Christmas in April? Yes, sometimes!

 Sweet as sugar, or so it says. Layers of hearts on top of a PTI stamped die cut. That's K & Co. paper, SU!'s Blush Blossom, a true love of mine, works as the base here. Dashes of yellow make me happy lately, so I add them.

 I have this HOTP paper I am trying to use up. I'm bound and determined. I paired it with SU!'s Handsome Hunter. I don't enjoy these colors much, but they do say "Christmas" to me, so that's how I wound up with Christmas in April.

 These tags are in altered coin envelopes. I enjoyed this Christmas project much more, and I like the finished results better, too. See that sweet little ol' cherub with the wreath? I bought that from the cutest little stamp shop on Etsy called picture show. Why not stop by and give 'em some love, you know you want to!

No stamping at all here. Just pretty paper. That's enough for me sometimes.

Loving Spring Color!

 Pink and green. Green and pink. I love these colors! Darling Crafty Secrets image and some K&Co paper. I bought that paper while shopping with my sister.

 More CS and K&Co here. The ribbon is American Crafts and I've had it for years. It's gorgeous and shiny, but the colors were a bit much for me. I don't even know why I bought it, but I blame my wretched sister. We buy way too much when we're together!

 You can't see it well in this pic, but the chipboard hearts are sprayed with glimmer mist. They are lookin' good.

 How many scraps can I fit on one card, anyway?

My cherished Melissa Phillips Papertrey Ink butterfly. To find true happiness in life, you must have this die! The deer and sentiment are  rub-ons that came with a stamp set I bought when I was with- you guessed it-my sister. I LOVE the yellow here. I didn't even know I liked yellow at all until I started CRAVING it about a month ago. You think you know someone...

Stay tuned for some upcoming news, I'm sure you will find it amusing.

Here's what I've been working on lately...

 This is an upcycled jar, simply decorated. I spray painted the lid and stamped a label and some tags.

 I've been stitching little felt and fabric flowers lately. It's fun choosing the colors and the buttons. Sometimes I add a few beads to the center. None of this is advanced crafting, let me know if you have any questions.

 I have some exciting news to reveal, so please check back soon. First I have to get my act together, though, and Lord knows that's not an easy thing to do!

 This is an odd journal I made. It features an image from a vintage American Literature book. I'm not a normal person, and sometimes I do inexplicable stuff. Here's the evidence.

Here I used one of my favorite Gina K. sets, Bold Flowers. It's odd that I like it so much, because it doesn't have a shred of vintage about it, but like it I do. I also have the coordinating Marvy punches. It's very satisfying to stamp and punch and have everything be so perfect. I'm simply horrible at cutting, so this stamp/punch combo helps me look good. The friend circle has glaze on it, and yes, I shaving creamed the background. How old school is that? Very, actually, since bookmakers have been marbling for centuries.

I will try to be back tomorrow. My craft motivation far outstrips my blog motivation, so I have pictures for at least a year.

SCS Candy Bar Holder and Shabby Little Card

The bird card has lots of my favorite things on it. Of course, a Crafty Secrets bird stamp is there, but I also added a PTI Mat STack 1 die and the flourish is from the matching stamp set. I love the shape of this die, and I like using the flourishes as fillers when I have room. That's more Crate paper and ribbon, some vintage dictionary paper, and machine stitching, and as a final touch, a vintage button. Like many gals, I have a bit of a button obsession going on. And I like REAL vintage button best.

The candy bar holder is from SCS. I made a bunch of them for my oldest son and his room mates for Valentine's Day. They were not like this, but I liked them so much, I decided to make more. That's a Unity stamp, and it's my favorite ice cream image ever. The cool thing about this treat holder is that you just pull the ribbon, and out comes the Hershey bar. It does take a lot of ribbon, but hey, we have a lot of ribbon, now don't we?

A Couple of Non Stamping Projects

Please forgive the odd order here. When I tried to upload these, they only would upload one at a time. I also don't have room to add text underneath each pic. Weird. I guess I've been away from my blog for so long, I don't even know how to work it!

About the card: Nothing unusual here. Crate paper & ribbon, Primas, PTI Mat Stack One stamp and die. I am finding it a little difficult to stamp these dies perfectly every time. I guess I need a little more practice. I also need new blocks. Mine are stained and grody. Perhaps if I could see through them better, I'd do a better job. I do think the Spellbinders compatible stamps are easier to use. I haven't tried any of Verve's, with the little alignment hole, but they look easier to me. I have a cart full of goodies over there, I may actually pay for it one of these days!

About the box: I got this box at Gina K. It is the perfect size for A2 cards. I just shabbied it up a little with a crepe paper rosette and some vintage book paper.

I hope all is well with you. It's COLD and snowy here. Again.

Waltzingmouse Saturday Sketch Challenge #37

 Have you seen the Donna Salazar Spellbinders compatible stamps? This journaling block was my favorite, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 I got mine right here. This particular one is sold out right now, but there are some new ones up I hadn't even seen. The odd thing about this stamp is that I want to emboss it, but I haven't, because how could you write on it if it was embossed?

 I used two Waltzingmouse sets on this card, Fancy Phrases and Vintage Labels 1. I like the way the Labels set makes everything old feel new again. That's a good value.

Of course that's a Crafty Secrets bird. It has been so nice hearing from my old blog buddies! Thank you so much for stopping by!

Altered Box, and Crafty Secrets Bird Card

 This box was a gold  Museum of Modern Art, or MOMA box. Before I bought the jewelry this box housed, I stood not five inches from paintings by Picasso, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Seurat.  It was an incredible pleasure and an experience I am so grateful to have had. I love NYC. LOVE NYC! I would go back tomorrow. Tonight, even. Annually would be nice. Bi-annually, even better. Quarterly is more like it. Heck, just get me an apartment!

 The bottom flower is a PTI die, one I have not quite mastered yet. I think I need to try thicker paper than my favorite vintage dictionary paper. Plus, I think it would help if I weren't such a spazz. The "wish" stamp is SU! It's such a nice little stamp, I use Small Script quite a lot. There's another one of those Glimmer Misted (Black Cherry) Prima Hydrangea flowers as well!

This card is Crafty Secrets Bird Notes and Crate Paper. Crate ribbon, too. YUMMO!