Unwrapped...

Happy Monday Everyone! Wow, the weekend sure blew by! We spent all day Saturday winterizing the exterior of the house. The pool was closed up last week and we had to get all of the 'pool stuff' put away. It looks so bare out there now! I already miss seeing the beautiful shimmering pool water from my kitchen window. It's such a peaceful view all summer long. I also spent a couple hours trimming and pruning all of the rose bushes that I've planted everywhere. I just love roses, but the maintenance is brutal. I can't tell you how many times I got hooked by thorns. We also had the windows cleaned inside and out and it makes a HUGE difference.

So, I've really been in the mood lately to make some Christmas cards. We had some really hot days last week and I'm sooooooooo enjoying the cooler weather we got this weekend. It makes me realize how close we are to Christmas already. I can't believe how time flies! Anyway, I was asked about some Christmas cards the other day and had so much fun when I sat down to make them. Here's the first of them...

Unwrapped...

This little cutie is Unwrapped Tilda by Magnolia. Looks like we caught her in the act! She's sitting in front of Christmas Tree. I also created my own dp with Silent Night Background.

The gorgeous dp's are from BG's new 'Jovial' collection and I just love them! All cs is by Bazzill. The beautiful green velvet ribbon is from my stash. I bought a bunch of bty velvet ribbon in Christmas colors from Archiver's and I'm so excited about using them. I think they're stunning! The extra warmth they add is really beautiful. I found the little green gems in my jewelry bead drawer. I keep an assortment of jewelry beads handy "just in case" and they really came in handy. In case you're wondering, I stamped the Silent Night Background with Ranger Distress Ink - Fired Brick and then distressed it with Walnut Stain and Vintage Photo. I think it looks perfect with the dp's.

Here's a closeup of Tilda. I was in such a hurry when making this card that I was just grabbing Copics and dabbing into inks and didn't write down what I was using. I cleaned up really quickly and took the photos without a thought about the details. Sorry!

That's all I have for today.  Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Ciao,

Angie

Party Time!!!

Hello Everyone!  It's party time at the Magnolia Shop in Boras, Sweden!!!  As you may already know, Diana Crick and I will be visiting Sweden in less than two weeks and I couldn't possibly be more excited! 

While we're there, Magnolia has planned a PARTY on October 9th in celebration of the Grand Opening of their newly expanded warehouse.  They're going to showcase the new Merry Little Christmas Collection 2010 and the Magnolia Ink Magazine Christmas Edition!!!!!  Yay, I can't wait to get my copy!!!

The first 50 guests at the shop will receive a special gift bag filled with goodies.  We will be doing demonstrations all day.  Diana will be showing the Scor-Pal, I will be painting with distress inks, and my Magnolia DT sisters - Lillemor, Malin and Camilla will be showcasing their superb talents as well.  It promises to be an exciting day!

If you're in town on the 9th of October, please stop by the Magnolia Shop to see what going on.  I would love to meet you!!!!  We'll be there from 10 a.m. til 5 p.m.

Til then,

Angie

A New Subscription Link

Hey There Everyone and Happy Wednesday Ya'll! In the past few months, several people have asked me if I have an email subscription link on my blog. To be honest, I tried but couldn't get it to work properly. At last, it is up and running and ready for you to use. You'll find it in the upper right corner of my blog below my photo. Just type in your email address, click 'Subscribe', and follow the simple instructions from there. You should then receive an email update every time I post something new.

I hope you'll find this useful. Have a great evening :-)

Ciao,

Angie

Ooh, Ooh, Witchy Woman...

Happy Monday Everyone!!! As I'm writing this, I'm sitting in front of the television watching a decorating show and eating a granola bar that tastes like bird seed. Except for the flavor of the granola bar, I'M IN HEAVEN! Hubby took our son to the running track for some excercise so I have a little more alone time. I spent the better part of the day working on sales tax reports for multiple states before getting really burned out. I needed a mental break, so late in the afternoon I locked myself in my craft room. My brain was so fried that I couldn't possibly assemble a coherent sentence, but maybe I could assemble a card.

