Hearts & Flowers Video Hop: DIY Dollar Tree Holiday Decor!

Hi, friends! Happy Valentine's Day!!! I am super excited to be joining the amazing Hearts & Flowers Video Hop today! We will all be sharing some video tutorials on how to create things with hearts and/or flowers, and I chose to use some Dollar Tree items to upcycle and create my own home decor!

 Here's the Valentine's Day decor I created~

This project was very quick and simple to create. I painted the sides with black paint, Mod Podged patterned paper onto the front, then added heart accents from Dollar Tree! In my video, I give more details about this project AND create an Easter themed piece of the same size! If you'd like to take that journey with me and see the final product, please click HERE to get to the video on my YouTube channel!

There are prizes on some of the videos, so I hope you take the time to visit each stop! For the full list, please visit Monica's blog HERE! Thanks for stopping by today, and I hope you have a wonderful day filled with love--because you ARE loved! Until next time, HUGS and happy crafting, friends!

GDT at Sugar Creek Hollow: Back to School!

Hello again, friends!!!  I'm SO excited to announce that this week I am a GDT at Sugar Creek Hollow!!!  I'm so happy to join this amazingly talented DT for the week and for a super fun challenge--BACK TO SCHOOL!  And there's a possibility of a prize, too!!!  Here's the info:

• Provided we have nine entries, one random winner will receive a digi of our choice and a winner's badge to display. In addition, the Design Team will choose one project as Card of the Week and the creator will receive a badge and will be in the running for a monthly Guest Designer spot.

So you HAVE to come and play along with us!!!  You just might be the Card of the Week and a GDT like me! :)  Don't forget to make your creation shabby chic or vintage, though. ;)  Now onto the project I created...

Here's what I've made~

Details~

I've used a digital image for my faux tile panel found HERE, Crackle Accents by Ranger, an ABC stamp set from an unknown company, patterned text paper by Foof-a-La, glitter by Martha Stewart, a glitter gel pen by Sakura, Mod Podge, metallic paint by Folk Art, pins by Maya Road, seam binding ribbon from my stash, and all other supplies are by Stampin' Up!.

The digital panel was what took the most time to make, but I LOVE the distressed look I got!  I printed the image out, let it dry over night.  I then cut it into "tiles", sponged the edges with dark brown ink, and reapplied them onto a brown panel.  I filled in each individual tile with Crackle Accents, waited for it to dry, reapplied the placed where it was coming up, added a quick coat of brown ink, then sealed it with Mod Podge.  The whole process took the whole day, but I did it as I was doing other things so the time went by rather quickly! ;)

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a peek at my altered notebook!  I hope that you come and join in the fun at Sugar Creek Hollow and that you take some time to leave a bit of love with the other amazing DT members as well!  HUGS and happy stamping! :)

My newest favorite digi and thoughts about true beauty...

***WARNING: VERY VERBOSE AND PHOTOGRAPH HEAVY.***

Yes.  That was quite a long title, wasn't it?  I couldn't truncate it and so there you have it.  Also, this will be quite a long post.  I LOVE my creation and couldn't resist showing some details! :)  I've been really loving this new freebie from A Day For Daisies and so when Clare at Miscanthus Crafts challenged us to use a digital image on our art journal page this time around, I knew I'd have to use it!!!

Here's what I came up with~

Details~

For these fabulous challenges~

Card Making to Art Journaling: Lesson 5

Simon Says Stamp & Show: Anything Goes

Polkadoodles: Create Your Own Background

Nutcrafters: Texture

Created With Love: For the Girls

A Day For Daisies: Stress It

I've used texture stamps by Kaiser Kraft (yes, Clare--I used it!), patterned paper by Recollections, paints from my stash (I believe they are all from Folk Art), butterfly rhinestones by Studio G, glitter glue from Studio 112, a beautiful digi by A Day For Daisies, chunky glitter, ink, and paper by Stampin' Up!.  The sentiment was generated by me on the computer!

I started by filling in parts of the digi with shades of black and grey using a photo editing program.  I then created my sentiment and printed these elements out.  To create the background, I started by covering my paper with the green metallic paint then layering on a lighter then darker purple.  I went a bit too overboard with the purples so I sponged some of the metallic green over that.  After it all dried, I stamped 3 different patterns with the stamps--one in dark green, one in lighter green, and one in purple.  I then added my image, sentiment, and torn paper corner.  I wanted to add more texture so I added the glitter glue and for even MORE texture, I added chunky clear glitter to the earring and chunky green glitter to the hat.  I also added rhinestones.  I LOVE this page!  Another one to frame and put up in the house! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by to look at my project!  I hope you've been inspired to join in with these fabulous challenges and I hope that you take the time to look at all of Clare's fabulous art journaling videos!  HUGS and happy crafting friends!

An artsy Thank You

I just wanted to publicly thank the DTs at Technique Time Tuesday and Inkspirational for the fun birthday blog hops they put on for my birthday last week!  I made this card that night, but I haven't had the chance to post it until now!

