Mini Album Mania

I'm going to be participating in a local craft fair next month and am pondering some things I'd like to bring with me.  In the past I've done cards and gift tags but I'm thinking of whipping up some mini albums.

I love to make mini albums.  They can be completed in a reasonable amount of time (I am a painfully slow scrapper when it comes to 12 x 12 layouts), lots of little hidden pockets and things can be included and you end up with this little gem to hold in your hands.  Here are some 6" x 6" accordion albums I made as teacher gifts a couple of years ago...

I'm also debating a couple of really itty bitty ones like these...



What do you think?  Should I try to channel my scrapbooking muse?  She has been very quiet for quite some time now...

Life in the Steed Lane

Never a dull moment in Steed-topia. I like to think that we're not those parents who over-schedule their kids however things have been crazy this week for us with rehearsals baseball and hockey practices, days off school...  For instance, my youngest, a mere 10-year-old lad, has a hockey game this morning, followed immediately by baseball practice, time to grab lunch, another hockey game which will make him late for his play rehearsal.  Yowza.  I don't know about you, but I call that a jam-packed day for a little dude.  Chin up, Coopinator.  You can do it!

Ha-ha!  This kiddo makes me laugh.  If you happen to live in the Seattle area and need something to do next week stop by Mountlake Terrace High School to see an enchanting production of Cinderella.  Be sure to notice the star power of a certain Village Kid-Footman-Ballroom Dancer-Royal Majesty-Pillow Carrier.  Check this out for more info.

Fab Feathers

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today's card is for the Moxie Fab Fascination with Feathers Challenge.

I used an inked up wood grain embossing folder for the background.  The feathers are hand cut from an old book and then colored with Wild Honey and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks.  I glued on some gold beads at the top of each feather for a little pizzazz.  Here'a a closer look (click on the picture for an even closer look):

Because of the bulkiness of the beads and the leather knot I don't think this will go through the mail well, but it would be a lovely hand-delivered card.

The rest of my day is going to be spent celebrating St. Paddy's Day.  My side of the family has a bit of Irish hailing back to County Cork.  I'm debating between an all-green dinner and a traditional Irish meal.  Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day with any special traditions?  Are you wearing green?

Erin go braugh!

Grungy Monday Challenge - Alcohol Ink Background

The weekly challenges over at Studio L3 always get my creative juices going.  This week the challenge is to recreate Tim Holtz's plaid background using alcohol inks from way back in December of 2009.  Great for moi since I haven't done much with alcohol inks yet. 

Mine looks quite a bit different than his, but I think it works with my tag.  I don't have any glossy cardstock so I inked up my felt and rubbed it over a transparency instead.  Inks used were Adirondack Alcohol Inks (Sailboat Blue, Citrus, Blending Solution), StazOn (Jet Black), Distress Inks (Tumbled Glass, Peeled Paint, Pumice Stone), Distress Stain (Broken China - to dye the seam binding).

If you'd like to play along pop by the Studio L3 blog for your chance to win a fabulous prize from Simon Says Stamp.

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

This Makes Me Hungry...

Just a quickie post this morning.  I created this Etsy treasury for the weekly Nonteam Treasury Challenge.  I love, love, love mint chocolate chip ice cream and that was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw the inspiration piece.  Mmmm....yum...

 

ABSINTHE. green chr... stonesartisanj... $88.00	Cool Retro Vintage ... BatesMercantil... $51.00	200 Mixed Mint Gree... moggyssupplysh... $11.50	Chocolate Brown - M... LeonorasCosmet... $7.00
Telephone Chocolate... LuRuUniques $29.99	French Incense Gree... NavarreCharm $8.00	Cognac Colored Doub... MiaElise $26.00	Shea glycerin soap,... CoquetteBath $5.00
Authentic Sea Glass... TheJetty $4.00	Chocolate Muffin Fo... SapidSeattle $25.00	5/8 inch 16mm Mint... Glamsquared $31.00	Men's Brown Ves... ArmorOfModernM... $28.00
Japanese Masking Ta... PrettyTape $3.75	Mint green vintage ... dudads $20.00	Chocolate Brown Lac... theseareafewof... $45.00	Felt Bow - Spearmin... makebelieve $4.99

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Play Date Cafe Day!

I haven't popped into the Play Date Cafe in a while.  The colors for this week caught my eye and immediately visions of using some of my washi tape stash danced before my eyes.  If you haven't heard about washi tape get ready for a treat - FUN stuff!  It is a japanese pseudo-masking tape that comes in a plethora of colors and patterns.  But it's better than masking tape because it peels right off without thrashing your paper if you change your mind.  It's great for jazzing up gifts and any number of crafty endeavors.  I've gotten most of mine from this fine Etsy shop, Pretty Tape.  Google washi tape and you'll find a ton of great ideas for using it. 

Anyway, back to my cards (went for 2 this time).  The assigned colors are Teal...Electric Green...Tangerine...Jeans.  And here is card #1:

See the thin horizontal patterned strips?  Washi tape!  Super easy.  Added some stickles to the pom pom dealy-bobber on top of the hat and a line of dry embossed dots next to the sentiment, too.

