Lucy's Online Mould Class!

Since I came across Lucy's True Colours blog, I have been an admirer of her unique work and art creations!  Not at all that there aren't a ton of fabby blogs and artists, but Lucy just does some incredible projects that really capture my interest!  Every once in awhile, after drooling over a new project, I would mention to her about teaching a class.  I believe I was not alone and so now Lucy is offering very reasonable priced online classes.  If interested really check it out, but first stroll through her blog and you will know why I wanted classes!!   Nest there will be a class using tissue paper techniques!  So fun!!!

The Moulded Subjects

The Clay Moulded Pieces

The Finished Pieces

Products Used to Color

The first in the series is mould making and I will admit that I was afraid to start!  Why, I don't know!  Now please keep in mind that the pictures are not the best quality, because there is quite a bit of reflective materials used and this is my very first attempt at making moulds, playing with clay and coloring.  The colors IRL are darker and do look nicer.  I really had a blast and can't wait until I actually perfect a skill at this fun craft!  All but the second cameo (copper/green) were colored prior to baking.  These were just done for fun and practice, so not sure how I will use them.  I also bought some moulds, but how interesting to look at object you like and then make a mould of them!!  Thank you Lucy for such a fun and informative class!

Speaking of classes, Cindy of Whimsical Musings, is offering a free online seminar for us bloggers, "Blogging 101."  Cindy is always generous with her time and shares all of our talents with so many other lovely bloggers!  Now she is sharing some tips and ideas for blogging, so stop by Cindy's!

Baby Shower

This was just a quick, well sort of, baby shower card.  All stamps are from I Brake For Stamps.  I inked the images with different shades of pink and then clear embossed. Filled in some areas with several pink colored markers and then highlighted with Spica clear glitter pen.  Nothing fancy at all in this one, but it does actually look better IRL!

Just a reminder if you are interested in a chance to win a One-Year Online Subscription to the Technique Junkies  Newsletter, click here!

Have a great day and thank you kindly for the visit!

Men and Crimpers!

Simon Says Stamp and Show is wanting "Men Only" and Gingersnap Creations GC118 has us using our crimpers!  BTW, I did not have a crimper and had been thinking about one, so used a Michael's 50% off coupon!  What an excuse, but these are fun and sure gets the little brain going!  All stamps are from Artistic Outpost and I used Apothecary which is new and Ephemeral Backgrounds.

I first stamped the bottle with Stampin Up Craft Black, clear embossed and then cut it out.  I actually cut out a second bottle for support.  A Spellbinders die was used to cut out the center for my picture placement.  The pharmacist was stamped using Black Stazon Ink, he was masked and the wording was colored using DI Brushed Corduroy, along with the bottle cork!  The RX was stamped used Stazon Timber Brown, cut out and distressed with Forest Moss.  The Rx label was stamped with Brushed Corduroy and Liquid Luck with Forest Moss, as was Apothecary, which along the Rx and 10c was stamped on Newspaper Print!  On the black background, I crimped, flattened and then stamped the Antique Ledger in Stampin Up Craft White.

I also did some curling of the edges, which is a technique from the Technique Junkies.  If you are interested in a chance to win a ONE YEAR ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION, please click on the sidebar link and leave a comment.

Thank you for visiting and committing today and I hope your week will be wonderful!

Going Vintage and Blog Candy!

I had fun designing this for Fashionable Stamping Challenges "Vintage" theme, which runs two weeks. Since I don't do as much vintage or shabby chic, this took me a little out of my comfort zone!   However, that is what makes a challenge fun, whether you are part of the design team or a participant, don't you think?  Come on and strut your stuff at FSC, where stamps and ink are always in fashion and the required attire!  We are also strutting over to Gingersnap Creations for the "Gal Pals" challenge, which of course is why I used these cuties!

Now about the card!  The tape measure background and the ladies stamps are from Lost Cost Design, which were stamped on white card stock using Stazon Timber Brown.  I added my Distress Inks starting with the lightest color.  After it was distressed, I distressed it a little more by wrinkling my paper, which I then ran the darkest color over the raised areas.  I then ironed each peace to flatten.  The ladies I decided to stamp after I ironed the paper, because no one wants extra wrinkles on their faces!!  The flower was made cutting one of the Tattered Florals from glassine paper, that Diane at 1CardCreator was so sweet to send me for a try out!  Thank you, Diane.  Added a few seed beads with Glassy Accents around the edges and same in the center with a few pearls.  Added a piece of vintage lace from my Mom that I tea dyed.  I curled a few corners  and embossed the back panel with a Cuttlebug folder using  techniques from the Technique Junkies, which I cannot speak highly enough about!  So much of what I have learned is from being a member of this very talented and supportive group.  That being said, I would like to offer a ONE-YEAR ONLINE SUBSCRIPTION of the Technique Junkies Newsletter to one of my followers.  All you have to do is to let me know that you would be interested in participating in the Blog Candy giveaway and you are in. The winner will be announced in two weeks, with my next FSC post.  Good luck and this is open to anyone, even if you already are a TJer!

