Happy Birthday to My Daddy!

Labor Day just so happened to also be my Daddy's birthday! He wasn't too happy about it until I kindly reminded him that statistically, people who have the most birthdays live the longest!

Anyway...we haven't had a chance to all get together, but we plan to soon to celebrate. I made him this card (Mom...make sure he doesn't look, k?! Thanks!) and I am pretty happy with it. Masculine cards can be tricky sometimes, particularly if you break out of the simple, graphic look. Those are easier for me because, well, I happen to really like simple and graphic and you can use a masculine image and be done, but I wanted something that suited my Dad a bit better for this card, so this is what I came up with!



I started with a 5x10 strip of kraft cardstock. I scored and folded that in half to create the base for my card. I usually make my own bases, just because I can use any papers I want that way.

I then stamped the background image (harlequin) with VersaMark ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I love how bold it is, while still being subtle enough to serve as a background. I added a quick sheet pulled from a booklet of Making Memories journaling sheets for the die cut shape in the background.



I created an embellishment cluster with the first word of my sentiment incorporated into the cluster. I used a Jenni Bowlin label sticker, a few Prima flowers, some My Mind's Eye gem stones, and a chipboard accent from Scenic Route.



For the remainder of the sentiment I mixed alphabet stamps (CTMH) and rub-on letters from My Mind's Eye to create a unique look. I also stamped some flourishes (Autumn Leaves) on the sides. For the flourishes, I chose to do second generation stamping so that the color would be the same as the sentiment, just in a different tone. I love the way it came out!



As a finishing touch I added some wooden beads around the sentiment to accent it and bring it all together.

So, what do you think?

I also did a crazy thing the other day! I FINALLY purchased my first ever pair of knitting needles! So....that pretty much means I need to learn to knit now. I'm scared! LOL! I tried crochet once and failed miserably, so I'm hoping I'm more suited for knitting. If you happen to know of a great website for beginners, I'd love some suggestions! I totally plan to be making cable knit sweaters in like a month! HA! KIDDING!!!!! KIDDING!!!! KIDDING!!! But, for reals...if you have tutorials or whatever, that would totally rock! I know at least some of you will because your wicked cool like that.

Well, gotta run! Tomorrow...assuming I get the pictures uploaded ('cause I totally keep forgetting) I will be discussing my Mother's 5 o'clock shadow! (What?! Doesn't your Mother have one?) hee-hee.....she's going to KILL me for that one! But really...come back to see what I'm talking about...it will be fun. I promise!

My Plushie Robot. Be afraid. Be Very Afraid!

Seriously. He is definitely on the verge of being an official craft fail! HA! But he's fun anyway! I made him for The Hubbums because he loves the "BAD ROBOT!" part at the very end of Lost (and lots of other shows from the same production company, actually....) I thought it would be cute. That's what I get for trying to sew! Mind you...no machine was hurt in the making of this plushie. Why? Because I'm dreadfully afraid of sewing machines, therefore, I handstitched this fabulous little guy. That would be problem A. We don't really have time to go through the rest of the problems. Plus. I think this post is supposed to be wordless or something. But...as you know, I generally fail at that, too. It's more fun to fail sometimes. Just face it.



I told you he was a bit frightening! HA!


(With my hand in the photo you can get an idea for size. That is, unless, I have a ridiculously GIGANDO or teeny tiny minuscule hand that I've never told you about. If that were the case you would still have no idea how big the robot is. Just say'n.


Add creepy shadows to the mix for some more frightening fun!


And....just in case you haven't run to your Mommy yet.... you will now. A close up of his amazing face! HA! And...of course, those fantastic neck stitches! Oh, my goodness! Who even MADE this thing?

Oh, yeah....that was me.

Ooopsies!!!

For more Wordless Wednesday Posts (most people actually don't talk as much as I do, trust me!) head over to here, here, and here! And for those who can't shut up like me...check out here!

Halloween Treat - Custom Wrapped Hershey's Bars!

Well, I had an absolutely FABULOUS holiday weekend! I hope you did, as well.

I spent all day Friday like this:


It was SOOOO nice! An absolutely PERFECT beach day! You could lay out on the beach and not get too hot and not get too cold, the crowds were thin, so you had a nice private space on the beach, the water was slightly less freezing cold than usual, making it possible to go in for a nice refresher, and lunch at Forbes and dinner at the Maine Diner pretty much made it an absolutely perfect day with my Mom, Daddy, and The Hubbums. I want to go back. Like...nowish.

