Monday, June 30, 2014

Monday Inspiration - Victorian Trike


 Happy Monday!  It's another lovely summer day and I have a card to share in the warm shades of summer!   I actually picked this paper stack because it has a sheet with bicycles but then I realized it didn't really go with my PPRS Victorian Trike so I used from the stack but not that particular sheet!


For the inside I thought I would give the "generation stamping" technique a try.  I think it turned out pretty cool!



I hope you will hop on by PPRS BLOG to see the beauties the DT created this week!  
TFL and have a great week!

I played along with the SC494 at SCS.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Speedy Fox & Friends - Mesh



Happy Saturday!  I hope you had a great week!  We are back from our trip to IN where we get spoiled, spoiled, spoiled and do all of my favorite things.  Much to my surprise when I arrived home I was not greeted with dirty floors and a sink full of dirty dishes as I expected.  Our teen boy decided to clean and organize!  Ummmmm....we may have a bit of a monster on our hands now!  Today when we went grocery shopping I was told that I had put too many snacks in my cart and all together too many groceries because he didn't want his organized pantries to be messed up!!!  Oh well, I guess I will take the bossy boy because I am loving the neat freak!  :)

I created a quick card today because, well, my mojo took a vacation too but didn't come home with me!


Our challenge this week at Speedy Fox & Friends is to use mesh.  I decided to use my favorite mesh, drywall tape!  I love that drywall tape has a sticky backing so once placed it doesn't move around.  I sponged on TH Peacock Feathers Distressed ink, then spritzed with water.  I used my heat tool to dry then removed the drywall tape.

For both outside and inside of the card I used sentiments from the newly released stamp set: "Pretty Pears".  I added layered butterflies using the "3 in 1 Butterfly" punch from MS and called it done!


Thanks so much for looking!  For more details on the challenge and inspiration from my talented teammates please visit Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge!

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Soda Can Die Cuts

Today I am upcycling a soda can to create die cuts!  

This is what you will need:
Alcohol Reinkers
A piece of soda can


 Place the die (cutting side) on the silver (inside) of the aluminum and run through die cutting machine.


Pop the aluminum out of the die with a piercing tool.

At this point the die cuts can be used as is or they can be colored.  I like playing with alcohol inks and seeing the colors blend and mix so I drop ink onto the metal one drop at a time and watch the magic! Allow plenty of time for the ink to fully dry.  I like to leave them overnight before picking them up.  


The gears add a fun embellishment for this masculine card using the "FF0171 Find My Prince" sentiment.


Thanks for Looking and have a great rest of the week!

WOYWW #264

Hiya!  It's Wednesday once again and time for What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday brought to us by Julia at Stamping Ground!  Each week Julia sends us around the world  via the ever faithful Mister Linky for peeks inside one another's work spaces!  I can't wait to see what's on your work desk this week!

We are home from our trip to IN, Oh what fun that was.  I am ready to go back now!  :)  My mojo decided to stay in IN and left me feeling rather awkward at my work desk yesterday.  Sigh.  So what's on my desk today?


A PPRS butterfly I stamped weeks ago but haven't done anything with.  
Flowers that I can't wait to use on just the right project that were gifted to me by my dear friend Petra.
New 1.00 stamps and twine awaiting inspiration.
Misc. items that didn't work out for Saturday's post.
Scraps that DID work out for Saturday's post.
My faithful notebook where I stamp my sentiments to get them straight before placing on card.
Saturday's card peeping out from underneath the notebook, care to take a guess what the challenge is going to be this week?
On the right I have plastic muffin cup packaging Just one of the many things I use to hold water for water coloring!

Next up three photos from our trip.  
My sis and I at Gaither's Family Resources for lunch and gift shopping!


After the eating and shopping we took a photo out at the Gazebo.

The dogs awaiting their treat for the day in one straight line. They cracked me up!


Well, that's it for me!  Happy WOYWW!!!!

Monday, June 23, 2014

PPRS Monday Inspiration - Baby


Happy Monday!  

Today I am showcasing this sweet "Sleepy Time Baby" and "Mothers Hold" for Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps Monday Inspiration. 
OH!  This baby is precious!  I just love this image with the soft baby crib bedding and the darling baby face!  Kind of makes you want to reach out and kiss those cheeks, doesn't it!  


For the finishing touch I stamped and die cut flowers from DP using CLR012 Flowers Clear Stamp and PPRS-D012 Flowers Die Set.

There's more fabulous inspiration from our lovely DT at the PPRS BLOG today!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Speedy Fox & Friends - Flower Pot


 Hello!  It's Saturday and that means  Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge!  Did you guess we were creating flower pot cards this week?  If so you are correct!

