WOYWW 291

I'm stillllllllllll knitting. Size one needles, 172 stitches in each row, over 80 rows. I should have started in March lol.

But I did take some time to play with tea lights which come in different heights to the base apparently.

The base for this one is made to fit the tea light.

This one is a modified matchbox made with the Tim Holtz Match box die (ssoooo fabulous). The house is from Papertrey Ink's Make It Market kit: Tinsel & Tags addition.  I felt a little bit like the Red Queen because I was beheading the tea-light "flames" saying "Off with their Heads!".

More crafty spaces can be found at Julia's Stamping Ground.

December 2014 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

It's time for Papertrey Ink's December Blog Hop. This month's theme is Silver & Gold. I used the house die from the Make It Market Tinsel & Tags kit, a (battery operated) flickering tea light with the "flame" removed.

Night Time view.

I discovered that the flameless tea lights come in a variety of sizes. I made a small box the height of top of the round surface of the light so the light will poke through the box lid. I used a pair of scissors with very fine tips to make the holes in the bottom of the house (before attaching the roof) and the top of the box. The box lid and the house are both made with foiled cardstock. The bottom of the box is made with Stamper's Select White.

The foil cardstock is more difficult to adhere than regular cardstock, so I used Scor-Tape to put everything together. I used a line of Frosted Lace Stickles around the base of the house as a finishing touch. If the box was glued shut I would have added a hole in the bottom to turn the tea light on and off, but for this one that wasn't needed. And since the foil cardstock is opaque, it worked best with the windows punched out.

And because Simon Says Anything Goes, I'm including it there also.

WOYWW 286

I haven't been doing much at my workdesk lately (except for the card below). It's time for Christmas knitting. Only I get distracted. I get distracted A LOT, and I had ADHD so it's challenging to pick up exactly where I left off. So I printed the pattern at 200% and broke down the pattern into sets of 10. Because, I can count to 10  (or if I get distracted can sort it out). It's a lot of doublechecking, but fingers crossed I'll have it done in time for Christmas.  In case you were wondering it's a hat with 172 stitches, 2 colours on size 1 (US) needles. The things we offer friends in July lol.

My take on the snow challenge for Papertrey Ink, Dachshund Thru the Snow, which was a take on the globe I made for my father...

'Stache'n Thru the Snow. Which moves with the aid of a magnet under the globe.

Head over to Julia's Stamping Ground for more crafty goings ons : D.

Papertrey Ink November 2014 Blog Hop

Dachshund Through the Snow.  I used the Dachshund die from Come All Ye Faithful with Dark Chocolate cardstock. The antlers are from Come All Ye Faithful Additions, and red Stickles for the nose. The Movers & Shakers Spinner dies. Papertrey Ink November 2014 Blog Hop.

'Stache'n thru the Snow

Another snow globe made with the aid of Papertrey Ink's Make It Market kit: Tinsel and tags. The mustache is moveable with the aid of a magnet underneath the globe.

The tiny mustache is from Cricut Billionaire cartridge and is narrower than the width of a dime. It's glued on a piece of clear packaging. I used two cuts of the cardstock to insure it stood up to the movement with the magnet. The base is covered with white cardstock and Diamond Stickles with iron filings glued to the base. The snow man and tree are cut off the Tinsel and Tags circular die cut with a little bit of a base. I used the small banner and wrote 'Stache'n thru the Snow with Faded Jeans Distress Marker and is glued to the base with Glossy Accents. I used really inexpensive fake snow from the dollar store because it it lighter  and I felt it was less likely to interfere with the mustache moving around than the mica flakes (but I didn't test it).

Simon Says Good Old Days, and I used the snow globe with the fake snow and the tiny gold rick rack to give a vintage feel .

WOYWW #283

Current work in progress, just waiting to be assembled.  The tiny mustache, fake snow (the very inexpensive plastic stuff) all to make a 'Stache'n thru the snow globe.  The bit of blue shiney is a lindt truffle wrapper. No idea what I'm going to make from them, but I collect them lol.  It's been pretty quiet as I've started my Christmas knitting (a pointy hat with 4 gnomes on size 1 needles for starters lol). A very late start, I'm thinking I'm the caboose this week.

