Thursday, April 30, 2009

Just a Tim Holtz kind of day...

I was trying to get my "scrap-on" to gear up for a card for Lauren Meader's latest color challenge, but all thoughts kept leading to... T!m. Well, his juicy products, I mean. So, being the scrappy kind of gal that I am (and I mean that on MANY levels... chuckle chuckle..) I DECIDED TO PLAY WITH BOTH, Lauren & Tim. Hope you guys don't mind!


Here she blows! I'm going to try to insert the color reference graphic from Lauren's site now:


Okay! Yeah! There it is! Isn't that bag luscious!?! I'm surprised that my card turned out so man-ish, but it's "the journey!" Right!?! And a good "man-card" can be hard to find! {Tee Hee} No, seriously, this card works both ways.. Urrr. I mean, in either direction, if ....uh, I'm digging a very deep hole... I hope you find this card versatile! THAT'S what I mean!


Look! It's a clock, it's a spinner! IT'S A FRAGMENT! Another use for a fragment! I DRILLED a hole right through that little hunk of plastic delight, and inserted a T!m Holtz game spinner right there in the middle of it with my trusty DREMMEL drill, that I ALWAYS carry for crafting emergencies! It was fun AND easy! It REALLY moves! Yipee!


How long have I coveted that old, banged up, vintage car stamp!?! A LLLLLLOOOOOONNNNNGGGGG time! I've always loved the beauty of the image but, I will admit that I was a little concerned about the right front end of that old gal. I wasn't sure if it was distress in the image, or what..? Ding-dong! The light finally went on! It's smooshed! I get it! So, a FEW WEEKS AGO, when I was... (I know, you're getting sick of hearing about my class with T!m) taking a little class at Scrapbook Territory in Berkeley, California.... I treated myself of a hunk of stamp collections by Mr. Holtz, and this came with! To my continued delight, I realized that this image was ALSO included in another, DIFFERENT collection that I had recently purchased at a local Michael's! Fear NOT! Because they are differing scales, so having two is WONDERFUL!!! Yeah, for the over-buyers out there! (Card-carrying member, RIGHT HERE!)

Holy crackers, I had fun! (Shhhh! Don't tell my people I had fun while they were having "STAR" testing and working out in the REAL WORLD! I was working...!) Lookee: I had to show you the devastation of my fun! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd put a "disaster zone" picture of "Scrapland" on my blog, but it TELLS the story! If you want to see a picture of "Scrapland" looking more polished, check out this link to my dear friend, Centsational Girl! She does the most amazing home dec projects: ON A DIME! Let me tell you! She's a-blaze with projects and ideas right now, and I just have to give her a little "shout-out", because she "featured" me one time, not too long ago, and that's what got me off my ---- you know what, to start a blog and now I'm having a fabulous time! Anywhoo, she was kind enough to show a bunch of my cards and a beautiful picture of "Scrapland!" (I wish I could do an "I Dream of Jeanie" blink after each project to restore it to THAT kind of clean!) *sigh*


Here's a materials list for this fun card, my FIRST color challenge entry, ever!

All c/s - S/U! (Basic Gray, Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Going Gray, Very Vanilla & Riding Hood Red)

Dye ink - S/U! Same colors as above!

Craft Ink - S/U! (White)

Staz-On - Black and Stone Gray

Fragment, Spinner, brads and tiny attacher staples - Tim Holtz

Heavy Plastic - Hambly (!)

Misc. Refs. and technique - I had a few leftover packing tape transfer pieces from Tim's class and those were made from Design Original paper scraps! Yummy!

So, I think that's it! Hope YOU have a "Tim Holtz" day sometime soon, too! Good fun!


Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Puppy dog TALES from the OLD WEST!


HowDEE, ya'll! And happy Tuesday! Here is my offering for Card Positioning Systems weekly sketch challenge #113! I am offering up a big-ol-slice-o-WESTERNY goodness and saying a big TEXAS (by way of California! Hee Hee) "thank you!" to the lovely folks from "The Cat's Pajamas" Rubber Stamps! I was the VERY lucky winner from the sketch #111 random drawing, where I got to choose a stamp set from their WIDE selection of images! You'll be shocked, if you are familiar with my blog, that I chose a very juicy WESTERN SET: "It's a Western Thing" #S-7510... It was tough to choose... But, tumblin' tumbleweeds, I was happy with my choice and the speed at which it made it's way into my mailbox! THANK YOU, "The Cat's Pajamas!" And thank you CPS!


