Next In The Series

Hello and Welcome! Hope you are having a great day!

This is the next card in a card kit Thank You series I have been working on. In my December 28th post, I explained how I am trying to use some of the card kits I have had stored away for some time now.

I really like the patterns and colors in this card! A bit of a Spring look feels good on these cold Winter days. The card base is from a My Mind's Eye kit. I ran the front through my paper crimper to give a little texture to the stock. I added a strip of ribbon to the front to highlight the sentiment. The sentiment and embellishments, which are raised on dimensionals, are also from the kit. The stash is slowly dwindling so check back again for the next card in the series!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

A Series of Thanks!

Hello Friends! Good Monday morning to you! Hope your week starts well!

It's that time when we start to make resolutions for the New Year! I only make one resolution each year...that is to make no resolutions! Past experience has proven to me I always end up disappointed when I try to resolve something for the coming year. I do, however, set goals for myself. It's such a good feeling when you meet that goal and even exceed it sometimes. One of my goals recently is to try and use up as much of my "stash" as I can (without touching the treasured pieces, of course...lol). I have numerous sets of My Mind's Eye card kits. I thought the thank you cards I need to make would be a perfect use for these kits. So, today I would like to start a series of thank you cards that I have made using these products.

This card uses the card base from the kit. I love this color combo! I then used my Labels Four Nesties to to cut the mattes. The sentiment layer is also edged with Colorbox chalk ink Icy Blue. A very simple card but with some interest. I think it would be perfect for a masculine thank you card or one for a family. What do you think?

In future posts I will share some of the other kits and embellishments I have used, so, stay tuned! It has been fun even though I sometimes feel like I am "cheating" using these kits. You know how it is...if you don't agonize over it, how can it be original?!?! How can you say it is hand made?!?! Well, I am overcoming that in an effort to reach my goal! What are your feelings about card kits?

So glad you could visit today! I hope you will come back often! I look forward to your comments and opinions so let me hear from you if you have the time!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

So Much To Be Thankful For

Greetings everyone! I hope your Christmas Day was a blessed one for all of you. The blessings certainly flowed for our family!! I got to talk to my family in Germany and got a chance to visit with family close by. We had a wonderful lunch and some good laughs. I must have been a fairly good girl this year because I was also blessed with some very nice gifts! I now have a giftcard for Starbucks...woohoo!....and I have to brag about my new crockpot! It is the type that has a locking lid so you can transport it safely and without a mess!! It is perfect as I take food twice a month to our church for fellowship dinner. My dear friends know me so well! I also got dinner and a chance to see the Living Christmas Tree production. How wonderful to spend an evening reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas! The production was huge and very well done. The costumes and the music brought so much life to the scenes. Truly awe inspiring!

With so many blessings, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to family and friends for making this holiday even more special! So, I have started to make some thank you cards to show my appreciation. This card started with a white card base that I embossed with the CB folder Floral Fantasy and then rounded the corners. The pink layer is card stock and the corners are punched with a Fiskars corner punch. I used my Nesties to cut the scallop circle and stamped the sentiment with a stamp from Inkadinkadoos "Just Saying" set. I added dots and dashes to the card with a Creative Memories marker. The card came out a little "busier" than I had planned but I still like the look of it. Now to get busy with the rest of the cards and get them sent out!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I am so grateful for each visit and hope you find some inspiration to take away with you!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Wishing Everyone A Blessed Christmas

Happy 101st Birthday Aunt Ethel!

Hello Friends! It was a busy weekend but we had a family milestone reached again! My Great Aunt had her 101st birthday! We are all amazed and thrilled that she gets around as she does and still knows most of us. She still works her word find puzzles everyday, too!

It was a wonderful celebration with family and friends! We all enjoyed the cake and ice cream! But no one as much as Aunt Ethel! The picture shows her in all her Christmas finery right down to the birthday crown!

If you think about all the changes she has seen in her years, it is mind boggling. She saw cars driven for the first time, the first telephones, the beginning of radio and television just to mention a few. It was a hoot to watch when she used a microwave oven the first time! She taught elementary school for almost forty years so you can imagine the changes she saw as the curriculum changed! Wow! We are so proud of her and so fortunate to have shared her stories and tales!

Thanks for letting me share a little about this very special lady. My hope now is that the "gene pool" trickles down a few generations!! I am now living in the house she was born in and I feel the presence of each of them here every day! It is wonderful to be one of seven generations to share the experience!

