New Year's Tag

Shocking but true, I'm actually getting my Tag Tuesday challenge up on a Tuesday, LOL!  This week, Louise at Kard Krazy challenged us to create a tag about the New Year.  As the year comes to an end, I love to remember all the happy times of the year just past, and think about all of the possibilities of the new year ahead.  I tried to capture this feeling in my tag.  Thanks for looking!

Some sources if you're interested: background and butterflies - Mary Mata collage sheet; stamps - Cornish Heritage Farms, JustRite; decorative tape - K and Co.  I altered the image of the woman from a free vintage photo image at art-e-zine.co.uk.

Vintage Heart for Tag Tuesday

Good gracious, it's been a long time since I've posted!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that you are enjoying some rest and relaxation between Christmas and New Year's.  We spent 7 days in Disney (plus two days travel), so I've been completely torn away from crafting.  I'm jumping back in with a little tag for Tag Tuesday.  I originally thought I would be doing a Christmas tag for this challenge, which was to do a shaped tag.  Oh well, let a few days slip by, and it's on to the next holiday, LOL!  This tag uses ruched paper from Paper Temptress (I am soooo addicted to this stuff!), stamps from Stampington, and some tags from Making Memories Vintage Findings.  The music and button are vintage, and the rest is from my considerable stash of "stuff."  Thanks again to Louise at Kard Krazy for always inspiring me (even if I don't always get to play along, :). )

Here are a couple of pics from our Disney trip.  I am totally OBSESSED with the castle, and probably take as many pictures of IT as I do of anything else, including the family, LOL!  But I'll leave you with one pic of each.  Have a happy rest-of-the-weekend!

More CHF Love!

Another peek at the new "Love" Scrapblock releasing from Cornish Heritage Farms on Friday.  This time I stamped the block and cut out only the sentiments that were in the old-fashioned typewriter font.  I distressed the edges, and placed them randomly on the card.  The edges of the center paper were cut with the Fiskars threading water edge punch, and threaded with Martha Stewart ribbon.  The little heart is a Tim Holtz grungeboard heart painted with Distress Crackle paint in antique linen.  This one is going to my hubby... ssshhhh, don't tell him! :)

Clean and Simple Wedding, Vintage Style

A little sneak peek of the newest Scrapblock from Cornish Heritage Farms.  The "Love" Scrapblock releases on Friday.  For this card, I chose to use the stamp in a wedding theme, but you could also use it for Valentine's Day or anniversary cards, too.  I lined up two coordinating patterned papers (from My Mind's Eye Bella Bella paper tablet) and stamped the 6x6 inch Love Scrapblock in brown ink.  Then I inked up only the word "always" and stamped in brown marker on ivory cardstock for the focal sentiment.  I added a little ribbon, a few buttons, and called it CAS and done.  You could do this up in whatever the couple's wedding colors will be.  This would also be a great stamp to use to make a patterned background paper for a wedding scrapbook (think pale sand-colored ink on an ivory background, or clear embossing on white... understated and elegant).

I'll have another peek in a few days.  Stay warm! :)

Sandpaper Challenge

It's Wednesday, and time for another challenge over at Gingersnap Creations.  This week's challenge is to use Sandpaper in some way.  I love the vintage distressed look, so this challenge was super fun for me.  For my tag, I first ran a plain manila tag through my Xyron sticker maker machine to be sure the entire tag was coated with adhesive.  I then placed the tag on a page from a very vintage book, and trimmed around the edges.  Vintage text is often rather brittle (mine was), and so it's very important that the adhesive cover the tag entirely, and that it's not too wet of a medium.  Then I pulled out my sandpaper and sanded over the text to get a really worn look.  It starts to look really muddy, since you are getting dust from sanding off the black text - just close your eyes and blow on it really hard, and it will look pretty again!  I distressed the edges with Ranger Distress Inks in antique linen and vintage photo.  I colored a Santa image from Hearts in Touch using Copics, then trimmed him in some vintage rick rack and adhered him to the top of the tag.  I stamped a sentiment, and glued on some holly leaves (from a "big box store" sprig) and some glitter domes for the berries.  I think it has a retro kind of feel to it.

So... if you like to get dusty and have some sandpaper lying around, you might want to check out the challenge.  There's blog candy for one lucky participant! :)

Gingersnap Creations Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the first-ever Gingersnap Creations Blog Hop and Hop Stop #6!

