Creepy dogs are creepy

I'm always scrambling at the end of the month to finish my inchies for the mingles and lottery.  The theme for this month's lottery at inchies_onexone is dogs - I don't even like dogs.  It has been really hard for me to focus on making something for a theme that I don't like.

However, this morning, I came across these dogs by Casey Weldon, and I felt that they were inchie-worthy.

 

The background is made from a clothing hang tag. (can you make out "Mossimo" on the one on the right?  You can guess where I shop).

I also needed some spring inchies, when I came across a small baggies of inchies I had made for a quilt block inchie swap and promptly lost, requiring me to make a whole different set for that swap.  I like the colors for spring, so if I can keep from losing them, I will submit them for the Spring mingle.

The faux stitching is done with a gel pen.

Challenges:
Stamping Vacation - squares and circles together (top set)
Your Next Stamp Challenge - stitching (bottom set)
Tuesday Throwdown - florals (bottom set)
Kreative Stempelfreunde - Spring(bottom set)
Paper Playtime - anything goes
There She Goes - no markers
Pile It On - cute (top set)
Stampin Sisters in X - paper piecing (bottom set)
Little Claires - pink and green (bottom set)
Card Makin Mamas - animals (top set)

Rare sighting!

It's been over a decade since I was able to get a photo of myself with all four of my spawn.

(click to enlarge) From the left is my middle son, Gordon, who is in college now after serving 4 years in the Marine Corps, myself, my youngest, Ben, who is in high school, My oldest, Jesse, who is a Navy Seal, currently deployed in Afghanistan, and my daughter (third child), Sophie, attending VCU.

It isn't a great photo of any of us, but it is the only one where we were all looking at the camera.

White wedding

I hate weddings, but I love wedding art. I don't know if it is the elegant style and austere palette, but wedding cards always leave me with a great feeling of satisfaction.

I mentioned yesterday that I got free stamps sets from TAC when a couple of items I ordered came in late. These items were small items, too - spools of scrapper's floss. The stamps sets are probably worth than the floss cost. Anyway, one of the sets had a couple of small cakes in it, including this wedding cake.

It doesn't really show in this scan, but the cake is embossed in silver.  I've used the white on white technique to show it off - 5 different punches were used to layer up this card.  I made 8 for the technique swap on RubberStampChat, and a few extra to layer up in card bases in case I need a quick wedding card.  I really like how the white on white looks, but it eats up a lot of cardstock!

Challenges:
A Gem of a Challenge - anything but square
Fun with Shapes and More - no designer paper
Just add ink - just stamps and cardstock
Simply Create - diy
Tellen's Place - texture
Dutch Dare - celebrations
Meljens - punches
Pals Paper Arts - embossing
Stampinsanity - punch it out
Cupcake craft - monochromatic

Buy stamps, help Japan

My CTMH demo, Michelle, asked me to get the word out about a stamp set that Close To My Heart has created:

First of all, it's a gorgeous set.  One of the cool things about CTMH stamps are that they are perfectly clear, so it is easy to do multistep stamping - for example, stamping the heart inside the larger design.

Second of all, the set is only 5 dollars American.

Third, 100% of the profits go to the American Red Cross to help Japan.  The company doesn't make anything, and neither does Michelle.

To learn more about getting this set, visit Michelle's blog.  I ordered one!

Mirror

I bought a cheap Ikea mirror at the thrift store.  I thought that it would be fun to alter.  However, after I applied the paint, I liked the color so much I didn't want to hide it.  I just stamped it a couple of times with a damask stamp, and it is now hanging in my foyer.

Yes, that is my hand holding my cell phone.  I like my phone, but it has a lousy camera.

Challenges:
Gingersnap Creations - ginger, copper, rust
Crafts and Me - anything goes
Instyle Stamps - inspiration challenge
Ladybug Crafts Ink - monochrome
Tuesday Throwdown - anything but a card
Sew Many Cards - sketch

My round robin ATCs

You may recall that I have posted some ATCs that I made from kits that other artists sent to me.  Now I would like to show you what the other artists made with the kits I sent them.

You have to allow that I am a mean person who sends weird stuff, just to be annoying.  That the ATCs that I got back are as good as they are is a testimony to their skill, not my kits.

I made four each of two kits.  The first kit included a green painted background, tiny pewter star brads, a vellum tag with a silver frame, and assorted images from Lisa Vollrath.

The second kit had a coffee stained background, feathers, a gold heart charm, and an assortment of Lisa Vollrath/Harper's Bazaar images:

Anything else that you see on these cards is from the artist's own stash.   Some of these I think are really brilliant, and some I simply deserved.

What really surprised me was that the artists returned any leftovers that I sent.  I didn't do that - I kept what I didn't use (I added more from my own stash than I kept - it seemed only fair).  Were the bits really that bad?

Much Thanks to Alison Brandist, Zhulia Abrok, Virginia Bell, and Ragina Wells.

Last of the Round Robin ATCs

I was in a round robin ATC swap, in which we each made 8 little kits full of goodies that the 4 other artists were to use to make ATCs for us (each person doing two for each other person).  Here are the ones that I did for Zhulia:

It is tricky to put any of oneself into a card when all the elements have been provided.  Zhulia is more of a jeweler than a papercrafter (she does everything, really); the round red bead on the first one and the safety pins on the second one swing freely.

