Gloire de Boulogne

Another catchy title! This is the sister card to Chinoise Asturias. I made them together; heck while the stuff is out, why not? This one is a bit more girlie because of the flowers in the ad. The supplies are almost identical to the previous card.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers (I think)
Paper: kraft, vanilla, confetti vanilla-SU!, Basic Grey Scarlet Letter
Ink: sahara sand, creamy caramel-SU!, Adirondack black
Accessories: flower and leaf-Prima, brad-SU!, ribbon and 'believe' tag-UK, Copic markers, black foam dots and sticky strip-Jody Morrow, Nestabilities, pearl-Kaiser

Another Blog Candy Alert

Go to Creating from the Heart Keepsakes by Melissa for another chance to win! She has some great prizes! The projects in her post are gorgeous and you can win them as well as a full package of Making Memories Love Notes Tags, MM Love Notes Shaped Pins, 2 each of 12x12 MM Love Notes papers (Artisan and Love Words), 1 Maya Road Sheer Heart Coaster Album, a Martha Stewart Mini-Hearts Border Punch, a 6x6 Basic Grey Bittersweet Paper Pad, a jar of Pink Poinsettia Shimmerz and I also am giving away some cute Imaginisce Twitterpated Little Critter Rub-Ons (they are soo cute!) and some Twitterpated stamps, 1 each of Foxie, Birdie and Wildflowers!

She is picking the winner on Tuesday, so hurry up!

Blog Candy Alert

There isn't much time left so be sure to visit Chrissy's blog. She is celebrating 80,000 blog hits. Here is what you can win.

1. This Teddy Bear stamp set from Close to My Heart
2. Some Ribbons and Fibers
3. Chunky Glitter
4. Over 200 Eyelets!
5. An assortment of buttons
6. Basic Grey Offbeat 6x6 Designer Paper

Click here to go to Creating with Chrissy.

Chinoise Asturias

Got your attention huh? Nope, I don't know what that means either. I just took those two names from the vintage advertising on my stamps. I just got a new Scor-Pal {{yeah!!}} so I decided to do gate fold cards. Of course, the Kraft CS I used for the card base is old SU! so it isn't perfect 12x12". {{{GRRR}}} I had to guestimate exactly where to score. Fortunately I wasn't too far off. The vintage theme was inspired by the Basic Grey Scarlet Letter paper pack. To me, this piece just screamed, "Get out those old vintage stamps that have never seen ink!" If you took the flower off, I think this would work for a guy card too.
TIP: The vanilla and confetti paper are sponged with pieces of foam I cut from a sponge mop head! Yes, believe it! I was looking for very fine holed sponges for this very purpose but couldn't find any.  So I did find a replacement mop head. I cut it up, well part of it, there is tons left! It does have some glue on it from where it was adhered to the plastic thingie that attaches to the mop handle but I just don't use that edge. I use a small binder clip to hold the sponge and get no, well less, ink on my fingers. I keep one for each colour I use. They are small and easy to store and they work really well. It is almost impossible to destroy them with repeated use, after all, the foam is meant for scrubbing floors!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers (I think)
Paper: kraft, black, vanilla, confetti vanilla-SU!, Basic Grey Scarlet Letter
Ink: sahara sand, creamy caramel-SU!, Adirondack black
Accessories: flower and leaf-Prima, brad and pearl-SU!, ribbon and 'believe' tag-UK, Copic markers, black foam dots and sticky strip-Jody Morrow, Nestabilities

Amethyst Lilacs

Not every card can be your favourite right? I really wanted to use my brand new Lily Kate paper but I didn't seem to have cardstock that matched. The coordinating 'plain' papers didn't quite suit the layout I had in mind and I didn't have time to think of other layouts. SU! Amethyst was the closest I had. {{SIGH}} My hubby was watching the baby for 20 minutes only before he had to go to bed so I had to be really quick. I usually take at least 20 minutes just to figure out what I want to do!
I obviously could have used a longer piece of ribbon to tie. Becca Feeken would be horrified! If you haven't seen her work, go to Amazing Paper Grace to see her beautifully generous use of ribbon! It was longer but this ribbon frays like crazy. I had to keep cutting it shorter and shorter. It takes a lot of effort to tie a ribbon that thick and fuzzy (I have arthritis) so I didn't want to redo it. I love how it looks crinkled though, not because I am lazy and didn't iron it; it is permanently that way. I thought the beaded stick pin made up for it. The rest is easy to figure out! At least it was quick!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Blossoms Abound
Paper: almost amethyst, white CS, Basic Grey LilyKate paper
Ink: lovely lilac, almost amethyst, mellow moss, old olive
Accessories: pin and beads from Pretties Kit, ribbon-UK, foam dots-Jody Morrow
All products by SU! unless otherwise noted.

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

Garden Herbs

I am bound and determined to use some old supplies. I have no idea where I got this stamp though it looks like SU! I don't think it has seen ink since I bought it.