If you’ve already been hopping then hopefully you have just come from Hels at Ink on My Fingers.  If you are starting here, welcome! It's a loop so you can start anywhere along the way.  Your next stop on the hop is Joanne at Made by Joanne.

If you've just started here, let me fill you in.... The Gingersnap Creations Design Team are all creating with some gorgeous stamps from our December sponsor, Hearts in Touch.  If you are participating in the hop, you will get a chance to win the Christmas 2009 plate from Hearts in Touch.  So what do you need to do?

At each stop on the blog hop, you need to collect a word.  There are 10 stops in all starting and ending with the Gingersnap Creations blog.  When you get all of your words - there are 9 in all - unscramble them to form an art quote. Once you have your guess at the quote, email it and your name to gingersnapstamp@gmail.com by December 13, 2009. We will be picking one lucky winner at random from the correct entries to win the Hearts in Touch Christmas 2009 plate!  You can get all the specific information and get a peek at the Christmas 2009 plate from Hearts in Touch on the Gingersnap Creations blog.

My word is "our".

So, on to my card.... the card above uses a beautiful angel stamp from the Hearts in Touch Christmas plate.  I stamped her using Ancient Page ink in chocolate, then used Ranger Distress Inks in Antique Linen and Vintage Photo to give it that time-worn look.  I used some shimmery copper paper from The Paper Company to frame both the image and the sentiment (which is from the same plate).  The patterned papers are from the Winter Wonderland paper tablet from Creative Imaginations.  The little corner ornament is chipboard (7 Gypsies) which I covered with copper embossing powder.

Here's another card using that same fabulous plate:

For this one, I stamped the tree image on acetate using StazOn ink... I ended up loving the way the background took on a frosty window look!  The patterned paper is called Silent Night, from Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding line (so if you've been hoarding, like I have, now's the time to pull that stuff out, LOL!).  The crinkly snowy looking paper at the bottom is ruched white from the Paper Temptress.  A few sparkly snowflakes from Little Yellow Bicycle finish it off.

It's that time of year....

... right when we can least afford to feel under-the-weather, that's when a cold or flu often strikes.  Stress can lead to a lowering of our immune response, and of course, so many of us feel stressed during the holidays.  Here's a little pick-me-up card I made with a new Cornish Heritage Farms stamp set that comes out Friday from the Saturday Evening Post line.  It's called Common Cold, and has wonderful vintage Norman Rockwell inspired images of folks battling a bug.  For this card, I paper-pieced the blanket using some paper from a Webster's pages 6x6 paper pad.  So many companies have come out with this size paper, and it's perfect for this application because it reduces the scale of the print to something that's very usable.  I used Copics to shade along the fold lines in the image, which makes the paper blanket look less "flat."  I used the same paper to frame the image.

Here's another image from the same stamp set, used to decorate a tissue box.  As I colored this image, I had to chuckle at myself, feeling bad for this poor little lady... all ready for a night on the town, and having to spend the night on a bed!  Wouldn't this be cute tucked in with a little care package for a gal pal who's stopped in her tracks?  Maybe it would bring a little smile to her face, each time she had to reach for a tissue. :)  You can see all the creative ideas the design team came up with for this set on the gallery... Joanne even has a project that isn't illness-related!  Too fun!

Have a safe and wonderful evening.

Jolly Flocked Santa

Here's another take on Cornish Heritage Farms' Stamp of the Month for December, Jolly Holly Santa Collage.  For this one, I stamped the image twice, once on acetate and once on cardstock, and cut out Santa's head from the cardstock.  I "scribbled" Glossy Accents all over Santa's beard and furry hat, then smooshed on some white flocking.  I let it dry, then tapped off the excess. I adhered the cardstock Santa to the acetate image, then popped that up over some patterned paper.  I used Smooch to color the hat and holly - love that stuff!  The snowflake background on the top portion of the card was stamped using Swirling Snowflakes Backgrounder.  One more to add to my stash.... gotta get these out soon :)

