Harvest Of Love

Friday, September 30, 2011

Happy Friday Everyone!

I should have known this week was going to be one of those weeks by what I managed to accomplish last weekend....absolutely nothing! I procrastinated on just about everything and this week wasn't much different. I had good intentions of painting the rest of the stairway and making a fall banner and a card or two....but none of that happened. I think I'm coming down with a cold or something. For two weeks now I've been struggling with a congested ear and it's starting to get on my nerves! No other symptoms have presented themselves, just an ear that refuses to pop. A cold, I can deal with, no cold and a stuffed up ear...not so much! Grr!

Since it's still looking a lot like Fall around here (I'm hanging onto my summer as long as I can!), I made this Thanksgiving card to share with you all.


I used the cornucopia from the TSG's Bountiful Blessings set and paired it with some different papers this time around. I'm still all about using up what I have, so I pulled out some of Cosmo Cricket's Circa 1934 paper which worked really well with the yellows and oranges in the image. I can't decide whether I love the character sets or the realistic sets from TSG's - they're both great for coloring up! Even with my medium of choice - watercoloring! The image was colored up with a bunch of SU reinkers. The base was done in Sahara Sand and the blue around the image was Cool Caribbean. Each panel was sponged with some Antique Linen and Tea Dye Distress Ink and machine stitched to some cardstock.

TSG is sponsoring this week's sketch over at Tuesday Morning Sketches, so if you want to win yourself a gift certificate to the TSG webstore, then get cracking and whip a card! My layout is based on this week's sketch.

I promise (ok, I really, really hope) to be a little more organized next week and have a few things to share with you...including another project I worked on for the house!


I hope you have an enjoyable weekend and stay warm my friends!

Supplies

Stamps: There She Goes 'Bountiful Blessings'

Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', SU's Creamy Caramel, Regal Rose, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Sahara Sand, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Antique Linen and Tea Dye'

Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, PP - Cosmo Cricket 'Circa 1934' and a scrap of MME
Access: PTI Rustic Button Twine and Cream Button, Ribbon, Fiskars Corner Punch, Spellbinders Oval Nestie, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

TSG World's Best Stamp and Die Blog Hop!!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Welcome to the last blog hop for the October TSG Releases!

This versatile and fun stamp set with coordinating Dies available, is the first in a series! With amazingly detailed flowers, ribbons and sentiments, you’ll be celebrating ALL of the important people in your life! The line art and solid images allow for stamping only or coloring, while the tails and ribbons can easily become stems. The circle image coordinates with a 1.25" circle punch. With so many design possiblilities, this is a must have stamp set for your collection. Co-illustrated by Melyssa Connolly and Jessica Knutsen.


World’s Best is a 6x8 sized stamp set that includes 58 images and will sell for $24.


I love how easy it is to make these medallions now! Although, I had to challenge myself a little by creating a 3D version! (I like to make things difficult for myself!) I stamped and die cut two of the medallions out on some scrap MME patterned paper. Then I trimmed the 'looped areas' of the image off and adhered the other medallion to the bottom of that one. the I popped the middle sentiment on dimensionals to give the image some depth. Then I just curled the tails of the medallion and adhered them. Here's a close up of all the layers in the medallion. I cased former Trendsetter (and my idol) Kim Teasdale's awesome card for my layout.


To make your dies more versatile and useable, Jessica and Melyssa have designed this 5 piece die collection - a must-have addition! The Prize Ribbon/Flower dies fit all of the coordinating stamp images from World’s best. You can make flowers with with stems and leaves or celebrate your child’s first spelling test with a prize ribbon cut from the same dies. Layer the ribbon with a 1.25" punched circle for more layering possibilities. The 5 dies come as one unit making storage a breeze (I broke mine apart - shhhhh! Don't tell the boss lady!).


World’s Best Die is a set of 5 dies with the largest die measuring at 1.75 in. in diameter and will sell for $14.50.

Would you like to win the World’s Best stamp set and World’s Best die? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in this blog hop challenge and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s World’s Best stamp set / World’s Best die Blog Hop Challenge post. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday September 24th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.

Thank you all for stopping by this week! Have a fabulous weekend and I'll hopefully see you all at the release party!

Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'World's Best'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', Distress Inks 'Frayed Burlap'
Papers: Bazzil Basics, PP - My Minds Eye
Access: There She Goes 'Worlds Best Die Set', Ribbon, PTI Button - White, PTI Rustic Button Twine, Spellbinders Oval and Scalloped Oval Nesties, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

TSG Bugs and Hisses & the new Spider Web Die Blog Hop!!

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Welcome to the second day of the October There She Goes Blog Hops!!

