I'm Back!

I cant tell you how excited I am to start blogging again. I had quit blogging due to personal issues and even though I could have started again long ago I wanted to make sure that I had the time and energy to pursue it again without another interruption. Blogging opened up a whole new world for me and my journey in art as well as friends that I would have never had the opportunity to meet. I found myself to be inspired by others which in turn kicked my creativity into high gear. I definitely never struggled with creative block!

 Unfortunately it seems I have some snags to work out because I cannot post photos... I am sure it will not be the only problem I will have to work out as it has been a while.

Before I close I will let you know that I will be having a giveaway to celebrate being back. You will want to watch for it later in the week.

Thanks for visiting!

Altered Vintage Bottle

This is the first altered bottle I have ever made. However it will not be the last. These little artistic  creations could be habit forming! I know that I am already sorry I didn't buy the whole box of bottles instead of just a few. What was I thinking?

For my first bottle project I used a photo of one of my favorite images, my granddaughter, Destiny. Since this was a vintage piece, I wanted to do something special with her picture like a photo transfer or something. On the other hand I really wanted to get started on the design so I copied a photo and printed it on mulberry paper. I just love this stuff. It is adhesive backed and tears just like regular mulberry paper does.

Above is a close up of the photo printed on the mulberry paper. You can see the texture that this paper provides. I feel it goes really well with the vintage style

Since I started off printing Destiny's picture on mulberry paper I attached  mulberry paper as the first layer on my bottle. The only place you can see it from the front is a little on the upper neck area and right below the neck of the bottle. This pattern has holes in it so that you can still see the color and age of the bottle. It is actually more sheer than it looks in this photo.

I wrapped a crotchet and lace trim around the bottom and secured it with a safety pin. I added a vintage handbag charm to the safety pin and then added two buttons. The buttons are not old but are vintage inspired buttons from Germany. To finish off the bottom portion, I wrapped a strand of faux pearls around the bottle a few times.

Above Destiny's photo I wrapped a lace with pearls around the bottle quite a few times. I added a pearl accent to the Tim Holtz vintage button after i placed it over the wrapped lace and pearls. I also attached a cross, heart, key and woman's torso to a safety pin before securing it to the bottle.

I had the flowers in the photo above on a ribbon. I had planned to remove the flowers and place them here and there. I started to wrap them around the neck of the bottle and Walla!

My bottle did not have a cap so I took some adhesive backed cork and cut off a one inch slice. I rolled it up tightly until I had enough to fit into the top.

I attempted to search the Internet for information about creating something for an altered bottle with no lid. I did read about bees wax, unfortunately the author was not addressing the beginner. I was hoping that you could help me finish my bottle. If you have a technique that you use or know of a good link that I may learn how I would sure appreciate it.

Thank you for sharing my altered bottle with me. I almost forgot! I wanted to share with you the photo I am going to be using on my next altered bottle...

This is my granddaughter, Jazmine. Is she not going to make my bottle beautiful! I printed her photo on the mulberry paper too. The outfit that she is wearing in this picture was made by my mother  

Thanks again for coming by and don't forget to add your contact information when leaving a comment so that I can visit. I apologize for being a little late on returning messages but I have had my grand kids the last few days and they kept me busy.

Until Next Time... Take Care



Fragments Frame

I wish that I could say what I call my fragments frame, is my own design, but it isn't. It is inspired from one of my favorite designers, Tim Holtz. It is not a secret that i admire his work.  I have loved pieces such as this for as long as I can remember and have finally made a few of them.

I made one for myself and one for my Etsy Shop, Scrapping With Sherry. I will post the one that I made for myself at a later time. I actually thought that they were going to be a fairly quick to put together. Boy was I wrong!  Of course you have to take into count that I tend to be indecisive and I rearranged the fragments a few times. It's not important exactly how many times...

I wanted to show you that the frame not only sits alone but also looks nice in an easel type holder. I have also added a hanger in the back if you want to showcase it on the wall.

I started the picture frame by painting a square frame with a teddy bear brown acrylic paint and then added a few different distress inks until I was happy with the outcome.

