Spring Pendant

Hi, everyone!  I'm so glad you are taking time to visit with me!  I have a beaded pendant to share with you today.  It's a design by Justyna Szlezak of Eridhan Creations.   You might remember that I used one of her patterns for my entry into the last A Time to Stitch blog hop.  You can see that pendant here.  I highly recommend the patterns because the designs are beautiful and different and the instructions are very easy to follow.  That said here is the Spring Pendant I made.

 

 

 

I call it the Spring Pendant because of the colors even though the actual name of the design is Sea Urchin.  I had actually chosen another set of beads for this project during a snow storm!  I loved those colors but when I started working on the pendant I just couldn't use them.  They were dark and I was craving light!  So, I put those aside to use in the Fall.  I don't usually do the same design twice unless I'm making a set, too many great ideas out there, but maybe I'll make a Fall Pendant!  So, when I decided to change colors I went to my favorite combination, lime green and turquoise.  This is a spring version of lime green and turquoise.  It's more olive and aqua!  I used some frosted white Super Duos in there too.  The 11s are a soft sea foam green.  What I really loved about this pattern was the use of the spike beads!  I love those beads and I had some in aqua so it worked perfectly. Both sides of the pendant are the same which is nice because there is no right or wrong side.   I beaded a double loop at the top and added a jump ring and a silver ball chain to finish it off.

 

Here is a closer picture.

 

 



 

 

I really liked the way the colors came together.  The firepolished 4mm beads were in my stash and I love the AB finish on them. I had been looking for the perfect project for them. The 3mm ones are a Picasso finish.  I thought the frosted Super Duos worked well with the shine of the 11s and the AB finish of the firepolished beads.  It was a fun pattern to work on and it really worked up more quickly than I thought.

 

So, there you have my first Spring colored project.  Our weather is just not cooperating this year.  It's unseasonably chilly for late March but at least we don't have snow on the ground and the daffodils are ready to burst forth!  So, baby steps, we'll eventually get there!

 

Thank you all for stopping by here today.  I hope you have a wonderful day and get time to have some creative fun! 





Showing the Green!

Hi everyone!  I'm a little late in my St. Patrick's Day greetings but I hope everyone enjoyed the day when "everyone is Irish"!  I have a quick post to show you what I created for the day! 

For this week's challenge over at I am the Diva, Laura chose the theme Green It Up.  Since I love the color green, I thought I would participate.  Here is my tile.

 

 

 

Working on the Zentangle tiles is a joy because the paper is so wonderful.  The surface is so receptive to the ink.  And, I love adding some color to the black and white.  I thought this turned out rather spring like.  I guess because I'm really developing a severe case of spring fever!

 

That's my quick share for today.  I hope you have a wonderful day and that you are having some lovely spring weather.  Things are starting to wake up in the garden and I'm loving it!

 

 

 





From Sample to Pendant

Hello, everyone!  I'm so happy to have you visit today.  I hope your day is going well.  I think we've finally turned the corner on this long winter.  Spring isn't far from us now!  I'm itching to get outside into the garden to start "spring cleaning"!  I do more spring cleaning outside than inside. 

Today I wanted to share a beadwork pendant I made the other day.  When I was planning my first geometric beadwork bracelet,  last spring I thought I would make a sample to see how it would go together.  I had decided to make one of Jean Power's Power Puff bangle.  Well, I really like the sample I made so I put it aside and started on the bracelet.  I didn't want to continue the sample and turn it into a bangle because in stitching it I decided to change the colors around and use them in a different order.  Well, it sat on my table and I kept thinking I should do something with it. I decided on turning it into a pendant but, as usual, I never got around to it until the other day.  Here is what it looks like finished.

 

 

 

The Power Puff bangle is a series of beaded triangles that are connected to each other with a short peyote tube. The whole thing is a tube so you can thread wire or cord through it.  I love stitching triangles for some reason and it becomes quite addictive for me to go from one triangle to the other.  This sample has the triangles getting larger by one row for each successive triangle.  You can also change the orientation of the triangles as you stitch.  That's my next trial!   I ended this sample with the start of the fourth triangle.  When I decided to turn it into a pendant I thought that would be the perfect place for a bead to end it off nicely.  I searched through my stash of torch-fired enameled beads because I thought I had one this color.  I also had some enameled head pins and one used the same green enamel.  As you'll see in another photo I had a spacer that was the same color also and I put that on top.  Here are some details.

