Whirlpool of Imagination

Crayon Craftiness

Okay, you've seen them all over the internet (or at the very least, all over Pinterest)....it's the melted crayon art. I've seen some really cool and clever ones and definitely have it on my to do list.

The other day the kids were looking for something to do so why not pull out the crayons, the glue gun and the dryer, right?

It's a really easy project but fun. Take a canvas and glue crayons along the top. (I ued a small 8x10 canvas thinking it would be good for a first attempt).

Then have a go at it with the hair dryer and melt those crayons for all their worth.

Conor went with the blow the hot air in all directions process. We've decided it looks like fireworks.

Meg, the more deliberate of the two went with a more traditional look.

Now they want to try bigger, more elaborate projects......I guess it's a good thing I go crazy buying crayons on sale in September!

Have a great night!

The Prodigal Elf

I usually post everything non-crafty on my Running with Lollipops blog but since the kids and I will be making a mini scrapbook out of this eventually, I thought I'd add a quick post here.

If you'd like to follow the Adventures of Earl, our Christmas elf, I'll post updates on on the trouble, ahem adventures, he gets into over on the other blog.

And tomorrow I'll be back with more craftiness.

Medallion Thank You

Happy Thanksgiving to all my US readers! I hope the day has been filled with lots of lovely memories.

I had planned on posting these cards yesterday but it helps to actually upload them from your camera! LOL

Today's thank you card is one of those all occasion thank you designs that I like to have on hand. No matter the reason for the thank you, a design like this works for most anything.

Here's my artsy up close set photo:

The doily medallion stamp is from Stampin' Up and the sentiment is from Papertrey. I went with one of my favorites, marina mist for the image and a navy for the sentiment.

And I'm off for tonight - I plan on making it an early night so I can be up bright and early for my crazy day of Black Friday shopping! ~ first stop Michael's for some crafty deals ~ so I must get some sleep.

Have a wonderful night!

Week of Thank You's

I figured that since this week is Thanksgiving, I'd show off a variety of thank you cards that I have (or are in the process of) creating.

Today's set is for the parents of a little one who needs to send off some thank you cards.

I thought this little elephant was adorable so I just had to ink him up. Both the sentiment and image are from Papertrey Ink. The blue and green shades are such fun in real life!

I have a clear day planned so I'm off to the studio to let the stamps and ink fly! Hope you have a creative day too!

And Now an Early Christmas

Last post I was finishing up Halloween and now I'm jumping to Christmas. I know there is a lovely holiday in between and I haven't finished crafting for Thanksgiving yet but I need to get some new stock in my store and the holiday shopping season has already started so I've got to break out the Christmas tree (figuratively, I promise not to put my tree up yet!)

I have a bunch of stamps from Papertrey that I haven't inked up yet so I thought I'd start getting them inky this week.

This cute little loopy tree (as I'm calling it) is from Papertrey and stamped with hunter ink. The sentiment is from a brand new set from Taylored Expressions.

I paired the hunter with my beloved wasabi and the color combo just makes me smile - MUST create more with those colors together.

Along with stocking my store, my goal is to start creating my Christmas cards for the year. I say EVERY year that I'm going to try to get mine done before Thanksgiving so I can concentrate on orders and EVERY year I fail miserably. But I figure one year I will prevail so I'll put it out there and maybe this year it will stick!

Have a great night!

A Late Halloween

After a crazy winter storm in the end of October, losing power for 7 days and having the kids out of school for a total of 7 lost weekdays, this month has started with quite a bang.

I am finally getting myself out of the mental fog that enforced "vacation" created and getting back on track. But before I say goodbye to Halloween, I wanted to share just two more cards.

Both Meg and Conor had Halloween parties this year and, as usual, I wanted to create something fun for their invitations. I will admit though that this year was busier than most so I kept them much simpler than in the past.

Conor's invite featured a mummy digi stamp from Spyder's Corner. This is a new digi company that I tried and I have to give kudos for fantastic customer service. I had a problem with the download and Lyn was very responsive and helpful. I will definitely buy from her again.

He was colored with copic markers and I used a red spica pen for just a touch of sparkle to those bloodshot eyes.

For Meg, we went the witch route from a fantastic digi stamp from Mo Manning, digi stamps that are always fabulous.

My witch is colored with copic markers. For her hair, I used prismacolor markers and baby oil to smooth the pencil lines out.

The parties were a bug success (and exhausting for the adults - LOL) and I'm very glad to be moving on from this crazy year of no Halloween. Finally I can look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. Have a fantastic day!