A new card "Asters" using Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage paper and images

I am VERY ready for Spring, and if I cant actually have it then I will at least use the prettiest Springy papers I can to pull me through!  Thankfully Crafty Secrets has lots of them to choose from.  I love this  Digital Rose Swirl and matching Embossed Pink paper.  The image is from this Spring Printable Sheet

You can check out all the products here at the Crafty Vintage Girl
and you can follow along with the things and see the most recent releases and samples here on the Heartwarming Vintage Blog

I also wanted to tell you that all this week over on the Little Blue House Blog we are sharing organizational tip.   I don't know about you, but I love seeing how others organize their crafting space.  Below is one of my tips, but you can see them all on the LBH blog  HERE

What's been going on around my house?  Not a whole lot, but you know me, I share the everyday stuff anyway, because in my eyes it's just as important as the big stuff :)

I snapped the photo below last night when I was on my way home from visiting my friend whos in the care facility a couple of little towns away.  Sometimes when I leave there I almost feel guilty for having the opportunity to see an experience so many things in life, when she is stuck there, so scared and confused.  I try to tell myself instead of feeling guilty, enjoy things twice as much.... for me and for her also. Don't waste a minute.  
Pray for a cure for Alzheimers

I was really missing these two because I hadn't seen them in a while, so I called their momma and asked if they could come over for a while.  She laughed and said she was sure she could find something do for the day:)
It was a no school day, so we had to entire day for fun.  Quite cold outside , but that didn't stop us, we just had an indoor picnic.

And.... of course... we built tents.   Oh when I was a kid I loved to build tents with the neighbor kids outside. (seems like we played outside way more than "in", back then).  Anyway, we would build tents on the front porch railing or over the clothes line using clothespins.  SO fun!

Wes was also here for a visit this week, which is the highlight of the dogs lives.  Sometimes I wonder if he comes to see us or just the dogs? lol   He runs them outside, plays with them, lays on the floor with them ...
 All you have to do is say his name and they are on alert.
I took the photo below when he was leaving to go to work. Pathetic little faces aren't they?

Time for this girl to go get something done today.  Break time is officially over. Boo
Thanks for stopping by.    hugs!   

                                                               Vic

Sparkle and Shine card The Little Blue House Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Collection , and Gift Bags using Crafty Secrets Digital Kitchen stamps

Hey everyone!
I'm sharing a card I created .. again with my  Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Collection   from The Little Blue House .

Here is the beautiful Collection in The Little Blue House Online Store

Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Collection

\

WINK OF STELLA REVIEW

On this card I also used a silver Wink of Stella brush .     The entire team did a review and shared projects here on The Little Blue House Blog.  If you've been curious about these ... this is the perfect time to find out more about them and how they work.

*********************************************************
Believe it or not I started this blog post last night, but finally couldn't keep my eyes open, so I went to bed. That's all it took.  Got to bed and couldn't sleep. Oh bother!  Should have just stayed up and done something constructive.  When I did fall asleep I had crazy dreams all night.
Below I'll share some photo of yesterday out with the girls, celebrating Julies Birthday.  Jan and I went to a couple of  Flea Mart/Junk places before we went to Found & Flora and then to lunch.   So at one of these places that was out in the country, there were many cats. TOO MANY Cats.  You could tell they were what the people would consider "farm cats".   I get that...but.... there were too many, and they were obviously not being cared for well.  Sickly, matted hair, sneezing, ... you get it.  Anyway, my sister and I were really bothered by it.  It was SO cold yesterday, and the cats were just not well. 

 So had to call my sis today to tell her thanks for her help but I was exhausted today.  She was like...."What"??  I told her....  When I actually did sleep last night, I did nothing but dream about us trying to save feral cats!   Can you tell it bothered me?
   
