Wrapping Up the Year

Hello! I'm so glad you stopped by for the last post of 2019!  I always feel a bit emotional on New Year's Eve-the ending of another year and the exciting promise of the new year.  This year was a rough one with a lot of personal struggle and the loss of my Dad.  I'm hoping 2020 will bring happier days and new opportunities.

I'm also excited to share some new creations and a peek at one of my Christmas gifts.  My husband must have told Santa I was extra good this year because I got a set of blending brushes in my stocking this year!!  I am so excited about getting to play with these, but first they needed a proper home.  I had an old baking powder can in my 'things to alter' crate, and I thought it would make a good holder for these beauties!  Of course, something this special needed not only a proper, but also an attractive home!  I thought since the brushes will one day be all inky, a grungy theme was in order.  I had a pattern paper from Paper Studio that I have been holding on to for just the right project, and this was it.  A little linen ribbon, a metal flower and I was finished!

Of course, I couldn't let the rest of that paper go to waste, so I used every scrap of it to make 4 thank you cards!  They were super quick and look a little more masculine, so they were a great addition to my card stash!

I think the card is also a great way to end my year of blogging.  Being thankful for the blessings of 2019 and looking forward to even more in the new year. And to my loyal visitors, Thanks a Million!

Oui Four-It's a series now...

Hello! Yes, I am back again!  We've had a worse than average wintery winter this year.  I know...not exactly correct in the grammar department, but it's pretty accurate! The temperatures for January have been extremely cold, and while we haven't had record snow/ice accumulation, it has managed to do it during one weekend!  This meant a little more time for me to do a little tidying in my studio.  It's still not anywhere near where I want it to be, but it's a little more organized and my table is once again cleaned off and awaiting creativity to strike.  What does all of this have to do with my creating another altered yogurt jar?  Well, when I use snow days to clean and organize, it makes it a lot easier to walk into the studio and randomly create, especially when it's freezing outside, and a co-worker gives you more jars...

She was thrilled with her Christmas set and informed me that she now needs a set for each season and holiday!  I didn't make a wintery one because I didn't have any extra jars, but I did get one made in time for Valentine's day.  I even wiped the dust off my Cricut and cut some letters for this one! Of course, after cutting the letters, I had to do something with the negative space that was left!  It was the perfect excuse to make a Valentine card to go with the jar!

Series #4 Valentines

super simple-red tissue paper, pink pirouette cardstock letters, 

and a bit of pretty white ribbon

the 'scraps' from the letters made a perfect piece to

 attach to a card front for a super simple Valentine

I hope you enjoyed my post for today and if you choose to join me in altering yogurt jars, please let me know! I would love to see what others can do with these cute little jars!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Oui! Take three!

Hi! I am so glad you stopped by today!  I have a little altered/green creation for today.  Before we get to the crafty stuff, I need to do some explaining lest you think I don't know how to count...  A few months ago, a co-worker jokingly challenged me to do something fun with her Oui yogurt jars.  I took home her empty jar and brought back a nice little fall decoration.  Little did I know the monster it would create.  A few days later she gave me a shopping bag with more jars in it...

I managed to make two really fun jars that were decoupaged with Halloween napkins and looked quite vintage by the time I was finished.  I also managed to forget to take a picture of them... So that was the second series.  Today, I'm sharing the Christmas/Holiday jars that I gave her for Christmas.  This makes three, hence 'take three'.  

I'm not sure how many more there will be in the series, but I'm already thinking Valentines, St Patrick's, and Easter!  If you are interested in seeing the first jar, you can see it here!

I am really bummed that I didn't get a photo of the Halloween ones, because I think the napkin versions were my favorites.  They just seemed to melt onto the jar and had a slightly translucent finish that looked great with the battery operated tealights.  The Christmas set was covered with some beautiful gift wrap that had red glittery ornaments on it.  I didn't take into account the weight of the paper and it was a bit difficult to work with at times.  Pieces didn't want to wrap and stay the way I placed them...  If you want to give this a try, I would suggest either distressing the paper first, or going with a lightweight gift wrap.

