July 25, 2008

I've Been Meaning...

Its been one of my "dreams" to maybe have a little online shop. Maybe etsy. Mayby ebay. Dunno yet. I plan on selling some things I've collected over the years. Vintage stuff and handmade stuff. But also my sister is QUITE talented. We have talked about going into a little craft shop together too. Especially when I see her latest and greatest creations. I have one of these little pillows myself that she made me years ago. Recently she made another one for a wedding gift. I use mine for a wall hanging/slash pin cushion. I think that is what they originally were used as "pin cushions". Anyway, she also made a little flower basket to go with it as a set. I wanted to upload it on my blog to get some feedback. I hope anyone (hi all two of my readers) who reads this blog will please leave a comment and let me know what they think about these little creations. I would also like to know your thoughts on if you think these would be a great addition to a little online shop. I think they are fantastic and would definitely be big sellers. They are one of a kind, handmade and fancraftalicious. Oh and I will take orders if anyone is interested in these email me. Wouldn't these be so cute carried by the flower girl and the ring bearer at a wedding? Of course they can be made in the color of your choice. Check it out (Click on any photo to enlarge for detail)

HOW PRETTY ARE THESE?

Set (above)

Closeup of the pillow front outdoor lighting (above)

Closeup of the pillow back and the ribbon streamers, so pretty(above)

Flower Basket(above)

Flower Basket Interior (above)

Flower Basket bottom (above)

I think you will agree these are beautiful. I will take a picture of mine to show the comparison.

July 21, 2008

Bedroom Furniture

I am so excited I just have to share. My dh and I just bought our dream bedroom furniture. I feel so happy and grateful. You may find this hard to believe but I have NEVER owned a complete bedroom furniture suite. We have always just used whatever we had on hand, or hand me downs from family and friends, or garage sale finds. I always used to say everything I own is shabby chic except lately just more shabby than chic. hehe. Anyway, things worked out recently so I was able to purchase most of what I wanted. Hold onto your hats...I am getting the Pottery Barn Farmhouse Bedroom Collection in the Espresso finish. You heard it right, PB. Brand spakin' new (not outlet or used or dinked or anything). It will be delivered next week. They will unpack it, assemble it and carry it in. I don't have to do anything except enjoy it. It's on sale too and plus they gave me free shipping on most of it. (that's over $500 savings). I purchased the queen size bed (no canopy), 2 end tables with doors (these were brand new on the floor no catty or online yet), they are just like the ones shown online except picture 2 doors that close off the open shelf below and one tallboy dresser. We are going to get another tallboy and put 2 of those side by side vs. buying the wide dresser. We don't have space for the wide dresser. Plus that is all we could manage right now and that was enough. Here are some snapshots


I like the classic, clean simple lines in this collection. You can dress it up or down. Even though it is named the farmhouse collection its not necessarily country style. It can be very urban. This is what I liked about it.

I ended up getting the end tables with 2 doors. They are so new they are not shown in either the catalog or online. They look exactly like these side tables but just with doors covering that bottom part with the shelf. They were a bit more expensive (not much more in relative terms winkwink)

This tallboy is amazing. Although mose suites include one wide dresser and another one be it the tall or otherwise. Due to space constraints I felt the wide dresser scale was too big for the space. So I opted for one tallboy instead. Then we want to get another one and put them next to each other to make a "wall" of drawers to share. For now we have to keep it at one. This schtuff is pricey people. Anyway, I have to save my pennies for the second one. We have always paid cash for most things because we don't like credit. We figure if you can't afford to pay cash you can't afford it. I guess that's why it took me 29 years to get my first ever bedroom set. Anyways I'm just super excited. Thanks for sharing my good news with me. I will take pics when its in the room.

July 19, 2008

Cute Alert!!

Still playing with my newest things. I tell dayou I do not da'know whada possess me lately.... if it wasn't A Muse it was Vintage I was craving. I think the new vintage notes from A Muse probably HAVE to be the culprit. I have been wanting this, this and this Red Lead images since last year or better. I thought the new A Muse vintage note cards would be perfect with these and I was right.



I figured that since I stocked up on all of these other winter/holiday stamps might as well round it off with the stuff that has been on my wish list over at red lead. I love that store soooo much. I used to live East of St. Louis on the Illinois side in a little town called Edwardsville, IL. Now back then I WASN'T INTO PAPER CRAFTS gaspgasp. I didn't even know about it. Dunno. But if I had I would have frequented this store fosho and probably gone gaga and broke. This is just a simple little card but it says sweet and cute all over it. The little snow curls (actually steam curls) that I used glitter on (click on the image to enlarge) was from a retired SU set called Love Bakes. It is an oldy. But I love it. It even comes on those foam blocks. I also used Fun Fluff white for the mitten and the muff around the face. OMG its so cute IRL. I went out and bought the Martha Stewart edger punch special for this card.

