Glue Arts & Echo Park Team Up

This week on the Glue Arts blog, the ladies created stunning projects with Echo Park's Wintertime collection.  If you have this paper line or are interested in seeing some GREAT inspirational ideas, check out all last week. In fact, I highly recommend becoming a FOLLOWER over there because of the projects being created, they will be sure to inspire, and not to mention all the giveaways they have!  And if you leave a comment this week on the Glue Arts blog, you could be eligible to win some Glue Arts products and Echo Park products.

Here is my project made with the papers and stickers from the Wintertime collection.

Echo Park's Wintertime Kit:

I used my NEW Distrezz-it-all to tear up the edges and Shimmerz Eucalyptus and Licorice to add some darker shades and distressing to the papers.  Distressing is how I operate!  There has to be some distressing or something is not right in the world!

I also love layers and more layers!

And I also LOVE my new Glue Glider MAX - it's BIG, it's BOLD, and it's MINE!  It's actually lighter than I expected and will last me a very long time!  It's adhesive is EXCELLENT and you only need a touch here and there.  It's a THICK strip too (1/2 inch or 1 inch).  One HUGE benefit to this adhesive applicator is that it will NEVER get lost in my clutter.  Going back to the Glue Glider Pro, it felt so small!

Same as the PRO applicator, the MAX come with different refill cartridges.  Each applicator has OVER 100 feet of adhesive.  I think this may become my new GO TO adhesive!



A Happy Birthday and Itty Bitty Hip Hop

Good morning and good day!  If you're here for the UNITY HIP HOP  - WELCOME!

Before we get too far into anything here, we are celebrating a very special woman today.  It happens to be her birthday and we all want her to know how very special she is!

This is for Angela, our fearless and gentle leader, the creative genius behind Unity, the woman who has so much spunk and a voice that resonates with so many people.  She has words of wisdom that she loves to pass on, and I truly believe that she has the gift of encouragement.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELA!
"Happy Birthday Lovely You"

**A thank you to Julie Campbell - I never would have put buttons on this LeChic stamped image if it weren't for seeing you do it!  Was it created for buttons and I just had no clue?

Supplies:
Unity Stamps: LeChic and January's KOM (To the Moon & Back)
Cardstock: Bazzill
Ink: Ranger
Flower: Prima
Adhesive: Glue Arts, Glue Glider Pro, and Adhesive Squares
Sticker: Crate Paper Restoration Line
Hemp Cord
_____________________________________

-ITTY BITTY TIME-

For today's hop, we are featuring none other than Itty Bitty stamps!  They are just the cutest images, and they aren't that itty bitty at all, they are a good size!  AJ asked which Itty Bitty I wanted and gals, it was SO hard to choose.  I just let Unity decide which one to send me out of a choice of 3.  And someone must have had the foresight that I have a young baby boy in the house and I ended up with the Bouncy Blue stamp.

Itty Bitty - Bouncy Blue

Below, you can see the January kit, I was able to use 2 sentiments together for Angela's birthday card. 
Have you thought about joining the club?  There are quite a few perks - check it!

Kit info can be found here.

 

HIP HOP SKETCHES?

Do you know about the Hip Hop Sketches?  If you play along, you can win some stamps!  I'm thinking that people just don't know where to find these challenges and where to upload.  You can find the information at Splitcoast Stampers in Unity's Challenge Forum. 

Click here to PLAY ALONG this week and look for HHSC40.

 

STILL FREE SHIPPING!  Check it out!

Now it's time to hop on over to the next blog in the hop!

Thanks for visiting today!

Who says WOMEN can't BUILD?

I can't contain it any longer.  I just put the final touches on the crown moulding yesterday and I have to show you a sneak of my new craft and scrapbook room.  This is my favorite wall!  I filled up the shelves to resemble store displays and placed items in eye sight that I should use.   I tried to color coordinate each section too.  My favorite part - that curtain rod line so I can actually display my work!  I remember seeing that Jenni Bowlin had done something similar and I thought "when I build my space, I am going to include a space for hanging my work".

This is where I used to scrap - in the main part of the basement, but I was taking up too much of a footprint in the house.  Especially because we had a room with walls (no ceiling) and it was just filled with CRAP.  So friends suggested that I build myself a awesome craft room.  Why hadn't I thought of that?  Everything you see below was make shift.  Odd tables thrown together, shelving, you name it.  Nothing matched. And it looked messy.  My new room is CLEAN and everything is meant to be, bought to match.

