Birthday Wishes!

Hi Friends! Ready for the long Labor Day weekend? I hope whatever you have planned (or don't), you have a great one!

My card today is a girly birthday card. I was the weekly winner in the TCP Tuesday 221 Challenge and got myself the cutest stamps and die, and I've been itching to use them ever since they arrived. I'll have to work on stamping straight, but aren't these "stamps" adorable?



And, look, they worked for the TCP Tuesday 225 Sketch Challenge perfectly, when I turned it on its side!

I used the Die-namics Mini Royal Roses dies for the flowers. The burlap was scrap from another project. I just rolled it into a cone and stapled it together at the bottom, then tied twine around it.

It is nearly impossible for me to leave the inside of my cards completely void of some kind of decor, even if it's just something simple. The sentiment is from the dollar bin at Joann's (or maybe it was Michael's)--either way, it was a bargain.

I'll be back tomorrow with the last of the nursery wall hangings I've been working on for my nieces and nephews. Until then....

Thanks for stopping by and have a great night!

I'd like to enter this in the following challenges:
TCP Tuesday 225 Sketch Challenge
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge #178: Roses & Ribbons
Color Throwdown CTD207
Cute Card Thursday #232: A Stitch in Time
Party Time Tuesday #83: Anything Goes
The Shabby Tea Room #129: Summer Cottage
Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #154: Use Punches, Dies, or Shapes

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Commemorating You (TCP Stamps); Birthday sentiment (Studio G)
Paper: Vintage Marketplace (Bazzill Basics); Rosy (My Mind's Eye); Shine-digital paper (Karen Funk for Design House Digital); The Basics Stack (Paper Studio)
Ink: Memento; Distress Ink
Dies: Stamp Trio Cut Ups Die (TCP Stamps); Die-namics Mini Royal Roses (MFT Stamps); Classic Scalloped Rectangles Lg (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Scallop Dot edge punch (Martha Stewart); velvet ribbon; pearls; burlap; twine; sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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My First Christmas Card of the Season

Time to get started on Christmas cards!

Actually, I didn't intend to make a Christmas card today, but I saw the St. Nick image and went with it. I used a Snow Marker around the edges of the image, then added a little Diamond Stickles on top of that. All my paper on this card is digital.



















For the card layout, I used the August 2012 Sketch For You to Try, and the color palette came from the ColourQ Challenge #152.

I made the white loopy bloom and tan rose with Die-namics dies. I can't believe I waited so long to get these dies...they are fantastic!

Even though this paper isn't a traditional Christmas design or color, I thought the white paper with the random dots was perfect for a Christmas card. I just wish I'd have turned that dp on the inside, so it looked more like ornaments hanging down. ;)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Sketch For You to Try: August 2012
Colour Q Challenge: CQC152
Christmas Stampin' All Year Long, CSAYL #25: Non-Traditional Colors
Jingle Belles: JB-12-18: Holiday B-I-N-G-O (Santa, flowers, ribbon)
Creative Card Crew Challenge #18: Christmas
Sentimental Sundays Challenge #117: Sewing or Faux Stitching
Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge #178: Roses & Ribbons

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Sentimental Christmas (Flourishes); Dots & Flowers Background (Hero Arts); Santa Image (Magic Moonlight Studio)
Digital Paper: For the Boys, Shine: Karen Funk; Breezy: Karla Dudley (Design House Digital)
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento; Snow Marker
Dies: Mini Royal Roses, Loopy Blooms, Royal Leaves (MFT Stamps); Curved Rectangle (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Designer Pine punch (McGill); twine; burlap; felt; acrylic paint; Stickles; sewing thread; leaf pins; flowers
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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A Life Without Love

(If you are looking for my TMS post, click here.)

(Spouse Spoiler Alert: Hi Hubby...don't open this post until after Sept. 3!)

Hi Friends! How's the week treating you, so far? I think our 3rd grader may be on the road to recovery from her little crisis last week! Yaaayyy! Check that off my list of things to worry about. ;)

The card I have to share with you today is an anniversary card for my DH. We'll be celebrating our 13th anniversary next Monday! :) The card is a bit deceptive. It looks very simple, and I suppose it really is, but did it ever take a long time to figure out how I could make it come together!

