Tim Meets The Girl's

The Girl's Paperie Paper that is:)  This paper is so beautiful.  I love how all the patterns have this beautiful, elegant touch with a bit of distressing.  Shabby Chic it is!

This is my take on using my new Tim Holtz stamp set and turning it into something a bit feminine.  Typically, Tim is all grunged up.  I like to take something and use it in a different way.  So this is my version of Stamper's Anonymous stamps and their feminine side.  This set is called Shabby French.  I've never used any TH stamps and it was kind of fun.

The sad thing is that I don't get to keep this card.  It isn't even going to anyone that is special to me.  Nope...it's a bit sad, really.  I will hand this over to my new Design Team Leader at Simply Scrapbooks.  Yep!  I made the DT over there.  Simply Scrapbooks is my "local" scrapbook store.  My friend  would disagree that it is local because it's about 40 minutes away.  However, there is no other "true" scrapbook store that is as close.  To me, it is local.  I have been very busy creating for them.  That is why there has been a lack of posting since I got back from camping.  Five projects due in one week...eeks! 

Speaking of camping, I discovered that taking a vacation is actually good for my stamping "career."  On both of my trips I was able to check my email once or twice and discovered that I had been asked to be on several new Design Teams.  I am really excited about them all.  I'm going to be a bit busy though.  I will let you know more about the other 2 later this week.

Back to my card.  I used some worn lipstick distress stickles for the first time.  I kind of like that stuff.  I was afraid of it for some reason.  I used  copics to color my stamp and then misted with the colorless blender.  This gives a very watercolored appearance.  I wanted those tiny flowers to pop a bit more and that's where I put the distress stickles.  I also sprayed my paper with Perfect Pearls and water to give the paper some shimmer.  I'm not even sure you can see it in the close up, but it's really pretty.  The butterflies were sprayed too!  That flower up on the left is more sewing pattern scraps from my daughter's 4H project and I created my own tag using Labels Eleven Nestabilities.

Speaking of that, BOTH my kids get to go to State with their 4H projects.  I'm so proud of them!  They both asked me though if they would get more money for doing it.  Amazing, huh?  Well, not really.  The 4H adviser
read them a story about a girl who bought a house with her 4H money.  I'm pretty sure THAT isn't going to happen here.  It'd be nice if we could just get back all we've spent on the supplies to make the projects.  I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen either.  You never know though....

I made this card with The Shabby Tea Room Challenge in mind.  It's a recipe this week.  One ribbon, Two buttons, Three die cuts or punches. My flower is made with the large scalloped circle die, Labels Eleven for the tag and an EK success border punch were used.

This is also for the Stamp Something Flowery Challenge.  I'm all about flowers.

I also love some of the challenges they have going on at the Moxie Fab World right now.  This is for the Card Style Shabby Chic and Vintage Challenge.  Go check it out.  It's fun!

Have a great day peeps!  It feels so good to be back to creating.  See you tomorrow!






What's In It?
Stamps: Shabby French Stamper's Anonymous
Ink: Antique Linen, Vintage Photo
Paper: The Girl's Paperie, white base
Other: mini mister, perfect pearls, copics, seam binding, kioshi buttons, labels eleven and big scalloped circle nestie, sewing machine, worn lipstick stickles, sewing pattern paper, twine, foam tape

An Inspiring Story about a Boy, A Man and A Family

A am so happy to share this card today that I made for a very special friend.  She was a coworker of mine and from that sprouted a very special friendship.  She introduced me to the miracle of adoption.  That the child you adopt may not be from your body, but they are meant for you. A true gift from GOD.  I had the blessing of watching her first adopted child when I lived in Michigan and I can tell you with all my heart that that little girl was like our third child.  She was an extension of our own family.   I miss her.    I recently found out that they are adopting their third child from China.  They are there getting him right now.  It's so exciting and I have been following their "Journey to Isaac" blog posts.  I made this card for them as a "Welcome" to the joys of having a boy (after a house full of pink and princesses).

Make sure you read to the end of this post for a story that may just give you goosebumps or more...

