I'VE BEEN ABSENT

Hello.

I have been gone awhile from my blog.  I haven't been in my craft room for a few weeks now.  I think I've mentioned my mom's terminal cancer throughout her body.  I have been spending a lot of time over at her house helping her and my dad the last while.

Fortunately for her, but sadly for her family, she passed away on November 4th.  It has been so weird not having her call, something she did practically daily, even if I had just left their house.  She was large as life and you always knew when she was around.  She was my dad's caregiver.  Now, I am his caregiver.  We moved him into our house this week.  Such a huge adjustment for all of us.  It's been really hard but I have hope it'll get better.  He misses his wife and home so much.

I am anxious to get back into my craft room for some 'me' time.  I can tell I will be needing that more on a regular basis to give me respite from caregiving.

But until then, I'll share with you a photo of our last Stampin' Up! girls' night craft.  We chose World Card Making Day to make, not cards, but the Witching Decor Project Kit.  This was about a month before my mom passed away and her hands didn't want to cooperate, but she did as much as she could on her own.  My mom and I did a lot of Stampin' Up! crafts over the years, and I will definitely miss crafting with her, among other things.

She loved to support me and my business.  She would order my Christmas and birthday gifts (all Stampin' Up! wish list items) from me to support me.  My birthday gift arrived on my porch the day after she passed away.  That was a bitter sweet package to open.

I'll be back very soon posting more fun projects so stay tuned.

Thanks for joining me at The Table today.

My daughter (in law), my daughter, me, and my little mama with our finished Witching Decor hats.  Now my sister gets to inherit my mom's.

COME ON, AUTUMN!

Hello!

I'm back again with another seasonal project to share.

Someone needs to tell Mother Nature that it's mid-October!  Where I live, it's usually chilly by now and my trees have colorful leaves that are starting to fall.  But as I sit here typing this post, all my windows are open and it feels like late Spring-early Summer.  Only two of my trees are following the calendar.  It's kind of hard to start feeling all cozy and sweaters with a warm breeze blowing in so I decided to make a new Autumn craft to help get me in the spirit of one of my favorite seasons.

Before I share photos, Let me just give you a little background on this craft.  I have a simple frame that I have on my gallery wall in my living room.  I found the frame at a thrift store and backed it in a vintage-old-book-paper-type of DSP that Stampin' Up! used to carry.

I use that frame to house different little banners I have made to display throughout the year.  Today I decided to make a new Autumn banner to hang there.

Here's how I made it.  I took some ivory tags that I've had in my stash for way too long and stamped them with the Hardwood background stamp in Tip Top Taupe.  

Next, the leaves.  I was fortunate enough to get my hands on the Witching Decor Project Kit.  My daughter, daughter-in-law, mom and I had SO much fun putting it together on World Card Making Day! You'll notice there's no link to it.  That's because, sadly, they ran out quickly and won't be getting any more. HOWEVER, don't fret!  You can still make your own gorgeous leaves with the Vintage Leaves Bundle.  Anyway, there were so many leaves left over from the kit that I just grabbed 6 to use for this project.  I added some texture to each leaf by stamping them with the design images from the I Think You're Great stamp set and heat embossing them with Versamark and clear embossing powder.  Then I sponged them in coordinating colors (Tangerine Tango, Cajun Craze and Delightful Dijon) and crumpled them up a bit.

After that, I used my Tombow Mono-Multi glue to adhere them to the tags.  

Because I was still trying to be thrifty and quick, I used some gold chipboard letters I already had in my supplies to spell out Autumn, adhering them also with my Tombow glue.

Now, just because I thought the project could do with a little more color, I pulled out the faceted sequins from the Brights Sequin assortment to accent each tag.

Here's a closeup of the embossed texture and the Old Olive sequin.  LOVE!

 Last, but not least, I used my Gold Metallic Baker's Twine to string all the tags together. And here it is in it's place of honor.

If it doesn't feel Autumn-ish where you live, pull supplies from your stash to make a cute project to bring the season in!

Thanks for joining me at The Table today!

TRICK OR TREAT!

Hello!

