heart!

 

 While walking our dog I found this lovely little walnut shell.  Isn't it just perfect?  I want to go back and get a whole bucket of them!  I have so many ideas of things to make with them.  During my frenzy of blurting out all of my thoughts Dillon mentioned it would probably make a nice stamp.  Genius!

Using acrylic paint,

I gave it a shot in The Book on Love.

I probably should have used a dremel to make the surface a little bit more even, oh well.

The first page is officially started!  The white paint smudged and it's driving me batty so I plan on doing a lot more with it.  Updated pics to come.

Thanks for looking and have a craftastic day.

Hidden Gems.

While making my Ante Up card I decided to raid the board game section of the closet to steal acquire some chips.  After reminiscing about how darned awesome the game of Operation is and avoiding a box of Jenga coming straight at my face, I managed to wrestle down the old Nick the Greek Casino Roulette game. In addition to finding a dusty old game and way more dice than needed to actually play the game, I also found some treasures left behind by the original owners from the late 80s.

 Oh yeah.  Now I have a Lisa Frank pencil to go with my glitter unicorn and kitten notebooks!  And one of those cartridge pencils that I was all about in kindergarten.

I couldn't resist taking some photos with lucky numbers, 7 and 13, while the wheel was spinning.

Yeah, I guess I get easily distracted.  What distracts you while you're working?  What do you do to try to stay on track?  Just wondering if I'm the only one like a small child who sees something shiny.

Thanks for looking and have a craftastic day!

Neglectful Nancy...

I've been a Neglectful Nancy... but I'm back with little lovelies to show you!

Ante Up

Paper clippings, netting, and game pieces on Bristol.
Maybe I shouldn't have put the best one first, as the rest won't quite live up to her.  But come on, with a Sailor Jerry girl, how could I resist?

Coulrophobia

 

Soft pastels, paper clippings and buttons on Bristol.

I don't fear clowns but if I did I'm sure the one on the Jo Jo label would make me pee myself if I saw it in real life.  That is a pretty scary looking clown.  Coincidentally, I just watched a Gacy documentary and want to see more of his crappy clown paintings...

Ballerina in Space

Soft pastels, paper clippings, gemstones, eyelash yarn and Sparkle Mod Podge on Bristol.
I used a few scraps of the marbleized paper we made a while back for the round shapes.

Pansy

 

Paper clippings, fiber paper, and button on Bristol.

Dressed to Kill

Barbie dress, netting, decorative paper and metallic embroidery floss on Bristol.
I think this one might need a little something more, not sure yet...

Red Carpet

 

Watercolors, acrylic, paper clippings, cotton, and Sparkle Mod Podge on Bristol.

I had a lot of fun making her "fur"  for this one!

Thanks for looking!  

Remember- questions, comments, and rude remarks are always welcome around here.

Snapshot Friday!

It's been a while since someone from the good ol' '64 Tartan has joined us for Snapshot Friday, no?

 

 

I love the strips of film.  I'm planning on making some ATCs and postcards with copies of these pages.

 

Ahh, the days when you were not only welcome to smoke in lab class but you were encouraged to!

Thanks for looking.  Have a great weekend!

Picture Perfect.

Perhaps in an attempt to completely negate any effects from the walk I had earlier in the day, I decided to eat the one of the goodies Dillon had surprised me with for Valentine's Day.  It was largest Russian Tea Cake I'd ever seen.  I had my very own Mad Hatter's Tea Party!  Which also happens to be the theme for my dream kitchen.  I can't wait to be able to hang my huge wall hanging in there!

My house normally doesn't look so quaint (and may not again for a long time) so I couldn't resist snapping a picture or two.

I also took the opportunity to get a few shots of the vintage hankies I'm adding to my shop.

This one is my favorite one.  I just love the embroidery, whoever made it was so precise.  It looks so good in fact, it's had to tell which side is the back.  That's how neat the stitches are.

Thanks for looking and have a great evening!

New in my Shop.

Truth be told, I have a ton of things to put in my etsy but actually photographing them (well) and uploading them had been a slow process for me.  I need to stay focused!  A big chunk (not THE big Chunk) will be dedicated to getting my shop in order...YAY!!