Advent Box

I promised I'd get back to Christmas today, so I'm getting waaaay back, to Christmas 2008.  I made this advent box last year and posted it to Splitcoast, but I didn't have my blog then, so I figured I'd post it here now.  First let me say.... I did not come up with this box design!  A wonderful lady from my ATC club first taught me how to make this box in a single layer.  As far as the stackable design, there are several versions floating around the web.  I originally saw THIS box on Ella's site (Ella's Craftroom), and this year found a nice little tutorial HERE by Hermine (Hermine's Place).  I used the large kitchen match boxes (not the little ones) so that I could stuff each drawer with goodies for three kiddos - my two nephews and niece.  This was LOTS of fun, but very time-consuming, because I made drawer pulls for each drawer (the simple way... use a circle punch and punch out half circles, big enough to fit a fingertip in to open the drawer), and I covered every surface with patterned paper (the simple way..... just brush some distress ink or paint on each drawer front, and decorate only the larger panels).   I will leave you with a bunch of pictures and a little bit more rambling :).  If you have any questions at all regarding sources, just email me!  I won't bore you all with a list of supplies 20 pages long ;).

Here's a side with one of my favorite Santa stamps, and some Cuttlebug cut snow- flakes.

This side is very matchy-matchy, and the only "blue" side.  Luckily, I don't think my little kiddos will notice the incon- sistency.

I kept the embel- lishments on the top of the box relatively flat, so there would be no worries about smooshing it when stored away for the offseason.

Some detail shots.... I used lots of different items for drawer pulls: pipe cleaners, ribbon, buttons, charms, bells, etc.  You just need to make sure that someone's fingers can actually get hold of the pull, so don't adhere your buttons/charms flat onto the drawer.  I created some lift with an extra button or ribbon knot BEHIND the main bigger button/charm that I wanted to use as the pull.

Here's an open drawer, showing some candies inside.  I used a bell and a snowflake brad on the bottom two drawers.  Note how I stacked a few buttons behind the brad so that it was like a knob.  This brad had very long prongs, and I glued the ends on the inside of the box, and covered them with glue and a scrap of paper to reinforce it.  For the bell, I threaded wire through the back slot, then poked it through the drawer, and through the holes of a button on the inside, then twisted the excess wire and tucked it behind the button (again, to reinforce the pull so that it doesn't pull right through the drawer).

Last picture.... for about half of the drawers, I just stuffed them with candy for the whole family to enjoy.  For the other half, I put in tiny toys, labeled with tiny little tags with the kids' names.  Here is a drawer with three bunches of metallic crayons.  Underneath (not showing), I made up little blank booklets using black craft paper, for use with the metallic crayons.

This year, I sent up some more candy and little toys for mom and dad to stuff the box with.  As a little added addition, I copied a nice, simple version of the Christmas Story from one of my favorite kids' books (The Christmas Star), and divided it into 24 segments.  I then printed it out, and punched out each segment using a tag punch.  I stamped the corresponding number of each segment onto each tag, and threaded red and green ribbons through the top.  Their mama can now add a little tag to each box, and as they read a new part of the Christmas story each day, they can hang up the tag on the tree, or a bulletin board, fridge, etc.

Whew, long post.  Thanks for sticking with me, and happy holiday crafting!

Shabby Chic Pink Persimmon Heart

I know, I know - don't yell at me, LOL!!  I just discovered this Pink Persimmon sketch challenge, and I don't have any Pink Persimmon Christmas stamps (yet!), so I had to jump ahead a little and think Valentine's.  Don't worry, I'll get back to Christmas soon :).  Anyway, this card uses this sketch for the challenge:

I used Pink Persimmon's Key to My Heart set, along with some My Mind's Eye paper, and some vintage trim and Foof-a-la buttons.  I sketched the heart myself and cut it out with pinking shears (no pun intended, LOL! - it's very late - sorry, I'm punchy!).  A simple little card that came together quickly. 

Enjoy the rest of your day!

A Jolly Holly Santa!

Stamp of the Month time has come a little early for the December selection at Cornish Heritage Farms.  It's this adorable Santa, which I particularly love for a bunch of reasons.  I love that he is surrounded by music, I love that he is a wonderful size for both cards and ornaments, AND... I got to design this card, which you'll get instructions for when you order the stamp. :)  To make this very fun card, you'll need the Jolly Holly Santa Collage stamp, along with the Swirling Snowflakes backgrounder - a very versatile stamp you'll use again and again.  Just have a little white embossing powder on hand, a snippet of ribbon, a button, a few markers or pencils, and some cardstock, and you'll be churning out those holiday cards!

