Falling for Inspiration

I think fall is my favorite time of year.  Day time temperatures are warm but not melting.  Evening brings open windows and thoughts of light sweat shirts to ward off the chill in the air.  Colors that are rich, warm and golden.

For the past two weeks, fall has been but a dream. Triple digits temperatures that only fell to the upper 90's at night.  Humidity that is rare for this part of California.  

Basically, weather that zaps all energy, smiles and creativity.  So, once again, I turned to my Pinterest inspiration board when the need arose for a birthday card for the Toad's grandfather (aka "Big Papa").  This card caught my eye due to the fall theme I was craving.  

My version:

Supplies: 

Paper: Gina K's Pure Luxury in Ivory

Stamps:  CHF 6x6 Vintage Text, Tim Holtz: Falling Leaves, SU Warmest Regards

Inks:  Distress inks, Memento Rich Cocoa

As I finish up this post it would seem that possible the first signs of fall are here!! Cooler temperatures and open windows today! 

'Till next time....................enjoy what makes you happy

Route 66

I must admit that if I were you Peeps, I'd be a TAD BIT AFRAID as to what the world is coming to, as it seems I am posting a mere week later than my last post. 

Be Afraid.  Be Very Afraid!! hehe

Well, in actuality, the world is continuing to spin on it's normal rotational axis.  I just needed to make a card for my FIL's birthday today!

Of course, my creative MoJo started in one direction and ended up completely turned around going in the opposite direction. 

I had this wonderful idea for another Gelli Print. After 3-4 attempts I got the look I was trying to achieve. 

Then, I was totally stumped.  LOVE the background.  I just can't figure out how to add any elements to it. So, I walked away from that gorgeous background and took the next exit on the creative road. 

It dawned on me last night that my FIL is 66.  And the light bulb went off in another creative room.  

The card is 5.5" square on a Chocolate Chip base. The hardest part of this whole "creative trip" was finding a map  that didn't have a million advertisements on it, since The Toad  refused to let me cut up one of his treasured maps.  I finally found a large enough section of an ad free portion of California and printed it off the computer.  I added Distress Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain ink to give it a more vintage look.  The stamp set used is from Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz's Travel Ways.  I stamped the car with VersaMark ink and embossed with fine black embossing powder.  The Route 66 sign was stamped with Distress Fired Brick.  The Road Trip was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black and sponged with a combination of Vintage Photo and Fired Brick.  Both the car and sign are adhered with dimensionals.  

*******

Now to figure out what to do with my Gelli Print.  I'm thinking it just might become a page in my "journey" creative journal!! Stay Tuned!!

'Till next time................enjoy where the journey takes you!

  

 

Thankful

Hey People!!  It's time for another hop with the E-Team!!  We are continuing with out Seasonal theme by  show casing our Thanks with any type of project except a card!!

And what would a ride with the E-Team be without some wonderful goodies?! Leave a comment on the participating team member blogs and be entered at the chance to win one of THREE (3) $20 gift vouches to the eP store!! 

But!  That's not all!! Make sure you also leave a comment on the eP blog for Daisy, as I hear rumors that a random winner will be chosen from those comments to win a surprise box of goodies!!

The E-Team

Daisy, eP blog

Broni

Linda D

Linda L

Sherry

and

ME!

Latrice and Micki are sitting out this hop.  You can visit them and let them know how much they were missed!

When I think of things or words that are synonymous with Thanks, several thoughts come immediately to mind:   Fall, Family, The Toad, The Kiddos.  I chose to focus on the fall theme and my kiddos for this project.

It would seem that somebody, who shall remain nameless, forgot to read the fine print about using a "Tag or ATC" in the project!! oops!!



I am very thankful that while my boys are three years apart in age, they get along well (90% of the time) and are truly friends.  I decided to make a wall hanging from a photo that was taken on a family hike this past spring.  I LOVE photos of my kids from behind!  They are totally in their own world, unaware of the camera.  There is no obnoxious posing, goofy faces or rolling of the eyes when I ask for another "decent" picture attempt!!

