Deadbeat Designs

Everything!

Back to Texas tomorrow but before I left I had to visit Everything Scrapbooks and Stamps in Lake Worth. It was a dark and stormy day but it was totally worth the trip! It is an amazing store! Huge! - so much paper - so much everything! If you are even close to Lake Worth, you gotta go! Here are some pics...

Here is part of the ink wall. They really have it all. I bought some new metallic stuff that really shines. I'd tell you the name but it's in a bag somewhere. More on this soon...
 

Part of the stamp wall. Of course they carry Deadbeat Designs - I would have included a photo but by now you should know what they look like. They've got lots of other companies and even some I've never heard of... but I tend to be a little out of the loop.

 

It's a good thing I had a small carry on because there was way too much paper tempting me... which basically  means I would have put it with all the other paper I have and never use...

Do you know about Magnolia stamps? Personally I don't get it - I think they are really creepy. Why don't they have mouths? And don't tell me it's because they speak with their hearts and not with their mouths! Creepy! Anyway, if they don't creep you out, here's where you can find them! Tons of the little mouthless buggers!

Anyway, if you make it there tell 'em Mark sent you! And take bigger luggage!

Too Much!

Too much tennis... I'm in Florida visiting my friend Lynn and her very patient husband, Chris. The Sony Ericsson Tennis tournament is going on in beautiful Key Biscayne and today was spent watching a who's who in tennis which, if you are a tennis fan, is just where you want to be. I can't even remember who I saw a this point but odds are, you are not a tennis fan so I won't bore you with the details. Suffice it to say that it was amazing and a very sweaty Dinara Safina brushed up against me which just about made my day. But only because my future 'significant other' Venus Williams is out with an injury.

 

Here I am watching Milos Raonic - remember that name. He's going places... whatever that means.

Too many people! Florida is a great place to visit but there just doesn't seem to be enough space for all the people. 

Blue Bell has found it's way to Florida so maybe I could live here after all!

And too much wine which means an early evening. It's not even 11:00 p.m. and I'm in bed. Clearly I'm not 25 any more! Just as well since we have a full day planned for tomorrow. Hopefully it will include more wine. Yawn....

Well, the kitchen is progressing nicely. Still needs some tweaking here and there but I can live with it.

 

The only time it's ok to shout, "I've got diarrhea!" is when you're playing Scrabble.... because it's worth a crap load of points.

I've got a crap load of orders to get out this week then I'm going out of town so I don't know how much blogging I'll be doing. Maybe I'll have some time to stamp up something...

p.s. Thank you Zach Galifianakis for the diarrhea joke and that is not a picture of my kitchen.

Texas Tuesday Rerun

This Texas Tuesday is sort of a rerun but in my defense, my kitchen looks like this:

Now I don't mind not having an oven and washing dishes in the sink won't kill me but there's a fairly thick white layer of sheetrock dust everywhere which just may send me over the edge. It looks like a party at Charlie Sheen's house.

Not that I've ever been invited.

Call me, Charlie.

But you've got to break a few eggs...... Supposedly it will be worth it but I will probably not spend much time in there doing anything that resembles cooking.

Anyway, here's a repost of a paper bag book I did last year - or the year before. I can't remember. I think it uses every bluebonnet stamp I have. The photos are from a past bluebonnet pilgrimage. You have to go - it's the law.

If you want to know more information about each page or if you have too much time on your hands, just click on the underlined title above each pic. It should take you to the original post.

Cover

 

Pages Two and Three

Pages Three and Four

Pages Five, Six and the Back

So that's it. I'll be back on track soon. Although one renovation tends to lead to another and with my crappy little house, who knows when it will end!

Some Early Bluebonnets

It just occurred to me that I had big plans for a few new bluebonnet stamps this year. I wish this would have occurred to me about a month ago so that there would be time to get them made and into stores but, alas, I had other things on my mind. Maybe I'll get them done next year. Meanwhile, here are a few pics from previous bluebonnet seasons.

