Congrats on Your Pregnancy Easel Card for the OCC.

Time for another OCC project! Our challenge was to make a baby-themed card using Kraft, a button and trim. Would you believe I already had one I made a couple weeks ago? I just hadn’t blogged it yet!

I made this for a woman in our congregation who is expecting her second baby. I’m not sure if she likes purple but I sure hope so! I think the shading on the carriage sucks, I actually added quite a bit of Y35 to the Y21 I used to colour it but for some weird reason, you really can’t see it much. The whole right side of the carriage is supposed to look shaded, like the dress. Oh well.

I made it into an easel card because I hope that she will display it until the baby is born and it will be way more sturdy this way. I normally go with a more shabby style but the gal I’m giving it to isn’t that way at all. More modern, so I think this card would suit her better than one dripping with lace and distressing.

I hope you will join us at the OCC blog this week. We’d love to have you play along . Be sure to check out all of the awesome samples the team has for you!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: Stamping Bella, ticket-PTI
Ink: Memento black, fresh snow white-PTI, eggplant, lavender-SU!
Paper: Kraft, purple,artichoke CS-SU!, white CS-Taylored Expressions, DP-Kioshi Basic Grey
Accessories: silk flower-Michaels, brad (um, I mean button of course)-Basic Grey, ribbon-stash, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Copics: V12,15,17, G21,25, Y21,35, E00,21,33,35,37, Bs and YRs(um, sorry, can’t remember), W00,1,3, ticket die, scalloped edge die-PTI, Cuttlebug embossing folder

A Very Late OCC Post–Not So Neutral!

Wow, did I ever have a terrible week last week! Our whole family had the nastiest cold and sore throat, ugh. Anyway, I’ve finally caught up so here is my take on Linda’s only neutrals challenge. Use light neutrals only (tan, ivory, taupe, grey, white), metallics are OKtoo, on your card with dark neutrals (dark grey, chocolate, black) as accents only. But that alone would be too easy! So there is a twist to use lace and buttons too!

I first thought of white and gold so I went with this wedding easel card. The gold is applied using a gold paint pen. I was DYING to use pink and green on the flowers but I resisted. The lace is lace tape used for making Battenberg lace. I’ve had it for so long and I’ve not made the lace so I decided it could go on cards instead.

It is hard to see but the tulle that extends under the ribbon on the lower half of the card is also behind the upper part of the card. You just can’t see it against the background. It is very frilly and feminine. The Gold rimmed pearls are buttons with the shanks cut off.

I hope you will check out the rest of the OCC design team gal’s projects at the OCC blog. They are so awesome! It’s really not so hard, come on, play with us!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: MFT
Ink: memento black, Versamark
Paper: white CS-Taylored Expressions
Accessories: gold paint pen-Pilot, gold ribbon-stash (off a gift box I believe), tulle, buttons, lace-stash, pearls-Dollarama, gold EP-SU!, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Copics E00,21, 33, curved Rectangle Nesties

OCC Weaving Challenge-Floral Vine Card

This week our OCC challenge was to use weaving on your card. I decided to use an uneven type of weaving, threading Memory Thread by DMC through a trellis to resemble a vine.

Memory Thread is like very thin cording with wire inside so it holds it’s shape pretty well. I used a hydrangea punch, embossing the petals individually in a circular pattern to give them dimension. The larger ones are embossed downwards and the small ones are embossed upwards in a cup shape. I think I will add more flowers later and when I decide to use this card, I will add a tiny tag tied onto the trellis with a little sentiment.

I hope you will play along this week. Be sure to visit the OCC blog to see the other AWESOME samples the Design Team have created!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: SU! DP, white CS-Taylored Expressions
Accessories: Trellis, hydrangea punch-MS, Memory Thread, EK Success scalloped border punch, pearls-Dollarama

Vintage Wings Embroidery Floss Card for the OCC

Jenn had a great challenge for us this week. Use embroidery floss for something other than embroidery! Sounds like fun right? Our DT and Guest Designer did an AWESOME job AND PTI also gave lots of ideas in their March customer blog hop last month. So no excuse when it comes to inspiration. My entry for that blog hop is HERE. But this card is much nicer!!

I decided against the typical uses like tying bows or threading buttons. It took me a while but I finally used the floss to cover these little wooden wings I bought on Etsy. I looped it so (hopefully) it would look like feathers! I hope I succeeded!
I heavily CASED Melissa Phillips’ card HERE. 

Button Boutique Easel Card for the OCC

Vicki has come up with a brilliant challenge this week. It’s amazing how one little extra piece of CS and a couple more embellishments create such a wow card when you create it with an Easel Fold.

I really love easel cards; if you’ve never made one they are really easy. Create a top fold card base of your choice. It can be landscape or portrait. Score the card front only in half vertically. Now create your card front on a new piece of CS. Try not to have any brads or eyelets etc. sticking though on the top half. When you are finished, adhere the bottom half of the decorated card front to the bottom half of the plain card base front. When you fold on the score line, you get an easel card. The card base rests on a table and the top props upwards.

