A Few Finished Projects.

I finally found some time to complete a few vintage projects that I've been working on. I've had these ideas floating around in my head for sometime so it was nice to finally get them completed so that I can move right along to the next project obsession that is no doubt lurking around the corner...lol :)

*Please pause the music at the bottom of the page before watching the video.

Need A Laugh?

*Pause music below before watching.

A New Addition.

Please meet the newest member of my family...her name is "Boy, Boy". A little weird I know since she is a girl but I'll explain that in a minute. If you remember my post back in August you will remember that I lost my precious Shayla Mae to a terrible accident that took her life. If you wish you can read the story here. I was devastated when it happened because she was my kitty of 13 years. It will be a year next month since she has been gone and I have been wanting another kitty but just could not bring myself to get another as it was too painful to think about.

Then a few weeks ago my mother called and said that a "stray" had shown up at their door. I could tell by the tone in her voice what was coming next. She was going to want me to take this cat. I wasn't willing to take on another pet until I was over the loss of my Shayla. Reluctantly I decided to take a look at this cat. It turned out that she was the sweetest little thing and her personality and temperament was identical to that of my precious Shayla Mae. I couldn't resist and I took her home a few weeks ago. She has made me so happy and I am reminded of my Shayla everyday because of her.

As I said in the beginning her name is "Boy, Boy". This is because for the short time she was with my parents they thought she was a boy and they had begun calling her that. She was already used to the name so I decided to keep it. If you are not a pet lover then this post may be hard to understand. I love my pets with all my heart and now I am finally able to move on from the loss of my Shayla and remember her always in my heart while giving my love to someone new.

I was recently criticized for loving my beloved pets like children and to that I say "how sad for you". "How sad that your heart is closed and or not able to know the love that God created in the heart of man for his animals." The scriptures are filled with accounts of faithful men of old who showed love and concern for their creatures. I am grateful that I am able to feel this love as not all people can. I am grateful that he created these sweet little beings simply for our enjoyment as an expression of his benevolent love for mankind and for that I am thankful.

Vintage Inspired Lace.

Lace, Lace, and more Lace! I just love it and can't get enough of it. I recently purchased a beautiful lace bundle from a gal over on Youtube and when it arrived my tongue almost fell out...lol. Each piece was so beautiful and vintage that I couldn't wait to get started on using them. Take a peek below and please remember to pause the music below first.

Heartbreaking.

Sometimes in life the terrible misfortunes of others makes us screech to a halt in our own lives and slam on the brakes of the trivial stuff that we waste our precious time and energy on. This happened to me just yesterday when I learned of a terrible situation that one of our fellow Youtubers and Scrap sisters was experiencing.

Claudia or 66msclaudia as her Youtube channel name is called, had the tragic experience of suddenly and unexpectedly losing her husband in death last week. She is the stay at home mother of 6 children and her husband was the sole provider for the family. You can imagine how devastated she and her children are. I am amazed at her courage to persevere and try her best to take care of things despite her own pain. Claudia is in the process of selling off all of her art and scrapbooking supplies to raise money to take care of things.

She is selling a variety of scrapbook and mixed media art supplies in great condition that you may be able to make use of but more importantly you may be able to help her and her family in their time of need with your purchases. She has asked her Youtube family and fellow scrappers to get the word out and if you are unable to purchase please let your friends know or post on your blog if possible. This woman is amazing and strong and I only hope we can offer her comfort and assistance in her time of need.

Please visit her Youtube Channel at the link above to see her items for sale and listen as she explains the situation in her own words.

Putting Them To Use.

So I finally found a neat project to use the gorgeous satin ribbon flowers from my last post below. I created a 6x6 mini album that showcased their beauty much to my delight. I started with a 6x12 piece of card stock and scored it using my Martha Stewart Scoreboard to make a book shape.


Then i used my BELOVED Mariposa paper stack! I had been avoiding cutting into this gorgeous paper long enough so I just went for it. I decorated the cover using the ribbon flowers, Prima Marketing Say it in pearls and a few sprigs of pretty feathers. The cover and all pages were trimmed in gold Paint Dabber.


