Sororities, Scrapbooks & Cards, Oh My!

Good evening, my friends!

Lots to show you tonight…trying to get ready to leave for my parent’s house…the big Anniversary party is this weekend! 

My family is gathering from all over the country, and we’ll all be happily lumped together into one lovely, big house—sounds like fun to me!

First of all…my “rush” photo to join in the new Bloggerette Sorority!  Karen (Some Days are Diamonds) kindly gave me permission to post this early—the actual party is on Friday—so sad I’ll miss it!

We were to create a card, or anything we wanted, with a beautiful vintage image she provided, then photograph it with ourselves in the picture…so here we go:

Here I am in my backyard…card in hand…am I in, Karen?!

Here’s a close-up of the card…

Next,  I wanted to show you a few more pages from my parent’s finished wedding scrapbook…procrastination kills, I tell you!  Got about 30 or so pages done, and I’m very happy with it—hope they will be, too!

Here’s {quite!} a few pages…

The happy couple…

The beautiful bride and their parents…

Cutting the cake…look how sweet they’re being…no cake smashing here!

Scenes from the reception…

One of my very favorite photos ever (I probably say that a lot!)…ALL FOUR of my great-grandmothers in one photo!  I’ll bet that doesn’t happen very often!

They all knew each other and liked each other very much…isn’t that wonderful?

I LOVE this shot!   Not too long after their wedding, after both graduated from college, they moved out to Boston…Dad went to Harvard Business School, and this was a quick weekend trip they took to New York City…isn’t this gorgeous?!

All the stamped embellishments on the scrapbook pages were from Crafty Secrets’ “Frame It” and “Flourish” stamp sets.

Still with me?!  On to the next thing…a couple of Anniversary cards I made this morning…(should have been packing, but…!)

A sweet little image I found online…isn’t it adorable?

My girls said it even reminds them of my parents….I would have to agree!

Some white lace, Martha Stewart red seam binding, black button, platinum Stickles…that’s it!

And this one…

This image is from Crafty Secrets’ “Love & Romance” Vintage Cuts…”A Love that Lasts”, it says…

Some soft pink lace, Martha Stewart chocolate seam binding, paper roses sprayed with “Red Velvet” Glimmer Mist, and platinum Stickles…that’s about it!

Now you’ll get a break from long-winded me!  I’ll be gone for three weeks, and will probably only post once a week while I’m away—time is not your own when you’re with family, is it?!  But that’s just the way I like it!

I’ll be checking into my favorite spots to say hello & see what you’re all up to…see you soon!

Crafty Secrets DT Technique Challenge

Good morning, my friends!

It’s time for another fun Crafty Secrets’ challenge!  Our DT leader, Vicki Chrisman, has come up with a real challenge this time…we were to come up with a technique to teach using a tutorial and Crafty Secrets products….so, here we go!

There are so many wonderful techniques to try…but one I’ve been meaning to play around with is stamping in air-dry clay. 

This was so easy…and so fun!

Here’s our supplies for today:  some craft porcelain, as it’s called…Pearl Ex powders (I used Stampin’ Up! powders, but there are other brands out there), Crafty Secrets’ clear stamps…I used the beautiful new set “Bonjour Merci” for my project…

…an acrylic block for stamping, paint brushes, knife…and I found it helpful to work on wax paper.

First, just take a ball of clay and flatten it.  Choose the stamp image you want to use…

…and stamp!  Push down nice & firm…

The stamped image comes out beautifully…my camera wasn’t picking up the images very well yesterday…the lighting was terrible—sorry!

Just trim the edges…

…shape it up a bit with your fingers…like my “manicure”? (total lack of, I mean!)…

Couldn’t get a clear picture of these to save my life!  (took about 20!) But, I did four little charms for my card…

Now, it’s time to get messy & have some fun!  Just stick your dry paint brush in the Pearl Ex powder…

…brush it in nice and deeply…add as much as you like…

Pretty, aren’t they?!

Then, I just let them dry overnight.  The next step…I just gave them a quick spray with some glossy finishing spray to fix the powder, and they were all done!  Easy peasy!

Now for the card…

I went for something a bit different for me…kinda simple and graphic…I love the lace edge border included in the “Bonjour Merci” set…so pretty!

Just a bit of embellishing…some lovely black grosgrain from PTI, platinum Stickles everywhere, (of course!) and a bit of gold cord for the “Merci” tag…that’s about it!

 

I didn’t shape them perfectly…a bit wonky, aren’t they?  Oh, well…handmade things aren’t supposed to be absolutely perfect, are they?! 

I had so much fun with this technique!  Maybe a gorgeous heart charm next time…who knows?!

Hope you give this a try!  Please hop on over and visit the rest of the Crafty Secrets’ Design Team—I know you’ll find plenty to inspire you today!

Heartwarming Vintage Crafty Secrets Blog

Vicki Chrisman, Team Leader

Pam Hooten

Heidi Blankenship

Marisa Grosson

Linda Duke

Michele Kovack

Melissa Phillips

Flo from France

Deborah March

LiveJournal Tags: Crafty Secrets,Design Team,Tutorial,Clay

Happy Father’s Day!

Good morning, my friends! 

Hope the morning is going well, and that breakfasts or brunches are happening for all the wonderful dads in our lives…quiche is on the menu for us today…Dad’s request!

I have a couple of cards to share with you today…

I made this one a couple of months ago for my Dad…just a little early (so unlike me!)  This has images from Crafty Secrets’ new “Car Classics” stamp set…and the main image is actually  my Dad! 

Here’s the one I made today for my dear husband…

A fun card using Crafty Secrets’ “Favorite Fella” stamp set…a great argyle print from Graphic 45, some ribbon, buttons, crystal rhinestones for the crown (of course!), and just a bit of platinum Stickles…I can’t even stay away from it for a man card!

I just want to take a few minutes now and share with you a few of the most important men in my life…

 
Our first official family portrait with our little Chelsea (now in college!)—my time flies!

 

And in later years…Not quite sure what Annie’s thinking here…!

I’m a very lucky woman…not only is Roger a wonderful husband, but he’s such a loving father…his girls adore him!

My Dad…Clayn…holding me…a new Daddy. 

Story time with Dad…we always loved Dad’s stories…he read them so well; but our favorite times were when he made up stories for us—wonderful adventures that we called “tummy stories”—as we thought they just came out of his tummy…sweet memories!

My grandfather, Rudger Smith…holding my Dad…1937.

 

My great-grandfather, Asahel Smith…with two of his grandchildren…1930’s.

My mom’s father, Dow…with her and her younger brother, Glenn…about 1943.

My father-in-law, Paul Campbell, holding his two boys, Dave, and my husband—the baby—Roger.  I love this picture…

Paul and his kids—a trip to the San Francisco Zoo…about 1968.

My very young mother-in-law, Shirley…with her very loving father,  Ted…about 1931.

Are you still with me?  Thanks for indulging me in this little stroll through time…some of the very special Dads in our family…

I hope your Father’s Day is filled with every beautiful  thing today…make some wonderful memories!

Roger…Dad…I love you!  Thank-you both for being the wonderful fathers that you are!

LiveJournal Tags: Father's Day,Crafty Secrets