Purple Petals are blooming at Altered Eclectics

Let me tell you how the first of the month sneaks up on me - it's pretty stealthy! I'm humming along day after day and then I happen to glance at the calendar and I'm stunned at how much of the month has already flown by.  If only I could grab some of that time I wished away as a child; when I couldn't WAIT to grow up! Alas, there is no capturing time, but I can capture a it of childhood back; and I did so for my Altered Eclectics project for this month. I'd love to hear what you think about my Purple Petals Ring! (PS: You can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them)

Say hello to my Purple Petals Ring!

What I Used to Make my Ring:
Inside "pop ring" from a juice or milk container
Gems - one large and 7 12mm "bubble" gems
Krylon Leafing Pen in Silver
Glue - instant glue

Where you will find the ring

First, let me try to explain what I mean by the inside "pop ring" - the best way I can describe it is to show you a picture.

The "ring" on it's top

You'll find this inside ring is there once you open the containers outer twist off cap - I have found them in quart cartons of both milk and juice.  When I opened my vanilla almond milk and popped it off, I immediately put it on my pinkie (the only finger of mine that it fits) and admired it - it needed to be made!

While the white of the ring may be fine for your project, I knew I needed to color it and the Krylon Leafing Pens are perfect. I have been using these pens for years, from everything to outlining a card or making the old fashioned polished stone with alcohol inks and they last a long time and are well worth the money, in my opinion.  Also, if you look closely at the picture of the ring, you can see that there were some edges that we sort of ragged with a bit of thin plastic - I colored my ring and then sanded the ragged bits off, and then touched the ring up. Not that you can see them but for my own piece of mind.  You will also notice the outer edge of the bubble (that is face down) isn't even all the away around - never fear, we have ways to work around this.

Once the ring was colored, I had to figure out a way to hold it so I could put on the petals.  Since there is a bump on the top side of the ring, the petals are needed to ensure the large gem doesn't wobble.  Low and behold I had a pill saver type thingie that I had gotten as a freebie from some company, but you can find them cheap at drugstores or your local Dollar Store. I ripped the top off of one of the individual pill compartments and put waxed paper on the sides in case my glue dripped - turns out I didn't need the waxed paper at all - but I didn't know that at the time. 

I carefully used a small amount of instant glue and placed the petals around the lip of the bubble. 

This part took the longest because it turns out my instant glue wasn't so instant, so off to the side for the night it went. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the numbers on the dome, another reason I felt the petals would help "hold" the bigger, middle gem. When I picked the ring up, I noticed that a few of the petals were still wobbly (I suspect due to the part of the ring where the lip was smaller than the other parts) but I went ahead and glued the middle gem on and set it aside again.    
 Once it was dry, I flipped the ring over and put a generous amount of glue all around the petals to help stabilize them and it worked like a charm!  The glue isn't really that visible, in the picture the light is reflecting (I wanted you to be able to see it), but when you look at the ring in regular light it doesn't look anywhere near that bad.  

So there you have it!  You could save these inside ring pop closures and make a bunch of rings, for you to either wear on your pinky, or to give some lucky child.  These would be perfect for that friend who loves funky, chunky jewelry also.  And as I was making this I thought of so many other options to use for toppings; sequins, buttons, little beads, basically anything you want!  I hope this little post has inspired you to use something out of the box for your next creation! Please consider popping over to the Altered Eclectics blog and seeing what my wonderfully talented teamies have made to also inspire you ~ Fondly, Christi

Here's Manny holding up the ring - he's been feeling left out!

I am entering my Purple Petals ring in the following challenges:
Crafty Creations - #286, Anything Goes
Creative Moments - #65, Anything But a Card
Everybody Art Challenge - #318,  Anything Goes
TTCRD - Always Anything Goes (end wk of 4/26)
Recycle, Re-Purpose & Re Invent - (m) April Challenge

Tim's 12 Tags of 2015 - March Tag

I have to admit - this whole time that I have been making my 12 tags of 2015, I have been using the wrong sized tags! But, thanks to my good friend at Alleystamps (I was running out last month if you recall) I got my tags and they are the correct size! So here is my take on Tim's March Tag

 

