Toy’s Haven

Good morning, friends

Yesterday, my son Noah came to me with a request.   A challenge, actually.   His best friend, Chad, is turning 19 tomorrow and a card was ordered.   Do you know how hard it is to make a card for a 19 yr old boy???   I gathered some info on Chad.   He is going into the Marines in January and he likes cars, and girls, of course.   He drives a pretty sweet Mustang.

So, I had to get pretty resourseful.   I have images for older men.   I have images for little boys.   I even have a few sporty images, but none of those quite fit Chad.   I did some searching on the net and found a few free clip art sites.   Score!    This is what I came up with.

I kept the layout pretty simple.   Added the stoplight image (also clipart) ~ with brads to represent the colors.   Of course, Noah insisted that I use NO RIBBON, so I snuck some twine on instead.

What do you think?

Here are my deets:

Stamps: NONE ~ clip art only

Colors: Night of Navy, Soft Suede, GP White, Basic Grey Granola dp

Ink: Copics, silver painty pen (for the grill and bumper)

Accessories: Twine, brads, ek success border punch, circle punches, glossy glaze, dimensionals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have an awesome weekend!    Blessings

~~ Holly ~~

Good morning, friends!

Yup, it’s that time again!   The INKgirls are hoppin’ to show you the new releases from Artful Inkables.   If you’ve arrived here from Julie’s blog, then you are in the right spot!  If not, you may wish to start back at the beginning (Kristin’s blog ~ AI) to get the full show.

You are going to see two new sets today.   I chose to show off the new Down on the Farm set.   Ok, I will admit, I am a tractor kinda girl.  I just adore the images in this set and wanted to use them ALL, but that wasn’t going to work :).   I’ve also been challenging myself to try more CAS cards.   I think this will qualify as CAS.

I did alot of masking on this image, something I am challenged to do.   I figure if you’re going to cut out a mask, why not just cut the image out and pop it?  Well, I got over that with this card.   I masked the images to create the scene, then ‘’spotlighted” the chicken.   I actually put a piece of acetate under the spotlight to make it look like a looking glass, but that was hard to capture in the picture.

Here are my deets:

Stamps: Artful Inkables‘ Down on the Farm

Colors: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, GP White

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: ribbon, oval nesties, acetate, sticky tape, dimensionals, circle punches

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now it’s time for you to pop on over to Emily’s blog to see what goodies she has in store!   Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day!

~~ Holly ~~

Happy Wednesday, friends

What a rough night!  My DH called me from Snowmass last evening to let me know he wasn’t feeling well.   He sounded awful.   Then I was watching a news report on the H1N1 virus.   So, as per usual, I spent the night worrying about him and the kids getting the flu.   They have no health insurance.   Just one trip to the hospital could wipe us out.   I hate when my head goes there, but it’s a real threat these days, kwim?

Needless to say, I couldn’t sleep much.   I was up at 4:45am.   What does a crafter do at that hour?  STAMP!   I hopped on SCS and found the sketch challenge.

I like sketches like these.   The little panels give you the opportunity to use those little stamps.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes‘ HSH Halloween Additions

Colors: Basic Black, Green Galore, GP White, paper studio dp

Ink: Versfine Black Onyx, copics, Tim Holtz’ teabag distressing ink

Accessories: ribbon, drippy goo punch, crystal effects, word window punch, scissors, dimensionals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by.   I think I am going to try to go back to sleep for awhile.   I hope you have a blessed day!

~~ Holly ~~

Good afternoon!

Today is THINK INK TUESDAY at Artful Inkables.   This week we are working with a sketch brought to us by Jen Pahoulis.   Now, my turn to do a tutorial is coming up next week, so I am giving you a little sneak peek this week.   I call it ‘faux stone’.   It is super easy to do and you can give your stone different looks, depending on the inks you use.

