On the move

I am in the middle of moving from one house to another.

Moving is nothing new to me … I’ve moved 14 times in my lifetime — including 2 cross-country moves … but that doesn’t mean I like it.

This time is more difficult than most because we are drastically downsizing — our new house is less than half the size of our current one. On top of that, we seem to have accumulated much more during the eight years we have lived in this house than I have at any other time in my life. Needless to say, my house is currently filled with boxes for the new house, boxes for a storage shed, boxes for eBay, boxes for charity, boxes for other people and boxes that we don’t know what to do with.

My scrapbook room is partially packed — I have yet to find the right boxes for packing my collection of 12×12 paper, since I don’t want to break anyone’s back when they attempt to move it — but most of the rest has been placed neatly in boxes and is unusable for the next couple of weeks. To prevent myself from going through a crafter’s withdraw, I kept my Copic markers, my basic tool kit, some of my rubber stamps and few sheets of paper accessible. I figure at the least, I should be able to make a card without ribbon, charms, buttons or embossing powder, but at least I’ll be able to color until I get all unpacked and settled in at the new house.

In the meantime, I thought I would share a layout I did about another kind of moving — taking a train ride.

I wanted this page to show the train ride as much as possible, so I played with stripes, checks and other repeating patterns that remind me of train tracks.

The papers are from Webster’s Pages. They are actually part of the Spring Market collection, but I just used portions of the papers that didn’t have jars of peaches and fruit on them. I think they worked well.

The patterned cardstock is from Bo Bunny, the sanded cardstock is from Coredinations and the rest of the cardstock is from American Crafts.

For the title, I used some of the light patterned paper from Webster’s Pages and stamped on it with Hero Arts stamps (the words) and a Studio 490 stamp (the button holes). Then, I did one of my favorite techniques: I stamped Maya Road chipboard letters with a Studio 490 background stamp, then colored it with Distress Ink and then added shine with Diamond Glaze. I used the same technique on the banner (stamp from Technique Tuesday).

The tag was made with another Wendy Vecchi Studio 490 stamp. I stamped on patterned paper, crumbled it a bit and used Distress Ink to help age it. Never be afraid to stamp on softly patterned paper. It gives you a bit more dimension than plain cardstock. I used the same technique on the facing page.

And then I added a few brads and a photo corner (Tim Holtz) to finish it off. Since trains are so masculine and industrial, I thought a bit of metal was crucial to this page.

The Harvest

I love Stampavie stamps … especially those by Sarah Kay.

For this one, I colored in Copics and then layered it on papers by Little Yellow Bicycle (yellow) and Doodlebug (browns).

I cut out a mini tag (Lifestyle Crafts) and added a ladybug stamp by Hero Arts. I used a bit of Distress Ink and some fiber from We R Memory Keepers and attached with a 3D dot.

 

 

Color Challenge

I hate it when people ask me what my favorite color is because I love them all.

Each room in my house is painted a different color and my dishes are Fiesta — I have at least one of nearly every color the company makes,  just because I couldn’t limit myself to one color.

So, when I found a color challenge online at Scrapmaster’s Paradise, I had to enter.

The colors for this challenge were Baja Breeze, Wisteria Wonder and Pink Pirouette. Here’s what I came up with:

I used leftover cardstock and ribbon to make the card. The flower stamp is from Hero Arts and the saying is from Wendy Vecchi Studio 490. I colored the flower with Copic markers and added Art Glitter to the center for extra pop.

What do you think?

Gardening with the Fairies

Wow. It’s been a while.

This is the busy season in my real job and I had several other deadlines and the Great Lakes Mega Meet and well, it just seems like a lifetime ago since I last blogged.

Although I haven’t been blogging, I have been crafting … and when you keep crafting, but don’t blog, you have lots of things to share!

One of the things I finally finished was my fairy garden, well the indoor one, at least.

If you read the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, you know that I recently did a story on one of the latest trends — fairy gardens. I had intended the story to be only about outdoor fairy gardens, but when I went to the fairy store to interview the owners, I fell in love with the indoor gardens, as well, and had to make one of my own.

It took several weeks to figure out what I wanted to do and then to locate all of the materials to do it. Although I wouldn’t consider it done, because it seems like one of those things that will continue to evolve, it is done for now.

I started with a glass bowl. For the base, I covered a piece of floral foam with moss, wrapping it like a present using Art Glitter Designer Dries Clear adhesive to hold it in place.  Then, I filled the side of the bowl with decorative rocks.

The gazebo was purchased (plain) at the store, Heavenly Scent Herb  Farm in Tyrone Township, if you live nearby. I used a few packages of Prima flowers and vines to decorate it — again, using Art Glitter glue to adhere everything. I just took my time and held everything in place for a few seconds before moving on and I had no trouble with things staying stuck.

The dangly inside was made with a bead from Maya Road. I used a Hero Arts background stamp with Staz-On ink and then added a bit of Art Glitter to it.

