Vintage Valentine Car Dangle

Good morning everyone! Well now that Christmas is over, it's time to change out the bling in my car. I worked on this dangle over the weekend for Valentine's Day. There isn't much stamping, I really wanted the vintage Valentine look so I went searching for some clip art on Etsy. After many hours trying to decided which I wanted (for this project and others, lol) I chose a collage sheet of various old cards and quickly printed out my favorite. 

From there it was fairly simple to move along with the project. Some stitched-on seed beads around the perimeter of the image, a little Rock Candy Stickles for the wings, a silver embossed sentiment from PTI, a pretty little rose from Wild Orchid Crafts that I dyed with Glimmer Mist.

The back has to look pretty too, because it dangles, sways and spins from my rear view mirror. I used another printed collage sheet and silver embossed a sentiment from Impression Obsession. I love this quote...

When you arise
in the morning, think of
what a precious
privilege it is
to be alive---
to breathe, to think,
to enjoy, to love!

So true! Here's a close look at the Swarovski Crystals I used for the actual dangle;

I get most of my bead supplies from Fusion Beads, they have free shipping on everything, love that store! These beads are the Crystal Magma color and are such an unusual shade of red, a little different from the bold, eye popping red usual for Valentine's. 


I hope you like it, and thanks for peeking in! Have a wonderful day!

My new Christmas car dangle/air freshener

Hello blog friends, finally a weekend off from work for me. I came home from work yesterday so tired, the first thing I did was lay down on the couch and take a long nap! I didn't have to worry that I wasn't going to be able to go to sleep at night, and not be able to get up early in the AM. That felt good! It also felt good to sleep till 9 AM, lol.

Anyway, I needed a new car dangle for my rear view mirror, the Autumn one I still had in my car was doing nothing for my Christmas spirit, soooo-- here it is:

I 'stepped it up' this time (according to my 14 year old daughter) and made it as a car freshener as well. I first did this a while ago in this post here. The scent doesn't last that long, but for a few weeks, it smells wonderful. Since I change the dangles in my car for every season, this doesn't matter to me. Or, I could always add more scent.

I took a lot of time with this project, and I have to say it was worth it. I'm obsessed with stitching seed beads to everything, as well as hand stitching with embroidery floss. This project might look a bit familiar if you've been following my blog for a while, I made a card using similar techniques a long time ago. (See here.) Because that card was my all time most favorite card I ever made, I had to use it for inspiration on this project. 

The background papers were all stamped using a white ink resist technique I learned from Pine is here. LOVE this technique, it is one of my faves. I first stamped a piece of Aqua Mist cardstock with Impression Obsession's sheet music cover-a-card in Ocean Tides. Then I stamped random snowflakes from Peace Be Still in white ink. When that dried, I brayered over it with Soft Sky (SU) ink. I cut it out with a Spellbinders label die, spritzed it lightly with Glimmer Mist and ran it through the Big Kick again to emboss it with an impression plate. Pheww!

A lot of work, but so worth it to create beautiful patterned papers in your favorite color combinations. 


The beads are all Swarovski crystals, oh-- and some pretty little jingle bells. Maybe all the pot holes won't be so bad when I hear a little jingle every time, ha ha!!


Hope I've been able to inspire you a bit to make your own car pretties, if you have I'd love to see what you come up with! Just leave a link with your comment so I can take a peek!


Thanks for stopping by!


Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Impression Obsession
Ink: Perfect Match, SU
Paper: PTI
Tools & Accessories: Spellbinders Labels, PTI Impression plate, seed beads, self stick pearls, embroidery floss, wool felt, Swarovski crystals, silver bead cap/spacer beads, jingle bells, PTI ribbon, eyelet, Crop-a-dile, invisible thread

Postcard from Home

Hello everyone, I love Christmas scenes. I can't stop buying them even though I have tons. They just give me such a warm, cozy feeling. Here's my latest addition from Flourishes, 'Vintage Postcard'. 

I wanted to have a soft snowflake pattern in the background of the image, so I stamped it on some Basic Grey paper that had such a pattern already. I think it's from an old collection 'Wassail'. I then went back and colored it with Copics

The frame was stamped separately in gold EP, then cut out as a frame. I love this card, and I'm keeping it for someone special! 


Now here's my latest car 'dangle' creation for Halloween:

I used Topaz, Purple and a deep Mocha beads for this one instead of the traditional orange and black, and antiqued brass findings for a more vintage feel.

The pumpkin was cannibalized from a necklace I bought on Etsy last year. 

Thanks for dropping by!


Stamps: Flourishes
Ink: Memento, Distress, Versamark
Paper: Basic Grey, Stardream, SU, PTI
Tools & Accessories: PTI ribbon, gold Filigree embossing powder, Copics, Stickles, Cheery Lynn lamp die, Marianne Creatables flourish dies

Building a Snowman

Good morning everyone! I tried to make this card with a shaped base as I've seen a lot of people doing, but it didn't quite work out as planned. I have some more experimenting to do with my Gazelle I guess. But, I did manage to cut out the shaped layers OK, and am pretty happy with the result. 

This darling little image is from the previous Christmas release, called appropriately enough, 'Building a Snowman'. I colored it with Copics.

Here are the supplies used for this card:


Stamps: Lili of the Valley 'Building a Snowman'
Ink: Memento
Paper: Heavenly White, Hammermill, Prima 'North Country', PTI, Stardream
Tools & Accessories: Martha Stewart PATP & snowflake punches, satin ribbon, jingle bells, jump rings, Copics, Stickles, Glass Glitter, Penny Duncan Creations Shaplies Cut file


For those you who expressed interest in my car Dangles, here's the Christmas one I used last year. Very old world looking, which is exactly the look I was going for. I might be making a new one this year though, I have a new vision, lol.

 

Thanks for dropping by!

Twinkling Star

Good morning friends. Should I take a break from Christmas cards yet? That's hard to do since it is my favorite holiday. I love all things snow, Santa, snowmen, trees, holly, berries and the list goes on. I never get tired of it. Not to worry, I've got some other projects up my sleeve that do not involve Christmas. I think...

Anyway, I am so pleased with this card. I rarely use silver so it was a bit of a challenge for myself, and I am so happy I tried it. I colored a TON of images while our power was out this past week. I just sat out on my back deck with my Copics and a stack of stamped images. Since I didn't have a particular color scheme from patterned paper I would use, I just winged it and used whatever I wanted. So now I had this pretty little doll in green and white fur and I didn't have matching PP. This called for some neutral colors. 

As I was digging through my stash, I came across this flocked snowflake paper from Stampin Up. Right on my table was a scrap of silver shimmer cardstock. I tested it and it looked perfect together! So the white/silver/green color scheme was born.

A few silver flourishes from a Marianne Creatables die, some snowflakes and silver ribbon finish off the card perfectly. 
I may be keeping this card...lol!


I thought I'd share another project I just finished, nothing to do with cards. I'm sure I'm not the only paper crafter out there that dabbles in several different hobbies, and one of the other things I love to do is beading/jewelry. I am obsessed with Swarovski crystals! I have tons of them in so many gorgeous colors my mouth waters when I pull out my bead box and start digging through them. I could spend hours shopping for beads! Anyway, usually I make simple necklaces, cell phone charms or charm bracelets but about a year ago I started making these dangles to hang from my rear view mirror in my car. I spend a LOT of time in my car driving to and from work everyday, so it makes sense to have some bling in my car, right?


Here's what I'm talking about...

It's simply strung on some invisible elastic string with a loop on top that easily fits over my mirror. If you could see the way these crystals sparkle and shimmer in the sunlight, it's amazing! There is nothing like Swarovski IMO!

A close up of the cluster on the bottom of the dangle...

I came across these beautiful matte Lucite leaves in an Etsy store and knew I had my autumn car bling project ready to go! There's even an acorn crystal to tie in with the autumn theme. I've been making different dangles so I can change them out for all the seasons/holidays. I'll show you all more if you'd like to see them.


Pheww! Long post! Are you still with me? Thanks for visiting, I hope you've gotten some inspiration today!


Card supplies-
Stamps: Lili of the Valley 'Twinking Star' & Verses clear set
Ink: Memento
Paper: Heavenly White card base, Hammermill, Stardream, Bazzill, Silver Lustre, SU
Tools & Accessories: silver satin ribbon, snowflake charm, Copics, Marianne Creatables dies, Martha Stewart snowflake punches, Viva Decor Pearl Pen, Stickles