Ohhh Snap

WOYWW 140

2012-02-08T03:59:00.002-05:00

Edited 2/10/12 Thanks to Sarah, this has been identified as Sandylion Kelly Panacci Clear Stamps - Giggle! Thank you Sarah!! :D

First I need some help. I bought this stamp set a while ago (probably on clearance because that's how I roll lol). And I've lost all identification of it! Now you know why I lumber on in my quest to have all stamps in my book with identifcation :D. If you know who made this please let me know.

I didn't even know that Pantone was making acrylic paint till I found these beauties on sale. The folded strips are the beginnings for a Banner Papertrey Ink Make It Monday card I didn't actually make in time for the contest, but I'm still having fun with it anyway lol.

It's been a very productive week, chock full of things I can actually show lol. These were some of my favorite projects finished/posted during the last week. BTW if you are interested in seeing some of the projects I made for Club Ruby Designers click on the Club Ruby Designers button to the right.

Olive Ewe

I made this card for a baby carriage challenge at Bitten By the Bug 2. I've been a huge Monty Python fan for years.

And I made seven in one day (as opposed to the tailor who killed seven in one blow) for Day 2 of the Papertrey Ink 5th Anniversary Celebration.

If you are wondering what all this WOYWW is all about, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander!

Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary Celebration, Day 2

2012-02-07T01:27:00.001-05:00

Today is Day 2 of Papertrey Ink's 5th Anniversary Celebration. The challenge was to utilize the Stamp Designers' images.

This element was designed by Lizzie Jones and attached to the card with foam dots. I stamped the Friendship Jar and the Tulips and string from the Friendship Jar Spring Fillers onto Papertrey Ink Kraft cardstock with Black Soot Distress Ink.

Erin Lincoln designed the cassette tape, which is all about road trips to me, so I used the Road Trip stamp set and used my Versamark marker to finish the edges with a little faux stitching.

For Melissa Bickford's image, I picked up the colors of the embellishment with co-ordinating cardstocks in stripes Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartruese, Summer Sunset and Raspberry Fizz.

Beth Silaika designed this sweet little bee. The background is made with distressed Summer Sunset hexagons over a Harvest Gold cardbase. The hexagon punch is from Creative Memories (purchased a longggggg time ago) and the edges are distressed with Tim Holtz Tonic edge distresser.

Maile Belles' Hello tag is backed by a Pure Poppy 2" EK Success Scalloped Circle. The foliage is drawn on with a Fine Line Sharpie. The cardbase is Ocean Tides and the corners are rounded with the Corner Chomper.

Dawn McVey designed this Happy Birthday image. I traced "Happiest" and the white circle with a Zig pen and then made polka dots on the Hawaiian Shores mat and then let loose with the Prima Ultrafine Prisma Glitter. The white grosgrain ribbon is from the Club Ruby Designers February kit.

I made a top fold A2 with Simply Chartruese for Heather Nichols' bird with a background stamped with one of my first PTI stamp sets, Four of a Kind. The foliage is stamped with Versamark and the flowers with PTI Fresh Snow. The blue mat is Hawaiian Shores.

A Look Ma, A No Cricut Birthday card

2012-02-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

That's right, not one single thing do to with the Cricut lol. All hand drawn and hand cut. It's a reference to the Monty Python Spam song in a birthday card. Inside it says "I hope your birthday is a blast". The can of baked beans is lined on the edges with a silver gel pen. The top of the can was easy peasy. After I cut the base, I glued the top of the can paper on and then cut it to fit.

I Get to Push the Pram A Lot card

2012-02-05T09:43:00.002-05:00

I finally made something for the Bitten By the Bug 2. The challenge was to use the pram on the Cricut New Arrival cartridge and the Camelot sketch from Monty Python sprang to mind. I think it would be a wonderful Father's Day Card for a dad who loves Monty Python, or a Just Because card for a Monty Python fan.

This was made using the Imagine and the Cricut Craft Room with the following cartridges: New Arrival, Going Places and Cricut Craft Room Basics (can only be used on CCR) for shapes. By using the Imagine and CCR I only had to use one sheet of plain white paper because I could flood each image with a different color or pattern from Lori's Garden and Mystical Garden. I had to make one file for each original cartridge because they are linked to my Gypsy and can not be linked to CCR at this time. There was no "Save As" feature, so I exported the original file with both cartridge cuts on it, and imported it with another name, deleted the cartridge cuts from Going Places without moving the images. That way I could use the same mat and paper for both files.

The knight is made with Going Places and then I used the shadow cut twice with two different fills and hand cut the clothes for him. The helmet is made with an upside down heart with an unwelded square. He is glued directly on the cardstock.

The pram has a little dimension. One of my favorite ways to get some dimension on thin cuts is to use Tombow Multi Use Glue and let it dry (still sticky though). I added a few more dots in the middle of the pram.

The sentiment is attached with relatively thick foam squares, the shape and lettering come from Cricut Craft Room Basics.

Olive Ewe Card

2012-02-04T21:46:00.001-05:00

A sheep from My World cartridge cut from Papertrey Ink's Ripe Avocado with the face cut from Pure Popppy. The edges are distress and then lined with a Sharpie. The grass is made from a torn Papertrey Ink label. The cardbase is Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White cardstock.

Home Decor Ahoy!

2012-02-01T07:36:00.001-05:00

I'm the Guest Designer at The BugBytes today, and I made a little home decor project.

I used Cricut Craft Room to weld Pennants from Art Philosophy across the square frame from Art Philosophy. Then I filled separate pennants with different patterns from Imagine cartridges. The cloud pattern comes from Hop Scotch. I layered 3 unwelded frames under it using foam tape to get a little dimension.

The pirate ship is from Buccanneer with a little foam tape under the front and the back being glued directly to the background. The pearls along the bottom are made with clear decorative accents with a drop of pearl alcohol ink over each one. The glitter letters are from Pink Paislee.

I cut the frame stand from the Fancy Frames cartridge using a pasta box. The blade depth was set at 5, the pressure at 5 and multicut set at 2. It's great for lighter projects, but not as sturdy as the Little Easel Sizzix die by Tim Holtz.

WOYWW 139

2012-01-31T23:30:00.000-05:00

I've been busy lol. But all the projects that were on my craft table have been photographed and need to be written up, so not much to see. Except, the little round thing at the base of the lamp is my great-grandmother's pocket watch that was missing from it's box for 3 years, discovered when my daughter was cleaning under the air hockey table. Cleaning does have it's benefits lol. It's been a long/short week. Technically there are still 30 minutes left in Tuesday, but allll day long I've been thinking it's Wednesday.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground (the blog was nominated for Craft Stamper March Issue Blog of the Month btw, she's very crafty!).

A Crafty Look Back

2012-01-31T20:42:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with my Imagine (thank you Everyday Cricut!!) and the Cricut Craft Room. First I printed the background. I had to use the cartridge since I still haven't figured out how to flood the paper with CCR. Then I used the print only for everything except the animals. Then I printed and cut on another sheet the 2011, the arrows and the animals and all the layers of the owl (yay).

January 2012 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2012-01-25T09:51:00.003-05:00

The Blog Hop challenge this month was to pick a favorite project from 2011 and then make a card inspired by it. It was difficult to pick a favorite project from 2011 because I made a lot of projects I really liked, but "Introducing Miss Ewe" is my favorite.

I made a Thank Ewes card for my inspired card using the Punny Valentine sheep and welded Cricut shapes from the Art Philosophy cartridge. The making memories felt letters were included in the Club Ruby Designers kit from September 2011. The cardstock is Papertrey Ink Ripe Avocado and Stamper's Select White.

WOYWW 138

2012-01-25T09:38:00.001-05:00

Happy WOYWW everyone! I've been embossing (supplies to the right and results under the Gypsy). Today is also the January Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. The challenge was to post a favorite 2011 project and a card inspired by that project. Have I mentioned how much I love my Gypsy? I do most of my designing on it and then can cut the pieces out with my Cricut. I've lost my Black Soot Distress Ink, so I'm using my Tuxedo Black Memento Ink which I also love, it's just different.

The project to the left is for a Cricut Craft Room Challenge (I have a real love/hate relationship with CCR) and a card I'm still working on under that (waiting for the right finishing bits to appear). And since it's the end of the month, it's also the final stretch for my Club Ruby Designers Design Team Projects (materials and projects are in the box).

So if you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander at crafty workspaces around the world :D. Better yet, take a picture of your workspace and join in the fun.

WOYWW 137

2012-01-18T09:32:00.005-05:00

I've done a major clear-off of my workdesk, AND finally moved the lamp to the middle where it won't cast a shadow of my left hand (because I'm in my right mind lol, okay that's a southpaw joke) when I'm trying to write something. Though now you can see clear through to the other side of my workdesk lol. So I haven't made a lot over the last week, but it has been thoroughly productive. I've been listening to "Does this Clutter Make My Butt Look Big" by Peter Walsh while I'm doing this. Some of the information is useful, and a lot of it is very repetitive and sounds a bit condescending. I'll soldier on through it, but I think it would be more useful to me if it was condensed to the major points. But it's a library book, so no aggravation about the cost :D.

I bought this stamp kit in the early 90s, but it has some awesome stamps and some useful information so I'm not going to re-organize the contents because they just wouldn't save much space. To the right is another maze book that I use to store my lists of things I have like stickle and ink colors. I also found my favorite small scissors which were missing for 7 months.

I found a cake stand at the local thrift store with a very tiny foot which I used to add a third tier to my lazy susan and voila all the Distress Inks are off my workdesk and it holds some assorted small stamps.

And my Cricut has been excavated :D.

BTW, I can walk through my craftroom so I don't think I qualify any more (that's my story and I'm sticking to it), but I saw this on facebook yesterday and if I had to guess they are doing a series on Craft Hoarders or something to that effect lol .https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150480081556434&set=a.385943336433.174477.299457271433&type=1&theater

I'm always on the lookout for new ways to use my stamps and I found a (free) class on two peas in a bucket about stamp scrapbooking. I can hardly wait to get started :D. The things I find on pinterest!

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground.

Eagle Award Card

2012-01-15T23:56:00.001-05:00

I made this card for an Eagle Award Recipient with a sense of humor.

It's a lot of Papertrey Ink with a Campin' Critters focal point made with my Cricut Imagine. The cardbase is PTI kraft cardstock cut 5.5" x 11" to make a 5.5" x 5.5" card. The tool stripe at the base is made with PTI Daily Designs hammer and wrench stamps with Versamark stamped in a "weave" pattern. The Congratulations stripe is made with the Congratulations stamp from PTI's It's Official stamp set used with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

WOYWW 136 - Wintery Blessings : )

2012-01-11T18:45:00.001-05:00

Not much much crafting has been going on this week. I've been working on re-organizing. I'm making a Ginormous Omelet with all the eggs I've broken lol.

This was all on my craft table yesterday, shoved to the side. I need a sorting hat for all this lol. But since I don't have one, it's slow going. Bookcases have been shuffled and furniture is about to be re-arranged. My Cricut is buried under there except for a bit of the right side. I did find the bone folder I lost last week though :D.

Not pictured, but soon to be featured is an enormous photo box I'm making out of foam core board. When it's done I should be able to photograph double layouts and home decor projects without being at the mercy of the time of day or weather conditions.

And speaking of weather, last year we had a bit more snow than usual (this was taken in December 2010).

This year, we have a lot less. But I'm counting my blessings on the heating bills. If we have much more warmer weather here, we'll be mowing the grass in January lol. It's supposed to be a lot colder tomorrow and over the weekend.

