De-Glittering a tub Full of goodies!

Look at all those delightful jars of embossing powders, glitters, flock, googly eyes and critter tails! (Click the Pic and investigate some more, if you'd like. :>)

Now, let me tell you what is not so delightful..... This tub is from back in the day, when I started stamping in the mid-'90's. At one point, there was a film canister of orange glitter (I think it had some gold mixed in with it....hence the clear film canister it was in). Let me stress that a film canister is NOT a good little container to hold glitter!!! Yup, Yup! At some point....probably over ten years ago, when all of my stamping supplies were boxed up and just being moved around with me (yes, there was a point that I did not stamp for many years....thankfully, the packrat in me kept it all and now I'm loving my old supplies!)....oooo, I digress.......at some point, that canister EXPLODED inside the tub and I have had some concoction of orange glitter on Everything it touches for the last decade.

There are probably almost a dozen little jars missing from this tub, as every once in awhile, I brave opening it (even the outside of the tub still has glitter on it...after many attempts to remove it) and pull out a single jar to clean up and use. Well, no more. I am not letting that glitter get the best of me anymore! I'm done with it holding all of those other goodies hostage and I'm going in. Thankfully, I have Backup this time. Are you curious where my Backup came from? Hmmmmm??

My glitter defying Backup comes inside a happy bright green box and waits quietly in my hall closet until it is needed to come to my rescue. Backup rescues me often, in fact, not just from stubborn glitter, but from dust too! Have you guessed yet? Dust and glitter cling to Backup and keep me from sneezing and going a wee bit batty over orange glitter. Do you know now? Does Backup come to your rescue?? Yup, yup, Backup, aka Swiffer cloths clean glitter, even glitter that has stubbornly claimed a home and just won't move out! Its a wee bit time consumming, but I am determined to move that glitter out so that I can play with my goodies again (without turning the whole family a nice shade of sparkly orange) and with Backup, I think I will finally win!! :>:>

A Little Bit of Lovely...

Last week, when I popped in to The Mama Monkey's Adventures from the Monkey Hut, I was delightfully surprised to find a blog award from her to me!! Thank you! That was oh so sweet of her to think of me and to help me thank her, I would be equally delighted if you would stop by her blog and say 'hello'!:>

Blurfing has become quite a hobby and I just love being inspired by so many different bloggers. I live in a small town that is only minutes from large towns and an hour and a half from a major city, but I am thrilled with how easily I travel to Japan when I visit the Monkey Hut, or Australia, or Norway, or Maine, or England, or New York City when I visit so many creative peoples' online homes.

Here are the Deets of the award:

- Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.

- Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

The bloggers I'm listing here are ones that are either brand new to me, relatively new to me, or I visited them awhile back, but forgot to return and have been doing a happy dance to find them again!

Dana at Dana Scraps / Pixels & Glue
Amber at Amber's Antics
Sarah at designs by *Sarah Martina*
Maggi at Just Add Glitter and Stir
Karyn at French Charming
Sankari at Sankari's Sunshine Corner
Wendy at Paper, ink, and smiles
Kelley at My Front Porch
Ann at Creative Antics

Go visit them, won't you? They all have lovely blogs and creativity to share!

Papertrey Ink {Texting} Blog Hop

Edited to Add: Okay, so you all are gonna think I'm either color blind or just plain nuts! When I craft in the living room, which I have been doing a lot of lately (to be with the fam), I do not have the best lighting. And when I'm cooking something up paper style and on the fly when I realize late in the game that oh my, Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop is that night after paying Miss Dawn McVey a visit earlier in the day, it would seem my ability to see color goes down the drain (well, I really don't think that is it.....more like I needed to shake my marble jar and make sure all all those marbles are in there are ready to play!) Okay........sooooo.............here it comes...........are you ready for it?? (I'm not) Okay, holding my head in shame here..........it would seem the reason the photo was coming out so stinkin' pink is........because.....that cardstock was not really Melon Berry.....but, rather, Berry Sorbet!!!! (I'm rapidly melting into a puddle of goo right now as I type this.) Please forgive me for forgetting to shake that marble jar as I was racing to create, post, and link in time! I must go now as my kidlets are asking why there is nothing but a puddle of goo where their Mama once was.

