Cookie Box

I found the cutest tutorial for an Animal Cracker box at Inky Doodles. Since I didn’t have cards I HAD to do, I played with this template. It makes up so easily and quickly… which is why I forgot to cut the traditional oval hole in the front, working too fast! These would be so cute for all kinds of gifts. Mine is clearly for homemade goodies but can you imagine making them for Girl’s Night Out-nailpolish, lotion, nail file? How about a kid’s party favour box with bubbles, candy, stickers little toys? It would make a great baby shower or bridal favour box too! Oooh, how about using it for the guest bathroom, putting tiny toiletries in it when you have overnight gifts!

This box isn’t too fancy so it should be easy to see how it is decorated. I stamped the  chocolate chips on the ribbon with chalk ink. the eyelets were brown but with too much grey so I warmed them up with my R59 Copic. You can’t see it but I split a circle Velcro dot in half, placing one half at each end of the flap to hold it closed. I am putting this on Etsy so I just used an easy name for an example of customization possibilities. Only thing you can’t see, the lid paper obviously has ivory hearts on it but it also has a  layer of hearts in chocolate  ink underneath.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Baked with love-CHF, chocolate chip wheel-SU!
Ink: chocolate, caramel, cocoa-SU!, chalk ink Color Box (twill tape), Versamark
Paper: vanilla, chocolate, cocoa, caramel CS-SU!
Accessories: twill tape-stash, WRMK-eyelets, Crop-a-dile, Foam tape-Jody Morrow, Cut n Dry Foam-Ranger, Velcro Dots-Wal-Mart, ivory EP-stash

The Gift of Giving – Baby Onesie Card

I have been wanting to try out THIS onesie card for ages! Cute huh? This card is actually a gift to be re-gifted. My BFF Rebecca is working on a crocheted blanket for a new baby. She couldn’t find the pink yarn she usually uses so she went with peach, I made the card to co-ordinate by using blush cardstock. Yes, Rebecca, this card is for you!! Fun making these, there is so much you can do, such a fun blank slate. I girlie’d it up a lot with patterned paper, lace and a sweet die cut on the shirt. A boy version would be fun too!

I started with a 4.25x11” sheet of cardstock for a top fold card. I used a Nestability, 1 5/8” diameter for the neckline. I should have made note of the diameter of the scalloped circle for the collar, nuts. I just marked the neckline center and glued on the circles, made sure they were even, then trimmed away the excess after. You can make both collar pieces from one circle if you wish. The sleeve dimensions are 1 7/8” opening, 1/2” underarm seam. The sideseam is drawn in after you cut the  leg holes. Just connect the corner of the leg hole to the underarm. I won’t give you the diameter of the leg openings because I might try them a bit smaller next time, not sure yet. They are offset, not perfect quarter-circles. I rounded the corners of the leg holes, they were very sharp points before.

The decoration on the chest is a die cut from Honey Pie by Cosmo Cricket. I added a teeny bow and the wing, which is a separate die cut piece, was glued at the fixed end with a foam dot lifting the wing tip. The three little onesie buttons were coloured with a peach-y Copic marker to make them peach instead of beige.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps and Ink: Oh dear, another one! NONE
Paper: blush CS-SU!, Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie DP and die cut
Accessories: Bella bauble (neckline)-Stamping Bella, buttons-Jesse James, Nestabilities, foam dots-Jody Morrow,  lace, ribbon-stash

Pink Violets-Easy to Make Multiples

Nichole Heady asked a question on her blog: Do you make cards in multiples? I actually don’t very often and mostly for gifts, invitations or to sell. But it got me thinking, I remembered I had saved a card that would be perfect, super simple but very classy. So I CASEd it. Actually, I almost copied it! Different stamp and ribbon but otherwise pretty much the same. I don’t have a link but the card was by Angela Jones for There She Goes.

