Twas Michelle's version of the Madness in March

 Twas the summer of madness and all through the room
everyone was screaming even my groom.

The brackets were hung on the board with care
in hopes that a win would soon be there.

The players were tired and red while visions of a win danced in their heads.
And ma with her marker and pa with his cap
had watched while the team settled the gap.

When out on the court there arose such a chatter
everyone asked "what's the matter"
Away to the bench the players made a dash
because the points had just been slashed.

With a little old coach not at all sick
we knew in a moment we saw a trick
more rapid with their game
everyone was calling out their name!

On Wildcats, Go Big Blue, on Coach Cal, UK all the way!
To the top of the bracket we all want to call
Now win it, Win it! Win it all!
 

He screamed out the word and the team whistled
shooting that ball just like a missile.   
But I heard them explain as the ball took flight
NCAA champs for all and for all a good fight. 

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My card this week has NOTHING to do with March Madness other than the fact that it makes me happy like March Madness makes my hubbie happy.

All papers are from my scrapbin, so I cannot tell which paper was made by which company.  The flower was made by me.   The "Just for You" stamp is by Heidi Grace.  The inks used on the card stock are all Distress inks by Tim Holtz in the colors of Mustard Seed, Worn Lipstick, Festive Berries, and Spiced Marmalade.  To get the watermark look I squirt water in my hand from my mister.  I squirt quick a bit of water into my hand.  Then I flick it onto the paper.  I flick more in some spots, and then I pick up the paper and allow the water to run a tad.  I then take my heat gun and dry the water. It leaves a fabulous effect!  The ribbon is also from my scraps. 

Bunking Bronco

This was from Splitcoasters. If you have never been to that site and you scrapbook, you are crazy!  It is like a MUST DO!  I learned this technique from them.  I am just putting it together in my way. They did theirs as a hula dancer and it was so cute!!!  

The purpose of the technique is to make something on your card that moves.  I stared with a cardboard base for my card. I inked it with Walnut Stain, Old Paper, Tea Dye, and some Black Soot; all distress inks by Tim Holtz.

You have to choose an image that could "move" and not look silly. I chose the bronco because I felt it might look like the horse was bucking.  You make two stamps of the image. I used Ranger archival ink and white scrap cardstock. 

 You will then fussy cut one of the images (the one that will go on top).  Since my bronco is bucking I used this whole image. On the splitcoasters site, they cut out the grass skirt (brilliant).  On the image that will be put onto the card (the main image) you will use a craft knife and cut a square in the center.  I did not photo this part, but they do show it on the website.  I will provide a link at the end so you can go check it out.  On the back of the image with the square cut out you will place a penny.  On the front of the square you will place a glue dot.  Make sure it is on the penny and not your image.  On the second image you will put a glue dot on the back of it and place a second penny there.  You will now use another glue dot to put the pennies together.  Do not put any of the glue dot on your images, the pennies are going to act like a little hinge along with the glue dots. 

Here is my finished card with the bucking bronco.  This is him in the normal position.  And the photo below shows the bronco bucking around on the card front.  This is a very fun technique that I know I will try again.  

The stamp is by Stampin' Up.  The it's your day stamp is by Fiskars.  All inks by Ranger or Tim Holtz (which is really the same thing).  The gold paper behind the cowboy is also from my scrapbin, so I have no idea who made it.  

 

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/tilt_card/

Check out the original design on splitcoasters and thank you to the person who created this great card.  

The dam tour

One of my favorite scenes in the National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation is the scene of the dam tour.  It is so funny on so many levels.  We folks here in Western Kentucky also have a pretty cool dam....no not anywhere near the caliber of the Hoover Dam, but it works.

Ours is actually two dams, but I prefer one over the other.  We have Barkley Dam (named after  a former Vice President Alben Barkley) and Kentucky Dam.  It is the later that I like.  Ever since I was a small child I have always liked driving over the dam.  It feels so much safer than a bridge and it is awesome.  A few years back they rerouted the road that went over the dam.  It is not as thrilling as driving on top of the dam, but you do have a great view of the spillway.  And when that water is pouring over the top, it is a grand sight.

