NEW STUFF :)

For personal satisfaction - and to save some money - I have started making paper flowers for my cards, scrapbook pages, etc. After watching many youtube videos and reading blogs by the most talented designers, I have learned a lot about tools and techniques!

   THE PUNCH BUNCH TOOL KIT for making flowers can be purchased online from Joan's Garden: http://www.joanscreations.blogspot.com/. Joan carries the tool kit and a wide selection of punches specifically for creating your own paper flowers. Her prices are very reasonable, and she doesn't mark up the shipping cost - whatever it costs to ship is exactly what she charges. (She's a sweet lady and very talented. If you enjoy challenges, check out her weekly tag challenge!) The Punch Bunch Tool Kit has everything you need to make any type of flower your heart desires!

The next item is the PRECISION FILE SET (by Basic Grey). I purchased this really cool set from www.ohmycrafts.com/.  It includes five different sizes and shapes - you can distress areas you couldn't reach before! AND it's only $5.95!!!

A FABULOUS presentation from DCWV - you have to see it to believe it!

ENJOY!!!!

DCWV Paper Couture.mov

THREE ROSES CARD

I love old-fashion, vintage paper and this paper was the inspiration to make a card. The three roses were left over from a craft project - I lightly brushed a dark red ink over them to create a vintage look. The light blue May Arts ribbon is from my scraps - the blue matched the blue in the paper. I am addicted to MS punches, and the lace one made a pretty edge on the card front. The bling centered over each scallop provides a sparkly element.

   The first picture shows closed view of the card:

In this view the card is opened  to show where I chalked the lace and the bottom of the card,

creating a cute design when the card is open or closed: 

Front view with card slightly open: 

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day!

Paper Roll Mini Album

I have been wanting to make a paper roll mini album for quite a while. Since I didn't have any instructions, I kept putting it off. Thinking about it yesterday, I thought "it doesn't take a rocket scientist to make one." I used paper towel rolls, cutting them down to 3-1/2" (toilet paper rolls are 4" but I didn't have any empty ones on hand:). Using 2 empty rolls, I cut 5 sections for my album. I flattened them out with my roller, then creased all the edges with a bone folder. Some people use card stock to cover the rolls, but I preferred to use regular weight designer paper - it was much easier to adhere and manipulate around the paper rolls and added less bulk. I cut the paper to 3-1/2" wide by 6" length - this wrapped perfectly around the roll leaving enough overlap. I used a floral pattern and a striped pattern, alternating as I designed each page. For embellishments I used buttons, ribbons, paper, stickers, flowers and some bling. I cut the tags from Tags, Bags, Boxes & More, tan card stock. I used brown, green and dark red ink to edge the tags. I have three of the tags stamped, and will stamp the other two later. I'm not quite finished, but enough so that I can post these photos! Click on the photos to get a detailed, close-up view. 

Theme possibilities for this project are endless! When you have a few free minutes, go to youtube.com and search for "paper roll mini albums" - you will be amazed by the beautiful paper roll albums available for your viewing pleasure:):):)

Have a wonderful day and may God bless you!!!

Thank You ScrappinLil!

This special award was passed on to me from a very creative, talented blogger: ScrappinLil! I feel so honored and thank you Lil from the bottom of my heart! You can visit her at:

http://scrappinlilscreativeside.blogspot.com/

I now have to present the award to 8 more bloggers, AND I also have to tell you "8 Things You Don't Know About Me"....

1. I have 5 grown children, 16 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren.

2. Most of my working career was as a graphic designer and art department manager at a large printing company in Ohio.

3. My favorite food is Watermelon and Lays Potato Chips.

4. My favorite colors are blue and purple - and all shades and tints of those colors.

5. I also am a professional event decorator.

6. I was born in the beautiful state of Kentucky.

7. Travelling is one of the things that I so love to do.

8. I'm a Girl Scout co-leader.

I have to ponder upon the 8 bloggers to pass this award to - so, I will let you know later who they are!

And don't forget to stop by ScrappinLils blog! You will love her beautiful creations!

God bless and have an awesome day!

Check Out VALITA'S FRESH FOLDS blog!

I love flowers on cards and scrapbooking pages - they add such a beautiful touch to almost any project. The flowers in this photo were created by Valita - a very talented designer in Australia. Her designs are so inspirational and her tutorials are easy to understand - both written and video. I highly recommend that you visit her blog: http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/ . The flowers in the photo were created by Valita and you will be amazed at how easy they are to make.

