Creative Grace

Tags

Hi interpeeps!  Thought I'd share a gift I made for my hubby's Mom this Christmas.  She's recently retired and has taken to sewing and knitting.  I'm a little late to the party as I know she gave away a ton of things this Christmas, but I wanted to get her some personalized sew-in tags (which I ordered from here) as well as make her some "garment" tags she can attach to the items she makes.  As someone who makes handmade things, I often come across people who don't realize I make the cards I give, so I thought this might be kind of fun.

I made her two different types of tags using mostly blue (her favorite color)

She got 10 of these, but I also had to make 10 that had a little *aloha* (as her husband has Hawaiian roots and they love to travel there)

I've had this "handmade with aloha" stamp forever, don't know who makes it!  Sadly, the shop I had purchased it at went out of business a long time ago.

I probably had more fun decorating the vessel for the tags.  I love the look of them all stuffed into a mason jar

I used washi tape around the jar (*swoon*)

Even the top got decorated with the same gingham paper I used on the tags (the gingham is on the back of the tag).

And I kept the lid gold since it matched the tag safety pins

A fun little gift me thinks :)

Be Merry

Wishing you warmth and love!

Deck the Halls

Nothing like getting something done at the absolute last minute! Eek!  I've been completely consumed with calendar making latelty (my *token* holiday gift), but I couldn't resist making a card for this week's Tuesday Trigger challenge.

I thought the inspiration photo was positively charming!

I love the elegance and the simplicity, something I tried to recreate in my card

It's hard to tell in the above photo, but a close up shows the shimmer paper I used a bit better.  I thought a little shimmer would be perfect here, although I still find myself challenged with stamping on it (tricky - tricky!) - regardless, it's YUMMY paper!

I also thought the silver beads would be fun to play with in this card - despite the fact that they get EVERYWHERE!  They sure are pretty though.

It felt good to spontaneosly create something, a stark contrast to the mass-production I've been engrossed in of late.  Thanks for another fun challenge, Cath!

 

Paper and stamps by a•muse|studio.

Random Fun

Oh Moxie Fab World... you just had to throw down this challenge, didn't you?  

"Let's break out the crazy and make a card that incorporates a button, mustache, or alcoholic beverage".

How could I resist?  

Guess which I chose...

Kind of an no brainer for me, eh?  :)  This is so much fun in my humble opinion, I mean, who wouldn't *love* a fabulous martini with a festive candy-cane stirrer?  Shut the front door!!!

Thank you Moxie Fab for such a happy challenge!  Oh, and to you crafters out there, the challenge lasts until December 12th!  

Created with a•muse|studio products.

 

Geek out!

I have a very fun post to share with you today!  Last weekend was the 1st birthay of my friend's daughter.  

Card made with a•muse|studio products

Her cute mommy and I worked together on a grant where we helped a wonderful group of elementary teachers increase their science content knowledge.  We had too much fun at our planning meetings where we would occasionally find ourselves getting overly excited about various science concepts (our "geek out" moments).  So when I discoverd this FABULOUS Etsy shop, ShopGibberish, I pretty much squealed out loud!  I couldn't help myself and got Mia a couple cute gifts including this adorable onesie:

And this custom periodic table name sign!!! *eek*

I've since placed a more orders with ShopGibberish - they've been so awesome to work with and very accomodating!  Demand for their fun work has increased lately, so be sure to place your holiday order with them ASAP :)  

I might have to ask Santa for some HoHoHo things...

Geek out friends!

 

Christmas in Oregon

As I type this, we are winding down our trip to visit my family in Oregon.  

 Job hunting prompted my parents to move to Oregon when I was in college.  A few years later my brother and his family joined them.  Since the move, my hubby and I enjoy driving up to visit when we can, and that is especially true this year since now my Mom and two nieces (whom I affectionately refer to as "Big Chiquita" and "Mini Chiquita") are expert card makers now.  We got in a lot of crafy time this visit which was so fun for me (I honestly can't remember the last time I made a card for fun).  So, I thought I'd share some cute crafty chiquita pics and a couple cards with you! 

Before stamping, we all had to find our crafty mojo - so super soft fluffy crafty-mojo socks were in order!

 

I'm pretty sure Big chiquita will put all the card designers out there to shame one day!  She's a total "outside of the box" thinker - it's fun to see what she comes up with.  She's also taken to helping her Grandma remember techniques when Grandma forgets (oopsies!) :)

I'm sure Mini Chiquita is smoking past her kindergarten counterparts!  Her coloring is so excellent and she's so good with scissors.  She's also an expert at glitter, one of her favorite things, as evident by the glitter we find tracked all over the house (Grandpa's favorite thing)! :)

The girls worked really hard making everyone these beautiful name cards which they carefully placed at everyone's seat for Christmas dinner.