Ringing in the New Year

2012-01-06T19:37:00.000-05:00

These are the easiest rings I've ever made, and are much appreciated by the person who received them :D. I bought a package Plaid Ring Bling (7 in a package) and glued a KI Memories Home Puffies (felt embellishments with self-adhesive for use in paper crafting which were part of the November 2011 Club Ruby Designer's kit) that had been "de-stickied" on to it. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

WOYWW 135

2012-01-04T18:58:00.000-05:00

I think it might be time for a clean up lol. I lost my bone folder in the frenzy and had to resort to a tongue depressor that came with a set of rub-ons lol. The yellow thread to the far left is leftover from the blanket I sewed for one of my nephew's Christmas present. I swear the tea cup is a reverse tardis, it's smaller on the inside than it appears on the outside and it never lasts as long as I think it will lol.

I don't make resolutions anymore, just sort of vague guidelines. This year, I'm going to think about getting my craft room more organized :D.

And this year I'm starting my Christmas countdown early, which amuses my daughter to bits :D. I've even started working on a couple of presents. (Maybe I should have strewn floor pillows across the internet to soften the shock lol).

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, then head over to Julia's Stamping Ground. There's a bevy of craftiness to be seen :D.

WOYWW 134

2011-12-28T02:02:00.000-05:00

Thanks in large part to Julia, I was able to say, good enough albeit ten minutes before we were due at my sister's Christmas eve lol. And here is the one project (a scarf)I thought I had finished in October, except when I went to wrap it I saw I forgot to sew in the ends. I couldn't bear to go out in holiday traffic on Christmas eve to the store to buy needles large enough, so it came home with me to be actually finished. In person, one can see the lacey pattern. It's also handspun yarn. I should mention that I am one of the world's slowest knitters so the fact it became actually long enough to be a scarf is something which tickles me pink!

So now it's the daunting task of putting my craft room back in order. It was a good Christmas, with quality time spent with family and my daughter made me some lovely presents.

If you are wondering what this WOYWW is all about, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture of your workdesk and join in :D.

WOYWW 133

2011-12-21T06:43:00.001-05:00

To quote a line from one of my all time favorite movies, Babe, "Christmas is carnage!" Bits and pieces from all sorts of projects. Hopefully I'll get a nice picture of each project before it's bundled out of here.

This is my little side work area. The sawdust is leftover from my little mitrebox. The silver thing is the most awesome tool, it pokes a hole at the center of any dowel easy peasy as long as it fits into one of the circles.

So if you are asking yourself, What's all this What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your workspace and join in the fun :D.

All That Glitters Card

2011-12-07T12:18:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone, today is my turn to be the guest designer at The Bugbytes. Today's project is a card. I cut the embellishment from two squares of a sheet of Paper Layerz - All Stressed Out, Love Struck 2010 cartridge cut at 3.07 (just remove it very carefully from the mat). Glue the embellishment to the shadow and then cover the heart with Milled Lavender Stickles.

Attach that to a mat embossed with Plum Blossoms accented with some Dusty Concord Distress Stickles, over a pre-glittered mat.

WOYWW 129

2011-11-23T03:25:00.001-05:00

Happy Wednesday! I'm using my $3 garage sale creative memories photo cropper to cut the strips for a very tiny paper chain :D. There has also been a flurry of painting and just in front of the tiny basket holding the perfect pearls is faux mistletoe. Also on the desk but out of sight is my large zip lock bag of jingle bells. Busy days are here.

forgot to add: due to a change in the extended family's plans and me feeling all happy because I had a jump on the Thanksgiving shopping, we are having a Hobbity Thanksgiving with First Thanksgiving today and Second Thanksgiving tomorrow lol.

If you are wondering what all this WOYWW is, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet, take a picture of your crafty space and join in the fun!

WOYWW 128

2011-11-16T01:23:00.000-05:00

Pardon the glare from my new set of stamps, but I'm not allowing myself to remove them from the packaging until I've finished my December projects. Only I keep working on some older projects, so the stamps are still encased (Wizard of Oz stamps by Graphic45). The Winter Distress Inks have arrived and just waiting to be used :D. The little pink house and tree are Puffies going to be made into rings and there is a lot of scrap left over from yesterday's post (another mini banner). Lots of birthdays coming up as well as Christmas. Everything gets entered into my project log, first as the idea, then all the fleshing out, then I put it in my Gypsy (if it's got Cricut bits). Then it hits the workdesk. It keeps me from feeling overwhelmed (at least until I look at my Christmas Crafty Days countdown lol).

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander at workdesks from around the world! Better yet, take a photograph of your crafty space and join in the fun :D.

No Place Like Home Mini Banner

2011-11-15T15:19:00.000-05:00

Everything for the No Place Like Home Mini Banner comes from the Club Ruby Designers So Thankful Kit except for the cotton twine and the Beacon's 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue (LOVE this stuff).

I glued the twine to the Jubilee cut in 4 places, leaving the twine unattached everywhere else, that glue is strong btw and flexible. I put a small line of glue on the twine and then put the pennants on the glue.

Jubilee mat 9.43" x 4.26"
Mat 6.75" x 2" with corners rounded using 1/2" Corner Chomper.

Chalk it Up to Experience.

2011-11-03T18:48:00.001-04:00

You might remember the Magnet/Chalkboard project I posted a little while ago. I had one problem that would not go away. I kept losing the chalk lol. And it's difficult to keep a proper count-down if the chalk is missing.

So, I came up with this, a chalk harness. And all you need to make one is a piece of chalk and some string. So no more wandering chalk and the string can be undone and reused when the chalk wears down to the nub. Tie a loop at the end and put a hook up next to the board and no more lost chalk :D.

Put the end of the string near the end of the chalk.

Loop as illustrated, and slowly tighten to fit snugly around chalk. If you tighten it too fast and hard, the chalk will snap, you can guess how I know that lol.

Continue to add loops til it's near the top.

Making the Tiny Cuts

2011-11-02T16:01:00.000-04:00

I'm the guest designer at The Bugbytes today! Today I made two Eeyore cuts from the Pooh and Friends cartridge into a pair of earrings using my Gypsy and Paper Layerz. I started with the large image and hid all the cuts that were essential on both layers. Then I shrank them to the size I wanted and cut them out.

I made a wash out of Dusty Concord Distress Ink by swiping it on my nonstick mat.

And then spritzing it with water. Only I was so close to the mat when I spritzed, so it made a spatter. Good if you want a spatter lol.

I used an Aqua Brush to paint over the cuts left to make them stand out and to edge everything. Repeated brush strokes to make some areas darker. Uniball White Gel Pen for the whites of the eyes. A tiny hole punch for the earring wires to fit into and after everything had dried Triple Thick Glaze by Art Deco as a finish (which is awesome because it doesn't cause the warping of a lot of other glazes). After I took the picture it occurred to me I could have flipped the image of one set lol. Something for next time :D.

WOYWW 126

2011-11-02T04:50:00.000-04:00

I've been in a bit of a crafting frenzy. The tower of Distress Inks grows, they keep wandering out of their storage, which makes me think I need to re-think their storage. The Color Box chalk ink only gets to come out once in a while lol. The little house is scuttling about, today it's on top of the lazy susan, which reminds me I have to get working on another post.

And speaking of Distress Inks, did you see the new Winter Seasonal Distress Inks? To quote George Takei, Ohhhhh My!

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture of your crafty space and join in the fun!

Mini Banners as Home Decor

2011-10-27T11:17:00.001-04:00

I love banners, but a full-size banner is not always practical. Mini-Banners can add a festive touch without the need for space that full-sized banner requires.

They can add fun to the refrigerator with clip on magnets.

Or to the table with this homemade set of banner holders, made with two large toy wooden wheels (2.5"), some marbles and some dowels cut into 7" lengths. Tall enough to be decorative, short enough to be be seen over, and open enough for children to see through. I painted on sealer, then white acrylic paint, then more sealer. I'm going to try spray paint for the next batch.

I added all the marbled and then the glass drops so the banner holders would be resistant to tipping. Gorilla glue worked well to attach the marbles and glass drops.

The tops are made with eyehooks screwed into the dowel and then the open side of the eye hook gently twisted to the side to make an open hook.

Chalk it up to Magnetism!

2011-10-21T14:58:00.000-04:00

I'm just tickled pink with this one, it's so versatile. It's a chalk and magnet board. It can be used as a countdown board, a menu board, a caption board. The photo corners are attached to magnets so the sign or photo is lifted away from the board about 1/4 of an inch. The American Crafts Chalk Paper is included in the October 2011 Club Ruby Designers' kit.

Board

Step 1. Cut a 12" x 12" square out of foamboard and paint it black. I didn't cut it with my Cricut by the way, it's just where I photographed it.

Step 2. Glue on galvanized tin step flashing. I used several sheets. I didn't go all the way to the edges because I wanted to make sure the paper was attached to the foam board around the edge.

The leftovers are very useful, so don't throw them out. None of my local hardware stores sold this, so I had to order it online. If you are shopping locally, it's helpful to carry a magnet with you to test for magenetism. Just don't carry it next to your credit cards, or other things that are affected :D.

Step 3. Glue on the Chalk Paper.

Step 4. Attach a hanger. I made one out of two pieces of grungeboard with holes for the string and attached them to the back of the foamboard with Beacon's 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue.

Magnetic Photo Corners

Step 1. Cut cardstock into 2 1.5" x 1.5" squares.

Step 2. Fold in half as shown.

Step. 3. Fold in half in the other direction.

Step 4. Open and apply glue in 1 quarter of the square and fold in half. If you glue more than a quarter, there won't be a pocket to stick the sign in.

Step 5. Apply glue to 1 quarter of the square. Attach magnet to back.

Supplies:
American Crafts Chalk Paper
ProMag Magnets
Galvanized Tin Step Flashing (used for roofing, but don't get the aluminium that is also used).
Foam Board Black Acrylic Paint

WOYWW 124

2011-10-19T14:59:00.001-04:00

Happy Wednesday! On my desk today there is a card in the making totally from scraps. The card base is left over two-sided paper I printed on my Cricut Imagine, but I forget the name of the cartridge. There is a notebook paper print that is wonderful for the inside of cards. And now I can turn single sided paper into two sided paper.

The little bag of paper diamonds comes from the paper ribbon on the card which was left over from the Gift Box project I posted a few days ago. The green circle is the cutout from the cupcake holder from the same project. And after looking at it off and on for a few days I decided it would be a great Christmas ornament if the rounded top was cut off. The kaleidoscope is in the background waiting for the discovery of the proper paper. Little Eeyores for an upcoming post (fingers crossed on this one lol).

And finally from another upcoming post these little triangles. They are cut at a ridiculously small size on Paper Layerz, which if you like to cut small scale on electronic die-cutters, you have to try this paper. It can cut so thin and small that sometimes the hardest part is figuring out how to glue them on.

Finally, I had shared a sneak peak of one of my Club Ruby Designers' Projects a few weeks ago. The full image of the project can be found on this post if you are interested in seeing the whole thing.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, then head over to Julia's the Stamping Ground and have a gander at other creative spaces around the world. Better yet, take a picture of your own space and join in the fun :D.

Faux Watercolor - Make It Monday #36

2011-10-16T21:32:00.001-04:00

This week's (might be last weeks by the time you are reading this) Make it Monday is Faux Watercolor. Faux watercolor BTW is awesome :D. Stamp images with water-based dye inks and then brush them with an aqua brush. For this card I used Papertrey Ink's Wonderfully Whimsical stamp set and Dusty Concord Distress Ink. Everything was gone over with an aqua brush except for the "happy".

