Dot & Whimsy

Hey, y'all!  Hope you're having a great weekend!

I've tackled a few projects over the last couple of days and 

filling orders from my Etsy Shop :)  Today I've listed four brand new Pocket Letters.

What are Pocket Letters?  I'm not sure who coined the phrase or birthed the idea, but basically they are a baseball card sleeve (with 9 pockets) that are filled with all sorts of goodies for planners, cardmaking or other papercrafting projects! I LOVE curating them for folks and customers seem to really love them as well.  Take a look:

I find all of these really cute, vintage reproduction style ATC cards on Etsy and add them to the various pockets.  Then I tuck in the fun embellishments that can be used (primarily) to decorate pages of planners!  You can hole punch the ATC cards and add them to the rings of the binder or adhere them to a calendar page.  Sequins are fun for those who like to maker shaker pages.  And of course, paperclips, labels and stickers are a must for the planner girl!  

I tie them up in pretty ribbon so they're all ready to go for the gift-giver :)

Enjoy your day & thanks for stopping in!

XOXOX

Shellye

Happy Sunday!

It was a rainy afternoon and all of the chores were done, so I 

sat down to create this cute 'lil patriotic ornament/tag/sign just in 

time for Independence Day!  Would be perfect hanging on a lighted tree, 

a cabinet knob or door :)

In my stash are a bunchhhh of these scalloped acrylic pages that were designed

for mini albums. I cut a piece of chipboard to measure slightly smaller than the

acrylic piece and then dressed (both sides) with patterned papers from Echo Park Paper.

The edges were distressed with a walnut ink and then attached it to the back with

 Sookwang adhesive tape (I placed the tape strategically so it would be

hidden by the piece on front of the acrylic).

For the front, I used a die-cut chipboard piece covered in this cute patriotic plaid print.

The little retro girl (I found by searching "free patriotic clip art) was printed onto

heavy cardstock, trimmed out and added with foam tape, along with the blue

glitter die cuts.  

I made up a strand of crepe paper fringe  and adhered it to the bottom of 

the chipboard frame, along with a piece of paper straw.

Buttons were tied with jute and added to the top of the fringe.

A boutique style bow was added to the side with a craft tag boasting USA

attached to the center of it.  Ribbon was inserted through the top holes to

create the hanger for this little cutie!

That's all for tonight!  Thanks for coming by!

XOXOX

Shellye

I have this fun, funky and patriotic ball wreath up at May Arts Ribbon this week!

Plain styrofoam balls wrapped in twine...cute on a wreath or filling a glass bowl.

Come and see how I put it all together on the May Arts blog :)

Safe travels on this busy weekend to all of my US friends 

and a happy weekend to you all!

It's a busy, busy week for me but I wanted

to stop in and blog one of my cards that's up for 

We're sharing card, layouts and home decor all week in celebration of 

Canada Day and 4th of July!

Have safe travels this holiday, y'all!

The 4th of July is less than a week away!

Today I'm sharing a Patriotic Foiled Banner at 

Chickaniddy Crafts carries both silver and gold foil papers;

they look amazing embossed too, which I've done for the banner!

See more of my Patriotic Foiled Banner and how I put it all

together on today's blog post post!

HAPPY SATURDAY!

May Arts Ribbon is proud to support our nation’s deployed heroes through

 Operation Write Home^®

 This organization has sent over one million cards overseas so our service members can

 keep in touch with their loved ones while they’re away.  I hope you enjoy all the projects 

we’re sharing on our blog – and take some time to check out OWH’s blog and all the 

others participating, starting at the top of the hop. You’ll be inspired!

I had a lot of fun making this card and using one of the sketch's 

offered by Operation Write Home:

For the base of the card, I used a star print by Doodlebug Design.

Next, I cut a mat of white cardstock and then covered with the chevron ribbon, followed

by bands of polka dot ribbon.  The puffy stars were cut apart from their strand and

added with fabric glue.  And I LOVE the new red/white/blue baker's twine!

Finally, I added a few sticker letters by Doodlebug Design.  Before

attaching them, I used a small dab of fabric glue to the back of each letter.

Come on over and see all of the beautiful cards made by the May Arts Ribbonistas!

AND there's a chance to win 2 spools of yummy ribbon :)

Oooo, all of this patriotic goodness!  Bella Blvd is all about

red,white and blue cards today so stop by and take a gander

The striped and polka dotted Designer Tapes were just perfect for creating the flag for this card. 

I cut a piece of cardstock to 3" X 4.5" and then applied strips of the striped Designer Tape.

 Next, I cut a smaller piece of cardstock to 1.75" X 2", covered with the navy dot Designer Tape

 and then machine stitched around the edges before attaching to the striped piece.

 I kept the design simple by embellishing with a couple of hand-cut flowers and sticker sentiment.

 Supplies:All American: Borders & Cute Cuts, American Pride, Alpha+Bits Stickers;

Ever since being introduced to the Crochet Hearts, I've wanted to make a butterfly from them!

 For this card, I took two of the smaller McIntosh hearts and centered them over the journal sticker. 

For the middle of the butterfly I used a snippet from one of the chipboard Icon pieces and attached 

it with a fabric glue. The antennas were formed by adding two pearl stick pins through the 

crochet hearts and then bending them just a little. 

 And that's all from me today, friends!  Off to enjoy the 4th of July festivities with the fam :)

Fourth of July Greetings to my friends from the U.S. of A.!

