Christmas in July, part 1

Merry Christmas in July!!! Yippee Skippee!!! Are you celebrating too?  LOL I'm a part of a sweet little group of ladies who I share my life with each & every day on our own private board. These ladies have become my extended family & I love them dearly.

Christmas in December is always such a hectic time for all of us so we decided to make July a very special time to share gifts with each other.........henceforth we have.......CHRISTMAS IN JULY (who even says "henceforth"? LOL). We've been exchanging these gifts for several years. It's so much fun and we all look forward to seeing what each person receives. There is an abundance of talent in our little group.

I know I haven't shared many crafts in the last few weeks & this is why.........I've been working on these little gifties & couldn't share them until my swap partner "Mary" opened them today.  Sooooooo today is the day that I get to start sharing them with you over the next week.  **warning......this post is long & filled with lots & lots of pics.

First I'd like to share this "Keepsake Box" (cigar box) that I embellished.

The 'cigar box' is from JoAnn's unfinished wood section. Before I painted the box with Plaid Apple Barrel "Antique White" paint......I removed the hardware. I went over the brass closure & hinges with my Black Soot Distress Ink marker to try & tone down the brassy-ness.  (It doesn't show in the pics but it's not as shiny.)

I then covered the larger surfaces of the box with beautiful Graphic 45 papers called "A Ladies' Diary" and a coordinating soft red decorative paper from BoBunny using Scotch Quick-Dry Adhesive that I brushed on. I then wrapped all around the box with Tim Holtz tissue tape and a tassel trim from my stash.

The postcards on the top are also from "A Ladies' Diary" collection. I love these papers so much that it's hard for me to cut into them.  LOL I distressed the edges with Tim Holtz paper distresser & Distress Ink 'frayed burlap'.

Here are more views of my box.

The beautiful metal corners are from Tim Holtz' idea-ology line.

This beautiful flower is from EK Success Jolee's Boutique called 'grey burnt edge gem center flowers'.   The "leaves" are from sprays that I found in Michael's wedding section. You might also notice a Kaiser Craft skeleton leaf peeking out from under the flower.

I made the stick pin with glass beads & baubles from my stash (attached each piece with Glossy Accents). I plan on making more of these so be looking for them in an upcoming blog candy or two. They are very addictive.

I found the word "Paris" on the Graphic45 paper & decided to frame it with a Tim Holtz 'ornate plate'. I cut some transparent plastic & the "Paris" graphic & attached them to the inside of the 'plate' with some Glossy Accents. It was then attached to a thick tag from the same "A Ladies' Diary" line.

This sweet little metal doo-dad hanging from the Tim Holt 'hanger clip' is from a new jewelry line that Michael's is now carrying called "art-i-cake" by Amy Labbe. She even has a sweet little bio on the inside of her charm packets. These pieces are truly little works of art.

This is the inside of my box.  More of the beautiful Graphic 45 & Bo Bunny papers.

I had to restrain myself from adding any more to the beautiful papers.  "Less is More" right?  LOL  So not me.  LOL  But I'm glad I didn't do more..........I wanted to leave room for her to hide away her little treasures.  She told me that she's going to use her "Keepsake Box" for her "trip momentoes".

Thanks so much for joining me today & I look forward to sharing more over the next few days.

(The cute little vintage girl image at the top of this post is courtesy of Peggy Loves Vintage)

Huggies & Sweet Blessings ~♥♥♥~

A reason to smile

This vintage card made with this super sweet Peggy Loves Vintage image just gives me a reason to smile.....cuz I'm really a vintage girl at heart. The amazingly talented Sharon Caudle had given me a card a long time ago using this image so I just had to get it for myself at Peggy's lovely store. It comes with other delish images too. I loved Sharon's card so much that I have it sitting in a special place overlooking my desk. (Thanks a bunch, Girlie)

Craft Us Crazy is having our 12th challenge. Can ya believe it? Boy this year is flying by. Anywho........this time we want to see your "Christmas in July and/or Distressed/Vintage". Our sponsors are Peggy Loves Vintage and Crop Chocolate. Head on over to the Craft Us Crazy challenge blog to play along for some great prizes.

Now back to my card...........This was my very first time using the Tim Holtz Distress crackle paint 'picket fence' & I was scared to death of ruining my card. LOL But I decided to just go for it & I love the results. I'll definitely play with it again. First I used Tim's FABulous little distressing tool (love that thing) & then I painted the crackle paint on. I was afraid to use the brush that comes with it (it's attached to the cap) cuz it was soooooo BIG.....so I used a small brush of my own. Clean up was easy with soap & water. Love that cuz I just hate to get my hands dirty. I could never ever garden cuz of that. Am I a sissy lala or what. I would be like that little girl in the picture......watching every one else work while I sat on the fence. LOL

Did you notice something new on my photo?????????? I finally made myself a WATERMARK!!! WooHoo!!! I'm a big big girl now. LOL Seriously though........a friend from Color Me Creative gave us all a link to a PSE6 tutorial on how to create your own. So I followed it to the letter & voila.............easy peasy.........(once ya know how, that is.....lol). Thanks a bunch, Jo!

