Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Handmade Cards to Celebrate Fall

Hello! I am back from a fall break and probably my last vacation of the year until the holidays.  We drove down south to spend some time with the grandchildren during their fall break from school but we also made a couple of fun stops along the way of which I will tell you all about in my next travel post.

I always give the grandchildren gifts/cards for all the holidays/seasons.  They don't celebrate Halloween, so I keep my cards/gifts fall themed.

My first card uses a stitching die from Spellbinders.  Spellbinders has all these neat monthly clubs you can join where you get their latest product at a discount.  I really like the idea of combining sewing with paper crafting and I think their stitching dies are really different so I joined that club.  Every month I receive a new die in the mail, and this was September's die "Stitched Sunflowers".  Isn't it beautiful?  It is perfect for fall cards and thank you cards. 


This was probably the most challenging stitched die I received because the floss kept catching on the petals.  After a lot of frustration, I finally figured out to turn the die upside down while I was sewing.  Also, each petal had to be sewn individually or the thread would be seen as you went over to the next petal.  So it was a bit time consuming as I had to cut and tape the thread after finishing each petal.  Not all stitching dies are this complicated.  But the result is beautiful, and I love it!  My daughter went crazy for it too and said "That is one card that needs to be framed".  

To make this card I cut two sunflowers out, one flower center, and the leaves.  I did some ink blending on everything to make it more natural and interesting, then I stitched away and adhered everything together.  I did pop up the top sunflower and the brown center on dimensionals.  I used gold metallic floss on the flower and a light green floss on the leaves.  Everything was then glued to a blue patterned fall designer paper then I added a few fall gems and a stamped a fall sentiment.


Spellbinders had a huge sale recently, so I saw that as an opportune time to buy a couple of new dies. This die is called "Truckin' Through the Seasons".  I love this die for its versatility because it includes other items you can put in the truck bed like presents, Christmas trees, etc.  



To make this card I chose a pretty fall patterned designer paper and adhered the truck to the paper.  I decided to add a little fall poem about pumpkins to tie in with the pumpkins in the truck bed.  I stamped that on a piece of golden card stock then added some flowers and vines from the same die set.  Everything was then adhered to a gold foil card base.



I think these die cuts are a lot more work than simply stamping and coloring, so I don't understand why crafters like them so much.  I think it might be because people don't like to color, but I've become very skilled at coloring, so I enjoy it.  Every single piece you see in the truck below had to be cut in a different color, ink blended, then glue back together.  It's a long, pain-staking process in my opinion.


This next card was really hard as that tractor and all its veggies was a lot of small pieces, but I sure like the way it turned out.  It's a great card for a little boy and it can also be used for other seasons/events.  I can see filling the trailer with Christmas trees for the holidays and doing the tractor in red instead of green.  This die cut is called "Thankful Tractor" but I can't seem to find it on their website anymore so it must be sold out.


To make this card, I once again very painstakingly cut all the little pieces out of all the different colors of card stock, ink blended everything, then glued them back together.  The wheels were popped up on dimensionals,



Once everything was complete, I just glued it to some fall designer paper and adhered it all to a green card stock base.





I also made some fall tags for all their fall gift bags.  If you're wondering where Lazarus' card is, I didn't make him one because he is only five months old and I ran out of time.

The leaves were die cut with old Cuttlebug leaf dies then ink blended.  The tags were cut using a Spellbinder's tag die, and eyelets were installed in the holes of the tags


And here are all the little ones holding their fall cards.  I know, they look so thrilled 😆 I think they were just anxious to see what was inside their gift bags and I make them open up their cards and take a photo first.  Trust me, they do love the cards.  They even keep their favorites in little boxes and Alethea even keeps the unicorn shaker card I made for her birthday on display on her dresser.


And here you can see few photos of them being a little more excited opening their gift bags.

I always give them a new fall outfit.  They really do enjoy receiving new clothes.  The rest of the items in the bag are a few candy treats, some healthy snacks, and little toys/books.



This was the outfit I got for baby Lazarus.  Isn't it cute?  Brown is definitely this season's "it color".



And here is baby Lazarus wearing his new outfit.  Isn't he adorable?  I love his smile.  The sweater goes so well with his auburn hair.


The grandchildren love activity/sticker books.  They go through them so fast though!  They love them so much, when they get a new one they start working on it immediately and don't stop till it's finished.


Well I hope you enjoyed my fall cards and a little insight into my family.  There will be more fall stories to come in future travel posts.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Wednesday, October 2, 2024

My Stitch Fix Rejects

Back in August I ordered a fall box from Stitch Fix.  I kept three of the five items in that Fix.  In case you missed it, HERE is the post where I show the three items I kept.  I mentioned in that post that I would show you the two items I rejected in a later post.  Well today is the day!  Here are the two items I returned:


41 Hawthorn  Tiffany Tulip Sleeve Blouse
Cost:  $49.00


I really liked this top and I even pre-approved it when I saw it in my box, but I ended up returning it because I felt it aged me and I had a difficult time styling it.  I prefer it styled with the pants above, but the color just wasn't right.  The more on-trend style of the pants, plus the heels, modernized the top, but the color was off.  So then I tried it with white ankle pants and flats (pictured below);  now the colors looked better, but I also looked like I was retirement community material. 😂. Now I'm old enough to be living in a retirement community, but I don't want to look like it.  

I also returned the top because I have found through my years of experience with Stitch Fix that if you do the math you have to keep everything and get 25% off your entire box, or, you have to return at least two pieces because otherwise what you keep ends up costing more than if you kept the entire box and took the 25% off.  For example my entire box was $364.00.  If I kept the whole box and received the 25% discount my total would be $273.00.  However, if I chose to keep the three pieces that I did (the jacket, the pants, and the fall blouse in my previous post) plus this top,  the total would have been $295.00...$22.00 more than the whole box.  It's really shame it works this way, because otherwise I think I would have kept this top.


