mini book with tags

Joined a bookmaking class in a yahoo group--as if I need
to be encouraged to make books!



That dreamy face and background stamp are from the Years Ago
set available at Blockheads.



This one is an X book with pockets--it's only a little more than
2 1/2 inches square.



You can see I filled the pockets with tags and sewing bits,
trimmed with vintage crocheted edging,



silky seam binding, and those sewing stamps, aren't they
perfect for this?



The vintage looking light bulb shaped pins and all the fun tags
are from Altered Pages . . .



Okay, I know the honey bee and flower don't quite go with the theme,
but it's "sew sweet," yes?



It was sew much fun to make! Ooooh, you are sew right, those
puns--uncalled for--sorry about that, couldn't help myself . . .

:)

PS. There have been a few questions about the sewing set--the spool
of thread and thimble are my favorites from it, but there are three
pairs of fancy scissors plus more. You can see it HERE.

do you always finish what you start?

Months ago, I bound an atc sized book, then set it aside
and forgot it existed . . .

(The images enlarge if you click on them.)



Found it, and decided it was perfect for some Word Art
Wednesday layouts. That little angel is from the Frozen In Time
sheet at Altered Pages.



And this stamp image seemed perfect for this layout--
it's from Rogue Redhead Designs, the Relish Reading set.

I'm entering both of these in the current Word Art Wednesday
challenge--they always give you a bit of lovely scripted text
to use, either a verse or a quote, but any inspirational quote
you incorporate into your art is accepted, plus you can join in
twice a week.

That's all. Have to admit, I'm pretty tired--had to work at our
shop the last three days while the husband and youngest son were
at an out-of-town high school basketball tournament. I managed to
set the alarm off, but only once, so that's not too bad, AND bought
a pretty sweet card--a Joe DiMaggio Play Ball from 1940. That may
not sound very exciting to you, but I was pretty jazzed about it.
Here is a picture of one, not the one I purchased, however, as it is
at the store, and mine isn't centered as nicely as this:



And that's what I did last week.

I'm adding this (the book, not Joe Di!) to the Simon
Says Stamp 3 papers challenge--the Rogue Redhead is stamped
on vintage, yellowed notebook paper, the digi Word Art Wednesday
text is on new, white notebook paper, and that is on part of a blue
mailing envie that came from India.

:)

ever made twinchies?

These are for a swap at Gingersnap Creations--
I can't wait to see what comes in the mail!



You probably already know that twinchies are
2 inches by 2 inches.



These have some of the home made background
papers from THIS POST . . .



and all faces and time images are from Altered Pages.



Not a lot of additional embellishment,



except for the netting and hearts on these two.



The two collage sheets are Gypsy Soul and Time Collage Backgrounds.




By the way, collage sheets are buy one, get one free
at Altered Pages until the end of February--up to ten
free pages . . . just a little heads up . . .

two color challenge at Gingersnap Creations

Well, okay, some people would consider this only one, and
not count the black . . . I like the watercolor wash, and
these sweet stamps from Rogue Redhead Designs. I'm going
to mail this to my Great Aunt; she was with me the first
time I saw the ocean.

And the first time I got stung by a jellyfish!

Rogue Redhead Designs is sponsoring this month at Gingersnap
Creations, so now would be a great time for you to show and
tell a two-tone arty something of your own.

:)

Did you see that Gingersnap Creations is evolving?
Check out the new Unruly Paperarts!

"Don't let the stars get in your eyes . . .

don't let the moon break your heart."

Ever heard that song?



It immediately came to mind when I learned the challenge
at Basic Grey Challenges--Wish Upon a Star. (You'd think
it would be, "When You Wish Upon a Star," wouldn't you?
That one came in second!)



All the papers are from the Blush line.



This bit was fun to put together.

I'm excited to see the starry creations this round at
Basic Grey Challenges, what a lovely theme.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

:)

belated thank yous

A late, late thank you for all these amazing
and beautiful sweeties:


from Kimberly of ArtJoyStuff


atc book constructed by Penny of A Penny for Your Thoughts
(it's even more wonderful in real life, let me tell you!)


