Vintage shabby blissful day ...

Yesterday was one of those 'good' days ... you know what I'm talking about!  No work, hubby home to enjoy the day with you, glorious weather ... and doing something FUN together :)  We attended one of our favie antique shows that comes to our area twice per year - the Liberty Antiques Festival in Liberty, NC - about 30 mintues from our home!

I was looking for an antique oak secretary to replace an old pine one I have in my family room, but the challenge is to find a piece that measures 30" wide ... most are 34" or 36" wide.  No luck finding a furniture piece ... but I did manage to luck upon some absolutely delicious vintage treasures that beckoned me to bring them home!  First up is this beautiful vintage ladies hat ... the wide pink grosgrain trim and pretty pink corsage type flower caught my fancy right away!  I put it in my design studio upside down and filled the hat with handfuls of yummy trims that I found at another vendor's booth :)

And just take a peek at these gorgeous, handmade vintage lace doilies I found at another spot ... oh so pretty in {PINK}, don't you think?  They will look so beautiful in my design studio surrounded by all my other shabby, pink treasures!!

And lastely, I hit the jackpot when I wandered upon this lovely little bunch of vintage laces and trims at yet another vendor's booth.  There are so many lovely antique trims in this treasure stash that I won't know which ones to create with first!  Nice problem to have, huh??

We had a {heart healthy} picnic lunch that I packed from home along with some fresh squeezed lemonade from a vendor's stand at the show!  The temps were in the mid 70's with yummy sunshine pouring on our faces ... I got a bit of a sunburn on my chest from all that walking around outdoors.  This show has approximately 300 vendors and is all outside in a farm field ... antiques and fun for as long as the eye can see!

When we got home, I watched William and Kate's wedding on DVR and then hubby and I went out to dinner, followed by our daily three-mile walk for heart healthiness.  Such a glorious day ... these don't come around all too often, so I really tried to soak up each and every minute of the fun :)

Top Three at Waltzingmouse Stamps ...

Thank you to Claire and the WMS girlies for choosing my card as one of the top three designs for last week's lovely sketch challenge!!!

I hope your all having a wonderfully stampy day :)

Hugs!

xoxoxoxoxo

Let the My Time Made Easy PEEKS Begin!

Hello everyone and welcome to the second day of peeks for the My Time Made Easy May Release!  I know I say this each and every month, but THIS month you are all in for such a fantastic TREAT!  When I think that Lauren simply cannot top her incredible designs for the current month ... the following month she just blows me away with another wonderful template, fab stamps and pretty papers!

Without further ado ... here we GO!  I am tickled pink to introduce you all to the OH BEE HIVE template ...

... now, what is that you said???  That doesn't look like a Bee Hive to you?  You're absolutely right ... it's a minature wedding cake all decorated to the hilt with little bits and bobs of treasures and love!  SWOON!!

My in-laws 50th wedding anniversary is this August and my hubby and my 25th wedding anniversary is this September, so we collectivelly decided as a family (14 of us!) to surprise the parents and treat them to a family vacation at Disney this December ... during Christmas week when all the gorgeous decorations are up on display!  I simply cannot wait!  My hubby and I will be traveling down ahead of the rest of the family to spend three glorious days ourselves at the Grand Floridian Resort ... a Victorian-inspired dream resort that takes all its visitors back in time to a grand by-gone day when ladies wore gowns and gentlemen wore top hats!  Should be so romantic and special!  Then we'll spend another three days with the entire family from NY, NC and FL park hopping and celebrating - staying at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort ... and planning a Disney Dinner Celebration at one of the park's grand restaurants to commemorate these two special events!

So, onto my project ... one of my favie shows is DC Cupcakes based upon the Georgetown Cupcake Shop in Washington, DC.  We have plans this summer to travel there as well to order up a few handmade cupcakes from Sophie and Katheryn - LIVE!  A few episodes ago I watched the girls make miniature cupcake wedding cakes and the light bulb went on in my little ol' head!  I had just received my assignments from Lauren with all the new in May goodies and as soon as I saw the Bee Hive template, I knew right away I was going to make a miniature wedding cake ... and have these 'favors' sitting at each couple's place setting for the family anniversary dinner at Disney!!!

