Gifts

Christmas is past but I wanted to share a few pics of some gifts I sent out that I thought others might enjoy seeing.

One dear friend collects these antique photo albums. This one was a bit damaged, but the embossed velvet cover and brass clasp were so lovely that I had to send it to her. I added the vintage lace and millinery band for fun.

There were several photos in the album, including these two.

Most of the other photos were of men, but the backs were printed with ornate and lovely advertisements for the photographers. I do regret that I didn't take pics of any of those!

I sent a few things to another friend in this cute little reusable cloth bag. I've saved the bag for several years, waiting for the perfect recipient. 

Several small items were packed into this vintage card box, ideal for holiday gifting.

One of the items sent was this little stocking I made from a vintage quilt and doily.  It was made especially for her as she loves bird-themed creations.

There's been quite a bit of time to create over the last couple of weeks but it's been so cold that I've mostly just snuggled in to read and catch up on DVR'd TV shows and movies.  Hopefully we'll get a few warm sunny days soon to spark my creativity.

I've yet to get photos of my new craft space, but plan to do that as soon as the weather cooperates and I find just the right spot for a few more things!

One More Tag

As I sat at the computer last night, I kept looking at my little jar of Prima chartreuse green flowers on the shelf above. I've had them for several years and have used two or three but there are a lot packed in there. I decided the flowers could become a cute little wreath.  The Christmas colors in our home are turquoise, chartreuse and silver, and I wanted a little something to hang in my craft room. I've been heavily into tags this year - quick and easy to make and store - so I made a large tag.

The background is aqua paper from Basic Grey's 2012 Christmas line. I stamped it with a silver metallic harlequin pattern. For the wreath, I glued alternating glitter, satin and tulle flowers in a circle, then added silver leaves and faux pearls. The Noel was cut last year at a "let's share" craft get together, so I'm not sure what company it's from.  A little wired ribbon and a vintage earring top the tag.

This will probably be the last of my Christmas craft projects. I have a few creative things I need to do around the house before Christmas Eve. We're at the beginning of what is rumored to be a ice storm of historic proportions, so as long as the power stays on, I should have plenty of time!

More Christmas Tags

Inspired by Lorraine at Over The Rainebeau, I used some paper I'd been hoarding to make a couple of tags.

They're mostly just cut and paste, but I did use a bit of Diamond Glaze to highlight a few areas. The lace is from an estate sale. One of the tags is hanging on a dresser knob in my entryway, and the other will be going to a friend later this week.

Happy Christmas creating to everyone!

White Christmas Tag Swap 2013

Chris at Perfectly Printed hosted a White Christmas Tag Swap this year, and I had the opportunity to join in. I stuck with white and silver, although that wasn't required.

The background paper is Anna Griffin's Winter Wonderland 6x6 pad. I used assorted trims and bling that I had on hand.  The little girl is from a vintage photo purchased at an estate sale.

Here are the wonderful tags I received. I've noted the creator where possible, and linked to any blogs.

1.  Janelle at Sweet Bee Cottage
2.  Laurie at Indulge Your Shelf
3.  Jane at Aralia Jane

1.  Lisa at A Peaceful Place to Be
2.  Shirley at Zetta's Aprons
3.  Pam at Virginia Retro

1.  Jacqueline
2.  Paintin' Patti
3.  DB
And last but most certainly not least, one of the loveliest and most elaborate tags I've seen. I have to show both sides of this one. It was made by Lindy.

I love each and every tag I received. Tag swaps just might be my favorite as you get to see so many interpretations of a theme.

There are other projects underway around here, so I'll be posting more soon.

Paper Cowgirl Altered Tin Swap - What I Received

My original post about the Paper Cowgirl altered tin swap can be found here.  Today I'll show you the beautiful tin I received from Patty Cross, who was also the swap host. Our theme was time, with no restrictions on interpretation.

Patty used a Boticelli drawing of a young man, then covered the top in embossed clay with gears, watch faces and other interesting baubles.

 The inside has drawings by DaVinci on a fold out booklet over the Mona Lisa and waxed and layered on the opposite side.

 Patty included a packet of buttons, gears and other items for future creative efforts. As an additional bonus, everything arrived in a fun embellished envelope.

Thank you, Patty, for this wonderful creation that I will treasure, and for hosting this fun swap!

Let it Snow!

Woke up to this

and when I went outside with the dogs, I saw this on our patio - 

a perfect puffy snow heart. It was actually a big leaf covered in snow, but it made us happy!

More Christmas Tags

We traveled to Texas for Thanksgiving and had a wonderful time with family from San Angelo, Odessa and New Braunfels.  My parents and brother and sister-in-law from Oklahoma were also there - 23 of us in all. It was a great weekend!

