Easy Peasy, So Simple Simon.

Thank you cards for our holiday gifts.

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! Merry & Bright, Thank You Kindly
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia
Paper: Classic Crest Natural White by Neenah, Old Olive by SU!
Patterned Paper: SU! Dashing
Other: Mini brads, Dimensional Foam

Happy New Year!
V.~

Yellow Roses~

A google of yellow roses and their meaning brings up a variety of answers, friendship being the common thread of all of them. I love yellow roses and planted a variety in our yard in remembrance of a fantastic woman I knew who passed away. That plant is the one the blooms the most profusely of all the roses we have planted. You can see a glimpse of them in the upper photo, the last of the flowers before we prune them back next month.

Where was I going with this? Oh yes, today is the release date for the newest Thomas Kinkade image and sentiment from Cornish Heritage Farms; A Perfect Yellow Rose and The Rose Speaks Silently.

2 cards, 2 different looks: the upper card was colored with Copic Markers; the three main roses were stamped and colored again before popping up on dimensional foam. Brads anchor the corners and a gold ribbon completes the focal panel. A simple base of green shows off the image.

Stamps: A Perfect Yellow Rose © Thomas Kinkade by Cornish Heritage Farms; Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia by Tsukineko; Paper: Simply Smooth White by Prism, Herbal Garden Medium by Prism, Unknown Green by Bazzill; Tools: Copic Markers, Piercing tool by Making Memories, Edge Distresser by Making Memories; Other: Gold ribbon (recycled from a gift), Gold mini brads, Dimensional foam

For the bottom card, I stamped the image with Brilliance Coffee Bean onto Ranger Glossy card stock, then quickly colored in the image using ColorBox Stylus tools with foam attachments and Adirondack dye inks. By quickly, less than 10 minutes. Then I sanded much of the image away, leaving a muted, aged look to the card. A couple of sanded buttons and a sentiment flag complete the card.

Stamps: A Perfect Yellow Rose© (Thomas Kinkade) for Cornish Heritage Farms, The rose speaks silently (Thomas Kinkade) for Cornish Heritage Farms; Ink: Brilliance Coffee Bean by Tsukineko, Adirondack Earthtones Latte, Lettuce, Rust and Raisin by Ranger, Adirondack Lights Cool Peri, Aqua by Ranger; Paper: Glossy by Ranger, Suede Brown Dark, Herbal Garden Medium by Prism; Patterned Paper: Scrapblocks™ by Cornish Heritage Farms; Other: ColorBox Stylus with foam tips by Clearsnap, Square punch by EK Success (for banner ends), Sanding Block, Buttons by Basic Grey, sanded down, Thread, Glue Dot, Dimensional foam

Have a great day!
V.~

My Lucky Stars~

There are many who pick a word for the year that they feel will be significant or will inspire them for that year. I've always had trouble picking just a word. I'm not a huge audiophile, but I find I attach a lot of meaning and memories to songs I've heard. For me in 2009, this song will part of my soundtrack.



What's your word or song?

Valerie~

Happiest of Holidays to You~

And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Dr. Seuss

V.~

It's A Wrap - Challenged~

Just days before Christmas, the list to do is long, and today I piddled around for too long creating this box that was inspired by Michelle Girard aka Flaxychick's Mini Treat Boxes. My friend Sue pointed out her fun cookie box to me this morning. And I knew I had to make one today.

I made this box with the intention of letting Jay take it to work for the gift card he gives to his office staff for lunch at a local eatery.....however, I'm not sure I can part with it now. I just love it too much! LOL

I'm late to the CHF It's a Wrap Challenge (sorry CHF girls) and the other challenge was to come up with the template on the fly. I changed the dimensions from her 2" x 3" x 1.5" box to one that is 3" x 4" x 1.5" so there was a little math involved. Using the finished size of the box I wanted, I got to work with my math skills. I started with an 10" x 9" piece of card stock and after several scores, a few cuts, flaps and Scor-Tape, I ended up with this fun box. The buttons keep the flap closed and the ribbon treatment is one you've seen here before, but I jazzed it up using 2 wide ribbons together.

As this was also my prototype, I don't have concrete directions yet. After the holidays I'll try and get a tutorial up.

V.~

Stamps: Heart Warmers (Kim Hughes) for Cornish Heritage Farms; Ink:White pigment ink, Versafine Vintage Sepia; Paper: Red and Green Bazzill - unknown name, Prism Kraft; Tools: Scor-Pal, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities Oval die, 1/8th" circle punch, Slit punch, Silent Setter, Corner Rounder; Other: Offray and SU! wide ribbon, Cord, Thread, Prismacolor pencils, Buttons by Basic Grey, Green eyelet, Glassy Glaze, Scor-Tape