Here's is my inspiration


July 17, 2008

Sweet Holiday Wishes

This was a lot of fun. I CASEd the sketch from a card made in class with Scoopy (Emily) last weekend at Paper Tales but I used different stamps (same sentiment). When I saw the card I thought my little A Muse gingerbread house would be perfect for this sentiment and card sketch. I didn't have the little candycane (which I thought I SHOULD have it) but I substituted by using the piece of Candy stamp from a SU set I have called "All Wrapped Up" (retired). I really wanted to use red and white as my main colors but as I was creating silver came to mind. I really really like how this turned out. It's kind of sweet. It's really simple but sweet. But hey isn't that what A Muse is all about "thinking simple"? I stamped the A Muse gingerbread house using SU Real Red Craft Ink, I used Silver Stickles for the Candy stamp and the edge of the Oval Scallop (Marvy Uchida)


July 16, 2008

Christmas in Jay U of L Y

I'm copy-ing and sharing with everyone. I saw this card on one of the A Muse Designers sites and knew immediately it had to be one of my Christmas Cards this year. So I got started on them right away. I try to make all of my cards and that usually totals approximately 50-60. I made 5 of these so far and will probably make 10 total of this design. Last year I used 5 different designs and made approx. 10 of ea design. I was last minute lizzy last year so hopefully since I've gotten bit by the AMAP creative bug maybe I will have them done in JULY this year. Wow not that would be impressive. The source card used the sentiment (which I will do later) "On Earth Peace" but I had this other A Muse Sentiment "May Peace be with you" and thought it was poyfect. I just love blue and white. I love the maidera (sp) notecards from A Muse. I love the newest background stamp matching the print on the cardstock. I love the transparency of the peace dove flying off of the background image. This card was just so peaceful to me I had to have it. Did I tell ya I loved it? Enjoy~~



Post Script: the ribbon although vintage really IS NOT DIRTY. It's just the way the camera aka me shot the picture. IRL it's a really pretty off white. Not dishwater grey. It is very old ribbon. I snagged it at a gsale last year and finally quit hoarding it. hahaha

July 13, 2008

Have a Cozy Christmas

More A Muse fun. When I saw the newest A Muse Alpine Hut stamp this scene and these colors popped into my head. It's always so amazing when you see an idea materialize on paper (as it were). ROFL. I used the new A Muse 4 Bar Vintage Orange for the card base, the olive colored kitchen notes. I used misc ribbons to match the color scheme. I also used SU only orange card stock. Liquid appliqué for the snow of course and tons of SU dazzling diamonds glitter. I pretended that the ski hat in the store window was actually a light and I drew lightbeams shining onto the ski equipment. Click on the picture to see it up close.



Enjoy and have fun!

M!ssPr!ssy

July 12, 2008

Cutest Cat Picture of the Week

OMG that cat is so cute with a capitol C.


He's so cuddly

Here's a close up of Mr. Snaggletooth

Too Much of a Good Thing is A Good Thing!?!?

Hellooooooooo fellow crazy stampers. Anyone with me? More AMAP pics to share. I just got back from (guess where) you guessed it PAPER TALES again!!! EDITED TO ADD: I just needed to say that Michelle White and Helle (and everyone over at Paper Tales) are the bestest, mostest, funnest people you ever want to meet. Michelle does such a nice job over at her new store. They are super talented and every detail is thought of at any of the events we go to. We always feel VERY welcome. Love those girls. I took a class with Miss Scoopy herself and I have to tell ya' SHE WAS FANTASTIC FUN. The designs were so special and just as I suspected there was tons of free stuff and drawings of which yes I did win a little grab bag of Colorbox goodies. I'm just waiting to see who WINS the LITTLE RED BAG FILLED WITH GOODIES. Its got my name written all over it, hint hint. No it's a totally random drawing and I am just hoping that the little red bag fairies are sprinkling some lucky karma my way.


All pictures (above captions) This was our name plate buckets filled with taffy. Yummo. We also got exclusive to AMAP activites limited edition see the little papers in the back of the bucket and the Happy Holiday stamp?


All pictures (above captions) Sorry this is so blurry but you can see the sketch and the design. I learned a cool masking glittering technique with this card. See how straight the top of the glitter line is?

