drub: verb

to beat severely

 to berate critically

 to defeat decisively

pronunciation

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I brought my distress stains, pens, twinkling H20's and gelatos with me on vacation. Here is a recap of my drawings. 

My first one was drawn totally on the beach using salt water to spread the inks around. I had an awesome "experience" with this, you can go HERE to read about it, if you're interested.

( Ranger distress stains, Faber Castell PITT pens )

I drew this gull from a photograph that I took while at the Limes bar.

( Faber Castell gelato's, PITT pens )

This was inspired by my friend Jamie and all the fishes that loved to visit us when swimming out in the ocean, and the sand dollar on her waist is a nod to all the sand dollar pieces we collected.

( Ranger Distress stains, Faber Castell PITT Pens )
entering my mermaid in:
Artists in Blogland -  Show & Tell Saturday is a bi-weekly link party

I admit, I just wanted to play with my Twinkling H20's with the sea horse, this was inspired after the Black Ocean we visited which is why he is surrounded by black.

( Creative Imaginations - Twinkling H20's and Ranger distress stain, Faber Castell PITT pen )

We saw a jellyfish today...ugh! So glad it was a non stinging one ( no tentacles ) but had to make one with LOTS of tentacles just because it was more fun to draw!
( Imagine - Goosebumps spray, Ranger - distress inks, dylusion sprays and  Faber Castell PITT pens )

Ketchup: noun

This all-American condiment started out as a spicy, fermented fish sauce in Malaysia.

That version, known as kěchap, made its way first to Europe and then to the New World, where tomatoes eventually became the defining ingredient.

Elsewhere, ketchup retains an earlier identity. Traditional English ketchup, for example, is a pureed seasoning based on mushrooms, unripe walnuts, or oysters.

pronunciation

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Simon Says Stamp and Show - A little stamping

Paper Smooches - July 8-14 Designer Drafts challenge

A very simple card, letting the paper be my background. The sentiment is made with with 2 different stamp sets. The Happy Birthday is from CARDZ TV and the deer is from Paper Smooches, where I masked off the my and just used the deer.

I stamped the fawn out first, colored it in with distress stains and fussy cut it out, used a charcoal pencil around the edges of the card, smudged with my finger. Sprayed it with a fixative so the charcoal would not mess up the card or the fingers, when the recipient handles it.

Paper Smooches - Happy Camper stamp set

Creative Imaginations - background paper

SpectraFix - Pastel fixative

comely: adjective

pleasurably conforming to notions of good appearance, suitability, or proportion

 having a pleasing appearance : not homely or plain

pronunciation
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Inkspirational - #25

Eclectic Paperie - E-Team Picks Challenge - Monochromatic

All the major work on this card was done on the background. I think sometimes I can get more wrapped up when creating my own paper than the actual design of the card itself. Anyhoo....I first used Broken China along with water, spritzing, and drying, but it still was too dark. So after I finally achieved what I hope for will pass as a sky, I let it thoroughly dry and then sprayed it with my Archrival Varnish and let that dry. Then, I went over the background with a white wash to soften it up somewhat. Stamping the image and sentiment was the easiest part. ;)

Ranger - Distress Stain

StazOn - ink

Hero Arts - branch and bird stamp

Our Daily Bread - sentiment

Golden - Archival Varnish

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Cute Card Thursday - # 274 - In the Summertime...

Little Scrap Pieces - Fun Friday Summer Luvin' Challenge

Delightful Inspiration - i {heart} card sketches no. 23

I colored my cool cat in with some distress stains, added a little stickle to the center of the flower on his sandals....done. :) 

Creative Imagination - pattern paper

Hambo - cool cat digital stamp

Ranger - Distress stains, stickles

Faber Castell -PITT pens

Really Reasonable Ribbon

Helmar - 450

grift: verb

to obtain (money) illicitly (as in a confidence game)

or

to acquire money or property illicitly

pronunciation

"Grift" was born in the argot of the underworld, a realm in which a "grifter" might be a pickpocket, a crooked gambler, or a confidence man—any criminal who relied on skill and wits rather than physical violence—and to be "on the grift" was to make a living by stings and clever thefts."
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Making a few tags for the store, my only Easter tag that I had in there, has already sold! I don't know why, but I am always humbled when they buy my tags :)

 

entering this in:

 

Simon Says Stamp Challenge Blog - Easter/Spring

  Added dimension with the grass, love that my Liquid Scrapdots can equal the height of the bunny's tail :)

 

 

bunny, cotton ball - misc, from stash

Creative Imaginations - basket weave paper

Cricut - Happy Hauntings cartridge p. 67 ( grass )

Really Reasonable Ribbon - twine

Prima - ( gem butterfly )

Heidi Swapp - bling ( eye )

Helmar - Liquid Scrapdots, Gemstone Adhesive

Studio G - stamp

Sakura - Glaze pens

Honey Script - font

Ranger - Liquid Pearls

Stazon - ink
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Cath over at Moxie Fab has us all thinking about home decor projects.
 I took some tea light candles and wrapped some washi tape around them and then had tons of fun embellishing them. Warning here folks, this may become addictive. They are so cute and tiny! lol I can picture them in the guest bathroom or out on my balcony...either way I can't wait to make some more.

