A Perfect Weekend

A Perfect Weekend...those don't come around too often.

Our weekend officially started Friday on a cold winter's night with homemade chili for dinner and cuddling up on the couch with my sweetie to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics.We always enjoy watching the opening ceremonies and seeing all the various countries come together to showcase their aweseome atheletes.

After running some errands on Saturday, I came home to find some GORGEOUS WHITE ROSES from my dear hubby.  I don't recall ever receiving white roses before and these were perfect and smell wonderful too!

My hubby put a lot of creative thought and planned an unusal dinner out for us to celebrate Valentines Day.

We not only got to enjoy a delicious dinner, we also celebrated the Chinese New Year at a local Chinese restaurant, Kam's.  This Chinese New Year is the Year of the Tiger...which brings prosperity. 

We can all use more of that this year :)

Here is a pic of my dinner...Manchurian Birdsnest. It was so tasty and a gorgeous presentation too.

The restaurant had arranged to have a group of teenage Lion Dancers come entertain the diners

during our meal. It was soooo much fun !

The kids really got into the performance and all the diners seemed to enjoy all the colorful costumes and antics of the dancers.

  

Each "Lion" is made up of two kids.  Here one kid is balancing another to capture a red tag hanging from the ceiling.  Who ever captures the red tag is brought good luck in the new year.

No, my husband isn't just sticking his hand down Shen's shirt for kicks ! He is placing a dollar in the shirt to help bring him good fortune and prosperity during the new year.

Here I am feeding a dollar to the "Lion " so I have good fortune and prosperity during the year too.  It was funny to hear the voice inside the Lion give out a little "whoop and thank you" when he took the money.

The costumes of the lions were just amazing and colorful.  They were moving around so fast it was hard to get a clear picture but these captured some of the detail.

And I couldn't resist taking a picture of the gorgeous red lanterns hung all around the restaurant.  So lovely.

It was a wonderful evening.

Today is Valentines Day....my hubby surprised me with another dozen roses, this time in Red!  How great is that?  I know how lucky I am to have such a thoughtful man in my life.  

I promise I am not bragging but he also made my favorite sour dough blueberry pancakes for breakfast.  YUM !  I got to pick a movie for us to go see today...and I chose "Percy Jackson and The Olympians" movie...it was cute and entertaining. The rest of the day has been spent relaxing and watching more Olympics in our PJ's and just canoodling on the couch.  See, I told you....A Perfect Weekend !

Wishing all of you a very Happy Valentines Day and a Happy Chinese New Year too.  Now I am off to eat  some chocolate covered strawberries for dessert....yummmmmmmOH!

Kisses, Hugs, Love, Hearts....Oh My !

Like the rest of the scrappy world right now, I am loving creating banners to display in my home. And of course I couldn't resist creating one for Valentines Day.  INSPIRE the people in your life to stop and enjoy the day of LOVE on February 14th !      (Click on the pics to see close up)

Had fun with these acrylic butterflies from K& Co.

Loved folding them to make them POP OFF the Jenni Bowlin BINGO CARD

I seriously HEART chandeliers and isn't that felt cupid adorable ? I glimmer misted the doily hearts...

wish you could see how they shine better in the pics.

Yes, that really is a dangling, sparklie HEART hanging from the bottom of this banner piece! 

And yes, that really is an old Lil Davis Valentine Embellishment I have been saving in my stash for a special occassion and this was it !  {I really loved that company and was sorry to see them go out of business.} Hope you noticed I added a few pieces of the Valentine Treat bags to accent this embellishment.

I have also been saving my very last PINK Heidi Swapp mirror bird for just the right project. 

Loved how it added a special touch to this banner piece.

I have had this old Valentine postcard in my stash for a while as well. 

So glad the cute Valentine girl found a special place to be enjoyed year after year.

 Those awesome felt roses were found at Hobby Lobby recently.

I added some Pearl Glimmer Mist to help those roses shine!

 

More K&Co. acrylic pieces shaped and pop dotted to add dimension.

My Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher was perfect to adhering these to the cards.

The base of the banner is is made from large foam hearts I found at Michaels for $1 each.  They already had the glitter around the edges and were just begging to be made into a banner. The adorable rag material banner was also bought at M's this season.  

I used a Martha Stewart punch to make the white lace border on each.  The red ric rac is actually foam that is glittered that I bought at my LSS.  How awesome is that ?  I bought it in every color they had it in.  I cut it in half to make it look like a cute scallop on the bottom of each BINGO card. 

This went together pretty quick and I love how it looks....alll that PINK, RED and WHITE really makes it feel like Valentines Day at our house.  Not too fussy...just the right amount of LOVE shown.

