Friday, March 30, 2018

TGIF; Thankful Friday #36

It's Good Friday!

I think it's pretty obvious that this Friday, I'm grateful for the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for all of us. We have eternal life because of the blood he shed.

I hope you have a blessed weekend with your friends and loved ones.

Now it's your turn, share what you are thankful for in the comments.

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

WOYWW #460

Happy WOYWW! My desk is busy, busy but thankfully not too messy! I'm on a roll for making shaker cards and adding lots of cards to my rack. I'm going to have to do a "POP UP SHOP" soon. I like to do it every so often at work.

With no further ado...here's my desk:

To read more about WOYWW, click on over to Stamping Ground blog and let Ms. Julia tell you all about it.

I also wanted to share the photo I put on Instagram over the weekend. I went outside to do some weeding and on the sewer drain on my driveway was this:

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

QQ Powderpuff Chalk Inks; Bible Art Journaling

Hey there, today I'm showing off the bible art journaling I did with using PowderPuff Chalk Inks for Quick Quotes.

I do not own a journaling bible, but I do journal in my bible. Because I don't have the large border on the sides and don't want to cover the scriptures, I keep my embellishments minimal. I chose to spotlight Proverbs 16:24, "Kind Words are Sweet as Honey and Healing for the Soul." (my interpretation)

Before stamping, I covered the entire page with clear gesso. Once that dried, I stamped honeycomb shaped stamps using Tropical Punch, Vanilla Cream, Purple Rain and Island Orange PowderPuff Chalk Inks. The chalk inks are perfect for this project since they are smooth and translucent.

I used Cool Gray for the sentiment and bees. The other words were either written by me or the Tim Holtz words stickers. I splattered some gold color silk here and there.

In Progess

Complete!

Close Up

I finished the project by shading the page edges with Vanilla Cream and Tropical Punch PowderPuff Chalk Inks and a sponge wedge.

Quick Quotes Products Used:
PowderPuff Chalk Inks: Vanilla Cream, Tropical Punch, Purple Rain, Island Orange, Cool Gray

Other Products Used:
Sweet as Honey stamps by CTMH
Gold Color Silk by Fun Stampers Journey
Small Words by Tim Holtz

Click on over to the Quick Quotes blog to see this and other DT projects.

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Junk Journal Intro; YouTube Video

Hey you guys, I'm actually doing it. I'm posting my YouTube videos for all to see. I've done a few already for the Quick Quotes Design Team, but now I figure, why not do more?! It's a lot of fun and I'm learning a little more each time. My channel is under my name, Dorlene Durham...so check it out and become a subscriber!

This video does a quick overview of how I junk journal and then I complete a page. Take a look:

Here's the final project after I added a feather and some bias ribbon. I realized after I thought I was done that there were two holes on the right side. At first I thought I'd cover with washi tape or a piece of scrap paper, but then the feather and ribbon came to mind.


I love it! It's simple and so pretty!

Supplies:
Paint and Color Silk by Fun Stampers Journey (use my name, Dorlene Durham as your Journey Coach)
Sentiment by Unity Stamp Co.

Friday, March 23, 2018

TGIF; Thankful Friday #35

Yes, I know...I skipped a week. Not that I didn't have anything to be thankful for, I just forgot. LOL

This has been another wet week here in Central CA and I'm really thankful for thick and cozy quilts. My mom is a quilter and we have many, many handmade quilts that I have made and that she has made for us throughout the years. We have a two story home and it is really expensive to heat it up so I'm a little strict when upping the thermostat in the house. Instead we cuddle up with these amazing quilts.


Wednesday, March 21, 2018

WOYWW #459

Happy Wednesday! I've been steadily working in the Command Center and finally had a chance to take a photo to post on WOYWW. To read more about it, go visit Julia at the Stamping Ground blog to find out more. I miss peeking into the craft rooms of so many talented people.

With no further ado...here's my desk:

Pretty clean I must say!

Now it's your turn. Click on over to the blog and show us your work desk!

