The Reluctant Shopper ATC

The last few days I've been on a YouTube-watching binge checking out loads of gelli printing videos.  It has been a long time since I've played around with my gelli plate and I needed some inspiration.  It worked and I now have a big ol' stack of printed index cards sitting on my desk.  I used one of them to create this.  Behold, Willard...The Reluctant Shopper...

After OD'ing on the videos I decided to wander elsewhere in Internetopia when, lo and behold, I landed on the VLVS blog to be greeted by Tera Calahan's delightfully snarky envelope/card combo.  While there I said to myself, "Yo, Julie.  Long time since you've played along with a VLVS challenge," (which I couldn't argue with).  I sadly realized that I don't really have any Christmas-y VLVS stamps, but I do have some fun ones.  I love this guy and combined with my own tendency to procrastinate I think I found the perfect solution to my dilemma.

Thanks for peeking - hope you, too, got a chuckle...

Love Me, Love My Coffee Breath

Ha ha!  That's the name of a swap I'm participating in - too funny.  Here are the cards I made:

I love a good cup of coffee.  I think I'll go grab a cup...

Happy Boxing Day!

Love Me Some Wacky Holidays!

I think wacky holidays are really fun.  I have an ATC collection of wacky holidays that I've traded for over the years.  I joined a swap that requires the use of spray inks and for some reason (perhaps because I live near Seattle???) I decided to go with a wacky holiday for January 11th - Jump In a Puddle and Splash Your Friend Day.

The background was created with shimmery blue spray inks and the puddle with a chrome pen.  Trying to capture the shimmer is tricky...can you see it here?

Okay now, no excuses...put January 11th on your calendar and don't forget your rain boots!

Christmas Mail Art: Surprise & Delight

Schwoo...the 12 Tags of 2018 are under my belt, but now The Muse has awoken and wants to get BUSY.  I proceeded to sign up for a bunch of swaps over at SwapBot and ATCsForAll and now we're off and creating some more.  Today it's mail art.

Look at all of this delish stamp goodness!  Several Stampotique faves are here.  I wish you could see the sparkly bits I added, but alas, my photo skills haven't progressed that far.

This came together quickly with my trusty Distress and Memento inks and Copic markers as well as some Sharpie delights.  I'm going to add this to Stampotique's Snowy Christmas challenge.

Thanks to The Crafty Sugar Addict for mail art inspiration!!

Ho ho ho!  I hope your holiday season is full of laughter and joy.

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 12

Whoa!  I did it...I actually made 12 tags.  I am SO excited about this last tag.  The stamp set I used is a new one from My Favorite Things.  The second I saw it I knew I was a goner.  Two of my kids are avid snowboarders (the other is a skier).

It's so funny how my projects tend to morph into something completely unplanned.  I was really taken with the colors on Lisa's tag and was planning on creating a shaker box like she did.  I got so busy stamping and coloring and diecutting that the shaker box never materialized.  Clear droplets from MFT saved the day (at least as far as the challenge is concerned - haha).  My snowy scene is also helped by clear Wink of Stella on the goggles, snow spray, rooftop and trees.  I wish I could capture the subtle shimmer in a photo.

I know exactly which gift this tag is going to adorn.  Hope my daughter likes it.  :D

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Thanks for coming along with me on the 12 Tags of 2018 journey.

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 11

Neutrals!  Neutrals are so soft and comforting to me.  The theme for Day 11 is to use neutrals on a tag.  Definitely not my go-to, but I love the look.  Here goes...

This bear (I think of him as Julie's Bear - not me, Julie, but Julie Ebersole) is a fave of mine.  I love that you can put so many different things in his arms to make a perfect card or tag for Christmas, birthdays, Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, Mothers' Day, ... you get the idea.  He's one cool dude.

To make him a little more festive, I added some clear Wink of Stella to his schnoz, the gift and his hat.  The woodgrain background was inspired by Miriam's fa-la-la embossed background.

Thanks for visiting.  Happy Winter!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 10

Non-traditional colors on Christmas projects are so cool and eye-catching.  I rarely use them myself though.  That's what I love about challenges like the 12 tags of Christmas.  It nudges me outside my comfort zone. 

I absolutely stole Julie Ebersole's idea of using a non-traditional tag shape for today's tag.  I simply die-cut the elf dude out twice - once with the stamped image and once without.

Thanks for stopping by - jingle, jingle, jingle...

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 9

Almost there!  For Day 9 of the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch the theme is watercolors.  I love the soft look of watercolors.  I don't know why I never think of using watercolor paper for tags and cards.  I was happy to whip it out to make this festive tag.

