Frosted Frosty Pin

This time of year there are lots of arts and crafts shows to browse. I recently attended a great show and found lots of great items to inspire me. There was jewelry made of sea glass, wine accessories made of cork, wonderfully knit items and so much more. The talents of some folks just amazes me! And inspires me!

I have a box full of glass slides and copper foil that I have used to create pins with over the years. I was inspired to drag out that box and create something new. This time I used a Stampavie image called "Snowy Cuddles" by Penny Johnson.

The top piece of glass is a frosted piece measuring 2" square, made by Inkssentials (a Ranger product). The image was embossed onto the frosted side using clear embossing powder. This technique originated with Ellen Hutson many moons ago. The frosted glass adds a very fun dimension to the finished piece. Of course, you can always use clear glass as well.

The image was stamped and colored with Copics before sandwiching it between the 2 pieces of glass. I added a piece of pattern paper to the back to hide the bleeding markers. The pin back was glued on with SU's Crystal Effects.

They also make nice magnets!

Now that it is all done and assembled I wish I had given them rosey cheeks! Oh well, guess I will have to make another ;).

Soaking Up the Joy

I am wife to a pastor. How that came to be is a story for another day but let me just say that it was about the last thing I thought I would ever be. God has a sense of humor, for sure. When Greg and I married he was working in a large chain grocery store and going to school but pastor never entered the conversation.

Like most things in life, being a pastor's wife has its good days and bad days. Then there are awesome days. Like when you get to witness a life changed...transformed. This past Sunday a lady in our church shared a bit of her story, how God has brought healing, restoration and hope to her life. It is not my story to tell here, but I will say that she was so brave to stand up in front of a church full of people and share very painful things. To know that we collectively, as a church family, have had a small part in her story (the good parts) is very cool! We shared in her joy and walked away blessed by her sharing.

I immediately thought about sending her a card of encouragement and a very specific image came to mind. Mo Manning's "Soaking Up the Joy" image by Stampavie.

She exudes joy and peace. It's a new day so let's soak up every drop.

To have hope when hope was lost is powerful. Makes you want to turn you face towards to sun once again.

I used papers from Jillibean, sentiment from Rosie's Roadshow, Copics, doily die, scallop circle die, flower dies and faceted embellies.

See ya next time!!

Boo!

Happy Halloween!

Just dropping in with a little gift bag I made.

This one is easy peasy! Start with a piece of 8 1/2 x 11. Score the long sides 2" from each side, then score the shorter side at 4 1/2 and 6 1/2. Cut in to create the flaps for the box and adhere. Add a handle of your choosing and done! My handle is attached with brads so the handle moves out of the way to access the goods!

The image is called "Batty" from Stampavie's Penny Johnson line. He was colored with Copics. I cut the flags for the banner by hand and added foam letters, assembled it with brads and a bit of orange twine. The top spider web border was punched and added after the box was assembled.

Have a great day, I hope you get nothing but treats!

Share the Warmth

Happy Tuesday! I enjoyed making the coffee cup gift card holders so much a couple of weeks ago that I made another! This time I used designer paper on the front along with an image by Stampavie.

Totally festive right?? The paper is from a line called Simple Stories, I loved the warm feel of the colors and the pattern was sized right for the cup. There is a corrugated (crimped) cozy around the cup but the rather large image mostly covers it up. The Penny Johnson image is called "All Warm Inside". The sentiment is also from Stampavie, it is in the "Holiday Wishes" set.

Here is a picture of the insert holding a Dunkin' Donuts card.

The cup will fit inside an A2 envelope. I will say that several people I have shown this to have not been able to figure out how to "work" the card, lol. Maybe the back needs a big note to "pull here". You could place the fold at the top with a fixed lid so it opens like a top fold card. That would probably be easier for some folks to figure out but I don't think it would be as fun. But it would be a shame for someone to not realize there was a gift card inside. Can you imagine??? The thought of it makes the frugal person in me shudder!!

Have a great day.

The Bee's Knees

Don't fall off your chair, but YES, this is the third post from me this week!

There are birthdays, weddings and baby's all around so I kicked my card making into high gear. I can't very well show up to all these events with store bought cards now can I? Now my smarty pants son would tell me that I "can" but "choose" not to. Semantics!!

I used the I Love Honey image by Penny Johnson to make this card and gift set for my friend Lynn's birthday last week.

