Simple Treasures: October 2011

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween!

The hubby and I attended a Halloween Costume Party Saturday evening that some good friends were hosting. We look forward to this annual event each year!! It's so much fun to dress up and have an excuse to be goofy while hanging out with our great friends!

And boy oh boy ... what GREAT food we feasted on the entire evening!!

Whatever your plans are today -- whether they are spooky, fun or relaxing ... I hope you have a GREAT DAY!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Merry Christmas - Vintage Mitten ...

Hello sweet friends! I'm so excited to share the news with you ... a sweet little creation I designed and submitted to the Simply Handmade Magazine (a division of CARDS Magazine) has been picked up for publication in their Holidays issue!!!

I had to run right out to AC Moore and pick up a copy to check it out!! I hope you'll pick up a copy too ... SO MUCH gorgeous inspiration and Christmas adorable-ness packed into one sweet magazine :)

My vintage project is featured on a two-page spread -- pages 44 - 45! It looks so cute here!

A sweet lady by the name of Grace from TX contacted me to purchase this mitten and the Creative Envelope Pocket and Tags set I created for Crafty Secrets last week!!

Thank you SO VERY MUCH for all your precious and sweet comments and encouragement along the way -- I value each and every one of your remarks and am thankful that you take time out of your day to visit me when you can! Thanks from the bottom of my heart for being such wonderful bloggity friends!!!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

The Shabby Tea Room #86!

Hello sweet friends and welcome to The Shabby Tea Room #86 - 'Homespun Fall'! I am your host this week and I found this beautiful picture on Pinterest for inspiration ...

... and I'm challenging everyone to create a card or project inspired by the COLORS in the photo with a FALL THEME!

I was not only inspired by the perky orange and cream pumpkins, but also by the lovely black antique cart and front door, the grids in the window panes of the glass on the front door, the word friend in black and the berries and leaves!

I used my all-time most favorite stamp set from Flourishes in this design - Seeds of Friendship! I also included some kraft-y goodness on the simple tag and base of the card!

This is an antique scale I picked up many years ago at an auction -- it lives in my kitchen perched on this little wooden stool. The tin bucket is filled with artificial artichokes, pinecones and berries and for Halloween, I added this sweet little pumpkin teddy bear and card!

The bench also holds a tin plate of faux pumpkin cookies I got from one of my favie shops - The Rusty Bucket ... and a cream colored pumpkin ... perfect go-along for the inspiration picture in the Tea Room this week, don't you think??!!

I am sponsoring the Tea Room challenge this week with my Etsy Shop - Deb's Simple Treasures! I used some pretty Cake Crumbs and Ambrosia Cantalope Shabby Vintage Seam Binding on my card design! All of the shabby seam binding available in my shop is lovingly hand tea-stained and shabbied up right in my very own kitchen! It's a two-day process tea-staining the seam binding and then sun drying, adding more tea stain and back and forth until I get 'just the right' amount of vintage look! I currently offer 15 beautiful colors in my shop. This beautiful seam binding makes gorgeous bows and decorations on any handcrafted card or project and is great for home decor use around the house. I love hanging all my hand-crafted banners with shabby seam binding!

This week's Tea Room winner will receive 15 yards of beautiful shabby vintage seam binding -- one yard in each of the 15 colors available in the shop currently!

Please be sure to stop by each of the other Shabby Girls' blogs to be inspired by their projects this week using some tea-stained vintage seam binding:

Charlene Cundy - Expresstions of Me!

Cindy Holshouser - Sweet P Paperie

Fran Westmoreland - Purple Peanut's Crafty Blog

Melissa Bove - Creating From the Heart

Sheri Holt - My Sheri Cards

And then I hope you'll give our Homespun Fall challenge a try this week!