Fortune & Ivy Adene Knit Fitted Ponte
Cost $69.00


When I saw this dress in my box preview, I wanted so badly for it to work. I was so excited to have a casual olive green dress for fall and I imagined all the different ways I could style it.  But the second I tried it on, it was a disaster;  which is funny, because usually it's the opposite for me:  I don't like it, till I try it on. 

The number one reason I hated this dress was how big it made my boobs look.  Oh my gosh!  This is a classic example of how clothes can make all the difference on your body type.  Just compare the difference in the size of my bust in the photos with the blue floral top to the size of my bust in the green dress.   It's crazy!  I look like I went up five bra sizes.  The second reason I did not like this dress is because it was uncomfortable.  I should have taken a clue from the name of the dress "fitted" and "knit".  This is a really structured, tight fitting knit and I felt like I was wearing a straight jacket when I had it on.  The third reason I didn't like it was style, both the color and the style of the dress reminded me of my Class A Army dress I wore many years ago when I was in the Army Reserves.  And finally, and this reason is also related to style, I had no idea when I would ever wear this. If I wear a dress, it's usually to a casual event, church, or a wedding.  The style of this dress if more appropriate for an office.  Since I don't work outside the home, I just had no purpose for this dress.

I did try it on with the cute camel Liverpool Peplum Jacket which was also included in the Fix (and that I kept), and adding the jacket made all the difference in the world for it helped camouflage my bust.  However, I can't buy something with the intent that I would always have to wear something over it.  What if I get hot and want to remove the second layer?
 


So what do you think?  Did I make the right choice rejecting these two items?  I'd love to hear from you.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

 

Sunday, September 22, 2024

My August Flower Garden

Today is the first day of fall so what better time is it to say "Adieu to the flower gardens."  This is always such a bittersweet time of year for me.  I look forward to a reprieve from garden chores and an opportunity to spend time indoors pursuing other creative endeavors like quilting and paper crafting, but I will also miss my beautiful blooms and warm summer days.

What better way to start an August flower gardening post than with a picture of a sunflower?  This is the only sunflower I got this year, and it wasn't even planted by me but by the birds.  I did plant sunflower seeds, but with the torrential rains we had in spring, very few germinated and the ones that did, I stepped on and crushed.  I'm such an idiot.  ðŸ˜†


I know this is a flower garden post, but vegetables can produce pretty blooms too.
I was in the vegetable garden and noticed this beautiful bloom on my sweet potato plant.  It looks like a Morning Glory to me.  I never grew sweet potatoes before so I had no idea they produced such beautiful blooms!


When I came back from my vacation out west I was shocked to see how beautiful my begonias look.  Don't get me wrong, they looked nice all summer, but they seemed to thrive in the cooler weather I heard we had while I was away.


I love how my front annual beds turned out this year.  These sun impatiens did so well here.  The vine is a morning glory vine that never bloomed but did produce lush, gorgeous foliage.  I have no idea why it never bloomed, this is the second time this happened to me.  All I can think of is it doesn't get morning sun, only afternoon sun, but you would think what time of day it gets the sun wouldn't matter.



Since I've taken this picture it's probably grown twice as large.  This Morning Glory is seriously out of control.  It's hard to even get on the front porch! "Feed me Seymour". 😂



I've always loved "Magic Lily's".  They are so fun, and always a sweet surprise.  They produce gorgeous green foliage in the spring and then die back.  In the fall these tall green stems pop out of the ground magically and these stunning lilies appear.  They are a fun addition to any garden, especially if you have kids!





I buy the same red/white impatient every year for my garden shed window planters.  They just love this spot and they go well with the colors of the shed.


Rudebekia, a.k.a. "Black Eyed Susans" are the star of the late summer/fall garden in my yard.  I love this plant!  Its blooms last forever, and the birds love the seeds.




A close up of my favorite Viburnum bush, that my husband just cut down 😢. He did save me a sucker though so I'm hoping it'll regrow in another part of the yard.  It just got too big for the spot it was in, and he is working on a huge landscaping project where it was.



And here's the big beauty in all its glory.  It was so hard just to walk past it, it had overgrown onto the grassy path.


This is "False Sunflower" it grows about six feet tall.  I only have it growing at the back end of my garden as it's such a huge flower.



The deer eat my phlox every year, it's so depressing.  But sometimes I still get a few blooms like this bunch pictured below.


I can't do a garden post without including a photo of Jackson.  Here he is, lounging on the screened in porch, enjoying the last few days of warm air and sunshine.  It won't be long now before he is curled up in front of the wood stove.


And this is my front garden this year.  The deer didn't eat this phlox, I wonder if it's because of the marigolds I planted in front of them?  I need to plant more marigolds next year.


 I am still struggling with feeling overwhelmed ever since I got home from my vacation.  There seems to be so much to do, and I'm struggling to keep up.  The food processing is endless.  Every afternoon from noon to five pm I am in the kitchen canning or freezing vegetables from my garden, and there seems to be no end in sight.  I am getting frustrated because there are so many other things I want to do like paper craft, blog, tend to my perennial garden, or even just clean my house, and I can't even get to it.  I was planning on starting my new Yellowstone travel series this week, but now I'm wondering if I should hold off on it till this winter because we're going on another vacation to see the grandkids in a few weeks, which, will be awesome, but will also put me even further behind schedule.  I don't remember struggling so much finding time to get everything done before.  It makes me wonder if I'm slowing down because of my age.  Anyway, I say all this to let you know I'm trying to keep a regular blogging schedule, but I am struggling.  I'll post as often as I can.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!