I first altered the photo in Photoshop Elements using the sepia effect.  I then printed the photo out on Claudine Hellmuth's sticky back canvas.  Yes!  This canvas works wonderfully in your printer!  And trust me, if it goes through my finicky printer, it will work in yours!  The leaves were made with the Wrinkle Free Distress technique, version Me.  I smooshed some Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade, Fired Brick and Peeled Paint onto my craft sheet and misted heavily with a combination of Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Tuscan Sun and Meadow Green.  I then layed Pure Luxury Ivory card stock in the beaded ink.  Falling Leaves were stamped on the paper with more Fired Brick or Peeled Paint and sponged along the edges.  I love the fine, almost lacy detail, of these stamps!  Alpha Parts, Ransom, letters were used to frame the photo.

close up of the canvas and detail of the leaves

To complete my wall hanging, I adhered the sticky canvas to black foam illustration board that I cut to size.  I then made my dimensional frame with some braided trim that has been in the garage for years!  I  dug out The Toad's miter box and cut  the trim to make a fitted frame.  Not perfect, but not bad for my first time at a mitered cut!!  I then painted the trim with Claudine's Charcoal Black studio paint.  Note:  this paint is soooo creamy!  I did not prime the wood at all and the paint covered it beautifully!  After the paint had dried (somewhat), I lightly sanded portions of the trim and added Distress Ink Vintage Photo to the sanded areas. 

after I edited the first photo, I decided that another leaf was needed in the bottom corner!

I was very pleased that this turned out!  I just need to decide where to hang it! 

I am also very thankful for the visits here and comments that you leave.  They really do inspire me!

'Till next time......................





Egg-cellent Challenge

Hey People!  Today the E-Team is introducing a new challenge that will be open to YOU to participate in! 

Have you ever watched the Food Network show Chopped?  The premise is 4 cooks are given a basket of ingredients (some that you would NEVER think of using or combining) and are given 30 min to come up with an appetizing dish that uses the required ingredients.  After each challenge, the "chef" who does not meet the requirements is "chopped" from the competition, until only one winner is left.

Daisy has issued as similar challenge to the E-Team and YOU!  We are inviting you to join us in this new challenge!

It's an Egg-clectic Challenge!!

To enter, you must use the following 3 materials in your project. 

Distress Inks

Any die from any manufacture of die cut machines

and an egg carton

Link your project to the eP blog any time beginning Friday, Aug 12 until Sunday, Aug 21st.  A challenge winner will be chosen and posted on the eP blog Monday, Aug 22nd.

Of course, there is still the chance for other goodies!  Just leave one comment, starting today, Friday, Aug 12 until Sunday, Aug 14, on the participating E-Team member blogs and two random winners will be chosen to win some of the new 6x6 paper pads that have arrived at eP PLUS some more surprises!  The winners will be posted on the eP blog on Monday, Aug 15. 

The E-Team

Daisy/eP blog

Broni

Latrice

Linda D

Micki

Sherry

Me!

Linda L couldn't join us this week.  But make sure to stop by her blog and see what she has been creating!

Ok!  Onto my projects!  Yes, I created two projects, using the same layout and techniques, but one masculine and the other feminine. To be honest, I had grand (dis) illusions of creating something "outside the egg carton", but it would appear that my mojo and I could not agree on the trial attempts.  So, I decided to keep the frustration levle low and make it simple. 

I began by misting the lid of a cardboard egg carton with water so that I could pull off the top couple of layers, removing the writing.  I then heavily misted a portion with Tattered Angel's Tattered Leather Glimmer Mist and Antique Brass Glimmer Mist.  I used Spellbinder's Classic Diamonds Nestabilities to cut my shapes and then ran the diamonds through a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  Here is a close up that (kind of) shows the glimmer and texture a bit better (I hope!)

