What's on My Kitchen Counter

I am getting a few last minute Christmas cards done.  For this one, I used the Global Design Project Challenge for inspiration - O Christmas Tree (#GDP219)  along with THIS picture from LTD Commodities (Splitcoaststampers.com Inpiration Challenge this weekend).  I used the trees in SU! Wonderland and inked them in various shades of green and a few in a little black.  The sentiment is from DRS Designs because I couldn't find my SU! sentiment like this.  Sponged the bg before stamping.  The gems are CTMH.  A super quick card. Hope you are all doing well. Hugz, Nancy

I just love the Global Design Project Sketch this week (#GDP218).   I posted a card using it earlier, and here is the scrapbook page I did.  I used the SU! Good Morning Magnolia set (colored with watercolors and stamped with Versafine Black Onyx.  This is the fun sketch: Hugz and thanks for stopping by!

Hello crafty friends. I am popping in my blog to post a fun card inspired by THIS fun Mackennzie-Child's Christmas tree (IC Challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com) and the Global Design Project #GDP218 . I used a fun plaid Close to My Heart paper as the base, scraps from my stash for the other papers.  The images are the Pinecone with Bow image from DRS Designs and the sentiment is the  Deco Peace and Joy Christmas Greeting also from DRS also from DRS.  I water-colored the images and then added Snowtex and Stickles for texture.   I love this sketch!  I did a scrapbook page using it too that I will post soon. Hugz and thanks for looking!

Hello crafty friends.  I am still around!  With work super busy, it has been hard for me to keep up my blogging and card-making, BAJ, and scrapbooking....the blogging fell off but the crafting has been going well.  In the last week and a half, I have made two fun projects using napkins.  This card was really fun to make, I played with a new set of Tim Holtz dies that I received for my birthday (Merry Moose).  I have loved every card I have seen with this set, and I am so glad my daughter bought it off my Amazon wish list. I started my card by spraying watercolor paper with water and then sprinkling on some Brushos powder.  Next, I sprayed more water until the powders all blended.  Don't you love how Brushos change and move and turn into something wonderful? The trees are cut from eight layers of a folded napkin.  I watched a  Splitcoaststampers . com  video this week by Dave Brethauer (Graphic Designer for Memory box) on using die cut napkins in your art, and I really wante

Last night, I had a little time so I played in the Splitcoaststampers.com technique challenge. The challenge is coloring an image with your acrylic block.  You actually place your acrylic block on top of an acrylic block with your image and color over it. Then you mist it lightly and then stamp it over your previously stamped image. I struggled with it because I was too lazy to get my watercolor markers.  After I finished up, I swiped my acrylic block with ink, splashed on some water and then pressed it onto the paper as well.  I did that with three colors.  I covered up most of my issues.  Fun! The image is from the To a Wild Rose SU! set and the sentiment is from IO and designed by Dina Kowal.  I love that sentiment. I had another Dina sentiment and the SU! leaves out so I made another card by just stamping all around an ink, spray, smash bg. I used this same sentiment on a card this weekend for the SCS Inspiration Challenge: I sponged the mountains and added some pine

A few weeks ago, I started a new scrapbook.  It is a cross between a mixed media journal, an experiment, a scrapbook, and a journal journal.  It probably has a trendy name - please let me know if you know it.  I have been basically taking a thought or Bible verse out of my head, matching it with a picture, and doing a mixed media background.  It has been so fun! Here are a few of my pages: On the page above, I am celebrating a few answered prayers (I have a bunch more since then and plan to do another page).  I did and ink/spray/smash bg with a lot of stenciling and doodling and then covered it all up with my super large journaling panel - lol.  I sponged the journal panel and then stamped on the tree ring from DRS Designs . On the page above, I did an ink/spray/smash bg followed by some stamping, and then some stenciling.  I used SU! ink, Distress ink and Dina Wakley scribble sticks.  The lady stamp is also from Dina Wakley.  The background on this page was also ink spray s

Fun stuff to show you today my friends. I made a card this past weekend using a fun new technique (to me) to celebrate my first bottle of pumpkin spice creamer for the season (I bought two - one for home and one for work - lol).  I took a piece of kraft paper, squirted on some acrylic paint and then scraped the paint across the surface using a piece of cardboard.  After it dried, I stamped the DRS Designs' Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice greeting (multiple times with a Misti since the paint added a lot of texture).  Next I stamped the Paper Coffee Cup and Fall Leaf with Acorn images on the leftover kraft paper.  I fussy cut them and then sponged the leaf with some Distress Inks.  It still needed some color so I splattered on some orange water color paint.  I also stamped the coffee cup on some white and paper pieced the cup.  I had it all assembled and sitting on my counter when my Grandkids dropped by to visit.  My card making Grandson, Lewis, was sitting at the counter with

