Oh Owl Sticks!

I have been DYING to do something with those candle sticks I painted the other day. Since I rarely turn candle sticks into well, candlesticks...this is a bit of a change for me!

Love the shimmer of that paint! The  fabulous owls were made from clear stamps called From Owl of Us that are sold over at THE CUTTING CAFE SHOP. I know you are wondering why they have red eyes....hold tight and I'll show you!

Little heart gems! Aren't they sweet! I embossed them with sparkly black and then used water color pencils to color in the owls.

Look at them look at each other! I think they are saying, look at that snow! We finally got some!

Happy Hump Day!

Pocket Letter Love

I have totally gotten addicted to these! I think it's due to my love of using up scraps! And all the fun little details you can add...This pocket letter was mailed off to a friend who is struggling at work. I wrote something encouraging on the back. ;-)

Totally love that vintage looking rose I used along with all the trendy arrows and that sweet banner!

The other thing that has got me excited are those little cups! Lisa over at Life of a BZ scrapper hooked me up with those! Love the glittery red paper! So pretty! I just free handed on a top and then lined it with glitter. Yum!

One more shot where you can see the edges of that big ole silver tray I just had to have...what a great prop!

Hope my friend enjoys these! Happy Tuesday!

Memorandum Monday: Out for a Rip

Valentine's Day must make men crazy. Having spent an hour or two wandering around the big box store that shall not be named on Saturday...I saw men young and old carrying boxes of chocolate, potted plants, and roses. I must have missed the dude at the door collecting man cards because these guys all looked at least slightly sheepish and entirely awkward. One dude tossed a plant in disgust all while talking to himself...he said THAT IS IT I AM NOT SPENDING ANOTHER DOLLAR...leaving me to wonder exactly what the scoop was.

THE MAN decided he should take Suzy the Suzuki for a ride vs any purchasing shenanigans..despite the fact it's been below freezing for days now and ye ole Suzy there doesn't have doors or a heater....While out on our trails, Suzy decided she was not finishing the ride. Since it was getting dark (and colder) she was left out there for the night.

Bright and early on Valentine's Day THE MAN was out trying to get her started. No dice. I offered to help four times but he said he could handle it. I wasn't gunna argue since it's COLD OUT THERE. Looked out the laundry room window and Suzy was at the the top of the hill. The tractor was holding her from rolling down the hill. (Or down the hill, over the bank, and into the intersection if you have a vivid imagination). There is No Way one person can drive a tractor and also steer a vehicle at the same time. So donned my wool hat & gloves that I brought with me from the north over my wet hair and threw on a heavy coat. Showed up just in time to help tug Suzy down the hill with the tractor, THE MAN steered Suzy, and Luke spotted us all the way around the house and into the garage.

Got off the tractor and discovered my hair was frozen in a huge chunk. It went nicely with my running nose. The rest of the hair under the hat was actually dry but molded into hat hair. I had a fair bit of primping to do to get ready to go out to lunch for our annivesary!

Aside from learning that Valentine's Day makes men crazy? I also learned that in sub zero temps grabbing a cart from the parking lot is cold on the hands (wear mittens) but also great because you can skip the sanitzing stuff at the front of the store since the germs are all dead! Fun times!

Waving over at Sian who is the Memorandum on Monday girl!

12 tags of 2016-February & One Little Quote

Why, happy Valentine's Day to you! It's an extremely cold day here in NY but we are staying warm! It's also my 18th Wedding annivesary! So happy day to us! Not sure what our plans are...we might head off to see the Star Wars movie...the youngest is named...well after Luke Skywalker...so we might be fans...

Thought I'd pop in with my second Tim Tag. His February tag was quite inspiring although I went quite a different way with it. I love his style, but then I like to create with more color I think!

I did start with the same stencil background. It's my favorite and probably the only one I actually own from his line. ;-)



I also used a lot of gold! And a real photo of us cutting our cake, but you can't see the cake of course! I made up for it with all the frosting & glitter on this tag! Also popped on a little gold cherub I had that is playing a horn on top of a rose with some velvet leaves. Didn't have a heart stencil so cut the photo in the shape of a heart!

Totally digging all the crinkled ribbon! I am making these tags to fit together so later they can all be displayed together with a common quote. I'm kinda excited about that, but I have quite a while to wait! Ten more months to be exact!

Happiest of days to you and stay warm...unless you are some place that is warm so stay cool? Hugs!

Junkin Gold & Rusty Rose Frame

Yes I tried to frame a puppy print. Love that we had snow when I took this photo. Check out this $14 metal frame that I picked up junkin' the other day. I know. It's fabulously fine and it's mine! Works a treat in my Valentine's Day display. Didn't keep it the rusty gold though..I had to trim a few things off the back, specifically the clips that would hold the glass & picture in.