This card started out with my attempt to do a one layer card. Using a vanilla card, I masked off a torn section for this image and then masked off the bottom area. I brayered ink on the top half and it was great. Until I tried to remove the masks. The pressure from the brayer transferred the temporary adhesive to the card! Could I find my adhesive remover? Not on your life. I tried to get it off with my finger but it just made a big mess. So that idea was in the toilet!

This worked out much better! The image is coloured with Copics, there is a photo of the colours I used below. It was hard to make all of plants appear different with the natural greens in the Ciao marker 72A box so I used pale to medium browns on some plants before going over them in the various greens. That's about it. ETA - I just realized I didn't shade or colour the plant tags! I have to go back and do that. They look so flat!
 

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Weathered background, herbs-UK
Ink: Always Artichoke, Adirondack black
Paper: Always Artichoke, vanilla
Accessories: Basic Grey buttons, foam dots-Jody Morrow, ribbon-Masterstroke, Copics, Nestabilities, Wizard embossing mat

Naughty Underwear for Twinkling Tuesday

What was I thinking doing a black and red card with silver bra and undies using a sketch by an 8 year old????? OOOOPS! Oh well, it's done now! I had my girlfriend Janet over to crop; after I choose the undies stamps I asked her, "good girl undies or naughty ones?" Guess which she picked! So you see it is her fault... they could have been white with a flower print or cutie pie little pastel stripes! {{{GIGGLE!!!}}} And the undies really aren't that naughty, are they? Silver with black isn't too racy, I mean it isn't a thong or... I should stop there,  8 year old Maddie reads this! Then again, they make thongs and 'adult' underwear for little girls these days! My kid wouldn't be caught dead in a thong {{Yes, I know I have boys, I mean if I had a girl...I'll shut up now!}}.

In case you haven't been following Twinkling Tuesdays, Maddie, DD of Jessica of The Whimsical Butterfly, designs a sketch for the Twinkle Team each week. Clever monkey! Want to try out this sketch? Go for it and upload to PCP or SCS with keyword MTTSC7 so we can find your card or put it on your blog and link to The Whimsical Butterfly so Maddie and Jessica can see your creation. While you are on the computer, check out the cards by the other team members. Links on sidebar <------ This is also for LSC204, Paint it Black on SCS. The challenge was to use black as a card base so you have a very bold, black expanse. A lot of the cards did not follow the latter part of the challenge; kinda loses the point if all you have left is basically a black mat. I am not a huge rule follower though (more like a rule stretcher) and I have no problem with others entering their cards anyway, just an observation. I can understand why they did that though; it was quite a challenge for me too because I do not naturally gravitate toward black, especially so much of it. (If Janet had chosen 'good girl' undies, the black wouldn't have worked so I guess I am glad she chose how she did!)

This was a fun card to make. I saw all those layers and decided to cut windows instead of adding more mat layers. I would have added the photo corners but there was no room. The windows are cut with Nesties and my Cuttlebug, super easy. In case you didn't notice, I silver edged the right and left sides of the card; it is hard to see. The red layer is adhered flat to the black card base, the 'windowed' black layer is popped up and so are the bra and undies! I actually made myself a bra like this once, silver with black trim. Yes, I am Sew Fine Bras listed in my GO-TO sites list. Yes, they are 'real' bras with hooks and eyes, strap adjusters, cups, wire, the whole nine yards. I sell patterns and kits so if you know how to sew, drop me a line. (PS The bras do not have to be wired!)

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Underwear and sentiment-UK (recognize them? let me know!)
Paper: black, red and brushed silver CS-SU!
Ink: Stazon black
Accessories: Nestabilities, foam dots-Jody Morrow, silver paint pen (have to check!)

Blog Candy

Sadly the winner of the blog candy has not contacted me. Though I will check my email and junk mail one more time. I will draw another name tomorrow.

ETA: I got an email from Lisa T. So no new name will be drawn. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Rebecca

Beautiful Butterflies

Yep, been shopping again! (at Michael's - with coupon of course!) I bought myself this gorgeous butterfly punch. Funny thing about it, it doesn't punch completely from the paper; two little bits need to be cut before fully removing it from the surrounding paper. Now I suppose that would be cool if you wanted a row of butterflies along the edge of your paper like a border with the wings flexed upwards... BUT YOU CAN'T!!! The geniuses who developed this punch put the little tabs at the tips of the wings! If they were at the head and the end of the body, you could bend the wings up while still keeping it with the paper. So if you want a bunch of butterflies punched out in a row fine but I don't know why you would with their little wings grounded and all. So why the little tabs? No idea.

Sorry the photo is a bit shadowy, the photo with the flash was a bit over-exposed, this one  rendered  truer colours.(Reminder to self: Get lessons on new, cool Canon Rebel SLR camera!)