I made card #2 not only for PDCC123 but also for Splitcoast Stampers make-your-own-designer paper challenge (TLC 264).  I made my "paper" with Distress Stain and a Hero Arts background stamp.  (Click on the photo to see it in better detail.)

Let's throw in a Top Tip Tuesday tip too - Top Tip: Use painters tape to tape off an area of your card; tear it if you'd like a distressed, torn look. Ink the exposed area as desired (I used Wild Honey Distress Stain) and stamp with a background stamp (Wild Honey Distress Ink). Remove the tape and Voila!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by.  Leave a comment and tell me what you think.  Cheers!

The Art Colony

I am an internet wanderer.  I suppose many of us have that guilty pleasure.  In my roamings yesterday I stumbled upon The Art Colony. While I've barely had the time to scratch the surface I really liked what I saw.  There are monthly themes to work with and exploration of different media.  Here's their "about" spiel:

"The Art Colony is a fun online art community for artists of all abilities and interests! Join us and share your art, ask questions, receive tips, and make new friends!"

Sounds good to me!  I played along with their Skyline theme for March using this scrap of watercolor paper that I had previously painted a background on. 

The whole mixed media concept has really struck a cord with me lately.  This one has a tinted gesso background, old book pages, distress inks, pen, glitter and ribbon.  I really like the quote about New York by Nigel Goclin as well. 

Thanks for popping by.  Cheers!

It's Elmo's World!

I am so excited!  My Mario paper bag puppet cards are my best sellers and I've been wanting to make some Sesame Street cards for a while now.  I LOVED Sesame Street when I was little.  I had a Sesame Street record that I played over and over again belting out the songs along with Grover, Elmo, Kermit and Oscar (Bob & Gloria, too).  Don't laugh, but I can still sing all the words to "It's Not Easy Being Green", "I Love Trash" and "Who Are the People In Your Neighborhood".  Not only can I, but I do.  :) 

So happily humming the Elmo's World theme song I sat down at my workspace today and these Elmo Paper Bag Puppet Invitations are what I came up with:

How cute is he?  And happy?  You betcha!  These little guys are made to order using a card base that is 65# cover weight (sturdy) and made from 100% recycled paper which is also recycleable.  Win-win for everyone.  So head over to Elves In The Attic and check them out. 

Thanks for stopping by!

UPDATE:  Just added Cookie Monster to the shop too!

Bursting through the CZ...

One of my 2012 goals is to stretch my creative wings and to try new things - different mediums, art journaling, and adding recycled and/or repurposed items to my creative endeavors are on my to-do list.  Harkening back to my home ec days I decided to ditch my typical paper and glue and reached for some colorful fabrics and topped off with chalkboard fabric.  Digging around in my stash of ribbon I found some fun grosgrain ribbons to go with them.  Voila - reusable tags!

Initially I was thinking that these would be used to attach to gifts.  But why stop there?  Wouldn't they look fantastic on baskets to help organize toys, the laundry room, a craft room...?  Or how about strung on some colored string or tulle for a cheery garland with a personalized message?  While they can be used with traditional chalk the bright color and unsmearability of chalk ink markers really makes them winners.  Super easy to clean off with a damp cloth too.

Cool, huh?  Check them out in my Etsy shop.

UPDATE:  The blue ones are gone but the pink set is still available!

(P.S.  CZ is the Comfort Zone)  :)

Giddy-up!

I recently purchased a batch of western-themed stamps and they've just been sitting here waiting for me to do something with them.  Inspired by some pink bandana paper in my stash I whipped up a ranch-style, girly birthday card and entered in The Kraft Journal Make It Monday Challenge.  I swear I can picture John Wayne perfectly with his rugged good looks, a tip of his cowboy hat and a sparkle in his eye, "Well, hey there, little lady."

A little bling on the sentiment along with some faux stitching and distressing will make this a perfect card for any cowgirl. 

This card is available for purchase here.  I'll be adding some more western-themed items soon!  Thanks for stopping by y'all.

12 Tags in 2012 - March

Woo-hoo!  I'm two for two.  Sah-weet!  Here is my tag for March.  Tim Holtz shared a great technique for a Faux Tile Mosaic embellishment on his March tag.  Here's my take on it:

My Tim Holtz Wish List is much longer than my Tim Holtz Stash List so again making do with what I have, here is my finished tag:

Instead of a wood grain stamp and brown ink I used a wood grain embossing folder and went for a white-washed look.  I don't have any dies that really work for this technique so I stamped a butterfly, cut around the image and put it through my Xyron.  The embossing powder I used is called Tapestry and is one I don't think I've ever actually used.  With its multi-colored natural grains though I think this was a perfect for the "grout" on my mosaic.   The flower were punched out of kraft glassine and colored with alcohol inks then I colored brads to match with the same inks.

Thanks for stopping by!