The holly leaves were bits that I had in my stash (probably from an old Christmas decoration), and I colored some large rhinestones with a red Sharpie to make the holly berries.  I also managed to sneak in some Christmas ribbon from my stash.  I wish I could say it made a big dent, but it didn't!  I swear that stuff multiplies sometimes...

My co-worker has been enjoying receiving her little gifts for each season and I swear she's eating that stuff simply to get more pretties!  Personally, I'm enjoying the new 'canvas' and it's been a great way to experiment with different materials and ideas.  Isn't that at the heart of any creative endeavor?  I hope you've enjoyed another recycled project and maybe you'll be decoupaging your own 'trash' soon!  Have a fantastic day!

Decoupage-Challenge accepted!

Hello! I am so glad you visited and even more happy that I've been able to make something to share with you!  

About a week ago, a co-worker was eating Oui yogurt with her lunch and we all commented on the cute glass jar that it came in. We discussed the recycling vs. plastic trash aspect of the container and someone commented that it would be a cute jar to hold little things like paperclips.  Then someone else mentioned making it a candle holder.  I suggested decoupaging it so it would be even cuter.  Dead silence.... Finally... "Deco what?" So I gave a short tutorial on the versatility of decoupage and how many different looks one could achieve through this medium.  This led my co-worker to hand me her empty jar with the challenge of "make something".  They all laughed as I asked what theme she would like.  She responded that Halloween or Fall would be great.  Our lunch ended with people guessing just how that yogurt jar would be made over.

That weekend, I got busy.  I thoroughly cleaned the jar, removed the labels and dug out my left-over fall papers.

The cute little yogurt jar

Next I tore some burlap print paper into squares and triangles, and began to decoupage the papers onto the jar.

After everything dried, I inked the white paper spots with various shades of brown ink, smudging and smearing it onto the paper.  A glittery silk leaf and a burlap flower were added to give the jar a bit of flair.

 I used rubber bands to hold the leaf and flower in place until the glue dried.

the finished product!

Monday morning, I went to my co-workers classroom and placed the jar on her desk.  Her face registered shock and amazement as she slowly realized this was her yogurt jar!  She was very pleased and I passed the decoupage challenge with flying colors!  Now everyone is saving their jars for me... What have I started?!

I hope my project and story have inspired you to look at your 'junk' with new eyes and find a way to brighten someone else's day as well!  Have a fabulous day!!

It's almost fall, y'all!

While it's not officially fall in the US yet, today's weather is letting us know that it won't be long.  Seems the wind and rain from Harvey decided to bring colder temperatures with them. Today was a dreary, cold, rainy day, but I'm counting my blessings that it could be much worse.  My heart aches for all those who have lost loved ones, homes, and possessions to this.  I'm praying that sunny days and plenty of help are heading to Texas!

On a totally unrelated topic, I had always thought that as my kids got older, I would have more free time to create and that once I had my own room for crafting, everything would just fall into place. HA!  It's funny how even though I'm doing less running with my kids, I still don't have a lot of 'free' time, and I am still trying to sort through boxes of craft and art supplies.  I'm hoping that the long weekend will afford at least one day to organize a little bit more and maybe even allow for some creative time.

I did take a few evenings to work on a little project for my mantle (which still is not in place...) and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I found the set of MDF letters unfinished at Hobby Lobby and they were 40% off! Of course, since I didn't have all of my supplies unpacked, I HAD to buy some new fall papers and some wonderful burlap flowers to dress those naked letters!

I started with a taupe colored acrylic paint and painted the sides and backs of the letters.  The next evening,  I traced and cut out the patterned paper, glued it on and let it dry overnight.  The next day, I trimmed and sanded the edges of the paper, added some ink to cover any white paper peeking through, and added a nice layer of crackle medium.

The next day I was a bit disappointed to see that the crackle wasn't at all what I wanted it to be. I could barely see the crack lines... I'm thinking the MDF absorbed more than I expected, and I really didn't want to add another layer, so I got out my sponge and a crumb cake ink pad and grunged up the edges.  It wasn't the look I originally planned, but it turned out ok.

