21st Century Pillow Book

Hiya everyone! Today I am not sharing a project with you, rather asking for help. We crafty folk tend to run in the same circles, so I am sure that everyone that visits me is very familiar with Betty of Simply B Stamps. You may also know that Betty’s son Christian has cancer. Needless to say, Betty’s bills are piling up not only from the cancer treatments, but the gas to get to the hospital (which I believe is over an hour away), hotel stays (when Christian needs to stay at the hospital), food, etc. It is all taking it’s toll not only on Betty mentally, but on her pockets as well. Tori , from Smeared and Smudged, came up with a great idea to have a fundraiser for her. Tori sells Scentsy products, and thought that it would be a wonderful way to raise money for Betty and Christian. I recently became a Pampered Chef consultant, and decided to follow Tori’s lead. So, I am hosting a fundraiser in Betty’s name to try to get some money raised to cover some of their ever-growing expenses. P

Hello Friends! I am excited to share a new project with you today…one that is partially responsible for the return of my lost mojo. I have become rather obsessed with decorating 4x4 and 6x6 travertine tiles. The kind you get at Home Depot or Lowes. I’ve made many of them in the past week, and I will be sharing a few with you. Today’s tile is one that I used stamps with. Bombshell Stamps ! When I had purchased my first pack of tiles, it was sealed. I didn’t think anything of it…it’s supposed to be sealed. But, at the store, there were many, many opened packs. Which is why I grabbed a sealed one. Who wants an open pack, anyway? Well, upon opening it, I found that several of the tiles had huge holes in them. Not at all conducive to the original project I had intended them for (more on that in another post!). My husband came up with a rather clever idea for sealing some of the smaller holes…but then there was this one. Who’s hole is actually rather lovely. It has a great shimmer to it, a

***I apologize for this not being up on time. I thought that I had set the time properly, and then I lost my wireless connection, and I guess it didn't take. Grrr.....and now back to your regularly scheduled blog post.  Ok seriously. Where is this summer going. This is one summer that I wanted to stretch out like a cat basking in a window sill. But alas, it is moving quickly....and since it is the last Wednesday in July, that means it's time for the always-fabulous Bombshell Stamps Hump Day Hop! This month, my theme was "Iconic." I wanted evryone to work their crafty magic by using those itty bitty awesome little icons that come with all of the Bombshell sets. I "allowed" the hoppers to use 1 major image, but I encouraged them (no, there were no whips or chains involved), to not even use 1. All icons. Wanna see what I made? I am on a bit of a jewelry kick, which, if you know me...shouldn't be too much of a surprise. Jewelry and Christmas presents

Hello again! It’s time for a Smeared & Smudged Blog Hop! The theme is “Bring the Heat.” “This is totally up to interpretation....some ideas would be using heat embossing, hot glue or fire. Or even using imagery of fire, heat, or even something SEXY! Step outside your comfort zones - the HOTTER the better!!! It can be a canvas, a card, a scrapbook page, an altered item, an art journal page, etc. Use your imaginations. Also, don't forget the S&S rule that is has to be stamped somewhere (digi stamps are fine).” I teamed up with my Bombshell Stamps Babes, and used several sets for my “hot” creation. I started off using Harley Bikes , knowing that I wanted to use the flame from the Hula Girl set on the tank of the bike. I stamped the bike, then the flame- in 2 colors, and I embossed the flame so that it would really show…especially after I colored the rest of the tank in. Then I went for a stamp I hadn’t used before…the devil from the Cherry Bomb set. I stamped him

Hello! Today I am sharing the latest Pin-Up challenge from  Bombshell Stamps . As you probably know, each month, Bombshell has a guest Pin-Up, that gets to create a challenge for everyone to play along with. Well, this month, we have Susie, and she has chosen something super cool. Your challenge is to make jewelry using your Bombshell Stamps and paper. No altered pre-made jewelry. I did ask Susie if chipboard was ok, and she said yes. So that's what I used.  I used the focal image from  Mi Amor . I stamped her with black StazOn by laying the stamp on my crafting table and bringing my piece of chipboard to her, to ensure proper placement. Then I went to town by using my brightest colors of Distress Inks. I applied those with my Cut-N-Dry Nibs.  I used 10 colors of Distress Inks. After I was done coloring, I applied abut 5 layers of Amazing Glaze from Judi Kins. It's an embossing powder that looks like glass when you apply more than one layer. My favorite embos

I have a Desert Islands Crafters Challenge to share with you today. This challenge is being sponsored by Jellypark, who sells very sweet, adorable little digis. Play along with us for a chance to win an image of your choice! This latest itinerary is from the brilliant mind of our very own Suzi. Here it is.  Suzi's Itinerary 1 -Sunshine     2 -Trees 3 -Fluffy Bunnies 4 -Picnic time 5 -Kraft coloured card/paper 6 -add some texture 7 -friendship   8 -A happy sentiment  9 -Brads and eyelets  1 0 -Anything but a card For my card, I used numbers 1, 5, 7, 8, and 9. My image is called "Follow Me." I chose it, not just because I really liked it, but also because the proceeds from the sale of this image will be donated to  Little Havens Children's Hospice . What a joyful little image, right?   I really enjoyed coloring it. I need to print it out for my kids too, since they wanted to join in as soon as they saw it. And I love that the proceeds be

It's sketch challenge time with the Bombshell gals! Kathi has come up with another wonderful sketch for us to work with. I decided to use Bombshell Stamps ' Peek-A-Boo Geisha and Man's Ruin for my card. I altered the sketch only slightly. I have to say, I really enjoy coloring in the parasols that come in this set. You can really change up the feel of the geisha with how you color her parasol. What a fun set to play with! I used Copics for my image. And I stamped my sentiment with a watercolor marker. It's a little tough to see the colors...I used very pale shades. But the parasol itself has a pretty gradation of color on it. But my photos make it look a bit washed out. I sprayed the background with Lily Pad Glimmer Mist, just to bring out the green in her shoes a bit. Have you checked out the other versions of this sketch? No? Then you should head over to the Bombshell Blog to see what the rest of the gals have come up with! And don't forget to add

Hi, my name is Alison and I have lost my mojo. I have no idea where it went...but I am a little concerned that    it is on summer vacation. I've had a bunch of thing I've wanted/needed to do, but I just can't get them to come to fruition. Which is frustrating on many levels. Granted, I have wanted to take things easy lately, to enjoy my time with the kids as much as possible before school starts, but I feel a little lost when it comes to my crafts right now. I think I know why....but I wish I could just get over what I am bummed about and just move on and start making stuff again. But enough of the sobbing....I managed to finally get my DICC project done, which is really great since a.) we were sponsored by Just Some Lines , and b.) I'm the one that came up with this itinerary. Go me for being a slacker. Here's my itinerary...which I think is a pretty good one, by the way. Alison's Itinerary 1. Spooky 2. Teal 3. Time (either use a clock or the word)