home for the holiday

It's been almost a year since my last post.  2017 was not my most favourite year.  In fact, I would classify it as challenging - extremely challenging - and not the fun kind of challenging.  Just challenging.  

I decided pretty early on in the year that the blog was not getting as much traffic as my Instagram account and, at this time, Instagram is a better fit for me.

The issue: entering craft challenges.

I don't mind breathing life back into the blog to use it as a platform for craft challenges.  It is fun to look around the corner to see what I have done over the years.  Kind of like a digital journal but a lot less messy.  In a fun way.

I am entering this home for the holiday card in Emerald Creek's Happy Holidays Anything Goes Challenge.

Keep getting messy!

you can't blame gravity for falling in love - albert einstein

Valentine's day is just around the corner and I get to share my love with a whole craft room of very talented ladies.  Here is the card that I put together for my stamp club Valentine swap:

 

As you might have guessed, for those who know me, there are a few layers involved in this little 5x4.

 

Layer one: Tim's tissue paper torn and randomly glued onto grey cardstock

Layer two: acrylic paint through heart stencil

Layer three: washi tape

Layer four: die-cut heart

Layer five: die-cut love

 

All mounted on my cheat: a pre-fab ombre card purchased at Michaels.

 

I'm entering this not so cute card in:

1.  Anything But Cute Mixed Media Challenges Challenge #10 Grungy Love

2.  Craft Stamper February 2016 Text Me! Challenge

3.  Simon Says: Have a Heart

 

 

 



make new friends, but keep the old; those are silver, these are gold - joseph parry

This snowfall and village card was one of the many card templates I crafted for the 2015 holiday season.  I am posting this one separately because I have entered it in The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #19: Silver and Gold.

The snowfall background is an indigoblu stamp (snowflake lace) embossed with stampendous aged embossing enamel. 

happy new year! resolutions and rememberlutions for 2015 and january dt project

Resolutions have never been my strength.  They tend to be monster-sized goals that seize your attention for a few weeks until your best friend says to you, as you're carrying your gym bag out to the car with the greenest of green smoothies, there is a super sale at (you fill in the blank) and we will need humungous lattes to survive the rush.  Resolutions can be behemoths if you let them.  

But resolutions really are simply goals; we just tend to make them at a critical time when the world is bellowing sentiment of new beginnings and fresh starts.  Therefore we often take a reasonable, probably meaningful, goal and turn the little critter into a mountain of an accomplishment.

With that said, I have made two "resolutions" this year (I have many goals but two of which I really want to be mindful): (1) Organize better so that I may (2) spend more time with family and friends.  The first resolution may surprise those of you who know me.  I am quite the organized person.  Everything has a home and events and activities are always well planned and prepared.  What I need is a schedule.  

I read this article (Here’s What You Should Do Instead Of Making New Year’s Resolutions It’s called a “rememberlutions” jar and it’ll make you feel good all year) posted by Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine and decided to, in addition to my two resolutions, celebrate the smaller resolution successes as they come as well as all of the magnificent things, memories and accomplishments over the next twelve months by creating my own rememberlutions jar.

That coupled with our design team inspiration, I was off to the races.

I created a pendant for each of the four seasons of the year so that I have something to look forward to at the end of each season as the jar turns.

winter:

spring:

summer: 

autumn:

And here they are all together and assembled:

Whether you create resolutions this year or a rememberlutions jar, do what makes you feel good, makes you giggle and smile and let's you celebrate you all year long.

I'm entering my rememberlutions jar in the Sweet Stampin Challenge: New, Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #8: Something New for the New Year and Anything But A Card Challenge New Beginnings.  The rememberlutions jar is a new project created for the new year.

a man who limits his interests limits his life - vincent price

The intention this year was to craft a whole bunch of Halloween decorations and although I started out of the gate strong with my re-purposed Halloween-y flower pot (see photo below), I haven't done very much Halloween crafting at all.  However, I cannot complain; the time was otherwise very well spent entering a few craft challenges and visiting with my dad and brother.  And my dad's birthday card post is just getting some final touches before it hits the blogisphere.

