ScrappinBears' Studio

Viva Las Vegastamps!: You Can Win a Stamper's Sampler!

2012-01-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

Viva Las Vegastamps!: You Can Win a Stamper's Sampler!: Time to give something away! Wanta win a prize. How about a sampler package of Miracle Tape. Valued at $50.00 1) share this post 2) Lik...

Max

2012-01-13T13:31:00.000-08:00

We will miss you sweet puppy.

Max 1/15/08 - 1/12/12

New Twisted Sketch (card) design team

2011-12-18T08:27:00.000-08:00

Twisted Sketch had a design team call recently. Existing DT members were asked to create a card based on the sketch being used for the call. Head on over to the Twisted Sketch blog to meet the new design team and see the sketch.

The twist was "numbers". Here is the card I created:

Notice anything missing? Yep, forgot to work in the twist. Sometimes I am such a dork! The sad thing is I didn't even realize it until I saw the posted on Twisted Sketches blog. Before I started creating it, I KNEW I the exact background paper I was going to use. It is white paper covered with numbers in black ink and then I was going to add the sentiment in a bright color on white paper matted on matching paper (to the sentiment ink) to make it pop. . . and some how this is what I ended up with. Not sure when I took the detour. . .the brain is a mysterious thing. . .especially mine!

Hope you had a terrific weekend!

Wishing you peace.

Linda

Twisted Sketches Card # 88

2011-12-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

Did you notice the sketch #? It's an even number (normally I only post odd # sketches)! Does it mean there's something different going on? Yes it does! This week both Teams are posting cards, so there will be LOTS of inspiration for you!

Not only do you need to go to Twisted Sketches to see this week's sketch, but you need to go see all the great cards the other designers have created too!

The twist this week is "JOY".

I started with a "traditional" Christmas brown card base. The edge of the green BoBunny paper was cut on my Vagabond using Tim's "Plaque & Postage" On the Edge Alteration Sizzix die. (I used the Plaque side), I ran it through the Vagabond a second time using Tim's "Joy" Movers & Shapers Alteration Sizzix die. I inked the edges with some distress ink. . .I think it was Evergreen Bough, but won't swear to it! lol. After "auditioning" many pieces of paper behind "JOY", I decided I like the green metallic best, so I used that. (It was from my scrap bin, so I don't know if was actually a full sheet of paper at some point or from some packaging I "recycled".)

Next I used a piece of Gold Metallic Shimmer Sheetz and embossed it using Tim's burlap embossing folder. I cut the scallop edge using my Cutterpede with the wavy blade. Then swiped some "watermelon" alcohol ink over the strip! Alcohol ink has a fantastic effect on Shimmer Sheetz - in some places it left AI color and in other places it removed all color (including the gold) from the Shimmer Sheetz!

I added a poinsettia to each side of Joy. Then decided it didn't look quite right, so I added a couple more poinsettias to the left side. Ahhhh, much better! Then I looked at the sketch again and realized, this is not looking too much like the sketch.

Sooooooooooooooooooooooo, I went back to my original idea and created this:

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww, much closer to the sketch! Again I used Tim's "Plaque & Postage" On the Edge Alteration Sizzix die, this time with some Hot Off the Press Ivory Poinsettia paper. The "Joy", which is a Hero Arts stamp, was embossed using Distress Clear Embossing Ink with Tamp-N Stuff Claret embossing powder. I stamped and embossed a couple of extra poinsettias on a manila tag then cut them out, inked the edges and the backs, added a drop of yellow Stickles, curled the edges for a bit of dimension.and attached over the top of the stamped image on the card. The ribbon is attached with some Viva Las Vegas Miracle tape (LOVE this stuff!!) The green "things" are some spacers topped with a Martha Stewart gem. Both were colored (separately) with Alcohol Ink (Meadow).

What are you plans for the weekend? Hope you will play along with Twisted Sketches!

Tomorrow (Sunday) is Gingerbread House day! That means today I will be baking gingerbread houses so my nieces and great-nieces can come over and decorate!!! This is our 4th annual event! (I will post pictures of their fabulous creations sometime in the next week!)

Take care,
Linda

Twisted Sketches Card # 87

2011-11-26T13:39:00.000-08:00

Wow! Time really flies! Here it is almost the end of November and this is my first November post! Last week I participated in a class at Stamper's Corner. The instructor was Els from Elizabeth's Craft Designs. All I can say is OH MY! I took 2 classes and created 2 cards in each class (I will post those later.)

The reason I mentioned the classes here is because I used the technique and products from one of the classes and created a card for this week's Twisted Sketches Card #87. The twist this week is Glitter!!! (You can click the link to see the sketch.)

The background started as plain white card stock to which I added some "Be Creative" Tape, then the fun began! I masked the exposed tape with snowflakes then covered with Glitter Ritz Deep Purple Opaque Micro Fine Glitter. After completely covering, I removed the excess glitter and returned it to the jar. I burnished what remained on the tape with my finger. This glitter is amazing, it is soft to the touch almost like velvet! After burnishing well, I carefully removed the masks and added Glitter Ritz Cool Highlights glitter following the steps I mentioned earlier.

The picture really does not do justice to the "glittery-ness" of the card, I wish you could see it in person!

Have you ever wanted to be on a design team? Do you like working from sketches? Then you need to check out the Design Team Call Twisted Sketches has going on right now. You gotta hurry though, the last day to submit is December 1, 2011.

Hope you have a great week!

Linda

Halloween at Grandma Linda's!!!

2011-10-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

My daughter, Kristine and I tried our hands creating with a new "media" for Halloween!

I created a Mummy Meatloaf - (my daughter helped wrap him)

She made a little swamp juice!

And I created some Swamp Monsters!

We left the meatloaf and swamp monsters cooking while we took the little ones out Trick or Treating -

The Haul!

Hope you had as much fun as we did!

Twisted Sketches #83 and a neighbor

2011-10-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

Just as I was adjusting to an empty nest and accepting the "new" normal, I got the flu and the new normal was interrupted once again. Well I've recovered from the flu and getting back in the flow of things!

The twist for Twisted Card Sketch #83 is black! (You can click on the link to see the sketch and get some inspiration from the design team.)

Here is my take on the sketch

This is not exactly as I had planned. . .I had plastic letters that spelled "BOO", but sometime between "auditioning" the letters and adhering them to the card, one of the "o's" walked away. I spent 30 or so frustrating minutes trying to find that sneaky little "o", but to no avail, so I had to rethink the card. I incorporated pitch black Adironack dabber paint for the twist. I used it to edge the card and elements (instead of ink)!

Now, I have to show you my neighbor. She is adorable! The other day I was getting ready to go somewhere and opened the front door and there she was! She gave me a quick look and just continued her chores!

The surprising thing is she was only about 10 feet away while both the front door and screen doors were open and Max (our Golden Retriever) was at the opening with me!

Hope you have a fabulous autumn weekend!

Linda

Twisted Sketches Card # 81

2011-10-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

Hi! Remember me? I know I have been MIA for a while. . . lots has been going on . . . nothing horrible, just life.

This week over at Twisted Sketches the twist on card #81 is "love", any how, any way! (You can see the sketch by clicking on the link!)

I used a periwinkle-ish colored card from my stash for the base. I used a Mini Baroque Movers & Shapers die to cut a frame in the card. I used a Snow Flurries Texture Fades on the front of the card. Once I embossed the card front I used a bit of Tumbled Glass distress ink to bring out the snowflakes. I used Archival Jet Black to stamp the main image is an Inkadinkado stamp and is stamped INSIDE the card and colored with Kimberly water color pencils. I used a Sizzix Traditional Tag die, the sentiment is from Studio G series 12 stamped in Stazon Ultramarine. It's hard to see but there are snowflakes stamped in the background which are also Studio G Series 33. The tag edges are inked with Tumble Glass and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks. The snowflake holding the tag down is a "dress it up" button.

Hope you will play along. If you do, please leave me a link to your creation!

Until next time!

Linda

Twisted Sketches Card #77

2011-09-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

This week I had intended to make a very obvious autumn card. The plan called for a word like "autumn" or "blessing" or some other word that means it's my favorite time of year. I gathered supplies and took a right turn somewhere along the process. Although the card was not what I had planned, I am pleased with the way it came out as an any season card!

Check out this week's Twisted Sketches card sketch can be found here! The twist is "plain" I thought of a play on words and was going to get clever with a (air)plane or a plane used in woodworking but cleverness beyond the thought was beyond me this week. So I stuck to "plain".

I used Hero Arts layering paper in Latte for the card base. I spritzed it with some Perfect Pearls in Perfect Gold and water to give it a little simmer. I tore a piece of handmade paper for the strip. The sentiment is a Making Memories de-fined clear stickers. I mounted the sticker on a scrap piece of velum envelope. . . the gummed part! I added a bit of water to activate the stickiness and glued it to the hand made paper and ta da! no telltale glue under the velum! The twine is from Ace Hardware and the "A" is a brad from my stash!

Hope my card has provided a bit of inspiration! For more inspiration be sure to check out the Twisted Sketches blog and I hope you play along too! If you do, be sure to link up your card to the Twisted Sketches blog!

Twisted Sketches Card #75

2011-09-03T09:31:00.000-07:00

Wow! Where does time go? It seems like it just goes by faster and faster! So after being sick for a week and then a week long trip to get my son off to college I am BACK!!! (I will post my trip soon! for now I will just say it was AWESOME!)

On to the important stuff of the day. . . Twisted Sketch Card 75!!! If you haven't already stopped by Twisted Sketches to see the sketch, go take a look, I will wait! lol The twist this week is "ink".

Here's my card. . .

I used some Bazzill cardstock for the card base and the piece the sentiment is stamped on, the floral background paper is from my scrap pile, the brads are from my stash. I used the hello stamp from Hero Arts "Dictionary Greeting" set and Stazon Ultramarine ink. I lightly inked the edges of both the sentiment and background paper. The flower "ribbon" is "half the edge" Bazzill paper strip.

Stop back soon as I have a couple more cards to add using this week's sketch. . . they are mostly finished I just need to add a couple finishing touches but first I need to get ready for the grandkids they will be here soon! And I am VERY excited to see them! Guess I am excited to see my son-in-law too and then later today or tomorrow my daughter!

Have a fabulous and safe weekend!

LindaPublish Post

GM #19

2011-08-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

Here's my entry for Studio L3's Grungy Monday #19 Challenge. Our inspiration/instructions came from Tim's 12 tags of Christmas. . . day 10 (2010).

The bird and branch are on top of the cracked window, the cage under it.

Have a great week.

Linda

Products used:
Ranger Ink: Manilla cardstock, Snow Cap & Copper Dabbers, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Dusty Concord, Forest Moss and Black Soot Distress Inks, Coffee and Jet Black Archival ink, Glossy Accents.

Sizzix - Mover & Shapers Mini Bird & Cage Set

Misc - scraps of grungeboard, scraps green & brown cardstocks.

Grungy Monday #18

2011-08-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

For Grungy Monday 18 Linda at Studio L3 had us go to Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas...{day 8} 2009!

Here is my creation!

The bird is from the "Nature" grunge pack - I used Black Soot Distress Ink then covered it with Ranger's Holographic embossing powder! This is the coolest embossing powder ever, it changes colors depending on how much you heat it! (I heated the center a bit more than the edges) On the branch I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink with Vintage Photo Distress Powder. See below for the other products used.

Have a fabulous week and be sure to check the StudioL3 blog for Challenge 19 after Monday, August 8!

Linda

Other products used:
Card base - Stardust "Fairway" cover stock,
Mat - Ranger's manilla card stock
Distress Ink
- Tumbled Glass
- Black Soot
- Walnut Stain
- Old Paper
- Vintage Photo
- Forest Moss
- Bundled Sage
- Peeled Paint
Sentiment stamp - Clear Art Stamps - "Bird Lovers" set
Leaf Stamp - Great Impressions
Birds stamp - Visual Artistry - Lost & Found set
Ranger Archival Jet Black ink
Vellum - from my scrap bin
Craft Esstentials black embossing powder

Twisted Sketches Card #71

2011-08-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

To see this week's card sketch head on over to the Twisted Sketches blog. And if you play along, you can now link your creation to the Twisted Sketches blog!

