Personalized Covered Sketch Diary and Bookmark

I was getting ready to cover tons of books for my kids when they started school yesterday, when sudden inspiration hit me. Why couldn't I cover my own books, especially the ones I use often to protect them from wear and tear, and to personalize them? I have quite a few small sized sketch diaries that I use all the time, and the covers are boring imitation black leather. So I covered one to see how it looked. I love it! I would recommend using a heavier weight paper, like the double-sided Cosmo Cricket papers were perfect. I even covered the end pages which were cheesy looking with the brand logo all over it. While I was at it, I made up a matching book mark. Once again, I used shrink plastic to make a little charm to embellish it. I think it looks pretty snazzy, And yes, I know it's 'Halloween' paper, but I love crows all year and the colors from this line suit me perfectly. Very folk-arty.

Stamps: JustRite, Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink: Versafine, Distress

Paper: PTI, Cosmo Cricket

Accessories: Shrink Plastic, ball chain, jump ring, McGill circle punch, chipboard, black grosgrain ribbon

Monogrammed Jewelry Gift Set

Here's a perfect example of a simple gift you can make very quickly and easily with a JustRite stamper or any monogram stamp set. The bracelet is very simple, you can either buy a premade chain or put together your own if you have basic jewelry making skills. I made the monogram charms from shrink plastic, attached it with some jumprings, and added some matching beads. The stick pin attached to the card is made the same way. You can get the long stick pins from a jewelry supply store like Fire Mountain Gems. What a great way to make a card into a lasting gift that can be worn over an over again! This set would be perfect for a wedding shower gift, wouldn't it?
Thanks for dropping by!
Stamps: JustRite, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Paper Salon
Paper: PTI, Memory Box, vellum
Accessories: Cuttlebug embossing folder, Periwinkle satin ribbon, Dew Drops, Nestabilites, McGill 1 11/16" punch, Shrink PLastic, Swarovski crystals, silver 3" stick pin, jump rings, assorted beads, silver wire, round nose pliers, wire cutters, flat nose pliers, silver chain, lobster claw clasp.

Stampin' Champion Hopeful at Justrite!

Woo hoo! I made the top 6 for Stampin' Champion Hopefuls over at the JustRite blog! Check out all the neat projects and cast your vote for your favorite.
And if you haven't entered your own Justrite project you better get crackin' the prizes are pretty cool, the contest is still running for a couple more weeks.
Have a great day!

Eye of Newt, Wool of Bat....

Can you all tell I love Halloween yet? My Jimmy says it's because I am 'eerie', and love 'eerie' things, LOL. Maybe I do.
I was rummaging around his cupboards last week looking for muffin tins, or something, and came across these old glass spice jars. I loved the look of them, they reminded me of antique apothecary bottles, so I washed them and decided to something witchy with them. I envisioned a nasty old witch or wizard using them to store their spell ingredients, and of course, that had to include Toe of Frogs, Eye of Newts and Wool of Bats! The round label tags I made simply with my Nestabilities and Justrite stamper, attached them with black ribbon and a couple of jump rings. I actually took a picture of them yesterday, intending to post them as is, but they just weren't right. They needed stuff in them! Jimmy gave me the idea to make some eyeballs, and frog toes out of polymer clay. So I did. Rolled a bunch of white PC into various sized balls, baked them and used a black Sharpie to make 'pupils' on each of them. The frog toes are simply green clay rolled into a log, then tapered on one end. I've never seen a frog toe, so I'm wingin' it here! For the bat wool, I took a piece of black felt and just tore it apart till it was like raw wool. I think it's pretty neat! These are going right on my picture window sill for Halloween!
Stamps: Justrite, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Adirondack, Distress
Paper: PTI, Cosmo Cricket
Accessories: Nestabilities, black grosgrain ribbon, antique finish jump rings, Polymer clay, felt, black Sharpie

Two Projects that are NOT Cards!

