Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Silver and Gold...

Yep.  Kinda hung up on the song and the colors lately.  I am loving the deep discounts and coupon action I am finding recently (well, in the month of December) both online and in  brick and mortar stores.  It allows me to make some purchases that would not otherwise find their way into my cart due to them being to seasonal.  I like to stretch my crafting products but sometimes it is nice to get items that are solely and completely for a particular holiday or season.  And sometimes some products, like dies, are too difficult to find very deeply discounted during the season.  But this year I found several and today I used a Tim Holtz die that would have never ever have found it's way into my basket had it not been very deeply cut in price.  I mean, it is gorgeous and all but reindeer are really pretty limited to Christmas and the Christmas season!  I love the graceful lines of this die however and when JoAnn's had it sooooo cheap that I would be a FOOL to pass by the savings.....(hehehehe) I decided to add it to my cart .  Sticking with my current silver/gold obsession, I made two cards for today.  Both are a little over the top....and actually I am not sure that I really care for either too much!  I think I need to straighten and clean my craft room in order to unearth some other papers and colors!  But, crafting is an experiment right? And with that in mind I decided to experiment with "excess".  Enjoy!


At JoAnn's, and I am sure other stores....they have wedding sections and in those sections they have pearls.....so much cheaper than the pearls that are in the craft/scrapbook section of the store.  This particular bit of pearls is from an entire sheet of pearls that can be wrapped around a candle or other item.  I like it because it is on a slightly glittered background and all the pearls are obviously in perfect little rows that can be cut and adhered as I want.  Also, they can be individually cut and used also.  I find this to be MUCH cheaper than buy the pearls from the various craft companies.  Here are the pearls....basically 792 pearls for $10 before coupon....

http://www.joann.com/david-tutera-4-mm-self-adhesive-pearls-792pk/zprd_10664860a/

And they also have "gems" in the wedding dept....

http://www.joann.com/david-tutera-self-stick-oval-rhinestones-98-pk/zprd_11312717a/

as well as other sizes and shapes.  I find that these all color up beautifully with copics if you want to customize your pearls and gems.  And if you are anything like me and enjoy  embellishing with  bling this is really a huge cost savings! 

Here is my second card.  I was able to find some foil paper on deep discount too and here I cut and glittered both silver and gold foil after first die cutting it.  I wanted to try a shaped card.....especially working with  a partial die cut.  Not too sure if I like it or not.....although, I will say it does look TONS better in real life than it does in this photo.  We are under a blizzard watch so lighting is a bit off I think.



Well, the blizzard is supposed to hit starting tonight and through tomorrow....anywhere from 6-16 inches.....seems like quite a safe spread for the weather man to make!  Anyways, I need to make several errand runs.  My husband is supposed to come home tomorrow night from China and we both have a sinking feeling that his return might be delayed.  Friday we were planning to pick our daughter up from college together and Saturday we have my husband's family's Christmas about three hours away so I need him to be home!  Thank you for stopping by and take care!

Be well,
Sheila


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Moxie Fab....

I just love the current Tuesday Trigger Inspiration picture for Moxie Fab Challenge. It's called Shimmer and Shine and it is just gorgeous!  I love the combination of gold, silver, crisp white and a bit of sparkle.  Here is the picture we were to work with this week.


Isn't it just wonderful?  I had this idea in my head from the minute I saw the inspiration photo and the problem was just trying to find time to sit down and create it!  I used Spellbinder's dies for the shapes of the card as well as a Spellbinder embossing folder.  Then I created the wreath and flowers from two different Martha Stewart punches.  The wreath is lightly brushed with Delicata Gold ink and then both the wreath and the flowers are glittered with "Glamour Dust"  I wish the shine and sparkle photographed better.....in real life the card is really so pretty....


Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope that you all are having a wonderful week....Remember! It is "hump" day and that means the weekend cannot be too far off!

Be well,
Sheila

Monday, December 10, 2012

Blue Christmas.....

Fast and glittery....this card was fun and just really easy-peasy to make.  I happened to have been sent 3 triangle shaped dies a few years ago from Spellbinders.  They were a thank you for an order and they were not in any sort of packaging or anything....and I have never used them.  I mean really, unless you're Telly from Sesame Street whatever are you going to use triangles for?  Except for the day that you look at the triangles and think....aha!!!  CHRISTMAS TREES!  So, with a bit of scrap patterned paper, stickles and an embossing folder here is my Blue Christmas!



For the tree trunks I used some scrap kraft paper....I crimped it then lightly distressed it with brown ink. Thank you for stopping by!  If you are like me it is a very busy time of year for you!  I hope you get everything done today that you need to get done!

Be well,
Sheila

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Inspiration....

comes when you least expect it.  I was playing around with the Spellbinders Holiday Tree die recently and was trying to think of different ways to use it.  It is a big die....app 4 1/4  by 4 1/2 inches.  So, although it is a beautiful and intricate die I kept thinking very basic layouts with it.  Until I saw this card online at this site.....wow.     http://downunderdirectinspiration.blogspot.com/2012/09/holiday-tree-2012-cards.html    I never would have thought to go this direction with this die....and I just love the result!  How clever to use the die in a pair as a large, extended flourish.  I then went to work making a suitable center for this lovely flourish and, of course, came up with my favorite poinsettia die.  This time I decided to go with a selection of patterned papers and then distress them for a somewhat vintage look and I think that it worked out alright.  I probably will play with this idea a bit more before the end of the season!  The picture isn't that good....for some reason no matter what  picture or angle I took of this card it didn't turn out right!  Anyways, the site I listed above, down under direct has really beautiful cards and you all should def check it out if you love working with die cuts the way I do.  I think this idea with the Christmas tree is just genius and and could also see using a beautiful Christmas tree stamp that way also!


