Vintage Alterations and Such

I have poison ivy. It's a tiny little patch on my knee. I don't actually get it very easily or very often, so I thought it was just a couple of bug bites at first, but, as a couple of days went by it became QUITE apparent that it is, indeed, poison ivy. I'm pretty sure this is an excuse to never do yard work again. Just say'n.

However, I will happily continue to play with paper flowers and such...that's kinda like gardening and that is kinda like yard work, right? Right. I'm going with that, so you may as well jump on that bus with me, folks!



*sigh* Happy little altered bottle. I've actually been sitting on this one for a bit. I made it some time ago and didn't have time to post it then, and since I didn't make SQUAT yesterday, I figured now was a good time to show you this little pretty!



I began with a good 'ole McKormick bottle of vanilla. It was probably imitation, actually, 'cause sometimes I'm cheap. Just say'n. I removed the labels and then sat and basked in the beauty of the gorgeous brown glass bottle. *another sigh* Yes, my friends, it's pretty stuff. Brown glass. Kinda fabulous, actually. Just say'n.

I wrapped a strip of paper from a vintage encyclopedia page (about flowers, of course!) around the jar and then added all kinds of fabulous embellishments.



The top was a bit tricky. You see, McKormick uses BRIGHT RED screw top lids. My project wasn't so much feel'n the red. Nope. Not so much feel'n the red at all. So...I tried to alcohol ink it. Complete and utter craft FAIL. No. For reals. It was a bit frightening, although, I did manage to ink my fingers for a good three day stain. Just say'n. I then covered the whole lid with glue and glass glitter. BIGGER complete and UTTER craft FAIL. FOR REALS, you guys! It was hilarious! Bulky and ridiculous looking. Very much one of those, 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' kind of moments. SOoooooo....I scraped all of that off and then turned to my trusty tissue tape. THAT seemed to work. I covered the lid with the tape, inked it a bit to give it some age and then wrapped a bit of string around it for added embellishment.



And those drips? Ahhh...the drips. Those happy, fabulous, wonderful, I couldn't have asked for better, drips. I do so love them. Don't you? You do. I know it. I just KNOW it. You see, I started out thinking I wanted to seal the very top with a bit of liquid glass for a finished look. Then I went a little nuts and started thinking I could get a wax-like effect without the fragility of wax with the liquid glass. PURE GENIUS, I tell you! It worked BRILLIANTLY! For reals. I was so stinking excited!



*And yet another sigh* Why? Because this makes me happy. My little altered bottle. I will be creating LOTS more of these. They are wonderful decor and make pretty little gifties, too! And, they are just plain wicked fun to create! So, there you have it! Your inspiration for the day - now go make something fabulous!!!

You Stood Out from the Crowd and My Workspace has changed very little since last week. Just say'n.

Well, my desk looks pretty much the same as it did last week. The odd thing about that is that I've actually created quite a few things since then, but yet, it still seems to look the same. Maybe I'm just having a hard time deciphering from one mess to the other. HA! So, in joining with the others over at The Stamping Ground, here it is...



I am excited, however, about the pile of donations for the Crop for Tornado Relief sitting in front of my desk!



I have everything SUPER consolidated and it STILL looks like lots of really great stuff! I'm so excited! HUGE thanks to the wonderful companies who have provided donations! (I will share all of them with you guys when I have a complete list! I know how much we love to support companies that support people!)



And I wouldn't want to walk away without sharing some artwork with all of you! I created this super fun card with the amazingly awesome Crowd in the Rain image from 100 Proof Press! If you haven't been over there recently some AMAZING new images have been added and you should totally check it out! Don't forget that you can keep up with 100 Proof Press on Facebook, too!



Oh! And speaking of Facebook! One of my favorite adhesive companies, Tombow, is working to grow their number of 'likes' on Facebook! Stop over and like them and let them know I sent ya!

The Growing In Unity Winner is....

ELECTRA!!!!

I have already emailed the winner and she has chosen a fabulous stamp set. Congratulations, Electra!

May All Your Wishes Come True {SSD #82}

Well, folks it's Tuesday and I'm not going to lie, it feels a bit like it's 'only' Tuesday today. Let's hope things pick up a bit. The nice thing is that the weather was beautiful yesterday and we are heading into what looks like another beautiful day today in the 80's! I love it! And, of course because it is Tuesday, that means that it is Sketch Tuesday at Skipping Stones Design!!!