Monday, March 19, 2018

Weekend Fun: Salad In A Jar

It was a rainy weekend so we decided to make "Salads In A Jar". We went to the store and bought lots of veggies, more salad dressings and toppings. Carly and I got busy chopping, shredding, spiraling, and slicing all the veggies and then followed the steps to create the salads.

Salad in a Jar:
1.     Dressing (2-3 tablespoons)
2.     Hearty Veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery, red onions, tomatoes, peppers)
3.     Beans & Other Veggies
4.     Pasta & Grains (couscous, quinoa)
5.     Protein & Cheese (meats, tuna, hardboiled egg)
6.     Greens & Nuts/Seeds (greens need to be as dry as possible)

Add each layer leaving at least ¼ of the jar for the greens.  Stuff the jar with enough greens to completely fill.  Screw on the lid.  Keep refrigerated. 


Salad will be fresh up to seven days.


Our salads don't normally last seven days but we did eat one of them on the sixth day. It was still fresh! Before eating, turn your jar upside down to get the dressing to flow down to all the salad, dump everything in a bowl/plate and enjoy! We did not put croutons in the jars, because I can't imagine that they would stay hard. Another tip: the greens need to be as dry as possible, when you wash them, use a salad spinner or dry them with paper towels. I purchased the prewashed greens and then patted them dry.

Enjoy!

Friday, March 16, 2018

QQ Club Q Project; Twisted Pop Up Card

Hey there, I'm ready to share my Club Q project with you. Not only does Club Q predesign layouts and project kits, but there's so much more you can do with them. I love the Spring Showers paper collection. It's so pretty and I just had to create something that shows it off so I pulled some papers and die cuts from the kits and made a couple of Twisted Pop Up cards.

I made one for my sister-in-law's 60th birthday and the other for my mom for Mother's Day. I can't wait to see their reaction to this fun, interactive and pretty card!

Before adhering the patterned papers, I inked all edges in Key Largo Powder Puff Chalk Ink.

Check out my instructional video and then make your own twisted pop up card.

Measurements as promised:
Cut three pieces of cardstock at the following measurements:
Card Base: 4 1/4 x 11 (score at 5 1/2)
Mechanism: 3 x 8 (scored at 1 1/2 on short side and 4" on long side then mark at 2 1/2" from the right and left on the top and bottom. Score an "x" to connect the marks)
Twisted Base: 3 3/4 x 11 (score at 2 3/4 at each end; flip it over and score at 5 1/2; fold it into a "w")

Patterned paper:
Three pieces cut at 4 x 5 1/4 (mark at 2" at the top and each side then cut the corners off on two of these pieces)
Four pieces cut at 2 1/2 x 3 1/2

I said it in the video, but I can't stress this enough, be sure to decorate the four panels before adhering the twisted base to the mechanism. It'll make your life so much easier!

Quick Quotes Supplies Used:
Spring Showers patterned paper
Key Largo Powder Puff Chalk Ink
Flower die cuts,
Flat back pearls and brads from March, 2018 Club Q kit

Other Products Used:
Stamps by CTMH
Ranger Black Archival Ink Pad
Doily from my stash



Tuesday, March 13, 2018

Recycling; It's On The Bag!

I spend a morning going through my closet and all the wrapping paper rolls, gift bags, tissue, etc., etc. that was piling up in there. Yeah, my closet was looking pretty hoarderish and scary. So, I went through the mess by separating Christmas items from all the other events; tossed, combined & organized my closet! Oh, it looks so nice! And all that huge pile shrunk down to one box.

When I was organizing, I noticed I kept a lot of store brand/name bags. At first I was going to toss them, but they are so pretty. I gathered these together and tucked them into one large bag. I told myself that I have one month to upcycle/recycle/pretty them up or else they are gone! OK, we all know that's not going to happen so I changed my rule to one year - I figured I'd use these bags for gifts throughout the year, but if I didn't use them within one year, I'd toss.


Some samples of what I'm working with:
You can see why I don't want to toss them, right?

Here are some of the bags that I've upcycled so far:
Birthday Bag for Coworker
Baby Shower Gift Bag
I used my gelli plate for this one
Pretty Cool!

