Willow & Paisley

Embellish ~ Color Trends Challenge ~ Text

 

 

 

Hey Everyone....I'm super excited about our newest sponser for the current Embellish Magazine challenge....... Hero Arts.  I know I don't need to tell you how amazing their stamps are.  I'm sure everyone has at least one treasured Hero Arts stamp in their collection!  (and if not....you need to climb out from under your rock and do some shopping, girlfriend!)

 

 

 

Here are the challenge details. 

Sponsor: Hero Arts

Theme: Text

Colors: Gray, Blue-y gray (I used ocean tides), Black, White

 

 

 

 

I die cut the bird on the gray cardstock and overlayed the negative onto the white cardstock which was stamped with Diagonal Dictionary Type.  The wing was cut freehand and the eye is a little button that is tied on the back to secure it.  I then cut a strip of the same stamped "paper" for a bit of a decorative border at the bottom.  And a teeny tiny bow is always cute don'tcha think?

 

 

 

 

 

We would LOVE it is you would join us and play along.  The entries into the Embellish challenges are always so incredible and so inspiring.  I swear I often look at the cards and think "I wish I made that!" 

 

Loonie Stampers - Thickers

 

 

 

Happy Friday everyone!  This week Regan chose our challenge and it is to use THICKERS.  I can't imagine there is a paper crafter in the world who doesn't have at least one pack of these (ok so maybe not the entire world) but I'm sure plenty of us have our fair share. 

 

Wendy actually bought me 2 packs of Thickers which is what the birds, hearts, flower and "dreams" is from.  One pack was all pinks and the other browns.  They are a Dear Lizzy collection and I love them which she knew I would.  (Thanks BFF!)  Seriously.....how cute is it that the hearts fit perfectly into the wing space?  To. Die. For.

 

 

 

 

I made these for my 2 youngest nieces bedrooms.  The blue will be for Ryann and the green for Camryn.  Now let's just hope I get these to them before they are teenagers (they are 4.5 and 3 yrs old now) and look at me funny for nailing these to their walls beside the poster of whichever pop star will be discovered in 10 years. 

 

 

 

 

I can't wait to see what the girls did with Thickers!

Dee    Regan    Wendy    Maria 

 

 
 

 

 

 

And hello.....can you believe I finally spray painted something???  I've been saying for well over a year that I'm going to spray paint this and that.  I've been collecting frames like they are becoming extinct and bought at least a dozen cans of spray paint too.  Don't think of it as "hoarding".  Think of it as "preparing".  It finally took me being inspired by this AMAZING project that Steph did to get me out to the back yard with paint (Krylon Blue Ocean Breeze and Krylon Ivy Leaf) and frames in hand.  So easy and so fun! 

 

 

 

 

OK I'd love to know....which one is your favorite?  The green or the blue?? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Technique Tuesday Stamping Tech Hop

 

 
 

Welcome to the Technique Tuesday Stamping Tech Hop!

I’m a part of Technique Tuesday’s Stamping Tech team, and we are joining together today for a Blog Hop.

We’re sharing some of our favorite cards made with Technique Tuesday’s stamps.

Meet the project I made for the hop.  (I'm so chanelling my inner Teri!)

 

 

 

OK so my photo kind of sucks but I hope you can see how CUTE these stamps are.  The strawberry and sentiment are from Technique Tuesdays Fruit Stand.  How perfect are these for the summer we are craving and gearing up to enjoy?!!  Trust me....the other fruit images are just as adorable!

  

 

 

 With every comment left on the blog hop path, you’ll be entered for a chance to win Technique Tuesday’s Ribbit stamp set.

The more comments you make, the better chance you have to win.
We’ll pick 2 people at random from comments left on all the blogs to win the stamp set.
Comments must be made by midnight Eastern time on 5/27.
Be sure to check the Technique Tuesday blog on 5/28 to see if you are one of the lucky winners.

