Back at it!

Hi friends and followers. I cant believe it's been so long since I've updated here. Right at 6 months! What can I say? Life has been pretty hectic. Since July I have changed positions with the company I'm currently working for 3 times, and I've changed locations 3 times as well. It seems now though that things are finally starting to settle back down and that couldnt happen soon enough for me. I've been really working my butt off lately. 

Along with work craziness comes stress and I've been dying to get back into the studio. I finally got the chance last week and completed an arf journal page I've been wanting to do for a while, inspired by the Sundays with Sandee series over at the Frosted Designs blog. Here is the inspiration page created by Sandee Setliff:

Here are a few photos of what I created. I did a 2 pager and added a vase to my table. I used patterned paper for the table top that reminded me of tile. For the flowers I used brown coffee filters. 

This is the whole page:







I hope to have much more to share with you soon. I'm officially #backatit in the studio creating. It feels so great to get some fun time in. I have lots of things planned for the summer so stay tuned! Here are some sneaks of my ideas:

Dollar Store revamped wedding cards for all those weddings you're attending!
Mermaid drift wood beachouse sign
Tim's Tags of 2015, I've got to catch up!
More art journaling
Bottlecap windchime
Scrappy pages
Father's day shadow box
Mixed media canvases

That is about all for now! Thanks for reading!
Until next time- VV

Halloween Crafts

Hi friends! It has been a while since I've checked in here. I have been working on alot of Halloween decor for my house. Some of the things i made last year and i just added to them. I hope you enjoy my share today & feel free to comment with questions!

 Steampunk skeleton guy with orange lights for guts!

Hand painted with pencil then paint pens plaster sugar skull.

Happy Haunting!

Ballgown Beauty

Hi friends and followers! I am back again today to share a layout I did a few weeks ago and hsve been meaning to share. The pictures are from the last MW holiday party we attended in Mobile, December of 2012. I received my 5 year award and they even remembered to announce my name as my new married name, Hollister. It was a great night and I have so many memories.

Here are a few pics:

That's it for today, short and sweet. I hope I have inspired you to get back to crafting. I definitely am feeling reenergized after an almost 2 month hiatus. I also think that the fall and winter months of the year are more conducive to creating, because we are inside more.

Check back in a few days for my full Halloween decor reveal with ALL the DEETS. Until thrn, rnjoy your week friends and happy crafting!!!

Quick Card Share & welcome October

Hi friends!! It's been entirely too long since I've updated here. Life has been hectic to say the least! I got a big promotion at work and with me transferring stores I've got a much longer commute- which means less crafty time at night & earlier mornings. I'm happy where I'm at and I know it's a move in the right direction for us financially. We are still hoping to buy our first home the end of next year if all goes well.

A few weeks ago i made this birthday card for a co-worker of mine, Nina. She loved it! I am really happy with how it turned out considering it only took me 35 mins in the mornjng before work. I used a pre-made tag from scrsp convention a few years ago. I added some more flowers and buttons, vintsge of course. I love sharing art i have made with other people, especially for their special day.Here are a few pics:

Well, that is about all for today! I'm off to finish my Halloween decor and msybe start on Tim's Tags for 2014... yep im almost a year behind! I might skip around and just do the October one. I hsve so many projects i want to start, just less time now to do them.

Hope you have a great week! Check back tomorrow for more inspiration.. i promise to not be away for so long again!!

Vintage Ring Box

Hi friends! I'm stopping in today with a quick post before I have to get dinner on the table and then hopefully some scrappy time later this evening. The community that we live in in Southeast Portland is pretty awesome! We have a community garden, basketball court, our own laundry facilities and a 'free' donation space near it. We are still living in an apartment but it's much bigger and more renovated than our old place. The best part is the neighborhood and how small it is- only 12 units total. So I was rummaging through the 

free pile the other day and I found a cute little all wood ring box. It was kinda dirty on top, but I decided I could do something with it!

I sanded the top first, then I modge podged some paper to it and some other little things, one of them is a boquet charm I made for my wedding day with a vintage picture of my mom. I wanted to add that so that everytime I put something in or take something out of the box, I could see her face. I sure do miss her, can't believe it has been 18 years. I sure don't feel 18 years older.

Here are some photos:

a close up of the buttons, pearls, and rose I added to the top.

My favorite part is the little saying it has on the front I really like how it turned out and I am keeping it on a side table near where I always sit at the end of the day. It was fun making this into something cute with something I got for free!!

Well, it's time to help hubby finish up dinner, eat good, then maybe some scrap time. I am mid-way through a layout I started a few days ago for the Punky Scraps Challenge. I hope I still have time to finish and submit it!! Here's to a glass of iced tea, some good tunes, and studio time :) hoping you get yours in this week too! until next time yall~ peace VV

Stars and Stripes

happy independence day friends! I am thankful to be off today and hope to enjoy some fireworks this evening on the river. Just have to start packing the picnic basket and do a few little things around the house then we will head out in a few hours.