I stamped the flowers with Versafine ink and then heat embossed with black powder (got the idea from Norine's tag with the silver embossing).  I've had a set of pearlescent watercolors sitting on my desk for ages.  It was great to use these here on this tag for a subtle, pretty shine.

Thanks for stopping by to peek at my Christmas tag today.

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 8

The tags for Day 8 have floral elements on them.  I immediately thought of poinsettias.  Couldn't help myself!

This tag is an itty bitty one.  I liked the clean and simple look of Emily's 'to/from" tag.

Seasons Greetings!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 7

Day 7 of the 12 Tags of Christmas and the theme today is Black & White.  I love the classic look of black and white only on tags - very elegant.

This tag was super quick to put together and will look great against any gift wrap.  I was inspired to keep it clean and simple by both of the designer's tags.

Warm Winter Wishes!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 6

Rustic Christmas is really appealing to me.  When I saw that the theme for Day 6 was to use woodgrain elements I knew right away what I wanted to make.

I really liked Laurel's woodgrain backgrounds so went with that on my tag, too.  I used to have problems with the woodgrain embossing folder cutting through the cardstock.  A trick I learned is to mist the cardstock lightly with water first.  Works like a charm.

Happy Holidays!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 5

Yes!  Still more sparkle for Day 5!  I was inspired by Nichole's gift card holder tag and made one, too.  I used little clear droplets from MFT stamps for my sparkle.

Creating gift card holders is a fave of mine.  Not sure who this will be for, but I'm sure I'll put it to good use.  :)

Happy Holidays!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 4

Ho ho ho!  I'm back again with Day 4's tag.  The theme today is embossing.  Initially I was thinking dry embossing but when I saw the design team's tags I decided to pull out my dust-covered clear embossing powder.

Wow.  It can't get much simpler than this, but won't this be perfect adorning a bottle of wine?  I die cut the sentiment from red cardstock and then covered it with Versamark ink.  I sprinkled the clear embossing powder over the ink, heated it and immediately dunked it in the embossing powder again.  This gave it a little more dimension.

Thanks for coming by today and Merry Christmas!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 3

Sparkle and shine!  Who doesn't love just a smidge of bling around the holidays?  Today's tag has sparkly bits.

I was totally inspired by the way Ardyth colored her white glittery paper with Distress inks so I did the same on the central block.  The penguin's hat has a little sparkle, too, as does the tag reinforcement at the top.

The challenge theme over at the LawnFawnattics blog is "Winter Holiday" so this fun little tag fits perfectly there, too.

Thanks for stopping by today.  Merry Christmas!

12 Tags of Christmas wiith a Feminine Twist - Day 2

The theme for Day 2's challenge is a Pinterest inspiration board.  So much for my ATC-only idea for this year's tags.  I have a ... tag!

Below is the inspiration board:

It's probably pretty obvious where my ideas for the tag came from.  I really liked the greenery and black tag base that Carissa used.  I used a lot of black and white with a touch of kraft, a wreath with greenery and a striped bow.  Instead of silver bells, I added silver glitter on the bottom to fancy it up.  ;)

Thanks for taking a peek today.  Ho ho ho!

12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch - Day 1

I love the 12 Tags of Christmas over on the Ellen Hutson blog.  Each day features the handiwork of two designers based around a theme, technique or product.  The first day is alcohol inks.  I don't really need a lot of tags so I'll be making ATCs instead.

I loved the look of Carolyn's pink alcohol ink on her tag.  I also borrowed her idea to use Copic reinkers - brilliant!

As luck would have it the theme for the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog for December is snowy Christmas so my little snow friend fits right in there, too.  Woot woot!

To join in the 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Touch 2018, click HERE.

Snarky Christmas Cards

Ha ha!  Those are so up my alley.  I tend to make "nice" Christmas cards for my Etsy shop, but the truth is that I personally prefer humorous, sometimes a smidge snarky, cards for all occasions - even Christmas.

This is the result when I let the elves loose in the studio...

Happy Christmas!

Grumpy Elf (or Swaperoo - Week 2)

I love the Stampotique girls.  For the SDC #312 "swaperoo" challenge I've combined two of my faves (Marsha and Noelle) to create a slightly grumpy looking elf card for the holidays.  :)

Well, I suppose if I had that mountain of presents behind me to take care of I may be a bit grumpy, too.

Check out the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog and join in the fun!

Stamps Used:

• Marsha
• Noelle
• Towering Gifts
• Jingle Your Own Damn Bells!

