SOS 403: It's a CHARMED life

This two-week challenge at Shopping Our Stash is to use a charm (in case you couldn't guess by the title...)

I've been thinning my stash for a couple months now and had only a few options for charms.  I saw the keys and thought "haunted house."

Details:

• Both the focal paper and background paper is by BoBunny from years ago
• The glittery black mat is also from at least 5 years ago from a thin pad I got from Walmart... don't ask why I remember that!
• The bat brads are from Eyelet Outlet, bought last October when the stamp expo was in Sacramento 
• The keys were from a generic brand, packaging long-gone. They were originally black but I brushed them with a messy coating of gesso.
• The grey wool twine is vintage-- from my grandma's sewing box
• I added loads of Stickles from a Halloween set that I've had for at least 2 years. 
• The greeting was cut from some old Halloween DP... at least 5 years old.  

Thanks for visiting! You have 2 weeks to join up and use your stash!

SOS 402: Gone fishin'!

HI! 

I haven't posted since May.  Goodness, life is crazy-busy.  I do LOVE being a part of the Shopping Our Stash team. 

This week I am hosting, and I have asked that folks create something with a fish, fishing theme, or even a sea-creature... easy, right?  And a good opportunity for a masculine card, or a card for the fisher-woman in your life!

Here's my offering:

Supplies:

• Focal image by Carta Bella from 2018 with water accents by Glossy Accents
• Triangles background also by Carta Bella from 2017
• Orange brads from a Hallloween collection that the packaging is long-gone from... but I think it was Making Memories from many years ago (8-ish?)
• Pale green brads from a Colorbok set from at least 4 years ago
• Edges of everything rubbed with some Vintage Photo DI.

Thank you for stopping by.  Hope you got some of your stash thinned out!

Visit my rad teammates... they are talented paper artists!

SOS 395: May Flowers

Hi!  Thanks for visiting!

This week at Shopping Our Stash, we are celebrating May Flowers!  I'm guessing you won't have to dig too deep for some floral stash-- I know I have gobs of flowers and floral paper and whatnots... this was easy for me!  Everything was kind of in reach and very stashy!

Here's the card:

Supplies:

• Marion paper from 2013. I bought this from my fave scrapbook store which unfortunately burned up with the Camp Fire of Paradise, CA.  sad.  So I treasure all of my supplies from there, just knowing I bought them there.
• The lace is vintage, but it's been in my stash for many years.  
• The focal image is the second proof of a stamp I carved last weekend.  It was inked with my oldest DI pad: Worn Lipstick.  It is the only full size DI pad I have (while I have many DOx pads).  Anyway, this was sitting on my desktop and I decided to use it!  I lightly traced the heart a little bigger onto the reverse of the Marion paper and inked everything with Vintage Photo DI and added a touch of Spun Sugar DI to the stamped image.
• Mercury Glass Stickles added to the vintage look.  
• The pearls in the corner are Liquid Pearls in Rose Gold.
• The flowers are from a bulk buy a couple years ago.

Go visit the rest of my awesome team-- very supportive ladies even though I've been busy busy busy...

SOS 392: ATC (Coin or Card)

This week at Shopping Our Stash, the Fabulous Donna is our host and she chose the rad theme of ATCs!  You can do an Artist Trading Card or an Artist Trading Coin! 

Donna and I swapped ATCards monthly during 2018, and this year we are exchanging ATCoins.  I love making ATCoins and ATCards-- for some reason, instead of feeling limited by their small size I feel more free to get crafty with my supplies!  I feel free to just get artsy and goofy and go with instinct and follow visual cues during the process.

Here is my project (which I get to exchange with Maria-- the Yellow Rose of Texas being my inspiration!)

Supplies:

• ATCoin cut from a scrap of packaging
• ATCoin then coated with some excess black Liquitex gesso
• Tim's Roses stencil used with modeling paste over top
• Roses colored with a Mustard Seed Distress Crayon and rubbed in
• Lemon imagery cut from an old dictionary and glued on using matte Distress Collage Medium 

I hope you get a chance to join us, and spread the joy by finding someone to exchange with!

Town Mouse... Country Mouse

Honored to be invited to join Library Challenge!  Gosh... so busy with real life and haven't been to the craft shack in weeks, but always fun to play along.   It's what I wish I could do 24/7.

This week,  Marina is celebrating three story of the Town Mouse and the Country Mouse.  This reminds me of my best friend Sarah and I: she lives in the city and i live in the country.

I hope y'all enjoyed this.   It was fun make.

