It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Dusting off my neglected blog right now...It's been sitting idle for a while now.  Thought that I would share what I've been up to the last several weeks:

These are 5 gift boxes made from glittery DP and decorated with glitter brads and cord ribbon for the closures.
They open up and have two sleeves inside for notecards or loose stationary, etc.

The idea is most definitely not mine!  (being slightly challenged in the fold it and build it department, LOL)  I searched and tried several tutorials from others more talented than I, eventually finding a gem of a tutorial from a blog by Tresa Black: Fabulously Artsy.  Check it out, because it's great!  Thank you to Tresa.

Her tutorial is for smaller boxes, sized for 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 cards.  Scroll down on her page to view the comments if you (like me) typically make the larger sized cards.  There are instructions for re-sizing it for 5X7 sized cards.






Here is a picture of the inside.  This DP was not double sided and not quite as heavy as I would have liked, so lining the inside with heavy cardstock helped IMHO.

These boxes fit exactly into a CD mailing box that you can buy at the Post Office!  They fit as though the box was made for them.  I put each one into a large zip lock baggie, folded the extra baggie around the box and slipped it inside the CD mailing box.  Such a perfect fit that I warned the recipients to cut open the mailing box carefully so that the contents would not get damaged.
























We filled them with an assortment of Christmas cards, sympathy, get well, thinking of you and birthday cards.  Depending on the thickness of your cards and envelopes, they will hold 8-12 cards & envies.

We sent these as gifts to family members and hope that they like them!  (My Mom has already called me and was really tickled with it, so that's nice).

I'll be back later to post some of the Christmas cards from this year's production.
Wishing all of you a wonderful day and a joyous holiday season with your family and friends.  Thank you for stopping by.

Mystery Image Swap Revealed!

We have a fun group on Split Coast that run a Mystery Image Swap.  Every other month the hostess (we take turns hosting) sends us images and we make 4 cards, send them to the hostess and receive back 3 creations from others.  It's loads of fun to see how differently we all create with the same starting point.

I am two days late in posting this (April, I hope that my tardiness makes you feel better! LOL)  On the 18th we were supposed to post our creations, however, my Dad's 81st Birthday was the 17th and my previous post was his card.  I wanted to give Mom & Dad a chance to see the post easily without having to search for it.  Anyway, enough of that.  On to this card.

A close up to show the pretty
embossed snowflakes.

It's navy card stock on a white base, the corners trimmed with deckle scissors.  The circle of snowflakes is a unique eBay find from many years ago.  It's embossed with a snowflake, glitter EP that is also a find from a stamp show many years back.  The circle is hand cut with an Exacto knife, so, it's less than perfect, ha ha.

Here is a close up of the inside panel with the adorable image chosen by our Hostess, Terry.  Isn't he darling?  He is colored with Spectrum Noir markers and accented with Snow flocking by Recollections.  His eyes and buttons are these tiny gems from Can You Digi It.  They are so small that they can be a challenge to work with but they also have Embellie Gellie to pick them up with and place them on your work.  A big help!

Below is a photo of everything used to make this card, including a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig since the circle on the rubber stamp is not mounted straight on the wood block.  Using this is the only way to get it lined up correctly.

Lesson learned: next time I'll add the snow flocking first and then glue on the gems.  I had a hard time keeping the glue off of the gems.

Thanks for stoping by and for any comments you may care to leave!  Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

Supplies used for this card.

Dueling Darlings: Planes, Trains & Automobiles!

Remember that movie?  The antics as two men struggle to get home in time for their holiday with their families.  This month our hostesses, Carol and Debbie selected this for our theme.  The Dazzler's hostess, Debbie, was very generous, and sent us two kits!! How great is that?!

