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  I loved the way the Jetsons loved her even though she was a little "out of date".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)

Pumpkin Bread

In some areas of my life I am VERY organized.

Most areas I have pretty much under control...

And, as you might guess, in some areas, all "h-e-double hockey sticks" has broken loose.

My recipes fall in the last category.  I don't like to cook.  I don't cook much.  So organizing recipes has never been much of a priority.

Notice I said I don't cook.  I didn't say I don't collect recipes.

I have them in books people have given me. 
I have them in books I've bought (with the best of intentions). 
I have the ones I have copied from friends after enjoying their delicious creations. 
I have the ones I snipped from the newspaper because they sounded good. 
I have the ones I've torn from magazines because they promise to be quick and easy. 
I have the 10 recipes I actually use.
I have a few special holiday ones.
AND best of all I have the PRETTY and yummy ones I've gotten from 6x6 recipe card swaps.

I realized I know exactly where the pretty ones are because I have them all together with easy access on one great holder.

So...., I am making the recipes I use into 6x6 cards (even though I'm not in a swap) so I can find them when I need them.

And here is my favorite one to lose (but not anymore)

I tried to not put a pumpkin on the page because that is so "obvious" but I couldn't help myself!!

For the 2 of you who have never punched a pumpkin - just layer 3 large ovals, use a scrap for the stem and curl a very thin strip of paper around your paper piercer (or stylus) to make the curly vine.

Paper craft ideas you can take from this page:

When you have an "empty" spot and nothing to put in it - pull out your word window and wrap it around the edge of your page:

I added some tiny buttons from my stash but you could leave them plain or add a brad.  This used to be one of my fave tricks on cards and pages that "needed something" but somehow I stopped using it.  It popped into my brain after I spent about 10 minutes pawing through my embellishments looking for the RIGHT THING to finish this page.  I should have KNOWN the answer would be in my punch drawer!

Another thing you might not realize is that you can run chipboard through your Big Shot with texture plates!  I suspect this wouldn't work with embossing folders (and I don't want to mess one up trying it) but texture plates work well as you can see with my "P"

The "b" is textured also but it is just paper, not chipboard, because I needed to layer the other lettering on top of it.

My last tip involves the paper the recipe is printed on.  I tried and tried to get my printer to take so saffron cardstock (sometimes it will - sometimes it balks at the weight of SU cardstock).  Last night was a night to reject it. My solution was to print on whisper white and take the ink-pad directly to the paper.  This gave me great distressing which matches the background paper I had chosen.  I like it better than if the so saffron had worked. 

This recipe came from Janis Boyd, a WONDERFUL cook, who once upon a time worked with my hubby.

Here is the recipe if you don't want to struggle to read the photo:
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
½ tsp salt
1 tsp nutmeg
3 cups flour
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp soda
1 cup nuts (optional)
2 cups (1 can) pumpkin
2/3 cup water

Cream sugar, oil & eggs. Add the rest and mix well.

Cook in greased and floured pans at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

(Makes 3 of the throw away loaf pans) Freezes well.

...runneth over

I'm finally finished with my rainy Hawaii trip scrapbook - this is one of those pools where you swim up to the bar...  only in this photo it is so full of rain water that it "runneth over" filling the pool deck too.

Showing you because I used some more left over chipboard.  These are some flower petals that SU used to sell and I turned them into raindrops.  Glitter Queen Eileen fancied them up for me - aren't they fab?

I wanted my base cardstock simple and kinda gloomy to match the day BUT it looked blah - so I layered a 11x11 sheet of the same paper with the edges sponged with ink.  Just the layer of interest I needed.  So file that in your memory banks until you need it someday.

Queen of Something...

Here goes another of those "I don't know why I made it" punch arts... 

or should I have said it makes me WONDER why I made a villain from Wonderland?

The Queen of Hearts is pretty complex - like a 4.5 on a 5 point scale so don't try this as your first punch art creation.  I don't want you shouting "off with her head" if you get frustrated!

