Drunken Stampers Challenge #107 - Not Too Shabby

I know I know I know, as part of Team Flirtini, it's not my challenge week on Drunken Stampers...but come on now...distressed / shabby chic??? How could I not? This is totally my thing...I distress almost everything I make and I love love love the disorganized, messy, old look of shabby chic.

In my last post I said I bought a Tim Holtz stamp set recently, my first one...well I have been soooooo excited to put ink to rubber! So this was the perfect challenge.

I had originally planned to use another image, but by the time I got done layering everything up and adding all the little things I wanted to, the image would have covered it all up, so I went for one of the smaller sentiments that didn't take up as much space.

So here's my card for this challenge:

What's in it:

Cardstock - Early Espresso (SU), Kraft (The Paper Company)

Design Paper - Newsprint (SU)

Inks - Early Espresso & Crumb Cake (SU)

Cog Punch (SU)

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Film Strip Ribbon

Sentiment - Tim Holtz Visual Artistry (Stampers Anonymous Collection)

Thanks for lookin!!!

Ebay is a dangerous thing...

For the record, let me tell you...I love ebay...I love buying things on ebay...I love just looking at "stuff" on ebay. I recently bought a stamp set at Michael's...my very first set of Tim Holtz clear stamps. The one I bought it Visual Artistry, the one with a man holding an umbrella, a clock, some tickets, a few sentiments and for some reason birds on a wire.
If you are not familiar with the crazy amazing work of Tim Holtz, you are missing out. I have long since been in awe of his work, I follow him on Twitter and Pinterest, I read his blog regularly. I really LOVE his shabby, distressed, out of this world cool style. For sure, some of it is totally over the top, but that's what makes it so amazing.
So this morning I started looking for card samples online using the stamp set I bought, one of the links I followed brought me to the same stamp set on ebay...for a mere FRACTION of what I paid for it (including shipping!!).
That's where I went off track...I have a list of about 25 Tim Holtz stamp sets that I really really really want. I have put them on my Christmas list...so far I have only made one ebay bid...
I know I know I know...its REALLY wrong to buy things for myself before Christmas....but they are soooooo freakin cool!
So, if you are not yet on the Tim Holtz bandwagon...let me tempt you...here's a link to his blog:
http://timholtz.com/blog 

Drunken Stampers Challenge #106 - Cut, Crop and Die

Here we are! Time for another Drunken Stampers challenge...time is flying by!
This week's challenge is "Cut, Crop and Die," be sure to visit the DRUNKEN STAMPERS BLOG for all the details on this challenge and to show Team Flirtini some love!!

It's no secret that I love punches...surprisingly I don't really own that many dies, so I went with punches for this challenge. I used 5 different punches on this card...can you guess all five?? If not they are listed under the card :)

I am still loving the inlaid embossing technique as you can see and the square lattice embossing folder from Stampin' Up is just perfect for this technique.

Here's my card for this challenge:

 

What's in it:

Cardstock - Kraft (The Paper Company), Lucky Limeade & Whisper White (SU)

Ink - Lucky Limeade & Tangering Tango (SU)

Stamps - Mixed Bunch & Really Retro (SU)

Embossing folder - Square Lattice (SU)

Ribbon - Lucky Limeade (SU)

Design Paper and Brads - Everyday Enchantment (SU)

Punches - Blossom, 1" Square, 3/4" Circle, Modern Label & Word Window (SU)

Thanks for lookin!! 

   

 

Gift card holders....

Tis the season...to start thinking about Christmas shopping, gift giving and all that fun stuff...I had a morning off work today (I work 1 - 9 pm today, we have an agency special event later) so I headed into the craft room.
We are making & selling some Christmas gift card holders for our United Way campaign at work & one of my co-workers suggested it would be a good idea to have some that are not so "Christmas-y"
One of my stamping friends (Ter) had sent me a rock star mat stack a while ago, and it has super cool paper in it, guitars, lips, skulls, stars...and I thought they might make good gift card holders.
The plan was to make one as a prototype...and as you can see from the pictures, I got a little carried away and made 24 this morning!!!

Here is the full set of 24:

And here is a closer up of three of my favourites:

Whats in it:

DCWV Rock Star Mat Stack

Cardstock (for insert and tag) - Whisper White - SU

Round Tab Punch - SU

Thanks for lookin!! 

Remembrance Day

Today is Remembrance Day. On the eleventh day, the eleventh month and the eleventh hour we shall stop for two minutes of silence and remember. The first minute will be to honour the soldiers who fought and died and fought and returned from battle or continue to fight battles. The second minute is to remember their families and how much their lives have changed. Lest we forget how great this country is because of their sacrifice.

Grandad Fred, 1940

In Flanders fields the poppies blow. Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky. The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago. We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie. In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

- John McCrae

 

 

Drunken Stampers Challenge 105 - Fifty Shades of Grey

Happy Happy Happy Saturday!!
Time for another Drunken Stampers Challenge, this week's challenge is "Fifty Shades of Grey." Am I the only person who hasn't read these books??? Anyway, back to the challenge, this week be sure to use black / white / grey on your project.
Check out the DRUNKEN STAMPERS BLOG for all the details on this challenge.

I can't take any credit for my project for this challenge, I saw this awesome black and white card on Pinterest / Splitcoast Stampers and knew I wanted to recreate it for this challenge.
The original card was made by Karen Barber, here's a link to her card on Splitcoast:
KAREN BARBER'S BLACK AND WHITE CARD

And here is my take on Karen's card:

What's in it:

Cardstock - Basic Black & Whisper White (SU)

Stamp set - Bliss (SU)

Ink - Tuxedo Black (Momento)

Ribbon - Basic Narrows (Michaels)

Punches - Small Oval, Large Oval, Elegant Butterfly (SU)

Thanks for lookin!!

Poor Poor Yellow Dogs

Getting old sucks...not just for people, but for pets too.
Two Saturdays ago the yellow dogs went to the vet...Gordon had a growth on his head and the bump on Ruby's leg seemed to be getting bigger.
Turns out what we thought was a skin tag on Gordon's head that he had scratched open was actually a wart (who knew dogs got warts???) and the bump on Ruby's leg was getting bigger because she had another lump growing under it!!
So poor Gordon got his head shaved (nope he wouldn't look at me so I could take his picture)

And Ruby was scheduled to have surgery to remove both her leg lumps. Here she is relaxing at home after her surgery.

So, a week later, both yellow dogs have been on antibiotics, Ruby has also been on pain killers and anti - inflammatories. On Monday morning Ruby went back to the vet, she had chewed through her bandages and opened a completely separate wound on her foot. She's been in to see the vet Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday this week and goes back in on Friday morning again. To keep her from getting to the bandages she has to wear the cone of shame...

Isn't that just the saddest little face you've ever seen????
After a few days she figured out how to pick up toys with the cone on and started to look a little less miserable.

 

Drunken Stampers Challenge #104 - Memoirs of a Geisha

This week's challenge on the Drunken Stampers Blog is Memoirs of a Geisha....an Asian inspired challenge.

Be sure to check out the blog (click above) for all the details on this challenge and to see all the projects created by Team Flirtini this week.

I knew right away I wanted to use either the Symbols of Solitude or Kanji stamp sets for this challenge. They are retired sets from SU but have always been two of my favourites.

I used a Versamarker on the stamps for the card base to get the script only and not the text underneath.

I really like the way the Raspberry Ripple looks with the black and white.

Cardstock - Raspberry Ripple, Basic Black, Whisper White (SU)

Ink - Basic Black (SU)

Stamps - Symbols of Solitude (SU)

Versamarker

Thanks for lookin!!