Marie a la Paysanne Cuff

Let me introduce you to my new addiction: Cuff Bracelets

I made this one for a cuff swap with my Marie Antoinette Group. The theme called for a natural style, like Marie at her Hamlet. I had such a good time making this cuff I am starting another one this week for a very good girly friend of mine.

The large applique flower was originally a stark white. I dyed it soft pink with Sherbert Glimmer Mist.  I hand stitched all the elements onto the cuff.

This is the back, but I suppose it could be reversible if you wanted.  I used some of the buttons from my mom's stash and pieces of a thrift store doily as accents.

I hope you decide to try making a cuff, but reader be warned... a serious addiction may soon follow.  Hi my name is

Pickers

My husband and I love that show "Pickers."

I'm sure that's what prompted the rummaging at our parent's houses this weekend.  That and my visit to the newly located scrap store in Payson.  They have a new button bowl which I had the pleasure of picking from.  See what I found.

Both doilies came from my favorite thrift stores; and look at the buttons I got from my mom.

I'm thinking of working on this photo for my blog header.  What do you think?

Wanna see my husband's pick?

Adorable right?  He put it above the cabinets in my kitchen.  You wanna know what I think is really funny?  The show "Hoarders" is right before "Pickers."  Are they trying to say something?  I think yes.

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Rosey Marie ATC's

The whole family went on an adventure yesterday.  We stopped at Subway and then hit the park.  It was crazy busy with all the spring break kiddos being off, but my girls had a blast.  Little Izzy is fearless and big sister Tessa is overly cautious.  I'm so glad Jason got to enjoy some of their day-to-day happiness like I do.  I call fun things in our life "an Adventure."  It makes the little stuff more exciting.

Speaking of adventures, do you ATC?  Aahhh, I love to ATC.  You really gotta get creative with such limited 3.5" x 2.5" space.  I created these Rosey Maries for a swap on my Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group.

I just adore working on Marie projects.  So feminine.  Yummy colors.  *sigh*

Happy happy day to you!

Grungeboard for Mystic

Are you ready to see what I did with my March design team kit for Mystic Paper?  Yes?  Good.  I can't wait to share.  So here is what I came up with using the Jenni Bowlin paper and the Grungeboard.

Last Sunday it rained and poured in Phoenix.  Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles right?  When my husband and I (Arizona kids) lived in Washington state for 2 years, people probably thought we were off our rockers when we stood out on the porch enjoying the forever wet.  So in good form, I took my girls outside to slosh around after church and they had a ball with the umbrellas.  I couldn't stop clicking.  These pictures turned out to look great with my kit.

Layout Techniques

Grungeboard Letters

     "Waiting 4 our"

1. Ink with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Broken China
2. Glimmer Mist with Patina
3. Cover with Glossy Accents
4. Allow to dry completely

    "Rainbow"

1. Ink top portion only of each letter in "Rainbow" with Tim Holtz Distress ink in Fired Brick
2. Spray with Patina Glimmer Mist to create blended effect

    Grungeboard Wings

1. Coat with Glossy Accents
2. Sprinkle with White German Glitter Glass
3. Allow to dry
4. Outline with Platinum Stickles

    Grungeboard Squares (Polka-dot textured)

1. Paint Mod Podge onto front surface of the Grungeboard
2. Position on back side of vintage dictionary paper
3. Flip the piece over and paint top/front with Mod Podge
4. Rub fairly firmly with paintbrush left to right and top to bottom in order to get the texture to stand up
5. Tear off the excess wet dictionary paper
6. Allow to dry
7. Use a file to lightly distress the raised areas of the textured Grungeboard
8. **(On my project, the reverse side of the paper showed up on the raised polka-dots - - - backwards, cool huh?)
9. Ink a spongebrush with Broken China Tim Holtz Distress Ink
10. Rub over the Squares
11. Wipe Squares off with a baby wipe

    Grungeboard Hearts ~ Mask

1. Punch hearts from the Grungeboard elements sheet
2. Position on Die-cut paper
3. Spray with Patina Glimmer Mist
4. Carefully remove hearts
5. Place paper towel over misted area
6. Roll brayer over paper towel for an even mist
7. Remove paper towel

Then I did a fun card.  My friends and I are always asking each other to come over and  craft or should I say "play."  Those incredibly fun girls (you know who you are) inspired this card.  I love the cut-out baby on the front from the Crafty Secrets Little Dolls pack.  Her outfit is only attached at the shoulder so you can see her cute tank and bloomers underneath.