Texas Tuesday this week! Maybe I'll get a new bluebonnet card done if I can adjust to the damn time change. When is that foolishness going to stop? Now I like more sun in the evening as much as the next guy but come on people, it's 2011! Going back and forth is as unnecessary and obsolete as encylopedias and marriage!

Yawn.

Texas Tag Finale

And here are The Six Tags Of Texas all together in one of those 7 Gypsies trays. I used double stick tape but instead of adhering them directly to the back of the tray, I sandwiched a match box behind each tag. Yes, I took the matches out - if you are into making cards or scrapbooking or pretty much anything creative, your house is already a fire hazard so why tempt fate? You can always use some cardboard or foam board for a similar effect.

Not that I expect something like this to end up on the wall of any of my faithful blog readers. But there's no accounting for taste and if you have the wall space, I guess you can do worse. This one has worn out it's welcome at my house so it's going to a store for display.

Hope you enjoyed The Six Tags of Texas. Thanks for tuning in and for all your comments!

The Six Tags of Texas - Day 6

Day 6 - Aaaaah. It's over! It's been fun but I'm ready for a break from tags. Not only did I make these 6 but in the interest of further self-promotion, I made 10 sets of the damn things! They'll be sent to some Texas stores this week so if your local Texas stamp store doesn't have them on display - prominently with spotlights and with Lyle Lovett playing softly in the background, let me know. I might just make a special trip to take them back! Nothing makes me crazier than visiting a stamp store that doesn't make samples a priority. Come to think of it, there are plenty of things to drive me crazy - and you've probably figured out that it's not a long trip! Anyway...

This is one of my favorites. I love black and copper and the background technique is almost foolproof.

Here are the bits and pieces. The black piece is cut with a Spellbinders die. The background was stamped with the Weathered Wood stamp in Memento Potter's Clay and the other Texas stuff was layered with other Memento colors. The Texas Forever was embossed in Black on copper metallic card stock and then again in Bronze embossing powder on black. The Barbed Wire is also embossed in Bronze.

Here's the Weathered Wood stamp at work. First, stamped in Potter's Clay - it aligns very well even if you overlap it. Then add another layer in Rich Cocoa. In the photo below I left the bottom left corner with only Potter's Clay so you can see that layering makes a big difference. It also looks great in bright colors, less wood-like but still an interesting background. Maybe I'll remember to do the bright colors sometime soon...

After embossing the Texas Forever stamp, cut out around the circle. There may be a punch that's the perfect size but if you don't have one, you'll have to use your scissors. A 1" punch takes out the middle -almost. I had to go around the inner edge with a black marker to get it a little more perfect. Also not every punch goes into the paper deep enough so if it doesn't, you'll have to use an Exacto knife or be satisfied with one layer. Then emboss the image again in Bronze to get the star. Or find another small stamp to go in the center. Our beautiful Texas quarter also fits well.

 

Tomorrow I'll post a photo of all six all together. Or Wednesday. Or sometime this week.

The Six Tags of Texas - Day 5

Bluebonnets for Day 5. Despite this latest miserable and irritating cold snap, our bluebonnets are hopefully thinking about coming up and will be in full bloom in a month or so. If you don't live in Texas, you probably can't relate to the excitement that takes place when during bluebonnet season. Even if gas prices keep going up, we will still get in our cars and pick up trucks and go out looking for a Kodak moment. And even though bluebonnet season lasts only a few weeks, you can have bluebonnets all year long with these stamps!

Here are all the pieces - not much to them but it's all in the details. The bluebonnets are stamped with Marvy Markers - Light Blue and Blue for the flower and Light Green and Green for the leaves. I also spritzed them with water before stamping so the colors would blend. You can't see it very well, but there is some Stickles glitter glue in the white spots of the flowers as well as on the band of the cowboy hat. Details!

Mask the bluebonnets and stamp The Eyes of Texas Script in Rich Cocoa and the Ornate Swirl in Summer Sky, both Memento pads.

I love this little Texas Square stamp. It's perfect when you need a little something extra. Here it is popped up and painted with some brown iridescent watercolor and in order to get my money's worth out of my reading glasses, I cut out the Small Cowboy Hat for an extra layer.