It was real tough to find a home in my collection for these images... NOT! I love that old Puppy Dog Sheriff! "Ain't he...... {wait for it.....} the CAT'S PAJAMAS!" Ohhhhhhhh, I see it all so clearly now! What a fun set! What fun images! Oh, I'll be busy for a while!

Let me not forget the sketch of inspiration! This one was SO much fun! I really needed to play with all of this joyful papercrafting material and inspiration today, so YEAH!



I played and played and played, and I still found a way to get one of T!m's (can i just call him Tim now? YOU know who I mean when I say "T!m!" right!!!) FRAGMENTS, just to beef up some visual excitement!!!


Ohhhhh, geeze! There she goes!

Well! You knew I'd go there eventually!!! (Is that man photogenic, or what!!!) Yep! That's from the class I took a few weeks ago, and even though I FORGOT my camera, my darling friend Tracey snapped this for me: THANK YOU, TRACEY! I heart you so much!




Here's some materials credit:

C/S - S/U!
Vellum- S/U!
Watercolor wonder crayons and aqua brush - S/U!
Black Ink - Staz-on
Dye Ink - (Close to Cocoa) S/U!
ALL STAMPS - The Cat's Pajama's (THANK YOU, AGAIN!)
Twine - Yaley

So, there you have it! A little creative ju-ju for my mo-jo on a To-tu (Tuesday!) for you, you! (Yep, the gal's had too much jo-jo...) Bye now!

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sketching out some fun! Mytimesketches 30, 31 & 10

Hello friends! Where have sketches been all my life {I keep asking myself!}? My goodness, this is a fun way to make cards! For today's offering I've included all three of my designs that I'm hoping will be considered by Lauren Meader in her Design Team quest! Wish me luck and I hope you enjoy!

mytimess30:



You ARE just my type! All-o-you wonderful crafters out there! Inspiration for this card was kind of like a lightning bolt... Of course, I'm still obsessing over fun ways to use Tim Holtz's FRAGMENTS, so type writer keys were kind of a no-brainer! I ADORE "Puns from the Past" stamp set from S/U! and I've been dying to kick out another card from this set, so YEAH! My beautiful and all-knowing blog buddy, Karen, from Time Crafted was expressing just how much she loves this set, but hesitates from buying it because she's not sure if she'll use it enough.... First, let me say that she's a great friend who was first a GREAT S/U! customer... And when a customer says "I love that but I'm not sure how to use it..." OMG! It's like waving a red flag to a bull{ I'm the bull }! So, this is for you, Karen! Tee Hee

All supplies for this card were by Stampin' Up! except for, of course: Tim's Fragments, metal tape and alcohol ink (Tim & Ranger), the black crochet thread (Aunt Lydia/Coats), and the wee little coppery-brown grommet, which was just in my stash and I can't recall who it's made by: sorry... The cute little tag is from a McGill three-in-one punch. Also, black Staz-on was used to antique the metal tape... One interesting technique to note, if it's even visible in photography is.. I used a "dry brush" technique with butterscotch alcohol ink mixed 1/2 & 1/2 with blending solution on vanilla cardstock to make the "wood grain" looking effect for the type writer keys... I did that first and THEN stamped the letters "you" with black Staz-on AFTER! (Just in case you're wondering... Alcohol ink OVER Staz-on will make the Staz-on run and bleed! OMG!) It was a fun and easy sketch to play with, Lauren: I'm seeing the light!




mytimes31:



