Thursday, July 19, 2012

Halloween Tag

 I'm still in the Halloween stamping mood, so I thought I would try this tag using alcohol inks that I hadn't tried in a while.

Beauty With Wings

 Here's another Halloween card I did tonight. I used all rubber stamps by Cherry Pie Arts. I love these new butterfly dies, and thought I'd make them a little creepy by adding a few skulls and using a one of Marina's stamps that says-Greetings Spirits, Speak thee to us. I embossed the card using an embossing folder from Stampin Up, and sprayed the black parts with a bit of Tattered Angels mist.

Friday, July 13, 2012

Crow Sightings

 These two little beauties just arrived in my mailbox today. Crows are very important messengers to me, and when I see them I do listen. When I saw that artist Laura Milnor Iverson had created these beauties I decided to get them. You can check her out at ZenBreeze.com art gallery.  

Dina Wakley and Memory Box

 Oh my, I know these stamps have been out for a bit now, but I just love them. Dina's style is just so...me! I ordered these from Frantic Stamper-my favorite online stampy/scrappy place! All the memory box dies are from our recent trip. I can just see so many of these used to create great little haunted houses this year.




Thursday, July 12, 2012

Death Ride Card

 Ok, I know this is a bit on the morbid side, but I have been checking out lots of creepy Halloween blogs and that got me in the mood to stamp this one a bit early. I used all Cherry Pie Art Stamps for this one, and the dies are from Tim Holtz.

Treasures of Pittsburgh

 I found a cool little store in Pittsburgh called Indian Summer Gifts. It was a lovely little place with lots of hidden treasures around every corner! As soon as I walked in the store this Egyptian jewelry box called to me. I tried to ignore it for a while, but eventually gave in, and now am so glad I did. I just love it. I went a little overboard on shopping while there, but I also fell in love with these plaques, an Egyptian necklace pendant, and a large labradorite ring. I was shocked over the ring since normally I go for smaller stones on my rings, but not this time. I swear this one has some great energy! I also enjoyed the store owner and her cute little dog! Now we are back home again and tired from our vacation. I guess the old saying is true-we need a vacation from our vacation!




Stamping and eating-my two favorite things...

 On our way home back through Pittsburgh I found a wonderful little stamping/scrapbooking store called Stamp Fanci. I was expecting a small place as I walked through the doors, but the store seemed to go on and on somehow. I wish, wish, wish I had more time here. Both the owner, and the other girl who worked there were super sweet! I was also surprised at how large of a collection they had. I snapped a couple of pics of card samples while I was there. This first one is from Hero Art, and yes I did cave and buy that stamp! I also loved the little dresser/wardrobe type cards. I bought several packs of those to try out some things on myself. I have also been looking at lots of MFT and Memory Box dies lately, and with the help of some of their other great samples I bought quite a few of those. I can't wait to get to playing with those a bit more.



 Our last stop in Pittsburgh was at a place we have often passed and had a discussion about-The DoubleWide Grill. We finally decided it was time to stop and check it out. The restaurant is built in an old gas station and still uses that them. You are served on tv trays, and there are car parts everywhere. There's even large tires hung up on the wall to frame the mirrors in the bathroom. We are suckers for crazy atmosphere type of places. I have to give this place 2 thumbs up for odd decor, and yummy food!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Hello Toronto!

 We made it into Toronto on Canada day and were greeted by several parades. We really enjoyed them all. Next we moved on to a "must see" place of my boyfriend's list-The Steam Whistle Brewing Company. We went in to check it out, and went on a tour there to see how it's all made. He was in heaven with all the samples that were given. We didn't realize that Toronto, like NYC had a Chinatown and Little Italy, so we explored those areas a bit, and finally had a yummy, yummy pizza in Little Italy at a place called the Standard.



 We were able to take a tour of the CN tower in Toronto right before dark, and had a great view of the city lights, and since it was Canada Day we were able to tons of fireworks from up there as well!

 On our drive back we stopped in Erie, Pennsylvania for dinner at Joe Roots Grill which was pretty much your basic steak/seafood place. It had a great story on the menu though! Next we went to Presque Island there to be able to see Lake Erie a bit more. I have my pics a bit backwards, but it was also a beautiful full moon night too! This was such a peaceful place. I hope we can stop back in here sometime when we have more time in our travels.



On the road again....

 Our trip to Canada started with a Jimmy Buffett concert in Pittsburgh, PA. Jimmy put on a great show as usual. The next day we hit the road and stopped for lunch in Buffalo, New York to eat at The Anchor Bar-home of the original buffalo wings. Yes, we are wing people!!! It was yummy! Next we headed into Niagara Falls. It was already evening time, but the first look at the falls was stunning! We went up in the Skylon Tower for dinner. The tower has a revolving restaurant at the top that rotates fully about once an hour. During our dinner we were able to see the sunset on the falls which was gorgeous. Every night they also light up the falls with various colored lights that's great too. After dinner we went out on the observation deck to take in the view, and enjoy the city lights and falls at night. I think I could have just stayed up there forever!


