Wishing everyone a safe and happy Halloween tomorrow! Keep the kiddies safe, and make sure to steal the snickers bars out of their bags and hide them for yourself!
I just want to thank everyone for participating in my blog candy contest! I got goosebumps reading about all of your treasured family heirlooms. Everyone has such beautiful stories about treasures being passed down through the generations! 
Tonite's post is a "faux" clipboard that I made last week with the newly released "Boho Blossoms" set from My Favorite Things. I was able to stamp some of these great blossoms off from a friend last week, so I started pairing them up with some brand new Daisy D's "Snowflakes & Holly" "Timeless Holiday Floral paper. I've been WAITING (not so patiently) for this paper to come out since CHA in August. I'm creating thank you cards with them also but haven't finished them yet. This faux clipboard is really just a thick piece of cardboard and a bulldog clip that you can get at Staples. The great thing about these is that you can make your clipboard any size you want, small or large! I got the idea from Making Memories when I was working at Archivers. The sentiment "Decorate Life" is a rub-on that I had in my stash from a while ago.
I didn't think I was going to be able to post tonite because I had a work dinner to go to. I was glad that my girlfriend Tara was late getting to my house because I had time to sit and color a little more with the new "Tis the Season" Hanna Stamp set that will be released on Friday. before she got here! I had stamped off this great saying from friend AngFab who always has the cutest girlie stamp sayings..."Less is not more. More is more." I'm not sure who makes that stamp, but I NEED IT! I thought it would be good to stack up a big pile of Christmas presents because Hanna seems like a really good shopper to me. I decided to make her skirt into culottes by drawing a line up the middle with black marker to create legs, and then drawing short cuffs on the pant bottoms. Her boots are suede of course, done up in brown fun flock.
The bonus is that this fun striped "Candy Cane" paper from Deja Views has a cute little notebook pattern on the backside, so you get double use out of the paper, diagonal stripe on one side, blue notebook on the other. I thought it would be cute to have Hanna's Christmas list on here. This is a tall card so that I could get all the elements onto the card. Because More is More, of course.
I've been running around like a chicken tonite. Is it just me or can you guys not bear to let that Michael's 40 pct off coupon go to waste? Even if you just buy adhesive, it's worth the trip! The problem is, I never just buy adhesive. I got home and brand new Hanna stamps were waiting for me. The new release for the 2nd Hanna Stamp set is set for this Friday! I had to sit down and play when I got home...it's like playing Barbies.
I have to admit, I played Barbies until it was pretty much not socially acceptable. So these stamp sets are right up my alley! Hanna girl here is sporting a red velvet Stampendous "flock" Christmas outfit while she decorates her house! I stamped the sentiment on a transparency in black Stazon that just lays across the bottom of the card. The blingy ornament is a new K & Company " sticker from the "Wild Saffron" line. Check out the design team links to the right, you're sure to see lots more sneaky peekies from the talented girls on the team! Enjoy! 
I started working on birthday cards over the weekend...it felt good to stop Halloween mode and go back to normal stamping mode! I had stamped some images off at our retreat from friend Angfab, who has the most adorable images from Karen Stolper's collection at AmericanArtStamps. I believe the "Happy Bird Day" sentiment is by A*Muse; someone correct me if I'm mistaken. 
My Mom checked my blog yesterday and sent me an email. She read all your comments and says: "I see by the comments that we'll be adopting some sisters for you!". Wowzer, Zappy-Claus's list is going to be pretty big this year! Where is she going to find cupboards for all of you guys?!!! And more importantly, how is she going to deliver them all???
I need to replenish birthdays and thank you's so I'll be ditching the holiday cards for a while until I get my stash count back up! The cards here were inspired by some freebie paper I got at Archivers during a mania last year. It's Bo-Bunny "Autumn Wood Fun" and it has lots of fun fall words all over it. I used Stampin Up's "All Wrapped Up" & accessories to create the jar with candy corn inside. The background is some Daisy D's orange distressed paper with Flannel plaid stamped over the top of it in pumpkin pie ink. 
The little "Yum-o" oval was punched from Spellbinders Nestabilities and stamped with SU's "rough edges alphabet. All of the images are stamped on glossy paper.
Oh man, I'm freaking here! What an awesome surprise that awaited me when I got home from work tonite! My parents were waiting on the front porch...they brought over my Christmas present! Remember our junking trip to Buffalo? Well I was drooling over a cupboard and was thinking about going back and getting it. Mom & Dad went and bought it for me for Christmas, because they knew how in love with it I was! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD! You are SO good to me! MERRY EARLY CHRISTMAS!
So tonite in honor of Mom & Pop Zappy Claus coming to town, I'm posting these Father Christmas cards that I did last night. Ok, I really meant to post them anyway, but now they are doubly appropriate! So for starters, I used a red distressed Daisy D's paper from their "Beacon Hill" line. You can use any red distressy paper, it should work on Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket, whatever you have! I sprayed "Holly Berry" Glimmer mist (from the E.P. girls of course) on top of the red distress paper. Then I did my technique from last night, with the script stamp from the Crafty Secrets "Journaling" set.
