Happy Birthday M&M!

Several of us are going to be having a big birthday, all in the same 6-week time span.  I decided to make these first two "hanging pages" as I call them.  I am sending them in the mail tomorrow to some long-time friends (56 years! Yikes!), twins who lived just a few doors away from me.  We spent a lot of time together, as did our families.  I count them among some of the blessings in my life.

This first hanging page is for Madeline.  I loved Mona Pendleton's (aka Cupcake's Creations) Happy Holidays hanging.  She creates the most gorgeous projects, and this one was worthy of being scraplifted (is that the correct term if it is not a scrapbook page?).  (BTW, I chose a very scientific method to determine which twin received which hanging page:  I had three people vote as to who would receive the pink one.  Madeline won! However, if they decide to switch it won't hurt my feelings either!)

I started the entire project with some corrugated cardboard repurposed from a box.  I then added some texture paste and splotches of paint here and there.  (In fact, the same technique is also shown on the second hanging page.)

 

Isn't this picture adorable?  Everyone has asked if it is a photo of them.  Nope.  I downloaded it from a free vintage graphics site.  Unfortunately, I don't remember which one.  I promise (crossing my heart) to find it and update this post as soon as I can.

Love this butterfly!  I used my Cheery Lynn Designs Small Exotic Butterflies #1 die, and then I added some clear embossing powder to make it really stand out.

Take a look at the doily peeking out from under the flower cluster. The die is also a Cheery Lynn Designs product called English Tea Party Doily. In addition, I used the Cheery Lynn Designs Sweet Williams Strip die to create the dainty bud sitting at the top of the cluster.  I am entering this project into the Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge 146 Doilies.

Finally, I just had to show the sweet crocheted flower that I made.  I did have to figure out (with the help of You Tube) how to make it.  Of course, I also had to go back into the brain cells to remember some of the techniques and stitches.

This hanging page is my first entry into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog:  Anything Goes.   As the post states, "It’s an anything goes, no rules, just create kind of week!"  So that's just what I did!

 

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The second hanging page is for Margie. Isn't the little girl so sweet?  Again, I don't remember (and promise to figure out) where I found and downloaded the graphic.

 

I used my Tim Holtz honeycomb framework die to cut out the design under the photo mats.  Then, I used UTEE to give it some gloss.  I love how it turned out, and I plan to do it again, for sure.  The mats under the photo are cut from my Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge.  So pretty and dainty.  Then, I added some bling to the bottom one using my new obsession:  Wink of Stella pen/brush.  OOOOHHHH, so pretty! (Sister has to buy one ... she will also become obsessed!)  Don't you love the little design next to the picture?  I used a technique found on Tim's blog to create it.  Those fragments are so addicting to use for custom embellishments!

 

Love this flower made with my Flower Shoppe Cricut cartridge.  The leaf was cut from Tim's Tattered Leaves die, covered with glue and then sprinkled with Clear Rock Candy Glitter.  Yummy!

Finally, I am swooning over the iridescent colors on this photo.  I achieved the crackled look by first using White Crackle Paint and then adding several different ink sprays from my newest purchasing obsession:  the Dyan Reavely color sprays. 

I am submitting this hanging page as my second entry into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge blog:  Anything Goes.   I anything go-goed!  (I crack myself up sometimes!)

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Both hanging pages are finished with hand-dyed ribbon to match.  The "girls" can hang their pages wherever they wish, and I hope they think of me when they look at it!

Happy Birthday, Madeline and Margie!

It's my blog and I can put anything on it I want to. So there!

Thanks for all you do

I love the way this card is so clean and simple.  Just a bit of modeling paste mixed with some glitter and a simple circle cut from my Cheery Lynn Designs Circle Classic Silver Stackers.
My card features a stamp set from Verve titled Thankful Hearts; sadly, though, it appears that there is a long wait for the stamps, but they are well worth the wait! I'm entering it into Mojo Monday's Challenge #356.

Last week I was talking with sister about some flowers that she made.  One of them was cut from a cereal box inner wrapper.  I had the brilliant idea to use a bag from a Melissa Frances purchase for my flower.  Love it!!!!!

Enjoy the day!

