Today's project is for the My Favorite Things December Guest Designer contest which is to include any kind of stitching. I am rather last minute with this but I've been suffering from a bad cold the past couple of days and just haven't felt like doing a whole lot. Sorry about the photo quality as I did not have any natural light today.
I stamped the Bottom of My Heart WTG image onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock and then again onto patterned paper so I could paper piece the dress portion. The skin was colored with Copic Markers and then I trimmed the dress pieces and cut out the heart with felt, attaching all to the stamped piece. I added a few pearls for a necklace and double matted the image to give it a more presence. Once I had my main image completed, I then made my variegated flower using the MFT Die-namics Rolled Rose die. I cut it twice with a Cuttlebug, once in cream felt and the other in hot pink felt. I snipped each one in approximately the same place and switched out the colors slightly overlapping the ends and stitching together, then rolling to form the flower as per usual. I don't think I explained that very well so I've included a photo. I've saved the second flower for a future project.
I cut the felt hearts using another MFT Heart a Plenty Die-namics combining cream, red and hot pink felt. I stitched around the largest heart and glued them together as shown. I did some additional mixed up machine stitching on the card background, assembled everything together and added a brown gingham bow and a couple of Making Memories pins. The patterned paper is some old Love Elsie from Ki Memories.
Products: My Favorite Things stamp and Die-namics, PTI cs and felt, Ki Memories dp, Making Memories stickpins, Copic Markers
For all my USA friends, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration. We had a great holiday other than that darn ballgame which Alabama just gave away. Aargh! We had lunch with my sister and her family at my aunt's house. After visiting a while there we went on to my stepson and his wife's house to eat dinner. We watched the Iron Bowl with them on Friday and then got up early Saturday morning and headed home. I had great intentions of starting on the Christmas decorating but the house was cold when we came in since I had lowered the thermostat to save money. When it got warm I got relaxed and lazy. I just spent the day doing a whole lot of nothing for a change. Now for today's project. I was intimidated by this image until I actually started coloring it. It was mostly about about shadows especially since I decided that the bears should be Polar. It's hard to believe that I used 13 different Copic colors because it looks like I hardly it colored it all. Since the image contained so much white I wanted to keep it simple so I wouldn't overpower it. Both patterned papers are olders one from my stash.
(Click to enlarge)
Products: Stampavie stamp, Fancy Pants and Autumn Leaves dp, My Favorite Things Die-namic, PTI scallop die and cs, Doodlebug jewels, Ranger Stickles, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers Copics: Greenery-YG11, YG23, YG25; Bears-E50, E51; Sky-B0000, B000; Snow-B0000, B000, BV0000; Berries-R46; Road-C00, C1
Have a great Sunday. I'm hoping to get a little more productive today!
I haven't had a chance to participate in the daily gratitudes on Facebook so today's post is about some of the things that I am grateful for. Oftentimes I think we (including me) concentrate on the negatives rather than the positives. So on this day of Thanksgiving here are mine:
Health. It really is something I take for granted but I do thank God that both Don and I remain relatively healthy.
My home. It's a struggle to pay for it sometimes but I am grateful that so far we are able to make our payments and we are not underwater with it. It isn't a dream home by any measure but it is our shelter from the storm.
My family. I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a stepmother, a sister, an aunt, a niece and a cousin. I am lucky that my son and his family live close and that I now have a good relationship with my son. I'm very grateful that my step family is so wonderful to me. I love them like they are my own children and grandchildren. And as far as my extended family - there aren't many of them left but I cherish all of them. I didn't exactly hit the jackpot in the parent department but I had the best grandparents in the world to make up for it.
Weight loss. I am gratified that I have lost the majority of the weight I needed to and that I am taking better care of myself such as eliminating artificial sweeteners and giving up soft drinks.
Creativity. Thank God I am creative because I don't know what I would do with myself considering my perpetual state of unemployment.
Wine. I don't think I need to elaborate any further.
The South. I'm glad I'm a southern girl.
