Early Morning

Just after breakfast,

I've been developing the habit of taking my coffee to the living room and going over my favorite magazines for crafting inspiration.

I have to confess,

today I'm still in my pajamas... a perk of retirement. I know I lot of you don't have this luxury yet, but you can probably find some time of your day to sit down and go through a magazine or book and see some little thing that will ignite a creative spark in you.

I seem to always need

an extra little shove to motivate me... and lately this has been it. 

Just wanted to share this with you.

Have a wonderful day, friends!

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

What Can I Say?

I'm so sorry, dear friends!

I've been in a creative frenzy, and have neglected my blogging duties. Here is a peek at what I'm working on right now...

a mini album using 

the transparency sheets Ros sent me. Believe me... this has been a challenge! My desk is utter chaos and I can hardly reach my keyboard to type... but I HAVE to finish this tomorrow. 

I promise to visit as soon as I can get this done.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

Experience

Another weather change

here. Much cooler and more rain. Yesterday we spent the evening watching the sky for tornados that didn't form, thankfully.

I haven't been able to

photograph any of my projects, as we only had sun two days... one some of our grandkids were here and we just had to play. The second we drove up to Brecksville. There is a Target with a full line grocery and I just had to get some of the multi grain bread from their bakery that we buy when we stay at the condo in Virginia (yeah, crazy I know... a long trip for two loaves of bread). Well, anyway... even with the rain today, I went ahead and took a couple photos of a journal page I did the first of the week...

I have been neglecting

my art journaling and felt I needed to do some creating with gesso and inks.

I brushed on a coat of Liquitex

surface prep gesso, then laid  Prima's Sunrise Sunset checkerboard stencil down while it was still wet. I dabbed on just a bit more gesso and lifted it... great effect. Dried it with my heat tool (hair dryer actually... still haven't gotten my replacement from Ranger... going on two months, I believe). Dabbed on some Vintage Photo Distress Stain, spritzed with water and let it run all down the page. Sponged on Distress Inks in Brushed Corduroy, Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo Stamped with a Bitty Grunge stamp and Brushed Corduroy DI. Put on some tissue tape and cheesecloth. Layered on 7 Gypsies paper scraps inked with Brushed Corduroy... stamped the top one with a stamp from Stuff To Say (both stamp sets are by Stampers Anonymous). I cut an arrow from kraft cardstock using Alterations Mini Old Jalopy & Arrow set. Sponged on BCDI and topped it with an Idea-ology game spinner and brad. Put more brads on the paper corners and glued on a Prima Junkyard Finding zipper that says "create".

I love the look of the

cheesecloth and the gesso squares underneath. The Penmaker wants me to make something similar on canvas, so I guess I'll give that a try some time soon. Right now I'm working on a mini album made with the transparencies that Ros sent me. It's not as easy as it looked when Stephanie Miller did it. I couldn't get the sheets to line up quite right... hope this turns out!

Have a great day, friends!

I'm linking up at:

 Balzer Designs - Art Journal Every Day
Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

A Happy Make It Monday Morning

As some of you may

have noticed, I've been entering most of my projects at Make It Monday for quite awhile now! This morning I discovered an interesting bit of information that undoubtedly everyone knew except me... that along with the featured entry and winning commenter, the DT also have a featured pick on their blogs! I did not know this until just a few minutes ago, and am so happy in that Lisa S featured Katie's paper bag mini album. Katie will be thrilled when I tell her. She's at Bible School, so I'll have to wait until this afternoon to let her know. Thank you so much, Lisa.

Today I have a card to enter....

It's rather more of a

mixed media project than just a card... so I thought I'd do a step-by-step through some of the embellishments.

I started with a quick

mist of Lindy's Maidenhair Fern Green Starburst and some dabs of Tarnished Brass Distress Stain onto a chipboard frame and grunge board flourish.

A coat of gesso...

then more of the spray and DS. I dry with my heat tool between each layer.

I rubbed some of

the gesso onto a Idea-ology metal ornate plate as well, then some of the Tarnished Brass DS. On went a thick coat of Clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint (frame and flourish).

Look at this fabulous texture.

This is the best crackle effect I've ever gotten.

The card base is

Recollections kraft cardstock along with black textured cardstock for the mats. The DP are the Kaisercraft 75 Cents collection.

I tinted some Golden

molding paste with the Tarnished Brass DS and put it on with my pallet knife using Prima's Poppies and Peonies mask.

