Grunge Pape

This is my MAY page to a new Grunge book that I am making.  I wondered how digital stamping would work with this type of booklet.  I LIKE it!  To see how this page started out and how to achieve the background, visit Die Cut Divas.  Alcohol inks and grunge paper are fantastic combinations.  To see how to transform grunge paper to a suede-like surface that is fit for a king or a Bugaboo digital stamp,

 visit Die Cut Divas..

Thank you to Bugaboo for your support of our blog. 

Of course, on June 1st, there is new challenge!  

I'd like to say a big "Thank You" to Heather Maria at Stamping and Stitching.  She's so talented and when I asked her to do a flower tutorial, she promptly agreed.  Please visit Die Cut Divas to see Heather's flower tutorial.  Just beautiful!

Be sure to visit Heather and give her some artist's love - you know, comments!

Remember, our sponsor for the month of May is Bugaboo Digital Stamps.

A little bit of everything

There's a free digital stamp every Friday - the Friday Freebies!  I make sure I visit Bugaboo on Fridays.  Why don't you?

Calendars Anyone?

Make me a Calendar.  Just for Die Cut Divas, I needed a calendar so I would know when to schedule my posts.   I made one just for me.  These Bugaboo gals are great to color in to make my own special calendar.

A BANK?

I finished a can of Cashews and wondered what I could use it for, rather than just tossing it.away.

Empty can!  Cut quarter size hole in plastic lid.  Apply glue to can and wrap can with white paper.  Decorate as desired.  Check out the Die Cut Divas blog.                                                         

My bank is neither glued shut or otherwise securely attached.  I want to be able to RAID my BANK!  This is mostly for quarters so I can pay my meter for work.
Have fun making your homemade projects for fun, laughter, and because you CAN!

Remember to post your "Anything but a Card" here!

Something about a tea box?

Paula must have made tea, because she's doing something strange and cute over at Die Cut Divas today!  Check it out!

That's RIGHT!  I was FRAMED!  I tell ya, I WAS FRAMED.... so says little Bugaboo Rabbit.  

AND guess what, he's right.  He's on the wall above my bed for now.  I think he'd look great in a nursery.  I printed, colored, cut and glue-dotted the guy.  I've been so into Washi tape lately, that's what I thought of to add just a little something to the panel.  I don't think everything should remain UNDER the glass, so I popped this beautiful die-cut butterfly on the glass.

He looks rather mournful, but he is cute.

He's peeking at you!

Hope you liked the framed rabbit.  My granddaughter really liked it!
Who knows where this framed rabbit may go.

Be sure to join our "Anything but a Card" challenge here.
Be sure to visit Die Cut Divas' here.
And be sure to visit our wonderful sponsor, Bugaboo Digital Stamps. 

How do you store your Copic markers?

I want you to visit the Die Cut DIvas' challenge blog to see how Paula stores her Copic markers.  Paula sure put her Digi  images by Bugaboo to good use.  Paula has inspired me, but I will have to take ACTION and I don't know if I have time this month.  But you never know what will pop up the next time Bugaboo sponsors one of our challenges.  Yes, they'll be back!  Hop on over to see our Sponsor's stamps, so you too, can find fascinating and fun images. 

Also, be sure to join the challenge - the Die Cut Divas' challenge here!  Why?  For the chance to WIN!

I love Bugaboo Stamps badges.  They are sooo much fun!

Story of a little paper bag

This is the story of a little paper bag.  I'm sure it began its journey like any paper bag, brown and plain.  Some bags become the stuff that artists make into art and some sadly fall by the wayside.  First it became a printed bag with all sorts of yesteryear ads on it.  It was destined to arrive at The Stamp Art Shoppe and hold art supplies for the paper crafter in someone's life.  This bag and another like it came home with me last year.  A flat little bag that waited on its chance for greatness.

I love the paper bags that bring home my stamps and goodies

Paper bag turns into book box and I really like the way my book box turned out.

To learn more, see Die Cut Divas' blog to see how it all came about.  Remember to participate in the "Anything but a Card" challenge here.

Thanking Bugaboo Digital Stamps for their support as the Die Cut Divas' sponsor for May.

Our last visit with Anne :(

Our last day with the super talented Anne Gaal.  Anne is the epitome of the true artist.  From photography to painting, Anne's love of life shows through.  I'm so glad I could share just some of the projects Anne's created.   Be sure to visit and I'm sure you'll follow Anne's blog with as much interest as I do.

Please follow me to Die Cut Divas!  

Plan on staying and participating in our month long challenge - Anything but a Card sponsored by Bugaboo Stamps.

Guest Appearance by the FAB Anne Gaal!

Anne Gaal!

More to share about the fantastic artist who let herself be talked into being my May guest on Die Cut Divas challenge blog here.

Before you head on over, I have a secret to tell you.  Shhhh... I made a TIPS section about masculine cards for myself after reading Anne's blog here.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who captured Anne's words of wisdom.  I think one of my fellow artists   This is the condensed version here, like those condensed Reader's Digest books my mother used to receive.

Tip 1: Select masculine colors

1.Choose masculine colors: blues, grays, burnt oranges, red, black.  Ilove Anne's reference to colors in a rich wood-paneled library or club. 

2.If your guy is modern and contemporary try charcoal gray with orange or fresh green. 

3.Alternatively, if your guy is outdoorsy, earth tones would make good picks. 

4. Try to imagine the colors they might use in a men’s cologne ad.  (I really like this one - Anne is one step ahead

Tip 2: Select masculine shapes

1. Anne  recommends that you choose a focal element that has a masculine shape, such as a star.

2.What is a masculine shape? That’s a good question. Traditionally, feminine shapes are more fluid and curving, whereas masculine shapes are more angular and linear. So a square, triangle, or star would be more masculine than an oval, circle, or scallops. A label shape that has some pointy elements or a pennant or flag shape would also work well as shapes that have more of a masculine flair.