I was totally inspired by the milk carton die creations seen here and here. That SU milk carton die makes such great projects, I loved that there was an idea out there I had yet to see or try. Now I will say that the brown "sleeve" around the outside was a bit putzy to get right, I think I re-did the score lines 3 times before I had a snug enough fit for my liking. When I first saw the samples, I made one that I covered with DP but in my mind I saw a bee hive. The honeycomb stamp is a Scrapblock from CHF but inked up bubble wrap can also make a good alternative. The chocolate panel on the card is embossed with a Cuttlebug bee folder. I altered the tag on the honey pot so I could add in my own sentiment. To omit the words on the original image, I just colored the outline of the tag with a black marker, stamped it onto a piece of scrap paper and cut it out. It is attached with dimensionals for lift.

The box held a handful of dark chocolate Dove candy. I suppose some Bit 'O Honey candy would have carried the theme through even better. Maybe next time!

Tonight my mother arrives from Germany for a visit. Hubby and the boys will be driving to Toronto to pick her up. I will be at a training for work all day ;(. Then we will get packed up for a week at the lake. I do have some creations left to show you, so stay tuned.

Thanks for buzzing by!

Rock Star

Happy Monday!! One more week before our family vacation! The stress is mounting at work as I try to get through all my piles before Friday. I really don't want to leave stuff for my co-workers. Come on Friday!!

How is your summer so far? I can not believe how fast it is going by. Son #2 returned from church camp safely. We seem to be playing a game called "Where in the world are my children?". This is the only week from now until the end of August that both boys will be home. I knew this would happen as they got older but it is still a bit hard to swallow. My babies are growing up.

Let's move on to a more cheery subject shall we? Like stamping and a stair step card.

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If you are on the Stampavie Newsletter list then this may look familiar. The Newsletter just came out yesterday and it is chock full of wonderful samples from the DT. Even stamping on a cake!

I used a Gillian Roberts image called "I'm a Rock Star", pairing it with some Memory Box papers. I kept it pretty clean, only adding a bit of twine and a wooden button.

I am off to tackle those piles on my desk.

Have a splendid day and thanks so much for visiting!

Ahoy!

Well, Monday's seem to be my day to post. I had a very productive weekend, just not in my stamp studio. Hubby and the boys returned from Scout camp on Saturday afternoon. The mood was right for some house cleaning so from 6am-2pm I puttered, cleaned and weeded out. Everything from floors to windows got done, I tell you the house was sparkling. For all of 30 minutes!! At 2:30 the campers came in with all their dirty, smelly gear and made themselves at home once again. Oh well. It was good to have them back again.

Our youngest was home not even a full 24 hours before we repacked his gear and sent him off to church camp for a week. As tired as he was, he was also very excited to go spend the week with old friends from Rochester. Someone in our church sponsored his trip this year so we definitely needed a card to send as a thanks. I used the opportunity to use a new Nellie Snellen stamp I got from the stamp store recently.

I used some older SU items, Ahoy, Matey and the matching jumbo wheel to accent the pirate image from Nellie. The chocolate chip layer was embossed with a weathered stripe folder from Cuttlebug, the name escapes me but it is an older one. I rubbed some CC ink over it to further accent the embossing. Dark brown is so hard to capture on the camera though. His cap got a little lift from dimensionals.

Cute fella isn't he?? Those Nellie Snellen images are very cute and fun to color.

That is all for me today. I am off to work. Arghhhh!!

Happy 4th!

Oh Happy Day! I am giddy to have a 3 day weekend! I wish I could say that I have a picnic and fireworks in my plans for celebrating the 4th of July, but I do not. Hubby and both boys left yesterday for a week at Massawepie Boy Scout Camp in the Adirondack Mountains. That leaves me home with the dog and somehow she doesn't seem like the best picnic and firework partner.

But no complaints here. I have a day off. I can do whatever my heart desires. I might celebrate my freedom by lounging on the sofa with some bon-bons and a chick flick. I will definitely be enjoying freedom from chores for the day! Oh the possibilities!

In honor of the holiday, I put a patriotic spin on a Tina Wenke image by Stampavie.

She looks like she is marching along in a parade with her little pal Hedgie.

The papers are from the 5 & Dime line by October Afternoon. I added the "celebrate" banner to some punched out stars. I figure the celebrate sentiment covers a multitude of occasions.

Well, I am off to enjoy the day.

Blessings on yours!

Homemade Gifts

Nobody likes a Wendy Whiner so I have tried to keep my grumbling to a minimum here. The busyness of life and work has really been taking its toll on me. My creative time has become very limited and when I try, the ideas and creativity seem to flow so slowly that crafting has become painful and anything but enjoyable. I have even entertained the idea of quitting altogether but I know I would miss it.

