Letters and Lace

Christmas Gifts/Minibook/Gifts in a Jar/Snowflakes

2011-12-20T09:12:00.000-08:00

Somehow, not only for Christmas
But all the long year through,
The joy that you give to others
Is the joy that comes back to you.
And the more you spend in blessing
The poor and lonely and sad,
The more of your heart's possessing
Returns to you Glad...-John Greenleaf Whittier

These are a few more gifts I have been finishing up this week. My girls made the beaded snowflakes using a wire form by "The Beadsmith". It made the project more fun not having to come up with your own form. I would think Michaels or ACMoore would carry these.

The minibook is filled with fun "Friend and Girl" quotes for my friend and neighbor.

These wonderful "Gifts in a Jar" are only 3 of the several I am making. The bowl made up 6 jars of a 9 bean soup recipe. I put all the spices in a small sealed bag and is included in the jar. I put several recipes together with the help of "Taste of Home" Digest. I would include a link but blogger has thrown me into confusion with a new design being put in place (I assume that is what is going on). I'm not sure how to use my blogger anymore. That will have to wait until next year after the holidays.

I'm going to try to link up to the parties that are on my sidebar so check out eveyone's last minute gift giving ideas Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Blog Hop

2011-12-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

The following 3 projects are for the Creative Scrapbook Diva Christmas Bloghop. 12 days filled with projects to help gift giving, cards and decor.

My pillowboxes inspiration came from Michelle's day 6 challenge. She has certainly made for than I have but I am going a bit crazy with all the combinations of paper and embellishments for these little cuties.

I run the box through my bigkick while still flat for the embossing.

Luisa's day 4 challenge is a banner using her cricut her snowflakes and letters.

I used chipboard letters over sheet music flowers I made from my dad's collection.

My last post has a more detailed banner I made last week with an extra layer of lace flowers and each letter has a beaded ribbon. This one is more simple but I think I may tie some small bells or wreaths in between each letter. These banners would be great for spring/Easter as well as Christmas!

The glass glitter edges the ovals and covers the letters and center star.

For Sandy's day 3 of the bloghop, I helped my 4th grader finish the little book. This will be for her classmates to sign for the teacher. We included a very nice Christmas quote inside the front cover.

This will make a great keepsake ornament. Thanks for the idea Sandy!

I have been having fun with my "sparkles" snowflakes (same star and snowflake as the pillowboxes) from Quickutz (used with the bigkick).

This mini book I made quite a long time ago but I planned the ribbon a bit better. If the ribbon is glued between the cover and the inside paper, it can be placed anywhere for tying or hanging. The pearls were added last on this book for hanging in a craft room.

My pillowboxes are linked to This Party

Handmade Gift/Banner & Tea Cup Tues.

2011-12-06T07:36:00.000-08:00

For my banner, I used glass glitter, handmade lace flowers from strips of lace and my fathers vintage sheet music copied onto cardstock.

To see a tutorial on how to make this banner see, Terri at Artful Affirmations. She has the most beautiful homemade ornaments and teacups!! See Terri for Teacup Tuesday links.

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime. ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder

I am also linked to this Tea Time Tues.

Family Quote

2011-11-23T08:01:00.000-08:00

"FAMILY" Collage

"The memories of these fabrics are woven into our hearts."

I finally finished this little collage which holds some wonderful memories!! It holds ribbon, tulle and the flower from my 38yr old flower girl dress that I wore when I was...very little, I can't give a way my age :)

It also has some sprigs of pearls from my wedding hair piece and vintage lace (across the bottom) from hubby's grandmother.

The backing is decorative paper sewn on stiff fabric . I hope the knob it is hanging above doesn't keep you from seeing it well. You can click on it to see it larger. The dresser it adorns is a 1930's which was hubby's grandparents wedding gift.

It took me forever to finish this and make my final decisions...it sat for months at a time but I love the depth it represents.

This project is linked to This Party.

You HAVE to check out Angela's site, http://wwwcreativecreationsbyangela.blogspot.com/

She is so excited to start monthly challenges and she is going to start up a new website store.

She will be selling her hand made JEWELRY, CARDS, and Altered Art ( Picture frames, bedroom letters, decorative art, etc... ) She is hoping to have my site up within the next month or sooner!

Very fun!! She also is giving away goodies to 3 of her followers as a bonus!! Thanks Angela!!

Paper Flowers/Gift Package Ribbon

2011-11-17T09:19:00.000-08:00

Paper Flowers and Ribbon

I am always trying to find gift ideas that are truly functional and helpful in making gift giving fun. Last year I made cloth re-usable bags and tags. This year I love the look of homemade flowers. So I decided to attach them to 3ft of ribbon for wrapping gifts.

Some have a knot from the ribbon for the middle of the flower, others have small faux flowers and brads.

And of course what makes them complete is a charming way to store them..in my recycled jar with my homemade decorated top!

Look at the amazing goodies my friend and Scrapbook Diva, Luisa sent to me.

She is a Close To My Heart consultant and your" go to gal" for these great stamps... ect. I won these awesome goodies through the monster card challenge with her and Creative Scrapbooking Divas. Thank you sooo much Luisa, I have been wanting a wonderful bird stamp and this collection is absolutely beautiful!!

Lastly, Karen Ladd was the winner of my October challenges with the CSDivas. Congrats Karen!

"Change It Up" Paper Challenge

2011-10-20T19:35:00.001-07:00

I can't stop with the lay-outs now that I have started. The second of my two October "Change it up Paper Challenges" is explained in the last post. Please check out the technique by scrolling down to the last post. Here I used the same "watercolor look" technique to create the other half of the winter day full lay-out. This time I used blue snowflakes. The green in the vellum ribbon will make the bit of green in the first page show up better.

I'm so excited to see 10 comments between the two challenges. This should be fun seeing all the results. I'll keep you posted and let you know who wins the prize!!

Check out my challenge posts at Creative Scrapbook Divas to get in on the fun and I would love it if you left me a comment on these posts here as well so I know who is checking out the techniques :)

Creative Scrapbook Diva Challenge/Altering Cardstock

2011-10-16T07:33:00.000-07:00

For the second of my two October "Change it up Paper Challenges", I used stamping and distress inks.

Inspired by a Tim Holtz technique and scrapbook page.

1. For this design, I used the 3 colors on one stamp. Once the stamp is covered with ink, mist the stamp directly with 3-4 sprays of water.

2. Press the stamp directly on paper and lift quickly. Repeat the stamping 2-3 more times spraying the stamp with water again if necessary. Each time you press the stamp the image will be lighter in color, faded.

3. Immediately dry the wet images with a heat tool. This dries the puddles of dye and water creating a watercolor look. I also like the look if the water get blown around a bit in the drying process.

4. Wipe off the stamp with a towel and repeat steps 1-3, several times creating your design over the entire sheet of paper for a background page.

For me, the paper still needed to be muddied up. Additional steps for this lay-out include:

1. Tear strips of dry paper you created above.

2. Using a cloth, lightly rub the same colors of ink over the designs.

3. Use the mister to spray the whole strip, your table will get wet and there may be some dripping of dye.

4. Use the heat tool to set your new watercolor look.

5.Ink the edges of the paper.

-The tag, which will be tucked down under the paper, strip was made with alcohol inks on a ribbed paper I had in my stash of "found" supplies.

-I added metal brads, ect and chains to match the chains on the tires.

This post and the last post are for my October challenges through the Creative Scrapbook Diva website. I am providing a RAK, random act of kindness gift, for the challenges. Link up through the site for either of these challenges you may win the items below.

To stay with the theme of the challenges, I included a way to add dimension to paper with the "paper effects". In the future, I may have challenges with clay and other ways to get texture within lay-outs and projects. One package of clay is translucent as it can be used for photo transfers. And the trim is just for FUN!

Luisa's explosion card challenge with the Creative Scrapbooking Diva's was really fun to do with the kids. But I had to make one too!!!!! See her CSD link for full instructions.

The message inside reads:

When witches go riding and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers,

"tis near Halloween."

The purple ones were my 7 & 9 yr old kids take on the challenge.

Creative Scrapbook Diva Challenge/Altering Cardstock

2011-10-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, I'm so happy that the Creative Scrapbook Divas decided to stay up and running. I truly enjoy checking out everyone's unique creativity and personal blogs for inspiration.

As the October guest for the month, the challenge I chose includes ways to alter cardstock for your projects.

For the first example, I used a Heidi Swapp mask. The masks are flexible and a bit sticky on one side. Using glitter spray or ink, color all around the mask then gently lift the mask. In it's place you will have the white background still showing.

Below is my final project. I chose to blend some inks over the shape vs leaving it white and decorated with rub-ons, 3d flowers ect. Tim Holtz has a great video on other ways to use masks.

Don't forget you can make your own glimmer mist. One way is to use perfect pearls and a bit of water in a mini mister. Tim uses re-inkers to the mix on This Project using this exact mask.

My second example of how to alter cardstock is using metallic cardstock and alcohol inks.

Alcohol inks can be used on a variety of surfaces that pigment and dye inks won't stick to. So it's really fun to experiment on metals, brads, glass, plastics, glossy paper and transparencies.

Below I took black metallic glittered cardstock and used cranberry alcohol ink to change the color for this pillowbox.

This tag background is glossy (shiny) paper altered with the alcohol inks, blending tool and Adirondack alochol blending solution.

This is the same technique used on a transparency. The layer is pulled to the side. See the full project Here.

For the challenge, choose a way to completely change the look of your cardstock, glossy cardstock or transparency for any project or scrapbook page. If using glossy paper or transparency is new to you, now is a great time to dive in!! Have fun and I can't wait to see the projects you come up with.

There will be a RAK at the end of October after a drawing of all the participants.

Click on the Blinkie to to go the Scrapbook Divas and link your project with Mr. Linky!!!! Hey, I made a rhyme!!

3D Challenge, Homemade Faux Clay Seals

2011-09-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

3D Challenge

There is a challenge this month over at CreativeScrapbookDivas to share your favorite 3D project for a holiday. Michelle's challenge was so cute with all her little pillowboxes that I had to give it a try. This is one of mine with my homemade faux clay seal and the word "friendship".

This gift is linked to:

I have 4 of these little rose clay seals and this pillow box together for sale on My Etsy

I used my bigkick to emboss the box then scored the lines. ONLY glue the bottom flap then the top flap down. This leaves room inside for folding the sides and filling with candy, buttons, ribbons or any gift.

Michelle's blog has several links to help with templates, SVG files for your electronic diecut machines, twine ect. Check her out! I don't use the SVG file, I printed a template and handcut.

Now for my favorite 3D Holiday projects to share for the challenge:

These are made with mini paper mache boxes. They are filled with microbeads to make them shakers, wrapped in paper and layered with torn pieces of old cards. I wrapped them in trim from old doilies and added an eyelet screw to hang a treasure. The final touch is my wonderful Aleene's glitter snow. They adorn my winter berry wreath.

