A Crazy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I've been working on a little Valentine's surprise treat for my coworkers. Most of my coworkers have a dog or cat or both so I thought it would be fun to create some ATC's using Tim Holtz Sizzix "Mini Crazy Cats and Dogs" Cling Stamps and Framelits Die Set. The mini set is a "purrfect" size for ATC's and the coordinating framelits made creating 13 of these much easier! I started with a watercolor background using different shades of red and pink distress inks. I then stamped the dogs and cats with the Misti Stamping Tool. I colored the critters with Copic Markers. I stamped a quick sentiment and added some small hearts punched from the water colored paper. I colored the small hearts with a Wink of Stella brush to add an extra pop of glitter.  Each ATC looks different - that's one of the many reasons I LOVE watercoloring!! Here's a peek of them together followed by close ups of each ATC. 

I have to admit, creating 13 of these: 10 for my coworkers, 2 for friends and 1 for me, was fun!! Having the coordinating framelits and the Misti Stamping Tool made it so much faster. I'm still working on my Copic Skills so this was GREAT practice. 

Here's some close ups of the crazy critters.

I love the grey and pink combo - I used Picked Raspberry for a few of the backgrounds. 

Here's the crazy doggies.

I made a few ATC's with the dog below coloring him in different color combinations. 

Here's a lighter version of him.

I love how goofy this guy is - he's the party dog!

Here's the last pup.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a crazy, fun Valentine's Day!!

Craft Room Happenings

Hello Everyone! Happy Thursday. 

I've been busy in the studio this week creating cards, just in time for Valentine's Day. I started with a trio of cute cards using Lawn Fawn's "Stinkin Cute" Stamps and Dies and Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Watercolor Cardstock.  I water colored swatches of Distress Inks on watercolor cardstock. Once dry, I grabbed my heart punch and punched out a bunch of hearts. They became the base for my cards. Then, using the Misti Stamp Tool  I stamped several ADORABLE little skunks from the Lawn Fawn "Stinkin Cute" stamp set. I colored the skunks with my Copics and then die cut them with the coordinating Lawn Fawn Dies. Here are my cards.

I created an ombre effect with the hearts on one card and kept the hearts on another card more monochromatic.

The hearts that the cute skunks are holding have Stickles on them to add a punch of sparkle. 

I "loved" creating these cards and it's so easy with Lawn Fawns Stamps and Dies! 

I'll be back with more Valentine's Cards next week using Bella Blvd. "Valentina" collection. 

Enjoy the rest of the week and especially the weekend!! 

Thanks for stopping by and I'd love to hear from you.

Simon Says Stamp Fall Doll Tag

Hello Everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. I want to share my latest Doll Tag using Simon Says Stamp October Card Kit. I used the Lawn Fawn Fall Plaid papers to dress up one of Julie Nutting's Doll stamps and her adorable pup. Here's my tag.

I used Ranger Ink's Distress Watercolor Cardstock to die cut some Lawn Fawn Leaves and then colored them with Distress Inks. Once dry, I added some Clear Rock Candy Crackle Paint to give the leaves a crackle effect. 

I love the Julie Nutting Pup stamp - he's so cute all dressed up! I stamped everything with the Misti Stamping Tool.

The word stickers are from Tim Holtz. I inked the edges with the Archival Ink included in the SSS Card Kit.

This tag was so fun to create and came together easy with October's Simon Says Stamp Card Kit!!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you tomorrow with my latest Project Life page using this month's Noel Mignon Kit!! Have a great Monday!!

Winner Winner!

Hello and Welcome LONG Weekend! 

I'm hopping on quick to share my news:  I am one of the winners of Tim Holtz 

August 12 Tags of 2016. I have participated with Tim's 12 Tags series for years and have quite a collection!! They are great to refer to and provide lots in inspiration. This year's Technique Remix has been a great reminder of past techniques combined with new and old products to create a new look. It's a chance to try new products, reconnect with older products and refresh past techniques! It has been a blast! 

Here's Tim's August tag

and here's my tag

I went beachy with my version, using what I had in my stash. I have more close ups of my tag on my post >here<.

Thanks Tim and Mario for selecting my tag as a winner! You guys rock! 

Thanks for letting me share my exciting news and I hope you have an awesome Labor Day Weekend.

Stay safe is you are effected by Hurricane Hermine! 

Project Life with The Planner Society

Hello Bloggers ... Happy Friday and here's to a long weekend!! I have a few days off so I'm catching up on some crafting. I finished another project life page with July's The Planner Society Kit. I have created a PL page every month this year with the papers from The Planner Society Kits and they are all so pretty. The background for my page this week includes papers, packaging, stickers and a piece from one of the GORGEOUS bags the products arrive in. Here's my page. 

These papers might be my favorite so far (I may say that each month though!!) The colors are fresh and summery and just so lovely!! Here's close ups of the cards. This title card is very simple ... a die cut from the kit, a part of a tag and the dates typed out on my vintage typewriter.

