Holiday Craft Fair! Come shop!

I just wanted to give everyone a shout out about a Holiday Craft Mart that I will be participating in. The date is this Saturday, December 4th. It is from 9 am to 4 pm at the First Baptist Church of Gaithersburg (that's the big church on West Diamond Ave in Gaithersburg, right across the street from the Londonderry apartments). There should be a large variety of holiday items and hand crafted art available and no cost to get in! I hope to see you there!

Take THIS Bed Bath and Beyond!

I haven't done much to post lately because I am getting ready for my class (next Friday or Saturday if you are thinking about coming!), and I am also getting ready for a holiday craft show so I am trying to get some "stock" together. BUT I was looking through some junk mail this weekend and I saw this piece of artwork from B B and B....

I REALLY like it, but $29.99 per panel? I don't think so. I decided I could easily make my own and here is my final product...

I LOVE how it turned out! I am so proud of it....

Thanks for looking...

Co-Workers, and Stocking Stuffers, and Secret Santas... Oh, My!

I am super excited to bring you the things we are going to make for my November class. The last class that I will offer this year, and it's just perfect for the holidays! I will offer the class on Friday, November 19, from 4 pm on or Saturday November 20th all day long. Let me introduce you to all the projects...

This class will be sort of a-la-cart. If you love something, you can make as many of those things as you'd like. If you don't like something (which I seriously doubt) skip it!

All of these projects are great small gift ideas. Perfect for a co-worker or mail person. They would also be great for a stocking stuffer or even your secret Santa. In addition, they all are very quick projects to make (the first one will take less than 5 minutes), and they are very budget friendly. Read on for more details...



The first one is this aluminum snowflake Christmas tree ornament. In the center of the snowflake, you'll place a rhinestone in the color of your choice. Then you'll tie a ribbon around the snowflake (so you can hang it on the tree). Finally, you'll back the snowflake with a snowflake embossed paper. It's a perfect way to present the gift.

You get to choose the colors (which you can customize for the person you are giving it to), and the best part? Only $2.00 per ornament!

Next, there are two different sized and type of pads/notebooks for the second option for this class. There is a shorter wider little spiral notebook.

There are many different colors and patterns to choose from. These will be first come, first served. I will have a variety of options available for you to choose from; all of the options are sure to please and will be something that your family and friends will love because they are so cute and handy, too. Each one is $5.00 no matter which size you choose.

Here's a close up of the one with snowflake on it... What you can't see is the smootch spray on the snowflake. That spray makes it all sparkly and pretty-ful!

Here's a shot of the long tall notepads. We also made this notepad a few months ago in one of my classes. It is back by special request. This time, there is a holiday/winter flair available. But, again, lots of color options to choose from...

Finally, this is the third thing that will be available to make at the class. I have these cute little stretch gloves, and you'll add toppers to them to make a sweet little gift. Once again, the colors vary (of both the gloves and the matching paper): first come, first served. These are sure to please, and oh-so-cute, but what you'll love even more is that it is only $5.00 for each pair of gloves.


There are pink gloves, purple stripped gloves, all brown gloves, white gloves, and the list goes on.

I hope you'll come and join me! You could get quite a few people crossed off your list before Thanksgiving and Black Friday! Think about that! Also can you imagine the pride you'll feel when the recipient of the gift is gushing about how cute it is is and you say, "I made that for you!"

Please let me know if you are coming over! I'd love to have you! Please RSVP with me to let me know that you are coming. You don't have to let me know what you want to make. I will have everything ready, you just come and choose what you like.

Hope to see you soon!

I Think I'm in Love!

This is my latest take on this week's sketch challenge for Stamping 411. I really like the sketch and this is my second stab at it. Here's my first. I have another idea, too, but I think I will stop here and try another challenge, too.

Anyway... I really am proud of how this turned out. I started with a base of Not Quite Navy. I added a layer of Crumb Cake. Then I used strips of this DSP I have. (Sorry... I don't have the name and don't want to take the time to find my old catty to find the name... it's retired anyway). I topped that with part of the top note in Very Vanilla (and idea I cased from Connie Babbert's card... SO awesome!) On that, I stamped the flourish from Elements of Style and used the sentiment from Vintage Vogue. I don't know if you can see it, but I put a tiny pearl in the center of the flower in the flourish. I used a vanilla ribbon and my cool, cool embellishment of the F (in navy) using the technique I saw on Splitcoast. I love it! Oh, there are also three pearls, in decreasing size in the bottom left corner.

