random.on purpose.

For the Birds

Yeah, that's what "spring" has been so far...   For real, though, I have seen a few robins :)  This morning's CAS challenge on Splitcoast is a color challenge, and we had the suggestion/option to make a bird-themed card.  We were supposed to use three or more colors.  I only managed two, but I did put a bluebird on there:

I have a lot of these Inkadinkado stamps that have words making up the image shape, but never really know what to do with them.  I decided that simple was best and that's what I did!  Especially appropriate for a CAS challenge, yes?

Well, I have several walls to faux-finish this morning, so I'd best get to it!  Have a good one!

Stamps: Inkadinkado; Ink: Stampin'Up! Baja Breeze and Crumb Cake; Paper: Stampin'Up! Naturals Ivory, Paper Studio Kraft

If You Can't Beat 'Em...

It snowed.  Last night.  Again.  *sigh*

Since it insists on acting like December instead of nearly-April, I will play along.  I'm also playing along with the current Jingle Belles challenge to make a card with an old-fashioned feel:

No stamping - just some inking and embossing.  I'm kind of a sucker for old-fashioned/traditional where Christmas is concerned, so I had plenty of papers and such to play with.  The carolers and the green grid paper are from "Christmas on Amesberry Street", and the sheet music and stockings are from "Old World Christmas" - both by The Paper Studio.  The card base is Naturals Ivory (one of my faves) from Stampin'Up!, sponged with their Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake inks.  The edges of all of the layers were edged with Versamark Ink and Stampendous gold tinsel embossing powder.  The ribbon has been in my stash for long enough that I fail to remember where it came from...

I'll probably play catch up on some of the challenges that I've missed, but at least I managed this one, right?  I also got some new toys to play with, so I'll be showing you some of those creations as well.  Meanwhile - thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Hello Friend!

Tired of listening to me whine about winter?  I'm tired of whining, too...  Here's another dose of Spring - maybe even Summer:

The "ways to use it" challenge on Splitcoast this morning is to make a TALL card or, if you change the orientation, a  L...O...N...G  one.  I went totally CAS - no shading, no layers, no embellishments.  A little coloring-book-style coloring, some outlines, and stick the panel to the base - DONE!

The sun is out today, so there's that :)  Hope you have a great one, and thanks for stopping by!

Stamps: Recollections Garden Gnome and Kid's Play Borders; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: Stampin'Up! Poppy Parade, white; Accessories/tools: Bic, Prismacolor and Spectrum Noir markers, Sakura Stardust glitter pen
 

Still More Wishful Thinking...

The blustery cold continues outside my windows, but the spring card marathon continues inside.  Today's output:

This one was for a sketch challenge.  I squared up the sketch and did a mirror-image of it.  A little faux stitching around the edges (done with a piercer and a Stardust pen) helps add some definition.

This one was for a color challenge: Baked Brown Sugar, Midnight Muse and Cherry Cobbler - pretty good colors for a puppy, some overalls, and a shirt, right?  I had to shade my ribbon with one of my markers to make it match better...

This has been the laziest day that Greg and I have had in a loooooooong time!  We have accomplished....nothing...  I haven't even managed to put on "real clothes" - my sweats are working just fine, thank you!  I think we both needed some down time.

Okey-dokey, then!  I've got a whole lot more of nothin' to do today, so I'm gonna get right to it!  Thanks for stopping by, and hope the upcoming week is FABULOUS!

Card One:  Stamps: Penny Black Hugs, Heidi Grace Tags and Words; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: DCWV; Accessories/tools: Bic, Prismacolor and Spectrum Noir markers, piercers, Sakura Stardust pen, ribbon, flower brad

Card Two:  Stamps: Penny Black Nose to Nose, Inkadinkado sentiment; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black; Paper: Stampin'Up! Baked Brown Sugar and Cherry Cobbler, Georgia Pacific white; Accessories/tools: Bic, Prismacolor and Spectrum Noir markers, Micron pen, ribbon, button

Still Thinking Spring

Today was blustery and C-O-L-D, with little to no sunshine, but at least there was no white stuff falling out of the sky and adding to our enormous piles, thankfully...

I colored a couple more of the images I stamped a few days ago, and managed two more cards.  One of them still needs something, but here's the other one:

Another sweet Penny Black image, and more of my Ancient Stash papers - Provo Craft circa 2003.  The reason I have all of this really, really old stash is that I forget that I have it, get sidetracked by shiny new things, and don't create as often as I should.  Shame on me on all counts!  Anyway, one of my unofficial resolutions this year is to use up a lot of the accumulated Stuff, so this is another bit of a dent - baby steps, right?

