ODBD For the Love of Friendship

Welcome to Our Daily Bread Design's Alumni Team's bi-monthly For the Love Blog Hop.  This week the Alumni team along with some of the ODBD designers are featuring a hop For the Love of Friendship! Check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, check the ODBD blog for full list of links.  One of the posts is a hop hot spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to win a $15 ODBD store gift certificate.  So, all you have to do is hop along and see all the creations and leave a little love!  You have until Wednesday, February 13th, at 6 pm.   Enjoy all the beautiful designs featuring For the Love of Friendship!  

I have the honor of starting this week's hop and I chose to use the set Friendship.  I love the dragonfly with the flourishes.  And the sentiments and verses in the set are perfect to provide just the right amount of encouragement or gratitude.

I started by inking some white cardstock with Iced Spruce and Shabby Shutters Distress Ink (Ranger).   I then stamped the dragonfly flourish on it with Versamark and embossed it with White ep.  I also stamped the image with Red Brick (VersaMagic) onto a scrap and cut the red dragonfly out to adhere over the flourish.

The background was created by stamping "Thank you for being my friend" repeatedly over Kraft cs with Versamark and again, embossing with White ep.

I stamped the verse on a Kraft banner with Smokey Gray (Versafine), and added a few flowers and flourishes.  That about sums up all the stamping.  I'll include a supply list at the bottom.

Next up on the hop is the smart, sweet and talented, Lisa.

Thanks so much for visiting!!

Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Friendship (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Paper:  White and Kraft (PTI)

Ink:  Iced Spruce, Shabby Shutters (Ranger Distress Ink), Red Brick (VersaMagic), Versamark, Fresh Snow (a muse), Smokey Gray (Versafine)

Accessories:  Fantastic Flourish One (Spellbinders), Fancy Oval Frame die (Sizzix), Pearl Flourish (Zva Creative), Flowers (Wild Orchid Crafts), Quickie Glue Pen, Crystal Glitter (Judikins), Diamond Stickles, White Embossing Powder,  Coarse Crystal Glitter (Martha Stewart)

Chalkboard Display Stand

Hello my crafty friends.  I'm stepping out of my "stamping box" a bit today.  I've cut back on my stamping commitments a bit this year in order to get a bit more organized in my life, and to "get crafty" in other areas that have recently intrigued me.  Now, stamping will always be my true love, but I'm having fun exploring with jewelry and just now painting with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint too.

I happened upon a charming store called Embellish and Restore in Downtown Visalia, CA a couple of weeks ago, and fell in love with all the repurposed items created by local artists.  Monica,the store owner, also encourages patrons to try chalk painting on their own because of the ease of it.  There's absolutely no priming or sanding necessary to use this paint.  So when I saw THIS image in Grandinroad magazine, I knew I wanted to create my version.

Chalkboards are all the rage, and I've made a few cards using the "Chalkboard" technique, so I thought it would be fun to make a little chalkboard stand.  My husband and I are empty nesters as of a year-and-a-half ago, so I decided to remodel and redecorate my 2 kids' rooms and make them into guest rooms.  In my daughters room, I'm going to put a little repurposed desk, and I thought it would be fun to have this chalkboard sitting on it with a welcoming message.  As you can see, it also works well as a temporary jewelry holder.  It's ready with a message for when my daughter comes home for Spring Break.

It was super easy to make too.  I purchased a black picture frame, a distressed brushed copper taper candle holder and a glass door knob, from Hobby Lobby, and went to work painting.  All I did was paint the frame and candle holder with Pure White Chalk Paint (Annie Sloan), let it dry for 20 min., put a thin layer of Clear Soft Wax (Annie Sloan) over it, paint a layer of Provence Chalk Paint (Annie Sloan), over that, let dry, add layer of wax, sand, and add last layer of wax.  The only main time consuming part was letting it dry.  Like I said, super easy, and I LOVE the result!  I should add that I watched the Annie Sloan Tutorial first to see how to use the wax.  The only thing I did differently, was add wax after my first layer so it would show more when I sanded after the Provence layer.

I should also add that I used E6000 glue to glue the frame to the candle holder, the pearl brads to the sides, and the door knob to the top.  (My dear husband cut off the long doorknob screw so I could glue it.)  I also used Chalk Ink Wet Wipe markers to write the message.

That's it for today.  I'll have a card for you later this week.

Thanks for visiting!!

