Imagination takes Flight!

Morning Y'all!
Well my parents have left for home and I have been working on my secret project almost the whole time they were here. I've been so excited to share it with you and MOST of all to show you that you should NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!!!!! limit yourself to what a kit is! So I will start with what I used as kits. I used:

Christmas Open House Svg Kit, 3d Wintergreens,3d Mums and Fall Flowers. Bet you can't guess what I used to make some of the things in this new project... Yep most of it was pine cone "leaves" or what ever they are called. 

The body is actually the snowman container but instead of having an open lid I altered the top to close just like the bottom of the snowman. To make the top of the head round I added the accent pieces over the top of the head. Each Feather is made by using the shape of the pine cone pieces and making skinny triangles and placing them in various places around the edge of the pine cone. I also cut the strip at the bottom off using my Silhouette program.  I used Designer addition of Silhouette which I got from SVG cuts at an awesome deal to design or alter the main shapes from SVG cuts. You place the triangles around the shape then select the whole shapes and subtract. I then went in really close and adjusted the nodes to make it smooth . I have done this with the whole project. That is the reason it has taken me so long to make it. I made two sizes of the small body feathers then inked them with Close to Cocoa a retired ink color. I used my flower shaping tools I love so much to shape the feathers.
The beak was another SVG I designed myself. I just started thinking about how I waned it to look and did a lot of research looking at  pictures to see the shape. I will list my paper colors at the bottom of this "book" with all the supplies I used as always. I shaped it as well and hot glued it on to the face. Ok now here is where if you didn't have this SVG kit I think you could use another that might have the same kind of file. I used the Tick Seed Centers from 3d fall flowers SVG Kit to make the eye feathers around the eyes. I curled them up a bit and inked them with pumpkin Stampin up ink. I had already decided that I was going to use my 14 round Epiphany Craft tool for the eyes, just wasn't sure what color I wanted the eyes. I used my 3/8 in circle punch to make the black pupil then I used the Epiphany tool to make the rest of the eye. I used American Craft Card stock on the whole thing but for the eye I used the color Storm. I love me my American Craft Card stock!
I designed the SVG for the feet as well and all I can tell you is start with rectangles and some tall triangles then weld those together and play like crazy with the nodes! I did try to add the little flaps that Mary does on her projects to make it more rounded but when I put in on the log( recycled toilet paper roll) they flattened out. The design needs more work for sure. The front of the owl and the feet are made using Latte American Craft card stock. I used a very retired color ink for the feet It is called Creamy Carmel. The Lines on the feet were brushed on using Stampin up Soft Suede Marker. The toe nails I used a black Copic Marker to give them their color but I did want to use Inkssentials black glossy accents.. I don't have any so that is what I did instead.

I confess I ruined three sponge daubers and will have to purchase some more as I use them a lot when sponging on my ink. For the branch Mr. Owl is sitting on I used a recycled toilet paper roll cut in half and glued the other half inside for stability. The Branch is covered in Chestnut and my forest branches embossing folder was used before hand. I also inked it with three different colors ink. Close to Cocoa, Papertrey inks, Vintage Cream, and Hero Arts Shadow Ink Mid-tone Cup of Joe. I just blotted it with a regular sponge till I achieved the look I wanted.
Ok you ready for the long feathers???? I used the Boxwood from the 3d Wintergreens to make the long feather. I know Whhaaaattt??? ok just consider me weird and get it over with!  I cut one of the round boxwood shapes off the stick and went to work. Now I did do the same thing as the small feathers making a small triangle and arranging them around the shape, then subtracting them and thought ok I am ready to try and cut this tomorrow. Well I woke up the next day and while laying in bed I was thinking about the wing shape. Nope there was something bugging me and that is when I got bring the points in a bit and round it. So I got up early (even beat my dad up LOL) and worked on the shape till I got it right. I did enlarge the shape and elongated it and here is the kicker I used the Shear window to help get the look I was going for. I shaped those and hot glued them on using my detail hot glue gun I bought on amazon.The same Close to Cocoa ink was used on the longer feathers.

I used a pine Cone from one of our trees in the back yard on a small branch and added one of Mary's Pine cones as well then made the short pine needle branch and cut it in half and hot glued those in place. So there you have it my long involved project that I made and well Mom is getting this one.
She had said over and over that she loved my rooster and I just couldn't think about doing that again it was so hard on my hands and arms. I was also ready to try to do something like that again and learn as I went, which I did. I am hurting today and will need to take about a week off of doing long involved projects before I can start another one. I already have an order for one and I sure didn't expect that! It is for someone I love very much so it will be a labor of love that I get the extra  blessing of getting paid for it.
Ok Y'all I am sure you have had a couple of cups of coffee by now and now need a trip to the restroom. Sorry this was so long but I did do a lot and when I don't explain it all some really get upset with me. Thank you so much for reading this whole thing and for visiting me again. It blesses my heart to know your reading this and when you leave your comments I am blessed again. Here is the heart of this project: Mary and Leo work very hard to bring you amazing kits but that isn't the only thing you can do with them. They are a jumping off place for your creativity. To me you give Mary the highest compliment when you take her design and go with it. I have learned so much from the design of Mary's files and it has taught me how to design for myself. Don't look at the whole picture or you wont even start. Think of them as simple shapes and go from there.Thanks again for settin with me Y'all and  Happy Crafting! Blessings Sharalyn