Gift Box and Gift (updated with more pictures)

2011-10-14T23:37:00.006-04:00

All the paper used in this project is from the For the Record Collection by Echo Park, except for the cupcake/ornament holder which is cut from a piece of scrap cardstock.

The ornament is decorated with leftover cuts from the box. I shortened the sides of the cupcake holder so the ornament sat lower in the box.

Cricut Cuts:

Gift Box Sweet Tooth Boxes cartridge (lower section made from Lace Stripes, and the lid from Table Cloth).
"Ribbon" around the lid made from Martha Stewart Elegant Cake cartridge borders welded together (Newsprint).
Button Stars from Gypsy Wanderings (twine from Papertrey Ink)
Flower Handle, made from George & Basic Shapes, three flowers cut and glued together to make a handle.

Rise and Shine!

2011-10-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

The patterned cardstock is printed with the Cricut Imagine using one of the patterns from Kate's Kitchen. The Toast and Toaster are printed off in layers and assembled. The Rise and Shine is a layer from another layer. One of the things I really love about the Imagine is that after one side is dried, I can make two-sided paper by turning it over and, in this case, I used the matching yellow without the pattern for the inside.

Cuttlebug Card

2011-10-14T21:08:00.000-04:00

Cuttlebug Folders: Plaid (Inked on the debossed side) and snowflakes (on the snowflakes)
Cricut Cuts: Snowflakes: Snowflakes from Gypsy Wanderings and Reindeer from Very Merry Tags.
Scrap and Stickles.

WOYWW 123!

2011-10-12T06:43:00.002-04:00

I added some flat glass things to the white knobbly things because they needed more weight :D.

They are my tabletop banner holders, which is why the weight is needed. I'm still fiddling about with them and the banner was just made with a scrap to show what I was talking about. But the eye hooks are twisted open so they look like a pig tail (sortof lol) so banners can be easily swapped out according to the need. They are made to be free standing to accomodate various lengths as well, and not so tall as to prevent conversation across the table.

Also on my desk are a couple of Club Scrap Projects, the little house and a kaleidoscope in the making (the cardboard tube). My Distress Inks and Brown Cricut Marker from my favorite card yet posted yesterday and some green paper painted with glow in the dark the circles from the hole punch used to embellish clear acrylic domes into glow in the dark eyes.

The little house comes as blank paper already to punch out, and I was having so much fun stamping with a ticket stamp I forgot to put the vellum over the windows. So I made a little tree out of a paper circle, a chenille stem and Stickles so there would be something to look at in the little house. That's a Sharpie lid to the immediate left btw.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture and join in the fun :D.

Monochromatic Color Card

2011-10-11T19:21:00.005-04:00

And the inside says, "For helping me when I was stumped".

A brown Cricut Marker was used first (on the lowest pressure setting and the fastest speed). The "Thanks" sentiment was only written on and then filled in with Twinkling H2O's Indian Copper. Everything else was cut from the same cream/ivory cardstock and painted with Distress Inks. The card base is 5 x 5 made with Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate.

And I couldn't have done it without my Gypsy and my Cricut Expression 2. The Thanks sentiment is on the first layer (hit return to design, NOT unload mat when layer 1 is done). The Doily and the Tree Stump are on the second layer because after they were drawn with the Cricut Marker, they were cut. If the Thanks was on the same layer, it would have been cut out also.

Cricut Images:
Thanks - Font Feature on Cindy Loo cartridge, 0.57".
Tree Stump - Create-A-Critter cartridge, 3.63".
Leaf Doily - Doily Feature on Sophie cartridge, 4.96"

Coloring.
Thanks, Indian Copper Twinkling H2O's painted in the lines drawn with marker.

Tree Stump. top layer, pressed on Antique Linen Distress Ink pad, face layer, painted with Vintage Photo "paint" made by smudging the ink pad on a non-stick work surface and spritzing with water, applied with an aqua brush, then put in puddle of "paint" made with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. Base, put in a puddle of "paint" made with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.

Leaf Doily. Painted with "paint" made from Wild Honey Distress Ink applied with an aqua brush. While the doily was still wet, I sort of gently scrunched the leaves, which held the scrunch when they were dried.

WOYWW 122 - Toil and Trouble

2011-10-05T07:48:00.001-04:00

I'm gathering all my mini-misters so I can see which ones need water added. The white things are a project in process :D (more to come later). The remote on the right keeps escaping, and it's odd I don't see it until it's in a photograph lol. The gray stubby things are Cricut Markers which need to be put away, only then I started working on another project with them. (I used them on my Bug Bytes project posted earlier today). I was tickled pink to have it done before yesterday even. The paper in the middle is another mat not used for project finding new life as a paint pallette lol. Oh, and the light yellow thing to the right is a future present for DD (mum's the word eh?).

So if you are wondering about all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your workdesk and join in the fun :D.

Using the Gypsy for really long titles

2011-10-05T02:50:00.067-04:00

Hello everyone! Today is my day to be the Guest Designer at TheBugBytes! Today I'm sharing a project made almost entirely from my October 2011 Club Ruby Designers kit. The only supplies that aren't in the kit are my Twinkles H2O Orange Peel paint (the picture doesn't do justice to the amount of shine there is in it) and Black Tuxedo Memento Dual marker.

This was a realllllly long title, and I didn't want to keep track of all those letters if I didn't need to. And much to my delight, with my Gypsy and the Cricut Expression 2, I didn't need to. If you don't have a Cricut Expression 2, you can do this direct from the cartridge with your Original Expression, it will just take a bit more experimentation to get the lettering where you want it. (I have heard that some Original Expressions are less shaky with markers and Gypsys than others, so yours might work well.)

My Gypsy is my favorite design tool. The MOMMM title and it's shadow are laid out on separate layers since they will be cut with different papers. Just before each one is cut it's moved to a paper-saving location. The written title is printed on a sheet of thin white paper first so I can hold it up to the light with the patterned paper behind it and make sure it's where I want it. Have a piece of scrap paper on hand to put under the marker when it's swapped for the blade.

This is the title all written out.

This is it painted in with the Twinkling H2Os Orange Peel.

The MOMMM title shadow and the photo mat are both cut from the Enchanted paper and edged with the Twinkling H2Os paint. The MOMMM cut in orange cardstock is edged with the brush side of the Memento marker. The other end of the marker was used for the journalling. The photo mat is only attached on the side and bottom so it doubles as a pocket for more journalling.

The Journalling is written with the marker end of the Memento Dual marker.

Supplies

October 2011 Club Ruby Designers kit:

Fancy Pants Trick or Treat
Fancy Pants Trick or Treat Enchanted (MOMMM shadow and photo mat).
Cut Mates orange - MOMMM lettering

Additional:

Twinkles H2O Orange Peel
Black Tuxedo Memento Dual Marker
Blue Cricut Marker
Inexpensive White 12 x 12 sheets (for testing)

Tools:

Cricut Expression 2
Gypsy
Robotz cartridge

Cricut Cuts:

MOMMM!!! Robotz font and Font Shadow - 1.41"
Painted title Sesame Street Elmo's Party - 0.75" (with marker).

WOYWW 121

2011-09-28T01:35:00.001-04:00

It's the aftermath of the Club Ruby Designers Design Team storm lol. I've used an mat that I didn't use for a project for a paint pallette. I have been putting my Beacon 3 in 1 Advanced Craft Glue through it's paces and so far it's worked splendidly, especially on those difficult slippery surface to paper scenarios. And the odd triangle on the left is a makeup sponge I was using to apply Distress Ink (Tea Dye) to a project. I actually had to purchase them special for this as I don't own makeup lol. There's also some bits of galvanized tin step flashing and my deluxe ProMag magnets. And my empty Grumpy mug which needs to be washed and refilled with coffee.

Here is a sneak peek of one of my projects to be published at Club Ruby Designers for the October kit on October 1. Other than crafting, I'm trying to cram in all the warm weather chores I didn't get done this summer, like painting DD's room and and planning to strip the paint off a pair of chairs that have been overlooked for 7 summers lol. We'll see what happens in the next couple of weeks. Optimism or delusion, I can never decide lol.

So if you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your workdesk and join in the fun :D.

Paper Trey Ink September Blog Hop

2011-09-25T21:00:00.001-04:00

Today is the Papertrey Ink September Blog Hop. Kraft cardstock, with Hawaiian Shores and leaves stamped on Stamper's White Select. The stamp set is Papertrey Ink's Falling Leaves. The leaves are stamped with Memento Cantalope, Tangelo and Lady Bug. The tree trunk is Distress Ink Weathered Wood and the sentiment is Distress Ink Black Soot.

WOYWW 120

2011-09-21T09:46:00.000-04:00

Happy Wednesday everyone :D. I broke into my stash of Papertrey Ink Glassine envelopes and applied a rub-on I made with my Cricut Imagine (with Lori's Garden cartridge). There's room for improvement in my making rub-on skills, but I'm liking it anyways. The green embellishments are the clear ones covered in Viva Decor paint. The bag to the right are the leftover coins and pearls from my banner. The Beacon 3 in 1 glue is amazing! It really held those jewels on and didn't warp the paper.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture and join in the fun :D.

It's a Banner-arrrgh Day! (and International Talk Like a Pirate Day too).

2011-09-19T22:46:00.004-04:00

Just in time for the last bit of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, I finished my banner for the Cricut Contest using my Imagine and the Buccaneer cartridge. I used Stone Script cartridge with the ship's wheel pattern for the letters (with gold Stickles) and Art Nouveau for the mat (edged with Tea Dye Distress Ink). The cheese cloth was tea-dyed and the doub'loons were made with circles of gold foil paper run through the Clockworks Cuttlebug folder three times. The pearls were made with clear decoratives accents (sold in the candle section at Michael's) also called "skittles" with a drop of Ranger Pearl Alcohol Ink. And the ever-trusty Papertrey Ink Rustic twine : D.

Make It Monday #31 Creating Backgrounds with Non-Background Stamps

2011-09-11T11:05:00.001-04:00

Warning!!! This process has proved to be completely addicting lol.

This week's Make It Monday is using a non-background stamp to make a background. I'm starting my Christmas Cards and used a sentiment stamp for the background. The mat is what's leftover from a cut made on the Cricut Imagine and transferred from the mat with the use of painter's tape.

cardbase: Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy
mat: AC Cardstock white, Martha Stewart Elegant Cake Art cartridge, cut with the Cricut Imagine.
sentiments: both from Papertrey Ink 2009 Holiday Tag Collection, Merry & Bright stamped with K Marcella Red Dye, Happy Holidays stamped with Versamark.

This is a "just because" card, perfect for a book reader. I used a sentiment stamp for the background.

cardbase: Papertrey Ink Stampers Select White
stamps: Papertrey Ink, All Booked Up, sentiment stamped with Tattered Rose Distress Ink, Image stamped with Memento Black Tuxedo
patterned paper from scrap stash
edge: Spun Sugar Distress Ink and American Craft black gel pen (from Club Ruby Designers September 2011 kit).

Soup's On!

2011-09-09T18:47:00.002-04:00

I love mason jars. And one of the best things to do with mason jars is to fill them with gifts. There are so many options, just google "Gift in a Jar" and you'll be dazzled with choices. This is black beans and rice, something I grew up eating. The rice is measured out and put into small plastic bag. The beans need to be rinsed, so they are ready to be poured into a colander.

