Mystery ATC Kit

After a long hiatus due to the move and me not being able to get my rear in gear I have finally completed a COF project. This one is a mystery ATC kit.

The hostess sent out different items to each participant. I received background paper with a music score, bright yellow paper, black plastic numbers and some fiber.

At first I had no idea what I was going to do but the music paper was begging for me to use it. Then the numbers jumped out at me and I though of Phantom of the Opera...don't ask me why...and the Song "Music of the Night" Well, that wouldn't work with the bright yellow paper so I decided why not play with it and make it "Music of the Day" So, here is my ATC using everything I was sent (which was not a requirement but I am really proud that I pulled it off)

The Music Score I used as the base of the ATC. The Yellow paper is the bright part of the sun, I stamped it and cut out just the center and added a bit of Twinkling H2O. The fiber is knotted through the watch. And the number is placed on the watch.

I had a great time making this ATC at a time when I needed a fun and simple art project to remind me why I enjoy creating so much.

I hope the group likes what I have done.

1st Communion Prayers

A few years ago one of the Diva's Adopted her son and asked me to decorate an adoption poem. Well, I guess she really liked my work because as a commemorative gift for her nieces going through First Communion she asked me to come up with three different designs for this poem.

Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sacrament of

the Eucharist You left us the outstanding

manifestation of your limitless love for us.

Thank You for giving this child the

opportunity to experience this love

in receiving the Sacrament for the first time.

May your Eucharist presence keep her

ever free from sin, Fortified in faith,

pervaded by love for God and neighbor,

and fruitful in virtue, that she may

continue to receive You throughout her life.

Amen.

It took me a little while to come up with three separate designs but I am pleased with all of them and think they are all very very different and because of that there is no way I can pick a favorite.

The top poem was the first one I put together. I used a dark blue solid paper as the background and randomly silver embossed the stars. The white paper in the center has been brushed with various shades of Twinkling H2O's. I broke the poems spacing up a bit more and increased the font size the further down the poem went which I think gives it a really nice effect. The clouds at the bottom are also brushed with the Twinkling H2O's and one set it slightly raised. As a finishing touch I added some flocking to the doves and used a fuzzy thread to outline the writing.

The poem on the right I used a decorative background paper on that has a few shades of blue and some swirls on it. To enhance the paper I copper embossed (half of it hand drawn) the ribbons on the sides. The angel was stamped and then colored with colored pencils. Her wings are also covered with flocking like the above doves and I used the same fuzzy thread to sew on the strips of paper with the poem typed on them. To finish this poem off I added two white feathers on the bottom with the recipients name on top.

This design is the first design that I came up with and it is what I made the marbled paper for (over a month ago). I did a little research into what old bible pages looked like. This is the closest I could get with my abilities. The background is stained an old linen and over stamped with a crackle stamp in tea die. This is the only poem that I directly printed to paper. The Letter "L" is black embossed on gold velum that I also stamped a very linear design on and highlighted portions of. The angel in the bottom left I thought was stunning and couldn't leave off even though she is a collage image and not something I made. As a finishing touch I added a few medallions that I painted with Twinkling H2O's to match the marbled paper.

I do hope that the girls receiving these poems love them and that the wonderful woman who I made them for is happy with how they turned out.

Big Sewing Project

Well, I had to wait a while to post this one because it was going to someone that occasionally looks at my blog.

This is my latest work for one of the many Diva's on Paper Back Swap. The theme for this months swap was 3rd Anniversary so we sent 3 gifts. My Diva this month collects Fiesta wear so I mad her a set of cocktail napkins that hopefully match.

I had never seen Fiesta wear in person before going and purchasing her a pitcher. The colors they had at my Macy's were not all the colors so it was very hard for me to determine if the fabric I purchased would match.

I stamped each napkin with a different female image from a set sold by Stampington & Co. known as the Unruly Girl Club which was just perfect.

This is the first set of napkins where i have not hand died any of the fabrics at all but it didn't make them any easier to sew together. I like how they turned out in the long run even if they don't have any shimmer to them. But time was of the essence and I didn't have time to test different shimmery paints.

