It's Grungy Monday (on a Wednesday)

I'm just a couple days late. Busy getting ready for quilt retreat, tomorrow. Yeah!!!! and I needed a tag for my gift exchange bag so I thought I'd try out the Grungy Monday challenge from Linda over at Studio L3 which happens to be a lovely tag technique from our beloved Tim Holtz way back from 2008. I used some homemade misters with peeled paint and broken china reinkers and a swirly mini mask. Stamps from Club Scrap's Textiles and Notions kit. Rummaged around in my sewing box for a couple of snaps and rick rack for the finishing touches. You all have a great week end, I'm off to sew!

Hey Will!! You're 20!!

I've been tripping through the way back machine, digitally scrapping picture of my youngest son, Will. Today is his 20th birthday. Really? 20? It seems like it was just yesterday, not 1994, when we hiked in the Sawtooth Mountains of southern Idaho and camped near a great sliding rock.

And didn't we just go see "Men In Black" last week end? Which prompted 2 little boys to demand their very own neuralizers so they could run around zapping everyone's memories for the next 2 months?

And I know it was just a summer ago, not 8 summers ago, that I captured a 12 year old Will with a bad headache from too much play and not enough water getting a hug from dad on the beach at Ocean Shores, Washington.

And here he is just last month (really!) at Estrella War just before the sandstorm from hell arrived to wipe out the rest of the week end. So, Happy Birthday, Will. May your next 20 be just as adventurous as the first 20.

Emergence

Darwin, our 8 year old desert tortoise emerged from hibernation this week. It was a rough winter for her this year. We had above average rainfall and below average temps and at one point had to dig her out and put her in a basket in the garage due to flooding in her habitat. After this 3 minute drink (tortoises do everthing slowly) she found a nice warm rock and went back to sleep for awhile. She'll probably be cruising around eating everthing in sight within a couple of weeks.

This layout is done with the new Raku kit from Club Scrap.

Velvet Stamping Class

Digital scrapbook page created with Club Scrap's Color in Black and White digital remix.

I had a blast last week teaching one of my quilt group's (Cactus Patchers of Tempe) how to use rubber stamps on velvet to create a quilt square or embellishment for cards. I just love how easy this is and it has a definite WOW factor when you pull up that piece of velvet and see the rubber stamp image impressed into it. It really is super easy and fun to do. Here's the quick lowdown on how it's done:

1. use polyester velvet (cut into manageable pieces that are bigger than your stamp)

2. set iron to cotton; steam is ok

3. lay rubber stamp, rubber side up on the ironing board, towel, etc.

4. center the velvet (velvet side down) on the stamp

5. spritz the back of the velvet with a few mists of water (do not saturate the velvet)

6. lay a pressing cloth gently over the velvet

7. set the iron onto the stack with gentle pressure for a count of 7-10 (do not slide the iron around, lift and move if your stamped area is bigger than the sole plate of the iron)

8. lift the velvet off and look. voila' the stamped image is impressed into the velvet.

9. use as you desire

Have fun trying your own velvet stamping!

CCC#35Design Details Drawer Front 11-Little Mary Sunshine

Well, here it is the last Compendium of Curiosities Challenge from Linda over at Studio L3. This has been a fantastic art journey and I'm so happy I joined in. I did a Design Details Drawer Front using up bits and pieces of grunge board, ephemera, and hardware sitting around on my desk. And a necklace bauble for the drawer pull this time. This will probably end up being the catch all drawer of leftover bits and pieces from other projects. You know, those things you just can't bear to throw away. And, as you can see, I have another drawer front to do. I will be checking to see which CCC's I missed from the book so I can finish up. I don't have a flower drawer yet so it may be something along those lines. Hoping to get this all finished up by the end of next week.

CCC #34 Dimensional Fragment Drawer Front

We're so close to the end now and I've only got 2 drawer fronts left. I'm really liking how this is turning out and glad I found a prominent place for it in my studio. I used the large square fragment and drilled a hole in it for a TH drawer pull. I'll use this drawer for ephemera. Head on over to Studio L3 to check out some awesome artwork for this week's challenge (and awesome artwork in general)