Stamping

I hope everyone who celebrated Thanksgiving had a wonderful holiday.  We had an enjoyable day, but I was quite worn out by the end of the night.  The weekend was busy even though I didn't participate in the Black Friday shopping marathons.  Can you believe that Christmas will be here in less than a month?!  I actually made two Christmas cards this past weekend.  I'm determined to get more done.

Anyway, I just have a quick post tonight.  It's been awhile since I've focused on stamping.  I needed a thank you card that could be mailed in a regular envelope, so I needed to limit the embellishments.  I'm not sure who made the pattern paper.  I used black marker to highlight the rectangular shapes.  The angel stamp I used here is from Inkadinkado.  I colored it in a bit with Faber-Castel pencils, a touch of Stickles and some Liquid Pearls.  It was hard for me to stop with just that, so I added some Petaloo flowers that I sprayed with several shades of Glimmer Mist.

Well, that's it for now.  I'll be back soon with some Christmas cards.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Thanksgiving 2012

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day here in the States, so I just want you to know how grateful I am for the wonderful friends I've made in the paper craft blog community and the inspiration each of you bring to me.  I've been given many blessings in my life and want you to know that I count you among them.

I meant to share this card last weekend, but time got away from me.  I had to work extra hours, broke a tooth, attended a nephew's birthday dinner, and went to see Breaking Dawn Part 2 (yes, I know I may be a bit old for that but how I loved those books and the movies).  Anyway, I made this card for my sweet friend Audrey's birthday which also happens to fall on Thanksgiving Day this year.

I made the card from scraps of paper I had in my stash.  The butterfly is from Recollections.  I spritzed the Prima flower petals with several shades of Glimmer Mist and added a crocheted flower and fabric brad to the center of the flower.  I attached it to a Recollections tag that I stamped and wrapped a bit of Recollections lace around the bottom.  A couple of buttons and twill were tied to the top of the tag.  The leaves are Prima, doily is Wilton, and the brown pearls are also from Recollections.  I used a Martha Stewart lace punch on the strip of paper across the card. 

That's it for me tonight.  Need to finish a few things tonight in preparation for tomorrow.  Again, I wish a wonderful holiday to all those celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow as well as a great upcoming weekend to all.  Thanks so much for stopping by and for your sweet comments!  Happy Birthday, Audrey!

Dream at Melissa Frances

He everyone!  I'm super excited to share that I have a card featured on the Melissa Frances blog today!  Please stop by and take a peek.  I love her products so much I tend to hoard them.  Have a wonderful day!  Mine is off to a great start!

Tag Happy

I have developed a love of tags and artist trading cards.  They are beautiful works of art to me.  I have long admired these little beauties that I've seen created on various blogs that I follow.  I also love distressed items but have had trouble with the blending tool.  I always seemed to get the shape of the tool whenever I used it.  Recently, I was admiring projects on two blogs where the distressing was beautifully done and asked how these girls perfected it.  These sweet girls, ReNae Allen and Gabrielle Pollaco, each referred me to tutorials by Tim Holtz.  Just the instruction I needed!  It was so simple once I saw it done.  Using my new found knowledge (lol), I created these two tags.

This first tag was inspired by one on Gabi's blog that she graciously allowed me to lift.  Using a Recollections tag, I distressed it with Tea Dye ink.  A script and swirl image was stamped on the tag.  I layered two small images from K&Co paper onto the tag.  Then began the rest of the layering.  The vine is Prima as well as the tiny rose.  Everything else is from Recollections.  The lace at the bottom was accented with Liquid Pearls.  A Tim Holtz reinforcer was used at the top with a little twill and a string of pearls.

Next up is a tag I made for a sweet young girl who has faced some challenges in her life.  I used Victorian Velvet ink to distress the tag and to stamp a music sheet on it that you really can't see here.  The flowers and pearl/rhinestone swirl are Prima, the metal sign is Making Memories, the butterfly is from Colorbok, the double pearls are Recollections, lace is from Joann's, and the heart is Jenni Bowlin chipboard painted white and glittered.

I really had a lot of fun making these tags.  Thanks to Gabi and ReNae for your help and inspiration.  If you haven't visited these sweet girls' blogs, please take some time to stop by them.  They are so talented!

I hope your weekend was good.  My parents, son and I went to a holiday festival featuring Eastern European food and crafts.  Delicious!  The dessert table was unbelieveable!  I did pickup a few gifts for Christmas.   Believe it or not, after a cold week and a bit of snow on Wednesday, we are hitting near 70 degrees here today and tomorrow!  Back in the 50s the rest of the week.  Thanks so much for stoppping by.  I appreciate all your sweet comments!  Have a wonderful week!

More Carta Bella

Happy November!  Here in our little SE corner of Pennsylvania, we were blessed to be spared the all out wrath of Hurricane Sandy.  A lot of businesses and schools, although, were closed for two days here, some longer.  In her wake, we were left with crisp, cold autumn air--about 10 degrees colder than normal.  I'm loving the nip in the air!

Today, I have another card using the papers from the Carta Bella line I used in last week's post.  I believe the houndstooth paper is Teresa Collins.  I just layered various papers and stickers onto the houndstooth.  The roses were fussy cut from one of the papers.  A Prima flower and leaves were adhered to the lower left corner.  A Colorbok black pearl accent and Prima stud finished it off.

I spent some time during the storm making a couple of tags which I'll be sharing later.  I hope the week ahead is a good one especially for those who are dealing with the long-term affects of the hurricane.  My thoughts and prayers are with you.