IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR - - -

     Yes, Christmas is just a few days away and it's going to be a white one!  We got 5 to 6 inches of snow overnight and everything is pretty and bright and cold.  I'm glad my Christmas shopping is done and I'm staying warm and trying to make a few Christmas/Winter tags just for fun.  I did take a time out to take a few "snow" pictures too.
     The idea for my tag (which I decided to cut off at the top) came from Brenda Brown's blog.  I really liked the colors and general idea, so I just made a few changes to make it my own.  I used Tim Holtz dies, stamps, and inks.  The snow pictures were taken in our back yard.
                                   

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!

HALLOWEEN IS OVER, BUT . . . .

     Yes, I know that Halloween is over, but I'm still working on a Halloween (Tim Holtz) alterations box and am posting a picture of the inside.  The most difficult part was lining the little boxes.  Nothing is square and even though I measured, trimming was still necessary and I almost ran out of paper just to make matters more interesting.  The little ghost, mouse, and owl were handmade by Dot of Dot's Pots in Moline, IL.  She does a lot of whimsical things in clay and I also have some of her creations in my printer's tray in the kitchen.  I just finished painting some little black legs for the box and the next step is attaching them.  Hopefully that will be done very soon and then I'll post a picture of the finished box.
     We've had some very cool nights along with rain in the past few days and the combination seems to have made the colors of the trees really "pop".  I'm posting a picture of the maple in our backyard.  This past Monday was our 46th anniversary and we took a scenic drive up to Galena, IL.  The hillsides were colorful, although there didn't seem to be much red, but I just don't think there are many native trees that turn that color in our area.
Am ending for now, but am hoping to post more soon.
                 

     The little mouse is my favorite piece.  As you can see, I've also included a couple of Tim Holtz pieces.

WHAT'S YOUR POISON?

     That sounds like a really strange question, however it's the current theme at the Frilly and Funkie Challenge where "green" is to be the featured color and no "orange" is allowed.  For the background on my Halloween tag, I used Peeled Paint and Mustard Seed Distress Inks.  Next I stamped a cobweb down the right side of the tag and "Trick & Treat" at the bottom.  I cut an Ornate Frame with a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die and embossed it with fine black embossing powder which gave it a nice shiney appearance.  I then stamped the witch's head, colored it with several Distress Markers, including Crushed Olive, cut it out and popped it up in the center of the frame.  The rubber stamps were all from Tim Holtz collections.  I finished off the tag by sticking a glittery spider on the hat and at bottom right side.  I really like this tag and hope you enjoy it too.  It's been entered at the following challenge:
         http://frillyandfunkie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/whats-your-poison.html
                                 

"OCTOBER SNOW"

     Winter is sneaking in way too early -- we had accumulating snow on Tuesday and it's only 32 degrees as I write this at 10:30 this Thursday morning.  We haven't had Indian Summer yet, so hopefully it will warm up in the coming days and we can enjoy the colorful trees without being bundled up for winter.
     Yesterday I finally made a few Halloween cards and a couple of tags.   Now all I need is a friendly ghost to come and clean off my kitchen counter, so I can start another project.  Nothing very exciting to report which I guess is a good thing.  We did venture out in the snow/slush Tuesday for lunch and to see the classic movie, "Vertigo" at the Putnam.  It was a typical Hitchcock and of course, Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak were excellent.  These "old" movies are really fun to see -- much different than the currant ones. 
     We brought in my big, beautiful, geraniums for the winter -- they're sitting in the family room in front of the big window where they get morning sunlight.  One of them is still in full bloom and another one has at least 7 buds on it. 

                                  

"FROST ON THE ROOF"

     Yes, there was frost on our roof this morning -- it was 33 degrees.  I really don't like to see it this cool already as it may be a sign of a very cold winter ahead.  We've had a couple of pretty mild winters and I would like another one since I'm not a winter person.  We've had a couple of windy days as a front moved through and the leaves have really been falling.  Hope the really pretty leaves hang on for a while so we can take a day trip up north and go "leaf peeping".  Last week we visited a local nursery/gift shop and found a lot of pretty Fall and Halloween arrangements, so I'm posting a few photos.  I've been working on a Halloween project and hope to finish it before the big day.  Will post pictures of it as soon as it's finished. 
                      

