It's True Love

It's true love this card making thing.  Sometimes when I make a card I can't give it away because I become emotionally attached to it.  I wonder if artists feel the same way about their work.  Knowing of course that I am not nearly at the same level of a professional but still is it hard for a sculptor or a painter to let go of a piece of their work?

 Having asked that question when I get home from getting to know my grandbaby I think I am going open an account on etsy and see if I can sell cards.  

There is a part of me that does others to see my cards and pat me on the back because I am so amazing!  No worries, I recognize that I often have an issue with approval seeking.

The bigger part of me however is very selfish and I just want to make enough money to be able to afford my habit.

Do you see these cards?  I love them.  

 I rarely venture into black and whites because they require much more precision.  And lets just say that precision isn't my thing.

But when I do venture into the world of black and whites I always love them.  In photographs I actually love black and white much more than color.

I kept these simple because I think the black and white speak for themselves.  I added the ribbon because I felt like the card needed a little bit of emphasis.  I am not  

 in love with the red, but it was all i had.  Next time I think that a silver or even a deep charcoal would look stunning.

I love these and am not sure anyone will get them LOL, but I will definitely be making more of these.

By the way I used Close To My Heart stamps on these enjoy! 

 

Someday......

Someday I am going to.....
Someday I will.......
Someday I want......

My life is always about someday, not today, not tomorrow, but .....someday....

So instead, today I will write a new post, make a new card, share my joy in creating and know that through Christ I can accomplish all things.

This card was fun to make.  I am really into the vintage/weathered look.  For one, I am not good at perfection and it stresses me out to have to do something perfectly.  The other reason is that I just think that aged things have a beauty all their own and I love trying to capture that in a card.

So although I do make cards that require more precision and I enjoy it, my true joy is in making a more vintage look.  

The base of the card is one of the stampin up browns.  Sorry I really can't remember which one.  The background is stampin up whisper white cardstock. 
Utilizing my big shot I took a piece of Stampin Up whisper white cardstock and ran it through using a Tim Holtz embossing folder called distressed frame. 
After taking it out of the embossing folder I used one of my large background stamps with Stampin Up early espresso card stock and stamped the paper I had put through the big shot.
Using Tim Holtz distress ink vintage photo I just lightly wiped the ink pad over the top of the stamped paper.
I then very carefully ripped the paper around the edges of the embossed frame.
Using a small piece of Stampin Up sahara sand card stock I stamped the wings with the Stampin Up island indigo ink pad.
I ran that through the Big Shot using a Tim Holtz embossing folder called post marks.
Using the Tim Holtz distress ink vintage photo I swiped that over the paper I had just embossed.  
Glued it all together and then added some blue embroidery thread for a little more umph.

And there you have a very long post that took me longer to write than it did to make the card!!! :)
 

mixed bunch

So, as usual it has been a while.   I have been struggling so much with what I want to do with my cards.  It has been difficult because so many people say they love them but nobody seems to want to buy them.  So for a while I felt kind of worthless, blah, blah, blah.Then I had to remember that there are literally millions of creative and talented artists out there that never are "successful".  I am not nearly as talented as most out there so I should probably just get over myself.

 Then I bought a new stamp set that happened to coordinate with a punch that I already had and all of a sudden, once again i didn't care if anybody liked or wanted my cards.  I have a need to create and a love of doing it.  So I created........

created and I am so glad I did.  I love this punch and stamp set.  they are both from stampin up as is all the paper.  The stamps are called mixed bunch, the word "heartfelt is from a stamp set that has long been retired but it fits so perfectly with this set.

So out of my funk and my need to feel special and into just doing what I love, which is making cards that I feel I can be proud of and if they happen to bless someone else, well then even better!

Happy creating!

 

So i just love this paper from stampin up.  It is called nursery nest.  I used a stamp set called Aviary also from stampin up.  Honestly they have some of the best coordinating products I have ever seen.  

 The embellishments are also from stampin up, the flowers are a 3 flower punch from several years ago and the brads are a current stampin up product which my demonstrator gave me as a gift.  She has an awesome blog - procrastistamper.com her name is Kimberly Morris.  You should check out her blog if you get the chance.

happy stamping :)

stampin up and sizzix embossing folders

SO!!  I have been having so much fun making cards again.  I thought i had lost my mojo, but it seems to have come back LOL.

