Jingle Belles Rock - Creature

This week's challenge at Jingle Belles Rock is Not a CREATURE Was Stirring, and we're asked to use a creature on our card. Your creature might be an animal ... a mouse ... a bird ... a robot ... elves ... snow-persons ... or yes, even a monstah ... just have fun with it ...

This challenge did not surprise me, not one bit! Knowing these two Belles-In-Chief, it was inevitable we'd get a creature prompt. I'm only surprised it took this long into the calendar year, and that it wasn't more specific. Yes, Lauren, I'm looking at you!

So since Lauren already did the monsta thing, I went with normal woodland creatures to make this poorly-photographed card:

I'd say a full 90% of this card is via enablement from others. Lisa enabled me to need that Prima North Country paper. Mary Dawn enabled me to need all the A Muse dies. One of my tweeps enabled me to learn about Impress' online store and sign up for the What's New newsletter and discover they carry almost all the Memory Box dies. So you see, none of this is my fault.

Papers are from the North Country paper pack. I cut the hills and after they were stuck down, I edged them with my SU Dazzling Details. (you need that stuff, seriously) The trees were cut from a remnant - maybe Wild Wasabi, using an A Muse die.

The deer ... the deer. On one hand, it is a very cool die from Memory Box. On the other hand, felt might not have been the best material out of which to cut it. See how Papa deer's head is a bit raised, like his neck is bent? That's because his head is raised and his neck is bent. I cut those *$&#$^^#$ antlers at least 4 times. Every time I touched them, they tore! TORE! Right off his head! The last time I waited until I was ready to glue him down to the card, and put the newly-cut antlers down so I wouldn't destroy them. Also note the die has all 3 deer in a row. Papa got separated from Mama and Bambi when the felt tore. I think next time I'll use paper and just cover them with flock.

The sentiment is from a Kim Hughes CHF Christmas set.

I'm off to create some more! Thanks for stopping by!

HYCCT - Purple

The HYCCT challenge for 11/18 (whaaaaaat, I'm not THAT far behind ...) is to use purple on your card to symbolize the survivors. Purple: just one notch above (gah!) pink in my world, but it's for a good cause, so I forged ahead.

Here's my card, then I'll explain:

Those strips were cut from a piece of Japanese paper. It was on the Heaplet, I saw it had purple in it, I declared it to be Wisteria Wonder, and I set to work. I cut three graduated strips of the paper - on purpose - and stuck them to the Wisteria Wonder remnant. I also broke out my new-to-me MFT Prima Donna Petals die to make that flower from some more of the same paper, and used a Martha doily-shaped tag to break up all that purple. The brad in the center of the flower is one of the SU Designer Printed In Color brads. Sentiment is from Paper Smooches.

Okay, back to the lab! There's stampin' to be done!

Thanks for stopping by!

Two More

A little old, a little new. My retail therapy today resulted in the purchase of a 30% off MS punch, so I used it to make two cards, thus getting rid of two card bases off the desk. I had ear-marked the bases for some more of these, but I realized I stamped the ladies on vanilla and these bases really need white. Oh, well, so I changed things up a bit.

Both of these cards are the same except for the sentiments*. Here's the first one:

I realized I am waaaaay behind in the irreverent sentiment section of my inventory, so I need to get to work on those. I've been focusing on normal cards, and well, it's the weird ones that pull people into my booth at these shows. Must. make. more.

In addition to the new-to-me MS border punch, I also picked up this set of Nestabilities. Then, breaking with tradition - where I stamp a sentiment then spend 15 minutes trying to pick just the right die for it, I took the die to my Irreverent Sentiments area and found two that would fit in this die. Poifect!

Here's the other card, exactly the same except for the sentiment. And I got the punched part more centered on this one:

Can't you just see Mark Twain saying that? heh heh And I don't think I've ever inked up this one. Shameful.

Okay, next up I'll have those remaining butterflies attached to some cards. I'm determined to clear off some space! DETERMINED! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

* First sentiment by River City Rubber Works. Second sentiment by Repeat Impressions.