(and a happy belated Canada Day to my Canadian buddies to the North)

I like to think of myself as a true patriot...I love all things red,white and blue,

I get the chills every time I hear the National Anthem and I tear up when I see a veteran :)

The 4th is always such a fun holiday to celebrate and today at 

we have some amazing things to share...first a fabulous promo:

And as with every Inspiration Thursday, three lucky commentors will be chosen

at random to receive a $20 Unity Gift Certificate!  So don't forget to leave those comments :)

(if anything goes awry, just head back to the Unity Blog to be redirected)

My card is clean-and-simple today...I think the sentiment and dog tags say it all!

 I did add a little texture to the die-cut postage mat with a Sizzix embossing folder.

And because I wanted to cut out the dog tags from the grey paper, I thought the

ball-chain strand would be so cute and such a nice touch!

The patterned paper is by Pebbles, Inc...for the stars I used a 1/4" round punch and

punched them from a patterned paper.

That's all from me today!

A good Thursday morning to you!  My family and I have just returned from 

a little camping getaway.  Since I didn't do much more than lay outside in a recliner and 

read books, I can't figure out why I'm sooo tired LOL  I did complete 5 loads of laundry

when we got home and have two more to get done today.  Just the thought of all of that

laundry is probably what exhausted me :)

In the meantime, I was up on the BELLA BLVD blog on Tuesday, as well as today.

I honestly love to be given a palette of pigment and then told "go with it!"

So this month's inspiration board was a lot of fun to work with...love those colors!

I added a splash of color to the chevron paper by applying some Designer Tape over a portion of it.

 For this card I wanted to show how the patterned papers can be turned into beautiful blossoms.

 Each flower was given two layers, along with a smaller flower and button in the center. 

Using a stylus and molding mat, you can give shape to the petals and create a true 3-D effect.

 We have four ladies at work who are expecting, so baby cards have been on my agenda lately :)

 This sweet elephant Cute Cut was a must-have!  I added her to the card-front with foam dots and then embellished. The small green circles at the bottom were cut from one of the Baby Boy papers.

For this week's "Cards on Thursdays" we were asked to create 'shaped' cards.
Have a look at the Bella Blvd blog to see all of the wonderful takes on this assignment :)

I've had this apron template for quite a long time now, so I'm not sure who to reference.
There are similar templates online and most for free! Again, I took my template and traced it onto
 a prepared card and then cut out; repeat with desired patterned paper. To attach the pocket,
I machine stitched around the sides and bottom, leaving the top open.
You can use a strip of paper or ribbon for the top.

Supplies: Thankful: Alpha+Bits Stickers, Burlap, Our Spot, Chipboard Icons; Sienna Chipboard Alphas: Pony; Crochet Hearts: Bell Pepper; Button Market: Red Flowers

 Using basic shapes make fun and easy cards! I used a star die-cut that I had on hand and traced
onto a prepared card; make adjustments so that the most prominent part of the design isn't distorted
 and then cut out. Next, I transferred that shape onto a patterned paper and then cut out and applied
 to the card front. I love that the bit of feather creates a plume similar to a burst of fireworks!

Supplies: All American: Alpha+Bits Stickers, Seeing Stars, American Pride, Chipboard Icons; Feathers: McIntosh; Flags: All American Words

I am delighted to be the June Guest Designer with Petaloo!  

I've had several team-up opportunities between Petaloo and other companies and each experience

 reminded me how much I truly love working with Petaloo products. I was equally excited to

 learn that Petaloo would be teaming up with Graphic 45 this month in celebrating all things

 Summer, patriotic and beach!  For my project today I'm sharing a grapevine wreath that I

 dressed up for the season...it contains stars, red, white & blue and a beach theme...

it just says "Welcome, Summer!"

 I started off with two pre-cut stars that I had on hand.  I used the backs of the Graphic 45 

 "Place in Time" papers to cover the stars.  After machine-stitching around the perimeter, 

I spritzed each with a little walnut spray and distressed the edges.

 After deciding on the focal piece to cut out from the "July" portion of the collection, I used the 

remainder of the patterned paper as the backdrop for two smaller stars and the postcard print. 

 I backed it with a thin chipboard and then stitched in place.

 Now for the embellishments!  Before attaching the postcard to the base, I added one of the

 metal brackets to the bottom.  A beautiful swag of Darjeeling Flowers makes a nice border,

 followed by a paper pennant "held up" by two of the sweet sea shell pins.

  I edged the bottom in three rows of the Paprika Crochet Trim.

 Next, I punched two small holes at the ends of each large star and attached to the grapevine wreath

 with a thick gauged wire.  A large burlap bow to the side and my wreath is ready for 

hanging and welcoming Summer guests!

A good Friday evening! I didn't realize that I was up at 

today, so I wanted to share this fun patriotic centerpiece that I made with

the brand new Pride Collection

To begin I used two different sizes of lace round dies by Lifestyle Crafts (you could also use paper punches or SVG files to achieve a similar look) and cut the shapes from desired patterned paper. 

 Cut (2) shapes for each stick.  To the back piece attach a paper straw with a fast-drying liquid glue.  Next, add thick foam dots (same height or taller than the straw's width) and attach the top round piece.  Layer on various stickers and glittery chipboard stars. 

 Fill the pail with floral foam and arrange the sticks as desired; top with red paper shred or Spanish Moss. When the 4th of July cook-out arrives, I'll add it to the buffet table and celebrate in style!

Time to share the newest 

I love the folk-artsy look of this week's stamp.

I've dressed it up in Pebbles' {Let Freedom Ring}

patterned papers.

The sentiment alone can be used for many occasions.  

If you love this stamp, be sure to grab it up before the week ends!

Just click on the banner at the top of the post to be taken to the

Unity Stamp of the Week Blog.

Be back in just a few with a brand new mini book!

Have a wonderful brand new week