Day 65: Buggy Mail Art

took out a bunch of my insect rubber stamps and my purple ink pad, and attacked a standard letter sized envelope.

front

back

i made a couple more with things other than bugs, too.

front

back

front

back

Day 64: Purple Flower Windows Notecards

made a few more notecards for the Swap-bot swap, "Fabulous 50 Purple Pen Pal Pack" in the USA Swappers group.

we can send 10 of an item on the list, so i'm sending 10 notecards (and making most of them).

i used the purple paper scraps for the day i made some paper flowers with my Sizzix for the cards. they created such nice flower windows that i thought it would be nice to stamp images in them.  all the cards are stamped on beige cardstock rubbed with some random Martha Steward stamp pad ink that was drying up.  the images are all stamped in Stampin' Up stampin' pad rich razzleberry.


the stamps are from the Stampin' Up Clearly for you set.  and i added some lavender scrap paper and left over ribbon to the bottom.



the butterfly and ladybug are also from the Stampin' Up Clearly for You set, but the Hi button is from Catslife Press.  the bottom vine border was punched using the Martha Stewart edge punch.


the bird, butterfly and bee are from the Stampin' Up Nature Walk set, the ladybug is from the Stampin' Up Clearly for You set, and the Hi button is from Catslife Press.  i used some scrap paper to add some borders to the edges, too.

this was fun.  i like purple. :)

Day 63: Four Purple Floral Notecards

more notecards for the swap the "Fabulous 50 Purple Pen Pal Pack" in the USA Swappers group.

i stamped out the whole set of 4 purple notecards with only my Stampin' Up stampin' pad in rich razzleberry on lavender cardstock paper.




for this "happy" card i used the Stampin' Up Happy Everything sentiments and the flowers and bugs from the Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration Sweet Summer set.


i used the Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration Bliss set for this card.  i think it's quite elegant.


the Love sentiment is a random ol' stamp i have in my collection (in came in a set with Peace and Joy), the lily of the valley flowers i bought off Ebay (made by dragonflylaser.com), and the butterfly is from the Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration Sweet Summer set.


so here's the Joy that goes with the Love stamp in the previous card, and bees from the Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration Sweet Summer set.

a nice addition to the growing collection of purple things i'm making for the swap!

Day 62: Purple Butterfly Dandelion Notecard

i'm working on a big Swap-bot swap the next few days.  hopefully i can get everything together in the next couple of weeks (the last day to send is March 21, but i like to be early).  the swap the "Fabulous 50 Purple Pen Pal Pack" in the USA Swappers group. 

the requirements are:
Stock your partner up with 50 Fabulous pieces of PURPLE pen-palling paraphenalia. Here is a reference list of what constitutes "1" item:
1 pen
1 pencil
1 Sharpie
1 eraser
1 upcycled envie
1 mail art decorated envie
1 note card & envie
1 letter set
1 sticker sheet
1 unused $.44 stamp
1 post card
1 address book
1 pad of post its
1 note pad
1 roll deco tape
1 rubber stamp
3 sheets of stationery w/o envie
3 swap cards
5 send to labels
5 return addy labels
Items maybe handmade or storebought or from your stash.
Please send clean, nice and neat items only.
No more than 10 of any one item.
Package your items nicely.
Sender's choice.

that said, i'm making a set of notecards!  today i used my Stampin' Up Nature Walk butterfly, the "for you" sentiment from the Stampin' Up Clearly for You set, and dandelion puffs from dragonflylaser.com



the card is light purple/lavender cardstock with rich razzleberry stampin' pad ink.

Day 61: CAS Ladybug Notecard

i made a CAS (clean and simple) notecard using a single small ladybug rubberstamp stamped (rotated each time) in red ink.  i received a few foam ladybugs in a Swap-bot swap, so i thought it would be a nice embellishment for a card.  and i added a red and white polka-dot ribbon to match.



i think it's pretty cute.

Day 60: Sculpey Grasshopper

a life-sized figurine in honor of little dood, my pet grasshopper

here's a picture i took of him today:



and the figurine i made from Sculpey and floral wire.

