Merry Christmas To All...

I love the simplicity of this card. 

Stamps used:  A3856         Holly Leaf
                       UMS7018    Unmounted Sentiments 1

I stamped (old olive cardstock) & cut out lots of the holly leaves.  After they were cut I sponged (old olive ink) each leaf, arranged on a double cut circle and added a ribbon, stickles & sentiment.

So here on this Christmas Eve...A Very Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year. 

15 Days Until Christmas...

I can not believe it is only 15 days until Christmas.  Mailed out most of our cards, cut down our tree today in between storms & 50 - 70 mph gusts of wind.  Gotta love the coast! Oh BTW,  had to spritz the cat with water to keep him away from the tree.

Today's card uses Poinsettia Sketch stamp (G2631).  I love poinsettias & this one I stamped several times & fussy cut them. Foam squares made each of the levels pop.  I also stamped the poinsettias on Olive Green cardstock & cut out 3 of the petals for the leaves.

I raided my paper stash & found the perfect piece for this poinsettia card.  Gold stickles makes this card simple but glam!

Better Late than Never...

This may be a little late, but Happy Thanksgiving from the Oregon coast.  Sunny & cold!

 

My favorite technique:  Versamark with Clear Embossing Powder Stamptangle Maple Leaf (E3860) and Stamptangle Oak Leaf (F3850)

 

 

I sponged on white cardstock several Fall color inks.  When it was dry I placed a white sheet of plain typing paper over the cardstock (do they still use that term?) & ran a hot iron over it.  It melts the embossed image on to the paper leaving a white image on the sponged cardstock.  It also works with Alcohol Inks on glossy cardstock.

 

Last, but not least the two leaves were stamped with Old Olive Ink, sponged with several color Fall inks, & cut out.  The sentiment is from my all time favorite Sentiments 1 Unmounted (UM57018).  If you can't find the right sentiment for a card, I don't know where you will.

 

I hope your Thanksgiving was a wonderful one.  Now let's get on to Christmas...Ho Ho Ho!

Thanksgiving Ready...

This is the first year in 3 that I can actually cook our turkey in an oven.  Meaning an oven big enough to actually hold a turkey.  Our RV oven could barely cook an 8" x 8" casserole.

To celebrate, I made a Happy Thanksgiving card which can double as an invitation, matching place card & napkin holder for the table.  Since I love cooking 15 - 20 pound turkeys we may just invite a few of the neighbors on our cul-de-sac. 

I used the Stamptangle Oak Leaf F3859 & the Sentiments 1 Unmounted Sheet UMS 7018.  I love to stamp & cut which I did with this card.  To get the multiple colors with the stamp, I swiped 4 different colors on the stamp.  I love how each of the leaves look so different.  On the card base, I used a cut leaf as a mask & sponged around the mask.

On the place card I stamped the leaf & with an X-acto knife cut around half of the leaf & then made the tent fold.

"Thinking of You"

I live on the Oregon coast & recently we had a storm with some killer waves breaking over the South Jetty.  It attracted surfers  & I thought this card really reminded me of why I love living here so much.

 

 

On the pattern paper & coordinating cardstock I stamped in black ink the Stamptangle Water Splash (#E 3877).  I cut out the 4 splashes on cardstock & attached them a little off center over the pattern paper.

 

The sentiment is from 1 Unmounted Sentiments set (#UMS7018). Finally the Paddle Boarder stamp (#D3875) & my signature Shrink-it (aka Shrinky Dinks) seagulls.  I love adding them to all my ocean/seashore cards or art work.  It gives them a fun 3-D effect.

Witchy Poo

In October it is never too early for Halloween & this "Good Witch" stamp (#F3880) is just so darn cute not to use now.

Back in the day, paper piecing was HUGE.  It was like paper dolls for grownups.  I loved paper piecing so much I taught a lot of my classes at my scrapbook store in Roseburg, OR (#Roseburg Strong).  This stamp was perfect to paper piece.

I first stamped my witch on ivory cardstock, again on pattern paper for the dress & a third time for the wand.

I colored her hat, hair, socks & shoes.  The rest was just a cut & paste. Cut a little off the clothes on the first ivory witch.  The clothes will fit better.

