Lighting a fire.

A friend and co-worker got married yesterday and I took my granddaughter Claire with me as my date.  She was excited about going and was so inquisitive about the ceremonies and why certain things happened during the course of the proceedings.  Her curiosity was adorable.  Her Mom is getting married next year so it was a good experience for her.  She was the perfect date and we both really enjoyed ourselves.  It was also a very sweet and special wedding held in a creative space (coffee shop/church) and there were lots of handmade touches including a beautiful metal sculpted tree that the groom father made for the couple.  It even had their initials "carved" into it.  I didn't get a good picture but take my word for it...it was something they will treasure for a very long time.

After the wedding we came home and she wanted to "play" in my craft room.  Once there I asked her what she wanted to do.  After thinking about it for a bit she decided she wanted to make a puppet.  Ugh...sewing.  It's not my forte. I do have a sewing machine but it's used mainly for card crafting and fiber arts (as shown in some of my previous posts).  So I asked her to sketch out what she was thinking of.  "Well", she said "I want to make an angel puppet".  Knowing that her Mom was going to be picking her up shortly I said we could start on the body of the puppet and go from there.

After some discussing I realized she was after more of a doll than a puppet.  Again, I said we would get a start and go from there. Our first attempt didn't work.  Nice shape but too small to fit her hand in.  Did I mention sewing...ugh?  So, we went bigger.  It still wasn't working out and it looked more like a ghost than anything.  So I told her a little about some voodoo dolls that I had seen on Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/pin/54465476720762465/) and within the short amount of time we had the puppet ended up as a ghost/voodoo doll with some button eyes and a hand drawn stitched mouth and then it was time for her to go.

Our short amount of time inspired me to get back into my craft room today and make a voodoo doll of my own.  No true voodoo here but I did make it similar to the ones in the link I posted above.  Maybe one of these days I'll be able to come up with designs of my own but for now I have to settle for the talent of others and recreate in my own fashion.  I thank those and will always link in my posts when I remember where I found the Pin-spirations!

So, here's my date (she reminded me of Audrey Hepburn) and my not so voodooish voodoo doll!  Thanks for visiting!

Inspired by greatness!

As I've posted many times I am a huge fan of G45 but I am also a lover of all things Tim Holtz.  I'm not sure if I've mentioned his products before in my posts but I do use them often in my cards and crafts.  I follow him on Facebook and Pinterest as well as anyone I see that posts and/or pins anything by him.  So, I finally am getting up the nerve...and yes I'm nervous...to take one of his challenges.  I actually have a lot of his products that I've never used so I challenged myself to use all Tim Holtz.  Wellllll, I came close.  The figure is from an old paper doll book I picked up at a flea market several years ago, the ribbon is SU and the words that I cut out as part of the background are a Cricut product.  I don't have a lot of die cuts that are words, not do I have a lot of stickers that are words.  I'm sure I could have typed them out but I find that I am word challenged and nothing really came to me.  I'm sure it will later but I wanted to get this posted before I chickened out!  So, here is my tag (also my first tag ever created) for the Tim Holtz August 2015 challenge.  Be kind!

I also created my first spool, also inspired by a posting on Pinterest and yes, using G45 papers.  I posted a picture of this on my FB page and had some really nice comments.  I love the way it came out and am starting on my next one.  I found the spools at the flea market and they are so great that I hated to cover them but if I don't start using the goodies in my craft room I'm not going to be able to get into my craft room!

Beautiful Blooms and Baubles

It's been awhile since I've been to a structured garden.  Our house is more of a plant and pray type of set up.  It's more like Seussville than anything else.  The trees grow lopsided and at an angle or they grow with a piece that goes straight out of the top...quicker than the rest of the branches, or they don't grow at all.  We plant four and two die.  We can plant the same thing in one place and have it thrive and in another and watch it wither away to nothing.  Yes, I know, it's all about the soil, the ph balance, the moisture, yada, yada, yada.  Again...plant and pray.  My mother has a beautiful yard and garden...very well tended, very well loved.  Maybe when I retire I too can put the time into our yard and have the flowers, trees and maybe some creative structures that I dream and Pin of!

