Mojo Back at Last!!

I have been in a recovery period since Christmas and finally have some mojo back and have been spending time in my studio making Valentine cards.

I LOVED this Valentine card so much last year that I thought I'd see how many I could make to sell in my Etsy.com store. It has been ages since I listed anything there also but am at up for a test to see how the economy is doing for handmade papercrafts. I even sat down and remade my logo to finally match my name.

The buttons are from a huge tin my mother gifted me of many years ago. My sister always got mom's heirloom jewelry, etc. and I got a tin of buttons, tarnished silverplate, and the like. Gotta love those two, they always took such good care of me! Anyway, I have always marveled at how bottomless that tin has been and how metaphoric is was for my life so when I sat down to create my blog it came to mind, hence my blog name..."Musings from the Button Box".

I hope you've enjoyed my little bit of family history and will check out my listings on Esty.com and stop back soon.

I have a number of Magnolia Valentines to post and enter in challenges this week.

A Fun, Funny Cupcake Tutorial

I found this a while back and LOVE this zany gal and her family.  Check it out,  Someday, I'm going to make one of these yummy paper cupcakes!

Wowzers...Loads of Card Sketches!!

Looking around the internet today I came across Card Positioning Systems indirectly from OWH and am I tickled. If you're like me, you love sketches or recipes since they make cardmaking so much easier. Haven't tried one yet? Be sure to check this site out and have a look around checking sketches. There are lots to see!

For those of you who are unfamiliar, "sketches" are digital puzzles of a sort that give you a guide to follow when designing a card. Check this one out and you'll understand what I mean:



Each geometric shape represents an element ie. the narrow strip across the middle could be ribbon or lace, the top square a white block with a stamped image, and the 2 background pieces could be patterned paper to coordinate with your image or focal element. I'll toss a quick one together so you can see how it all works! Check back in the a.m. to see what I put together for OWH.

A Favorite Layout...

Rarely comes along a piece that I have such an emotional bond to as this scrapbook layout. I made it a couple years ago with the intent of selling it on eBay. I priced it higher than my market of buyers, tho' much lower than many of the well-known artists sell, so it was no surprise...it didn't sell! Yay! I don't make scrapbook layouts much anymore preferring to make cards since they are much more compact.
Oh, the joy! So now my youngest son who inspired me to make the layout is having his first child and if we're lucky we have a 50-50 shot it'll be a boy! We'll be thrilled with what we get but a grandson would be fun since we have two wonderful granddaughters. Anyway, new daddy2B, Justin, is a volunteer firefighter hence my attachment to this cute layout. I hope you enjoyed seeing my moldy oldie again, as much as I!

I used paperpiecing technique with my original illustrations of the "little hero" and his pedal car-driving dalamation friend. Please keep in mind, these are my original illustrations and may not be reproduced in any fashion without my written permission.

French-Theme Altered Art Magnet Hanger

I was in the mood to exercise my altered art side so I decided to toss together a few items and made a magnet for a friend...one who sends me the most amazing handcrafted gifts and I am so terrible at reciprocating! I've been thinking of her lately and thought she might like this... I made this collage using old bits of this and that I had in my studio with an reprint of a vintage image that looked very French to me. The edges of the photo were antiqued with UTEE and the Eiffel Tower was embossed with copper. I love distressing cardstock and added a square of corrugated stock I had on hand from old packing materials. I will be so sad when my supply is exhausted! All parts were antiqued with walnut stain, vintage buttons and stickers round out things. But what would it be without my prized May Arts Ribbon and lace trim? This was my first time using the i.Rock too...check out the flourish of pearls! I hope my friend likes the gift I'll be sending off soon!

More 2 Die for...

Big thanks out to my longtime papercrafting pal, Karen S. for her help in looking for more cool paper dies for me. A week or so back I did a long post about matching dies and stamps putting a call out for more. Here are her three finds:

• Taylored Expressions


• The Cat's Pajamas


• Whimsy Stamps - My favorite! I love Whimsy Ticket Sentiments by Ann Vento so what better than a die to make it easier? I have 2 sets of these wonderful stamps so I must add the die soon. Check it out HERE.

In my true overly analytical style, I have NOT found the perfect label and die set to purchase for myself yet! I am in creative overload with so many new sets released at the recent CHA. Will keep you posted on my choice.