This week's twisted is "edge". The initial plan was to use autumn colors and make it a masculine card. My first attempt didn't quite emerge as I saw it in my head. As I sat contemplating whether I should go ahead and use the card or not, I realized I totally overlooked the twist.

I took the opportunity to improve upon my first card and came up with this card!

The first card had a solid background with alcohol ink strips and just didn't look right. Switching the "patterned" and solid papers around I was much happier with the results! The twist this week is "edge" so I tore the edges of the background and each strip and distressed the other 3 edges of the strips.

I used Stardust "Fairway" cover stock for the card and the strips, the background paper is glossy card stock with alcohol inks in terra cotta, rust, pesto, butterscotch, copper mixative and blending solution. The sentiment stamp is from Great Impressions. The flowers and brad are from my stash. I used some Viva Las Vegas tape and glue dots.

Don't forget to add your card with Mr. Linky on the Twisted Sketches blog! I am looking forward to seeing it!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

GM #16 Grungeboard (or Grungepaper) Extravaganza

2011-07-24T17:51:00.000-07:00

This week StudioL3's challenge for Grungy Monday was to create something using Grungepaper or Grungeboard as the predominate element in a project. We could use any technique we wanted. If you need inspiration or instructions a fabulous place to go is to the King of Grunge . . . Tim Holtz' blog where you will find scores of ideas. There are links to his archives on his left sidebar and a link to video demos on the right sidebar.

I decided (finally) on making a post-it note holder along with a grunge rose. . .

Last week (GM 15) I only got as far as creating what turned out to be a background for the challenge. I am happy to say I completed the piece and it is now residing at its new home.

My chiropractor has this AWESOME machine, which has some name I can never remember because I always call it "Thumper". They always laugh when I ask if I get Thumper. Now everyone is going to call it Thumper because I made a sign to hang on it!

I found a digital coloring page for Thumper and paper pieced it together, all 25 pieces! This the AWESOME machine with it's name tag and the FABULOUS Theresa!

Hope you have a great week!

Linda

Products used on Post-it holder:

Grungepaper
Distress Ink: Peeled Paint, Broken China, Faded Jeans, Rusty Hinge, Barn Door, Forest Moss
Alterations Ticket die
Stamper Anonymous - Tim Holtz Odds & Ends stamps
Staz-on Jet Black Ink
Post-it Notes
Miscellaneous Bling

Products used on Thumper
all the paper was from my scrap piles
Sizzix Tree die for the bushes
Maya Road mini alphabets
Misc flowers
sticklesPublish Post

Twisted Sketches Card #69

2011-07-23T08:48:00.000-07:00

It's looks a little like Christmas in July around here! For this week's Twisted Sketches Card Challenge, I made a Christmas card! (Clicking on the link will take you to this week's sketch!) If you know me, you know I LOVE Tim Holtz and this week I went to Tim's products to create the card.

This week the twist is "square". I used Tim's Stampers Anonymous stamp from the "Santa's Wish" set with Staz-on jet black ink. Using a blending tools, I added Distress Inks (Aged Mahogany, Fired Brick, Peeled Paint, Pine Needles). To make the image more of a square shape I tore the top and right side then inked with Vintage Photo and Black Soot. I used Tim's Alteration's Checkerboard embossing folder on the card. Using Viva Las Vegas tape (I LOVE this stuff), I added the image to the card, then cut the sentiment from Tim's Seasonal Paper Stash, mounted it on a leftover piece of "smooshed" inked paper, added a piece of foam tape and adhered it to the card. I added some Burgundy Stickles for the holly berries and voila - it's finished!

Hope you play along. If you do, please leave a comment (either here or at Twisted Sketches) with a link to your creation!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Under the weather and the wire (GM 15)

2011-07-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week I finished the background pieces for GM 15 over at Studio L3! I checked out Tim's blog, followed the direction and created these:

Unfortunately, that is as far as I got this week. . . check back soon for a completed project!

While wandering . . .

2011-07-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

While wandering around blogland yesterday, I stumbled across a blog named Birthday Sundaes. It's a challenge blog where each Sunday a new birthday card challenge is issued! I decided to play along with this week's challenge! As the site says "One can never have too many birthday cards on hand"!

Here is my take on their orange, green and white challenge:

All the papers come from my scrap files, including the green that I had previously "smooshed" with Distress Ink and Perfect Pearls!

They also happen to be having a design team call through July 20!

Hope you get a chance to check them out, play in their challenge and apply for the design team!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Linda

Products used:
Orange harlequin cardstock (unknown manufacturer)
White Diamond cardstock
"Happy Birthday" stamp by Image Tree (EK Success)
Hero Arts Clear Embossing Powder
Distress inks - various greens, Rusty Hinge, Spiced Marmalade, Dried Marigold
Perfect Pearls "Interference Blue"
Alterations Texture Fade "Collage"
Brads from my stash

Multi-tasking cards!

2011-07-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hi! Glad you could drop by!

My first multi-tasking card used the technique for Grungy Monday Challenge 14 at StudioL3. Linda had us visit Tim's (Holtz) blog for his March 2008 Technique Challenge. I finally decided on the only tree stamp I had as the focal point so I could use it for the Operation Write Home challenge 3 "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" from last weekend's card making virtual party!

This 2nd photo is not that great, but it does show the metallic nicely (upper left corner)!

The 2nd multi-tasking card is for Gingersnap's Color Challenge. We are supposed to make a card using the color of our country's money. Which for the USA is green! I created this card for OWH virtual party's 1st challenge - camouflage

Other cards I finished this week for the OWH

Challenge 4 - What Freedom Means

Challenge 6 - Howl at the Moon

Challenge 12 Foodie or Fruity

Challenge 14 Color Me Crazy

The intent was to use all three images on one card, but as you can see I made 3 cards!

Challenge 15 Play on Words

Challenge 16 All About Animals

Still need to finish the card for OWH challenge 2. . . the fish bowl is still drying. . . hopefully I will finish it tomorrow (Monday)!

Have a fantastic week!

Linda

Twisted Sketches Card #67

2011-07-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's time for another Twisted Sketch for cards! You can see the sketch here (Please note the web address has changed a bit, the new address is Twistedsketches.ORG).

The twist this week is "green". I went mostly literal this week and used the color green. As I was looking for the last element it dawned on me "green" could mean "recycled" too! So I incorporated a bit of packaging in into my card too! (I think the card looks better in person than it does in pictures.)

If you play along, I would love to see what you create. Please leave a link in a comment.

Do you like to create scrapbook pages? Ever thought about being on a design team? Here's your chance. . . Twisted Sketches is have a design team call!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Linda

Products Used:

Tim Holtz "retro" paper stash
Alterations Movers & Shapers - "Hope"
Alterations On the Edge Plaque & Postage ("negative")
Movers & Shapers base tray
Idea-ology Sprocket Gears
Idea-ology packaging (not sure from which product)
Distress inks -various green shades
Black card stock from scrap pile
Green card base - unknown

Bear your heart winner!

2011-07-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Just used random.org to pick a winner for my "bear your heart" blog candy!

Here are your random numbers:
7
Timestamp: 2011-07-06 04:13:40 UTC

And the winner is Amber (http://ladyskye.blogspot.com/2011/07/bearly-bear-challenge.html)! Congratulations! Thank you to everyone who played!

OWH challenges

2011-07-03T23:26:00.000-07:00

All in all there were 16 separate challenges for the OWH Virtual card making party! It's been a busy couple of days!

Here's what I have completed:

Challenge 5 - vintage hosted by Holley's Hobbies

Challenge 7 - Subway Art - summer memories hosted by Essence of Paper

I was so busy trying to figure out what "subway art"style is, that I forgot the "summer memories" part of the challenge. This was definitely a new style for me. And me being me, I didn't do it quite like Marti explained it. I googled for some additional ideas, found mention of this idea and went with it!

Challenge 8 Photo Inspiration hosted by Scrappily Ever After

Challenge 9 - Easy as 1, 2, 3 hosted by Thinking of Inking

It wasn't easy. I ended up asking my daughter to pick out 2 stamps and the sentiment because it was beyond me to do so today! Of course as soon as she gave me the stamps, I came up with a couple of other great ideas! I may try them at a later date!

Challenge 10 - 2 cards, 1 stamp hosted by It's a colourful world

As soon as I saw this challenge, I knew exactly which stamp I was going to use to create 2 seasons! A couple of years ago when Hero Arts released this stamp they had a blog hop. Tim (Holtz) used it and created a card for each season! I LOVED it then, I LOVE it now!

Challenge 11 - Pinwheels hosted by Hello From Kate

This is not a very good photo - I will retake it in the morning.

This was another new technique! It was fun and quick! I will probably make more of these!

Challenge 13 was mine! If you didn't see my challenge post, click here to see it!

That's all I managed to finish today. All in all I made 12 cards (not counting my 2 samples I made for my challenge!) I have a couple of others in various stages of completion and ideas for a couple of others. We will see how tomorrow goes and how many I get done!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are having a fantastic weekend!

Linda

PS - If you have any questions about the products I used, let me know. I will try to get the list posted tomorrow sometime.

"Bear" your heart for Operation Write Home

2011-07-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

Hi and Welcome!

I am honored to be host to part of the Operation Write Home's (OWH) Stars and Stamps Blog virtual card party! Thank you for stopping by and taking a look! If you didn't get here from the Stars and Stamps blog, you can click on the name above to see all the other challenges (hint: some of the blogs are offering a chance for some candy including me, but more about that later!).

OWH sends handmade cards to our brave men and women in the military serving outside the borders of the USA so they can send some lovin' back to their families and friends. If you have questions about OWH, just click on the name above to get information about this AWESOME organization!

From the name of my blog you might guess I have an affinity for bears. And you would be right! It might have to do with the 100s and 100s of bears that "live" in our house that my husband has collected over the years, (I may have added 1 or 2 to the collection, too. lol)

My love of bears is the inspiration behind my challenge today! There's nothing quite like a teddy bear to give comfort whenever it is need. And nothing says "love" like a heart. So my challenge for you is to make a card with a bear and/or heart and then send it (and any others you might have laying around) to OWH. (Click here for addresses of where to send, guidelines and suggestions.)

Here are a couple of cards I made. I hope you find some inspiration!

The first card features stamps from Inky Antics and a Sizzix frame. Technically, this guy isn't a teddy bear, but I think he is just adorable! (See below for a complete list of products used, if you have a question about technique please leave a comment or send an e-mail)

The second card features a "tear bear" made out of mulberry paper and background paper by Hometown collection by Moxie.

For a chance to win some blog candy, all you have to do is to create a card that "bears your heart" to send to OWH. Once you've created a card with a bear and/or a heart, use the link below to add your card. I will randomly select from all entries left prior to 11:59 p.m. on July 4, 2011. (OWH is also having a separate drawing too!) I will announce the winner on my blog Tuesday evening and will post the winner's name on OWH facebook page too! Good Luck!

My blog candy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you get a chance to play!

Happy Birthday America!

Linda

List of products used:

Card 1: Inky Antics stamps, Sizzix Ornate Frame 2, Sizzix Alterations Textured Fades - woodgrain, Kimberly water color pencils, Stazon Jet Black ink, Ace Hardware foam tape, Viva Las Vegas tape. All papers were from my scrap pile and I do not know who made them. The hears are brads from my stash.

Card 2: Mulberry paper by Paperbilities, the star and plaid papers are "Star Spangled" from the Hometown Collection by Moxie, Hero Arts stamp (I Miss You), Stazon Jet Black Ink, Hero Arts clear embossing powder, The Stencil Coolections Non Smear Pastels, Sakura glaze pen, sharpie. The red paper is from my scrap pile.

A weekend of FUN!

2011-07-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Why a weekend of fun? Because I get to stay in the AC and PLAY!!!

Studio L3's Grungy Monday Challenge 13 is to play with one of my very favorite-ist (I know, I just created a new word! lol) Ranger product - Alcohol Inks!!! This week's instructions had us going to Ranger Ink to watch a video with Tim Holtz demoing the use of Alcohol Inks!

