The After Christmas Christmas Card of Thanks

I'm not going to say that I always get around to making the After Christmas Christmas Thank you Cards, BUT, sometimes in the madness of making the initial cards, I'll make a couple here and there. 

Here is one I've made for someone special to say thank you again. 

I have used the terrific template from The Cutting Cafe called Christmas Pockets, there are 6 designs in this set and it worked perfectly to hold the little thank you tag.

This is for the linky party that is now open at Make It Monday and using the super cute image from our sponsor, Meljen's Designs, I've added a little Cheery Lights Mailbox and an added the cutest free sentiment circle from Annette that you can find here.  

Please join us for some friendly fun and sharing and you'll be in the winning for our prize from Meljen's Designs.

Hugs n' Happy stamping,

Lisa xx

Now for the BEST part...

Debbie S

I really loved the monochromatic look of this card and the snowflakes that pop off the background and coordinate beautifully with the DP. But most of all, those adorable little reindeer nuzzling noses under the mistletoe. How cute to personalize with their names on it too!

Wonderful Christmas card Debbie and thank you so much for sharing this with us at Make It Monday!

Igloo Christmas Wishes

I'd just like to start by saying that I did not, absolutely didn't, use an air filter padding to make the snow igloo frame on this card, NOPE...but if you need something white, snowy and holds together well, you didn't hear it from me. ;)  My husband is still shaking his head on this one. Oh well...on to the card...

This is my card for the Dutch Dare Challenge happening right now of Winter Wonderland!  Using the images from our sponsor, Meljen's Designs here is Penguins Little Letter & Cozy Winter Mailbox. 

I really wanted to make an igloo wreath and this is the best I could come up with. I'm pretty happy with it.  What do you think? 

Please join us for some Winter Wonderland fun and make that extra Christmas card you've been itching to do.

Thank you so much for your visit. You are VERY appreciated!

Hugs n' Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx

 



Tipsy on Monday Morning...

Go ahead, you can say it..."Awww, that's so cute!" Hahaha..isn't it though and guess what? The dadblasted thing won't stand up.  Nothing I did made it any better. Made a stand in the back and then it just teetered to the side and leaned worse. So, here's my tipsy Monday morning offering to you, complete with easel, for our latest Make It Monday Linky Party that's now open! Thanks so much to Meljen's Designs for sponsoring us this week.  Love the little Sewing Machine and I regret that my card can't stay sober for its debut, but still...awww...it's so cute!

Please join us and share your makes, old or new...we'd love to see them and while you're there, check out the beautiful cards from my teammates too and see if you are their pick of the week!

Have a wonderful day and big hugs to you...

Lisa xx

Psst...one more important thing

#223 Sarah's Little Snippets

WOW! Check this out....who else is jealous?? LOL...So adorable and wait until you see the original cabinet and the way she's decorated the outside too! Love all the amazing papers and accessories here. Such an adorable project.  Please check out Sarah's blog here to see more!!

 

 



Country Bumpkin' Pumpkin...

 



Has anyone else noticed an influx of spiders lately? That's usually a good indication that Halloween is just around the corner. I love the nature made decorations; especially the strategically placed cobweb spanning the entire area of my front door entry. Nothing like taking in your first whiff of crisp morning air as you step outside and completely engulf yourself in stringy, sticky webbing. Awesome!!  Followed by the "I'm freakin' out here!" heebie jeebie dance to unravel yourself which becomes totally futile. Awwww, Autumn...I love it!  

I'd like to submit to the jury exhibit A

 So in honor of this glorious season, I've designed my Make It Monday DT card around this theme.  Here are a couple Country Star Pumpkins from Meljen's that I've colored up in copics and added a few hand drawn ghosties and bitty spider to accent the holiday.  The layout of the card was inspired by this Mojo Monday sketch and finished off with a bit of faux stitching.  If you have something you'd like to share with us, old or new, please stop by and link it up to our latest linky party and you'll be in the drawing to win the prize from our sponsor, Meljen's Designs, of 4 single digis!!

Now the fun part, my...

 PICK OF THE WEEK!

Here is Lorianna's gorgeous vintage card with a stunning image and airbrushed feather.  For more on her card, visit her blog Lorianna's Corner. Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

Have a great week everyone!

Hugs n' Happy Stamping,

Lisa xx

 



Woven Crinoline Gift Basket

Have a birthday coming up soon and need a cute little holder for a gift? Well perfect, because I have just the idea for you!  Actually, the entire team at TOP TIP TUESDAY has gone crazy with projects for our current theme:

BIRTHDAY GIFTS

ie - gifts, Wrapping/box/bag,or use an image of a gift

Here is my woven crinoline basket all decorated up and ready for a birthday!

I began by using the detailed tutorial here that shows the technique in paper, but thought it would substitute nicely with embossed and inked material. 

The little birthday tag is the image Topsy Turvy Birthday Cake from Meljen's Designs.