Spring Home Decor Challenge in the Moxie Fab World
also entering in
Anything But a Card - Challenge 15 Spring or Alice in Wonderland

Do make sure that anything you adhere to the tea lights is out of the way of the flame!!

Maya Road - Fabric Tape
Ranger - Tissue Tape
Recollections - flower
twine, button, fiber - misc
Helmar - 450 Adhesive



mala fide: adverb or adjective

with or in bad faith

 

pronunciation

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Die Cuttin Divas - Challenge #100, Anything Goes

 

This is what I call "local flavor" cards that I make to keep in the Art MoB. They do fairly well, and I don't have to have a tremendous lot of them on hand, but I am always happy when I need to make more to fill in my inventory because that means they are selling. I go into the gallery once a week, to count cards, make notes as to what needs to be replenished.



I distressed the edge of pattern paper with the back of my scissors and lifted up the ducks and the banner with Liquid Scrap dots. I like to keep my cards less bulky as I never know if my customers are mailing or hand delivering them, so I err on the side of flatter is better. I don't want them having any surprises when they go to mail their card and regretting their decision of buying a handmade card and accusing me of mala fide in increasing the cost of their purchase.

 

Creative Imaginations - pattern paper

Cricut - Wildlife cartridge

Helmar - Liquid Scrapdots

Traveling Typewriter - font

Faber Castell - PITT pen

brad - misc.

Year in Review

Limor Weber posted a challenging challenge, lol

December Challenge : A Year in Review

Using any type of journal you choose. Mine is a Maya Road chipboard mini album.

I want to start off by mentioning that I don't do art journals. I don't make "all about me albums". But in the last 3 years I have undergone some changes that were forced on me. So 3 years ago, I did make some "all about me" lay out pages, and I did make an mini album full of quotes that helped me get through a very rough time in my life.

So I was at first concerned with being able to do this challenge. If it wasn't for the prize that's offered, I don't think I would have even tried, ( so you can see how badly I want to try out Pan Pastels, lol ). But now I am glad I did because I can see the proof that I am evolving, changing for the good. I started off with my "word for the year" for 2012 which was FOCUS, so I titled my album
"Focus on the Possibilities".

The front of the album is acrylic so I adhered a Creative Imaginations overlay using Aleene's Tacky Glue to the front, ( dried crystal clear!! )added a Prima flower, Ranger's stickles and glitter sticker letters by Recollections.

I used Ranger's Watermelon alcohol ink to color the back of the heart and outlined the wings with stickles. Left side was easy, the right side on the other hand had proved to problematic, I was trying so hard to be creative that it failed miserably and I ended up painting it with black acrylic paint. In hindsight, using a gloss paint and shiny gold foil letters by Pioneer was just not a good combination. Just too hard to read. But I do like the puffy butterflies from K&Co. that accent the theme of the quote about Happiness.

 

On this next page, I think I finally started to enjoy the process, and discovered that by using by Pinterest quotes I had collected, I could virtually trace my last year and I began to enjoy seeing how my attitude was last year compared to where I am now. I began to relax and have fun.

 

  First I put down a layer of gesso and then crumbled some blue Conte pastel on top, using my credit card applicator ( very fancy tool ) to smooth it out. I really liked the outcome, it looks like wood grain. Very cool.

The next page was a lesson I already knew but had forgotten which is, Ranger's Dylusion spray inks need to have a fixative sprayed on them before you add a gel medium on top. Yeah, I know, lost my beautiful background but kept working anyway, no time to cry over spilt milk. I became a woman on a mission.

 

Encouraged by the gesso and pastel mixture I decided to try a similar technique but with my modeling paste. I combined red and yellow pastels and mixed it together, spread it out over my brick stencil. Loved the effect. Used Ranger's Distress Marker and Faber Castell PITT pen for the wording.

