All About PRESENTation

Happy Hellos Everyone:

Aren't you glad it Friday? It hard to believe the final day of November 2012 has arrive, which could only mean the big ol' guy will arrive sooner rather than later with all sorts of wonderful presents in hand. That leads me right to today's project. It's not always about the gift, rather the presentation of the gift. I am really big on presentation whether it's my paper creations, or decorations, or that awesome dinner party. The way we present ourselves or an items will definitely open ones perception to the invitation of attending an event; having a good time at an event; trying that new dish; or receiving a gift without in intrepidation. Well, there are times when I love to present my cards as gifts [to those I know who will appreciate them and actually use them]. Initially, I would provide a few cards. Later, I would bound a few small sets with beautiful ribbons. More recently, I have been putting my cards in plastic see through boxes. With using the plastic boxes, I have the ability to present my gift with just the box and a bow or covering my box with paper. Over the next couple of months, I have decided to create my own boxes. Take a look...

I used some of my favorite designer papers of the season to adorn my box

and stamped a Waltzing Mouse sentiment for all to see.

Here BoBunny DP meets Waltzing Mouse Stamps. I just love this color

 combination. I only wished I had taken photos of the inside. There are two

 pockets on the inside--one for the envelopes and another one [a little wider]

for the cards.

A box for an all occasion collection.

 

...and of course I couldn't make a box without having a purple related theme.

The neat thing about these boxes is having the ability to dress them up or down.

As always, thanks for stopping by The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

Christmas Candy

Happy Hellos Everyone:

I hope all is well in your part of the world. I promise this post will be brief. Today's card represents all the sweet things about the Christmas season. It may even appear familiar to you. That's because a couple of months ago I posted a similar card. I also made several of this style card for Halloween. The disappeared instantly. So, I decided to make a few more for a couple of craft shows I am planning to attend. I think this card would work for just about any occasion we celebrate that incorporates candy (i.e.Valentines, Easter, Halloween, etc.)

 

I used an assortment of DPs. Distress both  papers and

 the wooden handle with Ranger Ink Inks.

Stamped a WMS image and sentiment in the center; painted the edge of the

 card with white acrylic paint to create a frosted effect; topped it of with

Ranger Ink Stickle.

Since the card is pre-wrapped and already adorned with a ribbon treatment,

 a sentiment is provided and I inform the sender he or she should sign the

 wooden [faux] lollipop stick. There's ample room.

As always, thanks for stopping by The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

A Peaceful Christmas

Happy Hellos Everyone:

Can you  believe it? It's Hump Day and I am already longing for the weekend. Okay maybe not long; however, anticipating. That's because The Peddler's Gallery will be participating in three holiday events over the next seven days. Today's card is one of the card I planned to bring to one, if not all of the events. Take a look....

I thought this card was one of those simple eleoquent stype

 of card and there are times when that's all that's required.

I painted some dove chipboard I discovered at Micheal's white and coated

 them in my off-white glitter mixture. I punched out some greenery and attached

 a red wired ribbon to it. I scored the card stock to create a frame and stamped

 a sentiment from Penny Black.

Full View

As always, thanks for visiting The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

A Quilted Christmas Tree for Him

Happy Hellos Everyone:

I hope your Tuesday is already off to a terrific start. Now that we're fully immersed in the holiday season, I decided to share more of my 2012 Christmas card collection with  you over the next couple of weeks. I said that to say I hope I don't overload with you my holiday cards. Instead, perhaps it will inspire you to get moving on either creating some holiday card, finishing the ones you've started, or placing an order. Just know that it's not too late [especially to make your cards]. When I feel a little press for time, my Christmas cards become my New Year's card.

It's so hard not to be in the holiday spirit. Holiday songs are being played regularly over the air; people are smiling at one another; and folks are beginning to bring all kinds of sweet baked items into the workplace. Anyway, today's card did not start off being about him. However, by the time I finished, I though this was a perfect card for a male recipient. Take a look...

I pulled out my Papertrey Inc. goodies: tree die and stamp

 set and my CuttleBug wood grain embossing plate and DP

 holiday collection from Yellow Bicycle.

Although, this card could be sent to anyone, I feel it is my most masculine

 card of the holiday season. So, when I came to that epiphany, I immediately

 decided not to embellish the card anymore than what I had already done.

I sprinkled a little Christmas magic [okay Ranger Inc. Stickle] to 

outline the tree and highlight the various DP patterns.

As always, thanks for visiting The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

Snowman Alert

Happy Hellos Everyone!