               

"SIGNS OF THE SEASON"

     You can sure tell that we've moved into a new season.  The days are much shorter, leaves are gradually changing color, the squirrels are busily burying their supply of food for winter, robins are flocking, and the countryside has turned from green to brown and farmers are hard at work harvesting their crops.  It's a really busy time of year for everyone and there are always lots of fun activities connected with this time of year. With many of the trees shedding their leaves, there always seems to be a pile of leaves for kids to play in and that's why I enjoyed making this card -- it depicts a little girl having fun in the leaves!
     The card base is a piece of Basic Grey paper on brown card stock from my stash.  The stamp is a Magnolia which I colored with Copic Sketch markers.  To carry out the theme and "the colors of Autumn" I embellished the card with some silk "leaves" and flowers.  I also used a Tim Holtz ticket saying "Giggle" as a final touch.  I am entering this card in "The colours of Autumn" challenge at:  frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com.  I hope you enjoy this card and I appreciate any comments you may leave. 
                  

"HAPPY OCTOBER"

     Here it is, the first of October, a month that I really do like even though Winter isn't far behind.  We've been having beautiful weather -- cooler temperatures with low humidity and clear blue skies.  We've even had the heat on a few days -- just long enough to take the edge off.  The leaves have just barely started to turn color, but hopefully we'll have some good "leaf-peeping" this year.  Farmers are busy harvesting their crops, taking advantage of the nice dry weather.
     I've been busy sorting through some of my stash in preparation for a garage sale coming up at a local scrapbooking store.  Hopefully a lot of items will find a good home with someone else.
I did find time however, to decorate a kraft tag with pretty leaves cut with a Tim Holtz die.  With Halloween coming up at the end of the month, I can't wait to create some fun tags.  Hope you enjoy my October tag.
       

PLAYING CATCH UP

     Where, oh where, has September gone?  I can't believe I haven't posted or created anything during September until today, which is the beginning of AUTUMN.  We started off the month by driving to Backbone State Park (near Strawberry Point, IA) on Labor Day (Sept. 2) for the Mock Cousin's Reunion.  We arrived at the park nice and early, but by the time we found the Beach Shelter, we were about an hour past lunch time.  We didn't know about a third park entrance and found out that almost everyone else had a problem finding the Beach Shelter.  It turned out OK, but was rather frustrating!  There were 6 cousins there along with spouses.  It was a beautiful day after having a heat wave!
     Irv attended his retiree's luncheon on Wed., Sept.4, and REC Day on the 5th.  We drove to Story City, IA on the 6th, where we stayed at the Comfort Inn overnight.  We went out to dinner that night with 3 other couples, Irv's sisters and brother and their spouses.  The next day, we helped Irv's brother Bill celebrate his 80th birthday, along with about 50 of Bill and Zola's family members.  It was quite a group, and we all enjoyed a very nice luncheon followed by a picture-taking session and then birthday cake. 
     We haven't done very much of note the rest of the month, but it has just flown by anyway.  We did see a couple of good movies, "Blue Jasmine" and "Breakfast at Tiffany's", an oldie but a goodie, that neither of us had seen before.
     We are having some rather cool but beautiful weather, so will have to get out and about this week and enjoy it.  I need to get my creative juices flowing again, so maybe I need to go pumpkin hunting?  The picture of the two little scarecrows was taken in LeClaire, IA a couple of years ago, so maybe I need to see what they have decorating their main street this year.
                          

DREAMING OF PARIS

     "My Steamer Trunk", the current Frilly and Funkie Challenge  opens up many paths and I decided to focus on a dream trip to Paris for my card.  The elegant Victorian woman on my card has her steamer trunk packed and is ready to embark on her great adventure. 
     I decided to basically go with a monochromatic color theme and used two stamps from the Tim Holtz "Paris to London" set to add images to a piece of French Industrial Paper for the card background which I mounted on a piece of black cardstock.  Next, I added a vintage looking postcard image which I distressed.  A die cut black flourish was added along with a beautiful purchased silk flower embellished with a stick pin.  Finally, I "popped" the elegant Victorian woman, which I tinted with Zig Brushables and fussy cut.  I am entering my card in the Frilly and Funkie Challenge at
http://frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com/2013/08/my-steamer-trunk.html                                      

     Once again, thank you for stopping by and I hope everyone enjoys their visit.  Comments are also greatly appreciated. 
        

