Friday, December 31, 2010

Flashback Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 365 Cards



The first birthday card is for Day 306 at 365 Cards - Flashback Friday. The challenge was to use some metal on you card. For this card I used metal embossed with my Cuttlebug numbers folder, Patterned Paper is from Scenic Route, Flower is Prima and the ribbon is from Marcella by K and Company.



The challenge for Flashback Thursday, Day 305, was to use a silhouette on your card and just black and white. Papers are from Bazzill, 7 Gypsies and Pink Paisley. The chip is from Bazzill and the rub on is from Bo Bunny. Finally, I embellished with a Jenni Bowlin butterfly.



I finally found a jingle bell for Flashback Tuesday, Day 303! Paper is from Pink Paisley. The image was something from my stash. I tied around the image with jute and added the jingle bell!

I hope each of you has the most wonderful of new years!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Three New Cards Based on Flashback Challenges

Flashback time at 365 Cards. Since I just recently started doing their challenges these are all new to me.
First, day 304 Flashback Wednesday, do a super simple card taking up only about 1/3 of the front cover with decoration.



Second, day 302 Flashback Monday, select three patterns. I used paisley, gingham and hounds tooth.



Finally the sketch of the week:



Now if I can just find something small around to make noise I also have Flashback Tuesday done! I am loving these challenges!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

365 Cards - Day 298 Think Three



I am caught up with the challenges for this week! Yeah! Today's challenge was to use three embellishments in groups of three. I have three light yellow bloom-lets from Eye-Lets Etc. I added three pink bling center rhinestones. Finally, I added three silver brads, which I distressed with my son's hammer and a piece of brass jewelry finding for some texture. I am looking forward to Christmas and to see what 2011 brings!

Hope that your holidays are merry and bright! May you enjoy with relaxation the birth of our Savior, Jesus!

365 Cards - Day 297 Think "Cute"



This challenge was really a challenge for me! Think "cute". I don't usually think cute when I make cards or scrapbook pages. So off I began.

This card was created on a 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch card blank. The patterned paper is from my stash - Scenic Route. For inspiration, I used sketch #20 from CardMaker Magazine (November 2010). The stamp is a "freebie" from Some Odd Girl called Deery. After adhering the two background layers, I used a mini flower punch and punched flowers from the coral pink dots of a left over piece of the paper. I highlighted each of them with glossy accents. When the glossy accents were dry, I added light green rhinestones. Deery was added last, along with the lettering. I colored the stamp with Sakura Glaze Collection pens (one of my new favorites). To be super-cute, I added a tiny Offray ribbon bow. The deer is mounted on dimensional tape. So here you have my interpretation of cute.

Thank for looking and have a wonderful day!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

365 Cards - Day 296 Imagine This: Mistletoe



So when I think mistletoe, I think love - okay kisses really! White, green and round shapes also come to mind. This card entitled "love" was created for the 365 Cards Day 296 challenge. To be inspired by mistletoe. It has the soft greens and whites and the round shapes. I especially like the pearl flower center to echo the idea of mistletoe. Love and smooches to you this holiday season!

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

365 Cards Sketch of the Week and Day 295




Two new cards from me. The sketch card is inspired by the 365 Cards sketch of the week. January is going to be a time of baby showers at work, so one of my co-workers asked me to make some baby cards. This is the first one of the batch. Both of the babies we are welcoming are girls! As a mom of a boy I am much more comfortable in blue than pink, but always willing to give it a shot!

The second card is for the day 295 ad inspiration. The photo was of candles, music and lots of cream, green and gold. I need a card for Preston as he is singing a solo on Christmas in the children's choir. I got the image from Some Odd Girl, which is the 365 blog sponsor of the week.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

365 Cards Day 293 - Feeling Scrappy



Challenge 293 on 365 Cards was to use scraps on your card. 7 scraps that is! For this card, I did some paper weaving of scraps for the background. It was adhered to another scrap, that I didn't count in the total. I ran the weaving through my Cuttlebug to emboss it. I think it looks like grandmas quilt. The house was stamped on another scrap. The roof was stickled for a little snowy/icy look.

