Folk Art Festival Birthday Card

In the quiet that follows Christmas break, I love the more leisurely pace of post-holiday crafting.  My family gave me so many lovely crafting goodies this year.  My mum gave me the Folk Art Festival Cricut cartridge, so it was only fitting that I used it to create her birthday card, along with some new Crate Paper and my new Imaginisce I-Rock gem setting tool.

Folk Art Festival Birthday Card:
 

Details:

Die Cut Fox - Folk Art Festival Cricut Cartridge
Die Cut Labels - Lacy Labels Cricut Cartridge
Sentiment Stamp - Crafty Secrets - Birds of Happiness set
Ink - Memento - Potter's Clay; Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye
Patterned paper - Crate Paper
Cardstock - Core'dinations
Gems - Imaginisce
Ribbon - Offray

Hope you are staying warm & enjoying your post-holiday quiet too.

Hugs,
Marcy

Get Well Swing Card

Our school secretary had surgery last week, and she's in for an 8-week or so recovery at home now.  Hope this card helps bring some cheer to her day.

This is the first time I've made a card using Green Sneaker's Action Card Templates.  Splitcoast Stampers has been showing them as a featured product lately. So far, I love them!  They are fairly simple & easy to use, and if you have trouble following the written directions, they have great instructional videos on YouTube.

Here's the front of my card:

And here's the inside part of the swing panel:

Details:
Stamps: Crafty Secrets - Feeling Yucky stamp set
Patterned paper: BoBunny Press
Cardstock: Core'dinations (yellow) & Gina K Designs (white)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Copic Sketch
Accessories: ribbon - Stampin' Up!; vintage button; floss - DMC; chalk - Pebbles Inc.; glitter glue - Stickles - Waterfall

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs,
Marcy

Birthday Bluebird of Happiness

I hope everybody had a lovely Christmas! We had a nice time visiting with family over the weekend and mostly have been relaxing around the house since.

Some of my favorite presents are a vintage wind-up rabbit toy from my dad (more on that in a later post), a Ninja Pulse from my mum (just finished off a super yummy breakfast smoothie), a Kindle Touch from my MIL (downloaded a ton of my favorite classics right away!), and my brother & SIL got us family passes for the Erie Zoo and the Carnegie Museums in Pittsburgh - unlimited admission for a year! (There will definitely be more posts about that later.)

Of course, I got a bunch of new crafting stuff - two new Cricut cartridges, Distress Ink, Distress Crackle Paint, and lots of embellies and paper. Yesterday, I headed to the craft room to play.
Here's the card I made for my mum's upcoming birthday in January:

Details:
Cricut cartridge - Florals Embellished
Stamps - Crafty Secrets - Grand Greetings
Patterned Paper - Brenda Walton (floral); DCWV (vintage text)
Cardstock - Coredinations
Ink - SU! - Night of Navy; Ranger Distress Ink - Tea Dye; Memories Direct - ink daubers
Accessories - seam tape ribbon - Rebecca Sower Designs; vintage buttons; pop dots

Thanks for stopping by today!

Hugs,
Marcy

Hello Friend!

This sweet little girl went out in the mail yesterday to one of my dearest friends. One of the things I love about cardmaking is how personal it is. From the selection of images and colors to the handwritten notes inside, handmade cards are all about the connection between the cardmaker and the recipient.



Details:
Stamps - Crafty Secrets - Couple of Cuties
Patterned Paper - Anna Griffin - Lizzie
Cardstock - Coredinations (pinks); Gina K Designs Pure Luxury (white)
Ink - Versafine Black; Memories Direct Ink Daubers; Adirondack - Lettuce
Accessories - paper tape & glittered die cut - Anna Griffin - Lizzie; markers - Copic Sketch; half pearls

Wishing you a lovely Sunday, my friend!

Hugs,
Marcy

Keep Your Sunny Side Up!

It's a rainy, gloomy day here in Western PA, so we could certainly use this reminder to keep our sunny sides up!

Details:
Main Image & Sentiment - Crafty Secrets - Farm Fresh Creative Scraps
Stamps - Crafty Secrets - Down on the Farm set
Patterned Paper - DCWV - Rustic Stack
Accessories - tag; vintage buttons; paper piercer - Stampin' Up!; embroidery floss - DMC

Hope you have some sunshine in your neck of the woods today!

Hugs,
Marcy

Blinging in the New Year!

