry, rubbed edges with Distress Ink in Shabby Shutters, which is pleasantly bright
• The sweet pale flowers are from Monika at "Creative With Monika" (THANK YOU, NIKA!  I'M SORRY I DIDN'T INITIALLY LINK-- LAME! I MUST HAVE BEEN RUSHING!); brown-toned flowers from The Paper Studio
• The centers of Monika's flowers are Viva Paper Pearls in Anthracite
• The stamp in the background was a hand-me-down stamp (The Stamp Pad Co.) a friend had given to my girls... Somehow it ended up on my shelf...
• Mustard bow is vintage seam binding, glued to card with Elmer's Craft Bond
• Butterfly was treated in the past with Ranger Transparent Texture Paste through Tim's StampAnon stripes stencil, then fussy cut from DP... unknown DP... because I trimmed off the company name... sorry, unknown company...
• For this particular project, I adhered a second scored catalog card to the back of the first to make a nice standing card.

I'm planning to share this sweet card at the following two challenges:

• Creative With Stamps (FIRST CHALLENGE EVER!): Butterfly
  
• Clear It Out: Theme-Springtime, Stash- flowers

Go, Bats!

This is my little ATC/hanging for Wicked Wednesday: Lots Of Glitter:

I plan to mail this to a friend's little daughter who is playing baseball on a team called the Bats... how cool is that team name? I was trying to think like a five-year-old... though my seven-year-old didn't care for the random sequins...

Supplies:

• A scrap of glittery cardstock-- not sure the brand, but this stuff is super nice and thick
• The bat came from a Halloween pack years ago.  I decorated it a bit with various Stickles tubes.
• Darice purple wire with some sequins
• The turquoise photo corners are Martha Stewart... I've had those for years
• I wrote "Go Bats" with that Pebeo liner... I love this!  I highly recommend this to anyone interested.  These tubes are like $6/7 apiece, but it's easy to use and it seems to go a long way if you just use it for detailing here and there 
• Cheap acrylic stars dyed with Adirondack alcohol ink in Mermaid

There's a bit of a difference in "Go Bats!" and "Go, Bats!" Haha!  You could say, "Go bats, Bats!" or "Go bat, Bats!" or "Go Bats, bat!"

STAMPloration CASE for April

Where did my weekend go and what did i do with my time???  Did some crafting, did some gardening, played a few games of two-square with my youngest, and did a few loads of laundry... not super-productive!  Had low crafting motivation, too, with plenty of time. Bummer. But the weather was glorious and the birds were singing :)

Here's my rendition of this month's CASEplorations card:

This is the original card by Donna Mikasa:

Supplies and notes:

• I had actually done a couple versions of this card, starting out by inking some DI onto the Inkadinkado stamp.   I had the best results for bright color and detail using Marvy markers... I always forget about those. 
• The sentiment was typed, then cut and dipped into a puddle of Pine Needles  DI + high-quality H20 (hahaha) and popped up
• So, obviously, I went with the rainbow-effect and white background for this CASE.  I'd like to re-CASE... Hope I'll have more time and motivation this week (yeah right: I'll have motivation and ZERO time... Ain't that the way it goes!)

JUGS: What's the word?

Raindrops.

This is my totally quick and cheesy card for the current Just Us Girls challenge:

Like I said, in my last post, I had plenty of free time this weekend and low motivation to craft.   I guess there's a lot to that, but I'll chalk it up to being tired.  So here's what will happen next: I'll be all inspired and my crafting soul will be on fire... and I'll have no time!  I need one of those magical days in which I create a multitude of cards that I'm hella pleased with and then I go to sleep smiling and dreaming of my next project...

Supplies and notes:

• Just smooshed my card into a puddle of Chipped Sapphire and Stormy Sky DI + water and quickly heat-set to reduce the Chipped Sapphire's propensity to bleed into that funky chartreuse
• See how that one splatter looks like the boots are actually stomping the puddle?  Feliix culpa...
• The Stamp is an oldie from the dollar bins at Michael's, and the alpha-stamps are from the dollar bins at Target
• I used a fine-tipped Sharpie for the outline