staibshine

Today I thought I would give myself a bit of a challenge: Use every stamp in a set Stamp and color with a single Crayola Marker I'm very happy with the final results!  Sure, it's not perfect.  There are some stamping boo-boos.  I'm not 100% sure about the composition.  This whole wavy background thing glued directly to my wall is odd.  But in many ways I feel like this is very true to me as an artist.  I'm bumpy and lumpy and odd and imperfect...and cute and wholesome with sprinkles of joy, whimsy, and yes...magic! Supplies: Stamp set: Magical Day (Hero Arts, purchased from Scrapbook.com) Ink: One turquoise crayola marker with water and a cheapo paint brush Paper:  Neenah Index Card, 110 lb Still pulling from some unknown, super old 6x6 paper pack Other: Scotch repositionable glue Scissors Process: Today I tried to remember to take a few pictures along the way! First I stamped out all of the images.  First go around, the text (sentiment) was blur...

  I love this cute little frog.  He seems like a sweetly wise little fella.  Kind of like a mini Radagast.  (He is a not-as-well-known wizard from Lord of the Rings.)  He sits there surrounded by nature, next to a birdcage that is mere ornamentation.  A group of blue birds reside on top of the cage.  Perhaps they have always been free?  Or perhaps our little friend helped them out...and that is why he smiles so? I am enjoying the process of just making small bits and then letting them gather together on a pattern paper background.  This is all still a very new world to me!  But I do like splitting the creation of the individual pieces from the creation of composition.  Each process seems to use a different part of my creative brain.  Plus, the surprise discovery of the clustering is quite fun!   Maybe I need to pick some sort of small color palette to give myself the best choice.  That butterfly is still "wowzers...

  For today's project, I had a bit of a play with watercoloring paper with a variety of inks.  I had several stray, sample pieces on my desk from the last few days.  All of a sudden, they seemed to go gravitate together in a little cluster.  I then popped into the little 6x6 paper pad I've been playing with to find a background.  Sometimes restricting yourself to what is in front of you can bring about really novel results.  Ain't creativity grand?! Supplies: Elements Bird: Birds & Nest s set (Michaels) Book and Leaf: Mystic Boo decorative die set (Scrapbook.com) Door: ephemera left over from  matchbox book kit  (Etsy - Emma Parrish) - Project Background paper from a 6x6 paper pad bought many years ago.  (Not sure of brand or store.) Mediums Crayola supertip (Dark green/balck) Crayola colored pencil - orange Junesix washable ink pads (Amazon) Roizefar alchol ink bottles (Amazon) Other Scotch repositionable glue stick to put the pieces ...

  Today is a holiday (Labor Day), so I have bit of extra crafting/creating time.  (Woohoo!)  I thought I would put together a cute little matchbox book kit by the very talented Emma Parrish.  And, even though this is an easy set to put together, Emma has a wonderful video that walks you through it. Supplies: Digital kit (Etsy) printed on Neenah 110 lb Index card Ink:  Junesix waterbased ink  (blue and light beige; unsure of exact colors) Makeup sponge for edges.  the outcome was fine, but probably best to stick with a blending/foam stamping brush. Scissors Glue Scoring tool metal ruler (for easy scoring) Craft knife (for cutting out inside of sewing machine) Process: It is really best to watch Emma's video.  But basically: Cut out all of the pieces. Put box together. Put box cover together. Put book together. Put book in box. Decorate!  (This might be the. most time consuming part...and definitely the most fun!) I did have a couple of stam...

Although I have been playing with paper for decades, it feels like I am on a new journey.  I have found a love for die-cuts and card-making "things"...even though I have never been a "card person" or a "scrapbooker."  But hey, there are no rules! For my first finished "piece" I present "Triple Boo's"!   I definitely need to do some research on how to take better photos!   Supplies: Dies from Sweet Boo bundle (Scrapbook.com) Ghost "Boo" Two different 3D flower dies from a set  (Amazon) Stencil: 8"x5" background (Amazon) Ink: Junesix waterbased ink (Amazon)  Sorry, no colors listed on the stamps themselves, but might be Sky Blue and Lemon Yellow, watered down 6x6 piece of pattern paper bought from a big box craft store probably 15 years ago! White card stock ( Neenah 94 bright index 110lb  (Amazon) Process: I didn't really have any sort of project in mind when I started.  At first I just wanted to try cuttin...

Starting a blog in 2025 seems a bit crazy.  Especially considering I really prefer to write my own words instead of AI-ing them.  I am not anti-AI...I just like to write.  It is like making bread out of my scattered dough of thoughts. I did a couple of quick searches on starting a blog in 2025.  And then I quickly realized that is a silly rabbit hole to fall into.  I am looking for a good place to capture and organize information around this new paper craft hobby I've been playing with for the last few months.  I have started collecting information on Pinterest , but I don't know if that is a good place to keep all of my information, projects, processes, etc.  So, here we are! Now...with that out of the way...