Crafty Secrets April Linky Party......and I almost missed it (again!)

I made another wall hanging and it's  is going in the mail to surprise (shhh!) a wonderfully generous friend, Donna of Lizzie Bee & Co She sells fresh honey and honey based products like yummy lotion soaps, so who better to give a pretty Queen Bee hanging??

It uses another favorite (I know, I know, they're ALL my favorite! ha ha) Crafty Secrets image from the Creative Scraps collection. This pretty bee image is now also available as a digital stamp ; those digital stamps are so cool because you can print it over and over in varying sizes and then you can color it however you wish. It's also fun to print black imagery on colored or lightly patterned paper.

 

I used my Spellbinders scalloped circle die to cut out the bee image and I layered it on top of another scalloped circle in blue, as well as a lacey edged circle in red paper from the Crate Paper Little Bo Peep 6 X 6 paper pad. Next, I cut two strips of light red paper with Martha Stewart's Garden Trellis deep edge punch and lined them up bottom to bottom edge, creating a very wide lattice patterned strip to put down the middle of the pennant.

 

The blue dotted paper from Webster's Pages is mounted on a Maya Road scalloped pennant shaped piece of chipboard. I added a piece of pink silk ribbon on top of my punched trellis pieces, pop dotted the bee image and then edged everything in French Blue Cat's Eye Chalk Ink and then again in Silver Stickles. The bottom points are accented with large pearl embellishments. For the hanger, I wanted to continue with the soft delicate look of pearls and pastels so I created a beaded hanger of pink and white "pearls" strung on wire and attached to the pennant. 

 

 

I can't wait to get this one in the mail, but for now I need to go link up with Crafty Secrets....don't forget to check out this this month's linky party entries, as well as the latest pretty projects from the Crafty Secrets design team. What a talented group of ladies!! Hope everyone has a great week and checks back in with me soon.

Be blessed and be a blessing!!

I really hope to be a blogger who posts at least somewhat regularly and predictably, but so far, I'm not off to a great start, eh?  The second half of March brought me numerous computer problems, including issues with my server so I have fallen far behind on correspondence, emails and blogging.  I was really disappointed, as I had planned to post several Easter cards and a special Easter mini album in the days leading up to my favorite holiday.  Boo!  Those project may show up belatedly in future posts, but tonight I want to share two wall hangings I made which feature Crafty Secrets products.  Today is the last day of Crafty Secret's Linky Party for April and I am barely in time to play along!  So sorry I wasn't able to invite you to join in, but at least pop over and take a peek at all the lovely entries! 

I enjoy making wall hangings, thinking of them as pretty cards on steroids!  Today I made two to share and the first one uses one of my favorite spring themed Crafty Secrets' images from their Creative Scraps collection.   Isn't the little girl just the sweetest thing?

I knew I wanted to showcase this image in such a way that I can enjoy it year after year.  I covered a piece of Crafty Secrets chipboard with paper from an older Prima collection called Fairy Flora.  The soft pastel watercolor style pattern fits with our cheery spring girl perfectly. I have only a few scraps of this collection left in my paper stash and cannot find it available anywhere anymore. Do any of you know where I might find some? (never hurts to ask!)

I layered a lacey paper doily and die cut a piece of a coordinating Fairy Flora paper under the image and then framed it with some fabric floral trim in pink. 

I edged the entire piece in a scrumptious piece of pastel blue tinsel I found in the Easter section at Hobby Lobby! It has just the right amount of shimmer in it and I wish I had bought more when I found it!  Don't you hate when that happens?

Once again, I created a swag underneath the image, using paper roses from Michael's, vintage velvet millinery flowers and some glittery plastic mini eggs.  Some of the flowers are accented with pearls and gemstones, and there are some fabric leaves peeking out, too. There is a pearl brad from K & Company accenting the middle bottom.

I chose a vintage style metal hanger to hang this project, and using another Crafty Secrets creative scrap, I added the word "Springtime" to the hanger. 

