CCC#23. GC80, Vicki's - Deck the Halls!

Three times a charm today, as we are visiting three challenges. Vicki at the Cheerful Stamp Pad has us "Decking the Halls" and I think the ribbon trim, the Gingerbread Boy and the hanging bells fall right into that category. At Gingersnap Creations, we are playing with vintage hues and I think we have used more or less vintage Christmas colors. Last and certainly not least is the weekly challenge at Studio L3 and we are "double distressing." Nothing is more fun than playing with distress inks and grunge paper! Linda has taken us on 23 weeks of adventure and fun! Hard to believe we are almost through the book!

The sentiment and Gingerbread Boy are from Scrolls Work Stamps. I colored grunge paper to give off a gingerbread color, then white embossed, cut him out and added some Holly stickles for trim. Merry Christmas was also embossed and cut with deckled scissors and shaded. The background is of course from Tim Holtz texture fades and was double distressed.

Well over the long Thanksgiving weekend, my DH insisted I get a new computer and I am working back and forth between the 10 year old bomb and the new headache. Most is ok with the new addition, but the font style and size are off. With time this shall be conquered - I hope! So what did all of you do in the states or not in the states? Hope whatever it was, it was wonderful!

Thanks so much for visiting and commenting. It is taking me a little longer to go through e-mails and blogs with the Thanksgiving weekend and the new toy, but I am trying to visit as quickly as possible. Have a great day!

New Computer!

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.  I have a new computer, because the old bomb was very slow.  However, it is like a new learning session and everything takes its sweet time.  I will be back to checking out your blogs, as soon as I get this (well the DH) all figured out! 

Have a blast!

I made TOP THREE at Simon Says Stamp and Show!

Well my list of things I am thankful for just keeps getting longer.  I found out this AM that I was selected as one of the "top three" and now I have a blinkie from Simon Says Stamp and Show!  No, I am not excited at all!  My entry for "Anything that makes you Happy" was created using alcohol inks and Scrolls Work Stamps, both of which make me happy!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving here and sometimes life throws you some punches you aren't expecting and are very difficult to handle.  I find myself trying to be more thankful for what I have, compared to what I don't.  All of you in many ways have added to my life and I am very thankful for the friendships that have developed. 

I am thankful for this honor and for all of you!

I am a Ginger Gem!!

What a happy morning to wake up and discover that I was selected as a Ginger Gem over at Gingersnap Creations.

Thank you so much for adding to my list of "all the things I am thankful for."  In this challenge GC76, we used the rich colors of pumpkin, eggplant and avocado and it was so fun to play with that color combination.  Please stop by and check out all the beautiful art.  It will be a feast for your eyes. 

If any of you wonderful bloggers reading this post are not members of Gingersnap Creations, come on and join us!!  It is free and it is truly a wonderful and fabulous group of incredible artists! Each week there is a challenge and so much to learn.

Thank you for stopping by and I wish all of you a wonderful week and Happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate.  We all have so many things in our lives to be thankful for.   

Blog Candy Win From Shelley's Wild Frog Creations!

Sweet Shelley had a blog candy giveaway and I obviously from the picture below, was the lucky recipient!  Now who of us does not salivate over the presence of new rubber???  Exactly!!  BTW, Shelley has her own stamp line and you can check that out here.
Right now Shelley has a Kimono Card tutorial and challenge that runs until December 2nd and the Kimono's she created are very unique!  Thank you so much Shelley for the wonderful blog candy!  I can't wait to play with your stamps and all the other wonderful goodies!  I wanted you to see the actual stamps!!  Lucky me!

Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend!

#2 CCC-22, PDCC #56 and Simon Says Stamp and Show!!

