A Quick Post

 It's been a while since I last posted, and it makes me a little sad. Life has a way of keeping one busy and forgetting to take time for a little fun. 

My job keeps me creating on a regular basis, but it's not the same as just having fun. I have been doing some fun creative things, but I usually forget to take pictures and post on my blog. So today I'm sharing some cards I created for a class at the library. Fairly simple, but still fun to play!!

Since I used mostly library supplies, I'm not sure of brands or product names, but the pumpkin and tree are from an old Stampin' Up set.

I'd love to say I'll be posting more regularly,  but let's be honest here! Maybe I'll remember to share my Christmas cards!!

Small Things with Great Love

Hello! Today I'm sharing a beautiful card made by a dear blogging friend, Heather.  She really is the sweetest person and always sends the prettiest cards!

I received this beauty for Thanksgiving and it included a very thoughtful note inside.  It really made my day, and reminded me that while we enjoy creating things, the cards we share and send with others really can make a difference. It also reminded me of a quote, "We can do no great things, but we can do small things with great love."

So today I leave you with a challenge to not only make things, but share them with others!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Harvest of Friends

Hello! Well, my fall break is almost over and I can't believe I have not finished the first scrapbook page... DH has been in the process of remodeling our bathroom (last room in the house to be finished!!), and I've been trying to keep the house somewhat clean and organized during this process.  Add in two college visits, filling out financial aid forms, putting up fall decorations, and cleaning up some of the landscaping and my week is about shot!  I'm not going to complain though because it has been  a beautiful week and it looks like Saturday is going to be rainy and nasty, so maybe I can lock myself away then!

We also went to a co-worker's home Tuesday evening for a carry in dinner, drinks, and a campfire.  It was a beautiful evening and everyone from our teaching team was able to make it.  We don't get the chance to spend time together outside of school very often, and it was so nice to relax, eat wonderful food, enjoy a cozy fire, and talk about things other than work.  Of course, we did a little of that too, but tried to keep it to a minimum!

It was such a wonderful night and I wanted to let my co-worker (who is also a dear friend) know how much we appreciated her sharing her home with us for the evening.  I had also been seeing a lot of cards using the beautiful flower from Painted Harvest (SU), and I really wanted to play with that set to see where inspiration led.  I pulled different details from several different cards, so I don't have any one person to credit for this creation.

I've also been watching some videos showing how to use stencils to mask off  most of the card.  I knew those stencils that came with Just Journaling would come in handy eventually! I've never used them with the stamp because I didn't like the way the edges looked after I stamped, but it worked perfectly for the oval sponging area!  I used Barely Banana and Pumpkin Pie for the two shades in the oval.  I think they would have looked better if I had used a blending brush, but I didn't want to dig out the one I have.  The new set of brushes from Taylored Expressions would have worked fabulously...but Santa didn't bring me any early gifts, so I'll just have to wait.  After sponging the oval, I got busy stamping and fussy cutting the flower, die cutting the twig, leaves, and friend. I added a bit of sponging to the edges of the fussy cut flower to cover the white, and also added a little ink to the leaves to add dimension.  A strip of ribbon, a button, and a little background DSP and it was finished.

This was probably the most supplies I have used on a card in a reeeeeeaaaaaaaaly loooooong time! Because of this, I'm adding a 'card recipe' to the bottom in case you're interested.  Lots of inks used to create the depth and shading!!  The flower alone is a combo of daffodil delight, crushed curry, cajun craze and early espresso.

I'm hoping to play a little more with the dies and stamp set I used today.  There are so many possibilities and it was a lot of fun just playing around with different ideas.  I've also ordered a new Tim Holtz leaves die that I'm picking up tomorrow from our LSS.  I think I may have a problem...LOL!  At least I haven't gone out and bought a bunch of papers!  I'm still sticking to my goal of using up what I have to finish some scrapbooks before adding anything new.  Waaaay too much paper taking up space in my studio at the moment!!

