{twisted sketches}

{have a little Faith}

This week at twisted sketches, the twist is "faith".
Love this challenge!

I began with a bazzill base and used Fancy Pants "Road Show" pp, some MME rubs, a JHB button, baker's twine, & Prima bling. For the punched edge, I used a Fiskars border punch and the butterfly punch is by Martha Stewart. {Note - rub ons are not my favorite embellie. That said, I love the tiny rub on the top of the butterfly.} :)

I also added some pp to the inside of my card.

Thank you, twisted sketches girls, for this challenge! Thanks, also for coming by my blog! Hope you all have a nice day and remember...

have a little faith.

hugs, patti

{my sketch world & party time tuesdays}

Hi everyone!

Hope you all had a Christmas you'll look back on and remember fondly. Mine was filled w/lots of thank you's, hugs, and "I love you aunt pat's". Perfect! :)

Today I want to share a card I made using two challenges. The ad inspiration is from Lucy at my sketch world ~

The second challenge is from party time tuesdays #26 - use the colors red, white & green for your birthday card.

{celebrate you - happy birthday}

My card uses some older heidi grace cs stickers - from a Christmas set, inkadinkado stamps that I heat embossed w/white embossing powder, offray & american crafts ribbon (glued down w/fabri-tac) and misc. buttons w/prima bling. that's it!

Thanks to party time tuesdays and my sketch world for the inspiration!

Thanks, friends, for stopping by my blog! :)
hugs, patti

{got mittens?}

I altered these Maya Road mittens this morning - they will get wrapped onto my nieces, Sara & Emilie's, gifts today!

I first painted the back of each mitten a bright red.
Next I covered each mitten with Girl's Paperie pp. I sanded the edges and then machine stitched right on top of the pp. Stitching chipboard is sort of like mending the hub's denim overalls. It's the same thickness - you just gotta trudge on through. :) For the top of each mitten, I accordian pleated some bazzill and glued all the way around.
I made the chip stickers pieces by layering the heidi grace stickers on top of cs, and then on top of a punched out scalloped pp circle. Added some zig zag stitching and then for some fun sparkle, I heat embossed the whole piece. I really like how it shines! The date stickers are by sassafras & velvet flowers are Maya Road. These mitten ornaments have enough Fabri Tac glue on them to last for a hundred years!! LOL!

For a beautiful holiday scrapbooking kit, look here. Cindy, at Citrus Tree Studios has put together a couple of kits for December. The kit I used is called "Christmas Potpourri", and it's such a lovely kit!! I am so glad I ordered it!!!

I have so many things I need to do today!! I hope I get half of them done!

With list in hand, I will breathe deep and get started.

Happy Day before Christmas Eve!!!
love & hugs,
patti

{{guess what???}}

I made The Paper Variety Design Team!!!

Feeling super excited to be joining Abby and Suzanne and the other DT members for some creative therapy - I mean, fun!!!

The Paper Variety is a weekly challenge site - with fab prizes!!!

What I love about the Paper Variety is how they embrace freedom of interpretation.

When there is a challenge, for example - to use the color green - well, you can then create a card, a lo, altered item, etc. The goal is to create and the inspiration found at the Paper Variety will surely get you moving to your crafty space. :) :)

{they still melt my heart!! please click for a full view}

I have nothing new to share today...but thought I'd put this lo that I made this past January on my blog. These are my boys!!! My boys who are now 24- Thomas and 21.5 - Matthew! Were they not the most adorable little boys ever?? This was their Christmas photo shoot, back in 1991. :) I love those soldier sweaters - and kept them and know right where they are in the back of Thomas' closet. LOL!!

Become a follower of the Paper Variety and I'll see you there next year! :)

Thanks for coming by my blog and have a wonderful day!!!

hugs, patti

{twisted sketches!}

Twisted cards challenge #38 is this sketch, plus the twist - use some chipboard.

{you're so sweet.}

I used a Bazzill base and added Basic Gray Curio die cuts and a Donna Downey fabric tag. (The tag had a large metal eyelet at the top - I cut that off and rounded the edges of the tag. I also frayed the bottom edge.) The Fiskars sentiment stamp was stamped three times directly on the fabric tag. The chip swirl is a Tim Holtz grungeboard piece - painted w/TH crackle paint & inked. Then I also applied some glossy accents and sprinkled a tiny bit of doodlebug glitter on top. I painted the chip heart, inked it, sanded the edges and sprayed it with Inkadinkado red mist. The flower is by Maya Road.

