Shabby Chic?

A few weeks ago there was a survey on Mary Fish's blog ( http://www.stampinpretty.com/) asking if you were more of a 'clean and simple' stamper or a 'shabby chic' creator.   The 'clean and simple' won out by a huge margin which isn't surprising since she does such great clean cards on her blog.  I also think the Stampin' Up! look is geared more toward clean and simple.

For me, if I had to pick one, I'm a little more toward the clean and simple side although I can't resist putting a lot of stuff on my cards.  However, try as I might, I just can't get the true free form shabby chic look.  This card is about as close as I can get.  Still there is a lot of structure here.  In fact, I made this for the sketch challenge at Splitcoast this week.

One of the joys of papercrafting is that you can try out a lot of different styles to see what fits you.  How would you define your style?  Or do you try?  I think I just want to enjoy a lot of different things and see what takes.

Project notes:  The stamp is inked in Versamark and embossed in Copper embossing powder.  I colored in the flowers with stamp inks and a blender pen.

The background is one left over from another set of cards. It is stamped and inked on watercolor paper.

The ruffle is a piece of lavendar sheer from one of my discontinued sample books.  I gathered as I went on the sewing machine and then cut off the bottom with pinking sheers.

Don't you just love those Vintage Brads? These are from Stampin' Up! and are new this year.  I'm already ready to order my second box!

This is going to be my Mother's Day card for my mother this year.  If Mother were a card maker, she would definitely be a shabby chic lady.  Actually she is very elegant with a lot of 'hip and funky' in her clothing.  She is one of those ladies we envy who can throw together a half dozen things that don't seem to go together and Voila! instant chic.

Thanks for visiting today!  I've got a bit more regular work to do and then off to the nursery to buy flowers for my porch - one of my favorite spring rituals.

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Large blossom and lined dots from Hero Arts
Ink:  Versamark, Perfect Plum, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie
Cardstock:  Pale Plum
Brads:  Vintage from Stampin' Up!
Lace:  Prima

Pie, anyone?

My friend Karen helped me celebrate my birthday this month with a wonderful lunch out together and by giving me a copy of Martha Stewart’s Pies And Tarts cookbook.  The best present of all was getting to see her as she now lives all the way across the state :-(  Fortunately we were able to celebrate over Easter weekend :-)

As mentioned in an earlier post, I don't acquire a lot of books.  But even with the availability of recipes on the Internet, I like to have some cookbooks from trusted sources (Martha, Southern Living) on my shelves.  


After our lunch I browsed this wonderful cookbook and tried to find a recipe that I’d didn’t want to make.  They all look fabulous!  Almost every pie would be welcome at our table although this is definitely contrary to my husband’s shape up resolution.  And I don't think my 'get moving' resolution was meant for travel between the stove and refrigerator.

 I realize I’m reviewing this cookbook without actually having baked anything out of it.  It does look though like there are many different kinds of pies some complicated some really, really simple.

Now I’m certainly not going to be like that lady featured on Martha Stewart show who, bless her heart, baked her way page by page through the entire Baking Handbook.  I’m sure though that I will make a few of these pies if only I could decide where to start.  My dad and my husband’s birthdays are still to come and I have promised Karen a pie the next time she comes home.  So I guess I’d better start picking out a recipe.  Should it be the four ingredient chocolate coconut pie that looks like a candy bar in a pie shell or the rhubarb crumble (my husband is a big fan of rhubarb) or one of the savory pies they can be used for a main course, or my favorite coconut cream? Ah, so many choices.  What a good problem to have.


I promise to post a photo of a completed pie as long as no one compares it to Martha's.  Nobody's pies actually come out looking that good, do they?   I'm going for tasty over pretty.

Simple Three

One of my blessings the last few days has been all of you new followers and subscribers.  Thank you for visiting with me!  I appreciate your comments and support.

I also need to send a couple of 'thank you' cards this week.  This one is inspired by the Three of a Kind challenge for this week's Clean and Simple card at Splitcoaststampers. I chose to use the same stamps for three similar images.  The flower and leaves are from God's Beauty stamp set.  In my February stamp class here we concentrated on using smaller stamps, often the 'supporting' stamps from a stamp set as the main or only stamp on our cards.  The butterfly is really the star of this stamp set but the flower and leaves are really versatile.

Project Note:  The flowers were stamped with Staz-on black and then masked so I could stamp over them with the leaves in Mellow Moss classic ink.  I then colored in each flower.

Whether you are a new reader or have been visiting awhile, I appreciate your interest in the blog.  Thanks!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  God's Beauty
Ink:  Staz-on Black, Mellow Moss, various markers
Cardstock:  BAsic Black, Mellow Moss, Naturals White
Ribbon:  Source unknown for the green, red is from Basic Grey

Been traveling, no tips

We've just returned from a brief, but enjoyable, trip to another part of our pretty state.  As usual our travels included visits to gardens.  We also met some new furry friends who normally make their home far, far away.

I'm just getting my photos downloaded and edited.  The scrapbooking and storytelling will come along in time.

It seems to take so much to get ready for even a short trip, doesn't it?  So I've no tip prepared for today.  Of course my mind was still on crafting even while traveling so I have an idea for next week.

Thanks for visiting today and I hope to have some new projects up later in the week.

You're A 10!

