A-Z Grunge Tags

Wow... very chilly morning in Nashville. I wound up not getting into town last week so just decided these pics could wait until I got to my daughter's in Nashville. I can sit comfortably on her sofa and use the WiFi. I'm so spoiled. But I'm headed back to MO today... with my granddaughter as my co-pilot. She gets to spend the whole week with grandma so I probably won't get much creating done. Though she does like to play with my stamps, so.... maybe.

Here are pics of the Grunge Tag swap, I promised. I had the letters R and W. I had to make 26 of each letter and I'd get 26 tags back - 1 for each letter of the alphabet. Well... I wound up making 52

of each! The first set I mailed out, never made it to NY so 2 days past the deadline I was frantically recreating the 26 tags. When I create something, I keep a 'recipe' card of how I made it so when I post it to a gallery I can list what stamps, inks, papers, etc I used. Good habit to get into if you ever plan to submit for publication -just a tip. :-)

Well, it's time to pack up the laptop and head for MO. I'll check in later in the week with a couple of links I think you'll like.

Creative Blessings!

New Creations

FINALLY!

I was so excited to have the house to myself a couple weeks ago with nothing on the agenda except create. I managed to create 9 of the 17 cards for the Splitcoaststampers AUG. VirtualStampNight challenge. Each of the challenges had something to do with summer. Many suggested using a specific technique.

The first one I'm going to show today were were given a color pallet to work with and what we think of when we think summer. For me, it's camping. Of course, now that my house sits amongst 24 acres of timber I don't camp as much as I'd like. But I have the view from my back yard on any given clear night. The stamps I used were from 2 different SU sets. In The Sky is a retired hostess set and the other is one of my favorites... Lovely As A Tree.

One more card to show you. This one was to be reminiscent of the beach. We were to use a shell of some type. The only 'shell' I had was a stencil from the art box I used to use for daycare. I pulled out the light box, dry embossed several, then cut them out. The flip-flops are a Michaels $1 stamp. The netting in the background is drywall tape!

I'll be going into town in the next week and be able to share more with you. I've recently taken part in an A-Z Grunge tag swap. I made 26 identical tags for each the letter R and the letter W. In exchange I got 2 each of every letter of the alphabet made by some very creative gals. Can't wait to show you!

Creative Blessings!

Blog Hop

If you've never experienced a Blog Hop, then you really need to get a glass of your favorite beverage and pull up a chair. They are a BLAST! And so full of creativity.

A Blog Hop is usually put on by a several creative people within a particular group. Sometimes they are sponsored by a company blog to feature their design team members and new products. I've been on Blog Hops with as few as seven designers and as many as 36! Now that's a lot of creativity. With my dial-up, I don't get to visit as many as I would like.

This week you might want to visit the PPA gang. Their theme is Fall/ Halloween. You can find them by clicking on Carla's button to the left of this page. She is #7 on the list. Look for the Blog Hop post for Sept. 14th. At the bottom of the post, she has a list of all the designers participating. I recommend clicking on Ann's link at the top of the list and working your way through. Make sure you leave some love on their blogs. They like to know you stopped by.

Happy Hopping!

Creative Juices Flow

Wow!

Once I'd finished the Handy Manny headboard, I spent the final four weeks between then and July 4th soaking up all the grandma love I could get before my granddaughter moved to Nashville with her mommy. The house has sure been quiet without her giggles and constant activity.

The day she left, I dug into the office/ creative space. I love my daughter to pieces but she leaves behind a real negative energy sometimes and my space just needed a good cleansing and reclaiming. I needed to make it something it hadn't been in over eighteen months - MINE.

I started on the office side, emptying out the filing cabinet, sorting everything as I went, and donating it to my hubby for the hard work he had ahead of him. I designed a low, deep bookcase to replace the stereo cabinet and the filing cabinet. I wanted a smooth line from my counter top desk across that whole South wall to the book cabinet.

So on the way back from a writers conference, I stopped at the home improvement store for the lumber he would need. In the process of getting into the back of the truck to secure the load, I tried to blow my left knee cap. By the time I'd gotten home my knee was the size of a large cantaloupe. So for the next 3-4 weeks I spent lots of time with it elevated... not making trips up and down the stairs to the 'dungeon'. Although I still have to watch how I step, the knee is better. I'm slowly making progress in the office and hope to finish it up this week.

I've also been getting some creative time in, which I hope to show you pics of soon. But for now, I just wanted to let you know that posts will becoming through on a weekly basis again. Sometimes even more if I have the opportunity to upload pictures of a project. So check back on Saturdays to see what's going on in the dungeon.

Creative Blessings
Kelly