What's Wrong With This Picture - Friday Ha-Ha for you!

 ROFL!  I love my twisted cat Dory! 

Have a great Friday!
 

It's Fun to be a Groupie!

I participate in a monthly swap group organized by Kay, defintely one of the most facinating, warmest and creative people I have known.  She comes up with fun swaps each month, and this month it is what she is calling "Groupies" - a collection of five or more elements assembled into one embellishment to be used on a card or scrapbook layout.  She really doesn't limit our interpretation of her themes very much which is great, she just wants us to have fun and be creative.

My "Groupies" are a collection of ATC cards.  I'm a major newbie to the ATC world but loving them bigtime!  I used scraps of my supplies (which she also encourages) so each of my cards is unique.  Normally all the items I make in my swaps are identical - I have creative commitment issues and a hard enough time coming up with one design I like let alone multiple designs,  but we only had five participants this month so it was a great opportunity for me to try the variety method.  I did keep a common base design but the details were individual to each card and I loved it!  It was so much more fun than assembly line crafting. 

I used K&Co paper scraps and miscellaneous embellishments and bits of trim.  On each design I added some Diamond Glaze or Crackle Accents to parts of the image to give it a little pop.  I made six in this set so I could take out the one I liked the least, but instead I am using one of my favorites on a nice belated birthday card for Kay because with all my GIBBS'ing I missed it - oopsies.  Happy Birthday Kay!

Thanks for visiting!
 

Life Is One Big Nap - Part 4

I have to break away from my GIBBS posting and show you my Dory's latest take on naps...

It was a typical morning scene - Dory was sleeping in the middle of my daughter busily playing with blocks and puzzles.  When a puzzle piece fell under one of the ottomans, my daughter moved it over to look for it causing Dory to slide a bit backwards until her butt hit the edge of the other ottoman which stopped her weight, and then her back legs were dangling freely between the the two pieces of furniture.  She opened one eye evaluating the situation, and apparently it didn't warrant any counteraction so she closed her eye and went back to sleep, with dangling legs and all. 

This cat cracks me up every day!

Thanks for visiting!
 

Blocks

Another of the GIBBS3 inspirational phrases: You're a Blockhead Charlie Brown!  Tammy sure had fun making up these phrases, lol!

I had a couple dozen 2" square wooden blocks that I bought second hand years ago and just haven't had the time to do much with them yet.  I used a few in the first GIBBS round and jumped at the chance to use them again this round.  I decided to start with Tammy's name and then find other words containing five letters.  I had a little fun with it all, using words specific to our GIBBS swap including "skype", which we all spent way too much time on with each other when we should have been crafting, and also the abbreviation for Tammy's skype nickname, Hostess with the Mostess, lol! 

I used scraps of Graphic45 papers from a couple different lines.  Oh I think sometimes I love G45 almost as much as K&Co!  I painted the blocks black, glued all the papers with mod podge and then added a final sealer coat.  When I wrapped these up to send to her I added a picture of each word to help her figure out what they are supposed to say and which block goes where - each common side spells one word, and figuring that all out was a little trickier than I expected so I did mix up a couple things, but I'm not going to point it out and hopefully nobody will notice (shhh! don't tell if you see, lol!)

Thanks for visiting!
 

Gone POSTAL!!

I am so excited!  I shipped off Tammy's treasure box of GIBBS3 yesterday and I think she will be receiving it on Monday or Tuesday.  These swaps are definitely a lot of work, but after spending a couple months with them hanging over your head it is such a proud feeling of satisfaction to have them done and all your hard work out the door and on it's way.  To add to the reuse part of this swap's theme I included reusable tags on each item - I found lots of printable vintage labels online and just matted them on stiff craft paper.  They would be pretty to display too.

This was a fun round and a fun group involved - so many laughs while we were skyping when we should have been crafting!  Funny when I look at all the projects together though it doesn't look like that much stuff, but being only half as many items as in each of the first two rounds I was able to put more time into each one, and I loved that. 

I am sitting out round 4 so I can catch up on some other projects but can't wait to see what theme Tammy comes  up with for round 5 because I am absolutely certain that I will be having withdrawal by then!


Happy crafting!
 

Kind Hearts are the Gardens

The Flowers of Tomorrow are in the Seeds of Yesterday - inspirational phrase for another GIBBS3 item.  For this creation I decided to take an old fake pewter frame and attempt to give it a new and improved shabby chic makeover.  I used antique white craft paint to brush over the entire frame and then using paper towels I blotted a bit of it off.  This ended up making it look more like a sponging technique which I love. 

