The Ground Hog Saw His Shadow

I feel bad for the rest of the country. Six more weeks of winter! Ugh!  But here in the Pacific Northwest, at least where I live, we haven't really had winter this year. It got cold (into the 20's at night) a couple times. But no snow, no freezing rain. Heck, I've only worn a coat 3 times this winter!  Maybe by having six more weeks Mother Nature might actually get around to sending us some of the white fluffy stuff....just so we can say we had some. :-)

But for the friends and family back east, I'm sorry. Bundle up, burrow in and stay safe and warm.

I always have a hard time getting back into the crafting groove after the holidays but this year, since I started Bullet Journaling, I seem to be more on track. I guess that is kind of the point of the Bullet Journal lol.

I have a couple more spreads to share with you today.

Here is my Valentine week spread. I wrote "Love Notes" in a Mickey style font and then created day spaces to mimic notes and cards tacked onto a bulletin board.

The mailbox holds my To Do list.

I drew Mickey, Minnie and Pluto with a Sharpie pen and colored them with Inktense pencils.

I've started setting up my March pages. Here is my title page and the first (partial) week of March.

I drew and colored the lion with Prismacolor pencils. I stamped "March" with my Kelly Creates month stamps and added the geometric boarders with Prismacolor pencils.

I continued the geometric theme on the daily page.

Here is a close up of the lion. I just noticed that I never went in and added the white highlight dots to his eyes (I use white acrylic paint to do that). 

And now to projects that my journal helped me get done on time...

My niece has a birthday coming up. Due to my post holiday funk I am always late mailing it out (just like my nephew's cards in January)

Not this year, card done and mailed! WooHoo!

I used a base card from a set of cards I picked up at Michaels. I got the idea from Ken at Ken's Kreations.  Michaels sells sets of cards, 80 cards with envelopes. 4.25 x 5.5. They come in patterns or plain and a multitude of colors. They go on sale all the time for something like $3 for a box. $3 for 80 cards and 80 envelopes! I can't make them for that! They make a great base. All I need to do is add the goodies on top. 

The trellis background is a die from Anna Griffin's heart die set from a couple years ago. 

The stamp is Winnie from Polkadoodles called Teacup full of wishes. 
I colored her with alcohol markers then used dip dotted white acrylic paint to highlight the ruffle on her collar and hem of her dress. The cupcake wrapper is colored with copper and gold gel pens.

My college roommate just had a birthday (ok, so I didn't get this made in time but I did get it made lol)

I convinced her to start virtual racing with me. She has already completed two 5k races and has started a 77 mile race!  Go Helen!  

I made her this sign to display her medals. After the photo, hubby added hooks across the bottom and hangers on the back. :-)

I used vinyl as my stencil to paint the lettering and mermaids. I painted the edges then wiped off the paint while still wet to give the edge a beachy, faded paint feel.

I really like how this turned out. I think it is my favorite sign so far. I was tempted to keep it and make another one for her.....but I didn't. I mailed it. I hope she likes it as much as I do.


And lastly...

I wanted a new sleep shirt but I also wanted to play with HTV (heat transfer vinyl)
I purchased a blank t-shirt at Walmart for around $4.

I thought the saying was so appropriate for me lol

That wraps up this blog post. I received my Dina Wakely Media journal the other day and have been playing around with one of the burlap pages. I will share that with you next time.

Until then stay warm and Happy Crafting!

We are officially halfway

Can you believe it is already July? I told hubby last night that I think I need to start Christmas shopping. lol

Summer is probably my least favorite season. I am not a hot weather loving person. I prefer the spring and fall temperatures. I tend to sort of shut down as the heat rises which makes the Index Card a Day challenge an actual 'challenge'.

It was a struggle to get my cards done this week. I did get them all done but I was very uninspired on a few (which you can only view on my Pinterest board)

Day 26: Green

I think I finally got around to doing this one on about the 29th. Give me just a color as a prompt and I struggle. But here we have it. Nothing but green (and 2 little red eyes). This was done with Inktense pencils.