Happy Stamping (Creating)

Puffy Felt Heart SCS Challenge

The "Free For All" Challenge over on Splitcoaststampers today, is to get all warm and fuzzy.  Now, living in California, I don't get an opportunity to wear mittens or sweaters because it's just too warm for them here.  So, when I read "fuzzy", I thought felt.  And since Valentine's Day is right around the corner, I thought I'd make my daughter a "warm and fuzzy Valentine".  

I just diecut a Heart (Spellbinders) out of white cardstock, and framed it with a Postage Stamp die (Spellbinders).  I then tucked a piece of red felt behind the negative heart space, poked it through a bit and stuffed a half of a cotton ball behind it to poof it out a bit.  I then backed it with another piece of white cs and sewed around the heart...poorly...but thankfully my daughter isn't as much as a perfectionist as I am, and will accept the sewing flaw.  I just didn't have the time to start all over.  *sigh*.

Anyway, lastly I added a sweet "love you" sentiment from the Waltzingmouse set Compact Family, a trio of ribbons, some twine and a little button.

That's it for today's project.  It was fun working with felt again.  I hadn't done that in awhile.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Compact Family (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Paper:  White (PTI)

Ink:  Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Felt, Heart and Postage Stamp dies (Spellbinders), Ribbon, Twine, Button (PTI), Sewing Machine

You're the Bees Knees Color Challenge

I'm having fun being inspired by the Splitcoaststampers challenges.  I made today's card using yesterday's Color Challenge found HERE.  Color Challenges really make me step out of my box for some reason.  I always struggle with them.  That's why this card is a day late.  :)

I used images from the Waltzingmouse Stamps sets Compact Sentiments Part Two and My Heart.  I know I use the sentiment "You're the bee's knees" quite a bit, but I just can't help myself.  It's just the sweetest and is so beautifully fonted!

The paper is Songbird by Prima. Since I don't have Stampin' Up! cardstock, I found the closest papers I could.

Thanks for visiting.  I hope you are having a good week.  

Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Compact Sentiments Part Two and My Heart (Waltzingmouse)

Paper:  Songbird (Prima), Vintage Cream and Kraft (PTI)

Ink:  Smokey Shadow (Versafine), Fresh Snow (a muse)

Accessories:  Labels 17 and Asian Accents (Spellbinders), Exotic Butterfly small dies (Cheery Lynn Designs), Wrinkled Ribbon, Lace, Buttons (PTI), Rose (Wild Orchid Crafts), Feathers, Pearls (Pizzazz Aplenty), Quickie Glue Pen, Prism Glitter (JudiKins), Stardust Stickles, 

Western Chalkboard Birthday Wish

I made this card for today's CAS challenge over on Splitcoaststampers.  I haven't played in one of their challenges for so long, I thought I'd jump back in today using the chalkboard technique.  I didn't emboss mine though, or create the shadows.

I used two Waltzingmouse Stamps sets:  Back in the Saddle and Way Out West.

Super easy and great for a guy.  

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Back in the Saddle and Way Out West (Waltzingmouse)

Paper:  Vintage Cream, Smokey Shadow and Black (PTI), Cardboard

Ink:  Fresh Snow (a muse)

Accessories:  Ivory/White Sonnet Cotton Ribbon (Paper Mart), Metal Clip (Tim Holtz)

Frosty Fingerprints

I don't have any cards to share today, but I saw something I found fun and interesting.  Living in the Central Valley of California, we get to experience temperatures our Western and Southern cities don't have the privilege of.  We can have a 25 degree morning with a 52 degree afternoon.  I love the changes.  Well, one morning while taking my dog out, I noticed the morning sun was burning off the frost, but because of the palm tree's shadow, it left an interesting pattern.  It reminds me a bit of a lego shape.

I thought this frosty leaf was pretty laying in the grass also.  Not many colors, but I LOVE the texture.

Thanks for letting me share with you.  It's not stamp talk, but something else I enjoy.  Nature.

Waltzingmouse Blog Party

For my Our Daily Bread Designs post, click HERE.

 

I made today's card for this month's Waltzingmouse Blog Party.  The theme is Love/Hearts.  I used red, and the sentiment "You are Wonderful" to convey love.  I hope that's okay.  ;)  I can't believe it's the 17th of January already.  Doesn't it just seem like this year started yesterday?  I know...the older I get, the faster time seems to fly by.  I just have to remember to enjoy each moment as it comes.  One thing I enjoy thoroughly, is working with Waltzingmouse stamps.  I love this beautiful Camellia, and enjoyed coloring it with my Tombows on watercolor paper.

