TMTA Green Woman ATC

Perhaps you've heard of the Green Man, a mythical leafy creature born of the foliage? Or perhaps not! It was the theme for our local ATC swap, and it was one of those that was "love it" or "hate it" amongst our members (tee hee). I was on the "love it" side, mainly because I tweaked it to be able to use one of my favorite portrait stamps.... Stampington's Botanical Countess by Sandra Evertson. This also fits in with Think Monday, Think ATC's challenge, which is 'look into a face'. To me, this delightful lady looks perplexed by the fact that foliage has sprung up out of her! LOL! What a face! I used a mix of alcohol inks on glossy cardstock, blotted and stamped with leaf stamps, then stamped the countess with StazOn. I added a tiny copper dragonfly, and, in order to tweak it to fit the club's theme, I added the words "Behind every green man is a green woman." Hope that counts :) TFL!

Secrets

Yesterday's Inspiration Challenge over at SCS was the amazing work of Sarah Collier. I chose as my inspiration this piece, entitled Frozen Custard. How amazing is her work?!?! I started by ripping out a page of old text (I liked that the chapter heading was "Secrets" - perhaps those shared by a boy and his dad) and painting it with ivory craft paint. While that dried, I stamped text with StazOn on a piece of acetate (stamps by Hero Arts and Limited Edition). I stamped the main image (Tin Can Mail) on the dry paint with ColorBox Chestnut Roan pigment ink. I stamped it another time on scrap paper and cut out just the sentiment. I then layered the image, the acetate, and the sentiment, and fixed them together with brads. I added a ticket (from Tim Holtz Idea-ology) to the top with a little paper fastener from 7 Gypsies. I then layered this whole thing onto a card base made with Basic Grey and K and Co. patterned papers. Fairly quick-n-easy.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend - thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly ATCs for Saturday Surprise, plus a little French Flavor ATC

A couple of little ATCs for the Saturday Surprise challenge, which is Butterflies.

This first one is actually a shaker card that I made a few months ago. The clipart butterfly and the stamped green foliage and text are on the back panel, and the blue floral image is stamped with StazOn on the acetate covering. Inside (as the things that actually move when shaken) are blue and green microbeads, blue butterfly confetti (which is sort of sparkling in the pic), and a punched butterfly with the word "dream" cut from an old book.

For this next one, I stamped the butterfly images first, then overlayed a K and Co. sticker. I penned in some additional text around the stamped butterfly, then mounted the panel onto text. I used inks, acrylic paints, and markers to distress and color, then added some picture fasteners.

One last ATC, a late addition for the Created Byhand challenge this week, which was "French." I used Ranger's distress embossing powder for the Eiffel Tower... this stuff is interesting, in that it gives a sandy finish, rather than a glossy one. The little plane is from Limited Edition.

Wow, thanks for sticking with me! I've got some family in town, so I'd better go socialize!! Have a great weekend!

Another Blog Candy Alert....

Sherry, a.k.a. the Button Junkie, is offering a wonderful blog candy prize.... Unity Stamp's May Kit of the Month! Go on over to THIS post and comment if you'd like a chance to win. While you're there, look through some of her other posts - she's very talented! I particularly liked her Winter Wonderland Blue Christmas tag (awesome vintage), and her mini albums are truly inspiring.

Winter Wonderland - Blue Christmas (and a Catch-Up)

Another fun challenge week from the ladies over at Winter Wonderland. The challenge for Week 4 is Blue Christmas.... anything so long as it's blue (my fave color!). For this challenge, I picked the cool, icy blue of frost, ice on a frozen lake, icicles hanging from the porch... aaah, I feel cooler already :). One of my family's favorite activities is skating, so I dug out one of my vintage trade cards that has ice skaters on it. The chipboard ice skates, icicles, and snowflakes are all from Tattered Angels, distressed and dusted with mica. The skates also have some Ranger Crackle Paint in pewter. I used some SU felt snowflakes around the edges, a K and Co. snowflake brad, Martha pearls, Basic Grey paper, and some ribbons and lace from my stash. Here's a close-up of that fun image:


Since I want to make a banner from all the theme challenges, I decided I'd better try to play catch-up with the two challenges I missed. The Week 1 theme was Oh, Christmas Tree, so here's my take on that one: Nothing too fancy on this one.... I used a print-out of sheet music for the base, and added some patterned paper from Basic Grey. The sticker is from Melissa Francis, and the swirly at the top is Tim Holtz grungeboard (love it!) painted green. Not sure if it needs something around the edges... gathered crepe paper, perhaps? I'll have to mull that over (I've got some time before I need it :). Hopefully next week I'll have time to work up a Christmas Carol pennant (Week 2's challenge). Here are my three pennants so far:
Well, I hope you're staying cool... it's a heat wave in many parts of this country, and I for one am looking forward to a little coolness! Have a great day!