CARNIVAL OR CIRCUS?  BOTH ARE FUN!

     Labor Day will soon be here and once again the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus will be appearing in our area over the long Labor Day weekend.  The best part is that we are going!  The theme this year is "Dragons", so there should be some wonderful costumes as well as performances.  When I saw that the theme for the Simon Says Monday Challenge was "Carnival" I decided to do a "Circus" tag, as I think they both have a lot in common and I remembered that I had a beautiful piece of 9" x 9" circus paper by Tim Holtz from 2005 in my stash. 
     I selected a #10 kraft tag for my base and decided to stencil the background with a Wendy Vecchi diamond shape stencil using black Memento Ink.  Next, I cut apart the circus paper, selecting different images to tape to my tag.  Finally, I used the Tim Holtz/Sizzix die to cut a rosette from black Kraft-Core paper.  After assembling the rosette, I attached it to the tag for a nice finishing touch!  This was a really fast and fun tag to make. 
     I am entering this tag in the "Carnival" Challenge and I hope you enjoy it.  Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments.
     http://www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/

"BY THE SEASIDE"

     Finally, I'm back to playing with some of my favorite things and have created an entry for the current Frilly and Funkie Challenge, "By the Seaside".  While I don't live by the sea, I do live just a couple of miles from the mighty Mississippi River and in fact, was out on the river last week for a ride on the Channel Cat Water Taxi, with my husband and a few other people who decided to enjoy the beautiful summer day by cruising the river.  The ride touches the shores of both Iowa and Illinois and provides great views as well as the opportunity to board and depart at four different places.  Now, on to my project!
     To begin with, I cut a piece of watercolor paper approx. 5" x 7" and colored it with Tim Holtz Distress Inks using pieces of artist sponge.  The sky is colored with Stormy Sky, Weathered Wood, and Milled Lavender; the sea is Bundled Sage and Stormy Sky; the cliff is Pumice Stone and Black Soot; the sand is Frayed Burlap which I then covered with Embossing ink and embossed using a mixture of Vintage Photo and Old Paper Distress Embossing Powder to give it the look and feel of actual sand.  I used two of my new Tim Holtz stencils, Burlap and Splatter to give some texture to the sea and the cliff.
     I fussy cut the image of the boy from a copy of a vintage post card I found at the Graphics Fairy and "popped" him with one foot behind an added layer of sand to give the appearance of dimension.  Lastly, I added an assortment of small seashells and a one inch bottle with a message in it.
      I have entered this project in the  Frilly and Funky Challenge.
          http://frillyandfunkie.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/by-seaside.html

Thanks for stopping by -- your comments are always appreciated.

                                                                                                

CREATIVITY ON HIATUS . . .

     I think my creativity went out the door along with my 35 yr. old harvest gold refrigerator and range, as I haven't created anything since then.  The refrigerator died July 27 (something we didn't realize until the next morning) and since it had lived for double it's normal life expectancy, it was time to replace it.  Since the range was just as old and the microwave part hadn't worked for years, I decided we should replace it too.  Well, as I already knew, they don't make them like they used to and since we needed next day delivery, I made some fast decisions.  I went "modern" with a glass top range and we now have a much bigger refrigerator with a "bottom" freezer which doesn't hold as much as our older top freezer.  And they are now "white".  After reading all of the instructions for using the glass top range, I found that some of my favorite pans (glass) were not to be used.  Now I also have beautiful new Circulon pans, including a new roasting pan!  I guess we're never too old to start over!  
     There are a couple of Challenges I want to enter and I have some new Tim Holtz stencils I can't wait to use, so I guess I'd better pack up my old pots and pans and get them to the Salvation Army.  Maybe then my creativity will return!   
                                                                                      

"RUSTY GEARS"

