Yuletide Blessings

Hello again, fellow crafters. Yep, I'm back with my second card for the day....this one's freshly baked! You know I never miss my Mojo Monday card and this week I'm paring it with colours from 52 Christmas Card Throwdown - Brown, Red & Cream. Not your usual Christmas colours, but if you look at it this way Chocolate, Cranberries and Eggnog it all makes perfect sense! Since I'm playing with the folks at ABC Christmas "R" I'm doing a spot of Recycling with some shimmery foamy material that  I ripped out of last year's Christmas gift packaging. (Secret's out: I'm a hoarder!). And finally, Come and Get It's Tic Tac Toe challenge caught my eye.













Here's my food-inspired Yuletide confection:

No patterned papers on this one. Just card-stock and that foamy stuff. I punched the bottom edge with Woodware's "Stars" punch.

That foamy stuff was quite rebellious - I had to stitch it down! I've used it before in one of my earlier card, but I don't remember it being this obnoxious to work with.

I added a dinky little snowflake charm and tied it to the card with some red and white twine.... just to make sure it's clear that this is a winter card.

The stamp is from WMS "Compliments of the Season", stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with white EP. For the die-cut I used Spellbinders Labels 20. Pearls and paper roses complete the embellishments. 

Very simple on the inside. I did broad borders because...

...I wanted the red to show through the punched border in front.

Thanks for stopping by. All this talk about chocolate and cranberries is making me ol' tum-tum groan. Off to make dinner now... I'm thinking grilled salmon. Have a lovely evening and see ya soon!

Beijinhos!


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G & T and

Be Merry and Bright

Good morning, dear friends. Hope you had a smashing week-end. We had a relatively quiet one. Church, lunch and long walk with dogs was basically it. Was nice not to be rushing about doing stuff. Some quiet time, a bit too quiet, perhaps. Not all bad since I managed to make this Christmas card to hold a gift card for a dog-lover.

I've rotated the sketch by Retro Sketches #28 and for inspiration I looked at Moving Along with the Times "Christmas Gifts", Winter Wonderland "Christmas Pets" and Perfect Sentiments "All Creatures Great and Small".

Here it is:

Papermania patterned papers seemed perfect for this project (check out the alliteration!) 

Pop dots make all the difference!

Close-up of the scotties in action. So sweet!

On the inside I made a simple pocket to hold a gift card. 

Here's a close-up of the sentiment by WMS stamped in Memento Rhubarb Stalk.

Supplies:

Papers: Papermania "Festive Frolics"by Stephanie Dyment

Stamp: Adam Pescott "Scottie Dog"; Waltzing Mouse Stamps "Seasons of Lov Tags"

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Rhubarb Stalk

SN pens: Scotties - IG1, IG2; Wood - EB, EB5, GB10; Red coat - DR5, DR3, DR1; Greens: JG6, JG4, DG3, DG2 

That's all from me today.  Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back later with my Mojo card. Hope to see you soon. In the meantime, have peaceful Monday. I just want to leave you with a photo of my dearly departed pumpkin:

Xiara - always in our hearts.

Beijinhos!

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Walnut muffin, coffee and

Hello + Post-It holder toot

Hello, fellow crafters. I've got a dinky little project for you today. When I say dinky, I really mean dinky - it measures a dinky 3.25" x 3.5". S'that dinky enough for ya?! With the sketch from WMSC #113 and colours from ColourQ #153 I made a little gift for a friend who has been a great help these past few days. She has a "thing" for post-it notes. She sticks them everywhere and anywhere. Today it was on the windscreen of her car with a reminder to pay a parking fine. And after witnessing how she parked her car again, I decided to replenish her stock with my gift!

I'm taking my gift to the "Anything Goes" challenges at Papertake Weekly and Tuesday Alchemy #30. Also, "Anything But A Card" over at Bearly Mine Challenge #51.

The papers are by Pink Paislee. I've included a little pale blue pencil, purchased in a pack of 5 from  Staples. 

For added interest I carefully cut around the leaf and postage stamp and
adhered over the lacey border of the blue CS. For this border I used X-Cut  punch.

The sentiment is from WMS Fancy Phrases set, stamped with Brilliance ink and
layered with a couple of Spellbinder dies.

On the inside, I continued with the Pink Paislee paper. 

I also decorated the behind to properly finish the project.
The brown ribbon wraps all the the way 'round.

Supplies:
Paper: Pink Paislee "Spring Jubilee"
Stamp: WMS "Fancy Phrases"
Ink: Brilliance "Pearlescent Chocolate"; Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Vintage Photo"
Spellbinder Dies: Classic Ovals LG   S4-110;  Labels 20  S5-026


Here's the pictutorial on how to construct the base. There are numerous video tutorials out there on YouTube with ideas on how to dress it up.

You start with a piece of CS measuring 7-3/8" x 3-1/4".
On the long side, score as shown above at 3-1/8", 3-1/2" and 3-7/8" ... 

and crease.

Fold at 3-1/2" and mark 1" in from top edge and bottom edge.
Then cut in from the fold to the crease line, as shown above.

Now push in at the fold at the top and ... 

... at the bottom. This will leave you with a valley above and below the cut lines. 

Flip over and face the inside. Apply adhesive on the right halves of the 2 panels that you
pushed in - something strong such as RedLiner tape, Sticky Strip, Scotch Quick Dry or
ScoreTape, which is what I used. 