 

 

I love enameling beads!

Here is the spacer.

 

 

 

I love the way the bead sits right in the partial triangle.  In the second photo you can see the graduated size of the triangles.  If I hadn't decided to change the color sequence I could have gone back to the original size and continued the graduated triangles.  There are several variations on this idea.  Also, you can tell I love this color green since I had so many pieces that worked with the beadwork!  To finish it off  I decided to use a purchased copper chain for a necklace.  I'm really happy with the result. 

 

 

The blog post about the finished bangle can be seen here.  I really love geometric beadwork and I haven't done any lately.  But, I have some ideas to work on so I think I'll be getting back to it! 

 

I just discovered that the blog Anything but a Card Challenge theme this month is Green with Envy, so I'm going to enter this pendant in that challenge.

 

Thank you for visiting with me today.  I hope you have a wonderful day and that you have some spring weather in your world! 





A Great Class

Hello, everyone!  I'm so happy that you are visiting today.  I have a quick post to share some of what I did over the weekend.   My daughter and I signed up for two classes with the wonderful Seth Apter.  Seth is one of our favorite mixed media artists.  His classes are always fun and I always come away feeling I've grown in my art.  This time we had a class on Saturday that concentrated on stencils and different ways to use them and different mediums to use them with.  Sunday was a mixed media class creating a piece that exemplified urban art.  Unfortunately, we had an ice storm that caused the class to be canceled and rescheduled for June when Seth will be at The Queen's Ink for another set of classes.  But, Saturday was fantastic! Seth gave us each a stencil from his collection that he designed for Mary Beth Shaw's company Stencil Girl Products.   We used stencils to create a reference guide of different mediums to use with any stencil in the morning and in the afternoon we used what we learned about the mediums to create our own mixed media creation.  

The reference guide was done on three sheets of watercolor paper.  We used inks, sprays, modeling paste, color interference paste, crackle paste and embossing powder with small stencils.  Two areas were painted with black gesso to show the difference between background colors and metallic mediums. 

 

 

 

We used mediums that Seth had already experimented with and his guidance was important.  Some of the pastes are new to the market and are really fantastic.  One that my daughter really liked is Prima's new Finnabair Graphite modeling paste.  It's the third up from the bottom left in the picture above.

 

 

This is what I did in the afternoon.

 

 

 

 

We layered the background with paint and then used stencils to create a design.  I love the window.  It's a Prima stencil that my daughter had.  I deliberately used the gold paste randomly.  I like the effect of a worn image.  The graphite paste that we loved is up in the corners.  Here's a close up so you can see the wonderful texture that's achieved with this new product. 

 

 

 

 

Very cool, I think!  Here's the last detail photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That gold modeling paste is very cool.  Wendy Vecchi has one that is very similar to the one we used. 

 

 

If you haven't jumped on the stencil band wagon you should give it a try.  It's great fun and there are so many beautiful stencils out there along with great products to use with them. 

 

 

Well, that's it for today.  Thank you so much for visiting with me today.  I hope you are having lovely spring weather where you are.  We're supposed to be getting more snow tomorrow.  But, next week will be much better, I'm sure ;)!



 

 

 

 



 

Flowers of the Frost

Hello, everyone!  I'm delighted to have you stop by here for a visit.  It's a snowy morning here and so the title of this post is rather appropriate!  We're almost into March and I'm dying to see some of the flowers of the frost.  What are they you ask?  Well, they are the tiny little bulbs that brave the cold of winter and pop up to bring brightness to the dull winter landscape. I've loved them for years because they are a harbinger of what is to come with the spring and summer.  I love my garden and every year I add new plants and shrubs.  I also add some of these little gems.  I tuck them into small areas where I can see them from the windows on  a cold blustery day.  Years ago I read the quote attributed to Gertrude Wister that says "The flowers of late winter occupy places in our hearts well out of proportion to their size."  I agree with that wholeheartedly!  So, I've wanted to do a project incorporating that sentence for a long time.  Finally, I've done one! 