The best part... you'll get 20% off this stamp in the month of December.  (And by the way, you can get it cling mounted or wood mounted... I always link to the cling mounted because it's the least expensive and easiest to store, and it's what I use myself.) 

Hope you had a great weekend!  I've been doing way too much eating and watching sports, and way too little crafting! Time to catch up on all those fun challenges I missed last week, LOL!

Reasons to Stamp

Are you running out of reasons to stamp this month??  Now that you think I've lost my mind, I'll explain (LOL!!)... it's that time again - Gingersnap Creations has listed our "Reasons to Stamp" for the month of December.  I certainly never knew that December was "Bingo Month," but it did inspire me to create something a little different for my Christmas decor.  For this quicky little project, I scanned a vintage bingo card and printed it out on cardstock.  Then I just reached for what was already out on my very messy craft table.  The Santa image is from Crafty Secrets (the Christmas postcard kit), as is the hanger.  I used some red felt snowflakes from Stampin' Up, some red pom pom trim that I got at JoAnne's, and a few other little bits that were just lying around.  A fun, no-stress project for a doorway or little nook.

Hope all my fellow Americans had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Onwards to Christmas...... :)

Edited to add:  I've had a request for my source for the vintage bingo card.... I happened to get this one at a local scrapbook store in Buffalo, NY, called Buffalo Stamps and Stuff.  For those of you not in western NY, you can find them on Etsy as well.  If anyone would just like a copy, here is my scan. (please note: I have no idea of the original manufacturer of this card, and so I don't know if the rights are under copyright.  Please enjoy for your personal use only. :)) 

 

 

Vintage Christmas Stars - An Ornament Swap

This month our ATC club decided to swap ornaments instead of ATCs!  Since I can never settle on one favorite image, I made four each of three different designs.  I found the plain wooden star ornaments at JoAnne's (only 60 cents), sanded them, painted them ivory, and distressed the edges with some Ranger Distress Ink in brown corduroy.  For the center, I scanned the music for Silent Night taken from a vintage hymnal, cut it into stars, stamped a flourish (from Stampington) onto them, and glued them inside the inset portion of the star.  The Christmas images I used are from Crafty Secrets and Dover Designs.  Then I used one of my new favorite products - glow-in-the-dark glitter from Martha Stewart!  I glued it all around the raised outside border of the star - it will look so pretty once all the lights are turned off for the evening!  I embellished each star with some cuttings from Christmas floral picks, vintage buttons, ribbon, etc.  This was such a fun project, and in the end I don't think it took me any longer than ATCs would have taken.  I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing what the other ladies came up with!

Have a happy Monday - and remember, crafting is the only remedy for a Monday! :)

Calendar Year Scrapblock

Cornish Heritage Farms releases it's new Scrapblock today, Calendar Year.  This stamp has so many possibilities!  For this card, I was going for an old-time postcard look, using K and Co. patterned paper, some Hero Arts Art Flowers that I colored with my Copics, and some die cuts a friend gave me.  The sentiment is from Vintage Christmas Expressions.  For more great ideas, check out the Gallery at CHF.

We're starting a busy weekend of hockey today.... a USA hockey training event tonight (at the home ice of the Carolina Hurricanes), then practice, game, another practice.... plus, my daughter wants to get some figure skating practice in.  It's gonna be coooooold and icy, even here in NC, LOL!  Have a great Friday everyone!

Tag Tuesday, A Big Thank You, and a CHF Sneak Peek

Lots to get to today, so first up, my tag for the Tag Tuesday #26 challenge.  Louise is starting a "Colors of Christmas" series (how fun is that?), and this week the colors are pink, brown, and burgundy - luscious!!  Pop on over to see Louise's tag, which is soooo pretty, and all the other gals' work.

