Tea Pot Get Well Wishes *SFYTT*

'Tis the Season to get sick, hence a get well card. Since I am on the mend, I thought that it might be prudent to get a few get well cards in my stash. I chose to use one of my favorite stamp sets from Papertrey Ink, Tea For Two. While I am not a tea drinker myself, it has a lot of possibilties and I have used it quite a bit. I thought the images worked perfectly for today's sketch, which I love, by the way. I don't know how Jen does it every week.

ETA: I had a comment asking me how I would get such a bulky card into an envelope. Here is my solution for this particular card; I would put it into a 5 1/2 by 5 1/2 inch paper envelope, or slide it into a clear envelope. This is a card that I wouldn't even attempt to have mailed, though. This is one that I would tuck into a basket of get-well aids, like soup, kleenex, cough drops, etc. A good way of having bulky cards mailed, however, is to have them hand-canceled at the post office so they don't have to slide through their scanner.

I started out by creating a 5 by 5 card base using Vintage Cream cardstock. Each piece of pattern paper is also matted onto cardstock and then I sewed along the edges. I had to limit my sewing, since I changed thread for a sewing project (I will share it with you when I am done) that usually ends up using a whole spool of thread and I didn't want to run out. The pattern paper is from a K & Co. slab (the Bailey Collection) that I picked up at Hobby Lobby a while back. I have been so good not to use it on every card and I think I have resisted for some time. I thought it was time to dust it off. I actually really like this combo for Christmas, so you may see some Christmas creations coming up using it.

The tea pot was stamped onto the pattern paper and then trimmed out and popped with foam squares. I also added a few buttons under the sentiment for some added detail. I didn't leave them naked this time and threaded them with a bit of Rustic Twine. I am in love with this Holiday Mix of buttons. I have actually just left them on my desk, since they make an appearance onto every project, Christmas or not.

Of course I had to add an accordion medallion for the embellishment, spruced up with some glitter and tea image. I try and resist, but I just love making them. Also, I have had quite a few emails regarding the accordion flowers and how they don't seem to stick together using glue dots. I have had some pop up myself, so I now use hot glue, which was suggested to me by Susan Liles, one of my SFYTT sisters (see link below) It has made a world of difference, so thank you Susan for the tip!!!!!

I finished the card off by adding a simple satin bow and called it done. I had a lot of fun making this card. I actually have had quite a craft-productive last few days. I have started a sewing project, finished 4 matchbook sliders and made a new Holiday banner that I will be sharing soon. That is more than I have done in a long time!!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Amy
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer ,Leigh O' Brien!!!!!

Thanks for fluttering by!!!

Christmas Matchbox

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! Unfortunately, I came down with the stomach flu Wednesday morning, so I stayed home while my family celebrated Thanksgiving. They all had a wonderful time, so I am happy. I would rather be sick than have one of them be sick. I just hung out all day and finished up some holiday projects.

It is nice to have little boxes and containers all ready to go and fill with goodies and gifts. I decided to make some little matchbox sliders to fill with candy, gift cards, or whatever. You never know when you are going to need to put together a quick gift, especially for Christmas. I have had this SU! Christmas paper since last year and thought I would put it to good use and make quite a few of these little boxes.

One of things I like about a matchbox slider, is that no one needs to un-tie the bows, etc. You can just leave it all alone and slide open the box to find the goodies. I always have people tell me that they hate to open the things I give them because they don't want to un-tie the bow and ruin it. This is the perfect solution. I will add some basket filler to the bottom of each one before it gets filled with anything else. I didn't have any on hand for the photograph. Once they are all done, I will photograph the whole lot and post it. If you would like instructions on how to make a similar box, not the same size, I put together a tutorial a while back that you can see here. Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. I will be back tomorrow with one of Jen's new SFYTT!

Warmest Greetings... *SFYTT*

....of the Season! Yes...it is another Christmas card! I am excited that my pile is growing slowly but surely! I was rumaging around in my retired stamp sets and came across my beloved "Winter is Calling" set from SU! I love this set and will never part with it. I have used it every year since I got it. The large panel on today's sketch made this image the perfect fit. I did cheat a bit, not on purpose, but I accidentally stamped the image too close to the bottom of the cardstock, colored it and then realized that I needed to have a panel go across the bottom, hence the popped focal image.
I colored the image with a combo of Copic and Prismacolor markers. I really need to buy a few more colors so that I can blend better, but I think it turned out okay. Of course I had to add a little liquid applique to the coat trim and hats. I really liked how the glitter stuck to the puffed applique for a frosty, vintage feel.