I made some calls today trying to find out if .. first of all there is a limit to the amount of cats one can have if they live outside city limits.  Just curious about that.  Found that each county may be different, so waiting to hear back from the county Attorney.    I find it really bothersome when people say they love animals but don't provide care for them.  I'm sure these cats were, "mousers", not fed by them...but there were tooo many. It was FREEZING out!, I'm sure they don't get shots, or spay or neuter ... that's why they are so sickly and there were so many.   I understand "farm cats", trust me, I have family who farm. This was way beyond that.  Shouldn't there still be some sense of compassion?    


Okay, time to move on to something more cheery! 
It started the day before with baking cookies to make goodie bags for the girls.

I used the Kitchen Queen Digital Stamp Set and Paper from the Retro Kitchen Digital Kit  to create the tags for the bags.

We were celebrating Julie's Birthday. "Sister Style", Jan and I and Julie and her sis, Mary. It was really fun!  Luckily we had a late lunch so there weren't making too much of a scene. lol   I actually told the waiter when we came in ... to seat us over in the corer because we are kind of loud. He laughed. but I don't think he was sorry he took my advice :)
We always have so many laughs together!

We had stopped in to Found &Flora in Wahoo. What an adorable shop.

I came really close to bringing this home with me.... and I'm not sure I wont go back and get it.

It's a floral shop, but they defiantly have all kinds of other fun things also.

We ended up with these. I got the middle clock to add to my collection, the other two things are Jans.

A fun time was had by all, and we came home with a couple of little treasures. I am seriously so blessed to have such good people in my life!!  So thankful to have people around me that are good/ kind, ... glass half full kind of people.  They remind me everyday of the good in the world and to keep trying every day to be a good person..... a little bit better than the day before.

Thank you  so much for coming by!!

Vic

"Celebrate" card and gift box Little Blue House/ Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Collection

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend and a great Valentines Day with your sweetie. I had a great day Saturday during the day helping out at Kates school.  She is the coach for "One Act's" and it was there turn to host for 8 different schools.  I was so glad she asked me, it was fun. And I got to spend time with Jarad as he was there helping. Jarad and Kate where both very involved with Drama/Speech/One Act's where then were in school, so it's fun to see them enjoying helping theses kids do the same.    Other than that Dan and I spent the evening at home.  It was quiet and enjoyable,.  Pizza and a movie.

I still have a few projects to share that I created with Pink Paislee goodies from The Little Blue House this month.
The little purse is an AccuCut die Bag-Purse #2
and the bow used on it is my AccuCut bow die design  Bows VC106

I hope you get a chance to check out the  The Little Blue House Blog....  there is loads of inspiration from some pretty creative gals for sure!   

 

****************************

I wanted to share a little something else with you today.  Some of you who have been coming here for a while now know that I have a  dear friend ( my age) who suffers from early onset Alzheimers/ Dimensia

It is a cruel disease that takes people away slowly.  It's something that I saw our grandmother suffer with as she got older and I'm now watching another dear friend going through it with both her parents , who are in a Alzheimers care facility.  Watching someone your own age slip away into their own world and forget even who their loved ones are is horrible.   Today I ran across this this , and it was so touching I just wanted to share.

 

                                                                Hugs, Vicki

Pink Paisee Layout LBH team caught the Love Bug

It's true.. The Little Blue House Media Team has caught the Love Bug. For the last week the team has been posting projects they have created with a "love" theme, using the  Pink Paislee Belle Rouge Collection

You can see all of them here on The Little Blue House Blog.

Today is my day on Blog to share tips and tricks I used to create this layout using the 

Pink Paislee Belle Rouge Collection .    You can see my post with photos and directions HERE

This is such fun collection! And luckily I just happen to have photos of these two lovies I adores scrapping :)
Our youngest son Jarad and daughter in law Kate.

I've been working on cards and altered projects a bit more lately and not as many layouts so I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive. Especially since I've spent  most of my scrapbooking years doing 8 1/2 x 11 pages, but this collection was really inspiring and fun to work with. 

I hope you get a chance to check out my tips with extra photos and  to see all the gorgeous project from the team here on The Little Blue House Blog.

Tomorrow is Valentines day!