                                   This is perfect for hanging from the middle of my mantle.
                          Thanks for visiting me today and taking a look at my latest project!

Are you familiar with The Little Pink Studio?  If you love vintage bits and bobs, you definitely need to visit it.  Owner Cerri, is the sweetest and most helpful lady, and she makes some truly lovely goodies.   Right around the holidays, I ordered a few supplies from her and, almost on a whim, I added a cute house shaped "shadowbox" ornament that was ready to alter.  Sadly I don't think she has the houses in stock anymore, but right now she does have similar heart shaped box ornaments like these:

There were so many ideas I could have used for the house ornament, but I love birds very much so I knew as soon as I had it in hand that it would be fashioned into a birdhouse! 

This is the house I got.  It's about an inch deep, with an easy off back so you can place your 3D scene or item inside the round window. Very cute idea, huh??!    I began by tracing every side of the house onto Pink Paislee's  London Market (I used the 6 X 6 papers so the prints would be smaller)

I adore this paper line, with its delicate roses, soft colors and overall shabby mood of the collection.  I crimped the papers to give them a little more depth and texture on the house.  I also die cut strips to layer and overlap on the rooftop, giving the effect of shingles.  I should have taken photos of each step, but oops!  I guess I was so excited putting it all together that I forgot to snap as I went!! :-o

Here's how my house turned out when I was finished:

I used a vintage greeting card image to fussy cut the two cute little birds and the interior "Love Lives Here" image is from, who else?  Crafty Secrets!  I used a fabric covered brad from K & Company at the top of the roof, embellished with my beloved millinery flowers and leaf ribbon, as well as a strand of dangly beads along the bottom.  As you see in the photo, I haven't yet hung the ornament, but when it is hanging, the beads will dangle straight.  I also used a bit of ribbon (the pink along the roof and the green around the window) from Doodlebug.  See the green frame around the window?  That's an epoxy coated frame from K & Company.  The edges of the house and chimney were outlined with Cotton Candy Stickles.   I covered and decorated the back, too, so that when this house is hanging, you can enjoy it from any side.

You can probably tell this project used a lot of bits and pieces from my stash.  I think the London Market paper was the only "newish" product I used here.  I'm trying very hard to use what I have on hand!   This was such a fun project and the birdhouse is perfect for welcoming spring!   Thanks for visiting today! 

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone has had a pleasant and relaxing weekend, maybe with some crafty time included!  I've been really enjoying making cards over the last week.  I just love Easter, and making spring themed cards and layouts are one of my favorite things to work on!

Tonight I have another Easter chick card using an image from Crafty Secrets:

I'm sorry the lighting isn't too good in my picture.  It wasn't a very pretty day out today soooo........(I'm not the best at photographing, either, truth be told! ha ha!    One of my besties, Barbie is a super talented photographer and sweet enough to help me if I wanted help with pictures, but, sadly, she moved a few months ago, from here in Tennessee all the way to freezing cold Minnesota!!  

Moving on to the card, I used a pre-printed card (background) from one of Anna Griffin's fantastic card making kits. I used a Cuttlebug embossing plate in Textile design on a piece of K & Company paper which I also edged with scalloped scissors.  The "Dear Friend" sentiment is also from K & Company and I popped it with 3D foam adhesive.  The velvet flower ribbon is from my stash and I adhered a pearl from Melissa Frances in the center of each flower.  Finally, I highlighted the lighter parts of the chick with Stickles in Icicle.

This was a simple and quick card to put together but the chick image is really the focus and makes a great card to send a sweet friend for Easter.   Thanks for visiting me today.  I wish you a safe and joyous week! 

Better Late Than Never, Even With a Linky Party!!

I had hoped to post a new entry sooner but then LIFE HAPPENED all week----you know what I mean? The week has just flown by and I have been swamped which means I did not get to post about Crafty Secrets monthly linky party. Crafty Secrets has long been a favorite company of mine and Sandy over there hosts a linky party every month on the first Monday. During the week of the linky party, you can enter any project you've made that includes some Crafty Secret product. I've always stalked the Crafty Secrets blog, admiring everyone's entry but never getting around to entering myself and I almost missed it again this month!! Grrr...



