C'mon and Mojo Monday With Me - I'll teach you how to make a pretty flower!

I put the blinders on for the first hour of waking today - time out to craft for good behaviour, so to speak.  Mojo #180, nice round number. 

(visit Mojo to join in - http://www.mojomonday.blogspot.com/)

Hmmm, carding first thing in the morning and having to make a decision.  Alright, I'm up for a circle, even though I don't own any sort of a machine to cut out frilly edges like that.  Good old krinkly edge scissors for me.  Does this age me, dear?  The newer generation have all them fancy schmancy machines you just push a button and out comes a perfect scallopy edge cardstock.  Ah well, I'll have long, lithe, supple strong fingers while theirs will run to fat like little pork sausages (apologies to vegetarians) 

The little letters were from Fiskars, the "enjoy the journey" tag from Making Memories.  The rest were all gifts materials (they ignored the "don't feed the crafter sign hanging around my neck) from generous and thoughtful relatives. 

If you check the comments later chances are someone will volunteer they were the ones to give these supplies to me.  I'm certainly grateful and indebted.  :) 

I came up with a brilliant idea last week and simply had to try it.  I'm pretty happy with the results.  I created a "bow" or "flower" using a simple nylon scarf which I bought at the thrift store.  I've actually made two but will share the other in a day or two when my blog bin of interesting subjects has ran dry.  Might tempt you to come back and see!





And here's what the card and bow look like up close.  You know I like close - don't get TOO close or your retina will stick on the screen dear. 

I'm sort of chuffed about this!   I did not have the heart to tell the lady at the thrift store that I would be chopping this scarf up.  She kept on about how lovely it was etc.  She's not getting this card! 

My lovely Sister Nina made her Mojo out of some templates she used with her Cricut machine - I whipped up some png's and they worked like a dream!  I'm beyond puffing up here.   You also might find some nice cards at the other blogs of Judy and Samantha - what a crafty family we be!

LIKE:

Dreamy mashed cauliflower and cream chesse our daughter cooked up on Saturday night!

DISLIKE:

Brrrr - time for some warm sunshine around here I'd say.  Though I was very humbled by someone pointing out how nice we really have it compared to some places... like the little corner of the BC where Dave and Neti live, they say tomorrow they will have blizzard conditions! 

IMPRESSED:

The Kodak company.  Truly exceptional, over the top, wonderful, professional service.  I'm a customer for life.  They've consistantly turned every unfortunate incident with my printer into a positive experience.  Besides that the ink is dirt cheap and does a beautiful job. 

Whats some LIKES, DISLIKES and IMPRESSED things in your life this week?





Mojo - only ONE, nothing else - ok I lie a bit too

(with no preamble)

Mojo # 179

And Voila (I did not think I was going to accomplish this today!)  Hooray Hooray!

C'mon, you can come close and touch it - it won't break!



Credits:

• Paper - I dunno, random selections
• Tulle Flower - I made it, sort of a slap together thing but it worked
• Crown - Earring picked up on sale
• Word Art - TLC Creations 
• Inking - Studio G
•  

And I have to share this gorgeous card my SIL Judy created using my Bold Blossoms Elements set - for sale at Scrapbook-Elements!  These are DIGI but she cut them out and made them stand out - to make an "outstanding" card   :)  Thank you Judy!





Busy Week - Fun with Friends!

I see that we have Valinda joining in with us for our Mojo fun, your cards look wonderful - hehe, you're going crazy with them - I see THREE Mojo cards now.  

This past week was one of my very busiest to date - lots of fellowship with friends, a craft day, school,  workouts most days and I squeezed a bit of designing in there too.  I think I will share my craft day with you here today.  My friends Marie and Julie came over and I taught them how to mix up and bake the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and in turn Marie showed Julie and I how to make some pretty and jewellery out of tshirts. 

This is Marie, and she is going to show us how to make the necklace.  You will need a tshirt - she says that ones without seams are best though I've seen a few tutorials where they do use ones with seams.  The advantage of seamless t's are that you will be stretching the material and the ones with seams are in danger of breaking apart and also the seamless ones make a flatter, more polished and prettier necklace. 

