Traveling by MY own glittering star...

Please click on the picture to really see the detail of this intricate image.  The Moxie Fab World Challenge is for glitter and glam! It's the perfect season, don't you think?   I love glitter, but not the mess.  My sparkle of choice is  Stickles or Spica glitter pens...well maybe a tiny little bit of Vintage German Glass Glitter.  

I've been waiting to use this Starlight Angel from Stampland.  I thought it would work perfectly into the glitter challenge. And the Swahili quote:  No one can travel by someone else's star.  Just look at all those beautiful stars floating in the night sky...all that creativity. 


City Crafter's Challenge # 37 is Stamp it Out to use real stamps this week.   In addition to the large starlight angel from Stampland, the quote is from A Stamp in the Hand.  It is a wood mounted two line stamp that I inked on another piece of white card stock and then cut out the quote to fit my design. 

I used a card stock from Making Memories called dusk.  The image was inked with VersaFine Majestic Blue and a tiny bit of Tim Holtz Walnut stain at the bottom for the landscape.  The saying was inked with Adirondack Latte.   I used a brass star in place of the word, dipping it into the vintage Glass Glitter.  A tiny hand dyed navy silk ribbon finishes the top.

Thank you for stopping by my home today.  I hope you will be inspired to go star gazing!

counting down...

We're on the downhill slide into 2011, gurls!  Ready or not that big ball in Times Square is gonna drop.
I thought I would get a jump on the festivities by wishing you a Happy New Year and Peace.

The Sketch Challenge on SCS today inspired my layout.  I used an vintage image from a local artist whose work was inspired by illustrations done pre-1900.  The clock was stamped with VersaColor Black.  I applied Crystal Effects to the face and stamped the Happy New Year with Adirondack's 'Pool'.  An optimistic color wouldn't you say?  The peace ticket is Invoke Art's.  Number paper, Cosmo Cricket.

I am reminded of this wonderful Mercy Me song when I think about imaging.  Have a listen.

And thank you for your support as I found my artful way back this past year.  My prayer  is that
the New Year would bring peace, time, and creativity in that special balance that is uniquely yours.

stolen moments

No, this is not a self portrait!  I do wish for you moments to catch your breath amid all the hustle and bustle of the season.  And find joy in what comes your way!

Blessings and Merry Christmas

The digital nativity

Such is the age we live it...have a look, I would love to know what you think!  I am amazed at the creativity...reaching peeps my simple card never would.

Paper from wood, ink from plant material, a sentiment:  Simply Grateful for the priceless gift of Jesus.

Blessings to you, 

Pause...

in the hurried frenzy of last minute "to do's"... I've been sitting in my chair and pausing.  I highly recommend it for health and sanity!  This week I found a couple of challenges that tied in nicely with

the direction I took with this tag.

Louise over at Kard Krazy selected a color challenge to use green, yellow, and brown in your tag.  Well, the first two colors are  beloved in our home as they are our University of Oregon hues.  And we are National Championship Bowl bound (see yesterdays' post).  I must say the addition of earth tone kicked it up a notch.  I love how the brown grounded the green and yellow.  

I was also inspired by Louise's two page spread in Stamper's Sampler to use sentiment stamps in other ways.  Congratulations, Louise!  My Stampers Anonymous sentiment is oriented horizontally.  I decided to use it with the Dynamo label maker and an unknown alpha set inked with Tim Holtz DI walnut stain.   The wonderfully cozy wing chair is from Hot Potatoes.     

  

The foundation of my tag is rich kraft.  A call was issued this week to  make kraft creations at City Crafter Challenge Blog Week #35.  I admit I don't use this versatile color enough.  Thanks for putting it in the spotlight this week, Ladies!

And here's a pic of where I pause frequently!
May you have time in your day to pause...and
thanks so much for stopping by.

                                                                                                         

Go Ducks...

We are so excited in our home town for the University of Oregon Ducks to be playing for the National Championship in Glendale, Arizona on January 10, 2011.  I must confess I am not really a football fan, but to experience the excitement and thrill of my youngest son...he has infected me with a whoop and holler.  And seeing all the designer 'outfits'...err uniforms each week's not bad either.  In honor of the game,  I created a road trip card for the Inspiration Challenge  over on Splitcoast Stampers today.  We were to select from a wide assortment of Don Cherry's Jackets. Of course, when I spied a green and yellow checked jacket, I knew I was in business.  Rubber Soul's VW van and sentiment was perfect to show our school colors. I colored the VWand billboard sign with Copics.

