Walmart Trip - Crafty Stencil Goodness lol

So I had to run to Walmart earlier tonight and while I was wondering through the craft section and looking at every little thing, lol.  What?  You don't do that?  Lol.

Anyway, I found these stencils that are so perfect for art journaling, scrapbooking all that crafty goodness.

I have been drooling over the Crafters Workshop stencils that Julie Fei-Fan Balzer has been showing; but they are not in the budget right now.  So these did the trick.

These are by Plaid; there is 12 different patterns; and the stencils are plastic.  And the best part was they were only $2.97!  These are in the craft section, I believe by the acrylic paints.

Army Cathedral Windows Quilt Update

Well I finally have the sewing machine set up again and plugged in and all that good stuff.  So I started working on the Army Cathedral Windows Quilt again.  I got 4 rows finished today.  But had to make a  run to the store for more black thread and black fabric.

This is it before I add the 4 rows I finished today.  This quilt is for my son-in-law, he is retired Army and the background is made from all of his old uniforms.  This pattern is my adaptation of the old Cathedral Windows quilt pattern; but it is done entirely on the sewing machine - no hand sewing!

Will post an updated picture as soon as I can figure out how to get them from this different camera onto the computer, lol.

Chance to win Cricut Campin Critters Critter cartridge & other scrapbook goodies.

Sherrie from Sherrie Scraps with Passion is having an awesome giveaway.

Check this out: Special Giveaway

For some reason I can't link to the picture.  But here is a copy of this picture.

Good Luck!

Cardstock Scraps

It seems that after you do a lot of die cutting like I have been doing lately, you have tons of smaller pieces of paper left over.  And it seems so wasteful, so expensive and so non environmentally friendly to just trash it.

But what to do with it?  And how to store it until you use it?  And how to easily find it when it is time to use it?

Seems that these are questions that I have been struggling with for a while.  And I was wondering if any of you have any ideas on what to do?

Leave a comment and let me know what you do with your scraps.

Art Journal Every Day # 15 - Rejuvenate Your Spirit

This is the next page in my Art Journal that I am doing as part of the year-long project that Julie Fei Fan Balzer is hosting. You can check it out here: Art Journal Every Day

I like this page a lot, the background is pastels that I blended; some blend nicer than others - specifically the beautiful blue pretty much just sits where it lands and holds on tight. Once the background was in place I drew a winged heart with a Whisper marker.  I added a "I" sticker and a crown sticker to it. 

The quote in the upper right corner says: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. - Eleanor Roosevelt.  Such an inspiring quote.  Further up in that corner is a butterfly on a seal sticker.

Rejuvenate your spirit is what I feel that art does for you.  I added black parentheses and a black arrow sticker to highlight it.  And I drew a lacey fringe border under it.  I hand drawn swirly is in the lower right corner I used a purple metallic fat marker for that.

The quote in the middle in blue metallic marker says: "The key to change is to let go of fear. - R. Cash"  Just above that is a faded sticker that says "2 unique".

The upper left corner has a hand drawn purple flower and a phrase sticker that says "How Sweet It Is".  Below that is another butterfly sticker.  Butterflies symbolize the change that can happen as we crawl out of our cocoon to become the beauty that we were meant to be.

The rectangle Journal sticker tells that date and a short message about the day; I added gold pen fringe to it so it looks like a throw rug to me.  Below that in the lower left corner is a compass rub on and the word "recharge".

This is my most 'art journaly' page so far in my opinion.

Die Cutting Session - Part 2

After another marathon die cutting session last night I have a die cut from every small (green), medium (yellow and 1 black), and large (red or black) and Bigz (pink, black, blue and red) die that I own.

Now I need to embellish them and then I can take pictures of them all, it is a more lengthy process than you would think.

As I was cutting out some of the Dress Ups Doll items and noticed something that is so very irritating.  They are only putting one shoe on the die - there is room for both shoes but they only put one.  Noticed this on the Dress Ups Scuba Gear and the Dress Ups Police Uniform.  I mean it is just poor planning. 