I did some stitching, made a couple of flowers with my new MFT Die-namics, which I LOVE!, did some heat embossing and paper piercing, added a few die cuts, and wa-la, there you have it, right? Nope, not this time! First of all, I'm sure you can tell that the patterned vertical strip is a bookmark. The eyelet and twine at the top kind of give it away. Well, getting that sucker to stay put was a challenge, to say the least!

I started with the Week 4 Viva la Verve sketch. Quite simple, but unfortunately, for me, it has a lot of room to get crazy, which I tend to do when there are large spaces in a sketch. Amazingly, however, I didn't flip or turn the sketch--just left it as is. :D

Here's the same card with the bookmark removed. I wanted the card to look complete, even without the bookmark, so I cut a kraft strip, put a different sentiment on it, and did a little stamping and heat embossing to liven it up. The red leaves die cuts are actually much darker than in the photo, more of a deep cranberry color. I think I should have stamped the leaves in a darker color so they would stand out more. To assemble this, I had to first glue the small leaf die cut, then partially glue the largest leaf die cut. Only then could I glue the vertical strip, pulling the leaf over the edge of the strip and adhering it at the same time.  All the while, I had to make sure that the strip was going to be centered under the curved diecut at the bottom. (The Tennyson quote was created in Word, printed onto a transparency, and rubbed on).

I used the Parisian Edge punch to make the narrow scalloped strip behind the twill, and glued it onto a strip of kraft for stability, then adhered the twill over that. The curved die cut has a design heat embossed on it, and I glued it to the back of the twill strip before gluing the strip to the card. The strip is only glued to the card at the right edge and about 1-1/2" along the left edge, to leave room to slip the bookmark in later. I thought that would be sufficient to hold the bookmark in place. Hehehe.

For the bookmark, I cut one from patterned paper and another from kraft and glued them together to give it more structure. After stamping the sentiment and decorative stamps onto a kraft die cut, I paper pierced the edges and glued it to the front of the bookmark. I held the bookmark against the front of the card to position the "Love You" sentiment so that it doesn't show until it is removed from the card. I wanted something where the button is, because when the bookmark was inserted, that spot seemed kind of naked, but I was concerned about the thickness of a button on a bookmark (I'm a stickler for taking care of books, especially protecting the spines), but I tested it, and the button didn't seem to hurt the book at all, so I went with it. Then, I realized I had a problem I couldn't seem to solve.

No matter what I did, the bookmark wouldn't stay in place on the card. All the twill strip did was give the bookmark a place to pivot from. It kept falling to one side or the other and slipping down further than it was supposed to. Because I really wanted this card to be complete, with or without the bookmark, I needed a solution that was secure, but at the same time didn't alter the aesthetics of the card or the bookmark. 

So, here's what I came up with, and it works great! I used a Creative Page Tab die to cut a piece of plastic (the packaging the dies came in) to make a tab, folded it in half, and hot glued it to the back of the bookmark. The most difficult part was figuring out exactly where to put it, so that it held the bookmark at the correct height. Thank goodness the last thing I always do when making a card is to adhere everything as a whole to the card base, because when I glued the cs to the card base, I just made sure to leave an area unglued that was large enough for the tab to be able to slip in. So, now, the bookmark stays put, but can be removed, and even be put back with ease, and the tab is completely out of sight--even from the back of the card. As for using it as a bookmark, the tab could be left on and hooked over the top of the page, or it can be removed with a craft knife.

So, here's a photo of the entire card, together, but separate.

And, except for heat embossing the Happy Anniversary sentiment, I left the inside blank, so I can add my own personal message. I figured the front of this card was so sufficiently decorated, it didn't need much on the inside, anyway. ;)

So, that's it for me today! Thanks for stopping by today, and if you're in the path of Hurricane Issac, be safe. My prayers are with you!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve Sketch Challenge: VLVAug2012 Week 4
ABC Challenge: V for Vanish (something hidden)
Basic Grey Challenge #75: Anything Goes (use something Basic Grey)
Cute Card Thursday #231: Bling It Up
Digi Doodle Challenge #122: Use Pearls (there's a pearl in one of my roses)
Moving Along With the Times: Shape Up-Anything but Square
Paper Play Challenge: Week 34--Sentiment as the main focus
The Poodles Parlour: Winged Things
Sentimental Sunday Challenge #117: Sewing or faux stitching
Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #154: Use punches, dies, or shapes
Stamptacular Sunday Challenge #178: Roses & Ribbons

