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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

You know what I dislike

No pretty art to share today I just want to rant a bit.  I dislike money....Why because you need it so much.  This pasted month or so I have had little to no money.   Which I would be fine with if it weren't for the fact that I want/need a list of things for various parts of my life.  I needed clothes for work that were professional looking so I decide to go thrifting when I finally got some money.  I'm not too proud to save a buck.  I said it I HATE buying clothes for full price.  I really do.  Very, Very rarely do I do so and if I do its on things I will wear I million times over.  I'm tired of my ho hum wardrobe, tired of concert tees and jeans.  So I bought thing that were style wise out of my element.  Things I would never ever purchase for full price.  I proudly spend maybe $40 on 3 tops and 3 pairs of dress pants!  I need a hair cut,  I have been putting it off for a very long time...maybe a year.  I know the hair dressers are screaming at me!! I hate getting it cut, I'm never sure how I actually want it and I'm too afraid to cut it all off so I just ended up having it trimmed.  I finally know what I want to do.  I'm taking a risk and I want to cut it just long enough that I can wear it up off my neck during the summer.  I also need dress shoes.  I of course want my basic black and brown heels and flats but I want to also get a few pair of shoes with pops of color.  I'm tired of my heels I have had since student teaching that by the end of the day my knees and feet are killing me, because they are that worn.  Then there is accessories but those are easy... I can make myself stuff or find cute necklaces at target and what not for kinda cheap and of course I have this wonderful best friend who makes beautiful jewelry for me once and awhile.

  Then there is my ultimate WANT the things I can't get enough of...Craft supplies!!!  I haven't walked into a craft store in at least a month for something more then maybe glue dots or a cricut mat.  IT IS KILLING ME!! I can't go to Micheal's without feeling guilty cause I need all the above things and shouldn't be buying something so silly as craft supplies.  I will not die if I don't get craft supplies, but I must admit that I feel great to be able to buy a shiny new something from the craft store.  Its like a drug I guess, a high and from all highs your get down.  I often come home and think should I have bought this really?  But it always ends with me stuffing it in where it belongs for me to forget its there and then months later I remember oh yea I had to have this.  This weekend I'm allowing myself to go to a craft consignment sale to spend the $20 I have on some second hand craft stuff.  I think its my reward for behaving for the last couple months and actually spending money on something I need.  I guess I'm done ranting I hope you can at least enjoy/relate to my rant. Pin It Now!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A birthday gift, A Sympathy card and Alphabet atcs








So this past month had some different events that I needed to make stuff for.  First was my friend Lori's birthday.  I made her a card which for some reason I didn't photograph...oh well. Then I made her an altered cabinet card, which I altered with gesso, and green paint then added stamped images and diecut flowers (from my cricut), of course I used brads as my flower centers and some pretty lace to finish it off.  I also made her an altered tag which is pictured above.  I went with a bird theme for her art, I'm not sure why but when I think of Lori I think of birds.  I think she likes them I'm not sure where I get that idea from but it works. Who doesn't like birds. Then I made her a 4x4 again with the bird thing going on.  The big beautiful bird cage in the back ground and the pretty girls in the nest.  

Then a dear family friend's dog passed away and boy do I know how hard that is.  So I decided to make a simply sympathy card for them to let them know that they were in our thoughts.  Losing a pet is equal to a human being in my book.  My pets are my children.  I lost 3 beautiful ferrets last year for various illnesses and my best friend Buster.  It makes me sad just thinking about it, but I think Buster was the hardest.  I know it sounds  a little strange but through high school I cried on his shoulder all the time.  The best thing about him was how he just sat there and listened to me.  He was patient and kind and there will never be another Buster.  One of my girls does remind me of him sometimes just her mannerisms and sweetness, but she doesn't behave quite as well as he did, but I will move on...The card was cut out on the cricut.  I welded the image of the dog onto a circle card and then cut the "with Sympathy" on its own.  I love how much I have learned about my gyspy and cricut in the last month or so.  I'm becoming pretty good at making new stuff with it and I have been using my cricut soooo much more now.  I also made the envelope which I welded the paw print on to.  To make sure there was no problem when I mailed it I took a small piece of plastic from the packaging of a sticker sheet and packing taped it in place on the inside of the envelope before I folded it and glued it. 

Now last but not least are my M,N,O cards for my Alphabet atc swap in the vintage room.  I'm having a lot fun with these.  M is for Mirror, N is for Neighborhood, and O is for Oven mitt.  The oven mitt was done on my cricut.  The Neighborhood took me forever (and I decided to keep it) and the Mirror actually came to me pretty quickly.  I was surprised these are not my usual style as far as my atcs normally come out but I think that's okay sometimes.  Well that's all I have for now I'm sure I will be back soon with more to share. 


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Monday, March 21, 2011

How to create: My Easter Altered Tags

This is a step by step, or as close I can do to how I made my April Altered tags.  I did this one 3 times till I liked the final product.  I took two tags and put them through my cuttle bug in an embossing envelope.  I went with the Script because it was the most fitting to the theme of Easter.  Then I took my distress ink in Wild Honey and Scattered Straw and inked them using my blending tool.   

Next I took out my Close to my Heart egg stamp set (this was a stamp of the month last year I believe)


I pick a few eggs out that I liked and stamp them with Versa mark ink on white cardstock. 

 Took my chalks and a make up sponge and picked a few pastel colors.
 Then chalked them so they looked like the ones below.
Below are all the eggs finished
 I then cut them in strips cause I find them easier to cut with my little scissors that way. 
 Then Carefully cut around the images and then up them aside. (Boy do I wish I had a video camera with the stand so I can do videos instead of all this)
 Next I dug through the scrap bins and found two brown scraps of different tones and cut them into strips with my paper cutter.  I then did I simple basket weave that was wide enough for my tag and I eyeballed the height. 
 Every Easter basket needs grass right.  So I went the scrap bin again and found two scraps of green in different tones and cut them with my scissors into very thin strips. 
 To give mine the "grass" feel I balled them up in my hands. Creating this: 
 Next up I flipped my baskets over and added adhesive in a strip on top of the basket 

 I added the grass and then added more adhesive to glue them down.  Then I layered my eggs on the tag itself about were I want them so they would poke out over the grass and basket. Followed by gluing my basket in place on top of them. Then I did all the trimming around the edges that needed to be done.  After all that I cut two strips of white cardstock and stamped Happy Easter then scored and folded them, cut "v"s on either side to create the banner look.  After I glued them on I decided they looked blah so I added some purple Stickles around the edges.  I think the came out pretty cut. 
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