The next card is simple too - I added some Tim Holtz Small Talk stickers for my journaling. How pretty is this floral paper!!

Here's more close ups. My pics are all printed on my Instax printer and stapled onto the cards. The card next to my photo is one of the 3x4 cards that are included in the kit.

The journaling on my next card is on a post it that is also included in the kit. Seriously - these are AWESOME planner kits!! 

Here's the last few cards. Both of these cards have more die cuts on them from the kit.

This is the last card with more GORGEOUS paper!!

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a great Labor Day Weekend!! I will return next week with a new project with the latest Noel Mignon Kit. This month's Noel Mignon kit is jaw dropping!! Stay tuned! 

Random Thoughts and Gettin' Messy Again!

Hello Everyone! Hope you are all well. I've been quite busy with Miss Lola who is now 4 months old. I haven't had a puppy in sooooo long I forgot how time consuming it is - in a great way. She fills a huge void since I lost Simba (the best dog EVER) last December. The house training is a long process for us and it's getting better but we're not there yet. Teething is still difficult but I seem to have the patience for that. The accidents in the house is when I lose my cool! The drawback of having this adorable creature is less creative time. I haven't created anything in the mixed media realm in awhile so I'm trying to add that back into my creative schedule. Still trying to add gym time but haven't figured it all out yet.
I'm realizing something creative has to go or get condensed - between project life, maintaining two planners, trying to keep up with SSS Card Kits, work and the puppy, my studio time is so limited. Plus it's summer and I want to be outside. At one point I thought I wanted to keep three planners going: one for everyday life, one for blogging and Design Team stuff and a third for fitness. That was fine when I was out of work recuperating from my surgery (no puppy at that point). Now I realize, that's not gonna happen. I want to continue with the two planners I have going now because I've put a ton of time and $$ into them. Starting next year, I'll use one planner for everything. A vertical style would be perfect - one section for everyday life and appointments, one sections for DT stuff and a third for fitness/meals. Simplifying planning will allow me more time for Project Life and Mixed Media. I need to decide which planner will be the best for that - there are so many great planners out there - I've experimented with many this year. So, lots going through my head at the moment.
I have missed Mixed Media so I jumped back in and created Tim Holtz  August 12 Tags of 2016. Here's Tim's Tag.

I went with a beachy color scheme and used a stamped shell as my focal point. Here's my tag.

I used what I had in my stash. I don't have the Wildflower Thinlit Dies yet and was going for a beachy theme, so I stamped a shell image on watercolor paper and water colored the shell with distress ink. Here's some close ups. The image alone looked small on the tag until I added some cheesecloth behind it. I colored the cheesecloth with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain. The quote is fitting as I'm slowly getting back to mixed media.

I love how these Distress colors blend: Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon and Mowed Lawn. 

The honeycomb die was fun to use. I cut the frame from burlap and filled in the open spaces with corrugated cardboard, cork paper, canvas and scrapbook paper scraps. 

This was a fun tag to create and I love using what's in my stash. 

Thanks for stopping by and I'll return next week with more projects! Happy Friday! 

Supplies Used:

• #8 Manila Tag
• Frameworks Honeycomb
• CMS194 Nautical Blueprint Stamps
• Distress Inks: Scattered Straw, Mermaid Lagoon, Salty Ocean
• Distress Stains: Salty Ocean, Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed Lawn
• Distress Paint: Picket Fence
• Distress Spray Stain: Antique Linen
• Distress Sprayer
• Distress Splatter Brush
• Distress Watercolor Cardstock 
• Archival Ink: Jet Black
• Alcohol Ink: Mushroom
• Linen Ribbon
• Small Talk Stickers
• Vial Labels
• Mirrored Hearts
• Multi Medium Matte
• Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Mini Brayer
• Paper Distresser
• Water Brush - Detail Tip
• Heat Tool
• Scissors
• Bigshot Plus
• Textured Surfaces
• Paper Scraps
• Cheesecloth

Project Life with June's The Planner Society Kits

Well, Hello Friday!! So glad to be close to the end of the work week - just 8 work hours and here comes the weekend!! 

I finished another Project Life page this week using June's The Planner Society Kits.  These kits are amazing for all your planner needs and with the leftovers I create a Project Life page each month. I love the bright, summery colors of this month's kit. Here's my page.

How BEAUTIFUL are the papers in this kit!! I'm in love!! The photos I used were printed on my Instax printer - Don't they look like mini polaroids. Here's some close ups.

The word phrases are Tim Holtz Small Talk Stickers. I LOVE these - they are so versatile and I use them all the time. Here's my title card, including a gold mirror embellishment from the kit.

I added some enamel dots on a few of the cards. I love the pops of yellow in this collection.

I got silly and added some hat stickers to Brewster and my cat Lilly.