12 Tags of 2014 - July version

I can't believe it!  July is almost a thing of the past.  Good thing I checked my blog, because I totally forgot to submit this tag.  I created it about three weeks ago, and I'm not sure why I didn't do it.  Oh, well.

Tim Holtz has an awesome series on his blog for 12 Tags of 2014.  Each tag showcases new techniques as well as new (and tried-and-true) products.  Sometimes I don't have everything that he uses, but I do my best to recreate using what I do have. Anyhow, I like to "make it my own" instead of making an exact duplicate of his.  What would I learn if I did that?

This time, though, I was really out of luck.  I had very few of the materials he used on his tag, so I got all sad and figured I couldn't participate. Imagine what it was like when I was playing with my Cricut and found a seahorse on one of the cartridges.  Suddenly I could cut out the seahorse!

 

So then I went to my stash of embossing folders and found the bubble stencil; even though it's not the same as the one Professor Tim used, it provides similar results. And I didn't have any of the embossing powder in the color he used, so I used some Spanish moss instead.  Looks a bit like seaweed, right?  I also didn't have the spring greenery die, so once again, necessity was the mother of invention, and I improvised with another one of my dies that looks like the fingers of seaweed that float under the water's surface.

 

Oh, and I didn't have the sand dollar die, so I used distress ink to gussy up some of the seashells that came right out of the Gulf of Mexico!  Isn't that key to die for?  I used the eroded metallic technique that I learned in Creative Chemistry 102.

 

Love love love this bow!  The colors are so beautiful.

 

 

When the tag was finished, I tried to figure out what to do with it.  Once again I called upon a valuable lesson learned in Creative Chemistry 102, Tim gives ideas for using the tags after they are created.  So, I distressed and stamped some cardstock and mounted it onto a small canvas.  I added one of Tim's stamps (instead of the word band) that has a saying that speaks to my heart. I also used the eroded metallic technique on a clock face and mounted it on a hitch fastener.  Now, this pretty creation sits on the window ledge where I can see it every morning when I'm enjoying my coffee.

 

Thanks, Tim, for your creative genius! 

  

Happy Birthday to My Sister!

I created this mini album for my sister's birthday.  I don't think she has ever received a mini album ... she only makes them.  I am entering this into Cheery Lynn Design's Challenge 143 Silver and/or Gold.  I've listed the dies I used along with the photo.

In addition, I am entering it into the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge titled Simon Says ... Emboss It; my project has several embossings, including dry embossing on the flowers using some of Tim Holtz's Texture Fades embossing folders and heat embossing using stamps and some gold embossing powder.

Below:  check out the cool Cheery Lynn Design Lace Corner Deco I.  It is in a pack of three that I can see myself using a LOT!

I also used my Cricut Expression 2 to make the beautiful flowers.  I am so happy that I purchased the Flower Shoppe cartridge.  It has come in handy many times, as is evident from this album.

Below:  don't you just love the flower?  I used Tim Holtz's Tattered Florals die along with grungeboard and a lot of doodads.

Below:  the English Tea Party Doily was cut and fan folded to make a little design under the flower.  Don't you love that flower?  My sister made it ... is it okay to regift something back to the person who gave it to you?

Below:  I just love this butterfly!  It's another Cheery Lynn Designs die from a set of three titled Small Exotic Butterflies #1 with Angel Wings. Check out the deco corner, too!

 Below:  it was fun to just free-form cut the flower and then add stickles to give it the bling.  The silver blue leaf is from a Christmas flower pick.  I used some Adirondack Alcohol Ink to give it a blue tint.  The bling in the corner is a package of gold holographic glitter that was in my stash; I stamped a Tim Holtz design and then added the glitter to the top. Unfortunately, there's no label, so I don't know who to credit for this gorgeous flash of golden shine!

Below:  the letter press is a grunge block that is a Tim Holtz creation. Check out his post with a video tutorial to see how to make one for yourself!

Below:  this is how the mini album looks when it's fanned out from the front and back.

Below:  don't you just love all of the goodies that I used on the ring?

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention the paper that I used.  It's K&Company's Julianne 12x12 paper pack.  I couldn't find it online anywhere ... waaaahhhh ... I love this paper, and my stash of it is rapidly being depleted.