As I sat at my craft desk, I remembered that I had colored two images of Witch Tilda a couple months ago when I was working on projects for Magnolia Ink. I used one for a paper bag Halloween invitation, but there was still another somewhere on my desk. I dug her out and away I went.

So...here's my card. I hope you like it!

Ooh, Ooh, Witchy Woman

I had so much fun putting this card together. This little Witch Tilda is my favorite Magnolia Halloween image. I paired her with African Sun and Bat, also from Magnolia. I just loved turning the African sun into a spooky Halloween moon. I'm so pleased with how it came out.

Here's an artsy view of the card :-)

The dp's are from BG's 'Eerie' collection and they're just awesome. Some of my favorite Halloween patterns to date. The purple and black cs is Bazzill. Both the web-like ribbon and totally cool button are from my stash. The button kinda reminds me of a crystal ball. The center is like a marble with black and white swirls. The metal frame around it looks so perfect with this card. The bat was cut out and then covered with crystal lacquer. Both the American Greetings sentiment and the Jolee's spiders are from my scrapbooking materials that I haven't used in ages. The sentiment is a clear, puffy sticker like thingy that I backed with white cs and trimmed with an x-acto knife. Both Tilda and the bat are raised up on dimensionals.

I colored the images with a combination of Copic markers and watercolors with Ranger Distress Inks. Unfortunately, I no longer have the color details. Sorry :-(

I want to thank you all for your lovely comments.  I read each and every one and they always put a smile on my face.  Thank you so much for taking the time.

Well, that's all I have for today.  Thanks so much for stopping by :-)

Ciao,

Angie

On The Road Again...

Hello Everybody!!! What a great week it has been here in Michigan! A little overcast at times, but nice and hot. My son is loving school and I'm loving my schedule. I've gotten a lot of work done and still found time to play. We've got a long holiday weekend starting tomorrow and we have absolutely no plans. I'm all partied out and we're looking forward to a quiet weekend. Maybe I'll get my hubby to take me to a movie! Alan...If you're reading this...how about a Saturday night date night???

Well, the real reason I'm here today is for the Magnolia-licious Highlites Challenge!!!!!! This month it's a really cute challenge from Becca. She asked us to make a project using one of two tutorials for a suitcase or a backpack - and we had to use an image from the new Magnolia Bon Voyage collection. I chose to make the suitcase and it was SO MUCH FUN! The images are so adorable and the possibilities are endless.

Here's what I came up with! I hope you like it :-)

On The Road Again!

I used a total of four Magnolia images on the project and they all go together so perfectly. First, there's Tilda on the Loose from the Bon Voyage collection and I paired her with Eiffel Tower. I wanted her to appear as though she was in a hurry to leave Paris for her next adventure. I think she's heading to Sweden, hehe. Notice the top right corner of the map on the suitcase reads 'Sweden'! Did I plan that? YES! In case you're wondering, the other two Magnolia stamps are the sentiment See You Later and Ticket 13563 - both from the Bon Voyage collection.

Because of the size of the Eiffel Tower image, I made a 6x6 card this time so I would still have enough real estate for embellies. I really LOVE how this card turned out. I think it's one of my favorites to date. The gorgeous dp's are from The Girls Paperie. The map print actually has a white background, but I distressed the heck out of everything with tons of walnut stain. I crumbled all of the dp's into tiny balls, unfolded them, and then rubbed them with walnut stain so it would pick up all of the wrinkles and folds in the papers. They aged perfectly. I also used a Tim Holtz distressing tool on the edges. All cs is from Bazzill. I stamped the sentiment and then punched it out with an EK Success 1 1/4" circle punch. I dabbed star dust stickles on the Eiffel Tower, sentiment, tickets, and flower on Tilda's hat.

All of the other embellies...post card, twine, and flower, stamp, ribbon, and buckle on the suitcase...are from my stash.

I colored the images with a combination of Copic markers and watercolor with Ranger Distress Inks. Here are the details:

Copics - E00, 02, 42, 43, 44, 50, RV11, 21, W1, 5

DI's - weathered wood, black soot, tattered rose, tumbled glass, bundled sage, walnut stain

I'm so glad that you took the time to stop by today. Thanks so much for visiting. I hope you find some time to color!

Ciao,

Angie