Parts:
Skirt - full hearts
Chest - wide oval in red, 1 inch circle in black
Sleeves - medium oval
Her right arm (left side) 1/2 inch circle, modern label repunched with circle from itty bitty pack
Her left arm (right side) medium oval and same hand as above
Collar - 2 large ovals and medium heart to heart
Face - 1  1/4 circle, 1 inch circle
Mouth - 1 inch circle trimmed
Teeth - 1 inch circle around 3/4 inch circle
Eyes - small heart
Tongue - small heart to heart
Crown - hole from scallop circle - trim toward the hole so you have points on top
Eyebrows - leaves from 2 step bird
Hair - 3 tails from 2 part bird, 1/2 inch circle. circle itty bitty pack, scrap of red

I can't remember what I grabbed for her nose but a leaf from the 2 step bird would work.

Mini Me

No, the title mini me does NOT mean I punched a small version of myself....

Mini Me is the the title of this scrapbook page.

This photo was taken December 2009 and was the first time I realized just how much kiddo who lives at home looks like her mama.

The reason I show you this is so you can see that you can MIX your left over chipboard letters.  There are 3 different styles plus the "negative" portion of one of them and yet, it works!

For the large circle I traced a plate and since I can't cut straight (hence the love of punches) I used my distressing tool to rough it up and disguise any boo boos. 

To keep with the distressed look, I didn't totally ink my chipboard.  I just dragged it over the open ink pad a couple of times.  The title chipboard has been finished with crystal effects.  The flowers were finished with a little "bling"  (thanks Eileen!)

The ribbon was from my stash and was really too white for this layout so I used a stipple brush and pounced on some river rock ink to dirty it up a bit.

You might also note that the photo has a mat and a partial mat.  You don't have to have things even on all sides - change it up a bit!

I used a sketch from Sketchy Thursdays for this layout - don't remember which date it was from (something in 2010).  I LOVE this site for sketches!!!

Daisy Drives A Lot

Not Driving Miss Daisy (old movie title) but Miss Daisy, all I do is drive!

Ever feel YOUR name is Daisy Drives A Lot? 

Let me tell you it is WONDERFUL when your last child gets their license and you only drive when YOU need to. 

I hope you can find a use for Daisy here. 

Maybe you can use this character on a page about your long commute to work.

Or about all the things you overhear while carpooling

Or maybe you DRIVE ME CRAZY on a page or card

I used some parts from SU's two new punches, the cupcake and the flower one that I can't remember the name of (you know, the one that has the feather duster looking thing? -let's call it the Feather Duster Flower punch from now on.  OK?)  I'm sure there will be many fun uses for these punches but I spend most of my weekend scrapbooking and didn't play punches until the last couple of hours when I was too exhausted to think.

Daisy Driver Parts
Face - Owl (upside down, feet and ears cut off)

Hair – Full heart (upside down)

Bangs – medium oval

Eyes – circle itty bitty punch pack

Lips – modern label – punch tip with circle itty bitty punch pack

Neck – word window (1/2 lengthwise)

Shirt - feather duster from the new feather duster flower punch

Collar – slot (retired) or use a small scrap strip

Hands – modern label repunched with circle itty bitty punch pack

Car parts

Seat back – Key Tag (retired) or use a rectangle and round the corners

Steering wheel – 1 inch circle around the ¾ inch circle hole

Dashboard – wide oval

Rear-view mirror – word window repunched to shorten

Rear-view mirror mount – cherry from cup cake punch

 
Sometimes it is hard to judge the scale of these characters. Daisy Driver here is 3.75 inches tall.

Faster than a Speeding Bullet

Who is faster than a speeding bullet?  That would be Batman! 

He is also able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (if memory serves me right). 

I can't leap tall buildings, but I was faster than a speeding bullet to type this post when I saw the BATMAN Anita punched.  AMAZING!!!!!!!!! 

Anita is the mother of Lucia at Ink Me Baby One More Time.  I've sent you to her blog at least a dozen times - Much Good Stuff there.  The direct link to Batman is HERE.  And from Lucia's post it sounds like there are more heroes to come.  WOO HOO.  Go Anita!

