Moon Cat Halloween Greeting Card

Well I think you all have figured out by now that I seriously love Halloween. And no it’s not just for the candy lol. There’ just so many fun embellies to use I can’t help myself and I always go overboard!

This card is created for the Really Reasonable Ribbon Anything Goes with Ribbon or Trim Challenge. 

I’m a total cat person too so this card was extra fun to make.

Black Plaid Ribbon and Black Burlap String are the perfect finishing touch for this arrangement with handcrafted flowers. I’ve mixed in glitter stars and die cut leaves topped off with Stickles.

Last but not least I’ve added buttons, a fun clip, and labels topped with a holiday sentiment.

Okay now it’s your turn to create an Anything Goes with Ribbon or Trim project and link up with us to play along.

Wishing everyone a happy and productive day : ) G

New Digital Collages for Valentine’s and Easter

So it’s the first day of my Christmas vacation and what am I doing?   Designing digital collage sheets. Any normal person would have slept in…had a leisurely coffee…..start making last minute gift lists. However I live in a house with Scooter. And there is no better alarm clock than a hungry cat…so hello to 5 am. While the rest of the home Peeps were snuggled in their beds…I’m cropping and snipping and layering away.

My first collage Vintage Valentine’s Cards.

The second collage Vintage Easter Tags.

Be on the lookout for some fun projects from the shop with these images. If you’d like a set of your own to create some fabulous projects simply click on the links : )

Okay….I’m off now to bake up some cookies…I just found a great recipe for gingerbread that doesn’t have to be rolled and cut…that’s perfect for an impatient baker like me. I hear there’s a a big ice storm coming to mid Michigan so I could say I’m preparing for a power outage…no one will go hungry if we have cookies right? 

I hope you all enjoy a happy and productive day and find some time to be creative : ) G

How to spend a dog day afternoon

Hello all…this is Lily…I’ve hijacked my human Mama’s computer for a brief tutorial. If you enjoy it…send snacks…I like the crunchy kind : )

 

In the event you are wondering about the absolute best way to sped a dog day afternoon…when it’s hot outside…and you’re an indoor cat : )

Step one….find a chair that has the opposite color as your fur….in this case a throw blanket over the back of a recliner works purrrfectly.

Step two…adjust position 3 or 4 or 10 times….to be the most comfiest.

Step three…one last look at to see that someone has noticed how cute you are .

 Step four…Calculate how many hours of rest is need to be fully rested to be sassy and feisty when the human need to get some sleep before work.

Okay..that’s it for my cat-torial. See what I did there??? cat-torial…cuz I’m a cat lol!!!! I crack myself up lol.

Lot’s of love from Lily. P.S. Don’t forget the snacks!!! : )   P.S. Don’t tell Mama I was using her computer or she’ll give my treats to Scooter : (

Sweet Liv Layout

I’ve created another layout display for my shop. My niece Crystal was so kind to let me use this beautiful picture of her daughter Olivia.

Is there anything cuter than a little girl eating an ice cream cone with sprinkles??? Nope! I choose to work with the sweet blue patterns from Lily Bee and pair them an awesome faux wood from My Mind’s Eye. The paper lace border was a kind donation from friend Bobbie. I stitched these layers down for detail…but it also keeps my layout super sturdy since it will be hanging in the shop.

I choose to frame the picture in painted chipboard. To the top and bottom I added some beautiful Diamond Satin Blue Topaz trim. Not only does this help cover what would be too much white frame…but it adds a lovely texture too. I attached it with my favorite Scor-Tape from Really Reasonable Ribbon. I used the Scor-Tape to attach the frame to the page and add the chipboard flourishes.

There’s some hand crocheted flowers layered in with the franken-flowers here. what are franken-flowers you ask???? Well it’s various parts scavenged from lot’s of different flowers and reassembled to give them new life. Don’t you just love the blue checkered brad???? Me too!!

Under this collection of franken-flowers I added a few tags. They’re a great way to fill space and stretch your embellishments.

This layout will look fabulous hanging in the shop : ) Stop by and check em out if you’re in the area!!!!

I’ve been working hard at improving my pictures of my projects so I can share all the fabulous little details and get the colors as close to real life as possible. Adding a light box was a great way to focus the light where I want…and get it evenly displayed around my projects…it’s simple really….just a painted shelf backdrop with large pieces of white poster board. I noticed an improvement right away. The light box has had an addition unintended use…..it’s the perfect gray cat attractor. Everytime I get it out and turn on the lights……Lily shows up : / and gets in the way of the camera lol. But she is too cute so here is her close up….

Not close enough?????

This happens every time I try to work at home lol. It’s amazing I get any good pics at all.

Okay…that’s it for this layout. Make sure you check out the second post for the day for some exciting news!

I hope you all enjoy a happy and productive day and find some time to be creative : ) G

Merry Christmas to all……

Well the kiddos are still sleepin in and so is the Dear Husband. We are definitely going to have ourselves a white Christmas here after a lovely snowstorm yesterday. Our plans are not taking us too far from home so it should be a calm and simple day. 

This little project I’m sharing I created to decorate my shop. I turned my Christmas village shabby chic : ) Lot’s of glitter and flocking and paint. And of course some beautiful trim from RRR. I had the perfect little shelf to display it and it’s got my favorite pink in the background swoon.

              The little trees I bleached last week look perfectly shabby with my little houses.

Of course the village looked like the typical set. I started out by spray painting them to neutralize the background then gave them a base coat of winter white. Next I mixed the paints I liked to tone them down and give them a vintagy look. I used several types of glitter and flocking to create the look of a Putz house. As usual the glitter was EVERYWHERE. I’m sure I even ate some with my lunch lol. I’m sparkly on the inside : )

In order to maintain the look I wanted…I didn’t get crazy with the details…relying on subtlety to tell a quiet story of shabby chic. This little church is the centerpiece…as it should be : ) Just a bit of silvery glitter to dress the windows was all it needed.

Tinsel glitter was the perfect choice for the roofs. Along with flocking  where the snow would have been.

I used a small picture frame with a book page as a backdrop. I’ll be on the lookout now for some other little treasures to tuck into the scenery.

Are you thinking to yourself that it must have taken a long time to paint around all those details? Yep it sure did lol. But since this is going to be a display I put up every year…it was worth the extra effort.

All of the houses have little windows so next year I’ll be adding lights to the inside.

I dressed the front of the shelves with my new favorite Juliet lace in natural from Really Reasonable Ribbon.

All the pale colors were making it look a bit floaty. I decided to add some of the unbleached trees in to anchor the light colors.

The fun part of starting a new collection is not having every little bit right away…I’m looking forward to the hunt for more key pieces to add to fill in. I think I’ll be looking for some lamp posts and signage along with some characters to stage in the scene. OOHHH and also some vintage deer.

There’s the little tree I added garland to.

I’m planning to add signs to the tops of the doors here. I think this one will be Polly’s Paperie.

From the side you can really get the feel of the different glitters. I just love the curve of the shelves….very girly.

Well I hope this inspires you to take a second look at some of your seasonal decor. Maybe you have outgrown the style? Why not give it a makeover. My little village was not a valuable collectable….so I wasn’t too concerned that it might not turn out like I had hoped. But it certainly did and I’m so glad I made the old new again and gave it a new life : ) Who knows…maybe I’ll leave it up year round.

Thanks to all of you who stop in to visit me in my little corner of the world. I’m so very privileged to share my creations with you all. I hope they inspire you to take the time to be creative everyday. Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy, and Blessed Christmas and New Year. I hope you have a day full of magic.

P.S. thanks for all the well wishes for our little Tinker. He is home now and on the mend : ) That is truly a gift indeed.

Plans are changed….

Plans are changed with one day to spare before our family vacation to sunny Florida. Our poor little kitty baby Tinker wasn’t looking so good…so I took him to the vet and they urged me to rush him to emergency. Thankfully D.H. Kenny was able to drive us the 45 minutes it took to get to Milford to the pet hospital. The Dr. shared with us that he had a completely blocked urethra : ( literally within an hour of it being a life or death situation. Luckily Tinker pulled through his emergency procedure just fine and is resting comfortably in the vet hospital for the next three days. We will be staying here instead of going on our trip   so we can bring him home on Monday.  It just goes to show…you should always trust your instincts when it come to your pets. It would have made for a very blue Christmas if we had lost Tinker.

So now that we’re staying home I guess I should put up a tree and deck the halls a little bit for my boy’s who were really looking forward to spending Christmas day on the beach. I’ve already gotten my gift….a happy healthy furry Tinker baby : )

Vintage Halloween in the shop

As promised…here are the pics from the other side of the large center island display. I think they turned out great considering I had to stand on a chair…lol. Have I ever mentioned that I am super short? Anyway…this side is all fun vintage inspired pieces I’ve been collecting.

