Sunflower-ish Tealight

Just a really quick post to show you what I did with the free Gerbera Daisy Tea Light from Dreaming Tree.  

For some reason I was thinking of how cool these would look in some fall colors, and decided to make this into a sunflower of sorts.  Or maybe a black-eyed susan?  Either way, the sequins in the center reflect the tealight flame a bit and make this extra sparkly which always makes me happy. I think a glittered center would be cool too.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Fire & Dragonfly Lantern

It's a bit of an overcast day today, so I thought I'd light up my lanterns for their moment in the front of the camera!

Both of these are from the new Summer Nights and Flights bundle by Dreaming Tree. I actually had the same Violet Leaf stack of DCWV paper and so I made my first lantern (the one on the right) to look almost exactly like the one that Dreaming Tree shows on their website. 

I made a second lantern for a neighbor who just returned from a few months in China and who brought me back the gift of a beautiful silk scarf. To me this lantern has somewhat of a pagoda feel, so I made one in green and gold to use as a thank you for the scarf.  I used paper from the same stack, although this time it's metallic gold flowers on a green background.  

I embossed the gold panels with a Cuttlebug Oriental Weave embossing folder which seemed to make them super shiny with all the extra facets to reflect light.

I also added a gold glitter ball on top as shown in the assembly video, but rather than paint mine with glitter paint, I covered it in quick dry glue and sprinkled Martha Stewart ultrafine glitter on it and then let it dry for a few hours before gluing it on top with some Glossy Accents.

BONUS!  Dreaming Tree just added some FREE Autumn Nights and Frights panels for this lantern so it can be used for Halloween too!  Now I can't wait to make the spooky version!

I hope my neighbor enjoys the lantern. Thanks for stopping by to check them out!  

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission.  I only participate in affiliate programs for products or services that I personally use and recommend.  

Route 66 Box Card

With Father's Day coming up, I was excited to make a few of the newest designs from SVGCuts. This one is the Route 66 box card from the Travel the World kit.

I altered mine slightly to include a fun piece of Tim Holtz ephemera which is a fuel calculator of sorts. It seemed to go well with the classic styling of the car.

I also made the car yellow to match a classic car owned by the recipient:

Lightly glittered black paper made for some realistic looking 'asphalt' flaps!

  

Last but not least, I had some fun street sign paper in my stash to make the envelope as shown in the background below.  I love how this whole project turned out and I can't wait to give it to the recipient!

Thanks for stopping by!

Dreaming Tree Blog Hop Winner! Is it you?

Congratulations to  

Laney H. 

who was the winner of the $10 Dreaming Tree gift certificate from this stop on the blog hop!

Laney, I've emailed you information about how to claim your gift certificate. 

And just because the giveaway has ended doesn't mean that you can't still check out all of the fabulous projects from the hop. Maybe you left a winning comment on another hop stop!

Don't forget to visit DreamingTree to see the latest designs and free downloads too. There are so many great projects just waiting to be made!

Here were the other stops on the hop in case you missed them:

1.  DezinesbyEM

2.  Misfit Crafter

3.  Just Yolie            

5.  Izbzee

6.  Oh So Many Crafts

7.  Sweet Love Canada

8.  The Non-Crafty Crafter

9.  Scrappy Coyote

10.  2 Debs Crafting

Star Spangled Basket - Dreaming Tree Blog Hop

Welcome to the blog hop featuring Dreaming Tree SVG files!  Leave a comment below for your chance to win a $10 Dreaming Tree gift certificate.

I always try to switch out my home decor a bit to match the seasons and holidays. In recent years, I've created a lot of my own pieces using my Cricut and SVG files I've purchased.  This time of year, I break out the red, white and blue for the summer holidays, Memorial Day through Labor Day.

I was inspired to create this Star Spangled Summer arrangement using the Blossom Basket from the Daffodilly Spring bundle as the base.

I used the optional plain exterior panels (in the extras folder) and embossed them with a basket weave pattern. I just discovered these amazing embossing folders from We R Memory Keepers. They are called Next Level Embossing Folders and they have such great detailed impressions.  I'll be shopping for more of these soon. I was experimenting with them on some scraps while trying to decide which one to use:

I added some star and flourish cutouts to the blue base trim that I found in the O Christmas Tree bundle on the Star Gift Box lid and front panel.

