Random on Purpose

Good Morning to You, Good Morning to You...

...we're all in our places, with bright smiling faces - good morning to you, good morning to you!  (Another little ditty from my childhood - pretty perky, huh?)  I know - it's Monday, for crying out loud, so why am I so enthused already...?  Just 'cuz I wanna be, that's why!  AND - my previous sentence just reminded me of a standup bit by Norm MacDonald:  "That sounds like a pre-school award: Little Jimmy, for Crying Out Loud.  Suzy, for Crying Over Spilt Milk..."  I love that kind of humor...*sigh*...

ANYway - I said yesterday that I was going to do something I wanted to do, even though I'm swamped with work.  I did some work schtuff this morning (picked up a chair, cut the foam for all its pieces/parts, took some button thingies to my upholsterer friend to recover for me, went to a design appointment), and when I got back and sat quietly sipping a toasty beverage (Oreo mint double chocolate cappucino - can you say "decadent"?), I scoped the CAS challenge for today, and that's what I ended up wanting to do!

It's a color challenge today - white and ONE other color!  You can't even stamp in black and color it with your second color, because today black is being considered one of the colors!  I did this:

I've wanted that Santa Collage stamp (Rubber Stampede) for two years, but was unable to find it until last month!  I stamped him on white cardstock with Faded Jeans distress ink (Ranger), then cut him out with a Nestabilities Labels Four die.  I also stamped just his starry beard in two of the corners.  I used a Close to My Heart stubble tool (one of the best inventions EVER!) to add some speckles to soften the edges.  A stamped Inkadinkado sentiment (Warm Holiday Wishes set) and some sponging around the edges of things is all the rest of it!

Speaking of Nestabilities, I'm starting to acquire just a few select ones, and needed a good storage system for them.  Here's my solution:

Yup!  A CD case...  These dies will stick to a magnet, so I got some magnet poster sheets that I've had forever, cut them to size, and stuck them into the CD case with a bit of adhesive (I used AdTech).  I know the poster sheets are still available, but I'm not sure where I saw them.  The package looks like this:

Well, that's what it looked like when I bought it years ago, and after it's been moved and abused umpteen times...  Two Nestabilities sets fit very nicely in one case, as you can see!

Okay, the week is off to a roaring start!  Hope yours is, too, and thanks for stopping by!  Go smile at someone (especially if they're cranky) and pass it forward!  Ta!
 
 
 

Creepy Crawly CAS

I don't usually do the CAS challenge on Splitcoast that happens every Monday - usually because I forget that there is one until I'm well on my way with other things - but I checked in this morning while stalking the technique challenge (not interested in that one today...)  The CAS challenge was to use brads or eyelets, and I made these:

Stamps: Studio G; Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Stampin'Up! Groovy Guava; Paper: SU! Vanilla and black, Making Memories guava and dp;Accessories/Tools: SU! Wide oval and tag punches, Marvy scalloped Square punches, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, brads and mini brads, white gel pen

What?  You don't think they look Clean And Simple?  Well, if you're a li'l cheater like me, they most certainly are!  I started with this cool paper from Making Memories:

and cut a 2 3/4" strip straight down the middle of it, then cut 4" off each end of the strip to make two cards.  I also cut the same pieces from the "side" strips leftover from the initial cut.  That way I had four cards, and four corners leftover for another project:

The rest of the cheating is using punches to make quick work of getting some layering going.  There's minimal stamping, NO coloring, and just a bit of sponging around the edges of things for interest.  I inserted brads or mini brads over the stamped spiders to make dimensional bodies, and added white gel pen eyes.  Ta da!  CAS spider cards!  They're also "postcards" - they don't open - so even MORE simple!

