a small token of my love

It truly is tiny, just one and one
half inches square. Untie the pretty
silk ribbon, and it opens up--


as an accordion folded book, full of inchies and
sweet sentiments.


(click on any photo to enlarge)

The base is textured black cardstock, and the patterned
paper is from Basic Grey's lemonade line. The images are
from Altered Pages, and there is some distress ink, tulle,
German scrap, and a sparkly heart on the front cover.

Apparently I enjoyed making this a little too much,
as it's started up a whole series of tiny book projects.
You probably already know I'm partial to handmade books,
but this is the first one I've ever made that is so very
small.

:)

Challenges:::::::
Crafty Boots--New Beginnings (first tiny book in a series, FUN!)
Cupcake Craft--something new (my first inchie book)
Karen's Doodles--Valentines/Love
MyGrafico--Love and Valentine's
Cupcake Inspirations--from pic (I used the colors)

help me choose a sentiment???

I'm leaning towards, "So many men, so little time."

This has been a great year so far--nothing to do with
the "So many men," don't get any ideas! Lots of
fun new stamps to play with, and these fine fellows are
from one of my new favorite sets--Miscellaneous
Anthromorphs by Lost Coast Designs,
available at Blockheads.

Used some textured black cardstock for the base, and
the patterned paper is bits of sheet music, book pages,
and someone's old college notes. The gentlemen are all
colored with markers, and there is a strip of black satin
ribbon behind each.

So, what do you think for a sentiment? Like I said, I'm
leaning towards "So many men, so little time," but am
definitely open to ideas here!

Challenge me up this weekend:::::

Gingersnap Creations--use a set or line of stamps
Rogue Redhead Designs--use a grid(the grid lines are the ribbon,
is that griddy enough?)
Craft Your Days Away--new beginnings(I was invited to be a
guest designer for Lost Coast Designs, and this is my first card
for them--believe me, I'm celebrating!!)
Crafty Catz--new beginnings also, see above!
Crazy 4 Challenges--use or try something new (the stamps!)
Card Makin' Mamas--use something new (the stamps!)

Have a great Saturday, everyone!

:)

PS!! This ended up being a birthday card for a gentleman
who turned one hundred!!

gettin' griddy with the Rogue Redheads

Well, honestly, I'm still not sure I like the colors, but
the images from the Milliner Misses and rose from the
Floriculture plate, those make me happy! The patterned
paper is cut from a piece of handmade background paper,
and everything is inky with Jet Black Staz-On. A little
tulle, some sequins waste, and there you go.

Don't feel like lining up a grid with the Rogue
Redheads today? Then here are a few more creative
challenges you may want to try:

Gingersnap Creations--use a set or line of stamps (Rogue Redhead)
Pixie Dust Studios--mono-tize it!
Sassy Studio Designs--Use something new (the stamps)
Shelly's Images--use something less than a month old (the stamps)
Stamp n' Doodle--anything goes this week!

Update--Thank you to Shelly's Images for the Bronze Award
for this card! :)

I missed you!

Whew, I'm back! Let me advise you, if you have the
choice of getting one of the colds going around right
now, and NOT getting a cold . . . well, you probably
know which one to pick. It's good to be back, and with
a brand new year of creative possibilities.

Speaking of creative possibilities, you might want to
peruse the latest challenges at Gingersnap Creations.
I had entirely too much fun making this piece for the
Chestnut Theme--Use a Line or Set of Stamps challenge:


If you click on the photo, it will enlarge.

The background is pieced of various scraps
of ephemera, and the sweet stamps are all from
Jo Capper-Sandon's line at Stampotique.

Stampotique is generously sponsoring the challenges
this round at Gingersnap Creations. They are also hosting
their Stampotique Designer's Challenge, which is
a Wish for the New Year.

Just look on the back of that little "wish" tag,
and you'll find one of mine . . .