After I finished obsessing over the shade of brown that was going to be ultimately covered up, I set the frame aside and started to find vintage images to attach to my fragment pieces.

Once the fragment pieces were finished I then attached them to the frame.



Some of the images included street signs, ration stamps, theatre tickets and a Kodak transparency photo.

Other images were license plates, medicine labels, paper and vintage children's playing cards.

One of my favorite images on this frame is the picture of the lady above.

She looks so deep in thought... maybe longing for a lost love.

Dictionary definitions, part of a key, a piece of a report card, a travel sign and another vintage photo make up the upper portion of the Fragment Frame.

A few more of the pieces that are shown above include a pop cap, a fragment of a train ticket and clock, room service sign, snippet of an application and ruler, musical notes, the free space of a bingo card and another road sign.

Of course there are more than what I have mentioned but I will let you find them. 

I am linking my Fragments Frame to the Creative Spirit Challenge at Cindy Adkins blog, Whimsical Musings. I have already had a chance to view some of the entries and they are amazing.

Thanks for coming by. I have a lot of stuff to share with you this week so swing back by if you have time. I have a few more projects, a few new tool reviews (one of them not to good), my Etsy Shop news and an announcement about my up coming giveaway. It's going to be bigger and better than the first one, so you don't want to miss that!

Until Next Time... Take Care

Her Whimsical Musings Order In!

My order came in today from Cindy Adkins new Etsy Shop, Her Whimsical Musings! Above is the tag that I bought called, Vintage Style Paper Doll Tag. I love it!  

 Cindy just has a way with placement and embellishments. Some of the items that she uses I would never think of using some of the items that she creates with on a tag, and it works so well.

The tag is all I ordered but it is not all that I received. Leave it to Cindy to throw in some added handmade goodies.

One of the items that she sent was this tag with the hand stamped butterfly image. The tag at the top says, "Love" and "has nothing to do with what you are expecting to get, it's what you are expected to give- which is everything."  I could not help but compare the sentiment with the package that Cindy put together for me. I was expecting to get the tag that I ordered and she has given me far more than what I have expected.

She also sent this lovely ATC. The background is a deep red/maroon glitter, which just happens to be my favorite color. There is also an S in the corner for Sherry.

Yes, there's more... This card and bible were also included. I cannot tell you how many times I have been sitting and waiting for an appointment and thought that I wish I had my bible. Now I have one for my purse. Thank you Cindy!

Last but certainly not least, was this cross. Cindy packaged everything for protection and then tied the tags and ATC together with ribbon and then attached this to the front. What an added touch! My mind started turning it's wheels on what creation I was going to come up with, so that I can use my cross.

I have an Etsy Shop and have ordered from Etsy on several occasions. However, Cindy's Shop, Her Whimsical Musings, was at the top for service. She had my order to me within just a few days and paid attention to all the details that makes shopping for handmade goods so rewarding. I can't wait for that next "I gotta have that" item to appear so I can place another order.

Thanks Again Cindy!

Until Next Time... Take Care

Custom Card with Extras

This is a card that I made for a customer as a Custom Order through my Etsy Shop, Scrapping With Sherry. Her request was for a card for her sister's birthday that also incorporated a tag or bookmark in some way. What I did was construct a card that held two tags or bookmarks, depending on your preference. One with a sentiment and one for her to add her own words to her sister.

We discussed different color schemes and decided to go with the tan and black for a classic look. Her sister is very special to her and she did not want any old ordinary birthday card.

Here you have the cards 3 different parts when the tags or bookmarks are taken out of their pockets.

The sentiment has been stamped on using black soot distress ink. There has also been a partial image of a clock hand stamped in Versamark for an added touch. The sentiment reads, "Time is a companion that goes with us on the journey, It reminds us to cherish each moment because it will never come again. What we leave behind is not as important as how we have lived." This is a sentiment found in the Tim Holtz collection. I think it is quite fitting for a birthday.

