Better Late than Never.........God Bless America!

Good Morning Bloggers, hope you all had a GREAT 4th of July!  Mine was pretty uneventful, although I did all the things you're supposed to do on a holiday.  Went down to an Arts/Crafts Festival down in Gulfport, FL, about a hour south of here.  There were some cool vendors, some great getups to be seen and lots of little kids riding in wagons, etc.  Had a blueberry lemonade and sweated my you know what off, lol!  Then I came home and made some macaroni salad, burned a dog on the grill and promptly took a nap, ha!  Woke up just in time to see the rain end and the fireworks start.  It was great!  I finally finished up my 4th of July door decoration this morning so I thought I would share it with you.  Like I said, better late than never.

This started out as a plain ol' wooden star.

Used some papers from my stash and some Tim Holtz papers as well

The USA are wooden letters from Michael's and stained with Tim Holtz re-inkers

 and tied with wires

                                      

The blue rosette is just half of it place at the seam

The AMERICA, Let Freedom Ring  from Close To My Heart and is embossed with blue powder

I added a bauble made from Tim Holtz's 4th of July paper and a crinkle ribbon stained with his distress stains

More blue embossing powder here with stamps from Crafty Secrets and some little tan star buttons with the hanks cut off

 It may be a little late but I still love it, it looks so cool on my front door.  The neighbors probably think I'm nuts but that's ok, what they don't know won't hurt them, lol!

Hope you are still having a grand 4th of July weekend,
Hugs,
~Jody

Authentic Cowgirl

Hey there bloggers, I finished another page in my daughter's scrapbook.  I really like how this one turned out. It has a few Tim Holtz elements and a few Close to My Heart elements and a few elements from my stash.  A great combination I thought.

Love the burlap ribbon.  I got that at a little store in Asheville, NC when I was up there visiting a friend last September.  My little girl is not a cowgirl anymore but she sure made a cute one at 8 years old.

Hugs,
~Jody

Here's Your Sign............

lol, Good Afternoon bloggers, have been busy today making some more signs.  Today I did flowers, tulip, daisy and peony.  They turned out so good, I just love the way they look.  I am going to take them over to a place here in my home town this next week and see if they would sell some in their shop.  It's a flower shop, of sorts, they sell lots of old world things, at least that's what I call it.  They sell flowers too but alot of their things are things that you wouldn't see in your basic Walmart, for example.  Was in there the other day and they do sell local artist's things so it's worth a shot.  Anyway, here's a look at the ones I made today.

So, if you're interested in some cute signs for your porch or deck, have I got a deal for you, lol!  These ones are going for $24.99 plus shipping.   I will have them up on my Etsy shop too soon.  

Preference

Daisy $24.99 USD Peony $24.99 USD Tulip $24.99 USD Tea $19.99 USD

Hope you all have a great rest of Memorial Day. Remember what we are really celebrating here, Our Freedom!!!
Hugs,
~Jody

Ramblings.............

Hey there bloggers, it's been a little while since I've blogged so I guess I'd better get at it here.  Have just a few things to share with you today.

We had a nice day on Mother's Day.  Some family came over and we barbequed some burgers on the grill.  Ate some chips and potato salad and played some yard darts.

Here's a few shots of the day's happenings.

 

I'm kinda moving backwards here but I received the prettiest little rose bush for Easter.  I re-potted it and it's been sitting outside my back door ever since.  I think it likes it there too, look at the pretty roses it has produced.  They are a real pale pale yellow, like creamed colored.

Next up is a card I made for a lady at work.  She had to have some surgery and will be out for about 6 weeks so I made this card for her and sent it to her house.  I used some of Tim Holtz's 'shabby chic' paper pack.  I don't think I have ever seen him use this paper pack himself but my sister used it for a card for me once and it was so pretty.

The chipboard flourish is from my stash.  The sentiment is from Waltzingham Mouse.  I stamped a little swirly on the envelope too.  Hope she liked it.

And last but not least is a wooden sign that I made tonight.  It turned out pretty cute, actually I really like it.  I used a piece of wood I had hanging 'round the house and painted it with one coat of white paint, very lightly.  After it dried I sanded it down a bit.  I distressed the edges and printed the word 'tea' on it and then banged it up with the hammer.  Just love it.  As a matter of fact, I am going to make some more so if you'd like one, let me know.  They sell for $19.95 and you can order one right here. I can print other words on them as well, like your favorite fruit or veggie, a name, etc.  The background can be a different color too but it has to be light or you won't see the words. If you have different preferences about the background color and the printed word, just send me an email and let me know what you'd like.