The other day, when I sat down to create my card for this wonderful sketch I was in a super clean and simple creating kind of mood. Sometimes I feel guilty for doing simple cards, like I'm being lazy, but you know what, I happen to like this design, dagnabbit, and the fact that it doesn't take 65 hours to reproduce, is probably a good thing. Just say'n. I love the chocolate ink on the kraft paper and the cotton twine is just the perfect happy accent!



I used the absolutely beautiful Dandelion Dreams set for my card.

You really should check out what the other Stamp Tramps and our fabulous guests have created this time around! This sketch is awesome and they did all kinds of really different cards! I love it when that happens! So many great ideas from one the exact same point of reference! Fun stuff, folks, fun stuff!

OH! And don't forget to join in the fun and create a card using this sketch (which you can find over HERE for your chance to win a Skipping Stones Stamp set of YOUR CHOICE!

Latisha Yoast *Guest Sketch Artist
Ann Kranitz
Karin Akesdotter *Guest Designer!
Tamera Beaton
Barb Turpin
Dina Kowal *Guest Designer!
Kandi Phillips
Wendy Jordan
Amy Tsuruta
Jennifer Ingle *You Are HERE.
Brenda Weaver
Gladys Chia

Also, check out Melissa's great blog giveaway here!

Crop for Tornado Relief and Some Art with Brand new Retro Cafe Art Collage Sheets!

Yes, folks, I do believe it is time for a crop! And what better reason to have one than to help support the victims of the tornadoes that recently swept through Western Massachusetts? I think that is a darned good reason, personally! The crop is on July 9th and for $35 you will get 12 hours of cropping (9am-9pm), a light breakfast, lunch, and dinner, a goodie bag, make and takes, and lots of chances to win some GREAT prizes! Also, we are collecting canned goods to help out the victims, as well, so for every can you bring to the crop you get an extra raffle ticket!!! YAY! We are going to have a BLAST! For more information check out the flyer below and feel free to email me with any questions! I would so LOVE to have you there! If you cannot be there and are associated with a crafting company that may like to make a donation, we are planning on donating all the funds to the relief efforts, so any donations are appreciated! We have so many FABULOUS companies already helping us out! It is SO exciting!!!

Now, I want to share with you a couple of pieces I created over the weekend using some BRAND NEW collage sheets from Retro Cafe Art! Seriously! They have a BUNCH of new ones and I am LOVING THEM ALL!!!



This is a simple gift box I created using the new Movie Ticket Stripe Collage Sheet in blue. I added a simple Tim Holtz spinner and some fabulous glass glitter along with some beautiful May Arts Crinkle ribbon to finish it off!



I also created a wonderful little ATC using several collage sheets. You can get most of the collage sheets in printed form or in digital form if you prefer to print them yourself at home.



For this one I used several sheets! Two of the new ones, Vintage French Mason Jars and Vintage Candy Crowns, along with the wonderful fairies from the Vintage Fairies sheet! I added a bit of vintage lace, some ink, and a fabulous paper flower to accent the piece. If you have never tried collage sheets before, I highly suggest giving them a shot! They are so much fun to mix and match to create wonderful little pieces!!! (Or big ones, for that matter. HA!) To check out more of the new sheets head on over to the Retro Cafe Art Gallery Blog!



Anyway, I hope you have a super fantabulous Monday that is filled with things to smile about!

Growing in Unity Day Five! Way to Go, Girl with Cosmo Cricket!

Um, so you may already know this, but I absolutely LOVE all things Cosmo Cricket. Seriously. They simply don't have a collection that I don't like. Cosmo and I just go together like peanut butter and fluff. AND, you may already know this, too, but I absolutely LOVE Unity Stamps! Therefore, the fact that Unity has cobranded with Cosmo Cricket, is simply one of the best things EVER, if you ask humble little blue-haired me. Just say'n. Thus bringing us to my final card for my Growing in Unity week!



I used the fabulous Upcycled Collection papers and stickers and tossed in the Tiny Type, too! I absolutely LOVE this Itty Bitty from Unity! It's so fun!



And, Don't forget to leave your comments on EACH Growing in Unity post I put up this week for your chance to win a super fabulous set of stamps from Unity! You know you want one!!! I will likely draw the winner tomorrow sometime.

