A Creative Bibliophile - July 2021

This has been a month of amazing books for me, but one stands out among the others and I'm excited to tell you about it ... I actually spotted this in the New Book section at my local library and looked at it from just seeing the cover.  Do you ever do this ?? I have found some of my favorite books by being attracted to the cover. That just might be a future blog post topic !! 

My bookmark this month actually has no stamping on it !! I recently purchased a Public Library  kit by October Afternoon from Peachy Cheap. This website has a deal a day - stamps, cardstock, scrapbook kits, etc.... This kit was absolutely made for me and was perfect for my latest bookmark !! The pretty gold letters are from Pink Paislee. 

The Holdout by Graham Moore is my book for July . It's about a reality tv show that is bringing back the jurors from a sensational murder trial after 10 years. There was one holdout on that jury and the rest of the jurors ultimately were persuaded to return a verdict of Not Guilty. The book explores how this decision impacts all of their lives. And to complicate matters, on the eve of the reality show, one of the jurors is found dead in the room of the holdout - who is now a defense attorney herself. The plot thickens as she attempts to prove her innocence. 

The story has many twists and turns and great characters.  And I'm pretty good at  guessing the ending of a book, but this one was a surprise to me.  The author has talked about his own experience on a jury and how it has affected him and in turn, helped shape this book. I had never heard of this author before but learned a great deal about him after finishing this book . He won an Academy Award for screenwriting for the movie The Imitation Game, that I am already planning on watching with Brian.  He is well-known as a historical fiction writer and you can learn more about his books HERE . I highly recommend The Holdout and plan on reading his other books. 

Thank you for visiting me again this month to see what has been on my reading list .. Do you have any recommendations for me ?? What are you currently reading ?? Do you have a favorite bookmark ?? I've been known to use receipts, granola bar wrappers, dollar bills etc... Anything is fair game, except I do NOT ever dog ear pages !! I have so many bookmarks that I usually can find one pretty quickly.. And it helps that I love to make them too !!

See you again next month..

Until then, please stay safe and read a good book !! 

Christmas in July 2019 with Anthony's Paper Craft

It's Christmas in July over at Anthony's Paper Craft and I always love getting out my holiday stamps .  This weekend, there's an even better reason to think about the holidays!! From July 19 through July 21, all in stock stamps at Anthony's Paper Craft are 20% off.  So take a look at all of the wonderful stamps and have fun putting them in your cart..

Anthony's Design Team is showing off the holiday stamps all month . Today it's my  turn and I used one of my all-time favorite stamp sets - Winter Scene . I sometimes send tags as Christmas cards  and these were so much fun to make !! I write on the back of the tag and the twine even lets the receiver hang it on their holiday tree.  These tags allowed me to use some of my stash of holiday washi too -- always love a reason to do that !!

• I started with 2 Kraft tags. To me, Kraft is a perfect cardstock for a great vintage feel on your holiday projects.
• I stamped several elements from the Winter Scene stamp set - some directly onto the Kraft and others on patterned paper.
• I am in love with that Happy Holidays sentiment that I used on both tags !!! I colored in some of the letters with my fine Sharpies. 
• The patterned paper I used is from my stash of October Afternoon paper pads - Make It Merry & Holiday Style.
• The scene with the trees was built with a tree/mountain die and the cute snowman image .
• Paper banners were punched out and strung across the Celebrate the Season tag, placing a black candy dot at each corner.
• The white tags hanging from each of the Kraft tags were stamped with sentiments from the Christmas Sentiments 1 set .
• Wood-grain and Snowflake patterned washi was placed on the Peace, Love & Joy tag .
• The circle on the Celebrate tag was punched from the October Afternoon paper and a red candy dot was placed at the bottom of the circle.

I hope that you are inspired by my holiday tags, There are many fun holiday stamps at  Anthony's Paper Craft - take a look at these and all the other  available stamps. The 20% off sale will rum from July 19 through July 21.

I'm trying to beat the heat here in Virginia Beach by staying indoors and creative. I hope your weather is a bit cooler. Think snow and the holidays and get crafty this weekend !! 

Thank you for visiting Meticulosity ..

Debra Davison / Meticulosity

Crafty Elves' Countdown to Christmas - May

It's months like the past 2 that make me glad I'm making a Christmas card each week !! Lots going on and hardly a spare minute to get creative. Oh, I get very creative in my mind, but actually sitting down to make something is another story altogether .. This month's cards are courtesy of a large manila envelope of Christmas supplies that I found while cleaning/destashing . I told myself that if they didn't "spark joy"  or at least inspire 4 cards this month, I would give all of them away .. As you will see, I accomplished my task.My cards aren't all that complicated since my attention spam has been about slim to none. But I am happy with them and look forward to sending them when the holidays roll around. Thank you for joining Lisa Reynolds Bzibziak and myself as the Crafty Elves continue our Countdown to Christmas.. 