I cut out all the templates pieces with my Cricut and then embossed the white cardstock with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder from SU! -- I have to tell you that this 'cake' looks so REAL in person with all that elaborate embossing ... you could just eat it up!  Next I spritzed the entire 'cake' with Pearl Glimmer Mist from Tattered Angels to create a soft shimmer over all the 'icing' and give it a realistic look!  Next was the fun part ... adding the 'fondant' decorations!  I hand rolled 24 crepe paper flowers (yep, a fun project to do while watching soaps in the afternoon!) and attached them to the cake.  I adhered some pink pearl strings to look like 'piped icing' a few blue pearls, pink berries and another larger, handmade crepe paper flower on the top of the 'cake' with some white tinsel and glittered paper leaves.  WOWOWOWOWOW ... the pictures just do not do this little sweetie justice!

Next I set to work to create a matching card ... not sure if I'll give it to my in-laws or my hubby yet!  I created a tiny celebration banner using the amazing Monograms Defined stamp set!  That pretty little butterfly is from the Bold Botanicals stamp set ... I stamped it, cut it out, folded it in half to create dimension, adhered it to the card and sugared its wings with glitter!

I stamped, colored with pastels and then added some 'sugar' glitter to the pretty tulip image from the {new} Bee Loved stamp set and then added the gorgeous sentiment on the bottom of the card using the {new} Bee Loved Sentiments stamp set!

{Sigh} ... so soft, shabby and pretty!

And here is my pretty little set ... so soft, so shabby -- created with love in anticipation of a wonderful celebration of 'love through the years'!!  25 years is an accomplishment ... 50 years is amazing!

I was also inspired by all the hupla going on this week with the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate!  My hubby and I attended an antique show Friday morning, so my DVR was on notice to tape the wedding festivities so I could watch it all from start to finish when I got home!  Simply breathtaking!

Be sure to visit these other MTME Girlies' blogs for more inspiration using the Bee Hive template ...

My Time Made Easy Design Team:

Lauren Meader (owner)

Pam Imholz

Debbie Marcinkiewicz (you are here!)

Monique Hansen

... and then be sure to pop on over to the My Time Made Easy DESIGNER'S GALLERY to see what the rest of the team has been up to for our exciting May Release!

Thanks so much for peeking in today and allowing me to share my miniature wedding cake project with you!

Challenges for this project:

The Shabby Tea Room #59 - butterfly wishes

Moxie Fab World - Tissue Paper Magic
Die Cut Dreams #88 - wedding
Flourishes Bringing Back Beauty - spring colors
Simon Says Stamp - anything
Stamptacular Sunday #108 - 5 layers
4 Crafty Chicks - distressing
Sweet Stampin' Challenge Blog - try something new (template)

Pure Bliss is JustRite ....

I am blown away and truly honored to have had my BLISS banner choosen as this week's winning project at the JustRite Friday Inspiration Blog!  The challenge was to make some handmade flowers and use JustRite products in your design - two of my favorite things to do :)

You can read all about how I created this sweet creation HERE on my original post!

Thanks so much to JustRite Stamps and Spellbinders :)

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

For You ...

Hi everyone and welcome to The Beary Scrap Challenge Blog's post today!  I am honored to be guest designing with the teamies during April, May and June!!!  This week we are challenging everyone to create a card based on our WINGS theme and the DT are using insects in their creations this week too!  I chose one of my favie spring and summer insects ... the beautiful BUTTERFLY!

I began my design with a Wood Shape from Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden Collection.  I inked it and then added some sugar glitter!  The pretty little flowers in the middle are white 20mm Mulberry paper roses that I spritzed with Cherub Pink glimmer mist from Tattered Angels to give them a rosey hue!

I added a pretty little button and tag tied on with green baker's twine.  The sweet pearls on the tag and on the embossed flowers are Latte Basics from KaiserCraft.

I used Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden - Flower Blooms and Echo Park's For the Record - Newsprint for the base of my card.  The top has a pink pearl flourish and 3-D stamped heart and the bottom is embossed and inked with pink paint to create a time-worn look!

The goodies I used from Waltzingmouse Stamps are as follows:  Afternoon Tea,  Holiday Labels No. 14, Spellbinders Labels 14. 

I can't wait to see what you create inspired by our WINGS challenge this week at The Beary Scrap!  You have until April 30th to enter!

