It's that time of year again!

I feel like I'm in the show, making Christmas, all day long!

With 2 shows in November, if you need me, you know where to find me... Craft Room!

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #226

I have another card sketch to inspire you today. I designed this one for Sketch-N-Scrap.

For my sentiment piece on this card I used a We R Memory Keepers memory system journal card. I actually had the elements of the card cut out and distressed before I found the journal card in my stash. It ended up matching perfectly!

 

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #224

It's back to school time! So hard to believe! With the kids in Junior High now, free time at our house is going to get harder to find. I have found a little spare time to put together this card sketch for Sketch-N-Scrap.

I pulled out my Sizzix Winter Garland die for the main embellishment on this card. It's a very pretty die that can be used to cut twig wreaths in so many different colors. It would look great in silver and white for a Christmas card.

 

Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #255

Here we are the middle of August and it is HOT! If you're looking for some inspiration while you stay in the air conditioning, look no further. I have a layout sketch today that I designed for Sketch-N-Scrap. Head over to the SNS Blog to see what the design team members made using my sketch.

We took a trip to Dallas in April to watch some of the greatest volleyball players in the world compete against each other in a 6 week long battle. We got to watch 4 of the matches while we were in town. Also, we got to meet and chat with a handful of players and get autographs. Brileigh also some photo ops with some.

 

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #222

Lori has put together another fun sketch for you this month. Check out what the design team made using the sketch over at Sketch-N-Scrap.

I dug into my scrap stash to put this card together. It's always fun for me to pull papers from different brands that look good together. Also anytime I can use up some scraps, I'm all for it!

 

Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #253

Here is a fun sketch for you from Lori over at Sketch-N-Scrap.

While we were in Dallas, Texas earlier this year, we were able to go to Ripley's Believe it or Not. We spent many hours there as there were many different areas to explore. One was the wax museum. The kids had a lot of fun posing with some of their favorites.

 

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #221

Sketch N Scrap has a wonderful card sketch for you this week.  Lisa has put together a fun one that can be used in so many ways.

 

Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #252

Happy July! Can you believe we are almost half way through this year?! Now that it has gotten a lot hotter outside, I'm more likely to be found in my craft room working on all sorts of things. Today I finished up a layout based of a sketch by Lisa over at Sketch-N-Scrap.

Last summer the kids and I were able to get away on a vacation to Colorado. One of the highlights for them was going to the Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs.

 

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #220

Back today with another fun sketch from Lori. She designed this card sketch for Sketch-N-Scrap.

It's that time of year again. Graduation! I always think I have enough cards, then a couple pop up on me and I need more. I got the fun graduation cap stamp from Taylored Expressions, called Grad.

 

Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #251

So after a little hiatus, I am back with another sketch from Sketch-N-Scrap. Lori has come up with a fun one, check out what the design team has done with it on the SNS Blog.

I've been so busy with work and kids events that I haven't had time to scrapbook lately. I'm pretty backed up on it actually. I hope to catch up soon, so expect more layouts from me soon!

We took a vacation to Dallas Texas the beginning of April. The photos I have here are from that trip. I actually had them printed out early May with the sketches, but couldn't put together the time to finish the project. The layout below is from the May 15th sketch over at Sketch-N-Scrap. Better late than never!

 

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #215

Lisa has another wonderful card sketch for you today over at Sketch-N-Scrap.

For my card, I dug through my stash of paper scraps and found everything for the card except the background. I just didn't have anything in my stash that worked well with the papers I had selected. Then I remembered, I have a large drawer full of 6x6 paper pads. I don't know why I always forget about them. They are perfect for card making. I flipped through a couple pads and found the perfect match for the elements I had already pulled out. I need to make a mental note that they need to be used more!

 

Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #246

Happy April! It is SPRING! I hope everyone is able to get out and enjoy! When you are inside, check out this new sketch designed by Lisa over at Sketch-N-Scrap.

In my last scrap post I had a layout showcasing Brett in basketball. This layout has some fun photos of Brileigh in her basketball games. She made such improvements over the season!

 

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #214

The last regular sketch for the month, this card sketch was designed by Lisa over at Sketch-N-Scrap. Make sure you head over to the SNS blog to see what the design team came up with.

