Hi - just wanted to say that I am off on holidays and will be back in action in September after the 7th!

See you then - happy crafting!

Oliebud aka Cheryl sent me this great card!!!  I love it!  It has spectacular beads sewn onto it - glitter and pretty colours, texture - in short, its a great card for anyone but especially for a glitter lover like myself!

Cheryl and myself and a few other crafters on Love is in the Details forum are participating in an ATC Swap - butterflies in particular, so we should have a few fluttering around our homes shortly - a lovely reminder of summer!

While I can't show the ATCs I received yet till the Due Date for the swap is passed - they are all shaping up to be a fabulous collection!!!

Thanks Cheryl. It's a lovely card. :)

I have some buttons to show you today!

Stampin' Up! is well-known for their co-ordination of products drawn from their Colour Families. Here have a look  - these are the 'Brights Collection" buttons.   72 buttons in fun colours!  You get shapes, sizes and colours in a snappy little container - and I love looking at them!  Its like looking at beautiful marbles - esp. all in a bunch like that, makes it hard to want to use them, lol!

But for my OPEN HOUSE coming up - I  have them on display mounted inside a frame I recyled!.

Can you believe this frame used to be a dusty rose and gold?  I chose a fun poppy red to paint it, and distressed it lightly with some sanding paper after it was dry. Then a top coat of gel medium (purchase in art section).

      

You can see in my previous post that I used them to spruce up a project - and my tip for today?  If you 'sew' buttons on to a project like I have - put a tiny, tiny dab of glue on the knot and even the ends where you clip the thread - to prevent fraying or coming loose.  I use a dressmakers pin and dip the tip into the glue, and then dab it on the thread's knot, and it's quite easy that way. 

Cheers - have a great week-end!

Beverly

Helllooooo!

Here's another SNEEK PEEK to a project
that will be on display at my
 OPEN HOUSE 

- COMING UP THIS SUNDAY - AUG 1  

First - want to know the secret for ador-able cards or projects like this?  Add treats!

It's seriously easy by using Stampin' Up!s Sweet Treat Cups!  You fill the Sweet treat Cup with some goodies and adhere it to your project.   There are several clever Stamp Sets that are designed to use the Cups as part of the image - first stamp and then punch out a hole using a circle or heart shape punch, and insert the treat cup like I have done here.

 I decided to make up my own design although I do have a co-ordinating stamp set, but I chose to punch out a circle and transform the treat cup into a flower!  And our beautiful coloured BRIGHTS BUTTONS really jazz it up!

Rather than make a card, I made a ' topper ' for a gift bag - one of those non-descript bags you can buy in the 'Party Supplies' section - and look at it NOW!   Just have to filler up and I'm all set to go :)

Since I purchase these bags when they are reduced - this whole project cost me about $1.60 - so CUTE and inexpensive for a CUSTOM GIFT BAG THAT HAS SWEET ALL OVER IT!!!!   

So for the cost of peanuts - or "candy" - you can give a gift in such a fun way.  I love that, and you'll probably be right there when they see their candy and their eyes light up - that's what its all about! :)

SEE YOU AT MY OPEN HOUSE!!!!

Cost of the project - 50 cents for bag; scraps of cardstock and ribbon - 50 cents; 4 buttons from "Brights" Collection - (4 0f 72 buttons) - 50 cents;  tiny amount of ink and adhesive - negligible; candy - 10 cents  = approx. $1.60 


STAMPIN' UP! Supplies: 1-3/4 " Circle Punch; 5 Petal Flower Punch; Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper; NEW 'Brights' Buttons; Whisper White and Real Red Cardstock; Hostess "Playful Pieces" Level II clear stamps; Wild Wasabi + Real Red + Peach Parfait Ink, Sticky Strip Adhesive, glue.


NOTE:  You can also purchase Sweet Treat padded envelopes to hold your creations if you wish to mail them.

If you have a friend who is also crafty - wouldn't it be nice to make a little something for her - or him?

To prepare for my upcoming OPEN HOUSE, I turned and  took my cue from our latest STAMPIN' UP! IDEA BOOK and CATALOGUE - and transferred one of the catty's idea into a project perfect "for a friend".

So, I can't reveal the whole thing right now - hopefully you will drop by and see for yourself.  But I will show it here after my OPEN HOUSE is finished by AUG 4th  - so here's a peek!

I apologize for my laziness with the next pic - its a bit out of focus, but I have a

dog needs his walk! LOL! If only I had a photo fairy around here!

But you can see the word is 'FRIEND'

The main colour on this project is one of our newest: CHERRY COBBLER!

It's delish! 

Bye for now and have a pleasant weekend.

I will show some projects featuring different colours....today is GREEN....

Isn't this pretty - Pear Pizzaz and Peach Parfait IN COLORS!  

Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip!

Garden Green - Circle Circus Bookmark.

.....and while its only the foliage that is green 

and its an Easter Card I found on the net, by craft artist Sarah Stedler Miller - and thought 

it still is great as a summer card - we're still able to munch on 

fresh carrots, right!  It's too cute anyways!

Old Olive foliage. 

Well get your thinking caps on for green yourselves - see how you do! 

Having a fantastic afternoon - listening to music and making ribbon and flowers come together!

Needed a 'special' birthday card....

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY

MARGARET!

And so I wanted to make one flower/ribbon combo, but I really got into it - must of been the music, and so I made more......I can always do more to these cards, but we're just focusing on the flowers, right?

HOW TO MAKE A PRETTY FLOWER
 with RIBBON ACCENT

YOU WILL NEED:  fabric flower + ribbon + needle/thread + pattern cardstock + (1 " Circle Punch, optional) + adhesive {strong}

{CLICK on pictures for a closer view!} 

TO START:   cut some lengthes of ribbon.    Next take your fabric flower, and ....'Fold' both the ribbon and the flower - stitch the ribbon folds onto the front of the flower, spanning them out - as many as you like. I am using 3 ribbon pieces.

*TIP - you can always trim ribbon to create a 'new' ribbon - I trimmed my ribbon off of the wider striped blue/brown/white ribbon because I did not want the brown and I need a narrower strip.

It doesn't look like much now but.......

...it will on the card....

Make your card 

...layer cardstock of choice onto your blank cardstock card base......

Add a Decorative Border

Above, I've made a strip (turquoise) and trimmed both sides with

 Stampin' Up!'s Scalloped Trim Border Punch; and layered

it with a colourful patterned cardstock.

Create a Center for the Ribbon-Flower

....I cut a  small circle from the patterned 

designer paper [see above], and layered it onto pink, then turquoise 

cardstock - cutting it out in a "wonky" style!  [look at the small circle, lower right]

No need to be neat! 

Assembling the Card

I added my flower-ribbon, and topped it with a 1 inch circle 

using STICKY STRIP tape...

... now it's lookin' better, right?

Finito! 

Here is the card! 

Along with the flower to the right, where I basically did the same

treatment to the fabric flower - only difference is I 

made the whole flower; and added a real button. 

Whole Flower with Ribbon and Button Close-up 

And that birthday card?  

Ta Da!   In glorious tropical colours! 

This girl is going on a cruise soon....so I think we are feeling that here, lol! 

So go ahead - experiment,  try different versions of 

this project yourself - that's the best way!

Well, back to my music!