You're going to freak when you see what the girls and I have to share with you today!! We warned you that this month was going to be HUGE!! I just want to squeal with excitement!!

Halloween is a favorite crafting holiday, and Torico has made the celebration even easier with this cleaver and fun stamp set. With solid, as well as line art images, backgrounds and Halloween fun will be had with this stamp set. 4 different tree sizes, two houses, ghosts, bats, spiders , pumpkins and fabulous sentiments are just a few examples of what’s included in this “Hauntingly Delightful” companion set.


Bugs & Hisses is a 6x8 sized stamp set that includes 35 images and will sell for $24.

Get ready to celebrate the season with the hauntingly fabulous Spider Web Border Die. With holes to make punching out the pieces easier, this is an easy to use and adorable die that will spice up any crafting project!

Spider Web Die is .625" tall and 6" wide and will sell for $10.
Did I not tell you this was going to be HUGE?!?? And what better die to start your TSG die collection off with than a perfectly spooky Halloween border?! I used mine on some black glitter paper and with an extra piece of cardstock in the Cuttlebug sandwich, it came out perfectly!


Would you like to win the Bugs & Hisses stamp set and Spider Web die? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in this blog hop challenge and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Bugs & Hisses / Spider Web Die Blog Hop Challenge post. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday September 24th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.



Thanks for stopping by today!! See you tomorrow - same time, same place!

TSG Follow Your Bliss/BOL Holiday Additions Blog Hop!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Welcome to the first TSG Blog Hop for the October releases!!

We're also celebrating TSG's 3rd birthday, so you know this is going to be one, HUGE party!! I can't wait for you to see what Jessica and the girls have in store for you all!

Di has created another gorgeous addition to her wildly popular Build a Scene stamp sets. With stone and ivy walls, gorgeous little puppies and kitties, and uplifting, heart-felt sentiments, this stamp set is fabulous alone or paired with any of the other Designs by Di stamp sets.

Follow Your Bliss is a 4x6 sized stamp set that includes 19 images and will sell for $15.

This is is so sweet! And the best part is that this set works so well with all of Di's sets! I can just picture this with the little bear from Back In Ten or the fairies from The Fairy Best, can't you? For this card I used six of the stamps in the set to create this scene. Di's stamps lend themselves so well to my medium of choice - watercoloring! I love that!

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Acorns, leaves, pumpkins, gingerbreads are just some of the gorgeous images added to the "Buckets of Love-Holiday Additions" stamp set. Coordinate the bountiful holiday images with the different buckets from "Buckets of Love" to create gorgeous fall and winter holiday décor. Torico’s additional sentiments will be sure to finish off your creation perfectly!

BOL Holiday Additions is a 4x4 sized stamp set that includes 14 images and will sell for $10.

Not only does this set work in tandem with the Buckets Of Love set, I wanted to show you how well it works with some of the other sets from TSG. I used the Just For You set to create this little centerpiece on my card. My favorite thing about the TSG sets is that they all work with at least a couple other sets, so you get more value out of each set.

Would you like to win the Follow Your Bliss and BOL Holiday Additions Stamp set? Here is what you need to do- visit the Trendsetter’s blogs that are participating in this blog hop challenge and comment on their creations as you go. One of the Trendsetter’s blogs will be randomly chosen as the ‘it’ blog and a winner will be picked using a random number generator from the comments left on that Trendsetter’s Follow Your Bliss / BOL Holiday Additions Blog Hop Challenge post. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning new stamps! The Blog Hop Challenges will be open until 5 PM Eastern Time Saturday September 24th with the winner being announced during the release party chat.





Supplies
Card 1
Stamps: There She Goes 'Follow Your Bliss'
Inks: SU's Creamy Caramel, Going Gray, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Cool Caribbean, Distress Inks 'Frayed Burlap'
Papers: Georgia Pacific, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Minds Eye
Access: Spellbinders Labels One Nestie, PTI Button and Rustic Button Twine, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Card 2
Stamps: There She Goes 'BOl Holiday Additions' and 'Just For You'
Inks: StazOn 'Jet Black', SU Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Regal Rose, Morning Marigold, Going Gray, Distress Inks 'Frayed Burlap'
Papers: Kraft Cardstock, Bazzil Basics, PP - Basic Gray 'Jovial Collection'
Access: Fiskars Decorative Scissors, PTI Bakers Twine, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Happy 3rd Birthday TSG!! (And A Giveaway!)

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Just wanted to remind everyone that the TSG Birthday Bash is still going strong!

There's a ton going on, like the riddle challenge this week, and I don't want anyone to miss out winning any of the fabulous prizes being given away! All month long TSG is celebrating and today I have a little surprise for you!!