Tip 3: Use textures to your advantage

1.  Use textures on a masculine card – especially metals or metalics. 

2. Other good textures include cork, leather, and woodgrain, Also rick rack and brads.  

There are many times when I'm not sure what I want to do that I read My Gaal Tips, but why don't you just go to the blog to see her card and  post !

Alright, already,  GO see what's next. 

A notepad by any other name......

A notepad by any other name is still a notepad.

I started with a $1.00 TISSUE BOX... yes, really...

THEN,  like a frog, it turned into, if not a prince, at least a dude that can wear whatever he wants!

I got a toy to play with... the CINCH and it is a cinch.  I think I'm going to love it... and getting back to the notepad, the tissue box is the cover.  Then Gus came out to the beach in his attractive beach wardrobe and added to the overall swirly atmosphere here.  

Close-up

See, there is a back to it and it's just about as outrageous as the front - not quite... 

Here's my recycling tip - you never know what you have in your hand.  

Visit Bugaboo Digi Stamps to find a charmer just like Gus!

Now, visit Die Cut Divas' challenge blog - we have a guest artist this week, so take a look at yesterday's post too.

Can you guess this Artist from her crafting area?

Who is the artist?   Can you guess?   Have you ever seen this room?  If you know her, you know her VERY WELL, then.  

The guest artist featured on the Die Cut Divas' blog is.............HERE!

A great big Thank You to our sponsor Bugaboo Digi Stamps!

Happy Mother's Day around the World

I finished a Mother's Day card for my daughter-in-law.  I thought she might like this - not too flowery, but a bit whimsical, I think.  I'll write a nice note inside wishing her a wonderful Mother's Day and see her for lunch.

I printed the Bugaboo digital stamp onto patterned paper and cut the rounded square out.  I then put that panel onto another piece of paper, exactly the same I had just printed on.  

I'm not sure why, but I was rummaging through my papers and the paper just said "Use ME" and I couldn't turn the invitation down.  I received some lovely die-cut butterflies & beautiful tags from Lucille in Colorado when she sent me a beautiful card in the Society of Stampaholics monthly card swap for April.  One of those lovelies had to go on this card..  Thank you, Lucille.  Adding a few colored pearls and I was done.

You should hop on over to Die Cut Divas challenge blog to see Hannah's creation for Mother's Day!  WOW doesn't cover it. I hope she published this beauty on her blog here.  

Recipe:

Bugaboo Digital Stamps - For you, from me

Die-cut butterfly

pearls colored with Copic markers

It went from ..... to ............

The new look for Altoids - take a tin of Altoids and ....

convert it to ........

Pretty scary, eh?  Is that really kool aid?

Visit Die Cut Divas' challenge blog to see how Stella became the pill whisperer.... on May 11th.

Join in the challenge here!

See Bugaboo Digi Stamps for a taste of medication yourself!

How do you keep your dies?

Visit Die Cut Divas to see how I make and keep my Dies.  These are two examples of my storage system.  There are many systems, but I'm still liking this one.  I may bind it in the future, but right now, I keep the ones I use the most on the top and I can lay ones I'm interested in using in a small pile.

Meanwhile, have fun creating with your dies.

Remember to enter the challenge for May and you might win!

Visit Die Cut Divas

Dawn has shared a tutorial by Heather Maria..  Visit Die Cut Divas for a bit of fun and a little teaching. Always good to learn something new.

Thank you dawn!

Visit Die Cut Divas' blog to read up on why I created this folder.  Now I have a great cover for my folder where I will keep my digital images and ideas for the Month of May.  You may win 7 free digis - visit Die Cut Divas' to find out how.

When I'm feelin' down or overwhelmed, I don't have to go far to relieve that stress!  I can be grumpy and grouchy... as you can tell, some of Stella is colored.  But I can also have my happy moments and the darlin' friends are hanging out together with some color in their cheeks.

Be inventive, Be creative, Be YOU!  Visit Bugaboo!

(Did you really think I'd give the May schedule away?)  Have fun coloring, cutting, poking, tweezing (tweezing - handling  or extracting with tweezers),  and embossing and die-cutting, you wonderful DIVAS, you!

I think I'm looking like Stella there at her desk.  I do need to let my hair grow longer so we can be a matched pair.  

New Challenge month - New Challenge!

The challenge this month at Die Cut Divas is:

Anything BUT a Card!

We am not considering an Artist Trading Card (ATC) to be a card this month.  I see all too few of them in the blog challenge entries on any challenge, so please think about making an ATC.  Go to Wikipedia for a definition of an ATC.

Die Cut Divas' s sponsor this month is BUGABOO DIGI STAMPS!  Bugaboo Digi Stamps is a digital stamp company that has crazy stamps, cute stamps, and catch your breath, beautiful stamps.  You can search for a specific type of stamp or just bounce around and peek wide-eyed at all the digital images.  I bounced for a time, wrote down stamp names and ordered those "I can't do without that stamp" stamps.  Their stamps are fun to color and sentiments fun to read.  There's a free digital stamp every Friday, so please visit Bugaboo Digi Stamps to catch your freebie!

I made these ATCs and hope you like them.  There will be lots of tips during the month as well as some tutorials.  Hope you will get a tip or two that you will use..

 ATCs
        Focus panel cut with Spellbinders die                                  Impression Obsession butterfly

Both of the above digitals were on the FRIDAY FREEBIES.  I had to use them to good advantage so you could see that a FREEBIE is so much fun to use  You'll see some more of this bunny in the near future. Hope you enjoyed seeing these ATCs.

Now hop on over to Die Cut Divas for the blog challenge.