Ole-Talk

Paper & Ink | Dress up a Printable

Looking for a quick, easy card to make, then dress up a basic printable. The card on the right is from one of Francine's Printably kits. I added rub ons, ribbon, a sentiment and voilà...a beautiful birthday card.

How do you use printables?

A Crafty Weekend

Saturday night I went to my very first Paint & Vino night with some wonderful friends. It was a birthday celebration for one of them. I had so much fun indulging in two things that I am very fond of - wine and making art. This is the masterpiece that I produced.

Sunday I woke up with that creative bug still coursing through my mind and decided to whip up this card and napkins for a birthday gift for another friend whom I was celebrating with that evening.



And while I was at it I figured I may as well print this awesome card from one of Francine's Printably Kits. I used it as a thank you card for my bestie Marny who looks after my cat Asha when I have to travel for work. 

So coupled with my usual knitting and my drawing, coloring, and handwriting challenges that I am doing over on Instagram, quite a productive crafty weekend I had.

Did you get any crafting time this weekend?

Last Minute Baby Shower Card & Gift Bag

I woke up this morning with the nagging suspicion that I had forgotten to do something important. Then it hit me that we were having a baby shower for one of my colleagues at work and I had completely spaced on wrapping her gift and making her card. I totally blamed it on the cold weather and I guess the migraine I was nursing yesterday did not help either.  

I quickly pulled out some supplies ( see this is why I have a large stash) and threw this card together. Then I went digging in my stash of paper bags and tissue paper that I hoard collect and found the perfect bag for the baby hat that I had knitted her (of course I forgot to photograph the hat). Quickly decorated the bag and voila.

As you may have guessed from the colors she is having a baby boy! It's amazing what you can pull together at the last minute when you have all the tools and supplies handy.

What have you whipped up lately?

Handmade Birthday Greetings

Here's some color to brighten up your Friday!

 

This puts me in a card making mood.  Is it to early to start on my Christmas cards?

 

Up-cycled shopping bag!  I try to make a point of not buying gift wrap and instead decorate shop bags and use kraft and tissue paper and fabric to wrap gifts.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Some Birthday Eye Candy for the Weekend

A couple of my friends had birthdays these past couple weeks so I whipped them up some eye candy!

Here are some close up details

 

Hope you are having an enjoyable weekend!

 

Some Birthday Creativity

A good friend asked me to make cupcakes for a Curious George themed birthday party for her son.  I of course immediately went to Pinterest to find some inspiration and also found this free printable. I dusted off my trusty Silhouette machine and got to work on the toppers.

I decided to just make a simple vanilla cupcake with a strawberry filling (using fresh strawberries of course) with white and yellow frosting on top.  I try to avoid using artificial colors whenever possible and especially since these were for kids I really did not want to. Thankfully the google gods led me to lots of posts about what I could use for yellow and I decided to go with powdered turmeric.

And here's the finished product.

I could not assemble them before delivery but Kristen was kind enough to snap a couple photos for me.  She said they were a hugh hit!

One of my friends at work was also about to celebrate her birthday so I made this card for her.

It was so much fun to put together. I found this birthday printed transparency that I have had in my stash like forever and used that as my jumping of point.  And guess what? Those circles are actually left over from my Curious George toppers.  I forgot just how much I enjoy making cards and I need to get back into doing them and building up my stash once more.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stash Buster Birthday Gift

Remember a while ago I had posted that I had found a way to use up all those ends of yarn (see post here). Well I put this idea to good use a couple months ago and made this adorable little bag as a birthday gift for the daughter of a friend of mine.

I used some bulky yarn and worked in a seed stitch pattern. I decided to also line the inside of this one with pink fabric from my stash.

I found these great rings at my local craft store to use as handles instead of bracelets like on my first bag.  Then I thought it looked too plain so I added the ribbon and bow to the front.

And of course what's a birthday gift without a matching card.

So there you have it an adorable bag and matching card for a very special girl on her birthday!

Thanks for stopping  by!

Whipped Up Some Cards!

Wednesday night I need to whip out a couple cards for the next day.  I always have paper scraps laying around so I grabbed what was handy and turned them into this.

Here's another look at them and a close up of some of the elements!

Happy Friday!

Washi Tape Card and Gift Bag

Just add your favorite washi tape to make a beautiful card and matching gift bag.

Birthday Cards | On Opposite Sides of the Spectrum

Last week I made two birthday cards that were complete opposites to each other.  One was for a three year old and one for an adult.  You would think that the kiddie card would be easier to make but I am so accustomed to making cards for adults that it took me forever to put it together.  Either the colors looked to mature or the embellishments.  I finally was able to get it done to my satisfaction and although the three year old was more interested in what was in the gift bag, the parents totally appreciated the card.

For the three year old who loves dinosaurs and animals!

Here's the more adult card!

Thanks so much for stopping by!