Now you need something to hold the easel in place. Almost any embellishment will do but I prefer something with a wee bit of thickness. I’ve seen cards propped open on little more than a layer of CS but seems to me that one little bump (I have kids after all) and it would pop shut. I’ve used charms, brads, lace, buttons, 3-D stickers and a sentiment strip on foam dots. Lots of choices. I don’t usually decorate the inside of my cards but this forces me to. I usually figure I work so hard on the outside, why on earth decorate the inside too?? but in this case, the result is worth the extra effort.

I absolutely had a blast creating with my new Button Boutique set by PTI. Those gals are geniuses! Check out that white button; see the little flower I made within the holes? The top is a French knot with lots of wraps and the stems and leaves are just stitched  with green embroidery floss in an arrow shape. I made 4 button cards, I didn’t use a single stamp twice and there were still stamps left! I also got the pinked die and the set that stamps little squares of ‘fabric’, I forget what it’s called. I stamped the gingham stamp on a little piece of silk I’ve had for ages from a set of swatches back from when I sewed a lot. Thank heavens I saved them because I was amazed how well the fabric stamped. To prevent bleeding, I heated the fabric right before stamping; this helps the ink dry before it can bleed AND hit it with the heat gun right after. Then I cut it with the little pinked die. I can’t wait to make more of these.

I hope you will check out the other DT members awesome projects over at the OCC blog. Make sure you leave time to play with us before the deadline of next Friday night at 11:50 PM EST. Hope to see you there!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: PTI
Ink: Baja-SU!, white-PTI, Antique Linen, Vintage Photo Distress Inks
Paper: blue dots-MME, all the rest-Melissa Frances, kraft-SU!
Accessories: Vintage lace, buttons-PTI, SU!; pearl, white string (button threading)-Dollarama, flower-Michaels, brad-Basic Grey, MS eyelet lace punch, Cuttlebug polka dots embossing folder, twill tape-stash, button card die, pinked die-PTI, foam dots-Jody Morrow

Ribbon Flower Gift Box for the OCC Challenge

This week was a fun challenge! Sharon challenged us to create a card, 3-D project, scrapbook page, etc. on the theme of Girl Power. Let's show our feminine side and make something girly!  There are requirements: include a hand-made paper flower, ribbon and some bling.  Doll it up!

Well, I got the paper flower part, sort of, I am ashamed to admit that I missed the handmade part of the paper flower. I mean, I started with the handmade part. I made the base and then made some really pretty handmade, scrunchie, scalloped circle flowers. Only problem is they looked too drab for my project even though I made them from paper that matches the colours in the DP. Funny thing is, I have no idea why. I made one peach and one yellow but they looked the same colour and much too boring to match the project.

After that, the paper flower idea got stuck in my head as I searched for a substitute, only as I type this am I realizing I forgot the handmade part. I decided to use a chipboard flower and cut the petals off, covering them in my favourite green ombre ribbon to make them look like leaves. They are handmade I guess, they are a type of paper and they used to be flowers. Do you think that counts?? LOL!

I really like this template. I love how the paper you use for the flap shows at the back! And since I used pretty DP, it makes it that much better! It is by Lauren Meader of My Time Made Easy; I’ve been somewhat critical of some of her templates in the past, loving the shape and design but not loving the imperfections and occasional asymmetry. This one is pretty much perfect! YEAH! I didn’t change a thing AND I will make it the same way next time so I was very happy constructing it.

I made the flower from ribbon (a la Monica Geller, “I KNOW!”) but I can’t tell you how yet as that will be my video tutorial for my May Arts Design Team application. I used Distress Crackle Paint on the Maya Road flourishes.

I’d love to see your name over at the OCC blog! This one is pretty easy so there are no excuses! And of course, when you visit, you can see the other AWESOME gal’s work! I’ve seen it, it is TOTALLY worth surfing by!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: American Crafts Botanique, natural white CS-SU!
Accessories: May Arts ribbon, tulle, beads chipboard flower-stash, chipboard flourishes-Maya Road, pearls-Dollarama, labels 14 Nestabilities, Velcro-Wal-mart, Crackle paint-Ranger

Baking Girl for OCC and Unscripted Sketches

This is easily one of the most time and effort intensive, technique loaded card I’ve made in a very long time. Hope you think it was worth it!

The OCC challenge this week is a supply challenge: 1, 2, 3, 4!

USE 1 patterned paper, 2 layers, 3 stamps and 4 embellishments. I used the focal image and my sentiment as my 2 layers (I thought at the time that mats didn’t count and the card base doesn’t count). My 3 stamps are the sentiment, the girl and the damask stamp for the wallpaper background. I used the flower as one embellishment, the center as another (I’m not counting them separately because I was trying to mimic the look of a vintage button which had the pearl look already on it.) and the ribbon and white button each as one. It took some brain power but it was really fun so I hope you will play with us at the OCC blog!

