Sunday, November 12, 2017

Easy and Elegant Pumpkin Transformations



As much as I dislike eating anything pumpkin, I love making pumpkin projects. Go figure! I thought I'd round up some of my favorite pumpkin transformations. 


Two $1 pumpkins , two $1 candleholders, some paint and embellishments and...



 I did these for Halloween but can work for Thanksgiving / Fall. Faux pumpkin, silk leaves, rolled paper roses and a drawer pull. 




Paper mache pumpkin, tissue paper, Mod Podge



More tissue paper and Mod Podge. 


$1 pumpkin, glitter paint, paper roses and misc. embellishments


Drop cloth, fabric and leather scraps.




Saturday, November 11, 2017

"Remember Why You Wonder" Printable


I hope you're all enjoying this Saturday, doing whatever fills your soul. This week's party continues here.

I saw this quote somewhere online as I was hopping around and don't remember where but it resonated with me so I decided to make a printable. 

"Remember Why You Wonder" 
I did three versions. The first one is clean and simple:

For the second one, I added a vintage paper background: 


For the third, I added a texture over top of the vintage paper: 


It's sized 8x10 so click on whichever image to bring to full resolution. Graphics are from a Rustic Wreath collection I downloaded from Creative Market.  

Thursday, November 9, 2017

BFF Open House Link Party

Happy Friday Eve all and welcome to another party. Hope you've all had a great week. 

I'm pleased to announce the winner of my recent Paperless Post giveaway ( winner was randomly selected via Rafflecopter) is Kim who has been notified via email. Thanks to everyone who participated.

OK who else has never heard of an "Ears and Beers" party (as the name implies, it involves corn and beer)? I love hosting this party because I learn new things all the time. Jenny from Jenny Louise Marie shared how she hosted one of these and you really need to check it out to see all the amazing things she did and incporated popcorn, candy corn, corn tortilla chips, Mexican street corn, candy corn jello shots and of course, beer! 

She sent her guests home with these corn themed favors that could easily work for Thanksgiving.

My son is coming home for Thanksgiving so I must have beer on my mind since he is a craft beer aficionado. I know not everyone drinks beer so you could easily do this w/ your beverage of choice , but Milena and Chris from Craftbeering came up with a fun way to count down until Christmas especially since there are many seasonal brews that are only out a certain times of the year. 



You could even have a different flavor for each day! 

Tis the season to be wreathy and Cathy from Vintage Paint and More has got you covered. 


Finally, if you are looking for pie alternatives for Thanksgiving or for any time, check out this gorgeous Apple Galette from Mrs. Kringles Kitchen


OK now on to this week's party! 

   
   

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Crafting for a Cause


Being a cardmaker, I always have more supplies than I can use (sssshhh don't tell) so when I see a way to use them that is also for a great purpose, I'm thrilled. I get such joy out of making cards and even more joy when friends and family tell me they keep them, decorate with them, or re-purpose them to give to others.  

Jennifer McGuire who is a "world famous stamper" ( my words...she's a stamping queen!) is one of the generous crafters behind "Caring Hearts Card Drive 2017" where cardmakers are invited to make holiday cards for elderly residents of nursing homes. From Jennifer's post: 

The purpose of our card drive is to collect holiday cards for the elderly that live in nursing homes. Vera Yates started this card drive 8 years ago, in honor of her mom’s request. Last year we received over 66,000 cards and distribute the cards to various nursing homes throughout the US, Canada, Australia and United Kingdom.
Vera and I are excited to continue bringing holiday cheers to many nursing homes.
Needless to say,  I wanted to participate and here are some of the cards I'm sending.  


I had a few sheets left from a DCWV Christmas stack that were perfect for this. The stack came with a sheet of panels I used for the focals of the cards. 


I cut and trimmed the panels, then mounted on coordinating cardstock. Each card is sized A-2 ( 5.5 x 4.25) so I cut slightly smaller panels from candy cane and candy cane striped paper ass the background. 

I accented each of the cards with Stickles glitter glue and/or self adhesive rhinestones. Kept them simple but fun! 


I also added a Christmas tree washi tape to some of the cards. The papers really did all the work because they're so pretty! 


I also read recently about a little guy named Jacob who is battling an inoperable brain tumor. Jacob's wish is to have his room decorated with Christmas cards so I was more than happy to send one off to him! 



If you'd like to send Jacob a card as well, here are the details: 

Jacob Thompson
c/o Maine Medical
22 Bramhall St.
Room 653
Portland, Maine 04102



Thursday, November 2, 2017

BFF Open House Link Party

Happy November everyone! Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween. 