I love Halloween.  I love decorating my home with spooky finds, I love taking a drive with Superman around our town to see how others decorate their front yards, and I love watching Hocus Pocus every Halloween night while eating donuts and sipping apple cider.

Last week was Stamp Club and my ladies loved our project:

I used the Mini Treat Bag Thinlits dies for the base, the Happy Haunting Designer Series Paper, the Spider Web Doilies and Basic Black + Rich Razzleberry card stocks.

I used the spider web image from the Witches' Night Stamp Set to clear emboss a spooky element on to the sentiment die cut.  I think it turned out so good! That was the only stamping on this project. To make the sentiment stand out, I mounted it on a vellum banner that was cut with the thinlits die included in the set.

Here's one more look.  To add one extra pop of color we punched stars out of the Rich Razzleberry card stock and adhered them to the ends of some fabulous Metallic Gold Baker's Twine.  Then, because every treat bag needs a treat, we stuck in a yummy peanut butter pumpkin and we have something fun and festive to give away!

The best part of the night for me was when most of my ladies said to me "Stop creating such cute projects for us to make!" They had all come with their pre-planned lists of what they were going to buy then changed their minds because they HAD to order all the supplies we used so they could make more Halloween treat bags at home!  A job well done, I say. ;)

I hope I've inspired you to make some fun Halloween treats to give away this year.

Thanks for joining me at The Table today!

A BIRTHDAY CARD

Hello and Happy October!

I thought I'd share an idea for a quick and cute card.  Hand making cards doesn't need to take a long time to get great results.  All you need are some scraps of patterned paper, some twine and a sentiment and boom...a card that your recipient will love!

I stepped it up a little by running the panel through my Big Shot with the Lucky Stars embossing folder from Stampin' Up!  I made this card for my son for his birthday so wanted to keep it a little more simple.  The Happy Birthday sentiment is from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.  And I love that Smoky Slate thick twine! Here's a close-up:

Simple, but I love it.  My son thought it was pretty great too. :)

Your challenge:  Pull out your patterned paper scraps and make someone's birthday special!

Thanks for joining me at The Table today!

GRANDMA'S CHAIR GETS A FACELIFT!

Hello!

I'm back today to share what I think is another cute project!

My grandma had a dining set that she had forever.  I remember many Thanksgivings as a little girl sitting around that table.  Fast forward and my grandma has been gone for 30 years but I got to keep a remnant of those memories.  This:

This chair has definitely seen better days but it has served me well for a few years now in my different craft spaces and now in my dedicated craft room.  I imagine when I sit in it, I can feel my grandma's creativity.  She loved all kinds of crafting.  

I decided to breathe some fresh new life into this old heirloom (which, don't worry, the dining set really wasn't that great of quality so no antiques were harmed in the making of this project.  It really only has sentimental value).  I took a can of white spray paint, some cute fabric and some chair padding and turned it into this:

Isn't it fun?!  I just love walking into my craft room to be greeted by this happy chair.

Slowly but surely my craft room is coming together.  Now I just need to work on more organization!

Thanks for joining me at The Table today!

BE OUR GUEST

Hello!

I was asked to do a guest post on the We R Memory Keepers blog today! I used fun papers and fabulous tools to FINALLY complete my inspiration/gallery wall in my craft room.  I may or may not keep walking in there just to stare at all the happiness!

Check it out here:  We R Memory Keepers Blog.

This fun perpetual birthday calendar was made with an amazing FREE printable at Lemon Thistle.  Check her out too!

I'm working on giving my craft table chair an updo so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

SAME DESIGN, STAMPIN' UP! STYLE

Hello!

I'm back with a second version of my Rustic/Chic card, this time using ALL Stampin' Up! supplies.  This time I used the Flower Patch stamp set.  I used the same ink colors and design as the card in my last post and I think it turned out so good, if I say so myself. ;)

And just because I like to practice with my Ollo Clip, here's a super close-up!

So don't think, just because you don't have the same stamp set as a card you fall in love with on the internet, you can't recreate the same feel with stamps you already have.  Just be brave and experiment and you will be so happy with the results!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

RUSTIC MEETS FEMININE

Hello!

