A few crafty things

I'm still sick with bronchitis. :( I thought I would post some of my crafty things. This adorable purse and cards are what I made in a class that Gilda taught. Aren't they gorgeous?! They are so easy and fun to make too. I can't wait for all of my Stampin' Up kit to arrive and start teaching classes. I hope all of you are having a fun holiday season! Don't forget to take some time for yourself during this busy season.

Its been awhile....again lol

I know. I'm a bad blogger. I will try my best to get better. ;) I've had so much going on. I won't bore you with the details. lol Its been a CRAZY year. I can't wait to get to 2011 and start fresh with new beginnings. Speaking of new beginnings....I signed up with Stampin' Up!! I am beyond excited!!!! I have so many ideas brewing in my head. I have a very limited amount of current SU supplies. I am starting to make samples. Here, you see the Travel Diorama that I created. I've seen tons of these done with circles for the windows. Since I do not own the circle punches, that was a tad difficult. I tried with my circle cutter but well....lets just say it was sad. lol I corrected my mistakes by cutting a rectangle around where the circle attempts were. The papers and inks are SU "in color": pear pizzazz, peach parfait and concord crush. I also used the poppy parade ink. The stamps are all from SU Stentimental Journey. I ADORE this set!

Compendium of Curiosities Challenge by Studio L3

I know I'm way behind posting but......lol .... I am participating in the challenge posted by Linda over at Studio L3. Check it out! Each week she pics a technique from Tim's new book. This is my entry for week 3.
I hope you are all having a safe and fun 4th of July holiday weekend. We went to the Celebrate America festivities on the 3rd (yes, I know its the wrong day but I didnt schedule the event lol), today we went to a friends house for lunch then a farewell dinner for another friend at Chilis. Tomorrow, we are having a cookout at our home. busy busy busy as usual! lol I hope you find time to get crafty this weekend.

Busy busy busy

Summer is finally here! wwoohhooo! For those not in my area of Japan, allow me to fill you in. The hot humid weather we are used to in this area finally arrived. Well, not that you ever get "used to" the hot humid weather. lol It was 60 degrees in early June. VERY unusual from what I understand. June also brings out 2 year anniversary of living in Japan. It ALSO means, just 1 more year left here. Boy have we got a lot of traveling to do in the next 12 months! Oh so back to the busy part. lol Well, I decided to sell some of my cards online. I plan to eventually start up an etsy store. For now, I am listing them on a site owned buy a guy here locally. I vow to no longer do the craft fairs on base. Their fees are too high for such a low turnout of customers.
I am now the President of the Middle School PTO here. This is my first time in an officer position for PTO. I'm sure it will be a learning experience. I'm looking forward to an exciting year.
Yesterday, I went to Key Spouse training. I can't wait to offer help and support to our squadron families.
And finally the biggest news...we have a new addition to our family. I'm sure by now you have noticed her picture. How could you not? lol A lady was moving and couldnt take her Silkie Terrier with her. We adopted this sweetie into our home. Her name is Princess. We aren't loving that name. It just feels weird to us all to yell Princess outside or even say it. lol We just aren't fru fru name people I guess. Plus, it doesnt seem to really suit her. So, we are debating changing it. She doesnt really answer to Princess anyway. We have already trained her to walk on the leash and stay off the furniture. (for the most part) She seems to know "sit" but not lay down. She loves playing with her tennis ball. The lady we got her from said she never got a cage or house for her to sleep in. She said her bed was the sofa. Not in our home! lol She is very happy sleeping in her house. She goes in there at various times so we know she likes it in there.
Well, thats about it for now. I have a doctor's appointment shortly. The girls are coming over for lunch. We just might get crafty. Depends on how much talking we do. lol I hope you are all having a wonderful week. Do something crafty!

I just had to....

So most of my readers know, I do not like word verification on comments. When I am blog hopping, it slows me down when I have to take that extra step to leave a comment. I even had the "say no to word verification" pic posted on the side of my blog. I selected to monitor all comments and require my approval. That did not work. They still tried over and over again to post their SPAM comments on my blog. So, sadly, after NUMEROUS spam comments from the SAME source, I have had to add word verification to my blog. :(
Now, on to crafty things.......I am working on a canvas (well, 2 actually) right now that uses my Tim Holtz inspired 12 Tags of Christmas. Yes, I know, Christmas is over 6 months away. However, I was inspired by the Chaos Swap on All Things Tim. I will post pics when I am finished.
I plan to sell some of my creations. So far, I only have them posted on APO Ads. I listed my "Panthers" albums for a start. I plan to list cards later. Hopefully, I will work on getting some things listed on Etsy soon. I am running out of room to store my goodies! lol I hope you are having a wonderful weekend and get to have some crafty time!!