You. I am continually surprised and gratified that I have people all over the world who are interested in my creativity. I am about to reach a year of blogging (more about that later) and I am so very grateful that you have spent some of your valuable time here.
I wish for you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving.
Today is the last of the football related cards and features Auburn colors (see the Alabama version in yesterday's post). I used the same My Favorite Things image but just colored a different uniform on him. I really didn't have a navy blue but after coloring with the blues I did have, I colored around the edges with a dark charcoal gray in an effort to deepen the color. I had orginally planned on putting numbers on both this one and the Alabama card; 22 for Alabama's Heisman Trophy winner last year and #2 for (hopefully) Auburn's this year. But considering the current situation at Auburn I elected to just leave both jerseys numberless. The tiger sticker came from the same sheet I used on yesterday's card. What are the odds that I would find both an elephant and a tiger when I needed them?! I did cut the tiger into two pieces and placed them separately to stretch him out. Otherwise he would have been mostly covered up by the image panel. I went digging around in my stash again and found the brads which I clustered in a group for a bit of added interest. In other words, I have no sports related embellishments so I had to improvise.
Products: My Favorite Things stamp, My Mind's Eye and October Afternoon dp, American Crafts and Queen and Co. brads, PTI button and cs, Copic Markers Copics: Skin-E33, E35, E37, R29; Uniform-C00, C1, B93, B95, B97, N7, YR01, YR12, YR14, E99; Cleats-N5, N7, N9
It's going to be a busy few days. the big Thanksgiving celebration then Friday is the Iron Bowl game between Alabama and Auburn. I don't really like it being on that day because traditionally that is when I like to start my Christmas decorating. I've never been a Black Friday shopper unless I do it online so no loss there at least. Thanks for stopping by. I would like to encourage you not to stress about the holiday - just enjoy it.
Today's card features my very first attempt at African-American skintones. I did a search on the internet for the most commonly used Copic marker color groupings. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of the colors mentioned so I had to figure out a color combo based on the colors I own. And of course my little football guy had to have Alabama Crimson Tide colors on his uniform. I stamped the My Favorite Things stamp onto Bazzill Simply Smooth Cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I cut the image with a Nestie and then colored with Copic Markers. The red houndstooth paper is by Jillibean Soup and the black is some older Cherry Arte. I generally followed this week's Sketch for You to Try although I made my card portrait rather than landscape. I found the Junkitz photo corners/brads in my stash and also the elephant sticker with a copyright of 2003. I'm in the process of purging and organizing my craftroom so I'm finding all sorts of things I had long forgotten.
Products: My Favorite Things stamp, PTI cs and buttons, Jilliebean Soup dp, American Crafts letter sticker, Martha Stewart grass punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
I am preparing cornbread dressing today. I'll put it uncooked in the fridge for the flavors to get mixed and mingled and then get up extra early on Thanksgiving morning to bake it before we drive to my aunt's house.
Not only is it Thanksgiving and Black Friday week but it's also Iron Bowl week here in Alabama. That means football of course - the annual Alabama vs Auburn game, our in state rivalry game. Think Michigan vs Michigan State, USC vs UCLA, Ole Miss vs Miss St. But of course those games are rather wimpy compared to ours! And although all the controversy and allegations about Auburn have threatened to ruin it, all we can hope for is that the truth, whatever it is, will come out in the end. At any rate, the little guy on this card is ready for some football too. And although I am a diehard Alabama fan, these colors are a nod to Auburn. I stamped the Lili of the Valley image onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock, cut out with a rectangular Nestie and then colored with Copic Markers. The extra football is from a My Favorite Things stamp set and I found the leaf brad in my stash. I followed this week's Taylored Expressions sketch (TESC 134) although I did flip it around and also eliminated the ribbon.
Products: Lili of the Valley stamp and My Favorite Things stamps, My Mind's Eye and October Afternoon dp, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
I'm not normally someone who likes purple of any hue but apparently I'm getting over that this year; especially when it's combined with lime green and aqua. Today's card is a simple one since I used a piece from the cut outs sheet from the Bo Bunny Winter Joy collection as my patterned paper.