Speaking of "Vintage,"  I was so honored that Cindy from Shabby Chic Girl's Club featured me on her new blog.  Stop by and have a visit and give Cindy a hello.  Oh and you can see what was featured of mine and other artist with a multitude of talents!

Thank you for stopping by and hope to see you at FSC!  Have a lovely weekend!

Inks:  Stazon Timber Brown, Distress Inks Old Paper, Antique Linen, Scattered Straw,  Tea Die, Vintage Photo
Stampin Up Card Stock, Whisper White, Natural Ivory, Cocoa
Glassine Paper, Cuttlebug folder, Brads, Tim's Hammer, Lace, Distressing Tool

Travel The World!

After Lisa made reference to some of us might be "smarty pants," I had all sorts of ideas for the Bloggers Challenge theme of "Travel."   Then I decided to fly straight!  I have wanted to use Mr. Tim's Air Travel stamps, so I decided today would be the day!  I did a couple of technique's from the "Compendium of Curiosities," one is that you emboss your image with clear embossing powder and then do you inking and other stamping and then remove with an iron.  Really if you don't own this book, it is a pretty great investment! 

I would have posted this earlier, but my lunch bell (Molly) was just ringing away!  How many of you know about Dalmatians?  Well, I have had the honor of owning two and never did I set out to get a purebred, it just happened with the first, Misty!  We did this "Sponsor a Life" event at the local shelter and for fun, we went to see the dog we were sponsoring.  We were so excited to see how lovely she was and knew without a doubt that she would be adopted!  I called that Monday to check her status and was told, she would be put down in an hour.  I lost it and cried like a baby and told them, don't you do that!  We will take her.  I called my hubby and told him to go to the shelter and pick up Misty!  We already had Shadow a smooth coat Border Collie (the little one in my pic), so I had not planned on #2.  When Misty died, Shadow got so depressed and we ended up at the shelter and there was Molly!  Anyway, this got very long to tell you that Dalmatians are very vocal and have no problems telling you in is time to get up at 5:30 AM on weekends or that it is time to eat! 

Have a great weekend and thank you for stopping by for a visit!  Oh, come by tomorrow for a little surprise!

Primary Colors, Buttons and a Thank You!

Gingersnap Creations GC116 is Primary Colors, which originally this was to be used for "Gal Pals," but changed my mind!  Lisa's Bloggers Challenge is looking for "Buttons" and I really thought the button add on worked quite well for an embellishment. 

I was so darn excited when my new Artistic Outpost stamps arrived in the mail and finally got to play!  Last month I won the August referral program, so I ended up with six incredible sets!  The stamps I used are from Typography, Whimsical Melange, Ephemeral Backgrounds and Birds of a Feather.  I found that the little girls just fit in this adorable little framed image, which both were stamped with Stazon Timber Brown.  I then used markers to color the girls, masked and then added distressed inks.  The sentiment and frame are both mounted on dimensionals.  The background was colored with Distressed Inks, Glimmer Mist and then stamped.

My sweet blogger friend, Cindy Adkins of Whimsical Musings, sent me this adorable and lovely card!  Can you believe she did this just to say hi??  She even added a little "T."  By the way, Cindy, has started a new blog Girls' Club for those who love Shabby Chic and a lovely GIVEAWAY at Whimsical Musings.  Thank you so much, Cindy for thinking of me and I love this card!

Well I have been busy!  We got the rest of our replacement windows installed and love them, but they seem so difficult to keep clean!  I don't know if it is the Low E glass or what!  Still need to figure out doors!  The magnet truck was appreciated and is on a soda machine in "Dent Repair" shop!  Hope you all are having a wonderful week!  I so appreciate your visits, because I know we all are needing that extra time in a day!

Inks:  Stazon Timber Brown, Distress Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, Tumbled Glass, Chipped Sapphire, Fired Brick, Vintage Photo, Versamark and Clear EP
Stampin Up Markers, Blush Blossom, Creamy Caramel, Barely Banana, Bordering Blue, Real Red

Dented Old Jalopy!

Don't laugh, but I drive a 1998 Buick!!  Sad as it may be, the car looks new and has only around 60,000 miles.  Sometime back, someone at must have rolled their back on my hood with some type of a hitch.  Not a huge dent mind you, but enough to kind of bother me.  Well there is a group of us friends and has it turns out, one of the friends has a paintless dent repair shop.  Well we brought my car in and he spent about 1/2 hour on the repair and now you would never know there was a dent.  I decided to make a thank you, but a card for a repair kind of guy, was not going to cut it.  So I thought why not the Tim Holtz "Old Jalopy" in a magnet form that he could place on his tool box. 