Except for the "Soup's On", everything comes from my Cricut Imagine (it prints and cuts) using the Cosmo Cricket Kate's Kitchen cartridge. Thank you Everyday Cricut!!. I printed out two of the 12 x 12 patterned paper. The blue is cut about 1/8th of an inch smaller than the bag. The red is cut 1/2 of an inch smaller than the blue. The pots image is cut in layers, and the background was embossed using the Cuttlebug Seeing Spots embossing folder. The stove is adhered to a mat which is glued to the red mat on the side and bottom to make a pocket for the recipe. This goes on the back of the bag, but I photographed it before I adhered it so everything could be seen in one go. The "Soup's On" is cut from black cardstock using the font from the Nifty Fifties cartridge. I made the appostrophe using the semi-colon which I flipped, hid part of it and rotated it with my Gypsy. There was also welding involved.

The front of the bag.

The completed back of the bag with the recipe sticking out of the pocket.

The small pot has double dimensional dots on the right side and single on the left and handle. The larger pot is also attached with dimensional dots. Better view of the embossing.

WOYWW - 118

2011-09-07T09:18:00.005-04:00

Before I show you what's on my workdesk, I want to brag about my oldest younger sister (there are 4 of us!). She is amazing, smart, funny, compassionate AND she makes stunning things with paper (and she quilts like a dream too). But after months of people saying she should start a blog, she finally did!! Paper, Craft, and Scissors. Needless to say, I'm tickled pink to be her big sister :D.

I was too tired last night to put away my Paper Layerz embellishments left over from my earlier post. I use this box that once held spools of thread to hold embellishments while I get to the project or figure out what I'm going to do with them lol. These don't go bad, some of them go back to September 2009. And sometimes when I'm stumped for an idea, I just start pulling them out and I find I'm usually not stumped for long :D.

After I got them all in the box, I saw that I'd forgotten to put away the bookmark blanks I'd cut from some Papertrey Ink Kraft cardstock scraps, using the Papertrey Ink bookmark die. And inspiration struck. So I made a bookmark for myself :D. The background stamps are from PTI Background Basics: Woodgrain stamp set (Tea Dye Distress Ink). The "Let me Save Your Spot" sentiment is from PTI All Booked Up stamp set (Memento Black Tuxedo Ink). The cord is some cotton twine from the hardware store with two of the small Owl die cuts from the August Club Ruby Designers kit glued back to back. And the bead is one that I made (did I mention I'm a craftoholic?!?) in the one lampworking glass I've been able to take. Then I untwisted the ends to make a faux tassel.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW business, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your workdesk and join in the fun :D.

One Cut, Two Cards

2011-09-07T02:15:00.007-04:00

Today is my day to be the guest designer at The Bug Bytes :D. I love using PaperLayerz by Megan Elizabeth with my Cricut (it cuts like butter!). I made these two cards with one cut. The first one is the "offical" cut (the snowflake using the silhouette feature on the Damask Decor cartridge).

The second cart is made from what was left on the mat, framed by a mat made from what was left on the paper. Stickles were used on both :D. And the card bases are made from Stampers Select White cardstock from Papertrey Ink.

There are nine 4 inch squares on one side of Paper Layerz and a full sheet of a complementary color on the other. This is one of my favorites, All Stressed Out.

But if you have an E2, the best way to line the cuts up with the colors is to use the Gypsy. I made a 4 inch grid on the first layer (which is visible all the time) and then hide all the other layers so there is no confusion about what cut is going where. It is a good idea though to triple check the paper and the Gypsy are facing the same direction.

After the cuts are made, carefully lift the paper off the mat and set it aside, it still has use, which I'll show you in a minute. The cuts I'm working with today are the Silhouette Feature on Damask Decor. These are cut at less than 4 inches. I forgot to change my cutting blade, but they still turned out pretty well.

The silhouette cut is on the right, on the left is what was left over after the silhouette cut was carefully removed (sometimes it helps to use a paper piercer to make sure small pieces stay on the Cricut mat. I cut a mat from what was left on the paper and put it on the Cricut mat.

I took a piece of co-ordinating paper and cut it about the size of the mat, then I put glue on the paper left on the Cricut mat and set the co-ordinating paper face down on top of the glue. Wait a little while and then carefully remove everything from the Cricut mat. You want to have an idea of the backing papers before you start cutting because you don't want to leave the "leftovers" on the Cricut mat too long (the mat adhesive starts to stick more).

Here are all 6 cuts and their leftovers made useful, and all at under 4 inches each :D. Two cards down, ten to go lol.

Bugs & Kisses

2011-09-04T10:00:00.004-04:00

This is one of my projects for Club Ruby Designers from the September 2011 kit which was just released. All the materials except the Stickles, Distress Ink and adhesive come from the kit, including the black gel pen. The photomats are cut with the Cricut, using my Gypsy to weld the bugs to the rectangles.

These are some of my favorite pictures of DD when she was younger, and even though it was Halloween, I want to display the layout throughout the year (in one of those Scrapbook 12 x 12 frames), so I used a more year-round color pallette. When I found these frames, I really started embracing single page layouts. BTW the frames can be purchase for $10 when Hobby Lobby is having a 50% off sale :D.

Outline the bugs. Use the kit's black gel pen to outline all the bugs on Kaisercraft's Muddy Mess. (Wobbliness adds character btw lol).

Add the ribbons and the title. Attach the ribbon in your preferred manner. I used Scor-Tape on the back. I measured where I wanted the purple ribbon (2") to make it easier to lay it in a straight line. Usually I'm more of an eyeball-it measurer.

The felt letters were put on the large green ribbon for the title. An extra "s" was made by cutting the top off a bracket.. Using the upper and lower case "s" makes the extra "s" seem less out of place.

Add more paper. Add 6 inches of the orange paper with lots of Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink.

Weld bugs to the mats. A ladybug, a bee and a caterpiller are welded onto the photo mats using the Gypsy. The bee is from Live Simply and the ladybug and caterpiller are from Walk in My Garden. The mats are edged with the black gel pen.

Dots of Waterfall and Lavender Stickles are put on the dots of Kaisercraft Dirt Trail to add some extra sparkle and to tie the colors together a bit more. A large dot of Lavender Stickles was used in the silver button embellishment in the "i" of the title.

Bangles

2011-08-26T00:20:00.001-04:00

I was browsing through Pinterest one day and I stumbled across a tutorial for making glitter bangles. My darling daughter had a birthday to go to, so I decided this was the time to try them. Basically some vinyl tubing, some glitter and water. I only added water to one of them. The thicker bangles are a lot easier to fill than the thinner ones. They are easy, it only took 15 minutes to make the bracelets. However, I am graceful and it took 30 minutes to clean up the glitter lol.

The gift bag is repurposed, the candy centers of the flowers it held in February having been eaten.

August Papertrey Ink Blog Hop and My Monthly Mojo and a Good Cause All in One

2011-08-26T00:17:00.000-04:00

photo credit

This is the photograph that inspired Papertrey Ink's August Blog Hop. I used one of my favorite Papertrey Ink stamp sets, Friendship Jar and the daisies from Friendship Jar Fillers. I stamped the images with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and used Memento markers to color them. I used repeated strokes to add shading to the flowers.

This also is my entry for Sasa's My Monthly Mojo. Every month she interviews an artist about their creative process and has a place to link a related piece. This month we're supposed to include some notes about our creative process and why we like to share our work. Now this is a lot harder for me than just making stuff, but in the spirit of community (and a chance to win a great stamp set), I'm dipping my toes in the water :D.

When I saw the photograph for the Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, I knew I needed to do the mason jar and the flowers. Especially as I had stamps for those lol. I picked up the suitcase element by rounding two of the card corners with the Corner Chomper. Sometimes I like to pick up the feeling of the whole photograph (like I did last month) and sometimes just an element or two. I also made the card to donate to an event organizer who had asked My Pink Stamper readers for cards for a breast cancer survivor breakfast. And because of that I combined the red and white colors as a pink. So it's a threefer card!

Now the reasons why I like to share are usually a little less clear than my inspiration, but it's usually a combination of not having access to a lot of real-life folks who are thrilled to bits about giving feedback to my papercrafting projects and a means of keeping track of things I've made. It's also a way to give back to the online community I've learned so much from. In a larger sense, it's also given me more freedom to just put it out there for it's own sake, not so much for the feedback I get from others, if that makes sense lol. But I really do love comments. So that's me in a nutshell, full of contradictions lol.

Materials:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Fine Linen and Sweet Blush.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Memento Dual Marker Summer Sky (jar), Dandelion (flower center), Pear Tart (leaves), Angel Pink (flower petals) and Rose Bud (edge around the Fine Linen mat).
Tools: Corner Chomper (1/4").

WOYWW 116 Marker Heaven

2011-08-24T17:16:00.003-04:00

I've been having oodles of fun with markers. Since my budget does not allow for all the Copics my colorful self pines for, I was tickled pink to find Memento Markers at thirty percent off, some Adirondack Markers on clearance and a couple of the empty alcohol ink pens (to be filled with blender or alcohol inks of your choice) also on clearance. I'm loving the Memento Markers, but the Adirondack Markers are not really the color of the alcohol inks of the same name.

So I filled one of the markers with Citrus Alcohol Ink, and I've discovered it's very close in color to one of the Memento markers. I'm thinking it's a favorite color :D. I'm having a really hard time deciding which color to use in the other marker, but Stream is a front runner.

I found a copy of Craft Stamper at Joann Fabrics.

And inside an article from WOYWWer Hels Sheridan :D. Which reminded me, it really was Wednesday and I had not posted yet lol.

So if you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your workdesk and join in the fun :D.

Cricut Lite Botanicals Giveaway

2011-08-21T11:46:00.000-04:00

Tammy Skinner is giving away a Cricut Lite Botanicals on her blog. Definitely worth scuttling over for a chance to win it if you don't already have it :D.

WOYWW 115 Feeling Scrappy

2011-08-17T09:40:00.006-04:00

Today I'm working on a Papertrey Ink layout. I bought enough stamps over the last year to qualify for the Thank You Anniversary set and I just loved the printed piece that came with it. So when I was cleaning up after my Club Ruby Designers August Design Team projects, I came across the thank you and a layout was started. I really do try to clean, I just keep getting interrupted lol. The 12 x 12 paper is made from two different sheets glued together.

I also finally finished (and photographed) the cards I made from my Paper Layerz experiments. Rather I was testing the dickens out of the paper and couldn't bear to throw them away lol. With Papertrey Ink cardstock for the card bases, I made a whole stack of cards using one 12 x 12 sheet of PaperLayerz. And I still have some more to finish!

After I took the Damask Decor silhouette cut off the mat, this was left, well this was face down on the mat. And it looked too pretty to scrap off, so I put glue on the back (that was facing up on the mat), and put the mat on it, let it dry and then pulled it off, put some faux stitching and another mat on it and ta da, second card lol.

This is an A2 sized card, I never thought I could make this Paper Lace cut at less than four inches. It's glued on with Patina Stickles. The other cut was an experiment from years ago lol.

The moon and dream are from Graphically Speaking. That dream cut is tinnnnny, but easy peasy on the PaperLayerz. I got the little bit of dimension by putting Tombow Adhesive on the back and letting it dry (it's still really tacky though after it's dry). The toughest part was transferring the cut from my fingers to the paper lol. I used Marvy Ink's Ochre to edge the mat (more scraps from the past btw).

The last two cards were made from one Creative Memories Reminisce cut. The soar is colored with the Stardust gel pen and attached using the dried Tombow adhesive. Platinum stickles for a little more sparkle lol (I'm such a magpie!).

I used the Papertrey Ink white Shimmer cardstock as the base for this one. White gel pen and Faded Jeans Distress Stickles for extra umph :D.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia Dunnit's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your workspace and join in the fun!

