Hostess Appreciation Party

Hi everyone!  I promised I would show you some photos from Sunday’s Hostess Appreciation party!  Here are the projects we made:

A gold-embellished note card:

A fun Gingham Garden and Love You to the Moon combo:

And I apologize, but I just could not get a better shot of this Love banner using Fresh Prints, Fabulous Phrases and Morning Post Alphabet:

Here are some individual shots (still not that great!):

The colors are so fun and vibrant, I just love these colors!  Sorry they don’t look so hot here…you’ll just have to take my word for it!

And here are the wonderful hostesses who attended:

Debbie, Lesley & Joan:

Sandy & Ellen:

Beth & Jill:

Billie & Sandy:

and Linda & Athena:

We played a couple games:

exchanged gifts:

and did some stamping……and Athena DID fix her banner (but she had us cracking up until she did!):

Here are the little gift bags I made for everyone:

and I think we all had a blast!  I know I did! Thank you, hostesses!

Make It Monday 153

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  Are you staying warm?  Boy, it’s cold out there!  I spent some time in my craft room recently making a little “love” banner with the new Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, which is a really cool little tool.  What do you think:

I have wanted to make one of these for a long time and I don’t know why I never did!!!   I began by punching out four 4” tags from Real Red cardstock; the tags have to be no larger than 2” wide in order to fit into the punch.  I also cut some tags from Modern Medley designer paper, trimming them to 1 7/8” by 3 7/8” before centering them in the punch.  I layered them on top of the cardstock tags; the holes will not line up perfectly, but there is a small opening that is large enough to thread some ribbon or seam binding through.   I used a bunch of vintage-imaged SU sets and stamped them right on the Modern Medley DP in shades of gray, black and red, then stamped my Morning Post letters and mounted them on Basic Black Artisan Label punchouts.  Here they are a wee bit closer:

The Kraft Journal’s Make It Monday challenge is “Lace it Up”, so I added ribbon, embossed and sponged hearts, seam binding, rhinestones and taffeta flowers in addition to my lace!!! (But oops...I forgot you need to use KRAFT, which I didn't...so maybe I should make another?)  I added a piece of black scored cardstock running horizontally on  the back of the tags to give them some sturdiness and finished it with some wide black grosgrain ribbon!  Sweet!

Cassidy made a suncatcher with some crafty stuff she received for Christmas:

I am going to run out of crafts soon!  She LOVES to do crafts!
Enjoy your day!

Paper Players 157

Hey peeps!  It’s Sunday, and that means Paper Players time!  This week, Anne Marie has a fun challenge for us:

What to do, what to do?  Fall is probably my favorite season, so there were lots of ideas swirling in my head, but my time was limited!  I just got the Perfect Pennants die through my Great Rewards redemption, so I thought I would use the pennants to make a fall banner:

It’s always a challenge to photograph large projects like this!  The main banners are cut from Tangerine Tango and embossed with the Woodgrain EF.  I added layers of the DP from the Sweater Weather pack, then stamped the Morning Post Alphabet in Early Espresso and added some mats in Early Espresso and Sahara Sand.  A few leaves diecut from the same DP using the Autumn Accents die were placed strategically along my burlap trim.  All the elements were adhered with brads for easy placement.  Finally, I added “happy”, using A Fitting Occasion and A Dozen Thoughts.  Here’s a little closer view:

I wish you could get a better look at this…sorry!  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me!  I am happy with the results of this….it was fun to make and since I have it in full view on the mantel,  I heard Cassidy spelling out the letters to John, and he was telling her what it spelled!!!

Now, I hope this, as well as the wonderful projects the other designers created this week, will inspire you to make a fall-themed project!  And speaking of other designers, we are thrilled to have Sandy Mathis joining us on our team!  She is a sweetie and is consistently challenging me as she raises the creative bar for our team!  Check out all the designs at the Paper Players blog!

I got Cassidy water colors for her second birthday, but she wasn’t quite ready.  She is LOVING it now!  She asks to paint a couple times a day!

Enjoy your day!

Wee Project Details
Stamps	Morning Post Alphabet, Truly Grateful, Itty Bitty Bits, A Fitting Occasion, A Dozen Thoughts
Card stock & Papers	Tangerine Tango, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Sweater Weather DP
Ink	Tangerine Tango, Sahara Sand, Early Espresso
Accessories	7/8" Burlap Trim, Brads
Tools	Woodgrain & Perfect Polka Dots EF; Perfect Pennants Die, Autumn Accents Die, 1 3/8 Circle Punch, Circle Framelits, Crimper, Sponge Daubers, Curly Label Punch, Big Shot