Hop, Hop, Hop! Its time to blog hop, Papertrey Ink style! This month we are to include text on our creations. And here is what I came up with!! I love text and fonts and the whole nine-yards, so I'm really looking forward to seeing what everyone else has created! :>


Just as an FYI, the cardstock that looks pink here, really is Melon Berry. I do not know why it is reading so pink...except for the button! I used the CPS 125 sketch for this Papertrey Ink Blog Hop challenge.


This is a Pure Poppy card base, layered with a text stamped piece of Melon Berry. The next piece of Pure Poppy is stamped with a script (its hard to see) with Versamark and then stamped some of Life's fabulous images on top with Versafine, Sepia. A piece of chocolate ribbon (the very ribbon I use to sew new tags onto a kidlet's Teddy Bear as they are worn out :>) is run across the card. I stamped Melon Berry and Pure Poppy cardstocks with the flower stamps from Everyday Classics in Versamark and cut them out. I layered them with foam tape and glued a Melon Berry button tied off with some chocolate embroidery floss on top.

Here's a close-up in the hopes of trying to show that script stamp. Have fun hopping tonight and I look forward to visiting you! :>

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink
Ink: Versamark & Versafine
Stamps: Life & Everyday Classics - Papertrey Ink; French Script & By Definition - Stampin' Up!
Ribbon: Offray
Button: Papertrey Ink

A little {hope} & A little {heart}

After a round of drama tonight at the kidlets' bedtime hour (you know the kind, whether you have kidlets or not..............when someone goes from tears to all smiles, up and down within minutes??), I needed just a little bit of ink, bling, hope, and heart to bring me back to my happy place. And I needed it pronto! So, that meant something simple, something with sparkle, something with texture.....but, simple. And that is exactly what I have to share with you here!

When I made my Round Two effort at an anniversary card for hubby last month, I was playing with felt and had cut out these layered hearts. Since I went a different direction with the card, I did not use them. But, almost every single time I sit down, I pick them up and play with them. Tonight, I knew they had to finally find a home................and I'm back in my happy place!

Thanks for stopping by. And the comments that so many of you have left me always leave a Cheshire Cat-like smile on my face....thank you!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampers Select White & Kraft - Papertrey Ink
Stamps: sentiment - Stampin' Up!
Ink: India Ink Black - Stewart Superior
Bling: Me & My Big Ideas
Other: Felt

Taking Kindly to Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #12

Yippie! I was able to craft some time today to play along with everyone for Dawn McVey's Color Challenge #12! Do you know how happy I am?! But, I better get to completing this post pretty darn quick or I'm going to miss that deadline. We don't want that, right? heehee

Dawn chose this gorgeous foliage for color inspiration this round. I pulled Stampin' Up!'s retired Purely Pomegranite, Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream and Raspberry Fizz, and some light green bling to jump in the sandbox and play together.

Inking my flourish first in Versamark and then in Purely Pomegranite dye ink, I stamped it and embossed it several times on the Raspberry Fizz cardstock. Actually, I was warning my daughter of the dangers of a hot heat gun, so she wouldn't accidentally burn herself in her curiosity and I wasn't thinking and inked my stamp up in reverse! So, now I have a pomegranite stained Versamark pad. Its not fabulous for my only clear, tone on tone ink pad, but I ended up making it work really well for this card. I stamped a flower medallion onto Vintage Cream cardstock with my now tinted Versamark and it produced a soft pink that works nicely with the card and keeps the cream from being such a jolt to the eye. I then overstamped the "kind" sentiment and cut it out. I put it on a pop-dot and placed a line of five pieces of light green bling below it. The whole layered piece then was adhered to a Purely Pomegranite card base.

Here is one more shot of it. The first full length pic was taken in front of a window and consequently, does not pic up the embossing well. This picture was taken in full sunlight and it picks up a glare off the silver of my camera (which is why I usually prefer to take pics in the morning or evening, but I wanted to play along and had to go with what the sun was giving me! :>). However, it does show off the embossing a bit better.

