SOS385: Winter Blues

This week's challenge at Shopping Our Stash is called, "Winter Blues" so we'd like to see cards with a winter theme OR which feature the color blue OR both, if you're feeling especially ambitious! Here's what I made:

In the spirit of Full Disclosure I have to admit that nearly all the papers in this post are brand spankin' new... even the ones I used to cut the small triangles! Because quite coincidentally we got Prima's gorgeous new "Georgia Blues" collection at Paper Anthology just before Christmas and I've been *dying* to break into it. I've got some good older stuff in there too though, honest! For starters, the tan, blue and white flower + flourish is absolutely ancient. So imagine my surprise when it matched every single color in the new collection perfectly! The dark blue panel behind the pretty seed packet is actually denim, from a pair of jeans that I think were probably last worn during the Bush administration. The G.H.W. Bush administration!!! But whenever I retire a pair of jeans, especially the ones made from thinner denim material, I save them, for crafty purposes. Like Xyron-ing them to cardstock, cutting them into mats, and stitching photos or decorative paper to them!

Speaking of stitching, I've done quite a bit, lol; it just seemed to fit the shabby chic vibe of the collection. I used my trusty Tonic distressing tool around most of the edges, and I'm pretty sure that thing will be old enough to vote in the next election! I've only owned the Diamond Nesties for about a year, but they belonged to Elisabeth Ostrowski before that, and were old enough that when I asked to borrow them, I was allowed to keep them! And yes, for the record, I'm definitely back in my Argyle Phase, so apologies for what I'm pretty sure will be a spate of diamond-centric creations coming up.

Speaking of elderly stash items, when I was putting away the Xmas tree decor in the basement the other night, I stumbled upon a bin with a bunch of wooden and papier mache items for altering. Including this tiny birdhouse, which I couldn't resist fancying up a bit! 

Hop on over to SOS and see what the other design team darlings have cooked up for you after our refreshing winter break. Hope to see you... in blue... on the blog later this week! ♥