Clean & Simple: 164

This week's Clean & Simple sketch spoke to me:


so I rummaged in the Heaplet for something with Baja Breeze in it and made this:

I needed something with Baja Breeze because I had made a few of those flutterbies with Baja Breeze, and I needed to get at least one of them off my desk top. I got the idea for the flutterby when I saw someone who'd stamped that HA Large Open Flower stamp onto some birds, so I was enabled obtain the stamp for myself. The chipboard flutterby is from Maya Road, and its body is made from some black wire from my stash. What, don't you have every color wire in your stash? ;/

The brown layers are SU Soft Suede, the textured white is from my stash of clearbags.com white card bases, the paper is from the Heaplet, and the rub-on is from my SU hoarded rub-on collection.

It's a pretty simple layout (duh, I think that's the point), and I like it a lot. I think I'll go make a few more with other remnants from the Heaplet! I realized today I have two weeks until my first holiday craft show, so time's a-wastin'!

Thanks for stopping by!

Challenge Two-fer

This post has been delayed by at least 24 hours due to my inability to take a decent photo. I've even had light lessons and a quick White Balance lesson and everything, to no avail. I've just now played with different color backgrounds and this is honestly the best I can do, people. I am sorry.

Moving on, I used this color challenge at Create with Connie and Mary:


and paired it up with LAST week's Clean & Simple sketch:


to make this:

Dang, that photo is awful. ;( I punched three butterflies with my MS punch, one out of each of the colors in the challenge. I colored their bodies with my Memento marker, then drew the antennae after I stuck the butterflies to the card. The sentiment is from the Paper Smooches Word Up set.

And even though the color challenge is current, I didn't use SU-only, so I can't link it. Sigh. Maybe I'll just go back to bed.

Okay, okay, here's another card:

This is yet another example of me going over-board. I like how cards look when other people do that, but mine just seem to look too busy. Anyway, this was made from all remnants except for the felt layer. I even totally hosed the original sentiment, and then saved it by adding another yellow layer with a different sentiment.

I went over the big red heart with my Versamarker and embossed it with clear EP. I kinda like this one. :)

Oh, did you know it SNOWED in the MD/VA/DC area today? Yep - October snow from VA into New England. Serious, wet snow. Someone has angered the wet-stuff-from-the-sky gods, because we've had more than our fair share of it this season. It's just wrong for snow to be falling on the pretty Fall leaves when they are still on the trees!!! Sigh.

Okay, time to get back into the Captain's Quarters and have another go at this.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hambo Hoedown - Newscaster

This week's Hambo Hoedown challenge is to use this image (free if you played last week AND remembered to email them your card):

A handsome newscaster! We were to use him with one of the sentiments and ... newspaper. Well guess what? Yesterday was recycle day and I put everything out and it's GONE! We got the weekly newspaper on our front steps today, but it is still raining, and it's a mess. Soaked. Unusable. Outside in the recycle bin. Lost to me.

I don't even have any junk mail in the form of news paper! NOTHING! ACK! But you know what I do have? I have some SU DSP called "Newsprint", so I called it "close enough" and went with it. Here's my card:

ALL REMNANTS thankyouverymuch. I used TWO of the sentiments instead of one, so maybe that will make up for my non-real-newspaper. I also gave him a wood-grain(ed) desk, mostly to make up for the fact that I colored his jacket to look like a 1970s leisure suit (poor guy). AND I hand-drew the speech bubbles (like you couldn't tell.)

Sigh. Yeah, I guess I'm disqualified. But hey, I tried, and I'm gonna post it over at the Hambo Hoedown anyway. You just never know - they might take pity on me. :(

Thanks for stopping by!

WOTT & WOYWW 10/26/2011

It's time for another reveal. I felt my desk was sufficiently choked today, so here we go:

I'm probably in the middle of at least 6 projects, so let's do some numbers:

1. A bandanna I just knew I had but couldn't find, so now that I've found it I took it out of its hiding place. I have no immediate project in mind for it.
2. Strips of paper cut off of #13 that I may, just may, use. Or not.
3. About 7 more ladies stamped to use with #13 to make more of these.
4. Another wreath in progress to make more of these.
5. Remnants (negatives) of some die-cut strips I thought I could use for something.
6. A black Sharpie I used to write "MFT" on the back of a die. It lives in the pencil holder on the right (the one supporting the sheet of Dimensionals), but I failed to actually put it away. It's sooo faaaarrrrr.
7. A MS glue pen. (love)
8. A box of SU buttons - probably Neutrals.
9. My Stamp-A-Ma-Jig handle. Can't remember what I used it for.
10. Another box of SU buttons, probably not Neutrals.
11. A baby card I made and haven't posted yet because after an hour of assembly I put the whole thing onto the base crooked. Surprise.
12. Oval cut-outs of this digital image I think you should all go and buy right this very minute ... I'll wait ... ... ... I printed four of them, but only used one. Not feeling the love, and I think I need to print them again, only smaller. I could use these on square cards, but well, hasn't happened yet, so there they sit.
13. Bases for about 7 or 8 cards to use with the ladies in #3 and maybe the strips of card stock in #2.
14. My list of SCS HYCCT challenges on which I am pathetically behind. Scribbled on the bottom of the paper is a pattern for a box I made but - meh. It's 3D, so maybe I won't make any more.
15. Copics I used to color the one image from #12 I did make into a card. I could use them again once I get around to printing them again. Well I could.
16. The strip-of-stars die I used on the card mentioned in #12 and #15. Also some other nested stars I die-cut but didn't use on the card. But I could. Maybe.

So that's it, and there ain't no more. Perhaps I'll mosey on in there and finish something. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

SOS Challenge #23 - Fall or Halloween

This week's challenge at Shopping Our Stash is Fall or Halloween. We are also sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps this week, so we'll be choosing a winner from all the entries to get 7 (SEVEN!) Bugaboo images. They have some really cute stuff, but I love their Snark section, also known as Stella & Gus. :):):)

I'm using one of their images that just spoke to me:

It's a digital image I printed on 5x7, and I printed it twice more on remnants from the Heaplet to paper piece her dress and all the dirt. I think this would be the perfect item for one's desk at work, don't you? You know, for those days when absolutely nothing goes right? I like my job, but seriously, I do have those days when people just ought to give me a wide berth.

I think I'll need to make some of these for my upcoming holiday craft shows. :)

Oh, and in case you're wondering how I met my own challenge, I have dubbed the green and brown to be Fall colors. :) With all due respect to our leader and her love of all things Halloween, I'm a bit Halloween'd out right now. *waves at Carla* :)

Now it's your turn: go into your stash, dig out some neglected Fall or Halloween supplies, make a card, then head on over to Shopping Our Stash and link up so we can see what you've made!

Thanks for stopping by!

Not Another ...

Earlier this evening I rummaged through the bag of things I picked up during my last trip to the LSS (Local Stamp Store) and found a sentiment I just had to use. HAD to. Here's the card:

and a close-up of the sentiment (from Rosie's Roadshow):

I thought the image of the woman was perfect for this sentiment. I usually use her with my "I have C.R.S. (Can't Remember Shit)" stamp, but she's just as perfect for this one, in my opinion. :) I didn't even bother to color her. It's not about her; it's about the utter helplessness evoked by the sentiment.

The base paper is from my Webster's Pages haul, and it's purty on both sides, so I put a panel on the inside for somewhere to write a message:

I have a whole stack of these pre-cut papers - don't know why. Can't remember cutting them, but there they were in the Heaplet, so I plan to use them to make more of these. I may mix them up and make a few with the CRS sentiment, too.

Since all the card bases were retrieved from the Heaplet, and all (ALL) of the stamping and layers for the die-cut images were remnants, this is another 100% stash card. (go, me)

Now I must lay me down to sleep. Thanks for stopping by!

HYCCT - Brave Heart

I did another challenge for the Splitcoast Hope You Can Cling To (HYCCT) challenges. This one is called Brave Heart, and we were asked to use at least one heart on our projects.

I may or may not have gone completely overboard, but this is what I made:

It's 100% stash, and NO (gah) PINK! :) The DSP is retired SU from the Heaplet; the blue hearts were punched from a Baja Breeze already-embossed remnant that screamed USE ME; the Old Olive layer and the card base are from the remnant box; and lastly, the chipboard hearts and button are from the stash. Yes, I am very proud.

