Happy New Year!

Once again, I’ve neglected my blog...but it’s a new year and I hope to post a little something to share with you at least weekly.

I haven’t been creating much in December. Like everyone else, I've been busy with the holidays, but then to top it off, the flu ran through our household beginning with Jose in mid-December, followed by me, and then Kathryn got the flu just before Christmas, but hers wasn’t the regular flu, she got the special H1N1 flu! We got her to the doctor very quickly, and she recovered much quicker than both Jose and I.

Now that we’re all done with the holidays, and the flu, I started some much needed cleaning of my scrapbook area, and came across something to share here --- some ATCs that I made back in October using images from The Art Life that I picked up at a not so local scrapbook store. I just cut some of the images (these old eyes needed closeup glasses for that), added dimension by layering and popping them with popdots, and added Stickles. They are finished off with a quick spritz of Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist. The "Dream" ATC (center) has a recycled background which is from a suede-feeling perfume box (click on the image to make it larger, and you can see the product writing on the bottom center) given to me by my friend, Jean. Jean knows I like boxes and containers so she's always giving me fun little doo-dads to recycle and create with.

Capturing the shimmery goodness that Glimmer Mists leave behind is kind of hard to photograph...they are so much better in real life. Here’s my best attempt at a closeup of the "Smile" ATC showing the shimmering Iridescent Gold Glimmer Mist on it. Click the image to make it larger for a real closeup view.

Tomorrow...some impromptu mail art.

Interactive ATCs

I finally finished my ATCs for the interactive swap I joined with the ACP girls. I changed my design about three times, before deciding on a "pull" type ATC. Next decision was a "theme" and I was drawing a blank. I finally decided to go with a "friendship" quote that popped up, but I wasn’t real happy with that decision, but that was all that was coming to me.

I took the interactive elements to Scrapbook U to finish while I helped Kelle, Marilyn and Linda work on my Home for the Holidays kit, but I just wasn’t feeling inspired with my friendship quote decision, so I had a hard time finishing them up. Then Kathie O. came to the store, I showed her my interactive ATC design and she told me she was in a ATC "house" themed swap, and that she was going to "borrow" my interactive design. Suddenly, I felt inspired too — and told her I was going to "borrow" her theme and make mine houses too! How did I not think of that idea myself? I’ve only been working on this...

my Home for the Holidays book for the past week...the book whose cover is a house...yet, the thought never crossed my mind to make my ATCs a house. So, thanks again Kathie O. for continuing to inspire me!

Here are my interactive ATCs...

When you open the front door, you see Santa working. At the bottom of the ATC, you can see the bells and snowman charm I attached to the pull string.

And when you pull the charms, here's the Santa image that comes out of the top of the house. I hope the ACP girls like them!

Fabric ATC and Metal Embossed Letter

Good thing I posted two things on Thursday because I didn’t get to "play" on Friday because I was prepping for class. Didn’t "play" today either because I was teaching.

Even though I didn’t get to "play", I am posting two projects I did earlier this month so I don’t get out of the habit of blogging :)

First — an ATC I made for my friend, Leah. She made me an ATC, so this is the ATC I made to trade with her. Whenever Leah is planning on taking a trip to see her girlfriends, she gets lots of ironing done for her hubby. (Iron in one hand, suitcase in the other!)

So in the hopes that she comes visit me soon, I made her this fabric ATC with a vintage image of a girl ironing. The image is covered with acrylic (that’s why there is a glare) and the edged are Stickled. Charms from ACharmingPlace were colored with alcohol inks and layered using double-sided red tape

Second -- a paper mache letter that I covered (both sides) with embossed metal and added layered charms from ACharmingPlace. Hopefully, I will play on Sunday!

Acrylic ATC and Thank You Card

Don’t fall over...but this is two posts in one day!

After working on my "thong," I received inspiration today via email and snail-mail. In the mail, I received a couple of gold butterfly and flower sticker sets from Helena. She sent them to me as a little prize for answering one of her questions in bingo last month on ACP.

I made an acrylic ATC and used a Sakura Glaze pen to color in the butterfly stickers, a rub-on by Rhonna Farrer, Heidi Swapp bling, and edged the ATC with a Gold Krylon pen.

In my email today, I received Julia Andrus’s newsletter which had a couple of free downloads for some vintage bottle caps. She is also having a Spring Challenge so I used one of the downloads and made this entry. You can find both the bottle cap download and the Spring Challenge information on Julia Andrus’s website.

Paint Resist ATC

I spent today holding down the couch–still sick. But after dinner I decided I’d try something quick that I could post on my blog for today. I pulled out my copy of Somerset Apprentice to try Michelle Ward’s Gesso Resist. I have gesso, in fact, I think I have two bottles of it—neither of which I could quickly find. I seriously need to organize my room again.

So, instead of gesso, I substituted a Pearl Dabber by Ranger because I know the dabbers also act as a resist. When my paint stamped image was dry, I painted over it completely with some Making Memories metallic emerald paint, misted it with water, and then wiped off the paint.

