Feeling Vintage

Yes, I am feeling a bit vintage these days. My "bionic" ankle, which has more titanium in it than a 747, has been bothering me lately.

But enough whining, you say, make with the crafts already! Okay, fine, stop yelling - it's still early. Now here's something vintage you'll really like. :)

This was my week to host the Crafty Secrets challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers. I decided to go with an inspiration-themed challenge and asked the members to create a project inspired by the fair.

For my sample project, I made this 8"x8"scrapbook layout. This is a picture of my husband and daughter at the local fair five (count 'em - five!) years ago. I used different images from CS's Heartwarming Vintage line from both the Creative Scraps (Travel & Garden) and their Seasonal booklet.

I inked all of the edges to give the layout continuity, added rubon letters for the titles and various embellishments.

The other ladies really rocked this challenge. If you want to see their projects, head over to the challenge gallery, Let's Go to the Fair!

Coincidentally, yesterday's Ways to Use It challenge on SCS had a vintage theme too. Right up my alley!

I created this card using Crafty Secrets' Mouse Party and Altered Art stamp sets. I made the music border by stamping the music stamp multiple times. I stamped the mouse, colored him with Copic markers, and adhered him with foam dimensionals, so he could sit upon the border. The Mouse Party is such great fun to play with; I love the whimsical feel of it. Animals & vintage - two of my favorite things in one stamp set!

Wishing you all a lovely day!

Stack of Cheese

Isn't this mouse lucky to have such a nice, big stack of cheese?

This week's Crafty Secrets challenge, hosted by Pammyjo, was to use yellow on our creations. I stamped the cheese image multiple times, then colored with Copic markers, and adhered them to create the stack. I stamped, colored, and cut out the mouse, then popped her up with foam dots to give her some dimension in front of the cheese.

Stamps: Crafty Secrets - Mouse Party set
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Markers: Copic Sketch
DP: Cosmo Cricket
Cardstock: Neenah Paper; Bazzill; Papertrey Ink
Corner Punch: Fiskars
Seam Tape Ribbon: Rebecca Sower Designs on Etsy

Layer by Layer

It's been a bit harder lately to fit my crafting time into my schedule, but I still manage to do a little bit here and there, working layer by layer.

I made this card today in little snippets of time that I snatched here and there. I stamped and colored the image while waiting for my turn for a shower this morning, then applied the glitter and clear gloss finish just before we left for church.

When we returned home, the glitter and gloss on the imagewere dry, so I cut out all of the other layers while the kids were having a snack and changing into their swimsuits. While the kids were playing after supper, I stamped the sentiment, added the ribbon, and adhered all of the layers.

Oh, and if this card seems slightly familiar to you, it's because it is variation of this one that I made for my dad's birthday.

Stamp set: Bug's Life - Crafty Secrets
Patterned Paper: Wild Saffron Collection - K&Company
Cardstock: Bazzill; Neenah Paper
Ink: Ranger Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Accessories: Copic Markers; Stickles Glitter Glue; Clear Gloss Finish - Plaid; ribbon - Paper Wishes; border punch - Martha Stewart

Thinking of Fall

It's hard to believe that fall is right around the corner already! There is something about watching the seasons change that reminds me of God's eternal and steadfast love for us. Despite our own fickle nature, the leaves will continue to change color and, once again, the trees that cover these Western Pennsylvania hills will reflect the artistry of the Master of creation. Makes me want to count my blessings, you know?

I created the scene using rub-ons from October Afternoon and matted it with paper from DCWV's Green Stack. Then I stamped the sentiment from Papertrey Ink on the same cardstock as the background and mounted it with a coordinating Green chipboard tag. The rick-rack is from Paper Wishes ribbon grab bag.

Have you counted your blessings yet today?

Snail Mail

Sometimes I just have too much fun working (playing) in my craft room. Last night, while the kids were watching Scooby Doo, I sneaked upstairs for a little stamping time.

I wanted to catch up on last week's Crafty Secrets forum challenge. Lori asked us to use a stamp multiple times on our projects. I knew I wanted to use this little snail from CS's Fairyland set, then I just had fun playing around with different inks and ended up with this earthy, mossy card. With no coloring and mostly one layer of cardstock, this is a fairly simple card to make. Sometimes it's fun just to get back to the basics and play.

Porch Progress

Rather than make a post for every step along the way I thought I'd show the progression of our porch so far in one post.



My hubby has been doing a fantastic job building our new front porch. Did I ever mention that he designed it as well? As he says, "Not bad for a writer, huh?"





See that gap in the roof? People like to pull over off the street and tell us that part of our roof is missing. I think they're worried that we missed a part - lol! No, that's where the skylight dormer is going to be.




Yesterday Rich built the front steps, and today (as long as the weather holds) he'll install the railings. Maybe Ronan will help out again.

Bluebirds of Happiness Wedding Card

This is a wedding card that I made for my mil to give to her friend's son, who was married today. I find wedding & anniversary cards to be some of the most challenging cards for me to make. I don't tend to buy romantic-themed images, so I have to make do with what I have on hand.

In this case, I used the Divine Swirls embossing folder for the background, the happiness sentiment from SU's Warm Words set, and a Martha Stewart bird punch. I added the pearls and ribbon for texture and dimension. I used the wedding colors to make it more personal. Overall, I really like the way this turned out - elegant, but still with a handcrafted look. Maybe I'll start to like making wedding cards.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!