WOYWW...no, really it's not an old picture...

 

...my desk is truly covered in unmounted stamps again.  I'm still in the process of getting them all painted with Tack-It Over and Over glue.  Still have Christmas, leaves, and the one with random... um, "stuff" in it.  I think I have too many stamps. (no, say it ain't so!) At least hubby thinks so.  And yes I am a total nerd and they are all organized by type, all the flowers together, all the food together, all the leaves, all backgrounds, etc.

...well except for that "stuff" one.  But that one is labeled with what all is in there.  I mean really, in which category do you put a lawnmower stamp?  Or light posts?  Or masks? Or a work glove? (yes, one single work glove...grab bags, gotta love the randomness!) Or... okay, you get the idea.  But it is easier to find what I'm looking for!  ...ooh that reminds me of a song, except in the song they didn't find what they're looking for.  Should've put it in categories...and who else is singing now?  And just so you know, yes, my individual word stamps are in alphabetical order.  Can we say OCD?  I think we can.

So in the spirit of 'Why is she showing us this again?!?"  you also get a peek of my new Cricut/Big Shot table (with trash can conveniently located right there, no more walking around the end of the shelves to throw out the itty bitty leftovers!).  A two-for-one kind of deal just for you!  If you're wondering the awesome table (that folds up so it can be only the width of the section with shelves) is from Jo-Ann's.  Where there is also a whole new section of NEW stamps...  All righty then, off to peruse the desks to see actual workspaces in use for the fun crafty bits, not the boring organizing bits.  Hop over the pond to the Lovely Julia, Queen of Desks and join in on the snoopy fun!  ooh, did I mention that I'll be across the pond myself in a week and 4 days?  No?  Well I will be!  Going with my sister's AP English class for a tour of London and Scotland.  Woo and Hoo.  So UK peeps, where in London do I go to stock up on crafty goodness? 

Drunken Stampers...It's All About Him!

What a great challenge this week!  Because those boys, they're tough.  Why can't they just like flowers?  And swirls, and butterflies, and bling and...and...and...all that other stuff that's soooo easy and in my comfort zone?  Arrgh!  Why must they make me step out of my happy fluffy, girly box?  Oh, sorry.  Right.  Back to the project in hand.  Or rather, on the Big Shot.  And btw...that's part of my stamp/stash storage shelves in the background...sneak peek for you... bonus!  Apologies, got a bit distracted there, back with you now. So here is my masculine-y project.  And masculine it is... well, umm, the scalloped edges maybe not so much!  But at least there is a car, I mean how much more masculine can you get?  Probably should have changed the speedometer reading though, 'cause 40?!?  For a guy?!?  In that car?!?  Yeah...also not so much.  The box is made from the SU! scalloped envelope die and the directions can be found on Splitcoast Stampers.  Just go to resources and search for "scalloped envelope box".  It's a great tutorial and I'm happy to have stolen it.  There I go stealing again!  Please don't call the crafting cops... but wait, it's okay, I did say where I got it, so it's like when you footnote something in a research paper, right?  Right?  Come on, back me up here!  please?  whew, thanks!  Knew I could count on you!...  Back to the project!  Some SU! First Edition paper and the 'To a Classic' stamp set with a button and some linen thread and some ribbon hiding under the car.  But it's masculine ribbon.  Not that fluffy girly ribbon.  Strong and manly, yeah baby! 

Simon Says Stamp and Show... a word

My word is Love as you could probably tell from the big stamped love in the frame.  But you know just in case there were any questions...(ha) For this creation, I covered an itty bitty canvas with Liquitex coarse texture gel.  You can't tell form the pic, but if you touch it it feels like sand, way cool!  Then added Broken China and Faded Jeans Distress Stains.  Had to dry them with the heat gun cause they didn't dry fast enough on the coated canvas for my taste.  Which would be immediately because although patience is a virtue, it's not one of mine.  :P  Then I tried to apply the stains on the edges and it wouldn't work (okay it probably would have eventually if I was patient...'nuff said right?) so I went back and put a super thin coat of the texture stuff ...which doesn't really dry well with the heat gun... and put the Vintage Photo Stain on.  Teh love was stamped with Versamark and colored n with Distress Inks and a blender pen and then I sponged on some Antique Linen and Vintage Photo DI.  Added two gears (since it's for my hubby I had to "man" it up) and bunged some confetti hearts into a bottle and glued the frame, bottle, and hinge fastener on with Glossy Accents.  Did I mention that I'm not patient?  Yeah, if you glue on a bottle you kinda need to leave it laying flat 'till the glue dries... oh well, just scooted it back up and walked away so I wouldn't be tempted to see what it looked like standing up until completely dry.  Have a crafty day!