{Deets on the tag: image from Dover Design Sampler, papers from Paper Temptress, Prima flower, Making Memories chipboard flourishes, flourish and snowflake stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms, Stickles, vintage music from Louise, vintage ribbon from my stash.  Email me if you need more specifics :)}

Next up... a big THANK YOU!!!! to Louise, of Tag Tuesday and Kard Krazy fame!  I was the lucky winner of some fabulous one-of-a-kind blog candy oozing with vintage paper goodness.  Check it out:

Louise, you rock!!  I will have weeks of fun with this! :)

And finally, that sneak peek I promised.... sheesh, this one sneaked up on me big time!  Tomorrow, Cornish Heritage Farms will release a new Scrapblock (those 6 x 6 inch stamps) called Calendar Year.  This one is soooo versatile (I know, I keep saying that about these stamps, but it's true!).  This is one that you scrapbookers in particular will like, because you can cut it up and use it for journaling blocks.  I'm thinking of using the "December" for my December Daily album.  Anyway, enough talk... here's the peek:

This card uses the Calendar Year Scrapblock, along with the Sweet Bee set from The Rummage Bin.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!  Hope you're having a great week!

Color Challenge at Gingersnap Creations

Gingersnap Creations has posted the new color challenge today, and it is..... Monochromatic!  Make a creation in any color at all, but just that one color family. (I'm assuming a little added neutral is okay here, or else I've, *gulp* got it all wrong, LOL!!  Seriously, though, the Gingersnappers are a NO STRESS group.... be creative, do whatever you'd like, just keep it basically monochromatic.)  For my card, I wanted texture to be the star, since I was only using one color family.  So for the base layer, I've used a Paper Temptress ruched paper called Sky Blue Crepe.  It looks like crepe paper, but has the weight of cardstock - very cool.  I stamped the Stampington & Co. image onto blue mulberry paper, and layered it over a strip of vintage text.  Then I just added some hydrangea petals from a big box floral, and found a sentiment that I liked from my vintage text page and called it done.

Gingersnap Creations is being sponsored this month by the Paper Temptress, so you know what that means.... blog candy!!  Enter any of the GC challenges this month (you can see them all in the left sidebar at Gingersnap Creations) and you'll have a chance at your pick of four gorgeous paper selections from the Paper Temptress.  So why not make one of those holiday cards you need in a monochromatic scheme, and suddenly you're multitasking, LOL! :)  Have fun! 

Vintage Baby Expressions and Baby Dear Release!

Well, it's finally here - release day over at Cornish Heritage Farms, for two fabulous vintage baby sets: Baby Dear (from the Rummage Bin Line) and Vintage Baby Expressions (from the Mona Lisa Moments line).  Here's a little pretty in pink that I made using these stamps sets, some K & Company paper, and a little felt heart that I traced and cut myself.  For some wonderful samples from the design team, you can check out the gallery HERE and HERE.

I'll leave you with one more sample that could be a Mother's Day Card for a new mama.

Sweet Baby - Sneak Peek

A short post tonight to give you another sneak peek of Cornish Heritage Farms' "Baby Dear" and "Vintage Baby Expressions" sets, which will be available on November 17.  Once again I've paired these sweet images with Cosmo Cricket's Everafter Crafting Kit... it's supposed to be a wedding kit, but the wonderful soft colors are a perfect fit for baby cards as well. (There are even some darling vintage children images in the kit- go figure!)  I've done a soft take on a red-white-and-blue color scheme, coloring the image with Copics.

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Skate Scene

My 10-year-old daughter has commandeered my ice skates!  I just couldn't keep buying skates fast enough to fit her quickly-growing feet, and so she finally stole my size 7 Riedells, and I'm out of luck, LOL!!  She loves them and has announced that I can't have them back... I'm all right with that, she's now a better skater than I am. :)  With all the skating my family does, this is one of my absolute favorite new releases from Cornish Heritage Farms - Skate Scene from the Shady Tree Studio Line.  So much fun to color... you can use it with a holiday scheme, match it to your little one's woolies, use it for a winter scrapbook page.  The sentiment is from Christmas Expressions, and is embossed in white.

Tomorrow I'll show you some more vintage baby sweetness. :)

Stamps:
- Skate Scene (Shady Tree Studio) Cornish Heritage Farms
- Christmas Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments) Cornish Heritage Farms


Ink:
- Memento (Tsukineko) Tuxedo Black
- VersaMagic Cloud White
- VersaMark watermark ink


Papers:
- My Mind's Eye (The Merry Days of Christmas line) "Under the Tree" and "Santa's Forest"
- Dream Street Papers (Merry and Bright line) "Magic"
- Basic Grey (Wassail line) "Snow Dust"


Other:
- Kaiser rhinestone
- Twill ribbon
- Snowflake punch (Martha Stewart)
- Snowflake edge punch
- Stamp 'n Stuff (Stampendous) white embossing powder
- Nestabilities (Spellbinders) Labels Four
- Copics