Since I never seem to have the right birthday card when I need it, mytimesketch31 was a perfect fit... I've been playing around, making cupcakes (not real,"thank goodness..." my waist-line says...) that look yummy and tactile, so I wanted to add one into the mix! Using S/U!'s biggest, fattest oval punch, I cut a piece of glossy, white c/s and then another oval from a piece of (S/U! patterned paper, ran it through my crimper and then lined up the oval so that the crimped lines went the right direction, and then cut off the small ends of the oval to create a fluted, cupcake bottom look)... For the frosting, I left the bottom contour of the oval pretty much intact, so it would compliment the bottom of the cupcake, then I, lightly, drew the frosting lines in pencil and then again with a "close to cocoa" marker (brush end) and cut it out with detail scissors. Following the same marks, I added the super flaky glitter from Martha Stewart with glue, so it looks sort of vanilla coco-nutty-delicious.. I added a few "dents" with my scissors, as well to give it a real frosting look.. The whole thing is mounted on pop dots, and then I used a small oval punch on "pink pirouette" c/s and rubbed it across the edge of a bone folder until the c/s began to split in half (its actually two pieces of paper!). With the thin c/s I rolled them to make candles and then hand cut flames and added yellow glitter by Doodlebug! Make a wish! Whoopee! Other materials include the Sizzix flowers, scallop and medium oval punch (S/U!), the "thank you" oval stamp from "Oval All" by S/U!... All c/s and designer paper is from S/U! and I think that covers it! Phew!




mytimess10:





I threw this image back in just to have all three of my offerings together.. For more info on technique, please see my previous post, Enjoy the Ride!

As always, THANK you for taking the time to visit my blog: it just warms my heart to know you stopped by! Have a great day!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

I hope you ENJOY the RIDE... and consider my DT offering!

I still feel like a novice blogger, and I wouldn't be anywhere, if it weren't for the benevolence of dear friends, and even strangers, who are quickly becoming dear friends! I'm so honored to be learning and playing among so many of you, some of whom I'm slowly getting to know better... I'm loving the fact that there will be many, many more friendships for ALL of us, as we travel deeper into this techy, creative, amazing world! Thanks to one of my dearest friends and major blog mentor, Dana, from PaperDaydream, I'm offering some work to be considered for a design team. Lovely, Lauren Meader, has a fantastic blog and a huge following and she is currently asking for submissions for DT members! Dana has already tossed some spectacular work in for the offering and has encouraged me to do the same, so here it goes!


Of the three sketches Lauren has for inspiration, the first one I chose to play with, she is calling "an oldie but a goody!" Tee Hee For a newbie like me, this technical description is...rather fun!


I hung pretty close to the sketch for this card, since I felt that I had the perfect material for the job! (If you're thinking about Tim Holtz's FRAGMENTS, you're getting to know me better!) Of course, I'm still trying to incorporate fragments into EVERYTHING because: just look! They create so much visual interest and just make the most scrumptious eye candy!


Eventually, we all have to find our own voice, creatively. Hopefully, we learn how to tap into our own distinctive styles. This is usually based on the things we are are most drawn to... Of course, being crafters, we are probably all united in the fact that we are drawn to MANY things, MANY colors and MANY different kinds of materials.... But of all of those delightful options, there is usually something that we play with that makes us feel most confident. Like the right pair of jeans, the right shade of lipstick... the right craft materials, subject, etc., can make all of the difference! For me... wait for it: ALL THINGS WESTERN! Oh, gosh! I'm confessing! Tee Hee Whenever I might be in doubt, I add a horse or a huge silver star and I know I'm going to be alright...

See! There's one of my silly horses, aptly named: WILDCARD! I wanted "horse" for background, but I was without an assistant (ha!) and didn't want Mr. Dough-Head to eat my work for dinner. I'm always looking for the "right situation" for a photograph, but try to maintain some sense of the health and welfare for my little creation....

Materials and specific techniques for this project are as follows:

Card stock - S/U!
Mirrored C/S - Unknown
Patterned Paper - Cosmo Cricket
Acrylic circles - Fragments by Tim Holtz
Ink - S/U!; Staz-On; Alcohol Ink - Tim Holtz/Ranger
Acrylic Paint -Liquitex
Black Dotlets - Doodlebug
Lace border punch - S/U; Star punch - McGill; Circle punch - EK success
Stamps - Tim Holtz (Barbed wire and "Enjoy the"); All Night Media - Woodgrain; Buckin' Bronco rider - WIZARD
Chipboard letter - 7gypsies

For the largest fragment piece I stamped the "bronc rider" with black Staz-On directly to the plastic and let dry. I painted in the details, let THEM dry and then flipped it over. I placed it on top of the silver star that had been distressed with a mixture of gold, slate and espresso colored alcohol ink: SHAZAM! Was that fun! I mounted the star on framed circles of "close to cocoa" C/S! and striped Cosmo Cricket, then sandwiched the fragment, with the painted side down, and secured it with Ranger's metal tape!

