New stamp collection!

I recently received the new 'Jane's Garden' stamp collection by Oxford Impressions and couldn't wait to sit down and play with this set.  The set contains a variety of images centered around a spring and garden theme.  Just looking at this plate makes one want to wander outside and enjoy the quiet and peacefulness of nature!  It's a reminder that we shouldn't take this gift for granted.

When I went to show my hubby what I made and ask which was his favorite, he immediately pointed to the one with the daisies:)  I cut out the flowers from some scrapbooking papers and thought they'd look nice with the cute teacup.  I used a portion of a square lace doily that I purchased years ago at a stamp convention.  A few gems glued around the sentiment towards the bottom added a bit of color. 

My favorite card I made however, has to be the one with the little garden gate.  I recently purchased a few of the new die-delites from Spellbinders.  When I first saw this particular die, I knew I wanted it to use with the 'Jane's Garden' set.  The only thing you have to remember is to use a piece of wax paper between the die and your paper or it will get stuck in the die after you cut it out (believe me, I forgot the first time...dahhh!) Lol.

Maybe you'd like to play with this great set (or perhaps another similar one), so go check out Suzanne's new website -

http://www.austingallery.com. 

Have a great week everyone and thanks for stopping by!

Baby Things!

Recently my mom informed me that we will be invited to a baby shower soon.  This is no surprise to me as my mom comes from a family of sixteen children and I have 63 cousins (last time I counted).  So there is always a wedding or shower to attend. 

I guess I'm a bit behind in the times but I don't Twitter or Tweet or do Facebook but I do look at Pinterest and I am addicted!  Recently I found several small projects that I HAD to try.  Actually, I'm not really a sewer so this was a bit of a stretch for me. (Paper crafting is more up my alley....) 

My project started out with a simple bib pattern that I found posted by Amy Friend on her site -  (www.duringquiettime.blogspot.com).  Some monkey fabric caught my attention at JoAnn Fabrics and I raced home with a yard to start (believe me I've been to JoAnn's a NUMBER of times since then, purchasing MORE of the same as it turned out so cute!)  The gal at the cutting counter had to ask what I was making as I kept buying SMALL amounts of this cute fabric.  Little did I know I was HOOKED on this little sewing frensy I was on...LOL!

Amy's bib had a pocket but I decided to omit that.  Like I mentioned, I'm not much of a sewer and I wanted EASY!  After accomplishing the bib, I decided I needed a burp cloth pattern.  Found one on this site... www.cloud9fabrics.com (tutorial - 'My Happy Nursery' by Michelle Engel Bencsko).  From there I decided I needed a pacifier pocket so I found a pattern on this site - www.weallsew.com by Ashley Johnston.  A side trip to our local Wal-Mart included a set of pacifiers to go with it all:)

(Sorry for the lousy photos.  One picture was taken with my camera, the other with my i-phone.  The fabric looks like a different color on the pacifier pocket, but it's the same. )

What started out as a whim turned into EIGHT sets!  I guess I'll be ready for all the babies showing up in the family now.  Thank you Amy, Michelle and Ashley for the great patterns that even someone who's not a sewer can deal with.  Like they say, 'One thing leads to another...and another....and another!"  Now I need to create a card to go with it all.  Now if only I could give up sleeping.....Have a good rest of the week everyone and thanks for stopping by:) 

It was a hectic weekend that included a graduation celebration.  However, I did manage to complete a few cards with the new 'Lily Elsie' collection from Oxford Impressions.  If you haven't seen these stamps, you really should take a look-see!  They are breathe taking beautiful.  Four images plus a sentiment. 

I'm attaching a photo of two of my favorites - the one with the pink edges included images from the 'Court of Versailles' collection and a bit of paper lace.  The other card included images from the 'Art of being beautiful', along with some butterfly and bird stickers .  Lily Elsie was a famous actress and this set would be wonderful for a variety of occasions.  Lily has such an air about her, so feminine and dainty, it's hard to go wrong with owning this collection.  Perfect for birthdays, Mother's Day, bridal showers, thank you's or just a thinking of you card.  I think I will openly admit,  this as my most favorite set of ALL of the Oxford Impressions collections!  If you'd like to see the set yourself and perhaps order one, here's Suzanne's new website - http://www.AustenGallery.com 

Temps hit the 80's here in Wisconsin today and there is a nice breeze.  Just gorgeous for taking a walk and catching some rays.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Have a great week everyone!

