Happy Pink Saturday...

It's been a crazy week here, so my post is very short. I really had to look for something pink. While I was raking up about a hundred piles of pine needles (not quite literally, but almost) I noticed our crab apple tree was blooming and it is so pretty I decided it would be the perfect pink - if only it would bloom longer. We lost of the limbs last year to a snacking bear eating the apples - I'm glad he (or she) enjoyed them.



Happy Birthday to Pink Saturday and thanks so much to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound to host this pink gathering. Stop by her blog here and take a look at all the wonderful pinks! You'll be glad you did!

Have a great weekend everyone, I hope to have more posts next week, this one just got away from me.

Take Care,

Red, White, and Blue.....

....that's the theme for our Designing D.I.V.A.S Blog group challenge. I'm also posting for the group challenge to alter an item in a holiday theme. Just so happens I'm working on items for the shop here in town. She's going to be opening another little shop at Camp Richardson for the summer and wants quite a bit of Americana.



First is the altered item in a holiday theme. The holiday is Memorial Day, 4th of July, anything patriotic. The item altered is the star on the back of the ornament. I save boxes made of thin chipboard to make alphabet letters, stars, hearts, etc. anything I need a little more substance for than card stock offers.



The second item is for the red, white, and blue challenge. This is a smaller banner than the one posted the other day. This is only 3 flags and goes much quicker. I want to make a few different designs so they do not all look the same.

I think I'm catching up with the challenges. I still have the birthday card, and now the ATC. Soon, very soon.....

Take Care,

To My Secret Sister...

This is a box I made for our Secret Sister Challenge in our Blog Group for the Designing D.I.V.A.S on SCS. Our challenge was to create a box - something we had not done before. Only problem - I forgot that little point, and actually, most boxes I have made before, so here it is. The DP is from Websters Pages, the center medallion inspiration came from a tutorial by Alesha Wells here on SCS. I just bought the MS Arch Lattice punch at Michael's last night and thought it would work great in place of the scallops - I really like it a lot. Thanks Alesha for the inspiration and tutorial. The sentiment is from the Verve "Fairy Tales" set, pearls are from Ellen Hutson, LLC., and the ribbon is from Flourishes. I also cut out a piece of chip board and covered it with DP to put in the bottom for a little more stability. The box pattern is from Cutting Cafe, and I'm not telling what's inside.

Hope all of you are having a great weekend. We're going to BBQ later and I'm making potato salad and corn on the cob. YUM! Take care, and try to spend at least a little time doing what YOU love.


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Celebrate Freedom America...

...no, this is not a political post. I am priviledged to be able to create cards and tags, etc. for one of Lake Tahoe's South Shore gift shops, Lake Tahoe Holidays. She really does have the most beautiful shop in town - if you are ever up this way it will be well worth a stop. I go in there just to be around all the beautiful items she carries. She has something for every holiday and occasion along with having this amazingly great eye for decor. Her prices are unbelieveable - she feels as I do - to always have something beautiful and affordable for every budget. In these times, that's even more important. You will love it if you ever get up this way, I believe some of you live nearby, and then of course this IS one of the vacation hot spots.

Not only that, but she stretches me - things that I have wanted to "find" the time for are now something I "will" find the time for because she has requested them for her shop. One of the new items Keri has requested is a banner (and now several more) for her Americana section, along with Halloween, babies, etc. So here is the first of many to come. I had such fun putting this together for her. I was not company specific on this. I used supplies from Crafty Secrets, Prima, ScrapSmart, Michael's, etc. etc. The banner spells out "Freedom". Next time I would like to use a little more stamping, and have already made some purchases.

The first photo is of the center focal point



The entire center focal point




The left side



The right side



And then the full view - sorry, I don't have a good place to hang this right now, so I had to use my table



Hope you like it! If you are interested in making banners, I will be creating and posting some smaller ones as well. Along with the banners, She has requested paper crowns for brides and birthday parties. I'm very excited as I love new challenges and as I said before I have been wanting to create some of these very things.

Take care, have a wonderful day, and try to spend at least a little time doing what YOU love and/or spending time with someone you love.

Good Sunday Morning....

Before I get into this post, for those of you that wanted it and so far have missed it - I posted the instructions for my version of the Serendipity Technique about 2 more posts down.



I finally completed my first Secret Sistah challenge for our SCS Designing D.I.V.A.S Blog Group. We were to make a friendship card with many many flowers. This look is a little different for me, but in the end I like it. I hope she does too! The paper is from the Basic Grey Sultry pack, the flowers are Prima, the rhinestones from Me and My Big Ideas. The butterfly I traced from another pattern onto chipboard, covered it in DP, and added a couple more rhinestones. The sentiment is from Rubbernecker, and the ink is Baby Pink from All Night Media.

Take care everyone, enjoy whats left of the weekend, and try to spend some time today doing what you love.


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Happy Pink Saturday!!

