Fun Banners

My peep Diana just moved and I wanted to help celebrate and make name banners for her daughter and son for their new rooms.  

Kenzie's room is all Tink'ed out so I added some fairy dust sparkle to hers.  I used CTMH cardstock for the backgrounds (which cuts absolutely beautifully in my Silhouette), and Creative Memories papers for the mats, Stickles on the borders and some pretty primas and sparkly WM ribbon. 

Ryan's new comforter has planes on it so I used that in my design for his.  I used more CTMH cardstock, Distressed Stickles on his name and some Glossy Accents on the windows of the plane.

These were quick and easy and oh so fun!





Thanks for visiting!

Origami Ornament

When I was a kid I had a pen pal who lived in Japan.  I remember that she had the prettiest handwriting, and she would often include tiny folded origami creations with her letters.  I was mesmerized by both, and I think that's where my fascination with paper began. 

I dabbled a bit with origami when I was younger, trying to create fancy folded treasures, and when I stumbled upon this ornament pattern I decided to give it a try again.  ( I found the instructions here: My Paper Adventures ).  It was actually very easy but does take a lot of time because there are 60 petals total in the 12 flowers that create this design. It's great busy work for when you are doing the sofa slug thing watching tv all night, lol.

The directions don't give a dimension for the petals so I tried using 2" squares (and K&Co paper of course!) which worked out as a good size.  I think you could go a tad smaller if the paper was thin enough for easy creasing, or you could even go bigger using card stock weight for a really bold sized ornament - that might be fun to try next!  (...oh geesh, that might be alot of paper though, lol!!)   I didn't use the adhesive that is shown in the directions - I'm a liquid glue gal so I used my Scotch Quick Dry glue and it worked really well as long as I only used a dab.  The danglies on the bottom were part of a decoration I picked up in WalMart in the trimmings area of the craft department, but I cut off half of the strands that were attached so it wouldn't be too huge or heavy.

I sent the finished project to a GIBBS friend who unfortunately missed out on the exchanging part of the last GIBBS swap.  I sent it as the item for "GIBBERS do it Old Tool Style". 

Kimi I really hope you enjoy it, my folds are a bit off, but remember: MWL!!  {{hugs}}

Thanks for visiting!

Fishy Field Trip

Yesterday was my daughter's first aquarium adventure!  She loved the fish but kept asking where the penguins were, and when we finally found them the poor thing was too tired to really enjoy them.  We will have to go back again soon and do our visit in reverse order next time!

Have a GREAT weekend!
Denni

Skinny Card

In a recent swap my task was to make a set of 12 skinny cards and use the color combo of lime green and teal. I used my Silhouette to cut the flowers and my Creative Memories punch to make the mirror paper dragonfly. I can't remember where the patterned paper came from, maybe K&Co?

 Half way through the cards though, my Janome Sew Petite machine jammed so badly that I couldn't fix it. I bought this machine second hand a couple years ago and it has never quite worked right. After hearing me struggle so much with it my hubby encouraged me to replace it since fixing it would probably cost the same as investing in a new one. The replacement model is Janome's Sew Mini but it's really the same thing - except this one works perfectly!!! Woohoo!!

These colors are not ones I would not typically choose but I do love the brightness of them - sometimes I guess I just need a nudge to step outside my comfort zone :)

Thanks for visiting!

 

Groupie ATC Birthday Card

From the set of ATC "groupies" that I made last week for Kay's swap (see here) I chose the one with the "friendship" theme to use on her birthday card.  I love adding a bit of feathery fluff on my crafting lately and I think that's why this one was my favorite, and then of course I used more K&Co paper for the card base, lol! 

I'm new to ATC's and had fun turning one into a card - seems like such a simple idea I'm not sure why I've never tried it before, but I think I'll try it again since I just found out that I also missed my buddie Deb's birthday this week too.  Ooopsies!

Thanks for visiting!

 

Made Just For You

This is the card I sent to Tammy with all her goodies.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE those frame and sentiment cuts!  I didn't use my Silhouette much in this swap so it was nice to finally put it to work on the card.  I used the same paper that was on the cover of the Wings mini album - just can't get enough of that pack!

Tammy got her box last night and I feel such relief knowing it got there in one piece and that she really liked everything I made for her.  Phew!  My poor hubby could not understand why I was constantly checking the tracking info and pacing all day waiting for her mail lady to arrive, and then after she got her box and sent me a beautiful email he was even more bedaffled why I got all teary eyed reading her response.  Silly boy, doesn't he realize that when it's made with love (a GIBBS motto deb and I have chanted since round 1!) that you are sending a part of your heart?  LOL!  So glad all my crafting has a happy new home!  Enjoy it all Tammy and thanks for being a great partner!!

Happy crafting!
 

Last of the GIBBS3 items

The final item for Tammy's box is again a stretch of the inspirational phrase which was Share and Share Alike. 

One night while skyping, I was talking about how my husband got tickets to a NASCAR race and that I've never been to one before.  Tammy mentioned that her sons really liked NASCAR but had never been to a race either because they don't have any close enough to go to.  Since I already planned on taking bunches of pics for my scrapbook I figured I'd share some of them with her boys and do a little mini album and include pics of their favorite drivers.