I do have the french script background block from SU, but for some reason the small journaling stamp is easier for me to use, and less of a mess to clean up. It has sort of become a staple for me, and the bonus is that it is portable, so I don't have to lug a big background block with me when I travel with my stamps. So after my paper was dry, I cut 2 pieces of paper measuring 5 1/4 x 4, then laid them on top of each other. I used the largest scalloped Spellbinders Nestability die to cut through both papers and then interchanged them. The santa was watercolored with an aquapen and SU ink.
Priorities. I missed Grey's anatomy last week so I had to watch it tonite to catch up! I did manage to get a tutorial done for you using glimmer mist and the Crafty Secret's "Journaling" script stamp tonite. I've done this technique quite a bit when I make vintage cards; I like to experiment with different patterned papers and see what effect I can get with the glimmer mist and the script stamp; it's different every time! I tried to type out the steps directly on the tutorial photos; it makes it a little easier to read, I think. 
I used Tim Holtz "Vintage Photograph" distress ink for the pink paper, but for the lighter yellow paper I used "Linen", as it gives a softer effect and doesn't overwhelm the background. I've found that it's key to choose a glimmer mist color that coordinates with your paper...if you're using red paper, use red glimmer mist. Blue paper, use a blue-tinted mist. For these soft papers I went with Sugar cookie, which gives a soft yellowish/cream effect.
When you're finished stamping, take the same ink color and run it along the edges of the paper to complete the distressed look. In addition, I've stamped my white focal image paper with the same script stamp in the lighter linen colored distress ink, which is soft and will not overwhelm your main image. I didn't even mask it here...I stamped the angel right over the top of the script and then colored her in.
I love going on vacation, don't get me wrong. But I also love coming home and jumping back into real life again. I was in Grand Cayman for a week laying on the beach, and I have to tell you, after 3 or 4 days of doing nothing but watching the ocean waves, I started to get antsy to be productive again. I think we all need a little nothingness & down time to recharge and re-energize. Even if you have to lock yourself in the bathroom and turn on the bathtub water for the sound of waves, you should do this for yourself. It is necessary, in my opinion. Tonite I came home and started playing with my Clearartstamp sets from Crafty Secrets.
The "Journaling" set is such an overlooked stamp set from the newer line Crafty released at CHA, but it packs a big punch. It retails for $7.75, and is a bargain for the script stamp in this set alone. If you are into vintage and never bought the "french script" background from Stampin Up ( Retailed for $16.95), you should seriously invest in this little set. Tomorrow night I'm going to show you how to make vintage 
looking scripty paper with glimmer mist and the journaling stamp set. Tonite I got putzy so there's too much to show in one post. My big putz for the night was making faux metal anchor-turns with the metal anchor turn stamp from the Crafty Secrets "Card Sentiments" set. I started with a silver metallic scrap of cardstock that I had in my scrap bin (I was on a metallic cardstock kick for a while!). I stamped the little metal 
turn with Versamark (clear pigment) ink, and then sprinkled silver embossing powder over the top of the ink. Shake off the excess powder and then run your heat gun over the top to melt the embossing powder.
Don't worry if you get embossing powder on the rest of your paper, because you'll cut around it anyway. When you do a process like this, make sure to make a ton of multiples for use later. I've found that it works better for me to do a ton at once, cut them all out and then store them in my embellishments case for future use, as I'm highly unlikely to repeat this process every time I go to make a card. 
Most of the time I'm not a putzer, I'm a GIT R DONE kind of girl and want the instant gratification of an embellishment at my fingertips. Go so far as to punch the hole for the brad in all of them to save yourself time later!
The patterned paper is from the "Earthy" Paper pad, which was sprayed with "Sugar cookie" glimmer mist prior to attaching. I also glimmer misted the white cardstock that I stamped the cherub on, and stamped the script words over the top in Tim Holtz "Linen" Distress ink. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment was punched out with a Spellbinders Nestability Circle punch. Because it has an embossed edge to it, it's easy to take your glue pen and run glitter around the indented edge of the circle. There is sugar-cookie misted crepe paper around the edge of the sentiment also...to see how to add crepe paper, see my post HERE. Ok. I think that's it for tonite. Tomorrow night, distressed script paper!
Hi everyone! I'm home today; I took today off from work because my flight didn't arrive into Mpls until 1am last night. So today is an extra vacation day for me. I slept in, started a few loads of laundry and am catching up on emails now. I came back to a really cool thing; the Papercrafts "Holiday Cards & More" issue that one of my Crafty Secrets creations was accepted into. 