Here are "closeups" of the individual cards:

Okey-dokey, kiddoes!  That's it for me today!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a FABULOUS Monday!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Butterflies to Bats

I decided this morning when I saw the technique challenge on Splitcoast that it was a good thing I didn't finish my card yesterday!  By tweaking the card base a bit, I managed two challenges in one card:

The title of this post reflects one of the changes I made to the card I CASEd.  The Featured Stamper was dancerriley, and I selected THIS CARD to CASE.  Riley's has butterflies, but - since I was doing Halloween - I switched to bats!  I also made a wiper card instead of a gift card, and added some layers and punching.  Here's what a wiper card looks like open:

Super easy to make, and kind of fun!  There's a tutorial (pictures and video) HERE.  I used some fun new toys (Martha Stewart corner and border web punches, horizontal slot punch) and some oldies, too (Provo Craft dp, Martha Stewart bat punch and ribbon).  I did do something new with the bats, though.  I wanted to add texture with my textile embossing folder and Cuttlebug, but I wanted symmetrically embossed bats, so I punched them first, then put them into the folder where I wanted them:

It was a little tricky, 'cuz I had to hold the folder over my head so I could see where I was putting them!  Here they are all texturized:

And on the card:

Some fun, huh?  The only other things to tell you about this card are that I used a witch's feet stamp from Recollections, a "Boo" stamp from Studio G and a "Happy Halloween" stamp from Inkadinkado.  Ta da!

Okey-dokey, I've blown off work for as long as I dare, so I'd best get to it!  Hope your week is WONDERFUL, and thanks for stopping by!
 
 
  
   
 

Reruns

At my house, when we have "leftovers" for dinner, we call them "reruns" - just a little more fun, I guess...  Anyway, I had some random-stamped kraft cardstock and bits of the other colors leftover from my color challenge card, so I decided to use them for the sketch challenge, too:

Stamps: Stampin'Up! Season of Joy; Ink: Stampin'Up! Mellow Moss, Close to My Heart White Daisy pigment ink; Paper: Stampin'Up! Pink Pirouette, Mellow Moss, Kraft, white; Accessories/Tools: Snowflake border punch, Fiskars and dollar store star punches, Cuttlebug w/snowflake and swiss dot embossing folders, ribbon, sewing machine, Sakura Stardust glitter pen, pearls

Obviously, I added a touch of pink just for a little somethin' somethin', ya know?  Also, although the camera didn't pick it up, the ornaments, snowflakes and stars on the trees all have a touch of sparkle.  I scribbled on the cardstock with my Sakura Stardust glitter pen before punching out the shapes - much easier than trying to color the shapes after they're punched (the circles are only 1/8")!  Just a little tricky tidbit for ya...

I'm functioning (or trying to) on two hours of sleep, so we'll see how the day goes - I'll either revive and get a lot done, or crash and burn!  Hope yours goes fabulously, and thanks for stopping by! 

Graffiti #1

Good morning, all!  I hope you had a great weekend and a good start to the week yesterday!  My Mondays are generally chasing days and not much gets accomplished outside of the "gathering" I do - groceries, orders and materials for work, etc...

I've been carrying two different cards around in my head for weeks that were both inspired by graffiti.  I may get around to making the other one later, but the first one got put together for today's color challenge on Splitcoast:

Stamps: Stampin'Up! Priceless and Season of Joy, Paper Company Studio Eco-Friendly stamp set, unknown tiny snowflake; Ink: Close to My Heart White Daisy pigment ink; Paper: Stampin'Up! Kraft, Mellow Moss, white; Accessories/Tools: Sewing machine, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, snowflake border punch, Sakura white gel pen, brads

The colors were Mellow Moss, Kraft and white.  The graffiti involved here was some of the scribblings the girl who lived here before us did on her bedroom wallpaper.  "Back in the day" we used to put all of our school papers in PeeChee folders (yes, sadly, we were deprived - the HUGE variety of fun folders available now were not around), and we used to doodle all over them.  One of our doodlings was what you see on this card, and I was reminded of it because the aforementioned young girl had drawn a peace sign, the word "on", and what was supposed to be a globe (she was young and geographically challenged).  "Oh yeah", I said to myself, "I remember that..."