Newbie Swap - LONG post lol

When I saw Kylie's Newbie Encouragement Swap posted on All Things Tim, I just knew I HAD to participate!!! She would assign an experienced crafter to send a goodie to a newbie crafter. I wasn't sure what I would make. Once I saw Linda's Grungeboard Faux Leather Journal, the ideas started flowing!! Now my cover is a tad different, ok a lot different lol, than Linda's. I have no smooth solid grungeboard. All mine are textures. So I chose the harlequin design. My Vintage Photo ink pad isn't very juicy. Its my fav so it gets well used. In fact, I have 2. I know, I know, buy a reinker already! lol Anyway, I decided to spray the grungeboard with Adirondack Espresso Color Wash. That came out MUCH darker than I planned. What to do....what to do.... I decided to try and rinse some of the color out. After all, the Color Wash IS water based. If it didn't work, then I'm just out 1 small sheet of grungeboard. Guess what? It worked! At least enough to make me happy. it was still a tad dark. Next, I grabbed my Adirondack Gold Acrylic Paint Dabber. I smeared it all over the grungeboard. While that dried, I started work on my inside pages. I wanted to try different techniques from Tim's new book, "A Compendium of Curiosities".

Page 1 is using Tim's "Wrinkle Free Distress". I used Broken China, Faded Jeans and Tumbled Glass Distress inks. I used Staz On black for my stamping. I added Glossy Accents for "rain".

Page 2 is "Scribble Stain Distress". Since I don't have a Distress reinker, I used my Adirondack Cranberry reinker. It didn't work quite the way Tim's did but I love the end result. Other supplies used are: Vintage Photo, Fired Brick and Walnut Stain Distress inks, Staz on black ink, Adirondack Gold Paint Dabber, grungeboard heart, Adirondack Snow Cap Paint Dabber.

Page 3 is "Water Stamping". I used Dusty Concord, Black Soot and Vintage photo Distress inks. I stamped "Artist" with black Staz On.

Page 4 is "Blended Batik". I used Shabby Shutters and Faded Jeans Distress ink. The bird is stamped with black Staz On. The crown was added with Copper Metallic Staz On. The chandelier is stamped in Faded Jeans.

Page 5 is "Dabber Resist". I used Tumbled Glass and Dusty Concord Distress inks, Snow Cap and Gold Paint Dabbers and Black Staz On.

Page 6 is "Perfect Distress". Supplies used: Vintage Photo and Fired Brick Distress inks, Copper Perfect Pearls. Believe it or not, this was my first time using Perfect Pearls!!!! I finally bought some when I was back stateside in April. They have been waiting on my shelf until now. Thanks Tim for inspiring me to use more stash!!!

Page 7 is "Distress Powder". This one is my least fav. I just do not get good results using Distress Embossing Powder. Maybe I'm not heating it enough. I don't know. Guess I will continue to try it and eventually get it right. lol I used Spun Sugar and Dusty Concord Distress inks and Black Distress Embossing Powder.

Page 8 is "Shabby Chic". I used Pitch Black and Copper Dabber Paint and Clear Embossing Powder.


I wanted to show you 2 different shots of Page 9. You can't really see the distress cracks in the one shot and the stamped images don't show up well in the other. lol I used Rock Candy Distress Paint all over the image. Tim called for Stickles but I didn't have enough. lol I also used Staz On black ink, Aged Mahogany Distress ink and scrap paper.

And Finally page 10...Thanks for reading this far! lol Page 10 is "Extreme Masking". This one was tons of fun!!! I used Tim Masks, Faded Jeans & Fired Brick Distress inks as well as Staz On black ink.
I bound all these pages together using my Bind It All. I used the Copper Staz On to age the metal rings. The latch is one of Tim's grungeboard shapes. I inked it with Spiced Marmalade and Black Soot Distress ink. I did the same thing for the corners. Oh and about those corners, they are cut out of extra grungeboard. I always keep scraps for just this reason! I stamped the "title" for the journal on a scrap of paper, inked all over it with Aged Mahogany and Black Soot Distress ink. I attached everything to the cover with Glossy Accents. I really wish y'all could see this in person!! The details just dont show up very well in the photos. I hope you are all having a wonderful and crafty week!!

