Art by Debbie Saenz

Letters, Letters, & more Letters...

I've been swimming in letters lately...yes, quite literally, I have been swimming in Wall letters, Wedding letter Sets, and even Ampersands! My Etsy Shoppe has really taken off with these new items...and is keeping me very busy!

First, however, I should explain what is going on with our house since last time I wrote we had our home for sale. Well, after a contract deal fell through, and we weren't able to really find anything else we loved, we realized we needed to stay put a while longer...I recently read Rev. 3:8, "You are the Lord who opens doors no one can shut" and the opposite is just as true - You also shut doors no one can open. That verse reminds me where my trust needs to be and brings, Oh, so much freedom and peace!...So, here we are, unpacking boxes and getting situated again.  We had de-cluttered (which was much needed anyway :) and staged our home to sell it. I took the pictures for our listing so maybe in an upcoming blog post I'll show you the pics I took. I even have before pictures from seven years ago when we bought our home...quite a contrast. Humm, that would be a fun post! Soon, I promise :)

Back to my letters---It all started with a project I did for Plaid which was actually a featured project in a recent JoAnn Fabrics catalog. Plaid asked me to design the word Love using paper mache letters any way I wanted as long as all the products were sold at JoAnn fabrics, and using Mod Podge, of course! Here is a picture of the the project I designed...

I thought a reclaimed wood look would look with a coastal color palette would look awesome...so this is what I came up with! I took this picture of my letters before I dropped them off at Plaid's headquarter office. I always have a little photo shoot of my projects before I hand them over. Pretty good, I think...but I loved the image I got of the 'V'...

Yup! that's where my letters all began...I created my first Letter Listing in my Etsy Shoppe. I used this photo and now have made so many letters I will soon be creating an album of my letters on my Facebook Page...

I now offer Wedding Letter Sets too! Those have been really popular. I thought it would be really special for the Bride and Groom to have a personalized letter set with thier initials and a little hand stamped tag with their wedding date. I  LOVE the way they turn out!

Oh so cute! Maybe you know someome who is getting married? This would make an adorable and very unique wedding gift.  What I love about these is that they can  be displayed at the wedding reception...and then used as home decor as a reminder of the Big Day.

 Here's one bride-to-be who bought one of my large ampersands as a photo prop for her engagement photos. She was so kind to send me a few images.

Adorable right? Here's another...

I do want to give credit to her photographer, Lindsay Jo Photography here.

This is the common sight next to my front door... stacks of packaged Letters, made with lots and lots of love, ready to be taken to the post office and shipped to my wonderful customers who keep me really really busy! But that's a good thing:)

 

Mod Podge Monday: Cake Topper

Last week I made a quinceañera cake. Mariana and her family are good friends so I wanted Mariana's birthday cake to be very special. The room was beautifully decorated with lots of musical notes. Mariana, along with the rest of her family, is blessed with musical talent. It was lovely and looked like a wedding reception!

When I couldn't find a cake topper that worked with my idea, I figured I needed to get my creative juices flowing, so I made one myself. I drew my pattern and cut out the numbers with my handy dandy scroll saw! Yes, then of course, Mod Podge was part of my plan. after sanding like crazy, I painted the edges and back teal, then decoupaged the fronts with pretty blue scrapbook paper. I glued them to an oval plaque and added rhinestones. 

Sparkle Mod Podge, even over the painted parts, always adds pizazz!

I haven't made a tiered cake in a while, not since the days when I was making 2 to 3 wedding cakes a week....that's probably been about 10 years ago. I use a family recipe, Hot Milk cake, which was passed down from my great-grandmother. Yum! Deliciously moist. I put Bavarian cream between the layers.   

I wanted to add lights and musical notes to the cake. My idea? I stuffed a vase with battery operated mini led lights and blue iridescent cellophane grass. I closed the opening with tape and inserted it into I hole I cut out of the middle cake layer. 

The musical note "chandelier" I made using a piece of thin Plexiglas cut into a circle. I made 6 holes evenly around the edges and added beads and musical notes. After lots of brainstorming and looking for musical notes I could hang (which ended up being an unsuccessful search), I decided to make them myself. I bent blue wire into treble clefs. I was able to make them the size I needed and hang them on jump rings. I think it worked perfectly!

I glued the entire "chandelier" part to the vase. But then I had visions of little people bumping the cake table and the cake tumbling down! I needed to figure out a way for the cake to sit securely on top of the vase. Velcro was my answer...I simply glued some velcro strips to the bottom cake plate and to the top of my "chandelier". Wa-la! Perfect! It was secure, but also easy enough to disassemble when it came time to cut the cake.  