**You have until October 1st to comment on this post and still be entered into the drawing for a FREE MINI STAMP SET!**

I wouldn't be a very good host if I didn't give you something to comment about right?! So I whipped up this card last night to help you out! ;)

I pulled out the Wrapped in Joy set because nothing screams birthday more than this set! As usual, I colored the little girl with my reinkers and aquacolor brush. Then I cut her out and popped her on a Labels Eight nestie that was sponged and machine stitched. Then I used my newest toy - the Half and Half die set from PTI to create that long tag. Then I added some bakers twine, a button and a sentiment (also from the set) and voila - one birthday card fit for a Trendie! :)

Don't forget to leave a comment today!! I want you to win that mini set!!


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Wrapped In Joy'
Inks: StazOn Black, SU Creamy Caramel, Old Olive, Ruby Red, Curry, Going Gray, Dusty Durango
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, PTI Kraft Cardstock, Bazzil Basics, PP - My Minds Eye and Crate Paper
Access: PTI Bakers Twine, Button and Half and Half Die Collection, Spellbinders Labels Eight Nestie, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

From Drab to Fab!

Friday, September 16, 2011

Happy Friday everyone! Hope you all made it through the week relatively unscathed. :)

One of the projects I worked on last weekend was updating a Jacobean style side board that The Man picked up at a local auction this past summer. I think I was away on a work trip because he usually buys big pieces when I'm not around! He wasn't sure if I liked it but he decided to take a chance because "it has nice legs". Hahaha!

I wish I had a before picture for you, but as usual, it was covered in paint before I remembered to take one. If you can imagine a dry and brittle piece with veneer chipped off everywhere and the top veneer missing off of it, then you've got a pretty good idea of what it looked like.

Having only ever done two other distressed pieces before this one, I was a little nervous as to how this one would turn out. But I knew those legs would look sensational after a bit of distressing and a coat of wax! I painted three coats of Benjamin Moore's Vapor on it before sanding it down and distressing the edges.

Then I applied a coat of dark walnut wax paste all over the base, waited a few minutes then rubbed it down with a dry cloth. The wax does a really good job of darkening the exposed wood areas as well as protecting the painted finish. I hit some of the detailed areas twice since I wanted those areas to look a little darker.

Considering how rough this top was before we started, I'm so surprised how awesome it turned out! This piece was missing it's finish piece of veneer, so what I had to work with was a top that had a wide black streak up the middle of it. Not very pretty! So I thought that staining the top with an ebony wood stain would blend the two different areas together - wrong! It didn't do much at all. So then I found some left over black satin oil based paint from Old Village sitting in my cabinets. I haven't used it since I bought it 6 years ago, and I should have shook the can a lot more than I did because it went on like tar! Three days later is still wasn't dry. Yes three whole days later! Note to self: Self, never use old paint!

I had lost my patience with the top, so I pulled out my palm sander and went to town on that thick, black goop...I mean, paint. It clogged up every piece of 40 grit sandpaper I had, but it was coming off! After getting most of it off, I sanded the rest by hand then applied a couple of coats of the dark walnut wax paste to bring out the wood grain. It's not perfect by any means, but it will do until I find a replacement. :)

Considering what it used to look like, I think it turned out beautifully! Do you want to know what The Man paid for the piece? $20? $40? It was a steal for $12! Add the sample pot of paint and all up, we only paid $19 for it! Love a good bargain! :)

One of my favorite finds of this summer was the blog of Miss Mustard Seed. She's a fabulous fountain of knowledge and creativeness and she inspired me to tackle this project. So I'm linking my first ever furniture post to this week's Furniture Feature Friday!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...Fall!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Good Morning!

How are you all this week? Good, I hope!

We had another jam packed weekend with birthday parties and company picnic's to attend. Syd bought herself some Lego sets with the money she was hoarding from her birthday and had a lot of fun building with them. Hubby scraped, spackled, sanded and painted more of the living room. We didn't notice until after we moved in that one of the previous owners did a horrible job painting the walls. They left 2-ft long drip marks above all the windows and painted over unsanded spackle! We couldn't spend our hard earned money on paint only to leave the walls this way, so we've been repairing them as we go. So it's turning out to be a longer project than we anticipated but I remedied that yesterday. I invited our old apartment neighbor over for dinner Friday night! Nothing like a deadline to get things moving along! Haha! We just work better under the gun. ;) I also managed to finish off a project I should have started at the beginning of the summer. I'll share it with you all on Friday.

On top of all that, I made it back into my craft room again! Woohoo! Go me! :D
Since Hurricane Irene passed through these parts, the Maple trees on our property have dropped a lot of their leaves, so we've gone from mowing the lawn every weekend to blowing and racking the leaves every weekend! Yay....not. I keep telling myself it's all part of the charm of living in the New England area. Some days I believe it. Anyway, this is what inspired me to use the Autumn Mosaic set from There She Goes for this card.

