Toodles, 2012...

Today is the last day of 2012, and in the hopes of starting off the New Year with a bang (and some creative zing!), I'm going to post some of my favorite projects from 2012 (ya know, since I was a slacker for about half of the year and didn't post anything at all to my poor blog.) Not all of my projects are made of paper, but they are definitely my favorites. I consider myself a multi-faceted crafter. All hobbies are created equal. :) I can't wait to show you some of the nifty projects I've had roaming around inside my head for the past several weeks... Hope to get some time very soon!!

Here is my top ten (and these are in no particular order):

PTI Blog Hop, Take 2

Hola, again!

Here is the second installment of my Anniversary cards made from this inspiration photo:

And here is my second take:

What does the one have to do with the other, you might ask? Well, the stripes definitely were inspired from the photo, as were the roses. I got the color combination from watching "Pride and Prejudice" with my mom the other night. Mrs. Forster's dress was the prettiest combination of Spring Moss and Berry Sorbet, and I needed to translate that into something with paper. Unfortunately (sometimes) I am one of those people who, once they get an idea in their heads, it's impossible to do anything else until that idea comes to fruition. Some call it stubbornness... I can't imagine what they (i.e. my husband) could possibly mean by that. :)

Thanks for visiting again today!!

Supplies Used: (All PTI unless otherwise noted)
 Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado, Vintage Cream cardstock
Berry Sorbet, Spring Moss, Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate inks
Simply Jane and dies
Simply You
Damask Designs
Vintage Labels
 Distress Stripes
Essential Glue Pad
Ranger Clear Embossing Powder
Stardust, Lime Green Stickles
Ribbon from Hobby Lobby

PTI Blog Hop

Well, it's the 25th of the month, which means the PTI Blog Hop is here!




I needed to make an anniversary card for a friend, so I made a couple of options. Both were inspired by the blog hop inspiration photo:

I absolutely am in LOVE with this color combination. I translated it to Spring Rain, Hibiscus Burst, and Sweet Blush. My bedspread happens to look like the fabric second from the bottom, and I'm thinking about making coordinating wall decor. (Won't my hubs be thrilled?)

Anyway, here is my take on the challenge photo:

I used some white shimmer paper that I got at Joann's to create the quatrefoil cover panel, along with Rosie Posie die cuts, stamped on Sweet Blush with Hibiscus Burst ink. I added some shading to the interior of the Rosie Posie flowers and around the "You" with a Sakura Stardust pen, which you can't see too well in the photos, but looks lovely in real life.

I wish I had Rosie Posie dies in an even bigger size! I want to use them to make some wall hangings for the bedroom....

Thanks for stopping by!!! :) I'll be back with Part II of my inspiration pieces.

Supplies Used (All PTI unless otherwise noted):
Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Spring Rain cardstock
Rosie Posie and dies
Simply You
Happy Day
BB: Polka Dots
Limitless Layers 3 1/2 inch oval dies
Quatrefoil die
Turning a New Leaf dies
Hibiscus Burst, Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Blueberry Sky, Raspberry Fizz ink
Coredinations Shimmer cardstock
Petal Pink Ranger Liquid Pearls
Sakura Stardust pen

Blue and Yellow...

Those are the colors that have been on my brain for the last couple weeks.

My brother-in-law and future sister-in-law are getting married on Friday, and we (my MIL and husband's grandma and aunts) threw a shower for future SIL on Monday night. I was in charge of decorations because.... well.... nobody would want to eat anything I cooked. Lol. Except for maybe cookies. I do make pretty darn good cookies. :) I talked to my MIL about making it a tea party, and she went even further and decided it should be a Mad Hatter tea party. Her friend collects hats, and so there was a huge tub full of them for the guests to wear! We had little sandwiches, fruit, deviled eggs, pinwheels, little pickles-wrapped-in-cream-cheese-and-ham that were oh-so-delicious, and I made cupcakes, and everyone got a thick, thick, thick sugar cookie to take home with them.

As promised, here are the pictures of the banner I made, as well as some details of the decorations I made. I found, somewhere online (fairly certain it was Pinterest, but I'm not 100% on that), the idea of placing boxes wrapped in coordinating wrapping paper in the center of the table, then placing your flower arrangement, candle, bud vases, etc on the box. The idea is to give your main centerpiece some height, particularly if it's a fairly small centerpiece. This method worked perfectly for the shower; I had found some gorgeous creamy yellow milk glass teacups and saucers, creamer, sugar container, and some beautiful Madrid glass teacups and bowls at a local antique store. I put yellow roses and some pale blue delphiniums in them to make the centerpieces. They were a bit small, so I was super excited at how well the wrapped-box idea worked out. 

The church basement, after all of the decorations had been put into place.

 The MIDGETT banner. They're going to use this at the wedding reception. So excited about this!!