Nothing else of significance to report, so I'll just wish  you the best for the rest of the weekend, thank you for stopping by, and go on about my business...buh-bye!

Stamps: Penny Black For Goodness' Sake, Stampin'Up! A Good Egg (sentiment); Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: Stampin' Up! Pale Plum cardstock, Provo Craft dp, Georgia Pacific white cardstock; Accessories/tools: Fiskars border punches (threading water and scallop), Micron pen, Bic, Spectrum Noir and Prismacolor markers

Think Spring!

I'm totally, completely, absolutely, and in all other ways OVER this never-ending story called Winter!  It's still frigid temperature-wise, and the landscape is still completely colorless, and everyone is miserable and cranky and w....a.....i....t....i....n....g....

I decided that I'd fooled around long enough with organizing and indexing and cleaning and all the rest of it and it was time to actually USE something, already!  I also decided that I wanted whatever I played with to be "Spring-y"!  I pulled out some stamps yesterday and stamped seven or so images to color and I've finished one whole card so far:

The paper I've used here is nearly ancient - I think from 2003 or 2004, maybe?  I still like it (enough to hoard), so there it is!  Today's "ways to use it" challenge on Splitcoast Stampers was to use buttons, so I added one to the bow on my card.  Yeah, that's about it...  Have a great day, thanks for stopping by, and THINK SPRING!!!

Stamps: Penny Black Good Friends; Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Paper: DCWV brown, CTMH Groovy Blossoms, GP white; Accessories/tools: Bic, Prismacolor and Spectrum Noir markers, ribbon, button, twine

Snowed In

...or something like that!  We got dumped on yesterday (after enjoying near-50 degree temperatures the day before), and are experiencing wind chills nearly 20 below zero today - lucky us!  Here's what our front yard looks like AFTER Greg shoveled and plowed:

Yes, that pile of snow is, in fact, higher than his truck!  That barely-visible stick in the yard marks the sewer vent location, and is about six feet high, as well....

Even though, technically, I could conceivably get in my car and go somewhere, there's not a lot of motivation for any of that nonsense, ya know?  Besides - I have many, many projects in the works right now!

We're getting ready to put our house on the market in the next month or two, so I've been sprucing up and organizing and all of that.  I've reupholstered the other chair for my studio and made valances for the windows (finally!) and made new curtains for our bedroom and dealt with all of the "stuff" in the attic and the basement and purged and tossed and such.  I've also been consolidating and organizing in my studio.  Here's the latest project:

What you are looking at is the interior of one of the two closets in my studio.  This room is/was intended as a bedroom, but since Greg and I are the only inhabitants here and we actually enjoy sharing a room, this one is pretty handy for use as a studio!  The other closet is the original one and this one is the result of the bathroom renovation.  Greg bumped out the bathroom wall to annex some of this bedroom space, but didn't want to disturb the tub area, so the bumpout created a closet - perfect!  I've reconfigured it a few times, and this is the latest incarnation.

There's an outlet inside the closet, and a wireless router across the room, so I keep my laptop right there most of the time.  I have my cutting mats and gridded ruler hanging on a Command hook on the inside of the door.  On the shelf above the computer is my current ink pad storage solution.  I bought a couple of locker-looking "cabinets" at Hobby Lobby on clearance a while back.  I took the drawers out and put the ink pads in.  Two of the drawers are on top of a CD crate between the two cabinets, with a strip of wood spanning them to support more ink pads.

The shelf above the ink storage is my "new and improved" way to store embellishments.  I've previously done the "color drawer" thing, where everything of that particular color is in that particular drawer.  I've tweaked that idea slightly here.  I took photo storage cases and did this:

I have two cases (for the most part) for each color.  One has gems, eyelets, frames, brads, etc., in little baggies (in the jewelry department at most crafty stores) to contain them and for easy "digging through".  The other has glitter, embossing powder, flocking and Stickles.  I have them in ROYGBIV order, followed by neutrals and metallics, lined up on top of the CD crates.  Inside the crates are more drawers from the "cabinets".  They have larger jars of embossing powder and glitter that didn't fit in the photo cases.  In the CD box on the far left are a couple of the Really Useful Boxes with my DIY ink spots and room for more.

There is another shelf above the two visible in the photo (well, two more, actually), but they are still works in progress and not photo-worthy...  I still have ribbons and buttons in drawers, also by color, but I haven't taken any pictures of those yet.  I have some other tweaks to finish up and then I'll take pictures of the whole room and share what I've been up to.  Meanwhile, stay warm and have a great weekend!  (We're almost there, after all...)