 

 It's looks like your next stop on the blog hop is Tanis.  Go.  Have fun. 

 

 

 

Be sure to check out the blogs of all the Stamping Techs taking part in today’s hop.


Tobi

Charlene (Moi!)

Tanis

Daniela

Teri

Sharyn

Laura

Melissa

Jenny (Guest Stamping Tech for May)

 

 

 

 

Ironstone

 

Hey everyone.  I didn't get to go garage sale'n on Saturday as Stephanie is away on a weekend getaway. (The nerve of her!)  I do have some recent thrifty finds to share with you though. 

 

 

These 4 plates were purchased on my last visit to Value Village.  I loved the retro pattern and when I saw it was marked as "Ironstone"on the back I was sold.  While these aren't the beautiful creamy plain Ironstone that Ms Mustard Seed finds to re-sell I was thrilled to find them since I've never seen ironstone locally.  For $1.99 for the set of 4 it can't be beat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This platter was purchased same place, same day.  It's also "ironstone".  See?  It was mean to be!  This was $3.99 which is not too thrifty but the greens and the pattern is SO me.....it had to come home and live here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 And now my most recent prized possession.  This ironstone pitcher is also Johnston Bros but it sure wasn't thrifty.  When Steph and I were out last weekend we came upon an estate sale.  It was so well displayed and had the most gorgeous items.  I fell in love the second I saw it.  It was priced at $37 but I offered $30 because, quite frankly, that's all the money I had left on me that day!  He accepted.  Won't it look amazing with fresh cut flowers in it?  {{We just transplanted our Peonies to a sunnier spot in the backyard so maybe next summer I can do just that!}}

 

 

 

 

 

So now the big question is.....am I now collecting IRONSTONE?  {{Yes, it does appear to look that way.}}

 

 

And speaking of "collecting" here's a sneak peek of my most recent purchase of Jadeite.  I've collected it for years and had about 80 pieces.  It is really hard to find (actually....impossible) here in Canada but thanks to an amazing friend (Hi Laura!) I just added another 71 pieces to my collection (including the blue Fire King you see peeking out at the back).  Jadeite is far from thrifty but it's worth every penny and without question my most treasured items.  I'll share more pics of them displayed one day.

 

 

Have a wonderful day everyone!  Thanks for stopping by.  The "thrifty finds" posts are a favorite for me and I'm so glad you enjoy it too!

 

 I'm linking up to:

Southern Hospitality.

 

Flea Market Finds                                                    Thrift Share Monday

                 

 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays Coastal Charm                     The Thrifty Groove Friday

                           

Loonie Stampers - Denim

 

 

 

 Yay, it's Friday!!  Do you all have casual Fridays at work?  We don't but then again I don't work Fridays so I'm not missing out.  I do however love DENIM any day of the week in the craft room so that's why I chose it for our challenge this week!  Fun, right?!

 

 

 

 

 

My denim is from an old pair of jeans.  I can tell you that denim is much harder to ruffle than regular fabric.  But with a little coaxing and strong thread you can do it.  The fabric on the tulip is Amy Buttler but I don't remember the brand of the polka dots.  I die cut the flower and then stitched it to die cut cardstock for sturdiness.  The sentiment is from Life is Good by Technique Tuesday.

 

I bet you all were thinking I would make denim scalloped roses weren't you?  Well, you'd be right.  I did make one and it was NOT easy.  But it worked out pretty good anyway and I hope to show you the card I made with it tomorrow.
 

 

 

 

 Let's check to see what these girls made for Denim Casual Friday.

Dee    Regan    Wendy    Maria 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thrifty Finds

 

Hi All.  Are you having a good weekend?  Steph and I had a great time on Saturday out doing our thrifty garage sale'n thing.  We had so much fun.  She's posted her finds on her blog and here's what I bought......

 

 

Vintage Christmas Ornaments.  $1 for each box.  I love the bell shaped ones.