I hope each of you is blessed with a wonderful Christmas. I hope you are blessed with the warm and cozy feelings of home.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

365 Cards - Day 290


For the challenge at 365 Cards today the theme is Touchy Feely - Let's see texture 3 ways: Embossing (dry or wet), Glitter or Flocking, Fabric or Lace - so I could choose one from each of the 3 groups to meet the requirements of the challenge.
For this love card I chose to dry emboss, use glitter and lace. I really liked the idea of this challenge. I used an EK Success heart punch to make the little heart windows. All the patterned paper is by Crafty Secrets. I found the ribbon flowers at the dollar store and the floral spray is from Prima. Thanks for stopping by!

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Six Impossible Things




I love this quote from Alice in Wonderland. Six impossible things before breakfast.
This card was made for a challenge to use multiple fonts on a card at 365 Cards. I generated my fonts on the computer and accented the word six with Sakura glaze pens. The Red Queen image was hand stamped from a stamp by Crafty Secrets and colored with glaze pens.

So what six impossible things will you believe in? So far I have two this morning, plus on big one!
1. Jim's Jeep would fail electrically in the middle of the road after dying in the morning (yesterday).
2. The automatic water dispenser on the new refrigerator would fail (before breakfast).
3. I am blessed to be saved by God's grace!

The rest will come soon I am sure. Have a wonderful day!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Christmas Tags and a Card




I am so glad that I did Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas. Tag 11 is really my own. I used Tim's background technique of masking and inking. I used Broken China and Dusty Concord. I love these two colors. I made the charm in the lower left corner with a vintage brass charm holder that I had gotten in Arizona. I added a Jenni Bowlin chipboard button. I filled in with Glossy Accents to give the look of a glossy dimensional charm. Tim's tree became my packages. I really like all of the soft colors on this one.

Tag 12 is really a testament to Mary in the vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe. I decided that my final tag would focus on the CHRIST in Christmas. I found this beautiful image of Our Lady on line. I carefully cut and mounted her and used Distress Stickles in Rock Candy to add the shine. The background was toned down by and Ivory wash of acrylic paint. The holly is from Prima as are the roses.



I just found out my friend Wendi Hatter was selected for the 365 card Sketch Blog design team. Yeah Wendi! So I thought I would pop over and check it out. Today's sketch is a winner! It was designed by Pam Maas. I decided to go with a Paris theme and yes Wendi's card inspired me. I used Crafty Secrets Papers and Stamps to make my card, entitled Bonjour! The punches are EK Success and Martha Stewart. The ribbon from Offray. Thank you for stopping by.

Peace to you this holiday season.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

More Pseudo Tim







So, I am caught up on Tim's tags and will post 10 and 11 on Monday! It has been a lot of fun creating tags using Tim's techniques and my style! On that note, next year, I will be doing the 12 tags of CHRISTmas. That is tags that have Christian themes following Tim's techniques. Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

Sunday, December 5, 2010








Here are my renditions of Tim Holtz's tags Days 3, 4 and 5! I am caught up! The more square tag is another one I did

practicing inking. I love this Santa image from Crafty Secrets. Most of the stamps I am using are from Crafty Secrets. I am a real fan of their products. I hope you all are having a wonderful time preparing for the events of Christmas!
Joy and peace to you!

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Twelve Tags of Christmas


Okay, I am playing along with Tim Holtz on his wonderful 12 tags of Christmas! I have one and two done. My renditions are not exact because I am not going to buy new things to do them. I love to figure out alternatives and see how close I can get!
Here is number one Tim's dies - nope (Insert a sad, frugal face here). No problem, I punched my fence and free cut the house.
Tag stamp - nope. Used a vintage tag with rub ons from my stash.
Star charm - YES! Yeah, I am glad I make jewelry.

So, day 2, I am bound to have more supplies! Right? Right? Nope!!!!



So I didn't have the right stamps, the felt or the quite right colors. I did have this fun Tim Holtz bird stamp and I was able to do multiple colors on it. Didn't have exactly the same flourish or music. The music stamp is from Crafty Secrets and I thought it did great for the background.

Okay, so here is keeping my fingers crossed for day 3, gotta have one day when I have all of the supplies on hand. Come on Tim, come do an inventory before you create another tag!

Here's wishing you more holiday joy!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

More Fun Left 0ver Tags



As promised, a bit later than planned, here are two more tags using leftovers and products from Eye-Lets, Etc. I had the mushroom cut outs from an old Serendipity kit - how I miss Kristen's store. I got the 3-D mushrooms from The Naughty Secretaries Club on Etsy. I am loving using up my odds and ends. Now my tags don't live up to Tim Holtz's tags, but they are fun none the less. I will be following along and trying out Tim's tags starting tomorrow. Look for more creations here!