Thank you for visiting today!

Be well,
Sheila

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Card making should

be fun....and I can honestly say that I am having fun, in fact, SOOOOO much fun lately making cards.  Perhaps it is because I had to take an unplanned "break" due to life and the demands it makes.  Perhaps it is because I have time to really fiddle around with my supplies now and therefore not feel pressed to make "every crafting moment count"!  Whatever the reason is, I am just enjoying the process more these days and find that each time I leave my crafting space I leave content, restored and happy.  I can't ask for more than that from paper, ink and glitter right?
So, I am still on my poinsettia kick.  This Spellbinder die is seriously SUCH a fun die and one that I am glad that I went ahead and picked up.  I debated about it as it is a seasonal die and therefore I thought that it wasn't worth the cost but I'm so pleased with how it works and would recommend it to anyone!  I found mine on sale, actually, at a fairly deep discount on Amazon. I used Hero Arts sentiments on both cards and so am going to enter both into the monthly contest Bring on the Bling.


Again I used all Spellbinder dies for the different cuts on both cards and also pulled out my trusty Martha Stewart thistle/pine punch.....I can't believe how much I use that little punch for accents!  I wish it came in a larger branch too.  The first card I used untraditional Christmas colors but I like to go "different" from time to time....I think that this works!  The poinsettia is cut from pink paper, distressed with two different colors of pink ink and then stickled.


The second card I tried to go for a more vintage look. I used red card stock on the poinsettia, stickled it and then also heavily outlined it in silver leaf pen.  I then used  big leaves from the die and tried to arrange them in a very "stylized" fashion.  I wanted this card to look like something I would find in my grandmothers attic.....a card where the paper is old, the colors faded and the edges browning but the embellishments bright and shiny as though they are painted tin.  I also am popping my "frames" up on foam....I don't know if that is apparent from my photography....it looks good in real life though!


I hope you all aren't tiring of poinsettias....I feel like I have a few more in me!   Whatever will I do when January comes??????

Be well,
Sheila





Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Stuck on

poinsettias lately.  I am really getting into making them, glittering them....distressing them.....whatever!  I have been using the Spellbinder poinsettia die and really have been having fun just messing around with it.  I cut these poinsettias out on red paper, turned them upside down and "ground" them with a stylus.  Then I glittered them, outlined them with silver pen and let them dry.  When dry I just stick them altogether with GA and I am done!  Pretty easy....and there are so many tutorials on youtube that are so simple to follow.  I also used Spellbinders dies for the various die shapes on the card and a little Martha Stewart thistle punch that I have had forever!  The sentiment is Hero Arts clear sheet Joy To All stamp set.  I plan to enter this into the Hero Arts monthly contest for the Bring on the Bling category.


Again, it looks like this card is time intensive but it actually is not too bad at all.


Thank you so much for stopping by and I always appreciate all of your comments.  It is so nice to come on my feed and see the nice things you all have to say.  Take care now!

Be well,
Sheila

Monday, November 26, 2012

Post Thanksgiving blues....

are hanging on me like a sticky cobweb.  I think that this past Thanksgiving was one of my best in years and I so enjoyed being at home and with my kids that it makes the Monday after Thanksgiving a complete let down.  Bess and Tyler are gone.  Clarice is back at college.  Corm is back to his HS routine of leaving for swimming at 5:30 am, going to school and then home again after 5:30 pm....and Joe leaves today for France for the week.  So it's me.  And the dogs.  At home.  And while I do enjoy the peace and quiet it is still an adjustment.  So, I have  a book set aside to start reading.  And several card ideas in my head to transfer to reality.   I have a scrapbook page I would like to try laying out as well as putting my Fall decorations away and getting my Winter and Christmas decorations out and about the house.  I did have some time this morning to work on a card.  I had die cut the tree several days ago...on a scrappy-ish piece of paper.  But then I experimented by outlining it with Stickles and suddently the scrap paper didn't look so bad anymore!  So, I decided to keep the sparkly die cut and and make a card around it.  I like how this card turned out but I think that I might like it better in the future if I  use fancy Spellbinder die cut corners instead of pearls to accent the corners with.  Seems to me to be too much "space" at the top of the tree.  Any suggestions?  Otherwise, I have embossed the red card stock and mounted the green sentiment tag on two white tags to give it "shadow" and definition.  The sentiment is from the Hero Arts clear sheet of "Holiday Sayings" CL343.


I think that this card looks a little more time intensive than it is....it actually came together really quickly!   I hope you had a wonderful weekend.....and also have a good week out ahead of you.

