this means war

Spring has finally sprung in the great northeast! How do I know, you may ask? Well, it's not the temperatures. They vary wildly. Just yesterday it was so beautiful out that I was running errands in a t-shirt. But we had a fire roaring that night just to stay warm in the living room! I know that spring is here because of our dog, Remy. Here he is. Isn't he just adorable? Yup he is. And I love him tons.

It's a good thing that I love him tons. Especially in the spring. So, let me tell you how Remy tells me that spring is here. Every time he moves, twitches, shakes, rolls around on the floor, brushes by the couch, sneezes... he leaves behind massive amounts of puppy fur! There are dog hair tumbleweeds under every piece of furniture in the house! And the moment I have them all swept up, he drops more hair. It's an unending war between me and Remy hair. So, it's a good thing that he's so dang lovable. I guess we'll have to keep him.

The good news is that winter has lost it's icy grip on my world. I'm starting to think about the flower bed that needs a bit of attention. I know that when I finally make the time to go out and tend to it, I'll find itty bitty green things doing miraculous things! But today, I only had enough time to put together a card featuring flowers. It's pretty cute too!

I used one of my favorite techniques for the multi colored flowers: coloring an acrylic block with marker, spritzing it with water, and stamping onto paper. I make my own patterned paper that way. Incredibly quick and easy for a big payoff!

Happy stamping!

the ocean is calling

It's 26 degrees. It's March 26th. Strange, no? It's officially spring! But my backyard is covered in snow and ice. We try go south for February break, but that didn't happen this year. I have been dealing with snow since December. December through March with nothing but snow, and ice, and cold, and wind. Four very, extremely, agonizingly slow months.

I dreamed of the ocean last night. Of sandy shores, seagulls, surf, salty air, and sunshine. Sunshine! Imagine that! And I dreamed in color, because I couldn't wait to get to my craft table and make a card with yellows and blues and greens. And so I did. I even used a tropical looking flower as the focal point.

Could someone please send me a one way ticket to Florida? I'd like to set my eyes upon this view for real. Paper versions don't smell salty. And they don't radiate sunshine. I need some of that. Don't you?

Happy stamping!

reclaimed trash

I got a new stamp set called Chalk Talk by Stampin' Up. It has a coordinating Framelit set that I wanted to play with yesterdat. So I set about making a card based on tag. Let's just say that things didn't go well. Ever have one of those crafting days? I must have worked on this tag for three hours. First I played with the colors. Then I had trouble stamping the flower image with white embossing powder. Once I had it kind of working, I still wasn't happy with it, so I crumpled it all up threw it away. I felt pretty dejected. Not very creative. I vowed to start something new with the set tomorrow.

Tomorrow came and I decided that my crafting space was too messy to be creative in! So I set out to straighten up a bit. I put away my stamp pads. I organized my scrap bits into color families. I put all of my tools back where they belong. And I gathered up all the paper bits that had fallen on the floor to toss them into the trash. That's when I spied my tag from yesterday, all crumpled up and sad. I rescued it, pressed it out flat, and decided that it wasn't so bad after all! I kind of liked the double embossed look of the flower. Yesterday, what had frustrated me had now become a happy accident!). I even loved the distressed effect! (Behind the scenes look: I just had to google effect vs. affect to keep all of my grammar nazi friends happy). Lesson learned? Sometime when crafting and things just aren't clicking, walk away. It just might look better in the morning!

Happy stamping!

just wing it

Sometimes when I sit down to make a card, I can get wrapped up in the creative process. I might have a layout that I really want to try. I may have a stamp set that I've been meaning to work with. Or I might want to try out a new color combination. Lots of people can work like that. I usually end up spending more time frustrated and annoyed when I try to force myself into a preconceived idea of what I want to create. For me things flow best when I just wing it.

Recently, my mother-in-law passed away. I loved her dearly. She always treated me like her daughter. Not a transplant. It has been a testament to her life to see how many people have poured out love and help to my family over the past month. Prayers, and meals, and flowers, and kindness has been lavished on us all. So lately, the only creative constraint that I have put on myself is the making of "thank you" cards. It's been therapeutic thinking of the wonderful people that loved my mother-in-law as I create each card. And the only rule I have for myself when I make the cards is that I use a "thank you" stamp of some sort. Simple. Easy. I've been winging it. 