In May of 2011, we had just finished getting rained on from what seemed like forever.  Everything was flooded.  The floodgates were installed in Paducah to save our town. Levees were blown so the flood waters would not drown Cairo Illinois.  People were homeless because their homes were flooded.  Businesses where ruined because of flood waters.  It was pretty much as bad as the ice storm was in 2009.

The sunshine of this day was so welcome.  It was the day before Mother's Day, the day before my birthday, and God had put a rainbow in the sky just the night before...the flood was over!!!

For my birthday, John wanted to take me to Patti's and of course I was more than okay with his decision.  I just put the stipulation that we could go over the dam.  I was sure it was fuller than I had ever seen it.

So here we go, taking the dam tour.  I have many pages documenting the flood of 2011 because it was so vast. Most are for documentation purposes only and not much to look at, but this one is my favorite.  Take the photos out of context and you can just see the beauty of that water spilling over the dam.  Put them back in context and it is hard to image that something so lovely can be so terrible!!

I was inspired on the layout by Mojo Monday 231.  It was the perfect way to showcase my dam photos.  The circle to me could represent the "cloud" I wanted on my layout.  I have puffed it out because it represents all the days of rain that we had.  The flowers represent the rebirth/life that would come from that little cloud.  My color choices are happy colors because we would be happy again!  We had all banded together to help each other and it was beautiful like my color choices.  It is a time I shall never forget, but would not want to relive.  I am so grateful that God saved our towns. I am sorry for the crops and homes that were lost, but thankful that to my knowledge no lives were lost.

Hopefully we will not ever experience a flood like this here again..

You are the best

I promise to you that I am doing good at my goal to send more cards so that people know that I care or am grateful for the things that I have been given or for things that have been done for me.

Today's card is another extension of that....we don't often tell people when they do a good job, but we are all over  them when they screw up.  I tried to do this when I was working at Olivet...praise people for a job well done.  I am continuing this tradition now.  Here is a card that I made for someone that I know has very low self esteem, I only hope this makes them feel a little better about themselves.

Sometimes a little encouragement can go a long way. I know in my case I absolutely blossom when someone says "job well done"....but we all know you don't here that much.

Here is my card, I hope that it inspires you to be kind to someone today.   

I am entering this card in the CR84FN challenge...if you scrapbook/make cards and don't know what that is...check it out.  It is a great starter/springboard that can lead you to get inspired or to try something that you might not have tried without their prompting.  If you don't want to play and just want to browse, just clip on some of the thumbnails.  There are some extremely talented ladies out in this world.  I thank them for sharing their talent.  

The Yellows of March

Beware of the yellows of March!!!  Yellow keeps coming back to haunt me.  I do believe that the powers that be are determined to make me appreciate some yellow.  I will admit, I am trying hard to quit being a yellow hater.  I used yellow on much of the samples 3here.  I was trying to experiment with things and use my new stamps too.   I have 2 different cards here.  One that uses the Brono stamp by Stampin UP!  and one that uses stamps by Technique Tuesday.

The Brono stamp features a font called Bleeding Cowboy that happens to be one of my favorites on my computer and I use it often. The inks used are Chocolate Chip by Stampin UP! and Walnut Stain Distress ink.   It is a simple card  that did not take a lot of time.  I basically wanted to try out  that new stamp.  I am very pleased with this stamp and believe that it will serve me well. 

The second card took more work as I first inked the entire card base using Distress inks in walnut stain, mustard seed, iced spruce and spiced marmalade.  I then dripped water onto the surface and let that dry. 

Then I used strip of patterned paper  that were left over from another project.  I punched a circle near the top and stamped a star (by Stampin UP!) on the inside of the card.  The 3/4 circle above the punch is a technique tile by TT and it is inked in mustard seed.

Grugeboard serves are the base for my sentiment.  The edges are inked in mustard seed and the font is by TT.  I watercolored yellow inside the letters.

The rectangle at the bottom is also TT as well as the very cool stamp.  I colored the inside with yellow watercolor paint, a gray watercolor pencil and a brown sharpie.

