"And Now For Something Completely Different"

 Hi All!

     In my last post I mentioned that this post would be something that is not card related. *GASP*  "Not a card!", you say?  "Why would you not make cards in every spare moment?!", you ask?  Well, my answer is, "I'd love to!"  But here's the sitch.  School has started.  (cue the groaning realization) Distance learning is a very time consuming thing with us.  My little guy is in 2nd grade this year and has a lot of trouble staying focused and following instructions and my bigger guy needs a lot of redirecting and reassurance.  SO. The first half of my day is spent sitting next to or very nearby my squirmy student trying to keep him on task and following along with his teacher.  A LOT of, "Are you doing what you are supposed to?", "Are you following the instructions? She just asked you to do something.", and not so much along the lines of schooling but still important, "Stop picking your nose, the whole class can see you doing it!"  My craft area is upstairs, the school area is downstairs.  So if I wanted to make cards during that time, I'd need to spend time planning out and prepping things to do downstairs.  Sooo not my creative process!  I will be able to do my Paper Pumpkin kit down there since it comes with everything I need to make the cards, so that will be nice (until I get an idea for how to change them and make something new, then I'm back to doing cards after bedtime)

    I did not just want to spend the whole time on my phone and decided that I could pull out a craft I've been wanting to put some time into playing with, but didn't because all the crafting time I could eke out was spent making cards.  Of course, right?!  Out from the dusty depths of my craft shelf comes my bag of watercolor stuff!  I don't get to paint every day, just the ones where my little guy is having an easier time concentrating for whatever reason and I can sit at the table behind him rather than right next to him.  It's actually kind of nice, because if he was able to do this whole school thing all by himself, I'd probably be stuck doing boring things like chores instead.  This forces me to sit and do something for me. Yay, self care!

                                          Anyway, on to the finished products so far!

This little guy is one of my son's stuffies.  They both love pugs!

I also did some playing around with "charging" where you drop wet paint onto wet paper and the paint mingles and makes cool colors and shapes within the area you have gotten wet.

These I was painting at the same time, I'd do a ring on one, then the other, wait til they were dry and do it again.  I'm not sure I love these.  I may try again using a different technique...

My tweety bird came from one of those color combo suggestion sites you see on pinterest.

I hope you enjoyed my deviation from card making!

Sweet Spider Dreams!

 Hello, Hello!

     Ok, I know it's a little early for Halloween stuff, but my SU! Team Leader challenged us to make a card using this image as inspiration for us to look through our Holiday Catalog and find the corresponding Suites using the clues, then make a card using one that we like...

                                 

     How many can you identify?  I chose #2, the Suite called Magic In This Night.  Now I only have the DSP (Designer Series Paper) from that set so I combined it with some other fun things from the main catalog and some retired bits I have stashed. Here's what I made:

    First, I took some of the white and black plaid paper from the Plaid Tidings 6x6 pack, sponged it with Granny Apple Green and Memento Ink, then used my Stampin' Spritzer with some slightly watered down Memento Ink refill drops in it to spray the drops and blotches.  I used my scissors to scrape the edges to rough it up.  Then I matted that strip on a bit of the spider patterned paper (I cut the spider out of the piece that's under there too).  Next, I overlayed those on the beautiful rose patterned paper in the pack.  I used the Gold Hoops embellishments along with some gold twine (retired) to make my spider web (thank you Youtube for videos on how to make dreamcatchers!).  I also used my new Alphabet Dies and Rainbow Glimmer paper to "BOO!" you! ;)  All mounted on a Rich Razzleberry mat and a Basic Black base.

     I hope you enjoyed my first Halloween card of the year!  Keep an eye out for some other fun stuff I'm working on.  *Hint* It may not be cards next time!!

     If you would like to order any of the items I talked about, or anything else you see in our catalogs you can place an order on the Stampin' Up! website here:

https://www.stampinup.com

and make sure you choose me as your Independent Demonstrator.  I also have a Host Code for you to use that will be good until September 30th if you are placing an order under $150.  If you are ordering over $150 then you would qualify for your own Host Benefits (free stuff!!) so you wouldn't use the Host Code.  Either way, any order over $50 I will send you a gift and a handmade thank you card!

Host Code:  TVKFUE2E

Or if you like having an all inclusive kit style experience, try out our Paper Pumpkin monthly subscription.  All you need to make multiple cards or projects with instructions, mailed to your door each month!  Check it out here:

https://www.paperpumpkin.com

Thank you for visiting!!