     It's a beautiful, unusual Sunday here in our little corner of Iowa -- it's sunny and only 70 degrees, which is pretty cool for a high temperature in July.  We've had two mornings in a row with temps only in the 50's and I'm not complaining!  It's much better than heat and humidity.  Now on to my latest project which I'm entering into two different challenges, one with a "rust" theme and the other has "captured moments" as a theme, hence the photograph. 
     I started with a #10 tag which I sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink, stenciled with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink, and antiqued around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I stamped the three gents (a Tim Holtz stamp) with black Memento Ink.  The photograph is of my handsome great-grandfather who is sporting a moustache.  I edged the photo and bottom of the tag with Tim Holtz tissue tape as an accent. To carry out the "rust" theme, I cut gears with Tim Holtz dies, and embossed them with Stoney Red and Ultra Thick Copper Embossing Powders (brand unknown).  The moustache was also a die cut and embossed with Black Soot Embossing Powder a Tim Holtz product.  I really had fun creating this card, which probably took me more out of more comfort zone than anything I've done before.  I'm trying to "loosen up" and get more funky and frilly!
     This tag is entered in challenges at the following websites:
           sandee-and-amelie.blogspot.co.uk/
           ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.co.at/

                   

     Thanks for stopping by.  Comments are always appreciated!










      

"CAPTURED MEMORIES" 

     When I discovered the challenge with the theme "Captured Memories" requiring the use of a photograph, at Our Creative Corner, I knew exactly what photograph I wanted to use.  I absolutely love the photograph of my grandmother, Agnes, and her sister, Clara, which was taken by a professional photographer in the late 1800's.  The quality of the photo amazes me and I think their dresses and hats are so elegant.  My grandmother married a farmer, so she seldom dressed like that after she was married, although I do have later pictures of her wearing "jaunty" hats when she was dressed in her "Sunday best".
     I wanted to achieve an elegant look, so I choose to cut a gold cardstock frame for the photograph, using the Sizzix Ornate Oval Frame die.  I mounted the framed photo on a piece of watercolor paper I had sponged with Antique Linen Distress Ink and stenciled with a leaf border using Crushed Olive Distress Ink.  This was then double matted with Crushed Olive and Seedless Preserves cardstock.  The flowers I used for embellishment came from my "stash, as I thought they were the perfect color.
     I really enjoyed this project and plan on displaying it on my dining room hutch.  I hope you enjoy it too and thanks for stopping by.  
      I am entering the Captured Memories Challenge at:  ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com.at           

 

              

   

"SUMMERTIME AND THE LIVING IS EASY"

     It's "summertime and the living is easy" or so they say -- it's been our warmest week of the summer so far (mid-90's) and we're ready for it to cool down.  However, because of the heat I've spent more time inside and tackled moving some of my papercrafting supplies to a better location and worked on a project to enter into a couple of challenges.  I am happy to say that I was selected as the winner of the Funky Challenge last week for my "Get Your Wendy On" entry, so I'm inspired to keep on creating!  
     For my current project, I cut a 5 1/2" square of watercolor paper and inked the background with Shabby Shutters, Crushed Olive, Weathered Wood, and Stormy Sky Distress Ink.  Next, using white stenciling paste, I stenciled the honeycomb design in a couple of places for texture, and colored it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I then stenciled some leaves with Crushed Olive Distress Ink to accent the white paper flowers that were sprayed with Tattered Angels Pashmina Glimmer Mist.  After the dragonfly from the Tim Holtz Classics #1 set was stamped with black Memento Ink, I colored it Distress Markers and then went over it with Polished  Pigment to give it shimmer.  I finished off the piece by cutting a ticket and spelling summertime with Tim Holtz Label Letters.  I'm entering this piece in the Simon Says Stamp and Show "Good To Be Green" challenge and the Frilly and Funky "Summertime" challenge.
                                      frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com
                                                        simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com

     Thanks for stopping by and have a nice day!