I covered this tiny box with an old book page then music paper. The angel is hanging from a loop which is screwed into the bottom. I get my old vintage buttons from a great lady at the local flea market. She has hundreds of fun old buttons. This extra gift is hanging on a Christmas gift bag with a matching tag.

Refinishing An Old Hard Suitcase/Homemade Glimmer Mist

2011-08-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

The inside of this poor old suitcase really needed to be pulled out. So what's left isn't pretty!

With a few staples and hot glue..and my mom's extra hands, we lined this hard suitcase good as new starting with some white padding then the blue fabric.

I took a spool of white ribbon and altered the color with my own version of glimmer mist which is just Perfect Pearls, blue patina, and water in a mini spray bottle. I use a bowl so the ribbon can soak in the mixture and I waste less. By adding a drop of alcohol ink in the color stream, it made the color even more blue but I chose to go with just the blue patina.

This old hard suitcase was one of many treasures from hubby's grandparents old farmhouse.

Creative Scrapbook Diva, Pammie Kay has a challenge this week on "HOME". Check out her great page and inspiration for your own ideas for creating or journaling about your Home.

This little picture is nestled in fiber and yellow homemade paper. I also sewed on mulberry paper trim and ribbon. Within the paper is mini yellow feathers peaking out from the edges. I backed the card with an old postcard and tulle then tied ribbon around the loop for hanging.

Memory Bottle

2011-07-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

This is one of my summer projects. The other is helping my 7 and 9yr old girls finish their minibook of their new baby cousin...who is 2 yrs old now.

I found this beautiful bottle at a church yard sale. I transformed it into a memory bottle for my lovely Nana Isabelle Mae. The handmade charm was given to her more than 55yrs ago.

Parties I linked this project to:

http://niftythriftythings.blogspot.com/

http://www.scrappy-gifts.com/

Check out the sparkles in this new Creative Scrapbooking Diva's blinkie. They have a new site within blogger now with so many ideas, challenges and tutorials. They are alot of fun to hang out with!! It's been a while for me but I hope to start playing again very soon.

http://creativescrapbookingdivas.blogspot.com/

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2011-05-19T15:31:00.000-07:00

Will it ever stop raining here in Maine??? My May flowers need sunshine :)

Big sister is trying to make little sister smile for the camera. She is crying because she is...WET.

This page was created by using a template for slicing then folding the design. Underneath the folds there is a different paper showing through. I used the template during a scrapbook store class.

Lace Flowers/BlogHop

2011-05-07T16:00:00.001-07:00

It's time to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day this Saturday May 7th with our fabulous:

Divas Mansion Tour Blog HOP!!!

There are so many ways to make homemade flowers, I'm going a little crazy. I have quite a collection just waiting for the right lay-out.

The 3 pinwheel flowers are made from pink lace then centered with layered punched out flowers and a brad. The large flower is a 12inch piece of lace that I dyed with perfect pearls before making the flower. Check out http://what-a-beautiful-mess.blogspot.com/ for great flower making tutorials!!

We Have a Story To Tell

These are the first two pages to our family album going back to 2003. (Separate from the kids albums).

This is my niece, Stephanie.

About Me

One of the challenges last week was to create a page about myself. Hmmm! Not the kids?? So I took a lay-out about my first weekend away to a scrap and turned it into a page that I otherwise would not have taken the time to do. I also used my "life mission statement" I created a couple years ago. I hadn't done anything special with this statement until this challenge came up (it's in the envelope). The lay-out also includes my favorite quote from John Eldredge and a verse from a song about friends.

Thanks for the inspiration Creative Scrapbook Diva's!

2011-03-24T12:44:00.000-07:00

Postcard Friendship Friday

Time to check out all the beautiful vintage postcards and travel back in time. Today I am sharing a postcard I framed. It's from the same time frame as most of the others I have which is early 1900's. Most are 1908-1916. I found them in my husband's grandparent's very old farmhouse in a box ready to be thrown out!!

This is one of the delicate vintage lace doilies from my husband's grandparents house.

Below are this week's flea market finds.

This is a jar filled with small buckles. These will be great for scrapbooking or artcards.

This key is quite a treasure. It is the "Key of Heaven".

It quotes:

"What does it Profit a Man to Gain the Whole World If He Lose His Own Soul"

Here are some great buttons. I will probably use them for centers of my homemade clay seals.

This is the back of the key. Such beautiful detail. "Saint Christopher, Be My Guide"

Here are more of my Vintage postcard projects if you are looking for ways to display your cherished treasures!

My last post has a link to the Creative Scrapbook Diva's Bloghop. It was pretty successful for me. It helped me finish 4 pages. Here is one of them. This challenge was using a sketch of a lay-out to help with the placement of pictures, journaling and embellishments.

Envelope Embellishment for Scrappin' or Giftgiving

2011-03-11T07:00:00.000-08:00

Here is to Scrapbook Diva's One Year Anniversary!!

Handmade Envelope Embellishment

I have made several different styles of envelopes in the past but this time I wanted to make one a bit more expandable. It pulls open just enough to see inside and fit more pictures or memorabilia.

The ribbon is attached to the back.

I had fun embellishing with my stash of real buttons and lace..love the look. The measurements are 7.5x4.5 and are perfect for those extra 4x6 pictures I always like to include on my scrapbook pages but need to save some space on the page.

Please see my envelopes under "labels" on my sidebar for other ideas. I'm going to stick to this design for a while so stay tuned!

Check out this Etsy Treasury of Snowflakes created by Stephanie. I was honored to be a part of this charming winter treasury!!

Blogger Awards

2011-03-09T18:33:00.000-08:00

I just received two awards from my friend at Ann's Scraps of Time. The Stylish Blogger Award is for getting to know blogger friends a bit more. So I will share 8 things about myself and pass this wonderful award on to 8 more friends!

Please visit these artist's blogs and maybe even their Etsy's!

Sara Snug as a Bug

Sheila A Path to Spirit

Tammy Paper Pastimes

Martha Martha's Favorites

Jen Jen Lowe Designs

Sharon Pretty Paper Things

Yoli Welcome to My Happy Place

Tammy So Happy Scrappin

8 things you don't know about me:

1) Last year my baby started kindergarten and I became one of the school activity coordinators. I do alot of volunteering!

2)I haven't worked for more than 5yrs but I am considering starting up part-time. I am an exercise specialist and worked with physical therapists for several years.

3)You probably have noticed from the last 2 posts, one of my girls is type 1 diabetic, she is 9yrs old. The last two posts included crafts for a Diabetes Crop and children's projects.

4)My husband and I rode Harleys for 7 years. I rode my own Sportster for 2yrs.

5)My husband of almost 17yrs was my one and only blind date but many many years before we got together....long story!

6)I have been organizing my many pictures from my childhood, hubby's childhood, our siblings kids and pics we had in those horrible magnetic albums from our first 10yrs together.

7)I miss my chocolate lab

8)I need new living room furniture!

I have a second award that I am so happy to receive and certainly very happy to give out.

The rules for this award states that it is given to bring light to new blogs and it's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be seen or ones you want to share with others.

As a recipient you must share the love and pay it forward by:

1-Creating a post where you blog about the Liebster award and reveal your 3-5 blog picks
2-Let them know you chose them by leaving a comment on their blog
3-Copy and paste the blog award on your blog
4-Have faith that your followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those you awarded
5-Have fun

So I am giving The Liebster Award to: Please visit them and their Etsy's as well!

Scott Meat on the Mirror

Angela Tealfully Cuttin' Up "Life is Beautiful"

Nikki Scrappin' Girl

Crop Out Diabetes Results

2011-02-25T07:26:00.000-08:00

I hope to get some crafting or scrappin' done soon, but until then, I left you with some links. Happy Bloggin'!

Look what Luisa with the Creative Scrapbook Divas sent me. I can't wait to use the chipboard book!! This was from an after Christmas contest with the Diva's!!

Whiff of Joy sent this Aladin stamp collection for participating in the Crop Out Diabetes bloghop. Thank you Whiff of Joy and Sara!

Bloggers raised $175 and the live crop raised $2,525. That is amazing to me!

For a really cool diabetic necklace check out Nick Jonas' site. The necklace has "Diabetic" on the back.

Nick's Dogtags, Change for the Children foundation wings logo and the title words to his song "A Little Bit Longer" are on the front of the dogtag necklace.

A Little Bit Longer"
Words and music by Nick Jonas
Got the news today
Doctor said I had to stay...
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
When I thought it'd all been done
When I thought it'd all been said
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
But you don't know what you got till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like to feel so low
And everytime you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know (no, no)
You don't even know
All this time goes by
Still no reason why
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
Waiting on a cure
But none of them are sure
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
But you don't know what you got till it's gone
And you don't know what it's like to feel so low
And everytime you smile or laugh you glow
You don't even know (no,no)
You don't even know (no, no)
You don't even know (no, no)
(2,3,4!) Yeah!
And you don't know what you got till it's gone,
And you don't know what it's like to feel so low
And everytime you smile you laugh you glow
You don't even know! No!
So I'll wait till kingdom come
All the highs and lows are gone
A little bit longer and I'll be fine
I'll be... fine

Crop Out Diabetes Challenges

2011-02-03T08:39:00.000-08:00

I'm adding some finished projects for this week's Crop Out Diabetes.

PaperPretties challenge was to create a card for a child. Since Isabella's birthday is Sat. her little sister and I made this for her. She loves horses and her favorite movie is "Spirit". This UTEE'd stencil is running as though he is as free as Spirit is. She will love this card! SweetandSassy has a challenge for a movie theme. I think this may meet the needs of that challenge too!!

This was a great challenge with Mommyfink as we were to make something for Valentine's day that did not include candy. Yay Mommyfink!! This includes glowsticks, skateboard eraser,fuzzy pencil grip, bubbles, "mermaid" bracelet(it's filled with moving glitter) stickers and a tatoo. A couple of these items came from our 3rd grade store. The $ goes to their field trip fund.

This wonderful challenge was with Alecia. We were to alter something which symbolizes the life altering challenges living with Diabetes. Isabellas has been collecting these little vials that her test strips come in. So yesterday, our snowday, we finally used 4 of them to create dollhouse furniture. This first one matches the wallpaper in the bedroom.

We added stuffing under the material on the top for a seat, soo cute.

And my 7yr old wanted to have one for her "squinky". We layered green paper which was cut to look like layers of grass. She then added colored glitter glue to the inside so her squinky would have a soft carpet :)
Great imaginations!!

This is for the spring challenge with Martha .I made this just a couple weeks ago so it is also included in my snowflake post below. It's my favorite spring item right now. This is to be used instead of a card as it is sweet when it embellishes a gift.

