Pre-move, while I was half packed, I went to wrap a gift I was sending to my mom for Mother's Day and realized that all of my wrapping supplies were already in boxes. Oops! However, I still had about half of my craft supplies out including stencils and ink, as well as a roll of kraft paper that I'd kept from something or other. So I pulled out my stencils, my Ranger blending tool, and some ink pads and made my own wrapping paper.
I used the Rose Window and Border, A Rose by Any Other Name, and Circle 9 stencils, all from StencilGirl.
I just added a little tag to the front and stamped sentiments from the Papertrey Ink Women of Life stamp set and a little flower sticker from my embellishment drawer.
It works! I'll probably do this again, even though my I've got all my stuff ready to go again. This was fun, and my mom really liked it!
While I'm at it, I'll also share the birthday card that I made her for her birthday in early May.
I used the Papertrey Ink Rosie Posie stamp set with a variety of inks (Papertrey, Studio Calico, Tim Holtz) and then the sentiment was from Think Big Favorites #12, and the stamps on the inside were from the Tremendous Treats set. The strip of glitter tape on the front is from American Crafts.
When she opened it, my dad thought I had bought the card, so I'll take that as a compliment!
I'm almost done catching up with crafty posts from the last month... a few tangles to share at some point, but now I'm back and puttering in my studio.
Today I went out and did a little exploring in the area near me, found my local Blick (for when I don't want to shop in the Loop and then haul things home on the train) and bought myself an awesome convertible easel as a house warming gift (because I was tired of leaning over to get in close on my work table.) I got it put together and have already started using it and I'm loving it so far!
And yes, that is a new finished canvas on my new easel, but no... not going to share it yet! It's a bit of a tease, but I promise I'll share it soon :) I love that this easel can work with smaller canvases like I usually use, but also great big ones if I get ambitious. It also converts to lay flat, and fortunately for me and my small studio, it folds so I can store it out of the way. I have a feeling it will be sitting out a lot, though. Best part? It was a steal... I think I saw the same easel for over $250 at Jerry's and this was like a third the cost (plus I had a coupon!) Score!
And finally, I hope all my American friends had a lovely Memorial Day! Aside from my little shopping trip, I didn't do too much special... although I did cook, and that's a big deal lately! In honor of the unofficial start of summer, I got out my grill plate and made a pretty spectacular burger, if I do say so myself.
I topped it with sharp cheddar, tomato, avocado, candied bacon, and chipotle mayonnaise all on a pretzel roll. I know, you're thinking I'm nuts to put candied bacon on a burger. But I'm telling you... this was a genius idea. It was soooooo good. It added a new level of texture and just a hint of sweetness, so it balanced really well with the chipotle and the sharp cheddar, and the texture was awesome with the burger and avocado. I will definitely be doing that again. And not just because I have leftovers. lol.
And now I'm off to do some more playing before my holiday is over. TTFN!
Love the wrapping paper, Gwen!! Lovely!
Posted by: Mary C. Nasser | May 27, 2014 at 05:15 PM