For more crafty spaces head over to Julia's Stamping Ground.

WOYWW 281

It's been a slow week in the craft room. But I did manage to stamp this image (Festive Foliage by Waltzingmouse) using the pointy ends of Papertrey Ink inkpads. Now I'm trying to decide if I want to find a piney pun or just a straight up holiday card. In the way back is the jar of snowflakes from Papertrey Ink's Tinsel & Tags kit.

I nearly had an MRI, but what they described as loud banging and knocking sounded like a deathstar charging. My ears are still ringing. I'm hoping this week is actually quieter lol.

To see more crafty spaces, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander.

WOYWW 280

Aftermath of crafting and organization. I bought the new Alphanumeric dies from Tim Holtz (and I love them), but the envelope was not gravity proof (I drop it and little dies fall out). So I bought some magnetic vent covers from my local hardware store and cut them to fit in the Avery Elle stamp/die sleeves with washi tape coding to find the three of them in a hurry).

Also on my desk is my small clutch of Distress Markers, and the domes I've been making. Along with the little mug I cut out and still haven't finished.

The information on the ornament on rhe right can be seen here. This one is allllll the creator of the kit and the dies in them. I just used them and picked out the colours.

The snow globe (with moveable deer) can be seen here.

To see more crafty spaces (and even join in yourself) head over to Julia's Stamping Ground.

Merry & Bright

An ornament using all the ornament layers from Papertrey Ink's Make It Market kit: Tinsel & Tags. All the cardstock is Stamper's Select White except for the snow layer which is Enchanted Evening. I used the small banner with the Merry & Bright sentiment stamped with Paris Dusk Memento Ink.

Snow Globe with Magnetized Movement

Simon Says Use Watercolors. The globe (half of a plastic ornament with the tab snipped off), house, deer and trees are from Papertrey Ink's Make It Market kit: Tinsel & Tags. The snow globe is glued to the rim (open circle) part of a one quart mason jar lid. The magnet doesn't work if the seal part of the lid is included. So if you make one as a jar topper, don't fill the jar with anything liquid : D. Since most of the elements are painted green, I decided to include it in the Artful Times Green Challenge also.

I painted the little house with Tea Dye and Vintage Photo Distress Inks smooshed on the craft mat spritzed with water and painted on with a water brush. The doors are colored with Barn Door The base is painted with Papertrey Ink Fine Linen and Iced Spruce Distress Ink. The trees are cut off the circle, painted with Iced Spruce Distress Ink and stamped with the small tree with Papertrey Ink Pinefeather. Three trees are folded and glued together to make them 3-Dimensional.

But wait, there's more.

The deer moves (with the help of a magnet) under the base.

I covered the base of the deer with Glossy Accents and then dipped it into a small pile of iron filings.

WOYWW 279

 A 5" x 7" Gelli plate I got on Monday being used to flatten some gold braid : D. A mug cut I just finished fussy cutting (cutting mat just put away). A small cluster of Distress Markers and a Christmas ball which will be two domes. A very mad max Christmas (thunder domes)? lol.

I also got my Great Wheel Monday. I'm still working out the kinks of getting the wheel to spin true so the drive band doesn't fall off. And it's a MONSTER, at least when it's in my living room/lounge. The whole thing is about 6 feet long, the wheel is about 48 inches. I can't get a picture of the whole thing yet because the chairs I had to move to put it in are still in the way lol.

It was built in 1865. I love the little details at the ends of the bench. The leg on the right is a piano. from the 1960s.  The leg on the left is a chrome shelving unit. My furniture is eclectic : D.

The wheel hub. Astounding light, maybe about 5 pounds.I swear the bench and legs are made of locust wood (some heavy heavy wood).