Basic Grey's Pryus Collection reminds me a lot of Fall, so I grabbed some of it as well as this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #134 and got to work. I watercolored the tree with some SU inks and my aquapainter brush, then cut it out with a nestie from the Labels Two set, then sponged the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. Then I matted the panel with some Bazzil Basics cardstock in Bitter Chocolate (my go-to color). The horizontal strip another piece of the Pyrus paper, sponged and machine stitched to some cardstock which was trimmed with some small scalloped decorative scissors. I used some lace for the scalloped part of the sketch and tied it all together with some jute rustic twine from Papertrey Ink. Lastly, I added the two buttons and spritzed the whole thing with some of my favorite glimmer mist from Tattered Angels.

I hope you're having a wonderful week!


Supplies
Stamps: There She Goes 'Autumn Mosaic'
Inks: Cool Caribbean, Old Olive, Really Rust Dusty Durango, Creamy Caramel, Moring Marigold, Antique Linen
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, Bazzil Basics, Basic Grey's 'Pyrus Collection'
Access: PTI Rustic Button Twine and Buttons, Spellbinders Labels Two Nesties, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist 'Pearl', Lace, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

TSGBDAY4...In The Spotlight!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Good Morning sweet peeps!!

I'm finally back in my craft room again and boy does it feel good! I really want to thank everyone for sticking with me while I had a little time off. It was the right thing to do for me and my family. I think we all need a to switch gears every now and then right? :)

So how are you all? Did you have a good summer? We had a fabulous one! It was jam-packed full of house projects, outings, visits from family and gorgeous weather. I'll tell you more about it later but for now I need to share with you all the fun things going on with one of my favorite stamp companies, There She Goes!


This month we're celebrating TSG's 3rd birthday with fun challenges on the TSG blog all week long. Prizes are being given for each of those challenge days! This week is Paper Doll week! If you'd like to play along with us, Corrina created a fabulous paper doll tutorial for everyone and they couldn't be easier to make! Yesterday's challenge was all about getting some fresh air and exploring the great outdoors. Today is about being in the spotlight!

There are a handful of woman who I think shined in the spotlight and one of those ladies is none other than the Blonde Ambition herself - Marilyn Monroe! This little girl, from our own Senior Trendsetter and Illustrator, Iwona Palamountain's first set, Happy Mail, looks like a star in the making. :)

Being in the spotlight is all about glamming it up, so I decided to glamify (is that even a word?!) this card up! I used some older paper from Die Cuts With A View's La Creme matstock. Then I matted the base piece and the circle with some yummy glitter paper from Michaels (love that stuff!). The other layers were matted with plain black cardstock. Then each piece was sponged with Distress Inks and stitched together. I created that inverted circle border on the center piece with my cheapo decorative scalloped scissors. No nesties here!

The layout is this month's Sketch For You To Try. I {heart} these sketches! I eased myself back into watercoloring again since I only had to color up her face, arms, legs and hair! Good plan hey? Glad I thought of it! lol I paper pieced her dress with some scrap My Minds Eye Paper, cut her out and voila - a quick and easy paper doll!


To be eligible for the giveaway today, you are to take a picture of your paper doll in a spotlight setting of your choice. Then, add your name and a link to your project in the InLinkz that is located at the bottom of the challenge post.

This challenge winner is going to open to public voting so make sure you use your creativity!!

Today's Paper Doll challenge is open until Sunday, September 11 at 5pm EST. Winners for all challenges during the Paper Doll week will be posted on Monday, September 12. The winner for each day's challenge will get a $10 gift certificate to use in the TSG Web store!

You do not need to have a blog to be able to participate in the TSG Challenges! You can simply add the URL link from your project after it has been uploaded to your online craft gallery. If you upload your Paper Doll to an online craft gallery, please use the keyword TSGBDAY4 so we can check out your beautiful work!


Thank you SO much for stopping by today! Have a good one!


Supplies
Stamps: Happy Mail (There She Goes)
Inks: SU's Creamy Caramel and Pretty In Pink, Distress Inks (Antique Linen, Tea Dye and Vintage Photo)
Papers: Strathmore Bristol Vellum, DCWV "LaCreme Matstock", Bazzil Basics, Recollections Glitter Paper
Extras: Recollections Adhesive Rhinestones, Spellbinders Circle Nesties, Fiskars Decorative Scissors, Machine Stitching, Sponges, Dimensionals

Have you heard the news?!

Saturday, September 3, 2011

There's a fabulous new group of Trendsetters in town!
And I'm heading back to my stamp room!
Wahoooo!

Stay tuned!