I used my Bow Easy to tie all of those little bows. All that tying lead to a Bow Tying Tutorial I hope you enjoy (or have enjoyed, I never know which order I am going to post in!) I’m afraid I can’t remember who makes this violet stamp but it was so close to the one I was CASE’ng I used it even though the card is pink, not purple. Yah know, violets and all? The original had sheer black  ribbon with white dots, I wish I had some of that. I also stamped the envelope, something I hardly ever do until it is time for mailing. I am toying with the idea of making a cool box or basket for them and either giving them as a gift or selling them. They do need one more element, the original had a sentiment stamped across the white panel just above the  black ribbon. If I sell/gift them, I guess I will just stamp popular sentiments on them.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: unknown
Ink: pretty in pink-SU!
Paper: pink CS-unknown, white, black CS-SU!
Accessories: ribbon-SU!

I Promised You This ~ Flat Bow Tutorial

Here is a mini tutorial for the bow I made for this card.

I started to explain how I made this bow and meant to add the photos before I posted, but forgot, as usual. So here is LINK to the original post in case you missed it.

 

 

 

 

Step 1. Measure out your ribbon. Fold the ribbon to mimic the loops and the length for tails. You do not need any extra length except what is needed to tuck behind a panel like mine does at the top.  (Later, you will need another piece equal in length to 2-3 times the width of the ribbon.) Do not worry if your loops are not even yet. So you can see there are two upper loops and two lower loops. Where the two lower loops touch in the center is where the glue goes in the next step. Note or mark this point on both sides. It won’t show so a tiny pencil mark is fine. (I didn’t mark mine because mine is a demo and I didn’t realize how hard this would be to explain without telling you to mark it. Feel free and guestimate if you wish!!)

Step 2. Apply a thin line of glue at the mark on one side only, allow to dry slightly. My line of glue is a bit too wide at one end(rushing), a thin line is all that is needed. 

Step 3. Gently press the marked points together. DO NOT PRESS TOO HARD, YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR GLUE LINE TO SPREAD OUT AND GET WIDER!

 

 

 

Step 4. I like to hold the ribbon with a clamp during drying. It is very hard to get a clip to hold on straight by clipping it on from the side so I fold up my ribbon tails and clamp this way. Use a bigger clamp for wider ribbon. You DO NOT want pressure right on top of the glue or it will squish it making the line of glue not so thin anymore. You want it thin or it won’t lay as flat in following steps. Notice my clamp is just ABOVE where the glue was placed, not on it. Let it almost fully dry.

Step 5. Press the middle of the loop down. See how you now have two loops?It is so easy to get the loops the same size this way!!  If your glue is still tacky, it should hold when you press it together, otherwise add a tiny dab of glue. I use a clamp again to finish the drying process, sometimes I use one on each side. This makes it easier to complete the center of the bow. Seems like a lot of steps but with quick dry glue this takes about 60-90 seconds. If you use traditional white glue or other slow drying glues, it will take a lot longer.

Step 6. Now all you have to do is wrap a second ribbon around the middle of the bow, it doesn’t even have to overlap on the back side but I usually do unless thickness is an issue. I clamp again until the glue dries. You can barely see the center wrap in my photo because my flower mostly obscures it, sorry, I decided to do the tutorial after finishing the card and giving it away!

TIPS: I traditionally use this bow for stiffer ribbons like grosgrain that do not tie a nice ordinary bow. If you want an even puffier bow, slip foam dots inside the loops and/or under the loops! Try a contrasting ribbon for the bow center. What about a narrower ribbon or lace over the base ribbon for another fun look. This will also work with cardstock or even patterned paper but definitely use foam dots to support the loops or you will get creases in them. Great for home dec or 3-D objects where the loops will not be crushed inside a scrapbook or in an envelope! If you use a very soft ribbon, try crimping the ribbon before adding the center wrap. This is a very tailored bow so use it for an elegant, finished look. Great for wedding pictures!

I really like this method because it has two advantages over most bows of its type which have at least 2-4 more layers involved. 1. If you are really low on ribbon, it saves a bit! 2. If thickness  matters, like when you are using a specialty ribbon, working on a ‘flat’ scrapbook/mini album or minimizing bulk in an already overstuffed album, saving on thickness could be great. It is also much less fiddly than other methods of making this type of bow and you don’t have to worry much about where the center of the bow is, it all falls into place!