Here are the ones I made for Alison:

Alison is the host of the swap, I hopes she likes what I've done.

Playing with pencils

I was stamping at my friend Chris's house yesterday, and we used pencils on Kraft cardstock.  I was really impressed at how well the Kraft took the pencil, and Chris was kind enough to give me some of her scraps (because I don't have enough scraps at my house!), so I played with colored pencils and Kraft cardstock today.

I was experimenting to seeing if this TAC stamp would fit on an ATC (the answer is yes, but forget about a border - It's on a 3 x 3.3 piece here).  I had a little trouble with the coloring, in that I didn't make a good impression and couldn't see what was hair and what was a flower.Other than that, I like coloring with pencils on Kraft!

Challenges:
Card Patterns - sketch
Shelly's images - what you got
Southern Girls - flowers
Scrapbook Sisters - spring flowers
Flourishes - butterflies
Magical Monday - fantasy plus spring

egg inchies

These cute eggs are by McMahon Five Designs.  I did some digital stuff and there is a touch of glitter on them, but anything else would have been too much, I think.

Challenges:
Raise the Bar - picture inspiration
AIFactory - things with wings
Meljens - dots
Cooking it up with Kate - cute, green, Easter
Simply create - monchromatic (well, they are, separately)
By the Cute and Girly - Springtime
Cheerful Stamp Pad - Spring

In a bind

Here is another non-standard sympathy card (I'm on a roll):

When I first downloaded this corset way back when, I had no idea what I would ever do with such a thing, but my sentiment on the inside starts, "If you are ever in a bind..." which adds a little levity without diminishing the seriousness of the situation.  Anyway, I added a little string lacing on the corset, and used liquid applique for for the "lace trim" on the top

I am really liking this "It gets better" stamp.

Challenges:
Creative Belli - C (corset, celtic knot)
Phindy's Place - well wishes
Art Impressions - embossing
For your Inspiration - insp. photo
Stamping Vacation - no fancy borders
Ambers Crafts and Stuff - Anything goes

bathtub

There is a freebie on the Dude Time Doodles blog this week, and I have admit, it is not an easy image to work with.  I was discussing it with a friend, and I pointed out that everyone who submitted a card with the image colored it the same way.  She dared me to color it differently, so I did.

 

This is colored using the Outside the Lines Technique.  You may have noticed that I altered the original image somewhat - I didn't really want a sea monster or a snorkeler on my card.  I just wanted the bathtub.  Anyway, I used some things for the very first time (background paper, dies),and some things that I haven't used in a long while (gold leafing pen, blender pen).

This card continues my current theme of expressing sympathy in non-standard situations.  This is for a friend who is having to move out of her home as part of her divorce process.   

Challenges:
Dude Time Doodles - freebie
Gingersnap Creations - jewel colors plus gold
Paper Sundaes - keep it simple
Anything Goes - die cuts
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations - anything goes

It gets better

I've been a little angry with myself lately, and it has interfered with my creativity.  I had a disagreement with a friend about a mutual friend who had lost her dog (well, not lost, the dog (a greyhound rescue) darted of the house and ran full bore 3 blocks to a busy street and got run over.  Greyhounds are like that).  Anyway, the disagreement was about whether or not the friend should get a sympathy card.  I make sympathy cards all the time, for people who have lost relatives, but not for people who lose pets.  That is where I draw the line.  Just the week before, a different mutual friend lost her elderly mother in law, and that is a good reason to make a sympathy card, in my opinion.  My friend argued that the woman who lost her mother in law was in less emotional pain than the one who lost her dog, because the mother in law was very old and in pain and mentally foggy, and that for her, death was a mercy, and the woman who lost the dog suffered the shock of a surprise death, plus she had a mourning child and other dog to deal with, in addition to her own unhappiness.  She felt that the dog lady needed a card more than the MIL lady.

I understood what she was saying, but I did not capitulate - it is a slippery slope.  First it is cards for dogs, then cats, then parakeets and gerbils, and the squirrel that runs out in the road in front of your car - once you start making cards for animals, you may as well be lining bird cages with them.

However, I did feel badly.  I really like the woman who lost her dog.  She is a great friend.  I did not make her a card, and my muse walked out.  I think maybe my subconscious is smarter than my conscious mind.

I will be seeing her tomorrow.  This is not a sympathy card.  It is a "I know things are crappy right now and I want you to know that I care about you" card.  I know technically that is the definition of sympathy, but let me have a little bit of dignity left.

Details: The background is DCWV cardstock embossed and sanded.  The butterfly is TAC, I've had it for ages but never used it the way it was designed before now (2-step stamp).  the ribbon I've had for ages, and this is the first time I've used any, and this is the first time I've used this sentiment stamp, although I've had it for ages, too.  The sentiment and butterfly are heat embossed using some iridescent UTEE my buddy Diane gave me, and the flower is a RAK - I don't remember who it is from.

Challenges:
Cupcake Craft - up in the air with green
Diecut Dreams - special friend
Let's Ink It Up - embossing
Pile It On - green and orange
Sentimental Sundays - green plus a sentiment
Corrosive Challenges - Sketch
Phindy's Place - well wishes
Crafty Purple Frog  - things with wings