The last card features another stamp set that I just bought, So Very by Stampin UP!!  This one features vintage photo, tea dye and old paper distress inks.  These inks make up the background of the sorry part and mustard seed "paints" the card base.  All the patterned papers are from my scrapbin, I am trying so hard to get rid of the stuff in there. 

The water droplets on sorry are just that....water.  I love the way water reacts with  the distress inks.  That is my favorite part about them.  

Relax and Thanks a latte

This time of year I am thinking about Spring Break and dreaming of all the places that I could go.  Of course, I am dreaming of palm tree type surroundings, and possibly a theme park where one would find a magical wand toted by a young wizard; or maybe a land of enchantment with a mouse.  However, this card was as close as I could get...a balmy palm tree on a card.  It was fun to use these new stamps by Stampin UP! (well they are new to me, and they were never used.  I bought them at a yard sale for $5).  

 I have used Stampin UP! ink in Chocolate Chip and Close to my Heart ink in Clover Meadow as well as Walnut Stain Distress ink.  The florish stamps are from Technique Tuesday and all the papers are from my scrapbin.  The brads are by Paper Studio.  All the edges are trimmed in Iced Spruce Distress ink. 

For my this Spring Break dream card I used this weeks CR84FN colors of yellow, kraft and gray.  I am not usually a fan of yellow, but I have to say that I have been pleased with the yellow cards I have made lately.  This one just makes me calm, the next one is the one that I love.....

I love coffee, lattes, cappuccinos,hot teas, and the like and this card was inspired by my new Keurig machine.  The stamps from the letters are from the $1 bin at the Dollar Tree.  I watch Morning Joe and I love his coffee stain on his logo, I have been looking for a stamp of a coffee stain for quite some time and finally found one in a Close to my Heart catalog.  It is sooooo cute!!!! The heart stamp is from Inkadinkadoo.  The card base is inked in walnut stain distress ink, spritzed with water, then with Java walnut spray ink.  Coffee stain is stamped in Chocolate Chip by Stampin UP!.  All edges are trimmed in Iced Spruce Distress ink.  The cup is my own creation.  I look forward to sending this card to one of my coffee friends.

Liberty Tag

This tag is a collection of JUNK that I have had lying around.  Some old Graphic 45 papers (that I love but had not found that perfect project), some remnants of tissue paper from a gift, a 1776 coin from the History Channel, a green ribbon from a notebook that I took apart, left over grunge board, a rosette I made when I was practicing, leftover kraft cardboard (tag base), Tinkertoys rectangle (Graphic 45), and a washer I found in a tool box.

I used Tim Holtz distress inks to color the kraft cardboard first (Dusty Concord and Mustard Seed).  On top of that I using Distress embossing ink and Vintage Photo Distress powders with a Hero Arts script font stamp.  I also used a houndstooth stamp  by Technique Tuesday (words Playing and Laughing also by TT) and a postmark stamp by inkadinkadoo.  I painted a layer of Antique Linen crackle paint and inked that with Walnut Stain Distress ink.  Once all that dried I began my layering.  The stopwatch was created with a stamp by Delta which I embossed with midnight black by stamp n stuff embossing ink.  Once that set up I used Distress inks in Walnut Stain, Mustard Seed, Dusty Concord, Broken China, Seedless Preserves, and Spiced Marmalade to color the background of the glossy cardstock. 

A lady in a rainbow of color

I wanted to play with some glossy cardstock that I picked up at Archiver's (for .79 per sheet).  I got out one of my new stamps (that I purchased for $1.00 at the Trace Creek Crop yard sale) by inkadinkadoo and stamped it in Ranger Archival black ink.  I allowed some time for that to dry then I got out my ink pads.  I used Tim Holtz Distress inks in Chipped Sapphire, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China, Dusty Concord, Festive Berries, Peeled Paint, Seedless Preserves, Fired Brick, Faded Jeans, Worn Lipstick, Iced Spruce, Evergreen Boughs and Spun Sugar.  

I gave the inks a few seconds  to dry then I sprayed water into my hands and dropped onto the image.  This give it the water look.  While some of the drops where wet I lifted the image up and shook it.  This made the water run down the tag creating that neat faded colors line down the front of the image.  I love the water spots!  Especially the ones on her face. 