Day 27: Farm

My first thoughts were pretty basic...a barn, a cow, a pig, maybe a chicken all standing around. How it morphed into a barnyard selfie with photo bomb I do not know lol  But I like it!

This is done entirely with Prismacolor pencils. 


Day 29: Polka Dots

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot bikini.  In that song is the bikini yellow with polka dots or are the polka dots themselves yellow? 

This is outlined with Sharpie fine line pen and colored with alcohol markers. The sand and sky are Pan Pastels.


Day 31: Faux Wallpaper

I am not quite sure what 'faux' wallpaper is. I tried to create a vintage type wallpaper. I remember in my grandmother's houses, the wallpapers had pale colored backgrounds with something either painted or stenciled or stamped (be it flowers or geometric patterns...) and then the wallpaper had a raised, embossed texture that seemed to have nothing to do with the printed pattern. So, I used Distress Inks to create my background color. I then stenciled the swirls (this was from a Tim Holtz cutting die) and once it was dry I ran it through my Cuttlebug with Couture Creations Tied Together folder.

Have I done my card for today? Nope.  The prompt is "desert or dessert" (which I think was a prompt from last year too) Nothing has come to mind yet. Let's hope is does soon.

Until next time... I hope you all have a safe and happy Independence Day and Happy Crafting!

The Challenge continues...

So far I am still caught up on the Index Card a Day challenge. I will admit that a couple times I missed a day and had to do 2 cards the next day but life happens and right now I am on track.

I only share a few of my cards on the blog (because I am not thrilled with every card I make). If you want to see them all...the good, the bad and the meh you can see them on my ICAD 2017 Pinterest board. 


Day 20: YinYang

This was drawn with Sharpie fine line pen and colored with Inktense pencils. I then rubbed Distress Ink Peacock Feathers around the edges.


Day 22: Vanishing Point

This is outlined with Sharpie fine line pen and colored with Prismacolor pencils.


Day 23: Alice in Wonderland

This was done with Inktense pencils.


Day 24: Caravan or RV

I am NOT a camping person. I love indoor plumbing and hate bugs! But I think the 'glamper' campers are super cute.
This was outlined with Copic liner pen and colored with Spectrum Noir alchohol markers.


Day 25: Portrait

A pencil sketch of my favorite baby giraffe, Tajiri. 

Here is the photo I used for reference. 

I did more than just index cards this week.
I received my order from Create and Craft. I ordered some hot foil stamps for my GoPress and Foil machine.
I think my biggest complaint about the machine is how difficult it is to find stamps in the USA.

I ordered TODO hot foil stamps which are the exact same thing just from a different maker/machine.

But even the selection from Create and Craft is dwindling down to nothing very quickly.

If you have the GoPress and Foil machine and would like to read my tips for perfect foiling every time go here. 

This is the TODO Seahorse stamp. Isn't he cute? That is the main reason I bought him lol

He is about 4 inches tall and as you can see, he foiled perfectly. I am thinking I will cut him out and create an underwater scene card for him.

I was super excited for this stamp. TODO's All Over Dot background. It is about 4.25" x 4.25". 
Again, perfect foiling, no missed dots or splotchy application.

Image the possibilities. A background on a card (ok that is kind of a given)
But what about foiling dots on your die cuts?
Or foiling the full square and then cutting die cuts from that?
Or cutting the square into stripes or smaller squares to use in mosaic patterns?

I think I am going to have a lot of fun with this one.

I also purchased the Butterfly & Flowers background. It is about an 1/8 inch bigger than the dots but I haven't had time to try it out yet. I will show it to you once I do.

And last week I promised to show you the birthday card I made for my sister.

This is the Adirondack Chair box card from SVG Cuts. It is part of the Garden Party box card set.

Isn't it cute?

That covers my past week. The temperatures have been in the triple digits the past few days. Ugh!!!
I hope you are all finding ways to stay cool.

Until next time...Happy Crafting!

Five and a half weeks to go

Working a full time job really cuts into my art time! Then again it allows me to buy all the wonderful supplies and gadgets that catch my eye. Such a dilemma.

