Spec-tacular card and garage sale, thrift store finds

 

When I saw this close-up photo of my card, I cracked up.  I thought I did a decent job coloring in that one pair of sunglasses... until I saw this photo. I really did use the fine tip end of the Real Red marker. lol

 

 

I had three cards prepped for my club members last night, but decided to add a fourth because I wanted to use this single stamp called Spec-tacular. I love having cards on hand that fit a variety of occasions. I can just add a greeting and I'm good to go! This is a Whisper White card with a Marina Mist layer that I ran through the Honeycomb embossing folder. Spec-tacular is $7.95 (Item 132673) and fits clear Block E. It was stamped in a needs-to-be-inked Basic Black pad, layered on Real Red, with a 1/8" Real Red taffeta ribbon knotted on the front.

 

 

After running a couple of early morning errands today, I decided to go to a couple of Thursday garage sales, followed by a couple of thrift stores. Here are some of my finds - a ukelele, a little wire basket, a metal photo frame, a vintage flour container, and a 2-tier wire rack that's holding a tapestry purse and new business card holder. In the middle is a silver cloche (that was actually from yesterday's travels. I was hoping the candle holder on the far right corner would be the right size but it's much too large for the cloche), a few mason jars for when I make jam next month, a few doilies and English tea cup and saucer from a couple of old ladies down the road.

 

 

I also found the 4-pane mirror, a wooden end table, and a huge glass water bottle. I didn't get photos of everything. Instead, after visiting a friend for a bit, I came home and started cleaning everything, painting, gluing and getting crafty. It's fun, but tiring!

 

 

Here's a closer shot of the vintage flour tin after I cleaned it. I love the colors!

 



 

I love labeling on old, wooden boxes. Rolled fillets of anchovies with capers, anyone?

 

 

My 2-tier wire basket is now ivory colored instead of black. Huge improvement!

 

 

My teacup and saucer is now a bird feeder, thanks to glue! I just need a chain that will go from a tree branch to the handle, and some bird seed in the cup and saucer. I got the idea off of Pinterest! Whoo hoo!!! I know exactly where I'm going to put it - in my side yard. When we barbecue this weekend, it'll be in plain view.

 

Thanks for joining me today!



Sharing a special day of love

 

This is just the ticket for somebody you love! Or two tickets with a heart clip!

 



 

Achievers on my American Ink team came to my studio yesterday to make four special projects - this is one of them. It's a Pretty in Pink card with a Basic Black layer that has been stamped and heat embossed in white with smudges and lines to look like a chalkboard. I add two stamps from That's the Ticket (Spring Catalog Item 128075 clear for $16.95) on a knot of 1/8" Whisper White taffeta, then finished it with a Cute Clip from the Elements pack (Item 129939, $4.95). The lines were made using a white crayon, though my gals got to use a white pencil I had at the studio. It worked much better! I used stamps from Animal Talk, Field Flowers, Word Play, Hearts a Flutter and Itty Bitty Banners. I'll share the other projects this week.

 

Here's one of the things I made for our lunch - a Spinach Strawberry Bacon Salad I found on Pinterest. It also had walnuts and red onions with a dressing that's included in the recipe. I got the photo and recipe here. It tastes SO good! My hubby and kids enjoyed the leftovers, though my son didn't care so much for the dressing.

I also made Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken and a Pink Lemonade Pie. Those recipes are also on Pinterest under my Favorite Recipes board.

 

 

Here in the United States, we have the day off to celebrate the observed birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. (His birthday was January 15.) My kids are happy to have an extra long weekend. I went to Atlanta in 1985 and visited MLK, Jr's Ebenezer Baptist Church where he was a co-pastor with his father during the civil rights era of the 1960s. It's an historic site. He truly was a great man whose words mean something even today. I bought a soft metal keychain with part of his "I have a dream" speech on it and used it till all of the letters rubbed off. MLK, Jr. Day is a day of service. Plant a tree, lend a hand to someone in need... just make a difference, share the love, and have a fabulous day. :-)

 

This Stampin' Royalty challenge is For the Birds, as well as a Sneak Peek for YOU!

