K.I.S.S.

Having a great weekend? Yesterday was a busy day...had a friend come over with his tiller/aerator & help with some trouble spots in the backyard, supervised the boys weeding my front flower beds, laundry...typical crazy Saturday. I've been kinda lazy today...blog surfing & looking at furniture re-dos, recycling & up-cycling, vintage thrifting, and just sitting, listening to the birds outside & coloring digital images for later projects. I did make a card for you using the items pictured here:

The paper (TAC's Rustic Chic) was more of an inspiration than an actual part of the project. I love the colors in it & the grungy feel, but wanted something a little bit softer....more shabby chic. I used my "flourish" Impressability, some white card stock, pink & blue Dew Drops by Tsukeniko & stenciled them onto the card base. Then I rounded the corners & grunged up the card using wheat, sahara sand, jumbo java, & rich cocoa Dew Drops. While those dried, I took one of MS's little round tags (they remind me of doilies!) and colored it with the pink Dew Drop completely, then did the edges lightly with jumbo java.

I stamped the sentiment from "Ordinary Greetings" in two parts with rich cocoa, and....DONE! Quick, easy, grungy, shabby and oh, so pretty! I love it!

A bit of sad news...over the next day or so, I'll be removing the link to my online store with The Angel Company (the shopping cart in the upper left sidebar). I'll still have my wings & will happily take your orders via e-mail, but can't afford right now to extend my store for another year...the economy just won't let me. Hopefully, things will improve to a point that I can reopen it...I just pray that it's sooner than later!

A bit of good news ~~ it's time for the Final Farewells at The Angel Company. From now till June 25th, we are retiring 75 sets, ALL of the purchase-with-purchase sets, AND the hostess sets from the 09-10 Big Book so we can make room for all of the UBER~YUMMY new goodies coming the first of July. I've seen some peeky-poos & CANNOT WAIT to share them with y'all...I'm pretty sure you'll love 'em! You can place your orders online through my store while it's still running, or you can e-mail me (you can qualify for free and 1/2 price items via e-mail).

Off to color some more...thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

K.I.S.S.

Here's tonight's K.I.S.S. and I did it using 100% TAC products. {Hooray, ME! *LOL*} I also want to challenge you to think outside the box...my blogging friend Vicki (aka BasementStamper) was really good at making me look at things in a different way...I'm hoping that I picked up a little sumthin from her! {miss ya, GF!}

My outside-the-box trick tonight is {drumroll} ~~ using the "preview papers" from the TAC packages. Hey! Did someone just yawn?!? I know it might not be a big thing to some of you, but this can be a really nice way to creatively use something that most folks would just toss into the rubbish bin. I took my oval punch to the preview page...

{NOTE: Kamalaht SWIC paper collection is available in my online store ONLY & is limited to stock on hand}

See? Right here...I like this warm gold color. I also really like how this paper collection already has a vintage/grungy feel to it. If you needed a larger piece, but didn't want to cut up the actual sheet yet, you could always cut out the entire square and stamp onto it.
I used the sentiment & oak tree from "Good Timber" stamped in "noir" Palette ink.

The tag & letter stickers are all from the Kamalaht paper pack. The twill can be found here.
And there you have a simple, masculine card that will work for Father's Day or a birthday. I think I'll enter this card over at Frosted Designs Challenge since they're doing trees for the current theme.

Oh! Be sure to check out my "Blog Candy Alerts" page for some yummy offerings. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

I'm so glad my mojo is back!

Before I show you my KISS post for today, I thought I'd share my glass project from last week's thrifting excursion and a card that I made. Remember the 3 pieces that I showed you & the pewter knob that I mentioned? Here's what I turned them into:
Isn't it darling? I've been seeing these all over the place & I found one at a pricier "specialty" site, but they wanted a small fortune for theirs - I made my version for a mere $3.50! I used my heavy duty, super-y duper E6000 glue to hold it all together & in real life, it looks fantastic!
At first I was going to keep it in my she-cave on a barrister case, with some other pieces, but I think it looks quite happy in the kitchen, nestled next to some Waterford crystal (I didn't buy it - there's not that kind of $$ in this house - it's a gift from LOOOOONG ago). What do you think?