The business end of a Great Wheel. And now you can see how Sleeping Beauty could prick her finger. That is a stack of 78's on the piano which I play on my tabletop Victrola. I'm a bit of a Luddite, and I like to have some activities that operate without electricity as well : D. Can you tell I've had a lot of experience with power outages?

Head over to Julia's Stamping Ground for more crafty desks.

Mason Jar Stamping

Make It Monday #182: Mason Jar Stamping. I don't have a lot of storage space for seasonal decoration, so I went with a jar I could make seasonal with the fillers. (How do I still not have Friendship Jar: Fall Fillers? Oh yeah there are too many awesome crafty distractions lol, especially ermergawd, the Make It Market Co. kits!!).

I painted a small newly emptied homemade jelly jar with blue acrylic craft paint. The stamp is made with fun foam using  the Stamp-a-faire 2014 1980's mini kit cloud die, and put a little Club Scrap Mounted Glue on the back. I used Ashley Cannon Newell's advice for small stamps, and used my finger for the stamp block. I could really get the Versamark in between the glass shapes.

The pumpkins are from Daily Designs, stamped with Orange Zest, the frame stamped with Plum Pudding and then the background painted with Limeade Ice. A Gelly Glaze black pen was used to draw on the faces. The tags were glued to skewers The little bats (from a Halloween kit) were stamped on Classic Kraft and attached to some wire. The "stuffing" for the jar is Classic Kraft run through a Paper Crimper and then cut into strips. The wrapping around the lip is a strand of jewelry hemp and a strand of 2-ply handspun silk embroidery thread.

Simon Says Falling in Love with . . . in my case, stamping fall : D.

Happy Birthday

Simon Says Finishing Touch. The finishing touches on this card are extra layers of Distress Inks to add dimension to the giraffe and under the sentiment.

The giraffe and birthday hat are from Alley Way Party Animal. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things Life's Direction stamped with Rusty Hinge Distress Ink. The giraffe is colored with Scattered Straw and Rusty Hinge Distress Inks smushed on the craft mat and spritzed with water and painted over the image. The birthday hat is colored with Peacock Feather and Peel Paint Distress Markers with a dot of Glossy Accents at the top. Both the images are fussy cut. The pattern paper is both sides of Pink Paislee Vintage Vogue Corner Boutique. 

Virginia's View Challenge #8 is Clean and Simple.

squeal

As soon as I saw the sketch for this week's Paper Smooches  SPARKS challenge, I kept thinking of the hamster from Party Posse rolling down the slopes.  I drew out the lines and stamped the little "speed cloud" from Party Posse, then painted it in with Papertrey Ink Fine Linen smushed on the craft mat and spritzed with water. The Hamster is stamped on some scrap paper and fussy cut

WOYWW 278

It's been a busy day so one of my first projects is the last to be tidied (ish) up. This week's Make It Monday is Mason Jar Stamping. I cut the stamp out of fun foam and put some Club Stamp Mount It Glue (it stays tacky after it dries like Aleene's Tack It Over and Over which I also use). It's the little blue thing on my Versamark Inkpad. I stuck it on my finger so I could get the ink firmly on the glass over all the glass designs. All I have to do is find the handspun I want (I moved it last year apparently lol) and make the decorations on sticks. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy.

I accidentally printed too many copies of this bunch of Witch's Fingers Grapes, but photo extras have become my new canvas. I used the new Tim Holtz Alphanumerics to cut out the word "grapes" and the Papertrey Ink's embroidery border die to practice some cross stitching (aka analog pixelating). It will probably come as no surprise that my favorite line from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (movie) is when one of the grandparents says "I like grapes."

On the home front, (touch wood), no more problems with my hand. And a dream of 40 years is about to come true. I will be the proud owner of a Walking or Great Wheel next week. Now I just have to find a place to put it and brace myself to have people over. I'm not called Auntie Social for nothing lol.

For more crafty sight-seeing, head over to Julia's Stamping Ground and have a gander.

