BOOM!!! hee hee hee

I picked up the new June 2011 (yeah -- JUNE) issue of Stamp & Scrap and they had the cutest card that I just HAD to try -- there are still a couple others, but here is the one I started with!

It's called and Explosion Card! How cute is this???

But, wait!! It gets better!! Look now -- it EXPLODED!!

I used my copics to color the butterfly - it has stickles on the wings and the little hearts - I used my Tim Holtz "Worn Lipstick" distress ink on the pink circle paper, and I used Core'dintaion paper (sorry - not sure of the name - it's the brown with green underneath).

The stamp set was from Stampin Up. It's from Merci (a Sale-A-Bration set) and the sentiment is from Fabulous Phrases.

Thanks for stopping by!

My First Tilda

Okay -- I gave in. At first, I wasn't sure about the Tilda stamps.... and then I saw the one with the tulips... (not to mention the ones I have on pre-order - ssshhh-- hubby doesn't know yet....) Tulips are my most favorite flower!

Anyway -- I've been practicing coloring. I used my Stampin Up water color crayons and blender pens. (My Copics are not here yet - hubby knows about them. But I am going to be limited in colors for now.)

I used my crayons, they are my most favorite medium to use. I'm pretty comfortable using them, so I thought it would be best to use what I know. Ya know? ;o)

Okay -- the Tilda in blue is my first one - just getting the hang of coloring her in - not much shading (there is a bit) and then I did the pink one - trying the hair/lighting techniques.

Now - remember these are not finished to use in a card - I'm just playing! I hope the pics are good enough that you can see them. Any help/suggestions that you can offer -- please feel free!!

I've also added a pic of them side by side to see the difference. Please don't pay attention to the smudges in the middle -- I had a little help from a certain little person with sticky fingers. And, no - it wasn't the hubby... ha ha

Leave me a message, and thanks for stopping by!

Finding ANY Groove

I am finally taking the time I need to work on the little things. So, this card is getting back to where I should be -- but I'm not all the way there. I"m getting there. This card took me the better part of a week. I got everything stamped and there it sat for a number of days. Tonight through the Super Bowl, I colored and cut. I stickled and brad-ed. (It's my blog - I'll make up words if I wanna. ha ha)

So this is a stamp set from Stampin Up - awhile back. It was a Level 3 Hostess set. (one of the perks of being a demonstrator for them!) This is one of my all time favorite sets in the world. At least the top 3! Okay -- so here it is. I think I like it. The ribbon is from the stash, I'm pretty sure it came from Wally World. I am starting to get the hang of distressing. So, the edges are done a little. The papers are SU papers from the Brights set. (When there was one....) If I missed something you want to know about - please ask! Thanks for looking. P.S. Sorry about the picture - it was either this one with a glare or one with a really bad shadow - I chose the lighter one.

Valentine Trial

So - -I am still not back to where I wanna be - and I was just playing with little things. These are from the dollar bins at JoAnns and Michaels. The stamps were the mini stamps out of the bins, the little sparklies are stickers from the cheapo section ( a bit more than the dollar bins... lol) I had a different idea with the paper doilies, but it didn't work, so I was playing around with them.

I did use Core'dinations (is that spelled right?) pearls paper.

One picture is going to be pretty bad, it had the flash on, but it shows the pearly of the paper.

I need to break out the Cricut and start getting swirly embellishments cut out, and background things. I think it would help more.

So this is the one with the flash, it shows the pearly paper better.
This one was stamped in "Ruby Red" ink and used all 4 hearts.
I punched out the hearts with a Stampin Up punch - has 3 different hearts on it. I ran them through my Xyron sticker maker, put my glitter on, and then ran it through the Xyron again the other way. If I left any details out -- lemme know and ask..... thanks for stopping by.

Baptism Invites and Birthday Princess

Well -- my boys are turning 8 on Friday - and I am working on the invites for their baptism day. They are turning out okay - sorta plain, but since the pink unicorns and sparkles were turned down (I know,crazy, right??) Sooo... this is what I came up with. Riley has been "red" and Braden has been "blue" since birth -- I always color coded them for family. We always lived so far away from the families, so it was just the easiest way I could think to make sure everyone knew which baby they were looking at! So -- that is where the red and blue comes in. The silver is just aluminum foil -sent through the Xyron to make it sticky - then I sent it through the crinkle thingy to give it a bit of texture. When I pulled it off the backing it straitened out more than I would have liked, but still wasn't just flat foil. Then, the CTR stamp (from Sunbeam Stamps) was stamped on Stampin Up cardstock with silver ink. Cut them out, and then put a layer of clear embossing powder over them to give them a bit of shine and seal the silver ink - - I hit it with a heat gun and still would smear, so I fixed that by sealing it! :o)

Now, the highlight of our day was celebrating the 1st birthday of our baby girl, Madilyn. I can't believe her first year has gone by so quickly. Here are some pictures of her this morning, wearing her princess crown we got at the party store. She was soooo cute, she wore it quite a bit today -even to get her brothers from school. How stinkin' cute is she?? (I admit, I **MAY** be a tiny bit biased....) But, everyone always says how cute she is -- that many people can't be wrong, can they??

And this evening, she got her very own cupcake -- and she loved ever little bit of it! She started out very dainty - just a finger or two in the icing.... and then---

As you can see -- things got a little out of control -- then she started getting tired - and rubbed her eyes, then the hair..... This is the final product - just before the bath! It was a great day -- even if mommy is too emotional about her baby having her first birthday! (that is a kitty scratch above her eye....)

Paper Quilling

I purchased a "for Dummies" kit of paper quilling. It had everything I need to start and give it a try without putting out a lot of money. It was "supposed" to be here for Christmas. Yeah, right. Thanks to Fed/Ex and it going "second day" (what ever THAT means) it showed up today. 10 days after it shipped. ANYWAY -- it got here yesterday and I've been playing a bit with it and some of these are still a bit rough, but I thought I would share anyways. I am starting to get the hang of it, so hopefully, they won't be nearly as rough in the future. I am currently working on the "wheatear" technique and making a flower out of it. Hopefully, I can post it soon.

Here is what I have done so far. (that is a quarter in the picture for reference of size, if you didn't already figure that out!)

~A heart~

~A Butterfly and Flower~

~All 3 in reference to the quarter~

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully, I will be able to start remembering to post my new crafts to this blog! I will try harder! Promise!

Embroidery

I made some kitchen towels for my secret santa -- here's what I've made for her - at least for the towels! I've got some cute things going on! These are "fringed". I love these patterns!!

I also made towels for the boys teachers for part of their baskets - the boys picked out the designs.

Pretty, huh?

These last 2 are some of the hanging towels that I've come up with. Not my pattern -- but I've done the sewing! :o) A little different than the average hanging kitchen towel! They are gathered in the middle and tie on the ends with ribbon. Thought they were really cute!