Ribbons for Marisa~

My niece, Marisa, loves to make cards. I always smile with happiness when I open a card she has made, or she presents a card to a family member. For her birthday and Christmas, stamping supplies always make it to "her list." This Christmas was no exception; she asked for ribbons and card stock. Instead of giving her a spool or two of ribbon, I decided on 2 yards of every color of SU! ribbon I own to fill a fun jar that I could "bellie" up for her. After cutting the ribbon, seeing the big pile, and then looking at the jar I had purchased, I knew that either I had to: come up with a bigger jar or figure a way to get the ribbons into the jar I already had sitting on the counter. I looked around the house for something to bundle the ribbons, I found my answer in Morgan's room. She no longer needs to use the bands for her braces and had a whole bag sitting in her basket on her dresser. Perfect for holding ribbon, as well as braces! LOL

The jar is from Wal-Mart ( and made in the good ole USA! YAY!) and I decorated it with October Afternoon patterned papers, Teal and Cryogen White Prism card stock, a chipboard flower (SU!) with a Basic Grey button center sanded down to reveal the white, a bit of frayed cording, linen thread, buttons, a Cuttlebug "m" and a "ribbons" flag. Quirky Alpha (Kim Hughes) from CHF spells out ribbons on the flag. Ink is ColorBox Prussian Blue. The flag idea came from all the fun jars that Anna has been posting lately. I kept the lip of the top unadorned for easy opening for a young lady.

Now to bundle the card stock! 3 sheets of every color I have , plus a stack of white and vanilla, should keep her in card stock for a while. :)

V.~

TCB ~

Just what is TCB? I had no idea what TCB stood for when I got this stamp in the mail from Richard and Liz from CHF. Fortunately for us, Carole aka TruCarMa, has a blog posting that explains it perfectly. Her post is also where I got the inspiration for the color scheme of this gift bag and tag; from the picture she posted of Elvis' TV room.

TCB stamp is stamped all over the yellow Scrapblocks™ patterned paper for the bag; Adirondack Lemonade ink has been stamped off once before stamping to the paper. The tag has Aged Sheet Music stamped onto it in Lemonade ink before stamping TCB in Onyx Black. As this is pretty straightforward in its stamping, the rest of the supplies are listed below:

Stamps, releasing Tuesday, December 23rd, at CHF:
Thoughtful Elvis® from the Elvis Presley Series by Cornish Heritage Farms
TCB™ from the Elvis Presley Series by Cornish Heritage Farms

Scrapblocks™ Aged Sheet Music by Cornish Heritage Farms

Ink:
Versafine Onyx Black by Tsukineko
Adirondack Lemonade by Ranger

Paper:
Cryogen White by Prism
Black by Prism

Patterned Paper
Scrapblocks™ Paper Pack by Cornish Heritage Farms

Tools:
Cropadile by WeRMemory Keepers
Piercing tool by Making Memories
Edge Distresser by Making Memories

Other:
Large eyelet by WeRMemory Keepers
Yellow mini brads
White bag
Gingham ribbon by Creative Impressions
Black Hemp
Dimensional foam

V.~

p.s. Before I got this stamp and the Elvis TCB was explained to me, Taking Care of Business was the song by BTO that I blasted on my record player when I was in my teens. Here's the first stanza, remember?

You get up every morning
From your alarm clock's warning
Take the 8:15 into the city
There's a whistle up above
And people pushin', people shovin'
And the girls who try to look pretty

Baby Francesa~

Please visit Andrea's blog, Crafty Engineering, to read about a sweet little girl who needs our support. Send a RAK to darling Francesca and her family and be entered into a blog candy drawing that Andrea will hold at the end of the month.

Click here to read all about it: Blog Candy for a Cause II

Will you please send a little sunshine to Francesca? Thanks.

Valerie~

Motivational Coasters~

ETA: From one of the comments:
Do you have an 'inside' peek by chance? 'Fraid not, they have all been handed out. Sorry. :( I'm guessing you covered both sides of each coaster Yes, the insides are covered with the reverse side of the patterned paper used on the covers, put a quote on each one? The only quotes are on the front cover, the inside is memo paper for notes or what have you. How many coasters per book? Just the 2 - front and back covers.

Another item to cross off the list, YAY! - Coaster Books for a few teachers as part of their holiday gift.

Stamps: Motivational Centers (Mona Lisa Moments) by Cornish Heritage Farms
Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia by Tsukineko
Paper: Assorted Prism and October Afternoon
Other: Blank Coasters, Bind It All, O rings, Distressing tool, Ribbons, Mini Brads, Dimensional Foam

Off to see what's next on the list.

V.~

Pocket Set for Jane~

Another item checked of "the list." My after dinner project. A set of four simple cards for Jay's aunt; to accompany the gift that needs to get in the mail tomorrow. Stamps: SU!' Pocket Silhouettes. Ink is SU! Soft Sky and Versafine Vintage Sepia. Papers are by SU!: Very Vanilla and Chocolate Chip. Designer Paper is from last year, and the name escapes me right now. Square brads are from Joann's and were a perfect match for Soft Sky, they've been sitting in my stash since last year.

Hope your lists are getting checked off! It's a good feeling to line through a finished item!

V.~

Want some CHF?

Now's the time, save $$ through tomorrow!
Click here: Cornish Heritage Farms

Candy Boxes, Christmas Cards, and Hijacking!

