A One layer Card Set

During the summer months we are fortunate to be able to
escape the worst of the heat in Phoenix and spend some
time in the tall pines in Show Low, AZ.

I love to pull out a very old Stampin' Up set and make
some of these one layer cards to give as hostess gifts.
I believe it is called Pinecones. I made a set for a friend
a few years ago and she asked me to make her some more.

  I used Staz-On Forest Green and Timber Brown.

I used my Stamp-a-ma jig for the placement of the sentiment,

which is also by Stampin' Up.

How To Tuesday

Isn't it amazing how we can just go to the Internet these days
and find out how to do anything? What did we ever do before
Google? The information is right at our fingertips--literally!

My How To's today will take you from your craft room to
your kitchen and into your bathroom...

 How To Make Beautiful Bows @ Joggles.com

How To Make Cloudy Glasses Sparkle Again @

Posed Perfection

How To Repair a Scratched DVD (Beyond a Soft Rag) @

Home Stories AtoZ

 How To Have Smooth, Silky Feet @ ehow.com

Hope there's some information here you will find useful!

Have a wonderful day.

How To Play Two-Handed Mah Jongg

Now I know this is kind of off the subject that a lot of
you are interested in, but please bear with me today.
Because IF you play the wonderful game of mah jongg,
or know someone who does, this is really great fun!

There may be times when you are craving to play but can
only find one other person available. You feel disappointed
because you think that is not enough, right?

Wrong! There is Honeymoon Mah Jongg! And this is
how it goes!

Each person puts 13 tiles on her rack. 

The rest of the tiles are put face down in the 

middle of the table.

You really need only one card to share if that is all you have!

The first player starts by drawing a tile and discarding one.

 The second player does the same.

  Play just like the regular game. 

Pick up the tile that has been discarded or draw a new tile.

You can take a joker that the other person has put up on 

her rack just as in the regular game. 

The game continues until someone makes a mah jongg or

all the tiles have been drawn.

 

It is great fun!

Try Two-Handed Mah Jongg,

aka Honeymoon Mah Jongg,

the next time there are two of you who 

want to get up a game. 

If you have any questions,

just let me know.

Here's a Great Hand Cream to Try

It's been a really long time since I've told you about a product
that I highly recommend. It is a "must" around our house since
someone told us about it.

O'Keeffe's Working Hands

The Leading Hand Cream for People Who Work

with Their Hands

You can find it at Home Depot and Lowe's 

It is great for dry hands that crack and split!

Freebie Friday 

(Free Printables)

Hot cocoa mix fillable envelopes @ Mushy

Need a little gift to slip in a card?

Back to School Theme Tags and Labels @

Creature Comforts 

Lace Patterned Labels and Tags @

Creature Comforts

Whimsical bird cut-outs @ Children Inspire Design

Might be fun for a scrapbook or card

Have a lovely week-end!

How to Tuesday--Creating Unique Gift Baskets

Are there times when you are looking for a unique and creative way of
giving a gift without breaking the bank? I know I am.

Putting together a do-it-yourself gift basket is something that you can
have fun with, and anyone can do it--no artistic skills required!

Here are a few ideas:

 

Get Well Basket
Show a little TLC with chicken noodle soup, mugs,

crackers, napkins, and cough drops

Add Kleenex, Tylenol, magazine, or crossword puzzle book

Source: Homespun Love

Get well soon tag 

source: Just Something I Made

 Pasta Night Kit
source: Central Bottle.com

Wine, sauce, pasta, biscotti, olive oil, olives,

chocolate, bread, bread sticks

 Housewarming Bucket
or (Father's Day gift of "man things")
source: Martha Stewart

Chocolate Lover's Basket
source: Darling Doodles Design
anything chocolate or brown

Book Lover's Basket
source: Darling Doodles Design
with printable tag and bookmark

Blue Moon Beer Kit
source: Make The Best of Everything

A gift for every year
Lots of ideas
source: 29 Something

Hospital Survival Kit for New Moms
source: My Own Road
with printables

Sending You Sunshine in a Box
source: KatherineMaries.com

Blue Without You version
source: KatherineMaries.com

Perhaps you can use one of these ideas as a
starting point for a gift-giving occasion
in the future.
It's a way of getting creative and customizing a
thoughtful gift that someone will truly appreciate!

High Heel Shoe Template

Our daughter-in -law is having a birthday in a week and I
always enjoy making her a unique card. Last year her card
was tied to her career with BP and her love of music. You can
find it HERE.

Hema (pronounced HAY-ma) is very high fashion, so this year
I decided to go with that theme. I used the high heel shoe template
from Cardmaking Paradise that I had pinned just for this occasion.
I don't know how she, or any one, can wear the high heels that they
are showing these days, but more power to them. Anything for fashion!

The card folds along the left and is the same on the back.

I traced the entire card on a white card base, then layered

the three pieces on top. 

There are so many great "shoe sentiments" 

available these days, 

like "A girl can never have too many shoes."

Do you have any of them?

This would make a great girl friend card,

don't you think?

Sharing my card at:
Free Pretty Things For You Whatever You Want Wednesday
Lil' Luna Link Party 92
 

Untie the Ribbons

Sorry to be MIA this week. It's been a busy one with unexpected
events interfering with my free time. I hate when that happens,
don't you?

This is a card that I forgot to show you around the time we went
back to Illinois for the family reunion. It's using a piece of Basic Grey
paper that is too pretty to cover up, so I worked around the design.
I suppose you notice I do that a lot.

The saying is one of my very favorites. I believe it is from a set that
Verve came out with several years ago. I don't have the packaging
any more so I can't tell you for sure. Not only is it a lovely sentiment,
but in my opinion,  it is very versatile and can be used for many
occasions, or just left blank inside and used as a note card.

