Wishing You Peace!

Blessings and Peace to you on this Christmas Day, and the beginning of Hannukah!  The Felts family is celebrating the 12 days of Christmas as we count down to Epiphany and the beginning of the Mardi Gras season.  I usually bake a King Cake for my girlfriends on the first Wednesday of the year, and we share in the colors and symbolism of 12th night/Epiphany/Little Christmas (January 6th) in accordance with my Southwest Louisiana Christian heritage and tradition.  

And so, my card for today combines the crown of the kings and the newborn baby King they worshiped, with the colors of faith (green), justice (purple) and power (gold).   The crown is embossed with gold, embellished with tiny purple pearls and sparkling green jewels, which were exactly the size of the gold baubles of the stamped image underneath.  I love it when that happens!

May your holidays be filled with light, joy and peace!

A Merry Christmas to You!

Hello again!  Happy Saturday!    

Christmas is all about giving, and there are definitely instances where a gift card best!  The last one I picked one up came without an envelope unless you purchased the envie separately, so I decided to make one myself.  

The front features a sentiment framed with our elf brads and sprinkled with a few tiny pearl-centered snowflakes.

Inside, there's some sparkling silver washi tape and another tiny pearl accent.

I usually end up making several of these gift card holders each year for stocking stuffers but of course, they're great for any occasion.  It's nice that they're quick to make, and there are so many fun options for embellishments.  The Eyelet Outlet has got just about every theme you can imagine covered!

Rudolph's Ready!

Hello again, friends!  I'm happy to be here with you today (thought it wasn't gonna happen there for a while, since we have been having cable/internet problems off and on all week!).  

Sometimes ideas for creativity come quickly, and others...well, some ideas have to steep for a while!   I had been contemplating what to do with these antlers for a while now, but the other day (when I was rearranging things in my studio so the cable guy could get in there!) I came across a Tim Holtz Christmas greenery die, and a lightbulb went off!  It's funny how a quick glance at something can really get the ball rolling!

I took that die, a leaf die from a Spellbinders set, along with an oval, and came up with this little fella!  The oval forms his face, the leaves, his ears, and the Christmas greenery with a knot of jute on top his "fringe."  He's got Eyelet Outlet brad eyes, a shiny red enamel dot nose, and of course, the antlers that were the initial inspiration for the whole project.  A simple line with a teardrop shape for a mouth is the only "drawing" that I had to do.  A few swipes with a pale pink Copic marker add some accents, sponging with distress ink gives dimension, and a glitter pen brings just enough magical sparkle!

I had so much fun making this project!  I hope you like it!  It isn't too late to still crank out a few Christmas cards, or a few gift tags for the big night!   Have fun!

Playful Snowman

Hi friends!  It's the last day of November, so the holiday countdown is seriously on!  Are you ready?  It goes by so fast!

We had a few cooler days last week but for the most part it has been really warm in Florida, especially for the last several days, so I really enjoyed pulling out some cool colors for this sparkly, whimsical card. 

I played with some distress inks, splashes of water and shimmer spray to make the Winter sky background.  Glitter enamel dots in various sizes make the perfect centers for the sparkly heat-embossed snowflakes.  Glitter washi tape in blue, purple and pink add more even color and sparkle, and I couldn't resist a twist of wired pom pom ribbon that I've had in my stash for who knows how long!  This cute little guy looks like he's having such a good time!

Thanks for visiting!  Enjoy your day!

Thanksgiving Place Cards

Are you ready for Thanksgiving?  This year the prep in our household is all happening last minute because we have had so many other things going on.  Our Thanksgiving meal is much more of a production than Christmas, so I'll be in the kitchen nearly every waking moment from now until the food is on the table!  Lots of love is being poured into every detail!

   

Keeping a gratitude journal for the month of November has really helped me to realize how much I have to be thankful for, and I love that at this time of year we all become more deliberate about saying so!  Little things mean a lot...setting a beautiful table and cooking "family heirloom" recipes are tangible ways to express the love we share for each other!  

I used a lovely dip pen that I purchased as a souvenir from Venice to calligraph our names on some hand-stamped Thanksgiving place cards.   They're simple but the sparkle of gold ink, gold glitter washi tape and the rich colors of the Fall leaf brads make them elegant and traditional.

Blessings to you and yours this Thanksgiving, and every day all year through!  

For Every Pulse, a Thanksgiving

...and for every breath, a song!

It's such a busy, exciting time of the year!  Each season has its own special allure, but this time of year, from October through the beginning of the New Year, is even more special...I love everything about it!

This sentiment that really sums it all up for me, and is particularly fitting today since in the past week, I have had three choir practices (for three different choirs) and a ukulele workshop!  I love that these songs of joy, thanksgiving and praise get stuck in my head and become like a mantra that helps to keep my heart and mind in the right place.

