Let's Party Christmas Card

The new challenge at Sparkles Christmas Challenges is to make a project with a party theme.  It is our blog's 4th anniversary so it is time to celebrate.  Our team members have created some very party like cards.  My reindeer is flying through the air and is celebrating.  I used embossed paper for my background and the reindeer is diecut from mirror card.  He is wearing a festive beaded wreath and I love the tinsel garland on the side.  We have two generous sponsors this month.  The first is Bugaboo Digi Stamps and the prize is 7 digital stamps.

Our second sponsor is Crafty Ribbons with a $10 voucher prize.

Grow Your Blog 2015

I am excited to be a part of the Grow Your Blog blog hop hosted by Vicki once again this year.  It is always inspiring to get to meet new creative people and see all of the things they have made.  I am a paper crafter, and a jewelry maker and I dabble in needlework too.  I love to create cards and I am on three design teams with card challenges.  My niche is vintage style cards using lace (I put lace on almost everything I make), old papers and vintage embellishments.  I love to use fancy metal filigrees and vintage keys on my cards as well as vintage seam binding ribbon.  My favorite card making supply is Distress Ink by Tim Holtz.

Here is a collection of cards I created for a special order.  They went to a beautiful store in Ft. Worth, TX called Daisy Rose.

My latest crafting tool is the Silhouette Cameo cutting machine.  I am so excited to have received this machine for Christmas from my mom.  It really is amazing and allows me to cut wonderful things from paper, fabric, vinyl and more.  Look how intricate those snowflakes are!

My family and I have a bead and jewelry store in Joplin, Missouri and we also sell online.  I enjoy creating jewelry almost every day.  My favorite medium at the moment is using vintage components. Dry Gulch is also participating in this fabulous blog hop so stop by and see more of our unique jewelry. 

I also make lampwork beads and headpins.  Glass rods are melted with a torch and formed into one of a kind beads.  This is the batch of Valentine's Day hearts that I made last weekend.

I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about me and my crafts.  Have fun hopping from blog to blog.  I am looking forward to meeting mots of new people.  I want to say thank you again to Vicki for hosting such a fun and informative blog hop.

"Y" is for Years

Our new challenge at Alphabet Challenges is "Y" for years. After I layered my background paper, I added a doily that I cut with my new Cameo.  The file is free from the talented gal at Birds Cards.  I decided to weave the lace with a little ribbon.  I added a glittered and distressed "40" to my card. Be sure to check out what the other design team members created.  We would love to see yours too.

Masculine Card Challenge

Our new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is to make a masculine birthday card.  This one will be for my dad when his birthday rolls around.  I started with a torn page from an old dictionary and added an inked tag covered with vintage inspired tickets.  The baker's twine actually covers up where I tore the tag, but you really can't tell.  I added a few metal embellishments and I thought the shield was manly.  Stop by and show us your masculine creation at Ruby's. 

Tracing with the Cameo

 

I have been having a ton of fun with my new Cameo cutting machine.  Thanks to numerous helpful blogs, my sister and I have learned some very useful tips and tricks.  One series of YouTube videos called Tracing without Tears, by Clever Someday, is especially helpful. You can find more helpful Cameo information on her blog.  

The first picture is a screen shot of a flower image that I liked.  Following the instructions in the videos, I was able to very easily trace the image and cut it within a matter of minutes.  My daughter took the negative pieces from the cutout and arranged them into her own flower - the red one on the right.  I have big plans for my new cards and I am pretty sure everyone of them will have a diecut somewhere.

X is for Experiment

Our new challenge at Alphabet Challenges is "X" for Experiment.  I get to host this new challenge and I can't wait to see what everyone creates.  I chose fabric flowers for my new technique.  I used the Vagabond to cut fabric into flower shapes.  The Vagabond is strong enough to cut through 5 or 6 layers of fabric at a time.  I got out a needle and thread to stitch the flower together and then added a button.  The background paper was stictched in the sewing machine and I used a pretty butterfly brad for the corner.  Be sure and stop by the Alphabet Challenges blog and show us your creation.

What Did Santa Bring???

Our new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is to show us what you created with your Christmas gifts.  I was extremely fortunate this Christmas because I received a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine from my mom and a Zutter binding machine from my sister.  I am so excited to have these tools.  I love how the Cameo works - it is so easy to use.  My sister also sent me Spellbinders dies.  I have tons of things to try!

I used the Cameo to cut the snowflake and then I embossed it a couple of times with wintery looking embossing powder.  The sentiment is made using alpha stickers and sometimes I have trouble with them sticking properly.  I corrected this problem by covering them with liquid embossing which makes a clear, glossy sealant.  Since I had a wet, sticky surface, I couldn't help but add some glitter.   I distressed and inked the edge after I stitched around it with the sewing machine.  Vintage lace finishes the card.


Here are a few intricate snowflakes that I cut on my new Cameo.

The Zutter tool allows you to bind papers together to make books in all sizes.  These spools of lace and ribbon were from my daughter, Catherine.

 

 

My sister also sent me a ton of Spellbinders embossing and cutting dies.  I will use these in the Vagabond.  These are all so lacy - perfect for my vintage style.  I can't wait to use these.

