Making Memories Necklace -

Part of my Diggin' on Damask loot was a bunch of findings from the Making Memories Vintage Groove jewelry line by Jill Schwartz.  This morning I decided to put a quick necklace together.

I laid out my charms in the order that I wanted to put them together and reinforced the fabric flowers with a bit of E-6000 - not taking any chances of them falling off during the exertions of the day!  Do you see the coral colored charm above - do you find it to be a bit "too colorful" - probably not but I am not one to be too flashy so . . .

I quickly toned it down with a dab of Folk Art Champagne Shimmer Acrylic paint.  Took only seconds and made it "more me".

I could not take a clear pic not matter how I tried once I put the necklace on - There is a reason there are very few pics of me on this blog!  I'm glad the mirror didn't crack!  I'm off to take my Vintage Groove-y self off to the grocery.  Hope you are having a great day!

PDCC#57/CardPatterns Sketch #92 - Antique Ledger Bird

WHOO HOO - got a chance to play a little with my new toys!  It is overcast and rainy today so you can't see that the silver paper is shimmery and that the striped paper has glitter!

I used the colors from the current Play Date Cafe Challenge and the sketch from Card Patterns.

Here are some of the tools used - I used the Marvy Uchida punch to cut out a cute little bird from the Making Memories Paper Reverie - Brun Antique Ledger Bird.  The SU! bird punch makes quick work of leaves for under the decorative embellishment.  The sentiment is one of my favorites from A Muse.

A Tim Holtz Texture Fade folder added texture and the gray/silver ribbon added some extra shimmer (you are going to have to trust me on the whole glimmer part!)
So yesterday on the way home our youngest boy HAD to stop and use the restroom - we ended up getting off at a kinda sketchy exit and stopping at a store that had bars in the windows and on the door.  Since he'd never been  in an "establishment" like that he looked around and said, "What's up - are they expecting a zombie attack or something?!" - that boy cracks me up. . .

Happy Mail from Paper Crafts!!

A couple weeks back I was named as one of the winners of the Diggin' On Damask Challenge on the Moxie Fab World blog.  I was very happy to come home from our trip to Mississippi to see this box on our front porch!!

I about fell over when I opened it and found ALL the goodies inside here - Everything is from Making Memories - lots of paper from the Paper Reverie Collections (Sienne, Noir, Metallique, Brun Antique) plus ribbon, diecuts, brads and journaling pages PLUS lots of delicious Vintage Groove pendants and chains for making your own jewelry!!  It is past 11 at night and I need to go to sleep but I am so excited over my treasures!!

We had a great weekend in Mississippi - My "bestest cuz" Selena and I left the kiddos with their dads and headed off to brave the shopping on Friday.  $10 jeans at Bass Pro Shop made the trip worthwhile - plus coffee from Starbucks, sushi for lunch and cupcakes for dessert - lots of other shopping in there too but I like to think about the food.

The boys had great fun riding 4-wheelers, shooting bb guns and playing with the dogs, etc. when it was daylight and after dark there was plenty of Rock Band and Just Dance on the Wii. 

We had a big family dinner on Saturday night and a bonfire afterward plus fireworks!  Loads of fun - our car looked like the aftermath from Mt. St. Helen's this morning from the ash but Corey and Steve washed it off before we headed home.

When I was around all the family I forgot to take any pictures - sheesh!  But I did manage to take some pics of the cows - it was late in the day and the sun was setting -

I was surprised to see calves so late in the year.  They were super cute though -
We are glad to be home but were sad to say goodbye. 

OLW30 - Inspiring Minds

I am so swamped but I can't resist a One Layer Wednesday!  Jennifer Styles of Styles Ink is sponsoring this week's challenge - and the card below is the one I chose for my inspiration.

The birds were kinda "grungy" looking and the tiny touch of red in the lower right hand corner where the artist's signature is located were things that drew my eye.

Normally I'd "swirl and tap" to evenly ink a stamp but in this instance just lightly tapping the stamp to ink pad takes advantage of the woven fabric that makes up the top surface of a die ink pad.  See that tiny bit of yellow?  That's a chunk of Post-it that masked the area where I wanted to stamp my sentiment.  Liberal use of a Stamp-a-ma-jig made sure the butterflies were flying exactly where I envisioned them.

I wanted a little more red at the top so I added a satin ribbon and then finished up the bottom with some Martha Stewart Coarse Glitter - pretty bling!  The stamps and sentiment come from A Muse.

Stamping Royalty!!

Not to toot my own horn (but really, if I don't toot it who will?) PaperCrafts Connection has an article on the 2010 Stamping Royalty!!  Anytime you would like to see my "Royal Parade Wave" just ask - I am available for lunches, dinners, breakfasts, brunches (just about any occasion where I don't have to cook and you will feed me) for interviews and autographs.  Please note - I am a very modest person so I asked them to keep my picture small (har har)!  Have a great day and happy stamping!!