Friday, November 26, 2010

New work for ELE - design team


Materials used: Create-Let cardstock #4 ~ Rich royals/plaid / Patterned paper ~ Aged Barn Red n' Kiwi / Cardstock Stickers ~ Rustic Alphabet n' Shabby Chic tags / Eye-lets ~ Asst. O'flats / Cardstock ~ Asst colors n' textures / Button Soup and misc inks and punches.

I made these three tags for a challenge at Scrappy Chic to use up leftovers. I used some left overs from my Eye-Lets Etc. DT work and added a few things. I just couldn't stop, so I have a few more on my craft table that I will post this weekend. If you like the papers and eyelets you can get them from the store at Eye-Lets ETC.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

You Asked for It - A Look at the Fresh and Funky Line





Here is the first look at some one of a kind pieces of jewelry for sale in my store, Preston Gems! I am going for a line that is fun and unique. Let me know what you think! I now have 40 items for sale, think Christmas! Honestly, thanks for looking and providing support and feedback! I appreciate it!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Jewelry Galore!

I am having so much fun making jewelry right now! I am afraid my scrapbooking is suffering, but I will get back into that as well!

I just finished up some more earrings for the store.



I am also working on some Steam Punk items - earrings and a broach right now, with several bracelets to follow.
This will be part of my more whimsical line of fresh and funky items. Check back soon for some new scrappy goodness and check out Preston Gems on Artfire!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

New Store for Crafty Me!



I have just opened a new Art Fire store featuring primarily my jewelry designs. I will be adding a lot of new product prior to the holidays and hope you will check it out! If you mention my blog, I will provide you with free shipping until 11/4/2010!
Here is the link and some examples of my work! Hope to see you at PrestonGems - ArtFire Artisan Studio"!

Friday, October 1, 2010

I'm a Guest Chef!!

I just found out I have the honor of being the October Guest Chef on Scrappy Chic Cafe. This is a new site with some awesome gals and I could not be more excited. I would love to have you participate in my challenge this month. Click here to check it out. It is my own blue plate special! I *guess* my sketch has 10 layers! Love those heavy LOs! I will have my example up here by the end of the weekend. I hope you will play along. There is a small RAK for the winner!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Wowee What A RAK I Won!



I am super excited! I won the RAK of the August Scraps of Darkness Kit called "Midnight Garden" and all of the add ons! I just got my kit a few days ago and all I can say is wow! Melinda put together the most awesome kit. I am really impressed. I am looking forward to working with it this weekend. Thanks again to Melinda at Scraps Of Darkness! Check out their blog and from there the store. I am loving this months kit which features Graphic 45 Steampunk Debutante.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Fun with Mardi Gras Masks




I have found a new love............ MASK MAKING! I signed up for a swap at Scrapbook.com for masks. Boy there is some real talent in this swap! My partner wanted purple, silver and black with a gothic look. I hope that she likes this! I sure had a lot of fun painting and blinging it up. Would love to hear your opinions on this one too!
Thanks for taking a peek!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Twilight and Halloween ATCs



These ATCs are for a Twilight themed swap at Pages in Time. Jacob and Edward are shown in an earlier August post and I finally got my inspiration for Bella tonight. In my mind, she is a girl with a secret (or two!). I made a watercolor background and added the secret magazine cover. Then Bella needed bling!



I am having a wonderful time making ATCs. These three 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 ATCs are for a Pages in Time Swap. The background is paper I made from a black and white tree photograph I took and printed at Craft Sassy. I topped that with vintage images and labels. Each has a bow or a brass embellishment to add dimension.
Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

Friday, September 10, 2010

Two Layouts from One Sketch


I just finished up a blog challenge for Scraps of Darkness! I loved the sketch so much I did it again.
This sketch is by Flying Unicorn (aka Alda) whose sketches I adore.

First the LO for Scraps of Darkness:
The challenge as listed on the Scraps of Darkness Blog is:

1. Between today, September 2, 2010, and September 14, 2010, create a "dark" layout. Think dark colors, dark subjects, such as Twilight or horror movies. Think Halloween, vampires, witches, or whatever you think of as a "dark" layout.

2. Post your layout on your blog or in whatever scrapbook galleries you normally post in.

3. Mention that your layout was done for the Scraps of Darkness blog challenge, with a link back to this blog.

4. Leave a comment on this post telling us where to find your layout, with a link to it.


So about the darkest non-Twilight photo I had handy was one of DS and me last Halloween. We are a couple of Jokers!
I used black, red and purple as my dark colors and really tried for a haunted spooky look. You can let me know how I did!