Do you have a special item that you put up at your house that shows your Valentine some LOVE?

Valentines Card Tutorial

As I mentioned in my last post, I was INSPIRED by a product I just happened to notice at a local craft store and thought to use in an unusual way.  It isn't exactly scrap related.  But you could use it to give a scrap gift you create.  Can you guess what it might be?

It is a package of Treat Bags for Valentines Day.  They are clear cellophane with all kinds of Valentines/Love words printed on them. And at $1.99 for 20 of them, there were a steal! I fell in LOVE the minute I saw them and the wheels in my head started turning on what I could do with them. I immediately thought of all the cards I wanted to make for my Valentines.

Here is a little TUTUORIAL on how I used those bags to make a special Valentines Day Card.

TO MAKE THE CARD BASE:
1. Here is the set of Treat Bags                                    
2.  Take out 1 Treat Bag

3. Cut bag into a 3" strip                                              

4.  Here is the 3" strip

5. Unfold the 3" strip and cut off one end so it opens up.   6. Adhere the strip to your card base to fit the size card you are using.  Trim the excess off the sides.  Hint: I Glimmer Misted my card base first and let dry before adding my VD bag strip. After I added the strip to the card, I added a die cut border to the top. You could also use ribbon instead. 

TO MAKE THE FLOWER FOR THE CARD:

1. Cut (2) 1 1/2 "circles and (2) 1" circles from another VD Treat Bag.  Next Cut (1) 1 1/2" circle and

(1) 1" circle from Pink Felt.  Slice a small hole with scissors or exacto knife in the center of each to put brad through. 2. Scrunch all the Treat Bag circles up into tight balls.  

3.  We will be working from top of flower to bottom to layer the flower.  Put brad through the (2) small VD bag circles.  4. Add the small pink felt circle next.

5.  Add the two larger VD bag circles next. 6. Finally, add the large pink felt circle to the back of the stacked circles.

7.  Close the brad on back of the circles. 8.Scrunch the circles with your fingers.

9.  Let go of the scrunched circles and see the flower base. 10.  Add whatever button or jewel you want to the center of the flower.  I recommend using Glossy Accents or Beacons 3in1 Glue to adhere the button/jewel onto the top of brad in the center of the flower.

Here is the final version of the card. I love it was easy to make and inexpensive too ! 

Hope you found this interesting and INSPIRING to try this technique on a card yourself.

What's Red & White and Pink All Over....

Why VALENTINES DAY of Course !!  I totally ADORE Valentines Day !  I can't seem to get enough of that wonderful RED, WHITE and PINK color palette.  It doesn't matter if it is cutsey or classic Valentines style, I love it all.

Earlier this week, I gathered my sizeable stash of Valentine supplies, punches, glimmer mist and went to town creating some Valentines cards.  I wish you could really see all the dimension and glimmer of these cards in the pics. In about an hour or so, I had whipped up the following lovelies to send my special Valentines.

 
What do ya think?  Will my Valentines know how much they mean to me?  Tomorrow I will post a tutorial of the layered flower I made with an INSPIRING material I found while at craft store.

I also made a Valentines Banner I will be sharing with you over the weekend.  Here is a little sneak peak of it....

It is Oooh La La...., wouldn't you agree? 

Ode to FRIENDS...

Don't you agree that your FRIENDS are one of the best things in your life ? 

I don't know what I would do if I didn't have those friendly shoulders to cry on...
that encouraging voice telling me I did the right thing...
that gleeful shout of joy accompanying mine when we find just the thing to buy when shopping...
the telling of secrets both big or small...
that special someone who is always on my side...
that same someone who will honestly tell me when I messed up...

My friends mean a lot to me.  This Christmas I had intended and planned to make all of my very bestest friends a special Christmas gift.  Alas, I only got around to making two of these due to my surgery in December but I take solace in the fact the two I did make were well received.  To my other friends who didn't receive one of these, you just might find yourselves getting a different hand made goodie later in the year to show you how much I treasure your friendship.

When I was at Creative Escape this past year, I was inspired by Teresa Collins' FRIENDS line I found at  one of the stores.  I immediately bought as much as they had (which was a bunch!) and started designing in my head of what I would make.  As I shopped at other stores during my trip, I gathered some extra yummy items to use on my creations.....Prima Black Scalloped Trim and Silver Leaves and Gossamer Butterflies and White Prima Flowers, Maya Road Chandlier Beads and Pearl Trim, and several Teresa Collins black tabbed albums for the backing and awesome Pearl Glimmer Mist plus some blue gossamer ribbon.