But, alas, reality has hit once again, and the cooler temps are creeping closer and closer by the day. Thus, it is time to start making cute fall goodies! LOL! The Use Your Stash Challenge this week is up (actually, I'm a day late...it was up yesterday!) and it is a fun one! We have created inspiring designs using the following:

A. Alphabet Stickers B. Bookplate C. Crayon

Obviously the challenge is inspired by the back to school rush, but don't let that box you in! Take this challenge wherever you would like to go with it! There are so many possibilities!



I created this fun, festively wrapped Hershey's bar! First I wrapped the candy in cardstock. I colored the edges with the crayon to highlight the fabulous texture of the cream colored cardstock. Then, I wrapped the outer layer with one of Prism's fantastic shimmer papers. I dug deep into my stash for some of the embellishments on this one! The gold glittered leaf came with a few fun things someone kindly sent to me, the bookplate (Lil' Davis Designs) was buried in my drawer of metal goodies, and the gold trim came on packaging for something or another and, you know I just HAD to keep it! LOL! The letter stickers are from My Little Shoebox and the brads are classic Making Memories.



This was a super fast and way fun project to create! And the best part is....

.....it sort of hides your candy bar, making it less likely that you will eat it. HA!

No, really, though...these make great little gifts on their own or they can top off a larger gift. They are fun to send as treats for your kids at school (or even for the class for a special event)!

Head on over to Use Your Stash to see what the other DT girls created and get inspired to create something fabulous!

Or....go have a Hershey's bar. With almonds. You know you want one.

Gaf 220 Instant Load Camera - Vintage Thingies Thursda

Well, there it is. The Gaf 220 Instant Load camera. Unfortunately that seems to be about all I can learn about this darned little thing. It was my Father in-law's and now I have it and just think it is cute! I keep it on a shelf on display in my scrapbook room. I'm pretty sure it isn't valuable or anything. I have a small little leather case for it, but I am quite sure that the case was purchased separately. I love old cameras. Actually, I would love to find film for this one and actually use it! I just don't know where I could get the film developed anymore, and I don't have access to a lab to do it myself, so that part would be a bit tricky, but there MUST be someone who will process it!

Here is the top of the camera. That wood veneer is just way too cool! I love that! Such a sharp contrast to the shiny metallic and brightly colored compact cameras we see today.

And here is the back. Just CHECK out that LCD screen on that sucker!
Oh....wait.....
Yup, folks. That right there is what we call a view finder. It's a teeny tiny whole that you stick really close to your eye so you can see through the camera to frame your shot! Show your kids. They will be shocked, amazed, and perhaps a bit confused.

So, that's my vintage thingy for today. I just think it's cool. I wish I could find both film for it and more information about it, but it seems like it isn't talked about much. I you happen to know where I could get either, I would love you for it!

Oh...and a side note...

....I was taking these pics this morning and I was in an awkward position because the shelf I took some of them on is high and so I was holding my camera up way high, which, as you know...leads to nothing but camera shake. WELL....I thought that was why several shots came out blurry, but when I looked at them more closely, I discovered that the problem was not my always shaky hands this time, but rather that the focus was on something other than the camera body! Check out these two shots! (If you click on them you can see them larger.)

Yes, I know...they look like a blurry mess, but look closer! Do you see the part of the photo that IS in focus? Seriously....even as I type this a huge smile is creeping across my face because I just think it is so cool!

Yup! Folks, that's the reflection that the lens caught while I was taking the photo. You can see 'snapshots' of my scrapbook room right in the camera lens! How STINKING cool is THAT?!

Anyway...I thought it was pretty neat.

Now get your tails on over to Colorado Lady to check out more Vintage Thingies Thursday posts!

Cosmo Cricket Early Bird + Nestabilities + a Bird Cage stamp + American Crafts Packaging = CUTENESS!

No, for real! Check this out!



Am I right? Of course, I'm right. I always am when it comes to matters of cuteness! I just know these things! You must learn to trust me. Really, you must.

So...here is what I did...



I took an empty American Crafts Greenhouse embellishments container (*shock!* Yes...it is possible to actually use a full container of embellishments...it's okay...I was shocked at first, too!)

