burlap background card

today on the pixie blog, you can see one of my favorite cards i made from this month's TECOLOTE kit. it's got butterflies and blossoms; punched circles and inked edges; pearls and organza and burlap!

my favorite part is the contrast between the various elements... and the sort of "funky elegance" it has. there's a bigger picture of the entire card on the PDP blog. where, at the same time, you can see a lovely card by my very dear fellow pixie, cheryl nelson... which makes the trip AT LEAST doubly cool, dontcha think??! ♥

JB39: here come suzy snowflake!

this week at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ our lovely guest star did something i was not sure anyone COULD do at this point: she came up with an absolutely *wonderful* 1950's christmas song i had never heard (!!!) ...and suggested we use it as inspiration to make our cards! the lady in question is the mega-talented marie bingaman, and the song is suzy snowflake, as sung by rosemary clooney! you can hear it at youtube by clicking the link, meanwhile here are the lyrics:

Here comes Suzy Snowflake

Dressed in a snow-white gown

Tap, tap, tappin' at your windowpane

To tell you she's in town.

Here comes Suzy Snowflake

Soon you will hear her say

Come out ev'ryone and play with me

I haven't long to stay.

If you want to make a snowman

I'll help you make it, one, two, three.

If you want to take a sleigh ride

Whee! The ride's on me.

Here comes Suzy Snowflake

Look at her tumblin' down

Bringing joy to ev'ry girl and boy

Suzy's come to town.

If you want to make a snowman

I'll help you make it, one, two, three

If you want to take a sleigh ride

Whee! The ride's on me.

Here comes Suzy Snowflake

Look at her tumblin' down

Bringing joy to ev'ry girl and boy

Suzy's come to town.

so this week we're asking for holiday cards that capture any aspect of the song that inspires you; just off the top of my head, i can think of: snowflakes, wintery landscapes, sledding, sleigh rides, and snowmen... but i am sure there are plenty i am missing out! i went with the eponymous snowflake motif, but as i worked i realized that another aspect of the song which had inspired me was the "vintage" angle, so i kind of used that as a secondary theme:

(sheet music & sled image from t'internet; patterned paper: bo bunny; cardstock: core'dinations; sparkly vintage inspired snowflakes: k&co; heart gems: recollections; inks: ranger & colorbox; adhesives: uhu gluestick, tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i downloaded a facsimile of the sheet music for the song, printed it on creamy paper, then distressed it up with inks. i had an unopened packet of those sparkly silver snowflakes which i broke into joyously; i just needed a focal point, but a google image search spoilt me for choice! the result is a card that doesn't actually look like i thought it would... but is maybe EVEN BETTER! :)

and now, why not pop over to JINGLE BELLES, see the amazing cards that marie and stephanie have made, and start thinking about your own inspiration for suzy snowflake!!! ♥

summing up all of literature with admirable brevity...

so what are you reading right now?

alternately, what's the last thing you read that made you want to walk up to strangers, thrust the book at them and say, "READ THIS! g'head, i'll wait!"*

i'm reading arrow of the blue skinned god by jonah blank. it's a half a re-telling of the ramayana** and half a travelogue by a man who re-traced rama's journey in modern times. it's very cool, if you like india and/or hindu mythology. (which i do!) :)

i'm listening to in the garden of beasts, which is quite wonderful but rather depressing, being set in berlin, 1933, where the nazis are gaining power, the holocaust is brewing, and our luxurious 20/20 hindsight tells us that the worst is yet to come. (a much less horrifying book by erik larson is the devil in the white city!)

but i am still looking for a few good reads, so i'd ♥love♥ to hear your input!

i may be spending a bit of time on airplanes in october... and on the beach... good readin' venues... just sayin'... :) :) :)

*i mean metaphorically. irl, this would probably be a bad idea. unless you're oprah, in which case, carry on!

**speaking of the ramayana... sita sings the blues is one of the best and most original films i have ever seen. even if you're NOT very interested in the subject (india; hindu folk tales) it's arguably worth watching just for the amazing and unique animation style(s)! truly mind-blowing!

a SUPER-adaptable idea!

if this card looks familiar to you, you're not imagining things! i made an eerily similar one earlier this year. but guy cards are *HARD*... and it just so happens that i know quite a few fellas of various ages who really like superheroes... and the paper with the stars is the PERFECT background... so sue me, i "recycled" the idea!