I hope you all are able to craft some time in your day for fun, creativity, and a little play.....even grown ups need it! :>

Supplies:
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranite - Stampin' Up!; Vintage Cream, Raspberry Fizz - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Versamark - Tsukineko; Purely Pomegranite dye ink - Stampin' Up!
Stamps: Baroque Motifs - Stampin' Up!
Embossing Powder: Clear - Stash (a rubber stamping store that I used to work for sold it, but I'm not sure who packaged it and they went out of business in the '90's)
Embellishment: light green bling - Bling It On by Lisa Bearnson

Creative Log Jam

Tsk, tsk on me. Wag your finger at me, shake your head, cast that look of disappointment my way....go ahead......I can take it......I hope! My own head is shaking and I've rolled eyes at myself so many times that I thought I was on Disney's Tea Cup ride. I have several projects started, many more crashing around in my head, and yet they are not done. I seem to be in a creative log jam of sorts. Finally, I have just told myself that I need to come back and chat with you (are you still here??) and hopefully, I can clear some of those logs out (maybe use some of them to light a fire....or at least some sparks!).

While I have not been nurturing my own creativity directly, I have been indirectly while sitting with my kidlets encouraging their creative spirits. Not having anything ready to share of my own today, I thought I might share some of my youngest's craftiness!

Little hands held their very first glue stick to create this! My Princess loves using my old decorative scissors, cutting away at every drawing and colored page, always leaving behind colorful confetti that has fallen at her cute little toes. She picked some different colored cardstock, cut the shapes out herself (I showed her how to turn the paper as she cut.......her eyes opened wide as a whole new world of crafty cutting shared its secrets), and we sat down together to decide what shapes worked best for what. The only thing I cut was the straight edge of the bottom of the grass. That was also the only thing I glued down as I demonstrated how to use the glue stick. What tickled was watching the wheels in her head turn as she continued to make new discoveries...with the tip of her little tongue stuck out the whole time. I personally cannot stand glue sticks as I don't like the glue on my hands (Elmer's glue, yes...paints and ink, yes....glue sticks, not so much). My son uses Duck adhesive for the same reason. But, oh my, my daughter, my Princess, luuuuuvvvvsssss her glue stick!

You may have to look closely to see these.....lean in (or click the pic). Do you see Disney's Aristocats? Both of my kidlets love to have coloring pages printed out. There are so many free online resources that it is easy to provide a vast variety of different characters and scenes for them to color, cut, and entertain themselves with. Asking me for a 'printout' is pretty much a daily request.

Earlier this month, my Princess (my knickname for her....she tells me that she is my Angel Froggy Princess, but that can get a little long :>) colored an Aristocats printout and then asked me to cut them out for her. She spent the rest of the day playing with them with as much gusto as she would a three dimensional stuffed animal. And just before she had to go to bed, she carefully layed them out on the floor, gingerly placed one of her brothers blankets on top of them, leaving their heads out (they had to breathe, you know), sang them "Part of Your World" in her very best Arial voice and then said, "Night-night!".

The colored kitties were then forgotten for a bit....until glue stick day. After she pieced together her sunny day piece, I told her to go for it, use as much glue as she wanted and make a collage out of all the scraps that remained. And of course, she did! Out of the corner of her eye she spied Berlioz and ran to him, greeting her abandoned friend. Absolutely pleased as a pickle in a vinegar bath with some minced garlic to play with, she promptly searched out the rest of her two dimensional kitties. And each one found a home on her collage. The smile on her face when she was done is one that I am going to treasure for years to come.

Its feels really good to 'chat' with you again. I hope you're still out there and I hope to not disappear again! So I'm off to take another log off of this creative log jam, put it on the fire and see what I might be able to play with tonight. Hope you are in the middle of a wonderful weekend!

How do you create?

Time to change the grid paper I have been working on?? Hmmm?? What do ya think?? It is a poor economy, you know and the environment needs protecting, right? I'm just doing my part to be frugal and green at the same time! Yup, yup. I hear you! Even I think its time for it to be changed!!

Now, for all of you who.....hmmmm......were at the head of the line for neatness, the way I paper craft would probably drive you bonkers! I tend to have stuff everywhere. It does eventually get cleaned up, but while I'm in the proccess of it.......well, I could loose a kidlet under it all! When I go on scrapbooking retreats, the poor gals I ask for advice from risk their very life and limb to come to my table. (I'm so so sorry and thank you for chancing it!)

Since I am between projects (well, sort of....) and this grid paper is puckering everywhere from being soaked in ink and watercolor pearlescent paints, I thought it is a good time to switch it out for a new, fresh, clean sheet (which I will instantly have an overwhelming urge to see some color on!). Before I did though, I couldn't help but smile looking at all the colors and being reminded of several fun projects that I worked on atop this colorful piece of lovely grid paper! So, I whipped out the camera and took a shot to memorialize it and share with all of you! :>

How do you create? Neat as Martha Stewart? Creative chaos ring your bell? Or somewhere in between?