Okay, I'm off to load this up to Splitcoast and go tackle another one.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hambo Hoedown - Sketchy!

This week's Hambo Hoedown challenge was to use their image with this sketch:

You know me: I'm all about sketches! They gave us a Zombie Bunny image, which is very cute, but I'm kinda Halloween'd out. It's one of the perils of stamping - you need to be one or two holidays ahead at all times, so by the time the actual holiday rolls around, you are so over it. :(

BUT, the nice thing about these challenges is you can play with ANY Hambo image, so I used the Silly Birds again and made this:

You can see I turned the sketch 90 degrees, which worked better for the image. I used a humongous button as the circle element of the sketch (it's from the SU Spice Cake collection (Holiday Mini) that I was enabled to buy because someone said "magnets"). The sentiment is from a Paper Smooches set. The papers are retired SU DSP from the Heaplet, and they determined what colors I'd use for the image, layers and button.

By the way, Hambo is having a huge "Hogtoberfest" sale right now! So if you like their images, head on over to their Talk to the Ham blog to check out the details! And play this week's sketch challenge, why don't ya?!

I'm off to stamp some more! Thanks for stopping by!

Cupcake

Sometimes people ask me where I get my ideas for cards. I tell them I do a lot of blurfing (blog reading) for inspiration; sometimes I read magazines; sometimes it's something in my environment - a coffee mug, a shirt, a sign; and sometimes it's what Noel Paul Stookey once said on a live recording of his I have (on vinyl): it's "off the wall. By that I mean, you don't know where it came from". This was one of those cards:

This started with a left-over puddle of Crystal Effects I had on a scrap of paper. I had just used it to secure the micro beads on this card with a top coat of the stuff, as they were not sticking too well to their original liquid glue, and needed attention. I'd set that aside to dry, and was faced with the remaining puddle.

Puddle = might as well use those blasted micro beads again, and this time I would win. Then I remembered a cool cupcake set Miss Lauren had gifted to me earlier this year, and it's got circles on the icing, which screamed for beads.

So the first thing I did was stamp the cupcakes on white and fill the circles with Crystal Effects. Then I had to face The Beads. This time I took an empty SU clam shell box and poured the beads over the adhesive and the excess fell into the clam shell box (instead of rolling off the desk and onto the carpet). I am so smart sometimes. After I got all the gluey stuff covered in beads, I used a toothpick and took the remaining glue from the puddle and covered the tops to seal them.

Yes, it was a lot of work, but I didn't waste all that glue! After they were done drying, they looked like this:

Not bad! Though I must admit, long-drying adhesives are not the best choice for those into instant gratification. While it dried, I went across the street and got take-out dinner. Then I brought my dinner home and ate it. Then I tweeted and read some blogs. Seriously.

Oh, and the beads still flaked off. Look:

Each handsome red dot = an identifiable rogue micro bead on my dining room table, next to my ghetto photo studio. I will never find them all.

So let's summarize:
1. I made a card based on having some left-over liquid adhesive.
2. I used a stamp that had never seen ink.
3. The papers used were all scra remnants.
4. Crystal Effects takes forever to dry, but not as long as Stickles.
5. Please notice I went above and beyond and also stamped the circle from the stamp set onto the background paper.
6. HOW did it get to be 11:00 PM? !?!?!?! I need a keeper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Holiday Ribbon Wreath

I thought I'd try to make a holiday ribbon wreath under glass. This effort serves three purposes:

(1) I will disappear all sorts of ribbon from my Every Color Green But the One I Need and Every Color Red But The One I Need boxes, plus some other colors for filler.
(2) I will use the remaining shadow box frames I'm storing in one of the paths of The Captain's Quarters.
(3) I can try to sell them at my upcoming holiday craft shows and get them out of here, forever.

Here's the first one I made:

Sorry about the glare, but the glass doesn't come out of the frame. ;/

So what do you think? Festive? Quirky? Messy? Should I stop now?

I think I'll make some others that are not holiday-related, like Black & White. Maybe. We'll see how it goes. I'll be sure to show you if I make any others.

Thanks for putting up with me! :) And thanks for stopping by!

