Crazy Bird Canvas

Hi All:  Normally I don't like cutesy stamp; then came the crazy bird stamps and dies by Tim Holtz.  At first glance no big deal.  Now I love them!  They are so fun.  Since I only have  8 days tip Halloween I figured I'd better make a few more projects.  Last Saturday I took a couple of classes from  one of  my favorite teacher Richele Christensen.  We made cards using the crazy birds, and then we built a cute configuration box.  That will be another post .  I came home and for a few days had no craft room time.  When I finally got into my play room I had Halloween and Crazy birds on the brain.  This is what I came up with.

This weeks Simone Says Monday Challenge is -Monster Mash.  So I'll be playing along with that challenge. 

Thanks for looking !!

 

Mr & Mrs. Zombie

Hey:  This weekend we started decorating for Halloween.  It's never just a few pumpkins at our house!!  Last year my husband made the front yard into an abandoned mine with a creepy miner.
This year is all about the huge creepy skull he found at Home Depot.  Of course he has to modify it,  So at this point its a work in progress.  I'll have pictures this weekend.  Since I spent the weekend being go-fer girl it  kinda put me in  Halloween mode,  but I needed to be creative  on my own terms and maybe for once not put my  October Tim Holtz's 12 tag of 2015 at the last minute.  Anita did so I better follow suit.  I feel pretty lucky because some of these Halloween dies were hard to get a hold of where I live.  Thank you Crafty Scrapper!!

I thought this tag was going to be really hard.  I bought the santa die last year an never did get it right so, these monster head dies  had me thinking.  But seriously between the instruction on the packaging and the Video on Tim Holtz Blog the construction was easy and fun.  I made a couple of zombies.  Tell me what you think.  And as usual thanks for looking.

Fashionably Fall

Hi:  Happy Sunday afternoon to you all!!  Lately it has been so nice weather wise it's hard to stay inside!!  I love this time of year.  Don't get me wrong it will still be in the 90's for a little while here in Texas.  Cooler in the evenings though.  And since Autumn is here it also means pumpkin everything and everywhere!!  Yay!!   Over at the Simon Says Monday Challenge they issued an "Autumn is in the Air "challenge.  I of course had to play along.   At first I made a few pumpkin pieces. While doing so  I also realized I had a lot of (TOO MUCH)  pumpkin dies , stamps , and even some pumpkin washi.   Not really liking anything I made.  I then of course I watched a few tutorials and I decided to not go the pumpkin route.  I dug out an older doll stamp I had and started to play.

Hope you like it.

Julie Nutting Stamp

Pumpkin Box

Hi:  As usual I waited until the last minute to finish my  Tim Holtz's September project for the 12 tags of 2015 challenge.  This challenge totally challenged me!!  I had to experiment with that Frosted ! At first I Frosted was Frosted film.  Big mistake!!  Once I played with the Frosted I found a couple things out.  First of all you can't cut Frosted with thinlets.  You can die cut it with the steel rule dies.  2nd you Archival ink must be really fresh.  At first I wasn't able to get the ink to show up.  I refreshed my ink pad. (about 2 years old).  3rd it was fun to play with.   Here's my project.  Thanks for looking

Frame and Box classes

Hi All:  So last weekend I had the  privilege of taking 2 classes with the Amazing Anita Houston!!
The first class I took we made a flip frame.   And for this class yep I  forgot my camera. Go figure.  It was totally fun though we got to play with Ken Oliver's Color Burst which was so cool.  It is unbelievable what you can do with these powders.  I painted, altered a frame, made it wick with water .
 My second class we altered a cigar box.  Loved it.!!!Here is Anita  with her sample boxes. For this class we got to play with some of Tim Holtz's halloween ideology and Distress paints.  This box was so clever.  She is one of my favorite teachers! I learned so much in these classes.  She is an Amazing teacher!!  If Anita is in your area you should take her classes!!!  Thanks for looking

Sisters

Hey:  Lately I've been in a scrapbooking mode.  I actually go through phases.  Anyone else?  The hard part is if I start looking through pictures next thing I know 2 hours have gone by and the hubby wants dinner.  Oops!!   My friend Pam Schoos is a  really talented photographer, and she would take my three children out and take their pictures so thanks to her I have some beautiful memories.  This picture she took of my daughters when they were 10 and 5 (I think).  I have a pack of Bo Bunny paper pack (juliet).  I love the Gabrielle Pollacco style of scrapbooking.  So I did this page in that style.  Hope you like it.

Entering in:
Simon Says Stamp blog/ Monday challenge:
Use a stamp challenge and blog hop.

