Parking Lot Fabric Deals

Just got home from a week long holiday with my sissys! We had a fabulous time. As predicted - lots of laughs and lots of shopping. Not only did the crazy quilters buy enough fabric to cover three football fields but they managed to assemble a few quilts as well. Here is their handy work....don't mind the little 'gnome' (Bobbins) in the photos. He travels with us each year and pops into most of the photos.

 Nila's Sherbet Pie Quilt

 Gail's Americana Quilt (but now MY quilt because she made it for me!)

 Judy's Cappuccino Quilt

 Gail's Turning Twenty Quilt

 Judy's Star Quilt

Judy's Flannel Quilt

Even with all the sewing and shopping we still had time for drinks on the pier, fabulous food, oh...and a LITTLE sleep. I am sorely going to miss our nearly nightly Bloody Mary's served by Rod at Pirate Jacks!

Sadly I didn't encounter one - not even ONE - scrapbooking store! Probably for the best...there wasn't room in the car for even a thimble! I'm not talking about normal shopping. I am talking about MEGA shopping. Granted the car's trunk did have to contain their three sewing machines...but REALLY! Mid week into the holiday - I had to call my husband to meet me half way to the lakes area. We filled the back of his truck with purchases and drove back to the lake for MORE shopping! It was like a parking lot drug deal with transfer of patterns and fabric from car to truck! He was a good sport - making the trip without grumbling after all he did get a meal from Hardee's out of the deal AND he got to see me!

I was NOT productive in any way, shape, or form. I can never quite figure out how to travel with card making 'stuff'. What to pack...what to take... what if I need a piece of ribbon that is back at home...what if I don't have the perfect design paper...and then there is the process of putting everything back when you get home.... I FAIL at mobile card making!

I did manage to get a card made today. I used the bleaching method on the flowers. I am so happy I pinned that on my Pinterest board!

Inside sentiment "make this world a better place for me'.

Friends

~Base card Kraft cardstock

~Design paper by 7 Gypsies

~Stampin' Up Delight in Life flowers stamped on wine colored cardstock - embossed with white embossing powder, bleached and lightly highlighted with Stampin' Pastels - then cut out by hand - layered on to pumpkin cardstock and cut out again

~Leaf die cuts

~Twine

~Pumpkin cardstock oval die cut, sentiment stamped using Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip

~Inside of card - three oval die cuts, leaf die cuts, bottom trim with faux stitches - sentiment

Challenges and Inspiration

Play Date Cafe - color inspiration

Come and Get It - sketch

Gingerloft - faux or real stitching

{PIN}inspirational - photo

Dilly Beans - fall is in the air

Crazy for Challenges - leaves

Sentimental Sundays - 3.2.1 (three flowers, two wraps of twine, one layer of design paper)

Thanks for clicking by,

Nancy in Iowa

Dusting Pastels

What is that I hear off in the distance? Has my husband watched enough Star Trek to be able to speak Klingon? No...foolish me...he is working on plumbing! He is replacing the faucet in the downstairs bathroom. Plumbing is NOT his forte'. He can fix computers and is fairly handy with a saw and wood...but give him a plumbing task...and he starts to speak a language that....well....let's just be happy there aren't any clergy or young children within ear shot!

I may be calling a plumber tomorrow...

And speaking of 'shout outs' - here is another 'shout out' to Pinterest. I ran across this dauber pastel technique using Versamark. After dusting off my VERY unused pastels I discovered this technique is AWESOME! I will try it again and again! Thank you Pinterest!

Dusted Pastels
~Base card lavender cardstock
~DCWV cardstock - Mango Frost
~Scallop die cut circles
~Stampin' Up Mixed Bunch stamped with Versamark and daubed with pastels
Challenges
Play Date Cafe - color challenge
Sweetest Thing - sketch
No Matter Which Challenge - die cut/punch

Thank you for clicking by,
Nancy in Iowa

Bubble Bleach

Decided to use the bleach technique again. It is fitting since I am 'doing' laundry while playin' in the Bubble! The center of the flower was bleached and colored in with pink Copics, the outer teardrop shapes were colored in with green Copics.