The sentiment is the reason that I went with stamping the clock image not only on the smaller tag but on the larger one as well, but this time I stamped it in the darkest brown I could find.

I like how on this close-up of the clock face you can also see the texture of the felt is the specialty cardstock I used for the background.

I made 3 flowers using my Cricut and Georges Basic Shapes Cartridge. I started by using a tan cardstock that coordinated with my patterned paper. I then hand stamped various background images by Anna Griffen on each petal with the same black ink I inked the edges with to define the flowers so that the petals did not all run together. After running the petals through a crimper, I attached them together using a black rose brad by Recollections. After I bent some of the petals and added a few pop dots here and there so that the flower would keep its dimensional look, I randomly added a clear glaze.

I am happy with how the card turned out and plan to make more using different patterns and colors. It's just a fun and different type of card.

Thanks for coming by and seeing what I have been up to... I am actually going to make myself sit down and add items to my store now. The poor shop is pathetically empty. I guess some day when I am rich I can hire someone to do all the business stuff and I can just craft. But until then I better get busy. Ugh!

Until Next Time... Take Care

Pumpkin Patch Tag

This is my "Pumpkin Patch Tag" and also this week's tag for Tag Tuesday, hosted by Louise at Kard Krazy. You probably already guessed it but this week's theme is pumpkins.

I started by inking the tag with distress inks to come up with a background. After the tag dried I started adding a few embellishments by Jolee's, left over from an ATC that I had made last week. I used my Cricut Machine to make a tree and after applying ink to it I then attached it to the tag as well. 

I then added various colors of perfect pearls to a piece of white cardstock before stamping different images of leaves. After cutting a few of the leaves out, I randomly placed them at different places on the tag. I was not completely happy, so I added a post with a scarecrow head for a little more interest.

I am a big fan of 3D, which is included on most all of my work. This tag being no different, I attached the leaves and pumpkins so that they were not all just flush with the tag too. I think it went well with the dimensions of the scarecrow and the bail of hay as well.

Thanks for coming by. Hope everyone is having a great day!

Until Next Time... Take Care

Sherry's Fabulous Finds Oct. 3rd

It's Sunday! Here at Scrapping With Sherry, Sunday means Fabulous Finds. Although my intentions were to share my Fabulous Finds with you weekly, it looks as if bi-weekly may be a more realistic goal. So, let's see what I ran across while out and about the last few weeks.





Suzz's Stamping Spot is where you can find one amazing work of art after another. The artist's name is Suzanne and I will just have to warn you, follow the link I have provided and prepare to be inspired!

The two cards above where created for a color challenge. Well, the first card was and then Suzanne took it a step further when she made the easel card to experiment and try something new. I wish my experiments turned out like this! WOW!

My next fabulous find is an ATC by Yvonne. You can find this and many more of her artwork at her blog, ARTic Blonde Creations. She does an amazing job with digital images. My mouth literally fell to the floor when she said that she had only been doing digital art for a week! Can you imagine what Yvonne is going to be creating in a year. I'm a follower because I am certainly not going to miss it.

If you like Halloween, you will not want to miss Yvonne's creations. She gives spooky a new meaning.

This Halloween Banner Tag is created by Jean Franks Beck at Bluebird Paperie. I don't know how many times I hit the rewind button on the page where we were both entered in the same tag challenge trying to see everything this tag had to offer. Of course we won't get into how much easier it would have been just to use the pause button.

When I went to Jean's blog I could not put my finger on what her style is. She creates a wide range of papercrafts and she does them all very well. I had just as a hard time deciding which one of her projects to use. Once you view her work you will see what I mean.

This precious suitcase comes with a coordinating dress and so does the other ones that Cheryl makes from Cheryl's Creative Cards and ATC's. Don't let the title of Cheryl's blog confuse you, there's a lot more than cards and ATC's going on over there. 

Like many of the artists that have made their way here today, Cheryl has a endless line up of artwork sure to inspire any papercraft artist. What caught me by surprise is how humbled Cheryl was that I loved her artwork so much. She not only creates beauty but is beauty on the inside as well.