It's official! The holiday season is here--cold weather and all. I hope you had the most memorable Thanksgiving holiday with your family and friends. As for me, well, everyone went out of town. The only thing I baked for Thanksgiving was an apple pie and I ate the entire pie [of course not in one setting]. I long for that me time every now and then. I have to admit, my me time was spent very productively.

Friday, Cassandra and I got together to create some Christmas cards. Originally, I suggested our 'Black Friday Crop' should begin at 6 AM; however, that prove to be too early for some. So, the time was move back to 7:30 AM, but I don't think we actually began until 9 AM. Just when I thought I was getting into the grove of things,we decided to make a run to to Cassandra bank that happened to be next door to the LSS. How convenient was that? Right? By the time we returned back to 'Crop Central' we were empowered and  inspired to create and that's just what we did. By the time I was ready to call it quits, it was past 3:30 AM and I was 31 cards knee deep.

I think I had the most fun creating this card. It's a card I CASed, but I managed to dress it up a bit. Snowmen are one of my favorite icons of the season. After you've taken down the lights, the trees, and the greeting of the day is no longer Merry Christmas or Season's Greetings, the snowman remains for a little while longer. Take a look and share your thoughts.

I just love this snowman card and I hope you do too.

It was relatively easy to create and fun too.

I happen to come across the background paper at my LSS. Not sure whether

 or not it is a recent DP since there were only three sheets remaining,

but I thought it worked perfectly with the theme.

With the exception of the base, I created the major

 parts of my snowman using my Silhouette Cameo

 and I embossed him with my CB snowflake folder.

Then I adorned him with a scarf and in with off-white glitter and frosted his

nose and  buttons with Ranger Ink Rock Candy Stickle. I love that stuff.

And there you have a faux aerial shot of a snowman.

As always, thanks for stopping by The Peddler's Gallery and come back again real soon.

December 25th

Happy Hellos Everyone!

Can you believe it? We're just a few days away from Turkey Day. This is just the best time of year. I love watching the parade, the wonderful aromas that travel throughout the house, and the warm smiles that greet you no matter where you go. I am even more excited about Black Friday, but not because of the shopping. I can accomplish what I want to purchase any time between now and the 24th of December. I'm excited because I am having a Black Friday Crop beginning at 6:30 A.M. We'll crop as long as the stores remain open on Friday. The goal is to make as many Christmas/New Years cards [or whatever your preference is] before the crop is over. Typically, I mail approximated 60-80 holiday cards to family and friends and I haven't made one thus far. So, needless to say, I have a lot of work to do. To help get us in the mood, there will be holiday music in the air and a on going holiday movie marathon taking place and of course there will be food. I'll be sure to let you know how every thing went by the weekend. What plans do you have for this Black Friday?

Well, I wanted to share one of my card set I made. I idea was to keep it simple and I think I have managed to do just so. Take a look.

Inside each translucent box is a set of six cards. As you can see the card

 sentiment varies. I used a sentiment stamp from WMS on the forefront

 card and I used a sentiment stamp from PTI on the card in the background.

I used my number dies from PTI before embossing my card with a CB embossing

 plate. The DP is one of my favorite Christmas lines--Basic Grey collection: Jovial.

As always, thanks for visiting The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

Christmas Melody

Happy Hellos Everyone:

Do you hear what I here? It sounds as though Christmas is in the air. Not to worry. I haven't forgotten about the big turkey day...Thanksgiving. From as far as I can see, that day promises to be filled with all kinds of things to do. Today, I returned from participating in a  holiday craft show at the Historic Oakland Manor in Columbia, Maryland. So, I suppose for the moment, I am hearing the bells of Christmas ringing in my ears. I met a lot of people, sold several cards and other items too. Needless to say, I need to return to the craft room right away. Overall, it wasn't a bad day.

Before I go any further, let me just give a shout out to BoBunny. I absolutely love their papers; however, I have to admit I have not been able to get myself wrapped up in this year's Christmas line. If you were to ask me why, I would tell you so. I would tell you the reason I am unable to wrap myself in this year's Christmas line is simple. I am still wrapped up in last year's line. Take a look and perhaps you'll see why.

Let me just begin by acknowledging , I love this rich color combination.

 When it comes to the DPs, this holiday BoBunny meets holiday 

Authentique--a perfect combination. Here, I got to pull 

out my pine cone die from PTI and my ribbon from Montreal.

Here, I switched it up. I opted for the brown card stock and snowflakes.

 I ran out of the solid ribbon from Montreal and decided to use another ribbon

 I purchase in Canada instead. Either way, I received the same wonderful results.