The card itself was inked with Peeled Paint.  That is one of my favorite Distress ink colors an so versatile.  This was a surprise part. I was not sure if this would work or not, so I just had to give it a try.  I took a Tim Holtz fragment and inked it with cranberry alcohol ink.  When that dried I took a small Stampin UP!  flower stamp and stamped (using Ranger Archival black ink) onto of the alcohol ink.  I love the way it turned out.  It was a perfect little addition to the corner.  

All stamps featured on this card are from Stampin UP!

Buttons are from Making Memories (with exception of the pink one that is from a shirt that I had purchased)

The pearls are from a kids craft kit

The thread is DMC in 315 gray and 666 red

This card's sentiments state how I feel:  BLESSED!!!

Trace Creek Crop Gratitudes

A day that I look forward to every year. I get therapy for my mind and a beautiful message for my soul.

This crop is organized perfectly. Jill Rogers who is in charge said God made her for this. And she is so right. God has blessed us in so many ways by giving her the means and know how to control all of us crazy scrappy ladies. On top of that He always puts in her heart the exact words that I need to hear. It's always like the message is directed to me and me only. Someone at the crop said the same thing yesterday so I know that God puts just the right topic in Jill. I am do grateful for this.

I am also grateful to those that donate their time and talents in preparing the foods and making sure I have enough to eat. It is wonderful to share the day with so many good cooks and those who forgo scrapping to ensure I put on a few pounds. I am grateful to you all.

I am happy that the Goughs's devote their time to check us in and make sure we sign up for prizes. For them giving me a kind word every time I pass their table and always smiling. They also make our lovely name tags! I am grateful to them.

There's Cassie Johnson who was willing and able to stay up late to sign me up for the crop. Without her none of it would have been possible. Bless Cassie for taking care of me. She even sit next to me all day. That is love. For her I am grateful.

For the people who sit up the tables, for the church who allows us to invade their space and use their lovely sanctuary. I am grateful for you.

Then there's the ladies who put items in the yard sale. Without you I would never be able to afford all those stampin up stamps I have bought over the years. I am so grateful you girls want to purge your stash. That you let things go for such wonderful prices. I look forward to the yard sale and I am grateful for it.

To the vendors that encourage me to spend money and run me up a tab. I love that you are there and that you are kind and patient with me. I am grateful for you.

Yes I am even grateful for my fellow scrapper. I have never met one I didn't like. This year we met two more lovely ladies who were very talented. I am grateful for them sharing my table.

And my mom. I finally got her to go to an event with me. I had a lovely day with her. We ate, worked and talked. Oh yeah we shopped too. I am grateful to her for spending her day with me.

I can think of nothing at the TCC that is not super. Bless you and hope to see you in the fall.

Missed art

Mirabella designs

My first pullwork

I took a photo of my children and then cross stitched it.  This took me over a year!

For many years, I have been what you might say as an expert cross stitch person.  Once I even worked for a designed doing her mock up designs for the cover art of the packaging.  Back in 2010, I realized my hands simply cannot take the stress of holding the hoop anymore.  They ache and ache from the pressure.  One day, I am going to buy a loom that I can stitch at in my seat, but in the meantime I am going to think back to the days when I was a mad stitching machine.

Blackwork checker board I made for Hannah.  This is my own design.

blackwork sampler, 100% my design

My first beadwork

Families Ties sampler, the first sampler I ever searched and searched the internet for. 

My second piece ever, and the first where I changed almost ever single thread color and thread types.  This one features a lot of the DMC flower thread.  She is soooo me!

Really 2 pictures, but I put them together into one.  Pinky and Blue Boy

my first blackwork sampler

Blackwork lady, I love her.  Wish I had designed her

St Peter's in Russia, this was so fun to do. I painted the Aida cloth with clouds first then stitched ontop.  It is full of silver threads that shine on the wall.  Beautiful.  One of my favorites. 

Building blocks of life

I have been working on this set of blocks for months. They have been my project in between projects.  I have to say that I am tickled with the way that they turned out.  The large letters and steampunkish pictures.  What little baby would not want these?  Without a doubt, they are the most original building blocks ever made!!!  I actually started making them when a friend of mine announced she was having a baby, and very soon I will get to gift them to her.  I hope she is as happy with them as I am.  

