It's JULY already!!!

I know I speak for most of us...where has June gone???
We are having a wonderfully BLESSED summer with family this year!
Our granddaughter came to be with us (she is 15!) We had such a great time!!!

Here she is with her bunny (Nemo)...can't leave home without him.
Then the rest of Kirstin's family came and we have a FULL HOUSE!!! (Fun, noisy, never boring, busy house). I LOVE IT!!! I hate it when they leave, our house gets so quiet!!!

Here is a picture of their youngest son (Eli, 6) petting a horse at the July 4th celebration.
Those police officers were so friendly, it was great for the kids to get such a wonderful impression of them.

Anyway, today I have a new card for you. A bit of a different take because I am trying out a new idea (for me anyway) of having a minimal card with many layers. I really like the look.. it speaks to me on a personal level because I used elements that I really loved. I am not giving this one away because the dangling shell is one I have enjoyed for a long time and don't want to really part with it.

The card base is an off-white cardstock, covered on top with a designer paper I had in my stash.
The embellishment paper is a design I made with alcohol inks on shiny cardstock. I make several pieces and then use them to cut into designs or use like I have here.
The half circle is a Heidi Swapp rub-on, cut in half.
The shell ornament is hanging on a metal loop hanger attached with a large pearl brad.
I wrote "Life is...." by hand and attached a little gold and tan butterfly that I cut out of a Mariposa 8x8 stack.

I am entering this card here http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2011/06/your-style-and-design-team-call.html for a DT call.

I really like the look, hope you do too.
It feels "artsy" to me and that's what I was going for this time.

Thank you so much for looking,
Come back soon,
e

Very early Sunday morning....

Hello again,
I wish you could actually be here with me...
I am awake at 5:00 a.m. and cannot sleep. My head is pre-occupied with ideas for cards and album pages. That's a GOOD thing...but 5:00 in the morning....NOT SO MUCH!!!

So, it's a good time to talk on my blog and see what all of you are doing, and I found just the thing!
I was searching through the challenges to see what was out there that I had a project I could use for and VOILA!!! TRY IT ON TUESDAY challenge was to do something, anything with a 70s theme.
Well guess what???? I have just finished a wall hanging for my living room that has a pin on it that was hand made in the late 70s. I wore that pin for a long, long time. I just love it!!! A friend of mine made it for me and I still absolutely love it. You just don't see these any more but they were a craze way back when.  I wanted to be sure to have a place to showcase that pin and I made this hanging that fits in beautifully.
http://tuesdaytaggers.blogspot.com/

I used a frame I had bought . I love those large frames with just a small opening for the picture. The size of the opening is 5x7. I used a piece of cardstock that was actually out of a Christmas pack but it was an off-white with white glitter embossing. I used different shades of Distress Inks (including blue and pink) to add dimension to the background and to make the white embossing stand out.

I adhered the pin to the background and attached a lot of beads (black and white) and two metal hearts
to finish the look. I needed more of the ocean blue for the colors in the room so I added that blue flourish from Ziva.

I like the way it turned out, but most importantly, I get a smile on my face every time I see that pin. It has such great memories and has a look that I love.

Thank you so much for stopping by.
Please leave me a note and let me know what you think

e

Simon says: Not a card!!!

Hello peeps!!!
I am showing a picture that I just finished so that I can enter it into the challenge at Simon Says Stamp...
I love their challenges and this one fits my pic...you must show "anything but a card..."
This is using the Tim Holtz stamp of a bird. You see it everywhere but I had to wait quite a while before I could order it. So now I have it and I like it so much I could use it everywhere!

I love this!!! Tim Holtz is the best!!!

Anyway, I antiqued my paper  by using different shades of tan, gold and brown. I also stamped a background stamp of old french writing in a medium tan color.
I also used Tim Holtz' elegant weeds stamp in shades of rose, brown and sage green, to add interest to the background. I use that weed stamp (looks like St. Anne's lace) on a lot of backgrounds because it gives a very interesting, airy look without calling attention to itself.

Then I stamped the bird in very dark brown and I spritzed on some gold and some pearl spray. I also sprayed it the whole pic with a sealant. 
The flourish is the Tim Holtz flourishes I cut with my Cuttlebug. I embossed it several times. The leaves were cut with my Cricut. Then I made the flowers using the coffee filter technique. I applied all of these on top of the frame for that 3dimensional look.

http://simonsaysstampschallenge.blogspot.com/

Thank you for your visit.
Blessings,
e

I'M BAAAAAAACK!!!!

Finally, my heart and soul tell me it's time to get back to doing what I love...
I have been trying to update my blog background and header...and as you can see,without much success.
I bought a beautiful header and background from Heidi Swapp's "House of Three" (they have such beautiful stuff there)...but I can't get it on. I'm pretty computer savvy, but not savvy enough. I'm going to have to write to them for help.

Besides that, I lost my way, my mojo, my desire...whatever you call it, I just didn't have it. Maybe holidays overload...maybe just a cycle we go through...even though I got some cards done, the excitement and the passion was not there. I needed God's touch to create in order to bless others and  let them know they are loved. God blessed me with that this weekend. I got an inspiration for a card for my husband for Valentine's Day that I was so excited about, my mind was spinning.
From there, I saw ideas everywhere!!! I wanted to make a card for everyone!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!

So, here we go.
I thank God for renewing and refreshing us just exactly when we need it!

Here's a picture I made this weekend to hang on my bedroom wall.  Last year we brought our granddaughter Rebekah home for a visit from college so she could go to Art Prize. It is a competition where artists from all over the world come to town and display their art all over the city. It is a wonderful experience for anyone who loves to see art in many different forms. Anyway, we had a great time and I did this picture to remember our time together.

This is the picture as it hangs on the wall.

Here is the middle frame that has one of my favorite sayings on it:

ART

wipes the

Dust off

everyday

LIFE

Isn't that too true???

Wonderful to hang somewhere where you can read it at the time you need  a lift and a reason to create!!!

My new technique for this project? (I am not forgetting to use a new technique every time)

First of all, I had never embellished a frame that was hung on a wall. I had stayed away from displaying my art...can you say INTIMIDATED????

Anyway, that was a new experience...so the papers, the embellies, etc. were a totally new way of seeing it as a hanging instead of as a  page.

Second...the poem was first printed on the background paper. I didn't like the look.

I then came up with setting it apart by printing the poem on vellum...taking the frame apart and inserting the vellum inbetween. Hard to do once everything is glued down. Live and learn!!!

I really liked doing the frame.

I will be doing more!!!

Thanks for visiting.

ttfn

e