Healing Humor

Hidy Ho, crafty peeps!

I sat down yesterday and made a list of all the projects I have to get finished before I leave on a trip to Colorado in a couple of weeks.

Aye carumba.

Well I totaled it all up...I have 15 projects to get done. That's roughly one per day until I leave.

MOJO, DON'T FAIL ME NOW!

Today's creative task was to make a get well soon card for my uncle, Hanes. He is in the hospital following an "outpatient" procedure that didn't quite go as planned. After which, he spent several days as a guest in the ICU. He's now out of ICU and, in all hopes, will be strong enough to come home soon.

A note about my uncle: he has a very wry sense of humor. He's a funny guy...but his humor is often overshadowed by his quiet demeanor. He wrote one of my all-time favorite limericks (which I'll share now).

Ahem ...

There was a man of many devises
who had ears of two different sizes...
the one that was small
was of no use at all...
but the large one won several prizes.

I giggle every time I recite it.

So, in honor of my subtly-humorous uncle (whom I call "unka"), I made him this get well soon card -- complete with an original limerick by yours truly.

My limerick (if you can't read it on the card) goes like this:

Ahem ...

There once was a man named Hanes.
His legs were giving him pains.
To the hospital he went.
They put in a stent...
to bypass the kinks in his veins.

The inside of the card reads:  "Hope you are back in circulation soon!"

It is FRAUGHT with medical double entendre!!! FRAUGHT, I tell you!

Get well, Unka!!

Ingredients:
Image - Ron Leishman
Lacy Oval die - Spellbinders
patterned paper - My Minds Eye
Prismacolor colored pencils
cardstock

Circle of Life

My brother-in-law recently lost his mom. Although it was expected, and they had known it was time...it's still difficult to say good-bye. Her name was Mary. She had 18 children, 42 grandchildren, dozens of great-grandchildren and 1 great-great grandchild. That's impressive. What's even more impressive is that she sent birthday cards to every single one of them...faithfully...year after year. Amazing.

I know my brother-in-law is hurting. I wish I could reach out to him and comfort him because that's my nature.

But, I can't.

There is a giant rift between us, fueled by his hatred for me. Deep-seated loathing because (years ago) I suggested that perhaps he and my sister would be happier were they not together. They have had a tumultuous, unkind, and destructive relationship pretty much from the beginning. I so want for them both to  lead happy, healthy lives...but separately, not together. Over the years, he's effectively ostracized me from his family...from his children...from my sister. I can forgive him for this...but I will never forget. I've tried to make amends in the past (several times) -- to no avail. But now, I've pretty much given up trying to fix things between us. I've accepted the fact that our relationship is irrevocably ... broken.

Despite all this, I decided I really need to send a condolence card. I refuse to let his feelings and behaviors dictate how I act (or don't). So, I made this card specifically for him...even though I'm addressing it to him, my sister, and my nephews.

Life is short.

I made the background panel by applying drops of alcohol ink directly to watercolor paper which I die cut into shape. I cut the olive inner frame from white cardstock which I hand-inked in the same manner. I adhered the frame to a piece of transparency film and then adhered the tree and heart diecuts on top of the transparency. I used foam tape to raise this whole assemblage off the background piece.

Ingredients:
Majestic labels (Sizzix Framelits)
Tree die (Memory Box)
heart die (Sizzix Framelits - Princess)
embossing folders (Cuttlebug)
alcohol ink (Ranger)
ribbon
cardstock
watercolor paper
transparency film

Bombshell Hop for April

April Hump Day Hop: Color Challenge

Hidy Ho, crafty peeps!


It's the last Wednesday of the month, so that means it's HOP time over at Bombshell Stamps Blog!! Sadly, I'm not participating in this month's hop. But, I wanted to make sure y'all knew about it so you could go looky-loo at the loverly projects from the design team!!


This month's challenge is a color-scheme challenge. Here is the palette:

The "rules" for this hop are that you have to use at least 3 colors from this palette! That's it.

Here is a list of all the hop participants!! Be sure to hop on by and leave little love notes along the way!