I rarely describe my thought process while making a card and this one required a LOT of thought so it is perfect. I started with the image. After choosing it, I immediately went on a hunt for some patterned paper to go with it because I with so many colours needed, I wanted all my markers to coordinate with the paper and some to match the paper. I choose the cupcake paper from Basic Grey’s Nook and Pantry pack. I stamped the image twice, coloured and cut out my images.

I meant to take a picture and forgot but when doing paper tole, you don’t always have to use the entire bottom layer if it doesn’t make sense. Behind this gal is the table only except where she overlaps the table, I left her torso in. But below the table and for her head, I cut away all the excess. I only left her torso in because her arms overlap things on the table and from the side it would look weird if there was nothing behind her, like a partial jar of sugar!  But the rest of the image looks more realistic because there is nothing behind her. I colour only the edges of the image underneath to save time and ink.

Normally, I would just airbrush in an indistinct background and shadow but I ran out of ink so I decided to go all techniquey! I drew in a horizon line and flooring lines and masked off the wallpaper area. I sponged in the planks in one at a time hoping I would get variegation in colour by mixing two inks; since the ink blend would never be the same, I figured I’d get differently shaded planks. Unfortunately, I should have used traditional inks, not Distress inks because they blended so well I neither have distinct colours nor darker edges and lighter centers for each plank.

Then I used the faux batik technique (SCS) for the wallpaper and sponged in my wall colour. I’ll let you look that up rather than describing it as this post is already way too long but use tinted embossing ink if you have it, just saying ‘cuz this gal is covering up some weirdly patterned wall paper! This time Distress ink was perfect as it gave me a smooth finish. I was so proud that the background techniques worked so well together; I agonized over which to do first in case I messed one up!

Now I started thinking about my card layout and chose this sketch from the ones I save on my iPhone. But when I layered the focal image over the cupcake paper, it overwhelmed the delicacy of the image even when matted. Back to the drawing board. Remember, I have to keep in mind the 1, 2, 3, 4 challenge at the same time! Couldn’t decide what to do and briefly started working on a recipe file for my kitchen, covering the front with another paper from the same pack. But the front was too small for one sheet of DP and I thought now the cupcake paper would work because it would cover the excess areas on the edges and be far enough away to not overwhelm. But I just couldn’t mess up the OCC challenge with 2 sheets of DP!

So I settled on this THIRD piece of DP and started back on a card. I made my favourite type of home made flower which turned out how I wanted it to and I was happy again. Here I describe how I made it: Scalloped Scrunch Flower. This time I used the 4 smallest shapes. I found a button to match the center and coloured the pearls with my Copic. I already had Baked Love in mind for a sentiment, I just chose one that worked with my image and space I had left. I always leave the journaling until the last minute when I scrap too and have to find space! Whew! Finally, all requirements were fulfilled! Total? About 5 hours! Yep, crazy right? A couple hours of that was figuring what to do!

Click on sketch for link to Unscripted Sketches.

I hope you will play with us at the OCC this week. We love having lots of players and don’t forget! We now award prizes to the top 4 cards choosing a Top Talent and a Talented Trio! And you just HAVE to visit the blog to see all the talented designers in our awesome team!!! Click on their blog names to visit their sites and leave ‘em some love!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: image-Sarah Kay Whiff of Joy, sentiment-CHF, damask-Gel-a-Tins
Ink: Victorian Velvet (flower), Scattered Straw, Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Vintage Photo, Embossing Distress Inks, chocolate chip-SU!
Paper: Basic Grey DP, chocolate CS-SU!, white CS-Taylored Expressions, natural white CS (flower, sent layer)-PTI, blush CS (flower)-PTI
Accessories: Buttons-stash, yellow ribbon-Masterstroke, Perfect Pearls (made into spray for flower), foam dots-Jody Morrow, scalloped circle and labels 8 Nesties, twine-PTI, clear EP-SU!, brad (centre of flower under button)-stash, Copics Rv95, V91,95, R00,11,20,27,59, YR23, Y21, G21,24, BG10,15,72,75, B45,91,93,95,97, E00,08,11,21,31,33,35,37,40,47,49,71,77,93, W1,3, C3,5, 00, corner chomper

Cowboy Hero for Our Creative Corner

Our Challenge this week is to De-Stress by Distressing while using the Sketch Sarah designed.

I started by flipping the sketch and substituted ribbon for the panel on the left side because I didn't want to cover up all that great DP that already had distressing ‘built in’! Then I sponged the panels with ink and scratched up the edges of the card and the DP panels. The edges of the chipboard sticker were sanded and inked too. I also used an ink spritzing tool from SU! to fly speck my card. That thing killed my hands, now I remember why I stopped using it. I am longing for another can of air for my Copic airbrush system! I just finished it earlier this week. Maybe I’ll get out our compressor and see if it will work. I always had air so I haven’t tried it out.