The card I made was using an image I got from FunkyKitsUK and is by the artist, Diane Duda. I wasn't crazy about these big-eyed girls at first, but they've really grown on me and I'm filling my coin jar as quickly as I can to purchase more.I used my COPIC markers to color the image (listed at the end of this post); my Nesties Labels Four to cut it out & instead of centering the image, I off-set it just a bit so I could run my TAC level A hostess sentiment vertically (it's kind of a nice twist); sparkly accents on the image were done with a Sakura Stardust Clear Glitter gel pen; MS branch & leaf punches were used on scraps from K&Co and My Mind's Eye; flowers were all white/cream from Prima & I colored them with my COPICs to match then misted a couple with my homemade glimmer mist (pearl); half pearls for the flower centers; the doily is a piece leftover from a card I made last week, colored with COPICs and sprayed with homemade glimmer mists (pearl, gold, & bronze); background paper is from Prima; lace down the side is some I picked up at Wally World. Here's a closeup of the image (the dress looks like there's no dimension/shadows in the pic, but IRL you can see them):
And here you can see the shimmer on the doily and flowers...
AND....today my "Hot Scot" is celebrating his 39th birthday. 18April1971 never looked so good!
Wish I could age as well as he is...just look at this gorgeous, brown-eyed, 6 ft 1 inch package of YUMMY...
That cleft in his chin just BEGS for a nibble...WHEW! {fans self} The man is seriously HAWT!!!! 'K! I'm off to grab a cool shower, then work on my KISS post, so I'll be back in a bit. Hope you enjoyed this visit - thanks for stopping by!

COPIC markers used on card project: colorless blender, B34, B32, YG03, YG06, E02, E04, YR00, Y21, Y26, Y28, BG10, BG18, W3, BG72, BG75, BG78, E50, E29, E37, & E25

Well, I'd LIKE to make a post....

because I have a lot to share with you today, but for some reason, BLOGGER is being a major P.I.T.A. {grrr!}  I can't get it to do links or let me import pictures.  I'm off in search of something like LiveWriter that I can use...back later on, friends!

Cards and Thrifting

It's been a crazy week & haven't felt much like crafting, but I did manage to get out of the house the other day to keep from going completely bonkers.  I ended up at the Harrisville DI (aka Deseret Industries, a Utah thrift store owned by the LDS church).  I was searching for a shelf to go in the master bedroom on Chris' side of the bed, but ended up with these yummy treats instead...for a whopping $4.25!

I was very pleased with my haul.  I have plans for a couple of the pieces...can you guess which ones?  Lemme help ya out:

Any guesses as to what I plan to do with those pieces?  I also will be putting a pewter drawer knob that I found at another thrift store with them.

I'm not one for collecting china or stray saucers, but these two sweeties were sitting on the shelf just calling my name...for 50¢ and 75¢, so how could I leave them behind?

The gold on the top one is PERFECT, nothing chipped or scraped off & the bottom one had such lovely detail and the best shade of soft blue for the background, it just made the vintage girly-girl in me positively giddy!  I'll be finding some plate hangers & putting them on my she-cave walls soon.

I did make a couple of cards this evening.  I needed a sympathy card so I came up with this:

I used 3 of the largest dies out of my Labels Four Nestabilities, a MS butterfly punch, some paper from Provo Craft, my Cuttlebug folders (textile & script) for the die cuts, some pretty pearl swirls from Basic Grey, and my homemade glimmer mist (made of water & Perfect Pearls).  I sprayed the butterflies with the glimmer mist before mounting them onto the card.  Here are some close-ups, so you can see the details:

This card (below) will be traveling to London.  My "fan-girl crush," David Tennant, is celebrating his birthday on Sunday and, according to some interviews I've read and seen, one of the people he's always admired is Audrey Hepburn.  I did some searching on the web, found this lovely image of Ms Hepburn & printed it out onto some white cardstock.

I distressed the edges of the photo with Ranger Distress Inks (vintage photo & walnut stain), cut a paper doily in quarters, inked the doily bits with Ranger Distress Ink (tattered rose), found some background paper from my scrap stash that picked up the colors and tones in the photo, added a few half pearls and I have a lovely birthday card.  Hope he likes it!

Hope you did, too!  I'll share what I do with those glass pieces in a day or so - it's about half done as I type this post.  Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

I REALLY want these!!!!