While I was working on this,

my son Ethan walked in my studio, looked down at my waste basket and asked why I had thrown away a mirror. Startled, I looked in and saw the box top from my Puffs tissues with Vicks I had put there. Ahhh... an idea! I grabbed it up, gave it a thin coat of the Tarnished Brass DS and glued it to the back of the frame... perfect! I popped it up with 3-D foam adhesive. That butterfly in the center is from the 75 Cents 6.5 inch paper pad.

I finished with lots

of white flowers from I Am Roses and some Martha Stewart punched oak leaves... another of my heavy-weight cards! Oh, and by the way... the flourish didn't look right, so it's now on this pile of embellishments on my desk next to Ros's beautiful card.

Have a happy Monday, friends!

I'm linking up at:

Make It Monday - Anything Goes
Paper Playtime - Anything Goes

Papertake Weekly - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

Using Up My Stash

or at least trying to!

I would love to downsize

my stash. Not that I have a huge amount of product, but I do have stuff that I know I will never use because it's just not suited to my style. When I was preparing to visit Katie the other day, I pulled out several paper pads I bought when I first started out. Knowing they would still be sitting on my shelf for the next ten years, I took the pads along and they now have a new home were they will be more appreciated.

Digging into my 12 x 12

paper stash, I found some sheets I had forgotten about that are perfect companions for lace and pearls... The Girls' Paperie Vintage Whimsy (Frou Frou and Cottage Vine) and Melissa Frances' Hester.

The flowers are from 

I Am Roses, May Arts ivory burlap string, pink organdy ribbon from Michaels, a tag from the DCWV Timeless Type paper stack, lace from Hobby Lobby and pearl trim from Pat Catans. The Distress Ink on the paper edges is Brushed Corduroy and the dies used are Spellbinder's Labels Seventeen. The border piece was made with a Martha Stewart punch.

Oh boy... it's Friday!

Tomorrow we are meeting some of our kids and their families for breakfast at IHOP. Do you have something fun planned? Hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

Scrappin' With Katie

My bags were packed,

and the Penmaker and I headed off for some scrappin' time with our soon to be ten year old granddaughter, Katie.

This is my new

Rolling Scrapbook Tote by Darice (you can get it here). The Penmaker bought me one for our last trip to Virginia to carry along some of my projects. This case is absolutely great for carrying supplies... tons of space, lot of pockets and pouches... and half price to boot. I LOVE a bargain.

I finally had gotten some 

kraft paper bags in the small size at Michaels (they had been out of stock for the longest time), so we decided to make Steff's paper bag mini album. (Check it out here.)

 I gave some instruction,

passed the materials to Katie, and let her do the work.

The Tacky glue

bottle was almost empty and we had to take turns squeezing it out... hard work for her small hands and my arthritic ones. 

After four hours of

work, this little gamer finished her project, never letting up for a minute... endurance plus!!!

 Front

If you look close, you can see that she even used a stencil and added some molding paste.

Back

I am super proud of

our Katie. She has the makings of a first class paper crafter.

I'm linking Katie's album up at:

Make It Monday - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

(Proud Grandma)

Happy Mail And A Masculine Card

Our sweet Ros, 

aka Mikey's Mom, and I did a swap of supplies that we were both having trouble obtaining. The product she sent me, arrived yesterday along with this gorgeous card. This is going to sit right here on my desk, among these scraps, bottle caps, notes and wilting flowers, as my inspiration. Hopefully some of her talent will rub off onto me and my projects. Be sure to check out her blog if you haven't been there... lots of beautiful projects for you to see, like the fabulous necklace she did today for the City Crafter challenge blog.

Thank you, dear friend!

I'm still playing around

with DCWV Timeless Type and Kaisercraft Timeless papers in combination. These two work together so beautifully. Today I have a masculine card to show you...

This is on a black textured 

cardstock base with white textured mats. 

All these tags, banners

and labels are from the DCWV 8x8 inch stack. All are edged with Black Soot Distress Ink. As I normally do... I left the card front blank for a suitable sentiment when I give it away. I did a little machine stitching for more interest.

The gold pearl brads 

are from My Mind's Eye, and I used another of my son's soda bottle caps. This one has a button center tied with May Arts natural burlap string.

The banner is topped

with tiny buttons from my stash and more MA burlap string bows.

Tomorrow I'm going

to my daughter's to do some scrappin' with my granddaughter, Katie. We are planning on making a paper bag mini album and maybe a card, too! She is really into creating, and at nine years old, I want to help keep that flame burning.

Have a grand Tuesday!

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda