Throw Back-Play day

Hi and welcome!  Today I'm sharing some 'throw back Thursday' projects that are perfectly named in so many ways!  I am finally caught up on birthday and anniversary cards, so I had some time to just play around in my studio.  I have a tiered basket that holds unfinished projects and various odds & ends.  The idea is that if I see these things all the time, I will be encouraged to use them.  I wish I could say this was a perfect idea, but more often than not, I'm busy making something specific and don't have time to 'treasure hunt' in the baskets.  Today however, I spied two unfinished art journal pages that were begging to be completed.  I started my art journal years ago as a way to experiment with new techniques and it has also become a great place to collect quotes and words of wisdom.  This is the first 'throwback'. Next, I found a baggie of molded clay pieces that I made a very long time ago and had saved for a rainy day-'throwback' number two!  Finally, I pulled out some well loved, but recently uninked stamp sets making the third part of my 'throwback'.

I decided if this was going to be a play day, I was going to get a little messy and inky.  I colored the clay pieces with markers (and ended up with as much ink on my fingers as on the clay pieces), and pulled out an old plastic stamp case. A quick hunt through my reinkers and I was ready to go.  I actually used copy paper instead of watercolor paper this time since the page was already going to be quite lumpy from the clay parts.  It was a little tricky getting the paper out of the ink and took a very long time to dry, but the end result was quite pretty.  A little stamping, doodling, and gluing and I was done!  

This would have been a perfect creative session if my eldest DD (home from college) hadn't interrupted me to ask if I could help her file her taxes... Nothing like waiting til the last minute!  Luckily, it was fairly quick and painless to do hers, but the next time I decide to have a play day, I'm going to lock the door!

I hope I've inspired you to dig through your stash and use some of those forgotten items!  If you're like me, you could do this every day for a year and still have plenty of things left over!  Thank you so much for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Project Recipe: Stamp Sets-Faith in Nature, Gorgeous Grunge, Ink-blushing bride, Baja breeze, crumb cake, garden green, real red, summer sun, early espresso, black fine tip Sharpie, Paper-always artichoke, Accessories- molded clay pieces, Martha Stewart leaf punch

Blessed by God with People Like You!

Hello!  I am finally back with another post.  It is finally feeling like spring in Southern Indiana and I for one am so glad!  I enjoy the first snowfall, but after that, I'm ready for warmer weather and flowers!

Today I am sharing two cards I made for two special young ladies who are making their Confirmation.  One is my DD and the other is a good friend of hers who asked me to be her sponsor.  Before they are confirmed, they have a special meeting and prayer service and at the end, each confirmand receives encouraging cards and letters from loved ones.  I decided to make cards for both girls and left the inside unstamped so there would be plenty of room for writing.

This is my DD's card...

and the card for her friend.

I dusted off some very old DSP for these cards!  The sweet polka dots came from Cheerful Treat, a paper pack that has been in my supplies for a veeeeerrrrrry long time.  Both of these are pretty basic cards since the images were so pretty on their own.  I did do a bit of coloring on the stamp for the first card to get the pink flower and green stems, but other than that, pretty easy!  My bow was made using a bow maker I bought from another SU demonstrator many years ago.  I'm not sure she's a demo anymore either...but I digress!

I hope you enjoyed my cards for today and thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipes: Paper-Cheerful Treat DSP (ret), whisper white, melon mambo, Stamp Sets-People Like You, Blessed by God, Ink-melon mambo, old olive, elegant eggplant, Accessories-white taffeta ribbon

Cleaning out the cobwebs...

Hello! I am so excited to share that I've actually had time to play with a new to me technique recently!  I am sure there are a ton of people who use this or a similar technique to create some fun and beautifully original backgrounds, but this was a first for me and it was so much fun! I was inspired by Debbie at Debbie's Designs.  She has a wonderful video tutorial that made this technique super easy to understand.  I changed up the design of the card (doesn't really look like hers, but I completely, shamelessly borrowed the background idea!!) so I could knock the dust off of a couple of my favorite flower stamps.

My technique was a little different because I mixed the inks on  a monoprinting plate I got for a song at our LSS.  I'm sure there are many other things you could find to drop and blend the inks on as well.  I have to admit, it felt great to swipe the cobwebs out of the corners of my creative brain and try something new.

The pictures on my computer don't do the gentle blending of the colors justice, so you'll just have to take my word that these are so pretty in real life!  These will be going to some special couples for their anniversaries, but they could also make wonderful Valentines as well.

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope Debbie and I inspired you to try something new this week!

Card Recipe: Paper-very vanilla, basic black, watercolor, Stamp Sets-Regarding Dahlias, Blended Bloom, Ink-melon mambo, blushing bride, tuxedo black(memento), Accessories-Xyron create-a-sticker, Expresssions thinlits, Stampendous monoprinting plate, stampin' spritzer