Halloween ATC

Last year I made this "ghostly" background crayon paper. I hoped to sell it in my Etsy shop but I never got it listed so it sat in a folder until this year. I decided not to sell it but to use it for an ATC swap. I really like how this turned out. It's not really my style to use a vintage photo but this little child looked perfect for this ATC. I don't know where my friend Angie got the image, but she was nice enough to send it to me a while back. When my husband looked at the finished ATC, he said "creepy", refering to the child. Yes, indeed.

Making a Drawer

I am always saving boxes and containers. Sometimes they just get stored forever until I am forced to put them in the recycle bin, however, this cardboard box really caught my attention. My husband loves bottled water. I buy a certain brand out of habit I guess, but I keep saving the cardboard bottoms from every package I buy. Most of them are currently full of items in my studio but one got a make-over.

To me, the cardboard box looked like it would fit perfectly in the slot on my cabinet. They ended up being about 1/2 inch too tall and 1/2 inch too long so I cut the top down and re-folded the ends and glued them back in order to make the box fit. Then I decorated the front with paper and created and handle out of the discarded cardboard. The handle was decorated with matching paper and glued into place. I am very happy that this worked! I have several emply slots and LOTS of items that could be placed in a drawer. :)

This was such a fun project! I have a few more "drawers" that I can make now and I am headed to the grocery store tomorrow for more bottled water. :) Now, I just have to do something with the many other containers I've saved!

Stampin Up! Handmade Papers

As an experiment, I wanted to see if I could turn Stampin Up! cardstock into handmade paper and keep the color so that the new handmade paper would coordinate with the original cardstock. I did contact Stampin Up! first to see if they would allow me to do this and they said yes! I finally got through a package of Earth Elements cardstock and I am very happy with the results! As you can see from the first picture, the handmade paper still keeps the color of the cardstock and matches the original cardstock beautifully! This is the Old Olive cardstock, the scalloped circle is the original cardstock and the two handmade paper sheets were made with the Old Olive plus some used white office paper to lighten the color up a little. The resulting set is now listed in my Etsy Shop. I will be listing a 24 sheet set and a 12 sheet set soon!

First home improvement project

Well, the project wasn't on our home but on the yard. One of the selling points of this house for us was all the trees behind the house. We both love trees. Last time we lived here in Jacksonville we rented a house out in the country that had acres and acres of trees behind it, but shortly after we moved in, the owner's of that property had most of the trees removed. We hear there are new houses out there now. We were very sad that our tree view had been destroyed. So, when we saw this house and knew that the trees could not be removed because they were part of the property of the house, we knew we wanted to live here.

The backyard had a fence that was even with the detached garage. It was covered with a dead vine. There is another fence that goes behind the garage. We figure it was probably the previous owner's dog pen. We decided we wanted to see more of the trees and thought we should take down the fence in the middle. My hubby did a great job of it! Now we just have a little bit of clearing to do. There are some dead trees that need to come down and some old logs that are filled with termites that need to be destroyed.

I really like the new view. And there is new territory for our dog and cats to explore.

Handmade Paper Leaves

As promised! Here are the handmade paper leaves that I mentioned in the pumpkin shape post. I pulled a leaf from one of the trees in by backyard and traced out a template. I think they turned out great. I need to make a few more so I can get them listed in my Etsy shop.

I am also going to be making some ghost shapes as well! My dear friend Diann has gotten me in the Halloween spirit. :) Thanks Diann!!!

Pumpkin Shapes

Happy September! I just can't believe that September is upon us. Today was a gorgeous day in NC. You can feel the cooler air and the leaves are starting to turn. In fact, I will have to rake the yard pretty soon...

Everyone seems to be playing with Fall items so I thought I'd play too! I drew up a couple of pumpkin templates for my handmade paper and made up a batch. I also made some leaves, but they are not dry yet. I'll post them later. :)

Don't these pumpkins just looks neat? I can see them being used on a fall themed card.