random reflections

Blog Inspiration

There is so much inspiration on the internet. It's hard not to spend too much time browsing through favorite blogs, but you never know when something will catch your eye and inspire you to create. Recently I found a cute felt pouch on Cristina's blog. Mine looks nothing like the original, but I'm quite happy with it. It's now under Sarah's tree with a tiny gift in it.

I started with a length of Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream felt and trimmed one end with my pinking shears. Then I sewed up the long sides and stitched some red striped ribbon (Michaels Bobbin Ribbon) on the pinked edge. The holly was die cut from Sizzix's Holly and Berries #2 in Chartruese and Pure Poppy felt with some red Stickles glitter added to the berries. I tied a bow on the side of the pouch to close it. It slides off easily to open the gift. It was a quick and easy project.

Half Moon Bay and Card #4

Yesterday we drove to Half Moon Bay. It was raining when we left, the sun came out as we crossed the San Mateo Bridge, and then it rained some more. First on the agenda was brunch with Rinda! After introductions, the rest of the family went off exploring, and Rinda and I had a lovely meal together. It's clear to me that we could easily spend a lot more time together. I never saw the text my family sent, and finally they had to call me to tell me it was time to go. We hope we can spend some time together shopping and/or seeing sights in Berkeley or San Fran on my next trip west. That would be a lot of fun. Here we are; so much fun to meet blogging friends in real time!

After brunch we headed off to cut down a Christmas tree. Sadie loves to come on these outings and is a terrific traveler.

By the time we got to the tree farm it had stopped raining and the sun came out. But it was incredibly muddy. I could hardly lift my feet for all the mud on my sneakers. The soil must be made of clay!

 

Here are the troops deciding which tree will be the one to take home.

And a few of my favorite shots of Rancho Siempre Verde. Rather than pony rides, Santa visits, and carnival type attractions, this farm sports a marshmellow toasting bonfire, wreath making tables, swings, and xylophones hanging from trees.

I was pleased to get this shot of the water droplets on the pine needles with my little point and shoot.

On the drive home we passed the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. I never get tired of driving along the coast and envy Rinda her home so near the sea.

It was a delightful day. As I type this post the tree is going up in Sarah and Adam's living room.

Here's the last card we made at the Memory Box class. It would have been my favorite, but I wasn't very happy with the way the alcohol inks went on at the end. I know I could do a better job and maybe could improve this card, but I'm not willing to invest in the alcohol inks as I'm not sure I would use them often enough to justify the purchase.

The poinsettia image was stamped and colored with colored pencils and then coated with Glossy Accents. After the Glossy Accents dried, alchol inks were dropped on to the card and rolled about. Then that piece was layered to the mats with dimensional adhesive. I was really pleased with the coloring of the poinsettia so I was rather bummed by the way the alcohol inks ended up. Oh well, I have to remember that the reason I go to these classes is to learn, not to end up with a given project.

 

 

 

Grateful

I am so grateful to be able to spend time with family this Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful feast and three days with both Adam's and our families together. Adam and I took lots of photos and you'll surely see them on some scrapbook pages but for now, here are the families.

And the feast.

Yesterday it was fun to find this as I was browsing.

Today we're off to Half Moon Bay in the rain (sadly) to cut down a Christmas tree. But for me, the most exciting thing is having brunch with Rinda! How lucky is that? It's certainly not often you get a chance to meet a blogging friend and I'm so looking forward to it.

 

Papertrey November Blog Hop Challenge

I wasn't sure I'd have a project ready for this blog hop, but the last afternoon before we left for California I managed to get a tag created. Here's this month's challenge:

  TAG TIME

Recently the design team and I put together a variety of holiday tags that are perfect to keep on hand for quick wrap options.  Now it's your turn to inspire us and the rest of the Papertrey community!  Design a holiday tag or two using all of your favorite goodies and share it with all of us!  We will all have plenty of inspiration to create a large stash and try to get ahead of the hustle and bustle of the season!