No big mystery about how to make this one. The butterflies are painted with pearl white Lumiere that SU! used to carry. I haven't used it in ages!! But when I wanted a subtle bit of bling, and since I don't have any Shimmerz, I went with it and I think it turned out great, exactly how I wanted it. You can see it most on the  butterfly at the top of the card. I started with shiny embroidery floss through the buttons but it wasn't quite right. Then I looked through the box of embroidery stuff I just brought up from my basement craft room (I used to craft down there but the baby can't play there so gradually almost the whole kit and caboodle has been brought upstairs to a 'front room' we almost never used. Much better light!). I found hand-dyed silk ribbon from the days when I embroidered with silk ribbon. I used bits of that to tie through the ribbons. The ribbon tails look a bit like butterfly wings don't you think? The upper butterfly is adhered to the lower with regular SU! two-way glue just in the center. I wasn't sure it would hold, but it is doing fine so far and I tested them!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Flourishes by Autumn Leaves
Ink: pink pirouette
Paper: shimmery white, pale plum, perfect plum, pink pirouette, pretty in pink CS
Accessories: Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Quickutz triple flower die, Cuttlebug, pearls and silk ribbon-UK, foam dots-Jody Morrow. All products by SU! unless otherwise noted.

Asian Technique Challenge Card

This week's technique challenge was really cool, Faux Mosaic. You tear or cut paper into small pieces, cover a piece of cardstock with redline adhesive, assemble the pieces and heat emboss the remaining adhesive. You have to check out the gallery as there are so many options! I saw pieces cut into tiny perfect squares with a punch and arranged like a Mediterranean tiled wall mosaic creating a picture, one done with polished stone technique paper so it looks like marble tile and others where punched shapes were used. 

I used a gorgeous green gold-foiled paper, cut it into random shapes and embossed with gold EP. The Asian lantern was coloured with Copics and popped up on foam dots. In case you were wondering, the card isn't tilted strangely in the photograph. After placing my pieces of green paper, there were areas I hadn't fully covered with red line tape underneath so when I embossed, they were blank. As I trimmed to make the edges neat, I realized the edges weren't straight anymore. I decided to go with the unusual shape giving the card more character and not wasting any of the beautiful Faux Mosaic technique. It measures roughly 4.25x4.25". I found I had to really heat the EP for a long time to get a mostly smooth surface to the 'grout'. If you want it to be pebbled and textured, heat it lightly.  TLC204

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: retired Asian set (can't remember the name)
Paper: eggplant and celery CS, green foiled paper-UK
Ink: Adirondack black
Accessories: red line adhesive, gold EP, Asian coin-UK, foam dots, Copic markers, purple wire-UK (handle of lantern). All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

Blog Candy WINNER!

Lisa T has won my blog candy! Please contact me with your favourite colours for the ribbon grab bag and your snail mail. I'll do my best to give you at least some colours you love! If I do not hear from Lisa in 48 hours, I will draw another name.

Thanks for all who played! I hope to have more candy in a few weeks. If you are enjoying my blog, please be sure to leave comments! If you think something needs to change, feel free to leave constructive criticism. It really helps to know someone is out there reading and enjoying my projects!

Here's a card I made ages ago for a SU! swap. It is one of my all time favourites.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: print pattern, baby set (name?)
Paper: white, cocoa and pretty in pink CS
Ink: regal rose, so saffron, chocolate chip, Stazon
Accessories: markers (sorry they are so streaky, this was before my Copics, they are SOO much better!) All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

Another Cards 4 Kids Announcement

There is still time to win 'yummy' candy by making cards for kids in hospital. Visit The Rubber Maid for all the details. You can enter to win there and here at Carolina's Creative Pad.
I sent a total of 81 of cards, here is one I made! (Some others were swap cards that needed homes.) If you want to join in, hurry up, the deadline to receive cards is February 7th!

ETA: I apologize, the link above was incorrect. If you clicked on The Rubber Maid, it didn't go through. It is now correct!

Genuine Article Card

I adore horses. I was the typical horse-loving little girl, teenager... I didn't ride as a kid except one week of summer camp but started at 18 when I had my own car and was doing my own thing while in college. Jumping a course of 3 foot fences was one of the most exhilarating things I have done in my whole life. I even tried a summer of riding sidesaddle; it is really fun and way more secure than you would think because there are wooden things to wrap your legs around on the front of the saddle. Most of the time you see a sidesaddle it is in a period movie; you don't see that part of the saddle for the big skirts.

I rode for 3 years until I got lupus. After that, every time my lupus would quiet down (lupus never really goes into remission) I tried going back to riding but just as I would start to regain my muscle strength, I'd get sick again. I mentally knew how to ride but my muscles wouldn't respond. It was VERY frustrating so eventually I had enough. Now I am doing much better physically and I could probably ride again (it would take a while because I am totally out of shape),  I don't have the $! Oh, well. Why am I telling you all about this? I was thinking about all of that while I was designing this card.
 