Thanks so much for visiting today ... have a wonderful stampy day!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

The Shabby Tea Room #86 - Homespun Fall

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenges #141 - trees or leaves

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger - autumn woods colors

Moxie Fab World - Textured to Perfection

JUGS #108 - wild card

Pals Paper Arts #117 - CAS element of style - ribbon

Stamptacular Sunday #136 - borders & frames

Simon Says Stamp - anything

The Pink Elephant #123 - distressing

There She Goes Stamps #128 - Au Naturale - jute/hemp/burlap/twine

Sunday, October 30, 2011

The Ribbon Reel #14!

Hello all and welcome to The Ribbon Reel challenge #14! This week we have a lovely inspiration photo for you to create with ...

... and we're asked to create a card or project using the colors TURQUOISE, HOT PINK AND WHITE!

I recently got this adorable die and stamp set and couldn't wait to use it ... I thought I'd make a pretty little snowgirl all dressed up to play! Her hat and skirt are trimmed with white pom-pom trim I got from The Ribbon Reel Shop a while back. Her scarf is made using some Bay Leaf Seam Binding and the pretty little nosegay is made using a Pink Rose and die cut holly leaves made from kraft cardstock inked with white paint.

I rouched some Ivory Silky Crush to create her skirt before I added the pom-pom trim ... so 3-D and cute!

Be sure to pop on over to The Ribbon Reel Challenge Blog to see what the other teamies have created for your inspiration this week and then I hope you'll give this beautiful color challenge a try!

Thanks for visiting today!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Challenges for this card:

The Ribbon Reel #14 - hot pink, turquoise, white

Moxie Fab World - Textured to perfection

JUGS #108 - wild card

Pals Paper Arts #117 - CAS element of style with ribbon

Simon Says Stamp - anything

A spooky sneak peek ...

Well, how time flies ... it's the end of the month and that can only mean ONE THING -- yep, it's time for another My Time Made Easy Sneak Peek from the November Releases!!!

I'm pleased to introduce you all to ... Tri-It!

When I first saw this cutie-patootie template, the first thing that jumped into my mind was a witch's hat since we're only a day away from Halloween! This would also make darling birthday party hats for favors at your child's next party -- super cute! How about turning it upside down and making big puffs out of stuffed felt in bright colors and calling it an ice cream cone? So many cute ideas and such a fun and easy template to assemble in a snap!

I recolored a page from the Dainty Damask collection in black to use for my 'upscale witches bonnet'!! The addition of some pretty ... oops, I mean spooky black and orange flowers look so pretty adorning the brim! I decorated the top of the hat with some green paper clips untwisted and hot glued in place and then added pom-poms that I sprinkled with some spooky orange glitter -- so fun! The brim was made by laying a dessert plate over a piece of patterned paper, trace and cut!

For the coordinating card, I used the A Spooky Surprise acrylic stamp set ... I love how the spider web looks inked in white craft ink against the black cardstock!

We attended a Halloween party last night at a friend's house and I brought this delightful treat along as a host gift for my friend, Nancy! She is the queen of Halloween and enjoyed such a sweet treat!

Be sure to check out the cute projects some of the other teamies have designed for your inspiration:

My Time Made Easy Design Team:

Lauren Meader (owner)

Katie Shawger Cotton

Tangii Crain

And don't forget to swing by the MTME DESIGNER'S GALLERY for lots more beautiful inspiration!

Some of the other teamies will have projects to share with you all on Monday and then stay tuned for the BIG RELEASE DAY PARTY on Tuesday where I'll be sharing the sweetest holiday gift set you've ever seen ... you won't want to miss it!

Until then ... happy stamping!
Hugs!
xoxoxo

Challenges for this project:

Moxie Fab World - Textured to Perfection

JUGS #108 - wild card

Top Tip Tuesday #57 - trick or treat

City Crafter Challenge Blog #80 - decorated box

There She Goes Stamps #127 - Halloween or fall

Pals Paper Arts #117 - CAS element of style - ribbon

Paper Issues - 31 Days of Halloween

Simon Says Stamp - anything

Friday, October 28, 2011

Mr. Pumpkin = Chic of the Week!

A HUGE thank you to Maria and the JUGS girlies for choosing my little 3-D Mr. Pumpkin as the Chic of the Week project!!!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

1st Birthday Sweetness ...

