Monday, November 30, 2015

Oldie Moldie Monday

Whew - can you hear the tires burning as I slide in under the self imposed deadline to post my Oldie Moldie Monday card.  I was gone all week end at my daughters to help out over the week end.  Got home this afternoon and trying to get some things done.  Unfortunately I did not get as much done as I wanted to but I did at least get my Oldie Moldie Monday card done.

This is a birthday card for my son in law.  He will probably faint when he gets it.  I am not too good at December birthdays.

Hopefully the crazy bird brings a smile to his face.


Have a wonderful remainder of Monday.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Another Revisit to Ideas for Christmas

This week end while I am away from home I am sharing some projects for the Christmas holiday that I have made in the past to inspire you.


This is a favorite project from last year.  A small canvas.  I only made two and I must report that one was eaten by my daughter's dog.  Axl loves to eat anything I have made.  Dang dog - I may have to stop bringing him treats.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Another Christmas Idea

Today I am sharing a little canvas I was making for a special group of friends last year.  Well I only got one done last year so I need to finish the other three this year.  The stamp is from Unity.


Keep enjoying your week end.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Black Friday - Where Are You

It tis Black Friday - are you out there shopping or are you safely hid in your home?

I am safely hid in my daughter's home while she works Black Friday.  I hold down the home front for her, feed her a good meal, pour a glass of wine and watch her head off to bed to start all over again the next day.

Today I am sharing a project from last year - something you still have time to make for the holidays.


I put package filler inside the ornament to give it a sparkly look.


The snowman is a Paper Smooches stamp.


Thursday, November 26, 2015

Happy Thanksgiving

I am sharing a project from last year.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and if you are brave enough to do Black Friday - good luck.


Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Let's Be Merry

Today I am sharing a card made from the tag I posted yesterday.  I hope this little bird I drew with inspiration from Pinterest and his little bitty Santa Hat.  It makes me want to giggle and be merry.

I am entering the card in the following challenges.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge where the challenge this week is anything goes.  

I am also entering the card in the Christmas card challenge on Happy Little Stampers where their monthly challenge is to use a tag.  I am getting double duty out of this tag.  Yesterday I entered it into their mixed media challenge - today it is a card.


I cut a mat just a little bit larger than the original tag.  I then made a card base and trimmed the top edges by hand to give the card a tag shape.  I added a small twine bow to finish the tag off.


Here is a close up of my little birdie and his tiny Santa hat.  Doesn't he make you smile?


Happy day before Thanksgiving.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Mixed Media Christmas Tag

I have been trying to learn how to draw and I attended Bella Crafts weekend in the Twin Cities and one of my instructors Cindy Shepard had us drawing some funky little birds.  Therefore, I have been drawing lots of funky little birds.  There are not original ideas - Pinterest is full of inspiration and I am just trying to gain confidence in my ability to draw a little for my own fun and creativity.  Needless to say I have pages of little birds and big birds that are drawn and colored.  I decided to use one of these on my tag.

Happy Little Stampers has a Mixed Media challenge each month and the challenge was to make a tag.  This I have done.


The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge for the month is to use texture.


I had the leftover tag shape from a day of creating with one of my neighbor kids.  Kristin has been making Christmas tags.  I covered the tag shape with a piece of patterned paper with a music background.  I added a light layer of gesso.  I cut out one of my funky birds.  The ultimate goal is I wanted to use one of the Santa hat stickers I had bought.  Well you know all those stickers go in different directions and the small hat sticker is the one that went on this bird.  This is why I chose that sentiment because it looks like he is attempting to be merry with his tiny little Santa hat.  (I may give it to my daughter who manages a large retail store and the holidays are crazy for her.)

There is silver embossing paste.  The swirl in the upper right hand corner is actually a reindeer's antlers.  The snowflakes are embossed in a Ranger embossing powder that I am loving.  The sticker is by Jolee.  I used glass and glitter gel medium for the snow.  It is from Faber Castell.


