How about another box?

Today's book box is made from the gorgeous Berry Burst In Color and was introduced with last year's In Color.   I'm glad they get to stick around for another year.

Here's a little close-up.

The cards I made to go in the box are made from each of the colors in this In Color family.  I love the layout I used for my cards.  It makes for a pretty quick and easy construction.

Here's a good side view.

Come on back for another look, as I have 2 more book boxes to share with you next.

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration.

- Let's create something beautiful today.

Speaking of boxes, how about a book box?

A while back, while on a blog I'd recently discovered, she posted a book box.  I fell in love with it.  The blog is --- JanB Handmade Cards Atelier and the website is:
http://www.janbcards.com/2017/06/delightful-daisy-book-box-video.html

Her strongest talent lies in making things like this and she gives complete instructions in her videos.  I did have one problem with this project though, because she gave the measurements for the box part of the project as needing a 12 X 12" CS.  I wanted to use 8 1/2 X 11" CS, so I'd have more color choices.  I was able to adapt the measurements just fine, and then I was off and making not just 1 or 2 or 3 ... but 4 book boxes.  I loved them.  Each one of mine is filled with cards and coordinating envelopes, but the box could also be used for a small gift.  So let's get started with my first box. 

Is this pretty or what?  I love it.  I used Calypso Coral for my box box and covered it with the DSP and then all the layered goodness.  It was really fun.  Here are more shots of my box and what's inside. 

The ribbon slips between the DSP and the box and ties on the side.  Be careful not to forget this step.

Here are the cards I placed inside.  I used a die cut leaf as a stencil and did some quick sponging.  There are 5 or 6 cards inside.  I tied them all together with a ribbon.  It looks pretty when you open the box.  Look closely and you can see that I completely lined the box with more DSP.  Not only does it look pretty this way, but it also adds a smidge more strength to the box.

These boxes are pretty hardy, too, because they've been moved around here and there in my studio and are still in perfect shape.  Part of the fun in making something beautiful is sharing it.  All my boxes are going to be given to some very special people this week, my therapists and our wonderful receptionist, for their dedicated help in seeing me through three rounds of therapy in just a very few months.  I couldn't have made my recovery without them.  I can't wait to see how they like them.

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration.

- Let's create something beautiful today.

Another Beautiful Box From Our Window Box Thinlits

I have another cute little box for you today, but first I'd like to say a big thank you to those who came to my party yesterday and to my daughter, Jennifer for helping.  I think we'd all agree that we had a lot of fun.  OK, here's today's cute little box:

Isn't this cute?  I used our Rose Garden thinlits for the leaves.

I added a little ribbon pull to make it easy to open.  Notice the cute little details on each of the sides -- a stitched square layered over a scalloped edge square -- the details really make it special.

Isn't this cute?  I just love it.

What kinds of things could fit in here to give someone special a little surprise?

Party Fun:
If you don't live in the area or do but were unable to attend my party, play along with us on some of the questions from our game sheet.  I'll give the answers later this week.
- What is Lana's favorite Holiday Catalog FALL stamp set?
- What is Lana's favorite Holiday Catalog CHRISTMAS stamp set?
- What is Lana's favorite Holiday Catalog accessory?
The other questions, I think you'd have to be here to see my studio to guess the answer.

If you live in the area and you'd like to get in on some of our 'party perks' be sure to place your order today.  Use this Hostess Code and you will be included in our order.  Your own order will be sent separate - directly to you!
HOSTESS CODE ---   9QEY2V9Q  

Remaining classes / events for 2017:

November Classes / Events:

My Christmas Boutique/Mini Sale will stay open through Nov. 20.  Stop by and shop by appointment only.
November 13 -- Scraps and Prayers
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 / Home Decor Project for Christmas
November 18 -- Christmas Retreat
     10:00-3:00 / $45.00 / 18 Cards: 6 Designs - 3 Cards Each
     Fee includes materials, light lunch, and a ton of fun. 

December 11 Scraps and Prayers Class:
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 / Christmas Cards and Tags

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration.

- Let's create something beautiful today.

Window Box Thinlits Make Beautiful Boxes

I have become a big fan of our Window Box Thinlits.  I sometimes run hot and cold on making boxes and such, but lately, I've wanted to make a lot of them.  I realize now that they are quite simple to make (whether you're using a thinlit or just simple scoring) and you can enjoy using your creativity to make each one unique.  I made this window box to go with a display of our Eastern Palace Suite.  I was amazed at how easy it was to create this.

There's enough room in these boxes to hold all kinds of presents or goodies.

Would you like to create something special to use in your gift giving?  Give these boxes a try!

Coming up, I have several boxes I've made for Christmas.  Be sure to come back for those.  I'm off to put the final touches on my party.

If you live in the area, please RSVP that you're coming to the Open House/Christmas Party.  You'll have a ton of fun!!!

