Blogger's Challenge - FINALLY!

This is getting posted really late!! I actually had it done on time, but didn't get it photographed until today to post it. My mom and dad were here from Arkansas last week for a visit and time just gets away from you when you're visiting and having fun! My mom loves to stamp and craft, so we did some of these projects together, but I didn't take the time to photograph and post. My mom also fell and broke her knee cap while they were here! That added to the chaos! Since she couldn't go up and down stairs, they ended up staying at our house the whole time they were in town, instead of rotating to stay with all her kids like usual. So guess what? EVERYONE was at our house most of the days!! It was so fun and I love having everyone at our house, but that sure does add chaos when you have 10 adults and 13 kids - not to mention the neighbor kids that are always here too!! It was great!

Anyway, our challenge was to "CASE" yourself - which means "Copy" something that you've done before, but change 2 things about it. I made one of these for my father-in-law for his birthday last month and it was so fun and easy! As you can see, I had several little flowers and leaves cut out to embellish it, but haven't gotten that far yet! It's called an "Album in a Box". It looks like a box when the lid is on, but once you take the lid off, the sides fall down. You put pictures or journaling, or whatever you want on the flaps - both sides if you want! It's a great gift for grandparents, as I found out! My mother-in-law wants one now!

I will try to put together a little tutorial with directions on how to do this in a day or so. You will be so surprised at how easy and fast these are to put together. Mom and dad left yesterday, so the house is a lot quieter, but now I have tons of cleaning and laundry to catch up on! Hope you're having a great week so far!

Blogger's Challenge for Mom

This week, the challenge was to create something for Mom. I started out making these for Hope's teachers for Teacher Appreciation week, and then decided to make them for my friends and family members who are moms for Mother's Day, and liked them so well, that I'm giving one to my mom too! These are so easy to make and such great gifts! This first picture is with the ribbon and tag tied to the tile.


I get these tiles at Hope Depot in a package of 9 for $5.99. You can get them in all colors and also in a glossy finish. I prefer these that are called "tumbled tiles". They are kind of roughed up and a bit chipped here and there. I love the look of the imperfections in them. Here is a shot of the tile without the ribbon tied on.

To make these you need to use a pigment or craft ink, and then place them on a cookie sheet in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees to heat set the ink. You must let them fully cool before touching the ink! It will still smear and appear to not be "set" if it's still hot. Trust me, I learn the hard way -- I just can't keep my fingers off them while they are cooling! LOL! With these, I put the them in the oven 2 different times since I layered the colors and images. I first stamped the grass image from "Inspired By Nature", baked it, then stamped the flower image and the saying and then baked it again. For the tag, I used the Wide Oval punch and stamped the small flower image from the flower stamp using Navy Craft ink and clear embossing powder. I think they turned out very pretty and want to keep one for myself!

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!

Blogger's Challenge 97 - Sketch Challenge

I'm finally getting this posted!! I was suppose to have it posted on Friday, but had to let my camera battery charge overnight, and then the weekend just got away from me! They tend to do that these days!

Anyway....our challenge was to make a project using this sketch:

I turned my sketch a different direction and I even used the same colors - they looked very nice together, I thought, on the sketch diagram! I had a little bit of trouble with this one on knowing when to stop! Ha ha! I kept adding flowers, buttons, rhinestones, and before I know it, it may be a little too much!

I used my Big Shot Texturz plates on the bottom black base (the larger polka dots) and then on the gray vertical piece (the smaller polka dots). That may be a little hard to see in the picture. It actually started out being a small scrapbook page, but then kind of evolved into just a "picture" in itself. I will either tie some of the purple ribbon on the top corners and hang it, or put a little stand on the back to stand it up.

That's it for now! Maybe another post later today! Hope everyone is having a great start to your week!