So these cards are a combo of my stampin up stuff and my big shot embossing folders.  and I LOVE THEM, WOOHOOO!!!!!

enjoy :)

 

found a camera

So my camera broke and I was so bummed.  it is not like anyone really reads my blog anyway, but I like taking pics of my work and posting them so that I can review them later.

Fortunately for me my girls have left all of their old cameras around and my sd card fits perfectly into one of the older cameras.

 This stamp set is from stampin up, it is called Kindness Matters.  It is one of their clear stamp sets.  I love those because I can never get anything straight but with the clear sets I can see exactly where I want to place them.  Works perfect for twisted people like me :)




Happy crafting everyone!

So with a renewed sense of purpose I made a new set of cards with some of my stampin up stuff.   I have to say I am pretty pleased with the results!

allie dog

So this was my dog allie.  I got her when we had been in colorado about a year.  I hated it, I was homesick and lonely.  So my poor husband in quiet desperation took me to find a dog.

As it turned out I did not find the puppy, my family did....and they were the ones to name her.  But my little family knew me.  Her feisty and loyal personality were exactly what I needed.

That little ball of fur was six weeks old when we brought her home.  All we knew was that she was a border collie/australian shepherd mix.  We had no idea  what we were in for.  We sure found out.

Plastic was her favorite thing to chew, she had a special liking for barbie doll heads, my girls were not pleased.  Allie delighted in chewing everyones "favorite" thing.  She dug hole after hole after hole.  One year when we were out of town our neighbors were watching her and they brought her a bone for thanksgiving  She dug up my two HUGE planters in the front room to bury them.  You have to give her kudos for creativity.

After 16 years she was old and sick and it was time to let her go.  It broke my heart, but she needed it.  She would have stayed by my side until the day i died.  Her life was me.  She didn't know she was a dog, she knew she was mine if that makes any sense.  Somehow for both of us life was better knowing the other was there.

I still do not understand the connection between making cards and my dog.  It's not like I have her paw prints and she helped  me stamp or anything. But for some reason since she died seeing pictures of her here or there sparks something in my heart and I need to create something.

There is just something about a dogs love that makes life different.  Allie was a constant reminder of unfailing, unconditional love often to an owner who did not always earn it or deserve it.

So happy crafting everyone.  Every one has something in them that is God given and it is pure and beautiful and creative.  Whether you can sew or mop floors until they shine, make a card, build a home or make a bathroom look like a place someone wants to sit a while.  I encourage you to experiment and find what you love and do it.  Even if nobody else cares.

birds and butterflies

I found some K&Company printed paper that just happened to go with my stampin up stamp set nature walk and a butterfly from a tim holtz stamp set that I own.  I loved making these cards and I am not sure I will be able to part from them.

the larger butterfly and the sentiment is from a tim holtz stamp set.

The bird and the bird cage on these cards is from stampin up nature walk.  The patterned paper is K&Company, the cardstock is all stampin up which is my favorite cardstock to work with.

I had so much fun making these, my heart is to create and make things that I love.  This set of cards fits the bill for me.

So i strayed from my usual cards and got creative with some other stuff i found around the house.  Let me tell you that pinterest is my new best friend!

 So the first pic is tea tins wrapped with yarn.  The flowers on the green tin and the brown tin I made myself.

 These are trader joe spice jars.  For both projects I used mod podge on the base and then wrapped the yarn around.  On the jars I also used mod podge on top of the yarn and then partially dried them with a heat tool.

 the upcycled tiles were super simple and fun.  I used the back side of these tiles because I knew it would hold the ink better.  For two of them I used ranger ink walnut stain on the base and then I mixed a little of my stampin up ink refill mixed with mod podge and a little white tempura paint over the brown.  To finish it off I framed the corners with a stamp from tim holtz.

And this is the end result!  On underside of my tiles I used some adhesive foam so that the tiles wouldn't scratch the furniture.  I'm in love!

quails and trees

So these little quails from stampin up are some of my fave right now to work with.  and I am also loving close to my heart treetops. It is good to be back in the swing of things and so rewarding to feel creative again.  Happy stamping :)