Sailing into Scrapbooking

My friend Eileen, the glitter queen, is not a scrapbooker.  She makes B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L cards but hasn't been into scrappin'.  (She doesn't like to do punch art either)
BUT
Just so you know, ANYONE can be converted to scrapbooking 'cause LOOK AT THESE!!!!!

Yes, that is right - Eileen made this darling sailboat album for a friend and his family.  Yes, that is right, she  CUT ALL that paper in the shape of the sailboat, and adhered it and put in all those details.  (and I just showed you a few pages of the album) 

I'm not sure I love anyone enough to do that....  well, maybe three people but really? all that cutting?....  naw, I'll stick to punching!

I made the anchor and the life preserver for her - but of course she improved them by adding crystal effects so they would shine (she does like shiny things!)

Eileen reports that they were thrilled with the project (and they gave me permission to post the photos). 

Well, who wouldn't be thrilled with such a darling album?

I, myself, am setting sail this morning (in my car) for a 3 day scrappin' weekend - the car is loaded down with WAY to much stuff - ready to launch. 

I want you to know that I followed my own advice about getting a ton done and COULD get by with a lot less..... but what if the punch fairy stows away with me?  I have to take ALL my punches just in case!!!  RIGHT???

The Stone Age

I thought I was done with the Stone Age with Fred and Wilma, but the Inspiration Fairy found some really funny clip art and I thought it would be great for a birthday or masculine thank you when you need to say....

YOU ROCK!

I Love Tex-Mex

One of the reasons I love Texas is the food.  Tex-Mex is just the best EVER and that is what my true love and I will eat for Valentine's tonight.  Of course with "THE DIET" I will only eat about 4 chips, 1 fajita and NO margarita but the little bit I eat will be DELICIOUS.

And why do I tell you this?

Because I had nothing to post today so I sat down last night with my FULL HEART punch and asked myself what could I do with it?  First came a love bug made with only hearts - but it wasn't cute so it crawled into the trash can. 

Then I punched a couple more hearts and was just messing around with them and accidentally put them together and it looked like a sombrero.  Resulting in Mr. Tex Mex (and you got the food info simply because I was in a chatty mood.)

Here he is..... Mr. Tex Mex

Sombrero is 2 full hearts laying on their sides and overlapping.
The ball fringe is the throw-away from the spiral punch
The zigzag is from the pinking hearts border

Now pay attention here:
The yellow zigzag is the throwaway from the pinking hearts border

But the blue zigzag is not because it wasn't long enough. 

So I thunk and I thunk and I thunk some more and decided to punch the pinking hearts border twice, then use my paper trimmer to trim off just the edge.  PERFECT!  I was even able to curve it just a bit as I adhered it.

Usual stuff for the rest - nothing new.

Hope you have a very Happy Valentines Day with the ones you love.  I'll be loving me some (just a few) chips and salsa!

just a story

Yesterday, we had a craft supply sale - HUGE sale.  Three of us sold retired things and two have left SU and they sold TONS of things, so we made money and had a lot of fun.

I decided at the last minute to bag up some of my punch art and sell it.  I must have overpriced it because only about 5 things sold (but I love it all, I can't sell it at garage sale prices!)

I did have lots of looky loos with kind words.

One little boy - maybe 7 stood and looked at all of it - naming all the characters he knew, Spider Man, Charlie Brown, Rabbit, etc.  But the part I loved was when he got to the fat lady bowler he excitedly announced "and this is YOU!"  Oh my gawd it was soooooooooooo cute!  I told him he was exactly right and laughed all day.  When I'm tempted to cheat on the diet I started yesterday morning I'll remember his comment and put the fork down.

Kids - ya gotta love them!

Fat Frog

After making the fat cat, I sat and thought "what other animal could have BIG FAT hind legs?"

I'm not a rocket scientist but even I could come up with this:

See the similarity?