To make my background, I used my favorite technique of Wrinkle Free Distress, randomly wiping Distress Inks in Weathered Wood and Brushed Corduroy along my craft mat and misting with more Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist again in Antique Brass.  I then laid a piece of SU's Textured Very Vanilla in the beaded up inks.  In real life, the glimmer makes a subtle shimmer, that is not too obvious to be used on masculine cards.  The edges were sponged with Brushed Corduroy and then I just swiped the very edge along my Walnut Stain ink pad.  The sentiment, from Tim Holtz's Just Thoughts, was stamped with Walnut Stain.  The entire panel was then matted on Basic Black card stock and adhered to a 5 1/2" square base of Pure Luxury Ivory. 

The die cut diamonds where then mounted on a piece of basic black card stock that was misted with Tattered Angel's Pearl Glimmer Mist.  A thin mat of the textured Very Vanilla behind that finishes off the strip. 

And for the girly version:





Exact same technique, Wrinkle Free Distress, for the background but this time  I used Distress Inks in Victorian Velvet, Scattered Straw and Wild Honey. The mists used to bead up the inks were Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Tuscan Sun and Cherub Pink.  The sentiment is from the same set, Just Thoughts, and was stamped using Vintage Photo Distress Ink. 

I left the egg carton the original thickness with the writing on it for the butterflies (cut with the Mini Butterflies die).  The butterflies were again heavily misted with Tuscan Sun and Cherub Pink Glimmer Mists.  I customed colored the 1/2 back, self adhesive pearls with Copic marker. 

The green card stock is SU's Kiwi Kiss.  The panel under the butterflies was stamped with Versamark, using the large stamp from Wendy Vecchi's Art Colors Life set.  Another misting of Pearl Glimmer Mist was applied for a bit of shimmer.

Simple, yes.  But think about it, eggs are pretty simple too, but can be the focal of a recipe!  I think these egg carton embellishments add that extra element that makes this simple sketch pop!

I hope you will join along and play with this Egg-celant Challenge!  Here's the positive on joining...you might win some goodies for your effort without having to worry about getting CHOPPED!!  hehe



Grungy Thanks

How is the weekend starting out for you all?!  A couple of weeks ago I just kept telling myself that I just had to get through till the end of school and things would slow down.

Someone forgot to inform,what is my reality, of that fact.

Now I'm telling myself I just have to get through the month of June. 

19 more days.  But who's counting?!

I have been trying to finish up Thank You cards that the Oldest Kiddo needs to send for birthday and graduation gifts he got over the last couple of weeks.  Seeing as these cards are being sent from a teenage boy, and the fact that he needs at least 13 cards, I kept them CAS, with just the right amount of grunge to keep them edgy.

Card base is Gina K's Pure luxury at 4 1/4" x 5 1/4", folded along the side.  I randomly colored the various circles on Tim Holtz's Gunge Cirque with my SU markers in Old Olive, Not Quite Navy and Chocolate Chip, selectively repeating parts of the image to complete the circle strip to the edges of the card.  The sentiment (from Annette Allen Watkins.....beats me.  Have had it in my collection over 14 years!) was stamped with SU's Old Olive.  Round the corners and call 'er DONE!!

That's all from me today!  I have the daunting task of going shopping for an outfit that I can wear to a family wedding next week.  How long do you figure it will take me to find something that will make me look 15 lbs lighter? 

Yeah.  I figure that it is going to be a looooong day with that goal!

'Till then................

Thirteen Days............

........until December 24. 

Let's all just take this moment to inhale a niiiiice deeeeeeep breath.


ACCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!

I will spare you the list of things I still need to get done that I haven't even started on.  I will spare you the details of my racing heart beat and elevated blood  pressure.  Instead I will share (quickly) another ornament that was made for one of the gals at work.  *L just got me her picture this week.  Needless to say, by this time I did not have time to order more of the Darci Ornament frames or time to resize the  picture.  So instead, I used some of Wendy Vecchi's square and rectangle art parts to create my own dimensional frame.