Lay your tshirt out on a flat surface (you want to be careful as you might scratch the surface you are cutting on)  Cut and remove the bottom seam of the tshirt.  Discard it.  Next, cut about 1 inch horizontal strips, all the way up to the underseam of the arms. 

Meet Julie - she's a good learner and unlike me, is paying close attention to Marie's instructions. 



Once you have made all your strips you want to stretch them as far as your arms can go!



And strettttttchhhhh them some more!



And then some MORE - using your foot to anchor them, pull up with your arms.  I know, you PAID for this type of exersize in your aroebics class!

These are all ready to go.  The edges sort of twist over, like noodles.



Once you have all the strips done then you put them all together into one "rope" - at this point you can thread beads onto the loops or sew decorations on to them - I took strips of a fancy scarf and weaved them in.   Marie says its good to reserve one "rope" to tie the strands together so that the necklace strips stay together.  She does some sort of a knot which would be difficult for me to explain here but it hides the ends - I'm sure you will find a creative way to to do this or find an online tutorial on it. 

Pretty cool - huh?

You can even use knots as decorations!

Julie modeling my "fancy" scarf - she would make anything look purdy!

And with only a tshirt and a bit of pretty wool Marie created this very artistic looking fashion item. 





More Mojo - and a Gift!

Attempt #3 at Mojo #178.   The sketch:

And my take on it:





Wordart from TLC Creations

I tried to work with a complementary purples and orange palette.  I liked this paper Judy gave me, and the circle is cotton I bought when shopping at Walmart with Nina. 

And a special welcome to my niece Samantha who has just started her blog too - now we have five family members online, how wonderful!  I've added Sam to my links and I know it would tickle her if you have a minute of your busy day to visit her. 

I made this badges for my church blog - please, I'd love you to use it for your personal or church  projects.  It's at 300 dpi and is a png file so is on a transparent background and I have not added a drop shadow, its just on the preview.  Click on the image to download.



Baking, Baking and yes, More Mojo



Before I drive you crazy with another Mojo, I'll let you know that my day was not entirely spent making cards.  I was privileged to have my friend Rose come pass this gray day away - heavens, it could have been storming out and we would not have noticed.  We had a very productive time making bread.  Yes, I keep passing the bread making along - I wish I could see a map of how it is shared from one person to the next.   We baked up our version of the Artisan Bread in Five - only we altered it to incorporate some whole wheat,  molasses, raisins, flax seeds, nine grains and all sorts of goodness into it!  I had pre-made another batch before she arrived so she could see the whole process through.  Besides all these good ingredients I also substituted some nectar from home canned peaches (my Mr taking the actual peaches in his lil lunch kit - yes he carries a little lunch kit) and I also included quite a bit of grated fresh orange peel, a pinch of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. 

Oh, before I forget, I made this pizza for my Mr. on Friday night - again, using a whole wheat version of the Artisan Bread.  I could not decide which type of pizza he would have a hankering for so I made ... FOUR different sections to it:

Section 1: Butter Chicken and Asparagus with Havarti Cheese

Section 2: Pepperoni and Peppers with Pepper Jack Cheese

Section 3: Farmer Sausage with Mushrooms and a Mixture of 3 Cheeses

Section 4: Shrimp and Artichokes with Fresh Grated Parmesan and Asiago

Getting back to Rose and I, I  also helped her process a trillion photos of her recent family vacation so she could share them with family on the Internet.  While things were moving along I still managed to finish two more cards for Mojo.  Again, the sketch:



I decided to use a stamp this time as I have them!  I don't know who made the stamp.  The brads are from Michaels I believe.  The gems - believe it or not, they are actually for fingernails!  They are inexpensive and stick very well.  The bit of tinsel is from the drugstore sale last year after Easter!  I'm always tucking little bits of "nesting materials" away for days like today when I feel like playing. 