I got so into making the basket that I forgot to take pictures along the way, but here is all I used to make the basket.  Need some crinoline? I ordered mine here.  You'll definitely need a hot glue gun to hold the weaves.

Once form was completed, I hot glued lace around the top edge.  Next, I placed a 3"x 12" piece of sturdy cardstock around the inside and secured over the lace.

Here are the supplies I used to decorate the bow.

Before adhering the bow, I glued another 3" x 12" dp atop the white cardstock for decoration and also placed a sturdy thin cardboard circle to the bottom of the basket.

A side view showing a little more of the weave.

 

Are you excited yet???  Well try to contain yourself, because there is heaps and loads of outstanding projects from special guests and our DT and an incredible tutorial from our very own wonderful Bettina on making a Picnic Box.

So put your bells and whistles on and head on over to the crazy-fun birthday bash!!

 

Hugs n' Happy Crafting,

Lisa xx

 

 Top Tip Tuesday

Theme:

Birthday Giftsie - gifts, Wrapping/box/bag,
or use an image of a gift

 

 Stamp and Create

 Prize: $25 Gift Certificate

 

Meljen's Designs

Prize: 4 images of choice



Sure-Fire Cure All???

Alright, now I'm totally confused! Last week I was ready to move to a nudist colony 'cause it was so dad-blasted hot and now this week I'm double layering my socks.  Don't get me wrong, I'm loooving this cooler weather, but unfortunately the sneezing, sniffling and runny noses have started too.

Which is why I've made this little get well card for this weeks linky party at

MAKE IT MONDAY!

Sick Little Bear here is from our sponsor Meljen's Designs and he's been paper pieced with assorted scraps and mounted on a Kraft card while surrounded in elements useful for 'boo boo's.'  And I figure since laughter is supposedly the best medicine, why not tack on a comical remedy for best well wishes too. 

Does anyone recognize the DP? I've had that in my collection through four household moves and if I remember correctly, this paper came out in the early 2000's.  You'll also notice the trio of Q-tips, the ripple of self-adhesive gauze and the scalloped fringed lace of bandaids. 

I also decided that for some extra "umph" in motivation, I would go back in time and look at the older sketches from Mojo Monday. I had NO idea they went back that far.  Figured I'd start with this one from January 2010 and work my way up.

Well, that about does it for me, but before you go I can't wait to share 2 items of great news.

As you may already know, our wonderfully funny Karen has stepped down from MIM to give herself a little more free time (even though we all still stalk her blog daily and harass her just as much as if she was still here) but now we have new meat, I mean a new DT to pick on and have a great time with too... YEAH!!

Please drop by and give some love to Lisa S, (I know, what a COOL name!) so she feels all warm and welcome. We are so happy to have her on board with us.

Ain't she perty??? She's hysterically funny too!

ALSO, here's the second bit of great news, my....

PICK OF THE WEEK!

Sarah-Jane

This is just a sneak peek of what she's done with a challenge of using orange, lime and citrus colors together...isn't this cute?!! 

For more wonderful pictures and to see the entire card, visit her blog at The Crystal Elephant. 

Come on out and share in the fun at

Make It Monday

And you'll be in for the chance at a prize from

Meljen's Designs

Prize: 4 Single digis!

I'm done now :)

Hugs n' Happy Stamping...

Lisa xx



YEE HAW!

Howdy ya'll...

I've been struck with Midwestern inspiration today.

Meet the cutest little gal here called A Girl and Her Overalls!

Ain't she adorable??

Her's all pertified up with copics and a few embellishments.

A hand stamped sentiment using miniature alphabet stamps.

Before ya'll scoot, I'd like ya ta take a gander at this har down right perty

PICK(s) OF THE WEEK!! (I couldn't pick just one!)

Well, I tried, I really did, but narrowing down the choices this week was just too difficult a task for me.  I have three (blushes).  Each so uniquely different and really gave me some great ideas.

#43 Jan Hunnicutt

How wonderful is this for an Anniversary card? It really struck me as such a unique and perfect depiction of a happy couple.  Great card Jan!

#63 Einat

By simply adding a little extension to the regular tag, she's created an even more elegant piece of work. I really liked the innovative thinking on this. Beautiful tag!

#73 Heather A Hudson

Wow! I got lost trying to decipher the intricate and detailed layers of this card. I really love the amazing work on the framing and yet it lends itself perfectly to support this fabulous image.  A beautiful piece of artwork Heather!

If the post wouldn't go on forever, I would have loved to post everyone's work. Thank you so much to everyone who shared the most amazing creative projects with us this week!

I reckon you best be on your way then and headn' over yonder to the best linky party there is in these har parts....

Make It Monday!

And you can get the cutest lil' gal in overalls here at

Meljen Designs

Prize:  4 Single Digis

Thank you for your visit and leavin' some luv on my blog :)
Hugs n' Happy Stamping...
Lisa xx

Big Teddy Bear Hug....

Hello!

For this card, I've used the wonderful little Garden Fence and Little Girl Bear Hugs images on a circle frame, and then foam mounted that onto a frame card base. 

The fence is painted with TH crackle paint and the rest colored in Copics. 

 I love the way that Meljen's Designs images work so well together.  

This is my DT card for another incredibly fun packed and talent overloaded Linky Party at

Make It Monday where I hope you can join us this week.

I hope you enjoy my

PICK OF THE WEEK!

This intricate little card is from Julie at Julies Crafty Creations.   I really enjoy the color combination here as well as the detailed border cuts, flowers, flourishes and that precious little bear holding a birthday gift.  If you'd like to see more, please click on her link!

Still want more? Then head on over to MIM and see what wonderful things the rest of the DT ladies have in store for you at...

 Make It Monday #94 Linky Party

Our Sponsor

 Meljen's Designs

Prize: Choice of 4 single digis!

 

Thanks for the visit!

Hugs n' Happy Stamping,

Lisa xx

It's All About Family

Hello to you from Missouri and Happy Mother's Day to those of you celebrating today!!

Just want to invite you all to another Linky Party at Make It Monday.  Feel free to showcase something new, something old, something borrowed, or something blue.  We want to see what's happening in those creative minds of crafters all around the world! 

Meljen's Designs rocks, and they have offered up images to use for this weeks party as well as sponsoring the prize!  I actually went on their website to pick one for the challenge and ended up buying a boat load of them for my personal use.  This is one called Family Flowers.

Card base is standard white cardstock with a layering of corrugated cardboard from Linda's shop located here.  The image is then framed with black cardstock.  Added some twine and a lovely felt heart gifted to me by my grandmother, 'Thank you Grammy' and viola...happy family card.

Ohhhh, the clouds! Did you notice the clouds? LOL...Thank you Chrissy for the tip on these.  I have so far to go before I get to her level of expertise.  Hers don't smear.  I just convinced myself that a storm was moving in to justify the eye sore smudges. ;)

This little card is in the mail for a very dear couple, my grandmother's BFF and her hubby, to say thank you for their most generous and thoughtful donation to my son's fundraiser.  Family is that which you are born into and the rest are those that supersede friendship and find a very dear place in your heart. 

Speaking of the heart, here's a card that I love...

PICK OF THE WEEK!

I chose this amazing carousel card, designed by Laurel at Laurel's Crafty Retreat.  This project is beyond amazing and the horses even go up and down!! See more pictures by clicking here. 

Here's my Mother's Day gift. 

We took the pictures yesterday and spray painted the old brown frames black as well as the wooden letters.  The mirror was $5 at a thrift store. I asked that it be fun and a little topsy turvy. 

I LOVE IT! 

My son put on a mustache for his photo op and my daughter posed as to say, "goofball" while looking at him. :)

Favorite quote from my favorite author, on being a mother...

"My second favorite household chore is ironing. The first being hitting my head on the top bunk bed until I faint."
Erma Bombeck

Stop by and share your inspiration with us and see what the other lovely ladies have been up to to share with you!

Hugs n' Happy Crafting...

Lisa x

You Stack Up!

 Welcome back everyone! 

 I have a wonderful image, a picnic table tutorial and a super fantastic linky party to share with you today.

This yummy entree is called Big Burger and available at Meljen Designs.  I had such a wonderful time coloring this monstrosity of a meal and decided it needed a unique scenery to show it off, so I designed my first 3D picnic table and free standing banner.

 Here are the dimensions and directions to make this picnic table yourself.

With white card stock, make the following pieces:

Table Top - 5.5" x 3" and score each side at 0.5" in from the edges

Benches - 5.5" x 1.5" and score each side at .25" in from the edges

Center Support (2) - 4.5" x 2.5" and score each side at .25" in from the edges

Cross legs (4) - 3" x 0.5"

Tabs - Picture shown below and is used for the benches to sit on.

1.  After you've cut and scored all the pieces. Snip the corners to make the little tabs that will be used to fold, glue and form the table, benches and support.

2.  Run each piece through a wood grain folder

3.  Ink the wood grain to desired color

4.  Once the two support pieces are folded, spot glue with a hot glue gun and adhere both sides together.

5.  Assemble pieces as shown in the photos.  After adding on the legs, gauge how you want to the ends cut at a angle to sit level on any surface.

6.  Cut the little white tabs, shown above, and mount the benches on to them.

7.  Spot ink on the underside where white is still showing to match the appearance of the table.

Now you have a picnic table!

I'd like to share now my,

PICK OF THE WEEK

I'm swooning over the textures and layout and the center stage sentiment as well as the beautifully colored couple! 

This stunning piece of artwork is from Alyce at Kit and Clowder if you'd like to see more images of this gorgeous project.

We would LOVE to have you join in at

Make It Monday

for our always fun and inspiring Linky Parties!

 Thank you also to our Sponsor

Meljen Designs

for providing the DT with images to use and for gifting the winner a wonderful prize!

I hope I've inspired your creative mojo today.  You always make my day with your visits, so thank you for stopping by.

Hugs and Happy Stamping!

Lisa xx