I'm always cutting pictures and whole pages out of magazines and keeping them in file folders.  The biggest folder is one that is filled with flower pictures.  So, as you might imagine, many of the pictures are of those little gems of late winter.  That was the starting point of this canvas.  I covered the canvas with gesso and when that was dry I added fiber paste to some areas with a palette knife to  add some texture.  I used a combination of  paint and stains in Bundled Sage, Weathered Wood, Iced Spruce, and Shaded Lilac.  I also used Lindy's Stamp Gang Glitz Spritz in Cactus Gold add some shimmer.  When it was completely dry I did some stamping with Watering Can archival ink. A technique I learned from Seth Apter and that I use a lot is cross hatching with paint and a credit card to create some texture and color on a canvas. I did some of that, adding more color and texture to the background. I glued down the magazine clipping of potted snow drops and crocuses and then dry brushed it with gesso to blended it in and weather it some.  I printed the quote on cardstock and cut it out attaching it to grunge board to pop it out. I darkened the edges with Weathered Wood DI and used my finger to lightly rub some gesso over it.  I wanted to high light one of the snow drops so I used a stick on acrylic disk over one of the flowers.  I used a tag cut of the same CS and darkened  the edges of that and added it to the top of the canvas with a piece of ribbon from the stash under it.  I used the same ribbon along the bottom to ground the whole composition and keep it from looking as if it was floating in the air.  Here are some details.

I'm so pleased with how this turned out.  I enjoyed working on it and it kept me thinking that soon I'll see my snow drops and crocuses.  Of course, we need to get rid of the snow on the ground first!! 

Well, that's it for today.   Thank you so much for visiting with me.  I appreciate your visits and your kind comments very much.  I hope you have a wonderful day and get some time to be creative in whatever medium you chose. 

A Late Little Valentine Project

Hello, all!  Welcome to you all on this snowy morning in the Mid-Atlantic!  Boston and New England have gotten most of the snow this year but last night and today it was our turn.  Of course, ours wasn't anything like what Boston has endured this year but we can't handle snow the way New England can.  If we ever got 90 inches of snow in a season we'd never dig out!!  Anyway, I don't mind snow if I don't have to drive in it and it certainly is pretty out my window!

Today I want to share another Zentangle project.  My friend, Patti, designed a pretty Valentine Zentangle project and showed a group of us how to make one.  It's a cornet or a tussy-mussy holder.  Here's what it looks like.

 

 

 

Patti supplied the holder and the paper, we chose the tangles we wanted to use.  I added a pop of red throughout because I've come to like the black and white and one bright color in my Zentangles.   I didn't finish it until the day after Valentine's Day but next year I'm going to fill it with chocolates. 

 

 

Here are some details.  The photos aren't very good because the weather hasn't been very cooperative with the light!

 

 

 

As you can see, I've lined it with red card stock and used a red satin ribbon for the handle and the tassel at the bottom.  I'm really pleased with how it turned out. 

Well, that's it for today.  I hope you have a wonderful day.  I'm hoping to do some beading for a change!  Thank you so much for visiting with me and leaving your wonderful comments.  I really appreciate it. 

 





It's almost Valentine's Day!

Hi all!  I'm happy to have you visit.  Well, I'm over winter now and I'm so happy that it's the first week of February.   To me that means that March is that much closer!  And, happy day, my crocuses and daffodils are showing their green!!  Crocuses are my favorite flowers because they are the first ones I see in the late winter and early spring.  Of course, February also means Valentine's Day is right around the corner.  I've been thinking of what I'm going to make for dinner that night and what yummy heart shaped dessert I'll serve.  I always have made a special dinner and dessert for my family on Valentine's Day.  I spend the beginning of February planning and making things to celebrate this pretty bright day in the middle of a dull winter.  This year, there are still cards to be made and dinner to be planned but I took some time to make a Valentine card to put on the table in the family room.  Since the Frilly and Funkie blog has as their challenge theme "Be My Valen-twine"for the next few days I thought I would enter it in the challenge too. The "twine" is the requirement to use twine in whatever you make.  Here is what it looks like.

