Spiffy Snowman

Our new challenge at Sparkles Christmas Challenges is to create something with a snowman.  I chose a K & Co. diecut that I altered with a little snowy embossing powder and glitter.  My favorite part of the card is the watercolor background.  I started by stamping snowflakes with Staz-On ink onto watercolor paper.  Then I added Distress Stain and added lots of water.  I love the soft look of the blended colors.  I also embossed the edges and corners with a little snowy embossing powder.  The bottom punched border was super hard to photograph because it is holographic cardstock.  Be sure and show us your snowman creation and check out our sponsor Crafty Ribbons.  You could win a $10 voucher.

American Made Martha Stewart Contest

 

To all of my talented card making friends and teamies, my family and I are nominees in the Martha Stewart American Made contest.  We need FB shares to be chosen as a finalist.  I would love it if you all could click this link and choose share to help us advance to the finals.

 

We are excited to be part of this contest.  Thanks for "sharing" for us!

Colorful Metal Flowers

 

I have been busy making colorful metal flowers today.  I started with a plain, antique brass metal flower component.  I used Perfect Medium ink that I added with a paintbrush.  I sprinkled on embossing powder and melted.  You can add layer after layer.  Be careful because the metal gets very hot.  I will use Ice Resin to seal the flowers that I plan to use for jewelry.  You can find the brass flowers at Dry Gulch.

 

Watercolor Challenge

 

I have been playing around with a little watercolor because I finally got some of the Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor Cardstock.  I am so glad I did because it is the best watercolor paper ever.  It really stands up to lots of water and repeated drying cycles.  This card is very simple compared to most of my designs, but sometimes simple is best.  My daughter Alex watercolored the saying.  I am entering this card in the watercolor challenge at Party Time Tuesdays.

 

The kids all tried their hands at watercoloring with distress inks tonight.  I think they did a great job!

Back to School

Our new challenge theme at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is "Back to School".  School started today for lots of students including my son, Joey.  It was his first day of college.  I wanted to stick with my usual vintage theme, so I found several studious ephemera pieces and layered them.  I distressed and inked edges and added a piece of a ruler as well as a pen nib.  Be sure to stop by Ruby's and see what the other design team members created.  Of course, we want to see what you create as well.

"N" for Natural Challenge

The new challenge at Alphabet Challenges is "N" for Natural.  This project has to use something natural like a pressed flower or a seed pod.  I chose chicken feathers from our very own chickens.  We have very colorful birds that lay beautifully colored eggs including green, blue and chocolate brown.  I added layers of vintage lace with a Martha Stewart paper punched border.  The antique brass filigree is from Dry Gulch.  Be sure to stop by and see what the other design team members created.  We would love to see your natural element card.

Birthday Card for Joey

 

My son Joey is turning 18 years old so I created this old-world style card for him.  I used a sketch as my inspiration and focused on vintage elements.  The vintage buttons all came from my grandmother in Illinois.  I added twine to the map tag and a metal hand to the clock.  I hope he likes it!

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Crafty Chicks - Anything Goes
Sister Act - Anything Goes
Fan-Tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes - Square

Dry Gulch August Color Design Challenge Card

This is my entry for the August Color Design Challenge at Dry Gulch.  This was not a color palette that I would normally choose which made the challenge even more fun.  I used a painted antique copper filigree corner layered over handmade, crinkly paper.  The flower cluster has antique brass charms and a patinaed filigree flower.  I added a seed bead leaf, a butterfly charm and a resin leaf to accent the flowers.  I finished the card off with pearl gem flourishes.

I hope all of my card friends and design teamies will stop by the Dry Gulch Challenges page and show us what you can create with our Color Design Challenge.  Entries are eligible to win a $25 gift certificate to Dry Gulch and any medium is welcome.  We will have a brand new color palette for September.

 

The Sewing Room

I was inspired to create this sewing themed card by the current challenge at A Little Bit Crafty.  I stitched and distressed the background paper and added a chipboard doily.  The dressform is a Tim Holtz diecut from grunge paper that I embossed, painted and inked.  The thread bobbin is from the same Tim Holtz cutting die.  The pin strip is from a vintage spool of dressmakers pins that I found at the Robin's Nest.  The flower in the bottom corner is made from an old pattern.  The lace and buttons are all vintage and from my grandmother's farm house in Illinois.  It seems I have plenty of sewing related items.

I am also entering this card in the following challenges:
Pile It On - stitching
Digi Choosday - Shabby Chic
Milk Coffee Challenges - 2 or more diecuts

For the Birds

Our new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is "For the Birds".  I chose a chipboard bird and birdcage for my card.  I found a beautiful piece of vintage lace that has blue flowers on it and layered it over a Martha Stewart punched piece of paper lace.  I added a little tissue tape and some pearl gem stickers.  The FLY tag was made from a punch as well.  I hope you will stop by Ruby's Rainbow and show us your creation.

