Where did I go?

Once again . . .It has been forever since I posted on my blog. I waited because there were some projects that I was in the middle of and didn't want to spoil the surprise of the recipient. I think from now on, I will just post on my blog the day after I complete something! There will be more frequent posts, too!

Our weather has finally turned into true spring-like weather. I am happy for it. There has been a lot of rain, It makes the weeds grow nice and tall! I need to get out and pull them while the ground is still soggy. I am looking forward to power washing the deck this week. I love playing with water! Our resident mourning doves built a nest on top of our downspout, but now they have hatched their young and they have all flown the nest. I couldn't wash it last week, or even have my morning coffee out there because they were sitting in my chair!

As part of an on line craft group that I am in, called Craft That Divas, on Face Book, I participated in a swap with one other partner. We call each other "swapners"! . . . Anyway . . . we made boxes out of ordinary manila file folders. This is the one I made for my swapner, Linda, in Hawaii. I followed a tutorial on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ7YllXqG70&feature=youtu.be&list=UUZ7irRP-Q6d3xE9I5oB5hXA

I combined my dress form die and my bird cage die to create my little "angel" on the front/top of the box.

Her wings are metal.

The flowers are all fussy cut from the paper and inked on the edges.

The paper line I used for this is Chateau Lavender by DCWV.

The inside flap is supposed to be like a greeting card, but I just decorated it instead! 

Here is the box part of the project.

Inside I placed another little box with a surprise inside.

As you can see, this ended up having a French theme.

I used my fleur des lis die to cut the shape.

I stamped the paper on the reverse side with a fleur de lis stamp.

The box closes with a magnet.

Inside the box are stick pins that I made in colors to match the lavender and green in the paper.

I altered a #8 tag to make the stick pin holder and used some of my hand-dyed seambinding for the bow.

We were to also include an ATC inside the box.

(Artist Trading Card) I  made a miniature, of sorts, of my little angel on the box cover.

I made a gate-fold card for Linda using my Eifel Tower die.

I have jumped back into my real estate career after recuperating from surgery in December, so now my crafting time is limited to early mornings and late at night. I don't mind though, because I love working with my clients. Having less time to craft just means I will be more organized in the long run, and maybe more productive   . . . maybe!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this project. I will be back more often with things I make. There will be lots of cards . . and then maybe I will make a mini album. Oh, and quilting. . . did you know I really DO make quilts, too! I wish there were more hours in the day!

Take good care, and until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Some project shares and a little chat . . .

Almost three weeks have passed since my last blog post. I have been working on gifts and swaps, so most cannot be posted here yet. It is still chilly enough to keep me inside most days, so I have been crafting and also trying to clean out old files. My shredder and I have spent a lot of quality time together! When I look at some of the papers I have saved over the years, I am amazed at what I have kept. After I get finished with this task, I vow to never keep things I do not really need! I hope I keep my word to myself!

It is still hovering in the 30’s and 40’s most days and after a winter of recovery from surgery, I feel like a delicate flower who can’t take the cold!  I have been getting out a bit more to shop in some of my favorite stores and go for rides with my husband to see what is happening out in the world. We have had snow and rain and now it is just starting to green up. My husband cut a bunch of forsythia branches for me to force in the house. It is something I love to do and it ushers spring in a little early . . . at least inside! As you can see from the photo, they have a little way to go before we see their beautiful yellow blossoms!

In the online craft group that I am in  . . Craft That Divas. . . on Facebook, our leader recently had surgery, so as a surprise another member and myself organized a card shower. I made an easel card using the Graphic 45 paper that I have been hoarding and only use for special occasions . . . Fashionista. It was the very first designer paper I ever purchased and, like all of my Graphic 45 papers and embellishments, I love them it so much that I have a hard time cutting into them! I realize that does not make a whole lot of sense because I buy them with ideas for projects in mind. I do the same thing with beautiful cottons that I buy for quilts. I usually have a quilt in mind, but it doesn’t always get cut out and sewn. This is a habit I need to and want to break. Cutting into Fashionista is a step in the right direction! I have only used it three times, and each was for a gift or a card for someone.  

5"x7" Easel Card

I hand stamped the block letters for the phrase on the clock and fussy cut and inked the edges. I cut a second clock image from black card stock to give the clock more dimension. 

Side View of Easel Card

The popped up chipboard pieces hold the card front up.

 

 Easel card interior.

I hand stamped the block letters to create the sentiment and inked up the parchment paper to resemble the background in the dotted paper.

I didn't have the right color flowers . . . so I used my Spectrum Noir alcohol inks to dye these little gems that I had picked up a while ago in the bridal section at Michaels.  :-) 

I used some of my hand-dyed seam binding for the bow.

