Valentine Time Already

I came up with a couple of simple Valentines yesterday (okay, I was totally cheating - I'd started them with something else in mind and had all the elements just sitting here on my desk). Part of why I hadn't made the other cards I was planning with these elements is that the designs on the paper are just too gorgeous - I didn't want to cover them up with any other images. And then I got inspired by some of my friend Gwen's cards - she does some really gorgeous cards with a graphic main layer with just a sentiment on top - clean lines and matting, and restraint in embellishments, really elevate her designs.



So I dug out this slider die that I've had for my Cuttlebug for a while and used the flip side of the patterned paper (that's my favorite way to make sure patterned papers coordinate - I guess it's kind of obvious, but it seems like the flip side of an intricate design is usually something complementary and simple like this green grid design) on a twill ribbon that matched my mat layer. The "love" sentiment is from one of my big Fancy Pants stamp collections, and I think they turned out so cute. I love the little deer!

Dies in a Handbasket

I got this cute little basket during the holidays, with some yummy treats inside and a forest green Christmas image on top. I really like the size, so I thought I'd paint and stamp it so I can use it year-round.



I primed the top and painted it blue (with an Apple Barrel acrylic paint), then stamped a couple of Fancy Pants images on top. I was excited about this, because I've had two Fancy Pants sets for a while with the most beautiful images, but I needed something larger than a card to use them on.



This picture shows where I need to touch up a few places with the white paint... part of the weaving was red, so I painted the whole bottom part white so that it wouldn't clash with the new blue top. I was originally going to use this as a sewing basket, but embroidery hoops wouldn't fit. Then, I noticed that I kept worrying about losing my Cuttlebug dies because they were in an open-topped bag - turns out this is the perfect size to fit all of my embossing folders and dies, and the top is nice and heavy, so I won't be losing them. How fun!

Post-Christmas Megapost

It's a megapost today - I got a package yesterday with my Christmas gift-card spoils, and did some stamping last night, plus I've got a great handmade Christmas gift to show you that I received.



How cute is this little owl? I picked up these Maya Road rub-ons a while back (I think at the Scrap Barn, while it was still around) and I've been using them sparingly - there are a lot on the sheet, though. He fits perfectly on the Papertrey die that coordinates with Fillable Frames #9. The paper behind the tag is some Sassafras Lass paper I've been hoarding for a while - I love all the bright colors and sweet designs, but it's a little bit busy to use for cards.



This is a card I made with the other die/stamp set I got from Papertrey, the Mat Stack 2 Collection. I'm having a little trouble getting the stamp centered on the die (or the die centered on the stamp, if I do it that way), even with clear stamps... it's either going to be one of those things that just takes practice, or I'm going to have to dig out my old stamp positioner. Even so, though, I think it's a cute set. I used Hibiscus Burst ink and paper for this one, and the border is a little scrap from the Sassafras Lass paper. I love the Martha Stewart twine, too - I have a mixed red/blue/pink pack (different combinations of the colors) and used the red/white twine for a lot of Christmas stuff... it got me inspired to find ways to use the non-holiday colors.



And these are just some little tags I made with scraps, using the Fillable Frames #9 die and more of the Maya Road rub-ons. The tag border and sentiments are also from the Fillable Frames #9 set, and the die-cut hole at the top is perfect for a small eyelet.

And now to my awesome Christmas gift!



My aunt said when I opened this, "I hope you don't hate me for tearing up a book for this..." but no, it's so cool!



She used a Sense and Sensibility book for the roof of a birdhouse, and decoupaged the whole birdhouse with phrases from the book, sheet music, and decorative paper. Plus some rhinestone bling. I love the sweet picture on the back:

Christmas Treats

Finally... the teased Christmas post.