Here's a card I made for the challenge:

This card along with a lot of others I have created will be heading off to Operation Write Home. They in turn will ship it (along with a bunch of others) to our troops stationed overseas so they can send cards home to their families and friends.

Speaking for OWH, they are having a virtual card making party on their Stars and Stamps blog, right NOW! Every 2 hours today and tomorrow (Saturday and Sunday), there is a different blog hosting the party. Each blog has a challenge and some have blog candy! OWH will also pick a random winner from ALL entries at the end of July!

I will be the hostess at 1 p.m. tomorrow (Sunday) and I WILL have blog candy to give away! Hope you come back and play!

Have a fun and safe weekend!

Linda

Products used:

Ranger Inks Alcohol Inks: Purple Twilight, Sailboat Blue, Raspberry, Butterscotch, Citrus, and a few other greens a (the list I was keeping disappeared)

Memory Box "Whimsy Circle" die

2 clear gem stickers (dyed with Citrus Alcohol Ink)

Hero Arts Clear Designs A (adore)

White glossy card stock

Black glossy card stock

Twisted Sketches Card #65

2011-06-25T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hi! Thanks for stopping by! The twist for "Twisted Sketches Card #65" is fabric! Please click on the link to see the card sketch and while you are there check out the awesome projects my teammates created!

Here is the card I created using the sketch:

I hand stitched a scrap of red fabric on a rectangle taken from a pair of old jeans. After I stamped an Inky Antics elephant on some sticky backed canvas and colored her and the background with Prismacolor colored pencils, I used a Spellbinder Nestability circle die, then I hand stitched the piece to the jeans. I machine stitched the jeans to the card front and added a flag with Studio Multi-Medium Matte.

For the record - no political statement is being made - she's just a cute elephant that I thought would be perfect holding a flag in her trunk to get ready for the 4th of July.

I created a 2nd card following the sketch with scraps of Tim Holtz' Shabby Vintage Paper Stash, an Idea-ology Ornate Plate, some Sakura Glaze Pen for faux stitching to give the impression of fabric, a sentiment from Tim's "Odds & Ends" set by Stamper Anonymous and just a quick pass of my black blending tool.

Hope you found a bit of inspiration and have time to play! If you play along be sure to leave a comment on the Twisted Sketches blog with a way to get to your card. I will try to get by sometime during the week, but blogger is up to it's fun and games and not always letting me leave a comment.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Linda

At the Mall - Gingersnap Creations GC105 - an experiment

2011-06-24T06:36:00.000-07:00

I love challenges as it allows one to try things one might not ordinarily try, such as altering the color in a photograph.

When I saw the Gingersnap Creations' theme for their Chestnut Challenge, I KNEW which stamp I HAD to use. Since I chose a "photo" stamp, I didn't want the "mall" to be black and white too. Sooooo, using a ghost town image from Altered Pages "Ghost Towns" collage sheet, I stepped outside my box and changed the color using one of my photo software programs! I am not sure I will employee this technique lots, but it was fun to try something different!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Linda

Products used:

Stamped image- Inkadinkado

Ghost Town image - Altered pages

Sentiment - MS Word

Sizzix Alterations Texture Fade - Checkerboard

Distress Ink - Mustard Seed

Grungy Monday 12

2011-06-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

WOW! It is Monday and I have the current challenge posted. Well, I guess it helped that the awesome Linda at StudioL3 asked me to be a guest designer this week! So I HAD to have my project done and posted! Thank you Linda for the honor of being a guest designer!

Be sure to check out my fellow guest designer, Alison Hall's awesome project too!

If you LOVE all things Tim and you haven't already, be sure to check out the All Things Tim Yahoo Group! It's a great place to ask questions, find inspiration and see fabulous projects in the picture gallery!

The idea behind Grungy Monday is to create something using a Tim Holtz technique as "assigned" by Linda at StudioL3 using supplies from your stash, NOT spending a fortune trying to get everything, unless of course, you have an extra fortune laying around. So with that and thinking it was a good time to start making Christmas gifts in mind, I began my adventure in creating my "guest designer" project!

Challenge 12 involves going to Tim's April 2008 Technique Challenge. Step 1, hmmmmm I don't have the paper he used, but I have tons of paper and decided on my favorite piece from Tim's Lost & Found Paper Stash. Next step, harlequin stamp? Shocking as it may sound, I don't have it. (OK Chris, get up off the floor from your shock, lol!) I have some background stamps, but not with the lots of "negative" space. After some pondering some or maybe it was after hearing the pop-pop-pop of bubble wrap in a co-worker's cube, it hit me! Use a piece of "large bubble" bubble wrap. With the major hurdles behind me, I was on my way.

I used a 6 x 12 canvas as my base. I embossed and painted the paper before adhering it to the canvas.

I really like how the bubble wrap worked as a stamp. This was the first time I tried this technique, think I will try it again. I followed Tim's instructions until I got to the part about using "Crackle Accents". Again something I don't have, but I did have some Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint and used that on the butterflies.

I added a few more finishing touches and ta da -

It even comes with options of what to hang from it. . . .

the calendar (see my Grungy Monday 11 post)

a note "pad"

The note pad was creating using the challenge technique too. Here's a close up

I used tissue tape that I inked with Alcohol Inks around the edges of the canvas and had a piece left over , so I "altered" a mechanical pencil.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed your visit and will be back soon! And thank you again Linda for having me as a guest designer and a BIG thank you to TIM for all the inspiration he continually gives us!

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Products used:
6 x12 canvas
repurposed bubble wrap
RANGER INK
Pitch Black paint dabber

Stickles

Icicile

Burgundy

Waterfall

Black Diamond

Distress Ink

Chipped Sapphire

Stormy Sky

Wild Honey

Brushed Corduroy

Walnut Stain

Rusty Hinge

Black Soot

Clear Embossing

Perfect Pearls

Heirloom Gold

Sunflower

Blue Patina

Alcohol Ink

Wild Plum

Cranberry

Stonewash

Lettuce

Distress Stain

Faded Jeans

Broken China

Glossy Accents

Craft Mat

Studio Mat Medium

Blending tools

IDEA-OLOGY

Lost & Found paper stash
Grungeboard
Nature pack
Plain sheet

Tissue Tape

Hinge Clip

Word Key

Philosophy Tag

Lavish Trim

Link Chain

Hero Arts clear embossing powder

Sizzix
Alteration die -Caged bird
Doodle Block Alphabet
Prima - Say it with Studs
Miscellaneous stuff from my stash
Crown
beads
gem
screw eye
picture hook
bubble wrap
staple gun

Grungy Monday #11

2011-06-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

Does anyone have a way to SLOW down time? It seems like I blink an eye and a week has passed by. So here it is Sunday, again, and the final day to post for Grungy Monday 11. . .

Last Monday Linda Ledbetter posted Grungy Monday #11 on her StudioL3 blog. We were to create something using Tim (Holtz) January (2008) Technique Challenge. I decided NOW was a good time to start working on Christmas presents. So I made a calendar, of sorts. . . it's not quite done yet. The pages are but it needs to be mounted on something or bound or . . . I will be sure to post a picture of the completed calendar when it is complete.

Check out Tim's blog for the directions. I used clear distress embossing ink instead of the color and 8.5 x 11 paper. After I finished step 11, I jumped to step 14 but instead of stamping I ran the paper through my printer. (I created the calendar in Printmaster, then used the image in MS Word and re-sized to get 2 calendar pages on one piece of paper. I created the calendar in Printmaster, then used the image in MS Word and re-sized to get 2 calendar pages on one piece of paper.) Then went back to step 12 after cutting the calendar to the correct size.

The fabulous Linda (Ledbetter) will post a new challenge tomorrow (Monday) so make sure you drop by her blog and see what the challenge is so you can play along. I KNOW you don't want to miss the fun!

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Dad's day to all the dads out there!

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Supplies used (by month):

All months used Old Paper & Walnut Stain Distress Inks, Distress Embossing Ink, Hero Arts clear embossing powder and White Diamond paper.
January - Stampers Anonymous (SA) Mini Holiday 2, Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky)
February - Visual Artistry (VA) Urban Grunge, Distress Inks (Spun Sugar, Milled Lavender)
March - VA French Market, Distress Inks (Bundled Sage, Pine Needles, Shabby Shutters)
April - VA French Market, Distress Inks (Peeled Paint, Pine Needles, Crushed Olive, Brushed Corduroy, Stormy Sky)
May - VA Flights of Fancy, Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Stormy Sky, Broken China, Faded Jeans and swipes of oranges and yellows blending tools)
June - VA Flights of Fancy, Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord, Wild Honey, Bundle Sage, swipe of orange blending tool)
July - SA Rock Star, Distress Inks (Faded Jeans, Chipped Sapphire, Barn Door and Fired Brick)
August - Hero Arts Antique Engravings, Distress Inks (Frayed Burlap, Stormy Sky, Broken China, Tumbled Glass & Spun Sugar)
September - SA Pen & Pencil, Distress Inks (Stormy Sky, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey, & Brushed Corduroy, I think)
October - SA Trick or Treat, Distress Inks (Pumice Stone and Weathered Wood)
November - SA Falling Leaves, Distress Inks (Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Dried Marigold, Rusty Hinge, Mustard Seed, Forest Moss.
December - SA Holiday Wishes, Distress Inks (Pine Needles, Forest Moss, Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany)

Grungy Monday #10 with a "Nellie Knot" tutorial

2011-06-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

On Monday when I went to Linda's Studio L3 to learn what the latest challenge was, I found that was simply "Distress Ink". Now don't get me wrong, "simply" does NOT describe Distress Ink as there are multitudes of ways to use it and looks to get, in fact Distress Ink is my "go to" ink unless I need a waterproof ink. Our challenge was to create something using Distress Ink any way we wanted! Oh what fun this will be!

Tuesday evening I was a bit stressed, so I did something that "de-stresses" me. I "Smooshed"! Smooshed? What is "Smooshing" you ask? Perhaps you know it better by what Tim (Holtz) calls it, "Wrinkle Free Distress"! You can find the directions for Smooshing, I mean, Wrinkle Free Distress on page 33 of Tim's book A Compendium of Curiosities.

I used every color of DI (not all on one sheet) and created 10 sheets of background paper! I had great fun and felt much better after I finished!

I used part of one of the background pieces for this card:

A while back I took a class at Stamper's Corner (Elk Grove, CA) where Nellie taught us a nifty trick for bows/knots on our cards. What is nifty is the bow/knot will stay exactly where you put it! With her permission, here is how to make a Nellie Knot.

1) Decide where you want your bow or knot.

2) Punch a hole in the chosen spot. (Note: If the card is vertical like mine, then just put a hole in the top layers before you adhere it to the card. If the card is horizontal, then you can adhere the layers, then punch the hole the layers and card.)

3) Cut a piece of fiber 2 1/2 to 3 times as long as the width of the direction the fiber will go.

4) Fold fiber in half.

5) Push fiber from front to back through hole.

6) Put ends on either side of hole and loop the fiber from the back over to the front (making sure there are no unwanted twists in the fiber).

7) Tie the bow or knot!

8) Voila! A bow or not that won't move or fall off! Pretty nifty, huh?

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Be sure to check out Linda's (Ledbetter) blog on Monday morning for Grungy Monday 11!

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Products used to create: Craft sheet, White Diamond paper (from Stampers' Corner), Distress ink (Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Dusty Concord, Peeled Paint, Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo), Art Glitter Mist (copper), Ace Hardware multi-purpose twine, Idea-ology Muse Token, Tim Holtz "Odds & Ends" and "Nature's Discovery" stamps, Ranger Ink Pearl Blue embossing powder.

Twisted Sketches Card #63

2011-06-10T21:54:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome! This is my first ever post as a design team member! It is such an honor! I am super excited and perhaps a bit nervous too!

If you haven't been to the Twisted Sketches blog yet, when get there you will find a sketch with a "twist". Every Saturday, there is a new card sketch with a twist and every Wednesday there is a new scrapbook page layout sketch with twist! I hope you drop by and visit!

This week's card twist is metal and here is my take on the sketch:

and because I had so much fun making the first card, I made this one too!

