Color, Color, Color

I just ordered my first Shadow Inks by Hero Arts and as per usual just afterward something so informative comes along that would have made my choices so easy.  If you're a color-loving fanatic like me you'll want to hop over and see a great blog post, with video by Jennifer Maguire.  Check it out here -  Jennifer McGuire. Don't you just love her ring of inky colors?

Invaluable Ink Pad Information!!

You must run check out Jennifer Maquire's blog for her report on three ink pads that are staples in rubber stamping today.  She does an in depth video comparison on pigment and dye ink stamp pads from My Favorite Things, Hero Arts, and Memento Luxe lines...must get some juicy opaque pads by Memento Luxe!!  Here are some links so you can order your's:

All Memento Luxe Pigment Stamp Pads

All My Favorite Things Stamp Pads

Hero Arts Pigment Stamp Pads

ATS Winged Things

I'm feeling inspired to make a card for my young great-niece who makes her First Holy Communion next week and the ATS Blog challenge Winged Things fits the bill perfectly!  Decisions, decisions...hmmm, I'm thinking of a couple of my favorite digital stamps from ATS that would be perfect.

Keep eyes  peeled for a card soon!

Pretty Pink Posh 10 Minute Craft Dash

I was sitting at my computer thinking of an Easter card when up popped on my Facebook page a color themed challenge from Pretty Pink Posh.  They are sponsored on this challenge by Lawn Fawn.  They have the cutest stamps I've been eyeing for some time.  

Here's what I created in 8 minutes...

I started with a 4.25" x 5.5" kraft card and scalloped the border, added a strip of green cardstock to match my May Arts chevron ribbon then stamped a Easter egg border and greeting on a 5.5" x 4" white cardstock that I added a scalloped border to and ribbon before taping to the kraft card and voila!  All done :)  Usually my cards have more detail and proper coloring with Copics but I was really happy to see you can make cute cards without investing hours of work. I think I'm going to make some more too!

Ebay Scrapbook Layouts

It has been forever since I made scrapbook layouts to sell.  I thought I'd give it a try to see if I could use up some of my stash and have a little die-cutting fun.  I love putting these together but the detailed original ones I used to make took so much time.  Here are a couple that will go to the first buyer with $10.00/each:

Click photo for a better look. 

If you'd like to visit my listings check out Ronda's eBay listings - button*box.

Thanks for stopping in today!

Ellen Hutson's Twelve Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist!

Here's my lucky tag for this lucky day 12.12.12 over at Ellen Hutson's 12 Tags of Christmas with a Feminine Twist!  I was inspired by Jennifer Maguire's beautiful tag for both subject matter and colors.  I love her little touches of bling, colors, and three snowflakes.

Hmmm...snowflakes!  Think I'll enter this in Simon Says Stamp's Snowflake Challenge too.

The hardest part of this was making the crystal drops to hang from the birdcage but I love the look!  It's a little hard to see in my photos but I used the Cricut snowflake embossing folder then antiqued the edges  of my tag with Broken China Distress Ink and the flakes with a frost white Colorbox stamp pad.  I chose not  to add a sentiment this time around. 

The bird and cage were both embossed with embossing powder to add some fun texture.  I used several diecuts of Martha Stewart snowflakes and pine bough with a craft store silk flower for a little zing to this otherwise blue creation.

Operation Write Home World Card Making Day Bloghop

If the link in the logo doesn't take you to the bloghop, click
here http://operationwritehome.org/starsandstamps

Here's the OWH sketch I followed for my card for the winter-themed bloghop...

My cards were inspired by some I found on a Lawn Fawn challenge. The cards are constructed similarly by making the bases 4" x 4.25" with the focal image overlapping the card, making the card the required 5.5" x 4.25", fitting an A2 sized envelope.

The papers used on my cards are old stock from my stash which includes Martha Stewart and Cosmos Cricket with a little American Crafts Neopolitan (Mason jars) tossed in for good measure!

Thanks for stopping by my blog and have fun hopping along! Please stop back to see me again sometime.

Peppermints were glazed with Glossy Accents.

All glitter elements were sealed with Glossy Accents.

