picture frame

so i'm currently have this altered picture frame kick.  you can find this "naked" wooden frame at michaels for $1.  this one i covered sheet music (picked up a book of it at the thrift store for uber cheap!) using modge podge, stamped the swirlys (stampin' ups boraque set), then sanded the edges with sand paper.  i inked the edges with holtz distress ink. 
those fabulous flowers i learned how to make at the portland scrap expo last month.  it's a circle of paper (i used sheet music), cut edges with those crazy scallop scissors and crumple, crumple, crumple.  unfold your circles and mist with shimmer inks (this is new, i'll post more about this great product later) and let dry.  k.  here's where it gets tricky without photo step-by-steps:  make fist with your hand and hold hand with thumb up.  place circle on top of hand centered  with hole created between index finger & thumb.  push paper down threw hand and grab from underneath.  twist, twist, twist.  now the top is a pretty flower!  once bottom is finely twisted, cut bottom half of twisty off and adhere (wet glue works best) to a scrap piece of paper. 

it's nice to be back, i have lots of other projects i can't wait to share!

marker-ing your stamps

have you ever wondered how to get multiple colores on your stamped bold image? you use markers! that's what i did for my little bird and my branch & leaves.

the bird is actually 4 diffrent colors. i started by coloring his legs with the paint brush side of my SU Aappeal marker. for his body, i started by coloring BashfulBlue all over, then used BalletBlue on most of his back, then finished him up with BrilliantBlue on only the middle of his back.

for the branch, i colored with the paint brush side of my Cchip marker, then colored the leaves with the Oolive marker.

the flowers on the side of the card were done with the '2-step stampin' technique. i stamped the outline of the flowers in SU Ssaffron, then stamped randomly the bold flower image on top to fill in the large flowers with SU Bblue.

recipe:
ink- SU Aappeal, BBlue x 3 (see above), Cchip, Oolive, & Ssaffron
paper- SU Wwhite. colored CS is from the cheap-o colored CS pack from wal*mart
stamps- SU "spring solitude", sentiment is from 'stugio G' ($1 michaels acrylic set)
accessories- blue/yellow ribbon is from $1 bin at michaels, used small circle punch on corners

keep checking back! i'm starting to gather stuff for the fabulous BLOG CANDY that i'll post when i get to 5000 hits! have a super week!

using flower punches

so i, probably like most of you, have these flower punches (at least 4) that i hardly ever use. in fact, i think it was the first time i used one of them! so i decided to put them to use!

swirls are so in right now, vines, flourishes, doodles.... i picked one and added my little flowers!

recipe:
ink- SU Oolive, stazon black
stamps- vine & sentiment are from 'studio g' ($1 bin at michaels)
paper- SU Ssun, Bblack, Rred, Ssaffron, & Wwhite
accessories- flower punches (???, i've accumatled them over the years), circle hole punch (for flower centers)

so i challenge you----- get out your unused punches and see what you can create with them!

K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)

just some fun little simple cards without sentiments (for now) so i can add them later.
recipe:
ink- stazon black, jim holtz 'walnut' distress ink; frog is stamped in Oolive
paper- Wwhite CS; DP is from 'autumn leaves'
stamps- both are from little sets that i got in the $1 michaels bins
accessories- ribbon is a $1 michaels find; used SU scallop punch & 'emagination' circle punch; colored bird w/ NEW prismacolor pencils & blending pencil (outlined both images w/ grey pencil for depth); added some dots & squiggles to the scallops; ink distressed all DP; used small SU circle punch for scalloped paper edges

NEW prismacolor pencils story- so for those of you who have been following along know that i don't pay full price for anything. but i just have to get these pencils! so... i didn't have a coupon, but that's ok because open stock pencils were 25% off at michaels (well, the sale was suppossed to be over, but they left the sign up by the pencils so i got the discount). so i sat in the isle (yes, i sat there on the floor) looking at the backs of the boxes for the 48 and 36 count. i figured out which colors were not in the 36 box and bought those open stock so that i could come back when i had a 50% off coupon and get the 36 box for cheap and still have all 48 colors! arn't i just the smartest little girl?!?

well, time for bed. DH is already there and undoubtledly upset that i let him go to sleep by himself. have a great monday!

cheers!