Here's my contribution to the hop:

 

I had this pretty red box from Talbots in my cupboard and tied a Pure Poppy Swiss Dotted ribbon around it. That dictated the colors for my tag. I started by die cutting a Tag Sale 1 die with Select White cardstock. Then I die cut a piece of Pure Poppy felt with a Limitless Layers die. I stamped on of my favorite images from the 2008 Holiday Tag set on Pure Poppy cardstock and embossed it with white embossing powder. I created the black cardstock frame but using two circle punches one inside the other. To finish off the tag, I gathered another piece of Pure Poppy Swiss Dotted ribbon and adhered it with Scor-Tape. Now I just need to find the right gift to put inside the box!

This is my second post for today, so be sure to scroll down for Thanksgiving wishes!

 

Happy Thanksgiving

I made these little treat boxes to put on today's table. They were posted yesterday on the Scrap-Mart blog. I was able to take them apart so they could lay flat in my suitcase, and put them together once I arrived in California. I filled them with Andes mints (they hold four), and I'm sure you'll see them on photos of the table. We ordered our dinner and it arrived ready to prepare in two huge boxes from Wente Vineyards yesterday afternoon. I'll have more details about all of that later. For now, if you celebrate Thanksgiving today, have a blessed day with family and friends. I am so grateful for my many blessings, but especially this year, am grateful to be here in California with all the family.

California and Memory Box #3

We had a very successful trip to Walnut Creek yesterday. I found all the gifts I wanted to purchase from Sarah's wish list, picked up some great wrapping supplies from The Container Store, and a few goodies for myself. I only went into shops we don't have access to at home. Sarah drove over after her class and was able to find a couple of pairs of comfortable shoes after our delicious lunch at Stanfords.

This morning Sarah and I had manicures and pedicures. After lunch we picked up the last of the groceries we needed for Thanksgiving so we can avoid the grocery store tomorrow.  Adam's parents arrived on time despite awful weather in Washington with roads that were nearly impassable last night. Adam and his parents have gone to pick up his sister, Allison, who just arrived in San Francisco after a non-stop flight from London. It will be the first time both families have been together since Sarah and Adam's wedding four years ago.

Here's the third card we made in our Memory Box class:

This card utilized the same blending technique as yesterday's card. The simple line of rhinestones forms a sway across the top. The "peace" sentiment is another of the adhesive rub-ons and although it's hard to tell, is covered with red glitter. I really like these and hope Memory Box continues to make them. I bought just one set of brocade designs. The rest were holiday designs and I knew I wouldn't need them this year. All the patterned papers on these cards are by Memory Box as well.

 

California and a Card

We’ve been in California for two days. The weather has been cool, frequently rainy, but the landscape is more like October in New York than November.

  

 We’ve been busy in the kitchen. Gingerbread cookies, sugar cut-out cookies, and double mint chocolate chip cookies are made and in the freezer.  This afternoon we made my mother’s snack mix, enough to fill four gallon bags.

 

 It’s so good, we finally put two bags in Sarah’s freezer and I hid the other two. Adam’s parents and sister arrive on Tuesday. It would be nice to have some left to share.

Today we’re off to Walnut Creek to do some Christmas shopping. I’ll get to browse two of my favorite stores:  Crate and Barrel and The Container Store. Sarah’s coming over after her class to have lunch with us, and we’ll do some clothes and shoes shopping then.

Here’s the second card we made at our Memory Box class a week ago.

To create the focal image we rubbed distress inks in from the edge with sponge daubers. Then the snowflake was stamped with gold ink. The card was supposed to have a punched edge around it. I started on one side, but really didn’t like it, so I cut it off and cropped the rest of the image. It’s mounted on beautiful gold shimmer paper, and then on an even more beautiful brown shimmer cardstock. Neither show up well in the photograph. We stamped the swag with a single holly branch stamp, angling it as we stamped. Then it was cut out by hand and added to the card with dimensional adhesive.