How exciting to finally see yourself in print! I submitted this box back in March or April, when I had first been asked to be on the Crafty Secrets Design Team. This birdie box was inspired by my friend Carol Halvorson. A while ago she had made a beautiful shabby roses box for me as a birthday gift. When I was first asked to be on the design team, I ran to Michaels and was looking for stuff to alter. This box was $2.99 in the section where they have all of the wood boxes & ornaments. It was very easy to do; I just painted the trim red (Making Memories acrylic paint) , cut patterned paper from the Crafty Secrets "Earthy" paper pad to fit the sides and top, and then matted this beautiful bird image from the Crafty Secrets "Wacky and wonderful" Booklet. The red gingham ribbon is May Arts, from Starlit Studio's Ebay Store. The box is fairly large (think jewelry box), so you could put a small bag of birdseed in it for a bird-loving friend, or find a beautiful bird Christmas ornament to put in it and give as a gift. This issue has lots of beautiful card and gift ideas to get you jump started for the holiday season. 
One last post for a while; I am waiting for my laundry to finish so I can pack-r-up and git-r-done. My long awaited week long vacation has finally arrived, and not a minute too late. My crabby butt needs to beach itself and get a much needed lattitude/attitude adjustment. I was sitting here thinking I should do one last post before I go, so that you know I didn't ditch the blog or fall off the face of the earth. I will be back on Tuesday next week. 
the circular bin. I challenge you tonite to go to your card stash, pick out a card you made that you LOVE, and display it somewhere in your house. Be proud of what you do and the artistic gift you've been given..and share it with others!
t
concentrating so much on coloring in the images with the copics that I forgot to add some spice to the cards. They need ribbon or SOMETHING. I may go back later and add some more stuff to them. For the skeletons, I filled in the background behind them with a yellow-gold copic marker, and then colored the guys in with a clear sakura jelly roll glitter pen. The dry embossing was done with a cuttlebug embossing folder.
The polka dot paper is Tres Jolie "Tres Bien" polka dot paper from Eclectic Paperie. Witchy is outlined with Martha Stewart White gold glitter. 
Yesterday was our girl's junking trip. Every year we get together and do a day or weekend get-away, (no boys allowed) and head to a fun little town to go antiquing and nosing around in the junk shops! This year we headed to Buffalo, MN and met my Mom's cousin Pauline, who lives in that area. Buffalo is an antiquers
holy grail...they have rows and rows 
of cute little junk shops, each with their own eclectic personality. Click HERE to see the stores in town. Right to left are my sister Gina, Grammie (she's 88!) my Mom, cousin Pauline and Auntie Jan. Check out the cool wrap-around glasses my Grammie is sporting. She has macular degeneration, and as she explains it, she can't see "FOR SHIT". Can I say shit on my blog? I guess I just did. Anyway, we 
hopped in my Dad's van Saturday morning and headed over to Buffalo. The first store we hit was MY FAVORITE! "This and That, Now & Then". They had some of the cutest displays and ideas for repurposing junk! Check out the cute beaded fringe hanging from this table, and the shabby fabric tied to the cute little desk chair! My creativity was jump started again yesterday, and all I want to do today is sit and create. I'm banning myself from making cards because I'm leaving on vacation on Wednesday and have too much to do. If I could, I would sit and create all day long. 
Someday, when I'm retired and can do nothing but go junking and make cards, I will be one happy chick. Until then, I will work. This display with the feathery witches hat was my favorite. The backdrop is 3 doors hinged together and then covered in black striped fabric. We headed next do
or to Second Hand rose, which was just as cute! This chalkboard poetry was exactly what I needed yesterday. I have to tell you that on Friday I was ready to dump my blog, sell my stamps and walk away from everything. I go through this a few times a year, usually when I'm overwhelmed , sick or haven't taken a break for while. Today I am still blogging. We will see what tomorrow brings. My sister noticed this cute "CHEAP STUFF" sign...you had to follow the yellow brick road dow
n the steps and out to the back for the clearance area. While the clearance wasn't really anything we needed, we did see this cute door...my Aunt Jan is Vanna-ing it for you guys. Usually it's open and you can head down into the clearance basement. Look how tiny that door is!
I stopped taking photos after the first 2 stores...there was just too much cute stuff to take in! We will go back to Buffalo again, this I will guarantee. It may be sooner rather than later, as I found a cupboard that I'm still kicking myself for not buying. I'm like AH'NOLD...I"LL BE BACK. On the way back home we stopped outside of Rockford MN at an orchard to buy apples and check out the pumpkins. My friends, it does not get any better than this, standing in a wet muddy farm field on a beautiful day, pawing the bright orange pumpkins. 
This farm had SO many fun varieties, grey ones, white ones, flat cinderella-coach orange ones, warty ones, whatever type of pumpkin your heart desires! My heart desires one that the squirrels won't destroy in 2.9 seconds. Honeycrisp apples were the big purchase here.
So that's what I know. Today I'm off to go tanning, give myself a pedicure, wash & pack my summer clothing and try to shovel my house out a little. To quote a magnet we saw this weekend, "My idea of cleaning is to sweep the room with my eyes and call it a day." 