My mom had cross-stitched a sampler for me years ago and I've always loved the poem on it so I decided to use it for this project.  I printed and matted it, and then added one of my own crochet flowers using a pretty heart button for the center.  The color of the frame seemed a bit flat looking to me, so I took some metallic gold paint and dry brushed the edges of the flowers just a smidge, and that gave it a much better look.

Sorry that the picture is not better, I had some over exposure troubles with this one and the gold touches are washed out and not very obvious either.  I love my camera but I am still learning how to fine tune settings - I know it is capable of amazing pics, it's just my learning curve that is slowing it down.  Anyway, the words to the poem are:

Kind hearts are the gardens

Kind thoughts are the roots

Kind words are the flowers

Kind deeds are the fruits

Take care of your garden

And keep out the weeds

Fill it with sunshine

Kind words and kind deeds

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The frame alone qualifies for the "flowers" part of the inspirational phrase, but I think it's the poem that is the real interpretation of the entire phrase, and an inspiration in itself.

Thanks for visiting!
 

All Blinged Up and No Place To Go

More GIBBS3 inspiration words.  I decided to help Tammy decorate her new scrap room that she is planning and I decorated a wooden letter "T" for her to put on a shelf or hang on a wall. The papers were scraps of K&CO that were part of a mini tag album I made Deb in the last GIBBS round. I'm not usually much of a green and pink girl but the way these gorgeous papers coordinated when I mod podged them together has got me rethinking that. I almost didn't want to add any embellishments with how pretty they looked together.

The flower gems were from the dollar bins in Michael's - I have to admit that I've always thought these looked cheezy so I've never purchased them before, but I really like how the light reflects and how they look on this.  Somehow the pretty papers make everything look better!  The feather was a last minute addition and I hope it survives the shipping trip - a little fluff is always good with a little bling!
 

 
Thanks for visiting!
 

Nesties Storage

GIBBERS do it Old Tool Style is the theme for another of the GIBBS3 items. Tammy said she needed a good way to store her small collection of Nesties so I figured I would make her a storage solution like what I currently use, and since Nesties are not electronic they count as "old tool style", yes?

First, I have to say that I totally and completely love love love my Nesties! I have 16 sets right now and another 8 of the QuicKutz version. Storing these babies can be tricky because some are so small and I always want to be sure I am not missing any (if you could see my messy scrap space right now you would understand, LOL!!).

I like to have my storage solutions designed to be portable whenever possible, and of course expandable, so I am a big fan of binders. I used a small 7"x9" binder from Staples that I used to store my CuttleBug embossing folders in before I switched to a desktop organizer (topic for a future post!).  I cut cereal boxes to size, covering them in pretty K&CO papers, added pre-cut 4"x6" magnetic sheets and used a punch to make tabs to write the names of the sets. I tucked each page into the sheet protectors that go with these binders, trimming just a bit off the tops to expose the tabs for easier grabbing. When Tammy needs more storage she can easily add additional magnetic sheets on the back of each page.  For the binder cover I cut the label with one of my Nesties and then used one of my old alphabet stencils to add the title in marker. I don't think I've used my alphabet stencils in a few years, definitely not since I discovered die cutting systems, lol!

So it is a little bit of a stretch for "old tool" interpretation but I think it works: 1) Nesties are a manual cutting system, no electricity; 2) I used a hand punch to make the tabs; 3) I hand stenciled the label for the cover. In my book that qualifies!

I know this storage system works great for me because I can slip the sets in and out as needed, I can keep track of the individual pieces along with which sets I already have (I am always confusing myself when I'm out shopping trying to remember which of my sets are the Large set or the Small set) and best part is that I can just grab the binder and take it all with me when I go to a crop.  I hope this helps Tammy with her organizational quest, but if not, she can always send it back to me to use because I need to make Volume II for myself - I am about to outgrow my original binder when I purchase one more set, lol!!

Thanks for visiting!
 

I Don't Need No Stinkin' Paper

OMG can you even believe that Tammy made us use this as one of the GIBBS inspirational phrases?!?!!  LOL!!  This concept is soooo against my nature, being the paper ho that I am, but I did it.  At first I wanted to make her something using so much paper she wouldn't stop laughing for a week, but I decided to step outside my comfort zone and give it a whirl.  I'm glad I did because it was alot of fun and I really like how it turned out.

