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

Tim Holtz 12 Tags of 2013: September

Hi everyone! I am popping in quickly this morning to share my take on Tim's tag for September. I finally got a few minutes to sit down and give it a try the other morning before a closing shift at work- it was nice to get a little mini crafty session in before work and I found that it really put me in a better mood for the rest of the day...thinking about all the stuff I want to try when I get back home! I tried to mimic his tag by using gesso instead of embossing paste on my background, then I stamped several images in layers of different distress ink colors. I am pretty happy with how it turned out! Here's our inspiration, Tim's September tag:

And this is my take:

I used distress inks to create my rainbow background after my gesso'd layer had dried. Over that I stamped in jet black archival ink several ornate squares, then reinked the same stamp with embossing ink and covered with UTEE. I heated with my heat tool and then started adding embellishments.

I used a piece of film strip ribbon, a vintage button, resin rose, staples, distress stickles, chit chat stickers and some flowers to bring the bottom of the tag together.

I am pretty happy with how it turned out. I debated about adding something else to the top but I left it as is. I still have to go back and do the tag for June but after that I will be up to date for the tags of 2013!! So proud of myself for playing along all year! 

Ok, well I am lucky enough to be off this Sunday. I'm going to grab some hot tea, as it's low 60s and misty rain here today- the perfect stay inside scrappy weather! We are expecting thunderstorms this afternoon, but I will be happily tucked away in my downstairs studio...tunes cranked, hoping to get some stuff done! Hubby is working until 6pm then it's Sunday night football and homemade burgers!! Looking forward to creative time today, it's been much needed and far and few between these last few weeks. Hope to back soon with more scrappy creations and goodies to share :)

until next time y'all~ VV

(product list)

FDFF Challenge: Up, Up & Away!

Hello friends. It's another late night here in the Hollister home. I tend to find that I am more and more of a night owl these days. It's not something I've been doing on purpose- staying up until all hours, I just find sometimes that I do my best work then. I enjoy retreating  back to my little scraproom, however small it may be, and spending sometime with all my lovely things, Pandora, a cup of hot tea usually, and Carmella (my kitty!) as my companion. She has her own little fluffy chair right by my Cricut station!

I'm talking about all this because it brings me to this conclusion- scrapbooking is not just simply a hobby for me, it's a release. It's therapy. It's comfort. It's joy. And tonight as I started to think about how I could tackle this challenge, I came across some photos of my Peepaw from 2011. I immediately started tearing up looking at his warm, friendly face. He's no longer with us, and he was such a rock for my family. He was someone I could always go to and ask for help, whether it was advice or simply help with my math homework. He had a full, long life, one to be proud of. After we lost my Meemaw, he even volunteered at the hospital for several years as a way to deal with his grief. He was sort of the unofficial 'mayor' because he was so well known in town. I looked up to him so much. Looking at these photos of his overjoyed expression when he was asked to be a member of Honor Flight South Alabama #6 just made me remember so many happy times with him. The HFSA is a non profit organization that sponsors veterans of WW2 from all 4 branches of the military to get the chance to visit the WW2 monument in Washington D.C. which was just dedicated in 2004. My Peepaw was in the Navy, and I know that this day was a very memorable day in his life! He also got 5 minutes of fame when he was interviewed on our local TV station. I am so honored still to this day to call him my Peepaw, he was such a great man.

Honor Flight Special WKRG News 5

Ok, sorry about all the mushy stuff! Here's the pictures of my layout. I did a simpler style that I usually do because I didn't want to take away from these special photos. 

So there's plenty of time now if you want to play along with our challenge! Here's the all the info:

 Up, Up & Away- your project or layout must include: things that go up... clouds, birds, planes, kites, butterflies, etc. and be uploaded to the Frosted Designs by March 28th. Good luck! You could win some awesome stuff from our Sponsor: Creative Chaos.

Ok Friends, until next time, Peace Y'all! And thanks for listening :) 

Etsy Shop Open for BIZNAZ!

Hi friends! Just a quick pop in to tell you all that my Etsy Shop is officially open for business! I only have about 20 items listed right now, but I plan to add more each week as I get some more things finished and photographed! This has been a long time coming for me, a BIG SHOUT OUT to my little sis, who designed my shop header, avatar, and gave me much needed advice as a previous shop owner. I am very excited about this new venture into the creative world!! So go visit it right here:

www.etsy.com/shop/vintagevixencraftss

Thanks Y'all! Good night, stay tuned for more inspiration and fun stuff this week!