Before we left I got crafty and made Christmas tags for all the ladies. I made my own tags from cracker and cereal boxes, and made them large - about 7-1/4" x 4".

I used Vintage Christmas paper from My Mind's Eye. The Santa and swirl were already glittered. I fussy cut the Santa, gave him a bit more color with pencils, glittered his beard and hat, added a pompom, and reattached him with pop dots. The swirl was highlighted with a bit of green glitter embossing.

The numbers inside the bottle caps came from a sheet called Countdown from Webster's Pages. The pompom trim on the lower edge is vintage, as is the green and red ribbon.  I added some white and red tinsel and a bit of red seam binding to finish it off.

I have a pile of Christmas papers but couldn't resist buying a few sheets from BasicGrey's 25th & Pine line. I used it to make one more tag.

It was my intent to make several of these so people would have a choice, but I ran out of time.  One of my nieces claimed this one.

  This vintage earring seemed to be just the "decking" this tag needed.

Christmas Tag Class

The week before the Santos class, Jackie taught a Christmas tag class. She always incorporates several techniques that are new to most of the class. We each made three tags. As always, Jackie had cute kits ready for us, yummy treats and darling name tags. I don't know why I never think to take a pic of the name tags. I have an inspiration board full of them.

For the first Santa tag, we stamped aqua swirls using paint rather than ink, and we embossed the Paris postmark. My funky green background paper was not the best choice for my photo shoot!

For the second Santa tag, we used colored pencils and two types of glitter. I have a bit of faux holly that I plan to place on Santa's hat and some trim I want to use at the bottom - if I can ever find it!  We used paper tape and a clip to attach the little banner.

This one is my favorite. We used glimmer mist on the tag, then stamped it. We added the postcard, then stamped the pear and covered it in gold leaf.  It's really beautiful. Then Jackie had us melt silver and gold crayons and spatter the tag.  Everyone loved this technique!  There's also a tiny "shrinky dink" postmark. The holly leaves are layered and glittered.  So much fun to make!

I have another class tomorrow - this time at My Heart's Fancy - weather permitting. Also, I still need to post about the Halloween soiree at Paper Crown, but I haven't been able to get good pics yet. Soon!

Christmas Santos Class

Thursday evening was spent at the beautifully decorated (as always) Paper Crown, creating in Jackie's Santos class. We had a large group and each and every santos was lovely.

We started with a cigar box, so the piece can hang on the wall or sit on a shelf or stack of books.  The santos figure is made from Character Constructions stamps. Jackie provided beautiful kits and lots of extras to use.  After I got mine home I added three tiny vintage ornaments in silver and aqua - my main colors for Christmas decor. The paper around the sides of the box is aqua, too.

If you'd like to see more, there are class photos and more of the finished santos on the Paper Crown blog here and on Jackie's blog here. A big thank you to both for another wonderful evening and another creation to treasure!

Paper Cowgirls Altered Tin Swap

Those Paper Cowgirls are at it again - a altered tin swap this time. This is a first for me, but I liked working in this format. Our theme was time and everyone was free to interpret that in their own way.  I was fairly literal, as usual.

I used printed canvas to cover most of the tin, with a stripe of Smash brand paper tape.  The little banner is from Bazzill Basics Banner Garland pack - little printed banners with the string sewn right into the paper. You just punch them out, being careful to keep the string intact. The banners are 12", but I only needed a tiny piece. The clockface and hands are from Bo Bunny.

The papers are from a My Mind's Eye 6x6 pad - Follow Your Heart. I had a sheet of 7 Gypsies stickers with a time theme that worked perfectly.

I made a little fold out "book" that tucks into the tin.  The seam binding bow holds everything in place.

The back is pretty basic, with just the canvas and a little Making Memories tag.  I'm not sure why I'm listing all the brands, as most of these products are several years old so you wouldn't be able to find them anyway! Just trying to use what I have for a change.

I wanted to send a little something to the swap hostess, so I created this ATC for her along the same theme. I finished the ATC late at night so the photo was shot using my dining room lighting rather than natural light and is therefore atrocious. I found a little sticker to add to the back that reads, "Created in a timely manner by_____." Since the swap items are due to her on November 15 and I mailed mine on the 12th, I just had to add "not very."

I am terribly behind on blog posts but hope to have more up soon.  I have another swap due on the 22nd - a White Christmas Tag Swap - and I need to post some wonderful Halloween projects before Thanksgiving rolls around! I also need to post about my "new" craft space. Woo hoo!  Hope you'll stop by again soon!

Mini Canvas Class

One of the local shops, My Heart's Fancy, recently offered a mini canvas class using some of the newest Distress Paints. A friend had taken the class earlier and I loved her canvases, so my friend Chris and I signed up. Both canvases were quick and easy with paper backgrounds, Distress Paints, stamps, rub-ons and Mod Podge.