Jingle Belles Rock - Softly Falling Snow

For this week's Jingle Bells Rock challenge, our guest belle asked us to use something soft. Some possible items are: batting, velvet, fibers, denim, thick layers of embossing powder, soft silk flowers and snowflakes, pillow stickers & upholstered brads! Really, anything your brain can come up with that is SOFT, it doesn't have to be only papercrafting products that you use, either! I encourage you to pull out those quilting, knitting, sewing, & flocking skills!

My brain immediately went to my stash of felt snowflakes, and I made this:

The base paper is A Muse Studio card stock I bought through my pal Mary Dawn* - it's The Night Before Christmas story! I stuck the snowflake to the card, added some SU Dazzling Details, put a Kraft corduroy button in the center (it's soft, unlike bling - gotta go for bonus points!) , then pondered the sentiment. I ended up using Seasons Greetings from one of my Kim Hughes CHF sets, and put it on a scrap of red ribbon so you could see it!

I may get time this weekend to make another "soft" card. In the mean time, you should go over to Jingle Belles Rock and check out what others have made, then join us!

Thanks for stopping by!

* If you need to scratch your A Muse itch, Mary Dawn has the link to her online store on her blog. Plus, she's crazy-crafty, so check out her cards while you're there! :)

HYCCT - Treat Yourself

Today's HYCCT challenge on Splitcoast is Treat Yourself, where we were asked to make a card with yummy edibles that contained a touch of (gah) pink! I used one of my new-to-me MFT Flopsey images and this MFT sketch:
to make this:

In my cleaning efforts, I re-discovered this pack of Basic Grey olivia 12x12 papers that I got on sale at the LSS. The stamp set is Cupcake Flopsey, and I used the MFT File Tab die and a square Nestie.

Let me tell you a little story about those micro beads. I covered the top of the cupcake with a gel adhesive, placed a piece of printer paper underneath it, then - like with glitter - I slowly poured the beads onto the adhesive. They stuck great! And the excess was caught by ... not the printer paper, but the lip of the standing desk, because it is angled! Down! ACK ACK ACK! Do you know that beads roll? Yes, they do! I got about half of them contained and back into the bottle, and the rest, well, I'll vacuum in there again some day.

Okay, I'm off to post this to SCS and to link up over at the MFT blog. Thanks for stopping by!

Two Wreaths

The other night I decided to make a Thanksgiving-ish card with my Taylored Expressions Autumn Wreath stamps:

The sentiment is stamped in Versamark onto a strip of vellum, then heat-embossed with some brown embossing powder. I stuck the vellum to a piece of paper with some temporary adhesive while I powdered and heated it, and it didn't warp or fly away - bonus!

The vellum is popped up on Dimensionals, and I stretched it tightly before I stuck it down. You may be able to bounce a quarter off of it. :) The buttons, from an old old old container of Earth Elements buttons, cleverly cover up the Dimensionals. Card stock base is from A Muse. Yes, I'm quite proud of myself for using so much of that stuff lately. :)

I also tried another 6-panel-but-it's-only-4-panels door, but this time I used a piece of A Muse wood-grain papers:

and one of my hoarded SU felt wreaths. Love it! I got the idea for the bird from this card.

Hint1: Cut it from the non-glimmer side.
Hint2: The bird and ribbon will be way easier to attach to paper than to felt. Just a suggestion. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

SOS Challenge #22 - Inspiration Picture: Dia de los Muertos

This week's Shopping Our Stash challenge is to use this Dia de los Muertos photo as inspiration:


You can use the theme of skulls, cookies, flowers, etc., or the colors, or even Dia de los Muertos if it floats your boat. Whatever inspiration you get from the photo - go with it!

As most of you know by now I don't "do" shaped cards. Well, actually I don't "do" a lot of things, but today it's shaped cards. While pondering my project for this challenge, I had A Moment and remembered I was enabled by Libby to purchase some snow globe cards. Yep - I got two packs. Do not ask me why because I do not know. Maybe it was because Libby did an awesome snow globe tutorial over on Splitcoast a year or so back, and I made The Ladies suffer through one of them at a Stamp Camp, too. Maybe it was because I don't "do" shaped cards, but if they come already shaped? Hmmm.