 

"PLAYING TAG"

     Our summer is beginning to heat up today (90 degrees), so I'm "playing tag" where it's nice and cool -- designing tags for a "Get Your Wendy On" Challenge.  Wendy is Wendy Vecchi,  a talented designer, teacher, etc. in the papercrafting world and since I've taken a couple of classes from her in the past few years and have collected many of her rubber stamps as well as some new stencils from her line, I decided to play along.  I really like the look of stencils and like to combine them with stamps, which I have done on both of my tags.
     The first tag was colored with Antique Linen and Stormy Sky Distress Ink and and then antiqued around the edges with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I next stenciled a flower and some blades of grass using the Wendy Vecchi stencil "3 Fresh Flowers", and Crushed Olive and Dusty Concord Distress Inks.  I then decided to try the black Wendy Vecchi Embossing Paste by stenciling along the right edge of the tag using a honeycomb stencil.  Next, I stamped a flower head and two butterflies with stamps from Wendy Vecchi collections.  After coloring them I cut them out and attached them to the tag.  I also cut out a blackbird with a Tim Holtz die for an added accent to the tag.
     I wanted to try some different things on my second tag.  I first
decided to stencil a background using the new brick stencil which I just received in the mail this week from the Funkie Junkie Boutique.  I used Antique Linen Distress Ink for the bricks and then colored the background with Stormy Sky and Tea Dye Distress Ink.  For something different, I mixed a drop of Dried Marigold Distress Ink refill into some white Embossing Paste and stenciled the flower head with it.  It wasn't quite dark enough, so after the paste dried, I colored it with Dried Marigold and Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I stenciled the stem with Crushed Olive.  The fence and saying were from Wendy Vecchi collections and I used Memento Black Ink to stamp them.  
     The tags were a lot of fun to make and gave me a chance to play with some new materials and stamps and stencils I had never used before.  I really like the "folk art" look that I think I achieved.  I hope you enjoy them too.
     These tags are entered at:  frillyandfunkie.blogspot.com
                           

  
    

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

     This is a birthday card I made for my great-niece, a little sweetheart who loves my Magnolia cards.  I used 2 layers of background papers from my stash and punched the top layer with a Martha Stewart punch.  The 2 images were stamped and colored with Copic Sketch Markers before I cut them out.  I used pop dots to attach the girl which gives the card some depth.  The flourishes were made with a Fiskers punch.  The paper flowers came from my stash as did the pink gemstones. 
     I am entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge which has the current theme of "anything goes".
     simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com
  

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

     It's a beautiful day here in Iowa -- a great day to celebrate our independence!  Our flag is gently waving in the breeze as a symbol of our freedom and long may it wave. 
     In honor of this day, I've created a patriotic tag using Distress Inks (Stormy Sky and Fired Brick) and Wendy Vecchi stamps.  First, I colored the tag.  Then using a Wendy Vecchi honeycomb stencil, I added a touch of texture with white embossing paste.  Using Memento black ink, I stamped some stars representing fireworks and the word "imagine".  The heart was stamped separately, colored, and cut out.  I used pop dots to attach it to the tag, thereby adding depth.  It was a fun tag to make as I didn't use all of the traditional symbols for the 4th of July, but used my imagination in choosing some stamps I had never used before instead.  I hope you enjoy it too.
     This tag is entered in the "anything goes" Challenge at:  simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com 

"SITTING ON THE FENCE" TAG

     Tags are just the ticket for me when I don't have a lot of time to play.  I had colored this tag a few days ago without a plan in mind, but when I got up this morning, I picked up my Wendy Vecchi "Dots and Stripes Border" stencil, embossing paste and knife and stenciled a row of stripes down the right side of the tag -- making it eligible for the Stripes Challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show.  The paste was dry by the time I finished breakfast, so it was time to decide how to finish the tag.  I decided to combine stamping and stenciling, so I went through my collection of Wendy Vecchi stamps until I found a flower that almost matched a flower on the "3 Fresh Flowers" stencil by Wendy Vecchi.  I stamped a flower on the tag and an extra one on a scrap of tag paper.  I stenciled the flower on the tag using Rusty Hinge and Crushed Olive Distress Ink.  After coloring the extra flower, I colored it and cut it out, and placed it over the stenciled one, giving it a nice 3-D look.  To pick up the "Stripes" theme, I cut out a white fence with the On the Fence Die, inked it with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, and placed it at the bottom of the tag.  I also cut a small black bird with the Movers and Shapers Mini Bird Cage and Bird die and placed the bird on the fence.  I cut a butterfly with the Butterfly Movers and Shapers Die and placed it in the corner of the tag for a finishing touch.  I hope you enjoy this tag.
     I'm entering this tag (#2) in the "Stripes" Challenge at:  simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com