Same hind legs

Same Chest

Same head (kinda)

For the frog:

Snipped in a circle on the full heart (on the cat it was cut flat)

I flattened the head oval a little (very little)

cheeks - circle itty bitty punch pack

eyes - word window and circles

drew on mouth

Legs -  wide heart to heart next to hole of same

Feet are the cool thing I learned on this one!

Punch a scallop oval and toss it - keep the hole

Trim from the hole to make a triangle or pie shape -  thin (front) feet and wider (back feet) for that nice WEBBED look.  Simple yet effective!

Also, I attached his chest with a dimensional so he would have more depth and would POP (hop) off the page.

Fat Cat

Ever have those chores you HATE to do?  For awhile mine was vacuuming - I'd put it off until it HAD to be done.

After that it was grocery shopping - I'd beg my kid to go with me so I didn't have to do it alone - I dreaded grocery shopping.

Mopping has had it's turn as the dreaded chore, as had bill paying (thank goodness that didn't last too long)

Right now - it is taking photos of punch art.

You've probably noticed I've just been throwing them down on notebook paper or scrap paper and snapping a photo.... same thing today...  wonder how long this one will be the "hated" task?

Hind Legs - Full Heart - trimmed off at point end

Chest - medium oval

Head - medium oval

Ears - small heart to heart

Paws - circle itty bitty punch pack

front legs - modern label but I had to slim it some

Tail - large oval around a hole

Bow - 1/2 inch circle and small heart to heart (2)

What I figured out on this kitty was the EYES

I wanted a curve and point

I saw the HOLE left by the 5 punch flower in my punch droppings

Grabbed my smallest circle and snipped the "inner points" on that hole

Sounds weird - just punch a flower and you'll see what I mean.

To get them identical - punch two - layer your "holes" (now that does sound weird) and punch them at the same time.

Oh yeah - I'm sure there is a simpler way to do this  - I'm just telling you what I did.

Tune in next time to see another beast built almost the same way.

Vote on his mouth.... I can't decide

What kind of mouth should I give him?

Please vote in the poll and/or leave a comment.

Saw a funny clipart of a guy watching football in his recliner but football is over so I thought I'd punch him watching basketball (ball still to be added to this).  I got stuck on his facial expression.

So, how does your man look when he is watching basketball?

March Madness is coming soon - help me finish this character!   Thanks

Playing Dress Up

Yeah, well.... I was gonna make a cowgirl to go with last weeks cowboy, but with the I Fairy, things don't always go the way I plan.  Instead, you get.....

Playing Dress Up!

Hat - Large oval parts and pieces - tips below

Dress - wide oval repunched on sides with same and at neck with word window

Necklace - Scallop oval around large oval hole

Hair was a circle trimmed with scissors to frame face

Shoes are 5 petal flower trimmed (use 2 for each shoe so her foot can be "inside" - sponge color on back to look like a shadow in the too big shoe

The rest is the usual stuff

Hat Tip:

To make the hat look right, I took the back base large oval and laid a small oval "hole" piece over it and sponged pink into the hole to make the "shadow"

The hat brim is large oval next to large oval hole making a thin curved piece (make 2) then adhere one over the other so they curve opposite directions - cover the "seam" with your flower

Crown of hat is just another bit of large oval.

I'll try again on the cowgirl later.

Guest Puncher - Marci Long - Bo Peep and Alien

Oh my, my, my, but we have some talented ladies out there in reader land.

Marci Long needed a Bo Peep and Alien from Toy Story to go with the Buzz Lightyear I had made.  I had no interest in working on them right then so I suggested she try it herself.  And what that heck was she waiting for?  Look at the awesome job she did...

Didn't need me at all did she?

Here's the link to my original Buzz for directions on him.

If Marci can design them, surely you can look at the photo and figure out how she did it.

I'm the lucky one - I got to see a DARLING photo of Marci's grand kids in their Halloween costumes of these same 3 Toy Story characters.  Marci made these characters for their goodie bags.  Now is that is a thoughtful grandma, huh?

Thanks Marci, for sharing these with me and allowing me to show them here. 

I have a feeling these will be copied many times over.  Please remember to give Marci credit for her work.

