Gotta Get to Work!

OK, I've got to get going and work on the 7 little houses in the swap I've been invited to be in....whoo! whoo!...with the wonderfully talented group of ladies from Australia!!! I am so excited!!! AND I have to post the 7 things about me that are strange, having been tagged by my talented friend Wendy Vecchi...you gotta look at her blog....terrific stuff!
Here goes:
1. I'm very anal (sorry if that offends)..everything must be straight and in a line in my art. Not always a good thing.

2. I, too have to tear out all the cards from magazines before I can read them! Maybe this should be a sign to those editors that we don't really like them!

3. I once raced a BOSS 302 Mustang in Jim Conna (sp?) races before we sold the car to someone who wanted to race it in Australia.

4. After work I would come home and turn off anything in the house making noise, TV, radio, kids....ok that didn't work, and clear everything off the kitchen counter. Had to do it to create some semblance of peace before I could do anything.

5. Told my kids to call me when they were out late...anytime...they could lie to me about where they were ....just let me know they were alive and ok. Hopefully they didn't have to lie too many times!

6. I had a boyfriend who couldn't bait his own hook....fishing...and I would do it just to go fishing with him...his wife still hates me for dating him. Too bad. Maybe she should have liked minnows a little bit more.

7. Have a bad habit of wanting to staighten anyone else's pictures that are hanging crooked....doctor's, friend's, mild aquaintances...not always a good thing. Did anyone say OCD?

Morton HS Marching Band 4th in AA at Atlanta BOA!!!

Yes, you could say I am very proud of my son's band!!! That would be an understatement. They were at Atlanta, Georgia this weekend with bands from all over the south and midwest. Did an OUTSTANDING job representing Illinois. They were the only ones there from our state. His 2 daughters stayed with us and they are the "little darlings" I referred to earlier!!

These are the last 2 pages of the board book using daisyDs papers, stickers, tags and rub ons. I LOVED the rub ons! The light blue snowflakes didn't photo well, but you get the ides. They were beautiful to work with. The Santa is by Stampers Anonymous, Distress Inks by ranger add depth and aging.

Store Sample

This is the first page of the book. Love the little kid's expression!

With the grandkids in bed, I can now load the store sample of the Cloud9Design board book in a box. The front was fun, but there were 14 sides to cover with the front and back! WHEW! Glad that was done. Used daisyD's cardstock stickers, rub-ons (shich I LOVED!) tags, ribbons and papers. They all worked out great. Must get them to Teresa Monday. Distress Inks and stamps by Autumn Leaves, Tim Holtz, Imaginisce, and Impression Obsessions were used.

Time for info

Just wanted to add a little more information about the products in the Row Houses. Some have asked about the substrate, it's black mat board. Several of the vintage pictures are from Julie van Oosten's Collections.They are to die for!!! Her stamps and chipboard are wonderful. You must check them out!
A lot of the words are Tim Holtz Distressables. Great to work with. And not all the metal was embossed by me. Some strips are from Making Memories and they work great having the sticky stuff already on them! Ask any questions you want....there are no secret remedies here!

Now, go make a house!
Linda

Row Houses-Finished at last!

Yesterday was a gloomy day. So the pictures of the houses didn't turn out at all. But today we have a bit of sun and the sunroom gave us a good picture. I'm no Rachel Greig (LOVE her work), but these did turn out very true to color and I'm happy with the shot. They are hanging from 24g copper wire. No holes in these walls. And I really like it. The beadboard is vinyl so it can expand with the weather in the sunroom, so we agreed on "hanging" things from the top.

Now, the "little darlings" can play for 4 days....starting Thursday PM until early Monday...and I can feel like I got something accomplished and sit in my chair!

Thanks to everyone who encouraged me along the way. You're all truly my Friends in ART.