These black cats are too cute to be scary…especially with their little hats on. I borrowed a little backdrop from the black wreath and pumpkin from the other side of the display.

These are my favorite with their big cheesy grins. Notice they are all carrying trick or treat buckets? lol

This is the new kid in the collection. I picked him up at Screams Ice Cream shop in Hell right around the corner from where we live. No kidding…there really is a Hell Michigan. And we only live like less than 10 minutes away lol. Insert jokes now….I don’t live in Hell…but I can see it from here hahahaha. Okay…not too funny…give me a break it’s 5 in the morning!

When I get back to the shop I’ll be loading up all this decor for the year. And trying to figure out how to run power to the center island for my large Christmas carousel. How’s that for a teaser??? LOL

Hope you all enjoy a happy and productive day and find some time to be creative : ) G

Happy Fathers Day to Kenny

Just want to wish Kenny a very happy Fathers Day. He has left for the week to take the kiddos to Boy Scout summer camp. I will be missing them greatly and hope they have lot’s of fun and get home safely. Kenny was just given the opportunity to join the Order of the Arrow…an honor for sure and one that I think is well deserved. They spent their weekend cleaning out the camp and planting trees and doing general maintenance to keep the camp awesome for the rest of the scouts to enjoy. They worked very hard and I’m am super proud of them! Kenny mentioned that the mosquitoes were really bad so for his Fathers Day gift…I made him some little bean bags he can spray with repellant and scatter around the floor of his tent. Hopefully this  will create a bug free perimeter to sleep in. I also picked up a bar of lemon Grass infused soap from Artistica which I’m told is a natural repellant.

I was able to use a fabric sample book from Ann at Artistica to create the cover for these little bags. A simple wrapping of craft paper and twine with a tag.

Lily must have thought she was part of the gift! Or maybe she’s just a camera hog!

Happy Father’s day to my Dad Michael also. Sorry I didn’t get your card mailed in time : /

Note to self….

It’s a very good idea to remove the boxes from Costco shortly after unpacking them and take them right to the recycling. Otherwise it may become a habitat for the local wildlife.

This was quite a dramatic scene….sorry for the picture quality : ( I’m not so good a getting action shots.

Lola has moved into her very own penthouse suite. Not much for amenities….but great location.

We do not like our new neighbor Lily moving in downstairs.

Oh I see you’re leaving.

Very good vantage point for a sneak attack.

Home sweet home at last….without the riff raff downstairs!

Moral of the story???? Great boxes do not always make great neighbors : ) And don’t put off you’re recycling as it may cause a turf war.

Another Day in Janeville

I started off Jane Day with a super terrible headache…but managed to get to the shop in time.  We had a few extra peeps ( Heather and Jane’s main man Chuck) in the mix today and they were all very good sports to listen to me whine and complain about my sore head. I didn’t plan on being productive so I got out my little sewing box and set about making some flowers. Mostly for Jane since here birthday was this week.  Happy Birthday my very dear friend…love ya millions : )

I did make one of my extra poofy glitter and lace flowers for her….but with the attention span of a small child I got bored and started making little yo-yo flowers and I have to say I am hooked. They were lot’s of fun to finish off with buttons and pearls. Jane made some spectacular thank you cards and used the little flowers for embellishment. I made a few for myself and with my usual more is better philosophy….I glued them all on the same card lol.

I was going to call this my “Bee Happy” card….but that does seem a little corny. I used a few patterns from My Mind’s Eye and layered them over a chocolate colored card stock. Next came a sweet little vintage image print out and an ephemera piece from Pink Paislee. I did a bit of inking here but not too much…and added a nice creme colored bow with button.

I am lovin these little yo-yo’s. They stitched up in no time at all and lend a very homespun quality to my card. Be on the lookout for more projects with these as I am now obsessed with making them lol.

I also managed to give my Scooter Kitty a bath tonight after work. This went much better than I had expected. Maybe he thought he was at the spa???? Silly boy. He doesn’t look too mad about the whole prospect…but he isn’t wanting for attention the way he usually does in the evening. Might be pouting?

I’m thinking a glass of wine while I wait for my boy’s to get home from Scouts. Hope you all enjoy your evening : )