Pink Persimmon

Vintage Shadow Box

Take your time looking at these photos, there is SO much to see!  Kate Yetter from The Scrap Yard created this beautiful art piece using some of the Antiquated Collection stamps, along with some vintage (and made to look vintage) embellishments. (click on any image to view larger)

Kate first painted the box a beautiful blue, applied a crackle glaze and then went back over with white.  That created the perfect "aged" foundation for the rest of the items. 

Kate actually applied one of the bottle labels to a real bottle.  It looks like it came straight from an antique store. 

Beautiful work Kate!  Thanks so much for sharing this with us. 

Paper Pumpkins

These little adorable mini pumpkins were made by Laura Achilles.  She provided instructions on how to create these super easy paper pumpkins.
 
Trim a double sided 12x12 piece of pattern paper in ¾ inch length.  You’ll need about 4 or 5 strips.
Cut those strips in half so they’re 6 inches long.
Using a circle punch – 1 ¼ to 1 ½ whichever you have will be fine punch out two circles one for the top and one for the bottom.

Glue down your strips of paper on bottom circle overlapping until they are spread all the way around in a somewhat uniform circle.
Bring the ends of the strip papers together at the top and glue together.  Make sure you are using a quick dry glue like the Helmar 450 glue shown here. 
Place circle on top.
Punch a small hole on the top with a paper piercer or small sharp pin.  Make sure you go thru all the layers. 
 
Stamp your sentiment with the Carnival Alpha Large on plain paper and cut it out.  I made a bit of a banner on one end.  Your sentiment could be anything you want.  Maybe you’re having a fun dinner party you could stamp each guests name.
 
Glue the stamped sentiment to a toothpick and allow to dry.
 
Once dry stick the toothpick into the hole you made on the top of the pumpkin.

Baby Week - Day 5

Here's our last day of Baby Week at Pink Persimmon.  Andrea Budjack created this amazingly layered banner with our Big Banner with Rosettes Stamp set.

Can't you just see this adorable banner hanging in a baby's room?   What a great gift for a new mom to add to the decor of a baby room.

Look at the cute little angel wings under the button!  Andrea alway has a great way of using fabric in her designs.  Notice how there is just a little bit of fraying on the edges of the fabric rosette.  Adds to the vintage softness of the banner. 

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This is our last day of Baby Week.  We hope you have some great card and gift ideas for your next baby shower! Join us next week as we go Back to School with some fun cards and teacher gifts.

Holiday Party for a special friend

This weekend I had the honor of hosting a Birthday Party for my dear friend Jane.  We are neighbors and close friends, our children have "refrigerator rights" at both homes as they travel back and forth from each house.  Originally from Ireland, Jane has enriched my life with many hours spent over a cup of tea talking about our kids, her life as a drama teacher at the local high school, the latest wee bit of neighborhood gossip and some political discussions as well, all with the plan of solving the worlds problems.  We'll let you know when we have a solution. ;-)

The party was great because I was able to get the dining room ready a full week before Christmas and I had to share what I added to each chair as a holiday decoration. 

Not the clearest picture, but I used the Big Banner with Rosettes stamp on vintage music paper and then cut each one out.  I glued the music paper to cardstock first to give it a bit of weight, using the Claudine Helmuth Studio's multi-medium.  Highly recommend the multi-medium (I like the matte finish) for all kinds of projects.  It glues paper beautifully, curling a bit for a short time and gradually settling back flat as it dries, with no bubbles.  I added these cute little circles from a Making Memories "Mistletoe" paper pad with pop-dots and attached each banner to the back of the chair (my favorite is the one that says "Naughty or Nice?") Some greenery from the redwood tree in our backyard and red ribbon to tie it all together. 

My dining room is tiny, but add a little holiday decor and you have a very cozy, and fun place for a dinner party. 

Here's Jane and friends with her birthday cake.  Happy Birthday Jane! 

Faux Holiday Candle

Another beautiful project made by Kelly Schirmer.  A nice gift for friends, teacher, or as a hostess gift.

Kelly says "Ever want to decorate a candle for someone, but afraid your work will go up in smoke?!  The perfect solution!  This is a little battery operated candle from Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  With a coupon I got it for 7.99 and it included the battery!  Wrapped it in paper by Graphic 45.  Tied twine and button around a scrap of gingham ribbon and adhered.  On the image of the cottage (from Little Christmas Cottage set), there is Crystal Snow and I lined the edge with Liquid Applique, smoothed with my finger, then heat embossed.  I used all Tim Holtz distress inks."  The Welcome banner is made with the Vintage Greetings stamp set.  

(click image to view larger)

Christmas with Kimberly

Creative Team member Kimberly Crawford designed two very cute projects for Christmas: 

Using a simple wooden sled from the craft store, she made this holiday keepsake with the Santa's Sleigh stamp set.  It probably took a bit of time to trim out the Santa and reindeer, but the effect is perfect when they are mounted with some raised pop-dots. 

This card uses the tree image from the Little Red Wagon set to create a simple Christmas card.  A quick addition of some twine, ribbon and a button gives the card a very finished look.  All the cardstock edges were rubbed with a brown ink for a vintage feel. 

Great projects Kimberly! 

Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah Wall Hanging by Samantha Sibbet

Much of Hanukkah is about celebrating miracles.  I love this quote by Rabbi Hirschfield:  "The Talmud teaches, the miracle was that a small jar of oil used to light the Temple's menorah (candelabrum) lasted eight days instead of only one. What resource, skill or passion lies within you, like the oil in the jar, just waiting to be released? Try letting it out and don't be surprised if miracles happen!"

Holiday Wall Hanging

Add a little spice to your walls this Christmas with a sweet (and inexpensive) wall hanging.  This was created by Kristie Larsen and uses the Santa's Sleigh stamp set.  The frame is from Ikea (a bargain at $3 for a pack of 3 frames) and is painted with a coat of Gesso (white acrylic base paint).  The edges are sanded slightly for an aged look.  The decorative border is stamped with StazOn Jet Black ink.  The ribbon and holly/pinecone bouquet are both hot glued to the frame.  Click on the image if you want to see more detail in a larger view.

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Sketch Challenge deadline is November 30th (8am Pacific).  We already have some really cute samples from Julie Detlef's inspirational sketch.  Plenty of time left to be eligible for the random draw on November 30th.  Read more details here. 

Christmas Countdown

There are still a few days left in November to put together a handmade "countdown calendar" or advent calendar for your home.  We have seen some very cute ideas on different galleries and blogs, but so many are very complicated to complete.  This adorable countdown calendar by Samantha Sibbet is sweet and simple that you could finish it up in an evening. 

The tree base is from KaiserCraft.  (We had a tough time finding any of these available online to share a link, so if anyone knows of a retail store that may have them in stock, please share the name!)  Samantha used paper from My Mind's Eye and the Soda Pop Alpha and Small Banner Stamp Sets to decorate the tree. 

 

Sam drew an outline of the tree onto the patterned paper and used a craft knife to cut the tree shape. She then hand stitched the edge of the paper before adhering it to the front of the tree.  The base of the tree was painted white.

 

Each number was decorated in a similar way with stitched papers and some glittered chipboard numbers.  Sam even added a little envelope to the back of the tree to store the numbers that are not in use on that day. 

 

If you have created a countdown or advent calendar to use this season, be sure to share a link in the comments.  We'd love to see what you have made. 

Not that anyone is counting...

I found this little chalkboard at the Dollar Store and thought it would look great with the Little Red Wagon stamp set.  The little papers are from a school workbook of mine from Kindergarten.  Summer is almost over... (don't tell the kids that I am doing a little happy dance!).