C4C71

I wanted to share with you a card I have made for Crazy 4 Challenges.

Recipe:
Stamps: Poppy by Stacy Stamps; Script by Impression Obsession; Sentiment by Hero Arts
Markers: Copic
Die shape: Spellbinders Label 10
Ink: India Ink Black
Paper: Cardstock by PopTones; Designer paper by K & Co (Que Sera Sera) & My Minds Eye

Hope you enjoy the card.

That's it for now, thanks for stopping by,see you soon,

MMSC88

Time for a new challenge from priscillastyles, home of the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge. Here is my take on the newest challenge. I decided Easter would be a great theme to use for this fabulous layout.

Stamp:Easter Chicks Set 426 from  Sparkle N Sprinkle

Paper: PopTones and Inky Antics DP

Accessories: Colored w/Copic Markers; Nesties Labels 10
 
That is it for today, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

Wanted: 2 or 3 Fabulous Ladies

Have you heard??? Let's Ink It Up is looking for 2-3 fabulous and creative ladies to join their design team and the call is open til midnight January 30, 2011. The LIIU Design Team position is for 6 months. So, if you want to have fun and share your creativity then by all means click here to review the details for the Let's Ink It Up Design Team call.

Here are my 3 cards for review:

 That's it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

Snow and Easter

Well it snowed for most of the day Thursday and now the weatherman is forecasting more snow to come next week. The Farmer's Almanac predicted a snowstorm between Jan. 15-21 . They hit that on the nose, and here is what the Almanac is saying, Jan. 22-25 snow squalls and bitter cold and Jan. 26-31 snow showers and cold. The weatherman is saying, Arctic cold temps.with single digits for last nite and tonight. And yep he was right  about last nite, and so was the the Almanac. Wind chill below zero and more snow to come. We got 4.9"  of snow Thursday.

Well, as all that weather is going on, I've been making a few cards and even made one for Easter. Even though Easter is late this year I thought you'd like to see it and get into the Easter mode. Maybe this card will warm you up.(OK, OK, I am a couple of holidays ahead.)

Isn't that chick cute??? I even added a feather to his head to give him even more personality.Check out those eggs. They are glitter paper that I made myself. And it is so easy to do. You can make your own, get the color you want and save a whole lot of money, as glitter paper is about $3.00 per 12X12 sheet. And if you only need a small piece, you won't have to buy a big sheet just to get a little piece or not find the color you are in need of. If you want to learn how I make my glitter paper click here to see my tutorial.

That chick is in the new Easter set available at Sparkle N Sprinkle. He is in set #426. That set has a total of 10 stamps. To check out that set click here.

Well that's it for now, thanks for stopping by, see you soon and keep warm,

 

I Have Been Published and some new card designs for you

WOW!!!!!     I have been published in the March issue of CardMaker Magazine on pages 16 and 17. The March issue is on the newsstands  right now. That's so exciting!!! Here is a link to an online extra to see one of the designs that I submitted. Here are 2 more photos of items that I submitted.The photos of the items in the magazine are so much better than these pic's so you'll want to check out the magazine. If you get a copy of the CardMaker magazine, make sure to look at the complete instructions outlined on the two pages.

The stamps I used are Sparkle N Sprinkle's medallion stamps. I really like using medallion stamps because you can get double duty out of the stamps. You can just stamp the image once and get a great image as seen on the pink card below. However, if you stamp the image multiple times and then cut those images out, you can add dimensional foam and achieve a 3-D raised look. Those looks are so cool on cards, boxes, gift bags and many other things. I have added a raised dimensional medallion to the gold/yellow pillow box.

I just had to share that piece of exciting news with everyone.

Boy, I have had a busy few weeks so that's why it's been quiet here on the blog. But, behind the scenes, I've been quite busy designing about 8 or 9 new cards and I thought today I would share a few cards with you that I just completed.

Cards designed using new stamp sets.

These cards are using stamps from three new stamp sets 424, 427 and 428 from Sparkle N Sprinkle. Click on the link and check out those new sets. If you like music themed stamps or if you are looking for new music themed stamps, I think you are going to love these new releases.


Stop back tomorrow for additional cards with new designs, so until then.........
Thanks for stopping by

Look who came to stay.

Sorry I haven't posted for a while, I have had a project to complete and get mailed. I am going to the Post Office first thing in the morning to get my project out the door and on its way.I will be posting some new cards you might like to see, so stay tuned for another post tomorrow.

Yesterday, the mailman delivered the cutest snowman I have seen in a long time. This cutie was an item that I won on TheHive in a contest that was put on by Patrick at The Cre8or's Touch. The snowman made it just in time, as we are expecting 4-6" snow tonite and thru tomorrow evening. He will be packed away and will be brought out next year in time for the holidays. And he will fit right in with all my other Christmas decorations.

I mentioned TheHive and if you are not a member you should come on over and join. No charge and you will have a lot of fun. Everyone on TheHive is so nice and you have many opportunities to win prizes and learn new things and meet new people. And make sure you check out The Cre8tor's Touch while you are at TheHive.

Well that is it for this post. Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.

Barbara

12 Months of the Seasons

Hello everyone,

As I was cleaning and straightening up my studio, I saw this accordion folded book laying out and decided to share it with you today before I filed it away again. I had this out because I shared some of the pages with everyone who attended the Wednesday Night Live in C&T Publishing’s Digital Lounge.

Each Wednesday night at 9:00 pm (EST) there is a 1 hour show of craft demos etc. It is a great time, and the projects are always great, so, try to join in the fun.

