My Favorite Things

Wonderful Wednesday

Hey there,

I don't know what it's like where you live, but I have to tell you that it is full-on FALL here in the Midwest.  The temps are dropping and the birds are getting all crazy.....I don't know if they're gearing up for their big flight South or what.  I can't believe the number of gorgeous blue jays with the brightest blue feathers I've seen today, not to mention about a gazillion of the.....how shall I say.....less attractive birds too!  Hee.  Poor dears.  They were in rare form this morning acting like crazy people.....er......birds......outside.  They put on quite a show for me.  And the squirrels.....well the squirrels were out and about too, darting here and there, carrying big nuts in their mouths, hunting for the perfect place to bury them for the winter.  They were making me laugh....one little guy (squirrel) would get ready to get down to business digging a hole for that nut when one of the crazy birds would buzz past him really fast and scare him, and he'd quickly decide that THAT hole wasn't gonna be any good so he'd run on to find a better place to hide his winter treasure!  This went on for seeeeveral minutes!  Silly squirrel!  It was seriously a little eerie, how many critters were running (and flying) around our yard this morning, but from the safety of THIS side of the windows, it was quite entertaining!  Haha!

All right, so about today's card.  I've had some more Hero Arts stamps that I just couldn't wait to play with so I busted them out today.  See that background stamp up there -- it's their Clouds wood-mounted stamp.  And see the scalloped circle?  That's their Scalloped Circle wood-mounted stamp.  (Catchy names, right??)  Hee!  And of course, those leaves (and berries) are from their clear stamp set called Scattered Leaves and I snuck in a sentiment from Papertrey's Mega Mixed Messages.  That set has a sentiment for just about any occasion!

I was in the mood for some greens today so I paired Papertrey's ripe avocado and new leaf with Stampin' Up!'s taken with teal card stock.  Then I threw in some of my favorite raspberry fizz from Papertrey and voila!  Cheerful, colorful and FUN!

Also, a few of you have asked about the photo in my new blog header.  I took that photo when we were in Italy last year (on our Mediterranean cruise).  It's one of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre but I don't remember the name of that particular village.  Gosh, but it was gorgeous there.  If you ever get the opportunity to see Cinque Terre, I HIIIIIIGHLY recommend it.  We had the option that particular day to go see the Leaning Tower of Pisa OR to go see the villages of Cinque Terre.  I'd had a photo of Cinque Terre from an old calendar hanging on my wall in my office for several years so when we realized that the cruise we were going on would allow us the option to see Cinque Terre, I was SO excited!  To see this magical place in real life was just too exciting for words!  I didn't know anything about Cinque Terre at the time, but I knew that I'd LOOOVE to see that place that I'd stared at on my wall for so long.  We were so torn though, when we realized that we'd have to choose between Cinque Terre and Pisa.  However, we found out soon after, that the Pisa excursions on the cruise were all booked up, so that made our decision a cinch!  Ha.  

That day ended up being the most amazing day......we got to travel between the 5 villages (which you can only get to by foot -- no vehicle roads between them) and also got to take a boat ride along the coast, so we could view all 5 villages from the ocean.  So cool!  My favorite part of the whole day though, was having lunch with Bartley at a little sidewalk cafe in one of those villages.  WOW.  SO relaxing and refreshing and thrilling.  Such a beautiful place.  You can see more photos from our day in Cinque Terre here!

All righty, Crew, I've got more design work to get done.  It's almost time to start working on the next Papertrey release so I've got to get my ducks in a row before then.  :)

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

{Good Luck supplies}
Paper: new leaf, ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, SU! taken with teal
Stamps: Hero Arts - Clouds, Scalloped Circle, Scattered Leaves; PTI Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: raspberry fizz, ripe avocado, VersaMark Dazzle
Other: ripe avocado saddle stitch ribbon, Kaiser rhinestones
 

 

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #17

Hello there!  Happy Tuesday!  I don't know about you but I think it's time we did another Color Challenge!  Whatdya say???  :)

Today's photo is one that I took at Urban Arts & Crafts last weekend.  It's a snapshot of some of their beautiful specialty papers....aren't they gorgeous?!  A few things to keep in mind about the colors.....