As you can see, I layered this circle flower thing up using various papers in complementary shades to the paper background.  I grunged it all up a bit with some Studio G pigment inks. 





Monday Roooooolls around again so HERE'S my card(s)... ok, day by day! AND pretty Layouts using Vintage Loooooove!

Happy Valentines all!  I must confess that me and my Mr's "love day" is our anniversary, which was just a few weeks ago, so celebrating Valentines in our household would be a pale comparison - and pair that with the fact he works 12 hours that day and we decided it might be wiser to just let the world have your love day on your own :)  And I see you have all wonderfully celebrated - here are a few layouts you've made using my Vintage Love kit! 

CD Smith made this oh so pretty layout using my Glitter Hearts Elements! 

Thank you CD!  I snipped this from your blog - I tried to leave a comment but I kept getting kicked out.    I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, I am positive it was not your blog which was the problem but me and my fumbly old fingers.  Please, send me any layouts using my elements or kits and I'll be happy to feature them here.



Layout by (my SIL) Judy!

Now Judy has probably every single element and kit I've ever made in my life and I love how she uses all my new and old items to make such pretty layouts!  Thank you Judy, I love it!  Judy's got a mojo cooking today too - I'm sure it will be posted soon!

Layouts by Valinda

Boy, isn't Valinda's Mom so sweet in that pretty straw hat from my Artistic Kit?  I think I am going to have to put links directly to my kit in the sidebar soon, my fingers get weary of linking linking haha!  At any rate all my kits can be purchased under my name Barbara Derksen at the Scrapbook Elements Store - link in the sidebar.  My new Bold Blossoms are featured in the post before this one! 

Thank you talented ladies for contributing your gorgeous layouts to my blog gallery! 

Ok, and getting on with it (with a BIG push from my LITTLE sister... ) {ow!!! you're hurting me}  here is my first take on Mojo # 178, sketch first:





This card took me three hours this morning.  I got all ambitious about cutting the papers around the pre made hole in the card.  Hole on the opposite side of the sketch - I knew that but whatever.  Then, I was bound and determined to add those little hook things on somehow and then the staples did not want to go in the holes.  Picked my fingers and said some things I had to ask to be forgiven for.  then got all fiddley with the beads and charm.



Embossed round the edges of the wordart.  Both the wordart and clipart from TLC creations. 



Colored the little owl and pussycat too.  3 hours.  Ridiculous.

BOLD BLOSSOMS - NEW Element Pack in the Scrapbook Elements Store!

BIG!  BOLD! BEAUTIFUL! and on sale TODAY!

Spring isn't coming soon enough for you?  Then fill YOUR life with these gorgeous brilliant blooms!  Click the preview to be taken to the store - only on sale today and tomorrow!



4th and Last Take on Mojo #177

Really, I'm not kidding, I only made four.  The sketch first -

 

And now the card:

Ok, usually I'd never, never, NEVER ever cut up a card my Sister sent me... this is one she bought (like from an actual store - like made in a factory or something) that she sent to my Mr a long time ago and I just had to cut that guitar out.  I'm guessing she won't beat me up over it. 

I made this decoration by layering different pieces of paper which I shaped with wiggly scissors and then topped with a stray 'O' from a copper alpha as there are not enough letters to make any real words anymore.  Bet you would not have known if I'd not said.  Should have just kept my mouth shut.  *wink*







Mojo #177 - take THREE and a Pretty Recipe Card from Victoria!

Here is my third take on Mojo #177.  Another tea themed one.  I did not get a good photo of the inside but I stuck a gourmet teabag on the inside left of the card and accented it with one of the pretty green flowers.   First the sketch, then the card:



Credit:  Word Art by TLC Creations

Lace - a gift from Judy

Various papers and flowers from Nina.

I was out poking around with my camera today  and these are two photos from my little adventure: 







And here is a lip smackingly delicious recipe card that my CT Victoria made for me, using my Vintage Love Kit to share with you! 



Right click and choose "Save as"

Thanks, Victoria - looks Yummy!