Isn't it pretty sitting amoung a few of my favorite things? You might remember a few of these projects. There is the stained glass lamp project that is smack dab in the middle of the rose frame. The tea pot tree topper from this past Christmas is sitting in a jar that I spray prainted and posted recently. A LESSology silver bird cage and a mailbox from THE CUTTING CAFE  are also included along with some silver trays and that super awesome clock I made with rolled roses. And those velvety red roses right in the middle I found on sale at Michaels for $2 or something...because they were Christmas decorations! Totally dig those too!

It's totally amazing what a little paint will do...isn't that frame pretty? I just used black spray paint with some gold splatters!

Hoping your Thursday is full of pretty!

WINNER Layout for THE CUTTING CAFE SHOP

So you probably recall a week or so back when I wrote about these fabulous stamps I got in the mail from my friend Regina called From Owl of Us that are sold over at THE CUTTING CAFE SHOP. Well, I used them again to help showcase this cool photo of my niece Rebecca who made this upcycled jewelry owl. 

I embossed that pretty piece of turquoise paper with GOLD OWLS. They are so cute!

And since I wanted some bigger owls for my page, I then used her digital owls all printed out and colored from the FUN WITH OWLS printable set, which happen to have the same two owls that can be found in the clear stamps. ;-) Water colored them after I printed them out on photo paper. 

One more photo so you can see those clear gems I used to show off the pretty vintage jewelry Rebecca used to make her owl. I got text messaged photos of her project as she worked on it. She lives quite far away, so I haven't gotten a chance to see her owl in real life. She was very sad though because she didn't "win" the contest she had entered. I personally think this project is quite the winner as she recycled a frame, old vintage jewelry from her Great Grandma, and velvet from a pair of pants!

Love your project, Rebecca!

Happy finally middle of the Week peeps!

NOEL Layout: Wrapping Up Christmas

I seriously had to dig down in the stash to find this paper. This particular piece I have been HOARDING. And when I say hoarding, I mean like it's been in my stash forever and each time I passed it I sighed a happy sigh and smiled...However, desperate times call for desperite measures. I have finally worked through most of the Christmas paper I have. Which means finally next year I'll have to order some. Oh the things to look forward to!

That main piece of paper really is the rock star in this layout, although that dog peeking from the corner is also top on my list, as are the photos of my two trees, and that Christmas family photo we took. Loving those doilies & the Noel words that came my way from Lisa at Life of a BZ Scrapper. They were just the delicate touch I needed to add some layering under my photos.

So glad I pulled this paper out and was able to make good use of it!

Happy Tuesday!

Memorandum Monday: Glass Paints, Gold Spray Paint, and Fudge Ripple

Oh my. This past week was quite the learning experience. I'm not quite ready to share just yet, but truth be told things are coming together and I''ll be ready soon. I am more than happy to tell you just a bit about glass painting though while you wait. Most of last week is still swirling through my head like fudge ripple ice cream and when it's fully blended, I'll be sure to dish it up in a pretty bowl with whip cream, a cherry and two spoons!

Anyhow...on the glass painting....

Clear glass things at the second hand store are SO PLENTIFUL. It seems quite a shame to leave them behind especially when they are dotty like these candle sticks. I am still not sure if I'm actually using them as candle sticks, but they were great to try a technique on. I had been on the hunt for a DIY way to make glass look iredescent. Since I haven't found a spray paint that works well for that, I turned to glass paint. Specifically one that gets brushed on. After drying for 24 hours, it's then baked in the oven.

On these, I tried to create my own mist by mixing two glass paints together with a little of the thinner but I think brushing it on would have been better. I was pretty happy with the gold spray paint that I added under the bottom of the candlesticks and right at the top. I am pretty sure I'll be making a few glass ornaments this next Christmas in a similar manner...can you imagine how pretty that will be?

Anyhow, I leave you with a shimmer and a promise to dish next week. Waving hello at Sian who has been talking most recently about inspiration and is our crew chief for Memorandum Monday. Hoping all my talk of glass paint has been inspiring!

Vintage Hankie Heart Angel for LESSology

Totally dig how an upcycled curtain tie back complete with tassle, vintage lace, a used wooden heart frame, and a couple of vintage hankies came together to make a cool angel! I also ventured into something new...painting on glass! The tassle is for our current challenge over at LESSology! Hope you get a chance to play along! All this upcycling is really quite addicting!

That little shimmery angel head used to be a light bulb. I really had been trying to find a spray paint that was opalescent and kept coming up short. 

I did find a glass paint that had that shimmer I wanted so I painted the light bulb and baked it using the instructions on the bottle. I am loving the color! I did add a little gold spray paint to match the frame. And to think I was just going to throw out that little bulb...It's held in place with some hardware epoxied to a dowel. 

Check out the texture on that frame. 

I embossed a little foil tape, added it to my frame and then painted over it. Really love that look!