The colours did not translate well in the photograph for this card. Despite a photo tent and a really good camera. {{{SIGH}}} The colours are kraft, really rust, sage shadow, confetti vanilla and chocolate chip. The sage looks more grey to me and the chocolate chip looks black. Normally, I detest really rust and wouldn't have dreamed it could possibly go with sage but I pulled out my Outlaw DSP and was shocked that I liked it. I dislike really rust so much that the pad I bought as part of my 12 pad set is still wrapped! Funny how things like that happen. I still think this card needs something else. I couldn't decide between wooden buttons, striped ribbon with three colours of brown or some type of copper hardware. Any suggestions? Leave me a comment!!

I mounted the arrow from the stamp in the top corner separately so I used it as a shadow behind the words. If I had used it together as designed, it would have been too large to work with my layout. The sketch is SC211. The horse is coloured with Copic markers. Even though I designed this card with my love of horses in mind, this is a great masculine card for any occasion. Of course, this card is very Western style and I rode English. If you don't know horses, think knee-high, fitted black boots, tan breeches and a velvet riding helmet VS cowboy boots, jeans and a Stetson. :) At this point, I be happy to ride anything with hooves that goes forward, regardless of style!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Bareback, Genuine Article, Rough Texture Wheel
Paper: Kraft, really rust, sage shadow, Outlaw DSP
Ink: sage shadow, chocolate chip
Accessories: ticket corner punch, aged copper brads-Oriental Trading Co., Crop-a-Dile, foam dots, Copic markers, Heidi Swapp distressing tool. All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

Jameson's Teddy Bear Box - Twinkling Tuesday Challenge

When I get time to actually do some paper crafting lately, I try to get in more than one challenge at once! I started with Madelynn's Twinkling Tuesday Sketch. Then I decided on the SCS Colour Combination challenge CC201 - Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy and Kraft. Good boyish/manly colours. Lastly, I decided to go with the mini pizza box TLC 189 from a few weeks back, they are TOOO cute!! My little guy is always asking me to make something for him. ALWAYS after I have started another project so I have to say no. I figured it is his turn and since he is at a sleep over tonight, he wasn't here to peek while I was making it. He is going to love it. He will be 8 in a couple of weeks but he isn't too old for stuffed animals quite yet. He really is a great kid, he is happy to 'play' with anyone, ages 0- 99; even if they don't realize they are playing with him. I remember we were in a store one day and he couldn't understand why the clerk wasn't trying to 'seek' him while he hid in a clothing rack!

Try Madelynn's sketch! Be sure to play along with the Twinkle Team by uploading your card to SCS or PCP with the keyword MTTSC6. If you add a card to your blog, leave a comment with the link at The Whimsical Butterfly. Check out the Twinkle Team's work, links on the sidebar. <-----

I stamped the bear in Stazon brown on cocoa CS. I cut him out without his jointed arm and leg and cut them out separately so I could 'joint' them with brads so they move. The bear is popped up with foam dots, the balloon with two layers of foam dots. The balloon string is made from a hand cut strip of CS. It was nice to have black ones so they are less obvious. The bear is shaded with a caramel marker, his nose and inner ears have a touch of ruby red on them. I also enhanced the edges by going over the 'fur' lines with chocolate chip marker. My son's name, Jameson, is stamped on the front and sides with a retro alphabet. The bears eyes and the balloon each have a tiny highlight of white gel pen.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Favourite Teddy Bear
Paper: kraft, baja breeze and not quite navy CS
Ink: Stazon brown, not quite navy
Accessories: Jumbo eyelets - We Are Memory Keepers, retro alphabet-MSE, white gel pen, brads - CTMH, foam dots-Jody Morrow, 1/16" hole punch. All products by SU! unless otherwise noted.

Quick 'n' Easy Cards II

Here are the other two cards I did for my class. I used this one to teach random stamping. This would make a good thank you card if you needed a whole bunch. it doesn't use too much ribbon, not too many layers, cheap to mail...

this card shows off heat embossing. After I made it, I wish I had heat embossed the floral background stamped in craft ink (for good coverage) on the vanilla panel. To me it looked too dull in contrast to the shiny stripes on the black panel.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE Blue Friend Card
Paper: brocade blue, night of navy CS
Ink: night of navy, brocade blue
Stamps: Simply Said
Accessories: Blue grosgrain ribbon, foam dots

RECIPE Absolute Bliss Card
Paper: Black, riding hood red, vanilla CS
Stamps: Stripe bkgd, Floral bkgd, So Many Sayings
Ink: versamark, craft black
Accessories: clear EP, word window punch

Quick 'n' Easy Cards

Here are a couple of cards I did for a class I taught this morning. Nothing fancy but most of my students were beginners so you have to start somewhere. I was so busy preparing for my class while hubby worked nights that I was unable to get anything else done so you get to see these!
I am not in love with my watercolouring job on this flower. The one I did during the class demo was MUCH better!! Oh well. This is done on watercolour paper with Stazon ink.