 The next day was what I call our "wet day" since everything we did involved us wearing a poncho and getting wet. The first thing, and I have to say my favorite thing was a ride on The Maiden of the Mist boat. We had a great spot on the top deck, and at the rail for a perfect view. I honestly expected a mist, but the boat takes you much closer than I planned on, and we were soaked. It was wonderful though. It started out as a mist, and then you hear the roar of the water, and feel like you are in a rainstorm, but it's a very magical feeling being right in the heart of it all.

 We also did the Walk Behind the Falls tour and has a great time with great views. Next we headed to a 4-D movie called The Fury of the Falls. We were given our third poncho of the day, and went in to see a quick movie on how the falls were formed, then moved to another location for a motion type of adventure.

 We needed to dry out a bit, so we headed to this restaurant for some yummy food and another great view of the falls while we were eating.

 For dinner we went to The Rainforest Cafe. I love this place! We sat right at the base of this huge tree. The trees and animals were all through the place and there was lots ot look at. Every 15minutes or so, there is a thunderstorm (sounds-no water) and the faux animals all over the place start to move while the lights dim etc. We sat more in the elephant section so we could see their actions quite a bit. You are encouraged to get up and look around and take photos which was also nice.


 I couldn't forget my time at the Casino Niagara. I saw this game in all the thousands there, and had to out my $5.00 in to play. I had no idea what I was doing, but hit a few buttons and suddenly won $152. 28 so I was thrilled!!! You would have thought I hit the lottery the way I acted! Silly me! More pics coming soon of us heading to Toronto, Canada!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Inspirational Book Find!

On my shoe hunting trip I went by a bookstore and found this little gem! It's very inspirational to me. I'll share a few of my favorite pages soon.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Stencils

 I think using all the various new stencils out there will be great in art jounraling for making backgrounds etc. I especially love Julie Balzer designs from Crafter's Workshop. I have a bunch of these already, but I picked up a few more with the thoughts of art journaling dancing around in my head.

Gesso

 I'm so excited to use black gesso.  I have been looking at a few youtube videos and it really gives that wow factor to some of the pages!

Paints for art journaling

 I have no idea what types of acrylic paints are best to use in your art journals so I just picked up this starter set, plus a few larger tubes of some colors that were not here. I am used to using small amounts of paint in my cardmaking and those are more of the twinkling H2O type, so I'm lost here, but I'm looking forward to giving it a try.

Applying gesso question???

 I hit Hobby Lobby hard yesterday. Here are a few brushes I picked up. Are these larger ones what I need to apply my gesso?????

Art Journaling...Here I Come!!!

 I have been thinking about entering the world of art jounraling for a while now, but today I actually purchased a couple of journals to get started. I have dabbled in decorating books before, but it was before the art journal craze had hit, so I didn't really call it that. I normally stick to scrapbooking, rubber stamping cards, and making some jewelry making here and there. I love the feeling of freedom art journaling seems to create in me. I have practiced on a few pages here and there, but now that I have these books I have no idea what to put on the pages to just give me that jump start. Right now I am picking up a few things I may need to help in the art journaling process. If any of you out there do this form of art please let me know of anything else I may need.  

Monday, June 11, 2012

My new favorite embellishments!!!

 I just received my order from The Frantic Stamper of these little goodies, and I am in love with them! I have a cat card swap coming up soon, and I can't wait to use the cat cab on those cards. I have big plans for the mermaids too, and the cool female skeleton I don't know, but she was way too great to pass up! These little doo dads are definately my new favorite embellishments!

Treasures of the Trees

 I went to a wonderful little art gallery the other day and discovered this little necklace. It's actually bracket fungi that's found on trees and stumps helping with the decomposition and soil making. There are both necklaces and earrings available and are created by the artist Penny Lane in Floyd County, Virginia.

Ocean Dreams

 Ahhh...I needed an ocean fix today so since I can't take off to the beach for a few more weeks I decided to bring out my Stampscapes stamps and do a little scene stamping to hold me over.

Creepy Mermaid Dreams....

 Here's a little card I did today with the creepy little Stampotique stamps.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Inside of Theatre of Dreams Card

 I guess I am really posting this backwards, but this is the inside of the theatre of dreams tag I made and posted earlier.

Theatre of Dreams

 Here's a large tag I stamped with the Character Construction stamps that I have fallen in love with lately.

Up, up and away....

 I was just playing around with some of the Dylusions spray inks and some new stamps my cousin sent me today, and here's a large tag card I came up with.