All about wreaths...

Did you like Mondays card with the autumn wreath? Well, I thought I'd show y'all a few more cards that I've made using that same little Winter Wreath that I used on Monday's card, it's sooo easy to change up into whatever season / holiday you want...

Stamps:

solid rose accents

solid leaf sprig

Halloween Stamp set

Stamps:

Garden Accents stamp set

Thankful For You sentiment

Classic Leaf petit four set

Autumn Stamp set

Stamps:

Classic Christmas petit for set

Christmas Greeting petit four stamp set

I just love how truly versatile this Winter Wreath is and it's a perfect size to coordinate with all of the darling Petit Four sets. Well that's it for me today, I'll see ya on Friday!!

Wreaths Galore!!!



Hello everyone! Were you able to catch my photo tutorial using the Winter Wreath on Friday? Just to show you how versatile this little wreath can be, I made LOTS of more wreaths, lol!! I have so many ideas in my head and wanted to make a ton more but, I simply ran out of time!!  Hopefully I can revisit this little wreath soon :)

 

Let's get started...

 

First up is a little elegant summer wreath. I made the one on the left first but decided it was too "muddy" so I made the one on the right...I like it much better.

Stamps used:
winter wreath
solid rose accents set
sweet saying stamp set

This next card showcases a brand new leaf set for fall. Warm rich tones make this little card perfect for your Thanksgiving celebration.

Stamps Used:

Winter Wreath

Thankful For You

Solid Leaves Set

 

 

I couldn't stop at just one Fall themed card. The problem is is that I wanted to use the little acorn and I thought it would get lost on the card with the large leaves. I just had to give the darling acorn its own card, lol! 



Stamps used:
Winter Wreath
Autumn Stamp set
Elegant Floral stamp set
Garden Accent stamp set
Thankful for you

 

I have to admit that I'm pretty smitten with this next card. Y'all know that Halloween is my favorite holiday, so there was no way I could resist making a Halloween wreath!! I have several ideas for a Halloween wreath and wish I could have made them all for you, but don't worry, Halloween isn't that far off!! ;)

Stamps used:
Winter Wreath
Halloween stamp set
Solid Rose Accents stamp set

I wanted to do a winter theme that wasn't Christmas. I wish you could see this one in person, it had lots of pretty shimmer to it thanks to using Brillance inks. Unfortunately the camera can't capture just how pretty it is. The little "jingle bells" are double stamped - since the Brilliance Platinum doesn't really show up well on white cardstock, I stamped them in a light grey then stamped them over again using the Platinum so that they would have the same shimmer as the wreath itself.

Stamps used:
Winter Wreath
Garden Accents stamp set
Small Solid Snowflake Circle

 

Well, even though I did the tutorial on a Christmas card, I couldn't resist doing one more. This time I have it on a little panel that I poped up with foam tape.

 

Winter Wreath
Winter Pine set
Christmas Greeting set
Classic Christmas set


Well that's it for me today! I hope my ideas have started you thinking and that you've come up with a few ideas too.  Let me know if you make a little wreath, I'd LOVE to stop by for a visit to see it :)

Pretty Paisley

Hello everyone and welcome to Wednesday...the work week is half over...woo-hoo!! I'm extra excited since it's my birthday weekend. No house cleaning, no dinner cooking and I get CAKE!!! I love cake...sigh. My big sissy, Denise is coming into the city so that's something to look forward to too, but if she tries to eat my cake I may stab her with my fork...just sayin' ;)  hehehehe

 

Growing up and even now, paisley has been a favorite pattern of mine. I was super excited when I saw the new DeNami images and there was some fun paisley! Paisley is so girly, sweet and fun, how can you not like it, right?!? For my first creation using they yummy paisley stamps, I decided to make a pretty patterned paper and let it take center stage....

 

I started out stamping the 3 paisleys randomly all over my white cardstock. Then I pulled out a few Petit Four sets: Elegant Floral stamp set, Whimsical Valentine stamp set, and the Garden Accents stamp set to fill all of the open areas. I really wanted to keep the card fairly pastel, but since my yellow ink pad is a little bright I added a bright blue to balance it out. I think this card would have looked extra cute if I really had sewn it vs. using the little zigzag stamp, but alas, I haven't sewn in years and my sewing machine is packed away in the bowels of the basement destined to never see the light of day again....sigh

 

That's it for me today! I'm so happy that some of you have entered the random birthday drawing here on the blog!! How fun...you guys are awesome :)  If you haven't entered yet, there's still time!