Thanks, Twisted Sketches girls for this fun challenge! I really like how this sketch offers such freedom of interpretation. :)

Thanks for coming by my blog!
hugs, patti

{sugared jelly cookies}

From a Gooseberry Patch "Simple Joys of Christmas" book.

Sugared Jelly Cookies

2 1/3 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 t salt

1 cup butter

3/4 cup unblanced almonds, grated

1 1/2 t vanilla

1/2 cup jelly

garnish - sugar or confectioners sugar

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Blend in almonds and vanilla, mixing w/fingers until mixture forms a ball of dough. Roll dough out to 1/8" thickness on a floured surface; cut with a small cookie cutter. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes. While cookies are still hot, turn half of them over and spread the flat side w/jelly. Top jelly with the flat side of a second cookie and sprinkle w/sugar.

~~~~~~

This is a new recipe for me.

I'm not gonna lie.

When I was 3/4 of the way through cutting these out and baking I had a fleeting thought of "these are a PITA". It came and left quickly though!!! :)

Once I tasted one of these, I realized they were worth every minute of effort!! They are a cookie that starts to melt in your mouth...and then you chew and there is the texture of the crunchy almond and the soft, fruity taste of the jelly. {Typing that actually made my mouth water.}

{Note - instead of jelly, I used Smuckers strawberry fruit spread. Also, I had sliced almonds on hand - I placed them in my blender and grated to get consistency necessary.}

Happy holiday baking!!!

Thanks again for stopping by!

hugs, patti

{the paper variety challenge #14!}

Challenge #14 at the Paper Variety is a photo inspiration challenge.

{totally cute, right?}

I have a dog who honestly looked just like that when he was a pup!! His name is Filbert and he is now a 9 year old yellow labrador retriever.

Filbert is a happy, come on in - I'm so glad you're here - kind of dog.
Everyone who meets him loves him. (He is friendly with other dogs too.)
As for the naughty stuff - he can explain. ;) He only drops his metal bowl on the ceramic tile floor to get our attention when he is hungry. He takes your shoes from the foyer and carries them with him to who-knows-where because...well, because he can. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~
joyful
adj
1. full of joy; elated
2. expressing or producing joy a joyful look a joyful occasion
joyfully adv
joyfulness n
~~~~~~~~~~~~

{our JOYFUL boy.}
I used what I had left of one of my all time favorite Christmas pps. Scenic Route. The SR chip piece is glued to the top of a punched snowflake. I punched two - and layered one on top of the other with pop dots.

The JOYFUL chip letters are by Pink Paislee (except for the "J" - I think that is an old chatterbox letter.) The PP chip letters were orginally blue. Using sand paper, I sanded all the blue off and then painted them with green MM paint. Once dry, I used red Staz On ink to stamp an Autum Leaves stamp on top of each letter. I then used an emery board to lightly sand their edges.

I do have a Santa hat for him - but he doesn't like it. So, for our Christmas photo shoot, I tied a scarf - made by momma - around his neck. Handsome, right? He would wear a scarf all day. LOL!
Thanks, Paper Variety girls, for this fun challenge!!

Thanks friends, for coming by my blog!!

Hope you enjoyed reading about my best buddy. :) :)

hugs, patti

{toot, toot!!}

Hello to all my fabulous bloggin' friends!!!

I have a fun bit of news to share!

I am excited to join the Party Time Tuesdays new design team!! :)

The gig starts the first Tuesday in January 2011.

Hope you will all come on over to PTT and make some birthday cards with us!

Here is the card I submitted to try and grab a DT spot ~

{happy birthday to you}

...and as long as I'm sharing the above Imaginisce Birthday Bash card, why not share a lo I made of my nephew, Conner's birthday bash? :) :) I so love this line...but I promise I will try not to use it on every card for the next 6 months. haha!!

{conner's party} {Tell me this kid is not a total doll. He is such a good boy too!!}

I'm looking forward to having some card making fun with the PTT girls and you!

Thanks for coming by my blog! Hope you have a super great day!!!

hugs, patti

{party time tuesdays!}

{happy birthday 2 u}

Party Time Tuesdays challenge #24 is to make a birthday card and use some balloons. I got out my felt and free hand cut a couple of balloons, then I machine stitched them to add a little pizazz. {LOL Cassie!}

{materials - bazzill base, fancy pants & jillibean soup pp, jillibean journal spot, Stampendous b'day stamp, olive green staz-on, felt, offray ribbon, misc. buttons & dmc.}

You should stop by Party Time Tuesdays for some fun birthday card challenges!!

