Bull Dog

I am evidently on a dog jag....

Ears - larger photo corner - trimmed slightly
Head - medium oval
Eyes - narrow heart to heart, standard hole punch
Nose - standard hole punch on corner of paper
Tongue - circle itty bitty punch pack
Cheeks - wide oval - repunched at top to round in with the end of the wide oval
Vanilla jowl and chest - wide oval (snipped in on both sides at bottom of face - I did the trimming after assembly)
Front legs - wide oval near small oval hole
Paws - medium oval - trim flat on bottom
Back leg - medium oval next to medium oval hole
Tail - same as back leg - just much closer to the hole
Body - wide oval (trimmed in a little on the dogs back)
Belly - large oval next to large oval hole

Running Dog

Running Dog - sounds like the name a young boy would pick for his Indian Guide name...Do they still have Indian Guides?

Well, in reality, it is the description of this:

A lot more complex than yesterday's puppy.


Here's the 411:

Body - 1.75 inch circle, curved line drawn for leg
Scruff - small oval (don't ouline ALL the say with black - leave it open and it will look more like part of the body)
Collar - medium oval, repunched with small circle itty bitty punch pack, details drawn on
Neck - word window
Head - large oval
Eyes - word window cut in half to get 2 - standard hole punch in black - add gel pen highlights
Ears and Tail - Wing from 2 step bird
Muzzle - large oval repunched to shorten with 1.75 inch circle
Nose - wide oval  medium oval (wide one would have looked ridiculous!)
Mouth - 3/4 inch oval
Tongue - narrow heart to heart - cut in half
Back Paws (that are in front) medium oval
Toes - standard hole punch
Front paws (that are underneath him) 3/4 inch circle
I added a wide oval behind the body - basically to give something to put the far right paw on.

Center paw and head are adhered on a dimensional

Simple Puppy

I was cleaning out a pile of OLD stamping/scrapbooking magazines I found on a shelf that I had forgotten about.  Out of sight, out of mind, ya know?

But I MUST thumb through them before they go to recycle and I spotted an add for a PUNCH - actually 2 punches - a puppy head and a puppy body.  Well.... you know what happened next...

Head - Owl punch with ears and feet cut off
Ears - Petal from Blossom Petal/Feather duster
All the circles for his eyes, nose, face ring - Owl Punch
Body - 1.75 inch circle, cut flat on bottom and right side, repunched in a bit at the bottom with circle from itty bitty punch pack, drew line for "front legs"

Drew on a few spots with black marker
Attached his head with a dimensional.

I can't see the photos from the previous post - did you?

I can tell from comments that someone could see the photos in the previous post - but I couldn't - nothing but the words was showing up. I am reposting the photos in case someone else had the same problem. 

Simple Pose Change

Same girl as yesterday - but she put on a clean shirt, found her hands, and decided to water her garden.

All you have to do is shift your full heart, shorten the cuff and attach the shoe at a different angle.

Nose in a book...

I wish, I wish, I wish I could show you what I used as inspiration for today's punch art but alas, I only saved the tiny photo and I cannot read the watermark to tell you where I saw it.  Cutest stamp - a little girl sitting with her head on her arm looking at a flower.  She had tendrils of loose hair hanging down, a wreath of flowers in her hair and was barefoot - just darling.

It inspired me to punch this:

Not as feminine and lovely as the inspiration piece but way more likely to get used in my scrapbooks.

face - owl punch feet and ears cut off
nose - small circle from owl punch
hair - 1.75 circle punched near 1 inch circle hole (the 1 inch hole is the curved part near her face) then the rest of the "face edge" was trimmed by hand
bun - 1.25 inch circle
eye - drawn on - (2 curves then fill in the color part)
neck that you don't really see - word window
arms - wide heart to heart
sleeves - small oval cut in half to get 2
shirt - wide oval trimmed front, neck and bottom (so not really recognizable as an oval anymore)
underside of shirt - small oval
torso peeking out - small oval
jeans - full heart - draw lines on as shown in photo below (only I left the pocket off this time)
cuff of jeans - modern label shortened with same
belt - edge cut from 1.75 circle that had been run through square lattice embossing folder
belt loop - scrap
book - bits and pieces
shoe - medium oval on edge of paper

If you don't know how to make the "denim" paper - look HERE and scroll down a bit in the post.

