Yeah...we got the hoosier moved in...This was my grandmothers cabinet...she used it in her kitchen, way back in the day...the flour mill still works...I will use this cabinet for various storage and supplies...I am just thrilled to finally get to use the cabinet for my stuff...
this photo is a little blurry...but this is the shelving area for my sizzix dies and other things that need to be stacked here...I have not moved the rest of my sizzix stuff in yet...
This is a scrapbook I made filled with cards and letters that my husband sent me and gave me during the first 6 months of us dating...We had a long distance relationship for a while, and the cards and letters kept us close until we saw each other next...This is a spiral bound book, black cardstock pages, and I layered pattern papers that coordinated with each card...I enjoy going back thru the book reading the messages and looking at the cards...
This is the inside front cover of the book...it was the first photo he sent me...I sure love that face...
These are some of the pages using the pattern papers, cardstocks and the cards layered...
The red page on the right also has a small pocket under the card, that contains a letter he wrote...I made pockets for any letters included with the cards, or cards that contained writing on the backs...
The book is becoming somewhat tattered, from looking thru it so much...I used to take it with me when I would demo and teach...so I am thinking of redoing it and making 3 or 4 thinner books from it using my bind it all...This is still one of my favorite projects I have ever done...and one of the most requested for me to show...Quite a few of my students and customers in the past have used the idea to make similar books...my hubby is still just as romantic with his cards for me...but, I would have to make so many books to do all my cards this way...I just keep the others in a drawer...
This is my media, tv corner...I took this photo before I put the table in place...it goes with the two stools...I hope to get the new book case next week...this area will be used for planning layouts, projects, etc...
This is my pine cabinet I had made years ago...back when I was decorative painting all the time, it held my supplies, etc...then when I got married a few years ago...we put it in the kitchen to hold cooking supplies, now...its back holding arts and crafts supplies and photos...
I have been collecting odd jars to hold beads, buttons, flowers, etc...I love the colors and look of all the different jars...I have more to add, but I ran outta jars for the moment...
I had the mirrors installed this week...I was not sure I wanted to give up the wall space...but these were my daddy's mirrors, and moma gave them to me...I really wanted to have them in my studio, as my daddy used to enjoy watching me create...he would sit across the table from me while I stamped or worked on layouts...so, this will be nice to have something of his in there with me...I am using the space next to the mirrors for my 8.5 x 11 cardstock storage...on the other side of that, the Hoosier will be placed...hopefully by Sunday it will be there...
I only have 1 six foot table so far, I will be using another odd table until I can get another one purchased...this is just an overview from me standing in the door way of the dining room area...
This is my desk/work space...yeah...pay close attention...its clean right now...LOL...after Sunday...I don't know...cause, I am going to play Sunday...Good Lord willing and the creek don't rise...
This is the wall behind my desk...it will hold lots of my unmounted stamps, or at least the ones I use on a pretty regular basis...I have more still to move...but they may have to wait a while...The area of wall space at the corner, I will mount a piece of hardware cloth for hanging items to be stored...
These are the new lights...I love them...they use daylight bulbs and they really brighten up the room nicely...I hope to have the other things moved in over the weekend...and then it will be a functional studio...finally...
I made this ATC on the spur of the moment...A friend was looking for something with this image on it...I printed it out and color using inks and a qtip...I covered an ATC with pattern paper, layered the image on...added the beautiful organza ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon and stamped the word from Innovative Stamp Creations...added the flower and some gold paint beads...I made this before I started moving into the new studio...
I was finally able to start moving some things into my new studio room...This corner is where my accu cut machine and dies will go...for now, a temporary table will hold the machine and the dies will be stacked under it...
I got the table and machine in place...I am going to put a shelf under the table to stack the dies on...my Lowes list keeps getting longer...
This table will hold both the Sizzix and Big Shot machines...I will put a shelf under this table as well to hold the dies...
This corner will have a book case to hold all my books, magazines, instructional materials...as well as a tv/vcr for my instructional video's...
These are the temporary tables in the center of the room...these tables will be used until I get my new ones...I will use this desk until I get my big desk moved...I did get the tv moved and some of the drawer units set up...
This is the opposite view of the room...
This is the front door of the house, this wall will hold part of my paper/cardstock...as well as tools that need electricity...electrical outlets are limited in this room...so I had to layout my areas based on that...
I did get this much of my cardstock and pattern paper moved...still got some more 12 x 12 and all my 8.5 x 11 to move yet...This bookcase will be temporary, but will do for now...Its great to finally have some stuff in there to work with...I did get some inks moved in...but no stamps yet...Oh, wait...my new stamp order is in there...I will get to play in there some tomorrow...I have to make 40 party favors for my new grand daughters baby shower on Saturday...We have a new baby coming on August 28 or 29...still not sure which day yet...I am making those little sour cream containers I learned off Split Coast Stampers...I am filling them with mints, as well as baking Lace Cookies...and if I am not too pooped tomorrow night, I will make some Orange Blossom cookies too...