SVG Kits used:
Christmas Open House SVG Kit
3D Wintergreens SVG Kit

3D Mums and Fall Flowers SVG Kit
Supplies used:
American Craft Card Stock: Storm, Black, Tangerine, Clay, Latte, Evergreen
Stampin Up Ink: Close to Cocoa, Pumpkin, Soft Suede Pen
Papertrey Ink: Vintage Cream
Hero Arts Shadow Ink Midtone, Cup of Joe
Epiphany Crafts 14 round tool
Copic Marker Black
Recycled Toilet paper roll
Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive
Detailed Hot glue Gun. (has a very small tip)

Happy Fall Y'all!

Afternoon Y'all,
Yesterday it was 83 degrees here and today it didn't make it past 66 degrees. We saw the Turkey Vultures come over the house yesterday and I told my hubby, we know it is fall when they come back. I guess it is fall finally. Whew!

I have seen the beautiful window cards on pinterest and I just love them. When your bank account can't support your wish list and no one is knocking on your door so to speak to let you push their new products for them you make do. That is what I did to make this card. Now  I am not saying I wouldn't like to have that die, I would, in fact there are a ton of poppy dies I would LOVE to have but well  I live on a fixed income now since hubby retired. So I looked on my list of SVG's I have to see if I had something that would work and I found the Townhouse SVG mini pack. Perfect!!!
I realized I would have to layer them a bit to give it the full  look and adding the Forest branches embossing folder helped a lot with that. I also had seen a Tim Holtz video where he put the ink on the embossing folder on the indented side and then embossed the paper so I tried it. I like the way it came out.
I started with a standard size card base which is 5 1/2 by 4 1/4. Then I cut 2 windows one at H. 3.400W 3.000 the other H 3.5.0000 W 3.085 and used a dark brown ink on my Forest Branches embossing folder by Cuttle Bug. Wiping the ink off with a baby wipe after your done,  works quite well. Make sure you don't use Stazon or it will stay on! I glued one to another slightly off center so  it would look like it had more depth. Ok now here is where I had a serious brain fart! ( sorry Miss Lorna!) I couldn't get the cut out for the card right using my machine. Ah  duh make it smaller and just a square.. yep realized that after I finished the card. Ok so instead I measured the inside of the window and marked it off using a pencil then cut it with my craft knife. I have heard Kristina Werner say not to try and cut the whole way through with one slice but to take another slice over the first till your all the way through. This is a much better way trust me. I do know. Then I used some really pretty fall leaves vellum I have had in my stash. I love this paper and buy it when ever I can afford it and can find it. It is a DCWV paper. I glued that to the outside of the card cut out then glued the frame over the top.
The die I used is by Memory box and is called Flowering Winterberry. I love these as they are thin dies and are made of steel. They make an amazing cuts too. The leaves come with this die and it also has berries as well. They are all attached when they come and you can take them apart but it is less likely that you'll loose them if you keep it together. They are that small. I cut out a few twigs and cut them up gluing the extra pieces onto the back so you couldn't see the cut pieces. It gives it a much more fluid look to it I think. Then I just took my trusty Scotch adhesive  and put a dot of glue where I wanted the leaves. I did use the flower shaping tools I love so much to give the leaves a more realistic look. I added three auburn colored rhinestones to the top three leaves in the corner of the window to give it a little sparkle. The ribbon is from American craft and something I bought at Big lots a couple of years ago. I tied a loose knot and hot glued it on.
 The inside is stamped with a acorn stamp I had and it says Fall is here. That's it, nothing special but I am happy with the way it turned out. I will have to look at it for a while then I will pray and ask whom I should send it too. I know He will pick just the right person he always does.

Mary and Leo make amazing files and most of the stuff they make you can used to do something like some of the amazing cards on Pinterest that use such wonderful dies. If you can afford them then more power to you go buy them. They make absolutely lovely cards. Now my Cameo can do a lot of things but it does struggle with thin things like that and you have no idea just how thin they are till you see it in person.