:)

More fun challenges:
Digistamps4Joy--Something old, something new
(ephemera old, stamps brand new!)
My Mum's Craft Shop--something new (stamps!)
Penny's Paper-Crafty--birds!
Simon Says Stamp--something new (the stamps!)
Anything Goes Challenge Blog--blue plus one other colour

And you can always share your makes and find other
great ideas at Dear Creatives.

did you have a merry Christmas?

We did. But one guess what's been going on with me . . .
bleah! See you in a few days, okay? I'm going back to
bed now . . .

Christmas luminary

Ready for another Random Redhead Challenge from
Gingersnap Creations? How about Candelabras,
Chandeliers, and Candles--a perfect challenge
for the holidays.



You know the melted wax trick I talked about? This
luminary uses the same technique. The melted wax makes
the paper translucent, allowing the candle glow to shine
through. The Santa image is on vellum, the snow is Tacky
Glue and snow glitter. I also sprinkled silver glitter
on the paper, as I was melting the crayons onto it, and
swirled it around in the wax with the crayons.



If you don't have a suitable candle holder, a wide
mouth canning jar (they're tempered glass) will work
just as well. Just make sure your candle is much lower
than the top of the jar, and the flame won't come in
contact with the paper luminary. (Yes, I know, uh,
duh, right?)

There is glitter all over our house right now, from all
the Christmas things I've been making and receiving, and
you know how glitter clings to everything and everyone.
Let's just say our teenage sons are looking mighty
sparkly lately . . .

:)

angel tags

These tags went out for an angel tag swap at
the Altered Pages yahoo group:


Pearls, snowy looking glitter . . .


. . . bling, glitter, and you can see the glaze here,
how it gives it a painted effect,


. . . and everyone gets some German scrap, netting,
stamping, and tulle! See that sheet music trim at
the bottom of this one? It's made from music from
a hymnal that I coated with beeswax, then gathered
into trim. I like how the wax protects the paper,
plus gives it a pretty color. This one fits in
great with the Spicy Supply Challenge at Gingersnap
Creations.

More challenge inspirationn:
Really Reasonable Ribbon--anything goes with ribbon or trim
Scrappin'Chics--anything Christmas
CropStop--non-traditional Christmas colors
Do You Stack Up?--winter
Rainbow Lady's--angels
Divas By Design--Christmas
Flutter By Wednesday--angel, butterfly, or fairy
Sisterhood of Crafters--Christmas

Gingersnap Creations wax challenge

Do you have a favorite art thing?

I'm a diehard crayon lover. I admit it, they were my
first love, and I still use them often, almost every
piece has a little scribbling, a little waxy distressing.

So you KNOW I was all over the latest Gingersnap
Creations Spicy Supply Challenge--WAX!



The icy silver rick rack is outlined on either side
with Pennywise Arts iridescent bubble beads--Pennywise
is hosting this round of challenges at Gingersnap, and
providing some fun prizes.



You know those old warming trays they used to use at
parties, for appetizers and such? The kind that plug
in, and the top gets pretty hot? If you have one, and
haven't tried this, it is SO much fun--just set your paper
on top of the hot warming tray, and color with crayons.
They get all melty and blendy, which is how I did the
background for this tag. It was going to be a skinny,
and it is skinny size--3x5--except I'm all about Christmas
right now, so it turned into an ornament tag, and the
icicles at the bottom, they just kind of happened . . .

Gingersnap Creations ornament exchange

These fun ornaments are from the Gingersnap Creations
yahoo group tag ornament art exchange:


Cathy Calmus


Peggy Gatto


Paula Akers


Helene Huber


and Jingle!

Thank you again, ladies!

more Christmas ornaments!

These are more ornaments from the swap at Cassandra's--


This is my favorite from Mary--isn't it pretty?


They arrived all packaged up and so sweet!

Caroline had hers wrapped in velvety fabrics and ribbons,
but of course I tore into them before taking a picture.

Caroline did a great tutorial on the bottle cap
ornaments on her blog.

Such delightful ornaments from everyone--thank
you again, ladies!

:)