ATC's recieved and sent

The subject of the  February ATC swap at the blissfull ATC swap was .....it's a mad, mad Alice in wonderland world ! This is the ATC I received from my partner Kim at Tabby's place. It's really cute, I love the little hearts everywhere! Thanks Kim!

She also sent along some playing cards with hearts on them and some wonderful Alice images.

She also sent this great card and heart cutouts and tiny hearts for me to use!

This is the ATC I made for Kim. I made the mistake of mailing it without taking a picture of it first....so I stole a pic from Kim's site! :O)

And this is the ATC I made for Jane at anything but plain Jane. She won the Winner take all challenge for February and she requested a 60's themed ATC. This pic doesn't show it very well but it's really sparkly and colorful! It's on it's way to her right now but I wanted to include it into this post!

Paper Flower Tutorial

I just love the paper flowers you can get at the craft store..I wanted to see if I could try and recreate them. This is what I came up with , with the help of a you-tube video and a bag of scraps!

This idea started when a friend's mom gave me a huge bag of leftover paper scraps from her scrap booking. What can you do with little pieces of paper?....

O.K... this is the only paper punch I own.. so there are probably better ones to use for this project. I would probably use a flower punch with more defined petals than this one....but I made it work!

Punch out a bunch of these. You need 4-5 per flower.Make sure you use paper that has a design on both sides because both sides show up.

I like to make everything vintage so I brushed the edges with my brown ink pad. (I have a serious attachment to my brown ink pad.. I brown the edges of EVERYTHING!)

Then I cut into the flower a little bit...this is where a different flower punch would come in handy!

I sprayed the flowers lightly with water to make them a little damp.You have to work on a soft surface and a thick foam mouse pad works the best. Then I use the end of a sharpie to rub into each petal forming a bowl shape.

after you do a few you get the hang of how much pressure to use.

Try to make different sizes by using more or less pressure. The bud in the middle I scrunched up when it was still damp to get a smaller bud..I also used a little glue to keep it together.

Starting with the one that's most open I put a drop of glue in the center and place the next one on top. Make sure you alternate the petals as you place them.

:O)

 

I used some music note paper cut outs I received from Lemay at  leaping frog designs last month! I love how they turned out! I think you could use all kinds of different shapes and come up with all kinds of different flowers. Thanks Marion DeMuth for all of the scraps of paper!

I was awarded the Liebster Blog!

Lesley at harmony road studio e-mailed me to tell me that she gave me this award! Lesley has a great blog so go check it out!

  The Liebster is an award for blogs that have less than 200 followers.Now I get to give it to five blogs that I think are great and have fewer than 200 followers! I picked these five awesome blogs to give it to:

1.gaslight and gilt

2.art by wanda

3.the other side of deb

4.red apple junction

5.day lily

stop by and see these great blogs!!!!

Please follow these simple rules.

1. Share your appreciation with the blogger who awarded you the Liebster by linking back to their blog.

2. Post the award.

3. Share the 5 blogs you are awarding the Liebster with and let them know that they have received it.

4. Enjoy the new attention this award brings to your blog.

5. And last, but not least - have fun.

If you get a chance, please stop by and say hi to these five great blogs!

I'm featured!

I'm so honored to be featured on one of my favorite blogs Gaslight and Gilt !Beverley/ Rhissanna (isn't that a great name?!) hosts  Steampunk on Sunday and has been nice enough to feature my steampunk jewelry this week! (picture me jumping up and down!)

 I was at a fundraiser this last weekend with my jewelry and it was a hit! I was even approached by a board member of our local art center and asked to have my jewelry on display for the months of May and June! I'm so excited!!!! I was so busy at the fundraiser I didn't have any time to take pictures! So scroll down to see some of the jewelry I have been making..and check out my ETSY store. I have only a few pieces listed right now but more will follow! Thanks again Rhissanna!

I need some advice!

 
This is what I am dreaming about doing to my copier. I bought a Kodak all in one ink jet printer a year or so ago and it's been nothing but problems. I have had to replace the print head three times now and it needs a new one again! Kodak has been nice enough to replace it for free each time but I'm getting sick and tired of dealing with it...and so are they apparently. Kodak said that they will get me a new printer head or a 40% off coupon toward a new Kodak printer....(I think they are hoping I go with the coupon!) So I am weighing the options..get a new print head for a quick fix or cough up some money for a new printer. hmmmmm. I was also thinking about getting a laser printer instead but I don't know how much the toner costs and how the quality is.Plus Kodak doesn't have a laser printer I can afford! Can anyone give me some ideas and let me know what you use? Thanks Blogger friends!!!