Happy Father's Day

Hug a Dad today... your dad, your kids' dad, your best friend's dad....

My dad died 13 years ago of cancer. I so very much wish that my kids could have met him, played with him, listened to his stories (yes, the ones I found so boring long ago!) He would have been the World's Best Granddad! But you know, it's almost like I see a little piece of him every day in my son. They don' look at all alike, but my son's personality could only have come from my father.... he is unlike my husband or me in his outgoing personality, his ability to take life by the horns, his athleticism... lots of little things that skipped a generation, for sure :)

My card is for my husband, so I tried not to fuss too much (he wouldn't know the difference between a card that took 10 minutes and one that took 10 hours.... aaah, men!) The vintage card image is from Cornish Heritage Farms, stamped in SU's Blue Bayou. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye. The DAD chipboard was from a pack that was on wicked clearance at Target. The letters were originally kind of shiny (like magazine pages), so I got out the sand paper and distressed away... then added some Ranger Distress Ink in vintage photo to tone them down. Popped the pieces up, and done.

Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing Sunday.

Blog Candy Alert

Hi! This is just a quick post to alert you to some yummy blog candy that you could win. Croppinsville, U.S.A. is putting together a bunch of goodies for a lucky visitor... just comment on THIS POST for a chance to win. Have a great evening :)

Oh, and here's another.... a chance to win a $25 gift certificate at Impression Obsession... go to Card Art Etc. and good luck!

Found another for you vintage collage fans... vintage ephemera at Green Paper.... drawing on July 1st.

A Few Quick Cards

Well, today is hectic, but in a good way - swimming lessons and tests, my daughter getting braces, and my son's last baseball game of the regular season. So, I'm just posting a couple of cards - pretty simple, pretty straightforward.

This first card uses images from Oxford Impressions and Stampington, stamped on cardstock from Stampin' Up (Blue Bayou and Soft Sky). The next card (below) relies mainly on some pretty patterned paper, some glitter (I ran a punched flower through the Xyron sticker maker, then added SU's Dazzling Diamonds), a Prima blossom, buttons, twine, ribbon, and a rub-on..... just threw a bunch of embellies at it :).

That's all for now, hope you have a great day!

Winter Wonderland Challenge - Let It Snow!

Don't ya just love a new challenge?! I am new to the Winter Wonderland Christmas Blog Challenge, which is now in it's third week. I've been wanting to play along, but needed to get my Christmas supplies together and organized first. I've decided it would be fun make a Christmas banner, with a single flag representing the theme for each week. When I'm done, I can tie them all together and use the banner as a Christmas decoration. This week's theme is LET IT SNOW! - one of my favorite things :) The image is from a free clip art sampler sent out by Dover Publications. (If you'd like to get their free weekly clip art sampler via email, you can sign up HERE.) I added some white flocking mixed with glitter to the furry parts of the children's coats, hats, and muff (can't really see it in the photo). I then encircled the image with a sparkly pipecleaner. The base is Basic Grey paper, with pom pom trim glued around the edges. I cut the "Let It Snow" from a journaling block, and added some mica flakes as snow. The little felt snowflakes are from Stampin' Up, and the buttons are vintage mother-of-pearl from my stash. I added some tape measure twill ribbon, cuz where I grew up in Pennsylvania, everyone wants to know how many inches of snow each little town got... quite the competition! I tea-dyed some seam binding and glued it to the top, leaving enough on either side to be able to tie it to the next flag. This was such a fun project; I'm so looking forward to what the ladies have in store for us next week!

Flourishes Easy Breezy Challenge: 10-minute Cards

I hoard paper. Big time. I can't bear to part with even the smallest scrap of patterned paper, "just in case." So when I finally saw the challenge over at the Flourishes blog today, I jumped right in. The generous ladies at Flourishes are offering up the entire new release of Flourishes stamps today, just for sharing an "easy breezy" ten-minute card. So, I got out those bitsy little scraps and slapped a couple of quick cards together! The butterfly card uses scraps of paper from Autumn Leaves and Basic Grey, along with some cardstock that I stamped with a multi-language thank-you stamp from Hero Arts (LOVE that set!). The butterfly is from Anna Griffin, and the background text is from Hero Arts as well. I edged each scrap with brown ink, then just played around with them until I got an arrangement I liked, and glued it down! I tore the bottom of the front of the card, and slipped in a scrap of contrasting cardstock for interest.