Type 1 Diabetes Inspired Art/Crafts

2011-02-01T17:42:00.000-08:00

As I was doing the Creative Scrapbooking Diva Bloghop, I found Clare who is involved with a crop for Diabetes hop.

See the "Crop for Diabetes" on the right. This crop ends Feb 5, 2011.

The below scrapbook page wasn't one I would have normally shared but it is definately for a good cause. This was three yrs ago when Isabella recieved this wonderful new friend from a children's state program. There is a CD player and speaker inside. Spinoza came with his own inspirational, peaceful CD. This was a wonderful suprise that came just 2 months after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 5yrs old.

I put this page together this past November using her school desk nametag. She was diagnosed just 2 wks before kindergarten. The "Hug" tab opens to see her drawings and stories she did throughout her first year.

Then the last page is her version of Spinoza. I love to add the kid's art to their pages whenever possible. Thanks for the opportunity to spotlight this disease and pull together. I really hope to meet some other moms dealing with the same challenges.

This is for Jessika's challenge which is to alter something. This is to symbolize how type 1 diabetes alters our lives. Below is an insulin bottle used to draw the insulin out with a needle. We have since started using the pump but we still use the pen needles when needed. I covered the bottle with clay that I stamped, colored with perfect pearls and baked. It actually won first prize for the Staedlers Bottles of Hope challenge for the Craft and Hobby Association. The bottles of hope are all donated to patients, mostly cancer patients.

"He shall set the captives free" and the other side says "He will rise with healing in his wings"

Whimsical Re-Usable Tags with Yds of Lace/Scrapbook Pages

2011-01-29T05:40:00.000-08:00

Here are more of my re-usable tags. Before wrapping in yds of lace the tags were sprayed with Glimmer mist "coffee shop" and blue denim ink for color and shimmer.
For Sale on Etsy

This little bird is covered with German Glitter Glass. See this site for great ideas, Free Glitter Give-aways and Tutorials. I dyed the lace on this tag for an old vintage blue. I picture these adorning gift packages for winter holidays and birthdays!

This snowflake is a pin.

I guess I really love snowflakes. Below my girls are decorating the tree with our glittery white flakes. The snowflakes decorate our house all winter. A metal snowflake adorns the journaling. I used lace and small blue ribbons within the lay-out to match the trimmings on the dresses. This is Ann's Challenge Diva's BlogHop. See my last post for the details.

Christmas Morning is Cheryl's challenge

The paper frame above was painted to match their glittery pjs.

This next challenge is with Lori. I went to a different scrapbook of mine to work on the Fall season for the next great challenge.

The 5x7 picture is in an 8 1/2x11 page protector so it could be tucked under the initial cardstock as a flap. This shows it open for the opposite side.

Then the right side is also a flap, a Creative Memories page that has been cut down. Below shows how it opens to the left to reveal the opposite side pictures and journaling. The size of the flaps depended on the space needed for the pictures and still show the bottom pumpkin border.

The pumpkin is 3 small ovals layered together. See Lori for another example of how to use page protectors as flaps.

Creative Scrapbooking Divas BlogHop

2011-01-11T10:07:00.001-08:00

Join us January 16th and 17th at our Creative Scrapbook Diva's Bloghop. There will be 7-8 challenges for us to create and play, created specially by the fabulous and creative Design Team members. And with challenges comes prizes!! And the sense of getting some memories preserved. See the link for a full description.

Vintage January Postcards

2011-01-07T07:14:00.001-08:00

Postcard Friendship Friday

has a wonderful collection of vintage postcards. She has collected vintage cards, fairytale books, postcards, old photos and art pieces for a very long time. Visit her for the history of the celebration of the new year which is the oldest of all holidays.

This is my favorite Jan. postcard. It's postmarked Dec 30th 1912. The embossing makes it very unique.

I am unable to read the year on this card but it is within a year or two othe the other, 1910-1913. Below shows the backside to get a glimse of the special designs in the left upper corners. The Jan 1 card has the flower design and reads "The Pink of Perfection The Fairman Co. Cinti & NY Series No, 1314. This is the first one in my collection where I noticed a series number but I still have several that I haven't looked at carefully yet.

Homemade Coasters

These are 4x4 smooth tiles, metallic gold paper and found vintage pictures. I tore and inked the edges and attached each layer with ModPodge. While it was still wet, I sprinkled fine glitter. I have been experiencing with the layers of protection. Several layers of the ModPodge will protect but I don't like the visual lines that are left when dried.

So I started finishing the layers with "Triple Thick" or FolkArt Thick glaze" by Plaid, several layers. For perfection and the best protection, I would use good ol' Epoxy, I use EnviroTex Pour On for all my Epoxy projects. Don't forget to add bubble or felt dots to the backside!

Teacup Tuesday

2010-12-20T18:30:00.000-08:00

Lenox Teacup

I finally attempted this pretty little project inspired by Lauries Charming Designs. I have been watching her make her lovely pincushions on teacups and spoons. She makes her own birds from wool. I'm going to have to purchase some of those.

So I used my Lenox tea set, my little cardinal winter bird and added some vintage buttons to the pincushion I found at my flea market. I thought it was a nice spot to also display my white buttons cluster I made a while ago.

Behind the teaset sits a vintage, silver mini dustpan and brush set. It's so old and worn but the details are beautiful.

Please visit these wonderful ladies at Martha's Favorites and Artful Affirmations for more teaparty fun, beautiful treasures and a special giveaway!! The french vintage postcard came from Artful Affirmations. Thank you Terri!!

Journals

Here is a peak of last minute Christmas gifts going out to our wonderful teachers. My girls (almost 9&7yrs old) made homemade book covers for these journals. They colored brown paper bags with oil pastels. We crinkled them into a ball, wet them, sprayed the wet paper with walnut ink and glitter mist. When they dried, I ironed them but they stayed pretty wrinkled. It made it a little tricky when adhering to the book covers but once attached I sprayed them with Triple Thick finish before they decorated the tops. The spray is really strong, I did it in the basement with a window open.
They did a great job with creating the look they wanted for each teacher.

Postcard Friendship Friday/Vintage Christmas Postcards

2010-12-15T11:40:00.001-08:00

These embossed Maine postcards are dated 1911. They are part of a collection I rescued from my husband's grandparents farmhouse. I really enjoy their wonderful color and texture.

Please vistit Postcard Friendship Friday for many vintage postcards and charming Christmas stories which started many of our traditions.

The postcard in my banner is from 1912 and is made of a very thick non-pliable material. See my Postcard Projects for ways to display vintage postcards in your home.

My new friend Judy at Cranberry Morning has a fun blog with handcrafted soaps and great links. I wanted to share with you this acrostic that came to her one evening as she pondered Christmas and the love of God.

Christ left the glories of Heaven to take on
Human form, to die, to
Rescue us from sin and death. He is not an
Infant any longer. He will be either your
Savior or your Judge.
Turn to Him and find
Mercy. He
Always welcomes the penitent and gives
Salvation and life abundant to those who trust in Him.

She also included this verse as one of the verses that shows how quickly and lovingly He forgives us as He cherishes relationship with each of us.

'Therefore, there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.' - Romans 8:1-2

Christmas Blessings to you and your families and my you find true JOY through all life's trials!

Teacup Tuesday

2010-12-13T18:05:00.000-08:00

Queen Anne Bone China #5

Displaying an Ireland Scarf Buckle and a vintage pincushion.

I like how the thistle leaves look like holly leaves! This piece doesn't seem to have

a name like my last teacup post, Autumn Rose.

I want to share with you Martha's Favorites and Terri at Artful Afirmations
as they are the hostesses of this fun Teaparty.

These images are from loose pages of an 1844 Collier's Cyclopedia. I purchased this tin
the 3 magnets, the bottle and the tags from our Library's fundraiser.

The tags are made from old library information cards. So clever! All the papercrafts made from old discarded books were amazing.

You may also enjoy my 1912 postcard in my November post below! It was almost a lost treasure but I am enjoying all my vintage postcards and teacups from Gram and Gramps old farmhouse.

Re-Usable Tags/Cloth Bags & Altered Scrapbook Cover

2010-11-30T11:54:00.001-08:00

I'm so excited to share that I am Diva of The Month for the Creative Scrapbooking Divas!!!
This means I provide The Challenge for December. There are many challenges going on throughout the site and wonderful ideas for inspiration so it is helps motivate me to get more pages done.

There will be a random winner at the end of the challenge that will be provided with a RAK (random act of kindness)...a special suprise in the mail within the week of picking a winner. Here is a hint...it will include handmade embellishments. You all seem to enjoy the glass-like tags!!

For Sale On Etsy

I am sharing my pictures of my re-usable tags and cloth giftbags. The tags have several yards of fiber and/or lace for the reciever to use in their crafts or gift boxes.
Wouldn't they look lovely adorning a gift bag or package. Stay tuned, I have others with sparkly snowflakes and one with a pink glass glitter bird. The idea of having ribbon and trim wrapped around tags for gifts were inspired by one of my favorite bloggers, Kids Napping? I'm Scrapping!'

Below are my re-usable cloth gift bags. I altered my paper design which is used for adding extra pictures to scrapbook pages, to a cloth design. I had fun adding trim and a big flower.

For Sale On Etsy

This is the cover of 10x10 I altered for our Family Traditions to include all the holidays of the year. There are 5 layers of paper, the word "family" was raised already so I inked it as well as the strip of words at the bottom. There are 2 strips of lace. The heart is two layers of clay which are stamped with words, inked, then I pulled wire through the holes (made before baking). The star and wings are also clay. The wings are colored with perfect pearls. I made the bottlecap by placing a picture on top and heat embossing with UTEE. My favorite element is the cabinet pull that came out of my mom's old kitchen. I wish I had kept the whole bag she had!

Inside Cover, Santa needs to protect the first page from the hardware. He is covering a piece of foam covering the hardware.

My favorite tradition is making peanut butter balls. I have been doing it for years with my mom and cousin for Christmas. Now my girls help and we are hoping to include our friends this year. This book is to hold all the year's family traditions but these pictures show the front of the book and the inside cover along with the p.b.ball recipe handwritten by my mom. It's really old. She thought it was funny when I told her I wanted the original recipe and she had to re-write it for herself. I finally took it out of the bag and made the first page of this book.

It will also hold pockets throughout the book for our Christmas Advent devotions, Bible readings, the Epiphany, holiday journaling, favorite holiday crafts (pictures of all those graham cracker gingerbread houses) gift making ideas, Holy week activities for Easter and one special picture each Christmas.

I had to show you pictures of our peanut butter balls in the making. This will be the next lay-out in the book as it's the first year we had both girls helping Nana.