The next card I had fun making so simple, yet pretty and easy to make a whole bunch of them. That makes them a great gift idea. Cutting the paper to 2x4" (rather than the full width of 4 1/4") allows you to get way more pieces per sheet of 12x12" paper, which is important if you really have a lot to make.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE Thanks Card
Paper: Pale plum, perfect plum, Parisian Summer DSP, watercolour paper
Ink: Stazon brown, perfect plum
Stamps: Heartfelt Thanks
Accessories: watercolour brush, watercolour crayons

RECIPE Bella Monogram
Paper: riding hood red, pirouette pink, white  CS; Bella Rose DSP
Ink: riding hood red
Stamps: baroque border, lovely letters
Accessories: white grosgrain ribbon, foam dots, scalloped circle Nestabilities

All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

Shout out to SheetLoad and other Blog Candy.

Sheet Load of Cards is offering free Just Rite sets! Click HERE to link to their January Issue. Sign up to get a monthly newsletter full of great card making ideas. Click HERE to join in the blog candy fun.

I am extending my blog candy until Sunday at 11pm EST. Click HERE for rules!

Three Clovers Designs is offering THREE Blog Candy packs! Be sure to read her rules carefully! Click HERE to join in the fun! Be sure to check back on Jan 21st as you only have 48 hours to claim your prize!

Several blogs are offering blog candy if you send cards to Children's Hospital of Michigan. Click HERE for the original post which contains links to other blogs with candy offers. Be sure to enter them all! Deadlines vary so read the individual rules on each blog. Jennifer from The Buck Stamps Here is offering one entry per card sent so get stamping!! In case anyone noticed, I do not celebrate any holidays including Valentines. The cards I am sending are all occasion or thank you etc. You do not have to send Valentines to participate. Kids and their families always need cards to send. In addition, this hospital serves 'kids' up to 21 so teen and adult cards are needed also.

Last but not least! Creating from the Heart also has blog candy. Click here to enter yourself.

Dream, Dream, Dream Card

I decided to use papers from my Basic Grey Eva pack I just got in the mail. I love having new stuff to create with. However, I didn't realize how dark the papers were. Definitely a departure from my usual work. Still, I was determined to use them. When I create, I usually start with either a stamp or a sketch. This time I used a sketch but really started with the papers. I didn't pick an image until the very end when I had already cut the layer! I suppose it isn't really even an image but a sentiment!

The sentiment stamped three times reminds me of my favourite song when I was 8. My mom and I would dance around the kitchen to the Saturday Night Oldies show on CHFI 98.1 FM radio. the song was All I Have To Do Is Dream by the Everly Brothers. The lyrics are:

"When I want you, in the night,
when I need you, to hold me tight.
Whenever I want you, all I have to do,
is dreeeeeeam.
Dream, dream, dream, dream,
dreeeeeeam, dream.
Good memory!
When I was making this card, the black floral layer seemed too dark, especially on the artichoke layer. So I sanded the edges and mounted it on pale plum to brighten it up. The next layer is perfect plum stamped with eggplant ink using French Script. The horizontal pale plum layer is covered with a specialty ribbon I picked up somewhere ages ago. The petals feel like a thick dryer sheet! They are basically squares, scrunched up and glued at one corner to a pink ribbon. I might try to use this with fabric or even a dryer sheet one day to make my own! The colours match really well. I coloured in the double layered letters with SU! markers. The sketch is by Lauren Meader. mytimess19

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Dream , French Script SU!
Paper: artichoke, pale plum, perfect plum, white CS SU!, Basic Grey Eva paper
Ink: artichoke, perfect plum, eggplant SU!
Accessories: floral ribbon-UK, Nestabilities, pale plum, perfect plum, eggplant markers, corner punch SU!

Lavender Pocket Card Tutorial

Be sure to CLICK HERE for my BLOG CANDY post!!!!
This card is a combination of the Flourishes home inspiration challenge FLLCJAN and the Hero Arts pocket card challenge.  I have a beautiful terra cotta pot with moss and lavender sprigs in it. I used it as my inspiration. Since this card is a bit unusual, I did a tutorial for how to make it. It is a nice twist on a traditional card and it smells really nice.