The card on the right has the same stamped image as my card in the previous post. I had stamped in it a color that I decided not to use. Of course, I couldn't throw it out, so I saved it for later, which in this case, was later today :) I used the same thank-you set, and scraps of the same Basic Grey paper as the butterfly card. I used a Stampabilities compass stamp to make another coordinating patterned paper (on a scrap, of course). I wrapped the longest panel with some Martha Stewart ribbon, and attached the "thanks" sentiment, which I punched with a tag punch. Glued everything down and done!

I don't have any Flourishes stamps yet, but I love their stuff! If you'd like a chance to win some too, hurry on over to the Flourishes Newsletter and enter. The contest ends tonight, but you're only making a 10-minute card, so it's totally possible to still make the deadline :)

Sea and Sand

A little card for the Limited Supplies Challenge over at SCS today. The challenge: use only the colors of the sea and sand, and must use fibers, piercing, and brads. My seahorse image is from Anita's, stamped in SU's Blue Bayou on River Rock cardstock. I then distressed and pierced this main image panel. I used a bunch of different stamps to create patterned papers on SU's Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, and River Rock cardstocks, including Inkadinkado and Stampabilities. The sentiment is from Anna Griffin. The side panel with the fibers was crinkled and distressed, in honor of yesterday's Ways to Use It challenge. :) This project really made me long for the shore.... but it's a landlubber's life for me, for now :) Have a wonderful day!

Tag Tuesday - Definitions

I just found a wonderful challenge site that does tags... how fun! It's Kard Krazy's Tag Tuesday, and this week's theme is definitions. I was just playing around, so whipped this up pretty quickly. The girly is from the Graphics Fairy. Stickers from my stash, blossom definition from Stampin' Up. The flower outline stamp is from Magenta, and it is heat-embossed with clear glitter embossing powder. The background was made with pearlescent Brilliance inks. TFL :)

Vintage Wedding - Something Old

The current challenge over at Moxie Fab World is to use vintage items in a card. I am always scouting for inexpensive vintage books and music that are falling apart, so that 1) it's cheap, and 2) I won't feel guilty when I cut it apart to use in papercrafting projects. I've had a falling-apart 1955 edition of Little Women that I've been using the text from, but finally decided to use one of the chapter heading images for this challenge. It's actually amazing how everything old is new again... the line-drawing doves and scalloped hearts could be stamp images from right now! And the color.... Kiwi Kiss :). So for the challenge, I used the gorgeous image to make a wedding card. The sentiment is from Stampington. I added an ampersand (from a My Sentiments Exactly alphabet) in Kiwi Kiss. The background paper is K and Company, and the leaf ribbon is PTI. As an extra vintage touch, I used six mother-of-pearl buttons from a stash that was my grandmother's. If I manage to get this card to the happy couple a little ahead of time, the bride could even remove these gorgeous buttons and tie them into her dress or bouquet as her "something old." Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Mojo Monday, SCS Inspiration, and an Amazing Sight

We'll start off with the card, but if you'd like to skip to the amazing sight, then scroll down :). Here's a little card I made based on the Mojo Monday Week 90 sketch
and Saturday's Inspiration Challenge over at SCS. The Inspiration Challenge was based on a company called Design Dazzle, and the picture I chose is this one.









There's a lot happening in this card, so here we go with the deets: The stamped images are by Papertrey Ink (Bird Watching Additions), Cornish Heritage Farms (Vintage Ledger Scrapblock background behind the birds, Ornamental Beauty ornament thingy in the circle), Stampington (branch), Judith (leaves), and Fiskars (howdy from the Just Between Friends set). The circle label is by K and Company. The leaf ribbon is Papertrey Ink's, and the twine is from Martha Stewart. The patterned paper is from Crate Paper (Samantha), and the cardstock is all Stampin Up (Certainly Celery, Baja Breeze, and Ivory... is it Vanilla?) The inks are Stampin Up's Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze for the birds, and Chocolate Chip for the sentiment and feet. I used Ranger Distress Inks in Antique Linen for the ledger and branch and Vintage Photo for the distressing around the edges. The top green panel is punched with Fiskar's threading water punch. I added a little bling from my stash for the eyes. Whew, is that everything?

