Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps August Waltz

Being that it is the 17th of the month it's time for another Waltzingmouse Stamps blog waltz! After missing last month's waltz due to vacations, I knew I wanted to jump right back in and make sure that I made it for August. Then, I hear about the theme: Shabby and Vintage....

Not exactly my go-to style but I thought I would give it a go. For one, Claire's stamps fit into so many themes, but vintage and shabby are definitely what they excel at. Second, I remembered Paper Crafts just came out with their Card Styles issue about all of the different crafting styles. So set with great stamps and a little research, I embarked on my quest to try something new. Here's my final result (a little on the simpler side, but I think it has the necessary elements):

If you can believe it I did have lace in my stash but this is the first time I've used it. I then figured going with Fancy Phrases and Say It With Style were good choices that wouldn't let me down. I went with a feminine approach in my color choices. Finally, I thought some distress inking and sewing was just what this card needed. I was pleasantly surprised to find I actually liked the result when it was complete and I hope you do too. :)

So thanks for stopping by on my shabby and vintage adventure. Be sure to check out the rest of the ladies participating in the blog hop by checking out the Waltzingmouse Stamps Forum.

DETAILS:

Paper - Solids (Martha Stewart, DCWV)

Stamps - Say It With Style Flower & Sentiment, Fancy Phrases Label (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Embellishements - Lace (JoAnns), Ribbon (Stash), Ink (Colorbox), Distress Ink - Antique Linen (Tim Holtz), Sewing

Wicked Inspired

So over on the Waltzingmouse Stamps blog there's this little competition going on to use one of Claire's cute (and free!) templates. I viewed all of the templates available in the store and couldn't think of which one I wanted to use for the longest time. Then I became inspired by the music playing while I was scrapbooking yesterday. This music was from the soundtrack of Wicked. Teaming that with the little witch head template and I had a project idea!

I present Glinda and Elphaba!

I did take a little liberty with the template and cut out the top square so that these could be little candy holders! (I had to go to the store specifically to get some candy to fill these up with even! Not that DH minded getting our candy bowl refilled in the process.) Together, I think these make a cute little pair. They were fun to make, especially the easy way to do fun "hair."

So now it's your turn! :) Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:

Paper - Solids (Martha Stewart), Shimmer Black (Stash), Swiss Dot Green (Bazzill)

Embellishments - Lips (Cut from a chipboard label by Making Memories), Chipboard Buckles (Stash), Circle Punch (EKSuccess)

Template - Witch Template (Waltzingmouse Stamps), Hat Directions (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Key West Revisited

I previously posted some pages on our trip to Key West and southern Florida. Here's yet another about visiting the shipwreck museum. This was actually one of the great highlights of the trip as it was interesting to just hear about Key West's fortune-laden past from collecting from the various shipwrecks along the islands. The museum is housed in the original lookout tower and is full of things that were salvaged. I highly recommend visiting it if you are ever in the area. Then, on the top is the bell to signal if you've seen a shipwreck. None on our watch though....

I tried a new technique on this page. Instead of just a solid paper or a patterned paper as my background I decided to cut up a patterned paper in triangles on my page. I glued the down but then did some sewing around each piece with my trusty sewing machine in a zig-zag stitch. For the first time attempting this, I'm pretty impressed with the result! I think it gives the page a little more personality, don't you think? Then I thought my color palate went perfectly with these fun cursive letters by Colorbok. I have been meaning to use them for a while. Some accents with some more Colorbok chipboard and the layout was deemed finished!

Thanks for stopping by!

You're My Star

Following the latest Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge, I created this fun little card with the star stamp from the Sewing Box Christmas set. The sentiment then comes from the Seasons of Love Tags set.

Here's the sketch:

Here's my take:

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:

Paper - Georgia Pacific

Stamps - Sewing Box Christmas Star, Seasons of Love Tags Sentiment (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Ink - Colorbox

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Here are two layouts I haven't shared yet but were finished before I went to Las Vegas. These pictures are about a year old and when we met up with DH's cousins for some fun on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. I took the liberty to use some more outlandish colors and these bold stripes to go along with the fun of the place.

The log ride photo is one of those that you buy after the ride. One of the cool things is that the photo comes in a fancy little photo holder and by cutting it up a bit, I had the "Santa Cruz Boardwalk" wording on my page! It was also some of the inspiration for the colors in the layout papers.

The second page is of a photo DH took of one of the rides. I just really like this picture and wanted it to be the focus yet still match with the other page to make a set. I included punched circles glued at different levels to add some interest and then some fun chipboard elements from my stash. I also tried out layering border punch borders and I'm really liking the look! Finally, I had a little fun with my white gel pen and added lots of dots to many of the red layers. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:
Paper - Blue Swiss Dot (Bazzill), Solid and Patterned (Crate Paper)
Embellishments - Border Punch (Fiskers), Circle Punch (EKSuccess), Chipboard circles (Colorbok), Chipboard butterfly (Making Memories), Enjoy Chipboard (Making Memories), Labels 1 Die-cuts (Spellbinders), White Gel Pen (Sakura)

Vegas Weekend

No craft projects for this post and sorry for the sporadic posting of something crafty lately. This past weekend I actually had an excuse though since I was in Vegas with my two best friends. I hadn't seen either of them since my wedding last July so it was good to be able to catch up. Here's a few snapshots of our adventures.

Susie sported her RunMonster support on her way to Vegas (she is head of Midwest marketing, you know). We did lots of exploring in the casinos and shops, including M&M World. Saturday marked our trip to the Hoover Dam. A pretty nice picture of the Vegas sign if I do say so myself! (that picture was taken from our bus) Then a night out that included a trip up the elevator of the Eiffel Tower at the Paris Hotel and a great view of the strip. Finally, SF is never too far away as we checked out the Fremont Street Experience and the Golden Gate Casino. (I highly recommend the restaurant there!)

So that's what I've been up to. I hope to get back to posting some craft projects soon. Thanks for stopping by!

Swapping Sistahs - Hello Card

I just have a simple little card for the blog today. The supplies that I used are those that I sent out to all of my Swapping Sistahs participants. They are The Paper Company solids and American Crafts patterned papers. I added some ribbon for embellishment and a jeweled leaf (although I didn't use it here in this card) as well. I can't wait to see what my friends came up with.

I decided to use a Fiskers border punch to add some fun to my propped up panel using the patterned paper. I also embossed the brown with the diamond folder. Finally, a Waltzingmouse Stamps sentiment stamp from the Fancy Phrases completes the deal.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out my friends' blogs on the link to the right!