Simply

Hi -   I told you guys already about my classes this weekend.  I am always amazed how when you take a class along with learning new things you are reminded of old favorites as well.  I love the soft way the wrinkle free distress technique makes your background look.  I like how when you dab the colors and they form little pictures.   I also love all the soft layers, the little dots of color, and how the colors pop.  on the bottom of this tag the purple splotches look like flowers.  So i went with flowers in a meadow.   What is you favorite technique? This week for the Simon Says Stamp.com Monday challenge is -Love this technique.
I'm entering my tag.

Thanks for looking!!

Fun and Creative classes

Hey all:  I love taking classes!! My local stamp store Stamp Asylum in Plano Texas has one just about every weekend.  This weekend the Awesome Paula Cheney was teaching there.  So thanks to my hubby I got to spend my entire saturday learning from one of the best!!!  The first class was an adorable configuration

box.  Filled with awesome tips, fun ideas, a new favorite color (Evergreen Bough)

The second class was a tag book with all the cool techniques.  I learned so much in both of these classes.

Thank you Paula for a fun and creative day!!

Honestly  everyone if you get the chance take her classes!!!

Morro Bay

Hi: For us this year was a traveling summer. Mostly we go back and forth from Texas to Colorado. Mainly because that is where our 2 oldest children live. This summer included a California road trip/camping with my some of my husbands Awesome family. Actually we really didn't camp, we stayed in a hotel and would drive to their campsite everyday. This is the kind of trip I love!!! For me it's stopping in places I haven't been before. We drove from Oakland California down the coast to Pismo Beach. In another post I'll tell you about the places we saw on the way. I want to tell you about one of the stops on the way back to Oakland to catch our flight. We stopped in Morro Bay. This is the quintessential quaint seaside community!! The views are beautiful and it has Antique stores and restaurants lining the streets. We had to have breakfast at The Famous Frankie and Lola's which is this tiny little restaurant where we waited a half in hour in line and it was totally worth it!!! We had of course the famous Lola's French toast,brûlée, soufflé flambé and Fried green tomato benedict. We ate out on the patio with a great view of Morro Rock.

. Thanks for looking. I'm entering this scrapbook page in - Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog The Challenge is- Stamp and Punch/Die Cut

Tickets

Hi: The Simon Says stamp blog Monday challenge I playing along this weeks theme is tickets. The first thing that came to mind was movies, then traffic, then concert. Well all week I've been working on a scrapbooking page for the concert that my husband Scott,daughter Nichole, and I attended last Friday. The concert was at Windstar casino which is only a couple of hours from our house so we left early to go checkout the casino, pool, and check into the room my husband had booked for us. You see the Keith Urban concert tickets and weekend was my birthday present from the two of them a few months back. We got there a little after lunch; checked in and went exploring. This was my daughters first experience at a casino. After a little while and I mean about an hour she and both of us decided it wasn't our way to have fun. Although for my daughters first experience she actually won money. A rare thing we told her. The pool at the resort attached to the casino was beautiful; one of those you walk into no steps. They had lounge chairs in the shallow end so you could sit in the water to get your tan. So thats were we spent the majority of the afternoon. Then it is time to go to the concert and I asked my daughter you have the tickets? Yes she says and pulls out 3 8 1/2 x 11 sheets of paper that our tickets were printed on. I remember when you got real tickets to go to concerts, sporting events, even the movies. Anyone else?? When I was a teen and in my early 20's I had a cigar box with them all in it. Sadly I didn't take them when I left and I'm sure my mother threw them out. Sad I know, but nothing I can do about it now. As I was making this scrapbook page I had to cut down the paper to get to the ticket. The interesting thing about this is you had to take the whole sheet to the concert the barcode they scanned was at the bottom of the page. Here's my scrapbook page.

We went to the gate where the checked our purses (backpacks), and climbed the bleachers to our seats and yes we had actual seats with backs and everything. The concert was amazing and I felt spoiled by my hubby and daughter!! I have to admit though I was thinking I love Keith Urban but, Come on an outdoor concert in August in southern Oklahoma I was expecting it to be hot right. Nope it was about 70 with a constant breeze. A more beautiful night I could't have asked for. Thanks so much Scott and Nichole (Colie)!!!! Love you both!!! Thanks always for looking!! Hope you like it.

Twisted Citron Thank You

Hey: If any of you out there are like us and have a few pets. Going out of town can be an issue. We are so blessed because we have neighbors who are Awesome . Chris, Taryn, and their 3 adorable girls take great care of our dogs when we are gone!!! So I made this little thank you card for them. Also as usual I'm miss last minute getting this in. This week Simon Says Stamp blogs Monday Challenge (www.simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)- is to use Twisted Citron- Hope you like it!!

