Chinese Thank You...

My gf gave me an Asian themed stamp set for my birthday and since it hadn't been "inked" yet, I couldn't resist getting this Hero Arts set (the Chinese kids and middle sentiment) to go with the bamboo! My girls have a few Chinese outfits that they love to dress-up in for special occasions. They usually opt for a red design and it HAS to be matching...sometimes a hard feat when they are two different sizes! Anyhow, back to the card! I stamped the bamboo bg first then sponged some gingerbread bown around the edges for a "vintage" look. The kids are colored with my copics and accented with a cool gray outline. I have always loved Chinese characters! Chinese writing is very artistic and I love to see it...even if I can' read it! I do happen to have a Chinese tattoo (I know, sooo taboo right??!!) on my inner ankle and I thought it'd be neat to have my hubby and I's Chinese zodiac signs together...he the dragon, myself a monkey! As much as I love it, I will not be getting anymore...it was a spur of the moment thing with some gf's when my hubby was deployed to Iraq many moons ago! Ahhh, soo young, soo naive! My little "China Dolls"! My sweet Addie...her smile looks soo painful...lol! Sweet Gracie, below!

Sweet Ballerina Tags...

I needed to make it easier on my girls to find "their" bags at dance class...didn't realize everyone at the school would have the same design! EEEEK! Anyhow, it's also a chance for my youngest to see her name in print. We've been working with her on a speech delay and recognizing letters and this is just another way for her to practice with her name. I think she is doing just fine as she now recognizes "Addison" but keeps asking why we call her "Addie" for short! The cute ballerina and sentiment stamps are from Lizzie Anne Designs. Since I was limited on space, I opted to cut out the ballerina and trimmed her with my copic (C1 cool gray) so she really "pops" on the white, swiss dot bg. It's hard to tell from the photo, but I also used 3-D foam tape to make it look like a diorama! The dancing floor is elevated just enough so when you look at the tag, it looks as though she's really dancing!
A little bit of glitter and rhinestones for her hair!My eager beavers! Addison takes over the "lunch" duty on the weekends! Funny girl.

Glue-Art & Paper Studio Project...

Another FUN project from Glue-Art & Paper Studio to share with you all. This particular project uses the Crafter's Card File along with the 3x5 card inserts. There are a number of themes you could use here (recipe file, calendar etc.), but I decided to go with a teacher calendar! The Crafter's Card File is a perfect little addition to any teacher's desk and it will be close at-hand when they need it! I used a mixture of Verve and SU! stamps. The tan card insert is stamped with my french script bg. The main image is cut out with my nesty dies and I added a fun "school" themed quote along with some 3-D flowers. For each months tag, I decided to do something fun and whimsical. I came up with the idea to do a large, first letter, and then used my Karen Foster Snap stamps to finish the spelling.PTI-Polka Dot Basics...to keep the calendar cards simple!Fall is in the air AND inside my crafter's card file as well! I don't like to leave the inside "naked" so I carried the paper thru out. My adhesive of choice when altering with paper is modpodge...works wonders!In keeping with the Fall theme, I cut out the leaves (one skeleton pattern, one solid brown pattern) from my Accents Cricut cartridge. To add the additional colors for the inside of the leaf, I just cut the red/orange to size and used a glue pen on the backside (the polka dot pattern is from my PTI set). A little extra flair was added with the rhinestones!

Thinking "outside" of the boxes...

Before I head out to get started on a vintage bed I'm working on (I will share at a later date!), I wanted to post these fun altered wooden purse boxes I've been working on for Mom. My Mom had originally requested a handmade nameplate for her co-workers, but when I couldn't find the proper plating to use, I decided to go with these wooden boxes! They are dual purpose and can also be used as pencil/pen holders or filled with goodies and tied off with cellophane and ribbon. I wanted to do a little more than just put their names on the front. You need something just as pretty for the backside as well, so I opted to use some quotes on the back. I loooooooved getting in my button jar and going a tad overboard here. The buttons add a vintage flair with the modern papers I used.It's been awhile since I made tags so I thought it would be neat to use on the backside here. The tag fit perfect without covering up some of the bright colored details in the patterned paper. The ribbon I used on this handle is from May Arts and comes already "ragged"...thought it went better with the paper vs. an overload of buttons.Mom's is a little more custom to her taste! I surprised her with a hot cup-o-joe and added some Crystal Effects for a 3-D effect on the liquid coffee! FUN! FUN!I will probably make up some more of these for Teacher Gifts this year. I'd make them ahead of time and fill them closer to the holidays. Hopefully I keep to my word and NOT wait until last minute!

Sassy Bag Tag...

Who says you have MORE time when the kids are off to school??!!! I find myself using that "free" time to catch up on all the chores I put off during the Summer...lol All that cleaning is the excuse for not posting regularly! I will be working on a few projects this week, including a new Glue project, so there will be plenty of fun stuff to share soon! This is the packaging I did for the gifts in the previous posts! I love this little number from MFT! It's a mini set, which makes it perfect for making cute bag tags. This would totally rock on a beach bag, or in my gf's case, she used it for her camera bag. This design is pretty straight forward so I will spare ya' the details! I did however, add some stickles to the itty-bitty-bikinis...because these are exactly the type of bikinis "I" wear to the beach...ha!

Diva Card...

I'm not much of a coffee drinker, BUT, my girlfriend is! My cup would mostly likely have Starbucks Apple Cider in it...because they REALLY do make more than "just" great coffee!
Of course, that cup will have to wait until the weather cools down a bit! I do have my windows open today since there is a nice Fall breeze flowing today...always a good time to air out the house!
Anyhoo, this is the matching card I made for my gf's birthday gift that I posted on Monday. Funny story short, did you know if you start out with a vision of a "cobblestone" walkway, it can also take on a life of its own as a "leopard" print????!!! Totally thru me off after I pulled up my Eclipse tape and found a "not-so-cobblestone" look....sooo, instead of tossing it in the trash I decided to work with my new discovery! I started my using my Copic markers to airbrush the bottom half in tan, than cut out a pattern from the Eclipse tape for my "cobblestones". The Bella image is actually stamped first so I could match up the Eclipse tape just slightly over the table legs! I punched out the brown circles with my CM circle punch, tied on some embroidery thread, then glued (E6000) down the buttons. My favoritepart of this card is ALL about the sentiment! It fits our friendship perfectly...take a little time today to laugh, it's good for ya!