We all also designed some special cards which I'll be sure to share in a special post for you in a couple weeks ;)  

Before heading up north, I was "under the gun" to make my calendars (which I give as gifts) and holiday cards.  I thought you might like to take a peek at the card I made.  I sadly didn't have time to send out cards to many people (I can blame that on my thesis, right?) - but I managed to get a few out to some people I knew I wouldn't be able to see.  

I love this big stamp that was released this summer by A Muse - I thought it lent itself nicely to something more retro.  I just had to go with pink and green :)

So, as I sit here sipping the last of the eggnog while saying goodbye to 2010, I wish you all a fabulous new year!

Gingerbread time!

How are you blog friends?  I finally am feeling some pressure release - I'm presenting my masters thesis proposal to my committee in about a week, which means I'm half-way done! :)  I officially filed to graduate next summer - yahoo!!  I'm also so excited because this means I'm finishing a teeny bit sooner than expected, allowing me to be able and "walk" at graduation this Spring with two of my best friends.  If that doesn't put a girl a great mood, I don't know what will - well, except maybe for gingerbread *happy sigh*

I saw that Moxie Fab World has a fun Tuesday Trigger challenge this week (and you can play too!)  The challenge is to make a card inspired by this gingerbread snowflake:

I could always go with a snowflake theme, but my attention focused on the gingerbread and this adorable stamp by A Muse.  

Figured this might help to bring a little Christmas spirit to the ol blog! 

 

Card Recipe:

Stamps: ginger delights cling set and sweet christmas wishes by A Muse.  

Paper: french roast solid notecard and vintage red paper by A Muse

Ink: memento rich cocoa

Other: white enamel accents, paper doily, and french roast sheer ribbon by A Muse

 For A Muse products click here 

 

 

I want to be here right now

Well, the heat wave is in full force this summer and I'm not a happy camper about it.  I've learned I have a narrow range of thermal happiness and this has far surpassed it.  So, in the spirit of cooling off, I thought I'd share a card with the fun new *winter scene* stamp by A Muse.

 

 

The good news is the stamps are now available at your local stamp store!  If you aren't lucky enough to have a store to support, you can now get them on-line form A Muse.  Hope you've enjoyed A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA and our marathon amuse-bouche (8 days in a row!  Although I did cheat a little and had to take yesterday off).

Stay cool peeps!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: winter scene by A Muse.  

Paper: blueberry, sky blue, white shimmer couture, and woodgrain by A Muse

ink: A Muse black dye ink

coloring tools: White gel pen, diamond stickles, and Copic bg10, r29, e37, w4, 0

Other: swiss red grosgrain stitch ribbon by A Muse

For A Muse products click here 

Winter Critter

WooHoo!  Day 6 of A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA!  Are you having fun yet?  I have yet another fun amuse-bouche to share with you today - this one features one of the crazy adorable new winter critter stamps by A Muse.  

 

 

I think I love this owl the most - probably because he has crazy eyes :)

Be sure to visit the A Muse blog (link to it from the main A Muse site) and the blogs of the A Muse creative team for more winter critter goodness today!  I'll have another project to share with you tomorrow!

Card Recipe:

Stamps: wide eyed owl, snowflake swirl, santa hat, and not a creature by A Muse.  

Paper: winter sky, squash, and woodgrain by A Muse

ink: Memento rich cocoa and Colorbox chalk gray whale

coloring tools: White gel pen, and Spica silver, baby blue, and chocolate

Other: liquid applique, blue twinkle stickers by A Muse

For A Muse products click here 

Snowflake in July!

Today's amuse-bouche theme is "Snow Fun" - doesn't that sound great today?  With the heat of summer upon us, I would love some snow right now!  So, I picked the biggest snowflake from this fabulous new release of stamps by A Muse to share with you today:

 

Ahhhh... I feel cooler already :)  

This card just might be a top contender for my Christmas card this year.  Talk about 5-minute quickie! Heck, this baby was a 1-minute quickie!  Gotta love clean and simple.  Such a large, graphic image makes that so easy!  I cut our new *winter sky* paper into a square notecard (love those!), just for a little something different. 

Be sure to visit one of our participating A*MUSE*A*PALOOZA stores to get your hands on these fabulous new stamps and papers!  (link to the A Muse blog from the main site and see a list of the stores on the right column.)

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Scandinavian Snowflake and Very Merry Christmas A Muse

Paper: *NEW* Winter Sky paper by A Muse 

ink: Colorbox chalk grey whale and A Muse black dye ink