Products used:

Tim Holtz distressed inks in peeled paint, broken china, chipped sapphire, fired brick, festive berries, frayed burlap, tea dye, old paper, faded jeans, iced spruce, evergreen bough, worn lipstick, spun sugar, dusty concord and black soot.

Large letters from Technique Tuesday: Williamsburg

other stamps from: Inkadinkadoo, Hampton Arts, Graphic 45, 7 Gypsies, and Stampin Up!

misting sprays by Michelle's Musings in Silver Springs, Chocolate Bar Brown, Barbados Blue and Minty Green

Water

TONS of mod podge

Aleene's clear tacky glue

Prismacolor watercolor pencils

Prang watercolor paints

Every child needs a set of blocks.  Blocks can do so many things in a child's mind. Hope my blocks serve this baby well.  Happy building, baby!

I like a little purple in my diet CR84FN 48

Today's challenge is to use purple, chartreuse, and grey. What a grand color combination. It sorts of evokes the feeling of tranquility.


My layout features lovely flocked paper by recollections!  I love this paper.  Actually the whole pad of paper was fantastic. I made paper roses from a sheet of scrap paper that I had distressed.

The photos show are little walk from Union Station to Busch Stadium in St. Louis on a gorgeous sunny day.  I love all of these photos, they provide great memories for me because this day was PERFECT!   

Products used:
Distress inks: by Tim Holtz Peeled Paint, Iced Spruce, Dusty Concord
Beads from my cross stitch box
flocked paper by Recollections
Wire
Wander tag by Tim Holtz
Purple patterned paper by Creative Memories
Green leaves cut from scraps of creative memories paper
Purple paper by Bazzil

Thinking of you card made for a friend who has just recently lost a loved one.  This card makes me happy, and I hope it does the same for her. 

Products used:  

Distress inks by Tim Holtz in Peeled paint and Dusty Concord

Flowers by Recollections and Creative Memories

Purple flower painted by my very own Michelle's Musings Purple Mountain Majesty paint

Purple buttons from a nightgown I had as a child

Green buttons by Boxer Scraps

Seed beads from my cross stitch box

Wire from a spool I have had since 1993

Green paper by Creative Memories

Gray paper by Hobby Lobby open stock

Thinking of you stamp by Heidi Grace

Purple ribbon from my jars

Thinking of you card #2

This card was made because I had papers left and I am NOT adding to my scrapbin right now, only taking from it.  So I had no choice but to use all the papers.  The papers are the same as listed above the only new product used here is the flower stamp which is by Heidi Grace and the trim which is by Westrim Crafts.

Thank you card

I wish I knew who made the Thanks stamp, I picked it up somewhere, if you know please tell me.  All papers are the same (again these are left overs).  New products used is a buckle by JoAnn's, purple ribbon from a package I received once, and green ribbon from a Sam's scrapbook basket. 

This was a fun challenge. If you are into challenges I suggest you try CR84FN.  A new exciting bundle of fun every two weeks.  

http://cr84fncolorchallenge.blogspot.com/

The 12 tags of 2012: updated 2.19.12

 

It is no secret that Tim Holtz is like some kind of stamping hero of mine.  I adore just about everything he creates.  I aspire to be as creative and most of all, I desire to sell my work as he sells his.  Every year he does the 12 tags of Christmas.  This is where he makes a speical tag every day for 12 days leading up to Christmas (duh).  It just about broke my heart yesterday when he announced that he was retiring the 12 tags of Christmas.  The heartbreak was short lived as he announced seconds later that he would be doing one tag a month for the rest of the year.  WHAT??? I get to make tags with Tim every month?  Oh how exciting!!!!!!!!!!!

This post will be leading into my first tag, which I will make this weekend.  Here is a link to Tim's post.

 http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/02/12-tags-of-2012-a-new-direction.html


I am hoping that maybe you too will want to embark upon this journey with me.  If you do, remember that this tag is YOUR work of art.  You don't have a supply?  substitute.  You don't like something?  Change it. 