 

This page was also a "oh wow" moment for me, lol First I covered the chipboard with masking tape  and then drew with my Conte Pastel pencils. It had a VERY smooth finish to it. I have learned that pastels and masking tape go well together, go figure, huh? Finished off with Faber Castell PITT pens. Background and flowers all done in pastels.

 

The heart was gesso'd first and then 3 different pastel colors crumbled on top, be careful to try and not blend them together when smoothing them out. The background of the page is colored in with pastels and blended together with my fingertip. A mixture of pens and stickers to finish it off.

 

The next page was more of a play in Faber Castell's gelatos. They covered the plain chipboard very well :) I did use some pastels to shade the bucket and the tone down the word strips.

The last page's background was created with assorted sprays. I printed the seahorse clip art on some text book paper and colored in the image with my Faber Castell PITT pens, the seaweed is made with Liquitex Soft Body Cobalt Teal acrylic paint and added some gold micro beads. I used pastels to shade in the edges of the book print and around the edge of the page itself.

So there is my year in review...not such a bad year...I can see myself becoming more positive and achieving more goals!

 

gambit: noun

a chess opening in which a player risks minor pieces to gain an advantage

or

 a remark intended to start a conversation

also

 a calculated move

 

pronunciation
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Hello WOYWW stalkers visitors!!
Welcome to my mess :)
Instead of my desk, I thought I'd show you the sordid floor picture. This is to the left of my desk and must be stepped OVER to get to my desk. The general mess can stay like this for weeks on end too...just shameful. On my basket of Really Reasonable Ribbon; I have my mixed media coasters almost ready to go for mailing, 2 Easter cards for the ART MoB that just need sentiments on the front before being packaged up, papers for my "local flavor" cards that I make for the Art Mob and my dish from breakfast....oh and upside down magnet that recently got knocked down and is forlornly laying there.

 

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I wanted to show this card on a WOYWW post as there are so many of you that really enjoy Tim Holtz and the Blueprint Stamps by Mario. I found this font and thought of your ladies.

You might need to click on the picture in order to see it better but it's called

Handwriting draft

 

Here is the card which is entered in:

 

Paper Playtime - Challenge #2 Use some brown

 

( this is what I referred to when I said "local flavor" cards ) 

 

Creative Imaginations - squirrel from paper

American Traditional Designs - Evergreen Forest paper

Faber Castell - PITT pens

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Mystery solved

 

Not that you knew I had a mysterious situation, but alas, I did.

I have a suet feeder that has had it's flimsy chain broken now twice this past week. Which meant that it has fallen and had to be retrieved and fixed each time. I have had to resort to a heavier clip and been blaming my squirrels although it didn't seem possible. I've seen their acrobatics out there, hanging from the arm to feed on the suet but didn't think it was possible for them to break the chain, because I've never seen their entire weight on the suet cage. They always hang using their hind feet to hold them up.

 

 Plus the arm of the feeder is always knocked askew which also seemed weird, which I thought was the raccoons trying to pull the suet over to the railing so they could get to it...until..I witnessed....
 

the attack of the big ass crow!

I wish I had gotten a better picture for you but this is one huge crow; that attacks the suet feeder with gusto. I think his weight alone is what broke the chain and after his tangle with the feeder the arm is pushed around almost back onto the porch!

A mystery solved!



fanfaronade: noun

empty boasting : bluster

pronunciation
 

If I tell you that fanfaronade is what fanfarons do, you'll easily guess that "fanfaron" means "braggart."
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Die Cuttin Divas : Challenge 99 Edge Punch with Ribbon

Little Scrap Pieces - Fun Friday "Use a flower" challenge
Chocolate, Coffee & Cards - Challenge 30 For the Birds

 

 

My Mind's Eye - pattern paper, ribbon, gem

Maya Road - flowers

Prima - pattern paper

Fiskars - border punch

brad, lace - misc.

Creative Imaginations - over lay

Close to my Heart - thank you stamp  

Stazon

Aleene's Tacky Glue

Cricut Craft Room - April Showers
Reminisce - white pen

I really have nothing to say, how eerie is that? lol



zarzuela: noun



a usually comic Spanish operetta

pronunciation

 

( honestly, I don't see being able to fit this into any conversations I hold, lol )

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I got the words from Pinterest and unfortunately didn't google the author until after I had already finished my piece. I say unfortunately because there was so much more to this and I wish I had read the whole poem before I began.

 I wanted to share it all with you. This poem was written some time ago. The simple statements contained in the poem can be applied to everyday life. It really applies to everyone in all walks of life. We can learn a lot from trees if we just take the time to look and listen.