OK, back to the accordion fold book. I made this book almost 2 years ago in a club I belonged to.The project lasted 12 months and we were to bring a 6"X6" panel to add to an accordion fold book. We decided to use the theme of the 4 seasons. So, at the meeting in Jan., Feb., and Mar., we were to bring one panel in at each month's meeting in the winter theme, Apr., May and June meetings were a spring theme, and so on, throughout the whole year, til the book was done. When we brought our panels in, we showed everyone what we had done, explained how we did it and then we drew numbers and took someone else's panel home. Well, with that in mind, I wanted to have a book of the panels I made, as well as a book of the ones I received each month. So, when I made my panels I made 2 the same. One of the panels that I made, went into one of my books the other panel was given away. The panels that I received, went into the other book.

Here are the photos of all the panels I made.

This is the cover.

 I painted it gold and adhered a piece of paintable wallpaper in the center.

The first season was WINTER

The deer I used was a copy of one that was in a grungeboard package. Since I needed 2 deer and only had one, I just copied the one onto the chipboard and cut it out. The tree was my design. I made the trunk out of chipboard and wrapped it with wire. As I wrapped I then added the naked branches and got what my minds eye saw, as a winter tree. As I started these panels I wanted to have a wire element on each months panel, but that just didn't work out. The next panel shows  2 photos of the snow in my backyard and the third was a window that I made. The bird was a picture off the internet, printed onto ink jet transparency. and the pine trees are stamped onto white cardstock. I sandwiched everything to give the illusion of looking out a window and seeing that bird.

 Next was SPRING

 

The background on the bird panel is actually from one of those $1.00 calendars you see at Michael's and various other places. I stamped a bird and cut it out and adhered it over the calendar image. The next panel was all stamped and hand drawn by me, using another panel from that cheap calendar as the inspiration. Lastly, the butterfly was a cutout from something and the flowers were stamped and cut out, stems hand drawn and the butterfly added.

Next was SUMMER

 

Summer just reminds me of beaches and mature flower beds. So again, I used another calendar page as a background of the beach scene and added bathing suits, The next panel is a collage of dried flowers and a scene from somewhere. The third panel is a hand drawn panel of flowers, these reminded me of hollyhocks from afar.

Finally we are into FALL

The panel for Halloween was inspired by a picture I saw in a magazine. I drew this house and the tree. Stamped the bat and the spider web and added the paper border at the bottom. Next panel,,I used another calendar page that showed this foot bridge in the fall. The leaves were die cut and colored with Twinkling H2O's, which is a product like Glimmer Mist but in solid form. I just surrounded the picture of the bridge with those leaves. The last panel is a stamp the I've had for years from Nature's Blessings. After I colored it I thought it really looked like a harvest bounty.Perfect to finish up the fall theme.

As I added the panels into the book, I designed a border to compliment each panel.

Hope you like the book as much as I do. It's fun to get it out and look at all the panels and remember.

Well that is it for today, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,

Storage Jar

I just finished up on a project last nite late and today as I was straightening up, I decided I needed  storage for scissors etc. close to my Big Shot. Yesterday, as I took my vitamins, I noticed the plastic container the vitamins come in was just about empty. (And that container is pretty big.) At that time I wondered what I could use that container for. And today, it came to me.

OK, so, what do you get when you combine an empty plastic vitamin container, paintable wallpaper and of course, paints??? 

Why, you get a faux metal container. Here are 2 views.

Thought I would briefly share how I did this.

You will want to get:

paintable wallpaper

copper acrylic paint

hazelnut acrylic paint

sage green acrylic paint

empty plastic container

Matte Medium

Matte Finish (spray)

Foam Brushes

I bought this paintable wallpaper a few years ago. I fell in love with it because it resembles the old tin ceiling tiles. I have used paper off this roll for so many different projects, it's kind of my go to paper for lots of things. Paintable wallpaper is hard to find, at least here in my area. I was able to find his at Lowe's. You may find some there or at a wallpaper store or a paint store. This pattern is just so cool and the squares are just the right size for this container. First, I cut the wallpaper to the desired size. (Set aside for now.) Next I painted the exposed areas on the plastic container. I started off with the sage green, next, I painted the copper all over the green, using a dry brush technique. Then, I used the hazelnut to tone down the copper paint. You will want to make sure the paint is dry before adding your next color. I even painted the bottom and the rim.. Set the container aside to make sure its thoroughly dry.

Next, take the wallpaper and start with a base of hazelnut, painting this color all over the whole piece. Let dry, then apply copper all over, using a light hand, sort of like a dry brush technique. Last, using the sage green, lightly dry brush over the raised areas of the wallpaper. You will want to look at the whole piece of wallpaper to see if this is looking like old copper. If  you need to tone down the copper, you can use the hazelnut and if you need to add patina, then use more sage. You will get the look of old metal using these 3 colors, you will just have to play with the colors and their combination to get the right effect. And every project will be different as to how much of each of these colors you use.

To adhere the paper to the container, I used Matte Medium by Liquidtex or Golden. This works great and I use this often in many projects that I need to adhere paper to stuff. Works great in collage projects and a whole host of other uses. Let everything dry then seal the whole piece with Krylon Matt Finish spray.

Now this is ready to hold tools and will not look like a plastic vitamin container. It's time for you to try this fun project. Try it and see how yours turns out. I am sure it look great.

Hope your new year is off to a good start.

Well that is it for today, thanks for stopping by, see you soon,