Products: Lili of the Valley stamp, Bo Bunny dp and sticker; Kaisercraft jewels, American Crafts ribbon, Flower Soft, Ranger Stickles, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic markers
I haven't forgotten my November house projects list; however, I think some of them will have to carry over into December. I just haven't got as much done as I would like. I have to admit that a lot of it had to do with my attitude and general overall funk. I am currently in the process of cleaning out the furniture holding much of my craft room supplies so I can give the set to my granddaughter Clara. I haven't got as much done as I would like but I do have the chest of drawers emptied. Two more pieces to go which are the lingerie and the bedside chest. Of course the whole room looks horrible because I haven't found a place to put everything I've cleaned out. There is plenty of room now in the closet but I really haven't decided on an organizational plan for it yet.
Today's project is a combination Christmas ornament and money/gift card holder. If you remember I made another one several weeks ago which you can see here. I needed to make a more masculine version and this week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club challenge helped me put the plan in action. The challenge is based on the lyrics of "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music. As you can probably tell, my project was inspired by the "warm woolen mittens" line. Or in this case, one felt mitten. Just as in the other ornamentI started out using a piece from a Maya Road mitten shaped chipboard as my pattern. I traced it onto two pieces of red felt and then cut them out. I cut the border using a Paper Trey Ink scallop die and the snowflakes also from felt using the Let it Snowflake My Favorite Things Die-namics. I glued the border to the top and then sewed the felt snowflake/button combinations to the front of one mitten piece. I machine stitched the two pieces together inserting a loop of ribbon at the top for a hanger. There is tissue stuffed in the bottom of the mitten to make it poofy. I made a tag to go inside using a sentiment from the My Favorite Things Don't Open Until stamp set. The money was simply rolled up and tied with baker's twine. The tag matches the other simple set of gift tags I've made for all my Christmas packages this year. You can see them here if you missed them the first time around.
Products: My Favorite Things Die-namics and sentiment stamp, PTI felt, buttons and metal dies, May Arts ribbon, Martha Stewart baker's twine, Kaisercraft pearls, Making Memories foam sticker, Cuttlebug embossing folder
Today's project is a birthday card using a cute C.C. Designs Sweet November digital image "Penelope and Fiesta". I printed onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock, colored with Copic markers (I paper pieced the dress) and then cut out using a rectangular Nestie. This fits the challenge over at the All That Scraps Wednesday Challenge blog to create a birthday card in honor of the one year anniversary of the Sweet November line of stamps.
Products: C.C. Designs Sweet November stamp, Cosmo Cricket and My Mind's Eye dp, My Favorite Things Die-namics, PTI sentiment stamp, cs and buttons, Spellbinder Nestabilities, Copic Markers
It's been rainy and gloomy here for several days now and it's not helping my frame of mind at all. I love the holidays but there is so much that goes along with it that stresses me out, especially considering the economy. I'll work through it though. See you back here soon.
I'm trying for another masculine card. I really need the practice by going through the design process but they are definitely not my forte. This image is from the Digi Doodle Shop and is a digital one which I printed onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock. I colored with Copic Markers and cut out with a Spellbinders Nestie, sponging very lightly around the edges with Stampin' Up So Saffron ink while it was still in the die. I followed this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch (SSSC93) except I did make it a square and also reversed the layout. I added some messy stitching, a button and a wool feltie piece from the Basic Grey Wander collection. I then stamped the Papertrey Ink sentiment twice - one line on the background panel and another on the stamped panel.
Products: Digi Doodle Shop digital stamp, Basic Grey dp and wool feltie, PTI sentiment stamp and button, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
There is something about penguins that just make me smile. My friend Miranda makes the most awesome creations including lens pets (for your camera) and sock monsters.
She makes all kinds of fun and colorful creatures in addition to penquins. Check out her Etsy shop here, Mandee Franee Designs. And here is her Facebook page for tons of colorful inspiration.