Some clear crystal gems and pearl bling around the blue basket trim added a nice contrast with a bit of sparkle and shine. I just love bling!

Using the rosette from the bottom of the Umbrella Egg in the Daffodilly Spring bundle along with the dimensional star from the Star Gift Box, I added some ribbon to a bamboo skewer (as shown in the assembly video tutorial for the Hearts Bouquet, Hugs N Kisses bundle) and created a spangled star of my own!  A few silver sequins around the edges of the star really make this shine.

I made a few more of the dimensional stars from the Star Gift Box in different sizes to add to the arrangement and created the Star Spangled Summer sentiment using my Make-the Cut software.

With some glittery pipe cleaners I created a little firework explosion on a stick in red, blue and silver. I used some of the same pipe cleaners and coiled them around a pencil to make some sparkly squiggles (technical term!) to add to the basket.

I enjoy seeing this new addition to my summer decor every time I walk past it!

Thank you for participating in the June Blog Hop Featuring Dreaming Tree SVG Files. To enter for your chance to receive a Dreaming Tree Gift Certificate you must leave a comment.  The more blogs you visit and comment on, the more chances you have to win! Contest runs from 06/10/2016 12:00 AM EST to 06/13/2016 11:59 PM EST. 1 winner will be awarded from each blog and 1 grand prize winner will be awarded based on all comments from all blogs. Winners will be posted by June 15, 2016. Please check back to see if you are a winner!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please continue the hop by visiting the next crafter on the list!

1.  DezinesbyEM

2.  Misfit Crafter

3.  Just Yolie

you are here!       4.  A Thing for Paper                             

5.  Izbzee

6.  Oh So Many Crafts

7.  Sweet Love Canada

8.  The Non-Crafty Crafter

9.  Scrappy Coyote

10.  2 Debs Crafting

Last but not certainly not least, don't forget to stop by the Dreaming Tree website to check out their fabulous free files and sign up for their newsletter which will keep you in the know!

This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission.  I only participate in affiliate programs for products or services that I personally use and recommend.  

Get Well Mailbox Bouquet

Here's just a quick post to show the Mailbox Bouquet card from Dreaming Tree that I made for a friend who was in the hospital. She loves bright colors, particularly pink and purple, so that's what I primarily used for her card.

I love how the colors, particularly the green, pop against the black mailbox background.  She's also a fan of black and red, so the black mailbox base with the glittery red flag were just right for this project.

For the mailbox side panels, I stamped a pretty floral pattern in Versamark ink and dusted it with gold Perfect Pearls powder.  What an easy way to create customized shimmery cardstock in whatever pattern or color you choose.

Thanks for stopping by!


This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product using the link I may receive a commission.  I only participate in affiliate programs for products or services that I personally use and recommend.  

12 TAGS OF 2016: May edition

Wow, I really waited until the last minute to finish this one up. May has been a busy month!  
Tim's original tag can be found here, and this is my take on this month's technique remix.  

I saw a photo on Instagram the other day of some beautiful pink roses with the most lovely blue sky behind them and I was smitten!  That is where my color inspiration came from.

There was a small when I went to grab my texture paste and found it all dried up. OH NO!  I think I must have put the cap on crooked the last time I used it. Boo!

I was thinking about what I could use in place of texture paste and remembered thinking how clever Paula Cheney was in a recent blog post.  She applied collage medium through a stencil for just the right amount and to very cool effect.  I figured why the heck not, and did the same with some matte collage medium.  It turned out to be another layer of resist on the tag, but I was happy to have a solution of sorts and wanted to try Paula's technique anyway!  You can see where I added some numbers on the right side and the bubbles on the left and bottom.

Last but not least, I sure did have fun with the tiny tattered floral die this month.  I ordered it for myself early in May since for some reason I didn't already have it.  I proceeded to use it on two other projects before I even got around to putting them on this month's tag.

I had some tag backgrounds that I made previously and didn't love, so I used them to cut out some of the flowers.  I think they add a neat, colorful effect.  I did the same thing with the leaves.