All pictures (above captions) How cozy is this card? huh huh? These cards were all designed by Scoopy or JPebs also known as Pebbles. I am not sure which are which but I overheard Scoopy say something in class but I wasn't paying attention. I just do know that a couple of these cards were designed by JPebs. How cool is that? I love her stuff she is so talented I follow her blog as well. Surprise surprise. I think I have 250 blogs in my reader. Who knew?


All pictures (above captions) HOW JOLLY IS THIS CARD?


All pictures (above captions) OK I never got to snag the mail truck we practically bought out the place but I'll definitely keep it on my wish list. woohoo. This is so cute.


How Sweet is this??

Have Fun!

July 11, 2008

Make a Wish~~

~You've really got to click on this one to see the sparklies up close, it's the best part~ For this card I used another one of my new stamps (purchased at Paper Tales, did I tell ya I love that store now, yeah I think I mentioned it, hehe). It's kind of a random stamp but one I have wanted for a long long time its from Paperbag Studios called Every Step. I masked the sentiment that came with the stamp because I wanted a different one. The minute I saw these cute little shoes I thought of Dorothy's little red slippers where she was clicking her heels together and dreaming of going home. Well I wanted it to say "Dream Big" and possibly use it on a gratitude journal but I didn't have that sentiment in my stash so I made a card for now and used another one from Stampin Up called "Make a Wish". This was from a block stamp from "So Many Sayings" that I cut into pieces and remounted using EZ mount. I wanted to use all of the sayings that came with that set separately. Anyway, maybe I will take a picture of this later. Here's the card. It's really a simple card and the colors developed as I was making it. I stamped the stamp with my glue pad and then added the red glitter to mimic ruby red slippers (Dorothy remember). Then I cut the mattes and the card. Red and black caught my attention. The only thing I knew was I wanted red. I think it turned out really pretty and simple but I like simple. Oh I should mention my PR!SSy Pal Michelle G. over at "Out On a Limb" was the enabler for me wanting this stamp. That must have been where I got the "Dream Big" idea to. So subliminal.


All Things A Muse and....

~CLICK ON IMAGE FOR DETAIL~ It's no secret that I love all things PR!SSy. Well with AMAP in full swing I just thought you should all know what I snagged in my not one... but two trips to my new favorite LSS Paper Tales. Emily (Scoopy) if you are reading this yes, I AM taking your class on Saturday and so is PR!SSy Pal Allison. We are taking the 10-12 a.m. class the first one of the day. If anyone is in the area and gets a chance to take a class there is sure to be a lot of fun, grab bags and prizes. I'm super excited. Here is a picture of what I've purchased so far. winkwink


Copic Color Chart

~CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO SEE IT BETTER~ I finally made a key for all of my Copic Markers. I purchased the G2HIA (that's got to have it all ) sets from Ellen Hutsons Webstore myself but I am sure there are many other places to purchase these. Actually I purchased them as the 24A-24d sets separately and The key I made matches the sets I have. It's pretty close to the G2HIA plus or minus a couple. I think it will be very helpful for the creative process. There have been many times when I went to grab a marker for a specific color and really couldn't figure out the exact one to use. This way I can hold my key near my project while working on it and I will be able to find the closest color. I created this key in an excel spreadsheet first and then printed it on a piece of white cardstock. Then I used the markers for the color swatches. I noticed a couple of typos and flipped numbers but it wasn't until after I had all of the colors marked. I let my control freakness go and went with it as is. I'll do it over next time I'm in the mood. If anyone would like a blank key and they have the same sets, let me know and I will email you the key. My email is available via my sidebar profile. I ordered them alpha by letter and then sequentially by number. It's really cool to see all of the shades next to each other. Very pretty as well.

July 10, 2008

You Would Think...

...with all of this "free" time being on vacation and everything that I would actually have tons to show ya'll. NOPE. I could get lost in my stampin' craftin' art studio all day all night long. Believe you me. Anyway, I did get some stampin' in and YES I am super excited to let everyone know that I used one of my new A Muse holiday stamps from this latest release. The A Muse sentiment stamp "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" fit the new release "Missy Balance Holiday Bird" perfectly. The sentiment is not new this release but the bird is. I also snagged me some of the newest hot off the Mr. Brown truck (literally) papers too. I was at Paper Tales and they were just getting their delivery of the newest papers, it had not arrived yet. So yes, hot of the Mr. Brown UPS truck. I will post a pick of my latest haul once I snap a pic of it. I picked all of my things up over at Paper Tales. Love that store. I haven't been over since the grand opening so it was a nice treat. So for a little Christmas in July and a little AMAP that's A MuseAPalooza (a product release week) for those of you who just crawled out from under a rock and don't know what that is.... here's my little card


July 09, 2008

I Didn't Mention It But..... rambling thoughts on organizational stuff...

