New Year 2015

Happy New Year

I am always inspired and re-charged to start a new year.  It's an opportunity to change something.  I don't know about you, but I tend to make several new year resolutions and usually around march they have been pushed aside, and not kept up with.  But this year will be different.  No, I promise.  I am changing the way I look at my resolutions, and hopefully this changes the way I think.

For starters, Helen and the wonderful group over @ Holstee have a different way of starting your year.  Don't simply look back on it: relishing the good times/memories, and fretting over your regrets.  

But, rather learn from the past year.  Take a good hard look at your year.  What inspired you? What lessons have you learned?  What regrets do you have?  How can you change your path?  What can you learn from these experiences?

So, I am changing the way I think.  Hopefully this will change the way I act.  

One of my top resolutions is to stop spending.  To use what I have.  Repurpose, and reuse.  This will help my wallet/bank account, and help the environment.  So, both me and mother earth benefit.  

My other resolution is to do what makes me happy!  I don't mean rob a bank, or steal a car, or some other non productive, irrational behavior.  I'm also not referring to the 1980's motto.  But rather paint, draw, bake, craft, . . . . create.  Spend time with those who matter in my life.  Spend time doing hobbies.  Because these simple acts do bring ME joy.

And finally, take care of myself.  In the whole meaning!  Eating better, trying to get more than 4/5 hours of sleep a night.  drinking less coffee.  And exercising.  I know that it will lower my blood pressure, reduce my stress, make me 'happy', and help change my focus.  This resolution: exercising, is the hardest for me.  Not that I don't think I'm important, but basically 'I don't have time'. So, I have enlisted the help from my friends.  We are all training for a marathon.  I purchase my running shoes tomorrow.  I am downloading an app on my phone today.  

All of us have limits, have obligations, have 'things'  that hold us back.  So, use this day, to help break out, and break free of these limits and live the life you dream of!  Holstee has a great inspirational manifesto.  I have purchased the poster.  Last year.  And this year, it will be framed and hung on a wall, to 'inspire' me everyday!

I wish you all a great year.  And the strength to change what you want/need to change!

So, I ask the question: do you make new year resolutions? 

love u

Howdy!  I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday! and that you were able to share it with family & friends.  We did!  We had a wonderful Christmas.  My mom came into town, and as always it is wonderful to spend some time with her {smile}.  We got to spend sometime at our daughters house.  Her children are just so precious.   Anyways, one of my new years resolutions (typically every new years) is to spend less on crafting supplies, use what I have, and get my supplies in order.  So, before I head into my craft room to clean up the clutter of holiday crafting these past several months, I want to share a card I made this morning.

The wonderful ladies over @ Divas by Design have a final challenge: anything goes!  

And here is what I made:

I didn't purposefully set out to make a valentines card.  It just kinda happened.  So, lets get started with the recipe and a few close ups {smile}.

The card base is aqua mist card stock from Paper Trey Ink.  I just love the weight of their card stock - heavy, yet workable.

The matt is lagoon from stampin' up!.  I just love this new color.  The floral pattern paper is a digital paper I recently purchased.  Love the polka dots and the colors.    The middle panel is also a recent digital purchase, also.  I thought the blue 'love' piece matched the blue in the floral pattern paper.  i also loved the flowers on this piece.

I matted that piece onto a textured pool party card stock by Stampin' Up!.  

I did a little machine stitching.  I just love the look.  The top banner piece is actually a christmas pattern paper that I had a scrap of, so I just flagged the end.  I did a sloppy machine stitch.

I tied a blush button by Amuse Studios with a thin silver cord.  I added a white tag that I had laying around my crafting space.  I die cut the 'U' from silver glitter paper, by Stampin' Up!.  

I added a scrap piece of white lace trim piece I had left over from holiday card making.  I also added some pink pirouette seam binding, by Stampin' Up!. I tied the seam binding into a multi-loop bow, and added a vintage kraft button by PTI.  I hot glued a Melissa Frances key hole.  And I added a pink heart stick pin.  To finish off the card, I added several white faceted sequins.

All the edges of the different papers were sponged with crumb cake classic ink, by Stampin' Up!

Thank you for stopping by.  Now, I must head into my craft room, and clean up the mess I created from my crafting for the past holiday craft shows.  See ya soon!

Happy Holidays

I want to wish everyone, including my family, friends, customers, visitors and supporters the Happiest of Holidays!  

I also want to announce a sale I am having at my Easy shop.  Use coupon code 'NEWYEAR' and take 20% off anything and everything from today till Jan 3rd, 2015.  

here is a little eye candy:

This ornament is not available to sale.  I made this for a very special friend, my daughter last year.  But I did want to share it with you {smile}.