In the meantime I get to visit other beautiful gardens like the Botanical Gardens in Denver that are currently hosting the Chihuly Exhibit.  I fell in love!  The mixture of plants and glass....amazing!  The placements were odd and some a little Seuss looking themselves but so much fun and incredibly colorful and beautiful.  I haven't wanted to drag my camera out much of late but knew that this exhibit would not disappoint and I was right!  We'd seen some Chihuly pieces before in Vegas, the Bahamas and even in Breckenridge but never in a setting like at the Denver Botanic Gardens http://www.botanicgardens.org/.  It was a very warm, humid day with my hubby, my sister and her roommate Susan, but it was a much needed day out for all of us!  Enjoy some pics!  Just a few.  I took almost 200!  I actually like my shot of the first boat picture better than the one on the website for the Denver Botanical Garden.  Just sayin' :)

The boats were my favorite!

These were my husbands favorites.

I grinned from ear to ear to get this!

You could make big wishes with this one!

 Bug houses...I will be making something like this in my yard!

Bubbling brook?  Also one of my favorites.

More of the boats.

Classic Chihuly!

Stolen Moments

After the time I put into the first Explosion Box I made (previous post) I wasn't so sure I would make another one.  But, I was in my craft room today to do some clean up and organization....yeah RIGHT! OK, I actually did spend an hour trashing trash, organizing scraps and putting things away and finding my work space.  This gave me the inspiration to work on a project.  I had started an Explosion Box and put it aside because I wasn't happy with the way it laid out on the inside.  But, I took a second look at it today and started playing around with it a bit.  Three hours later...Explosion Box #2!

I've been working with G45's Botanical Tea papers and had some scraps to start the project with and was able to pretty much use up the scraps I had without going to new pages.  I'll confess that I did use a bit of new pages but plenty there to use for my next project.  Maybe for a start on the projects I am now several months behind on for the craft show in October.  YIKES!!!

Sitting down for the evening to load pictures I was looking at other Explosion Boxes on Pinterest and I have to say that I am not a bit inspired.  They would be great to hold a special Christmas ornament, a CD of special music, a decorated candle (in a votive holder of course).  Let's see if I get any sleep tonight!

I only took pictures of the outside of this one.  I seem to struggle with the interiors but it did come together nicely.  The flower was created by punching the same flower (Stampin Up) four times, curving the petals downward on three and upwards on the top flower, and by placing a large pop dot adhesive between each flower.  I glued a clear button with a ribbon pulled through it to the top of the stack of flowers.  I curled the thin scraps around a skewer to get the ribbons...it's a new favorite technique for my projects.  It may be a gift for a friend for her anniversary.

The motorcycle card was an image I pulled from Google and loved the rough version of the motorcycle.  It's difficult to come up with masculine cards and I very happy with these results.  It's a one and done since the image wasn't mine but would love to do a whole series of these.  I printed the image on velum.  Unfortunately you can see the adhesive under the velum in the corners.

 

This card was inspired by another one I saw on Pinterest or maybe on the G45 site since it does involve using Botanical Tea papers.

Blue, Blue, my worlds been blue

I wish I could say that I have been crafting so much that I haven't had time to write but it's just not the case.  Other than making my Christmas cards and starting on these beautiful pinecones I saw on Splitcoast Stampers http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/pineconeornament/ and making a handful of dry snow "globes" and a few cards here and there, I haven't done much.  I haven't even attended my fun and inspiring Stampin Up classes.   I just haven't been motivated. 

I work fulltime and things at work have been very stressful over the last six months.  I don't want this to be a downer post so I won't go into details but it has been making me somewhat blue and I have only been creating when it's been necessary and not for fun.  That sounds so sad!  Ugh!  I need to snap out of it because I have so many beautiful things I've seen that I want to try and so many pieces that I've accumulated that are screaming to be repurposed!

My wonderful husband bought me a tv for my craft room.  I had hoped that my time watching the Denver Broncos weren't being done with my hands not creating.  This left my craft room in total disarray and it took me a long time to get it back to where I even had space to make cards.  I did a bit of de-cluttering and this gave me a little more space but, I have a long way to go.

Okay...enough of the pity party.  

I am still in love with anything Graphic45 and have been very inspired by the papers and by what I've seen on Pinterest and on the G45 website.  I also always love a new challenge and have tried several of the new pop-up and box type of cards. 

So I'll keep this brief, post some photos and pull myself up by my bootstraps!

Oh my brain!

I need an off switch!  Ever since I've decided to prepare for a craft show "next year" my brain has been on overload and my wallet is being stretched!  I'm sure these are very rooky moves and I'll learn as I go but I hope they pay off.  But seriously....I need some sleep.