I wanted to pop in and share a little door decor that I made last week using a pre-painted heart that I found at dollar tree. It was already decked out in stars and stripes. I just added some pod modge with some paper I had with vintage freedom stamps. I also used my Tim Holtz distress ink in vintage photo to 'antique' it a bit. All that was left to do is add a burlap bow and hang it on the door!

Here are a few pictures:

Other than that, I am officially done with designing for Frosted Designs for the next 6 months at least. I have really enjoyed the past year with this team and it was a hard decision for me to make. I have made many scrappy friends from all over the world, and have been so inspired by their work. I just felt like it was the best decision, I just got a promotion at work, we are trying to help get Jimmys mom moved out here by the end of the year and we are also starting the process of looking for a home ourselves to purchase in Portland...so needless to say alot going on. In the midst of that I would really like to enjoy the awesomness that is an Oregon summer and get my Etsy shop back up and running. I have lots of ideas of things I would like to do, just have to get a few of them going and listed!! So that means I hope to have lots of crafty fun stuff to share with you for the rest of the year! Stay tuned for off the page projects, wall decor, layouts, mini albums, cards, and art journal pages! I can't wait to get started.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

Steampunk Bird Card :)

Hi blogland friends! I am stopping in for a quick post today to share a card I did yesterday morning for my sister. I have a care package I'm sending to her with her wall hanging for her classroom, a card, and some other goodies. I love putting together a box to send. The excitement of getting real mail, especially a box, will always entertain me!

I used a blank card I already had and covered it with scrap paper, then I stamped by steampunk bird stamp by Deep Red Stamps and colored him in using distress markers and stickles. I love how it turned out!

I added a chipboard circle and some enamel dots then washi tape and my alphas. I hope my sis likes it. I can't wait for her to open her box!!

Until next time, I hope you have a crafty day! I'm off to the bank, post office, and goodwill, then iced coffee and studio time ;)

Classroom Wall Hanging

Hi friends! I hope you are having a fabulous day! I know things have been pretty good here, I just love summertime and I have been really trying to allow myself more and more time to create on my off days. It really feeds my soul and helps me zone out from stress- work stress, money stress, etc. It's my own little place in the world where I can be for hours by myself and come out feeling like I'm in a much better mood than before.

Today I am sharing a wall hanging I did for my sister's classroom. She just recieved her graduate degree in English Literature Education from the University of Alabama. She was an undergrad at Birmingham Southern before that, and even though she is my younger sister, I really look up to her in so many ways. This will be her first year teaching and along with helping her build a classroom library, I wanted to make her a little something special. She and her hubby were visiting me in Portland back at the end of March for Spring Break and we went to Powell's Books of course...famous bookstore one entire city block! I found this quote on a card and it inspired me, I thought I could take that quote and do something with it.

So I started off with a piece of scrapwood from Hubby's work, I did a thin layer of gesso over it first. Then I started laying down some paper pieces with modge podge. I used alot of pieces from a Tim Holtz set that looked like an old book page, an old library card, and layered them. I did another layer of modgepodge.

1. 

Then I went to work making the 'girl' I traced the shape of a girl I had from scrapbook paper, then seperatley cut out her dress and hair with different paper. I glued them together then went over them with a marker and then a white gelly roll pen for the polka dots on her dress. I used some mini pearls for her earrings, braclet and barette. I went back over her hair with a few different markers, then I let her dry. 

After she was dry I cut out some random scrap pieces for 'books' and I had to redraw her hand from the original pose to make it look more realistic. I modge podged her to the right side of the wood and then finished coloring in the lamppost and sign.

For the finishing touches, I used a piece of metal tape for one side of the lamp post and I went back over it several times with a wet brush and  a black gelato. I also glued down one of my vintage trinkets from prima- the lightbulb!  Last I laid down the letters. A mix of glitter thickers that I went over with Tim Holtz distress ink in barn door, and sticker letters that I traced with a white gelly roll pen. I went back with more stickles in christmas red and copper, then added a few enamel dots. I went back over the white areas with another coat of gesso just to make the image look cleaner, then heated well to dry! 

Well that's about it for today. I hope you have enjoyed my share. It took me several evenings to get it done but I am very pleased with the outcome and I'm off to mail it to my sis tomorrow morning!! I have several more ideas and projects in the works...I hope to be able to share them with you soon! I am looking forward to more creative time this week in between work, cooking, cleaning, and walks with hubby. Enjoy your week & until next time, Peace Yall~