For my Diva's daughters I put together two totally different pillows. The pillow in the front is for her older daughter and the one with the monkeys on it her younger.

I found the Monkey fabric and my DD just fell in love with it so I know it would be perfect for little Miss P.

The first initial of their name is stamped in the middle of the pillow using a block letter.

I was not so bright when I took the photo's and didn't get a shot of the backs. But they are able to open with a gigantic ribbon made out of the main fabric the ties them shut.

I hope my Diva and her daughters like them.

Summer on the Shore

Here is the sample for this week on One Powerful Hour. The theme is Summer.

I had a lot of fun making this piece I think because it reminds me of summers on the beach with my family but also because it is so glittery and shimmery which to me of course makes it even more fun.

The image is from Altered Pages. The Sun stamp was given to me by my sister and that is all I know about it. I painted the Sun with Twinkling H2O's and added glitter to a few of the rays and rhinestones to the tips.

On the Left I sewed two strings of gold beads with some red sea shells from Paula's Kit club. The fish are also from Paula's Kit club...they were gold but I stained them blue with Alcohol Ink.

Hope you enjoy!

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

I was watching TV the other day and saw a commercial for "The Vampire Diaries" a new series coming to the CW this Fall. I vaguely recalled the name and realized that it was a book I had on my To Be Read pile. So I read it.

Well, I was not into the book at all. However my complaints with the book will not bother me in a Television show.

The female character was a popular snob and the main male character seemed a bit week to me (I don't think this will be the case in the TV show). The romance also did not seem very believable, I think mainly because of Elena's personality. She goes after him as if he is a possession that she must have, not out of love and then all of a sudden she is head over heals in love with him.

As I already said the problems I found with the book will not bother me in a television show. When I sit down to watch TV (seldom) I like to be totally brain fried. I think in my reading I like my characters to have more substance and for the plot to be more believable.

When I started this book I was all set to go out and purchase the next (and last) in the series but now I think I will just wait for it. I am number 82 in line on Paper Back Swap. I do not see the Television show going beyond the first book in its first Season.

What's Your Style???

Well, it has been a long time but I finally got a chance to finish up/work on a Circle of Friends Journal. The rotation is actually done for the year but since I moved the last to members said that regardless of the fact that they would get their journals back late they still wanted me to work on them.

So here is the first of the last 2 remaining journals.

The theme for this journal was "What's your Style?" Have you ever tried to answer that question? It is not so easy. At least not in my case. I discovered while working on this journal that I have two distinctly different styles. A kind of Victorian Sheik look and then a Retro Glamor. Of course I use glitter and shimmer in both though.

So for the first page, the description of my style page. I decided I wanted to have a ying and yang but stamping on black paper is impossible so I altered the symbol drastically, but isn't that what creative licence is for...

I kept this page really simple more as a time saver than anything else. There is very little stamping, just the words and I selected a background paper that I thought was pretty and not so busy that you wouldn't be able to read the words. I added glitter too the two cut outs of the symbol and used it to separate the sides. The last touch was adding some diamond glaze to my name and the word "style."

Here is a quick preview of the two very different styles that I did for this journal. They don't go side by side at all but then again I think it is fun to see them like this.

Okay so this one is a redo of a piece I did about 2 years ago that I have never been able to let go. I even hand wrapped it and hand carried it with me during the move because I didn't want it to break.

I like to work with non traditional items to stamp on, hence the pop sickle sticks. Once they were glued onto the paper I stained the wood with some various water shades of alcohol ink. Then painted over it with a cream and sanded that down to let the under layer show through. One more step before I start adding thing, I stamped sea shells randomly all over and then once again did a little sanding.

After all that I finally added the image of the mermaid (Alpha Stamps) which I covered with diamond glaze and then surrounded with some German Scrap. The final step was the fishing wire strung with sea shells and beads. Lastly I glued down a bunch of mini river rocks.

The fish ephemeral was originally gold and it was a little too harsh in my opinion so I used the same alcohol inks as I did on the sticks to add a color to it.