This first atc is Penny's . . .


atcs from Janine and Beverly


atcs from Sherry and the Marie is mine . . .

Isn't that such a great swap idea? Penny makes
wonderful books like that, and recently had some
published--you can see more HERE.

Ready for some more pretties? These are Christmas
atcs--there should be one more in this set, and I
apologize to whomever I am leaving out, but your atc
got packed away in the Christmas decorations!


from Wendy Robinson


from Martina Fuchs


from Lorraine Rigby


from April Dudko


and from Ann Lavin of Raggedy Ann's Playground.

Thank you again to all of these talented ladies!!

:)

So I lied.

Okay, okay, so I made another Valentine. It's
for a WTA for a yahoo group I'm in, and the winner
said she wanted vintage, so . . .



I know Michele is with me on the make-tons-of-
Valentines deal. And Shelly, you'd better send
me your address . . .

Have a great weekend, everyone!

:)

Crafty Catz--Valentine
Frosted Designs--Love is in the air
Prairie Fairy Fridays--Let me call you sweetheart
Simon Says Stamp--Love is in the air (french script SU stamp, Prima rose)
Fussy and Fancy--With all my heart
Jellypark Challenges--Shades of love
4 Crafty Chicks--Love is in the air (my daughter just suggested we
start our own blog called "Four Crafty Hicks")
Our Crafty Lounge--Vintage Love

one more Valentine? wanna win some stamps?

You already know about my little Valentine problem,
ahem, need to get those in the mail, yes . . . but
made one more today!!!




Is it wrong for me to think she's just so pretty?



She's the Cosmos Collage stamp from
Lost Coast designs, available at Blockheads.

Made her using a super simple chalk technique, but I'm
so pleased with how she turned out--it was a good effect
for this image, a nice soft touch. If you have a chalk
technique you like to use, consider this--if you enter your
chalky stamped creation at the Blockheads Blog site, you
have a chance at a $25 gift certificate.

Happy Valentine's Day, right? Actually, you have until
the 21st, but that's beside the point . . . and look at
that, I entered the code just like they said, and it
magically posted everything you need to know, right down
there! I'll never understand the intraweb . . .

:)

Blockheads Challenge: Chalk Attraction Technique Blog Hop

To Take our Challenge: Visit Blockheads' Chalk AttractionTechnique Page to see Leigh Snaith Brunton's steps for creating a card with VersaMark ink and chalks.  Then create your own out-of-the-box creation, create a blog post that includes the link code, which creates links to other participants, then submit your URL by clicking the button below.  Links will be removed that don't include the code.

The February 21st deadline for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate has passed.  Congratulations to Chrissie!  You are still welcome to join the blog hop.  Your link will still show up on all the bloggers' pages who posted links.

Code to Paste into the html code of your blog post:
<!-- start InLinkz script -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.inlinkz.com/cs.php?id=121294"></script>
<!-- end InLinkz script -->

1. Birgit/Biggan (guestdesigner)  2. Leslie Turner  3. Karen McAlpine  4. Leigh Snaith-Brunton  5. Leigh Snaith-Brunton  6. SAMARA  7. trisha too  8. Val S.  9. Val Snaith  10. Chrissie  11. Electra  12. Cathy P

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

still making Valentines . . .

So I'm sending Valentines to all the people I didn't
send Christmas cards to this year.

(I didn't send any cards. Don't tell.)



But I'm thoroughly enjoying the Valentine making,
so much fun . . .



Look at this guy, isn't he great?



All three of these use images from Altered Pages,
but the handsome gentleman is from one of my favorite
pages-- Royalty Kings

You know where I'm going, right? Yep, to make
more Valentines!! ;)

Want more Valentine inspiration? Check out these
challenges:

Art With No Boundaries--All You Need is Love
Clear it Out--use your pink and red scraps
Deep Ocean Challenge--Love You!
Everybody Art--Love
Scrap-Creations--Valentines

tragic love story

Do you have a favorite line of paper or stamps, one you
know you will almost always immediately love whenever they
introduce a new line? That's how I've felt about Basic Grey
for years (yes,we have an ongoing relationship), so you can
imagine how pleased I was to be invited to guest design for
Basic Grey Challenges this month.