Glitter Hello card

2011-08-16T19:17:00.001-04:00

Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday #28 the challenge was to use a thick glue pen around a die, only I don't have a thick glue pen, so I used a copic marker (cool gray) and colored over it with a Martha Stewart glue pen and used Pallette Ultrafine Prism glitter.

cardstock: pink mat from stash, PTI soft stone (mat) and sweet blush (A2 card), vintage cream (mat shape #3).
marker: C5 (cool gray) Copic, chisel edge around the shaped mat, side of brush to edge the rectangular mats.
inks: Spun Sugar and Pumice Stone Distress Inks
stamps: Papertrey Ink Honey Bee and Mat Stack 3 Collection.

Two Fast and Easy(ish) Cards

2011-08-11T14:26:00.001-04:00

Finally had a chance to do a Make It Monday. This week's challenge was to make a copic colored ribbon. I used red and green on Papertrey Ink's Fine Linen Topnotch Twill Tape. The cardbase is Papertrey Ink's Stampers Select. The robots on the bottom of the card are from a self-inking Inklings stamp I picked up at the dollar store. The other robot stamp is from a Stampin' Up Lots of Bots stamp set.

The thank you card is Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select cardbase masked off with painter's tape. The stamps are all from Papertrey Ink's Embellishments stamp set and the inks are Distress Inks (bundled sage and sooty black). Easy peasy! I'm thinking this would do well as a Thank You card set.

WOYWW 114

2011-08-10T10:15:00.003-04:00

Papertrey Ink stamps to use on the left, box of Cricut cuts under the Papertrey Ink cardstock sample book on the right. Cards to finish behind.

It's great for picking out cardstock color combinations. One of my favorites: vintage cream, pure poppy and hawaiian shores.

It has a handy dandy chart in the front.

So I added the various whites that I have (stamper's select, white shimmer, vintage cream, rustic white), and re-arranged my cardstock in the order of the chart. Thinking this will make it easier to find what I'm looking for :D.

It's been a fairly quiet week considering that DD is back after 5 weeks away at camp lol. And somehow I managed to get a gallon of water in the floor of the passenger side back seat (American seating that is). Thankfully I bought a small automobile wet/dry vac a couple of years ago. Still haven't figured out how the water got in, if it was an open window I think the seat and door would have been wet too. Apparently there is no gel pack I can just put on the floor and vacuum up later. I might have to borrow a hairdryer to dry out the residual.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to the Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture of your workdesk and join in the fun :D.

I'm Really Loving the First of the Month!

2011-08-01T14:36:00.004-04:00

As I might have mentioned once or twice lol, I'm on the Club Ruby Designers' Design Team. On the first of the month I get to see the fabulous projects my team mates have posted on the site and I get to share what I've made. This month we're allowed to share a photograph of one of our projects on our blog and this is the one I chose :D. It's a small gift box, about 3 x 4.5 inches, and I feel the colors are neutral enough you could use it for a gift box for anyone. And no wrapping required! And it's a birthday keepsake! Love multi-purpose things :D. Except for the stickles and the Papertrey Ink Twine, everything is from the Fancy Pants August 2011 kit.

So if you want to see all the other projects, hop on over to Club Ruby Designers and join up. There is even a free membership level!

WOYWW 112!

2011-07-27T01:30:00.001-04:00

Happy WOYWW :D. I've been playing with my Papertrey Ink stamps. This is the Honey Bees stamp which I used to make the card from the previous post and this one (which my daughter sent off to a friend). The wellies are from the Everyday Tags stamp set I think though. I'm so in love with versamark for stamping btw lol.

I'm happy to say the weather has cooled off significantly from last week! Nothing like 100 degree weather to make 89 seem balmy :D, actually it was 108 with the heat index last week, bah.

Now for you Tim Holtz fans (It's been ages since I put a Tim Holtz label on a post), one of my favorite CHA reporting blogs, Scrap Time has posted a series of Tim Holtz videos, so I'll enable anyone interested by providing a link for videos 1 and 2 and this link for 3, 4, 5, and 6. Watch at your own fiscal peril however lol.

If you are wondering about what's all this WOYWW, then head over to our fearless leader's site, The Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet, take a picture and join in :D.

Stamp-a-faire Challenge #10

2011-07-26T22:23:00.001-04:00

Papertrey Ink had a Stamp-a-faire event over the weekend, only with one thing and another I wasn't able to participate with the online challenges, but since challenge #10 didn't post when it was supposed to, now I can :D. The challenge was to create depth by only using one layer, stamping a background and then focal points on top of it.

I used Papertrey Ink's Honey Bees and Background Basics: Retro, with Marvy Heritage Old Gold, Antique Linen Distress Ink and Momento Black Tuxedo inks, Papertrey Ink's Stamper's Select White and Harvest Gold cardstocks.

July Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

2011-07-25T11:21:00.002-04:00

Everything is Papertrey Ink except for the curtains.
card base, couch, pillows: Stampers Select White Cardstock.
couch seat: Ripe Avocado Cardstock
mat: Fine Linen Cardstock edged with Distress Ink Tea Dye
stamps: On My Couch, (Botanical Silhouette used for decorating pillows.

Curtains were rippled between three skewers two below the paper and one on top between them.

There are lots of wonderful projects at the PTI Blog Hop.

Catching Up with Cards

2011-07-20T15:16:00.003-04:00

The Cricut Lyrical Letters cartridge is one of my all time favorites, but it's a difficult cartride to use for smaller embellishments. However, CutMates paper is made to use in die-cutting machines. Megan Elizabeth from Above Rubies and Club Ruby Designers (which is why I was sent some to play with) has a line called Paper Layerz printed on CutMates that has one 12 x 12 color and on the other side, 9 4 x 4 co-ordinating colors which makes it easy peasy to cut layers without digging for scraps. So I can make embellishments for A2 cards without having to use my craft knife to clean it up.

Another A2 card embellished with the Lyrical Letters cartridge. Paper Layerz for the embellishment, mats from stash. Glittered. Twenty minutes to make the card, another twenty to clean up the glitter lol.

Pagoda cartridge. Card bases all made with Stampers Select white Papertrey Ink cardstock. Now I just have to write messages in them and get them out in the mail. Bonus for me today, I got an envelope addressed to "Current Resident", no return address. Turns out it was a letter from my daughter, she got me lol.

WOYWW 111 - Confession Time, if Blogger Allows a Post that is

2011-07-20T13:37:00.001-04:00

It's Wednesday!!! I missed last week, and I've been feeling out of step. First things first, my desk today. The panda (from the Cricut Pagoda cart) is cut out of Paper Layerz Paper, wonderful stuff cuts like a dream and great for fast multi-color cuts. One side has a 12 x 12 pattern or color and the other side has 9 4 x 4" blocks of co-ordinating colors. And it's printed on Cutmates Paper which is just made for die-cutting machines. The next post will have more examples if you are interested in learning more. I was sent some because I'm on the Design Team at Club Ruby Designers.

Above the panda is the source of today's confession, the plain white cardstock with the unmounted rubberstamps on it. You would not know this to look at my desk, but I am a closet perfectionist. Things have to put away in their proper place or not at all lol.

After I cut apart unmounted rubber stamp sheets, I stamp them all on a sheet of cardstock, put it in a page protector and put it in a binder. These are Club Scrap stamps, stored by kit along with the printouts of layouts and any information about that kit.

But wait, there's more. Since I have to store things by set, I need to have a way to find birthday sentiments, backgrounds, etc. So I stamp everything on cardstock by category and put them in page protectors in a binder dedicated to that purpose. Although there are occasional what the hecks??? like the border on the left page lol.

So a late start, but I was out till 2am last night, but it was necessary. I had to go see him, no spoilers, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

So if you are wondering what's all this WOYWW business, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture and join in the fun lol. Hope your Wednesday is fabulous!

I think I hear a Hummingbird!

2011-07-09T15:47:00.000-04:00

Today is one of those magnificent days of summer, not too hot, not a lot of humidity, a nice breeze, very sunny and I keep seeing a very large small shadow, or a very small large shadow darting by the window. Then I heard it, a hummingbird :D. It hasn't stop to feed at the feeder outside my window when I'm nearby, but it does my heart good to know it is there :D.

How to Accessorize A Birthday Girl

2011-07-07T18:36:00.000-04:00

Party Hat: Cut party hat from Elmo's Party cartridge at 6.65" and Tiara from Once Upon A Princess cartridge at 4.29". Assemble the party hat. Cut off base of Tiara leaving 1/4". Apply Tombow adhesive to the 1/4" base of the tiara and let dry till tacky, then attach to bottom of party hat. Attach small eyelet at both ends of the tiara base and again about halfway to the center. The eyelets insure the tiara stays attached to the hat and a place to string elastic cord so the hat stays on.

Street Sign cartridge was used for the 16's (welded on the Gypsy) and in slightly varying sizes between 1.25 and 1.50. Use to embellish the party hat. Large fake jewels embellish the tiara. Attach ribbons to top of hat if desired.

Wand: Cut 3 Crown Tags on French Manor cartridge at 3" high. Cut the design out of one tag and make a cut for the stick in the middle bottom of that tag too. Wrap stick (or three skewers) with ribbon. Glue stick onto one Crown tag. Put thick dimensional dots all around the tag, then put the altered tag in place. When glue is dry, put dimensional dots on the middle tag. Apply glue where stick will go on 3rd tag and place on top of dimensional dots. When dry, add a 16 to each side. Tie a bow with lots of ribbon streamers.

On Your Marker, Get Set, Scrap!

2011-07-06T20:12:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! It's my turn to be the guest designer at The Bugbytes. For this layout you need a gypsy, an E2, brown cricut marker, Cindy Loo cartridge and Stretch Your Imagination cartridge.

On layer one arrange the caption using the Cindy Loo font feature at 1.06". The 4.35" frame is made with the frame feature with the bird house layer placed on top of it.

The scallop is on layer 2 with the inner square hidden with the hide contour feature.

Insert the marker (with the pressure set at 1) and "cut" layer 1, then after it is finished hit "return to design", go to layer 2 and "cut" again. Then unload the paper.

Fill in the scallops and birdhouse doors by hand. Add dots to the inner frame and wash with a small amount of water and a brush to spread color. Draw flowers around the outside. Cut the birdhouse on the inside of the frame with a craft knife so a photograph can be slid under it.

WOYWW 109

2011-07-06T19:15:00.000-04:00

Actually tidier than it looks because behind the cd rack, there is a large clear space lol. Those are most of my Papertrey Ink stamps in a great thrift store find, three cd racks for $2! The cone to the right is a prototype for a birthday hat from the Cricut Elmo's Party. And lots and lots of painter's tape to hold things down as needed.

I really need to re-label the pink bin, it has fine line markers and gel pens in it, not cd cleaning supplies lol. I'm so late to the fair today, it's been a longgggggg day lol.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to the Stamping Ground and have a gander! Better yet, join in :D.

Botanicals Lite Blog Candy Winner

2011-07-01T04:06:00.000-04:00

Congratulations Sheila aka SassyLady! I'm sending you an email :D.

Summer Card Camp!

2011-06-30T20:10:00.002-04:00

I haven't been able to go camping this summer yet, but I got to sign up for Summer Card Camp :D.

I broke out one of my favorite Papertrey Ink stamp sets, Chair-ished and went to town. I used Versamark on PTI Spring Rain cardstock to make the background on the card.

WOYWW 108 - Wow Wednesday Again??