Saturday, March 10, 2018

FSJ, Wobblers, and the Gelli Plate

Happy weekend! I'm not sure if my post title sounds like a movie title, a legal firm or the beginning of a "walked in a bar" joke. Well none of those are true - it's a list of supplies I used for these cards.

On Saturday, I demonstrated the gelli plate to one of my crafting buddies. It is so fun to play with and I love that you never know how the prints are going to turn out.

Both of these cards use Fun Stampers Journey (FSJ) products with the exception of the wobbler mechanism. I purchased these from Close To My Heart (CTMH) last year.





Acrylic Paints: Cool Pool, Sweet Berry and Pineapple Smoothie
Cardstock:  Whip Cream and Lemongrass
Color Silks:  Sparkle, Black and Cool Pool
Ink Pad:  Black Licorice and Electric Lime
Stamps:  Happy Birthday (Coach Gift) and Oops!

Aren't these fun?

If you are interested in purchasing any Fun Stampers Journey products, click HERE and please use me as your coach when placing your order.

This is what I love about FSJ:
  • They still use red rubber stamps for use with an acrylic block
  • Their cardstock is thicker than most brands
  • Fusion Ink pads are a hybrid ink pad, a marriage of dye and pigment inks which gives a vibrant color but also quick drying. Inks can be used on all materials.
  • Mixed Media line is full of products that put a fun & unique look to all your projects.

Friday, March 9, 2018

TGIF; Thankful Friday #34

Another cold week in Central CA. HA HA HA I know all you East Coasters are laughing at that statement for sure. Yeah, it gets below 50 here and we're freezing!

This week has been busy. Over the weekend, Carly and I attended the Stamp and Scrapbooking Expo and bought all kinds of goodies. I was going to take a photo but I thought of it after I had already put away most of my stuff. But you can imagine all the goodies that were sold and purchased during the Expo.

Week #34 and I'm thankful for my daughter. She's been exceptionally helpful this week with keeping the house clean. She is my manager, photographer, critique giver and so much more. She is such a blessing and I'm so thankful for my Star!


Wednesday, March 7, 2018

HLS Guest Designer; Friendship

I'm honored & excited to be the Guest Designer this month on the Happy Little Stampers challenge site. The mixed media challenge for March is: Friendship.


I decided to make my piece in a Junk Journal which seems to be my "go to" lately.

1st Layer: Yellow & Blue Sprays

More Layers: acrylic paints & pink spray over a stencil

More Layers: Black acrylic paint & pen

White Highlights & Pencil Marks

Done!
I added torn book pages to create a place to stamp a sentiment and to place the two buddies. I hand cut shapes to create the two ladies on the right side and added three Washi tapes to create a resting place for these cuties.

Happy Little Stampers (HLS) has monthly challenges for multiple types of projects. I gravitate to the mixed media challenges. Click on over to the HLS site for inspiration and be sure to link your own FRIENDSHIP mixed media piece.

And I just realized this is my 700th post! Woo Hoo! I am so thankful all those years ago I decided to start a blog. I have "met" so many people who I now consider friends so this 700th post with a FRIENDSHIP theme is just perfect.

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

QQ March Project

Hey there, I'm playing with my Quick Quotes materials today. I decided to do another one photo scrapbook layout. You know, I rarely do one photo layouts but for some reason there were a lot of events this year where I only took one photo.

This particular photo is of my granddaughter at her first sewing lesson. She was so excited and couldn't wait for me to teach her to use my sewing machine. We decided she'd come over every Wednesday during the summer for lessons.

I used the Far and Away paper collection for this layout. I know what you're thinking..."WHAT?! Isn't that collection only for travel layouts?" No, it isn't. That's the beauty of paper collections, they don't have to be used for the obvious. When I saw the ruler paper, I knew it was perfect for a layout about sewing. I used both sides of FW102 and FW104 for this layout.

I cut strips of different sizes from the two sheets. Before I adhered them to the white cardstock base, I inked all edges in Cool Gray Powder Puff Chalk Ink. I got a little messy around the corners by applying a little more pressure and changing the angle of the pad.



