Keeping the home fires burning

Hello friends : ) I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I also hope you enjoyed a safe Black Friday shopping spree - if you took advantage of that.  I have never (ever) gone shopping on Black Friday.  I'm more a stay at home keep the leftovers warm for the shoppers kind of gal : )  One time (only once) Diane and I did a neckStyles™ show at a mall on black Friday.  While we normally enjoy great success at shows where people can see, feel and try on our scarves that year we were really disappointed!  We quickly learned that Black Friday is for the "Big Box" stores offering large screen TVs and Lap tops for pennies on the dollar! heehee we could not compete with the frenzy and thankfully we decided not to try.

Instead, this year I stayed snuggled up under a quilt chatting with my friends and family on Black Friday - enjoying the sunshine like a cat in a window LOL

These two cards were "hand quilted" by me : )  Two very different paper selections to make for two very different looking quilts.  I want to apologize for the terrible pictures! my lighting was off and no amount of Photoshop seems to have helped.

 These cards are super easy to create! simply cut or punch out squares, cut them on the diagonal - or leave them whole - like I did the 4 corners of the card in the top picture.  I like to create "boxes of four completed squares and then run them through an embossing folder for an added quilt like texture.  After each of my four (four square sections) are completed and embossed I tape them to the layer and then tape that whole piece to the card.  Both cards have been embossed the same way.  The bottom card has a more of a pronounced pinwheel in the center - standing out better than the one in the top picture  because of the papers I selected.

You can make your quilt simple or very intricate depending on the size squares you choose to use.

Please feel free to print out and copy this simple quilt design.  If you post your card please send me a link I would LOVE to see it!!

Have a wonderful day.

Patti

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you a delicious! celebration of thanks.

BIG (((((Hugs)))))
Patti

Excitement is in the air!!

It is a tremendously exciting and busy time for Diane and I in our perspective "neckStyles™ factories" : ) Our sewing rooms and even our living rooms, sometimes, begin to bulge with all the scarves we've sewn in preparation for the Christmas Shopping season. 

We have completed all of the craft shows for the year that we will participate in and so for the next month (plus) we will be putting all of our focus on our Etsy shop and caring for our on-line customers.

We have a some BIG releases of all new scarves coming out this week and next week along with a super duper sale!! Starting tomorrow it's our "Buy Three Get One FREE!!" sale - all of our customers seem to really love it when we offer this sale.  : )


Today I will be putting the finishing touches on a special gift that we will be including with each order.  We always put a special treat in each box we ship but for the holidays we will be changing it up a bit : )   I will tell you it involves paper! LOL and as soon as I can I will shoot some pictures and post them. These new thank you treats will begin going in boxes tomorrow!

Today I am posting this sweet - simple little card that sums up the outstanding! friend and business partner I have in Diane.  I made this card for her.  She truly is a one of a kind friend.

Have a wonderful day!!

Patti

It's a wrap!

Shaped cards are among my favorite cards to create.  This card was created using Spellbinders die cuts.  The largest scallop in the set is 4.25" and fits nicely in a 5" square envie. The patterned paper layers on the top of the scallop using coordinating Spellbinders circles - LOVE Nestabilities!.  

Then I also used a circle for the card backing - scoring it just an inch or so down so that it opens nicely.  If you like you can trim off the bottom of the scallop so your card doesn't roll off the table heehee or use a little easel like I do.  

This is a smallish card so I used a small sentiment on the inside.  I selected a clear stamp from Close to My Heart which enabled me to slightly bend the sentiment around the shape of the card.  

I wanted the images of the ladies to appear to be a ribbon so I cut the paper strips to look like a ribbon and sewed them to the card.  The only way the "ribbons" are attached are with the stitching so the papers lift up slightly - adding dimension.  I also sewed on a little purse for one of the gals : )

These cards, like the others in this series, were created almost entirely with papers from Graphics 45 "A Ladies' Diary" collection.

So this wraps up this gift series! get it? wraps up??  Ok maybe I need a nap.

Have a wonderful day and thank you for stopping by!

Patti

Chipboard Buttons

This card A2 size card is probably my favorite of the cards I've posted in this gift box series.  I like the design and colors.  My favorite components are the chipboard buttons I used from my stash.  I don't think I will ever really USE all the treasures in my stash and the main reason is that once I use them they'll be GONE! LOL I know, sick huh?

These chipboard buttons are from Making Memories.  They are cut from paper but then a resin of sorts was applied to the top to give them more dimension.

As I often do - I created this card with a way for my sister to select the sentiments that she wanted to use when she decided who to give this card to.  My sister is an avid papercrafter so I included blank papers ready to be stamped by her this time.  The papers are meant to slip up under the tab as pictured here:

 

Thank you for stopping by : ) Have a great day!!

Patti

Happy Monday!

Few more cards that went in my sister's gift box : )

Have a wonderful day!

Thank you for stopping by.

Patti

Very Vintage Gift Box series

Hello friends : )   Happy Sunday.  I hope that it is sunny in your world.  We are under VERY cloudy skies today! Looks like a great day for homemade soup!! yummmm

Here is another set of cards that I created to go in my sister's gift box.  I really love this guy! He just wants to be somewhere else! LOL like perhaps out hunting as it appears that he is holding a rifle bag in his hand. 

I created this as an anniversary card in the gift I've been highlighting here for the last several posts. Both the 6 x 6" and 3.5 x 2.5" gift enclosure card were created using the Graphic 45 paper.  The clock and the small image were actually stickers.  I like to take stickers and "un-stick" them by putting powder on the back.  That way I can layer or pop them up with a foam dot to give them added dimension.  I even "popped" up a sticker on the inside of the card,

Have a wonderful sun shiny day - even if it is only in your heart!! 

Patti

Vintage Gift series

Here are more images from the gift I created for my sister's 60th birthday!! Being a significant birthday and being that I am her YOUNGER sister *wink* I wanted to tease her about "becoming vintage"!

I found this beautiful box at a local store and knew it was perfect for filling with cards!  The card shown in the top picture is a 6 x 6" card so you can see it fits well with room to spare.

The box was filled cards including 6 x 6" cards, 5.5 x 4.25" cards and 3.5 x 2.5" gift cards.  All with papers matching the Graphic 45 Vintage collection named "A Ladies' Diary" collection.

Here are two more cards that were included.  I often create my cards with multiple sentiments so the the recipient can select the appropriate sentiment for their needs.  This card came with three layered sentiments ready to attach to the card. 

Have a great day!!

Thank you for stopping by.

Patti

Vintage Birthday

This card is one in a series I made using Graphic 45 papers.  I really love using coordinating papers to create my cards because so much of the work is done for you! 

A friend of mine is an avid quilter so she often gives me fabric scraps.  I used one of those fabric scraps on my card in place of a ribbon.  I stitched a zig zag on my sewing machine.  I then gathered the fabric just a little before attaching it to my card.

I used Spellbinders for the circles and pretty scallop frame and a Martha Stewart border punch.  I antiqued the entire card - including the ribbon - to stay within my theme for this gift set.

I'm off to my sewing machine today! working on some more new scarves for our shop.  I hope you have a wonderful day!! Thanks for stopping by.

Patti

Very Vintage gift series

This is a card I created for my sister's birthday. This is one of several cards I created using Graphic 45 papers. This card is approximately 4 x 9.25". I wanted to use the entire image so I had to carefully cut out part of her umbrella - the umbrella folds to fit in the envie. This was a fun gift to create because the actual gift was eight cards plus 8 gift card enclosures (all from the same Graphic 45 series papers) packaged in a sweet vintage box. I will post the rest of the pictures at a later time. Patti