Good Food, Good Fun

I had the best time yesterday.  I was able to attend a 12 hour scrapbooking crop.  For those who may not be familiar with this, it is a day where you can take all your scrapping "stuff" and scrap your heart away.  They feed you three very wonderful meals, snacks, all the McAlister's tea you can consume during the day.  There are door prizes given away all day long and a $100 Hobby Lobby gift card given away at the end of the day.  So early Sat. morning, my sister and I loaded the car and drove the few minutes it took us to get to the hall where the crop was held.  We got all sat up, I donned my slippers and we worked on our scrapbooks, laughed, talked, ate and watched it snow all day long.  It was a great day to be inside doing something we love.

Another Year Older, Another Birthday Card

Here is a card I made recently for a good friend.  I don't have a tutorial I can share with you as I just saw a picture of a similar card and this is what I came up with.  I think all the layering is what makes this particular card pretty.  Using vellum to make a pocket allowed for a removable tag to be part of the card.  I decorated the tag with a flourish sticker I had.  To dress up the flourish, I added some gemstones here and there for a little extra pizazz.  As you can see, I used simple brads to attach vellum to paper and then used a decorative punch for a lacy looking edge to top off the pocket.  Add a pretty bow, button, and a birthday tag with a pearl brad and there you have it.  Another year and another birthday card.

The Original Scrapbox

This is an awesome give away.  You crafters need to head on over and enter.  Here is the link:

The Original Scrapbox

If you missed the good news... here it is again: YOU could win a ScrapBox!!! Click on the link below for details!

ScrapBox Giveaway - In Celebration of National Craft Month

spreadsheets0.google.com

Happy Anniversary!

Some wonderful people in our lives will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this week.  I've been working on a card for them and I think I'm happy with the results.  shhhhh......if you know these people, please don't tell them about this post..LOL  Can you imagine, 50 years?  What a wonderful accomplishment!  To take those vows to heart, "for better, for worse...in sickness and health".  How serious did you take those vows you made before God and your mate?  You hear everyday of someone that has gotten "side-tracked" in their marriage and it just makes me heartsick.  I want to scream "What about your vows? Weren't you serious when you made those?"   Can you imagine the ups and downs that a couple sees after being together for 50 years?  The good and the bad, the happy and the sad?  All those things put together is what makes us grow as a couple.  Those married 50 years have learned how to stick it out, work it out, not just throw up their hands and call it quits...that is just too easy these days.  So to all you out there who've made it that far, my hat's off to you!  Congratulations!!

Now for a peek at my card.....

I used some Paper Studio specialty paper in gold glitter for the heart, "50" and the trims.  I used Don Juan cart to cut the "50",  the scallop oval  is the From My Kitchen cart (shift/sheep), a Martha Stewart punch for the lacy trim and some glittery ribbon to add  bling, topping off the look.

Cards, A Lost Art

Cards, letters, any type of written communication is becoming a lost art.  With email, facebook, etc., we find ourselves communicating more and more without using paper and pen.  That's one of the reasons I enjoy making my own greeting cards for friends and family for a variety of occasions.  I think there is something special about opening the mailbox once in awhile and still finding a note or card from someone.

With a recent death in the family, I found myself pondering what kind of sympathy card to make.  I found a link for a great little card that isn't hard to make and is so pretty.  I thought it fit the "sympathy" card theme well.

Here's what I came up with:

I used cardstock for the base of card and the strips for the lattice work.  Behind the lattice I added a piece of vellum.  I used Paper Studio flowers from Hobby Lobby with brads, pearls and gems for the flower centers.  I embellished the flower petals with Flower Soft on some of them and purple ink on others.  I attached some of the flowers with pop dots to add some dimension.  For the leaves I used a fern cut from the Stretch Your Imagination Cricut cart.  The sign post was cut from the Walk In My Garden Cricut cart, the stamped with sentiment.

Here is the link for more detailed instructions:
http://www.card-making-magic.com/makeatrelliscard.html

The Little Book That Could....

I made a little felt book for my granddaughter a few years ago and thought I'd share it with you.  The title of my post "The Little Book That Could" says it all, I think.  A little book that can entertain in a quiet situation (like church) and because it's soft it can easily be pushed into an already overloaded bag.

I didn't have a pattern for this.  I just decided how big I wanted the pages to be and then just cut each page that size.  After I would finished the pages, I would sew two pages back to back.  Of course, if you try this be sure to make it age appropriate.  You know, no little buttons, etc. for the very young.  I used a hole punch and threaded each page onto book binding rings.   I'm not a seamstress so this isn't perfect but it sure pleased a little girl at the time.

Balloons fold down to reveal cupcakes and presents.

Flaps on tree open to show apple buttons and squirrels.

Papa's John Deere Green folds down to reveal pic of Papa and the "money" pig has slot in top for coins or small snack.

So that's it for today.  Use your imagination and see what you come up with for a little one you know.





There's A New Flower in our Pot

After being away for a few days to attend a funeral for my aunt, I'm back to say hello to my blogger friends.  It was nice to get to see family we aren't with often but a shame we always seem to wait for the sad occasions to get together.

I thought I'd share a card I made to send to a couple friends to announce the birth of our newest little granddaughter.  I made this card for a challenge so I wanted to wait till the contest was over to post it here.  The challenge was to make something out of a mystery die cut I received in the mail.  The die cuts were a flower pot and a stem with leaves.  You could do anything with them but cut them.  After looking at them and studying them for a few days, the idea of a birth announcement came to me.

I chose to wrap a narrow ribbon around the stem and make my own leaves out of the ribbon.  I also snipped and lightly inked the edge of some more ribbon and taped to the back of pot to resemble grass.

On the inside I added all the "particulars" embellished with a crocheted flower to add some dimension along with baby's pic.

This was my "thinking outside the box" moment that day.  Hope you enjoyed my creation.

P.S.  I won that challenge, by the way!

Scrapping that Mimics Photo

Once in a while I have a picture that I think just lends itself to copying in my layout decor.  Confused?  I know I probably didn't explain that very well but I think the following pictures of my layouts will show you what I mean.

 The layering of the tulips and teacup diecuts adds a lot of dimension to this photo.

 This layout I tried to copy the flowers on the hat with the paper flowers and felt leaves.

This picture I tried my hand at a trellis.  The base of the trellis is actually a # sign diecut using the Don Juan Cricut Cart.

I  think capturing an element in your photo and then recreating it on your layout adds a lot interest to the whole page and ties everything together.  Give it a try if you haven't yet.  Happy Scrapping!!