Here is the Itty Bitty I used for this card:

Thank you so much for joining me on this Unity adventure this week! It has been so fun seeing some new names around here! I hope you will stick around! THANKS!!!

It's Friends With Flair Friday and Day 4 of Growing In Unity! YAY!!!

Yup! Another Day of Growing In Unity and today is Friends with Flair, too! Fun stuff, folks, FUN STUFF!



Short and sweet today!

I created my card with the Bella Blvd. Sunny Happy Skies Set and some great papers and stickers from My Little Shoebox.



The images are stamped and then parts are watercolored with the same ink pad used to stamp the image. That's a favorite technique of mine, because I love the promise of truly matching colors! Then I added a bit of glitter to the flags to give it some sparkle and shine! *LOVE THAT!*

Here is the stamp set I used to created my card:

And...I will have even more to share with you over the weekend, so watch for some fun stuff!

***Don't forget to comment on EACH of my Growing in Unity posts for a chance to win some great stamps from Unity! I will have ONE MORE GIU post tomorrow, so come back for the last one!***

Happy Friday, folks!

She Sprouted Wings - Growing In Unity Day 3

It's Day Three of my Growing In Unity Week! Yay! I'm having so much fun with this!

Do you remember when you graduated from high school? Do you remember that feeling like you were ready to fly? To jump out of that nest and head into the life you had before you? I love that time...I left home and went over half way across the country to a little school in Oklahoma City. I loved it. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. That feeling came to mind as I created today's card. That feeling of freedom and release into the great unknown with so much out there to discover.


She Sprouted Wings

I used the Melody Ross She Sprouted Wings set for this one along with some gorgeous BRAND NEW printed images from Retro Cafe Art Gallery! You are going to LOVE THESE!!! I'll be sharing more with them later this week!



I pieced the stamped image using Cosmo Cricket Circa 1935 papers. Have I even MENTIONED how much I love these papers? 'Cause I totally wicked love these papers. Just say'n.



I added a punched border with the same paper and accented that with some May Arts crinkle ribbon. The flower was in that batch of goodies that you saw on my desk yesterday! I LOVE IT!

This is the stamp set I used for this card...

Isn't it just gorgeous? I really love this set of stamps! It makes me happy. And happy is good. Just say'n.

Happy Thursday, folks! Don't forget to leave your comment on each of my Growing in Unity posts for a chance to win some fabulous Unity stamps!

Be You! Growing In Unity Day 2!

Welcome back! It's Day two of my week with Growing in Unity! And I have a simple, but super cute card to share with you.



I used the Samantha Walker Be You Itty Bitty along with some Samantha Walker Blossom papers! That gorgeous beaded lace is from the ever fabulous May Arts!



This is the super cute stamp set I used!!! I love butterflies. I really can't get enough butterfly stamps. I have lots, but I don't have enough, because, quite frankly, there is no such thing. Just say'n.

Don't forget to leave your comments on EACH Growing in Unity post this week for a chance to win a great stamp set from Unity! You know...or just because ya like me n' stuff. That's a good reason to leave a comment ANY DAY!!!! HA!

What's On Your Worskpace Wednesday - The Usual Insanity, of course!

Hello, my friends! It's Wednesday and that means it is time to show my mess....errrr....I mean workspace. Yeah....that's it. WORK SPACE. Hmmm....



Yup. That's it folks. Raging Insanity at it's finest, if I do say so myself! I had to get a card together last night (see my other post today!) and I had JUST finished it when I took this shot, so, there lies the aftermath. BUT..you can also see the fun goodies that I received from the wonderful Sally!



SUCH wonderful goodies! And I totally should have taken a photo before I opened it all! She made that super cute take out box and another adorable box, too! Everything looked so pretty! I love it all!!!!



And this is the super adorable card she sent! I love it!!! SOOOO CUTE!!!!

Happy Wednesday, folk!

Growing In Unity Day 1 - Encompassed Grace by Samantha Walker

***This is my second post for today! Check out my Skipping Stones Sketch Tuesday post below.***

Hello, friends! Well, as it turns out I am super excited to get to share with you as this week's Growing In Unity girl! That means that every day this week, I will share a fabulous project (well, I'm shooting for fabulous, anyway! HA!) using FABULOUS (that part is pretty gaurunteed!) Unity stamps and each comment YOU leave on my Growing In Unity posts will be a chance for YOU to win a set of Unity stamps! Yup. Awesomeness all around, folks. Pure and utter Unity awesomeness!