2S4Y/PDCC56 - Just a Note

I've been meaning to play more with my Tim Holtz Distress Inks and finally got a quick moment - The stamp is called Tree Tile from Rubber Soul and I embossed it with white ink and then randomly colored the tile with Distress Inks (Broken China, Peeled Paint, Aged Mahogany) using the foam tool by Inkssentials.

The colors are from the current Play Date Cafe Challenge #56 and the layout is from 2Sketches4You #66.
I decided to layer onto kraft cardstock for fun and to really draw attention to the colors and the patterned papers.

The patterned papers are from Basic Grey and 7 Gypsies.  Sentiment is from A Muse.  The boys and I successfully raked the backyard today - there are currently 33 bags stuffed full of leaves all along our curb.  There are a few more leaves left but we ran out of bags!!  We'll finish that up tomorrow - We can see grass again in the backyard and no more "dog surprises" hiding under the leaves for us to step on!!  That was the worst part!!  Blech!

Moxie Fab - Moxie Chic

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Time!  This week's challenge is called Moxie Chic and is based on the picture below.  I loved the red ruffles on the shirt and duplicated it with Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy Satin Ribbon.  A thin strip of PTI Raspberry Fizz brings in the pink from the inspiration picture and the gray background is Basic Grey Basics White paper stamped with Pumice Stone Distress Ink and the Stampington Wrought Scroll rubber stamp.  Sentiment is PTI from the Life set (yes, I do want the new bigger set complete with matching dies - don't you?!).  A scattering of A Muse Twinkle Stickers adds a bit of bling and completes the card.

Quite the interesting look - I'm more than a little weirded out by the flare at the bottom of the jacket - looks a bit like a wardrobe malfunction to me!

OLW29 - Classic Beauties Inspiration

Time for another OLW Challenge from the Simplicity blog.  We were directed to this post and told to make a one-layer card inspired by one of the beautiful cakes pictured - I chose the one below and then struggled to make a "true" one-layer card. 

You see, cakes have lots and lots of "layers" - hee, hee - I am punny!  I felt I needed some dimension and hence the bulky button embellishment that is probably against the rules but I am a papercrafting rebel (do you think it would be cool to have that as a bumper sticker on my car?) and flaunt the rules sometimes -

In further flaunting I made another card and added bunches of unnecessary but super cute Zva crystals - the hard part of Clean & Simple stamping is being willing to embrace all the white space - I always feel compelled to fill it up.  So what do you think - which card is cuter? 
A Muse (Chiffon Green paper, Marigold stamp), Momento (Bahama Blue and Rich Cocoa dye ink), Papertrey Ink (Signature Greetings stamp set), Zva pearls

GS63 Wplus9 - Miss you Mushrooms

It is finally raining around here - they said on the news that we are 6" behind schedule for the year.  However, even if mushrooms decided to pop up in our yard they would be hidden by the enormous amount of leaves (wet leaves) that cover our backyard!  Won't the boys be excited when I tell them that this weekend's project is to move all the leaves from the backyard to the front curb?  sigh. . .

Anyhoo - this card is based on the Wplus9 Color Cue and Get Sketchy #63 challenges pictured above.  I like the colors of kraft and white more than I do red and purple but I managed to get them all in there!

The mushroom pic came from The Graphics Fairy (TIP - when you print out pics/graphics, print out an entire page worth - that way you have some pics that you love ready when you need some quick inspiration).  Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type, May Arts silk ribbon, Zva pearls and Tim Holtz Texture Fade folder.

FTL116 - Groovy Partridge

Super quick post today - This card is based on the current Clean & Simple Stamping's Sketch 116.  I had fun turning the sketch upside down - seems to be a trend for me lately.  Stamps and petite gingham paper are from A Muse.

PDCC55 - Chipboard thanks

This is definitely a different type of card for me - the colors are from the Play Date Cafe Challenge 55 pictured below. I decided to pull the many diverse hues from patterned paper (Basic Grey Granola and Offbeat) - using patterned paper is the Scrappy Saturday Challenge #31 from the wee Memories blog.

A strip of sparkly glitter seems to be my favorite way to "kick things up a notch" on cards lately. This particular color is Kunzite from Martha Stewart.

The Swiss Dots embossing folder added texture to all the "white space that is actually burgundy space" which seemed a tad too plain. The chipboard letters are from Cosmo Cricket and were actually patterned - I loved the font though so I just painted them with some gesso to prime and then stippled with some Traditional Tan Claudine Hellmuth paint. I really like the way the ends of the patterned paper are snipped every which way - I was inspired by Kristina Werner - Have a great weekend!

Moxie Fab - Fall Festival

It's Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Time - Aren't those patterned papers (Cosmo Cricket Luscious, 7 Gypsies Avignon) luscious?  Smoky Quartz Martha Stewart glitter and a painted flower add some lush details.

The sketch came from 2Sketches4You (2S4Y65). I took some liberties and turned it upside down to get the look I wanted.

This is a teeny, tiny, little, itty-bitty card - only 2.5" x 3" - smaller than my library card! I love that the A Muse sentiment is so bitsy that it fits 6 words in less than 1.25" in width - I swear that I've swallowed vitamins bigger than that stamp!

OLW28 - AMC22 - You are the friend everyone wishes they had. . .