 

January Dry Gulch Color Challenge

Design with color and inspire your creativity!

Welcome to the

Dry Gulch Color Design Challenge!

Every month Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry will be hosting a challenge for creative artisans everywhere.  Be inspired and unleash your creative talents!  What will you create?

Use our colors to inspire your creativity!  Post your project using the color palette above.  Your design will be eligible to win either a $50 gift certificate or a $25 gift certificate to Dry Gulch Beads.

Anything can be created for this challenge, including;  finished jewelry pieces, headbands, wearable pendants/pins, handmade cards, lampwork beads, seed-bead art, sewing design, metal-smithing/art, paper crafting, clothing/fiber art, leather work, painting, even your favorite culinary delights (like cupcakes), etc.  Your project must be created newly and specifically for our current monthly challenge.  The sky is the limit!  Show us how creative you are with our color palette.

For this challenge, Dry Gulch is offering a $50 gift certificate to the Winner and a $25 gift certificate prize to the Runner-up.  The judges will be looking for adherence to the color palette, creativity of the project’s design and effort.  You may purchase and use Dry Gulch components in your project, but that is not a requirement to win.

Your judges will be the 3 generations of women who create at Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry.  The judges may create and post their own visions of the monthly color palette also, but for inspiration and presentation only.
We’ll publish each created work on Facebook and here on this challenge page.  Add your photo in the comments on our Color Design Challenge Facebook Event or email us your photo to custserv@drygulch.com.  When uploading, you may add a description of your work.  If also Facebooking and/or blogging your Dry Gulch Color Design project, please add a link to the Challenge on your page.

Entries for the Dry Gulch Color Design Challenge may be turned in from now until midnight CST, Saturday, January 31, 2015.

Handmade Cards I Received

I received some beautiful handmade cards from friends and family this year and I wanted to share them.  The top card of colorful ornaments was made by my friend Sharon.  I love the ink around the edges of the ornaments.  The Noel card was made by my sister, Sam.  She added a ruffle of ribbon at the bottom and lots of layers of beautiful papers.  The wreath card was made by my mom, Gail.  The wreath is made from an assortment of leaves and the berries are beads that she wired together.  Handmade is just so much better than store bought.  I loved every card I received!

Christmas Geese

This month's challenge at Sparkles Christmas Challenges is to create something with critters and glitter.  I have chosen a LOTV image of geese.  I distressed the edges and added a glittered corner flourish.  The bottom is embellished with lace and pearls and the snowflake is a diecut from Miss Kate Cuttables that I cut on my new Cameo.  Join us at Sparkles and show us your creation.

Our sponsors this month are Bugaboo Digi Stamps (7 digi stamps) and Crafters Companion (£10 voucher).  Be sure to visit our sponsors - they have great papercrafting goodies available. 

December 2014 Tim Holtz Tag

I finally completed my December 2014 Tim Holtz tag.  This took quite awhile to finish.  I started out with the wrong color ink so I had to flip the tag and start over on the background.  As usual, I improvised on quite a few of the supplies.  Even though it seems like I have a zillion Tim Holtz products, I never seem to have the right materials.  I think it turned out fairly close to the inspiration tag.  I like the stitching around the edge - what a great way to attach clear things.  The biggest challenge was the pine sprigs.  I do not have that die, so I found a picture and traced it in Silhouette software.  After I cleaned it up, I cut it with my CraftRobo.  I do not have the deer cutting die either, but I found a slightly smaller chipboard deer in my stash.  The winter and the wishes sentiments also came from my CraftRobo cutter.  I added a snowflake filigree from Dry Gulch to finish it off.  Hopefully I can complete every tag next year.

W is for Whiskers

The new challenge at Alphabet Challenges is "W" for Whiskers.  I chose a deer for my whisker-sporting animal.  I used vintage lace layered over a Martha Stewart punched border.  The deer is actually a gift tag that I raised up with foam dots.  The wooden joy was a little plain, so I painted it with a few different colors, ending with metallic bronze.  I hope you will visit Alphabet Challenges and share your creation.

Christmas Recipe

The new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is to create a project using this recipe:

1 Critter

2 Patterned Papers

3 Embellishments

I found this cute little squirrel print at LOTV.  I should have used a picture of our chipmunk, Chippy, but this squirrel was ready to go.  I added lots of snow because I love sparkle.  I used a piece of red paper as well as a piece of glittered green paper for my paper elements.  I added a glittered Christmas tree, a piece of green ribbon and a border of snowflakes for my three embellishments.  Stop by Ruby's and see what the other design team members created using this recipe.

"V" is for Variety

The new challenge at Alphabet Challenges is  "V" for Variety.  Use three different papers or three different embellishments for your project.  I chose three different papers as well as more than three different embellishments.  I like the slightly non-traditional colors of this one.  There are polka dotted snowflakes and gem stickers.  The beautiful lace has been embellished with sequins.  I hope you will share your "V" is for variety project.

