Crafty birthday adventure, Days 2 and 3

It’s taken me awhile to get back to the tale of my crafty birthday adventure — this week was looong, and I am exhausted. But I do want to share my photos, so on with the show! If you missed it, check out the beginning of the story in Crafty Birthday Adventure, Day 1.

The second and third days of the trip, Oct. 16 and 17, were primarily spent at the crop. It started at noon on the 16th and went until midnight. Then on the 17th it started at 7 a.m. and went until midnight.

When we arrived we found goodies at our tables: a reuseable bag and a scrapbooking page kit with fun papers and cut-outs specific for the crop and Memory Bound’s 25th anniversary. (I didn’t think to take a picture of it. Oops!) There were so many crafters there! The two pictures above are the room setup; the first picture was my view (that’s my aunt Terry at the bottom), and the second picture was behind me.

Here I am, set up and getting to work:

And Penny was ready to help:

For the weekend I had decided to work on the desk calendars I make to gift during the holidays. I went with a Tim Holtz theme, so I brought my collection of Tim Holtz mixed media sets, my Distress Oxide inks, stencils, alcohol markers, and ink-blending tools.

To be honest, the first day was really overwhelming. With everyone coming in and unloading their stuff and catching up with friends they had met before, it was loud and chaotic. (Some people are hard-core scrappers and had a lot of stuff, wagons full of supplies and even their own chairs. I was not prepared for that.) It was a little too much for my introverted self, so I didn’t get a lot done that day.

For dinner that night they served chili (soup for the vegetarians like me) and cinnamon rolls for dessert. In the evening there was popcorn for snacking, which Penny enjoyed (see below). Lisa and I only lasted until about 8:00, then we headed upstairs to our room. Terry crafted until about 9. We were exhausted!

On the next day I got off to an early start. I didn’t make it down right at 7:00, but it wasn’t too long after that. I was a little more prepared for the commotion on the second day — I brought my earbuds so I could listen to music on my phone, which definitely helped me focus and block out some of the distractions. But before we got too into our crafting we had to take some photos, first the gnomes and then us.

With Penny’s help, I managed to finish four calendars. (I’ll post better pictures of the calendar pages after I’ve gifted them.) In the evening I decided to work on a few Halloween and fall cards.

After I ate lunch (soup and sandwiches) and finished the calendars, I went up to our room and took a long break. I knew I needed some downtime if I wanted to craft later into the evening. Dinner that night was cheeseburgers/veggie burgers and fries. We had cupcakes and popcorn in the evening, and Penny and I also knew we needed to caffeinate. I took my work very seriously (or maybe not, but Terry and Lisa were hard at work).

I used my Tim Holtz supplies to make two Halloween cards and two fall cards before I called it quits for the evening around 10:00. Still not midnight, but at least I did a little better.

Stay tuned for Day 3 of the crafty birthday adventure.

Thanks for stopping by!

Crafty birthday adventure, Day 1

Last week was my birthday, and to celebrate I went on a crafty birthday adventure with my aunt Terry and friend Lisa. We attended a crop/craft retreat hosted by Memory Bound papercrafting store in Ankeny, Iowa, from Oct. 16-18. Memory Bound was having a celebration, too, for their 25th year anniversary. It was a party weekend! I have lots of pictures to share, so I’ll be dividing them up into a few posts.

We started our adventure on Oct. 15. Lisa brought each of us a gnome to join the fun, so we snapped a group shot when we stopped for lunch. Meet (left to write) Gretchen, Penny, and Hamish. (Penny is my gnome, and I’ll tell you, she can be a little mischievous.) The drive was uneventful but seemed long because it rained the whole way.

After we arrived in Ankeny and checked into the hotel, we headed over to the Taylored Expressions studio, where we did a little shopping and made a card. Penny was pleased with her work.

The next stop was the Memory Bound store. I found a few packs of Tim Holtz word/sentiment stickers I had on my wishlist, a pack of alphabet cards (an impulse purchase, but they seemed cool for mixed media projects), and some beautiful Christmas papers from Paper Rose Studio. (I have ideas for holiday projects with the papers. We’ll see if I actually have time to make them.)