Cut a window in your card. I used Nestabilities but you could use any square or rectangle punch. Draw a line marking the center of your card and line this up with the center line on your punch or as I did, mark enters on your Nestie die with a  permanent marker. I also embossed the shape using the Nestie die. It is hard to see, but you can, just barely. Originally, I was going to sew along the embossed line, you will see how it ended up. OOOPs. I should have checked to see that my image would fit.  On to plan B. I decided to stamp it on another piece of CS. I used chocolate chip ink and coloured the image with Copic markers. Since I am NOT a Copic expert, I didn't take photos as I coloured. The blossoms are so tiny that each one barely  took a touch of the marker brush tip. I coloured each  blossom with the palest colour, then I added a mid tone to some blossoms and a dark tone to others. You can just see it. IRL the different colours just keep the image from looking flat. Next step is  to add anything else you want to the rest of the card. Once you add the pocket with the lavender  inside, the card warps slightly making any other embellishment more difficult. I decided to paper pierce  the bottom edge with my new Ornare piercing template from Ellen Hutson. I also used my new Tim Holtz felt tool to add pale  plum ink to the edges of  the lavender image. Unfortunately I accidentally bent the image as I cut it out and the ink clung to the creased edge, ooops again! Next cut vellum large enough to cover the window with at least 3/8" border. Sew the vellum to the window using a sewing machine. Even if you wish  to hand sew it, I recommend using a sewing machine to make the holes or at least paper pierce the holes first as the layers tend to shift. I used small binder clips to hold the layers together; I added scrap CS on either side to prevent causing  dents in the card. Only sew three sides of the pocket so you can add the lavender. I would not recommend trying to stop sewing in the middle, add the lavender, then continuing to sew without cutting  the threads. I am an experienced sewer and no way would I try it! If you stop, cut the threads and start again, it just means one small additional knot on the back. It isn't that hard to lower the needle back into the last hole you sewed in when you start sewing again. I know some crafters tape their threads, in this case I recommend knots because you will not have any way to cover the tape. To make the knots, pull gently on the lower thread tails, in my case the white ones. The upper, purple thread should slide to the back just enough for you to catch it and pull it to the back. At each corner you will have 4 threads. Any combination of tying them together should be fine. I didn't do the best job with my sewing. I got a bit cocky and forgot how much harder and less forgiving it is to sew on paper! I recommend you mark the corners of your sewing, the point where you pivot, so you get nice corners. As you can see in the final card at the beginning of the post, the buttons nicely covered over these less than stellar corners. If you make a card using these directions, I'd love to see it! Please leave a link.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Old Island Stamp Company (I think)
Paper: vellum - UK, white CS SU!
Ink: chocolate chip, pale plum SU!
Accessories: Ornare piercing template, piercing tool SU!, Guttermann thread, lavender buds from my garden!, buttons-UK, foam dots Jody Morrow

Sleeping Baby Card and Blog Candy

Isn't she sweet? I've always loved sleeping babies! Not because I am one of those people who prefers them that way either! I love babies anyway they come, even crying - within reason! Sleeping babies remind me of all the fabulous times I have spent and still spend with my babies sleeping on me. I barely put my babies down, spoiled? Oh well.   :)I stamped her in SU! chocolate chip; because it isn't totally Copic proof I was careful when I approached the stamped lines. Notice I have some new paper? This is from the Basic Grey Two Scoops paper pack. I got so many new goodies including the little Kaiser pearls, the Basic Grey buttons, the Martha Stewart scalloped punch and so many more you will see in the next few posts!

The flowers are both from Scrapbook Sally, I coloured the larger one from the same colour as the smaller one to dark brown with a Copic marker, love those!!! I am going to the Copic marker class March 24th with Marianne from I Love Markers. I can't wait to get better with these! I used her tutorial on using the brush tip to ink the pattern on the the diaper cover. It is hard to see but it looks like little rosettes. I used Melanie's post from Head, Hands and Heart about drawing koala fur to do the hair! I LOVE blurfing! (Blog surfing) The Sketch is Mojo Monday #68.

BE SURE TO ENTER FOR MY BLOG CANDY HERE!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: SU!
Ink: Close to cocoa (distressing), chocolate chip SU!
Paper: blush CS (card base) SU!, Basic Grey
Accessories: Kaiser pearls, punch Martha Stewart, foam dots Jody Morrow, flowers scrapbook sally, Basic Grey button, Copic markers, Tim Holtz felt tool

Another Very Twinkly Tuesday - Warm Winter Wishes

BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN TO THE POST BELOW FOR BLOG CANDY!!!

This is one little gal who likes to keep adults on their toes! {{LOL}}  Miss Madelynn's Sketch struck me as a bit more tilted than results from simply not using a ruler. When I emailed her mom about the sketches angled edges, she said she thought they were just messy and did her card as if the sides were straight! In case you are new here, Jessica AKA The Whimsical Butterfly has a talented young daughter who presented her with a sketch. Long story short, she now has her own team presenting their interpretation of her weekly, hand drawn sketches! I wonder what Madelynn intended, Hmmm. My son is nearly 8 and judging from his drawings and Madelynn's previous work, it sure looked deliberate to me. What do you think??

If you would like to play along with the Twinkle Team, upload your card to PCP or SCS using keyword MTTSC5 or post it to your blog and link back here and to The Whimsical Butterfly. Be sure to check out the rest of the Twinkle Team's work. Links on sidebar <----

My card uses a CTMH snowman set that has not only a complete snowman with snowflakes and swirls but different hats, arms and scarves as well as facial features. I was confused about the separate facial features until I figured out it was to let you use CS or chipboard circles like I did here! I used Nestabilities to cut out the circles forming his head and body. The scarf was stamped in not quite navy on baja breeze CS; the card layers and most ink I used are those colours too. I took inspiration from SCS Challenge Try a New Technique TLC 202 when making the not quite navy background. Technique: add red line tape to your project. Reveal some of the lines of tape and adhere one colour glitter, repeat with other colours. I only have glitter in white and gold and since gold wasn't appropriate here, I have only white. I like the look though even with one colour.