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you find some time to play with your craft supplies and make something amazing!  Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipe: Paper-Orchard Harvest DSP (SU ret), whisper white, always artichoke, early espresso, Ink-early espresso, crumb cake, cajun craze, always artichoke, daffodil delight, crushed curry, pumpkin pie, barely banana, Stamp Set- Painted Harvest (SU), Accessories- early espresso ribbon, Well Written dies (SU), Funky Floral dies (TH), oval stencil from Just Journaling stamp set (SU)

Scrapbook Saturday-paper purge!

Hello! I'm back with three more scrapbook pages and the theme of the day is Paper Purge!  This time instead of pulling from my box of single papers, I switched to two of the many DSPs that I have in my paper rack.  Did I mention that I really don't EVER need to buy new paper???

I also managed to work in a little ribbon and those pesky leaves that multiply every time I leave my craft studio! Oh, and some REALLY OLD wedding theme stickers too! Hmm...maybe not totally about the paper purge after all...

Another super easy layout and that ribbon was a freebie at a crop I went to earlier 

this year.  There was just a small amount and I used it all on this page!

Used quite a few different size scraps on these pages, and 4 of those leaves!  I also 

used the last of the burlap flowers on the top page.  I can't remember when 

I bought the wedding stickers, but they have been shifted from box to bag to 

basket to table where I finally used some of them.

I am loving how full my albums are getting with all of these finished pages.  I might actually be able to display more than a few completed books at graduation next spring!  Probably not anything from the last few years, but still!  Progress is progress, right?!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fantastic weekend!

Throwback Thursday and more scrappin'

Well hello! No...you're not imagining things...I'm posting two days in a row!  All those finished scrapbook pages were begging to be shared and since I was awake anyway I figured 'why not'!

My pages today are all from Thanksgiving several years ago.  Once again, I focused on using papers from my stash and some of those overflowing embellishments.  I bought the leaves a few years ago for an altering project and I swear those things multiply when I'm not looking.  I have used them on the fall decorations on my mantle, some fall birthday cards, and a few scrapbook pages and I STILL have a bunch of these left!  The tags were part of an ephemera kit I bought years ago and I think they worked pretty well on these pages.  The pattern papers were also left over from the altered letters I made, and the metal buttons have been in my stash for quite some time now.  It feels good to use some of these random things! I'm apologizing in advance for the crappy quality of my finished photos.  I can never get a good picture of a scrapbook page unless I take them outside on a sunny day, and it wasn't ideal for that... 

Once again, pretty simple pages, a little more embellishing on these, but still super easy.

Tomorrow DD2 and I are going to a stencil class at our LSS.  The owner always has great classes and tries to come up with creative ways to use things.  We're going to be playing with inks, paste, and some type of glittery stuff!  I'm hoping for some new ideas on how to use the stencils I already have so I can use them more often.  I'll have to share my new skills when we get home!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Throwback Thursday-Sending more 'Happy Mail'

Hello!  I've taken a little break from making Christmas cards to play with some pretty fall colors.  Unfortunately, it doesn't feel much like fall right now.  I think September was cooler than October!  I'm hoping we get a few weeks of chilly weather before we slide right into winter...

I think today's cards are throwbacks in every sense of the word.  Stamps, cardstock, pattern paper, and even the ribbon are all things that have been a part of my crafty stash for a very long time!  It felt good to put them to good use again!

I don't normally send a lot of fall/Halloween cards, but I'm making an effort to send more cards that aren't birthday or Christmas.  One of my classes were talking about letters this week and one of the students asked "Who even sends letters?"  It made me sad, but then I realized that I don't really send letters anymore either.  I did share with them that I send homemade cards with notes in them and they looked at me like they had never heard of such a thing! Lol! Guess I'm officially old now...  This conversation and a recent guest speaker from Rachel's Challenge inspired me to reach out to loved ones a little more often.  Soon these cards will be addressed to some family and friends who are very dear to me to let them know I'm thinking about them!

Fall is my favorite season and I have quite a few different sets of fall themed DSP.  I decided to use the long retired Orchard Harvest and blew the dust off of two of my favorite fall stamps.  I even dug in my retired cardstock drawer to find the more mustard paper!  I'm not sure how long ago I purchased the burlap ribbon, but I'm guessing it's been a while since I have no clue where it came from!  Both cards were pretty easy to put together and it was fun doing a bit of coloring again!  I hope you are inspired to make and send your own cards to let someone special know that you're thinking about them too!  Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipes: Paper-more mustard, naturals ivory, Orchard Harvest DSP (ret), Ink-tangelo twist, pear pizzazz, daffodil delight, early espresso, tuxedo black, Stamp Set-Festive Four, Seasonal Memories (hero arts), Accessories-burlap ribbon

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!!

It's almost fall, y'all!

While it's not officially fall in the US yet, today's weather is letting us know that it won't be long.  Seems the wind and rain from Harvey decided to bring colder temperatures with them. Today was a dreary, cold, rainy day, but I'm counting my blessings that it could be much worse.  My heart aches for all those who have lost loved ones, homes, and possessions to this.  I'm praying that sunny days and plenty of help are heading to Texas!

On a totally unrelated topic, I had always thought that as my kids got older, I would have more free time to create and that once I had my own room for crafting, everything would just fall into place. HA!  It's funny how even though I'm doing less running with my kids, I still don't have a lot of 'free' time, and I am still trying to sort through boxes of craft and art supplies.  I'm hoping that the long weekend will afford at least one day to organize a little bit more and maybe even allow for some creative time.

I did take a few evenings to work on a little project for my mantle (which still is not in place...) and I'm pretty happy with the results.  I found the set of MDF letters unfinished at Hobby Lobby and they were 40% off! Of course, since I didn't have all of my supplies unpacked, I HAD to buy some new fall papers and some wonderful burlap flowers to dress those naked letters!

I started with a taupe colored acrylic paint and painted the sides and backs of the letters.  The next evening,  I traced and cut out the patterned paper, glued it on and let it dry overnight.  The next day, I trimmed and sanded the edges of the paper, added some ink to cover any white paper peeking through, and added a nice layer of crackle medium.

The next day I was a bit disappointed to see that the crackle wasn't at all what I wanted it to be. I could barely see the crack lines... I'm thinking the MDF absorbed more than I expected, and I really didn't want to add another layer, so I got out my sponge and a crumb cake ink pad and grunged up the edges.  It wasn't the look I originally planned, but it turned out ok.

My final step was to glue on some fall colored silk leaves from my stash and top them with the adorable burlap flowers.  I think they turned out pretty good and with my bargain shopping, they were actually cheaper than if I would have bought something similar!

I hope you enjoyed my project and just  maybe I inspired you to create your own seasonal decoration!  If so, I would love to see what you created!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

Fall Theme Swaps

As promised, here are a few more swaps that I received.  Although many of the swappers had Christmas as their theme, some, like me, created fall cards.  I thought I would share the fall cards today.

The card on the left is by Alicia Tomicich-Wiley and the one on the right is from Sue Erickson.

The top card is from Debbie Payne and the bottom card was made by Maureen Evers.

Nothing says fall like beautiful leaves and all four of these ladies used them beautifully on their cards!  it is amazing how much more lovely these are when you can hold them in your hands!

A Little Spice Cake!

When I first saw the Holiday Mini, I fell in love with the Spice Cake DSP, but since I couldn't buy EVERYTHING at once, I had to wait to order it! This month, my stampin' club made this card.  I really like the pumpkin from Batty for You and thought this makes the card a little more versatile than the other Halloween themed stamps in this set.

We used the square punch to make the clipped edges of the dsp. Soft Suede is the perfect color to 'age' paper and we used it on the edges of every piece of paper on this card!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-very vanilla, soft suede, Spice Cake dsp, Ink-soft suede, more mustard, Stamp Set-Batty for You, Accessories- linen thread, scallop circle punch, 1 3/8 circle punch, square punch, dimensionals