I hope each of you has a blessed Christmas and gets a chance to be with family and friends this holiday!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

A Merry Little Christmas

Hello Friends! Have you missed me? I have certainly missed all of you! It has been a hectic time with holiday festivities and filling craft orders! Hopefully, I am all caught up now and can get back to doing what I love... sharing my craft fun with you!

I have a card to share today that took on a life of its own. I was using some holly leaves on a package and then several fell into a circle shape on my desk. The next thing I knew I had a wreath of holly leaves and the idea for this card. The leaves were punched with a MS holly punch from textured cardstock, I formed a wreath "base" by punching a 1 1/4" circle and then punching a 2" circle around the smaller one. I glued a series of leaves to the base. I then glued another series over and between the first ones. The berries are 1/8" circles punched and the bow is a foam sticker. I added crystal Deco writer to the leaves for a little extra dimension and texture. I used dimensionals to attach the wreath to the card base.

The card base is white stock with a red panel adhered to the inside right. I used a MS border punch on the outside edge. I also added the Deco glitter paint along the edge. The sentiment is stamped on white stock, cut with deco scissors and matted to a red rectangle with dimensionals.

I am really pleased with the look of this card! And I was thrilled to be able to use some of my many craft punches. Too often they sit by the wayside, but a crafter MUST have her tools, right?!?!? I knew you'd agree!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! It is always so nice to hear from each of you! I hope to be a lot more faithful to my blog in the future! It has been a challenging time but one of great joy for me as we approach this blessed holiday. I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and pray that you will each find your own peace this wonderful time of year!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Post It Pads w/ Mini Pens

Greetings everyone! We are having a mixed bag with weather these days! First rain, then snow and ice, a lot of rain, and now gale force winds! Whew! It's enough to make you go hmmmmm! You can hear tree branches snapping in this wind but so far no visible trees down and we still have power. Woohoo!

I have some post it pad holders to share with you today . I love these as they have a place for the pen attached. This is another idea that came from Dawn and you can see her video here.

I made several of these with different papers and stock. The two pictured are examples of a holiday cover and an all occasion cover. I love the versatility of the all occasion card stock. With the theme family and friends, it can be used in so many ways. Rather than cover up the wording on this cover, I added brads to the prominent O's for a little extra accent. The holiday cover has words for a winter wonderland. Since snow was the prominent word on this one, I added a snowflake. These pads are easy to make and fun to give. You just have to be sure to measure the thickness of your pads for each one, as different suppliers have more or less paper in them. The thicker ones may require you to adjust the cover folds a little so the front lays flat. The mini pens I got from Staples. I really found a bargain there as they were on clearance on line. And with a $50 order, Staples delivers for free, usually the next day. Can't beat that!!

Be sure to give these s try! Teachers, including Sunday School teachers, are always needing post its! My Mom loves these for her shopping lists! So many ways you can use them and they fit nicely in a purse or organizer! They can be refilled, too, by removing the last page of paper on the new pad and pressing it into place! That's always a plus!

I am off to fill holiday orders! The teacher survival kits have been a biggy this year as have the jumbo clip bookmarks! We also have the Christmas party for the Seniors group at church this Saturday so lots to do! And I still have boxes to ship to my daughter and her family in Germany! Oh my! I better get at it!

Hope you all have a wonderful day and you get a chance to drop by again soon! I've got some hot chocolate and some cranberry oatmeal cookies just waiting!!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Jumbo Paperclip Bookmark

Hello! Welcome to Bountiful Blessings!

Just a simple little goodie to share today! I made several of these jumbo paperclips for a craft fair and to give out to friends.

I found the clips at Walmart in the office supply section. I punched two 2" scallop circles from white card stock. On one, I added a 3D snowflake sticker (I also found at Walmart in craft section). You could use any image or sentiment here. I joined the circles over the "open" end of the clip with glue dots. You can embellish further with ribbon but I chose to keep it simple. Glitter is beautiful but tends to make a mess for the recipient. Jewel brads and buttons are also very pretty. I packaged them in cello envelopes and added a printed topper which I stamped with snowflakes.

Quick, easy and beautiful! Gotta love it!

Have a wonderful day and I look forward to your return visit!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Over the Top Award

I want to thank Monica from Giddy Greetings for this award! Monica is an awesome crafter and maintains not one, not two, but three blog sites! Be sure to stop by and visit and then leave some love!

Here are the rules I have to follow to accept this award:

Answer the following questions using single word answers. Then pass the award to 5 other people. ( I'm a Southern girl! One word answers are like asking the wind to stop blowing but I will try!)

