For those about to rock

...we salute you! Seriously, I love this Jack Black movie, School of Rock. I love it even more after getting sucked into the Nickelodeon programs, iCarly, and Drake and Josh (by my kids, of course ;) I should really buy the soundtrack to this movie; it makes my heart smile ^_^

Anyway, I have been carving my little fingers to the bone this weekend! I worked on Friday, and had to go in 2 hours early (bee-yoo-tee-ful wedding reception!) on Saturday, so I spent a lot of time sitting behind the bar, cutting up rubbah ;) I'm starting to get into the holiday groove, started with a couple of Christmas-y stamps (a deer, and holly leaves/berries). I already have some Halloween stamps drawn up.

Side trip: did you know that I have almost three whole sketchbooks full of designs? I also have countless pieces of scrap paper tucked into my sketchbooks, with even more designs on them. I can't remember the last time I had to buy a sketchbook. Somehow, they keep coming to me. Like, the one I have just started came to me in a bag of crafty things given to me by a friend who was moving (and downsizing). I prefer smallish, unlined sketchbooks, with smooth, but not glossy, paper. I always start on the 2nd page in the book, and end up decorating the first page a little at a time, as I fill up the rest of the pages =]

Back to the stamps! So, I've carved a deer, and holly. I also have about 425974296379276 friends and family that have either just given birth, or are due in the next 3 months.

Really, I've been trying to get pregnant for 2 years....making baby cards and gifts for EVERYONE ELSE really exercises my "grace" component.

So, here are a baby onesie, and a stroller/carriage/buggy THING. I think they are super cute ^_^

Finally, a tree, that made me cross-eyed for two days - that's how long it took me to carve it! I carved the tree for a specific ATC I have in mind =]

On to the pictures!!


Stamps I carved this weekend (Aug 8th & 9th). I drew the tree myself, but the other images are from a stamp company called Cornish Heritage Farms.

There's a leaf at the top of the tree that looks cut off; it's just an incomplete print =X

I colored the images in quickly with my Prismacolors.

Speaking of Prismacolors, I just found that there is a bigger set available than the one I have. I have the 120ct set, and I see on the website a 132ct set! O.M.G! My husband doesn't get it; he thinks I should just find out which colors in the 132ct set I do NOT have, and go buy those individually. Well, I mean...that's what he thought after I told him how much the 132ct set costs ;)

Oh, and here is the final version of the card I made for my friend, Michael =]


The inside of the card. Cupcake stamp colored with Prismacolors.

It's 11:00pm (just about), and my kids are still awake. That happens when their daddy doesn't bring them home until 10:00pm =[ Oh well, maybe I'll get to sleep in tomorrow, heh *sigh*

Slowdown the birthday train!

I have so many birthdays coming up! TWO close friends, brother, nephew, husband, brother-in-law...yikes! Also, an ooooold friend of mine form my high school years is coming to town on a research project, and she will be staying here on our sofa for a week. She's been living in Scotland, going to school there, so, like, I've only seen her once in the past, ooooh...8 years? =X It will be interesting, but I am excited =]

Okay, onto the fun stuff!

Doodlebug stamp for my mom:

There was a book that I used to read to my kids every night, called "Daddy is a doodlebug". I don't know what happened to that book...
My mom designed this little guy, she calls a doodlebug. She had appliqued it onto some aprons she made for the kids last Christmas, and requested I carve a stamp of the doodlebug for her.

Birthday card for Michael:

The browns match better irl than this pic shows.
I made this card for my friend, Michael. I got the layout and colors from this card. I had no papers that were even close to what I wanted, so I made the striped and brown papers on my computer (at 300dpi). Oh, I made the "Happy Birthday" piece on my computer, too, and gave it several thin coats of acrylic medium to give it a glossy look.
Now that I am looking at it, I have an even better idea in mind for his bday card, lol...too bad I've already signed the inside -_-

Christmas Candies:

Little felt candy ornaments made for the Feltbots: Christmas Ornament #4 - Candy swap at Swapbot.

Birdy tags!