 I was looking thru my big box of vintage Valentines and thought I'd share a few of my favorites.

I can remember how exciting Valentines Day used to be when I was a kid.  Making your special box for your Valentines to be put in.  Picking out just the right Valentines for each person and writing their names on them. Putting little conversation hearts inside or taping a red heart shaped sucker to the outside.  Yep.. I just totally dated myself didn't I? haha   We used to get to go to the gym in the afternoon before it was time to go home and have a hot dog and a little cup of vanilla ice cream.  Wow... it seemed like such a big deal :)    Then to go home and go thru all your Valentines!!  It was so fun!
   I wonder what kids do in school now?   I better get in the loop and ask somebody. lol

Anyway, whatever you do, I hope it's a good day.  If I could I'd bring you all a vintage Valentine and a little cup of vanilla icecream with a flat wooden spoon to eat it with.   Really I would :)

Happy Valentines Day Friends!

Vic

Altered frame tutorial for Little Blue House using Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Collection

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing a altered frame tutorial I did for The Little Blue House using the Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Collection.   I picked up this frame last week when my sis and I were out junking for $2.  No glass, just the frame. Which was great, just what I wanted.   As you'll be able to see by looking at this collection ( I have a photo post of it a ways down).  It also has lots of  pink in it also.  I used all the colors and a lot of the pink in my other projects this month, but for this project I stuck to the colors that worked perfectly in my living room.  I have so much great photos from Jarad and Kate's  ( our youngest son and daughter-in-laws) wedding, I'm excited to show them off.

It's quite simple , but I'll show you how I did it. 

Here is what the Pink Paislee Bella Rouge Collection looks like.  You can find all these goodies in the Little Blue House online store.  HERE

These are the colors in my living room.    I'll be saving the pinks for my other projects :)

Since my frame was Gold, the first thing I did was paint it with a acrylic metallic silver paint.

While that was drying I measured the size of the photo I would need  and printed it off. Then traced and cut my photo to fit into the inside lip of the frame.

To make the back look neat and also give the photo support and cut and added a piece of chipboard.

I did cut the two graduated sizes of flowers out of the patterned papers and then used the string of clear beads to create a center for the smallest flower by adding a think layer of glue and then wrapping it like a jellyroll.

I gave the flower dimension by putting dimensional foam tape between the layers.

I added the ribbon to hang it with to the back with a glue gun, but before I do that, I always use just adhesive first, to see if my placement is correct.  That way you still have the option to move it about before committing permanently with the glue gun.  I also used the glue gun to adhere the finished flower and the chipboard backing.

It comes together quickly, and it's a fun simple way to show off a photo. 

I hope you have a chance to pop over to the LBH blog and see all the beautiful inspiration from the girls this month.


                                         Just for fun.... here is Jarad and Kate in high school :)   

                                                                                                  
                                                                                                              Vicki

Cards... who needs a challenge?

hmmmm... so it seems although challenges scare me .. they DO inspire me. lol   After finishing my "Finished in a Flash" 30 minute layout challenge that The Little Blue House hosted, I had a desk full of left over coordinating papers and embellishments.   Since there were already laid out ( and the mess was already there .. haha), I thought to myself.. I should make some cards.  I've thought many times when I've already had all this stuff out after creating a project or layout, instead of tossing all these scraps in a bin and possibly never using them again... or having to dig through it all again to do that, I should just do it now.   Who doesn't love having cards on hand? Just being able to go pick a handmade card from your stash when you need it... it awesome.   So....  I'm challenging myself to do this more often.  Maybe not always three, maybe two, or just one, but doing it none the less.
You can see the layout I created first, in my previous, and these are the cards I created with the scraps.  No pressure, I just worked on them while I watched TV.  They are simple, but were fun to make, and I feel good every time I have a few more handmade cards to choose from when I need one.

You know what a challenge means.  I'm going to challenge you :)   If you create a card or cards with some left over scraps from a layout you just completed....  show me!! :)   You can leave a link to your blog in the comments. I'd love to see!!

