Let's Hear It For Bacon

Okay, I can truly say that I have lost my marbles !! I see card-making supplies everywhere.... In the doilies underneath my decaf coffee mug at a local restaurant, in the wooden stirrers and coffee info cards at Starbucks, in advertisements I receive in the mail--- just to name a few... But this one tops it all !! My boyfriend made breakfast yesterday for me and when I looked at the turkey bacon on the plate, all I could see was a lovely scalloped border..

So I made a card using the cutest piece of turkey bacon...Finally broke into my stash of Melissa Frances "Kitschy Kitchen" paper for the background and used a red Paper Bouquet border at the card bottom. An older Inkadinkado sentiment was just perfect and I finished it off with a cup from the Stampin' Up Perfect Blend set.. A wooden stirrer from my Starbucks latte was placed in the cup and topped off with a glittery heart !!

So, tell me what is the oddest thing you have ever used on a project ?? I know that I can't be the only one who sees craft supplies EVERYWHERE !!

Thank you so much for visiting Meticulosity and the first blog post of my 2nd year.. I hope you will continue to visit me as I follow the path on my creative journey..And I hope that I didn't scare you away by playing with my food...

P.S. I did take the real piece of bacon off the card.. I actually made a photocopy of the bacon, cut it out and it looks exactly like the real thing on my card !!

And the Winners Are.....

Thank you.thank you, thank you to everyone who commented on my 1st anniversary blog post ... I know that several of my Mountain Plains CraftersDesign Team friends also had some blog candy to give away. The 3 lucky winners of some of my favorite goodies to create with are Vanessa Buzard,Taunya Jones Butler & Denise Bryant..... PM me your addresses and I will send you some fun supplies to get creative with !!

And So It Continues....

If you would have ever asked me if I was going to start a blog, my answer would have been that I was planning on it ... Well, I planned on it for YEARS.. I looked through blog magazines, craft magazines, online, and from links on Facebook. The impetus for me actually starting one finally was the opportunity to try out for the Mountain Plains Crafters Design Team. Started by 3 women -- Pam, Terri & Sheryl -- it was going to be a place to share ideas, be creative, try new products and have fun... My blog grew from there-- a place for me to show my projects, try new techniques and make many new friends..

It has been exactly 1 year since my first post, aptly titled "And So It Begins"... I want to celebrate my first year by giving away some of my favorite products,. Unity Stamp Company, We R memory keepers & anything Tim Holtz are just a few of my GO-TO companies for supplies.. Adornit has given me hours of fun with their  Art Play Paintables by Lindsay Ostrom. You can see from my blog posts how many amazing sponsors I have been privileged to work with.To win, all you have to do is comment on this blog post.. I will randomly choose 3 winners.

My friends from Mountain Plains Crafters will be helping me celebrate, several by posting something here.. They are all amazing... They have gotten me out of my comfort zone, made me a better person and challenged me.. I am blessed to be in such fantastic company...

I've also invited some friends that I have met along the way to post on my Facebook timeline for my blogoversary. Not everyone has a blog, BUT I have met some terrific crafters on Facebook and wanted to give them the opportunity to show their creations... I will share any blog links that I get from friend's posts..

My card celebrates my 1st year of blogging... The sentiments are from Unity Stamp Company and were perfect. I was INSPIRED by so many people and their wonderful creativity, IMAGINED that one day I would have a blog with which to share my own creativity and CREATED Meticulosity which has led me on an amazing journey. I want to keep building on those 3 words during my second year ( and weren't those cute buildings just what I needed to express that !! ).. During my second year, I want to use more mixed-media techniques, try out a new look for my blog background, work on my journal and STAY out of my comfort zone.  I hope you will continue on this journey with me..  I couldn't have made it through this first year without all of your support..

Supplies: Unity Stamp sentiments, Tim Holtz On the Edge border die & Journaling ticket, We R memory keepers wood stickers, Michaels Recollections paper, Hampton Art  #1 stamp

TERRI

PAULA

JENNIFER



MARILYNN

Wondrous

I've spent some time lately doing 2 things that I love : having coffee time @ Starbucks & coloring . There has been much buzz lately about the benefits of coloring..  The New York Times recently had a great article on the subject. I am sure that many of my creative friends, like me, knew this all along... Not new to us !! I spend many hours with my stamped images and something to color with.

Unity Stamp Company's Wondrous image was my latest project during coffee time... I used my Tim Holtz Distress Markers , Stampin' Up markers & my fun glittery  atyou Spica pens to color the image.. The image was popped up on the card with dimensionals. I made banners from Basic Grey Herbs & Honey paper and wrapped some Maya Road Saffron Yellow twine cording to finish it.. I stamped the image in my very favorite Strathmore Visual Journal. The 3.5 x 5 size fits in my purse and it always has stamped images in it ready to be colored !!  

Wondrous  by Unity Stamp Company

My favorite little sketch journal

I will be entering these cards on the Unity Stamp Company's Friends With Flair post. I hope you take a look at all of the creations posted on that page by everyone. Check out a few new blogs. I learn alot by doing that !! If you would like a cute little sketch journal of your own to use for some coloring, just comment on this post and I will randomly choose 1 luck winner... Tell me about what is your favorite tool for coloring -- watercolors, markers, pastels etc....