2011-06-29T00:27:00.002-04:00

Ok I spent most of the week being ill, a fast acting starting off as sneezing ninja attack sort of bug that triggered problems with asthma and possibly bronchitis. Not very creative nor fun lol. But I did manage to get a little crafting in and shock of all shocks, some clearing of deskspaces!. What can I say... I was ill lol.

The odd pink looking thing to the right is a marvelous little bradsetting tool that I picked up on sale for $5.00. The airplane was a test model from my new Groovy Times cartridge. The fun foams are cut with Papertrey Ink die cuts and glued onto plastic packaging thus transforming them into stamps. Continuing in a clockwise direction are two more embellishments I made from the Botanicals Lite cartridge that I haven't decided what to do with yet, and above them was my Purse Project for the last three years finally finished!

It's all made of French knots and Cotswold knots and the perfect thing for carrying in a purse to be worked on. At the same time sort of mindless as it's just filling in the lines with colored threads, no counting required at all. But at the same time interesting and enough to focus on to book passage to my happy place if needed (and a lot less noticeable than sticking my fingers in my ears and la-la-la-ing). And I had no idea what a Cotswold knot was till I purchased this kit lol.

I am a big fan of stencils, but usually forget to use them. So I got a handy dandy notebook and started putting them in page protector sheets. I'm really addicted to page protector sheets lol. I'm not sure if I'm ready to start sewing pockets in them though, time will tell. Some of these stencils go back to the 80's btw lol. Apparently there is no expiration date on them.

Lastly, Interweave Press has 10 free books available for download now, you have to sign up, but lots of good info there.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap picture of your workspace and join in the fun :D.

Military Thank You Card

2011-06-27T09:28:00.009-04:00

The current challenge at Club Ruby Designers is a Military Thank You card. This is my sample for the Design Team post. BTW the winner will receive a goodie bag from Megan.

and on the inside

Cardstock: Papertry Ink, Kraft, Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate.

Brown Cricut marker set at a pressure of 1 (if it is too light at 1, go to 2).

Cricut Expression2, Gypsy

Calligraphy Collection cartridge for the "for all you do" ( 0.92" high) and the Thank You phrase (1.61" high)

Stand and Salute cartridge: Service Woman cut at 3.82" high.

WOYWW 107 - Traveling! (Now with pictures).

2011-06-22T06:02:00.005-04:00

I went on a little three day jaunt, and really haven't been in my craft room (though it's a little better than last week). All I took with me craftwise was my notebook, my camera and a small spindle. (I know, not even my Gypsy got to come along!).

Aren't the designs around the headstones marvelous? Salem btw.

Maple Bark.

Sea glass on the beach just lights up in the morning! Not so easy to see in the afternoon.

I watched the sunrise from bed lol.

So if you are wondering what's all this WOYWW than, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet, snap a picture of your workdesk and join in!

WOYWW 106 - ! Gorgeous PiF and Creative Chaos Abounds... No Really lol

2011-06-15T09:16:00.002-04:00

Usually I start with my crafty spaces, but this week I'm showing the gorgeous PiF I received from Helen. It's a large tag and it is stunning! Sometimes it's near the computer and sometimes it's in the craftroom (set aside from the fray). If you haven't done a PiF before, I highly recommend it!!

Now if you are of delicate sensibilities and you find chaos (creative or no) paralyzing... look away... look away now!

Here is my desk this morning testing the earthly bonds of gravity lol. Front and center is a pinwheel I cut on my Cricut with the Mother's Day 2010 cartridge. I love a really free spinning pinwheel and have discovered that if some substantial cardstock is glued to the back it gives a nice solid framework to the whole thing. Another tip, eyelets. The jar is my water jar for washing out paint brushes, notice the lid? That lid has saved my bacon on more than one occasion lol. Balancing on top of the paint jar, are my labeled Distress Inks. I left part of the label white to show the ink against the white and then wrote across in black ink (so I can see at a glance if I like the color against black ink writing). And on top of the labelled Distress Inks are two more of the Maze Books (seriously, I'm addicted).

Joann's online was having a brilliant sale on all things Tim Holtz, so I picked up some Distress Inks I didn't have (to the left under the strip), and those ball feet for boxes. Upper left is a picture of DD waiting to be put on a scrapbook page. It's the reason to go to Disney World, the smiling, brilliantly happy child on the Dumbo ride. When I took the picture I had no idea it was the shot most often taken lol. But it is a brilliant picture of her :D.

The strip thing is another flash of inspiration. Put down a line of tombow glue and let dry (so it's tacky) and now it's perfect for decorating those clear half dome candle accents which we call skittles. Which reminds me, I found some diamond (as in argyle) shaped ones, but they are buried in there somewhere. The plastic bag to the right is to keep the moisture in a brick of paper clay. So much fun to be had, but it really is time for a clearing... only I have to not get distracted... wish me luck lol. *looking for harness and safety helmet*

Now if you are wondering what's all this WOYWW then, head over to Julia's and have a gander, better yet, snap a picture and join in the fun. Honestly, could your desk be more ... creatively chaotic ... than mine???? LOL

Stamp Challenge

2011-06-14T13:04:00.001-04:00

There is a Stamp Challenge at Club Ruby Designers now. So make a card, a layout, pretty much anything as long as it features a stamped image. The randomly selected winner will receive a goodie bag from Megan!

I used Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream cardstock, with the Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar Spring Filler sunflower stamp, colored in with regular markers.

One of the Best Days layout and Botanicals Lite cartridge Blog Candy

2011-06-13T20:29:00.003-04:00

This layout is made completely with the Botanicals Lite cartridge and four shades of green Core'dinations cardstock. It was one of those low key, eating lunch in the backyard days and we see a hummingbird zooming around the yard from feeder to flower to feeders.

Now that summer is nearly here again, I'm celebrating by giving away a brand new in the box Cricut Botanicals Lite cartridge. All you have to do for a chance to win it is leave a comment saying that you'd like to win it by the end of June 30 (so roughly 11:59 EDT). Easy Peasy. The winner will be chosen at random on July 1, 2011.

A WOYWW Maze Book

2011-06-10T12:15:00.001-04:00

As I mentioned before, I made about 5 PiFs, not knowing which would be the "one" to send. After this one was finished, it demanded to be sent to our fearless WOYWW leader, Julia. I wrote a basic Maze/Meander Mini Book tutorial (which you can see here). This is another variation.

The outside I could photograph, but I had to scan in the pages to show them properly.

front.

side. And I just have to say, that's the best looking bow I ever tied lol.

open front.

open back.

Attaching the pages together makes the book more solid. I used a paper piercer, a piece of cork and made holes for sewing along the appropriate pages to make pockets. Except for one pair that I left unpocketed so it could be a panorama. I used a book needle and some Papertrey Ink Twine, then lost the book needle and used a thin tapestry needle. I had the darnedest time finding the paper for the cover and nearly passed this up because it was too "cool/blue". Tim Holtz (crafty super hero) to the rescue with some Antique Linen Distress Ink! I used Distress Ink for everything inky in this project.

The pocket art is shown "out".

Tiny piece of sea glass (aka Mermaid's Tear) sewn on before the covers were attached.

WOYWW 105, the week after.

2011-06-08T00:44:00.004-04:00

I'm in the middle of labeling all my distress inks. I saw some on desks done in a similar manner. Very handy and saves a lot of going through stacks one at a time lol. The green string and beads is a little necklace I made a while ago, that wandered back to the desk lol.

There's a lot of talk about Smash books by K&Co., which I don't have, but I did find this lovely stamp. I've yet to master the art of stamping it without getting the left edge of it stamping as well, but it's fun and anarchy sheep doesn't mind :D.

I think I made 5 things before I decided which would be my PiF (pay it forward) for the 104th WOYWW, including one that demanded to be sent to Julia Dunnit lol (which I'll post after I've had word it's been received). I was tickled pink that I got to send my PiF to Elizabeth and Bleubeard, and especially pleased she really liked it :D. (I have something to make for Bleubeard, but it might take me a little while).

Finally I decided this little piece of sea glass (collected in Rockport, Mass) and wrapped in handspun wool embroidery thread (wrapping was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be) would do the trick :D. I love how the thread is visible on the other side (in real life, harder to show in a photograph). I took the photograph on a kraft glassine envelope. Truly a wonder this stuff :D. I confess I'm also partial to regular glassine and wax paper lol.

I thought it appropriate to send a card along with my PiF. Actually the entire card was made with things that had been on my desk (some longer then others, some actually made their way into storage tins lol), and as it was a WOYWW event card, that seemed the height of appropriateness to me :D. And also because it was a WOYWW card, I wrote a long list about what everything was from on the back lol.

With the beachy feeling of sea glass, I turned my Tim Holtz townscape shared in an earlier WOYWW into a beach town. Papertrey Ink kraft cardstock makes the edge stand up even after being sea punched (Martha Stewart). The fleur de lis border is from Octoberish 2009 when I got my Gypsy at the launch and I was madly testing the two cartridges that came pre-loaded on it and couldn't bear to toss perfectly good embellishments just because I didn't know what to do with them lol. I also bundled up a few things that had been on my desk as goodies, Papertrey Ink buttons, a bit of film strip (also by Tim Holtz), a sheep I stamped and cut out, sheep from my Imagine, etc.

It also gave me a chance to use my tiny tiny Tim Holtz brads which I didn't realize, until I used them, had screw heads punched in the top (philipsheads and slots!). So crafty, that Mr. Holtz lol.
If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, or if you are just curious to see what other crafty folks have on their desks, head over to the Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, join in :D.

Boo-lated Birthday Card, but wait there's more :D

2011-06-01T12:49:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone, today is my day to be a guest designer at the Bug Bytes!

Ok, so it's a scary tree card, nice but...

Inside there is writing with a Cricut Marker... nice but wait... there's more.

It's barely visible in the picture (more so in real life). The moon and tree face glow in the dark! :D I used the Art Deco Glow in the Dark paint on the base, I think four layers would be even better, this is with two.

Using the E2 is vastly improved for using with markers, but I haven't figured out if I can move the blade and what to do when writing inside a card? Gypsy to the rescue :D. Select the card you want and arrange it on the Gypsy. Then make another layer and copy the card to that and line it up exactly. Hide the score marks and add the sentiment where you want it placed.

Using the marker layer, put the marker in the machine and hit the cut button.

After the drawing is complete, return to design.

Take out the marker and put in the cutting blade (and please use scrap paper lol). Then go to the cut layer. Do not hit the load/unload paper button. Easy Peasy :D

Happy 104 WOYWW

2011-06-01T00:41:00.004-04:00

Though I've only been participating for a few months, it is the 104th WOYWW. Our fearless leader, Ms. Julia Dunnit of Stamping Ground, gave us lots of advance notice so we could, if we wished, participate in a Pay It Forward (or PIF). That's mine ready to go (when I get a name and address) in the back. And I got my Tim Holtz goodies today. I've been pining for those ink pads, kraft glassine anything and the ring binders. The Glow in the Dark is my new obession, 3 projects in 3 days :D.

I also wanted to include somethings on the blog that every one could access if they want to do so.
Here is a jpeg I made from the instruction card included in my newest to me typewriter. You can save it to your computer and print it on cardstock for all sorts of fun things :D.

I'm also including some links to lovely free things.
http://www.interweave.com/Communities/ Interweave has a variety of communities where you can sign up for daily emails with tips and some free ebooks. Quilting Arts, Cloth Paper Scissors, Spinning, Weaving, Crochet, Artist, Knitting, Beading, Jewelry Making, and Sewing.

http://clothpaperscissors.com/media/p/5291/showcontent.aspx This link goes to a free ebook (once you've signed up for the Cloth Paper Scissors community) about 5 Art Journaling Techniques including ZenTangle. You do have to sign up, but it is free.

