Yarrrr.....

The other day I posted an image from Saturated Canary that I colored. I loved coloring her. Today, I attached her to a card. I am considering submitting it to be published. I have never been brave enough, but the talented Steph talked me into trying, so try I will!

Here she is, all gussied up. I actually made a matching envelope as well. I used Heidi Swapp color shine, gold. For the burst of blue behind her I also used color shine, but the teal. I love LOVE her mists. Omgoodness, Imma go broke at this point.

The cork stars are from Jilli Bean Soup. LOVE them. The frame is also. Did you know Walmart is selling Jilli Bean Soup? For totes awesome. Oh, and the words, "hello friend" are from Cosmo Cricket. The papers are Teresa Collins, "Tell Your Story" and Studio Calico, "Hey Day".

I had so much fun with this image. I tried to make sure that she was the focal point of the card, so I didn't add too much distraction around her.

Hope you are inspired! Go, and GET CRAFTY!

And, now...Presenting.....

I am SO GLAD to finally let the cat out of the bag!! I just can't stand it!

So, I got asked to be on the Southern Girls Challenge design team! I got picked to be on team Lou and seriously can't wait to get started and show you all how fun this blog is! There is so much inspiration, and so much variety! Seriously, something for everyone.

Why don't you check out the current challenge, "Spin Me Round and Round". Two sponsors too!

Be sure to check them out. The first challenge for the new team will be September the 4th, so be sure to tune in. My team's challenge will debut on September 25th.

Be sure to check it out, and stay tuned for more awesome! Going to be a great 8 months!

Getting In Touch With Your Artistic Side

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So, this weekend I got to have a quick hang out with my buddy Kristy. She has been telling me to check out Dina Wakley for days and I finally took the opportunity to check her out. HOW have I not heard of this person before now? I am completely obsessed. Her style of crafting matches so closely with my heart and my own tendencies. I have a feeling I will be stalking her facebook and youtube channel often.

So after checking her out today I was so inspired that I drug out my paints and my brushes and got to work.

This was the result:

I used a lot of "freestylin" and used what I had. Nothing too fancy. The acrylic paints were from Walmart, and I happened to already have gesso, so I used that to prep my page. It really DID make a difference. The purple ink I used is Studio G. The mist is Hedi Swapp. I used 2 different stencils: 1 from Tim Holtz, and one that I am not sure of the brand, but I love it. I also used an arrow/chevron stamp that I made from an eraser. 

I created some texture paste with this tutorial I found on pinterest, and I have a feeling I will be making a lot more and using it a LOT! Here is a close up of how it looks on my Tiddly Inks image: 

I had so much fun creating this and I can't wait to make more! I went ahead and journaled a bit on the page because after I looked at it it felt a bit empty. 

I find that I will need to get a really good pen to write over acrylic paint, but that is an easy remedy. 

I hope that you are as inspired as I was! Oh! And I also had a chance to color today! WOO! Colored this Saturated Canary image using my new copic. I love R24 (Prawn). LOVE that marker! Now, to create something with her!

Crafty Space Tour

So, I kinda have a hard time with my crafting space. I am super thankful for it, however, sometimes I wish it was an actual craft room where things didn't have to be in crates and totes. And then I remember that I used to craft out of a small under stair closet and my living room floor. I have come a long way, baby!

So, I decided that I would give you a "tour" of where the magic happens.

Here is a quick video. I was interrupted so cut it kind of short, but so is life as a wife and mom and I wouldn't have it any other way.



So here is the view from my hallway. I really like the french doors. I can pull up the shades and get good light in the early afternoon. Helps since I swear I am going blind. My husband makes fun of me because I need so much light all of the time. Note the extra double lamp as well.

 The dresser I got off the side of the road in my neighborhood. Back when I would run almost every day I ran by this house and it was at the side of the road, covered in spider webs and dirt and grossness. I shudder to think what was on it. I asked the guy if I could have it and he said, of course! I was so stoked that I cut my run short and went back home and got my husband and my van and brought it home. I bleached it and scrubbed it and now I have an awesome storage unit.

The box on top is from Hobby Lobby and is made to hold the cricut and/or silhouette or whatever die-cutting machine you may have. This one houses my cricut, my cuddlebug, and my cartridges.

On the top left, you see that lunchbox? Here are my copics. Every copic I own fits perfectly in this box and I love that I can store them flat. It is death to a copic to store it upright, in my opinion. 

 So the top drawer of my dresser houses my Smash*books. Most of them woefully incomplete, but that's okay. Each in its own time. (incidentally, see that card on the top by the ponies? My son made that for his best friend for when she returns from her family vacation.)