Seems holidays creep up on us so quickly lately and I can't help myself when it comes to puttering with a project at the very last minute...lol.  Anything that doesn't move around here is fair game in my eyes;) 

We'll be celebrating Easter over at my brother & SIL's place and we had this bottle of champagne begging to be opened, sitting on our counter.  I decided to make a little tag for it to wish them a 'Happy Spring'. 

Several years ago I purchased a couple of list pads from our local Dollar Tree.  Who could resist these with little fairy girls on them I asked myself!  They have sat in my art room for forever it seems.  I couldn't get myself to use them for just grocery lists, they were just too cute.   However, she was just begging to be used in some artistic way.  With that in mind, I cut out a cream colored bottle tag from a die I purchased from 'My Favorite Things'.  I sponged the edges with cotton candy distress ink.  Then I glued the little girl image onto a recycled cereal box and fussy cut her out.  I mounted her to the tag with foam dots.  Then I punched out little butterflies from the same paper she was printed on (sponging the edges lightly too) and some pink flowers from a dollar punch I bought at Michaels awhile ago, randomly gluing them around her.  I also attached a piece of lace to the bottom of the tag and added a strip of Washi tape above that .  I stamped the 'Happy Spring' from a stamp I had in my stash (I think it's from Hero Arts) and cut the edges with a decorative scissors.  I glued that to a scrap and cut it out again, mounting it to the tag with foam dots.  I tied a strip of ribbon into a bow (that was part of a child's skirt that I also purchased awhile ago at The Dollar Tree).  For a quick project I think it turned out rather sweet.  Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter and thanks for stopping by:)

Happy Birthday Suzanne!

Today is Suzanne Melvin's birthday. Suzanne is the owner of Oxford Impressions stamps. I created this card for her using her new collection called 'love lines' and the woman image from her 'Afternoon Tea' set. You can find these lovely stamps on her site - http://www.oxfordimpressionsstamps.com Hopefully Suzanne will forgive me in getting the card out to her a bit late. Time just is slipping away! Hope everyone has a great week. Thanks for stopping by:)

I made this card for my friend Mary over at Stamp Camp and thought I'd post it. I used a background stamp of hers that looked like scratch marks since I didn't have a stamp that looked like bricks. I wanted the man to look like he was standing outside of his girlfriends house:) I also used one of the new Spellbinders Die D-Lites. (I absolutely LOVE these new dies! If you haven't tried them yet, you really should. They are so delicate and beautiful. Word of caution however, you need to use a piece of wax paper when cutting them out with your die cutting machine. Many of the dies have tiny pieces in them so you have to use the wax paper to help release those parts.) Also included, I stamped alpha letters (also from Stamp Camp)and mounted them to the card with glue dots. Sorry for the lack of posting but I've been having problems with blogger the past few weeks:( Hope everyone is doing well!

Oh yes....it's been awhile since I've posted. No excuse except that life keeps getting in the way! Since 'Heart' day is tomorrow, thought I'd post a photo of a couple of Valentines Day cards I made for my two nephews who are away in college. I know they are getting too old for Valentines but I couldn't help myself. I LOVE this image of a smiling dog. It was printed in our newspaper and I always cut them out as they are just too funny. I mounted them onto a recycled cereal box and fussy cut them out. Next I used my tent card die template that I bought from THE STAMP DOCTOR (http://www.thestampdoctor.com). (Love, love, love that die! Oh my gosh....I can't tell you how often I grab for that one.) I added paper to the sides and stamped the sentiment, punched out a couple of hearts and mounted them to the card too. Used a super mini heart sticker on the front tooth of the dog as a finishing touch. Too fun!!! Hope it brings a smile to their faces. Did mine anyways...lol! Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Hope your day is filled with sweetness:)