                                                                                                                                                                                                       

COLORS OF SUMMER

     Another card, another Challenge -- Color Me Creative's theme for the current challenge is "Colors of Summer" and I have the perfect card featuring a cute Magnolia image.  I stamped the two images used on the card and then colored them with my Copic Sketch markers before cutting them out.  They are mounted on an oval which I colored with chalk.  The two ovals were cut with Spellbinders dies and mounted on papers from my stash.  The flowers were also from my stash and the tag embellishment is from my Tim Holtz collection of tags, etc.  Hope you enjoy all of the "colors of summer".

I am entering this card in the "Colors of Summer" challenge at: scrapbitzcopics.ning.com

CUTE MAGNOLIA CARD

     I haven't made a card featuring a Magnolia stamp for quite a while, but wanted to make something special for the 4th of July and thought this cute image and color combination was perfect.  It's also a good card to enter in the "Stripes" challenge at Simon Says.  I colored the image with Copic Markers and then fussy cut it and mounted it on an embossed oval.  The design behind the oval was cut using a Spellbinders die.  The background paper is a "stripe" or rather "stripes" running on the diagonal and is an older Reminisce paper from my stash.  The card base is Night of Navy by Stampin' Up.  It felt good to use my Copics again!  Hope you enjoy the card.
    

       
I'm entering this card (#1) in the "Stripes" Challenge at:  simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com  

KRAFT PAPER MINI- ALBUM

     The challenge at simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com is to use Kraft Paper or Kraft items in any shape or form and since I love the look of Kraft Paper, I decided to make a mini-album for some photos that I had tucked away in my computer for a long time.  First,  I printed the pictures of hand blown glass that had been displayed at a local botanical center and cut them down to the size that I wanted.   Next,  I cut several pieces of 4" x 4" Kraft Fun Day paper by My Mind's Eye and ran it through my Xyron and adhered it to some 4" x 4" chipboard pieces, covering both sides.  I then rounded corners with my Zutter corner rounder and inked the edges of each piece with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  After laying out the pictures, I decided what I wanted to use for embellishments and die cut  flowers and butterflys with the Tim Holtz/Sizzix Dies from a variety of Kraft-Core Cardstock which I had first embossed with a Swiss Dot embossing folder.  I then heat embossed them before placing them on the cover and pages of the album.  Sayings and images were a combination of Tim Holtz and Wendy Vecchi rubber stamps which I inked with Memento black ink.  Finally, I bound the album with my Zutter Binder using a 3/4" wire.  

     Below are pictures of the album cover and 2 of the pages.  I really enjoyed making this mini-album and I hope you enjoy it too.  Thanks for stopping by!

VINTAGE LOOK WITH KRAFT PAPER

     "Kraft" paper or anything "Kraft" related is the subject of a challenge at simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com this week and that made me think "vintage".  With that thought in mind I printed a copy of my Grandma and Grandpa Mock's 1898 wedding picture on a textured photo paper, which gives it a vintage look.  I have always loved this picture, so creating this tag was very special.
     I used a #8 kraft tag, which I

stamped with script using black

Memento and then added high-lights using Vintage Photo, Stormy Sky, and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks.  For a little texture, I used stencil paste and the honeycomb stencil.

Next, I die cut the Distressed Doily from kraft paper using the On The Edge Tim Holtz die and adhered it the left side of the tag.  Paper flowers were sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists Wild Currant and Fall Breeze.  Leaves that I cut from coffee filters were sprayed with Olive Vine.  Finally, I added an embellishment by Recollections that I purchased at Michael's.  

     I'm very pleased with the way this tag turned out and love the vintage look.  I've printed out a few more truly "vintage" family photos and can't wait to play with them.  After having put these photos in a scrapbook a couple of years age, it has been fun to do something completely different with them.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy this tag!  

