Hand Made Card and Gift

Hello Bloggers!!! today I have an awesome project I know you're gonna love as much as I do.  As you can see from the picture above, I spent some time with Tim Holtz on Sunday at the Carson Rubber Stamp Convention.  He is such a joy to watch and interact with.  I also got to meet Mario, I KNOW!!! both in one day!!! I can't believe I actually spent time with them and hung out with them.  Mario even gave me a few tips on my die cutting tray. 
 
I was so inspired looking at all the dies that I decided to make this adorable greeting card.  The flowers are inserted in a pocket and have a pin on the back so that the person you give it to can use it on her hair, how cute is that! Its a card and a gift!!!

Here's what you'll need:
various pieces of fabric, organza, felt, a rubber stamp with a nice sentiment and ink pad.  I'm using Ranger's Distress Ink in brushed curduroy.

You will also need some jewelry findings and hair pins:

 

I used Tim Holtz Tattered Florals die.  You can find it here: Simon Says Stamp

Run your fabric over the die through a die cutting machine like the Big Shot found here.
Here are the completed flowers after layering the pieces with hot glue and attaching a jewelry finding to each one:

Add a hair pin like the one shown to the back of each flower with hot glue:

 Make a pocket using a piece of cardstock using a small staple gun. The size of my pocket is: 6" X 1 3/4" The size of my card is 6 1/4" X 4 1/2"

 Lastly, stamp your sentiment and hot glue a charm. I used Distress Ink by Ranger, brushed curduroy, to coordinate with my paper. 

and here's the finished card:

Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a beautiful day!

To see more Tattered Florals projects, visit Tim's site:
http://timholtz.com/tattered-floral-challenge/

Firmoo Glasses for Your Crafty Needs

Hello fellow crafters, home decorators, poets, writers and all creative people who happen to come by my blog today.  Today was a great day here in Los Angeles with temperatures in the mid 70's.  I don't have a craft tutorial or a poem or a story to tell you, I have something that I think you'll really like....a FREE pair of glasses from Firmoo.com!!!  YES, FREE!!! prescription or non prescription, your choice. 

First, I'll give you a quick review of Firmoo.com, the Online Optical Store and then you'll find a link toward the end of my post that will take you directly to their site where you can choose your free pair.

Firmoo was kind to send me these awesome, sporty glasses that I'm wearing while working in my craft room.  I normally wear contacts and haven't worn glasses in a few years but today I wore these glasses all day and was surprised to see how comfortable they felt.  They are very light, so light in fact that I completely forgot I had them on!  I was also very happy with their quick service and the ease of selecting the right pair for me.  They have a very creative way to show you what each style will look like on the type of face you have, round, oval, heart shaped, etc... that you can see on a model before you select your glasses.   With this feature, I was able see how they fit on the face of a model with a round face like mine before I ordered my pair.  This made it easier for me to decide on the style of frame I wanted for me.   

I'm also very impressed with their quick delivery.   I received my glasses in less than a week.  I think it took longer for me to decide on a pair than it took for them to send them to me because they have so many cute, trendy glasses online. 

Glasses are increasingly becoming a fad and must-have accessories for  celebs and people in the fashion world.  Glasses have become such a hot accessory that even non prescption wearers are showing up all over trendy areas.   They instantly upgrade your look of modern,sexy, vintage or geek by wearing different styles of frames.

Any hot glasses/sunglasses /goggles frames you want can be found on Firmoo, and all are available for both prescription lenses and non-prescription lenses. Are you ready  to have a new look? here's your chance.  Firmoo has launched a First Pair Free Program to people  worldwide. You will absolutely fall in love with the excellent quality, affordable prices, fashionable designs, fast delivery and the good service after trying them with paying shipping only! You even can get a refund/exchange if you are not satisfied with them. It's totally Risk free, so why not have a try?

Click here (http://www.firmoo.com/free-glasses.html) to get your free glasses now!

Go see for yourself all the stylish glasses they carry.  The pair I got from Firmoo is right here (link) I love how they look on me.....all serious and mature.....not the usual silly me.   



FULL DISCLOSURE: The glasses I'm sporting were provided by Firmoo to me for free.  I, in turn, agreed to publish this post as a review of their product and service.  However, everything in my review is entirely my opinion, independent of, and not influenced by, the free pair of glasses I received from Firmoo.  

UTEE Embelishment For Artist Trading Card

Hello World!!!
I am honored to see that I have visitors from all over the world....YAY!  It's A Small World After All........ WELCOME!! VIEN BENIDOS!! BIENVENUE!! BEMVINDOS!! BENVENUTO!!
 

Today I'm sharing my tutorial for working with a product called Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE).  It is This product melts easily and allows you to apply it in a multitude of techniques.  The technique I'm showing today is called UTEE Stamping and I will use it to embellish an Artist Trading Card.  Artist Trading Cards (ATC) are 2 1/2inch by 3 1/2 inch cards that you create art in mainly to trade with other artists. 

Since the technique is a little on the difficult side, I'll share a YouTube tutorial towards the bottom that is very easy to follow.

Here's my finished Artist Trading Card :

  
Here's what you'll need: Versa Mark ink pad, rubber stamp with deep etching, acrylic pain, pigment powder (I used Pearl Ex you can find it here) I found the stamp on ebay but not sure if when you read this, it will still be available and the website that sells it is no longer online.  Anyway, here's the ebay link: Walter Knabe Stamp

A craft heat tool (a hair blow dryer will not work) you can find it online or craft store, UTEE find it here

the last thing you'll need is a Tim Holtz die, but you'll need a die cutting machine too.  Don't worry, if you don't have either, you can always cut your cardbard using any template online.  I found this one for you LINK just print it out smaller so it will fit on an ATC card.

Next, use the Versa Mark ink pad to saturate your cardboard:

next pour the UTEE on top:

heat it with a craft heat tool and while it's still warm, press the rubber stamp on top and press down

 

using your finger, apply acrylic paint gently over the UTEE

next, apply the pigment powder with your finger

add it to your ATC with some small embellishments, and wah-lah!

 

Hope you liked my tutorial!!! even though I don't see you, I enjoyed having you stop by.  Leave a message below and I'll come visit your blog.  Also, a BIG thank you to all who have been sending me emails.  I always enjoy reading them and I try to reply back to you as soon as I can when you send me questions, I hope I'm doing a good job with that. 

Before I forget, I was contacted by an eye glass company about doing a review for them.  In return, they will provide FREE prescription glasses to my readers!!! how cool is that? I'll publish a post with all the information you need for your FREE pair over the weekend. 

Here's the YouTube link as promised.  This is by Cynthia, she is *amazing* with UTEE.

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=928nC83gdiE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Thank you all for stopping by and for your awesome comments that keep this blog alive!!!

Castles in the Sky

CASTLES IN THE SKY
She writes her story in the wind
Carried up to the sky in swirls 

Every moment recorded 

Triumphs and sorrows without prejudice 

Swirling in the wind up to the sky 

Filled with innocence

 Wrapped in faith hope and love 

 Evil eyes can not see 

Castles in the sky keep her secret thoughts, her story 

Where time is her only witness

Hello my bloggy friends.  I've missed you all.  I've been out of the loop for so long that I don't know where to start.....so I'll start with a short poem I recently wrote.  I hope you like it.