 Advice from a Tree

 

by  Ilan Shamir

 

Sink your roots deeply into the Earth 

Think long term 

Go out on a limb 

Remember your place among all living beings 

Embrace with joy the changing seasons

For each yields its own abundance 

The Energy and Birth of Spring 

The Growth and Contentment of Summer 

The Wisdom to let go of leaves in the Fall

The Rest and Quiet Renewal of Winter

Feel the wind and the sun

And delight in their presence 

Look up at the moon that shines down upon you

And the mystery of the stars at night. 

Seek nourishment from the good things in life 

Simple pleasures Earth, fresh air, light

Be content with your natural beauty

Drink plenty of water 

Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes 

Be flexible Remember your roots

Enjoy the view!

 

Here is my interpretation:

  

6" x 12" wall hanging

  

Higgins - Turquoise India ink

Tattered Angels - Popsicle, Pearl

Tsukineko - Paris Dusk

American Crafts - brads, Marvy Marker

EK Success - Metallic Writers

Vintage Street Market - Linen tinted tape

Faber Castell - PITT pen
Creative Imaginations - overlay ( dove, fussy cut )
Cricut - Don Juan cartridge, p. 34

entering this in:

PanPastels UK Challenge Blog - Challenge #3 Nature

 

ramify: verb

to split up into branches or constituent parts

or

 to send forth branches or extensions

also

to cause to branch

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Hello to all my lovely WOYWW friends, am I glad to seeeeeeeeeee you!

As you can see, my creativity has taken a turn for the FB games, in particular Words with Friends, here I am currently losing AGAIN to Angela, she whoops me every single time, that woman is smart! If you ever want to play, find me on FB, I'm a willing gamester ;)

 

Speaking on smart women,  I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine who is going to participate in WOYWW this week, her name is Lori and she does Mixed media canvases and has an Etsy store. We met in a FB group that meets every Monday night and paints and chats together called Mixed  Media Mondays with Tracy Weinzapfel, now I told Lori all about you ladies so y'all better behave!!

( I might have left off that we are a stalkerish sort of group, but she'll figure it out! lol )

Please go over to her blog, and say hi :)

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I have gotten away from a favorite site of mine called Our Daily Bread designs, they make wonderful stamps...when I crashed my last computer I lost several favorite places ... and it really didn't dawn on me until I pulled out the "Sewn with love" stamp set the other day for this wall hanging. ( one of my favorite sets )

They currently have a challenge called:

Something Old Something New

 

my old: Our Daily Bread designs Mini tag 3 stamp set ( Happy Birthday to you! )

my new: Cricut cartridge - Wildlife ( Christmas present to myself )

Creative Imagination -  paper

twine, pop dots - misc.

Helmars - Liquid Scrapdots ( to keep all those little areas up so they don't get smushed, ears etc. )

Stazon ink

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and another card I made, just cause I am having fun :) I really, really need more of this paper, this is the last little bit of it :(

entering this in:

Paper Playtime: Challenge #1 Pets
 ( well, she will allow any animal but if your current on my blog then you know that the wildlife in my backyard are my pets! I just need to include a raccoon card and squirrel card to make it complete! ) 

albeit: conjunction

even though

 

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Pause Dream Enjoy - #51 December Celebrations
Frosted Designs - 12th Day of Christmas

12 brads

 

OK, so I whined some on the FD blog...12 brads...at one time?? LOL I use brads less often than buttons but more than eyelets..I think I tossed all my eyelets in the trash years ago actually ;p But I did have one more card to make and thinking of using my brads as a Christmas tree design did help me to use up some green brads, so it was all good in the end. Since I was hand delivering this one, I didn't have to worry about the brads making my card too bulky or too heavy.

 

Creative Imaginations - pattern paper

Fiskars - snow flake embossing plate

Big Shot

Really Reasonable Ribbon

DCWV - Shimmer-licious Stack

Helmars - 450, tape runner

brads - misc.

Copic marker ( to color small square brad brown for tree trunk )

 

And I did complete all 12 days of Christmas albeit with whining towards the end but I did enjoy the challenges and it helped me to get my Christmas cards completed so even if I don't win anything I still had fun...lol

 

 here's a review:

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I can happily say that I survived the Millennium and now the Mayans!