We have layers

Hi- This month The Tim Holtz tag is about layering!! This was totally fun, messy, and I learned a new technique . There are so many products that make our crafting more fun. Working with gesso and seeing what it does to inks and stains was really fun. for this tag I used thinlet label dies (660060) from Tim Holtz Alterations-Sizzix. I placed them in different areas on my tag. The bottom layer came from the Paper Stash (8x8) pad the page I chose had a bunch of cool advertising labels on it. I cut a little school boy from the found relatives stash. Then I just kept layering with idea-ology nibs, pin, gears,game spinner, and a spring I found. Seriously these challenges are fun and spark you creativity!! You should join!! . As usual thank for looking!

Steamboat Springs, Co. And a new favorite Artist discovery

Hey: We got back a few days ago from Steamboat Springs. It was Beautiful and Awesome because we spent it as a family. We went for my daughter Kasey's boyfriends mountain bike race. Wow These athletes have to be in awesome shape!! 6 hours of intense terrain in 90+ weather. It really special because getting all 3 of our children schedules to be open at the same time is almost impossible!! Being off season We found a cute cabin (reasonable) with amazing views!! . The one at the very top. We went sightseeing so I had to take the picture of the iconic barn thats in almost every Steamboat Springs ad. . I also caught this bird picture -. My favorite picture my husband purchased for me from Stone Heart Gallery in Evergreen on our way down the mountain. In June I had lunch with my oldest daughter Kasey in Evergreen at the Willow Creek Restaurant. There was a large version of this painting there. I messaged the restaurant for the artist name. I'm now a huge fan of Julianne Miller!! Heres the picture we bought It's called "Once in a blue moose". As always Thanks for looking!!

Birthday Planner

Hi All: This weeks Simon Says Stamp blogs Monday Challenge (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/) is all about planners. I had to really think because I am awful about using planners!! So I decided to make a Birthday planner. I allowed 5 pages per month when I altered this composition book. I used some Tim Holtz paper I had in my stash to make the monthly tabs and front cover. So bling, birthday stamps and distress ink.

Girlie Birthday Tag

Hi There: Do any of you hoard just certain things in your stash? For me I love my Mon Ami Gabby bling, any Marion Smith paper (this mainly because it's so hard to get a hold of!!), and my Maja Design paper!! I love it, but it's so expensive. So I regulate the MD paper to scrapbooking pages, and then I keep all the scraps. This is a kinda sad post because I posting my entry in the CC3C Grand Finale challenge. This is the last one :-( . I've totally enjoyed these challenges!! I've learned so much from all of the woman on this design team, and so looked forward to seeing how they've viewed the technique in Tim Holtz's book- A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III. The last challenge is to use the Layering stencil Monoprint technique. Check it out (lindaledbetter.com) . Of course I used my favorite stencil Flourish THS032. I have to tell you I blended Picked Raspberry and Blueprint Sketch Distress Inks I love the purple they make!! . Tell me what you think!! My new challenge for myself is I'm going to master the bow technique that used my Richele Christensen and Paula Cheney!! I tried on this tag. I also used some of my coveted Mon Ami Bling. Not that easy. Since this is for a friend, so I'll be brave. These challenges have been sponsored by Tim Holtz and Mario Rossi, also this one by (thefunkiejunkie.com). Here are the products I used on this project.. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks

New Workstation

Hey There: For Christmas last year my husband gave me a future workstation. We started designing it on Christmas Eve and stated measuring just before the new year. Between work, corn hole games, traveling for work and just life; my project kinda got put on the way side. Once we (mostly he) started assembling the pieces it was the end of June. The pieces then sat just outside my craft area for about a month. And finally as of yesterday I have my new workstation up. I love it. Hope you do to!!. One of the questions he asked me was how much storage? Seriously you can't ask a crafter that. Then he goes well you don't need anymore dies right? I smiled at him and said of course I need more dies, and ink, and texture fades, etc.... The question I have now do I keep the bookcase that I used as a workstation or put it in another room?

Birdy Bling

Happy Sunday: I really try every week to make something for the Simon Says Monday Challenge. (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge) Some weeks time is not my friend or I squeeze it in on Sunday. I'm squeezing it in again. This week it was time management that did me in. This week the challenge is to use something other then regular card stock in your project. In June we had a scrapbook expo in Arlington Texas. Mr Holtz was demoing this metal looking paper ( TH Kraft-Core Metallic Collection) Yep fell in love with the paper, glaze, some stamps, pens,etc.... you get the picture, the budget went out the window. I have to say though my favorite purchase this year has been the Crazy Bird Stamps and dies. Kinda weird for me because I really don't like cutesy. It turns out they are just fun!! You can dress them up, 3d them, or group them all together. For my tag this week I used a Manila tag (normal for me), watercolor paper,and a piece of metallic kraft- core card stock (bronze). All these items are available at Simon Says Stamps. Hope you like my tag!!