Ton of inspiration from the PTT girls!!

happy birthday card creating,

patti :) :) :)

{a star ornament!}

Thank you Sarah, for your blog tutorial on making a star shaped ornament!! I loved yours {so much!} that I made one as soon as I got of bed this morning. :) :)

Wasn't sure how scoring and bending a hambly overlay would go...but it went fine and the star stayed bent and really...I love how it turned out!

{materials - hambly overlay, maya road red trim, cream trim, prima flower, K&co. chip sticker, bazzill leaves misted w/olive glimmer mist & maya road stick pins. I used fabri-tac to hold it all together.}

The hubs and I are just back from picking out our Christmas tree today. I plan to decorate it tonight. Thank you for coming by my blog. Hope you are having a pleasant Saturday!! :)

hugs, patti

{eat, bake, love}

I started out thinking that I would give this wall hanging to my friend Margie for Christmas. She and I began baking together when we were only 11 years old. Our older sisters were friends and that's how we met. We are all still friends today - and Margie and I were 11 years old 39 years ago. Crazy, I say!!

Anyway, now I want to keep it. J/K!! LOL!!!! I will give it to Margie...but I really would love it for myself. :)

Materials - Maya Road chip piece, MF pp, For the Luv of Art pp, chip & stickers. Prima letter stickers - inked w/TH vintage photo ink. I chose this color because I thought it was the closest to a golden cookie's edge. I zig zag stitched the letters down too. The crackled, glittered heart was a pink one by HS that I altered. Pearls are Prima, buttons FP. Ek border punch, DMC & jute.

Thanks for coming by my blog! If you have a wall hanging project -- hook me up with a link because I'd love to come visit your blog and see. :)

Have a warm & happy day!

hugs, patti

{faith, hope, love}

...and the greatest of these is love.

For this card, I combined two challenges ~

Twisted Sketches #36 & The Paper Variety tic tac toe.

Card Supplies ~ Bazzill base, black bazzill embossed & scalloped cs, BG Jovial pp, Nestabilities Labels Eight, Technique Tuesday letter stamps, Inkadinkado spray mist, MS baker's twine & MME pretty red brad.

For the bird, I traced a chipboard bird by 7 Gypsies onto the black embossed cs and cut him out. The felt trim is by Offray.

Thanks to both the Twisted Sketches girls and to The Paper Variety girls!!

Hope today is a good one for all!! :)

hugs, patti

My Blog Give-Away Winner!!!

The winner of the "because I'm grateful blog give-away" is.........
can you hear the drum roll?.............
~~~~~
my friend, the super talented,

pamala!!!!

pamala commented~ "I have been a follower, cause you are faboo! :) I would definitely love it all, but my fav would be the Bazzill 45 cards and envies. WAHOOOOOO!!!! I am totally addicted to card making, and love that I can squeeze in time to do so even when life is crazy busy. Thank goodness! ty for the fab chance, and good luck to everybody."
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~

I had so much fun with this give-away!!! Back in the day, we used to send out RAKs to each other. I had not sent a RAK in ages. It really feels good to pack up this prize and be sending it out to one of my scrappy friends. And this one is going to Michigan - home to those fabulous Detroit Red Wings!! haha!

Super psyched for you, Pam!!!!! :) :) :)

I'll leave you all with some quotes that I find inspiring ~

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.
{Brother David Steindl-Rast}

~~~~~
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.
{William Arthur Ward}
~~~~~
You cannot be grateful and bitter.
You cannot be grateful and unhappy.
You cannot be grateful and without hope.
You cannot be grateful and unloving.
So just be grateful.
{Author Unknown}

~~~~~

Thanks to all who had fun with me during this give-away. I am grateful for every one of you!! {Note - the original post states I would run it for 2 weeks, but we're getting closer to the holidays and I didn't want to wait any longer.}

xo, patti

{party time tuesdays!}

{for you - HAPPY BIRTHDAY}

Challenge #23 @Party Time Tuesdays is to make a birthday card of your choice.

I used the most cute Imaginisce Birthday Bash line to make my card. Started w/a bazzill base and attached a scalloped edge white bazzill piece to the back of the card. Added b'day bash pp, offray red ribbon, a b'day bash chip piece and a sentiment cut from pp.

MM paint was applied to the gcd chip buttons. Once dry, I shined 'em up w/glossy accents and then stitched some DMC through their centers.

