I Am Alive And Well!

My boys are on summer vacation and that means less creative time for me. I don't mind though. They have such a short break from school because they are on the year round schedule. I feel like I need to spend as much time as possible with them, especially since my "baby" will be starting kindergarten. I didn't share my Father's Day cards with you or anyone else for that matter. I made these way in advance and they are still sitting with the rest of my cards that haven't been sent. I guess I will justify by saying I didn't even make Mother's Day cards so I wouldn't want the mom's in my life to feel slighted. That's my story and I'm stickin to it! I guess I am ultra prepared for next year. The beauty of it is that I am certain their memories are as good as mine and they won't remember seeing these and it will still be a surprise next year. LOL!

I love the look of using the kraft paper and using my white inkpad to "dirty" the edges. These cards were super simple, but it's kind of hard to use embellishments on manly cards. My brother is a bit of a wise guy...not sure where he gets it...anyway. I said something about stamping something for my dad. I told him it was going to be manly and his response was yeah, cuz stamps have manly written all over them.

Well, if I get the manly projected completed tomorrow, I will post it.

Enjoy your summer and stay cool!

Sheri

Somebody Stop Me!

Actually, please don't stop me. I have been on a creative spree and I am hoping to get every idea created before they run out! Although I make/paint a lot things I don't usually keep them. I either give them away or sell them. This is my latest creation and I am very excited about how it turned out. I don't think the pictures do this creation justice, but I am a little biased. I can't wait for my hubby to get home and hang them. This is the whole collection that is supposed to act as one. I have taken individual pictures of them all. Some of them don't photograph well, but you can always click on them and make them bigger.

This one uses a stamped image from Stampin' Up!'s Dare to be Fabulous. I first painted the canvas green. Then I stamped it in white craft ink and embossed with white embossing powder. Last, I lightly dry brushed brown on it until I got the look I was going for. On all the ones that I embossed I wiped off the images with a damp paper towel. If you wait too long it won't come off.

I painted this red and then stamped it with Stampin' Up!'s Pick a Petal in craft white ink. After it dried I dry brushed brown on the edges. The ink did smear a little so I should have embossed this one as well. I shaped some silver crafting wire to outline the petals. Last, I added the giant button.

Here is a side view to give you a closer look. This one might be my favorite one.

I painted this yellow. Then I dry brushed brown on the top and bottom. Then I used Stampin' Up!'s Upsy Daisy set with basic brown ink. It is very hard to stamp on canvas and get a crisp image. I still like this one though.

This is actually the first one I made. I painted it brown. Then I clear embossed the Dare to be Fabulous flower. I dry brushed the yellow on top. I went back over some of the yellow with brown until I got the streaking the way I wanted it. This looks really cool in real life.

This one didn't photograph well at all! I painted it orange, clear embossed the Dare to be Fabulous flower, then dry brushed with brown.

I used the Stampin' Up! Sizzix leaves die to mask the canvas. I painted the canvas orange. Next, I used the two way glue pen to make a temporary adhesive on the leaves (let the glue dry from blue to clear to make it temporary). I dry brushed with brown. Then I added some random buttons.

This one is painted green then stamped with a leaf using basic brown ink. I used Stampin' Up!'s Best Blossoms set. Then I dry brushed brown around the edges and randomly in the middle. Last, I added the random buttons.

This one is painted green and dry brushed brown. I simply added these three wooden buttons. I tried to use elements that would tie it all together. For example, I used buttons on four of the canvases, I used the same flower on three of them, and clearly the color scheme pulls it all together.

This one is painted red then stamped using yellow paint. Then I came back with the brown dry brushing in a crosshatching kind of pattern. I think it is hard to be precise when using paint to stamp. I like the kind of worn look it has though.

I hope you enjoy my art. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Sheri

I Simply Miss You!

Talk about your basic card. This one is a simple as they come, but I love it! I stamped the main flower image (from Michael's dollar spot) and the I miss you sentiment (Stampin' Up! All Year Cheer II) in basic brown ink (SU). Then I used white craft ink (SU) to mess up the edges. Next, I used my paper piercer and made holes around the frame. This was all done on kraft paper. Can you believe there are no layers?

I posted two pictures because I couldn't decide which one to use. One showcases the whole card better while the other one shows the piercing.

Have a marvelous day!
Sheri

So Quick!

This card was so quick and easy, but I really like how it turned out. There was no stamping involved. I used some designer paper for the background. I used the Stampin' Up! scallop punch then ran it through the Swiss dots cuttlebug folder. The butterflies are punched with a Marvy punch. I used some pearl-ex on their bodies for a little shimmer to match the shimmery ribbon.

I hope you are having a great week. I am just trying to get my house back in order after several weeks of neglect.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sheri

I Survived!

What an amazing week! I was much less stressed out than last year. I guess I really have learned from experience. I am showing you a few more shots of the decor and the last crafts.

Here is some dock walking into the church.

Here is that Madagascar welcome sign.