My final step was to glue on some fall colored silk leaves from my stash and top them with the adorable burlap flowers.  I think they turned out pretty good and with my bargain shopping, they were actually cheaper than if I would have bought something similar!

I hope you enjoyed my project and just  maybe I inspired you to create your own seasonal decoration!  If so, I would love to see what you created!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

ABAC Challenge 40-Springing into Fall

Hello there! Fall is in it's full glory in southern Indiana and I couldn't be happier!  This is my favorite season for so many reasons.  I love the beautiful colors that seem to appear overnight; the air is somehow 'cleaner' and cooler, and it is the perfect time for campfires. So needless to say, I chose to do a fall project for Anything But a Card's Autumn Magic Spring Wonder challenge.  Of course, if you are on the other side of the globe, Spring may be inspiring you to make something equally colorful but in a different way!  I hope you will join us in celebrating both Spring and Autumn with a project of your own!

I knew immediately what my project would be.  We have two wonderful friends who have done so much to help us over the past year, and while I know I can't repay their kindness, I can reciprocate with a special thank you gift!  I bought an unfinished wood birdhouse to alter for a fall decoration.

I started with a base of light blue acrylic paint to match the mixer in their kitchen.  DD#1 took one look and said "Isn't her mixer more of a greenish color?" AHHHH! So on went a coat of Bahama Blue acrylic paint which is a cross between mint and turquoise.  This was deemed closer to the shade of the mixer. The roof was painted with Antique Copper metallic acrylic paint and the base was painted espresso brown.

I glued a large piece of aluminum foil to some printer paper, then cut the pieces to fit the dimensions of the roofs.  These were painted with the antique copper paint, set off to dry, then ran through the Fancy Fan embossing folder. It made a pretty cool shingle-like pattern.  I added some bahama blue accents to the foil roof to give the oxidation effect.  The blue/green house was given a generous coat of clear rock candy crackle paint to age the paint job to match the roof.  When the crackling was finished, I brushed on some crumb cake ink to fill in the cracks and age it a bit more.

My final touches were adding a few punched leaves in pumpkin pie, real red, and chocolate chip dsp. and some buttons.  I rubbed a little of the copper paint onto two vintage buttons and threaded some coastal cabana bakers twine through the holes.

The ultimate compliment came when DH declared the house to be really cool! He couldn't believe that I made the roof. :)  

Whether you prefer Spring or Fall, I hope you will join us in this month's challenge.  We would love to see your creations!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a fantastic week!

Anything Goes at Anything But a Card Challenges # 37

Hi! I am so glad you stopped by today! It's my turn to share a project for Anything But a Card Challenges.  We are having an 'anything goes' theme this month which means you can share just about anything under the sun with us! Gotta love that!

I have been doing some major cleaning and purging of my home this summer and came across some cardboard jewelry boxes. They weren't anything fancy, just plain white boxes with the store's logo.  I'm not sure what my original plan was when I saved them, but they were the perfect size for gift cards, so they were covered and decorated to be used as pretty packages for some thank you gifts.  

Rather than cover the entire lid and base with paper, I cut scraps to cover the top of the lid and glued ribbon to the sides.  Then I added a strip of paper around the base.  This kept them from getting too bulky.  I colored a couple of stamped clay pieces that I made ages ago, added some punched leaves and a few candy dots.

This one seemed like it needed a little pizazz, so I added

stickles to the flower in the center of the clay piece, and 

some cherry cobbler dazzling details to the candy dots.

This one had a more masculine feel, so I left it pretty basic.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my repurposing project and we would love to see what you have been creating this month!  Please stop by the challenge blog and share your creation with us-as long as it's not a card, you're set!  Have a fabulous week!

Project recipe:  Paper-Junior Varsity and Summer Smooches dsp (both retired), Stamp Set-Riveting (ret), Ink-old olive, real red, daffodil delight, rich razzleberry, Accessories-simply pressed clay, real red grosgrain and old olive scallop dot ribbons (both ret.), brights candy dots, cherry cobbler dazzling details, non SU leaf punch, non SU yellow stickles

No, really... I was cleaning...

Hello! I am so glad you stopped by because I need to share a true story with someone who will understand, and possibly believe my story.  Because my family doesn't...