Only four more days until I'm on holiday with my sisters!!!! An entire week of giggles, wine, food, Bloody Mary's, snacks, quilting, Tanqueray and Tonic, card making, laughing, movies, Margaritas, long walks, Red Beer with Olives... I supposed you notice the more than one or two mentions of adult beverages!

They  will be spending a night or two at my house...I should probably go CLEAN something. But what the heck - they're my sisters...love me - love my mess! The three guest beds have clean linens - that should suffice - they can leave their white gloves at home.

Bleached Diamonds
~Base card - Stampin' Up Elegant Eggplant cardstock
~Layer of design paper
~Three silk flowers with beads and glitter glued on to the center
~Layer of raspberry colored mulberry paper; layer of pearlized green cardstock; Stampin' Up image from Carte Postale embossed with Enamelware embossing powder; bleached flower and teardrops
Challenges
Fetch a Sketch - sketch
All Sorts - purple passion
Pile it on Sunday - stitch it up
Oozak - sparkle
Mark's Finest Papers - favorite technique (bleaching)

Thank you for clicking by,
Nancy

Jugs of Bling

Why, oh WHY, do weekends fly by so fast?!

Here is another card I managed to squeeze out of the Bubble today! I was inspired to give the challenge at JUGS a try. It is harder than you'd think to stamp something and NOT color it in. I do love a good challenge! While I did stick to the 'rule' of just line stamping with no coloring in...I did kind of go overboard with bling.

Bloomin' Bling
~Base card pink card stock
~Design paper card stock
~Stamped flowers in pink ink and Stampin' Up's Almost Amethyst and Cool Caribbean
~Yellow flower 'centers' punched using Stampin' Up! Spring Bouquet Flower punch and dotted with metallic Sharpie - with bling brads
~ Bling added to flourishes which were stamped with SU! Gumball Green
~Edges of white card stock - dry embossed and smudged with pink ink
Challenges and Inspiration
Just Us Girls - stamp line image with no additional coloring
i Heart 2 Stamp - sketch
Pile It On - patterned paper
Addicted to Stamps - bling
The Crafty Blogger - purple
The Squirrel and the Fox - anything goes
Unique Crafters - anything goes
Papertake Weekly - anything goes
Loves Rubber Stamps - anything goes
My Mum's Craft Shop - anything goes

Wonder if I have time for one more card...who cares if I don't have clean laundry for the week or if the kitchen counters don't get a good wipe down?

Thank you for clicking by,
Nancy in Iowa

Mulberry Margaritas

I bought this to hang PROMINENTLY in the kitchen of the condo I will be staying at with my sisters SOON!

In a few weeks I will be joining my sisters at our annual get-together. My two favorite (and only) sisters plus one interloping adopted 'sister'. I can hardly wait! The story of the interloper is one for a later date...yes Nila I am going to expose you as the sissy-wanna-be!

This is the first year the 'southern' sister will be traveling up north to be with the rest of us. The three of us 'northerners' usually make the trek south of the Mason Dixie line. We SHOULD have picked the month of January and had her come up here...just to keep in touch with her REAL roots of frozen tundra and wicked winds.

An entire week of laughing, quilting, eating, wines, movies, snacks, (a wee bit of Templeton rye whiskey), a margarita or two, quilt fabric and scrapbook store shopping....no husbands, no children, no pets! Just the four of us! BRING IT ON!

I'm ready for ya'll (Judy, Gail and Nila) so come on up anytime. I'm looking forward to starting our adventure here at my house before taking off up north. I have all three beds prepared with freshly laundered linens, a box of Palmer Candy Twin Bings, and our annual dose of roasted peanuts! Gail and Judy you get to sleep in 'full' beds...Nila you get the 'half'/single bed since you are only a 'half' sister.

Readers - please don't be horrified by my Nila slam  - she can take it! She knows that not only is she 'bling worthy' but that she is sisters' club worthy!

On to the card I put together today...