 I started with a piece of kraft card stock and used Wendy Vecchi's embossing paste and a new Memory Box stencil to make the background.  I tried a new-to-me technique I found on the very talented Astrid's blog.  While the embossing paste was still wet I sprinkled some of it with gold embossing powder and the rest with red glitter embossing powder and heated them.  I love the way the embossing paste bubbled and puffed.  I let the gold spill onto the red so I had a two toned embossing.   I cut a piece of red CS with the TH trellis die and used my finger to rub some gold Gilders' Paste on it.  I also rubbed Gilders Paste on the edge of the CS. I had the vintage Valentine clown image in my stash.  I wrapped the card with gold wrapped bakers' twine.  I glued the kraft CS to a striped paper that I had distressed and rubbed with Vintage Photo DI on the edge.  That was glued to a piece of red embossed CS which I rubbed with Gilders Paste.  Here are some details.

 

 

 



 So, there is my first Valentine for this year!  It looks great on the table. 

I have continued on with the #28patterns challenge which I talked about in this post. 

Here are two of the Zentangles I've posted the last couple of days.  

My initial done in Joanne Fink's Zenspirations style.

 

 

 

 

 

So, that's what I've been doing the last few days.  I think the Muse is beginning to wake up!  Must be seeing those crocus and daffodil leaves!!

 

 

Thank you so much for visiting with me today.  I hope you have a wonderful and creative day!





It's been a while!

Hi to all of my wonderful visitors!  It's been a long time since I last posted.  But, there have been reasons.  The first one is that after the rush of the holidays my mojo went into storage along with all the decorations.  That sometime happens to me after the hustle and bustle of Fall and Christmas. My muse needs a rest I suppose!  Then I caught a horrible cold.  It wasn't the flu, just a plain old head cold but it lasted for a long time and I felt I lost about 10 days because I really didn't have much energy.  I'm happy that it's gone!  I'm not sure my mojo is back but I feel like it's beginning to come out of hibernation. 

I saw on Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's blog a challenge she's sponsoring on Instagram called #28Patterns.  Now, I have to say I'm not a hashtag kind of person!  I'm not on Facebook or Twitter, I have enough to occupy my time, I don't need any other time drains.  Sorry if I've offended anyone by calling them that but that is how I think of them.  But, I do post pictures to Instagram, usually of  my projects or flowers from my garden.  Not very interesting stuff but I do have some friends who enjoy seeing them. Anyway, I thought this might encourage the muse to return.  The idea is to get down on paper a pattern a day for the month of February.  It can be any medium.  So, I'm giving it a try.  I'm not really good at keeping up with things like this but I thought this could work because I can always practice Zentangle.  And, even if I don't do a pattern a day, I'll do some days!!!

I resisted getting involve with Zentangles for a long time.  Patti Euler, my friend who owns the wonderful local  paper arts store, The Queen's Ink, is a Certified Zentangle Teacher and she gives classes from beginner on to more advanced instruction.  Her work is beautiful and I've been drawn to the clean black and white patterning even though I'm a color fanatic.  Finally, last summer my daughter and I signed up for the beginner class.  I've enjoyed it immensely and we've taken other classes since then.  I've been trying to keep up with doing it regularly so the idea of 28Patterns was appealing.  I could always do a Zentangle.  Yesterday was the first day of this challenge so this is what I did.

 

 

There isn't much to tell you about it.  Tangles are like doodling.  When color is added to the black and white they are considered Zentangle inspired art.  Since it's February and Valentine's Day is right around the corner I'm in full heart mode!!  I love Valentine's Day, and have since I was  a child, because it's a bright spot in the midst of a gray, dull winter!  So, I've been doing a lot of heart Zentangles and this is my latest!

 

 

I probably won't post these 28 patterns, or whatever I make, everyday, but you'll probably see some of them.  At least you'll be hearing from me more often :)! 

 

For now though, thank you for visiting with me today and reading all this!  Not much eye candy today and lots of words so I'll end for now.  Have a wonderful day, I hope it's a sunny day where you are! 