I am making lots of changes in my new studio...I have a few things for sale and will be adding more as I get things moved and gone thru...The Shrine Back die is $40.00 and that includes Shipping/handling/insurance in the US only...email me at debbiesdiecuts@yahoo.com if interested...I take paypal
I have lots and lots of unmounted stamps for sale...various companies, various sizes, from cute, pretty, artsy and lots of inbetween...I have some from HIT, ISC, Time to stamp, Red Castle, and lots more...those were some names I could think of right now...This will be a Priority envy stuffed to the gills...$65.00 and that includes Shipping/handling/insurance in the US only...If you are outside the US and are interested...I will get the shipping cost and let you know the total with your shipping...I take paypal...These stamps are mostly new to like new...a few have been used some and a few do have some ink stains from permanent inks...
This is the Pryamid or Ornament box die cut...excellent condition...$55.00 includes Shipping/handling/insurance in the US only...
Rectangle or Trunk box is $65.00 includes US shipping/handling/insurance in the US only...I take paypal, email me at debbiesdiecuts@yahoo.com if interested in any of these items for sale...
This is what you see when you look to the left, after coming in the front door...the end wall has the fireplace mantel and mirrow, the door goes into the storage room area...the two windows with blinds look out the front of the house...
This is the opposite end of the room...the door goes into the hall way and rest of the house...where the mirrors are leaning again the wall, they will actually be closer to the door and then Hoosier cabinet will go about where they are now...
This is the largest solid wall in the room...the door to the right of the pic is the front door...This is the wall, that will have the die cutting/dry embossing and the paper cutters and scoring boards...there will be some shallow shelves with lights attached to them...to brighten this area up...
This ATC with embossed frame is for a swap I joined on a yahoo group...I used stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations and the delicious new Adirondack Pigment Inks in the blue shades...Organza ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon was added as an accent on the frame and slipped into an ATC sleeve...
I used my embossed faux metal technique to do the frame for this ATC...its going to be included in a background papers swap I am in...I had to make 3 different sheets of background paper...one of the sheets I made was using the same background as this ATC is made from...I then stamped the images from Purple Onion Designs using black ink...its very subtle, but very elegant in real life...
I used a page from a calendar to make this ATC...I added the confetti apples using sticky dots...this was so fun to make...
This moo card was made from the same calendar page, it was the left over scrap piece...I used the Chick set from The Stamping Studio to add the chicks and feet prints...too cute I think...I also did an inchie, but could not get a clear photo of it...so it will have to wait...
I love those Cuttlebug embossing folders...and I love my die cut frames...I covered the cardstock frame with two coordinated pattern papers, embossed each section with a different folder and accented the raised embossed areas by rubbing with dye based ink...I also sponged some ink around the edges...
The photo is from my wedding and shows my wedding cake and my cupcakes in the background...I wanted cupcakes, bbq ribs and tater salad at my wedding reception...I am a country girl to say the least...Well, at the last minute I had to have a cake that we could cut...so, I went to wal mart, bought a white on white 1/4 sheet cake, added some silk flowers like the ones in my bouquet and one of those little bride and groom things for the top...
I used a beautiful satin ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon to camoflauge the paper joint...the ribbon is lime green with a tiny pink thread edge...it was perfect...
I decided to make the other chicken wallie print a little different...since they are going to be on opposite walls in the room...I wanted different looks...and well yeah, I suffer from that marching to a different drummer syndrome...LOL...Anyway...I used the Cuttlebug diamonds, added foiling in gold and copper and then rubbed a bit of Brilliance gold ink to tone down the black cardstock, looks very nice in person...could not get it to photograph just right tho...
I then did the top part with the pattern paper layer with the swirls...rubbed black ink over the embossing...I did not put this one in its frame yet, the frame was out in the storage room and yes, I was too lazy to go get it...I will get it framed and take another photo this week to show ya both of them side by side...I really like them...now, I want to find more stuff to frame...
Ok, I am on a roll here with these recipe pages...LOL...I just had to try out other layouts and looks...I am really liking this one...so I will be making myself a mini recipe book using my file cards and the favorite recipes that I make all the time...I started with the chipboard file card and used those delicious Ranger Adirondack Pigment inks to add some color...then I used stamps from Innovative Stamp Creations to stamp the background...I tore the recipe and title out and sponged each with ink then used darker ink to color the edges...Added some ribbon and used my Fastenator again...hmm...thats two days in a row for the old Fastenator...LOL...
I like the way the background stamped images look...mixing the 3 different ones is very cool I think...
This is the back of the card, if more room for instructions is needed, there is plenty of room to add those..if not, a finished look to the back of each page will be very nice...I plan on doing each page a different color and using different stamps...so my File Card Recipe Book will be very entertaining...
