Happy Anniversary!

My husband and I recently celebrated our 29th anniversary! We don't normally exchange gifts, but I did not even make him a card! Well, not until tonight....

It's time for another Linky Party over at the Heartwarming Vintage blog, so I got into some of the goodies Sandy sent me a few weeks ago. I picked out an image from "Romance," which is a digital printable. These are so easy to use! You just order the item you want and the ladies at Crafty Secrets send you a link to it. Follow the link, save it to your computer or Dropbox, and it's there for you to print whenever you want. 

Are you intrigued? Sandy and the ladies on the design team have tutorials that walk you through the whole process. You can start small and experiment. If you like the way it works you can always get more.  ;)

Ok--so back to the card!

I printed the image I wanted to use ("In Loving You...") and a couple of other images to use as backgrounds. The paper with the handwriting and leaves is one that I have used like crazy! It's on cards, clothespins, and calendars! I also embossed a piece of vellum and inked the edges of all the layers.

Then I started stacking. The hardest part was deciding which heart charm I wanted to use. Here are a few that I have to choose from....

If I find jewelry really cheap--I mean reasonably priced--I'll snatch it up and take it apart to use on cards or mini albums, so I have a few charms.

I put just a dot of adhesive on the back of the heart. It's pretty heavy and I wouldn't want it to fall off.

See? It's THAT simple! It has taken me longer to write this than it did to put the card together! And that's not good--I'm about to run out of time for the Linky Party. Hop on over and check it out!

Thanks for stopping by!

January 2014 Calendar and Desktop

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Your new calendar is ready and waiting for you to click and download!

Of course there is a desktop version, so you can see all those unused icons that you never get around to deleting. ;)

I'm sure you know the drill by now, but just in case, this post gives a quick how-to. I did that almost two years ago, and Apple has changed their operating system, but I'm pretty sure everything is basically the same. And this post tells how to make your own calendar using Coolibah. I've included a plain calendar--just the days and dates--in case you want to give that a try.

Ok. I think you're good to go! Have a fantastic 2014! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Merry Christmas!

Please read this before you get all hyper-active on me about making a politically correct Christmas card. 

First, have you ever known me to be politically correct? Nope. Never have been, never plan to be. 

Next, have you ever known me to do anything in a timely manner? I'll take the fifth on that one.

I have a very sensible reason for putting "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" on my Christmas cards. I never know if I will get my cards done and in the mail in time for my friends and family to receive them by Christmas. This way I have my bases covered! 

Besides, why put all that effort into wishing your loved ones a single day of merriment, when you can send them wishes for a whole season of joy?!

Feel free to save my card and send it to your last-minute Christmas card email list. I added the glitter backgrounds because...well, because it's glitter! I couldn't decide which color I like best, so I just posted all three! Which one do you like best?

Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year! 

See you next time!

Evolution and a Linky Party

This morning I set out to decide what to do for the Christmas card exchange at "Stamp Club." *sigh* I really wanted to do something that looked like pergamano. If you don't know what that is, look it up. Go ahead. I'm not going anywhere....

Isn't that beautiful? A lot of the designs remind me of the dainty hankies ladies used to carry. My first attempt gave me this card. 

The tree is embossed on vellum, as are the diagonal lines behind it. Actually the first card was all white, but I decided to go with a little color. The card is Pool Party, the white is parchment cardstock, and the vellum is also cardstock.  

I just couldn't get that tree to suit my fancy, so I filed the pergamano idea away for another day, and went with a tree die cut from pearlized vellum. The shimmer doesn't show up in pictures at all for some reason.

I added the embossed Swiss dots behind the tree and moved the stripes to the frame. 

Then I remembered that it's time for the Heartwarming Vintage Linky Party. I just happen to have some adorable Christmas images that I purchased the other day, so...let's see if we can evolve some more!

This little angel is so sweet! It might sound intimidating if you haven't used digital images before, but it's really easy. Really. Just size, print, cut! Maybe I should do a post on the basics of using digi images sometime. Ok, put that on the list with pergamano. The hardest part of it is all the fussy cutting. Not my favorite thing to do. I put him on some really thin dimensional adhesives so he looks like he's stepping out of the oval. 

I liked him so much that I decided to try some cards that would work for any occasion.

These little girls were separated from their four friends. Yes, there are six little girls in cream colored coats, frilly little hats, and button-up boots. 

And this angel fit the horizontal layout perfectly. I used different embossing folders for the white frames on 

the little girls and this angel, but I kept the Swiss dots on the vellum behind them. I really don't think they need anything else at all! 

Sorry to skip out so fast, but it's late and I have to work the REAL job tomorrow! Click over to Heartwarming Vintage and check out the Linky Party. Have a great week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Free December iWhatever Calendar and Desktop

I have had a serious case of calendar-maker's block! I just could not get this calendar to look like I wanted it to look. I think I erased everything and started over three times! It's still not what I was going for, but it's pretty enough to get us through the final month of the year, right? 

Here  is where to go if you need help loading this to your homescreen or lockscreen. And here is where to go if you want to learn how to make your own design. I have a plain December calendar for you if you need it....

 

And we can't forget the desktop version, which makes it much easier to see all the icons on your monitor....

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I'll be back in a few days, hopefully with something to get us in the Christmas spirit!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Making a Messy Mistake Marvelous

I happened across two adorable die cut frames and decided that they needed to be chalkboards. I painted the frames, one pink and one blue, and lightly distressed them. 

Then I rolled black chalk paint on some foam board and adhered it to the back of the frames with Gorilla Glue.  I know, I know -- Gorilla Glue expands kind of like that spray foam insulation, right? I already knew that, so I only used a teeeeeeny tiiiiiiny skinny little line. *sigh*  Even a teeny tiny skinny little line expands. A LOT! So I wound up with a lumpy bumpy line of hard foamy-looking glue all along the inside of my frame.

What ever is a girl to do?! Get out the GLITTER! 

It was a good plan, but the glitter glue didn't dry evenly, so it just made a sparkly mess. I guess that's better, but still not acceptable.

Then I realized that the solution was my favorite "tool" in the world. Paper! I cut some scallop strips from glitter paper (Yes, I just happened to have the exact colors of glitter paper that I needed. You aren't surprised, are you?) and adhered them inside the frames. Voila! 

They turned out better than I expected because I messed up! How great is that?!

These are going to Ava Belle's, but hopefully not for long. I think they will find a good home real soon! 

What's your best save? Come on--everybody has one! Tell us about something that got messed up but you found a way to rescue. 

One of my favorite sayings is, "There are no mistakes in scrapbooking--only opportunities for embellishment." I like to apply that to as many aspects of life as possible!

Thanks for stopping by!

Welcome to the New and Improved Ava Belle's!

The flea market in downtown Aurora where Mom and I have a booth is moving        a-l-l      the       w-a-y    a-c-r-o-s-s      the      s-t-r-e-e-t!  Ok, actually it's across two streets and three doors down, but I like to play with words, so just go along with it, alright? 

It's been so much fun loading the new booth with tons of merchandise and making sure everything is arranged just right! This booth is smaller than the spot we had at the old building, but we managed to fit MORE stuff in it! 

We have lots of scrapbooking supplies,

several pretty lamps (including one made from an old hanging wire planter), 

a wall full of Christmas decorations (and then some!)

and lots of other pretties!

We even have stuff hanging overhead and on the backside of the hand-painted armoire (which is for sale) and our rescued display shelves!

We open to customers Monday. Peggy (Ava and Isabella's Gigi) has done an amazing job getting the building ready for us. Everything looks wonderful! If you're ever in Aurora Missouri stop by and leave us a message on that big chalkboard!