It's time for a little reflection

Mostly because it's my birthday today! :)
At just over half way through the year (and how did *that* happen, anyway?) I took a little while to reflect on the things that I wanted to do this year.  Just to take stock.  So far, I think I've done OK.  Not great, there are some spots that could use some improvement, but there have been some personal goals that I made definite strides toward.  As long as I'm moving forward, it's still good - right? :)
One of the things that I haven't been so good at is posting as often as I wanted to.  Now, I could give you the whole song and dance, but it seems unimportant.  *You* didn't come here for that!  I had to look down my sidebar and remind myself Blog Without Obligation!  After all, I do this for fun! :)
Just a few days ago I received a goody from my good blogging friend Lauren.  Yup, I won the blog candy!  I must say, I've been drooling over her cute Ami's since the beginning - so of course I fell in love with this adorable little guy and whined so much that Lauren took pity on me and sent me a beginners set of fabulous stuff to try my hand at it. (note to self: stick to stamping)  Let's just say that the results were, um, not pretty!
The other cool thing was that the annual stamping show (the "biggest" one, but that isn't saying much) came last weekend.  Just in time for me to pick up a few cool things.  I only bought one new stamp (bummer!) but loved it so much that I made a card right away.  Here, lookee:

It's a bit hard to tell in this pic, but the purple stamped panels (Lost Coast) were popped up and then the blue panel was double popped up. (Is that how you'd say it?)  I used a ton of coloring mediums on these - Distress Inks, Copics, Smooch, Starburst Stains, white chalk pen, white gel pen, black and white Enamel Accents, Glossy Accents... you name it!  Unfortunately, the white circles in the pic just look like glaring white circles.  IRL some of them are soft (chalk pen) and some are shiny (smooch) and a very few are opaque (gel pen).  On top of that, some of the circles were colored with Starburst Stains (which have mica and dye) and look AMAZING in person - but here they just look black. *sigh*
Same thing with some of the circles on the purple panels. *double sigh*
Anyway, I just want to say thanks today and everyday.
Thanks for dropping by.  Thanks for commenting.  And thanks for letting me share what I love to do... with you!

A couple of (totally different) cards

I almost thought that I wasn't going to have anything ready to post today. Between Halloween and (yet another) illness I've been falling behind on the things I wanted to create. At the last minute I finished the card I was working on - and then I found another that was waiting in the wings! :)
This first card used a freebie image from DigiDrawn over on CDAC. I loved that giant pumpkin as soon as I saw it and just had to make at least *one* fall/Halloween card. :)
I printed the pumpkin on regular white cardstock and colored it with pencils - a *lot* of different pencils! I don't think I've mentioned that I go over the lines with a black fine point pen (after coloring) to really add definition back to the image. Just one of those things that takes time and patience but can make a huge difference!
For the moon I cut a circle out of cardstock & colored it with Distress Inks. I also pounced a little bit of Versamark here and there then dusted with gold perfect pearls before coating it with Rock Candy crackle paint. I printed the sentiment then colored it with the same Distress Inks (even though it looks tons brighter in the pic than it does IRL). The green paper was stamped with a large flourish and Versamark, then punched with a Martha Stewart corner punch and edged with black. After adhering it all down to the base card I traced around the edges of the green paper with a black Spica pen and added small black gems - does that surprise you? ;)
For this card I used a new technique from Technique Junkies called Puzzle Layers. I admit that it would have gone better had I actually read *all* of the directions before jumping in, but I think it came out alright in the end. The background stamp is from Lost Coast Designs and was stamped in black VersaFine on white cardstock. It was colored with a mix of brown Distress Inks then spritzed with pearl glimmer mist (I got nice even glimmer on the bottom, but the top got really blotchy! what gives??) and edged with a gold Krylon pen.
The smaller pieces were also stamped with black on white c/s but were colored with a mix of blues and a mix of yellows. The sentiment is from River City Rubber Works. Also with VersaFine on white, also colored with Distress and also edged with gold Krylon.
So there you have it! Two cards in one post! :)
Thanks for dropping by!

The crafty post!

Ok, so technically it's not Tuesday anymore. But it *is* just barely Wednesday - does that count? :)
I thought this book deserved it's own post (and I didn't know if I could fit this pic in with the last post!). It's something I've done a few of - actually they're pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it.
Isn't it lovely? :)
This started out as a plain notebook from Target (clearance, even!). I started by prying apart the binding and slipping both covers off. Once I chose my yarn (yes, yarn - it's actually called ribbon yarn and is getting *much* harder to find these days) I was ready to wrap.
If you choose to wrap a notebook like this there are a few tips that I can give you. Before anything else, decide if the area where the binding goes looks ok - paint, sharpie, ink or otherwise color it to look good. Measure enough yarn to wrap the right edge of the cover - I used red liner tape on the edge & folded my yarn in half. This will completely cover the edge and make for a nicer finish. Apply whatever adhesive you choose to use (this was a combo of red liner tape, xyron & Fabri-Tac) to both sides of the cover and start wrapping from the bound edge. The first wrap will have to completely overlap your leading edge, but after that you can wrap overlapping 1/2 to 1/3 of the preceding edge. I chose to cover the corners of this book with metal findings from Tim Holtz, but with a little forethought you can make that last edge look professional enough to escape notice. :) If you (or the intended recipient) will be dropping this in a purse from time to time you may want to use some Fabric Tac and nail down some of the edges. Otherwise the yarn may get pulled out of whack and look bad. If you're just using it at home, don't bother!
As I said, I used some Tim Holtz book corners in a sort of antique-y gold color. To match the feel of them I matted the main panel with a piece of gold card stock that was embossed with a cuttlebug embossing folder and punched with a Martha Stewart corner punch.
The main panel is a stamp from Lost Coast Designs. I stamped it with black VersaFine on a piece of letterpress card. Yes, I bought some letterpress card - even though I don't have anything else related! :) Thick, luscious paper! I had to use a *very* light touch with the water brush - it is NOT built like watercolor paper. I used a couple of different Distress Inks to color the columns, her wings and the 'sky', but the woman is done with colored pencil. After it dried I gave it a quick coat of Matte Mod Podge for protection.
Thanks for dropping by!