This is the first time I have made a second card for the Compendium of Curiosities challenges over at Studio L3 and I hope it is ok. I made different color backgrounds and this had already had the Scrolls Work tree (Batik) done along with the alcohol splatter. I needed some time to figure out the rest! The stamps I used are all from Scrolls Work and two of them I used shrink plastic on. This is the first time I ever played with that product and let me tell you, when those babies shriveled up to almost nothing and curled all in on its self, I thought it was doomed. Well here is the result of the mirrored Cardinals and Light Set. I used alcohol markers to color prior to the heat treatment. The lights and birds shrunk up to just the right size for the Christmas tree and still keep all of that beautiful Scrolls Work detail! This is also headed over to Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything That Makes You Happy challenge. Well what makes me happy is anything Scrolls Work and Alcohol! What a combination!  The Play Date Cafe Challenge #56 are using red, olive and turquoise and so we are playing there!

Check out the close up and detail in the shrink plastic!

Have a fabulous weekend and thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!

CCC Week 22 Alcohol Splatter meets Rogue Redhead Designs!!

This has been said time and time again and not by only me, but Linda sure does give new meaning to reading!!! Each week our faithful instructor takes us on a new adventure. This week alcohol was involved and boy oh boy did we splatter and that was before consumption! Now sure if I did this correctly and I have another one I am working on, but like everything we do in life, practice makes perfect. Oh, but with anything Tim Holtz, we don't seek perfection and extra thinking just does not work!

Speaking of reading and learning, the stamps I used are from Rogue Redhead Designs. This is a new adventure and a first release from Sharon the Gingersnap Creations founder. The background stamp I thought was perfect for this and I did also throw in the "Batik" we learned with a previous lesson at Studio L3. These stamps are so detailed that even with embossing on that little tiny print, you can see the words. The sentiment and book are stamped on acetate. The booking toting young man was completed using the "Artwork Marker Water Coloring" technique from none other than the Technique Junkies. He was cut out and placed on pop dots!

As always, I do appreciate your taking the time to visit and comment.

The Play Date Cafe Challenge #55 and Rogue Redhead Designs First Release!

I was quite excited to receive this new stamp set by a brand new stamp company "Rogue Redhead Designs." Sharon was so quick to send this out and until December 15th, the entire sheet is discounted 20%. This is a huge stamp sheet with very detailed stamps, so go over and take a look!

We decided to enter this card using the current challenge at The Play Date Cafe, PDCC55. BTW, I use "we" often, because Molly (my Dalmatian) is almost always right under feet! She can be so relaxed on the couch, but if I go in the craft room, so does my loyal companion! Rescued dogs seem to be like that!

The "Whisped Frames" technique was used from the Technique Junkies on the Spellbinders die. I framed "Day Dream" to give the faux wall a faux picture. I added a little glass flower, because I felt something was needed in the corner and there was no little pet, puppy or kitty, in the stamp set. Oh, did I just drop a hint? The day dreamer was colored a few different ways, with a couple of different background and this is the one I decided on.

Thank you so much for visiting today and have a wonderful week!

Cindy Adkins' Whimsical Musings

Cindy is having a most adorable "TAG" giveaway and I just had to share this with anyone who stops by here for a visit.  I am placing this on my sidebar, because someone so lucky is going to win this adorable tag!  Told you it is adorable!

A few days ago, I purchased one of Cindy's adorable little journals for my daughter and can't wait to hear what she has to say about her lovely gift.  When I saw this at Cindy's Etsy shop, I thought what a wonderful way to let someone know you are thinking about them.  Anyway, stop by Cindy's and check out her fabulous little Etsy store.  Each month she hosts the "Creative Spirit," which is so much fun to see the talents of various artists and different styles.  Oh and there is still time to enter for this month's challenge here.

Cindy Adkins' Creative Spirit November

This is always a fun and interesting challenge and Cindy is just as sweet as can be!  I love that you can go and visit the blogs of other talented crafters and see such an incredible forms of art! 

For this month, I decided to link something that I have painted in the past.  Since we are still looking at Thanksgiving, I believe my cat pumpkin is not out of season.  I also has a little Chipmunk candy jar lid to share.



Check out the blood-shot eyes!!

Hope you enjoy and I look forward to visiting your blogs!  Thanks Cindy for another fun month!

CCC Week 21 and Simon Says Stamp and Show!