Update: A walking wheel is a spinster thing : D. It's the sort of wheel that has a spindle (like Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on). The wheel is turned with a hand (unlike flyer wheels where you sit and treadle the wheel while you are sitting). And by spinster, I mean a woman who spins (yarn or thread, not a stationary bicycle). There are a lot of these around, but many of them are missing parts, or the wheel is warped. This is a video I found on YouTube, she's really skilled : ).

updated again I've been a spinster since 1978, I have an Ashford Traditional wheel, a Lendrum and a Haldane, all flyer wheels, a charka and a varying quantity of spindles. But this will be my first Great Wheel : D.

Sizzix challenge

My take on the Sizzix Challenge.

 After embossing cardstock with the Sizzix Stripes Texture Fade Embossing Folder, I inked the raised stripes with Mown Lawn Distress Ink, and cut off some of the stripes to use as stems. I sprayed some tissue paper with Dylusions Crushed Grapes Ink Spray, crumpled it together and taped it to the stem with Tim Holtz Washi Tape to make the flowers, tying them together with a piece of cotton twine. The background is embossed with Tim Holtz Alterations Book Cover #2 Embossing Folder. The reflected window is picked up with the top of the Sunshine Window die. I used a few sequins to pick up the baby's breath element.

The inspiration.

Sizzix Products Used:
Stripes embossing folder from the Sizzix Texture Fades Embossing Folders 2PK - Harlequin & Stripes Set.
Sunshine Window die (curved top of the die-cut)
Tim Holtz Alterations Book Cover #2 Embossing Folder.

Other Materials: 

Tissue paper sprayed with Dylusions Crushed Grapes ink spray

Tim Holtz Washi Tape

Nicole's Spangles 10 mm White Iris sequins 
Tombow Multi Glue 
Diamond Stickles 
Mowed Lawn Distress Ink

 

Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Coffee Lovers Blog Hop. My inspiration is the 1983 National Coffee Association Coffee Achiever commercial. The slogan was "Coffee gives you the Serenity to Dream it, and the Vitality to do it!. Starring a who's who of 1983 celebrities including David Bowie and Cicely Tyson.

Fine pigment brown marker used to draw the frame and write the sentiment. The images are all from Crafty Secrets Coffee & Tea stamp set, stamped with Papertrey Ink's Dark Chocolate. The frame is stamped with Pure Poppy and is from Stampology.

The happy bean is stamped on the inside.

Flutterby

Simon Says Anything Goes. It's a spinner card with a butterfly made of three layers of tissue paper cut with the butterfly die from Pretty Peonies, stamped with the matching image in Soft Stone.

I cut a small piece of plastic packaging, folded it in half and matched it up with the butterfly layers. Then poked a whole and inserted a brad.

Then I put the brad through a paper layer of the top of the spinner element. I used the cut out of the spinner line to trace the space and wrote "flutter" in pencil several times. Then traced over it with a fine line pigment marker, then erased the pencil lines. I cut the spinner element twice and glued all the parts together. The top mat is attached with a single layer of foam tape.

Finishing Touch

Simon Says Finishing Touch. I used Simply Chartreuse cardstock (Papertrey Ink), some gold acrylic craft paint. Applied Wild Honey Distress Stain through Tim Holtz'  Dot Fade Stencil. The stamps are from Club Scrap's Solstice kit.

This is an interactive piece for someone going through chemo. The iron filings are in an Impression Obsession Shake It Square Pouch. It makes the lightest weight iron filing card I've made so far. Place the pouch face down, add some iron filings, remove the adhesive cover, add a solid line of glossy accents. Put a light weight on the back cover and wait until it has dried (I learned this the hard way). If you have spilled any iron filings wrap a magnet in a coffee filter and then pick up all the iron filings. Open the iron filings container hold the coffee filter over it, and remove the magnet. The iron filings drop effortlessly into the container. Much much easier then trying to remove the iron filings from the magnet. Trust me. I learned this the hard way too.

