How To: Kissing Balls

Recently I was given these small green moss balls pictured below and was trying to figure out what to do with them. I decided to try my hand at making kissing balls. It ended up being a simple and fun project!

To begin with you need moss covered styrofoam balls in a size of your choice. The ones I used ranged from 2-3" in diameter.

I began with bouquets of parchment roses in white.

Cut the roses from the stem, you will need a fairly large quantity of roses depending on the size of the ball and the rose.

Using a hot glue gun begin attaching roses around the ball.

Continue working until the ball is covered on all sides with a small space left to attach the ribbons.

Choose some ribbons from which to hang your kissing ball or if you like you can leave them plain to fill a bowl or cloche. I used crinkled seam binding for mine. Dot a bit of glue onto the ball and using a straight pin attach the ribbons in a loop.

The finished product! I attached a little stamped tag to mine as well.

You can make these with a variety of roses for all seasons.
Try one for yourself or you can see a few of ours here!

~Happy Creating!

In An Autumn Mood

Well it's 106* right now outside, and Fall is officially here so I thought I would share a few goodies new to the shop. I know you are thinking Fall/106*. . . well, out here in Southern California the beginning of Autumn is almost always marked by an excessive heatwave. So here I sit, inside where the air is cool I can dream of cozy sweaters, pumpkin lattes and a new pair of boots!

First up is an abundance of gift tags, I just couldn't help it. I adore these new images and the roses are in the most beautiful shades. They remind me of an early Autumn sunset.

I do have several new projects in the works but wanted to stock up on some of the old standbys while I was on a roll.

And yet more tags. . .

We also have several new journals, made to order.

These are a few of my favorites.

My kids and I spend a lot of time at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanical Gardens and this little garland was inspired by all the beautiful peacocks we enjoy there.

We also have lots of new altered note cards.
Well. . . back to work on some goodies.
I don't plan on venturing out all weekend long!

A Creative Moment

I have spent the last few weeks working on filling wholesale orders. Mind you I am forever grateful for the opportunity to do this and while it is enjoyable, it is not the same as simply sitting down and creating because you simply must or you will burst!

I forced myself to take some time and just have fun. As I sat and began wrapping bits of lace around tags and stamping here and there it was as though this pent up energy was being released.

I love how you get in a rhythm and it all just sort of flows from there.

While I made several things these two "creative pockets" were some of my favorites. I used a chipboard backing from Melissa Frances as the base and just sort of built on them with bits of lace, vintage buttons, keys. . .anything lying around.

Voila!
Now I can joyfully go back to wholesale for a bit longer. This was just the creative moment I needed!

A Welcomed Weekend

This has been an extremely long week and I am welcoming the weekend with open arms. I wish I could share all the details but I don't like to count my chickens before they've hatched so let's just say something really exciting for my family and I is in the works and I hope it comes to fruition. That being said. . .

I just haven't had much time for creating this week. I am however, setting aside this weekend for some fun once I recharge my batteries.

I did grab a few minutes to list a few new pretties this morning including some Fall inspired treats and the beautiful bookmarks pictured above. You can find these and more here.

I wish you a wonderfully relaxing stress-free weekend! Check back next week for more new treats! The holidays are just around the corner and we have some fun things in store!