Show and Tell

Congratulations, You Did It!

If you come visit here very often, you know that we have regular company on Monday nights. You also know that she just had her 25th birthday AND that she just bought her first house.

We'll, tonight is her housewarming party, so a little gift seemed in order. The total inspiration for this gift tag, hanging on a simple kraft gift bag, came from Dawn McVey — specifically this post.

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Most of the components of the tag were already stamped and laying in my discarded images drawer — so you would think that I put this together quickly. However, it didn't quite go like that. For whatever reason, I labored over this one and it took most of my time last night just to do a simple tag. That's a little disgusting. I guess my mojo suffers when I don't have time to do something creative every day.

The fleur de lis images are stamped with VersaMark and clear embossed. My favorite part, though, is the way the swirls at the top turned out. Unless you have the Everyday Classics stamp set (PTI's 2009 free Anniversary Stamp Set) you probably won't understand this part, but I inked half of the stamp, turning it on its side to stamp and then I flipped it and repeated the process. It's fun to use a stamp in a new way, don't you think?

Oh, and if you're curious, inside the bag is a set of 4 candles with clear glass candle plates. I'm thinking that the little plates could also double as coasters. Just a little something for the new homeownder.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Damask Designs, Everyday Classics, Background Basics: Text Style) and Hero Arts (the house stamp has a 1988 copyright on it -- yikes, it's old!); cardstock is PTI (Kraft, Ocean Tides, Raspberry Fizz, White) and Stampin' Up (Old Olive, Lavender Lace); ink is PTI (True Black) and Versamark; also used Stampin' Up punches (Curly Label, Modern Label), Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch, clear embossing powder, and clear adhesive rhinestones made by Kaiser and purchased through PTI.

It's a busy weekend around here. Tonight we actually have two parties to go to (although I may beg off of the second one and let Ken go it alone). Then tomorrow morning I have Bible study (which I am totally unprepared for) and tomorrow night we have another party. Sunday morning we're walking in another 5K, this one for Breast Cancer and in honor of a neighbor who is a two year survivor. Practically our whole street is walking, which is pretty cool, but since it's on Sunday morning, we'll go to our church's Saturday night service. And, of course, since it's football season, we'll need to watch the Panther's game on TV (they're in Atlanta this week — and hopefully they'll do much better than last Sunday!). Whew! I'm getting tired just thinking of it.

Hope your weekend is fun and restful!

Sweet

OK — last of the card swap cards.

This one is the image I contributed. I don't remember exactly why I bought this little stamp. Guess I thought it was cute. I've probably had it for, oh, I don't know, maybe 15 years or so. I don't remember ever using it until now.

I still think it's cute — but, yikes! Looks like it needs color.

If you've been following my blog for the last few entries, you know that I'm over coloring. Don't even want to think about coloring.

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I made this card quickly just before leaving for Stamp Club this afternoon. I thought that I might as well complete all the swapped images, even my own. I just bought the Apron Lace punch today. I'd been wanting it, saw it in a local scrapbook store that I planned to quickly dash into for adhesive. Wouldn't you know — they had everything 20% off. What was I to do? :)

The idea was "Home Sweet Home" but I didn't have time to line up all those little bitty letters in a smaller sized font so I grabbed Fresh Alphabet hoping to get "Sweet Home" stamped on my pink strip. Not enough room, though, so I settled for "Sweet" all by itself. And then I found that really sweet button amongst my quite extensive collection from PTI and knew I had to use it.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Hero Arts (image date says 1988!) and Papertrey Ink (Fresh Alphabet); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette) and Papertrey Ink (Stamper's Select White); patterned paper is PTI's Bitty Dot Basics and a pink scrap for the frame around the image; button is PTI (but I can't remember if I found it with my Melon Berry or Summer Sunrise buttons); ribbon is just a little leftover piece; the fabulous Apron Lace punch is from Fiskars.   

Thought you might like to see what the others did with my stamp. (Remember you can click on the photos to make them bigger.)

Good ideas, huh? Can you tell that I wasn't the only one who was sick of coloring? :) (Patty's a girl after my own heart!)

I was thinking I'd write more, but I've probably gone on long enough. As much as it may have seemed like I was complaining over the past several posts — I love the image swap that we do each year. It's challenging. It stretches me. And I LOVE to see everyone else's interpretations of the stamp. Probably the most clever of the day was when Kathy took this image and turned it into a Little Miss Muffet card, complete with a button spider. So cute!

Well, that's it for now. Thanks so much for stopping by and for bearing with me the last few days.I've got some new ideas that I'm looking forward to trying. See ya later!  

what the little birdie told me

Remember this post from last week? Did you wonder what the little birdie had told me? Well, now it's revealed — here's the inside of the card:

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Last night we gave our Monday night guest the "little birdie" card with a small gift card to Lowe's, knowing that as a new homeowner she'll be making many trips to home improvement stores.

Our special dinner was quite simple, but I knew Brittany would like it because I know that she loves grilled cheese sandwiches — and these are The Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwiches... gooey with melted cream cheese, mozzarella, cheddar — yum, yum. We also had a green salad that included strawberries, mandarin oranges, almonds, and a sweet oil & vinegar dressing. Oh, and Buster Bar Dessert after watching the our first 24 episode of the night (Hour 5 of Season One). Mm-mm. And, yes, the scale did tell me this morning that I had eaten too much. Oh, well. It was a great, yet simple, celebration — so it was worth it. And today it's back to Curves and back to healthy eating. But, what would life be without a splurge now and then?

AND TELL:  the inside was stamped with the Impression Obsession set used before, also in Stampin' Up's Creamy Caramel ink. I watercolored the eggs with SU's Cool Caribbean. Refer back to the other post for the rest of the details.

Thanks for coming by today — and I hope to see you tomorrow, too! Have a great one!