Bring it on 2013!

milestone: noun

 a significant event in life, an important event

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One of my friends, that I haven't seen in a long time is celebrating her 50th birthday on Sunday, so I made her card: ( her favorite color is purple, can you tell? ) Since I, personally, have passed this milestone birthday, I won't be teasing her about her age, lol

 

Cricut Craft Room - everyday font

CardzTV - Make a Wish stamps

DCWV - The Home Spun card stack

Creative Imaginations - flower

American Crafts - Marvy marker

Sakura glaze pen

Helmars 450

 

entering this in:

 

Perfect Sentiments Happy Birthday/Happy Anniversary Challenge

( to help celebrate their 1 year anniversary !! )

 

 

believe: intransitive verb

 to have a firm religious faith 

 

I do believe that there is a power greater than us, One which is accessible to all who believe! Pray for those going through breast cancer, that they may have the strength to believe.

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Link Up For Pink

 

flower - Maya Road

stitching by hand

Ranger- stickles

ribbon - Offray

gem- My Minds Eye

leaves - Prima

pattern paper - Creative Imaginations

12 step program: noun



is a set of guiding principles (accepted by members as 'spiritual principles,' based on the approved literature) outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems

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I hear there is a 12 step program for just about everything these days and I am beginning to wonder if I need one because I am clearly on my way to becoming a stack-a-holic! lol

 For the DCWV September Template Challenge.

 I used the following DCWV stacks:

A Type of Art Cardstock stack

Stardust stack

Animal Crackers stack

Glitter Stack

and

 Really Reasonable Ribbon

Creative Imaginations chipboard letters

Making Memories velvet brad

 

Here is the sketch for the challenge which I rotated to the right and inverted the flags and journaling space since I couldn't write on the Stardust paper.

 

 

My favorite thing to do is to make embellishments, so I used some of my twigs from the backyard to make these adorable little flags, doodling and stitching around the green one.

The big solid brown ribbon is up cycled from something but for the life of me I cannot remember where I got it. I just re-discovered it recently during a "can't find anything, have to clean my craft room moment"..ever have those? lol All I can say is it had velcro on each end, but haven't a clue as to why.
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Don't forget it's time to link up those ideas for Project Pinterest!

 

cupcake: noun

small iced cake: a small individual iced cake, baked in a paper or foil cup or in a cup-shaped mold

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Hi everyone, I am so excited that I get to share my news today! Bonnie, from Really Reasonable Ribbon has asked me to be their month long Guest Designer!! Yay, for the entire month of July I am going to devote myself to using ribbon from the Really Reasonable store! That's 31 days of ribbon!!

We are starting off this month with an awesome
RRR Challenge #51 Children's Birthday with Ribbon Theme,
 and I made a cupcake holder! I love cupcakes!!

I just love this 1.5" width Cupcake Grosgrain Pastel ribbon! It was the perfect width for my project.

I took an empty ribbon spool, removed one end and cut the other end to be flush with the roll, ( sanded any rough edges ) and then inked all the edges. Then I adhered the ribbon to the spool, perfect fit! My next part is a favorite of mine, which is embellishing the ribbon! I added stickles to the small dots and gemstones to the cupcakes! It is a sparkly pastel perfection!

Ranger - stickles: Waterfall, Fruit Punch, and Firefly

gems: My Minds Eye and Creative Imagination

ink: Brilliance, Pearlescene Sky Blue

I added more ribbon to the inside of the cup, to give it a pretty look even when the cupcake has been removed and eaten! I also added a matching circle cut from my Cricut using the Happy Hauntings cartridge. ( It just happens to have a circle on the cartridge, lol ) I used the Cricut Craftroom to get the exact size cut I needed to fit into the bottom of the cup. ( Cricut Craftroom is FREE )

bottom size: 2.85"

inside bottom of cup: 2.75"

paper: DCWV Shimmer Stack

To make it even more special I added a small pedestal for the cupcake by taking a glass fruit cup dish and turning it upside down and then setting the cupcake on top.

I added a cupcake wrapper, wrapped it with Saran Wrap ( that way the holder doesn't get icing on it and can be reused ) and cinched the top with a twist tie. Then using the Bow Easy Tool I finished the top off with a perfectly, easy bow which I glued on with my hot glue gun!

ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon July Club Assortment

And to complete the birthday presentation I tied a ribbon to the the base and hot glued a flower to it.

flower: Maya Road

And voila, you have a wonderful, cute, especially made Birthday Cupcake presentation!

I have trully enjoyed being in the Really Reasonable Monthly Club. At the begining of each month you get a packet of ribbon designed for whatever holiday or season that will be coming up in the next month. Which means you are always ready to start any project well in advance! I LOVE that.

This is what the July Club Assortment looks like:

Beautiful, isn't it? Just perfect for summer projects, cards and lay outs!

And who doesn't like getting something in the mail each month?

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Don't forget, Project Pinterest for the month of July will post on July 9th!