Late Summer . . . and how I spent some of my summer vacation . . .



Late summer sights and sounds are all around us.

This is a corn field on a road near our house.

I love to see it in all seasons.

  

I had company when I was having

my morning coffee on the porch a few days ago.

We said our prayers together. :-)

Pretty clouds to the east . . .from our deck. 

I made a paper stars wreath in a Friday Night Mini Challenge

in an online craft group that I used to be in.  My crafty friend Tiffany and I 

hosted the event on Friday nights and had fun coming up with ideas like this. 

This is the first in series of my Pretty Lady ATC's (Artist Trading Cards).

Artists swap these with each other!

I sent this to another artist in a swap that we did in an online group. 

A card that I made to thank a client for an order she placed with me. 

Some pretty packaging for a swap I coordinated in an online group.

These are chipboard diecuts that crafters use for cards, mini albums, tags and so forth.

It was fun sending them and getting different ones in return.

 

These are some sample tags I made to show to the client who made a special order.

They can be used on gifts, in mini albums, or embellished and hung on the wall,

a door knob, or on a Christmas tree. :-)

This is a little skinny mini. . . made from one 12 x 12 sheet of scrapbooking paper,

folded to create an accordion-style binding. The pages are embellished and it is tied

with a ribbon. I love this little corset and the wings made from metal leaves!  

These make nice little gifts and you can tuck special notes, coupons, or gift cards inside. :-) 

This was one of the Friday Night Mini Challenge projects I coordinated for the 

on line group that I used to be in. 

I made a little video tutorial for the group to follow as they made theirs.

With the strip cut off of the 12x12 sheet, we made mini mini albums!

Now, these are just the right size for a gift card!

You can see the video tutorial that I made here:

http://youtu.be/GKLcYzBYLpY

And the video of the project that I made can be seen here:

http://youtu.be/pPbWaQ_UWQc

Card I made for someone  . . . just because . . .  

I have been making this style of card for my real estate clients when they close on their new home.

I put their house number in the little frame and use little brass brads to attach it to the card front. 

I made this tag during a Friday Night Mini Challenge that my friend Tiffany and I coordinated.

The challenge was to take 3 uglies from your stash: 

Ugly paper (The big floral), Ugly Embellishment (The "E"), and Ugly Trim (The strippy little whateveritis trim that I had in my stash),  and make something beautiful!

I guess I was channeling my Woodstock girl (altho I didn't go to Woodstock!) . . and I tried to make this look like a blouse in crazy fabric with trim, tucked into a pair of hip-rider jeans. . . . a long necklace and a belt with a big buckle. . . . I actually liked it when I finished it!

Another Friday Night Mini Challenge that my friend Tiffany came up

with is this little "purse" and "shoes". I made mine out of chipboard. It was a lot of fun. I gave the shoes to a friend who has a daughter who turned 21 and is an absolute shoe lover. (Who isn't?) :-)

Oh, here is another ATC . . . "Forever Young".

I made this one for my friend Tiffany.

I made some stick pins for my friend Tiffany.

I saved some acrylic packaging from something and used it to package them up.

The backing is scrapbook paper and the edging is washi tape.  

  

Hmmm . . . I guess that is it for now! I have some other things I am working on, but they can't be shown just yet, because they are gifts that have not yet been given!

I got this done way before I expected to . . . my plan was for Monday, but here it is . . . on Friday . . . three days ahead of my own deadline! :-)

I am grateful for the time I have to pursue my art and the support I get from my husband . . . who is my biggest fan and my constant "show and tell" victim. The only TV show I know I cannot interrupt for an opinion is Buffalo Bills football . . . .other than that, he welcomes me (maybe!) when I rush in to show him something I just made!

Here is to a great weekend!

And until we meet again, may God hold  you in the hollow of His hand.

GREETING CARDS !!!

It has been a long time . . . yet again . . . since I posted here on my blog! For some reason, I just get busy and think . . . oh, I will do that later . . . and as we all know, sometimes later does not come!  So, my new plan, and one I think I can accomplish with ease, is to work on my blog on a daily basis and upload it weekly. I realize I do more in a week than I realize and when I finally sit down to write a post, it covers way tooooooo long a period of time! So, from here on out, it will be more current!

I have been making cards. I am enjoying it and below are some of the cards I made this past couple of weeks. :-)

This card is special to me because I made it for my sister's birthday.

My friend Tiffany is from the south and she suggested that I add a wreath to the door.

 She said it is a custom to put a wreath on the door in all seasons.

I took her suggestion, and I really like how it came out!

Thanks Tiffany . . . and Happy Birthday, Louise!

This is the first card I attempted with a screen door.

I was very lucky to find the paper I used for it in a six-inch paper stack that I had on hand.  

This is how the front of the card looks when the screen door swings open! 

The greeting is on the inside of the card. 

This card has a swinging screen door, too.

I think it needs a wreath, for sure!

 

I switched gears a bit and made some baby cards.

I love shaker cards . . . and I love sequins. . . so this is a perfect match for my card.

Look closely. I found some really cute shapes to put inside  . . . a baby carriage, a teddy bear,

a rattle, little feet, a baby bottle, . . .and a few other cute little things.

I cut the letters out with one of my dies.

Another shaker card.

I punched some butterfly shapes with one of my little punches and added the sequins.

I cut the letters out with one of my dies and I glittered them up!

Lovers always need cards to send to their sweetheart.

I cut some star shapes with one of my punches and added sequins. 

We all know someone who just can't have enough shoes!

This card says it all!  

I added glitter to the shoe but it does not show up well in the photo!

I embossed the background paper and I dyed the letters with some of my alcohol pens

 to get the right shade of blue to go with the paper.

Back to some more baby cards!

I used a stamp to get the banner shape.

 I glittered it up and layered it and added little stars at the

ends that I punched with one of my little punches.

I cut the letters out with one of my dies. 

I kept this one a bit more simple and added just the pretty silver and teal sequins to the window. 

 Another baby card . . . and this one has some little sparkles of tiny glitter added to the window.

USA!  USA!  USA!

A card that would be nice to send to someone in the service. 

I am continuing to make cards every day. I like to get into my studio in the morning to work on them and then again in the evening. In between making cards, I am working diligently on my quilts that I have entered in the Museum Quilt Guild quilt show that will be held in October. I attended our August meeting yesterday and enjoyed seeing many of my quilting friends and the enthusiasm for the show and for each other's work was contagious. I came home with a feeling of exhilaration! I have A LOT of finishing work to do on my entries . . . all SEVEN of them! You may see a glimpse of them here from time to time.

In the meanwhile, mark your calendars for the show.

Find details here:

http://www.museumquiltguild.blogspot.com/

That is it for now . . . It is a lovely day here in Western New York and we are heading out to enjoy a ride in the country. It is hard to believe that August is more than half over! The days and nights are getting cooler and we are already seeing some fall colors in the foliage.

Until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy