'Green' Christmas

Hi!  So glad you're here!  I'm not trying to jump the gun on the upcoming holidays or anything, but I'm in a bit of a panic that I do not have many Christmas cards made and it is the end of October...

Fall break gave me some much needed time to do some sorting, cleaning, organizing, and yes, creating in my studio.  I even managed to use something that has been in my stash for quite some time.  

My DH loves to give me a difficult time about the odd things I save for creative projects, and I LOVE when I use something and can show him that I really did need to save whatever it was that he laughed at!  Several years ago, my MIL used some beautiful textured paper to wrap Christmas gifts.  I saved the paper for future use and about a year later, she gave me the remainder of the roll to use as well.  I decided to use the pretty paper to make some wonderful Christmas cards.  The paper was a bit tricky to cut because of the texture, but I decided that imperfect edges would work well with the shabby style I was creating.

a little inky goodness to add to the shabby effect...

changing up the sentiment on this one...

I think they turned out pretty cute and I'm happy to share that I used all of the paper from the wrapped gift!  I still have the remaining paper on the roll that I can still use for something fun too!  When I showed the finished cards to DH, he just smiled and shook his head.  I'm sure I will never convince him that saving these goodies is a wonderful idea, but he's learning not to ask "What are you going to do with THAT?!", so I guess I'm making a bit of a change in him!

I would love to see what you save and reuse on your creative projects! I think the oddest thing I've used was some funky, crinkly packing paper from Disney World!  If you have something to share, leave me a message with a link and I'll check it out!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipe:  Paper-Old olive, very vanilla, wrapping paper, Ink-memento tuxedo black, real red, soft suede, Stamps-Star Studded Season (1st card), Stampabilities Blessed Christmas (2nd card)

A little play time

Hello! We have finally made it to our fall break at school and I couldn't be happier!  It seems like since we've moved, I find so many other things that require my time and I have little time to be creative...  But now I have an entire week off of school and I'm determined to get some things accomplished in my studio!  The past two days have been spent doing laundry and catching up with neglected projects, and, now my focus is on working in the studio.  This will include a bit of cleaning, reorganizing, and maybe even a trip to find more storage pieces! So excited!!

This afternoon, I was able to sneak a little time to make some cards for my stash.  My organizers are pretty empty and there are birthdays and anniversaries just around the corner.  I decided to focus on anniversary today and pulled up a design I pinned a very long time ago.  It was actually a quilt block design, but I love altering those to make some cute quilt like cards!  Click here to see the original design.

I used 1" squares of whisper white and rich razzleberry from the Sycamore Street dsp.  Some were kept whole, while others were cut diagonally to make triangles.  Personally, I find that it's easier to glue my squares/triangles to a piece of copy paper and then run that through an embossing folder.  I'm not sure how else to keep the pieces together...  

I decided to mix things up a bit.  I did the first one with the sentiment stamped on the side and decided that I didn't care for that as much as I originally planned.  So the next one was stamped under the quilted piece.  I also changed the patterned paper behind the quilting. I'm not sure which I like better.  I think the multi colored piece makes the heart stand out more.

Well, I really don't have much more to share today, but I am so glad you stopped by!  I'm going to try to be super productive this week and hopefully will have more to share with you in the near future!  Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipe:  Paper-rich razzleberry, whisper white, Sycamore Street dsp, Ink-memento tuxedo black, Stamp Set-Wonderful Words, Accessories-big shot, square lattice embossing folder

Decoupage-Challenge accepted!

Hello! I am so glad you visited and even more happy that I've been able to make something to share with you!  

About a week ago, a co-worker was eating Oui yogurt with her lunch and we all commented on the cute glass jar that it came in. We discussed the recycling vs. plastic trash aspect of the container and someone commented that it would be a cute jar to hold little things like paperclips.  Then someone else mentioned making it a candle holder.  I suggested decoupaging it so it would be even cuter.  Dead silence.... Finally... "Deco what?" So I gave a short tutorial on the versatility of decoupage and how many different looks one could achieve through this medium.  This led my co-worker to hand me her empty jar with the challenge of "make something".  They all laughed as I asked what theme she would like.  She responded that Halloween or Fall would be great.  Our lunch ended with people guessing just how that yogurt jar would be made over.

That weekend, I got busy.  I thoroughly cleaned the jar, removed the labels and dug out my left-over fall papers.

The cute little yogurt jar

Next I tore some burlap print paper into squares and triangles, and began to decoupage the papers onto the jar.

After everything dried, I inked the white paper spots with various shades of brown ink, smudging and smearing it onto the paper.  A glittery silk leaf and a burlap flower were added to give the jar a bit of flair.

 I used rubber bands to hold the leaf and flower in place until the glue dried.

the finished product!

Monday morning, I went to my co-workers classroom and placed the jar on her desk.  Her face registered shock and amazement as she slowly realized this was her yogurt jar!  She was very pleased and I passed the decoupage challenge with flying colors!  Now everyone is saving their jars for me... What have I started?!

I hope my project and story have inspired you to look at your 'junk' with new eyes and find a way to brighten someone else's day as well!  Have a fabulous day!!