Be safe out there if you are traveling.  And I hope this holiday brought you all your heart desired!

Happy Holidays!  and happy crafting, Sharon W.

Desktop Calendar

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Welcome.  I have been a bit busy making some last minute special orders.  A very sweet, dear friend has asked me to make her a desktop calendar in my traditional shabby chic, vintage style.  And well, I couldn't say 'no', so I set out into my craft room, and started crafting.

I wanted to make her something 'one of a kind' and something very special.  So, I located some beautiful digital papers I had recently purchased, printed them, and then started crafting.

I am happy with how it turned out, so I wanted to share a few photos with you.  This first one is of the cover.  And the next two are of my favorite pages. {smile}

This is the cover.  These desk top calendars measure 4" x 4".  I use a 1" spiral ring for the binding. I love the large spiral, and the color of the metal {smile}

I used one sheet of this digital paper.  I love the mix of text, floral images, polka dots, calendar numbers, and ledger writing.  I added a spool label to the year.  I thought the colors and images looked perfect with the cover collage.  [My struggle with these pages is to keep them flat, and not too bulky.]

These are my two favorite months {smile}

February is my birth month, and so I believe that, that connection, helps my creative side craft something pretty, and St. Valentine's Day is my favorite holiday, so  there is a special place in my heart for this whole affair.  {smile} 

I used another collage digital paper for the main image.  Yeah, love the white text, the polka dots, the floral images, and the hand-writing.  I used another spool label behind the glitter trim.  I used a scallop trim border punch on a thin piece of gold glitter paper.  I machine stitched a piece of cream crochet trim to help add some softness.  I cut a tiny tag from a pink checkered digital paper.  I added a digital scrabble word across the tag.  I distressed a pink button with white paint and glitter.  I tied the button to the tiny tag with strawberry bakers twine.  I just love this month!

And here is my other favorite month: September.  Not necessarily the month, but rather the page.  I used another digital collage paper.  Again, a mix of polka dots, florals, text, and hand-written ledgers. I stamped the mason jar onto a different digital pattern paper and fussy cut it out.  I added a scallop trim piece of a different digital polka dot pattern paper.  I added a simple knot of a cream crochet trim.

All of the months have a simple machine stitch border.  Each month is matted with kraft card stock.  I hope my friend Cathy (MB) really loves her desk top calendar.  And I hope that you enjoyed my little share.  {smile}

Jumbo Gift Card Holder

Howdy! and welcome to my little slice of blog-land.  I'm so happy that you could visit.  Sit a spell, have a look around, and hopefully I have inspired you {smile}!

Yesterday, I confessed that I have already started thinking about next years holiday arts and crafts fairs, and a few new items I would like to sell.  Well, today I have a little sneak peak.  {smile}

If you are like me, you do give gift cards to those who either love them, or you aren't quite sure what they would like from their favorite place.  And if you are like me, sometimes these gift cards are purchased from grocery/drug stores.  And yeah, they have this big cardboard piece that advertises who they are, and they have that 'gorgeous' hanger hole at the top.  Sound familiar?  Well, the gift card holders I sell at my booth, only have space for the card.  Crazy, right?  Well, sometimes, you just don't want/can't tear that thing apart to get to the card.  So, I have made a 'Jumbo Gift Card Holder' for just that situation!
Well, to get some direction, I stopped by the Divas by Design challenge blog.  And well, they have a great challenge this week!  Seeing Red!  So they ask that you use lots of red!  And I think I have!

Ok, lets get started.  This is my version of the jumbo gift card holder.  {smile}  It measures 5" x 5 1/2".  In this view, the measurements look 'wrong', but they aren't.  Promise.  Anyways, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  I am thinking of possibly making a belly band, to help hold the flap closed, but haven't 'married' that idea yet.  I'm also thinking the belly band could potentially give me another pattern paper, to help give this large piece some more pattern.  I could attach the 3" x 4" 'tag' to it, also.  Hmmm, options, options, options.

Anyways, back to this one.  I used kraft card stock by Recollections for the base.  I used this new 'vintage'-y pattern holiday paper 'Snow Village' by Pink Paisley.  I just love the soft pretty colors and hip patterns.  {smile}

I cut a medium snowflake with the fancy snowflake die by Paper Trey Ink.  I used the gold glitter paper by Stampin' Up!.  Love the glitter/sparkle and shine!  I wrapped some of the new holiday Cherry Cobbler Sheer Linen Ribbon, by Stampin' Up! through the center of the snowflake and tied a simple bow.  I stamped the sentiment onto a tiny tag in Cherry Cobbler classic ink, by Stampin' Up! The tiny tag was made with the Tiny Tag die, by Paper Trey Ink.  The sentiment came from the Holiday Friendship Jar stamp set, by Paper Trey Ink.

