Chance to Win a Scrapbook Kit

Click here for a chance to win a Doodlebug Design scrapbook kit. If you mention it on your blog, you will get an extra chance.

PS. Happy Birthday Honey!

To My Readers

Merry Christmas!

Sunday Silliness

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Christmas Paperwhites

I love to force some bulbs around this time of year. Paper whites are so easy to do and they grow and bloom very quickly.

Here's how: find a shallow dish and fill with decorative rocks. (You can find both in the craft store's floral section.) Set the paper white bulbs on top of the rocks and fill the dish with water until it is just touching the bottoms of the bulbs. Within a few days you will see roots growing out of the bulbs. (Make sure to keep the water level at the bottom of the bulbs.) The shoots will grow and blooms will form in about 3 weeks. You cannot reuse the bulbs because forcing them uses up nutrients that cannot be replaced.

You'll love having flowers blooming in your house in the middle of winter!

Photo Frame and Quilt Block

I made this photo frame by stamping with white pigment ink on the front of the glass panel on this cute little clipboard. The stamps are from A Sparkles © Bright and Happy Holiday from Clear Artistic Stamps.



You can simply slide a photo behind the glass and it will have the blue paper in the background and the snowman in the foreground.

And now, drum roll please.....

I actually finished my block of the month blocks for 2009! And it's still 2009! Amazing, isn't it?


This block is called Ranger's Pride from www.quilterscache.com. This was an easy pattern that creates a secondary pinwheel when all the blocks are pieced together. I need to remember this one for future use.

Have a great Friday! One week to Christmas!

Gingerbread House!

The girls put together their gingerbread house last night:



If you look closely, you will notice that we used the old Austrian tradition of holding up a falling roof with candy bars and taffy.


And if you look very closely, you'll see the drips of gorilla glue that Daddy added after the girls went to bed.



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Stamped Pencil Holder

I used the iris stamp from A Dreamer's Moment to decorate this simple pencil cup. I colored the image with pencils and Shimmerz paint, then added a little Diamond Dust for sparkle. Whadja think?

Sunday Silliness

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Don't worry kitty, everyone else in my house feels the same way about it.

Sorry Cardmakers....

I can hear the collective groooooan of my card making followers who are saying, "What, more quilting???" Sorry, but I've been on a sewing kick lately and I'm almost caught up on my block of the month quilt.

Here is the Sept. block (Sarah's Choice):


Here is the October block (Birdhouses):



Here is the November block (Missouri Star):


All patterns are from www.quilterscache.com. I only have one block left before I can put the whole thing together.

It's a cold day here, but sunny. Good day to get some housework done and then maybe work on some Christmas crafts. Have a good Saturday!

Candle Mat

This candle mat will be a Christmas present for a gift exchange that I am participating in this year. I made it from a kit that I bought the last time I was at Pohlar's. It's made with insulated batting to protect the table from the heat of the candle. It's quilt-as-you-go, which saves so much time.

It's really cold here this morning--we had to really bundle up for the bus stop. Have a great Thursday!

Blog Hop Winner

Thanks to everyone who participated in the Clear Artistic Stamps Ornament Blog Hop. The winner is Connie Melancon.

And a special thanks to all who left comments here on my blog. I just loved reading all of them.

Waaaay Behind

I'm pretty far behind on my Block of the Month quilt. This is the block that I should have made in August. It's called Four Patch Fox and Geese and it's found on www.quilterscache.com. Now I need to make the blocks for September through December to get caught up. GAK! After that I will figure out how to put them together.

Sunday Silliness

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I'm Sewing Again

I made this quilt block for our block of the month in my quilting group. It's called Heaven's A Blaze, and can be found at www.quilterscache.com. It's completely paper-pieced.

On Thursday night, I helped my daughter's Brownie troop leader teach the girls to use a sewing machine. Eight little girls using a sewing machine for the first time! They were so excited. Here's to passing a love of sewing onto the next generation!

BTW, the girls are making a crazy quilt. Pictures will come later when it is finished!

Christmas Ornament Blog Hop

Welcome to the second

Clear Artistic Stamps Blog Hop!

I hope you are enjoying your little tour of ornaments that the design team has prepared for you!

Here are my ornaments:



They are based upon the Star Box tutorial at Splitcoast. I tweaked it a bit by leaving the ends open and scaling down to have some cute little ornaments.



These are really easy to make, and even the kids could be involved in making some of these.

I used Shimmer card stock in Silver Fox and Diamond Dust from the Midnight Moonlight Collection. Here is a close up where you can see the shimmery silver:


Stamps are from Sparkles © Bright and Happy Holiday and Crimson Christmas.


Leave a comment on this and/or any other designer blog in this hop and you get entered for a chance of winning a grand prize of 9 stamp sets and 10 shimmerz paints. One entry per blog, but for each comment your name will go into the drawing. Here's the fantastic prize:


The winner will be announced on Wednesday, December 9th at the Cottage Studio.

Now hop on over to Wendi's Blog to see what she has prepared for you :)

Thanks for stopping by--and don't forget to leave a comment!

Fun and Messy

The title says it all about the background on this card, inspired by Splitcoast sketch SC256. I brayered ink on card stock, with a wavy texture sheet underneath. Then I added the waves of crackle paint in iced lavender. After all of that dried, I stamped the flower (Starving Artistamps) with black Stazon and white Palette hybrid ink. Then stamped Life (Firecracker Designs) in white.

Have a relaxing Sunday!

Digital and Stamped Images Together

Digital images are all the rage right now--presumably because they are so much cheaper than stamps and you don't need all of those messy stamp pads. Belinda has designed some new digital images, one of which I used on the card below, along with some stamped images.