Thankfully my index cards don't take much time (usually) and this is a slow card making time of year.

I am in the middle of week 3 and, for the most part, not disliking any of the prompts.

I have five cards to share with you today.

Day 11: Tetrahedron (I had to google that one....it is a 3 sided pyramid)

Ok, so technically this isn't a tetrahedron because I am pretty sure the Egyptian pyramids have 4 sides but I don't care.
The pyramid and camel were colored with alcohol inks, the sand is Inktense pencils and the sky is Pan Pastels.


Day 12: Wings

The dragonfly body was painted with Inktense pencils, the wings were drawn with fine line Sharpie and then painted with Iridescent Blue Twinkling H2Os.


Day 14: Leaves

So I picked up a new embossing folder a few days ago and then get this prompt of 'leaves'. Seemed like fate to me. :-)

I created the background by rubbing Distress Inks (scattered straw, bundled sage and pine needles) on foil then spritzing heavily with water. I then laid my card into the puddles to create the light yellow/green mottling. Once dry I debossed the card using Darice's Trop Leaf Background folder. I then rubbed Distress Black Soot over top. 

I stamped the leaf (EK Success Nostalgiques Botanicals set) with Distress Black Soot and colored it with alcohol markers.


Day 16: Rainbow

I read rainbow and immediately Rainbow Brite jumped into my head. I'm not sure why. I have never watched Rainbow Brite. I remember seeing her all over the place in the 80s but being an adult at that time and not having kids I'm not sure why she popped up this week. But here she is.  Gotta love those moon boots! lol

Her skin was colored with alcohol markers. Everything else was Inktense pencils.


Day 17: Sprout

And sticking with the animated character theme (lol) we have Green Giant's lil Sprout.
He was colored entirely with Prismacolor pencils. 

I am current with my Index Card a Day challenge (today is day 17) and had a few minutes here and there so I got a jump on birthday cards.


Here is this years card for my nephew. I love it, I think he will too.

This is from SVG Cuts and is the Side of Fries box card from the Pit Stop box card set. 

This was the easiest box card I have ever made. I think from start to finish was less than 30 minutes!

Don't they look real? They do in person too!

I made a card for my sister too but forgot to photograph it so I will try to remember to do that for next week.

Until then, Happy Crafting!

Index Cards :Love Em or Hate Em

I am halfway into week 2 of the Index Card a Day challenge (ICAD). 
I never had an issue with the actual index cards before but this year they are driving me nuts. (and it is still the same batch of card from last year so ...)

The fact that I can't get color to lay down smoothly is bothering me (it never laid down smooth before so why that bothers me now I have no idea lol)

And my alcohol markers are bleeding uncontrollably....which is also bugging me.

Maybe I am just in a grumbling mood this year lol

So let me share a few cards from this week.

Day 5: Kawaii/Cute

I know this isn't Kawaii but she is cute. :-)
She is colored with alcohol markers. Gotta love those pink toe nails and spikes!


Day 7: Alliteration

She Sells Sea Shells by the Sea Shore
Again, colored with alcohol markers.


Day 9: Ombre

The girl was colored with alcohol markers.
The mod wallpaper and checked flooring were colored with Prismacolor pencils.


Day 10: Sunshine Yellow

We have a routine at our house. Each morning, after we are up and dressed, we open the blinds so that when the sun comes up it will slowly spread it's beams across the bed.
Minnie loves to snuggle in and follow the beams until they disappear.

If we forget to open the blinds she comes and lets me know lol

She isn't on the bed in the picture but I gave her a pillow to lounge on.

The cat is stamped. I have no idea who makes this stamp. It is part of a set of 16 clear cat stamps that I found on ebay for $2 from China. I took a chance that they were decent quality and they are but there are no markings and no label.

The window, baseboard and pillow were drawn with a Sharpie fine line and colored with Prismacolor pencils.

The sunbeam is Inktense pencil.

I hope you all have sunbeams you can follow this weekend.

Happy Crafting!