Today, I'm going to share a card with you made with Samantha Walker's Encompassed Grace set. This is one of my FAVORITE sets!



The patterned papers are Samantha Walker's Cowgirl line from Creative Imaginations. Funny how the stamps she designs go SO WELL with the paper she designs....hmmm....HA! I stamped the frame image and then cut it out and inked the edges with some distress ink before adhering it to my card with dimensional adhesive. I punched a circle to fit inside the frame and then stamped the sentiment in the center and popped that out, as well. You may recall this card, but I really had to share it again for those who may not have seen it the first time around!

These are the beautiful stamps that I used:

So, don't forget to leave your comment today and come back EVERY DAY THIS WEEK to see more Unity and leave your comments for a chance to win!

Happy Tuesday, folks!

A 'Round' of Applause for Skipping Stones Tuesday!

Yeah, okay, so that's a wicked cheesy title. What can I say? It's been a long week. Oh...wait...it's only Tuesday. HA! But, it IS Sketch Tuesday over at Skipping Stones and we DO have a great sketch for you today!



As you can see, this one is already out of my hands, as I gave it to my Daddy on Sunday! You could easily use a design like this with any sentiment repeated in the corner as I did with the Happy Father's Day stamp! I used two stamp sets for this one, Pumkin Seed Sentiments for the background and Holy Carp for the sentiment.



The ribbon and the wired string are from May Arts (EA44 - Blue Crinkle, BY36 - Brown leaf, & KS72 - wired string) and they make me happy. Just say'n. I also used a pretty little paper flower from Retro Cafe Art and a Maya Road trinket pin!

Shall we discuss this sketch for a moment? I think, perhaps, we shall.

Why? Because it was hard but it wasn't. It's round. I don't generally do round. Round lacks, well, sides and corners and such. I happen to be a big fan of sides and corners and such. I DO however, often see GORGEOUS round cards so I was excited to try one out. And I like the result! Even if it doesn't have sides or corners and such. BUT...I have to tell you, some of the Stamp Tramps knocked it out of the park with this sketch! I'm talking some fabulous cards! Like as good as the Red Sox kind of knocked it out of the park kinda cards. Just say'n. So check out what they created!!!

Latisha Yoast *Guest Sketch Artist
Ann Kranitz
Karin Akesdotter *Guest Designer!
Tamera Beaton
Barb Turpin
Dina Kowal *Guest Designer!
Kandi Phillips
Wendy Jordan
Amy Tsuruta
Jennifer Ingle *That would be ME! ME! ME!!!!!!! Just say'n.
Brenda Weaver
Gladys Chia

Have a Happy Tuesday!

A Steampunk Mini Assemblage and a Fun Announcement!

Did you see this??? Yup! I am officially on the Retro Cafe Art Design Team!!! I am SO excited to be working with Kristin! I absolutely love her stuff and have so much fun creating with it!

Here is a piece I created over the weekend with some super fun Retro Cafe Art products! You MUST check out the current contest! If you use the cutouts in a project you could win a $50 Gift Certificate!!!



I used several cutouts for this fun little assemblage piece! The background is created with the Chipboard Gear cutouts painted with a metallic red paint pen. I layered a couple of Tim Holtz spinners over the gears along with a big of glass glitter. The doll is one of Tim Holtz' Fractured Dolls. I love real Frozen Charlottes, but I do love the freedom that using these reproductions offers. I am less concerned about 'wasting' one on a project that may or may not turn out well because they aren't so rare and they cost less, too!



I finished it off with a couple of the newest cutouts available at Retro Cafe Art - the monocle and the mustache! LOVE THEM!!!



Looking at this piece now...I may just HAVE to add a top hat. I thought about it before and decided not to do it at the time, but I think a hat may be needed. What do you think? Hmmm....decisions, decisions.

Oh...and I did something rather drastic and perhaps a tad impulsive over the weekend...I cut all my hair off again. It looks a lot like it does in my profile pic again, actually...only with a bit of blue mixed in. Still considering what I want to do as far as color goes...possibly going to bleach it to a very white tone or maybe go all blue...not sure. We shall see. We shall see. Just say'n.

I hope you have a super fabulous Monday!

