Two Cards from the Front Porch Kit

Two more of my projects created from the "Time to..." Front Porch Kit. 

The first card is a horizontal bi-fold card using several of the patterned papers, ribbon and embroidery floss.  The yellow flower is a handmade crocheted piece included in the kit. I topped it with a mini accordion rosette made from book pages in the kit.  I also did some machine stitching on this card. 

The second card is more masculine.  For the background I inked a Tim Holtz grungy embossing folder before placing the white cardstock inside and embossing.  This transfers the ink to the design and embosses all in one step!  The J is from the mistable chipboard alpha sticker set misted with glimmer mist.  The corner flourish and cogs are cardstock diecuts from the kit.  I used Glossy Accents on the flourish to make it look like a wrought iron sign post and the cog wheels were painted, inked and heat-embossed with various embossing powders to look like rusty metal and grungy steel.

It's "time to" order your kit - you can do so on the website here or call The Little Blue House while there are still available.  There's a limited supply, so when they are gone, they are gone!  

We are expecting the online gallery of all the fabulous Design Team projects to be up and running tomorrow (Monday, Aug. 29), so be sure to visit the site to view all the awesome and inspiring creations.

Another Front Porch Kit Project

Remember this sneak from last week?  Did anyone guess what it might be?

This "Time to..." kit comes with a little white clock.  The Design Team was challenged to alter or decorate it in some way.  This is what I created - a little birdie for "Time Flies"!

I alcohol-inked the front of the clock and then used the new small leaf "movers and shapers" die to cut a bunch of "feathers" for the bird's body.  I overlapped and glued them to the sides and around the front of the clock.  

The wings are book pages handcut into wing shapes and covered with beeswax, then glued to the sides.  The head was also cut from the book text and inked.  The eye is hard to see but is a drop of black Enamel Accents from Ranger.  "Time Flies" was stamped on a strip from the border of the same page.  

And the little feet? Craft sticks are included in the kit so I cut one in half, shaped the ends and painted them with black and white stripes.  All supplies are from the kit, with the exception of the alpha stamps, inks and paints.

Birthday Weekend

Since my birthday was Friday, my oldest daughter's on Saturday and my husband's yesterday, we decided to spend the weekend in NYC with Kim.  It was a quick but fun trip and it was great to get out of the Texas heat.  NY had severe thunderstorms Friday night but we enjoyed seeing rain again!

Saturday was beautiful and in the low 80's.  This is a photo of the Manhattan skyline across the Hudson River from Hoboken where Kim lives. 

We took the Staten Island Ferry and had great views of the Statue of Liberty and NY skyline.  As we were docking, I spotted this anomaly.  Can you see the church and house sandwiched between the skyscrapers?  They are actually quite large buildings but are dwarfed by the modern towers.

One must-do on our list was to revisit the World Trade Center.  Back in 2001 Kim had just moved to NY for the first time and our first visit was two weeks after 9-11.  The site was still smoking at that time and we saw glimpses of the total devastation.  It's hard to believe it's been ten years! 

This is the new Freedom Tower which is about half-finished. When completed, it will have 104 stories plus a spire.  It's a beautiful building but I'm wondering if they will get any companies to occupy it. Would you like to work there? I doubt I would!

 The new victims' memorial was not yet open - I think the dedication is Sept. 11 - and was still hidden from view so we only saw artist-renderings.  It looks like an amazing and beautiful tribute to those who lost their lives on that tragic day.  Two pools are located on the original footprints of the twin towers and waterfalls will flow over the inscriptions of the names of all who died.

Today's the Day!

Ta da - today is the full reveal of the newest Front Porch Kit - "Time to..."  Just look at this beautiful kit! It includes 10 printed papers; 6 coordinating pieces of Bazzill cardstock; a full package of Pink Paislee Mistables Alphas; Maya Road chipboard number set; cardstock clock hands; journal, frame and word diecuts; Basic Grey stitched brads; embroidery floss and thread cards; crocheted embellishment; paper roses and leaves; felt flowers; lunch sack; flourishes; assorted ribbons, ric rac and buttons;  yes, a mini clock...and more!  There is also a CD included with 5 projects and full tutorials complete with photos!

There's more information and photos on the website: www.frontporchkits.com  where you can order this beautiful kit. (You may also call the LBH directly at 817-431-7930 to order.)   They will be available for pickup or shipping on August 26.  Don't wait to get yours, as the supply is limited and when they are gone, they are gone!

