Good morning! I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving . . . we sure did. The turkey has been eaten, the leftovers are gone and the halls are decked with Christmas trees and lights. 
I got some shopping done 
over the weekend and 
braved the crowds on Friday. I think we are almost done with the shopping . . . . I just have to wait for some of it to be delivered now to wrap it all up.
I realized I needed a few more gift tags so I quickly worked these up last night.
The tree was die cut/embossed with Spellbinders™ S4-297 Fanciful Holiday and then stenciled with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. For the base of the tag I die cut/embossed two layers of white with S4-130 Classic Rectangles – Small and S4-133 Classic Scalloped Rectangles – Large. The plain rectangle was outlined with a Krylon Gold Leafing Pen and then taped to the scalloped layer. I figure the name can be written on the inside then without too much effort. The tags can be taped to the packed with double-sided tape.
Hopefully I’ve got enough tags now and won’t come up short when I start the wrapping.
Thanks for stopping by today and believe me . . . you definitely want to make the stop tomorrow. Daisy has issued a new mission for The E-Team and it’s gonna be a wild and fabulous blog hop tomorrow . . .one you won’t want to miss!
Have a great day and remember . . . life is short, enjoy the adventures that come your way!
Product used for Tree Gift Tags:
Thanksgiving Delights
On Thanksgiving Day we’re thankful for
Our blessings all year through,
For family we dearly love,
For good friends, old and new.
For sun to light and warm our days,
For stars that glow at night,
For trees of green and skies of blue,
And puffy clouds of white.
We’re grateful for our eyes that see
The beauty all around,
For arms to hug, and legs to walk,
And ears to hear each sound.
The list of all we’re grateful for
Would fill a great big book;
Our thankful hearts find new delights
Everywhere we look!
By Joanna Fuchs
I found the above poem on line to share with you, and looking further down on the page I found another. It says it all . . . . from me to you!
Thanksgiving Friends
Thanksgiving is a time
For reviewing what we treasure,
The people we hold dear,
Who give us so much pleasure.
Without you as my friend,
Life would be a bore;
Having you in my life
Is what I’m thankful for.
By Joanna Fuchs
Thank you for letting me share my adventures with you!
Happy Wednesday! It’s not often that I get to share really exciting news with you, but today just happens to be one of those days! I am so tickled that I finally get to tell you about my very first stamping publication. Yeppers, I said first. I’m not one to try for publications, but for this book I knew I wanted to. It’s all about Nestabilities and is full of fabulous projects from some awesome designers.
The book is scheduled to be released in print in January, but is available for download now here! Needless to say, I’m super excited to have a project included with so many fabulous designers! I just downloaded and looked at the book myself . . . WOWZERS it’s fabulous! You can also click on the picture and it will take you to the page where you can get a preview of some of the projects in the book!
Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, let’s talk poinsettias and tags! I’ve got a special Christmas gift to give and it needs a special tag.
I started with the tag and the Wrinkle Free Distress Technique using Tumbled Glass and Vintage Photo Distress Inks. I misted the inks with water and Gold Perfect Pearls and in real life the tag shimmers like crazy. To add some interest to the tag, I die cut the bottom with Spellbinders™ S4-243 Ric Rak Diamond Borderabilities® Petites and then embossed the tag with I2-1009 Flourish Impressabilities. Hopefully you’ll be able to see the embossing in this photo.
I wrapped 1.25” May Arts Ivory Crochet Lace and 1/2” Olive Wrinkle Ribbon (from Stamp Simply Ribbon Store) around the bottom of the tag and tied a bow with the Olive.
The poinsettia is made with GrungePaper that was die cut/embossed with S4-219 Nested Poinsettias. Knowing that poinsettias aren’t all red, but the bottom leaves normally are green turning red . . . . the bottom leaf was inked in Peeled Paint Distress Ink before I highlighted with Fired Brick. The remaining leaves were all inked with Fired Brick Distress Ink and then misted with the same mixture of water and Gold Perfect Pearls. Craft wire was used to make the center of the poinsettia by curling the wire around a bamboo skewer and then smooshing it all together.
The sentiment is embossed in Queen’s Gold Embossing Powder and then die cut/embossed with S4-234 Ribbon Tag Trio Two. The sentiment is then held in place with a Tim Holtz Memo Pin.
I truly think that’s all I have to tell you today . . . . I’m having a brain lapse. Thanks for stopping by and remember . . . life is short, enjoy the adventures that come your way today!
Product used for Poinsettia Tag:
Good morning! I hope you had a great day yesterday and that your adventures were plenty. Mine? Oh I washed rugs, cleaned the mudroom, and got a few boxes of Christmas decorations out of the closet. Of course, I can’t walk in the studio right now because of the “few” boxes, but . . . I don’t care, they’ll be put back in a day or two. I was looking for some garland I KNEW I had and it took me emptying the closet to find it. Since it was such a pretty day, I decided to add some greenery to the outside lights by the garage. I think we might have only one more day of this weather until the bad stuff sets in, so I needed to take advantage of it. We are having unseasonably warm weather right now (20 degrees above normal) but I just heard on the weather that the high this coming Friday is 39. Here comes the winter stuff! Oh but wait, then I think I saw 60ish a few days after that! Go figure!
My uncle gets the most interesting magazines and catalogs, and the other day while at mom’s I had to borrow one, Country Sampler. I love this magazine . . . so many neat ideas! One thing in particular caught my fancy . . . . this fabulous little set of blocks.
Now I have for years saved toys and stuff from when my girls were small. I knew one day that some of it would come in handy craft wise. Other stuff I’m holding onto in hopes of passing it on to grandchildren, but that’s another post for another day at another time (when I actually get some). In my craft closet I’ve been keeping an old clay flower pot filled with the left over building blocks that didn’t have a better home . . . until now.
I picked out all the blocks of the same size, painted them black and then added some of the Christmas paper from the Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash. There is a page or two in this paper pack that is sized perfectly for smaller items. I picked the page with all the vintage boxes and advertising.
I then picked out the word Christmas from Tim’s Seasonal GrungeBoard that I still have on hand, and inked it in Peeled Paint Distress Ink following with a heavy coat of Peeled Paint Distress Stickles. Once I placed the letter on the block with the paper, it actually looked it was getting lost so I decided to add another piece behind the letter. I cut some strips of GrungeBoard and inked them in Fired Brick and attached it to the front of the block. Then I was able to add my letters.
For the word Happy, I decided on Maya Road Jonathan Mini Alphabet, which was inked in Fired Brick Distress Ink and then covered in matching Distress Stickles. I also painted some toothpicks with the Fired Brick Distress Reinkers . . . they are the supports for the alphabet and attached to the back with Ranger Matte Accents.
Tiny holes were drilled in the top of the blocks, a few drops of Matte Accents was added to the hole and the toothpicks were glued in. Of course, the stars are from Maya Road and the trees are some I picked up at Hobby Lobby the other day in the Holiday craft section.
Because I wanted the blocks to be all together and not separate little pieces that needed to be moved, I cut a strip from some scrap lumber in the garage and painted it black. Now needless to say, I can’t just paint something without some sanding . . . SO, the edges were sanded down and then highlighted with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
I have to say that I’m really happy with how this little piece turned out and it’s gonna look great paired with some vintage Santas.
Isn’t it great what you can do with little things you keep, knowing that one day they’ll have a purpose?
Thanks for stopping by and remember . . . life is short, make the most of the adventures that come your way!
