Stacked Stones Studio!

I am feeling the need for a little sunshine today. Actually, when I woke up this morning -- the clouds were gone...and there was just the hint of a sunrise. The birds were certainly taking advantage of it. Oh, I know that winter still has many more days ahead -- but I love when you get a hint of the spring to come. Today's card is my only little bit of sunshine. It is a gesso - resist technique. You first put the gesso down on your background...I used white...but you can tint gesso with acrylic paint to make it whatever color you like. Gesso has a chalky base...which makes it resist the Distress Inks (by Ranger and Tim Holz). After you rub in two or three colors of the distress inks (I chose shades of yellow, orange and red) -- spritz with water...it gives a water stain effect...and the bit of dampness lets you wipe away the bit of ink that is on the Gesso. I then stamped with archival/solvent ink (like Stazon) and embellished. Hope you have found a little sunshine in y...

Oh Yes...is it cold indeed here! This is a fun little technique I thought I would share with you...putting a picture under an embossed transparency! Am having so much fun with my cuttlebug lately...since I discovered that you can put thin acrylic through it...Like I did on these Heidi Swapp letters.... on this layout about my new niece!

I love my old typewriter. I love the sound of the keys striking the ribbon and making their mark on the paper. There is something very satisfying about touching the key and knowing that touch will actually CREATE words on a page. Don't get me wrong...I love all the things that my computer does for me...but one thing I like BETTER about my typewriter is that the INSTANT gratification of the printed word it gives me...yeah -- I am a bit "old school." Today's card started out as a thin piece of cardboard...to which I Mod Podged some scraps of a sewing pattern...If you look closely -- I was REALLY going for the SIMPLICITY theme because that word was actually part of the pattern...but in the end...it needed this little blue tree and the words, "Let go for a moment...Just Be."

Brrrrr! It is veeeeery cold here today -- and rainy...just the kind of day to stay in, bundled up and sipping a hot cup of tea! That is exactly what I am going to do. I had three wonderful sections of classes yesterday -- but am so glad that I do not teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays...and that I work at home...cause I just don't want to get out in this mess today. This card's background is created by doing a paper basket weave like I did to create this Christmas stocking out of Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding paper. In order to make the stocking -- I created a 12 x 12 sheet of woven paper so to make the card I just did the same process in miniature. Here are the instructions: 1 Cut scrap papers into twenty-four (24) .5" x 6" strips. Ink edges, if desired. (if doing a big background I recommend using 1" x 12" strips of paper) 2 Arrange 12 of the strips vertically along a piece of scrap cardstock and lightly tack just the top with removeable adhesive. Thi...

Today's card is made from Tyvek...you know the paperish/plastic-ish material that mailing envelopes like those used by FedEx are made of? It really is both paper and plastic...and if you put a little water on it before you start -- it will absorb acrylic paint where it is paper -- and resist it where the little threads of plastic are...which makes for a kind of tie-dyed effect when you wipe the paint off... Just another idea to "re-use" those envelopes rather than put them in a landfill. Hope you are off to a great last day of January!

I have gone outside the last few mornings to find "Frost" on everything...brrrr! The trees, the grass and even the windows on the North side of my house -- all covered with a sheer coat of icy sparkly ''FROST." Seeing this inspired my card today....Hope you are warm whever you may be!

Ok...I admit it -- I am a distress "fiend!" There...I said it...and I am proud! We tear our paper....scratch it....stab it.....why not PUNCH it!?!?! I liked how this turned out -- this technique is DEFINITELY going to show up on a larger page. Technique Tutorial: 1. Save up a bit of frustration. (ok -- don't save it up -- it will still work, it just makes it more fun) 2. Use heavy weight cardstock, card board...or a tag. 3. Use your cropadile (I used my Big Bite so that I could just move the paper and punch) or any where hole punch and randomly put holes into your paper. Punch a LOT...don't be shy 4. Make sure they overlap in some areas...and let some of your punches go off the page. 5. Use distress inks (starting with your lightest color) to add color to your background in swirly motions. 6. Stamp an additional image in Archival ink (most others will react to distress ink and not print so test your ink before your work on your main piece. 7. Run a distress to...

Maybe I am the only one who needs to be reminded of this. I am always having to speak the truth to myself that the grass ISN'T greener on the other side -- it just looks that way from a distance. Life is a journey -- and even if I LOVED everything about where I am at the moment (and I honestly, don't) -- I am not STAYING there...but I do feel that I need to make the most of wherever I find myself at the moment.

Innauguration Day! I feel so blessed to live in a country where "We the People" are given the chance to say who we want to be our leader. If your guy (or gal) wins or loses...you still had the chance to speak up and have your voice counted. That is an amazing thing. Today holds much promise for our country. I pray for our new President that he will be a strong, good and wise leader. There are a lot of problems facing the United States right now -- but even still, because we have a choice in our leadership -- there is HOPE. Today's Creative "something" was created with a collage stamp and some water colors...Be sure and use Stazon ink if you want to watercolor after you have stamped your image. Have a great day!

We had snow today -- ok...it was really just a "skiff of snow" -- but snow nonetheless. Hope you have had a good day wherever you are!

Day Seventeen: Had some fun with aluminum tape (got it at Loews -- I think it is used to seal airconditioning duct). Stuck a couple of widths down to cardstock...and then rolled it through the Cuttlebug in an embossing folder. Love love LOVE all the texture you can get with that. Then I dripped some alcohol inks onto the surface. They work GREAT with metal and acrylic -- really any slick non-porous surface. Am going to have to try this again. Sorry for the delay in posting...was just super busy with the What You Make It crop on Saturday. We had sooo much fun. I totally loved getting to know the ladies I had never met before that were able to attend. And I have to say that it was equally fun to get to spend some time with friends from the past too! I will be posting pictures later. This little card came out of another project. I was working on staining some other tags, and got huge drops of Walnut Stain (in eggplant color) all over my craft sheet. Just dipped this tag in th...

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.