Party Down!

I thought that I would take a break today from all the holiday fa-la-la. Here is an invitation to join us at our tiki bar. We aren't big drinkers, but we thought it would be hilarious to have a tiki bar and now we do - in full Hawaiian fashion with far too many tiki mugs and vintage memorabilia. Wish you all could drop in!

I had this amazing tropical textured paper in my stash - I've been hoarding it for years. There is some sparkle to it, if you can see it in the photo.

The stamps are from Rubber Soul and Rubber Anarchy/Toad Hall (both oldies). I used a Memory Box die (Marquis Border), the drink is a Jolie sticker and the happy bartenders.....well, they are way too famous to mention without agent approval!

I made this for the Moxie Fab World Random Fun Challenge - if this isn't fun, I sure don't know what is! Check it out an play along - you have until December 12th. I am also entering this in this week's Simon Says Stamp! Challenge, Anything Goes.

Thanks for looking! I love giving a peek into my blessed and happy life every once in awhile!

Goodie Bag!

Every year I attend a little holiday get-together with some lovely gals and we bring small gifts for each other. I make a couple of thank you cards for each person and I like to present them in unique and special ways. This year I saw an idea on Julie Ebersole's blog, Paper Trufflez. If you don't know her, check it out. She is so talented and fun. She decorated ATC-sized brown bags (available from Ellen Hutson - a great store!) for tiny gifts and I loved them.

I was able to find some larger brown bags on etsy - I love the kraft paper look and they are perfect for tucking in a couple of cards and envelopes. I used white paint (which looks so great on the kraft) for the snowflake and I had fun with my Tim Holtz die and made double-decker medallions (or rosettes) out of some vintage-looking patterned paper. These are so much fun to make - see Tim's video here! The snowflake and the sentiment (embossed in white) are both Hero Arts stamps (CG214 and G5453).

I have tucked two cards in the bag and still have room for a candy cane - can you believe I found one that is color-coordinated? Hershey's chocolate mint! I have a stash of tiny clothespins and used one to secure everything. This will be my last entry in Hero Arts monthly challenge for November!

Now I need to get cooking on making the cards to place into these cute bags.......mass production is not fun.

Tag Along!

I don't usually post on the weekends, but I quickly wanted to share another gift tag that I made. I love the Tim Holtz dress form die and I thought about Mrs. Claus getting ready for Christmas....I cut the Santa Hat out of an old and very sweet Hero Arts Santa stamp (E853 from 1994!).

Other HA stamps are S5067 (another oldie) CL359, E853, CG211. I used the new "limited edition (seriously, please!)" Holiday Distress Inks and some vintage buttons and ribbon from my stash.

Lots going on here - maybe too much?! A little busy. At least it is festive! Thanks for checking in. Have a lovely Sunday.

Silent Night

I love holiday tags! I bundle up a few and they make the perfect little gift because people can really use them. Every year I make and gift lots of them.

The Hero Arts monthly challenge and the Simon Says "Tag You're It" Challenge both encouraged me to get going on some and I had fun with them!  I bought some huge boxes of manilla tags from an office supply place, so I am ready.

For this one I used a clear emboss resist with my new Ranger Distress Stains. Love that stuff! I sprayed it with Perfect Pearls for some extra texture and shine. You all know how I love this Hero Arts stamp, Silly Scape. I stamped it on water color paper, colored with water color pencils, cut it out and layered it (I'm not sure you can see the dimension on this photo) onto the tag. I also used Hero Arts CL270, CG299 and K5425.

Thanks for looking and have a wonderful weekend. Neighbors already have their Christmas trees up and their yards illuminated. I guess I'd better get the fall wreath off of the front door!

Black Friday

Seriously, would you even think that I would be out shopping today. No way! I do very little shopping and most of what I do is on the internet - thanks, Amazon (no shipping and no sales tax - sorry, California)! I actually bought a new camera yesterday - I've been researching them for months. It was half price for early Black Friday shoppers. Soon you will see much better pictures of my crafting. Yeah!

Anyway, I have a girlfriend who is a very serious shopper. She waits all year for today. I made her this card to commemorate the big day. And to enter into the Moxie Fab World challenge inspired by a new Paper Crafts publication called 365 Cards. Get your hands on a copy - it will knock your sox off! This card is for the "Celebrating Relationships Challenge" for National Girlfriends Day! You have until December 12th to play and enter - do it!