I did not add any trim to the hole of the tag.  This tag may be made into a card so unsure what I am going to do to finish the tag.

Everyone enjoy your day and "Let's Be Merry".  Remember to be kind to all the retail workers.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Oldie Moldie Monday

It is Oldie Moldie Monday - time to show some love for your old supplies.  I am making Christmas cards with my old supplies.  It is that time of the year.

This week my card also falls into the challenge at Weekly Christmas Card Challenge - the challenge is Anything Goes.



I am also entering it into the weekly Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp where the challenge is Christmas.  

I am also entering it into the current challenge at Addicted to Stamps where the challenge is Anything Goes.

The paper is well aged and I have had this stamp for ages.  It does have a matching sentiment but I could not locate it.  This card is for my two step grandsons.  Well actually I made two cards - one for each of the young men.  

The paper is from Little Yellow Bicycle and the paper has a shiny finish.  The stamp is from Cracker Box Stamps which is a local stamp company in Janesville, WI.  They do go to some of the stamp shows.  The sentiment stamp is from Paper Smooches.


Lots to do today.  I usually take a day and make appointments all on the same day so I only use up one day for those.  They are all spaced out so I won't be stressed about not making one.

Have a wonderful day and remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Holiday Leftovers

The weekly sketch on Jingles Belles is "holiday leftovers".   This challenge means use what is lying on your table or your scrap bin.  It kinda fits in with my Oldie Moldie Monday challenge in a way but in that challenge I can use new supplies which have aged for awhile.

This sweet little snowman was already colored laying in a pile on one of my tables - there are also some cute purple penguins - hmmmmmm - maybe Monday - stay tuned.  All the paper is either from my scrap bin or recycled card stock for the card base.  The card is a 3 1/2 inch square.  I think I know who it will go to also.  I could save it for a winter card card also and send it out in January or February.


We have a winter watch for tonight into tomorrow.  It is predicted for 10 inches of snow here.  I do hope my snow blowing fairy has his machine gassed up and ready to go.

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Winter Themed Postcard


I started with a painted book page.  I silver embossed a Penny Black tree on the front.  As always, then there are many layers of paint, gesso, stencils, more stamping to complete the look.  I am happy with the way this one turned out.  It does look like a Winter Wonderland but when or hardly ever do we have purple skies.


Monday, November 16, 2015

Oldie Moldie Monday

Monday -time to show some love for your old supplies.  The paper I have used for my cards is from a 6 x 6 pad from Little Yellow Bicycle.  The tag die is from Paper Smooches.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts and the tree (I must confess is new) is from Impression Obsession.



I love the color combination - it is a little more subdued than what I usually do.  There is a pop of color in the mat on the sentiment.

I am entering this card in the challenge CAS on Sunday where the challenge is to use a tag.

Remember to show some love for your old supplies.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Postcards

It is always fun to try new things in the world of paper crafting/mixed media.  Several months ago I participated in a postcard exchange.  You had to make three postcards.  Here are the three I made for that exchange.




They are all approximately 4 x 6.

I am participating in another exchange and I am just creating my postcards now.  They have a winter theme.  I have made two of them already.  I am not sure about one of them but I will probably send it.  The upcoming group of postcards have a winter theme.

It is always fun to try a different way of approaching your art.

Have a lovely Sunday.  I am off to spend a couple days at my daughters.  She has a couple long days in retail coming up so I will hang out with the dogs, cook her a good meal or two and of course, I brought some art stuff to work on.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Last Penny Black Sticker Card

Today is my last Christmas card from the Penny Black Sticker sheet.  They are always such beautiful images and makes your cardmaking so easy.  Just add some paper, ink and embellishments and you have another card made to sent out for the holidays.  Red Stickles were added to the berries and clear Stickles to the pine boughs and star.