 

Something about going into the New Year makes me think of little birdies. I paper-pieced these two from the For the Birds stamp set with new designer paper.

 

 

I made this card for Stampin' Royalty Challenge #156 and my father-in-law's birthday. It starts with a Bashful Blue card base, with layers of Tea for Two dsp (Spring Catalog) and Early Espresso card stock.

 





Did you notice the Petite Curly Label punch out of the Tea for Two paper to the left side of the birds? It's just one of the many freebies you may select with every $50 you order during our Sale-a-Bration Event starting January 22.

 

I used a piece of natural trim under the top two layers, as well as the new Honeycomb embossing folder on a piece of Bashful Blue card stock. Both the trim and folder are new items that will be available in the Spring Catalog as of January 3!

 

 

The last thing I'll share on this post is a mason jar soap dispenser I made for our bathroom. The idea came off of Pinterest. We go through a lot of hand soap and I was constantly refilling those smaller containers. I used a pump from a lotion bottle (because it was longer than the regular hand soap pump), drilled a hole in the lid, and glued it down. Hopefully it'll be a very long time before I need to refill this jar! lol

 

Happy Stampin'!



An ornate Christmas Deer and our pets in lights

 

This Christmas Deer looks so regal with its ornate antlers. It's all Marina Mist and Early Espresso. I CASE'd a card I saw on Pinterest for one of my designs at my last 10-card Christmas class. I thought I'd saved the name, but can't find it. If you know whose card this is, please let me know so I can add it to this post. Here's her card:

 

I've also seen several photos of pets and Christmas strings of lights on Pinterest that I thought looked really cute. So I tried it with our furry family members. Here's our cat, Frito:

 

 

And our loving mutt, Isabelle:





 

I have to say the animals were very accommodating. They let my daughter move and decorate them without complaint! We actually put up stockings for  the dog and cat too. Have a wonderful day!

Upcycling has never been so sweet!

 

I've been upcycling items a lot lately, including giving these jars a new life. I've seen lots of dessert bar ideas on Pinterest and thought why not combine a "candy" bar with upcycling?

 

 

There is Stampin' Up! product on these - namely the now retired chalkboard labels. I love everything chalkboard!

 

 

I washed and removed labels from salsa, alfredo sauce, pickles and more, then glued on porcelain knobs I purchased from a craft store, and painted the "new" lids a satin red. I rubbed on the vinyl chalkboard labels and that was it!

 

 

For this frappucino bottle, I decided not to add a knob and to instead add some Real Red and Basic Black card stock with the silver glimmer buckle.

 

For now, these jars are sitting on my kitchen island. But they'll have a special place on a table at my studio for my American Ink Christmas party coming up!

Homemade dishwasher detergent with a Stampin Up! touch

 

I'm running a leaner and meaner household these days, either cutting back or making things from scratch if it saves money. I'm also trying to do more things for the environment. You might remember that I made laundry detergent here. I've been using it for 3-1/2 months and still have more than a third of the gallon left! I wash laundry every other day. It works as good (if not better) than the store-bought brand names I've purchased in the past. Best of all, a couple of the laundry detergent ingredients are the same as for the dishwasher!

 

I ran out of dishwasher detergent yesterday. I looked up a recipe for homemade detergent on Pinterest and came up with this one:

 

1 cup Arm & Hammer Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

1/4 cup Kosher salt

2 packets unsweetened lemonade

 

That's it! I already had everything except the Koolaid, so I picked that up today for 20 cents a packet. And I'd saved the top to a salt container after seeing a different pin on Pinterest, so using some Rich Razzleberry paper from the Polka Dot Patterns dsp pack, I covered the salt lid so I can use the spout with a regular mason jar. (I tried using a pint jar, but needed to move up to a quart size to fit all of the ingredients as listed.) I used liquid adhesive to glue the lid into the ring. Now when I need to add detergent to the dishwasher, the pour spout makes it super easy! It only takes one tablespoon per load (that's all my dishwasher "cup" will hold anyway), so this should last awhile.