 

 

 

These 3 jars were $4 each from an estate sale/yard sale.  I believe I am copying Nichole Heady in using them in my craft room.  {{Except I love mine more because they are thrifted.  Steph and I always say we love our thrifted items so much more than "retail crap".  Our words.}}    They are quite large and I will store Papertrey felt in one of them for sure.  And how cool will those wood lids be once painted creamy white or aqua??  What colour would you paint them?

 

 

 

 

Diet Pepsi glasses.  So retro.  I am a DP addict and bought these for $5.

 

 

 

From an estate/yard sale is a bag of metal cookie cutters for $5.  Because in my dream life (the one where I have as many hours in the day as I need) I'm going to decorate cookies.

 

 

 

 

I always seem to find this style of jars in my outings.  They were $2 each.  I'm using them in my laundry room for my Oxyclean, Borax etc.   The blue tin tray might be used for my paper crafting dies.  It was $2.

 

 

 

 

Tiny silver tiered tray (great for jewellery) was $1, metal trivet was $1 and donut cutter was free. 

 

 

 

 

Ceramic duck.  I have a baby shower to go to soon and I will give this with some Johnson's Baby Wash products and baby cloths as part of my gift.   For $0.50 cents how could I resist?

 

 

 

 

I have been looking for a magazine rack and I totally liked this one much better than the bulky wood ones I was seeing.  This will be spray painted.  It was $1.

 

 

 

 

Giant aqua ashtray anyone?  Seriously, I know it's ridiculous but I loved the colour and for $0.50 cents I figured I could use it to hold buttons or something in my craft room.  I don't even know anyone who smokes and certainly wouldn't be offering them an ashtray to smoke at my house even if I did.  Pillow cases - $0.50 cents each.  I love embroidered/crocheted pillow cases and I really do use all these that I buy.  The awesome doilies ($0.50 cents each) will be used under my Le Crueset collection so they don't scratch my shelving. 

 

 

 

 

Oh look.....I found a use for the ashtray.  Don't you love how I can justify any purchase??  LOL.

 

 

 

And my FAVORITE item of the day...........this vintage chair.  I love it and it is so comfy.  The leather on the seat is cracked but I don't care one bit.  It's going to be our new computer chair.  I got this for $13 from the nicest old couple who were selling their house and moving into a smaller place for their elderly years.  I had to laugh because when I said I loved it the lady asked me if I was kidding.

 

 

 I'm linking up to:

Southern Hospitality.

 

Flea Market Finds                                                    Thrift Share Monday

                 

 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays Coastal Charm                     The Thrifty Groove Friday

                           
 

Embellish~~Color Trends Challenge~~Tags

 

 

 

Hey all.  We're back with Part 2 of the Embellish Challenge using JustRite stamps.  Last week we made square cards and this week we are all about TAGS which you know are so fun to make.  All you need to do is include the color pictured above.....light blue, light pink, navy blue and dark gray.

 

 

 

 

I heat embossed the border stamp from Friendship Blooms onto the tag itself and the frame and sentiment were heat embossed and trimmed out.  {{Thank you JustRite for the great stamps to play with!}}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This would be the perfect tag to add to any gift you are giving to one of your friends....new or old.  I can't wait to see what TAG goodness you have to share with us.   

Loonie Stampers Challenge - A Journal

 

 

 

As I was scheduling this post I realized it is Friday the 13th!  Frea-ky!!  {{How fitting that it was Wendy's week to come up with our challenge.  lol.}} 

 

 

 

 

Using script/text....Love it.  I made some embellishments using punched out flower shapes from the pages of an old book.  Then I stitched on an assortment of buttons and felt die cuts with embroidery thread.  The kraft journal is from Michaels dollar bin and it had a design in the centre which I covered with embossed cardstock.  I don't know about you but I am a LIST girl.  I make list after list and I cannot have enough journals.  But this one will be a cute little gift to someone when I need it. 

