Thursday, April 28, 2011

home.SWEET.home~


I decided not to let all of those pictures, I took yesterday, go to waste. I should do something with them~well this is the something I did.    I created a collage of all the pictures, using Picasa.  The paper I used is g.c.d./Melody Ross~Artsy.Urban!!  Love this paper... It is an inspiration all its own.


The large butterfly is flocked ~so cool!!!  These photos are of some of my favorite junkin' finds and crafty finds~they provide many hours of inspiration for me.  This layout will look great in my "scrappy" place and continue to inspire me in many ways.  Just a side note ~ I had several comments on the church bird house.  My hubby built that for me for my birthday many years ago.It is signed and dated by him~a one of a kind piece of art.


The jadeite dishes are my favorite color~my mom and mother-in-law gifted me with many of these. and one last side note ~ the cowboy boot is a children's size 3, I have one. I saved it from the trash!! It was in the bottom of a bag that came from goodwill~I felt like I hit the lotto when I found it!! Thank you for all of your kind comments~I loved sharing my home with you all.

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Try it Tuesday~just for fun!


Try it Tuesday is here!!!  I had these awesome pictures of the grands showing me their secret place~talk about a proud moment, for them and me.  I would rather scrap a feeling, a moment any day, because I remember how it made me feel when they said ~Nini, want to see our secret place?
 

The pattern paper used is Cosmo Cricket/Mr. Campy . The stitching is put on with a Wendy Vecchi stitch stamp~awesome, no needle!!! I also used Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons and real buttons!! The title is by Amercan Crafts.  Love my thickers!!!


and last~ look at that "welcoming gesture" ~ so sweet!!!  If you find yourself with some extra time today~scrap a moment ~ it is the BEST!!! Tommorw I'll be giving a tour~hope you stop by!!!

Monday, April 25, 2011

Learning about Art Journaling {and other stuff}~


Good Monday morning!!  I have been busy scrappin' and being crafty~Some of what I have been up to, I can't show but decided to share some sneek peeks of a new class I'm taking!!!  It is called Soul Restoration by Melody Ross/Brave Girls~I'm enjoying it so much and especially all the art techniques~she is a whiz at this stuff.


This is the cover of one of my art journals~these are sneeks!!I don't want to give away her class. It is one of those that you need to go through the class to experience it for yourself and then you can decide the value!!


Inside sneek~adding art techniques with journaling~


A mini album~love using the old dictionary paper to cover chipboard!!  I used the Claudine Hellmuth Studio acrylic paints{watered down a bit} to add color to my pages.  For the collaging part~ I used Modge podge{Melody's choice}for this type of work.


The bird cage is by Tim Holtz and adhered with Helmar 450, fast becoming my go-to glue.  I used Kaiser pearls for the centers of the flowers. The flower punch is by Martha Stewart.


All of the images are by Melody Ross ~ super talented girl!!! Amazing ability she has been blessed with~ 
Hope you will be back for Try it Tuesday and something really cool for Wednesday!!! See ya soon!!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter blessing for you~


Good morning scrappy friends!  I wanted to wish all of you a very enjoyable, happy Easter~ Our Day lilies are in full bloom and thought they were such a fitting photograph for this lovely weekend..  I love flowers and have to hold myself back from picking them and bringing them in the house!


The flowers make me happy and I wanted to share that with you!!  Counting the flowers are like counting my many blessings.......


Another one of my blessings~this sweet card is from Pam, owner of CraftCrossing, the awesome craft store I teach at. 


Leaving you with~ Count your many blessings~name them one by one....
See you on Monday!!!  Psalm 118:26

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers~


Good morning~I have found my "go to" sketch~ thanks to Shimelle.  The three pictures across the bottom  really works for me.  I love the outcome everytime. No second guessing!!!  It is not to late for you to participate in this FREE class sponsored by 2Peas


The pattern paper is by Kaiser/Shaken Not Stirred Collection.  The paper collection is not current but very fitting for these photos.  The close-up is showcasing the title area.   The effect of using two different sizes of sticker letters ~ is quite nice!!  The large letters are by American Crafts and the small ones by Cosmo Cricket.


This is a close-up of the bottom cluster.  Boy clusters always seem simple~no frills,simple. I like that!!  The "dog card" is by October Afternoon and adhered to the page with Helmar. This blog post was an assignment for Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers by Shimelle.  The class is amazing and I'm learning so much about the world of blogging~
Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful Easter weekend!!!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Try it Tuesday~"Pysanky" Ukrainian Easter Eggs


In 1990-1991 we had a bunch of eggs on our farm.  We had so many Ostrich, Rhea, Duck, Goose and Emu eggs~I took a class at a local Art Institute and learned the art of pysanky.  It was love at first "art"!!


The Ukrainian people are famous for their colorful "Pysanky" Easter Eggs Pysanka is a form of egg decorating using a wax-resist method.  Legend has it that as long as Pysanka are decorated, goodness will prevail over the earth.  The supplies needed in making Pysanka are eggs(goose are the best), kistky(writing tool), candle, beeswax, dyes, spoons, egg rack and a working area~your not afraid of getting dye and wax on.


I am going to give you the short version of the process~make sure you are working with a clean egg~no marks or scratches.  Right from the bird is the best!  Mark your lines on the egg using an egg lathe or by hand. Use the kistky to apply the beeswax to the egg.  Dip your egg into one color of dye ~then repeat the process.  Apply lines on the egg, with a soft lead pencil, go over the lines with the kistky(holds the hot beeswax)~when that is done you are ready to dye the egg a second color.