 What I Used to Create my Tag:
#8 Manilla Tag
Scrap Paper already colored with Distress Paints 
Golden Light Molding Paste
Gold Embossing Powder
Clear Embossing Powder
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Butterfly Stamp - Magenta, 36-002-K
Tim Holtz Schoolhouse Stencil #THS011
Assorted Embellishments

I used some leftover paper I had colored with Distress Paints for another project, so I used that and covered my tag with it.  I stamped on the butterfly (which I have had for years but never used!) and made an old fashioned mask (with post it notes) and spread the light molding paste through the stencil. I wasn't sure if the molding paste would work, but I didn't have much choice. Thank goodness I think it worked fine.  I sprinkled the gold embossing powder over the molding paste,  but I didn't read what Tim posted about waiting for the paste to dry before heating the embossing powder - live and learn - but even with that being a potential disaster, once again the tag made it through.  Because the tag is so colorful, I just added a few butterfly and flower gems to it and topped it off with a Chit Chat sticker, in Kraft, that reads imagination and skipped the ribbon.  A bit of film strip embellishment,

held on with brads and I am done.  Not bad at all!

I am so excited that I am actually keeping this promise I made to myself, and I am going to complete the 12 Tags of 2015 Challenge! If you enjoyed reading this post, I'd love for you to help me reach my goal of 100 new subscribers in 2015 ~ Thanks! Christi

Another look at the final tag.

I would like to enter my tag in the following challenges:
Not Just Cards Challenge - #16, Anything Goes 
The Pink Elephant - #292, Anything Goes
Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2015, March Tag
Artful Times - #77, In the Style of Tim Holtz
NBUS Challenge - #4, Anything Goes #2

Spring Bouquet with JittoBear!

I have been fighting something lately - I can go one day feeling fine and the next day I am in bed all day - yuck! Not how I wanted to welcome spring! But, making this easy project gave me a bit of brightness in my week and I hope it inspires you to get colorful!

Colorbox Petal Point Ink Pad - Enchantment
Gesso
Chipboard Bouquet
Round Doilies
Clear Embossing Powder
Canvas, 8 x 10
Pattern Paper to Cover Canvas (I used Daisy D's Veranda Dot #15207) 
Various Twinkling H20's 
Golden Acrylic Paint
Scalloped Oval Punch by Family Treasures (about 2" across)

I started this project by covering the chipboard flowers with gesso and letting it

dry.  I took the Colorbox Enchantment ink pad and used the individual petals to color the flowers, then I embossed them with clear embossing powder. Since

the inks are so moist I didn't need embossing fluid.  I realized I didn't have the green I wanted to color the stems with, so I mixed my own with Golden Acrylic paints that I had and I came up with a color green that I feel perfectly captures a spring green.

After I painted the stems and leaves, I decided I needed to add something more to the piece and JittoBear came to the rescue with the doilies - there are four to a pack and perfect for SO many things - I took me longer to figure out what design to use than to actually make it! So I finally pick out my doily, gesso it (even though I realized after I didn't have to) and painted it with some

beautiful shimmery colors of Sparkling H20's.  They are perfect for shipboard and the iridescence really looks so pretty.  I then used my printer and printed off my sentiment, used a paper punch (remember those!?) to punch it out and set it aside.

The paper was a bit too much, so I swiped some gesso around it to tone it down a bit.  Then, I wrapped the paper around my canvas like you'd wrap a present, but I used a staple gun to attach the paper to the canvas- my first time using one, I am so proud!  I then attached

everything to the covered canvas and here is the final product!  I hope you take some time to pop over to the JittoBear store, and Esty site, to take a look at the awesome products they offer - and they specialize in customer orders!!! You can get anything done in wood or chipboard, anything! Thank you so much for popping by, I hope there is some spring in your world today! Fondly, Christi

And here is another look at the final piece ~

I am entering my Spring Bouquet in the following challenges:
Southern Girls - #107,  *Punching Above Your Weight
Simply Papercraft - #1, Anything Goes! 
Crafty Gals Corner - #12, Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday's Challenge - Anything Goes
Creative Knockouts -#82, Spring is in the Air
Mixed Media World - (m) #1, Anything Goes 
Dazzling Diva Challenge - #67, Spring or Anything Goes
Through the Craftroom Door - Always Anything Goes (wk of March 24)
NBUS Challenge - #4 (Never used the chipboard elements before)

I am Green with Envy at Anything But a Card

March is all about green - green grass, green shamrocks, spring green, well, how about envious green?  This months challenge at Anything But a Card is just that - and when I heard the challenge topic (way back in, I think it was, November?) I knew right away what I'd be using for this project.

