11.30.2018

Inspired by {Joss & Main}

This week Julie has shown us the Joss & Main store where I seen so many things I thought maybe maybe and then I found this button snowflake pillow and said YES :)

 I picked a small Simon Says Stamp Rina snowflake die as my base and only added a few tiny Dress it up buttons to it with glue dots. The background is an old Stampin' Up! Canvas background and was done with some Avery Elle Linen pigment & distress oxide tea dye inks. The sentiment is from the Mama Elephant peaceful wishes set. that frame is a Memory Box die called double stitched rect frame. ( it was cut and stacked 3 times for the framing to give it some depth.) the cardbase is a premade one from Paper Accents that has a linen finish to it.
I just love how simple this is and the contrast in textures too. I have been collecting some toss pillows since we finished the living room & library remodels last year and that seems to be one of the first things I poke around when shopping. Just this last week the Christmas ones from previous years have made an appearance out of the cedar chest and when I see cute pillows out and about I think ooh there is always room for one more. ( if its soft enough to nap on haha) Thanks for stopping by, you can find this challenge here to play along with us.

11.28.2018

WOYWW # 495 {Re-Organizing}

Happy desk peeking day, if you'd like to see more spaces or play along 
the link up for this blog hop starts here at our hostess
There is also a new Instagram hashtag of #WOYWW
 So, we had a 4 day weekend last weekend. and instead of doing the regular scheduled program in my space. Like making things... I happened to spy this box of not totally filled stamped sheets of cardstock in plastic pockets of stamps waiting to be filled so the cardstock could be laminated and these pockets could be put away... over the course of those 4 days I did over 30+ sheets of them.
the cardstock is cut to 5" x 7 1/2"
Yeah, I am not done. not even close.

It's just one of those funny true stories, I get the idea to get some done do it for a while then hit a deadline pick up the mess and the what is not done sits. for months on end. 
so, these are tuesday night shots. and yes, I am still doing this. but, tomorrow I need to make a hole to do my sample for this coming weekends IC challenge. ( at least I know what I want to do) 
which is the biggest challenge. Someday's I think I will never get these stamps sorted and other days I am just happy with the ones that are done. and it really is helpful to be able to flip through the pockets rather than lifting up the dvd cases and trying to decided if the one you want is in it or not. and it seems to me the one I want is sometimes in the 10th box I look in haha.
I ended up driving all day for work today so, will start poking around tomorrow. Happy Wednesday and thanks for stopping by. 

11.21.2018

And so it begins

 This week the clean and simple challenge is to show something to chase away the chill once the weather turns. So, I tried to keep this quilt a little simple with only having the binding be a print and I ran it through the big shot again inside a cuttlebug wicker weave folder. the sentiment is from Penny Black.

 I picked up these Tim Holtz dies last year and I finally figured out you have to start with a background and the dies cut the pattern. I kept trying to cut it from strips and then trim them, which almost always went crooked on the last side hahaha. these are A2 in real life and totally blank from words so far.

 Those holly branches that have been laying around colored were glued to cards before the booth but, kept aside for me as this is my most favorite design I have made as of yet this year. tried doing one more vertical as seen on the left.
 Colored with markers and an aqua brush. the sentiment is from Hero Arts. They are all A2.

 So, I have bits and pieces from this MFT quilt die on the table because of the one I did on Monday night so, today this one went together after work. same embossing folder.

 That red is Cherry Cobbler. the green is unknown and the sentiment is from the Gina K SSS stamptember set from this year.

 Now this was done last sunday as a Featured Stamper case from Crystals gallery as seen here.

The center is a Hero Arts fancy ornament that was embedded in the printed paper and the large snowflake is from this years Tim Holtz flurry #2 die, the smaller one is a sizzix green original snowflake #2 die. the sentiment is from the Hero Arts holiday tags set.

Having the next 4 days off means this is the time of the year that I start making my own Christmas cards that I will most likely be mailing. I do have a small stash from previously made ones but, I also sold a lot of them at the booth last weekend so, that's OK its finally cold enough that really what you want to do is stay in and stamp. The funny part is I am finally pulling out some of the sets and dies I bought last year for this year. probably because of all the emails I have gotten for this years Black Friday sales it makes me remember I still have a few things that have not been played with yet, that is fun to have new things to play with while you wait for this years orders to arrive.

WOYWW #494 {Thanksgiving}

Happy desk peeking day, if you'd like to see more spaces or play along 
the link up for this blog hop starts here at our hostess
There is also a new Instagram hashtag of #WOYWW
 
 Tuesday Evening found my desk looking like so. which means minus the gift sacks it looks the same this morning haha.

 We have a couple of employees who do not or are not old enough to drink so, they are getting gift cards today when others are being sent home with bottles of wine.