I was originally going to do a very 70's-vibe version with psychedelic colors and all, but when I saw the color challenge I decided to re-gear and do a subtle version instead.  Last Thurday's "ways to use it" challenge was to Say it With Pizzazz - bling up a sentiment or substitute images for words, etc., so this card very handily qualifies for that challenge, too!  Quick little tricky tidbit:  I didn't have a punch or die to make a larger snowflake, so I cut up several of the smaller ones and reassembled them using plain old Scotch tape on the back of the peace sign and globe circles.  You just sort of have to fiddle with them until you get a look you're happy with.

Well, there is a gigantic stack o' stuff out in my garage requiring cutting and sewing and delivering and all, so I guess I'd better sign off and go be a little sew and sew  (*groan* - really bad pun - sorry!)  Have a great day, and I'll post Graffiti #2 when it's done.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Organization Update

I was reading the "Weekly Inkling" newsletter from Splitcoast Stampers yesterday, and there was a link to a thread about storing/using embellishments, and I read some of that, then clicked over here to the blog to find my posts on that subject so I could join the conversation, only to realize that all the information I'd shared previously was OLD and OBSOLETE!  Since I've shared the paper mess, I may as well update you on the rest, right?  "Say hello to my leetle friend..."

 

This handy-dandy little item is available at WalMart and AC Moore (possibly other places, but those two for sure), and has a price tag of around $9.  After you fill it up with your treasures it looks like this:

 

As you can see, it holds a TON of stuff!  I have paper clips, brads, dewdrops, sequins, buttons, eyelets, gems, etc. in there!  Here are the different-sized containers included:

 

I sort everything by color (obviously), and currently have five of these babies all filled up!  When I need an embellishment I can just pull the color I require and see right away what options I have.  One of the cool things about these organizers is that you can lay them flat, stand them up like a suitcase, or stand them on end with the handles facing out, so you can put them pretty much anywhere!

Since I don't mount my stamps, I also don't store them in the clamshell containers they come in, so I have a huge stash of them.  They're sort of like Scraponizers, and come in handy for a number of things:

 Flowers organized by color

  Chipboard organized by shape/style

  Punched/die cut shapes

  Small punches or other tools

  Stickles, embossing powders, etc.

Thread

  Sewing supplies

  Buttons

Any number of things, like I said!  Those buttons are two containers of about ten or twelve from the button-sorting episode - sorry I took so long to show you what I did with them.  I still have more buttons lurking in one of my Rubbermaid totes in storage, so I'll probably have about twenty of these babies when all is said and done!

What I like about these clamshells is that I can stack them on top of each other, file them in a drawer, or line them up like books on a shelf - so versatile - AND I can see what's in them in a quick second!  I'm contemplating ways to have all the everythings of each color together - not sure if it'll be drawers or shelves or what, but I know it'll be VISIBLE, at least when I'm crafting or working!  Maybe an armoire so I can close it up when I don't want to see everything...  Further info on that when I finalize the plan...

I'm getting a little stoked because we got word TODAY that it looks like we'll finally be able to close on our house - probably Monday or Tuesday!  Finally!  The down side is that we have to move everything out of the apartment Sunday and clean on Monday so we can turn our keys in and everything.  If we don't close until Tuesday, we'll be spending the night in a motel, I'm guessin'!  I've got a few things packed, but didn't really want to go nuts with the packing if this house deal fell through and we had to start over looking for someplace else to buy.  Guess what I'll be doing the next couple of days?  Can you say "frantic"?  Ah well, it'll be worth it!

I'll take "before" and "after" pics of the house so you can see what fun I'm having decorating my own place for a change, instead of everyone else's!  I don't know about the rest of the house, but I have the color scheme and general idea of what I want for my sewing/crafting/workroom - go figure!  Unfortunately, that'll probably be one of the last places I get to deal with!

Okay, enough of the blogging for today - I've got packing to do!  I hope some of this organizing info sparks a thought or two for you...  Have a great evening, and I'll be back when I can!  Thanks for stopping by!