For more inspiration on this week's card sketch and twist, be sure to check out the other cards created by my talented teammates at Twisted Sketches.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Linda

Material list:

Graduation card: Star Dream Folding Cards, DeNami Design Stamp (cap), Inkadinkadoo Stamp (sentiment), Hero Arts silver emobssing powder, Ranger Ink Distress embossing ink (weathered wood & pumice stone), Viva Las Vegas mircale tape, Making Memories charm plaques, Zig 2 way glue and gray paper from my stash.

Baby card: Bo-Bunny Back to Basics "buttercup dot"; Scrap Ease Rub-on (sentiment), JoAnn's craft Essentials metal frames "tiny toes". The bears, lace, button and embroidery thread are all from my stash and I don't know who made them!

The secret is OUT!

2011-06-04T08:42:00.000-07:00

I am so excited! It was really hard not to say anything before now! But now I can! I applied to the Twisted Sketches design team and I was accepted!!! Woo Hoo!!!!

I owe it all to Paula (WhatSpeaks2myHeart), she was on the design team and posted the link about the call for the new team. THANK YOU Paula!

This is the card I submitted (it was right around Easter) with my application

the twist was glue. I used my roasted fish technique, only I used a roasted bunny! (the link will take you to the roasted fish tutorial.) Check out all the details and see the other fabulous cards created by the new design team on the Twisted Sketches blog.

Hope you will join us each Saturday at Twisted Sketches! (Be sure to go back to the Twisted Sketches blog next Saturday for my first design team assignment!)

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Grungy Monday #9

2011-06-02T19:31:00.000-07:00

HI!

The challenge Linda over at StudioL3 chose for this week is from the technique Tim showed us on Tag 10 during the 12 Tags of Christmas 2007! Hop on over to Tim's blog for the directions to try this fun and easy technique.

When I saw what the technique was, I knew exactly what I was going to do! By the time I got to the studio, though I had changed my mind and made this instead:

I used Black Pitch, Snowcap, Aqua, Stream and Copper dabbers, Shell stamps from Hero Arts' Antique Engravings set, letters are cut from grungeboard using Sizzix Doodle Block die on my Vagabond, swivel clasp, miscellaneous charms, adage ticket, mini paper clips, sea glass (with a light coat of glossy accents over the top to make them look wet and shiny), Ranger clear embossing powder, a random shell and miscellaneous fiber.

Did you see what I mentioned? Did you catch "vagabond"? I am so excited, I just got my birthday present (my birthday was a couple weeks ago)! A brand new beautiful awesome so much fun to play with gift! The first time I played with it was last night and I didn't want to stop. lol

Can you tell I was just a little excited?

Hope you are having a fabulous week! Stay safe.

Linda

Gingersnap Creation - GC101 Cowboys and Cowgirls

2011-05-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

Over at Gingersnap Creations blog the Chestnut Theme Challenge is Cowboys and Cowgirls.

I've had this piece done for a couple of weeks, but when I saw the pictures, I almost threw the card away! It looked awful! Well at least the "ground' looked awful and the color of the card was worse. I used Prima colored pencils to color it. After I did a little ground work, I like it much better. The card itself looks fine to my eye, just not the cameras.

Then I made the mistake of setting the card aside. I looked everywhere for it so I could take more pictures and see if they came out any better. No matter where I looked I couldn't find it. That is generally what happens when I start to clean - I can't find anything. So I gave up to finding the card and when on to sort some [paper] scraps I have accumulated. It's amazing what one finds! In the bag a scraps not only did I find my missing cowboy, but found some tape I had been looking for too! lol

Any way here is my "revised" cowboy, lookin' much better:

The stamp is from I Brake for Stamps. I used Staz-On jet black ink, Prima colored pencils, distress ink around the edges, the mat is a piece of grocery bag and the horseshoe is cut freehand then inked with vintage photo distress ink covered with vintage photo ditress embossing powder and covered with rusty hinge distress ink!

Hope you had a fabulous weekend and have a great week!

Linda
PS - As I mentioned, I am cleaning (my studio) and if you are interested in an envelope full of scrap paper - anywhere from 1" x 6" up to 8.5 x 11, let me know and I will send an envelope stuffed full. If more than one person is interested I will either divide it up or have a drawing or something but my scrap bin runneth over so some has to leave. Leave a way for me to contact you too, please.

Grungy Monday #8

2011-05-29T18:48:00.000-07:00

It's Grungy Monday # 8 over at Linda Ledbetter's StudioL3 blog and almost time for #9! If you haven't checked Linda's blog out, you really need too! (The GM link will take you directly to the challenge; the Studio L3 link will take you to the home page.)

I almost didn't have anything for Grungy Monday #8, not because I didn't try, but because it just wasn't working for me. I tried on Monday evening and I tried on Wednesday. I was either getting puddles or I was getting no blending. (Yeah, I know too much water or not enough).  But after going through 5 or 6 sheets of paper, I had had enough. It could have been because we are having weird weather for our part of California, nothing like some of you have been experiencing, but none the less, let the barometric pressure change and I get migraines.

I decided to give it one last try today. At least that was my excuse to take a break from the cleaning! lol   So what was the challenge that was so challenging for me? To get directions and find inspiration we were sent to Tim's September 2008 challenge.

Perhaps it wasn't the migraines that were the problem afterall, perhaps it was the "substituting" I did. I didn't have the Adirondack Dye Pads or watercolor paper. I used Distress Inks (in Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Peeled Paint and Bundled Sage) and Diamond White paper (it's some really great paper from Stampers' Corner).   The stamp is Hero Arts, the ribbon is from my stash as is the background paper.

Persistence paid off!

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Linda

PS - As I mentioned, I am cleaning (my studio) and if you are interested in an envelope full of scrap paper - anywhere from 1" x 6" up to 8.5 x 11, let me know and I will send an envelope stuffed full. If more than one person is interested I will either divide it up or have a drawing or something but my scrap bin runneth over so some has to leave. Leave a way for me to contact you too, please.

State Fair Results

2011-05-22T16:08:00.000-07:00

The California State Fair is coming up in mid-July! (It opens July 14!) But the entry deadline was in April and the submission deadline, this year was Saturday, May 14, 2011, at 1:00 p.m. And results were received on Saturday, May 21, but no one checked the mail until Sunday! lol

Not that I EVER wait until the last minute to finish projects, I am happy to say, I made it to the fairgrounds at 12:38 on the 14th. I guess I should say "we made it" because my husband was driving as I was madly trying to get the last pieces of my card together. I decided to make a pop-up card, I've made a few but it has been awhile for this particular type. Just before we left for the fair I realized I put the pop-up mechanism on backwards. So while riding in the van, I "fixed" the mechanism so the card would pop up. When I closed the card, the balloon hung out of the bottom! OH NO! With limited supplies I fixed it as much as I could and while it was not perfect. I debated about submitting it, but ultimately decided to let the the judges say yea or nay.

I registered 8 projects, submitted 7. I have a trip to the State Fair in early June to pick up 3 projects that did not make it. :(

They said nay to the one I debated about (Still think it is an adorable card, but it does have a few things that could have been better.)

My personal favorite

And the shadow box inspired by the 12 Tags of Christmas (I debated on this one too.)

And the winners are:

Award of Merit (I know these are really bad photos, but they are the only ones I have currently.

2nd Place - Holiday Fun!

2nd place Wedding Wishes

And the 4th item I received an Honorable Mention was my New England Shadow Box., but I don't have a photo it.

There you have, my 2011 fair entries!

Gingersnap's Red and Gold Challenge

2011-05-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

GingersnapCreations' Color Challenge is Red and Gold, which made me think "CHRISTMAS!!!" So for this challenge even though it is the middle of May, I made a couple of Christmas cards!

They were quick to make, except for the bling. I stamped the images with Clear Embossing Distress Ink on red paper, covered in embossing powder, removed excess embossing powder, heated, cut out, mounted gold paper and then mounted on the card. I didn't have any red jewels that were the right size so I made some using Ranger Inks Red Pepper Alcohol Ink on clear jewels. After they dried, I attached to the card!

Hope you are having a fabulous weekend!

Linda

Products used:
Red paper - DCWV; Gold paper -the Paper Company; Ranger's Queen's Gold embossing powder; Clear Embossing Distress Ink; Ranger Inks Red Pepper Alcohol Ink; Miracle tape; Zig 2 way glue; Darice gemstones, EK Success (Martha Stewart) Clear Gem Stickers Stamps: Stampendous "Ornate Poinsettia"; Stamper's Anonymous (Tim Holtz) mini "Merry Christmas"; Hero Arts "Joyous Christmas Greeting"

Grungy Monday done by Tuesday!

2011-05-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

Did you notice the title? That's right! It's Tuesday as in the day after Monday when Linda at StudioL3 issued the latest Grungy Monday challenge and I am posting a project! Woo Hoo! Guess my mojo from last week is still with me!

The instructions for Challenge 7 were to go to the Ranger Ink website for a demo on Distress Ink Color Blocking Technique from the master himself, Tim Holtz!

I guess I've been living under a rock or something because this is another "Tim" technique that I had never tried before. It was fun, quick and easy! And it looks great! The bear was stamped, cut out and adhered with foam tape. His hat was cut free-hand.

(After I took the picture, I decided to add strings with a black glaze pen to the inside balloons!)

I am so glad Linda is hosting Grungy Monday, it's getting me out and about! If you haven't tried Grungy Monday Challenge yet, drop by Linda's and give it a try!

Hope your week is fabulous!

Linda

In the comments Plume wondered how I did it.
Assuming that was not a rhetorical question, here's what I did for the bear:
Since I really struggle with blending the "traditional ways" (i.e., markers or pencils), I cheated. I stamped the image on manilla cardstock, then with a blending tool lightly colored the entire bear (including the bow) with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, next I lightly went over most of it with Vintage Photo, then Walnut Stain around the outer edges and "recessed" areas. After I cut him out, I went over the edges with Walnut Stain DI too. I stamped a partial image of the bear just making sure I had the entire bow . Using the blending tool I covered everything in Broken China DI. After I cut the bow out, I went around the edges with Faded Jeans DI before gluing it on the bear. I went over his eyes and nose with a black Sakura Glaze pen. I added a tiny white (Sakura Glaze) dots to each eye too. Quick and easy!

Stuff I used:
PAPER: Inkssential Manilla cardstock (have I mentioned I LOVE this stuff?), card base unknown
INK: Ranger Distress Ink (Chipped Sapphire, Rusty Hinge, Victorian Velvet, Tumbled Glass, Pine Needles, Dusty Concord, Crushed Olive, Broken China, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain), Stazon Ink (Ultra Marine)
STAMPS: JudiKins Stamp (Bear), Studio G Alphabet Stamps (#VS4191), Hero Arts "Sunny Birthday" Stamp
ADHESIVES: Micracle tape, Ace double side mounting tape, Zig 2-way glue, Studio Mat Medium
MISC: Blending Tool, Craft Mat, Sizzix Balloon die, small bit of yarn, Sukura Glaze pen

A busy weekend!

2011-05-15T17:23:00.000-07:00

I've been on a roll this weekend, actually all week! Saturday was the deadline for getting items entered in the State Fair delivered. I made it to the fair grounds with 22 minutes to spare. (And I was NOT the last person arriving either! lol) Judging is Wednesday and then sometime before June 2, entrants find out what didn't make it. (We have to pick up the items not receiving a ribbon on June 2 or June 3 or have the fair people mail the stuff on June 2.) Once I know what made it and what didn't I will share pictures.

I was in creative high gear all week, then kicked it up a notch on Friday and Saturday. I guess the juices are still flowing today as I have been busy creating most of this cool, rainy day!

Grungy Monday Challenge 6 (GM)(hosted by the fabulous Linda at Studio L3) is based on Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas 2007, Day 8. If you haven't checked out the challenges, you really need to as they are great fun!

Over at Gingersnap Creations' blog the Random Redhead Challenge that ends today is "Fans". Gingersnap creations is another awesome challenge site, if you haven't checked them out, it's another place you need to go!