I recently stitched up some baby hats.  In my attempt to make the photos a bit more interesting, I used props.  Yes, a stuffed monkey is the closest thing we have, in size, to the real deal.  My goal was a close up head shot with maybe a bit of the flower and fabric in the background, out of focus, but in the frame.  Sort of like this, but not so washed out.

However, as soon as I started to take pictures, this happened-

After taking the time to stop and enjoy the flowers, Boris starting attacking poor George.  (All of our pets have jealousy issues.)  So rather than run the risk of my stuff getting ruined or dirty, I resorted to just photographing them by themselves.

Based on the size and one experiment with an actual baby, I think that these are for newborns or very small infants.

 

  

  

  

This one is my favorite...it makes me think of crayons!

 

So, tell me what you think.  Are these worth the time and effort, yes or no?  Is it better with the props or without?  I think I'm going to try the next round of these with a robot instead.  It just seems more me!  Is this something that people even buy for newborns?  I don't have kids, so I'm a bit clueless when it comes to wardrobe choices made by parents these days.  Basically, I make things that I think would cute.  Whether or not they actually are remains to be seen, lol.  I'll be taking custom orders too, just in case my saying are super lame.

  I appreciate your feedback.  Remember-questions, comments, and rude remarks are always welcome.  So don't hold back! 

Thanks for looking.  I hope that you are enjoying a lovely weekend.

Snapshot Friday!

Welcome to today's late edition of Snapshot Friday!

Meet Ann!

Ann, meet all of my lovely readers.

I love her jewelry, check out that necklace!  I also like that she signed her picture.

Alright, now that I've made the introductions like a good hostess, I've got to get back to work.

Have a craftastic evening!

A Few Stragglers.

These are a few cards that didn't fit in with yesterday's junk mail ATCs.

Space Man*

 

Paper clippings, paint and Sparkle Mod Podge on gifted background.

This one was a bit of a collaboration as the background was started by Shayna.  I received it in a trade, painted it a bit and added a bit of collage.

*Of course, I don't really think that space exploration is just a man's game.  

Although, I think I can honestly say this- it doesn't help our case when lady astronaut's throw on a wig and an adult diaper to hit the road with a trunk full of mace and ropes, lol.  

Too far?  Sorry, I just take great pleasure in irony.

Under the Sea.

Paper clipping, paint, rick rack, netting, beads and metallic foil on Bristol.

When I made this card it was raining like crazy here, so the glue that I set all of the beads in took soooooooo long to dry.  I'm talking about days!

Thanks for looking.  Tune in later for Snapshot Friday.

Junk aka Rubbish aka Waste aka Scrap.

More junk mail ATCs.

Bath Time.

Made with decorative paper, junk mail, netting, cotton, and plastic duck on Bristol.

This one was a bit sentimental.  I gave it to an old friend.  The little duck was from a shower curtain ring that had been in our first apartment years ago.  (I find the strangest things in boxes around here.)  I love the loofah so much!

Oh, My!

 

Junk mail, paper clippings, and buttons on Bristol.

Lovely.

Junk mail, paper clippings and gemstones on Bristol.  It has a coat of Sparkle Mod Podge on the paper so this baby really shines!

Share the Pleasure.

 

Junk mail, magazine clippings, rick rack, gemstones, glitter and Sparkle Mod Podge on Bristol.  Mmmmm, cupcakes!

Nautical Honey (complete with horrible shadow!!)

 

Recycled envelopes, paper clippings, twine and vintage lace on Bristol.

I figured envelopes count as junk mail.

I love me some Sailor Jerry girls!

All of these (except Bath Time) are available.

Check back later for a few cards that aren't in the junk mail series.

Thanks for looking!

My Crafty Man- Part 3

Dillon deserves more credit, so I thought I would give him some here.  The fact that he is incredibly talented is just one of the hundreds of reasons why he is so great.

He makes amazing stuff!

Like this Droid.

And these statues.

(The original clay mold.)

 

(The concrete and plaster versions.)

And this bone.

 

I can't tell you how many people are shocked to find out this is carved out of plaster and isn't the real deal.  He put so much time and detail into it.  It's very realistic.