Well, another post will show off a card from the other kit, but for the duel this month, when I saw the 57 Chevy image...it was all over.  No way could I not pick this kit for the duel.
Here's the card:

I know, I know, the coloring may not be technically accurate, but here's what I was going for:
In the very early '60's my Dad and Uncle taught my Grandmother (my Dad's Mom) to drive.  Ugh.  I remember everyone being about as happy during this process as we were when he taught my own Mom to drive! (My Mom eventually just went to a driving school).  Ha ha!
Anyway, eventually Grandma passed and got her driver's license.  My Dad and uncles bought her a black Chevy or Ford with HUGE PINK FINS!  It was the most amazing car I had ever seen.  Here's the kicker:  she NEVER drove it.  In fact, I don't think she ever drove once she had her license!

The wheels and headlights are perked up with some Crystal Effects, and "Are we there yet?" is cut out of the adorable DP that Debbie sent, mounted on a little Balsa wood oval that was colored with my markers.  Then it was also glazed with Crystal Effects and popped up with dimensional dots. (Creating the big shadow on my image in this picture)
My father's 81st birthday is this week so this card along with another card is on it's way to him on the West Coast.

As part of this challenge we were asked to share any memory of traveling during the holidays.  Well, one year in particular stands out.  My family lives in western Washington state, and I went to college on the eastern part of the state, near Idaho.  If you aren't familiar with the area, the Cascade Mountain range, and Mt. Rainier are right between the two regions.

One year in the mid-70's all the college kids got stuck on the mountain pass due to avalanche control.  Hundreds of kids set off to return to school after the holiday, expecting a 5-7 hour commute, depending on the weather and pass conditions.  What we got was a 24 hr or more commute!  It was a mess.  Cold, hungry, people running out of gas, etc.  But you know college kids - everything is an adventure and suddenly all of these complete strangers are all best friends.

Well, I've occupied enough of your time!  Get on over to all of the other Divas & Dazzlers blogs and see what they have made for this duel.  Links are on my side bar and thanks for stopping by!

Crafters of Faith October Challenge

I am fortunate to be part of a wonderful group of women called "Crafters of Faith".  Since joining a few months ago I have started new friendships with these talented women. We share our faith in God and provide support and encouragement for one another through prayer and our common belief in His grace.

Each month one member posts a challenge and on the last day of the month we post our cards in response..  This month's hostess is Sharon and here is her challenge:

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 

I Thessalonians 5:16-18

 From Sharon:

Wow, it's hard to believe that there is only 3 more months left of 2012...where has the time gone?? Some of you may know from reading my blog this week that Autumn is my favorite season of the year.

In Southern Ontario it is quickly making its appearance and where I'm from the colour of the changing leaves can be quite spectacular. It's so inspiring--I just love it!

Autumn also includes my most favourite holiday celebration--THANKSGIVING!! It's hard not to love a holiday that calls on us to give thanks for our blessings. I realize not everyone around the world celebrates this holiday, and our friends in the U.S. don't celebrate until November, so for this challenge you can choose to make either a card for thanksgiving OR a thank you card for someone who has been a blessing to you. Please use at least 2 designer papers and 1 embellishment, and most importantly, have fun!

Here is my card:

Those of you who have known me a while know that using DP is a new thing for me, ha ha.  I learned to make cards by using all blank stock and putting my own backgrounds and textures on it.  So using TWO DPs on one card was a good challenge to stretch myself.  Thank you Sharon!

So, if you can see, I actually managed to use 3 coordinating papers on the front! 

Here is a side view to show the depth of this card using those foam pop ups.  

Below is the inside of the card, with space to add a white panel for a sentiment.  The stamps and dies are from A Muse Studios and the DP is from SU, I think.  (I bought it from another card maker in a bundle so I'm not sure of the origin.)

I have so many blessings in my life.  My family, some exceptional friends, my career, my health...it's a long list!  The verse that Sharon selected for this challenge is so appropriate for this time of year.  Whenever I think that too many things are going wrong, I try to stop myself and remember all that I have to be thankful for.  It usually stops the "Woe is Me" train dead in its tracks.  To the members of Crafters of Faith:  each of you is a blessing to many, including me!