 Last payday they received these cards with "turkey" gift cards inside. once upon a time we used to gift frozen turkeys, and one year when my mil was still the buyer. she had 5 children so, she always found the biggest turkeys in the store and one year the one we received did not fit into our oven haha. so we give gift cards to a one stop shopping type grocery store here. (it even has a gas station to it so, the college kids could you know fill up a tank and go home and eat their mama's turkey if they wanted to)

Had a left over one when I was doing it so, this one had made it to the booth and was sold. There are some photos of last weekends craft display at the school in this post here. If your curious to see how that looks. So, the aftermath is I have some sorting to do with what is left over and get it all put away. right now its kind just stacked on the coffee table and such around the other side of this room.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving in the US and starts a 4 day weekend for us which we are pretty excited about. we do not take the time to just stay home very often hubs and I so, we are planning to put up the tree in the house and decorate the blue spruce in the yard and get more of the flowerpots put up for the winter type things. We may even get some rain they are claiming. but, if I do any black friday shopping it will be online. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you and your's have a blessed day if you are celebrating or not.

11.18.2018

{Shepherds Market 2018}

 This space is pretty much in the center of the gym at Hosanna, and it has power, and lights and no drafts (YAY) so, next year I have to remember I do not have to dress for the hallway anymore. ( its considerably cooler out there. )


 Thursday night just before we draped it all in plastic table cloths from the dollar store to keep some of the dust off. ( I had no clue hubs had shot this, he text'd it to me)

 The raffle prize that I donated to the school's fund raiser.

 I did do some tags that I only made for that basket and some that are similar to others I had made. this is one of those. there are nuvo pearls on the berries of that die.

 these stamps are from Concord & 9th.

 This elf is from Hero Arts and the sentiment ( I have to look)

 an angled view.

 the right hand corner of the booth. this space is 6'x12'

 Christmas and Winter.

 Thanksgiving, gratitude type cards. or autumn in general.

 3X3 sized gift cards ( there are two of these on on each ladder this one was Christmas themed ones)
the other is snarky humor, regular gift cards, birthday, type things.
 mini coffee cups, one has an "open me" tag that sat out on the ladder so people knew there was shred paper and coffee werther candies inside the others.

 Assorted cards, ( Sympathy, get well, encouragement, congratulations, love, humor & friendship.)


 Christmas tags not on the walls Friday am. It's probably hard to believe but, this is not everything I have made and done. we used to in the hallway display all the other holidays from the year and I think there are a few more coffee cards at home, Christmas cards I had pulled out for me to mail away. things like that. there are a few odds and ends at work. We did sell a lot of tags and gift cards and gift card holders. So, I really do not have to make a ton next year to be back at full containers worth. We did sell more this year than last year as more people found the booth again.:)
 ( last year was the move from the hallway to the gym)

Saturday Morning I brought in a third suitcase and moved the Birthday & Thank you cards from bins on the ladder to it, and then moved the little metal bins of Christmas tags to the ladder. This worked better. Because, although the larger bins are tall enough that people can do the one finger flip through the cards thing, its harder with cards than tags bending over the ladder. most of the people who stopped by to buy cards we just moved the tray they were looking at to the check out table so they could peek and pick without having to bend or squat. This is still a little tight though after being sprawled all over the hallway for years but, I think this here with the three suitcases is probably what we will do next year again.

11.14.2018

WOYWW # 493 {pre-booth display mess}

Happy desk peeking day, if you'd like to see more spaces or play along 
the link up for this blog hop starts here at our hostess
There is also a new Instagram hashtag of #WOYWW
 So, this is what the coffee table across from my desk has looked like for the last month as I made things to add to these metal bins. ( found at Kohls) To see previous years worth of booth display shots ( all in the same school) click the booth display button on the side bar to the right.It's hard to believe this will be year #8 doing this booth in this school.

 These are the identifier tags that I have used for years on the suit cases and such but, this time I made a few more because, I had moved things out of the suit cases and into their own containers and I used to use some metal baskets that were chicken wire sided so, you could see what was in each. What was on my desk Monday night after work.

 like so.  and Yes, I have more things than will fit into the booth. which just means I can have some to bring in on Saturday if friday turns out to be a really good day.

 The bulk of those bins will fit on these old ladders ( I have two) and I grabbed the two old table/stools as extra flat spots. not sure if I like this at all or not, the problem will be the people who cannot do the flip thing very easily, they would have to actually lift cards out to see them. ( which is how most people look at them, but there are some people who come along that flick the cards with a finger rather than picking any up. those people may struggle with this display on the card end the tags and gift card holders are smaller but, all of my cards are different sizes so, to me the only way to see the small ones is to pick them up anyways.
What my desk looked like tuesday afternoon when I got home from work. I will be driving all day for work on Wednesday and setting up the booth on Thursday night and at the school all day Friday & Saturday. if you get a chance to stop by and say Hey, I am in the middle of the gym now as the drafty-ness of the hallway got to me by the end of the day. So, this space is smaller but, it is draft free.

11.11.2018

Peace Ornaments

This week's featured stamper is Nicole and I found this pretty card in her gallery earlier today and thought ah ha I can tweak that into a Christmas card. And so I did. 

