Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Getting ready for Christmas!

Hello friends!
Yes, it is July . . . but a day was spent taking inventory of my "wares" . . . the tags, ornaments, cards and assorted items I market annually at the November O'Tis a Festival in Norwich.  I counted and sorted and thought about what I want to spend time making for this year.  An ever-changing list was begun  . . . decisions, decisions . . .

A few things from last year . . . . I pack and transport the goods in fabulous cardboard suitcases I found at Michael's several years ago.  They work perfectly  . . . I just open the lids and everything is pretty much ready for viewing.



The case seen below holds flat paper goods . . . note cards, bags, tags, and flash card banners. A few new Christmas stamps arrived in that brown truck so my popular tag selection will expand a bit this year.  With the coloring book phenomenon in full swing, I'm thinking of adding some "color it yourself" tags to the mix.



A second case carries paper ornaments including embossed and glittered partridge-style birds, ice skates, and little dresses folded origami-style from dictionary, sheet music, maps,and text pages. Silhouettes of men, ladies, and a Sherlock style fellow are stamped on book and school register pages in a black card stock frame.



More ornaments in the third case . . . embellished sheet music angel wings, a glass ball ornament with a little tree and glittery snow, and some half globes with snowy scenes of deer, trees and a cabin. The gift bags with tags keep these from shifting around.



The final suitcase holds "objects," including a variety of wooden spool ornaments. There are also bottle brush trees in or on various containers or spools in the snow globe theme popularized by Anthropologie several seasons ago. I've also been collecting little vehicles and plan to add Matchbox style cars/trucks carrying little trees to the 3-D selection. 



Although it's in the 80's outside, the Christmas spirit is moving along inside, worked in around the golf schedule!

Cheers!

S.



Friday, July 1, 2016

Card for Lovebirds - From the Archives

Hello friends,

A long-time couple I know have a marriage that is to be admired. This card was made for their last anniversary . . . A few new supplies had found their way into the house and I needed to play . . .




I have been a fan of silhouette art for most of my life, probably originating from the silhouettes my mother collected and displayed in my antiques-filled childhood home. 

This card came together quite quickly, once the idea took off. I die cut the people and a heart from black cardstock - (notice the shadow at the top of the heart) and another heart from red paper. It was all arranged and mounted on a vintage book page that was layered over black paper and then mounted on a cream card.

The sentiment and label outline were stamped on cream paper and added to the card.  The inside was penned with a personal greeting. Off it went to my friends . . .

It's golf season so . . . although I'm not creating much, plans for many things are swirling around inside.

Til next time!

S.