 

 

 

 

 

As for my big plans for the weekend I'll be heading out garage sale-ing with Steph on Saturday morning and we cannot wait.  If I find any good junk I'll be sure to share with you all on Sunday.  Here's hoping you have a fun Friday not a freaky one. 

 

Dee    Regan    Wendy    Maria 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a Great Day for a Birthday!

 

  

 

 

 

It's Ashley's birthday today and the Embellish girls just wanted to wish her a happy happy day!

 

 

 

To check out the other girls birthday wishes please visit:

Cristina Kowalczyk

Mariana Grigsby

Sarah Martina

Tina Fussell

 

Have the best day ever Ash!!  Relax and Enjoy your day.  You deserve it.  And make sure you have some yummy cake to celebrate! 

 

 

 

 

First Garage Sales of the Year - Thrifty Finds

 

OK....here we go with my thrifty finds from going garage sale'n on Saturday.  I was so bummed that Steph could not make it out but Mike agreed to go with me because I hate going by myself.  We had fun and even if he sits in the vehicle at most of the stops I'm cool with that.

 

 

First up is my second favorite buy of the day.  This flannel sheet is in the original package and had never been opened.  It says $12.99 from Sears in 1980.  I got it for $3.   I love flannel and oh my it is SO soft.  I'm a total flannel girl.  I know.....not sexy.  

 

 

 

This foot stool was $1.  The top flips up for storage. It's fairly small but so cute.  I figure for a dollar I can try to put new fabric on it and if it looks terrible it's no big loss (that would be grand plan #1 that may never happen).

 

 

 

These three items were from a thrift store we stopped at on the way home.  The hobnail vase was $5 (way too much but I needed it.  Yes, I did.)  The Pyrex pie plate was $1.50 (hoping to make lots of rhubarb pies this year).  The dry shampoo is a great brand and were a total score at $2 each.  {{I just bought a different brand for $20 recently at a salon.}}

 

 

The following misc stuff was a total of $8.  I mainly wanted the old pinking shears (black) and the other scissors for my craft room and they work great.  The 2 boxes of envelopes are perfect for my cards and I was running low anyway.  The basket has boxes of old german clothing dyes in it.  {{Not that I'll ever use them but cute for the laundry room}}.  The frame was a buck.  The tin has a bunch of pins in it and that brass dog is a paper weight.  Oh and the flan cups were too cute too pass up. 

 

 

 

I remember my mom used to have these owl trivets when I was growing up.  They were $0.50 cents for all 4 and I know I'll use these.  The milk glass vase was $0.50 cents as were the pillow cases.  I might making pillow case dresses for my nieces one day {that would be grand plan #2 that may never happen}.

 

 

 

I believe this spikey thing is meant to hold large spools of thread.  It was $0.25 cents I plan on putting my large spools of twine on it in my craft room.  I might spray paint it.  ~~~Whenever I say I'm going to spray paint something Mike laughs as I say it alot and I have never painted anything yet.  {Grand plan #3!}~~~  The jello molds were $0.25 cents as was the jar.  The Fire King measuring cup was $0.10 cents and yes it is a total mess.   If I can't clean the hard water off I'll toss it. 

 

 

These were Mike's buys.  Beer mugs and a cartoon book.  Too funny...he's such a guy.  Total for all 3 was $0.35 cents. 

 

 

Now here is my absolute favorite item of the day.  I just love these little guys.  I don't know why and yes you can call me crazy for loving these.  They were $1.

 

 

Here is where I have them displayed.  They make me happy.  Seriously, so cute!

 

 

Well, there you have it.  It wasn't the best finds ever but I still had fun and cannot wait for next weekend.  Tell me, do you garage sale or go thrifting?  What thrifty items have you found lately?   

 

 I'm linking up to:

Southern Hospitality.

 

Flea Market Finds                                                    Thrift Share Monday

                 

 

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays Coastal Charm                     The Thrifty Groove Friday