I decided to combine the challenges! WHAT? How do you combine GM with fans????? Well I created the background using GM's technique:

The piece on the left is being "saved", I have an idea floating around to use it in my canvas I started with Grungy Monday challenges 1-5. The piece on the right is what I used for the background of Gingersnap's challenge. (When I took this picture I wasn't quite finished with the GM as you are supposed to stamp an image on it, which I did eventually as you will see!)

I created some fan using washi paper and Tim's Sizzix rosette die. I used the tiny attacher to hold the fans together, then wrapped some cord around the staple and volia! I had this card! (Ok, I added a little glue and tape too, but you know what I mean! lol)

Since the base of the card is an Onyx (black) I created a second background piece to use as a liner inside the card:

Hope you enjoyed your visit! Please take a moment and leave a comment, I'd love to hear from you! Have fabulous week and don't forget to check out Studio L3 tomorrow for Grungy Monday challenge 7!

Linda

Supplies used for this card are: Onyx (black) Stardream folding card, Inkssentials Manila Cardstock (LOVE that stuff!), Adirondack Aqua Dabber, Chipped Sapphire Distress Ink, Simply Sage Delta Paint for Paper, Hanko Designs Washi paper, Great Impression #e320 (leaves), Kodomo Ink "Sayings 1", Studio Matte Medium and Miracle Tape.

a Happy Mother's Day Card

2011-05-08T21:43:00.000-07:00

I wanted to create something a little different than the "usual" for my Mother-in-law's Mother's Day Card. I came across a card that looked like it would be fun to make on Extreme Cards and Papercrafts blog yesterday. Carol had a link to Brenda's Qbee's Quest blog who had the directions on how to make a fabulous pop-up card!

The fact that I didn't have much, if anything, Brenda used in her card, didn't stop me from making my own version! I improvised A LOT! Although, not being able to come up with Hyacinths ALMOST was a show stopper. I tried many ideas but didn't like any of them. In the end, I went with the Rosettes. And no curtains on the window. My MIL loved the card so I guess it came out OK.

It was much easier than I expected and other than being frustrated by not having hyacinths, I had fun creating it! Thank you Carol and Brenda for the help! If you haven't checked out their blogs, you should!

Hope you have a Wonderful week ahead!

Stuff I used in my card
2 Hero Arts Photo Card with the extra "flap" removed. (it already had the window cut out!)
Stamps
Hero Arts - Bold Flourish
Great Impression - E320 (it's the leafy vine)
Inkadinkado - "Happy Mother's Day
Distress Ink
Tumbled Glass, Bundled Sage, Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain, Forest Moss, Spun Sugar, Wild Honey, Shabby Shutters
Sixxix
TH Tattered Floral and Paper Rosette dies, Woodgrain Texture Fade
Adhesives
Glossy Accents, Miracle Tape, Zig 2 way glue
Miscellaneous
Tonic Scissors, EK Success 1/2" punch, Ranger Ink Blending Tools, Fiskars Border Punch

Playing catch-up

2011-05-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

What do you get when life is a whirlwind? Behind! My life certainly has been a whirlwind lately, but it is finally settling down! I have been so busy (or sick) that until this last week I did not even have time to play along with the Grungy Monday challenges and they are already on Challenge 5! But never fear, it is time to play catch up!

What is Grungy Monday you ask? Well head on over to StudioL3 to find out! (The link will take to the "introduction" for Grungy Monday!)

The first challenge started back on March 28 and it used the techniques the AWESOME Tim Holtz used on the 2008 Day 10 Tag for the 12 Tags of Christmas! The idea of Grungy Monday is to take a "Tim Technique" and put your personal twist on it. Here is my twist!

The second challenge took participants to the Ranger Ink website to view a Tim Holtz video demonstrating Distress Ink with Studio Matte Medium! I never tried this technique before, it was quite fun! It was kinda like magic because I was sure it wasn't going to come out, but I kept applying the ink and my ship magically appeared! I think I got it right - the speakers are not hooked up to my computer, so I watched in silent mode, lol!

The third challenge explored using Tim Holtz Adirondack Color Wash! Another product I had never used before! All I can say is WOW! oh, and make sure everything around is well protected! lol

The fourth challenge took participates to the "timholtz" YouTube channel for a lesson on Texture Fades and Distress!

And finally, the fifth challenge takes us to a New Dimension! You can read all about it on Tim's blog. This is the current challenge and it is open until 8:00 p.m. (MT) on Sunday, May 8, 2011. Then on Monday, the fabulous Linda will post challenge 6!

So what do you get when you put 5 challenges together? A work in progress! I plan to incorporate a few more of the challenges into my canvas, so nothing is permanently attached yet. I will let you know when it is complete!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend and in case I don't post again before Mother's Day. - Happy Mother's Day!

Especially for Anonymous

2011-05-05T19:55:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, May 4, 2011, I left my house around 6 p.m. to make a "quick" trip to Costco. About 1/2 mile from my house I had to pull over and take a picture of this sign for Anonymous! Anonymous LOVES the heat and as soon as I saw it, I thought of her!

It really wasn't that hot yesterday, it was "only" about 90, if it makes you feel better! You NEED to come back!

I have been working on many projects, most of which I can share quite yet, but soon I will be able to share.

I am also working on a project for GrungyMonday over at Linda Ledbetter's StudioL3 blog. I will have it ready to post in the next day or two! If you want to see the current challenge you can click on the button near the top of my sidebar!

Take care,
Linda

Scrappy Easter Cards!

2011-04-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to say "Happy Easter"!

Yesterday and this morning (in between fighting allergies) I enjoyed some serious studio time! My first creation will remain unseen for awhile, but from the scraps and some scraps in my scrap box I made these Easter cards!

I tried a new style of card - a "tri-shutter card". I followed the directions at SplitCoastStampers. It was surprising easy and looks awesome in person! I don't have any Easter saying stamps, so "Plan A" was to print on velum, then emboss. "Plan B" and "Plan C" also involved the printer and different velum. The printer was not cooperating. "Plan D" involved printing the saying, placing velum on top and copy using an embossing pen. It worked.

Tri-Shutter

The side fold card uses an image from Tim's "seasonal paper stash". (So did the Tri-Shutter card). This is a true scrappy card - everything came from my scrap heap including the card base! It's a little smaller than standard - it is 5.25 x 4.00". If you were able to see behind the image, you'd see the rose paper has a partial circle cut out of the top! I love using scraps and creating something new! The picture is not the greatest, it looks much better in person. "Happy Easter" is stamped inside.

Side fold

This one is also all from the scrap heap and the sticker files. Again the picture is not the best.

All stickers

Inside the All stickers card

My last card is another image from Tim's seasonal paper stash.

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Linda

Remember me?

2011-04-20T22:38:00.000-07:00

Where have I been you wonder? Well, wonder no more!

I survived the wedding! Survived all 9 people, 2 animals and a gazillion plants living in our house for at least 2 weeks (normally there are only 3 people, 2 animals and a few plants) plus all the visitors (a couple of times with 20 plus at a time) coming and going! I survived going back to work for a few days, then decided to get sick for about a week. Yesterday (Tuesday, 4/19) the first day, I made it through and felt like myself!!! It's a great feeling!

The wedding was wonderful!

Kristine, Randy and entire wedding party

Randy, Kristine, Izzy and Brandon

Randy, Kristine, Betty (Dave's Mom), me, Dave, Brandon & Izzy

The reception was fabulous

Kristine & Randy arriving at the reception

Teresita & Charlene's creativity!

Then it was time for the first dance -

What is wrong with the groom?

The bride seems so composed.

Seems there was a little confusion when the DJ started the music for the first dance. . . it was supposed to be "You Got a Friend in Me" but some how a Gregorian Chant started playing. Can't imagine how that happened (they did choose April 1 as their wedding date! lol)

After getting the bride and groom off on their honeymoon early Saturday afternoon,

Charlene and Chris, the most fantastic friends ever, kidnapped me for a couple of days! First we headed over to the Harley Davidson store to get Chris's husband a tee-shirt. The only problem was the Harley store was having some kind of event including a live band and there were LOTS of people so we didn't stop. (That just means you have to come back out Chris! lol) Then we explored Old Sacramento, had dinner at my FAVORITE restaurant - Frank Fats on L Street, went back to Charlene's place had a drink and that I think that was the night they had to wake me up to go to bed! lol.

On Sunday morning, we went out for breakfast then headed to the coast and ended up in Bodega Bay! Had a fabulous dinner at The Tides (anyone remember Alfred Hitchcocks' "The Birds"? It was filmed in Bodega Bay.) We had a fabulous time and I enjoyed the "girl time" with just us girls!

I am going to end this post now because if I don't it will be another day or two until I get it posted and its already been too long.

I have some exciting news to share in my next post! Look forward to hearing from you!

Details, details, details

2011-03-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

With the wedding less than 3 weeks away, my life is ruled by details! Details also happened to be the LAST challenge from A Compendium of Curiosities hosted by Linda at Studio L3. For our final challenge we were instructed to turn to page 67 for Design Details.

Design details come in all shapes and sizes. Here is a project I created in a Tim class in June 2009 using the techniques in the book.

Other design details are not quite so obvious as the stitching, unless you have something to compare it to. Do you ever play the "can you name the differences between the pictures" game? Well here's your chance! There are differences or design details added to the 2nd photo!

Don't worry, I will give the answers! The card on the right are the ones I made for my daughter to use as "thank yous" for her shower. (Her shower was a tea party with everyone getting dressed up including hats! It was great fun!)

I did it! I made all 35 challenges and posted for each week! My journal is not completely up to date, but there is a project for each week waiting to be added!

When Linda at StudioL3 announces the winner of the 35th CCC she is going to announce something else too! Make sure you take a look at her blog (she has hints on her week 35 project!).

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

The answers to the differences -
1) the tea cup on the right has a gold added around the rim of the cup and saucer as well as the cup handle
2) the edges of the white square are inked with Tumbled Glass distress ink
3) the edges of the light blue mat (under the white square) are inked with Faded Jeans distress ink
4) the "thank you" strip is placed higher on the card
5) lace under the thank you strip
6) the edges of the "thank you" strip are inked with Tumbled Glass distress ink
7) the edges of the mat under the "thank you" strip are inked with Faded Jeans distress ink

Can't imagine why, can you?

2011-03-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday evening, I worked on CCC 34! I left it on my work table to dry. Since Tuesday I've worked on other stuff, mostly wedding stuff (as I write this we are down to 3 weeks and 5 days! How does time slip away so quickly?). The studio is also becoming my greenhouse for the wedding since I am trying to create an enchanted jungle. Then I happened to drop by a store that had some plants on sale for half price that I had to get.

Today (Sunday) I realized I had not posted yet, partly because I was not happy with the way my fragment came out and partly I've been busy with other stuff. It wasn't the directions on page 63 of A Compendium of Curiosities for Dimensional Collage Fragment technique because as all of the instructions in book they are very clear and nicely illustrated. The problem was my execution of the technique. The reason I wasn't too happy with it was because the flower I used got under another element and you can't tell it's a flower. Even though I don't care for it much I was going to show it to you anyway along with some I made a couple of years ago when Tim was in town. So I went to my studio to get the fragment and I couldn't find it. I did look, but it was nowhere to be found. I am sure when I clean (no Chris, I did not get as far as cleaning the studio yesterday! lol) I will find it so I can add it to my journal I making for all the challenges.

Do you see it sitting on the table?

Can't imagine why I can't find the fragment, can you?

The flowers (Cyclamens) are my latest purchase, well except for the ferns I bought today, but they are still in the van and are going to live in the office until the wedding. Directly behind the chair is this view:

Like I said, the studio is turning into a greenhouse! There are more plants outside plus a friend has a nursery and he is going to loan some "background" plants for the wedding. An then there is the friend at work who is going to be doing some landscaping and will let me use his plants before he puts them in the ground! I am also working on one of the stores to see if I can rent a 6' waterfall!