I added the copper heavy foil paper with two way adhesive to black chipboard and then cut.  I used Tim Holtz handy little hammer to add a variety of dents, now that was a no brainer for a dent repair man!  I love this hammer and it works so well for flattening brads in cards and tags.  The little bits were done with painted grungepaper (Metallic paint) and then I applied a variety of alcohol inks with copper fixative.  I then cut the magnetic paper and layered the two.  Had to also add some hubcaps to finish this off. 

I took about 10 pics of my little helper, Molly, while I was trying to clean up my craft room the other day.  It is hard at times to do things in my room, when it has to be shared.  The  pictures were taken in only a few minutes time and show her moving from one area to the other, each time I moved.  I think you get the picture!  Hope you like my dented old jalopy!  Have a most wonderful day and I do thank you for taking the time to visit and comment. 

Remembering 9/11 and a Thank You!

Tags are the current challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges and the only requirement is to use "stamps" and a tag! Come on, you can do that and we would love to see your stamped creations and there is a fabulous prize for the winner!   This week, Lisa's Bloggers Challenge is "Stars" and that is open to our own interpretation. Today I am playing tribute to 9/11 and to all those who were lost and all those people who lost someone! The pain of losing a loved one is devastating to say the least, but more so when that loss is sudden and tragic. My heart goes out to all of those who were in one way or another a victim of this act of terrorism.

Now I did lots of masking and embossing on this tag and all stamps are from Tim Holtz. I thought this set was so appropriate for what I wanted to achieve. First I stamped the tag top and bottom using the stars and clear embossing ink and powder and heat set. Next I stamped the city using Stampin Up black craft ink and added clear EP and heat set. Covered the areas above or below the stars using and then inked with Distress Inks, Stormy Sky and Faded Jeans. I used Chipped Sapphire around the edges of the blue. I then masked off the stars and added my stripes to represent the American Flag, to include the thirteen stripes starting and ending with red. This was done by masking the areas I wanted to remain white. Fired Brick was used for the red stripes. I then stamped the heart again using the black craft in and embossed. I stamped a second image and cut out the heart and banner. After I colored using the blues, I covered with Rock Candy crackle and inked with Vintage Photo. I carefully removed the excess color. All tag edges (and mini) were shaded using Vintage Photo. The heart I used to hold my ribbon, was a Tim Holtz charm that I dipped in the black craft ink and then clear embossed.

This came in today's mail!  I won this from Carol  "Carolee's Scrapping Spot" for her actual birthday blog candy giveaway!  Thank you so much!   As it happens her daughter and my son were also born on the same day! 

BTW, I use a link roller to remove bits and pieces from my steel rule dies and to pick up stray glitter. Thank you so much for stopping by and I hope you will come and join us at Fashionable Stamping Challenge!

Ribbon, Words, Butterflies!

I needed to make a wedding piece for my niece who recently "tied the knot," so City Crafter's challenge really gave me some ideas.  Linda is this weeks hostess and has challenged us to ONE ribbon, TWO words and THREE butterflies.  Well for all the exacting challenge details check out City Crafter Challenge Blog.  I used a Sizzix frame die and embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and gave a little highlight, added some butterflies from Cheery Lynn Designs!

Speaking of challenges, there is still time to enter the current challenge at Fashionable Stamping Challenges, which is for Ribbon and Lace and of course, stamping!  Being part of the design team, I would love to see you join in! 

So happy you could stop by and visit today and I always appreciate your comments!

Monochromatic Blues!

I have had company this weekend and after my sister left, I went into my craft room to clean it up!  Well I moved a couple of things and then remember, Lisa's blues!  Since I had a few free inches of space, Bloggers Challenge won with the Monochromatic Blues!  Stampin Up's French Script was stamped in a shade of blue on some of Tim Holtz blue lined paper!  The Stipple Butterfly, also Stampin Up, was then ink in blue, stamped on another TH subtle background blue prints and then clear embossed.  I added a little extra color here and there, in blue of course.  I then stamped this again to create the body, which was cut out to give an extra layer.  Some decorative threads were used to tie the paper layers!  This was fun and one of my more quicker cards!  Shaded all edges in blue!  Come on over and show off your blues! 

Just have to share this lovely card I received from my blogging friend, Lynne of Adorn and now  DT sister for Fashionable Stamping Challenges.  Is this gorgeous or what?  She wanted to send me a thank you for a lovely pink bowl I won from Cindy Adkins.  I knew this bowl had to find Lynne and Cindy was so sweet to make it happen!  Thank you again, Lynne!  I love this, but more the gesture of friendship!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  Tomorrow is Labor Day and I am going to BBQ!