You have to either waster paper by cutting out the entire die again and having wasted extra pieces to get one shoe.  Or you got to cut a little piece and arrange it just so to get it where you want it.  Also when a Sizzix die cuts it ever so gently curves or bevels the edge; so when you don't have both shoes to cut at once the other shoe is beveled wrong. 

I mean I know it is a nit-picky thing but they should know better.

Die Cutting Session

Last night I had a die cutting session.  I have all green small Sizzix and all yellow medium (except for 1 - the new to me - Camera die cut) are cut and I have ads up for them at my eBay store  Heritage Scraps

So I have the large (red and black) dies only about 1/3 of the way did; so I pulled out all the large and the Bigz dies and started cutting them out so I can embellish them.  I will keep you up on that.

Also since I have such a hard time finding and advice for embellishing many of these die cuts; I am considering doing posts on how to embellish various dies.  Let me know if you would be interested in that.

2 New Copics!

Well now I have two more Copics on their way to me, lol.  Found a good deal on eBay. 

I am getting BV0000 and YR12.

Yippee!!  This will be Copics number 7 & 8.

Now to find some training videos on youtube to help me learn to use these.  So excited about it. 

Drew a little face with the Copics that I already have last night; my daughter and granddaughter were watching; as soon as it was done my daughter asked if she could have it.  I was a little shocked and impressed - she is 17 and is so NOT impressed with everything that I do.

Please send me links to your favorite tutorials for beginning Copic users.

Copics at Hobby Lobby

We went to Hobby Lobby the other night and I was very good.  But of course I had to go by the Copic markers and stare and drool a little, lol.

Well I got talking to the lady that worked back there and she was saying how the Copics never go on sale ( I knew that, :-(   But she said that if you sign up at their website for their weekly emails, that they have coupons in them.  One week it is on a specific item but the next it is a 40% off any regular priced item.  So that could be used on Copics!!

I currently have 4 Copics; and have 2 I won on eBay on the way here; and have totally fallen in love with them.

So far I have:

1.  Holiday Blue BG05
2. Cadmium Red R27
3.  Burnt Umber  E29
4. Salmon Pink RV42

Art Journal Every Day # 14 - Welcome Home Soldiers - Good Well Done!

Sorry for the long delay in posting the next page in my art journal. 

This is the next page in my Art Journal that I am doing as part of the year-long project that Julie Fei Fan Balzer is hosting. You can check it out here: Art Journal Every Day

This page is a collage.  Here is a little secret the previous page was fine until I outlined in black with the Marthe Stewart ebony writing marker.  Now I love this marker, got it at Big Lots for a dollar and it is wonderful.  However, in this case, the black bled through the paper (the art journal was one I grab when I was visiting my Dad at Big Lots so probably not the best quality paper.

Anyway, when I saw the the black bleed through marks, I decided to make this paper a collage.  Now with four kids in the military and living near an Army post (Ft. Campbell) I am very into military and patriotic things.  I have been cutting these images out of newspapers and local magazines for a long time.  So this page went together fast.  And then I had the soldier sticker (I think, technically he is a Marine, but still military).  Overall, I think the page speaks for itself.

God Bless all our service people and bring them all home safely.

Started another blog - Sizzix Master List

I  gotta confess I love, love, LOVE my Sizzix dies.  For anyone that loves Sizzix like I do, one of the most frustrating things about Sizzix is that there is no list of all the dies.  No Master List.  After looking unsuccessfully for years for one; I decide I would take on the crazy task of making one.

So that is the inspiration for my new blog: Sizzix Master List   This is definitely a work in progress, but I am adding to it everyday. 

Scatterbrained Crafter

Somedays I seem so ADD crafter, doing a little bit on this and that and then another thing.  Add to that, interruptions from kids, grandkids, dogs, telephone, argh!

Been working on Art Journal, Sizzix Master List Blog, eBay, yadda yadda.

Stamping Perfection

Came across this purely by accident today, but it needs sharing.  If you are a rubber stamper or scrapper it will be a great improvement to your stamped images.

Happiness is just a FOAM away!