Handmade Baby Gift

I love getting baby shower invitations. It means I get to create something for a new baby! Ever since I started sewing, I make handmade baby gifts. Well, since my sewing machine conked out on me right before Christmas and my new machine hasn't come out of the box yet, I decided to make some iron on onesies.

I made some last month (see post HERE) and loved them! Those tiny onesies are adorable just by themselves, but add some "pretty" and they are adorable++.

The theme was Tropical Baby, but I'm still hesitant to make a multi-layered iron on. I've watched videos and it looks easy, but it scares me a little. Especially since I hate wasting vinyl - they are so expensive.

Even though they are only one layer, they still turned out adorable and the parents-to-be were really excited about them.

All cuts were freebies at LoveSVG.

Make a Wish

We had another Paint Night at my local library. It is so fun and there is a group of "regulars" now so I'm meeting new people as well as seeing my friends I don’t normally get to see often.

Here's the painting:

I have to tell you, that background was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I saw some stripes and figured...EASY...nope. We had to blend out the visually noticeable lines but be careful because we didn't want to make green. UGH!

I did learn a new technique with the black "grassy" silhouette. I really like how that turned out.

I hand wrote the words using a Sharpie they provided.

I am happy how it turned out though and no matter what, it's fun and free!

ICAD 2018; Week Eight & TGIF Thankful Friday #53

I know it's Saturday and I'm a day late in my TGIF; Thankful Friday post but I didn't want to not do it. We've hired a Handy Man to do some projects in our house and I'm so thankful for him. He does an excellent job and doesn't charge an arm and a leg. Or at least it seems reasonable to us. We put new floors in our guest bedroom and soon the kitchen. I am so excited and thankful for his "super power"! And ours to recognize that we can't do it ourselves and we waited long enough. LOL

So what are you thankful for this week? Leave a comment below...

I can see the finish line from here. This will be the last full week of this 61 day challenge. If you're interested in seeing more cards, click on the ICAD label to the right. This is my third year participating in the challenge.

The first year, I framed a bunch of these but so far this year and last, they all just went into a box. These boxes are the ones that our iPhones came in. I added some of the labels I made using my art. I told my daughter, let's see how did I put it, the index card holders come with an iPhone...or something like that. LOL

My cards:

Click HERE to find out more about the GIVEAWAY that is happening right now. Leave a comment to be entered.  Good luck!

Celebrating Family with Quick Quotes

Hi there, today I'm sharing a layout I made using the Whistlin Dixie paper collection by Quick Quotes.

We took these photos on Mother's Day and I'm just now finding time to scrap them. Even though these photos are basically the same thing, I still wanted to incorporate both of them on this page.

I love using paper collections since everything coordinates and makes it quick & easy to create a layout using multiple patterned papers. I did not use any solid cardstock on this layout since the backside of the polka dots papers were semi-solid.

I used Cool Gray to stamp "Happy Mother's Day" all over the yellow paper.

I wanted it to look like part of the paper - blend in.

Once I knew the photo placement, I stamped it again in black.

Before placing the pieces of patterned papers to the layout base, I inked all edges with a coordinating color. I cut out the banners from the coordinating Whistlin Dixie 500 sheet and inked all edges. These are adhered using 3D foam dots. The two topiaries were an afterthought and I love how they look. I inked the pot in Cool Gray and the three "bushes" in Cactus, Light Moss and Key Largo PowderPuff Chalk Inks.

I used seven different PowderPuff Chalk Inks for this layout. I have decided that Sandy Shore is going to be my GO TO ink. It coordinates with all colors of papers and gives edges a soft look. Love it!

If you haven't had a chance, go to the Quick Quotes Blog and check out this post as well as many other talented people. They post a new project every day.

I love how their blog is simply called...Blog Quick Quotes and their shop is simply...Shop Quick Quotes.

