i feel *SLIGHTLY* less guilty...

...about my thanksgiving weekend papaya art store binge* now that i've used some of the proceeds (ie this divine glitter giftwrap) to make a gift for someone else:

actually i made two of them; for my friends, janet and liz. i used a couple of dollar store gift boxes that were frankly... well... i hate to criticize another designer's vision, but these things were ugly. i should've taken a "before" picture, but, as usual, i only thought of it after. (sigh) ah well. i actually covered the box and the lid permanently, rather than just wrap them, and i've attached the dragonfly to the bow, and tied the ribbon in such a way that it can be easily slid off to see what's inside, and then slid back on again. because something that's happened a couple of times in the last few years is that recipients of my fancier packages have flatly refused to open them until i have promised to "do 'em back up again" before i leave. so i've had to get a bit cleverer during the initial process to make that easier! plus, this way, the boxes are re-usable.

here's liz's:

the dragonfly ornaments were from a craft fair, or possibly christkindlmarkt, last year... or maybe the year before? i bought a bunch of them, and thought i'd given them all away at the time. i don't know why i didn't, but-- long story short-- i found a few "escapees" on the gift shelf in my attic. i had just been drooling over the glitter paper, actually, and when i happened to see them sitting next to the ugly boxes, i had an "AHA!" moment, and suddenly knew how i ought to present the artisan chocolates and bookstore giftcards i was planning to give.

here they are together:

i was under the impression i'd done a step-by-step tutorial of the box-covering process, (maybe for a pixie dust paperie post??) but cannot find it now. i might have to make another early in the new year, and shoot all the steps, because i've actually developed a pretty good system over the years and would LOVE for someone else to learn from my "trial and error"... mostly error... attempts which proceeded it! ♥

*in my defense, there was a REALLY GOOD SALE, and amy shared her coupon, and i used it mostly** to stock up on presents! 

**ok, yeah, and possibly maybe also one or two tiiiiiny and totally necessary things for myself. :) :) :)

i've achieved total SCRAPPINESS! ♥

by which i mean: every single bit of paper in my little set of 4x4(ish) thank you cards, including the glossy cardstock card bases, was either a leftover or an offcut! the little strips were from the big box of little strips (which, yeah, i pathologically save; mostly because i love cards like this!); the snowflakes are old (but still well loved); the brads are ancient (but ditto); and the twine was a heretofore unused gift. pretty sure i just hit the frugality hall of fame, right??!?!?! :) :) :) which is awesome, since this is my project for the new challenge at shopping our stash, which kicks off this morning and will run twice as long as usual, thus for TWO weeks, seeing out the end of 2012 by wrapping up on december 31st. the brief is to make a papercrafting project with a winter... but NOT HOLIDAY... theme. so think snow, snowmen, mittens, penguins, polar bears, sleds or sleighs, a fireplace, hot cocoa, daniel craig... no wait... i think we'll save him for summer, actually, because we don't really want to cover him up too much, do we, ladies? ;)

ok, what was i talking about, again? oh yeah. thank you cards. not as handsome as d. craig, but kind of appealing in their own way, see:

(since everything here is scraps i'm not sure i know whence it all came, but here's my best shot: glossy white cardstock: ranger; dark blue cardstock: core'dinations; patterned paper: love, elsie, dcwv, my mind's eye, sei, doodlebug, echo park, we r memory keepers, and a bit of a mask+misting experiment on off cuts of photo paper; snowflakes: recollections; brads: making memories; twine: the twinery; ink: colorbox; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, scotch tape (holding the twine on the back) sewing machine)

i had the bases all ready to sew up, and knew i wanted big snowflakes as accents, but wasn't quite sure as to how i'd used them. then i saw this week's sketch at unscripted-- problem solved!

i also FINALLY managed to work in the "piggyback" challenge this week-- at least i think so; the brief was to make a real feature of the circle element by doing something interesting to it... does stacking up snowflakes count??! (if not, i guess i'll just have to try again next month!) :)

and now why don't ♥YOU♥ try heading over to SOS, where it's a veritable winter wonderland of papery pulchritude! (plus the cards look reeeeeeeeeeal niiiiiiiiiiiiice!) :)

it's the last day to post...

...any tags you've made for the "12 tags of christmas with a feminine twist" challenge at ellen hutson's classroom blog. but it's worth hurrying for, because one random linker who makes and blogs about a tag inspired by any of the 12 days will win a $150 shopping spree in the ellen hutson store, how COOL is that?! here's the last of my entries, it's based on kitty caracciolo's inky masterpiece from day 5:

ok, so in terms of layout, colors, and content, i've been VERY faithful to the original; but as you can see, in terms of technique, i went FULL ON into my comfort zone, which, as you may know, is sadly... ahem... not-at-all-technique-y. i like collage. i always have. i enjoy cutting out teeeeeeeny tiiiiiiiny* deer from one vintage greeting card, and making snowy hills out of another glittery-trimmed one, and finding yet another card with shimmery trees similar to the gorgeous die cut ones in the inspiration piece. oddly enough, there is not one single bit of commercial crafting product on my tag apart from adhesives, just the aforesaid "frankensteined" christmas cards, and a bit of vintage seam binding. but i realllllly like how it came out! 

