TGIF; Thankful Friday #167

 

Happy TGIF; Thankful Friday! This week I'm thankful for small gifts. My DIL gifted me these gorgeous press on nails and I love the way they look! They are gorgeous, but even though they are not that long...they are long for me. I don't know how some people are able to function with long nails!

Aren't they so pretty! 

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

*Hey what do you think of my TGIF badge? I decided to play around with some images and came up with it. I love it!

WOYWW #612

Happy Wednesday and Happy WOYWW!

I was able to show off my work desk last week, but I'm back this week! I'm creating a lot of cards and trying to catch up with my scrapbooking and my desk sure does show how busy I've been.

Why am I showing off my desk? Click on over to the Stamping Ground blog by Miss Julia and read all about it. While you're there, check out other deskers and link a photo of your work area too!

It's a lot of fun peeking into other craft rooms from all over the world!

I'm having a lot of fun creating badges (jpg images) for my regular posts like the TGIF; Thankful Friday posts I do every Friday and also my upcoming monthly card kit posts (I'll share more about this later). 

Have a great week!

Yellow Roses; Junk Journal Spread & Video

I love working in my Junk Journal and was recently asked to make an instructional video on the finger-painted roses that are on a few of my journal spreads.

I’ve said it before and I will repeat, I am not a professional artist instructor, but I love playing with new techniques & products and sometimes (sometimes), I come up with something pretty! Watch the video:

Photos & Close Ups:

Notes: These flowers are formed by using my finger to “draw” a variety of c’s, parenthesis, or commas...whatever you want to call them to create a flower-like shape and to mimic the variation of colors & sizes of petals. My advice, keep playing around with them until they become something you like. In the video, you will see that it took me a few times to get to that place and even after I thought I was there, I ended up adding some marks using a black ink-ball pen. Watch the video, you’ll see. LOL

Most of all have fun & enjoy the process! After all, we’re just playing!

Products Used:
Acrylic Paints: Christmas Green, Daffodil, Marigold, and White
Drop Dead Gorgeous Green ink spray by Lindy’s
Almost Black Glitter Mist
Silver Metallic Ink by Art (c)
POSCA pens in yellow (PC-7M) and white (PC-1M)
Uni-ball Vision Elite in Black
Script Stamp & Black Licorice Archival Ink from my stash
Stamp from Unity Stamps

Lots of Beads!

I had a crazy idea on Saturday to sort the beads by color from the container on the left into these smaller containers...

Yeah...I did this for about an hour & a half and then realized that it wasn't that important to me. There are still so many mixed colored beads in this container and the small ones are mostly all filled up now. Why did I do this...who knows? LOL

I thought it would make it easier if I wanted to create specific color projects, but honestly, after an hour & a half, it just wasn't worth it. But it sure is pretty!

We like pretty, right? I've been on a shaker card roll lately, so stay turned for projects using these beads!

TGIF: Thankful Friday #166

TGIF and Happy Thankful Friday! This has been a busy crafty week for me. I'm thankful that I have time to do all the things and still have time to create things in the Command Center.

Ain't that the truth! I hope you all have time to be crafty in your regular life too. Leave a comment below and let me know what you are thankful for this week.

Guest Designer; Stick It Down

I'm super excited to announce that I'm a Guest Designer at the Stick It Down challenge site for this month. My single page layout was selected as a top winner a few months back so they invited me to be a guest designer. So cool! Of course I said yes!

I'm still finishing up my 2019 photos and I've finally reached November and more importantly, the birth of our first grandbaby! As you can imagine, I have tons of photos of the event and thought they would be perfect for this cute sketch.

The sketch:

My layout:

The video:

What I did/use:

I used my Cricut to cut all the diamond shapes out of a variety of pink patterned papers - all from my scraps - YES!

As you know when working with a sketch, your project does not have to look exactly like it but can be inspired by it. I loved the look of the diamond shapes but I did not use as many as the sketch nor did I do any wet medium/mixed media to the base. I did add some splashes of Color Silk because that's about as much "mixed media" I do to my layouts.

I had a lot of fun gathering all my pink embellishments to see what I could use. I am pretty proud of myself for using stuff that have been in my stash since the beginning of time. Do you see the flower eyelets, baby feet brads??? Those were so much fun to add. 

I also used my Cricut to cut the large title and the small pink label took the place of the subtitle.

Be sure to check out Stick It Down. Each month, they offer a 2-page sketch, single page sketch and a card sketch. If nothing else, go check me out! LOL

Products Used:

Pink cardstock and paper scraps from my stash

Pink sequins, rubber embellishments from Close To My Heart (CTMH)

Pink "x" are actually crosses from Illustrated Faith

Pink flower eyelets and brads from my stash

Pink enamel hearts from Eyelet Outlet

Black hearts and "cute" are also from the rubber embellishment pack from CTMH

White POSCA paint pen

Outrageous Pink & Whipped Cream Color Silk splash from Fun Stampers Journey (FSJ)

Using Chalk Pencils

The best thing about (trying to) organizing the Command Center is finding products I forgot I had or in this case, haven't used in a long, long time. Chalk pencils! 