Been practicing with my Martha Stewart circle cutter.
Tree and bird stamps hand-carved by myself. I sponged a slightly darker blue ink around the edges of the circles, and then sponged on some prown ink lightly over that. I dabbed black and brown Versacraft inks on the trees, and embossed them with clear ep. I printed the birds in brown Versacraft ink on yellow patterned paper, cut them out, and glue-sticked them onto the tags.

I have another bday card that I have already finished, but haven't photo'd, yet. I'm off to pick up my Stampin' Up! catalog today (only 4 more days left on this catalog!). I have many more cards to make this week...and it's already Thursday! =X

Pining away

I finally took the time to make the awesome little pinecone ornaments from this tutorial.

I've had the materials for months, but I never took the time to make it, because I don't have a paper cutter (*wishlist!*), and I have to cut 60-something 2"x1" pieces of paper for this! =X Anyway, I did it today with a ruler and a craft knife, and I'm so glad I did =] My bow is a lil' different, because the top of mine is messy, and I needed to hide some stuff X] It's not nearly as neat and even as the pics in the tute, but I like it all the same =]

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An ATC I made today:

I made this with a stamp made by RuthArt, from the swap we had over at the Carve Your Stamps group on Flickr. I distressed a page from a vintage Spanish-English dictionary I picked up at a yard sale. Added buttons, ribbons, and faux stitching, atop the image stamped on red mulberry paper.

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I picked up a notepad with the cutest print on the cover from target's $1 bins. I just had to carve this funky lil' bird that was on the cover ^_^

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All in all, not an entirely un-productive day! I had planned to make some of these bookmarks today, but....my tummy hurts. So, I'm gonna relax. Tomorrow, I will be calling around to find out how to get my kids enrolled in school, as their website is broken *grr* But, the good news is, the kids will be living with me, for the next school year, at least =] Quite possibly the most wonderful thing to happen this year! ^_^

Over the river, and through the woods

Okay, so, after sitting here for a WEEK, trying to decide whether or not to post pictures from my family reunion/vacation, I have determined that my mother would kill me. She has no pics of herself popsted on her blog, so I won't post pictures of her on mine either.



They are really neat pictures, though!



So, here are some pics that don't feature my lovely mommy:







And, some artsy fartsy things...because, I mean, really, it's just what I do ;)


A tattoo I am designing with my kids' names, to go on my upper left arm. That largest blossom will sit at the top of mr arm/shoulder. I've left room for another child's name >_>;;



New rubber stamps, carved last night. A Walther p22 (my gun), and a flamingo. I am going to carve another of the flamingo, only keep it a solid image, instead of the outline.



ATCs






I need to go clean up some before the kids get home. I'm not cleaning EVERYTHING up, tho, because they left a HUGE mess in the living room, and they need to clean it up (damnit)!

Absolutely innocent blog title!

I told ya I was working on a gnome project! Here he is, the itty gnome!

The bottom of the little gnome is actually a dark blue, but it photo'd as black. I would grumble about wildfires killing the natural light around here, but I'm just so dang pleased with how this little guy turned out! ^_^ I can see a whole army of itty gnomes in the future ;)

Also, I received an awesome package from Portugal today!

Té té sent this huge package for the hand-carved stamp swap we did at the Carve Your Stamps group on Flickr. I had sent her some carving blocks, because she can't get them where she lives, and she retaliated reciprocated with this fantastic package, filled with handmade envelopes, a little notepad, hand-stamped stickers, and even a coloring set for the kids! Seriously, this woman is so full of win ^_^ Thanks, Té té!!

So, I got the fwoop over the e's...but I can't get it to do it without making a space in the middle of her name! What the deuce! *sigh* I feel so "in the box".

Mid-morning Quickie

I carved three more of this birdy stamp, because I <3 it so much. I expect I will trade these away =]


Dobie stamp carved for a swap. I am really happy with this one; it turned out exactly how I wanted it to, and it wasn't very difficult ^_^


A surprised little shrimp on sushi ;) Also made for a swap.


Finally, four ATCs for a Red/Pink ATC swap. These have an Alice in Wonderland theme, and I am quite happy with how they turned out =]


I'm off to buy some felt, and tiny beady eyes, for a gnome project I'm working on! =]

Tute-ing my own horn!

Tutorial-ish thing on how I carve my stamps! Click the image to go to my tutorial on Flickr.