So anyway, I had an idea to trim down the snow globe shape and make it into a skull shape, and it sorta worked. Lookie:


I am very proud to tell you that this card is 100% stash. Well, if you count the snow globe bases that were still in their package, unopened and unloved. The flowers for the eyes, the bling for the nose and mouth, the Basic Grey paper - all stash. That pom-pom SU ribbon, of which I have two spools (don't know why), has now seen the light of day, too.

Now get your thinking caps on, get inspired, make your card, then link us up at Shopping Our Stash so we can see what you've made!

Thanks for stopping by!

Jingle Belles Rock - Caroling (again!)

I have another entry for this week's Jingle Belles Rock challenge. :) Once again, I went with the stamps that make me sing instead of starting with a song to be inspired. I'm rebellious like that. Here's my card:

Aren't those fun images? They're from The Cat's Pajamas and I've had them for YEARS! I use them once a year, whether I need to or not. :)

Other details: patterned paper by A Muse, Vanilla and Choc Chip (or maybe it's Early Espresso - they were remnants) card stock by SU, brown ink is Memento, grosgrain ribbon is SU, Nestabilities dies, corner rounder, and the shiny stuff on the "hills" is SU Dazzling Details (LOVE!)

Okay, I'm off to post this over at the Jingle Belles' site. Remember tomorrow is the new SOS challenge, so be sure to stop back to see what we've cooked up for you! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

HYCCT - Paint!

Today's HYCCT challenge on Splitcoast is PAINT! I was so excited that Libby asked me to be one of her sample gals and make a card or two using paint, that I might have gotten a little carried away. :) But heaven knows I have paint, so I thought I'd show you what I did.

I started with my Claudine Hellmuth (gah) pink paint:

I put some into a spray bottle with some water to make a wash:

(Yes, I got that at The Container Store for 99 cents. Travel section.)

Then I went to Mel McCarthy's blog and tried to duplicate this pressure emboss resist technique of hers. Here's my first attempt:

I first dry-embossed a piece of Whisper White card stock with SU's Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, then I inked up the raised portion with Versamark and heat-embossed it (twice) with clear EP. THEN, I poured a little of the paint wash into a jar lid and used a foam applicator to paint over the embossed paper. The heat-embossed portion resisted the paint and it was absorbed only by the un-embossed portion of the paper. It's subtle, and I like it!

I added the pink card stock to accentuate the pink paint wash, and for contrast I added the black satin ribbon and some black Stickles.

Then I tried a piece of patterned paper:

I really like this one! I dyed that seam binding myself with Pink Pirouette ink and a little water, just like Mary Dawn taught us. :)

Next, I used that paint wash as a spray with a stencil in an attempt to be artsy. Instead, I made a mess, but I also made this:

You might have to click on the photo to actually see the pink, but it's there. I put a TCW template (TCW = The Crafter's Workshop, and the template I used is mini damask) over some water color paper and spritzed the paint wash over it. I removed the template and let it dry. It wasn't awful - a little runny so the pattern isn't very distinct, but I've embraced its subtle-ness and learned to love it. It actually is a pretty nice not-plain background.

I decided it said "sympathy" so that's the Paper Smooches sentiment I used.

Oh, those specs? One was an "OMG WHAT IS THAT" and the rest were on purpose, to make it look like I meant to do that. ;/

For my last sample, I played with these two colors of paint:

to make this:

The last farm in the 'hood has been sold for development, so I went for a walk a few weeks ago and took some photos. Here's the one that inspired this card:

Okay, back to the paint. I put a bit of each of the green and blue onto my non-stick mat, spritzed them with water, and used pieces of Cut-N-Dry foam as applicators to schmear the paint onto a piece of water color paper. I like the swirls of my applicator - they make the sky and grass look a little wild, which is what I was going for.

After the paint dried, I went back to stamp the tree (A Muse) and drew in a few birds. The fence is a MS punch, and I cut off the pointy tops to make it look more farm-like - like this:



So yeah, inspiration is EVERYwhere. Now go break out your paints and come play today's HYCCT challenge!

Thanks for stopping by!

