Sunday, January 26, 2014

Eclectic Paperie: January eTeam Picks Challenge - Hope



I made this tag for the January eTeam Pick Challenge. The challenge was to make a project representing Hope for 2014. What a fun challenge! I have a stash of tags I make after I spray my art journal pages and this was one of them. I used Tim Holtz Distress Stains, Crackle Paints and Distress Glitters in Victorian Velvet and Antique Linen. To make the HOPE letters I covered Tim Holtz Alphabet Grunge Letters with Antique Linen Crackle Paint and then covered them with Glossy Accents. I colored the doily and ribbon with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain. The key is a Tim Holtz grunge piece that I covered with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain and then Distress Glitter in Antique Linen.

My good friend Rachel from RWKrafts, gave me some of those cute tiny DCWV kraft envelopes. I used the number 2 because that is the street number of my new house. I'm also hoping to find the "key" to  "bliss" in 2014. Finally, I'm hoping and dreaming of lots of "inspiration" for 2014 since 2013 was mainly spent planning and overseeing the building of my house, traveling and dealing with other "issues", it left little time or space for creativity. So, I hope I'll get some "inspiration" to help me be very creative in 2014.


My 1st Art Journal Page in a Long Time!

Since I moved in about a month ago I've started making backgrounds in my art journals again. I have a bathroom with a sink and large countertop in my new craft room and it's working out great. I can spray the journals on one side, then clean off stencils in the sink and let them dry on the other side. The only problem is I haven't had a good idea for a journal page. I haven't even made a page in almost a year. So, today I sat down and found a background I wanted to use and decided to make a page from something.

Here's what my new space looks like when in use. 


Here's what it looks like cleaned up.



I knew I wanted to use the words "create" and "evolve" but my thoughts on the graphics just didn't work out. So, I found a stamp set by SCACD that I had never used and I basically just randomly stamped all over the page. I also used a heart stamp by Unity and the letter stamps are Dylusions. The background and border was made with Dylusions sprays and stencils and Tim Holtz Distress Paints. I colored in all the images with Distress Markers. It was fun and relaxing even if it wasn't quite as artistic as I had hoped. At least it was a start. 

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Papertrey January Blog Hop Challenge

Today I've made a card for the Papertrey Ink January Blog Hop Challenge. The challenge is to only use pink on your card with neutral colors. I chose a pink PTI color scheme for my card using Autumn Rose, Raspberry Fizz and Hibiscus Burst. First, I stamped the background in the three pink colors using a stamp from Autumn Pattern Pieces. Then I die cut the hearts using Framed Out #11 and used the Framed out #11 stamps on the large and small hearts. I adhered the white hearts to the card with foam tape and added coordinating PTI buttons to each little heart. For the sentiment I used the Bountiful Banners stamp set and coordinating die. The sentiment is from Framed Out #11. I attached the sentiment banner with foam tape.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out all the other FAB pink cards in today's blog hop.




Monday, January 20, 2014

Cas-ual Fridays Color Blocks Challenge

I'm so excited to be participating in this challenge. I don't think I've entered a challenge in almost a year!! I saw the Cas-ual Fridays color block challenge and I couldn't resist. I love color blocking and I had an idea for a card and thought about it for a few days and finally sat down and made it tonight. I used a FAB new stamp set I just got from Technique Tuesday called Fantastic. It was designed by my bloggy friend Teri Anderson. I just love her stamps. I pulled the papers from different Studio Calico Monthly Card Kit paper pads. It's one of those CAS cards that looks so easy, but took forever to make!! 



Here's my card.


Wednesday, January 15, 2014

DIY Craft Desk

Today I'm posting about my first DIY project that I did in my new house. When I moved I found out I had my parents old Formica top dining table in my backyard shed. We used to eat on it in the 70's . I don't know why it was even still around. But, when I saw it I thought it might be perfect for my new craft room and when I moved in I found out it was. It fit in the room perfectly and I plan to make it my work surface. However, it needed some work. Here's a picture of what it looked like.


The top was in good condition, but the brown legs and light faux woodgrain top just didn't work for me. I've painted the walls a light pinkish color and I have accents of turquoise and hot pink. I'll post pictures of the room soon - it's still a work in progress. So, I went to Lowe's and got a tester can of Pantone Peacock Blue for $2.98 and I painted the legs blue.


Then, as I was looking through craft room pictures on Houzz, I saw a table painted in chalkboard paint and I knew that's what I wanted to do with my table. So, I went to Walmart and got a quart can of Disney Black Chalkboard Paint for $10 and applied it with a little roller with a 3/8 inch nap which is what they suggested on the can. It worked like a charm. The only thing that surprised me was it said the paint need to cure for 7 days before using chalk on it. I used two coats and it covered the Formica nicely.

Here is the final product. I'm really happy with it and it only cost me about $15. I can't wait to start creating lots of things at my newly refurbished table!!


Sunday, January 12, 2014

Denami Valentine Blog Hop


Welcome to my blog. Today, I'm participating in the Denami Valentine Blog Hop. I'm so excited to be able to participate again. I've been quite busy moving into my new house, but things are settling down now. This is the first card I made in my new craft room!

I love Denami Stamps and I thought this Valentine Birds stamp was just too cute. For this card I colored in the images and with Prismacolor Pencils and blended with Gamsol. I punched some little hearts in the dark pink color to make a background. The papers are all from Stampin' Up. The dies are are Sizzix Framelits and the ink is Memento.




Be sure to check out the rest of the participants on the hop and leave comments because 2 lucky commenters will receive a $20 gift certificate to the Denami Store

If you're following the hop you should've come here from the blog of the super talented Greta at 
http://ggnursecreations.blogspot.com/ and your next stop will be the blog of the very gifted Dana at http://kismetartlife.blogspot.com/ If you just found out about the hop and want to start at the beginning go to the Denami Blog.

Thanks for stopping by!!