Quick Quotes Products Used:
Whistlin Dixie Paper Collection
Whistlin Dixie 500
PowderPuff Chalk Inks: Key Largo, Cactus, Light Moss, Cool Gray, Bermuda, Lipstick, Sandy Shore

WOYWW #477

Happy Wednesday and Happy WOYWW! Wednesdays are the day we get to show off our work desks/areas and chat. If you want to read more about it or link your own desk, click HERE. Miss Julia hosts the link every week for NINE years! Isn't that wonderful?!

Without further ado, here's my desk:

I'm sure you guys are getting tired of my talking about my junk journals. But here's another finished piece (on the right) that I finished last night. 

It started as a packing slip and then some mop up inks & paints. Last night I added a variety of washi tapes in the center. Then I added some white acrylic paint to cover more of the print on the paper and to blend in the tapes. I stamped three flowers using a Technique Tuesday stamp I got free at the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo in March; colored those in using a water brush and some inkpads; splattered some inks; stamped the sentiment and done!

You can see a peek of another junk journal in the top left corner. I'll do another post on that one. The rest of the stuff is just stuff left on my desk from making ICADs.

Have a wonderful week!

Oh, I almost forgot...I am hosting a GIVEAWAY this month. Click here for the original post, but basically, leave a comment on any of my posts from July 20th - July 31st for a chance to win a set of five notecards made from my original work. You can see them in my ETSY store (link to the right).

Flower All Over - Junk Journal Page

I can't grow flowers to save my life so I've been concentrating on "growing" them on paper. This page started as a mop up piece and it was UGLY! I wish I would have taken a before photo, but I know there's a shot of it on my last YouTube video.

To grow these roses, I grabbed my red and green paper scraps and started cutting away. Then I put those pieces together to form a rose shaped puzzle. I adhered them to the junk journal page. Thankfully, the roses covered a lot of the ugly! Once the roses and leaves were secure, I painted in between them with a dry brush and a mixture of mostly white and a touch of teal acrylic paints. Before finishing the background, I added some black thick “crosses” in some random spots using a Sharpie marker.

I added the black lines on the rose petals and leaves with a extra fine black Sharpie to emulate black stitches/sewing. I love how they turned out and BONUS...I used some of my paper scraps!

Don’t forget to comment on this post and any posts between July 20th through July 31st for your chance to win a set of 5 notecards made from my original art work. This give-a-way is to celebrate a full year of TGIF; Thankful Friday posts. Read the original post HERE.

I’m entering this on the Allsorts Challenge Blog. Their July challenge is Flowers All Over and I think this qualifies. Click to their site for more information.

Sweet Birthday FCCB Challenge #331

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

Challenge #331-Birthdays
Make a project about Birthdays. But there has to be a least one cut from the Cricut Library!

This Weeks Sponsor

And the prize is-

A $10 coupon code for anything in the store!

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 love using my Cricut for birthdays. It is the perfect tool for all things birthdays from the invitations, decorations, goodie bags and the gift!  

I chose to make a card this time. I used my Art Philosophy cartridge from CTMH for the circle card base and the CUTEST popsicles from Printable, Cuttable and Creatable (one of our regular sponsors). The patterned paper is from Elle’s Studio.

I also added some white sequins and more bling using the small brush in the Sparkle Color Silk from FSJ.

Now it’s your turn...click on over to the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog to link your birthday project.

ICAD 2018; Week Seven

Days 43 - 49 (Week 7) of the ICAD 61 day challenge. Wow, it is going by so fast. I have to admit, I took two days to complete the first card since I had to wait for the card to dry. Sure I could have used my hand dryer, but I didn't. SMILE

If you are interested in joining the challenge, click HERE to get to Daisy Yellow Art's site. There is more information about it, but basically you create something on an index card every day for 61 days straight. I've seem so many other challenges - some for 100 days. Nah, that's not for me. If you're participating in some sort of daily challenge, I'd love to check out your work. Leave your blog or IG address in the comments and I'll come check it out.