Here are the Bible points on the movie prop along with Jacques Le Croc. That handsome guy is my oldest son. This was his first year as I guide and I am so proud of him. He really stepped up and led the preschoolers well.

This is one of the crafts. The kids stuffed them. I should have retaken a picture of it actually stuffed because it is very cute. I just can't muster up the energy.

The baby food jar lanterns turned out really cute. I changed them a little from this picture. They don't have the dragonflies. Instead they have buttons. I would have taken a picture of my boys' but besides not having enough energy, they both dropped and broke them.

The clean up was quick. It's almost disgusting how much quicker it is to take down than it is to set up. There are three other churches that will use our decorations. What a blessing to be able to pass them along and not just have them used for one week. I hope their VBS week is as awesome as ours was. I am not bragging about anything I did, I just feel the kids had a great time learning about God. I love that they are able to use all their senses to make the connection and build their relationships.

Have a fabulous weekend and don't call me before 8 tomorrow!

Sheri

Day 4 Crafts

The two older groups made these beaded alligators/crocodiles. They made them in green and light green. The beads had not arrived at my house yet when I made this sample so I used what I had. These take quite a bit of time to make. I had thought about picking a simpler design, but decided against it. They will try to finish them up tomorrow and do the new craft as well.

The two younger groups made some bugs like these. They all seemed to enjoy the crafts. It is a little tricky to find crafts that can be completed within the allotted time, are interesting to kids ranging from preschool thru sixth grade, are keepers (important to me), and are really inexpensive.

It has fun been a fun and exhausting week. It is so neat to see all the hard work come together, and see how much fun the kids have learning about God. I will admit that I am looking forward to sleeping in on Saturday.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Sheri

Day 3 Craft

These crafts were made from chipboard albums from Michael's. I think the turtle was supposed to be a monkey. The older kids made the turtles and the younger ones made the fish. They all seemed to have fun and the different designs they made were really cute!

Forgive my computer skills or lack of! In my photo album the turtle is facing the correct way. I reloaded it twice and decided y'all could either turn your computer or your heads! I would wait to ask my hubby, but why wait?

The shiny dots on the fish is a silver metallic paint. Not too bad for about a 25 cent craft.

Have a great day!
Sheri

Day 2 Craft

We took the swamp grass down from the kneelers because we didn't think the little kids could see over it. We lined the walls with it instead. I love how the pylons look there instead.

Mr. Gator is still waiting for his lunch.

I tried to capture the whole room. There are worm cans hanging along with fish, lanterns and bobbers.

Another gator hangin' out. This one looks pretty friendly.

I promise no animals were harmed in this photo. I was just entertaining myself.

See the bird hanging? I love the dock going all the way up the aisle.

The shack has a door now.

Ah, here is the craft for day 2.

The cupboards are covered with blue paper and the grass and clouds were painted directly on it. The birds were painted on poster board. The pylons were drawn on brown paper sacks. The cattails are felt with painted stems. I think this is my favorite room. Maybe that is because it is the craft room.

Have a great day!

Sheri

Day 1 Craft

This is the craft the kids made today for VBS. Aren't they cute? I love how they turned out. I have all the crafts prepared but I am not going to post them until after each day. I have some parents that visit my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise for them.

Today went really well, but I didn't have time to take pictures. Hopefully, I will have some time tomorrow.

Have a great day!

Sheri

Crunch Time!

Our VBS starts on Monday. I am so excited that this year we get to mostly decorate the church before Sunday. We've never been able to do that before. There will be other decorations we will add and change.

All these black and white pictures are the traced characters. We were going to mount them on colored paper but since we can only used blue tape on the walls we decided to leave them as is. I like how they turned out.

See the faint circle behind the birds? OOOPS! That was from a couple years ago attaching a porthole that was painted on canvas.

My friend made the gator look like it is getting ready to eat one of the Bayou birds. We actually have moved it to the other side, but he is still waiting for his lunch. On Monday he will be in front of the "grass" in the water.

Here is one side of the Sanctuary. We have added some pylons along the front and some greenery on the stump.

This is one of the worm cans hanging from the ceiling. There are several. They look pretty cool.

This is the breezeway that is lined with the pool noodle dragonflies and streamers. There are also windsocks hanging from the lights.

Here is one of our trees with individual strands of leaves. It looks so cool! It is very labor intensive and I have been told that many times over the last few months.

Another progressive picture.

If you click on any of the pictures you should be able to get a bigger picture. It mightr help to view this one. See the white thing in the aisle on the left? That is a ginormous crane with an eight foot wing span. It will be hanging where the big speaker is above the cross.

Here are the bobbers and some fish hanging in the craft room. Although my paper mache bobbers are less than perfect and round, they still look great in the bigger picture. The skateboard in the next room will be covered with tree branches or taken down. Plus, the door will be shut.

Here is another view of the room with the trees. There are two on this wall and three on the other.

Yes, the bait shop will be getting a door today.

The welcome is finally painted.

Sorry if you saw this before I added the words. I am plugging along as time allows.

Have fun!

Sheri