Be well,
Sheila

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Happy Thanksgiving...

and hello again!  I guess it has been awhile since I posted.  Oh well, life gets in the way of my best intentions to blog.  Anyways, I hope you all "out there" had a wonderful Thanksgiving.....I know that I sure did.  In the 21 years that my husband and I have been together we have only had Thanksgiving at our house 3 times....including this past Thanksgiving and it was just wonderful to be home with my kids.  We had such a nice time....my oldest and her boyfriend came home from Minnesota and my middle child came home from college.  And we had a truly wonderful time being home with each other.  Today we capped off our weekend by seeing Jersey Boys and getting a nice dinner together.  After that, we all split up....Joe, Corm and I headed back to Plymouth, Bess and Tyler went to Minneapolis and Clarice back to college in Madison.  Now, the Packers are on and I thought that I would take a few minutes to upload a few pictures....
First up is a card I made.  I used an old, and I mean old Spellbinders die that I got at a deep, deep discount.  I then stickled it and added a Hero Art's sentiment.  Finally I finished it off with a Spellbinders poinsettia die as well as a bow.  I like the traditional Christmas look of it!


 This was a difficult card to photograph.....I just couldn't do the glitter justice!  This next picture is of the centerpiece that I made for the Thanksgiving meal. It was very simple and rather rustic but I am very happy with how it turned out. I sprayed adhesive on three smallish pumpkings and then sprinkled a variety of autumnal colored glitter on them.....they turned out beautiful!  Then I had several cheap-o ivory pillar candles that I "wrapped" in Tim Holtz printed tissue paper and then heated with the heat gun.  They also turned out terrific and I just love how they looked when lit!


Finally, here is a shot, well a partial shot of my dining room table all decorated for the holiday meal.  I feel so lucky to have had my kids home and a meal, well, a whole fabulous weekend with them.  


I hope you all had a wonderful day too....Thank you for stopping by ;-D

Be well,
Sheila

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

There...

is just something about blue flowers that gets me every time.  I couldn't  tell you how many times I have colored a floral image blue.... I never get tired of it.  And it's strange because blue is not a color that I am drawn to in any other aspect of life.  In fact, I have had painters here in the house the last two days and not a single room was painted blue....although I will say, I guess, that one of the bathrooms is now a pale teal. So, maybe that is a bit on the blue side after all.  Anyways, this particular card is for a friend who is going thru a trying time in her life.  We all have those rough patches that really test us....and often times we feel like we are going through our troubles alone.  I want, in a small way, to let this person know that I am thinking of her and that this difficult time will eventually pass. By the way, she is a "bling" girl.  I hope I put enough sparkle on......This is a Penny Black image called Sundail..  It is a terrific all purpose floral image.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Luscious Patterned Flowers.  I plan to enter this card into Hero Arts Bring on the Bling monthly challenge



as well as Simon Says Stamp Challenge "Thinking of You" / or "Sympathy" card.



And here is my card.  I hope it brings a little smile to her day.


Thank you for stopping by....

Be well,
Sheila






Sunday, November 11, 2012

Late to

the game....or at least late to the scramble.  I have not been able to participate in a HA scramble for....well probably for at least a year now.  My kids always had something going on and usually it was on a Saturday....just not a day when I have much free time.  But today with it being held on Sunday afternoon I had some time to play.  And my friend Kathy was the person who threw the scramble so of course  I wanted to support her!  And I had a great time...it was fun...I enjoyed working on a card under a strict deadline and as per my usual scramble style I was late on the upload!  But again....IT WAS FUN!  And I am not going to beat myself up because I ran out of time....I always think that 10-15 minutes is enough time to photograph and upload and that is always the day that I have a computer glitch....anyways, here is my card and again I am going to  enter it into the Hero Arts November challenge for Bring on the Bling!



I do use a lot of layers in my cards and want to point out that I use the Spellbinders Grand Caliber die cutting machine for most of my work.  It has a huge plate that I am able to fit several different size die cuts on each time I cut and emboss.  I bought it at Micheals with a coupon and got nearly 50% off.  I used to have a small machine but finally decided that a big machine was worth the money when  it came to making many cuts at once!
I also keep all of my dies in an ArtBin storage system...I actually have several of them and I pick them up at either JoAnns or Hobby Lobby with 40% off coupons.  This is what they look like and I find that I can store my dies on the magnetic sheets in an organized way. Then I can look at various dies and see how they will work with both my image and each other for the best possible layers. The ArtBin looks like a little briefcase and many white magnetic sheets fit inside.  I then line all my ArtBins up on a book case just like I would books.   I can open each bin and flip through the pages to see what I have and what will work best for each card...then I can put the die back right away and it helps me to keep mess and chaos to a minimum...always a nice feature right?



Well, thank you for stopping by today.....I really am so appreciative of your comments.  Take care now!

Be well,
Sheila

Baby, It's BLING

outside!  I love snowflake cards for the simple reason of bling.  That's it.  That's why.  You can bling up a Christmas or Winter snowflake card with glitter, bows, rhinestones, gems and then you can probably add more.  It's like being a kid in the art room....there is no wrong way to doll up a snowflake.  And, now that I have presented my defense.......I guess I should point out that I made one of "those" over the top snowflake cards.  I used another Hero Arts Stamp and Cut that I bought at Archivers when I was there for Scrapfest.  This is called the Poinsettia Stamp and Cut but  but I prefer it to be a snowflake rather than a poinsettia flower.....so be it.  Any ways....here is my card and I hope you like it.  I plan to enter it into Hero Art's Monthly contest in the (of course) Bring on the Bling category.....




