Productivity

This weekend I certainly was not as productive as I would have liked.

 That said, I did try this pin and this one, while my dad and Warren worked on a new bed for Domonik based on this pin. 

I made Bella 4 pairs of leggings, 5 shorts (based on same idea), and 2 sweater skirts (1 for me). I fit in family time, got much needed sleep, read more from Lord of The Rings aloud to Domonik, worked on binding Granny's cards from her 85th, attached tattered floral card from this post to canvas, laid out card ideas, and stamped my name on a tag for an apron. 

 

 

I still felt unproductive. 
 

I am not bragging, or in competition with anyone other than myself. 

I expect a lot from myself. 
 

I want to do every pin on all my boards, as well as my own ideas, in one weekend. 

Deep down I know it's not realistic, that doesn't mean it stops the way I feel. I long for sunny Summer Sunday drives that will rejuvenate the soul, and give balance. 

For now I've got to go; it's time to get my knitting out.

Enjoy!

Tattered Florals

Before I get too far into my post I would like to apologise: If you have emailed and gotten no response I am sorry, it has come to my attention that some emails have been missed (my inbox shows a notification, but no message). I love getting emails, I was not intentionally ignoring you! Please let me know with a comment on this thread if you have messaged me and not heard back.

If you're a scrapbooker, chances are you already know Tim Holtz. You may also know about the Tattered Floral Challenge open until Friday. I've been looking at a lot of the work submitted by the members of a crafty Facebook group I'm in, TALENT I tell ya! Very intimidating. Tattered Florals was one of the first few dies I bought after switching to a Big Shot die machine and use it all the time. If you follow my blog you've seen it used for Bella's and Domonik's birthday parties, Bella and I even spent a snowy evening during Christmas break cutting as much scraps as we could.

 

Here is a portion of the wall hanging for Bella's Birthday, you can see more HERE:

 

 

For Domonik's birthday we made seed paper and cut with the tattered floral die, more of his party HERE:

 

Not entering because I'm nervous is not good enough.

 Here goes nothing. I used the tattered floral die to cut 2 large and 1 med flower from felt, I folded tulle and cut large and smallest flower from the stack.

 Sewed the flowers together and topped with a vintage button from Granny's stash.

Before trimming off the thread I sewed a hair-tie to the back. I snipped a small rectangle from felt and hot glued to cover thread.

 I roughed up the flower and twisted the tulle. I have found giving a shot of heat with my heat gun allows me to set and shape tulle. Very hot, and yes I burn myself often ;) Pretty happy with the outcome, as is miss Bella.

 

The jars full of cuts are great for when I need to make something fast, or to just play with until an idea springs out. After making the hair flower I didn't feel done.

 Mindlessly I stacked quite a few pre-cut book-page daisies. I added a plain brad but it wasn't doing anything for me, swapped it out for a Close To My Heart bling brad (thank you Santa). This is where I get technical folks, I smooshed and flicked it with my hands. Simple, just play with it until it looks right. Out came a 7Gypsies ATC piece, a previously embossed woodgrainbacker, my Distress Stains and Distress Inks to colorize. I swiped the flower gently to for small amounts of colour.

 

 

 Then a song was stuck in my head, "You are the Best Thing" by Ray LaMontagne. Love that song, dance in the living room song, a family song... so it got added in. I plan on framing or adhering the card eventually to a canvas or frame for my wall.

 

 

 

 

What else can I make?

Enjoy!

"They" lied.

Liar, liar, pants on fire. It isn't Spring. I had to blab about the coming of good weather, didn't I. I should of had the sense to at least knock on wood.

There are many projects on the go for me this week, and items that have to be saved for another post. With the snow storm on Monday we closed the shop early and I went home to sew aprons for a friend to give as gifts. The fabric was the only reminder of Spring and cheery days. The kiddos were enjoying the time outdoors in the snow.

Yesterday Bella and I made simple Easter decorations she choose from Pinterest.
Back to work today though, and sneaking in some ATC time for an upcoming swap. Hope Spring is in your heart if it isn't outside, wherever you are.
Enjoy!
P.S. phone posting, please forgive the poor photo organization :)

Spring is approaching!

Spring is on its way, the snow in my yard is receding; the mud is encroaching. My winter coat has begun to fear it's hibernation is near.