And here is the Retro Glam page. A much simpler and faster piece to make but in my opinion not nearly as eye catching or tantalizing.

The background was created by stippling on various shades of distress ink and then spritzing it with water to get them to blend and smooth out. Next I brushed on the Silver Crackle paint.

The butterflies are chipboard that I covered with weathered wood crackle paint. The orange jello mold extraordinaire is cut out from a sheet of specialty paper send in a Paula's Kit Club, I had been saving it and this was the perfect opportunity to use it.

All the stamping is direct to paper and then I added some rhinestones to the tips of the spray thingies.

It is hard to tell but there really is a lot of texture to this piece.

And last but not least Since I am the last person to work on her journal I thought a quick and simple "The End" was appropriate.

you can't tell but the flower is covered in diamond glaze.

I had a blast working on this journal I just wish I could work faster and still accomplish the looks I love to share with people.

Social Butterfly

I got an e-mail from a frequent participant of One Powerful Hour asking me if I would share the samples on my personal blog so that she could leave a comment. So, here it is...

This week over at One Powerful Hour the challenge is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" not only a fabulous Cindy Lauper song but also a theme to one of my all time favorite 80's flicks.

I got the idea for this tag/bookmark after viewing a Tim Holtz demonstration on crackle paints and resist stamping. I had to try it out on my own and this was the result which I am very pleased with. The butterflies are chipboard that I painted with the Silver Crackle paint, I need more practice with the metallic crackle paints.

The background is a few shades of the Tim Holtz distressing ink all blended together. The main stamp is from one of Paula's Kit Club's isn't she fabulous!

Well, I had a blast making this and I sent it off to my sister with her birthday gift b/c she really likes my cheeky Reto pieces. I hope you do too.

Keepin it Simple

Here is the latest instalments of cards for Repeat Impressions. I received the assignment right after moving so I was a bit concerned with having enough time to make the pieces so I decided to keep them very simple. Something that is hard for me but I always love the results.

This top card I think is my favorite. The peace emblems are painted using Twinkling H2O's so they shimmer, of course. Around the edge I used a Red and Yellow DMC floss.

Both of the stamps I used on this card are from Wendy's newest collection Hip Chick

This card was not one that I originally planned but after working with the Peace, Love stamp on the above card I just had to make this card.

I wanted a 60's feel about the card so I used three different ink and blended them together in what I am calling a modern tie die.

As a finishing touch I added glitter to one heart, one swirl and one piece sign.

I made a matching/coordinating envelope to go with this card that I am not going to show here so make sure to check out Repeat Impressions to see it.

This card the idea was the easiest for me to come up with especially since I was moving and needed to come up with a design to send out to family and friends.

For this card we had to use one of the Flip Set stamps. Lucky for me, and for my idea we did not have to use all the images that the Flip set comes with. I ended up only using one of the images and cutting it apart. I love how many uses these stamps have when you take a minute to think outside of the box.

Wendy wanted us to make a card featuring her favorite color which is green. Yahoo Yahoo I love working with Green.

This card is a play off of one that a member of the Circle of Friends made for a challenge All things _______ shaped.

I am really disappointed with the quality of photo/scan no matter what I did I couldn't get it not fuzzy. I think it has to do with the fact that it is very layered.

The original plan had an additional affixing to the lower right saying "Just a little note" but when I put it on I thought it looked a little to planned and took away from the eye scrumptiousness.

This card also uses one of Wendy's newest line of stamps. Quartet Series Stamps

I stamped one of the squares all over the back and then on a separate sheet of paper that I had sponged with Twinkling H2Os I stamped the coffee cup covered it with Diamond Glaze and cut it out.

The ribbon is from my cousins wedding and I thought it was a perfect addition to this card with the lovely blue rhinestones.

And of course I had to use Etta :)

I hope you enjoy these pieces, I had fun making them and look forward to the next assignment. I realized when I sent off the photo's to Wendy that I have now been making samples out of her lovely stamps for a year now! Boy how fast time flies!