Before we get started on this week's features, just a reminder ( or an FYI) that I have a fun giveaway going that's perfect for the holiday season! The folks at Paperless Post are giving one of my reader a chance to win 1100 coins to use at their site. You can create invites, cards, stationery to send electronically including being able to upload your own images. Details here and the winner will be announced at next week's party! 

Thanksgiving is THREE WEEKS away can you believe it? Here are some ideas to get ready for it and for holiday season. 


Welcome your Thanksgiving guests to the front door with these Wood Slice Pumpkins from Tiger Strypes


Linda from Paper Seedlings shared a technique for making this gorgeous background she used for a card. Love the colors! 


Whether you want to make yourself something for your Thanksgiving hostess outfit or maybe as a gift for your hostess if you're going somewhere, Mich from Mich in LA has got you covered with a wonderful pendant project! 


Finally, whether you're looking for an addition to your Thanksgiving desserts or just because, check out this Toblerone Mousse that Cassie's (from Lou Lou Girls) husband made for her! Yes HER HUSBAND MADE FOR HER. 

OK now let's see what you've been up to this week! 

   
   

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Happy November! Need to Send a Last Minute Card? Use Paperless Post! And a Giveaway!


This is a sponsored post in conjunction with Anagram Interactive. I was provided access and funding but opinions are 100% mine. 


My readers know that my first love is card making. But sometimes there are times when I need to get a card to someone faster than snail mail and I have been unsatisfied with the electronic options I've found...until now! Enter Paperless Post.

Paperless Post is a website that allows you to send invitations, cards or personalized stationery in a way that other "ecard" sites that I've seen don't.  In their own words: 

"Paperless Post is a digital events platform that helps you create online and paper invitations and stationery that reflect your individual aesthetic. Our distinctive, customizable designs and powerful online tools make it easy to communicate and connect expressively on any occasion—from everyday correspondence to milestone life events. Paperless Post collaborates with leading fashion and lifestyle designers, including kate spade new york, Oscar de la Renta, Rifle Paper Co., and John Derian. To date, Paperless Post users have sent over 85 million cards. To browse designs and send invitations, please visit www.paperlesspost.com." 

The team from Paperless Post contacted me about their site and offered me coins to use so I could try it out. Each card has a coin cost. You can load a set amount of coins that you draw down from as you make your creations. 

The experience for the creator and the recipient is interactive and you get to customize as much or as little as you want. Being a frequent snail mail user, one feature I love is that your recipients get the whole experience of receiving a piece of mail including a customizable envelope, complete with liner.  For invitations or holiday cards, you can also upload your own pictures so keeping friends and family up to date is a cinch. For me, it's so much warmer than the typical e-card you can send. 

There are selections for kids parties to adult parties and events and they have a wide range of seasonal options. 

Here's the official overview on how it works: 




Here's an example of a  Halloween card I sent . You can customize each of the options as much or as little as you like (each customization increases the amount of coins you use) , and you can preview what your recipient will see before you send. 


The basic card for this option starts at "4 coins" and customization and the number of recipients you choose to send to increases the coin cost. You can even add a customized stamp to your envelope! 

Here's the best part! The team at Paperless Post has offered one of my readers the opportunity to win 1100 coins of your own to use! This is perfect for the busy holiday season with lots of parties and events to host, family and friends to keep updated etc. 

Giveaway will run through 11/8 and winner will be announced on 11/9. 





Saturday, October 28, 2017

Anatomy of a Halloween Card


This week's party continues here.

For my Halloween cards this year, I went with a color palette of black, purple, silver and gold and for my focal, used an image from The Hungry JPEG. 


I printed the image on photo paper and then trimmed to the size I wanted. I used a stamping technique called masking, where you closely trim a copy of your image, lay it over top of an image you want to color, and then apply ink so you color everything but your focal image. 


The image on the left is the one I want to color ; the one on the right is my trimmed mask. 



I used a purple ink and then randomly applied a black ink to my image. Once I was happy with my inking, I randomly sprinkled some gold embossing powder and used my heat gun to set the embossing powder. 


Once I had all my focal images done, I mounted them to purple glitter paper and then silver glitter paper. 


To make the cards, I used black metallic card stock cut to 5x7, and papers from a Recollections paper stack I'd picked up a couple of years ago at Michaels. Ironically, I didn't use it at the time but knew I would sometime!


I accented with a Halloween washi tape and a spider punched from scraps of the silver glitter paper. 

For the interior of the card, I digitally colored one of my hand drawn doodles to match my color palette,, bordered and layered the image onto a black and white background paper in PicMonkey and then added some text: 



As always, I have scraps of paper I can't bear to part with so I used those to make some tags I sent to friends to use for their treats etc.