Day 59: Butterfly Cell Phone Charm

crafting up some goodies for the Swap-bot swap, "The Secret Garden" in the The Hundred Acre Wood group.  it's based off of the wonderful book, "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  i actually just finished reading the book for the first time this month, so i'm know exactly what i want to make and send to my partner!

the guidelines for the swap:
"This will be a Springtime/renewal themed swap. Think vintage, beautiful roses and flowers, pastels, birds, gardens, old lace and rusty old skeleton keys. You can either use a basket or an embellished paper mache box and fill it with secret treasures. Or a cloth bag or other lighter container to put your goodies in, if shipping is a concern. Make sure the container/bag is still within the Secret Garden theme."

my first item is this butterfly cell phone charm i made from glass butterfly beads and silver flowers.  it's not exactly vintage or victorian, but i feel like the flowers and the butterflies belong in the Secret Garden.



i strung the beads on a wire and added a clip on the end (between the beads and the cell phone cord) just in case my partner wants a zipper pull instead of a cell charm.

(eww the drawer is really dusty)

Day 58: A Pair of Picnic Pest Inchies

not very motivated today after spending the whole day out and about. almost time for bed and i still haven't made my creepy crawly. so, i got out a piece of scrap paper, my cute little rubber stamps (by Judith), and my paper cutter.

i stamped the flies and ants in VersaCraft black on the picnic paper.
simple, but cute, i think.

Day 57: Rubber Stamped Shrink Plastic Charms

thought i would test out that packet of polyshrink i got a few months ago, but never took the time to open.

using my Stampin' Up Nature Walk butterfly and Bugs & Slugs damselfly and snail, i tried 3 different inks.



the butterfly is stamped with the classic stampin' pad in tangerine tango.
the damselfly is stamped with CorlorBox in lime.
the snail is stamped with VersaCraft in chocolate. (this is one of the inks recommended on the shrink plastic package)



i stamped them, cut them out, punched a hole at the top, and blasted them with my Ranger Heat it Craft Tool (heat gun). the instructions on the package say to bake it, but my friend told me i can use the heat gun. it's kinda scary to watch the plastic curl and move around like it's alive, but in the end, you can flatten it out if you like. :)

here's how they turned out.



the snail is the clearest and the dark ink makes it stand out more. i can use this for a keychain or necklace! SUCCESS!
the damselfly didn't set. the ColorBox ink never dried. when i touched it, it got all smudgy. booo...
the butterfly set, but is very faint. the ink isn't dark enough. but it is pretty. i might add it to a paper craft with a plain background.

over all, i had fun with the polyshrink and i'll have to try this again in other polyshrink color backgrounds (there's black, white, translucent, and clear in the sample pack). i've got lots of stamps and stamp pads to try out too! :)

Day 56: Lego Scarab Attack

it's been ages since i've played with Legos! I LOVE LEGOS! i grew up with these toys. my mom bought me and my brother a whole bunch of legos that we mixed with bigger building blocks to randomly create things. it was a giant box full of adventure!

so... today i got my package in the mail from Lego.com



i had to make my Scarab Attack set tonight. the box comes with all the pieces and instructions.



when you follow the instructions, the whole thing looks like this:



and then...
this is me being creative! :)
feel free to add your own captions to any of the pictures (click on the picture to add a caption to my flickr page too)
hahahaha...


DIE DIE DIE! (or give me your cupcake)


scarab regrets eating all those tacos


i'm hungry


thank you. i love chicken


afternoon tea with chicken legs and fries


my dog has the BIGGEST fleas!

Day 55: SketchMee Grasshopper Drawing

Got stuck at work late tonight, so I used one of my favorite iPhone apps, SketchMee for my thing-a-day.
I took a picture (i took earlier this week) of Little Dood, my "pet" grasshopper, altered it with the app... And it looks like a great drawing! Of course I use this app because I can't draw or paint very well. :) I love it. What do you think? Do you use this app too?

Day 54: Happy Everything Caterpillar Notecard

today, i made a notecard for the Swap-bot swap, "Play an Online Challenge! Edited: not a MB swap!"

we're to go to the Our Creative Corner blog for their weekly challenge. this week is "Cut it Out! i am definitely not a fan of fussing cutting. i like quick and simple, so this was a good challenge for me.

so i stamped and cut these out:


the caterpillar is a Stampin' Up stamp and it's embossed with a pretty pink embossing powder.
the mushroom stamps i got on Ebay and the "happy everything" is also from Stampin' up.  both of these were stamped with Stampin' Up ink pads.
and here's the completed card:

Day 53: Set of Teeny Tiny Notecards

for the Swap-bot swap, "Ten Tiny Thingys-INT" i collected a few little teeny things, but i wanted to make something fun, too.  i got my little bug stamps and made some inchie (1-inch) notecards.  can you write small enough to fill a whole message in there? :)



here's the whole swap package:

Day 52: Creepy Spiders Notecard

so many spiders!  all over the card!  i love it! :)  these little guys were stamped in black, brown and red ink.  the stamp is the spider from my Stampin' Up Dark and Dreary set.  i love how the red and black inks started blending.  the spiders on the the envelope look pretty real!  i hope that the mailman doesn't get scared!

