I'm back...... finally!

Oh my gosh- being away for a whole week has been tough!! I really missed being at home....sleeping in my own bed and of course my guys!! So glad to be home now. I arrived very late last night (2:00 AM) and am trying to recover today.....got a load or 2 of laundry to do, reciepts to sort out and other things to unpack yet. It was a rather time consuming week studying and learning- no real time to relax and play.

I've got a busy week ahead, a couple of days of work and my hubby's aunt is coming to visit this week as well (I still need to get the guest bedroom cleaned up and in order for her).  I hope to find some time to get a card or two made for the Hero Arts monthly challenge.....I really miss making something and getting my hands good and inky- plus I have some new Hero Arts stamps I picked up right before I left for my trip that need to get inked up as well!

I'll try to catch up on all of your blogs and cards posted at assorted sites this week too!

See you all real soon- hopefully I'll have something creative to post about before you know it!!

 Anne

Missing in action- Just an update

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't been one here much lately or visiting your wonderful blogs but life has just been so busy- no time to craft at all.

I am leaving for a week long trip to the Chicago area tomorrow- I wish I could say it's going to be a lovely vacation but sadly it is work related. I have to go take a week long class and get Certified to be an "official" elevator inspector. I't going to be very boring .....learning  about a million different safety codes- ughhh! But it's what I need to do for my job.....to have more responsibility come my way and a bigger paycheck too! If anyone is interested this is the Co. I work for now.

I'll have my laptop with so I'll have time to finally visit all your blogs and catch up on my fave Hero Arts Flicker site. I'm actually looking forward to a week of no cooking- no laundry, watching TV all by myself, being completely selfish.  I hope my hubby survives the week without me- HAH!! I can only imagine what a wreck my house will be when I get home....

Hoping to go get a manicure/pedicure while I'm away and maybe a bit of shopping.  I'm thinking about bringing along some crafty stuff to work on, but just feel lost as what to bring? I want to bring everything, but that's soooo not practical. Maybe I'll work on some 4th of July cards?

I'll leave you with a few parting shots of my son who is the master bug/frog catcher- he got these 2 dragonflies last night!  He also got over 20 fireflies last night and boy did they put on the "glow show" as my son called it!

Yes, those are my pretty toes!!

                                   I love this one- sooo pretty!

Stuck on his leg- it didn't want to leave!

If I find any good stamping stores in Champaign I'll go shopping and snap some pictures!

May you all have a wonderful and sunny week- I'll stop and say hi on your blogs!

Hugs, Anne

Last minute teacher thank you's

I cannot believe tomorrow is the last day of school for my little guy- my gosh where has the year gone?

I also can't believe how much he as grown in the last nine months too! Say good bye to kindergarten my my dear, and hello to summer!

Now onto the the quick teacher thank you's. I have been working lots and had hardly any time to do anything crafty for Joe's teacher, so I got this card whipped together quick today. The background flowers paper is from an expirament I did a few days ago, finally made it into something by adding  an appropiate "thank you" sentiment, and added some brown centers to the flowers. I really wish I had some fun apple's or other really cute teacher related stuff, but I don't- so boo hoo!

Then I got a zap of mojo and found this teacher quote online and thought I would make a little magnet for Joe's teacher out of it. I fumbled around a bit wondering how to frame it and remember- "AHA- I have that frame stamp from Hero Arts I love so much!!" So I inked it up using broken china distress ink, embossed it, cut it out, got the edge distressed.....played with the font and color in the computer for the sentiment to match and printed it out. I then proceded to lose/misplace the edge distresser once I wanted to go do the black mat it was mounted on......so frustrating- I can't find it anywhere- whaaaaa!
I swear there is a naughty fairy in my craft room that likes to hide my stuff....and drive me crazy!

I attached a sticky back magnet to the back side so teacher can stick anywhere she likes! Oh, almost forgot I found the cute black & white flower in my stash and popped that on as well!
I hope she likes it :)

Thanks for stopping by and hope the sun is shining on you today.  One more day of school....still can't believe it!

Anne

Two Watercolor Expiraments

Happy Memorial Day friends!!

It's a truly beautiful day here in Wisconsin (75 degrees and sunny)  and I'm being very lazy today after 2 days of fun swimming in the pool, a nite watching dirt track car racing, and hanging out with friends and having many cocktails!

Today I finallly sat down and tried playing with a new technique that was shared by the very talented Joy- one of my favorite Hero Arts Flicker freinds (her cards are really amazing) ! She has a wonderful watercolor and distress ink tutorial that you have to try!

The first card I tried I used my favorite distress inks in the colors barn door and wild honey. I selected a very pale yellow cardstock to stamp on and a rich dark brown paper to go with it. I just love these colors and can't seem to get enough of them. The flower stamp for the background  is from Stampin Up (Greenhouse Garden), the sentiment is SU as well, the frame stamp is from WaltzingMouse Stamps. I honestly forget I have this whole set of assorted frames that match the fun Nestabilites dies.....must remember to use them more-duh! Grabbed a vanilla colored Prima flower, added an orange gem to the center and the card was done. So easy and very fun to make!

