Happy Holidays

I have been MIA again and not because I want to be.  This holiday season has been busy with work, shopping, cleaning and preparing for the holiday season.  I'll be honest this year has been tough this year for me I'm not sure why, but I have been scrooge.  I tried a little bit of everything, decorating, shopping, baking nothing has worked, but Tuesday I had a little help from my favorite nephew when he and I sat down and read my favorite holiday story The Polar Express it was our second year reading it and the 15 month old sit and didn't move, didn't fuss, just listened to me read the story and looked at the pictures.  I was surprised because every time I try to read to him he wants down to play and run around.  I'm still a little bah humbug but helped me a little bit.  He's better then any present that little bundle of crazy with all his giggly smiles.  He mimics things we do now.  We egg him on to blow kisses, give high fives, and "pop" his finger out of his mouth.  My dad makes a pop noise by popping his finger out of his mouth and baby J tries doing it.  He just means the world to me!

The real reason for me doing this post was to wish all my blog reading friends a Happy Holidays!!! See you next year unless I get into a writing mood between now and then.   Pin It Now!

Decorating for Christmas

So I have been away....TOO LONG.  I'm going to try to be better in this coming year.  So anyway I'm starting to decorate for Christmas these pictures are from my craft room, which isn't difficult to decorate because I just have to pepper in some decorations with my already very fun vintage decor.  The vintage Christmas ornament boxes and ornaments came from an awesome find at a thrift store over the weekend.  I'm in love with them because they remind me of my great grandparents.  My mom had a few of their ornaments when I was younger but after many many years they have slowly disappeared.  So I just started my own collection. But because of my 1 year old nephew I felt they would be safer in bowls in my craft room up high where I knew his little hands wouldn't get them.  Better safe then sorry.  This has inspired me... I think I will be going to more thrift shops and antique shops in search of holiday decor in the near future.   

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New Earrings listed in my shop

I just listed these two pairs of earrings in my shop aren't they fun?  I have had the peace sign beads since last year when I was working on paper beads and figured I would make a few pairs of earrings with them.  I made 5 pairs  3 of the longer ones and two of the shorter.  I kept a pair of the longer ones for myself.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/84298076/dangle-earrings-turquoise-peace-signs
http://www.etsy.com/listing/84297886/dangle-earrings-turquoise-peace-signs
While your there take a look around the shop they is lots to choose from.  Great gifts for one and all Christmas will be here before we know it.  I know I know you don't want to hear that, but this year flew by it seems.  It was a decent year in my opinion and I have had really bad years and some really good one and this past year was pretty good. If your on facebook and you like my shop feel free to stop by my shop page and like it to get the most up to date news, posting, and coupon codes.  http://www.facebook.com/GingersVintageRoom

Talk to you soon!

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A little Change

Well I decided today to create some cohesion between my etsy shop and my blog so you will notice that my blog title changed from Pawprints and papercrafts with Ginger to Ginger's Vintage Room.  I like both titles very much and I'm attached to both, but it just makes more sense for me to have my etsy shop name and my blog title name be one in the same.  I could have just created a new blog for my shop, but running two blogs with the same concept would be silly and kind of redundant.  This will still be where I create, share and explore my love of papercrafts...and crafts in general as well as life, but now it will include shop updates and products I'm selling as well as coupon codes.  I hope that you my followers will enjoy my new direction which is much like my old one with a twist and that I will gain more followers.  I hope this will inspire me to post more because lately I haven't been that great about posting because I have been attempting to get my shop going and that has taken all my focus.    Pin It Now!

Halloween Rose Buds

So I have been working on my etsy shop at the moment.  I would like for my craft to make me a little money at the very least to support my habit.  lol.  So I worked hard on roses to turn into earrings and bobby pins.  I really love how these came out.  With my earring set you receive three pairs of earrings in purple, green and orange these are on posts but clip-ons are available upon request.  The bobby pins are a set of three so you will receive three bobby pins in green, purple and orange.  You can find these in my etsy shop at www.etsy.com/gingerhollner

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Where has the time gone to

Once again I find myself to busy to blog I guess that's not a bad thing.  What have I been up to...well...painting, cleaning, purging, a little crafting (more like gift making), and setting up my etsy shop.  I really enjoy setting it up and trying new things.  Now I just hope that I can sell some of my stuff to make a little extra cash as work has been slower then I expected.  It is the beginning of the school year and I'm thinking most teacher are very busy getting the kids set up and getting to know them so I can't blame them for not being out sick and in need of my services, but I am anxious to get back into the classroom again and making money is a big plus.  I am taking the much unneeded down time to clean up my house getting rid of things I don't need, improving some rooms with a little paint and a little rearranging, and spend time with the pups.  I think they feel more at ease when I am home with them all day and I do really enjoy their company.  So this down time is good and bad.  Well that's all the excitement in my life at the moment.  In the mean time feel free to check out my esty shop maybe make a purchase (hint hint... wink, wink hehe).  If you have feedback for me feel free to message me privately I would love other's input.   Ginger's Vintage Room Pin It Now!

