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Showing posts from 2012

Happy, happy birthday!

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--> I love to make birthday cards. I don't always get them in the mail on time, but I still love the creative process of making them. This sentiment has been around for a long time in one form or another, but I can remember my Dad wishing me "Hoppy Birdie" when I was a child. I don't know where it originated, so if it came from you, please let me know and I will happily give you credit. Otherwise, all the credit goes to my funny, sweet father, who I am so thankful for and miss every day. This is an example of one of those times when a stamp just will not do. That’s why I am so thankful for the Duetica Lettering Arts Studio. I can get a very cool look, just using their fonts in basic form, but adding the ability to have a myriad of letter styles within each font family is the icing on the cake. Not only that, you can alter the colors in Photoshop or print out outlines of your sentiment and custom –color them with paint, markers or colored pencil. ...

Handmade Gifts

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Today begins another monthly edition of the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop. This month's theme is handmade gifts. Be sure to click on the Designer Crafts Connection button at left to hop forward or backward and see all the wonderful gift ideas from our talented designers. This little box began life as a chick feeder that I found on Decor Steals . (If you are not on their email list for daily bargains, you're missing out.) When I bought it, I didn't know what it would become, but knew that I loved it. Chick feeder base I have to admit that the idea to house the growing pile of charger cords into one container was not mine. I got the idea of containing all the cords from a website that I stumbled onto late one night. I wish I could remember where it was, but alas, my brain is not as good as it once was. (My theory: Our brains are like hard drives. You store a lot of information in there and the more you have, the longer it takes to sort through find wh...

Winter Reflections

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Winter is finally coming to West Tennessee. It was war m today, but we're expecting 20° one night next week. Brrrrrrrrrr! One nice thing about winter is the number of poems and quotations available with the click of a mouse to be used in our art. And doesn't this just come in so handy since the All Things Altered blog hop theme is Winter? Be sure to click on the the list below to  see the work of some really talented designers. There is also a great prize package pictured on the first blog in the list below, Scrapbook Flair. To be entered to win the main prize package: 1. Leave a comment on all the designers' blogs . 2. Sign up to Follow the blogs. 3. Leave a message on the Scrapbook Flair Blog  telling Pam you followed the directions! 1. Pammejo: http://pammejo-scrapbookflair.blogspot.com/ 2. Nicole: http://canadiannickelscrapn.blogspot.com/ 3. Gloria : http://www.gloriascraps.blogspot.com/ 4. Irit : http: //iritshalom.blogspot.com/ ...

Fall Flowers

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Welcome to a middle-of-the-month blog challenge on the Designer Crafts Connection! This time, we're playing wi th Smoothfoam ™ , one of my new favorite surfaces. Smoothfoam™ is sturdy, resists chipping and crushing, paintable (no tedious prep work!), waxable, stampable - everything you want in a foam product. On top of that, it can be adhered with just about any adhesive, including glue guns. You can get out that dinosaur glue gun from the "olden days" when that was all that we had available, and not worry about whether you are using high heat or low. Both work fine on Smoothfoam™ (but you still need to keep it off your fingers). This stuff can be cut or carved as well. Be sure to click on the Designer Crafts Connection logo to the left to see what some great designers have done with Smoothfoam™. You can win the Smoothfoam™  Kit to make me! As you hop through the designer blogs, comment on your favorite projects. Each time you comment you'll be ent...

Thanks X 2

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Welcome to the November edition of the Designers Crafts Connection (DCC) blog hop! What better way to celebrate the beginning of the holiday season than with little gifts that say, "Thank you!" in a big way? This little thank you gift gives an added bonus: yummy mints and a handmade flower pin. It's also quick and easy to do. The sentiment was created with the fabulous Duetica Lettering Arts Studio and the whole thing was assembled in less than 30 minutes. Here's how I made it: Supplies • Printed paper, 6" x 12" (Graphic 45) and a small scrap of a contrasting color/pattern, 4" x 3" • White Cardstock, 3" x 11" (Stampin'Up!®) • Sizzix Dies (Eileen Hull's Frame, Easel and   Tim Holtz Alterations, Vintage Lace) • Mat Board (Sizzix)  • Big Shot • Small zipper lock bag, 3" x 4" • Coiled Roses Kit (Laliberi) • Double-stick tape, 1/4" width (Sookwang) • Brads, three large • Sentiment (Duetica Lettering ...

Forget the Bakin' with Makin's Clay!

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I am totally in love with Makin's Air Dry Clay. It's just like playing with clay when I was a little girl, but this one sets up and hardens without any baking or long wait periods. You can cut it, sand it or texturize it, and it always comes out looking fabulous! Be sure to scroll to the bottom to see how you can win some cool tools and supplies from Makin's Clay, and be sure to click on the Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop button at left to hop to other blogs and see some more wonderful creations. Here's the side view showing the trim. This cool box began as a Goodwill find. I think my friend Nancy Kennedy actually found it and handed it to me. (Thanks, Nancy!) I knew it was going to be something special. The finished box is designed to holds precious memories: a child's small toy, pretty rocks from special places, travel souvenirs or just about anything you can think of. Here's how I made it: Supplies Makin's Clay , Black, white and...

Shameless Self-promotion

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I am honored to let you know that there is a review of my new book, Scrapbooking for Home Decor , on the Favecrafts blog. See it here. Kathryn Wright wrote such nice things about it and I am truly humbled.   You can get your own copy and have it signed at one of the following: Sunday, October 7, 2-4 p.m. Trinity Baptist Church 5970 Brighton-Clopton Rd. Brighton, TN (901) 476-8889 Proceeds from the sales on October 4 will benefit Trinity Baptist Church's new Awana program for children. Thursday, October 11, 5-7 p.m. Electica Scrapbooks and Stamps 2965 N. Germantown Rd. (next door to Eat Well Japanese Restaurant) Memphis, TN (901) 377-0730 If you can't make it to one of these events and would like a copy, it is available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon. Thanks for looking. Now go hug your sweetie!

Beware!

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With today being October 1, our Designer Crafts Connection Blog Hop is once again in full swing and this time, we're featuring seasonal home decor. Be sure to use the forward/back buttons on the Designer Crafts Connection logo at left to move through the hop. Today is also what would have been my Granny's 105th birthday, the woman who had a great role in making me the artist I am today. Happy birthday, Granny. I know you're having a fine time in Heaven! I attended a wonderful gilding workshop this weekend sponsored by the Memphis Calligraphy Guild with instructor Roann Mathias , the über talented calligrapher, painter and all-around good girl/great artist and teacher, as well as one of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine's Artisans for 2012. If you ever have the opportunity to take one of her workshops, don't hesitate. She is patient, organized and a wealth of information. We were up to our necks in gold leaf. If you've ever used this stuff, you know how i...