Giving thanks

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A pretty autumn-colored card for you today on this beautiful Thanksgiving morning:

 

Mom's birthday

  • Simply Soft Stamp set
  • Naturals White, Old Olive, More Mustard and Cajun Craze card stock
  • Old Olive and More Mustard Classic ink pads
  • Aquapainter
  • Champagne Mist shimmer paint
  • Dimensionals
  • Rhinestone Jewels

I made this card for my mom’s birthday.  She’s a gardener and a good one, and I wanted her card to be full of flowers, so I put the message on the inside.  I cut out a few of the blossoms and stuck them on little pieces of dimensionals – it wasn’t hard – I can hear some “no cutting” stampers groaning!

One of my favorite things to do is make a card FOR someone.  Creating a design that suits the recipient and the occasion is part of the pleasure, but for me the best part is enjoying thinking of that “someone” while I’m making the card.   I live apart from many people whom I love, so making something especially for them allows me to draw them near if only in my mind.

Today, as every day, I am grateful.  My life is abundantly rich in beauty, comfort and the love of family and friends, and I make an effort to live with thanksgiving.  I am very blessed, and I wish the same for you.  Happy Thanksgiving Day.

One more Advent calendar

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Hello there, friends!  I’ve missed chatting with you – it’s been a busy month stamping and sharing and being a wife, friend and mother!  I’m happy to be back at the keyboard.

Almost a month ago I shared my first version of an Advent Calendar made with the 25 and Counting stamp set in the Holiday Mini catalog.  I was inspired at convention back in July when I saw the version the creative team at Stampin’ Up! made, and Cheryl and I spent a couple of hours on the plane home trying to figure out all the products that were used and how much it would cost to re-create the project.  The answer, to be precise, is 1) a lot and 2) a lot!!

Still, I was committed to the project and put together my version of the calendar.  I even offered it as a class and the brave women who came assured me that they loved it, even though we spent over 5 hours and didn’t quite finish!  Talk about the class that never ends!  It was a lot of work, but I confess I’m really happy with the end result.

In addition to the Advent Calendar done as little envelopes, I created one using boxes put into a frame with velcro:

Framed Advent Calendar

Do you like it?  These are the boxes from the Bitty Boxes and Envelopes Bigz die, and they were the perfect size for the little date cards I designed.  The challenge was that when you put 5 boxes in a row, they added up to 12 1/2 inches wide.  AARGH!!  I couldn’t find ANYTHING ready-made that would accomodate them, and I didn’t want to pay for a custom frame.

I was rummaging around my local craft store and stumbled upon canvas stretcher bars.  They’re not designed to be frames, but in a pinch – well, they were the perfect solution!  I used four 16 inch bars and it gave me just the right dimension.  A piece of poster board attached to the back with Sticky Strip gave me a place to put my velcro dots.  At the moment, the boxes are a little catty-wompus since we were taking them out and playing with them at a couple of recent classes.  They’re plenty large enough for a treat or a message.

It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort.

 

CASE-ing Lisa Young

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One of my favorite paper craft artists is Lisa Young at Add Ink and Stamp.  She has a true artist’s eye, and even more, she’s just a wonderful person!  Her loving, gentle spirit radiate in her posts.  Some day, I’m going to meet her “in the skin”!

Until then, I happily CASE her projects.  I loved this Silver Tree Box she made, and I adapted it to be something of a blank canvas:

Pennant Christmas Tree box

The tree is made from the Pennants on the new Perfect Pennants Bigz L die.  Instead of using the  Box #2 die, I made a small 2-4-6-8 box with my Simply Scored tool.  I wanted it to look more like a tree trunk, so in subsequent boxes I put a little torn piece of Soft Suede card stock onto the box as a trunk.   Dazzling Details provided the sparkle on the edges of the pennants, and the little ornaments are just circles cut with the Bitty Circle punch.  A little white gel pen provides the impression of reflected light.

The decorating was the fun part.  We made these in Hostess Club, and everyone made the same tree.  I brought my scrap basket to the table though, and everyone rummaged through looking for bits and pieces.  I wish I’d taken pictures of all those trees!  They were as unique as the crafters who made them and I loved seeing the results.  Actually, what I really enjoyed was watching everyone sort through those scraps of paper!

Downey said she was going to put pencils in hers, and I thought that was a great idea – a holiday themed pencil cup for my desk.  I’m going to put some glass floral marbles – the flat ones – in the bottom of the box to keep it from tipping and voila!  a festive desktop.