I hope you will all play with us at the OCC this week! Thanks to Sarah for a great challenge and we are so glad she is safe from the devastation caused by the earthquake in New Zealand; thankfully her family is safe too. Don’t forget to visit the OCC blog to check out all the FANTASTIC projects from the DT! They are just YUMMY!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Sentiment PTI
Ink: Distress Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap, chocolate chip-SU!
Paper: Wanted-Cosmo Cricket, chocolate chip, vanilla CS-SU!
Accessories: Sizzix embossing folder, foam dots-Jody Morrow, Circle Nesties,  Cosmo Cricket Wanted Chipboard, hardware-SU!, ribbon-stash, hemp twine-stash

Happy Mail for the OCC

This week’s challenge is to fussy cut! You can cut out your image, paper piece, hand cut some shapes, anything you like!

I hand cut the little girl, her dress and her pockets. And since I couldn’t get my $%^&* die cutter to work properly, I ended up trimming and hand cutting my mail box template too. GRRR! It sure is cute though isn’t it? I am not going to give a link for the template because it didn’t assemble properly. I’ll try it again and if it works, then I’ll link it.

The cupcake stand is made from…. guess what?…. a ribbon spool from May Arts! Cool right? I wrapped the center with a strip of DP. Then I traced the top onto another piece of DP. I punched a strip of DP (it is coloured on the other side), stamped it, scored it then glued it to the top of the stand. The fold aligns with the top edge of the ribbon spool. When you get to the corners, clip the paper so it will fold neatly. Then glue the top on. I didn’t have a cupcake (though I found a new bakery just today!) so I filled a small tin I had handy with Hershey’s Cherry Cordial Kisses.

Here’s a close up of the mail box showing the interior. You can’t see it but the floor inside is also covered in DP that matches the top of the cupcake stand. It is filled with Hershey’s Mini Chocolates.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: little girl, sentiment-PTI, Sweet-Mixed Messages PTI
Ink: memento black, rose, pretty in pink-SU!
Paper: DP-Bittersweet Basic Grey, white CS-Taylored Expressions, pink, chocolate CS-SU!
Accessories: Spellbinders tag die, lacy circles, Copic Markers R21,81,8385, E00, 11, 21, 31, 33,93, Y21, B14, flower-Prima (I think), dotted ribbon-stash, seam binding ribbon-Masterstroke, brad-Basic Grey, MS punch

CAS Masculine Tree Card for the OCC

I’d like to thank everyone who has congratulated me on my OCC design team acceptance. I’m glad you are excited too! I’m also getting close to 50,000 blog hits. While that may seem tiny compared to those who get millions of hits, I am proud because for so long the numbers were really tiny. BTW, the counter at the bottom of the page isn’t accurate because my old one was close to 30,000 hits the last time I looked, then it crashed. Might have  been much more but I’m going to go with 30,000. Hopefully this counter won’t crash!

This week’s challenge is to create a card or other project using Clean and Simple design principles and use a tree. CAS is far from my normal style but the whole reason I love challenges is for, wait for it… the Challenge of it. If it was too easy, it wouldn’t be as fun right?

Well, I’m not a huge collector of tree stamps, the only ones I have are very small, so I’m really glad I recently purchased some PTI stamps second-hand. Since the set I used was designed for manly cards, naturally I went with a masculine card. I used masking and sponging an top of my stamping to get a faux board look. I wanted to use something as nails but I just couldn’t think of what to use that wouldn’t overpower, look cheesily hand-drawn or look too large. Any thoughts for next time?

Please be sure to play along at the OCC blog this week. We’d love to have you and maybe you can even win one of our Talent Awards! I know you’ll enjoy the team’s work, such FABULOUS designers!

Enjoy. Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Men of Life, BB: Woodgrain, Father Knows Best–PTI
Ink: Antique Linen, Shabby Shutters-Ranger, olive, artichoke, cocoa, chocolate-SU!,
Paper: chocolate, cocoa, confetti white CS-SU!
Accessories: foam dots-Jody Morrow, tag die-Spellbinders, twine-stash, embossing folder-Cuttlebug

My First Post with the OCC! Candy Test Tubes.

This week’s theme was to make a 3-D Valentine project. While I don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, I still eat candy and we all love each other so making this was no problem!

Wouldn’t these make cool wedding/party favours? They’d be awesome with bath salts, lotion, nuts, buttons, beads, brads, mini flowers, spices or sprinkles for cupcakes or ice cream! I’ve recently acquired some new paper I’ve been DYING to use! I am normally not a huge fan of copper but this paper has started to change my mind! Isn’t it gorgeous! I’ve had these test tubes from PTI for ages and I just never had a worthy reason to use them. I love making boxes and such so much that I thought I’d do a tutorial for you.