We're using chocolate brown for the bronze-y color you see on the papers.  The bronze color looks a lot darker when the light's not shining right on it, so that's why I've chosen to use a chocolate brown for that color.  The aqua is a light aqua -- not a bright turquoise.  AND, the cream color is strictly optional.  I know some girls feel like they really need a light neutral of some sort so use it if you need it, but if you can get by with the other 4 colors, that's totally fine too!  I'll be using Papertrey's pure poppy, aqua mist, dark chocolate, kraft and vintage cream but just like always, you can feel free to use whatever brand of crafting goodies you have on hand.  :)

Another thing to note, the challenge will run thru the weekend and will end next Monday (see specifics below).......what that MEANS is that you coooould make your challenge card this Saturday for World Card Making Day and have a little card fun to celebrate the big day, while also participating in the challenge!  ....just sayin'....  ;)

Can't wait to see what you come up with this week!  I think this will be a FUN one!  Remember to let yourself enjoy this creative process.....don't stress about it!  It's just paper, right?  :)  And for those of you that have said that you don't feel like your cards are 'good enough' to play along, EVERYONE is 'good enough' to play along!  This challenge is JUST FOR FUN so there's no reason for anyone to feel like they can't play too!  You just might be surprised at the feedback you'll get from your fellow crafters.....feedback that can be so encouraging and just might help boost your mojo!  

All righty, have a ball and I'll anxiously await your projects this week!

Smooches,

Color Challenge deets:
Create a card or other project, upload a photo of your card to your blog or online gallery & then come back here to post the link to your photo in the Mister Linky box below.  Don't leave your links in the comments section but feel free to leave me a comment after you've posted your link in Mister Linky.  You know I love hearing from you!

Also, be sure that the link you're posting is the direct link to your card!  Please don't leave your blog's url, but rather, the link to your specific post that shows us your card. 

Feel free to use the graphic I've created above, however you DON'T want to copy and paste the image!  Just SAVE the image to your computer and then upload the image to your blog post, as though it is a photo from your own computer.  Make sense?

Don't have a blog but still want to participate??  Don't worry!  You don't have to have a blog!  You are more than welcome to upload your card to an online gallery of your choice  (i.e. www.splitcoaststampers.com,  www.papertreyink.com,  www.twopeasinabucket.com, etc.) and then use the url for your photo in your gallery as the link that you post in Mister Linky.

Challenge ends Monday, October 5 at 7pm CST.

This and That

 

Hello there.....

Lots of random bits to share with you today so I figured I'd start with a card.  That's always a great place to start, right?  Today's card uses lots of fun Papertrey stamps.  The tag is from the 2009 Autumn Tags set, there's a giant flourish from Fancy Flourishes, the kraft strip is stamped with an image from Vintage Labels and along the bottom of the card, I stamped some Polka Dot Basics II and some Background Basics: Text Style.  

Also, just a note....the card base is melon berry card stock.  I used berry sorbet ink on the dots and I used melon berry ink on the flourish.  The two inks are similar but in real life, there's just enough of a difference to add just another bit of dimension to the card.

And just a few random photos from around home today.....Bartley brought these flowers home from the grocery store the other day.  Aren't they just the best color?!  Ahh....I love fresh flowers on the kitchen table.  I love my boy too.....such a sweetheart, he is.  

This photo is just to show you how fun it is when you're in that short window of time during fall when the summer flowers haven't died off yet, but the fall mums have started busting open in the same bed and the result is a riot of color!  (never mind the weeds thrown in there too.....they're there for extra color)  :)

We have a Keurig coffee maker.  Have you seen these?  We actually have two -- have had them for quite awhile now.  (got 'em at Target)  I have to say that even though we have a big coffee pot/cappuccino machine that we use when we're both home, it's awfully nice to be able to brew a single cup of coffee when I'm here by myself, without having to brew a whole pot.

Mmmm.....we keep various K-Cups on hand in tea and coffee varieties.  I have this handy dandy 3-tiered silver server that I got at Target a few years back, that I decided to use for K-Cups while it's not being used for other treats.  My current favorite is Bellacino Swiss Chocolate Almond coffee.  Oh, it smells sooo good.  Tastes fab too!