Here’s the Somerset Apprentice article, the paper I started with (lower left-old basic grey paper) the Stampers Anonymous stamp I used, and under the stamp and to the right is what the paper looked like after it was stamped and painted.

I stamped one of Tim Holtz’s Natural Beauty stamps onto a transparency using Adirondack Pitch Black pigment ink, quickly heat set it, and used Glossy Accents to attach it to the ATC background. I stamped the quote (from the same stamp set) onto a piece of mica using the pitch black ink and heat set it as well. I attached the mica to the transparency with glossy accents. Alcohol inks were used to edge the mica, and I used a half of a butterfly charm and swirl charm (from ACharmingPlace.com) for an antennae.

So...that's three days in a row of blogging...I hope tomorrow will be four days in a row!

Glimmer Mist and UTEE

Feeling sick today but still managed to get in some play time. I made an ATC using Glimmer Mist, UTEE, Perfect Pearls and a Paint Dabber. The last one I made like this (here), I sent it to Leah. This one I’m going to keep for myself.

The butterfly and swirl charms are from ACharmingPlace.com.
The Heart key is from Tim Holtz’s idea-ology line. I stamped into the Glimmer Mist/UTEE background with Tim Holtz’s Baroque stamp.

I just love all the texture in these things!

Halloween ATCs

At the birthday crop last Sunday, I brought my recipe pages to finish up for Michelle's swap. Hayley at ACharmingPlace was hostessing a Halloween ATC swap, so I also brought some halloween papers and embellishments with me. If I had time, I was going to make a few ATCs and then join Hayley's swap. I know, that's backwards...you are supposed to join the swap and THEN make the ATCs, but I wanted to see if I was going to get into making Halloween ones or not before I committed to it. Well, I got two done, and I was really feeling into it! So, I went online to join the swap but it was already full! Oh well, he who hesitates...

Well, I just couldn't stop making those little ATCs, so I ended up making ten of them. And each and every one of the ATCs has a charm on it from ACharmingPlace. I colored some of the charms with black ink and there's an arrow in there that I colored a purplish color using Primary Elements. One of my favorites is the "Boo-tiful Ghosts" ATC. On the middle and right ghost, I cut this filigree charm in half, bent it a little, and turned it into a "crown" for the ghosts. For the ghost on the left, I cut the sides off this flourish charm and used it for a crown too.

Since I missed joining the swap, I've decided I am going to use the ATCs as embellishments in a Halloween book I am going to make. I even went to Scrapbook U today and bought some new halloween papers for the book. Now all I have to do is make it!

It's nice to know you're out there...

Apparently, Raquel has been watching my blog (there’s one more for your name count Raquel) and told me one day that "Joy" always comments on my blog. I told her, "Yes, Joy is a sweetheart." Whenever I go to Joy’s blog, I always leave a comment on her blog too. But the truth is, I too look at blogs and rarely comment on them. So it is really nice when someone tells me they saw "such and such" on my blog. It let’s me know someone is out there reading this thing.

Last week, one of my friends told me that she saw my dragonfly ATCs on my blog, and that one of them had that special word that she likes so I decided to make one for her too.

So tonight, I took out my Primary Elements, my transparencies, glitter and my dragonfly stamp and got ready to make those little dragonflies. Well, I went to squeeze out just a tiny little bit of the medium, but instead a WHOLE bunch came bursting out onto my craft sheet - oops! What a waste! I almost wiped it up with a papertowel to throw away, but instead decided to just throw a bunch of the primary elements into it and do a "Tim Holtz" type technique and "swooshed" a few ATC cards into the puddle on my craft sheet.

So now I have a few pretty cool backgrounds for ATCs. I just have to figure out what I am going to put onto them.














And after that, I did get these two dragonfly ATCs done for my friends that I will surprise them with...unless they come back and see this post! And I am going to send a little something to Joy too for always commenting on my blog. And for Raquel, I gave her a vegetarian lasagna.

A Day Off...

I distinctly remember years ago when my father-in-law would make statements like, "Good, tomorrow is Saturday. My day off!" Or, maybe, "Monday is a holiday, I don’t have to work." I always thought it was strange that he would make those comments, and would think to myself, "But he’s retired...everyday is his day off!"

Well, now I know what my father-in-law meant as this is my first "holiday" since my "retirement." I used to look forward to nice, long, four-day holiday weekends like Labor Day. But this year...nothing. No excitement. None, whatsoever. That’s when I realized why my father-in-law made those comments. He did his usual fix-up work at home and at the triplex during the week, but when it came to the weekends and holidays, he took the day off!

So today, I took the day off too. No cleaning, no organizing, and no checking things off the "to do" list. Instead, I got a pedicure with a nice foot massage (my favorite part of the pedicure). Then I went home and played. I turned on the computer and webcam and virtually scrapped with Hayley and Leah. We worked on our ATC Swap for ACharmingPlace. The theme is dragonflies, and we only have to do six.

Here are my ATCs. I just need to sign the backs of them. I used distress inks, perfect pearls, stamps, transparencies, Luminarte Primary Elements and glitter. The dragonfly, alphabet and filigree charms are from ACharmingPlace.com.

It was a fun play day!