Isn't this a beautiful project and It is soooo easy.  What I used was the Close to My Heart Mix and Mingle album, Close to my Heart Mayberry Paper Pack, Close to my Heart Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge, Mocha Pearls (CTMH) and Smoothie ink (CTMH).  The Mix and Mingle album is awesome its 5 pages of Chipboard and 3 pages of acrylix and the jump rings to attach it together it cost $8.95 and I have seen it used as a mini album, a banner (like mine) and the list goes on and on.  Its so fun to play with!  I just worked on each page as its own piece of art.  I used the cricut to cut shapes out of patterned paper, a 3-d flower and the letters.  It looks beautiful hanging in my craft room.   Pin It Now!

Stamped plate

Well I'm planning for a Close to my Heart Club gathering at my house.  We are doing our projects a month in advance, so the crafters have a chance to give them out.  This month the projects are Halloween based.  I decided to decorate a little and I wanted to make mini pumpkin cupcakes and I wanted to get a cupcake stand, but ended up with a plate stand from Target then got white plates from the Dollar store.  Then with some purple and green stazon ink and the flourish stamp from the Close to My Heart Stamp set "Pair a Pharse" I stamped around the edges.  I'm not a perfectionist so I tried to space everything out as evenly as possible without measuring in some spots the images overlap and with glass it is hard to get a nice smooth image because between the glass surface, the stamp itself and angle your working on you get images that look a little too mushed and images where everything slides.  But the great thing is that in the end it is handmade and honestly no one will notice but you.  lol.  Why use aryclic stamps for projects like these, because you CAN go back and line the image back up if you don't stamp it evenly the first time.  Even the most experienced stamper has projects where that stamp something and part of image doesn't stamp quite right.  I do it all the time, on your usual cardstock project like cards its easy to correct.  You can put a piece foam like Close to my Heart provides in all of their stamp sets and slip it under your paper and try again.  Projects like my plates you don't really have that option so you have to line your image back up and push a little harder.  Another tip when working with Stazon ink that I have found it takes a little time to dry so if you keep a damp paper towel handy when working on glass projects when you make a mistake that you don't like and you want to start over with you just wipe it off quickly.  Another thing and this works when your using sharpie too.  All you need is a little rain-x to wipe Stazon ink or Sharpie off plastic or glass. I like to label all my craft tools so when I go to a crop and let someone borrow something it will come back.  And once in a while I like to be a little bit of a perfectionist so I sometimes will get a new tool and decide I want all the writing on my tools to match, so if I have say my name in blue on one item and pink on another it SOMETIMES bothers me, so I take out the rain-x and wipe all my tools down and relabel them.  This doesn't happen too often but when it does, it does I can't fight it haha. Pin It Now!

August's Tag

Well while I'm signed in I might as well as my August tag.  I found some where on the wonderful internet that Clown week or Clown day is in August and I bought the beautiful Le Cirque paper pack to do some layout about my Great Grandfather and decided to use it for my August Tag.  The other reason I did the Clowns and circus theme is because I hate to do what everyone else would do.  I like to go with the unexpected unless the expected is what inspires me. Like you'll see with next months tag.  And I really love how this tag came out and hope you enjoy it too.  I had to steal the picture from my friend Tabitha because I forgot to take a picture.  Only 4 more tags to go and I already have September and October done....But guess what I did...forgot to take picture so you will have to wait till Tabitha posts them for me in the group.  Oh well. Pin It Now!

Wow its been WAY too long!

Well this summer I was just creatively drained I guess.  Not much crafting for myself happened.  I took on a new role at my summer job that I thought was going to be easy, but proved to be a challenge.  I was the Arts and Crafts director for 3-5th graders which with my background should have been easy as pie.  I found and had great ideas but on a smaller scale.  Like I said it was a real challenge, but now with fall coming in fast.  I have the hopes of being able to craft and have some me time again in between my sub jobs and on the weekends.  I finally decided to wander into my craft room the other day and dust off my cricut and gyspy and some pictures and here is what I came up with.  Not too bad for not scrapbooking for probably about 3-6 months.  Nothing too fancy but I think it does the picture justice.  So the next adventure I have planned is a Close to my Heart Club with my bestie and some friends.  The first meeting is a couple weeks and there is a lot to do.  We are going to do one of my favorite themes Halloween (I can't believe its just around the corner).  I'm impatiently waiting for my order to get here with all my new goodies.  I'm hoping my cricut cartridge will be here.  Art Philosophy is such an amazing cartridge with 700 images which includes 3-D rosettes, two fonts, plenty of giftboxes and shapes to pair with your stamps.  I can't wait to play I will have new projects to post soon.  Probably Monday night or Tuesday.  I hope that you all enjoyed your summer and got through Irene okay.  See you soon!