Now on to my own penquins. This Stampavie Pile of Penquins image just makes me smile. Since they are piling on to create a Christmas tree shape it seemed natural to use some Christmas tree paper. I already had the paper picked out and the image colored and as a consequence I have this week's Sketch for You To Try much earlier than I normally do.
I needed a break from making Christmas cards so today's card is a Valentine. I need to start making these anyway as I intend on donating some to Operation Write Home. The deadline is January 7 and since there are two major holidays in between the sooner I get started the better. This Pure Innocence is a digital one but I'm hoping My Favorite Things decides to make it into a clear stamp. I printed the image onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock and then did a combo of paper piecing and coloring with Copic markers to get her all prettied up. And don't you love this paper? I'm so excited that My Mind's Eye is now making a 6x6 pad since I've always been such a huge fan of their products.
Products: Heather Ellis digital stamp, My Favorite Things Die-namics, PTI cs, felt and buttons, American Crafts and Fancy Pants ribbon, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02; Hair-E31, E33, E35, E37; Shoes-R11, R20, R22 This has to be short and sweet today. I hope all is well with you and your family. Thanks for stopping by.
I am really on a roll with my Christmas cards. Today's card follows this week's Taylored Expressions sketch; however, I rotated the sketch to better fit my stamped image and omitted the ribbon. I stamped the My Favorite Things image onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock and then colored with Copic Markers. I cut out the image and then used pops dots to superimpose it over the houses in the patterned paper.
Products: My Favorite Things stamp, October Afternoon dp, Papertrey Ink cs and buttons, Kaisercraft pearls, Fiskars border punch,Copic Markers Copics: Skin-E0000, E00, E02, RV10; Hat/Stockings/Gloves/Scarf-BG0000, BG10, BG11; Sled-R35, R37, R39, W5, W7; Tree-G20, G82, Y21, Y23
Today's card is another one I completed over the weekend for this week's Sketch for You to Follow challenge. I've been waiting for an opportunity to use this fun image from C.C. Designs Sweet November "Grumpy Georgia." I can identify with her today. Just in case, you notice she's added a couple of hearts to her letter; she's a hedging her bets kinda girl! It's a digital stamp that I printed onto Bazzill Simply Smooth Cardstock and then colored with Copic Markers. After cutting out I mounted onto a white Martha Stewart doily so it would really pop.
Products: C.C. Designs Sweet November digital stamp, Crate Paper, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Martha Stewart Doily, PTI cs and twill, Doodlebug rub-ons, Kaisercraft pearls and jewels, Copic Markers
Good morning. I hope your weekend was a good one. Ours was both good and bad. Alabama lost against LSU but my granddaughter Clara spent the night with us Saturday night which was fun. Of course she did get into my Copic markers right after I dressed her Sunday morning in a cute Hannah Andersson outfit we bought her last year. Purple, green and orange on both the top and a diningroom chair. The chair is ok but the outfit still has some light stains. It's a good thing I had plenty of blending solution or it would be a lot worse. Note to self, markers go under lock and key when a two year old is in the house!
Today's card is for My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club challenge which is a sketch this week. I've been using so much pink in my Christmas cards lately that I wanted to go back to the more traditional colors of red and green on this one. To add to the "list" theme I added a small colored pencil and added some scribbling on the paper the P.I. girl is holding. I also did some decorating on the inside.
Products: My Favorite Things stamp and Die-namics, Cosmo Cricket dp, May Arts ribbon, Kaisercraft pearls, Stampin' Up Notebook punch, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
Hello, I hope you are having a nice weekend thus far. I have another Christmas card for you today which I created using this week's Mojo Monday sketch. I have to say that I actually very loosely followed the sketch! Rather than the long rectangular piece I cut out my stamped image and placed directly down onto the main panel since I really wanted the background pattern to show through. The stamp is another digital one by C.C. Designs Sweet November "Darby and Pudge". I'll let you guess which figure is Pudge! I hope that branch he is perched on is a strong one! The paper I used is some more old Autumn Leaves Winter Garden from 2005.