My final fabulous find actually found me first by leaving a comment on my blog. When I went to thank her for her nice words and visit, I found artwork that kept me on her blog for more than an hour.

The artists name is also the name of her blog, anjas-artefaktotum.

The witch's head in the picture above is self painted by Anjas. A good deal of her work has self paintings and the magic that she creates when creating her backgrounds is simply amazing. She mentions several techniques that she has used when creating her backgrounds, along with links. Personally I can not wait to get back to her blog and look them up.

But first I want to thank everyone who came by to visit me. Without all of you I wouldn't have a reason to do any of this and blogging has become a big part of my creative process. Thank You!

If you are looking for some inspiration for the holidays, don't stop here! The photo above is just a preview of what's to come.

Until Next Time... Take Care

Haunted House Card and Tag Set

Do you remember this tag? If not, I had posted it a few nights ago and like I promised, here's the card that goes with it...

This card measures 5" x 7" and is a larger card than what i typically make but with all of the details that this card entails, I needed the room. This card is the mate to the Haunted House Tag. Both were  a kick in the pants to make. It's not at all what type of card I am used to making but while I was in the process of making them I actually felt like a kid again. 

When looking at this close up of the ghosts hanging out on the roof it sure doesn't look like anything is haunted around here!

Above is the upper right hand window... another happy ghost! May have to change the name of the card. Maybe both sets of ghosts are so happy because they are the ones doing the haunting.

You can see the texture of the house real well here. I painted a grungeboard house with green crackle paint and then added various inks and paint in random spots with a paint brush, my fingers and a sponge until I got it how I wanted it.

The trees, complete with spider and web, were also made out of grungboard and then painted black. The black paint I used was very flat so I gave both of them a light mist of sealer.

 

Unlike the tag, the card's background is patterned paper. However, I did attach the same gate border across the bottom. To complete the Haunted House card I added a witch flying off in front of the moon.

The Haunted House Card and Tag Set will be available at my Etsy Shop, Scrapping With Sherry, along with a number of other holiday inspired items shortly.

Don't miss Sherry's Fabulous Finds tomorrow. I have some great artists I don't think you will want to miss. I am sure glad that I didn't.

Thanks so much for visiting and all of the great comments you have been leaving. It really is a joy to get to know everyone and just do what I do... Create!

Until Next Time... Take Care!



Altered Spooky Frame



Today I took a break from making cards, tags and other papercraft items to work on a project with my granddaughter. This is our "Spooky" shadow box picture frame.

Let me introduce you to the artist...

This up and coming paper artist is my granddaughter Destiny.

We really had a great time constructing the elements and altering embellishments to create a "Spooky" scene.

We painted and sanded down the outer frame to get a shabby look. I had suggested that we use crackle paint on the outside, however Destiny did not care for the colors that were available. She's the boss!

In this close up shot you can see how the back wall has been painted purple with black dry brushed on. The walls, ceiling and trees are painted black. There are rocks glued to the bottom and painted green to look like grass.

A yellow moon is in the right hand corner against the black wall partially hidden behind the tree to enhance the night time "Spooky" look.

Under the tree sits a headstone that says "Are You Afraid of the Dark?", with a spider hanging down. You can see a pumpkin, that is actually a button, peeking through the fence. The fences were made from grungeboard that has been cut using a die and Cuttlebug. We then painted them black and then dry brushed them with white paint. Can you see a ghost peeking from behind the tombstone?

Above is another view of the fence with the crazy cat and a pumpkin. We didn't know if the cat is crazy or hypnotized. 

Here is the witch with her broom, her pot of ...  What do you think she is brewing up?  There is a spider on the back and something red is bubbling over! Eek!! In back of the witch is another tree with a spider web.

Thank you for coming by and taking a peek at our "Spooky" picture frame.

This is one Halloween project that I will treasure for a lifetime. To me it's perfect!

Destiny and I are linking our altered "Spooky" picture frame to The Artistic Stamper's Creative Team Blog for October Challenge. The theme is layers.

Until Next Time... Take Care!