AWOL...oops

I tell you, life has been uber crazy lately....It seems like I don't have any time to do anything.  Here it is already August and I feel like the year has flown by!! 

I haven't had much creative time lately, which isn't good because my first craft show is early October and I have nothing done....

I did sell a few things in town...a few domino magnets and some glitter jars....The main item I plan on selling at Oktoberfest are glittered ornaments, but I can't get ornaments yet...  :(  Still looking for them...

Since my last post, I've been to see Elvis with Raine.....

We had a wonderful girls weekend in Memphis....spending one day with the King at Graceland.  This was Raine's first time there, my fourth....We were VIPs there, got a 'private' shuttle across to the mansion and a special exhibit at the mansion.  Never get tired of going to Graceland...It always seems that there is a new exhibit everytime I go there!



Last weekend, I had pit tickets with Alicia to see our favorite band, Rascal Flatts, in Chicago.  One word for this: AMAZING!!  I don't think I will ever get over the experience! 

Talk about close!  Phew!  Alicia even got 'sweated' on by Joe Don....LOL

These are some of my favorite pics from the concert.  These were taken with no zoom used on the camera....Can you believe it?

Well, I'm off to my latest addiction now: the couch for the Olympics...I just can't get enough!!

Hope to get some crafting done this weekend!  Or maybe I will spend another weekend engrossed with Christian Grey....

Laters baby.  ;)

Easter egg coloring....

Hubby wanted to color eggs for Easter...  I haven't done this in years, but we had a lot of fun.....

 So we completely tore out our front garden today and we're both dog tired.....Completely ripped out the garden, laid down weed barrier, and then lava rock gravel.  We originally bought 10 bags of rock, then had to go buy 15 more bags, and that wasn't enough either....ugh....so off to Wal-Mart for 5 more bags.....

We finally got it completely done at 7pm...just in to go pick up the pups from the groomer....They got their first haircuts and look how cute they are....

They have Easter egg stickers on their foreheads....LOL

This girl is off to bed.  Everyone have a Happy Easter!!

Something new....

Hubby and I have decided to try out our green thumbs this year.  So we went to the store and bought a mini greenhouse and some seeds.  We got uber-hot peppers (habanero and jalapeno), sweet bell peppers, mint, tomatoes, and cucumbers.   We planted the seeds last week and now look at them:

The massive seedlings at the top of the screen are the cucumbers.  They sprouted up first and everything else is slowly trailing behind them.  We have no growth as of yet on the mint, which is highly unusual as it seems like that stuff can't be killed.

Once the seedlings are ready, which should be in about 4-6 weeks, we are going to make a mini garden out in our backyard where the pups can't get to.  So hopefully this summer we'll have fresh veggies to use.  We'll see how green our thumbs really are.

Off to bed....

A sign....

My creative mojo has been really flowing lately....Not sure if it is my sudden lack of ability to sleep or what, but I guess it's not such a bad thing.  I've got all my classes done from now through June....LOL

Been messing around with Distress Stains a lot lately...Really love how they work on wood....It's nice to be able to get a great background color on the wood without having to break out the acrylic paints....And the best thing: it takes one coat....no sanding or sealing of the wood necessary!

Here is my latest result of dabbling with Distress Stains:

This wooden sign was based with Walnut Stain Distress Stain.  I used the Fanciful Flight die to make the butterfly.  The butterfly's top layer was made with grungepaper and the bottom layer was cut from a manilla tag.  The bottom layer was inked with Distress Inks in various colors and assembled with the top layer.  Then I filled in all of the 'wing spaces' with Rock Candy Distress Stickles.   This gives the wings an almost transparent effect. Pretty cool huh?
 


 
I really love the new Word Bands from Tim Holtz Idea-ology line.  This Word Band was rubbed with Pearl Paint Dabbers to make the letters stand out.   The Word Band was adhered to the sign using Matte Medium and hemp twine.  This twine has been my go-to embellishment lately.  I love it because it matches just about anything.  I love this twine so much that I decided to order it in black last week...  LOL


Thanks for stopping by....

A layout....

I have been getting quite a lot accomplished in the Scrap Cave since I've reorganized it.  Here's the most recent one:

This layout is from our Gatlinburg vacation last October.  We had our 4 year old nephew with us and he loved to play putt-putt (or as he called it "golf-golf").  I used the Bo Bunny Grease Monkey collection, some Thickers, and some bright blue cardstock.  (Grease Monkey was one of my faves from Bo Bunny released a few years ago.)  All of the stickers from Bo Bunny were dusted with powder to remove the adhesive and pop-dotted to five a little dimension.




I realized after completing this layout that I have about 20 more pictures of 'golf-golf' to scrap.  (The boy really liked to play golf when we were down there. LOL)

Meanwhile, while I was scrapping, Simba kitty decided to come and help me scrap....Here's some pictures of my little assistant.  As you can see, he likes to get right in the middle of my work area and 'sun' himself under my Ott Lite....


Well, going to watch some 'An Idiot Abroad' before the pizza gets here.

Another day, another tag....

I'm having a lot of fun making these wooden tags....This one is based with Fired Brick and Wild Honey Distress Stains and allowed to dry.  Then, using the Wallpaper stamp from Tim Holtz CMS126, I embossed the background with gold WOW! embossing powder.

Next, using tissue tape and a cardstock circular base, I created a rosette.  Then, I used some Adornments from the Ideaology charm pack.  To make them match my background, I colored them with gold alcohol ink.  I adhered the wings and crown to the rosette using a strong adhesive such as Studio Matte Medium or Glossy Accents.  A Fractured Doll was adhered on top of the wings and crown.  Once the embellishments were set, I inserted a memo pin and distressed Adage ticket (inked with Peeled Paint) behind the rosette and adhered the entire circle to the tag.  I finished off the tag with some green lace and a crystal bauble.

Want to learn more about Distress Stains?  Look for a class or two being offered at my LSS in the next couple of months!  In the meantime, happy scrappin'!!  :)

Just messing around....

Finally getting to where I can focus in the scrap cave so I did so messing around with some wood tags, powders, and stains....

The first tag is based with Weathered Wood and Bundled Sage Distress Stain and allowed to dry.  Then, using the Wood stamp from stamp set CMS126, I embossed the image onto the tag using brown embossing powder.

Taking pieces of the foliage, I embossed them with various embossing powders (white, purple, green, and orange) and allowed them to cool.  The green powder was Metalline Green from WOW! and is one of my new favorite embossing powders.  Using an ornate plate and an adage tag, I assembled the title and adhered it to the tag using Matte Medium.  Then, I adhered the foliage to the tag with the Matte Medium.

This tag was finished off using May Arts twine, which is one of my new favorite, go-to embellishments.   I love this stuff and it comes on a 400yd roll!!  :)



Off to the Scrap Cave for another go round....  :)