Valentine's Day 2014

Morning Bloggers, just a quick post to show you the little Valentine's Day cards that I made for our monthly tea party this Feb. 15.  I am in the process of moving so have been absent from the blog for a while and I will be absent again for a while after this post.  When I get all settled again, I will get back in touch with you all.

The cards were made from my stash.  I purchased nothing.  Have vowed to use what I have first because I have SOOO much stuff that has never even been removed from the package, ha!  Can any one relate to that, lol?

Anyway, I used a Martha Stewart punch to punch the border along the bottom of each card.  Then I placed a 1" piece of alternating colored cardstock underneath to pop it up.  Quite by accident, I 'stenciled' on to the inside because I inked before I added the 1" piece.  I liked it so I decided to do that to all of them.  Don't you just love how those little 'accidents' prove to be so perfect.  Another unintended addition is the brown leather looking piece.  I was using some old Christmas wrapping paper to pack dishes with and when I got to the end of one roll, instead of the regular brown tube, there was this piece of heavy brown kraft paper.  It was so cool.  I cut a long piece to fit my cards, soaked it with water and wadded it up into a ball.  Squished and smushed it pretty good, until it had some dominant creases and then I laid it out on my craft table to dry.  When dry, I cut 1" pieces of it and inked them with Walnut Stain distress ink.  They added the perfect touch to my vintage Valentine's Day card, I thought.  See what you think.

Valentine's Day card with matching envelope

Inside sentiment

Back side of envelope with heart stamp from Close To My Heart

Card with felt heart, jute and red netting over leather strip

Inside of card with envelope. Envelope has second generation stamping in Festive Berries Distress Ink and Walnut Stain Distress Ink

Pink/White color combination with cheesecloth and netting on top of leather strip

All the color combinations

I had a blast making these and am pleased with how they turned out.  Hope you like them as well!  Until we meet again, hope you have a very Happy Valentine's Day!
Hugs,
~Jody

Merry Christmas To All

Wanted to wish you all a 

Very Merry Christmas

and the

Happiest of New Years

I just love snow at Christmas time and I was missing my folks so I decided to take the plunge and go home for Christmas.  It snowed yesterday morning and was so beautiful to see.  It's been 9 years since I've seen snow at Christmas time. This is a shot out the back door of my mother's house looking towards my step-father's garden.

We also made some divinity.  I haven't had any divinity for 9 years either because you can't make it in Florida and have it turn out correctly.  And man I wanna tell ya, this batch turned out so perfectly, it was still in the mountain that we poored it out in to the pan in.  And tasted magical, just melt in your mouth. Love it!!!!!

So............ya, I just wanted to share what I am doing for my Christmas 2013 and I hope you are getting your family & friends meters full as well!

Hugs,

~Jody

Christmas Tea Party Invitation

Hey there bloggers, wanted to share my Tea Party Invitation now that everybody has received theirs in the mail.  I used the new Tim Holtz Ice Skate die.  I saw on his blog that he made a card with it today and it reminded me that I hadn't posted my card yet, thanks for the reminder Tim, lol!

I used white cardstock to make my skates, actually I made 8 pair, lol.  I found some glitter paper at Michael's for the blades and I used kraftcore black to make the heel of each skate.  I sanded each heel  down a bit and inked them with some vintage photo too.  I laced each one with cream colored embroidery floss that I distressed with vintage photo before lacing.  I used a beading needle to thread through the slits.  The first one I did, I ended up tearing the paper so a little trick I will share with you is, place a spot of glossy accents at the edge of each slit and let it dry over night.  It prevented the thread from tearing through the paper as I laced and you didn't see it after all the laces were over the top either.  That probably wasn't an issue if you used grungepaper like he did.  The lettering was done on the computer both on the outside and the inside.  The snowflakes and  wintery florals at the bottom are from a Close To My Heart stamp called Snow Flurries, D1384.  Not sure if it's still available but I love this stamp set.  I used white embossing powder.  The edges were inked with Chipped Sapphire distress ink.  On the inside I also used the Mover & Shaper Ice Skate to ask for an RSVP.  The blue blob in the middle of the inside is just a piece of torn paper I used to cover up my address, lol.  