I punched the snowflakes using my Martha Stewart punch, added some adhesive pearls and popped them up with foam squares. I added a few other little details for interest and called it good. I am actually supposed to be at my Church's "Super Saturday" craft activity in 6 minutes, so I better dash!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Amy
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer ,Leigh O' Brien!!!!!

Thanks for fluttering by!

from me to you

I have been wanting to use Everyday Button Bits for almost every project I make, but so far it has only been used on one project. I decided that it was time to get some of the other images inky. I chose to use the stem image so that I could use quite a few buttons.

I am in love with the recently released Holiday Mix Vintage Buttons, so I decided to use those for all of the "flowers" on my focal panel. I really like the mix of colors. The polka dots from the leaf images were the inspiration for my embossing and background stamping, which I used PolkaDotBasics for. I almost used polka dotted ribbon, but restrained myself. I used Fresh Snow Satin Ribbon to tie the sentiment tag onto the card. I had fun using some of my Nestabilities Dies for the circle image and the sentiment label.

I also added a panel of Friends 'til the End pattern paper to break up all of the polka dots. The finishing touch was a couple of rows of zig-zag stitching.

I don't know where this card is headed, but I had fun simply stamping for fun! I rarely do that these days. I have a long list of Holiday projects that I would like to get done as well as a long list of baby projects as well. I haven't posted anything since last year to my other blog devoted to sewing, but I will be posting every project I get done in the near future. I will leave links here for those who are interested.

I unearthed all of my son's newborn baby clothes from the garage and all of those memories came flooding back. I was so excited to show him all of his precious, tiny clothes, but he could care less. Emma thought it was fun, but her and I were the only ones!
Thanks for fluttering by!

Believe *SFYTT*

It is Saturday and you know what that means; a new SFYTT! I decided to create another Christmas card to add to the stack; which isn't a stack since there is only the one from last week! LOL! Oh well...you have to start somewhere, right? I still had some of the papers from my "Thankful" banner out on my desk, so I decided to use the ones that looked Christmas-y.

I layered the paper and then did some zig-zag sewing around the edge. I then set out to work on my focal piece, using the Believe stamp set from Papertrey Ink . I stamped Father Christmas twice, cutting out only the head and beard from the second image. I wanted to give him quite a bit of detail and dimension. I also cut out the wreath and added it using foam squares. Before I mounted him onto the rectangle, I stamped it using Background Basics TextStyle and Fancy Flourishes. The sprigs of holly at the top and bottom were cut and mounted using foam squares as well. I added a touch of shine to the berries using Crystal Effects by SU! The final touch was a bit of Liquid Applique to the fur of his hat and coat. Once all that was done, I added it to the card using foam squares.

I had so much fun making all of those accordion medallions for my banner, I thought this card was aching for one as well. I really love how the red looks with the touch of gold glitter on the edges. I knew I wanted to add a jingle bell to my design and almost regretted adding the gold glitter because I thought I only had silver jingle bells, but as luck would have it, I found a lone gold jingle bell in my box. Yay! I guess I will be heading out to the craft store to purchase an assortment of gold jingle bells! LOL!

I added the "Believe" sentiment and a tarnished gold button for some added detail. I almost called it done, but at the last minute I added the vintage lace to the edge. I like the feel that it gives the card. It is hard to see in teh photo since it is so light, but I promise it is there.This is another one that will have to be tucked in with a gift, rather than mailed. I had a lot of fun with this design and I hope that you will all have a chance to play along.

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Amy
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer (Amy will be playing this week, but her creation will be done a little later this afternoon, so stay tuned) ,Leigh O' Brien!!!!!

Thanks for fluttering by!

Thankful

When I made my *Spooky* Banner, I moved my *Autumn* banner into my kitchen to hang from my china hutch. It looks so great there, I didn't want to move it. It also gave me an excuse to make yet another banner. I have so much fun making these, especially this one because of the fun colors and patterns. I am proud that I didn't even go to the store once to purchase anything for this banner. I just used things I had in my stash and it ended up being perfect. I looked through my stash of K& Company papers and just grabbed ones that seemed like Autumn to me, even though they weren't necessarily meant to go together. I added two different images from Crafty Secrets. The funny thing about the image below is that the turkey has a sign coming out of his pumpkin cart that says "Eat Pizza". It got covered up with the chipboard letter, but I thought that it was funny!
As you can see, I patterned this one almost exactly after my *Spooky* Banner. Instead of the crepe paper ruffles, I used some vintage lace. My chipboard letters were first painted using Making Memories Scrapbook Paint, then glittered using some gold SU! glitter. You should have seen the glittered mess I cleaned up yesterday after I was done. I was actually glittering myself. I had to run to the grocery store, and I couldn't look anyone in the face, because I knew I was sparkling.

