Tuesday Trigger Sweater Weather Inspiration

So my good friends Tessa & Paula have talked about the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger so much that I finally decided to give it a whirl.  It didn't hurt that they were both selected as Trigger Targets this week too!  Congrats!

This week's inspiration?  A sweater from Anthropologie.

What really struck me about this sweater was the collar.  First, I really love the colors, but I also like the striation, and the fringe.  I like the texture of the fabric too.  So, here's my card!

I created my own fringe using paper and scissors, then added ribbon for texture and color.  I pleated the chocolate striped ribbon using glue dots - I was feeling too lazy to drag out the sewing machine and do it properly, so I cheated!

No card is complete without some bling, so I traced the "Hello" with my clear glaze glitter pen and added a rhinestone.

I also love the sunshiny yellow - just the perfect way to say "Hello!"

 Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Tuesday Trigger!

Blue Ribbon!

The State Fair ended yesterday and today was the day to pick up your contest entries.  I couldn't wait so I ran over there before lunchtime to pick up my cards and wreath.  As usual, it's a madhouse the day after as all of the vendors are trying to dismantle their booths and the crews are trying to clean up.  You have to wind your way through a myriad of trucks, trailers, cars, and heavy equipment to get where you are going.

But I made it to the Handcrafts & Hobbies building and got a parking spot right in front!  Ran in the building only to realize that I'd left all of my claim tickets at my desk.  Even so, the nice ladies there allowed me to pick up my items anyway.

So here are my winning entries!

First up, glitter Halloween card.  This one won 1st place in the Techniques category!  The acetate is from PK Glitz and the glitter is from an assortment of places.  I love black cats, so this seemed like the perfect card for me to make.

Second, a general card.  This one won 3rd place in the Embellishments category.  I love this color combination - Cherry Cobbler is my new favorite red.

Third and final winner, another Halloween card.  Another 3rd place, this time in the Layered category.  I borrowed this idea from Michele Zindorf and added a few of my own twists.  I love the wheel; it's one of my all-time favorites.

 I guess I should show you the one card that didn't win. I thought it was a decent Christmas card!

 There's always next year.  I've making good progress on the cards I plan to enter - if I can keep up with them between now and next year's fair.  That itself might be deserving of a blue ribbon.

Thinking about 2011

It's ironic that in my daytime job, I've already got most of 2011 planned out...guess that is spilling over into my personal life too.  I've spent the last week or so thinking about what cards I might make for the NC State Fair next year.  This year I won a 1st place blue ribbon and two 3rd place ribbons for my creations.  So how am I going to top that next year?

Like this!

This is a Northwoods Rubber Stamp.  I love their designs.  They are usually very intricate, but so appealing.  I am going to use this as a focal point on a card.  I cut out all of the red trim and bow and the greenery, then glued it to a yellow background, as if you are looking into someone's window.

This is just one of many ideas I have for cards for the fair next year.  Stay tuned.  I'll share parts of my creations as I make them.

Christmastime's a comin', Christmastime's a coming...

Yeah, I know Halloween hasn't even passed.  Yeah, I've only seen hints of Christmas in commercials so far and just passing mentions of Thanksgiving.  Yeah, Black Friday hasn't hit either...Doesn't matter cause at my house IT'S CHRISTMAS!

I took a whole week off from work (well, 4 days because Monday was a federal holiday - whoo-hoo!) just so I can craft.  I mentioned before that I do two craft shows annually with my mom and so I am busy running down my list of all I want to make for this year's shows.  So far this week, I've put the finishing touches on my doodle ornaments, made some glass ornaments with various nativity scenes on them, created these cute little snowman hat ornaments, and dreamed up some vintage "glass" ornaments.  I'm particularly proud of these last two creations because I used upcycled materials!

For the snowman hat ornaments, my mom & dad cut a thick cardboard tube they had into 2" pieces.  I painted it black, inside & out, then used a large scallop punch for the bottom and a black circle punch for the top.  Finish it off with a little band of red paper, some pom-poms, a holly leaf cut with my Cricut, and some texture snow - WHAM!  You've got yourself a cute little snowman hat ornament.

For the vintage "glass" ornaments, I used $1 square acrylic stamp blocks I picked up at Joanns and beautiful poinsettia rub-ons from Michaels.  I then backed it with vintage music and added a wire hanger.  I think these are very elegant and I love them!

One last project to show you - I picked up these little wreaths at Hobby Lobby on a trip to the zoo and when I got them home, I realized they were perfect for an idea I already had in mind.  (Yeah, I have a thing for snowmen!)

I just added a few beads and a Merry Christmas banner.  Easy and so cute!

Well, that's all for now.  I've got more to finish to be ready for my shows and I have just 3 more days to finish it all up!  Let's hope I rock it out!

Happy (late) Birthday!

Today was my daughter's birthday party!  She turned 3 almost 2 weeks ago but this was the first opportunity to have a party.  Several other children in her class have birthdays clustered right around hers, so her birthday weekend was chocked full of other birthday parties.

It was a nice day!  She's really into dress up and princess-anything right now, so we had a princess party.

Pink everywhere.  (I'm not a big fan of pink.)

I decided to surprise her by renting a bounce house!  She was so excited!  She could not believe we had one in our backyard.  She bounced and bounced and bounced until she bounced herself out.

I'm not complaining...she fell asleep on the couch and was out by 7:30.  Works for me - just wish we could wear her out like that everyday.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Homemade Halloween!

My daughter is 3.  We are having her birthday party on Saturday, so I am busy getting the house decorated, cleaned, and ready for the party.  I saw this idea in the Family Fun magazine and decided that I just needed to do it!  I salvaged 2 discarded tomato cages from my parents, bought strands of orange lights and a small sheet of black Fun Foam, scrounged around for 2 old sheets I could use and went to town!  What in the world did I create?  THESE!

I love them!  They took maybe an hour to make but they turned out so cute!  I'm really pleased.  I just hope no one is really scared of them.

The large one has arms.

It was pretty simple to make arms.  I used 2 dowels and 2 tennis balls, but you could use balled up socks, as the instructions suggest.  I just didn't have any socks I was willing to sacrifice for the project.  I don't play tennis, so it was a small loss to use the tennis balls instead!

The other little guy is just a small tomato cage, no fancy arms or anything.  You could add arms, if you want.  I didn't because I like to think of him as "spook in training".  Well that, and I actually want people to have room to walk through the front door!

So this is just the beginning of our decorating.  I'll have to get down the Halloween box on Saturday morning and see what other devilish decorations I can scare up!