mini ATC's ... a delightful little swap

So .... I did another spring swap over at Vintage Dragonfly ... The time my swap partner was JoAnne of Vintage Dragonfly, and our fabulous swap hostess!

WE each made a little matchbox chest, which is two matchboxes joined and covered together.  We filled one of the drawers with little treasures and the other drawer contained 3 mini ATC's.

I loved doing the matchbox drawers, such fun ... the ATC's were a true challenge ... i have not worked on something so small before.   This is the box JoAnne sent to me ... it was a joy to open!

 and the little chest, with its matchbox drawers open ... look at how pretty her project is, i just love all of the bits that make this chest up!

 JoAnne sent me adorable mini ATC's and lots of sweet goodies!

 Even more goodies came with the chest, i will have lots of yummy things to play with!

This is the matchbox chest I sent JoAnne ...

 It's funny that we were both thinking of nests, but it was a spring swap and nothing says spring like a nest!

 I sent her some goodies to play with and a few Purdy's eggs to nibble on.

 and these are the ATC's i sent to her.

I have to say, this is one of my favourite swaps to day ... it was fun, tiny and challenging ...

thanks so much for stopping by

Peace love and paper

Jo

Another challenge!

Over at Simon Says, the Monday challenge was to create either with a cameo or use something that would make a cameo appearance in your project ...

So I kind of did both, but in doing both I also kind of did neither ... yeah ... one of those ....

I decided to use a vintage silhouette image from the Graphics Fairy .... I printed it out and then sat with it for a few days ... i decided to flip the page over and cover it with strips cut from a magazine ... I used a very victorian wall image as the main portion of her head, then a sea image and finally an image of an ancient brick wall ... Once i had glued the strips down, i let it dry (well almost dry) and then i cut out the silhouette image and adhered it to my background ...  I then added a lovely Jane Austen quote.

But then ...



...



...


I blew the quote ... i wrote down that it was from Sense and Sensibility  when .... *gasp* ...... it is actually from Pride and Prejudice ....

making a cameo appearance on my art journal page is the glaring quote error .... sheesh, i have lost all of my  street cred here with that error!

Thanks for stopping by ....
Peace love and paper
Jo

Grow Your Blog - my giveaway!

Hello everyone and a happy day to you!  I did a little random.org thing today, and the lucky winner of my GYB party giveaway is .....

....

....

... (so much drama)

... Tanya at Bead and Needle!!!!

You won this lovely set of vintage styled cards (found here) made by my wee little hands.

Please email me your details and i will get them off in the mail to you as quickly as possible.

Thank you to everyone who left a lovely comment and entered!

peace love and paper
Jo

Grow your blog ... my gift to you!

Recently I took part in the fabulous Grow Your Blog party hosted by the fabulous Vicki at  2 Bags Full.  This was a fun blog party with over 500 blogs participating.  I was able to join some new blogs as followers and meet some wonderful bloggers!  I also have more people join my blog so it was fun all around.

I am offering 4 lovely vintage style cards with matching envelopes as a little gift in celebration of this blog party.   In order to be entered into the draw for these lovelies, please leave a comment on my original post, which can be found here.

All of these cards are made with quality products.  I used the last (whimper) of my Graphic 45, A Ladies Diary papers (oh these papers are sumptuous!)  I also use Very Vanilla card stock from Stampin" Up as each card base.  All of these cards are blank on the inside so you can use any sentiment you desire.

This card features a lovely little metal lock, as well as hand made flowers, fabulous lace and some ribbon.

Although somewhat simple, this is my favourite card.  Just a simple double bow and two pins.  All envelopes have a card stock centre for you write the name of the person you are sending it to.

Vintage millinery is attached to a petite ornate frame that has been inked and dabbed with a bit of paint ... a little attached to the flower stems.

The final card features two tiny buds and a wooden heart that has been glittered.  It also shows the inside of the envelope.  All envelopes were made with double sided paper so it is a treat both opened and closed!

Thank you so much for stoping by ... please remember to stop by my original post and enter this draw! The draw, along with draws from other participants in the blog party will be on the 15th of February.  These is still time to visit other blogs from the party ... they can be reached through the 2 Bags Full post here

peace love and paper!
jo

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you peace, love and joy!
Jo

so blissed!

... yes, i am in a state of bliss ... lately i have just been so very lucky in submitting my cards to Stampington and having them accepted for publication.  I'm so excited it's like walking around with wings on my feet ... all giddy and joy!

Check out the Autumn 2013 edition of the Stamplers sampler take ten issue!

 I adore this publication, it is one of my favourites ... the premise is cards that have some stamping on them and can be made in approximately 10 minutes ... this issue is filled with fabulous "challenge" results.  The challenge was to use a "flag" template ... the results are beautiful, lots of eye candy in this edition.

 This blew my wee little mind ... i sent in three cards i made using some vintage tags that my friend Izzy had given to me ... I was experimenting with inks when the idea came to make cards using the tags.  great fun, and the photography of my cards is stellar ... and two pages ... yikes ... i am just flabergasted!

A very simple interpretation of the flag challenge... i used MME papers and a fabulous Stampin up! stamp.

Nope, this card is not upside down  .... but i can't give away all of it's secrets!!!  It is my favourite card!

Another submission, this time using more romantic colours and making one of the flags slightly different than called for.  I also have 2 other cards published in this issue!

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit and listening to me babble on ... I am so blissed out.

Peace love and paper!!!

jo

on retreat ...

so I went to a crafting retreat, hosted by my dear friend Sue.  all of my scrap friends were able to attend so it was an absolute hoot!

