WOYWW #191

Some weeks it seems the only post I put out is the WOYWW post and other weeks I manage to get 4-5 posts out...it is beyond me what that is about.  I do a lot of crafting but don't seem to take the time to document or share it.  I know all you out there in blog land know what I am talking about!  It seems a never ending game of chasing my tail and never getting anywhere fast.  {{{Now that is a visual that I am sure will burn your brain!!}}}  I am glad it is Wednesday and we join together at Julia's and share what's on our desk or I would probably never post!!  Want to know what I am talking about?  Go on over to Julia's blog Stamping Ground and join the fun! 

My desk this week!  I am working on a calendar easel and just got January finished...I think that is appropriate considering January is over and done will tomorrow. 

I decided to make this a perpetual calendar and used a glue that stays tacky like a post it note so I could change out calendar's each year or make it into a scrapbook page.  I love the blues and the calendar girls on this page.   Here is a closer up view of January...more to follow!

Have a great week and take time to do something fun!  I made it around to over 60%of the desks last week but doubt I will do as well this week.  If  you visit me and leave a comment I promise to reciprocate sometime soon. 

WOYWW 190

Happy WOYWW!  Welcome to the Wednesday wanderings of art and crafters around the world!  If you don't know what I am talking about go check out Julia's blog and join in the fun!

My desk is about the same as last week maybe a little less cluttered.  I have been busy getting class samples and kits together and trying to pick up after each switch out.   Today I am working on the calendar class that I was asked to put together using the Graphic 45 Place in Time papers and the chip board easel.  I am trying to think up some ideas to make it a perpetual calendar that can be reused year after year.  In my house it has to be because of the cost of the products and the time going in to making it.  A single page is taking me about 4-5 to create and loads of embellies and fun things.  I love this paper and I am looking forward to playing with it!

I had a couple fun packages show up this past week from an Un-Birthday swap I am part of.  Each month we send packages of fun crafting things to one another and some kind of handmade item.   I received a handmade box from Monica cram packed with all sorts of Tim Holtz goodies.  It was so full she couldn't fit the tissue tape package in!! 

Beautiful box made by Monica!

Bobbins of different lace, buttons, muse tokens, keys, corners OMG!  so  much fun in my future!

I received this second package today from Sabrina.  It has all sorts of fun things to play with too!

I love the tiny canvas she made!  The keys and cogs/gears will definitely come in handy with the steam punk work I do I go through them quickly!  I love the bag and will find all sorts of uses cutting that up! 

An up close of the canvas and goodies.

Well short and sweet!  That's it for me today.  Check back on the previous posts about classes I am doing and tell me what you think.  My friend who owns the store wants more classes so I decided to do a class a week on Thursday's.  1st Thursday cards, 2nd Thursday Recipe cards, 3rd Thursday Tags, 4th Thursday Art Journal, and one Saturday each  month will be an altered art.  I think I will be learning a lot! 

My baby is 37!

A long, long, long time ago in the galaxy I currently live in I met the most wonderful man (did I mention HOT!) in the world and decided to settle down and get married.  Chuck was a student at the University of Oklahoma and I was a student in nursing school at OSU in Oklahoma City.

April 5, 1975

 About 3 months after we were married we found out that we were pregnant (I did mention that he was the hottest man!) and settled down to have a family.   

Oh no where did the time go?  I can't believe it was that long ago that I held that little squirming bundle in my arms and swore my life to his care and well being! The following are some pictures celebrating Chad, CHarles Arthur Doswell IV!

January 20, 1976 waiting on them to bring out our new baby!

Christmas 1976 with Chucks Mom and Dad at his Aunt Fran's house in Altona Illinois. 

We have had a lot of "firsts" with Chad but unfortunately don't have pictures to validate them.  Chad learned about Rocket launching and built his own rockets that lead him to the notice of the Norman PD, the camping trip where Chad learned he could light methane gas direct from the source, or use the roof as a jump off to the swimming pool, and how about the time he learned he could use my debit card to draw out money and buy a pellet gun!  Yes there were a lot of first and I thank heavens he survived it all!

