My Long-awaited Flower Bed....

So I have been dreaming of having a place to muck around in, to plant perennials and pull the odd weed or two. But with the way they build homes so close together nowadays, they leave you with limited space to accomplish the building of any flower-bed or garden. But this summer, once it finally arrived, brought with it hope that I would finally get a space to fill with luscious green foliage and scent-full blossoms!!!
And so the breaking of the ground began....

A deep trench needed to be dug first, then packed with a mixture of sand and gravel to eliminate the shifting of the rock down the road - or so I am told - I hope this is the case....

I had many ideas of what I wanted but after many trips to the rock depot, I settled on this slate look, as it went with the exterior of the home so well. So we began to lay the base layer of the wall...

Once the base was complete, the wall got built up, piece by piece, leaving a jagged modern look to the bed.
During the building, some rocks were glued to each other to for extra reinforcement.
This is what the bed looks like just prior to topsoil fill - the smaller areas still need to be filled in with smaller pieces of slate...

And this is what you see when driving up to the front of the house, from the road....

Will be taking more photos and updating as we go, but so far, I am pretty pleased! What are your thoughts?

Lilac Season...

So I planted these two lilac bushes in my back yard 4 years ago now. And every year, the odd branch blossoms and I have to refrain from lopping the branch off and taking it into my house to fill the air with this cherished smell.
But this year, both bushes had multiple blooms...so today, I could contain myself no longer...

I love this varietal, with both the purple and the white...

And a close up so true, you can almost smell it...

MWAH!

A 40th Birthday Giggle....

So I saw this stamp set called "Girlfriends" by Art Impressions and knew the exact application!!! I would make a 40th birthday card for an amazing girlfriend!!!!


I pulled out my copics and got coloring to add some pop to the card. I was inspired by a fellow cardmaker, Brandi Wiggins with the freehanding along the edges of the stamped image!



And what's a fun girlfriend card without a little "blingity bling"???



Hope you enjoyed this little gem of a card!
MWAH~

Recipe Card Dividers Tutorial...

So those that know me know I am a recipe junkie!!!! I have recipes collected from my grandmothers to my mother to friends from near & far. I also love to play with recipes and alter them to create wonderful yummy concoctions to please my palate!!
But I have struggled with how to "organize" all my treasures!!!! And then I found these...



I have purchased 4 (yes...four...as I said I have ALOT of treasured recipes!!!) for my project. I print all my recipes on 4x6 recipe cards, so these tins are the PERFECT FIT!!!!

This tutorial will teach you how to make some amazing recipe card dividers that will have your recipe box gasping in sheer excitement!!!!

We will start off by talking about some of the products you will need to make these beauties....

A Scotch TL901 Thermal Lamintor - awesome investment!!! My DH bought this for work, but I have scooped it up and totally earned it's value back ten fold!!!! We got it at Wally World for $35 - best price we could find around!


1-2 packages of Scotch Thermal Laminating Pouches (20 pouches per pack - 5mil - 135x185mm) - I found these as well for the best price at Wally World at approx $5 per pack...


One package of velum paper and my pdf of "The Ultimate Recipe Label Collection"...


DSP packs...I used two of these to complete this project, but keep in mind I made ALOT of dividers...


Word Window Punch (SU), Making Memories Chocolate Brown Paint, & Make Up Applicator Sponges...
You will also require adhesive (I used my PINK ATG gun which worked marvelously!!!) and a pack of recipe card dividers (I picked mine up at the Dollar Store for $1 for a package of 50! Smokin' deal!!!)


LET'S GET STARTED: Place adhesive on one side of recipe divider card. I did two cards per 12x12 DSP piece. Place them on one edge of DSP, butting right up on top of each other. Once adhered, use exacto knife and trim them off DSP.


Flip your recipe divider card over and run adhesive on the unfinished side, lining up on the excess paper from your DSP sheet...


If you haven't done so already, turn your laminator on to heat up. I recommend with this laminator to change the Heat Setting Switch to 5mil from the regular 3mil setting, as these are thicker objects going through your laminator...


Trim the excess DSP from around the recipe divider card...


I then took a chocolate brown paint and some make-up sponges (these are cheap and work great for edging!!) and applied a quick coat of paint to all edges of the recipe divider - it antiqued it up a little!!! It also helps to cover the edge of those nasty cream colored divider cards from the Dollar Store!!! LOL!!!


Finished altered recipe card dividers.....



Place your altered recipe card divider into the laminator slip...Next you will have to take the categories that you print out on velum or card stock (I used velum as I liked the finished look it gave my projects!) and the Word Window punch, and punch out your category title. Carefully place this on the top tab part of the recipe divider (I chose not to adhere these down as you can see the adhesive through the velum - it just sealed it in place when I laminated it! - If you are using regular card stock you can definitely adhere to divider!)


Feed the lamination sheet, sealed side first, into the laminator and watch the magic begin...


Coming out of the bottom of the laminator...


When it comes out of the laminator, this is what it should look like...carefully trim the excess with an exacto knife.


And here is the finished product!!

I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial and I would love to hear everyone's feedback on this project.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via email at bella013175@hotmail.com
MWAH!!!

Coming Soon.....

Ahhhh, the agony of not having enough time in the day to post!!! Well, I figured if I actually posted something saying I am going to show you my latest project that has been consuming my time, I will just have to make the time to post!!!
Soooo, I have been committed to making recipe tins to store all of my gems of recipes that I have collected for the last 30 some years! I promise to post photos, instructions and "my version of the divider card" in the weeks to come. So check back often for updates or follow my blog - cause you won't want to miss this one!
Cheers

It's about that time again....those who have been asking and waiting with baited breath....I will be opening up a NEW Stampers 10 group up in March called INKed Mah-mah's!!!! Now, all silliness aside now in the name, you don't have to "physically" be a Mah-mah to be part of this amazing group of gals!!! You do, however, need to be willing to enjoy yourself for 2-3 hours once a month!!!! Do any of these things interest you.....




If I've tweaked your imagination in the slightest, send me an email to bella013175@hotmail.com and I will reserve a spot for you and maybe even a couple of your girlfriends!!!! What are you waiting for? Let's get INKed!!!!

Christmas Craft Sale Goodies....

So this year I was in my first Christmas Craft Sale! It was definitely ALOT of work, but in the end, was well attended and therefore, well worth it all. My dahling girlfriend helped out manning the table. She sells wine for a living but sure knew how to work the crowd, selling me out on various projects!!! She's the best sales lady in town!!!
So I thought I would share some photos from the day....
Enjoy!


"Advent Calendars & Tree"...


"Card Display & Cards For Sale Rack"...


"Whisking You A Merry Christmas"...


"Holiday Fudge"...


"Doggie Bags"...


Close up of "Doggie Bags"...


Close up of "Holiday Fudge"...


Close up of "Whisking You A Merry Christmas"...


Close up of "Glitter Balls"....


Panned view of the table...