As we head into April soon, rain will hopefully be in the forecast. That had me thinking of the cute umbrella stamp and die set I have. Perfect for a bright colored card!

 

How it all comes together... (Long Post!)

Have you ever wandered through a craft store, show or boutique and said to yourself, "I can make that!" I certainly have. Have I ever gone home and actually made it? ..... No. And I make stuff. 

 

Sometimes things look so simple, but when you break it all down, to all of the materials needed, the steps involved, it's just simpler to support the original artist and bring home an awesome work of art.

Take this piece:

The Bird Nest Jar

It all started with this inspiration piece.

A picture page ripped out of an encyclopedia.

But did I use the actual paper page? Absolutely not! (I actually can't even remember where I got it.)

Here is what I did: 

First, I scanned the original and saved it to my computer. 

Then I cleaned up the ripped side in photoshop and printed it out in 3 different sizes. 

Once I had the copies, I glued them to a heavier card stock. Then I distressed the edges and stained the pages with a liquid walnut stain. After I heat set the stain, I further "dirtied" up the edges with ink.

NEXT!

I needed feathers. I couldn't find feathers. At least not real bird colored feathers. What to do...

Head to the stamp stash. I have a lot of stamps. And a lot of them have coordinating dies. I like dies. Especially dies that work with stamps.

I stamped a page full of different feathers and cut them out with the dies. Have I said dies enough?

Then comes the coloring of the feathers. Here comes another of my favorites. COPIC MARKERS.

I used a blend of browns and blue/turquoise markers to color all of the feathers I had cut out. 

Next it is on to distressing and staining the feathers. That's one plus to Copic Markers. They don't bleed when you add liquids over top. I inked the edges and covered them in the walnut stain and heat set to dry.

Next you need a little splatter. It just adds to the look. White paint splatters.

Look at this beautiful pile of feathers. Ready for many projects.

Okay, so now put it all together! Get your jar, you have a jar right? You have to have a JAR!

I hit up garage sales, antique markets, junk jaunts, and still only find a few precious beautiful jars worthy of use. But they are out there. Keep looking!

So you now have your jar. Add some moss to the bottom, get your nest, add some primitive looking eggs and tuck in your feathers. (I notice I just added a bunch of items you need that I hadn't listed prior... sorry)

You can see in the photo above, I added one of my encyclopedia pages to the inside of the jar behind the nest. To finish off the piece, I took a strip of muslin and stained it with... you know, Walnut Stain! Tying the muslin around the jar with some jute finishes off this piece.

Okay! So you got this right?

Now, what am I charging for the Bird Nest Jar in the photo above? 

Guess.

You can't guess.

 

 

$16.00

Wait, what?

After I spent all this time listing all of the steps and all of the work involved, $16? Really? And that doesn't even count what I spent on everything I purchased to make it! I seriously need to rethink my pricing!

But here's the thing. I made more than one.

 

Remember I printed out 3 copies of the encyclopedia page. I had 3 different sized jars.

This fun jar didn't have a lid. ( I broke it... oops) Anyway, I added more stained muslin and cheesecloth to the top for a primitive look. These bigger jars have more room inside so I was able to add more details, like vintage family photos, calendars and birds.

So all in all, this is how it all comes together. I enjoy finding random things and working on the little details to make each and every piece unique. And FYI these bigger jars pictured here are priced $28 and $26 respectively.

Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #245

As we head half way into March, I have another layout sketch to inspire you from Lisa over at Sketch-N-Scrap.

We had a fun basketball season the year, the kids have grown so much in the sport. Next year they'll move on to Junior High sports!

 

Sketch N Scrap Layout Challenge #213

Here is your first card sketch for March coming from Sketch-N-Scrap. 

I sort of have an addiction to stamp sets. Especially ones with coordinating dies. I've recently decided I need to actually use them all! This is one that I've had for a while. It was fun coloring all of the different elements!

 

Sketch N Scrap Card Challenge #212

Today I have a card sketch that I designed for Sketch-N-Scrap. Check out all of the inspiration that the design team has came up with on the SNS Blog.