Pumpkinly Perfect Card

Pumpkinly Perfect Fall Card
Serendipitous Scrapper

Strolling though the grocery store today, I saw mountains of beautiful orange pumpkins. The smells and colors of Fall are warm and they make me so happy that I thought I would used them with a sketch challenge from Got Sketch.

The Sketch was Challenge # 147 which can be viewed here.

I created the pumpkin embellishment by using an old Sizzix die (remember when they used to be red, yellow and green?). It was the small green pumpkin.

I cut it once from green felt, once from orange felt.

The orange was a bit bright for the muted We R Memory Keepers papers I chose, so I used one of my favorite solutions for toning things down - I covered it with lace.  Sewing along the perforations left by the die and adding a vintage button were finishing touches.

A bit of hand dyed seam binding, more lace and a few vintage buttons and voila - Fall is lovely indeed.

Hope your day is filled with happy harvesty thoughts,

CarrieAnne

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Eiffel Tower & Woodgrain Packaging

Die Cut Eiffel Tower and Wood Grain Kraft Bag
Curtsey Boutique

We were lucky to have new neighbors move in down the street this week - especially lucky because they have 2 girls the same age as my oldest two girls which means easy peasy play dates!

I wanted to make them something as a welcome gift and so I put this gift bag together. Ironically my baked goods were to large to fit inside, so they got delivered old school - disposable aluminum pan with a little note (not so fancy).

I still like the bag, though so I used it to pack up an Etsy order.  In retrospect I wish I would have stamped the "Carte Postale" post card with a script background stamp, but it didn't occur for me to do so until I had already mailed it - urgh!!

I die cut the Eiffel Tower from fabric that I had adhered to wonder under (it makes a serious difference in obtaining smooth edges with cotton fabrics.)  I've been die cutting EVERYTHING from fabric since I figured this out. I'm sure most of you knew this trick a long time past, but I normally figure these things out by trial and error - mostly error!

Have a lovely day,

CarrieAnne

Mason Jar Treat Bags - Halloween Themed

Mason Jar Treat Bags
Curtsey Boutique

I've had this idea floating around in my mind for some time. I wanted to turn the glassine bags I offer in the shop into Mason Jar Treat holders. I think they turned out cute. I really like the hint of baker's twine accenting the buttons and who doesn't love seam binding.  Its available in so many colors!  This seam binding is vintage and was a wonderful treat my mom found for me in a thrift shop.

Just think of all the fun treats that could go inside:

Jelly Beans
Almonds
M & M's
Candy Corn
Gummy Bears
Skittles
Mints
and on and on, and on!

To fill the bags, you just slide the topper off, toss in a handful of yummy treats and slide the topper back on. I adhere the topper to the bags by gently holding up the scallop edge and adhering to the bag with either glue dots or hot glue.

I'll be handing these out at my church's trunk or treating activity.

I will also be doing these in a Valentine's Day theme for the girls treats at school.

The treats and the bags are available in the shop.

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Have a great day,

CarrieAnne

Hanging with Grandpa - Echo Park Digital Project Life Layout

Echo Park Digital Project Life Layout
Serendipitous Scrapper

Fall has descended in full force here in Northern Georgia. Drizzling rain, cool mornings and the first appearance of long sleeve shirts and jackets.

I've a fascination with photographing my kids from behind. Whether they are walking away holding hands, peering up at the sky or looking at animals with their Grandpa as in the attached layout I love seeing their different heights and interactions from an alternative perspective. You also never have to worry about them blinking!

Here is the second part of my 2 page Project Life spread using Echo Park digital products by Lori Whitlock.

One of the things I like about Project Life is the ability to capture stories and pictures about a variety of things in one layout. These photos were all taken at the Abe Lincoln National Boyhood historic site, but I was able to record a story regarding Reid's shoes, things my mom always does on vacation and my feelings about my big brother all in one layout.  In the past I would have done at least 4 layouts to cover these things and more likely than not they would not have gotten scrapped due to limited time. I like that I'm journaling and scrapping at the same time.