Bombshell Blog: http://bombshellstamps.blogspot.com/

Alison: http://alisonsrandomthoughts.blogspot.com/

Kim: www.craftypinkanchor.blogspot.com

Kelli: http://www.cajunstampingqueen.blogspot.com

Jodi: http://www.elamdesign33.blogspot.com/

Marnie: http://www.papertivity.blogspot.com

Kapree: http://kc-consultant.blogspot.com/

Monika: http://paperchrome.blogspot.com/

Alaine: http://missalaineousmosaics.blogspot.com/

Glittery Katie: http://ferrishyn-frontier.blogspot.com/

Kathi: http://kathstales.blogspot.com
Susie: http://whiteribboncards.blogspot.co.uk/

It's What's Inside That Counts

Hidy ho, crafty peeps!

I'm here to celebrate Earth Day ... sort of.

Actually, I'm celebrating the day a wonderful man made his appearance on this EARTH -- my husband, Jonathan.

So yeah, I'm celebrating Jonathan's Earth-, er BIRTHday.

It turns out there are LOADS of things to celebrate today! I mean....WHO KNEW that on this day:

• The Blues Brothers made their world premier in 1978 on Saturday Night Live.
• Peter Frampton was born in 1950.
• Second Battle of Ypres began in 1912 (I didn't even know there was a first one)
• Jack Nicholson was born in 1937.
• Hitler admitted defeat in 1945.
• Babe Ruth made his pro pitching debut in 1914.
• The first Earth Day was celebrated in 1970.
• Eddie Albert (Mr. Green Acres himself) was born in 1906.
• The Oklahoma Land Rush occurred in 1889 -- offering land on a first-come basis. Many people showed up late and missed out. I guess they should have gotten there SOONER. (hahahaha)
• Henry VIII ascended to the throne in England in 1509.
• Jonathan Moseley was born somewhere in Minnesota. 
• JanR's dd was born. :)

Now you know.

I made a card in honor of Henry VIII (just kidding). Here is the card I made for Jonathan. Doesn't look like much from the outside....oh, but wait.

This is a "what's-inside-that-counts" kind of card. I used the 3-D card base/circle label insert dies for the base.Then I hand cut various kite shapes from patterned paper and strung them on white wire strings. I inked the background to look like a cloudy sky and added punched grass along the bottom of the pop-out feature.

Ingredients:
Card base die w/ circle label insert - Sizzix
grass punch - Martha Stewart for EK Success
patterned papers
ribbon
buttons
cardstock
wire

The Long and Winding Road

Hidy Ho, crafty peeps!

So, I've been hermitted away in my studio for the past 3 days.

Creating?

No.

Organizing.

AGONIZING organizing.

Ribbons.

So, I guess that would be... 

Agonizing Organza Organizing.

And, since I did it without preservatives, additives, or wearing any makeup...that would be  

Organic Agonizing Organza Organizing. 

I am SO ELATED to be finished...that one might even say (now that I'm done)...it was  

Orgasmic Organic Agonizing Organza Organizing.

But, I digress.

I got the idea from my bestee, Jodi -- who (on many occasions) has led me down numerous "primrose-laden paths" over the years. This was no exception. What can I say? She inspires me ... like the Pied Piper. That, plus the fact that I got SICK AND TIRED of rummaging through my chest-o-ribbon to find the perfect shade to go with whatever my current project is at the moment. And then having several spools scattered about my studio waiting to be re-chested.

I had a 4-drawer dresser FILLED with spools of ribbon. Nothing obsessive about me. No siree. It's just every time I go to Michaels...there is this GIANT bin of ribbon outside their front entrance... beckoning me, like sirens call to sailors off the rocky shore. I can't remember when the last trip to Michaels didn't include at least one spool of ribbon coming home with me. Maybe I should open my studio as a home for orphaned ribbon.

Anyway, Jodi found this awesome idea for how to neatly store ribbon, so I thought I would tackle my Mt. Everest-sized pile of spooled ribbon. Sounded easy enough...all you need is:

• Foam core board (or mat board  or corrugated cardboard) cut into 2 x 2.5 inch pieces.
• small rubber bands (the ones for hair, or those kids' bracelet weaving ones)
• Something to store your ribbon in...(I chose 12 x 12 plastic scrapbooking paper cases by Iris--sold at Michaels--the same ones I put my patterned paper in)
• Box knife
• scissors
• pen
• ruler/yardstick (I actually used both)
• Strong hands
• Ibuprofen (you try cutting/winding a bazillion ribbon cards)
• Lots of time
• Mindless movies in the DVD player (I chose the Stargate SG1 series)
• Chocolate

I had NO IDEA that I had amassed SO MUCH RIBBON. When all was said and done, I had wound over 500 cards of ribbon. I'm not kidding. Basically, it works out to about 1 spool : 1 card (except for the really wide/bulky stuff ... and the rolls that had like 30 yards of ribbon on them --those took several cards).

