you are special to me and tag

Two projects to share on this fine Saturday.  I've been working hard and playing hard this week and funny, the week has raced by w/o any more crafty fun...  (But all sorts of other fun, including waterskiing on Lake Tahoe, a Children's Festival, a play, a float down a local river, a coffee date with a friend and some other not-so-much fun work related what nots, but we wont talk about those).  Anyhoo, back to the crafty fun, the top card combines the CAS(E) this sketch and this week's PTI Make It Monday challenge.  Instead of adding on top of the medallion I cut out the heart with one of the PTI tags and added vellum to the back, love the simplicity of the card.  

 And up next a tag for the new Tag You're It Challenge and Moxie Fab World word die challenge.  I used a large Hero Arts background stamp and embossed it with white and then added the distress inks.  I used a bit of perfect pearls on top of the card, die cut the Simon Says flower out of vellum and Day word die out of white paper and added a piece of black twine.  I'm thinking I might use this tag on a gift I've got for my sister's non-baby shower party (it's a day of pampering vs. a traditional baby shower).

hello

Hello... do you know I very rarely use all stickers on my cards?  So I was inspired by the Moxie Fab World Handmade Cards Stickers and Tapes challenge and this card is completely made of Basic Grey Paper Cottage goodies.  I also used the CAS(E) This Sketch as my source of inspiration.  The other random tid bit about this card is that I made it at 5:40 this morning and here it is 5:15pm and I'm just now finding the time to post it... hello, what have I been doing all day?

i heart coffee

Okay friends... what better way to start your Saturday then with some fun coffee crafty projects?  I have been meaning to play along with the PTI Make it Monday "Layered Emboss Resist" challenge and just hadn't found the right inspiration...   In the end I love the subtle coffee mugs on these two projects, I haven't used my clear embossing powder in awhile.  And since I've used a few goodies from around the house on these projects, I'm also going to add this to the Moxie Fab World Handmade Cards Week "The General Craft Supplies", because really you just never know when you might use a coffee filter, doily and upcycled coffee take out holder in your project, and while those are exactly goodies you'd find on the aisles of your craft store, I like the idea that could collect them in aisle at the grocery store (along with the coffee in the bag above, thank you Carolines Coffee Roasters for being available in my local supermarket).  In addition to my household goodies I've used May Arts crochet ribbon and coffee printed ivory twill ribbon, Hero Arts newspaper background, PTI Warm Happiness and Latte Love, Lawn Fawn chevrons, distress inks, Spellbinders dies, PTI notebook and tag dies.  So, enjoy your cup of coffee, I know I will.

colorful snowflake holiday tag

So who says Christmas goodies have to be red and green?  After I'd inked up the background from yesterday's card I added the left over ink to an embossed piece of cardstock I had floating around on my messy desk.  Once the ink had dried I cut out a tag and then used the PTI snowflake dies, finishing off the tag with a vellum holiday wish from the PTI Photo Finishers set.  And since I've already told you about the pretend present (here and here) this time around I wrapped the kraft box with May Arts Sheery Nylon, Solid Wrinkled and Sheer Tinsel Edge ribbons.  Which I think is just the right about color for the Moxie Fab World Handmade Card Color Media Challenge.

happy birthday

I really should have more Happy Birthday cards in my stash... but then maybe it would remind me of how terrible I am about actually sending birthday cards?  Who knows.  Anyhoo, today's card was inspired by the latest Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger, I used the Hero Arts tweed background and inked a bunch of distress inks (loosely based on the colors in the photo) onto a block and then spritzed the block, blending the inks together.  Then you press the rubber stamp onto the block and get this fun background.  So I won the Fresh Squeezed Stamps Birthday giveaway last week, so all the more reason to make a birthday card with some of their stamps!  And for one last challenge I think this is a fun take on the MFW Handmade Cards Week Color Media Challenge.  It's so very colorful in my world right now... inspiration is everywhere.

gold hello tag

So my craft desk is normally a huge disaster... and the one advantage to that is when you decide to make something, there are often random scraps within arm's reach... today's project uses a tag I cut out of an attempt at this card, so it uses the PTI Make It Monday technique of the embossing paste and it works for the Moxie Fab World "All That Glitters is Gold" challenge.  I've wrapped the gift in May Arts silk and tied a bow with May Arts sheer ruffle ribbon and you can't really see the May Arts woven velvet.

hello there

Hello there...  so it's Saturday morning and in my state of procrastinating I found inspiration from Cath's Moxie Fab post with a whole bunch of fabulous cards and decided to CASE Donna's card, but since challenge happy girl over here wanted to play along with some of the Moxie Fab World Handmade Cards challenge, I've added some washi tape to this card for the Stickers and Tape challenge, a wood branch for the Metal, Wood and Cork Challenge and the flower for the General Craft Challenge (b/c while they didn't jump off the craft shelf at me I have a draw full of them from past DT projects and I'm constantly wonder what to do with them).  While I'd love a wooden die cut square, I didn't have one of those in my drawers, so I upcycled one of the take out coffee holders I have in a box, to add a little extra texture to the die cut.  And if you saw my recent card FB post you'll see that I took a leap and dropped some cards off at a local artisan boutique...  if they all sell I'm going shopping :)

gold dust couple

Embossing paste with Dreamweaver metallic F/X shimmer equals a delightful mess....  I'd played with the combo here, but today's PTI Make It Monday it to use a PTI impression plate, so I used the hexagons and dressed up this snazzy couple for the Moxie Fab World "All That Glitters is Gold" challenge.  And I have these friends who have a local event planning business called Gold Dust Collective, and I don't know about you, but I think they need this card!  Happy Monday...  now I feel like I need to go to a fancy party...  covered in gold dust over here.  (Check back on my work blog for the party I did go to last night, I'm awe that our town can put on such amazing shows, photos coming later this morning...).

wood tree card

Today's card is another one of those, sit down to make something, get distracted by the slew of random things on the desk and end up creating something other then the original train of thought.  The weather has turned here and I love fall... so when I was looking at the white birch wood paper cut out of the PTI tree (which was chilling on my desk waiting for an occasion), I decided to stamp the leaves.  I love the way this wood paper looks, gives it a whole new texture.  Part of my thought process was to play along with Cath's Moxie Fab World "Metal, Wood or Cork" challenge.

And this sentiment is so fun, "Leaves fall and the wind blows.  The tress slowly change from summery cottongs into their winter wools."  Such the right word choice for today's cooler temperatures.

sister vintage trailer tag

Cath has challenged us over at Moxie Fab World to pull out "Metal, Wood or Cork" I made this super CAS tag out of a sheet of wood paper, stamped a trailer and sentiment on it and wrapped the gift in May Arts ivory stripe ribbon.  My sister would love this, click here to read her article she wrote about lusting after an airstream.

hello friend

So Cath, over at Moxie Fab World, has a "all that glitters is gold" challenge going on and I'm not sure where I came up with the inspiration for this card, it's a bit out of my normal look.  Someone in the crafting world was using embossing paste and it stuck in the back of my mind, so I pulled it out with the little jar of gold Dreamweaver Stencil Metallic F/X and made a huge mess... and then sprayed the rest of the card with Tattered Angels gold mist... fun!  

rolled burlap flower hot cocoa tin

Let us call this project really what it is-- procrastinating at its finest.  Anyone interested in the path?  So today is the last day for the Moxie Fab World Christmas challenges, and while I'm not really in the festive holiday spirit I noticed that the Holiday Food & Wrap was lacking some love, so, challenge happy girl that I am thought this would be a good use of my time (Lynn, this is where you perhaps tell me that walking out the door for a run in the rain would be a better use of my time).  So last week I did an online card class on rolled ribbon flowers for Charity Wings and while the original project was with chevron twill, because of the interactive nature of the class the gals asked to see the technique with burlap, so I made the above flower.  So in the spirit of procrastinating this morning I went for my favorite color combo of kraft and red, upcycling a Gertie's granola tin into a stylish holder for some homemade hot cocoa packets (which you can't see, but if you look closely on the flower, you'll see where I accidentally spilled hot cocoa all over my project).   But then after I'd play with the May Arts 4 inch burlap and the faux burlap, I was trying to figure out how to take it up a notch for the holidays, and enter May Arts silk.  And presto, a perfect present ready for the tree...    Can I say I am never this organized?  Thanks Cath for the motivation... now off for that run.  

