Friday, September 21, 2007

A Small Gift...

... for one of my nieces!

Her favorite color is PINK and she is turning 14 this year! What do you give a young teen for her birthday?!? Why, JEWELRY, of course!!! Especially if she is a FASHIONISTA like this one (and her sisters)!!!

So, here is the gift I made her:
This jewelry set is made with Chinese pink opals, rhodonite, onyx, and silverplated beads, with sterling silver spacers and findings. I hope she likes it! I LOVE pink and black together!!!














Here is the gift box and card together. I had to stick with the pink and black theme, you know! LOL!!!























Here is the card and the creative deets:

Stamps: Oh, So Lovely
Inks: Going Gray, Basic Black, Pretty in Pink, Pixie Pink
Papers: Pixie Pink, Basic Black, Whisper White
Other: Aquapainter; Pretties Kit Rhinestone Brad; Doodlebug Paper Frill (white, dyed with Pixie Pink pad); Flower & Leaves from Michael's.

I CASEd this card from Chrissyd723's cards, here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/664375. I totally fell in love with the gray background stamping she did, and then the colored focal point done with the same stamp. I think it is an elegant way to tie background and foreground together! Thanks, Chrissy!

I embellished the gift box very simply, by just wrapping a 2-inch designer paper strip (Fancy Pants Designs, "Lovebird") around the center for a belly band and adhering with sticky tape. Then, I punched a 1-inch circle out of Basic Black CS, centered the circle in the scallop punch, and got a cute little black "flower" out of it. Backed the black with another scallop, punched from Pixie Pink CS. Added detail by punching each scallop with my 1/8-inch circle punch for a more "lacy" look. Tied the scallop gift tag onto the box with (ret.) black organdy ribbon, over the paper band, and wrote my niece's name in the center of the flower. I like how it turned out! I hope it's a hit!






A Glimmer Mist Gift! Go eP!!!

Woo-hoo!!! Have you seen what eclectic Paperie (eP) is offering their customers this month?!? Get a load of THIS (from an e-mail I got from eP):

JOIN THIS GlIMMER MIST PARTY!

We are excited to host our first event called "An eclectic Coterie". We've all heard the buzz on Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels. They are releasing seasonal colors for a limited time only. So we are having a party for all Glimmer Mist fans. The more people that come to the party, the more free Glimmer Mist you get! Read more for offer details and don't forget to invite your friends.

An eclectic Coterie - Glimmer Mist Limited Edition Special

The Details: Purchase all twelve (12) seasonal colors for $79.99 (plus shipping).
FALL: Aspen Yellow, Autumn Leaves, Harvest Orange, Juniper, Merlot, and Red Maple. WINTER: Frosty Nights, Gingerbread, Winterberry, Mistletoe, Snowflake and Sugar Cookie.

Now some the additional FUN Details: If we sell 40 bundles, everyone who purchased the seasonal bundle will receive a free bottle of Glimmer Mist Patina($6.95 value)absolutely free!

If we sell 80 bundles,everyone who purchased the seasonal bundle will receive both Glimmer Mist Patina AND Glimmer Mist Antique Brass($6.95 value) free.

That is right. The more people at our Coterie, the more free stuff you will get with your bundle purchase. We'll keep you posted on the eP blog as to how many more people we need to invite in order to add free Glimmer Mist to your packages. So your mission is to share this offer and enable all your friends. The more people who join this coterie, the more Glimmer Mist we all add to our collection. These limited edition colors are only available for the fall and winter season. eclectic Paperie is making this exclusive offer through this special newsletter. This eP Glimmer Mist special will not ship until the eclectic Coterie is over.

This special offer is only available from September 18th to September 30th. These special orders will not ship until early October.

Please email info@eclecticpaperie.com if you have any questions. Visit the eP Blog for more information and photos of how Glimmer Mist can work into your paper crafts. Glimmer All the Way!

Daisy & Joy

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So, how about it?!? I know *I* want some of this cool product! If you need further motivation, go to Vicki Chrisman's blog (listed at right) and check out her awesome projects! She's the QUEEN of Glimmer Mist!!! LOL!

M.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

My 93-Year-Old Grandparents!

