Happy Birthday, Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday. I sent him a box full of goodies and made him a card. We're getting together in California in a couple of weeks, so we can celebrate in style!

I used several different papers, including Basic Grey and My Mind's Eye. I added a scrap of sheet music, Thickers and Making Memories alphas, and a fancy brad. I tied on a bakery string bow and was finished! My husband teased me because this is as "masculine" of a card that I could come up with.

Fairy Tea Party

I had this adorable vintage postcard image and the idea of making a little tea party came to mind. But not just any tea party - a Fairy Tea Party!

Here's how I made it:
I used the lid to a gift box as the base. I covered the outside and inner sides with a whimsical patterned paper.

For the background, I collaged patterned paper and a castle image printed on tracing paper. I added vintage lace around the inside edges to cover the edges of the papers.


I printed out the tea party postcard image and "fussy cut" the children. I printed colorful butterfly images, cut these out, and added Stickles to make them sparkle. After gluing the butterflies to the children to turn them into fairies, I added more embellishments - party hats cut from old books, rhinstone flowers, and more Stickles. I adhered the fairies to the background using 3Dimensional adhesive.


For the Fairy Garden at their feet, I glued faux moss to the box (this was originally a moss placemat). Then I added vintage and new flowers, leaves, and rhinestones.





I created the title using an old banner image and added my title before printing it out on tracing paper. I adhered the tracing paper to a vintage-script-style patterned paper, then fussy cut it out. I added soft color with colored pencils.


The banner included urn shapes on the top of each end, so I adhered a little posy bunch to each. I stitched up some flowers using old grungy fabric, and glued on button centers and a vintage butterfly.
After everyone was enjoying the party, I added large soft-green pearl beads to the bottom to give the box "feet." I also glued vintage lace to the bottom edge and made a little curtain with old fabric and assorted lace and fibers.

Back to School with Midnight Oil

Please check out my Midnight Oil design team post on their site today. I'm highlighting a project I did using their 1-2-3 Intricacy. I added paint and sequins to the intricacy to make it match my layout. I added photos of Melzie's little boys and Melanie's friend's school bus. I had to tie on some of my new pencils to give it that "school" feel.

The Scrappy Shack Designs

Here are a couple of projects I designed for The Scrappy Shack. I used the just one piece of the flowers lace paper to create these projects.

First is a card using the lace paper as a background. The bright turquoise flowers were layered on top of some lightly patterned paper, which brought in the green. I added green ribbons and turquoise and green flowers to match. I added the "Enchanting" sticker by sticking it on a piece of paper, cutting it out, and then adhering it to the card with pop-dots. I cut the leaves from some book paper to soften the colors a bit.


I also used the lace paper as a background on this "Whimsy" hanging. I started with a large Fancy Pants journaling tag, added the lace paper, and then started layering on the embellishments and ephemera. I'm hoping to find a little spot for this one in my new craft room - that is almost complete!

After creating these two projects, I still had enough of the lace paper leftover to make another card (which isn't complete yet) and STILL have some left! It really goes a long way. My scrappy friend Melanie sent me some of the little goodies that I included on these two projects - thank you! I put them to use already!

Antique Alley Treasures

This past weekend was the semi-annual Antique Alley from Cleburne to Grandview, TX. We go every year, twice a year. We start out in Cleburne at a sale on the front lawn of an old house on Main St. They have a few vendors at this one house, and one is obviously a crafter. I always find some great treasures for the projects - especially for my altered art. We continue through Cleburne, down Hwy 4 to Grandview, making several stops along the way.

Here are some photos of my finds.

I bought the drawers to use for a 3D collage or other altered project.

The little tin will be used to store something in my craft room, and the old book pages will make their way into some future projects.

Peeking out from behind the tin are two TX license plates. I'm planning to use them for the front and back covers of a scrapbook of wierd TX sightings. I think I can fill it pretty quickly!

Here are some pretty vintage fabrics and little embellishments that I picked up.

I found some colorful Christmas light reflectors that I'll incorporate into some ornaments and cards.

I bought the sewing pattern for the cute girl in the pink dress. I hope to use her in a project.

Finally, I found so many great pieces of trim and lace. I bought one large bag full for $5. It must have at least 20 different trims, with several yards of each! I picked up a few other lovelies to go with them.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner

I think this is better than a chicken dinner!

The winner of the Halloween bling is....

Norma (njr007)

Congratulations! Please use the Contact Us link to email your mailing address and I'll get your prize out to you.

Here are a few more Halloween creations I've been working on.

I made some tags using scraps from the Halloween cards that I made. I had a Halloween page kit from Making Memories. Since we don't usually do too much for Halloween other than hand out candy, I used the kit stickers and cut-outs for my tags.

This one also has one of the Poe images printed on tracing paper, a ribbon scrap, and some old book paper. I tied on a black tulle bow and this creepy tag was complete.

I meet the most fabulous people through scrapbooking. One wonderful woman, TrishaLouise, sent me her leftover witch images. I used one on this tag. The frame, patterned paper, and sticker are from the Making Memories page kit. The orange and black swirls at the bottom are from the kit's packaging. I added ribbon, book paper scrap, and a title made with my Dymo label maker.