I finally got around to making a batch of Christmas cards to send out. I wasn't sure I was going to find the time to do them this year. I am not one who can make them too far in advance like some creators. You know, those who start in July or so......

Stamp is Fur Branch, which is the SOTM over at CHF. Sentiment is from Christmas Expressions, also from CHF. I channeled my friend, pine, when I was making these kraft cards. Kraft cardstock, Imaginesque patterned paper, a felt snowflake, and paint spatter snow make for an easy to make mass produced card. Now all I need to do is address them and get them in the mail! Thanks, pine, for your continued inspiration!

I made these boxes the other day to give as a thank you for some peeps who were going to be in attendence for a class at Paper Tales. The class got cancelled/postponed, so these boxes will be used somewhere between now and Christmas time, who knows for who? I basically followed my Cupcake Box Tutorial, resized it down and eliminated the insert for the cupcake. Making use of the scraps of Fa La La scraps I had laying around, I used the following:

- Box is 5-1/2" square, scored 1-1/2" on all sides. Create flaps and put box together.
- Top is 4-1/8" square, scored 3/4" on all sides. Circle is cut with a Nestabilities Circle die, before assembling lid. A 2-3/8" square of a CHF Clear Card sheet is added inside the lid for the window.
- fill with candy and tie off with a ribbon.

I've been absent on here since Monday as our computer's browser was hijacked, even with a virus program. All is good now, after running a couple of programs to rid the computer of the pesky visitor and calling in a pro to finish the repairs I did not know how to resolve, we are up and running again, safe and sound. I'd never heard about browser hijacking before.....scary stuff can happen out there in cyberland and people with too much idle time on their hands.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

V.~

Cupcakes Times 5~

Someone asked me if I would make them a little assortment of the Cupcake Boxes that I have shown previously on my blog, so that was my "assignment" this morning. After my coffee and morning walk with Riley, I put these together. Patterned papers are from my stash: October Afternoon, Sassafras Lass, Stampin' Up! and BoBunny. Stampin' Up! card stock for the lids, and Prism Suede Brown dark for the scallops and inserts. Clear card sheets by CHF and Satin Ribbon by SU! finish off the boxes. Tools used are the Scor-pal, the Coluzzle, and the Cuttlebug with Nestabilities dies.

Click here for the Cupcake Box Tutorial.
The link has been fixed, sorry 'bout that.

Hope your day has been great!

V.~

Scrap-lings~

I hadn't heard of these before yesterday and was sooooo tickled when I opened a package from a dear friend, Cindy AKA StarlitStudio, and she had enclosed one of these stampin' morsels! I quickly called her, squealing, you can ask her! LOL She directed me to the Hero Arts blog where she was introduced to them. You can find them here, designer is Shari Carroll. Now her's are a wee bit more elaborate, I had one hour and 16 to make, so simplify was the name of the game. Aren't these just the cutest things?! Anyway, I wanted to leave a little something at the setting for each guest tomorrow night at Stamp Nite and when I saw Cindy's cute little scrap-ling, I just knew this was what I had to make. Mine are a tad wider than the examples Shari shows, at 1.5" x 4.25," and just so dang cute, did I say that they are the cutest thing?!

I know ATCs have a huge following, but me, I prefer the Scrap-lings!

Stamps: SU! Merry & Bright, Cute Converse; Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Paper: Solar White by Neenah, Patterned Paper: SU! Dashing and unknown piece from my stash for tree, CHF Paper Pack for snow, Other: Silver grosgrain, Stickles, Dimensionals

And here is the final project for tomorrow night - I was waiting on the Nestabilities Label dies which came in yesterday's mail. :)

Stamps: SU! Merry & Bright, CHF Christmas Expressions, Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Paper: SU! Bali Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Whisper White; Designer Series Paper: Dashing, Other: SU! mini brads, Stardust Gelly Roll Pen, Dimensionals

Have a terrific rest of the evening.

V.~

Zack's 12th~

Gift card holder/card for a birthday party Brett is heading to on Saturday. Finished card is 6.5" x 6.5" with a 2.5" x 4.5" opened ended pocket for the gift card.

Stamps: SU! Well Worn Alpha, On Your Birthday; CHF: Writing Paper Scrapblock™; Ink: Tsukineko Versafine Olympic Green, Memento Desert Sand; Paper: Classic Crest Natural White by Neenah; Patterned Paper: Mr Campy by Cosmo Cricket; Other: Corner Rounder, Scor-Pal, Scor-Tape, Twill Tape, Large Eyelet, Crop A Dile, Shipping tag and string, Circle Punch, Making Memories distressing tool, Dimensional foam

Have a great evening!
V.~

Merry Christmas, Labeled~

I realized I never posted one of the Stamp Nite projects that we'll be making Friday. So it's back to a Christmas post, a bit of schizophrenia happening here, eh?

V.~

Hippety Hoppety

From Christmas Countdown to Hippety Hoppety all in 24 hours! Another one of Kim's newest releases, Sweet Spring is chock full of spring images: bunnies, chickies, clovers, flowers, sentiments and more. Available Thursday, Dec. 4th at Cornish Heritage Farms.


V.~