If you have never experience Tim or his line of exciting products, what a great time to get involved.  If you are making your first purchase I recommend the distress inks.  They perform like no other ink pad.  My crafting has changed since I began to use them.  Experiment with them, you will be amazed.

You have those?  Then I say grab some of the embellishments.  They are unique, just like YOU!!!

This is the tag Tim made, how lovely.  I can't wait to craft along with Tim (and I have to get some of that honeycomb paper)!!!!!


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This weekend I finally had a chance to make MY version of Tim's first tag of 2012.  I liked the techniques Tim's used this month. I however have never seen honeycomb paper for sale and so I had to make my own.  It is not nearly as perfect as store bought, but I like the way it adds a homemade feel to my tag.  
I also did not have the heart or cupid, so I had to draw my own. I did draw them on grunge board and used the same techniques Tim did to color them.  The tissue paper is what I used for the tissue tape. I took a large piece of regular tissue and stamped words onto it.  Then I cut the tissue into strips. I applied glue to my heart and scrunched the tissue up onto the heart.  The ruffle is left over from another project, the wire is stuff I have lying around, the pearl is from my great grandmother's dress. The misting sprays are my own Michelle's Musings misting sprays. The letters, the picket fence paint dabber and heart charm are Tim's.

The stamped background is a bunch of stamps placed on an acrylic block.  This includes stamps from Inkadinkadoo, Stampin UP!, Hampton Arts, and stampology.


I am going to give the tag to my mom!  I love my mommy! 

Hey how did that bridge get there?

This could have been one of the worst bridge accidents ever. How lucky was our region that it was not?

If you don't know the story....this giant ship was traveling down the Tennessee River on January 26, 2012, when the ship struck the bridge. The next thing we knew was two sections of the bridge fell onto the bow of the vessel. There the decking of our Eggners Ferry bridge lay while the Kentucky Dept of Transportation did their investigation. The Delta Mariner is a vessel that carries parts for NASA and has navigated this river successfully many times over the course of ten years

What went wrong? That is still under debate. Speculations are strong to the locals....were the lights on the bridge working ( work was scheduled to begin the next morning to replace broken lights)? Was the water too high for the vessel this time? Did the ship try to travel under the wrong span? Was the captain under the influence of drugs, alcohol or even lack of sleep?

Time is going to tell. In the meantime check out these photos all of which were obtained from the Internet. Even though the wreckage is near my home I have stayed away.

St Valentine's Day

I am trying not to be into the whole obligated holiday thing.  It may be sweet for some, but we need our money for something else at my house.  I am excited about the “I love yous” on a daily basis.  Happy that my hubby loves me 365 days a year and not just on the one day.  Happy that my hubby provides for us, feeds us (even will go to the grocery for us), that he takes my son to ball practice, that he mows the yard, that he chases moles, that he is a good driver, that he is a great grill cook,  that he can stand my craziness, that he is a great dad and husband.  I guess I am grateful that he doesn’t need $100 spent on him on Valentine’s Day, he knows how I feel. 

That aside, I was very happy with the gesture from people that did NOT have to show me their love today. 

First is my beautiful teenage daughter, who at times I know would LOVE to claim that she was adopted!  She decided to take time out of her night last night to make her family a cake.  This was the first cake that she made all by herself from scratch.  It was a tasty cake too.  I am so proud of her!!!  She’s pretty wonderful!

Then there is Cassie Rogers.  She hasn’t known me for long, but in the time that she has known me she has embraced me and picked me up after I had been terribly hurt.  She has embraced my craziness and as a matter of a fact, I think she might be as crazy as me.  She doesn’t crowd me, she knows that I like my sleep, and she still accepts me.  She has done a few things for me that have shocked me; people just don’t do things for people anymore.  Once she bought me some hand gel because we were talking about it and well, she listened.  Another time, she went to the movies with me for 10 hours and she brought me a goodie bag and a Breaking Dawn pin (that I love).  And today she topped the cake, she came to school and brought me a Valentine!!! She did not have to do that!  How wonderful is that?  I don’t deserve it, but I gratefully accept it (it was yummy too).

My point?  Do I ever have one?  This time I think that I do..... just that I am grateful for all those in my life that love me every day and NOT just Valentine’s Day.