Creating, Creating, Everywhere... and not a thing to show!

Well, not exactly not a thing! I've been quite busy creating, but I can't show many of my projects for various reasons! (contests, surprises, birthdays...) So, I will show the cutest idea that my friend JJ showed me last weekend. As you can see it is a little pad of sticky notes! Such fun to cover and embellish! Ribbon ties it closed for a finished look.

Tea Time

I hosted a small tea gathering yesterday.

The Menu:

Assorted Teas

Scones

Assorted Preserves

English Clotted Cream

Devonshire Cream

Cucumber, Pecan, Egg, and BLT Tea Sandwiches (lol, I know, BLT's are not exactly traditional tea fare... but cut into miniature hearts... such fun!)

Butter Cookies

Mini Peach Tarts

Mini Blueberry Tarts

Mini Lemon Meringues

Mini Cream Puffs

One of the fun parts was opening presents. As this was a Birthday Tea, I asked all to bring a gift to exchange - preferably handmade. I was pleased that so many brought beautifully handmade gifts!

This is my dear friend that came and helped me with the preparations. We lost contact with each other for 20 years, and just re-united this winter. I am still amazed at how much we still have in common. Her help with the party was amazing. This is a photo of the handmade gift that she brought... she knitted these beautiful wool socks!! I am in awe!!

Of Note...

Just a couple of altered notebooks... first one being a prize for a drawing at an Angel Company workshop that I held last night. I used all TAC papers on it from the "Genevieve" collection. (scrumptious papers) The tag on front was included in the paper collection.


On the second notebook I used various papers from my stash. I used my Cricut to cut out the flowers and lettering. Used the "flourishes" stamp set (TAC) on both.

A Different Sort of Crafting...

My Father just finished re-furbishing his old tractor. I grew up riding with him on this! I'll try to rustle up a photo of the yesteryears... Isn't it the sweetest little thing!

B is For...

These exploding scrapbook boxes are so fun to make!! I didn't realize, though, until I was uploading these photos, that I had the "boys" upside down!
The papers that I used are from the TAC "Kamalaht" collection. Beautiful papers. Stamps are from the "flourishes" set and one of the sayings sets.. I can't think of the name right now - but it is from one of the hostess rewards sets. The large lettering is from the alphabet card stock stickers that come with the "Kamalaht" paper set.

Treasures

Here are the beautiful treasures that my friend Tammy made! I am still in shock that she sent them to me!! They are amazing handmade wonders!!

Fabulous Purple Fancies

I have an incredible friend, Tammy, that sent me some incredible things that she created... in return I made her a few things. Here are two of them. First an album that I made from scratch. I used mat board, padded it with fleece fabric, and used TAC papers from the "pop rockz" collection. The "hinges" are chipboard that I painted then embossed. There are sparkly jewel brads along with a variety of fibers. I made the flower from a wire rimmed piece of silk ribbon. As you may have guessed, she loves purple!! The monogram was cut with my Cricut, "doodletype". Oh, and I used a fiskars embossing plate to emboss the papers, and then distressed them.

Next is a tiny... the tiniest I've ever made... needle felted bear. Standing he is probably about 2". He has a tiny purple silk ribbon tied around his neck. The box behind him was a tiny paper mache box that I covered.

**I will post a photo of the things that she sent me as soon as I get my camera back from where I left it!! They are amazing!!**

Lovely Love

This is the project that I will be teaching at my next workshop.

I used bazzill paper. The letters are cut out on my Cricut. Stamps are TAC. There is also glitter involved, of which I have a very hard time getting to show up in photos.

Catching Up

It's about time I posted something, isn't it!! I've been ever so busy on some fun projects, but can't post them until the recipient receives them! :) (I'm sure that she would peek otherwise...)

First up - the invitation to my Tea Party later this month. I wish that I could have all of my fabulous friends from all around the globe come to it. It's kind of hard to see in the photo, but I used the tiny glass beads on the vase - and crystal lacquer on the hearts. Love the swirly stamp set - from TAC.