I outlined the stamped portion of the snowflake with glue and added glimmer dust to it.  I also added glue to the center "flake" and glitter-ized it also.  Then lots of bling and layers.  I love how this shimmer card stock embosses....the shimmer gives it so much dimension.  Other than finishing this card I had a wonderful weekend and the blahs have been pretty much chased away.  My husband and I went out for dinner and saw the new Bond film over the weekend and it was really good.  Yesterday was a Badger game party at some relatives and that was great because we didn't watch any of the game but instead talked and enjoyed each other's company instead!  And today is, finally, a stay at home day and for the first time in a really long time I think I will be able to take part in a Hero Arts scramble....they usually are held on Saturday's which are very difficult for me to make but today there is nothing planned and a rainstorm coming on so I hope to be ready to play!  Thank you for stopping by today....I appreciate your visit and comments!

Be well,
Sheila

Friday, November 9, 2012

Christmas!-

card number 2!  Actually I shouldn't be finishing that statement with an exclamation point as I am soooo far behind in Christmas cards that woo-hooing about my second one made is slightly embarrassing.  Oh well.  It is what it is.  I tried a new HA stamp and cut image that I bought when I went to Scrapfest.  Back in mid September....yep!  That is how busy my life has been this Fall....I am just now getting to try out a new item!  I had this image for a card in mind based on the Christmas song "Silver and Gold" from the Rudolph movie.  I mean, I literally had that song pop into my head the minute I saw this stamp!  And, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I have always liked the silver/gold combo anyways.  I double stamped the image...once in silver and once in gold and then embossed both colors in the appropriate metallic matte powder.  Then I cut the gold one apart and glued it to the silver one.  I then outlined all the white space with in the stamp and around the stamp with glue.  Then I sprinkled on Glamour Dust...my most favorite glitter of them all!  The silver and gold papers are  vellum and they actually got a strange "curl" to them after going through the die cuts.  Hence the addition of "bling" in strategic points around the card-the vellum needed to be anchored big time!  Then the largest die cut as well as the tree itself are popped up on dimensionals.  It is really hard to see the sparkle of the glamour dust or the lovely matte finish of the metallic embossing powders but in person this card is really gorgeous.....and so simple to make!  I will be entering this in the Hero Arts monthly contest!  I haven't entered one of those in ages!



 Here is my card!  And it is 5 by 7 in size.


This particular stamp set is only available at Archiver's so I am glad I picked it up when I was in the area.....I think that I will be able to get a lot of different looks out of this set!  Thank you for stopping by and I hope that you have a great weekend!

Be well,
Sheila


Thursday, November 8, 2012

Some days

are just kinda blah.   Today is one of them  Actually I don't know if it is the day, the weather or just me but I am wallowing in a sea of blah-ness.  It is not attractive.  And, it is not productive.  I know that I am seriously low on sleep so that is what I am blaming this blah state of affairs on.  But, I want tomorrow to be different.  And it will be because I will make it be!  In the meantime I have a card to share.  The card that I am going to share is radically different from the card that I set out to make.  The card I set out to make was 5 by 7.  This card is 4 7/8 square.  The card that I set out to make had a large image.  This card has a relatively small image.....because  when I was done with the coloring of the image and  I cut it crooked. So, then I tried to fussy cut it and then remount it.  No way no how.  It further damaged the image and then I cut the image down smaller.  But, did so with out my reading glasses on (to save time of course) and  so the image was cut a bit on the diagonal....making the square crooked.  Again my image went under the knife and emerged much smaller.  So, what to do what to do.....my image now was way to small for a 5 by 7 card.  And if I simply mounted the image I would be creating a million layers to make it look balanced.  And although I am a total layer lover that would be too many layers for even me.  My next option then was to make the image appear bigger by expanding it's size, falsely, with a frame.  Adding a frame makes the overall image seem that much bigger.  Then I decided how many layers to add as well as trimming down the whole 5 / 7 card to a more manageable 4 7/8 square.  Then I just had to add bling, stickles and a bow to finish off the card.  And, I like it.  I could have scrapped the image when I mutilated it (over and over again!) but I always hate to toss away a colored image.  It is somewhat a challenge to me to find a way to "make it work".  The background paper is of apples which I thought would look so cute with this image and I am sorry that I had to cut so much of that  paper away but all in all I like how the card finished up and know that next time I make a "mistake" it can actually turn out to be a good thing!  The image I used is a Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co. image and the dies are all Spellbinders.  The majority of the bling are those "water drop" looking thing-ys as well as a few pearls.  And, finally, there are some yellow stickles on the pumpkins and GA on the apples.



I thank you for stopping by my blog and I really appreciate your comments.  I also hope you are having a better or less "blah" day over in your part of blogland!

Be well,
Sheila

Thursday, November 1, 2012

My daughter

asked me if I could make her several cards recently as well as one "special" looking one.  I told her "no problem!" as I had a few new Spellbinder dies that I wanted to try out!  So, this is one of the cards.  I also am going to enter this card in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge of Just Add Pearls.

I have been loving the new dies that I have purchased and they just seem to lend themselves to the addition of pearls and other bling.....of course, when is bling ever NOT needed right? And besides the little bitty pink pearls I also used pearlized pink card stock.  I really love how it looks embossed! The image is a large background stamp from Heartfelt Creations.....colored up and cut down to size.  I colored this with Faber Castell Big Brush markers and "highlighted" the image with white pencil and stickles.

I had fun with this card and it was fun to sit and play for a while. It has been a crazy busy week and I am looking forward to my husband coming back home on Saturday.  I am actually going to get up at 5:00 tomorrow with my son (who gets up to swim) but I plan to craft a bit before I go for my walk....I feel the need to INK!
Be well,
Sheila

Monday, October 29, 2012

Barb's Birthday!