Here's the card~ 

Details~

It's a one layer card using some paint and stamps by Hero Arts, Close to My Heart, and an alphabet set from I can't remember where.  Liquid pearls by Ranger and all other supplies by Stampin' Up!.

Thanks again, ladies!  It was so nice to not only see the fabulous cards you made, but also receive some of them in the mail!  Nobody has ever done anything that nice for me before and I will always remember it!  HUGS and happy stamping! :)

More Friendship

So, after the last post I posted...yeah, I just said that...I decided to get inky and make some artsy stuff.  With the same sentiment from the last post because I really like it!  I made an art journal page inspired by Clare's 4th video on the subject and a card!!!

Here's the page~

Details~

For these fabulous challenges~

Simon Says Stamp & Show: Inspired By

(Clare's fabulous artsy style!)

Fashionable Stamping: Anything Goes

Crafty Creations: Something Old, Something New

(The flower I used has been on my desk

for MONTHS and all the other stamps I 

used are brand new to me!)

I've used stamps by CTMH, Kaiser Kraft, Martha Stewart, and random alphabets that I'm unsure of.  I used gelatos to color in the flower after I embossed it with black embossing powder by Stampendous!.  I did that about 2 or 3 months ago...and then poor flower sat on my desk that long!  So I put it on my page.  I then put glossy accents over it and sprinkled glitter over that.  The washi tape is by different companies--I think Studio G and We R Memory Keepers.  The paints are all from my stash and the inks, glitter, paper, and all other supplies used are by Stampin' Up!.  The only paper not by SU! is the old library Date Due card to the bottom left.  My DH had some of them in his office and was going to throw them away--I almost screamed, "DON'T DO IT!!!"  I saved them.  There are only 4 but I've also used one on the card I made, too...

Here's the card~

Details~

For these fabulous challenges~

Inspired By Stamping: Washi Tape Blog Hop

Craft Your Passion: Floral Delights

Word Art Wednesday: Anything Inspirational Goes

This card uses stamps by Inspired By Stamping, liquid pearls by Ranger, another Date Due card, white gesso paint from my stash, and all other supplies are by Stampin' Up!.

Thanks so much for stopping by to take a peek at my arsty endeavors.  I know they aren't the best, but I enjoy making them and am having fun learning!  I hope you'll join in these fabulous challenges--it's always fun to be challenged!!!  HUGS and happy crafting, friends! :)

More inky goodness...

I've really been having fun playing around with getting inky!  It's something NEW for me--but as you all know, I LOVE learning new things!!!  I guess you'd say it's kind of something I'm known for...do you guys see where this is going?  Those of you who play along at Simon Says Stamp and Show probably do!!!

Here's one of my newest inky creations~

Details~

For these fabulous challenges~

Simon Says Stamp & Show: What You're Known For

(Trying NEW things.)

From Card Making to Art Journaling: Lesson 2

(Not technically a challenge--but challenging for me!)

Fussy & Fancy: Circles

This was a totally new thing for me.  I don't have gesso as specified by Clare so I substituted some shimmery craft paint and painted over my old book page (it was first adhered to a piece of white card for more stability).  I then stamped some circle borders by Papertrey Ink up and down the whole panel.  After that, I added some circle themed washi tape and some punched patterned papers from my scrap drawer--all polka dotted!  This was so much fun!  My hands were absolutely filthy afterwards and I LOVED it!!! ;)

Here's another inky creation that I made this weekend~

Details~

For these fabulous challenges~

Craft Barn: "C"

(Carnation)

Pattie's Creations: Recycled/Altered Item

Happy Campers: Flowers + Use Something Digital

So here is my next set of pages for the ABC challenge going on at Craft Barn this year.  I've chosen to alter a very old "everyday" encyclopedia.  This time I chose "carnation" for the letter C.  I started by gluing the pages together as was suggested to me...but I kinda messed them up a little. Hopefully you can't tell, lol!  I then used the same shimmer paint to mute the text a little.  I added some stamped images by Stampin' Up! and some random sentiments by various companies and then added some digital prints from Eclectic Anthology behind stamped acetate frames to protect the prints--the acetate is held in place by washi tape.  I also highlighted the definition and added some random glitter glue and liquid pearls.  Once again, utterly filthy hands and loving it!!!

Thanks so much for stopping by to indulge in my new found inkiness!  I hope you've been inspired to join in these amazing challenges and that you try something new today, too!!!  HUGS and happy stamping! :)

Well if there's Christmas in July...

...and Thanksgiving daily, then I declare it to be Halloween in June! Here's why:

I had these two marshmallow fluff jars sitting in a cupboard, waiting to be "used." For years. And years...about 4 to be exact! So, as I was cleaning out that cupboard, I gave myself an ultimatum: USE 'EM OR LOSE 'EM!

Here's the final (?) product. All I did was take white tissue paper and brayer it orange, tear it into pieces and faux mod podge it to the jars.


Then, I drew and cut out the faces and adhered them to the jar.


They needed the lids, so I painted them green.


Here's the thing, should I use some toilet paper rolls to create stems?! If so, HOW?! Please help me! Comments and suggestions are very welcome today!!! Happy sharing!!!