Day 51: Hello, Ladybug photo

spent most of the day in the gardens again! so i didn't do an in door craft.

broke out the fancy camera and my very favorite macro lens and with the help of a friendly little ladybug at the Los Angeles Arburetum... i have one fine photo!

Day 50: Grey Moth Photo

my husband and i spent most of the day at Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge. i took A LOT of pictures today! and thought i would share my favorite one with you.
it's a very small moth that flew past me and landed right on the walkway. he sat there quietly while i fought with the camera to get him in focus. this is the best i could do. :)



i don't know what kind of moth he is, but i think he's beautiful.

Day 49: Dragonfly Paper Punches

i was really lazy today, and didn't want to make much effort. 
ended up just taking out my Paper Shapers dragonfly paper punch and some scraps.



punched and punched and punched... and now my hands hurt, but i have some pretty nifty dragonflies that i can use the next few weeks! 

Day 48: I Love Paris in the Springtime Bookmark

more stamping!  today, i'm crafting for the Swap-bot swap, "OTT ~ I really like...." in the One Tiny Thing group.  The theme is, I really like.... so we make one tiny thing for our partner to show them something we really like.  

so... i REALLY LOVE Paris.  i really do.  my husband and i visited Paris for a week 2 years ago.  and yes, Paris in the springtime is everything you imagine!  it smells good (the smells of baking bread, lily of the valley, and fresh air), it tastes good (macarons, hot tea, and crepes), and it feels good (cool breezes, warm sunshine, and lots of walking)!  and i love to read, so i'm making a mini bookmark (it's about (4 inches x 1.5 inches).

of course, Paris is NOT a creepy crawly, but we did see butterflies around so i'm added them to my bookmark.  All the stamps are Stampin' Up:  the butterfly and flowers from the Nature Walk set, the Eiffel Tower from Chic Boutique.  the cardstock is a pretty blue from core'dinations.  i inked the butterflies and flowers with stampin' pad tempting turquoise and the Eiffel Tower is stamped twice (once with stampin' pad rich razzleberry and then shadowed with versamark.  i added sparkly embossing powder to the versamark to make it shine (like the real Eiffel Tower at night when they make it sparkle). :)  rounded the corners with my Zutter round it all, then punched a hole in the top for the purple eyelet and purple ribbon.  i also LOVE Jesus... so i added a little tiny cross to the ribbon before tying it off.

here's the front:



and the back:


i think i might want to make one for myself! 

Day 47: Pink Dragonfly Notecards

i crafted today for another Swap-bot swap, "~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ Swap" in the Mailbox Madness group.
my partner, ladyrn, likes dragonflies, so i used the dragonfly stamp from my Stampin' Up Bugs & Slugs set.
i inked it with Stampin' Up's Melon Mambo and stamped it on pretty striped pink paper. i embellished the eyes with my purple Sakura Glaze pen.
i added some pink lace and left it at that.
everything is mounted on off-white cardstock. i stamped the envelope with the dragonfly stamp in Regal Rose.

here's the detailed photos:





the requirements for the swap are to pick 3 items from the list below and send 1 for first item, 2 for second item, and 3 for third item.
Each item listed counts as 1 unless otherwise noted. For example: 1 roll of deco tape, 2 letter sets & 3 note cards.

Choose from:
*note card w/ envie
*gel pen
*letter set (2 papers & 1 envie)
*scenic view postcard or map card
*sheet of personalized address labels for you partner (30 labels)
*handmade envelope; mailable size
*roll of deco tape
*ribbon - 1 yard minimum per piece
*sticker sheet ("Stickeroni" or larger; no small reward/teacher)
*unused .44cent postage stamps or equivalent (3 stamps count as 1 item)

i made 2 notecards for her, so in addition, i'm sending 3 handmade envelopes (tomorrows thing-a-day?), and a postcard (sent naked, per her profile).
i hope she likes these even though they're pink. i think they turned out pretty, and i don't like pink!