What I Used to make my Green with Envy ATCs
Stampsmith Stamps (I used Maude, The Look and stamp from a sheet that has been discontinued)
Glossy Paper
Ranger Archival ink in Jet Black
Small Stipple Brush
Ranger Archival ink in Lettuce
DCWV - The Luxury Stack - 4.5 x 6.5 size (mat stack)
Stickles - Diamond, Crystal & Disco
Small Crown Punch
Wink of Stella in Clear
Lots of bits and pieces from my Stash
Various gel pens, Stickles, Pearls and markers

First things first, stamping the photo-realistic stamps on glossy paper with

permanent ink.  Any photo stamp looks so much better on glossy paper, and they can stamped on photo paper, but they really pop on glossy paper.  So I stamped the 3 images on the glossy paper and let them dry for a while.  While  they were drying, I looked for what I was going to back them with and I found some beautiful papers in the DCWV "The Luxury Stack" - you can't really see it in the photos (unfortunately) that I took, but the papers are nice and thick, perfect for backing an ATC.  When I looked on the DCWV website, they have a new Luxury stack, so I am guessing the mat stack I used is discontinued - but as always, if you do a search for "The Luxury Stack" there are plenty to be had. Just so I can show you how beautiful these papers are I stole borrowed a picture from online.

The next step was, to help me keep them straight in my mind, was to name the ladies in the cards - I named them Fern, Annabelle and Martha, and they are all envious of each other.  I also used my computer to make little sentences about each one and who they are envious of.  These are the final 3 cards along with their "story" and some info on what I did to each card.

This is Fern, and she is envious of Annabelle's wealth, even though she is obviously beautiful.  Fern's lips have been sparkled with the Wink of Stella pen in clear, and her earrings are filled in with Stickles.  Her eyebrows are colored with a black gel pen.

This is Annabelle and she is jealous of Martha's love, even thought she is obviously wealthy. Annabelle has a choker made from a piece of scrap Dresden along with a crown made just for her.  I used a small crown punch, punched out 3 crowns, glued them together and decorated it with Stickles. And each point has been topped with Liquid Pearls in Platinum.

This is Martha and she is envious of Fern's beauty, even though she has been lucky enough to find love.  Martha has a glitter paper red heart, a scrap of Dresden bracelet and her dress has been covered with fine black glitter. Her lips were colored with a red gel pen, and her lover's lips got colored with another gel pen.  Martha's hair got some cool waves with a clear gel pen.











And, all of their faces have been stippled with a small stipple brush and Lettuce Adirondack Ink.  I used post it notes to mask them and that helped me stay on their faces.  It was a very fun project to do and I keep forgetting how cool ATC's are.  Here are some close up pictures of each woman's special feature:

Annabelle's crown

 Fern's lips and earrings

Martha's dress









Maybe someday I'll be able to put them all in the same image, but I don't know how right now.  And I have no Photoshop, poor me! (I wouldn't have the foggiest idea on how to use it if I did have it - LOL)

So there you have it - my three envious ladies for the Anything But a Card March Challenge.  You have until the end of the month to join; that's plenty of time!  So get your Green with Envy on and join! If you enjoyed what you read, I'd love if you'd become a follower of mine and help me meet my goal of 100 new followers in 2015.  Thanks for stopping by! Christi

I am entering my Green With Envy ladies in the following challenges:
Hiding in my Craft Room - #191, Super Scraps Saturday
Pixie's Crafty Workshop - #168
Inkspirational Challenges - #78, She Art (or image of a woman)
Naughty or Nice Challenge -(M) #13, It ain't Easy Being Green 
Not Just Cards Challenge - #14, Anything Goes

Rainbow Birthday Card

Welcome to my very first post for the JittoBear Design team! When I became a member of the JittoBear design team I made a list of all the die cuts I wanted and while I didn't expect it, I got everything I asked for (and I already have a wish list going for the next order!).  I love the fact that you can get sentiments in a set, each saying the same thing, but in different fonts.  I believe you can never have too many Happy Birthday cards and here is my latest. Hop on over to the JittoBear blog to see how I made my card (when you get to the page you will see BLOG as one of the headers on the page - click that tab).