I used a star album design pattern that a friend recently gave me and it was so much fun.  Not sure the boys will get much use of that but I also sent along the program book to share with them which I'm sure will be fun for them to look through.

Thanks for visiting!
 

A couple more GIBBS3

Tammy's box is out for delivery - making me crazy with the waiting!  So I am killing time by posting some more of her items...

Not All It's Cracked Up To Be
I decided to make some coasters using stained glass pieces.  I chipped up some scrap glass using a hammer and screwdriver and glued them onto a plaster base that I made using tops to frosting containers as molds.  I grouted them but the edges were too fragile so I glued some pretty ribbon around the sides and then added some felt to the bottoms.  These took alot longer to make than I thought they would, but they were fun - I love puzzles and it was the ultimate in puzzles trying to make all the crazy shapes fit, lol!

What Was I Thinking?
If Tammy is anything like me, she finds herself saying this out loud to herself several times a day, LOL!  So I figured I'd give her lots of ways to write it down before she forgets!  The printed pad is magnetic and I found it in TJ Maxx on clearance and couldn't resist it knowing Tammy likes the whole paris vintagy thing.  I made the two daisy covered items using scrap chipboard from the back of paper packs and covered them with some gorgeously awesome Tim Coffey K&Co papers.  The larger one has a lined notepad inside and a mini pen, the smaller one has a sticky note pad.  I used my Bind It All to bind them - LOVE LOVE LOVE that tool!  And the teeny tiny "T" pad is a sticky note pad I found somewhere for twenty-five cents - big splurge, eh? LOL!  Hopefully these all come in handy!

Thanks for visiting!
 

Tammy's Treasure Box Status & One More Item to Post

Tracking info says that Tammy's box arrived at her post office this morning!  OMG!  omg!  OMG!!

oh the pressure...I need to get my mind off that!  so I'll post another of the projects that is waiting inside it....

One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure:
In a dusty corner of my basement, once again scavenging for materials and ideas, I stumbled across a scrap piece of a bare pine board. It had been used for something at some point because there were marks on one side where screws had been and the edges were all chipped up, but for the life of me I can not remember exactly what it was or where it came from. It was a good size to make a sign so I decided to give Tammy another item she could use to decorate her new scrap room.

I found pictures of some vintage French signs online and decided to recreate one that advertised "Paris Flea Market".  I figured a Flea Market is a perfect example of the theme! Tammy likes the vintage paris/shabby chic stuff so I wanted to try that style. Not sure if I even came close to the true style, but I did find the exact font they used on the original sign and cut out paper letters to attach - I was too chicken to try hand painting them, lol!

The base of the the sign was first painted with several coats of black and taupe paint and then I applied a layer of crackle medium and then the top coat of antique white. I wish I had used pure white because the overall look after sanding some of the edges is a bit more grungy than I wanted but hopefully not too much for Tammy.

I love hanging vintage signs in my house - hopefully so does my partner!

Thanks for visiting!

Wings Mini Album

When the GIBBS3 swap started I knew I wanted to make a mini album and I knew I wanted to make it for Tammy's daughter who graduated high school this spring.  I decided to fit it into the item with the inspirational phrase Put Your Big Girl Panties On.  It's a big stretch I know, but my thought track was that now that Tammy's daughter has graduated and turned 18, it is time for her to "put on her big girl panties" and face the real world.  I thought that a mini album filled with family pictures would be a perfect thing to take along.  If Tammy has already done something like this for her then she could use the album for another theme since I didn't personalize it.

I love this paper pack by K&Co - it's by Susan Winget and is probably my favorite of all the collections so far.  The colors are just beautiful and the prints are tone on tone so they work great as a background when you don't want something too busy but you want just a little something.

I intended on using my Silhouette to cut fancy mats and flourishes and flowers, but we had a three night stretch of thunderstorms when I was working on this so I went back to 'old school tools' and used my distressing tool from CTMH (I love this so much that I've almost worn it out from use and it's only 3 months old!!) and I added some pretty flowers that I recently picked up from Michael's.

The cover is my favorite part of the album.  I was able to finally use my Silhouette the last night and cut out the doily background - ohgosh how I love that machine when I am able to make a cut like this!!  I pleated and stitched the lace border and then glued a strand of pearls and added some flowers and brads.  I cut out a butterfly from one of the sheets and layered it with some dimensional tape and crackled the top layer, then I added a twisted wire to create the antennae and used some rhinestones for the body.  The charm on the spine was also a clearance find at Michael's and it opens up like a locket to hold a tiny picture or note.

The album itself was a tag sale find and it is my first layered fancy edge book that I've done.  I used spray glue to cover the pages with paper and then used my craft knife to roughly cut the holes and shaped edges.  A sanding block did the rest of the detail trimming and I liked how it revealed the white core of the paper and the pages so I decided to leave it as it was instead of inking like I normally do.

This is indeed my favorite item of the swap, for both the appearance and the underlying meaning.  Having an almost 19 year old myself, I understand how hard it is to let go when they become old enough to fly away.  Like butterflies returning to the flowers...  giving wings to your children with the reassurance that their family is always there for them is really the best you can hope to accomplish. 

Thanks for visiting!