Actually, he is a 10 in many ways.  Dillon turned 10 years old recently!  Jaime thought it was so cute the other day when Dillon told her, "You know Mom, I'm going to be in double digits."  "Yes, I know, son."  "And," he went on, "This is the only time in my life this is going to happen."

Dillon loves math and science and has a real aptitude for analytical thinking so it isn't that surprising he would know the significance of the number of his big birthday.

I tucked a little something into the pocket inside the card.  My markers got a workout on this card.  The front background stamp is inked in a light ink and then I went over many of the dots with markers.  A lot of huffing went into getting a good image.  I first tried just using markers but couldn't tell where I'd been so that left some 'holes' in the image.  So I had to go to the second approach of inking the entire thing with a light color ink so I didn't miss any spots. The numbers are painted and then stamped for a tone-on-tone look.

Happy Birthday, Dillon!  Here's hoping you get to turn triple digits in 90 years!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Line dots by Hero Arts; Alphabet Soup by Stampin' Up!; Hearts and Stars by Autumn Leaves
Cardstock:  Kraft
DSP and sticker:  October Afternoon

Books - Layout using stamped journaling

Lenny and I are regulars at the local library.  We have cards for the library in the next county over as well.  While I can see the value of a Kindle or Nook, I still like holding a regular book and flipping the pages.  Mostly, I still like reading for free.  (more money for travel and scrapbooking supplies :-)  It is one of life's simple pleasures and something those of us in developed countries should never take for granted.

For this page, I used some techniques from Nichol Magourik's 2 Peas class on stamping on your scrapbook pages.  This month we were to stamp some of our journaling.  This was a particular challenge as I have very few word stamps that aren't card greetings.  It was suprising though to find how many of those card greetings could be adapted to a layout particularly if you were doing one about holidays, families or a loved one.  I found a stamp that said "Imagine" and one that for "explore" which I think are very applicable to books.  I also used a little phrase from a Define Your Life stamp about the joy of simple things.

The two journaling blocks are stamped as well and then the journaling printed on.  Both are new stamps to me and I know they will get a lot of use.  So I went ahead and set up a Word document with the right spacing to print properly.

The words "we read" are from a new Ali Edward's set. They are colored in with markers. I love these messages as they really mix and match although I was sort of expecting the stamps to be larger.  I stamped the numbers for the date.  Finally, I got to break out my alphabet stamps which get very little use when I inked "BOOKS."

Also on the page is a found object - literally.  I found the library checkout card laying around.  My husband found it in an old library book and had been using it as a bookmark.  I've been saving it for a page like this since it was for a book called:  A likely story.  It is positioned so the signatures remain covered.

Whew!  That is a lot of stamping.  Oh and I forgot the flower, it was stamped on vellum.  I do love to stretch my supplies and it was a fun layout to put together.  I've worked on it off and on all week as I had time and cooperative joints and muscles.

Thanks for visiting!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Ledger from Hero Arts; Worn Journals and Perspectives by Ali Edwards by Technique Tuesday; Fabulous Flowers by Hampton Arts; Flourishes by Autumn Leaves; Define your Life by SU!; Spring by Inkadinkado
Ink: various including Prussian Blue by Colorbox; Antique Linen by Ranger; Riding Hood Red and Bermuda Bay by SU!; Timber Brown by Staz-on
Ribbon:  Stampin' Up! and Basic Grey; Prima
Sticker:  October Afternoon
DSP:  Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl; October Afternoon 8x8 pad

Sun and Clouds

My back and shoulder muscles have been challenging me for several months.  Thanks to physical therapy and some ergonomic changes, things have been getting better the last few weeks. I've even started an outdoor painting project! Some things create more fuss than others and papercrafting can be one of those things, or not, just depending on the day.  The last couple of days, I've needed to find a little easier way of doing things and have stayed away from intricate cuts and coloring.

I decided to make my Cricut do some of the work. I cased this card from Laina Lamb at Two Peas.  Here is her original card set:  die cut cards

For mine, I used SCAL software and the Cricut to cut my clouds and sun. One thing I have no trouble doing is spending ages going through papers and playing with patterns and colors to find good combos. This card is a mix of October Afternoon collections with just a touch of Cosmo Cricket.

This card is really appropriate here today for it has been raining all morning and just now the sun has peaked through for the first time, though I'm confident it won't dry up enough to paint :-)  Hope you are having a great day!

Oh and I got a terrific start this morning when I opened my e-mail and saw that I was the blog candy winner from Rainy's (Susan) lovely blog  Rainy Day Creations.  Thanks, Susan!

Ingredients:  Stamp for greeting:  Inkadinkado  Ink: Prussian Blue by Colorbox
DSP:  various October Afternoon 8x8 pads; Material Girl from Cosmo Cricket
DMC embroidery Floss
Cardstock:  Sahara Sand by Stampin' Up!

New Scrapping Goodies

scrumptious Sculpture Flowers from Prima

Campy Trail from American Crafts and Campfire from October Afternoon

'New to me' stamps.  Already used the ledger stamp!

Just a few things mostly from my last Two Peas order.  I got the zebra stripe stamp from Hobby Lobby and haven't used it yet.  I'm working on my second layout with the American Crafts Campy Trails papers.  Normally I'm not a huge AC fan, but I'm really loving these!  And I'm certainly not a camper - I think Motel 6 is roughing it - but we do hike and enjoy parks.  So both of these paper collections will fit in with vacation photos.

What have you bought lately?