Stop by and see Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Every week she spends a lot of time and effort to put this together, and you will not only love her blog but the many blogs of the many talented men and women who take part.

As a quick note, for those of you who visit only on Saturday - the "Serendipity" technique is in the next post down.

This week I am finally showing you what was in my "Mystery Box", actually I'm not the one that named it, but one of my sweet commenters. I could not show you before, because I made it as a Mother's Day gift for my daughter, Sara. She reads all of my posts and she would have known what I was giving her. She is a wonderful mother to my 4 sweet grandchildren, she's taking care of her ill mother-in-law, she home-schools, and the list goes on. I wanted her to feel special. Her favorite colors are pink and green, and she loves to make handmade cards, so when I saw something similar a few weeks back on one of the many blogs I read, I knew this was what I wanted to do for her.

For those who are visiting perhaps for the first time, I'll start with the way it was when I bought it from a local thrift store.....





after I cleaned it up and painted it....



the completed outside...


and then the completed inside lid...



and finally the gift inside...



If you click on the photo it will enlarge and you can see it a little better.

As I mentioned in the very fist segment of this project, there were no dividers, so I had to figure out how to make them - it really wasn't hard, and was actually quite fun. I've always liked busy or hand work - it's very relaxing. Everything is in the pink, green, and cream colors. Some of the items are store bought, and some are handmade, like the clips, the crepe rosettes, and the tags that the ribbon, fibers, and threads are wrapped around. Making this for my daughter was pure joy.

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Happy Pink Saturday!

Serendipity

I've had several requests regarding the Serendipity technique. A few weeks back we were issued a challenge from Paula at Crop Notes and Crafts - you can take a look at the process here, and another one here. Then I followed her blog to Deanera at The High Tea Stamper who has a tutorial on YouTube here. This is where I learned that it was as an "old art technique". I'm wondering how they did it before the Cuttlebug came along - by hand I guess... Anyway, this link will take you to the Cuttlebug blog where you can view a few more styles.

Mine differs somewhat in that I began with a collage of vintage style images, scraps of paper I felt went with my colors which I punched out with a deckle edge 1" square punch, and cut-out watercolor images of my own that I had not used yet. Take a look in the top left corner - you'll see a dragonfly. Mine also differs in that I stayed within the same color family and a set them - botannical. That seems to be an important part in obtaining this look. Once I had everything where I wanted it, I accented parts of it with Stardust Stickles, let it dry and then ran the panel thru the Swirls and Vines Embossing Folder by Cuttlebug. That's really all there is to it, it's an easy enough project - the most time consuming at least for me, is coming up with all the papers and images in colors and designs that I feel are appealing.




For my Mother's Day card....



I was in a hurry and could not find enough papers etc. in the soft pinkish tones I wanted, so I opted for a digital background paper from Seneca Pond - It's from the Mother's Day "Mom" card set. All I did to this was cut out the little postoid, glued that to a corner, then using the MS bird punch, I punched that out of the more colorful area of the paper and glued it in the upper right corner. The rose in the lower left is fussy cut from a reproduced vintage image which was glued down and accented with Stardust Stickles. When that was done I ran it through the same embossing folder, but because it was not a full on collage, I got a completely different look. The one for Mother's Day sure went a lot faster.
The basics are the same: Stay in the same color family and stay with a theme. I love this technique and I'm sure I'll be using it a lot.

I hope I explained that well enough. If you need further details, you can e-mail me.
Have a wonderful evening. Take Care.

Another Award.....

.....from Karen at Karen's Escape and Gina at Gina's Makings and Musings. Thank you both so much - I really am honored to receive this award, and honored to be able to pass it on to 5 other very deserving, talented, and inspiring women.


The meaning of this award is "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers".
They are:
Darlene at Dar's Crafty Creations
Carmen at Queen Tomas
Julie at Special Craft Mom
Jennifer at Just Coffee Please
Lori Lynn at Just a Note by Lori

These are the rules:
Grab the award and post it to your blog
Link back to the person that awarded it to you
Nominate 5 others with a link to their blog
Leave a message on their blog telling them they have received an award

Thank you again to two very sweet ladies for this award - I do treasure it. Take care. Tomorrow I will be posting the information on the "Serendipity" Technique.

An Award.....

sent to me by Sue from Sue's Sentiments. Thank you again so much Sue, I truly am honored. Now,I get to pass this award on to 7 other very talented and deserving women whom I admire greatly. I know you will enjoy their blogs, their wit, and humor as much as I do.



And they are:
Sara at Luminous in My Chaotic Dreams
Molly at Miss Molly Creations
Paula at Crop Notes and Crafts
Amy at Amy's Creative Pursuits
Beverly at How Sweet the Sound
Kris at Tres Belle
Lesly at Stamp Yourself Silly

And these are the rules:
Grab the award and place on your blog
Link back to the person you received the award from
Nominate 7 others with a link to their blog
Leave a message on their blog telling them they've been awarded

Take Care and have a wonderful Monday

Happy Mother's Day

.....to all you beautiful mothers, grandmothers, soon-to-be-mothers, and potential mothers - I think that just about covers it. I hope you are all having a wonderful day!!




