Fun and Mental Changes

**Click HERE for Halloween Give Away** INTRODUCING..... The new design team:  Beyond The Burtonesque Dolls!!!  Our first challenge for the "NEW" dolls was to create a project inspired by our favorite Halloween film, book or memory.  Mine is The Addams Family.  I grew up watching The Addams Family in the afternoons after school.  This show surely kick-started my interest in all things macabre and Halloweeny!!! So my card is quite simple as I didn't want anything to detract from that AWESOME Moxxie paper from the Midnight Dreary line.  The stamped image is The Greeting Farm's Wednesday and the sentiment is from Tickled Pink Stamps' Halloween Sentiments.  To finish this one off, I added some Cuttlebug bats and sewing machine stitches.  This one is creepy, kooky and cute just like The Addams Family. So what's YOUR inspiration?  Head over to Beyond The Burtonesque Dolls and check out what the rest of the design team turned out and to get ...

The Paper Vineyard's design team is featuring Valentine's Day themed projects and since I just got my Copic Airbrush system (including the AC101 Air Compressor... YEE!), OF COURSE I had to pull it out for this one.  So I used a Cuttlebug and a Cuttlebug embossing folder to create the heart emboss on both the Coredinations paper AND the tin foil I snagged from my kitchen.  I then sanded the Coredinations paper to reveal the pink core of the paper and make the hearts pop.  I also applied Ranger Alcohol inks to the foil... What is it about the alcohol inks???  I'm thinking I might be becoming an alcoholic!  Anyway, I finally pulled out my Copic pens (yes, more alcohol) and my airbrush system to make my flowers match the other elements of my project.  I've been going sooooo crazy with this new toy, I was half tempted to graffiti my living room wall before my husband got home the day I got it.  I can't wait for Paper Vineyard's airbrush system to fina...

Well, over at Paper Vineyard today I posted a tutorial about creating a leather look on your cardstock.  I featured a card that I made quite some time ago and I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to revisit this one.  It features a chalk colored Stampin Up stamp from the Provencal stamp set (retired, sorry) and yes, I colored it with chalks.  Believe it or not, there ARE other mediums besides Copic markers although if you've kept up with my blog for the past year, you wouldn't think so.... me being addicted to Copics and all... hahahahahaha!  But I ADORE this stamp set, so if there is a way you can get your hands on this one, you will thank me!!!   Anyway, the spotlight today is on creating that super fun leather-like background. Ok, so the background of this card started out as just a plain piece of off-white cardstock. I then dabbed a few drops of three different colors of Ranger Adirondack Alcohol Inks in warm colors mixed with a few drops o...

Ok.... as promised (and a little pic heavy).... here is the tutorial for the fabric flowers! If you can sew a button, you can make these adorable flowers. What you will need is lightweight cotton fabric, a button, needle and thread, die cutter with circle die. If you have any questions, be sure to post them in the comments and I will be sure to check in and answer them. Here we go! Have fun with this one! Step One : Cut enough fabric to die cut 5 circles. I am using my Spellbinders 3" Nestability die with my Cuttlebug die cutter. Be sure to trim your fabric down so that it fits through your die cutter. The bigger the circles used, the bigger the flower. I cut three circles that needed to be trimmed with scissors until I discovered using a thin chipboard shim (pictured below) made the final two cuts CLEAN! Be sure that you try it without the shim first if you are using the same die cutting materials as I'm using. Because every Cuttlebug is different, yours might work WITHOUT th...

So it hit me yesterday that I never showed everyone what my Thanks a Latte card looks like, so at 12:30 this morning I loaded my paper, cut the gypsy cut file and 10 minutes later ended up with this beauty.... Only this beauty doesn't look as good in the photograph!!! What the heck!?! This pink looks coral in this pic. It's actually a pretty rose color and compliments the carmel cardstock beautifully in real life. I threw this through the Cuttlebug with my dots embossing folder. Please note, this cut file was created PRE-layers option on the Gypsy. The heart was added "after the fact" as a layer... there's also a flower and a swirl that I interchange depending on my mood. Those cute little additions are not in this original cut file but can be easily added. Here's how: 1.) After saving the original cut file, open it and find a heart or flower that you would like to add to the cup. 2.) Add the item you choose to the mat and place it where you would like it to a...

Welp, today was girl's day! I was so lucky to spend the afternoon with great friends at one of my favorite venues... a rubber stamp fair! And while this post is REALLY about the AMAZING gem that is pictured here, I do want to mention how sad I was to see the fair was about 1/8 of what it has been in past years. Gone were the ENORMOUS door prizes, in their place were coupons that were given to the lucky winners. Replacing the shoulder to shoulder vendor booths were widely spread vendor tables that didn't even fill the convention center. In past years we could barely make it through the thick crowd and today was a leisurely meander through slim pickins. I was sad to see that this event that I always looked so forward to had diminished so drastically in our struggling economy. The brighter side of this sad, sad tale is the fact that I didn't have to scratch anyone's eyes out or pull anyone's hair to get my hands on the amazing artwork that you see here. Featured here ...

Well, dang it! I missed the cut off for the challenge. But boy was this one fun!!! So I thought I would post it anyway. I've been following Cuttlebug Challenge for a little while now and never posted a project, but the latest challenge sparked an inspiration..... two hours ago.... hahahahahaha! After completing the project, I went to Cuttlebug Challenge to find out how to upload it and there it was... "by 7 p.m. EST." Yep, I surely missed it. But that's ok, because this one NEEDS to be shared with or without a challenge, I just love it that much! But for the rest of you out there needing a little creative spark, check out Cuttlebug Challenge for some great inspiration.... maybe I'll see you at next week's challenge! ;) Here are the directions for my Sweet Poison Treat Bag . I used a sheet of 12" X 12" Rusty Pickle's Pirate Princess paper and cut a bag from my Plantin School Book Cricut cartridge (using the 'fit to page' on the Cricut Exp...

Today's post is brought you by the letter "F"... as in FREAKIN GREAT!!! I did another color wash (I LOVE that technique) like the one I did for the cd cover . But this time I also embossed the paper while it was still slightly wet. Click on pic to enlarge. The emboss turned out amazing and this card is just beyond beautiful. I kept everything else on the card monochromatic so that the paper could stay the focal point. I will recap the steps for the background paper. I started with a sheet of Stampin Up's confetti cardstock. I stamped it with a Tim Holtz "Postale" stamp in grey ink. I then did a color wash using Ranger's Adirondack Pearl Acrylic paints mixed with water in Slate with a smidge of Terra Cotta (I actually soak a sponge applicator in water and then add a pea size amount of paint directly to the sponge and then smear, smudge and splash away! There's no wrong way to color wash. The messier you are the nicer the outcome. Be sure to cover your...

So with this Gypsy giveaway being sponsored by Cutting Above (awesome new blog that you're sure to want to save to your faves), I am beside myself with Cricut inspiration out of the blue, and so tunnel visioned on the prize. My husband says that he's buying stock in ear plugs because he wants to be prepared if I win. hahahaha... funny man! Anyway, this card was made with aluminum foil from my kitchen. Don't you just love those cheap,easy to find card-making materials? I then applied alcohol inks to it and then embossed it in the Cuttlebug using an embossing folder. The branch is from the Storybook Cricut cartridge and the stamp is a clear stamp that (I think) came from Clear Dollar Stamps . This was another super simple card that packs some visual punch...don't you agree?!? I think it might be the Stickles I applied to the branch. I think that stuff has some voltage! :) Normally, I don't post my scrapbooking and crafts on a daily basis, but with the debut of the P...