Ranger is having another Colour Inspiration Challenge. The present I made for my Mom's birthday fits the bill. Warren gave me the "Treasure Life" (D1306) stamp set by Close To My Heart for Christmas. I'd wanted them because they are so nice! I can use them for emboss resist (Mom's card), black outs, FlowerSoft, and the technique from today.

 
I used my Tim Holtz Distress markers by Ranger to colour in the stamps, then misted the stamp with water before stamping on the paper. Normally I would use watercolour paper, but I was out (temporarily). I added ink to the stamped papers with my Inksentials daubers and Ranger Distress inks. The base is a scrap board cut to 5" x 18" with a white paper glued to the front. I also used my daubers and Distress inks to colourize the base. How did I learn that? By watching Tim Holtz videos of course, if you do not have Tim Holtz's app, you are seriously missing out people!

My Mom enjoyed the wall hanging, it made me anticipate Spring and the flowers in my own garden.

 

Enjoy!

Serendipity

As I said on Saturday, I've lost my spark for a while. My list gets longer, the "to-do" monster cares very little about my lack of creativity. I've offered to help with a project for this years dance recital, and I nervously tackled it this weekend. I was happy with the results, but won't be showing it here for now. I can tell you that I used this Crafters Workshop template.

If you've been following my blog you've discovered that even though I have scrap supplies in nearly every room of my house, I scrap on front of the tv on tray tables. You would also by now know I'm a tad messy, and my hubby is irritated. So it's no surprise when the wooden tables get artifacts left behind after crafting. The bottom corner of the table was totally unintentional, but perfect.

I've been slowly adding on purpose with stamps and markers. My fave so far is the leopard part.

After doing the stencil portion of before mentioned project I happened to be careless and lay used stencil, wet paint side down, on the table. Warren glared and had to say "seriously?!" Before I heeded. Then it happened. My spark ignited. I pulled up the template and just kept adding to the design on the table.

 Last step I added a Krylon clear spray paint overtop.

While he pretends to be mad, Warren actually didn't mind. With my newfound creativity I am working on some ATC's for an upcoming swap, ideas for cards are floating through my mind, as are apron patterns, and, and,.... I'd better get to work!

 

P.S. Here is a card for my Mom, inspiration from a Creative Chemistry Embossing Resist Challenge.   

 

Enjoy!

Where's my spark?

Hey Everyone!

 

Do you ever have one of those days where nothing you touch seems to look right? When you have really great plans of being productive, ideas swirling in your head, and then blah. You make an ugly card, and that's it. That's been me. ALL week long.

 

The only shiny pretty thing I have to show you was made at the beginning of last month. I was part of a Twinchie Swap at Crop Circles. A Twinchie is a 2" square decorated, and the completed pieces can be used for cards, scrapbook pages, banners, etc. I plan on using them for a wall art piece for my future office (don't get me started) showing of my crafty friends. I have all of the Twinchies at my house to sort and send a mixed set back to each participant, and they are all fabulous. I can only show mine, but Cathy posted hers this week. Click the link on the side bar to go to "In The Cat Cave" to see her sparkly creations.

 

Supplies: Bazzil cardstock; Ink, crackle paint, stains, Tim Holtz for Ranger; Tim Holtz Stamp;

Unity Stamp Co. phrase stamp; unknown canvas paper.

 

Upon receiving some of them I did make a quick set of embellished pieces, some twinchies, some just random scrap sizes. I try to stay productive even when I have no luck completing. I have a stack of embossed card fronts that I ink during theses lulls.

 

 

 

Hopefully your creative spark was bright, maybe I will be in a better crafty mood next week.

 

Enjoy!

P.S. On a happy note, look what hubby brought me back from his trip on Thursday!

I may have to do a week of Little Yellow Bicycle.

 

Winners!

Hi Everyone!
 just a shortish post today.
I have the winners from the Crop Circles Blog Hop!

This prize goes to Debbie!

How did I pick you ask? I asked 3 people to choose a number from 1-27, then added and divided by 3.
 

 

The Grand Prize goes to Lisa M!

Congratulations Winners!

To collect the prize from my blog please email me.
(Lisa has been contacted via Cathy's blog)

I haven't been super crafty this week so far, I had a couple of surprize visitors from away and have been spending precious time with them. I will get my post dates regulated again soon.

Enjoy!

 

Happy Birthday Granny!

Posting two days in a row, oooooooh (picture white kitty from "Puss in Boots" covering mouth). I know. I don't get out much ;)
Tonight we will be celebrating my Granny's 85th birthday. I've always been close to her. A great, funny lady. She gets out more than I do. I'm excited for the party, there's going to be plenty of laughs!