The little flower pots were also purchased at Heavenly Scent, but I didn’t like the color of them. So, I painted them with Ranger Paint Dabbers, in Espresso and Gold, to achieve the patina I wanted.

The larger pots were decorated with Ranger’s Liquid Pearls.

I then added some silk flowers, a rock from the beach, eggs and tiny birds — all found at the craft store.

The fairies have picks that can be used to stick in the foam so they stay in place. But I wanted the little baby fairy to sit on the flower, so I used a Craft Glue Dot to hold her in place. Since I should be able to scrape the Glue Dot off of her bottom, I’ll be able to move her when I want. I used the same technique to hold the bird in the little boy fairy’s hands.

So, what do you think?

Look what I did with Maya Road!

Products released during CHA last January are finally hitting the scrapbook stores and I’ve been playing.

I have created plenty of nifty embellishments, but have yet to complete any projects.

So, I thought I would share this one with you …

This is one of the Vintage Alterable Beads by Maya Road. They come in two sizes.

I used Staz-On Black Ink and a Hero Arts Background Stamp to stamp this design onto the back of the bead.

When it dried, I applied Art Glitter in two different colors to the pattern.

I love the finished result … just have to figure out what to attach it to!

Then, I made this …

This is also from Maya Road — It is a Resin Blossom that also comes in two sizes — this is the smaller of the two.

I added Butterscotch Alcohol Ink and some Solar Glass Beads from Art Glitter to the middle. This one is attached to a project I will share in a few days …

Do you have ideas for these two new products from Maya Road? I’d love to see what you create.

Flying American

When this new stamp by Impression Obsession, Inc. came into the scrapbook store, I had to have it.

Not only is it a hot-air balloon, but it also has an American flag and an anchor, both of which remind me of my son who is serving in the U.S. Navy in Guam.

Capitalizing on the patriotic nature of the stamp, I created this card for Scrap Tales.

You can find step-by-step directions on Scrap Tales blog, here, but if you just need to know who made the products, the cardstock is American Crafts, the hot-air balloon stamp is from Impression Obsession, Inc., the saying from Hero Arts, the background is made using a Texture Fade by Tim Holtz for Sizzix and I colored it with Distress Ink, and the stamped images are colored in with Copic markers.

He wants to be a rock star

My son dreams of being a rock star.

I don’t think it is the love of music that attracts him. Rather, I think it is his love of “money for nothin’ and chicks for free.”

So, a few years ago, as part of a high school photography assignment, he put together this lovely outfit. Thank goodness I only saw the photo … I’m not sure any mother wants to see her baby boy in leather pants!

When Scrap Tales gave me this paper by Creative Imaginations to work with for their design team, my husband, remembering Christopher as a rock star, immediately suggested this photo.

I have to admit, it does work perfectly!

I used a craft knife to cut out the middle of the paper and then adhered the photo to the back side.

The tag is cut from a die by Tim Holtz. The title was stamped with a Hero Arts alphabet. The chipboard star was painted with a Paint Dabber. And, the stickers are from EK Success.

Hopefully my son will laugh when he sees this … it is hard to imagine the person in this photo working at a hospital in Guam as part of the U.S. Navy!

Studio 490 Style

I recently had the pleasure of taking two classes with Wendy Vecchi.

I learned a few new tips, like how to mask a rubber stamp so you only ink the part you want to stamp.

More importantly, I learned how adding rubber stamps can enhance other images.

I even got used to cutting out stamped images — something I NEVER did before my hours with Wendy.

When visiting Wendy’s blog, I noticed there was a contest in her honor by Simon Says Stamp.

And, although most of my Studio 490 stamps have not yet arrived, I decided I owed it to Wendy to show her all that I learned in her class.

And so, without further ado, here is my art — Studio 490 style.

I started with white cardstock from American Crafts. Using a Tim Holtz mask, I inked the tag with Distress Ink.

Then, I removed the mask and inked the entire tag again.

I then used Ranger Archival Ink and a Studio 490 background stamp to ink.

The colors I have in ink are too bold (lighter colors are on order at Scrap Tales) and I didn’t like the result, so I went over the entire tag with more Distress Ink.

Then, I stamped the leaves (again, with a Studio 490 stamp) and colored them with Distress Ink.

I edged both the tag and leaves with a Paint Dabber in Copper. I also ran it lightly over the brad.

I cut the flowers out of Grunge Paper with Tim Holtz’s flower die. Since I didn’t have another background stamp by Wendy Vecchi, I used one from Hero Arts.

Then, I inked them and attached them to the tag.

The bird is a Studio 490 stamp that I stamped on Grunge Paper, cut out and inked. Then I coated it with Diamond Glaze by JudiKins.

I added one of Wendy’s word stamps, some Distress Stickles, an eyelet and some Maya Road ribbon for the finishing touch.

Thank you, Wendy!