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There are a bunch of new flowers in the works that I'm uploading to the shop and I'll show images and projects on the blog soon.

Have a great day,

CarrieAnne

DIY Shabby Chic Flower Bib Necklace

Shabby Chic Bib Necklace - Curtsey  Boutique

I LOVE Sundays. I try hard not to work on design team projects, shop purchases or anything else that is related to compensated work. Instead, I play with the kids, attend church, take a nap and craft just for myself. I know bib necklaces are nothing new, but even with the hundreds of flowers I've made for the shop, I've never made a bib necklace.  So yesterday, I finally got around to it and I was delighted by how quickly and easily it came together.

This necklace features the dusty rose fancy blooms already available in the shop and two new types of flowers being released this week:

Shabby Chic Blooms (available today)

Medium Shabby Chic Blooms - Curtsey Boutique

Sweet Blooms (more on these later in the week.)

To make this necklace I cut a half moon piece of felt and hot glued my flowers as I liked them. I had a bit of extra necklace chain that I connected the cameo to with a jump ring and than I hot glued the chain ends underneath the flowers. Ribbon was added to each end with more hot glue and than a second half moon shape was glued over the first to hide the work.

The shop has over 50 different flowers in it and creating your own necklace is easy peasy!

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More fun flower releases all week long!

CarrieAnne

Land of Lincoln - Digital Project Life Layout

Digital Project Life Layout - Land of Lincoln
Serendipitous Scrapper

Oh how I love, love, love Project Life - let me count the ways!  I especially have come to love it in digital format. Jessica Sprague had this Echo Park kit on sale for 25% off last week and I am planning on using the elements over and over again to scrap our Family Reunion Camping trip from this past Summer.

The ease of Project Life and affordability of digital just can't be beat when they are combined. When the album is all done, I'm going to purchase a copy for each family group that attended the campout for Christmas presents. This is soooo much faster and cheaper than replicating multiple albums traditionally.

I'm not breaking up with traditional paper crafting by any means, just keeping my options open for projects like this where I have a TON of photos and no time or $$$ to scrap them all old school.

This will eventually be a 2 page layout with both sides using Becky Higgins "Template A" format.

InLinkz.com

Thanks for stopping by,

CarrieAnne

Cowboy First Birthday Layout & October Afternoon Sketch Challenge

Cowboy First Birthday Layout
Serendipitous Scrapper

It feels like forever since I've done a 12x12 layout. October Afternoon posted a sketch challenge on their blog here and it was just the thing to get me motivated.  I love the blocking technique they showcased in the sketch and that you can use up lots of scraps with it.

October Afternoon Sketch Challenge
6 September 2012

I primarily used the October Afternoon Sasparilla line throughout the layout.  I've really come to love their Miscellany packs that have all sorts of neat items in them. Several of the buttons, the cowboy flash card and the sheriff's badge come from the Miscellany pack.

The sheriff's badge and corrugated alphabet were both in Kraft and I painted them to match the colors in the pattern papers.  I made the paper rosette and little vintage tag at the bottom with 22 stamped on it (his birthday).  Stampin' UP So Saffron ink was used to distress the tiny embossed stars, the edges of the layout and the doily. Who says you can't use a doily on a boy's layout?

I thought the cross stitch borders was a fun way to finish it all off.

It's about time I started scrapping some of Reid's first birthday photos as his second birthday is only 2 weeks away - go figure!

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Wagons west,

CarrieAnne

Heaven Sent Hot Air Balloon Card

Shabby Chic Hot Air Balloon Baby Card

A friend of mine welcomed her third little one in the world this past weekend and I thought I would make a card to go with a gift. I am in love with all things related to hot air balloons lately, so this die cut sticker from Simple Stories was the perfect focal point.

I love a muted palette with plenty of shabby chic details.

The doilies and paper bow are from the shop.  In order to mute and "shabbify" the bow I sprayed it with my favorite color of Glimmer Mist - Snow Queen. It adds a hint of gold to everything and tones down anything too bright.

The paper is My Mind's Eye from way back in my stash.

InLinkz.com

Wishing you lifted spirits,

CarrieAnne