 This next drawer I used to house my design team stuff, but I am done with that team so it will go through a makeover. For now, though, scrap paper and 6 x 6 pads of paper, a box of precut cards and envelopes, design team stamps and other items live in this drawer.

 THIS drawer holds my WASHI tape! I really love the plastic containers I found at walmart. I can't find a photo online, but they are clear, flat containers with different shaped sections in them. I will try to take one out and photograph it another time, but I kinda love em.

So THIS came from Lowes, and its awesome. I am so lucky. My hubbs bought this for me last year for our wedding anniversary. I love it. Its so great for so many of my fun crafting supplies.  

 I keep my memento inks and embossing powders and stickles and the like in this drawer. I like that when I open it I can see everything. I find that if I can't readily see my items I am not inspired to use them as often which results in needless spending.

 This next drawer I have my larger ink pads organized by color as well as my copic refulls, mists and watercolor crayons and pastels. again, all where I can easily access them.

 The last drawer is about to undergo some work, as is the top portion of this storage unit which I am not showing you because it is just a random mess of items that need to be put into the correct place. Anyway, this drawer is for my thickers and letter stickers. They are in folders, but its not a perfect system, so soon I will revise it.

I hope this shows you how you can use whatever you have. My dining room is shared with myself, my son and husband, our cat and dog as well as it is being used for storage currently (did you see the pink sheet covering the totes?) However, it all works and is accessible. I know it won't always be this way. Someday we will move on and move into our final home and have all the space we want/need, but for now I will be thankful for my little space. 

Puppetry 101

So the last few months my son has been obsessed with Jim Henson and all things puppetry. I think its awesome, but I know so little about how to make puppets so I wasn't sure how to indulge him.

Kellie over at "Give A Girl A Blog" posted an adorable project for a pom pom puppet and we had to try it out. It was a fun Instructables tutorial.

So, as adorable as it was, I found that because hot glue was used, my son wasn't able to really participate (and for good reason...I am now missing 2 fingerprints.....).

However, it was friggen adorable when done.

So next, I wanted to do something Noah could actually make. That was the point of our craft time together. I had also seen this tutorial on pinterest, so we got to work. 

Noah decided that he wanted to make a tiger with 4 legs, so we did just that. When it came time for me to make it into a puppet, though, it became clear very quickly that the tutorial didn't account for a body with the strings. So, for now, we will just play with him as a toy and figure out how best to make him a marionette. 

I had Noah draw a tiger face and cover the toilet paper tube in construction paper. He used fuzzy pipe cleaners to create the stripes on his back and we used pom poms and washers for his feet.

Noah loved him so much that he wanted to brush his teeth before bed. So cute. 

It was fun to get back to crafting with Noah again. Hope you are inspired to get crafting with your little munchkin too. 

Scrappy Fourth!

Yesterday a scrappy friend of mine came over before the fireworks and we played and crafted together for a few hours. I have been wanting to craft, but the mojo just wasn't happening after all my brain has been through this week.

However, I really wanted to get our strawberry picking pictures scrapped. So, as we chatted and played with dies and my prima paperdoll this is what finally fell together, and I am super happy with the outcome.

The papers I used are from the "from me to you" stack from Pebbles. I love this stack. Actually, the background wood grain is from The Paper Sudio, but the rest is pebbles. The words are from Tim Holtz and the journal card is from We R Memory Keepers, "Daily DIY" journaling cards stack. Lastly, the bling is sparklets from Kaiser Kraft. 

I actually had these photos printed with "Groove Book". I love getting all my  mobile photos printed this way. 2.99 a month for 100 photos. Its pretty much amazing. You should check them out. 

Anyway, I hope that everyone had a wonderful 4th of July here in the states and I hope you get crafty this weekend! 

Be Amazing

So, lately I have needed a little crafty release, so today I took my chance before I go back to craziness this summer.

I bought this Prima Doll stamp back at Christmas in Gatlinburg and have been terrified to use it for fear I won't live up to the amazing that Prima Doll stamps are.

This weekend I was blessed to meet up with the amazingly talented Steph Ackerman (check out her blog....) and she really opened a brand new world of crafting up to me and I have been so inspired that I seriously can't stand it!

So today I pulled out my lovely stamp and with no expectation and no stress, created a wall hanging. I used Ghesso, Mod Podge, glitter, Memento inks, sequin ribbon, feathers from my yard and a dictionary page to create this. I glued it all down to a piece of chip board that I had laying around because I didn't want to create an entire canvas. 

This piece was so freeing and I had a lot of fun creating it. I hope that it inspires you as well. Happy crafting!