June Monthly Challenge : Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

June Monthly Challenge

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue... June Challenge at Inspiration Emporium http://blog.inspirationemporium.com/.  This past Friday , June 21st, I celebrated my 33rd Wedding Anniversary. I've been dying to use my 3-D Accordion Album die by Karen Burniston. I've been seeing all these cool projects made with it so I decided to give it a try. I made my anniversary card.
My wedding song was " One In A Million" by Larry Graham ( my husband sang it to me while we were dating, so it became our song). Every year for the past  thirty-two years we start our anniversary day with a dance to One In a Million ( yeah... yeah mushy... I know), so I decided to use the title on my card; I got married in a yellow dress and he wore a yellow shirt that matched my dress, hence the yellow background  for my card. I used papers from  DCWV's The Primrose Stack. I chose the musical note sheet and a couple of other  sheets from which I fussy cut flowers, the bird and the butterfly. I inked all my edges with vintage photo distressing ink. I fussy cut two of my favorite photos from our special day ( something old)  and adhered them to the labels. I  Added some dimensional flower stickers from Jolee's  Boutique ( something new) that matched the flowers from the paper perfectly. I place these in the corners of the frames adding depth. On the first frame I put "One In A Million" in white glitter letters from Recollections ( something borrowed). And I used pop dots to pop up a butterfly ( something blue)... that was fun !!
Often times I will have an idea of what I want to create but it's difficult to get it from my head to my hands, but this project "translated" well ... I was pleased with my first 3-D Accordion Album ... was a little tricky at points but I was pleased. I actually dreamt this project after looking through some of my stash! My husband loved it too !

June Tag 12 Tags of 2013

12 Tags of 2013 June Tag

I'm high on summertime.. already !! OMG ... I've been struggling to get my mojo back. After being sick, the death of my brother-in-law and the death of his mom shortly there after; I just couldn't seem to get my mojo back. I was overwhelmed!!
But I'm HAPPY to report after a day at a workshop with Denise Hahn ... SHE"S BACK !!
Tim incorporated the distress markers for this tag ( oh no... not coloring ... my first response! ) ... OMG ... I'm loving the distress markers more and more... I'm getting the hang of it. Check it out http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2013-june/    . Of course he makes it seem so easy! I got tickles with the splatter technique... anybody can do that right ? Not as easy as it looked... secret is to get enough water on that brush ... I'm not sure where my drops ended up the first two times !!
My goodness the background techniques were so cool. The combination of distress paint, distress ink and distress stain was amazing; watching them react together... watch out now "artist" at work here... LOL .  Love the classic stamps used for the background... yay ... I had them!!  Was a very fun tag, and I can't wait to see next months. Singin' " I got my groove back, I got my groove back !!
In the past week I've done a mini album,  five layouts, three tags, and another project I'll be posting
 shortly for Inspiration Emporium Challenge. shortly. My direct link to my blog dropped off my phone, that hasn't been corrected yet so I'm having to Bluetooth my photos from my phone ... but that's okay I'm gettin' it done!! See you soon. Don't forget to check out Tim's site for tag details and check out the work of the other fans too. Tim also posted some patriot projects today... have fun !

April Tag 12 Tags of 2013

Hi everybody! It's been a while... well you know how I hate to be left out.. in April due to deaths in the family I did not do my April tag. I tried to be OK with not doing it , but that DID NOT work for me ... LOL. So I'm happy to report I did my April tag!
 So glad I did , it was loaded with cool techniques. I love the distress paints and how they blend; and the layering of the paints with the distressing inks was amazing
You know I can't complete a tag with out something happening... I went to use my brand new salty ocean distress paint and at a crucial point, the whole top came off and paint went all over my mat ... I snatched up my tag so it didn't get soaked and I used a piece of card stock to steer the running paint away from the area I had set up ( you have to check out Tim's site timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2013-april/ ) to see the process for colorizing the tag background... but I had my other two mediums on my mat ready to go ...FORTUNATELY ... my steering job worked so I could go ahead and complete that part BEFORE cleaning up my spilled paint... quite a save  ( those mats... Ranger  craft mat are awesome to clean up, I ran it under warm water... rinsed right off... Thank Goodness !
Oh and the patina techniques for the metals... so awesome, way too much fun. Another fun tag!! I got carried away on the dragon fly wings so I had to reheat them and smooth them out a couple of times... you really gotta check it out; better yet do one if you haven't done it yet.
Okay that's it for April chit chat, see you in a few minutes, with my June tag.

May Monthly Challenge: Don't Quote Me

May Monthly Challenge : Don't Quote Me

Okay I just had to do this, I had way too much fun and needed to share... LOL. Over at Inspiration Emporium http://blog.inspirationemporium.com/ they have monthly challenges... you need to check it out. Anyway, I had so much fun with the Tim tag I thought I would play a bit, and play I did. Using his technique with the remnant rubs and distress stains I created this whimsical card using my Tim Holtz  Way With Words Stamp and my Dylusions Dependable Dotty Stamp, Tim's Remnant Rubs , Wild Honey, Broken China and Picked Raspberry Distress Stains, Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain Distressing Inks and  an imagination!!