An Award to Pass On

A few days ago, I stopped by Adventures from the Monkey Hut to see what has been going on in Japan lately and what do I find? But, a Lemonade Stand award for me. Thanks, Siobhan!

The Lemonade Stand: "Choose seven ladies who according to this award show an attitude of gratitude"

And because there are oodles of wonderful people that possess this 'attitude of gratitude', it is difficult to narrow it down, but here are the magical number seven that have been requested:

Penny at Penny Duncan Creations
Lisa at Takin' Life One Day at a Time
Julie at My Little Scrap Shop
Christyn at Bead Up
Susan at Susan's Day Off Creations
Andi at Andi's Perfect Gravy: A City Girl's Ranch Life
Sue at Fine Hand

I hope you visit all of these creative women. They each inspire me!

Lots o' Dots & Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #11

Holey camole macarole!! I actually completed a Dawn McVey Color Challenge!!! Everytime she puts one of her challenges out there, I have the best of intentions to participate and somehow, that deadline always seems to come and go faster than I realize! Maybe it was the colors, maybe it was the extended deadline, maybe it was just those little circles that spoke to me!

See? Having five colors, Dawn had to make her circles smaller and all I could see were the circles! Funny how our eyes get locked on to one aspect that then takes our hand and leads us to whatever we choose to make. :> Speaking of which, I have so enjoyed opening my book and seeing the bookmark I made for a challenge last month greet me each time I settle in and am transported to another world via the words on those pages. So, I thought I would make another bookmark to make me just as happy now that I'm on to another book!

When pulling my colors for Dawn's challenge, I discovered, yet again, that I still do not have grey cardstock. I must have an aversion to buying it or something! However, I have a light silver. In lower lighting, it looks like light grey, under direct lighting, you can see the shine of the silver, and as I found out from my photos that in a window with the light of an overcast sky, it almost looks white!! But, I assure you, it is a light grey/silver cardstock in color. I also used Papertrey Ink's True Black, Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, and New Leaf cardstocks.

My lots o' dots were simply cardstock punched out with a hand punch that I've had from an office supply store for about fifteen years now. If I had been smart when I started the process of gluing the dots to the black cardstock, I would have run them through my xyron. But, I like a challenge and glued them all on with my Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive (which is a Great adhesive, but can get a little messy when you're gluing 53 dots down). I used Stampin' Up!'s grid paper to help guide the lines, but I did not lay them out or mark the cardstock before starting....I just eyeballed their placement after using the grid to help me get the first row down.

After I had layed down more than half my dots, I thought it would probably be a good idea to think about what image I wanted for a focal point. Initially, I thought I would go for a flower of some sort, something bold and graphic. But, as soon as I opened a drawer and saw one of my cute Snoopy stamps that I picked up in the '90's, I knew he was perfect for a fun and happy lots o' dots bookmark! After stamping him, I detail cut him out, cut off the stamped string, and added some Stickles to his collar. I colored his balloon in with my Bic Mark-It pens and put a coat of Crystal Effects on. I replaced the stamped balloon string with a strand of red embroidery floss. Doesn't Snoopy look happy with his shiny pink balloon?!

To top the bookmark off, I cut a strip of Raspberry Fizz grosgrain, cut the tips to a point, folded it in half and adhered it with Fabri-Tac. Atop the Fizz ribbon, I adhered a black button that has a bow tied off with a double layer of full embroidery strands. Below is one last pic with the ribbon unfolded, showing the bookmark from top to bottom. I think I have a happy little bookmark to make me smile each time I dive into the adventures that a great books' pages hold waiting for me! And, I'm really glad I made time to play along with Dawn's color challenge...finally!

Supplies:

Cardstock: True Black, Pure Poppy, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf - PTI; Silver - The Paper Company
Ink: India Ink Black - Stewart Superior Corporation
Stamps: Snoopy's Balloon - Rubber Stampede
Ribbon: 5/8" Raspberry Fizz Grosgrain - PTI
Button: True Black Vintage Buttons - PTI
Other: red embroidery floss - Making Memories; Crystal Effects - Stampin' Up!; Xmas Red Stickles - Ranger; Permanent Mark-It Markers - Bic