There is a 1st time for everything....

ETA: I forgot to add a quick note about the solder I use...it is lead free:)


...and for me that means I've started YET ANOTHER HOBBY! I've been wanting to learn to solder for some time and have become especially inspired by Debbie Olson's designs. I really like how she attaches them to cards:) I'm not quite there just yet, as I wanted to start out with a few simple projects. If your're wanting to get started on a kit that offers all the supplies and then some, I'd recommend Simply Swank which I purchased thru Ellen Hutson. Also, if your a hands-on gal and you need live instruction you can purchase the instructional DVD to go along with it. I can say I'm officially hooked on soldering and can't wait to play some more. The whole process of learning and putting together my projects was fairly quick and simple. The part I struggled with most was soldering on the "jump rings". They are a little tricky, but with soldering its very forgiving and if you don't like it, you can just take your soldering gun and melt it off to start over. I made this princess ornament with an image that was already colored from a previous project. She is from the SU! Pretty Princess Set and I have used her ALOT! This project is done with the largest glass set that comes with the Simply Swank Set. There are 4 sets of glass to use for different size projects. I added a jump ring to the top and tied my ribbon thru it. I will add an ornament hook later...when its time to put on our tree. This is for my little girls this year:)

Annnnnnnnnd, since I rarely make projects for myself, I thought I'd try my spin at clip-art. The "queen" clip-art comes with your kit and I just added the monogrammed "d". There is actually 3 layers of cs on this project, just be careful you don't use super thick cardstock or it will be hard to sandwich the 2 pieces together when it comes time to add the foil tape!
I'll leave you with this fun post for the weekend! I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween:)

Home for the Holidays...

With the very cool and crisp weather coming our way, its a perfect time to pull out the winter stamps and go to town! I woke up this morning getting the girls ready and when I let the dog out, I was hit with a very chilly 30 degree gust of wind! I don't remember NC being THIS cold, but I'm used to much colder weather since we just came from NYC. Note to self: put on a pot of hot cocoa tomorrow morning:)

Anyhoo, I put together this fun Home for the Holidays card with my new PTI extention set. I love the 3-D look on the windows and door. I wouldn't have normally chosen these colors for a wintery mix, but they actually work right?? This is a project I'm working on for my realtors co-worker and these are the colors she requested. I hope she likes them! The base is just simple PTI white cs with my SU! polka dot bg. The focal image is stamped with Pixie Pink Dew Drop and SU! certainly celery. I cut out the icicles on vellum, glued them on, then added the glitter. And just for a little more glitz I added some rhinestones in the corners.

My Sweet-Peas getting ready for a Halloween themed birthday party! Gracie loved her ballerina...I couldn't get her out of it! I was soo thrilled to finally get a picture of Addison with her eyes open!!!! She smiles soo hard all the time...as if she were Chinese...lol I keep telling her, "Addy babe, not soo hard, we KNOW your half Chinese!" Funny girls:)

Scary Sweets...

Another fun and simple gift idea! I'm always looking for a neat way to mass produce that is pretty quick and affordable. With my oldest in Pre-K now its always fun making her Teacher's little gifts. They certainly deserve a sweet thank-you...afterall, I'm not sure I'd have much patience handling sixteen 4-year olds...lol Anyhoo, on to the tags. I cut both the black and orange cs with my nesty dies and for added dimension, I ran the orange cs thru my cuttlebug folder. If you don't have a cuttlebug, you could always use your Scor-Pal and scor a bunch of lines for the pumpkin skin. The pumpkin stem is my SU! tag punch and to pull the ribbon thru easily, I added a SU! jumbo eyelet. The pumpkin face is from my Spooky Sweets Set. I decided for the eyes and mouth to "pop" I'd stamp them on yellow cs and emboss them in sparkly black powder. I find that the embossing powders with sparkle don't always melt the way I'd like...but I'm ok with this imperfection...I'm no expert at embossing, but it sure if fun! So what do you say...celebrate your little one's Teacher's...Lord knows they are overworked and DEFINITELY under paid! My Sister will thank me:)

Couture Oragami Box...

You'd think I'd be lying if I told you this post has taken me over 30 mins. today, and thats just the time spent uploading the photos. Hmmm, must be that storm headed our way that's slowing everything down. You can tell the Holiday's are just around the corner when you see oodles of packing posts from me:) I love everything about this time of year, but I love BAKING the most. If I'm going to be baking for my friends and family, I always try to put my homemade goodies in something just as scrumptious, like this pretty little number. Ok, so I didn't "bake" these chocolates, but you get the idea! These origami boxes are super easy to put together...they don't even require tape!! If you want to follow some very easy, hands-on instruction, you can visit this wonderful post by Kwerner. There is something to classy and elegant about the black/red color combo. Funny, I even dressed my oldest in these colors for school this morning:) I'd better quit before she starts to catch on...lol
Now, you can put just about anything inside you can think of. If your looking for a "low-cal" option, how about some 3x3 cards, gift cards, or even some candle tins. For my gift I used 6 Ferrero Rocher chocolates. They fit pretty snung, but be sure to use some shredded kraft paper on the bottom so they don't topple over.
HOT DIGGITY DOG!!! Its been ages since I've had more than 1 post in a week! I should pat MYSELF on the back eh? I was holding out for 3rd, but that'll have to wait until next week. I'm off to GA tomorrow to visit with my twinkie:) I miss her soooooo much! I think I smell a trip to Archiver's...you with me sis??

"V" is for Valerie...

ETA: The font is SU! Whimsical Lower---I'm not sure if its available anymore:(


My sister was in need of a gift for a co-worker who is leaving, so I thought about some sort of bucket ensemble I could make up, and this is what transpired! These are some of my favorite colors to work with and I have made this patterned paper on some post-it notes in previous posts. Whenever I don't have just the right sort of paper to use, I just make my own. Since the stamps I used take several rounds(double stamping), it takes me anywhere from an hour to 2 hours for one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet. Time consuming?? YES! But the end result is worth it:) I had some leftover notebooks that I bought at Staples and that was my starting point. The cs is SU! and I stamped the bg with PTI Polka Dot Basics. I then added the patterned paper and matted it on coordinating paper. They were cut out with my nesty rectangle dies. To get "Valerie" straight and close together, I used my stamp-a-ma-jig. I swore I'd never need to buy one of these, but it really helps with alphabets and a few other hard-to-keep straight stamping sets I own.

A cute set of 4x4 cards. Since they are dark cardstock for the base, there is a white liner on the inside for easy writing.
And to top off the ensemble, I added a 2x8 chocolate box!

Boards & Beams Part II...

So what's a better gift besides a card you ask?? CHOCOLATE of course! I still wanted to play with this new set some more, so I decided to try out some of my packaging patterns and go at it. The pillow box pattern(purchased at Target) is traced on the cardstock(kraft SU!), stamped, and then cut out. I always stamp before I cut the pattern so I can keep it nice and straight. The coloring techniques are the exact same as the previous posts, so you can scroll down for those details. I will most likely make some more of these in a Christmas theme to use for gift cards and candies. The bg stamp is PTI's Polka Dot Basics and for the candies I used Holiday Treats. Isn't that little house stamp perfect with this theme?
Another fun and simple addition to any gift basket is a bag o' chocolates. Instead of using the house on another card, I decided to turn her into a tag. The bag is a cello-type bag and I trimmed the top off and tied the tag around with some yummy SU! chocolate satin ribbon. To add a little more dimesion to the bag, I added a little bit of shredded kraft paper to the bottom which also helps cushion the chocolates. I will have many more packaging ideas to share since the Holidays are just around the corner!