And best of all, I did it myself.

Drywall ceiling - check

Buy cabinets and get them home in the van - check

Rip up old carpet - check

Level and install cabinets - check

Install counter tops - check

Install laminate flooring - check

Install 3 of 6 pot lights - check

Nailing and Caulking of baseboards - check

Using a mitre saw - check

Special thanks to my hubby Mark who helped my hang the shelves and screw the drywall and for watching the kids while I was working, and to my Dad for electrical, crown moulding, baseboard, and the first taping of the drywall.

I will be back in a couple weeks with a video and more pics!  Stay tuned.

SHIMMERZ and The Color Room

If you love Shimmerz, you should play along at The Color Room.  They are sponsoring this month.  Here is the very first palette and isn't it gorgeous!  Look at all that texture! 

Here is my take, using photos of my little man, trying to put on his new hat.  He did this about 10 times and was SO proud of himself.

Supplies:

Shimmerz - Fiery Fiesta, Licorice, Concrete

Stamps: Tim Holtz Royal Script (Stampers Anonymous)

Adhesive: Glue Arts Adhesive Squares, Glue Gun, Perma Tac

Paper: Bo Bunny, My Mind's Eye

Chipboard: 7 Gyspsies

Paint: Gesso by Ranger

Metal Clock: Tim Holtz

Other: Hemp Cord, Dymo Labelmaker

A New Color Combination! CCG #174 and Moxie Fab Stamp of Approval!

Plum!  I only had one sheet of paper that matched the color combination this week by Bo Bunny.  A beautiful plum glitter paper.  The rest of the plum is PAINT (Sugar Plum) by SHIMMERZ.

Here is the inspiration board for the week Jan 6 - Jan13.

#174

And here is my take:

This is my little sister and me, and about 4 years ago.  Do you think we look alike?  We have the same Father.  I never really thought we looked alike until people started commenting in the past couple months.  I think we have similar noses and smiles.

I forgot to mention in my post another love of mine.  It is the DISTREZZ-IT-ALL from Zutter.  If you love the look of torn edges, this toll just does all the work for you!  I bought it for myself for Christmas and I love love love it.

Back to the layout at hand!  I bought so many odds and ends buttons from a re-use center here in Burlington and for a while, they've been sitting.  So I pulled them out, hot glued them to the paper (Glue Arts Glue Gun), and coated them with GESSO paint.  Then I went crazy with Plum Pudding Shimmerz Spritz and Sugar Plum Shimmerz Paint.

The challenge this week at Color Combos Galore was to use butterflies somewhere on our layout.  I chose to stamp little ones here and there to match a Unity Stamp Co. quote that I have (go in the directions....).  Other Unity stamps include the SHE quote and She Sprouted Wings.

The clock stamp is 7 Gypsies, and the butterfly stamps and saying are Cornish Heritage Farms.

YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Check out Paper Crafts Moxie Fab World for a chance to win some UNITY STAMPS!  Cath has a new feature on the blog that has her giving away stamps every Thursday!  Way to go Paper Crafts!  And Unity is the first!  Here is the kit you could win:

To the Moon & Back (8.5x11 sheet of rubber)

Have a GREAT day!

HIP HOP } A New Year, New Found Loves

In my post today, I'll share with you some of my NEW loves, since it's the NEW year.

Good morning and good day!  If you're here for the UNITY HIP HOP  - WELCOME!

Love #1
We had the option this week of working with our FAVOURITE Unity stamps, so of course, I pulled out the co-branded stamp sets from Iron Orchid Designs.  Beautiful.  I like beautiful.  I love beautiful.

Devotion Collection - Good, Pure, Excellent
Follow the link to see it in the Unity store.

Do you spot her?  The lady in the corner?  When I think of this stamp, I think of SERVING each other.  And that is what love and parenthood is all about.  I also used 1/2 of the FRAME stamp on either side of the layout for our names and year of birth.

LOVE #2  K - I love this heart stamp.  I want to use it on everything.  In fact - I just had a thought.  This would make a great stamp for the back of homemade cards!  I will do this.  That gem is from Making Memories and had been scufed with paint.

And here is the beautiful biblical quote.  I encased it with a Spellbinder's die cut frame.  All that ink you see is Broken China Distress ink.  Love #3  For some reason, I am really finding out that I love blue.  I reach for blue ink and sprays more than any other color.