When I first joined HA Flickr Barb was one of the first people that I "met".  Mind you even though it was just a "virtual meet" Barb's personality came through as she helped me with flickr issues, card making and helped on a few personal issues too.  In short Barb became a "friend" before I ever had the opportunity to meet her face to face.  But finally we did meet....in fact just as recent as this past September when traveled to Scrapfest and spent of few days, a few classes, a few meals and a few lines with Barb!  And now she is having a birthday and Virginia has been kind enough to organize a card hop for Barb. So of course I wanted to take part!
I recently went a little nuts and bought several new Spellbinder dies.  I love Spellbinders.....they were the first dies I ever got and I just think that there quality and versatility rock.  And, I have found a place that often sells them for as little as $16.99 so that makes me happy.  So, I finally broke down and purchased a couple of the dies that I have been coveting  and thought that I would make Barb's card with one of my new sets.  And a quick tip for any time you use a very delicate or complicated die...put a piece of wax paper on the die and then layer your paper over that.  After you cut out your die the wax paper will allow your die cut to just pop out!  Any ways, I also want to enter this card into Mojo Mondays Challenge # 265....Square or Round. I went with square.....I always love a square card!

I also am entering this into the Simon Says Stamp and Show: Just Add Pearls.  I used both pearl bling and also pearlized chalk to color the background around the sentiment.  And, it is hard to tell but the deep pink cardstock is also pearlized.  Here is my card!  I hope that Barb likes it!


I also will be linking this card to Virginia Lu's blog.....she was the sweet person that got this birthday ball rolling.  And finally, I want to give a curtsy to Jenny Gropp of One Krafty Kat blog....I love her card designs and really loved THIS particular one and basically followed her example when trying this particular die for the very first time!
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having a good night.....and if you are on the east coast please stay safe!

Be well,
Sheila

Saturday, October 27, 2012

My very first....

Christmas card of the season.  Yea, yea I know....I am quite a bit behind but I always have a pretty difficult time making Christmas cards in the warmer months...But yesterday was quite cold and I had some time before my walk.  And this little card came together actually really quickly.  I used a Northwoods Rubber Stamp company stamp and then colored it with TomBow markers.  I stamped on watercolor paper, embossed and then used the Tombow Blending pen to blend and shade the colors.  It goes really fast and lately I haven't been able to find the time to really sit and copic to my my heart's content so the Tombow's and the Faber Castell big brush markers are a great coloring alternative for me.  I love this patterned paper and I broke habit and first picked out the paper and then colored the image to match. I know that is the sensible way to make a card but I usually do lot of coloring of images ahead of time and so I tend to retro fit to paper!  Anyways, I really enjoyed getting out some Christmas colors and images and putting them together.
Today my husband and I are heading over to a town in our state to watch my friend's daughter run in the state meet for x-country.  It is about a 2 1/2 hour drive one way but the way will be scenic and we hope to still catch some of the Fall colors on the route.  There is also a MASSIVE scrapping store in this town and that will be fun to go through too!  Tomorrow my hubs leaves for France and India and I plan to be at the crafting table about 5 mins after he leaves!  Barb over at the Hero Arts flickr site has an interesting challenge going on and I hope to take some time and participate!  Check it out!
So....here is my card.  I found these adorable gingham ribbons at JoAnn's fabric.  They come in several different colors and widths and I scooped up a few as I always love the look of gingham with Autumn and Christmas images.  I have been using my little "Bow Easy" for making my bows and I seriously love that little tool....I think it was all of $2 or $3 but I use it almost for every card!  I think it is so much easier especially when trying to double bow ribbons.  And, of course, you can see that I stickled....I love to touch up the images with a bit of glitter....


Thank you for stopping by today....I hope that you have a GREAT weekend.....I know I plan too :-D

Be well,
Sheila

Friday, October 26, 2012

Two days....

and two posts.  Whoa....I better be careful or this will become a habit!  Yesterday was absolutely miserable here in Plymouth.  Just awful weather and so I wasn't able to get my long walk in.  I kept hanging about hoping for a 2 hour window in the weather but it never happened sooooo what's a housebound (crafty) gal to do but make good use of her time in the now clean and organized craft space.  And that is exactly what I did.  I needed to make a birthday card and I find that when I need cards of that sort I tend to go for cards that are more "in season" and then put a birthday greeting in side them more so than reaching for a true, blue birthday image.  Actually, I have kinda few birthday stamps as a result.  But if a birthday falls in Autumn....beware!  You are going to get a card with pumpkins, apples or cornstalks from me!  It is always a way for me to use some of my most favorite color combinations more often!  And I am going to enter this into a challenge.  Over at the Simon Says Stamp Blog this weeks challenge is to use Autumn Leaves.


I have never entered any of their challenges but who can pass up a challenge to use colorful leaves right?  And this Heartfelt Creations background stamp seemed just the stamp to take center stage!
I love this particular leaf stamp and it is actually quite a bit bigger than I have shown.  That is a great detail about large background stamps....they can be stamped and trimmed to fit your project and are often stars in their own right!  I don't think that I have actually ever used this particular stamp as a background!  And, again I used Faber Castell Big Brush markers...they really are so fast and quick for coloring.  I still love my copics and pencils but this color job took me about 15 mins with the Big Brushes and sometimes a card just needs to be quick!