But first, I’d like to thank the gals at the OCC for choosing me! I’ve wanted this spot for AGES! I’m so excited to join such fabulously talented designers! If you haven't visited before, be sure to hop on over to the blog to see all the other gal’s projects! You can enter to play in next week’s challenge too. Just click on the OCC blog anytime you see it!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: PTI
Ink: Chocolate-SU!, sweet blush-PTI
Paper: sweet blush CS-PTI, AC Botanique DP, white CS-stash
Accessories: pearls-Dollarama, test tubes, ticket die-PTI, seam binding ribbon-Etsy, reinkers-SU! (I made a spritz to colour my ribbon), foam dots- Jody Morrow, badge-AC, punch-EK Success, plastic box-CDS

Test Tube Box Tutorial

Supplies
Three test tubes 6” long
Small Plastic Box 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 x 5/8”
1 sheet CS
Scor-Tape or similar
DP
Glue dots
Embellishments

1. Cut CS. You want your CS box to be long enough to cover the test tubes (the clear box is too short) and overlap enough to apply adhesive with enough wiggle room (the + 1/8” shown on the diagram) that you can slide the cardstock box on the plastic box smoothly. So I cut my CS as shown, 6 3/4 x 4 7/8”.

RED lines are SCORE lines, BLUE are cut lines, GREEN are optional flap trims that make the box go together more nicely. PINK areas show where the adhesive will meet in case it didn’t seem natural to you. I’ve shown where I added 1/8” to my dimensions. This is so the cardstock box will slip over the plastic box without binding. I could have used 1/16th of an inch but then the math gets messy! If you do not have a box or test tubes that match mine but still want to make it, I have directions for that to at the end.

In the picture below, the middle test tube is in place in the bottom of the cardstock box. I was checking to make sure my measurements were correct before I decorated it. There is plenty of overlap which is what you need.

2. Assemble the box and decorate. I used a tiny scallop punch-my new favourite!

3. Slide the plastic box inside the cardstock box. Use your test tubes to determine how far to push the box in. Temporarily adhere with Eclipse tape or painter’s tape. Using a stylus or embossing tool, pick up glue dots or Scor-tape and slide it in along the sides below where it can be seen, remember the box is clear and you can see inside a bit if you are looking in from an angle. Perhaps you can think of a better way to do this but I couldn’t! I was worried any other method might cause the box to adhere before I had pushed it in and straightened it perfectly.

If you are using products with different measurements:

1. Make sure your test tubes are narrow enough to fit in your plastic box. D’uh! LOL!! Measure your plastic box to determine how large to create your cardstock box. I allowed for 1/8” extra on each of the width and depth. I’ll discuss how to determine the height in a minute. Mine measured 2 3/4 x 5/8”.

2. For the height, insert your test tubes into the plastic box. Then measure how much cardstock you will need to cover the bottom of the test tubes and overlap the box a bit (excluding the flaps). Just hold the ruler up to the box where the flaps meet and measure to the bottom of the test tubes. Then add roughly 1/2” to get your height. Don’t try to simply measure the test tubes, then measure the plastic box and do the math because you might find, as I did, that the test tubes do not fit all the way to the top. Had I only measured without test fitting, I would have been very disappointed! For once, I got it right the first time!!

Cut your cardstock: WIDTH: width+ 1/8” x double the depth +1/8” (double it after adding the 1/8”) plus 1/2” for the flaps (1/4” each). LENGTH: height times 2 + the depth +1/8”. It is easiest to replace the measurements I used in the diagram above with your own measurements. I missed adding in the measurement for my width in the diagram. It should read 2 3/4”.

Proceed with directions above.

Pretty Pink Bird Challenge Card

It’s been a while but it seems I’m back into doing challenges again. I kinda go in spurts! This one is for The Shabby Tea Room’s sketch challenge, also for the Our Creative Corner a.k.a OCC Design Team search challenge and the Crazy 4 Challenges inspiration challenge!

I knew I wanted to use a bird for the OCC challenge so I dug out some Basic Grey porcelain chipboard pieces and layered them. The frame lead me to the idea of cutting a hole in the center of the card so show the inside. I love how it looks with the music paper behind! Granted there is little to no room for a message but oh well!! I changed around the location of the sketch elements and omitted the middle panel but I’m sure it is close enough!

Guess where I got that rose? You won’t be able to figure out which store because I made it! Yep, I used the 5 petal flower dies from Heartfelt Creations, split the layers of cardstock for the white petals, embossed all of the petals and assembled them all according to a genius YouTube video. I don’t have the link handy but if anyone wants it, just email me. She has figured out how to copy so many fabulous store-bought Prima type flowers. I am not nearly as fast as her, this one took me an hour, so they are only for special cards but I think this one was worth it. Maybe I’ll get faster as I made more. The rose is much whiter and brighter IRL but I had to darken the photo to show the detail, the white blows out very easily.

The stick pin is really just a head pin used for jewellery making. I like them better because they are WAY cheaper, they come in varying lengths, they don’t have sharp points and unlike some stick pins, they are thin enough for almost all beads to thread on nicely. You can also get them with pretty heads though I don’t have any right now.