Welcoming Baby - A Cornish Heritage Farms Sneak Peek

Oh, Baby!!  On November 17, Cornish Heritage Farms is coming out with two fabulous vintage baby sets that'll knock your socks off.... a gorgeous set of images and sentiments from The Rummage Bin line called "Baby Dear," along with an extra set of vintage-style sentiments (with a few adorable images, too) from the Mona Lisa Moments line called Vintage Baby Expressions.  Where were these when I was having babies??? LOL!  Seriously, if you are expecting... Congratulations!.... and, you'll want to check these out.  And although I won't be having any more little bundles of joy (*sigh*), I'm excited to own these sets just because I'll always have a fab baby card ready for any new little life that comes along. :)

This is my first sneak peek of the sets, but I'll have more throughout the week (and some of the other gals on the CHF design team are peeking them, too... Laura has a fabulous quick-and-easy birth announcement idea).

Stamps:
- Baby Dear (The Rummage Bin) Cornish Heritage Farms
- Vintage Baby Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments) Cornish Heritage Farms


Ink:
- Memento Dew Drops (Tsukineko) in London Fog, Rich Cocoa
- Ranger Distress Ink in Vintage Photo


Paper:
- Simply Smooth Vanilla CS (Cornish Heritage Farms)
- Bazzill Basics CS in Sea Salt and Lemonade
- Cosmo Cricket Everafter Crafting Kit patterned papers - “Something Old”, “Something Borrowed”, “Something Special”


Other:
- Copic markers
- Twill tape, 3/4” (Wrights)
- Embroidery floss (DMC)
- Vintage button
- Kaiser pearls
- Edge punch (EK Success “Diamond Lace”)

Tag Tuesday and a Gingersnap Creations Challenge

We've had a very busy weekend that has carried on into the week!  I've finally managed to get crafting a little bit, and made this goofy little tag for the Tag Tuesday #25 challenge, which is to use a photo on your tag.  I just LOVED this photo when I found it, and thought it would be perfect for a birthday tag, coupled with a paper pieced portion of a Stampington & Co. stamp called Party Hat.  To add a little interest, I used buttons to echo the dots and blots in the paper, AND to play along with another challenge over at Gingersnap Creations today, which is to use buttons on a project.  There's some blog candy up for grabs over at Gingersnap Creations, too.... you get to chose from a fabulous assortment of paper from Paper Temptress.  Buttons and paper, ahh, bliss!

Thanks for looking!  For folks in the USA, hope you have a peaceful and thoughtful Veteran's Day.

Here Comes the Train!

One of my childhood Christmas memories is of my uncle's train set under the tree.  He would set up a scene with all of the important buildings in the town (you know, my grandmother's house, my house, my aunt's house... you get the idea, LOL!) and have his trains running through it.  The train would disappear behind the tree, reappear to go by my house, through a tunnel, etc.  Do you have a model train expert in the family?  Or just a boy who loves trains?  You may want to check out this new stamp set from Cornish Heritage Farms, called Train Silhouette from the B&O Railroad line.  I really didn't expect to have so much fun with this set, but once I started stamping, I realized all of the possibilities.  The card above pairs an image from Train Silhouette with some great paper by Graphic 45... it actually has little ads for toy trains! (the link is HERE if you want to see; it's from their Christmas Past collection)  The sentiment is from CHF's Night Before Christmas set.  I think I know where I'm sending this card.... :)

And now, for something completely different..... how about a little boy's birthday card?  This one is going to my nephew:

I stamped the solid locomotive repeatedly in primary colors.  I didn't do anything special to line them up, just eyeballed it. (I'm sure he won't notice the imperfections!)

Okay, one more and I'll stop..... I just couldn't resist going for a vintage ephemera theme with this set:

Seriously, this set is so much fun, even for the non-train enthusiast.  Sometimes I make cards and I'm not sure whom they'll go to.... not so with this set!  Go figure.

Check out the CHF Creative Blog for more great ideas from the designer team (Tracy made a card that doesn't even have a train on it!  How versatile is that?)  And I love this one by Laura, too - so fresh and fun.