500 STINKING CARDS

I measured and marked the foam core into 2 x 2.5 inch rectangles. Then I cut them all out. FYI, foam core REALLY dulls your box knife blade FAST. I went through 3 blades (and yes, I turned each around to use the other side). After I cut about 200 of these, my hands needed a break, so I switched to winding the ribbon (not much of a break is it?). This is how I transferred the ribbon from the spools to each card (notice how neatly and precisely I wound it). Let's just say I got REALLY good at winding this stuff by the end. I can now, confidently, go to China and get a job in a ribbon factory for 20 cents an hour.

Now, OF COURSE  I (roughly) arranged it all in rainbow order. DUH. How else would I do it? I ended up with 4 boxes total. Each box holds about 150 cards of ribbon. I have one for warm colors, one for cool colors, one for neutrals and one for multi-colored, metallic, and miscellaneous wide ribbon.

Here is the "cool colors" box.

Here are all the finished boxes. 

This is what ~600 spools of ribbon looks like.

 

So...does ANYONE have suggestions for doing something creative with 500 empty ribbon spools?  ANYONE???

Iris I May...Iris I Might

Springtime!

I know it's springtime. Not because the trees are leafing out. Not because the grass is greening up. Not because my nose and eyes are itchy, runny and DRIVING ME CRAZY.

I know it's springtime because our irises are blooming.

We have a glorious crop this year. My favorite ones are these purple ones that look like they've been stipple-brushed. I love the little polka dots. I had never seen irises like these before when my mom and I ran across them on one of our flower-peeper drives around town. This lady had a huge yard filled with irises. These uniquely spotted ones were among them. When we drove by, she was out in yard working on her flowers.
So, we stopped to tall with her awhile, and told her how beautiful we deemed her garden. She was so delighted to have us as visitors that she dug up 3 of her prized purple-spotted irises to send home with us. I immediately planted them when we arrived home.

I'd like to say that I nurtured them and tended to them faithfully. But, truth be told, I neglected them. I did water them on occasion ... but that's about it. Now, 4 years later, they have taken over the flower bed. There are now about 15 (or more) plants and each one blooms with MANY multi-blossomed stalks.

So, here's a little something to remind my friends and family in Colorado (who are buried under a couple of feet of snow at the moment...with more on the way) what spring looks like.

Weld-done Card

Hidy Ho, crafty peeps!

I just got back from a surprise birthday party for our friend, Dewayne. He was surprised, so it was a success! Of course, I procrastinated until this morning to make his card.

Ugh.

When will I ditch this habit?

Maybe later.

So, a little background on our friend. This was his 60th birthday. He's a world-class welder. WORLD CLASS. He has written several books on welding and he teaches at a local college. My nephew took his Welding 101 class last summer. Now, what kind of card should I make for a world-renowned welder?

A card that looks like it has welding on it. DUH!

So here it is. This is the outside.

and, here is the inside:

First off, does ANYONE out there get the reference of this card? I'll explain it at the end of the post for those of you who don't.

Here's the 411 on how I made this card.

Starting with the OUTSIDE.

• Die cut several gears and letters out of an empty cereal box
• Emboss a piece of cereal box (I used the diamond plate folder from Sizzix)
• Arrange and adhere embossed piece, gears and letters to cardstock card base front.
• Add hot glue elements to resemble screws, weld joints and rivets. (for screws, I pressed the edge of a scissors blade into the hot glue blob to create the slot)
• Bend wire into long oval and spot-glue in position around central "screws" of gears.
• Carefully cover entire front of card with strips of aluminum tape (making sure you butt them right up next to each other without leaving any gaps). I get this stuff from either the dollar store or the hardware store. The roll I used is 2" wide.
• Using cotton swab and paper blending stub, burnish tape down and around all elements.
• Paint entire surface with thinned-down acrylic paint and let it dry completely (or do like I did, and speed-dry it with a heat gun).
• After card front is dry, use steel wool (in circular motions) to remove some paint from surfaces.

