You Old Goat

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies!

Yes, it is very hot here, so I am allowing myself to spend more time in the studio. Such a shame.....

As I have said before, when I first saw the Tim Holtz Hipster (Stampers Anonymous and Sizzix) series, I was taken aback and honestly slightly disgusted. But, they seriously grew on me and now they are my special pals. Their personalities are so unique and silly! And, depending on how they are used, they can be so versatile -- and so terribly HIP!

One of my favorites is this goat (although my first love was the Ostrich, here). Originally I had made a wonderful background for him with layers of Distress Oxide Inks, but when he was complete he looked so much more outstanding against this rich solid color. I embossed the background with LifeStyle Crafts' "Retro Squares" embossing folder and added a couple of strips of the Distress Oxide background to the front of the card.

Mr. Goat is stamped with Versafine Sepia ink and is watercolored with Distress Ink markers. HIs glasses and tie were done with Versafine Black and Glossy Accents were added to his glasses.

I made a little boutonnière with Memory Box "Adorable Posies" dies using Distress Cardstock. The sentiment is from the Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous "Crazy Talk" set.

For the inside I used a perfect phrase from Simon Says Stamp's "Happy Birthday Farm Animals" set.

Hot fun in the Summertime! Thanks for the visit and stay cool and hip,

Wining Again!

Hello, bloggin' buddies!

Hope you have had a wonderful weekend. Stinking' hot here, so some crafting going on! I haven't used my Art Impressions stamps in some time, so I got a set ("Celeste Set") out and got busy.

I like to combine paper piecing and Copic coloring to get some variety and shading. Because this gal is such a focus I decided to keep the background plain and I just added a die-cut flower (My Favorite Things "Gerbera Daisy) as an embellishment.

I particularly love how the couch turned out - it is pretty realistic!

I don't know if any of you have issues with Signa white gel pens.....they are great when they work, but I had to try several before I got one to write......I can't tell you how many of those I throw away every year. No more....I'm going to try (cheap) white acrylic paint and a tiny brush.

Thanks for the visit, have a great week!

Distress Oxydes

Hi, Blogging' Buddies!

I have a Paris-inspired card made with yet another Distress Oxide Ink background (hence the title of this post - I believe that would be how it is said in French - ha!). Layers and layers of color were added to watercolor paper and each was dried to create wonderful depth of colors. Love!

I have a wonderful new exercise class instructor who, besides being full of knowledge and positive attitudes, opens our classes with a little gem of wisdom and inspiration. Last week one of her opening snippets was about the Eiffel Tower, so I decided that I would make her an appropriate card to let her know how very much I already appreciate her.

I used my large Sizzix Bigz Eiffel Tower Die (an oldie!) and I embossed the entire die cut with some Hero Arts Platinum Embossing Powder. The background was stamped with a Tim Holtz/Stamper's Anonymous set called "French Market".

The stamp and die set I used for the sentiment is "Amazing" by My Favorite Things - such a fun and versatile set!

I added some crochet yarn and a charm from my stash and it is ready to go. Since I am such a Francophile, I have lots of products that I have saved over the years that, although they are rarely used, I can't seem to let go of.

Thanks for the visit - Au Revoir, mes copains!

Still Distressing!

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

I just can't seem to keep my fingers clean! I have lost many hours playing with my Distress Oxide Inks - I simply can't keep my hands off of them.

This is a quick bookmark I put together for a lady at church who helped me out the other day. Since she sings in the choir, I thought this beautiful sentiment ("Lord is my Strength") from Spellbinders was appropriate - the font is so lovely! It is heat embossed on a tag that I created with Distress Oxide Inks and the "Bold Floral" stencil from Hero Arts. The butterfly is made from 2 Memory Box dies (Kaleidoscope Butterfly and Moonlight Butterfly).

Thanks for the visit and have a great week!

Continued Crabbiness

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies!

Today I have another crabby card to share. I made this as a thank you for a friend who hosted us on a recent trip to Maryland.

I used my new all-time favorite, Distress Oxide Inks. I made this fun background with the "smooching technique" (another favorite). These adorable crabs - they just make me smile from the inside out! -  from Ranger's Dylusions "Clearly Under the Sea" set were embossed with platinum powder and watercolored with Distress oxide Inks.