Happy Presidents Day

I'm still not sure why we have huge mattress and sheet sales for Presidents Day but I am very thankful for the day off.  :-)

I have no plans for this weekend!  I just want to relax....so much so that I am taking Tuesday off too lol

I have been relaxing a bit too much though. So much so that I totally forgot to make cards for my nephew (birthday in January) and niece (birthday just last week). Yep, I am terrible!

So I spent the last couple days making cards for them (and I guess I do have plans for the weekend because I am going out to buy gift cards) 

I love stamping and these stamps are so adorable.but I don't get to use them very often.

This little cutie is one of the members of Tim Holtz' Crazy Dogs. I colored him with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers.
His deflated balloon is from the Crazy Things set that was designed for the Bird Crazy birds but they work great with the Crazy Dogs and Cats too.

For my niece I made a gate fold card. I then took a separate sheet white of card stock and embossed it with Close To My Heart's Diamonds folder but used an Anna Griffin Impression Mask and Scoring die to create an un-embossed center. I cut this sheet in half and glued it to the front card flaps. I then cut the cupcake from Cricut's Summer Celebrations cartridge. I ran the icing layer through my Cuttlebug to give it some swirls. (the folder is part of Sizzix' Flourish stamp and emboss set).

Last time (or maybe the time before....old age affects the memory some times lol)  I talked about the round robin we are doing in the BadBaby group.

We are not supposed to share our works from everyone's books (and I am debating on whether I am going to break that rule since we were talking about the facebook group and not a blog) but I thought I would share the spread I did for my own book.

My book is 4Wx6H with the binding at the top. 

I drew and colored this rose in a Ball jar on watercolor paper using Inktense pencils. I then splattered dark brown paint all around.

I am really please with how it turned out so I am very happy that it was for my own book so that it will eventually come back home to me.  (not that I don't like what I have done in the other books so far because I do but you can't get attached .... you have to give them away)

So Happy Presidents Day... I hope you have a fun time mattress shopping lol

and Happy Crafting!

The Blah Season

That is what it feels like....the major holidays are over. Summer vacation is a loooonnnnnggggg way off!

I have to really work at being motivated at this time of year.
Thankfully I have a very full craft room (too full if you ask hubby - so we don't ask lol)

It also helps that I got new toys (read supplies) for Christmas.

My sister Laurel gave me a new coloring book for Christmas. I have lots of books but NOTHING like this one. I never would have purchased it for myself. It is so different from any of my others. Grimm Fairy Tales - Different Seasons. It is MUCH darker than any of my others but I have to say that I am loving it!

 As you can see I am not done with this one. Each page is a scene featuring a real BadAss heroine from a fairy tale. Definitely nothing like the stories from my childhood. :-)

So far I have only used Spectrum Noir alcohol markers on this one but will probably use some chalks and pencils on the background to keep it much lighter. 

Here is the first page of the book. 

She is a mix of Spectrum Noir and Copic alcohol markers, Inktense pencils and Prismacolor pencils. I colored her in the couple days I had off after Christmas.

And speaking of Christmas presents...

Hubby gave me a couple new cutting dies.

One of them was this window from Spellbinders called Window Two. Does that mean there is a Window One out there too? 

And Craft Warehouse had ALL their cutting dies on sale last Saturday - 40% off so I HAD to go look. 
The lighter colored leaves and all the flowers are from Impression Obsession. Small Leaf Cluster and Spiral Flowers. Aren't they adorable?

And lastly, on the way home from Craft Warehouse, I popped into Tuesday Morning (that place can be dangerous!!!) They had some Spellbinders dies. The dark green leaves are part of a die set called Basil. The set is 5 dies - 2 different sets of leaves, a flower pot, a decorative layer for on top of the pot and a little herb marker sign. Too cute to pass up! I knew when I saw it that it would go great with my window.

I embossed the blue with Close To My Heart Stripes folder. It makes pretty good siding don't you think?

So far the card is blank inside. It could be just about anything....birthday, get well, just because... I will toss it into the stash until something comes up.