I also finished the inside of this card w/a little popped up, b'day gift - cut from pp and embossed for some added sparkle. The heart shaped brad is by MM.

{close-up of the inside}

Thanks for coming by my blog and thanks to the PTT girls!!! :) :)

hugs, patti

{stylish blogger award}!

My friend, Marlene thinks my blog is stylish. Alrighty then, Marlene!!! Thank you so much! {I've been putting some effort into my blog as of late. Trying to kick it up a notch...so thanks for noticing!} She awarded me with a "Stylish blogger Award". Yay!!! :) :)

By accepting this award I must complete the following tasks:

1) Thank and link back to the person who awarded me.
This would be Marlene!!! Thanks, Marlene - you are over-the-top-awesome!!!

2) Share 8 things about myself.

3) Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that I have recently discovered.

4) Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.


Okay, 8 things about myself…



1) I sing loud, awful & often.
2) I love my dog like he's a person.
3) I have two fabulous adult sons who I have a hard time calling "men".
I still see them as my boys.
4) My hubs and I love to travel and have visited 14 National Parks in the U.S. - from California to Maine.
5) I'm in my 20th year at the same job!
6) I am a Landlady. I nice landlady though, not a mean one.
7) My family requests my kick-a$$ cheesecake (oh, and sometimes....I swear).
8) I love to meet new people and can talk to anybody - airports, the mall, public restrooms - it's all good. ;) :) :)



Now, 8 blogs that are new to me and totally fabulous!!!

1) Mara - "Love Your Mother" Not only does this girl scrap, but she bakes like a banshee!! Then....she posts mouth water, wicked tease you pics w/recipes and directions! Love me some Mara!!

2) Kelly - "Living in a House of all Boys" - Kelly posts beautiful pics of her little boys and she makes the most cool, hip & fun projects that come together quickly. Hey, this woman has 4 little boys!! She needs quickly. ;)

3) Aimee - "Optimistic Scrappiness" - Love, love, love Aimee's attention to detail. And, if I can say this without sounding like a weirdo stalker.....she reminds me of me. Love her stuff!

4) Natalie - "Keeping It Simple" - Natalie totally rocks color!!! Love her use of embellies and her fun, happy style.

5) Amy - "CurlyQ Mosaics" - Run to Amy's blog. So many unique, fab projects!

6) Nicole - "Four Wise Guys" - Nicole is a fun, all-around excellent scrapbooker!!

7) Nora Anne - "Robinson's Nest" - shut-up!!! NoraAnne can stamp & design cards like it's nobody's business!! Inspiration alert!!!

8) Scrappergirl - "The Velvet Lemon" - first of all, who comes up with such a unique blog name as "The Velvet Lemon"? So love that!! Second, love this girl's scrappy style!! Plus, her blog posts are filled with beautiful photos.
~~~~~

YOU'VE ALL BEEN AWARDED "The Sylish Blogger Award"!!! Grab the image and display it proudly!!! :) :)
~~~~~

So, if you have a few extra minutes (and I know they're getting harder to come by with the holidays upon us)...but, you won't be sorry if you sit and browse at the above blogs. Get yourself a nice whatever-it-is that you like to drink, and treat yourself to some fab crafty eye candy. :)


have fun!
~patti

{a snowflake paper garland}

Today I took out a couple of Christmas decorations.

The wooden snowman family on top of my quilt shelf was given to me by my mother-in-law when son Matthew was a baby. That's 20 years ago now. Does that make it vintage? LOL!!! The shelf sitting snowman was given to me by same son, Matthew, last year. (He also gave me a Santa who stands on the floor and a cinnamon candle w/snowman ornament set.) How cute is it that my then 20 yo son picked out Christmas decorations for me? He is so sweet!!

{Getting decent shots of the garland was a challenge. There is zero natural light in here today...it's been snowing off/on all day and the sky is gray.}

So, I hope you can see it well enough to know that it is a wicked easy project to make. I used an ek snowflake punch and some Scenic Route Christmas pp, Bazzill and Worldwin cs scraps. Just punched a bunch out and stitched them together. Total time - an hour and a half. My garland is 5.5' long. I wanted it to be tight...so I overlapped the edges of the snowflakes so that I wouldn't have a lot of wasted thread. You can make this garland "looser" if you want. Just think about all the ways one could decorate a garland! If you are a person who likes glitter - glitter 'em up! I'm a simple kind of traditional decorator, so I chose to keep mine plain.

Thanks for lookin'!

hugs, patti