Paper Sack Love

Thank you for joining me and the entire Design Team of Mountain Plains Crafters in celebrating National Scrapbooking Day !!  Our theme is "Creating with Paper Bags".. How fun is that !! Our amazing sponsor is Lawn Fawn and the prize is a stamp set chosen by you.. Be sure to go to our MPC Facebook page and "like" us if you haven't already, then check out Lawn Fawn on Facebook , "like" them and let them know that the MPC Team sent you.. This is not required to win but everybody needs a little lovin',,,,,

We will have trivia questions on our MPC Facebook page all weekend. Answer one or all of these questions ( please only one time per question ). Each answer earns you an entry. A winner will be announced on Monday. The contest ends Sunday, May 3 at midnight EST. And this contest is open to INTERNATIONAL entries !!

I wanted to start journaling so I used my small paper lunch sacks as backgrounds on my pages , I embossed them , used Distress paints, added stamped images, and adhered them with washi. The paper sacks are fairly thin so they did not add too much thickness to my pages. These are my base pages. I will be adding favorite quotes, thoughts on my life and creative observations..I hope you like them..

Tim Holtz  embossing folder, tissue tape and lettering; Hero Arts Art stamp; 

Stampotique Tools Cube

Tim Holt embossing folder; Hampton Arts Stamp quote; Basic Grey fabric tape

Tim Holtz embossing folder; Taylored Expressions  Joe-To-Go stamp set;

Starbucks Coffee info card

 

Tim Holtz embossing folder; Hero Arts Enchante stamp set

Nellie Snellen embossing folder; Lawn Fawn  Good Fortune stamp set; 

Tim Holtz Distress paint

I hope that you have checked all of the Design Team's projects for National Scrapbooking Day.. Be creative, Preserve a memory. Spend some time nourishing your creative side. Comment on this post for a chance at a paper sack full of crafty items..

A Note of Appreciation

Our group challenge with my gals at Mountain Plains Crafters was to create a card to tell someone how much you appreciate them. Spring flowers needed to be a part of the project. Then we all need to send what we created to the person it was made for. I am sure you all have someone in your life that you owe a thank you note or a note of appreciation. After all, April is National Letter Writing Month so join in the fun and send someone special a little something in the mail.

A friend of mine who also happens to be my boss will be retiring next month. She is an amazing person and goes above and beyond to be fair and kind to everyone.She is looking forward to spending much more time with her family. And although I will miss her, I wish her all the best... Penny is a wonderful person and I hope retirement is filled with many happy "Grands" days !!! This card is for her..

For my appreciation card, I used a Sizzix Alterations "On the Edge" die by Tim Holtz for the border and a Spellbinders "Laurel and Bee" D-Lites die. The floral and woodgrain papers are from the My Mind's Eye "Howdy Doody" collection. I finished the card with a sentiment from the Stampin' Up "Pursuit of Happiness" set after sponging the edges of the stamped image with Color Box Turquoise ink. This card will be in the mail to Penny this week..

Check out all of the creations by the Design Team members of Mountain Plains Crafters on their blog.. Then sit down and create a card or other project, or write a note of appreciation to someone you care about. You will be glad you did !! And thanks for visiting Meticulosity-- it means the world to me that you want to share in my creativity..

It's Been Oolong

I'll admit that I have my favorite companies and lines of stamps... You can browse online ALL day & night... Facebook, Pinterest, Splitcoast Stampers. The possibilities are endless..I love to find a unique stamp that makes me want to get out some supplies that I have been hoarding.. And that's exactly what happened when I came across the  Sweet Stamp Shop page on Facebook.. They are coming up on the 4th anniversary of their online shop and will be celebrating with a GRAND re-opening. They will have a new website, special releases,discounts AND prizes too !! Check them out here

They also gave stampers a chance to be "guest designers" for their BIG month-long event starting April 9.. A digital file was created with the "sweetest" image and all you had to do was download the design, use it to create something and then add it to their Designer Showcase Album for everyone to see on the opening day of the celebration. Nicole Rixon ( the fabulous owner of Sweet Stamp Shop ) outdid herself with the Digi-stamp. Let me show you what I created with the image and sentiment...

I have been hoarding an amazing Bird Song paper pad by Graphic45.. The vibrant oriental patterns and fantastic colors were perfect with the Digi-stamps. And of course, since I couldn't decide on just one or two patterns, I chose to use 4. I printed the Digi once on a patterned paper and once on plain cardstock and paper-pieced the cute little cup. I alternated some glitter paper banners with patterned paper banners across the top of my card. I stamped the oriental coin image on Kraft cardstock, cut them out and mounted them down the left side of the card. I finished it with the cute sentiment included with the Digi-image.. I hope you will look at all of the other projects on their Facebook page. What a great opportunity for all of us to showcase our creations...

Take some time to look at all of the great supplies that Sweet Stamp Shop has to offer.. For those of you who are planner addicts, there are amazing stamp sets to be used everyday for every need.. I know that many of you have followed my obsession with all things coffee.. There is a cute Coffee Town stamp set that would be perfect for any coffee lover. And who can resist a Granny Pantie set ? I hope that you have enjoyed seeing what I created for the Sweet Stamp Shop Grand Re-Opening Celebration... Happy Stamping !!

There is a $25 Sweet Stamp Shop gift card for one comment on a random designer's blog---so be sure to comment along, follow, and like as many of the designer's links---and YOU might win !! Who knows, I might just be the blogger with the lucky $25 !! Are you feeling lucky today ???