Loving My Hot Glue Gun

For the last year or so, I have been ignoring my hot glue gun in favor of my ATG gun and glue dots.  That all ended when I started making pleated medallions and rekindled my love of making flowers. A glue gun makes all the difference when making medallions and flowers especially if that glue gun has a fine nozzle tip and has loooonnnng glue sticks so you don't have to keep reloading. I have a small low temp gun that is easy to use but the nozzle just isn't small enough for those tiny, hard to reach places. I considered getting the Aleene's set but at $28.99 plus tax, it was a little too steep especially considering that I already have my little low temp gun as well as my big high temp one. Then I happened to spy a real gem at Walmart - Dual Temperature, fine nozzle, works cordless for up to 5 minutes and takes regular width, 10 inch long glue sticks all for a whopping $6.97. A bag of 2 dozen, 10 inch long sticks are $3.97. Ya can't beat that so into the cart it went. Oh yeah, and did I mention that Chris was paying cuz we were at Walmart to get him razor blades and a video?  Best deal yet! So what is all this leading up to? Today's card...

I combined VLV September's sketch challenge for Week 4 with this weeks PTI Make It Monday. The ribbon rose was a dream to make with the new hot glue gun and the combination of the rose, thick chipboard piece and ribbon loops never would have held with glue dots. With the hot glue it's not going anywhere! 

Stamps: Verve - Fancy Florals, Tag Time

Paper: Lilybee - Picket Fence; SU - Old Olive, Wisteria Wonder

Ink: SU - Old Olive, Wisteria Wonder; Versamark; Distress - Crushed Olive

Dies: Verve - Tiny Sweet Tags; Cuttlebug - Scallop Squares

Other: Stampendous - white embossing powder; Michaels - Grosgrain Ribbon; SU - Old Olive ribbon

Til next time...

Fall Fun

Fall is in the air. The leaves around here haven't started changing but the temperatures sure are getting pleasant. For the September VLV 3rd Week's sketch challenge I decided to go with a fall theme. I originally planned to use some Basicgrey DSP but once it was cut I just didn't like it so I had to go back to the drawing board. Ended up stamping my own paper but had fun doing it and it matched the ribbon I found in my stash. All in all it's not half bad even though it is so far removed from my original vision.

  Stamps: Verve - Autumn Splendor, Bountiful Harvest, Happy Fall, Sweet Treat, Ecclesiastes 3:11

Paper: SU - Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Rich Razzleberry, Lucky Limeade

Dies: Verve - Sweet scallop Tag, Embossed Oval; Spellbinders - Circles, plain & large scallops

Other: Tim Holtz Embossing Folder, ribbon from stash

Til next time...

Manic Monday

Hope you all had a great weekend. Our card club met Saturday and what a blast. We are making Fall medallion wreaths similar to what StampinUp has in their Holiday Mini. It's a bit involved so we have to do them in 2 sessions. Can't wait to share with you once mine is done. I plan on making another one for Christmas.

Obviously I have nothing to show at the moment. Friday was spent on errands and laundry, Saturday was club, which is held at my home and Sunday was, well, Sunday. Hopefully I will have something for tomorrow even if I end up photographing some of my recipe pages.

Til next time...

Monochrome Madness

Verve's Get Your Diva On challenge for September was to create a monochromatic card. I told Sankari that her challenge had me both stumped and intimidated at first. How do you even decide what color to go with? But then the light came on and I was off and running.

My first card (A) went together, zip, zap, zip once I had the color scheme figured out. I had been dying to use those loopy flowers from Verve's Making a Statement set as well as the leafy sprigs from Sunny Days and I love to antique things. Give me some Distress ink, a non-stick mat and one of Tim Holtz's blending tools and I could blend away for hours. I was quite pleased with the way it turned out but then it hit me - Why don't I try and take it up a notch or 2?


For the second card (B) I used the same color scheme (don't know why they came out different in the photos) and layout but used a different DSP, made lace flowers, sprayed some parts with Perfect Pearls Mist and added a lot more pearls. I honestly don't know which card I like better but I think I'll be doing more monochromatic cards in the future.

Stamps: Verve- Wishful Elegance, Sunny Days, Making a Statement (A); SU - Teahouse

Paper: SU - Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla (A), Bella Bleu DSP; Curious Iridescent Poison Ivory (B)

Ink: SU - Crumb Cake, Soft Suede; Ranger - Frayed Burlap Distress

Dies: Verve - Leafy Sprigs, Loopy Blooms; Spellbinders Ovals - Plain & beaded

Other: Michaels - Pearls; SU - lace; Ranger - Perfect Pearls Mist

Til next time...

Another Great Sketch from Verve!

Week 2's sketch for September's VLV Sketch Challenge is another good one. Like Week 1, this card just fell into place exactly the way I wanted. Hmmm... 2 weeks in a row... maybe I should worry. Normally, when I do a challenge, I try to use only stamps from the company hosting the challenge. This time, instead of limiting myself, I just grabbed whatever stamps I needed to get the effect I wanted regardless of which company made the stamp. Creating without limits is so much more fun!

Stamps: Verve - Hope Perches, Tag Time; SU - Silhouette Sentiments Hostess Set; PTI - Background Basics Newsprint.

Paper: Prima - Romantique; SU - Cajun Craze, So Saffron, Old Olive;

Ink: Ranger - Distress Old Paper; SU - Cajun Craze, Old Olive

Dies: Verve - Tiny Sweet Scallop; Spellbinders - flower, circles

Other: Martha Stewart Picket Fence punch; Twine from The Twinery; Antique Copper Brad from Making Memories.