 

A Quick Update

Hello to you all!   Thanks for dropping in here today.  I have a quick update to my project for the challenge, A Time to Stitch.  You can find my post about what I made and the challenge hosts and participants here.  At first I didn't know what I wanted to do about a necklace for the pendant and then I ran out of time to make what I decided on.  I wanted to make a chain that wouldn't distract from the pendant.  The  holidays came along and I didn't get to it.   By the day of the reveal I had a few links done.  Over the weekend I finished all the links and jump rings and tumbled them in my new Christmas gift, a tumbler!!!  Here is the necklace completed.

 

 

 

 

I'm very happy with the finished necklace.  The chain coordinates with the pendant but doesn't distract from it.  I used a finer wire than I wanted but the color was perfect and it fit through the holes of the Delicas. I also used some of the fire polished beads in the links. 

 

That's it for today.  I wanted to share the finished piece because some of you kindly said that you would like to see it finished.  I hope you have  great day and get the time to bead or do whatever your do to feed your creative spirit.   Thank you so much for visiting with me today.

A Time to Stitch

Hello, everyone!  Happy New Year!  It's so nice to have you visit with me today.  The holidays are over, all the decorations are put away and now we can breathe slowly and get back to creating wonderful projects!  I know that's what I'm hoping to do.  I actually got back to beading this week so that I could finish the project for this round of A Time to Stitch!  This blog hop is sponsored by Therese and Christine.  It's always a lot of fun and it often spurs me on to try something I've been putting off doing.  The idea behind it is to try a stitch that you haven't used before.  This time that idea was changed up a bit.  This time we were supposed to use a word chart, a picture chart or graft.  I like working with word charts because I knit and use word charts all the time.  I decided to use a pattern designed by Eridhan Creations.  The pattern I chose was one called Twisted Triangle.  I love peyote stitched triangles and I had never done one based on June Huber's idea of using different sized beads to create a "twist".  Here is what my pendant looks like.

I chose neutral colors so the "twist" would be the focus of the piece.  I didn't know what I wanted to do for a necklace because I didn't want something that was going to be too busy.  I decided to make my own chain out of wire and the bronze fire polished beads that are in the center of each side.  But, the holidays brought the entire thing to a standstill and I didn't have time to get all the links made by today.  I do have some finished.

 

 

 

I'll link them together with jump rings and attach them to the triangle.  I'll post a picture of the finished necklace when it's all put together.

 

 

Thanks to Christine and Therese for hosting this hop.  It's always a lot of fun and I always make some thing that I've been wanting to do!  Below is a list of all the participants.  Be sure to check out their blogs and see what they have created.

 

 

1-Therese Frank  (Host)    

2-Christine Altmiller  (Host)

3-Cynthia Machata

4-Samantha Wescott

5-Karin Slaton

6-Wendy

7-LizE

8-Dagi (Kokopelli)

9-Lola

10-Paula

11-Karin G.

12-Becky Pancake

13-Ana Cravidao

14-Alenka

15-Debbie (Kepi)

16-Nelly May

17-LiliKrist

18-Sally Russick

19-Maryanne (you are here)

20-Kim

21-Amy

 

 

Thank you for visiting me today.  I hope you have a great day and find some time to create!

The Last Few Things

Hi, everyone!  It's so nice to have you visit with me.  I hope your Christmas was wonderful and you're getting some time to yourself before the New Year celebrations!  We had a wonderful Christmas.  Our son and daughter-in-law were here and our daughter and son-in-law who live locally joined us along with some close friends.  It was a lovely time and we had a chance to catch up with everyone!  The busyness continued after the big day, but it's always such lovely busyness that I don't really mind!  But, today I have some time to catch my breath and I thought I would share some pictures of the few things I was able to find time to make before Christmas. 

I kept up with The 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style, just barely, so I didn't get many ornaments and decorative things made.  I always try to make a few ornaments for our tree each year and I did manage to get two done. 

 

 

The first one, as you can see, is a pair of ice skates cut with the TH die.  I used white glitter paper from a pad of different colored glitter paper.  It has become my favorite Christmas paper!  I cut the runners from paper that had foil sticky back paper attached and the heel was cut with black paper.  Both the runners and the heels were glued to the original die cuts.   I used red and white baker's twine for the laces and the hanger and some greenery and gumdrops for the decorations.  The second one is a star shape cut out of the gold glitter paper from the same pad.  I used a tree, Santa and banner from a package of Christmas die cuts from Kaisercraft.  I used some glitter on the Santa to give him some sparkle. 