The sentiment is from Little B's "Block Out" die set. I used paper from the Ranger Cor'dinations Distress Collection because it coordinates with the ink colors.

I have a hard time NOT reaching for these wonderful and diverse inks......I'm waiting for the pre-order of the second release that should soon be on their way!

Thanks so much for the visit!

Crabby Goodness

Hello, Bloggin' Buddies!

We just returned from a trip east visiting with beloved friends and family. One stop included visits with wonderful folks in Maryland. I got to check off a "Bucket List" item, eating Maryland crabs! Here in California we eat Dungeness crabs, so I wanted to try them. Here we are at a fun place in Baltimore, cracking and grinnin'!

I made a couple of crab-themed cards to show our appreciation for the great hospitality we were shown.

For this first one I used this super-cool "Rocky the Crab" die from Elizabeth Crafts. I put Rocky on a wobbler so he could really rock and roll! How can ya
not smile with this guy?!

The background is Distress Inks on watercolor paper embossed with Impression Obsession's "Shells" background stamp. The "Scripty Thanks" die, is a real favorite of mine from Lawn Fawn. I added a little twine to reflect my "knot-ical" skills!

A fun trip with lots of great memories! Have a "smile like Rocky" day! Thanks for the visit!

"Holtzing" Around

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

The heat has hit and I'm spending more time indoors. I had dinner with a charming young girl, the daughter of a dear friend, the other night. She told me a funny story about seeing an ostrich at a safari park.

It was time to crack open my new Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz "Hipster" stamp set! It took me awhile to warm up to these crazy and kind of weird deigns, but with the help of my inspirational and super-talented blog pal, Cheiron Brandon (she does amazing things - check her out!), I am now a fan.

I don't have the matching dies (yet!), but the components were easy to cut. This is a simple and bright card. I paper pieced the Copic-colored various components, and added patterned paper and Glossy Accents to the glasses. The sentiment is from Paper Smooches "Blissful Banners" set (an oldie, but goodie).

Thanks for the visit and happy summer!

Rockin' with Ranger!

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

I haven't done a challenge in quite awhile, so today I'm playing along with Simon Says Stamp.

Side view showing the "Z" 

I made this crazy  "Double Z Card" to celebrate the Fourth of July, a big day in our family. I love using Ranger products and that is what the design team used, so I decided to jump right in.

This card features lots of Ranger products: Distress Oxide Inks, Glossy Accents, Multi Matte Medium and Stickles. What fun!

I also used Tim's "Small Talk - Occasions" and "Crazy Birds" by Stampers Anonymous, an embossing folder by Darice, Nesting Star dies by Lifestyle Crafts and some patterned paper, a tag and an embellishment from my extensive stash.

I am adding this to Simon's Monday Challenge and Simon's Wednesday Challenge - the theme of both is "Masculine".

I sure hope you had a wonderful weekend - I appreciate the visit!

More Foxy Friends!

Happy weekend, Bloggin' Buddies!

Last month I posted a card I had made with Stamping' Up's "Foxy Friends" set and punch.

Do think foxes are the only possibility here?! No way! There are lots of ways to make all kinds of critters with this set.

Here is a set of cards I made for a dear friend showing the versatility of this set. I love them all!

Speech bubbles are from Lawn Fawn; tree branch is Paper Smooches.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend - it really feels like summer is on the way.

Thanks for the visit,

Ruh-Roh!!!!

Hi, Bloggin' Buddies!

Today I have a bit of a crazy card to share. We have a friend from our hiking group who is a big
Scooby-Doo fan - so much so that he even has a Scooby-Doo lunchbox that he brings on hikes! Yikes!

Years ago I had a great stamp set from Hanna-Barbera that I had picked up at a used stamp sale but I knew I had sold it (I figured that I'd never know anyone again who loved the guy - what a fool I was!). I was so upset because I really wanted to make one more card with it for our hiker friend.

Well, a few weeks ago I was going through a box which contained some very old cards that I had made (I can't believe that I saved them) and I found one which had these images stamped, die cut and colored!

I carefully cut them off and did my best to "remake" the card to better reflect what I do now, but I was stuck with the (dated) elements. I added some Wink of Stella, a fun wobbler, some google eyes and a wonky stitched frame die cut from Lil' Inker. Not my best work, but I'm happy to have been able to do it.

Talk about a walk in the past.......

Thanks, as always, for the visit,