Happy Anniversary Baby!

Yes, it has been a long time since I posted to my blog and it is hard to keep up these days! I see I have lost a few followers and that is sad, but unfortunately, there is not much that I can do to keep actively blogging at the moment. There has just been so much going on and time is very limited, but I am trying the best that I can, so I hope you will stick with me over the next couple of months. I do apologize for lack of visits and only the occasional blog post, but I do see what most of you create and especially on Facebook. OK, well today I am sharing an anniversary tag for my hubby that I created using a variety of stamps from Artistic Outpost. We have reached the 33 year point in our lives and I have got to tell you that I am so incredibly blessed to have not only my best friend at my side, but that today is his last day of work! He is retired! Not sure what he will do!

I took a kraft tag background and used the music sheet from "Ephemera Backgrounds" which was clear embossed. Next I placed Tim's time stencil over the tag and inked over that in Black Soot. The frame from "Chalk It Up" was stamped in Coffee Archival and fussy cut. All remaining images were stamped in Black Archival and a slight amount of color was added to the "Flapper Fashions" gal. I think the sentiment from "Typography" is perfect for my hubby. Added a few stencil hearts and some dyed ribbon and "Life is Good."

To update all of you, we now have a house in Wisconsin (so two at the moment and now you can understand the lack of time), I apparently had/have the flu (but getting there) and now with Steve all retired, I am looking forward to a more relaxing never going to get up at 4:30 AM again life! I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the soon to be spring season! Thank you so much for sticking with me and visiting today!

Do You Believe In Magic?

Happy Monday all you lovely bloggers and I hope your weekend was wonderful! I started singing that song by "The Loving Spoonful," when I came up with the post title and I bet you did as well!

I just love this quote from "Quotes and Quotables" from Artistic Outpost.  It is a good reminder about that "Magic" inside of all of us and sometimes it hides out a little and we need to wake it up!

The background for both tags was inked with Peacock Feathers and Dusty Concord and flicked with some water and also Distress Stains. The large tag background was also embossed using a Darice folder and I inked Dusty Concord over the Peacock Feather areas and vise versa!

The smaller tag was covered in crinkled foil with double sided tape and inked with various blue and purple alcohol inks, until the color matched with the manila background. Cut out a little opening with one of Tim's movers and shapers for the "Quote," which is heading over to Country View Crafts Challenge, "Quotations and Sayings."

The Flapper Girl from "Flapper Fashions," was perfect for sharing the magic. She was watercolored using Broken China, Dusty Concord and Tattered Rose Distress Stains. Her jewelry was colored with Spica Glitter Pens and of course she was fussy cut!

You have plenty of time to pull out you Artistic Outpost stamps and join in the August Referral Program, which is anything goes, so go get inky!

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to comment! Enjoy the week!

I Believe!

Welcome to April's Artistic Outpost Blog Hop!  It is all about Women and or Flowers and just in time for Mother's Day!  My lovely teammates have plenty of inspiration to share, so be sure to stop by and have a treat!  Gerrie, Lisa, Sue, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (Me), Kate.

For my tribute to "woman," I decided to go with the Flapper Fashions and Quotes and Quotables as focal point.  Both were stamped using Black Archival and the lovely Flapper was colored with sponge applicators using Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar.  Don't you just love the power in Believing?

The backgrounds were created using a swirly floral from Birds of a Feather, first stamped with Tattered Rose to cover the entire white background and then in a random fashion using Spun Sugar.  For the sentiment, I decide to add splatters by thinning out Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar reinkers, using an old toothbrush.  I will be linking this up to Simon Says Stamp and Show - Background.

There is still plenty of time to join in the "Anything Goes" April Referral Program using those AO stamps.  Thank you for stopping by today's blog hop and I hope you have a wonderful day and remember to "Believe."

Stamps:  Artistic Outpost, Flapper Fashions, Quotes and Quotables, Birds of A Feather
Ink:  Archival Black, Distress Tattered Rose, Spun Sugar, Black
Reinkers Tattered Rose and Spun Sugar 

Flapper Banner

Today I am not sharing something new today, but my next post most certainly will be!  Being a Wednesday and my turn to post at Artistic Outpost, I decided to share a banner I created with the Flapper Fashions!  Now if you missed or don't remember this from a previous post, here is a close-up of one Flapper and hop on over to Artistic Outpost for the full post and banner view!  Not to mention it is really so nice to see my lovely blogger friends over at AO!

A new month means it is the start of a new challenge, so if you have some AO stamps, we would love to see you join in the "February Referral Program."

Thank you for stopping by today and I promise to get around to all your blogs as quickly as I can.  My old Fred bird is not doing well at all and it is taking up much of my time and that is OK.  25 years is a long time and if you knew all the history of this guy, you would be amazed! 

Love Is In The Air!

Welcome to January's Blog Hop at Artistic Outpost, which is all about Love or Valentine's Day!  How sweet is that and for more inspiration and just in time for the "day of love," please visit all of the design team as follows:  Don't forget to pull out those Artistic Outpost stamps and join in the January Referral Program, "Anything Goes Using Artistic Outpost Stamps."

Gerrie, Lisa, Sue, Tracy, Linda, Alison, Terry (me) Kate

For my first blog hop, I was inspired to use this lovely lady from the Flapper Fashions and frame her with a hanging banner using the Whimsical Melange collection.  I inked over my ivory card stock with Antique Linen to give a worn feel and after I embossed my background, I highlighted the raised areas using Tattered Rose and Festive Berry.  At this point I misted over the inked background and then heat set, distressed the edges and shaded with Vintage photo.  The banner was inked with Festive Berry and embossed as was the frame with a glitter/EP mix of mine in which I added a bit of gold.  The frame was stamped and I cut out the center and the background for my lady, was lightly inked with Tattered Rose.  She was stamped in Archival Coffee and I added color using an applicator.  You can't see this, but her earring, bracelets and necklace are all glittery thanks to Spica Glitter pens.  I made a little card for her to hand to a loved one!  Oh and I was so nervous using an Xacto Knife to cut out a finger to hold the card!  Yikes!  I did cut three frames (yes I did) and mounted this on dimensionals for added depth.

Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting me on my first every Blog Hop.  Have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  Artistic Outpost, Flapper Fashions, Whimsical Melange
Inks:  Archival Coffee, Distress Antique Linen, Festive Berry, Vintge Photo, Tattered Rose, VersaMark
Glitter/EP mix
Spica Glitter Pens, Clear, Red, Gold
Embossing Folder: Crafts Too, Vintage Flowers