You're Not Old...You're Vintage!

Just recently I received an order from Simon Says Stamp (an online craft supply company that I just love by the way:  Such a great selection, wonderful customer service, and affordable international shipping to boot.  Nice) and in it was this cling stamp I ordered from Art Declassified called Little Patriot.  I just love the look of this stamp and the company's design asthetic on the whole.  Plus, you know me...never pass up an opportunity to craft with a one-stamp-wonder if you can.  And throw in a tag for good measure and I am one crafty and oh so happy camper. Ah, the joys! The office supply store-bought swing tag was stamped with sentiments from a My Favorite Things stamp and die set which I seem to have momentarily mislaid. Eep! I think it is called something like Vintage Typewriter or Just Your Type or something.  The three distresseed stars are from Papertrey Ink's Est. 1776 stamp set, which I adore.  The dry embossed Nautical Star background was done with a provocraft folder.  And that's this card done.  Too easy!


Thanks a bucketful for stopping by.  Here's to a magnificent day!  

Well, What Do Ya Know...My 100th Post!

Who would have thunk it?  100 post later and still enjoying myself a plenty.  Just wanted to mark the occassion with a few air punches and a resounding Woohoo!  Thanks for each and every one of your lovely comments over these last 100 posts. I've thoroughly enjoyed reading them just as much as I have enjoyed posting. I do hope that you will continue on this journey with me and know just how much I appreciate you and our crazy beautiful world of papercraft!  Cheers!  

Supplies: 

• Stamps:  Impression Obsession Cover-A-Card in Quilt, Papertrey Ink Love Birds (sentiment)
• Paper:  Papertrey Ink Stampers Select White Cardstock, Lincraft Green C/S, Basic Grey White Basics DP (ledger), Melissa Francis Kitchen Kitsch DP (gingham)
• Accessories:  Spellbinders  Floral Motifs Die and Rose Creations Dies, Folliage Die (leaves) JustRite Stampers Label Die, Fancy Tags die, Pearl Brad, Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist in Cotton Candy, Glimmers Mists in Crushed Eggshells and Pearl, WRMK Corner Chomper in Scallop and 1/8 Corner Rounders. 

I've Got My Eye On You...

An eye for an eye, ICU, an eyeful...Who knows?  As you may have gathered by simply having a butcher's (butcher's = butcher's hook = a look in English slang) that this is yet another card born out of no good rhyme nor reason.  It just sort of created itself....as they do.  I have no idea what a card of this nature would be best suited for.  Maybe it would be a good one for an optometrist,  a magician, casino security, Peep Show patrons (eww), and Big Brother even.  Not so good though for those with paranoid ideations I would imagine.  And yes, I have resisted all temptation to start in with the one eyed and no eyed deer jokes, you'll be pleased to know.

I do know though, that this weird and slightly wonderful one was created largely with Tim Holtz's Stampers Anonymous Cling stamps.    From memory, it looks as though the collage-like background was created with smatterings from the Oddities, Splatters, Going Somewhere, Steampunk and Slight Alterations sets.  The tag's stampings (as I am hesitant to actually call it a sentiment) is from Papertrey Ink's Just The Ticket stamp set. I do enjoy a collage stamped background I must say and even though I have no idea where I was going with this card, I enjoyed this one too.  Ooh, and lastly, the flower is also a Tim Holtz goodie created from his Tattered Florals Alterations die with one random red and gold swirled die cut from...Lord only knows where, placed in the rear for good measure.  The gray top portion of the flower is actually handmade paper using wool.  Cool, huh?

Well, that's me done for today.  Thank you ever so much for stopping by.  Eye really adore when you do.     ;-)

Some Ghoulish Goodness!

I just love Halloween.  It's not a big celebratory event here in Australia, but I do do my bone-chilling best to bring a bit of ghoulish goodness to my home and family's heart each year.  Seeing that there is a fair swag of us, we generally try to mark the occassion with either a Halloween party or just deck out our home with a devilish decor and have tons of villainous victuals for all to enjoy throughout the day.  I have yet to get cracking on making the most spooktacular banner but I have a few ideas in mind.  I have though, gotten a wriggle on my Halloween cards.  These are a few of my favorites that I've made thus far.  The best bit about these three cards is that they were all made with Papertrey Ink stamps and some of which weren't even Halloween related sets.  Just Boo-tiful!

Off I go to get the Cuttlebug cogs cranking while I have a moment free.  Thank you so much for stopping by.  As always, It's been a tremendous treat.  Have a wonderful day!

On The Road Again...