Alex, mr. everythingshetouches and I did pull out our Halloween decorations a little while ago and created a little Halloween heaven (hmm how contrary) including the scene below.  Alex and I found, near the soccer field this summer, two large branches both with interesting personality.  And much to mr. everythingshetouches' chagrin, the branches became part of our household decor with intent to be modified and integrated as we see fit.  The branches, for example, have made an excellent perch for my ravens and black rose this Halloween season (don't mind the blinds; home decor is a work in progress).

Halloween Re-purposed Flower Pot

October was a very busy and fun-filled month.  Still to come: PJ November Challenge (November 1), my dad's birthday card and a little chalkboard project I would like to share.

Thank you as always for the support and kind words.  It is very nice to receive such positive feedback.

those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only at night - Edgar Allan Poe

Alex and I found these little beauties at a garage sale for $5.  Both of us are huge Halloween fans (Alex also adores everything spider) and so it wasn't a surprise when they followed us home. 

 

My vision: the lamps rest quietly until the end of September when all of the Halloween decorations are officially pulled out and added to the lawn and house.  Alex's vision: they are immediately included in his bedroom decor as night lights.  

Issue: finding a location where the lamps don't fall over with every slight breeze.  Solution: re-purpose a flower pot to hold our night lights upright.

The flower pot selected was a once gift from mr. click, print, scrapbook which included a bunch of homemade, gluten-free cake pops (it was mmm mmm delicious).  To create a spooky Halloween-y night light holder I first applied gesso and white acrylic paint to the rim of the flower pot.  The rim was stamped with Archival black ink and a fantastic cobweb and spider wood stamp that I found at Michaels for $1.50.  I also stamped skulls, potion bottles, ravens and potion labels onto the pages of Edgar Allan Poe's collective work (found at garage sale for $.50 and of which we already own a copy.  mr. everythingshetouches was feeling a little uneasy about the book ripping and sacrifice although I tried convincing him that I was using my crafting for good and not evil.  He stills looks at the final product with skepticism.  Oh well) and modge poged the tore pages onto the flower pot.  

The theme-related book and the book pages themselves makes this project a good fit for Anything But A Card Hitting the Books Challenge #27.

The fence and birch trees are Memory Box die cuts.  The stamps were taken from the Graphic 45 Steampunk Spells stamp set and the Ranger dylusions monster mash set.

 

I free-hand drew the two pumpkins and owl (you know I had to have an owl on there somewhere.  I love Halloween and the freedom of many owls).  Alex is crazy in love with the pumpkin gnawing on the mini pumpkin.  He chose the two pumpkin images from Google so props and thanks to the designers!  Both were coloured in with Distress Inks as watercolours and markers.  Highlights were added with my Viva pearl pen and gelly roll pen.

In a previous life, my craft of choice was painting and decorating flower pots.  I stopped because (a) I needed a new craft challenge and (b) my small apartment could only hold so many flower pots.  I had successfully found new homes for all of my "gifts" years ago (I had given nearly all of them away except for one) so it's been a while since I've worked on a 3D medium.  It takes a respite to appreciate what once was - I had an amazing time designing and crafting this flower pot.  And it was even more fun with all of my new products and toys.  I found the Styrofoam eyes at Michaels for $1.69 each. 

Thank you for stopping by. And with this project we have officially started to decorate for Halloween (don't judge I have shown great restraint; if it was up to me it would be Halloween every day in our house but mr. everythingshetouches disagrees that this is a good idea and so we have some winter-ish things at the end of the year because I'm a good sport and paper lanterns in the sun-room for most of the rest of the year).

the man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar, instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed - Henry Ford

Sometimes when you go garage sale-ing you come home with a little treasure.  This Ford Model T, also known as the Tin Lizzie, was not only a great find because it's simply a fantastic design and made completely out of metal but it is also a music box.

I debated painting it black or covering it with paint, gel medium and embellishments and decided that for now it will live as it was found.  Distressed.

The crank at the front of the car can be turned and the best part: the hood rises and falls as the music plays.  Super duper bonus: the music box isn't mint condition and so the music has a very tinkly twangy sound quality and is creepier than a clown under your bed. 

Did I mention that this little aptly named find was $4? 

So what do you think?  Should the Ford Model T be re-designed?  If so, what would you like to see?