I used 2.5" square die from Spellbinders to cut the opening for the pouch. It's a snug fit, but can be opened a little more if desired with the edge of a scissor. Run a line of Glossy Accents around the edge of the Shake-It Pouch and put the cover over it, running a finger around the edge of the opening.

I stamped the Solstice image again on a scrap of cardstock and used glossy accents to attach it to the top of a very strong magnet (the weak magnets barely move the iron filings. After it dries I cut off the excess cardstock. Be prepared for your scissors to stick to the magnet while you cut lol.

Butterflies in the Sky . . .

I gave myself the Reading Rainbow theme song earworm. Make It Monday #181: Paper Casting. I started with one of the reading circle stamps and the open book stamps. Then I put down one layer of toilet paper and a circle of butterfly sequins around the circle stamp. Then another 7 layers of toilet paper. After it was dry I lightly stamped the image.

Simon Says Anything Goes : ).

Double Shaker Card

This shaker card has two separate windows. One for the acetate sheet stamped with buildings from City Scene. The second window has sequins. The windows are made with the rectangle dies for the Make It Market kit: Shakers & Sprinkles. The monster is embossed with Zing!Opaque White Embossing Powder. The patterned paper is from DCWV Indian Summer paper pad. The cardstock is Vintage Cream. The patterned paper frame is inlaid to the card front.

Simon Says Anything Goes : ).

Paper Casting

Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday #181: Paper Casting. I inked the flower from Rosie Posie with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink before I did the paper casting. When it had dried, I painted the flower center, the background and the foliage. It's stitched to two sheets of tissue paper with hemp jewelry twine. The background is Melon Berry patterned paper.

True Black cardstock makes the frame. The support is cut with Tim Holtz' Small Easel Die. Simon Says Anything Goes : ).

Papertrey Ink September 2014 Blog Hop

It's Papertrey Ink's September 2014 blog hop.

This month's inspiration.

I chose Smokey Shadow, Autumn Rose and Ripe Avocado as my colors.

And this sketch. I stamped the Smokey Shadow mat with the knit background stamp from Waltzingmouse's Faux Fun and Versamark Ink. The Buttons are cut with Buttoned Up #1 with Autumn Rose cardstock and embossed with clear embossing powder and tied with handspun silk embroidery thread. A little piece of foam tape pops up one of them.The leaves are from Make It Market Co. Beautiful Brushstrokes using Ripe Avocado cardstock and stamped with Versamark. The sentiment is from Say It With Style and painted in with a little Autumn Rose ink mixed with a little water. The cardbase and banner are Stamper's Select White.

Iron Filings

Also known as Eileen Fahleens since Princess Judy Palmer told me about them back in WOYWW Week 268. The easiest method I've found so far is to use these Shake It Pouches by Impression Obsession. And if you have the square set from Spellbinders, one of them fits it almost exactly (varies with the paper/cardstock. This is thicker cardsotck, so I opened it a smidge with the edge of a scissor. The magnet will stick to even a tiny group of iron filings. A really strong magnet is worth the extra cost, the average dollar stores set will not be very much fun at all.

The Shake It Pouches come with adhesive, but Iron Fillings are heavy and tenacious so I use Glossy Accents as a seal instead. Patience is required. Put the pouch upside down, pour in some filings, apply Glossy Accents, apply background cardstock, press the edges together (without picking it up). Set it aside to dry. Really dry lol. Make a cover mat, or cut a window in the card front. The pouches make a much lighter card than making a well out of cardstock.

UPDATED to add: I had no luck just "substituting" iron filings for shaker card ingredients because they are really heavy in comparison and very very small. So the adhesive sheets just didn't work for me. They need to be sealed in with something like Glossy Accents and then make sure there are no gaps : ).

And if you spill any iron filings, wrap the magnet in a coffee filter before you use it to pick them up. then hold it over the jar and remove the magnet. The iron filings fall neatly into the jar without having to be wrestled off the magnet.

These pictures were taken while the card was lying flat on the desk. Fresh from the salon monster.

Bearded Monster.

Rapunzel Monster.