 The two bats were Hanging Bat lg. & sm. (#A3866 & A 3885).  "Happy Halloween" is from the Sentiments 1 Unmounted  Set (#UMS7018).  Sponge your pieces, add a little Stickles, which I prefer to brush on rather than glop (is that a word?) on & it is good to go.

Hope you all like my "Charmed" card!

In the great state of Oregon you can really feel Fall in the air.  That was my inspiration for today's post.  The cards are simply CAS.  The stamps used are Just For Fun Stamps.

I am really in to stencils & masks, so I made a mask using the Stamptangle Maple Leaf (#E3860). I sprayed Walnut Ink Spray on the background, stamped the sentiment from the Sentiments 1 Unmounted  Set (#UMS7018). 

I used alcohol ink & canned air to make the background for the Maple Leaf .

Using the mask for the 2nd card I sprayed 2 more colors on the leaf & matted it in orange. The background stamp is Tattered Screen (#G3861). Rip, sponge & add ribbon & the cards are finished.

My First Design Post

Please go over to http://justforfunrubberstamps.blogspot.com/ for my first design post.  It's all about Fall Y'All!

Fall is in the air...

 

Fall has always been my favorite time of the year.  This is a card I made & entered in 2 design competitions. Now I am a Design Team member for Just For Fun Stamps.

 

The background & large moon were made using alcohol inks. I LOVE alcohol inks. The scarecrow, vines & crow were cut using my Silhouette.  I altered the scarecrow & pumpkins to make them look more dimensional & scary. The sentiment was a Studio G stamp.

 

I had a couple of Fall Cricut cartridges which I sold last year & scary scarecrow was on one of them, but I found an SVG cut in the Silhouette store similar so it was easy to alter.

 

I am going to share an oldie but goodie alcohol ink technique next week using my new Just For Fun stamps.

MY BIG NEWS...

As you can see there is a large logo on the right.  I have been named as a Design Team Member for Just For Fun Stamps.  Click on the logo & it will bring you to their website.  They have amazing stamps which I will be sharing with you every month on the 2nd & 4th Thursday.  The entire Design Team will be sharing samples using stamps.  I will link them all on my blog list.

Now for the last ATC card in the series for my swap:

Again I used the "Sheltering Tree" stamp set from Stampin Up.  I love the little copper metal squirrel.

Have a great weekend.   The 3rd annual all-citywide garage sale is this weekend & we have already covered the north end of the city.  Not a lot, but did get an apple corer to use with the box of apples I received yesterday.  Going to make & can apple butter this weekend,  Can't wait to can again!

New Class...

Last Saturday my DH & I went to Roseburg so I could teach a class at Roseburg Book & Stationery's Labor Day bash.
 
I haven't taught in awhile since we moved to the coast, but I am so busy now getting ready for 3 craft fairs in Nov. & Dec.

 

 

I CASE'd the idea for this card from Pinterest.  I cut leaf stencils for everyone with my Silhouette & they used the stencil & mask to make the card.

 

PRODUCT:

• Ranger Perfect Pearls - Copper, Bronze, Pearl & Gold
• Ranger Mini Misters - I used these to mix Perfect Pearls & water to make a mist glimmer of color iridescence
• Ranger Mister bottles - Filled with water
• Ranger Dylusions Ink Spray - Orange & Cut Grass
• Ranger Distress Stain Spray - Walnut Ink
• Quilting Creations Stencil Mylar Sheet White 12"x 12"  - I cut the stencils for the class using my Silhouette. 
• Stampin Up - stamp set "Sheltering Tree"
• Stampin Up Ink - Chocolate Chip
• Paper Accent 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock - Java, Orange, Cream

 

Next...

 

ATC #4:

 

• Stampin Up stamp set "Butterfly Basics"
• DCWV "The Twinkle Glints"    6" x 6" Printed cardstock
• Paper Accents vellum
• beads & rhinestones

It was so much fun when we moved to our house on the Oregon coast to unpack my craft room & see how much I actually had saved & packed away.  It is also is so much fun to have it in places where I can use it.  I am inspired.  I am creative & I am having the time of my life!