As simple as a handmade card is..... when you know it's going to make someones day who receives it... it's a good thing!  An Email from friend is great... but a snail mail card.... Whoooo hooo! Gotta love it!

Last week I was a lucky mom, Jarad come out and picked me up and took me to lunch.  He and Kate are so busy with school, work, cabin projects and all they have going on in their lives, we don't see as much of them as we'd like.  I was missing my boy big time.  It was a great day!  It was Jarad's day off , Kate was teaching so we didn't get to see her, but I'm going to be helping out at her speech meet next weekend so I'm looking forward to seeing her then :)
Horrid photo of me..but with my boys if they humor me enough to let me take their picture at all, I have to just be thankful and so with it. lol

I  dont know how Jarad and Kate get all they do done.  They are always busy.  Work is paying for Jarad to finish his degree so he is working and going to school. He made the Deans list again... I'm so proud of him.
They have put so many hours and so much hard work into their cabin and it really shows. This was the first time I had see the inside almost completed.

They did all the work themselves. dry walling, ceiling, wiring, pluming, carpet...

 

There are out here so much, I asked Jarad if they every go home. lol  He said , not much.

 

This is a little progression of the cabin work, from when they bought it until last Summer.  To tell you the truth when they bought it ... I thought... "Oh my" what have they gotten themselves into.  But they have blown me away with all they have accomplished.

 

I don't have a current photo of the outside since they built on the big deck.. but you can see a bit if it in the photo below.    I have to smile when I see them using moms patio set.  She would love that they enjoy it and get so much use out of it!!

 

As a mom there is just nothing that makes you more happy than knowing your kids are happy!

I love that they have so much in common and love working on these things together.

Okay, I'll stop with my proud momma moment.... it's just that I dont get a chance to brag on them often:)

 

I hope your week gets off to a great start after a weekend recharge.    I'm off to try to muster up the energy to give Daisy a bath. She has a vet appointment tomorrow. Wish me luck! 



                                                                  Hugs! Vic

The Little Blue House "Finished in a Flash" Friday

Happy Friday everyone!

I'm always saying I love a challenge.. .but when the girls from The Little Blue House asked me if I wanted to play along in their "Finished in a Flash" Friday challenge, I have to admit... I was WAY nervous ( Insert photo of me biting my nail) lol       First of all.... creating anything FAST isn't me at all,  and then to top it off, make this challenge a "layout".  Yikes! Double Trouble. The only other thing was to use a die cut of some sort and or a Stamp. No problem there. I can do that part.     I accepted the challenge, as not to have to hang my head in shame. (snicker)

30 minutes... ready...set...go!

 

Trying to go easy on myself ( I thought) I chose a paper with a somewhat set decorative background to get me started.  That should have made things easier right? lol   I chose this photo of my mom and dad.  Again, saving myself, because if I dislike the layout in the end... I'll always love the photo, so it will be a keeper, ugly layout or not :)

The stamps I used are from Magnetic Poetry.  I used some Mists on the background, as well as a few sequins. A epoxy piece from Epiphany Crafts and some different washi tapes.

The dies I used are ( the frame piece) from my AccuCut Portrait Die  and both the border dies on this AccuCut die Borders #4

I have to say, as nervous as I was, it was really fun to challenge myself.  Pop over to The Little Blue House Blog to see what the rest of the girls created for their 30 minute layouts.    Give it a whirl, you might surprise yourself!

AND.... while I was feeling all proud of myself about actually completing a layout in 30 minutes, I challenged myself in another way.  I've been really trying to use up some of scraps. And I've noticed that right after I've created a layout or a project is a great time to make a card or two , because I already have coordinating papers and embellishments laid out right here on my desk.  So.... after creating this layout, I used the things I already had out,  to create three simple cards.      I'll share those with you in my next post.

Sometimes a little creative challenge can be a good thing.

Remember to check out the other layouts the girls created here at 

The Little Blue House Blog  "Finished in a Flash"

Vicki