I think the Sarah Steampunk set is one of my favorites from Artful Inkables.   She has so much character.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables‘ Steampunk Sarah

Colors: Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, GP White, Graphic 45 dp

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Really Rust, Versamark

Accessories: ribbon, oval punch, scissors, clear embossing powder, mosaic embossing folder, dauber, dimensionals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day

~~ Holly ~~

Good evening

What’s a “Squeal” out?   Well, normally it would be a ‘’shout out”, but since we’re dealing with THE pig, then it’s a squeal :).   THE pig I am referring to is Hambo.   You see, last week I was surfing around and landed on the Talk to the Ham blog.   I literally did squeal when I saw this drawing of a toy soldier by Tim.   I adore toy soldiers.   Well, they were having a little contest/bidding war to see who would win the digi-image, and guess what?!   I won!   So, not only is this my first toy soldier, it’s my first digi-image, too!   Thank you, Monica and Tim!!

When I saw the Monday Mojo (MOJO108), I just knew it was a perfect fit for this awesome image.

Here are my deets:

Image:  Toy Soldier by Hambo; sentiment is computer generated

Colors: Basic Black, Basic Gray, Very Vanilla, Paper Studio dp

Ink: Versafine Black onyx, copics

Accessories: ribbon, candy dots, circle punches, dimensionals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Now for those pictures I promised!   I am no Martha Stewart, but I love my space.   It has lots of room to move around and there’s potential for just about anything

This is the view from the door across the room towards the two corner windows:

My armoires that I found on Craigslist:

My desk (It came out dark because it’s nighttime and the flash wouldn’t go off with the florescent light on):

My new closet shelves:

My punch storage:

AND… can you believe I have made four cards since cleaning and it’s STILL clean?!   Red letter day!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a great night!  Blessings!

~~ Holly ~~

Here are my deets:

Dear Santa,

      Please let me explain……….

I woke up this morning expecting to be running around to doctor’s appts and whatnot.    I checked my appointment card for the first appointment and instead of 9am as I had thought, my first appointment is not until 11am.    That gave me two extra hours I didn’t know I had :).. SCORE!

So, I jumped on today’s Technique Lover’s Challenge.   Today we are making Easel Cards.   These are really fun to make!   I am always looking for new folds and different ideas for cards.   I can’t believe I had not found this one before

Basically, all you do is make a card front.   Then you make a base which is twice the height of your card front.   Score that at the halfway point, then again at three quarters of the length.   Attach your card front to the top quarter and you’re done!

For my inside, I stamped the little christmas light in a row and then cut them our partially.    The ‘’stopper” is my sentiment on dimensionals.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables’ Holiday Treats and Tails

Colors: Riding Hood Red, Buckaroo Blue, GP White, Christmas Magic dp

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: candy dots, ribbons, dimensionals, circle punches, icecicle punch, word window punch

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day

~~ Holly ~~

Suprise! LOL

I know, two posts in one day must mean I have nothing better to do than stamp.   Well, that’s nearly true.   Since my DH is cooking his famous chili for dinner, the only thing I have had to do today is a little laundry, bake some cornbread muffins, make honey butter and run Levi’s friend home.

I was telling my son that it feels different crafting in my newly arranged space.   I not only seem to be more efficient, I have cleaned up after myself!   I still need to attack that ribbon box, but that can wait until this week.   I was just happy to stamp with great lighting!

I made this for the Mojo Monday challenge (MOJO107)

The sketch was so intriguing that I wanted to keep the focal point simple.   I like this so much, I may simplify it a bit and use it for my Christmas cards :).

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Artful Inkables‘ Holiday Treats and Tails

Colors: True Thyme, Riding Hood Red, GP White, MME dp and Christmas Magic dp

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: ribbon, 1/2 pearls, eyelet border punch, circle punches, scalloped circle punches, dimensionals, snowflakes embossing folder

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a blessed day

~~ Holly ~~

Happy Sunday, Ya’ll

When I hit the studio this morning, I had a challenge facing me.   Where did I put everything???   It was so nice to sit down at a super clean desk.   I even had room to bring my laptop in!   My cutters were nicely arranged to my right, my copics centered on my desk, and my new light glowed brightly.   Then it hit me.   Where was my adhesive?   My daubers?  My nesties?