I dyed the seam binding ribbon myself using Copic markers RV10 and R20. I know, one of those is a purplish pink and the other is peachy. But because they are both so pale, they seem to work together. I colour lightly and streaky with the one marker, then go back and fill in the lightest areas with the other marker. Then I spray some alcohol ink on my hands then scrunch the ribbon tightly in my hands which helps blend the colours, but not too much as I wanted some variegation. Then I lay it out to dry which takes almost no time.

The background DP was too bright by itself, which I found strange since it is from the same line of paper, so I layered vellum over it. I have to say, getting all 4 papers lined up with even borders and even scallops AND all matched at the center circle was quite a feat since I couldn’t send everything through at once! But it was worth the work! I am thrilled with how it turned out.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: Music Scrapblock (hard to see, on card base)
Paper: Basic Grey Porcelain, sweet blush CS-PTI, chocolate CS-SU!, vellum, vintage music paper-stash,
Ink: Vintage Photo, Antique Linen Distress, Sweet blush-PTI
Accessories: lace-stash, flower-handmade, chipboard-Basic Grey, Copic markers R20,22, RV10, PTI scalloped edge die, head pin-Michaels, 1/2 pearls-Dollarama, pearl beads-SU! pretties kit, pink Czech bead-That Bead Lady, seam binding ribbon-Etsy, Circle Nestabilities

Soooo in Love for OCC

I had fun making this card but it took longer than any card I think I’ve ever made! One night I started the card, cut out the circles needed for the flowers and misted them. I used 5 drops of burgundy and 4 drops of regal rose and 2 small scoops of white Perfect Pearls in a Mini Mister and used the whole thing on my ‘petals’. The next day I got the flowers assembled. The following day I assembled the card but thought it needed something (the sentiment wasn’t on yet). I hemmed and hawed and finally decided on this pre-printed canvas sentiment! Whew!!

Think it was worth the work and waiting? I think so too!!

I don’t have time now but I will post instructions for the flowers (unless I can find the blog with instructions for the ones I was inspired by. Hope so)!! Click on the sketch for the link.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: DP, CS-SU!
Ink: antique linen Distress ink
Accessories: Nesties scalloped circle dies, foam dots, chocolate velvet ribbon-Clear Dollar Stamps, sheer ribbon, Mother of Pearl buttons-stash, silk ribbon-May Arts, Copic marker (dye the ribbon), rhinestone brads-stash (hidden in center of flowers), EK success punch, Sooo in love sentiment-(can’t remember, email if you want to know!!), wave cutter-Purple Cows, pearl-Kaisercraft, thread-Guttermann, burgundy and rose reinkers, white Perfect Pearls, vintage music paper

Gift Card Holder/Gift Box for OCC Sketch Challenge and Verve Blog Party #5

This box was really fun to make. I was dubious about the accuracy of the template I was using only because scoring channels are REALLY wide. The set is made by Oriental Trading Company and I’ve had them for years, I just never got around to making any of them. Well, I marked the very center of the scoring channels and used my Scor-Pal. The template went together beautifully! I was so excited and I can’t wait to use more. This box is pretty small so it is perfect for a gift card or jewellery, DS game or other small gift.

Click on the sketch to visit the challenge.

I know my ribbon is a bit hard to see, May Arts silk ribbon is a bit sheer when placed up against patterned paper; wish I’d remembered that beforehand. Oh well. I added pearls so you could see it better. The flowers were initially flat, the light pink center was part of/the middle of the darker pink flower. I very carefully cut it out. Then I scored the darker pink flower, now a ring only and accordion folded it. I cut the turquoise paper with a Purple Cows hand held cutter with a tiny wave blade. Not EASY! Then I scored and accordion folded it too. The light link circle was cupped using an embossing stylus and a piercing mat. I also curved the leaves using similar techniques.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: Crate Paper
Accessories: foam dots-Jody Morrow, Kaisercraft pearls, Sizzix swirl die, Oriental Trading Company template

Skis and Mittens for the OCC Sketch Challenge and Whimsical Wednesdays!

The OCC has another sketch challenge this week and since they are looking for Design Team members, I am making sure I am playing every sketch this month. Hey OCC gals, if you are reading this, I am a very reliable Design Team member! I take my commitments very seriously! Hope you like my cards!

The Sketch: Click on the sketch to link to the OCC blog.

Jessica has been on an easel card spree lately so Madelynn decided to challenge the DareDevils to make Easel cards this week. I hadn’t made one before today but seriously, they are so easy. You can see nearly everything in the photos. Basically, make a card front. Make a top fold card base with a horizontal score line about halfway on the card front only and create a mountain fold. Adhere your card front to the card base below the score only!Make sure and add an embellishment to prop your easel up against and that is it!

This shows the card opened like an easel.

 

And here’s the inside!

I added the glitter by laying down 1/8” Scor-Tape first. It is so much easier to use for straight lines than liquid glue. The snowflakes were accented with a bit of sponging with Distress ink to get a more 3-D look and to help them stand out. I ‘made’ the ribbon by stamping the seam tape with craft ink. The seam tape is thin enough that the snowflakes show well from the other side too.