I Spy - Birds on a Branch

Promised if I "spied" someone taking my punch ideas to another level I'd clue you in and Lisa of You Make Me Ink took my birds on a branch (inspired by a t-shirt) and made it absolutely hysterical.  You must go see what she made and the expression on the bird's face - just click HERE.  I love her color choices and the details she used.  What a fabulous card! 

Fortunately for me, our four days of ice and snow are over - we had no school, rolling power outages and wrecks galore. Keep in mind that my husband was golfing in shorts for 3 of the 4 days prior to this storm and I saw people back out in shorts again yesterday as we began to thaw.  We just aren't used to this or prepared for it. 

But hey, it kept me home and at my craft desk more - I'll have some new stuff for you this week but for today - make sure you check out Lisa's birds.

Not the Dallas Cowboys...

Ha, you'd never know it by all the hoopla the Super Bowl is getting around here but another big event is going on in North Texas right now - the Stock Show and Rodeo in Ft. Worth. 

In honor of that, I made a little cowboy...

Hat - large oval and the very "top" part of butterfly in brown - word window in red
All the rest is the usual stuff

Belt buckle is brushed silver paper, embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper folder and strategically punched with the medium oval. 

Yes, this belt buckle is proportioned correctly - they wear them BIG - this IS Texas!

Wiry White Hare

I've done Bugs Bunny and I've done Rabbit from the Hundred Acre Wood, soooo, to distinguish him from the others, I guess we should call this little guy a wiry white hare.  (Not to be confused with those wiry white hairs that have appeared on my head)

Head - medium oval and half a butterfly
Nose - small heart
Belly - wide oval and small oval (pink)
Hind legs - full heart
Front paws - medium oval
Ears - large oval near small oval hole

Whiskers - thin wire curled around the end of a thin paintbrush.  SU used to sell this wire - I suspect you can find it at a big box craft store or maybe even a hardware store.

Note: He is also cute if you just make his head and leave off the body.

I worked on this springtime guy while the temps in North Texas were in the teens, the wind chills worse, the rolling power outages occurring frequently, the schools closed, and the roads icy.  I don't know if the ground hog saw his shadow or not but I'm doing my part to THINK SPRING!

And I hope all these Super Bowl Fans who have descended upon us this week take this cruddy weather back home with them - they are used to it - I'm not.

Happy Ground Hog Day!

Waiting on the recipe....

Yes, another unfinished project... just WAITING on me to add the recipe.  Waiting... Waiter...  You knew I couldn't resist that one.

Couple of retired things here - Key Tag which as we have discussed before you can get from a rectangle and a corner rounder - and the slot punch which you really can't get but you can substitute little straight scraps.  I really can't imagine why SU retired that one and I think they should bring it back - even ladies who don't do punch art used it to put ribbon on cards...

I won't keep you WAITING any longer (giggle)
Here's the recipe for the waiter:

Hair - small tag punch shortened
Face - key tag (retired)
Eyebrows and moustache - slot punch
Eyes - a standard hole punch in white and black
Nose - small circle (itty bitty punch pack) trimmed on sides
Mouth - small circle next to small circle hole (just need that sliver)
Shirt - key tag (still retired) punched at top with key tag and I inserted the bottom into the ornament punch to get the point (you could cut with scissors)
Tie - Full heart next to full heart hole (just need a sliver and then trim to shorten
Arm - small tag  - trimmed (hint - the elbow is the small top part of the tag punch)
Gloved hand - wide heart to heart
Tray - scrap
Serving Cover - Wide oval end and a standard hole punch

Remember you can change his expression by moving the mouth and eyebrows!

Oh, let's just continue this unfinished theme...

Long time readers know that I get on "themes"   - maybe a bunch of Loony Tunes characters, or back views, or the Peanuts gang....

So, I'm hanging with this "unfinished" theme for yet another day 'cause... well, because it is just darn easy and I keep on finding other things to do than finish stuff (I'm on a reading jag right now, and you KNOW how hard it is to put down a good book.....)

I got the TWO new punches in the mini catalog today - yep, I waited until Sale-a-bration to order them. 