Next up - I stole this idea from my friend Char. :) Thanks Char! It is a calendar that you use with an empty cd case. Just take the lid off and flip it around and display! Keep the rest of the months behind in the tray. Pretty fun idea!

PS: I just can't say enough good things about "Really Reasonable Ribbon". I love that place!!! You can find a link to them on the righthand side of this page.

Layers of a B

Faux chipboard! I used my Cricut to cut out several layers of cardstock at the 4 inch setting of a capitol B. Glued them together - distressed, stamped, glittered... and presto!! A faux chipboard B!!

Sparkly & Pink

In a house full of boys, making something sparkly and pink is my way of standing up for my girlness. :)
They are both quite tiny - just about 2"x3". The papers used on them are from the TAC "Catelynne" collection.
I've been very busy - but will be entering some of my creations into contests. So, will post them at a later date.
I'm also creating a tutorial for folding paper around edges for perfect results.

Happy New Year!

Petite Putty Tat

Here is a wee kitty that I needled felted from alpaca wool. She's just the tiniest little thing, measuring about 2 inches long and 1 inch high. I used green glass beads for the eyes as well as the collar. Her tail is curling around the other side of her.

This is the wool as I was washing it. Alpaca is so easy to work with, as you don't have to contend with lanolin - and it's super soft. No scratchiness that you may have with sheep wool. The last photo is when it is dry - but before being carded. OH - after I took the photos I remembered to add whiskers - tiny pieces of fishing line!

Laughing ALL the Way!!!

OK - One of my goals in life is to make a real candy cane!!! A few years ago my dear SIL and I began this adventure. Today I tried again - by myself. I knew that working with 2 colors would be too much for me... so I ended up with a lovely shade of pink. :)
Alas, it is not to be.
As you can see I attempted to be really smart and try some ribbon candy as well. One (1), LOL, kind of resembles a ribbon... of sorts! I was happy with the tiny little spiral that I wound around a long wooden skewer, though!
Aly, I need you!!!

Transferred Love

This is an album that I'm working on. It is chipboard, file style, and wire ringed.
I used the transparency rub-on technique to apply the album cover photo. I also used it to apply the titles to the file tabs. If you haven't used this technique - it's great!! You simply print out - mirror image - onto a piece of clear acetate. Wait until the shininess of the ink is gone, then hold firmly onto the object that you want to transfer the image to. Rub with a bone folder until the image has transferred! It works great on tiny tags and other things that you can't send through a printer!

Tiny Friends

These are my wee needle felted wool bear friends that I created. If you are a felter, and have never needle felted, you must try it! It is so much fun to sculpt with wool! I used glass beads for the eyes, and wool and cotton thread and yarns to make the faces and hands/feet. They are all jointed.

Four more days...

New Look

Well... after a few pulled hairs, I was able to change the look of things a bit. I still need to figure out how to tweak a few things. I'm relieved that I didn't loose the whole thing when messing around with the html. Whew!!!

Busy Festive Weekend

I started the weekend out having a candle lit dinner on Saturday night. It turned out beautifully. The photos just didn't do it justice. I wanted to get photos when it was dark, but by then I was running around too busy to think of it! I decorated the tables (seating for 24) with fresh greenery, bowls of caramel corn, almond brittle, nougat, cookies, and lots of candles. I also have a candle chandelier that was lit from above. With the candles burning and the Christmas tree lights on, the lighting was perfect! And who doesn't like edible center pieces!

The next day I decided to throw a surprise birthday party for my son - instead of waiting until the day before Christmas Eve to do it!! So, within 2 hours I had it all set up, including baking a cake and having everything ready! The cake is somewhat comical. He wanted a snowflake cake this year - and working with a fresh out of the oven cake was a nightmare!!! I iced what I could, then sprinkled on the very forgiving coconut and edible glitter. He was very surprised!! Whew!! Now, I'm ready for Christmas!!