I thought it was finished but I decided it needed something more. The dreaded Hobby Lobby/Michael's just didn't have what I was looking for so reluctantly I had to find a fabric store. Sewing is a compete mystery to me and fabric stores sort of creep me out. What is that smell? They all have it. Anyway these were a little pricey but since the tag is just a little over 2 inches across, it doesn't take much. Wonder tape is perfect for sticking the trim on the back of the tag.

One more tag left for tomorrow. Then I'm taking a vacation! For at least a few hours.

The Six Tags of Texas - Day 4

Another cowboy for tag number 4. It wouldn't be Texas without some horses! When I was in Europe last year, I was asked twice about what life is like in Texas. I felt bad dispelling the rumors that we all have horses and wear cowboy boots and hats. Like most native Texans, I have ridden horses but not to herd cattle or to rob a train. And although I don't own boots or a hat, I do know those who do, even to the grocery store. Somehow they wear them well but on me... well it would be Halloween every day! I do enjoy some good chewing tobacco, however, and I can hit a spittoon from five feet away. Even in church.

This one is is probably the easiest of the six but still makes an impact. That's colored pencil on the Sketchy Cowboy.

 

For the background, mask the Sketchy Cowboy. Then lightly blot a few colors of dye based ink pads onto the tag. You should probably test them out on another piece of paper to see how juicy they are. I used Marvy and Memento pads.

Stamp the Sketchy Cowboy on another piece of card stock and cut out and color the horse. Foam tape adds some dimension. Notice the tiny pieces of foam tape for the ears - don't want them coming off! The bottom of the horse is behind the torn piece with the Trail Ride so it needs to be flat.

And look how perfectly the Vertical Texas fits into the Spellbinders dye. Or perhaps you prefer Howdy. A little Memento Rhubarb Stalk around the edges makes  a big difference. I used black brads to affix it to the tag.

The horseshoe came from The Brazos Collection, a little bead store in Salado. I think a bag of 25 or so was about $1.00. If your will power is weak, I would suggest avoiding this store!

I shouldn't have to mention this but I know how people take things so literally. If it's written on the internet and there's no 'LOL' after it, well, it must be true, right? But for the record, I do not partake in chewing tobacco. I also do not spit. Even in church.

The Six Tags of Texas - Day 3

Day three's tag is probably the most involved of the six but if you break it up into parts it's much less intimidating. I borrowed this idea from a Texas Tuesday post on Tina's blog a few weeks ago - her cowboy was lassoing (I know, that's how you spell it! Weird, huh?) a star. Tying the little tiny rope will be much easier if you have three hands but if that's the case, you probably don't have much time to make stuff with your work in the circus but for the rest of you, just be patient. 

Here are all the pieces. The Texas Heart was embossed in red and everything else was stamped in Memento's Tuxedo Black. Colored pencil for the Cowboy and the TEXAS and the cut out part of the Texas, Our Texas stamp is Danube Blue and Paris Dusk lightly dragged across.

Just wanted to show that I cut out the TEXAS from the Texas Collage stamp. How convenient that it's the perfect size! Also the Weathered Wood stamp is around the edge in Potter's Clay and Rich Cocoa from Memento. More on this stamp another day.

I put foam tape on the west side but I opted for a flat double stick on the east. It sort of looks like it's coming out of the tag.

Get out your glasses and sharp scissors! If you want your Cowboy popped up (insert a Viagra joke here), you'll have to cut some very small pieces of foam tape. Any time you cut something out so intricately, it really needs special attention to make sure it's adhered well.

The cord was tied to the Texas Heart - the foam tape holds it in place - and Diamond Glaze adheres it to his hand and keeps it coiled. Any glue that dries clear will do. Again, spend a little more time making sure it's good and stuck! Wire would also work and might be easier to deal with but it might also get a little kinky... and not in a good way.

The tacky plastic star came from the dreaded Hobby Lobby but it was the only thing I could find in the right size. I reluctantly used Wonder Tape to stick it down because now it's there forever and ever.

More tomorrow!