 

 

Although the jar is under my kitchen sink, I thought it'd be nice to coordinate a label and ribbon with the jar lid! lol I used the 2-inch circle punch and Decorative Label Punch.

Have a wonderful day! A new week of The Great Pumpkin Blog Hop starts tomorrow, so I'd love to see you create something for it. :-) One lucky participant will receive $50 in Stampin' Up! product at the end of the 13 weeks!

Pinwheels and Pinterest

This month, my club members all made a card with a pinwheel on it. Pinwheels are so fun and easy to make. I've got a FREE, easy photo tutorial on how to make a pinwheel under my Free Tutorials tab above. You can make them any size you like too.

I used the Chevron embossing folder on the Whisper White card front, added a knot of stitched Real Red grosgrain ribbon, and my pinwheel (with a silver glimmer brad). The "hip hip hooray" stamp is from a hostess set called Happy You. I punched it out using the 1-3/4" circle punch, and layered it on the larger scallop circle. I don't know about you, but polka dots make me happy!

Now onto my Pinterest shares:

Today I baked two loaves of artisian bread. You need to let the dough sit for up to 18 hours, so make it a day ahead then bake it before you want to eat it. It uses a crockpot in the oven and is SIMPLE.

I also baked two loaves of Peanut Butter Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips. My kids love it (thanks Maria for steering me to the recipe!).

Then I made a couple gallons of laundry detergent - one is for a neighbor. I added a tag so she can make her own next time.

While I was waiting for bread to bake, I cleaned out what I call my baking cabinet. The few things that were expired got thrown out, I saved a couple of containers and washed them out to hold things like brown sugar (I can't stand those plastic bags because I get sugar everywhere!), and the super high top shelf has items only on the edge so I can actually see what I have and use them.

I've included the links for all of the Pinterest items under the photos, but you may choose to Follow me on Pinterest. I've got a button for that in my right-hand column.

I hope you're enjoying your day! Next on my list: stamping!!!



Dry erase photo frame and candy heart votive

I've been feeling all kinds of crafty today! I made flubber, a candy heart Valentine decoration, and a photo frame dry erase board.

My daughter and I made the flubber using warm water, Borax, Elmer's glue and food coloring (she chose green). She loves it. It's feels cool - I think it'd be fun to use for Halloween. You know, when you have the kids stick their hands in things to feel what they might be. It'd feel like just about any organ. Oooh! I got the recipe off of Pinterest.com.

I picked up a couple of glass containers today and a bag of candy hearts. I don't have much in the way of Valentine's decorations, so I thought I'd make some. I set the smaller glass container in the bigger one, then poured the candy hearts around the outside. The last step is adding the candle. It's sitting on my washstand right now, but it'll be going to my studio with me tomorrow. I got this idea after watching "The Chew" on TV one day awhile ago. They used candy corn (must've been a Halloween show!).

I used a piece of 5" x 7" Beau Chateau dsp in an inexpensive photo frame as a message board for my family. Then I gathered up a strip of Candy Cane fabric to make a flower, added a big designer button, and hot glued it to the frame. I bought dry erase markers that I covered with Beau Chateau paper. You can see the black marker in the photo. Now it's really easy to get my message across. Ha! Another Pinterest idea.

I hope you've been enjoying your Sunday! I've got a busy week ahead. I really should be prepping for my clubs, a 10-card class, my downline meeting, and more. Soon....

Pop tab jewelry: A little bit of recycling and Stampin' Up!

One of my favorite things to do right now is to visit http://Pinterest.com for new craft ideas, recipes, home decor, etc. It's fun to see all of the great ideas everyone shares. I like to "pin" items to try, including items like Pop Tab Jewelry. The bracelet took 17 tabs (the model is my 11-year-old daughter, so it might take a few more for an adult). The necklace took 60 tabs. Both pieces use 1/8" taffeta ribbon from Stampin' Up! - Regal Rose and Old Olive. What a cool way to recycle!