Shabby Style Tips, 2 New Stamp Sets, Fun Ideas and France!

Ooohh… I have so many fun things to share with you today!  DT Leader Vicki Chrisman has a really great tutorial on her blog with a bunch of tips for adding shabby charm to your projects.  So many people have said they don’t know how to create a lovely worn distressed look and she has easy tips to get you started. Vicki used papers from our CD and an image from Love Mail Scraps.

You can see how Vicki’s photo keepsake above and on the card below by DT member Tammy Roberts that combing layers of papers, textures, inking, stitching, old lace, ribbons, buttons, flowers all add to the charm. So save old broken jewelry, beads, pearls, bits of lace, old doilies, fabric from a child’s outgrown outfit, etc. You can hand dye or buy seam binding, ink or spray paper die cut doilies and if you love lace – check out our new AntiqueTrims Stamp Set  you can stamp in any color!


Here is a brand new Clear Art Stamp Set SM40 Grand Greetings and I’m thrilled with the way it turned out!  There are  27 separate stamps with a variety of ornate lettering styles and all the versatile embellishment stamps you can mix and match to dress up greeting cards & gift tags.

On this layout by Vicki Chrisman she used some of the Grand Greetings Stamps (‘It’s Your Day’ and ‘Happily Ever After’ with our Vintage Label Stamp Stamp Set. You can also ENTER VICKI'S GIVEAWAY HERE on Her Blog!  She will draw a winner Sept 5/11


I love how versatile this sentiment ‘WISHING YOU A BEAUTIFUL DAY’  is that DT Member Tammy Roberts used on this card she created using a cute little girl from our Childhood Booklet. Details HERE on Tammy’s Blog.



This set is so NEW, I don’t even have a sample to show yet but many of the frames from our NEW SM41 Mini Frames Clear Art Stamp Set fit sentiments from the Grand Greetings set and the Mini Vintage Scraps, plus - there are also 3 little bails, a long piece of chain and a V chain stamp that can be placed curved on a block to stamp necklaces and create faux photo jewelry & memory keepsakes! There are 18 separate stamps in total and you can curve the words; FAMILY, LOVED, SPECIAL and GIRLFRIEND to fit across the scroll top banners.


Look at these sweet old spoons that DT Member Julie Campbell altered using images from our Mini Vintage Scraps. You can see the other spoons HERE  on Julie’s Blog.


Talking about old spoons, I need to tell you about one of my favorite companies www.spoonman.com so you can check out the incredible products he creates from old cutlery! I linked to his crazy head gear which he welds to bendable metal headbands like a ‘through the head wrench’ for $8.00 for your fav tool man but see his jewelry and pens.


He always has a booth at the Portland Saturday Market, where I bought a bracelet nicer than the one above for $16.00 and this toothpick or bud vase for $11.00. He has online ordering if you can’t get there but this outdoor arts & crafts market is really fun and full great food and handcrafted items.



Here is this weeks Orange Challenge Cynthia is hosting over at Splitcoast and YES - you can still join in the fun and post a project. Just be sure to include the code CSSC187 so your sample shows up in the Gallery. I love the way Cynthia stitched on her card and used an image from our Childhood Booklet


I promised to tell you about my upcoming trip to France, which is like a dream come true. We leave this coming Wednesday so I’ve been working non stop but Cindy & Denisa will be here looking after the office and my daughters are doggy sitting.  I'm going to hunt for more stuff like this great lettering while I'm there!

My oldest daughter Katie & boyfriend Ryan got a great deal on a week at a villa in France for 8 at a silent auction but Scott and I will be touring for 3 weeks! If you ever want to rent a villa overseas check this place out.   PS –Katie & Ryan are busy working on a TV show for the Oprah Network I will tell you about when I get back as I’m a really proud mum!



We will be in Paris for 3 days before we drive 4 hrs south to the countryside where the villa is and Katie has organized day trips to all of the neighboring towns on their outdoor market days. Here’s a link to the Burgundy area known best for it’s wine, cheese!

After we leave the villa we are driving across the southern part of France to San Sebastian in Spain and along the way staying in little villages like Narbonne and Toulouse and visiting the medieval city of Carcassonne, France. Europe is expensive but us bargain hunters found great deals on www.TripAdvisor.com  and www.Hostelworld.com and hostelworld has several private bedroom places with great reviews. Click on Carcassonne link to see more cool photos.


Of course one of my dreams has been to go to a French Flea Market and there are a few in Paris as well as in other towns we will visit so I am super excited to to go treasure hunting and promise to take a bunch of photos & buy stuff!  If you ever go I found a great info site on French Flea Markets!


I’m sure we will visit a couple of art galleries so when I saw this fun photo you can alter on Photofunia I had to add photos of our dog Otis and his buddy George. If you’ve never played on Photofunia you have to try it out. It’s free & addictive!



I added this photo of my niece Arissa to a building in Times Square over at Photofunia. Her & brother Kason have been staying here at my mom & dad’s place downstairs and it’s been fun and hectic having small kids in our house again.

It will try and do another post before we leave but head DT member Vicki Chrisman will be posting in my absence and possibly some of our other DT ladies.
Wishing you joy & creativity
Sandy Redburn
Crafty Secrets
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