I took a quick peak at the Global Design Project today (#GDP204) and felt instantly inspired.  So much so that I walked quickly into the craft room and made a card right away.  I just love her card and saw it in blue in my mind.  My base panel looks black but it is Night of Navy (it is raining outside so my lighting is distorted). I changed the base panel and embossed it in white ep with the magnolias buds from Good Morning Magnolia (Kerstin used dp). Then I stamped my top panel with the buds in Memento Black and Happy Birthday from Seaside Notions.  I then stamped the buds on another sheet of paper, water-colored them in blues and browns, and fussy cut them.  I splattered a bit of the paint and glitter on the top panel too.  I popped up another layer on the flowers as well so that one is one layer, one is two layers and one is three layers.  It still needed something, so I added in a bit of silver thread and a bit more glitter. So fun! Thanks for visiting!  Hugz, Nancy

I am under the gun to get my current scrapbook project done before 9.8.19, when my daughter turns 29. I used the Global Design Project (#GDP203) theme of Sun, Moon, and Stars to get another page done tonight. In my SU! sets I had some stars in and old set called Background Basics and I did some sun rays too.  I sponged on some ink in the shape of sun rays using a scrap paper. Then I decided to write a letter to Crystal about how she is such a ray of sunshine in my life using a SU! Basic Black Marker.  To tone it down, I stenciled on some circles of white paint (bunches of moons).  After that dried, I stamped on the stars using the black marker as my coloring tool.  I added on some glitter to each star.  Next, I put on the picture using some black paper as a backing.  I stamped one of the sentiments from SU! Rooted in Nature and popped the lines up separately.  I added a few flowers from SU! Tea Together to add interest and a bit more touch of color since the sun rays are hidden

Hello friends. Have a few more scrapbook pages to show you - more pages in Crystal's Birthday Scrapbook where I am celebrating her 29 years of life.  I am having so much fun going down memory lane! I used and old SU! set, Natural Beauty, to make this page.  I used every stamp in the set and kept a neutral pallet. I think I covered 13 DTGD challenges at Splitcoaststampers.com with this one page!  This was Crystal's first time seeing snow.  Not sure where my coat was! This next page was for a sketch challenge for VSBN = Virtual Scrapbook Night (month) at Splitcoaststampers.com.  I love the sketch and may do it again!  Crystal was the flower girl in my Sister's wedding and she was sooooo cute! This was for another VSBN challenge on SCS - this was to use two pictures and case a page done by one of the active scrapbookers on SCS.  My craft room is still not put back together so my embellishments are ones that I found the quickest.  These were two of Crystal's Sen

Hello friends. The last few weeks have been busy around here as we are trying to put our house back together after installing new flooring, hubby had three tables in a Militaria show (boys showing off guns, military memorabilia, knives, etc to each other selling, buying and trading), family visiting, a major project at work, back to school for the Grandkids, and Dare to Get Dirty at Splitcoaststampers.com (DTGD).  I look so forward to this week of mega challenges, but I had a bit too much going on to participate in all the challenges.  Here are a few of the cards I did.   This lighthouse card was my favorite. It was done with the salt technique.  Apply wet ink to your paper and cover in salt.  Once dry, brush off the salt.  I think you are supposed to use sea salt, but all I had was table salt so I got a very fine pebbling.  I loved it.  I had a bunch of left over salt so I mixed it with some white acrylic paint and made the waves.  The panel on the right is the inside of the

My oldest daughter turns 29 at the beginning of September.  We have planned an early morning pedicure and lunch at a favorite restaurant to celebrate.  I thought I would make her a quick 6x8 scrapbook featuring some pictures from her life - I am showcasing some fun things about her. She loves jewelry and make-up so on this page I focused on this fun picture where she is wearing jewelry and a red dot on her forehead.  Her pre-school did a musical program where they had all the babies dressed up like someone from around the world and they had the flags of those countries on their baby walkers.  Then they played Its a Small World.  The babies all ran around in circles - it was sooo fun.  Crystal was from India.  I love this picture. To make the page, I used the colors from the Global Design Project #GDP201 : I stamped the Medallion stamp from SU! (I think it is retired) and then added the other colors a little bit with an aqua painter.  I then added in some gold embossing powder an

