I Was Brave

I made a few more Marci girls and Shrink Dinks as well. I was brave and posted these Marci on La-La Land Crafts' Facebook and held my breath. I needn't have worried, I received such wonderfully encouraging responses, the first one from the Irina Blount, the one who created these adorable stamps!

That site is loaded with Copic marker artists, which I'm not, I only have one Copic marker and it's a clear blending one. I thought I'd get silently laughed off the site, but most said they were very impressed with the paper-piecing I do and even inspired a few to give it a go. It made my day.

New Dies!
Dawn and I spotted these dies, specifically the inkwell and quill, a while ago and she's been scoping out auctions for a good price. The lowest she found usually ended around $17, until now!

She sent me an auction for one up for $9.99 and I won it for that. AN-DUH! The same seller had the scroll as well and I won that as well. Go, us!

Shrinky Dinks & More

I miniaturized one of my La-La Land Crafts Marci stamps! Not puffing my chest, but I think she's adorable! It was time-consuming, but so are the regular-sized ones. The important thing is I had fun making them.

Alcohol-based permanent markers are key to success with non-porous surfaces. I don't own any of the cost-prohibitive Copic Markers (that's a lie, I have one, a blender), I pulled out my Sharpies and a little brown Staz-On ink w/paint brush for her hair. They worked great, I just need to borrow a few more colors from my daughter next time.

I placed rhinestones on her shoes and pony tails, and tied a little bow at her waist with two strands of pink thread. I added a coat of Glossy Accents to her hair to give her some depth. I'm thinking of making a pin out of her and maybe putting a hole at the top the head for necklace if I make another one.

My sister commissioned me to make a thank you card for a friend with brown hair. This is what I came up with.

I made the little bench from a piece of balsa wood, no die, from scratch! I tickled with how it turned out.

I even made a matching envelope! My sister loved it. She texted me today and said she had it out by her computer so she could admire it before giving it away. I love her so much.

Made A Few More Cards

I so enjoyed making these little girls from the Marci rubber stamp line from La-La Land Crafts. I finally got around to putting them on cards. It's nice to have them all ready to go for any occasion that might arise, last-minute or otherwise.

The one above is my favorite. I used the fence die Valerie gave me. I'd like to do more with this die, it's so whimsical.

For a few of these I started with store-bought cards Dawn gave me and embellished them. The strawberry girl below sports a tiny strawberry I fussy-cut and then popped it up after coating it with Glossy Accents.

This last one was made with layers of different colored card stock on top of a blank note card decorated with hearts. A strip of LOVE Washi tape (that stuff is addicting!) is along the bottom and heart Washi tape was added next to the little girl. I drew white stitch lines between each layer of card stock for a little something extra.

My daughters surprised me with a bunch of new little girl stamps and other crafty things like glass-fusing products for the microwave kiln I got for Christmas (I haven't tried yet) and some of the most awesome 12"x12" card stock I've ever laid my eyes on.

I can't wait to play with it all!

Lots Of Crafting Goin' On

I was able to get a lot of crafting in this past month or so, yay! I'm going to pack a lot into this post so you can see what I've been up to. Sit back, grab a cup of tea or coffee, and enjoy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I wanted to send out a few New Year's cards, but searching the crafts stores both on-line and off brought me nothing. Leave it to Dawn to find this adorably perfect stamp! There was a lot of fussy cutting, paper piecing, coloring and Stickles involved, about 3 days' worth of fun. Each one was different because I had specific people in mind. I wanted to get the hair and even the pets just so. I failed miserably at the pets, though, I should have shopped better for those, but maybe I caught the essence anyway.

I stamped the girls using black Staz-On, but upon reflection I wish I had embossed them for a more polished finish. I placed pop dots under the little girls so they stand out from the background and gave each one a tiny companion. The inside sentiment was embossed with detail black embossing powder and also popped up. Each banner is backed with a matching piece of card stock from the front. The stars were cut from sparkly paper using a die with my Vagabond. I inked the edges to give them depth.

My daughters puffed my chest by telling me they were little works of art and I couldn’t give them away, I should frame them, and would I make them a couple to keep. They’re so good for my ego. (More photos and details on my flickr.)

A YEAR'S WORTH OF LOVE IN CARDS!
Since my card-holder was filled to the brim...

 I made myself another one.

I’m normally not one for the frou-frou, but a friend of ours gave me 3, 12”x12” stacks of some pretty gorgeous paper for Christmas and I just had to use some of it. I’ve always liked butterflies, so I chose two pieces that compliment one another. Also, the sparkly ones drew me in.

I embellished the pages with rub-ons, stickers and Washi tape and inked the edges with a subtle blue. I added pockets to the inside adding the word “memories” on one and cutting a square of the same pretty cardstock for the other. My daughters have given me lots of beads lately and they’re perfect for this project. I'm excited because my husband liked it enough to ask me to make one for him! (More photos and details on my flickr.)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, MARTHA AND LARRY!

  

I made my sister and her hubby an anniversary card using some adorable prints Dawn gave me. Again, my ninja paper-cutting skills came in handy, especially on the tiny duckling. They loved it

FIRST CROCHET IN LIKE FOREVER
Around Midnight on Christmas Eve I came across this free PDF pattern for a dish cloth and tracked it to a site called Tangled Yarn. I hadn't crocheted in a couple of years, probably, or at least haven't made anything. I thought, I could do that, and so I did. It called for a triple crochet, and because I hadn't done it in such a long time I had to look it up on YouTube. It's a bit wonky, but my sister Martha liked it. As a matter of fact it reminded her she wants to re-learn crocheting this year, so the other day we sat down and I showed her how to make a chain. One step at a time.

THINK PINK!
My sister-in-law is a 4-time cancer survivor. The second type was breast cancer, which resulted in the removal of her left breast. She collects all things pink ribboned and is decorating a small tree with this theme in mind.

We went to Michael’s and she picked out a packet full of lovely breast cancer awareness crafting fodder because she wanted me to make some rosettes for it.

I gave her back the kit when I dropped them off so she could finish them off at the center the way she liked. Besides, that’s the fun part. Here are a few of the photos she texted me. Beautiful!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DENI!
I made my hubby a birthday card with a gift/present theme. I cut out his name with a die using my Vagabond. You can't see it in the photo, but I sparkled up the lettering with a glitter-type pen. I cut out some presents, popped them up and added the letters to each one.

I also cut the sentiment from a birthday die and added it to the inside. The little gift in the corner is also popped up with a pop dot.

There were a few other things I made, but I'm making this too long as it is.

I love crafting and have fallen in love with card-making. I hope to hone my skills and pick up some speed. I spend a lot of time on each card, maybe too much. But when I'm making a card I'm thinking of the one who will be receiving it, so I want to make it as perfect as possible. Not because I want accolades; I want the recipient to know they are special and worth the time and extra effort I put into the card they are holding in their hand so they can feel the love that goes along with it.

Note: If you would like to see more photographs and explanations of the crafts I make, please see my flickr.