Happy New Year!

In the words of writer Phyllis Mcginley,
"Stir the eggnog, lift the toddy;
Happy New Year, everybody!"

Julie Nutting Doll Stamps by Prima

I've had my eye on these stamps for a long while, it seemed everywhere we (Dawn and I) looked they were out. So you can imagine how excited I was when Dawn said she found a site to pre-order them. They arrived yesterday and I've been playing with them almost non-stop, they're so awesomely fabulous!

I stamped a batch of them up for Dawn then went crazy from there. I stamped and embossed mine on sand-colored card stock and then again on printed card stock so I could dress them up. It's been like playing with paper dolls again, I'm so loving it!

I added tiny little bows of ribbon and twine, gems and Swarovsky crystals as well as a touch of Stickles here and there. All of their shoes and headbands have a coating of Glossy Accents.

The little girl in green below: I embossed her outfit with black embossing powder, twice, then ran one of them through my die cutter inside a dotted-swiss embossing folder. I used just the sleeves and lower portion of the dress because I didn't like what the dots did to the neckline. I'm going to have to remember to use my embossing folders more often, I really like the results.

Each stamp is about 8-inches in length, which makes it challenging to use on cards, but I love a good challenge.

If you own these stamps I hope you'll leave a comment with a link to what you've done with them. I can't wait to make more!

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.

I'm A Winner!

I won this set of rubber stamps by commenting on a craft blog I follow on YouTube. Actually, I won 5 stamps, but one, an adorable image of a piece of wrapped candy, fell behind my dresser and I can't get to it, ugh. (I'm sorry, R.J.!) I didn’t even realize I was entering a contest. I usually try and leave comments on craft videos regardless if there is a contest or not, so this was a nice surprise.

Guys are rare in the crafting community and this one, R.J. Avery is just the nicest fellow and very talented. My daughter Dawn and I learn something from him just about every time we watch one of his craft videos.

I stamped the gingerbread with white embossing powder, but I wasn't happy with the result. I just so happened to have a 3-D embellishment of the same little guy only a little smaller. I popped him up directly on top of my stamp, which allowed the stamp to sort of highlight the sticker. I like the affect, and, good save! The inside sentiment is a sticker.

Isn't the mouse just the cutest little thing you ever did see?! I embossed him with black detail embossing powder and colored his sweater with a red glittery gel pen. There are two different patterns of Washi tape along the bottom, one on top of the other. I surrounded the mouse with opaque Christmas tree and snowflakes stickers. I used another sticker for the sentiment and added a couple of more snowmen.

The Christmas tree stamp is so pretty! I stamped it several times using clear VersaMark embossing ink and silver detailed embossing powder. I love the affect of the silver embossing powder, it's my favorite. The trees didn't show up as well as I wanted them to, so I colored them in with various shades of green colored pencil and gave the front a light coating of green ink with my Tim Holtz blending tool. I used the same silver embossing powder on the inside sentiment using one of the new stamps.

I've never been challenged to make a certain type of card, but I'd do it again, it was really fun. Thanks again, R.J., have a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year!