While I have made a few cakes, I'm not a great piper. I decided to make a 6"x10" paper topper (covered in a plastic wrapper) that can easily be turned into covers for her birthday cards after. I cut a single sheet of Bazzil Bling (it's either Feather Boa or Lipgloss), cut my 8"x10" photo to 5"x9.5", and added a thin Authentigue "Lovely" mat. I printed the verse on scrap paper, matted with more Authentique.

 For the '85' I printed off and cut out from the computer, but I switched font color to pink so it wouldn't matter if it showed through. I inked the edges slightly with my Inkssentials dauber, coated the numbers in Ranger Collage Glue stick, and poured glass glitter in a snazzy pink.

I also made these flavored tea favors, thanks to the Graphics Fairy for the wonderful corner frame with the bee! I added a text box in Paint and saved as a jpeg file, printed as 9 wallet size per sheet.

 I love my Tim Holtz Distress Markers and waterbrush. I use them on nearly every project. I like to work right on the kitchen table, this drives Warren nuts!

 If there's anything I've noticed about my blog photos, it's that I really need a manicure.

Don't forget to particpate in the Crop Circles Blog Hop happening now, comment on each blog between March 1st through 3rd to qualify for the grand prize. Plenty of blog candy abound too!

 

Enjoy!

First Ever Crop Circles Blog Hop!

 

Hi Everyone! I'm Rhea, welcome to my page! If you are participating in the Crop Circles March blog hop you should have come from Kelly Klapstein’s blog. Don't worry,I have a list at the bottom of the post! Crop Circles is a group of women who share layouts, ideas, tips, and friendship. We challenge each other monthly to keep us on our toes. Cathy Caines is the ringleader for this one. The sketch for the hop comes from Sketchbook365 , with our varied styles this is bound to be fun. My non-blog partner for today is my friend Natasha Connolly.

Here's the sketch:

Initially I had different plans for the sketch as I make a lot of tags (and I may do that layout later still), my creativity took another route. If you’ve been following my blog you've seen that I've been scrapping our Fall family photos and wanted to keep up with that for this week’s posting. My Authentique stash was next to me (pilled on my lap, covering the couch, the cat, and Warren). I really wanted to include the large journaling sticker as “A unique blend of wishes and dreams come true” since it reminds me of my children. The base is from the “Splendid” line, the teal 6 x 6 sheets are “Free Bird”, the card stock label from “Genuine”, and the navy paper and stickers from “Original”.
To create the layout I inked the edges of the base paper with my Tim Holtz distress ink in Gathered Twigs, straight from the pad. I layered stickers on my Ranger non-stick mat or back them in card stock. I like to glue last, as many of you know, but I do glue page elements to each other just not to the base. The American crafts stickers I wanted to use were an 'e' short. I grabbed a color that nearly matched and smushed ink on top same as I did in Wednesday's post. Since my elements bring not attached to the base I could move them and add ink to the background. I used Tattered Angels mist to create droplets by simply unscrewing the sprayer and flicking the straw at the paper.  
 

 

I drew the hearts with the straw on the base paper and let it dry. Then I decided I didn't like them. Crap. How can I fix it? I thought “I know, I’ll trace it with my Picket Fence Distress marker”. I went outside the line. Double crap. Then I had to fix that by using the marker to highlight the elements of my layout. Then it looked weird. Whole darn litter box of crap. I wasn't about to give up, since by that time I had glued it all down. I stared at the TV for a bit, Richard Armitage was on MI-5/Spooks shirtless, showing off his character’s black line Russian prison tattoos. Inspired, I decided to grab my Black Soot Distress marker to contrast the highlights. It was much better. Lastly I added Glossy Accents to them really make them pop.

Supply List: Authentique patterned paper and stickers; Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Inks, and Markers; Ranger Glossy Accents; Tattered Angels Mist; Paper Valise twine; unknown vintage trim and buttons; Bazzill Basics cardstock; American Crafts Thickers; Best Creation Foam.

I'd like to introduce my blog hop partner Natasha Connolly!

"Press F5: Refresh/Reload.