The title and quote are from the All Smiles Vellum Strip. I decided not to ink the edges of the vellum pieces because I wanted them to blend in with the background papers but it's nice to know with the Powder Puff Chalk Inks, I have the option to ink vellum if I wanted to.

I finished the layout by adding sewing themed embellishments, word stickers and coordinating color enamel dots. This was a quick and easy scrapbook layout and would be perfect for using up scraps.

Quick Quotes Products Used:
Far and Away Collections (102 and 104)
Other Products Used:
White and Pink Cardstock
Words from Tim Holtz
Sew Suite stamp set from SU!
Cricut/Nifty Fifties Cartridge
Enamel Dots from Queen and Company

Speaking of scraps...as always, here is the card that I made using the scraps from this project:


There was very little scraps left over from this layout but I was able to make a simple card by cutting down the scrap to 4x5.25" and then using the back side for a coordinating strip. I crimped a portion towards the bottom, added a stamped sentiment, some enamel dots and viola! I love this card because of it's simplicity. I'll be giving this one to my boss for his birthday next week.

Quick Quotes Products Used: Deep Sea Powder Puff Chalk Inks

Other Products:
Enamel Dots by Queen and Company
Sentiment by FSJ

Monday, March 5, 2018

FCCB #321 St. Patrick's Day

 Happy Monday and welcome to another Monday challenge at the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog (FCCB)!



Challenge #321-St. Patricks Day
Make a project about St. Patricks Day, or lots of green!

This Weeks Sponsor



Dreaming Tree SVG's

The winner will receive a $10 Gift Certificate!

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

If it isn't a card, you will get two entries into the drawing!

Here is my project-

I decided to make a card this week. I love the Create-a-Critter cartridges and so happy I have both of them. The cuts are so cute and there's a cut for every occasion. I decided to make this cute little worm (betcha never thought I'd say a sentence like that!) “Lucky Worm”. And use these wobbler thingies I bought last year at the Scrapbook Expo. I bought mine from Close To My Heart (CTMH) but I’m sure you can buy them elsewhere.






So I covered the card base with green patterned papers (scraps from my stash), cut an oval from vellum and placed Mr. Lucky Worm on the center. I added Wink of Stella to the hat buckle and worm stripes and added green glitter to the bow ties.

So cute!  Don’t forget to link your St. Patrick’s Day creations to the FCCB website.  Good Luck!
 



Friday, March 2, 2018

TGIF; Thankful Friday #33

This week has flown by! That in itself is something to be thankful for but that’s not it for this week. This week I’m thankful for my scrapbook carrier/tote that my kids gave me for Mother’s Day a few years back. Carly and I are going to the Scrapbook Expo this weekend and it sure is nice to pack one bag. I know I could probably pack more than this one bag, but we’re only attending the crop for only one day. It seems like so long ago when I actually scrapbooked my photos. I’m still in August, 2017 with my photos.

I’m thankful for this rolling bag that is so easy to fill and bring along. In the past, I had a couple of tote bags that I would fill and lug them in and out to crops.

Have a great weekend - it’s going to be a wet one over here.

If you get a chance, write what you are thankful for this week in the comments.

Thursday, March 1, 2018

CWS March Challenge

Happy March 1st and welcome to another challenge on the Creative With Stamps site. This month’s challenge is:  Bunny


A random winner will win this prize:


With Easter around the corner, this is a great time to make a bunny card. For my card, I cut down a gelli print to 3 3/4 x 5”. I stamped the bunny in a basket stamp on the background piece and a second time on a piece of plain white cardstock. I colored the image with chalks and some blender fluid in a water brush. Once I colored in my image, I fussy cut it and placed it over the stamped image. When you do it this way, you don’t have to fussy cut all those thin blades of grass and the tiny hairs of the bunny.



I added twine and enamel dots to the card along with a matted sentiment. The cardfront is adhered to a coral/salmon piece of cardstock and attached to the card base.

I think it turned out really cute! Now it’s your turn...click on over to the CWS site and link up your bunny card!