Ah Prima, how I adore thee. Love #4  I love flowers and this awesome faux suede leaf ribbon from MAY ARTS is really funky!  This is the first time I've left tehm strung together.  I usually cut them up for individual use.  Love #5  Hemp cord!  Strung throughout a layout, I love how it looks!  It comes in all different colors too!

Love #6  A new found love for GESSO paint and Shimmerz- A GORGEOUS COMBINATION.  I used a mixture of Shimmerz paints and spritz' on top of the GESSO that coated the letters.  I think that frame is by Little Yellow Bicycle.

Oh, I can't forget to tell you about the January kit.  Once I get it, I will be using so many of these scrappy stamps on my layouts!  I love the stitched memories journal box especially.

Have you thought about joining the club?  There are quite a few perks - check it!

Kit info can be found here.

HIP HOP SKETCHES?

Do you know about the Hip Hop Sketches?  If you play along, you can win some stamps!  And a little birdie told me that there are currently very few players, so I'm thinking that people just don't know where to find these challenges and where to upload.  That being said, your odds of winning are good if you play along!  You can find the information at Splitcoast Stampers in Unity's Challenge Forum. 

STILL FREE SHIPPING!  Check it out!

Now it's time to hop on over to the next blog in the hop!

Thanks for visiting today!

The Doctor - Dr. Who! Altered T-Shirt

Thanks to a lazy EBAY seller, my husband now has ART!

So the story begins with my husband's love and appreciation for Dr. Who, the BBC show that airs here in Canada too.  For Christmas, I went a little overboard and got him a Dr. Who magazine, episode guide, glossary of everything Dr. Who, and a T-shirt.  This is where I get MAD!

So, I found this great T-shirt on EBAY, and ordered it, no problem.  I contacted the seller to get the reduced shipping for combined purchases, and he was hard to get a hold of!  So finally, I just ended up over paying for shipping, hoping the guy would refund me, which he did.  Then I got the notice that he shipped it.  GREAT!  Wait, but not so great.  I didn't tell the guy what size I needed, nor did he take 1 minute to email me to ask me what size I needed.  I figured he would send me a large and I'd live with it.

SO WHAT DID THE GUY SEND ME?  Great question.

AN EXTRA LARGE! 

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH AN EXTRA LARGE when my husband is a

SURE MEDIUM.

Then the light bulb moment!

ART

I have GESSO and a CANVAS, I have GLUE, I have SHIMMERZ, I have some cool Tim Holtz metal pieces, and I have UTEE.

So I cut the t-shirt, stapled it to the back of a Dollar Store canvas and went at it.  First, GESSO paint.  I painted only where I wanted to cover the grey and add text.   I found some t-shirt transfer paper at Walmart for Ink Jet printers.  PERFECT!  I found this Dr. Who quote on-line from the trailer of the first season (new version) and ironed it right onto the t-shirt, so that it looks infused on there.  Then I  went CRAZY with Shimmerz spritz' (Eucalyptus and Licorice).  Then came the metal and coats of Ranger's multi-medium gloss to help everything stick!

 

As you can see from the t-shirt, the phone booth had no color, so I used acrylic paint to add color here and there.  Then I coated the tardis (phone booth) with Versamark ink and UTEE and melted 3 coats on there so the box would appear shiny.   I also colored the top light with a COPIC marker.

Here is the NOT SO ATTRACTIVE back, all stapled.  :)

So take heart people!  If you have an un-loved t-shirt, go ahead and alter it on canvas! 

A Video Tutorial - Framed Art with Shimmerz Paints

First of all - HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!

I hope this will be a wonderful year of health, family, friends, and creativity!

Today, I have a new video for you!  It's up on the Shimmerz Education Vlog as well!

If you have about 10 minutes, grab a cup of joe and watch how easy this is.  I would love to see this done with other colors too, so if you happen to try this, I'd love to see it!  Share your link below and I'll come have a peek!

Shimmerz Products Used in this Video:
Tickle Me Turquoise Shimmerz
Key Lime Shimmerz
Golden Wheat Shimmerz
Blue by U Pearlz
Jeni B Bleu Vibez

Other Supplies:
Stamps - Unity Stamp Co. (Donna Downey)
Ink - Ranger Black Soot
Paper - 140 Pound Watercolor Paper
Tools - paint brush, heat gun, black pen

Bye for now!