I have two projects to show you today, that are not (gasp!) cards. Occasionally, I start something intending for it to be a card, only to want to adapt it for a framed hanging. That's what happened to the above project. I knew I wanted to use Papertrey Ink's Boards & Beams to make a creepy Halloween house with, but wasn't sure how to go about it until I got Cosmo Cricket's new Haunted paper collection. That inspired me immediately to make this project!
The big Harvest moon behind the house is a piece of watercolor paper cut with Nestabilities circle die, then colored with some Twinkling H2O's (picture does not show the awesome shimmer to the moon) and just a tiny bit of Adirondack reinker to deepen the shading along the bottom. It's super cool IRL. I colored the house with my Tombow and SU! markers, as usual. The frame was one I got at AC Moore, unfinished wood, simple, inexpensive which I painted with a toffee color base coat, applied a crackling medium and waited for it to dry. Then the fun starts watching the cracks appear when I painted the red topcoat.
I felt the trees from PTI's Boards & Beams were not 'creepy' enough for this project, so I used an Inque Boutique stamp instead.
I can't wait to hang this one up for Halloween!
Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Inque Boutique
Ink: Palette, Distress, Adirondack
Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, PTI, scrap chipboard
Accessories: Spellbinders label die, Cream twill tape, black brads, Twinkling H2O's, Tombow/SU! markers, Americana acrylic paint, Folk Art crackle medium

My second project is this cute little treat bag. Again, using Cosmo Cricket's Haunted paper collection. I didn't have any Halloween treats to fill it up with yet, so I just stuffed some raffia in there with this cute little Jack fabric doll I made up earlier today. He was super easy. I've had the little cloth doll forms for a long time, from Skyblue Pink (scroll down to 'Munchkins'), from when I used to sew a lot of my own cloth dolls way back in the day. Well, I decided I needed to make a mini Jack Pumpkin doll, dug out my acrylic paints, some waxed thread and painted him up in about an hour and a half! Isn't he adorable!?

Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Justrite

Ink: Versafine, Distress, Fluid Chalk

Paper: Cosmo Cricket, Bazzill

Accessories: Nestabilities, Munchkin muslin doll, Americana paint, Waxed thread, curved upholstery needle, Fine permanent pen, raffia

I'm going away for the weekend, later tonight. Me, Jimmy and our four kiddos are heading out to Heart Lake for a little bit of fishing and relaxation. I'm going to have to take a break from stamping... :-( So I won't be back till Sunday evening. Until then, everyone enjoy your weekend!

Magnolia Christmas Challenge #31 Tilda Postcard

This is probably my favorite Tilda stamp. She's all bundled up, cozy in her hat and mittens, holding her lantern as she makes her way down to Grandma's house for Christmas dinner. Well, that's the way I picture it anyway, LOL. For some reason, I love lanterns, and old fashioned lamps. I wish there more stamps with lanterns. Maybe I should design my own.... :-)

I've been on a distressing kick lately, and this card fits the bill. Love the look of aged paper! The little round metal-rim tag I've had for years, when I used to sew fabric raggedy dolls I tea-stained them (using real tea or coffee!) and would print a simple sentiment on them to hang from my dolls. I simply ran some waxed thread through the ribbon knot, and tied it around the tag. Cute!

Hope you like it, enjoy your day!

Stamps: Magnolia, Impression Obsession, Verve Visual, Justrite alphabet, Pink Cat Studios

Ink: Versafine, Palette, Distress

Paper: Fabriano w/c paper, Cosmo Cricket, PTI

Accessories: Striped ribbon, Round metal-rim tag, mini pinking shears, Zig .05 permanent pen, Copic Spica pens, Tombow/SU! markers

Floral Tapestry Card- Mojo Sketch #44

There is a very talented lady over at Poetic Artistry who comes up with the most wonderful sketches for her Mojo Monday sketch challenges! I love Julee's style. (And I love her stamps, too!)

This card was created using this sketch:

I don't usually use so many layers, and consider myself challenged when it comes to making really fancy, multi-layered cards like this one, so these sketches really help me in that department because I love the look! I'm going to be trying many more of these.

The flowers were colored with my Twinkling H2O's. I've had them for quite a while, and they are so pretty in their tiny little individual pots, but I found I wasn't using them much. Duh! I pulled them out and started using them. When an image needs more than just plain watercoloring, and a little more shimmer, these little gems are perfect.

See ya later!

Stamps: Inque Boutique, Justrite

Ink: Palette, Fluid Chalk

Paper: Basic Grey, Fabriano w/c paper, PTI, Bazzill

Accessories: Nestabilities, McGill circle punch, Twinkling H2O's