Christmas Jars

2010-11-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

This 1912 postcard has a 1 cent stamp and is made with a very thick board. It is one of several I collected from the same farmhouse as my teacups and depression glass. These were all used by my husband's family in Maine. I am so glad I found these, they were in the pile to go to the dump!!

As I was creating this first jar with my dad's old sheet music, rusted snowflake, cardinal and the music note, the more it reminded me of my dad. So this now it adorns my craft room shelf. Instead of craft supplies, I may fill it with his old stamps that never made it into an organized stamp collector book.

For two of the jars, I cut out the word "Joy" from an old board book. I painted it then after spreading a bit of Ranger Glossy Accents just to the top of the word, I dipped it into clear twinklets for the droplets of ice effect.

I will have a few different styles on my Etsy (see my sidebar) by the end of the day.

Enjoy your shopping for the crafters in your life!!

TeaCup Tuesday/Autumn Rose

2010-11-22T10:36:00.000-08:00

Wedding Anniversary

is written along the inside of this

"Autumn Rose" Queen Anne Bone China England teacup.

This is one of many beautiful teacups within the family. This isn't one from my personal collection but one day it may be. As all my teacups shown so far, this one is also from the West farmhouse, the house that raised 5 generations, many collectables and antiques, but now rests at my mother-in-laws.

J & G Meakin

Hanley England
Iron Stone China

This creamy white pitcher has a story and from what I understand it was held by one of my husband's relatives, possibly great,great grandmother, protectively wrapped as she sailed to the free world. I love to believe this is true... it is in beautiful condition as it sits up high to adorn my mother-in-laws cabinets. She has many of the collectables from the farm as no one dwells in the old lonely farmhouse at this time.

J. & G. Meakin was an English pottery manufacturing company founded in 1851 and based in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. There are no signs of this being made in the 19th century such as "permanant colors or dishwasher proof" :)

Fall Whimsical Jars

I have really enjoyed making some of these jar toppers. I have a collection of 20 now. Most of them are decorated with winter or Christmas scenes. Stay tuned for those pictures soon to come. If anyone is interested in getting a sneak peak before they hit my Etsy, let me know. They are great for filling with homemade fudge, candy, or filling with crafts as a gift.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Give us this day our daily bread, O Father in heaven, and grant that we who are filled with good things from Your open hand, may never close our hearts to the hungry, the homeless, and the poor; in the name of the Father, and of the Sone, and of the Holy Spirit.
- from the abbey of New Clairvaux, Viña, California

Please visit Martha's Favorites for the last November Teacup Tuesday. Such beautiful rich fall colors!

TeaCup Tuesday/Tags/Leaves

2010-11-08T12:31:00.000-08:00

I am really lovin' the display factor with Teacup Tuesday. Going through my big steamer trunk is so fun as I am finding some great treasures to display my homemade goodies with. This Crownford "fine bone china" was made in England and was displayed in my Gram-in-law's :) old farmhouse for a very long time. I am unsure of it's year but this yellow tinted glass plate and sugar bowl (below) came from her home as well. I am assuming from the 1920's to the 1950's time-frame just as the blue sugar and creamer from my last post.

Displayed here are some beautiful leaves my girls and collected in our Maine yard last month. A great way to preserve them is to soak them in 1part glycerin and 2parts water. They can be layered but covered completely by the mixture. I covered them with heavy bowls for 2 days. Then just pat dry and lay out to completely dry. They are now flexible and the colors are beautiful.

Also in perfect condition is my yellow tinted glass sugarbowl without a partner.

Excitingly, CatLady Kate's left me a comment letting me know that my blue tinted creamer and sugar bowl from my last post are the Fairfax pattern by Fostoria Glass. This is so cool to know!! Check out this very fun web-site with so many pieces and a guide to many types of glass.
Also visit Martha's Favorites and Terri to see the best teacup collections as these two ladies host TeaCup Tuesday.

I haven't made these layered tags for a long time. I went a little crazy with the details this time. They swing open to allow for a written personal message.
Below I had to show the details of each one and the secret little suprise that slides out of the bottom. These were very fun to make. I may put them for sale on my Etsy...if I can part with them!!

Featuring "Need to Own" Books

2010-11-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

I would love to share my friend, Autumn's "15 Minute Scrapbooker" blog with you. She has over a dozen years of scrapbooking experience and is so motivated to be a innovative informational source.

"Autumn Ayla Craig is the author of "Entitled Scrapbooking", a Resource for Page Title Ideas and creator and lead designer for the Scrapbooking ideas website Love-My-Scrapbooking-Ideas.com. As a busy working mom who is caught up in her scrapbooking, she wanted to share the secrets of her success with all scrapbookers. This powerful book was created just for you".

"Scrap in a Snap"

Check out the full description of Autumn's e-book, Scrap in a Snap : "Proven 15 Minute Solutions for the Busy Scrapbooker is an essential tool for all scrapbookers. You’ll discover the ‘Insider Secrets’ to being able to create more layouts in less time and finally get caught up".

"Digital Expressions"

I also want to share this project guide Digital Expressions created by my friend and neighbor Susan. "Susan Tuttle guides the mixed-media artist through 25 stepped-out digital projects created with Adobe Photoshop Elements". This also includes a CD with more than 20 digital design elements for you to use in your own projects!

This is her second published book. She puts her heart and soul into everything she does and the end result is always fabulous. She has been in numerous magazines, I need to own them all!!

"A Taste of Heaven"

MOPS Mother's of Pre-Schoolers "is a place to find friendship, community, resources and support for you as a woman and mother so you're not alone. Moms have found community through MOPS for almost 40 years - we're your mothering authority. MOPS holds and shares the collected wisdom of mothers and experts (usually one and the same!)"
Find your local MOPS group and/or become a MOPS member and check out their events and forums on the above web-site.

"A Taste of Heaven" is cookbook put together by my local group. It's not only full of favorite recipes including vegetarian but also inspiring poems, quotes and heartfelt thoughts about the joys and struggles of raising children.

This is now for sale on my Etsy but the money goes directly to MOPS. A great Christmas gift or anytime!

A quote from the cookbook:

Hearts Entrusted

These tiny hearts to me entrusted,

Soft and tender,

Pockets of soil moist with innocence,

Laden with surprises,

Giggles,

Questions,

Love.

With one blast of anger,

One word unkindly spoken,

One glare of intolerance,

I can cause these tiny hearts to

Fear,

Cower,

Or-God forbid-

Hate.

Julie Ann Barnhill "She's Gonna BLOW!"

Teacup Tues #3

2010-10-18T10:18:00.000-07:00

This Teacup Tuesday I have displayed a very elegant gold and white Queen Anne pattern 366.
The blue inside the cup is so pretty with the trim of gold around the edge.

I also displayed a portion of my antique cloths and doilies with their unique designs.

But the most fun was looking up vintage and depression glass. Depression glass seems to be worth more. I'm not sure which type of glass this sugar/creamer set is. It too is a very pretty blue tint possibly from the 30's or 40's. But the blue isn't very vibrant so I'm guessing it's depression glass.
"When new, Elegant Glass cost more than its often-confused counterpart, depression glass, because it was at least partially handmade, had a cleaner finish, and more vibrant colors. From the 1920s through the 1950s, Elegant Glass was an alternative to fine china. Most of the Elegant Glassware manufacturers closed by the end of the 1950s, and cheap glassware and imported china took its place".

I"m so excited Creative Home Arts made me an "honorable mention" to their Holiday Decor Contest. There are 2 of my Christmas/Winter whimsical jars in the magazine and one of my spring jars within the "web extras" on the site. These contests earn $750 for 1st prize. Maybe one day one of my projects will be one of the 3 top winners. Until then, I'm very happy with earning $25 as an honorable mention!!

These are the collages I sent to them.

Whimsical Jars

If you would like to see them closer just click to see the details. I used pieces of cedar, small pinecones and broken pieces of pine cones for stepping stones.

This is a new jar for the harvest season. It has daffodil bulbs ready to go in the ground. The jar can then store ribbons, buttons or other treasures.

TeaCup Tues

2010-10-05T03:17:00.000-07:00

The hydrangea are hanging heavy on their limbs. Time to bring some in to dry and keep some color in the room for the winter. I thought I would show a few of my pitchers this week along with my featured teacup. You can see I also have quite a collection of very old doilies. The doilies and pitchers, other than the large one holding the hydrangea, are from hubby's grandmother's house. 5 generations of the West's were born and lived their whole lives there. So many treasures. I wish they each would tell their story.

Here shows a portion of the old silver. This napkin ring has an elegant W for the West name. These collections sit upon a 1930's bureau. My hubby's grandparents wedding gift to each other.

This is my second teacup Tues. I have Martha to thank for inspiring me to go through the collections I have put away for safe keeping.

I have displayed this pretty teacup from Japan in my living room with the hydrangeas and my father's pocketwatch. I found the watch yesterday...I will treasure it always.

Sharing another Golden Rule I'm trying to instill on my children:

"Eat what has been given to you because you are truly blessed."

Halloween Matchbook Minibook/& other Diva's Challenges

2010-09-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

Here is my version of the Halloween matchbook mini-book. This was really fun to make. Lori has the complete directions to making as she is having this as one of the challenges at Creative Scrapbook Divas BlogHop. The hinges, key and inside label are Tim Holtz grunge board painted black then wiped with a little copper.

This shows the opposite side, there will be enough squares for 12 pictures or journaling if you use both sides of the strip.

I also painted these chipboard letters but they are too big for the book. They will have to go on the page within the scrapbook. Right next to my little one standing next to a plastic ghost as big as she is!!

Tag Mini-book

This lay-out ended up a bit on the busy side but I'm posting it to show how the tag folds out for extra pictures.
I utilized my stickers but used my metal leaves, in the square, to satisfy my need for texture and dimension. This is an accordian paper tag held together with a decorative paperclip.

This is my second challenge with the Divas this weekend. This is with Ann. She has done a full lay-out using "recipe cards" bundled together for extra pictures on her lay-out. Very clever and has alot of character. This is my version of getting some extra pics on a lay-out. I also have used matchbox minibooks and my Handmade Envelopes. Can't wait to see everyone else's versions of these challenges. One more challenge to go for me.

Back-To-School Lay-Out Challenge

This page was inspired by Creative Memories and by Sandy's Challenge she is running for the "Diva's". I love the handprints and the wooden bus! I made sure to include an oval journal block. The opposite site will include her colorful nametag that was on her kindergarten desk all year and some of her stories she did in writing later in the year.
Check out Sandy's site, she has great tutorials on how to make gift bags. I'm going back to make one. See my last post for the other 2 challenges I took up and the link to the Scrapbooking Diva's.

Teacup Tues

2010-09-21T07:22:00.000-07:00

I would like to share with you some beautiful teacups at Martha's Teacup Tuesday. Her last few week's posts have had beautiful teacups. I am hoping to learn more about the collection I am so blessed to have passed down to me. She has several other links attached to her posts as well. These ladies really know their teacups!!!