I wish I would have gotten this one done a little earlier, since Thanksgiving is only a few short weeks away. I decided to make a pumpkin pie yesterday to get into the Thanksgiving spirit a little bit more. My house smelled so good and my family was thankful for the treat. I love Autumn so much! My kitchen and dining area have a beautiful Autumn glow coming in from the windows since all of the leaves on my 5 trees in the back have turned. I have a beautiful blanket of yellow leaves in the backyard that we will get to rake up. My kids love to rake the leaves. We usually make a huge pile for them to jump into each year. Unfortunately, my backyard neighbors find my trees the bane of their existence. I think this is the last year that we will have all 5.

I have some more baking to do today. I will be making some refreshments for the judges that will be coming to our school tonight to judge all of our Reflections contest entries. I also need to finish up their thank you cards as well. Thanks for fluttering by!

Time For Take-Out *Sneak Peek*

Yes...it is that time again! Time for a fabulous new template from Papertrey Ink that will be available for purchase on the 15th of this month. It isn't your ordinary "Take-Out" box that we all have seen again and again. This one is fresh and fun and available in two sizes. You all know how much I love it when you get two for one! One of the fun things about this one is that you can use two different colors of paper to coordinate for a bit of interest. I chose to use Spring Moss and Pure Poppy for my project. I also paired it withEveryday Button Bits, one of my must have sets, as well as Polka Dot Basics. Of course I couldn't resist adding a few of the new Holiday Mix VintageButtons. I finished the project off by adding a bow of Pure Poppy Swiss Dot Ribbon. I can't wait to fill this up with a sweet treat to give to a friend! Thanks for fluttering by!

Merry Christmas *SFYTT*

I decided to switch gears a bit and start getting ready for the Holidays! I am trying to get a head start, since by the time Christmas rolls around, I might not be feeling like getting things done! I started my Christmas shopping the other day and it felt good to get some fun gifts for family and friends! I love Christmas! I was actually quite surprised and delighted while I was shopping to hear quite a few religious Christmas songs playing over the loud speaker. It really made me stop and think while I was shopping what it is really all about. It is crazy to have Christmas all around, every where this soon. I know that it happens every year, but it still kindof freaks me out. It used to be that Christmas decor, etc. didn't make it's appearance until the day after Thanksgiving. I will still try and throw a few Autumn projects out there, because Autumn is one of my absolute favorite seasons.

I have only used this image from Inkadinkado once, last year, and I used these same papers. I decided to make it easy on myself today and just pull them out and use them again. I rarely use these papers anyway, so it is good to use up some of my stash. I have been waiting all year to use my Martha Stewart snowflake punch again; I didn't get my fill last year, I guess. I colored Frosty using an assortment of Copic and Prismacolor markers. I added some diamond stickles to add a little sparkle and dimension. The sentiments that were included in this stamp set, didn't work well with this layout, so I decided to use one from SU!'s "Many Merry Messages". It is one of my favorite Christmas sentiment sets and I use it quite a bit this time of year.





I decided to create a home spun feel by adding some sewing, buttons and gingham ribbon. I probably won't mail this one out, but rather tuck it in with a gift. The papers are all from SU!. They are a prints pattern pack that was a hostess level from last year, I believe.



I really shouldn't wait a whole week between posts because I feel like I always have a lot to say. A lot has happened since last Saturday; sadly one of the things being that my son's football team lost at the Mini-Bowl last Saturday. They played a good game; the ending score being 14-6. We had a second touch-down, but a penalty was called, so it didn't count. My son was actually okay afterward and not too upset. He had fun trick-or-treating and it was good to have that to take his mind off things. I think my husband and I were more upset than him. It was weird all week to only have to get my daughter to dance in the evening and have the rest open to enjoy together. The tooth fairy has visited us this week, which is always fun. This is the second tooth my daughter has lost, and it is so fun to see the magic in her eyes when she excitedly tells us what the tooth fairy has brought her.

I am feeling quite pregnant these days. I am irritable, crying all the time about random things, tired and well....pregnant. I am getting excited as I see the days turn into weeks and the due date coming up quickly. I love to feel him kicking and moving and wonder what he will be like. I had a dream that he had blonde hair, which I know won't happen since both of my babies have had a full head of Jet-Black hair. I told my little Emma and now every drawing she makes of the baby he has a full head of yellow spikey hair. It is quite cute and I am saving most of the cute drawings she has made. My favorites have been the ones with a big circle in my stomach, the baby in the circle with a heart or two. So cute!!!

It is almost 10:00 a.m. and I better get my family some breakfast! Thanks for fluttering by!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and New November Guest Designer
Amy Rohl
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer,Leigh O' Brien!!!!!