 

 

The only other thing I finished this year was a top hat!  I love top hats and I had gotten a papier mache one last year and never did anything with it.  This year I decided to get to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

I painted it with black paint and used a red satin ribbon for the hat band.  I used more glitter paper, this time in green, to cut holly from the Holiday Greens die.  I used the new labels die from TH to cut the circle and the holiday words die and gold glitter paper for the word "joy".  The cluster of berries was in my stash.  It sat on a bench in our foyer along with a finial and some greens.  Here are some close ups.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really love it and it looks very festive sitting on the bench ready to go with a dashing young gentleman out on the town! 

 

 

That's about it for this year.  There a few things that weren't finished and I intend to finish them soon because if I put them aside it will be a long time before they surface again! 

 

 

Thank you so much for visiting with me today and all year.  I do so appreciate your visits and your comments.  I hope you have a very Happy New Year and I hope that 2015 (can you believe that!) is a blessed and wonderful year for you.  







And, for the finale...

Hi everyone, welcome at this busy holiday time!   I'm back with my last entry into The 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie style.   I can't believe it's been 12 weeks since Linda debuted her first tag of this year's challenge.  If you would like to see that tag, or learn what the requirements are for the challenge you can go here.  But, we have come to the last entry and Linda's tag was fantastic!  It was a beautiful ending to the series!  I love it and had much to be inspired by in this tag.  Here is what my piece looks like.

 

 

If you looked at Linda's tag you'll notice that she did a weathered wood background.  I loved that background which was designed by Jennie Marples.  A link to the tutorial is in Linda's blog post for Tag 12.  I'm pleased with the way my background turned out even though I didn't have the colors of reinker that are specified in the tutorial.  I made do with what I had and I think it turned out okay.  Actually, I'm pretty happy with it and I know I'll use the technique again! 

 

 

While Linda's tag represented the side of house with a lovely wreath hanging on a  window with a window box I decided to just do the weathered wood background.   I think of it as a weathered wood fence with a wreath hanging on it.  I cut the wreath with the TH wreath die out of manila CS that I sprayed with a few different green sprays.  I edged it with white flocking and some iridescent glitter.  I used some red gumdrops for berries and seam binding sprayed with Barn Door Distress Spray for a bow.    Under the wreath I used one of the new TH Holiday Sentiments stamps with black archival ink.  Here are some close ups.

 

 

 

 

 

Well, that's it for this year!  I hope you'll check out Linda's shop, which is the sponsor for the challenge. 

 

I want to thank Linda for hosting this fun challenge.  Her inspiration is awesome and I love working on this every year. 

 

And, I want to thank all of you who read my blog and comment.  I appreciate it so much.  I wish all of you the most wonderful of holiday seasons.  

 



 



Shiny Bright!

Hello, everyone!  It's so nice to have you here today.  Well, we're into the home stretch with Christmas just a week away!  I hope your preparations are coming along nicely.  I'm whittling down my list with wrapping presents being the last really big thing I need to do.  Fortunately for me, I enjoy wrapping gifts. 

Another thing that is coming to a close is the 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style!  It's hard to believe that Linda has posted tag number 12 already!  If you would like to know more about this challenge you can find the details here.  I'm posting my 11th entry today.   Here is what I made inspired by Linda's beautiful tag which you can see here. 

 

 

 

Linda's tag used foil tape over a tag embossed with a snowflake embossing folder. It was so beautiful that I had to do something similar.  I used a Spellbinders' embossing folder that I just love.  It fit my 5x7" page perfectly and I was able to fill the whole page without worrying about covering the areas that weren't embossed.  I used alcohol ink to color the ornaments.  I just used the dropper in the bottle to get the ink onto the paper and then immediately rubbed it off so that only the barest hint of color was left.  I loved the softly colored effect that I got doing that.  I left the background plain and added silver ribbon bows to the tops of each ornament.  I used a Spellbinders die to cut the label and archival ink to stamp the phrase.  Using a glue pen I sprinkled the edge of the label with chunky glass glitter from Stampendous.   I really love this simple page. It's so effective and shiny.