Thanks for peeking in today and have a wonderfully stampy day!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxoxo

Challenges for this card: 

The Beary Scrap #24 - wings

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #44 - sketch

The Shabby Tea Room #59 - butterfly wishes

Flourishes Bringing Back Beauty - spring colors

The Kraft Journal - May Day

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge - springtime

Simon Says Stamp and Show - button

Top Tip Tuesday - square

Stamptacular Sunday #108 - 5 layers

Pixie Dust Paperie - tag

Simon Says Stamp - anything

4 Crafty Chicks - distressing

My Time Made Easy Pretty Patterns #7!

Hello peeps and welcome to the My Time Made Easy Challenge Blog Pretty Pattern #7 challenge!

We have a fun sketch for you to try this week, so let's get started ... shall we!

The sketch is pretty simple in and of itself, so I wanted to use large embellishments to make a statement!  First I cut out the Caged cut file using my Cricut and some pretty Kraft paper.  I used the Singing Silhouette stamp set to stamp the cage on the cut out as well as the nest and cute little pink bird!  The ric-rac trim was cut with a die from My Favorite Things using the Love Notes paper.  I added a pretty organza flower, some trinket pins, pearls and glitter to add a bling factor to my design.

The base of my card was made using some paper from the Sensational Staples line and the gorgeous sentiment was stamped using the Bold Botanicals stamp set.  I embossed the background paper using the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder from SU! and lightly inked over the raised impressions with pink paint.  Some vintage trim, satin rouched ribbon, a paper flower and Vintage Winter White Shabby Seam Binding from my Etsy Shop finish off this pretty little card!

Be sure to check out the BLOG for the other teamies inspiration projects and don't forget to stop by the My Time Made Easy DESIGNER'S GALLERY for loads more creativity and inspiration to get your juices flowing!

I can't wait to see what you create with this fun sketch!  Thanks for peeking in today :)

Challenges for this card: 

My Time Made Easy Pretty Pattern #7 - sketch

Flourishes Bringing Back Beauty - spring colors

The Kraft Journal - May Day

Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge - springtime

Stamptacular Sunday #108 - 5 layers

Simon Says Stamp - anything

4 Crafty Chicks - distressing



Colour Q Honorable Mention ...

The card I designed for last week's color challenge at the Colour Q earned an honorable mention this morning!

Thank you to the CQ girlies for choosing my card!!!

Wish for Dad ...

I had some rare 'me' time today to spend in my design studio to create a 'just because' card -- no deadlines, no teams ... just for FUN, so I decided to hop along with the PTI girlies and join in on the fun over there!  The April PTI Blog Hop is all about boys and men ... they want to see your best masculine card using goodies from Papertrey Ink!

I don't 'do' masculine too often ... my comfort style is shabby chic with lots of pink ... but while working on this little cutie, I was reminded how fun, quick and easy a more clean and simple card design can be -- all the while still being decorative and pleasing to the eye!  This will make an excellent Father's Day card for the dads in my life ... or even my hubby's birthday this summer -- he is a golf fanatic -- I think he'll get a giggle out of the tee I stole ... borrowed from his golf bag!  I love the play on the 'Happy Birthday' song with the sheet music paper -- too cute!!!

Supplies I used from PTI:

White cardstock

Holiday Mix Vintage Buttons

Alpha Blocks stamp set

 Alpha Blocks die

Tiny Tags stamp set

Tiny Tags die

Postage Stamp die

Library Ledger text-style paper

Sweet Symphony text-style paper

There's still time to hop along with the gang ... click HERE for all the deets :)

Thanks for peeking!!!

Challenges for this card: 

Papertrey Ink April Blog Hop - masculine

Card Positioning Systems #215 - sketch

Tuesday Throwdown #45 - polka dots

Simon Says Stamp & Show - buttons

Pixie Dust Paperie - tag

Stamptacular Sunday #108 - 5 layers

CR84FN #25 - red, aqua, white

The Shabby Tea Room #59!

Welcome all :)  Pattie is our host this week in the Tea Room and has chosen this pretty little photo for inspiration ...

... and asks us all to create a card with BUTTERFLIES!

I {heart} butterflies, so this was an easy peesy challenge for me!  I tried to mimic the trailing butterflies by adding five 3-D pretty little winged creatures and embellishing them with glitter - yum!  The rectangle base on which I mounted the digi stamped image is a mimic of the shape of the cake as well.