If you cannot attend the party, but would like to place an order to qualify for my special 'perks' you can do so, through my website, online.  Use this Hostess Code and you will be included in our order.  Your own order will be sent separate - directly to you!
HOSTESS CODE ---   9QEY2V9Q  

Some of what you can expect when you're here:
- Fall ideas and inspirations --- cards, decor and 3-D projects...  just a tiny taste.
- Christmas ideas and inspirations --- cards, decor, 3-D projects, and gift ideas...
- Refreshments, of course...
- Make and Take projects...
- A special gift for those placing orders of $25. or more...
- A special coupon for those placing orders of $25. or more...
     The coupon will be for a discount toward my 2017 Christmas Retreat Class!!!
- My Christmas Boutique, where you can shop for gifts and stocking stuffers...
     Bill will be my cashier and I will help with the party.
- Prizes and/or coupons may be earned for participation in various activities...

Remaining classes / events for 2017:

November Classes / Events:
November 5 -- Open House Christmas Party / 2:00-5:00
November 13 -- Scraps and Prayers
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 / Home Decor Project for Christmas
November 18 -- Christmas Retreat
     10:00-3:00 / $45.00 / 18 Cards: 6 Designs - 3 Cards Each
     Fee includes materials, light lunch, and a ton of fun. 

December 11 Scraps and Prayers Class:
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 / Christmas Cards and Tags

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration.

- Let's create something beautiful today.

Tiny Flowers on Twigs

I've had this idea in my head for a long, long time ... to make an arrangement using twigs and adding flowers or butterflies to  them.  Today's the day I'll share how my project turned out.  I have it on my desk with a little arrangement of Whole Lot of Lovely DSP coordinated home decor items.  It's good to have a happy place in which to do your work. 

To attach the tiny flowers to my twigs, I made them double-sided, with the twig sandwiched in between the two flowers.

Remaining classes / events for 2017:
October Classes:
October 9 -- Scraps and Prayers / TODAY:)
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 / Home Decor Project on Canvas
October 21 -- Saturday Stampers
     1:00-4:00 / $20.00 / 5-6 Cards -Fall AND Christmas

November Classes / Events:
November 5 -- Open House Christmas Party / 2:00-5:00
November 13 -- Scraps and Prayers
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 / Home Decor Project for Christmas
November 18 -- Christmas Retreat
     10:00-3:00 / $45.00 / 18 Cards: 6 Designs - 3 Cards Each
     Fee includes materials, light lunch, and a ton of fun. 

December 11 Scraps and Prayers Class:
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 / Christmas Cards and Tags
This will be my only event for December.

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration.

- Let's create something beautiful today.

A 'Crafting Forever' Cute Little Sign for my Studio

I had this cute little sign back in my storage room for a while and had used it with products from our previous Annual Catalog.  I painted it to go with my updated decor in my studio.  I thought it could use a display update since the previous products I had on display in it had retired.  Our Crafting Forever stamp set was the perfect choice to use for this project.  This involved a lot of fussy cutting, but I think it was worth it.  Enjoy! 

My little sign has a pot of paint brushes, a cute little 3-D hanging sign, a colorful pen and 3 old fashioned clothespins (love!) wrapped with Baker's Twine.  The vintage clothespins and pot of paint brushes are totally me and the old fashioned pen reminds me of my daddy.  He loved this style pen and I used to spend many hours watching (and later helping) him fill the pens from various jars of ink.  He had blue, black, red and even green inks.  He also had a variety of rubber stamps --- the old kind with handles.  Hmmmmm ... that's a lot of 'genes' I inherited:)

I watercolored the images, using inks and my Aqua Painter.  The background paper (gorgeous Lemon Lime Twist!!!) is from our Eastern Elegance DSP (from our Eastern Palace Suite).  It's so much fun to create something like this that you can enjoy in your work space.  I hope you'll try creating something fun to enjoy in your space.  It puts a smile on your face and gets your creative juices flowing.

August Classes:
August 14 -- Scraps and Prayers
     5:30-7:30 / $15.00 -- a fabulous book box with cards project. 

THERE WILL BE NO SATURDAY STAMPERS CLASS IN AUGUST, DUE TO MY SURGERY.  CHECK BACK FOR SEPTEMBER DATES AND CLASSES. 
  

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world.

- Come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Blooming Treats / Party Winners

Here's how I served one of our treats at my Open House / Catalog Party on Sunday.  They were a big hit.  

As you can see, I made a bunch of them. 

For my color story, I paired Watermelon Wonder with Flirty Flamingo.  The green base is Cucumber Crush.  I love these little guys!

I had thought I'd be announcing winners on my blog on Monday, but I ran into some technical problems.  

So... drum roll, please...

Wait ..... Stop ..... 

I couldn't make a final decision on my favorite new In Color.  

I had a 3-way tie with my favorites --- 

Flirty Flamingo, Dapper Denim, and Peekaboo Peach.

So... all those who chose one of those 3 are winners!

The winners are:

Mary W.