I chose this as my first cup to post because messsages on cups are Martha's theme today, Sept 28th.(It is keeping my draft date and can't change it). This one says "Love the Giver".

This lovely treasure was made in England. It is an English Castle. If anyone knows more about these cups than I do, I would love to hear from you. I found so many wonderful suprises when I opened my old steamer trunk, which is where I chose to take these pictures today.

Faux Clay Seal Embellishments

2010-09-20T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is a close-up of 3 out of the 5 in the next picture.
Plus I love how it coordinates with vintage style paper.

I put more rose clay seals on My Etsy after being so excited that I sold my last batch.
These 5 homemade faux clay seals are a wonderful embellishment for scrapbook pages, minibooks or collage art, and envelopes. The underside is flat. Two of the roses have white perfect pearls powder baked in, two have gold and the leaves have green perfect pearls. After cured they were edged it with pink and sealed with Ranger Glossy Accents. The "white roses" are also edged with walnut ink over the pink for an aged look.

Check this post showing my envelopes for examples of how

to use these seals.

Here is my thought for the week: When we are thankful, we are happy. It's hard to be thankful and angry at the same time. Find something within the chaos to be thankful for. Thank your child for something before correcting whatever it is in need of correcting.

The Golden Rule of Feeding your Family: We eat what is served and we appreciate what we get."

I'm still trying to instill this thankfulness into my kids hearts!

Scrapbook Diva Blog Hop

2010-09-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Join the Creative Scrapbooking Divas Pre-Fall Blog-Hop and tell them Lisa at Letters and Lace sent you!!

There will be tutorials and great ideas to inspire you and the chance to win prizes!!!

You will have until Tuesday 9/23 to submit your entries to be elligible to win...

It's Soccor Season!!

My little darling!!!

Scrapbook Pages/BlogCandy Gifts

2010-09-02T11:20:00.000-07:00

Alecia from Creative Scrapbooking Diva's sent me a package of goodies for winning her challenge on the Diva web-site. Check out her home page as she has great scrapbook pictures to inspire you plus some super dicussions and tutorials.
Once you get started on the site, it's hard to stop surfing if you love to scrapbook. They have 150 members so the creativity goes an as well as the monthly challenges.

Have you ever made those little clothespin cuties? (http://www.klutz.com/ and click Chicken Socks) I have been making them with my 6yr old. They are so cute I had to make a little shadowbox for the completes ones and hang it on her wall. I used an unfinished bottom of a box, layered the inside and sides with pink PaperPerfect. It's like spreadable paper in a jar. We used a litte paint and glitter as per 6yr old.
Then I added the paper doily to the back and flowers to each corner. Cute!!! We have room to add 2 more.

These are pages I did months ago and just getting around to sharing them. This is a pretty simple lay-out but I wanted to extend to the outer portion of the pictures the characteristics of the bike. The whispies on the handlebars :) and the strings of pearls holding dangly gems around her seat.

This page includes one of my favorite quotes. I have made a mini-book with 17 quotes and 4 web-sites which is for sale on MY Etsy

Tomato-Basil Simmer Sauce

2010-08-23T12:36:00.000-07:00

I tried my first batch of canning!! So I had to share this delicious recipe. I had to research some directions and terms as in non-reactive pot. These are nonmetallic pots used for high acid foods so the natural substances in the foods don't react with the metal. This can contribute to to food becoming black, brown, gray in the jar or giving the sauce a different taste.
The above links will give you the recipe and some great facts. My motivation was when I found an article in the July Better Homes and Gardens along with a few other recipes.

I also wanted to share my excitment in winning the "no pattern paper" contest in my last post. I thought it was a challenge but was happy to hear it was a contest...yay!!

Scrabbook Divas Challenge

2010-07-20T03:51:00.000-07:00

I just joined Creative Scrapbooking Divas challenge for July. It's creating a 12x12 lay-out without any pattern paper. This page has ink and UTEE around the edges of the pictures as well as the page. I just joined the fun at this web-site and still getting to know everyone. Check it out for several challenges each month, galleries, ideas and other blogger friends.

This is my other babe. I just love little fingers and toes!

My First Canvas Paintings

2010-07-05T11:14:00.000-07:00

I had these wonderful stone leaves that were meant for incense burning but wanted to do something clever with them for my bathroom which is decorated in leaves, stone-like pictures and a hint of dragonflies.
My Brother,Scott has a great technique for getting this tree-like texture on canvas. Check out his blog for his fun designs on a much bigger scale. So I had to try it. I kept layering colors and exposing underlying colors until I was happy with the outcome, which takes me forever!

Here are the 5x7's before attaching the leaves. Thanks for inspiring me Scott! It was fun.

The funny part about the hint of purple...I was touching up colors on the deck table while the kids were painting with their watercolors. My 6yr old splashed her purple over onto my canvas. While trying to wipe it off, I realized it looked great. She was pretty proud to help me out with the final touches.

Glass Tag Embellishment

While I had the epoxy out to attach the leaves, I couldn't let the extra go to waste. I was able to quickly make another glass tag before it started to set. Phew, that was close. If you look closely, you will see some sparkle on the left lower edge and the top portion. For this, I splattered perfect pearls onto the wet epoxy with a small dry brush.
See similiar tags for sale on my ETSY on my sidebar.

Introducing...New England Bloggers

2010-06-20T17:53:00.000-07:00

The New England Bloggers are celebrating the beginning of summer with a blog carnival introducing our readers to the list of 180 members.

Elizabeth is our hostess and has set up a Linky for any of the members to introduce themselves and help introduce each other.

The party starts now!! I am introducing Lori at ScrapMoms Musings from Maine as one of my favorite bloggers and paper craft artists in my "neck of the woods".
Not only is she super organized,

But she makes awesome mini-books. She is a very popular paper craft artist as this is her specialty. She has wonderful "how-to"videos throughout her blog. I love her style and can't wait to make something inspired by her!

This is an example of one of her books.

Enjoy visiting Lori and watching her create. Thanks for making those videos Lori!!

More Clay Faux Seals

2010-05-11T08:51:00.000-07:00

I love making different textures with objects I just happen to find. Then to see the delightful image and texture in creates within the clay. The small plastic bottle cap pressed into the ball of clay gives the deep impression ready for an object. This bottle cap happened to have a circle of bumps. The impression encircles the brad. The knob makes texture around the outside of the seal.

They are baked without the brad. Makin's Clay is a bit easier to work with in making these seals as it is air dry clay and stays a bit flexible even when cured.

The flowers with the brads were sold on My Etsy

Clay Faux Seals/Embellishments

2010-05-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

This seal is for sale on my Etsy. SOLD

This one has a softer touch as I used different paint and finish.

I took an imprint of a rose from the corner of a picture frame to create these seals.
SOLD

And embellished this homemade envelope with coordinating rose paper and colors. The envelope holds 4x6 pictures for my friend's rose-themed scrapbook. We usually have pictures we want to keep but they don't necessarily have to be on a lay-out, that is why I designed this idea a couple years ago. I love to have pretty envelopes or mini-books as part of my lay-outs.

Beautiful Blogger Award

2010-04-28T08:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you so much Lynn for this wonderful award. It truely means so much to me!! Lynn creates beautiful scrapbook pages, just amazing details. Check out her charming touch at
http://beautifuldelightsblog.blogspot.com/ .

To pass on this award to your favorite blogs just:

1) Add a link and note of thanks to the person giving the award (which I would have done anyways)

2) Pass the award on to 15 bloggers whose blogs you have recently discovered that you love.

3) Share 7 things about yourself.

These are a handful of my favorite blogs to visit:

A Path To Spirit

Kids Napping? I'm Scrapping!

Charming Designs

Kissed by an Angel

Girls to Grow

Moms the Word

If I Could Set My Soul Free

Healing Expressions

Ilkas Attic

The Vintage Moth (free images)

Art From the Heart

1. I love finding blogger friends to trade how-to's and inspiration. I have never been one to share alot of my personal life but this is an opportunity to open up a bit. It has been a pleasure getting to know many of you!! I enjoy so many blogs, what I have listed are my absolute favorites plus some new friends I just found.

2. I traded: doing my friend's scrapbook for a really nice sewing machine. Not a bad deal. I have also been working on making more embellishments to put on my Etsy, like my clay faux seals and glass-like tags .

3. I am an ex-Harley rider as well as my hubby....best times of our lives!

4. My girls are 8 and 6. My 8yr old was diagnosed Type 1 diabetic at 5 1/2yrs old. That is why my clay wings on my sidebar were such a big deal for me. It is made with an insulin cartridge inside for the Bottle of Hope Challenge.

5. I am an Exercise Specialist and worked with Physical Therapists full-time until we decided it was time to be home with the babes. I am now one of the volunteer coordinators for the school events.

6. I have been involved with MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) and a Christian book group/Bible study for about 6yrs. I grew up Catholic but for now, I claim to be "Christian".

7. Phew, one more...My hubby and I have been married for..what year is this...16yrs this summer!! And he was my one and only blind date. Although we only had the one date, we hooked up again years later. Funny!!

Here is my thought of the day taken from an interesting e-mail I recieved on forgiveness:

"The Greek word for “forgiveness” means “to send away.” I love that analogy. When my ruminations begin to boil over with a never-ending litany of wrongs suffered I purposely, consciously, “send away” the revenge my natural heart craves. And it’s a blessed relief.
Someone said that to bear a grudge is to drink poison hoping to kill someone else."

Timeless

2010-04-26T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is a "photo shoot" that was very spontaneous. Out of the cedar chest came the dress I wore as the flower girl to my Aunt's wedding. My 4yr old couldn't wait to play dress up with it. We had the best time together and from it came the most treasured pictures, wrinkled tulle, ribbons and all.

So with this lay-out I created a wonderful envelope to hold the story of this most treasured time and timeless dress.

This lay-out includes ribbon, flowers, white leaves and tulle (behind the matted picture) from the veil and dress. Don't you just love the fuzzy pink slippers with this dress??

It couldn't stop there. I put these precious little gloves with parts of the veil in a shadow box with a picture of me in the wedding and a picture, I won't say how many yrs later, of my 4yr.old in the same dress. The cedar chest preserved everything so beautifully with no hint of yellowing.

Just some wall art in our bedroom with some wonderful old oval buttons and big mother-of-pearl buttons. I covered the canvas with material that matches our quilt and edged it with lace.

The buttons are hot glued on (which I didn't think would hold long but it's been on our wall a couple years now).

Craft Links

2010-04-19T06:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a few sites you may find interesting.