I've got the pieces

Hey: Well I have the pieces of my workstation my husband made me in my craft room now. The assembly hopefully this weekend. Chary

3 Tags

Hi There: As you know every month I join the 12 tags if 2015 challenge from Tim Holtz. I love these challenges because I get to work on new techniques!! This month again there was sewing involved. A couple of months ago for my birthday my hubby bought me a Singer start sewing machine. I read the instructions, followed them step by step, and just started playing. I'm not proficient by any means; but I have managed a few straight lines. I decided back in April that I wasn't going to let the sewing win. So here are my tags (I made 3). I loved the Distress Glaze and the effect you get when you use it. I also have 3 of the small Stampers Anonymous sets, so I decided to try them all.Hope you like them.

Time for Tea

Happy Sunday All: Ever since I was about 12 years old I've collected tea cups and saucers. My paternal Grandmother Julia had a mismatched collection that my father gave me. I think they are beautiful little works of art. Over the years of course I've added to the collection via presents, antiquing, ebay. This weeks theme for Simon Says Stamps blogs monday challenge (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge/) is Coffee or Tea. My youngest daughter knowing my love for tea cups gifted me with the Brenda Walton Tea cup die a couple of years ago. I am embarrassed to say this is the first time I've used the die. Silly me, because these cups are so cute. I will be making more. Hope you like it.

A little rearranging and a project

Afternoon all: This is one of those work on instead of work in the craft room days. Today I'm a little excited though. This is my current die cutting station. My Vagabond actually straddles the top of this bookcase. The bookcase has actually been a great way to store my ever growing steel rule die collection. The lovely boxes well thats where I keep my embossing folders The magnetic board on the floor houses my movers and shakers. Today or tomorrow this is going away and I'll have a beautiful steampunkish workstation made by my husband. First though I must vacuum, unload the shelves, and move my garage sale bookcase out of the way. The project I'm working on . Hope it turns out.

Summer Colors

Hi There- When you look at an object what do you notice first? Pattern? Color? Size? Shape? For me it's the color. I also associate those colors no matter what their on to something. For instance orange and navy- Those would be bronco colors. So when I think of summer I think hot colors like hot pink, oranges yellow. So for this Simon Says stamp.com/monday challenge (simonsaysstampblog.com/mondaychallenge)I was inspired by colors.

Spray, mist, fun

Hi there: A lot of the time I forget I have journal that I can play in. Seriously doodling,spraying inks, stamping; there are no rules. I do at times oversaturate my pages and they leek through but thats part of it. I got out my distress inks and a couple of delusions and just went to town over a page I had doodled on. This week the challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge (siomnsaystamp.com/monday/challenge) is Stamp + Mist- Heres my entry- Thanks so much

Summer in the city.

Evening all: The challenges over at the CC3C (lindaledbetter.com/cc3cchallenge) are almost over; only a few more to go. I have enjoyed these challenges!! I have learned so much from these talented ladies over at the CC3C!!! This current challenge is on page 47 of A Compendium of Curiosities Volume III and is generously sponsored by Inspiration Emporium!! I hadn't tried this technique before and it was fun and easy. Hope you like it. .

butterfly over plaid

Hi Everyone: Each month to make sure I get to the craft table I pick the challenges I want to enter. I have my favorites. Tim Holtz, CC3C (which is almost over :-( ), and Simon Says Monday Challenge. This tag I made is for Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2015. I love these challenges because it allows me to see things from a different perspective. All of us are drawn to certain colors. Just look at your clothing. I love pinks. The first June tag I made had pinks and yellows. So my challenge this week for myself was to stay away from pink. Last week we were in Colorado and My daughter Kasey and I had lunch at this beautiful restaurant called Willow Creek restaurant,in Evergreen. The food was awesome, the scenery beautiful, and inside up on the walls were these gorgeous painting!!! One captured my eye. The artist painted a moose head in yellow, dark blue, and rust. I loved it!! So that is my inspiration behind this tag. . To recreate the colors I used chipped sapphire, fossilized amber and rusty hinge. I used the stripes stencil by stampers anonymous to make my plaid. And the layered butterfly die and matching texture fade. Hope you like it.