Supplies:

• Kraft paper folded into a heart gate-card
• I used a piece of arted-on paper that had some acrylic paint and miscellaneous stamping and cut it to fit on the card base, then glued it using mod-podge and holding it flat with a large acrylic block
• For the country side, I added a pre-diecut treeline (by Tim Holtz) and added Stickles
• For the town side, I used a scrap of paper previously used to clean my brush and made a city skyline and used Black Diamond Stickles
• Tim's paper dolls represent my bestie and me
• Tim's Quotations give the perfect sentiment: my bestie and I are happy in either the city or the country! 

Xoxo, Mary
(Thanks for having me,  Marina!)

SOS 391: Best Friends Day

This week at Shopping Our Stash, I am hosting again, and I selected the theme of "Best Friend's Day."  Welllll... I went back to add a link to "Best Friend's Day" and... it's not in March!!!  Ackkk!!!  Sorry, everyone.  Not exactly sure how I messed that up-- I always check the same cool site (Brownielocks... you should check it out!). 

Anywhoozy, is it ever a bad time to celebrate friends?!  So let's do it! 

While we're on the subject, I am especially grateful for this DT at SOS.  I mean, these ladies are incredible!  I have genuine love for them.  Such a neat thing to be connected via the web only, yet I feel the true friendship vibes and wish we all lived close enough to get together for a drink now and then.

Here is my card for this challenge, made for an amazing friend of mine:

This particular friend has been through a hell of a lot in her life, yet she never ever complains and seldom asks for help, and remains so kind and generous and optimistic and grateful and honest.  She is just one of the most incredible people I have ever met, and resilient is the word to describe her.  Wow.  My thyroid meds must be out of whack because I just noticed that I misspelled resilient on the card.  (Shaking my head... I'll fix it...)

Supplies:

• The main pink panel with dogwood and sentiment were made initially this past fall.  It sat on my desk for a long time, and I even showed it to my friend in its early stages... but it wasn't right. I tidied my desk recently and I tossed this!  I know.  You ever get in that mood?  Fast forward to this week: I lost something in the craft shack and thought maybe it fell into the trash, so I started sifting through the top layer of my crafty-trash and saw this... so I pulled it out!
• The first thing I did was pull off the original sentiment and re-make it using Gathered Twigs DI.  It looks much better in brown.
• The background was embossed with a Sizzix EF and colored with Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals in Cotton Candy Pink and Poppin' Pink.
• The dogwood dies are by Elizabeth Designs, bought at the Sacramento Scrapbook Expo in October and used this one time!  Dies cut from scraps of paper and inked with Distress Oxide in Antique Linen and Vintage Photo.  The center of the flowers were dotted with Glossy Accents and Peeled Paint Distress Glitter.
• The sentiment was made this time using a scrap of watercolor paper and Distress Ink in Gathered Twigs.
• Kraft paper by Recollections used to mount the panel using 3M dimensional tape.

So crazy how this came from the garbage to being a project I really like!  Thanks for visiting.  I hope you link up with us at Shopping Our Stash, but if there's no craft time, let a friend know how much you value them!  

Cheers! 

SOS 390: Fabulous February

This challenge at Shopping Our Stash was chosen by me: Fabulous February!  Ahhh, February.  By February, some of us start writing the proper year on our checks, we celebrate love, and we are reminded of the beauty of purple Amethyst and violets, the signs Pisces and Aquarius.  In my research, I also learned that each month has a tree, and February's is Pine.

I had grand ideas of incorporating all of these things into a magnificent February creation, but my daughter came to me with a request for a card for her boyfriend's birthday... and his favorite color is conveniently purple!

Here's his card:

I have to say: masculine cards are hard for me, and teen masculine cards are super difficult.  But I do think this turned out just fine, and this kid is so sweet, I know he'll appreciate it!

Supplies:

• Never been used Thickers bought over a year ago, maybe two...
• Purple background made with watercolor paper and Violet Color Bursts (which I haven't used in months)
• I grabbed a stencil that I haven't used in months (Tim Holtz Diamonds) and Black Soot DOx (also haven't used in months...) 
• I popped the colored panels up on 3M dimensional tape which is one of those modifications that *I think* makes a difference for the better.

I'm happy I got out some supplies that have been neglected this winter.  I didn't go overboard with this card like I might if it was for a girl, but I think for a 16 year old boy this has an appropriate amount of embellishing!  Right???

Thanks for visiting, and please head over to the Shopping Our Stash page for more inspiration from the super-talented team!