The end of the challenge

It's official - the card challenge Kimberly put together is done. What a great year of fun projects from my crafty friend! Thank you, Kimberly, for all the planning that went into this. It was great to see all the different interpretations for each challenge project. Having at least one card commitment each month kept me productive this year, too. Kimberly, you rock! Thanks again. : )

Happy Thanksgiving!

I feel very grateful for all my friends and family. You share your time, love, and comfort not only on these special days but all the other days in my year, too. I am thankful to have a job that allows me time off to spend the holidays with those I love. I cherish my splendid memories of holidays past while looking forward to building new traditions, too. I miss those who are gone but you will be lovingly remembered.

Blessings and love to you all!

Such a lovely Saturday

I hope everyone enjoyed the day. It was truly gorgeous here.

Bling

Ah, the beauty of the human form...

“British artist Damien Hirst revealed his latest work of art at the White Cube Gallery in London, June 1, 2007. “For the Love of God” is a life-size cast of a human skull in platinum and covered by 8,601 pave-set diamonds weighing 1,106.18 carats. The single large diamond in the middle of the forehead is reportedly worth $4.2 million alone. Hirst financed the project himself, and estimates it cost between 10 and 15 million. Of course, it will cost someone a pretty penny to own the work: it’s priced at $99 million."
Reuters

Talk about being a succesful artist! I would really love to touch this piece. I imagine the bumpy, cold texture would feel like touching a reptile. Rijksmuseum spokeswoman Elles Kamphuis said the piece was cast from a skull of a man who died in the 18th century. Hirst bought the skull from a London dealer. (What sort of dealer has bones on hand?) The teeth used in the finished casting are from the original skull.

Kamphuis said the skull will be on display in Amsterdam for six weeks starting November 1.

Cathy's Halloween party and the coffin

I love Halloween! Here are a few pictures from Cathy's party including the coffin I helped paint and line with fabric. The girls had a great afternoon working on this project and drinking margaritas. There was lots of giggling and plenty of weird looks by everyone driving by that day.

There were less weird looks Saturday when everyone was in costume. ; ) I think I had even more fun seeing every one's costume than using the blowtorch on the coffin.

I decided to go as a zombie this year because

1. it was cheap
2. it was easy and
3. it was comfortable to wear.

The secret to making the fake blood look real was adding chocolate powder. The downside is it made me really crave chocolate all night.

Hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween!

A creepy Halloween shadowbox and spare parts

I made a shadow box for myself using some of my creepier rubber stamps.


And here are many spare parts for cards I have made. Not what you were thinking after the shadowbox, right?

Painting for Carol

Here are pictures of the painting I did for Carol. The style of the original was very loose and painterly. I thought it would be easy for me to emulate. I was wrong. : )

Photos of cards from scraps

Just got done looking for a water leak in the wall. Oh, the joys of owning an older home. And not even a particularly cute older home. As my friend Denise says, "oh well, la la."

I guess a picture is only worth a thousand words if it isn't blurry so here are just a few words then about the cards made of scraps...


This one has stickers, die cuts, and stamped images.


I used markers to color this stamped image.


Embossed and die cut pieces from the cuttle bug.


I made the background marbled paper when Denise and tried the technique of floating paint on starch.




This stamped image is embossed with granite ware embossing powder.


This delicate lion was made by my friend Crafty Pig. She's so patient to cut out all the little pieces.


Too bad the Pearl Ex on the flower doesn't show up in this photo.


This was my September challenge card.


Another with granite ware and silver embossing powders.

more card photos

I'm a horrible blogger

Not only do I neglect my blog for weeks, I barely scribble a line to go along with the photos I post. But a picture is worth a thousand words, right? I've been busy for several weeks getting ready for a giant yard sale at the end of October. The storage unit is almost empty! What a huge relief to be free of all that clutter. I still have lots of organizing to do in my garage but things are feeling less chaotic.

All work and no play would make Stacie a dull girl. In the spirit of getting rid of clutter, I have also been making cards with my scrap papers. I have lots of pictures to post; I'll make that a goal for this week. I also completed a painting I started for my sister many moons ago. It's not a fabulous painting, but I am pleased to be "done." Since Carol seems to like it, all is well. I'll post a picture of the painting soon, too.

Since I last posted any news my sweet friend Juline had her baby girl, Shyenne. I really hate being on the other side of the planet for this event!! I would dearly love to hold this precious little thing! Jules is out on maternity leave until January. I can hardly wait to see more pictures and hear how they are all doing.

Last week was a big one--Les Mis at the Rep Thursday with some of the Ya Yas, girls' night at my house Friday, Race for the Cure, and the birthday party for Amy and Kristina on Saturday. I'll have to find some pictures from these events to post also.

Happy October!

And finally, all our platters...

Here is a photo of everyone's platters. They are so varied and everyone's turned out really cool:

We have platters!

Here is Denise's fired platter. Isn't it gorgeous?!

Geronimo!

Here is a picture of the collage I donated to the Candle Lighter's Gallery of Hope. The collage features a picture of my Daddy when he was itty bitty along with an arrow head he knapped, and trade beads from his black powder rendezvous days.

Still waiting...

I called Firefly Studio Wednesday and it looks like we are still about two weeks out on getting our platters fired due to the back-log from Splatters. Oh well, that means they are doing a great job helping the Centers for Youth and Families raise money, right?

I'll keep you posted and get pictures of the finished platters posted ASAP.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Yes, I will be the fairest of them all when my lovely new pendent arrives from Remarkably Red!





It looks gorgeous in this picture but I've seen it in person and it is even more fair. And if that wasn't reason enough for me to be happy, Charlisa now has her own blog! Check out Through the Clouded Glass.

Oh what fun!

When I picked up supplies Friday, Beth told me we were the first to have a Splatters Platters party. Both Tiffany and Beth are waiting to see how things went for us. I am very happy to report that the party was a big success! I hope everyone had as much fun as I did painting, talking, and eating. The only sad note for the day is that Anne was not able to stay with us. Our love and thoughts are with you and your family, Anne! I am glad you are still able to paint a platter so you don't feel left out. I'm posting results from this morning's efforts. Well, the painting that is. The efforts that went into the delicious potluck are sadly not shown but were very yummy! Thank each and every one of you for making this a successful fundraiser for the Centers and for contributing to a wonderful Saturday for me! It was an awesome day. : )