You keep adding color until your entire egg is covered in beeswax.  This is the fun part.  Take your egg and hold it gently over the candle fire~the wax will start to melt off and you will have a beautiful colored egg.  Take a soft paper towel and wipe all of the beeswax off.  The next step is to varnish the egg ~using your hands.  Place the egg on the egg rack to dry~they look stunning in a glass tumbler or large glass bowl.  These that I have shown you are a mixture of Duck, Turkey and Goose eggs.


These are Rhea eggs~we were raising the birds at that time so eggs were plentiful!! Over the years the vibrant colors have faded but they are still beautiful.  All of the hours****sigh****that I sat and did these~time will spent!!


My story is not complete without showing you these eggs..They were done by my oldest son~he was a sophmore in high school and he made his own patterns for the eggs. It tickled me that he took interest in another one of my crafty endevors.  Hope you enjoyed this post ~ please let me know what you think about my blog content. I have posted a blog poll and encourage you to vote!!! Have a fabulous Tuesday~I know I'm early!!!!





Sunday, April 17, 2011

On the farm and a****Winner*****


Happy Monday everyone~This is month three of Shimelle's 4x6 photo love FREE class.  I am having a blast doing these sketches.  I used 3 Bugs in a Rug , Bazzill cardstock, Making Memories journal spot and a fabulous Prima vine to complete my layout.  I used Helmar Prof Acid Free Glue to adhere the Prima vine!! Worked like a champ!!!

This is my second layout using the same sketch~I used Cosmo Cricket, Jenni Bowlin, Kaiser and a butterfly punch!! Super cute pictures!!!
OK~lets get down to who is the WINNER of  my crafty goodies!!!!  I assigned a number to all qualifying comments and then put the numbers in random.org  ~  the winning number is  {25}  .......... which is BECKY of {Forth House on the Right}~Congratulations!!!!! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Monday~see ya for Try it Tuesday ~ it's a good one!!!


Saturday, April 16, 2011

Vintage flair~handmade chandelier crystal necklace

 
I love all things hand~made and crafty, remember that!!!  I went to a jewelry class last night at Craft Crossing for the soul purpose ~ to learn how to wire wrap stones, or in my case~vintage chandelier crystals!!  The class was taught by the fabulous Jyl !!!

 
I used 18GA silver wire and began by using the technique we were shown~kind of tricky at first, getting the wire to behave, but so much fun!!! I have some other crystals that are different shapes and want to try to wire wrap those! Also the key is hand cast by Jyl from vintage keys that belonged to her grandmother, that she played with as a child~I love the story!!! Very enjoyable evening except for the headache that went to the class with me***ugh****
 
 
I'm still running the giveaway on the previous post~just leave a comment on this or that one and be a follower and you will have a chance to win the "crafty" goodies... I keep adding to the envelope ~ I will wait a few more days, so let your friends know and tell me who you sent and I will add your name twice.Thanks for stopping by on your busy weekend and have a wonderful day!!!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Button Love ~in more ways than one {giveaway}.......


Button love today~all kinds!!  My all time time favorite embellishments is buttons.  They come in all different sizes, shapes, colors and styles!!   Buttons are beautiful~just like rhinestones, beads and stones.
This card is using the button set by Stampin' Up!. 


I love how these four colors went so well together and depending on the color combo ~blue's for boys, pink's for girls etc ~this style would work for many card themes.  Love that!!!


This is a side view so you can see the dimension of the real buttons on the card.  I used Bazzill cardstock and machine sewed around the card front.  I stamped my buttons randomly and hand sewed the real ones onto the card front~


I'm on a button roll today!!  This is a new stamp set from Papertrey Ink !!  Are these not adorable?  I made them as a stand alone embellishment either to use on cards or scrapbooking pages, album covers ~ so many possibilities!! Super cute if you ask me~


Just wanting to make sure you see how super cute these are!!  The stamp set comes with button stamps also~so the cards could be made into a flat embellishment!!!


I have several favorite products that I plug on my blog because they are so clever!!! This is one of those~ I love making flowers out of ribbon and this makes it so easy and the end result is perfect!!! Thank you Cosmo Cricket for Glubers!!!


Here are the flower/button cards I made.  What a cute gift for a crafty friend!!!  Leave me a comment and become a follower {or if you already are} just let me know and in a few days I will pick a winner  via(random .org) and I will send you these 5 button cards and 3 flower cards and some extra" crafty goodies"!!! Have a wonderful weekend and hope you enjoyed the button love today


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Try it Tuesday~super cute!!

Besides being a scrapbooker~I love making hand made, one of a kind items!  I used some sparkle cardstock with my Tim Holtz {wish die}mover and shaper and created a little notebook. My inspiration came from Penci. She made some really cute ones for prizes at CraftCrossing.  Very talented girl!!!  Everything was cut using the Big Shot ~ These take very little time to put together and make great little party prizes or favors for a child's birthday!  Thanks for stopping by today~I have some really cool stuff coming up~just think buttons!!

Monday, April 11, 2011

Black and red~rock!!!


Good morning~what a fabulous weekend I had!! I had VIPs visit this weekend and loved every minute!! I  just wished it had been longer!!!  I can't wait to get started today on some crafty goodies!!!!
This is a layout I did for Ready, Set, Create~I used Jenni Bowlin, American Crafts, Core'dinations cardstock.  The stamp is by Lemonade Sun!  One of my favorite color combinations is black and red~it is a winner every time!!!


These are little mini valentines made from small paper bags using the stamp from Lemonade Sun!  So easy to add a little treat in the bag for your favorite valentine!  I printed the images from a free site that specializes in vintage art work.  You can google and find many places to get vintage images.  I had my class at CraftCrossing this past weekend and enjoyed it so much.  They are very talented and learn fast!!
Have a great day and see you tomorrow for Try it Tuesday!