Press down and you will have a channel for your pen or pencil. And now you can start decorating.

I hope I've explained it clearly. If you have any questions, drop me a line. You could easily churn out a few of these in no time and they make great little gifts for any occasion. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you again soon. And don't forget to check out MIM #106 - load there to delight you!

Beijinhos!


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Earl Grey and 

Christmas Gift Card + toot

Hello dear friends. It's my second post of the day. I want to share with you a simple project that I started last Friday but only just managed to finish today.

For this gift card holder, I used Tuesday Morning Sketch #161, Crimbo Crackers #23 "Gift Card",  Christmas Stampin' All Year Long "26 "Anything But a Card" and a brand new Anything But A Card challenge. I think this is a fun little project, perfect for last minute gifts and can be adapted for any occasion / season. Last year I made a few to give to friends and family. Click here for Christmas 2011 samples.

Xiara loved sitting by our pond in
the garden, watching the turtle.

When I started this project I had no idea how the weekend would pan out. I made this to give away as a gift for Christmas 2012. I won't be doing that now. You see, it's the last project I made in Xiara's company. She's almost always with me as I craft and this project was no exception. Sadly, my adorable kitty passed away on late on Saturday, Sept 1 and I cannot bear to part company with our final session together. I'll probably convert it into a mini album of sorts to house some pictures of Xiara.




But for now, let me show you the gift card holder:

I was going for a vintage look. The patterned papers are from Dovecraft  Vintage Christmas. I also rotated the sketch.

I made a little tag to slide behind the label to say "A gift ... just for you" The stamps are from WMS. And quite nicley, we have just the perfect greeting from the patterned paper. I did my stamping with Memento Rhubarb Stalk to match.

In keeping with the vintage theme, I inked all the pieces with Vintage Photo. For embellis  I used some chunky green bling.

It opens up like a little booklet. There's ample space on the first page for a handwritten message. However, I'm going to put some pix on this page. The gift card slides into the slot in the middle panel.

On the last page, I made a pocket for a tag / photo.  The sentiment is  from WMS.

Supplies:
Paper: Dovecraft Back to Basics Vintage Christmas 8x8 pack
Stamps: Waltzing Mouse Stamps "Compliments of the Season" and "Compact Sentiments"
Ink: Memento Rhubarb Stalk; Tim Holtz Distress Ink "Vintage Photo"
Dies: Spellbinders Labels 16  S3-301; Labels 18  S3-301 


Tomorrow I'll post a pictutorial on how to construct the base card and with this you can dress it up to suit any occasion. Until then, thank you for stopping by.

Toot update:

As promised here is the pictutorial:

Start with a piece of CS measuring 5.5" x 12". Score on the 12" side as shown above: at 3.5" , 6" and 8.5"

Now fold as marked: V=valley fold & M=mountain fold. You should be looking down on a "W" -ish piece of CS.

Fold down and crease well. With the middle section folded, centre your gift card and mark the length as shown above. Mark it a hair longer than the gift card. This is where you will slide in the gift card and you want in to go in and out without snagging, but not so loose that it will fall out.

With your craft knife cut along the crease line between the points marked.  

Next, take a round or oval (as I have used above) and cut out a notch, so that you can get to the gift card easily. 

Flip it over and apply adhesive along the 3 sides as shown above, approximately  0.25" from the edge. You can use tape (snail or Score-tape) or wet glue (Helmar's or Scotch) but make sure you only apply it along the edge on the area shown. You want to create a pocket to hold the card.

When you slide in the gift card ...

... this is how it should rest in the pocket. The gift card is safely away from the adhesive. Otherwise the card will be stuck down in the pocket, giving the recipient reason to suspect your generosity! Apply adhesive and seal the deal.

And this is what the base card should look like when all done. Now all you have to do is decorate as you please.

I hope you'll give this a ago, it's easy and so versatile. I always have a couple of base cards all ready to decorate in an instant. And it's reusable by the recipient in a number of ways. I've seen these in action as a bus pass holder, library card holder, secret money wallet; to name a few.


Beijinhos


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Xiara

Xiara  
July 1999 - 1 Sept 2012

Hello, dear friends. This is a post I have been dreading. Xiara, my dear sweet kitty, passed away on Saturday after a 27-month long courageous battle with cancer. It was time for her to go as the illness had progressed to a point where we were running out of treatment options. Although she was not in pain, I have no doubt that life was getting decidedly uncomfortable for her.  While we are both crushed by her loss, I am happy that she went, of her own will, in my arms, surrounded by unconditional love from both of us and her fellow furries.

My MojoMonday #257 card this week is dedicated to the memory of Xiara, a gentler more affectionate cat we know not. The colours are from The Ribbon Reel challenge #36 "Vintage Black, White and Pop of Pink". Also playing with pearls for Ribbon Girl Sept challenge.

I'm keeping it simple this time. The pink papers are from Papermania Parkstone 6x6 and the black is from Papermania Liquorice and Sherbert.

Some vintage white lace... 

... and pearls. The sentiment is from WMS Fancy Phrases set and I stamped Xiara with letters from WMS Victorian Alphabet set. Both with Memento Tuxedo Black.  

Sheer pink ribbon and a white flower complete the show.

I apologise for not being on my blog rounds. It was a tough weekend. I'll start visiting and commenting soon. In the meantime, thank you so much for taking the time to drop in on me today.

Beijinhos

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