Here's the inside:

(click on the picture to enlarge)

I made this for several  challenges this week.  I love the fact that Isaac is coming from China into the USA so I could use Red, White and Blue.  This isn't your typical "Welcome Baby" card.  Isaac is almost one so I thought this image from the Pure Innocence Collection was a bit more fitting than a baby.  He doesn't really look Asian though.  I need more Copic colors:)  I wanted to point out that I colored the bottom layer of that star with Copics.  That way I was sure it matched my project.  Red card stock seemed too harsh.  Also, the layer underneath is a Labels 11 nestie and I had to cut it in half to have it span the length I needed.  One more thing.  My ribbon was folded in half and sewn because it was just toooooo wide for my liking.

I used Jen's SFYTT.  This also fits the challenge at JUGS and The Shabby Tea Room to use Red, White, Blue and optional Kraft.  Over at Stamptacular Sunday Challenge you were to include a tree.  CCEE Stampers is Nursery Rhymes...this is Little Boy Blue:)  The Crazy Challenge is 'something NEW.'

So onto the story...

I always tell my kids that each person is put on this Earth for a reason.  That no one is better than anyone else.  Each person has their own gift to share on this world.  That if you take the time to look for it you can learn something from everyone.  Sometimes the lesson is that you don't ever want to BE like that person.  Still, it's something.

While reading my friend's blog posts about being in China and their travels she shared a story about the man that is assigned to their family that will eventually bring them to their new son.  His name is George and he has been taking them all around China sightseeing, translating, being their guide, etc...

HERE IS THE STORY OF GEORGE (as taken from the blog post)

Want to tell you George’s story too.  His mother had her tubes tied after 5 children (before the 1 child policy was mandatory).  Six years later she started feeling sick, doctors diagnosed her with cancer, and she had two weeks of cancer drugs. Then, the old woman sharing her hospital room told her she did not think she had cancer, but was pregnant.  Sure enough, it was true!  Doctors said the baby would not be “normal” and gave her abortion pills…two rounds.  When these were unsuccessful his mother gave up and three months later gave birth to George. Divine intervention, George called it destiny, eventually led to him helping abandoned children become part of their very own families…God knows we appreciate the irony!

 I thought this story was a perfect example of the fact that we are all important on this Earth.  What an amazing person George was to be able to see that he was a gift to this world and to make sure that other children felt that they are gifts as well.  I feel so lucky to know this family and be inspired by their unselfish acts.  I hope this story inspires you too.  The message isn't about adoption or abortion; it's about realizing that we all have something in us to give...a reason....a purpose.  In a world where everyone is trying to outdo everyone else, trying to be "The Best", thinking they are more important.....  Truth is, we all come from the same place and we all end up in the same place.  We all need each other to do the " in between."


I hope that you share this story.  I think it's full of , well, inspiration!  ( I need another word that means inspire.  I sure used it enough in this story;)
Have a great Monday!
 

You're So Sweet in a Vintage Sort of Way

Wow!  It's a beautiful Saturday morning.  The sun is shining and my house is quiet. I know soon enough the kids will be up and my peaceful morning will become hectic with all the activity.  I love mornings.  It's my quiet, crafting, alone time with my friend, Mr Coffee:)  Today I wanted to share one of those 5 cards I've been working on.  This is actually the one that I got all done  realized I had made it upside down.  Luckily I was able to just switch the top panel around to fix it. Phew!

I made this using some NEW Digital Paper by Shawne called, " Sweet Thang Vintage. You can find it over at Studio 313 Exclusive Creations under the Earthy section of the digital paper.  I am in love with this stuff.
I used Mercy's Tuesday sketch (kind of) and added a chipboard base in the center that was painted with TH distress paint and then distressed even more with TH antique linen ink.  The cherries are from the Just Jawing set.  I decided to add some Diamond Glaze  and boy did it brighten them up.  Not really the look I was going for, but that's ok.  My sentiment is from Verve's Thankful Accents set which is another of my favorite sets. Because I used chipboard I am submitting this to The Shabby Tea Room again. 

I made something else with this awesome paper.  It has quite a few mistakes so don't look too hard.  This was my gift to my sister for her wedding.  Well,  part of my gift anyway.  My sister doesn't cook and her husband came with a "ready made" family.  So now she is trying to learn how to make meals for more than one person:)  Hopefully my gift will help.

