Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Quick Quotes & Inky Background Card

I'm been using the Powder Puff Chalk Inks with pretty much everything this month and decided to share a process video for a card that I made.

Powder Puff Chalk Inks can be used on multiple surfaces and I love how the ink does not smear or run even on non-porous surfaces like vellum.

Here's a look at the cards I made:

And here's the video with instructions on how to make them


This video cracks me up. You can tell that I use my hands a lot when talking. I don't know if it's because of my ASL background or nerves. Probably a little of both. LOL  I hope you enjoyed the process video and get a chance to play around with the inks to create your own cards.

Powder Puff Chalk Inks Used:
Vanilla Cream
Bermuda
Tropical Punch
Purple Rain


Other Products Used:
Sketchy Circles Background Stamp and White Cardstock by Fun Stampers Journey
Vellum by Stampin Up!
Sentiment stamps from my stash

Friday, February 23, 2018

TGIF: Thankful Friday #32

TGIF everyone! I'm actually out of town for this post but I still want to continue this weekly series. This week I'm thankful for earned vacation time. I am taking some time off work to vacation with my sisters. Unfortunately one of my sisters is not able to come along, but we'll be sure to get her the next time.

I hope I'm taking great photos for future layouts!


Have a great week!

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

WOYWW #455 and Cricut Fun

Happy WOYWW! I didn't get a chance to take a photo of my work area, but here are some photos of projects I worked on last night.  I love messing around with Design Space. Boy that thing can do anything!



I didn't do the Wonder Woman stuff on the bottle, just personalized it for my granddaughter.

My hubby actually came up to me and asked if I could do something to his phone case. After I picked myself off the floor, I cut a SF. He loves it! Anything sports related and he's happy!

I made some things for St. Patrick's Day, but I'll be posting more about those later. HEE HEE

To learn more about WOYWW and visit other sites, click on over to Stamping Ground blog for the linkage.

Monday, February 19, 2018

Junk Journal Project #10

Since I mistakenly made my process video public instead of private, I figured that's a sign that I'm going to start a YouTube channel. So with that being said, no this is not one of those. LOL

I made this journal page by spraying different colors/brands of mist sprays to the page (FSJ, Ranger Distress Inks). Once the mists dried, I drew three daisies using the colors for placement. After that, I added some watered down white acrylic paint to paint around the petals.

I splattered some Black Color Silk (FSJ) and white acrylic paint around the page. I also added random circles on the top left. This sentiment is from the loads of stamps I received from Rubber Paws (read more about her by clicking to the label on the right).



Friday, February 16, 2018

Bird House Fun

Happy days crafters! I'm here to share another project for the Quick Quotes Design Team.

It feels like Spring here in Central California. Since I can hear birds chirping outside my window (I also hear my dog, Gracie barking at them but that's a whole different story), it gave me the idea for this project...a birdhouse.

I found a simple birdhouse pattern on Pinterest and cut it out using poster board. I then measured, cut  and covered each side of the birdhouse with papers from the new QQ Spring Showers Paper Collection. I just love the weathered wood papers for this! I wanted each side to be different so I used the front and back of Spring Showers 101 and 102. Before I adhered the papers, I inked all the edges with Powder Puff Chalk Inks (see colors below).



The front of the bird house was embellished with a cluster of washi tape, paper scraps, a recycled ticket, 3D flowers, some lace, a feather and a photo holder pin. I stamped the word "HOPE" using Bermuda Powder Puff Chalk Ink and placed it in the photo holder.


The overall size of the birdhouse is approximately 6" x 5". How cute is this? I can't wait to hang it in my craft room.  I may have to make a couple more just so it doesn't look so lonely.

Quick Quotes Products Used:
Spring Showers Paper Collection
Powder Puff Chalking Inks: Bermuda, Tropical Punch, and Vanilla Cream

I was able to make two simple cards with the paper scraps. This paper is so beautiful I didn't want to do much more than adhere the paper to the card base!



Powder Puff Chalk Inks Used: Vanilla Cream and Cool Gray

Sentiments: Sugar Pea Designs and Stamping Up!

I'm having so much fun with these Quick Quotes products and I absolutely love the Powder Puff Chalk Inks. They are so easy to handle since they are designed to fit in your hand. It makes edging your projects so easy and less messy!  Click on over to their blog or shop to find out more about them.

TGIF; Thankful Friday #31
This week I'm thankful for new adventures. I am (slowly) convincing myself to do more videos. Sure Carly and I laugh a lot through them, but practice makes perfect. I'll let you know when I officially have a YouTube channel.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Mid Month Inspiration; Creative With Stamps #23

Hi there! Can you believe that February is already half way over?! 2018 is starting off with a bang for me, but most of that "bang" includes being creative so it's all good!

It's not too late to join the monthly challenge at the Creative With Stamps card challenge site. This month's challenge theme is HEART.