 

 

Here are some details.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm so pleased with the way this turned out.  I wasn't sure of the alcohol ink technique but it worked out better than I thought it would.  And, of course, it is my favorite Christmas decoration, the Christmas ornament!  I'm sorry to see this challenge end.  I always discover new techniques and create great things to use in my Christmas decorations around the house.  The challenge is sponsored by Linda's boutique.  Check it out for great products and even greater prices!

 

 

Thank you all for taking the time to visit me.  I know how busy everyone is and I can't tell you how much I appreciate you stopping by.  Have a wonderful day!





Woodland Christmas

Hello, again!  I'm so happy to have you visit.  This won't be a long post but I'm trying to catch up with my 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style!  I got behind in October and I've had a really difficult time catching up.  But, I'm getting there!  There is only one more tag to go and Linda just posted it.  It's gorgeous!  But, that will come later!  For now, I'm up to tag 10!  And, I really, really like this one.  I called it a Woodland Christmas because of the colors.  They are different for me for this season but I love the way it turned out. 

Let me get the particulars of this challenge out of the way so I can show you what I'm talking about.  Linda Coughlin hosts this challenge every year and you can find the details and rules (there aren't many) here.  The challenge is sponsored by Linda's wonderful shop, The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  You can find it here. 

Now on to what I made for week 10. 

 

 

 

I apologize for the picture.  The color is awful but I was using my phone which usually does a better job but the day was dreary and I couldn't find a good light.  It was the colors of Linda's tag, which you can see here, that I loved.  They were a little different, and to me, a little woodland.  So, that was my inspiration.  I started buy using DI to lightly stencil the holly in the lower left corner. A Prima stencil was used in the upper right corner with heavy body gesso.  I then used Tarnished Brass, Vintage Photo, Crushed Olive, and Peeled Paint Distress Sprays on the background.  I left it rather light in  some areas.  I then used Perfect Pearls Spray in Biscotti all over the entire page.  I used some Sunflower Sparkle Perfect Pearls in the area of the embossing and a few light spritzes in other parts of the tag.  The card with the sentiment was from Kaisercraft.  It was the perfect color and I loved the sentiment.  I cut some gold CS with the holiday foliage die and used a glue pen and Peeled Paint Distress Glitter to create veins.  I glued those down and put the card over them.  I had embossed the edges of the card with Lindy's Stamp Gang's embossing powder, Desert Moon Copper Pine.  The edges of the pages were glittered with the Peeled Paint DG.  Here are some close ups.

 

 



 

 

And there you have my 10 entry into the this fun challenge.  I'm off now to wrap some presents.  I always say I'm going to wrap as they come into the house but I never quite make it! 

 

 

I hope you have a wonderful day.  Thank you so much for visiting at the busy time of year.  



Christmas Elegance

Hello, everyone!  I know you're all very busy right now, so I really appreciate you stopping by to see my next project in the Twelve Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style.  Hosted by Linda Coughlin and sponsored by her wonderful shop The Funkie Junkie Boutique, you can find all the details of the challenge here.

Linda's tag for the 9th week of the challenge was so beautiful and elegant.  I loved the black and gold combination.  I'm a real traditionalist with most things, and especially the holidays, but I do like to shake things up a bit within a traditional style.  Here is what I took as inspiration from Linda's tag.

 

 

 

 

 

I started with my usual 5x7" watercolor paper and painted it with Black Soot DP.  Once it dried I used a Prima stencil and embossing ink to make the corner decoration.  I embossed it with gold embossing powder.  I then used another piece of watercolor paper and stamped the sentiment in embossing ink and used the same embossing powder.  I fussy cut it and used foam tape to apply it to the page. The edges of the page were embossed also.  The white poinsettia was in my stash.   Here are some details.

 

 





 

 

 

 

I think this is such an elegant combination.  I was so thrilled when I saw Linda's tag because a few days before I had thought about doing a black and gold tag!!  As I mentioned to Linda in an email, sometime serendipity can be found everywhere! 

 

 

Thank you so much for visiting with me.  We're almost at the end of this challenge even though I'm behind in my posting.  I hope all your holiday plans are moving along smoothly.  Have a wonderful day and enjoy the season!