Also on her blog are instructions for this original design by Valita:

Isn't she amazing?! She has lots more beautiful creations on her blog - check it out: http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/

Finally - THE Christmas Card ... :)

There has been so much going on, so many family and friends getting sick, just so much everything, that I had not designed the Christmas card I was going to use this year.  Finally, a few days before Christmas, it is done! (It's a good thing I hand deliver most of my cards :)

As usual, I just have no expertise in photographing cards. This one is so pretty in person with shiny paper, shimmery ribbon, shiny glitter and a couple touches of bling. (I sure wish someone had a class on how to "Effectively Photograph Cards 101" - I would sign up in a heartbeat!)

BTW - have friends become a follower of my blog - I'm trying for 100 and the 100th person will win a nice prize. If that 100th person mentions the follower who referred her/him to the blog - that person also will win a nice prize! So help me out here :)

Reindeer in the Snow Christmas Card

Once again, it's been a long time between posts. Too many things and too little time :(

I did find time to make this card! No matter how I photographed it, I couldn't get the glitter and sparkle to show up. Also, the snow flakes are stamped (with StazOn) on the back of a piece of acetate - which isn't visible in the photo. To make this card, I first stamped the acetate with a snowflake background stamp and set it aside to dry. I cut the white reindeer using the Very Merry Tags cartridge; the cardstock is the coreCouture line called White Gloves - it's very sparkly! I adhered the reindeer to another coreCouture sparkly cardstock: Blue Diamonds. I cut what I call a window mat - the center is cut out creating a frame - from a piece of light blue cardstock (don't know the vendor), and adhered the now dry acetate to that. I adhered the reindeer piece to the card base, then the frame piece over that. I applied Frosted Lace Stickles to the front of the acetate, creating a snowy ground. I wanted it more glittery, so I sprinkled white sparkly glitter to the Stickles while it was still wet. After that dried I applied white ink to the frame to create a snowy effect (which I should have done right after I made the frame). I had a sheet of lightweight glittery green paper (vendor unknown) which I punched out the leaves with a Martha Stewart punch to create the hanging branches on the top left of card. I took red Stickles and squeezed three little "berries" in the branches. As a finishing touch I attached three very light blue Swavorski crystals to the bottom right. Finally - a very pretty finished card! (If you click on the photograph you will be linked to a larger version which shows the glitter of the card better.)

   Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Christmas Cards - again :)

I said I was going to design a couple of Thanksgiving cards, but once again I ended up doing Christmas cards:) I love the reindeer on the Joys of the Season cartridge - there are 3 styles, and they are so gorgeous! The swirly Christmas tree from the Christmas cartridge is another favorite - so I just had to make more Christmas cards.

The patterned paper is "Vintage Blue Strokes" by the Paper Studio, purchased at Hobby Lobby, and I used it on both cards. The sparkly cardstock paper is from the Core-dinations Couture line, from JoAnn's, and is so pretty in person. I also used it on both cards. (It cuts like butter on the Cricut!) The star atop the Christmas tree is a silvery button from JoAnn's.

On the Reindeer card I attached Jolee's Swavorkski crystals to the middle of the two larger snowflakes. To make the antlers even more sparkly I used the Clear Star gel pen over them. On the hooves I added Tiara Stickles, and at the bottom I used a wide tip Zig glue pen to make strokes, then added white glitter to make it look snowy (doesn't show up in the photo very well).

IMAGINE that!!!

My IMAGINE was delivered yesterday! I am SOOO thrilled - I can't wait to start using it. But, I have to find space for it first :(  That will take a day at least...)
And you know I will be posting whatever my first project will be as soon as I have created it!

Christmas Cards using Cuttlebug

My intentions were to design some Thanksgiving cards, but somehow I ended up making Christmas Cards! I used the Cuttlebug on all three of these cards. The paper I used is really beautiful, but I just couldn't capture it in these photos. It's irridescent and has a swirly design which reminds me of snow swirls - I bought it at Hobby Lobby so I don't know the vendor. But it is definitely gorgeous in real life! I was a little lazy on these cards - I used white textured already cut-and-folded blank cards from Hobby Lobby as my bases ;)
On the card with the bird, I used Tiara Stickles to add definition to the cut and pop-dotted it. On the reindeer card, I used the Swiss Dot folder on the background mat and on the reindeer. I used Clear Star gel pen on the antlers, and Stickles on the hooves. Using the wide point Zig glue pen, I stroked glue across the bottom and sprinkled with white glitter (to create a snowy look).
The Merry Christmas card is white-on-white with red accents. This card was very hard to photograph! I cut "Merry Christmas" using the Wild Card cartridge. The paper is the Cor-dinations Sparkle - and it cuts very easily on the Cricut. It is the same swirly snow paper on all three cards (I love it!).