Drunken Stampers...Twisted Fairytales

Not the Fairy God-Monkey!!  AHHH!  But not only is it the Fairy God-Monkey, it's the Fairy God-SOCK-Monkey!  Of death!  Okay, maybe not death.  She is a little too pink and purple and smiley for death.  Hopefully this meets the "Twisted Fairytale" requirements over at the Drunken Stampers Lounge.  Loved the theme this time and you've GOT to go check some of the other entries, they are awesome.
So here is how the Fairy God-SOCK-Monkey of not death was created.  Not WHY mind you, only HOW.  The new Spun Sugar Distress Stain applied to tag (and just btw...Distress Stains ROCK!!!  Are you listening Ranger?  We need the other 24 colors...NOW!) and dried with the heat gun.  Then Dusty Concord sponged on top and the sides, then slapped some more Spun Sugar Stain on there.  There are actually three layers of the stamped swirly, you just can't really see 'em.  First layer Spun Sugar, second layer Milled Lavender (umm mostly, the stamp wasn't exactly clean, but it actually looks pretty cool in person) and the third layer is Dusty Concord after stamping off onto a scrap paper then stamping on the tag.  The stamp was made with foam using Tim Holtz's fabulous flourish die.  Here is a closer-up of the words: 

They were printed onto vellum and then I distressed the edges and covered 'em with Old Paper DI, stuck on with glue dots that got covered up with some really old tiles that I cut in half.  The pearls on the bottom and scattered about the tag are from Stampin' UP!  Fairy God-SOCK-Monkey herself was made from a
SU! stamp that was stamped with Archival ink onto sticky back canvas and colored with Distress inks using a blender pen.  She was then viciously cut apart ('cause in the original stamp she's sittin' down) and stuck onto card stock with a pretty glittery dress cut on the Cricut with DCWV's glitter stack paper.  Her crown, wings, and magic wand are grungeboard variously covered with Distress Stains, Distress Stickles (which don't show up in the pics, but really and truly are there), and gold paint dabber.  And more SU! bling for her necklace and crown. 

 The pearls on the ribbon are from 7 Gypsies and some Adornaments.  Whew!  Oh yeah, and like every good Fairy God-SOCK-Monkey, she has googly eyes.  Hope you enjoy looking at her as much as I enjoyed making her!

WOYWW 94... actual stuff! in use even!

To start the tour of our in progress, yes I'm actually making something desk, please look to your left (no,in the picture, silly!) and you will see: a brad box, a stamp-a-ma-jig, some backing paper from foam tape, some used-it-but-didn't-like-it CS, two really cool flowers, some stamps that are unmounted and not put away (shame on me! whatcha bet they get lost...), some really cool background paper left over from the really cool flowers, a very used scratch paper, a marker, an adhesive eraser, a black stayz-on pad that is for some unknown reason upside down, a clear acrylic block, a bone folder, some scissors, and (whew!) an adhesive.  Wow.  Tons of stuff.  Oh yeah, there's a two stacks of finished cards back there on the lamp base.  Can't show the top stack yet 'cause it is for a challenge that I designed for some friends, and I can't show you the actual thing I'm working on 'cause it's for my Stamp Camp this weekend and I think it only fair that they get to see it first (well, really second 'cause I've already seen it... ha!) But I will show you the card that makes up the bottom stack on the lamp.  It is the cutest card that I stole, um, copied, um cardlifted?  from the very talented Wendy Weixler (whose last name I hope I've spelled correctly)  Click on her name to see some more of her stuff, it's rad.  And if you haven't joined in the fun yet, click here to be transported across the pond (without the hassle of airport security even!) to the Duchess of Desks, Julia Dunnit.  I leave you with my awesome card that I totally stole (well, let's just be honest shall we? umm it may be too late, I did after all already steal the card idea...) 
                   Have a fab tour of the desks! 
And didja notice that I have(once again)changed the name of the blog?  It might be the last time, but don't count on it!  :)

WOYWW

 
No, not a new blog, just a new title because it makes me too sad to see the dear departed Inky Cat on the title.  One of the reasons I haven't blogged anything since last Tuesday.  Just couldn't stand to have to think about changing stuff on here.  But we must move on and I'm trying.  Still really difficult, I keep looking for my Inky Cat to be on his spot on the sofa when I go into the living room.  And I do miss being woken up 50 times from about 4am to 6am.
SO!  Onto the desk... we have stamps that I removed from the wood blocks because I was running out of space.  At the time I just stuck them onto packing-taped pieces of card stock with removable adhesive, or card stock that I had covered with some Xyron removable (hah!) adhesive.  Yeah, not the best options.  Didja know that the removable doesn't stay removable after about a year?  Sticks right onto the backs of those stamps.  Especially the ones that still had the foam padding on them...yeah some of them had "accidents" and the foam came off too...   So I've been going through and painting the backs of the stamps with Aleen's Tack-it Over & Over glue.  And that seems to work.  I'll let you know in another year how that works out for me...  Back to painting stamps and browsing through the desks for me!  if you don't know what WOYWW is, hop on over to Julia's for an explanation and have a lovely Wednesday!

Tremendously sad news.  The Inky Cat has passed away.  He got suddenly sick on Friday and stopped eating and declined over the weekend.  By this morning he could barely walk and had trouble breathing.  We think that his kidneys finally failed.  Please think about my adorable Inky Cat.  He lived 19 good years and was dearly loved and will be forever missed.