Sunday, August 25, 2013

Penguin Pom Pom Animal

I have one more pom pom animal to share today.  My son requested that I make him a penguin and then shortly after, a friend emailed me that she wanted to make a penguin as well.  So, yesterday, I figured out how to make one:
I made a black pom pom for the head and a half black and half cream pom pom for the body.  (To create half colors just wrap the yarn around the cardboard in one color on one side and the other color on the other side. Slide off sleeve, place on floss and tie and cut just as you would a single colored pom pom.)
 I cut the beak and feet from orange felt.  The arms were cut from black felt and attached where the head attaches to the body.
I made the eyes by using some textured white brads and then adding black rhinestones to the centers.
Enjoy!
Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, August 23, 2013

Pom Pom Animals

Hello! Hope you had a great week!  I finally had a chance to get some more crafty ME time.  Since reading the book Adventures in PomPom Land by Myko Diann Bocek,  I have been thinking of trying to reproduce one of her fabulous pom pom creatures.

I must say, she does an excellent job explaining the process of making the animals.  After learning how to make a uniform pom pom, I went to work creating these two animals. 

I used some of her ideas but then changed a lot of the design.  For example, I didn't want to needle felt arms or legs so I relied on felt and just the contouring of the pom pom for mine.  But, I think part of the fun is taking a design and then making it your own.

Here are the two critters I made--a bunny and a hedge hog.  I am thinking they were a hit since they have already been adopted by my daughter and son. (They barely gave me time to take a picture of them before they were whisked away.)




It was so much fun making these.  I hope to get the chance to make a few more soon!
Thanks for stopping by today!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Gina K Grateful Heart Inspiration Hop!


Hello!  Welcome to the Gina K Inspiration Blog Hop featuring the new Stamp TV Kit--Grateful Heart! As you hop through the blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hops.

Here are my samples using the kit: 
For the first card, I stamped the ferns on Ivory cardstock using Dark Sage ink.  I added a strip of the patterned paper along the bottom edge and then stamped the sentiment above using Black Onyx.

For my next card, I used the branch from the kit and then added the house from Stamp It Big 2 and some of the Halloween silhouette stamps from Spooktacular You! to create this Halloween greeting:

Finally, I used the cute owl and sentiment from the kit to make a sweet note for a friend:
 
To see some inspiring ideas using this kit, please visit these blogs
Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Gina K Spooktacular You Inspiraton Hop!


Hello!  Welcome to an Inspiration Blog Hop featuring Spooktacular You! Gina and the Design Team will inspire you with many beautiful ideas! And as you hop through the blogs, make sure to leave a comment on each of them because we will choose a few random comments and those stampers will each win a grab bag of Gina K. Designs products! To see the full list of winners check the Big News Forum at StampTV a few days after the hops.

Here is what I came up with using this fabulous set:

 
I love all the fun silhouette shapes in this set---perfect for quick scenes and Halloween tags!  I stamped the witch using Black Onyx ink on orange paper and then punched it out using a circle punch.  I stamped the house and bats on paper that I antiqued by sponging it with some Honey Mustard ink.
Finally, I stamped the sentiment using Sweet Mango ink.

*Be sure to check out Gina K's blog for a peek at the coordinating Spooktacular You patterned paper pack!*

Check out these links to see more inspiration with - Spooktacular You:
Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, August 15, 2013

For the love of it!

Hello!  Is this thing still on?  (grin!)  Where have I been?  Well, technically....I have been at home, at the beach, enjoying family and friends and summer. There are a lot of things going on in my life right now so I am just stamping when I can get the time.  (More on the other stuff later on!)

The good news is that my subscribers have increased while I have had my (almost) 3 month hiatus, proving that silence is indeed golden:)

I have decided to step down from a lot of teams and I haven't been submitting to publications anymore because, while I loved doing both, they both took a substantial amount of time.  Because of how I am hard wired---I find it extremely difficult to do anything half way.  When I started running 5Ks---I ran them to win.  Then, I wanted to run a marathon.  Same thing happened with stamping.  I started doing this crafty stuff as a hobby and then I found out about design teams, publications, etc. and I had to try to do it all.  I pushed myself to try to do it all...and did it for awhile and then my mom had an unexpected surgery (she is doing great!) and I took a long look at my life. 

Yes, making cards and things is an important part of my life and I think it will always have a place but I had to prioritize my time.  If design team work was interfering with my other responsibilities, is it fair to keep doing it? Why was it so important to me to be on so many design teams or published so much?   So, I decided that if I wasn't making a true salary at this to make it work the sacrifice of my time....then I had to cut back.  So I did. 

Then, I had gallbladder surgery (end of March) and it was actually such a relief. I felt very good just a few days after surgery but my energy was a bit zapped for awhile.  So I took it as another sign to slow down. 

When the summer rolled around, I decided to just enjoy the time with the kids while they were out of school.  I did not stamp all summer!

So now...having been there and done that...I am back.  Back to sharing my life and my crafts with you.  On my time.  When I can....purely for the LOVE of it!

My first blog hop will be next week using the new Gina K Grateful Heart Stamp TV kit, which released today :)

Here is a card I created using the house from Stamp it Big 2 and a sentiment from SRM Stickers:



Enjoy!  See you next week (and not a moment before!)  Thanks for hangin' in there with me!