I used some of the scraps to embellish a handmade three-inch square box. These are sometimes traded by artists, as ATB’s . . .  Artist Trading Blocks . . . similar to ATC’s, which are Artist Trading Cards. I like it and I am keeping it! I like to look at it on my craft table. :-) If I was to make one to trade, it would be embellished and fancier!



Artist Trading Block

I used chipboard to make the box.

Front side view of ATB 

Back view of ATB 

Audio books are my companion in the studio. I love being able to listen and work at the same time! At night I read on my Kindle (while I watch/listen to TV!) and when I get tired of reading, I do some handwork that I keep next to my chair. I am back to making hexis (little fabric hexigons that I can use in a quilt project) and some wool appliqué and embroidery. Perhaps the wool piece will be done soon and I can show it to you here in a post.

Even though I enjoy it, organizing is one of my biggest challenges. This week I have been putting lots of my crafting doo dads and beads in small jars and labeling them. I hope to get this all done and get my studio all set up so I can take some photos to share. Right now, it is in disarray, which happens every time I finish a project. It takes a little extra time to put things away before I start anything new, but it really has to be done.  So, that is where I am at right now. Typing this is a good distraction! :-)

I plan to get to two meetings this coming week. My ArtCGirlz  http://artcgirlz.blogspot.com art group and Museum Quilt Guild  http://museumquiltguild.blogspot.com .  I hope I make it. It will be the first time I have attended either in about six months! Being laid up has really kept me out of the loop. Thank goodness, though, for blogs and Facebook. I have been able to keep up with much of what has been happening in both groups as well as with some of the members. 

That is about it for now. It is 7:00 in the evening and the sun is shining brightly. I am liking the time change!

As always, your comments are welcome!

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

Emmy

 

It's Official!

Criteria for the official arrival of spring:

• See your first robin.
• It is March 20^th on the calendar.
• It snows on the first day of spring . . . in Western New York, that is!

It really has arrived! We have met all three of the above criteria. There is mud all around due to the saturation of the land, but the good thing is this has been a   s l o w   melt. The streams may start to have ice jams when the ice floes start to clog the waterways, but for now, that has not happened here. In the valleys and along the hedgerows, you will see deep snow for a while yet.

Here in my studio, I have continued to make cards. I am getting back into more of a schedule because I require less medical care after my surgery, so it frees up my time and that of my dear & devoted husband.

In my next post, you will see that I am getting back to altering boxes and making other things, like folios and mini albums. And . . . there will be an announcement in April of a challenge I will be issuing. There is lots of fun on on the horizon at Studio Emmy, so stay tuned!

Below are the cards I made these past few weeks. I still have some projects that are due by the end of the month, but they will have to wait until my next post. There is nothing like a deadline to get me moving!

I made this screen card for my granddaughter's birthday. She studies Mandarin Chinese in school and this was my interpretation of something of an Oriental nature. The paper I used is Graphic 45's Bird Song. I punched the edge with one of my Fiskars punches.

 

I made a wallet-style envelope for the card. 

Here they are together. 

"Happy Birthday" in Chinese

(Thank you Google!)

I put this on the packaging I used to mail the card.

 

 I made a housewarming card for one of our real estate clients. The paper I used is DCWV's The Rustic Stack.

The little wreath is made up of many little flowers I punched from the paper stack and glued down one by one to a paper wreath shape. I love my Sizzix Tim Holtz door die.

 

Another housewarming card. 

I used DCWV's The Rustic Stack. 

I am loving my Sizzix chair die and matching embossing folder. (It is a set). The background paper is Everyday Moments by Recollections.

 

Another chair card. I used K&Company's Life's Journey paper stack. I tried to make it look like a floor and wall behind the chair. I shabbied up the flowers a little with some gesso and tucked some of my hand-dyed seam binding beneath them 

My friend, who is a quilter and fiber artist, celebrated her birthday this past week, so I made this card for her. I used my Tim Holtz dress form and wings dies and a Sizzlits sewing machine die. The paper I used is from DCWV'S The Dear Jane Stack.

It is an easel card.

 

I made a card for my husband for our wedding anniversary.

The paper I used is by Webster's Pages.

 

 This coming week I will start working on other projects . . . so there will be more than just cards in my next post! And remember, in April there will be a special challenge that you can join in on here on my blog!

Wishing you a good week and until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand.

Emmy

20 DAYS & COUNTING . . . .

ACCORDING TO THE CALENDAR . . . there are fewer than three weeks until the first day of spring. Yet, as I type this post and look out the window, my landscape is still covered in a deep blanket of white that just will not melt. Perhaps by the next time I write, I will be able to post a photo of something green in my back yard. I can always hope!


