I love You ...

Since I don't speak French, I thought it best to find out before I place it front and center.  Jacqueline tells me it means "I Love You" ... thank you!  I adore the color red but mostly in more earthy shades ...  like those found in the autumn months.  However, when Valentines Day draws near - I can't get enough of red polka dots!

Digging through my scrap paper drawer I found plenty.  The paper used here is from the Love Letter set and is currently on clearance!  Beau Chateau Side Notes surrounded by a glittery frame provides the focal point.

Very Vanilla Satin Ribbon combined with a stripe of cranberry and white are tied tight with seam binding and string.  My numbers are stamped in Cherry Cobbler punched with the Jewelry Tag punch.  An old button and embellished stick pins complete the bow.

To finish I used Pinking Hearts Border Punch and a sweet red button tied with cotton twine.

It's always a joy to have you stop by - thank you!

Do not open 'til ...

Hello friends.  I hope you are beginning your Holiday festivities with friends and family.  I am officially "on vacation" from the office and have two glorious weeks home with those I love.  Last night was my Book Club discussion group.  We just finished "The Incredible Life of Henriatta Lacks" and celebrated the Holidays together with a cookie/ornament exchange and a bit of Eukere.  It was such fun ... thank you Sue for hosting!

I love the classic colors and the traditional images of Christmas.  Red and green ...snowflakes and holly ... bring the Holiday season to mind.  Stamp sets pulled from the shelf for this card include Christmas Postcard (a favorite of mine) and Winter Post.

Thank you, Geri, for inspiring me with your beautiful use of the these frames!  I painted and sanded mine to antique it.  The ribbon is Very Vanilla Satin.  Red Glimmer Paper and a Snowflake Punch created the smaller snowflake.  I think this paper will be absolutely perfect to make beautiful hearts for Valentines too.  The large white snowflake behind the frame is cut from this wonderful Snowflake Die ... a large and simple snowflake pattern - perfectly shabby.

I've decided to play along with the Design Team over at Just Us Girls.  They are celebrating Christmas with the traditional color scheme I love.  Their sample cards are gorgeous ... as always.

One more thing before I let you go today ... you've got to look at these ADORABLE houses Victoria created.  They are posted on her blog Things I learn from BEAR.  She has a whole village!  What a fabulous idea for any celebration ... Valentines, Fourth of July, Halloween, or perhaps a housewarming or a new nursery?  I love them ... thanks for visiting my ETSY and for sharing your talents Victoria!

Enjoy your weekend everyone ...

Happy Holidays!

Hello friends.  It's terribly cold here today.  Last night was our Christmas parade through town.  Our son walked behind his Boy Scout troop float.  It was wonderful with a turning Ferris Wheel and gifts piled below covered in twinkling lights.  It won first place and the boys couldn't be prouder!  Me too.

Here's another card created yesterday with a few friends over for an afternoon of stamping.

The papers in the Timeless Portrait collection are gorgeous, one can be seen here along the bottom of the card.  I paired it with a simple green and white flower print letting the bright red scalloped circle take center stage.

Those little birds are so sweet and really catch your eye layered on classic black and white sheet music.  The bow is a combination of Red Satin Ribbon and dyed seam binding, topped with a beautiful red button.

Happy Holidays is stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink and is part of the Four the Holidays stamp set.  We used this set over and over yesterday ... the fonts are perfect for classic Christmas greetings.

Thank you, once again, for stopping by!

Peace ...

It was nice to have a few friends over today for an afternoon of stamping.  We spent time catching up with each other, sharing tips and techniques for projects recently made, and created some new ones of our own.  

I love the varying shades of plums and pinks mixed with the hues of green.  The hand dyed seam binding is in the same colors.

The flower is created from Very Vanilla Cardstock with a pearl jewel center.  I misted the flower with a solution made from rubbing alcohol and Frost White Shimmer Paint - it worked beautifully.  These wonderful embellishments are available in my ETSY store (see link on the sidebar) and can be created in any color with either a pearl or rhinestone center.

The greeting is from Four the Holidays and stamped with Soft Suede ink.  A button here and on the bow gives the card a shabby chic look - one I adore.

Thanks for stopping by ... I'll return soon with more to share.

A Christmas Gift

Hello again!  In my last post I explained my absence and told you about a little project I've been working on.  Well, we celebrated my family Christmas last weekend so I am now free to show you pictures without ruining any surprises.  I enjoyed playing with yarn again and you may see more from time to time....

I'm photographing three new papercrafts created for an afternoon of stamping with friends.  I'll be back tomorrow with more!  Thanks for stopping by and spending some of your time with me!

Promises Kept ...

Hello friends.  You may be wondering why I haven't posted a note for nearly a month.  There is no need to worry or be concerned.  (You are so kind to have sent notes recently asking.)  I haven't walked away from my love papers, flowers, ribbons and more .. to be honest, it's simply because I've been too busy.  Before you ask, "Too busy?  How can you set aside your papers, stamps, buttons and all for an entire month?!"

I've been keeping some promises.

I promised myself some time spent getting back in touch with crocheting.  Something my mother taught me many many years ago.  I've been spending hours in front of the fire with my hooks and my yarns.  I just finished a beautiful lace shawl which will be a Christmas gift for a dear family member.  Created in a soft plum color, it has a gorgeous open weave pineapple pattern and I learned two new stitches along the way.

Next, I promised my son I would paint his bedroom.  His previous color was what I would refer to as "nursery yellow" - not appropriate for a young man of 10 years old.  He selected "Natural Hemp" by Martha Stewart and I must admit he has a wonderful eye for color.  It's a deep rich shade of taupe that looks striking with the antique white trim.

I also promised my husband that we would host Thanksgiving.  Laughter, chatter, football, and plenty of wonderful foods filled our day.  Another family celebration consumes my time this weekend - I look forward to seeing some of my brothers soon.

Life will be slowing down soon and days will return to normal.  I will be back to creating, posting, and visiting all of your wonderful blogs next week.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Cadet Blue

When I visited The Play Date Cafe this week and saw that their inspiration photo featured "Cadet Blue", I was enamored.  With kraft and blush, it makes a lovely combination.  Although I'm very late with my entry, I sooo loved the other postings in the challenge that I wanted to join in on the fun!

Using scraps of printed papers in the colors of the challenge, I layered and sewed stunning stripes, sweet polka dots, and beautiful butterflies.  The leaves are burlap and my flower began with linen, tulle, and a blue print cotton.  Of course I had to add a bit of crocheting - a small square motif ... whipped up in a jiffy.  Pearl beads gather to create the flower center complimented with matching decorative pins.  The seam binding is hand dyed a wonderful pale shade, the tag states "Just for You", and the buttons help balance the large flower center.

I'm sure you agree this inspiration is one that can't be missed.  A beautiful trio of warm earthy color.  Be sure to stop by for a visit to see the super talented Design Team projects ... and the incredible challenge entries too!

Don't forget to hop along with this - post - and vote to win a prize!  Enjoy your evening everyone!

Grateful for this day

Hello friends!  Can you believe it's November?  The leaves are beginning to blanket the ground here and there has been a bit of frost in the morning lately.  Soon it will be a time of family gatherings with good food, great company, and laughter.  I look forward to seeing everyone again...

 I'm pleased to say that I am a guest designer this month over at The Polka Dot Door!  I am incredibly honored to be included with such fabulous artist.  Their work is amazing and I'm sure you'll agree.  Sarah and Rebecca are wonderful hosts with photos that both challenge and inspire us.  Their generosity is unbounded with multiple prizes available ...everyone has a chance to win!

If you'd like to play along - please do!  A prize will be given to the November Challenge winner, just create your project from the inspiration photo and link it up.

Plus, one Guest Designer Blog Hop participant will be named the "Featured Designer" ... the project with the most votes wins!  There's only one way to vote ... simply visit all the blogs on the Hop then finish by leaving a comment on the Polkadot Door Designs blog letting them know your favorite.  Again, be sure you chose a Guest Designer who has earned your vote!

While you hop, leave a little love at each blog for the chance to win a prize from one of our sponsors!

 Finally, three to five artists (who have chosen to participate in the challenge) with the most impressive creations will be chosen to join next months Design Team and Blog Hop, and compete for the Feature Designer prize in December.

Sounds like fun?  Let's get started!

This months photo is full of possibilities.  I couldn't ignore the bee motif and the tablescape is a buffet of color!  I tried to captured the delicious red of the strawberries and the stunning blue of the bowls...layered on a background of soft greens, yellows, and neutrals, the colors really "pop" as in the photo.

My papers are scraps from "here and there".  The greeting is from Perfectly Penned and is paired with a few buttons.  The rolled flower is a combination of a neutral woven linen with a wonderful soft suede print from the Spice Cake collection (thank you Geri for the tutorial).  I added some hand dyed seam binding, velvet leaves, decorative pins and some beautiful blue fibers.

This inspiration photo will get you started ...

Here is this month's Blog Roll.  Be sure to leave a little love and don't forget to vote at the Polka Dot Door!

Lindsay

DeeDee

Amanda

Debby 

Lisa

Aki

Nicole

Smitha

Joanne (that's me!)

Diana

Erin

Ujjwal

Nita

Be sure to finish at The Polka Dot Door to vote for your favorite and thanks for stopping by!

Oh Happy Day!

I'm sooo excited!  I've been invited back for another month as a Guest Designer over at the The Polkadot Door challenge blog!  Sarah and Rebecca have the best inspiration photos.  And the projects posted by all the participants are incredibly creative.  There is always something to see, learn, and certainly fall in love with.  Every month there are plenty of prizes to be won so be sure to mark you calendars and check out the fun on November 1st!  See you there! 

Autumn days ...

I'm so glad to be back with you today, my friends.  Have you been celebrating the Autumn season?  I do hope so.  The air was cool and crisp the other night which made the bon-fire and hayride (hosted by our school) all the more enjoyable.  Our costumes are nearly complete and ready for all the Halloween festivities this weekend.  Yes, life has been hectic - I admit it was a relief to have a day to relax, unwind, and create in my craft room.

I adore these crocheted roses ... making them and using them!  So delicate and lacy, they are the perfect embellishment for a romantic look.  Using a different hook and yarn, makes this flower just the right size.  I wanted this lovely bloom to be my focal point so I used a "light hand" adding just a touch of color.

The seam binding is dyed to a soft shade of yellow and is tied in shabby loops.  Velvet leaves and decorative pins add warm hues of purple and artichoke.  You can see the greens tucked behind the rose.  My tag sweetly says "hello" with a stamp from Pennant Parade and a crown background from Artistic Etchings.  Lace and buttons complete the look.

The colors were inspired by this gorgeous collection of photos posted at Play Date Cafe.  They are celebrating their 2nd Anniversary this week.  Congratulations ladies - here's to many fabulous years to come!  Be sure to pay them a visit ... there are always wonderful projects on display from the super talented Design Team there.

It was so nice of you to stop by today ... thanks for visiting!

Just playing ...

Stopping in for a moment today to share some fun ideas.  With the temperatures getting cooler, I find comfort in getting out my hooks and yarns.  Something about this time of the year has me yearning for traditional crafts learned from my mother.  She would sew mostly, but took the time to teach me to crochet and knit.  A life long love that I now pass on to my daughter.

I've been playing with organic cottons.  These make wonderful washcloths.  So soft ... I love them!

Another set made in pastel shades which went to my friend Cheryl and of course my daughter has some too.  They are such a sweet addition to the bath.

And roses in vanilla and white.  These are small - about 1.5 inches across.  Duplicates of the rose used on my previous post.  I think a larger rose would look wonderful taking center stage on a project, don't you? (I'll have to give that try.)

Thanks for stopping by ... I enjoy your visits and hope that you do too.

Among the roses

It has been a wonderful week, my friends.  The trees have almost reached their peak of beauty - gorgeous in their shades of Autumn color.  The weather today is sunny and warm.  With the windows and doors thrown wide open, I can hear the squirrels and chipmunks outside in the garden gathering their stores for the winter months ... rustling thru the fallen leaves.  Soon the birds will come and clean the bright red berries from the viburnum bushes as they prepare for their journey south.  I'm so happy to help them along the way.

I've enjoyed some quiet time lately ...creating crocheted bits of this and that to share.  My friend Lisa directed me to a beautiful photo of crocheted roses posted on tinywhitedaises.  Much larger than I need ... I had to try them in a smaller size.  I'm so pleased with this sweet rose that it was the featured embellishment at a gathering of crafty friends yesterday.  The ladies were thrilled to each get a rose complete with a single pink bead center.  I'm sure you'll be seeing more of these in the future.

My papers are from the Beau Chateau collection.  Shades of pink and brown are so wonderfully romantic.  Two ribbons combine to create a beautiful mixed bow.  The satin is Pretty in Pink, the stripe is retired.  Decorative pins with pearls and matching pink beads add another layer of shabby goodness.

You can see why I fell in love ... 

Love this too ...

Thank you for stopping by to spend some time here.  I hope you've been inspired to create something beautiful too .  Before I go ... remember to hop along and vote over at Polkadot Door Designs!

Feathered friends

I'm back with you tonight to share a winter greeting.  I think these birds are the sweetest little things.  Cuddled safely together in an over-turned urn ... not feeling the slightest bit cold with their feathers fluffed up ... adorable.  The patterns and color combinations are wonderful in the new Christmas paper collection - Letters to Santa.  And I find myself reaching for my Winter Post stamp set whenever I want to create a "post card" ... which lately is quite often.

My bow is a combination of Bashful Blue Satin Ribbon and hand dyed seam binding.  The star is corrugated cardboard brushed lightly with acrylic paint and sprinkled with mica flakes.  I also added a couple buttons, one with a length of natural hemp.

The layout is based on this week's sketch over at Mojo Monday ... I should visit there more often - they have wonderful sketches to jump start your creativity.

I apologize for the quality of today's photographs.  One of my daylight bulbs has burned out and I need a replacement.  Of course, I couldn't wait for it to arrive!

Thanks for stopping by ... enjoy the rest of your day!

October Blog Hop ...

Hello friends!  I am so excited to finally share my news ... I have been asked to join in the October Blog Hop as a Guest Designer over at Polkadot Door Designs!  I feel extremely honored to be part of this talented team of artists.  Their monthly inspiration challenge is always incredible...and there are a number of different opportunities to win fabulous prizes!

If you'd like to play along ... please do.  A prize will be given to the October Challenge winner, just create your project from the inspiration photo and link it up.

Plus, one Blog Hop participant will be named the "Featured Designer" ... the project with the most votes wins!  There's only one way to vote ... simply visit all the blogs on the Hop then finish by leaving a comment on the Polkadot Door Designs blog letting them know your favorite.

While you hop, leave a little love at each blog for the chance to win a prize from one of our sponsors!

Finally, three to five artists with the most impressive creations will be chosen to join next months Design Team and Blog Hop, and compete for the Feature Designer prize in November. 

My project this month includes all the wonderful elements of our inspiration photo.  Shades of green, clouds in a blue sky, an adorable tricycle, a splash of red, and I couldn't resist just a touch of chunky glitter sparkle.

The quote, if you don't recognize it, is from Through the Looking Glass.  Do you know who said it?

"That’s the way it’s done," the Queen said with great decision: "nobody can do two things at once, you know. Let’s consider your age to begin with – how old are you?"
"I’m seven and a half exactly."
"You needn’t say ‘exactly’," the Queen remarked. "I can believe it without that. Now I’ll give you something to believe. I’m just one hundred and one, five months and a day."
"I can't believe that!" said Alice.
"Can't you?" the queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again, draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."
"Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."

Oh my, that brings back memories. 

My husband keeps my supply box full of wood house forms - he knows how I adore them.  The flower is handmade ... a sweet pearl for the center.  All the print papers are from the many scraps I hoard and the tricycle is a treasure from a retired SU stamp set.

The inspiration photo couldn't be cuter ...

Here are all the October Blog Hop participants and links to their amazing projects ..... be sure visit each,  leave some love, then comment on Polkadot Door Designs with your vote!

Lindsay

DeeDee

Amanda

Debby 

Aki

Nicole

Smitha

Sabrina 

Joanne (that's me!)

Marivic

Tammy

Diana

Mazlina

Polkadot Door Designs

Happy October and thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy Autumn

Hello everyone!  Are the leaves showing their fall colors where you are?  We are beginning to see some beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange here in Michigan.  Although my state can be bitterly cold and very snowy, I do so love the changing seasons we have.  Every one a bearing different gifts.

I've been away for a week, but having lots of fun playing with this and that.  Crocheting sweet flower shaped face scrubbies for my daughter with the softest of organic cotton ... so wonderful to work with.  Stocking up on doilies too ... you can never have too many.  I have more to tell but I don't want to ruin my surprises.  I'll share more as the days go by.  I thank you for your patience as I visit all your blogs.  I'm sure it will take me a while to catch up.

For today's post, I began with Very Vanilla cardstock then layered it with musical notes and an adorable orange polka dot print from Just Add Cake.  I can't tell you how thrilled I am with the new Side Notes.  They are heavy weight, pre-cut and absolutely wonderful to work with.  Here I added a simple line of pearls to one of the many "Side Notes" I received. 

My flower is created from a variety of materials including burlap, linen, different laces, and even a crocheted doily I made layered in amongst the shabby goodness.  The yellow flower was a surprise found while I was hunting yellow beads for my pins.  Amazing things can be found when you reach way, way, way baaaack in your cupboards!  The leaves you may recognize as corrugated cardboard ... re-purposed with a leaves die and a bit of acrylic paint.

Mona and her design team over at CR84FN Color Challenge have a lovely autumn color scheme to play with.  These gorgeous photos have me thinking of cornstalks, cattails, and pampus grasses for the front porch.  I love that the quote is about friendship ... wonderful words.

Ros provided the beautiful images this week at The City Crafter inspiring us with the universal language of music.  I love the vintage music sheets my SIL sent me - it's almost a shame to cut them up but they do bring such joy to re-use them in a new delightful way.

Thank you taking the time to stop by ... good night!