For the INSIDE:

• Create pop-up card base using 3-D card base die from Sizzix
• Emboss cereal box pieces (that have bee cut to size for background and for numbers)
• Cover cardboard pieces with aluminum tape and burnish as before.
• Adhere embossed/metallic pieces to inside of card.
• Add pop-up elements and embossed cardstock
• Die cut gears from empty soda cans and adhere to inside of card with foam spacers. 

Ingredients:
Horizontal Card w/ Circle Label 3-D die (Sizzix)
Gadget Gears die (Sizzix)
Diamond Plate and Riveted Metal embossing folders (Sizzix)
acrylic paint
aluminum tape
hot glue
cardstock
wire
soda can
cereal box

As promised...I'll explain the reference of this card. The rotund robot guy is a character from the movie "Robots". He's the big cheese of the largest manufacturing plant in the capitol city. His name is Big Weld. His motto is, "You can shine no matter WHAT you're made of!"

Heavy Metal Accordion

Hidy Ho crafty peeps!

Admit it...the title to this blog post conjured up an image of a guy with long hair wearing nothing but studded, black leather Lederhosen rocking out on an accordion. Something, perhaps, like this...

Well, I hate to disappoint y'all, but that is not what this post is about. I know, I know...you're bummed. Believe me ... I, too, was looking forward to hearing Black Sabbath do "Beer Barrel Polka". Maybe next post.

I was playing with my new Accordion Album die by Karen Burniston (love her genius), when I began to wonder if I could make an art piece with her FaBuLoUs dies and, basically, make the entire thing out of metal.

I also wanted to try my hand at creating a "floating" accordion piece -- where the middle is clear plastic and gives the illusion that the elements are floating in air. 

And (because I like a challenge) I decided to do BOTH techniques on the same piece.

Why?

Why not?

So here is my creation ... it's sort of an industrial floral fantasy thing. And yes, it does fold flat(ish).

By now, y'all know my propensity to use recycled materials when it comes to my art. So it won't surprise you to learn that the metal I used is nothing but....aluminum soda cans (Coke for the flowers, Arizona tea for the album). 

Really. 

The flowers, the album, even the little hanging plaque...all made from embossed soda cans. And the plastic I used as the base for the album? It was the lid to a box of Christmas tags. Glad I saved it.

Here are some additional views:

Ingredients:

• Accordion Album die (Sizzix)
• Bracket Frame and Label die (Sizzix)
• Flower die (Sizzix)
• Flowers and Vine die (Sizzix)
• embossing folders (you guessed it...Sizzix)
• Hardware findings
• ball chain
• decorative brads (Creative Impressions)
• aluminum soda cans
• recycled packaging plastic
• cardstock

I am entering this in the following challenges:

• Tuesday Throwdown - #142 Fancy Folds 
• Party Time Tuesdays - #115 Anything BUT a Card
• Flourishes - Timeless Tuesday #215 Around the House (made from empty soda cans)
•  

Sizzix...Steampunk Style

Hidy Ho, crafty peeps!

I wanted to post this project I did for Maria at ItsCheaperThanTherapy. I'm tellin' ya...if you want all things Sizzix...go see Maria. She's got it all! I'm making some samples for her to bring to trade shows, and the piece I'm about to show ya is one of the "big" ones. Big as in it was made from a LOT of Sizzix product. Many, many dies and embossing folders. Many, many hours. A lot of stained fingers and one tiny accident involving the X-Acto knife and a squirrel.

I was garage-saling not too long ago when I found this little orphan wooden drawer. It was painted white (at least that was the latest coat of paint it had showing...there were many layers underneath, to the point where all the inside corners were no longer square -- not even close. It is a great size and the price was right. How many other people (besides me) do you know that would buy a 7x9 inch overly-painted orphaned drawer? To me, it was a treasure.

I cleaned off the layers of dust and dirt, and removed its brass pull (which I used in the project as the stand for the dress form angel). I covered every square inch (inside and out) with terracotta-colored cardstock which I embossed. I then, painstakingly, began the process of transmogrifying it into distressed and verdigris  copper. It's amazing how the surface of the shadowbox looked like riveted metal when I got finished. Anyway, here it is....I call it, "No. 7"

No. 7

And now for the "tour".