I hope everyone is having some nice holiday time with their loved ones this week! We had a lovely Christmas weekend with family. The kids have been very busy playing with their new games, LEGOs, crafty things, and reading their new books. It's a huge blessing that, even though I have to work this week, working from home means I still get to watch them play and eat lunch with them and hubby too.

My family is so sweet to spoil me with tons of crafting goodies every holiday. (Yes, I received Copic markers for my fifteenth wedding anniversary!) This Christmas was no exception, so I will have lots of new things to share with you here, including the patterned paper I used on today's card.

This week I'm hosting the last Crafty Secrets challenge for 2010. We are "blinging" in the New Year with all kinds of shiny, sparkly, glittery things on our projects. Here's my sample card:


Details:
Main Image - Crafty Secrets - Seasonal Images booklet
Patterned Paper - DCWV - Natural Mat Stack
Glitter Glue - Stickles - Copper
Organza Ribbon - Paper Wishes
Vintage Button - courtesy of my antique dealer dad (Thanks, Dad!)

BTW, have you seen Crafty Secrets new Web site yet? It's not quite done yet, but you can already see that it's beautiful and much easier to navigate. Be sure to go over and take a look!

Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday!
Hugs,
Marcy

Easter Card & Auction Basket

Happy Friday!

I wanted to share one last card with you that I made for my daughter's school auction:


Details:
Main Images: Crafty Secrets - Easter Creative Scraps
Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: Melissa Frances
Accessories: seam tape ribbon - Rebecca Sower Designs; pearl buckle - The Little Pink Studio; corner punch - Fiskars

All six of my cards are being offered in a Local Artisans Basket at the auction. One of the other mums from the first-grade class arranged everything so beautifully in the basket:



Other items in the basket include:

A Gorgeous Hand-knit Angel Hair Scarf by Mandy Corbett
A Quart of Pennsylvania Maple Syrup from SweetWood Maple
Handmade Jewelry from RagTrader
2 - 16 oz Hand-poured Soy Candles (Green Tea & Lemongrass and Fruit Slices) from Beatty Country Store

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this wonderful basket! I am sure it will get a lot of attention at the auction.

Wishing you all a lovely day!

My Sweet Dad and (some of) My Candy Boxes

As soon as I saw this image from Crafty Secrets, I knew I needed to make a card with it for my dad. I started collecting vintage and antique candy boxes when I was in graduate school. I was attending out of state and feeling a little homesick, when I came across an old Hershey box in an antique mall. It's the kind of box stock would arrive in at a drug store or soda shop. I told my dad about it on the phone, and that was just the beginning.


Details:
Main Image - Crafty Secrets - Childhood Images and Journal Notes booklet
Stamps - bear - PSX: sentiment - Papertrey Ink - Mixed Messages
Ink - Ranger Distress Ink - Soot Black
Patterned Paper & Cardstock - K&Company
Accessories - Copic Sketch markers; vintage button; ribbon - Michaels; embroidery floss - DMC; edge distresser - Heidi Swapp

So I thought I would share some of my candy box collection with you. Believe me when I say that this is just the tip of the iceberg. My dad is an antique dealer, and he keeps an eye out for these on every buying trip, at yard sales, estate sales, auctions, flea markets, etc. and gives them to me for Christmas, my birthday, Easter, Halloween...well, you get the picture! I don't keep all of them on display all of the time. I like to change them out with the seasons or holidays.

Here are a few of my "new" ones from Christmas:



These Scottie dogs are two of my favorites. The one on the left is a pull toy and a bank, as well as a chocolate box:



The one on the left is the only chocolate box out of the group above. I'm generally a sucker for vintage things for children.

Here are some pretty ladies:


The one on the right is dated 1914 and has Pittsburgh spelled without the "h".



I have boxes from national brands & small chocolate shops (some no longer in business and some still going strong.) I have seasonal boxes, holiday boxes, quirky ones, and sophisticated ones.

You can even learn a little history and geography from them.


But mostly they are just plain sweet!

Sing, Sing a Song!

This week it's my turn to host the Crafty Secrets challenge over on Splitcoast Stampers. I challenged my fellow players to make a music-inspired project. Here's the challenge:

This week our projects are going to sing!

Make a project with a musical theme, or be inspired by your favorite song lyrics, hymn, or Christmas carol - use the lyrics as background paper or a line from a song or the name of a song for a sentiment. This is a theme challenge, so interpret it however the spirit moves you and make it your own! You could even alter a CD or a record (if you have any laying around!)

