Sweet Summer

Have you been enjoying your summer? Ours has been so much fun! Our boys are old enough now that we can take off on little adventures without worrying about bed times, melt downs, or diaper changes - yeah!! It looks like my little friend Milton mouse is enjoying his summer too! Nothing is more relaxing than reading a good book under a giant flower...or in my case in a nice hammock! This image is a darling Sweet 'n Sassy digi creation, called Milton Reading, and is available for download for only $3.00. Milton has been paired with some lovely Ruby Rock-it paper and ribbon from Papertreyink. The sentiment, Sweet Summer, is actually from a brand new Sweet 'n Sassy acrylic set, Feeling Fruity Cocoa. Enjoy!

Tim Tags

Remember Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas from last year? I managed to finish all 12 tags even though I failed to shower or feed my family for 12 days straight. :-) Now I've had the pleasure of demonstrating the techniques used on the tags to a group of ladies who attend classes at Wholly Scrap! This past week we created these two tags (plus one other one that I failed to take a picture of!) Both of these tags are a pretty close copy to the one's that Tim created. Most of my other tags were quite different but since Wholly Scrap! was celebrating Christmas in July last week I opted to stay with the holiday-themed tags. And we had a blast creating! Everyone left inky and heads full of creative ideas! We used the following products on these tags...Tim's new film strip (love it!!), the tiny attacher (aka stapler), fabulous metal embellies (remember how I was lamenting how I had no metal anything last year?), lots of Stickles, paint daubers, and a variety of Distress Inks and stamps! Enjoy! (I'm hoping that Tim holds this challenge again this year, although I'm pretty sure my family is dreading the idea...)

Orange You Sweet

I've been thinking about making a card with this darling image ever since Korin sent it to us...This is a new digi image that has been released from Sweet 'n Sassy named Orange You Sweet and it's available for only .99! I printed out the image three times, colored my cutie oranges and cut them out. I then created a CAS card by simply adding a bit of color, texture, and polka dots.....one always needs polka dots! The brown piece of cardstock has been embossed and punched so that the wee oranges can peek through the holes. For dimension, I used foam tape to pop up the windows. I finished off the card with the sentiment, also included with the image. Super quick and easy! Enjoy!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's Tip: Use silhouette images to create a quick and easy card!

Are you guys tired of seeing this stamp set yet? I hope not because I love it!! It's a new release from Sweet 'n Sassy, Serene Silhouettes and I adore this set, love the versatility of a set like this...and keep checking back...there just might be more images like this on the horizon!! Now this card might not seem all that simple but it's really easy to create. The first three layers are simply that, just cut pieces of cardstock and DP. The main image layer was created using a Scor-Pal to make the grid lines. I then added a bit of Distress Ink to help the lines stand out a bit more. All that was left to do was add my stamped images, in a variety of colors, a Maaaaartha punched butterfly, my sentiment, and a few brads! Easy peasy! Enjoy!!

Altered Canvas

Greetings! First off, thank you so much to those who left comments earlier this week, it is greatly appreciated! I don't typically watch for comments but it's been so quiet lately that I was starting to wonder if folks were still reading. :-) So it was lovely to hear from some of you!!

And now for today's project!! Two altered canvases, straight out of the Tim Holtz book of designing! A few weeks ago Tim posted a sweet project on his blog, using a tiny canvas and grunge board shapes. This week was Christmas in July at the store, and once I saw Tim's project I realized it was a fantastic idea for a class! My canvases are 4" x 4" and both have been covered by dictionary paper (nothing like buying a dictionary just to rip pages out of it...I felt a bit guilty about that! LOL!) We used Matte Medium (think Modge Podge) to adhere the paper to the canvas. The paper is wrapped about the sides and back of the canvas, like you would wrap a package. The Joy canvas has been aged with Distress Inks, stamped on with a polka dot background stamp (from SU!), and had a swirl added from a Tim stamp set (Urban Chic). The flower was cut out with one of the new Tim Sizzix die cuts. I cut up the largest flower (the die cuts out four flowers at once) to make leaves. The flowers were cut from grunge paper and color was added with Distress Inks. Same process for the Joy letters, with the exception that the letters were pre-cut from grunge board. I also stamped decorative images on the flower, leaves, and letters. The flower was bended, etc. for some dimension (grunge paper is so much fun!!) and then I added a few brads as embellishments. (For the brads, since you can't attach them through the canvas, I cut off the little arms and used Glossy Accents to attach them to the canvas.) For the Christmas tree canvas, I used a Spellbinders die cut for the tree (cut out of grunge paper.) In class, we doubled the thickness of the tree, which worked better since grunge paper is thin. You would not need to do this if using grunge board. The tree was attached before adding the dictionary paper. I then used my fingers and a bone folder to gently push the paper down around the edges of the tree so it would pop out just a bit. I then used a blending tool and Distress Ink to ink over the edges of the tree, making it pop right off the page. Edges of the canvas were distressed with more ink. Then I added a big 'ol metal plate, also new from Tim's collection, and the number 25. Some red stickles finished off my tree decorations! (Someone at class suggested adding a small star to the top of the tree, great idea!!) And there you have some fun altered canvases...I'm thinking these would be perfect on my mantle this year... Enjoy!

