Puppy Love: A Fabric Covered Mini Album of CUTENESS!

No, seriously. We are talking some SUPER STINKING adorable fabric paper by KI Memories on a SUPER CUTE mini album all about some SUPER CUTE puppies that I happen to know very well! Hee-hee!

The Use Your Stash Challenge this week is a fun one! We are asking you to join us in using the following: stripes, scallops, and handwritten journaling. Easy enough, right? I certainly think so! You can do SO many things with this fabulous combo!

I decided to create a mini album about my Maggie and Thatcher. They are the sweetest little girlies EVER, so it seemed like a great plan to me!!!



The cover of the chipboard album is fitted with the paw print fabric paper. I just ADORE this pattern and the colors! It was so fun to work with, too!



I first added the title sticker without the scallops, but it just wasn't right. Then, after a quick snip with a pair of small scallop scissors the sticker was transformed! I love the difference the scallops made!



I added some journaling strips on the inside of the front cover along with a simple embellishment.



The inside of the album uses coordinating dog-themed papers (I KNOW! I'm as shocked as you are - I actually USED themed paper! That NEVER happens! I'm proud of myself. Jjust say'n.)



Finally, the mini album is finished off with a bit of satin and striped ribbon! Nice and easy and a wonderful collection of those random and some less-than-perfect puppy photos! I love it! It makes me happy!

OH! And I have to tell you about the near tragedy that happened this weekend! So, on Saturday we went to the apple orchard to go apple picking and we had a great time (photos later) and then after that we headed to the movies to see Where The Wild Things Are (I'm not happy about that, but more on that later if you want) and then we went home to make dinner and enjoy the evening. WELL...somewhere in all of that my camera went missing.

Let me say that again just in case you missed it.

I.

LOST.

MY.

CAMERA.

I think you all know me well enough at this point to know that the panic that ensued was, well, very real.

It was missing all day Sunday. I had no idea where it was and I had looked all over the house. Yes...I even checked the fridge.

Dh thought it might be in his car, so when he got home from work he checked all over the car.

No luck.

Then, by the grace of GOD he fell upon a WalMart bag in his office at home and decided to peak inside. THERE, inside that lonely WalMart bag, was my poor missing camera!

Phew!!!

I feel better now. I think I would be sobbing in a corner by now if it were still missing!

So....how was your weekend?

What's Sharp and Pointy and Rusty and Never Croaks? {Vintage Thingies Thursday}

A FROG!!!

Wait...you mean that wasn't the first thing that popped into YOUR mind? LOL!

Well, let me explain....

THIS is my vintage flower frog. Yup! That's really what they are called. I think that is half the reason I love it so much! HA! You have seen it many times on my blog to hold up my cards, layouts, etc. BUT...it hasn't had a chance to really have the spotlight, so for today's Vintage Thingies Thursday, I decided to feature this trusty little friend of mine.

He is not perfect, by any means, but I do love him so! He is rusty and has a sort of 'dirty' kind of spot on him, but it's the kind of dirty that is from age, not from, well, ... dirt. Does that make sense?

Anyway......

He is lots and lots of pointy! I've managed to prick a finger or two, but it is so worth it because he is just fabulous!

He even has a few bent tines, making it tricky to get scrapbook pages or cards tucked in straight, but I love those little bent tines because they add so much character!

He has obviously been used for his original purpose many a time, although, he won't be used for that EVER in my house, because, believe it or not, I don't much care for fresh flowers or plants in my house. Weird, I know. I'm aware! LOL!

I really do love this silly little frog, though. I am now on a hunt for more because I have seen itsy bitsy tiny ones that I would love to get my hands on and really neat oval and rectangular ones, too! I would certainly have no problem making use of an entire collection of these fabulous little things! They just make me happy!

For More cool vintage stuff check out Colorado Lady!





Happy Vintage Thingies Thursday! Thanks for stopping by and leave a comment letting me know of a useful little thing you discovered and fell in love with!

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal {Wordless Wednesday}

They aren't wrong. Just Say'n.


For more Wordless Wednesday posts check out here, here, and here!

*Live* - A Fairy Butterfly Tag wherein I totally channeled Tim Holtz and all that is Somerset Studio

Just say'n.

No, seriously. So, the other day The Hubbums and I made one of our fairly frequent (although not as frequent as they should be anymore) trips to Barnes and Noble for books, tea, and the general relaxation and happiness that comes from being surrounded by books. I picked up the lastest Laura Childs scrapbook mystery, Tragic Magic, and then put back the other four books, well, three books and one Manga, that I had found along the way, residing myself to the fact that I should really stick to one book at a time.

However, then I headed over to the periodicals to see what they had in the way of the latest paper crafting mags. Umm...found this. Why, yes! That would, indeed, be the October issue of Somerset Studio. HOLY CRAP! I've always enjoyed Somerset, but this issue hit me like a muse straight from A Midsummer's Night! I mean SERIOUSLY, FOLKS! SO GOOD. I was just enthralled with each and every page. Now, I totally want a subscription. This issue did it for me. It made me realize that I really love this stuff and I'm totally capable of creating cool altered stuff like that!

So.....carry that into the All Moments Remembered online crop over the weekend where the fabulous Angie offered a challenge to create a Tim Holtz style tag or bookmark, and I was raring to go! Seriously. I was pretty excited about it.

So, I grabbed a tag and a stamp and some embossing powder and some distress inks and went to town. I had no idea WHAT town I was going tooo.....but that wasn't important. I was just gonna make somethin' great!

And thus, this fairy butterfly was born.

I employed a multitude of techniques on this tag. I began by stamping an image, embossing with clear powder, and then inking the base tag.

The body portion is a stick pin with velvet ribbon folded onto it accordion style. I stamped her face from a larger stamp and then used a punch to extract the portion of the image I wanted, distress inked it and then covered it with Liquid Glass to finish her off.

I inked the Grungeboard crown and then ran it through my Xyron X to put adhesive on the front of it and coated it with Martha's crystal glitter.

The Grungeboard wings are inked with two colors of distress ink and then coated with a thin layer of Distress Stickles. I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch the holes and strung the beads on with wire.

I added the title plaque with wire as well. I really love the way this came out. It feels so PERFECTLY in line with what I had set out to do. I love when that happens!

What have you done lately that worked out just how you wanted? Maybe it was something you made, or an event you planned, or even just a great recipe? I'd love to hear about it!

Don't forget to check out the giveaway for 250 Custom Business Cards! (Think Mommy cards, Etsy advertising, Blog awareness, and more!)

Purple, Paint, and Polka Dots!

That sounds like some fun stuff, now, doesn't it? I think so. Well, I sort of thought so, anyway.

This is the challenge this week over at Use Your Stash! When the friendly design team email went out letting us all know what we would be creating I excitedly read the list right until I got to this one.

At which point I stopped. And cried.

Okay....so maybe I didn't actually CRY, but I was worried! PURPLE! They wanted me to use PURPLE!

You see, purple and I don't really get along. Well, it's not that we don't like each other, it's just that we are more on the 'acquaintance' level than we are at the 'friends' level. Is this making any sense? It's not like red and black and turquoise - you know...the colors with whom I am the very best of friends! No.... purple and I just aren't that tight.

BUT...what is a challenge if it isn't actually CHALLENGING?! So, instead of taking the easy way out and using the tiniest bit of purple I could muster, I decided to embrace it and create a layout with an entirely purple background!

I know...I know. You can stop applauding now. I know...you are impressed.

No?

Well, this is my imaginary world and you are my imaginary audience, so if I want you clapping you will be clapping, damn it! Got that?!

HA!

Yeeeeeee......aaaah. So. On to that layout. Before I scare you all away.



What do you think? Okay...so I have to admit that it isn't my favorite layout of all time, but the lack of patterned paper is a contributor to that, I think. BUT...I do think it is kind of cute! And I sort of love the polka dot technique that I used....



Here's a closer photo of the dots. To create them I punched a bunch of cardstock circles from a scrap and layered them under my purple cardstock on my Basic Grey Magnetic Mat (which just so happens to be one of my favorite tools EVER!) and then I used a sanding block to sand the cardstock and bring out the polka dot impression. Isn't that just cool? I kinda love it!



I added just a touch of Stickles to the felt butterflies to make them glittery and girly.



And I used a lot of really feminine trim to accent the photo and create a softer layout. Sorry about the glue boogers that I am now seeing in this photo - I will be sure to check that they are removed from the layout! How embarrassing! LOL!

The Paint portion of the challenge was the easiest part, since I use paint a lot in my work. I decided to do something I don't often do and I used letter stickers as a mask and sponged over them with paint. Once the paint was dry, I used my Tweezer-Bees to lift the letters carefully and leave the negative as my title. I also painted around the edges to finish the layout off!