Wanna Play Card Technique

Harlequin textured square Grungeboard:

1. Pearl Alcohol Ink
2. Aqua blue gloss acryllic paint
3. Tim Holtz Fired Brick crackle paint

Glue to card
Zig zag stitch on sewing machine

 

And last a simple wedding or anniversary card with a cool color combo and yummy Patina Glimmer Misted heart Grungeboard elements that I used as masks for the layout.

I am becoming slightly addicted to Grungeboard, ahh thank you Mystic for this beyond beyond kit.  Sending LOVE!!  Be sure to check out Jenna and Sheri's blogs to see their awesome layouts and cards with cool ideas for Grungeboard.

Thanks for visiting, (I wanna say I love you.  Is that weird?)  How about, until next time. . .

Treasure

So here is the treasure I picked up the other day.  I absolutely love it.  The lady is fabric and the outer frame is metal.  There used to be foam behind the picture to poof it out, but it has disintegrated into red powder.  Fun fun.  Just talking about it makes me want to go to the thrift stores this morning.  Hmmmm.

Do not seek the Treasure!

Ha ha!  I love that line from Oh Brother Where Art Thou?  My brother always says it to me when I come home from the thrift stores with pretties. Hee hee.

When I started putting this Treasure Chest together, I fell even more in love with the G45 papers.  The colors are amazing.  I created the "metal" look with copper paint, then Copper and Stream alcohol inks.

As you begin to enter your weekend, I would definitly ignore my brother's advice.  ;)  Look for treasure wherever your heart leads you; you never know what ya might find.  ~I've got a good find to share with you tomorrow.

Hugs!

Cherry Lucky

Two things: A little funny and a Sweet card

The Funny:

This morning my 3 year old daughter fell and started whining.  I asked her sarcastically, "Are ya gonna live?"  To which she replied, "Yeah. . . I'm gonna live at Grammy's house."

Ba-doom-chhhhh *drums/cymbals*

The Card:

Feeling Blessed,

Mystic March

Look at the beautiful kit I got from Mystic Paper for the month of March.

The paper is Jenni Bowlin's line Tangerine Dream and I am gaga for the colors.

We also got a ton of Tim Holtz' Grungeboard.  The package has 4 alpha sheets, 1 number sheet and 2 element (shape) sheets.  I also got several pieces of textured Grungeboard in harlequin and polka dot print, and circle, rectangle and square shapes.

This month's assignment is 1 layout and 2 cards.  Whheeee!  *that's me squeeling*  I can't wait to get started with all that yummy grungeboard.  Don't forget to stop by Sheri and Jenna's blogs to see the cool duds they got in their kits this month.

Stay tuned,

Live Filled to the Measure

Talk about scrap therapy...  This is another layout I did for my Graphic 45 submission.  I very rarely scrapbook myself, so this was really interesting.  The concept was emotional.  I'm trying to pull the good feelings out of life and use the horrible feelings as fertilizer to help me grow.  Ha ha!  I just realized that sounds a bit funny if you read it back, but you get me right?

In a moment of despair and breakdown I opened my bible to Ephesians 3:16-19 and used part of it for my title.

Below, I tinted the nightgowns on the paper from an antique white color to pink using Distress Ink on a sponge brush.  Then I used a "Magic Pen" from Mystic to highlight some of the details.  Just a little shimmer.

I want to frame this and hang it in my "happy place" to remind me of God's love, and how that love should (and can) fill me up.

On a journey,

I did it!! ~ Graphic 45 DT Submission

I was hopping around different sites a few weeks ago when I went to the blog of one of my favorite companies, Graphic 45.  They had a post stickied to the top about entering their Design Team call.  Boy was I thrilled that I didn't miss the cut off of March 1st.

I had 10 days for 10 projects.  (I told you I was working on something huge!)  Luckily I had a couple G45 projects under my belt that I felt were worthy.  ;)  Here is the first new creation, "I like em FAST." 

The new Proper Gentleman line is perfect for a project I'm starting.  I am putting together an album of my grandpa for my dad.  I want it to be mostly done for his birthday this month and for sure finished by Father's Day.  (Isn't my grandpa a dapper dude?  I love these pictures of him.)

For this one my inspiration came from the adorable Playtimes Past paper.  I used all different lines of G45 paper to create the Raggedy Ann.  The baby is me!  My mom still has the Raggedy Ann, and Andy too, in her toy box for my girls.

 

I am so excited and so honored to have a chance to be a part of G45's Design Team.  I am thrilled and proud to have met my goal by finishing and submitting February 28th.  For the 1st round they are choosing 20 finalists.  I will know the results by Friday, March 5th.  I had an absolute blast each night creating with the wonderful paper, I'm so glad I DID IT!!  :)

Come back tomorrow for more of the creations I submitted for the Graphic 45 Design Team.

 Yours truly, Holly "Dolly"