OK back to the Dimensional Collage Fragment. I found the ones I made for the project with Tim. (Perhaps "found" is not the right verb as it is on display in the studio!) This started as a plain framed IKEA mirror! There are 6 dimensional collage fragments in this project - one in each of the lower corners, one above the center of the mirror and one on each the left & right upper edge of the mirror. There is another one on the bottom right edge of the mirror. The key in the fragment to the upper left of the mirror started as a flat metal key, but as time has gone by, it reacted with something and turned turquoise! It was quite interesting watching it change as it started at one end and slowly went to the other.

Hope you have a fabulous week!

Linda

A Quick Study (CCC #33)

2011-02-27T17:50:00.000-08:00

Well, I made it back from Hawaii on Wednesday afternoon! I had a fabulous time while I was there! But I have been having trouble getting back to the "real" world. I am slowly recovering.

Today is the first day I've actually played in my Studio! (That shows how out of it I have been! lol) Besides making another 6wedding invitations, I did a quick "study" for the 33rd Compendium of Curiosities Challenge. The challenge is hosted by the fabulous Linda Ledbetter at StudioL3.. While it's true the CCC is almost over, she has something up her sleeve, so keep an eye on her blog to find out what. I used the same colors of Alcohol Inks for all 3 techniques on page 56 of A Compendium of Curiosities. The colors were Stream, Purple Twilight, Watermelon and Sunshine Yellow.

Nothing exciting, but at least I am easing back into playing!

Here are some photos of my trip to Oahu! Hope you enjoy them!

Chinaman's Hat

Hibiscus! They are HUGE!

Me and Rebecca with a little refreshment at the luau at the Hale Koa!

Me on Waikki

Me & Rebecca at a HUGE cave. . . we didn't explore as were not dressed for spelunking.

Just one of the fabulous view! The water is amazing!

These last 4 pictures are sunset pictures at Barber's Point on the night I left. It was the only sunset I got to see while I was there.

Aloha and Mahalo.

Have fabulous week!

Linda

PS - in case you were wondering 730 was the "magic" number on this trip! lol

CCC #32

2011-02-15T20:32:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's only Tuesday and I am posting CCC 32! Amazing how motivated one can be when one is leaving in 36 hours for Hawaii! Yep, I am off to see my middle daughter who is living in Hawaii! This will be my first trip ever to visit the Islands and I am EXCITED!!!

OK, onto the Compendium of Curiosity Challenge hosted by the awesome Linda @ StudioL3. If you haven't been playing along, there is plenty of time to mosey on over and give it a try this week! We only have 3 more lessons before we've tried all the techniques in the book. But not to worry, Linda says she has something up her sleeve!

We were instructed to turn to page 59. This week the piece I am showing off was created for my companion book I am creating to go along with the Compendium of Curiosity. And it has nothing to do with the wedding! lol

I also used the technique for a retirement card I made. I didn't take a picture of it because I really didn't care for it all that much (the card). In fact, I even stopped at a store on my way to work to buy a card. Everyone at work thought it was great and that I am too hard on myself, but I disagree. The recipient said she liked it, so I guess in the end that is what matters!

Anyway, following the instructions on page 59 in the Compendium of Curiosity, I created this:

I went with the car, not because I was "copying" Tim, but because I had a couple Karen Foster signs I wanted to use. One said "Retiree Parking" and the other "Retirement Street" which both worked fabulously with the car stamp. In the book Tim says the main image will float over the other images and in this picture the car really looks to be floating, kinda like Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang! lol Guess that means I "achieved" the look!

I was playing around with different color of inks for the background stamp, you know, "test driving" which I liked best for the card. I think I ended up using the brown on the card. I really wished I had "road map" rubber stamp for this, or at least a few more background stamps to choose from. Some day!

For now I say ALOHA! I will post a few pictures when I get home and tell you all about my adventures!

Take care my friends and be safe!

Linda

PS - If you need some of Tim's Alteration Dies Stamper's Corner has a buy one, get one free sale going on right now and they will ship for actual shipping cost. Give them a call at 916-686-0651if you are interested!

Not sure

2011-02-13T20:02:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if this qualifies for the Gingersnap's GC87: Random Redhead - Tea Bag Template Challenge but there is a "teabag" and I used a template for a tea cup so I thought I'd enter it!

And yes, this is another wedding related project! I can't take credit for the theme of the shower as the Maid of Honor and bride came up with it. I can't take credit for the teacup design either, that came from a template at Split Coast Stampers. After the girls cut the cups out, I used the Floral Fantasy embossing folder by Cuttlebug, used a gold leafing pen across the top and bottom, and glued the sides of the cups. For the tea bag I inked both sides (one side at at a time) of the paper using Tea Dye Distress Ink and misted with a couple drops of Old Paper DI mixed with water, then printed the info, cut out, trimmed, inked the edges and attached the string and tag with a tiny attacher. (I inked both sides of the paper because there is information on both sides!) These were pretty quick to make and I was very happy with the way they came out!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!

CCC #31

2011-02-13T17:02:00.000-08:00

Boy, working full time and planning a wedding sure doesn't leave one much time for other activities! For the 31st Compendium of Curiosities Challenge hosted by the fabulous Linda @ StudioL3, I decided to design an element to use at the reception! (There is more than one way to have some fun!)

We are going to have a limited open bar (beer, wine and a "signature drink") with a twist! As at most bars there will be a tip jar, the twist will be the tips will be for the bride & groom! (If you want a twist of lime with your drink, we might have those too! lol) Anyway, I have a big jar that I plan to decorate with the same elephants used on the invitations with a jungle background. Going up the jar will be different locations of where the kids "will" go on their honeymoon depending on the tips they make.

Anyway, here are the elephants, they were made as one piece. Hard to tell they are enameled and they don't have eyes yet, but I will get there. I didn't get as far as I planned as one of my sisters dropped by for a surprise visit and then I spent a lot more time than I had planned planting or re-planting some "tropical" plants I got at a fabulous price (yes, for the wedding!)

(sorry about the weird angle, but I scanned it instead taking a picture and that is the only way I could get the elephants to fit on the scanner.)

Once I get the jar completed I will try to remember to take pictures and post.

I hope you have a fabulous week!

Linda

Collaboration and CCC #30

2011-02-06T13:32:00.000-08:00

Before the holidays, SJ and I donated some cards we had each made for an annual raffle held at work. Part of the prize was 4 custom cards of the raffle winner's choice. A couple of weeks ago, the raffle winner asked us for a wedding card, giving us about 4 weeks lead time.

We were in the middle of wedding invitations when she asked us. ( I am happy to say wedding invitations were mailed on the 1st as planned! We have even received 2 RSVPs already!) So yesterday (Saturday) we were finally able to get to it. I gave SJ a refresher on how to make roses (she made the big one). To get white roses we used Ranger's "snow cap" dabber. I have found when using paint for grunge roses, it is easier to create each layer, paint, then assemble. (As opposed to using ink and inking the grungepaper before making the layers.)

I was having a rough day yesterday so SJ did most of the work of putting the card together. My main contributions were some ideas and the word stick. Didn't she do a fantastic job? I think so too! Thank you SJ for your help! I am pretty sure I'd still be trying to decide on the base! lol

The word stick is my "project" for the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, hosted by the fabulous Linda at StudioL3, Altered Metal with Paint. The instructions for the challenge can be found on page 48 of Tim Holtz' book Compendium of Curiosities.

To leave you with a smile, here's a picture of my awesome husband Dave and Max! (Yes, Max is actually sleeping with his head resting on Dave's arm!)

Have a great Super Bowl Sunday afternoon! And a fabulous week!

Linda

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #29

2011-01-30T12:24:00.000-08:00

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #29 over at StudioL3 was weathered wood grunge, instructions are found on page 50.

As I may have mentioned once or twice I am in "wedding mode" so I decided to use this weeks challenge and make something for the wedding. At the reception sitting on the gift table there will be (vintage style) birdcage to keep cards safe. Just in case anyone is confused, I made this sign to hang on the birdcage.

I did make one discovery - do NOT glue two layers of grunge board together and then try running it through the Big Shot in an embossing folder. . . The Big Shot did not like it at all and now it makes funny noises and the embossing folder got a little more distressed. The Big Shot still works, albeit noisy. I haven't tried the embossing folder yey to see if it still works. Of course if your goal is to get a new die cut machine (say maybe a Vagabond) then by all means try the double grunge board technique, it may be just the ticket!

Be sure to stop by Studio L3 where the AWESOME Linda Ledbetter will have a new challenge posted.

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Addendum to Challenge 28 post

2011-01-24T10:39:00.000-08:00

The awesome Kate sent a picture of the card I created using the fragment I made for A Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 28.

Challenge 28 from "A Compendium of Curiosity"

2011-01-23T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hi! This week Challenge 28 from A Compendium of Curiosity challenge over at StudioL3 was found on page 57, Colorful Layered Fragments. Unlike some of the more recent challenges I actually started working on it on Monday, the day the challenge was posted! Go me!

I created 2 pieces, the smaller one (the fish) for my sample book and the large one (butterfly) for a "TBD" later project.

Turns out late Thursday night (as in I was already in bed and about to fall asleep) I realized I had not made my friend (and boss), SJ, a card for her birthday which was Friday. So the "TBD" later project took shape. Friday morning I quickly threw some elements together including the large fragment with the butterfly. In my rush to get things done before I left for work, I didn't even think about taking a picture of the completed card.

Thanks to my friends we are making great strides on the wedding invites! Teresita came over yesterday (Saturday) and helped embossing elephants on the invitations, inking the edges and started to assemble the mats. SJ came over today (Sunday) and we finished assembling the invitation mats & invite. We worked on the bands that will go around the entire "packet". My goal is to have them in the mail by February 1 and I think we will make it with time to spare, well if I get all the addresses the goal will be met! In case any of you are wondering why the bride isn't working on the invitations it's because she is in the Air Force Reserves and is away at training until the end of February. And her bride's maids are scattered from Maryland to Hawaii and Los Angeles to Seattle, so with the help of my AWESOME, FABULOUS, and WONDERFUL friends we are getting the invitations done.

What kind of paper cutter do you use? What do you like about it? Is there anything you don't like about it?

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Linda

CCC # 27 and wedding update

2011-01-16T18:56:00.000-08:00

My youngest daughter is getting married on April 1. I am making her invitations. For the last week or two I have been finalizing the design and ordering supplies. I decided to create the background for the invitations myself. I came by that decision quite by accident.

I will be back to edit this post . . . gotta get the CCC challenge posted. There is a tie between this week's challenge, well at least my project for the challenge and the wedding stuff I have been working on.

For challenge 27 Linda at StudioL3 has us turn to page 60 in our Compendium of Curiosities book for Distress Misting Masks. I created my own mask using "leftovers" from some flowers I made using "tattered florals" die. I carefully cut around the edge to create the mask.

So here's my challenge project:

(Please note, the color is MUCH better in person than in this photo. I will try to get a better picture).

I will be back later to finish this post.

I'm baaccccccccccccck! (and I "talked" a lot! lol)

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I made the decision to make the background quite by accident. The original plan had the invitation printed on vellum then embossed. (Did you know if you print on vellum using an inkjet printer and you cover it with embossing powder as soon as it comes out of the printer, then heat with a heat gun you get embossed printing? It looks fabulous!)

I made a prototype of the invitation but didn't have any light blue vellum, so I printed the invite on plain copy paper and proceeded with the rest of the invite. I didn't like the plain white paper so I took a blending tool and added a bit of tumbled glass to make it easier to "pretend" it was light blue vellum. I went to my favorite store (Stampers' Corner [SC]) to show them the prototype and see if they could get what I was looking for. They brought out the catalogs of specialty paper. I liked the light blue vellum, but couldn't find another blue to go with it. (The wedding colors are light blue and white.) Amber & Brenda (two of the awesome ladies who work at SC) and I were throwing out ideas when one of them said they liked the background the way it was with the tumbled glass, the other quickly agreed. I thought about it, then we tried matching the background paper I had created to other blues! EUREKA! We found the right accent blue!

All I can say is THANK YOU to everyone at SC, especially Amber for all her patience in working with me to get the invitation supplies and all the times I changed my mind (and there were lots of changes). I am sure she was VERY glad when I finally went in to pay because then I couldn't change my mind, well I guess I could, it'd just cost me.