Last night I worked on a project for the Stampavie blog and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time!! Nothing super novel or exciting, in fact I used a box/basket idea I have done before. But I took my time and just puttered away until I was pleased with the end result.

The image is called "Adele Enjoys Fresh Apples" from the Sarah Kay collection. The recently purchased package of Spellbinder Apple dies happened to be nearby so I incorporated the medium size into the design. Yep! That is more of my sloppy stitching, lol. I'm gonna make it my signature look ;)

I did this tutorial on the CHF blog awhile back. The above box is just a modified version with an open top. Instead of a 12" piece, I used a 9" square piece, scored at 3" and 6" in both directions, cut on the score lines on opposing sides and assemble. The handle is just a strip of cardstock attached with brads.

Here is a close up of Adele...

I originally made the box to fit a canning jar and this one has a jar of my jam inside. The box/basket is good for so many goodies so don't just think canning jars.

It felt so good to enjoy my creative time rather than walking away frustrated! There is hope.

You've Got Mail

Today's share is another card I made for the latest Stampavie Newsletter. I used the Mailing Letters image by Tina Wenke.

Isn't she sweet with her little birdie helper? I tried to carry the postal theme with the stamped paper by Prima and using postage edge scissors around the main image.

Keeping it short this morning, gotta get ready for work. I hope you will stop by tomorrow when the Stampavie team gets to join the eTeam for a blog hop!!

Mr. Fix-It

Are you signed up for the Stampavie Newsletter? Stuart and Heidi put it out every 2 months and it has the latest information and samples from the DT.

I created two samples for the May edition that went out last week. I used the Laurence Collection image called Mr. Fix-It for this card.

He is perfect for Father's Day or for the handy man in your life. Embellishments are always tough on guy cards. I used some adhesive cork from QuicKutz, a gear embossing folder and some ribbon with measure markings. Distressing usually works on guy cards too.

This card became a birthday card for the stamp store owners husband. He often helps around the store and does a lot of handy man things. Sharon surprised him with a cake at the end of the morning Jennifer McGuire class on Saturday. This card seemed appropriate.

Thanks for stopping by!

May Sketch

Last month I almost didn't make it for Jen's SFYTT. This month, I am getting it done early to avoid the last minute stress. Here is the sketch for May and a link to all the details.

And here is my card...

It ended up being a Mother's Day card for my wonderful MIL. The Stamping Bella image worked well for the die cut I wanted to use although it probably took up more space than the sketch dictated. Thank goodness for creative license, lol. Her dress is paper pieced with MME papers. The flower accent is from the Paper Trey die Beautiful Blooms II die set.

April was such a crazy month that very little stamping happened. Sketches are a great way to get back into the swing of things because one big element of the design is done for you. There is plenty of month left for you to play along too.

Teenager

My baby is a teenager today!! I can hardly believe it. I'm trying hard not to think about, as if by not acknowledging it, it won't be true.

But it is true, so today we celebrate. He gets his favorite foods, this morning it is corned beef hash (or as he used to say when he was little, 'corn geef cash"), eggs and toast. Then for dinner, probably every teenagers favorite food--pizza. His cake of choice--cookies and cream. Oh yeah, and root beer soda.

Here is the card I made. It is a Mo Manning image available at Stampavie.

His favorite color is orange. No frills. No fuss. This image really looked like him until he decided to cut his hair short 3 days ago.

Gotta go cry in my cereal ('cause momma don't eat hash!) now. Have a good day!

Shabby Blooms

Today was my day to post on the Shady Tree Studios blog. I really am yearning for spring, to see the signs from the garden that life is renewing. And that winter is well behind us for this year. Soon.

With a stack of new paper pads on my desk, I am inspired by color and patterns. These pinks, browns and aquas call to me but to be honest, I am not the best at using them. But I forged ahead and created this card...

All the pattern papers are from a pack of Prima, totally luscious colors! The flower is stamped onto a lightly printed text pattern. Since I knew it would not hold up well to watercoloring, I used light colored Copic markers with a light hand to achieve a similar look.

There are two ladies from church taking about 20 teen girls to the Revolve Tour conference in Hartford, Ct. Brave ladies! This card is going to one of them with a note to let them know I am praying for their time away.

Thanks for stopping!

Button Bag

I am a new woman!! I wasn't sure that stomach bug would ever leave me, but it is a new day! I had to leave work early on Friday but by mid Saturday all was back on track. Yesterday was Hubby's birthday so we were busy celebrating, but I did squeak in a bit of stamping over the weekend.