The Snowflakes are wooden (ornament charms?) that you can find in little bags of neekid wood kind at Micheals and Joanns at this time of year. they have some acrylic paint and crackle paint on them. the Pearls are from Jolees. The stamped sentiment is from the Altenew Holiday wishes set. its stamped with versafine and die cut with an Lawn fawn banner die. The laces are vintage, the ribbon is from May Arts. both of the printed papers are from Basic grey and the center where I had the window hole openings for the wooden snowflakes was nearly the same shade as the paint so, I did grab an Distress marker and add a faux watercolor wash into the aperture openings. That panel is up on foam dots above the plain blue ish print.

A closer look at the snow. there is some silver elastic cord that I fished through the holes and the top to tie over the paper. (one of those it would have been easier to do it before I attached the layers of paper together things ha ha, but, it worked. ) This card finished out at A7 in real life. thanks for stopping by.

11.09.2018

Inspired by { Fair Indigo }

This week Angie has directed us to the Fair Indigo site because of the Christmas ornaments collection they have. What caught my eye on all of them was the layers of different colors of metals.

 So, I ended up using this Rainbow Santa ornament (seen below) as a jump start. I colored my Santa's coat in some shades of Orange as I have never seen an "metalic" pencil that was actually the color its wood would lead you to believe it should be. The fur trim has been gone over with some Stardust gelly roll pen and I did switch the red hat for red mittens instead. The gold metallic kraft based card is from a new pad from Tim Holtz, the silver is pretty thin, something without a wrapper in my file cabinet. the white is Neenah 110#. This card is finished out at A7 and is headed to the booth next weekend. The sentiment is from the Mama Elephant Peaceful wishes set and it was heat embossed with some WOW gold powder and cut with an Nellie Snellen tags 3 die.

 A closer look at the colors, This was actually really hard to shoot as the day light is so short at this time of year. ( the white really is white not grey ha ha)

This ornament can be seen here in their store. You can find this challenge here to play along with us. There are 5 more creating days before the Shepherds Market booth at Hosanna Christian School gets set up next Thursday. So, I do have my head down and my fingers inky. Thanks for stopping by.

11.07.2018

WOYWW # 492 {bitty tags}

Happy desk peeking day, if you'd like to see more spaces or play along 
the link up for this blog hop starts here at our hostess
There is also a new Instagram hashtag of #WOYWW
 
 So, as you walk around the desk you'll see some Altenew Peace love joy images stamped with pigment inks on tuesday that had been left out to dry. Tuesday was voting day in the US. so, much of the evening was spent watching poll results. And I never made it back up the stairs again.

The center of the desk shows the ones that were stamped on Monday ( the black ones) and the heat embossed white on kraft ones that all got diecut on tuesday afternoon. 
(we are already in the dark at 5 pm stage here now since DST happened over the weekend)
I know a bunch of states had it on their ballots to do away with that. ( I wish it had been on ours)
 
To the left of that are some more holly sprigs that I colored with markers ( one will be just like the first on that cream card and then I had some hmm probably cherry cobbler cut to that little A2 size and one sheet of green, so really there are 4 almost ready to go cards behind the pile of tags and stamps. They need sentiments too. there are about 6 more creating days before the booth and so next week I will flash some booth prep shots but, I will also be driving all day for work on Wednesday next week as we set the booth up Thursday after work. ( it may be really late before anyone hears from me) Thanks for stopping by.

11.06.2018

Christmas Cards

 The last Mixed Media challenge that Polly issued was to tear text papers to create a collage background so mine is a mix of printed papers and vintage book pages with some SU french scrip stamped here and there.

 It really did not want to photograph but, the snowflakes on the bottom of the card have clear wink of stella on them.

 Some things I had stamped off last week got glued into cards over the weekend. both these stamps are from the Concord & 9th O Christmas tree set adn these are A6 in real life.

 This was done for Wendy's free for all challenge to use and un-inked stamp you have owned more than one month. These stamps are from the Papertrey ink Quoted favorite things set heat embossed with SU white on Neenah desert storm.

 So, I decided to do some smaller ones for work.

 A couple of weeks ago the featured stamper was Adriana and I found this gorgeous card in her gallery, I loved the woodgrain, the white space with a pop of color. to make changes I did use acrylic paint covered corrugate paper and a printed woodgrain. moved the sentiment up and switched the sentiment banner for a ribbon. So mine is more of an "inspired by" than a true CASE of her card.

 This week's featured stamper is LeAnn who has this beautiful Stained glass window Angel card she did and I just love how the angel sparkles.. So, I dug mine out and instead of making a window I just heat embossed it on the copper stardream and colored just the wings and gown with some stickles.
I also switched out the frilly corners for a frilly mat piece.
Moved the sentiment to a tag and tied it on.

The sentiment was also heat embossed with some Simon Says Stamp rose gold powder ( which looks copper colored when it is tilted just right..) and the die cuts used for the Angel are from Spellbinders divine elegance and the tag is from the framed tags 1 set. this is A6 in real life.
That's about it for now, thanks for stopping by.