Also, lately I have begun to try and dress up some of my cards on the inside.  So, here is the inside of that card.


Today it is sunny and, wait for it.....nearly 40 degrees colder than it was for the last two days.  Yikes.  But it is the sun that I am happy for and so I will be able to get out for a long walk....TIP ALERT!  For those of us who live in areas where it does get cold and nasty put a thin layer of Aquaphor on your face before long walks, runs etc in order to protect it from windburn and the cold!  My daughter taught me that.  She is almost 23 and she also puts a very thin amount on her teeth before she drinks wine or coffee so her teeth do not discolor over time.   'Course I never remember this tip until I already have two glasses of red in me!  Oh well - ;-D  Take care and enjoy your weekend!

Be well,
Sheila

Thursday, October 25, 2012

So...

I've been absent.  For quite awhile.  And although I would like to say that in my absence from blogging I have been filling my time with crafting.  But that would be a lie.  I haven't been in my craft area except to pass through it to the laundry room.  Which I have been filling my time with.  Laundry. And lots of it.  And other activities of course.  Not all laundry.  Some activities have been very fun...lot's of time spent outdoors in this amazing and fabulous Fall that Wisconsin has experienced.  Lots of time here and there visiting kids.  My kids....I haven't been out and about just visiting random kids ;-D  and lots of time reading lately.  I have been on a reading tear for some reason and it has been wonderful.  I also have visited my brother and in the process was gifted from him my grandmother's old china cabinet that he has had in his barn for....well, forever I think.  So, I have cleaned that up and filled that up with crafting supplies.  Which led to a complete overhaul of my crafting room, supplies....any and everything that has to do with my crafting.  This took me a looooong time.  Too long in fact.  It pointed out to me that I have a lot- A LOT of crafting supplies.  And, so I have been paring away, giving away and reorganizing my supplies in a way that I will be able to use more of what I love more often.  I have learned that I hate to have stuff on my desks.....in fact any of my flat working surfaces.  Hate it.  Hate the clutter that builds up.  This has taken me way too long to figure out.  I really must be slow in that respect.  But, when I have on my desk....and I have a huge desk that can certainly accommodate this arrangement btw....when I have my pens, markers, inks and pencils neatly stored on my desk it is a baaaaaad thing for me creatively.  I don't know why, but it seems that what ever tools I am using never  really get put away because, well, they are on my desk so what is the difference between laying them on the desk or gathering them up and putting them upright into their container.  And, of course, if I just leave them lying about I will be able to come back to them when I have my next craft project to do.  Except, maybe for my next project I want to use pencils or inks instead of markers.....and so I do, and then I also have those on my desk as well as bits of paper and bits of ribbon and just, well BITS!  And before I know it my table looks like he#* and I am overwhelmed with the mess and then shy away from my crafting table.  I am very immature that way.  Pathetic really.  But now I have everything put away and when I have a card or project I pull out exactly what I need and and put it on my table.  And if I need something more I GET UP AND GET IT!  Shocking I know.  But, when I am done, I have a very distinct place to put everything away.  And, if I am interrupted before I am finished then all that my eyes see  on my table is the very tools I am currently working with.  Which, somehow, makes it easier for me to come back to my table. I know that most people want to have what they use most right in front of them at all times so it is in easy reach but for me that became much to clutter to my eye.  So now just pulling out when I am using is working much better.  And, since clutter translates to stress  and inactivity for me.....the lack of clutter translate to peace, enjoyment and more crafting.  So, I am happy.....and only feeling slightly ridiculous for taking sooooo long to find this out about myself.  Here is a card I just made.  I love Fall images....they are another thing that makes me happy ;-D This is a Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co. image....one of my most favorite company's ever to color!  And I colored this image in with Faber Castell Big Brush markers on watercolor paper.  It's fast, easy and I really like the resulting intensity of color!  I also cut the Spellbinder twice...and offset the colored cut over a white cut create a bit more dimension.  I think I like this.


And, when straightening my craft area I found this bit of ribbon.....so bonus!
Take care and thanks for stopping by.

Be well,
Sheila

Friday, October 5, 2012

Whaa-Hoo-ey!

Finally some crafting time.  It has been a loooong while since I have been able to sit down and play a bit. But while I haven't been crafting my time has been filled with other fun things.  Today, however, I had some time to finish an image that I have colored with three different mediums.  I took the same Northwoods Rubber Stamp Co. image and colored it with Faber Castell Pitt BigBrush markers, watercolor pencils and finally with Copics.  Each time I challenged myself to find a different way to mount the same image...not easy for me.  I much prefer coloring to the actual assemblage of  cards!  Any ways, with this being a Fall image I couldn't take myself away from the pairing of turquoise and orange.  That color combo seems to be my "go to" fall color preference.  Each card also shows how versatile some stamps are which is really important to me.  I need to be able to keep using a stamp (cuz these things are expensive you know!) and so I like stamps that can be cut away, pared down, etc....

The first card is colored using the Big Brush markers and this card shows you what the whole stamp looks like.  Other that trimming the sides a bit this is the full stamp.  I colored and blended on water color paper with the markers, trimmed out and matted the image and then stickled with yellow stickles to "highlight" the yellow areas on the card.  Im my mind this is the "sunlight" hitting the objects on a fall day.

