Wednesday, February 29, 2012

beehive atc


This is an ATC I made for a 1-1 swap with Jan. Our theme was a really good one—“beehive”. I didn’t know if I wanted to do the hairdo or the bee home—so I did both. For the beehive, I used a stylus to emboss craft metal, tracing around clipart. The background is Tim Holtz stamps, except the bee which is from Stampin’ Up. The bit at the bottom is cut from a candy wrapper I’ve been hoarding for years. I got this wonderful honey candy at the flea market—just the one time—unfortunately, the vendor stopped carrying that candy. I had just enough wrapper to make two ATC’s (I made one for myself also).

****Edited to add: Sherry has won!****  Hey—how about we play a game? To the first person to post the name of the woman pictured on the atc I will send a little prize. (Except Paulette—smarty pants who won my last guessing game a few weeks ago!) If you’re a crafty person, I’ll send you something from my stash; if you’re not crafty, I’ll find some other fun little thing to send. I wish I could find the honey candy again, because that would be the perfect prize—oh well! You don't have to be an official blog follower, and I will gladly ship anywhere in the world.

Monday, February 27, 2012

i get a kick out of you

When you're driving past houses at night, do you ever wonder what's going on inside them? Well, it could be this... an old fart and his teenage son jumping in the air fake-kicking each other. (i love these guys)




Sunday, February 26, 2012

last two pennants

Here are the final two pennants I made for Phyllis' swap - nine total. It was lots of fun, first time I've ever done pennants. At first I was worried about what to do with that little pointy bit at the bottom, but it all worked out.



This one is my favorite. Something about flying naked on a golden pen while typing........   Most of the stamps are from Stampin' Up, except the wing which is Crafty Secrets. The pen and wing are embossed in gold. Also gold embossing along edges. Inks are Distress Wild Honey, Dusty Concord & Tea Dye; Versafine Vintage Sepia.


For this one I just reversed the image before printing, and decorated one with white and one with red. I'm not entirely sure - it's been a while since I made this pennant - but I think to make the red pearls I colored white ones with my red Slick Writer marker. Lips and dress colored with pencil.



Friday, February 24, 2012

two more pennants


 For the background I used some lovely textured metallic blue paper I got from Sandi. Ran it thru Cuttlebug, added Rub n Buff. The little dog collar I made is black cardstock, also Cuttlebugged. Embossed raised areas with clear embossing powder. The "buckle" is a ribbon slide that I bodged together with a piece of paper clip I snipped off.



For this one I used some tulle that Claudia had used as wrapping for a swap. Tucked it into the piece of broken bracelet I found at the antique flea market. Also gave her a tulle collar. The flower is a combo of the tulle and some organza I found in the remnant bin at JoAnn. Basically, you rough cut circles of any synthethic fabric, stick together with a brad, and go at it with a heat gun - I like to do quick bursts from the side - they melt pretty quickly.The pearl is also from broken jewelry I found. The background stamp is the same one I used for the sewing card, from CTMH (embossed in gold).

Friday, February 17, 2012

vintage glass buttons

 Here are some really cool vintage buttons that were a gift from my friend Phyllis (who is also very cool). They're irridescent glass - each one an amazing little work of art. I got this frame at Hobby Lobby (only $4 - my favorite store!). The next picture is where the buttons will live for now.


I like stuff. I have stuff all over my craft room (which is also the guest room). Here is one little arrangement of stuff. Phyllis' buttons, in front of my cherry-scented candle (that I don't burn, I just like the smell of the candle itself). Next to a toothpick holder - the bird picks up the toothpick with his beak. Next to a metal tray holding my new favorite stamp that I got at my new favorite local stamp store - which I will post about soon. In front of a wooden box I probably got at Hobby Lobby. Sitting on another wooden box - that I got at Goodwill for a couple bucks.






Thursday, February 16, 2012

more pennants

Here are two more pennants I made for Phyllis' swap. For this one I did a background with a mixture of acrylic paint and glazing medium - went for a water-look. The edges are embossed in silver. Embellished with some flowers, pearl sprays, and Stickles. The flowers are made from hard plastic and aren't made to sit flat - so I punched holes in the chipboard to act as a kind of cradle for the flowers. I also attached the pearl centers with wire that I brought through to the back side to make them extra secure.


This is one of the ones I copied for some of my postcards. Used dress pattern in background. Twill ribbon. Lots of Tea Dye ink. And my favorite part - zipper flowers I made. I had originally envisioned putting lots more on this one - buttons, stickpins, etc., but when I layed them on top of what I already had done, it just felt too busy.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

happy valentine's day

Here are a couple of quick cards I made for my guys for Valentine's Day. For hubby: the birds are from a small clear set of stamps from Inkadinkado. For the boy: the little dog who's surprised that he's farting sparkly hearts is from Viva Las Vegastamps.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

all-state band



Yesterday Mike had his performance in the Kentucky All-State high school band. The kids had received their sheet music weeks ago, and rehearsed together since Wednesday evening. They sounded amazing. To get to this point, it took a lot of practicing, and two auditions - competing against the best clarinet players in the state - but he made it! We are so very proud of him, and it's especially cool that he made it as a freshman.