I've been spending hours on Pinterest and have reacquainted myself with Splitcoast Stampers.  I even posted my Bootiful card and one other on the SPC site.  Take a look and comment if you get a chance.  I've also hit the Flea Markets again but learned I didn't have to go to far from my front door to find some inspiration.

We purchased an old sewing machine a couple of years ago for $25 at a Habitat ReStore.  I never find them for this price.  I pulled the sewing machine out and planned to utilize it on my front porch where it has been ever since being very ignored.  The wood began to separate and I thought it was a total loss.  This weekend we found a good piece to place on top of the stand and my husband pulled the wood case off.  I looked at it and asked him to safe the drawer front.  I had already rescued the two small drawers.  As he put it in the trash I thought I wonder what would happen if we pulled the top apart...and I walked away.  Well, great minds think alike and my hubby did just that and I ended up with these treasures!  Wouldn't they make great frames?  Mirrors? Jewelry holders?  OH STOP!!!  I am open to suggestions.  Email me at kharen@comcast.net with suggestions.  One way or another they will be repurposed!  Wish me luck!

Its in the details.

The year is slipping away!  Halloween is over and Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner and sneaking up on us.  I didn't pull out the Halloween decorations this year.  Not sure why since it is my favorite holiday plus our anniversary.  Maybe because it was in the middle of the week and every weekend prior too was busy, busy, busy!

My sister and I attended our monthly card class yesterday and I heard her say that she hasn't spent the time in her craft room this year like she normally does.  Its true...neither of us has.  I have collected a lot of items (and pins on Pinterest) with the thought of projects but a lot of them are still sitting in bags in my craft room...UGH!  When I am there I am focused on cards made specifically for someone or making them as a special request which makes me feel so good about the time I do spend on them.  I know that the requester loves them and is sending them with love.  But the space is becoming limited and I might need to spend some time weeding out so that I can focus on creating and hopefully having my ducks in a row for a craft show in October next year.   I have a few things on hand but not enough to commit to a booth and I need to refresh for my own piece of mind.  This will only be my second craft show and the first one didn't go so well but I learned what sells and I have to realistic about pricing and inventory. 

I'm learning that people like my elaborate cards so I plan to have them available.  I didn't have any cards last time but my sister did and she sold almost all of them!  I hope to have photos up as I go along and will continue to blog about my progress.  At least it will give me some motivation knowing I need to track my progress.

My sister and I stopped into a cute little store in Longmont yesterday and I was inspired by a few things I saw there and want to try my hand.  I found few Christmas gifts there so it was a good place to inspire in more ways then one!

So, I wanted to post a photo of the card I created for my husband for our 16th anniversary.  He loves my cards and I think that this one is the best one yet.  The one he gave me was wonderful.  He may not make them like I do but he puts a lot of thought into the ones he does buy and always has writes the sweetest things inside them.  I keep them.  I'm not sure he knows that!  So, here are a few pictures of it. 

The papers are G45 and the frame on the front is a Jolee's product.  Wish I could find more of them but I couldn't.  I didn't realize it was actually a photo frame and it does make the card heavy but it had dimensional dots on the back so I just changed out the photo once I figured out that I could and added a few more to secure it. The doilies are cut out with a Stampin Up die and there is a jeweled skull on the upper left side of the middle of the card but it became mostly covered up.  I was inspired by a card I saw on Pinterest and followed the link to this blog:  http://sweetstampsblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/combined-challenge-139-anything-goes.html where she had a challenge for this type of card.  And here is a link to a tutorial on how to create a center step card: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/centerstepcard/.  I've also seen sidestep and center step tutorials on YouTube.  Maybe one of these days I'll do a video but that is a long way down the road.

This is a center cut step card.  I have favored the side step cards but this card and one I made for my son needed the room for the bigger embellishments or to accommodate a larger stamped item.  Now that I've done both it's difficult for me to do a flat card!

Since this was so front heavy I had to figure out a way to get it to stand up.  I suddenly remembered that I had seen another card where it had been punched through all the layers and a ribbon run through and knotted in the front and back.  I gave it a try and it worked!  I finished off the back and added a tag more to give it some weight than anything.  It's a good thing I didn't have to mail this card!

The photo in the center is of the two of us at a Halloween party a "few" years ago and it's one I didn't have but it has been sitting on my sister's desk.  Isn't it perfect for this?  I loved the result and my husband loved the card!