Warm Snowy!

Hello Friends

TGIF!!!

Today I want to share with you the cutest little snowman.  I love how bundled up he his.  It is a Sassy Cheryl's digi image, It's Cold.  I colored him up with my copics on cryogen paper.  After I colored him and cut him out with spellbinders dies, I used the emboss resist technique to add some snowflakes. The snowflake images are by Stampin Up.  I also added a Tim Holtz Sizzix Snowflake die cut along the side edge. The paper is all MME.

Copics used:

BG11, BG72, BG78, W1, E40, E41, E43, RV14, R21, R43, YG93, YG95, YG97

The inside sentiment is by Stampin Up as well.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Cute Card Thursday - Snowflakes

Paper Play Challenges - Pink, Creme & Green

Simon Says Stamps - Anything Goes

Operation Write Home - Winter Fun

Creative Card Crew - Anything Goes

Craft Door Magazine - Anything Goes

ABC Challenges - Anything Goes

Paper Make Up Stamps- Christmas/Holiday

CMC - Non Traditional Christmas Colors

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay warm today!
Blessings until next time...
Athina

Exciting news - Loves Rubberstamps

Hello Friends!

I have some very exciting news to share with you today!!!  Are you ready?

Well, I have been selected to be the Guest Designer at Loves Rubberstamps for the month of December.  Whooo Hoooo!!!!!  This is my first rodeo and I am very excited about the opportunity I have been given.  Make sure you stop by each Tuesday to check out the challenges and play along.

Today, I am sharing one of my favorite images, Christmas Eve Edwin by Magnolia.  I can't wait to ink it up each year.  I used MME paper as the backgrounds.  The image is colored with copics on cryogen paper and embellished with perfect pearls.  I used Tim  Holtz distress ink around the edges to give it a colder feel.   The brad (top right hand corner) is by Spare Part embellishments and some extra trim along the side.  I used Perfect Pearls to add some snow over the image and give some dimension.

Copics used:

Pants:  E41, E41, E43, E44

Shirt, Hat & Gloves:  BG0000, BG72, BG75, BG78

Package:  E30 E31, E35

Basket:  W1, W3, W5

Apples:  R24, R27, R89

Shoes:  E21, E25, E27, E29

Skin:  E000, E00, E11, E13, R20

The inside sentiment is by Stampers Anonymous.  I like how bold and solid it is.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything Goes

2 Sisters - Winter Wonderland

Challenge Up Your Life - First Snow

Hiding in My Craftroom - Christmas

Tildas Town - Anything Goes

Lady Annes Challenges - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenges - Christmas is Coming

Nutcrafters - A Christmas Present

Tanda Stamps - Anything Christmas

Party Time Tuesdays - Anything Goes

Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoyed your visit.  Be sure to check out Loves Rubberstamps each Tuesday for a new challenge.

Blessings until next time...

Athina

Snow Girl!

Hello Blogging Friends!

Well the Christmas season is now upon us!  I have a bit of a different post for you today.  No stamps used, no ink, no paper!  I hope you don't mind the stamping interruption.

On Thanksgiving Eve our church has an annual auction.  I always try to participate in some way, whether donating or buying.  This year, I donated this cute little Snow Girl.  The pattern is by Sparkle N Spirit.  I used to make a lot of these to sell at craft shows a few years ago and they went like hot cakes.  I must say, it is much more expensive to make one of these cute little things on the spur of the moment.

Materials used:
Body:  Warm & Natural Batting
Dress, Bow & Scarf:  Homespun material
Jacket:  Fleece
Muffs, Jacket Trims & Ear Muffs:  White fleece
Misc:  Trims, moss, snowflake buttons, bells, lace trim, stuffing, buttons, embroidery floss and lots of hot glue
Pattern:  Sparkles N Spirit

I want to take a moment to wish all my blog followers a very Merry Christmas season.  Remember to take time to slow down and enjoy it.  The gifts aren't that important, but spending quality time with your family is.

Thank you for stopping by,

Blessings until next time...

Athina

Sending Happy Thoughts ATC

Hello Blogging Friends!

Just a quick post today, as I have been in my craft room working on a fun project so I am taking a little break!  My family ATC group has made a get well ATC for one of our members who was recently in the hospital.  I know my aunt loves the Tim Holtz inks and tools as much as I do, so I started with a plain white sheet of paper and ended up with this!