Saturday, February 11, 2012

new pansy punch


I had sooooo much fun last night playing around with my new punch. It's a pansy punch from Marvy Uchida that cuts and embosses at the same time. I had been wanting it ever since I saw a video by Emily - here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWCLb8QrVxc&feature=plcp&context=C3bf21e5UDOEgsToPDskJGbAMU_C-REvSKB-mzk-0b  - her flowers are gorgeous. Really expensive punch, but this week punches are on sale at Hobby Lobby for 40% off, so I decided to finally get this one. When I'd see it in the store I would think - hmm, the ones Emily made seemed larger. But it turns out the flower printed on the punch is just smaller than the actual flower, which is about 2-1/4". Thinner cardstocks were easier to punch, but I still had to stand up and put all my strength in pushing the lever down with both hands. I don't mind, though - when the flowers are this lovely.

Some of them I curled upward, and some of them downward (around a pen). Played with different inks, different centers. The black/orange one has a skull-shaped rhinestone - I was thinking maybe for my Halloween album. The flowers can also be used as leaves. Can't wait to try even more paper/color combinations.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

postcard swap

Here are some of the postcards I made for an international swap hosted by Shannon (http://www.musingsonrealities.blogspot.com/).

I lightly gessoed the background paper to tone it down a bit. Made a little orgami hat from a book page. Bits at bottom cut from Graphic 45 paper. Stamp from Inkadinkado. I love this stamp so much. I usually only buy stamps when they're on sale, or it's a special event (like the Stampaway convention) - but I eyed this stamp for weeks at Meijer every time I went grocery shopping. I finally caved and bought it.


For the background I used a dress pattern (Jim thinks it's hilarious that I bought a pattern just to cut it up... hey,  it was only 99 cents... and we all know that's a cheap embellishment!). Lots of Distress Tea Dye ink and gold Rub n Buff. Stamp from CTMH. Hard to tell from pic, but the twill ribbon is also covered in Tea Dye ink.

Background is washi paper I got at last year's Stampaway convention (can't remember the name of the vendor). Lots of Rub n Buff - even the edges of the lady.


I made this one at a crop, and didn't have anything with me to put in that big empty space (even though I desperately wanted to find something). Dictionary definition says "faithful". Bottom is Distress Crackle Paint (can't remember the color). Inked with Black Soot, and more Tea Dye (I guess that's my favorite color of ink at the moment).

The sewing one and the Asian one are variations of pennants I made for the other swap. I'll post pictures of those soon. The main difference is that with pennants I get to add lots of chunky stuff.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

music man



Here's Mike playing tenor sax in the jazz band at school. He started a new job last week - giving clarinet lessons to a sixth-grader at the middle school. We couldn't be happier that music is such a big part of his life.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

hey stampers

Calling all rubbah fiends. It's time for the annual Viva Las Vegas Stamps big sale - in honor of Super Bowl #46, just about everything in the store is 46% off. I'm so excited. (And I'm not associated with them at all - I'm not getting any kickbacks or anything - it's just my favorite stamp store, and I wanted to pass on the info to all my stamping friends.)

Here's the info from their email, with online coupon code:

This is the Viva Las Vegastamps! Sale
you wait all year for!
Just enter
SuperStamp
as your coupon
when you view
or edit your
Shopping Cart
and save 46%
off VLVS! Rubber Stamps
(Mounted, Cushioned or Unmounted)
Miracle Tape (not the Sampler)
and Rubber Grab Bags!
Sale runs through Monday
February 8th Midnight PST.
 
Of course,
be sure to check
out the great
deals in our
Bargain Basement
and Dollar Store
as well as our
stamps from
other companies
even though
they're not
included in
this sale.
 
There's a link over there to the right for VLVS. Happy shopping! And stamping!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

chunky mini w/ tag pockets

Here's a mini album I made that's got pockets for holding tags and has lots of space between the pages so they can be embellished with lots of chunkies. The best part - it was SO quick and easy to make. Doesn't look quick, but trust me - I am a s-l-o-w crafter, and this thing took me about 25 minutes, including the time it took to cut the chipboard covers.

I had seen other tutorials on this type of album, but they seemed too complicated, and too time-consuming because the score lines weren't evenly spaced, and there was a lot of use of paper-backed tape to peel, and messy liquid glues. The one that made it all clear is Fiona - one of my favorite YouTube people. Here's a link to her video:

The key thing for quick and easy is using a glue gun. And the bond is stronger than tapes in my opinion. Anyway, please see her video for detailed instructions, but below I've listed my measurements, and a few things I did differently.




I did a few things differently than Fiona:
- I only used half sheets for the pockets (and only did 5 of them), so I made my score lines only 3/8" apart
- I made 2 additional score lines to accommodate extra room between the pockets and the covers
- I did not add the chipboard to the spine. I had first made another one with the chipboard spine, but then my pages wouldn't lay flat when the album was open. (When I decorate these, I will just add a flexible cardstock spine cover that is just attached to the front and back chipboard.)

My measurements for this particular size mini:
- Cardstock for spine: 3-5/8" x 8", make 1st score at 1", then every 3/8" until you get to 7", for a total of 17 score lines (you want 3 score lines for each pocket, then add 2 scores for front & back allowance).
- Pockets: half sheet of cardstock = 5-1/2" x 8-1/2". Score long side at 3-3/4" & 7-1/2"  (I used a 1-1/2" circle punch on the ends)
- Chipboard covers: 4" x 5-3/4"

I've also made one in black (painted chipboard covers with acrylic paint) that I'm planning to do in a Halloween theme - put one photo of Mike on each page for each year he wore a costume when he used to trick-or-treat, then put additional photos (group shots of all the kids in the neighborhood, etc.) in fold-out panels that are tucked in the pockets.

I hope I was clear with the instructions. If anyone has any questions, please ask!