How I Distress

My all time FAVORITE designer....Tim Holtz is having a challenge on his blog. He wants to know how everyone uses his Distress inks. Well, I use his FABU Distress ink so many ways! It was hard to choose just one thing. I finally narrowed it down. I covered a chipboard album with my son's high school colors. I used the foam blending tool to add Mustard Seed Distress Ink and Faded Jeans Distress ink to the edges. I repeated that technique on the photo mats throughout the album. I directly applied the Mustard Seed to the "2010" grungeboard numbers. It wasnt quite bright enough so I covered that using Snow Cap Adirondack Dabber paint. Once that dried, I applied another coat of Mustard Seed ink. I then coated the numbers with Glossy Accents. Oh a tip.....if you touch something that has a thick coat of GA and is waiting to dry....(oops!) simply wet your finger and smooth it over the GA. You know, like you do when you touch your nail polish before its dry. It smoothed out the smudge and was good as new!! woohooo Problem fixed. Ok, back to my album.... I applied Faded Jeans directly to the grungeboard star and frame. I printed "YHS" on my label maker and added that under the frame. I cut the backs off the brads so the little YHS grungeboard frame would lay down smooth. I thought it still needed a little something extra. hhmmm a rose! perfect! I made the rose using Close to My Heart cardstock. I used Faded Jeans to stamp CTMH Adorable Backgrounds all over the petals. I directly applied the ink to the edges of the petals too. I painted Lumiere Pearl Blue paint over the back and edges of each petal. The rose is attached with Glossy Accents. (of course lol) If you havent tried Glossy Accents, you have GOT to go out and get a bottle! That stuff is AMAZING!!! Well friends, its the beginning of a glorious 4 day weekend here. The sun is shining, hubby is home from work, the kiddos have a 1/2 day at school. I am off to finish more paper roses to mail to my Maw Maw and then its family time! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend. Go get creative!!

Journal this, journal that

I am finally creating all these fabulous projects from Club Scrap that have been collecting dust. This Quick Jot Journal was a prize during the last PSL session I participated in. (Way to rock PSL Embellishers!!!) The papers used are from Club Scrap's Private Eye kit. My flash made the blue a tad brighter but you get the idea. FABU colors! I inked around all the edges with Tim Holtz Faded Jeans Distress ink. The inside pages are hand stitched together with waxy linen thread. I just love that these projects come with all the supplies needed. (Well almost. I did have to use my bookbinding glue. lol Note to self: order more bookbinging glue.) The inside stitched pages slip into the back cover. They can easily be pulled back out if needed. I had planned to do something fancy on the cover but changed my mind. I like it just the way it is. I hope you are having a fantastic day and get to do something creative!!!

Altered Tins

Ok, I said I would post about the tins I altered. Remember, the ones I bought from Kodomo at the 34th annual Japan Hobby Show last month? Well, here goes. This is my FAV tin!!!! I stamped it with a Kodomo stamp. I colored in the image using Copic YG63, G99, G28, E47, E59, R27, B14, B16. I added Crystal and Picket Fence Stickles to accent the waves. I painted the snow on Fuji-san and the cliff on the left with Lumiere Pearl White paint. For the crane, I stamped it onto white cardstock. I used Copic r27 for the red on his head and Y00 for his beak. I then layed him onto 3 pieces of cardstock and cut him out. I curled up his feathers and beak a bit. I finished him off with a nice coat of Glossy Accents. Thanks to my gals over at Paper Artists Online for sharing this technique!! I used Tim Holtz stamps to decorate the edge of the tin.



The first tin I attempted is this one. I used a Kodomo stamp for the fans & butterflies. I then painted the blue using Lumiere Pearl Blue paint. I stamped the image of the fan onto white cardstock. I colored all images with Copics G07, G28, BV08, RV09, R85, Y17, BG05, B16, V15, BG13, RV06, RV23, YR07, YR68. Check out the difference of the Copic colors on the tin versus on the white cardstock! The butterflies are YR07 and YR68. After coloring in the fan and the butterflies, I cut them out and glued them each to 3 layers of cardstock. While the glue was still wet, I folded them to get the shape I wanted. I then covered the entire image with Glossy Accents. The same technique as the crane but more movement. They are attached to the tin using Glossy Accents.