I started by painting all the edges of the chipboard with Jenni Bowlin's Chili Powder paint dabber.  I covered both the front and the back of the rectangle with MME (my mind's eye) Holly Jolly Paper.  I then stamped Tim Holtz's Fabulous Flourishes (very aptly named, btw) in the corners rather randomly with Distress Bundled Sage and then used clear embossing powder to add a bit more pop.  *Just in case you weren't aware:  The Distress inks stay "wet" longer, making them ideal to use as an embossing ink.  Just one more reason to loooove these inks!.  Added a bit of Vintage Photo along the edges to add a more shabby look. 

Pulled out my forgotten (shhhhhh) Mixed Minis Grungeboard elements and painted the J and Y with more of the Chili Powder paint.  Then used some distress stickles in Fired Brick on top to add some sparkle. 

Cut and embossed the Spellbinders Snowflake on some scrap ends of the design paper and covered with some Rock Candy distress stickles.  While the stickles were still wet, I sprinkled some Art Glitter vintage glass glitter on top.  

 I cut a piece of transparency to fit the frame and layered it over the picture to give it a finished look.  I used Scor Tape to adhere the ribbon between the frames and to hold the frame together. 

I have to say I'm very pleased with how this turned out!  Which is a good thing, because I don't have time to NOT like it!!

I am so glad you dropped by again today.  Believe it or not, I am going to spend most of the day at a basketball game with the family.  I'm going to try VERY hard to enjoy the family time and not think about what I need to get done in the NEXT 13 DAYS.  Because in all reality, this time is suppose to be about family.  Not about the gifts.  Not about the decorations.  Not about a clean house. 

Deeeeeep breaths. 

Remember~~ during this busy time, find the joy in creativity.  Try not to let it become a burden. 

Till next time.............

Altering Dreams

The end of the school year is just around the corner and since I was such the flake for Teacher Appreciation Day (*I did send a plant....just no card....no tag.....nothing handmade. Is that allowed when you paper craft?!) I decided to alter some clipboards that I have sitting around. I wanted something that was a bit different than the usual altered clipboards that I have seen. Then inspiration struck (yes, it about knocked me over).

I went to Staples and bought some cork on a roll vs tiles (since this was just an idea, I needed to give myself plenty of material to experiment with!). I made a template to go around the clip and cut the cork. I used a mixture of acrylic paints in two/three different shades of brown (I put a bunch on a paper plate and dabbed my brush here and there in the paints). I tried using mod podge to adhere the cork board, but that wasn't working so I ended up using 1/2" red sticky tape along the cork board edges (between the two, it's sticking good!!). I then covered the bottom half of the clipboard with My Mind's Eye "Backyard "Just be You" Paisley/Teal designer paper. Used1/4" red sticky liner along the edge of the cork board to place the ribbon border. Using the patterned side, I made a "frame" for a photo that the ribbons can hold in place. I am still playing around with the grunge look that Tim Holtz does so well (actually, I believe he calls this "wrinkle free distress". Sherry Cheever just did a tutorial for this on SCS this week also. So, I decided to use this technique to alter some small, plain notepads that I had bought in bulk. I took some whisper white card stock, cut it to make a "cover" for the notepad. Using distress inks in Peeled Paint and Faded Jeans, I spritz them then placed my cover in the wet ink. Dried using my heat gun and repeated. I then stamped my French Script using the Faded Jeans and off stamped it before stamping over the cover. The hummingbird is from Tim's set Flight of Fancy (it was still out on my desk from the last project. Sometimes it works out not to clean up in between creations! hehe). I then used the "spray" from SU's Garden Silhouettes and stamped using Encore copper and embossed with copper EP. Stamped the sentiment (and yes, it is slightly crooked!! grrrrrr!! Hate when I do that!! That is what happens when I don't use my stampamajig!) Here is a close up of the note pad/photo area:I used a small scrap of the dp to make the RSVP pen look "purdy" and matchy. The ribbon to hold the pen is looped with glue dots and adhered. The final touches were using a large flower from the Pretties Kit and dying it with the distress ink (I swiped the ink on my craft sheet, spritzed with water and laid my flower down in it and "smooshed" until it was covered). I used one of the "diamond" brads for the center and added a couple of ribbon leaves. All were adhered using Glue Dots Super Strength dots. I thought that the cork board needed a little sprucing up so I found a couple of swirls from my grunge board collection and covered them with distress stickles in Peeled Paint and after finally letting them dry completely, I adhered those with glossy accents. Supplies: Paper, MME, Whisper White, Chocolate Chip. Inks: Ranger Distress Inks in Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans, Vintage Photo, Encore copper. Accessories: Copper EP, Pretties Kit, Grunge board accent elements, Distress Stickles in Peeled Paint, ribbon, glue dots, red sticky tape, heat gun.