    
    
    
    

HAPPY HUSBAND'S DAY

     I know it's officially Father's Day, but at our house, it's Husband's Day.  Since my husband, who is a great guy by the way, never wants any gifts, I surprised him and didn't buy him anything this year.  We kind of "gift" ourselves throughout the year, so it's difficult to buy things for special occasions.  I did "drive" him to breakfast though and made him a rather unusual card.
  

    
     I made this card in a Stampin' Up card workshop Saturday morning.  The "ocean" background was created with a "new-to-me" technique that used shaving cream.  I sprayed foamy shaving cream into a styrofoam plate and smoothed it out.  Next, dots of 3 different ink colors were randomly placed throughout the cream.  I then took a popsicle stick and pulled it through the cream and ink horizontally.  The white piece of coated paper was placed into the cream and patted down to make sure it was covered.  After removing the paper from the cream, I wiped it with paper towels until the cream was removed leaving a colorful background.  After the paper was dry, I stamped it in the usual manner.  It's a rather messy technique, but it does give you a "one-of-a-kind" look.  If you feel like playing sometime, this is something you might want to try!
     Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a great day.


    

BUTTON, BUTTON, WHO'S GOT THE BUTTON?

     Simon's Challenge this week is "Buttons", so I decided to create a canvas using the Tim Holtz Sewing Room die as the main element and embellishing it with BUTTONS.  I used a 5" x 7" mounted canvas as the foundation and colored it with Weathered Wood Distress Ink, accented with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I stamped it with a stamp from the Tim Holtz Papillon Rubber Stamp Collection and then used embossing paste to stencil it with a honeycomb design.  I cut the dress form and spool with the Tim Holtz Sewing Room die and colored them with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  I wrapped the dress form and spool with metallic ribbon.  White paper flowers were sprayed with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and assembled with a  small brad.  The outer edge of the canvas was wrapped with Tim Holtz tissue tape.

                                            

  
     This project was a departure from the "usual" for me and was a lot of fun as well as a good learning experience -- I hope you enjoy it too.  I am entering it in simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com  Thanks for stopping by.
 

SIMON SAYS GIVE ME AN "S" . . . .

     Since I've now collected a few stencils, I thought I would use them again and make a tag to enter in the "S" Challenge at
simonsaysshowandshare.blogspot.com.  I used a couple of different STENCILS and STAMPS to make this tag.  First, I colored the background with Weathered Wood Distress Ink, and then stenciled polka dots over it with Scattered Straw Distress Ink.  Next I blended several Distress Inks in the background, including Wild Honey, Scattered Straw and Rusty Hinge.  I stenciled the flower head with Rusty Hinge and Vintage Photo and the stem and leaves with Crushed Olive.  The bird was stenciled with Black Soot.  I stamped the butterfly and verse with Memento Black Ink.  I colored the butterfly image with Weathered Wood and Rusty Hinge, cut it out and then embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I added a little SPARKLE to the butterfly with blue stones.  The verse says "There are always flowers for those who want to see".  The verse, bird, and butterfly were from Wendy Vecchi. 

     I really like the look that is achieved using stencils -- it's clean and simple and reminds me of folk art.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy my tag.

     Just a short note about the day here in Iowa -- it's cool (low 70's) and cloudy.  We had some beautiful days this past week and if we're lucky we'll have some sunny days this week.  Thankfully, we've had less rain lately.

Hope everyone has a good week!

                                     

    

"INTO THE WOODS"

     I decided, at the last minute, to make this tag and enter it into the current Simon Says Stamp and Show Challenge, which has the theme "Into the Wood".  I already had the tag embossed and colored, so I just needed to come up with an idea as to how to complete it.  Since I didn't have a lot of time, I decided to limit myself to using embossing folders, dies, and of course, ink.  All of the supplies were Tim Holtz products, including the wood grain embossing folder and the Mover and Shapers dies and the On The Edge tree die.  The Distress Inks included Vintage Photo, Crushed Olive, Forest Moss, Pine Needles, and Fired Brick.  It was a really fun tag to make and I hope you enjoy it.  (I know everything is not quite in proportion, especially the cardinal, but I liked the touch of red. 