~Hugs,


Stamps: Summer Afternoon (Taylored Expressions); Bloom & Grow (Verve); Avignon, Venice (7 Gypsies); Tag Lines, Wedded Bliss (Flourishes); Treasures (Shabby Chic)
Paper: Clippings, Little Black Dress (Basic Grey)
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento; clear embossing ink
Dies: Classy Label Die, Elegant Leaves Die (Verve); Mark Your Spot Bookmark Die (Taylored Expressions); Die-namics Royal Rose, Die-namics Mini Royal Roses (MFT Stamps); Labels Three, Creative Page Tabs (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Parisian Edge Punch (EK Success); glitter embossing powder (Zing); twill ribbon (Taylored Expressions); felt; pearl; eyelet; button; flower; twine; sewing thread; plastic scrap
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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TMS #161: Sweet of You

Hello Friends! It's Tuesday, and you know what that means--Tuesday Morning Sketches! And, Raisin Boat is our awesome sponsor again, too. Have you heard of them? What Net Flix does with movies, Raisin Boat does with stamps. You can pick whether you want to rent stamp sets or buy them brand-new! They have a fantastic line up of stamps, but they also carry the other things we love to use on our cards, like ink, markers, cardstock, bling, and...well, you get the idea. Be sure to check out their site for yourself! :)

Here's the sketch.

And, here's my card. Can you see the dimension in the flower? After coloring and fussy cutting, I cut a few of the petals down to the "pearls" in the center to separate them from the rest, then glued the edges of the adjacent petal to the back, which pulled all the petals forward. It's backed with a Delicate Dahlia die cut from Memory Box. The red die cut is solid color cs, which I stamped with a Grape Floral bg stamp in Versamark. Most of it is covered up, but you can still see a little of it.

The sentiment is actually all three words in a line, so I inked up one word at a time and stamped them separately so they would fit in the circle die cut. You can't see it in this photo, but I spritzed the sentiment with Heirloom Gold Perfect Pearls Mist, too. It shows up better in the photo at the top of the post. I used Glossy Accents over the small stamped heart, and Liquid Pearls in each of the points.

I found another fun stitch on my sewing machine.

On the inside, I stamped a portion of a Grape Floral background stamp in Spun Sugar Distress Ink. IRL it's actually lighter than in this photo. It will be easy to write over it, but still dark enough not to be lost under a personal message.

Now, it's your turn to wow us with your creativity! That Raisin Boat prize is going to somebody--wouldn't it be great if it was to YOU!!! I hope you'll join us at Tuesday Morning Sketches this week, and be sure to check out the rest of the DT, as well as our fab Guest Designer, Shelby, for lots of inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a crafty week.

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Basic Grey Challenge #75: Anything Goes

Digi Doodle Challenge #122: Use Pearls

Moving Along With the Times: Shape Up (Anything But Square)

Sentimental Sunday Challenge #117: Sewing or Faux Stitching

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #154: Use Punches, Dies, or Shapes

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Floral Stem Wear Sweet (Raisin Boat); Grape Floral Background (Stamp Camp)
Paper: Kissing Booth (Basic Grey)
Ink: Copics; Memento; Distress Ink; Versamark
Dies: Splendid Circles, Fleur de Lis Squares, Fair Isle Pendants (Spellbinders); Delicate Dahlia (Memory Box)
Accessories: Parisian Edger (EK Success); pearls; brads; Glossy Accents; Liquid Pearls; Pearl Pen; Perfect Pearls Mist; sewing thread; foam dots
Size: A2 (5.5" x 4.25")

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Once You Learn To Read

Hi Friends! Happy, Happy Friday!!! I am SO glad the weekend is finally here. Who knew 3rd grade could be so stressful? Wish a cute little bookmark, made with lots of love, could make it all better.

The bookmark is cut from kraft cs, and the colors came from the TCPTues 223 Color Challenge.

I'd like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp: Back to School
TCPTues223 Color Challenge: Rose, Sunshine, Teal
Cute Card Thursday Challenge #231: Bling It Up
A Blog Named Hero Challenge #10: The Krafty Crafter

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Mark Your Spot (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Kraft; Hello Spring (Little Yellow Bicycle)
Ink: Colorbox; Distress Ink
Dies: Mark Your Spot Bookmark (Taylored Expressions); Romantic Rectangles, Antique Frame & Accents, Rose Creations (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Twine; brad; Corner Chomper; felt; Memory Thread (DMC); Stickles; Prismacolor pencils; acrylic paint
Size: 1.75" x 6.25"

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TMS #160: So Proud!

