Sweet Summer Time

Summer is here at last, coming in with blazing hot temperatures and sticky, humid days.  It all seems to be going by so fast.  Father's day is just around the corner, then July 4th.  Time for all those pictures of kids with ice cream.  Vacations and cookouts.  Simply fantastic! 

Lately it has been harder for me to blog, my boyfriend owns the computer, and takes it to work.  Sometimes our schedules are a little hectic and things don't work out.  I have been anxiously awaiting my tax return, then I will have my own computer and scanner/ printer.  I have felt so in the dark ages without them for so long.   Over memorial day weekend I had some days off and got alot of projects done, including packing up some winter clothes.  I have been playing around a little with some jewlery and gift type items for my etsy shop to go right along with my cards.  What got me started was I was playing with making handmade flowers, and thought of all the things I could put them on.  Soon to come some awesome hats.  On that note I am gonna leave it short.  There are LOTS of photos to post. 

This is a handmade Ocean Breeze soap that I decorated using Basic Grey papers.  After prewrapping the soap(to keep the oils from saturating the paper). I cut a strip of patterned paper and punched the edges using a Martha Stewart punch.  I then wrapped it around my soap and adhered my embellishment.  A shell for the ocean breeze, a button from Tim Holtz collection.  Some feathers and even some eyelash thread.  The fun of doing soaps is you can mix it up with whatever embellishments you want.  I even added some of my own tiny little handmade flowers.  This would be a great gift to give to a friend, or wouldn't this be beautiful just sitting in a soap dish in your bathroom?   Smells delicious too!

I created this card for the Hero Arts Winaday on their blog contest.  My mom had purchased this stamp for me awhile back and when I saw the contest call I knew it would be perfect.  When I created this card, I just picked some random colors to ink with, it worked out perfectly with the Basic Grey Paper.

I created this card by stamping my image on a piece of old book paper. I then took another piece of old book paper and glued it overtop my stamped image, just along the edges. I then gently cut the center out of my top piece and rolled back the paper to reveal my stamped image. I then used distress inks to ink around the torn paper making the torn edges stand out more. I then glued the book pages over top of some Basic Grey Paper that matched perfectly. I added a little lace and stamped a butterfly in the same colors and cut it out. I created some tiny demensional flowers by cutting and overlapping petals, then glueing one tiny flower ontop of the other. A pearl gem accents the centers.

These would make another great gift for a friend, and super easy to make.  Make with old buttons and toggles.  These were actually from Tim Holtz button collection.  Notice the awesome Tea Rose I handmade and used as a prop in the pic.  I already have plans for those flowers!

This card was also created for the Hero Arts Winaday on the blog contest.  I made this card using Hero Arts variety and quality stamp. After I stamped my image I die cut circles from different areas of the stamped image. Inked, and placed them on different levels with pop dots along a diagonal. The Tim Holtz gears added the perfect touch. The pp is Pink Paislee(queen bee). Other stamps used Hero Arts bold flourish, and greeting from Hero Arts cuckoo set. Distess inks (tumbled glass, rusty hinge) Giant gem brad Pink Paislee.

This is a little sampling of some of my jewlery I have started making.  I love halloween so I had to make this awesome skull pendant/pin.  Handpoured and painted with lots of love.  Wouldn't this be an awesome ornament, or even a decoration on a creepy hat, I just can't wait!  I have made jewelry since I was in junior high, so it felt only natural to start creating some jewelry using my paper crafting skills.  I love the versatility of it.  You can create creepy jewelry, elegant jewlery, or even whimsical, it's however you feel.   Look forward to much more jewelry creations. 

I just love this little tag.  The clipart is from Tweety Jill Designs!  If you check out their blog under Design Team you can check out my headshot and bio.  It's AWESOME! 

Speaking of Father's Day here is a card I created using October Afternoon papers and ATC letter card.  This is a mix of Thrift Shop, and Farm Fresh.  I just love their little ATC size cards.  I can't get enough of them.  So retro and cute.  This one couldn't have been more perfect for father's day. 

If you know me, I usually stay away from super cutesy stuff.  If it's cutesy I will mix up a little and give it a funky twist.  But when I saw this stamp from Greeting Farms, I couldn't resist.  She is soooo cute.  And I just love how she is kinda sultry too!  Both cards are created using Pink Paislee papers.  Most the other elements I added were cut on the cricut off the independence day cartridge.   To create the bench I cut out a wagon and just cut the wheels off and added legs instead. 

More great news! The other day I received an email via etsy asking me to join another design team!  Someone had come across my stuff and loved it!  They and a friend are running a blog called More Paper Than Shoes.  Such a great name!  So fitting for me.  I was asked to take part in monthly challenges and give aways, become a member of a huge network of crafty ladies and get my stuff on their blog, as well as Etsy exposure.  I am pumped!  I really think it will be alot of fun, and look forward to it.   They announce their new design team on July 1st, so stay up to date here on all the new happenenings! 

That's it for today, Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Happy Creating!

Nicki Chicky