I teased her (and my previous partner deb from the last two GIBBS rounds) about using pickle, mustard and salsa jars as part of one of my creations.  I'm not sure if they really believed me or not, but I finally did use a salsa jar this round.  I wrapped wire around the top and looped it over as a handle.  Then I added some glass beads glued inside to hold a tealight in place, added some embellishments around the top and then used my Creative Memories dragonfly punch with vinyl to make a stencil for etching the glass.  I love etching - I've only tried it a few times but everytime it was so easy and so fun.

I was going for the recycled shabby chic'ish look but I added the big bright lime green flower button because it's Tammy's favorite color.  She is right, lime green is hard to incorporate into Shabby Chic!

Thanks for visiting!
 

GIBBS REVEAL!

I'm so excited to ship my box off to Tammy but I will have to wait until Monday to be sure it arrives in coordination with her vacation.  It was alot of work and alot of crazy brainstorming, or should I say blog hopping and scraplifting, lol!  But I have to admit that I'm really happy with everything I created. 

The overall theme of this round was Recycle/Reuse/Repurpose and there were specific inspirational phrases to launch our imagination to create a total of 12 items.  I already posted my take on Button It and today I'd like to share one of my favorites this round, Time Flies.

I decided I wanted to make a perpetual calendar.  I scavenged the basement and found an old piece of wood that must be at least 12 years old.  Way back when, I built some kind of desk organizer hutch thingy for my work desk and this piece of wood was left over.  It was just bare wood and it had a bit of a warp to it and I challenged myself to use it as it was without cutting since I had no easy way of doing that anyway.  

I used awesomely amazingly fantabulously gorgeous K&CO Tim Coffey paper for the background.  It's from the Tuscan Sunflower pad and omg every sheet is just so pretty.  I hammered some nails into it to hold metal rimmed tags that I had spray painted and then added punched circles with the numbered days printed on my printer.  The months were also printed on my printer and then cut out using  my new Nesties Labels 10 set - loving this set even more than I thought I would.  I also painted the bottom portion with chalk board paint - I always wondered if that stuff really works and it does!  To hold the chalk I cut off a part of the plastic packaging that my external hard drive for my laptop came in, it made the perfect sized pocket.  Then to top off the Time FLIES part I added a Graphic45 butterfly that I cut out of patterned paper and then crackled - my new obsession!

I really love the way the colors of the paper and the tags go together, and how the bit of lace and the alpha brads help add just the right vintagy feeling.  I sure hope Tammy hates this one and wants to ship it back to me, lol!!  OK, so no I don't hope she hates it, but this is definitely one of a kind and I do hope she enjoys using it as much as I did creating it.

Thanks for visiting!

Button It

Woohoo!  I'm done with the GIBBS swap!  Everything is tagged and boxed up ready to go - what a great feeling!  Tammy won't be able to open my box for another week or so but I figured I'd post a couple pics before she does and if she peeks, hopefully she likes what she sees :)

The inspirational words for one item was Button It and I decided to make a button bracelet.  I made the clear button one first and then decided I wanted to try one using buttons with shanks.  I LOVE THAT ONE!  My daughter has already put her request in for one for her birthday, lol! 

Creative block = goofing around with my blog

I'm on my last item for Tammy in the GIBBS swap and I want it to be really special but now that I have all the materials gathered and the base done I am scared to touch it and mess it up, lol!!  I just keep staring at the pretty papers and thinking how absolutely gorgeous they are together.  I have a general idea of the direction I want to go but I am scared silly to touch it!  ohgosh, I wanted to have it done by tomorrow too, ugh. 

The good thing is that while procrastinating this weekend I decided to play with my blog - what fun!!!  And I didn't break it again, that's always a plus.  Hope you like my changes and now I am off to try again to tackle the final item, I hope.  I will have lots to post when this is finally done!

A quickie post til next week...

This round of the GIBBS swaps has kicked my tushie big time!  I've totally underestimated what it would take to complete several of the items, wow!  But I'm working on my last one finally and when it is mailed off to my partner Tammy I will be posting pics of all 12 items.

For now though.....here is a peek at a card I made last month for my daughter's teachers for the end of school.  I absolutely LOVE these mice!  I used my new Nesties labels 10 - loving those alot too.  You can't tell very well in the pic but I used the stencil feature and added some faint pink chalking around the edges.  There's also some stickles in the flower seeds - need a little bling on everything!

Blog Candy!

I've been consumed with my GIBBS swap this past month and with building a 6 hour do it yourself swing set (we are on day 6 of that and not done yet...) and I have not been able to post but I've tried to peek at some of the blogs I visit - gosh I have soo much catching up to do - and I just found another incredible one to add to my list!  Check out Andrea's blog here for some amazing creations and a chance to win some awesome candy!