Well not really, but one can always live in hope.  I made this card way back in June and just hadn't gotten around to posting in.  This card was relatively quick and definitely fun to make.  I used Papertrey Ink's Road Trip stamp set that I love, but unfortunately it can make me feel a bit homesick, so I only take it out to use in small doses.  When I've used this set in the past, I just went for the sentiments mainly and the broader map image as used in the background layer with the pinked edges, as it seemed more applicable to those in other climes.  But on this day, I really must have had the Go Hard or Go Home kind of attitude, as I went for the good old US of A outline image.  Love.  I bet too, it's the rather cool retro feeling of this set on the whole, that also pulled me in.

I also was able to use my Tim Holtz ATC die from Sizzix.  This is a nifty die, but I doubt I've used it to its fullest effect, quite simply because I don't really now what ATCs are or even what they are supposed to be used for if I am brutally honest.  Silly I know.  But I just love the die's natty size and cool retro fitted corners and I don't half mind using the die as I have done so here.  And lastly but certainly not least, I had to throw in a bit of corrugated cardboard on the card for good measure...as you do.  This stuff is such a hoot to use and the price is right too (free).  After all, a penny saved is a penny earned, right?

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a spectacular day!

Just A Note About A Note Card.

Have you ever made a card for no special reason, but that you were just mucking around with your supplies and wanted to see what happened if you did this or did that?  Seemily driven by something not necessarily evident at the time.  Well this rather bedraggled number is the end result of such a crafting session.  I made this a while ago when I had received my first Tim Holtz Distress Ink Stains and some new Glimmer Mists from Tattered Angels.  So this rather oxidized looking cardstock started off life as a crisp piece of Papertrey Ink Ocean Tides cardstock that was stamped initially with Versamark using one of the larger Fleur De Lys stamps from PTI's Embellishments stamp set.  I (impatiently) waited for the Versamark to dry and ended up giving it a wee toot with the heat gun, as it was really taking so long with very little effect.  After all that, I could hardly see the fleur de lys so I decide to give Vintage Photo Distress Stain a whirl.

I must say as a veteran enjoyer of Distress Inks, I found the use of Stains an all together wetter and less controllable experience truth be told and one I don't know that I see the benefits of, other than in covering (read: saturating) larger areas of paper quicker while maintaining the density of the color of the Stain. Yes, the jury is still out.  So after stepping back and having a look at the failed Versamarking and the now Stained Ocean Tides cardstock, it looked like an over-aged bit of scraggly paper that wasn't so interesting and fairly warped.  Sigh.

In an attempt to salvage the much coveted bit of Papertrey Ink cardstock, I decided to run it through the Cuttlebug with the Woodgrain Impression Plate by Papertrey Ink.  This is a much loved and often used tool from PTI and one I'd heartily reccommend.   It seems to add interest to just about everything from die cuts, to background layers and everything in between.  Luckily too, this also straightened out the bent card fairly well.  Phew!

Just because I couldn't help myself, I shook (and on hindsight that was my first mistake) and sprayed Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Coffee Shop straight onto the besieged card base at point blank range (mistake number two).  Yep, you guessed it, I didn't know that one must hold the card or item being glimmered at least an arm's reach away and waft the base through the shower of (stirred not shaken) mist as one would do with a fine perfume.   Hence, the globs that splatted onto my base.  Eek!  Oh well, even though I did learn to not employ my rather rough as guts technique forevermore, unless splats were what I was definitely after, but I think it sort of worked on this patently experimental card.

Luckily, the rest of the card was fairly straight forward and just involved using my tried and true Distress Inks, good old Memento ink and a trusty shipping tag.  The stamped images and text was from Waltzingmouse Stamps and Papertrey Ink.  I know that the sentiment is from PTI but I don't recall if the text stamped under the frill was as well or if that belonges to Waltzingmouse Stamps.  It is definitely one or the other.  The nifty Asian-inspired tiling is from Waltzingmouse Stamps for sure.  The bookplate is a Tim Holtz goodie from his large Shipping Tag die from Sizzix. Oddly enough, I rarely use the large tag as it is indeed a large'un, but get tons of use from the two bookplate options included on the same die.  The buttons are cool and are authentically vintage treats complete with the original threads still in the holes.  I just love that.  So, they just needed a bit of glueing on top of the mint green vintage tassle, also from my stash, and Robert's your mother's brother.

This card has long since sold and has ended up being one that I think of often.  Not only because I was truly crafting out of my comfort zone, which I certainly was, but because it ended up being a likable card born out of happy (and some not so happy) accidents.  I kind of think about it as a diamond in the rough, that stayed rough and was still admired.  The woman who bought this card from me said it was going to her friend that was in rehab and that it reminded her of her...her diamond in the rough , who was rising up through adversity and still continuing to shine despite all that she had been through and thought this card would suit her to a T.  How cool is that!   Perfect.

Thanks for letting me share with you yet a bit more about my musings in craft.  Do know it means the world to me.  Have an inspired day!