 

 The Ice Skate die is so cool.  It just reminds me of the days of old.  I have an old pair that I got at a yard sale that I hang on my door at Christmas time.  I had never adorned them before but since I have now seen what Tim Holtz can do with a pair of old skates you can bet I will be adorning mine this year.  It has become kind of the theme to my Tea Party to this year so it will help if I have them all decorated up on the front door when every one arrives.  It should be a sight to behold.  I'll be sure to take pictures and share with you later.

Well, that's it for me today.  Hope you had a great Friday and an even better weekend.

Hugs,

~Jody

Merry Christmas To All

Good Morning Bloggers, have you seen the new Tim Holtz tag for Dec 2013.  It's a beauty, I think.  I am in love with the way that poinsettia turned out.  My red and green colors are not quite as dark as his as I had to use a different kind of ink.  I used Close to my Heart ink, which is the only permanent ink I had in those colors.  But the tag turned out just as good, I thought.  I had purchased some of the frosted film quite a while back and had a play with it once but did not get the result I was looking for at that particular time so I stashed it and had not worked with it again.  I also had gotten some Cleary For Art sheets but had not played with them yet.  Guess I was waiting for the perfect moment, lol.  It's pretty cool stuff how it rolls and curls all by itself when heated.  Then you can manipulate it yourself for a short time before it cools.  Way Cool!!

The only other thing I had to improvise on was the Harlequin stencil.  I haven't had a chance to purchase any stencils yet so I made my own.  I die cut the Harlequin decorative strip and cut it in half and glued it top to bottom lining up the outline as best I could.  It was more square that way and easier to manipulate where I wanted my markings to be.  It worked beautifully.  I liked how it turned out so much, that I, too, made another one. 

This time I used some blue ink.  I stopped at Micheal's to see what they had in archival ink for blue.  Got a Colorbox brand that I had never tried before.  My Micheal's only carries a very limited supply of Tim Holtz/Ranger products.  They had some Ranger Archival inks but only in the huge pads, which I didn't want so my only other choice was this Colorbox brand.  It worked good though.  I went with a blue/silver/white theme and I do like the results.  See what you think.

I started with blue cardstock.  Marbled some white picket fence on the tag first.  Then I embossed the sentiment with silver.  I ran some white ink around the outside as well as the stencil part and then sprayed it with Perfect Pearl.  I used some brushed pewter distress stain on the leaves and around the outside of the petals.  I went a little lighter with the white splatter this time as I thought I may have gotten too much on the first one.   However, you can't hardly see it in this picture.  May need to do that again.  I just love how that Clearly For Art film just curls and shapes itself.  Soooo Pretty!

Well, it's shower time for me.  Hope you have a great day!
Hugs,
~Jody

Post Thanksgiving

Hey there bloggers, just wanted to drop in and say I hope ya'll had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that you got your family/friend meters filled up.  I sure did!  I was able to spend the day with my daughter, Miranda.  She only lives an hour away but we seldom see each other.  We had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.  Her and her friend even brought three pies, lol, for three people?  Well, I guess that's a pie a piece, lol.  My favorite was the cherry pie.  It was store bought but unbaked so we popped it in the oven right before we sat down to eat.  It was still warm when the urge to devour it appeared.  A dollop of whip cream on top and oh man, was that ever great.  Talk about the perfect ending, the only thing left to do was nap, and that we did.  After it got dark, we stoked up a little fire in the fire pit outside.  It's rare that you can share a fire in Florida, it's normally just to dang warm here, but Thanksgiving night it was only going to be about 50º so it was perfect for a fire. 

Here's a little tag I made to give to all the tea ladies at the November Tea Party.  It was very nice to see everyone once again and we were even visited by Carrie.  She had moved to Chicago last May and no one had heard much from her, including myself.  Then there she was at the tea party.  Was nice to see her.  The tea party was great with lots of good food and lots of good friends. 

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving!
Hugs,
~Jody

Be Thankful

Good Morning Bloggers, have a little 'seasonal' card here to share with you.  I was inspired by a card that was previewed on the Ranger Blog yesterday.  The colors just spoke to me, I guess you could say.  The card was designed by Michelle McCosh.  I loved the greenish turquoise background.  She used liquid pearls for her leaves but I didn't have any of those so I just used some distress inks and sprayed them with some Perfect Pearls spray.  I didn't have the stamp set she used either so I improvised.  I die cut Tim's Tattered Leaves after I colored my paper with Wild Honey, Spiced Marmalade, Crushed Olive and Ripe Persimmon.  Inked the edges with Vintage Photo a bit and then ran a thin bead of gold around the outside.  Just love the fall colors and this is as close as I will get to them this year.