So on to the amazing sight. Have a look at this beauty (sorry for the blurry photos, it was dusk and I was far away).

He's an albino white-tailed deer! He was hanging out with a brown doe at the edge of a field after my son's baseball game. He appears to be either a spike buck or a 4-pointer, it was hard to tell. These two were completely un-bothered by the paparazzi that gathered to have a look and take pictures. Hopefully he will live a long and happy life! Here's one last photo of the two deer together.



Have a great day, and don't forget to be on the lookout for the little wonders of the world :)

TGIF - Dreams

My very late creation for the TGIF challenge this week, which is dreams. Thanks so much, ladies, for such a fun topic! In my lateness, I've had so much fun looking at the other submissions, and I'm still not done!

My main image of the lady in the shell is from Just for Fun stamps. I got it on ebay, along with the Poe quote, which unfortunately doesn't have a manufacturer's identification on it (perhaps someone's homemade creation?). The clock is from SU's Sense of Time, the scroll is from Stampington, and the birds are from Oxford Impressions and the $1 bin at Michael's. I used Anna Griffin and Fancy Pants patterned papers, along with some vintage French text. There's a Prima flower with a Flower Soft center, some Papertrey Ink leaf ribbon, and a Tim Holtz spinner. I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils and Distress inks. Thanks so much for looking and have a great day.

Quoth the Raven, Nevermore!

I am a transplanted Northerner, living in a wonderful little town (small city, maybe?) in North Carolina. The people are friendly, the environment is safe, warm, welcoming, and it's a great place to raise a family. HOWEVER..... I can't stand the heat and humidity. There, I said it, probably one of only three people who have moved here from colder climates and don't love the weather. Anyway, as the thermometer and hygrometer sore into the 90s, my thoughts turn to fall - crisp nights, beautiful leaves, Halloween! While blurfing, I have been running into a lot of references to one of my favorite poems, The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe. So, I thought I'd jump into the Halloween spirit (no pun intended) and share a spooky little ATC. I typed out the poem, strategically placed some of my favorite parts in a square a little smaller than the size of an ATC, printed it, and distressed it. I got the Poe image and butterfly wings off the web as clipart, printed them on vellum, then glued them to the poem. I stamped the raven image (Inkadinkado) on orange cardstock, colored in the moon with white gel pen, then cut slits to slip in the poem layer. I computer-generated the word Nevermore, and inked and distressed it. Lastly, I affixed a black feather with a skull brad (sorry, I can't remember the vendor for the brad, but I got them at Michael's, and I think they're still there). It's never too early to start thinking about Halloween :) Thanks for looking, and have a great one!

Mojo Monday Week 89

Is it possible to fall in love with a stamp set? Seriously, to actually CRAVE using a particular set of stamps? Because when I saw these stamps, my heart melted! I just had to adopt (um, buy) these cute little bugs! :) Anyway, this is my card for the Mojo Monday sketch this week. This adorable bug stamp set is by Basic Grey, released as part of their Wisteria Collection. I did the card in Stampin' Up's Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, and Tangarine Tango colors, which happens to be the color challenge over at SCS. I colored the little buggies with Copics to match the paper, then added a little Dazzling Diamonds and cut them out with my Nestabilities Labels One die. The patterns in the stripe and the bottom paper were made with the stamp set. The top patterned paper is from SU's Urban Garden collection. I added some leaf ribbon from Papertrey Ink, a blossom from a spray (Michael's), and some Hero Arts bling. The stitching in the circle is actually a Hero Arts faux-stitch stamp (50% off at Archiver's!). I had so much fun with this sketch, the color combo, and my new pets ... er, I mean, stamps! Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

Mysterious Wisteria (MMSC #3)

Here is my last-minute card for the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge over at priscillastyles. I had so much fun with this sketch and my new goodies from the Wisteria paper line by Basic Grey! The image is from Stampington, colored with Copics and some chalk, then cut out with Nestabilities Labels One. I used some Kaiser flowers (I wanted them to seem like they were arising out of the image, so I tweaked the sketch a little), some bling, some Martha Stewart ribbon, and a big flower plucked from a spray. Thanks so much to the Midnight Madness ladies for a great sketch and a fun challenge!