A sucker for doggie stuff

I am such a sucker for doggie stuff.  Our dog just about rules our world. (He is a spoiled little beast)

So I followed a link from Kim Score's Paper Punch Addiction blog because it said "hydrant box" and we all have a pretty good clue that this is either going to relate to a dog or a firefighter right?

And I found THIS where Carrie Gaskin made a box that looks like a hydrant.  And she even included a pdf file with the directions that you can download to make your own.  She made some cute dog cards with stamps but you could fill it with cute dog cards from punches.  (Or cards with a firefighter).

Thanks to Carrie for sharing her darling project and to Kim for spreading the word.

Here are links to some of my favorite dog posts (all shown before) and a firefighter post

Dog - Holding something in mouth

Dog - Big Face Mutt

Dog - Dachshund on a bun

Dog - Droopy

Dog - Odie

Dog - Scooby Doo

Dog - Snoopy

Dog - Snoopy on Dog House

Dog - Underdog

Firefighter

It has been 3 days

It has been three days since I've posted and usually about this time I start getting email from my online friends to make sure I'm OK.  So, to save you the typing, YES!  I'm fine.

I have been playing with stuff I can't show.  Some 'cause it is for cards I want to send and I don't want to show them before they get to the recipient.  And some because I have been having a ball playing with stuff that is not from Stampin' Up! and to show you that is a no no and I might get turned in by the SU police and be in big trouble and have to quit SU and I'm not ready for that so....  You don't get to see cute stuff.  It is a shame but "them's the rules"  or close to the rules and I'm not taking any chances.

There is more punch stuff perking in my brain.  We will have to see what bubbles out next week. 

Birthday Balloon

Sometimes you see a card that appeals to you so much that you have to drop what you are doing and copy it.



This is HEAVILY based on Mary Fish's card found HERE.  I think Mary's card is AWESOME.  I'm not sure I like mine quite as much but I can't bring myself to do "exact" copies - where is the fun in that?

This uses the medium oval punch as a balloon - I punched two and put a dimensional between them.

In Mary's post she has a video of a punch trick sent in by Tracey (one of her blog readers) - I didn't use the trick on my card but it is VERY clever and easy (I tried it).  It will show up sometime in some punch art character 'cause that is what happens around here.

And the third punch thing to note is the clouds on my background are from the scallop circle.  Most if you know how to do this but just in case you don't...  Punch out a scallop oval.  Lay it on your paper (I tend to start at the top of my page) - Sponge a little bashful blue above the scallop oval.  Keep moving down and sponging, move and sponge keeping a little bit of white showing each time - Voila!  Cloud filled sky!

In case you don't recognize it - the balloon string is from the Hostess Set Playful Pieces.  I think you could draw a line by hand - if you try really really hard! (grin)

Rosie

Some of you will remember the Jetsons from the 60s.  Some from when it was reprised in the 80s.  Some of you might not have a clue about this character. 

I am one of the original watchers and I loved Rosie the Robot Maid.  I loved the way the Jetsons loved her even though she was a little "out of date".

Since we are officially in SPRING now, I thought it might be nice to have Rosie come do some Spring Cleaning!

I'm happy to be back punchin'

And I actually put her on a decent background instead of scratch paper!

But I'm too lazy to type out the directions...

You can't have everything!

I will tell you that the owl punch is only used to get the tiny buttons on her outfit.

The new flower punch I call Feather Duster was used for the feather duster base and for Rosie's base

The hands started with a 3/4 circle for one and word window for the other but there is so much trimming - I don't know how to explain.

