Gently Falling Tea Lights & Vellum Card by Yapha Mason

This lovely boxed set of four decorated tea light candles with a matching card and envelope makes a gracious hostess gift wherever your plans may take you this fall.  The candles by themselves will add a charming touch to your fall holiday décor.  This beautiful set was created by Yapha Mason.  You can learn more about Yapha on her blog HERE.
Want to subscribe to the November edition of Craft Project Central and get 10 wonderful tutorials (including the one for this project) for only $10?  Head on over to the Craft Project Central website HERE!

Hello Friend Bleached Background Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  See It While You Can
On our walk today Buddy and I saw the most amazing leaves!  They literally stopped me in my tracks and I immediately took a few photos and started collecting a few to bring back home to press in a book.  Tonight (I'm writing this on Wednesday evening) I shared the pictures with Michael and then went to get the heavy book I had put them in - protected by wax paper.  When I opened the book to show him the leaves, the green portions had already browned, although the other colors were just as vibrant.  It reminded me to stop and appreciate things while you can - to truly see them - because in this ever-changing world moments keep passing and things keep evolving.  I am so grateful I saw those leaves in all their glory this morning.  I hope you get a sense of them from the photo.  Enjoy!

Today's card began with an inked and bleached background.  I then incorporated stamping using the Morning Meadow stamp set and a butterfly from Papillon Potpourri.  The sentiment is from Six-Sided Sampler.  Funny how I share this very spring-like card on a day that I was so inspired by the falling leaves...
And for those of you celebrating Halloween.....BOOOO!!!!! :)

Don't miss out on this week's Weekly Deals!!!!!  Click HERE to shop now!!!!

Be Merry String Art by Amanda Corbet

Get ready for the holiday season with this beautiful Be Merry sign. This art is sure to get you into the holiday spirit! It also doubles as a greeting card holder! When those holiday cards start coming in just use a regular paper clip to attach the card to the ribbon and you will have all your cards on display! There is a card included so you can make one to give as a gift!  This fun project was created by Amanda Corbet as the October Bonus Project for Craft Project Central.  Bonus projects can be obtained by subscribing to two or more months in a row; putting the Craft Project Central badge on your blog; or by referring a friend and when they subscribe letting Craft Project Central know!  Find out more about Amanda on her blog HERE!  And, head on over the Craft Project Central to learn more about subscribing for the month of October!

Tag It Bundles

Tag It Bundles are here and they are only available October 29-November 19, 2013!  These two Tag It bundles include the tags, the ribbon, and the boxes to make your own pretty packages.  Here are the details:

The Holiday Tag It Decorative Box Bundle (item 135811, $18.95) includes

• Stamp a Tag Kit
• Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon (10 yards)
• Decorative Window Gift Boxes (6 boxes)

The Holiday Tag It Extra-Large Box Bundle (item 135812, $19.95) includes

• Stamp a Tag Kit
• Cherry Cobbler 1" Stitched Edge Grosgrain Ribbon (10 yards)
• Extra-Large Gift Boxes (3 boxes)

Shop HERE now! :)

Sunflower Thank You Card

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  The minute you begin to start to judge what you're doing, you're done.  -Cher
I was watching the show The Voice the other day and Cher, one of the celebrity coaching assistants, made the above statement to one of the contestants.  To put it into context, the contestant was trying to connect with the song he was singing, but he was so focused on other people judging his singing that he wasn't connecting at all.  This is so true for me with my art making.  The minute I begin to start to judge what I'm doing it's as if I have placed a huge creative block in my way.  I create my own obstacles and for what?  Why not leave the judging to someone else and leave the creating to me? :)
For my birthday one of my friends gave me a bunch of sunflowers!  How perfect to have the Sunflower background stamp to create a thank you card :)  I stamped the flower using So Saffron ink on Very Vanilla card stock.  Next, I stamped the sentiment from From My Heart using Basic Black ink.  The panel was then layered onto a Basic Black card stock panel and a So Saffron card base.  As an added touch, I stamped the flower onto the envelope as well.  I hope you like it :)

Halloween Costumes Inspired By Nick Cave Soundsuits and A Winner!!!!

Today's Lesson From The Craft Room:  The Images And Art We See Leaves An Impression And Can Lead To Inspiration!
A number of months ago we went to the Denver Art Museum and there was an exhibit of some of Nick Cave's art.  Part of the exhibit was a display of Soundsuits.  Mr. Cave has been making Soundsuits for over 20 years.  I had never seen (or heard) them before.  As I walked through the exhibit, the mixed-media suits intrigued me...but when I then saw and heard video of the suits in motion, everything changed!  The sounds and anonymity the suits provided was incredible.  That was a number of months ago.  (To see a video of Nick Cave and a few of his Soundsuits in motion, click HERE.  I also encourage you to Google Mr. Cave and learn more about his intriguing art!).
Fast forward to Saturday and a last minute decision to come up with an interesting costume for a Halloween party that night.  Michael and I did some talking and, since he was already at the flea market, he looked around for a bit of inspiration.  A $3 abacus was all we needed!  He brought it home and the creativity took flight!  We had the Soundsuits in mind (one of the Soundsuits by Nick Cave incorporates a large abacus as the "face"), so we broke out some cardboard boxes, skewers, wooden spools, newsprint and hot glue.  Michael took apart the beads from the abacus as I began duct taping and fringing newsprint.  It looked like a paper feather bird exploded in the house!  The result?  Total fun!!!!!  We put the Soundsuits on and had a blast moving our heads and bodies to make the abacus rattle back and forth and the paper feathers "swoosh!"  The anonymity was also an amazing experience (although the hostess of the party figured us out pretty quickly :)  I even carried an article about Nick Cave and his Soundsuits in my pocket so that when people asked what we were we were able to share with them our inspiration.
As an aside, I was also intrigued by how disorienting it was for people to see something they had not seen before.  Many people had not been to the exhibit or were unfamiliar with Nick Cave's work and we could overhear them saying things like, "I don't know what that is?!  Is it an owl?  A weird alien?"  They were puzzled.  We try so hard to define what we see - to give it a name - and when we can't name it we are a bit uncomfortable.  We try to put boundaries on it - a description - rules.  I wonder how this need to define what we see impacts our ability to fully experience what we encounter?  What if we just lived the experience?
Today I am left with both a lesson and a question:  What we encounter, leaves an impression that can lead to inspiration.  How can we allow ourselves to experience what we encounter without needing to categorize or define it?

And for those of you waiting to find out the winner of the October subscription to Craft Project Central...The winner is...

TiaraHelen!!!!!  Helen, I will be contacting you to set up your free subscription to October!  Congratulations!!!!

Christmas Countdown by Dani Dziama

Love counting down the days until Christmas?  This is the perfect addition to any holiday décor for the upcoming Christmas season!  Simply turn the calendar days one by one starting on December 1st and Christmas will be here before you know it!  This fun project was created by Dani Dziama!  You can learn more about Dani on her blog HERE!

Want to subscribe to the October edition of Craft Project Central and get 10 wonderful tutorials (including the one for this project) for only $10?  Head on over to the Craft Project Central website HERE!