For my second tin, I started by painted the entire tin with Lumiere Halo Violet Gold paint. I love how the brush strokes are visible. I think it makes it look more like a fabric than a painted tin surface. I them stamped the Kodomo image using Staz On. I colored the image in using Copic R29, R27, R23, Y21, YR15, BV08, R85, G09, YR23, BG05, R59, E33, E55 and E47. I hope you enjoyed these tins. Have a creative, crafty day!!!

2010 Japanese Craft Show

Ok, I'm finally back. lol Lets hope I can post regularly now. I went to the 34th Japan Hobby Show, at Tokyo Big Site, back in early May. Michelle R and I took the train. It was nice to be able to explore the show this year and take our time. Last year, I was there for work and it was nuts! We did 1 make n take. We painted watercolor images. We were told to come back in about an hour. When we did, they gave us our original plus a stationary set that they had printed a copy of our art onto! It was amazing. If we had known that was what our 100 yen was going for, we would have made more!! I was beyond thrilled to see Tim Holtz dies displayed at one booth. The "X" through some of them in the photo are the ones that were sold out. I was not thrilled to see the 2200 to 4500 yen prices! OUCH! Thats about $25 to $55 depending on the exchange rate. I decided to wait and order mine online. I would have LOVED to come home with a few but not at that price! I did snag a few clear Alice in Wonderland themed stamps and Staz On Metallic ink pads though. I picked up a few tins at the Kodomo booth. I have altered 3 of them so far. I will post those later. There were so many fun and interesting things to look at. From a piece of bread about 6 feet long to stuffed animals, wait no it was food with faces. lol They even covered a quad in Swarovski crystals! When I saw it, I thought my friend Troy would have a fit if he was there! lol
This week looks like it will be a very rainy week here in Japan. Its not even rainy season yet!!! I plan to get tons of crating done!!! I hope you all have a crafty and creative day!

hhmmmmm

I've been having issues getting new posts to show up. Hopefully I can figure this out and updat y'all soon! I have so many new artworks & photos to share!!

Project 365...Day 30

So I read online that the largest and brightest moon of 2010 was to be on January 30th. Sure enough, it was GORGEOUS!!!!! I tried to get a few good photos. Even with the tripod, it was difficult. THIS is why I need a huge fancy smancy lense! lol

Project 365...Day 29

Many days I catch myself gazing out he back glass doors and enjoying nature. This is the view. I know, not that fancy for some of y'all. There is just something that I love about this tree. Once I have pictures of it through the seasons, I will post them all together. I love to watch the seasons change.

Project 365...Day 28

There are shrines and gardens displayed all over the base. This is one of many. This one is by the Officer's Club. I plan to spend a day in the Spring photographing all of them.

Project 365...Day 27

For my Paper Artist Online sisters, this one is no surprise. :) Yesterday one of our neighbors moved out. They put several pieces of furniture by the dumpster. We snagged a desk for dd. For now I plan to use the desk as my crafty area. Her room is such a mess there is no room for anything else in there! There were also 2 cubes and this goodie.I'm already starting to alter it. I hope to finish today and show y'all the end results! I am SSOOOOO excited! My own crafty area AND storage! wooohhooooo dumpster diving rocks! lol

Blog candy WINNER!!!!

Sorry I am late posting this. Life got busy. I'm sure y'all can tell by the fact I played catch up today with myproject 365. lol Anyway....the winner of my blog candy is.......
"4nancie said...
Very nice of you go give away so much fiber. I have you linked on my ArtBox. Glad to see your doing so well!!
nancie"
Congrats Nancie!!!! Email me at nativetexan 814 at g mail dot com (spaces removed of course lol) and I will drop these goodies in the mail to you!!

Project 365...Day 26

The Japanese have many many interesting advertisements. This one is for the gas company. I'm guessing it says something about their gas heating your bath water for a nice relaxing time in the tub. In the US, this would be perverted. Here in Japan, this ad is perfectly acceptable.