And since I am talking about shopping... What? You forgot? Scroll up a couple lines :-)
Have you all seen the We R Memory Keepers Typecast Typewriter?
Isn't it cute? I like the turquoise.

Well, it has me kicking myself for leaving my mom's typewriter behind when I moved west. It was her high school graduation present. A Smith Corona Super Silent...in pink. Google it. You will find out just how rare and expensive they are. And her was in mint condition with the case and original instruction booklet and typing tutorial booklet (and I had just put in a new ribbon! ugh!). I used to use it all the time. But I was going to have a computer and printer out here and just left it with my ex thinking "I won't need it if I have a computer". Stupid Stupid!  (and not the only thing I left behind that I regret leaving. UGH!)

But back to shopping...I just couldn't pay out that much money for the WRM retro version of a typewriter so I went on a weekend quest and searched every single thrift and antique store and mall in the valley....it took 2 days, 5 stores/malls and over 15 hours but....

Persistence, stubbornness...or again maybe stupidity (lol) paid off.

Isn't she a beauty?  A Smith Corona Super Sterling from the mid 60s. She works beautifully and has only very minor wear and tear (and was only $40!)

And an even bigger plus....the pretty colored typewriter ribbons (teal, pink, silver...) that WRM makes for their typewriter FIT mine! 

Do I have a use yet....nope. But I am ready with black, pink and teal ribbons for when the idea strikes. :-)

And lastly.....yeah, I am winding down lol

I pulled out my 3x5 Gelli Plate and had some fun. 
I was in the mood to get my hands dirty....am I the only one that ever gets that urge?

I was experimenting with masks (I freehanded a couple cats) and am thinking I will grab a pen and do some doodling on some of these.

I am also in a Round Robin mini book swap with the BadBabys and have already used a couple of these as backgrounds on some of my pages.  I can't show them yet though because we swore we wouldn't share our works until after the swap ends so everyone will be surprised. But then again I am a BadBaby (part of our motto is to break the rules lol) so I may sneak some in here once in a while (the swap will be going on most of the year so I have time to think it over)

I hope this encourages you to find something to clear out the blahs.

Happy Crafting!

Only 2 Days Left!

The Index Card a Day Challenge is winding down. It makes me sad when it ends. I really enjoy getting into my art room and creating something every day.

I have a problem motivating myself to do it....it is nice to have someone else sending me daily prompts!

Here are my cards from the past week.  

Day 53: Fortune

The first thing that popped into my head was 'fortune cookie'. I keep all my fortunes in a box in my ephemera drawer so I pulled that out and sifted through them until I found one I liked.

This one says "The coming month shall bring you much happiness"

I drew the scene with my Pilot Color Eno soft blue pencil and colored it with Inktense pencils.


Day 54: Aquarium

My initial thought was to draw one of those deep sea diver figurines you see in aquariums but most of the photos online had him with a treasure chest (and a knife....to fight off other treasure hunters? lol)

I decided I liked the treasure chest more than the diver. I always wanted one in my aquarium but my college roommate never let me add one.....too tacky lol  I never had an aquarium after college...too much work I guess.

This was done with Sharpie pen, Inktense and watercolor pencils.


Day 55: Olympics

I was going for a vintage postcard feel.

This is Sharpie pen and Inktense pencils.


Day 56: Text or Texture

This was a tough one for me....not just figuring out what to do but actually physically doing it.
I had gone to the chiropractor earlier in the day. My shoulder was killing me. He adjusted my shoulder, then my elbow and then my wrist.  Everything was so sore I could barely move my arm (for about 24 hours!!!)  So drawing/painting was out of the question unless I just did finger painting lol

I ran my card through my Cuttlebug for the texture. This is a folder from a company called Life Style Crafts. No clue where I bought it....I have never seen them since. But it is very cool diamond pattern don't you think?

I then rubbed CTMH Crystal Blue ink over it and then CTMH Lagoon over the corners.

The text is also from CTMH. The "Always Grateful" set #C1559 stamped in black StazOn ink.