Oh, and here are a couple books I recently read.  (I told you I had a lot of 'this and that' to tell you today.  Hee!)  

This book is called Breathe by Lisa T. Bergren.  I've read quite a few of Lisa's books in the past and she's been a favorite for a long time.  I haven't seen any new fiction titles from her for several years - so I was quite glad to see this one on the bookshelf AND to read that it's the first in a trilogy.  Yay!

And here's one called The Apothecary's Daughter by Julie Klassen.  This one was really good too.  Obviously both of these titles are more historical fiction.....I've been on a historical fiction kick lately - what can I say?  :)  For the record, I AM reading a bit of modern day fiction at the moment so you won't have to read about historical fiction titles forever!  Haha.  

Also, for those of you that have asked lately, our new tree is just starting to show signs of it's leaves changing colors.  I don't expect a major color show this first year but it's exciting to see the start of it's changing leaves.  Makes me happy.  :)

Hope your Monday has been great so far.  I'll chat with you soon, Peeps!

{Give Thanks supplies}
Paper: melon berry, aqua mist, kraft, rustic cream
Stamps: 2009 Autumn Tags, Fancy Flourishes, Vintage Labels, Polka Dot Basics II, Background Basics: Text Style
Ink: melon berry, berry sorbet, dark chocolate, aqua mist
Other: aqua mist topnotch twill ribbon, vintage cream button, rustic cream button twine, 1 3/4" circle punch

A Day On the Town

Hi there, Peeps!  Thought I'd share some photos from our day out on the town yesterday but first I just want to clarify that I didn't name 'The Hutton'.....Michael Kors did!  It's like how Cabbage Patch Dolls come with a name......so did The Hutton!  LOL!  Some of you thought I was so clever to name my purse......thought I'd better set the record straight.  Hahaha.  

Also, several of you asked about the stores we went to yesterday, specifically the craft store.  It's called Urban Arts & Crafts and it's located in the Briarcliff Shopping Village and while you're there, you just have to head across the parking lot and visit Nell Hill's (home decor).  Take your camera -- it's beautiful in there!  Anyway, Urban Arts & Crafts is a cute little store that has a whole WALL of Amy Butler fabrics -- those are just a tiny few in the photo above, plus they carry some other fabrics such as Heather Bailey, etc.  Their fabric wall is seriously dreamy.  Bartley was such a sport -- he just stood there while I stared at the fabrics.  I had to take in each section one at a time, because each section - like you see above - is totally color coordinated and you KNOW how I am about color!  It is seriously like color heaven in that store!  They also have a yarn section, a bead section, a stationary section and a paper crafting section.  (Check out my Tweets from yesterday, to see a few more pictures from inside Urban Arts & Crafts as well as a shot inside Nell Hill's)

This is a print that I almost bought at UA&C.  So pretty and in real life, the colors are just gorgeous.  I wish you could see it but there are also touches of glitter, like on the bird's wing, giving it a really vintage-y feel.  Sigh.

After we left Nell Hill's and Urban Arts & Crafts, we headed to the Plaza where we had lunch at Brio.  

LATE lunch on the Plaza is the way to go!  We had the place almost to ourselves....it was so nice to just sit and relax and enjoy each other's company.

And just so you know, Brio (and it's sister restaurant, Bravo) has an AWESOME lobster bisque!  Sooooo good.  You know how I love a good soup!  :)

Love this shot of some of the foliage at the Plaza.  It was such a great day to run around together.  I'm so blessed to have a hottie hubs that loves those run-around days just as much as I do.  We have such a great time together.

I've got a house to clean, a bit of baking to do today (we ate all of the banana bread) :) and tonight, we're having dinner with a sweet blog friend and her hubby.  Hmmm.....wonder if I can sneak up to the studio at some point in and around all of that other stuff.....

Enjoy your Saturday, Dearies!

