winter sale at purple onion designs...

Black Friday sales aren't just for the big stores!

Michele, over at Purple Onion Designs, is having a SALE of her own. You can get 25% of all her stamps until December 10th. That means after all the running around the mall and shops, you can relax in your pj's and browse some rubber, for yourself!

Here is another snowman, 'Berry' from last years collection 'The Sweetest Season' by Stacey Yacula. Berry is hold a lantern from this years winter collection called 'Winter Wishes'. {yeah, these sets can easily be used together...the ideas keep flowing}

Coloring snowmen doesn't take lots of time because you only need to add a little shadowing on them. I usually grab a light, cool grey and this time I also added some yellow for the light reflection. Just remember, if you want to use red, save it for the very last minute. You don't want to ruin your snowman or surrounding area with pink smears.

Get yourself into the holiday mood, save some $$, make some homemade cards and put a smile on a friend or family members face. Don't forget the stamp SALE runs until Dec. 10th.

This Thanksgiving I am up at my parents house, in the thumb of Michigan's mitten shape. Story and I are crafting, painting furniture, shopping and he is shoving his nose in the snow outside. There is just a little bit here, but he loves it! 

I will share painted furniture pics in my next post. See ya soon!!

litte (digi) elf finn...

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!

I know I may not get to my computer on Thanksgiving, I'll be up north at my parents. Story and I are taking off tomorrow as soon as I get outta work and pick him up. What does that mean for tonight, while I am writing this post. I am washing clothes, packing and trying to make sure I don't forget anything. Dinner and dishes are finished and I warned those not going with me, I had better come home to messy kitchen!

My plan was to share another Purple Onion Designs card, but that has to wait until Friday...*wink, wink*

Instead I can share one of my cards that are from my latest Mo Manning, Digital Pencil Too shopping spree. (and I gotta say, I see a few more images I still want!) Here is 'Little Elf Finn'...

I have a thing for these Elves and I can not resist them, their faces, outfits, swinging from a big round ornament. Finn, I am not sure if he is supposed to be a boy or girl, or that it matters. I try to keep the outfit colors simple and I always add a ton of glitter to the white furry trim.

I told you that mostly my cards are 'white' based this year, mostly because my holiday papers have white bases, but I really love the look. I am torn...rustic & homey or crisp & bright. 

I added a coat of my clear glaze pen to the ornament and there is no sentiment on the front or inside (that might change).

So tonight I have one non Christmasy card to finish up and then my coloring has come to an end for this year. Can you believe December is almost here?

Thanks for dropping in to see another card and I will see ya back here on (Black) Friday!!

more winter wishes and some chalk paint...

It's ELF season and tonight I just finished watching it and got in the holiday mood. The dusting of snow that we got on{ yesterday}monday is still frozen on the grass and my deck...Thanksgiving is still not here yet!

I have been coloring and coloring and keeping busy at my kitchen table. I have plenty of Purple Onion Designs to share and soon, some Mo Manning too. You know what had me sitting in that coloring chair for so long...watching the series 'Orange is the NEW Black', 3 seasons of 'Downton Abbey' and now starting season 2 of 'Game of Thrones'. Yep, kinda like the old days holed up in my craft room. lol

Tonight I am going to share 2 more of my Purple Onion/Stacey Yacula cards. This is Stacey's second winter collection called "Winter Wishes', over at Purple Onion Designs. Here is what I did with my 'Snowy Trio'...

I have noticed that my Christmas cards this year have got LOTS of white in them. I used a little kraft colored paper for card bases, but mostly white. I guess it's mainly because my small holiday paper stash has a white base. But, this isn't an issue...I am lovin' what I've come up with.

My singing trio is colored with my pencils, blended with gamsol and plenty of glitter splashed about.

With these guys I think the snowy hills makes the colors POP. To make the white snowmen different from the snowy hills, I added more pale grey and some soft yellows {where the sun would hit the fellas}.  I kept my brightest blue up at the top, near the trees.

For this years cards, I also pulled out my 'Stamp-a-ma-Jig' to line up the sentiment right on the card. It can be a little scary, you wanna use a gentle, even touch. If ya make a mistake, just make sure that it's thought out and you can add a tag. I have had to use this 'save', plenty of times myself. 

Then, here my one layer card that is alllllmost my favorite! The white just makes the colors come to life.

It's about as simple as you can get and I am in love with this owl, 'Snowy'. I will warn you now...he is the lead in LOTS of this years cards.  *wink*

Make the card base and stamp off the 'Winter Bough' branch randomly...use your favorite green to color in the branches and lots of bright colors for the berries and voila! Christmas lights. Snowy cuts out really easy and I glued him on separately. Use a stamp-a-ma-jig to add your favorite sentiment.

You could make these up pretty quickly.

Ok, I said that next time I showed up, I would tell you what else I have been doing. Painting furniture.

I found some refinishing site on Pinterest and 'pinned' them. I collected some small pieces to play with, while on the Worlds Longest Yard Sale in Aug. Then I had a few small tables gathered this summer, waiting to be made over.  Then I get a dresser from a guy at work, he was gonna sell it at a garage sale for $5.00. I told him to take some pics and I picked one of the two he had. After working some saturdays, I finally decided the time was here and I would start the sanding process. This dresser was a really dark walnut color, alligator skin crackled varnish. I spend a saturday afternoon sanding this dresser and then very early sunday morning, I open up my Pinterest board to look at my refinishing pins. You will never guess that I sanded for NOTHING. I went to this blog, called Hueology and the only paint she uses is by someone called Annie Sloan chalk paint. More 5 a.m. research turned up that there are 4 places in Michigan that sell this paint. Long story short, I had one store close to me and I drove there as soon as they opened. I am now in LOVE with Annie Sloan chalk paint and here is my dresser.

I painted the outside a pale grey, called Paris Grey and the inside is called Florence. 

I lightened up the top photo and this one is a non-flash photo. I antiqued this dresser with waxes that you put on over the paint. A soft clear wax and then a dark wax. You have the control over how much or how little you want the piece to be antiqued. I did not antique the inside of the drawers, those got only the soft clear wax. The paint and brushes are not cheap, but I knew this was something I needed to try out and I am SO happy I did. I have plans to redo my kitchen island and my bathroom cabinet. 

But first, we gotta finish up the Christmas cards!!

There are more to come. thanks for dropping by!!

winter wishes are here...

Happy November!

Yes, it's that time when I start thinking (and coloring up) about my homemade cards for my friends and family. I have a Pinterest inspired idea for a card with Story, but who knows if I can get him covered in lights and sitting still...lol. Until I try that, I have to stick with the plain old colored up ones! 

And guess WHAT, that talented Stacey Yacula has just the *NEW* images over at Purple Onion Designs.

(I bet you also guessed that I got to play with some and start my card stash for this holiday season...you are correct!)

Take a peek at my first card...

This card is a simple one to make many variations out of.  The *NEW* Winter Wishes set has a trio of 'adornments' and that is what I used here, with the 'wreath' from last years The Sweetest Season collection. Soooo many possibilities my friends, and I see some more playing around and mixing and matching. (yes, it's a good thing that the time change is tomorrow and I will be spending more time indoors, hehe)

I have lots more cards to finish and more ready to share...in the meantime, you can check out the entire Winter Wishes set at Purple Onion Designs and take advantage of a SALE on the entire set.

You can purchase the Winter Wishes collection for $70.00, a 25% savings, until Thursday, November 7th.

When I come back, I will show you what else I have been up to, another Pinterest find!

See you really soon!!