Halloween Prize Give-Away

As a thank you to all of my Zunky Chick friends who check my blog and leave feedback, I'm having another give-away!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this posting. Make sure to leave at least your first name so I can identify you when you win!


Here's the prize: black rhinestones from Queen&Co. and Black Diamond Stickles.


You have through Wednesday, September 16 to enter. I'll draw a name Thursday morning and post it here.


Good luck!

Halloween Is Coming!

I really love most holidays, and Halloween is a favorite. I decorate the house - inside and out - and try to incorporate a lot of vintage and vintage-style decorations.

I have been busy working on my Halloween crafts. Here are a couple of the cards I've made.

This card is for my niece, so I used a vintage postcard image that was a little more child-like and friendly looking.

I used plain purple cardstock for the card base, then layered on patterned paper, the postcard, ribbon, flowers, a glittery spider, a spider stamp, and letters cut with my Cricut. I used the Storybook cartridge. Cut from black paper, they look perfect for Halloween! I added dots with my favorite Signo white pen to help the letters stand out a bit more.

I made a series of cards using different "lady" images. I really had fun layering on the paper, stamps, images, ribbons, flowers, and glittery embellishments.

Here's a closeup of the embellishments on this card. I printed the photo of Edgar Alan Poe onto tracing paper so you could still see through him a bit - making him a bit ghostly.

I have several more of these cards that I'll share as we get closer to Halloween. I've also been working on some tags that I'll put on some special Halloween gifts.

Be sure to check back tomorrow - I'll have a give-away to get you started on your Halloween crafts.

Don't forget to check out the Scrappy Shack's September give-away and promotion (see my September 4 post for more info).

Birthdays Are Coming

More birthdays are coming up in the next couple of months, so I've been busy making some more cards. Here are a few that I came up with.

This first card is one of my favorites because it's so colorful. I used Making Memories papers, flowers, and journaling card. The letters are Thickers, Dymo (label maker), and American Crafts.


This card is a bit more "masculine," but still uses flowers - I love flowers! The "seed packet" is from a Heartwarming Vintage Collection journaling pad. I used scraps of paper, vintage buttons, and a velvet ribbon to embellish the card.

This card uses K&Co paper and embellishment, with vintage lace behund a journaling block. I added some Liquid Pearls to the cake stand base to add a little more flair to it.

I've been working on some Halloween and Thanksgiving projects that I hope to share soon.

Weekend Fun

We spent a long Labor Day weekend in NJ visiting my family. I got to spend time with my nieces and we went to the beach and to Gettysburg. Our beach day wasn't too great - it was cloudy and gray. But, we all had a great trip to Gettysburg.

We watched the movie "Gettysburg" in the car on the way, then picked up our tour guide for our battlefield tour. The size, variety, and number of monuments is amazing - you have to see it to believe it. The scenery was beautiful and it was a great history lesson.

We even saw a canon demonstration, which the men quite enjoyed.

After our day of touring the small town of Gettysburg, we made our way to Lancaster for dinner at Shady Maple - the biggest buffet you will ever see.

We spent Sunday and Monday doing nothing but playing with the nieces and visiting family. It was nice to get away, but it's always nice to come home.

The Scrappy Shack Events

Check out The Scrappy Shack's month-long promotion and give-away. Lori is celebrating her birthday with everyone and hosting some great events!

She also has my layout using the new summer die cuts (and photos from our trip to Hawaii) featured on her blog.

Check it out, and don't forget to enter her drawing - the winner will receive 20 free die-cuts of your choice from her etsy shop.

Strawberry Purse

As a tribute to the end of summer, I embellished a purse that I'll use next summer. I found these little bags of strawberries and had to have them.

I've been searching for vintage velvet strawberries and would love to have a wicker purse adornend with velvet strawberries. My searches have left me empty-handed. So, I created my own. These aren't the luscious velvet berries that I'm after, but they look just as cute.

I already have a vintage wicker purse, so I tied a green ribbon onto the handle of my purse, and then used the wired "stems" of the berries to attach them in a cluster onto the ribbon.

I'm ready for my July 4th barbeque! Just 10 months to go!

More Vintage Finds

Until I get photos uploaded of the cards I've been working on (if you have blogger and use an FTP, you are feeling my frustration), I'll share some more of the fun vintage goodies I've found recently. We took a trip Sunday morning to the Fort Worth Cattle Barns flea market. It is exactly what it sounds like - a flea market in the old cattle barns of the Fort Worth stock show.

I went in search of buttons and lace. And that's exactly what I found - at the first vendor. She also had vintage millinery flowers for 50 cents each! Wow! I bought all that she had. I picked up some vintage sewing patterns and other "stuff" to add to my growing stash that is not going to fit in my craft room. Here's just a sampling of what I purchased for $11!

Another vendor had great old baby books with adorable baby images. I'm hoping to make some baby shower books and cards with the images and FINALLY get my shop up and running.

Tomorrow I'll share what I've already done with some of my finds!