The Nutcracker featuring Art Impressions Girlfriends!

November was my month to select an image for our card swap.  I chose the ever-so-fun and silly Art Impressions “Girlfriend’s” that are workin’~ it in both tutus and on bouncy balls! Our challenge was to use both or one of these images with a humorous theme.

T
is’ the season~I thought I would tie both of them in together performing “The Nutcracker” as Sugar Plum Fairies and at Bounce Class!  I really had some crazy fun with this once I found the right papers and theme. I think my new favorite colors are; purple, cherry red, cream, touch of green and gold!

Stamps: Art Impressions “Girlfriends”

Ink: Copic & Tim Holtz Distressed

Card stock: Bazzill

Decorative Papers: Graphic 45, Echo Park

Sentiments: Word “Opera Font”

 Goggled: Dance Quotes

Retro “Dunkies” Thermos

 So I am minding my own business one night and my sweet daughter Kala and her good friend Ashley storm down the stairs into my basement with a “Surprise” for me!  Excitedly, Ashley is holding something behind her back while Kala is looking onward to witness my reaction.  Ashley reveals my gift and exclaims “Look what we found for you!!!”  They had just arrived home from shopping a few second hand stores for articles of clothing and props for Halloween costumes and the play that Ashley is in.  They paid almost nothing for it-but could not resist since ‘I gotta have my Dunkies iced coffee every day!’

A very large Dunkin’ Donuts Thermos in perfect condition!  We had a good laugh and I suggested how I am going to hold onto this “artifact” because somewhere in time it will be worth a fortune! We laughed together!

I can see it now, my kids-- kids-- kids (all the way down the genealogy line of future generations to come) will find it boxed up in the back stacks of storage in the remains of this house and bring it to a traveling “Antiques Road Show” event. There, it will be broadcast on PBS as a one hit wonder and crowds will surround their colorful and gigantic pristine tubular find!  They’ll wonder what it was used for and why anyone would NEED that much coffee in one day.  Did people use it to bring it to their jobs or on a week’s vacation to a place that sold no coffee?  Did they carry it as an accessory just in case they needed a little lift throughout their day?  How long would the coffee stay hot in this tubular form and is there a microwave chip gadget inside to keep it hot? What, no buttons or wires to plug this thing into a wall—it’s not WIFI’d?  Why can you not see the bottom of the mirrored inside capsule of this thing they called a “thermos”? And, if it keeps something hot, does it also have the ability to keep something cold for a long period of time?

The experts at Antiques Road Show will list a price below its picture as;

Dunkin Donuts Thermos: $10,000 - $20,000

(The standard size coffee mug was used as a size –scale comparison in this photo.)

White on White Winter Scene

I am teaching a card class this November and one of my challenges for this class is to create a card that does not involved a lot of fussing around.  This card is as no fuss as picking up a handful of snow to make a snow ball!

1) White card stock (5.5 x 5.5 card base size)

2) Accent color mat card stock (blue)

3) Dotted Embossing folder (snow)

4) Memory Box dies (background scene & decorative swirly tree)

5) White ribbon (dotted pattern)

6) Bling! (One card with blue to coordinate with blue accent mat and one card with clear/silver bling)

This card took about ten minutes to create. Your only challenge is to make sure you are using the same white card stock-because as we all know—all “whites” are not the same!

Quilled Sunflower Patch!

It all started with the recent autumn air cooling things down at night.  I usually peruse the craft store aisles for the new yarns to start a lil’ somethin’ on one of my knitting looms and like everyone else, I turn my attention to sunflowers and fall colors.  I always seem to run out of these colors in my Quilling box before the first frost!

Tomorrow, I am teaching a card design class and thought since I made some sunflowers I would doll ‘em up and put them in a vase to give to each of my attendees as a thank you gift.  I needed just the right size vase bottle in order to house just one quilled sunflower—not too big-not to small.  I started to look for vases at the craft stores to no avail.  Then, while grocery shopping I came across the cutest lil’ wine bottles…sure enough the perfect size and with slightly tinted green glass—Perfect! And, not to forget to mention my darling husband and I shared a toast in order for me to get this project on the move!  Win-Win!

Supplies: 

Hand Quilled Flowers

Cricut Leaves /Home Décor Cartridge

Sizzix Frame Back Ornate#3 & Banner

Cuddlebug Paisley Embossing Folder

Halloween theme buttons

Bassill Cardstock

October Afternoon Homemaker

Rickrack and twine

“Happy Autumn”-word document

Lili of the Valley Stamps & Spellbinders Lacey Oval Dies

Lili of the Valley Stamps & Spellbinders Lacey Ovals Dies

Stamps: Best Dress, Milly Just For You, Rosie Posy, Emma Presents & Swing Time

 I received these stamps as gifts and have to say…they are not only adorable but very versatile.  Just for kicks, I  designed a cameo of each of these stamps—adorable as they are without any applications.  But, by using the Spellbinders Lacey Ovals dies-I created an altered variation of a stamp.  I love to do this with my Spellbinders dies which is to create the appearance that the image is running off the die.  If you are not careful, you can end up with a hole in the head of one of your cutie stamped images, and if that happens…’tis only paper—do over!