 

 
With so many designs, I had to start simple; just looking at all of them my inspirations went haywire. I have so many other ideas and a few of them are already in progress. Thank you for stopping by to see my first JittoBear Design Team Post! You really should go to the store and start making a list of what you want, because you will want everything! be sure to check out the JittoBear blog (the link to the blog is at the top of the page) as well to see what my teamies have posted. If you like what you saw, please consider subscribing to my blog and help me reach my goal of 100 new subscribers ~ Fondly, Christi

I would like to enter my Rainbow Happy Birthday card in the following challenges:
Sister Act Challenge - (w) #97, Anything Goes
Creative Fingers - (w) #71, Anything Goes
Seize the Birthday - Focus on the Sentiment
Inspiration Destination - (w) #24, Anything Goes
The Crazy Challenge - #192, Birthday

Hello. . .butterflies?

I was so honored when my friend Julie Short asked me to be disruptive! If there is one thing I am good at, and have talent for, it's being disruptive! Joining Julie & I are the amazingly talented Di Hasthorpe and Diane May (Diane is also the owner/editor of the fantabulous Unruly PaperArts), and together we make up the Time To Create Disruptives (TTC Disruptives).  Julie has an online store, called Time To Create, as well as a blog. I am in awe, and feel SO lucky to be working with such talented ladies! So, here we go - this is my first card for TTC Disruptives!

I was inspired by all the cards I have been seeing around lately with "hello" on them - so here is my Hello card!

 Now pop over to the Time To Create Blog (when you get there, find the tabs under the Time To Create and choose the TCC Disruptives!) and read how I made this card, which I think is appropriate for a male or female (a fact of which I am quite proud - masculine cards are a tough make for me). Thank you SO Much for popping by and I do hope you will take a trip to see how I created the card - I was pretty impressed by me! Fondly, Christi

I am entering my Hello. . .butterflies card in the following challenges:
Creative Inspirations Challenge Blog - #304, Anything Goes w/ Option of Sketch 

Country View Challenges - M, Anything Goes!
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - B is for. . .In my case butterflies!
Allsorts Challenge - Spring is in The Air
Eureka Stamps - #131, Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Things that Fly
The House that Stamps Built - #311, Use Die Cuts/Punches with Stamping
Scrapy Land - Anything Goes using any brand of die that Scrappy Land sells (my brand is Sizzix)

Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

I love a good cup of coffee, Dunkin' Donuts being my favorite.  On the east coast there is a D&D on every corner, here in Colorado, they aren't as plentiful.  The good news is the just opened one fairly close to me. I am just waiting for the hub bud to die down before I make my way over to get a large dark roast!  I was inspired to make this card after learning about the Spring Coffee Lovers Blog Hop (there are TONS of awesome prizes!), funny how just reading about a challenge or blog hop can start those creative wheels turning!

 

What I Used to Make this Card:
Kraft Paper Card Base
Cream Color Cardstock
Light Brown Cardstock
Ranger Ink in Jet Black
Embossing Ink
Coffee Bean Stamp and Sentiment stamp from SU! Set Express Yourself (discontinued)
Coffee Cup Stamp - manufacturer unknown
Tim Holtz Sizzix Alterations Dies in Labels, 66060
Tim Holtz Distress Marker in Festive Berries
Moonglow Embossing Powder Twilight Bronze Slate
Pop Dots

I started with Kraft paper, which I used as the card base.  I took the coffee bean stamp and stamped it all over the cardstock using embossing ink, and then heat embossed with the Twilight Bronze Slate embossing powder (if you have never seen the beautiful two toned embossing powder at Lindy's Stamp Gang, do yourself a favor and check them out).

Then I inked up the image and the sentiment with the Jet Black ink, stamping the coffee cup image (which I have had for years and never used before. For some reason this stamp made it through all the paring down, thinning the stock and cleaning. Now I see why!) on the light brown cardstock and the sentiment on the cream colored cardstock.  I used the Tim Holtz dies and die cut the coffee cup and the sentiment, then pop dotted them onto the card. I didn't want them to pop out too much, so I used low pop dots.  As I was looking at the composition of the card I noticed there was another hidden heart in this stamp! I am finding them all over!  So I outlined the heart with the Festive Berries marker, so if you look close, you can see it.  I get so excited when I find hidden images and other ways to use my stash (now I have another heart stamp!).

