Time sure has a way of slipping right by!!!!! September is almost over. WOW!!!!

 I have been busy doing some Fall cleaning and haven't done much crafting recently.
I did however join a Halloween partner swap. I am not really into Halloween but thought I should try it anyway.
I made an accordion mini album in a tin , a Halloween layout and some pumpkin jars.
I just added a few mats and some embellies to the mini.

 For the layout, I used the Artbooking cartridge for the spiders, the web and the photo mat. I used stickles on the web, added google eyes on the spiders, popped them up and hung them with floss. I also used some black embossing powder around the mat.

The pumpkins are jelly jars that I paint with orange and black features. When I went to apply the 2nd coat, it just peeled off the first.!!!! I finally got it to work after painting twice with Gesso!!! They look really cool with a  flickering tea light inside.

 

So that is the extent of my Halloween projects!!!!!!!

I am still working on things for the craft show in Dec and making Cards for Soldiers.

Christmas swaps are posted on the Cricut MB so I will be starting those soon.

 

Hubby and I will be going to Nashville soon!!!! We have never been and I especially am looking forward to it.  My Christmas present I think. :)

It is labor day weekend and that means fall is right around the corner. Where in the world did summer go? August wasn't very summerlike here in RI, more like Sept.
I have slowed down a bit on crafting to get ready for the holiday swaps that will be coming up on the Cricut MB.
So while I am in between swaps, I continue making  cards for Cards for Soldiers. We can make everyday cards any time and then do specialty ones when they post a new themes. We just finished up Christmas in July and have moved on to Fall cards.
I am not a fancy card maker especially if I want to make quite a few. I tend to go simple with most of my cards and my layouts also. (Once in awhile I do amaze myself)
I sometimes like to use photos on cards so I decided to print some out and use a grid.  I found a grid in the new Artbooking Cartridge and printed it out at 5". I had to trim it once I  had it glued  to the picture but that worked out well. Just a little stamped sentiment and the cards are good to go. I used different cardstock from a fall colored stack that I had.

 

 

 I also tried out a masking technique. First you use markers to ink up your stamp. Doesn't matter where you put the colors really. They will all come out a bit different!!!! Stamp on the center of your cardstock. Take a cut out of the leaf and tape it over where you stamped. (I use removable scotch tape.) I then take some 1/4" tape and put it in a pattern around the edges. Once I have that done, I stamp over the whole thing with a script stamp. Before removing any of the tape or leaf pattern, I ink it up using my TH distress ink. Then I remove all the tape and the leaf. Not bad for my first try but next time I'll try to add a bit more  orange, green, yellow to the leaf as it looks too read to me.

Finally I took some of my scraps and punched out some circles and hearts to make these cards. Hearts are supposed took like a bunch of balloons!!!! The circles were punched from embossed papers I had stashed away.

So that is my card making for the last few days. I have a few more hearts and circles so I'll make a few more

 

Happy crafting everyone!!!!! 

 

I wanted to go ahead and post my 3 ATCs that are for my Fall swap that is finishing up this weekend.
I like to give everyone a challenge when they make these little works of art!!!!
Group 1 theme was APPLES and the style was VINTAGE. The challenge-- NO LACE

Group 2 theme was LEAVES and the style was GRUNGE. The challenge- NO BROWN

Group 3 theme was PUMPKINS and the style was STEAMPUNK. The challenge-NO GEARS

I have received some really cool looking ATCs so far and I will post the pictures once the swap has closed and they are all mailed back.

I used corkboard and  frayed some fabric which I stamped on my image for Group 1. I colored in just the apples and a little green grass..

For group 2, I used leaf cuts, a couple pieces of textured materials and covered them with metal tape. I emphasized it all with a  round tip and then painted it black. I wiped off some black and then added some orange and yellow and did the same thing. I added black chunky EP around the edges for a more grunge look.

For Group 3,  I used a pumpkin pie as the top of a heat embossed hot air balloon which I added wings to. Some mixed embossing powders finished it off.