Chad's first horn!  Christmas 1978!  Don't you love those shortened jammies...he wouldn't give them up so I cut the feet out!  He loved music and always wanted to play an instrument.

Chad's first driving experience.  Summer 1978

Chad loved his first (and only) baby sister

Chad's first ball team 1984.  He was an awesome catcher!

Halloween 1986 when Chad had been injured in a fall he decided to become GI Joe to show off the damage...No folks most of that isn't makeup...its real.  This was a foreshadowing of what was to come!

Chad in Iraq 2006.

So handsome!

Chad and Tom Hanks at Normandy celebration 2009

Chad and Candice's wedding July 26, 2008

Chad and his beautiful family.  

Time goes way too fast!  I love you and hope you had a great day.

Tags Class

Everyone asks me what I do with all the tags I make and why I even make them.  Tags are like mini pieces of art and I do all sorts of things with them!  I give them as gifts, use them as cards, hang them on the wall, use them on canvases etc. etc. etc.....
I have agreed to start up my monthly tag classes at Scrap That in Norman again starting Thursday 1/31 and the class will be every month on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 6-8 pm.  Cost is $15.  There is a basic kit that you will need to get but you don't have to have it all at once and we will have some things that you will be able to use as you build your tools up!  I will be doing mostly a lot of Tim Holtz style tags so I will put a list at the bottom of things absolutely necessary to have to do tags.  

The tags we will be making will be for Valentines Day swapping and are simple enough to start off your tag making journey.

Manilla tag sprayed with Dylusions, Reminisce paper, Tim Holtz Love Stuck die cut, bling and buttons!

Reminisce paper, Dylusions ink spray, embellishments

Tim Holtz Love Struck die, Mini die and stamps make up the basics for this card.  It is embellished with TH ideology tape, mulberry paper flowers, and bling.

I will be teaching basic stamping techniques, spraying inks, distressing cardstock, layout and whatever else happens to crop up in class.  I will have the die cuts all ready cut and embossed and if you are interested we can use some class time to learn about die cutting, embossing, etc another class.

What you need in a basic kit:

Terri carries these products at Scrap That

• Paper cutter
• scissors...I love the Tim Holtz red handled scissors cause they are non stick and cut everything!
• Liquid glue like the 3M brand or any type you like that is quick drying 
• glue dots or equivalent
• Uniball White Gel Pen
• Tim Holtz Distress Inks: Ranger Ink makes a total of 48 different colors of distress inks.  I have found that the ones that I use most often are the Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Tea Dye, Old Paper, Peeled Paint, Stormy Sky, Faded Denim, Barn Door, and Wild Honey. 
• Blending Tool
• Inksentials Non stick Craft mat

Some fun things to have are the Tonic tool set and tiny attacher stapler.

Art Journal Class

UPDATE:  For some reason this post didn't post and I don't know why!  I have two that were just sitting here in limbo waiting for me to come find them.  


My art journal class starts this next Thursday, 1/24,  and will be running on a monthly basis starting next month.  The class will be on the 4th Thursday of each month unless it is a holiday or some other life issue intervenes and then the change will be announced ahead of time.  The initial class is $30 (because everyone needs a journal to create their art in) then it will be $20 a month there after.  Art journaling can be a lot of fun and a healthy catharsis.  YOU don't have to be an artist (I'm not!) to do my class and all you have to have is the journal and a healthy desire to create something!  We will provide the know how and the products you will need to do the class. 

Here are the pages for the first class this coming up Thursday!  This is a page I created earlier this year and thought it would work for this class because I will be teaching how to use spray inks, both mixed yourself, Ranger, and Dylusions sprays.  Everyone needs to know how to use stamps, how to dry emboss, deboss, use embossing powders etc and we will cover that in this first class. 

I decided to start my art journaling using spray inks and stamps cause I don't think I can draw worth a hoot but as I journey on I am being nicer to myself and seeing that maybe I have possibilites. 

 I used Dylusions sprays to get the vibrant colors  on these pages and then went back and sprayed, inked and did whatever to create multiple layers of color ending the layering with a lot of stamping with Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous stamps.  The embellishments were from ideology and stuff out of my stash! 