Translation:  Sale-a-bration - when you get free stuff with every $50 spent - an annual event with Stampin' Up!

So, I opened the box about an hour ago - put stuff away quickly cause I'm still on my cleaning thing - finished cooking dinner, ate, and ran back to make sure my punches were punching and instantly saw....

Little Christmas ornaments from the Blossoms Petals Punch

Not that you need Christmas ornaments at this time of year, but file that away in your memory bank because I'm sure you are going to order this punch. 

Right? 

Of course you are.

AND

in addition to the ornaments - it also is the answer to my feather duster issue (although, I have to say I liked the cocktail suggestion).  If I can't turn THIS

into a feather duster - I'm hanging up my Punch Lady Title.

Unfinished Share

I don't want to face that Angry Blog Reader so here I am again - sharing something unfinished. 

The punch art is finished - I just don't have it on the recipe card...

Base - modern label - just 2 "bumps" worth
Stand up part (technical name, I'm sure) - modern label
Top - wide oval trimmed flat
Buttons - dry embossed using the mat in the good old paper piercing kit as the template
Beater - thin strip and word window repunched in brushed silver cardstock- use pen or marker for "holes"

VERY easy and applicable to so many recipes!

What am I going to do?

This is the cleaning "me" I was working on before it morphed into Angry Blog Reader.  I am still unfinished because the punched version of a feather duster that I use to clean my stove top didn't work out.  So I'm open to suggestions to how to finish "me" off.  Huh? Huh? Huh?  What shall I make myself hold/do/be?

This really is me - glasses - sticky out gray hair - jeans - crooked nose.  Except I don't wear red lipstick.  And my arms aren't that thin.

Pants are the small tag punch - snipped to crotch
Shirt - wide oval trimmed
Face - owl
Hair - scallop circle repunched
yadda yadda yadda - same old stuff

I will give you a couple of REAL cleaning tips -(besides using a feather duster on your stove when you never cook.)

Try those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers for your bathtub - LOVE THEM!  They really do work and are so easy!

AND get a swiffer duster - the ones that extend - oh my gosh - I can dust my ceiling fan and my baseboards with the same tool without bending over OR getting a step-stool.  FABULOUS TOOL. Now my ceiling fans and baseboards stay clean instead of the once (or twice) a year cleaning they used to get.  Oh, don't get so grossed out - the health department has NEVER had to come to my house.  Promise!

Angry Readers

Oh my gosh, you gals crack me up!

Here is a hilarious comment I got this morning from Melanie:
"OK do all of your cyber friends need to band together for a road trip and do an intervention? If you need motivation I have glue dots just waiting on you, they are dusty but waiting patiently. If you are spending this time cleaning I need you to come to me! Think Kentucky and bring hefty bags.
Need inspiration?? How about me having to clean as I have nothing to punch? RETURN OH PUNCH FAIRY"

I was actually in the process of making an old cleaning lady (ME) when I read this - the Inspiration Fairy must have flickered past because she quickly morphed into

Angry Blog Reader

Hands on her hips, toe tapping, waiting for me to get on the job and create some new punch art!

I don't promise daily posts but I'll try to work in a little more frequent desk time and maybe we can get that Fairy to do her thing so Melanie's glue dots will not petrify.

Owl face, 5 petal flower shoes, scallop trim border punch for glasses - the rest is the usual stuff.

Stalking

When someone says "stalk" I think celery. 

Maybe because I'm trying to eat more veggies...?

Turns out I have a stalker.

A dear reader misses my posting and said she would continue to stalk me waiting for my return.

Stalking - funny and flattering at my age and situation

Stalking - creepy when some guy she barely knows is calling my daughter 9 times in 2 hours during the middle of the night.  I'm hoping it was a bout of "butt dialing" but we will be vigilant about that situation.

In case someone else is wondering - I'm fine.  Just busy.  And I never know whether to post some blather to try to make you laugh or wait until I have some punch art worthy of sharing.