I have been making homemade candles with my friend so when I saw this I had to share it:

Sheet Music Candle Wraps
http://www.thecountrychiccottage.net/2010/01/sheet-music-candle-wraps.html

This is a link to Ginger's blog. I have been enjoying her fun facts, quotes, recipes and links to crafts and tutorials. http://lovestodream.blogspot.com/

This is Jenny who has a free lesson on how to make no sew TuTu's for little girls. She is having a contest to win $100 to the mom who sends her the most people over to see her free video.
http://www.misstutu.com/mom-blogger-contest.html

This is the actual link for a 15 minute "how-to video"..have fun seeing your little ones in those cute tutus.
http://howtomakeatutu.blogspot.com/

Gothic Arches Challenge

2010-04-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

Oh Goodness, I have to apologize for a booboo I just made.
I went to a blog and found an "egg" art challenge. So I clicked the link, found my egg collage card and posted it within the challenge. When I started surfing the others I realized it was a gothic arches challenge with eggs...http://gothicarches.blogspot.com/ And I can't take my link off the list, oops. Sorry!
So if any of you are interested, check out the link.

Blog Party

2010-04-16T12:31:00.000-07:00

Check out the
Ultimate Blog Party
I'm a little late but it's Friday night. A great time for a blog party!!
I still hope to visit many of the blogs, catch some How-To's and hopefully I will be an inspiration to others with my ideas, creations and How-To's. Just see my labels at the bottom of this page.

I'll introduce myself here as well, I have two little girls, 8 and 6. Just adorable. I live in the wonderful Pine Tree State, the southern part of Maine where the coast is just fresh and beautiful.
I'm an Exercise Specialist but I have been home and involved with volunteer work at the school the last 3 yrs.
I can't wait to check out all those blogs on the blog party list.
Let's check out each others Etsy's too!! How exciting!
Have fun!

What I Wish For You

2010-04-09T11:44:00.000-07:00

Faith....Love.....Hope...

Easter Minibook, Page & Candlemaking

2010-04-02T07:11:00.000-07:00

"Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." John 13:12-15

How we need Jesus to minister humility to us!! Show me those who need their feet washed today, and help me follow through. prayer from Beth Moore

This marbled shiny paper was made at one of my local scrapbooking stores. This wonderful mini-book and scrapbook page below was 2 of the several projects I did at Murdock's a couple years ago. They have since closed but the owner, Kelly seems to be doing very well. She is one of the designers for the JustRite Stampers team and has many project ideas. Here is her Blog . I love the effect of the paper crafting we did with these folds but I don't think I could remember now how we did it!! But there was a template to follow.

I had the chance to work with my neighbor and friend who has always enjoyed making candles. I have never attemped such a project but that didn't stop her. I decided to use papertowel rolls so I could have tall thin candles but 3 different heights. Charming but do I dare try to burn them...I didn't use the starin that is suggested!! I need to add some of that ArtGlitter to the outside.
She filled egg shells with wax for Easter eggs. I will have to get some pictures of her results next week.

The I collected as many large white pinetree cones as I could from my yard. Dipping the pinecones is fun but the temperature of the wax needs to be just right. Too hot and it doesn't stick at all. Then when it cools too much, it sticks too much and creates "bunches" of wax build-up. So you need to heat the wax back up. I do love the results.

Tie thin twine around the cone from bottom to top for short cones. These long cones I really only had to tie it around the top 1/4. Leave enough to hold onto for the dipping. It will take several dips but when the temp. is just right, it leaves wonderful coverage and color.
I made enough to make firestarter gift baskets for next fall and Christmas.

ArtGlitter

2010-03-28T18:46:00.000-07:00

Check out ArtGlitter with Martha Stewart. She has some great ideas for our artglitter, glass glitter and diamond dust we don't tend to reach for in our projects very often. I especially love the bird cards with the wonderful banner. The banner templates can be downloaded for printing.

Scrapbook Pages/Cloth Frame

2010-03-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

I cut out some denim cloth I kept from an old children's dress, cut out the opening on three sides, rolled it back and tied it off with ribbon. My friend I was scrappin' with had the perfect denim paper for the opposite side. When I got home I put my sewing machine to work. I love texture so the sewed edges, rose corners and real dried leaf (below) make me happy!!

In November I posted a lay-out with these same pictures. I know I'm a bit crazy with trying to be "fair" with my girls...so I did another lay-out for my other daughter's book. I'm trying to get to the point where most of their pictures will be in our family album except for the personal things they do seperately. I keep telling myself that will be more likely when they are in school full time which is this school year. But now I am 2yrs behind with working on two seperate books. Whew!! I need to speed up. I will go months without scrappin' to do other projects.

Creative Homearts Club/Glass-Like Bookmarks

2010-02-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to be in the March/April "Today's Creative Homearts"
Magazine/Club.

They have a section called "Re-Created by You" for recycled objects. I sent in a few of my creations hoping to have a "recycled" object make it into their monthly article.

They chose my Vintage Bookmarks sold on my Etsy!

They are layered with torn paper, stamping, dried flowers, Glimmer Mist,ink, acrylic paint, vellum images, ect.... then covered with layers of UTEE or epoxy for a glass finish. The UTEE piece went into the freezer for a few minutes so I could "crack" the finish. I then inked over the cracks with walnut ink.

This has been a fun club to be a part of. I receive free gifts and have taken part in project packages I was able to keep just for trying the product and doing a survey.

Art, Music and Life Newsletter

2010-02-22T10:48:00.001-08:00

Please check out this latest post on one of my favorite blogs, Healing Expressions. The above picture is her beautiful art on her latest post inviting us to receive her monthly "newsletter", Reflections on Art, Music and Life. Her art has truely inspired me through her faith and perseverance.

Goddess of Lost Earrings Mask+TeaCup Pin Cushion

2010-02-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

This is me as the "Goddess of Lost Earrings".

My friend Nannette Giacoma, casted my face, a very strange but peaceful experience. It was worth it to then be painted, and decorated beyond my imagination. She has a few other mask pieces decorating her home that are just wonderful.
She has a whole business practice called New Moon Rising Coaching developed for artists and their businesses.
This was so fun Nannette, thanks for inviting me to be a part of your creativity!

For a very long time I have wanted to attempt this pretty little project inspired by Lauries Charming Designs. I have been watching her make her lovely pincushions on teacups and spoons. She makes her own birds from wool. I'm going to have to purchase some of those.

So I used my Lenox tea set, my little cardinal winter bird, some vintage buttons I found at my flea market and thought it was a nice spot to also display my white buttons cluster I made a while ago.

Clay Transfer Tile Keepsakes

2010-01-18T08:48:00.001-08:00

The above keepsakes are two examples of four I was able to finish. Wow, there were alot of trial and error, mistakes and throw-aways on this project. But I am very happy with the end results.

It all started with my love for the art of transfers. I love the look on clay and transparencies. So I tried transferring onto raw clay using the rub off technique, very hard to do without getting smeared toner. Then I followed the directions for using the baking method with this transfer medium. But the best results came from this Sculpey project idea. Heating this medium directly onto the photo then using the rub off technique gave me the best results for this photo. I'm guessing a lighter colored picture wouldn't have such smearing issues with the basic rub off technique that doesn't use a medium at all.

Then I wanted the edges finished so I tried many different ideas. The best results was simply platinum UTEE after a light layer of silver perfect pearls.

This has perfect pearls added with a bit of water and a brush. This looked really nice with the light gold sheer ribbon and jewels as a finished piece. I didn't get pictures before I gave it away.

These smaller tiles were baked with the perfect pearls on the edges.

The techniques for transferring images, getting the images the correct size, no bubbles in especially transparent clay, and use of jewerly pieces, are all new to me. Thank goodness for web-sites that help because I was really amazed at the learning curve and number of pieces I threw away. I have a whole new respect for artists and jewerly makers who sell their goods!!! Mine were for the parents of the owner of these sweet little feet and my daughters who adore their little cousin.

Cindy,a Polymer Clay Tutor has some great tips!!

"Family Traditions" Scrapbook/Glass-Like Tags

2009-12-22T19:10:00.000-08:00

This is a beautiful victorian Christmas picture that came from a wonderful blog Kissed by an Angel. I just love it and had to share it.

I finally put together a scrapbook that will be for truely "throwing" things into. I want to keep all of our traditions in one place, especially our Christmas Advent count down activities, verses we read together each day, recipes and some pictures of each year's, special gingerbread houses.
I love the pull I was able to attach. It came from one of my mom's cabinets. Too bad I let her throw a handful away last year.
The clay pieces I made and posted last year. They now have a home on our new book.
Click on the pictures for a closer look. The clay wings have a blend of perfect pearls powders for the shimmer.

These are a few more of my resin epoxy tags. This butterfly tag has sprinkles of clear twinklets over the butterflies and around the edges (looks like bubbles in the picture but it's just the sprinkles). An example of using these on a scrapbook lay-out is in my November post. I really love the look of these on the pages and other projects!!

If you have tried any projects with epoxy, I would love to get some tips and see what you have done. It's messy stuff!!

Whimsical Christmas Jars

2009-12-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

This a close up of the first picture. Gold and green leaves with berries, mitton and candy cane.

I can't stop making these!!

I love using the real pinecones and cedar for a touch of that Maine woods charm .

This is the other side of the previous picture...the stocking.

I add use extra snow on top of the pieces along with twinklets and microbeads.

Whimsical Christmas Jars/Glass Glitter

2009-11-25T11:45:00.000-08:00

This weekend at our craft fair one of the ladies had a small display of German Glass Glitter. I was very excited to pick some up from her. It is so pretty on art pieces but never took the time to find it for myself. I think I will have to share some of this with a few artsy friends of mine. I just love the color of the bird.

Here's to finishing all 12 toppers for my mother-in-law!!!! I'm a bit obsessed though. I don't think I'm finished for the season.

Whimsical Christmas/Winter Jar Tops

2009-11-20T17:49:00.000-08:00

I have been having a great time creating my jar toppers this year. I love how the details all come together. Sometimes it's hard to stop adding "mini" details!

The trees are decorated with mini strings of lights and red and gold mini tinsel.
Lace adorns the red bird house. Real cedar and pine cones along with all the snow and sprinkles of twinklets and glitter give the look of our rustic Maine winter. I still 4 more to create for my mother-in-law. She wants to fill them with her yummy fudge for her 12 cousins. I'm so glad she wanted me to be a part of her gift giving this year.

So the key to these toppers...sheetrock compound under the glitter snow and hot glue when I can't count on the compound to "glue" the smaller pieces. But I cover any trace of the hot glue with more snow.
I hope to put some on my Etsy soon, after I finish my mother-in-law's order. If anyone has any requests, let me know!!!