The strange thing, is that me ... who takes photos by the millions ... actually forgot to take many pictures ... but i did take a few!

I designed and taught a mini album class, and forgot to take photos ... it was cool, and somewhat masculine ... but i have it locked away in my head so at least i have that!

I designed this fab little christmas bunting class with my friend Sue, and I taught the class ... it was loads of fun! The products are all Stampin Up ... their new scalloped tulle is so easy and fun to play with!

My other friend Sue, and Iris both took the class!  It was fab to have friends in the room!!!

Sue and I also designed and taught this fab tag class ... it was my kind of fun, all messy and grungy!

 i created this little christmas house for the display table.

 The wreath is made from satin ribbon that has been "fringed" and heated so that bits of it melt.

 An easy peasy card for the display table ... punched out flocked velvet acetate sheet that is folded for dimension.

 I made lots of these little vintage style paper ornaments for the christmas tree!

A gathered fabric tree!  Stampin Up has some very cool fabrics and trim, loved this sweater trim!

and finally i made this little house for display ... i think i need to make a whole village of these!

Diane and I win the 50/50 ... even Sue is amazed!!!  what a hoot!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

I'm back!

Summer is suddenly over ... although the weather is sunny and bright, it no longer contains the heat that is summer.  Leaves are falling ... quietly drifting to the ground ... only making a noise when they crunch underfoot ...

So I am back to blogging, and hopefully on a much more regular basis!

This last summer is going down as one of the best in a decade ... my DD and I were constantly busy, constantly exploring and constantly having fun.

I have a new passion ... and that is being in the mountains around cattle country ... exploring on an atv ... oh the things you can see ... amazing ... and driving up high in the fresh air, you can smell everything ... each flower, the grass, the trees ... even the not so pleasant things like ... well ... droppings ....

Here's a few shots of the last trip we took to my Brother's cabin ... hopefully we will be back again next summer ...

 My Dear daughter and my niece ... wish flowers!

 a new horse ...

Artists live down the old highway ... their house is amazing ... such fab art can be found everywhere, like this shed adorned with skulls and birdhouses made from reclaimed wood and findings

 I made it up this scary huge hill .... i was totally excited!

 a lady bug visits my daughter ... she had many stories ....

 hide and seek in a fabulous aspen grove ...

riding on a ranch road ...

the girls tubing ... it was actually a game of battle tubes ... yeah it was a hard fought game but they had a blast!

And now, back to the routine that is the school.  So far DD is happy with her classes ... they actually had a farmers market up at the university today so DD came home with books and lots of lucious local fruit and veggies!

Thanks so much for the visit ... peace, love and paper y'all!!!

The Gift of Art ...

Art, in all kinds, almost always makes my heart sing ... well except for a show called "Evisceration" that was at the local gallery a couple of years ago ... okay, but Art really is a fabulous thing to share.

Got to love this art ... a fabulously large cat painted on the back of a truck ...

We ended up going though about a dozen green lights so i finally snapped these photos while driving, (shhhh, don't tell my mom, and Mom, if you are reading this, close your eyes!)   There was virtually no traffic and the truck didn't move that fast ...

I love the art ... how fabulous that they are sharing their art with everyone!

I have been fortunate to see the Cone Sisters exhibit twice, once with my friend Izzy and once with Diane ... what a fabulous show ...

Due to a series of fortunate events, Diane presented me with this fabulous Matisse print that I had been drooling over ...

A while back, my dear blog friend Lynn, sent me this amazing OOAK necklace for my birthday,  made from vintage findings and metals ...

I had to include two shots of this piece because I just couldn't get the detail and beauty of it captured in one shot ... this is a totally fabulous necklace!

And if that wasn't enough, Lynn did a portrait of my dear Honey... I can't wait to get this charcoal framed ... it is far more fabulous irl, my point and shoot does not do it justice.  

The gift of art, weather it is a randomly place bit of street art, a gallery showing or an actual piece always rocks my world ... there is so much art and beauty in the world and it is just a fabulous thing to share with all.

thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a beautiful week!

A True RAK ...

Well I just could not believe it when i received a package in the post ... and instead of a return address it had RAK written in the return address space.

I was excited to open the package to find it wrapped in pretty scrapbook paper.  And inside that paper .... 4 beautiful stamps!!!

And I know that the sender knows me well, just by the stamps that she sent ...

A Crafty Secrets fairy stamp collection ... some beautiful Kaisercraft frame stamps,  a Tim Holtz atc sized stamp, and finally a little stamp that says "made with love"

I love each and everyone of these stamps and they will be used ... a lot!!!  In fact I think I will go use some now!  So thank you so much to my anonymous RAK sender.  Thank you for thinking of me and sending me these wonderful wonderful gifts ...
xoxo
Jo

Amazing Giveaway!

You have to go visit my blogging buddy Lynn, at her fabulous blog Trash to Treasure Art.  If you have never visited, now is the time.  She is a brilliant artist ... she is so talented and inspiring in so many mediums ... there is always something fun to find!

Right now, Lynn is having a 3rd year blogaversary ... and the prizes are totally yummy ... so do stop by her blog, the more the merrier ... and hey, you don't want me to win everything do you???  lol!

 Lynn is giving away this fantastic etched brass and antiqued book with charms

 and this fabulous journal

 and this amazing rusted tin necklace (told ya she was uber talented)

 and a surprise

and a whole mess of stamps ....

so run, quick as you can and check out her blog, her giveaway ends on the 18th!

thanks for stopping by and good luck!