SDC 312: Swaperoo!

It's time for a new challenge over at the Stampotique Designers Challenge blog.  This one is a fun one - swaperoo.  This is where you take two or more stamped images, cut them and then recombine them into one image.  Talk about getting more from your stamp purchases!  Plus, it really gives a little boost to The Muse and lets her play around a bit.

Today I combined two stamped images to make my Magical Spirit ATC.

In the above pic it's a little hard to see, but she has lots of sparkly magical bits on her, too (thanks to Wink of Stella glitter pen wonderfulness).  Look closer...

Gotta love a little sparkle.  Join in the fun on Stampotique's Facebook page.

Stamps used:

• Isabelle
• Kate's Angel
• Spiral

SDC #311 - Week 2: Bugging Out

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Stampotique's bees.  For the Stampotique Designers Challenge this week I've made an ATC celebrating the Queen Bee.

There are all kinds of glittery bits on this that just don't show up in the photo.  Her wings have clear Wink of Stella on them and her body, head and around the edges have Inka Gold.  Metallic gold paint splatters on there as well.

Stamps Used:

• Big Bee
• Medium Bee
• Hexagon
• Texture Cube 1
• Alpha Background

Find all the details on the buggy challenge HERE.  Thanks for swinging by today!

Happy Everything Card

I think interactive cards are so much fun.  I decided to go with the reveal wheel for Lawn Fawn's color challenge.

In the spirit of sending holiday love I included all the December holidays.

Check out Lawn Fawn's color challenge HERE.

Happy November!

Stampotique Guest Designer for November

Lucky me!  I was asked to be the guest designer for the SDC blog this month - thank you, Stampotique!

The first challenge for November is "bugging out".  There are so many great buggy images available at Stampotique, but that's not all.  Keeping in mind the holiday season that's fast approaching I decided to go with "Fleas Navidog" - ha ha!

I love, love, love the stamps that Stampotique offers.  There is an excellent variety perfect for all different types of styles (the quirky ones are my favorites).  Check them out HERE.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Stamps Used:

• Fleas Navidog
• Phoebe Doo
• Texture Cube 1

Busy Little Elves....

When I originally started this blog I intended to showcase items in my Etsy shop.  Instead it's turned into a vehicle for sharing my other artsy endeavors.  Just for fun I'm sharing some of the seasonal makes I've added to the shop or have taken to Hunni Co (a local shop).

Reindeer Gift Tags:

Hanukkah Gift Tags:

Snarky Gift Tags:

(These ones make me chuckle, I must admit.)

If you need some love to top off your holiday gifts, pleae stop by Elves In the Attic and do some shopping.

Happy Holidays!

October Arting

What a great time of year!  Cold, crisp mornings followed by blue skies and bright, sunny afternoons.  Crispy, crunchy leaves crackling as you walk down the street.  Love it!

My artsy shares for today include an autumnal ATC and a spooky Halloween  bookmark.  The ATC  is for a color palette challenge.

Here's the palette:

And now for my Halloween bookmark.  I love wandering through my Halloween stamp stash.  I find things I forgot I had.

Happy October and thanks for stopping by!

Eek! A Spider!

Yowza - there are a LOT of spidewebs in my yard!  I hope the neighbors aren't peeking out their windows as I crazily windmill my arms as I walk around my yard in hopes of removing spiderwebs in my path before I walk through them and they hit my face. Yuk!  Have done that.  Don't like it.

I digress.  Presenting to you a fun, spidery, webby ATC in the spirit of Halloween (color-wise anyway).  Hope you like it!

Love's Affect ATC

Another ATC today!  This one was made for a 'bookpage heart' ATC swap. 

Happy Saturday and happy creating!

Baby Boy Congrats Card

Awwww...there have been a lot of new babies and expectant moms at my work.  (I guess that's to be expected when you're a preschool teacher!)  I made this card to have on hand for the next one.  :)

I'm entering this in the MFT Stamps sketch challenge #404.  I used some MFT oldies, but goodies for this.

Thanks for stopping by!

The Friendly Spider ATC

Wellll...maybe not SO friendly??  I made this for an ATC swap themed "ATC with a napkin on it". 

As luck would have it, I recently participated in a napkin exchange.  I received a beautiful black napkin with metallic gold medallions on it.  I cut one of them out for the background of my ATC - it reminded me of an elegant spiderweb.

The whole spider thing also came about because I have been walking into/through spiderwebs SO OFTEN lately.  Drives me nuts!  Strange how inspiration strikes, isn't it?

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.  How do you feel about spiders?