I totally forgot to photograph the sides of the canvasses and can't get a good shot now since it's after midnight. One is painted with black and white stripes and the other is covered in black and white polka dot washi tape.

I'm a former orange hater, but lately I've wanted to add a few bright pops around the house. Since I've been reorganizing, I haven't hung them yet but hope to soon.

There are several classes coming up in the next few weeks so I'll be sharing more soon.

Crowning Glory

Paper Crown, the shop I consider to be my "home" paper arts store, celebrated seven years in business recently.  When the shop first opened, owner Cindy asked people to make paper crowns for display.  I was still working then and wasn't aware of Paper Crown and all the fun of paper arts. Now that I shop and take classes fairly regularly there, I didn't want to miss out on the chance to make a crown for the seventh "birthday" of the store. Blogger wasn't working for me at the time so this is a bit delayed, but here's my crown.

It's a bit papal, but I needed all that space to add vintage appliques, beads, tulle, crepe paper, brooches and sequins.  The gold rosette and the festooning around the bottom are made from vintage Dennison crepe paper, circa 1950s, that I found in the original packaging at a flea market.  The background paper and the cream lace rose are new, as is the gold glitter trim around the top.

If you'd like to see the other crowns, just click here. They're all lovely, and lots of techniques and great products are on display. I'll have another crown to show you soon, made for the Halloween Soiree tomorrow at Paper Crown.

A big thank you to Cindy for stocking her shop with tons of beauty and inspiration for the past seven years, and for finding so many talented instructors. I look forward to many more years of shopping and creating at Paper Crown!

The Pumpkin King

Looking forward to this event on Saturday!

If you're in or within driving distance of the OKC area, call the Paper Crown to reserve a spot. Then join us this Saturday to make a darling piece for your Halloween and enjoy some fun and festivity! More info is available on the Paper Crown blog here.

Antique and Vintage Show October 19-20 in Oklahoma City

A friend and I will be selling at Buchanan's Vintage and Antique Market this weekend at the Oklahoma City fairgrounds. If you're in the area, it looks like it will be a good show.  We set up Friday evening and it was hard to resist looking at all the great things in the other booths. I'm going to have to remember that my goal is to move things out, not bring more in!  Here are pics of some of the things I'll have for sale. Please excuse the terrible iPhone photos. It was dark and I was tired!

I was finally able to make the switch from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome as my browser and that seems to have fixed my Blogger issues.  Since I last posted, I've been on vacation, had new floors put in a couple of rooms, and moved my craft room to a bigger space.  More posts soon! I've missed my little blog!

Debby Schuh Classes

Debby Schuh of The Memory Bee was in Oklahoma City last week for four classes. I took her two Friday classes - Little Me journal and an Oklahoma memory book - and while we didn't finish either project in class, we made a great start and learned lots of great tips to make quick pages that look amazing! Debby was a lot of fun and provided extremely generous class kits, so there will be lots to play with to finish the projects.

I'm still having major Blogger issues so can't post photos, but you can check out Debby's blog via the link above (scroll down past the cute donkeys) or go to Jackie's blog here to see her post about her completed Little Me journal. Check out Lisa's blog here to see her finished Oklahoma memory book.

We're in the process of emptying out my craft room and our guest room so we can remove the carpet and have tile put down. I knew I had a lot of STUFF, but until I had to pack and move it I didn't realize just how much there really was. It's really ridiculous - SOOO much more than I could ever possibly use - and I've come to realize that the main reason I don't make things more often is that I'm totally overwhelmed by the options, and the search for whatever it is I'm thinking of. We are moving the craft room to a bigger space during this process, but I still plan to take some time when everything goes back in to purge. But before that, we'll be spending a week at the beach while someone else takes care of our house and our pups, and puts in the new tile. I have a feeling we're going to need this vacation badly by the time we leave here!

My Esty shop will be on vacation for a couple of weeks for restocking and R and R. 

Happy September!

Paper Cowgirl Rolodex Art Card Swap Returns

Whew! That title is a mouthful! If you're a regular reader you'll probably remember the rolodex art cards I made for the Paper Cowgirl swap. I posted about them in previous posts, but can't link to those posts right now due to Blogger issues. Grrr!

I received my return cards a while ago. Cindy from Paper Cowgirl sent them in this fabulous handpainted envelope! She made one for each of the participants.

I received all these lovely cards!  Not everyone signed or labeled their cards so I'm not going to list names, but every card is unique and wonderful. Click on any photo to see a larger version.

I'm still having problems with Blogger so this is an abbreviated post. I'm hoping to figure out the problem soon, but right now I'm having to switch to HTML to be able to type anything in, and random photos won't upload. The good news is, I was at least able to post and couldn't even do that yesterday!