Meet 'The Hutton'

Hi there,

I'd like to introduce you to 'the Hutton'.  The Hutton is a fabby Michael Kors bag that my hottie hubs bought for me several years ago.  The Hutton has traveled around the world with us.....it's a really great bag for travel.  The Hutton admittedly weighs a ton, what with all the leather and hardware, but it's sooo handy for traveling with it's pockets for travel documents and ticket stubs and cell phones and such.  The Hutton has become much loved and much used here at the McVey Ranch and it seems that once a year or so, The Hutton makes an appearance at least for a time and gets put to good use all over again.  The Hutton is a bag that has more than paid for itself over the years.  It's a bag that doesn't go out of style....not only because of it's style factor but also because of it's utilitarian-ness.  Yes, I made that word up.  :)
  
It's officially fall here, and I've busted out The Hutton once again.  Bartley has the day off work today (Hurray!) and so he, The Hutton and I are hitting the town.  We're lunching on The Plaza (thank you, gift card), we're shopping, we're on the lookout for inspiration and we'll even be heading to one of my favorite arts & crafts stores -- hello, Amy Butler fabric!  

I've got the Nikon, ready to head out with us.  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to share!  Hope your weekend is a fabulous one, dear friends!  

Smooches!

Fabric Flowers

Hey there!  Happy Wednesday to you! 

I have a fun project to share with you......I made these cute fabric & felt flowers that I saw on Heather Bailey's blog.  Sigh.....I just love Heather Bailey's scrumptious fabrics and adorable patterns.  I went in search of some last weekend but it turns out, the shop I went to didn't have much to pick from.  However, I did snag these two fun prints - a polka dot and a floral (not by Heather Bailey).  Check out Heather's blog for a video and complete instructions on how to make these easy flowers!

The flowers have lots of uses - they're adorable on a purse or even a headband, but I decided to use one on my card today.  I adhered it to the card with Scor-Tape.  I tried large glue dots first but they didn't want to stick to the fabric.  The Scor-Tape worked great though and did you know that Scor-Tape can even be torn off the roll?  You don't have to cut it off with scissors.  Handy!

Here's a shot of the supplies I started out with.  Two fabrics and some sheets of felt I had on hand.  So colorful and cheery!


The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mega Mixed Messages and I used a summer sunrise button in the center of my flower.  I also love the pop of 'new leaf' color from the leaves.  Those are just leaves that I hand-cut and then distressed the edges.

Hope your week is going well!!  I miss chattin' with you -- what're you all up to this week?

{Absolutely Fabulous supplies}
Paper: Papertrey - summer sunrise, new leaf, bitty dot basics
Stamps: Mega Mixed Messages
Ink: Papertrey - dark chocolate
Other: fabric, felt, summer sunrise button, Dritz long pearlized pins

Oui, Paris

Hello there, my dear friends....

How are you this evening?  I hope that your week is going well so far.  I have spent the bulk of my day working on the computer so this evening, while my sweet hubs had to run out for a meeting, I decided to leave the computer behind, sneak upstairs and get a little paper-crafty.  I pulled out lots of things I love for this one -- fabulously girly colors, polka dots, glitter, buttons, etc and of course, these great Hero Arts stamps.  Plus, I just love Paris!  Hope we get to go back some day.  :)

I used my two-way glue pen to trace a border right along the edge of my sentiment panel and then sprinkled on some Martha Stewart glitter in Smoky Quartz.  I love this little technique because it adds such pizzazz and really makes a simple sentiment look more like a true focal point.

All of the stamps I used on this card are Hero's wood mounted stamps.  The sentiment stamp is the Paris stamp, the beautiful background is called Antique Flower Background, and that great French script stamp is one from the Artistic Windows set.  I had a great time putting this card together....just the ticket after a day spent on the computer.  

Have a great evening....I'll chat atchya soon!

{Paris supplies}
Stamps: Hero Arts - Paris, Antique Flower Background, Artistic Windows
Paper: raspberry fizz, kraft, rustic cream, bitty dot basics, bitty box basics
Ink: dark chocolate, VersaMark
Other: dark chocolate classic grosgrain ribbon, cream vintage buttons, Martha Stewart smoky quartz glitter, Fiskars apron lace punch

It's Just Around the Corner....