Memory Box

Last Monday my friend, Mary, and I drove to Buffalo for a Memory Box class. All the cards were designed by Dave Breathauer, the owner of the company. We were lucky enough to take a class with him this summer. Sharon, the lovely owner of  Buffalo Stamps and Stuff taught the class, and we had a good time and tried out a few new techniques. I thought I'd share them over the next few days while we're in California.

This was one of my favorites. I like the nontraditional color combination. We stitched two lines for the ornaments and bumped them out with dimensional adhesive. Adding the rhinestone and the glitter around the edges gave it a holiday feel. The sentiment is a new Memory Box product "Design Adhesives." They go on like a rub-on, but have an adhesive surface so you can add glitter to them. I recently purchased a set of ornament stamps so you'll probably see some elements from this card show up again.

We're Here!

Taken with my iPhone

We had an uneventful and smooth flight to San Francisco yesterday and were in Livermore by 1:00 California time. We just hung out at Sarah and Adam's last night, glad to be together. The last time all five of us were together was last May; too long.

Today is cookie day. One of Sarah's requests while we are here is to get her Christmas cookies started. I completed a number of projects last week and one of them was a Christmas Cookie album for Sarah.

All the papers except the inside covers are My Minds Eye from the "Holly Jolly" collection. The inside covers are Basic Grey "Wassail" papers from my Christmas box of scrap goodies. I had a terrible time finding Christmas recipe cards but finally found some in the $1 spot at Michaels.  The sticker on the front is also from my Christmas box. It's by fontwerks, but I have no idea how old it is. The letter stickers are from one of the first scrapbook kits I ordered from QVC many years ago when I was just getting started. It was nice to use up some of these older supplies.

The photos are from previous Journal Your Christmas albums. I still need to fill in a few for her, but have a list of what's needed when I start baking in early December. This photo is of cookies on one of the many cookie trays I send off to friends.

Here's a double spread. It's funny that in this photo the middle strip on the left looks much wider than the one on the right. Needless to say, they are identical. I chose a paper printed on two sides so the pattern alternates, and I only needed to cut one strip for two pages.  When it was appropriate I added a note on the back of the recipe with a bit of history about it, or whose favorite cookie recipe it was. I think Sarah was pleased to receive this, and it was a lot of fun to make. I added a lot of extra pages with blank recipe cards at the back so she can add her own recipes and those from Adam's family as she collects them.

 

 

With Thanks

This card was posted yesterday on the Scrap-Mart blog. I have lots to be thankful for and many, many people who should receive this card. The outpouring of support and kindness during the last few weeks has been overwhelming.

Here's the commentary from the Scrap-Mart blog:
Although the coloring of the image appears to be intricate, the Indian corn kernels can be colored with Copic markers by just touching the individual kernels with the tip of the pen. The lovely image is from the Just Rite “Autumn Blessings” set which I colored with Copic markers and then cut out. I embossed the kraft cardstock  and card base with a Quickutz embossing folder, and cut one piece with the Exclusive Scrap-Mart Square/Oval die. I used the next biggest die to cut a piece of Amercian Kraft Earth Tones textured cardstock, wrapped a ribbon around it and layered the two pieces.  I used American Crafts “This to That” dimensional adhesive to bump out the focal image. The tiny Quickutz tag was perfect for the small “with thanks” sentiment.

Make sure to mark your calendars for December 3rd when Scrap-Mart is hosting a Holiday Blog Hop. We have an amazing line-up of guest designers including Sharon Harnist, Debbie Olson, Heidi Blankenship, Angela Barkhouse, Stephanie Kraft, Stephanie Barnard, Maren Benedict and more. There are awesome prizes to be won, as well, including a Making Memories Slice Elite. I own an older Slice which I love, but the new Elite has some great new features and much improved cutting abilities. Don't miss a chance to win one!