And I just had to do a 6x6 layout size too...just to play some more...I used the flourishes to accent with...
I used more of those wonderful Adirondack Pigment inks to color the recipe, and then stamped the floral images from ISC in a shadow effect...I layered the recipe on a piece of cardstock that was only 1/8 inch larger, so that the dark border didn't over power the softer pattern papers, but still made the recipe the focal point...
I liked using the flourishes across the bottom with the silk flower center...Thanks to Donalda and Claudia for that inspiration...
I also cut a couple of the flourishes apart to accent the top corners...I added lots of gold glitter dots...Looks good with the varying shades of reds...
Well, making recipe pages is just part of it...LOL...I got the entire set of Ranger Adirondack Pigment Inks...OH MY GOSH...I am loving these inks...Betsy at Innovative Stamp Creations, knows what an ink junkie I am...I am doing a recipe page swap and this is one of the samples I made to show a basic recipe page...This one is 8x8, uses a cardstock base page and some layers of coordinating pattern papers...I used the file card die cut, covered with pattern paper, then tore my computer printed recipe and used the Adirondack pigments to color the recipe and ink the edges...I also used the Adirondack pigments to add coloring to the base cardstock page...I added the ribbon to the tab of the file card with the Fastenator...I colored the die cut leaf stem with the Adirondack pigments as well as the silk flowers...This page was so much fun to make...I will share more pages as I get them done...
Claudia has done some wonderful samples for us...She uses our die cuts quite often in her art and her work is such an inspiration...Check out her blog link under my favorites label to see more of the beautiful work she does...The door hanger die cut is now available at the studio blog, be sure and check it out http://thestudioinpreston.blogspot.com
I just had to make another gift bag today...I got my new collage sheets in from Lisa's Altered Art...be sure and check out all the cool sheets she has, you can find her link under my favorites label...I cut out the girl with basket of pumpkins and glued her onto cardstock, then trimmed her out...I used my label maker for the words...I stamped the beautiful swirl image from Innovative Stamp Creations all over the die cut bag, after having rubbed butterscotch pigment ink all over it...
I used a coordinating pattern paper to layer the front, back and both sides of the bag, I could not resist the beautiful velvet rick rack from Really Reasonable Ribbon, oh my gosh, that stuff is grande...I added a decorative pumpkin button also...
I got to play today...first time in over two weeks since I have gotten ink on my fingers...I was in heaven...LOL...My hubby gets the coolest sale magazines for greeting cards and the pictures are perfect for using in my art...All of these are made using pictures from that magazine...
These two images were perfect for ATC's...I love the woman with the pistol...and the flamingo's are just to die for...
These images fit nicely on the Mini ATC's with a nice border of color on each end...I like that look and the ink colors seem to work well with the photos...
I am just adoring these two ACC's or "moo" cards...are those cats just a hoot...and the serene lake scene is where I wish I was right now...
The images in the caty for "inchie" art are endless...oh my gosh...are some of these just too cute...I love those cats...that dog is also one of my favs...I have done him before...
I was in a card swap a while back and had a wonderful swap partner that lives in South Africa...Nettie...she sent me a couple of these chicken images...Well, I had no idea where they were from and she told her they were Wallies...and she did not realize how much I love chickens...so, I decided instead of making cards with them...I wanted to frame them and hang them in my kitchen...I started with my largest frame/mat die cut, from black cardstock, it is 5 x 7 in size I cut a pattern paper frame, but only wanted part of it layered onto the black base frame...I ran the top section thru the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, added some foiling adhesive and then used my gold and copper foiling to color the embossed dots...
I then ran the bottom section with the pattern paper thru the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and rubbed black ink over those dots...I added the gold ribbon between the black cardstock and pattern paper sections, taped it onto the chicken image and put it in a pretty gold frame from the dollar store...There are two of the Wallie chickens, the other one is a tad different...as soon as I get it finished, these will hang in my kitchen...Thanks so much Nettie...I am very happy with my new framed chicken prints...
Our design team member Robin Willis created this File Card Book from our kit, covering the chipboard file cards with various pattern papers and cardstocks...She used lots of our other die cuts as embellishments and to make page layouts...I will be adding some photos to this book soon and will show it to you again later...For more info about ordering the File Card Book Kit check out http://thestudioinpreston.blogspot.com To see more of Robin's work and her blog, click on the link to the right under My Favorite Places...
Are those not two of the most adorable, beautiful, sweet babies you ever saw...Of course they are...That is hubby and me...and no, it was not made at the same time...but looks very much like it was...I sent copies of our baby photos to Patty at http://www.lisasalteredart.com and she put us together...I love it...She also has lots of gorgeous altered art images for sale, printed and digital...