For this card I used Hero Arts stamp CG265, lots of dies, a very vintage button, some tea-stained lace, sparkle letters and some colorful bling. I also used the colors for the Hero Arts November contest. That contest closes on November 27th, so I am getting in under the wire. Check it out if you have time - it is big fun!

One More with Texture!

I am enjoying this month's Simon Says Stamp challenge at Lily Pad Cards to use lots of texture. Lily Pad is the neatest spot - so many great ideas, videos and grins. I love "getting my toes wet" over there! Check it out.

For this card I used one of my current favorite Hero Arts Stamps, Designer Woodgrain, S5208. It is great for masculine cards. Other textural elements include twill tape (I dyed it with tea), rough twine, Tim Holts' Tiny Attachers and Distress Stickles, tiny buttons from my stash, and - my favorite - a rusty washer salvaged from my toolbox! I knew it would come in handy someday. The candle and the sentiment (cut with Spellbinders Labels 8) are also Hero Arts. Lots of Distress Inks and the black is Versafine's Onyx Black.

Thanks for checking in and thanks, Lily Pad & Simon Says Stamp, for the great challenge.

Happy Thanksgiving

to all my American readers and here is my final fall card of the year.....yeah! And it is a large one - almost 6 inches square.

This is another lovely image from Northwood Stamp Company, #08023. The image was colored with Copic pens, highlighted with glitter pens and distressed with inks. I matted it with some plain and patterned papers, added some twill tape that I dyed with tea (attached with Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher) and I added a fall flower from my stash.

Nice, but I am ready to retire fall and see some bright colors - I want to see some Christmas colors, some ocean blues and greens and some soft pastels!

Folded Flower

Today's Thanksgiving card uses a folded flower technique that I used to use quite a bit. I love the look, but the extra postage is a killer! Ha!

There are many versions of folded flowers, but I like this one which uses heart-shaped punch outs (a tutorial here). I just fold them in half and adhere them to a circle background. Easy and fun.

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set, LL775. The patterned paper makes this design work, but I don't know the source.

Thanks for checking in - there are still more TDay cards on the way!

Returning to Thanksgiving....with some "oldies"

So many of my blogging buddies have long since completed their Thanksgiving cards and are well on their way to Christmas cards, but not this girl! So, this week there will be more Thanksgiving cards.

This simple card uses one of my all-time favorite old (from the year 2000!) Stampin' Up sets called "A Harvest Hello". It is just so cheery and cute.

I put the scarecrow together on parchment paper with some photo corner punches (Paper Shapers), a rickety fence punch (Martha Stewart that I got for 70% off on Halloween at Michael's!) and a distressed Spellbinders die cut for the sentiment. I used some patterned paper, bling and a button from my stash to complete the look. Not an award-winner, but I sure like him!

The next card uses another of my favorite older fall stamps, this time from Inkadinkado (90797-K).  I simply colored the image with Copics, highlighted it with Stickles, and matted it onto a kraft card base with Spellbinders used with patterned paper.

The bright button and hand-dyed silk ribbon are from my stash. Easy, simple and sweet.

Sometimes getting out the old favorites is fun...keep this quote from Betty Friedan in mind today: Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.

Thanks for looking! Have a great week. 

Fifty and Very Nifty!

I have gotten to "know" a most amazing gal through the Hero Arts Blog. Her name is Virginia Lu and she is such a whiz at so many things (visit her lovely blog and her flickr page now)! She is a wonderful designer and an inspiration to so many of us, she has the greatest family (and she shares lots of great pictures and anecdotes with us!), she's a terrific cook (she shares that, too), a super photographer, a kick in the pants and all-around kind soul.

And, she is now published! Yep, In Paper Crafts, A Card A Day, 365 Cards. When I bought my issue and saw her remarkable card - I did such a happy dance! I hope that Barnes and Noble's security cameras captured it all. Yeah, Virginia! YOU did it! Here is a peek at her published card.

Believe it or not, Virginia is turning 50! I can't believe it - she has more energy and enthusiasm than someone who is 25 (or, maybe 49 - Ha!). There is a celebration happening over at her blog.
We are making special cards and celebrating the glories of Virginia. I wanted to make something as fresh and fun as she is to commemorate this big event. I selected a fun flamingo stamp from Impression Obsession (F7591) which I colored with Copic pens and dazzled with Stickles. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's "Whimsical Words". The crazy "Loopy Flower" and "By The Numbers" dies are from MFT Die-Namics.

If you know, or have been inspired by Virginia, please join us. If you don't know her yet - get right on it! You will be So happy you did!

Happy Birthday, Special Lady!