So, I stamped, embossed, colored (with Copics) and cut out each image leaving no original white background paper.  Then, I glued the images to a clean piece of  cream colored card stock. {No special glue needed very just a few zips of permanent tape runner.) I fit the image into the best size Lacey Oval-taped it with removable tape, ran it through my Grand Calibur (once to cut and once to emboss) and Pop!—this is a new variation of the same image.  It may seem like extra work, but if you stamp and color on basic white card stock—this gives you another alternative to apply the image on any background color you wish! Plus, with it going through the Grand Calibur process, it adheres the image without any loose ends.

www.liliofthevalley.co.uk

www.spellbinderspaperarts.com

My Inner Nerd...

We all have our inner-nerd and today I got to put a lil' on a card!  QueenieJO, one of my long distance "sister's" from our  SCS swap chose this digi- image"Genius" from Tiddly-Inks, and out of  nowhere came my monster buttons, eyelet outlet big glasses brads and I was off to find some funky nerdy books and some Smartfood to c/p from Google!  Of course, before I started this task--I had to make a quick stop at Absolutely Everything for some fun papers from Echo Park and Carta Bella! {Yes, I make excuses to go to this store!!!}

So, welcome to my blog Genius...you made the cut! :)

Tree Pose

My dear friend Patti from SCS suggested we each make a 6x6 scrap page of ourselves and share one with everyone in the group that wanted to participate in this project.  Twelve of us participated and now I have a mini photo album which includes some really terrific women which have all become important friends to me.  Our project was to include a photo and a few of our favorite things in life!

I was as wits end about having my picture taken, but my SIL was kind enough to offer her time, expertise and the tree in her front yard in order for me to strike a pose!

I used the tree as the main  theme for my page which worked perfectly with my Spellbinders vine, MemoryBox flourish and leave dies. I love it when Word graphics works in my favor as I had fun setting up the font to compliment the theme.  My name tag was made out of a chunky Sizzlix die x 3 cuts to give the black shadow to coordinate with my shirt and my border.  How would it be possible to have a tree theme w/o a bird?  Martha Stewart’s dove with heart punch is perched on top of the background vine.

The wooden clips serve a purpose as a photo of my kids is on the back of my photo—hubby and Muddy didn’t make the cut! (Next time guy’s!)  The back of my project consisted of a homemade crossword puzzle-it’s not perfect but I think it gets my point across!

Thanks Patti—this was fun!

Share a Minute?

So, all of you who know me-- pretty much know my all time favorite “LSS” (Local Scrap Store) is none other than “Absolutely Everything” in Topsfield, MA.  Even while working at Michaels and every time I teach a class or buy my SCS secret sister a goodie, I boast about “AE”.  Kate, the owner and her hard working crew, really keep this store fresh, filled with new exciting things for each visit.  She offers great customer discounts and everyone who works there is knowledgeable and eager to assist the customer.  It is truly mine and others therapeutic experience to walk into this store—all negative things drip away with each impending aisle of creative ideas, fresh merchandise and handfuls of freshly printed decorative papers. Oooo lah-lah! It is the best place to go if you are experiencing any temporary lack of creative mojo—I guarantee you will walk out with a head full of fresh ideas and a bag full of the latest merchandise on the market!  If you take a break to the restroom it too is decorated with incredible hand painted artwork and wise inspirational literature and song phrases!  There is no escaping the elevation of excitement here!

So, for the past few months, Absolutely Everything has had a promotion going that if you spend $25.00 in the store, you fill out a chance coupon and entered in the “Marathon Run”.  Easily, I had  5-6 of these chances sitting pretty in the lucky bag and today was the day for the 1 minute (think about this) à1 minuteà to grab handfuls of items (“No duplicates and no stuffing things in our girlie underwear bits, no wearing an oversized sleep shirt to serve as a carry-all, no stretchy head bands where you think a few dies or blingies might hide in your tresses and definitely no busting the seams of your favorite stretchy work out pants—hands/arms only!) I took this seriously and had the notion to have my darling husband roll up the sleeves on my “lucky t-shirt” so I could jam things under my armpits and my skin would hold it in place-- before I left the house this afternoon!

There had to be at least 100 crafters storewide. We were mingling; shopping last minute chances were ringing up at the register like it was lottery day!  The Marathon Bag was bursting with little scraps of white paper and all of our names were in that bag!  We could slice the tension with a paper trimmer!  All of us casually milling around the store and memorizing where your favorite things were on display.  I had so much fun chatting with my peers and cracking ‘what if jokes’-- about people getting carried away –the lack of space to run and grab—oh we were giggling with nervous anticipation and then all of a sudden, it was time…

Kate, in a very loud inside voice, announced the rules which some were suggested by her good friend Mr. Tim Holtz and he’s a toughie when it comes to rules—hence the no putting goodies in one’s shirt and no substitute runners-regardless if you have a broken leg! Ha-ha

Kate reached into the large clear plastic bag…the room was so quiet you could hear a pack of charms hit the carpeting…no one answered the name.  Sigh of relief, again, Kate called out another name….silence….no answer!  If your not present you cannot win….stated in the original bylaws small print…Then, Kate pulled and looked at the third chance ticket and said…”Oh she’s here”…(all the ‘she’s in the room knees got weak) the entire room gasped and leaned foreword…

”Kathleen S-----“!