Anyway, without further ado, I have two sweet Easter cards to share with you today, both using a couple of my favorite Crafty Secrets images, adorable little chicks. The first card is the boy chick image:





Remember I mentioned I am on a quest this year to use up, recycle or make do?? Um, yeah. That's a problem when trying to list what supplies I use on any given project. I am pretty good about knowing my products and manufacturers, but when you dig out 7 yr old papers, sometimes it's hard to remember exactly who made it. Most patterned paper today has the company name and pattern on it, either on the back or on a detachable tab, but many of us remember when that wasn't alway the case! I'll tell you the supplies I do know. This card used a background from a K & Company photo mat. I used Lifestyle Crafts wafer thin die in nesting lace rectangles to cut out three mats from pastel vellums. The chick image and the frame around it are both from Crafty Secrets; I covered the frame in pink glitter and further embellished it with some vintage millinery flowers and some Leaves Ribbon from May Arts.. Iadore that leaf ribbon and use it often in my mixed media or card projects.



My next card uses the companion image, showing a precious girl chick all dressed up in her Easter Best. The cover "Springtime" sentiment is also from Crafty Secrets.

   On this card, I used a light blue paper with some pink flocking designs on it. I am not sure where this paper came from, but it may be Heidi Grace. Again, I used a glittered Crafty Secrets frame around the image and I embellished it with Prima  paper flowers.  The pearls around the frame and the gemstones in the flower centers are from K & Company and the velvet leaves are from Making Memories.   The doily behind my image is from a party supply store and the ribbon behind "Springtime" is from my stash.  Both cards are 6.5" X 5" and blank inside to write my own personal note or sentiment.

Thanks so  much for stopping by and seeing my Easter cards.  I plan to post several more in the coming days.  Easter is my favorite holiday and I love making cards, layouts and other crafty goodness during this hope filled season of spring!  Hope you all have a blessed week!! 

Cleaning Up For Creatvity

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions because, like most of you, I tend to set a high goal and then disappoint myself before February hits the calendar.  This year, however, I did set two goals in order to encourage my creative desires....one, to clean up and organize my scrapbook space; and two, to use up existing supplies before pouring more money into new supplies.  I hope you'll follow me here to see how I progress in both areas and I'll welcome comments with suggestions and encouragement!  :)

I am very blessed to have a dedicated room for my crafting, one that doesn't have to accomodate a guest bed or home office.  Unfortunately, having a 12 X 12 space seems to encourage my great drive to collect all manner of kitchsy and cute.  It also tends to become the family dumping grounds whenever we have an emergency let's-hide-all-the-junk-for-now moment.   Do you see where I'm headed with this?  Even though I have an entire room, I still struggle with keeping it organized and clean so I can get down to the business of cutting and pasting.

I've been working over the last several weeks to reclaim my scrapbook studio, purging as much as I could stand and paring down some of my knick knacks.  My wonderful parents, who have been encouraging my artistic side my entire life, contributed further by gifting me with an amazing Workbox for Valentine's Day!!  It has helped tremendously, stowing away nearly all of my embellishments and consumable supplies.  It's been such fun arranging the interior and I now have it just right and swoon every time I open the thing!  I plan to do a post soon showing more of how I organized the studio and the Workbox.  

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to clean up your scrappin area because you find so many cool things to play with?  Yeah, me, too!  I kept finding little bits and bobs here and there and my ADD brain would begin to piece together a card!  The good news is that while rediscovering "new old" embellishments and reviewing stacks of carefully hoarded patterned paper, I was greatly inspired and in the last week, I have been creating cards and even completed a layout for the first time in way too long!  Yay!!  It feels really good. 

Next I'll talk about my efforts to use up supplies and curtail spending on my passion, a topic I'm sure we all know far too well!  Thanks for visiting my blog and I'll hope you'll continue to visit me here.