Oh, I have to say it was SO WONDERFUL to be able to share my grandparents' 70th anniversary with them!!! They are two of the dearest people in my life, and I can't even begin to express my deep love for them, and the great JOY I feel when I get to spend time with them!!!

And, bless their sweet hearts, they are still VERY spry and healthy for their age -- 93 years old!!! I just want to share a few pictures of them with you, since they are so special to me!

Here they are, next to the card cake I made for them -- getting ready to greet their friends and family at the anniversary party! Isn't my grandmother ELEGANT?!? Still straight as a pin, and dressed in her favorite colors, too! Granddad is looking pretty dapper as well!

Here, they are reading together a note someone wrote to them...

And, last but not least, here they are laughing about something... I think I still see a little "spark" there! (Isn't is SO CUTE?!?!) What do you think?!?

GOD BLESS MY GRANDPARENTS!!! Heaven knows how much they have blessed MY life, for all these years... I LOVE YOU, Grandmother & Granddad!!!

M.

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

70 Years of Marriage!!!

WOW!!! My maternal grandparents will be celebrating their 70th anniversary this Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007!!! What an accomplishment! I definitely admire them for this! Not too many people get there... They are such a neat couple, and I'm sure their faith in God has been the foundation for their strong marriage! I hope I get there, one day... I was figuring it out the other day and discovered that I will be 102 that year! LOL!!! (Whew!!!)

Anyway, one of my uncles is planning a "surprise" reception for them on Saturday! (I'm not sure it will be a complete surprise, though... He placed an announcement in the paper and Granddad reads the paper regularly! LOL!!!)

My contribution to this special day is this "card cake" I just finished making today! It's a container for the cards they may be receiving. When I saw the one Vicki Chrisman posted on her blog, I knew I had to make one as well! Hers is FAB-OOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! (Check it out here: http://vickichrisman.blogspot.com/2007/08/beautiful-day-for-wedding.html)

Knowing that my Grandmother's absolute favorite color combination is blue and white, I took those as my color cues and found some lovely ribbons at Hobby Lobby! I think I went a bit overboard on the ribbon -- what do you think?!? (Couldn't resist!!!)

Here is the "big picture" of the completed cake front:





















And back:
























And, here is some detail as well:
I stamped the boxes with SU!'s Brocade Basics stamp set, using my Essential Glue Pad and applied Dazzling Diamonds glitter (this is their "diamond" anniversary, after all! LOL!!!). The card stock I used for the flowers was SU!'s Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue, and white vellum. I punched out the petals with both the large and small oval punches, curled each petal, and adhered them to a smaller circle base in the matching color. The bling in the flower centers are the clear rhinstone brads from the Pretties Kit! Love them!!! The leaves were punched from vellum, then I used my stylus to create the veining and make them more dimensional.

The lacy edging on the box tops is just the edges of square paper doilies. I had to use several pieces to make it all the way around the cake, but the doily corners made a good accent at the seams, I think! Looks a lot like Battenburg Lace to me!

The photograph in the frame is one taken of my grandparents about 20 years ago... I wish I had a photo of them as newlyweds but, alas, I do not! I'm so excited to see them this weekend!!! Thanks for sharing my joy with me!

Monday, September 3, 2007

A Back-to-School Oldie...

ETA (Edited To Add): A tutorial for this project has just been posted on SplitcoastStampers.com! If you want to see the tutorial, here is the URL for it:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/backpackbox

Thanks & blessings,

M.

Hi!


Just so you know I haven't forgotten about my blogging family, I thought I'd post a project today. I can't yet post what I've been working on this past couple of weeks, so here is a project from my *ancient* past, when I was a Stampin' Up! demonstrator! LOL!!!

I created this project from an existing box on the demo website, tweaking it here and there to create a backpack, for a Back-to-School swap I was in. Just might be appropriate for NOW, eh?!? LOL!

Not much stamping here, except for using the Classic Alphabet and Numbers sets (ABC, 123)... Used my coluzzle to create the flaps and Velcro half-circles to close the flaps...

I think the rest is pretty self-explanatory, but if you have any questions about it, feel free to ask! Just be sure and leave your e-mail addy on your post so that I can reply, okay?
Happy Back-to-School time!!!