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I swear I've been crafting

Graduation card from my stash of supplies (made 2)

Lucky Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Lucky Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Lucky Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Lucky Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Lucky Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Mayberry Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Mayberry Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Mayberry Workshop Kit (made 4 of each)

Bliss Workshop Kit (made 2 of each)

Bliss Workshop Kit (made 2 of each)

Bliss Workshop Kit (made 2 of each)

I guess I have been neglecting my blog.  I'm making up for it.  I made 34 cards over the course of 3 days.  Most of them were made from 3 Close to my heart workshop kits which I must say that they are amazing.  You receive an exclusive stamp set plus tons of paper, some sort of embellishment and directions on how to make 3 different designs of cards.  In the instructions it teaches you to make 2 of each design, I made 4 of each design and still had tons of paper left over. Pin It Now!

Remembering my fur friends

I started this post forever ago.  I was looking through the list and noticed this untitled, unpublished post over it lead to me looking to see what it was.  My fur friends I have lost.  I miss them everyday and I was finding myself crying at the thought of them, but lately it is less.  I still miss them terribly, but I realize that I need to live with my fur babies of the present and think of them fondly.  My dear Bandit, Sara, Stormy (not pictured) and Buster.  Though they are missed deeply I must move on.  I love you my beautiful babies, but I know your in a better place!!  

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Father's Day cards

Sunday I had the house to myself and I used my time kinda wisely (of course I could have been cleaning, but that's no fun).  So my bestie wanted me to join her a stamp camp that a friend runs and its always been kinda far from me and during the winter driving at night in the dark really wasn't an option.  So now that its lighter longer I was thinking I might just try to make the trek (of course all depends on how I'm feeling and if I'm working a lot this week or not).   I decided that just in case I would make cards to swap so I sat down pulled out some close to my heart paper an inkadinkadoo stamp ("Happy Father's Day") and my gypsy and get to work.  I started with Close to my Heart's Passages workshop kit (which there was like nothing left.  I promise that's a first for me).  I dove into what was left which was the paper with all the emphera looking stuff on it (postcards, journal pages) stripe, barn red cardstock and brown bag cardstock.  I add some bazzill Dark brown cardstock for the matting and the diecut image.  I basically went into this project mimicking my mother's day cards.  Hey stick to what you like.  I do like what came out and making 12 cards takes some time.  I even stamped the envelope to kind of match.

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Some Altered art

House Shaped ATC Swap

Owl Twinces

STU Alphabet Swap

Okay so I'm not done blogging today and no I didn't create all of these today.  I have been a bad blogger.  I have been very busy with work this past week (YIPPIEEE!!!) and creating and blogging for that fact were not as important, so I'm playing ketup so that my friends who read my blog can see the art that I have been creating when I can.  I labeled the pictures so you know the theme.  They were all lots of fun and I really like how they came out!  

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Thank you Cards

Recently my Motorcycle group worked very hard on a Poker Run to raise money.  After the Run was over the Secetary asked me if I wanted to make up some Thank you cards for the Firehouses and our Sister and Brothers from another chapter that came out to support us.  And of course I said sure!!  So I went home and pulled out this very old (but awesome) Stampin' Up set that has been sitting on the shelf for just such an occasion.  Then I thought to myself "I don't have any paper" lol that is such a LIE!! Anyway I decide to use Tim Holtz's Brick embossing folder.  I inked it first with Close to my Heart's Colonial White, placed my red paper into it and ran it through the cuttlebug.  I think the effect was awesome!! I then stamped the four firemen on white cardstock and ran to the computer to look up the colors each house wore.  I love to personalize when I can.  Then it was just ripping a whole into the center of the brick adding some Black soot ink around the ripped edges.  I did a couple other things with this card.  I didn't just leave it flat I wanted to pop up the brick a bit, so at first I used foam strips which I figured out I didn't have a whole lot of so I came up with the idea to use cardboard cut into strips instead (the firemen don't know the different between cardboard and what we craft ladies normally use).  The tag was cut out on the cricut and for the life of me I have no idea what cartridges it was now.  The "Thank you" is a close to my heart stamp that I cut so I would fit (which I actually cut it before this project).

The boy on the firecraker was made for a local military group that is currently in Iraq.  We decided to send our left over bake sale items to the boys so they could have a little taste of home.  The card was just a little some extra I wanted to add from us as a group.  I hope they enjoyed their goodies and their card.  It was fun to make.  The Back group was another Tim Holtz embossing folder.  I inked white cardstock with Faded Denim and Fired Brick Distress ink. Then Inked the embossing folder with Vintage Photo Distress ink placed the paper in and embossed.  Then I cut the little boy on the firecracker out using A Child's Year on the Circut.   I glued it on the the blue/red paper, which I had glued to a black piece of paper and then used matching Ditress Stickles to embellish the image.  I then stamp the same Thank You on a piece of white paper that was also inked to match and punched it out using an EK Success Punch.  I foam doted that up on the card.

The Top card which I made for our Brothers and Sisters in our very supportive Brother Chapter.  The motorcycle come from the Feeling Groovy Cricut cartridge!  It was fun but a challenge to make.  It is about 5 or 5 layers.  Other then the bike I kept it simple. Pin It Now!