This also works for the No Time To Stamp - Stamp Simply Challenge #69 - It's Still Winter. Make a winter themed card! Included was a challenge to make a winter card without snowmen or snowflakes but that is too hard for me!

The ear muffs are stamped in riding hood red on the same colour CS. The edges were meant to look fluffy but it would be impossible to cut realistically around the tiny drawn lines. So I cut them out and used my fingernail to rough up the CS edges and make them look fuzzy. I replaced the very thin drawn lines attaching the muffs with red wire. I used my 2 way glue to add dots of adhesive and added dazzling diamonds glitter.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: All Decked Out - CTMH, Snowflakes
Paper: white, baja breeze, not quite navy, riding hood red CS
Ink: baja breeze, not quite navy, riding hood red, Adirondack black
Accessories: foam dots, red line tape 1/4 and 1/8"  - Jody Morrow; snowflake bellies and wire - UK , pumpkin pie marker, dazzling diamonds glitter 
All products by SU! unless otherwise noted.

Great Giveaway -- Blog Candy!

Yeah! It is my turn to give away FAB*U*LOUS blog candy. But I am the mean candy lady! You have to do something to earn your candy! Leave a comment telling me about your favourite project of mine from 2008 and why for ONE entry. EARN 5 EXTRA ENTRIES: Subscribe to my blog via email (link on sidebar) AND / OR Link to this post on your blog. So Vanna, show the people what they are playing for...

A BRAND NEW CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Whoa, wait a minute {{{ insert needle falling off record sound here }}}, who typed that? Seriously, here is the list: grab bag of ribbon and fibres (no photo yet, I still have to put it together, I figure I'll let the winner tell me what colours they like to help me pick!), a Stampin' Up! alphabet soup stamp set, 3  gel pens and a sheet of red rhinestones. One of the ribbons will be several yards of  threaded ribbon. Pull the thread and you instantly get a gorgeous ribbon rosette! Worth playing for????

If you link to this post on your blog be sure it is a direct link and send me a comment with the direct link to your post, NOT just your blog URL. To link directly to this post: click on the title, wait for the page to refresh then copy and paste that URL, not just my blog URL. Feel free to copy any or all of this post in your blog post but you MUST include a clickable link also.

If you choose to subscribe, be sure to check your email for the confirmation and activate it before the deadline. I will get my 8 year old to pick a name from a hat to win. DEADLINE:  Friday January 16th at 11pm EST to enter. I will post the winner on Tuesday January 20th. I hope you win. Winner must contact me to receive prize. Email link on sidebar.

Welcome Baby Girl Card

Glue dots no longer rock my world. Do you remember when you first found out about them? Especially if you had been paper crafting for a while without them? They were amazing! Well they seem to have changed the formula. They just don't stick as well a they used to. Especially with ribbon made from synthetics, which is almost all of it except twill tape! What's up with that? The four cards I made early in the week? Every single one has the ribbon coming off of them! {{{GRRRR}}}  Not only is that bad for the card's look but then they either stick together or the card won't open! So you will see in the next while that I am going to have to get creative with my ribbon attachments because I hate using liquid glue for ribbon and even red line tape isn't working. I am going to try machine and hand sewing, brads, threading through cutouts, tying and anything else I can think of to hold ribbon. I already hand sewed the ribbon on yesterday's card. Any more ideas? Let me know! Hey, if you have a brand of glue dots that works, let me know that too! Mine are in the little green dispenser, I can't think of the brand right now. The batch before this wasn't as good either but this batch is the worst!

This card is just for my stash but it was fun to make. I just got my new SU! order a couple days ago, pink pirouette ribbon and ink, three stamp sets including this one and a couple packs of CS. The background is a retired SU! stripe stamp, I like that every other line is made up of tiny dots.

The ribbon treatment is something I picked up while blurfing, sorry, I don't remember where I saw it. Maybe Amazing Paper Grace, I would look it up but it is pretty late right now. 'Baby' is stamped in pink pirouette, everything else is stamped in pretty in pink. I was surprised how little difference there was in the ink colour because the CS is much different. Except for the colouring inside the flower, which uses a Copic marker, the whole project is SU! The silver cord is the stretchy kind available during the holidays.

RECIPE
Stamps: everything baby, flower and stripes- unknown set names
Ink: pink pirouette, pretty in pink
Paper: white, pink pirouette, pretty in pink CS
Accessories: ribbon, silver cord, buttons, foam dots, Copic marker

Wanna Win?

Queen Kat Designs is offering blog candy - free stamp sets. Click HERE to link to her site. Be sure to check it out!