I have not been as busy as usual in my studio, or perhaps that is just how it feels to me. I admit I succumbed to a bout of cabin fever this past week. My dear husband took me on an outing with him to Buffalo and I visited Hobby Lobby to get something crafty to lift my spirits, but I left empty handed. You see, since I have been visiting my own stash regularly and using the things off my own shelves, I did not see any reason to bring home one more pack of paper. Of course, true to form, once I got home and realized I had a 40% off coupon for a $5.99 item . . . well, then I started to wish I HAD made that purchase of a 6x6-inch pad of Prima paper! I have yet to own any Prima paper! Maybe next time . . .  I guess my husband thought I still was not cured from the blues, so the next day he took me to Joann's to check out the sales. I ended up, AGAIN,  walking out without grabbing the thing that caught my eye. Luckily, he drove me back to the store in a few days and it was still there...the only one left ... AND I got really lucky because along the back wall of the store, where they always put the clearance items, I spied OttLites for next to nothing. I snagged one and when I showed it to my hubby, he sent me back in for a second one. Now I have the one in my paper crafting studio that is splattered with paint and glue, and a brand new shiny one next to my sewing machine and one for my hand sewing on my tray table while watching TV. (I think, though, that the one in the TV room may make its way over to my hubby's tray table when I am not around. . . . Gosh, we both have tray tables . . . are we old or what!?) :-)


I have finally returned to sewing and I have only one more 4-inch block to make! Then I can use the 4-inch blocks to create larger 8-inch blocks for a wall hanging. I am not sure if I have enough of the background fabric for the piece, so there may be a pilgrimage to the quilt shop in Dansville ... Material Rewards in my near future. They used to have a nice selection of black and white fabrics, which is what I will be looking for.

I recently reached out to a cousin I have not seen in probably 30-plus years. We have talked on the phone a few times and have been discussing our family tree. I think I am going to take the plunge and start a little research. He has been doing some and it sounds like a lot of fun. He and his wife live in Chicago, which isn’t really that far away. I hope we can go visit them this year.


It is time for me to download another audiobook to listen to while I sew and craft. I just finished Shark Tales: How I Turned $1,000 into a Billion Dollar Business by Barbara Corcoran. It was a short book and easy to get through, compared to Anna Karenina, which seemed to take forever to listen to! But it is a classic that I had always wanted to read and I am glad I did. After reading Tolstoy, though, I needed something light!


Here is a photo gallery of some of the things I have worked on since my last post:

WALL HANGING needs one more 4-inch block before I can construct the rest of the 8-inch blocks.

AN EXPLOSION BOX VALENTINE I made for my hubby.

The paper I used is by DCWV . . . The Dear Jane Stack

 

The heart shaped tags are tucked behind ribbons.

There are love notes on the back of the tags.  

The vellum that I stamped with script can be removed from the

punched photo corners and photos can be inserted:

CRAFT THAT DIVAS February Tag Challenge was

Ooo la la LOVE. I used my hand-dyed seam binding and hand-dyed flat-back pearls.

I cut and trimmed two different dies to make the dress form. 

The paper I used is by My Mind's Eye . . . Lost & Found 3

A long overdue THANK YOU CARD.

It is an easel card.

I handmade the flowers from the same paper as the card.

The paper I used is by Recollections . . . Everyday Moments Paper Pad

I made an envelope box to go with the card.

I had a stamp that just about matched the motif on the

paper that I used on the interior of the envelope box.. 

I cut the fleur des lis closure from a die.

Another THANK YOU CARD.

The paper I used is by DCWV . . . The Chateau Lavender Stack

This ended up having a French theme! 

I hand-dyed the gauze to match with alcohol ink.

The interior: 

I stamped the envelope box interior with a fleur des lis stamp.

The closure is cut from a die.

I  really lucked out on having some French themed things. 

GATEFOLD BIRTHDAY CARD.

The paper I used is by DCWV . . . The Tradewinds Stack. 

I have not used my butterfly punches much.

I like how they add so much dimension to a card. 

 A SYMPATHY CARD for a friend who lost her mother. 

The paper I used is by DCWV . . . The Coral Couture Stack.

Last time I posted a photo of our 2015 GOALS JAR.

I finally got around to making our THANKFUL JAR.

We use the little papers I made with one of my dies

 to write down things we are thankful for . . . such as

 having so many good Samaritans in the neighborhood

who plow our driveway and shovel our walk for us. 

I used the DCWV Coral Couture Stack for both jars.

Here are the jars as they sit together atop our desk.

I hope you have enjoyed reading what I have been up to and seeing some of the things I have been working on. I don't use my blog to make political or social commentary. This is just a place where I can share some things and hope someone will get some enjoyment from it. Your comments are always welcome.

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

Emmy