May Tag 12 Tags of 2013

May Tag 12 Tag of 2013 w/ Tim Holtz

Talk about Embrace Imperfections... Woooooooooo  !!
Hi , Everybody ... I'm glad to be back . I missed last months tag post due to life issues. Long story short I had a heart attack scare and was hospitalized. And shortly there after lost my brother-in-law to a massive heart attack.  Enough about me ... on to my tag...
Y'all know how I love my Tim Holtz stash...BUT I did not have that stamp ... can you believe it? You'll have to read my FB post to hear that drama ... LOL ! Okay I finally settled on a substitute... not too bad except my ink pad needs re inking... oh no !!
I gotta say I love the remnant rubs, love how they resist the distress stains you MUST check out
Tim's site  http://timholtz.com/12-tags-of-2013-may/ for the details to appreciate the process, it is soooooo cool  ( I know I always say that... it's TRUE )! I was a little disappointed with my colors but I'm embracing my imperfection here ; being last minute played into my rush ( you really do have to read my rant on FB). Over all I'm very pleased with the finished project. You know, I've come into the realization that the "true art takes place in the process" ! That enamel tag was too cool to do ... first the alcohol ink trick...omg I love it... then the rub-ons (remnant rubs) on it ... my goodness... super genius !!! You really should try this tag, I'm going to do it again WHEN and IF my stamp gets here ... I love the original. Oh I'm making my supply list; more remnant rubs, re inker and/ or new archival ink pad more tags ... that's a start .
Thank you Tim for another awesome tag !!

Create To Live March Challenge

Happy Spring Everybody! Spring is one of my favorite times of the year!
I love the chilly windy days, I love all the pretty flowers that are blooming, the trees with their fresh new leaves. The weather and the flowers make me giddy. I love to fly kites, too !
I was visiting some of my favorite sites and I came across Susan Weckesser's site http://mysweetearth.blogspot.com/2013/03/create-to-live-march-challenge.html; I loved the colors of a layout and saw the invitation for a challenge... yes, I know another challenge. You gotta check it out; how could I possibly resist those colors. Confession time, yes right up front, I confused the colors from Susan's Challenge and the colors from Ranger's Challenge ( I think I've got all colors from both... leave it to me.).
One of my favorite flowers in the whole world is  Ranunculus. I look forward to Spring every year because I love seeing them in people's gardens. They are so bright and so cheerful. So I chose Ranunculus for my tag. The theme for this challenge is Celebrate. Each Spring I reflect on  the "newness " of life , new beginnings, spring cleaning and my life!
I always associate  new life ( growth), flowers, butterflies and joy with Spring! So my tag reflects  all of these.
Using my distressing inks,  (mowed lawn, peacock feathers, squeezed lemonade, shaded lilac, concord grape, mustard seed, wild honey, and spiced marmalade) and dylusions cut grass ink I created the background for my tag using the blending tool for some areas, other areas I blotted the colors on my craft sheet, spritzed it with water and then blotted the tag drying in between layers. When I got the blend of colors I wanted I dried the tag and then misted it with heirloom gold perfect pearls mist. When the tag was dry I stamped it with my Stampendous Flower Field Stamp using black archival ink. I dried it with the heat tool and then colored my flowers using my distress markers (spun sugar, barn door, worn lipstick, spiced marmalade, and peeled paint)... I'm having a great time watching this unfold before my eyes. Something interesting happened while I was doing this; my thoughts went to a picture of these flowers; as if I had seen them before; and I really can't recall having seen this picture, but I felt like a real artist ! ANYWAY , when the flowers dried I added lime green  stickles to the leaves, squeezing a small dab and smoothing it with my fingers ( I'm really wearing this artist hat  about now... I like that thought ... LOL).  Okay, so what am I celebrating... umm ...spring and life ... so I decided to use my life definition stamp at the top and randomly at the bottom ( I was a little heavy handed at the top, so it didn't quite have the effect I wanted) nevertheless the life stamp was added and I decided to use my butterfly punch to make butterflies, scoring them to giving wings some dimension. I had a left over banner so I stamped it with word "just celebrate". I found a butterfly, and life word stick in my stash and I colorized the ribbon ( and the butterflies) using a combination of wild honey, mustard seed and spiced marmalade distress stain... love the color it created !!! To finish off my tag I distressed the edges with vintage photo distressing ink and added bling to the butterflies. This Spring I'm Celebrating Life... my life as a Minister and the lives of all of those whose lives have touched  mine in such amazing ways these past months.  In the past six month ,
God has given me a "special" assignment as a prayer partner for children and babies who are fighting everyday for their lives; most of them were born prematurely with many birth defects/illnesses; others are cancer patients. As I read their stories about their fights and pray for them and their families, I have an even greater appreciation for life and what it means to LIVE ! I'm GRATEFUL for my life and my experiences and for the privilege of being able to offer support to these babies/children and their families ... I CELEBRATE who I am and who God has called me to be !

HAPPY SPRING !