Project 365....Day 25

My friend Michelle brought me to a new to me curry restaurant. Its called KCs Dining. The curry was OH SO YUMMY!!! This is the mango yogurt drink they serve. Delicious!!!! The only thing I didn't like about the restaurant was the smoking allowed inside. YUCK!

Project 365....Day 24

A store here in Japan called Seiyu is partially owned by Walmart. They do NOT have Walmart prices though. It is cool to see familiar brands such as Mainstays. They have a parking garage across the street. Parking is 600 yen (about $6.50) unless you buy something and have them validate your parking. This is the view from the walkover bridge connecting the 2nd floor of the parking to the store.

Project 365...Day 23

Yes, those ARE Mickey heads there on the gate. This adorable house on the way to Daiei (a shopping sotre/complex close to the base) has Mickey Mouse everywhere! Notice he is above the mailbox too. I will have to walk by later and take pics of their other Mickey decorations. This is one of my favorite houses here. lol Disney is very very popular here in Japan.

Project 365...Day 22

One of the many many things I've found interesting here in Japan is their vast array of pastries. There are several shops that offer yummy baked goods. Japanese sweets aren't as rich as American sweets. That means less calories & fat. Right? lol When you enter these shops, you grab a tray and tongs, wander around & choose the goodies you want. Once your tray is full, you bring it to the register and they ring up your purchase. The thing I don't like though is that they wrap every single pastry in a plastic bag. I cringe and think, "Oh no! This is greatly enlarging my environmental footprint! Not good!" They really should put them in one big box. Some of the goodies are oh so yummy. Others, not so much. This one was kiwi & cream. It looks much better than it tasted. I took one bite then decided it wasn't worth the calories & fat. lol
I'm working on my Mardi Gras masks and invites. Just wait until you see them. I am loving the mask so far!!!! Don't forget about my blog candy. Time is almost up! Happy crafting!!!

Project 365.... Day 21

When we went to the Japanese Festival at Tokyo Dome City (day 9 pics), I bought some dried blueberries. I bought them with the idea of making cranberry/blueberry/macadamia nut cookies. Since they cost $10, I was hesitant to use them. lol I decided instead to make a blueberry cheesecake. YUM!!! It turned out AMAZING!!!! Now I need more for my cookies. lol That's ok though. I cant lose weight if I keep making cheesecakes & cookies. Don't forget about my blog candy! Just a few more days left to enter!!!!

Project 365.....Day 20

So today's picture isn't the best in the world, the flash made it freaky, the shadowing is weird, there are blurry spots. However, it was a quick snap, spur of the moment shot. A moment and memory captured in time. A very funny, rather hilarious moment too! Here's the story.... Taylor came home and sat down to do her homework. She needed a Virginia state quarter. They are studying Jamestown in her class. She was to use the images on the quarter to tell us what she has learned so far. This is the conversation that followed....
Taylor: Dad I have to tell you 3 things about Jamestown and you have to right what I tell you on this paper for my homework.
Ron: What? I dun did my learnin. (said in his best "redneck" accent)
Taylor: No, its for MY homework. Its about Jamestown.
Ron: I know all about it. Its a town, named after a guy named James.
Taylor: Yea, King James.
Ron: Yeah but I called him Jimmy.
Insert TONS of laughter here! I was laughing so hard I was crying!!!
Taylor: They came over on ships.
Ron: Yeah, the Pinto Bean, Santa Anna and what was the other one.
Taylor: NO Not that and not during Columbus.
Who knew that homework could be so much fun!!! lol

Crafty time! A few ATCs

I absolutely love ATCs. Its so easy to create a piece of art when it is 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches. I've started maning Zentangle ATCs too. They are much easier in this smaller size. I created a few using Japanese Dr Pepper labels. The Stitch on the third ATC is cut out from a package from a toy.
Don't forget about my blog candy too!

Project 365....Day 19

Oh how I love fresh flowers! Today I bought roses and tulips from Joyful Honda. Who can pass up roses for 50 cents each?? I had to buy the tulips because one of them is half yellow/half orange.
The wine cork wreath in the background is another of my creations. It was very simple to make. Glue wine corks randomly onto a grapevine wreath. When the corks are as you like, wrap ribbon around the wreath. Easy peasy! Don't forget to enter to win my blog candy! Your chances of winning are great!