here's a really WEIRD angle for ya, but i wanted to show the dimension i've incorporated by popping the various layers up on foam tape. and yeah... before you ask... the deers' heads are on about four stacked pieces each, so that they LITERALLY stand out! :)

in other news, we DID get our tree** yesterday, and i think it's going to be quite lovely when it's finished. but despite working on it for most of the evening (thank you AMC channel for running "white christmas" back to back!) it's still not quite done. jeff provided the lights, and i got the ornaments on there before conking out; tinsel is just going to have to wait a bit because today is fully booked with the traditional checking-out of the annual local gingerbread house competition with our (now college aged--HOW did THAT happen??!) god-daughter jackie; not to mention niece madeline's second triumphant year as a cherub (talk about your "type-casting" lol!!!) in her church's nativity pageant tonight. 

hope your day is full of all things merry and bright! ♥♥♥

*fairly often i am asked-- especially by civilians, but sometimes by fellow crafties-- if i use teeny tiny scissors for cutting things with a lot of detail, and the answer is, "nope". i use a big honkin' full-sized pair of fiskars which fit my big honkin' full-sized hands comfortably; i just use the fulcrum of the blades to cut in a very controlled manner and move the paper around rather than the scissors, if that makes sense? and no, i never, ever, use a craft knife if i can help it; those things are murder on the old carpals, i tell ya! :) :) :)

**next year can someone please remind me that decorating a blue spruce is like sticking your hands repeatedly into a box full of angry porcupines? ta v much!!! a douglas fir is looking preeeeeeeettttttty good to me right now, actually! :)

still makin' tags...

...for the "12 tags of christmas with a feminine twist" challenge at ellen hutson's classroom blog. the designer examples are soooooooo amazingly awesome that it's seriously very DIFFICULT to choose which one to attempt next! now *that* is the kind of creative "problem" i looooooooooove to have, don't you?! this time i've made an admittedly loose version of sharon harnist's lovely tag from day 1:

 (vintage: lace trim, seam binding, gold doily, and lady cut from a holiday card; patterned paper: pink paislee; embossing folder and distress inks: tim holtz; gold foil sticker: best creation; poinsettia (adorned with gold stickles): we r memory keepers; bird charm: prima; leaf ribbon: may arts; adhesives: 3m foam tape, gluedots)

i was pretty excited when i saw the gorgeous background and realized i *HAVE* that snowflake embossing folder!!! i didn't have the stamp for her pretty little christmas queen, however, so i rummaged through a bunch of old xmas cards i've saved over the years for just such moments, and found this victorian lady. however, the abundance of yellow tones in the image made her just somehow not quiiiiiiite work with the pretty reds and greens of the original, so i went more monochromatic with a lot of white, cream, and gold. 

is it weird that i've been showing the detail photos first and then the shot of the complete tag? if so, i apologize, it's just that i find the shape of these makes 'em kind of a challenge to photograph-- especially when they are loaded with shiny reflective bits, too! maybe some day i will be able to do my projects justice with the pictures they deserve, but as you can see, it was NOT today! :0

i've got one more tag to show you, either tomorrow or sunday, depending on how much "life maintenance" gets done today; we are hoping to get our tree tomorrow (this is very late for us, but that's how things are running this year!) and there is A LOT of cleaning and space-making which needs to be done first! wish me luck, darlings! ♥

and *THIS* is my favorite...

...of the "12 tags of christmas with a feminine twist" tags i've made so far, for the rather awesome challenge on the classroom blog. this one's based on claudine helmuth's fab and funky example from day 2, with which i am utterly enamoured!

(patterned paper: love elsie, ki, sei + a scrap of vintage sheet music; rub-ons: love elsie (i deployed a few of them on a bit of clear acrylic packaging, so i could pop them on foam tape for dimension, but still see through them to the goodies behind!); "merry" tag: my mind's eye (with the "so" added in k and co alphabet rubs); ribbons: michaels + vintage white trim; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

my tag is not a patch on claudine helmuth's, obviously, but again, when one considers that i didn't have ANYTHING she used (how is that even possible??!?!?!) i think i did ok improvising. i've got quite a bit of my belovedly hoarded "love elsie" xmas goodness here, and well, i mean, it's PINK... with cute little cartoon trees... and that sweet car!!!

speaking of christmas trees, this week's challenge (#124) at papercraft star is to include at least one on your card; clearly mine do not look ANYTHING like the elegant one in the inspo pic, but that's ok, you can use ANY christmas tree!!! 

i might have to have another shot at this challenge, though, because i've seen what my lovely friend ros-- a papercraft star DT member-- made for this. holy WOW! you really have to go and see it for yourself!!! ♥

even if you don't have time to make a tag (though i predict you'll be unable to resist once you see all the amazing designer examples!!!) you can still grab a chance at some pretty yummy $25 giftcards to the ellen hutson store just by leaving a comment at each day's post, so do check out the 12 tags of christmas with a feminine twist!

this is lovely husband jeff's favorite...