I hope you will all pay along with both challenges this week! The DareDevils DARE you to try out an easel card! You will be glad you did! I can’t wait to see your work and that of the other DareDevils! I hope you will find time to stalk their blogs! :) When you make a fabulous card, be sure to link it up to Whimsical Wednesdays, use keyword DDSC11 and HAVE FUN!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: snowflakes-CTMH
Ink: craft night of navy-SU!
Paper: DP-CTMH, navy and juniper CS-CTMH, night of navy, shimmer white CS-SU!
Accessories: seam tape-stash, snowflake punch-MS, snowflake brad-Karen Foster, Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder, Art Institute sea shell glitter, snowflake, ski, mitten embellies-Dress It Up Buttons, broken china Distress Ink, Liquid Appliqué

Ednie Family Plaque for OCC Inspiration/Sketch Challenge

Another OCC challenge! I totally loved this one at first sight! I am super into vintage postcards which what I thought of first! I’m not sure if this one is being evaluated for the Design Team but why not play anyway? Especially when it is fun!

I’ve been wanting to make some sort of home dec item for ages but never quite figured out what I wanted to do. I started with the postcard, sized to accommodate the PostCard stamp and the postmarks. It was already 3x5 and I wondered how large my card would have to be to balance it out! Next thing I knew, I was knee-deep in my alterables drawer and I pulled out an artist canvas, maybe 6x8’?

Click the sketch for the link.

Isn’t this paper gorgeous? It is from an Organic Stack and for the life of me, I can’t remember who makes it! Yep, I am too lazy to get up to check, I’ll hopefully remember to add it later! Come one, it is after midnight!

The lettering is all done with JustRite Stampers, both Trompe Script and Times. The photo doesn’t do justice to the GORGEOUS printed brown satin ribbon I have hoarded for years. I finally have a fabulous place to use it! In case you are wondering, this is a wall hanging so the ribbon and bow you see flopped over the top are for the hanger. I took it down to photograph it because the wall colour is ugly and the light sucks. In the day light, it looks fabulous though.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: JustRite Stamps-font, key, postcard, postmarks-unknown, Flourish-SU!
Ink: chocolate chip, riding hood red-SU!, memento brown, Distress Frayed Burlap
Paper: DP-? stack, vanilla-Taylored Expressions, Gold shimmer-SU!
Accessories: foam dots-Jody Morrow, artist canvas-dollar store, metal plaque-Making Memories, ribbon-MasterStroke ribbon, lace-vintage from stash, sage marker-SU!, silk ribbon 1 1/4 and 1/8”-May Arts, flower-stash, gold EP-SU!

Girls in White Dresses with Blue Satin Sashes

Flourishes has such a fun challenge right now. Be inspired by the song, ‘My Favourite Things’ from the Sound of Music. My first thought was of this gorgeous dress stamp I’ve had almost since I started stamping in late 2004. (Well started again, I stamped a bit in the late 80’s but there were so few supplies back then I lost interest.)

It was hard to figure out how to get it white and still see it but using white EP on vellum seemed to do the trick. When I added the blue Copic to the back of the vellum it really started to come to life. Adding a bit more to the lower dress layer and the outline made it just so much prettier!

The layout I used is from the OCC this week, SASSC39. Worked perfectly with this large stamp. To put it in perspective, this is a 5.25” square card. It is hard to tell because the blues are so close to the same but in the center of each daisy is a tiny blue brad. I love the hat pins from the SU! pretties kit but there aren’t very many of them. So I bought some head pins from Michael’s and now I use those unless I need the length of the SU! ones. I used perfect pearls over the entire card base to get a super shimmery look.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: unknown
Ink: Versamark
Paper: bashful blue, white-SU!, vellum-stash
Accessories: pearls, beads-SU! pretties kit, head pin, satin ribbon, daisy chain, brads-stash, sheer ribbon-stash, Perfect Pearls-Ranger, white EP

Flopsey Gardening Challenge Card

Isn’t Flopsey cute? Now I’m not sure if Flopsey is a girl or boy but he/she is a girl here, note the pretty pink hat! This card is for the SCS colour challenge, CC230, to use Cocoa, Cameo Coral, Blush, White and Celery. Such pretty colours I HAD to play! I don’t bother with colour challenges if I hate one or more of the colours. To me, that isn’t a challenge, that is just not fun :( Why play if it isn’t fun? It is also for Sharon Johnson’s No Time to Stamp #99, ssnotime99, using the word ‘friends’ on your card. And the OCC challenge, Harvest.
 