I created a cute decorative band to wrap around it from Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper and added some way stinking adorable pom-pom trim for some fun and flair.

Then, I used my Nestabilities scalloped circle dies to the red cardstock and the Cosmo Cricket Early Bird paper to create the flowers. You guys know how much I love pop dots, so, of course, I used those for dimension on the flowers. LOVE IT! Then I reached for some classic 'flower center' type stamps to make the centers.

That's when I got stuck. I found an interesting snowflake and stamped it, cut it out, and hated it. Then I found a fun flower that I punched with a circle punch after stamping....and hated it. Hmmm.....

Then I grabbed my funky pointy star thingy punch (I SWEAR that's what the package said! HA!) from EK Success and punched a piece of kraft cardstock scrap to see if that color would work and I figured I'd find a stamp after determining the color match. Well, would you GUESS what happened next?! Nope! You wouldn't! Why? Because it was just an amazing stroke of creative brilliance sent from above, that's why. The scrap that I had used just happened to have Hero Arts birdcage images stamped on the other side. Well....it just so happened that the piece I punched looked AWESOME with part of the cage stamped on it! So...that's what I did! I punched out a portion the bird cage image for the center of each flower and then topped them with the button! I love it! And even better - I TOTALLY love it when that happens!!!



I stuffed the little acrylic container with some brown felt and then created the stems from some freebie pencils that I had around. I just wrapped them with floral tape to get the right look and then tied ribbon around a few of them to finish it off! Now I have this WAY stinking adorable little paper flower bouquet and it is making me quite happy.



AND....even better...I totally got to upcycle, and that ALWAYS thrills the heck out of me. Basically, this was overall, a wicked crazy fun project! What do you think?

Maggie and Thatcher on Wordless Wednesday

Well, I figured since I shared their other sides a couple of weeks ago, I should go ahead and show the pretty ends today! LOL!


This is Maggie, aka: Magnolia Belle (AKC), Maggie Moose, Moose, Monkey, Baby Girl, Monkey Moose, Little One

She is 8 and she is beautiful!!!


This is Thatcher, aka: Dragon, Dragon Baby, Punkin, Baby 'D', 'D', Thatch, Twiposaurus (don't ask) and...as Daddy likes to call her... Little Idiot. (She's really very smart, just in a dumb way.)

She is 4 (she'll be 5 in December) and she is the cute one.

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

Let's take just a Moment to Talk About What I Want!

Ha! No, really. That's what this post is about today. What I want. I have been totally falling in love with some way fun stuff on Etsy lately, so I am going to show you so that you can buy it all for me! HA!!! Totally kidding! (Unless you are my Mom! Then, you can feel free to buy me any of the following items!!! No...really...I'm totally cool with that....Just say'n.)

But, in all seriousness, there are some GREAT things being created by some amazingly talented folks out there and I just get so excited about them sometimes! Check these out!




This amazingly happy print is called rainy day and it is by Tummy Mountain. You should see the REST of the artwork in this shop! SUCH amazing cuteness! And...more cuteness on the Tummy Mountain blog, too!



Check out this amazing little moss terrarium!!! I am in love. I know, theoretically I could make one of these, but why? I mean, The Greenbriar shop seems to be doing a great job with it! I might need to add a gnome, though. You know how I do so love gnomes!



While we are on the subject of gnomes and faeries and such do you even SEE what that is???? It's a tiny little faerie door!!! So they can get in!!!! Tee-Hee!!!! I love it!!! Who THINKS of these wonderful things??? Well, apparently the people who run Wilson Graphics, do. Thank you to them!!!!



Yes. I love this. It's fabulous. Just fabulous! From Quiet Doings amazing shop!




Ummm...if ever a salt and pepper shaker were to make one giddy. This would be said salt and pepper shaker! Seriously, folks!!! Talk about total and amazing cuteness! I love it!!! This one is from Paper Doll Wood Shop! Incidentally, they also have a fun robot wine rack!!

And....we shall end with this one...


From Dogbone Art

The question, my friends, is not why...

...but rather...why not?! I love toast! Toast makes me happy. Well, at least plushy toast does. Real toast is just sort of so-so. Depends on the day.

So...go over to Etsy and find something else that I need and come back and tell me about it for goodness sake! LOL! It's way too much fun not to do it! You want to!