Buttons and Colors

The latest Embellish Magazine challenge caught my eye:

so I decided to play. I've seen several "door" cards lately - you know, those 6-panel doors, some of which only have four panels, but, well, it's ART - and I wanted to try one, so I combined that effort with this color challenge. :)

Here's my card:

I broke out my Taylored Expressions Autumn Wreath set and the coordinating wreath die, then colored the wreath in three of the four challenge colors. The ribbon is the fourth color.

Oh: buttons. I just knew I had a cache of small buttons somewhere, and I wanted brown. Dark brown. What I found were about 25 bags of tinier bags of small buttons from my last organization effort, stuck in my Miscellaneous Embellishment box on a shelf in my craft room closet. No wonder I never use them! If you can't see them, you forget you have them, am I right?!?! So I took some time to empty every one of those tiny bags into this:


but I held out four brown buttons for the door knobs. This bottle is now on my shelf with all my other buttons, so maybe you'll see more of them now, too. :)

Moving on. I said I held out four buttons, and that's because I made four of these cards. Yeah, I just don't know when to quit. I was pretty happy with that first card, but I wanted to try distressing the edges of the panels. This is what came out:

Yes, I need practice. This was with Ranger Antique Linen. It looks dirty to me. So then I tried Tea Dye:

Even dirtier. Looks kinda like Boo Radley's* house, eh? Please notice that both of the distressed cards have an additional button tied onto the wreath. I'm always going for those elusive bonus points. ;)

If you're counting, that's only three. I made two of the Antique Linen one, so that's where the fourth one is.

And now I have other ideas swimming in my brain that need to come out onto paper, and darn it if I don't need to go back to work tomorrow. Sigh. I'll see what I can make happen this evening, after the laundry.

Thanks for stopping by!

* How many kids won't even know who Boo Radley is now that "To Kill A Mockingbird" is on so many banned book lists? Sad.

Jingle Belles Rock - Caroling

This week's challenge over at Jingle Belles Rock is Caroling! We were asked to "make a card inspired by any holiday song ... it might be one that evokes childhood memories ... or a more modern tune ... just let us know which holiday song you find inspiring."

I actually don't have a favorite or inspiring Christmas song (not my holiday), but I can tell you I break into song every time I use this stamp:

I love this stamp (from Rubber Cottage), and so do my customers, since I sell out of these cards every year. :) I made four of these today - well, I actually made a bunch more than four, but four survived the massacre - two in white and then two in vanilla:

Massacre? Oh, yes. Every year I make these and every year I destroy as many as survive. This is a simple stamp - you stamp it once, color it, done. But nooooo, I need to emboss it, so I have that I can mess up, and I do. Yes, I use the embossing buddy to minimize the extra unwanted flecks, but some always sneak in. Then there's the opportunity to stamp it so close to the edge of the card stock that the die doesn't fit. Stamping is HARD, people, HARD!

Then there's the coloring. When you emboss an image, you aren't supposed to use alcohol markers to color it since the alcohol reacts with the embossing and makes a mess. (Who said you wouldn't need HS chemistry in real life?) Every year I try to remember what I used to color the windows, and every year I forget and start over. This year I tried schmearing Pool Party on an acrylic block and using my blender pen to color the windows. Color was too green and too dark. One dead. Then I tried Bashful Blue. Two dead.

I'm pretty sure I used Copics last year, because I remember being so proud I didn't mess it up. So I used I think B000 to color one white and one vanilla, and they came out okay. But then ... well, look at this one:

See the tree branches I drew in an attempt to make it look like I meant to do that? That was an attempt to cover up the schmeared black all over that window:

You can see it in a few other spots, too. THIS is why you don't use alcohol markers with embossing. Sigh.

But the red glitter pen I used to color their bows works fine. :)

So are you singing now? I am. :)

Do you know this is week 42 of 48 for the Jingle Belles? How many Christmas cards have YOU made this year? I have close to 60! I will say that making one a week is a most-excellent and painless way to get 48+ cards made BEFORE DECEMBER. And if you need more, I'm sure at least one of the ones you've made over the past 10 MONTHS will be mass-producible. :)

Fa-la-la-la-la ... oh, I have another idea for a card. Please excuse me while I go make it.

Thanks for stopping by!