Hope you like it too.  I'm off to take some things to a friend up in Maitland today and will stay for drinks/dinner and then head back tomorrow in time for football, of course.

Just wanted to give a shout out to my little daughter this morning.  Her little Toki cat passed away yesterday and she is so very sad.  I love you honey and I'm so sorry for the lose of your little Toki cat.  I know he meant the world to you.  I believe this is his way of telling you that he will fine where he is and it is ok for you to move on. Hugs baby girl, I Love You so much!!

Ser Toki

Got the Boot.....................done!

Hi again bloggers, I guess it's the year of the witches 'round here, lol.  I found this cute witch boot tutorial over at My Craft Spot.  She cut hers from a Cricut Cartridge called Happy Haunting, I think, anyway, I don't have that particular cartridge so I drew mine out freehand and cut it out with a scissors.  I used an 8 x 11 sheet of cardstock and it covered most of the paper just so you know how big it is.  I then cut out another one and cut it up to get templates for all the pieces.  I cut each one out of different Halloween paper I had in my stash and added the ribbon I inked with Spiced Marmalade and Ripe Persimmon.  Found the Tim Holtz Happy Halloween tag in my stash too so I added some stickles to it and tied it on with the 'shoelace'.

It was fun making.  There are a couple of things I would do differently next time, like making the toe a little shorter. To me, it appears to be a little long in proportion to how high the boot is.  I can make that adjustment next year.  I do love how it turned out though.  It's setting on my desk at work.  Wish you could see how it sparkles.

Anyway, hope ya'll have a Happy Halloween!
Hugs,
~Jody

Last One!

Good Morning Bloggers, have just finished up the last card for Halloween 2013.  On this one I used a picture for my focal point.  It came on a 12x12 sheet from Authentique.  They had a pretty cool line of Halloween paper I found at Scraporium last week.  The pumpkins and bat I had in my stash and the black ribbon was new from Michael's.  It sparkled at me in the store so I brought it home, lol! I added a little 'boo' that I also had in my stash and then of course a little Tim Holtz ideaology.  The orange ribbon is actually some left over yarn my daughter had, can't remember what it's called though.  I used an old Creative Memories punch to make the octagon shapes for the inside and the spiral was in my stash as well.  I'm really trying hard to use what I have. My little craft room is bursting at the seams, lol.

So........hope ya'll have a great Halloween, stay safe.  I'm off to build some witches for the Annual Black Hat Society Tea Party today. 
Hugs,
~Jody

Another Halloween Card

Hello Bloggers, here's another Halloween card like I promised. On this one I used Tim Holtz's witch die cut plus the little bat.  The sentiment and the cat are from Close to my Heart.  The sentiment was cut out with a Spellbinders plate.  The cauldron is a stamp I picked up at Michael's and then I added some stickles and some markers.  The '31' is also a Tim Holtz die cut, one of the movers and shapers, he calls them.

Hope you are enjoying making your Halloween cards or whatever little decorations you are dreaming up.  I will also be making some little witches out of marshmellows for out Annual Black Hat Society Tea Party.  Found the recipe online at Taste of Home.com, aren't they the cutest?  The only ingredient  I was unable to find was the chocolate wafers, however, I did find a recipe for them so I made them myself, super easy.  I will be putting mine together Saturday morning so they will be ready for travel to the party Saturday afternoon, wish me luck.

Happy Halloween,
Hugs,
~Jody

Halloween Card

Wow, it's been a long time since I've been here blogging.  Life took over there for a while and I am finally back to creating again. 

Have this Halloween card that I created this past week or so.  I used a cricut cut tree and a new stamp from Inkadinkado, Witching you a Happy Halloween.  I thought it was so cute when I saw the sentiment, that I just had to have it.  Then I went looking for some kind of background stamp or paper and found this Raven one at Michael's.  It worked perfectly.  An loving how it turned out, hope you do to.

I'm off again, place to go, things to do and people to see.  Hope you have a great day and I'm going to try and get back here again with some more Halloween stuff.
Hugs,
~Jody