You'll have to figure out the rest.

Not a brick wall but a brick oven....

Yesterday's brick wall post reminded me I had never shared this Brick Oven Pizza layout.  Spring Break- FIVE years ago... our rainy vacation in Hawaii resulted in 2 meals at this pizza place - very yummy.

The "bricks" under the words are chipboard squares I cut in half and sponged.  I cut them most of the way through with my paper trimmer - simply broke off the rest of the way and I sanded the few that felt rough.  Another example of mixing the styles of your chipboard letters - great idea when you run out of vowels in one style. 

Too bad I did this before I saw Clare's idea from yesterday....

Hitting a Brick Wall

I am hitting a brick wall on the last couple of scrapbook pages I'm designing for next fall's workshop so it is time to set them aside and try again in a week or two. 

That means I need a couple of days to document what I have decided on and get my mess cleaned up. (Hubby will do a happy dance!) 

THEN, I will hopefully get some punching done for y'all.  The ideas are piling up and they need to be played with!

But speaking of brick walls.... Clare of Crafty Cow Creations had her Clever Cap on and used some left over rubber to make her own brick wall.  No, it isn't punch art but it is AWESOME outside the box thinking and you should take a peek RIGHT HERE  then check out her Mum and Daughter 'cause that is punch art!

CUTE and simple punched PUPPY

Laura Lipe (fantastic punch artist) made a darling yet simple punched dog.  I know a lot of you can use this cutie and just in case you haven't been smart enough to subscribe to Laura's blog I thought I'd better send you there RIGHT NOW RIGHT HERE!

Laura is the one who came up with the cute polar bears everyone copied last year!  You really should be checking her out all the time...

Easter Egg Math

I bet that post title made you scratch your head (or wrinkle your nose)

Kay of Creations on Paper used her math skills and her PUNCHES to make a perfect Easter Egg. 

Don't believe me?

She did.

And you can see it if you click THIS LINK

Odd trip to the store...

I'm feeling guilty for not feeding your punch fix but I have been keeping the Inspiration Fairy busy on my scrapbook workshop project and I haven't let her near the punch drawer.

But I thought I'd try something easy to ease my guilt - and it turned out even easier than I thought 'cause when I opened a file I keep of ideas... out fell 3 little projects that I had never shared - nothing exciting but maybe something you can still use

Hopefully you won't be using all three of them together!

The grocery cart was for grins - I thought I might do a random page in my BOM about grocery shopping and how I always manage to pick the NOISIEST cart in the store.  Uses photo corners - see them?

The back-side of the pig was when the owl punch came out and I didn't share it 'cause I saw where someone else had done a cuter FRONT side of a pig - and there are probably more uses for the front side.  (I prefer the inside of a pig - in long crispy strips served with eggs and toast)

The hiking boot was just me messing around - it is the full heart, trimmed, holes poked and laced with linen thread and the ribbon punch for the sole.

Still workin' and still sending you elsewhere...

I'm still Sense and Sensibility-ing so very SENSIBLY (go ahead and groan) -  I am sending you to see punch art elsewhere.

ANITA Strikes Again.

Now maybe I could have come up with the hunter - but never in a million years could I have done the beagle - go check them out on Lucia's blog right HERE.

I wonder how many times I have sent you to see Anita's work...?

I wish my Mom would take up punching and give me some cute things to post. 

Well, that isn't going to happen so I'll just keep on sending you to see Anita's fabulous creations.  Many thanks to Lucia for sharing her Mom with all of us!

Lookin' Raggedy Around Here

I know, I need to set Jane Austen aside and get back to punchin' for your entertainment, but my living room is strewn with paper and possible page ideas ...  I GOTTA stay focused on that so we can reclaim the space for family living as soon as possible.

In the meantime, I'm sending you to see two of the CUTEST puncharts.  Glenda made Raggedy Andy from Kim Score's tutorial and then she made Raggedy Ann on her own.  LINK TO GLENDA - and LINK TO KIM

Great job by both punchers!!!  Check them out.