Products: C.C. Designs Sweet November stanp, Autumn Leaves and Carolee's Adornit dp, PTI button and sentiment stamp, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Maya Road chipboard, May Arts ribbon, Basic Grey pearl, Flower Soft, Ranger Stickles, Copic Markers
I haven't been around much this week because I've been very busy. More about that later.
Today I have a card to fit the All That Scraps Wednesdays Challenge to make a Christmas card with any colors besides red and green. I started out by printing this really cute Sweet November Penelope and Juniper digital stamp onto Bazzill Simply Smooth cardstock. I colored with Copic markers and then cut out. A combo of Flower Soft and Stickles made the fluffy trim to complete Penelope's outfit. Doesn't she look like she has her face turned up toward the snow enjoying every minute of a beautiful winter day? I loved the image the minute I saw it (available in rubber too btw) but what put it over the top was her cute little feathered friend Juniper. Which is odd because I really don't like birds in general but this cute paper version isn't going to flap its wings at me nor does it have beady little eyes!
Products: C.C. Designs Sweet November digital stamp, Cosmo Cricket dp, My Favorite Things Die-namics, Papertrey Ink die, cs and buttons, Webster's Pages trims, May Arts ribbon, Kaisercrafts pearls, Pink Paislee glitter, Flower Soft, Ranger Stickles, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Spellbinders Nestabilities, Copic Markers
The completion of our October projects list was so satisfying that I thought I would continue on through November as well. Unfortunately most of the things to be done only I can do so we'll see how that goes. First of all, I have committed to giving my granddaughter Clara three pieces of furniture that is now in my craftroom, probably some time after Christmas. Three pieces that are full of craft supplies! So, that means I need to do some major purging. I have needed to do it anyway so this provides me with a deadline. Some of the October projects have helped toward that end, such as the patterned paper is already purged and organized. And a ton of books and magazines that were taking up a lot of space in the craft closet are now in the hands of the recyclers. I decided to start with the closet as that is where I will need to put a lot the things that are in the furniture now. It's a lot harder than it sounds as I have it stuffed with five Iris carts, four regular wire closet shelves plus a tall Ikea shelf that contains my rubber stamps. I've been working in there a few hours at a time just about every day this week. It's one of those tasks that has to look worse before it gets better so the room looks pretty bad right now. I'm happy to report that the closet item purging is complete. It's not exactly organized at this point as I'm not sure what all is going in there yet but it's clean and there is some empty drawers and shelves ready for items. Not sure what I'm going to do with the stamps. If I had a sale here on the blog but that would mean photographs; just not sure if that is worth the time and effort. I suppose they could go in the yard sale but that would take a lot of effort too. Like that a lot more famous Southern belle Scarlett, I'll think about that tomorrow!
Thanks for stopping by and please be patient with me as I try to get some things done around the house. Although I'm busy I will be take some time out for creativity too. Have a fantastic weekend!
I am a bit quirky in that my wrapped gifts have to be color coordinated plus they have to match my Christmas tree. Last year I decided that even though I used different gift wrap that all my bows had to made from the same ribbon. This year I've decided all the gift tags need to match instead of the ribbon. Yeah, I'm weird. This week's My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club challenge to create a tag provided the impetus to go ahead and get started. These were really quite easy to make, especially since I did not do any stamping or coloring on them. I started out by creating a tag base using the same Papertrey Ink tag die for all of them. I used patterned paper scraps limiting myself to only three patterns and just started cutting the pieces at random with different metal dies. I then decorated the tags using the diecuts, buttons, bling, etc. and finished them off with a bit of ribbon at the top. Really easy and completed in one evening. Another evening and I'll have them all done.
Products: My Favorite Things Die-namics, Papertrey Ink metal dies, cardstock and buttons, Heidi Grace dp, American Crafts dp and ribbon, Kaisercraft pearls and jewels, Heidi Swapp jewels, other embellishments by Making Memories and Prima
Thanks for stopping by. Please exercise your rights as an American citizen and go vote!!!