A little patterned paper, some texture from an embossing folder, a unique use of a woodgrain stamp, and voila!

Happy stamping!

spring green

Here in the Northeast, it has been one long, cold, snowy, relentless winter. Ice and sleet and -20 degree wind chills and blizzards and three foot snowfalls and shoveling! Lots and lots of shoveling. Enough is enough! It's mid March, and we are still lighting fires in the wood stove for warmth. There is still a foot of snow in my backyard. We even have a flooded area that has frozen over. Anyone for some ice skating? I need spring. I need spring more than I have ever needed spring before. Spring has never been my favorite season because of all of the mud! But this year, I'm almost looking forward to mud puddles because it will mean that the snow is melting.

So today, I sat down at my crafting table and made a couple of cards inspired by early spring. The colors are a bit muted, nothing like the pansies and violets that will soon be popping up in gardening centers. But still, the hope of green things and warm, yellow sunshine. Shy flowers tentatively peeking around corners, wishing for June.

I've been playing with direct to paper techniques lately. Bravely swiping my ink pads across crisp, white card stock, praying for favorable results. You never know what you're going to get! Some happy accidents, and some destined for the trash. I feel like our family is destined for Florida after enduring this winter! 

Happy stamping!

back in the saddle

It's been way too long since I've posted here on my blog! The holidays came and I found myself way too busy. I always hope to avoid that predicament, but somehow I always find myself saying, "Yes!" I have to work in that trait. 

Thankfully, it was time to put a Stamp Camp together. That never fails to get my creativity flowing. Or at least it forces me to spend gobs of time searching Pinterest for inspiration! 

One of my favorite techniques with paper, is to crumple up a piece of card stock like crazy, and then peel it into two identical pieces. The inside if the paper is so soft and fuzzy! That's what I did with the Rich Razzelberry mat. Love how it looks!

Happy stamping!

advent calendar creation

Christmas time is magical! Well, I want it to be magical. But sometimes in all the hubbub and business, shopping and partying, prepping and scheduling, we forget about why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. We get burnt out and exhausted from everything that we think needs to be done. And so I set about coming up with a way to gently remind myself, and my family, of the reason for the season. A good friend of mine made an advent calendar like this and posted it to facebook. I'm so glad that she did! I stole her idea and ran with it!

My first stop was the dollar store. They have six cup muffin tins for a buck! I thought about using mini muffin tins, but when I decided to put mini candy bars inside the tins, one for each of my family members (that's 4), mini wasn't going to cut it. So full size it is. And it's a good thing too! From a design standpoint, my Cricut had a hard enough time cutting the details at full size. I shudder to think about what I would have gone through trying to cut the images any smaller.

I used the basic cartridge, Printing 101 for the numbers set at a size 3. And I used two Christmas cartridges, Joys of the Season, and Christmas Cheer. I had to play with the size of each image. I still don't understand how to use my Cricut properly! So for me it was a bit of trial and error using sizes 1 1/2 - 3, depending on the image.

I used my trusty Stampin' Up paper (but I think that it's just a little too thick for the Cricut) and stuck with a traditional color scheme of Old Olive, Real Red. I used Soft Suede to make it feel a bit homey, and threw in pops of color when needed for an image. I even got out my glitter paper to give it a bit of sparkle. I really do think that glitter is the herpes of the crafting world. It's pretty much banned from my house! ; )

To adhere everything I used Tombow mulit purpose adhesive. Lots of tiny pieces made glue, not a tape runner, my tool of choice. I have to say that this project took me all day and then some! I was at it from breakfast until the wee hours of the next morning! But all the hard work and time was worth it, as I am in love with the results!

The back side of each muffin cover has a scripture reference and a short devotion. The idea is that each evening, the four of us will gather to take just a few minutes to read the Bible and remember all that God has done for us in giving us his son, Jesus. Just a short pause in what I know will be super busy days and nights! 

As I write this, it's now December 10. We started off with a bang, but we are already a few days behind! Ah well. The best laid plans... We'll catch up!

Merry Christmas and happy stamping!