Chic Chevrons and Jazz!

Moxie Fab World Chevron Chic Challenge

   As Cath herself says, "Oh My Moxie Fab!"  What a day I've had...feeling the heat of a summer day, playing with stamps that haven't seen the sun in ages, taking some fun pictures, and topping it all off with a world-class original jazz trio concert!  Nothing like celebrating creativity--in paper crafting and in music--I think I like the jazz style for both!  I've been wanting to do something with the trendy chevron idea, and this is some of what I came up with!  There's lots more fun, but we'll be busy getting things arranged for our upcoming move and renovation projects on a house we're buying in the "Live Free or Die" state!  Wanted to link something up to the Moxie challenge since I had such a Fab time imagining, playing, and creating!  

Bringin' More Bling

                                       

   The sentiment I came up with earlier this week for the CAS-ual Fridays Bling Challenge cried out for more play...and this is what I came up with!  It's been good to have something to giggle about with so much going on in the news.  Paper crafting gives me something to occupy my sometimes nervous mind, and well wishes go into everything I create.  It makes me feel better to reach out to loved ones and let them know we think of them each day as we count our blessings.  May you celebrate someone special today too!

Many Happy Returns Pard'ner!

   My nephew's birthday is this week, and the Play Date Cafe colors were perfect for my personalized card!  It's all about texture...an easy go-to for masculine cards!  I really love using this embossing folder in brown tones as it's always reminded me of saddle/tooled leather!  I finally used my new Tim Holtz alphabet die cuts, and I'll enjoy putting together some more cards with the same design using up the remaining letters...love a good word challenge game!

   Finished with a little sanding for distressing, and used an emery board to get rid of the pesky little bits left after die cutting.  Do you have another tip for dealing with that part of manual die cutting?!  I'd love to hear it!  

NASCAR/Ten80 Weekend: Or...35 Middle/High School Kids Racing Scale Model Cars for Three Hours...

  Spent the weekend putting on two workshops through MIT Lincoln Laboratory using a wicked cool STEM curriculum from a company called Ten80.  They've recently partnered with NASCAR to bring some really amazing educational opportunities through a fabulous package which teaches so many real world skills and exposes kids to engineering/ careers in science and mathematics.
  We had a blast, the kids had fun and exposure to the life of a testing engineer, plus they got to drive a wicked cool 1/10th scale model of a NASCAR vehicle.  Next up in the series will be a programming day, and running robotics-modified cars as part of the Lab's ROLL program [Robotics Outreach Lincoln Laboratory.]

Badda Bling...Badda Bloom

   This is just the challenge I was looking for to create a special folder for my mom.  It must be able to hold the letters from the grandchildren, and be suitable for prominent display in her hall or--my favorite--on her sewing table!  

   You can see the pedestal which inspired the colors for this creation...a tissue box I've been saving for ages.  I loved these bright color panels, and translated them to this card!  Have I mentioned I LOVE puns?  I couldn't help myself and embossed the sentiment for this in holographic powder both inside and out.

   Another plus:  I'm actually on time for this challenge!  It wasn't until after I posted yesterday's CAS-ual Friday creation and was going to link it up that I realized that deadline is Wed!  Oh well, I still had fun and in life I try to remember not to stress...

Badda bling...

Badda Bloom!

Go check out the challenge for yourself...I hear there's still time!

The Music of Buttons & Twine

   I am a multi-tasker.  Nothing like killing two birds with one stone.  [A gruesome idiom I realize, but I am on a mission to stem the usage decline of historic cultural references.]  Again, I am catching up with my weekly challenge interests and used this CAS-ual Fridays one to inspire this week's card for our piano teacher.  If you want to hear some jazz as no one but Eyran can play...check out his website and browse his YouTube channel too!  You won't be disappointed!
   Using those buttons I cut from the wine corks last night [see previous post for a little humor] I stamped them with a Hero Arts button set and colored with markers.  Next, I wanted something a little more unusual than just twining some buttons on, so I made a musical staff to make my button notes at home.  Left it blank so Rani can use this however he might want.

   Thanks to the Gal Fridays for an inspiring challenge, and I'm off to take the kids to piano...my own little concert I look forward to each week!  *Oh, and if you'd like to see another example of these easy cork buttons, check here.

Hors d'oeuvre Anyone?

   My husband and I had a good laugh last night after he walked in and saw this kitchen scene before him.  Please don't let your imagination get too carried away...it was all quite innocent, and as he approached closer, he could see the reality of the situation...yet with each step he was salivating and wondering about the snacking items displayed...the savory options....

   Turns out it was a wine cork I was cutting to make some buttons for the latest CAS-ual Fridays challenge blog.  And so you know...I did get out some goat cheese and crackers as a consolation prize!  

   I'm off now to make my Thursday masculine card for our piano teacher.  I have an idea to use these little cork bits!

Flower Power

from Pinterest

   I absolutely love Pinterest!  Check it out if you haven't yet, and I'll apologize now for pointing the way to more 'wasted' wonderful time spent on the internet!  It's like having a giant stash of push pins to save the eye candy you find when you're surfing!  I am usually a catalog page tearer and notebook keeper, but I have to say I like this method for storing idea prompts!  I always laugh out loud, sigh in wonderment/appreciation, and shout, "Wicked!" at least once, no matter how long a Pinterest break I happen to take!