Do you? Well, there's a giveaway happening over at Fave Crafts - you could win this set of Glitz Design 'Distressing Set Two' clear stamps. I really love my cling mounted rubber, but I could make an exception and happily accommodate these beautiful stamps, like I do for Inkadinkado or Studio G! *ROFL*

I may have to find 'Set One,' like Maria (the author of the post) is doing! *LOL* I can see it all now - backgrounds for cards, ATCs, accents in my altered comp books, wall hangings, shadow boxes....OH, the possibilities!

Here's what you've got to do (taken directly from the FaveCrafts site):
Win the stamps!

We are giving away one set of stamps to one lucky winner. Enter with the form below.

1. If you blog about this giveaway at your blog, we’ll give you an extra entry. Contact us with a link to the blog post.
2. If you twitter about this giveaway, you’ll get an extra entry. Again, contact us with a link to the tweet.
3. If you add a link to us on your blogroll or website, we’ll give you an extra entry. Again, contact us!

Contest ends April 23, 2010. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!

Click the pic above to get there & good luck! I'll be back with a project later on today....

'Bout Time!

My crafting mojo's been dried up for about a week now & I was beginning to wonder if it was going to come back. Last night, though, just as I was ready to shut down the house for the night, it came back to me. Like a semi doing 105mph...in the dark...with NO running lights. *LOL* So, before going to bed, I put together my K.I.S.S. cards:

For this one (above) I figured I'd let the paper do the work. It's from DCWV's "Garden Party" Mat Stack. I stamped the wording with Ranger Distress Vintage Photo, using TAC's level A hostess set "Bless Your Heart" (TA-3238).

Now this one (above), doesn't LOOK simple, but technically it is....IF you have a stash of already-colored images sitting in a box, waiting to be used! *LOL* Dotted background paper is from K&Co, some tan Scrapper's Floss from Karen Foster Designs (via The Angel Company), & Ranger Distress Ink in Vintage Photo. The Gorjuss girl image "Guardian Angel" was stamped onto an ATC a couple of weeks ago & I colored it with pencils & OMS.

Now for the cards that I put together today....

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I LOVE Sarah Kay images - they remind me of Holly Hobbie. They just SCREAM "simple, country life" & they're a joy to color. I used colored pencils (no OMS), two crocheted laces, some antique buttons (thanks, Sharron!), more tan Scrapper's Floss, & two blue roses from Prima. The sweet calico floral background that reminds me of a dress I had as a little girl is from Making Memories.

This one could qualify for K.I.S.S., but I didn't get the stamps till today, when I was at JoAnn's with a friend (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE those $1 bins at the beginning of the month!). Background is from the "Nursery" collection of papers by Prima, the clear mini stamp set is from Inkadinkado, & I inked it with Ranger Vintage Photo.

What can I say about this one? I'm finding a deeper appreciation for Manga, thanks to my boys. I downloaded this digital freebie off of Deviant Art & colored her with pencils (no OMS), inked the edges with Ranger Vintage Photo, then mounted her at an angle onto some K&Co. It looks amazing in real life, & I give all the credit to the Manga artist, Princess Elemmirial, for drawing some lovely images. I'll be playing with them more in the future, that's for sure!

Another sweet Sarah Kay, colored with pencils & OMS, then cut out with my Nesties (Labels Two), trimming it ever-so-slightly along the edges with a Krylon silver leaf pen. Add in a K&Co background paper, some crocheted lace, and you can't lose!

This last one is a nod to my biker hubby. I snagged a vintage ad (sorry I can't remember from where - I can tell you that it was the result of a Google search), colored the printed image with Ranger Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, & Weathered Wood), then mounted it & a frame of black cardstock onto some K&Co paper.
I really like it! Hope you enjoyed my "share" today. Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!

I'll K.I.S.S. ya tomorrow!

Because today is Easter. Though I'm still in my she-cave crafting, I'm being VERY mellow, so this is as close to blogging that I'll get. I'm rather enjoying just hanging out, listening to G.I. Joe & Transformers in the front room, entertaining my guys. Hope you and yours have a very blessed day!!Until I return, enjoy this song from new country artist, Autumn. Hope ya love it as much as I do!

Autumn

More CMT Music

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See y'all tomorrow!!

Just a quick heads up...

I've just put in some AMAZING deals on my "TAC Specials" page. You'll be surprised at what we've got to offer for the month of April. Go check it out & I'll be back later on with some projects for ya!

Thanks for stopping by & have a great rest of your day!!