It was fun to make a round card for a change, and even the paper and embellishments include circles everywhere.  I used a die that has a circle cut into each scallop, which made spacing those enamel dots a piece of cake!  The package includes small, medium, and large dots...it's nice to have options! 

I'm already looking forward to the weekend, because we have chorale concerts Friday and Sunday.  Have a great week!  I'll see you next Tuesday!  Until then, happy stamping and scrapping!

Live in Thanksgiving Daily!

Hi everyone!  Happy November!  

It always seems that Thanksgiving is the neglected holiday, so it's nice to see lots of "30 days of Thanksgiving" posts from my friends on Facebook!  I am always inspired and uplifted by their heartfelt reflections of gratitude, and have begun a list of my own in my traveler's notebook journal for November.  Hopefully the practice will help us all to begin to live in Thanksgiving daily.  

In keeping with the theme of daily thanksgiving, I sponged a sky background and used a trio of fluttering leaf brads to frame the sentiment of today's card.  A border of seasonal trees washi tape reinforces the idea of extending Thanksgiving throughout the year.

I hope you'll join me in counting your blessings!  A hand-made card to show your gratitude takes only minutes to make!

Another Fun Fold!

Happy Saturday!  Halloween is just two short days away!  I enjoy this season so much and I'm disappointed that this year I will be missing out on meeting and greeting the trick or treaters.  (My son and I sing in a community choir and with concert just a few weeks away, we could not afford to miss our regularly scheduled Monday night practice).    

I saw another interesting fold tutorial over on Splitcoaststampers, and so I thought I would give it a whirl!  It turned out to be fast, easy and fun!

The design is great for coordinating prints and small stamps and fits into a regular envelope.  I used some cute skull and witch's hat brads, some glittery washi tape, and a few glossy enamel dots for accents.  Gotta love that grumpy frog face!

Have a great weekend, and a fabulously fun Halloween!

Priorities!

Can you believe that October is more than half over already?!  The holidays are just around the corner!  There's so much to do and so little time, one has to set some priorities!   It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind, though, so we should not feel guilty for setting aside some down time to take care of ourselves!  That's what this card is all about!

Needles and yarn from our new set of knitting brads create a focal point and complete the sentiment of this uncluttered layout, with washi tape borders that are in keeping with the theme.

It's hard to be in the mood to knit (or spin) in Florida when the weather is hot, but I've got a stash of fiber and yarn that will be coming out to keep me company when it gets a little cooler!

Enjoy your weekend!

Shiny Black Spiders!

Hi all!  I'm here with a super simple, kinda creepy, quick Halloween card using one of my favorite Halloween stamps (from Memory Box). 

Traditional Halloween colors, some glossy adhesive enamel dots in two sizes, and a few splashes of diluted white ink are really all this design needs, making it the kind of card that would be easy to mass produce.

Enjoy these crisp Fall days!  (We have even had a few in Florida!)

Halloween Library Card Drawer

Hello again!  I'm back with more Halloween decor!  Last year I bought this cute little library drawer as part of a Christmas kit, and I decided that it would be fun to change out the cards inside for the various holidays, so here's a little sampling of what's in it for Halloween.

The cards in the first slot are ATC sized.  Here's a haunted house street sign embellished with a glittery enamel dot, pointing the way to the spooky house up on the hill.  

The next slot is a little deeper.  It's got a Bingo card with mini candy corn markers, and another haunted house card.

This one is a clean and simple layout where the patterned paper does all the work.  It is accented with a ghost and a sparkling champagne jewel.

My dad was a pharmacist, as was my grandfather, so I am always drawn to old bottles...here's a potion bottle of Halloween microbes, complete with skull and crossbones warning, and swirling jewel bling "aroma."

The tallest card in the back slot is a coffin-shaped card.  I really wanted to stamp this one with wood-grain, but didn't have a wood-grained stamp, so spider webs had to do!  The hinges are nailed with orange pearl brads which brings in some Halloween color, but screw brads might have been even cuter!

I had a blast working on this last weekend.  I sat on the floor surrounded by Halloween stamps and papers and inks, watching football and crafting all day.  It was fun to use some of my favorite papers from my stash and a few stamps that haven't seen the light of day in a year or too.  I will be adding to this little collection as the days, weeks, and even years go by! Such a fun project!

Enjoy your week!  Don't eat too much of that Halloween candy you just bought!  ;)

I've Got My Eyes on You!

Hello everyone!  Happy Fall!  I spent most of the day Thursday putting up my Fall decorations, and then for the rest of the weekend I played with Halloween papers and stamps...I just LOVE these colors!  It has been so much fun! 

I had a package of candy eyeballs that were calling out to be used as a ready-made shaker...all I had to do was cut an opening with a die and glue the trimmed package right in.  This shaker actually peeks through an opening in the card front and is attached to the back of the card.