I can blather about something to try to amuse you on a daily basis but they have professionals that get paid to do that  - no one from the comedy channel has knocked on my door begging me to submit my nonsense for airing or publication.

Working on some recipe pages for a friend so I'll have something to share soon.

Thanks for noticing I was missing.

Link to Love Bug

Are you in the "Mood for Love"? 

No, I'm not trying to seduce you - I just saw a CUTE CUTE CUTE Valentine Love Bug on Kay's Creations on Paper blog and thought I'd send you HERE to see it.

Darling!

No, I'm not calling you that -  "Darling!" is the perfect adjective to describe her project.

She is offering a class so she doesn't have the directions posted but I'm betting some of you clever clever ladies can figure it out for yourselves - or at least get close - if you need a Love Bug.

Victim of the New Year

I know I have neglected both the blog and my punches the last few days - and I might have to let the neglect linger for a couple more.

I have been busy busy busy.

I am a victim of the new year.

I am one of those people that want my house all clean and organized for the new year.  I'm not alone - seems like the stores all have sales on "organization tools" and bins and cute boxes this time of year because many people seen to have this same illness.

Oh, I used to be worse - I had to have my house spic and span on New Years Eve.  That doesn't happen anymore.  But by the time hubby gets back to work and the kids that are in school go back to school - I go on a clean out - throw out - clean up - reorganize mission.  And that is what has been going on around here.

Fortunately, the house wasn't it too bad of shape.  So I am using my New Year disease to focus on my stamp area.

Here is my confession.  I am not a very good SU demo anymore.  Oh, I love the product.  I use the product.  I just don't do much selling of the product.  SO I decided to reorganize my area for the way I actually USE things - not the way I needed things when I was holding workshops.

I UNMOUNTED my wood stamps and put them on cling mount - then totally ignoring "sets" I sorted them into categories that have meaning to me.  GASP!  Don't have a stroke - I'm not asking YOU to de-set-afy your stamps - but this will work for me.

THEN - because my play area is out in the middle of our home - I tried to make things LOOK nicer.  By simply adding a paper liner to my clear boxes - my stamp area looks so much better.

Let me show you:

Sorry for the reflection - all the cleaning and polishing paid off in glare!

I took this shot from the "side" so you could see that the paper is just on the bottom and front of the clear case (the kind SU wood stamp sets have come in for years).  For this size case I cut my paper 9x5.5 and scored it at 8 inches - added a label - slipped it in the box and filled it with unmounted stamps in that category.

For "categories" that had fewer stamps - I used the new DVD size cases that SU uses for the new cling mount stamps (and you can buy them separately) - I also slipped in some pattern paper and added a label for those.

In the photo I left a box with mounted wood stamps and one with unmounted stamps in them - so you can see how much better my shelf looks just by adding the paper liners.

And if you look closely at the photo you will see boxes with "tools" in them - brass stencils and sizzlits - and one for "faux denim" where I pre-made some paper.  Makes for a more cohesive look in my stamp area.

If you need more info or are interesting in my categories leave a comment.  Otherwise, I'm ending this little novelette and unmounting that last stamp set in the photo...

Mr. Versatile

I am making an effort to use some of my "purchases" that sit neglected. 
I decided I HAD to make something using one of the two tag punches. 

THIS is what I came up with.....

Mr. Versatile

Why that name?

Because he can also look like this

or even this

(in case you need to scrap the robber on the bank surveillance tape)

Pick a topping and make your man!

Head - wide oval

Chin - small tag punch

Nose - 3/4 circle trimmed

Moustache - curly label next to curly label hole at shorter end

Sunglasses - butterfly (just bottom half)

Sunglasses ear pieces - cut word window in half (hot dog style) - use the ends

Add some highlights with while gel pen

Hair - oval cut like grass

Baseball cap - 1.75 circle cut a little off from half - big piece cap, small piece brim

Set Sail

I have not taking up sailing - I am not a water girl.

I prefer my water in the tub.

Or lapping against my toes in the sand.

But deeper than my head is not my thing.

Don't like the lake, don't like to fish from a boat, don't want to canoe.