**Warning: Extremely Lengthy and Possibly Boring Story**

It all started as I was cleaning the kitchen earlier this week.  I did a major purge of my cabinets and pantry resulting in a lot of things ending up in a donation box or the trash.  I did not, however, throw away several different sized empty coffee containers.  They were moved to my craft area under the eye rolls of my family members.  I told them that if I couldn't come up with a use for them by the end of the month, I would get rid of them (the containers, not my family-although I was quite tempted...).

After the kitchen was cleaned, I realized I needed a better system for keeping our daily medicines organized.  Since we no longer have any littles, I don't worry about keeping things up high and out of sight.  So our vitamins, advil, and prescriptions are sitting on the counter, which is great until one of them gets knocked onto the floor and rolls under something or gets pushed to the back of the counter where it hides behind the whole wheat flour container (found some of my allergy meds there during the clean).  As I was pondering where I could find something that would look nice sitting on the counter, my eyes spied the stack of coffee containers. Hmmm...

The next morning instead of cleaning up my crafting space like I had planned, I got busy transforming the coffee canister into a lovely medicine bowl.  This would have been perfectly acceptable except that I shared my cleaning plans with DH so I would stay accountable.  His smug grin said it all.  Nothing wiped it off his face either-not my insisting that it was divine intervention that called me to use one of the containers, not the reassurance that this was actually finishing the kitchen clean up, not even the reminder that "Hey! I told you I'd find a use for those containers you rolled your eyes at yesterday!".

So now I have a perfectly lovely container that keeps our medicines and vitamins neat and tidy, and a super messy work space.  But like my fellow procrastinator Annie always says "Tomorrow... Tomorrow... I'll clean ya, tomorrow!  You're always a day away..." or something like that...  I'm pretty sure the mess isn't going anywhere and since we are scheduled for wind and rain tomorrow, it will be a perfect day for tidying up the ol' crafting space!

If you've made it this far, you will be glad to know that I do actually have a few pictures of the medicine container that is causing my family to doubt my ability to get the house organized.

I placed the plastic lid on the bottom since the edge of the canister was metal

and I didn't want to risk the can rusting. The crochet ribbon is hiding it from view.

The butterflies are covered in dazzling details but it was hard

to get a good shot of all of the glittery goodness.

Now you have heard my tale, sad but true, about a royal family who doubts their queen's ability to stop crafting long enough to keep the castle in proper order.  But I know that you saw the deeper meaning of this story.  The queen just saved one of the coffee containers from imminent doom, and I'll let you in on a little secret...she has plans for the other ones too!  Don't you just love a happy ending?

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a marvelous weekend!!

Project Recipe: Precious Butterflies and Inspired by Nature stamp sets, garden green & not quite navy ink, rose red & not quite navy cardstock, bitty butterfly punch, butterfly punch (ret), First Edition DSP, dazzling details, crochet ribbon

She's makin' a list and checkin' it twice...

No, I'm not disputing that Santa is a dude...  I'm referring to myself and my dire need to stay on top of things as we go into a very busy month!  While I don't usually stress too much about Christmas (things always have a way of working out), this year is a little different.  Not only is my nephew is getting married on the 28th, but I just received an invitation to a shower for my niece who is getting married next Feb.  Guess when her shower is?  December 15th...  So now my already busy schedule just got a little busier!

I decided that this would be a good year to try something new, so I am going to try to post something new every day this month.  At first I was debating whether this would add to my already long list, but I'm hoping that knowing I have to post something will help me stay on task with the homemade items that need to be finished on time.  Wish me luck!

Since I already posted yesterday without even thinking about this, today is officially Day 2 of my countdown.  Maybe I shouldn't call it a countdown... too much pressure in that name!  How about the 25 Days of Accomplishment? Now that has a very positive sound!!

So here is today's item (and I'm cheating a little) that was actually finished before Thanksgiving.  Every year my mom, her sisters, and all of the offspring get together for dinner.  It is quite a large crowd now and we love visiting cousins that we normally wouldn't get to see.  We also do a Sneaky Santa ornament exchange.  Many of you already know that my girls started a tradition several years ago of making their own ornaments for the exchange.  The Aunts love seeing what they have made for each year and the occasional battle for the handmade has been known to occur.  Last year we actually recreated an ornament for each aunt so no one would feel left out!

DD#1 did a scan on Pinterest and knew immediately what she wanted to make.  Fortunately, I had almost everything we would need.  Only thing missing was the 'canvas', but during our girls day out, we found just the right things at a 'pickers' store.

the blank canvas that turned into...

snow women spoon ornaments!

This actually turned into something of a family project. DH, who usually runs and hides when we get crafty, didn't make his getaway fast enough!  We asked him if he had any tools we could use to bend the handles. I knew that he would rather do this himself than allow us to play with his 'toys' and it would probably be easier to do it than to explain how to do it.  He did a fabulous job!  In an effort to speed the process, I made the felt hats as DD painted the spoons.  She did add the chalk to the edge to make it stand out more and glued them to the spoon to keep them from slipping off.  Over all I think she was quite pleased with the end results!  Now we just have to make a few more for Grandma and DD's two aunts, and me of course!

I will be back tomorrow with DD#2's ornaments!  Have a wonderful day!

Project recipe:  old spoons, assorted acrylic paints, black felt, brights buttons, white bakers twine, white pastel

Flashback Friday- Getting Inky!

Hello! I'm apologizing in advance... Today's post is a little picture heavy, but I did include some cute, furry kitten photos so I hope I'm forgiven!  As I was making some phone calls and paying bills last week, I was grumbling to myself  that I really needed to get a little more organized with all of the papers that seem to accumulate when the girls go back to school.  Sign this, send in $ for that, be sure the choir gowns are altered by the first concert, return fundraiser information now...  It is enough to drive me batty some days!  Just as I was wondering what in the world I could find that would organize and I would actually use, Shadow's big ol' Lab tail knocked a clipboard off of a shelf.  I picked it up and was going to return it to the shelf when inspiration struck.  I should have taken a before picture, but didn't think of it until it was already painted.  The clipboard was one that I had bought to use for preschool and the kids helped 'decorate' it with stray marks from markers and pencils.  I gave the whole clipboard a good coat of off white acrylic paint.  As the paint was drying, I went to Pinterest to see what ideas I could borrow to make my new organization board.

I really wasn't in the mood for a neat and clean papered clipboard, of which there were TONS of photos.  I liked them, but didn't really want to do the whole paper thing.  I did however find some inspiration in a mini clipboard that was all inky and stamped-not my usual style, but it looked like a lot of fun!  

So I pulled out some of my favorite stamps, lots of ink pads, and got busy.  I'm not sure if it was the acrylic paint or the clipboard, but my bold browns were sucked right in, leaving behind a very muted design.  I really liked it, and quickly decided to exchange my subtle blues and greens for the stronger, brighter colors.  The funny thing was I would never have combined the different shades that I used, but they really worked well together once they were dry.  Then I went back and sponged some browns and blues, and a little vanilla for good measure.

When I finished, the chrome clip looked completely out of place! Can't have that!!  So I pulled out the vanilla flower trim and made it all inky as well.  The newsprint bird was a suggestion from my oldest DD, and I added some 'vintage' crochet ribbon to finish it off.

Now I just have to convince myself to clip important notes and paper on here.  Not an easy task since it will cover up all of the inky goodness, but maybe it will motivate me to take care of those papers so I can see the clipboard again.

I hadn't intended to share photos of the kittens, but they were weaving in and out of the table legs as I was trying to take my pictures.  I figured if they were feeling so photogenic, I should oblige.

Katniss decided to climb up my leg as I took her photo. Ouch!

Beauty was too busy swiping to sit still, but finally

I was able to capture this shot.

Where was Shadow during all of this?  Why, resting comfortably on the deck like a good dog.  I'm pretty sure he's convinced that we make way too much fuss over the silly cats who don't even have the courtesy to stay out of my pictures.  He does however make quite a big deal of strutting back into the house with me.  I'm certain he makes faces at them through the window as he enjoys his place inside.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and find some time to play with your craft supplies too!