The LAST House

WHEW!!! The last house is done! What a fun project this was. The picture is of me on my grandfather's tractor in the middle of Nebraska. My middle name is Marie and dad would call me that on occasion. So here I am, in all my glory, cowgirl hat and shirt. The carefree days we enjoyed in the 50's. All 10 are done and now all I have to do is glue them onto the backboard of the frame. It is totally AMAZING what Distress Inks can do to any paper! Now I can get out there and cut down the garden...looking forward to that....not.

State Champions Marching Band!!! And House #9

Morton High School Marching Band State Champions 3 years running!WHOO!WHOO! Congratulations to all the kids, parents, and directors for all their hard work and dedication!!! Oh yea, my son's the Band Director....just a little bit proud!!! AND they ended up 7th overall in the STATE! WOW!

Got house number 9 done after all the excitement. That's me at about 2 years during my undercover stint with the agency! Only one more to do!

This one has hardware cloth, Everlasting Keepsakes chipboard. Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Distressables. The pen nibs were just something shiney to anchor the bottom.

Cirque tonight and THIS is what got me started!

Going to the Cirque tonight and will work on the next house for the wall hanging. Thought I would load the little houses that got me started on this journey. These little houses are sooooo much fun. You MUST look at http://TimHoltz.com/ for his video on Grunge Board!
It's terrific stuff and a wonderful video! We saw him demonstrate it at CHA.

Here is Number 8!

Here is number 8 in the Row Houses. It is my husband at about 3 years old. The color isn't quite true, but you get the idea. The frame is a belt buckle that he sawed the middle piece out for me. And the antique metal piece is from something, but don't know what. If anyone knows, please tell me!

A Day of Shopping

No pictures tonight. Just bags of goodies on the work table. A trip to my old home area for my grandson Alex's football game,(Yea Spartans!) and a bit of shopping always brings a smile to my face. Everyone needs a new Christmas tree when there's still 2 weeks until Halloween! But my old bones did not like the cold, damp, aluminum bleachers that we had to sit on for 2 hours....flannel jammies and a warm robe will help. And maybe a little touch of schnapps. Tomorrow perhaps another house with some of the new finds of the day....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

Seven is a Magic Number

Worked most of the day on this one! The top is Ten Second Studio metal, embossing plates, and tools then alcohol inks to color. Turned out better than I anticipated. My favorite brother-in-law is the child in the picture with his siblings about 1926 era. The point didn't please me, struggled with it all afternoon, then finally figured it needed a background to bring it forward! That did it for me! Hope everyone enjoys looking....only 3 more to go!! WHOO! WHOO!!

Row of 6

This is the latest combination..have determined that I need 4 more houses. I can see an end in site. Now I cannot figure out the background. Black looks so good, but the FRAME is black, too. Decisions, decisions, decisions! Will try for a new one today. I do have them all cut out at least. That's an accomplishment!

House #6

Well, I have 15 minutes until October 10th is over. I had the little 3 yr old today as she was running a fever....seemed to be just fine by about 9 o'clock! But that's good...nothing worse than a sick child. Got another card done today and house number 6 on the block. It's a bit smaller, but took the longest to put together so far. Lots of metal on this one...embossed, junk, and brads! The copper is Ten Seconds Studio metal.

Will try another tomorrow!

It's almost tomorrow now!

Going Metal

Today I had
a new idea
for the row
houses.
I think I
will use some of Ten Seconds Studio's black metal in the next one on the block. This is a box with it. This newer line is wonderful to work with.
Will get back with the results later.

Another House on the Block

Had the little darlings today for a bit. Jeff's got a bug and not feeling too well, mommy is working. So we watched a movie and I made the next house on the block. Number 5!

Going to teach some classes at Scrapadoodle in Peoria. Teresa is so great to work with. Looking forward to meeting some new people and learning from a nice group of people.

Row Houses

Another house is built for the ongoing collection for the sunroom picture. And a little updating was done on the previous number 2 house.
Great, great fun and cheap therapy! More images from Collections. Stamps, 7Gypsies tape, Everlasting Keeksakes chipboard, and metal tape.These are becoming an addiction!