Great Dreams Card

I made this card for Splitcoast sketch challenge 209 and I am also going to send it away for a good cause. Jen del Muro has a challenge on her blog, i {heart} to stamp. Apparently a friend of hers works at a university with students from 50 different countries, DBU. They give the cards to the students but I'm not sure if the cards are for the students or for them to send home; either way it seems like a good cause. Be sure to read the rules carefully if you decide to join. Oh, and did I mention the awesome blog candy you can enter to win? I seem to be on a roll lately, I've won two blog candies in the last week. {{{ AMAZING}}} This is a good thing of course but it does mean there is no way I will win the big Kahuna prize of the Spellbinders dies! Not to sound ungrateful of course!

I love this image from Dreams du Jour. Not only is it a great saying, but it is so pretty! And of all images that look great coloured, it takes hardly any time! The layout doesn't really take much explanation, the flower was stamped in riding hood red ink on pink pirouette CS, the ink was spread around with a watercolour brush and it was attached with a foam dot. The ribbon is sewn with 4 stands of ordinary sewing thread and the thread tails are caught under the foam dots I used to pop up the layers. I would have popped up the image as well but I had to remember that this needs to be mailed and to the US at that! It already costs nearly a dollar to mail it, never mind extra charges for over weight or over thickness!

RECIPE
Stamps: Dreams du Jour
Ink: riding hood red, Stazon brown
Paper: riding hood red, chocolate chip, Bella Rosa DSP
Accessories: foam dots, scallop punch, markers, sewing thread- Mettler. All products SU! unless otherwise noted.

Elegant Flowers

This card was going to be at least  three different things. You know, you get out all of your supplies, plan A doesn't work, so you go to plan B, then C; by the time you are done, you haven't used three-quarters of the supplies on the table and you realize, "Oh yeah, I set out to make a baby card didn't I?" I actually had no reason to make a baby card other than for fun and to try out an idea and I suppose this could be used for a baby girl but I usually do more thematic cards. I did get to my final objective however, which was to try out at least one of my new Cuttlebug embossing folders. I love it! It embosses really deeply; next time I need to try it out on Core'dinations CS or on white core CS so I can sand the embossed areas. This folder is from a set of four small ones. One folder in another set I bought the same day had some space in the center and I tried putting letters in the space spelling baby but the embossing overwhelmed the letters...

I love how simple but elegant it is. I would have stamped the background, but I didn't think enough would show to bother with. Maybe next time I'll use a simple dot or stripe BG. Oh, I can't forget, this also works for Sketch Challenge TECC49. Too bad I didn't get it done in time to enter. {{SIGH}} Maybe next week.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Paper: celery, white CS - SU!
Stamps/Ink: can you believe it? NONE
Accessories: Prima flowers, pearl beads - UK, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Set of PDQ Thank You Cards

This easy set of thank you cards was inspired by Lauren Meader. I basically CASEd them, same layout, similar colours, the whole shebam! I was really tired last night but had my cousin over to scrap so I had to think of something easy. Actually, not thinking was my preference! Even in tired, slow-mo mode, I got these done in less than an hour. I probably could have cranked out 6 of these in 30 minutes, which was a Stamp Simply challenge SSNOTIME66, if I had been quick!
These would make a nice gift presented in a matching box like  my post HERE. If I was planning on making more, I would make a template for placing the circles. It is harder than you might realize to get them even close to straight. You can clearly see the second card isn't lined up quite right.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Favourite Teddy Bear
Paper: riding hood  red, white and pink pirouette CS, Bella Rosa DSP
Ink: riding hood red
Accessories: grosgrain ribbon, foam dots

All products SU!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Twinkling Tuesday Pink Champagne Celebration

Miss Madelynn really outdid herself this week. My nickname for this layout is LOL. No, not laughing out loud but lots of layers! I have been trying to go beyond my usual pink and brown flowery designs and to try new things. At the same time I am determined to use old stamps or get rid of them so I am getting out some golden oldies to see if they are worth keeping. This paper is old too, I bought this DCWV pad two years ago and haven't even use it once. It is a lot brighter than anything I usually pick, not sure what I was thinking! Since I am determined to use up some old stuff, I gave it a shot. Only thing I don't like is that the CS doesn't match the papers well. IMHO, everything in a paper pack should match perfectly or it isn't done correctly. Anyway, I kept layering, not knowing what stamp I was going to use once I got to the top layer. The layer that would look the best was tall and skinny (partly because I goofed made my card narrower than usual and partly to suit the sketch) and reminded me of these tall champagne glasses. The white layer is edged in pink marker. Celebrate seemed an appropriate sentiment.

Hope you like it Miss Madelynn! Want to try out the sketch? Go for it, then use the keyword MTTSC4 to upload on SCS or PCP. Be sure to see what the rest of the Twinkle Team came up with, links to their blogs are all on the sidebar!<---

Enjoy, Rebecca

 

RECIPE
Paper: DCWV, white CS - SU!
Ink: Adirondack black
Stamps: SU!
Accessories: flower- Scrapbook Sally, word window punch - SU!, foam dots, Copic markers, SU! pink marker (passion or pixie, can never get those two straight! The lighter one!) for edging and sentiment.