Happy Tuesday, Friends! It's that time again...back to school! Are your kids back yet? Does that make you happy or sad? It's funny how differently people react to their kids going back to school every year. I miss having my DD around, but at the same time, I like having time to myself. Hmmm...does that make me "sappy"? :) My DD has been ready for school to get going again since...oh, about the third week of summer! She was missing all her friends.

Being Tuesday, it's also time for another Tuesday Morning Sketch challenge, and this week you get to choose from one of these four past sketches. All of them are great, so you might have to do a little eeny, meeny, miney, mo to decide. Or, maybe you'll make one of each! ;) Our fab sponsor this week is The Stamping Boutique. They have the cutest digital stamps, which they provided to the team for our cards this week. I was really glad the stamps were back-to-school themed, because I was able to make a card for my DD.

I made this card to put into my DD's backpack before the first day of school. She's in the third grade now, and moved up to the intermediate school, so it was a big day for her. She was thrilled with this card, and said she kept it propped up on her desk all day long. :D The image is actually a composite of three different Stamping Boutique back to school stamps. Isn't that Audrey a cutie? I colored her with Copics, giving her a little wet spot on her paper bag, just for fun, then added some Glossy Accents to her glasses and shoes, as well as the labels on the spines of her books. I used a white gel pen to add random dots to her dress, scarf, and cheeks. Then, I fussy cut the images and popped them up with foam dots.The "So Proud" sentiment is hand lettered, the hearts are Verve stamps, to which I added red Stickles and a couple of red rhinestones. I did a little stitching on that layer, too.

The buttons are from my stash. I used purple waxed linen thread to coordinate with the purple backpack. In this photo, you can see some of the dimension from the popped up layers.

I finally got some burlap to use on my cards. I love the texture it adds. For this card, I cut a burlap square, folded a corner over and stapled it to the cs, then added a flower on top of it. I like the burlap look, but my craft table, as well as my shirt, was a mess afterward with all the shedding!

Here's a look at the inside.

I hope you'll be able to join us this week at Tuesday Morning Sketches! We always have such fun, and wouldn't a prize from The Stamping Boutique be awesome! And, be sure to stop by the other DT members' blogs for more inspiration, too!

Thanks for stopping by today!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Simply Create Too #20: Back to School 
Cute Card Thursday Challenge #230: Back to School

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Back to School Audrey, Back to School Book Bag, Audrey's Books (The Stamping Boutique); Sweet Treats (Verve); Signature Greetings (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Oxford (Basic Grey); Story Teller (Crate Paper); So Sophie (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Copics; Distress Ink; Memento
Dies: Labels Lg, Classic Scalloped Rectangle Lg, Floral Ovals (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Scallop Dot Border Punch (Martha Stewart); Arithmetic embossing folder (Sizzix); glitter marker (Martha Stewart); white gel pen; pinking scissors; burlap; flowers & leaves; Glossy Accents; Stickles; waxed linen thread; buttons; brads; foam dots; sewing thread
Size: A2 (4.25"x 5.5")

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You Are Such a Joy!

Hello Friends! I'm back to making cards again, after a break for cleaning, organizing, and sewing, and this one was so much fun to make!

I saw this video tutorial on the Simon Says Stamp blog and loved the look, so I just had to try it for myself. I didn't color an image on mine, but I did use UTEE over my sentiment, then created a frame around the edge of the die cut with stamps and distressed it with Distress Ink. Most of it got covered up by the time I was finished with the card, but it still looks pretty. And, I recently won a challenge at Simon Says Stamp and used my gift voucher to buy some MFT rolled flower dies, which I used to make the felt flowers on this card. OMGosh--Awesome!

My card design came from the Viva la Verve August 2012 Week 3 sketch, but I added a few elements to give it a little bit of a shabby vintage look. The vintage image is a freebie from Magic Moonlight Studio. The polka dot strip across the top is actually Washi tape, which I adhered to kraft cs, then sewed to the card. This is my first time to use Washi tape. I've wondered what the big deal was, and now I know. I can't wait to get some other designs!