More ATC Fun

This ATC is a mini of birthday cards I made with Stampin Up's "Bootiful Occasions".  The background is the woodgrain stamp also by Stampin Up.  Found something similar on Pinterest & put my twist on it.  Gotta love that Pinterest.  If you want to follow my Pinterest you can go to:  https://www.pinterest.com/tad52/

I had to make the boots "alligator" leather by running them through the Cuttlebug.

I think you can see the texture on the ATC.  I used the canvas ATC base I bought at JoAnn's.

I hand cut the boots, but Dies by Dave (http://diesbydave.storenvy.com/) now has dies so you can run them through a Cuttlebug or a similar machine. 

We have been visiting with some friends for the past 3 days & we have been on the go go go.  Fun!  It's supposed to rain all weekend here on the coast so it will be a perfect time to continue making product for the 3 craft fairs I have coming up in November & December. 

ATC #2

 

Here is the 2nd design I came up with for my ATC swap.    I love Halloween because it is at my favorite time of year...Fall. 

 

The background was on Paper Accent glossy cardstock so I could use my Alcohol Inks.

 

The stamp is an old one I had so I really don't know who the manufacturer is, though it may be a Martha Stewart. I stamped part of the stamp using Staz-On.

 

The letters I pulled from my stash of ephemera from Hot Off the Press.  When I had a scrapbook store I stocked it with a lot of their products.  I still love their product.  The best thing about them is they are an Oregon company out of Canby.  Check out their website:  http://www.paperwishes.com/

Last, but not least, the ghost.  I cut it using the Cricut "Paper Doll Dress-up" cartridge & white Shrink-It.  I added the eyes and wrinkles in the bottom before I put it in the oven.

I have an exciting announcement soon.  It is EPIC...at least for me.

ATC Swap

A few years ago I was doing a few swaps on the Cricut Board and the last one I did, which was inchies, I got burned.  You had to do 100 inchies and then you would receive 100 different inchies back.  Well, the gal who was doing the swap not only kept all the inchies that were sent to her, but all the postage money.

That was it for me until I went to Roni's blog (see Blog Sidebar Ink Stains) & did some swaps while we were full-time Rving.  I love her challenges & her blog.  There is always something new to try.

Now that our Swaps for the Summer are in, I want to share them with you techniques & products I used:

 



This is my favorite.  It is a mini-painting, mixed media.  I have painted several larger ones using the same techniques.

The base of this ATC card is canvas ATC paper I bought at JoAnn's.  It comes in a pack of 10 which was great because I painted 6 of these. 5 for the Swap & I always make a set for Roni.It is a lot of work conducting a Swap so it is a Thank You gift to her.

I used acrylic paints for the background, real sand & very small shells for the beach, Studio G letter stamps & Shrink It.

SURPRISE...the seagulls were cut from white Shrink-It with my Cricut using Life's a Beach cartridge.

To get the right size for whatever canvas I use, I took a tip from Tim Holtz and made a Shrink-It ruler.

If you have never heard of a Shrink-It ruler, this is how to make it:

• Cut a length of Shrink-It.  I made mine 8" x 1".
• Using a sharpie, make & label inches, half inches and even 1/4" if you want.
• Punch a hole in the top of the "ruler" before you bake it according to manufacturers directions.

It may come out a little wonky, meaning not exactly straight, but it will help you to know what an inch of shrunk plastic will look like if you cut or punch a 1" shape or letter.

The first of many more...

I have been long gone travelling with my husband for almost 3 years.  I crafted a bit here and there & I was even able to do a few craft shows in California & Oregon.  BUT...now I have a whole room again filled with my craft stuff .  I am creating almost everyday.

I had stuff in the RV, but it was hard to get it all out, make sure hubbie was going to be doing something outside for a couple of hours & then put everything back.

Now in my Craft Room which I lovingly call "MY HAPPY PLACE".  I will posting a lot of my creations now that we have landed in a permanent place on the Oregon Coast which is filled with so many creative artistic people.  Lots of amazing galleries & art groups.

Hubbie also has just completed building his "HAPPY PLACE" which he missed so much travelling.  His workshop is making my workshop lots of things to paint, stencil, and cut vinyl (and more) with my Cricut & Silhouette.

I also am going to get my Etsy store back up & running.  So as soon as I finish my 30 ATC cards for my swap, I will be posting each one with a list of everything I used.

Yep, I'm back & it feels great!