I stamped the floral images on Oatmeal color cardstock. I love this color because it's not quite kraft but kraft-lite. lol

Check out my process video here:

And here are some close ups:

The added rectangle border, sequins & pearls really give this card an extra uummph.

This card encouraged me to move those chalk pencils from the back of the stock closet to the tools container on my desk. I hope to use these more and more!

I'm entering this card on the Heart 2 Heart challenge blog. There current challenge is a technique challenge - border. This is a CTMH products challenge blog and this stamp set is from the Stamp of the Month collection for December, 2020. 

I’m also entering it in the Always Fun Challenges blog for challenge #201. The challenge theme is Anything Goes.

And the Country View Challenges Blog for their Spring challenge.

Products Used:

Oatmeal & white cardstock from FSJ

General's Chalk Pencils

Happiness Never Grows Old, December Stamp of the Month from CTMH

Misti

Black Archival ink pad

Gold glitter gel pen

Yellow sequins and flat back pearls from my stash

Finger sponge dauber

UPDATE:  I won the challenge at the Heart 2 Heart Challenge Blog!

BBTB2 Food/Bon Appetit Challenge

It's time for another two week challenge at Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) Cricut challenge blog. The current challenge theme is food/Bon Appetit. My kinda challenge!

I had all kinds of ideas for this challenge and I was getting a little anxious about it...I know...silly, but I finally just decided to do a search in Design Space for food related projects and picked the "Good Food = Good Mood image from Totes Adorbs set. They project on DS was for a tote bag, but I used the image on a potholder. 

I also searched for cooking phrases and removed the cake on the You Bake Me Crazy image from the My Punny Valentine set.

I used standard HTV in both red and white. This was a little more difficult than I thought it would be because of the quilting of the potholder, but still basically a quick and easy project.

Now it's your turn. Click on over to the BBTB2 blog and link your project. Don't forget to let us know how your Cricut was used.

List of Products:

TGIF; Thankful Friday #165

Happy Friday and happy TGIF; Thankful Friday!

This week went by fast and I'm always thankful for that, but this week I'm thankful for winter. Now, I know what you're thinking...winter in California isn't really winter, but that's what I'm thankful for...a California winter. 

Cold enough to put on a sweater and a jacket, but not necessarily full blown snow/winter gear. I love getting all bundled up with mittens and a quilt just reading or watching t.v. It's so comforting and cozy.

I hope you are enjoying the weather wherever you are.

Let me know what you're thankful for this week by leaving a comment.

Easy Stamped Backgrounds; Valentine's Day Cards

Generational stamping...have you heard of it? Well, watch the YouTube video and learn more about it. I decided to stamp some backgrounds for Valentine's Day cards this year. 

Photos:

Aren't these so fun! I used hearts for my stamped backgrounds, but you can use any type of stamp for a variety of cards. 

And since I was on a roll with my Cricut cuts, I also made cards using some of the gel prints we made earlier (click HERE for that post).

Although all of these cards could be added to the Just Us Girls #570 challenge this week, I am entering the gnome card(s) for the challenge. Click on over there to see the DT projects as well as the linked cards.

Have fun!

Ink Pads used: Real Red, Rich Razzleberry from Stampin Up!; Blush from Close To My Heart
Die Cuts were all cut with my Cricut

Stamp Set: Snuggles & Smooshes from SU! (heart & "my silly valentines" and "gosh you're adorable" sentiments; Will you be my Valentine? sentiment is from CTMH To the Moon stamp set.

Typed the other sentiments

Washi, doily and punched hearts from my stash

WOYWW #610

Hello Wednesday and hello WOYWW! Today I get to share a photo of my work area...why, you ask? Check out the Stamping Ground and read all about it.

My desk:

I've been working a lot on challenge projects and still trying to complete 2019 scrapbooking layouts. With Valentine's Day projects and the layouts I'm working on now, I feel like pink has exploded all over my work area. Good news though, I'm getting rid of pretty much all my pink scraps! And I have been clearing the main work area between projects.

Be sure to click on over to Stamping Ground to check out other desks and link yours too. If you don't have a blog, there is a #WOYWW tag for IG. No need to tidy up!

See you next week! 

Adventure Swap

Remember, I posted THIS project a few weeks ago? Well, I just received the items from the swap over the weekend. I LOVE all of them and am so excited to use them in my scrapbooking.

I love the hot air balloons and may be prompted to go to a festival or something just so I can use them! LOL

Here's what I got - I also love how one of these matches mine so perfectly!

Have a great day!

TGIF; Thankful Friday #164

Happy Thankful Friday! This week went by so fast and for that...I am thankful. I am thankful that I have been super busy with Valentine's orders. I'm busy making cards, some custom and some stock and also some cute Valentine's Day mugs.
 

