A Couple of Non Stamping Projects

Please forgive the odd order here. When I tried to upload these, they only would upload one at a time. I also don't have room to add text underneath each pic. Weird. I guess I've been away from my blog for so long, I don't even know how to work it!

About the card: Nothing unusual here. Crate paper & ribbon, Primas, PTI Mat Stack One stamp and die. I am finding it a little difficult to stamp these dies perfectly every time. I guess I need a little more practice. I also need new blocks. Mine are stained and grody. Perhaps if I could see through them better, I'd do a better job. I do think the Spellbinders compatible stamps are easier to use. I haven't tried any of Verve's, with the little alignment hole, but they look easier to me. I have a cart full of goodies over there, I may actually pay for it one of these days!

About the box: I got this box at Gina K. It is the perfect size for A2 cards. I just shabbied it up a little with a crepe paper rosette and some vintage book paper.

I hope all is well with you. It's COLD and snowy here. Again.

Waltzingmouse Saturday Sketch Challenge #37

 Have you seen the Donna Salazar Spellbinders compatible stamps? This journaling block was my favorite, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 I got mine right here. This particular one is sold out right now, but there are some new ones up I hadn't even seen. The odd thing about this stamp is that I want to emboss it, but I haven't, because how could you write on it if it was embossed?

 I used two Waltzingmouse sets on this card, Fancy Phrases and Vintage Labels 1. I like the way the Labels set makes everything old feel new again. That's a good value.

Of course that's a Crafty Secrets bird. It has been so nice hearing from my old blog buddies! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Altered Box, and Crafty Secrets Bird Card

 This box was a gold  Museum of Modern Art, or MOMA box. Before I bought the jewelry this box housed, I stood not five inches from paintings by Picasso, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Seurat.  It was an incredible pleasure and an experience I am so grateful to have had. I love NYC. LOVE NYC! I would go back tomorrow. Tonight, even. Annually would be nice. Bi-annually, even better. Quarterly is more like it. Heck, just get me an apartment!

 The bottom flower is a PTI die, one I have not quite mastered yet. I think I need to try thicker paper than my favorite vintage dictionary paper. Plus, I think it would help if I weren't such a spazz. The "wish" stamp is SU! It's such a nice little stamp, I use Small Script quite a lot. There's another one of those Glimmer Misted (Black Cherry) Prima Hydrangea flowers as well!

This card is Crafty Secrets Bird Notes and Crate Paper. Crate ribbon, too. YUMMO!

Shabby Stickers and PTI

My first PTI set, Love Lives Here. Can you believe I've gone without PTI all this time? Anyhow, I love this set, and the exquisite little coordinating dies!
This is a tag card. I used very old HOTP paper and some Crate Paper Crush-also ancient, but still gorgeous as the day I bought it!
This is one of my favorite things to do with scraps. I die cut them, then stamp, sponge and glitterize them. They are especially appealing when they are all matchy-matchy like this set. That gorgeous bird is from Artistic Outpost's Birds of a Feather, you can count on them for such beautiful images. Straight stamping, no coloring. Fast, vintage and shabby/grungy-that's what you'll find at AO.
I have been away from my blog for so long, I hardly know how to act! I have enjoyed visiting other blogs recently. Hopefully, if I can apply some moderation, I won't get so burned out. We'll see. In the mean time, have fun stamping just for stamping's sake! I've been having fun stamping without any special reason to do so except that I really like to stamp!

New Waltzingmouse Stamps

This gorgeous bird stamp is from Shady Tree Studio. I love it because it is beautiful and easy to color.
I recently discovered Waltzingmouse Stamps, and placed an order right away. One of the sets I got is the extremely versatile Fancy Phrases. I've already used it on about a dozen cards!
On this card I used Very Vintage Labels One, as well as Fancy Phrases. It is chock full of stamps designed to fit Labels One Nesties. I couldn't be happier with it!
This card is actually for the Waltzingmouse weekly sketch, Challenge # 36. I have a hard time with repeated elements, I really am more of a random girl. I did my best though!

The papers and supplies on both these cards are OLD, OLD, OLD! I have been trying to use up a little of what I have before I buy new stuff. It does make me feel like DESERVE new stuff because I'm using old stuff up. I'm an expert at rationalization.

Crafty Secrets Goodness

Crafty Secrets stamps, Bird Notes Martha Stewart Brownstone glitter. It's my favorite brown by far.
Chocolate Chip cardstock, vintage dictionary paper, and some Crate Paper Crush all together in one happy, shabby little card.

More Crafty Secrets, in the form of Adventures and Travel Heartwarming Vintage Cuts. I love these things and use them like mad. I have every one of them, and some I have bought twice! They are on sale for $1.57 at Creative Play Stamps-that's a lot of paper crafting fun for a very low price! I added a vintage button with vintage brown button twine, some brown satin ribbon, and a Cinnamon Glimmer Mist sprayed Prima. I love these white Primas, I just spray them with Glimmer Mist to match my project. They come in a huge box, which I've been using forever.

Happy New Year!

In an unprecedented turn of events, I felt like making a blog post. I've been off blogger for most of a year now, and here I am taking another stab at it. We'll see how long I last. Perhaps if I show a little moderation this time, instead of posting every day for two years straight, I won't get burned out!

Also, I am not on any design teams, so everything I post here is something I made purely for fun! When I use new stamps, you'll know that I actually paid my hard earned money for them-no design team discounts. That does hurt, I have to admit. I'll still post links to sources, but it will just be because I like that source, not because I am designing for them!

Today I thought I'd share some little Valentine labels I made. I used Papertrey Ink stamps and die, vintage dictionary paper, buttons, twine and silver glitter. I used my 10yo SU! Real Red pad for these. SU! pads are not my favorite (at least I stil have 48 of the clam shell pads! I hate the new ones!), but RR is a classic red that's hard to beat. If I needed these to be more durable, I would add a final scalloped layer, as the dictionary paper is not very sturdy. For cards and scrapbook pages or decor that won't be messed with much, these work just fine.

I guess that wasn't so hard, now was it?