Below I used a Tim Holtz Hitch Fastener and an elastic hair band for the closure. I love this technique especially for bulky minis because it keeps everything all together and in place.

The inside cover was lined with glittered and gold card stock from the coordinating Mariposa Card stock Stack.

This was a paper bag album so every other page opened up on the end for the addition of tags, trinkets or additional photos.

I had initially planned for this page to be the front cover but after gluing everything in place I realized that I had adhered it to the back cover....bah! It made for a beautiful back cover anyhow.

Using the original stand from my dear friend NatalieBramasole as a template I traced onto card stock and cut and folded it to make a coordinating chipboard stand to hold the mini. It too was covered in the gold and glittered paper from the Mariposa Stack.

I am more than pleased with the way it turned out and it is now ready for some personalizing and embellishment and that is truly the fun part!

"Whatta You Do?"

What do you do when you are the happy recipient of bags and bags of satin ribbon scraps? That was the very question I found myself asking when at work we were accumulating bags of pretty satin ribbon cuttings daily.


I happen to work for Planetgiftbaskets.com which my twin sister owns. Because we make and ship out gorgeous gift baskets all over the world on a daily basis, these ribbon scraps tend to pile up in all different colors and styles. This is because after assembling and wrapping a gift basket we trim it out in a personalized satin ribbon before shipping.

I find myself looking at these trimmings and wondering what in the world I could do with them since it would be such a shame to throw them all away. Then I came across this awesome Youtube video by Paperdrama showing how to make these very vintage inspired satin ribbon roses! After watching the video I was off and running with making these gorgeous embellishments. I love the way these turned out and I am going to use them in so many ways. Check out the video for yourself and give this fun technique a try.


*Please pause music at bottom before watching the video.

More Creative Inspiration For You.

Please Use These In Your Art Only. No duplication for use in CD's or collage sheets for sale.

Zutter Distrezz It All Product Review.

So it looks like I have found a new toy that I have managed to fall in love with! It is the new ultra-cool distressing tool from Zutter called The Distrezz It All. This handy little distresser is from the same Zutter that makes the awesome Bind-It-All.

I have to admit I was a little wary of this product when I first began to see others using it in their Youtube videos because frankly it looked a little dangerous to me. The open design of the feed channel coupled with the high speed of the exposed blade concerned me a bit. I decided to hang back for a bit before buying to see if there would be any complaints about lopped off fingertips and what not...lol I finally conceded and ordered mine and it arrived only a few days later. Incidentally, I did find a safety disclaimer on the site since ordering mine. You can read it here.

The machine itself was a lot smaller than anticipated so that in and of itself made it seem a bit safer to maneuver. I found that although the blade is exposed it would be very difficult to lop off a finger unless you deliberately tried to stick your finger into the channel! After deciding that it was indeed a safe tool I tried it out on different thicknesses of paper and materials and WOW! I love this thing!



It made 3 or 4 simple sheets of card stock so distressed on the edges that it appeared to be many more pieces of paper. It worked on paper, card stock, cardboard and chipboard. It can be used handheld or tabletop whichever you prefer. My final conclusion is that I just love this new tool! For some reason it has not seemed to catch on at my local craft stores enough for them to begin carrying it so I had to shop around to several online stores to find the best price and it cost me around $38.00 which was not bad considering all that it does. So my recommendation would be to give this handy little dandy a try. Check out all of the technique videos on Youtube as well. You will find loads of ideas for using this tool there.

*Please remember to pause the music at the bottom of page before watching the video.

Easy Peasy Vintage Flower Technique.

Is it possible to ever have too many paper flowers for your art and crafting needs? I think not. This is why I was so excited to come across this really cool technique for making vintage inspired paper flowers than not only rival the expensive Prima Marketing brand but in my opinion they happen to look even better than them.

The video is by Julles and her Youtube Channel is Jannavilles. She has several techniques for making these and other gorgeous Prima lookalikes but these "Peony" style ones happen to be my favorite. After watching the videos please be sure to visit her Youtube channel on the link above so that you can enjoy her many other techniques.

*Please remember to pause the music at the end of the page before playing the video.