Here are my cards:

I learne something this week:  I cannot paint watercolored landscapes LOL

Don't forget about the TGIF; Thankful Friday #52 GIVEAWAY. Post a comment on any posts between Friday, July 20th through July 31st for a chance to win a set of five mixed media cards made from my original artwork. You can find these cards at my ETSY shop.

TGIF; Thankful Friday #52 & Giveaway

#52! Does that mean I've been doing this for one year now?! Wow, it's pretty cool that among the crazy, hard, and stressful weeks, there really is ALWAYS something to be thankful for. This week I'm thankful for my blog followers, my WOYWW friends, IG followers, etc.

Everyone is always so nice and leaves great comments. It sure does help when I'm feeling low or when things are just blah... I hope that you too have a tribe of people that can boost you up when you're feeling low.

Now for the cool part, in honor of this one year anniversary post of Thankful Fridays, I'm having a GIVE-A-WAY.

At the end of the month, one lucky winner will receive a set of five notecards (a $15 value). These cards are in my Etsy Shop and are copies of my original art work.

Leave a comment on this post and/or any future posts from today through July 31st. After the 31st, I'll randomly select one name and post the winner soon after.

Good Luck!

Another Junk Journal Video

Hey there, I hope you’re not getting bored with all my junk journal videos but I am having so much fun with them! I tried something a little different with this video. It’s basically a series of photos and a voice over.  The reason why I did it this way is because I started the journal and then realized I should have filmed it.

Well, now I have the chance to try something new!

Thanks for everyone’s kind comments which is really encouraging me to continue filming.

A sneak peek and hope it encourages you to watch the video!

Video:

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel which is Dorlene Durham and I also post on Instagram.  Find me @3sons_and_astar

Scrapbooking with Quick Quotes

I am so ready to enjoy the triple digit hot CA weather in my air conditioned home. I am so behind in my scrapbooking so it was nice to spend the day in the Command Center.
I pulled out the Secret Garden paper collection from Quick Quotes to complete the final page from my San Antonio trip. These photos were printed at 2x3” and I was able to get 10 photos on one page!

I grabbed scraps of this collection and cut or tore strips to create a background. Each strip edge is inked with coordinating PowderPuff Chalk Inks. I used Light Moss, Sandy Shore, Island Orange, and Deep Sea.

I love the quote on this vellum strip so I added it to the center of the photos. I was going to ink the edges, but I wanted it to blend into the photos. The nice thing about the PowderPuff Chalk Inks is that I can use it on vellum if I wanted to.

I adhered the vellum strip with brads.  I added some embellishments and journaling and this page is complete!

Quick Quotes Products Used:
Secret Garden Paper Collection
The Journey Vellum Strip
PowderPuff Chalk Inks: Light Moss, Deep Sea, Island Orange, Sandy Shore
Enamel Dots (June Club Q)
Copper Brads

Other Products Used:
Black Licorice Color Silk by FSJ
Black Thread
Small Talk by Tim Holtz

TGIF; Thankful Friday #51

This week we had an unexpected visitor, my nephew! He popped over and we had such a great visit. Too bad it was a little short since I had to go to bed early for work the next day, but he has such a great energy and it just radiates from him to whomever he's with. Gosh, I love that kiddo!

That kiddo is 36 years old but he's still a kiddo to me. So this week I'm thankful for my nephew, Robert. I'm thankful that we're the type of family that you can just pop on over without a formal invitation. My parents were great role models and raised themselves two generations (and counting) of fun, loving, forgiving, and generous people.

ICAD 2018; Week Six

Another week of the ICAD challenge and I'm still having fun!

Here are my cards for Week 6 (I did not follow the prompts at all this week):

This card was made on 7/11; so this is a tribute to the Slurpee.

If you're not sure what a Slurpee is, it's basically a drinkable snow cone.

If you want to start the challenge, click on over to Daisy Yellow Art for more info, prompts and themes. Even though the challenge is to be done from June 1 - July 31, 61 consecutive days, you can start any time. This is the first year, I started on June 1st.

To see more of my index cards from this year or the past two, click on the ICAD label to the right.