I stamped the saying in brown since that is how I interpreted the color
in the design. It fit perfectly in an oval scalloped punch, and the next size
punch accented the piece.

Of course, I had to find a way to incorporate a ribbon and bow
into my design!

And there you have it! 

Have a wonderful week-end.

Thank you for stopping by.

    

How To Tuesday

It's How To Tuesday and I have some great tips for you today.
Some of today's tips are not necessarily ones you hope that you
have to use, but if the occasion were to arise, the information
sure would be good to have on hand. You can always come back
here to How To Tuesday.

I cannot guarantee that these tips will work for you. All I can say
is that they worked for someone--and that someone felt comfortable
enough to endorse them on their blog.

How to Remove Acrylic Paint FromYour Clothes

(even once it's dried) @ Claudine Hellmuth

How I Fixed My iPhone After It Fell in the Toilet @

Mom 4 Real

How to Get a Terrible Smell Out of

Your Refrigerator with Crumpled Up

Newspaper (change every few hrs.--

recommended by a plumber after

nothing else worked) @

Real Simple



How to Make Your Oven Door Sparkle @

Ask Anna

 



Mind-Blowing Coloring Mixing and
Bag Filling Technique @
Dollar Store Crafts
(video)


Have you tried any of these?
Do you have a different technique that works for you?

We'd love to hear about it!



My New Addiction

Ok, I'm here to tell you that if you have never thought about stepping foot in a
Goodwill store, you should think again. I was one of those snobs once, but no
more! They have some good stuff--especially if you are a crafter!

Now I admit, I don't buy my clothes there, but if I am looking for things
such as picture frames, 3-ring binders, Christmas ornaments, wreaths that
I can take the junky things off of and re-use, baskets, and books, I will now
go here first. I will never pay full price for another clay pot or vase again!
It is amazing what people give away, but I suppose I have given away some
good stuff too.

As if the prices aren't good enough to start with, every other Saturday is half
price day, and you'd better get there early. Some stores are more popular than
others, so if you have more than one in your area, it is worth hitting them all.

If you are into interior decorating and re-dos, Pinterest is full of fantastic
projects, everything from turning louver doors into shutters and all sorts of
furniture refinishing. Many of these items can be found for just a few bucks
at Goodwill.

Besides saving money, Goodwill is a  great organization. 90 cents of every
dollar they earn from sales of donated items goes toward their mission of
putting people to work. So consider dropping off a bag if you're going there
anyway. It beats putting bags out on the curb and not having anyone show
up. Am I the only one that they miss?

I Had Some Emails

Some people were curious as to how I was going to package the spool

necklaces for the craft boutique. This is what I came up with....



  

Vintage Spool Necklaces

Here's a sneak peak at one of my craft boutique items...

Vintage Spool Necklaces

I made them in four different colors--

blue, pink, green, and lavender.

The spool is 1-1/4" long.

A fun little gift for a sewer or quilter.

Freebie Friday

Sew Very Happy @

Creating Really Awesome Free Things

(white space is a border,

5 color options)

Clip art vintage pin cushion @

Graphics Fairy

(black and white also)

Dress form collage digital stamp @

Free V ntage Digi Stamps

Measure Twice @

Oh Sweet Joy

2 versions

Vintage thread labels @

Just Something I Made

I hope you have a wonderful week-end.

We're setting record heat temperatures here in Phoenix!

Sharing my necklace at:

Family home and Life Say It Saturday



True Blue Friend

How was your week-end? Are you enjoying the Olympics as much as I am?

My husband is recovering from knee surgery he had last Wednesday so I have
 been playing nurse maid as well. It's not his knee that is bothering him so much
anymore as the rest of him, his back in particular, from being so out of whack and
not being able to find a comfortable position to lay or sit in. It's really inconvenient
getting old!

Today's card is one that I had started who know's when. I had the papers layered
onto the cardstock and the scalloped circle adhered on top. As I recall, there was
something wrong with the bottom of the blue card--perhaps wrinkled. So rather
than throw it away, I tore off the bad part and used this torn effect for the front.
So the blue you see is on the inside of the card. I don't know if there was a plan
after that! But I decided it was time to finish it off!

  

A saw this free digital sentiment on

Create with TLC last Saturday

at it stuck my fancy.

I thought it would work with these papers,

so I printed it off and colored in the

True Blue with a fine-tip Sharpie.

Since I didn't have the right color flowers,

here's how I solved that problem with

something I did have on hand.

Tip: Buy a cheap bunch of silk white flowers from the

dollar store. Use a marker to color them any color

you want.

(13 flowers for 99 cents is a bargain!)   

I used large glue dots to adhere the flowers,

and small ones to adhere the tiny buttons.

And there you have it!

By the way,

Create with TLC

is my favorite site for digital art.

Pauline is very generous with

her freebies, but they eventually

go into her store, so grab them

while you can, and save them to

you computer, even if you don't use them

right away!

Shared at the Anything Blue Friday Party
on 5/3/2013



A Simple Thank You

It seems as if I can never have enough thank you notes on hand.
I don't know about you, but I still love to send a hand written note,
and a hand made card is just icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned.
It gives me a feeling of satisfaction, even though I don't know if all
recipients appreciate them.  I'm not one that thinks an email thank you is
sufficient in most cases--that is just too easy, though better than nothing,
for sure.

This thank you was made with Basic Grey designer paper and

 a Michael's $ stamp...

  

... a few punches and ribbon from my stash.

Size--4-1/4" x 5-1/2"

Freebie Friday

2013 Write-In Calendar @

Creative Mamma

Kokeshi Doll Stationery set @

Creative Mamma

Thank you tags, labels, or stickers @

Creative Mamma 

Are you selective about the hand-made cards

you send?

Do you send them only to people you know will appreciate them?