snowman tag

So I've been on a tag kick this last week... and thought I might as well play along with the Moxie Fab World Holiday tag challenge-- and somehow managed to make it one layer, so I'm playing along with the Lawnscaping crew.  I love simplicity...  so my Lawn Fawn snowman is good to go just as is... I added some snow with an embossing pen, colored with water color pencils and added some May Arts solid wrinkle ribbon.  Now hopefully I will remember where these tags are when Christmas rolls around....

Happy Birthday card and tag

Happy Saturday friends...  I wanted to play along with the fabulous 10 Minute Craft Dash, so this morning in my pre-coffee state I tried to make a card using the technique Dawn talks about here, but then I cropped the card and totally misaligned the paper cutter chopping it off in a non-useable way.  So I left the chopped card went to the gym, the Farmers Market and then came home and had some coffee.

Take 2 of the same card (so I'm not sure if that's considered cheating) took me 8 minutes and 46 seconds (and that includes my mother walking in and talking to me while crafting).  I love that she asks who the card is for and I'm often answering, "No one, it's for a challenge" and she doesn't get it.  Moxie Fab World is having a Birthday Card Challenge, so this works for that one too.

But then I thought about how I should play along with the Moxie Fab World Birthday challenges before the deadline and I took that "ruined" card and turned it into a tag... so my tag-centric week on my blog continues :)  This tag also works for the CAS on Sunday "Tag It" challenge and this week's PTI Make It Monday "random background" challenge.

Materials: Card: PTI Bigger Blooms, WPlus9 Folkart Florals, PTI inks, card stock, Glossy Accents
Tag: PTI Bigger Blooms, WPlus9 Folkart Florals, PTI inks, card stock, Glossy Accents, May Arts Ruched Ruffle and Burlap String, PTI Tag It Sale die

wishing you warm wishes

Wishing you warm wishes....    I've made a fun little holiday tag for a few challenges.  I started with some Cosmo Cricket paper (thank you Jenyfur) and die cut two tags with the PTI Tag It die.   I added the Paper Smooches take out coffee mug, paper pierced the holder with the coordinating paper and then added some May Arts faux canvas ribbon pleats and part of a doily.  I wanted to play along with the Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge (sheer and clear), plus Savannah's challenge over at Yvonne's Do More with Less (and I've got a few hours before the deadline).  So I played with the sentiments (a combo of Hero Arts and Paper Smooches) to create the sentiment.  And lastly the Moxie Fab World Holiday Cards & More gift tag challenge had my name on it.   And thanks Barb for letting me know this would be a good entry for CAS on Sunday "Tag" it challenge.

hello triangle tag

Hello..  I'm squeezing in a last minute project for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge.  I'm also going to play along with the Moxie Fab World trendy triangles challenge.  I've used PTI tag it and hello die, PTI sketched shales triangles, Hero Arts neon ink, Versafine black ink and May Arts sheer ruffle and silk ribbons.  I'm off to eat ice cream, all month at work we just keep saying "It's July," and I have earned my ice cream :)

Birthday cheer

So.... I've got these two fabulous blogging friends named Jen and Karen and they've decided to host a virtual birthday card party, and they invited the Ribbon Lady, and she loves presents, so there's a ribbon giveaway in honor of my birthday!  Wow ladies, thanks for the love :)  So go leave a comment here, here and on the May Arts blog for your chance to win some ribbon, oh right... and here too :)  Since this was a surprise party I didn't have a card that works with the challenge that Jen & Karen are playing along, so below are some birthday cards I made earlier this week...  Can't have a post without any cards right?