Color Design Challenge Inspiration

I am working on the Color Design Challenge by Dry Gulch and I have come up with quite a few ingredients so far.  I have painted an antique copper filigree, a brass flower and a brass charm with distress paints.  These jewelry findings came from Dry Gulch and they are very versatile.   I had planned to use the pink flower for a necklace, but I think it will be perfect on this card.  I plan to have my card finished in a few days.  I hope you were inspired by our color challenge - we would love to see what you create.

Design 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?
{ petalled hues }

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 and pins, handmade cards, lampwork beads, cuffs, etc.  All creative techniques may also be used to create your projects, like seed-beading, sewing, metal-smithing, paper crafting, leather work, painting, etc.  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 post  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, August 31, 2014.

Snowflake Challenge

This month's new challenge at Sparkles Christmas Challenges is Snowflakes.  I chose muted, vintage colors for my card.  I used old fashioned wooden snowflakes along with a little tinsel trim for sparkle layered over a piece of vintage lace.  The card just wasn't complete without the lacy border at the bottom.  Stop by Sparkles and show us your snowflake creation.  This month's sponsor is Di's Digis who has generously offered a $10 voucher for the winner.

 

Pink Flower Inspiration

This card was inspired by the challenge at The Shabby Tea Room.  The project needs to have pink, cream and lace elements.  I chose a piece of ornate pink and cream lace and a diecut leaf cluster from K & Co. for the background.  I added a couple of "awesome flowers" and a cream glittery butterfly.  The filigree leaves are findings that we carry on our website Dry Gulch Beads.  I painted them with antique linen distress paint and bent them slightly for a little dimension.  I am also entering this card in the Anything Goes Challenge at Crafty Ribbons.

 

This is the inspiration photo

At the Beach Challenge

The theme for the new challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges is "At the Beach".  My sand is the loopy lace at the bottom topped with my water, the crinkly seam binding ribbon.  I gave my fish dimension with Distress Stickles (I need more colors) and the shell epoxy sticker is from K & Co.  I hope you will stop by Ruby's and see what our talented design team members created.  We hope to see your beach card too!

Thanks Tag

Tag You're It! has a new challenge this week.  Bright colors and the crispness of the black and white make a nice contrast on this tag.  I searched for a piece of vellum, but I found these diecut flowers instead.  The THANKS letters were all different pastel colors so I painted them black and added crystal lacquer so they would shine.  I even found a piece of black lace. 

 

Here is the inspiraton tag.  Beautiful!

Sketch Challenge - Mojo Monday

Today's sketch challenge at Mojo Monday inspired me to create this card.  I inked a paper doily and added a lace sticker on the side.  The two pieces of lace hanging from the top were inked as well.  I guess I am officially addicted to lace.  I love the little metal flower and the leaf pins.  It looked like it still needed something, so I added the little butterfly sticker from K & Co. 

Magazine Challenge #10



 

 

 The next challenge in the 75 Creative Card Challenges Magazine is to use buttons that you create.  I have tons of buttons ready to go, but these buttons had to be made from scratch.  I decided to use burlap paper and since I do not have a circle punch, I cut the circles out by hand.  I am sure the paper was too thick for my CraftRobo cutting machine.  I painted the buttons with picket fence distress paint and then added a little blue stain.  I tied the buttons with embroidery floss but I didn't like the clumped up floss.  I used my new Tim Holtz tool to fray the thread.  I also used the scratchy tool to distress the vintage fleur card.  On to the next challenge!

Other Creative Endeavors - Jewelry

In my last post, I shared some of my non-card making projects that were stitched.  In this post, I will share some of my jewelry projects.  My family has a bead and jewelry store in Joplin, Missouri and I am fortunate to be able to work with my two oldest daughters and my mom.  We make jewelry pretty much every day and even though we have had a store for 15 years, we still absolutely love it.  We have a full line website where you can purchase both our artisan jewelry and the beads and findings to make your own at Dry Gulch.

 

 

 

This is a pair of earrings that I made using solid copper components, my lampwork beads and patinaed rectangles.

 

 

 

This is my lampworking station.  This is where I take glass rods and melt them into beads and headpins with a torch.  A single bead can take anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour to complete.  I am always impatient, so most of my beads take under 10 minutes.  I love working with "silver" glass (glass that contains silver) because the results are always unpredictable.

 

This is a pile of lampwork beads that I made.  The rough looking ones are called "sugar beads".  They are made by rolling the hot bead in frit, or broken pieces of glass.  Then the frit is only melted enough so that it adheres to the bead.  This is a tricky technique because if you melt the frit a second too long, it melts smooth.

 

 

 

These are lampwork headpins that I also made with the torch.  These are so fun to make - I love the endless possibilites.  These headpins make really cute earrings.  You can wrap the wire into a loop and hang them like charms.

 

This is one of my latest chunky charm bracelets (which you can find on Etsy under DryGulch). I love to used vintage components like clip earrings and brooches.  I scour antique stores and flea markets for unusual beads and findings.  These bracelets are always one-of-a-kind and I love seeing how each one turns out. 