 

 All the info can be found here, you have until July 31st. I'll be picking a random entry to win a $25 DeNami Design gift certificate!

Project Corner - candle wrap

Wow, it feels like it's been forever since I've done a tutorial! All of those theme weeks I did really kicked my tushie!! I just wish Mother's Day, Graduations, Weddings, Father's Day & Independence Day were a little further apart from each other!! ;) It's been a whirl wind for me behind the scenes, but ya'll are worth it!

A few years ago there was a crafty show on HGTV that I loved. A gal went around the US visiting crafters like you and I and filmed them doing what they do. One gal they showed used a medium called Paper Clay. This really intrigued me and I made a little mental note of it. Well, like most of my mental notes...I lost it, lol. I recently caught a re-run of the show and there it was...paper clay!! After a little research I found out that it is what it says it it. It's clay with paper fibers added. Now the strange part is, is that air dried paper clay is strong and if you fire it like traditional clay, it weakens. Weird hunh?? I also found out that paper clay is readily available at the big box craft stores and is fairly inexpensive. That's a win-win isn't it?? It cost me more for a little plastic rolling pin than it did for a package of clay....sigh.

 

While the paper clay can be made into just about anything you can imagine, I decided on a little fancy dressing for some dollar store candles....

Needed items:

1. paper clay
2. roller
3. copy paper (1 sheet)
4. waxed paper
5. knife
6. paper cutter
7. straw
8. ink pads
9. q-tips
10. ruler
11. rubber stamps (leaf accent set, elegant floral set, single pansy, pansy border, pansy sprig

Measure your candle and cut a piece of copy paper to the desired size making sure it's at least one inch shorter than your candles circumference (you don't want it meeting end to end). Stamping out your design on this template will give you a good idea as to how it will look on the candle.

 

Roll out some paper clay to your desired thickness and then using your template & knife, cut out the candle wrap

  

Using your template as your pattern, stamp your design into the paper clay. I found a medium pressure gave me the perfect impression depth. (The clay is very forgiving and can be re-rolled out if you make a mistake)

Using the straw, "punch" a hole in each end of the candle wrap for adding ribbon later. Using the q-tips and your ink pads, dab color on your pattern as desired.

Carefully pick up your finished clay and wrap around the candle for drying. (I learned by trial and error that as the clay dries it will slide down the candle, so it's safer to just place it at the bottom)

After drying for approximately 3 days you can remove it from the candle and add your ribbon.

 

By dabbing the ink on with the q-tips I achieved a soft / shadowed look that I was going for.

I've also made a little candle wrap using 2 alternate ways of coloring it...
 



For this one, after stamping my design I simply sponged on Tim Holts distressed Tea Dye ink (stamp: Solid Decorative Crest)

I just love how vibrant this one turned out!! After I stamped it I left it uncolored to dry. After it was fully dry (3 days) I simply colored it in using my normal markers. This cutie is totally my fave by far!! (Stamps: Small Daisy, Elegant Floral set, Garden Accent set, Mini Butterfly)

I hope you give this a try, it was fun and would make an awesome personalized gift....can't you picture a little frame with a monogram in it?? I can see the frame colored gold with black lettering or maybe just done in a classic black & white motif...Cute, cute cute!! And don't forget about your dry embossing folders...they could be easily pressed into the clay for some yummy teatures...ADORABLE! Hmmm, thinking I'm going to try these ideas out right away! Like I said, the possibilities are endless :)

Well that's it for me today. What a long post, thanks so much for sticking with me through all of that!! ;)

You're sweet treat

Ever since I came up with the adorable stocking card I made for Christmas, I've wanted to play with the layout a little more. I liked the idea of a flat panel...kinda postcard style card and wanted to see what else I could create using that concept.

It didn't take me long to come up with this sweet little treat.....

You don't want to know how many boxes of conversation hearts I went through to get all those pink hearts ;)

 

I started off with a kraft panel and layered on a cream panel that I had stamped a pretty little pattern on. For the 3rd panel (pink) I stamped the teeny heart background, randomly stamped the sentiment, I edge punched it and added a length of ribbon before adhering it to the base panels. I attached the little glassine bag using my ATG and the ribbon doubles as a pretty embellishment, but also helps hold the bag in place. I added adhesive to only half of my punched circle layer so that I could filled down the top of the bag and tuck it behind the top half of the punched circle to keep it closed. I can add a little hand written note on the back or leave it just like it is, either way, I'm thinking the recipient is going to love it!

 

Thanks for stopping by!