Working from sketches is still quite new for me: its a surprising amount of fun! Think good thoughts for me as I make a bid for my first ever "card-making" design team... As ALWAYS, I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog. I can't thank you enough for that, and if you take an extra moment to post a comment I am even MORE humbled! Thank you: THANK YOU!


Wildcard thanks you, too!

Monday, April 20, 2009

C'woffe t'walk and CPS112

With no disrespect to my friends from New York, please! I must share my complete admiration for Mike Meyers and his creation, Linda Richmond.... and for sharing her with the world! I don't know how I ever drank coffee and talked, before the insertion of the letter "w"... To quote a stamp from the very set I used for the CPS112 sketch challenge, "Chocolate, coffee, men- some things are better rich." If "Linda" were a stamper, I know she'd approve!


For consideration in this week's fun challenge, I say "thanks a latte!" I tweaked the sketch a bit in favor of the composition of my stamps of choice, from the Stampin' Up! set, "Sip by Sip..." Here is the original sketch from the wonderful website, "Card Positioning Systems."


What a hoot it was to work with this concept! I was hankering to play with the c'woffe lover's set, so inspiration came easily: it was the technical parts that took a bit longer....

At first, Mrs. Coffee-lovin' over-achiever lady can look like she either hasn't had enough... Or, she's had too much COFFEE! So I gave her a little make-over! She had to match my patterned paper choice, "Sweet Slumber" also by S/U! What a juicy little number this paper collection turned out to be! I didn't realize it was SO thick and textured and DELIGHTFUL! The double-sided assortment gave me plenty of material to work with, but I really wanted the stamps to shine, so hopefully it was a nice match up... Coffee lady got some new hair and lips by stamping her in "Riding Hood Red" and then cutting out her needed "parts" and then gluing them to the lady where needed.. I love doing this: it's always worth the extra effort!


In continued tribute and respect for MY NEW BFF (T!m) I decided to use MORE FRAGMENTS! Incorporating a technique I learned from the man, HIMSELF... Where you use the self sticking metal tapes, from Ranger Industries, to bind your image to your fragment: little or no glue required! Whoopee! Good thing I started hoarding that stuff about three or four years ago!


What a great time this was: I'm so enjoying these challenges and getting to know the blog-o-sphere a bit better! Some other miscellaneous materials I used: black Staz-On on mirrored cardstock, then cut out for the coffee pot; paper ribbon from K & Co. plus assorted punches... Wahoooo! "Who knew!?!"-L. Richmond








Thursday, April 16, 2009

True to FRAGMENTS and friends!

Good morning and welcome to what might possibly be the last day of "my own, personal" T!m Holtz fragment challenge.... Some of you might have read in some of my earlier, excitable posts that I'm signed up to take a class with the man himself TOMORROW at Scrapbook Territory, here in the Bay Area! Whoopee! Since I might be too goofy to get anything done between now and then, this might be it.... I know. Sad. Or NOT! Fun is more like it! I have about seventeen more ways I want to play with these things, but here is another "looking glass" type of use:



I wasn't ready to be done with colors and materials from a card I made back in March: It's in the air! Where I played with this new S/U! set, "Forest Friends" from the Spring Mini and got all excited to share some technique ideas with customers.... Anywhoo, I had so much fun making those deer and explaining how I always try to make multiples.... Needless to say: I had some leftover! A couple of sweet deer, one GIANT fragment, a dash of spring color and YEEEE HAW!



All paper and ink is from S/U! including the sentiments, stamps, etc. This sentiment is from the "True Friend" set, which is one of my many FAVES! Plan to use this one A LOT in the coming weeks: I want it to feel loved so S/U! won't retire it! (I'm superstitious that way!) I inked most of the words, except "friend" because it would have not worked with my composition. THEN, I used the sentiment from "Friends 24-7" (not SO worried about them retiring this set anytime soon, btw!) and just used "friend" without the "s".