Time for dinner! I wanted pizza, so we decided to try Nonna’s Pizza and Pasta. Penny helped decide what to order — a Sicilian-style Margherita pizza — and it was delicious!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel, relaxed in our room for a bit, and then went down to the lobby for a little birthday party. Lisa brought homemade cupcakes, a birthday crown and sash for me, and some silly cupcake glasses. We called my sister on FaceTime so she could join the fun from home (Lisa had also given her a gnome and some glasses).

It had been a long day so after the party, we went back up to the room to settle in for the night. Lisa and Terry fell asleep first, and then Penny and I decided to get ready for bed, too.

That’s it for Day 1. Stay tuned for the continuing story of our crafty birthday adventure.

Thanks for stopping by!

Snarky Halloween cats

Now that we’re well into October, I’ve got more Halloween cards to share — specifically, three cards featuring Tim Holtz’s Snarky Cat Halloween set (Stampers Anonymous).

I don’t do a lot of ink blending, so I’m really pleased with how these two cards turned out. I used Distress Oxide inks and spritzed the background with water to create the look of a starry sky. To make the moon I used the Tim Holtz’s layering moon mask (Stampers Anonymous), and the tree branches were made with a die I had in my stash.

For the stamped line-art images (cats, pumpkin, etc.), I stamped the images on the card panels and also on white card stock. I ink blended the images on the white card stock then cut them out and glued them over the images stamped on the card panels. This was the easiest way for me to get all the tiny details, like the little cat hairs, without having to do a lot of masking. (It also meant I didn’t have to keep my ink blending inside the lines since I cut out the images anyway.) I used a stamp positioner to add the bats so I could stamp them multiple times and get them really dark. I love how everything came together!

For the third card, I decided to create an indoor scene — a room in a not-too-spooky haunted house. I used patterned papers to create wallpaper and a hardwood floor. I stamped the cat, pumpkin, and mushroom jar using the same technique described above. I stamped the cobweb in the upper left corner, but the background needed something else. Using the Haunted Gallery die set (Hero Arts), I added a framed portrait of a black cat. I ink blended the background in the frame to coordinate with the pumpkin. I think this card turned out pretty cute, too.

Thanks for stopping by!

Nature card sets

Today I’d planned to share the collection of autumn cards I made last month for seniors in Minnesota, but apparently I forgot to take photos before I dropped them off. Oops. So instead I’m sharing a couple of card  sets featuring nature scenes and images.

I made this set using the On the Horizon cutting-plate die (Taylored Expressions) and the long-retired Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper (Stampin’ Up!). I chose eight different patterns from the paper, cut the die with each paper, and then mixed the different pieces. I glued the pieces onto kraft card stock as I reassembled the scenes and adhered each panel to a coordinating card base. I did emboss the card bases first to add some subtle texture, although it’s difficult to tell in this photo.

I ended up with eight cards in this design. I kept two for my stash and, after adding sentiment strips, included two in the cards I brought to work last month. These last four I decided to group together into a card set. I didn’t want to add sentiments, so instead I finished each card with a small hemp twine bow.

The second set of cards has a much earthier color palette than the first set. (Sorry that the lighting isn’t great in this photo.) To make this set I used one of the alcohol ink backgrounds I made over the summer along with the Mushroom Medley die set (Concord and 9th). I cut the mushroom tops out of the alcohol ink background and the stems from a variety of neutral card stock colors. I glued the mushroom pieces together and then divided them into four groups of five mushrooms.

I used heavyweight white card bases for these cards, and I added a panel of white woodgrain-textured card stock to the front of each base. I adhered a dark brown die-cut frame on each card and then arranged the mushrooms in the frames, along with a few bits of greenery. To finish each card, I added two enamel dots in the upper right or left corner of the framed area.

I love how these mushrooms turned out, but I’m not sure how I feel about the white background on these cards. I used cream card stock for the mushrooms, and I don’t usually combine white and cream. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Big batch of cards

Earlier this month I brought a big batch of cards to work to share with the teachers and other staff. I enjoy sharing them, and it’s fun to see which cards my coworkers pull out as they flip through the assortment. It’s also a great way for me to focus on using patterned paper; this time I used three different paper collections. These layouts are all pretty straightforward and I have several photos, so I’ll skip the details. But as always, if you have a question, leave a comment and I will respond as soon as I can.

Thanks for stopping by!