The Paper Chef, Part 2

I decided when yesterday went the way it did that I wouldn't be able to do all of the challenges for the Virtual Stamp Night, so I cut myself some slack and chose to just fit a few of them in between all of the other things going on this weekend.  That took all the pressure off, and allowed me to actually enjoy the process instead of worrying about an outcome.  I think that there were fourteen challenges total, but I only did half of them.  Here are today's efforts:

 

This was for the "Ham and Swiss on Rye" challenge to use pink and yellow and include a clear element (preferably a "window" of some type).  I made a little hanging frame with some paper-covered cardboard.  I cut an oval out of the center with my Creative Memories shape cutting system (still one of my go-to tools) and backed the opening with a transparency.  The striped paper is only attached at the sides and bottom, so I can slide a picture in from the top.  I wish I could tell you who made the cute papers - I think they're Provo Craft, but they're really old, and I just don't remember...

 

This challenge was titled "Paula Deen, the Queen" - apparently of fried chicken and butter...  We were to use brown and yellow, and include crumpled paper in the project.  I may have gone a tad overboard on the scissor-distressing of all my edges here, but that's the look I was going for, so I'm all good with it!  I reprised the bleach technique to stamp my cowboy (SU! Bronc Buster) on Soft Suede cardstock (Stampin'Up!), resulting in Crushed Curry (also SU!).  I crumpled some close-to-Crushed-Curry dp from Basic Grey and inked it with both Crushed Curry and Soft Suede ink, then set a few eyelets for the braiding cord to run through.

 

This challenge was "Olive and Artichoke Stuffed Ravioli" - use Old Olive and Always Artichoke, and both a scallop-edge punch and a paper crimper.  My olive panel is crimped, even though it's hard to see in the picture.  The backgrounds are SU! En Francais, The leaf silhouettes are SU! Kind and Caring Thoughts, and the sentiment is Close to My Heart Because I Love You.

 

This was a "Foil Dinner" challenge - take the "foil" (metallic embossing powders) and throw it in the "fire" (heat gun).  I used gold tinsel and copper embossing powders, and also a "happy accident" powder that resulted when I inadvertently mixed burgundy powder with the copper.  The leaves are CTMH Autumn Splendor and the sentiment is SU! Holidays & Wishes.  I stamped the leaves on kraft cardstock, and everything is matted with SU! Bravo Burgundy.

The last one that I managed to complete was "Knife Skills", where we were to cut the elements for the card in various different ways:

 

I used my Sizzix Double Heart Embosslit again, and also did the scallop circle punch cut down into wings trick again.  I used five different punches - apron lace border, photo corner, scallop circle, 1/8" circle, and butterfly.  I also gave my new Nestabilities a whirl.  I needed time to read how to do it right before winging it, but oh well - I'll figure out the embossing step a different day...  I added some stubble tool sponging to the wings, and some regular sponging around the edges of some of the elements.  The sentiment is from one of the Inkadinkado mini sets.  Again - don't know about the papers, but the ink and cardstock are SU! Purely Pomegranate.

I think that pretty much wraps it up, which is a good thing, since I'm fading fast!  Thanks for stopping by, and I'll be back again soon!

Summer...?

Ho.o.o.o.o.oleeeeeey!!!  Can I go back to being a school kid and have a summer vacation....PLEASE?!?!?  This being a responsible adult thing is getting reeeeally old!  Work, housework, brain work, prep work, house-buying work, money-managing work, work, work, WORK!  Enough, already!!!

Okay, thanks - I feel better now...  Having ranted about work, let me now say that I actually took some time tonight to PLAY!  This is the result:

 

This card is for TWO challenges on Splitcoast Stampers:  the color challenge  to use Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango and Summer Sun, and the sketch challenge.  I really like this sketch, and have several more cards in mind using it...

This color combo seemed like a good match for the Beautiful Batik stamp set that has been languishing in my stash of Stampin'Up! stamps for some time now.  I thought it would have the most impact if I used the emboss resist technique, so that's what I did:

  

I stamped flowers in Summer Sun, the leaf/bud/whatever-the-heck-that-thing-is in Tangerine Tango, and embossed all of them with detail clear embossing powder (except the one you can see that I missed in the pic above...)  Then I inked up my brayer with Pacific Point and went over the whole thing.  I also used a sponge dauber to get in all the little tiny cracks within the motifs, which created sort of a "halo" of darker blue - I kinda like it!  Obviously, this technique is not an exact science, and I'm far from perfect on the execution, but I managed to be happy enough with it to carry on...