The Franklin Mint, Harley Davidson Teddy Bear "TINY"

Today, I posted this photo and the following excerpt on an old classmate's Facebook page and thought I should put it here for posterity.

Here's something I designed while a Design Manager at The Franklin Mint (TFM).  This was my last program at TFM so I didn't get to finish everything but it was a fun project while it lasted. I chose English artist, Christine Pike, who prototyped and designed the bear itself because she made the coolest bears with open mouths & TEETH!! I named him "Tiny" in the 2D stage and was surprised it stuck, he was given an embroidered tattoo with it on his arm...a novel thing for bears at the time.   In the end, his teeth were dropped because some thought it might scare collectors! There are so many little secret bits I remember about this bear that no one person at TFM or its predecessor would know today. Oh yeah like, his portly girth was inspired by the Marketing group's name for the first issue which had something to do with Harley Davidson's "Fatboy" motorcycle! With a large direct purchasing manufacturer like TFM there were legions of individuals involved in the design & production of this bear of which I was honored to be the individual who first visualized the bear and pulled all the pieces together to develop 2D and eventually a 3D bear. I really loved this little guy and thought he embodied the best of what I brought to TFM.

At some point it appears the bear's name changed to "Tiny Tim"...I didn't know that until just now! Wish I could still be doing bears...they were so much fun :)  Harley Davidson, if you're listening...

Mid-Week Magnolias is having an "Olympic" challenge! Since I created a USA patriotic inspired card with my new go-to stamp I decided to go for the next best. Inspired by my family's mother land, Italy check out the latest card destined to a trio of favorite cousins!

This card was colored with Copic markers. I used the paper piecing technique on Tilda's dress along with several Spellbinder diecuts. I used a modified easel card base where I folded the easel in half toward the opening and topped with my image and a base of 3 diecuts. This shows off the topper well.

Here are a few more angles:

Patriotic Tilda

Here's our inspiration for the current Magnolia-licious Challenge...

My card...

This was a fun challenge for me because I never seem to find use for a patriotic card until this summer. I made it from several kits I received in a swap last year including lots from the kit I made and shared.

I was particularly tickled by the silver star garland I found and snipped into pieces and worked into my card, adding a red faux crystal to make it bling-worthy. I think it made a terrific embellie as did the wired red glittery stars representing fireworks.


You've probably noticed that in addition to coloring Tilda with Copics I used two more techniques by paper piecing Tilda's dress from a polka dotted paper and hand drew the "USA" on Tilda's flag so my little American Tilda could show her patriotism!

Spellbinders Labels 8 made a perfect base for Tilda on my easel card.

Here's a peek at a few more angles and the card interior:

I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Magnolia-licious Color Inspiration Challenge

7 Kids Kollege Fund Challenge #51 Stars & Stripes

Stamp N Store Repurposed Storage

Here's my thrifty $2 purchase from the local flea market. I hoped it would work for Copics but looks like it is best suited for my stamp pads and reinkers with some Stickles tossed in for good measure.

First, I scrubbed it down then lightly sanded all surfaces. I didn't opt to prime it since it had a commercial grade coat of white paint so I moved straight on to painting. It took several coats of satin black paint to cover the white with a light sanding between coats...



I finished off with several spray coats of clear satin acrylic for durability. One sheet of scrapbook paper made a perfect lining for the back of the box and voila! Not bad for a $2 investment and a couple hours of time.

Free Paper Crafting Templates

It doesn't take much to make this papercrafting-granny sing anymore but this actually got me off my feet dancing a little jig! Oh my, just when you think you've been around long enough to know alot along comes a link so fantastic you just have to share with your blogging friends and family AND wonder why you haven't found it before now. ((Cousin Linda, I hope you find this and have fun :o))

Fun-stuff-to-do.com is just the spot for one-stop shopping for FREE templates of every sort. I think I might have to make one of those fun cake boxes everyone was making last year soon too. Here's the first pattern I downloaded: okay...so the site says I can't publish their patterns without permission so here's a 3D item I created from a spent roll of clear wide package sealing tape but it gives you the idea of "CAKE" right? Well, maybe soon I'll post a wedge of cake made from their pattern. Keep checking but in the interim if you'd like to make my version you can see my tutorial in an earlier post HERE.