Today our 21st lesson is "Perfect Distress" at Studio L3. I learned that the more detail a stamp is with finer lines, the more difficult this is to do. Can't go into the details, but those of you following the Compendium of Curiosities challenges, know what I mean! Too much, too little and it does matter. This is making the rounds over at Simon Says Stamp and Show for the "Your Favorite" Tim Stamps. Well like most others, I have not a favorite, but some I find a little more out there!

For fun I also played with an adorable Peacock and feather stamp from I Brake For Stamps. I picked this and the larger version up quite some time ago. Again you can't see all the different colors of shimmer.  These will be finished and given to my G-Daughter for bookmarks and hopefully she wears them out!!! The colors are prettier than on the camera and there is some pretty blue in there. I don't know if it is my camera or me, but I can't quite seem to capture the true colors. We also used a technique called "Antique Glimmers" from The Technique Junkies.

Thank you for visiting and have a wonderfully creative week!

Quad Play!!

This week at Tag Tuesday, Louise has us doing front and back and it was fun to add interest to both sides! Vicki of The Cheerful Stamp Pad has two challenges currently running and one is for "Leaves" and the other "Giving Thanks," so my tag is playing double duty there. There is also a challenge prize at Vicki's and it is a delightful package of paper from the Paper Temptress, so if you have anything leaf or thanks oriented, link it up. We are also joining the GC76 color challenge at Gingersnap Creations. The snappers are using Eggplant, Pumpkin and Avocado as their colors and I loved combining those! The background is also done using the Antique Glimmers technique from the Technique Junkies! The leaf stamps and sentiment are from Heartfelt Creations and the Giving Thanks are PSX stamps.

Wishing all of you a wonderful weekend and your visits are very much enjoyed and appreciated!

It is certainly a grungy world!

This card is going to visit three of my favorite places today, Studio L3 week 20, Gingersnap Creations GC74 and The Technique Junkies! Our most fearless leader of the pack has us using elbow grease as we are doing industrial grunge. It seems to me that we should almost be paid a salary for all of our hard work, but I think once again, I am setting myself up for a smack! Never thought that Linda might now be thinking about sending "me" a bill for all of her hard work!! Ok, mouth is shut on that subject! I used four grunge paper pieces and did the thing. Now I had to use one my DH's tools and we are talking about a 6" wire brush! The background is one of Tim's new embossing folders and the background techniques is called "Al foil" from the Technique Junkies. I took my time and played with different colored background and this was pretty much all set to go on a Blue background. When the man came home from work, did I ask him how his day went, no, I asked him what he thought about the backgrounds. Of course, he liked the red!!! So we had to emboss and play around with different ideas. I colored in some of the words and added embossing ink and powder to the icicles, Christmas tree and the deer. Oh and I gave him a little collar and an eye and just realized he needs a red little nose. The grunge pieces are up on pop dots for a little more dimension! We added bling to make the industrial part of it just a little more festive!!

This was fun, fun and more fun! Hope you all are enjoying this week and doing something that makes you feel good! Thanks again so much for your visits and committing!

Snow Dreams meets Pearl Ex!

For this Christmas card, I used the Abalone technique from the current issue of the Technique Junkies. It gave me the opportunity to play with my lonely Pearl Ex containers. I have to say it was very interesting to see how the colors work together. I know this may not quite be what the Junkies had in mind, but I knew what I wanted to achieve with this stamp from Scrolls Work . And of course, this is the second card (First card is below)! The first one when all was said and done, I just looked at it and thought I did not like something. The navy background on the first was not embossed and let me tell you, what a huge difference it makes. I used a red glitter pen to the Poinsettia flowers, which you may not be able to see. There is a lot of shimmer to this card and six layers of paper! All papers are Stampin Up. I have to keep reminding myself to do layers. The camera really does not give the colors justice or show the glimmer, but it is there.

If you are not a member of the Technique Junkies, seriously consider it! There is just a ton of techniques, so much to learn and truly a wonderful group.

Thank you for the visit and I so love your comments!