Fall has arrived!

I see it all around me!

 

Virginia creeper changing color

Leaves falling

White hydrangea fading into pink

 

 

 

 

Mist hanging in the mountains

 

 

 

And this morning the temperatures were in the 30’s.  Yes, fall is definitely here!

 

In honor of the season I made this burlap canvas.  I purchased the canvas at Michael’s and used several Tim Holtz dies for the leaves and butterfly.  For the background I used a harlequin stencil and texture paste and a piece of sheet music.  I sprayed everything with a couple colors of the new Distress Stain Spray and then Glimmer Mist.  The metal word is a Tim Holtz Ideaology Word Band.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vellum Leaves

Today was a foggy, rainy day, perfect for spending the day in my craft room!  One of my very favorite blogs is Tutorials for Crafty Hands by Tammy Tutterow.   Tammy is so very creative, it’s no wonder she is a designer for Tim Holtz, Ranger Ink and Sizzix, among others.

Tammy recently had a tutorial for stamping and cutting out leaves from vellum which I tried tonight.  My tag is similar to Tammy’s, but different, as I didn’t have all the exact supplies that she used.  I really like the way it came out.

Oh boy…

A lot has happened since I last posted, as usual.  I don’t know how many bloggers do it.  I see women who work, have children at home, create something almost every day, and they still have time to post on their blogs.  I wish I had that kind of energy!

We were headed to Sun Valley, Idaho when I last posted.  We had a wonderful time with Dave, Donna, Matt and Adam!

Beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho

Sleigh ride!

In May Jen’s family joined us for a week in North Carolina.  We had a wonderful time – with 11 people and 6 dogs in the house!  Hopefully this will become a yearly occasion for our famlies.

The kids at Dry Falls, Highlands, NC – Joyce, Jessica, Jen, Matt, Adam, Jackie, Nam

In July we took my #1 Dream Trip to South Africa with Dave and Donna.  We had an amazing time!  Jay was reluctant at first but he admits it was the trip of a lifetime!

 

 

Hippos in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

Lion in Sabi Sands Reserve, South Africa

Giraffe in Okavango Delta, Botswana

Now we’re back in North Carolina until the first of November, waiting for fall to begin!

New sign!

Our house

Our new tenants, Jade and Happy Jack

Yes, it has been four months…

since I last posted!  Well, I’m not going to dwell on that.  I have been busy of course, and now I’m busier than ever.  A friend of mine, Kathy, has opened a stamp/scrapbook store near me and I have been helping her out and having a ball.  I’m giving some workshops using tags and ATC’s and generally just helping around the store.

 

Here are some of the tags we have made in the last couple months:

Our first tag workshop in December

December #2

January #1

January #2

It has been a lot of fun helping out at Kathy’s.  More pictures to come – but first, we’re heading out to  Sun Valley, Idaho tomorrow to ski!  Can’t wait, should be a great time with our best friends and mid-week Matt and Adam are joining us!

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Sweet Peas

I found a tutorial for making cute little sweet peas on Judy’s Craft Room and decided to try it on some ATC’s.  I had all the “ingredients” which consisted of two Stampin’ Up punches, the “old” butterfly punch and the five-petal flower punch.  I think they turned out really cute!  Thanks Judy!

Some projects finished this summer. . .

I worked on several projects this summer.   I repainted our wooden Adirondack chairs which were a dingy white from when I originally painted them about 5 years ago and now they are a lovely forest green.

 

 

Years ago I inherited a sewing cabinet from Jay’s grandmother.  It was painted dark brown and was actually quite ugly but I loved the shape of it and hung onto it.  Recently I had it stripped and then I antiqued it white and it is now a side table in one of the bedrooms here in the mountains.  I thought it came out quite well!

 

A smaller project was one I had seen online and pinned it, hoping to do it one of these days.  It is a picture frame backed with chicken wire and it makes a cute “bulletin board” in my kitchen.  I couldn’t staple the wire on like the instructions said as it was too thin so I used heavy-duty duck tape to tape the wire on.  Below are a few photos of the frame:

 

I decorated the clothes pins with patterned paper and ModPodge!

More tomorrow, hopefully, on some smaller projects I’ve been working on!

Fall!

Yes, it’s fall already!  I can’t believe the last time I posted it was spring.  Summer whizzed by here in the mountains of North Carolina!  One of the reasons we love being here is the produce – the best corn, peaches, tomatoes…and now great apples!  We have several apple trees on our property, none of which are cultivated but we do get some good-tasting apples.  Not very pretty…but the insides are delish!

Here’s a basketful that Jay picked. . .

And here’s what I made with them – apple butter!

Jay brought some home for friends and everyone loved it – we do too!  Peeling was tedious of course but Jay helped and the recipe is so easy, you let it cook in the crock pot all night.  For some reason I feel very domestic when I’m here!

I also had some time to make some baby cards for friends – one boy and one girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m working on my Christmas cards and some gifts, none of which I can post here yet! I’ll be working on a lot of other projects so I hope to be back soon!

Spring!

Today really felt like spring here!  After a few days of muggy, warm weather and a big thunderstormy day yesterday, today was cool and sunny.  Jay and I went to an Orioles/Red Sox game and it was a beautiful day to watch a spring training game.

 

I’ve seen lots of spring wreaths and spring decor online and saw one that was easy to do.  Here it is:

 

 

I took two grapevine wreaths and set them on top of one another.  In the middle I placed some moss that I had on hand, set the bunny in the middle and cut up a couple artificial flower stems I had.  Then I added a few speckled eggs from my Easter things.  I think he’s cute!  

And here’s a banner I made to hang on the mantle in our family room:

 

This is a closeup of one of the letters.

 

The chipboard shapes were covered in dictionary pages and edged with ink.  Then I painted the letters, stamped lightly with a sanded look stamp, and painted the scalloped circle.  I got some little wooden half eggs from Michael’s and painted them, then stamped a flourish in gold on them.  I glued them on top of a bit of moss.  The little scalloped circles at the ends are stamped with a bird and a nest.  

 

 

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

My New Year’s resolution of posting to my blog on a regular basis has fallen by the wayside. . . Oh well, I am just going to post when I feel inspired!

Today I am inspired by the eighteen25 blog post about the American Crafts Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic + Giveaway!  Visit eighteen25 and see what adorable projects you can make with these great products from American Crafts ‘ Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic line.  While you’re there you’re going to want to enter the great giveaway!  These products are available at Jo-ann stores beginning TODAY – but why not try to get them for free?  Good luck to me – and you!

While I’m here I’m going to show you some tags I made for a swap for the Creative Block – Stamper’s Anonymous Yahoo group.   The requirements were to use the Tye-Die technique and only Stamper’s Anonymous stamps.  Fun tags to make!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll have another project to post tomorrow.   I’ve made cards for Matt and Jen’s anniversary (April 9), Jen’s birthday (April 19) and Jackie’s wedding (April 20 -Jen’s sister) but I can’t post them until I present them!

 

Happy Birthday Jen

Today I want to share a card I made for Jen’s 2012 birthday.  Cupcakes are all the rage now and we had lots of them at Jen’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s wedding shower.  So when I saw this card on the internet I couldn’t resist CASEing it!

Isn’t it cute?  Lots of fun to make!