Okay, without further ado (isn't that a funny saying ? okay, I digress) here are the two FRIENDS projects I managed to make. {sorry about the not so good pics...I took these at the last minute before wrapping these gifts up to give}

"Friendship lightens every burden and makes the sunshine brighter."

No truer words have been written about friendship.

"A friend is someone who knows the song in my heart and

can it to you when you have forgotten the words."

I almost cry every time I read this...it is so true that your friends help keep you going.

I can tell you, I was humming a happy tune when I was making these and feeling so INSPIRED by my dear friends to create a project that would let them know how much they mean to me. 

I hope everyone takes a moment this week to do a little something to show atleast one or more of your friends you are thinking of them.  

Calling ALL paper crafters...A PERFECT Paper Trimmer, FINALLY!!!

As a dedicated paper crafter, one of the things that are a MUST HAVE is a really good paper trimmer.  Believe me, I have tried them all.  I have even contacted trimmer manufacturers and suggested ideas for improvement in their products.  YES, it is that important for a paper crafter to find a paper trimmer that does the following :

• Cuts straight and true...every time
• Has easy to read guides for measuring and don't rub off after using a zillion times
• Expands to hold larger than 8X11 size paper
• Cutter mechanism is sharp but easy to handle
• Is portable and doesn't take up a lot of room on craft table

As you can tell, the list seems relatively easy to find.  The issue is that finding ALL of these things in one trimmer is near to impossible! 

Guess what? I have some how stumbled upon the perfect portable trimmer.  Fiskars has finally managed to make the PERFECT paper trimmer.  I have been using this trimmer for the past month, 
and just let me say.....it really is PERFECT !! 

WHY DO I THINK THIS IS A PERFECT TRIMMER?

•Has an antiwear veneer, now printed from bottom side so the scale and grid will never wear off - PERFECT!

•Very easy to read printed scale in 1/16 inch increments, and grid in 1/4” x 1.0”, which makes measuring easy & accurate - PERFECT!

•High profile triple track cutting cartridge is ergonomic for better gripping when cutting - PERFECT!

•Swing out extension arm, extends measuring to a full 12 inches, plus the base is 6.5 inches wide so easy to do mats and other mid-size cutting - PERFECT!

•Cutting guide is clear so easy to see through to line up cutting line, cutting rail pivots open for easy project placement and it locks in place...no more flipping around when storing or toting the trimmer around - PERFECT!

I encouage everyone to find the trimmer that is PERFECT for them.  Make a list of the things you would like a trimmer to have and start shopping around until you find the one best for your needs.

I am so happy with my new Fiskars 12" Personal Trimmer....hope my story INSPIRES you to keep searching until you get your PERFECT tool to use in your papercrafting!

Note: PaperTrimmer picture is courtesy of the Fiskars website link listed above.

Another GIFT Idea

The THIRD GIFT was made for my Father and his wife.  They had just moved into their new house the week before Christmas and I wanted their gift to be something tied to the new house. I decided to make them a WELCOME sign to hang in the front hall.  They are using pale blue and silver and earth tones as their color scheme in the front rooms so that was the INSPIRATION for the color scheme.

I did a lot of altering on most of the pieces on this project. The "Welcome" letters are from House of 3 digital kit that I printed out on white smooth cardstock and altered using Ranger products such as distress inks, paint daubers and stickles. I also added little details around each letter with a silver glitter pen. And  to top it all off, you guessed it, more Prima flowers and leaves.

Here is a close up of the "To Our Home" name plate I created....The embossed silver paper was actually gold so I used a Ranger silver paint dauber to change the color. It worked beautifully.  It is hard to see here but after using distress ink on the "to Our Home" die cut, I added a little bit of silver glitter gel pen around the letters to give it a punch of silver color.  And to anchor the name plate, I used some gorgeous silver buttons by Delish Designs. If you have not checked out Delish before, they are an amazing company from Australia that have incredibly beautiful papers and embellishments.

And of course, I couldn't resist using Tattered Angels glimmer mist Pearl to add some shine to the Prima

white flowers.  I also added a touch of Ranger silver paint dauber to the edges of the flower for highlights and to tie the color scheme together.  I love how they turned out.

I love playing with different products and getting a totally custom look. It is INSPIRING to me and hopefully to you as well.   Have an awesome weekend!

Now On To The Good Stuff...

I am still playing around with design of my blog and will most likely change a few more things but  ON TO THE GOOD STUFF !

I have been dying to post pics of some of the gifts that I made for Christmas this year. Everyone has finally received their gifts now so I can let you take a peak over the next few days. I hope you enjoy the projects as much as the receivers seemed to like their gifts.  

