Button Wreath

I'm hard at work, filling orders and making Christmas cards, so I thought I'd give you something to look at. I've been seeing a lot of versions of these button wreaths, so I whipped up a couple to show you what you can do with our Vintage Holiday Buttons, some glue, ribbon, and a coaster.


I start out by carefully drawing a circle in the center of one of my round coasters. Lots of "research" was done in my neighborhood to find just the right shape coaster.


Then I cut the circle out with a craft knife and colored the coaster with the color of the darkest button. Don't forget to color the edges of the coaster. I used a heavy tacky glue that dries clear and ran a bead of it around the center, by the hole. Then I placed buttons in the glue, taking care to cover the edge of the hole.


Fill in with the rest of the buttons.


There may be gaps, but not to worry, you can cover the biggest, most annoying gaps with a top layer of buttons. Don't forget around the edges, too! When in doubt, add more buttons.

Here is the finished project. I looped a ribbon around the wreath and tied off a button with silver thread. This wreath is so much cuter in person. The glue dried after the sun set, so I wasn't able to get a great picture, but you get the idea.


Here is a cream and cranberry one. It was the first one I did. A little shabby chic. I used a felt word and added rhinestones. I just love these wreaths, and they are so easy to make. So festive, no?

Charlene Rector

Look at this wonderful card that was emailed to me by Charlene Rector. I just think it is so awesome. Yes, yes, I know that Easter is over, but this card is timeless. I just crack up everytime I look at the photo. What a great concept and excellent excecution. Great job, Charlene

Ho Hum!

Well, I guess you are pretty much bored with me. I would be too! But I really haven't been sitting on my hands, you know. I had to put the new line on hold while I prepared for a rep show. So I thought I'd share what I am doing for what they call a "Sample Frenzy".

After a day full of classes and dinner the invited guests (store owners) retire to a huge room filled with tables. At each table is a manufacturer. The guests make their rounds at the tables making whatever the sample is offered. The catch? The sample should take no longer than 15 minutes! Eeek! So I decided to take Karrie's wonderful nugget tin and Julee's nugget box and meld them together.I used Versafine Onyx Black to stamp the cowboy on white cardstock. Then, I used the Marvy Super Jumbo Circle punch.

Then I took a Sizzlets die and cut a tag from white cardstock and stamped "Happy Trails" on the tag near the hole on the right With Vintage Sepia. Next, I trimmed the excess from the end.
I used the same ink to stamp the "Western Star" in the center of 6 Avery labels and wrapped them round some yummy chocolate nuggets. And set them aside. (Yes! I set them aside.)

I printed the box template on some brown cardstock using my inkjet printer. Since I used textured paper it worked like a charm. The inkjets got the ink in all those nooks and crannies. I used a laser printer first and the heat didn't seem to get into the crevices of the paper so the ink rubbed off!
I placed some really heavy-duty double stick tape on the outside flaps and trimmed all the solid lines and scored and folded. I folded the short sides first and then the long sides, tucking in the side flaps under. Then I put the nuggets in the box.Next I transfered all the fold lines on the sleeve template to a clear piece of acetate. Scored, and folded the acetate around the bottom of the box and adhered the edges with more heavy-duty tape. I'll cover the seam in the end, so you won't see the tape.Next I colored the cowboy with color pencils and attached it to a black scalloped circle I cut out using the Marvy Mega Punch. I used a hole punch in the empty part under the lasso on the right side.Next thread ribbon through the clear sleeve and under the cowboy, through the hole. Tie off. Add tape under the scalloped circle to secure. Take a small safety pin and attached the "Happy Trails" tag. Here is the finished project. Cute, no?Because the project should only take 15 minutes, I had to make a kit where everything was predone. Everything had been pretaped, prepunched, precut. prescored. And I made a lot of kits. Did you want one? Just enter a comment and when I come back from the show on Monday night I'll pick a name! The winner will get a complete kit, including stamps.

And for those who don't want to wait here is the template.

Santa Baby!

I've been a slug about stamping this week which may have something to do with eating 15 lbs of food on Thanksgiving, and clearing out another 15 lbs of leftovers yesterday. (Leftovers all gone!) So I decided to post one of my favorite cards from last year.

I decided to go a little mod with this crazy little Santa. So I used untraditional orange, light blue and green as the color combo. I stamped the Santa and sentiment in Versafine Deep Lagoon and "Balls" in Brilliance Pearlescent Ice Blue. I love how it looks white and frosty more than blue when it stamps out.

Ahh!

Sometime during "Heros", I stretched out and realized that the new Winter release was in the most capable hands of someone else.

After a month or so of research, drawing, procrastination, fiddling with and more fiddling with, I finally sent the artwork for the new release to the clear stamp manufacturer and the engraver.

During that month my life virtually grinds to a halt. Bills are left to the last minute, the house cleaning gets left by the wasteside. Email? What is that?

I walk around thinking about nothing but what I am going to draw. Then feverishly looking for something to scrawl on and with, when I do. The most common word to come out of my mouth is, "Huh".

And now it is over and a deep calm comes over me. Until I see those bills, and that email and that house. Ugh. That house.

Such is my life.