LOVE IT! CB is 7x6.75. a nice tall, thin one! so this is my favorite this week!
recipe:
paper- CB is WWhite. used textured SU Ppie on bottom
ink- SU Ccelery, Ppink, Ppie, Oolive, and versamark, silver is "colorbox"
stamps- "cheers" from penguin pants (this is a 2 dstep stamping set), and little starburst if from "judith"
accessories- stamped glasses in versamark then heat embossed w/ glassy glaze, some A$1 michaels ribbon

love the simplicity and lack of layers! and all those wonderful colors! these colors are much more 'me' than those bold brights were!
have a super day!

paper flower card

hi there! saw some paper flowers in my new addition of "cards" magazine, and thought i'd give it a quick try.

some interesting things about this card:
-there is NO cardstock (except for card base) on this one! i think this might be a first!
-i paper pieced the birds body
-used coluzzle to cut out "flowers" then distressed edges of circles with my SU paper distresser (that is one FABULOUS tool!), then curled.
-i used NO dimensionals on this card! i think this also might be a first!

card recipe:
paper- DCWV
ink- jim holtz "walnut stain" distress ink
stamps- swirl is from TAC, bird is from SU "a little birdie told me", and sentiment is from studio G (michaels)
accessories- buttons, rick rack, hemp twine

ok, for the trivia. for last posts question, "on the early episodes of 'the facts of life', what was the character of tootie seldom seen without?" carol and becky got it right with roller skates! that was a great show! whatever happened to clean shows on tv?

new trivia question-
on what sitcom did tom hanks star as a guy who, along with his friend, dressed up as women to live in a rent controlled, female only apartment complex?

well, i'm off to bed and onto a busy weekend! are you watching the super bowl or preparing and replenishing the goodies for it? =D have fun no matter what you do!

layered flower card

i've broken out of my casing phase! (for now... *evil laugh*)

i just can't seem to get enough of this set. i actually got it this summer at a garage sale and this last week is the first time i've used it! it's just perfect for watercoloring, and i just got new crayons!

went to michaels today to try to pick up the january issue of "take ten", and wouldn't you know it, they were out. you see, i only buy that magazine if i have a coupon. i just can't seem to let myself spend $15 on a magazine! so i got my joanne coupon in email today, printed it off, and headed to michaels (you all do know that they take competitors coupons, right?). so i didn't get the one that i wanted, i felt like crying and stomping my feet like my DH! ROAR!!! so i got a little 8x8 magazine called "cards", even more expensive! it's a good thing i had my 50% off coupon! anywho, this little magazine had some great cards inside, just in time for valentines day, too!

recipe:
paper- SU Cchip, Wwhite, Ccelery, DP "autumn leaves, MOD, winter garden"
ink- Ccelery, Rred, jim holtz walnut stain distress ink
stamps- SU "in full bloom", and several "studio G" (michaels $1 acrylic) sets.
accessories- watercolor crayons & aqua painters, clear stickles, red & brown ribbon (?), corner rounder punch, and you can't really see it, but the whole top half of the card is accented with my sakura glitter pen.

well, that's it for me today, just this one. hope you all have a great day, i'll be back wednesday!

OH!! and something that i have been wanting to start and haven't and have decided to do so NOW: random daily trivia, just for fun. heads up though, come 5,000 hits, i'll have some incredible blog candy to give out, so keep checking back in! so for todays (the very first of many to come) trivia question:
what did the initials Alf stand for?
i'll post next time the correct answer, have fun!

-

wicked pair!

i actually got the sentiment at least a year ago, i was going to use if for halloween and didn't get around to it. you can't see it very well, but i used my small circles embossing folder on the background DS paper, then sanded. guess i didn't think that one through very well! whadayado?

recipe:
paper- SU Ppie, Cchip, & Ccaramel. DCWV DS paper
ink- SU Ppie & Cchip
stamps- jeans are $1 michaels find; sentiment is from great impressions.
accessories- thick brown ribbon is from michaels, orange spotted organza a friend game me (??), and cute little orange thread is from a 'making memories' pack; used silver brads (SU) in the corner after i used the little circle punch to invert the corners. used scallop punches, paper peircer, SU Cchip marker, and stapler.
alright, i think i got it all.

well, at least if i decide to hit snooze tomorrow, i won't feel guilty about not creating. i've done 4 cards tonight! you can't see two of them, they're for my SBS2 secret sis!
have a great night and weekend!

birthday party invitations

my daughter wanted a McDonald's birthday
party this year and wanted to use their invitations. i wanted to make them. we compromised. i used the McD polaroid pic. holders as the invitations!

all paper is just misc. from my scrap drawer that just happened to be the right size or close to it. the cake & present stamps are acrylic from the $1 bin at michaels. the "who, what, when..." stamp is a wooden one also from michaels ($1).

used SU markers to write info on invites, used sakura gel pens and glitter pens to color the images and embellish the scallops.

have a great saturday!