Creating a flower pot card took me back to my first days as a card maker!  Three years ago I was just beginning the fun journey of stamping.  I had very few tools and had no idea that there were online stamping companies.  My DH suggested I look at youtube and sure enough, I found a lot of card making tutorials.  The first non A2 card I tried was the flower pot!  I remember how time consuming that first flower pot card was to make.  Funny, it was easy peasy today with experience behind me!
I used Oopsy Daisy for my flower pot blooms.  I stamped the daisy on the left twice, layered the leafy branch  on top of the first layer of flowers then popped up the single daisy for lots of dimension.



A look at the note out of the pot.



You can find all the details on the challenge and see fabulous inspiration from the DT at Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge!

Thanks for Looking!

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

WOYWW - Before and After

HAPPY WOYWW!   Julia at Stamping Ground is the hostess of this round-the-world weekly event to take a peep at our desks!  Julia has been sidetracked by a pesky gall bladder while on vacation so I am not sure if she will be up to a post but I am linking back to her blog and you can check out previous editions of WOYWW if she does not have a current one up.


So why don't I know whether Julia has a new WOYWW up today?  Wellllllll, my daughter and I are on a bit of a vacation being royally spoiled by my sis!  

There has been much hurrying and scurrying before leaving on this trip to IN.  A 14th birthday to celebrate among all the other activities!  I dashed off 3 cards scheduled to show up on the blog while gone and here is the aftermath of my madness!

  Storm on her shelf letting me know she hasn't been fed yet.
An upside down yogurt container (clean) that I use when I water color.
My favorite Candi foam pads, an empty Tombo glue container.  My notebook that I stamp my sentiments on to for centering before stamping on card stock are just a few of things scattered on this desk.

This is how my desk looks RIGHT NOW.  It's been clean for 5 whole days while I am playing in another state!

My DH saw the photo and said, "this photo makes your desk look messier than it is."  So there you have it.

TFL!

Monday, June 16, 2014

PPRS Monday Inspiration - Unreal Vacation


Happy Monday!  Have you taken a summer vacation this year?  We did.......sort of....it was a staycation and it was BUSY.  Although I enjoyed it I can't say that it was very exciting so it was fun to play along with the VSN challenge  Christine had for us:  "create a card to reflect the craziest, most amazing summer vacation you have never had... yet!"  So my thoughts went right to this fun Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp image: Steampunk Drifter 


This is my crazy, most amazing summer vacation story:  On a hot summer, blue sky day (It's my fantasy-- NO humidity!)  a Steampunk airship drifted low over our property with rope ladder dragging.  That was all the invitation I needed! With a quick wave to my family and an affirmative nod of my head to the question of whether I had my cell phone,(I am always driving off without my cell phone so the last question I hear as I step out my door is, "Do you have your cell phone?")   I was off! 
We drifted for a full week over the land of all things artsy.  Steampunk gears and gadgets, Watercolors, Inks, Paints, gessos, pencils and markers in every shade imaginable.  Papers, Oh my, the papers!  We paused and we played with all the mediums in this artsy land, needing very little refreshment from sleep or food.  Why, I came home weighing 15 lbs less!! 

That's my vacation story and I am sticking to it!  :)

To help create my fantasy I used : Prickley Pear  Steampunk DrifterCLR025 Steampunk Gears, and PPRS-D025 Steampunk Gears Die 

To see more inspiration from our lovely DT please check out PPRS BLOG!

TFL!  I hope you have a fantastical Summer Vacation!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Speedy Fox & Friends - Sunshine


Happy Saturday!  Another busy summer week here.  My baby girl turned 14 this week!  For her birthday she wanted to go shopping and spend her Christmas money, yep, you read that correctly!  She has saved her Christmas money all year so she could go shopping on her birthday!  We had a very nice day together then met up with Dad and brother for supper!  I have to say I am still awaiting a lazy summer day!  :)

This week's Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge is perfect to celebrate a lazy summer day!  We are creating cards with the "Sun Rays" technique.


I used Marsh Silhouettes and Dragonflies to create this summery scene.

You can find all the details on the challenge and see fabulous inspiration from the DT at Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge!

TFL and enjoy your summer!

Monday, June 9, 2014

PPRS - Monday Inspiration



Happy Monday!  I hope you had a good weekend.  Ours was filled with ballet activity.  Sunday night our daughter danced in a production of Beauty and The Beast that her Dance Academy put on for their dance recital.  It was a lovely evening and now that it's done I feel like summer can begin!

This weekend I played along with Kim's "Lemonade - color challenge" during VSN at Splitcoasstampers using "EE0194 Wildflower Garden" and a sentiment from CLR047 Mini Vases Clear Set for this week's PPRS Monday Inspiration.