And…MARK YOUR CALENDARS…

There will be FREE downloads available at My Digital Studio November 4 to 7 – stay tuned!

Stampin' Up! Free Digital Content!

The gift of time

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Having a little stash of rosettes can be pretty dog-gone handy:

Another quick little box

This little box is made from a single piece of card stock, a little bit of Sticky Strip, and the Simply Scored Wonder Tool.    It was very simple to put together, and all I had to do was tie a little bit of ribbon around it and add a tag and the rosette.

I’m at that point in life where I don’t really need much in the way of stuff any more.  We’re really blessed that way.  I mean, I can always use some juicy new Stampin’ stuff, and I wouldn’t turn down a new pair of earrings, but when it comes down to it I’m ok.  As a result, a lot of my gift-giving is simpler.  I try to find something that my friends will enjoy and find a use for, but I really just want to let them know I love them.

A small hand-made gift shared over lunch (or even better, a pedicure) makes a great birthday gift.  We spend time together laughing and telling stories, and we both have a nice meal (or sparkley toes) when it’s done.  The fact that many of us have kids who are grown or almost-grown makes this a lot more practical – some of my friends still have young children and slipping away just isn’t possible.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.

And…MARK YOUR CALENDARS…

There will be FREE downloads available at My Digital Studio November 4 to 7 – stay tuned!

Stampin' Up! Free Digital Content!

Oh-so-quick packaging

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I was in a hurry the other day for a quick package:

Paper bag topper

If you’ve made one of those rosettes/lollies/pleated circles, you’ll know that the reason this was a QUICK package was I had a completed rosette sitting on my craft desk.  I love the way they look but they do take time to assemble.  I’ve taken to putting them together in steps.  Once they’re done, I leave them in a bowl on my desktop to inspire me (or to grab in a hurry!)

It’s not super fancy or elaborate but it was simple to do and it suited the occasion.  Just a top note, the rosette, a Boho punch, a brad and a little Soft Suede ink.  I think it took me 3 minutes – seriously.

Paper bag topper

And…MARK YOUR CALENDARS…

There will be FREE downloads available at My Digital Studio November 4 to 7 – stay tuned!

Stampin' Up! Free Digital Content!

The first cut is the tricky part

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What’s it gonna be today?

You're in my heart

  • Word Play, Creative Elements and Simply Soft stamp sets
  • River Rock, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White card stock
  • Paisley Petals Designer Series paper
  • River Rock, Cherry Cobbler and Marina Mist Classic ink pads
  • Cherry Cobbler Quilted Satin ribbon
  • Big Shot, Scallop Circles 2 and 3 inch Circle Bigz dies
  • Scallop Border punch
  • Stampin’ Sponge

I love this specialty cut, but I have a confession to make.  Every time I run this through the Big Shot, I make a mistake (or two) and ruin two or three pieces of paper.  The placement of the cutting pads on the Big Shot is a little tricky and I always goof it up.  I got that Sheryl Crow song stuck in my head – you know – “The first cut is the deepest, Baby I know!”

THIS video tutorial does a great job of demonstrating how to make this cut, and I’ve bookmarked it so I can review it every time!  I used a card with the fold on the narrow side instead of the wide side, but it’s the same principle.

Those little smudgy bits around the edge of the circle are one of the two-step “filler” stamps from the Simply Soft stamp set.  Just the right amount of texture!  You could do a lot of different things with those smudgy bits.

Time to start counting the days

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It’s not that long until the first week of Advent.  When my children were small, we always bought an Advent Calendar with the little windows that opened to reveal an image.  Each night, one of them would open that little window at dinnertime and Christmas would move one day closer.

They’re big kids now, but I still look forward to counting down the days until Christmas.  This year we’ll be celebrating it in Perth with my oldest daughter and her fiance – YES, they are officially engaged!!  We are thrilled, and can’t wait to have the whole family together in Australia.  My poor Sara will be flying from Boston – that’s 31 hours of travel time.  But it’s WORTH IT to all be together – right, Sara?

Back to Advent Calendars…on the plane home from Convention, Cheryl and I carefully studied the brand new Holiday Mini catalogs we were given.  We both loved the Advent Calendar on page 36 made with the 25 and Counting stamp set, but we wanted it to have a place to put stuff – notes, or Scripture verses, or treats, or whatever.  Making each date a window would make it too big, and we tried to figure out a way to make it work.  I promised to keep at it, and to offer it as a class if I came up with a workable idea.