The challenges at Sassy Cheryl's were so much fun, I downloaded another image and played along with some more challenges. This card is for the Color Me #16 and #55, Use something new challenges.

Kinda wacky, I know. Lots of colors and patterns going on here. I was feeling so good after the icky sickies left that I went a little crazy! My new items were the MFT die for the rolled flower and the Social Club paper pad from Cosmo Cricket. Oh, and I finally bought new thread for my sewing machine. I was missing stitching. The image is one of 2 that Cheryl posted for the color me challenge, I like the whimsy of the buttons. I popped up a few of the buttons and the heart on the bag.

Thanks for stopping by! Blessings on your day.

Birthday Boy

Thanks to a stomach bug my FIL passed on to me, I have been one hurtin' unit these last couple of days. The blast of winter we got today is salt in the wound!

I'll stop whining long enough to share a card with you. I used one of the new Penny Johnson images by Stampavie on this birthday card...

Penny illustrates such cute images. I am biased with 2 sons of my own, but I have a soft spot in my heart for little boys. They have such a way of getting into mischief. Even at 12 and 14!

That is it for me, thanks for visiting!

Sweet Nellie

On Saturday I had the chance to meet up with my friends Cheryl Rowley and Lisa Kind at our favorite stamp store, Buffalo Stamps and Stuff. Two hours went by in a blink of an eye! The store was stocked with great new finds from Winter CHA. You can be sure the three of us did lots of oohing, aahing and enabling, lol. I came home with a stack of new paper pads, some MFT dies and this cute little image by Nellie Snellen.

I did a quick search on-line and didn't really find one place where you might find these. It is a UK company but I did see some listings if you are not local enough to visit BSS. This gal is too cute for words! I love her dress and hat boxes. The paper I used is from one of the MME packs I bought at the store, sorry I don't remember exactly which one.

I was fairly productive yesterday so you will see more from me this week.

Blessings,

3-fer

Someone at work is retiring and I volunteered to make the card. Do you know how many retirement images are out there?? Not enough! I spent quite a bit of time hunting on-line for digi images to work with and eventually pieced some things together. I will post the finished card in a day or two.

In all that searching I discovered a couple new-to-me companies. I love those happy discoveries! One of those companies is Sassy Cheryl, what a fun shop to browse! I purchased a digi image and created a 3-fer challenge card.

First, it uses the March SFYTT sketch by Jen.

And then I combined 2 challenges from Sassy Cheryl's blog, the Color Me #14 and Challenge #54, Pink & White. Here is the final card...

I needed to make my card 5 1/4" square to accommodate the larger image I printed. All coloring done with Copics. I used bits of dark brown crocheted ribbon on the middle strip and added a die cut flower. The sentiment is from Verve.

I had a spurt of creating energy and I hardly wanted to stop but with daylight savings tonight it has gotten to be way past my bedtime. Good new though cause now I have blog fodder for a few days!

Have a great Sunday and thanks for visiting!

Hippity Hop

Today is release day over at Shady Tree Studios!

I have another sample using the Backyard Springtime set. Are you seeing how versatile this set is yet?

The fence is one image in the set and the bunny is another. You can easily repeat the fence to make it longer. I paired my images with some Cosmo Cricket paper from last year. The carrots on the DP are meant for this little bunny.

I used the same 2 images to create the scene on this basket.

The fence is extended here by stamping it 2x's. I changed the color of the bunny to grey and used some liquid applique on his tail. I got a bit carried away with the heating so he has an extra fluffy, coiffed tail, lol. The eggs are part of a Sizzix die I have, I cut them from white cardstock and colored them with Copics.

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks!

Thanks for visiting.

Floral Postage

Welcome to day 2 of Shady Tree sneak peeks. Nancy's flowers have long been favorites and this new image in the Backyard Springtime set now joins the list.

This card sort of evolved and in the end I was just smitten. It started with the paper, I loved the vintage feel and colors it had. Then I stamped and colored the image with Copics. The centers of the flowers have black glaze pen dots added which adds a nice touch, hard to see in a photo though. After it was cut out I looked for how to place a sentiment and not much was tickling my fancy. I started to sponge the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink and that bottom right corner looked bare. The idea came to me to add numbers for postage, the size was perfect. I unearthed my postage edge scissors (do you even remember those??) and bingo! A little crinkle ribbon and some leaf stick pins and it was done. It reminds me of my great grandma, I can even smell her rose powder, lol.

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow! Friday, yeah! Payday, double yeah!!