The Odd Whimsy

So I'll start off by saying that I am NOT much of a stamper. I like them, but I never seem to know what to do with them. About a month ago I was at the lovely scrapbook store in Branson, MO and found these adorable stamps by Santoro Gorjuss.  They have a very strong Alice in Wonderland vibe to me (which for anyone who knows me, I ADORE.) I held off that trip but I made another trip yesterday and decided to splurge and buy a few. When I got home I busted out one of my mixed media art pads so I could stamp them and decide how I liked coloring them best. I have several different makers, watercolors, pencils, etc to choose from. I decided to try out each image with a different one to see what I personally liked best. All the images. So for the first one I did I decided to use the Tim Holtz distress markers to color it in. I like that they can be toned down or blended out with water. I like the way this turned out, though I'm not crazy about some of the harsh edge

For this year I have been challenging to use up my scraps of paper.  I have a HUGE collection of Graphic 45, which I keep all my scraps organized by collection. For this card I used some of my Gilded Lily scraps. The great thing is I was also able to use up some of my small jewel scraps. The butterfly is cut and embossed from a Tim Holtz die.  After I placed the "Thank You" on the card, I couldn't figure out how to place the butterfly without it looking like it was just thrown on there. So I cut a small tag from the collection to give it a mat. It really made this piece stand out! Thanks for stopping by! -Altina

So it's that awesome time of the year when Graphic 45 has their design team auditions! So my name is Altina Robinson, and I am 24 years old from Springfield, MO. I was introduced to Graphic 45 when I was I believe 16, and the Steampunk Debutante collection was phasing out (I have both the 12x12 and the 8x8 in my stash.) I have been into arts and crafts since I was a little kid, and was introduced to paper crafting when I was about 15. It started out with scrapbooking, which turned into card making, which turned into art journaling, and well, you get the point. So for my first project I found a Tim Holtz mini clipboard at Michaels and knew I HAD to do something with it. So for this project I used the new Voyage Beneath the Sea collection. I love this collection ( I LOVE steampunk) and I love all the bright colors. For my second project I made a birthday card with Botanical Tea for a friend. I am a bit obsessive about my scraps, so I have them all organized by c

So I recently gotten into jewelry making. I have discovered I really love making pendants with resin using the graphic 45 paper.  I love just making quick and simple necklaces. I tend to save all my paper scraps, so this is a great project for all those pieces that you might normally throw away. Thanks for stopping by! -Altina

 So I have a great love of flea markets, and thrift shops. They are my favorite places to find things to alter. But my favorite thing to go scouring for is old bottles. I have quite the collection of old bottles, that I have collected over the years. About a month ago I added four small bottles that I found on historic C-Street in Springfield. I have had these bottles sitting on my computer desk since I got them. I got to thinking about how I altered a bottle for an altered bottle swap a few years ago, and it made me want to do a little something with these. I decided to use a mix of the Graphic 45 collections Rare Oddities, Olde Curiosity Shoppe, and Steampunk Spells. I used a 7 Gypsies library drawer that I had in my stash, and some Tim Holtz drawer feet. I used some paper from the rare oddities paper to cover the box, and then I painted the inside black.   I used some chipboard for the front of the box from olde curiosity shoppe, and I fussy cut some bu