It's a Christmas Yard Sign

Well this week I've been working on a Christmas yard sign.  Many years ago my brother made this awesome Christmas yard sign for my Mom & stepdad's yard.  My brother is a talented illustrator and can draw anything with a computer or freehand.  I however, stamp because I can't draw.  Due to the many years in the Ohio winters, the sign was rotting and falling apart.  On Thanksgiving when my parents came for dinner they brought with them a newly painted white 4 ft by 5 ft board for me to make a new sign since my brother is the smart one and spends his life on the sunny west coast.

What a dilema, I can't draw and now I can't depend on stamping because the image has to be large enough for people driving by to actually read the sign.  After fretting about it all through Thanksgiving, I figured what's the worst that can happen, if it turned out terrible then my Mom won't ask me to do this again.  I'd be off the hook. So with that attitude I began laying out an idea I had.  With the help of the cricut I cut out their name and the christmas bulbs and the rest of the greetings I did freehand.  Freehand me, without the help of a rubber stamp!!

It turned our waayyy better than I ever expected.  I'm really happy with it and think my Mom will be too.  Actually, I even think my brother might be surprised, as he knows my lack of drawing talent.  Check it out.

Debbie

Let's Quill

It's time I get back to posting on my blog.  I love to stamp and paper craft but I've been very lax in sharing what I've been doing. My husband bought me a quilling kit out of a bargain basement bin at an outlet mall.  He figured since it involved paper, I would like it.  He was sooo right, he usually is. I'd heard of quilling but didn't know much about it.  

   Quilling  is an art form that involves the use of paper strips that are rolled, shaped and glued together to create a decorative design.  The paper is wound around a quill to create the basic paper shape, hence the name quilling.  

Needless to say, I fell in love with it.  I started with 1 dimensional flowers and bugs, but soon found a 3 dimensional bride and groom kit which I made for my niece who recently got married.  From there I made acorns and pumpkins and mice and anything I could think of.  I tried to make a reindeer for Christmas but its head reminded me more of a turkey which gave me the idea to make a turkey.  The turkey was lonely so I made a pair of Pilgrims.  I just kept rolling and shaping until I came up with a design I liked. 

The coke can gives it  a size perspective

 I haven't given up on the reindeer, I'm still trying to figure something out.  I'm also working on a soccer player for my granddaughter.  If it turns out then I will post and share that.  I would also like to take the time to wish you all a Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving.

Debbie

Kraftin Kimmie Challenge

Wow, what happened to the last few months?? Back in March I was traveling out of town so I thought I'd take a few weeks break from entering challenges.  It's now July, my few weeks turned into a few months.   I was on the Kraftin' Kimmie site taking advantage of the Summer Sale going on now (check it out) and I saw the challenge so I thought I'd give it a try.  This week's challenge #135  is White on White.  I don't think I would have made a card white on white by myself, but I really like the clean look. 

There are so many great Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps that it's hard to choose. I decided on Lillith and paired her with the "Sorry I Froggot" sentiment from Kraftin' Kimmie's Fun Sentiments set.  This will make a cute Belated Birthday card.  Thanks for checking out my blog.

Hambo Hoedown - Stripes

Where does time go?  I can't believe I missed last week's Hambo Hoedown challenge which means I also missed this week's digi.  That's okay because I have alot of Hambo Stamps and digis to choose from.  I fell in love with their desgins years ago when I accidentally purchased a stamp off eBay.  When I received it I saw the Hambo insignia on it and checked out their website and I was hooked.  If you haven't seen the site, check it out here http://www.hambostamps.com/.  This week's challenge was to include stripes on our project and I chose to use their cute "possum" stamp. 

I was traveling this week and brought along a few stamps and papers so I could still enter the challenge, but what I can't believe that I did not bring with me was an Alphabet stamp set.  How can anyone be away from home and expect to stamp without an alphabet set?? (rhetorical questiont)  I had to do the "HANG" the old-fashioned way, no die cuts or stamp alphabets, I had to hand draw and cut with scissors!!  Yikes!!  It's amazing how quickly we get spoiled with all the great tools that are on the market.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.



Hambo Hoedown - Sketch Challenge

It's Hoedown time again and this week I received the digi "Monster weights" and some great sentiments from Hambo Stamps for playing in last week's challenge.  The challenge this week was to follow a sketch.

I turned the card horizontally; colored the "monster weights" digi with my copics markers and used one of the great sentiments that came with the digi.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my bog.

Hambo Hoedown - Anything goes

This week's Hambo Hoedown challenge is "anything goes".  It means just what is says, anything goes.  I received the "fortune cookie" digi from Hambo Stamps and some great sentiments to use for the fortune just for playing in last week's challenge. I thought I'd try something different since anything goes.  I've recently been messing around with Zentangle, I'm not very good with it yet but I do enjoy just letting my mind wander and just doodling.  I decided to use my recent Zentangle as my background. 

I colored and cut out the fortune cookie digi and used one of the great sentiments for the message.  I applied everything to a red background to give it a little color.  Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.

Hambo Hoedown - Dragon

Hoedown Time...This week I received the "Dragon" digi and some great sentiments just for playing along last week.  If you haven't played in the Hoedown, you gotta give it a try.  Each week, just for playing you get a free digi for the next week's challenge.  I've received some great digis over the past year.  The challenge this week was to use gold and silver.  I've never really liked to use chalks on my projects because I can't stay within the lines when I'm coloring with them (and that's a big deal to me). The other day I was at the store and I found chalk pencils.  They're great, they are chalk but they're a pencil so when I color with them I have more control and can stay within the lines.  I used dark blue cardstock so I thought I'd give them a try.

I used the "Tree" stamp from Hambo stamps.  I stamped the trees and campfire using a Silver stamp pad.  I masked and stamped the tree to create a grove of trees.  I then used my new chalk pencils to add color or highlight the stamps. The green in the trees isn't very visible in the picture, but it looks really nice on the card. I colored the dragon digi with my copics markers, his belly and wings are colored with gold, but the picture makes it look more like yellow.  I speckled the blue background with a white gel pen to make it look more like night and added a shooting star in the right top corner.  I added the "You light my fire" sentiment! Thanks for stopping by and checking out my blog.