I made this plaque to go on the cake table. I Mod Podged hymnal pages to the background and used the same paper for the "M" as I did for the numbers. A few embellishments and sparkle, sparkle! Yes, I used Sparkle Mod Podge on the painted edges and the letter. I sealed the background with Gloss Mod Podge for some contrast.

This was such a special and very fun party! Mariachis, dancing, great food, a pinata, a even lots of family members who flew in from Mexico for this special day! My favorite part was the beautiful ceremony celebrating Mariana's transition from being a little girl to becoming a young lady. She came out in flat shoes and no accessories. After her family members presented her with special symbolic gifts, she was shining with heels, all her accessories and even a new Bible! It was very special!

I must show you the thank yous that were on different tables throughout the room. Cecy, Mariana's mom made them. Chocolate bars wrapped in scrapbook paper with a little hand stamped tag and a pretty bow. They turned out so cute! 

So, next time you need a cake topper, you can make one yourself! Mod Podge to the rescue!

Happy 15th Birthday Mariana! 

Valentine Tags - Made with Lots of LOVE!

I've been playing with lots of sweet ingredients (and the best part, zero calories!)....

Red glitter

Red felt hearts

Red rhinestones

Vintage book pages

Little charms

Manila tags

Stamps

Inks

and lots and lots of LOVE! 

An explosion of sweetness!

A creation of lots of fun layers and beautiful textures!

Red Glitter of course!

Cute little skeleton keys 

Vintage book pages

and  who doesn't love little felt hearts? 

I garnished each tag with fun fibers!

Now available in my Etsy Shoppe!

Made with lots and lots of LOVE xo

Linking up with my friend Jennifer at Studio JRU. She has an awesome heart garland tutorial this week. 

Help! My 16yo son took over my studio...

When I say take over, I mean literally took over, moved in, music and all!  But it's all good...my son Nicholas, or Nick as he likes to be called nowadays, had been working on a special Valentine's gift for his girlfriend Laura since last Wednesday. 

He had an idea of what he wanted to do from the very beginning. I suggested other options, but he had his mind set. He wanted it make a paper bag photo album. 

And he wanted to do it with Mod Podge! Yes, my teenage son knows just what to do with Mod Podge. After all, he's seen his mom create with it since he was itty bitty. It's not uncommon for me to find a bottle of it in his room after working on some kind of project. Not only my Mod Podge, but when my paper cutter or any other tool is missing, I know just where to look. 

Here is his creation! He did a WONDERFUL job and he did it all by himself! I offered my help, but he said he didn't need it. I wondered what he would come up with. I should have know...he has always been very creative! 

Here is one of the 10 page layouts. He had a theme for every page and his little notes were very poetic. This is my rugby playing future marine showing a new side of himself. It's times like this that make me realize my little boy is growing up. Oh but why does it have to happen so fast?

They each made this Valentine's Day very special for one another. Nick greeted Laura with a bouquet of flowers this morning before school. And here they are after school exchanging gifts before their day together. Nick had his first lesson in making dinner reservations. 

I discovered Laura had been working long and hard on her own project for Nick. She made him an "I love You"  YouTube video. Wow! they both poured so much love and time into making special memories for each other.

Even though I've not really had any studio time since last Wednesday and it now looks like a hurricane went through it, I enjoyed seeing my son in creative bliss motivated and determined because of love. 

 Happy Valentine's Day! 

 Debbie xo

PS. Yes, Nick will have lots of clean up to do tomorrow...oh joy!

Love Box Surprise!

My cousin Cheryl and her husband opened their heart and their home to a young girl named Kristin. Her story is sad and one that no child should experience. Kristin began weighing heavy on my heart and I've been praying for her, but wanted to show her love in a tangible way, which led me to make this special love box especially for Kristin.  

I decoupaged a little wood box with pretty papers using Mod Podge Sparkle and red Extreme Glitter for the heart.  

I added love messages all over the box and more sparkle with Hologram Extreme Glitter. I simply painted it over the pink paint for an iridescent shine. 

 Kristin is learning just how much Jesus loves her. While living with my cousin, she prayed to receive Jesus in her heart. I pray she will continue to grow in her faith and always remember just how special she is and how much Jesus loves her. 

I made this tag bookmark and wrote a special message to Kristin on the back. 

I filled the little box with a heart key chain and added one of my scrabble tile pendant necklaces, wrapped it all up in pretty heart paper, added some candies, and sent it off to her. 

I hope and pray Kristin's love box surprise touched her heart in some way. I have never met Krisitin (they live in Florida), but can't wait until I do...meanwhile, I can continue to pray for her knowing she is in the hands of the One who loves her the most and has called her His own. 