Mulberry Ripple

~Base card Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla

~Design paper: BasicGrey Mellow Dulcet and Stampin' Up! Old Olive card stock
~Scallop strip of cranberry card stock
~Stampin' Up! Heartfelt Thanks stamped with SU! Raspberry Ripple and SU! Gumball Green and black ink
~Two layers of mulberry paper
~Stampin' Up! sentiment punched with SU! Word Window punch
Challenges and Inspiration
Simply Stampin' - sketch
Dynamic Duos - color inspiration
Divas by Design - friendship
Inky Impressions - anything goes
Basic Grey - BG and punch
The Pink Elephant - use patterned paper

Thank you for clicking by,
Nancy in Iowa

Bleached Pins

Still using the cardstock bleaching method I 'pinned' at Pinterest! I really like playing with this technique! And so far...I haven't spilled or splattered any bleach on my clothes or on the rug - knock on a wood block stamp!

I bleached only some of the flowers and leaves - leaving some the original orange/rust colored cardstock. This cardstock did not bleach out to a white color (like this one did) but to yellow so I just worked with what appeared...I highlighted the bleached 'yellow' flowers with shades of yellow/orange Copics. Bleached leaves were colored with green Copics. Much of the yellow flowers are the 'natural' color that resulted from the bleach. I highlighted the unbleached orange/rust flowers with darker shades of orange. The original color of the unbleached cardstock is the orange/rust frame of the image.

Pearls of Pinning
~Base card - Stampin' Up Very Vanilla
~Layer of autumn leaves design paper
~Rectangle layer of green cardstock topped with autumn plaid design paper
~Two strips of sheer ribbon
~Stamped image on rust colored cardstock using Versamark and white embossing powder
~Three pearls
Challenges
Sketch by Carly - sketch
2 Sisters - fall
Allsorts - layers
Bloggers - fall

Thank you for clicking by,
Nancy in Iowa

Bleaching Silks

Pinterest strikes again! I ran across a link to the bleaching technique and pinned it. Unlike MOST pins - I actually gave this one a try! It is fun having color on a non-white background! I will probably try this again.

ALSO a Pinterest find: microwave corn on the cob cooking/cleaning. As much as I LOVE corn on the cob - I have always hated the shucking, cleaning, pile of refuse from the shucks and especially the HEAT generated in the kitchen while cooking it. So...thank you Pinterest! I tried it and will NEVER shuck and boil corn on the cob again! Four-to-five minutes with two ears of corn in the microwave....it is perfection of a perfect meal. Yes...corn on the cob IS a meal!

Bleached Blossoms
~Stampin' Up Very Vanilla cardstock
~Purple polka dot design paper
~Blossoms stamped on Stampin' Up Perfect Plum using Versamark and embossed with white embossing powder
~Flowers bleached, colored with Copics, centers highlighted with Stampin' Up Crystal Effects
~Two brads
~Sheer ribbon
~Stamped sentiment tag attached with blue metallic embroidery floss (transfer of crap from sister Gail)
 Challenges
Just Us Girls - sketch
Southern Girls - flowers
Dutch Date - flowers
Craft  Your Challenge - flowers
Ladybug Crafts - anything goes
Challenges 4 Everybody - anything goes

Thanks for clicking by,
Nancy in Iowa

Giggles and Bubbles

Best time ever. Not only am I spending time in the Bubble for the first time in days and days...but I am listening to my daughter Amy and her best friend giggle hysterically while they are watching (and mostly poking fun at) a 1987 movie "A Hazard of Hearts.

I thought I would try out a technique I've seen in several versions on Pinterest...FINALLY all that Pinning 'pays' off. A "Pin" moves from the 'inspiration' column to the 'been there - done that' column! Whooooooot! I call it Productive Pinning!

I combined the Lucite stamp block technique (putting ink directly on the block and smearing it around...) with the color inspiration over at Play Date Cafe.

Thankful for Giggles

~Background created using Stampin' Up Old Olive, Handsome Hunter, and Primrose Petals and SU Weathered background stamp

~Center square painted using acrylic paint - outlined with a black Sharpie fine point pen

~Sentiment stamp by Stampin' Up: Lexicon

~Three gray brads

~Gray grosgrain ribbon

Challenges

Inspire Me Fridays - anything goes

Play Date Cafe - color inspiration

Shabby Tea Room - photo inspiration

Thank you for clicking by,

Nancy in Iowa