I altered a jingle bell, and tied both the bell and the tag to the large bow with some thin silver cord, and made a simple bow with the silver cord.

Just like my other gift card holders, the inside flap of these will be embossed with a holiday message.  

This sentiment card came in the paper pack.  I did stamp the 'Love & Laughter welcome here at Christmas and all year', in cherry cobbler classic ink.  I felt the tag piece needed a little something more.  I hope my friend likes it! {smile}

Thank you for stopping by.  Now, I am off to cut card stock.  I have finished my 'sample' for our holiday Christmas card, and I need to get those made.

If you placed a special order, I will be working on those tomorrow and Tuesday.  Don't fret, I will have those done and ready to wrap by their guaranteed delivery date.  So, until we meet again, happy crafting!  hugs, Sharon W.

Peace & Joy

~ large photo post ~

Howdy, howdy, howdy!  Whew!  my craft fair circuit is done.  And I have to say, 'thank you!' to all of the folks who had stopped by my booth to look, investigate, and purchase my hand-crafted paper goods.  It really feels good, to have folks (other than your family) 'like' what you do.  It validates your efforts, your vision, and your artistry.  thank you so much! {smile}

I already have ideas for next years craft fairs.  How crazy, huh?  But, before that, I need to work on the job at hand: my Christmas cards.  Yeah, I haven't even started making them.  But I know what I am going to make.  And I have already calculated how much pattern paper and card stock I need to make my Christmas cards.  So, before I head out to the store, let me share a craft with you.

The wonderfully talented ladies over @ Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge want to see your holiday hoard collection being used.  I know you aren't surprised that I have quite a hoard collection.  So, let me share with you another craft I made.

These gift bags are made with a majority of Stampin' Up! supplies.  Yeah, I have a hoard collection of that, too! {smile}   The finished bags measure 3 3/4" x 8 1/2".  The bag inside measures roughly 3 1/2" x 6 1/2" x 2".  So, not a lot of space.  But, these are so sweet, that the bag also works as part of the gift.  So, small trinkets fit: lotion, candy, jewelry, gift card, gloves, perfume, etc.

Recipe:  The bag base is made with Pool Party card stock.  The matt is made with Lagoon card stock. I used the new All is Calm DSP (designer specialty paper).  I just love the blues (and greens) with white and silver sprinkled through.  So, I paired two 'similar in concept' (snow falling) pattern papers.  (dots and snowflakes).  

I did a single machine stitch border around the top pattern paper.  The bottom pattern paper is able to 'stand' on its own, with the large silver embossed font.

I stamped the sentiment in versa mark, and sprinkled with silver embossing powder.  And heat embossed: this creates a raised lettering.  

To hide the seam, I wrapped a piece of white lace trim around this piece, and topped it off with a piece of the lagoon satin ribbon.  I tied a simple bow with another piece of the lagoon ribbon.  To jazz up the bow, I tied another bow with a piece of thin silver cord and an altered jingle bell*.

For the top of the bag, I cut two snowflakes.  The large snowflake I used dazzling diamond glitter paper.  The second snowflake I used the silver/vellum pattern card stock.  I added a bermuda button and tied it with thin silver cord.

The angel is a free download found here.  I adjusted the size and printed onto whisper white card stock.  I used foam tape to pop the angel. {smile}

To finish the bag, I glued a piece of the white/silver pattern paper (from the same collection) to a small clothes pin.  I also added a long piece of pool party cotton ribbon (2 feet).  I used coordinating but different ribbon, to repeat the different colors of blue in the pattern paper.  

For the tag at the top, I stamped the sentiment in lagoon classic ink onto whisper white card stock, and matted it onto pool party card stock.  I used the cordinating oval and scallop oval hand-held punches by Stampin' Up!. 

The stamp set  used to stamp the bags is Snowflake Serenade.  The stamp set used to stamp the tags is Signature Christmas stamp set.  The die to create the snowflakes is the Fancy Snowflake die.  All of which are from Paper Trey Ink.

Thank you for looking.  I hope you all are having a great weekend.  I am off to town, to pick up the last few sheets of pattern paper, and rolls of ribbon to complete our family Christmas card. {smile} Don't forget to head over to Craft Hoarders Anonymous Challenge.  I'm sure you can whip up something with your precious collection of holiday crafting supplies! {smile}

*altered jingle bell: paint your jingle bell with acrylic paint (I used titan white). While the paint is still wet, dip the bell in glitter (I used dazzling diamond glitter).  Once the bell is dry, spray with Aqua Net hairspray.  This will seal the glitter to the bell, so it doesn't flake off.