My post today is for the DigiShack Color Challenge. The challenge is to use the colors - dark brown,navy, kraft, and cream - along with one of their images. I chose this one of course because it's more in the vintage style. I do have a couple more though - really cute ones that I plan to use soon. If you are not familiar with them, click on the link above and take a look - I think you'll like them.

The CS is from Michael's Paper Packs, and the kraft is from PaperTrey. The pearls are from Ellen Hutson, LLC, the ribbon and hemp are also from Michaels. I used a Cuttlebug die for the tag, and Paris Dusk by Memento for the sentiment from Verve, the Fairy Tales set. I used Vintage Cream from PaperTrey to distress the edges, prismacolor pencils blended with baby oil, and accented it with a sparkly blue Spica pen for the image. I love these pens - they are just the right amount of sparkle for me.

Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Mother's Day to all again. Try to spend a little time doing what YOU love. Take Care...



P.S. I've had even a few more requests now regarding the Serendipity technique - I promise to get the information on here in the next couple of days.

Today is Pink Saturday.........

.....hosted by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. Take a few minutes to enjoy some of the beautiful blogs all posting about pink today!

My pink this week is my "Mystery Box". It's almost done and I will be able to show you the inside next week. I've used a mixture of papers, cut out vintage images, flowers, vintage lace trim, buttons, and bling to finish off the top. The center flower is made from a scrap of fabric, gathered with a layer of gathered tulle on top, and a Prima flower with a gemstone brad center by Recollections from Michael's.
I can't wait to show you what's inside, but that will have to wait for next week. This was a lot of fun, and a bit challenging, but well worth it. Sorry this picture turned out so dark - I just didn't have time to play around with it.



I've had a couple of people ask me for more information about the Serendipity technique I used on the card in the post below this one and one I did the other day, so I will do a post on that in a day or so.

Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Pink Saturday!!


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Your the Best.....

....Mother. One last Mother's Day card I just had to put together using the Serendipity technique from one of our Blog Group Challenges. I am truly hooked - and you'll probably be seeing a lot of this from me.



The paper is a digital download from Seneca Pond, the CS is Bazzil, the sentiment is from the set "Mother" by Paper Trey. I lightly collaged a 4x4 base, ran it through the CB and then added sentiment panel, some stitching, and a little glitter to finish it off.

I'm off to work, so have a great day!

An Award, A Wonderful Rainy Day, and.....

of course I'm in a rush to get where I need to be, and do all that needs to be done! But I am so honored to have received this award. Thank you to Sue at Sue's Sentiments I wanted to get this posted today. Thank you again Sue, this means so much to me. I tried to post this earlier, but for some reason blogger would not upload the picture - grrrr.



Here are the rules:
Post the Logo on you blog
Link back to the person you received the award from
Nominate and list on your blog 7 others with a link to their blog
Leave a message on their blog that they have received this award

I hope I haven't left anything out - if so, I'll correct it later, along with listing my 7. But for now, have a great day.

Good Monday Morning...

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. We mostly relaxed, did a little house cleaning and I worked actually quite a lot on my "mystery box".



My post today is for last week's HM Challenge. The challenge was to make a get well card - for some reason, it just didn't come together until this morning, so even though I'm late,I'm posting it anyway. The DPs are from a paper pad by Debbie Mumm called Baby Girl, purchased at Jo-Ann's, the ribbon and flower is from Michael's, as is the pink card stock. The base is Vintage Cream from Paper Trey, the rhinestone is from my LSS - now closed, but they are by Me and My Big Idea, and I tinted it pink with a Sharpie. The image was given to me from either my daughter Sara, or Jennifer - both from our SCS Blog Group - sorry ladies, I just don't remember which image came from who!! The button is from my stash and tied with pink crochet thread, and the image is colored with a combination of Koh-I-Noor and PrismaColor pencils, blended with...yes - baby oil. One of these days I'm going to spring for Gina K's odorless mineral spirits and the cool little dispenser she sells. The sentiment is from "Sassy Sayings" by My Favorite Things. You can find the links to these companies in my sidebar.

Have a great day, and try to take out at least a little time to do what you love.

Take Care,

It's Pink Saturday again....

Thanks so much to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound. She does such a great job putting this all together. Stop by and check out the other Pinks today - it's fun! First, I have this beautiful rose my husband brought me....



And then, my "Mystery Box". This is a shot of the inside of the lid. I've made it so you can slip photos, or pieces of inspiration for a project under the ribbon. I covered the liner with batting, a layer of fabric and wrapped it with criss-crossed ribbon, then hot-glued it to the inside of the lid. The sweet little embellishments are from K & Co. I've finished the outer lid as well, but I'm not going to show it just yet - I don't want to give too much away yet.



Have a wonderful weekend, and Happy Pink Saturday to everyone.