 

Thanks for stopping by today and I hope you have a joyous Memorial Day weekend.

Always Remember, All Gave Some, Some Gave All!!!

Hugs, ~Jody 

The latest Scrapbook page

I have been working on my daughter's scrapbooks for a few years now, I'm up to age 8.  I'm also on the third scrapbook.  It's tough when you only have one child because you keep EVERYTHING for the first one, lol.  Sometimes I wish I had been better at taking pictures back then.  Most of them are either lop-sided, in the shadows or have a limb missing.  OR I missed the occasion all together.  I recently realized that I don't have any photos of her on her 8th birthday so I'm fudging.  No one will ever know, right?

Anyway, here's a page I did including a few different things.  I had this pocket book for all the grades of school that they go to.  Each grade had a page for their photo and their handwriting.  I also included the receipt for when we had her ears pierced.  I had noted it on one of the pages in the pocket book and still had the receipt for it. 

I really need to get some more of these done.  I've been working on her albums for like 6-7 years now and I'm only up to age 8.  I keep getting distracted by everything else I'd like to create, lol.

Hope you all had a very Happy Mother's Day!
Hugs,
~Jody

Mother's Day 2013

Hey there bloggers, long time no blog!  Wish I had a really good reason for it but I don't, just been a slacker.  I'll blame it on post-menopausal ideations, lol, and those don't really have any definite descriptions so, you do the math, lol!

Anyway, I have gotten a jump on Mother's Day this year.  Already have my mother's gift done and ready to be put in the mail.  I started with six pieces of chipboard that measured approx. 3 1/2 x 4 1/2.  I found some paper in my stash that was from a class I took with my sister about probably 3-4 years ago.  I never finished the last two pages that were in the pack so it was kind of a neat little package with vellum quick quotes to match.  And it matched my thoughts exactly.  Pulled out some Tim Holtz ideology goodness and some old photos from my very first scrapbook.  That's a post for another day, my first scrapbook!  Let's just say  what a difference 30-40 years makes, lol.  So, this is what it turned out to be.

All of the edges on the right side were done with Tim Holtz On the Edge dies

The 'life moments' is one of his new stamp sets, Simple Sayings. The Family stamp is from Close To My Heart.

The papers were from an old kit from a class of years ago. The heart shaped photo is of my mother and step father taken at Cheyenne Frontier Days when they were first married. The family portrait was taken around the same time.  Probably both about 40 years ago or so since the little boy sitting on my lap is my nephew and he's like 43 years old now.

This is my older sister, Cindy, she's probably about 6 years old here. 

This one is me at about 6-7, I think.  Lots of fun embellishments too.  The saying along the way says "The Past speaks in Voices that can only be heard with the Heart"  It was a vellum quick quote that I applied to yellow paper with a liquid glue.

This photo is of little Kelly, probably about the same age.  She passed away at the age of 19 about 32 years ago.  The little ties on the green side are there because I cut that one wrong.  See what you can do with your mistakes.  I actually really like how that turned out.

This is the baby of the family, little Charmin.  I think she's about 5 there, like probably the first school photo taken of her.  The yellow circle on the other side is a Fiskars round punch that I've had for years.

And finally the back.  The bottom part was on that vellum sheet as well.  I also added the rub-on family from CTMH but you can barely see it here.  

I tied a bunch of ribbons on the ring that is holding the whole thing together.  Really like how it turned out.  I'm sure my mother will too.  Hugs, ~Jody

Belated Easter Project

Hey there bloggers,

I finally got this little vintage cart done that I have been working on for a while now.  Wanted to have it done by Easter but as you can tell, that didn't happen.  I was inspired by a cart that Jim, The Gentleman Crafter did last year.  You can see his cart here. Mine is a bit smaller because I wanted to use the Tim Holtz rabbit die and it was smaller than the ones that he offered diagrams of.  Needless to say, my cart had to be smaller.  I saw a cute challenge over at Eclectic Paperie to use corrugated cardboard on a project so I made my cart out of that.  Unfortunately, when I went to attach my link to their website it said the challenge was closed.  The challenge stated that it would be open until Thursday, April 5th until 6 p.m. EST. However, April 5th is not a Thursday, April 4th is a Thursday so their website was incorrect. I wondered why I walked around all day yesterday thinking it was the 5th!