Here's the card I made:

Details:
Stamps - Crafty Secrets - Altered Art set
Main Image - Crafty Secrets - Christmas Images and Journal Notes booklet
Patterned Paper - DCWV - Rustic Stack (background paper); Provocraft - Christmas Slab (music paper)
Cardstock - DCWV (cranberry); Neenah paper (natural)
Ink - Ranger Distress Ink - Brushed Corduroy; SU! - Cranberry Crisp
Accessories - vintage button; embroidery floss - DMC; glitter glue - Stickles; cardstock sticker sentiment - Cosmo Cricket

Thank you so much for visiting today!

Uncle Jason Makes a Card

I just have to share this card with you that my big brother, Jason, made for Shannon for her birthday! Thanks to Boomerang, Shannon and Jason share a love of the Pink Panther. He just cracks them up. So Jason decided to make her a Pink Panther card...himself...with no help from his papercrafting wife.

He borrowed some stamps, ink, and pink paper from Aunt Megan. Then he went online in search of an image, he found the perfect one, then remembered a photo they had taken of Shannon at a pajama party at their house. Could he have found a better match? :)



I love that there are streaks of ink and letters stamped backwards on it. The "Huh!? What!?" sentiment on the front is a funny saying that Jason and Shannon have shared practically since Shannon could talk, and it always is accompanied by the silly pose in the card. Shannon adores it, and it has a place of honor on the cork board above her bed.

It just goes to show that making a "perfect" card isn't about how technically perfect it is; it's about how perfect it is for the person getting it! :)

Will Craft for Food!

Seriously, my mother-in-law and I have a pretty good deal going on. I supply her with cards throughout the year to send to family & friends, and she supplies us with hamburg. You gotta love the barter system!

Here is a card I made over the weekend for her to give away. I love this sweet little girl image, and thought it would make a fun birthday card. Kind of a "Gasp, you're how old?" card. :)

Image - Heartwarming Vintage - Childhood Images booklet
cardstock - Papertrey Ink - Sweet Blush
patterned paper - DCWV - Old World Stack
ink - Papertrey Ink - Sweet Blush
glitter glue - Stickles - Star Dust
rhinestone brad - Making Memories
flower - Prima

Thinking of Fall

It's hard to believe that fall is right around the corner already! There is something about watching the seasons change that reminds me of God's eternal and steadfast love for us. Despite our own fickle nature, the leaves will continue to change color and, once again, the trees that cover these Western Pennsylvania hills will reflect the artistry of the Master of creation. Makes me want to count my blessings, you know?

I created the scene using rub-ons from October Afternoon and matted it with paper from DCWV's Green Stack. Then I stamped the sentiment from Papertrey Ink on the same cardstock as the background and mounted it with a coordinating Green chipboard tag. The rick-rack is from Paper Wishes ribbon grab bag.

Have you counted your blessings yet today?

Summer Reading

What a crazy week it's been! End-of-the-school year activities and parties for Shannon all week, plus a really busy week at work, have kept us all busy. I made a bunch of thank you cards for various tours and activities that Shannon's Daisy troop participated in recently, but I didn't get any pictures taken of them. It was one of those situations when we were practically crafting as we went out the door to a meeting or party.

The card to the right is for Shannon's teacher. This week on the Crafty Secrets' forum, Lori challenged us to use text on our project. This dear little sheep from CS's Booklovers set has started her summer reading list already.

The text background is a segment of Wind in the Willows from October Afternoon's Night Light collection. I cut the scalloped circle using a Nestabilities die in my Big Shot machine. I colored all of the images with Copic markers, and popped up the sheep with foam dimensionals.

Here's to a wonderfully relaxing summer vacation full of fun creative pursuits!

Journey Home Card

This week I am the host of the Crafty Secrets Member Forum challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. The theme is "There's No Place Like Home!" I created the card above as a sample for the challenge.

The images are from Crafty Secrets' Fairyland set. I stamped the images in Palette Hybrid Ink - Burnt Umber on Neenah cardstock, then colored them using Stampin' Up's Watercolor Wonder Crayons, water, and a small-tipped watercolor brush. I distressed the main image panel with a Heidi Swapp edge distresser. I punched the K&Company Wild Saffron paper with a Martha Stewart border punch and adhered it to the main panel. I handwrote the quote on a Heartwarming Journal note, tore the edges, and swiped them with Ranger Distress Ink. Then I added the heart clip with the seam tape ribbon.