Here's hoping your Wednesday is wonderful :D.

Club Ruby Designers Blue Yellow and Green Challenge

2011-05-31T17:01:00.002-04:00

The current challenge at Club Ruby Designers is a Color Challenge, and make a project with the colors Blue, Yellow and Green. I made an A2 sized card with Papertrey Ink Lemon Tart cardstock. I made a stamp with fun foam and the Papertrey Ink Friendship Jar Die (glued onto a piece of plastic packaging a la Tim Holtz's idea of making stamps with his dies and really thick fun foam) and inked with some blue Color Box pigment ink. After it dried I stamped the jar from the Friendship Jar Stamp set. The fire flies are from the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cartridge lined with a fine line black pen. The letters are from Cosmo Cricket.

Because the fun foam is thin and the packaging is thin, the stamp needs to be rubbed onto the paper. The advantage of this is by not rubbing everywhere it's easy to get a distressed look. If you want even application just make sure to rub the whole thing, I'm thinking a nice roll or two with a brayer should do the trick (but I haven't tried it).

There's a bonus aspect to this card. I painted the back half of the fire flies with Art Deco Glow in the Dark paint. So it will give a little night light to the recipient (I'm thinking this will be fun for campers away from home).

By the way, the winner of the challenge will get a goodie bag from Megan, plus it's just fun :D.

Basic Maze Mini Book aka Meander Mini Book Tutorial

2011-05-31T13:36:00.003-04:00

I've become addicted to maze or meander mini books, and there are several ways to make them, with pockets, without pockets, glued, stitched, unattached. Basically so many ways to use a 12 x 12 sheet of paper. I made a test book to wrap my head around it which took away the pressure of working with "good" paper lol. I numbered the squares following the page orientation illustration below and still refer to it when I'm trying to work something out.

These can be scored before folding at the 3, 6, and 9 inch line. Rotate paper 90 degrees and score at the 3, 6 and 9 inch line.

Or they can be folded without scoring. It really helps to have a bone folder though.

Fold paper in half.

Then fold each half in half again so it looks like the picture above. It works best if each half is folded separately.

Rotate the paper 90 and fold it in half and then each half in half again. The end result will be 16 equal squares.

After the folding, it's time to cut the paper. The cutting can be done with a trimmer or scissors. When you are done it will look like an "M".

Fold as illustrated and you'll have a little book 3" x 3". I find it helps to line up the pages and use a bone folder to get a more even book.

The pages can be decorated before or after folding, cutting etc. The edges can also be glued or sewn together to make pockets. The pages could also be glued together for a more solid page as follows. Many people leave the book unbound except to put covers on the front and back.

Backs of pages 2 and 3.
Backs of pages 4 and 5
Backs of pages 6 and 7
Backs of pages 8 and 9
Backs of pages 10 and 11
Backs of pages 12 and 13
Backs of pages 14 and 15

So many possibilities for one sheet of paper :D. Look for more examples in the coming weeks.

Papertrey Ink May 2011 Blog Hop

2011-05-25T20:56:00.001-04:00

This month's challenge was all about flowers. So I stamped a background of flowers using the flower from Paper Tray. Then I used the balloons and bicycle stamp from Every Day Button Bits and substituted flowers for the buttons.

For this card I used the flower set from Every Day Button Bits and substituted these fun little flowers for the buttons again. The mat is Vintage Cream and I believe the card base is Simply Chartreuse.

WOYWW 103 - Sew Much Fun

2011-05-25T00:42:00.001-04:00

I've been busy, but can't show anything because it's all been PIF or Design Team projects. I can show you my new storage things though. They each hold 4 drawers which are the perfect amount of Ink Pads of a sort (I like to sort by Dye, Chalk and Pigment) to rummage through or Adhesives (Tape is all in it's own drawer now!). Amazing how much more I can do when I know where stuff is lol. I've also liberated the sewing machine from the closet.

I'm also very sore, I spent Monday raking up 2 inches of acorns out of the front yard I'm trying to turn into a shade garden (it's pretty small), and weed whacking the back yard and getting ready to plant. Tuesday my body complained bitterly. Today I'm hoping to set up the badminton net and, if I'm very very lucky, I'll find all the pieces for the tetherball too :D.

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet, join in :D.

Happy Birthday Megan!! Birthday Card Challenge

2011-05-18T17:19:00.000-04:00

There is an extra challenge going on at Club Ruby Designers this week. It's Megan Gravener's birthday today so everyone is invited to make a birthday card for her and enter for a random chance to win a goodie bag (there is a free membership level).

I made a card for her using the Imagine and the Imagine More Cards cartridge. The card base is made using the top note shape folded in half. And the Happy Birthday Chick is one of the embellishments on the cartridge.

WOYWW - 102 feeling a little bookish

2011-05-18T08:07:00.000-04:00

Since I can't show you my desk today, I'll show you this, a little mini book I made as a lark (well actually I retained my human form lol, think those feathers would make crafting difficult). So this is the book bound closed with a piece of twine.

The open book.

I used my gypsy and a Cricut Marker (instead of a cutting blade) to decorate the inside of the pages. Before I cut and glued them into an orderly book, they were a wild jumble of spring folds. OK, confession time. I am a mini-bookoholic, specificially at this time, a Meander or Maze bookoholic. I just love how a simple 12" x 12" sheet of paper can become a little book with so many possibilities. This is my fifth variation. I'll be posting directions at some point, but if you search the internet for Meander or Maze mini book or mini album there are several videos and well-written tutorials if you want to get started while I bask in the golden light of caffeine (I am in serious need of coffee).

Happy 102 everyone :D. If you want to know what's all this WOYWW, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a snoop at crafty desks from all over the world.

King of the Road - Club Ruby Designers For the Guys Challenge

2011-05-17T08:48:00.000-04:00

The second challenge this month at Club Rubys Designers is a For the Guys Challenge. My father taught me to (eventually lol) love travelling. We used to travel in a VW camper van when I was a kid and then my Dad had an Airstream.

I stamped the trailer and VW Camper on this great paper and then cut it out by hand (kept telling myself to
turn the paper, not the scissors). I used the same paper as the base for the Happy Father's Day sentiment from Calligraphy Collection cartridge and a black Cricut marker.

Materials:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink Kraft cut as an A2
Pattern Paper: American Traditional Designs "Road Trip" scrap pad
Stamps: Inkadinkado "Road Trip"
Ink: Black Soot Distress Ink
Cricut: Black Cricut Marker and Calligraphy Collection cartridge

WOYWW - 101

2011-05-11T06:08:00.001-04:00

This is what happens when I try to clean up, but I have to keep crafting in the mean time lol. A lot of broken eggs, but hopefully it will be a nice omelet when I'm done. Not much that I can show you this week, but I do know where my glasses are :D.

If you are keen on seeing lots of other workdesks this fine Wednesday, hop over to the Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture and join in the fun!

WOYWW 100 - Party Animals Abound

2011-05-04T12:22:00.000-04:00

Happy 100 weeks WOYWW, though I haven't been around for all of it, it's been lovely place to hang out. So I'm tossing confettii :D.

It's been a busy busy busy week lol. I'm going to have to sort things out soon. Soon-ish anyways lol. The card that's lying down just in front of one of the lazy susans is one I've had in my head for a while, and will probably make some more in variation.

Here's the close up :D

And the little stack of cows atop the bins is from my new Imagine (which I won over at Everyday Cricut). I only got it set up last night. It prints AND then cuts them out. It is a big honking machine though lol. Definitely not something you'd want to take on a picnic. I've still got lots and lots and lots to learn, but I did need to have some cows :D. Dare I say, it's absolutely bovine? OK I dared lol.

And still following the animal theme, today is my turn to be Guest Designer at The Bug Bytes, so it's a Hippo Bird Day Two Ewes layout.

If you are wondering what other people have on their workdesk this wednesday, then head over to The Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet snap a picture and join in the fun. Thanks for looking, and hoping your Wednesday is glorious :D.

Introducing 2011 Miss Ewe

2011-05-04T09:26:00.002-04:00

As a spinster (spins fiber into yarn), how could I not be drawn to this stamp set? The scalloped oval is from the Lacey Labels Lite cartridge, the sheepy bits are from Papertrey Ink's My Punny Valentine stamp set, Miss Ewe! is from My Pink Stampers Punnylicious or More Punnylicious (I was too excited when I took them out of the wrappers to keep track) and the crown and sash embellishments are made with Patina Distress Stickles.

Hippo Bird Day Two Ewes

2011-05-04T03:09:00.001-04:00

It's the first Wednesday of the month which means it's my turn to be a Guest Designer at TheBugBytes :D.

The titles, the hippo, the bird and ewes all come from the Cricut Birthday Bash cartridge. The circle is from George and Basic Shapes, but any circle will do. The blue mats are cut 4.25" x 6.25" and the cream is a stand in for a 4" x 6" photograph. The edges of the blue mats are distressed with a pair of open scissors (used like a potato peeler). The pattern papers are from Sassafas Bungle Jungle (lovvvvve this). Everything except the title shadows and the mats were outlined with an ultrafine black pen.

All the title shadows were cut out of some beige textured DCWV, and they were all kiss-cut so it would lessen the time I needed to spend distressing all the edges with a pair of scissors : D. I felt using the same cardstock as the base for all the animals kept the same tone, and I just used Distress Inks to get the different colors.

I glued the letters before I did a little extra distressing and then outlined each one with a fine line black pen. The musical notes were a background I considered making, but decided against it for now (something I might use later though lol). Painters tape was very handy for keeping the letters together to keep the pattern right: the "o" in hippo is different than the "o" in two.

I covered the hippo with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink. This also accentuated the cut lines that I later highlighted with a fine line pen.

DD thought the hippo needed a tutu, and I thought it was a brilliant idea so I used a paper piercer to punch a waist line for the tutu, cut some tulle about two times wider than the hippo, folded the tulle over at one side and attached with a sparkly purple brad. Then I attached the other side (folding it over the other way so a folded edge was on each side). Then I put one in the middle and sort of bunched up the remaining fabric and attached with the brad. You might notice that though the Hippo is dancing daintily, the "O" has fallen under the weight.

After the bird was cut, I drew lines as a substitute for layers. If you cut the layers, you can use them as a stencil if you feel more comfortable doing that.

I used the Distress Ink painting technique Tim Holtz (gotta include him in the post right?) demonstrates on his blog. Smudge the ink on a nonstick mat, spritz with Mini-Mister filled with water, use paint brush to apply to cardstock.

Before I distressed the Ewes I put the layer over the base (not glued) and used the layer as a stencil for the ear lines. Then I painted, outlined and distressed the edges of all the pieces before gluing them together.

Sweet Challenge

2011-05-03T06:35:00.001-04:00

There is a card challenge at Club Ruby Designers twice a month, and the winner gets a goodie bag from Megan Gravener. The challenge this time is to use a cupcake in the design of a card or project, and I knew it was the perfect time to break in my Damask Decor cartridge.

This cut is utilizing the silhouette feature (cut at 4.41" high using Ocean Tides cardstock from Papertrey Ink) with some Anna Griffith paper as the background. The happy birthday sentiment is from Club Scrap and stamped with Faded Jeans Distress Ink. I also used the Faded Jeans to edge the outline of the card base. To finish it off, I drew a frame freehand with a Fine Line Sharpie.

Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Line Frame 101 challenge

2011-04-30T16:23:00.000-04:00

This week's Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Challenge is to make a Line Frame. Here's my take on it. The circles are 1.75". With one of them stamped with images from the Tags for Spring stamp set with distress inks. I used my favorite Ocean Tides for the card base.

My Name is Earl

2011-04-29T02:05:00.002-04:00

A layout dedicated to one of the sweetest cats I've ever known. Sadly he passed on in 2006 at the age of 14 but way before I was ready to say goodbye. I just couldn't bring myself to write my name WAS Earl though.

I used some stripey paper and cut out four of the same stripes and then mitered the corners. The title is from American Crafts (foil). I added a little sparkle by covering the sides of all the letters with Viva Decor Hematite Glitter Liner. I used the same paper to make mats for all the photographs and the journaling. I made the large two photo mat into a pocket for extra journaling by adhering it with ATG tape on the bottom and sides only. Earl is cut from the font on the Birthday Bash cartridge. I welded the shadow together on my Gypsy and then just put the letters on top of that.

I made a hand cut heart to replace the dot for the i, and used Scotch Quick Dry to glue the key on. So far so good. Everything comes from the Club Ruby Designers' October kit.

Framed Home Decor

2011-04-28T13:11:00.002-04:00

I love this tree on the Botanicals Lite cartridge. I think it would be an excellent mat for writing on too whether it be on a scrapbook layout or as framed home decor. It's just so darned versatile! lol

But this time, it's just decoration. The tree and it's shadow are glued together, but they are just placed in the frame with background paper so I can change the background easy peasy.

Spinning Video Sale Alert :D

2011-04-27T18:02:00.000-04:00

If you are interested in learning about spinning on a spindle, Interweave Press is having a sale on the Digital Video of Respect the Spindle for $0.10, yep that's right ten cents. The regular price for this is $14.95. I'm just saying you can hardly beat that price with a stick lol.

WOYWW 99

2011-04-27T02:51:00.001-04:00

Happy Wednesday everyone! I've been a busy bee, see previous posts as evidence if you like :D. I'm still on my Botanicals Lite Cricut cartridge. So I'm playing with variations of a cut. to the left is a little doodle I take for a mental break. I'm liking the Zentangle designs, but I prefer to just do one pattern on a bit of scrap paper and maybe use it somewhere rather than making something with a collection of patterns.

I took my massive pile of left over paper and cut it up in 3 sorts, large rectangular pieces, strips of paper and irregular pieces of paper. I listed to my ipod play along in alphabetical order so a song by the clash is followed by a brief podcast audio tour of a painting in some museum followed by birdsong. It's an auditory potluck and keeps me on my toes. Looking at the picture I see my container is still not properly labelled. It no longer contains scrapbook embellishments but acrylic blocks for rubber stamping. And huzzah I did stamp a card this week :D. Thanks for looking :D

If you are wondering what's all this WOYWW, hop over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander, better yet, take a picture and join in :D

All About Me well I only had one sheet of paper, so it's a lot about me!

2011-04-26T15:12:00.002-04:00

This was one of my Design Team Submissions at Club Ruby Designers (did I mention there is a free membership option?) . Everything except the Glossy Accents was included in the Club Ruby Designers' October kit. I started with the Halloween in Wonderland paper and the Viva Decor Hematite Glitter Liner. I put a dot of Glitter liner over every black square around the border, while I tried to decided what to do lol. Then I cut out the top of the keyhole and put a black and white picture of myself flipped backwards in a tribute to the looking glass. I'm taa-daaaing the "Welcome to CHA Super Show" sign last year, because let's face it, it's a wonderland for crafters. I used a cut out from the Botanicals Lite cartridge and skewed an circle to the appropriately sized oval for the title.

I used hearts for different categories of interests with spinners (from Tim Holtz) because I'm really interested in a lot of things and spinners could make choosing what to do a lot easier lol. I couldnt' get the title to "pop" enough for my taste so I used glossy accents to accentuate the cut out. The hearts were all cut from the Cake Basics cartridge and thanks to my Gypsy, I hid the inner contour to make the shadow with the diamond flocked paper and hid the outer cut to make the rusty hearts. I DID forget to add my favorite color though (it's RED) lol. I hand cut little banners and folded them as titles for the different interests. Then I needed more room so I hand cut pieces of paper to fit in the border. I distress the title layers and the rusty hearts with an open pair of scissors sort of like using a vegetable peeler.

April PTI Blog Hop

2011-04-25T12:51:00.003-04:00

This month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop is dedicated to the boys and men in our lives. Focusing on "masculine color schemes, fresh pattern combinations, understated embellishments and unique uses of images you may already have in your stash!"

I didn't have Up Up and Away, so I had to use two stamps from Club Scrap. The It's Your Day sentiment comes from PTI's Star Prints. The card base is Vintage Cream and the stamped mat is Simply Chartreuse.

The winner of the handspun embroidery thread from last month's blog candy is Monica K.

Shaped Cards with the Botanicals Lite cartridge

2011-04-24T19:10:00.000-04:00

The first two cards are made with the Botanicals Lite Cricut cartridge and K&Co. double sided paper. Two pieces, easy peasy. The shaped edges are really fun. I used clear embossing powder on the bird and branch and one of the flowers.

This tulip is also two pieces. I used my new favorite clear Decorative Accents for embellishment, this time I used the Copper Ranger Alcohol Ink. The alcohol ink slid off a little bit adding a distressed tecture I really liked.

There are also phrases on the cart. The two Get Well Cards were made from the same sheet of paper cut in half and put on the Cricut mat with one half of each side facing up. I used Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream cardstock to make the back of the card (so loving my ATG gun for this sort of attachment btw). When the card was closed, I traced the flower lightly with a pencil then colored to the edge with watercolor crayons.

The second one I put the flower slightly off the edge and embellished the from with dots of Antique Linen Distress Stickles.

There really is a lot that can be done with this cart, so I'm giving one away soon in a future post :D.

Flowery Heart Card

2011-04-22T17:10:00.004-04:00

The cutout is from the Botanicals Lite cartridge, cut out on Core'dinations cardstock (sanded with the Tim Holtz sander). The card base is Simply Chartreuse from Papertrey Ink with a matching Papertrey Ink button.

The cutout is matted on some K&Co paper and black paper. I used a craft knife to make slits in the mat and put ribbon in so it's wrapped through all the layers of the mat. Then I threaded the ribbon through the two holes of the button and tied a bow. The ribbon is also Papertrey Ink (comes on a spool) and is the very essence of gossmer :D.

updated: It just felt imcomplete and I finally decided to add some of the clear decorative accents I've been using as eyes, only this time I put a drop of Pearl Ranger Alcohol Ink on them.

Out of This World Party Layout

2011-04-21T16:36:00.002-04:00

I started by cutting out the silhouette planet from the Cricut Life's a Party cartridge. Then I cut a new monster like the one I did for TheBugBytes from the B is for Boys Cricut Lite cartridge skewing the image for the shadow. This time I added a party hat from Straight from the Nest (trimming off the scallops) and I made a rainbow of eye colors. Rather than find paper for each color, I used markers to color white cardstock the color I wanted just big enough for a hole punch.

Then I made the title mat, and photo/journal mats. The rocket is from Paperdolls for Everyday cut twice and layered. I used a red Copic marker to color the rocket rather than gluing on layers. And I also used the marker to color the edges of the red mats.

The banner is hand cut and I used some Cosmos Cricket letters for the "out of this world party". I also put it on some pop-dots to keep it the same height as the rocket. It started out white but I changed it with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

I outlined just about everything with a fine line black pen and used Crystal Stickles to make stars.

WOYWW 98, What?!? Wednesday Again?!

2011-04-20T08:40:00.001-04:00

Oh my gosh, now it can't possibly be Wednesday again? But I'm still looking for Tuesday! I'm up to my ears in projects I'm trying to catch up on. As you can see, things are getting back to normal lol. The large Tinkerbell mug is full of Red Rose tea, since I am sadly out of Scottish Blend. The paper in the middle is from Sassafras Bungle Jungle (as opposed to Jethro Tull's Bungle in the Jungle). The stack to the right is all about ideas to try before gravity rears it's ugly head.

A quick recap to the week so far:

Sunday: won an Imagine from Everyday Cricut. An Imagine is basically a Cricut that prints and cuts out. So I can just print out a sheet of pretty patterned paper at 3 am if I need to do so.

Monday: found out I made the Design Team at Club Ruby Designers.

Tuesday: Tried to do some work on another contest, but my lungs and nose decided I had better do more lying down. Hence the reason I'm still looking for Tuesday even though it's Wednesday.

Among the other things on my list to do this week is sit down and do some serious stamping. Honestly it's been weeks since I've done some proper stamping and I'm startng to get the shakes. No one's fault but my own, but still serious pining going on lol.

So if you are wondering what this WOYWW is all about, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, snap a picture of your work desk and join in the fun :D

Wow!

2011-04-19T01:35:00.002-04:00

Sunday I found out I won an Imagine from Everyday Cricut (if you like Cricuts, this is an awesome source of information and inspiration). Monday I found out I made the Design Team at Club Ruby Designers (An online gathering place for paper crafters with two levels of membership, one free and one for $7/month. There a lot of tutorials and videos from the Design Team and there's a gallery and a forum as well). I'm just pleased as punch and can't wait to get started :D.

WOYW?W 97 - John Henry was a papercutting man

2011-04-13T00:05:00.004-04:00

Today my workdesk has a contradiction lol. Like that's a stretch? It's handmade vs. machine, or using a machine to make different handmade or where does machine made differ from hand made lol.

I love my Cricut (this is the Champaign [sic] Expression Cricut. For those of you unfamiliar with it, an electronic Die Cutting Machine. While I usually use the 12 x 12 inch mat, there is a 12 x 24 inch mat available too. It's kinda wonderful :D. I bought it for making titles to scrapbook pages and now I'm doing scrapbook pages, making cards, home decor, boxes, tags... well you get the idea. But I also make projects without it. And I made projects that give me some hand making time supplemented by machine cut things.

Add to that my Gypsy which is sort of a design studio in a handheld device which allows me to weld images, hide cut lines, design in my car, waiting for DD in various after school events, skew images. This is 4 of the same image welded into one new image from my new favorite cartridge Paper Lace.

I've also been having a lot of fun with these two books: Zentangle Basics and the Doodle Formula. Zentangled is a bit too structured for regular usage by me, the Doodle Formula is more my style. But both are very informative.

So I cut the image in the Gypsy on kraft cardstock, but not all the way through. Then I cut off the edge with a craft knife (lots of time for reflecting whilst I did that lol) and opened some of it up. Then I put the kraft cardstock frame on a piece of vintage Anna Griffin paper. And I used some Distress Crackle Paint (need to use Tim Holtz products lol) and lightly brushed it over all the cuts and when the paint dried I glued it to a piece of black cardstock. The kraft cardstock frame was decorated using a Fine Line Sharpie. The black cardstock was decorated using a Signo Uniball Gel Pen. I haven't decided what to do with the papers yet, still mulling over some ideas.

Now if you are wondering, "What's all this WOYWW then?", head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander. Better yet, take a picture and join in the fun :D.

Simple Thank You Card

2011-04-10T17:28:00.001-04:00

Made an A2 sized card base and covered most of the front with patterned paper. The flowers are made with handcut circles distressed on the edges with an open pair of scissors with a button in the center. Viva Decor Glitter Liner substituted for thread on the buttons and was used to highlight points on the patterned paper. Finished off with a sentiment stamped with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink from the Club Ruby Designers stamp set included in the (January?) kit. I used corner chompers to round all the edges.