Thanks so much for visiting me. Here is the Card recipe:

Background DP is from Bearly Mine Designs
Ribbon, lace, button, bling & pearls from my stash
Pennant Sentiment is from Ann Vento's Raindrop Echo Designs available at Whimsy Stamps.
Tim Holtz crackle paint 'picket fence' white
Nesties used: Curved Rectangles & Big Scalloped Squares

Challenges I'm entering:
Bearly Mine Designs: lucky #13 Summer
Really Reasonable Ribbon: Summer fun (she looks like she's having fun to me...lol)
Pile It On: Time to Relax
Sentimental Sundays: #62 Anything Goes plus a Sentiment
OOLCB: #83 Summer flowers (my daisies)
Whoopsi Daisy Challenge: Hot, hot, hot (I interpret this to be outdoors in the sun)
Creative Inspirations: #118 Summer
Digi Doodle Shop's Best: Anything Goes
Totally Paper Crafts: Bingo (Die Cuts, Flowers & Gems)
Craft Your Days Away: #23 Vintage

Have a FABulous day! I truly treasure every single one of your sweet comments.

Huggies & Blessings ~♥♥♥~

Craft Us Crazy DT card

Our Craft Us Crazy new challenge is here.....YAY!!! This time we would like to see your Spring or Easter creations. We are so very grateful for the wonderful response we've received at our new Craft Us Crazy challenge blog. Thank you all so very much! We couldn't do it without you.

This darling little duckie image was so sweetly provided to me by the lovely Peggy at Peggy Loves Vintage. This is part of the Vintage Greeting Card Cut Outs "Easter #2" set. I just love her images.......'course I'm a vintage girl at heart! The Prize package is 5 different Cut Outs from Peggy's store......a $17.50 value. Now that's FABulous! Her images print out beautifully & all of the coloring is already done for you.



Peggy says........My husband and I have shared 36 years together and we have 2 sons and a daughter and 2 glorious grandkids ages 3 and 6.

I started collecting vintage cards quite by accident. I was helping with my aunts estate sale and ran across her collection. The cards were so wonderful that I fell in love with them and have been collecting them ever since.

I love to get a new vintage scrapbook and read all about the lives and times of the individual. Some of their stories are truly inspiring.

Be sure and visit my blog where you'll find some great inspiration, tips, tricks and some free vintage images for you to use.

I'm really excited about being an sponsor for Craft Us Crazy and sharing these beautiful vintage images with you. I hope that you come to love them as much as I do.

Our Craft Us Crazy monthly sponsor for April is Stamp Fairy with their oh so adorable images. They are offering a generous $12 gift certificate to their wonderful store. Watch for my next card using their adorable Patsy April Showers that they so generously gave to me. How sweet is that! She is just toooo cute!


Stamp Fairy officially launched in 2010. Gerda, artist and owner, creates cute and whimsical digital images for the young and old, inspired by her life, love and 4 cute cats. You will find adorable teddies bears, young boys and girls, fuzzy little bunnies and whimsical critters.

Stamp Fairy has up to 40 new releases per month along with a free image every Friday, a weekly challenge on Mondays and Guest Designers each month on their challenge blog.

Please visit the store and browse StampFairy’s wonderful images to inspire YOUR creativity.

My card recipe is as follows:
No Copics (gasp! LOL)
Ribbon bow tied with my FABulous Bow Easy
Nestie: Curved Rectangles (I seem to use this one a lot)
Glitter & glue pen (my Stardust Stickles ran out.....boohoo)
DP: "Best Of Brenda Walton" pad
Jewels & buttons from my stash
Free Sentiment from the web. I think it's from Just Playing with Paper but I can't find the site (sorry) If you know, please let me know. I love to give credit where credit is due.

Challenges I'm entering:

Bling It On: #2 Digi & Bling
Charisma Cardz Challenges: #13 Bling & Sparkles

The Ribbon Girl Blog: Colour Challenge #6 Green & Yellow
Really Reasonable Ribbon: #21 Use Dies & Ribbon
Whoopsi Daisy Challenge: Lets glitter & glitz it

Thanks so much for visiting me & don't forget to join in our challenges! They're new every other week.

Your sweet comments mean the world to me. You are all so very special & dear to my heart.
Huggies & Blessings ~♥♥♥~