   This cake is a pin from my Design board.   Since I saw this photo I've been wanting to white emboss some flowers And there's a flower theme for this month's challenge over on the Hero Arts blog.  Voila!  A card is born!

ATC Swap using Play Date Cafe's Color Challenge

   Tuesday means I'm usually scrambling to make something for the Play Date Cafe challenge which closes tonight at midnight!  I love this week's color combination, and I've had a fun day playing with an ATC series!  I was surprised to see how putting the colors next to the neutral grey changed their intensity.  I had many ideas...which is usually my biggest problem, but since I'm swaping ATCs with a stamper in Holland, we decided to use the same set: Exotic Decor from Hero Arts, and make flowers.   Narrowing it down to a technique helped me focus even further on the project pictured below. 

   I decided to do a series using masking on plain white glossy cardstock, and making my own glossy cardstock in each of the challenge colors.  I embossed and/or stamped with Distress Inks [Crushed Olive and Dusty Concord] then got out my trusty brayer to make the different colors.  Cutting out the masks was not too time consuming, and I like the effect I got after brayering the grey backgrounds.  My blender pens came in handy to use gradients of color from the Distress Ink pads--very useful for working within the same palette. 

   I like how these came out, and I hope my new friend will enjoy them too.  Perhaps you have some glossy cardstock?  Maybe a brayer?  Next time you need a color-matching cardstock, remember you can just make your own!  

Crowning Monday

   It's not like Kate's but one of those other little things that helped me postpone "Just Starting...."  It all began as I was eating my morning cereal...something crunched that was definitely not just a flax seed.  Upon investigation [I'll spare you the details] I discovered that the corner of my tooth had joined the ranks of rolled oats in the granola.  As a mom I have been prepared for 16 years to place any dislodged teeth in milk for rush delivery to the nearest DDS.  As the patient I thought--much longer than was probably logical or rational; and as an amateur expert in adhesives--that I should be able to save the lonely corner and reattach it...They're doing a lot with krazy glue these days, aren't they?  My dentist was interested in the piece, but confirmed my suspicion that interest was where it must end...ah well, it was worth a shot, right?  I mean that Diamond Glaze is wicked strong stuff...
   Well, to make a five-month story shorter...I visit the dentist today for the final crowning!  I have to say, it's actually been an interesting journey.  I've met some really neat people on the way and I'm always fascinated to ask why/how they do what they do.  Root canals shouldn't have such a bad rep.
   In the meantime, I'm starting work on an ATC exchange through the Hero Arts Flickr group, and I'm sharing a favorite--and frugal--crafting tip.  I've heard others talk about it, but I love pictures, so I took one of my dummy sheets.  Little pieces of scratch paper cut to ATC size--2.5" x 3.5" I can try stamping for composition before committing to cardstock!  A little trick from the publishing industry and a reminder of the days when my parents started a small advertising newspaper.
   I work out designs and create samples I file in a recipe box--instant inspiration, and I keep my masks with them as well.   
   So--how do you work out your designs and 'just start?'

Birthday Beginning

Birthday Beginning, a photo by debstamps on Flickr.
*Well...this was easy.  I apparently have the option to share directly from my Flickr account and blog a photo.   I am learning aaaaaaall kinds of new things now that I've started blogging!  
To make the card:  I dug out my ol' stamping wheels, and made this plaid background; embossed my Hero Arts Magical Background stamp on some green cardstock, and colored in the circle design with colored pencil--this month's featured technique over at Hero Arts [click on that typewriter to the right and you can go see for yourself!]
Next I punched some different circles from the panel, and used them to embellish these die cut flowers. also used a little chalk over the embossing in the largest flower.  Grouped them together for effect and I had a nice little birthday bouquet!  
What's your favorite way to personalize die cuts?  I'd love to hear your ideas!

Just Start

I’m not surprised really.  It’s been the story of beginning this blog for over a year now.  [I am a Rabbit, and we like to think things through thoroughly; plan for contingencies; arrange escape routes; have multiple options; then execute a detailed plan--ready for anything.]  Things happened which kept me from committing.  Moving across the country for instance.  

Deciding to transition from active duty military service “to settle down” we’ve zigzagged 5 times in the last 6 years—Japan-Maine-New Mexico-Washington-Texas-Massachusetts.  Oh—and we’re moving again in a month over the border to New Hampshire—ourselves. I’ve been spoiled the past twenty years having someone else do the heavy lifting.  I’ve moved 33 times in my almost 50 years and “An Adventure in Moving” has a special connotation.  Now I can share with my kids--in real time.  It will be fun…I can move my stamping supplies without glitter sifting everywhere no matter how I pack it…I think.  

While deciding to commit, I’ve kept busy creating for sanity and fun.  You might have seen something in my Flickr gallery, challenge blog or perhaps on a paper crafting website like Hero Arts.  I love making cards which is primarily what I’ll be sharing here.  There’ll probably be some glimpses into how I stamp life too.

I believe we each bring something unique to the party and I’ve enjoyed interacting with people I've met along the way.  I love to generate ideas, and lament there’s not enough time to get to all of them.  You’re welcome to share and build on them—collaboration is the soul of life—come back and contribute.  I’d enjoy the chance to get to know you.

Gee--now that I’ve started, there’s so much more to say…which is why—I’m almost positive—that Blogger has gone almost completely down on the day I planned to… just start.