{Halloween Blog Hop}

Welcome back....

I know it has been a while but I have so much fun stuff to share with you all...but that will have to wait! Right now I want to welcome you to our little blog hop from over at Down A Dirt Road Scrapbooking Forum.

If you are hopping over from Alicia's Blog, then you are right on track. If you are just catching this from being a follower of mine, then here's the schedule.

• Vernette
• Alicia
• Tasha {You are Here!}
• Tracy

Well now down to my projects...
I recently applied for the May Arts Halloween Challenge and was one lucky participant out of 21. I created a cool little Halloween Ribbon Tree.

I added some Halloween themed cardstock, black tulle ribbon, black wire and FIMO Clay to create a black bat, candy corns and glowing bones....and of course four amazing May Art Ribbons of my choice...(They are amazing!!!)

Next I created a quick door hanger that said Boo! I wanted to keep it really classy and simple. It may not scream Halloween but I think that it adds a little to the decor this season that is not a wreath...lol!

On to my next project of a Trio of Pumpkins...
I took some pressure treated 4x4's and distressed them. I painted it with a base coat of a taupe paint and top coat of an orange paint. I then took sandpaper and sanded and distressed the edges as desired. I then got my husband to cut some stems from a branch I had picked. Added them to the tops of the pumpkins and embellished with burlap and ribbon knots. I love how these turned out and even made a pair for a gift.

Finally, I created a few altered wooden frames. The first two I took some patterned paper and mod podeged them onto the frames. I inked the edges and added some sticker embellishments. A Glittery black raven and an epoxy sticker.

This last frame I created was one that I painted to look like a candy corn. I added some ribbon and burlap, a wooded button and a bow to finish it off...Love the look of this one!

Well I hope that this was inspirational and got you in the Halloween mood. Now hop on over to Tracy's blog and see what she has in store for you!

Come back tomorrow for a new post to see what I have been up to in my hiatus...You won't be disappointed!

Celebrate Life ~ Create to Live Challenge {March}

I created this page for a challenge over at Susan K. Weckesser's blog. She posted a Create To Live Challenge for March and used this photo for inspiration.

 Now I grabbed a sheet of cardstock and a few stamp sets and gathered my ideas. I wanted polka dots to mimic the upper washi tape and chevron pattern in the cupcake wrapper... While looking I saw this amazing argyle pattern and was set....away I went stamping and spritzing...

I stamped some polka dot patterns and some chevron and polka dot butterflies onto the cardstock and grabbed my white gel pen and started to doodle on the page. Faux stitching around butterflies and for the paths they take to signify my new journey I embarked on last fall. My CIBC Walk for the Cure - my way to celebrate life by giving to those fighting for it. I am adding another journey to my life this year and participating in the Arthritis Walk for my 6 year old daughter with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis.

I decided to doodle my title in part because we all celebrate differently and for different reasons. March is a bittersweet month for me. My daughter was born 6 years ago this month, it is Juvenile Arthritis Awareness month, and my grandfather would have celebrated 73 years of life this year...falling short at 46....  So...for them I chose to celebrate life ~ ups and downs happen ~ life happens ~ it's how you look at them that matters ~

I choose to Celebrate!  

 

{Welcome Banner}

I have finally come a year and a half from when I created this awesome project and found a time to blog about it...I figure I should start to create a planner for my blog posts, a planner for my projects, and a binder with inserts for storing the projects for each week and one binder for each month...lol!

Ok so maybe it is a little OCD but I think this would be a great way to boost productivity and creativity and also serve as a great way to organize the projects you have completed...this would make it easy to find as well as give you a great source of projects and instructions to use for workshops or clubs...

Enough brainstorming...

I created this banner as a project to challenge myself after completing the Spooky Banner that was an extra project with the Mischief Workshop On The Go. I decided to use the retired Cherry-O paper packet as I loved it when I saw it shortly after I started my business with Close To My Heart. I bought the paper and embellishments while it was on the While Supplies Last area of my website.

I went to work on picking my papers and cutting them out... I decided to add yo-yo flowers or rosettes...not sure which you all call it but I popped the letters to Welcome onto the centers of the rosettes. I layered the letters which I cut out with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. (Yes I do use it...lol!)

I added some Cherry-O self adhesive patterned pearl embellishments as well as some stickease. I also added some great buttons with some Colonial White Waxy Flax stitching...I love waxy flax too!

I prefer not to use the jump ring for the banners as I find I tend to have them bend and separate while the banners are hung up. I would definitely not want to sell anything that was less than perfect for a customer so I chose to use ribbon to tie the banner together...not only does it look beautiful but it also works very well and is functional...

Come join the fun over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges...I am and here is another post for this week. The challenge: Ribbon! So start blogging!

Let's Live Inspired!

{Presley Banner}

I have blogged about a couple mini banners I have created but never one of the full size banners or the recent custom banner I completed... So here comes another series of posts featuring banners and ribbon...I love ribbon and will be using these posts as entries to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges this week ~ Ribbon!!! Perfect for several of my projects...

Here it goes...

I recently had a great opportunity to create a mini banner for a little girl...My first instinct was "Dotty Paper!!!" but after a few moments and some questions asked I decided to go "Wild Rock Princess" So Roxie it was!

I used three types of pendents and three patterns of paper from the paper packet. This just happens to be one of my favorite paper packs! I knew my customer liked the Trinity Alphabet stamp set so I knew I would be using them for the name...Presley...sounds so Rocker too!

I started by picking my patterns of paper and began tracing and cutting (once again forgetting to use my Cricut and the Art Philosophy Cartridge...) Once all the pieces were cut, I chose to stamp roses from the Card Word Puzzle stamp set in two different card stock shades ~ Tulip and Smoothie. I decided to alternate them one each pendent. My first Idea was to place the name on each rose...not very impacting!!!

I stamped each letter in black and chose to place them on a Desert Sand circle punched out with the 1 1/4" circle punch. I popped it up and layered it onto a Black scalloped circle that I punched with the 2" Scallop Circle punch. I then liquid glassed each letter - amazing effect!

Now each rose needed bling so I chose to use some Crystazzi jewels in two styles and sizes. Some irridescent and some clear... all bling is perfect to me and the more the better.

I LOVE bling so I knew I had to use some of my Teresa Colling Blingage jewels. Beautiful black jewels that hang so perfectly from a few of the pendents...Talk about Princess Glam...

As I started to assemble the pieces I decided to add a glossy black chipboard key to the banner. I wanted it to be a symbol from this mom to her daughter ~ a key to her heart ~ what every mom gives to their child.

Like I said I LOVE bling! So I decided to up the glam factor and added some Jolee self-adhesive Bling. I opted for these over the Bling Buttons because I wanted the square and rectangle shapes and less round or curved shapes to this project.

Tied with black and white satin bows - this banner is sure to make any Wild Rock Princess smile... I know mine was smiling and asking for her own - with more bling of course!

Hope you enjoyed this project and will come check out all the other great projects featured on Heart 2 Heart Challenges. Maybe this is the week you come and play too!

Let's Live Inspired!