The mountains were created with printer paper that I torn, used glitter glue and Martha Stewart Coarse and Snow glitters.  It has quite alot of dimension and texture.  The beautiful sky is a long hoarded piece of Basic Grey's Mellow paper group.  My dear  'across the street neighbor' gifted me with her stash of this cloud paper.  Thanks neighbor!

Thanks for stopping by today.  Blessing today and always.

Trimming the Tree

 

Good day, my bloggy friends!  It's T-9 and counting, down, that is.  For those of you that celebrate Christmas is your tree up?  Tomorrow's the day for my family...my DH and I will get the decorations down from the attic and set about creating a wonderland before our sons arrive back home.  What a surprise that will greet them when they swing

open the door! 

I have to admit I was inspired by the lovely Martha Stewart

inspiration room that is challenge this week over on PaperCraft Star Challenge 25.  This Oxford Impressions image is perfect for the tree, don't you think?  I stamped it on a very pale blue with VersaFine Olympic Green and then fussy cut.  The room was roughly created with 'moulding' and flooring (cut from a piece of wood wallpaper).  The window, Stamp Francisco, inked on velum with Adirondack Snow Cap and embossed with clear ep.  The gifts under the tree are from the long retired Basic Grey Figgy Pudding sheet that was all presents. The Ways to Use it Challenge on SCS today was to used Glitter.   I added Stickles in three shades to the ornaments on the tree and a brass charm for the star at the very top.  The Merry Christmas is inked with ChalkBox Warm Red. And a bit of twill in robins' egg blue.  


Thanks so much for the gift of your comments...if you would leave a comment, let me know what is on YOUR wish list this season. I'll tell you my #1 wish is to live a less harried life!

Possibilities...

 

What do you see in the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger 'All that Glitters' this week?  I see my favorite color in the whole world...since I was 5...a very long time ago.   It's my Daddy's and my oldest son's too.  I think of it mentioned in the Bible, the color of royalty.  The hue made from plant material.

                                                         

It's the beauty berry outside my kitchen window that feeds the birds all winter.  And as spring arrives the berries hue fades and it's time for the crocus to burst from the frozen ground...I am surrounded. And I love it!  Just in case you can't read the plaque among all those luscious berries, it 'tis:  TODAY is a gift, that is why they call it the Present.  So creating a card was joyful play for me this week.

 

I loved the varying shades of the photograph and decided to bring those in with papers from various Basic Grey groups.  The ribbon is a silk striated trim.  My sentiment from Wordsworth was inked with VersaMark and then Nick Bantock's Damson Plum, embossing with clear.  I stamped it on a shimmery silver and then cut another mat from a more opaque silver paper.  Vintage German scrap was placed under the circle and then along the edge of the two purples. The card base is Brazzill linen.

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit, please tell me what your favorite color is.

Blessings for today and the 'morrow.

...ripped from the pages of the latest fAsHioN mag

I've been saving this fAsHiOn maven for just the right occasion.  Tonight's the night!  The Inspiration Challenge 262 over on Splitcoast Stampers is a chic clothing website called Shabby Apple.  They have vintage inspired garments.  Gorgeous dresses, swimsuits, jewelry...enough to make a fashion diva want to defrost that credit card she froze (to make it hard to use)!!!

 You get my point, right...so to honor glamour, I've inked up Stamps Happen's delightful image on glossy paper.  Embossed with super fine detail embossing powder and colored with Copics.  I STITCHED too.  The animal print strip is from Basic Grey's Urban Paririe...and the tiny pure silk
bow is from a local store that has the most amazing ribbons and trims.  I used PaperTrey Ink's Razzle-berry for the mat.

I hope you love my Diva  as much as I do.  I am working on another card celebrating fashion.  Back later...I going to peruse the swimming garments next.  Have a wonderfully creative weekend...whether decorating the house for Christmas or shopping for your Holiday dress...let me know!

Listen...stories are gifts

I am sounding the sentiment again, from this years Starbucks 'sleeve'.  Isn't it a fabulous thought?
At no cost but your time to share and listen.  I can't think of a better gift for these times.

This card fits the requirements for several challenges.  Over on the Moxie Fab World

it is all about the All Occasion Card.   Stories are good anytime 
of the year, don't you think?  And one size fits all.  Right now, memories of Christmas past or listening to a beloved elder an how New Years was celebrated.   My youngest son will have stories  to tell after Winter Camp in January.  Entries until Dec 13th.


PaperCraft Star Blog Challenge 24 Green Holidays call was to create a card with a recycled or repurposed item.   The Starbucks sleeve (not my first nor last gingerbread latte of the season, I tell you!!!) was upcycled to an mug of cheer.  I used a scalloped
circle left over from another project to make the handle.  Open    
                                                      until  December 11th.

