Blue Love

Today felt like a "blue" day.  Not that I was feeling "blue" but rather I felt like mixing blues and soft shades of brown ... a wonderful duo, don't you agree?  The LOVE LOVE tickets layered on a beautifully printed paper was all it took to pull this card together.  I added a die cut crown (still playing with my new Big Shot toy so I hope you don't get tired of seeing die cuts) then a felt flower stacked with buttons.  A heart cut from a brocade pattern, a happy banner and a shabby bow embellish the crown.  The decorative pins are such fun to make - you can create any combination of colors and shapes only limited by the beads and baubles you can find.  Scraps of lace are always a treasure to add here and there ... I love every piece no matter how small.  Thanks for letting me share some LOVE with you today!

Home again ...

It's good to be home.  An extended vacation in the Blue Ridge Mountains was heavenly.  What a gorgeous area of our country.   I certainly can see us retiring there someday.  Our days were filled with hikes up the mountains and visits to the local waterfalls.  A trip to the Biltmore House (I made them go) and white-water rafting (they made me go) were both fabulous too.  But ... it's good to be home.

Here's a sweet bird inspired card in shades of green made just for you.  I layered some crocheted flowers and topped them with a felt flower ... all stitched together with embroidery floss.  Papers from my scrap drawer coordinated nicely with the felt, dyed seam binding and velvety leaves.

You may recognize the tag sentiment from an earlier post using Tea Shoppe.  My little bird image is from a set called Papaya Collage.  Thanks for stopping by and spending some time with me ...

Tea Time

My husband turned 50 and we wanted to do something special but stay local.  A trip to the Grand Hotel was perfect.  We were lucky enough to be there for the 125th year anniversary!  There were fireworks, events on the gorgeous front porch of the hotel, and dinner with Michigan governors both past and present!  Our room was wonderful and I adored the happy yellow and green decor.  It's amazing to realize that each room is decorated differently.  The food was incredible - especially the desserts ... I'm sure I gained 5 pounds.  And during some of our meals, the plates came with beautiful paper doilies!  Of course, I tried to be inconspicuous as I slipped them into my lap before they got soiled but the waiter saw me.  Curiosity got the better of him and he had to ask.  To make a long story short, I walked out with a small stack of these beauties and big smile on my face!  And the gardens ... oh, the gardens!  I've been to Mackinac Island a few times when I was a child and I loved visiting again with my family who had never been.  To see it with my children brought back all the lovely memories of walking those same streets with my mom and dad.  The charm of the horse drawn carriages and warm welcoming feel of the island everywhere you go.  What a wonderful place to share and I'd recommend a visit if you are ever in the northern part of Michigan.  I've included a couple photos at the end of this post.

Although we've been very busy this month (my dear daughter celebrated a birthday too and our son spent a week at Boy Scout camp), I did create a few projects for my ETSY and to share with you.

Donna requested a couple beauties for ladies celebrating upcoming birthdays.  I think they're sweet. Pink always needs a crown and I included one of my crocheted roses to compliment the blue bird.  Yep, there's one of my Mackinac Island doilies!

I have fallen in love recently with tea kettles and tea cups.  I just can't seem to get enough!  You'll see two new stamp sets featured on these next ETSY listings.  Here is the stamp set From My Heart.  See the adorable tea kettle?  Tea and papers from Polka Dot Parade make a perfect combination.

Next I pulled out another new favorite - a set called Tea Shoppe.  LOVE the sentiment, don't you?  I layered cut felt and one of my pink crocheted flowers to create a new embellishment.  A few stitches of embroidery floss and a button finished the look.  I think it's sweet.

I'm looking forward to my next trip here ....

I have some bits and bobs laid out on my craft table, sorted by color and various textures ... so I'll be back soon with more to share.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Occasions Mini Catalog Sampler

I LOVE MY NEW TOYS!  Ok ... so do you think I over did it a little?  Is it too much?  Laurie Schmidlin is one of my all time favorite stampers and she created a layout similar to this.  I followed her lead but used my new Stampin' UP goodies from our Occasions Mini Catalog.  Products are available for order beginning January 5th.  You can get a sneek peek inside by clicking on the catalog cover on the left.  And if you order $50 in merchandise (from any of our catalogs) you get a Sale-A-Bration item FREE!  Order anytime and have everything sent directly to your home.  Just click on my website to order on-line!  SWEET!

Let me tell you about the card.  I used our new Sweet Pea Stiched Felt flowers/leaves.  They are soooo awesome!  You get lots in a package but I'm going get my self some more.  Stamp Campers ... you'll be seeing these soon!  I topped them with Pretty in Pink Designer Buttons from our Sherbert collection tied with a piece of pink yarn/floss in each.  So cute!

The polka dot ribbon is Melon Mambo (one of our In Color shades this year).  I think it goes well with Pretty in Pink and Rose Red, don't you?   The background is our Kaleidoscope Designer Series Paper.  The hearts are punched from the same and embellished with little rhinestones (a girl can't resist a bit of sparkle on Valentines Day - like Edward for instance).

Now for the best part...like it could get any better.  Look at my new Scallop Trim Border punch!  WAHOO!  I LOVE IT!  And the very bestest part (don't laugh-when you're this excited it's a word) is that I got it as a Sale-A-Bration item so it was FREE!  I ordered the corner punch that goes with it too so you'll be seeing that soon I'm sure.  Our new punches are FANTASTIC!  They lock shut and you can store them upright on the shelf.  Yep, like books lined up in a row.  So cooool.  Check it out for yourself - the catalog links are on the left.  You can see this border punch in the Sale-A-Bration catalog and our other new punches in the Occasions Mini catalog.  Yeah, you guessed it, I got them ALL!  (teehee)

Time to go play ... check back later for more samples of our new products!