Project Recipe: Paper-very vanilla, First Edition DSP (ret), Stamp Sets-Faith in Nature (ret), Inspired by Nature (ret), Warm Words (ret), World Map, Ink-soft suede, early espresso, baked brown sugar, marina mist, not quite navy, night of navy, garden green, old olive, Accessories-bird builder punch, scallop oval punch, vanilla flower trim, Chantilly crochet trim

ABAC Challenge-Hit the books!

I want to start off apologizing to my fellow teamies at ABAC!  I have not even introduced the latest challenge and here I am sharing for it's last week... So, a little late, I am letting you know there's a challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges and it's all about books!  You can alter a book, make art with a page from a book, create something inspired by your favorite book, and any other wonderful things you can think of that relates to books!  The design team has already shared two weeks worth of fabulous inspiration, so I hope you stop by and check them out!

Oh... I can not tell you how hard this challenge was for me!  While I am ever in awe of all of the beautiful altered books that I see, I have never been able to bring myself to actually tear up a book.  My love of reading and books began early in my childhood and has happily continued over the years.  I love finding an old book in an antiques shop, smelling the pages, and wondering how many eyes have poured over the pages.  I've also been known to finish a much loved book or series, and suffer a slight depression that my relationship with the characters has ended.

So you can see how this puts me at a crossroad...love of books or love of creating...  Fortunately, during a recent attempt to purge a few more things from my overcrowded home, I came across an old dictionary and some very neglected books that really were beyond being saved.  Rather than pitching them (which would have helped my cleaning efforts), I moved them onto the shelf with my 'recycle/repurpose' items.  It's probably best that this happened without any witnesses since I had just finished reprimanding the entire household about our need to get rid of all of the 'junk' that doesn't have a purpose anymore... Technically, I'm not deeming myself a hypocrite because they do have a purpose, right??

I had already spend some time on Pinterest looking at book inspired art and was amazed at some of the intricate folding and cutting that made sculptural masterpieces.  I knew that this was well beyond my level, but I did find several other inspirations that I pinned for future use.  One of my favorite techniques is covering all but a few choice words with paint and ink, and then adding artwork to enhance the visible words.  This is what I chose for my design team inspiration piece.

I used a page from a very mistreated Pocahontas book, and as I was painting the base, my DD (former owner of the book) freaked out on me wanting to know WHY I would cut up a book.  Little did she know that Sarcastic Mom was the mode of the day, and I responded without batting an eye "Oh, and on the floor being stepped on and ripped up is more appropriate treatment of a book?". No response to that one...  Which left me sitting in peace to paint around the great quote from the book.  As a tribute to the former owner of the book, I used purple to add a splash of color to an otherwise neutral palette.  I love the ultra subtle leaves on the background, and the glittery butterflies were added to tie into the 'listen with your heart' theme.

I realized a little too late that my initial paint coat was a little too thick in most spots.  I really wanted a few more words gently bleeding through. Live and learn...

I hope I have inspired you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new too, especially if you are a book lover like me.  At least that poor book had a small piece salvaged and treasured!

Project Recipe: vintage white & purple cow acrylic paint, crumb cake & soft suede ink, Lovely as a Tree and Gently Falling stamp sets, heart to heart punch, asst. stickles, purple burlap fibers

Anything But a Card Challenge 22-Get Messy!

Well, hello! I am so glad you stopped by to visit!  Our challenge at ABAC is to Get Messy!  There are some amazing inspiriations at the challenge site, so be sure to visit them too!

I decided to go with an altered piece and while it doesn't look overly 'messy', the process was pretty gluey, inky, and messy!  I bought the little unfinished wood birdhouse at Goodwill a few months ago and decided to paint it.  I wanted an aged look, so after the paint was dry, I added crackle and ink to make it all grungy.

The brown trim around the roofs was salvaged from a shopping bag, and I colored some molded sculpy pieces I had left over from a previous crafting experiment.  Unfortunately, the ink wanted to stick to my fingers more than the clay and ended up all smudged.  I added a little crackle to these too and decided it added to the whole shabby chic thing... work with me here...