Ever try to scrapbook an event BEFORE it happens?

Have you ever tried to scrapbook an event BEFORE it happens?

I am teaching a scrapbook workshop next October for a large group of women.  There could be as many as 100 ladies.  And I'm preparing 10 pages for them to scrapbook. 

Did you do the math?  That is 1000 ways I could make them unhappy.  So Scary!

We'll be scrapping the event they are attending.  On the first day.  Before the stuff happens.

HARD TO DO.

I'm so excited and just a little intimidated. 

And that is the reason there is nothing on this blog today but talk...  My thoughts are far away from my punch drawer - they are in the early 1800s in England with Jane Austen and her first novel.

Another Ground Hog?

Really, I don't have a "thing" for ground hogs.  And I don't need one.  And I'll probably never use him.  Just like I've never used the first one.

But he was so cute that I had to punch him when I saw him.

His face is from the Owl Punch - I bet you recognized that right away.

His teeth and eye are a little different so let me show you what I did.

Not too hard, huh?  just a few snip snip snips with your scissors!

And the tulips were the small heart snipped in half and layered - EASY!

Maybe he could go on a layout about shadows... your kid shadowing your every step, discovering their shadow...

OR

Maybe you can use him as a BEAVER if that is your team mascot. 
Just add a tail.
A tail and a river.

Spring Chicken

Keeping in the "SPRING" thing - this is a Spring Chicken.

 A chick playing baseball - what could represent Spring any better?

I'm thinking SPRING

It is SPRING in North Texas.  Maybe not by the calendar yet - but the trees are budding and the weeds are growing and hubby is talking about new golf clubs so I felt the need to punch something outdoorsy...

Doesn't that just make you want to take a ride around the block? 

Yeah, well, go out in the garage and dust off your bike and if you find that the tires are flat and the pump is hidden and you don't have a cute little bike basket, I suggest you will just say "forget it" and go inside and blog surf a few hours....or maybe play with your punches....

Here's the how to:

Tires – 1 ¾ circle around 1 3/8 circle hole

Tire centers – ½ inch circle and itty bitty punch pack circle

Tire "fender" – 1 ¾ circle next to same size hole, offset slightly   (is fender the right term?  car tires are covered by the fender....  sometimes I feel so ignorant!)

All the straight bars are word window punched slightly in from edge of paper

Main curved bar - 3 inch circle (non SU) around 2 ½ inch hole

Curved bar under basket and both handle bars are same as tires

Seat – small oval offset from edge of paper

Blue piece (with white on it) large oval offset from same size hole

White piece – small oval offset from same size hole

Basket – circle on edge of paper – sides trimmed at angle

Flowers – itty bitty punch pack (black centers were marker)

Handles – part of word window

I Spy - Buzz

I promised to send you all to "look see" when I spied someone using one of my punchies in some grand improved way.  So I MUST send you to see my Buzz Lightyear on a card.  Debbie Henderson fulfilled her granddaughter's wish by just using part of Buzz to get him to fit.  She combined him with the cog punch (great idea) and altered his colors to fit her card.  He looks GREAT.  Check it out right HERE.

While you are there look around on the rest of her blog - she makes some really pretty things.

Cafe Du Monde

Aha - proof that you can scrap a memory WITHOUT a photo!

A couple of summers ago, I went to New Orleans with my dear friend for a few days of escape (We have been besties since we were seventeen so if you do the math you will figure out that I have know her for about 200 years)  ANYWAY...

We ate at Cafe Du Monde 2 mornings for breakfast but did I take a picture?  No, I was too busy talking and stuffing my face with beignets, BUT I wanted to remember so I found this painting/drawing that I had bought as a souvenir and scrapped it.    I didn't even need a title since the name is on the awning in the picture. 

