Festive Joy Banner...

Tah-da!!! I know, I'm a little late posting 'as promised', but I've been busy with life in general, and my sis-in-law is in from Tokyo so we are playing with babies and catching up! With out further ado, I finally have a few minutes to post my new Joy banner! I love these rosettes and they are really easy and simple to make! This is the first vertical banner I've made and it's a nice change from always doing my traditional horizontal banners! Gotta switch it up every now and then, right?!

This door is so 'sterile'...especially with no window!  I think I'm going to dress her up often!  The angle of the pic also makes the banner appear smaller than it really is.  Each rosette is approx. 8 in. in diameter.

If you've been following along on FB with the 'sneak peeks', this is where I felt something was missing and added the gold doilies behind the always artichoke card stock.  The doilies added just the right amount of depth to the letter circles without being overbearing.

Thought I'd share this quick tip on how to line up your rosettes on the ribbon! I used my self-healing mat that I've used for sewing.  It's a larger mat so it allows you to turn either way and works great for longer banners.  I'm going to try this design again, either for a Valentine banner or maybe even a Spring theme!  Happy Crafting! 

Tag Time x's 2...

Festive and jolly, but not much holly...to be found in Japan!  After living here a few months, it's evident to me that the 80's never left this island.  If fact, the 80's thrive here, along with all the tacky tinsel and holiday decor you may remember from your childhood!  For the most part, I do love it, but you will NOT catch me in a neon green shirt or hair scrunchies any time soon, but the 80's music I will always LOVE!

Anyhow, aside from my 'flashback' moments, today I'm sharing more festive Christmas tags!  I used a lot of Crystal Effects here as well as foam tape for 3-D effects. 

Hello there Rudolph!  I added the red glitter strip at the last moment and I love how it accentuates the sentiment.

Sweet mittens!  Colored these with my Copic markers.

Lovely birdies!  You cannot see in the photo here, or at least it's hard to tell, but the birds are stamped and cut out with a die.  I also cut out the same die shaped birds from thin chipboard so they are 'raised off' the tree branch.

Great detail shot of what Crystal Effects can add to your art work.  It adds a nice shine, right?  It took me some time to use Crystal Effects correctly.  After a few tries of overloading when I poured and numerous air bubbles, I've been using it for years now and absolutely love it!  It's important to let it dry COMPLETELY before running your fingers over it...unless you want to give gifts of fingerprints...it's best to let it dry overnight before touching.

Snowflake dies with Martha Stewart snowflake glitter!  YUMMY!

Little Firecracker Trio...

Today's post is full of stamping, but anything other than a card. These 3 plaques were inspired by a 4th of July card post I did over the summer. Much like a card front, the layout is adhered to a wooden plaque that is approx. 1/8 inch thick and I did have to take out the power tools to drill the holes for the country wire. Once the paper is adhered, I went around the edges with a sanding block to smooth out the rough edges and clean up the excess glue and paper that may try to hang on. I stamped directly onto the patterned paper with MFT's-Little Firecracker, CTMH-tree, and the fence is a die from PTI. A great gift to make up that can be left out year round! I took this photo out back on my little spruce tree and then I thought if I cut the wood down into smaller squares, oh what cute ornaments this would make???!!!Glittery sparkler!Happy Crafting!
Dawn ;)

Christmas Milk Carton Boxes...

I desperately needed a break from moving furniture and supplies around so I played with these little milk carton boxes last week. If you own the SU! milk carton die, you'll REALLY love that you can make a much larger box vs. the single milk carton. If you'd like to try it out, HERE is a great photo tutorial that I followed. You can also create some fancy tops from this tutorial. Love the white kraft ink on the night of navy cs. Kraft ink does take some extra time to dry so when I'm using it, I will stamp first then set aside for drying. Once the snowflakes were dry here, I then went back and added clear rhinestones around the entire box. Hellllllllllo Gingie! My favorite little gingergbread (wo)man with a vintage glitter copper border. Top view of milk carton box. You may have to fidget a bit to get them to gather but once you tie the ribbon through, it will hold well enough to seal up the bottom of the box. Santa's suit! Happy Crafting!
Dawn ;)

Christmas Wreath Card...

It's a chilly evening here tonight! And with the chill, its got me in the spirit to pull out the Christmas stuff...or at least on cards for now! These cards are from a recent Christmas Card Swap I shared in with a local scrap store. Don't you love those red berry wreaths you see everywhere during the holiday season? I know I do! Although I kept my design fairly simple, I really did want to add this little birdy to the wreath...he's kind of cute dontcha think?I used my copic makers in 2 shades of green for Mr. Birdy and then glossed him over with crystal effects.In the meantime, posting here on the blog has been slow...much slower than I'd like it to be. I do have a few older projects to share and in between a bumpy pregnancy and attempting to get my studio moved downstairs, I'm not getting anywhere quick! After a fainting spell at the grocery store last week(I KNOW how to make a scene now, don't I????!!!) I've been taking it easy and dabbling in crafting when I'm up for it. I really need to get my mojo back as there are so many cute things I'd like to make. For now, I will continue to share what I've got made up and hopefully some new stuff in between!

Happy Crafting!
Dawn ;)

SU! Swap Stockings Galore...

Before I get started on today's post, I'd just like to say a little 'thank you' for your comments on the sketchbook post. The sketchbook really is a great tool when your sitting there 'stumped', got all your supplies out, and no where to go! I did in fact make myself one as well, but she is a little bland...just the plain ol' clear binder. When I have some free time, I think I will dress her up a bit!