Oh, Boy! And Why it is ALWAYS a Good Idea to have Swedish Fish prior to 8am

It's Friday, and that means it is time for Friends With Flair over at Unity! I created a fun little New Baby Card using the Sunny Skies Bella Blvd. set! I love how adorable all of the clouds in this set are!!!



I stamped the cloud and the sentiment in a pretty light blue ink. I kinda love it. Then I dry embossed the frame on the panel and popped that up from the card base and tied it with happy blue baker's twine! YAY!!!! FOR HaPPY Baker's TWInE!!!



I probably shouldn't show you this shot, because, well, there is a PUPPY HAIR IN IT, but hey, that's pretty much the story of my LIFE...AND...it shows you the pretty dimension and I {heart} pretty dimension. Just say'n.

Now...as I told you, I need to share why it is ALWAYS a good idea to eat Swedish Fish prior to 8:00 am. Why do I need to share this? OH! PICK ME PICK ME!!! I know this one!!! Because I need to justify the fact that I am doing that right now. Just say'n.

So...

1. It gives you a good, energetic start to your day (ignore the unhealthy part and the crash that is bound to come later...that part isn't fun, so we won't talk about it).

B. They are yummy, Yummy, YUMMYYYYYY!!!!!

iii. It's Friday, and by golly, if I want to eat Swedish Fish for breakfast after a long week, I am a growed up and I CAN, dagnabbit! {just say'n}

So.....yeeeeaaah......that's pretty much what I've got for you today. OH! I do want to show you these super fun little bits that arrived in my box from Retro Cafe Art this week!



These are German rubber dolls and they are the coolest little dolls ever!!! They have a wire structure so you can kinda pose them. And they still have good 'ole German dirt stuck to them from being excavated from the old factory sites!!! *sigh* Happiness! AND...I got these way cool heads, too...



I KNOW, RIGHT? For reals. I am totally in love with them. I really am. *sigh* Happy days, my friends, happy days.

Sandy Beach Jar with 100 Proof Press

***If you are looking for the Samantha Walker Blog Hop post, please click here! Thanks for visiting!***

K. So here's the thing. The Gingersnappers had a GREAT challenge that encouraged participants to use twine. I got a BRILLIANT idea for that challenge and went to get some thick, jute twine, since I didn't have any (that's a WHOLE other ball of wax, but leave it to say I was surprised that I didn't have any...). So. AC Moore didn't have any. I couldn't find any at Home Depot. Walmart. Nope. Target. Nope. Lowes. Nope. For REALS, folks. It was a bit ridiculous to say the least. And, because I was so focused on finding this particular kind of twine...*deep breath* I missed the challenge. Yup. Deadline went kaput!

Fast forward to last Saturday...The Hubbums had an all day staff meeting for his upcoming Summer School sessions so I ran the errands that morning before settling in to create. One of those errands meant heading to the butcher shop for chicken and chicken livers to make dog food. And there, in our favorite little freezing cold butcher shop (No...really...they keep it so cold they actually just store the milk on the regular shelves. For reals.), in the 50 cent bin by the register .... were several spools of jute twine. They had sisal twine, too. For fifty cents. ALL that searching and they RANDOMLY have exactly what I needed at the BUTCHER shop of all places! Weird! So...I bought two rolls of the jute and one of the sisal in an effort to prevent this problem in the future. Just say'n.

AND....I made my brilliant idea come to life!



I wrapped the jar nearly entirely with the jute twine. LOVE the way that looks! I added some fabulous Graphic 45 paper, vintage sheet music, Tim Holtz tissue tape, a few embellishments and two AMAZINGLY FABULOUS images from 100 Proof Press! I used a piece of the Bating Beauty row for the lid and the image on the front is the Op Art Circles embossed in gold! I LOVE this stamp!!!



Now, here is the super fun part! I filled the bottom with some gold glass glitter and then dropped in a few shells and a message in a bottle to finish off the piece!



*heeeeee!!!!!* I love it!!!!



The jar is embellished with a flower from Retro Cafe Art and some fabulous vintage buttons and a bit of cork that I roughed up a bit. The Graphic 45 papers are so perfect it hurts a little!

SO....there you have my little story and the project that came of it! YAY! Oh..and since I fell SO in love with that message in a bottle, I sorta made another one and created a necklace out of it because it loved me. Just say'n.

Happy Thursday folks!