Most of them have already been showcased on my blog and if they haven't already, they will soon.

This week is always a tough one for me since it is the anniversary of my dad's passing, but it also reminds me of my niece's birthday (she's 16 this year!) and the Superbowl. Three major events in one week.

Our team is not in the Superbowl this year but it's always an event to watch AND we sure do love the commercials!

Now it's your turn...leave a comment on what you are thankful for this week.

Dear Santa Junk Journal Spread

Yes, I know Christmas is over but this photo is from 1979 so it's late no matter how you look at it! If you watched my Junk Journal YouTube flip throughs, you saw this spread already. I printed these super cute gnomes from Creative Fabrica and knew I wanted to use them for this spread.

The Video:

Photos:

I wanted a youthful and fun spread and I think I achieved it!

Be sure to click over to the Creative Fabrica site. They have fabulous graphics and fonts for great prices. They have daily freebies as well once you sign up.

To see the flip throughs of my Junk Journal, click on the Junk Journal label on the bottom right. Each flip through has a link to my YouTube channel.

WOYWW #609

Hello and Happy Wednesday a.k.a. WOYWW!

I’m working on Valentine’s Day cards and tags and my desk sure does reflect it:

Last week I literally said out loud that I don’t have any Valentine’s Day products and last night I remembered that I had a 6x6 pad and while looking for that, I found THREE sets of Valentine’s/Love paper packs along with lots of embellishments to go with them. I have no idea why I didn’t look under my “LOVE” category last week...but here they are!

So why am I showing off a photo of my desk? Click on over to Stamping Ground to read more about this over 11 year linkage and take a peek at the other deskers!  Have a great week!!

So 
 

BBTB2; Valentines Day/Hearts Challenge

It's time for a new challenge at the Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) challenge site. BBTB2 hosts a new challenge every two weeks. The theme for the current challenge is...Valentine's Day/Hearts...seems appropriate for the month of February!

I created this cute beer mug just for my Valentine.

It was really hard to get a good photo of the glass mug, but I hope you can see how cute it is!

The heart is on the opposite side of the mug. Because of the simple shape, it almost looks like it's in the inside.

I used three different colors of permanent vinyl but used scraps since the cut was small enough. The "beer" image was from the Bring Me a Beer file from the Sock Sayings set, font used for the other words is Cricut Sans (I stretched it) and the heart arrow is from the Let's Eat Some Cake set. The circle and heart were cut with basic shapes.

Now it's your turn...create a Valentine's and/or heart Cricut project and link it on the BBTB2 site. Be sure to let us know how you used your Cricut machine for the project. See you over there!

LTCCB; February Challenge (Always Meant To Fly)

Come join the February challenge at the Love To Craft Challenge Blog (LTCCB). The challenge theme is...Anything Goes and you can link any crafty project!

I love this journal spread. This was another messy spread that I needed to cover. At first I was going to cover the whole thing with either white gesso or white paint, but I decided to put a mask down and then apply the white paint over the mask. I followed the direction from Eulalia Mejia Studios as part of a Taster Session from Willowing Arts.

Man, that was a great taster series and I picked up so much from all the different instructors.

Isn't it so bright and cheery!?!

Now it's your turn! Link your project to the LTCCB site before the end of the month.

LTSCB: Love is...February Challenge

The challenge this month at the Love To Scrap Challenge Blog (LTSCB) is Love is...  I took some super cute photos of my granddaughters and I knew I needed to use them for this challenge theme. I love how silly they were being & giving kissy faces. Although the photo quality of the main photo is horrible, I still wanted to use it to honor the memory.

I pulled out my Valentine's/heart stamps to make a cute customized patterned paper for the base of this layout. I used a bunch of old embellishments too. I didn't have an exact plan in mind, but I love the way it turned out! Be sure to check out the video for some tips & tricks.

Paper Dimensions: Stamped white paper 11x11; Smack (black) paper 5x10.5; and white w/black polka dots 5.5x9.5

Close Ups:

YouTube process video:

Be sure to click over to LTSCB to link your Love is...stamped project! This is a monthly challenge so you have until the end of February to complete the project & link it!

Products Used:

Stamps: Majority of the heart stamps are from Stampin Up! (SU!); Love Coupon from Embossing Arts; Cupid from Michael's; Lips from Red Hot Rubber; Big "Love" from Posh Impressions

Ink Pads: Real Red, Melon Mambo, Pink Passion from SU!; Blush, Cotton Candy from CTMH; Rustic Rose from Fun Stampers Journey

Patterned Paper: "Smack" is from a Mickey & Friends purchased at Cricut.com

All other papers are from my stash

Embellishments: Love & Kisses die cuts 2002 Cock-a-Doodle Designs (hearts, kiss & lips); Storytellers Club for the "XOXO" & label; chipboard arrows & brackets from the Dollar Tree

"Love" chipboard for Recollections and "is" letters are Thickers

Triple Heart Punch from SU!