After a frantic search for the things I needed, I finally settled in to create.    Today’s featured stamper on SCS is Glowbug (Chris).   She has such a refreshing gallery.   I actually found several I would love to case, but for the sake of limited time, I chose THIS card.

It’s a beauty, isn’t it?   I changed up the colors, but not too much.   I changed the images.   I changed the sentiment treatment.   I swapped the pearls for candy dots and I left out the stitching and cuttlebugging.   I would have loved to try stitching again, but my son ”borrowed” my Janome for a project and I haven’t seen it since.

I love fall cards!   I probably got a little carried away with the layers on this one, but I intend to give it by hand (as opposed to mailing).

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Our Craft Lounge’s Nuts About You

Colors: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Dusty Durange, Tangerine Tango, Very Vanilla, Abbey Road dp and Paper Studio dp

Ink: Versafine black onyx, copics

Accessories: Ribbon, candy dots. oval punch, scalloped oval punch, oval nestie, dimensionals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   Hope you have a blessed day!

~~ Holly ~~

Good morning, friends

The heat is on!  Literally!   We woke up to a 2″ blanket of snow and 17 degrees.   As I sit here under a blanket with my laptop, Don is installing my new shelves and Levi is gearing up to help me with the big move.   I am looking forward to a new perspective.

Crafting this morning was just not going my way.   It is sorely evident that I do not have ample lighting in my studio.   We ARE going to remedy that this weekend!   Can you say new OTT LIGHT???

So, I wanted to do a couple challenges this morning.    First is this week’s There She Goes challenge to make a monochromatic card.   I did cheat slightly by using orange for the flames, but I think I will be forgiven :).

Here are the deets on this one:

Stamps: There She Goes Home Sweet Home

Colors: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: ribbon, dimensionals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Next is the Inspiration Challenge on SCS.   I chose THIS piece as my inspiration.   I should have known this was going to give me trouble.   Everytime I try to recreate something, it just doesn’t quite come out.   I am not unhappy with the finished product, it just is not what I had invisioned in my head.

Here are the deets:

Stamps:  There She Goes‘ Bloom

Colors: Basic Black, Real Red, GP White

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics, versamark

Accessories: ribbon, 1/2 pearls, large curvy rectangle nesties, oval punch, Victoria embossing folder, nesties corner adornment, sticky tape, small sack, gold cord, MS branch punch, gold embossing powder

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   I hope you have a great day!!  Blessings!

~~ Holly ~~

Good evening, Friends

You’re not going crazy, I AM making a second post today.   I felt the need to cleanse my spirit.   I hurt someone’s feelings today.    I didn’t mean to, but as I do every now and again, I put my foot in my mouth.

My mother constantly reminded us that once a statement is made, it cannot be taken back.    It’s out there.   It is important to THINK before you speak.   Sometimes my mouth gets overzealous and engages before my brain has the chance to catch up.   It’s a fault I work on constantly, but unfortunate incidents happen.   Fortuantely, most people are forgiving.

On the upside, I may have made a new friend.   I extended the hand of friendship…. just waiting to see if she accepts it.   I hope she does, as we can never have too many friends…. especially those who accept you warts and all.

Good news!!!   I was surfing over on the Hambo blog yesterday and came across a contest to win a digi-image of a new drawing by Tim.   It’s a toy soldier!   I have been looking for a good toy soldier image for sometimes and it just so happens I adore Tim’s drawings.    Well, I was the winner!   I will be using it very shortly and showing it off, but in the meantime, I made this thank you card for Monica that I wanted to share.

As I made this card, it occurred to me that these images are perfect for our men in uniform.   If you like sending cards to the troops, you can get these cute stamps from Hambo Stamps HERE.

Here are my deets:

Stamps:  Hambo Stamps tank and sentiment

Colors: Soft Suede, Bermuda Bay, Very Vanilla, Really Rust, Abbey Road dps

Ink: Versafine Black Onyx, copics

Accessories: ribbon, brads, pinked nesties, MS border punch, dimensionals

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thanks for stopping by!   And remember…. a word said in haste, will come back to bite you in the end

~~ Holly~~