The next card is a totally different color family and I got really inky fingers playing with this one!

I grabbed my Hero Arts "Long stem Blossom" stamp and started playing using the colors dusty concord and tumbled glass. I didn't use quite as much water this time as I wanted to really see the shape and design of the stamp. Grabbed another Hero Arts sentiment and embossed that after stamping. Now, on to the part where I got the really inky fingers!! I had a long piece of plain white satin ribbon and I wondered if the distress inks would dye the ribbon? I've never tried it so why not give it a go!

I layed my ribbon on my Ranger craft sheet and just pounced the 2 ink pads on the ribbon in various spots, then sprayed the whole thing with a light misting of water. I picked up the ribbon and just rubbed the ink around- getting my ribbon all good and wet, blending the colors together and soaking up more water from the craft sheet. Who knew you could dye your ribbon this way-  I didn't?

I went and laid my ribbon in the sun to dry (took about 5 minutes) and tied it to the card!

It actually looked much prettier laying flat, has kind of a tie died look to it. Lastly I added a few blue and regular colored pearl gems on a few of the flowers! I love the colors of this card - not colors that I usually play with.

Here are a few more pictures of other expiraments using different stamps that I have not made into cards yet.

(click on the picture for a larger view)

Hero Arts hydrangea on the left, another Stampin up flower on the right.

Both of these stamps are by Rubbernecker Stamps.

Not sure that I'm really liking these 2, they may go in  the trash....

I hope you all had a safe and fun holiday weekend and thanks for stopping by!

 I'm going to go hop in the pool now and play with my son- going to try blast him good with the water pistol since he always gets me before I even get to the pool!

Inky Hugs, Anne

Happy Friday......a card and a bunch of pictures

Hi there!! Sorry I haven't posted in a while- this time of year is busy for me. Lots of yard work to do and playing out in the beautiful weather with my hubby and son......not to mention working too!

Lets start with the card here I made for someone who needs some words of encouragment and cheering up. I used my Hero arts real poppy stamp- colored it with 2 markers and then spritzed it lightly with water before stamping. I had a scrap of overhead transparency laying on my desk so I thought "why not try printing a digi dragonfly on it and see how that works?". Worked great and it was soooo easy. I just added one little glue dot under the body to make it stick and folded up the wings for some dimension. Used a splattered paint BG stamp for the little ink dots, and a favorite sentiment from Stampendous. I scored the pink CS just to frame it up a bit.

Now on to some other stamping business!

2 weeks ago I went to the rubber stamp and scrapbook expo over in MN and picked up some new goodies to play with. A couple of distress inks (love these), some new rubber from Rubbernecker Stamps (love the big BG stamps and flourish), and some cardstock and an assorted paper pack, lots of envelopes for cheap, one Sizzix embossing folder (forgot to snap a pic of that), and a big old 8 oz. jar of Ranger clear embossing powder...since I'm obsessed with embossing everything lately!

 

The show was super busy and it was so incredibly crowded that I really didn't stay long (I don't like massive crowds of people- gets on my nerves). I got what I was looking for and hit the road!! I was a bit disappointed that many vendors from the last show were not there this year.......so sad as I was really hoping to watch some more fun demo's and get some more pictures.

Now on to some pic's I've snapped in and around my  property this last week. I live out in the wild woods on 7.5 acres and there is so much wildlife here it's crazy.  We have a mother fox and 3 kits currently living down at the end of the driveway in the drainage pipe (see my video of the babies on my last post), birds of every kind that are singing all day long, and the usual deer, turkeys, raccoons, and even some black bears on occassion.

We also have tons of frogs and toads around here too and we love them. My son and I go "hunt" for them on a regular basis to see what we can find. Here is one I spied hiding under the propane tank cover- isn't he cute? I love the piece of tree fluff/dandelion fluff stuck on his face!!

On Monday this gigantic snapping turtle came wandering through the front yard......maybe on her way to go lay eggs somewhere? It was BIG and scary- like 12 inches across- I steered clear of her other than to snap a few pic's. Those thing can bite your finger right off- EEEEK!

The last picture here is some of my favorite wild geraniums that are growing all over the woods here. I'm not kidding- there is a purple blanket of blooms everywhere------- I just LOVE it!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all enjoy the long Memorial day weekend!!

We are getting our pool up and ready to go for the summer and having some friends over this weekend for some dinner- drinks, and lots of fun! I'll probably hunt for toads and frogs and dragonflies with my son Joe, maybe we will even find the resident giant toad we call "Brutus" that lives in the pole barn- we haven't seen him yet this year!

Anne