Spoolie Swap Finale and Around Here!

(super cute owl made for me by my dear Goddaughter, Wendi, of Enchanted Forest Crafts.  click on the shop name to go there)

I haven't had much time to post or visit these days. I'm getting ready for a big Craft Fair on November 1 and 2 and like all crafters....I'm working my fingers to the bone in a frenzy! I've completed a slew of Fall/Thanksgiving themed items and now it's on to Christmas! I like to add some new things every year so that folks don't get bored but the planning of new things is a trial and error process for me. I will be showing you some of what I've made in future posts.

For today, I want to share with you the wonderful gifts sent to me by Erica, of Golden Egg Vintage. She was my sweet partner in Deb and Sandy's Fall Spoolie Swap!

First, let me say that the spoolie is amazing!! Erica made it herself from paper clay...don't know how she did it but the detail is great...pictures do not do this piece justice!

I tried to capture the details in this piece for you to see. It's really nifty!

Erica also sent some Halloween scrapbook papers, Washi tape, chocolate and shortbread cookies (long gone!) and the most wonderful vintage Christmas scrap!!!

Love the Santas!! Erica, thank you for being a superb swap partner! Your talent is awesome and I am so lucky to have a piece of your art for my own! xoxo

You know how I agonize over my mantel decorating. It didn't used to be a problem for me (I think I was really bad at it but didn't know any better) but since the dawn of Pinterest, I suddenly want to be a Better Homes and Gardens quality stager...it's never going to happen! Last month I decided that I wanted to do the majority of my Fall decorating focusing on white pumpkins. I am smitten with the many and varied shades of white and cream. I threw some things on the mantel....way too spread out!

Following the trend-setters, I started to move everything inward. What a difference!

I will let the other pictures speak for themselves...

and the dining room...

(Wendi also made the felt leaves hanging on my twigs (the best $7.99 I ever spent at Whole Foods in the Spring) but she doesn't have any of these in her Etsy shop right now.)

(I had a gift card from Pottery Barn and I used it for the white pumpkins in this bowl...they are very realistic. Not available in the store, only online. The orange pumpkin was made by me last year from a spool of crochet cotton and a branch piece)

Do you remember my two-sided pumpkin I decorated several years ago? I was asked, by Deb Damboise, to be a guest designer for her company Say It With Letters. They cut really great shapes from MDF board to decorate as your heart desires. Her shop can be found here...and right now they are offering free shipping over $35 until December 31!! You can see my tutorial for the pumpkin here.

OK...I've gotten kind of caught up for now...

I'll be back soon with some Craft show Peeks!

xoxo

Joyce

Week 3 in the Julie Nutting for Prima Paper Doll Blog Hop...FALL!

Delicious Autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were

a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the 

successive autumns.  ~George Eliot

I love the Fall.....the cooler temperatures,

the colors of the leaves before they drift from their branches,

the smells of apples and pumpkin pie,

the return of football games...and of course, hockey.

This week, our focus is on

Fall/Autumn

Before I reveal my project, I want to remind everyone about

the Blog Hop guidelines...

Each Tuesday in August, the participants of the

Paper Doll Blog Hop are posting a project by season.

Our last post will be next Tuesday, August 27.

On August 30th, each of us will choose a winner of our 

Blog Candy. To win, you must 

Leave a comment on each of the Tuesday

 blog posts in August.

(Don't forget to include your email address...so important!)

If you are a follower or become a follower of my blog you

have an additional chance.

If you post about the Paper Doll Blog Hop

 on your blog, you have a third chance.

OK, no long tutorial this week. I thought I would share, in pictures, 

the evolution of a project.

You start with the elements you want to use...

A decision is made on the size of your project, based on the number and size of the items

 you're including,  This week's project board is 5.5" x 8".

I started with a Cheerios box cutout and covered it in background paper...

then, you decide on a layout...this can change as you start working it...

I knew I wanted rolling hills, a pumpkin, sunflower, Bingo card,

wagon, and of course the dog, whom I've named Scamp!

This was my first layout...

This is what it became...

Did you notice that in the first layout, I used a marker to color her 

turtleneck and sleeves? Hated the look! Stamped the neck, sleeves and pockets 

in the brown polka dot paper.

Thanks to the brilliance of Mary Puskar, I brazenly cut her feet apart

to enable me to cut away the paper between her legs without

needing to use a craft blade.Thanks, Mary!

the details...