Speaking of Twilight, Preston and I met Solomon, who played Sam in the first Twilight Movie a few weeks ago. Preston was thrilled to meet a real actor. Here is the photo and the LO I did with it! How many of you are jealous? Admit it!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Back to School Crop at Pages in Time

PAGES IN TIME on line crop this weekend. It will start Friday evening 9-10 at 6 pm EST and end Sunday evening 9-12 at 12 am EST.

I have two challenges and a game for you. Each one has a fabulous RAK!

The Design Team will have lots of things for you do participate in, challanges, games and of course alot of inspiration to choose from.

You don't want to miss this fun filled weekend of our on line crop. So come on over and enjoy!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Heads Up on the Pages in Time Boy Oh Boy September Challenge

I am giving the followers of my blog a two day lead on the Pages In Time Boy Oh Boy Sketch Challenge for the month of September.

Here is my sketch for the month:



The challenge at Pages in Time will be:
1. New layout as of September 1, 2010 must be posted in the challenge forum and the gallery at Pages in Time during the month of September.
2. You must use the sketch provided by me.
3. Must have a boy in the pictures.
4. Since school is starting and fall is coming, I want to see your interpretation of autumn colors.

I will have my example done in the near future and hope to see yours at Pages in Time during the month of September!

Good luck!

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Welcome from Lacee's blog, if you have made it this far then you are doing great! This is the fourth PIT stop. How exciting is this?! We have been working our tails off creating some awesome banners to give away.That's right you heard me, we are giving them away!! Can you believe that? We must be crazy, right?! We have all worked so hard and I know you are going to love each and every one of them!! The banner's aren't the only thing you could win. Karen, the owner of Pages in Time has given us some prizes to give away too! How cool is that? So I suppose you want to know how you can win these amazing gifts. All you have to do to win my banner is post a comment about the banner and become a follower of my blog. For your chance to win one of the prizes from Karen you must go to all of the Design Team blogs and become a follower and leave comments. From there you will go to Karen's blog, and also become a follower and leave a comment. Lastly you will go to Pages in Time and leave a comment on the first page of the forum. You won't be able to miss it. I will give you the link to your next PIT stop which is Marie.You are going to love her banner! And she will give you a link to the next Design Team member blog and it will continue in that way. Okay, that's all there is to it. Now here is what you can win from me...

Monday, August 16, 2010

We Have a WINNER!

Yes, today is the day for the post vacation RAK winner! The random number generator tells me it is LUCKY number 12!!!!!!!

Becky said...

what a rockin giveaway!!!
I wasn't a follower but I am now :)
what do I love about vintage....it reminds me of my grandparents and when I was a child. I always loved looking through my grandparents old stuff and it just floods me with memories

Becky you are my LUCKY Winner! Please send your mailing address to me:
drmommyrd at yahoo dot com! I am looking forward to getting your package in the mail!

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Fatal Thursday Sketch at Pages in Time





No, scrapbooking is not fatal! Well, I suppose if you don't watch out for the scissors and stapler it could be. I am having loads of fun using my August Pages in Time Kit. The papers on this layout are straight from the kit. I used my Distrezz it all on the edges. I am totally loving this tool! The layout also has liberal amounts of Shimmerz mists.

I am really liking the Steampunk look, so I tried to create a simple steampunk locket in the lower right corner, with vintage brass hearts, a Tim Holtz gear and red bling.

The two ATCs were created for the Twilight Mini Challenge at Pages in Time. For these two, I used all products available from Eye-Lets Etc, where I am on the DT. The great papers and stickers are from them. I added vintage buttons provided by Terri at ELE. The stick pins are from my stash, made by Maya Road. Thanks for taking a peek!

Don't forget there is still a small amount of time to enter my post vacation RAK. Look over on the right, it is the first August post. Feelin' Lucky? Then enter!

Thursday, August 12, 2010

New Pages In Time Thursday Sketch



Look at the fun sketch Karen gave us for this week! I am thinking right now!

Don't forget to sign up for the RAK on the post below! Still 3 more days until I pick a winner....... It could be LUCKY you!




I have been going tag crazy lately! These are two tags that I made for Eye-Lets, Etc. manufacturers design team. All of the materials used are available from Eye-Lets, Etc. Let me know what you think!