I stamped with black "staz-on" on regular transparency and then cut the part of the sentiment and word I wanted out with detail scissors, flipped it over and painted the back with some pale yellow acrylic paint so it would pop! When dry, I glued it to my little forest with Crystal Effects... I have this tiny flower punch, but it doesn't have a name on it anymore, so I can't give the darling thing credit.. sorry, punch. Since I was too slow, and never bought that multi-mini butterfly punch from Martha @ Mike's... they are currently sold out! Snooze you loose! So I adapted a VERY old dragon fly punch by ALL NIGHT MEDIA (OMG! Remember when it was all about the dragon flies!?!), punched some bashful blue and card stock vellum (LOVE THAT STUFF!) and layered them for a 3D effect... I painted some tiny polka dots with leftover acrylic paint, inked the body of the little thing and glued that sucker right on top of the giant, round fragment... along with a couple of deer and lil' flowers for some depth and perspective in my forest!


What fun! Man! Those deer are A-dorable! I gave one a pink nose and a little more shading on its body, then inked the hooves of the other guy (or gal) just to give them some individual personality! Like REAL friends! The scallop border at the bottom of the card was made with the S/U! border punch: I couldn't live without that thing!

Hope you have a joyful, crafty day, ya'll! Thanks for visiting my lil' creative SPOT!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Celebrating FRAGMENTS from the barnyard!

In my continued celebration of FRAGMENTS from the Tim Holtz "ideology" line and my second try at the inspirational CPS sketch challenge, here's my offering for this weeks challange based on the CPS111 sketch:



(OMG! I actually inserted the sketch! I'm really growing up! tee hee)



"With an oink-oink here... and a moo-moo there... I love to use T!m's fragments... EVERYWHERE! "


Card stock - S/U!
Paisley background stamp S/U!
All colored ink - S/U! (Animals and barn were colored by using a small pool of ink from the lid of the pads and then applied with a small watercolor brush)
Staz-on (Black)
Flower, ribbon and rhinestone brad - S/U!
Barn and livestock stamps - Studio g
Sentiment - Hero Arts

There! THAT was fun! Signing off from my own little barnyard... Have a CRAFTY day!

Saturday, April 11, 2009

They call me E!-stir!

Most of my friends call me "E", "Mama E" or "E-aster/E-stir", or even "hey you..."

Pretty funny that with a nick-name like "E-stir", my birthday actually falls on EASTER this year! It's lovely and spring-like, and I don't want to sound ungrateful.. It's just that: I'm feeling a little sorry for myself. NOT because I'm SOOOO much older than I planned to be by now (what?)... It's because I have to do EASTER BUNNY duties on top of being the birthday girl and I'M TIRED! I just wanted to play in "scrapland" (my craft room), make cards and organize my goodies for the millionth time... That's what the pre-birthday spirit moved me to do.. But instead, I have been stuffing eggs and preparing baskets while my heart palpitates in fear of being discovered... The double-agent life that I live during holidays like Christmas, Easter... and the perpetual saga of LOST TEETH... Know what I mean!?! I bet most of you do! And heaven forbid I ask the husband to pick up the slack and he somehow not perpetuate the mythical creature of the day with as much vim and vigor as I do!?! AHHHHHH! So, I'm slaving to the pre-Easter duties, as usual, but with just a wee little bit more self pity... sigh..

The good news is, as most of us who put hands to paper know, NOTHING CHEERS A GIRL UP FASTER THAN MAKING A LITTLE SOMETHING! I was cleaning off the craft table to gear up for Easter prep and I just couldn't stop drooling over the "Foo-fa-la" paper from my last project, so I began to play.... That and my T!m Holtz fragments that I've sworn not to craft without until next Friday when I get to work WITH HIM, the T!m man, himself! Anywhoo, long venting aside, here's what I made WITH LEFTOVERS! AGAIN!!!!








