September 2012 Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

{PHOTO CREDITS: tied-up boxes, diaper pin wraps, felt & button bags, wine wrap, fabric ribbon, drawstring pouch}

I grew up with parents who were children themselves at the time of the Great Depression.  (following the the stock market crash of 1929).  In our household, recycling was normal life. At Christmas time, I got to wrap the packages and my favorite job was to cut up last year's Christmas cards to make tags for this year's gifts. (I think this was my first experience with paper crafting).  I LOVED the challenge of making something pretty from something that otherwise would be  discarded.  I was always a little sad when the packages I had painstakingly made beautiful were ripped up and thrown away.

So today's project is a Re-Gift Bag!  I don't means to pass along what's inside, but to pass along the bag itself.   

I started by cutting two 5" squares,  and three 1 1/2" X 5" strips of black felt.  I stitched all of this together using white thread, making 1/4" seams on the outside of the bags.  The really fun part was when I started to die cut the flowers, I realized that I had an assortments of felt flowers stashed away from a previous project.  While I added a few leaves, the flowers were patiently waiting to be assembled, glued, and let their happy faces shine on this project!

(the supplies for this project are an assortment of felts from Papertrey Ink.  Black, Pure Poppy, Harvest Gold, Hawaiian Shores, and Simply Chartreuse.)

So there you have it.  Thanks for taking a look at my project today AND thanks for sharing a sweet memory with me.  I really felt like a little kid again!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

CR84FN63-Week 2 and DT call/ CFC71

Hello Friends, happy Sunday afternoon!

I'm here with a quick post to share a card I made for these challenge:

The graphic was made using beautiful photos courtesy of magnoliarouge.com.

CFC71 Create a Clean And Simple project inspired by autumn

I love these colors and especially the cute little dress in the center picture.  I was immediately inspired to get out "A Little Argyle", and ink it up in Blueberry Sky and Dark Chocolate.  I couldn't resist adding a little touch of Autumn since it's only 70 degrees here today AND there is a touch of color showing in the top of the Red Maple in our back yard!  

So here it is:

I enjoyed using the rock and roll technique on the "Leaf Prints" in the background.  Since the solid stamp was inked with VersaMark, I started with the veined stamp inked with  Classic Kraft, then applied the solid stamp after I rolled the edges with the same Classic Kraft ink.  It was impossible to see the solid stamp to properly line everything up doing it the other, more traditional way.  The Nutty Acorn die, by Memory Box was used on Fine Linen card stock, colored with more Classic Kraft and Dark Chocolate inks using a sponge dauber.  The sentiment, from "Autumn Hills", was also stamped with Dark Chocolate.  the Blueberry Sky ribbon was the last touch applied to this Fine Linen card base.

There it is.  All products are from Papertrey Ink except the Memory Box die, and VersaMark Ink. I look forward to hearing your comments!

Thanks for stopping by,

Suzanne

Time for a Change

Hello Followers and Fellow Bloggers!

August was full of travel.  First, to Nashville to see old friends as well as family; then to San Francisco for a family wedding which ended with a trip to Sonoma Valley for my Sweetheart and me.  We love wine country and all the goodness that comes from that glorious region. I even got to check off a "bucket list" item-we flew over the vineyards in a hot air balloon!

The process of lifting the balloon is VERY impressive

This thing is 8 stories tall

The adventure begins!

Unbelievable beauty at this height

We could actually see the grapes on the vines flying this low

The celebratory post-flight champagne brunch 

We were allowed to pick and taste these.

What a beautiful experience.  We ate great food, tasted great wines, took MANY pictures, and will always cherish the memory of this time together.

Now that you know what has kept me from blogging for the last 30 or so days, I'll tell you something else going on in my life.  I'm heading in a new direction with paper-crafting.  As I approach my third anniversary in this delightful hobby, I recognize a narrowing of focus (for now).

My favorite projects are tags and embellishments for packaging which most frequently are for celebrations of new births as well as birthdays and the Christmas season.  I want to spend more time creating specific projects that will sell in a local shop (or two). We shall see if this leads to an Etsy shop...  All of this to say, I find that trying to keep up with challenges actually distracts me from what I believe to be my real purpose.

At the same time, I love participating with all of you in the creative process.  You inspire me to think differently and try things that otherwise would be overlooked.  While I'm not saying goodbye, I am saying I won't be making as many cards and posts will not be related to challenges as often.  I know I will still be "stalking" your blogs and hope you will still visit me.  I would be broken hearted to lose contact with all of you on-line-friends.  Please say hello whenever you can!

Thanks for stopping by,
Suzanne