I am on vacation this week from work. Just chillin' at the homestead doin' my own thang. I actually had time to go through my personal electronic inbox and do some housekeeping and what not. I was going to use this time to just get caught up on things that I have been meaning to do, sleeping in, etc. Possibly paint my bedroom. I am usually way too ambitious and the spirit is willing but the flesh is so weak. Nothing special. Just a week of ME time which is at an all time low around these parts. ANYWAY, enough blahblah. I took a screen shot of my in-box and just thought I'd share. Doesn't that look nice? I cleared the decks for new info. Space-cleared my electronic space. Basically I move stuff I want to keep into aptly titled sub-folders. I also go through each email and either save or deleted, or print it out for further action etc. After I go through my entire email in-box and I have all of the emails I want to save for whatever reason (I could probably delete it all and wouldn't miss it) I move them to a folder I create titled in-box archive. Then I have one empty new in-box of which I can start anew. When I started this I had over 3,000 old emails of one kind or another. I usually sort by name and keep the latest and greatest per name and delete the rest. I also flag any newly created identities (sign-ons and passwords). Then I sort by flag if I am ever looking for one I can't remember. I usually move these to a folder name "Tech" for all of my tech info that I don't want to lose. I move all of the electronic bill emails to a sub-folder titled bills. I then print the email for that bill and get to gettin' on paying those buggers as needed. It was just such a sight to behold an empty in-box... I had to share. Inbox-zero messages. boingboing yayayay


July 08, 2008

Look It's a Bird It's a Plane, It's a Resignation Letter?

Ha! The other day (Monday morning last week to be exact) while I was sitting at a red light on my way to work. I saw this skywriter message. It was so funny I grabbed my cell phone quick and snapped a picture. Clear as day it reads... BOB, I QUIT... How's that for a resignation letter on a Monday morning? Don't we all feel like that on MONDAYs? Edited to add: Yes, this is a real photo I took.


July 06, 2008

Vicki's Crafty Secrets Card Challenge - All Together Now -

Here is my submission for Vicki's Crafty Secret card challenge.



We each received a package of supplies to use as many or few as we like. I used Crafty Secrets new Bird Lovers set for my stamps. I just love the sentiment on the little placard thats says "All Together Now". That reminds me of me. It seems I'm always the ring leader trying to get everyone together all of the time. All Together Now folks lets sing in harmony. ROFL. Hardly EVER works that way but its fun to think it can. hehe. Anyway, I did this last night until 1 in the morning. The spirit moved me to create so I decided to get busy on my submission for this challenge (they are due on the 7th HELLO). I think it needs more, like a bow or something but I like how it turned out. Some of the finer details are... I doodled around the scalloped frame to give it some movement. I also used Crafty Secrets Cherubs set for some subtle flourishes in the background like the music was wafting around in the air above the tree. Whatever that was corny. I really liked how I basket weaved the checked ribbon. That was a last minute addition to the design. The corner of the weave is where I think it needs a bow but it was 1 am and I was tarred. I also like how I used the lacy bow to create a scallop on the bottom of the Crafty Secret card stock. If it wasn't for card challenges or swaps I don't think I would ever get any creating done. So I am very grateful for these because it makes me get busy in my craft room again. I miss it so much. But life always seems to step in and crowd my fun stuff out. Anyway, that was bordering on a whine (you know my favorite past time anymore). Hey I haven't whined in a long time I think I am getting better. Oh and here is who kept me company last night into the wee hours of the morning while I was creating. He curled up on my craft table in the corner and was there for the duration. It was so cute I wish I would have snapped a picture but this one from the morning will have to do. He doesn't like getting his picture taken. He doesn't run but he also doesn't cooperate. Pumpkin (we call him punky or doodoo) is my daughters cat. She is down from LA visiting for the month in-between apartments. She moved out of her apartment because her neighbors were difficult and parking turned out to be a bear. So I get to have a new cat friend for the month too. She might need to watch out or else I will have to keep him. =D



I hope you enjoy my creation. I enjoyed it and was glad with a capitol G to be back doing some fun in my craft room. Thanks Vicki for hosting this wonderful card challenge.