YoooooHooooo!!!!

Yes, this is another product review for the German made UHU adhesives! UHU was kind enough to send 2 types of their adhesive for me to try. I was sent the glue stick and glue roller. I have used them on several projects this week. Today I will showcase an accordion card file that I made.

I used various papers, including bazzill - which I figured would be one of the toughest to test this glue out on. I was a bit unsure of using a glue stick. It's been years since I've used one on a project. In the end I was surprisingly pleased with the results. I used it to apply paper to the large areas - and it didn't buckle, and dried smooth.

As for the tape roller. I loved the ease in which it dispensed. It was effortless!! There wasn't any problem going around curves either. So far everything that I used it on is staying!

Here you can see the accordion folds - I used the roller to adhere each "folder". I applied eyelets and ran a ribbon through each "folder" so that it can be easily expanded.

All in all I was pleasantly surprised at how well UHU performed!!

Spirited Fun

I don't know why I haven't tried the odorless mineral spirits and prismacolor pencils technique sooner! I love this!! I have had the same set of prismacolors for at least 20 years. They still work great!

Basically, with this technique, you color in areas with the pencils, and then using rolled paper "tortillons" dipped in odorless mineral spirits, you blend. I found that using a different tortillon with each color family worked well. I kept finding myself trying to "rinse" each time in the spirits as if I were using a watercolor brush! LOL! If you don't color in the whole image, but instead color in the shaded areas, and then bleed the color out into the white areas, it will have a watercolor effect.

Oh, and I was pleasantly surprised that the odorless mineral spirits were really odorless!! Another tip is to have a nail file handy to sand down the paper tortillon's as needed. Happy creating!

Croaking what?

Croquembouch!!

I came across this photo of one of the croquembouch's that I made last Christmas. They aren't as intimidating as they may seem to make. The spun sugar always looks beautiful! One tip, though, is to apply the spun sugar at the last possible moment. If there is humidity in your work area, the sugar will melt pretty quickly. By the time I transported this just a block away, on a cold snowy day, the sugar had disappeared! There was no problem with it being eaten, though!

Be Merry!!!

What a fun project this was!!

I used wooden blocks - cut out from my father's scrap wood pile!

They are about 2"square. I covered them with paper from the TAC "Vintage Holiday" wing it collection. The letters I cut out with my cricut - Doodletype font. I used mod podge to adhere the paper on most of them. On some I used tacky glue, which worked just as well. I distressed the edges by sanding and applying a walnut stain. I applied ultra fine glitter to the B and the M as well as to the edges of the blocks.

Have a Merry Day!

Red & Green

Two versions of a similar card. I used watercolor crayons on both. The faux nameplates are from the "hip hardware" TAC stamp set. I embossed them and then cut them out. Great set! I also used the paisley set to watermark the back ground with versamark. Pansy's are from the "flower collage trio" TAC set.

The colored background papers are Bazzill.

Whimsical Ribbit

I just LOVE this little guy!! He's a great stamp from the "just smile" TAC stamp set.

I used watercolors on him, and then cut him out! Those little feet and "fingers" took some time! The little cutter bee scissors worked great cutting them out. This is a tiny litte tag/card - about 2"x3".

Matchbook Magic

These are some little matchbook style cards that I made as thank you's for customers. I'll add my sentiment on the back with sticky notes, so that they can use them! The snowflakes are glittered, and the postage stamp has crystal lacquer around it.
Love, love, love the "Vintage Holiday" Angel Company papers. They're delicious!!!

Snippin' Snowflakes

Here is a snowflake tag/ornament that I made last night during a snowflake challenge! I filled some of the areas with crystal lacquer and sprinkled with glitter while still wet. I pierced the holes with a handy little piercing tool that I found on the notions wall of a fabric store! Here is a link to some great snowflake patterns:
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dstredulinsky/samples.pdf
Now, if we would only get some REAL snow here!!