Sympathy Card with Graphic 45 and Botanical Tea

This collection (Graphic 45 Botancial Garden)  is so beautiful with all the birds, butterflies and flowers. I had to make a sympathy

card for a friend of mine and I couldn’t think of a better collection to use. It’s so soft and uplifting

in and of itself I just knew she would love it. I used one of the Susan’s Garden’s Dies from Sizzix to

create the Yarrow flower on the front and it really makes the card jump to life, along with the fussy

cut butterflies that are ready to flitter off the front.

Be sure to head over to Graphic 45's blog today and see what my teamie Annette has created for you too...her work is always stunning. 

  and here's the interior of the card

 

 

Xyron, Graphic 45 and Petaloo Halloween Tower

 

Who doesn't love Halloween and especially when it paired up with some of the best craft goodies on the market?   Graphic 45 is known for their must have paper collections and " Steam Punk Spells " certainly fits the bill.  The paper has a vintage feel with vibrant colors and fun designs that make the latest release from Petaloo flowers mix together perfectly. I had such a blast creating this Halloween Home Décor Tower and I was able to pull everything together with all of my Xyron Glue Favorites.   

 

 

 

I started with three plain wooden block I picked up at my local craft store.  I painted the block black for my base and then started building up the layers.  My 5" Creative Station from Xyron helped me make large block stickers for the paper tile bases.  Honestly everything came together so quickly on this project.  I guess that just goes to show you what you can do with the right supplies. 

 

 

 

The Letters and finial were painted with crackled paint as well as the paper mache pumpkin and I layered and layered to give the piece a lot of character.  Once the paint was dry I rubbed with ink to highlight the crackle finish and on the finial I sanded as well to add a bit more distressing. 

 

I love nestling flowers in clusters on a project and I thought the metal keys fit the top cluster perfectly. 

 

 

I must say this is one of those projects that I will really enjoy decorating my home with during the Halloween season.

 

Want to see all the products I used to create this Halloween Tower....check out my complete list below. 

Xyron 5” Creative Station w/ Permanent, Xyron DIY Foam Tape, Xyron 1 ½ “ Sticker Maker, Clockworks #4500682, Vintage Voyage, Ornate Metal Keys, Totally Wicked 4500691, Beware 4500690, Banners 4500695, Nevermore 4500685, Pumpkin Power 4500688, Steampunk Tags and Pockets 4500697, Fanciful Floral 4500681, Petaloo Darjeelings Leaves Medium, Petaloos Dahlias Autumn, Petaloo Mini Daisy w/ leaves teal and aqua flowers, Wooden Blocks, May Arts Ribbon, Paper Mache Pumpkin, Tim Holtz Crackle Paint, Wooden Finial, Chipboard Letters, Sizzix/Tim Holtz Die

Were you Naughty or Nice?

I hope everyone had a Merry, Merry Christmas.  So I have one question to ask, were you naughty or nice?  LOL.  Our big party of the year is Christmas Eve and this year was no exception.  We blew it out well.  One of the dessert was the naughty or nice trays.  I made regular Rice Krispie Treats for the nice side and Oreo coal for the naughty.  I'll list the recipe for the Oreos chews at the end of this post.

I made the little signs for the trays using products from Scrap-Mart.  I would have brought them home to take a bit better photos, but there was a precious little girl at the party who wanted them, so off they went in the spirit of the evening.

Here is a list of supplies used for the signs:

Sizzix Frame Back Ornate #3
Amazing Paper Grace Kit of the Month November: Stamp
Spellbinders Circle
Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Stickles 

Now the recipe for the Oreo Coal.  Let me warn you cut these very small as they are really chewy.

One package of Oreo cookies/ processed in the food processor to crumbs
4 Tablespoons of Butter
5 Cups of marshmallows

Melt the butter and the marshmallows in pan over the stove top.  Once everything is melted add the cookie crumbs and stir to all mixed.  Pour out and press into a baking dish lined with parchment paper. Wait to cool and cut into small bite size pieces.

Have a little Christmas money that needs to find a good home?  Remember you can get one item 40% off regular price at Scrap-Mart, just use the STOCKING coupon code.  Ends the 31st of December so hurry.  

I LOVE THIS PAGE!!!

I really love the way this page turned out.  I was feeling extremely uninspired on Saturday but really wanted to scrap something...so I sat down and before I knew it, I had completed this layout, and I love it.  It's got such a unique feel to it, just like my sweet little Tin Man. 

I used the following products for this layout:

Tim Holtz Inks

Sizzix Die

Tim Holtz: film strip ribbon

Webster's Pages Paper

Dimensional Elements / On Target from Close To My Heart

Webster's Page Vellum