The one thing that surprised me was using Color Box pigment ink on my

 PTI sentiment stamps. Whenever I pulled them out to play, the first thing

 that comes to mind is using the embossing technique. Right??? I used a

 metallic platinum color and allowed it to air dry. It looks so wonderful on

 these dark hues. If you haven't tried it, I suggest you do. 

Front

As always, thanks for stopping by The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

New Beginnings

Happy Hellos Everyone:

I just couldn't let this Friday get away without sending a 'Happy Hello' your way. I realize it's a little late, but you know what the old saying is....'better late than never'. Besides, I really wanted to share today's card with you today since I already have a different card to share with you tomorrow. Typically, the color range I normally work with ranges from medium to bold. Seldom do I use soft shades of pink, purples, yellows, or blues for that matter. Today, I put down those bold colors and I am so glad I did and I think you would agree.

Today's card is all about 'new beginnings'. I thought this style of card is perfect for the arrival of a new baby, a new marriage or just starting all over again. I've been wanting to create a card using a birds nest every since I discovered them on Ashley's blog [well over a year ago] and I am just getting around to doing so.

Well, take a look...

As previously mentioned, this is a wonderful card to celebrate a couple's wedding.

Here, I used the softer burlap, oppose the course

 burlap I used on the second card.

Full View of first card

I love the soft blue and beige combination and the nest,  I just think this is 

one of the most wonderful embellishments in my collection. I pulled out all kinds

 of goodies from My Mind's Eye, Paper , PTI and some ribbon treatment.

 There are just a few minor changes between the two cards,

 but as you can see, this works well for a baby card too.

 i

Full View of card #2

As always, thanks for stopping by The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

Simple, yet Elegant

Happy Hellos Everyone!!!

I hope all is well in your world. I promise. This post will be brief. Today's card is all about keeping it simple. I absolutely love the cards below. They are simple, yet elegant and perfect for any occasion. Take a look....

As you can see, I used an assortment of DP from 

S.E.I., BoBunny, Authentique, and Graphic45.

Aside from using the desired DP, I think having the right ribbon treatment

 and embellishments are vital in making this style card pop.

I love this broach style brad I used from Paper Studios. Too bad I only had

 three instead of four. The sentiment stamps are from SU, PTI,  and Michaels.

I think the use of the embossed manila tag and

 the twine helps to simplify these cards.

As always, thanks for stopping by The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.

White Christmas Door Hanger

Happy Hellos Everyone [Again]!!!

I promised myself I would not overload my blogging family with lots of post today. However, as I previously mentioned I had an opportunity to craft this weekend and that is what I did. It's been a minute (okay just last week, but it feels as though it could have been long) since I shared a door hanger with you. Well, wait no longer. I have titled this one, 'White Christmas'. Photographing this door hanger was a challenge. Normally, I use a white background and the white background wasn't working for me. So, to make the door hanger pop, I opted to hang it on a dark lamp shade. I really like how this turned out. Take a look...

I used the same material to create the hanger--cardboard.

When possible just ask your LSS.

I pulled out some of my Tim Holtz (fence & snowman die), Memory Box (window)

and PTI (sentiment stamp) goodies and commence to having a good old time.

 Authentiques DP went well with this arrangement. The pattern paper looks

 like something befitting for a dinning room wall.

To embellished the door hanger, I added a little lace at the top of the window to

 create a curtain affect and made a winter flower arrangement at the base of the

window pane. After painting the snowman's stick-like arms and nose, I glossed them

over with a thin layer of Glossy Accents to make them appear as if his arms had

been iced over. I topped the snowman off with a glittery top hat and a fashionable scarf.

Full View

SIDE NOTE: I thought a nice presentation for this door hanger would be to hang it on a bottle of wine. What do you think? As always, thanks for visiting The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon--like tomorrow.

Special Fold

Happy Hellos Everyone!!!

I hope all is well with you. Things are pretty good over here. I know its been a minute since my last post, but I am happy to say I have been busy, busy, busy. This past weekend was wonderful. I took advantage of the opportunity to create and had minimal distractions. I was able to catch up on my card collection including thank you, birthday, and Christmas cards. Just below is a card I had fun making. Take a look...

I think I had so much fun creating this card because of the way it is designed--folds.

Coordinating pattern papers are wonderful. As you can see I did so here.

I also framed the sentiment using Spellbinder dies and dipped my

 flower buds in a little glitter just to make them standout ever so.

Of course I had to try this using shades of plum.

What I like most about this card was stamping the sentiment on the far right panel.

Just wanted to show you what the card looks like when

folded and when standing upright.

As always, thanks for stopping by The Peddler's Gallery and come back real soon.