Scrapbook pages/Glass-Like Tags

2009-11-18T10:44:00.000-08:00

So I finally used the epoxy "glass-like" tags I made a long time ago. I was waiting for the perfect pictures and I finally found them. I went to a CM crop and was able to finish 8 pages in two evenings and part of one day. Not bad since I sometimes get a little crazy about details! I did a little paper tearing and curling, sewing and used some wire on these pages. This is my favorite lay-out of the crop. (check my labels for "tags glass" for the "how to make the tags")

I have some dried pressed flowers on order so I can make more tags. I didn't have any of my own this year. I'll leave the link to the great on-line shop I found when I post them.

I'm working on some Christmas toppers to glass jars for my mother-in-law. I hope to post those before Thanksgiving. They are pretty cute, but I love minitures anyway.

Glass-Like Quote Minibook/Bookmarks

2009-10-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

After a busy summer and fall I'm excited to finally have a project to share, it's been a while. I made another quote book filled with 17 of my favorite quotes which includes a few of my favorite Bible verses. I have used several of them for scrapbooking and minibooks for my girls personal collection. The first one I made of this design, I traded for scrapbook supplies. That was really cool. The covers are altered chipboard coasters, sanded, gessoed, painted, stamped and the finishing touch is epoxy for the smooth glass-like finish. Within the epoxy is a dried, pressed lace flower. A more detailed description is with the items on my Etsy.

This bookmark is also finished with epoxy.

This bookmark is protected with layers of modpodge.

Essential oils

2009-09-21T09:15:00.000-07:00

I want to share a great blog. I have been in the process of learning even more about essential oils and their healing properties. The difference between "carrier" oils and none carrier oils. I found this blog while researching a bit more and found
Skin healing with essential oils by Harriet Bliss.
I now can add a few more recipes to my collection.
I haven't had time to work on much art or scrapbooking but can't wait to. This beautiful fall weather is still calling me. God Bless

Bookmarks

2009-08-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

So remember the BrainQuest deck of 300 questions and answers. My kids outgrew the decks we have so what better way to "recycle" them than to make them into collage bookmarkers. After sanding and painting a layer of gesso......

I went crazy with a collage of vellum images, stickers, fabric, ink, glimmer mist, ect. These are layered with UTEE. After putting them in the freezer for a couple minutes, I was able to get the cracks for a more vintage feel. (The others in my last bookmarker post were covered with epoxy. That seems to have better coverage for protection).

Recycled Frame and Wallpaper

2009-07-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

I had two wooden frames personalized for previous owners. This picture shows the dark colored frame I used the light colored one and edged it with alcohol ink. Sanding just wasn't working very well and the alcohol ink sticks to anything.
I also had a bucket of wallpaper samples. These are great because they had alot of different textures and colors.

Using decoupage, I resurfaced the front of the frame with several different pieces. For blending of colors, I edged the inside of the frame with green and the outside with copper as well as the edges of each piece of cut or torn wallpaper. The textures really made this a fun project and I actually finished it the same day I started!!!!

Nest Home Art Card

2009-07-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

I have to apologize to those who may come over from the Gothic Arches Challenge. I found the challenge on a different blog and thought it was an "egg" challenge. And I can't take my link back off the list. I have, respectfully, posted the challenge with the link on a new post. I enjoyed checking out all the beautiful art within the egg/arches theme. That is when I knew I had it "wrong". Thanks and enjoy!

This little picture is nestled in fiber and yellow homemade paper made from Sherry at "If I Could Set My Soul Free"" I also sewed mulberry paper trim and ribbon. Within the paper is mini yellow feathers peaking out from the edges. I backed the card with an old postcard and tulle.

My Thanks/Jesus by Beth Moore

2009-07-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

ch40 speaks of receiving freely from God including His grace so we are to freely give. How has grace caused you to freely give of yourself recently? (is the question).

In Psalm 103 King David wrote about thanking and praising God. "all that is within me bless His holy name". He meant "I want to thank God with everything in me". The New Living translation says, "with my whole heart".
I have said, "with everything I have, and everything I am" this past week. My mother survived a serious motorcycle accident and is well on her way to recovery. With this extreme thanks I have for God, I have also been trying to (as in day 40 of the book study of "Jesus") "freely give as I have received" as much as I possibly could this past week. I am learning how God pulls together my life and my understanding of how He works, one step at a time. Is He working in her life here? It's hard to understand pain that is given to us but I also know it is never wasted as I have learned from my wonderful pastor friend. Sometimes it is to force us to rest, call out to Him, surrender the things we cannot control, finally let Him work in our life instead of working against Him.

"With the comfort I receive, I can comfort those in trouble". Our sufferings overflow but so does our comfort. We are distressed in order to have comfort and salvation which produces patience, endurance and perseverence. Mom, may you endure and find comfort and peace.

2cor.1:4 for more on comfort.

Into Scrap'n News,Issue#7 Is this months issue from Autumn's Love-My-Scrapbooking-Ideas. She included a few of my techniques and ideas for a Maine rocky coast beach lay-out.

I am unable to post the July or any of the newsletters but you can sign up to receive those e-mail on her site. Have Fun!!

Glass-like Bookmarks

2009-06-05T20:22:00.000-07:00

This bookmark is epoxyed for a special glass-like appearance and texture. Glitter mist and acrylic paint is the background for layers of paper,vellum, dried flowers,and lace stickers

This bookmark is covered with layers of UTEE,ultra thick embossing enamal, for a smooth glass-like finish. I then cracked it in a few places for unique vintage design. Acrylic paint, stamping, mask stamping, spring mint glitter mist is the background for layers of paper and stickers. The right side shows the opposite side cardstock color which has been inked for an aged look.A gold and black rose charm uniquely holds the fibers.

Sold (on Etsy)

Clay Buttons

2009-05-10T09:18:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist these 2 adorable buttons made by my clay artist friend, Sara, at the town's art show this past Friday. We have such wonderful artists here in Bowdoinham.
These buttons go really well with my K&Co. paper and stickers!

I have finally been able to use my clay, pasta machine and made some cool buttons with gold perfect pearls powder.

I made these extra wings when I was working on my "Healing Wings". I may make a "family traditions" scrapbook to hold all the recipes and crafts we typically do during the holidays.

Excited to see my clay piece published

2009-04-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just received 5 free magazines in an envelope because my clay wings are on page10. Very exciting!!! All the info. on why I created the wings is under "clay wings" down in my labels. This issue seems to have alot of sewing projects and one cross-stitch project but it's not always the case. If anyone is interested in a free copy, just let me know in your comment. I will send one to the first 2 people interested!! The link for the "Homearts" is on my sidebar.

Ebay

2009-04-21T19:04:00.000-07:00

I removed one of the pair of jars from my etsy to give My Ebay another try.
I really hope to play in clay soon. I just bought an craft pasta machine on sale. Can't wait to give it a try. It also embosses metal...woo hoo!
Have a great week!

Whimsical Spring Jars

2009-04-05T17:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some more of my cutsie glass jars with resin minitures. I have been recycling glass jars with screw-on tops. This little one has glittered hot glue around the edge of the top. It's small enough to hold easter egg shaped chocolates inside.

This one is inspired by Pooh's friend, Rabbit, and his charming garden. I placed real stones on top along with some Twinklets for some sparkle. There is a third carrot behind the rabbit partially buried, not seen in this photo.

Each jar holds three packets of seeds. I may put these on my etsy as well. So cute for holding ribbons, scraps of fabric or fiber. Hmmmmm, do I want to keep these? I am having too much fun with these little minitures!!

Whimsical Spring Garden Jar

2009-03-27T18:22:00.000-07:00

Just another little jar full of packets of seeds. Again, the top is colored joint compound. I pressed the resin birdhouse, petals and tiny river rocks I collected in northern maine into the wet compound. Hanging on the side is a resin butterfly on two flowers.
This is going on my etsy. This is fun!!

My Top 10

2009-03-24T11:32:00.000-07:00

It's time to pass on the award to some great gals. I would like to make all of you a "link" from my side bar because I really enjoy visiting you and sharing ideas. Happy Spring!

Debra at Sparkling Scrapbook

Jessica at Kidsnapping ImScrapping

Scrapper Mom

Jen Lowe Designs

Amy at Kids Love Learning

Laurie's Charming Designs

Scott's Average Joe Photography

Lani Healing Expressions

Sherry

Catherine Art From the Heart

Whimsical Spring Garden Jar

2009-03-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

I loved making these little gardening jars. They are decorated with gardening supply minitures, flowers and filled with packets of seeds. They will make an adorable gift for Easter,Mother's Day or a spring birthday. I used glass jars and spread colored sheetrock compound over the top. I was going to use my sparkly snow but since I was going to add acrylic paint, I just used the compound.
I was so excited this morning because I sold the top jar to the owner of a local shop where I find the little resin minitures, rake, ribbons ect. This second jar decorated with the hose and tools are now on my etsy. Soooo fun!!

March in Maine

2009-03-18T18:21:00.000-07:00

A beautiful sunny, but still snowy day.

Twins.

The deer and turkeys are back in our yard now that they can get to

the meal of acorns under all that snow.

Outside our kitchen window.

We have been here for 10 years and we are tapping our trees for the first

time.

I helped the girls make a label for our first batch of syrup named after them.
BellaBrie Maple Syrup.

Scrapbooking

I went to a Creative Memories scrap on Friday. I started at 9:30a.m. and didn't get home and in bed until 1:30a.m. Crazy isn't it??? But I finished 5 lay-outs (10 pages). WooHoo!

In the heart on the right is a lock of hair tied with a bow.

Top 10 Favorites Award and Friendship Award

2009-03-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful unexpected surprise to receive an award from a fellow blogger. Thank you so much MJ for your thoughtfulness. Please visit her "Dazzling Designs" and connect with some creative cardmakers, scrapbookers.
I also received this wonderful award from a close blogger friend, Sherry at "If I Could Set My Soul Free", in January. Meaning of the Award:"This blog invests and believes in the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propogated." Thank you so much again for a special award. It truely means so much to have some close friends who share similiar interests, and can share some life challenges as well as joys. God Bless to you all.

Things that make me Smile

2009-02-25T19:20:00.000-08:00

This gorgeous heavy snow that makes this tree look so majestic is also trouble here in Maine this week. We were without power for 48hrs which is just long enough to appreciate your running water!! The sun shining on these trees for the last two days has been beautiful.

This is a great bag I won from my friend at MeAndMyWorld, formally Lilolme. This is a great reversable bag and the colors just make me smile. Thanks so much Jenne. You worked hard on this bag and I'm so grateful to have it. Check out her new love of photography she is sharing on her blog now.

Love-my-scrapbooking website has my paperclips on her techniques page along with how to use alcohol inks. Thanks for checking it out. She also started a "scrappy" group on Facebook.

Winter Art Card

2009-02-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

Here is another product of that wonderful wreath stamp I borrowed from a friend. I tied some twigs above the piece of birch bark. I really enjoy layering these days.