Sorry, I digressed a bit from the background. Here is a peek at the background. I used a blending tool with "tumbled glass" distress ink then spritzed with Perfect Pearl Mist in Perfect Pearl.

Here's a close-up you can kinda see the Perfect Pearl Mist.

The only reason I am mentioned the background for the wedding invites in this post is because my project for week 27 started with a sheet just like the one above.

I was in the mood for flowers and thought this would make a great background and I had a "few" laying around. Maybe it was the cold foggy day were were experiencing and I wanted to counteract it or maybe it was because I am looking forward to my first trip EVER to Hawaii next month but I wanted something bright. First I went with Mustard Seed Distress Ink and Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls.

But that wasn't quite what I was looking for. So then I tried blending some Spiced Marmalade and Rusty Hinge Distress ink into the background then spritzed with some Fade Jeans Distress Ink and True Blue Sparkle Perfect Pearls. Ahhh, much better (and they really do look much better in person than these photos). I manged to get the backgrounds completed on Thursday or Friday.

I have some vintage style Hawaiian stamps I wanted use, but alas they are in a safe place so I had to come up with plan B. Yesterday I devised plan B - incorporate the flowers I used as masks into the card. I inked the flowers a bit more and set them aside to dry. Then I got involved in wedding stuff and didn't get back to them.

Today (Sunday) SJ came over to help with the invites. I needed some more paper for the background so we started the day with a field trip. . .only we were there an hour before SC opened. Luckily I live VERY close to the SC. Today we worked on the RSVP and some background paper. The RSVPs were prined so we just had to cut them to size and emboss a custom design on each one. I had an idea for a stamp and the WONDERFUL, AWESOME Kate from KS Designs created the digital image, then SC sent the design off and yesterday I received a rubber stamp! (My daughter LOVES elephants and the wedding theme is "enchanted jungle".)

Isn't the stamp adorable?

The color of the printed info on the wedding stationary is very similar to Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I had planned to use FJ but had not tested to see which embossing powder I would use with it. So SJ & I tried 3 different ep with FJ, but it wasn't embossing "right". We tried Tumble Glass, Broken China, Chipped Sapphire and Stormy Sky but the Distress Ink did not seem to be "holding" any of the embossing powder. Then I tried Staz-on Ultra Marine, that held the ep, but was really dark and from a distance looked almost black. Another field trip. (Like I said, it's a good thing SC is soooo close to my house! lol). Carol helped us and then Nellie helped us and after much conferring we decided to try Staz-on Hydrangea Blue. We got home and gave it a try and it was PERFECT.

I was quite surprised that the Distress Inks were not working as I usually use Distress Ink when I emboss. The only thing we could come up with is somehow the Perfect Pearl Mist "interfered" with the ink and it being able to hold the embossing powders. Have you ever had a problem with Distress Ink not holding embossing powder?

Guess I've rambled enough for one post, so I will say bye for now. I wish a FABULOUS week and hope you get time to do what you want!

Linda

CCC #26 and some rambling

2011-01-09T18:57:00.000-08:00

I am not sure how time flies by so quickly but days seem to go by faster than I can snap my fingers! It seems like I was just posting CCC #25 and here it is almost at the end of CCC #26!

Made it with a minute to spare! I really need to work on not cutting it quite so close. This time it wasn't because I forgot to create something, I started working a project yesterday but I've been fighting a cold for 2 weeks now not really motivate to do much. When I did try to post tonight, I ran into some technical difficulties. But all is good now!

The bookplate from one of Tim's grungeboard packs was altered using the instructions on page 45 of Compendium of Curiosities. The "Only U" was created & printed using PrintMaster 16. I went over "only" with a black Sakura Glaze pen. The background paper is from Tim's Lost & Found Stack.

Be sure to check Linda's blog every Monday for a new challenge, there are still about 9 to go!

In other ramblings. . .

What little time I have spent crafting these last couple of weeks has been mostly devoted to designing my daughter's wedding invitations. I think I finally came up with a design I like. Just have to get final approval from the bride & groom then for the next couple of weeks I will be creating the invitations! I am some really AWESOME friends who have volunteered to help me prepare the invites and any other items we need created. If you are wondering why the bride, the groom or the attendants are not helping is because they are scattered across the US - literally - from Maryland to Hawaii and from Seattle to Los Angeles.

A couple weeks ago, Sherry had a crossword puzzle to solve. It was all about the group Earth Wind and Fire, a group she LOVES. I know who they are and remember them from "back in the day" but didn't know a whole lot about them. I decided I was up for the challenge. So I did some research and learned a thing or two along the way. Did you know an African thumb piano is called a Kalimba? Neither did I. I got some help from a couple of co-workers (thanks Kate & Derek!) and was able to fill in all the blanks! I sent a note off to Sherry with my answers. She responded that I was the first one with all the correct answers! Yippee, I won!

My prize arrived last Thursday in a yummy looking box. I had dashed home from work before heading off to the dentist. When I saw the package I told myself to wait until I got back to open it. Yeah, right who was I kidding. . .I was NOT going to wait, so I tore into it and found yumminess was definitely packed inside!

I pulled ribbon after ribbon out of the box and then found some more goodies

and finally the last thing I found!

But "OH NO! I thought, even though a "Tiny Attacher" is on my 'wish list' I don't have one" What I am going to do with a box of refills?" "But wait! I received a couple of gift cards for Stampers' Corner!" I hurried off to the dentist and since I had to literally drive right passed Stampers' Corner to get home (pur house, Stampers' Corner and the dentist are all on the same street) AND one of those gift cards happened to be in my pocket, I made a little detour into the store. And now I am the proud owner of a new

THANK YOU Sherry for the awesome prize pack and for reminding me I wanted a Tiny Attacher!

Have a fabulous week!

Once again under the wire - CCC #25

2011-01-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

Once again I am making just under the wire. . .

Here's my entry for Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 25 going on at StudioL3. Instructions can be found on page 34 of the Compendium of Curiosities!

Same technique, different paper and what a difference it made!!

Hope 2011 has started out fabulous for you!

Edit -Thankfully everything came together! From the time I realized tonight was the deadline for Challenge 25 to the time I created the 2 "pieces" and finished posting - 24 minutes! Good thing I work well under pressure! And THANK YOU LINDA (LEDBETTER) for having a quick and easy challenge this time!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T00:31:00.000-08:00

Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2011!

Inspired by the 12 Tags of Christmas

2010-12-27T22:30:00.000-08:00

Did you have a FANTASTIC Christmas? I hope so!
To all my friends who sent Christmas cards, THANK YOU. Each and every one is awesome!

In some respects mine was fabulous. . .I had my grandkids here! (Technically they are not my grandkids yet because the wedding is not until April, but they have stolen my heart already so they ARE my grandkids!) They are such sweethearts! In other ways it has been a hard few days as this it the first Christmas without Mom. Having Brandon and Izzy here definitely helped me though!

Izzy

Brandon

It's always a busy time of year but I managed to follow along while Tim was creating his 12 Tags of Christmas. I even created about half them, but somewhere in the early days of the 12 tags I was inspired to create a shadow box using Tim's "Configurations"! The box is why I don't have all the tags completed yet because I was making boxes! I really had fun with this!

Some of the compartments were created using the technique introduced in the 12 Tags, other compartments were designed around the images used in the tags. Thank you Tim for the inspiration (and for designing the cool products!)

Please let me know if you have questions about any of the boxes, and I will try to answer them for you.

Products used (most if not all the products came from my stash, some of which has been waiting for a long while! lol):

Ranger:

Distress Inks, Studio Matte Medium, Sticky Back Canvas, Embossing Powders, Rock Candy Stickles, Paint Dabbers, Alcohol Ink, Distress Embossing Ink

Idea-Ology

TH Seasonal Paper Stash, TH Vintage Shabby Paper Stash, Configurations, Grungepaper, Grunge board, Word Keys, Facets, Adage Tickets, Baubles

Sizzix

Reindeer Flight die, texture fade

Miscellaneous products

Hot Off The Press papers

Christmas House Holly Bush

Celebrate it Christmas pine bough

DecoArt Glistening SnowTex Glittering Snow

jewel

eye hooks

K & Co - Tim Coffey Metal Tags

Dress It Up "Tree Trimmers"

Hero Arts Embossing Powder

Pocket Change by Heidi Grace Designs

Mrs. Grossman's "stuffed stickers"

Early December

2010-12-20T23:56:00.000-08:00

December started out with a bang for me! On the first Saturday of December, SJ came over for an "impromptu" Scrappin' Saturday! I am slowly "dragging" her into the "Tim World"! lol We made Days 3 & 4 tags from Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas.

SJ's Day 3

SJ's Day 4

Linda's Day 3

Linda's Day

(note as of 12/20 I have a few other tags completed, just haven't taken pictures yet. As soon as I get pictures I will post along with the "big" project! We keep the house "cool" in the winter (around 64 degrees F) and it takes FOREVER for stuff to dry, so while I am a bit closer to being finished I am still waiting for stuff to dry before I can move on to the next step!)

The First Sunday in December means it's Gingerbread House Day at Aunt Linda's! On the Friday and/or Saturday before I bake a gingerbread houses or trains (from scratch) for each "little" guest. The house smells so yummy on those days.

The third annual event was a little different, instead of making houses just for the kids, I made houses for their moms too!! Last year my great-nieces, Savannah and Erica, were not too happy with the "help" offered by their moms (my nieces Marie & Debbie). Marie and Debbie did an admirable job of trying not to help too much, but I could see their fingers itching to "help". So this year everyone had their own house!

Soooo many choices!

Getting started

Erica and Savannah with their creations

Debbie and Marie with their houses!

A close up of Savannah's

A close up of Erica's

A close up of Marie's

A close up of Debbie's

Didn't they all make AWESOME houses?

In case you are wondering where mine is, I don't make myself a house on Gingerbread Day, I just sit back and watch the fun (and make sure icing is available, candy bowls are filled, take pictures and help as needed!). Totally LOVE the afternoon! Sometimes I make a house (or train) for Christmas Eve dinner if we are bringing the desserts.

If you are going to be in the neighborhood next year on the first Sunday in December and want to drop by, let me know and I will have a house ready for you too!

In case you are wonderin' (and CCC# 24)

2010-12-19T17:08:00.000-08:00

I haven't forgotten how to blog. Really, I haven't! I have been busy; besides getting ready for Christmas, I decided an unexpected root canal would be fun. It was my first ever and I was kidding about the fun part because this last week had not been fun.

I have managed to get a few things finished including Compendium of Curiosities Challenge #24 hosted by the fabulous Linda at StudioL3! Today is the last day of the challenge, but there will be a brand new challenge posted tomorrow morning, so be sure to check it!

For Challenge 24 we were instructed to turn to page 47 for the Rock Candy Distress Stickles technique. Check out the Compendium of Curiosities by Tim Holtz for the details on the technique. For the base of my tag, I found a couple pieces of scrap paper that had obviously had been used to make Christmas trees at some point and used the leftover "frame". Under the trees I used some leftover TH Seasonal Paper Stash. (I LOVE using all the little leftover pieces of paper I can't throw away!) Once I had the tag base created, I followed the directions in the book! It's a fun easy way to add some sparkle! If you haven't already, I hope you give it a try!

Did you follow along with Tim and his 12 Tags of Christmas? The man is a creative GENIUS. Even though I haven't posted any yet, I have 6 days completed, 2 days in progress and 4 waitin' to get made plus another project. I hope to have the project completed by tomorrow and the tags before Christmas. As soon as they are complete, I will post pictures!

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Products used:
tag
TH Seasonal Paper Stash
Vintage holly garland
Rock Candy Distress Stickles
Burgundy Stickles
Archival Ink - jet black
Ofray ribbon

Queen of Last Minute, part 2

2010-12-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

The other challenge that I wanted to create something for and also ends tonight (Sunday) is GingersnapsCreations GS78 Spicy Supply Challenge: Sewing Notions.

I used Tim Holtz' Configurations for the base. If you haven't played with one yet, you really need too! I am HOOKED. Don't be surprised if you see more configurations on my blog!