I bought an old dictionary from our local library during one of their book sales, and used a page for the inside of this card. The edges are inked with various colors of Distress Ink.

And, that's it for this card. I'll be back in the morning with my Tuesday Morning Sketch Challenge card. Until then, thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!

I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:
Viva la Verve August 2012 Sketch Challenge Week 3-VLVAug2012
Simon Says Stamp: Animal Antics
Simon Says Stamp and Show Vintage Challenge: No Rules
TCP Tuesday Challenge: Use Washi Tape
Whimsy Stamps Inspirations Challenge #50: Lots of Layers
A Blog Named Hero Challenge #10: Krafty Crafter (use kraft)
Basic Grey Challenges #75: Anything Goes
Stamp & Create August Challenge: Stitch It Up

~Hugs,

 

Stamps: Kind Words (Verve); Organic Fabric Flourish (Inkadinkado)
Paper: Digi Image (Magic Moonlight Studio); Out of Print (Basic Grey); kraft; dictionary page
Ink: Distress Ink; Memento; clear embossing ink
Dies: Labels Three, Labels Twenty-One, Labels Eighteen, Antique Frame & Accents (Spellbinders); Die-namics Mini Rolled Roses, Die-namics Rolled Mum (My Favorite Things)
Accessories: Trendy Tape (Queen & Co); burlap; felt; lace; mini staples; UTEE; pearls; eyelets; sewing thread; Enamel Accents
Size: A2 (4.25" x 5.5")

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Chair Backpack

Hi Friends! Hope you're having a good week, so far. I have a little sewing project to share with you today. My DD has to have her running shoes for P.E. 2-3 days a week, so rather than having to remember if it's an "A" week, with P.E. on Monday and Friday, or a "B" week, with P.E. on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday, I decided to let her leave a pair of shoes at school all the time. Only problem was that there was no where for her to keep them--space is limited in her classroom. So, I made her a backpack for her chair that she could keep her shoes and socks in all the time.

I found this tutorial by Amy at www.ourscoop.blogspot.com, and followed it almost exactly, with only a few adjustments. My DD's shoes and a couple pair of socks fit in it perfectly, and because it hugs the back of the chair so well, her regular backpack will still hang on top of this just fine.

I made this out of fabric that was leftover from some Roman shades we had made in our previous house. It's upholstery fabric, so it is very sturdy and stiff--perfect for a backpack. I used interfacing on the exterior fabric, but not on the lining.

The bag is hanging on one of my kitchen chairs here, so you can see what it looks like from the back.

I put Velcro strips on the flap to hold it closed, but if I made it again, I'd probably just make the flap much longer and add weights to it so the Velcro wouldn't be necessary. There is plenty of room inside. Even as my DD grows and her shoes get larger, they should still fit in there for quite a while.

The main three modifications I made to the tutorial were that I sewed the sides and bottom strips together before attaching them to the front and back of the bag--both on the exterior fabric and the lining; I did not cut the bag flap before attaching the ruffles; and I also sewed the edge of the ruffles into the bag flap seam. When I attached the ruffles, I first attached the top ruffle, right sides together, so that it would fold down and cover the unfinished edge of the fabric. Then, I attached the bottom ruffle underneath the top ruffle, with right sides up on the ruffle and the bag flap. After that ruffle was attached, I pressed the top ruffle down over the bottom ruffle and topstitched across the edge of the top ruffle to hold it in place. You just have to make sure you have the ruffles positioned exactly where you want them so they will cover the edge of the bag flap. 

I did consider how bad the bag might smell after a few months of having sweaty shoes in it, so I made a couple of simple sachets out of medium weight cotton fabric and filled them with Arm & Hammer Extra Strength Carpet Odor Eliminator. She will just drop one into each shoe when she puts them away and, hopefully, the problem should be solved. It's easy enough to make a couple more sachets every few months. :) This morning, when we took the bag to school and attached it to her desk chair, it (and her shoes) already smelled nice. The scent isn't overpowering or too flowery, either.

I was pleased with how this project turned out, but it was a lot more time consuming than I expected. I sure hope this bag makes it through the entire year, and it'd be real nice if it survived a few years!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderfully crafty day!

I'd like to enter this in the following challenge:

Cute Card Thursday Challenge 230: Back to School

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