I enjoyed colouring this image with my Copics; it is really very easy to colour. I hope you like the rows of plants in behind. Yes, I realize that the carrots are huge and the other plants are seedlings. Perhaps she cleared out early maturing spring plants to allow summer plants to grow in their place. OK, OK, I know, I am too literal! Seems to be a problem for me with any art, TV, movies, paintings, I am just too practical to enjoy things that aren’t accurate. As a nurse you should see me when I watch medical shows! Scary (“They wouldn’t really do that you know,” my hubby, a paramedic, just sighs patiently!! Boy, that was a tangent! Anyhoo…

A couple details-the celery is in the patterned paper even though it isn’t easy to see. The flower is coloured with an R32 Copic marker. If you look carefully, the descending portion of the ‘F’ in Friends is cut out with an X-Acto knife and lifted up over the edge of the main panel. The sentiment really says ‘friends’ but I thought it worked better for the card as ‘friend’ so I covered the ‘s’ with the flower. If I had two characters in the main image, ‘friends’ would be more appropriate.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Gardener Flopsey-MFT, Friends sentiment-UK
Ink: Color Box chalk-brown, Memento-brown, coral, Versamark
Paper: cocoa, coral, blush-SU!, white-Taylored Expressions, Basic Grey-LilyKate 
Accessories: flower-Scrapbook Sally, brad-CTMH, Copics, Ranger espresso EP, white liquid appliqué, watercolour glitter-Art Institute, brown grosgrain

Bittersweet Heart

I don't celebrate Valentine's Day but I can still tell people I know that I love them! And I have been dying to use my new Basic Grey Bittersweet paper pack. I used a sketch by Our Creative Corner-OCC; they don't number their challenges but this one was from quite a while back.

I tried to lace punch chocolate CS; that sooo does not work. It jammed up my punch and I had to use forceps to remove the paper bits. I really do not want to have to always use patterned paper. Maybe I need some cheap quality CS!! Or I could try splitting my CS sheets... anyone tried that?? The dark brown strip along the top of the patterned paper is the excess produced by the punch! The thread though the button holes is 4 strands of very fine pearl cotton (used for crocheting and tatting) that I untwisted down to it's individual strands. Yes, I do have good eyesight! I used the tip of a needle to separate the strands.

Here is a tutorial on how to make the mat around the Labels 1 die cut shape.

Cut two shapes from the mat colour in the same size as the image you are matting. Cut them in half and trim off the points nearest the cut edge. The pieces will align as shown in the second photo. However, I prefer to adhere one at a time as shown in the following photos.
 

Continue to adhere the remaining sides. The adhesive you can see is in preparation for the next panel. You can choose to adhere opposing sides first, then the other sides. I chose to do one, turn the label 90 degrees, do the next and so on. It makes the pieces twist slightly creating a bit of height at the corners. Like it is up on foam dots but not quite so much height. You can mat it as wide or as narrow as you like. I use the line created by embossing to keep them all the same. Even if you don't emboss, you almost always can still see the line faintly. Keep in mind, the wider you go, the more distorted the corners will appear.  Hope this helps you make your own Label 1 mats.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Heart-Krystal Clear Stamps
Paper: Basic Grey Bittersweet pack, pink pirouette, chocolate chip CS
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Nestabilities, Copic E47(to thicken the heart image outline), Basic Grey buttons, Scrapbook Sally flower, pink pearl cotton, foam dots and sticky strip-Jody Morrow, ribbon-Offray, MS lace punch

Twinkle Team Blog Candy! Spring Shaker Card

I decided to do three challenges in one! OCC had a Clear Thinking challenge to use something clear on your card. I immediately thought of an acetate window, then thought of Miss Madelynn's sketch for the Twinkle Team. SCS had a Limited Supplies challenge 200 to make anything but a Christmas card & no green, no red so this works for that too. COOL {{GRIN}}!! Very easy for me, not really owning any X-mas stamps or sentiments, though it was hard to not use celery on this card. The colour, not the vegetable!! HEHE

This week, if you play along with the Twinkle Team and try out Madelynn's sketch, you can be entered to win blog candy!
So upload your version of the sketch to SCS or PCP with the keyword MTTSC3 or to your blog, then leave a comment at The Whimsical Butterfly to enter (leaving a note as to where she can find your card). Be sure to visit the entire TWINKLE TEAM to see more inspiring versions of this week's sketch. Links on sidebar.

This card is pretty easy, the pale plum CS layer was embossed using the d'vine swirls folder. The shaker box was made using special foam squares from Jody at Confessions of a Ribbon Addict. The banana and pale plum layers over the shaker are cut with Nestabilities dies. Inside the shaker are two sizes of punched flowers, glass micro beads and glitter. The base of the shaker is white CS stamped with a flower and leaves from  stamped in Adirondack ink coloured with Copic colours V 04, 09, 12 and YG 67 and G 21. The little flowers are actually from a daisy chain fibre but two nipped off the end quite nicely; I'd been afraid they would unravel.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps:   SU!
Paper: pale plum, perfect plum, banana, white CS - SU!
Ink: Adirondack pitch black
Accessories: shaker box foam - Jody Morrow, daisies - unknown, Nestabilities - Spellbinders, punches - EK Success, Glitter and micro beads - unknown, Copic markers, embossing folder - Cuttlebug, ribbon - basic grey