I got a little, um... involved this year, with making Christmas treats for my family. In the past, I've always done jars of cocoa, with varying degrees of creativity. This year, I had some new ideas. Last spring, we went to Atlanta, and went to a burger place where I had the best pickles I've ever had. It got me inspired to try making my own pickles. I spent some time experimenting with recipes and came up with a great one, and my mom gave me some jars that she's had for a long time, so I canned those... then decided to make a whole basket of it. I saw these little houses in Inspired Ideas magazine (GREAT place for fun projects) and thought I'd make some to hold cocoa packets.



I added little pipe-cleaner wreaths, and the twinkle lights are small rhinestones - they turned out looking even more like lights after I covered the whole thing with glitter. Each box holds only one packet of cocoa, so I made another packet to put underneath.



I based the tea towels on one that I saw at anthropologie - mine's very simplified from theirs, but I think they turned out cute.



And here's one of the completed baskets - pickles, pickle recipe, a house of cocoa, a box of marshmallows, and a tea towel.

I haven't forgotten!

I know I teased a blog post weeks ago from Twitter, but I'm still not ready to put up that post... waiting for the whole thing to be done. But in the meantime, I thought I'd put up the rest of the Christmas cards I ended up sending out.



I'm putting up two pictures here, because the first one is a better view of everything (click the photo for a larger version - with them all in one photo, it's kind of hard to see detail), but I forgot one card, so the second has it stuck in there. For three of the cards, I took my basic template that I created with the last card (patterned background, ribbon across the middle horizontally, and layered scalloped ovals) and played with it. I love the Basic Grey double-sided papers so much, because they're so easy to coordinate this kind of thing - just flip the paper over and you've got a scalloped oval that coordinates with the background. I heat-embossed the sentiment ovals with clear glitter embossing powder to give them a little texture and sparkle.



The other cards, the ones that aren't based on that same template, are made to feature this GORGEOUS flocked paper I got at Paper Source. I was actually planning to put a sentiment on the one with the wreath, but the wreath ended up looking so pretty by itself, I left it that way and added some "berries" with Tarnished Brass Distress Stickles. I could have sworn I had some red Stickles around here somewhere, but I think I've just looked at them several times and never gotten around to buying them. I like the tone-on-tone look, though.

Next time: Sparkle houses and everything that goes with them.

More Christmas Cards

I made an assembly line for these, and made several - that's really my favorite way to do Christmas cards.



I started out with some more awesome Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper - I just used one sheet, and used one side for my backgrounds, and the other side for my scalloped ovals. I love using my Cuttlebug for things like the scalloped ovals - it makes it go so much faster.



I added some sparkle to the background with silver Stickles, and used Papertrey's Ocean Tides swiss dot ribbon for the middle. It ties in really well with the Basic Grey colors. Originally, I had this same Merry Christmas stamp (the same one I used on the last card) done all in glitter, but you couldn't read it. So I put the smaller white scallop on top, with the stamp done in Ocean Tides ink, and clear glitter covering the whole thing, so it looks like snow. I think it looks cuter now than when I'd envisioned the original.

First Christmas Cards of the Season

I got inspired yesterday to start on Christmas cards - it's going a little slow so far (2 days for 1 card? I may have to edit my Christmas card list...) but I think this one turned out pretty cute.



I started with a couple of chipboard stars - I glittered one (inked the chipboard with Papertrey's Fresh Snow craft ink, then poured glitter over - it actually sticks really well, and then wherever glitter comes off, white shows through instead of the chipboard color) and covered the other with paper from Basic Grey's Figgy Pudding line. I'll tell you what - I recently thought I'd lost most of my Basic Grey collections, and I was so sad. They're my favorite way to get inspiration - I think they're all so gorgeous. I highlighted the design with a glitter pen.



The background of this is Papertrey's Aqua Mist cardstock, embossed with a Cuttlebug folder. I don't remember where I got the Merry Christmas stamp - it's part of a clear stamp set, but I didn't put a label on it. I highlighted the stars in that set with more of the same glitter pen I used on the Figgy Pudding paper.