Your cell phone? None

Your hair? Curly

Your mother? Beautiful

Your father? Heaven

Favorite food? Potato

Your dream last night? Short

Your favorite drink? Coffee

Your dream/goal? Singer

What room are you in? Office

Your hobby? Paper

Your fear? Fire

Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here

Where were you last night? Home

Something you aren't? Skinny

Muffins? Strawberry

Wish list item? Floors

Where did you grow up? TN

Last thing you did? This

What are you wearing? PJ's

Your TV? Huge

Your pets? Lots

Friends? Precious

Your mood? Zany

Missing someone? Dad

Vehicle? None

Something you're not wearing? Socks

Your favorite store? Kroger

Your favorite color? Green

When was the last time you laughed? Now

Last time you cried? Yesterday

Your best friend? Wonderful

One place that you go to over and over? Bathroom

Face book? Nope

Favorite place to eat? Couch

This was a lot easier than I thought it would be! Maybe I can hush after one word!!!

The five wonderful bloggers whom I have chosen to pass this on to:

Carrie
Kelly
Lynn
Gina
Cheryl

This is a fun award and I am honored to have been chosen by Monica! Thanks so much!
Have a wonderful day and hurry back! My zany mood may last an hour or a few days...who
knows?!?!?

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Front Fold Gift Card Holder

Hello blogging friends!

I have another gift card holder to share with you! This one folds under a front flap and can also be for any occasion. I went with the Christmas theme and plan to use this one for a friend. You can view a video tutorial of this holder over at Dawn's Stamping Studio.

I started with white card stock and then added the Christmas paper. The present on the front is a chipboard piece adhered with dimensionals. The inside slot, punched with a word window punch, is shown beside the front of the holder. These come together very quickly and add a very nice touch to a gift card or money gift. You could even slide movie tickets into it!

Hope you have enjoyed seeing this version and you will come back soon! Have super weekend!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

Holiday Wallet

Hello and Welcome!

I wanted to dress up the usual gift card this year so I decided to go with some paper wallets for the male members of the family. The instructions for these has been around forever but Dannie Graves has an excellent video on this wallet that you can view here I started with black card stock and embossed the outer piece with the Argyle CB folder. It looks like worn leather IRL. Then I attached the inner pieces with double sided tape only on the outer edges. (Gosh, I love my ATG gun!) Sticky tape is also great for this project! I then rounded the corners of the outside piece. You can also pierce the outer piece all the way around and "connect the dots" to make really nice faux stitching. Once you have all the pieces cut out and placed in order, it is a simple wallet to put together. Just be sure to attach the OUTSIDE corners first! I made several and used warm rich colors to simulate the leather. I like this one especially because you can put in a gift card or cash (or check or MO or...oh you get the drift) or both. These are perfect for those gifts that need to be sent in the mail! I stamped the Holiday Wishes on white stock and cut out with deco scissors. I adhered it to the wallet with tape again as I wanted to keep it flat as possible for mailing. I have sold these at craft fairs and people are amazed how much like a real wallet it is.

Now that the grandkids are older and have almost EVERYTHING one could wish for, I decided a gift card or cash was in order. This project let me put in "Grandma's touch" and still make them happy! Bless their hearts!!

If you have any questions about this project or any other one on my blog, please email me. I would love to help if I can.

Have a wonderful week and stop by when you get the chance! I have several little gift items I will be sharing in the coming days. Just remember to take time for you and to be sure to reflect on the real reason for the season!

Blessings to you,
Vicki

My First Transcontinental Award

Greetings to all!

I am once again humbled and honored to receive a blog award. This award came to me from Crafty Sue. Sue is in Italy and shares wonderful projects on her blog in both English and Italian. I have learned a great deal and been inspired by Sue's creativity. To the best of my knowledge this award is for the" blog with beautiful eyes".
This award originated from http://li-katuki.blogspot.com/. We are to include this phrase" Nenhum olhar è mais puro do que uma criança...." which means "The eyes of a child are the purest". Isn't that beautiful? And the precious face on this award just has to make you smile! Here are the instructions for this award:

1. Post the sentence : Nenhum olhar è mais puro do que uma criança....
2. Post the award.
3. Mention the blog that gave birth to this award: "Arte da Li" http://li-katuki.blogspot.com/
4. Mention and thank the blog that gave you this award and post their blog link.
5. Pass it on to 10 blogs and leave a comment on their blogs to let them know they've been awarded.

Since I know no Italian blogs other than Sue's, I am going to offer this award to those of you who would like to share it. You can copy from my blog or Sue's.

Thank you so much, Sue, for this award and for blessing me with your caring and inspiration! You help to make this blogging experience so much richer! Dio ti benedica.

Hope you all will come back and visit again soon!

Blessings to you,
Vicki