Now what am I going to do.  I know I have another sheet of different Penny Black stickers for the holidays, maybe I should try to locate them.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Tuesday's Christmas Card

Today I am sharing another card I made with the Penny Black Sticker Sheet I am working off.  I have one more card to share after today.  A sheet of stickers and coordinating paper make it easy to make a set of cards very easily.  On all my cards I used the same papers and also the same sentiment stamp.  I now have five more Christmas cards made.


On this card I added a twine bow and some dots.  There is also red Stickles on the berries.

Have a wonderful remainder of your Tuesday.

Monday, November 9, 2015

Oldie Moldie Monday

I was away yesterday and took a great class taught by Frank Garcia from Prima.  I made some beautiful tags.  I will post pictures of them on days when I don't have anything else to post.  We made 7 tags.  I do have some fine tuning of the tags and finishing yet to do.  When I got home I put the finishing touches on my Oldie Moldie Monday card.

I found this black reindeer (felt) as I was cleaning so decided to make it into a card.  This is what finally evolved.  I was planning on a big bow on the card but had adhered everything to the card base before I remembered.  Oops.


It is very interesting taking photos outside this time of the year.  You get some interesting shadows.  Yeah - another Christmas card is made.

Now back to my Penny Black stickers.  I still have a couple of them to make into cards.

Saturday, November 7, 2015

Saturday - Another Penny Black Sticker Card

I am still working through a sheet of Penny Black sticker sheet.  This is the third card.  You can look at the last two days to see the other two I have created.


I have used the same paper on all the cards.  I added red Stickles to the berries on the bush.  Just a tiny bit but it sure adds dimension.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope I get a chance to make another sticker card for Sunday and my Oldie Moldie Monday card.  The Monday card is sitting on the design table currently.  Totally different so you will need to stop by again to see what I come up with.

Enjoy your Saturday.  I am going to visit my Mom today.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Friday - One More Christmas Card

I decided to use my sheet of Penny Black stickers and make them all up into Christmas cards.  This is today's share.  If you wish to see another card from the same sticker sheet - pop back to Thursday and see that share.


I used the same papers.  Lots of layers and inking.  (Dang I have lost the third embellishment - hope I can find it.  I just lost the embellishment - the sticky foam is still there.)  I have added Stickles to the veins of the poinsettia and to the center of the snowflakes.

Have a wonderful Friday.


Thursday, November 5, 2015

Count Your Blessings

Today I am sharing a Thanksgiving card.  I guess I should make a few of those since Thanksgiving comes before Christmas.  I will only send a few Thanksgiving cards.

This card is made for a couple challenges.

The first challenge is Happy Little Stampers CAS challenge which is gilding/gold.  I used gold glitter paint inside the leaves and around the outside of the frame for the trees.  I did try to gold emboss it but on watercolor paper it just seems to melt into the paper.  Maybe it is just me.  I believe this card in Clean and Simple.


The second challenge is from Monday's Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog.  The challenge is Go Glossy.  Gold/Glitter/Glossy Accents - I believe the card qualifies.  There is Glossy Accents on all the leaves so the glitter shines through the Glossy Accents.

The third challenge is from Wednesday's Simon Says Stamp Challenge blog.  The challenge this week is Thanks/Thanksgiving.


The card is a little smaller than an A2 card.  It is completely flat so can be mailed with no extra postage.  This never happens to me.  The sentiment is a sticker from SRM Stickers.

Thanks for stopping by.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Wednesday's Christmas Card

Today my card is based on the monthly sketch at Happy Little Stampers.  I recently discovered this challenge site and I am enjoying participating in their different challenges.

Here is the sketch.


I love Penny Black stickers (well I also love her stamps but I digress) and recently picked up a new sheet (I do have several old sheets that have not been used yet - but I digress again).  I try to always pick up coordinating paper at the same time so it is easy to start creating.  I first apply the sticker to cardstock to give it stability.  This sticker had some parts that stuck out so my fussy cutting had to be a little more detailed.  I love the pretty colors used in this sticker set.