I decided to share many of the recipes I have collected over the years from family and friends.  Most of these are very quick, easy meals that I use myself.  I love the idea of passing down family recipes.  It's like sharing a part of you.  I can't help but think of those people as I make their specialties.  I wrote everything out by hand.  There is something even more special about looking at a person's handwriting, especially when they are gone.  I have several of my Bushia's recipes (grandma in Polish) and I love to see her handwriting.  I really feelslike I still have a part of her with me as I cook.  So, I photocopied those Bushia recipes for my sister.  I hope she enjoys that as much as I do.  One lesson I learned while making this was that Alene's Ok to Wash It dries very sticky.  I wouldn't use it again for trim.  I'm afraid of how much gunk it will collect around the trim over the years.  The true gift is inside.  Do you write out your recipes still or do you print them off on a computer?  I hope if you pass them down to someone you write them out.  Years down the road people will look at your handwriting and think of you more clearly I'm sure.  BTW, the front of the recipe box says, "Good Eats" not "Good EARS as my husband thought:)

Thought I would share a few pictures of our day at the beach while in The Outer Banks.

( click on picture for a closer view)

This is the wedding day....starting with a beautiful sunrise

I don't have any pictures of the ceremony because I was busy holding my sister's veil down:)  It was a VERY warm day with gusty winds  and so pretty on the beach.  We wore shoes as we walked through the sand and got a GREAT exfoliation treatment.  Beach weddings should be barefoot I believe.  However, my feet felt pretty smooth from having sand in my shoe.

Here's a collage of the day...

We love to party it up.  This family LOVES to dance.  I have so many more pictures, but I won't bore you with them all.

So what happens after a day of partying with the Smoker family???

We are a wild bunch and we're sure to tire you out.

It was a really fun time and we are going to end this post on a happy note.

Thanks for hanging in there through family pics.  I have to say that the Canary yellow dress ended up looking OK on me.  My wild hair color tamed down before the big day.  A big thanks to VINEGAR.  It's a natural stripper you know.  I washed my hair several times with it to get that purplish red tint out.  It seemed to work!  Yeah!

It was really humid, but thanks to LOTS of hair product and my wonderful beautician Aunt  the frizzies stayed away.  Not Brillo pad in sight.  It was supposed to Thunderstorm that day, but NOPE.  So happy about that for my sister.  All that fretting I did and it all worked out ok in the end.  It usually does.  You just have to have faith.

Have a great Saturday.  I'll be back tomorrow with a PWCO sketch for you all to try!

It's a Lonely Love Story

Hello my dear blogging friends.  It's been a rough week.  I really haven't felt in the mood for creativity.  I have five cards started, sitting on my table,  just staring at me while I stare right back.  This morning I was committed to finishing at least one.  So I made this vintage card inspired by several challenges.
The Shabby Tea Room~ use chipboard
The Playdate Cafe Colors
(missed the deadline)
Card Patterns~ Sketch

As I was editing my picture I started to think about how this really isn't a "love story."  There is only one bird.  Maybe it's a card about loving yourself.  Let's go with that shall we?  I may make another bird and move them together.  I just didn't have it in me this am.  Besides, it would be like 4 more days before I could post it and then it wouldn't fit any of the challenges.  I think this may sum up how my week is going.  The other card, which I will share tomorrow, I adhered upside down.  Another good analogy of how I'm feeling this week:)

Because I'm in a foul mood, no pun intended, I will keep this post short.  I'm heading out to spend the day with my hubby.  I'm sure that will help and I'll be much better by tomorrow.

I wanted to share that my chipboard was painted with Distress Paint and then I dumped glitter on while the paint was still wet.  That gives it a bit of a different look.  Also, my chipboard bird was painted with Smooch and then aged with Fresh Snow and Sahara Sand ink.  Sahara Sand is a great ink to use for a variation on giving a project an antiqued look. IMO.


What's In It?
Stamps: Bo Bunny Cherished
Ink: Sahara Sand, versafine black
Paper: MME Quite Contrary, TPS texted DP, white
Other: Maya Road chipboard, wrinkled ribbon, distress paint, lace, glitter, smooch, button, twine, black pearls, sewing machine.