This card uses May Arts satin pleats ribbon, PTI sentiment and The Crafts Meow background stamp (designed by Karen).

This card uses May Arts corduroy velvet ribbon, Kaiser Crafts patterned paper, PTI sentiment and some fun faux chalkboard embossing/colored pencils/distress inks.

And this one doesn't have any ribbon (oh dear), but maybe one doesn't want to drip their ice cream on ribbon on such a warm day?  I thought this card might work well for the Moxie Fab World mixy/matchy challenge.

Stamp Your Story Tags

TGIF friends... I made these tags the other week because I'm going to be teaching a class next week (Wednesday, June 5th from 6:00-7:30pm) at my local Ben Franklin focusing on the new Hero Arts Stamp Your Story goodies.  We're going to make tags, cards and some fun mini journaling pages.  Hero Arts is having a great challenge to use their new line, so I'm going to enter these tags in their challenge.  Plus, there are a few more days left in the Moxie Fab World tag challenge.  And lastly, if you missed my big 1000th blog post, click here, I've got a May Arts ribbon challenge for you with an awesome prize.  

1000th post

Cheers my friend, we've got something to celebrate...  this post marks my 1000th blog post, wow.  I wanted to do something a little special to celebrate this milestone (since I missed my blog's third birthday earlier this month).  So I've got a fun tutorial on one of my favorite go-to projects, wine labels. And... because I wanted to share in the love, I've got a little challenge and some goodies to give away to celebrate, so scroll down for all the details.

Burlap is seriously one of my favorite ribbons, so here are a few simple steps on how to recreate this look at home (and be that person people awe at when you head to your next dinner party).  Start with a 4 inch piece of May Arts burlap.  Measure the diameter of your wine bottle and cut a piece to be slightly longer then you need.  I used some scor-tape to adhere the ribbon directly on to the bottle, just tape one end and then wrap the ribbon around and tape the top layer.  I then added a 2 1/2 inch piece of  May Arts sheer organza to the top.  So once you've got the bottle decorated next step is to create a tag to match.

There are some great wine tag dies out there, but if you don't have one here's how you can create your own.  I started with a piece of kraft card stock and cut it 3 inches by 7 inches.  I used a PTI Edgers die on the bottom to give it a decorative edge, used a circle punch to cut out the center and a corner rounder punch on the top corners.  I love the rustic feel of burlap so I wanted to keep that feel with the tag, so for this one I used a piece of cardboard packaging, added some distress with picket fence distress stain and then added a May Arts frayed sheer chiffon flower with a wood veneer heart in the center.  The background is a Hero Arts background stamp.

This tag uses WPlus9 defining words for the background, then I added more cardboard, a piece of May Arts faux burlap and finally some May Arts sheer flower.  I wrapped the center with a combination of woven burlap ribbon and burlap string and added a banner for the sentiment.

And my final tag utilitzes a fun fabric flower (compliments of Jen).  I cut a piece of Tim Holtz Coredinations card stock a bit longer then the first tag, embossed with a woodgrain embossing folder, then sanded it down for more texture.  I used a piece of May Arts 2 1/2 inch burlap for the background and added the flower to a tag, with some May Arts jumbo leaves, and woven burlap ribbon and burlap string.

So there you go, three fun wine tags with matching burlap wine bottle covers...  Cheers!  Now, I'd really love to see you guys pull out some of your May Arts stash....  so come join me in celebrating, please post a link to any newly created project with May Arts ribbon and I'll draw one random winner to win a free spool of May Arts ribbon plus their choice of a $20 gift certificate to either Papertrey Ink, Hero Arts or WPlus9.

And since I'm such a challenge junkie... I'm going to add this to the Moxie Fab World tag and gift wrap challenge, the Simon Says Stamp Challenge "anything goes" and the City Crafter burlap challenge.