All these gifts were customized for special family members.  I used the wonderful Fancy Pants Designs On Display Embellish Me Frames as the base for creating these.  These frames are 18X9 and a wonderful size to hang on the wall of your home or even on a large easel on an entry way table, etc.

The 18X9 size was a little daunting since I wanted one continuous background paper.  By a stroke of luck, I found a wonderful selection of custom artist paper in large sheets at Aaron Brothers.  Their selection was fantastic and was just what I hoped to find.  They were hideously expensive for a sheet of paper but well worth it for the depth of embossed and metallic printed qualities.

Note:  Right click on any of the pics to see a close up view of the project and papers.  

The FIRST GIFT was made for my Brother Jim and his family.  I was thrilled to find some really fun faux animal print with great embossed texture since my bro is a big hunter.  Plus the background paper fits perfectly into the color scheme of their lovely home. The "Family" word is a House of 3 transparency that I colored the backside of the image with inks and paints and stamping to texturize.  I love how it tied the color scheme to together so well. And of course, I couldn't resist adding a luscious Prima flower and some leaves for the final touch !

I was especially happy with the photo selection that really lets the personality of my bro Jim, my sis-in-law Kim and my adorable nephew Nicholas shine through.

The SECOND GIFT was made for my Mother-In-Law.  I decided to show case the three granddaughters...our daughter Crystal, our daughter Heather and our granddaughter Bianca. My mother-in-law got a little misty eyed when she opened it so that was very rewarding to see how much she enjoyed the gift.

Of course I used more Prima Flowers on this project but I experimented with altering the flowers with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist in Pearl which I am now addicted to using on everything that isn't moving !  LOL  The Glimmer Mist adds such a great shine and well, a little glimmer to whatever you spray it on.  It is the next best thing to BLING and you know how I love my BLING ! 

And notice how I tucked in some beautiful Prima lace and one of their awesome gossamer butterflies, a sprinkling of pearls, some gorgeous embossed paper from Aaron Brothers and even some glittered chipboard to enhance the beauty of photos of my lovely daughters and granddaughter.

Here is a close up of the flowers that I altered with the Glimmer Mist...see how awesome these look?  So much better than just plain ole white flowers, don't you think? 

I think this post is long enough....I will be back later to post a few pics of some more fab gifts.

Hope you  found a little INSPIRATION here to today!

I DID IT ! I DID IT ! Wooohooo...I DID IT !!!!

Thanks for indulging me in my little happy dance in my post title.  I am soooooooo dang excited I finally figured out how to add the dividers between the post.  It took several times until I got it right, but my diligence has paid off. 

What do you think?  I love the "embellished" look of the cute little divider.  I found it on ShabbyBlogs.Com    which is a great site of FREE blog design items.  Those ladies keep coming out with more and more fun items to help decorate our online journaling spaces.  You should check them out sometime. I am not associated with them in any way but wanted to share their goodness with you all.

Next post will be back to usual scrappy goodness!  I am so looking forward to spending more time on my creative pursuits this year and sharing with you all.  I even have plans to do some tutorials on some of my favorite techniques or demos of new products.

I LOVE to share with others and miss being associated with a scrap manufacturer or store design team.
Maybe in 2010 I should attempt to get back on a team somewhere.  What do ya think of that !  LOL

Hugs to you all. And remember... Find something today to INSPIRE you or someone you love.

Still Re-Designing My Bloggie Space...

As you can see, there have been some major changes accomplished this weekend with my new blog design.  I have scoured the internet for tutorials all weekend and tried to put into practice what I have learned.

ACOMMPLISHMENTS SO FAR:

1. Two column designed blog turned into Three column blog - CHECK
2. Replaced blog header and figured out how to put in blog name in fancy font - CHECK
3. Split content into two distinct columns of info - CHECK
4. Created digital tags for each topic -  IN PROGRESS...will add more tomorrow
5. Added lovely decorative separator bar between bar posts - CHECK  OOPS - change to IN PROGRESS...just noticed for some reason it is not showing between ALL post as it was earlier.  GOSH DANG HTML CODING !!!

And the BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT of all....I AM STILL WILLING to continue working on designing my blog !  This digital/html design thing is A LOT of work.  Hats off to any of you who have tackled this project yourself and succeeded.  I must admit that I am proud I am finally getting the hang of it and learning something new.  This process is really INSPIRING me to think outside my comfort zone.

Special thanks goes to the wonderful support offered on  ShabbyBlogs.Com for some of the digital elements and the awesome tutorials even a technically challenged girl like me can follow !

STAY TUNED FOR MORE CHANGES AS THE WEEK GOES ON.

Have a wonderul week and remember to stop and see or do something INSPIRING !

My Blog is Undergoing a Make Over..stay tuned !

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