Usually, I make two cards and change the second one up. In this case, I loved the first card so much, I changed very little. Most is the same, but the ribbon is in Crumb Cake and since it is thinner, I tied a bow. On this one, I stamped off the flourish first before stamping, giving me a more subtle flourish on my top note. I stamped the flourish all over the whole top note. I still have the baby pearl in the middle of the flower. See it?

I really, really love this technique. You cover your card stock with a dryer sheet (yes, I said a dryer sheet... used) and then rub in your dazzling diamond glitter. I tried to get a shot to show you how glittery it is, but the camera doesn't do it justice (I think my camera is pretty crappy though). Trust me on this one; it is be-U-tiful! I popped it up with pop dots on both cards!

Thanks for looking...

Seeing Double?

Yes, you are seeing double! I used Inspired by Nature to do this week's sketch challenge over at Stamping 411. It's a really cool sketch this week... lots of fun, ladies! Thanks! I've got some more ideas coming, too!

I will admit that I L-O-V-E, LOVE the Cottage Garden DSP. So when this Sunny Garden DSP came out, I quickly bought it. But, this is the first time I've used it. It has the same exact patterns as the Cottage Garden, but I don't love the colors as much. Maybe it's just me...

It is supposed to go with Daffodil Delight, but I liked it better with So Saffron, so that's what I put it with because I can! :) I started with a base of the saffron, then put a base of Peach Parfait. Then I used 4 one inch strips of DSP. I used my top notes die in saffron as a base for my cone flower. I colored the stamp with my markers. In this one, (which wasn't my first try at this...) the ink was spotty and not even, but it looked a bit distressed and I liked it! So I left it. I used 3 peachy/orange brads in a L-shape in the corner (because they'd have gotten lost on the background DSP!) I used Old Olive, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip ink on the stamp. I also used an olive ribbon. On this card, I popped up the top note piece.

On this edition of the card, I did mostly the same. However, this stamp was really my first, and again the ink was not even so I colored it in! I got a bright pop of color that way. I used a marker from a non-SU set I have, but the color was close to Poppy Parade, which I don't have. I do have some poppy sparkle brads that I added, and I had a hard time picking the ribbon. Nothing seemed right. I just got this crumb cake ribbon, which I thought tied in with the soft suede part of the flowers. I am not sure how I feel about it just yet, but I wanted to finish and post before bed. I keep making typos because it's past my bed time so I will just have to live with that ribbon.

Overall, I am happy with them....

Thanks for looking...

Tiling... on a card?!?

I loved this look! It's like tiling, but instead of being in a bathroom tiling around a toilet (always fun...) it's on a card! (For reals... that is much more fun than tiling around a toilet any day of the week!)

These two cards are for a new blog I found (like I need more to check) called Skipping Stones Design. I really liked the sketch and just had to play. The artist who designed this sketch was a guest designer for them. She is Karen Giron and does the Sweet Sunday Sketches.

I have decided to do more sketches, to be a better (read more frequent) blogger. I want to be asked to be a guest designer/participant for some of these blogs I check out! I thought, "How am I gonna do that?" Ahhh... by regularly contributing and getting myself out there... duh! So that's what I'm gonna do! Starting here! I used Happy Moments on this card. I also used some patterned paper that I've had for approximately 20 years. It's not SU, but it's cute and all tied together color-wise, and it looked so good with my Wild Wasabi (what doesn't?) and Pink Pirouette. I had the idea after I saw the sketch and the designer's cards. When I finished, I thought it was a little busy for me, but cute, none-the-less.

On this one, I went with the straight up square. I like it! I also used Birthday Bakery. I haven't used it that much, but I do love it! Same colors, but I used all the SU pinks to color it in and the wasabi and celery to add in green accents.

The punch I used on the front is one I got at the local craft store. It rhymes with Cartha Fruewart. :)

I added a sentiment inside from It's Your Birthday and the cupcake from the gift tag stamp in Birthday Bakery.

Thanks for looking...