City Crafter Challenge Blog Week 34~Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

was to use snowflakes.  My Brenda Walton Holiday Paper had mod flakes scattered around the stripes and I used the Cuttlebug Embossing Folder Snowflake to emboss the upper left edge of my paper. The circles inside the cup are the snowflakes from the Starbucks sleeve.  Closes Dec 13th.


Thanks for stopping by this December day.  And thank you for the gift of your comments.  It's those lil' bits of stories that make me smile.

Be blessed this day and always.

Snowy greetings...

this December day!  It is foggy where I live, but I can feel that snow in the air.  The City Crafter Challenge Blog Week 34 is 'Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow'.  I've been 'saving' this Memory Box paper from their Dewdrop collection and it 'feels' right to use it now.  The 'snowflakes' are delicate peonies drifting down and the branch has a few leaves with tips of fragile chartreuse reminding me that winter will not last forever.  I used a country scene stamped in Brilliance Moonlight white onto Stampin Up Basic Grey.  The sentiment was inked again with Versafine Onyx Black onto Whisper White.  I had cut mats around both.  The tiniest bit of white/silver netting is tied to the branch of the tree...you can see the shadow from the camera angle.

This card also qualifies for the Splitcoast Stampers Color Challenge #300 which was to pick from one of the other 299 challenges.  I selected CC159 (Soft Sky, Basic Grey, Whisper White).

Hope your weather is just the way you like it....flurries, fog, liquid sunshine, or gentle island breezes...

Be Blessed this day and always

Blue Christmas

I've been thinking since City Crafters Challenge Blog issued the CCCB Week 33 Blue Christmas.  Of course, I had to hop over to Youtube to have a listen to the Elvis Classic to set the mood.  This was also the first chance I've had to play with this Flourish set, called 'All that Glitters'.  

I stamped the branches directly to paper with various Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  The ornaments were inked with Nick Bantock, colored with Copics and glittered with Seaside embossing powder.  The glitterd bird's tail was cut multiple times as the shadow on the paper shows.  I had several glass ones that I will use to decorate the mantel.   I used jeweled brads to attach the ornaments to the 'tree'.  The sentiment is Paper Artsy.

Hope you've had a great weekend...is your tree decorated and sparkling?
I am decorating cards much better than the real thing....



Be blessed~~~

run away...

Pam over on the 365 Card Blog Day 278 issued a Keep it Simple challenge.  You were to use 1 ribbon, 1 sentiment, 1 blossom, and 1 button.  A perfect CAS opportunity!  And these Stampland images were just what I needed to keep it Simple.  I love their peony blossom  paired with the Art sentiment, a vintage glass button from my Grandmother's Button Box, and sea glass twill upcycled from a new throw I got recently at the MAXX.  Oh, I purposely left the trim ends ragged...an artful imperfection.

I'd would love to hear your thoughts on Art as a vacation right in your own home.  For me, I just have to open the doors to my art studio and I am transferred to a world of unlimited creativity.  And time stands still and flies...but that's another subject!

Be blessed.

Make a Wish...

You gotta love sensitive sons.  You know young men that will make great husbands one day...like my son who has 'learned' from his Dad.  My 15 year old asked last night if I would make a birthday card for one of his friends at school.  I asked, 'well, when is her birthday?"  And of course it was yesterday!  But he says, "that's okay, Mom. Today will be fine."   Needless to say, I was in high gear, as I am not a speedy artist...as I mentioned in my Stories are Gifts post, I need time for something to percolate.

So Make a Wish  is for a 17 year old girl, I haven't had the pleasure of meeting~~~yet.  I love slider cards and thought it would be fun to use that format.  My son requested blue and gold colors.  I headed right to Basic Grey's Cupcake papers, using 5 different ones.  The stamps are quite the variety. From the balloons (See D's) to Purple Onion's Postage Set and party hat, MaVinci's  Playful Heart Alpha, to Stampin Up Birthday sentiment and Making Memories Magnetic tiny words.  Tim Holtz '17' sticker and a very old K&co charm.  The trim is vintage ric rak and pompoms.

The challenge over at PaperCraft Star this week is to create a holiday gift tag using a recipe the team posted.  With the Surprise Slider Card,  the tag appears as you pull from the top, revealing your message.  We'll tuck a gift card to the 'round the corner' coffee stand all the kids love to frequent.
                                                      
So, thanks for stopping by my corner of the world today.  I would love to hear what you think...