oh, boy...

does time fly!  These mittens from the December 21st Tuesday Trigger over on Moxie Fab World sure jostled my memories.  This Christmas season has had our youngest son up in the mountains snowboarding every chance he can get.  It was a trip down memory lane for me as I dug through our winter boxes to find 'cold clothes' for him.  Most of the ski bibs, pants, and gloves were outgrown, though there is a set of O'Neill in fluorescent pink and green I can't bear to upcycle.  We were blessed the boots and gloves still fit from last season!

So it was all the going through and remembering that inspired me to trace Andy's hand as the New Year began and find his handprint drawn when he was three years old.  A dozen years difference...time does fly. I could hardly believe my eyes when I laid the acetate layer over the paper striped hand of my 15 year old!

The papers are various Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey in the colors of the mitten.  I used Invoke Arts' time flies sentiment and the flying pocket watch.  The letters to spell out Andy's name are  'A B Seas' set of alphas from Authentic Models.  The hand is mounted onto an 8x8 Cosmo Cricket and will go into a scrapbook.

Thanks for much for stopping by.  It's a new year, fresh beginnings...

Be blessed.

Chasing Fashion

Okay, I'll admit it, I lived through Saturday Night Fever and Flashdance! But I never had the BIG hair, thank goodness! I was a slave to fashion. I'll blame my Mother and Grandmother at whose knees, I learned my lessons well. Everything had to match, from my patent leather shoes to pocketbook to gloves and bonus points if my sis, who was 7 years younger than me, and I got matching dresses for Christmas and Easter.

After graduating from University and obtaining my first well paying job, I chased hard. I found designers that I loved, would go to trunk shows at local department stores, meeting them and of course, purchasing the latest must have. I was a bit late for hats, but with a revival in the '80's, acquired quite a collection of beautiful fashion forward hats. The Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World reminded me of a beautiful black polished one I still have! The model's clothes certainly take me back to my threads of the '80's.

So my card for the challenge is just a bit tongue in cheek...to pay homage to all the fashion memories I have, most good, but some DREADFUL! My fashion diva does have the big hair in praise of that lovely hat. The leg warmers, so '80's stand in for the runched felted jacket. My gal has the pink belt...though it's slipped down to her hips. But even more important is that fabulous quote from the elegant Sophia Loren: Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you had a chuckle and thought of a fashion story you can relate. I'd love to hear what came to mind!

Beauty is...

This card was selected as a Trigger Target winner for 'A Study in Blue' on Moxie Fab World
Blue is a difficult color for me. But lately, I've found myself drawn to it in the clothes I wear. So when this weeks' Tuesday Trigger' over on Moxie Fab World was a Study in Blue color challenge, I just had to experiment with hues of blues. As most of the accessories were fashion, I thought this amazing 'Fountains of Women' image from B Line Designs would be perfect.

The image was stamped directly to the Brazzil linen paper with Memento Tuxedo Black. I colored the women with Copics. The boardwalk from Art Impressions, was inked with Tim Holtz DI Pumice Stone ink masking the women before I applied the image. I went back with several black pens of different widths to color the boards. Perhaps you can notice the top of the blue dress has a damask texture applied to it. (Basic Grey Vagabond papers). Her pumps are beaded with Martha's Lapis Lazuli glass beads. I cut and popped the dress to add dimension.

The undergarments were stamped on blue velum. And the nude's tattoo is part of the Beauty is soul deep sentiment from B Lines Design. I inked the tattoo with TH DI Pumice Stone and for the BEAUTY, I used Nick Bantock's Prussian Blue, embossing it with UTEE several times to give it some stability. I finished my card with a vintage garter that has hand dyed silk trim in the trigger colors.

This challenge took me way back to my paperdoll days as I loved playing with the ones you could find in the magazines. The Christmas I was 8, Santa brought me the Betsy McCall Fashion Designer. It had a light box that allowed you to trace patterns with colored pencils. A few years ago, I found one in the original box on the 'bay and asked if my husband would give that to me as a gift. It was pure joy when the box arrived and for the tiniest bit of time, I was right back there, Christmas 1961!!! And hopefully one day, I'll have granddaughters to share my love of paper dolls. I get the Fashion Designer out and maybe we'll do BLUE. How about you, did you like playing dress-up as a girl or have a favorite doll. I'd love to hear your stories.

The Color of Winter

To say I was inspired by the Moxie Fab World Trigger Tuesday this week would be an understatement. I loved the monochromatic color palette, the texture of the sweater, and the quirky dressmakers form. It did have to grow on me until I could create. But wouldn't you knitters (too) out there agree with me...the fun with knitting is watching your work grow with each row.

I knew this Dawn Houser (Inkadinkadoo) dress form would be a good stand in. I have a great vintage light bulb from Gumbo Graphics that I used on top of the form. It was popped on dimensionals. The lace for my sweater was from my stash. I cut it apart and used the top for the arms and the rest for the body. Those tiny yellow buttons are from the vintage button stash. I had drew and colored the sweater collar. The sentiment is the last part of a neat saying about spring being the color of flowers. Thanks Nicole at Prickley Pear Stamps for the RAK. It was inked with Tim Holtz DI in Walnut Stain. Mulberry paper is underneath. The card base was stamped with Stamp Francisco's lace image in VersaMark and embossed with clear ep. A Tim Holtz postage diecut runs up both sides of the main image.

The Color of Winter is in the IMAGINATION. I agree with Terri Guillenets! I can close my eyes and be on my favorite beach in Kauai...then winter would be all turquoise, sea glass, and ocean green...how about you, what is your color of winter?