AND... For the antique car fan in your life, you can check out a new set from the GM line called “You Drive Me Crazy."  We can seriously take care of the men in the family with these sets.  Isn't a little macho in stampland refreshing for a change? :)

Have a great weekend... I'm off with my daughter to Winston-Salem for her NC Elementary Honors Chorus concert, so if I'm slow to respond, it's 'cuz I'm away from my computer.... I'll catch up with ya'll on Monday!

Tag Tuesday on Wednesday

Nuts, I'm a day late with this, but it just would not photograph!!  That's what I get for making an acetate tag, I guess, LOL!  Anyway, this is my entry for this week's Tag Tuesday Challenge at Kard Krazy, which is to make an entirely paperless tag.  What a fun challenge for us papercrafters, eh?  So I used acetate for the base, stamped with the Swirling Snowflakes backgrounder from CHF in white StazOn.  The Santa image is by Artistic Outpost, stamped on Claudine Hellmuth's Sticky Back Canvas using Memento dye ink in London Fog.  I used some Vintage Photo to color him up a bit (Distress Ink).  I think the fuzzy brown and white trim is May Arts, but I'm not sure (I could cuddle that stuff all day, it's so soft! :) ).  The lace is vintage, the rhinestones are from Kaiser, the posy is from Prima, and the rust-colored petals are off a bloom from a big box store (love to ravage those blooms for my flower stash!).  Thanks, Louise, for another fun challenge!  And congrats to Louise on all of those Stampington publications (it's the Louise show lately, I tell ya - fabulous work!)

Domestic Love Arrives Today

How is that for a goofy blog entry title?  I'm talking about a new stamp set, though - very fun, very retro, kinda punny.... Domestic Love from the All Things Considered (ATC) line at Cornish Heritage Farms.  For this card, I cut a piece of patterned paper slightly smaller than my card front.  I crinkled one half of it, then adhered the smooth half to the right side of the card (I did this first to make sure that half would line up neatly).  Then I smooshed and crinkled and wrinkled some more, put some adhesive on the card base, and pushed down the crinkled half of the paper. I inked up the sentiment with a marker so that I could split it to go with the wrinkled/smooth paper sides.  I added a little color to the iron image with Copics, and embellished with ribbon and buttons.

Here's a picture of the whole stamp set:

 

Have a great one, and give someone a little domestic lovin', LOL!

Domestic Love Sneak Peek

Whew, it's been one of those weeks!  Sorry for being AWOL - "we've" had a lot of homework for my 8-year-old.  I could rant for an hour about how children need to have time to PLAY, but instead, I'll show you a sneak peek of an awesomely fun set coming out November 3 from Cornish Heritage Farms.  It's called "Domestic Love" and it's from the ATC Collection.  This set is good for Valentines (I know, we haven't had Halloween yet, LOL!) AND for those "encouragement" notes that we all need from time to time - lots of cute puns, vintage images.... wait 'til you see it!

Anyway, I used a fabulous retro image of a couple for this one.  Some Webster's Pages 6x6 Petite Pages paper in the background, and a Tim Holtz journaling ticket.  I masked the image of the couple in order to put all the lovey dovey words spilling out from behind them.  That's another long story... you don't want to know how many times I made the exact same mistake... over and over... try again..... d'oh!!!  Ever have one of those days?  I guess you have to be of a certain age before this affliction takes hold, LOL!

Well, since I already showed you one of the sentiments from this set, I'll show it to you again, in an entirely different style, and leave it at that.  The weekend is just around the corner.... have a good one!

Some More Leafy Fun

Just a quick little post to let you know it's release day over at Cornish Heritage Farms, with the debut of Shady Tree Studios' Nesting Maple Leaves and Nesting Oak Leaves.  Here's another leafy card I made using both the outline stamp and the solid stamp.  Hop on over to the CHF Creative Blog, Farm Fresh to see more samples, and have a look at the new Friendly Kritters release, Turtle Sled (so cute!).

 Have a warm and wonderful Friday.... oooooh, "Friday," that sounds so good :)

Witches Brew ATC

A witchy little ATC for the Wednesday Stamper challenge, which this week is Halloween.  I need to make a batch of Halloween ATCs for my swap next week, so this is one of the things I might work up.  The witch image is by Crafty Secrets, and the "moon" is from NASA.  The stamps are Stampin' Up! and Little Yellow Bicycle.  Vintage German text in the background.

