Wednesday, February 27, 2019

WOYWW #508

Happy Wednesday and Happy WOYWW*!

The Command Center is a mess since I'm packing for a crop on Saturday. This weekend is the Stamp & Scrapbook Expo in my area. Carly & I will be there all day on Saturday. We'll be there with some of our scrapbooking friends and hundreds of other scrapbookers.

I am so behind in my scrapbooking so I'm looking forward to a crop day. I hope I packed enough. You know that's always the problem when you go to a crop, right? Did I pack enough? Usually I pack way too much! But the good thing is even if I didn't pack enough, I can always buy it at the Expo! LOL

Along with my list of specific things to look for, I try to find something different that I wouldn't normally buy or use. It's a challenge that I do every Expo.

The only bad thing about this weekend is that it's going to rain. I need to make sure to bring an umbrella and some extra plastic bags to cover my stuff!

I'll post a photo later to show off my Expo goodies!

Be sure to click on over to Stamping Ground to join the WOYWW linkage or just to take a peek into others' craft rooms.


*WOYWW (What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday)

Monday, February 25, 2019

Thank You; BBTB2 Challenge

Check out the current challenge at the Bitten By The Bug 2 (BBTB2) challenge blog. The challenge is to make Thank You cards.

I love how my card turned out. Although it looks difficult, it was really easy to make.

The background paper was a mop up of watercolor paints used on another project. I stamped two butterflies on the right side in black archival ink and THANK YOU on the left side. I stamped the first solid, fully inked sentiment first and then just stamped off all around it to create the fun effect.

The pretty lady was cut using the Suburbia cartridge and attached with 3D squares.



And some close ups:

You can't tell, but I also splattered some Sparkle Color Silk diagonally from top left to bottom right. I love this stuff and use it in almost everything I do.

Click on over to the BBTB2 challenge site to see the DT projects and link up your own Thank You cards!

Friday, February 22, 2019

TGIF; Thankful Friday #78

It’s Friday and I feel like the week barely started. As you know, we just got back from Acapulco and my work week started yesterday. Love the short week! This week I’m thankful for the employees of Delta Airlines and Aeromexico. Even though the odds of being in a plane wreck are low (or high - I am always confused how to actually word this one), but there’s always the fear that something might happen. We had excellent service from the initial check in to baggage claim on the last leg of our flights home.

So Thank You and Gracias to all!

I’ve got three more busy weekends coming up and look forward to them.

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

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Congratulations Tony and Melina!

We’re back from Acapulco and my son’s wedding. Wow! The wedding and location was beautiful. Here are some photos..






I have tons and tons of photos but these sum it up!

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Love Your Guts

I bought some 6x8 canvases from the Dollar Tree and I gotta tell ya, I'm really impressed with the quality. The canvas material is really thick and held the paint beautifully.

I grabbed three paint colors, teal, yellow and pink and painted the entire canvas in messy splotches. Of course I didn't take a photo.

While that was drying, I cut out the sentiment using shelf liner that I purchased from Walmart to create a mask. (The sentiment was a Design Space freebie.)

Once the mask was adhered to the canvas, I painted a couple of coats of white acrylic paint over the sentiment and all over the canvas. I didn't want to use my more expensive vinyl, but I definitely learned my lesson. The shelf liner was very thin and didn't stick well to the canvas. I burnished it as much as I could, but it still allowed lots of paint seepage.

I ended up using a Sharpie to outline the sentiment. 

My first attempt at a messy canvas wasn't what I hoped, but it was a learning experience. This is definitely something I will do again. In fact, I think this will be a great project with my granddaughter and glad I experimented first.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are in Acapulco, Mexico for DS1's wedding celebration but I wanted to say Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

I made this card using the Simply Charmed and Doodlecharms cartridges.

The heart is on one of those wobble mechanisms. It is so fun!



We're scheduled to come home on Tuesday, February 19th so I'll share some photos highlighting our trip then.

Cartridges:
Sentiment: Simply Charmed
Heart: Doodlecharms

Monday, February 11, 2019

Love Bug; Bitten By The Bug II

The current challenge at the Bitten By The Bug 2 site is Valentine's Hearts. That's an easy one for this time of the year and there were so many options that were going through my head.

This is my first project as a member of their Design Team and I have to be honest, I was a little nervous when creating my project since I want to start off with a BANG.

I used the Simply Charmed cartridge and my Cricut Explorer* to cut this super cute LOVE BUG and the Art Philosophy cartridge for the POSTAGE STAMP background shape.

*Yes, I still use my Explorer and cartridges...sometimes it's just easier than bringing my laptop into the Command Center, going on-line, etc. Especially for simple cuts.



You can't tell in the photo, but the LOVE BUG is attached with a wobbler. I tried to take a photo of it wobbling, but it just didn't turn out.

I added some black pen stitching around the bug's shell and clear Wink of Stella sparkle on the heart.

