Luv my jeans!

There's nothing better than a good pair of jeans that fits just right. And depending on the rest of your outfit, they can be dressed up or down for just about any occasion. (Luv my jeans!) This yummy jeans-inspired card (or set of cards, as the case may be) is no exception.

This was one of my gifts to my sister for Christmas. She likes to hand make cards, but sometimes has trouble with the 'inspiration and design' aspect of cardmaking--AND she's more Tex-ified than I am, and has been known to wear large belt buckles with her matching leather belt and boots. So I put together a few card kits for her, each with one finished card, plus all the pieces pre-stamped and pre-cut to make three additional cards. I included matching envelopes with the horseshoe and star motif stamped on the flap. I have to admit it looks a lot better in person, though.

Ingredients (all SU!):
Stamps: Bronc Buster
Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Close to Cocoa, Brushed Silver
Ink: Versamark, White craft
Other: Markers, white gel pen, silver embossing powder, sponge wedge, 1/4" circle hole punch

Thanks for visiting!

Last craft fair of the season

Yesterday was the last craft fair I'm going to do this season, and it was... awful.

It was a first year fair, but they seemed to have a good handle on it when I signed up in early November. It was held at a nearby high school and had more than 80 vendors between two gyms. The big problem was they didn't advertise well, didn't put out adequate signage (friends and family who knew it was there, but who were not familiar with the school, still couldn't find it), and didn't take into account the proximity of the entertainment stage in relation to nearby booths. Half the time every booth was super easy to find (once you actually found the gyms) because there was NO ONE there shopping. The other half, the entrance to the gym was blocked, all the aisles were blocked, and many booths were blocked, not by shoppers, but by hordes of kids waiting to dance or sing, and parents wanting to watch their kids dance or sing.

Needless to say, I didn't even make back my booth fee.

On the bright side, I made a new friend (Hi Kara!), and had a fabulous display! The fireplace was an eleventh hour idea (literally, 11:00 pm Friday night). Check it out!



My friend Stephanie, with whom I shared the booth, suggested I put some of my unsold stuff on Etsy. I thought it was a great idea, so that's what I worked on when I got home. Check out my new Etsy store! You can also see some recent additions in the Etsy store gadget in the left column ( <-----*pointing left*).

Thanks for visiting!

Top Note genie bag

Got lots of oohs and aahhs over these last night. I made one for each of my PTA Board members in attendance at our holiday get-together/board meeting. They looked fabulous en masse there on the table. Shoulda taken a picture of that, but alas, in my effort to get everything else into my truck, I forgot my camera bag. Oh well.

Ingredients:
Papers: Baja Breeze and Whisper White cardstock, pearlescent vellum from Hobby Lobby
Sizzix Dies: Top Note, Snowflake #2
Stamp: Snowflake from this year's Country Living Holiday Collection (SU!)
Punches: Scallop Circle, Large Oval, Trio Flower
Ribbon: Silver tulle 'ribbon' (comes 6" wide, but I cut it down to 2")
Bag: #2 white gusset-bottom bags from Sam's Club

My own Top Note die is still on backorder (* S I G H *), so I borrowed this one from my downline. Thanks Carole!

Though this is a simple idea, it wasn't mine. I'm not sure who originated it (using the Top Note), but the earliest example I could find was by Angie Kennedy Juda at Chic n' Scratch.

Thanks for visiting!

Santa bookmark

Gah. I was hoping to take pics for a tutorial on how to make this guy using SU punches, but it's not gonna happen any time soon. So I'm just gonna share the pic, and the supplies list, and maybe you can figure it out!

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, Blush Blossom
Punches: Scallop Circle (beard/mustache), Scallop Square (hat trim), 1-1/4" Circle (skin), 1" Circle (cut out of scallop circle), 1/4" Circle handheld (nose and hat ball)
Other: Black marker (eyes), Stampin' Pastels (cheeks & nose), jumbo paperclip, grid paper

Hat is an isosceles triangle one inch tall, and one inch wide at the base. For the hat trim, I punched a scallop square, then put the punched piece back in the punch to trim it down (you can get two hat trims from one scallop square punch). The mustache is cut from the piece I cut out of the scallop circle for the face (you end up with a crescent shape left over).

Thanks for visiting!