Falling for Leaves

I just LOVE fall - the maple trees are my favorites, especially those that turn a fiery red.  This card uses my favorite leaf shape in a new set of stamps coming from Cornish Heritage Farms tomorrow (see the sneak peek in the intro page from the link?).  Nesting Maple Leaves and Nesting Oak Leaves from Shady Tree Studio at CHF are so fun to use, because these sets come with a solid leaf stamp AND an outline leaf stamp, which you can use together or separately. For this project, I stamped the Maple Leaf outline on patterned paper from My Mind's Eye (actually from their Halloween collection), and cut them out. I used a coordinating strip of the same paper across the bottom. The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms' On the Desk set from The Rummage Bin line. I masked out the stamp so that I could stamp the three lines separate from one another, then stitched around each line and cut them out separately. I threaded a row of vintage buttons on some twine for a little dimension.

If you're game, there's a chance to win both leaf sets over at Gingersnap Creations.... head on over to THIS POST and enter the Orange/Green/Brown color challenge.  Cornish Heritage Farms is the sponsor over there for the entire month, and they've got lots of goodies up for grabs. :)

Below are the deets on the card - have the best day of the year!



Stamps:
-Nesting Maple Leaves (Shady Tree Studio) Cornish Heritage Farms
-On the Desk (The Rummage Bin) Cornish Heritage Farms

Paper:
-Dream Street Papers (Merry and Bright Collection) Warmth
-My Mind’s Eye (the Spider’s Web) “Witches Lace”
-Simply Smooth Vanilla (CHF)

Ink:
-Ranger Distress Inks in Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy

Other:
Buttons, hemp cord, sewing machine

Spooky Brads

Here's a Halloween card that I made for the Spicy Supply Challenge (which is to use brads) over at Gingersnap Creations.  That adorable little owl is the Owl Silhouette stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms.  She's stamped on some Ambrosia paper by Basic Grey.  The background was made by first embossing the Trees Backgrounder with black embossing powder from Ranger, then sponging in purple, orange, and yellow Distress Inks to make an eerie sky.  I used two shaped brads to adhere the "Spooky" paper and give it dimension - a skull and a ghost - not your ordinary brads! (I got them at Michaels).  If you'd like to participate in the Brads challenge, post your project on your blog/gallery/flickr page and link to THIS post at Gingersnap Creations.  PLUS, your name will be entered to win blog candy from Cornish Heritage Farms (A Royal Birthday stamp set from The Rummage Bin). 

Oh, and speaking of blog candy, there's more...... Enter the Orange/Green/Brown color challenge at Gingersnap Creations and you could win Cornish Heritage Farms' stamps The Pines, Nesting Maple Leaves, AND Nesting Oak Leaves sets.  Cool, heh?  It's all good :)

Happy Hump-day, everyone!

Another Royal Birthday or Two

Know a little princess who's having a birthday?  This card is another project using Cornish Heritage Farms' A Royal Birthday stamp set (coming October 20th).  I had fun making this all girly, with golden embossing powder and flowers and bling.  How about a more mature birthday lady?  Here's a card fit for a queen.

Details are below.  Hope you're having a weekend fit for a queen!

Shabby Chic Princess Card
Stamps:
-A Royal Birthday (The Rummage Bin line) Cornish Heritage Farms

Papers:
-My Mind’s Eye Bella Bella and Paris and Co. paper pad collections
-Simply Smooth Vanilla cardstock by CHF

Ink:
-Ranger Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Fired Brick, and Vintage Photo

Other:
-Maya Road Fresh Chipboard Scroll Frames
-Ranger Ancient Gold Embossing Powder in Enchanted Gold
-Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones and pearl
-Bobbin Ribbon twill
-Flower from silk floral stem


Queen for the Day Card
Stamps:
-A Royal Birthday (The Rummage Bin line) Cornish Heritage Farms
-French Script Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms

Papers:
-My Mind’s Eye Bella Bella and Paris and Co. paper pad collections
-Simply Smooth Vanilla cardstock by CHF

Ink:
-Colorbox in Chestnut Roan and Ice Blue
-Ranger Distress Ink in Antique Linen and Vintage Photo

Other:
-Maya Road Fresh Chipboard Scroll Frames
-Martha Stewart ribbon
-Prima flower
-Adirondack Lights Paint Dabber in Aqua
-Kaiser Scrapbook pearls
-Copic markers