July 04, 2008

Friday Freebie WooHoo!! A picture and a Free Pattern

Y'all know I just love all things vintage. Well I have this cute little potholder, much loved, stains and all that I thought I'd share. It's so faded and discolored I really couldn't tell you what color it supposed to be. It's a very cool solid gray on the front. The back is a vintage calico print gray, green and white. Here is the color key for the embroidery thread:

Flowers, tongue = Real Red
Leaves and stems = Certainly Celery
Eye = Black
Nose, ear, tail, toes = grey or bordering blue

I can't tell but I think it is an elephant or a puppy but I am leaning towards an elephant. The overall size...measurement from nose to tail is 6 in. and ring to center of feet is 5 in. I am not sure if my pattern will upload true to size or if you will have to tweak it after printing it out to enlarge or shrink to meet the left to right top to bottom size. I have never created a hand drawn pattern so we'll have to see if this is helpful or not. I just tried something. If you copy the pattern and paste it into a word document, then resize the picture to 5x6 and print it out. It is the correct size. Have Fun!

Remember this is a very special pattern because it is one-of-a-kind hot pad from my great aunt's home. She died at 92 and it's just a small treasure I was able to snag up before it was all picked over by the coyotes. Well ok they don't have coyotes in Wisconsin. Hehe. But is so cute so remember me when you use it as its a small token but part of my family heirloom collection. Best of all it's free for you my PR!SSY Pals. If anyone ends up making one please be sure and take a picture of it and send me the link. I will be glad to showcase it on The Prissy Place and would of course love to see what you did with it.

PATTERN

6 INCHES NOSE TO TAIL
5 INCHES RING TO CENTER OF FEET



FRONT/BACK (SORRY ITS SO STAINED)



Happy 4th of July Everyone!


How do you say thank you to the men and women

who risked their lives, and lost their lives to secure our freedom,
our way of life, our peace and prosperity?

How do you say thank you to the men and women
who went through the most terrible experiences of their lives,
surrounded by death and carnage, losing friends and loved ones,
seeing things that would change their lives forever?

How do you say thank you to those who went through all this
with the belief that their one life, whether lost or saved,
could make a difference, had to make a difference, for our sake,
the generation they had not even met yet?

How do you say thank you to the men and women
who had faith in us before we were even born,
faith that we would become people worth fighting for,
and worth dying for?


How do you say thank you?

You honor their sacrifice with your own life.

You go to war against your faults and failures.

You conquer all the things inside you that make this world a worse place to live in;
worse for your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers.

You fight to make the small space in the world that you touch a better place.
You win the battle for your own soul.

You be good and do good; you live selflessly,
remembering the example that the veterans, both living and dead, laid down for us.

You live life so well that those who remember the horrors of war
look on you with satisfaction and pride and are comforted,
never feeling for a moment that you weren't worth the price they paid.

on this independence day - kevin ranville - november 11, 2000

July 02, 2008

Desert Colors Inspiration

I just love the colors from the desert. Tonight on my walk I snapped some quick shots with my phone camera. Surprisingly it takes pretty great photos. Modern technology don't ya' just love it!! I know I do. Living in the desert southwest I am just mesmerized by the beauty and the subtleties of the color palette. I love the details in the close up of the thistle below. We have so much to be grateful for and nature and its beauty always reminds me of this. If you look really closely on the first photo you will see the whites, saffrons, gray and even green. I am sure someone else could have done a really nice job with photo editing software with this photo. Enjoy!


Color palette

Did you know the thistle is a protected plant? (Above)

Dried seed pods~ I just love the muted desert colors.
They are so natural and beautiful (above)

Desert flower

Thistle close up ~ isn't that periwinkle bordering on purple color vibrant?

Stampin Up Fall and Winter 2008 Sneak Peak 2

Fall-Winter Catalog Sneak Peeks (There were more I am just posting a few of the selection here) I thought you might like to see some of the newest SU style. That sock monkey is adorable. I love the butterfly in the second picture. Well I love everything but especially the butterfly and the love stamp

Dates: July 1-August 10, 2008

This has Allisons name written all over it (above) Sorry I scanned these in and they are a little my scans are crooked

This has my name written all over it(above) Sorry I scanned/cropped these in and they are a little crooked

The New In-Color family

July 01, 2008

Stampin Up Fall-Winter Hostess Set Preorder

It's a great time to be a demo at SU because the Fall-Winter Hostess Set Pre-order promotion is going on. I thought I would upload a preview of a few of the hostess sets available for this promo. I know I've got my eyes on a couple. It's a great time to get your hands onto a Level 2 or Level 3 set that you might not ordinarily qualify for. I'm just sayin'

This one has my name all over it (above)

This one has my name all over it (above)

Dates: July 1-August 10, 2008

Followers

Related Posts with Thumbnails