The theme this fortnight is LOVE, and I happened to have a
heart shaped candy box just begging to be altered:



Grape Fizz and S.W.A.K Fusion papers, some vintage
trim, silk flowers, inks, crayons, my grandma's violet
handkerchief (yes, that really was grandma's), a



vintage calling card, envie, and ticket (that one
really is old), and a not-vintage cameo. The lace
is spray painted violet.



Here's the tragic part: I finished taking pictures,
and went to hang the heart on the wall. BUT I had forgotten
to finish securing the ribbon hanger to the back, it was
only glue dotted on . . . you can probably see where this
is going. Had just hung it on the wall, was still standing
there looking at it, and WHAM, it fell to the floor, exploding
vintage bits and silk flowers everywhere. My daughter was in
the room, and started laughing herself silly--apparently I was
making one heck of a surprised face!

On a happier note, as always, Simon Says Stamp is sponsoring
the challenge, so you not only have the opportunity to make a
lovely love piece just in time for Valentine's Day, but the
chance at a $25 store voucher--sweet!

:)

Some more love-ly challenges:
Di's Digi Designs--Valentines
My Sheri Crafts--Love is in the air
One Stop Craft Challenge--for the one I love
Stamp, Scrap, and Doodle--die cut or punch
Squiggles and Giggles--all loved up
Gingersnap Creations--use up some of your favorite
designer paper stash

makin' Valentines and I can't stop . . .

When we were young, my mom would get out doilies, lace,
construction paper, stickers, ribbons--you know, the
good stuff--and let us have at it to make Valentines.

Well, I may be the mom now, but that doesn't mean I
can't still get out the good stuff and make some
Valentines, right?

I want to be able to actually mail these, so they're minus
the bulkier embellishments that can be so beguiling . . .



This fine young fellow is Rose Boy from
Lost Coast Designs, available at Blockheads.



He's my favorite stamp du jour, as you can see.



Isn't he a sweetie?



And offering up those roses, he's perfect for
Valentine's Day!



These two are for Word Art Wednesday--every week they
post a verse or inspirational quote you can use in your
art for a challenge (it doesn't have to be a card).



Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go make some more
Valentines . . .

:)

Oooooh, look, challenges!
Artistic Stampers--hearts
Crafty Ann's--love is in the air
Crafty Catz--pink and white
Delicious Doodles--all loved up
Fairy Tale Challenge--love, love, love
Stempelsonn Challenges--Valentines
Always Something Creative--Valentines
Really Reasonable Ribbon--red and pink with ribbon(grosgrain)
Little Miss Muffet--love and Valentines
Belli Challenge--hearts/Valentine

Here's a little update--Fliss posted a pretty piece using
this same stamp, you can go see HERE!

words of wisdom

Please, who couldn't use some words of wisdom?
I enjoy proverbs, truisms, sage sayings--personally,
I can use all the help I can get!

So, you can imagine I'm all with the new theme at
Gingersnap Creations--Words of Wisdom. I've decided
to make an altered book, and this piece isn't a card
(it kind of looks like a card), it's a tip-in.



The proverb I used is from the book of Proverbs, but
it's from the NMV. If you've never heard of the NMV,
it's because I made it up--it's the New Mom Version.
It's a paraphrase of the actual verse.



Isn't it funny how different captions to images can
make them tell a whole different story?

So what do you think? Does this Rogue Redhead look
as if she's sitting in time out because she couldn't
keep her mouth shut? Or is she working really hard to
KEEP it shut?? She's from the Relish Reading plate,
and until this challenge, I always thought she was
contemplating something she'd just read . . . but now
I'm not so sure . . .

Rogue Redhead Designs is sponsoring this round of
challenges, so by joining in, you not only have an
opportunity to share some Words of Wisdom with all
the Gingersnaps, but the chance to end up with some
brand new stamps!