Now, on to today's post! It might be a little premature to be posting Christmas stuff here(because I still have some cute Halloween ideas yet to share!), but I really was super excited to try out the new SU! stocking die! The size of the stocking is larger than I thought and I really like that. There are several dies I have by SU! and I will be honest, they are much smaller in person than when I see them on blogs etc. The wonderful thing about this larger stocking die is that you can make banners with it too! This stocking collection is for a SU! Swap coming up this weekend. I immediately thought of a gift card option and knew I had to try it! To create the stockings, you will need to cut out 2 stockings...1 in patterned paper for the front, 1 for the kraft paper in the back. Those 2 pieces together will create your pocket to hold the gift card. The Window Punch from SU! makes the perfect slot to slide your gc inside(I used my library card to ensure the pocket was just the right size!) Love, love, love these textured paper leaves! These leaves come in a large pack loaded with leaves of different sizes at Mike's. The red Dew Drops(Poinsettia Jar) were glued on with SU! Crystal Effects. Patterned paper is from the paper pack O' Christmas Tree. After I assembled the stockings, I wanted to add just a bit more glitter with my Stickles Vintage Copper. The glitter lines really POP with the bright Christmas colors.

Baby Shower Gifts...

Even though the ol' blog was empty in posts, I certainly stayed busy behind the scenes the past few months. Today's post is another special request for baby shower gifts. Since the shower was being held at The Wilmington Tea Room, I knew I had the perfect teapot set for the occasion. I hadn't realized until now, that these colors actually match my banner as well! The colors are pulled from the shower invitations and I used several different stamp sets to create my own patterned paper. First off, we started with a notebook for the mom-2-be. The notebook is for the shower gift thank-yous and maybe later she can use the extra pages to write down all the 'firsts' of baby's year before she transfers them into a baby book. Prima flowers, grosgrain chocolate ribbon, and button accent. Love the teapot notebooks! Without any intention here, I used this tag die which also looks a lot like a tea bag! Added a few 'note tabs' on the inside. A couple of notebooks for the Men who attended. I'm was really pleased with how well the cattails came out. I did not have a 'pond' themed set, so I had to make my own cattails from the SU! small slot punch. I then went back and sponged a cocoa brown ink for my first layer, then back with a darker brown for the outer shading. The pond looks more realistic with crystal effects! Love that stuff!

SU! Fall Swap...

Short and sweet post today as I'm finishing up a few custom orders this morning. I recently had another SU! swap and this time the rules called for Fall colors. There aren't many SU! sets still left in my stash(once I switched over to clear), but I've kept a few old ones and now I'm finding some new ones that I really like(Wicked Cool) too! I've held on to this baroque set and decided it would work perfect with my Fall colors. The layout is a simple one-layer design and then I just added some polka dotted ribbon from May Arts.
Happy crafting!
Dawn ;)

Batty Eyes...

Another trio of Halloween cards. I used a mix of PTI and SU! sets here to create my 'spooky' look. To create my bat squares I used the PTI-Take Three die and it cuts out 3 rounded squares at one time. Then for the yellow matte underneath, I used my CM square punch. The moon is created with my spotted dot set and the bats are from Wicked Cool again. I added some googlie eyes to 'spooky' and adhered it to a strip of black grosgrain ribbon. Super simple, but fun layout. I'm getting ready to load these up into my Etsy shop...if interested, they will be available in sets of three, one design from each of the three that were featured this week. I'm also working on getting some more candy packaging, tags, etc. in the shop, so stay tuned!

Happy Crafting!
Dawn ;)

Pumpkin Legs...

How's that for a post title?! I love it! I pulled out my stash of Halloween papers and there was a full 12x12 sheet of cut outs and this is what came to mind...'why not put a pumpkin on legs' I thought! The only stamping I did on this card was the sentiment(Wicked Cool--SU!). I decided to add the orange rhinestones for eyes...makes me feel like this kooky pumpkin is watching me on my crafting table...LOL! Happy Crafting!
Dawn ;)

Spooky Surprise...

I realize it has been well over a month since my last post! With all good intentions, sometimes LIFE gets in the way. I've had a very good excuse as to not posting and that is having the wonderful joys of morning sickness! I've been terribly sick with baby #3 and if my instincts are correct, this HAS TO BE THE BOY! I don't remember feeling this ill with either of my girls. My other 2 pregnancies, although a little queasy, were nothing like this one. I'm hoping it passes soon as I've got a few projects I'd like to get going! Needless to say, the whole family is quite thrilled and my 5 year old has given me all sorts of name options, although they are all girl names! Maybe she knows something we don't? We are expecting Baby Chau's debut in April 2012.

Anyhoo, I did force myself to sit down and create some fun Halloween cards. This week on the blog I will be sharing several trio's of cards. Today's creations are done with the Wicked Cool set by SU! I must admit that I've had Really Rust CS in my paper collection and have never, I mean NEVER used it! I cracked open my SU! catty and realized they had used it along with Rich Razzleberry and Pear Pizzaz...I think I can learn to like it now! The Lattice Die(SU!) design is also a new one for me. I cut out the lattice design in Pear Pizzaz and added the Rich Razzleberry CS underneath. Every witch needs a shiny vinyl hat! The hat is popped up with foam tape and a thin layer of crystal effects was poured over the top.