 I absolutely love making those hydrangeas. It's a good thing I have another banner to make, because this is probably one of my most favorite things to create. (It's also probably one of the only things I use my Cricut for anymore.)

A few closeups of some of the centerpieces:

(Funny story: See that package beneath the pitcher of flowers? Yeah, that's my music theory textbook. Thank goodness it finally was useful. Music Theory and I were NOT friends. Put it this way: it was the only class in grad school in which I did NOT get an A. Totally ruined my 4.0 GPA. Bah humbug.)

I see these darling banners all over Pinterest all the time, and I thought it would be cute to have behind the food. I did, however, have to restrain myself from putting flowers all over it.

The Bride!

From left to right: Grandma, MIL, moi, Bride, Aunts-in-law. Boy oh Boy am I a gigantasaurus Rex, particularly amongst all of those Midgetts. (teehee. I made a joke.) And that's in flip flops.

I'd say the shower was immensely successful, and the food was delicious. We even had hot tea!

I want to get married again, just so I can plan a wedding. :) Or maybe someone needs to hire me as a wedding coordinator. Hey, it could happen.

Thanks for visiting!!! Have a marvelous day!! :)

PTI Blog Hop

Hi there!!

Super quick post, as I have a million things yet to do tonight.

Today is the PTI Blog Hop! We were challenged to create something using this photo:

My mom's 50th birthday is a week from tomorrow, and so I decided to make her a birthday card. I bought the Simply Jane set in anticipation of this very occasion. My mom absolutely adores Jane Austen, so I thought it only appropriate to use the Simply Jane set for her birthday card. I really love the stripes in the picture, but as I don't have a stripe stamp set, and PTI hasn't come out with Lemon Tart pattern paper, I had to use my Aqua Mist pattern paper instead. I embossed the frame with clear embossing powder, created a little background of the accent roses and the single dot from BB: Polka Dots, and I called it quits.

I used the "Happy Birthday" sentiment from the Simply Jane set, but did some masking to leave off the actual "Happy Birthday" portion. I prefer to leave this to the inside, because I think it just doesn't make sense to have Happy Birthday written twice....

It's simple, but effective. I am utterly in love with this color combination... which is a good thing, considering my brother-in-law's wedding (which is less than two weeks away) are these same colors, and I've been asked to make several projects for them, including the CARDS banner pictured at the very top of the post. I'm in the process of making a last name banner for them, of which I will post pictures when it's finished.

Thanks for visiting!! :)

Supplies used (all PTI unless otherwise noted):
Lemon Tart, Aqua Mist, Aqua Mist stripe paper
Hawaiian Shores, Dark Chocolate ink
Simply Jane stamps and dies
Think Big Favorites (Happy Birthday set)
Mat Stack 2
Essential Glue Pad
Ranger clear embossing powder
Sakura Stardust Gelly Roll pens

Wedding season is upon us!!

Hola!!

In an effort to use this blog for things other than challenges, I have decided to post a "summary" of the week's activities (if there are no challenges in which to participate). This week (and for the next several weeks) have been dominated by weddings.... wedding gifts... wedding pins... wedding stationery... It makes me want to get married all over again (although it doesn't take much for that feeling to arrive... lol)!!

First up is my brother-in-law's wedding. It's taking place on April 6 (Good Friday) and I've been asked to sing and make some banners. Their first shower of three took place yesterday, and so I just had to come up with a neat gift! (The best gift will be saved for the shower that my MIL and I are throwing for her the week of the wedding.) While my mom was visiting a few weeks ago, we found these absolutely *gorgeous* etched champagne glasses in an antique store here in town. Unfortunately, the antique store was closed, and there was no sign indicating when they would be open. My sweet husband called me the day before the shower (yikes!) and told me that they were OPEN!! I immediately rushed over there and bought these fantastic champagne glasses. I should have taken a picture of them... darn.... Anyway, they had a set of 5 matching wine glasses that hubs bought for me! I can't wait to have a place to display them. They are some kind of fancy antique pattern (Rose-something or other), and they had lots more of the pattern in the shop, so I hope to one day go back and get some more.

To complete the gift, I added a bottle of Bubbling Rose Moscato and some handmade stationery with their monogram on it.

Of course, the gift wouldn't be complete without a card. :)

I think this is one of my favorite cards that I've ever made. (It seems that every card I make with Rosie Posie is my favorite...) It may just become my standard wedding card. :)

Beyond the fact that my brother-in-law is getting married in a month, I also have gotten an inkling that wedding season is imminent in the fact that I've gotten orders for 40+ wedding party pins! This is one of the sets that I have finished and mailed:

This is just a sample of some of the things I've been working on this past week. I have several more orders to complete, not to mention a shower to plan and decorate, as well as wedding gifts to create. Sigh. This is going to be a busy month. It's definitely a good thing; my darling hubby starts nights tonight until he leaves for training for his new job 2 states away. I'm glad I have projects to keep me from getting too lonely. :(

Have a lovely day!!