Day 57: Stickers

I used to be heavily into stickers. I had boxes and boxes of them. I would cover the envelopes of all my cards with them. But I misplaced them when I made the move out west and didn't find them for a couple years so I lost interest in them. As a matter of fact I bagged up most of them and sold them at my yard sale just a couple weeks ago (about 1000 stickers for 50 cents. Some little kid is now having a blast with them!

So when this prompt popped up I had very few stickers to chose from (and this is exactly the reason I never get rid of anything.....as soon as you do you find a use for it!!!)  LOL

I painted a mountain lake and plopped a couple Hallmark goose stamps into the water enjoying a refreshing swim.  :-)


Day 58: Graffiti

I was going to just add 'graffiti' to a wall but then decided I wanted to include the artist. :-)

I drew the girl with a Sharpie pen.

I dug around for a stencil of bricks but didn't like the one I had so I hand painted them instead. 
I then painted the graffiti. (you can see the bricks peeking through on some of the lighter colors)

"Rule" was added with a fine tip Sharpie marker.

I still needed something... I had been playing with my Crazy stamps earlier in the day so I grabbed the girly looking mini bird and added her to the bottom right corner.


Day 59: Hopscotch or TicTacToe

When I was a kid we would save up colored chalk and draw our board out on the playground (and hope it lasted for a few days). You then searched for a nice flat rock (they didn't bounce as much). We would play during every recess. Do kids even play hopscotch any more or is that too old fashioned?

I painted the entire card black with acrylic paint. I then added the Hopscotch board with Prismacolor pencils. I have found that these pencils (especially the white) have a chalk like look when you write over black paint (yet they don't rub off like chalk)

I then drew and colored the girl on a separate card, cut her out and glued her down. She could have been a bit bigger. Oh well. :-)


Only 2 days left in the challenge. I am not crazy about either of the prompts so this might be a struggle lol


And of course I did do a couple other things this week.

The stuff I ordered from the HSN all day craft day on July 6 arrived last week. It is so difficult to NOT buy something. They introduce so many cool products! I only ordered 2 things (but had a couple things that arrived on AutoShip from a prior all day craft day lol)

This is a birthday card for my father in law. His birthday is not until October but my Seasonal Cutting Dies had just arrived and I had to try them out!

I used the 2 leaf dies from the new set. (my Seasonal Folders didn't arrive until after I finished the card so I guess I need to make something else) ;-)

The sentiment is from Anna Griffins Fantastic Flips card kit from clear back in January (I think). The scroll frame is from one of her Fancy Frame die sets (these sets are gorgeous!) If you ever get the chance to buy them don't hesitate....just do it! They cut and emboss beautifully.

I inked the leaves with Distress Inks and added a strip of brown, embossed satin ribbon. 

It is a pretty simple card but when I gave it to hubby for his dad his first reaction was "Wow!" :-)


And lastly, I mentioned early in this post that I had been playing with my 'crazy stamps'.
That would be Tim Holtz Crazy Cats (and some birds....and anxiously awaiting the arrival of the dogs!)

I was feeling a bit down yesterday so I stopped into the local craft store (just a block from my house). They are a small mom&pop store that carries mostly high end craft supplies. It is so much fun to just browse.

Anyway, like I said, I was a bit blue so I just wandered....and found the die set for the Crazy Cats stamp set.  I have the dies set for the Bird Crazy set - well I am missing the die for the round, short bird - we won't go into that as it causes arguments around here as to who's fault it is that it is gone.

So, anyway, the dies came home with me to make me feel better. And of course I needed to 'test' them.
I stamped one of the cats, colored him with Copic markers and then used the die to cut him out. 

I could have lined up the die a bit better, especially at the bottom, but overall, not too bad. And much easier than hand cutting!

I think he turned out pretty cute....hmm I wonder why I think he is a HE when he is so pink?! LOL

I am going to spend some time today creating a card for him to live on.

Thank you for sticking around through all my rambling today! 

I hope you are all staying cool and avoiding this heat as much as possible.
Have a fabulous weekend and Happy Crafting!!!