SCS sketch challenge 156

click here to see the challenge.

recipe for the first card:
paper- DCWV & SU Mmoss CS
ink- SU Mmoss & SSaffron, stazon black
stamps- TAC set (i forget!)
accessories- silk flowers, cream organza ribbon,
blender pens & SU pastels, versamark marker & silver embossing powder, Ssaffron & Oolive SU
markers, circle punch, coluzzle.





recipe for second card:
paper- TAC & black CS
ink- stazon black, Ccelery, Ppink, Llace
stamps- table is from 'denami design' and cupcake & sentiment are $1 michaels finds
accessories- ribbon, crystal effects, silver embossing powder, coluzzle.

enjoy your monday! today's my saturday! i get to stay up late and watch the new "american gladiators"!

SC155 (split coast challenge)

so here's my take on the split coast stampers challenge #155 (click here to see challenge).

CB is Wwhite, all other papers are DCWV. punched large window SU punch in the black denim paper that i also ran through the cuttlebut with the heart embossing folder then sanded.

i recently visited mels blog and she reminded me that you can doodle with your glue pen then add glitter and what not. so i scribbled on my black squares with my sakura gel pen then used black embossing powder over it for some shine. used gel pen on hearts, too, then added some SU dazzling diamonds glitter (this looks so much better IRL).

card recipe:
paper- DCWV
ink- SU Bblack, jim holtz 'fire brick' distress ink
stamps- heart is from $1 bin @ michaels, 'valentines' is from rubber soul
accessories- red ribbon ($1 michaels), heart cuttlebug embossing folder & sand paper, heart eyelets, SU dazzling diamonds glitter, black embossing powder, sakura gel pen

well, it's been longer than i would have liked.... for my last day off (do you have any idea what it's like to not get two days off in a row? makes life REALLY hard! especially when you have kids!)
DH & i went snowboarding while the girls were in school. when we got home, OUCH! we haven't been since last season, and due to holidays and the flooding here, i haven't been working out as much as i should have been. how old do i sound, "my back is KILLING me!" it's a good thing that i got a new and ultra comfy craft chair for christmas! hope you all have a great week!

MAN i love great paper!

i scoured the $1 bin at michaels last week (have i mentioned just how much i love the $1 bin at michaels? SOOOO much!) and found this super cute little bird w/ saying. just had to have it!

CB is from that great designer mat pad from K & Company ("roam" #626324). stamped image in stazon black on white CS and on a piece designer paper and pieced it. distressed the edges of the white w/ jim holtz "old paper" distress ink and layered onto another piece of designer paper. used circle punch on edges of top two layers. bottom layer is SU Vvanilla that i distressed w/ ink (same as above). used pewter brads in corners. went around CB 4 times w/ pink linen thread to increase the natural feel.

it turned out just as i though it would if i used this paper. simple, elegant & super cute!

have a great weekend!

a book just for me!

so i keep making stuff, and loving it, and giving it away. the other day was really tough, i felt like crap, internally. you know those days you think you're not worth much? well, i had one of those. they seem to come more often the older i get. then something happened. i got a compliment. from a stranger! that meant it was unbiased and most likely, actually the truth! i decided to make myself a book to document these great little moments that seem to fade so quickly from the mind so that the next time i "have a bad day", i can pick up my book and remind myself that it's not that bad.

i got this little journal book from the $1 bin at michaels. i covered the front and back with this awesome pink and brown (LOVE IT!) paper from DCWV. leaves are from some flower arrangement that i took apart. i found other pinkish papers and ran them through my CB w/ my flower sizzix die for the flowers and topped it all off with that great big pink button. i threaded it with hemp twine to try to tie in the brown. the "j" is SU chipboard that i covered in some other pink paper and got some great ribbons to go around the top of it.

know what i love even more? the fact that my little book has a lower case "j". just the way i like my j's!

have a super night!