I added some embossing, inking, sewing and embellies - pom-pom trim, pearl flourishes, resin roses, seam binding bow, lace and more glitter!  Papers are Sparkling Spring and Botanical by Prima from The Beary Scrap Paper Crafting Boutique!

Our sponsor in the Tea Room this week is The Stamp Fairy and I got to design with the 'Nelly & Leo #6' digital image ... isn't she sweet!  Good friends of ours, Mark & Beverly, sent my hubby an edible fruit arrangement filled with strawberries and cut pineapple in the shape of 'hearts' this past Friday to help him along in his recovery from the cardiac catherization/stent procedure he recently had.  I made this thank you card especially for them to thank them for their loving support and blessings!

Be sure to visit the Shabby Girls' individual blogs to be inspired by their lovely work:

Charlene Cundy - Expresstions of Me!

Danielle Greenwood - Au Clair de La Lune
Melissa Bove - Creating From the Heart

Pattie Goldman - The Pampered Paper Patch

Sheri Holt - My Sheri Cards

Thanks for peeking in today!  Have a wonderful stampy day :)

Challenges for this card: 

The Shabby Tea Room #59 - Butterfly Wishes

Card Patterns #112 - sketch

WPlus9 {color cue 14} - turquoise, red, kraft, brown

Fussy and Fancy - springtime

Top Tip Tuesday #30 - anything

Stamptacular Sunday #108 - 5 layers

Tuesday Throwdown #45 - polka dots

Simon Says Stamp - embossing

The Kraft Journal - May Day

Pixie Dust Paperie - tag



Happy Easter to You and Yours!

Happy Easter to all my sweet bloggity friends ..

... I hope you're enjoying doing whatever you're doing today, whether you celebrate Easter or not!

My oldest son worked this morning 6 am - noon, so we went to Easter Sunday mass with my youngest son and then the four of us all met up for a nice family brunch out to eat!

It is a glorious day here today -- upper 80's and sunny!  The guys have left to go golfing and mama is going to play in the craft room for a bit this afternoon!  Then I'll be making a scrumptious dinner for the family -- heart healthy, of course!  Porkloin Pesto Medallions with Parmesan Roasted Potatoes and lots of fresh veggies and fruit (no ham allowed for my hubby anymore!).

And then, we'll do our usual one-hour walk so hubby gets his required exercise for the day ... although I surmize he's getting plenty out on the golf course this afternoon -- but mama will need it after dinner too!!

We are SO BLESSED and SO THANKFUL that dear hubby is on the path to heart healthiness now, just 4 weeks post cardiac catherization and stent ... my how much can change in such a short period of time!

We said our prayers in church this morning and thanked God that we could all share this happy day together!

Blessings to you ALL!

xoxoxoxxo

Pure bliss ...

Hello sweet friends ... I have a banner to share with you all today.  I {adore} making banners and have them hanging throughout my house for every holiday and in between too!  The one I created to share with you all today is currently hanging in my kitchen for Easter and spring, but will retire to a special place in my design studio shortly!  Check out my 'create banner' made in March - so fun :)

I picked up a box of Making Memories chipboard alphas a couple weeks ago and knew immediately that they would compliment the new Melissa Frances 5th Avenue paper line perfectly!  Soft shades of blue, aqua and creme - {swoon}!  That's what I call 'bliss'!!!  I started the base of the banner by die cutting pennants with the Spellbinders Nested Pennants and Nested Lacey Pennants -- my new favorite tools!

Next I stamped some frame images from the JustRite Vintage Oval Labels (yum!) in kraft on creme cardstock and die cut them out using the coordinating Spellbinders Labels Six die.  Then the magic happens ... add all the embellies to make this pretty little banner come to life!  Another new passion of mine is handmaking rosettes out of Melissa Frances crepe paper -- they are sooooo easy and fun -- they come together in minutes and are really realistic looking and lovely!  The crepe paper is very easy to manipulate, scrunch and scrumble to create time-worn little treasures!  Aren't they so pretty?