Ice Skates

Hello, everyone!  It's so nice to have you visit at this busy time of year!  I hope your holiday preparations are going well and you're enjoying the season!

Today I want to share my 8th entry in Linda Coughlin's 12 Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style.  You can find all the details here.  Linda's tag for week 8 had a wonderfully warm homespun feel to it with a Christmas stocking featured.  I saw the stocking and for some reason thought about the ice skate die and how I would love to use that in place of a stocking.  So, that's what I did!  Here is my version of Linda's tag.

I wouldn't call it homespun but I do love those ice skates!  I started out by spraying the background with Brushed Pewter Distress Spray through a Memory Box snowflake stencil.  I cut the ice skates out of grunge board and painted them with Picket Fence Distress Paint.  I used Brushed Pewter on the runners and Black Soot for the heal.    After the paint was dry I sprinkled the shoes lightly with Rock Candy Dry Glitter so they would glisten.  That doesn't really show in the picture, but it's a cool effect.  I "laced" them with bakers twin. The label is from the new TH set of label dies cut from silver card stock.  I embossed the edge with crystal embossing powder and stamped it with a Penny Black stamp.    The snowflakes were a gift from Linda that she tucked into an order (thanks once again, Linda).   I sprayed them with Perfect Pearls Pearl.

Here are some details.

 

 

It's a very simple page for my future book but I thought simplicity was my answer to Linda's homespun! 

 

 

It's hard to believe that we are so close to the finish.  I actually have page 9 and 10 finished.  I just haven't had time to post about them.  Linda is up to 11 and that is really amazing!  Next week will be the end of the challenge, which, by the way, is sponsored by Linda's wonderful shop.  Stop by and take a look around.  The prices are great and the service is even better!

 

 

Well, I'm off to continue checking things off my to-do list.  I hope you have a wonderful day.  Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to visit with me.  I really appreciate it!



Christmas Ornament

Hello, everyone!  I'm in the spirit of the season and busy, busy, busy, as I'm sure all of you are.  But, since I love the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, I'm enjoying myself!  My favorite thing is to decorate my house.  I love getting out all my things, some that I've had for many years.  Some are from childhood, some from my first years of marriage, and some that I add every year.  My favorite thing to do is make ornaments for the tree.  Our tree is a history of our family.  I've made a majority of the ornaments and they reflect my passion for needlework, beading, and now, paper art.  Other ornaments have been collected on travels or given to us by dear friends.  The tree is truly my favorite decoration in the house!  Which is why when I saw the tag Linda Coughlin made for week 7 of her Twelve Tags of Christmas Funkie Junkie Style I was thrilled!  It featured a Christmas tree ornament!  What could be better?!

Here is what I did with that inspiration.

I started by cutting an ornament using a Tim Holtz die out of manila cardstock.  I used heavy body gesso and a Prima stencil to emboss it.  When the gesso was dry I sprayed it with Lindy's Stamp Gang Poinsettia Red Gold Starburst spray.  The beauty of the spray doesn't show up well in the picture but there golden highlights mixed in with the red.  The gesso is lighter in color and I highlighted it with some gold Guilders' Paste.  For the hanger I used gold paint and some Ranger Ancient Gold Enchanted Gold embossing powder.

Next I sprayed my paper with Sea Mist Green Starburst spray and let it dry.  I used the heavy bodied gesso again with a Prima stencil and embossed the card.  Once it was dry I used Lindy's Magicals and a water brush to paint the embossing.  Using a TH stamp I stamped pine branches around the top and side of the paper using Frosty Forest Green and Ponderosa Pine Olive Magicals.   I then used the same colors to color some manila card and cut it out with the TH new greenery die.  I attached those pieces with glue and then popped up the ornament making some of the foliage come through the hanger.  Here are some close up photos.

 

 

 

 I'm really pleased with the way this turned out.   I had a lot of fun working on it.  Linda is such an inspiration every week!  If you want the details of how to participate in the challenge you can check it out here.   The challenge is sponsored by Linda's wonderful shop, The Funkie Junkie Boutique.  You really should check it out because she has a wonderful selection of products at great prices.

 

 

That's it for me for now.  I have more decorating to do (almost finished).  Thank you so much for taking the time to visit with me.  I really appreciate it and I hope you have a wonderful day!