Of my 4 cards for May, only 1 has stamping on it. I wanted to show that even with a busy  ( crazy at times ) life, you can make some really nice cards with just a few of your favorite supplies !! And among my favorites are washi, twine, chipboard stickers and patterned paper. I hope you are inspired to make a few of your own..

#1  Holly Jolly Christmas

• On a textured Kraft card base, I adhered some Chipboard stickers from the discontinued Basic Grey "25TH & Pine" collection.  The 6 stickers can either be used separately as frames and the central image or altogether, which is how I chose to adhere them to my card. I added some Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue to the stickers backs for added adhesive.
• A piece of green twine from the October Afternoon "Holiday Style" collection was wrapped around the top of the card base. and tied in a knot. Quick and easy card, but I love it !!

#2  Family & Friends

• I love mixing and matching different elements and this card was no exception.
• On a red textured card base, I adhered a song page die cut.
• Miscellaneous ephemera were adhered at the bottom of the song page. A holiday tag, ticket, and word stickers ( and the song page ) all were from the discontinued October Afternoon  "Make It Merry Collection". 
• I also adhered a piece of ribbon under the tag.

#3  A Merry Christmas To All

• On a navy textured card base, I adhered a holiday frame and chipboard sticker  from the discontinued Basic Grey "Evergreen" collection. 
• The holly leaf adhered in the upper right corner of the frame is from the Basic Grey "25th & Pine'" collection.
• A strip of pale blue glitter washi was applied across the top of the card and  a strip of thin starry washi was placed across the bottom.

#4  Happy Christmas

• I have to admit - this is my favorite card !! I started by adhering a piece of plaid paper to a white textured card base.
• I appled 2 strips of Tim Holtz washi tape along the bottom of the plaid paper . I actually applied it before adhering the paper to the base and wrapped the edges around the paper.
• The sleigh and reindeer from the "25th & Pine" chipboard collection were adhered to the plaid background paper.
• A flag from the October Afternoon "Make It Merry"collection  was placed behind the sleigh.
• Checkered Moon and Shine  stamps from Rubber Moon were stamped on scraps of yellow paper. I cut the moon face from the stamped image and adhered it to the upper right corner of the plaid paper and the star was cut out and placed on the left side of the card. The star was popped up with foam tabs.
• I colored the moon and star with my Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens. 

I'm hoping that I've inspired you to join us on our Countdown to Christmas by making some cards of your own. Take a look at Lisa's cards on her blog - Life of a BZ Scrapper - for more ideas.  I've  heard from several friends that they have started making Christmas cards along with us. Last month I said I would choose 1 commenter to win a bit of blog candy. Chosen at random was Crystal Minkler . Please send me your snail mail address so I can send out your goodies !! She commented -  

Crystal O. MinklerApril 25, 2019 at 11:34 AM

" Ooohhh... Debra you had me at Kraft and washi!!! These cards are all fabulous!! Thanks for the monthly inspiration and reminder!! I can’t wait to get my studio done so I can play along and start building my Christmas card stash! "

I'm looking forward to next month already as we continue our Countdown to Christmas. 

Debra Davison/ Meticulosity

Drink, Read & Be Happy

Another Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is here and of course, I had to post something on the first day. I combined my love of books and coffee for this card that is being sent to a friend of mine in Munich, Germany. I think that Gina loves books and coffee as much as I do !!

 

• I started with an apple green card base and placed a piece of my hoarded Public Library  paper by October Afternoon on top of that as a background. I have had this paper for a LONG time and just couldn't bring myself to use it until I was working on this card for Gina & the Blog Hop. 
• The stamped image is Chapter One from Unity Stamps that I colored with my favorite markers - a combination of Distress markers, PITT Artist pens & Stabilos. The image and sentiment were stamped with Memories India Black Ink. The books were stamped on Neenah Stardust White Cardstock and the sentiment was stamped on Kraft cardstock.
• I adhered  everything using my Bazzill Permanent Adhesive Runner. A bit of glitter was used on the steam rising out of the coffee cups.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the projects linked up to this Hop. They are always amazing and inspire me to make more and more coffee/tea/cocoa cards !! Thank you for visiting Meticulosity... I'll be offering some blog candy to someone who comments on my posts throughout the Hop. 

Queens of Glitter

MariLynn DeGroot challenged us to create a glittery card in honor of our crafty sisters .. This was the perfect time for me to finally use my Suzi Blu "Queen of Glitter" stamp by Unity Stamp Company ... On a DCWV Inc. card base, I placed some October Afternoon patterned paper banners.. The glittered edge is a piece of double-sided tape that I poured the leftover glitter on from the stamped image... A bit of paper-piecing, several rhinestones, a red mini-clip and it's done .... Sheryl, Terri, Pam, Jennifer, MariLynn & Paula ••• I love you guys ••• You are my crafty sisters... We are Queens of Glitter !!  And to all of my creative friends, thank you so much for letting me share Meticulosity with you .... I appreciate your support and comments .... Leave a comment about this post and you have a chance to win a glittery surprise !! Also check out the Mountain Plains Crafters blog to see all of our creations ... And Happy Holidays to all of you ...