Another look - this one shows the embossing better

Thank you so much for stopping by! If you aren't already following me, please consider it.  I am trying to get 100 new subscribers.  Have an artful day! Christi

I would like to enter my Coffee Card in the following challenges:
Creating in Faith, Hope & Love - TTC002 - Use a stamp retired or at least a year old
Suzy Bee's Bloomin' Challenge Blog - #69, Anything Goes with a Twist of Embossing
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Challenge - #5, Anything Goes
Sentimental Sundays - #248, Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations Challenge - #303, Something Old
Fairytale Challenge - #12, Kraft Paper

A Wee bit of Shamrocks

I miss getting "good" mail. When I first started stamping, and postage was actually reasonable, I participated in swaps, Round Robins, and a few of the groups I belonged to sent out birthday cards.  Then postage became unbelievable and that stuff stopped.  Well, I want to get at least one thing a month that isn't junk mail or a bill, so I signed up for the Card Chain Challenge at Society of Stampaholics.  It's really easy - there is a sign up by date, then a mail to by date, and some criteria that your card should match.  For February one of the criteria for the card was shamrocks, so off I went!

What I Used to Make this Card:
Square Card Base in White
Spellbinders Nestabilities Majestic Squares #6, S4-422
Spellbinders Imperial Gold, Gold Labels 34, 34-424
Sequin Clovers
Small Shamrock Stamp - Good Stamps, Stamp Goods
Versamark Ink
A Wee Happy St. Paddy's to You Stamp - manufacturer unknown
Irish Blessing stamp - PSX, K-2483
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Ranger Adirondack Ink in Meadow
Stipple Brush
Wink of Stella - clear
White Cardstock
Green Cardstock

I had first wanted to put the Irish Blessing on the front of the card, but I didn't like the way it cut out with the Spellbinders - but I
saved it. It wasn't bad, just not what I was looking for.  So, instead, I stamped the "a wee happy" stamp on white cardstock and cut it out with the Spellbinders and added the sequin shamrocks.  I then cut out the green layer and stamped the small shamrock stamp all over with Versamark ink (remember Versamark?!?), attached the sentiment onto the green layer and that to the front of the card.

The Irish Blessing

But I still had this awesome Irish Blessing, all cut out and ready to roll.  So I decided to stipple around the edges and use that for the inside of my card; something I rarely do, the insides of my cards, unless the card I am creating is for an occasion,
like this one. I'd say a good 90% of the cards I create are blank inside so I can add my own special touch. When I was finished I felt the front still needed a little somethin' somethin', so I used my Wink of Stella pen (which I have had for quite a while, yet never used), in clear, and squiggled around the design - if you look carefully, you can see it in the picture, on the right side.  I sent my card off to Jutta, crossing my fingers and toes that she likes the card.

I was the lucky recipient of a card from Emily.  She chose to go with the colors suggested in the challenge, and the friendship theme.  Her card is stunning (please click on the picture to make it bigger); I know you will agree - the picture does not do it justice! Her colors are so fresh and springy - the doily, the butterfly and the cute little gems! Honestly, if I could of called back my card to redo it I would have - but there is always next month :)

I hope you will consider signing up for this amazing swap - there are participants from all over the world! And, like I said, you can count on getting at least one piece of mail that will make you smile! I have already signed up for March, so I am off to get started! 

Last look at my card - I'm not sure why the sequins don't look like sequins - you'll have to trust me!

I hope to see you at the Card Chain Challenge (which also happens to be run by the marvelous Deborah).  Thanks for popping by and please visit the blogs I have linked to - you never know where you will find inspiration (or end up signing up for a card!) ~ Fondly, Christi

I would like to enter my Shamrock Card in the following challenges:
Tip Top Tuesday - Rubber Stamps Only 
Cuttin' and Stampin' - Anything Goes
One Crazy Stamper - March Challenge, Anything Goes
We Do Doobadoo - #4, Spring/Green
Stempelsonne - #135, Anything Goes
Jo's Scrap Shack - #77, Anything Goes (ends 3/20)
Addicted to Stamps and More - #133, Holidays 
Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge - Just a Hint of Clover. . .