 The second card is colored with watercolor pencils. And this method is so easy and fast to do!  I basically colored everything but the cornicopia, fence and basket yellow and then added appropriate blending colors from there.  Once all colors added I pulled out a brush and cup of water and blended away.  This method is nice as if you make a mistake you can use the water to "push" the color back or simply wait till the image is dry and then add more pencil again.  On this card I cut out the fence and leaves....mounted them first and then added the pumpkin/cornicopia  section of the card on pop up dots.  I also cut out several leaves that I had left over from the third card and popped them up on dots also.  I added the brass sentiment that says "capture life's moments", stickled with yellow again and that card was done!

Finally, the third card uses copics and again the process was pretty straightforward.  The coloring here took substantially longer to color than either method listed above!  I hand colored the ribbon with a Tim Holtz distress ink and now my fingers are impossibly turquoise.  I never understand why that ink doesn't rinse off as it is water reactive......And besides stickling again I added a little brass tag that says "wander" as that is what I like to do in the Fall.  Wander about in our state's glorious, colorful  parks.


Thanks for stopping by today!  It was great to get back to the crafting table and I hope to be back with more cards this weekend.  I hope you all are well and enjoying this lovely Fall as much as I am!  It is soooo hard to be indoors now when I know that winter is coming, too soon, and the weather outside now is just fabulous!

Be well,
Sheila

Sunday, September 23, 2012

I love

that my kids are finally coming to me and asking me to make them cards, bags and other sort of crafty items  to give as gifts.  It probably has something to do with the fact that they are broke and fairly penniless but never mind that!  I am just happy that they feel that they can come to dear old mom and that they actually like what I make.  Well, generally like what I make!  Sometimes, they are really specific about what they want and other times they tell me to do what ever I think is best.....So, my middle daughter, Clarice, called the other day and asked me to make a birthday card for one of her very best friends at college.  I was so pleased to do this and she also gave me plenty of lead time......calling me a good week before she needed to have it in her hands...all I can say is SOMEONE raised that kid right! Just sayin' you know.  Anyways, her friend is such a nice kid and so much fun so I wanted to make a card that reflected her personality.  Fun, colorful and bright!  I used a favie Whippersnaper stamp....one that I tend to turn to over and over again as it works so well....I like to cut out the main image and then pop some of the images' components up on dots....add GA and stickles to really bring out the "party" aspect of this stamp image. I then added multiple layers using my "perfect ruler" set although I will point out that the first turquoise "layer" off of the image is actually copic colored.  Sometimes I leave the paper in the spellbinder die, outline around the inner edge with fine black marker and then pop the paper out and color the edge to give the illusion of a layer.  I also used the "postage stamp" die from Spellbinders and that cute little bling detail going around the edge came to me from this site.....one I visit so often as this lady's cards ROCK!  Take a peek for yourself! http://onekraftykat.blogspot.com/2012/09/tall-pumpkins-from-serendipity.html

Thank you so much for stopping by today.....I have to get outside as the weather  is spectacular!  Enjoy your neck of the woods!

Be well,
Sheila

Friday, September 21, 2012

Sympathy cards....

have always been a little rough for me to make.  Actually I am sure that they are difficult for any of us to make.  For me, besides the obvious reasons, sympathy cards are hard because I am very bad at going with less color.    I try to to "subdue" the overall palette but then I usually end up with a card that I would never, ever send out to anyone!  So, I revert to a less vibrant combination of colors.  And, while it is not perfect it seems to be what I can do at the moment.  These three cards area all using HA stamps and sentiments and I like to use silhouette stamps for this purpose....they deny me from "coloring" my image.  If anyone has a very good, overall sympathy design please point me in that direction....I would appreciate any help or recommendations!  Here are mine....all getting sent out tomorrow ;-(




They all seem to be listing a bit to the left!  Oh well.....thank you so much for stopping by!

Be well,
Sheila

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

What a bag!

Gift bag that is! The other day my son asked me to make him a gift bag to house the gift he got for the girl he sees.  And I was thrilled....thrilled because he asked...thrilled because he doesn't think my stuff is too "weird" and thrilled because it has been a while since I have made a bag and forgot how fun they can be.  His only request was that it be in purples etc....favorite color I guess.  So, lucky for me the ColorQ Challenge #155  featured purple-y colors!  I have always wanted to try that challenge and am tickled this worked out....except I have no idea if they accept entrants that are not cards....just thought of that now.  Oh well, I will still go ahead and enter - can't hurt right?  Here is their inspiration photo:

I just loved this combo of colors and the tea cup reminds me of my grandmother's china set.  I really think it is the same one.  So for my bag I used these colors....the olive green, if you can't see it too well comes from the leaves on all the flowers.  And the yellow comes from these really cool yellow-y gold membrane leaves I got in the clearance bin and also the ribbon.  So the yellow might not be a true saffron.  I decided to go with the darker of the yellow in the flower on the teacup. I really wanted to highlight flowers like  they are highlighted on the china.  So, I decided to make a white doily and then group the flowers on top of it much like the casual but elegant floral grouping on the teacup.  After adhering the flowers I stickled them....it doesn't show up very well here but in real life they have a wonderful sparkle to them.  Here is my bag....




I don't know that I am too happy with how it photographed but oh well. Obvs I tried it two ways before I threw my hands up! Take care and thank you for stopping by!  It feels so good to be crafting again!

