Back from Vacation!

Happy Monday everyone!!

I hadn't mentioned it before but last week DH & I went on a little vacation.  We went down to Kentucky for the National Farm Machinery Show in L'ville on Wednesday then the rest of the time we spent exploring antique malls and flea markets down there, in Indiana and on Saturday we went to some in Allan Michigan. 

I found lots of goodies to add to my Etsy store and will be adding them soon.  I'm very excited...I think they will be fun things to incorporate into various projects.

We've been going down to L'ville to the NFM Show for around 25 years on and off now and I just love it down there.  It's so beautiful and I'm fascinated by the limestone walls along the roadside.  They are so cool (to me) cause we have nothing like it in NE Indiana. 

Here are a few pics I took....

L'ville - Downtown

 

 

I am also fascinated by the river...again, we have lakes, ponds, streams and even rivers but nothing like this....

 

 

 

The country side in KY....

 

And here are a couple pics of the limestone walls...flying along at 80mph.

 

 

 

I hope you all liked the projects I posted last week...  I thought I would be able to demo the technique from one of the cards posted last Friday but I had lots of orders for my Etsy store to fill and I also started tackling the mountain of dirty cloths.  I didn't get as far as I would have liked so the technique will come tomorrow.

 

Anyway, hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day and weekend while I was gone :)

Club Scrap/Club Stamp - January Random Doorways

I am lucky enough to be able to share with you another Club Stamp kit with you ~ January's "Random Doorways" kit!  The stamps included in this kit are so cool as you can see below...and the best part is that they are so versatile!

as are the papers - LOVE that pattern paper!!

 

Now for some reason this kit just really screamed Gelatos to me so most of the coloring is doing with them. 

 

check em out....

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOTE: this door really isn't pink ~ I don't know what happened with this pic but it's really dark red. 

 

 

 

Door opened - sentiment behind.

 

 

 

 

(sorry for the bad pic.)

 

 

 

 

I'll be sharing this technique next week.

 

 

Wood grain made using Gelatos.

 

 

Hope these give you some ideas on how to use your hinge stamps and if by chance you don't have any...maybe this will inspire you to add one, two or more to your collection ;)

 

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you have a

"Sweet" day!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!!

A few Valentine Cards from me to you....

I hope you're having a wonderful day!

Here are a few Valentine's Day cards I made to inspire you....

(all stamps are Third Coast Rubber Stamps)

Have a wonderful day :)

Just For Fun WednesDay - Winter Wonderland!

Ahhhh...if only ~ here in Indiana it's a balmy 40 degrees.  All of the snow we had is now a memory.  I'm sure some on the East Coast would gladly share if we only had a way to get it out here. 

Any way, the challenge for this week was to use winter stamps with glitter or bling and here's what I came up with...

JFF Stamps used: Tree w/Berries; Cardinal; Seasonal Word Block

I covered the background tree image with Rock Candy which has a nice bling-y quality all it's own.  The cardinal image was colored with Spectrum Noir Markers then surrounded with a coat of Stickles Glitter Glue to imitate snow.   I also added a little gemstone to each of the die-cut snowflakes.

How's your weather today?

Valentine's Banner - Pt II

It's time to finish up the Valentine's Day banner....

Here is where we left the actual chipboard banner pieces - vintage sheet music with a bit of pink and brown ink.

Next I added the crepe paper medallions to each flag.

I wanted to string them together quickly so I cut 4" lenghts of ribbon and stapled them to the corners.  The first and last bits were approx. 18" long for hanging. 

After I had all the individual flags fastened together I covered the staples with some vintage lace. and double stick tape.

I then printed out several vintage Valentine images from Altered Pages.  I cut them apart and added a bit of brown ink to all of the edges. Each flag of the banner was embellished with two images.  You can add more or less if desired.

A few mini flower bunches and I think the banner is done!

Would you like to win this banner?

Well simply post a comment telling us all

your idea of a great Valentine's Day gift....

Candy, Flowers or Other?

and you'll be entered to win!

You have until 2-19-13 to enter!

Good Luck Everyone!!

Valentine's Day Banner - Pt I

Hi All!

Today I thought we could make a banner for Valentine's Day using up some of those odds and ends chipboard letters, vintage sheet music, a bit of crepe paper plus some fun images from Altered Pages.

If you're like me you've got a box somewhere full of odds and ends left over from various chipboard alphabets you've bought over the years.  It never seems like they give you enough of the letters you REALLY need does it?

Well, no worries, we're going to pull out a few and not worry about the font...it's a mix and match day ;)

I'm going to have my banner say "Love U" with a hand cut heart between the words.

After you decide what you want your banner to say, spread a nice layer of glue over them and sprinkle on one or more colors of glitter.  I'm going to use a nice deep red for my letters and a nifty chunky glitter that looks like mica flakes for the heart.

In the meantime you can cut the banners from chipboard (I'm using my banner pattern from the calendar this year). 

Next I covered each one with a piece of vintage sheet music.

It's time to make a little medallion with crepe paper...I simply gathered up a length of crepe paper and gathered it in the center.  I then glued a little die-cut doily which I cut from some pink Club Scrap paper to the center of each crepe paper medallion.

  

After the glittery letters have dried, it's time to glue them down to the medallions....

While the medallions are drying I'm going to apply a bit of ink to each banner - brown with a touch of pink I believe using my Ink Blending Tool.

I think we'll stop here today and give the letters a chance to dry.

We'll pick it up tomorrow by layering on the medallions, some fun vintage valentine's day images and other little goodies!

If you're really good...you might even have a chance to win the finished banner ;)

See you then!

Vintage Valentines - Movable Parts

Hi All!

Late last year I found a stash of cool Vintage Valentine's at a local antique mall.  I couldn't pass them up because they were so darn cute!

Today I wanted to share some of the valentine's that have movable parts....from the dates these were all from the early 30's.

This Senorita's leg moves back and forth to make her hide behind her fan or show herself as she is now....

In this Valentine the small heart with the word LOVE moves up and down which makes the little dog jump around in the frame.

The small heart in the background moves the little "Love" envelope in and out of the flower bouquet.

And this little guys head moves back and forth ...the little tab at the bottom is torn off.

Valentine's back then sure were cute huh?

So much nicer than the ones you can buy today.