I have another one of these to make. I'm trying to decide if I take the "easy" way out and just CASE everything I've already done or pull out all the papers and go for round two in a different pattern. Guess you'll know what I decided if I post another one or not!! hehe

Thanks for stopping by!! Hope that you all are having some free time this long weekend for some creativity!!

Out of My Comfort Zone

My DH has a theory about artists. He feels that everyone has artistic abilities, but somewhere down the line, we are influenced by adults, teachers, parents, friends or what have you, and start to put our imaginations and creativity into a "box". This box is what tells us that we must paint the sky blue, stay within the lines and don't mix this with that. The younger we start to put ourselves in this box, the sooner we lose our ability to really "create". Those we deem "artists", are those who refuse to but themselves into that box and are still willing to take chances with their creativity.

I find it amusing that people find me "creative". I know that I can paint or draw a picture, but I usually have to look at something for inspiration. I'm such the "visual" person that I don't think I can "see" the details enough to create something out of my head. I love to put together ideas for a room, yet, I'm always afraid that I might not like the outcome (what is the worse that can happen? I have to repaint?!! Throw out something that I thought would be perfect?!) I think that I am in my creative box, but the flaps aren't locked down. I can see out of the box, but I'm just scared to actually STEP out of it!!

I love the grunge look that Tim Holtz is famous for. I'm just in awe of how he can take all these different colors, elements and make them look FABULOUS!!! I have quite the collection of trinkets (haven't noticed them being used, have you?!!) and inks from his collection, but I just find myself afraid to go in the opposite direction of my usual CAS.

BadSherry, aka Yoda to this padawon, is another person who I so admire for her skill in making grunge look soooooo fab!! I think my fear of "being too cluttered" gets in my way of just letting go when I try to create this look. Sherry is another one who can combine all these different patterns, embellishments and make them work!

But!! I today I decided to give it a go. If I don't start pushing those box flaps aside, I will never grow in my creativity. Here is the beginning of a journey out of my comfort zone

I took Distress Inks and swiped them along my craft sheet. Used a spray bottle to mist the inks and laid my vanilla shipping tag in the ink (BadSherry calls this "that inky thing she does"!). Dried with my heat gun and laid it down again in the ink to get the missed spots. I stamped the images from Tim's set "Flights of Fancy" using Black Soot Distress ink. Since these stamps are clear, it is easy to position them where I thought I wanted them without using my favorite tool, the stampamajig (tho, I will confess to using the printed backer sheet for a rough visual placement before stamping!!). I then lightly sponged some Vintage Photo distress ink along the edges. Remembered that I had some cool fibers from my friend Melody (aka Laceyquilter on SCS), had given me a while back. Knotted those on.

Definitely not my CAS look that I've been doing lately. But I tried something new. And I rather like it (didn't say LOVE it....but like is a good way to continue on the willingness to try this again).Supplies: Stamps: Flights of Fancy, Tim Holtz. Inks: Ranger Distress Inks in Spiced Marmalade, Worn Lipstick, Faded Jeans, Vintage Photo and Black Soot. Accessories: Spray bottle, multicolored fibers.

Thanks for stopping by again!! I love your feedback and I hope that today I can encourage you to try something out of your comfort zone when creating.