Here is the project I created for the instructional CD.  It's a small folded notebook that is handy for your purse and once the pages are filled, you can refill with more!  I am in love with this paper and the crepe ribbon.

I can't wait to show you what the Design Team did with the clocks - each is truly unique and so creative!

Only One More Day!

Tomorrow will be the full reveal of the "Time To..." Front Porch Kit.  So here are two final peeks.

And a snippet of another project I created.  You'll never guess this one!

Check out the website here to order online or call The Little Blue House to get yours delivered soon to your very own front porch!

Front Porch Kit - "Time To..."

This month's kit is titled "Time to..." Yes, that's a little clock that everyone will receive in the kit!  Just wait to see what the Design Team did with theirs.  So many ideas, so little time (LOL).

Here's a sneak peek of one of my projects for this kit. Bet you can't guess what it might be.

Come back tomorrow for yet another sneak.

Front Porch Kits Sneak

Here's another teaser for you.  You won't believe how much is in this kit! 

fibers and buttons and papers!

 Don't miss out - order yours now online or call LBH!

The full reveal will be Monday, August 22, with delivery expected around August 29.

It's that time of the month again...

for another Front Porch Kit that is!  Want to see some sneak peeks?  I thought so!  This kit is as fabulous as previous ones - they keep getting better!

Look at these gorgeous colors!  I spy some letters and numbers too.  And check out that cute crocheted embellishment.  What's that in the top photo on the right?

Stay tuned for more sneaks the rest of the week.  Due to technical issues on our website, pre-orders online will not be available until tomorrow, but you may call The Little Blue House today at 817-431-7930 to reserve yours.

The full kit reveal will be Monday, August 22!

Beeswax Collage

It's been a long time since I've worked with beeswax and last week I had a chance to break it out again to play a bit.  I love working with beeswax - smells wonderful too.

I've been wanting to do a small collage of this photo of myself and my best friend (almost since birth) when we were about five years old.  Her father managed a summer lodge on the top of the mountain and their family stayed there during the summer. Every summer I went up there to stay with them for about a week and it was always cold. I love this photo because I am wearing pants - notice the front-crossed straps!  My mother never put me in pants when I was young except when I went to visit this friend!

This is a small 6" square canvas. I applied several different brown chalk inks to age the background, adhered pieces of sewing pattern tissue and then sanded, especially along the edges of the canvas.  I transferred a copy of the photo using a gel medium transfer and then applied a piece of napkin and the stamped title and lace and buttons with beeswax.  Not sure if I like the lace under beeswax - I might go back and remove it and then reapply a strip of lace over the beeswax.  What do you think?

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Betty for winning my "100 Followers Giveaway!"  I put all the commenters' names in a hat (well, really a box) and drew Betty's name!  Please contact me by e-mail with your information and I will get this to you asap. (You can click on my profile and then click on my e-mail.)

Thanks to everyone who took the time to make lovely comments this past week. I love getting feedback and hope it makes my blog a better place.  Have a great week!

"Spread Your Wings and Fly"

Another journal page using paint dabbers, stamps, mists and black and white journaling pens. I hand-drew the birdcage and used my new bird stamps from convention about a month ago. It seems like I'm drawn to this color combo!  

I'm late, I'm late

This week just got away from me so I apologize for just getting around to posting the giveaway prize.  One lucky commenter will receive: 

a package of two Prima iron-ons

a clear Hearts-a-Flutter stamp set

Basic Grey chipboard luggage tag album to alter

a package for layering 10 cards

and many assorted napkins for your altered art

Deadline for comments will be August 15 (only a few more days). Please tell me your favorite kinds of posts and thanks again for visiting my little corner of blogworld!

My new class at The Little Blue House

We're in our second round of summer classes at The Little Blue House and this is one of the classes I designed.  It's a travel book and memento box.  The book fits inside the box (an old cigar box) but can also be separate so the box can hold treasures from a special trip.  The base of the book is made from envelopes and there's lots of stamping and several techniques involved.  If you are local and interested in taking the class, check out more information on the blog.

Don't forget to comment on my posts to be entered to win a giveaway on the 15th!

Another Art Journal Page

I've been art journaling this week and have several pages in various stages but only this one completed to share.  

To begin, I glued several different pieces of ephemera to the gessoed base page.  Then I started adding paints, inks, stamps and doodling.  The journaling refers to the Game On Diet I'm doing right now - I needed to write myself some encouraging words! Good news is - I lost 3.5 lbs the first week (but only 1 the second week).