I used several colors of distress ink. Honestly, it would be hard for me to write them all down. As I just go to town inking and sponging and inking again.  I kinda get lost in the process.  Well, after I got the base of ink down, I used some additional Stampers Anonymous stamps to add to the background.  I used distress embossing powder in peeled paint to do the dress frame.  Finally, I finished the ATC off with a sentiment by Stampabilities and some ribbon with a button pin at the top.

I hope you have a great day and an even better Thanksgiving!
Blessings until next time!
Athina

Turkey Time!

Hello Friends!

Thanksgiving is quickly approaching here in the states and I have been feeling very blessed as I look around.  I found this adorable digi image, Noah Turkey, at Sassy Cheryl's and I had to have him.   I will be sending this card to someone that I am very thankful to have in my life.

I used Basic Grey paper for the backgrounds.  The image is colored with copics on cryogen paper.  I just love the extra shimmer the cryogen has.  The sentiment is by Printworks.  I used a flourish stamp around the edges and inked the white tag with scattered straw distress ink to give it some color.

Copics used:

Turkey Head:  E31, E34, E35

Beak:  YR20, YR21, YR24

Feathers:  E50, R51, E53, E55, E57, E59, Y32, E40, E43

Skin:  E000, E00, E11, E13

Shirt:  Y11, Y21, Y35

Pants:  E00, E13, E19

Feet:  Y11, Y15, Y17

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:
Creative Inspirations Paint - Thankful for You
Pile it on - Orange, Yellow & Brown
Scrappy Frogs - Give Thanks
Lexis Creations - Thanks / Thanksgiving
Scrap-Creations - Give Thanks
Tuesday Throwdown - Thankful for you
Simon Says Stamps - Thanksgiving / Thank you
CCEE Stampers - Thanksgiving or Fall
Card Makin Mamas - Thanksgiving / Thank you
My Sheri Crafts - Thanks
Cupcake Inspirations
Delightful Sketches - Thankful
TheSisterhood of Crafters- Thankful
Party Time Tuesdays - Happy Thanksgiving
Scrapbitz Copics - All About Kids

Thank you for stopping by today.  I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving and hope that you are truly blessed this holiday season.

Blessings until next time...
Athina

Silent Night!

Hello Blogging Friends,

I have been playing with my Magnolia's a lot lately.  They are some of my favorites for Christmas stamps.  I have had the Silent Night Tilda stamp for a few years but have never colored her.  I think the flowers were a bit intimidating to me.  So I finally decided to ink her up and put some color to her.  The sketch is by Totally Tilda, so I will be entering it into that challenge.  The paper is by MME Christmas Collection and I distressed the edges of it.  The image is stamped on cryogen paper and cut out with a spellbinders die.  I gave the edges some distress ink.  The snowflake was cut out with a cricut cartridge and I added some glitter and liquid appliqué to add some dimension to the snowflake.  I finished it off with a few buttons and some twine.

Copics used:

Hair:  E50, E31, E25

Skin:  E000, E00, E13, E11, R20

Coat:  YG93, YG95, YG97, W5

Dress/Socks:  E08, E13, E19

Shoes:  E31, E33, E35, E37

Pole:  E21, E25, E29

Flowers:  R24, R27, R89, G24, G94, G99

Ribbon/Bow:  0, W1, W5

Inside papers are by MME and match the front.  The die is a spellbinders die cut and the sentiment is one of my favorites by Brother Sister Design Studio.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Totally Tilda - Sketch

2 Sisters- Use your favorite Christmas Stamp

Divas by Design - Anything Goes

My Mums Craft Shop - Winter Wonderland

Paper Pretties - Use Buttons

LEJ Designs - Seasons Greetings

Craft Door Magazine -Anything Goes

Dutch Magnolia Lovers - Anything Goes with a Button

Stamptacular Sunday - For the Love of Tilda

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Your kind comments are greatly appreciated.

Blessings until next time.

Athina

Believe!

Hello Friends!

I am back today with a Magnolia Santa image.  I am getting a pretty good start on my Christmas cards and hope to have them done here real soon.  I had a lot of fun coloring Santa up with my copics.  I used liquid appliqué on Santa's furry parts (hat and suit trim).  I finished the image with distress inks to give it some depth.