I'm willing to test out a huge cruise ship however.   (Honey, are you reading this?)

The life preserver and anchor were made for my friend Eileen the glitter queen.  She was making the CUTEST sailing scrapbook for a friend and needed a few extra embellishments.  I had to leave before she finished but she PROMISED to take pictures.

Link to "guy stuff" punch art

I titled this "guy stuff" but I'm sure there are plenty of girls equally into this.

Two punch art projects I would never have done 'cause I would never have thought to do them.
But they might be just what YOU need
Check it out:

Star Trek Ship - HERE by Kelly Mayou - this is very impressive
Halo Master Chief - HERE also by Kelly Mayou - looks impressive (and I assume it is accurate but I've never played Halo so I really don't know)

Once upon a time, Kelly made requests of me... now she just whips out her punches and gets it done.  Way to go Kelly - these are fabulous!

Odds and Ends

Disclaimer - No punch art today

But if you come just 'cause you like me and my blather, I do have something else to show you.

I mentioned that I "saved" my hubby a bunch of money at a 40% OFF sale.  This box is one of the things I got

It started out as a plain white shiny box and in just one afternoon I got it all "fancy" and cute for my desk to fill with odds and ends.

VERY little of this is SU product - but I wanted to use up some "other stuff" and I wanted to use something that I wasn't tired of seeing all the time - so I dug down in the stash a few inches (or feet or yards - I'm not telling how deep the stash really is)

One of the things I like best about SU is the coordination of colors - if you have paper - you have ink that will coordinate.  So this little box was a little more work than I'm used to - and a little frustrating at times but that just made me use my thinking cap.

Three of the papers I used were part of a line of paper so they coordinate but the frogs, the red flower and the brown dots were just odd bits that I added in.  Pretty brave of me and I'm very happy with the result.

I used up some retired chipboard pieces to frame some of the handles and I used a BIG piece on the back

Don't ask me what happened to the color  - my daughters are not jaundiced at this point in time - and I didn't change the lighting from the first pictures (haunted camera, I guess).  That chipboard heart is hiding the seam in the paper where I had to piece things - there is another piece point but it wasn't as obvious so I left it.

I left the "top" open on the back so I can swap out photos if I want to.

Here are some tips if you ever decide to tackle covering a similar box:

It was GLARING white so I tried to ink the "edges" to distress them.  Ink didn't "stick" to the gloss - so I got out my sanding block and roughed up the shine and sponged on some ink BEFORE I covered it in paper.

Go for a distressed look because it hides your boo boos

To attach the paper - I cut then applied mod podge (matte finish) to the back of the paper with a foam brush (1 inch wide throw away kind).  Start in the middle and brush out to the edges.  Stick onto the box and you have a few seconds to "move" the paper to the correct spot.  Then take your bone folder on its side and burnish your paper down.

Now I need to go fill up the drawers with all my little embellishments that I forget about and start using them!

Santa 1964

Last year, one of my Santa Creations was a Golf Santa and I said I'd use him on a layout with a photo of hubby because that was the only way I'd ever have a picture of hubby with Santa.

WRONG!

When I cleaned out my in-laws house for my father-in-law to move home this past summer, I told him my reward would be the closet under the stairs - I would get to go through it and copy the old photos (that I knew were there but had never seen).  He said I could have ANYTHING from the closet that I wanted.

Well, despite my hubby's claims that his photo was never taken because he was the third boy... I found a box of photos of him and this little gem was there

The "greenish" stuff is actually silver embellishments from my stash - but from the photos I took, we had a choice of awful glare or greenish embellies.

Evidently Santa had really thick eyebrows in the sixties - and a grumpy face.  I'm glad he got happier and better groomed before my girls came along - I'd hate to have too many photos with this furrowed (and hairy) brow.

FYI - the lettering is vanilla cardstock stamped with a newsprint background stamp and then the letters were die cut.  SU has/had some paper that looked like this - now I can stop worrying about running out and make my own.  I hit a 40% off sale at a scrapbook store and broke the bank saving my husband money!