I started this project shortly after the challenge was announced. I just finished it because I wanted a sewing machine and found one on eBay. When I got it, it wasn't quite as big as I wanted. I have been pondering every since on what to include with it. There's a hanger in there now (even though it's hard to see), but I'm not sure if I am satisfied. Any ideas or suggestions?

Years ago my aunt gave me a box of old sewing notions that I had no idea what to do with it, but I couldn't get rid of it. From that box of goodness I used the pincushion (I applied a coat of Studio Matte Medium because the covering is so thin from use and age.) I also used part of an old tape measure I found in the box.

Other items such as the snaps, zipper pulls, thimble and bobbin came from the "nuts & bolts" cabinet I claimed after my mom passed away.

This is a close up of the cover on plain background so it's a little easier to see. The stamp is from Wendy Vecchi's Fashion Style and Art stamp set.

The flowers are some I made when Tim (Holtz) Tattered Floral die came out. They are in a vintage wooden spool. The pattern in the background is a reduced photocopy. The lace if from my mom's stash.

I have a few other configurations either started or planned! They are loads of fun and I hope you will be able to play with some SOON!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look! Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Queen of Last Minute, part 1

2010-12-05T18:48:00.000-08:00

So Linda at Studio L3 gave us 2 WEEKS to finish the 23rd Compendium of Curiosity Challenge and here I am minutes before the deadline finishing my project and posting. . . .

Without further ado, here is my entry!

Take care,

Linda

2010-11-25T06:55:00.000-08:00

Thank you for being my friend!

Have safe, happy and blessed Thanskgiving!

Splatter! Edited (edits in red)

2010-11-21T18:55:00.000-08:00

Hi! Did you have a fabulous weekend? I sure did! We celebrated Thanksgiving a bit early as ALL four of my kids were home this weekend! It was the first time in what seems like forever that we have all been together! We had a house full of family and friends yesterday - about 26 people in all! It was glorious, everyone had a fantastic time!

I am running a bit behind (what else is new) on A Compendium of Curiosities Challenge 22 so I am having another mad dash to post before the deadlines. Good thing I work well under pressure! lol Details about the challenge and prize can be found on the fabulous Linda Ledbetter's StudioL3 blog. She has a new challenge every Monday! This week we were told to turn page 52 for Alcohol Ink Splatter!

I started with some acetate (recycled from an old report cover) (so much for following directions), using a negative mask I spray painted the image with black paint on the acetate, after the paint dried I applied the technique of the week directly to the acetate and over the black paint, added some embellishments and was done!

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

Holiday Workshop Projects and Typeset Tutorial

2010-11-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

On November 6 & 7 I was fortunate enough to take Tim (Holtz) Holiday Workshop classes here in Elk Grove! We created three fabulous projects including a "Seasonal Memoirs" (holiday journal) (forgot to take a picture),

"Festive Creative Blocks" (canvas wall hanging)

and my favorite "Configurations of Your Imagination" (Configuration Shadow Box).

One of the tricks we learned was how to make faux "type set blocks". Did you realize the ones in my box were not "real" blocks? They are super easy to make and here in my own words are what you do!

Supplies needed: Extra thick chipboard/cardboard (grungeboard could be used, but to "save" gb, Tim had us use chipboard), grungeboard letters, black Dabber (paint), distress ink, blending tool, Studio Matte Medium (or other "glue"), sanding block (not pictured)

1) Using the Matte Medium glue grungeboard letter to chipboard, leaving a small space between the edge and the letter, trim chipboard so there is space between the letter and edge on all 4 sides. (Trim before moving to the next step otherwise the block will be too thick to cut.)

2) Glue the chipboard with the grungeboard letter onto another piece of chipboard, aligning the edges. Trim as necessary so all the edges are even.

3) Once glue is dry, gently sand edges to blend seams. Wipe dust off. (The left block has not been sanded in the picture below)

4) Paint black. (Sorry, no picture here, but I think you can figure out this step! Then again, you can probably figure out all the steps without pictures. lol)

5) After paint dries, sand edges of chipboard to expose. Sand top of grungeboard letter to expose bits of the grungeboard. (Don't sand too much paint off, you want it looking distressed) Wipe dust off.

EDITED NOTE: If you use chipboard letters/numbers when you sand be gentle as chipboard letters may disintegrate with sanding.

6) Apply ink with blending tool. I used vintage photo, resanded some and added aged mahogany.

There you have it, easy to make faux type set blocks! If you want "real" type set blocks you have to glue the letters on backwards, so when the block "prints" on paper, the letter is right side up!

If you give this a try, please let me know how it worked for you!

In the next week or so, I will be stocking my Etsy store with items, including charms, ephemera, the "Festive Creative Blocks and "Configurations of Your Imagination" (Configuration Shadow Box) shown above. I will let you know when I get the store stocked and hope you will drop by!

Take care,
Linda

I am not LAST this week or CCC challenge 21!

2010-11-12T19:19:00.000-08:00

As the title implies, I am not (at least I hope I am not) the last one to post an entry for the 21st Compendium of Curiosities Challenge over at Studio L3!!! I am excited as it seems lately, I have just been squeaking in before the deadline! You have until Sunday evening (November 14) to get something posted! So if haven't checked out (the other) Linda's blog, you really need to get over there and check it out.

This week, I admit I had ahead start. . . I had the background paper already made. . .not because I knew what the challenge was going to be, but because I am working on "Save the Date" cards for my youngest daughter's wedding! As long I am admitting things, not ALL the cards will have the "Perfect Distress" technique applied, in fact only a few, if any, will make it to the mail.

Here are 2 of the 50 or so backgrounds I had already made using the "smooshing" technique.

Here's where I used the challenge's technique which can be found on page 38 of the Compendium of Curiosities.

The next few pictures are the almost final prototype I made to get the bride & groom's approval. . . .and it is not very pretty, a slip of a stamp is not a good thing, but it gave them a good idea of what the cards will look like. The prototype was also a learning exercise for me! The most important lesson - emboss before attaching the elephants. lol

You can see the results of the Perfect Distress just above the elephant on the left. And another important lesson - do not use too much "wet glue" (in this case Studio Matte Meduim) on the elephants.

This is the "almost final" prototype because the insert with all the details is on the computer waiting to get over it's virus. (Along with all the addresses to mail). The insert will be printed on the same blue as the heart between the elephants and mounted on the darker blue inside. I need to make a slight design change as Kristine has requested the heart only have K + R.

I will spend most of the weekend getting the cards put together as much as possible, finishing a wedding album for a co-worker, making a few miscellaneous cards and getting ready for Rebecca (my daughter who lives in Hawaii) to come home on Tuesday and Erinn & Kristine will be here Thursday night!!! I am excited all 4 kids will be home and we get to celebrate Thanksgiving together on the 20th! What are your plans for the weekend?

Hope your weekend is fabulous!

Linda

PS - If you were one of the winners from my drawing on Halloween, I haven't forgotten you, it just seems like I blink a days have flown by. I apologize for the delay and will get your prizes out to you soon!

PSS - A special thank you to my awesome son, Joseph, who has been uploading pictures for me so I can get them posted!

CCC #20

2010-11-07T18:26:00.000-08:00

The 20th challenge over at StudioL3 could be found on page 54 of the Compendium of Curiosities - Industrial grunge.

Sharon Jane & I are making a pack of cards for a raffle prize. My intent is to use the stars on a 4th of July card but it didn't get quite finished yet.

Staying slightly ahead of deadlines. . .

2010-10-31T18:25:00.000-07:00

When Linda at Studio L3 started the Compendium of Curiosities Challenge way back in June, I made a promise to myself that I would complete each challenge on time! So far, I have been successful, some weeks I cut it close. LOL

For the 19th challenge we were instructed to turn to page 61 for Extreme Masking. Here are my two entries!

And this was a scene from yesterday. . . .it was just too cute to pass up. That is the afghan my husband using until he got up to go get something an then Max claimed it has his as he watched the game! That'll teach Dave not to leave stuff on the floor! lol

Have a fabulous week!

Linda

And the winner is . . . . . . .

2010-10-31T09:29:00.000-07:00

sandi collins said...

AWESOME PICS, I KNOW YOU HAD A GREAT TIME.
SANDI

October 22, 2010 2:39 PM

Congratulations Sandi you won my 100th post blog candy! I will send you an e-mail shortly!

My wonderful husband, Dave, drew Sandi's name and since he did such a fabulous job I had him draw 3 more names for "consolation" prizes!

Jennybean
Lynn Stevens
Susan K

Congratulations!!! I will send each of you an e-mail, if I don't have addresses by 6:00 (PDT) Wednesday, November 3, I will have Dave draw another name.

Happy Halloween Everyone! Hope you get the treats you like best!

Linda

An invitation and a reminder!

2010-10-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

An Invitation

I am hosting a Pampered Chef Kitchen show on Friday, December 3, 2010. I'd love to have you over, if you live nearby and interested in coming, just send me a note and I will get a invite to you. (And if I have your e-mail address already, I will send you an invite without you even having to contact me! lol)

If you don't live nearby but NEED some Pampered Chef, (the NEED for Pampered Chef is similar to the NEED for craft stuff) please go to my show page. You can have the products sent directly to you!

A Reminder!

If you want a chance to win some prizes, you have to comment here (my 100th post) by 11:59 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday, October 30, 2010! There are 39 comments so far. I said if I had more than 50 I'd add a second prize package! Only need 12 more post to get have another prize package added, so tell your friends! All the details are at the bottom of my 100th post. Good Luck!

Linda

October 4, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada

2010-10-27T16:25:00.000-07:00

*As I noted previously, my "new" computer is not feeling well. It won't be feeling better for at least a week, so in the meantime, I am using my faithful older computer. All my pictures are on the newer computer so I thought I would have to wait before I could post pictures. Then I remembered that fortunately I uploaded most of my pictures to Picasa before it got infected so I will be able to get to pictures! It took me a couple of days to figure this out and another couple of days to figure out I can edit photos in Picasa!

Let the journey continue!

The ship arrive very early and passengers were able to get off as early as 7a.m. We were not among the first to get off! lol

We didn't really have any plans for St. John except to see the Reversing Falls. We (Charlene, Lori and I) jumped in a cab to get to the falls. The driver was great and informative. In my picture, the water is flowing from left to right. The river is up and to the right, the Bay of Fundy is to the left (although not visible from where we were). The water is flowing "uphill" so to speak. Click on "Reversing Falls" above to read the details of why this happens (and to see some awesome pictures).

This boat load of people came by while we were at the Reversing Falls. Their driver was crazy and it looked like they were having a blast!!!

I loved this church, with just a hint of color in the trees. Such a "classic" quintessential church!

After visiting the Falls we headed back towards the ship and then just wandered the streets of St John for a bit. We were looking for an antique store but it had moved. We thought about searching it out in its new locations, but were distracted by other things and never made. We did find some awesome old buildings though.

Great sweatshirts girls!

This is my kind of sign!

We also wandered into Market Square. They have a wide variety of "shops"!

They have a library. We didn't go in but the outside is definitely FUN!

They had a museum! We didn't go in there either, but this guy was their greeter! Love the strong silent type, don't you? lol!

and of course they had some shops. We did go in a few of those but didn't take any pictures! And in this age of cell phones, I love seeing a phone booth, and this one is great!! It really worked, well I assume it worked as the woman in black was in the "box" with the door closed and the handset to her ear!

Then we headed back to the ship as we had an early departure and more importantly we had "Tim Time". Instead of a class it was an hour of Q & A time with Tim!

One of our indulgences of the day! The ship had a self-serve "ice cream" stand. I just had vanilla and it was yummy!

That is about it for the day. . . if I had my journal I could fill you in on more details but it is in a safe place, so I can't consult it at the moment. More about the "safe place" in the next cruise post! Hope you are having a fabulous week!

Take care,
Linda

CCC # 18

2010-10-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post for CCC #18.

My "regular" computer is not feeling well at the moment, so I am having to use an alternate computer and alternate upload methods. I will get back to the cruise as soon as my PC is feeling better. Hopefully it will be feeling better later this week. Thankfully I work with a bunch of AWESOME guys who will have it fixed in no time!!!

Have a fabulous week.

Linda