As promised I'm back with a card share today.  My daughter's wedding theme was kind of Rustic Chic.  Her new husband is very much an outdoorsy guy.  The boutonnieres were empty shot gun shells filled with flowers, for crying out loud!  LOL.  My daughter on the other hand is very much a girl and is not so much the outdoorsy type.  They say opposites attract, right? ;)

Anyway, as I was thinking about her burlap and lace table runners, I was inspired to create a rustic chic card.

It took me awhile to warm up to the new In Color Tip Top Taupe but now I LOVE it!  I used that ink and the Hardwood background stamp for my Very Vanilla card base.  Then I ran that through the Big Shot with the Woodgrain embossing folder for added wood-like texture.

I'm hanging my head a little because the stamp set I used is not Stampin' Up! and that's a no-no for us demonstrators but it was close at hand so I just grabbed that (I was due to go out the door to another wedding so I was short on time. LOL).  I took a smaller Very Vanilla panel and just started stamping the flower images where I thought would look good.  At first I scared myself because I hated how the colors were coming together, but I told myself to keep going and I'm so glad I did!  It's the perfect mix of rustic and feminine.

The ink colors I used for the flowers were Delightful Dijon, Pool Party, Coastal Caribbean (retired), Watermelon Wonder, Crisp Cantaloupe (retired), Pear Pizzaz, Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum and Wisteria Wonder.  I tied everything together by stamping the flower centers in Delightful Dijon, another color I'm learning to love!

In the next few days I'm going to recreate this card using a Stampin' Up! flower stamp set and I'll be sure to share. :)

Stop by my website to purchase your own fabulous Stampin' Up! supplies!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

WEDDING DAY!

Hello!

Well, the wedding has come and gone and it was such a good day!  Aren't they such a cute couple?

I had a great time making some decor for the reception.  Here I used my Very Vanilla and Basic Black Stampin' Up! card stock and cut some shapes out on my Silhouette.

As you can see right here, we clipped them to the string of lights, along with photos of the couple.  It turned out so cute!

Photo courtesy of Jaimi Allen

I also made the cover for their guest book.

Last but not least, I made some banners to hang on this amazing door.  This was the backdrop for the receiving line.

Photo courtesy of Jaimi Allen

Photo courtesy of Jaimi Allen

Check back this week as I share a card that was inspired by my daughter's reception!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

NO INK OR STAMPS?

Hello!

I don't do this often enough but I LOVE the look of stitching on paper crafted projects.  I've stitched on cards, home decor, and scrapbook layouts and the finished results make my heart go pitter-patter every time.

Today I decided to break out my Updated Essentials Paper Piercing Pack and make a sweet card.

Let me first give you a little tip when piercing on paper.  When you poke a needle into fabric, the threads are, of course, much more flexible than paper fibers so they kind of close back up around the hole which means you can't really see where the needle went through.  Paper, on the other hand, is not so forgiving.  When you break the fibers, they're broken and leave an obvious hole behind.  So the trick to hand stitching on paper is to use a finer needle.  You'll still see the hole, but it won't be as noticeable and if you are stitching words, they'll be able to read easier.

Apologies for this blurry photo.  I tried several times but couldn't get my camera to focus!  But I still think you can see well enough the differences in needle sizes.  The stitching on the left uses a larger needle while the stitching on the right uses a smaller one.  It's subtle but you can definitely see the difference.  The right side just looks smoother.

 Here's the completed card.  I used to think you couldn't pair white and vanilla on the same project but I just love the two together!  I've now used up another pack of my Tea Lace Paper Doilies and must buy another.  They've become a staple in my supply stash!

Here's a little close-up of the butterfly.  I layered some gorgeous Gold Glimmer Paper under the patterned butterfly to give it a little more texture and interest.  Pretty Petals DSP is what I used for the top layer.

And another angle.  The curly-cue stitch that I used as the butterfly trail is also found in the Updated Essentials stitching pack.  And you can't go wrong with the gold metallic thread!  I used a double thickness to make the stitching stand out a bit more.  Then I finished it off with a few small pearls.  Almost out of those too!

And there you go.  A beautiful card made without the use of stamps or ink this time.

You can order all of these supplies on my Stampin' Up! website. :)

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

JULY PAPER PUMPKIN PROJECTS

Hello!

