Happy Mail

When I picked up our mail accumulated during our trip, I found some 'happy mail' from Kelly Rasmussen over at KR Creations blog.  I won this great set of Basic Grey summery stamps.  I loved the way she decorated the manila envelope with stamps and Washi tape.  So clever and inviting.  Thanks, Kelly!

I've already put the new set of stamps to use to use on the card above. I stamped some of the basic designs tone-on-tone on cardstock and punched with a 3/4" punch for a border.  The pinwheels were inked with a regular ink pad and then colored in with a darker marker over part of the design before stamping.  I did a couple of these for my OWH box.

Thanks for stopping by!  Be sure to check out Stamptember over at Simon Says Stamps blog.  They have some great projects and videos.

Our Mountain

Hi!  We just returned from a beach trip and one of the first things I noticed when we got back into our neighborhood was the leaves just starting to pick up a bit of gold.  It will still be several weeks yet before our mountain changes color as it shows here in a photo from last November.

We don't live on this mountain or own land there but it is right out our front windows.  I grew up practically at the foot of the mountain so it has always been part of my life.  The view in the photo is actually taken just a ways down the road with a neighbor's barn in the foreground.  From this angle, it really doesn't look all that high.  Trust me, around here, this is a mountain!

Depending on where you live, you might consider this just a hill or it might seem huge.  It is really the last of the foothills in NC.  From the other side of this mountain, there really is nothing but hills and lakes all the way to Charlotte over 60 miles away.  So tucked in here behind our mountain, we get lousy TV reception but beautiful views of the seasons.

There has been a little clearing and there is now a cell tower on top but really not that much change.  Our side is pretty steep and most of the land was owned by a lady who lived into her late 90's.  The land has changed hands a couple of times in the last 10 years or so since she passed but so far nothing much has happened.  We hope it stays just like it is.

For the layout, I used some new Simple Stories Harvest Lane papers.  I've been looking for a fall collection to replace one from Stampin' Up! and the Basic Grey Indian Summer collections that proved so versatile.  This one doesn't quite have the pizzazz of Basic Grey yet ironically it is more 'basic.' with prints that work for fall or really about anytime of year.

I took a trick from Sue's blog and did some stitching around the papers to add some interest and tie the two sections of pattern paper together.

The bottom border is stamped with a Stampin' Up! wheel stamp.  I can't remember the name.  It goes with Trendy Trees.  I used some of those stamps on the page stamped on the October Afternoon label.  A few buttons complete the visual triangle.

Well, a long list of to-do's today.  Thanks for visiting!

Birthday Pear Card

It's Tuesday and I'm afraid I'm tipless today.  Here is a fall oriented birthday card.  Well, at least I'm finally in the right season :-)

The stamped image is from Stampin' Up!  I used watercolor crayons and blender pen for the color.  I've been wanting to combine this image with the Pyrus paper from Basic Grey.

Thanks for stopping by!

First Blooms

Hope everyone in the northern hemisphere is enjoying the first weekend of autumn.  And I have a spring layout for you.  The other day it was a Christmas card.  Boy, do I have my seasons mixed up.

I made this as I was awaiting an order of fall related product from Two Peas.  I knew once the new stuff came I'd keep putting these photos aside.  They are actually very good photos for me.  I'm not a particularly great photographer mainly because I lack patience.  :-(

The die cut background was done on the Cricut from some Basic Grey Sweet Threads collection.  The journaling tag is also cut on the Cricut but just out of white cardstock I'd printed on.  I used distress ink and a background stamp to give it a little interest.

Thanks for stopping by!

Washi Tape on Journal

Hi!  Today I have a new journal cover.  I like to keep my journal covers flat so I can turn the cover back and have a smooth writing surface.  So what better embellishments than Washi tape and stickers?

This week's challenge at Simon Says Stamp is to create a project using Washi.  I have been into basket weaving paper strips for pages so I thought I'd give basket weaving with Washi a try.  It was very simple thanks to how easy it is for Washi tape to be pulled up and repositioned.  I've added just a few strips to the top of the journal cover for balance.

Some stickers finish off cover.  I'll leave the label sticker empty until I have dates or a specific subject for this journal.  I hope this Washi craze goes on.  There are so many uses for this product.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Ingredients:  DSP:  K and Company
Washi:  Birds Indie Chic My Mind's Eye; Yellow starburst by Freckled Fawn; Gray and White diagonal by Love My Tapes
Label Sticker:  October Afternoon
Letter stickers:  old collections from OA, Basic Grey and American Crafts

Snow early, I know

It is just nearly fall and I'm already looking to Christmas!  I make about 80 or 90 cards for myself and family each season so I've got to get an early start.  I did a few of these to send out myself.

The cute little penguin is an Inkadinkado stamp from the dollar store.  I cut SNOW on the Cricut using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge.   The background Naturals White paper from Stampin' Up! is brushed with some blue pastels and then stamped and embossed with snowflakes.

This will be a pretty flat card for mailing so I an keep the postage down.

Thanks for visiting today!

Repurposing Packaging

Just a quick tip today on repurposing your packaging.  Let's not tell my husband about this one, ok?  He's one of those guys who washes out jars and who saves every egg crate and oatmeal container because he can find something to store in it.  How many egg crates does one man need?  I'm more inclined to throw away almost all the packaging.  However, there are a few things I save.

I use the clear part of some of my packages as paint mixing trays.  This weekend I got in an order from Two Peas with some Basic Grey buttons and some Studio Calico wood veneer items.  Neither of these were put in reclosable packages so I removed them and put the buttons in my regular button storage.  For the little wood veneer stars, I used an old button/brad container from Stampin' Up!

I used the larger 'tray' above the very next day for mixing up some rust colored paint from orange and brown.  I love to work with raw chipboard, painting and stamping it to whatever color or pattern I'd like.

I have one drawer in my scraproom devoted to left over packaging so it doesn't get out of hand.  Oh, and I do keep the chipboard from paper pads and kits.  I use it for other projects and as part of my props when photographing cards and pages.

Here's a brief video on this to watch at YouTube


What do you save?

Thanks for stopping by today!

Harper House

On a date day a few weeks ago, we visited the Harper House, a local historical site.  Apparently it is a secret treasure as no one around here I've mentioned it to had ever heard of this pretty home.  The house was built in the 1800's and has been restored to its Victorian grandeur.  Most Victorian era homes I've seen have elaborate plaster or carved ceilings.  However, apparently another way homes in this time period were decorated was with wallpaper - lots of wallpaper.

I'd seen this home when it was under renovation about 8 years ago and I knew they were doing a fabulous job so I was excited to see it again.  Unfortunately, they don't allow any photos of the inside or have any posted on their own website.  Each room has all the ceiling and most of the walls covered in a variety of wallpapers.  One room has 13 papers!  None of the original furniture was left but they have brought in pieces from the time period right down to the knife rests on the dining table.  I'd never seen a knife rest either.

We were given a guided tour and learned about the homes occupants including a woman who was married 3 times - for love, for money and for the heck of it.  She was smart enough to get a pre-nup on the last one as he was a real spendthrift.  This was about 1910 so she was definitely ahead of her time.

The top floor is devoted to what was a room for partying and dancing during prohibition.  There are silhouettes on the wall of the frequent guests.  They didn't know who these people were so the Historical Society published the silhouettes in the local newspapers during restoration and were able to get identities from many of the descendants.

For the page, I wanted to give the impression of the various wallpaper designs.  I've used about 10 papers I think plus quite a few Basic Grey rub-ons.  Stickers for the title keep this an uncharacteristically flat page.

Thanks for stopping by today!  Tomorrow I have a quick recycling tip for you.