This is our newest book kit...The book is made using a Custom Designed Tag...I wanted something large enough to use full 4 x 6 photos on...I love to make mini books using my photos...but sometimes...I dont want to crop the photo or use a smaller size...so I designed a tag shape that would work...This sample made by design team member Donalda Cox is beautiful...She does not scrapbook much, but she loves working with her new Magnolia rubber stamps...so she decided to make her book using her favorite new stamps, along with various die cuts, punched shapes and more...Donalda used her Bind It All to bind the book...More info on this kit at the studio blog http://thestudioinpreston.blogspot.com/ More samples coming soon with this new kit.
Now, this is gift bag mania for sure...to say I am thrilled with these gift bags is an understatement...they are beautiful...Dianne Adams did a wonderful job designing these bags for me...Be sure and click on her blog from my favorite places and check out all the details for creating these gorgeous bags...She will be posting each bag and how it was created, so check her blog often to see all the bags...and be sure and check out the next posting, and you can get a sample pack of die cut gift bags to begin creating your own unique bags...Last year during the holidays, I decorated a dozen of the bags and filled them with home made cookies and candies to give to co-workers...Stay tuned for more on that in a future project in the works...If you would like to purchase the gift bag die cuts check out my studio blog for ordering these and more of our kits http://thestudioinpreston.blogspot.com
My father in law was a farmer all his life, until he retired...so what more fitting a birthday cake, that John Deere, complete with a tractor...I was very pleased to be in charge of the cake for the surprize party we had for him last night...I ordered a John Deere cake from Publix...and it was a hit with the family...Eleven of us turned out for the party, that he thought was just he, moma, me and hubby going out to eat...He was very surprized and pleased...
This is my hubby's moma and daddy...I am blessed to have such wonderful inlaws...
This was the best gift my hubby and I could have come up with...I scanned lots of old photos and sent to Lisa's Altered Art owner Patty and she put them into a collage for me, sent the picture back to me and I framed it...He was blown away at having all these photos from his past in one framed picture...It meant alot to me to be able to do this for my husbands father, as my daddy went to heaven 4 years ago...and sharing in this way is very important to me...
This is me and hubby...our niece made the picture for me...it was a wonderful evening...The cake and picture were just perfect gifts for daddy and the restaurant we ate at was very nice and we all enjoyed sharing in the celebration of 80 years with such a wonderful man...
...does one count as mania...LOL...I am just loving these gift bags...I used a distress ink pad to tone down the white of the die cut gift bag, then used brown ink and the wonderful little crackles stamp from Innovative Stamp Creations...I stamped the areas that would show after I layered the pattern paper...I cut the pattern paper pieces, distressed the edges with my scissors and added some sponged on brown ink...
I got some gorgeous ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon and its green on one side, pink on the other...I just envisioned leaves created by folding it...so I made a few loops, and attached it to the bag front...I used some silk flowers that I added dimensional glitter paint to make the centers...once dry, I used glue dots to attach the flowers to the ribbon...The little gift tag was made using a domino die cut shape, folded in half...The stamped image from Innovative Stamp Creations was perfect for the mini card front...I added a prima flower with a gold brad and attached it to the handle area with a fine gold thread...
A friend has a birthday coming up soon, and I am going to make her a Sticky note book cover to match and give it to her in this little gift bag...We have more samples coming soon...so keep checking back to see what the designers have in the works next...
No matter which you call it...This is one of the coolest die cut boxes to make...I cut pattern paper to fit the top, bottom and both sides of this box, after i rubbed it with my teal ink to color the white die cut box sleeve...I added the beautiful images from Lisa's Altered Art and a silk flower to the top...Before I added the pattern paper to the sections, I distressed the edges with my scissors and sponged on some teal ink...
I left the sides plain on this box, but you could add stamping, other die cuts, etc...I just like the striped pattern paper and decided that was enough...
These are both of the boxes I finished today...
I love birds...and we have been fighting to save baby purple martins all week long...the little buggers keep either falling or jumping outta the nest...we did lose one, which is very sad...as I am hoping for a lot larger flock next year when they arrive in March...Anyway...we have a nest box of blue birds and I can watch the male bird feed the female, while she is sitting on the eggs...its fun to see her poke her head outta the hole waiting for him and then he gently flies up and gives her a bug to eat...LOL...I guess ya just have to be there and watch it, like I do...
The beautiful bluebird image from Lisa's Altered Art was a perfect fit for the matchbox die cut top...I cut a slit into the nest image and slipped his body in just enough to give the effect he was sitting in the nest...I added the organza ribbon bow with ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon...
All of the beautiful images are from Innovative Stamp Creations...Betsy has some of the most gorgeous images, perfect for the stamped collage background effects that I love to do...
I also stamped the drawer part of this box as well...I added the silk flowers with glue dots to both boxes...I used gold brads for the flower centers...