Blessings xo,

Debbie

 

 

I Won 1st Place & My Etsy Store is Now Open!

Yea! I was so excited when they called my name as the first place winner of the 2010 Creativity Contest at the Scrapbook Expo. The Expo was in Duluth, Georgia at the Gwinnett Convention Center. 

They were looking for any and all types of creative projects using scrapbooking supplies. So that's what I gave them. I entered something I know they have never seen before. One of my Perfummies. I began creating them last year. I made the first one for my mom. Since she loves beautiful things, I wanted to surprise her and make something extra special for her birthday. 

The process began with a 2 x 4 that  was laying around in my garage.  Since I've used so much Mod Podge on wood, I got to thinking....Hmmm what can I do with this? And then, Voila!, my creation, a three dimensional mixed-media perfume bottle! And of course, I had to give it a name. I called it a Perfummie. 

This is the one I entered in the contest:

 

This Perfummie is  51/2 inches tall. I added a glass knob for the top, crystal feet for the bottom. A tag for personalizing and fun fibers hang from the knob.

 

 I collect vintage jewelry to embellish my Perfummies.

 

I make beaded danglers to add with the tags.  

This is the back. There are lots of layers along with about 16 different pieces of scrapbook paper and many other elements.

 Here I am with my Perfummie after they called my name. 

 This is Carol Spruill, she won second place. She entered a beautiful card. 

 This is Peggy Thompson, she was the 3rd place winner. She made a darling collage.

So many beautiful projects were entered; really, we were ALL winners! 

They told me they would mail my prize. I'll be sure to let you know what I won when my package arrives! 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

And now for more exciting news.....

I'm so thrilled to tell you that I FINALLY set up my Etsy shop and actually have several things listed, including the winning Perfummie pictured above. You probably already saw the cute little gadget displaying my Etsy shop items for sale (On my sidebar at the top of this page). Incase you've never heard of Etsy before, its a social commerce website focused on handmade or vintage items as well as art and craft supplies. 

It was A LOT of work, but it feels so good because I've been wanting to do this for some time now. Please! If you have any feedback for me I would LOVE to hear it.  And especially if it's constructive criticism! I might have been "blind" to some things while in the dizzy fog of staring at the computer for so long. 

But now I'm doing the Yippee dance!... I have my own shop! YEA! 

Blessings Xo,

Debbie

More on Southern Belle Georgia Bloggers Retreat

If you read my previous post, you'll know why I want to share more 

about our wonderful retreat. 

  

We each made our own name-tag. This was the one that I made.

 Sharon's from Shardon Exclusives.

  Marcy from Queen Marcy Originals

And Lynn's from Lynn's Lovelies

Kathy from Country Chintz 

   

 And Yvette from The Charm House

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

These were just some of the beautiful name-tags that were

 made for our special day. 

There were special door prizes, a gift exchange, and more...

 I made this bracelet to give as my gift to exchange 

 

 I decoupaged a little box to hold the bracelet, added a faux crystal knob, 

wrapped it all up, and added a stamped tag.

This was a door prize I won. Absolutely darling! Made by Dawn 

from  The Feathered Nest

It says, "Sweet Home of the Little Birds". I love it!

Each place setting was adorned with a special gift made by Sharon from Shardon Exclusives. 
 Sharon organized the Retreat and did an amazing job! Every detail was perfect - a day to cherish always!

Blessings XO,

Debbie

Valentine's Day Card

Ok, since I posted a girls craft yesterday,

 here's one for a boy... 

 Don't all little boys love shiny rockets? I thought so, so I designed a really cool Valentine's Day card that allows the rocket to blast right out of the envelope! And into a special someone's heart. 

I used Plaid's Simply Stencils to create the rocket, hearts and letters. I drew a patten for the envelope and used cardstock, fun star and hologram papers, and of course, silver glitter to give it even more shine. 

 

You can find the full instructions on Plaid's website.

I hope this was fun!

Blessings XO,

Debbie 

'Love' Heart Book

I thought this little booklet turned out so cute and fun...

I gave this to Tara as a Bridal Shower gift. She could use it as an autograph book, scrapbook or to write love notes to her honey :)

I used two wooden hearts from the craft store and decoupaged, stamped, glittered, and embellished them with chipboard letters, a silk flower, rhinestones and ribbons...and of course, a picture of the two love birds.

I  drilled holes in the wooden hearts, added about 20 pages and punched holes in them and tied it all together with some burgundy ribbon!

On the back of the book, I stamped and signed it....

with lots of love.

Creating is so much fun!

Debbie