Just a SUPER quick post today featuring the July Paper Pumpkin kit.

I do have to be honest, I wasn't super excited about this kit.  At first.  But once I started playing around with the two-step stamps and the fun papers and stickers, I quickly became enamored with it!

Did you notice the card in the center on the bottom?  That was my attempt at using this kit to make a Christmas card! LOL.  I kept hearing Holly Jolly Christmas when I saw the "a cup of cheer" stamp so I had to work it into a Christmas card. ;)

I don't have much time to go into detail about each card, other than to say, the top right card uses the edges of one of the envelopes as border accents.  You can always click on the photo to get a closer look!

Are you a Paper Pumpkin subscriber?  If not, you can sign up HERE and have the fun delivered right to your mailbox each month!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

WEDDING PREP

HELLO!

My daughter's big day is quickly approaching and I've been busy making thank you cards for the bridal showers people have been so kind to give her.  I think I've made close to 80 or so thank you cards!  I was going to make the 200+ for the reception itself but our photographer was able to get us a great deal and so I said go for it!  That'll free up some time for me to work on other decor.  Sometimes a maker needs to know when to be a buyer. ;)

When time is precious, and I have lots of other things to take care of, I like to turn to the variety of Stampin' Up! publications for beautiful and fun crafty ideas.

This card is a CASE from one such publication.  I think it was from the Occasions Catalog.  I just changed up the colors a tiny bit to match my daughter's wedding colors.  I just love this design!

I used a few retired products on this project so please excuse that, but you can most likely find them somewhere on the internet.

I used the Watercolor Thank you stamp, which I LOVE.  I'll be holding on to that even when it retires someday.  I also used the Naturals Ivory card stock.  I was so sad when that retired that I bought up a few packages just for my stash. A couple other retired items i used was the stamp set Your Perfect Day.  Again, so sad it didn't make it into the new catalog.  I just love it.  The last retired product I used was this Calypso Coral ribbon.  If I'm giving thank you cards as a gift, I like to package them up in a cute way.  

So really, the only current products in this project is the Watercolor Thank You stamp, Calypso Coral ink, Rich Razzleberry ink, Sahara Sand ink, and Old Olive ink.  But I think they made a really great finish project, don't you think?

Well, back to the craft room to continue working on wedding decor.  But check back soon for some July Paper Pumpkin projects!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

IT'S A PAPER PUMPKIN KIND OF DAY!

Hello!

It's actually a very HOT kind of day here in my corner of the world.  Temps over 100 degrees for the last few days make me want to eat all the ice cream!  I love summer but don't like it when it gets too hot.  It triggers my "personal summers" even more....or as I like to call them, "power surges". LOL.  But summer brings beautiful views like this, so I can't complain too much.

Summer also gives me an excuse to sit in my air-conditioned craft room and play with my Paper Pumpkin kits!  I held my June Paper Pumpkin Playdate last week and had a great turn out!  A few of my guests weren't really sure about Paper Pumpkin at first and I had work my magic to assure them they would love it if they subscribed, and guess what?  They do!  Even my die-hard "I don't want a kit, I want to create my card/project start to finish" subscribers love it!  If you want to have a box of fun delivered to your mailbox every month, just click this link: https://mypaperpumpkin.com?demoid=2060080.

Anyway, the projects at the bottom of the photo are the intended June PP projects and the cards on the display board are alternative ideas.  Thank goodness for Pinterest since I had to make all of these a couple of hours before my guests were to arrive!

And here are some close-ups.

I haven't used Tempting Turquoise in a LONG time...I'm so glad I pulled it out!

This card is a creation from my own little mind.  Do you see the gold glitter dots?  Those are the glue dots that were included in the kit.  I just placed them, pulled off the backing and doused them in glitter.  Such a fun and unique embellishment!

This was also from my brain. I had used up a lot of my pieces before my guests arrived so I was just playing around while they put their cards together and came up with this.  I think it turned out cute!

This one kind of looks like a tie, don't you think? Ha!

And then one more look at the intended June cards.  Love them!

 Well, there you have it.  Want an excuse to stay out of the heat?  Subscribe to Paper Pumpkin!

Thanks for joining me at the Table today!