I stamped the doll on printed paper this time...I really like her with red hair.

Hard to believe that Fall is a month away!

The wagon was cut using the Cricut Cartridge, 

"Just Because" cards.

Several people have asked me about The stamp I used for Scamp.

He is a wood-mount Hero Arts stamp. I've had

this stamp for years and I looked on-line to try to find a link but 

I'm sorry, I couldn't find it anywhere.

The pumpkins is a Quickutz die and the the leaves were punched.

Several years ago I was on a Design Team for Say It With Letters, a 

company that makes wood cut letters and shapes.

 You can find their Etsy shop here. Their products are of  high quality and

lots of fun to work with.

I did a Fall project for them, posted here, using my favorite

 WeR Memory Keepers Autumn Splendor papers.

I used some of those same papers on my project today.

Do you sense a theme going on with my projects?

Yes, the dog is part of it...can you guess the rest?

Here is the blog candy you could win!

It's time for you to hop to the other artist's blogs now...

Darlene @ Dar's Crafty Creation

Mary @Primitive Seasons

Lisa @A Mermaid's Crafts

Diane @Nellie's Nest

Mindy @Mulberry Mindy

Joyce @Scrap for Joy.....that's me!

OK- that's all for now! Remember that next week is the final week...

Winter!

Grab your mittens and scarf!

xoxo

Joyce

NOTE: Someone asked in the comment section about the sunflower. It was made using a 2 x 2 Quickutz die.
If you leave a message and don't give your name or an email address, it's impossible to answer your question or reply to your comment....it's also not possible for you to have a chance at winning the Blog Candy. Please help me out by leaving contact information. Thanks a bunch!

In the meadow we can build....

I wanted to share my new Christmas wreath with you. Actually, this one will probably stay up all winter. I was so happy when I opened the box from Deb at Say It With Letters and saw this wreath shape!

 So many ideas came to mind.

My first plan was to make a variation of the famous Martha Stewart clothespin wreath...

I covered the wreath shape with my favorite ledger paper...

but I could not for the life of me figure out a pleasing pattern for the clothespin placement!

I finally decided to wipe the slate clean and start over.
 This meant recovering the wreath shape and then decorating with
SNOW PEOPLE!!!

Wonderfully fun snow people!

The little song line was done on the computer and trimmed with a digital cardinal.

The snow folks were made with the Cricut (of course) and are from a cartridge called Snow Friends which, I'm afraid, is out of production. Some punched glittered snowflakes were the final touch.

Sometimes re-thinking a project and changing the plan can be a good thing.

Please take time to skip over to Deb's blog and see the beautiful creations for the other design team members. You will come away inspired!

xoxo

joyce

My first Design Team Project

I have sung the praises of Say It With Letters for years....I love their shapes and letters because they are so well made and easy to work with. I am thrilled to be included in the current Design Team. I am in with a great bunch of uber talented women and I hope you'll take some time to visit their blogs and see what they've done with their assignments, and visit the SIWL Etsy store for your own shapes and letters.

How lucky and excited I was to see my first assignment....leaves!!

I always say that the hardest part is choosing the papers to use in any project. I wanted a fall look but also wanted it to coordinate with my spiffy new dining room. We R Memory Keepers had the perfect line with Autumn Splendor which I ordered from this on-line retailer, Scrapbook Steals. I loved the fall colors of these papers because in addition to the golds, oranges browns, etc., there was my beautiful blue, too.

Trace and cut the papers

Mod Modge all of the papers to the shapes and then Mod Podge again on top of the papers...it gives it a nice finish.

The leaf and acorn embellishments were made using the Cricut (Storybook cartridge to those of you who are interested in such things) Twine was tied on to the middle leaf and some berries added as well.

More views showing how I'm using them on my table...

Do you use flamless candles? I bought some to use at the Craft Show last year (didn't want to burn the place down) and I really like the look of them.

Here is the rest of the design team:

Dawn Gallop

Laurie Griggs

Julie Ann Shahin

Raechelle Bellus

Joyce Gleason (that's me :D )

Julie Masse

Stacy Rodriguez

Kim Schofield

Cathleen Smith

Pamela Young

I don't know what you have on the docket for next time Deb, but I just want to say Thank You for sending me wonderful shapes to play/work with. I had a lot of fun

 working on them while humming.....  The Falling Leaves!

XOXO

Joyce