While you can't really tell from my pics, the roof has a piece of First Edition DSP under the light layer of paint and crackle.

I hope you enjoyed my messy little project, and I would love it if you would join us this week with your version of messy!!!

Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!

Project recipe: unfinished wood birdhouse (Goodwill), fawn acrylic paint, Picket Fence distress crackle, repurposed shopping bag handles, sculpey clay pieces, First Edition DSP, Ink & Markers-soft suede, midnight muse, river rock, crumb cake

Anything But a Card Challenge 21-The gift that keeps on giving...

Hello! Today is Father's Day here in the US and I will be spending part of the day with my two favorite guys, my Dad and my husband.  So it's quite fitting that today's project aligns perfectly with the Masculine/Dear ol' Dad challenge at Anything But a Card.  We are in week two of this challenge and it's my turn to share a project.  Be sure to visit the challenge blog and check out the team's inspiring pieces.  I would love to see you link up your projects too! Remember, they can be anything but a card-that leaves a lot of different art forms to play with!

For those of you who follow my blog, you know that my DH loves to give me a hard time about saving everything for my 'someday' projects.  Last year, his Father's day card included some corrugated paper saved from our souvenirs from Disney.  This year, part of his gift includes a lot of 'saved' items. Now you would think this would curb the teasing about digging through the trash, but I know him well enough to know that he will simply direct my eyes to the containers and shelves of things I've yet to use... Oh well!   I also had some assistance from my two girls on this project!

Before you see my altered shadow box, I need to apologize for the horrid photos.  I just couldn't get the shadows off of my shadow box!  I'm also not overly thrilled with the watercolor background, but I'm cutting myself some slack since I'm still in the experimental stage on this, and I had some input from my crafting partners that didn't quite achieve the effect we were going for. So I'm filing this one under the belief that art is in the process not the product.

The wood shadow frame was once the home to a kid's stamping kit.  The pieces, I'm sure, have long been lost, chewed up by Shadow (in his puppy stage), or visiting the socks that always disappear from the dryer.  The thin plywood back was cracked and loose on two sides so it was promptly removed, and the frame was put on the shelf with other 'someday' items.  When I was trying to decide on a project for this challenge, I just wasn't in a scrapbooking mood, which was my obvious choice, so I dug through the treasures on the shelf to see what might spark some creativity.  The frame kept catching my eye like it really wanted to be repurposed, so I decided on a shadow box.  The backing was a piece of watercolor paper cut to fit the frame, and I even managed to squeeze in some fancy chocolate liners behind the girls' pics. You should have seen the manly eyeroll I received for saving them...

I started by painting the frame with fawn acrylic paint.  When it was dry, I added a layer of clear rock candy distress crackle.  Then I set the frame aside to dry while I created the background.  I started painting all of the areas with crumb cake ink, when the girls got all excited about watercoloring.  So we added some wild wasabi and chocolate chip ink as well. Fawn paint was also dabbed on there to tie the background to the frame. When we were finished it reminded me of the camouflage fatigues  DH wears for trainings.  I added some stamping using chocolate chip ink.  See the index finger stamp and the special delivery stamps? They were two of my treasured finds from an antiques and craft fair.  The finger stamp was so caked with old, black ink, and the rubber is really hard, but I love the distressed style it leaves behind! I also used an alphabet set from my wonderful blogging sister, Lisa, to spell out different names for dads. The #1 is from the set Blue Ribbon.

The center space is paper from Woodland Walk.  I added fawn paint to this and the brown candy liners too.  A few retired chocolate chip corduroy buttons from my stash finished off the background.  By this time the frame was dry and I glued the watercolor paper to the back of the frame.  I also added some crumb cake ink to the crackle to make it stand out a little more.  The heart is a stamped sculpey piece that was sitting in a bowl waiting to be used, and the enamel dots are from another wonderful blogging friend, Sherry. They were a little too 'pretty' for this distressed piece, so I added a little brown sharpie ink onto them to distress them a little.  The natural trim ribbon was added to the center wood pieces to cover a groove that once held another divider (who knows where that went...).

So that's it for me!  I hope I've inspired you to make something manly for the special guys in your life too! Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!