Hope you like them and will check the thread on the Cricut Message Board to see how everyone else interpreted this ATC challenge.

Die cut projects

I am back from a couple busy weeks with crafting, summer cleaning, etc. Plus I have enjoyed this cool weather!!!!

I finished up my Cards for soldiers and also my Die cut swap projects. We had to use die cuts and make 3 projects for a partner. Because my partner likes Halloween, I decided to try a haunted house scene that I had seen on the Sizzix blog.  I used about 7 different die cuts, inked and heat embossed some of them to make that grungy look! I like how it came out and it was certainly fun putting it together.

 

 

 My partner sent me a picture of something she saw on the internet and  liked but  I wasn't sure if I could do it or not. I tried it and while it came out OK! I wasn't happy with the way the pages split. I used a large TH pumpkin die and cut out a paperback book in that shape. I inked the pages and then opened up the book and glued it to a stick forming the round pumpkin. I added some greenery and acorns to finish it off.

 

My 3rd project was a small shadow box using the bottom of a wooden box. I used tree die cuts, deer die cut and a star die cut. The deer and star were covered with tissue paper and inked. The tree cuts were painted and then snow was added. The 3D trees were TH and I used the same paint on them as the other trees. Again I added snow. All assembled it came out very festive looking.

I decided to try my hand at making a Vertical Mini Paper bag album. I found the videos instructions on You Tube and it didn't look too complicated. I am pretty intimidated by minis because the ones I have seen finished are beautiful and the couple I have done are just so-so. I am not big into embellishing these minis so this one looked to be right up my alley. LOL I followed along with all 6 of the videos and found that is wasn't complicated at all. The person doing the video took you step by step all the way from the beginning to the end. I actually think anyone can do this one!!!!
I will say that it is very time consuming!!!!! You have LOTS of papers to cut and you use LOTS of Scor tape. I also inked all my paper edges so that took time also. I like how my paper pack had some beachy  papers along with the other papers.
It comes out VERY sturdy and you end up with spots for at least 75 photos and journaling. I also added a couple more fold outs so that adds a few more spots. I didn't use many embellishments and the ones that I did use are not too 3D. I wanted the focus to be on the photos and the story being told.

 Thanks for looking. I doubt you will have any questions after watching the video, but feel free to ask me if you have one.
I will add the link to the You Tube instructions at the end of this post.

Here is the front, the whole thing fanned out and then some of the pages. The back cover has what is called a Waterfall  card. Added room for more pictures!!!Sorry for a couple blurry pics!!!!
Forgot to say that I do have to add my tabs.

Here is the link so you can make one for yourself!!!!!!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqcgJZKKLVk&list=PLAFfUWiVGTTAnpMJ1NN10C6vSu4RJRI6r

Hello everyone,
I have been trying to get some Cards for Soldiers finished so I can mail them off this week. It has been so hot lately that I haven't been into Christmas!!!!!
This week there has been a cool down and it was actually 55 this morning!!!! So I have a bunch of cards ready to mail!!!! Here are my latest ones. I used the same design with different papers and I don't know which one I like better! I used the Winter Woodlands Cricut cartridge.

Cards

The weather has cooled of a little today but it is still in the 80's. I know it is summer and it's supposed to be hot, but this humidity is terrible.

In between making frames, I have been doing "Cards for Soldiers" on the Cricut message board.
I am finishing up some everyday cards and then we get to do Christmas in July cards!!!
I went thru some of my scraps and came up with this basic design. (I still have lots more scraps I can use). I punched out some scalloped squares, popped them up on the card front and heat embossed various sayings.  Simple but nice and I get rid of scraps which I can never seem to throw away. I just might use up some holiday scraps the same way.

 

 

My partner received her ticket strips so I can post pictures of them now. The top strip has Aruba sand and shells!!!The bottom strip was an experiment using metal tape and alcohol inks. Not great but I sent it anyway. LOL

Thanks for looking.