Til next time...

Seeing Stars

Tripped in the hen house yesterday and landed flat on my face. Well, actually, it was more like a belly flop into the dirt. As I lay there, I looked over and there was Penny, with a worm hanging out of her mouth, bending over to see why I was down there. It was quite funny until about an hour later when the pain kicked in. A 200 pound woman makes a heck of an impact!

But that is not why I am seeing stars today.

I really liked the sketch for Week 1 of Viva La Verve's September Challenge. I like how this card came out even better. This was one of those times when everything just fell into place and my vision became a reality. Hope you like it too.

Stamps: Verve - Starstruck

Paper: Basicgrey - Out of Print; SU - Melon Mambo, Luck Limeade, Peach Parfait, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White

Ink: Ranger - Distress Black Soot

Dies: Verve - Tiny Sweet Scallop; Spellbinders - Stars; Quickutz - Star tag topper

Other: Ranger - Black Sparkle EP; SU - Daffodil Delight Taffeta Ribbon; PTI - Rustic Jute Button twine

Til next time...

Stamping Backgrounds

PTI's Make It Monday Challenge #31 was Creating Backgrounds With Non-background Stamps. Hmmm... wonder if someone told them how much I love stamping backgrounds? Had a great time making this card but I do have one complaint about the Spellbinders Fancy Tag die I used. I wanted to cut an oval to layer inside but the none of the Spellbinders oval dies are the right shape!!! I ended up using an SU punch.

Stamps: PTI - Fall Elegance, Simply Stationery, Embellishments

Paper: SU - Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Very Vanilla

Ink: SU - Cajun Craze, More Mustard, Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum; Ranger - Old Paper Distress

Dies: Spellbinders - Fancy Tags; PTI - Edgers #3

Til next time...

More Wild Colors for a Challenge

I have stepped soooo out of my box for this one! And I've used a few things that have been tucked away too long so at least that's a positive.  Had nothing planned for Labor Day and was recuperating from the previous day's Mountain Man Rondezvous in Wyoming so decided to tackle Waltzingmouse's Sketch Challenge #63.  This is what I ended up with.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Cameo To Go, Faux Fun Circles

Paper: Prima - 6x6 Madeline; StampinUp - Baja Breeze, Rose Red, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette

Ink: SU - Chocolate Chip, Rose Red

Dies: PTI - Lace Doily; Spellbinders - Fancy Label; Sizzix - 3D Flower, Branch with Leaves, Embosslits Butterflies for SU

Other: EKSuccess - Border Punch; Rangers Liquid Pearls

Til next time...

Kooky Kolors for a Baby

Not that I'm a little behind or anything, but this card was made for Waltzingmouse Sketch #61 found here. It's a bit of a mish mash of techniques including making my own custom ribbon with Copic Markers (a Make It Monday challenge), making a custom brad with stamps and Glossy Accents, and doing a Tim Holtz Distress ink thing. I don't know why I chose this color combo other than it appealed to me. I created the paper that the birds and brad piece were stamped on using the Wrinkle Free Distress technique with a bit of a twist but I may have used a bit too much water.

Over all I am rather please with this project even if it is a bit weird for a baby card.

Stamps: Waltzingmouse - Celtic Heritage, Faux Fun, Fauz Fun Circles, Fancy Flourishes, Vintage Circles

Ink: Distress - Tumbled Glass, Broken China, Black Soot; StampinUp - Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray

Paper: StampinUp - Whisper White, Tempting Turquoise, Basic Gray, Basic Black

Other: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Spellbinders Circle Dies, Copic Markers, Grosgrain Ribbon from Michael's, Glossy Accents from Ranger



Til next time...

Up, Up and Away

August 20th we had our first card club meeting of the new year and we had a fabulous time. Our fearless leader, Kim, designed a card for us to make that was based on a photo she had taken. Earlier in the summer she had gone to the Panquitch Valley Balloon Rally and took this:

And this is the card we made:

I hadn't planned on getting this stamp set from StampinUp since I have a really cute Hot Air Balloon set from Verve but after making this card it just had to come live with me. Yep, that Kim knows how to sell!

All products used are StampinUp

Stamps: Up, Up and Away, Nature Walk

Ink: Calypso Coral, Lucky Limeade, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Island Indigo

Paper: Baja Breeze, Calypso Coral, So Saffron, Whisper White

Other: Lucky Limeade Ribbon, Houndstooth Embossing Folder

Til next time...

Sending Some Sunshine

That's the theme for Verve's August Diva Dare. The challenge is to make an uplifting and encouraging card AND send it to someone in need of a little pick-me-up!  I chose to use the sketch from Week 5 of the August Viva La Verve Challenge and I'm giving it to my friend, Tracey.  Tracey has undergone a double masectomy and has survived both radiation and chemo in spite of the complications caused by Lupus. To look at her, you would never know what she has been going through. She is vibrant and alive, dyeing her 1/2 inch new hair a bright blonde in celebration. She loves bright and bold and bling so this card is definitely hers.

Stamps: Verve- Let it Shine, Tag Time

Paper: SU Daffodil Delight, Riding Hood Red; Basicgrey Indian Summer 6x6
Ink: SU So Saffron, More Mustard, Cajun Craze, Bravo Burgundy; Distress Wild Honey, Rusty Hinge
Other: Verve - Tagged Rectangle Die; Spellbinders - Inverted Scallop Die; Stickles; Ribbon from stash

Til next time...