Stacked Stones Studio!

What do you do when you can't sleep? Ummm...make a card?

Sometimes, when I have REALLY big things I am trying to accomplish -- I need to remind myself that the best way to get there is to concentrate on the small things...and just keep doing them one by one!

"BELIEVE" is my ONE LITTLE WORD for this year -- am trying to do lots of creative things and keep them around me. What word have you chosen to represent what you want most to be or do this year?

While "Seize the Day" is one of my all time favorite quotes -- probably because I have a tendency to get lost in the details -- and miss the splendor of the wonderfulness of the ENTIRE experience...I had to laugh when I saw THIS particular version of it...if only it were this simple! Have a GREAT TUESDAY...and look for those "handles that are provided" and SEIZE THEM!

The idea for this little card came to me in the middle of the night -- seriously! I have been in the process of sorting through stuff to put together all kinds of yummy goodness for the ladies attending the crop on Saturday (there are a few seats left -- if you want to come -- just email me)...and I found some embellishments that my friend, Dana, and I came up with a year or so ago! I had some plastic table cloth material (from Walmart) -- you can buy it by the yard -- and it is fairly thick, but still pliable and totally clear. I do think they make a frosted version -- but for this technique you want to use the clear kind. We stamped with StazOn ink on one side -- and then painted in the back -- some with a fair amount of detail -- like this poppy -- and some totally simple. You really can do ANYTHING that is a stamp and has some open space in it for you to paint. When it dries...you trim close to the edge of the stamped image and place on your page. I think it would also wor...

Hope you have had a great Sunday. Am a busy little bee getting things ready for next Saturday -- but took a bit of time out to create a little "something." I love this quote from the Talmud...reminding me that contentment is indeed a source of RICHNESS.

Ok...so today's quote was REALLY appropriate for me. I was feeling a little guilty that I didn't get something posted YESTERDAY for you -- and then I worked on this little card -- and reminded myself that my "Creative Something" everyday is a goal -- something to keep me motivated and REMINDED that I want to be creative every day -- not something to kick myself over if I don't get it done. I did get the show taped yesterday. (lots of creativity there -- for my viewers you are gonna have FUN...trust me on this one!).... I did get to go scrap with my Friday night cropping friends...Oh my stars I laughed so hard... I actually did some knitting...which I will post here when I get the project done. So...hope you will steer for the stars!

You just never know what you might be able to use when scrapbooking. This background is a CD label (printed with woodgrain) sticker...to sew the piece of chipboard down the side, I just used my cropadile to punch some holes...and then did a couple of rubons for decoration. I really kind of liked the sewing on the chipboard...will have to try that in a bigger format at a later date. Off to Kentucky to tap What You Make It . Hope to see some of your daily inspiration when I get back.

Just got this one in under the wire! It has been a crazy day here. Been working on getting ready for taping on Friday -- woo hoo (am super excited about the projects we are going to be doing!), working on technique classes for our All Day Crop on the 17th (for more information on attending CLICK HERE -- we still have a few spots left) and on top of it all being DETERMINED not to let the headache that this rainy weather brings stop me! This card was a fun one. I learned a new technique that uses clear packing tape to transfer images....sounds hard right?!?!?! Well it isn't. All you need is something printed with INK (not from an inkjet printer) -- I found magazines -- old or new with shiny pages work really well...but really ANYTHING that is printed will do -- you just have to work with it a bit more. You also need packing tape and a shallow dish or pan with warm water. Here are the steps: 1. Put tape over the entire image that you want to transfer. If it is wider that ...

the entire surface is painted...you kind of want to seal the muslin with paint... Here is the step by step: 1. Draw your pattern (maybe on scrap 12 x 12) and trace onto muslin with sharpie. (I knew I would add a picture at the end so created a "framed" space on my pattern)2. Stitch over as many of the lines as your sewing skills allow. Make sure your thread has cotton in it (not all polyester) so the stain will absorb.3. Paint with base color -- not much detail.4. Sand the entire surface...be a bit rough with it.5. Mix 2 parts burnt umber acrylic paint with one part water to make a glaze...it will be goopy but don't be afraid of it.6. slop the brown mixture all over your nice prettily painted "quilt" -- wipe off excess...if it is too dark wet a paper towell and wipe off more -- if not dark enough throw some more paint on there.7. Let dry....then sand again.8. Add details and embellish with beads, buttons, pins, ribbon, paint or pen details. Feel free to PM me ...

Just a little fun with fabric and trims....

This was one our "family phrases" growing up. I recently saw Heidi Swapp talking about this same phrase on her blog (she is working on this concept with her kiddos this year) -- and was reminded of just HOW often I heard it -- particularly from my grandparents. I think this would be a great year to put it back into practice in my life! Ok...the background is a little "tongue in cheek" -- I emptied out my hole punch and since I made a LOT of minis over Christmas I had all kinds of tiny circles in there...it seemed like the ultimate way to "use it up and make do." TFL....hope day "four" of the new year is great for you!