Hello friends and welcome! I have a 'sweet' layout to share with you all today that I recently designed for Kaisercraft using several different collections ...

... and this design is for the current Saturday Sketch Challenge!

I had the pleasure of attending one of my very good friend's little girl's first birthday party ... what a great opportunity to snap a bunch of pictures!!

She didn't like the party hat and pulled it off her head as soon as her mama put it on ...

... but, she LOVED the cupcake made especially for her 1st birthday celebration!

Yummy!!

Please visit the Kaisercraft Blog for a complete materials list and to check out today's Saturday Sketch and then I hope you'll have time to give this fun challenge a try!!

Thanks for peeking in today!

Hugs!

xoxoxoxo

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Happy Fall Ya'll ...

A big thank you to Paige and the girlies over at Create for CARDS for featuring my fall-themed card on the blog today!

I hope you're all having a wonderful stampy day!

Hugs!

xoxoxo

Monday, October 24, 2011

Crafty Secrets Design Team Challenge - 'Creative Envelopes'

Hello sweet friends and welcome to this month's edition of the Crafty Secrets Design Team Challenge. This month's theme is 'Creative Envelopes' and we were all challenged to create a little bag out of an envelope and then decorate and fill it ... so FUN!

Here is a link for a tutorial on how to make a bag out of an envelope:

http://www.incrediblethings.com/art-design/dont-spend-another-dollar-on-gift-bags

Ready, set ... here we go!!!

I used a 5 1/4" square envelope to create my pocket. I followed the directions from the link above, cut the top of my pocket with pinking sheers and then inked all the edges with Tea Dye ink. I used a GORGEOUS vintage image from a sheet of Christmas '07 Creative Scraps to decorate the front of my pocket -- sewing a zig-zag stitch around all the edges before adhering it onto my pocket. After adhered, I rouched some pretty red and cream striped grosgrain ribbon and added a bit of some vintage lace trim.

Next comes the fun part ... decorating! I added a sweet Christmas ticket from the Christmas '07 Creative Scrap sheet and punched a pretty little polka dotted star from some patterned paper printed from the Creating With Vintage Patterns CD. The addition of some glittered leaves, a tiny jingle bell, some baker's twine, a button, a snipett of vintage lace, a pretty blossom, a trinket pin and some Rose Beige Glitter Shabby Vintage Seam Binding from my Etsy Shop complete this pretty nosegay!

I cut strips of brown paper towels (recycled brand) and crinkled them up to make my own 'crinkle filler'. They coordinate perfectly with the kraft and sepia tones in the vintage scrap images on my project -- LOVE IT!!

I stuffed the crinkle filler inside my envelope pocket so that the tags will peek out of the top!

Then I set to work designing four sweet tags to fit inside the envelope pocket. I used more Christmas '07 Creative Scraps, printed paper from the Creating With Vintage Patterns CD, Christmas Mail stamp set, Season's Greetings stamp set and Grand Greetings stamp set!

I stamped on each tag and added snipetts of polka dotted pattern papers, vintage trims, pearls, buttons and baker's twine.

Each tag is adhered to a kraft cardstock base that I inked on the edges with cream paint to create a time-worn look. A hole punched at the top of each tag provides a place to lace up some more Rose Beige Glitter Seam Binding to tie these little pretties onto packages this holiday season!

And lastly, I very carefully painted on some red glitter craft paint on all the areas colored in red to add a bit of shimmer and shine. I wish the glitz showed up better in photos because they are beautiful IRL!!!

And here you have it ... my sweet envelope pocket is complete with a set of four beautiful, vintage tags for this holiday season. What a great gift this would make and then your recipient will have a pretty little pocket to do with as she wishes and four pretty little tags to use on her holiday packages next year!!

Please visit the other teamies' blogs to be inspired by their Creative Envelope projects ... we all had different occasions to pick from, so there will be lots of fun projects to peek at:

Fauve vanMaanen
Gini Cagle

Jan Hennings

Tammy Roberts

Victoria Warren-Mear