Finalists and Winners of Staedtler Bottles of Hope

2009-02-12T07:48:00.000-08:00

Check out all the wonderful Bottles Of Hope chosen to be the top 25 finalists and winners for this years challenge. They are being donated to Dream Street Foundation for the children.

I am so excited to share my bottle, #23, was first place winner for "best expression of hope". I was greatly inspired to make this with the hope to win the charity money for the hospital we used here in Maine when my 5 1/2 yr old was dx with type 1 diabetes. So the wings are made with an insulin bottle. The verses on the charm speak for themselves.

Alcohol Ink Techniques, Scrapbooking web-site

2009-02-02T19:09:00.000-08:00

I have a new friend, Autumn Craig, who developed a web-site, Love my Scrapbooking, for anyone who is interested in learning new techniques, lay-out ideas, titles, organization and where to find supplies. There also is the opportunity to sign up for her Scrap News Letter.
Issue #1 is ready for your viewing. She gave me the opportunity to be in her first newsletter to teach my favorite techniques using alcohol inks. Check it out, it's alot of fun!

Family Time Piece

2009-01-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

I can't seem to stop with the fairies and the colors from the last project. This is my mom and her cousin. I almost took it all apart to start over with a more sepia colored theme. But I started adding the time pieces and it started to pull together. This is for you mom, what do you think?

This gemmed snowman is a stamp sprinkled with twinklets then sprayed with a sealer. The background is a pearl white vellum with alcohol inks.

Staedtler Bottles of Hope Challenge Update

2009-01-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

Remember my "Healing Wings" for the Staedtler Fimo clay Bottles of Hope challenge?! I just recieved news I am one top 25 finalists. Sooo exciting. Everyone's entry picture will be available after the winners are announced Jan.26th at the Craft and Hobby Assoc. show, but I'll keep you posted. Here is the information link for those interested in getting involved with this wonderful challenge and the hope it may bring to others. http://www.scpcg.org/bottlesofhopepage.htm
My wings are here on my blog labeled, clay wings.

Fairy Art Card, How to use Alcohol Inks

2009-01-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

I had alot of fun with this wonderful stamp I am borrowing from a friend. I used it many different ways but this project was using my alcohol inks, and Pearl glitter.
Alcohol inks can be used on a variety of surfaces that pigment and dye inks won't stick to. So it's really fun to experiment on metals, brads, glass, plastics, glossy paper and transparencies (found at office supply stores). In this project I was able to manipulate the colors by blotting the inks with a blending tool on a clear piece of page protector made for scrapbook pages (I don't have any transparencies) and remove color with Alcohol Blending Solution where I wanted an image to show through like the fairy in the bottom right corner, the rose in the top corner and center of the wreath. The grundgeboard swirl attached on the bottom is painted, glittered and bejeweled.
Alcohol ink was used to change the color of the wire on the top.

The pigment inked doesn't want to dry on this shiny surface so I pressed Diamond Dust Twinklets into the wreath image.

Perfect Pearl Powders are baked right into the clay.

These papers were made using Tattered Angels Mists, UTEE and microbeads.

Christmas Lay-outs

2008-12-22T07:24:00.000-08:00

Scrap pages I just finished for Christmas 2yrs ago. I found some great velvet and cloth frames.
The words Miracle and Beauty are on the pewter velvet ribbons. I cut out lots of swirls and used utee on the corners and for the santa seal stamp in the top right corner.

More swirls with pearls inside some of them. Some spreadable snow on the corner of the candle picture and green mulberry paper.

These were so fun so I wanted to share them. I had the opportunity to use a cricut machine so I made the sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer. I added some "spreadable" Aleene's Glitter Snow and a bead to each reindeer. Oh, so fun!

Centerpieces

2008-12-19T16:06:00.000-08:00

Twice a month, MOPS, Mother's of PreSchoolers, meets. This past Thursday we had the opportunity to get together and make evergreen centerpieces. It's been a Christmas tradition as long as I have been with MOPS. It's fun to get together with all the fun bows, ribbons and pine cones and see each other's creations. I made two of the top centerpieces for gifts and the balsam fir candle piece is for my mother-in-law's table for our Christmas dinner. Shhh, it's a surprise.

Tag You're It!

2008-12-13T15:00:00.000-08:00

Here is my oversized tag for the Challenge. I actually made this last Christmas for my mother. This is her as a little girl. The brown and aqua combo is absolutely one of my favorites.

This technique is one from 2006 Somerset Studio magazine. It is a great article on "milk-resist" stamping. It came out great. The concoction of milks is very sticky to work with but comes out very nice on cardstock. I attempted to use it on acrylic painted papers and chipboard but it didn't work at all. Basically, you stamp images on paper using 50% skim milk and 50% sweetened condensed milk. Then after heat drying, I sprayed it with a walnut ink spray and wiped immediately.

Whimsical Winter Jars

2008-12-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

This is a peanut butter glass jar decorated with Aleene's glitter snow and Twinklets, ribbons and findings.
I sold this and my clay minibook for the MOPS in my community.

This little bitty one is made with a baby food jar. A little blurry!

I Won!!

2008-12-03T07:08:00.000-08:00

I won something sooo cool! Haley gave a way some Avon products and I won the AVON's ANEW Rejuvenate Flash Facial . Check it out, I can't wait to try it. Scroll down on this link to "Smooth Skin Today" Nov.28th.

I also won some blogcandy on Jenne's blog a few weeks ago. I'll post my loot when I receive it...can't wait. Thanks to you both for your generosity!!

Christmas Tags

2008-12-01T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of my winter tags I really had fun making. I'm posting them to be a part of this week's Tag Your It. They have some beautiful tags to inspire us all.
I used alcohol ink for the background of the bird tag.
The snowman tag is my version of a Tim Holtz tag from last years 12 days of Christmas.

Star Ornaments

2008-11-28T17:45:00.000-08:00

I saw wooden stars used as ornaments in my Dec.2006 Somerset Studio magazine. I loved the look and tried it myself. This last picture is of my oldest daughter when she was 4. (I'm still working on one more of my present 4 year old.

I'm excited to say Amazon has shipped my book , "Exhibition 36", by my friend Susan Tuttle. She has a picture of the cover posted on her blog, check it out. I can't wait to have in my hands.

Clay Book and other Ebay listings

2008-11-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

Two of the clay seals have real shells. Then an imprint of a sandollar, a clay fish and a clay heart.

There are 3 inserts for up to 6 pictures but will hold 8 pictures total (or journaling).

I have some listings on ebay this week including this minibook. So here is the link for My Ebay. I sold 5 envelopes for the MOPS benefit crop, yippee.

This matchbox style minibook is for holding wallet size pictures on a scrapbook page. I have used this trick alot for getting more pictures of my story within my lay-outs.

Clay Faux Seals

2008-11-14T11:49:00.000-08:00

More seals!! I still need to color the two white ones but I think I'll wait until I design the tag or envelope.
The rose has white perfect pearls powder baked into it then I edged it with pink acrylic
paint.

I used alcohol ink on these after cured.

Clay Seals For MOPS

2008-11-13T19:28:00.000-08:00

These are some clay faux seals I have been working on for the MOPS (mothers of preschoolers) benefit crop this weekend. The next phase is making the envelopes these are a part of for scrap pages or tags. I still have a handful more to paint, perfect pearls powder, glimmer mist, and seal with a glaze.

Staedtler Bottles of Hope

2008-11-03T05:08:00.000-08:00

I have been reading more about the bottles of hope and it is such as amazing, generous production of outreach. A way to share art and love with cancer patients. But other bottles have been used depending on the illness or disease that touches your heart. My last post shows my bottle, a humalog insulin bottle. Any bottle created is donated to patients. Here are some other creations: http://bottlesofhope.org/

Blogoversary

2008-10-27T17:59:00.000-07:00

There is a fun blog anniversary going on at lil'ol'me. She does fun crafts and sews, something I don't tend to do unless it's sewing paper....so winning a fun bag at her giveaway would be great!

Healing Wings/Staedtler Bottle of Hope

2008-10-24T17:26:00.000-07:00

I have entered a challenge called "Bottles of Hope" with Fimo clay. I am really excited about this as I created these wings in honor of my 6 1/2yr old, Isabella. She was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 1yr ago. I have gone through all the reasons why in my mind but it truely comes down to genetics and factors beyond our control. We just don't have enough information as to "why" yet.

The clay wings are wrapped around a Humalog insulin bottle to represent the promise Healing Wings will eventually bring to her.

These wings are stamped, colored with perfect pearls and cut out with a zacto knife. I propped part of the wings during baking for shaping. Only the top wings needed to be epoxed on after baking. The key is also clay and everything is sealed with folk-art glaze. This piece will be donated or auctioned and if chosen as one of the finalist, money will be donated to the children's hospital here in Maine.

October lay-outs

2008-10-13T06:24:00.000-07:00

These are some of my favorite reasons that October is my favorite month. So much color and so many sweet smells in the air.

The leaves above are cut from brown paper bags. The old leaf look is from holding them over a flame until the layer of tacky glue I spread over them bubbles. This funny technique I did with my neighbor friend Susan.

The scarecrow and corn husk are some fun paper crafts. These pages are two years old now and I never posted them. Time is flying. I'm off to celebrate another beautiful October by doing some crafts with my kids today.

Envelopes

2008-10-08T09:36:00.000-07:00

This flower has been inked and I added my faux clay seal to the center. It's also part of this weeks tag challenge . I use envelopes as gift tags to hold extra gifts or pictures on a package. The envelope was also handcrafted by me. Winter envelopes you can see here .

Some fun embellishments I made last fall but never posted. I love the look of seals so made some with stamping clay or putting an embellishment in the center then inking or painting the seal. These envelopes are for holding pictures, journaling or other memories on scrapbook pages or for gift giving on packages.

Mini Board Book

2008-10-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

My blogger friend Sherry sent my little girls these beautiful little pictures of birds and nests. So we altered one of their smallest board books to celebrate these beautiful creatures. My 4yr old painted her book 2 colors then together, we decided where the pictures and fun treasures should be glued. Some of the pictures, of course, have glue on them which adds to the memories of making it together. My 6yr old and I still need to put hers together.

We added brown craft grassy "stuff", ribbons, thin pieces of cedar bark and feathers, brown for the robins and blue for the blue jay eggs. So we will call this her science lesson for the week!
Thanks Sherry!!!

Helix Craft Table

Something pretty cool I want to share. I recieved this fun Craft Table for free from the Home Arts Magazine. It came with 4 templates for embossing. I used it to make different types of envelopes and boxes then wrote a review for the magazine. This is the second review I was able to do and the best part is I get to keep the product. I'm just not sure which month it will be in. It's alot of fun but I need to purchase the interactive CD for more project ideas. The original directions don't explain all the uses. Check out the web-site above for more details. It would be great especially for those who really like making home-made greeting cards.