Valentines Card

Thought I would share a some Valentines cards I made for a class at Scrap That in Norman.  The class is on February 7th at 6-8 pm and will cost $15.  I love all the bright pinks and reds that come out this time of year and the sentimentality that goes with the holiday!

Most all the papers and cardstock came from last years stash so I am not for sure what company made what!  I love Stampin Up!, Graphic 45, BoBunny, Close to My Heart, SEI, KaiserCraft, Reminisce, Authentique, etc. etc. etc.  If you look into the protective boxes in my craft room you would see how much I love papers!  I never know whats what except for the obvious lines like Graphic 45 etc.  I believe all the cards in this class are from Reminisce but I am not for sure.  I love using two sided papers and using both sides on a card!

This is the front and back of the two sided paper with the collage being made from cut out bits from the reverse side of the beautiful wine colored paper.  Ribbon and bling are from Stampin' Up!

I used Stampin Up! Co'ordinations cardstock to make the heart's and a new mini label punch and stamp for the sentiment! I bought some of the discounted pleated ribbon from SU also.  Made a nice card I thought. 

This is from Reminisce line this year.  I loved the hearts swap but the flip side of the paper was a collage of vintage valentines and I couldn't make up my mind which to use so I made a banner using the cutouts fromthe flip side.  I left the sentiment line blank so each individual could stamp the sentiment of their choice.  

I left the inside blank on all the cards and I am taking a stack of stamps so that everyone can decide what they want to put on the inside...if anything.  Any way leave me a comment and let me know what you think about the cards I am doing next month. 

WOYWW #189

Welcome to Wednesday!  WOYWW is an awesome group of crafters/artists that gather each Wednesday at Julia's place to surf around the globe snooping in to other crafter's/artists desks to see what's up!  Go to Stamping Ground to get the deets on what to do to join this awesome group!  I would like to apologize to the folks that I didn't make it around to your blog last week and will try and do better this week.  Life happens!

My desk today:

My desk this week...I have been busy making Valentines for a class I will be teaching next month.   

A close up of the card on my desk... Just want to take a second to wish a Happy Anniversary to Darnell!  Congratulations and here is to many more!!  With thoughts on Darnell and her mister I got busy making this Valentine card!

Simple!

UPDATE!!   Just read on Darnells blog that she would like to see our wedding pictures so Ardyth has set up a linky thing to do just that!  Here is a picture of me and my Mister on April 5, 1975!

Hope you have a great week.  I am off to find a cup of tea and hope to hop around to a couple desks and see whats up!

Nutcracker Sweet by Graphic 45

 As promised here is the finished Nutcracker Sweet toilet paper (cardboard tubes) core book I promised last week.  I have been fascinated by these awesome little chip board books after seeing one being made in a video several months back on YouTube by Jacqui Chimes/abbeyjoley TP Mini Part 1 and Charli Jones My Creative Spirit. I saw a lot of fun techniques and decided to make one but it has taken me forever to get around to doing it. 

I love the Graphic 45 Nutcracker Sweet papers this Christmas and decided to make my book using them.  First off you will need to collect  toilet paper cores to make your book/s with.  It doesn't take long to collect them yourself but I told some friends at my LSS about my need and by the end of the month I had a large trash bag full of the cores.  I didn't realize how many different sizes of these cardboard tubes were used in making toilet paper so you will have to be careful and choose cores of like size.  I used spray paint and painted the cores basic black and allowed them to dry before smashing them down and using an iron and waxed paper to flatten them out.  After flattening them I used extra sticky tape to seal the bottom before gluing the decorative end piece on.  Another problem was there are different lengths to the tubes so I took basic black heavy weight card stock and made and end piece that I glued to one end as a decorative finish but also to get my lengths correct.
Each one of the tubes holds a tag that can hold a picture and journaling.
Inside pages

pages 1+2

For the first two inside pages I made a mat on the left and a pocket on the right that holds 3-4 ATC cards (3.5 x 2.5 in)

 

pages 3-4

Simple mats of contrasting cardstock

pages 5-6

I put a decorative sticker on the left and another edge pocket on the right that holds one or two ATC.