(superheroes illustration from t'internet; patterned paper: my mind's eye; black glossy card stock: ranger; thickers: american crafts; glittery star stickers: ek success, recolored with red copic marker; label: dymo; inks: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

to tell the truth, when i sat down to make this, i almost felt a little guilty about the fact that it was not a brand new, completely original idea. and then i thought, "WHY??!" we wear outfits more than once. we use dinner recipes more than once. some of us have been known to watch our favorite films repeatedly. why should i feel it's necessary to "reinvent the wheel" with every single greeting card? so i told myself to lighten up, made the card you see above (quite quickly!) and gave it to my favorite young neighbor, john.

and guess what?! he LOVED it, as did his mama. although he did mention quietly that he actually prefers batman to superman and wished that batman was standing at the front of the group. i told him he'd have to take that up with the superfriends. i just make cards! :)

it's a bird... it's a plane...

...it's a butterfly! several, in fact. and talk about a "teaser"; i'm only going to show you THIS MUCH of today's pixie project:

...because i'm HOPING you'll be intrigued enough to pop over to the pixie blog, check out the rest of the photos, see the whole project, (hint: the post title is "butterfly bouquet by lauren bergold") check out september's TECOLOTE kit, and just generally have a fabulous time.

so is it working??!?!?! :) :) :)

JB38: happy hybrid holidays!

this week at ♥JINGLE BELLES♥ we are very excited to be trying something BRAND NEW (to us!) we're delving into the world of digital/hybrid for this prompt and inviting you to make a holiday card that utilizes at least one digital stamp or element. luckily, we have a very lovely and very generous sponsor... robyn's fetish digital stamps and more!

not only did those wonderful ladies give stef and i some very tasty digi-stuffs to use; they also sent along their very talented and incredibly friendly DT coordinator, susan paulson, to guest design with us; as well as sponsoring a rather awesome prize for one lucky cardmaker who links up with us this week; AND we are especially excited that they have provided a *FREE* image for ANY belle who'd like to use it!

yep... it's a JINGLE BELL!!! :) check out today's official post at for complete details on all of the above!

and now here's my card, i'm pretty pleased with it, actually:

(digital stamps: christmas twee and christmas presents by robyn's fetish digital stamps and more; patterned paper: ki memories, girls' paperie, prima, bo bunny, dcwv, love elsie, anna griffin, mme, basic grey; gems: recollections; inks: colorbox; adhesives: xyron, 3m foam tape, tombow monorunner; other: full sheet clear labels from staples, sewing machine)

you can see that i've done some old school paper piecing. what may be less obvious is the fact that again i've printed multiple copies of my two digi-stamps onto clear inkjet labels; in that way i can use up all my TINY scraps of patterned paper that wouldn't fit through my printer. also, i can print once and then go sit in the living room to make my card. because YEAH... sometimes my "process" is that scientific! :)

i hope you'll hop over to jingle belles and see the gorgeous cards made by miss stephanie and miss susan using images from robyn's fetish and that you'll be inspired to make a hybrid card of your very own this week for a shot at the FABULOUS prize! ♥

home is where the ♥ is!

a little while ago, the lovely and amazing marisol gave me a very cool set of three alterable "art blanche" panels attached by rings, which turned out to be the PERFECT setting for an idea that had been trying to take shape in my head for quite a while. in retrospect i realize the reason it was "stuck" was that up until then, i didn't have the right ingredients for it!

flash forward to the arrival of september's TECOLOTE pixie dust kit... with EXACTLY the right mix of colors and patterns... and SHAZAM! i knew i could finally make it work. the result is one of those rare and cool times when the finished project was actually EVEN COOLER than the version that was inside my head!

not that you can really TELL from this photo, taken in the only spot with enough blank wall, or rather closet door... but not quiiiiiiiiiiiite enough light... to do it justice:

here's a photo that doesn't show the length, but you can see the details a bit better:

but really, you need to head over to the pixie dust paperie blog to see ALL the photos--there are some good close-ups and lots more text! plus, as always, there's DAILY inspiration from m'colleagues, and cool things like challenges and giveaways... you know, if ya like that sorta thing... :) :) :)