Thanks so much for reading my blog I love to see your comments and I do read them. On a side note the Christmas card I made using my cameo to make that cross die? Well my dear friend Rose bought me that die as a late birthday present and it came today. Ok it really is amazing. That doesn't mean you can't make a beautiful card without them. Look in your stash of SVG cuts, Look closely at the die and if you can make the design in your Silhouette program or whatever you have, do it! The point is don't let a little thing like money stop you from creating. Create, Dream and don't be afraid of what you don't know, learn how, keep trying till you succeed. If I can do it you can do it! ]
 Blessings everyone! and Happy Crafting! Sharalyn

Townhouse Windows SVG Collection

Supplies used:
 Neenah Desert Storm Card Stock
Stampin up Chocolate Chip ink
Cuttle Bug Forest Branches Embossing Folder
American Craft Card Stock, Danelion, Apricot, Pomegrante
Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive
Auburn colored Rhinestones from ScrapbookSteals.com
American Craft Fall Ribbon

Camera I use is a Nikon Coolpix S6300 but I turn off the flash.

A Frightful Night!

Mornin' Y'all!!!!!
It is that time again and SVG cuts is having a contest!!! I really wasn't going to enter this time as I
have been trying to get better and work on some much needed gifts for next month. Then this idea struck and well the rest is history! Now I started this lamp and got it about done and just quit, I didn't like it. Something was wrong it just wasn't working for me. 2am night before last I woke up after having a dream were I could see what was bothering me and how to change the design. Yep I dream about making things... crazy I know.

 I should say that I think my hubby is a little less than thrilled with this design. He does however like the spider. I think it is a little spooky for him. Any way I started with the tall apothecary jar from Toil and Trouble. I cut the jar at the size it imports but on the top piece made a hole for my saved tubes from the center of foil and plastic wrap. ( I even have my daughter saving stuff like that for me, lol)

I covered the top half of the tube with a 12x6 piece of Black AC Card Stock. I then glued the tube to the inside of the bottle and filled the jar with something to weight down the lamp. Slide the octagon piece over the tube and glue it in place. I am not sure where I got that tube, it may have been a heavy duty foil roll one of the long ones you use for turkeys. Then I cut a 8inch long 1/4 in dowel and painted it black. When it dried I used a sliver ink pad to add distressing to it. I drilled a hole in the dowel so I could put my wire hook in that I made through the dowel. Drill a hole in the tube as well to put the dowel through the tube. The wire I got at Walmart in the Jewelry section. I added silver ink to the wire as well.

Now this is where I redid the whole lamp. I made the tall jar but used my silhouette program to cut off about a 1 or more of the top of the side pieces. Then I changed the nodes to make the top angled at the gluing point like Mary did with the original. I made a square and angled it as well to make the triangles for the cut outs of the lamp. I used the accent pieces as my base and centered them down the middle of that then once the pieces were where I wanted them I deleted the accent pieces. Group them together so you can move that around where you want. To make the vellum for the inside I duplicated the bottom piece of the jar and took out the triangles. I cut that out of the vellum then cut off the bottom and side flaps with scissors.
The top of the jar makes the top and bottom pieces of the lamp. Those were inked with the silver ink pad as well. Glue the bottom pieces onto the lamp. Do use the octagon piece for the bottom of the jar as that is what your battery operated tea candle will sit on. Then make another lid for the jar use it for the top. I didn't glue that down as it is a tight fit and you'll need to get to your light somehow. LOL The hook top is the octagon shape cut in half then two circles welded to the top, glue that onto the top of your lamp. 

As I do a lot, I cut thin strips of black paper for vines and added the leaf pieces from the Gothic Flourishes SVG Collection. I just cut those apart with scissors and arranged it the way I liked. Now Mr. Spider is made using the cauldron from Party on Elm Street SVG Kit. I just turned the cauldron upside down and added the spider legs to the folds on the caldron. I made two of each leg for both strength and so I could leave the end open and glue it onto the jar. Add the accents and no one knows that those are glued that way. I also added an extra bottom in the accent color to finish off the spider. Take about ten red Rhinestones and glue those to the front of the spider so it looks like eyes. I made another one like the last only bit smaller to drag off the leg bone from Mr. Skeleton.
The Skeleton is from Spooky Soiree SVG Kit I just didn't attach the leg bone so I could use if to look as if the spider was dragging it away. So yes I can make it look a bit spooky although I will probably not have the spider dragging the leg bone away on Halloween night as that might scare my youngest grandson Wyatt. He is only three so I would rather not scar him this early. No need to let him know right now his grandma is weird.

So that is it on my lantern, I have entered it into the contest and it would be awesome to win but who knows? Thanks so much for stopping by and visitn' with me. There are lots of great SVG Kits and collections on SVG Cuts. Go have a look and while your there say Hi to the Newlyweds! Thanks again and Happy Crafting Y'all!

SVG Kits and Collections Used:
Toil and Trouble SVG Kit
Party on Elm Street SVG Kit
Spooky Soriee SVG Kit
Gothic Flourishes SVG Collection


American Craft Card Stock-White
American Craft Card Stock -Black
Graphic 45- Steampunk Spells
Graphic 45 - Happy Haunting
Martha Stewart Paper Pack- Elegant Witch Designer Paper
Brilliant Silver ink pad
Stampin up Card Stock Vellum
Red Rhinestones
Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive
Screw brads are from Michael's