Here's my mid-month inspiration:


The heart is an old Stampin' Up stamp that I embossed with gold embossing powder. I added some watercolor paint to the background and also splattered some of the same paint & gold Color Silk from FSJ.

To the corner, I layered a scrap piece of doily, four washi tapes and some gold thread.

This was a pretty simple card but I love how it looks on that black card base. I also added a white panel in the inside for the sentiment/note.

Remember, there's still time to link your card on the CWS challenge site.





Wednesday, February 14, 2018

WOYWW #454 and Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy WOYWW! It's been a few weeks since I linked my work area so I figured I should this time. I have been busy making things for my DT commitments and items for my Etsy store. I already had three sales and two orders that came from the postings I've been doing on Instagram & FB.
That's my messy desk. I feel like I'm doing five projects at a time and I love it! LOL

Here's a close up of the card that's to the right:

Not very happy owls, but I saw the impression that the Powder Puff Chalk inks left when I was trying something new and thought "owls".  I can not draw to save my life and I know this. But I decided anyhow to draw these owls - no practice - nothing to compare it to and there you go...sad looking owls. LOL

I do like the way the card turned out. Very whimsical, I think.

I am so proud of myself, I mailed out seven cards for Valentine's Day! I sent them to my nieces and nephews.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hope you are spoiled by your loved ones.

Click on over to Stamping Ground to read all about the WOYWW linkage and snoop in other craft rooms.

Monday, February 12, 2018

Crafty Girl; Junk Journal Project #9

Hi there! I decided to do a process video for this junk journal spread. I really, really need to practice more on doing videos! I just purchased a tripod so hopefully that will help when positioning my iPad or iPhone and I need to speak up. Funny...no one's ever told me to speak up before, usually it's the opposite.

Check out my two part videos:
My daughter interrupted me and then I just thought forget it...but as I was creating, I decided to start again...

Here's the final pages:

I really like the way the final project turned out. There's a lot to look at, but I think having the circles that helps the eyes.

I promise that the next video will be much better! Live and learn, right?

I'm entering this page on the Happy Little Stampers challenge site. The subject this month is butterflies. Click over there for inspiration!

Sunday, February 11, 2018

Etsy & Mixed Media

I love making cards with my original mixed media pieces. These photo cards are made by taking a photo of my pieces and then sending them out to be printed.

This gives me more usage of my artwork. I absolutely LOVE how they turn out and they are such great quality too.

Check out a few of the cards that are in my Etsy Store, ThreeSonsandAStar.  You can get there by clicking on the ETSY icon on the right or the link above.




Check out my store to see more cards, mini scrapbook albums and 12x12 layouts. I'm adding new listings weekly.

Friday, February 9, 2018

TGIF; Thankful Friday #30 and Junk Journal Post #8

Another week to be thankful. This was a tough week since it's the anniversary of my dad's passing. I'm so thankful for busy hands. It sure made things a little easier when I can just go upstairs to the Command Center and create.
This art journal page came about all because I was experimenting with my new Powder Puff Chalk Inks from Quick Quotes.

Here's what I did: I inked the background of this page with three different Powder Puff Chalk Inks. I love how the pads have a curved top and they made a great background stamp. I accomplished this by "stamping" the top of the pads directly to the paper.
I also added some lines by using the sides of the same ink pads (to cover the words on the base page). I love how it adds movement to the page.

I stamped the genie lamp and sentiment directly on the page. I used white acrylic paint to "color in" the lamp with a skinny paint brush and a silver marker and silver Nuvo Drops for other areas.

Scribbled around the sentiment with a pencil to emulate a smoke bubble & added some small circles using a straw and Deep Sea ink. Wrote the question on the bottom with a fine point Sharpie. I drew lines around the words and then used watered down white acrylic paint around the boxes. The left over paint I splattered throughout the page. I also drew a base with some scallops so the lamp had something to stand on.
Added two strips of Washi tape to finish it.

It's different, but I like it. So...what will you wish for if you are granted three wishes?

I'm going to have a cheesy mom moment, but I wish for health, love and success for my children.

I've been asked to do a process video and I am planning on doing that sometime soon. I just need to stop overthinking it and just do it!

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

QQ February Challenge; Love/Valentine

February is here and you can feel the love in the air. This month's challenge on the Quick Quotes blog is Love/Valentine.

Instead of doing a traditional Valentine project, I decided to create a layout to celebrate the love between my oldest son and his finance. We celebrated their engagement in November with a Parisian theme (she loves all things Eiffel Tower) and the Spring Showers Paper Collection is perfect for the photos. (Ok, the weather was cold and it definitely was not Spring, but the colors coordinate perfectly!)
I used Spring Showers SG103 for the base of the layout and then fussy cut the flowers on the left side of the Spring Showers SG100 paper. I inked the edges with Tropical Punch and Vanilla Cream Powder Puff Chalk Ink. I love how the chalk ink softens the edges of the paper.