Hello friends.  I am addicted I am to the new Good Morning Magnolia set from SU! I knew I liked it but I was worried that it be overdone and I would run out of fresh ideas for it and soon tire of it.  NOT.  I have three cards in this post that have fun ideas for the little magnolia bud. On my first card, I made my bg by water coloring on a new stencil from Altenew.  Then I spattered on some left over water color.  Next, I took some white acrylic paint and painted on a few white circles in two of the corners using a bubble stencil from Altenew.  I sponged the edges in Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) because I was going for a vintage look. Then I stamped a sentiment from the Beautiful You set and the flourish from the Good Morning Magnolia set (in Pacific Point). On another sheet of paper,  I stamped the lovely lady from Beautiful You and then six buds from Good Morning Magnolia.  I water-colored the flowers a few pretty shades of blue.  After some fussy cutting, I layered up all the

I was inspired to do some lavender/purple cards this morning.  I was inspired by a lavender enamel pin on the SCS inspiration site, Wool and Honey , and by Janneke De Jong's beautiful butterfly card everyone is casing on the G lobal Design Project challenge (#GDP200) .  I made two cards for the IC challenge.  The card on the left is for the GDP200 challenge. I painted the stamps on my GDP card directly with the watercolors (I did them thick).  I used the SU! Soft Spring and Enjoy Life sets to make the card.  On the second card to the right, I stamped the images with Memento Black and then watercolored them.  I added a lot of sparkles (they didn't show up in my picture very well but there are tons of them) and did a fun epoxy sticker to go with them. Thanks so much for visiting - I really appreciate it.  I have had some major projects at work and have struggled to find time to create.  I was thrilled to get some time this morning!  Hugz, Nancy

The colors in #GDP197 challenge are fabulous this week, and I used them to get some more scrapbook pages done in my Random Thoughts and Memories Book. Yummy colors aren't they?  The terracotta reminded me of a picture I wanted to scrapbook that had terracotta tiles in it.  Two of my young friends (I actually consider her to be a daughter since she is my oldest daughter's best friend and spent so much time in our home) went on a missions trip to Honduras recently.  They worked at a orphanage and gave as much love as they could - you can see they gave a lot! I started the left page first.  To make the bg, I stamped some little hearts from the retired SU! Tiny Tags set using watercolors.  Then I sponged on some white acrylic paint and did watercolor washes with the seaside spray and pear pizzazz colors. I did a little sponge of white paint over that as well.  I didn't have any terracotta paper so I painted over some colored paper with watercolors and that is how I got t

Hello friends. I am still in scrapbooking mode, so I have another scrapbook page done.  It kind of reminds me of a card which is why I love these smaller 6x8 pages.  I ordered a travelers journal with very skinny pages to try next. The Love to Scrap Challenge for July is Anything Goes.  DRS Designs is sponsoring the challenge so I thought I would play along and do a scrapbook page.  Most people do cards in the challenge - using scraps works too. This was a super easy page, I just typed up the title and the journaling and printed the page out.  Then I did an ink, spray, smash technique using some Distress Ink.  I stamped, colored, and fussy cut the fish from the DRS Designs 4 in 1 Ocean Designs stamp.  I have used most of the images from the stamp on creations previously - I love this particular fish.  I printed out the picture on my Sprocket and then matted it with a scrap that I sponged in the ink from the ink, spray smash section. This is my daughter's lovely view from

I had a little extra time to craft this weekend so I did the featured stamper challenge on Splitcoaststampers and also played in the VSBN Scrapbook challenges too.  It was a fun and crafty weekend.   The Featured Stamper challenge was to case Lee Ann.  I cased THIS pretty card. I kept close to her colors but changed the image, sentiment, the sketch (a bit) and added acrylic dots.  I am still loving the Good Morning Magnolia set - I promise I will take a break from it soon! I stamped the main flower, colored, then masked and stamped the flower again.   There were a few challenges on SCS involving stripes and this is the page I did for those challenges. The stamp is from the new Sailing Home set and the paper is from the matching dp. I used the same stamp set on this two page layout (it was from a sketch challenge).  The fish are from an old SU! set - Very Punny. I masked over a strip in the pages with a torn paper so I could make a little river for the fish to swim in

I am still having a fun time working on my Random Thoughts and Memories book.  This morning, I did a page focusing on a vintage junque flea market booth we had for a few years.  We really enjoyed that booth but it got to be too much when people started stealing things and damaging things in other booths.  We may try it again in a higher end flea market when I retire. Two things inspired this page - the first was a picture from Hometalk showing a R/W/B garden table: My other inspiration was the Virtual Scrap Book Night challenge on Splitcoaststampers.com - the first challenge was use red, white and blue on your page. The striped paper is from the new Sailing Home dp at SU! as are all the flowers.  The other papers are from my stash. Hope you have a wonderful weekend!