You can see some of the other tiny tattered florals on my fairy cottage post.  And here's a picture of how I used them in yet another other project:

I think the tiny roses cut out in green look just like succulents when added to a miniature terracotta flower pot. I can tell I'll be putting this die set to very good use.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Sandcastle

One last post for today - here is my version of the 3D sandcastle from SVGCuts Wet N Wild kit.

I'm pretty much in love with anything beach related, so this is one of the first kits I think I ever purchased from SVGCuts.

I put this together last summer and added a few extra embellishments from my stash like the sand dollar ribbon going across the top. The paper is from the Citrus Stack by DCWV.

I also smeared some Distress Stickles (color is called Straw I think) onto the castle turrets to add a real sand texture and a little bit of sparkle. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but when it dried, I was in love with the effect!

I love that little crab with his wide eyes.  I think I might have to use him on a crabby birthday card for someone this summer!!  Or maybe holding a little flag for the Fourth of July.  So cute!

Thanks for stopping by. As always, I'd love to hear what you think.

Something's Fishy!

Just a quick post to share this birthday card I made from the SVGCuts Seaside kit.

This kit actually has several great cards that could be used for the guys in your life as well as the ultra cool 3D lighthouse and keeper's cottage.

I did a lot of inking with Distress and spritzed the sides of the fish with some Perfect Pearls Mist in turquoise to add a little iridescent sheen like real fish so often have.

I added a few sequin bubbles and navy blue faceted gem as the fish eye.

Thanks for stopping by!

Fairy Cottage

I'm so excited to have completed the Fairy Cottage from SVGCuts! It took my several days to get started on this because I was having a hard time picking out paper. Honestly, that's the hardest part of some of these projects. I went with a primarily pink and green theme this time, but have about ten alternatives in my head in case I feel the need to build an entire fairy village!

I started out with the Whimsical World Stack by DCWV and picked several papers that seemed to go well together.

I used the Tim Holtz wood grain texture fade for the 'stump' panels. This was my first time adding ink to the embossing folder before running it through the machine and I love how it came out. I think
it really enhances the dimension of the embossing. I used TH Distress Walnut Stain. I will definitely be doing this again.

I just recently completed Tim Holtz's April tag challenge (and won!) using the new Distress Paper Mosaic Kit. This certainly made me think of how I could use this kit on so many different svg projects.  I didn't use the grout here, but I 'tiled' some leaves onto the patio. The leaves were fussy cut from leftover paper from the right side roof.

I embossed the window frames and dusted them with Perfect Pearls (in Blush) to add a little bit of magical shimmer. You can see the shimmer below along with a picture of the twig railing I installed with the use of some hot glue and a lot of patience. I'm still finding twig bits here and there around my workspace!

Here's the roof to which I added a fun little butterfly from a Martha Stewart punch. Also, the brown roof trim was not showing up very well against the boldly patterned paper, so I added some blue liquid pearls to it so it would stand out more. 

It's hard to see, but I also added some iridescent Stickles to the cotton smoke coming out of the chimney. I wanted it so seem as though the fairies were brewing up something magical in there!

Added bonus, when turned the lights on in the cottage, I noticed the light is shining up out of the chimney which I think totally adds to the magical effect.  Love this happy accident!

I love what I call the 'bubble' paper so much that I put it on everything from the chimney to the stairs. Kind of like magical cobblestones!  And the leaves from this right roof paper are what I used to tile the patio. 

Last but not least, here is the cottage all lit up. I know the doorknob looks like it's glowing, but there's actually a little pink pearl on there.  More magic from the fairies I suspect!

I embellished with some flowers made from the Tim Holtz Tiny Tattered Floral die and the ladybug wood piece is something I made a year or two ago using a technique I saw on Pinterest.

It's basically stamped with a rubber stamp and then I used a wood-burning tool to trace the stamped image.  It's been sitting on my desk for way too long and seemed like the perfect addition to my fairy cottage. It also coordinates nicely with the papers as there are some ladybugs in a few of the prints.

If you've made it this far, thanks for hanging in there and thanks for stopping by! Wishing you some fairy magic!