Be sure to visit their blogs also and admire their work.  Links are in my sidebar.  Thank you for stopping by and any comments that you may leave.  Peace be with you!

Dueling Darlings Tribute to Our Leaders!

Here it is the 15th of the month and time for another Dueling Darlings Post.  This month our sole hostess is Melina and she asked us to pay tribute to our Dazzling Leader: Jeanette!

This card was to honor all she does for us behind the scenes keeping the Dazzlers team organized and such.  Of course, many of us know her as the "Forest Ranger" on Splitcoast Stampers where she regularly hosts the Forest Swaps.  Besides just a swap, the Forest is a wonderful place to hang out and chat and many of us have formed fast friendships there.

For this reason our cards were to be forest related and Jeanette LOVES designer paper, so we were to use DP on our cards.  This is what I came up with:

Jeanette has a fondness for owls, and the stamp set and ink is from A Muse Studios, which Jeanette is also fond of.  The paper is from my dear friend, Carol, who sent it to me last year and I've been hoarding.  Hmmm, what better way to use it than on another friend's card, right?
This is one of those cards where the center panel flips around when you extend out the accordion folds.  So here is the flip side of the panel with a sentiment on it about friendship:

You can see that I had to piece the DP around the folds to make it work. But I really like the wood grained paper. It gives it a bit of a rustic feel.

Melina asked us all to surprise Jeanette with happy mail, so as this blog post is happening, this card is making its way via USPS to her mailbox.  I hope she enjoys our little card flood and knows how special she is to so many of us!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the other Dazzlers & their tribute to Jeanette.  After that, visit the Divas and admire their creations in honor of their team leader, Kelly!  Links to their blogs are in my sidebar.

MFT's "Miss You a Latte" is Round 4 of Unidentified Image Swap

We are in Round 4 of the Unidentified Image Swap on SCS.  This round's Hostess, Terry, selected My Favorite Thing's "Miss You a Latte" as the image we received to work with.
What a cute and fun image it is too!  We were free to include any sentiment that we liked, so  I decided to pick a more generic one that could be used for various situations.

 

To the left is the front panel, the CS is a foiled, embossed stock from SEI's "Morocco" pack.
On the right is my attempt to show the shimmer that was spritzed on the maroon panel set behind the image.  I used Stardust Finishing Spray from A Muse Studios to spritz on the glimmer.  A touch of glitter was added to her headband, shoes & earrings for a bit of bling.

The image is colored with Spectrum Noir markers, ribbon and iridescent half pearls were bought from local stores and found in my stash.


On the right is the inside panel finished in a coordinating paper from the same pack.  It has the same foil finish.

To the right is the back panel of the card.

Thanks Terry for sharing such a fun image for us this round!  I can hardly wait to see what everyone else has created.  Thanks for stopping by!

Asian Best Wishes

Here is a couple of cards, recreating a card that I developed for our son's girlfriend on her birthday last month.  I always feel that family members should get a brand new card that I've never made for anyone else before.  Sometimes that puts a little pressure on me, LOL.  Maybe I should reconsider that...!



The base and inside panels are a shimmery purple and silver CS from DCWV's At Home & The Four Seasons packs - they are lovely.

Sizzix XL Movers & Shapers Windows die was used to cut the window panes and SU's Lots of Tags die was used for the sentiment.  All images are heat embossed with Rangers black EP: sentiment & Gingko branch are SU.  Inside panels are from a Fiskars set of Asian stamps.  Best Wishes is popped up.

The inside panels use the same papers and black EP.  I rather like how these turned out!  Only problem is that I've used all of that wonderful shimmery purple paper out of the pack. Isn't that how it always goes?  Thanks for stopping by and thank you for leaving your comments!  It's always a treat for me to read your feedback.
Blessings to you!