Been reading in Hebrews chapter 11 (aka the hall of faith chapter) and noticed the number of times it reads -- " BY FAITH so and so did such and such " (ok that last part is jann's interpretive version)....meaning that these people TOOK action before they knew the outcome! I need to do that more during 2009!

Ok...the good thing about trying something SMALL -- you can decide if you want to do it BIGGER! I had seen this concept in my latest issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and thought it was cool. So I tried it on an ATC for today... You draw your design on plain muslin -- Make a muslin and felt sandwich...stitch it -- paint it -- sand and distress it and then embellish it. I love how this turned out so much, I am working on a 12 x 12 version. ok...so that will take a bit longer -- but I know I will love it -- because I tried it SMALL!

Am going to try and do SOMETHING creative every day. This was my "something" for today -- a little ATC. I also worked on my current Stash Diet Challenge. This challenge is (as always) to use things you already have in your stash...to reuse, repurpose and fall in love with stuff you haven't used before or have been HOARDING! The prompt was " This Time Next Year " which fits for the new year....and the bonus item...was to CREATE your title...(really anything other than chipboard letters)....if you would like to play along....post a link to your Stash Diet entry here on the blog. You have until Midnight Sunday night January 4th. For every time you post -- your name will be entered in a drawing for a few of these Loom Blooms I have been making. If you use the "bonus item," your name goes in again! Here is to a little creativity in the new year.

We don't know!?!?!? He just came out of his room this afternoon with a George Washington wig, a spear and a shield. I thought he looked like a Zulu Amedius! He just cracks me up... Life is never boring around our place! This will be a fun "scrapable moment." Hope you've had a GREAT Christmas! Ours has been wonderful...and full of many strange moments...stranger than the picture of Weston! Remind me to tell you about it someday.

First of all -- I had a delightful "spontaneous" evening with some girls from my church the other night. One of them called and said she wanted to have us over for some scrapping...then the weather turned bad and we decided not to do it...and THEN -- the weather seemed to pass north of us -- so we went anyway! Because by the time I knew I was going I just needed to "grab and go," I took my tool bag, a handful of pictures and a small bag of random things that were sitting on my scrap table (ok -- one of them was a kit from Jenni Bowlin) and went. It was good to sit and chat with the girls -- scrap a little and laugh a lot. What an unexpected blessing. I finished the layout titled, "It's Good." I have also discovered the BEST stamping tool ever! It is called a Stamp-a-ma-jig. It is the perfect tool for placing your Stamps exactly how you want them. I have been intimidated by stamp sets that required "perfect placement" like this PRECIOUS vi...

Christmas is my all-time favorite time of year. I love celebrating Jesus’ birth. I delight in the decorations, the smells of Christmas baking, the chill in the air and of course the wonderful time with family and friends. But as busy as December gets – I sometimes feel like I need a holiday AFTER Christmas – to recover and catch-up. Do you? Well, I have the perfect day planned for you and some of your friends. Saturday, January 17th Come and crop all day! Once the packages have been opened and all the pictures taken (and maybe even printed) – come spend the day with me and a few friends. We have scheduled an all day crop at the Holiday Inn Express located near Providence Marketplace in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. This newly opened facility is beautiful and will provide a wonderful place to relax and be creative. It is also located very close to JoAnn’s, Staples, Target and lots of yummy restaurants. What is included? The cost for the day is $50 and includes one technique class and lu...

This is what happens when a friend gives you a box of inchies a few weeks ago and they sit staring at you on your work table ....day...after ....day. And finally, in a move to conquer the staring of the inches you wrestle them out of the box and make them do what inchies do....make small things....lots of them. Ahhhh ...but the dilemma doesn't end there....are inchies just inchies -- for the sake of being an inchie ...or is it proper and polite once you've conquered them to sweep them back together -- and make their small parts part of a whole bigger "thing" once again? See this was my dilemma as I baked pies and bread today...do I just work on a couple and say..."ta done!" and move on...but in the end...my inchies told a story....and the story was told better by letting each little inchie play his or her part. (you know they do all the voices -- they don't just read it in a monotone voice -- if you haven't heard an inchie performance you ar...

I do! Well...what I mean to say is -- I LOVE my Cricut Expression. It stays out on my work table -- and I find all kinds of ways to use it in my scrapbooking and just day to day projects. I was fortunate enough to have ProvoCraft (the creators of the Lil Bug and the Expression) ask me to be in their infomercial. I flew out to Salt Lake City and just had a blast with the video crew and the team at ProvoCraft. I have had a few friends start to see it on TV and have asked -- so YES... that is me...in the flesh -- telling everyone how much I enjoy my Cricut Expression. I have provided you a link to see two of the testimonials that they pulled out of the commercial -- if you are interested (you will probably recognize my face on the first one -- the second one is a picture of a pillow *smile*). I think if you go to the home page there is a way to watch the whole thing if you want to -- and have the connection speed. Ok...so I am not quitting my day job -- nor am I likely to get a job as th...