The floral image is the digital one--I printed it on glossy card stock where I had already applied alcohol ink. Then I heat set the image and colored with dye ink markers.

The other floral images are from the Echos of Summer stamp set, and the Bible verse is from Cornish Heritage Farms.

Huge Sale!

Between now and midnight Sunday the 29th--Clear Artistic Stamps has stamp sets and card stock marked waaaaaaay down. If you've had you eye on some stamps or card stock, you'll get a great deal this weekend.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my friends and family!

Thank You Lord for all my blessings!

Watercolor Background

I usually don't think of using watercolors on Christmas cards, do you? I made some cards this week for Christmas, challenging myself to incorporate watercolors. Here is one card using Splitcoast sketch SC255:


I made a large piece of watercolor background, cut a bit of it off and then stamped the image with a deep color of ink. Here is the background paper that I did:



Making a pretty background paper like this is really very easy. You will need watercolor paper, a brush, and either water-based paints or dye ink pads.


For my piece I used the dye ink pads. If you haven't watercolored with these before, here's how you do it. Take your closed stamp pad and and press the lid down onto the pad:


When you open the lid, you will see some ink on the lid:


Take your brush and a little water and mix into the ink on the lid:


To make my background, you just take a wet piece of watercolor paper and paint stripes of different colors across, blending where they meet. Let the paper dry thoroughly before stamping on it. You can heat set if you wish. Go ahead and stamp with dye ink if your paper is completely dry.

Here is another card that I made with the blue portion of my background paper:



I made a third card with Blingz paint instead of dye ink. You can see it on the Cottage Studio blog HERE.

Oh, and by the way, there is a great sale over at Clear Artistic Stamps. Stamp sets that are usually $10.95 are on special for $6.49. What a deal!

A Quick Card for Sunday

I made this card using Splitcoast SC254 and a cute stamp from Artful Inkables.

I Know How He Feels

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Brick Wall

This card was made using the Brick Wall Tutorial at Splitcoast Stampers. I like how it turned out, but will probably not do this again. It's even more tedious than it looks!

I used Belinda's gorgeous iris stamp from A Dreamer's Moment. And be sure to check out the envelope boxes that she has on sale this week. They will be great for gift giving.

Happy Friday to everyone!

Thank You to Every Veteran

Inchies!

Ever heard of inchies?  If you are a fan of small projects, this is just the thing for you!  An inchie is a one inch square piece of card stock where you do your artwork.  It's kinda fun to challenge yourself to create something pretty with just one inch to work with.

I decided to make my inchies out of paperboard for a little dimension.  I painted them brown and then embossed a design in gold.  Afterward, I put them on some autumn place cards that will be just right for Thanksgiving.

The Cottage Rumble that started today is "Inchies", so why don't you head on over the the Cottage Studio blog and see what all of the designers did for the challenge.  And give it a try yourself--we would love to see what you come up with!

Have a great Friday.

ATC for trade!

I posted on the Cottage Studio blog today with this ATC that I made. Details HERE. The linen and shimmer cardstock that I used is on sale this week.

Anybody want to trade with me for this ATC?

Trunk or Treat!

I painted this backdrop for our car decoration at our church's Trunk or Treat celebration. I was able to find stills from The Great Pumpkin online so I printed one out and went from there. My husband and daughters carved the jack o lanterns. The kids had a blast going from car to car to collect treats. And the grown ups had fun decorating their trunks.

It's One of Those Days

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Stinkin' Cute

This card is for someone I know who really is Stinkin' Cute! I used a stamp set that I got at Amy's garage sale--man I love it when a crafter has a garage sale. Always lots of great stuff to snag.

And here's a photo of Cleopatra and Pumpkin Princess before the Girl Scout Halloween Party Friday night:


Hope your Monday is great!

Shimmery Happy Birthday

How do you get your cards to shimmer? Easy--use Shimmer Paper, Shimmerz paint and shiny raffia. But of course, you need a great image as your focal point. And boy, do I have one for you! The image above is a FREE digital stamp that you can download at the Clear Artistic Stamps store.

Providing this free image is just one way that Belinda is recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So don't forget to get a regular mammogram, and remember to check the girls once a month at home!

OK, so back to the card. Want to see how shiny it is? Here's a side view in different lighting:


Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!

Sunday Silliness

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How did Corgis get so darn cute?

Boo!

This Halloween decoration was made for the Rubberband Challenge at the In the Cottage Studio blog. The background papers were made by wrapping rubberbands around my brayer and dipping it in orange paint. I used a 3-part acrylic frame that I bought a few months ago, and stamped at the top with the branch from Bel's stamp set October Treat.

I have Halloween decorations all over my house, and this will be my latest addition!

Halloween costumes? I bought them this year instead of making them. Audrey will be a "pumpkin princess" and Erin will be "Cleopatra". Lots of fun ahead!

New Stationery

I made this card using Bel's new stamp set Stationery Time and some Making Memories blossoms that I won in a contest recently here. I really love all of the little flowers in this stamp set. They make it so easy to do a random stamping design.

Have a good Monday everyone!

So Very True

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Free Standing Pop Up Card

Hi Everybody!

I haven't posted in a week now--I've been really busy around the house doing painting and "fall cleaning". I probably won't get much crafting done this week either!

I posted on the In the Cottage Studio blog today, featuring this Free Standing Pop Up Card.

This is how the card looks when you take it out of the envelope:


But when you pull up on the top tab, the card folds out and is able to stand on it's own:




For details you can go to the Cottage Studio blog.

Have a good Monday! We are getting lots and lots of rain--finally!