You can see behind the angel is some material. Since I cut the hankie in half, I was able to use the other half as a backing on the frame. The wings are a wood applique I purchased from Wood & What-Knots of Character. They got inked up and then I added some glitter! The wings were the only new things I used besides those Petaloo flowers. Love Petaloo flowers and their velvet leaves!

Loving this piece! Hope you get a chance to make something & hang with us over at LESSology!

Trading Br'Apple Butter for an OMG Pocket Letter from THE CUTTING CAFE

Recently I was offered Br'Apple Butter in trade for a Pocket Letter. Since I happen to be hoarding my current jar of Br'Apple butter I thought it was a most excellent idea. I love making pocket letters and I am hoping the new jar is hand delivered over the summer. WIN WIN! The pocket letter needed a pocket so I designed one that mimiced the pocket letter with little bitty cards. That big burlap rose has a twist tie holding the actual pocket shut. Happen to use three so it was perfect to fit OMG on!

Love those OMG letters I used that Regina created over at THE CUTTING CAFE. They are part of her Big Expression series. I thought it was an appropriate sentiment for all those little cool cards! Since the Br'Apple butter maker isn't a scrapper, I am figuring she'll give them away with little presents or something.

Aren't those cute! I used little envelopes my friend Yvonne from over at Do More With Less sent me on six of them. The envelopes open and you can write something in them. I had planned on hoarding them but thought using them up on this pocket letter where you could see all of them at once would be epic.

Hoping she likes them! Happy Hump Day peeps! We are half way to Friday!

Walk-About Layout for Another Freaking Scrappy

A walk taken the day after Christmas to stretch the legs and invigorate resulted in a random scrapbook page due to the fact my new trail cam caught us. Santa brought me a trail cam because I had wanted earlier in the year to see what kind of critter was raiding my bird feeders. I mean I had my suspicions since they scaled the pole with little muddy foot prints, but I wanted a photo...

As you can see, we have been blessed with a very mild winter. In fact, so mild that I used pretty velvet leaves along with some snowflakes punched from birch bark. A shout out to Lisa at Life of a BZ Scrapper  who sent me the leaves and also that pretty gold flower. Yvonne at Do More With Less hooked me up with the glasses paper clip & the camera that I thought worked well for the concept! She is always encouraging us to upcycle and use up our scraps, so this challenge is one after her own heart!

Anne over at Another Freaking Scrappy is asking us to: use one full sheet of paper only, and all other pieces of paper in the layout must be from your scraps. One embellishment must be leftover from a package where you have used your favourite embellies from it already, and have not found a use for the one you choose yet.

Since I misread what she wrote, I thought she meant for us to use a piece of packaging in our layout, which I did right there across the top..I think technically it works because I used up everything else!
I did also use two FULL pieces of paper but I always back anything I do with two sheets because it has to be stiff to work in my scrapbook. The rest of the page was the left over bits and bobs from a kit. In fact that large pink piece of paper is actually in two pieces behind my photos because I didn't have one big enough.

And I know you are curious to find out if I caught anything else on my trailcam...why yes yes I did! Got my first very wacko looking deer...oh my! Not exactly exciting!

Anyhow, hope your Tuesday is terrific!

Hugs!

10 Shades of Special: Memorandum Monday

One can really not judge when you personally bring home all kinds of odd things. Some of which clearly fall into the fugly category. You also can't complain when THE MAN is so very good about coaching one through various projects that require power tools. So with that in mind, when the $297.27 trainwreck of a Suzuki 4 x 4 showed up with a cracked windshield, road soda cup holders screwed into the dash, and a long story involving a scary lady in a house coat with two small children in a trailer missing some teeth...It's best to just offer to help.

I had planned on accompany THE MAN on the adventure that started early on Saturday, but since Luke has started to show an interest into things with wheels, particularly things he might drive with wheels I went grocerying instead.

Since it was Luke's adventure, I lurked in the background when the beast was rolled off the trailer with the help of the tractor and the boy at the wheel. When I asked questions as to why we weren't starting the car and actually driving it off, it sounded as if there were questionable brakes, a lack of power steering and something about a transmission. It was then best for me to just head back into the house.

In all fairness, I think the purchase was spurred on by the fact I had a hen party at the house. Those are THE MAN's words not mine. A bunch of us got together to make some cards and scrapbook pages. The boys spent the afternoon in the garage with cutting torches and cutting wheels dismantling the 4 x 4. I think they are are planning some kinds of woods vehicle and chasing away the winter blues by welcoming spring fever.

Dismantling discoveries included a set of spike antlers still with deer fur on them, $2.73 in spare change, and a mouse nest complete with a mouse in the headliner, The other discovery was that my youngest likes to wrench and both had a most epic afternoon covered in grime. I learned that I don't have to be involved in every single adventure THE MAN has and it's OK to hang in the background and let the youngest get his hands dirty!

Happy wave over to Sian who hosts Memorandum Monday!