I choose MME paper from the Christmas pack for this card, a random button with some twine and ribbon.  The tree charm is from Ribbon Girl.  The sentiment, by Stampabilities, was dry embossed onto the tag for some extra texture.

Copics used:

Suit:  R89, R27, R24, W5, W3

Beard:  W2, W1, 0

Boots/Belt:  110, C9, C7, C5

Bag:  E50, E53, E55, E57

Skin:  E000, E00, E11, E13

The inside is done with MME paper and a spellbinders die cut with a Stampabilities sentiment, Felt with the Heart.

I would like to enter this into the following challenges:

Christmas Stampin - Anything Goes

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes

Joyful Stamper - Anything Goes

Paper-Crafting Journey - Anything Goes

Southern Girls - Christmas Project

Cafts and Me - Reds

Crafty Creations - No flowers

Lil Red Wagon - Markers

Whimsy Inspires - Use Traditional Christmas Colors

Loves Rubber Stamps- Anything Goes

Pinspirational Challenges #32

Card Mania Challenges - Embossing

Crafty Bloggers Network - Christmas

Altered Frame Tutorial

Hello Friends,

I promised yesterday that I would be back today with a tutorial on how to age and alter that old ugly picture frame you have.  I am excited to say this is my first official tutorial.  I hope it is clear enough for you to understand.  I tried to take lots of pictures to help explain the process.

So sit back with your coffee and enjoy!

Above is the old ugly frame that I started with.

I gathered all my needed supplies:

Sand paper or sanding block

Acrylic paint in the color you choose.  I used white and black.

Paint brush

Vaseline

Tim Holtz Distress Stain (not pictured)

Paper towels (not pictured)

Craft Mat

I wanted my frame to have a variation in colors like it was old and had been painted a few times.  So I rough painted the frame black.  I left some of the areas maroon and wood colored so it would show thru at the final stage.  After you have applied the acrylic paint, let it dry completely.

Take some vaseline out of your medicine cabinet and put some on your finger.  Rub vaseline where you want the first color applied (black) to show thru the top coat of paint.  The edges are usually worn, so make sure to apply vaseline there.

Once your vaseline has been applied and you are happy with the placement, apply the top coat of acrylic paint.  I used a very thin layer of white.  You can still see some of the black and maroon showing thru.  Let the top coat of acrylic paint dry completely.

Take a paper towel and wipe over the frame.  The top coat of paint will wipe away where you applied the vaseline previously.  Wipe it down completely to make sure that all the vaseline has been removed.

Grab your distress stain (I used weathered wood, then changed to vintage photo.  The weathered wood was not dark enough for my liking).  Squeeze the distress stain out on your craft mat.  Dab a clean paper towel into the stain and wipe over the frame.  It will darken a bit and appear aged.  Let the stain sit for a few minutes and wipe away any excess.

You have just completed aging your frame.  Decorate the inside and add some embellishments to the frame if you like.  Reassemble the inside to the frame and you have a beautiful completed altered frame.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Blessings until next time....

Athina

Crafty Gals November Challenge

Happy Monday Blogging Friends!

Today I have the monthly post for the Crafty Gals Challenge over at SCS.   This month's hostess was Jackie.  So here is the challenge:

"Fall Blessings"
November is for Thanksgiving & we all have so many things to be thankful for so my challenge for you this month is to create a project to showcase our Blessings. It can be a card, shadowbox, picture frame, scrabook layout, mini album, etc. Please make whatever your heart desires as long as it features what you are thankful for & I also want you to use a Fall theme for your creations. I can't wait to see all of your wonderful works of art! Have Fun & Happy Stamping!!!!

When I first read the challenge, I thought very easy!  I will update some of my old window frames with current pictures.  But when I re-read the challenge, it needed to be a fall theme.  Well that would not work, so back to the think tank.  I have a few old pictures that are not my style any longer.  So I took this one below and began to get messy!  I honestly had a blast with this challenge!

I turned the frame and picture above into this below:

Big difference right?  Well, I used some sanding paper, acrylic paint, vaseline, tim holtz distress stains and went to work on the frame.  I will post more pictures tomorrow to show you exactly how I transformed the frame.  For the inside, I used the Jasmine cricut cartridge to cut out the word "family".  I covered the background in MME paper and adhered the cutout to the background.  After that, I added some ribbon and lace to give it more of a country feel.  