The sparkly leaf panel is actually a Spellbinders die that I adhered to the back of the window opening with dimensional tape.  Thus it's backless.  It's hard to show with a camera, but irl the dimension and sparkle is quite striking.

The rest is pretty self-explanatory.

I do want to mention something you should check out.  Waltzingmouse Stamps has Cath's "Stamp of Approval" over at the Moxie Fab Blog today.  How fun is that?!?!?!  Cath is showcasing some super fun sets that you won't want to miss!!  You just have to leave a comment in order to win super awesome stamps!!

Thanks so much for visiting!!

Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Camellia (Waltzingmouse)

Paper:  Secret Crush (Pinkpaislee), Red (Bazzill), White (PTI)

Ink:  Smokey Gray (Versafine), Brick Red (VersaMagic), Versamark

Accessories:  Rectangle, Scalloped Rectangle, Botanical Swirl, and Nested Pennant dies (Spellbinders), Tombow Markers, Black Embossing Powder (Judikins), Crystal Glitter, Pearl Pen (Viva Decor), Tag Punch (Martha Stewart), Distrezz-it-All (Zutter)

For the Love of Love, Lace and Friendship

For my Waltzingmouse Stamps post, click HERE.

Welcome to Our Daily Bread Design's Alumni Team's bi-monthly For the Love Blog Hop. This week the Alumni team, along with some of the ODBD designers, are featuring a hop For the Love of Love, Lace and Friendship! Check out each link and leave a comment. If you get lost along the way, check the ODBD blog for full list of links. One of the posts is a hop hot spot and a name will be drawn from that list of comments to win a $15 ODBD store gift certificate. So, all you have to do is hop along and see all the creations and leave a little love! You have until Tuesday, January 29th, at 8 pm. Enjoy all the beautiful designs featuring For the Love of Love, Lace and Friendship!


If you've arrived here from Silke's inspiring blog, you're on the right track.  If not, you might want to start at the ODBD Blog.

You've probably noticed a lot of "chalkboards" popping up on papercrafting blogs.  I've wanted to give it a go for awhile, and thought this sentiment, from the Faithful Friend set, was perfectly fonted for it.

I stamped the image onto Smokey Shadow (PTI) cardstock with Fresh Snow (a amuse) pigmented ink. I then colored 3 feature words with some chalk ink markers that I have.  I gave it a little outlined frame using a white sharpie, added some white distressing around the edges and woila.  A Chalkboard.

That's it for me today.  Next up on the hop is the talented Betty.

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Stamps:  Faithful Friend (Our Daily Bread Designs)

Paper:  Love Me (MME), Smokey Shadow and Vintage Cream (PTI)

Ink:  Fresh Snow (a muse)

Accessories:  Primitive Heart die (Tim Holtz), Chalk Ink Markers, Border Punch (EK Success), Buttons (PTI and vintage), Washi Tape (MME), Lace, Wavy Crimper, Distrezz-it-All (Zutter), Natural String

Verve's No Matter What Blog Hop

Welcome to our No Matter What Hop!  Today we're releasing a lovely little set that you might have spied during Verve's Thanksgiving weekend sale. It's officially available for sale now, along with three brand new color collections of seam binding! There's a lot of eye candy today, so hop along with us for a chance to win some brand new Verve!

As we're saying hello to a few new products today,  I'm stepping down from the Verve Design Team. I've truly enjoyed designing for Julee for the past 3 1/2 years.  Her stamps are always top quality, and she and Mark are true genuine people.  I'm very grateful to them for allowing me to be a part of such a fabulously warm, generous and talented team!!  I have been, and truly am blessed!!

So... want to know about the prizes? We're picking THREE mystery blogs from today's hop to select a random commenter to win No Matter What plus one of our three new collections of ribbon! So be sure to give a litle shout out in the comment section as you hop around to each blog on the list. Winners will be drawn from all of the comments on the mystery blogs. Check out the Verve Blog for all the prize details and deadlines.

I used this week's Mojo Monday sketch along with the No Matter What set.  The hearts were stamped with Fresh Snow (PTI), and were embossed with white embossing powder.

I stamped the sentiment with Smokey Gray Versafine.

That's it for my project today.  Be sure to check out what the other divas have to share.  Next up on the hop is the super sweet and talented Amber.

1. Julee 7. Amy 2. Laurie 8. Andrea 3. Maureen 9. Betty 4. Teresa 10. Charmaine 5. Tosh 11. Janelle 6. Amber 12. Jen d.

Verve has a lot of darling sets and dies on sale too.  Click HERE to see everything that's 20% off!!