Partner swaps

I can now reveal a few items I made for swaps on the Cricut message board.
My first project posted is another new adventure for me. We had to make a Domino book for our partner. Mine asked for Steampunk/Halloween. I'm not really a big fan of Halloween and haven't done much steampunk but I think I did okay!!!!
I used  3 different colors of Chunky embossing powder on the dominos. I grunged up the embellishments and added glowing eyes on the skeleton. For the inside I used Graphic 45 Steamounk Spell paper line.

 

My next project was to alter something recycled and my partner asked for something Fall themed. I had what I though was a great idea but it fizzled!!!

So I found some old 4X4 posts that were part of our old deck and made them into candle holders. I used the Elmer's glue method of crackling, then put on a few coats of mod podge.

I added some artificial flowers on the top  and  tied some raffia around the middle.

 

 

 

 

Altered frames

 Between finishing up some swaps  and trying to make some things for a craft show, I have been super busy the last week or so.
 I have a few frames finished. For these, I used the Elmer's glue technique. First you paint your frame with any color that you want to show thru  your top coat and let it dry. I used brown  on one and black on the other two . Then apply a coat of Elmer's glue. Once it gets tacky, you put on your top layer of paint.  I used white on all of mine but you can use any color.  Always use your darker color to paint the frame. Just make sure and not go back and forth too much or the paint mixes with the glue and the effects aren't as good.
Very simple and you get a great look.

Thanks for looking!!!! I'll be back with some different ones once I cut my new craft knife.

 

Here are a couple more than I finished up. I used regular printed paper, trimmed with a craft knife, sanded and inked all the edges and then added some embellishments.

Thee last 2 were done using chunky embossing powders. Both fall colors with one being more browns and the other is more reddish A very different look and I still need to add some embellies.

 

Thanks for looking. If you have any questions on how I made any of these, feel free to ask.

 

 

Configurations Tray

I hope everyone has survived these hot days. I have tried to stay either in the pool or in the AC whenever possible!!!
I joined a swap on the Cricut MB where we needed to alter a tray for a partner.
After taking the Tim Holtz workshop and making his configurations book, I knew I wanted to try the configurations tray and use some of the techniques I learned.

My partner's theme was Patriotic Vintage. After doing some history research and getting some input from my sister who is big into genealogy and history, I came up with my ideas. I went to various flea markets, yard sales and craft stores to find just the right embellishments to add to the little boxes. I found some game pieces, a horse, an eagle,  star and some military insignia. I also added a few things that were from my family but not sure if they were my Dad's, grandfather's or husbands.
 I used some digi patriotic paper in some of the boxes and then pictures of different historic events in others. You will see Betsy Ross, Statue of Liberty, American Eagle, signing of the  Declaration, & Paul Revere's Ride. I used TH tissue tape to lock all the boxes together. Inked and sealed it all before I added any of the items. The bottom right compartment has a battery pack so that Paul Revere's  lantern lights up.

 Now that my partner has received it, I can post some pictures.

Happy 4th

Trays

I have been working on a tray for another Cricut message board swap. I will be mailing it to my partner next week so I can't post a picture yet. I recently had the opportunity to participant in a Tim Holtz workshop in nearby CT.

 While I have never been a super huge fan, I do like some of the techniques that he does and have lots of his inks, paints, stains and ideology trinkets. At the workshop we used his Configurations Book for our project. This was way out of my comfort zone because I like everything nice and neat looking and there was also no theme what so ever to this book. I actually thought the doll was creepy but then decided to cut her in half!!!!!! Here is my finished book. I think I did pretty good for a beginner.

Front cover

Inside cover

Inside

Back Cover

I had so much fun with this, that I did a configuration tray for my swap partner.
Try one  and see what you can create!!!!

 Here are a couple trays  that I made last year..  No comparison with the one made at the workshop!!!!! I can't get over how "simple" mine were.  I am tempted to add lots more stuff to the two Christmas ones!!!!!

This one I used all ATCs on

                                                         BEFORE pictures

                                                       AFTER pictures added