A few rusty jingle bells and Tim Holtz safety pins, some resin button flowers, fluffy tattered fabric flowers, glittered library clips, buttons, satin flowers with rhinestones, paper doilies, baker's twine and beautiful vintage trim and swirls complete this little sweetheart!  The Shabby Vintage Seam Binding is Oatmeal Creme from my Etsy Shop!

Thanks for peeking in today ... have a wonderful stampy day :)

Challenges for this project: 

JustRite Friday Inspiration #53 - handmade flowers

The Shabby Tea Room #57 - pastels & stripes

Flourishes Bringing Back Beauty - spring colors

Moxie Fab World - Tissue Paper Magic

Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge #48 - inspiration board

Tuesday Throwdown #45 - polka dots

Top Tip Tuesday #30 - anything

Truly Scrumptious #55 - vintage

CR84FN #24 - light blue, aqua, creme

A few CARDS to share ...

I can't share these cards here just yet, but you can get a peek at them in the latest edition of CARDS Magazine ...

April 2011 ... page 93 - "Friends'

May 2011 ... page 149 - 'Cherish'

Hugs!

xoxoxoxxo

Time For You ...

Hello all and welcome to another fabby week at The Beary Scrap Challenge Blog!   I am having so much fun as Guest Designer for TBS this month and am looking forward to continuing to inspire you all in May and June with delicious goodies from The Beary Scrap Paper Crafting Boutique!! This week our #24 theme is 'Wings' with an added DT feature of using a 'Feather'.  I had the prettiest butterfly from Prima in one of my treasure baskets that was made with lots of bling and pink feathers and knew it would be the perfect inspiration for my project this week!

I added some pretty blue rhinestones to continue the bling factor in my design!

And some delicious flowers to coordinate with these beautiful papers!!

So soft, so pretty ... so spring-y!  I hope you enjoyed peeking in today :)

Goodies I used in my design from The Beary Scrap Paper Crafting Boutique:

Butterfly Garden - Botanical Gardens from Pink Paislee

Butterfly Garden - Nature Sanctuary from Pink Paislee

Light Blue Rhinestones from KaiserCraft

Green Sheer Woven Rosettes trim from May Arts

20 mm White mulberry paper roses

Pink Calla Lily paper flowers

Stamp sets I used from Waltzingmouse Stamps:  Holiday Label #14 and Afternoon Tea Sentiments!

Challenges for this card:

The Beary Scrap #24 - wings

Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #43 - sketch
Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger - paper flower bouquet

The Shabby Tea Room #58 - pastels and stripes

Tuesday Throwdown #45 - polka dots

ColourQ #81 - pink pirouette, so saffron, old olive, soft sky, white

Flourishes Bringing Back Beauty - spring colors

Top Tip Tuesday #30 - anything

Pixie Dust Paperie - tag

Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge #48 - inspiration board

My Time Made Easy Pretty Pattern #6!

Hello everyone and welcome!  So glad you're visiting here today! 

I'm excited to show you the My Time Made Easy Pretty Pattern #6 sketch that launches today ...

... WOW, has it been SIX weeks already?  Time sure flies when you're having FUN :)

I started by stamping the 'Happy Easter' sentiment using the Sentimental Occasions stamp set - love it!

I added a pretty digital image I found on Etsy, a paper doilie, some glitter (yum!), a glittered chipboard piece, a tiny safety pin, some vintage lace, pretty blue rhinestones, pom-pom trim and fluffy organza trim to add some bling factor to my design!

I stepped away from my 'usual' soft pastels and neutrals color palette for this card and decided to go bold and bright ... using pretty polka dots, ginghams and yummy Easter-y colors!

Digital paper from the My Time Made Easy Shop: 

Darling Dots

Ga Ga For Gingham

Two of my 'all-time favie' paper sets!!!

Be sure to check out the MTME BLOG to be inspired by the other MTME Sketch DT girlies' projects and don't forget to check out the MTME DESIGNER'S GALLERY for tons more fun creativity!!

I cannot wait to see what you create using this FUN sketch :)

Thanks for peeking in today!

Challenges for this card:

My Time Made Easy Pretty Patterns #6 - sketch

Off The Wall Craftiness #51  - bold brights color palette

Tuesday Throwdown #45 - polka dots

Die Cut Dreams #87 - Easter

Flourishes Bringing Back Beauty - spring colors

Top Tip Tuesday #30 - anything

4 Crafty Chicks #34 - Easter