Elaine B.

Linda B.

Connie J.

Marcella C.

Jessica B.

Sy M.

I have NEVER had this happen to me, but I just love all 3 of those colors.

As for my favorite new stamp set ... NO ONE guessed what it was.  I even gave you two big, fat clues.  

1.  I said I hadn't even gotten to use it yet.

2.  I laid out the stamp set AND the coordinating framelits on my mission library table, right in the middle of my displays.  

I tried to help you.  Anyway, we had a lot of winners for colors and you can look forward to seeing what I make with my favorite new stamp set.  By the way... it's Best Birds. 

I also had a drawing for 3 door prizes.  Those winners are:

Elaine B.

Connie J.

Marsha W.

Congrats to all the winners.  I will put your prizes in with your orders.

The orders are all placed and will be on their way soon.  I will let you know when your orders arrive.  Remember, if you earned tokens, they will be in with your order.

- Thanks for stopping by my corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top to see my class schedules. 

- Look on the left for sneak peeks and registration policies. 

- Please sign up to follow my blog and/or leave a comment. 

- Come  back often for more creative inspiration. 

I went wild with my Cotton Papers!

After our Scraps and Prayers group in March, using Cotton Papers for our project, I got out all the rest of mine --- a bag of scraps + 2 brand new packages --- and went wild.  I cut up ALL of them, using Floral Framelits.  I came up with 19 gorgeous flowers... and later added a few more!

They are much more vivid in real life.  The color is off a bit in the photo.  Blame the photographer, not the camera:)

Does this look like Spring or what?  I love them!!!  I used one of my favorite vintage pitchers to hold them all.  I added a little vase filler  (glass marbles) to help arrange the flowers.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

How Can I Use my Artist Canvas Photo Holder?

We're making a photo holder from an artist canvas at my next Scraps and Prayers class.  I thought I'd share a few ways that I'm using mine and see if it sparks even more ideas for you.

I'm using the one on the left to display my 2016 calendar cards.  (My cards are from Taylored Expressions.)  I made a calendar card for each month and am displaying them a month at a time on one of my photo holders.  The one on the right shows a couple of photo frames I cut from retired framelits.  One is cut from black CS and the other is cut from a silver foil sheet.  You can clip a photo behind the frames.

Other ideas for using your photo holder:
1.  Display scripture passages.
2.  Display inspirational quotes.
3.  Display hand made cards.
4.  Display your 'To Do' list.
5.  Display your grocery list.
6.  Display a list of this month's birthdays.
7.  Display a reminder list.

Because anything you display is just placed under the clip, you can easily change your display items and enjoy something new whenever you'd like a new look.  It's fun and easy to create your own photo holder.
If you have other ideas for my list, please leave a comment.  I'd love to hear from you. 

NOTE:
Our next Scraps and Prayers group meets on February 8 / 5:30-7:30.  Pay to register ($15.) by noon on Saturday, February 6.  We have a brief devotion and prayer, sharing time, and then create our project for the evening.  Everyone is welcome.

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration. 

Square Pillow Box Party Favors

Before I share more cards from my Christmas Retreat, I want to show you the party favors that everyone got with their lunch.  Even though we were all about Christmas in my studio, it was still Fall in my dining room, so I kept the lunch favors within a Fall theme.  I love how they turned out.

I made them in 3 colors.  Each person got one in Soft Suede, Mossy Meadow or Rich Razzleberry.  I've already given away all the Rich Razzleberry favors.

Here are some ideas from Stampin' Up! for using the Pillow Box Thinlits.  I love how they cut off the top of the middle one and used it to hold 3X3" cards!

Click here to enjoy a video about making these adorable pillow box favors.

Here's a peek at my Fall centerpiece.  I love decorating for Fall almost as much as decorating for Christmas.

With my Christmas Open House just around the corner (November 1) I am already starting today to turn my studio completely into Christmas.  This is the crazy time of year for me when my porch and upstairs are beautiful Fall and my studio becomes all Christmas.  It's pretty fun... and a bit crazy!

- Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the blogging world. 

- Click on the tab at the top of the page to see my class schedules and registration policies or look on the left for sneak peeks. 

- Come back soon and come back often for more creative inspiration.

I'm ready for a fun party!

I really wanted to make our Christmas Retreat special today, so I made little gift bags for each person.  They hold their class kits and some special surprises.  When the Retreat is over, they can carry home all their finished cards in the gift bags.  Here's a view of some of the bags. 

I really like how they turned out.  Each person gets a little bag of more goodies, as well.

I'm almost finished cleaning, putting the finishing touches on our lunches, and I think we're ready to begin the fun!  Why do dog toys multiply when you turn your back?

I look forward to these kinds of classes.  Yes, they're a ton of prep work, but so well worth it for the fun we have.  I love having a class where I can really make everything special for my attendees.   

Everyone will go home today feeling like they have a real head start on their Christmas.

In another post, I'll share how I made the gift bags.