100 Followers Giveaway!

Yippee! Can you believe it - my little ole blog now has 100 followers! When I first started this a few years ago, I had my doubts that anyone would visit my blog. I figured my family would look at it occasionally, but it was mainly for me - to document my art journey.  And then something wonderful happened - people started finding me and gradually I've gained 100 loyal followers!  I feel truly blessed by all the wonderful people I've met through blogging and I appreciate all of you who read and comment on my little corner of the world-wide web.  It is so uplifting to know that there are other like-minded souls out there and to be encouraged with your feedback.

So, in honor of this milestone, I will be doing a giveaway! I will take all comments from this post and future posts through August 15 and then pick a random winner.  Tell me what your favorite post has been - or what kind of posts you prefer.  Haven't got a prize yet but will get that figured out and post a pic soon.

Let me hear from you!

By George, I think I've got it!

In the never-ending search for the perfect storage solutions for supplies, I think I have at last found a solution for my Distress Inks and blending foams!

Originally I bought the Tim Holtz metal Distress Ink storage case, but it only holds 24 ink pads.  I now have all 36 colors and I wanted them all in one place, so I had to find something else.  I finally found this, which I am very happy with.  I think it's called Snapware and can usually be found in any of the big box craft stores.  They are stackable so you can add as many as you want to the stack (as long as you can still carry it!) and the tops have a built-in handle which folds and lays flat if you want to place something else on top.  I have two deeper ones and a slimmer one stacked together  - the top two hold 18 ink pads each and the bottom one holds reinkers and the blending tools.

Here you can see how they stack up - 2 rows of three across and they are stacked 3 high.

So what to do with all the blending foams?  I decided to get one for each of the colors and then I can rotate them on and off my blending tools as needed.  I attached a small piece of the rough side of sticky-back Velcro to the bottom of each of my ink pads.  (You can also see that I use address labels to identify my pads - this is an old address but I had leftovers when we moved!)

Then I simply added a blending foam to the Velcro.  It is always accessible when I need it and, because the bottom of the ink pad is recessed, it doesn't add too much extra height. (Did you know that The Little Blue House sells these foams individually so every time you buy a new ink pad you can get a foam at the same time!)  I also marked the bottom of each foam with the initials of the name of the ink color, just in case they get mixed up.

And here's another tip:  you can print out these color name labels from the Ranger site.  I printed two sets and punched them out with a Stampin Up long oval punch (fits perfect) and adhered two to each ink pad with Mod Podge.  I might even go back and make two more sets for the other two sides so I can always tell what they are no matter how they are turned!  You can see in the first photo above that they are visible through the storage container so I can easily find whatever color I need.

I am loving this system!  Now even if Ranger comes out with more colors, I will only need to buy another container to add to the stack!

Art Journaling Workshop

I recently signed up for Christy Tomlinson's online art journaling workshop, "She Has 3 Hearts", and have worked my way through all the videos.  It has been very inspiring and motivating.  Since I've been off for a few days and have been trying to keep cool (110 today!), I've been playing in my art journal.

This first page is done with acrylic paints (regular craft, heavy-bodied, and fluid) on a gessoed background, along with a bit of stamping.  It's similar to one she demoed on a video but I need to work a bit on my paint technique. I used an old credit card to swipe the paint across the background, but I think I used too much paint. I prefer a more random look.  And that's what art journaling is all about - learning and playing and enjoying the process rather than focusing on the finished outcome.

For the second page I started with my Ranger paint dabbers.  I own six, but as luck would have it, three were totally dry and the other three barely came out. So the background was very light and is not even visible now.  Then I used a mist over a stencil (turquoise) and added other mists with a brush (orange and green).  The music and circles are stamped with ink and paint.  Christy had one video showing how to make these adorable flowers with yarn, floss and Mod Podge directly on the page, so that's what I did!

I have several more pages started and at various stages of completion, awaiting further inspiration!  This is such a fun, relaxing way to spend a hot summer day.

Scrap Cards

It's 106 here today (30+ consecutive days of over 100 and no relief in sight) so I've stayed in my art room with the AC full blast!

Have scraps? I certainly do and I decided today to put some to good use.  I cut, punched and stamped until I had a full dozen!  You can never have enough blank cards ready to go when you need them. Here's the result:

The only problem?  I still have tons more!