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Stamps:  No Matter What (Verve)

Paper:  Lucky in Love (MME), Vintage Cream (PTI)

Ink:  Fresh Snow (PTI), Smokey Gray (Versafine)

Accessories:  Lacey Square, Circle and Petite Scallop Circle dies (Spellbinders), Quickie Glue Pen, Crystal Glitter, Rhinestones (Pizzazz Aplenty), Sewing Machine, Seam Binding ribbon, Distrezz-it-All (Zutter)

Love is all we need!

I'm really excited to share today's card with you!  Have you ever had a concept in your head that took a completely different turn once you started working on your project?  Of course you have.  Maybe even often.  Well, I started off planning on making a multi-layered shabby chic card and ended up with a shabby CAS card instead.  It shocked me, but I'm happy with the result.

First of all, I LOVE, truly LOVE working with Waltzingmouse stamps.  Each set has such a cohesive variety of images that it's super fun to put them all together; even combining sets is so easy.

I used two sets today:  Woodgrain and My Heart

I started off by stamping the Woodgrain background image with Vintage Cream (PTI) ink onto white cardstock.  I then added the dots from the Woodgrain set using Niagra Mist and Gingerbread (VersaMagic) Chalk ink.  I then added the sentiment from the My Heart set with Onyx Black Versafine, and lastly the heart and banners in the corners.

The leaf branch was stamped over the Woodgrain banner (Stamped with Wheat VersaMagic Chalk ink) from the Woodgrain set, and the chevrons were stamped over the Woodgrain background image.  (I stamped the chevrons off first to make them a bit lighter.

Lastly, I added the woodgrain heart, a rhinestone, and a bit of sewing to finish it off.

That's if for my card today.  Thanks for letting me share it with you!

Happy Stamping!

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Stamps:  Woodgrain and My Heart  (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

Paper:  White (PTI)

Ink:  Gingerbread, Niagra Mist, Wheat (VersaMagic), Vintage Cream (PTI), Onyx Black (Versafine)

Accessories:  Rhinestone (Pizzazz Aplenty), Sewing Machine

Season's Giving Blog Hop Winner

I promised I'd announce the Blog Candy winner from the post HERE, and it's

 Donna Ellis said...

Tosh, I almost didn't leave a comment today! LOL I've been browsing your tutorials again - always love doing that on your blog because you share such inspiring things!

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:

440

Timestamp: 2013-01-08 23:10:28 UTC

Congratulations Donna!!  Email me with your address so I can get this out to you ASAP.

Tournament of Roses Parade Pictures

For the Season's Giving Blog Hop, click HERE.

In an earlier blog post, I mentioned we were at the Tournament of Roses parade in Pasadena, and that my Father-in-law (Frank Leyendekker) and Brother-in-law (Gerben Leyendekker) were pulling the Grand Marshall (Jane Goodall), and the Valley Hunt Club President using Leyendekker Friesians and my Father-in-Law's carriages.  For a little background on how my Father-in-law brought registered Friesians to America, click HERE.

 Here are a few pictures I took while getting ready for the parade.

Keeping the horses warm while getting them ready for the parade.  We brought 9.

My Father-in-law's carriage all decorated for the Grand Marshall (Jane Goodall).  Notice the monkey topiaries?

My Father-in-law, Frank Leyendekker, and Jane Goodall

Jane was so gracious.  She took the time to introduce herself to my Father-in-law, the footmen and helpers, and even the horses.

Here she is meeting one of the horses along with the footman Jose.

This is my daughter's horse Abe (pronounced Aba).  I'm sorry, I don't know the name of the rider.

The Valley Hunt Club President and his family.  The driver is my Brother-in-law Gerben, and my nephew Frank is the footman holding one of the horses.

Here are a few of the floats up close.  

Being farmers, of course I had to include a tractor.  :)

Notice the amazing seed work.

See the mushrooms on the shell?

LOVE the spines on the puffer fish.

These military men were lowered to fit under certain areas of the parade.  They appear to be trudging forward here.  A wonderful representation of our nations heros.

I love the creative use of flowers on this float!

These are some close up shots of the flowers on my FIL's carriage.  

They even decorated the back of the carriage.

The large orange and white flower looks and feels like q-tips.  This arrangement actually made its way to my house.  :)

You can see the tufted velvet carriage seat here.

That's it for the photos.  There's a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes getting things ready for the parade.  It takes a lot of hands and patience.  But the result is worth it.  Hope you enjoyed some of the highlights.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope your New Year is off to a fabulous start!!