pages 7-8

Journaling tag on the left and a single mat on the right.  

pages 9-10

pocket made with a piece of print paper that holds a 'book' for journaling and putting photos into.  One mat on the right.

 page 9 close up

pages 11-12

The last pages hold fewer pictures but you could switch around and put a pocket on the left and have more ATC's in the pocket.  I loved the look of these papers and didn't want to cover them up.

pages 13-14

Once again I didn't want to cover the paper up so left it as above

Back of book

Cute collaged finish

I had a lot of fun making the book and look forward to making more in the future.  I counted up a total of mats and tags in this book to hold 25 photos or journaling entries 2.5"x 3.5" in size.  If you wanted more then you could increase it by matting each page or making multiple pockets etc.

Stay tuned another one is in the making!

WOYWW #188

The week has flown by again and I have very little to show for it craft wise.  I always wonder what I have been up too and why more doesn't get done since I don't seem to be that busy.  I think I need to give up TV and computer time...at least part of it so I can get busy and show something for my time.  I won't go into what a pit my house looks like and I know the rest of the week it won't get  better.

So on to why we are here...to see my desk this week! If you would like to participate in this weekly desk exposures you need to head over to Julia's blog Stamping Ground and check out the other blogs this week. 

My desk is currently occupied by a project in the works.  I am working on a chipboard book made from toilet paper roll cores.  I am using the Graphic 45 papers for Christmas this year called Nutcracker Sweet.   I saw the idea on a You Tube video by Jacqui Chimes and My Creative Spirit, Charlie Jones   

Here is a picture of the front of the book.   Like I said it is a work in progress and I will put finished pictures up when I get it done but I think it looking good so far! 

I hope everyone is settling in now that the holidays are over and getting on with their crafty lives.  I look forward to hopping around to the blogs and seeing what everyone is up to! 

WOYWW #187

Happy New Year and Happy WOYWW!  

Welcome to the first Wednesday of 2013 and the first WOYWW of the new year.  What is WOYWW?  Well click on the link and it will take you to Stamping Ground and Julia where you will learn about all the fun we have each week visiting desks around the world!

Speaking of desks here is a picture of my desk this week.  It is a much neater and clearer place to crop.  I need to find some ink remover and adhesive release to clean up my desk and mat and I will be set to go again.

As one year ends and another year begins I sit here contemplating events and people that have occurred in my life that made me what I am today.  I used to find all sorts of things that I wanted to change or should I say reinvent to make me a different being!   I wanted to be thinner, taller, smarter, more beautiful, less needy, more giving, caring, helpful etc. and it was at this time of year when I would put together my plans for change!  So you say what happened to those plans?

I was locked in a no win situation and it never failed that in two, three, or four months down the line my good intentions would be for naught and I would be feeling guilty at once again proving what a failure I was!  This is the first year I don't have any New Years resolutions or plans to change who and what I am!  I think that I have reached a point in my life (thank heavens at 60 years) that I am comfortable in my skin and realize that it was a waste of time making myself into something I was not and that I wasn't a failure but a victim of the society in which we live.  If I like me and who I am why should I change to fit a mold I hear about on the news, in the ads, and around the town.  That's not to say I wouldn't like to be all the above things but they evidently don't mean enough to me to make me change.

Now that said you are probably wondering to yourself  what am I going to do in the new year?  I am going to take it one day at a time and prioritize what is most important to me and my family and accomplish those things that really matter. 

In my crafting and art world I have some definite plans that I will be going ahead with starting this week.  One objective is to finally move the craft rooms, to use up a lot of that stash that I have been accumulating or at least cull out what I won't ever use.  I want to grow in my art so I signed up to take a course from Tamara Laporte called Life Book 2013 which starts today.  It is an online course that is 52 weeks long and has various artists to teach each week.  I took the course last year also and enjoyed it immensely learning a lot but didn't do as much as I would have liked (it was because I got lazy not Tam) so this year I signed up again. 

Anyway that is me for today.  I am off to cruise around blog land and see what kind of desks and holidays people have to show this week.  Happy New Year!