Enjoy, Rebecca

Always Cherish Every Moment

 

I was terribly annoyed with myself that I missed the So Sketchy Design Team call. There was just so much going on here at the time of the call. I missed it by only a few hours and the next morning, I wrote to Alli asking that I be allowed to submit late (Puh-lease!!), hoping that my stint as a Guest Designer might count for something. Early Bird that she is, the team was already chosen and notified! NUTS! She was very sweet in her email and suggested that I play in her challenges each month. So I looked through July’s card sketches so far and found this one. Very unusual. I am also entering this in Verve’s Divine Details Project Parade Contest. “make a project or card that shows us your Divine Details”.

I won’t mess around here, I had a dickens of a time  getting this layout to work. The diagonal piece was easy (and FUN) but I first tried a large scalloped circle in the darker pink floral paper.  Pretty, but the lovely scalloped diagonal paper was lost against the darker pink circle, SCRATCH that. I used some peach chipboard photo corners that came in the scrapbooking kit I was working with, mmm, too heavy looking, SCRATCH that. I tried a circle in the turquoise paper (on the back of  cross-stitch paper) for the center, also not right, SCRATCH that. Flowers from the Honey Pie Cosmo Cricket die cut sheet  instead of the bows? Not enough contrast, SCRATCH that!! Circle in the middle of the card? Too unbalanced since the diagonal is not in the middle. SCRATCH that.

I finally settled on the cross-stitch circle sponged with worn lipstick Distress ink, the cherry blossom paper in the center sponged with cocoa ink, the turquoise reverse of the cross stitch paper as the corners (they fit perfectly on the scrap left from die cutting the scalloped circle!!) and bows instead of flowers on the diagonal. With the circle offset, I needed something for the other corner. This rub-on is so sweet, I know even in the close up it is hard to read, “always cherish every moment with those you love.'” Sweet huh? I wish the small letters showed up a bit better **SIGH** I used pearls to bring more attention to the sentiment and added one to each corner die cut for emphasis. Over all, I am quite pleased with the result and if I were part of the So Sketchy team, I would be proud to send this to Allison.

In case I need to list them, my Divine Details are: Die cut photo corners, buttons tied with twine, ‘shabby chic’ ribbon bows, scalloped edges on the circle, pearls as accents and for adding emphasis to the sentiment, sponged paper edges, scalloped edge on diagonal and three different button colours!

Just a little note, I ADORE making generic cards. Consider not adding a sentiment to your card (I know!! GASP!!***) or using a very generic one like an uplifting quote or Thinking of You. Then you always have a card when you need it. You will find most of my cards have no sentiment unless I am making them specifically for someone.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: gulp, none!
Ink: worn lipstick-Ranger, cocoa-SU!
Paper: Sassafrass, Honey pie-Cosmo Cricket, Blush CS-SU!
Accessories: corner die-Cuttlebug, scalloped circle Nesties, seam tape-stash, buttons-Maya Road, hemp twine-Hemptique, rub-on-SU!

Rose Romance Card

Not much to say on this one. I sewed the lace in place to get the imperfect gathers. I used my bow easy to make the bow and I purposely left it as a ‘shabby chic’ bow (tails on opposite sides of the loops). The swirly die cuts are from a new Sizzlits die, I was  very surprised to see the same one in the SU! catty because I thought they were exclusive dies! I cut them from moss CS and sponged them with old olive using Cut n Dry foam, my new favourite tool! Watch Jennifer McGuire videos and you will see what I mean! The rose is coloured with R20, 32, 59 and a bit of 00.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: SU!
Ink: olive-SU!, frayed burlap-Ranger, Memento cocoa
Paper: chocolate, moss CS-SU!, Porcelain-Basic Grey
Accessories: Porcelain brads-Basic Grey, Sizzlits scribbled swirl, Copics, Kaisercraft pearls, ribbon and lace-stash, foam sots-stash and Jody Morrow

Bow Easy and Tutorial Plus Bow Tying Tips

I bought a Bow Easy from Sharon Johnson of No Time To Stamp. She has great photos on her site but I thought I’d add a bit more adding how to include extra tails and an extra ribbon to tie around a panel or jar etc. I also took my photos very close up so hopefully it can help some of you out there. Now I already tie a pretty nice bow so I was skeptical of how much I would end up using this little gadget but for $6, why not! I actually really love it. I find myself wasting less ribbon because I know exactly how much I need after making the same bows over and over.

