Happy 4th with foam star stamping....

Happy 4th!  I know it's a bit early but I wanted to share a quick and easy way to create stamps for any occasion.  Right now I have - America, the beautiful, Old Glory and that American Pride on my mind.  We live in an incredible country with blessings and opportunities that create a well-lived Life as we pursue life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  We are truly blessed by God, the founding fathers and those men and women who have and continue to protect and to defend our nation.  On to the fun.. You can do this with any foam stickers or use foam to create your own.  But when I saw these foam stickers at the $1 section of Target, I knew that I could make some quick star stamps.  Here's how....  

Gather $1 foam stickers, inks, acrylic blocks and paper

Adhere the stickers to an acrylic block

Here I created a border of the stars



Now ink your stamp and stamp on paper
See the texture from the stickers

The paper ribbon is made with the star border and then inked the paper to give it an aged look.

The finished card...with added lace, flowers and the #4 brad in honor of the 4th.  Have fun celebrating our nation's beginning and God bless this land that we love!

A little ocean inspiration

We have been back now for about 11 days from our vacation to Amelia Island, Florida.  It was wonderful, restful, eventful and full good times and great memories.  We had beautiful weather at the beginning and the end but for 3 days in the middle, we experienced Tropical Storm Beryl.  The weathermen/women on the local news loved to say that "the Storm is Barreling through (pun intended) and it actually did!  We watched it from our 1st floor condo on the beach...breathtaking, exciting  and a little bit scary!  The Ocean, the beach, the sounds, the waves and all that goes with that part of nature always brings inspiration.  Our creative Heavenly Father provides the greatest source of inspiration, doesn't he?  Whether it be the colors, sounds, textures - my mind goes racing, creating, and of course, finishing all that I can dream.  My hands, however, once home, find laundry, errands, cooking, cleaning, taking care of my sweet family and of course, loving every minute of home keeping. While at the beach, I brought a jewelry traveling kit, a stamping traveling kit and an embroidery traveling kit and of course my crochet hooks and yarns! Here are a few things we made while relaxing in the sun and the rain.  I also want to share a few things I have been working on since I've been home.  Recently a friend asked me what is my main thing that I do and what do I do everyday...I had a hard time answering but after thinking about it - here's my answer.  Every day I create- maybe just a little something, maybe  I add to a work in progress or (my favorite), I begin a new project.  I love what I do so I never stop and think if I have done my "main" thing.  Whether it's spending time with my children and family, crocheting a rug, sewing an apron, painting a flag, adding shells to anything or playing with paper - I am happy being creative, being me and sharing with those around.

A shell Presleigh found and I used hemp to make a necklace (the hole was already there!!)
We also made 3 bracelets and 2 more necklaces.  Savannah crocheted her own bracelet!! 

While it rained, we "delighted" in doing some collage art and stamping.
The background stamp was a mesh net from our produce!!

One of the beautiful sunrises!

One of two flags  I painted from salvaged tin from the barn!

My new Lone Star Flag for my summer porch!

Three treasure store glasses (bought at different times) embellished with jute, shells and tin wire.
These would make great candle holder!

A close up of the tin wire!

I hope you have found inspiration in this wonderful summer season.  Until next time,

Blessings