So head on over to Use Your Stash and check out what the other DT girls did! Then create your own!

Oh...and I totally got a hair cut on Friday and usually that is not a fun thing for me, but I am really happy with it and my head feels SO much better!!!

***QUESTION FOR YOU! Does anyone have any links to some REALLY EASY and inexpensive recipes for week night meals? I know the usual options like kraftfoods and stuff, but if anyone has any specific recipes that you have actually tried and liked, I am looking for some new ideas, but they have to be quick and they have to be easy. Let me know! Thanks! You guys rock!

Sponsor Giveaway! *Win 250 Free Business Cards* (2 winners!) *CLOSED*

******NOW CLOSED!!! WINNERS ARE EMILY S. and MJ! CONGRATULATIONS!*****

My awesome sponsor, Uprinting, is generously offering Just Jingle readers an amazing giveaway today! And...do you wanna know what is even cooler? They are also giving ME a set of 250 free business cards! So, that means that they are giving me a set, plus offering a set for TWO of my readers! This is an awesome, generous company, guys! Seriously.

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*Disclosure: Uprinting is a paid sponsor of Just Jingle. I will be receiving a set of 25o Free business cards (the same as the prize) for presenting this giveaway.

Fork That! {Vintage Thingies Thursday}

So....on that wonderful fall Saturday afternoon long long ago (like last week) when I got that fabulous birdcage that I shared with you fine folks I Mom and I also visited one of the local mills.

Hmm...that probably sounds funny to those who don't live in New England. Let me give you a little background...The Blackstone Valley (where we live) was once a virulent mill town. Lots and lots of fabulous textiles were created in this area along with a few other products. Hence the interesting 3-legged fish you find in the Blackstone River due to the beautiful dyes that they kindly drained into the river back in the day. HA! Okay...so that's a bit of an exaggeration...

...the fish only have two legs.

If you have never been here, then it is possible that you have seen the area in THIS film. Which happens to be about the very topic brushed over above. Just say'n.

Anyway....they turned these fabulous mill buildings into all kinds of things after the mills dried up and more modern business and modern transportation changed the ebb and flow of the local economy. Due to their amazing charm and wicked crazy cool vintage look, they were a natural fit for antique shops, so, you can find all kinds of fabulous antique shops in the local mills.

So...like I was saying before giving you that brief history lesson, Mom and I stopped at one of those on that fine Saturday. They had a really cool $1 rack and on said rack I found a treasure!



Forks! Yup! I was pretty excited because I've been dying to make fork easels to display my cards and scrapbook pages and there on the shelf lay a wonderful little bundle of fork'n goodness!

So, naturally... I bought them! I didn't look too closely, as they were just cool vintage looking forks and I liked the handles on them.

Well...here's the thing. I DID look closely once I got them home.



This one says 'Staybrite' on the back, which made me giggle a little because it really was the shiniest one in the bunch! It is a smaller stainless steel fork, so it will work well for cards and stuff.



Then there was this one - another simple stainless fork. Easy to manipulate into the easel shape I am looking for.


Then there is this one. Ooooooooo! Fancy Schmancy! This one is silver plated! That's kind of fun, but fine since it still doesn't have anything making it particularly valuable. It will shine up quite nicely, though!

And then...my friends...came the FINAL FOUR FORKING FORKS!



Just in case you are having trouble reading that...YES! It does say "Reed and Barton." Reed. And. Freaking. Barton. Silver. REAL. FREAKING. SILVER.

Ummm...okay. I wasn't really expecting that! I know...the weight should have gave me notice, but I wasn't really worried about it, so I just didn't notice until I saw the label! HOW on EARTH can I justify bending and twisting GENUINE SILVER Reed and Barton silverware into easels?

I'm kinda sad. I don't know what to do, really. They were super cheap, but I REALLY wanted a nice set of easels and these are the largest forks in the bunch, so those were the ones I was really planning on using the most! But I feel bad bending up REAL silver for that. Is that dumb? Do these actually HAVE value? Is it okay to have REALLY PRETTY SHINY SILVER fork easels?

I'm torn. What do you think?



Oh...and if you happen to know of a great fork easel tutorial somewhere please let me know. I saw tons of them all over the place until I actually had forks to use. Then I couldn't find them anywhere! HA!

For More Vintage Thingies Thursday check out Colorado Lady!