After having a falling out with my scrappy supplies, we decided that we both filed for separation. We have had a year of just being on quasi-talking terms and I am happy to say that we have reunited and are now relearning things about each other. We needed a reload! To start the process I first began redecorating the space that I share with the kids – they call it the play room, I call it the scrap room – either way - we both PLAY! We recycled some old furniture and wall art to make it more cohesive with the “PINK” theme and of course added some new items for good measure! While EVERYTHING isn’t ready for a reveal quite yet, I was super excited to get started on the sketch provided! I was further inspired by The Paperie’s Mojo Monday: Bash your Stash Challenge  – and after picking out some old papers and embellishments (some from 2004), I started creating. I remembered how much I love PAPER and that I really did miss it more than I even thought. 

Then, I saw it, the Glue Glider Pro, standing proudly in my tool carousel, just screaming to be used, still smelling of cellophane. Even though he was well over a year old, I only just removed him from his packaging when I was reorganizing my scrap space days earlier. To top it all off, he was PINK! If you know me at all, you KNOW… I LOVE PINK!

 Ironically, God blessed me with a house full of testosterone, a husband, two wonderful boys, and incidentally, all of our pets, including the fish, have been male. Alas, I digress. I completed the layout in record time (for me anyway) and Boo (the youngest-testosterone filled-youngest child – who has an uncanny resemblance to hubby and myself) also had fun creating. He, however, is much more into different mediums – he loves paint, clay, playdough, and markers. It was a success for all, Bubba (eldest testosterone laden child who, even with a quick glance at him, you would see myself and Hubby oozing out of him – looks and personality), Boo, AND myself had a FABULOUS time just being together and creating. What about Hubby? He LOVED that I was FINALLY using all that “scrap stuff” that was taking up space, and he even pretends to like the PINK curtains! That is REAL love huh? What else did I learn? I’m a “stand-up” scrapper – who knew?

I loved the sketch, the papers I selected, the photo, AND the people in it – talk about setting myself up for success! To take it one step further, I get to post on Rhea’s blog – she IS the ReAson I FINALLY scrapped! Thanks for being a friend, lending an ear, and helping me ReAlize that I NEEDED to scrap again! F5 - I'm Refreshed!"

Supply List:

Cardstock/Patterned Paper: Bazzil Red and Black, Unknown White, Bella Blvd: Making the Team

Mists/Inks/Stamps: Color Mist: Mister Huey's Calico White, Sprinklers: Holiday Style: Spruce Tree, The Crafter's Workshop: 12x12 Template: Chicken Wire, Ranger Archival Ink: Jet Black, Sharpie: Fine Black, DCWV: Black Rub-On Stitching, Autumn Leaves Stampology:Borders Celebration

Embellishments: Little Yellow Bicycle:Clear Cuts Journalling Pieces: Calendar, Wild Asparagus:My Mind's Eye: "Handsome" Tag, Scenic Route: Chipboard: Summer Collection: Arrows, Bella Blvd: Making the Team: Alpha & Bits.

Be sure to leave a comment on this blog for a chance to win the prize listed below, and on each blog in the hop to win the grand prize ($75 value).  The next stop is Catherine Stockley. The Hop is open from March 1 to March 3 to qualify to win a prize.

 

Enjoy!

Blog Hop List:

1. Cheryl Ashworth with guests Shar Strahan & Brande Strahan

2. Kelly Klapstein

*3.You are here* Rhea Skomorowski and Natasha Connolly

4. Catherine Stockley

 5. Michelle Marks

6.  Darlene Head Whalley

7.  Corina Mayo Thorne

8. Sara Case Strickland

9.  Lori Smith and blog partner Elaine Lambe Beck

 10. Liz Davis

11. Cathy Caines and guest Rexene Lockyer

 

Shar Strahan & Brande Strahan - partner with Cheryl Ashworth
Kelly Klapstein-http://kellycreates.blogspot.com/
Rhea Skomorowski - http://www.rheaski.blogspot.ca/
Natasha Connolly (partner with Rhea)
Catherine Stockley- http://catherinelovesstamps.blogspot.ca/
Michelle Marks - http://michellesscrapbits.blogspot.ca/
Darlene Head Whalley http://cherrytat.blogspot.com/
Corina Mayo Thorne - http://craftycorina.blogspot.com/
Sara Case Strickland - http://wp.me/p280bG-FE
Lori Smith - http://itsabouttimeblogspot.wordpress.com/
Elaine Lambe Beck (partner with Lori Smith)
Liz Davis - http://piecesofmyeverydaylife.wordpress.com/
Rexene Lockyer (Send to Cathy Caines)
Cathy Caines - http://cathycaines.blogspot.ca/