Two scrapping tips from this:

1) this isn't SU paper so I didn't have a solid to match - Eileen (glitter queen) suggested I used retired really rust and tone it down with some ink - of course she was right - and my buttons have the perfect background

2) the tag was me practicing the collage look - which I never seen to do as well as other stampers BUT - I strung an assortment of beads on a wire (hiding the end under a popped up cup) and I thought that was rather cute.  So if you have some little beads in your stash - string 'em!

Rear View but not what you are expecting...

Haven't had any real punch art in a few days, so I thought I'd pop in an easy one for you

and here is the rear view so you can see that he really is easy - you don't even have to cut your punch to get the 2 ears and the 2 knees!  The feet are the only thing you will have to think about.

Head - 1 3/8 inch circle - draw on face
Diaper - 1 1/4 inch circle
Shirt - wide oval, trimmed at bottom
Sleeves - small oval (cut to get 2)
Arms - wide Heart to Heart
Knees - large oval
Ears - word window
Hands - modern label repunched at ends with 1/2 inch circle
Feet - scalloped oval repunched with small oval

Make room for my soapbox

Excuse me.

Yes, I mean you.

Move over just a little and give me room to get this soapbox set up.  I haven't been up on it for awhile and I have some "talking" to do and you need to hear me.

I have spent the last two days going through old family photos (the His not Hers).

You might remember that my reward for cleaning out my Father-in-law's place was the closet under the stairs with all the photos and scrapbooks that I had never seen? 

Since hubby is gallivanting on the other side of the world this week, I thought this was a perfect time to set up a couple of extra tables and start sorting and organizing all the "treasures" from the closet, plus a big box of family stuff an Aunt sent.

Oh my - lots of GREAT photos and family genealogy. 

But

and that is a big huge BUT

a lot of the GREAT photos are useless to me because the people in them are unidentified.

arghhhh

and while it is easy to identify the bug eyed man as great great great grandfather what's his name (I could pick those eyes out anywhere) serious looking old ladies with the same chin and nose start to run together....

and then there are the helpful ones with someone from several generations back cleverly identified as "mother"
Well, she isn't my mother and I don't know who wrote it so I am still out of luck

So my soapbox message is IDENTIFY the people in your photos.  I know that you know that is Aunt Lucy in last year's Christmas photo but you need to SAY SO on your layout, or on the photo or in your computer (wherever you are keeping your photos) because 75 years from now your grand children are going to wonder who the sexy blond standing next to grandpa is and you want them to know she is family not floozy!

If labeling ruins your layout or you just hate your handwriting do it on the back of the page!  But names and approximate dates are important.  PLEASE?

Today I'm taking Grandpa to lunch and I'll bring my big pile of photos with me in hopes he will recognize a few of them.

Wish me luck!

And if you have any awesome ideas for scrapping vintage and heritage photos, I'd love to hear them.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Oh so simple....

Chocolate chip cookies are simple, basic and homey so I wanted my recipe card to reflect that.

Of course, I HAD to use chocolate chip paper!
And the cherry cobbler just shouts HOMEY and WARM to me so I put in a pinch of that.
The cookies wouldn't taste right without vanilla, right?  so I added a splash of that.
The blue paper was the back of the orange paper I used on yesterday's pumpkin bread post - that was chosen because it was handy.
And my printer was in a good mood today and printing quite nicely on crumb cake cardstock.

Cookies are 1.75 circle punch in crumb cake, sponged with chocolate chip ink and the "chips" were stamped with the eraser end of a pencil.

Simple, easy and yummy - just like the cookies!

Note: This recipe is not the one on the back of the chip bag - it is one that was on the back of the 6 oz chip bag YEARS ago.  And my secret to the best cookies is don't cook them too long.  My oven cooks a little cool and I like my chocolate chip cookies better than any other I've tasted.  Has to be the oven - can't possibly be anything I do!
For another cookie post look HERE
For another great cookie recipe look HERE and HERE  (Eileen's recipes - YUM)