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have an awesome weekend!! See you next week with more PL pages!!

12 Tags of 2016 | May

Hello Everyone! Hope you had a great weekend and are ready to tackle Monday! Today I'm 6 weeks post-op and am feeling great. I have a few more weeks off before I go back to work and I'm cramming as much creative time into my days as possible. I have Physical Therapy three times a week, some errands to run during the week and walking on my non-PT days. I'm trying to build my strength up but it's a slow process. I'm doing great, just wish I was able to walk a longer distance. I know that will come but I'm anxious to improve!! I'm still amazed at how pain free I am - just dealing with muscle aches as PT gets more intense. Once PT is over, I'm joining my local YMCA and I'll start weight training and try to tone up and lose more weight! I'm anxious to get stronger and hope all continues to go smoothly.

This week I have three projects to share. Today I have a mixed media tag. I finally finished Tim Holtz  12 Tags of 2016 May Technique Remix. I jumped ahead to May so I could enter into the current 12 Tags Challenge and I'll catch up with April's tag sometime soon. Here's Tim's Tag using a cool resist technique.

I didn't have some of the supplies Tim used so I improvised. Here's my tag.

 We started with tissue tape on a few places on the tag and stamped our images with archival ink. Then came the fun of adding colors to the tag and the tissue tape resists the colors so the images stand out.

I didn't have Tim's Tiny Tattered Florals Thinlits Dies so I used his Heirloom Roses and colored them with coordinating alcohol inks. I added the roses to the hat of the Couture Lady Stamp, which is Dyan Reavley's. 

The crinkled ribbon and lace were colored with Antique Linen Distress Spray Stain and I added a watch charm from my stash.

This was fun to create and I'm happy with the results. I love using the new mini stencils - perfectly sized for these tags. The subtle spots of Tarnished Brass Distress Spray Stain add a nice shimmer effect to the tag.

Thanks for stopping by today. I'll be back tomorrow with a new layout and later this week I'll have a new Project Life page created with a card kit!!! 

Have a great Monday!!

All Dolled Up for Spring

Hello Bloggers. Happy Sunday to everyone! I want to share a tag I recently finished using up some bits from my Simon Says Stamp March Card Kit. I created a few Easter cards with this lovely kit which you can see again in my posts here and here. I wanted to create a doll tag with the leftovers from March's kit, which I have done with each Simon Says Stamp Card Kit so far this year. You all must know by now how I adore Julie Nutting's Doll Stamps. Since it's Spring I chose Julie's "Audrey" doll stamp since she comes with a spring hat!! I dolled her up with a spring outfit and hat to match and here she is 

I love her bunny skirt and matching hat. Her hat reminds my of when my Mom and Gram were young and hats were quite the accessory!! I died seam binding ribbon with Ranger's Distress Markers - the effect on the seam binding ribbon is more subtle than Ranger's Crinkle ribbon, (I prefer the Crinkle Ribbon) but it'll do in a pinch - you can still see the two toned effect. Her skin, hair and cheeks were highlighted with watered down Gelatos. 

Here's a close up of the bottom of the tag - I used Lawn Fawn's Grassy Border die to create the grass. 

She makes me happy - the bright Spring colors and the fact that it's the third tag I've created using Simon Says Stamp Card Kits!!

Thanks for hanging out and I'll be back Tuesday with a scrapbook page using Noel Mignon's latest and greatest kit!!! Ciao for now. 

12 Tags of 2016 Continued

Hi there - Happy Monday! It's Spring here in New England, so what does that mean ...  why, snow of course!! Snow, wicked winds and hail. Snow, yesterday and today. Not alot of snow, but enough to make it slick under foot and make commuting a pain in the butt! Oh yah, and it's cold again. So what to do ... CREATE!!

I finished a layout, which I'll post tomorrow. I also photographed my January and February Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2016. I've already posted my March tag - you can see post that here. January's tag was done while I was at Crop on the Cape 2016 with my Artsy Fartsy Girls. Here's January's tag based on Tim's.

Here's my January Tag 

I like the foil taped background technique.

My new fav technique is using Picket Fence Distress Crayon to add color to metal embellishments - it's so much easier than paint!! 

I really loved February's tag - the colors and gold embossing are gorgeous. I worked on February's tag right after the crop with one of my Artsy Fartsy girls. Here's Tim's tag

I used my own photo to personalize the tag. Tim's new tag-sized stencils are perfect and were used on this tag. Here's my version

I love this photo of my Grandma and Aunt - they are both so young and all dressed up! Hats were so in then!! This close up shows the lovely gold embossing. 

The ribbon is so vibrant - it was stained with Candied Apple Red Distress Spray Stain - one of the new distress colors from 2015. 

Well, I'm officially caught up on my 12 Tags of 2016!! I'm gathering my supplies for April's tag which features a technique I'm anxious to try. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Monday!!