I used the same process for my central motif, but the other little bits are just stamped, and not embossed.  I did roll the edges in the tangerine after I inked up the stamp with Summer Sun, though.  The little popped-up orange on white thingy has a mini brad through the center.  That's all there is to this card!  No sentiment, no other embellishments - nada!

I have to go clean up the mess I made now (unless I decide to make another card, of course!)  I'm sorry for how sporadic my posts have been of late, and I'll try to do better, but I just never know...  Anyway, thanks for stopping by this time!  Have a great night!  Buh-bye! 

A Couple O' Tidbits...

I don't have time to make anything, but had a couple of photos to share...  This was what I saw out my window last evening:

 

I don't think I've ever seen a sunset quite like that!  I was intrigued by that column of color shooting straight up...

I've been tweaking the stamp storage situation (again), and have done something I was determined NOT to do ("never say never...") - I'm putting them in zippered binders.  After the jaunt to the Scrapbooking and Rubber Stamping Expo a couple of weeks ago, I re-thought all of it, and brainstormed different ways to make my stamps accessible and portable, and that seemed the least trouble and expense, and the most portable way to go. 

I bought a Sailor Glue Marker at the Expo to coat the backs of my unmounted rubber so they'd stick to my acrylic blocks, thereby eliminating the need for double-stick tape or Tack 'n' Peel or anything else that I'd tried.  I've done the same thing with other 2-way glues before, but not been happy with the results.  One of the demonstrators at the Expo swore by this stuff, and I examined her stamps that she'd used it on, and felt like it was a good way to go.  After coating the backs of the stamps with the glue and letting it dry thoroughly, I stuck them to pages from those old magnetic photo albums and put them in a binder:

  

Yes, there's some staining on some of the stamps - oh, well - and yes, the top four are unmounted wheels.  I have a little label stuck under the "magnetic" plastic sheet so I know which stamp set goes where.  I have them semi-alphabetical, meaning all the sets that begin with "A" are together, then all the sets that start with "B", etc.  You can see the alpha tabs on the divider sheets.  This binder has A-G (Stampin'Up! only - I'm going to keep the different manufacturers in separate binders), which is as far as I've gotten in the process (two nights so far).  I'm doing my rape-and-pillage thing, too:  I cut apart the "Baby Time" wheel strip into six little baby stamps, and the "Great Outdoors" stamp into eight individual stamps.  The tiny little borders in the "Define Your Life" that were in a six-strip block are now six separate strips, and the stem and leaf on the flower from "All the Best" got cut apart, too.  That's how I'll use them, so that's how I cut them!

Okay, that's all for now - maybe there's an idea or two you can use!  It's working for me so far...time will tell...I may have a new and improved idea down the road...you just never know with me...I'm out for now - thanks for stopping by!

'Color' Challenge...?

The color challenge on Splitcoast Stampers every Tuesday is one of my favorites, but today's threw me a little - a one-layer card using only white cardstock.  That's a color challenge?  I suppose so...  We were allowed to use other colors of ink (thank goodness, or we would have all been submitting blank pages!), so I tried to go super simple first:

 

I just scored borders with my ScorPal, stamped a sentiment from Close to My Heart's Love Quotes and a kiss from Inkadinkado's Heart Full of Love.  For my second card (yes, I felt it necessary to make another one...), I went a little more colorful and added some embellishments:

 

I stamped this little bird with a flower trail from Inkadinkado's Birds Galore with CTMH Dutch Blue and embossed him with detail clear ep, then added some color to the flowers with markers.  I also punched a border with my Fiskars apron lace punch below my scored borders.  The little sentiment is from SU!'s Lots of Thoughts, and is stamped in Regal Rose, also from SU!  A couple of ribbons, a couple of dewdrops, done!  The little corner is a new trick:  Flip the border punch over so you can see what you're doing, line up the corner and punch:

 

Tricky, tricky!  Okay, the usual story - back to work...  have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!