I added part of a doily with a clock and pearl to the top left .

Remember that burlap from the wedding a few weeks ago, well here it is in use again.  I added it with some leaves, a sunflower and a heart key to the bottom right hand side.

Please stop by and find out what blessings the other great ladies have created.

Melina ~ Crafty Scrapper
 Tracie ~ The Crafty Touch 
 Carolina ~ Cardolina Scrapolina 
 Barb ~ Barb's Inkin' into Retirement 
 Diane ~ Stampin Ldyglfr62 
 Lela ~ Lela's Crafty Corner
 Heather ~ Lost in the Land of Stamping
 Patty ~ LaLatty's Stamp 'N Stuff 
Jeanette ~ Cre8tive Play: It's Cheaper than Therapy 
 Jackie ~ Kreate With Me 2

I want to thank Jackie for such a fun challenge.  I hope you enjoyed your visit today.  Don't forget to stop back by tomorrow when I will show you some more pictures and step by step directions on how to turn that ugly frame into a fun frame.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Crazy 4 Challenges  - Anything but a Card

Raise the Bar - Anything Goes

Forever Friends  - Anything Goes

Rubys Rainbow - Use a Doily

LEJ Designs - Anything Goes

http://partytimetuesdays.blogspot.comParty TimeTuesdays - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by.  

Blessings until next time...

Athina

Pink Christmas

Hello Blogging Friends,

I have been working on my Christmas cards the last few weeks.  I have lots to get done, so you will likely see lots in the next few months. The weather has been cold, so what a better time to lock myself in my craft room and create. I ordered some new Magnolia stamps last weekend and could not wait to get this one, Midwinter Tilda with Lantern, inked up.  Isn't she the sweetest?  I have also wanted to do a pink Christmas card for a few weeks, so here it is!

Copics used:

Skin:  E000, E00, E11, E13

Coat, Hat, Socks:  G20, G21, G24, E83, E85, E89

Shoes:  E81, E84, E87

Lantern:  W3, W5, Y00, Y13, Y11

Hair:  E31, E35, YR20

The inside sentiment is by Stampabilities, Meaning of the Season.

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

2 Sisters Challenge blog - Pastel Christmas

Card Makin Mamas -Anything Goes

Christmas Stampin -Anything Goes

Crafty Anns - Christmas in October

Fussy and Fancy - Pearls & Flowers

Marvelous Magnolia - Anything Goes

Divas by Design - Festive

Perfect Sentiments - Think Pink

Thank you for stopping by.  Stay warm wherever you are!

Blessings until next time....

Athina

Snowman Parts!

Hello Blogging Friends,

For some reason, I have been wanting to work on Christmas Cards for the last few weeks.  Last year I can say, I was not really in the holiday spirit, but I think this year will be totally different.  I am just about ready to turn on the Christmas songs and sing along.

I could not find the right background paper to go along with this Sassy Cheryl's Snowman Parts image, so I made my own using the emboss resist technique and some tim holtz blue distress inks and Stampers Anonymous snowflakes .  I first embossed the snowflakes on white card stock.  Then I used three different colors of ink over the entire sheet of card stock to add color.  The embossed images resist the ink and come out very bright white.  I then cut the colored image out with my spellbinders die and added some ribbon and a snowflake charm.

The image was colored on cryogen paper using copics:

Basket:  E31, E33, E35, E37, W1, W3, W5, E19

Scarf:  E99, YR24, YR27, G14, G07, G17, B91, B93, B95, R24, R27, R89

Hat:  0, W3, W5, W7, W10

Twigs:  E43, E47, E49

Carrot:  YR15, YR18, YR68

Snowman:  0, W1, W2, W3

The inside is done using tim holtz distress inks and white embossing powder for the emboss resist technique.  The sentiment is by Printworks Collection

I would like to enter this in the following challenges:

Nut Crafters- Ribbon or Twine

Anything Challenge - Anything Goes

Die Cuttin Divas - Anything Goes

LEJ Designs - Anything Goes

Twisted Tuesday - Anything Goes

ooh-la-la-creations - Christmas

Totally Stampalicious - Anything Goes

Thank you for stopping by.

Blessings until next time...
Athina