Starting with the riveted surface...as I said already, it began life as terracotta-colored cardstock. I ran it through my BigShot using the Riveted Metal embossing folder. I adhered it to the sides, front, top, bottom and all inside surfaces. Then, I rubbed it down with antique gold Rub 'n Buff. That stuff'll get you high as a kite. After the Rub 'n Buff, I dabbed on aqua acrylic paint here and there. I sponged on black stamping ink to age it a bit. I think next time, I'll start with verdigris-colored paper and metallic it up. That way, the patina will actually be where it's SUPPOSED to be (in the recesses) and not just helter-skelter on the flat surfaces. I fashioned "brass" corners out of gold paper that I embossed. Some upholstery tacks hold up the decorative gold chain that drapes across the front.  Moving on to... the background. 

There is a piece of watercolory aqua paper with coppery inked edges laid down on the back. I then pop-dotted cardstock gears (out of metallic papers) all over the aqua background. Then, I placed a transparency (printed with text and a vintage image) over the gears...the background has a LOT of dimension and depth.

Now on to the Angel. She is a conglomeration of various dies and their bits and pieces. Her body is a dress form. Her wings are the tops of the birdcage with one column of bars removed and vellum set behind them. Her dress is made from the pocket watch die, a section of the Damask die and part of the birdcage (with the outermost columns of bars removed. The watch face is a Coke can. I ran it through the BigShot and embossed it over a metal watch face embellishment by Tim Holtz. This way, I replicated the watch face...but still have the original so I can do it again and again. Tricky, huh? I painted the soda can version then sanded it and aged it with black stamping ink. Her halo and hair are gear diecuts. Her face is a stamp by Hampton Arts. A couple of decorative brads finish her look.

Next, is the clockwork bird. Believe it or not, this is the bird that comes with the Caged Bird die set. I just...um...jazzed him up. I cut him out using teal cardstock. I ran the diecut bird through the BigShot with the Gears embossing folder...I was careful to position him JUST RIGHT so that the gears created the pattern I wanted. I took leftover pieces from the Damask die and fashioned a topknot and his wing. His glorious tail is part of the Damask die (cut out the same way that I did for the angel's dress). I rubbed on copper stamping ink to highlight the detail and added his wind-up key to finish him. The cage behind him is the one from that same die set. I cut away some sections of the bars and cut up a second cage to create the open door.

The final photo is where my piece gets its name.This photo shows more detail of the background too. I inked up a white paper doily within an inch of its now-copper life and placed it behind the diecut No.7 (which I dabbed lightly with copper ink). 

I will be sad to see this piece leave my studio...but I know Maria will love it and (in all hopes) it will inspire many crafters to experiment with their dies...and buy MORE dies...from Maria. Thanks for stopping by!

I am entering this in the following challenges:
The Paper Players - #140 Recycle It (the box is an old wooden drawer)
Hotshot Craft Blog - #15 Anything But a Card
Stampin' For the Weekend - Anything But a Card
Creative Craft Challenges 2 - #7 Alter It (the box is an old wooden drawer)

Ingredients:

Sizzix Products:

• Sewing Room – Bigz (657186)
• Caged Bird – Bigz (656634)
• Cargo Stencil Number Set – Movers and Shapers  (657841) 
• Gadget Gears – Bigz (656636) 
• Mini Clock Key & Pocket Watch – Movers and Shapers (658561)
• Damask & Scallop Borders –Thinlits (658945) 
• Base Tray – Movers and Shapers (657007) 
• Riveted Metal embossing folder 
• Gears embossing folder (658580)

Other: 

• Timepieces (Tim Holtz for Advantus
• Rub ‘n Buff (antique gold) 
• Turquoise acrylic paint 
• Copper pigment ink (Tsukineko) 
• Memento black Ink (Tsukineko) 
• Perfect Pearls – copper (Ranger) 
• Face stamp  (Hampton Arts)
• Cardstock  
• Paper doily 
• vellum 
• Transparency 
• Patterned background paper (Karen Foster) 
• Metallic gold and copper papers 
• Mini round, heart and dragonfly brads (Creative Impressions)
• Chain  
• Upholstery tacks 
•  Soda can