It took a lot of fiddling and a few unsatisfactory attempts before I created what we were looking for:

Advent Calendar with envelopes

Imagine this hanging on your wall with a GINORMOUS red ribbon!

My version of the Advent Calendar uses the new 25 and Counting Stamp set, the Peekaboo Frames Bigz die, and more paper, stamps, and embellishments than you can shake a stick at!  It’s mounted on a painted Artist Board – much cheaper than canvas, and available in many sizes.  There are pairs of Antique Brads attached to the board (that Crop-a-dile really does cut through ANYTHING) and the little envelopes from the Bitty Boxes and Envelope Bigz die are attached to a hemp twine line with our tiny clothespins.

If you would like to make one, I’m offering a class – yes, here on Maui – on Sunday, November 13.  I only have room for 10 people, and details are on my events calendar at my Online Store.  I’d love to have you join us!

A few words of sympathy

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It’s hard to know what to say when someone experiences loss.  Finding the right words is a struggle, and often the words that come to mind don’t express what we’re really feeling.  I’ve found that simple is best:

I'm so sorry

  • Thoughts and Prayers, Teeny Tiny Wishes, and French Script stamp sets
  • Whisper White and Wisteria Wonder card stock
  • Pear Pizazz and Wisteria Wonder classic ink pads
  • Pretty in Pink and Wisteria Wonder Stampin’ Write markers
  • Blender pen
  • Big Shot, Originals 3 inch Circle,  and Framed Tulips Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

I tried to add more embellishment to this card and it just wouldn’t work.  This is about as close as I get to Clean and Simple.  For this sympathy card, in this situation, it was just right.

Stacy, I’m so sorry.

Upscale shopping

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In January of this year, a law went into effect in Maui County prohibiting the use of plastic bags. You know the ones – they’ve replaced paper bags everywhere.  They’re thin, they’re strong, and they’re easily airborne on the trade winds, meaning they ended up everywhere.  We called them “opala birds”, opala being the Hawai’ian word for trash.  Not only were they an eyesore, but they made it very quickly into the ocean where they could easily be mistaken as food by marine life.

Now we’re all in the habit of carrying re-usable tote bags with us.  I have a cute little rolled-up one that fits in my purse, and there are probably a dozen sturdy bags in the trunk of my car.  Recently, Crystal brought me one that I fell in love with:

Baroque Motif tote bag

Can you say WOW!!?

No drippy groceries in THIS bag.  This is for my upscale shopping – you know, Old Navy, Office Max – clean stuff.  Crystal used our Flourish Decor Stencil (#117581, $9.95) along with some Timeless Portrait fabric  (#122337, $9.95) and Cherry Cobbler 1/2 inch scallop dots ribbon (#124138, $7.95) for this.

Don’t you love the flower?

Timeless Portrait Rosette

She used the Fun Flowers L Bigz die to cut the individual flowers, then made a hole and pulled a knot from the ribbon through.  The woman is a genius – a very generous genius.  I’m lucky she’s my friend!

A Sweet Stocking Suite

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Crystal and I have been hard at work on projects for our annual series of classes – I like to refer to them as Anne and Crystal’s Christmas Extravaganza (that’s gonna be ACCE from now on out).  We’ve reserved the Maui Masonic Lodge for the whole day on November 5 and we’re really excited!  Here are the projects we’re doing for the LAST class of the day:

Sweet Stocking Suite

The Stitched Stockings stamp set, Stocking Builder Punch and Holiday Stocking Bigz L die all coordinate together to create a fabulous Suite of projects – and you’ll make them all in this class!   (And yeah, that gift bag in the back doesn’t quite match – but it WILL.  These are our prototypes.)

The Sweet Suite class is from 2 to 4:30 pm and you’ll go home with a gift bag, card, tag, gift card holder, and cookie box (ok, well, that’s what I would put in it!).  Cost of the class is $15 if I have your payment by October 21, and $17 (on a space available basis) if you sign up after that date.  We’ll provide the specialty adhesives, but you’ll need a Tombo or a SNAIL for general assembly.  Let me know if you’d like to pre-order a fresh adhesive for class – I’ll have it ready for you in your packet.

Stocking Suite gift bag and cookie box

Isn’t that little box the cutest?  Hope to see you!