All of a sudden, a woman, a few display racks away from my circle of fans move back.   Kathleen drops her purse and runs towards the other room.  We hear she is at the Tim Holtz section of the store. (We all stood frozen.) Kate was Kathleen’s shadow calmly counting down the seconds and then, they reappear with Kathleen lugging a Vagabond die cut machine and armfuls of Tim’s dies as she puts it up on the counter, one die drops to the floor and she announces; “I’m Done!”  We all urged her to continue...she had some second’s remaining.—“RUN…GO…Kathleen!!!”  Kathleen threw her arms up in the air and she was done!

I called out to her name to ‘look this way for a picture’….She looked-I clicked haphazardly but I got it!  Applause and excitement and congratulations were hollered from the sea of crafters in every gully of the store...”Ahhhh, that was fun!” was announced by a lot of us.

They tallied up Kathleen’s winnings and Kate said, I think there are more seconds left over on the time clock—I am going to choose another name…all I heard was a huge sigh of a deep breaths from everyone standing around me—no way—yes way…another name!!!

Kate announces another name…..<silence> (“good for us!”  comes from the immediate audience)…Kate announces another name…<silence>… Kate picks another name from the bag and very slowly announces Suuuusaaaanne <my pounding heart> Gleeeeasonnnnnn!  10 seconds………..

My body went into shaking shock mode—and I think I screamed, “THAT’S ME!!!”  I dropped my purse, camera and turned around…running over two aisles of the Spellbinders dies on the wall—my eyes were blurred out of focus my head felt on fire and I grabbed one die, then somewhere I said the word “MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE” to myself (that slow motion dream like sensation) I ran back to grab the very large Copic storage bag and with the other hand grabbed the pack of new Copic markers and I heard. “That’s 10!” As I turned and ran towards the front of the store counter and crashed my bulky winnings on top of the counter!  I was so-so shaky happy, nervous, excited tears were welling-up…my new friends had grabbed my camera and were signaling me to look their way taking MY picture this time! (In my head, all I am thinking is I forgot to put make-up on today!)  I had to calm myself with 100 deep breaths and my new friends that I had been joking with just moments before were hugging and congratulating me!  It’s that feeling like your head is at the top of a rocket headed for outer space and your body is limp from shock!  Unreal and so much fun!

Thank you Kate @ Absolutely Everything, Topsfield, Ma and thank you to a very generous Kathleen S for sharing her BIG minute of fame and fortune with me! ---This is going down as one of my favorite days! J

Wanda... with a punch of color!

While snapping some shots of Loralie's dear "Wanda" this morning, my digital camera bleeped  a message portrayed on the screen, "Batteries Exhausted"!  I reached into my plastic rolly-cart drawer and hidden amongst the bottom of one of my stash  was a fresh pack of  Lithium energizer batteries--Yahoo!  If only life was this easy to recharge!  They stayed in their hiding place--no XBox dudes raiding my pack of pretty silver batteries this time--Wanda shines today! 

I adore this stamp although, she doesn't quite fit the common greetings--with her bit of 'boobalisciousness', pouty lips and fabulously curly leaning tower mane--her stance wreaks sarcasm...for which I reached for a Art Impressions sentiment!

The caption reads:

In a recent On-line poll 38,562 men across the UK were asked to identify a woman's ultimate fantasy. 98.8% of the respondents said that a woman's ultimate fantasy is to have two men at once.  While this has been verified by a recent sociological study, it appears that most men do not realize that in this fantasy, one man is cooking and the other is cleaning.

I just wanted to show off my new stamp I bought off the owner of my favorite local stamp store ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING, Topsfield, MA.  Kate, the owner, had this stamp on her desk (not sure why, because there were none to buy in stock), but she was kind enough to sell it to me and I just love this 1950's - 1960's hot mama!  It kind of reminds me of my mom when she was home for the holiday's cooking with her 'good' apron on!  Seems like 40 years ago...wait...it was! :)

Quilled cards say it in style!

Oh what the heck...posting another card!

My dear friend Patti from Ohio was my secret sister this round and she sent me loads of goodies, one of which is the fabulous pearl style quilling strips I used in this card to express my many thanks to her.  Now...no comments on the 'blurry picture' that's a whole nuthah' issue I need to work on!  I'll have to design a make-shift tripod out of Popsicle sticks and duct tape...for these groovy lil' digi cams can really be sensitive---What I gotta stop breathing in order to hold still to take a picture?  

Happy Easter Everyone!

This is one of those holiday days where I do NOT cook, prep, clean, buy flowers, spruce up the house-have way too much food left over to eat for a week...we simply met up with family, had a nice breakfast, good conversation with plenty of coffee at 10:00am est, and were on our way!  Done!

I am going to be better at writing on my blog-I promise--so with that in mind, I thought I would post one of my Easter cards (and get some practice managing this medium)  So, here goes...