I cut an Eiffel Tower using my Cricut and the French Manor cartridge and placed another fussy cut and inked flower bouquet on top of it. I also used a dry brush and the Tropical Punch chalk ink to add some dimension to the flowers.


The layout was a little left heavy and I knew it needed something on the right side to give it some balance. I cut the title "love" with my Cricut and placed it on a banner made from the paper scraps. I layered three pieces of Washi tape from my stash, a doily and some pearls. I used another fussy cut flower and some Washi tape on the upper right.


Quick Quotes Products Used:
Spring Showers Paper Collection
Powder Puff Chalk Inks: Tropical Punch and Key Largo

Bonus Project:
Using the paper scraps, I made a card to add to my card rack.


I cut the scrap down to 3.75 x 5, inked the edges and adhered it to a piece of coordinating cardstock. Before adhering to the card base, I cut a banner using the back side of SG100, inked the edge, added a scrap of the doily I used for the layout above and added a bow. Stamped a sentiment and viola!

Pretty simple and also pretty and simple!

Quick Quotes Products Used:
Spring Showers Paper SG100 Scraps
Powder Puff Chalk Inks: Bermuda and Vanilla Cream

Be sure to click on over to the Quick Quotes blog to join the challenge and be inspired!

Monday, February 5, 2018

FCCB #319; Valentine's Day

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



Challenge #318-Valentines Day
Make a project using anything heart/Valentine related. But there has to be a least one cut from the Cricut Library!

This Weeks Sponsor is-
And the prize is-

$25 Virtual Wallet!!!!

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 use one of the printables from our sponsor.  OMG! Aren't these giraffes so super cute! I uploaded the image into Design Space and cut them at 6.25". (With all the Bluetooth problems with Design Space this past week, I had to cut them out using the Basic Cricut app) After assembling the images, I added faux stitch lines around the giraffes and splattered some Sparkle Color Silk for shimmer. I also added a rhinestone in the middle of the flower.

Before attaching to the bag, I cut some patterned paper that I had in my stash. Don't you love that scene for these giraffes? I attached all images to an upcycled white gift bag using ScorTape and 3D dots for the hearts. Isn't this perfect for a Valentine's Day gift?



I also added a swipe of ink to add a base for them to stand on.

Back Side

To enter the challenge, be sure to link your Valentine's project to the FCCB site.

Saturday, February 3, 2018

Junk Journal Post #7; Stenciled Heart

This lined notebook page started with the spritzed mist on the page. I was testing out my new Outrageous Pink spray from Fun Stampers Journey and what better place to experiment than a Junk Journal?

I used Sweet Berry acrylic paint (also Fun Stampers Journey) with the heart stencil and added some white acrylic paint to lighted the center. I used a fine point BIC pen to out line the heart and add scribbles. Then I used Cool Pool acrylic paint (FSJ) to add the dots here and there. 

The black marks are from a script stamp and background stamps that I have in my stash. I added the handmade scalloped book page on the top right of the page.

Final touch was to add some Black and Outrageous Pink Color Silk splatters on the page.

I love the softness of this page.

Here's another look saved by using a filter.

Fun Stampers Journey Products:
Outrageous Pink Spray Mist
Outrageous Pink Color Silk
Black Color Silk
Sweet Berry Acrylic Paint
Cool Pool Acrylic Paint

To purchase Fun Stampers Journey products, click to their website and select me, Dorlene Durham as your Journey Coach.  Thanks!


Friday, February 2, 2018

TGIF; Thankful Friday #29

Happy Friday!

I can't believe January is gone and we've already started February. This week I am thankful for my doctor. She is amazing! This year, I changed my insurance carrier and had to switch my primary doctor as well. It was the best decision I ever made. She calls to check up on me. She recommends things that I never even thought of and I love that she can explain all these 50+ things that are happening to me.

So thanks goes to Dr. Barbosa this week!

Now it's your turn...what are you thankful for this week? 

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Creative With Stamps; Hearts

Ohhh! I love the challenge this month at Creative With Stamps! Be sure to click on over for inspiration and to join the challenge.

This month's challenge is HEART.


With Valentine's Day just around the corner, now is a perfect time to create a card using a heart (or hearts in my case). I made a heart stencil using the Feelin' Groovy cricut cartridge and some ugly scrapbooking paper. (I keep ugly paper for this reason.) I gathered all my heart stamps and stamped a variety of hearts within the stencil. After that, I used the same ink and a sponge to color inside the heart leaving it a little lighter in the middle.

Then I stamped the sentiment in black ink. I made two cards using this technique. One I kept pretty basic and the other added Color Silk in black, sparkle and whip cream. Then I mounted them on pink cardstock before mounting on the card base.

Here are my two cards and some close ups:







As you can see from the photos, the "plain" card, I also outlined the heart and added some Nuvo drops.

I hope you join us at Creative With Stamps (CWS) and link up a card. If nothing else, check out what the Design Team has made and be inspired!