 

Isn't he extraordinary?

The Book on Love.

I had been wanting to make an art journal for a while now after seeing some fabulous how-to videos from Artiste Nouveau.  I'm sure you guys remember her from my list of happy blogs a little bit back.  I have plenty of journals and sketchbooks but I wanted something that I made all by myself.  I have a slight obsession with paper goods and stationary items so that also fueled the fire on this one.

It began with a bit of drunken midnight crafting.

So, here it is, The Book on Love.

Most of you will recognize the pattern from the Sublime Stitching Craft Pad.  I stitched it up on vintage pink linen that I snagged while thrifting.  I loved working with this fabric.  Due to the loose weave the floss just slid through it so nicely.  But it wasn't so loose that it pulled out or the tension got all wonky.  I even stitched it up without a hoop, which was new for me.  Because it was so easy to stitch on I used lots of metallic floss and kept all six strands for a majority of the floss.

I will eventually paint the title on it when I decide the exact wording.  I'm not 100% sold on The Book on Love yet, although that will be the themes for my entries.

Little charms on the spine.

  

I tried couching!  Although, I had originally picked a purple floss to go over the top.  However, I was in the zone with stitching that I grabbed the bobbin next to it, the yellow, and just went to town.  I didn't even notice until I was almost done with it.  Isn't it funny that how sometimes you can just get so wrapped up in something that you are staring at it but not even really seeing it?  Or maybe I just don't pay attention...  I'll have to think more about that one.

The inside covers both match.

 

As you can see, I used black paper for the signature.  I used a bit of vintage gingham ribbon to hide the little space between the decorative paper cover and the signature.  Nothing matches 100% but most of it goes together with all of the pinks.  I had originally intended to make it a monthly journal this one would have been February, so I think I had girly valentine stuff on my mind.  That's also why I made it with 28 pages... but as I didn't actually start it working in it on the 1st of the month.  So yeah... I digress.

I attached the spine and back cover fabric with Mod Podge.  I was out of Matte so I just went with Gloss.  Unfortunately, I didn't consider how much it would change the color of the linen.

You can see the difference in these shots.

In progress, before attaching the front cover with the Mod Podge.  (I figured, screw it, they should match on both sides.)

 

  

After.

Crazy different, huh?  I'm not so happy with the way the Mod Podge pooled up around the beads and some of the edges of the stitching.  However, I'm not going to dwell on it.  And I'm happy with the total piece overall so that's all that matters.  A plus is that it made it super strong!  The covers are very rigid and the stitching is ultra protected, so I don't have to worry about it getting destroyed over time as I work in it.  I probably can't journal about love every day so I wanted it to be tough enough.  This baby will outlast me.  In fact, a friend was over this weekend and she happened to pick it up while we were in my studio.  She yelled, "HOLY CRAP!  This thing is crazy...it's probably strong enough to be used as a deadly weapon!"  As it looked all dainty she was a bit surprised.  I took it as a good sign that I had been successful with my first handmade art journal.

Thanks for looking and taking the time to read my ultra long post today.  I'll share pics of some pages soon.  Have a craftastic day!

Awesome Surprise.

So, I like my fabric like I like my produce.  In huge piles and by the pound.  

I went to a thrift store like this a while back and picked up a huge pile of light colored cotton and muslin pieces for embroidery.  They've long been washed and stowed away.  However, as it is officially Embroidery Month I've been inspired to plot out some projects and put down some patterns.

I pulled out a piece and started ironing away.

 

What's this...a pillow case?  I thought to myself.

Nope.  It's an actual flour sack!!  I'm sure all my stitchy peeps know what I'm talking about.  Old school flour sacks are the best material to stitch on!  Super strong but yet nice and soft.  I was so pumped when I realized what I had.  Yes, I am that nerdy.

 

And it's huge!  The man humored me by holding it up for a photo op.

 

I figured it deserved something equally as huge.

 The new Alice pattern from Sew Lovely Embroidery.  I had such anxiety about ironing this thing, I swear.  I used my brain though and pinned the thing down.  I've never taken on a project this large and detailed before but I figured there's no better time like the present.  Plus, the man said I should start it before the movie comes out and I look like one of "those" people.