Kissing???????

Hmmm...just needed a break today to do something without Copic coloring or little human figures! I've spent hours coloring lately though there are no cards on the blog to show for it. They will appear someday :-)

I enjoyed this video at Hero Arts showing the "kissing" technique recently and thought I'd have a little fun trying something new and while I was at it, entered it in their February challenge.

Check out the stamps I used...
The inexpensive foam fleur de lis stamp was purchased years ago for a New Orleans album I made for my daughter who volunteered in St. Bernard Parish after Hurricane Katrina. It was the only stamp I could find in my stash that seemed appropriate for the technique so it basically dictated the direction of the card. So much for inspiration! Hey, but at least Paris is the city of "love"...right!?!

To achieve the "kissing" one must use 2 stamps which are pressed or kissed together to share ink from both stamps. I inked my fleur de lis stamp in black Memento and "kissed" it with the larger background stamp which was inked in white Brilliance ink. Lastly, the fleur de lis was stamped on gold matte metallic cardstock and voila'!

You can clearly see both images plus the added interest of the metallic finish to the cardstock. (Click image at right for a better look.)
I LOVE the look! I assembled the tag pocket from kraft cardstock, black brads reinforce the pocket edge which was folded down twice. I punched a hole at the back of the pocket and added a length of my brand new prize May Arts ribbon I won for my Valentine banner in an earlier post.
The ribbon was antiqued with black & walnut ink as was the kraft pocket. The double-layered image and pocket cardstock were distressed slightly as well. The fleur de lis was stamped twice so I could add some fun dimension. To finish things off I added 3 royal blue faux crystals which I colored with black Copic marker.

This technique was so much fun. I can't wait to try it again.

Amazing New Stuff...

Cosmos Cricket has introduced a wonderful new product I can't wait to get my sticky little fingers on...they are GLUBERS!! They are large circles of glue that are perfect for making things like ribbon flowers and those accordian pleated rounds I love.
Be sure to visit their blog for a cute video on them and join me in patiently waiting for our favorite suppliers to start carrying them. Sheesh...I'm not so good with patience but I'll try. Here's a photo of the package I snagged from their website so you'll know them when they start popping up.

Bags Are Quite The Thing!

I've been blog hopping today before getting busy on a new project and was struck by how many bag crafts I happened across. Either my sister bloggers and I are on the same wave length or bags are regaining in popularity OR both!

I wanted to point out a couple great spots of inspiration I came across that I intend to revisit soon:

For nifty paper sack crafts I visited old pal Cindy Lyles at Starlit Studio for her rendition of cute little thank yous and nifty gifties. You've got to see them...I'm definitely going to give this a try when I make my grandgals' Valentines. Ahhh...finally a project for my heart-shaped doilies. Thank you, Cindy!!

Cindy was inspired by Mish Mash's Christmas pouches. Aren't they the cutest things ever?? She also has an Etsy.com store with lots of interesting tidbits.

And Dineen a newbie over at the Magnolia-licious Challenge blog came up with a pattern/template that works perfectly for my handcrafted bag below. Be sure to go print yourself a copy :-)

I was also very inspired by the delicate loveliness of Viola Mahr's beautiful cards and crafts. She sells lots of yummy goodness at her Etsy.com store too.

And totally unrelated to bags but looks interesting is a video classroom of sorts that might be fun... .

Please be sure to leave these talented bloggers some love if you stop by and come back to see my LOVE-ly surprise I'm working on that will be posted soon! Ohh...before I forget...how about following my blog too?

Amazing Paper Dies in the UK

Rarely comes along a new gadget that I don't fall in love. I am definitely dazzled by new fangled things so I know in my heart of hearts that my son, Justin, got this gene from mom! Our love of tools is a little different but they are implements aka tools non-the-less. Check out this die...
I was visiting the amazing Suzanne Dean's blog to see her DT card for Copic Creations and was gobsmacked (the tool is English) by the beauty of the pine bough diecuts used on her card. Thankfully, she tells us they are Marianne D dies and are available at Bunny Zoe's Crafts in the UK. I'm going to have to consider getting some of them soon.

Speaking of Copic Creations...the challenge theme is "sparkle" and it runs until January 14th. The prize is a wonderful bunch of stamps from Just Rite Stamps.