Three Years Ago Today

This will always be a difficult day.

One Year Ago Today

Two Years Ago Today

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please, seek help, 1-800-SUICIDE, that's 1-800-784-2433. Killing yourself may end your pain, but it only creates more for those left behind.

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!

Yard Work

I mowed the back 40 yesterday, go me! You wouldn't think it would take two hours to mow this thing, but take my word for it, it does. There are so many obstacles, the sheds, trees, tree stumps, horse shoe backstops, rocks, cement. I don't know how many times I caught the blade on a rock, ugh. I still need to get at it with a weed-eater. Also, I wouldn't mind doing something to make that path you see (made by our dogs), permanent.

Today I pulled weeds along the side of the house. I feel accomplished! Sore, but I'm glad I don't have that niggling in the back of my mind. At least, for a while.

Card Holder For San Jose Sharks Fan

I'm flattered hubby asked me to make him a card holder for all of the cards he received while visiting his parents during the holidays.

We're huge San Jose Sharks fans, so I dug into my stash and found ONE 12"x12" piece of hockey scrapbooking paper. I embellished it with a couple of photos taken by my daughter which I ran through my die-cutter using a die in the shape of a postage stamp. I made a couple of pockets for the inside to hold cards and notes that won't fit between the binder rings. Man, that paper went a long way!

I'm not sure if the beads are "manly" enough for my man, so they may eventually show up on my craft table.

Elephant Girl

When I made my New Year's cards with this stamp from La La Land Crafts, Valerie liked them so much she asked me to make her one with an elephant theme she could frame. (Anytime my family asks me to make them something it tickles me to no end!) So I found a couple of scraps of the elephant textured scrapbooking paper I had leftover from her card-holder and went to work.

I stamped and embossed her using detailed black embossing powder, which gave it a much more finished look than just stamping with black ink. I used a yellow Inktense pencil for her hair and glitzed her up with Stickles. I also added a little clover of hearts to her hat, a nod to Valerie's love of her dog Clover.

I inked the edges of the background paper and mounted two of them to grey card stock. To give it some depth I popped up the top two layers along with the little girl. My daughter had a 5"x 7" glass memory box on hand that provided lots of room for using pop-dots, so that is her new home.

I love how she turned out, but more importantly, so does Valerie!

Washi Tape At Costco

I picked up this set of Washi tape by We R Memory Keepers, complete with holder at Costco, of all places. They rarely have scrapbooking/card-making stuff, so it was an unexpected fun find.

 

I like that it fits inside my Washi tape container.

And by unscrewing the center handle, the lid even closes, holla!