I'm Blog Hopping!

Today, I have many things I need to to and I will get to each one but I just had to mention that I'm doing my first "Blog Hop." It's just what it sounds like: hopping from one blog to another. Blog hops do have a theme and a beginning point and checkpoints along the way and a finish line. This blog hop is to celebrate a rubber stamp company's anniversary. The rubber stamps from Our Daily Bread Designs are lovely. So many times I want to create a card or design for someone and include Scripture but want something prettier than my handwriting! ODBD specializes in Scripture stamps and they have some beautiful graphics to enhance God's Word.

Anyway, if you'd like to see what some of the design team members and customers of ODBD have created with ODBD stamps and other paper crafting products just start here. It's not hard. You'll start at the beginning on ODBD's blog and then simply follow the instructions. You just need to leave a comment and then go to the next blog (you'll be linked..so it's only a click away to the next hop)...view the artwork, leave a comment for that designer and then hop to the next blog which is linked for you, view the artwork of that designer, leave a comment, and hop to the next blog. Get it? Easy peasy and you'll be blessed by the Scripture and your creative side will enjoy all of the variety of layouts, color choices, embellishments and fibers. Enjoy. Oh, did I mention Our Daily Bread Designs is giving prizes? That's always fun.

Ok-- go hop.

Happiness Found

I just had to share a link to this YouTube video some creative woman made. She made a darling little photo album out of things she found around the house and in her "stash" of scrapbooking materials. Wait until you see how stinkin' cute this thing turned out. And the pages?? She made them out of plastic grocery bags! You know, like the ones seen wrapped around fences or hanging precariously from bare tree branches? Yeah those plastic grocery bags. She has a tutorial for making the plastic bag paper too. But this album is so quaint...and lovely! Click here to see Laura's "Happiness Found" mini photo album.

Artist Trading Cards!

Oh goodness! Have I found a new hobby or what? My friend Janeen introduced me to ATC today. She came over to do some paper art with me after she saw my post about scrapbooking through the Bible. She also brought me two lovely pieces of homemade paper that she created out of the tear-off part of the Netflix mailer. You can see the bright flecks of Netflix red in this lavender-hue paper. I was so impressed and so touched that she would think of me. Anyway, she brought her album of Artist Trading Cards. These are traditional baseball-trading card-sized works of art...some were painted, some were penned, some were papers and some were mixed media but they were all incredibly lovely and just as unique as the individual artists who created them. In Janeen's album there are tiny pieces of art from all over the world!

During our time of fellowship I completed my "F" page for my Scripture Scrapbook. I used a bit of the homemade paper and was so thrilled with how it turned out! Then, I promptly set about creating my miniature masterpieces! I used an ugly, bent, worn-out (or you could use a brand-spanking-new) playing card as my base. You can purchase ATC blank card stock "canvas" but I like the idea of using up those cards that have seen a few too many hours of canasta. Besides, I usually don't play with a full deck so re-purposing playing cards makes me feel ... um.... green.

I carefully tore a piece of the homemade paper into a rectangle roughly the size of the card. (I think there is some rule against using scissors on homemade paper, but I'm not sure.) I glued it to the card and then added some fabric scraps. I stamped a small piece of card stock with a quaint saying and brushed some ink around it and smudged the ink a bit. On purpose. Then I added a metal disc with an "r" on it. (I made this one for my friend Rachel.) I put some paper in a complimentary color on the back of the card because I didn't want the king of spades to show. I signed my creation (as all artists do) and admired my work.
Wanna see?

I made one for Janeen before she left (I didn't get a picture of that one). I'm looking forward to starting my own collection of ATC from around the world. I think I will buy one of these to display my collection as it grows.
Kinda neat, huh? Wanna trade with me? Leave me a comment and we'll make arrangements to trad ATC.