It's a Blue, Blue Christmas

This month's challenge at Sparkles Christmas Challenges is "It's a Blue, Blue Christmas."  I used blue snowflake paper and colored the edges with a little distress ink.  The lace border is from a Martha Stewart punch and it needed a little ink too.  The Merry sentiment is from a set of Making Memories stickers that I found at Archiver's several years ago.  These stickers still adhered perfectly.  The gathered ribbon on the side finished the design nicely.

 

I have these silver filigree snowflakes in my stash (from Dry Gulch), but since the challenge is all about blue, I decided to paint them with pearlescent paint.  The paints are made by Creative Inspirations and are luscious.  They have tons of colors and the paint is easy to use.

 

We would love to see your blue Christmas creations.  Our sponsor is Marianne Design and you could win a prize.  This month's prize is your choice of either 2 dies or 1 stamp and 1 die.  The challenge is open all month so good luck.  Be sure to stop by and see the beautiful projects from our design team.

Just Because

The new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is "Just Because".  I chose a butterfly surrounded by crystal gems with lots of vintage lace.  I added a flourish and some pretty flowers.  The filigree in the corner is from Dry Gulch.  Join us at Ruby's and show us your creations.

U is for Unicorn

 

The next challenge at Alphabet Challenges is "U" for Unicorn.  This challenge had me procrastinating and scared.  I have seen lots of cutesy images, and that is just not my style.  Since vintage style is my usual technique, I decided to search for an image of a vintage unicorn.  This is what I found and I think it is perfect.  I added vintage lace that came from the sleeve of a very old dress.  I layered the card with a fussy cut frame and then I distressed the edges of the unicorn printout.  Little snippets of lace, gems and sparkles make the perfect vintage embellishments.  Join us at Alphabet Challenges to see my teammates' inventive creations.  Be sure to give this challenge a try and show us what you make.

Dry Gulch November Color Design Challenge

Dry Gulch November Color Design Challenge

Use our colors to inspire your creativity! Post your project using the color palette above. Your design will be eligible to win a $25 gift certificate to Dry Gulch Beads.

Anything can be created for this challenge, including; finished jewelry pieces, headbands, wearable pendants/pins, handmade cards, lampwork beads, seed-bead art, sewing design, metal-smithing/art, paper crafting, clothing/fiber art, leather work, painting, even your favorite culinary delights (like cupcakes), etc. Your project must be created newly and specifically for our current monthly challenge. The sky is the limit! Show us how creative you are with our color palette.

For this challenge, Dry Gulch is offering a $25 gift certificate prize to the winner. The judges will be looking for adherence to the color palette, creativity of the project’s design and effort. You may purchase and use Dry Gulch components in your project, but that is not a requirement to win.

Your judges will be the 3 generations of women who create at Dry Gulch Beads and Jewelry. The judges may create and post their own visions of the monthly color palette also, but for inspiration and presentation only. We’ll publish each created work on Facebook and here on this challenge page.

Add your photo in the comments on our Color Design Challenge Facebook Event or email us your photo to custserv@drygulch.com. When uploading, you may add a description of your work. If also Facebooking and/or blogging your Dry Gulch Color Design project, please add a link to the Challenge on your page. Entries for the Dry Gulch Color Design Challenge may be turned in from now until midnight CST, Sunday, November 30, 2014.

Lots of Christmas Cards

It is the time of year to create lots and lots of festive Christmas cards.  I managed to complete 12 of them the other day.  I still have quite a few to make, but it is nice to have that many ready.  I am a design team member of Sparkles Christmas forum, so I already had a jump start from creating one card each month.  I love the continuous challenges - they are the perfect motivation to start designing.

I used my CraftRobo to cut several swirly Christmas trees, reindeer and ornaments for my cards.  Several of these cards are simple, but that is what makes them elegant to me.  The cut files are from Bird's Cards.  She has many free files that are intricate, yet they cut beautifully.  Now, if I could just get some tags made!

Non-Traditional Christmas Colors

Our new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is to create a Christmas card using non-traditional colors.  I chose aqua blue for my project.  There is just enough dark red in the card to make it a Christmas card.  I used a K & Co. sticker for the center which is actually a book that opens.  I layered the book sticker on a diecut that I cut with my CraftRobo.  The tinsel and pom pom trims finish out the card.

Traditional Christmas colors

Our new challenge at Alphabet Challenges is Traditional Christmas Colors.  I chose a vintage bird postcard image that I distressed and inked.  I layered it over a K & Co. poinsettia border and added a flower and a crystal gem flourish.  I love the soft reds and greens of this card.  Stop by and show us your creation using traditional Christmas colors. 

Tim Holtz November 2014 Tag

This month, I am super early with the Tim Holtz tag for November.  As usual, I had to do a lot of improvising, but I think the over all look is similar.  I used distress paints and stains to color the base tag.  I embossed the tag with a leaf design embossing folder and then inked it to bring out the leaf edges.  I used a piece of corrugated cardstock for the top layer, peeling away sections until it looked completely shabby.  I did not have the sentiment, but I found a metal label holder for my acorn ribbon.  The label holder was pink so I embossed it with fall colored embossing powder.  Since my leaf cutout was a little different than Tim's, I ran out of room at the bottom of the tag.  I added the label and metal bar to the side.  This was definitely a challenge!