www.simonsaysstampandshow.blogspot.com

PLAYING WITH STENCILS

     Just a short post today, as it was a pretty uneventful week except for the thunderstorm late Thursday afternoon.  We had some rain, but mainly high winds (65+ mph).  Luckily we didn't have any damage, however when we drove down to Clark's Landing in Buffalo for dinner, we saw several trees down and the restaurant was closed because the power was out.  We drove to Rock Island IL for dinner and didn't really see any damage.  When we got home our cable was out, so it was a "quiet" evening.  It's cloudy and cool (60 degrees) today but no rain.  They expect flooding from the Mississippi River again in downtown Davenport, so they are busy putting up barriers again.
     I spent a little time yesterday playing with some stencils.  They are fun to use and give a different look to things.  I decided to make a tag triptyche featuring butterflies and some flowers -- thought it would look pretty on the hutch.  I used Distress Ink and a variety of stencils -- nothing too fancy, but pretty.

                                

                                  
     Hope you enjoy my attempt at stenciling.  Have a good day and stop by again.




    

MEMORIAL DAY

     It's a cool cloudy day, but at least it hasn't rained yet.  We've had two very cool days of rain, so it's about time for a dry day.  It's certainly not the weather people wish for on Memorial Day weekend.  It's been in the 40's at night and only in the 50's for the high temperature in the day and when we decided to turn on the heat Sat. morning to warm the house up a little, the furnace didn't want to cooperate.  Needless to say, it's been a little cool!  We finally got out our quartz heater and have moved it around from room to room, depending on where we were, which has helped.  Guess we'll be giving the repairman a call!  Our area has had about 5" of rain and more is predicted for this week.
     We went into town this morning to do our Memorial Day cemetary tour and took a floral arrangement out to my parents grave.  We took this

picture of the bell tower surrounded by flags at Memorial Park where they always have a large display of flags on Memorial Day.

We also happened on a Blue Heron in the pond near the front entrance of the cemetary and of course I couldn't resist taking his picture.  He was really tame and didn't seem to mind all of the traffic.  We have one of these fellows fly out of our

woods once in a while and Irv thinks

they may nest there.  I'm always surprised to see them away from the river, but guess they just like water.

They are a rather elegant bird!

     Well, I finally got back to a project I started a few weeks ago. "Paris" was a popular theme in the papercrafting world this Spring, so I couldn't resist trying to incorporate it into something.  Thus, I've made three tags which I plan to display on our buffet.  I used Distress Inks on them and cut out some images with my Big Shot.  I used some Kraft Core paper, which I embossed and sanded for an antique or distressed effect for some of the images.  The background for the tag with the umbrella man was a piece of printed tissue paper, while the other backgrounds were stamped.

All of the materials used were from Tim Holtz collections.

     I've been visiting a lot of "new-to-me" blogs the last couple of rainy days and have seen so many wonderful ideas -- now all I have to so is sit down and start creating!  I think I've gone on quite enough, but I have one more thought on this special day -- God Bless the USA and all those who have or are defending her!

     

    

   

  

    

    

   

         

"ANYTHING GOES"

     Just a short post today, as I've decided to enter a card in the Color Me Creative challenge at the last minute.  The image is a Magnolia stamp which I've colored with Copic Sketch Markers.  She makes me think "Spring" and is a real cutie.  I hope you enjoy it.                  
                             

SWEET SMELL OF LILACS
    
     The wrens are singing as they busily build nests in two bird houses and the sweet smell of lilacs fills the air -- sure signs that Spring is here. 

     The temperatures this week have really been up and down --
92 degrees on Tuesday and then down in the 50's the next night.  It's in the 80's today with on and off rain showers.  Many of the fields in the area have been planted and Irv has all of his flowers in, so a little rain is OK -- sun is out now, so it will be humid.

     The week was a busy one, so I really didn't have the opportunity to get creative.  We went to DeWitt on Tuesday to go on an African Safari (via slides) and then saw the movie "The Great Gatsby" with lunch at Red Lobster afterwards.  I had really been looking forward to the movie and wasn't disappointed -- it was absolutely beautiful.  We don't have as much planned for this week, so just maybe I'll have a chance to play! 

     I can't believe that Memorial Day is just around the corner --
hope to see you then.  Enjoy the lilacs and have a great day!