This was so quick to put together, and looks really cute with some Eyelet Outlet coordinating monster-themed products:

• monster brads
• eye brads in two sizes
• monster ribbon
• monster washi tape
• paper flowers

The stamp set that I used is love monsters from Taylored Expressions.

Have a great week!  I'll see you again soon!

Retro Glamour

Hello again!  Happy Sunday!  I'm here with a very pink, very girlie card!  It makes me think of girls getting ready for prom, or a bride and her bridesmaids having their hair and nails done for a wedding!

Our newest release included these cute little brush and hair dryer brads...aren't they fun?! When I first saw them, I immediately thought of this retro beauty and how great they would go together. As I looked through my stash for some coordinating papers, I was thrilled to discover that a last minute, impulse paper purchase from the local stamp shop had this "definition of style" card on the flip side of the print that had originally caught my eye.  How perfect!  

Since this theme made me think of corsages, boutonnieres, and special occasions,  I wanted to include a flower (colored to match with a Copic re-inker), some greenery, a pearl and lots of bling! This card was a lot of fun to make.  I hope you like it!

Have a great week!  Happy stamping!

Boo to You!

Hi everyone!  I was browsing Pinterest a few days ago and came across an interesting fancy fold card tutorial that I just had to try! It is a pop-up panel card!  This fancy fold is really impressive, and surprisingly not so difficult to make!  I love it, because it allows you to use several coordinating images and still leaves room for some fun embellishing!

Since the mechanics of the inside of the card are pretty thick, I kept the outside super simple.  This was a sheet of patterned paper printed with a moonlit scene, so all it really needed was a sentiment sticker atop some sparkly washi tape, and some black enamel dots.  

The unfolding pop-up panel is a bit of a "boo!" when the card is opened!

More washi tape and orange enamel dots add a splash of color to the inside, and the skull brad is a fun detail that echoes the motif of one of the stamped images.  

I hope you're inspired to try a pop-up panel card too!

Oceans of Joy!

Hi friends!  As I'm writing this post, "sunny Florida" is dark and dreary as Hurricane Hermine makes her way across our beautiful state!  I'm hoping and praying that the damage will be minimal and that everyone stays safe!  

My friend and I went shopping the other day in the local stamp shop, and I couldn't resist this delicate sea creatures die.  I've been playing with water colors, distress inks, shimmer sprays,  and Lindy's magicals lately, and I thought this die would look lovely with a shimmery ocean background.  I accented the die's bubbles with some of our multi-sized Eyelet Outlet pearls in purple and blue.  I really love how it turned out!  

A sentiment framed by a couple of starfish brads goes just perfectly with this underwater scene.  I wish you could see how shimmery and sparkly this card is IRL!

Enjoy your Friday, and if you live in the states, have a wonderful, long Labor Day weekend!

Be Yourself!

Hi everyone!

Summer is coming to a close, school is starting, and cooler weather is just around the corner!  On FaceBook I've seen lots of back to school photos of children from pre-school through college, their mothers all marveling at the difference just one year makes!

Sometimes change is easy to embrace, and other times it takes a little encouragement!  The butterfly is a beautiful symbol of transformation that makes a great accompaniment to a variety of sentiments that fit all sorts of occasions!  

I love the surprise of cards that transform too!  This one has a sentiment panel that unfolds to reveal an accordion of butterflies and moths, including black and white butterfly brads (twelve to a package, six each of two designs), and 15 mm wide butterfly music washi tape.

The graph paper design on the inside makes writing straight a whole lot easier!  

Wishing you and your children courage and confidence to be your authentic selves each and every day!

Packing List!

Seems like every time I pack, whether it is for a short, overnight trip or a lengthy excursion, I pack the same ole thing and usually forget something!  The last trip we took (to visit my husband's family in Upper Michigan) I decided that it was time to make a list that I could re-use and update if necessary.

I used a journal card die to cut a bunch of cards from ivory and kraft card stock and a few designer paper prints, stamped them with a grid/ledger stamp, then decorated them with stamps and washi tapes.  Since when we fly I usually take along some gluten-free snacks and craft items in addition to clothing and toiletries, I added tabs to specify what belongs in my handbag, my carry-on, or my checked luggage.  

It made it so easy to organize for our trip, and helped me to not leave anything behind when we were ready to go back home!  I am so happy with the way this project turned it!  It's cute, small, and easy to update.  Here's just a small sampling of the pages. 

butterfly music washi tape

suitcase wide washi tape

Paris washi tape

black with gold dots foil washi tape

It's All Perspective!

Hello again!  Deb here with a blindingly bright, happy card. Sometimes all that's needed is a new perspective, and some cheerful colors and fun embellishments are just the fix!   

This colorful greeting features hand-cut banners, some Tim Holtz stamps, Eyelet Outlet's women's glasses brads and a pretty flat-back resin flower to match the floral patterned paper print. Hopefully it will bring a smile to brighten the face and outlook of the one who receives it!