Be well,
Sheila

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Silhouette Grass....

and a bit of distressing.  I haven't used distressing or my HA Silhouette Grass stamp in forever.  I have been soooo into coloring that I have kinda forgotten about all the other techniques and styles out there.  I attended a Tim Holtz class at Scrapfest and besides the fact that the guy is amazingly nice he also re-ignited my love for distressing!  Don't you just love the intensity of color that distress inks give you?  And lucky for me I came home to the NEED to make several cards that have to be in the mail this week.  Unfortunately 3 are sympathy cards (man those are hard to make) 2 are birthday and 2 are what I call "just 'cuz" cards.  The "just 'cuz" cards are always my favorite.  And, a bag.  My son dates a girl whose birthday is today (of course) and last night he asked me if I could make a nice bag for him to put his present for her in......I have GOT to teach him the concept of "advance notice".  Although, he probs would respond that he did give me advance notice by telling me the night before....you know though - I am just so glad that he asked me to do it!  His girlfriend loves ice cream and so Corm  went to a place called GLAZE where you can pick out the pottery of your choice, paint it anyway you want and then they will glaze it in the oven for you and you pick it up a week later.  So Corm picked out and painted a freestanding ice cream cone....kind of like you would see in a retro shop and then filled it with all sorts of ice cream toppings....chips, sprinkles etc....such a cute idea I thought.  But you came to see a card right?  Not be subjected to my distracted, meandering  thought process!
I have several stamps that have become my go to stamps for sympathy cards.  I love the HA Silhouette Grass for that reason.....many of the sympathy images that I use are silhouette stamps and then I often use a distress background.  I know that this particular card is very vibrant but here in my town the leaves are starting to change.  The wake up temp was in the upper 40's this morn and the geese are flying over head daily on their way south.  The man who passed was a farmer and so I thought stark outdoor images against a vibrant sky would work best.  I need to make three separate cards for three of his daughters....all of whom I am friends with so the cards need to be similar yet differ slightly.  After stamping the image in black I often go over it with a black Prismacolor pencil....touching up the spots that need it - keeping others light where I want them to look like they are more in the background.  Finally, I add white Prismacolor pencil to each aspect of the image on one side.....that represents the "light source" hitting, in this case, the reeds.  And, also, the white just seems to make the image "pop" a bit more to my eyes.  So, there you go....I hope you like it!  I am actually entering this into the Hero Arts Monthly Challenge...this card is in the "Fall Feast" category as well as following the color scheme category.


Thank you so much for stopping by!  I plan to be back "online" today and hope to stop and visit you too!

Be well,
Sheila

Monday, September 17, 2012

Scrapfest!

This past weekend I traveled to Scrapfest and I want to say that it was one of the best experiences ever. Why?  Because it was soooo "out of the box" for me.  Seriously, this is so far out of my comfort zone that my family is still in shock.  The unusual part of this weekend was not that I went to Scrapfest per se....it was more because I drove 6 hours to spend the weekend with app 15 people who I have only "met" online.  In fact my fam dam laughs that I have broken the rule that I have drummed into their heads for a decade+ and that is "Do not EVER travel to meet an internet "stranger" in person at a hotel"....and here I was....meeting a whole slew of them!  And it was wonderful.  Each and every person was a delight.  And it is amazing how "honest" each of us are in our blogs...on our flickr groups etc because, in my opinion, everyone was so true, so like their online personalities.  Anyways, just about everyone in the group had never met each other in person before and I am so happy that each of us put forth this effort to connect.  I only had a 6 hour drive but there were quite a few who traveled much further.  In fact, we had people from Minn, Wis, Texas, Indiana, Canada, Ohio, New York, Mass, Alabama and California.   Scrapfest itself was also really fun.....how many times do you (except perhaps attending a sporting event or concert) spend so much time under the same roof with hundreds of people who all share the same interests?  Standing in line for the make n' takes was a pleasure as it gave me the opportunity to meet and chat with so many other people. We exchanged tips, ideas and just generally made a "connection" if even for a short time.  As for our own group, we split up through the day, reconnected, paired off in smaller groups, took classes together, ate lunch, oohed and aahed at Archivers (and all probably spent waaaaaay too much $  there!!!) shopped at non scrapbooking stores and then finally, each night we all met up for a nice dinner together.  Both nights we had the pleasure of having Virginia and Lin's husbands join us. And, both nights we also had the pleasure of Judy's daughter Kathy dining with us and it was wonderful to see such a warm and loving mother/daughter friendship at the table.  One night one of my own daughters was able to make it to dinner and I cannot tell you how proud I was to introduce Bessie around to everyone!  We also made cards for a Saturday night card exchange and Judy got my card.  I loved making it and I know that the image I used is one that she really likes so I am tickled that she was the recipient!  Here is my card.....


And here is the inside.....I think that the sentiment is a bit "off" in placement but right on in message ;-D

 
This second card is one that I made for Barb.  Barb lives very close to where Scrapfest is held and so was kind enough to coordinate the weekend for all of us.  It was so nice, at the end of each day, to have dinner plans set at a place that could accommodate such a large group!  I just love these colors together....and the sentiment is a sticker that I stuck onto some coordinating paper.  I had only known Barb from her online presence and one characteristic that struck me from her avatar was her wonderful smile....hence the sentiment.

I do hope to post some pictures from this weekend.....I just need to get some laundry done, a nice meal made, some major housecleaning accomplished...etc.....then some wonderful sit down time to craft with my new goodies ;-D  Thank you for stopping by and I hope your weekend was as nice as mine!

Be well,
Sheila