You Warm My Heart

Hey, can I just say that any day that includes watercoloring is a good day in my book? This card was a fun one to put together. I am really loving the results of heat embossing in black on watercolor paper. It gives me a nice, dark image on the textured watercolor paper which I am often not able to otherwise achieve with straight stamping on the bumpy grain. I just wish I could get the hang of ridding the image of all stray grains of EP. I still get embossed "freckles" even though I use an embossing buddy!! So please excuse the mess while I try to get on the learning curve. :(

With this card I am giving another SNEAK PEEK of a soon-to-be-released clear stamp set from Mark's Finest Papers. This set is called Snowman Country, and it has a cozy, homespun feel. Wait 'til you see the whole set next week!

Oh, and I'm also debuting my new baker's twine!! Have loved the look of this twine for months, and I finally ordered some. A blogging friend, Kristy of Kristy's Crafts, pointed me to her affordable source of baker's twine at the Annie42 Etsy shop, which offers baker's twine in eight colors and, with low shipping costs, has some of the best prices around.

Here are the challenges I played in making this 5" x 6.5 " card:

• Splitcoast sketch challenge SC301
• Tuesday Throwdown: Challenge #20, Chipboard. I dug into a package of Target Dollar Spot holiday chipboard letters that my DS gave me for Christmas last year.
  
• City Crafter Challenge Blog: Week 25, Hooray for the Holidays--create a holiday project for any holiday. I've got Christmas covered with this one.
• Paper Sundaes: Something from Your Stash. Those three red/black swirly buttons came from my vintage button stash.
  
• Stamptacular Sunday: Challenge #79, Layer It On, to use at least 5 layers

Thanks for dropping in!!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers: Snowman Country
Paper: SU basic black, The Paper Company, Canson watercolor paper, DMD DP (from WalMart)
Ink: Versamark, Rubber Stampede (scarlet, deep green, black--for watercoloring)
Accessories: CM corner rounder punch, SU scallop border punch, black EP, heat tool, foam tape, buttons from my stash, baker's twine, chipboard alphabet piece
Techniques: watercolor painting, embossing

Flourishes Guest Hostess!!

Happy Tuesday, everybody!! I have had the hardest time keeping a secret the past few weeks (especially because there is a PRIZE involved!). But I can finally share it today: I am the Guest Challenge Hostess for this week’s Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC77)!! I love playing in the Flourishes Challenges, so I was thrilled and honored to be asked to fill their once-a-month guest hostess spot for July. As hostess, it was my job to pick the challenge, and I had SO much fun doing just that! My challenge for FTTC77 is to incorporate some kind of pin on a card creation. Any kind of pin will do: stick pins, hat pins, safety pins, straight pins, diaper pins, even mini clothes pins, or a brooch-style pin. Use your imagination! I can’t wait to see what you come up with! You can find all the details for this challenge on the Flourishes blog. I hope you will check it out—there is a random drawing for a $10 Flourishes store gift certificate from this week’s entries. Fun!!

So, once I dreamed up this pins challenge, it was time to get started on my FTTC77 card. I had originally envisioned using safety pins on my creation, but pretty soon those safety pins morphed into homemade hat pins as my card plan evolved. I ended up making this birthday card for my mom, who loves tea and collects teapots. I kept thinking of the old-fashioned Victorian décor of one of her favorite tea rooms.
I used Flourishes’ Let’s Have Tea set and colored this wonderful tea tray image with colored pencils, including my prized metallic silver pencil for the tray. I didn’t have any fancy stick pins or hat pins (which I knew would be perfect for the look I was after) on hand, so I started looking through my sewing supplies. Most of the straight pins I use for everyday sewing have largish round white pinheads, but I also found a small stash of pins with colored heads, including a few pink ones. I put one of each of those aside while I poked around some more in my sewing stuff. Pretty soon I uncovered a jar of stray beads from beaded trims. (When you snip off a length of beaded trim, a few beads invariably come loose and fall off. I can’t bring myself to throw them away, so I toss them in a jar for “someday.”) So to make my “hat pins,” I just threaded a few of these pretty beads on my straight pins, then slipped the pins through the folds of my grosgrain ribbon. Simple!! But sparkly and just the Victorian-style touch I wanted for this special card. It’s going to be so hard waiting until Mom’s October birthday to give this to her!

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing in my BIG slice of bliss for today! If you play along with a pin card this week, don’t forget to link it up at the Flourishes blog. The FTTC77 challenge runs until Monday, August 2, at 6 p.m. Eastern time. And be sure to check out the blog team designers’ take on my pins challenge:

• Cindy H.
  
• Dee
• Silke
• Maki
• Betty
• Barbara

SUPPLIES
Stamps: Flourishes Let’s Have Tea
Paper: Basic Grey Nook & Pantry DP, Basic Grey Green at Heart DP, SU whisper white CS, SU pretty in pink CS
Ink: Palette noir black
Accessories: MS Deco Fan Punch Around the Page punch set, SU tag corner punch, SU word window punch, colored pencils, foam tape, dimensionals, pearls, sewing machine, emery board (for distressing), paisley grosgrain ribbon from my stash, homemade hat pins, Prima Lilliput Rose - Marshmallow
Techniques: machine sewing