Ornate Hanging Sign

 

Back from a wonderful vacation in Florida and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. As usual I had a fantastic and relaxing time in the sun and pool. I think I saw more manatee and dolphins this trip than I have all the other trips put together. It is just so awesome to see them swim by as you are laying around the pool. Nothing beats a trip like that. My friend Carol and her husband Jean Paul always make me feel so welcome and he makes the best margaritas- Thank you!

I did a fair amount of shopping while I was there (Ok, I did a lot of shopping). Went to my favorite stamp store The Owl and The Pussy Cat and picked up several things that I don't find around here in town. I found this new Sizzix die called Ornate Hanging Sign at Jo-Anns. They had 40% off all the Sizzix and I took advantage of it since we can't use coupons on any of the dies anymore. This card is a 5x7 so the die is very large. I cut the hanging sign out of an old color from SU called Vintage Violet. Then I layered a white Spellbinders Label Twenty on top of that. The Happy Birthday is actually from a die. The company is Elizabeth Craft Designs and I am in love with these word dies. I was able to find Thank You and Congratulations also. The two pieces that look like arms under the Birthday are actually pieces that were left over when I cut out the sign. I thought it added an extra touch. The designer paper is from Karen Neuburger called Chesapeake Vintage Bleu.

 

 

I got back late Monday night and haven't really done much of anything this week- hence why you haven't seen anything new on my blog until today. I had a lot to catch up on at work so I put in a few late nights. Today I enjoyed playing in my studio which was much needed. I had to make eight cards for birthdays, graduations, a thank you and a sympathy. It gave me the perfect chance to use some of my new items. I can't wait to make some things out of the new stamps I got at The Owl and The Pussy Cat. If only I could remember the samples she made with them. The rest of the weekend will be spent out in the gardens. The humming birds have already been here at the feeder and I know they have been looking for some of the real stuff but I haven't planted any flowers yet. Good thing since we've had frost a few times in the last two weeks. Sorry guys I just keep supplying the sugar water for a bit longer.

 

~have fun and enjoy!

 

Lady Jude

 

 

I have had this stamp called Lady Jude by KaiserCraft for quite awhile now but I had only used her once. I stamped her in black and colored her dress pink but is was so black that I put her back on the shelf and never used her again. I happened to see her on a card in a magazine and she was stamped in brown on kraft paper. Wow what a difference. I fell in love with her all over again. I decided to see what she looked like stamped in brown on vanilla paper and she was just as lovely.

  I used a MS punch for the fan part of the tag and gold sticker trim along the sides and bottom. The sentiment stamp says it all. It is from the line Funny Bones by Riley & Company and they are hilarious. I used Spellbinders Label 16 to cut it out. A piece of black satin ribbon and a few black rhinestones finished her off. The polka dot paper is actually Halloween paper from Carta Bella called All Hallow's Eve.

 

The card below is a different version of Lady Jude. I stamped her on kraft paper as I had seen in the magazine and then cut her out (not my favorite thing to do) layering her on a piece of black card stock that I had run through the Cuttle Bug using Tim Holtz's new embossing folder Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately she is placed directly over the tower which was poor planning on my part. This time I used Spellbinders Decorative Label 1 to cut out the sentiment and used black seam binding as my ribbon. The designer paper is from the Poetic Postage pack by The Paper Studio which is a favorite of mine.



 

 

 

 

 

 

I won't be posting for two weeks while I am in Florida. Off to spend some time with my gal pal Carol. I think I am more excited for this trip than I was the Hawaii trip. I fly out Friday and I will be there in time for an afternoon by the pool. I am looking forward to visiting The Owl and the Pussy Cat stamp store when I get there. She always has unique stamps and her cards and altered art projects are just beautiful- truly inspirational.

 

We are just starting to get our nice weather here in Michigan. The DH and I put out the deck furniture today and got the fountain running. He cooked chicken on the grill while I made potato salad. It was nice to sit out on the deck and have a nice summer meal. Nothing like grilled chicken, iced tea and potato salad to kick off the season.

 

~Have fun and enjoy!