The Arrival of Autumn

First things first...

Congratulations to Joyce! 

You are the winner of my Craft Spinner Giveaway. Please contact memascrafts2@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Has anyone noticed that the leaves on the trees are slowly changing into an array of vibrant earth tones, swaying on the trees as if to sing a song.  

I do love this time of the year although my allergies do rise. Living in Texas I don't get to see much of the beauty of Autumn, but a trip to North Carolina (home) erases all the pollution and noise of the city and rewards me with clean crisp air, tree-lined roads that curve in and out.  

Autumn announces its arrival with cleaner air or at least it seems to be cleaner. I love the cool mornings without the humidity and the evenings are perfect for a cup of tea. This is the time of year when you let the outside air inside and if I were home (in N.C.) I would wash my linen and hang it out to dry rather than use a dryer. Nothing better than falling asleep on fresh cool sheets. 

Yep this is the time of year when I really start to miss home, but fortunately I can visit for a week or two. here and there.

To celebrate this season I do have a simple card to share and I promise this post will be a short one.

I used My Mind's Eye designer paper and Bazzil card-stock to create this card. The image is a really old digital image I purchased a long time ago so I am not sure where I got it.

I used Copic markers to color the image, and Recollections/Prima floral embellishments.  I used Spellbinder dies and Martha Stewart punches to create the waved edge, the stitched oval and the scalloped oval.  Lastly, I added ribbon, eyelets and a sentiment to finish this card at 5.5 x 5.5.

I'd like to enter these challenges:
The Sisterhood of Crafters - Fall Is In The Air (10/6) (62)
Crafty Gals Corner - #175 Anything Fall Goes (10/8) (101)
Crafting By Designs - Anything Goes (10/25) (30)
DLART - #235 Fall Colors (10/24) (4)
Cute Card Thursday - #550 Anything Goes (10/9) (25)
Crafting With Attitude - #44 Anything Goes (10/27) (10)
Craft Rocket Challenges - #53 Autumn/Halloween (10/25) (15)
As You Like It Challenge - Favorite Season and Why (10/9) (47)

Well that's all I have for tonight, short as promised.  Thanks for stopping by.

Sending Hugs From Texas

~Lesia

Be Safe, Stay Healthy and Craft Happy

Computer Woes (pinned to the top)

Wow!! What a week or should I say what a month August was for me. Everything was going on and just when I thought it was over my PC decided to bomb out on me. The damage was heart-wrenching and the cost of the repair even more so. Nonetheless, I stayed strong and fought hard not to conclude that I needed a new PC.

As repairs were being made I did two things. The first thing I decided to do as I waited for my PC to be repaired was to create something different that did not require my computer.

My second thought was to spend time purging my craft-room and doing a bit of organizing. Well in doing this I found these napkins I had purchased from Tuesday Morning last year and thought they would be cute as a card. So with this thought in mind, I proceeded to create a card.  Afterwards, there were enough pieces left that I figured a matching envelope would be perfect. 

After doing this I thought of other ways this technique would be useful. Such as serving as a really neat memento to have of a wedding or a baby shower??? 

Next time you attend a wedding grab a few of the napkins and transfer those memories onto a card, or a box or even a canvas. Here is how it turned out. What do you all think about this?

As you can see it was a pack of napkins and all I used was one napkin so I could have made at least 8 more cards or altered a box or something.

I think I will try doing this again with glitter and other embellishments. On this one, I did create another sunflower and popped it up to add dimension to the card.

The second thing I did was to organize and find things to purge and I have one item that someone might find of interest.

It is the Tim Holtz Craft Spinner. I am already three tiers tall and have not space to start another set so I am giving it away. All you have to do if you're interested is leave a comment and add your name to Mr Linky below.

This is the spinner but the blending tools are not included and I will pay to ship up to $5.





Anything over $5 I will invoice you for the additional cost provided you are still interested. This applies to anyone who is outside the U.S. as well.

Well, that's all I have for this post. Don't forget to comment and add your name.

Thanks for stopping by.

Sending Hugs from Texas

~Lesia

Trick or Treat

Booooo! Hurry and grab the treats so there won't be any tricks.  Halloween is almost here and although I haven't participated in the past two years, this year I thought I would share the treats with the little ones and only little ones, so teenagers go to a Haunted House or a Costume Party....I am serious.

So do we know how Halloween came to be? Well, it originated with the Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France, celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.

Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred so on the night of October 31 they celebrated Samhain. It is from this belief that we associate the devil and evil with Halloween.

Immigrants from Scotland and Ireland bought the holiday to the United States. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1st as a time to honor all saints; therefore, the evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween.

As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups meshed, a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. Borrowing from Irish and English traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition.

So this was my summary on the history of Halloween. Now moving on to more fun stuff I have a 3-D card to share with you thanks to my bestest crafting buddy 

Joyce Owens of My Enchanted Paper Creations.

This card is made from a group of die cuts and adhered to a round card base containing a foldable easel also cut from a die. I hope you like it.