I stamped the Wildflower Garden image directly on the tag and colored it to match the flower bg.  A MME chipboard button was added at the top of tag with the sentiment tucked underneath.

Hop on over to PPRS Blog to view lovely inspiration from the Design Team! 

TFL and have a great week!



Sunday, June 8, 2014

VSN Weekend - First Reader and more!





Hullo!  I hope you are enjoying a nice Sunday!!!  We are just hours away from seeing our girl dance in Sleeping Beauty!  In the mean time I have a few cards to share with you.

Friday Night I hostessed a challenge for Splitcoaststampers Virtual Stamp Night.  Our VSN is all about summer vacation this month!

My VSN challenge is to create a card inspired by a book so for my sample I usedPlay me a Tune from Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps which reminds me of the first books I learned to read!   Do you remember  the Dick and Jane books?  Oh!  Even as I type I can recall the thrill of learning to put my first words together!  These cuties remind me of my early reading books!



For Susan's (Cards are me) challenge to use a sticker.  I used a fabric sticker from American Crafts that coordinates with their paper stack.


For Janeen's (Janeenk) challenge: Faux Paper Tole.  I curled the edges of the flower from the back side to give that "paper tole" look.




For Brenda's (tessaduck) challenge: Grad/Retirement/Bon voyage.  If you care to read how this applies to Brenda's challenge you can visit my gallery HERE!


Thanks so much for stopping by!  I hope you have a great week 

If you feel so inspired there is still time to play along in the Splitcoaststampers VSN challenges as the deadline to upload your cards is 10 P.M. EST ON Saturday, June 14th.




Saturday, June 7, 2014

Speedy Fox & Friends - Oriental


Happy Saturday!!!  It's been a busy week here with the culmination of tomorrow night's Sleeping Beauty ballet that our daughter is dancing in.  The week leading up to the ballet is always a bit crazy around here.  We had extra excitement of having to do a special hair braid bun and this mom is lousy with hair so there was quite a bit of extra hours hair practice!!!  We managed but oh my!!!  

Despite running here and there, practicing with hair and enjoying family time during this week of staycation, I squeezed in time to play with a new MFP set for this week's  Speedy Fox & Friends challenge which is to create an oriental card.  The image I used is a sneak peek from "FLOWER BLOCKS" being released next week.  


I started off by using the direct to paper technique but wasn't satisfied with the look so I spritzed the layer with water.  When the paper dried I stamped the flower block with Versafine Onyx Black. I love the rich color I achieved with this technique!

You can find all the details on the challenge and see fabulous inspiration from the DT at Speedy Fox & Friends Challenge!

In parting I will leave you with a photo of my ballerina!
Dress Rehearsal!


Wednesday, June 4, 2014

WOYWW # 261 - A big MESS is what's on mine!

Hello WOYWWers and friends!!  I decided to play WOYWW with a VERY untidy desk this week!    Julie at Stamping Ground is the hostess of this round-the-world weekly event!


We are in the middle of a "staycation" this week and a very busy one indeed.  Lots of events happening this week at our house.  I am also using the time in between family time and running to the next activity to create a few cards and that's why my desk looks like this!

I have created two 4 1/4 x 4 1/4 cards for MFP that will be blogged for the next two Saturdays. (not shown)
The paper stack sitting all helter sketter is for the Splitcoaststampers VSN/PPRS card that is in hiding (corner barely showing left edge of photo.  The card that is completely visible is for a fun VSN challenge although, nothing is glued down yet and might get turned into something else!  

A red rubber stamp is sitting on the acrylic block and was used earlier today for the VSN/PPRS as well as the clear set reflecting the glare from the lamp.

Crazy mess, isn't it?  I don't know how I can actually work like this but no matter how much I enjoy a clean work space, it always ends up looking like a disaster!

So that's it for me this week.  I look forward to seeing what you have on your desk today!

Happy WOYWW!!!

Monday, June 2, 2014

PPRS Monday Inspiration - Memories


Happy Monday!  I hope this summer day is finding you well!  My daughter and I are off doing a little volunteer job today, making sandwiches for kids that might not get a lunch if others didn't pitch in during the summer.  It really is an easy thing to do and it's fun to think that something so simple from our part will be so helpful to young ones.

Today I get to share quite a few lovely PPRS products all on this one clean and simple card! 

I used the following Prickley Pear Rubber Stamp and Die sets.  Click the links and it will take you straight to the online store!  :)  


I played along with SCS Featured Stamper for the week of May 25th and CAS274 (add flowers)

TFL!

Posies & More - Day 2 of IO March Release & Hop

Today is day two of the March Impression Obsession Release & Hop. First, I am featuring these pretty Layered Posies . This set is fun be...