Time for another One Layer Wednesday Challenge!!  This week's challenge is to use at least 5 different colors of ink on a one-layer card.  This was a super quick card to make - just mask off the center with a post-it and stamp away with LOTS of A Muse stamps and LOTS of different inks.  The white area got some definition with a little doodling which is the A Muse Challenge for the month of November - A Muse Lounge Challenge #22: Dashes, Dots and Doodles!!  These colors remind me of how vibrant it has been this Autumn!  There are some gorgeous trees in our neighborhood that I walk/drive by everyday - I should take a pic or two (or 50!).
BTW - Did you see that I was a Moxie Fab Winner for the Diggin' on Damask Challenge?  I have been happy dancing all day!!
Stamps - A Muse 6-4168D Leaves Trio; 2-4134G Solid Zinnia; 2-4147B Sakura; 6-4129A Mini Flower; 9-4176B  Daisy Duet; 8-8537D You are the friend
Ink - Momento dye - Pear Tart, Potter's Clay, Cantaloupe, Desert Sand, Rhubarb Stalk, Bamboo Leaves
Paper - White Papertrey Ink
Accessories - A Muse Sheer Papaya ribbon, Prismacolor .005 fine line marker, Liquid Pearls

GS#63 - Beautiful Day Bird

This card is based on the Get Sketchy #63 layout - The bird and feather prints came from The Graphics Fairy - I downloaded the pics into Photoshop and made them the size I wanted - framing the graphics and patterned paper in white makes sure that they don't fade into the background.  The sentiment (A Muse) is stamped on vellum. 

Make Time to Create

Guess what I did today?  I took a stamping class taught by Dolly LaBelle at Make Time to Create!!  I had so much fun - it is really nice being the student and not the instructor.

The poppy stamps are from Flourishes.  I'm not so great with my Copics still - I need to practice more and I wasn't brave enough to make my poppies super red -

Make Time to Create has a retail side too - I picked up a couple of 6x6 paper pads today that I will be using soon!  I am even going to teach a class there in December.  Be sure and check out their blog for upcoming specials and classes.

Tuesday Trigger - A Study in Blue

It is time for another Tuesday Trigger from Moxie Fab World.  When I saw all the blue I thought of Delft Tiles and kinda mimicked that look by using the current Clean and Simple Stamping's FTL115.  The four main colors in the trigger (blue, white, gray and black) are all represented in this card and I am really pleased with how fresh and clean it turned out!

WOW - I haven't seen that much electric blue since the 80's. Can you believe the things we used to wear? Apparently, it is all coming back again - YIKES!  Stamps, paper from SU!; Danube Blue dye ink from Momento; Nestabilities Circle dies.

A funny thing happened on the way to vintage . . .

What happened?!!  This was meant to be a vintage card featuring Green, Yellow and Rust per the Embellish Challenge below - I had planned on using crinkled seam binding, an ornate swirl stamp and some pretty aging elements.  HOWEVER, I first grabbed this Jenni Bowlin felt bird and then before I knew it I seemed to have tapped into my inner "Appalacian".

Turned out WAY more "folk art"-y than vintage!  Apparently, I decided to swap the crinkled binding for burlap - the ornate stamp for a twig from the backyard and added machine/hand stitching.  I imagined old/elegant vintage - like the "aged spinster aunt that plays piano and smells like baby powder"

but ended up with old/rustic vintage - the "vintage that lives across the railroad tracks on the other side of town".

Patterned paper is from Basic Grey and DCWV Citrus Pack, sentiment from A Muse, twig from the hedge and layout from Card Patterns Sketch #88.  I showed this card to my family and my younger son was WAY impressed with the real stick and my husband said that he liked this card better than this one - he hates those Jenni Bowlin birds - some people have no taste!

Moxie Fab - Sweater Weather & Diggin' on Damask

 LOVE this card!  It is full of shimmery, sparkly goodness and is for TWO Moxie Fab Challenges!

The first challenge is the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger Challenge - Sweater Weather pictured above.  I'd love that sweater.  I spent years in  jackets - lots and lots of jackets with jeans/dress pants/skirts.  I worked in an office and the convenience of mix and match dressing with jackets was my go to favorite.  Now that I am a stay-at-home mom I am way more likely to wear a cute sweater than structured jackets.  Comfy and warm but still a little polished, right?  It is important to look nice when you are at home cause if I wear my jammies all day and don't put on makeup or do the hair then I get LOTS of visitors.

My favorite feature of this card is the sparkly stripes.  So easy if you use 1/8" Scor-tape!  Make sure you burnish it down well, trim off the edges and then peel off every other piece of tape.

Martha Stewart glitter is great because it comes in so many gorgeous colors.  This pic is after the brown has been applied but before the gold glitter hits the scene.  Be prepared to be glittery yourself when you are done though - I believe I may sparkle all day!

This card is also for the Moxie Fab World - Diggin' on Damask Challenge.  This gorgeous shimmer damask paper, damask stamp and the sentiment are all from A Muse.  So cool that the stamp matches the paper exactly!