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Pookadoodles Crafting - #38 Anything Goes (9/28) (22)
Crafting With Friends - #73 Anything Goes (9/26) (139)
Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers - M is for Monster (10/5) (4)
Crafters Castle - #9 Anything Goes (9/30) (94)

Thanks for stopping by
Sending Hugs From Texas
~Lesia
Be Safe, Stay Healthy and Craft Happy

Season of Joy

Hello All! So far there are only 5 folks interested in my giveaway but there is still time to add your name for a chance of winning a Ranger Craft Spinner! Perfect for holding your blending brushes or your blending tools. Chances of winning is currently 1:5.

Anyway I started on my Christmas cards and thought today I would share one that would be suitable for anyone that enjoys the season even if they don't celebrate in the same fashion as we do.

This card was very easy to make because I colored the stamp before I stamped the image. To create a resist I embossed the tree and then used distress inks to create the background before adding the additional stamps and the snow.

I attached all the pieces to my card base and proceeded to finish the inside of the card shown below.

The photo doesn't show it but the left side was embossed with DOTs and the right side was created using leftover card-stock and designer paper from the front to create a consistency in look and feel. 

I would like to enter the following challenges:

Crafty Catz -Anything Goes/Christmas (9/26) (31)

Crafty Hazelnut Christmas- #404 Christmas (9/27) (7)

Allsorts Challenge -  Water or Color Blue (9/27) (7)

Thanks for stopping by

Sending Hugs from Texas

~Lesia

Be Safe, Stay Healthy and Craft Happy

The Simple Things

You know how we are always in a hurry, never taking time to enjoy the simple things, relating the word fun to money.  Why is it that we are of the mindset that if you want to have fun you must spend money?

I had my grandbabies this past week and I don't have a lot of funds to spend on entertainment so I had to get creative. Not to say that we didn't venture out at all because we did but the joy that little kids find in the simplest things is amazing and quite rewarding.  Who knew that playing hide n seek in the house could be so much fun or that indoor exercising would cause so much laughter.

Oh, and have you ever went camping indoors and had pizza while sitting on the floor or watched television inside a tent on an iPad, inside a house while eating popcorn. I tell you this ole grandma was worn out but smiling because my babies said it was the bestest fun ever (and yes, they said bestest).

The last thing to do was to craft and so we did a few kid projects and then I was abandoned for the electronics. Although they abandoned me, I was glad for the momentary peace and quiet. I used this time to create a card using scraps from our earlier project.  I had the perfect greeting to end the day.

I created this card using cardstock, a stencil, 3D sticker, a stamp and distress ink. I made my own background paper by stenciling cardstock using distress ink. Next, I added a sticker, stamped a greeting and adhered it to my self-designed designer paper.

I was able to carry the design over to my handmade envelope using the same stencil and ink. This 5 x 6 card took approximately 45 minutes to make start to finish including the envelope. 

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Catch the Bug - #612 Sketch Challenge (#34)(8/4)
Little Patch of Crafty Friends - #86 Anything Goes
613 Avenue Create - #211 ATG/Create Designer Paper
Crafting From the Heart - #217 Anything Goes
Artistic Inspirations - #205 Anything Goes (#116)(8/4)

Thanks for stopping by

Sending Hugs from Texas

~Lesia

Be Safe, Stay Healthy and Craft Happy

Thank You

Wow! It seems like forever since I last posted. So much has been going on that has kept me from crafting much. I did find time to go to the Stamping Expo while it was here and that is when I discovered that I was running out of space in my craft-room and needed to purge and rethink my organization system.

So I began my mission to purge my domain and I was pleased that I did manage to rid myself of quite a bit of crafting supplies (mainly stamps and paper) which made room for all the new stuff that I had purchased. 

The second interruption in my crafting time was discovering the YMCA Silver Sneakers program. I really like this program and try to attend every day of the week which usually wears me out.

Lastly, there is the prepping for my upcoming classes as well as playing Mema so my grown kids can take care of the older kids as they prepare to go to college and sign contracts for international teams. There has been a lot going on but today I was able to settle down and organize a bit and then create a bit.

Keeping with my goal to use items from my stash I created these two cards using a stencil and Nuvo embellishment mousse.  I applied the Nuvo through the stencil to create a 3D texture as the focal point of my card.  Yep, I am starting to dabble into the Mixed Media world of crafting, little by little.  I love the Nuvo mousse, however, it does tend to dry out rather quickly so you can't leave it sitting on the shelf.

I then stamped the Thank You and embossed it using some clear embossing powder. I absolutely love the shine on these cards and they were so easy to make.

I'd like to enter the following challenges:

Simply Papercraft - #59 Anything Goes (#177)

Crafting With Friends - #72 Anything Goes (#62)

Polkadoodles Crafting - #29 Anything Goes (#37)

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #86 Anything Goes (#138)

Love 2 Create - Wk #29 Mixed Media (#77)

That's all I have for now but will soon be announcing a giveaway that I have been planning for a month now so don't forget to check back to see what will be up for grabs.

Thanks for stopping by and as always

Be safe, Stay Healthy, and Craft Happy

Sending Hugs from Texas

~Lesia