A Little Retro Valentine Fun

Hello friends.  Is it too early to start rolling out the Valentine crafts??

Once Christmas and New Year's is over, I look forward to changing out the holiday decorations for Valentines.  I never used to decorate for Valentine's day, but since February 14th is also my daughter's birthday, over the years I've made a few things that I still decorate with today.  

Each year I add a decoration or two.  Just little things, like this darling little retro dog ornament I recently made.  The cutie plaid pup is from Pretty Little Studio.

He sits on a feather boa on top of an old wooden spool.  I covered the spool with ribbon and added a polka dot ribbon and lace trim.

I made a red pinwheel and added a paper doily behind it.   I added a cutie little flower to his bow and glittered him up in various places.

 He's popped up with foam tape to give a little dimension. 

I think he turned out super cute!

Let me know if you'd like to see more of these types of projects.  I'll be sharing some photo's of my Valentine's day decorating soon.

Thanks for stopping by!

Bronze Anniversary ~ Double D

Happy New Year, my friends!  I hope you had a safe and happy entrance into 2024.  We stayed tucked in at home and enjoyed a quiet evening.  We're too old for celebrating big on new year's eve.  Our idea of celebrating is hubby falling asleep in his chair while watching tv, waiting to watch the ball drop.  I celebrate from the comfort of my bed with my eyes closed. haha!

Anyway, Double D Challenge is ringing in the new year with a birthday / anniversary, celebrating their 8th year!  Can you believe it??  

Darlene and Diane do such an amazing job keeping all their challenge blogs straight and the inspiration photo's they use are always inspiring.

I used a bronze embossed scrap of cardstock from my scrap bin, Add to Cart Celebration Add-Ons from Spellbinders and vellum flowers from Pinkfresh Studio.  The sentiment is an "oldie" from Papertrey ink.

I hope you'll stop by the Double D Challenge blog and join in on the fun.

Here's the inspiration board to help you get started:

Here's the prize you could win when you play along:

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing Christmas

Hello friends~  Are you all recovered from the busy-ness of the holiday?

Our Christmas turned out differently than we had planned.  Our son, daughter-in-love and sweet P all came down sick just before they were to fly home.  Allison contracted a bronchial infection and our sweet P had RSV.  Our son Christopher was the healthiest of them all, having had just a cold.  Needless to say, they didn't make it home for Christmas.  

"A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

Perhaps The LORD has a better plan in store for us in His good timing.

Just thought I'd share some cards I made this season, that I never got around to sharing.

The Waffle Flower Postage Collage die and stencils have been such a hit this season.

I used up some bits and bobs that have been sitting in my die cut box just waiting to be used.

Various companies and so many possibilities.

This one is my favorite.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!  Looking forward to the new year!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Candy Cane Lane ~ Fun with Paper on Christmas Day

Hello friends and Merry Christmas Day!  

  I have a confession to make.  I'm a bonified, certified paper hoarder.

There, I said it!  I try so hard to not buy new papers until I've used up some of my older papers that sit in a paper pile for years because A.) I like them too much to use or B.) I just have so many, I can't possibly use them all.  Especially when it comes to Christmas design paper.  I LOVE Christmas papers!  Especially Prima Marketing Christmas papers!!  They always have the sweetest vintage designs. 

 Well grab a cuppa something warm and have a seat.  Take a breather from the busy-ness of the day.  This post is filled with projects I made, while trying to use up the Candy Cane Lane collection from Prima Marketing.

You may recall a flip album I shared using this paper last year.  If you want to have another peek, you can find it HERE.  This year I made this sweet little journal that one could document special Christmas memories and put photo's in or use it as a Christmas daily planner.  

I used Eileen Hull's Scoreboard XL Passport to create the cover and spine of the book, cut from heavy chipboard.  I covered the book with the darling Candy Cane Lane papers and embellished it using flowers from Prima and some die cut leaves in Gold and soft blue to match the stocking Santa is filling.

 

The Passport die includes the cute little name plate, which I also cut out of chipboard and covered with a scrap of the same paper I used for the front cover.  I stamped a name using a stamp from Spellbinders Sign Here stamp set from the Flea Market Finds Collection.  I tucked a tiny Tim Holtz charm beneath the name plate and a ribbon closure.

When you open the book, there are three tabbed dividers including three signatures of color matched cardstock pages.  

I added the center signature first with a simple signature stitch.  For the two outside signatures, I added old buttons to the outside of the spine, just to snazz it up a bit and add some vintage flair.  

Here's the view from the top of the book.  You can see the three signatures and variations of papers I used for the pages.

The finished size of the book measures 3 1/2" x 5".  It's the perfect size to tuck inside a Christmas stocking!

I then made three Christmas cards.

adding bits of gold glitter strips and lots of WOS.

Are these images not just as cute as can be??

Finally, I made three treat boxes.

I was so happy to use up more of this beautiful Candy Cane Lane Collection from Prima.  I still have lots of paper, die cuts and flowers leftover.  Maybe I can finish it off next year.  What should I make next??  Leave me a comment with your suggestions.  I love a good challenge.  

Thanks for sticking with me for this long post and thanks for stopping by!

Wishing you and yours a blessed and Merry Christmas!

Winter Church ~ Double D Challenge

Hello friends ~ This is the last challenge of 2023 for Double D Challenges.  The theme is Winter Scene.

For my card today, I used this beautiful Winter Church from Cottage Cutz, that was gifted to me by my thoughtful friend Lena.  

So many amazing details included in this die set.  I cut the entire die out of white cardstock and colored the pieces using Copic markers.  I added a bit of Tumbled Glass Distress Oxide Ink in the background to help the scene pop.

I mounted the die scene onto this silver snowflake framed card base that I had picked up at Michael's Craft Store during their after Christmas clearance sale of last year.   

Be sure to visit the Double D Challenge blog to see more amazing inspiration from the amazing design team.

Here's the inspiration photo to help you get started:

Here's the prize that you could win when you play along:

I'll also be adding this card to the Word Art Wednesday Challenge, where anything goes.  

Thanks for stopping by!