It's a feeling ...

It's a feeling I get whenever I see vintage cream cardstock, and pink & green girlfriend papers, and polka dot stamps, and french script stamps, and sheet music stamps, and lace scallops, and antique linen ink on everything, tied with fluffy bows and soft flowers and glittery sheen. It's just the most wonderful feeling! These paper flowers are SO much more beautifuller (is that a word?) in person! Three sized scalloped punches, crumpled in a ball and held together with a brad, covering with a button & pearl. I am in laaave with these! I stickled the edges with crystal stickles to make 'em say wow!
This set of cards is going to my kitty cat friend (if I can bear to part with them - they are so stinkin' adorable and I want to stare at them first for a few days :)! Karen & I lunch together often, and we do cat talk .... making sense of our four-legged friends! The kitties were a set of four small cuttlebug embossing folders.

We are going out to dinner with 6 couples this evening, to ring in the New Year! As God would have it, the group has had long standing plans to drive to a well-known smorgesborg an hour away (the point being to be real hungry and real happy to eat a 10 course meal). All this -- and I am having my gallbladder removed next week! :) Do you think I'll get my $18 worth?! I'm planning on it! The bible says to approach the Throne boldly. So what if me and food do not get along well. I'm feeling frisky .... here I come Mac/Cheese!

Happy New Year! God's best blessing to you in 2010!

Polka Dot Vintage Christmas

How about a little "hip" vintage? You know the song "Just a Little Bit Country .... Just a Little Bit o' Rock-n-Roll!" Well ..... how about "Just a Little Bit Vintage ... and a Little Bit o'Hip!" These two darlings are Pocket Cards that have been customized for the girls who work in Kevin's office. The base card pocket is made from Kraft cardstock, cut in half lengthwise, then scored at 6 1/2 inches. I used PTI's polka dot basics to stamp the background - one of my all time favorite go-to stamp sets! I also used a sheet music stamp (source unknown) on vintage cream cardstock, but you could use actual aged sheet music if available.

The notecard with the personalized sentiment is computer generated, but after I cut it to fit the pocket and rounded the corners, then I ran it through my sizzix to emboss it. I like the way it turned out!

Now for the BEST and most FUNNEST (is that a word?) part of this card -- besides the cute vintage postage stamps which were on a 12x12 piece of DP that I cut out -- is this WAAAY cute and fun crumpled paper flower that I ADORE! Stinkin' adorable!

My favorite tutorial for these scrunched paper flowers is found here (the girl is a HOOT) -- but there are many many many examples on the internet if you google it! I sprayed mine with Gold Glimmer Mist before crumpling which not only added some yummy glimmer glow, it also made it easier to crumple and then the flower dried stiff since it had some ink on it. SO SO SO SO fun to make!

Lastly, I added some bling and a satin-edged olive green ribbon. Only 7 more days till Christmas! My wrapping is not done - I'm SO grateful for the invention of gift bags! Have a great day!

Gift Ensemble

I had the most thankful Thanksgiving - ever! We were blessed to enjoy some extended travel time amidst the holiday. I love treasured time with my family! Re-entry is tough, but I'm back in my craft room. Today's post is a gift ensemble, inspired by Michael's dollar bin! I started by stamping an ornamental filigree design onto diamond patterned paper. The medallions shown in the first two pictures did not ultimately go on these cards, but you get the idea!

Then I simply embellished a notebook and magnets from the dollar bin, and then I made a set of cards and a bookmark to match. I love how this gift set turned out! It was easy and really makes a impression. Most of the vanilla cardstock is embossed with a cuttlebug folder, then I lightly sprayed it with Iridescent Gold glimmer mist (LOVE that stuff!). It adds a hint of sparkle and really makes your project pop!

This picture shows the card design ... the medallion "hangs" off the edge of the card front, so much of the inside card is exposed. Doesn't the scallop edge on the inside look pretty!? You can see the medallions that I ultimately ended up using ... because they match the paper I stamped. I'll use the others in a future project!

The above picture shows the Prayer Journal (computer generated), but it also shows the embossed and glimmer misted vanilla cardstock. The below picture shows the matching bookmark in detail. Since it is to be used in the Prayer Journal, I chose three sentiments that I thought might be inspirational. The bookmark is a bit oversized so it matches the length of the notebook Prayer Journal.

I SO love Michael's dollar bin. I SO love black, vanilla, and pink. I SO love lacy beautiful vintage feeling projects. I SO hope you enjoyed this project! Have a beautiful day!