The background paper has the snowflakes on it.  The sticker image and sentiment are pop dotted on the front of the card.  I added some enamel dots in the corner since I had a brown that matched perfectly - how often does that happen.  The pine boughs have a coating of glitter on them from my Wink of Stella pen.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts.

I have four more stickers to make cards out of so hopefully I will keep working on them.

Have a good day.  More leaf raking today when the sun starts shining and mouse update - I have caught him or her.  I will set another trap tonight just to make sure there are no more relatives hanging out her in the crafting basement.

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

Tuesday - Another Christmas Card

I was checking out the challenges for the beginning of this week and found two that would help me with my trying to make a Christmas card each day of the week.  I found two challenges that work well together and I am actually making three cards of this same design.

Last week I made a poinsettia card which you can find here.  As I was clearing/cleaning up some things to take to a scrapbook rummage sale I found some more poinsettias.  This package is not the deep red of the first card I made but more of an orange/red.  It works.  Poinsettias come in all colors now days.

The first challenge is Merry Monday where the challenge is to use red and gold.

The second challenge is City Crafters Challenge Blog where the challenge is Getting Ready for Christmas.



I am using a red poinsettia.  I took out a doily and spray painted it and then also painted it with a gold glitter acrylic to get my gold for the challenge.  I also used the gold spray on the poinsettia.  I needed a brad to hold my flower together so found 2 of these brown suede ones.  They were kinda small so I added a punched circle which was painted gold behind the brad.  The white paper is a book page that has a thin layer of gesso on it.  I used my distressing tool on the edge of the book page and the kraft paper it is matted with.  The sentiment was gold embossed on the bottom of the book page.  A simple twine bow was tied on the card to finish it off.  No - to finish it off - I splattered some watered down gold paint over the top.  The white book page needed some splatters on it.

Close up of doily, poinsettia and gessoed background.



To finish the inside I sprayed a couple more doilies and will use half of one to top the inside of the matted cream paper.  I think that will give the inside a finished/coordinated look to the front.

Three more Christmas cards will be done by the end of today.  Come back tomorrow for another Christmas card.  I have some new Penny Black stickers and will be using a sketch from a Sunday challenge for Christmas cards.

Last night as I started to create this card - I had a visitor - a icky mouse in the basement with me.  I don't know who was scared more me or the mouse by the time I got done screaming at him.  I am trying a home remedy plus I have two sticky traps laid out and I went and bought a couple more traps.  The home remedy is to use peppermint extract or oil on cotton balls spread around your house.  Well my house does smell minty fresh.  If nothing else, stop back tomorrow for an update on the mouse problem.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Oldie Moldie Monday

Here are two cards that I made from a kit.  I will take paper and cut it into 4 x 5.5 inch pieces.  I will cut up several sheets of coordinating paper.  I stamp an image (always stamp 2) and make kits.  I then send these kits to five people who want to receive them.  Everyone has a couple weeks to get their cards made.  It is always fun to see how six people interpret the same supplies.  The only rule to using this kit is that you must use the image and at least three of the papers.

Here are my two cards.



Yes this paper was oldie moldie and I got rid of six sheets of it doing this fun exchange.  I do it about every month with a private group I belong to on Facebook.  Can't wait to see what they design.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Mixed Media Mojo November Challenge

It is the first of the month and it is time for the new challenge on Mixed Media Mojo.  The challenge this month is Fall with the added element of Metallic.



My project uses a sunflower stamp from Penny Black and lots of other things from my crafts.  The metallic is a gold canvas, gold foliage and gold spray.


I had a terrible time getting a picture of this art piece.  A gold canvas produces lots of glare and the sun has not been shining in Wisconsin for a good outdoor shot.

On Wednesday I will have a "how to" on this blog and the Mixed Media Mojo blog.

Please stop over to the Mixed Media Mojo blog and join us for the November challenge.