SALT Challenge - A Trouble-Free Life?

Hi all...It's time for another SALT challenge and this week it was Pauline's turn to select our topic and she choose a passage from Luke 8:22-25; the account of Jesus calming the storm when He and His disciples were crossing a lake. Pauline has a lovely write up on the SALT blog, where she discusses trusting Christ at all times, even when we're in the midst of a figurative storm. I found a commentary on this text and thought I'd share a few portions of those comments: "The miracles all raise one question. That question cannot be any more clearly stated than it is at the end of this first miracle where Jesus calms the storm: "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." While Matthew describes the storm as a "shaking" (seismos) of the boat, Luke calls it a whirlwind (lailaps). Only Jesus is resting, unaware of the danger that surrounds him. The text expresses the danger in a peculiar fashion--the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The storm threatens them. Jesus is physically there but appears to be mentally absent, taking a nap, unable to help them in their hour of need. In their anxiety they awake him, announcing impending doom if nothing is done: "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" The next three parts of the passage are loaded with significance. First Jesus rebukes the wind, so that calm is immediately restored. Called upon to help his disciples, He responds faithfully. The event is the catalyst for two commentaries, one from Jesus, the other from the disciples. Both present aspects of the passage's teaching. Jesus rebukes his disciples for lack of faith. By asking where their faith was, He is reminding them of his care of them. Even though he seemed to be absent and uncaring, a point Mark 4:38 makes explicitly, He was there and they could rest in the knowledge that He knew what was happening to them. Faith would have told them that God would take them through the terrible storm. So Jesus takes the calming of the storm as an opportunity to remind them that He will care for them. They need to have more faith in God's goodness. They need an applied faith that will hang tough under pressure. Meanwhile, the disciples are pondering the event. Full of fear and marvel, they ask, "Who is this?" The question is a good one, because anyone who knew the Old Testament or Jewish theology would have known that Yahweh has control of the wind and the seas (Ps 18:16; 104:3; 135:6-7; Nahum 1:4; also Solomon 14:3-5). In fact, Psalm 107:23-30 says that God delivers the sailor who is imperiled at sea. Earlier Jesus had forgiven sins; now he calms the seas. Who can do such a variety of things? Luke leaves the query unanswered here. The reader is to ponder the question. But the topic of Jesus' identity keeps popping up in the Gospel and in Acts (Lk 9:7-9, 18-20; 20:41-44; 23:49; Acts 2:30-36; 10:34-43). In the meantime, faith is called for in the recognition that Jesus is there and is aware of his disciples. Jesus' authority means he has the power to deliver those who depend on Him. Calm waves can come only from the One with the power to restore order. We are therefore left with this question, "Is God there and does he care? No question is more basic to human beings' relationship to the creation and to one another. If He is not there, then life is a free-for-all and we must do the best we can for ourselves. Often this worldview means that the one with the most power wins. If God is there, then finding Him and responding to Him is our most basic need. For if He exists, then power resides with Him and everyone becomes accountable to Him." May God give us all the faith to seek Him while He can be found... My ATC was created following a tutorial on Michelle Zindorf's site. (Love her work!) Stamps are from Sweet 'n Sassy, a new release called Serene Silhouettes. Please stop by the SALT blog to read Pauline's write up on this text and to see the other beautiful work created by the team! We'd love to have you participate in our challenge this week...

Happy Birthday Roses

Tap, tap....is this thing on? It's been painfully quiet here on the 'ol blog...from me and from those out there in blogland! I'm not one who worries much about comments but I have become a bit curious if folks are still reading...Anyone? Bueller? Well, it's been quiet from me too! I feel like we've been so busy lately...not with anything in particular, just enjoying the warm (or should I say hot) and long summer days. Even though I have a bizillion craft projects to complete, I'm finding it hard to get back into the studio. I want to just hang out on a beach somewhere and catch up on my reading! But...I did manage to sneak in last night to produce a card showcasing a brand new Sweet 'n Sassy stamp set! Let me introduce you to the Smell the Flowers stamp set, which contains this sweet rose and vase image along with six sentiments for just $11.00! And I love how Korin has included the perfect sentiments for this set; Happy Mother's Day, Best Wishes, and other friend-related sayings....a wonderful pairing for a vase full of flowers. I paired my image with some fun Jillibean Soup paper, rhinestones from Little Yellow Bicycle, and a happy birthday tag. Oh, button and ribbon are from Papertreyink. Enjoy and be sure to stop by the Sweet 'n Sassy web site to see all of the new releases!!