Now that I'm looking at this card, photographically, I see that I was still "under the influence" from the fun CPS110 sketch challenge and I didn't even realize it! That was SO much fun! I can hardly even wait to see what they challenge us with next time! Anywhoo, this is what I whipped up with while I was feeling sorry for myself... tee hee.. (Funny, I don't feel so sorry anymore!)

Card stock and stamps are from S/U!
Patterned paper - Foo fa la
Diamond sparkle - PSX
Oval and scallop oval punch - S/U!
Top Note Die - Sizzix
Water Color Wonder Crayons - S/U!
All stamps - S/U!

So that's all for now! I'll see you all on the "other side" of Easter and the next year of.. "E-stir!" Thanks for sharing my therapy session! You all are the BEST!

Happy Easter!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Sketchy Greetings! CPS 110

My FIRST attempt at a sketch challenge! OMG! I'm in the blogosphere now, baby! Here is my first, ever challenge entry! Thanks to my dear and highly creative, card making, blog savvy and wonderful friends who've directed me towards this lovely gathering-o-talented paper crafters... I'm throwing in my hat... ur, COWBOY HAT, via greeting card, into the mix! Here is my answer to the Sketch 110 from Card Positioning Systems:







I had a lot of fun letting my imagination go WILD and come up with a design based solely on the sketch and how it inspired me: you'll see by my wild, WILD list of stamps, that I really let the "horses run", so to speak, and just used images that worked to fit the mood of my composition....

Stamps: sentiment - Taylored Artwork; running horses - S/U!; vintage cowgirl - (c) Dawn Houser for INKADINKADO; mountains - PSX

Card stock - Stampin' Up!; patterned paper - Foofala

INK - Staz-On, & Stampin' Up!

Other - Tim Holtz FRAGMENTS - plastic oval; rub ons & bling - Imaginise

Acrylic paint - Liquitex

So, now I'll attempt to link myself to CPS and go visit all of the lovely, crafty folks there! Wheeehooooo!

Thanks for visiting me! I SO appreciate your support and sharing!

Monday, April 6, 2009

For the wee-babes...

Hi, ya'll! Thanks for your patience between posts! I just survived the birthday week of my newly crowned eight year old, so paper crafting had to wait. (Little sob..) But I'm getting my hands beautifully soiled (in INK and glitter, etc.), so yeah!

Here's a quicky shot of a card I made for my pal with the adorable twin girls:



I LOVE the artwork from the "Puns from the Past" stamp set from Stampin'Up! and I've been
on a mission to make them sing! I feel personally responsible to influence my S/U! customers to order and then make excellent use of their stamps... Anywhoo, I thought this was a nice way to feature the "rubber baby buggy bumpers" image and sentiment!




In addition to some "7gypsies" baby girl paper I have hoarded for years... I used some ribbon I picked up off the swap table from a recent scrapbooking retreat, an ancient MM colored safety pin, S/U! grosgrain ribbon, and FRAGMENTS from my soon to be new BFF, Tim Holtz! In a little over a week, I'll be getting to know Tim a bit better at one of my favorite Scrapbook Stores in the Bay Area, Scrapbook Territory! I'm part of a lucky community of scrappy folks who enrolled in one of his classes he'll be teaching there later this month! Wahoo! "Just getting warmed up, Tim!" (As if he cares... OKAY, well maybe one day! Tee Hee)

I've loved Tim's "fragments", (beautifully beveled and perfectly sized hunks of plastic to distress or add interest to paper-crafting designs, in case you haven't been baptized in their infinite possibility...), since the moment I first saw them! Happy to put them to work! By the way, Tim demonstrated using them with Crystal Effects type of glue (clear 3-D paper-crafting glue) when adhering them to a printed paper. I would like to add, for the stampy set, be sure to apply a thin coat with a brush and let dry before you add a generous amount to set your fragment on. This will keep you stamped image from smearing or dissolving into the glue. Tim also shows swirling the fragment into place to eliminate bubbles: plenty of glue really helps for this and then just cut away the blobs and mess as you cut the excess paper away from your image, ONCE IT HAS DRIED! A little alcohol swab or un-du will clean up any unwanted glue.





So that's all for today! Hope you get some time to play!