Be sure to click on over to BBTB2 for inspiration and to upload your own Valentine's project. There are new rules at the site, please read the rules but basically you don't have to use a Cricut image. You are free to use any SVG image as long as it's cut using your Cricut machine.

Cartridges Used:
Simply Charmed; Love Bug
Art Philosophy; Postage Stamp

Friday, February 8, 2019

TGIF; Thankful Friday #77

TGIF!! Time for another Thankful Friday. Even though every time I'm thankful for something, I feel like it is a gift from God, but this week I want to specifically thank the Lord for all my blessings. You know I don't have everything and if I'm being honest, would like some things to change, but really...I am extremely blessed.

Hubby and I had lunch during the week and we had a great conversation about how fortunate our lives have been. Nothing really big or specifically stands out, just overall.

The major thing is that WE feel that way, not just me. I am blessed to have a great husband - don't get me wrong - half the time, he's on my last nerve, but he truly is a great man.

Your turn...what are you thankful for this week?

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

WOYWW #505

Happy Wednesday and happy WOYWW! Every Wednesday, I get to share my desk top along with other bloggers on the Stamping Ground blog for the WOYWW linkage. It's a fun way to get to know others throughout the world and to take a peek into craft rooms/areas/desks.

Click on over there to read more about it and to take a peek or two.

Here's my desk this morning:
I decided to try my hands on a messy canvas. I painted random colors on a canvas and let it dry. After that I used my cricut and cut out a mask. Once the mask was on the canvas, I painted white acrylic paint over everything. From this view, it looks great, but if you look closer, you can see that the paint seeped through the mask a lot.

I cut the mask using shelf liner I purchased from Walmart. I learned my lesson.  Next time, I'll actually use a better quality vinyl. For now, I'll probably use a black sharpie and outline it so it won't be as noticeable.

This sentiment is a Freebie of the Week on Cricut Design Space. Don't you love it?!

Be sure to click on over to the WOYWW blog and do some peeking!


Monday, February 4, 2019

Bee You

I went to another Paint Nite with my friends over the weekend. I love the way the flower turned out, but those bees were so horrible. The worst thing about the Paint Nite, is that you get two brushes to work with - I usually try to do everything with those two brushes, but ya' know sometimes, you need a finer pointed one.

I painted the bees and then HAD to come home and redo them. And then I added the sentiment, "Bee You".

Now it's ready to hang in the Command Center.



ps:  I still don't really love the way the bees turned out and wish I didn't add them in the first place, but they are so much better than what I had at the event.

Sunday, February 3, 2019

Circa 1982; Junk Journal Page

I pulled out the junk journal this weekend after stashing them away when I did some reorganizing. I love working in those things - it’s so fun just messing around!

I found some punched out butterflies I did a long time ago when I was trying to weed out my paper scraps. I placed them in piles of dark, medium and light colors and then glued them onto the page in an ombré like fashion.

Once that dried, I added some yellow paint around them (yeah, I know I probably should have done it before adhering the butterflies, but I didn’t have a plan when I first started). I really like the messy look to it.

Once I did that I tore some scrap vellum and adhered it under a photo and on the page. This is me circa 1982. I use a fine point black pen to outline each butterfly and used a pallet knife to scrape white gesso around the page.

Added the quote from one of my Tim Holtz pads and also stamped a sentiment very random in three areas. The sentiment is “There’s a little wild woman in all of us” which would have been a good quote for the overall page, but it was so small.
That’s it!

Friday, February 1, 2019

TGIF; Thankful Friday #76

TGIF; Thankful Friday #76

This week I'm thankful for the "traffic control" staff at my granddaughter's school. I've been taking her to school for a few days this week and I really thought I'd be sitting through "school drop off zone" hell, but it was actually really smooth and very friendly.  There was staff all around and all had big smiles on their faces ready to direct parents to the proper areas.

They greeted my granddaughter and me with waves and smiles. Such an awesome way to start the day! So thank you to the school staff for the wonderful start to my work day!

How about you? What are you thankful for this week?  Please share in your comments!

CWS February Challenge

This month challenge at Creative With Stamps is:



Perfect challenge for the month of February, wouldn’t you agree?  Here’s the card I created:


I had fun making this card. It started with random stamped hearts using Tin Pail (lt. Gray) ink from Fun Stampers Journey and then watercolored all over it with dark and light pink paint. I then dripped some yellow paint and smeared it around a little. Once that dried, I stamped another round of hearts over it.



I splashed some sparkle Color Silk to add some bling without the bulk. I embossed the sentiment with white embossing ink on a strip of black cardstock and then adhered it to the card front. I love the contrast of the piece matted on black cardstock.


And hey, I took these photos using my photo/light box that I got for Christmas. I love how they turned out!

Be sure to link your card on the Creative With Stamps challenge site for you chance to win a prize.