Anyway, my Vintage Easter Cart turned out so cute.  It will definitely be a keepsake for years to come.

I used skewers for cart rails

I covered the grungeboard bunnies with 100% wool felt

The wheels are a circle and a gear made out of grungeboard and a screw cap

 and they actually roll

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

all the flowers are a punch that I've had for years

the little bunnies running along side the big ones are from a punch as well

Anyone know Dr. Who?

Hey there bloggers, just a quick note to show you the card I made for my daughter's birthday.  She is a huge Dr. Who fan.  Does anyone know Dr. Who?  I'd never heard of him until she told me about it a few years back.  She has the Tardis tattooed on one of her calves.  So........................................
here's the card I made for her.

It turned out pretty good I thought.  I found a photograph of a Tardis online and printed a copy of it and that's what I followed.  Looks like you could just open the door and step right in, doesn't it?  Apparently this is Dr. Who's time traveling machine.  Who knew, lol!!!

Hope you have a great evening and thanks for stopping by!
Hugs,
~Jody

March ATC

Hey there bloggers, almost forgot to show you my St. Patrick's Day ATC.  We had club last Monday night and we were all in ahhh of all the green.  That was the theme for March, of course, but it was fun to see ALL the green.  Mine was no exception.  I used some little white flowers I had a bunch of and colored the edges of them green.  Made a square frame with some Spellbinders dies to go around them and then added a metal tag (that was the embellishment for March-tags).  I had originally stamped Happy St. Patrick's Day on the back of each tag but once I got them on the tag, you couldn't see all of it so I stamped the front of the atc underneath the tag so when you turned the tag around you saw the little message.  Worked out great. 

 The metal tag I embossed with a  flower stamp and some green embossing powder.

 The center of the frame that came out I added to the back of each one.  Over the prongs of the brad I added a little white pearl so it looked like a little flower there too.

Ok, better late than never.  Made it just time too, tomorrow I should have a litte Easter treat to share with you.

Hope you have a great weekend,
Hugs,
~Jody

Tattered Floral Challenge

I have always been in love with the color combination of black/white/yellow.  Years ago I made myself this beautiful yellow dress with a huge midi-length skirt and black buttons and black/white accessories. It made me feel so delightful or something like that.  I just loved it.  Anyway, when Tim Holtz offered up his tattered floral die challenge, my mind starting going and I just kept coming back to this color combo.  I have had these little cans on my craft table for a few weeks now and just hadn't gotten the right mojo to do anything with them.  It finally hit me...... so, without further ado, lol, here is my entry in to the challenge.

The flowers were cut from clear TH packaging and shaded with alcohol inks (pitch black, slate and the snow cap & silver mixatives).

Then I cut some tattered florals in white cardstock and some in black cardstock and inked the edges. Some I sprayed with Perfect Pearls mists both pearl and heirloom gold. I pinched and curled some edges here and there as well.  I colored some white brads with sunshine yellow alcohol ink and used those for the center of my flowers.

I applied a little yellow picot ribbon to the top edge of the can and although you can't see it, I spread some gunmetal stickles around the inner lip of the can too.

I found a yellow pipe cleaner and a silver one in my stash, as well as some yellow polka dot ribbon and some yellow buttons. The little black flowers and leaves stem were in the Halloween stash and they matched perfectly.  

The paper I covered the can with was just a strip of white cardstock that I stamped one of Tim's stamps on (don't know the name of that stamp).

The big yellow button I tied black embroidery floss in.  I glued that, some other small yellow buttons and some yellow sparkly gems on with hot glue.

I went through my pen arsenal and found everything that matched to put in my new pen holder, however, I think it will just house my sharpies from now on.

The color combination just does something for me, love the yellow/white polka dot ribbon. Just so dang cute.

So, there you have it, my entry to the Tim Holtz Tattered Floral Challenge.  You can pop over to his blog here and check it out if you'd like. There's some pretty cool inspiration there, I must say!!!  Hope you have a lovely weekend!
Hugs,
~Jody