...of the 3 or 4 tags i've made for the "12 tags of christmas with a feminine twist" challenge at ellen hutson's classroom blog. miss stephanie, who is always au courant with whatever is fun and fab on t'internet pointed this event out to me, citing its incredible inspiration AND the seriously fabulous prizes, and if you've not gone over there yet to explore i *highly* recommend the trip! in fact... g'head and check it out... i'll wait...  :) :) :)

hi! i'm glad you came back! wasn't that FABULOUS, though? you left a comment at each day's post, right? because there will be a drawing for TWELVE (12!!!) $25 g/c's to the ellen hutson store! and one random linker who makes and blogs about a tag inspired by any of the 12 days will win a $150 shopping spree! the deadline is sunday night, so you still have a bit o'time to make something awesome. but first, here's the tag i was telling you about, it's based on jennifer mcguire's gorgeousness from day 4:

(vintage: birds, cut from ein "fugle atlas" + copper metallic ribbon; patterned paper: pink paislee; snowflakes: jolee's, making memories, my mind's eye; brad: making memories; thickers: american crafts; inks: ranger; adhesives: 3m foam tape, gluedots)

i think it's not a bad version, considering i didn't actually have a single product which jennifer mcguire used in hers, lol! i just improvised, but i think i came fairly close. i used some "mistable" paper as my base, and activated the resist bits with a couple shades of blue distress ink; my avian friends were cut from a vintage german bird book--they were pre-trimmed for something else, but then not used, so that was really handy; my snowflakes are stickers and diecuts, and i've spelled "joy" with glitter alphabet chips.

here's a closer shot of the birds and a few other details:

you know that i'm a demon for dimension and texture, so i've popped the birds on a layer of foam tape, used some metal snowflake stickers that really stand out, and machine-stitched over my letters for a little extra security! because as far as i can tell, the primary goal of chipboard-- or indeed any rigid material-- is to escape from one's project ASAP; and whilst sending a tag that says, "oy" might sum up a fair amount of genuine holiday feeling, it's not really the mood i was aimin' for here! :)

back tomorrow with another tag. ciao, darlings! ♥

sentimentally yours, from SOS

have you already guessed the brief at shopping our stash? my title should give you a clue, and the photo of my card ought to help a bit, as well! but just in case, let me spell it out for ya: this week we're making cards in which a sentiment or quotation acts as focal point, rather than the more usual central IMAGE.

as a font-fancier of some repute, i considered composing my central panel digitally this time; but as a proponent of enthusiastic stash-usage, i re-thought that strategy at the last minute, and instead went seriously old school with two different types of ancient ki rub-ons, two colors of my beloved basic grey old school alphas, and an oversized EAD vinyl word rub-on. i'm sure you'll recognize the text as something scrooge says towards the end of "a christmas carol"-- it's a favorite holiday sentiment of mine, and some pretty good advice, i think, too! 

(patterned paper: my mind's eye, bo bunny, echo park, basic grey; vinyl "christmas" rub-on: EAD designs; blue alpha rub-ons: 2 sizes of ancient ki memories... that... for the record, i still LOVE; alpha stickers: basic grey; twine: doodlebug; small heart sticker: fancy pants, the two larger hearts were cut from patterned paper using other (non-matching) FP sitckers as a template; ink: colorbox; black pencil for outlining: prismacolor; adhesives: staples brand gluetape runner, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

i feel compelled to mention that while this card looks ok in the pic... (this is my third attempt at re-lighting and changing background, and this is BY FAR the best version, alas) ...irl, this thing is SO MUCH COOLER! in fact, you're all invited round to see for yourselves!!! :)

i was "inspired by" laurel seabrook's 53rd photo prompt in some ways that are fairly obvious (the grid design, the pops of bright red against white, the twine on the little package) and some that are not quite so clear (my staggered hearts were meant to mimic the hanging wreaths, and i had even planned to give them ribbon accents, but the quote took up more space than expected, and frankly i just ran out of room!); one of my favorite things when i play along with laurel's challenges is seeing how close my finished card comes to my initial idea; sometimes it's a pretty straight line, sometimes it's obscurely circuitous, but it's ALWAYS a fun ride!!!

speaking of fun, this week's unscripted sketch (which i rotated 90 degrees) is pretty awesome, dontcha think?

something much less awesome is that i've been forgetting to link up with 52-card-pick-up in the last few weeks, so here's a card for miss patrice with my apologies! ♥

and now i think you will enjoy a little stroll over to SOS to see the other designers' cards, and thus i will stop talking so you can be on your way! happy tuesday, darlings; and happy hanukkah to all who are celebrating!!! ♥♥♥