 

 

 

This necklace has a pretty cameo that I mounted on an antique brass setting.  The sparkly milky beads are Chinese crystals and the white beads are vintage silk beads.  I wire wrapped each bead together using vintage bronze wire and links.

 

I hope you have enjoyed my tour of what I do for my "day job".  I am often torn as to whether I should create a piece of jewelry or whip up a new card.  No matter which medium I choose, I am happy to be able to express my creativity every day.

 



My Other Creative Endeavors - Stitching

I have been crafting for many years and I have created projects in several different mediums.  I thought I would share some photos of my past work.  I used to do a lot of stitching including ribbon embroidery, hardanger, cross stitch and crazy quilt embroidery.  I hope you enjoy seeing my stitched creations. 

 

 

This was the only hardanger design that I kept for myself.  My sister loves hardanger, so all of the other projects went to her for Christmas and birthday gifts.  She likes do make hardanger pieces too.

 

This is one of my cross stitch pieces.  It has beadwork in it as well.  It is hard to tell, but I have used some hand-dyed threads in this one.  Those are my favorite types of thread.  I have a really large stash of these special fibers.  Some day I will use them again.  I keep this framed piece on one of my crafting shelves. 

 

This cuff bracelet was my first felting endeavor.  I felted the wool (which is a wet and messy process) and added tons of beading, embroidery and a little ribbonwork.  I am sure some people wear pieces this large, but not me, so it sits as a decoration on a shelf.  Once in awhile I think I should take it apart and use the beautiful Swarovski beads in something more practical, but so far it I have not been able to cut it.

 

This is a ribbon embroidery towel that I made many years ago. It features my favorite flower, the lupine. I made tons of these for Christmas gifts over the years. Once, my husband tried to wipe something up with this towel. You can't clean things with beautiful, hand stitched towels!  Yikes!

 

I hope you have enjoyed my little tour of stitched projects.  I have kept all of my fibers because some day I will have time to stitch again - I am sure of it!  My next post will show the jewelry that I make, so stop back by.

 

"L" is for Lace

 

It is my turn to host the new challenge at Alphabet Challenges is "L" for lace.  Vintage lace is probably my most used embellishment.  I have fun scouring antique stores looking for old bags of it.  This card was fun because I repurposed a background that I already had made.  The green layer has been punched with a Martha Stewart lace edge punch.  I inked the edges of the plaque and added a thank you rubon.  The flower is a Martha Stewart sticker.  This is a pretty simple card for me since mine are usually gooped up.  Sometimes simple is better.  Be sure and stop by Alphabet Challenges and see what both teams created for this challenge.

Where Bloggers Create 2014

It is once again time for the annual "Where Bloggers Create" blog hop.  My craft space accomodates beads and card making supplies since I create both cards and jewelry.  I have one wall of craft storage dedicated to each craft.  My family has a bead and jewelry store in Joplin, Missouri, so I am fortunate to be able to create lots of jewelry whenever inspiration strikes me.  My blog is card based and I make cards for friends and family and I sell a few of them in our store.  I have an entire room for my crafting space which has a table in the center where my children can sit with me.  This room used to be the living room, but since we have a den I decided to take over.  I have never regretted getting rid of the second television.  I hope you enjoy the pictures of my creative space.

 This is the corner where my two crafts meet.  The bookshelves contain card making supplies and the other wall holds all of my beads and findings.  Since last year's blog hop, I have added a few new things and re-organized several drawers, but my basic layout is the same.

 

I am addicted to anything Tim Holtz, so I keep my Distress Paints and Stains where I can see them.  The labeled drawers contain tags, Stickles and more.  I have a couple of nails in the edges of the bookcases so that I can display my most recent tags.  I love having pretty things around for inspiration.  This was a tag that I made while visiting my sister last month.

I still have two containers for my flower embellishments and the black, skinny drawer organizer is my absolute favorite organization tool.  I now have two of them, stacked on top of each other.  I love the way embellishments don't get lost on the bottoms of the drawers because every drawer is shallow.

 

 

One of the changes I have made since last year's hop is that I made a space for my ATG and paper cutter under the table which is within reach when I am sitting at the table.  I found it frustrating to have to get up every time I wanted to cut or adhere something.  This simple rearragning has made my card making time more enjoyable.

 

 

I used to keep my paper puches stored in a box so I rarely used them.  Now they have a shelf at eye level so that I can find them easily.  I find that I use them much more often now that they are out.  The large tower of drawers on the right is a new addition.  I found that I needed more storage for my ever growing collection of vintage lace and seam binding ribbon.

 

These are my bead and finding drawers.  Even though there are a zillion little drawers, it is very easy to find anything because every drawer is labeled.  Having my drawers organized and labeled makes all the difference.  I never liked to waste valuable craft time searching for items.

I hope you enjoyed the tour of my craft space.  I am very lucky to have such a great place to work.  Be sure to visit the other "Where Bloggers Create" participants for lots of inspiration.