World Card Making Day, that is!  It's coming up on Saturday, October 3.  Do you have big plans for that day yet?  Well, in honor of the big day, Paper Crafts Magazine is extending a discount to each of you!  You can get 25% off your entire purchase at the Paper Crafts/CK online store -- just enter this code: DSTN-D7P5-TUWW to get 25% off your entire cart subtotal!  The discount is valid thru midnight (MDT) on 10/12/09.  You can also pop over and visit the World Card Making Day website to check out all sorts of happenings and you can even check out the Blog Tour!

So remember the other day when I told you I bought some new Making Memories goodies at Archivers?  Well, here's a shot of some of the little gems.....don't they just make you want to get crafty?  Look at those adorable little felt embellies on the top there....so sweet!  This is all from their Mistletoe line.  I thought I'd make a couple cards to share with you today, using some of these new goodies. 

I used a die cut from my Storybook cartridge and my Cricut Expression, layered the little felt beauty on the label shape and added a sentiment from my Signature Christmas stamp set.  Easy peasy!

And one more similar card.  On this one, I stamped the branch from Papertrey's Out on a Limb revised and placed the little felt birdie on the branch.  The sentiment is also from Signature Christmas!

Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Hope to see you back again soon!

Have a goodie!

{Christmas Blessings supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, new leaf, kraft, Making Memories Mistletoe
Stamps: Signature Christmas
Ink: true black
Other: pure poppy topnotch twill ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch

{Noel supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, new leaf, kraft, Making Memories Mistletoe
Stamps: Out on a Limb Revised, Signature Christmas
Ink: dark chocolate
Other: pure poppy topnotch twill ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch

Endless Possibilities

Hey there,

Goodness, I really need to stop showing you background possibilities with the new Vintage Labels set.  Really.  And I will.  I promise.  Right after I show you this card.  Maybe. :)  I can't help it that the set really does have endless possibilities!!  

There just happens to be a little scrolly (yes, that's a word I made up) image in Vintage Labels that you can stamp tightly together in rows, like I did on this card.  It's just a bitty little stamp, but don't you think it makes such a pretty background??  I stamped aqua mist ink on spring moss card stock and of course there's my little 'Christmas thank you' sentiment from Signature Christmas.  It's just a simple little card but it's one that would be so easy to make a stack of to send out after Christmas.

Well, I'm gonna get off here.  I've literally been glued to my computer allllll day, (well, since I got home from church, anyway) and I'm starting to get a little tired.  It's been a super productive day for me and I loooooove that but what I dooooooon't love is the fact that I seem to be staying wide awake for hours at night, designing things in my head!  Ha.  So, it's nice to be bringing some of those designs to life.  My hottie hubs has been out of town and is due home any time now and boy, am I looking forward to seeing (ok, kissing) his handsome face!  I suppose if I look on the bright side, it's just as well that he's been away for a bit....when he's here, I certainly don't get as much done.  ;)  I just want to hang out with him, if he's home.  Does that happen to you girls too? 

All righty, have a great night (enjoy the rest of the Emmy's if you're watching) and I'll chat with you tomorrow.  And I hope that you get your week off to a great start!

Smooches!

{Christmas Thank You supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, spring moss, stamper's select white, bitty dot basics
Stamps: Signature Christmas, Vintage Labels
Ink: aqua mist
Other: aqua mist classic grosgrain ribbon, Fiskars apron lace punch, SU! corner rounder punch, Kaiser rhinestone

Another Fun Background

Hi there,  

Back today with another fun background pattern for you using one of the stamps in Vintage Labels.  I just stamped the image repeatedly, to create the background.  And I paired it with a sentiment from Signature Christmas and a fun little embellie from Making Memories that I picked up at Archivers the other day.  They have an adorable new Christmas line - Mistletoe - and this is one of their Poinsettia Button Flowers.  Oh, and I tucked some Hero Arts felt poinsettia leaves behind the flower and layered it all on a bit of vintage book print.

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend so far.  I'm off to tackle some more to-do's!  

See ya soon,

{'Tis the Season supplies}
Paper: kraft, pure poppy
Stamps: Signature Christmas, Vintage Labels
Ink: pure poppy, true black, vintage touch tea dye
Other: new leaf topnotch twill ribbon, vintage cream button, rustic cream button twine, Making Memories poinsettia button flower, Hero Arts felt poinsettia leaves, scalloped oval punch, vintage book print