When you are new to this, choose a long piece of ribbon so you don’t have to worry about it being long enough. A short ribbon is very hard to work with. Start with a piece you don’t care much about to practice and try different sizes out. You might also want to check your Bow Easy for little sharp pokey things on the edges, I just used a nail file to remove them before I went any further. I think they were just leftover from the manufacture, the edges weren’t cut perfectly smooth. If you don’t, they will catch on thinner ribbons, snagging them and make thicker ribbons harder to remove!

Bow Easy Tying

Step 1. Starting at the left side of the Bow Easy template, lay your ribbon over the plastic. 

Step 2. Wrap your ribbon under the template and back across to the right side. The tail is under my right thumb.


Step 3. Thread the tail into the groove in the plastic above the ribbon you have already laid across. If you are using wider ribbon, you may need to scrunch the ribbon lower on the template  to make it work.
Step 4. Bring the ribbon tail  from the back, up in the groove on the lower edge of the template. Do not pull the ribbon tight, YET! This will create a loop. (Keep in mind that the ribbon you just looped around the back is the center of the bow front so you might want to check and make sure that your ribbon is right way up if it is one-sided!)
 
Step 5. Cross your ribbon tail over the loop.

Step 6. THIS IS WHAT NOT TO DO!!! A big mistake and one I’ve made often! This bow will not tighten and stay tied.
Step 7. This is the RIGHT WAY!! Tuck your tail into the loop and out to the right. (not out the bottom)


Step 8. Now all you have to do is tighten it!
 
Step 9. Remove it from the Bow Easy. If you like a ‘shabby chic’ bow, stop here!

Step 10. Fiddle with the tails so they are both on one side of the loops.
 

General TIPS I think bows look classic (my favourite look) when the loops are 1-1.5 times as long as the ribbon is wide and the tails are 1.5-2.5 times as long as the ribbon is wide. Of course you can do what you like but this is a great guideline to start with if you aren’t sure how you want your bow. One the Bow Easy, I use the 1 1/4 width for 3/8” ribbon and 1 3/8” for 1/2” ribbon. I haven’t got a ‘rule’ for ribbon sizes beyond that yet.

Part 2! Adding extra ribbon to your bow.

If you read my blog much, you will know I don’t like the look of a bow glued right on to a ribbon unless the ribbon is puckered making it look like you really tied two different ribbons across the panel. So I tried adding a ribbon at different places in the tying sequence, here are the results.

Extra Bow Tails

Please perfect your bow tying before you try this! It is easy to get confused. I recommend you practice with different coloured ribbons!

Step 1. To get extra bow tails, lay another ribbon (or as many as you’d like) across the first ribbon wrapped around the template. I will have to shimmy  my ribbon down before I can tie it! Place the ribbon face down if it is one-sided. 
Step 2. Tie as normal. Try your best to ignore the extra ribbon.

Step 3. This is what the bow looks like when removed. Just like a normal bow, you may have to fiddle with the tails.


Extra Ribbon for Tying Across a Panel Etc.

 

Step 1. Tie ribbon up to the point where you are ready to tuck the tail into the loop. 

Step 2. Lay a ribbon across the template. Because I was taking  photos holding the template in front of my camera, the ribbon slipped down. This actually makes it easier to tie! You can see I am holding the ribbon tail at the back so it doesn’t slip out of the slot. If your ribbon is one-sided, place it face down during the tying.

Step 3. Tie as usual.  

Step 4. This is what it looks like in the end. Now you can tie these around a jar or basket handle. Or glue the ends around the back of a panel like in my example above. Don’t worry about exactly where on the ribbon you tie the bow, you can slide it along later. however, if your ribbon is very  delicate, you might want to leave extra at both ends to help you with placement. You could even use embroidery floss, fishing line or twine instead of the second ribbon if you want to tie the bow around a 3-D object and not have much showing. You could also bead the ribbon etc. for a really cool look. 

Enjoy, Rebecca

Twinkling Tuesday Belated! Monsters!! Oh No!!

Let’s see, my excuse for being late this week… Monsters invaded my home...   Really?? you don’t believe me! Humph, I am offended!! Well, look below, I have PROOF! Three of the scariest monsters I’ve ever seen snuck into my home and have been wreaking havoc! They have eaten EVERYTHING, messed up my house (of course that is why it’s messy!) and kept me from crafting! Don’t you think they are scary??

 

The inspiration for this card was Madelynn’s sketch for the week. After this, the Twinkle Team is taking a break for the summer. It makes me sad but at the same time I am looking forward to not having to remember when we are out doing fun stuff! I’ll miss the team too! We tend to banter back and forth a fair bit through emails. A really great bunch of gals! I will be sure to post when we are coming back for anyone who follows the Team. Apparently, we are going to have a name change come the fall too! Even I don’t know what it is yet, Madelynn is keeping it a secret!

Quite the doozy of a sketch huh? I debated between wanting to split it down the middle, doing only half of the sketch and working with the whole thing. I considered doing a scrapbook layout but the pix I wanted to scrap aren’t printed yet! So decided to be brave and I went for the whole thing in the end. Obviously I didn’t manage every little detail this week, there were quite a few, well tons actually! Let’s just say I moderated them a little!

 

These little guys are cute huh? I coloured them with Copics and used blender solution on a piece of terry cloth to get the texture on the red and turquoise monsters. The yellow one I ‘dotted’ by hand with lots of touches using my blender pen. To get the feet to show up on the patterned paper, I first scratched the top layer of paper off with the tip of my scissors leaving white paper behind. Otherwise the turquoise feet would have looked brown and the orange feet simply wouldn’t have shown up at all!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: MFT
Ink: Adirondack black
Paper: Bazzil CS, Fancy Pants Summer Soiree DP, black CS-SU!
Accessories: red droplets (epoxy stickers)-Kaisercraft, red brad-Doodlebug Designs, Ribbon-Sweet Pea Scrapbooking Kits, foam dots-Jody Morrow

Bits and Bobs of Flotsam and Jetsam!

Part 1                Awesome Giveaway from Andrea Walford

The EZ View Desktop is designed with a clear, glass-like top and three drawers with built in partitions for easy organizing on any home project. The desk is 36 ½ inches wide by 25 inches and it stands about 3 ½ inches high. The picture above was taken by Rachelle to show you what it looks like filled.  The Original Scrapbook is currently selling the EZ View Desktop for $195 US in either vanilla or black and is offering FREE Shipping to the contiguous United States.  They have lot of other cool organizational units for crafters so make sure you hop on over to The Original Scrapbox and take a look.  During this blog give-away they’re offering $100 off shipping (on qualifying items) just by entering this coupon code: 100Writes. Visit http://andreawalford.com/?p=2674#comment-30413 to enter!

There’s several different ways to enter the draw to win the EZ View Desktop.  The more options you choose the greater your chances of winning:

• Visit The Original Scrapbox website and choose your favourite product. Once you’ve done that come back here(Andrea Walford) and leave a comment and tell me what your favourite is and why you would like this product.
• Post about this contest on your blog. In your blog post you need to post a photo of the EZ View Desktop by right clicking on the image and then selecting “Save As”, this will allow you to upload the photo on your blog post. You may use photos of the desktop from my blog or The Original Scrapbox. Feel free to copy and paste the information above into your blog. Please link back to my blog (Andrea Walford) and also to The Original Scrapbox, and of course come back and leave me a comment in the comments section of this post with a link back to your blog post.
• You get 5 extra entries for each friend you refer who then posts about the contest on their blog. Just have your friend post an entry, come back here and leave me a comment with a link to your friend’s entry that says something like, “I told Becky about this contest and she posted it on her blog (include blog post link)”. This friend will also be entered into the contest according to contest rules.

This give-away will run for 10 days. The winner will be announced in a follow-up post on Monday July 20th. So if any of you choose to post this to your blog, please let me know so I can get more entries!! Pretty please!!

Part 2            The Art Glitter Institute is looking for DT members!

Click on the link to visit their website, newbies welcome, you just have to be innovative with glitter!

Part 3           An AWARD!!!! YEAH!!!! (Saved the best for last!!)

Thank you so much Bonnie for this AWESOME Blog Award! I really appreciate that you think my blog is lovely! After all, Bonnie Sharp is a current Dirty Dozen Member on Splitcoast stampers! Pretty prestigious! And she likes my blog (grinning and giggling like a school girl!!) Love ya Bonnie!!

Best Blossoms Get Well for Peggy

ETA: I meant to take photos of the bow technique but didn’t get to it. I will edit this post tomorrow with the photos. Sorry there is no Twinkling Tuesday post today. Come back and visit tomorrow; at least half of us were having trouble getting our posts up today, me included!!

I needed a get well card for a dear old friend, Peggy, who was in hospital. The kids and I went to visit her Thursday and I whipped up this card in about 25 minutes (that has to be a record!) before we left. I probably have a get well card stashed away somewhere and tons of general cards but it was more !!FUN!! to create a new one!

Pretty simple layout, the flat ribbon bow was the hardest element on the card. I always find it hard to make these and get the center perfectly centered so I tried a new technique. I only used two pieces of ribbon. Most times I have done it before I have used three, one for the straight piece across the card, one for the loops and one for the center. This time I used one piece across card AND the loops. (There is a center piece in the middle of the bow, because I added the flower, it is hard to see but if you look closely or enlarge the photo, you can see it!) First I decided where I wanted the bow, how big and how long for the tails then cut my ribbon accordingly. I folded the ribbon where I wanted the center of the bow to be. I had already determined the size of the loops so I laid down a line of glue and clamped the ribbon-see photo 1. When it was half dry, it was easy to fold the ribbon at the glue line, clamp it a bit longer then when dry, wrap another piece around it for the center. see photo 2

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: best blossoms, sincere salutations–SU!
Ink: eggplant, rose red, celery-SU!
Paper: white, regal rose, rose red, eggplant CS-SU!
Accessories: rhinestone-EK Success, crocheted flower-Rebecca Wu, foam dot-Jody Morrow, brad-stash, ribbon-SU!, rectangle Nestabilities
Technique: flat ribbon bow

Oooh La La!! French Corset Card!

Boy I wish I looked this good in my underwear! And red too, Wooo Hooo! Can you tell how much fun I had making this card! I sat down to make cards and I really didn’t feel like crafting but DH took the kids out to play at the mall playground so I felt like I just HAD to take advantage of so much alone time! So I started with
the card you saw in the last post, easy peasy and then, browsing my blog list, I saw this card! It reminded me I needed to use a French Boutique set I’ve had for ages but barely used. After choosing the stamp I looked through a tin full of French labels I’ve had for ages which I save for cards where they will really shine. This one was just begging to be used on such a girlie card. I shabbied it up a bit with caramel and cocoa ink applied with Cut n Dry Foam. The background was inspired by recent videos on Jennifer McGuire. Trust me, I am not even going to link to a specific video because you HAVE to watch them ALL! Even if you aren’t a technique fan, these videos are AWESOME! I used one of her resist techniques to create my background. Start by stamping a background pattern on your cardstock, then stamp a semi-solid or solid image in Versamark and heat emboss with clear embossing powder. You can stop there but if you sponge a darker ink over, the clear embossed areas will resist the sponged ink and you get a background like mine! If you don’t love the shiny areas, put a couple layers of paper towel over the card/background and iron, the embossing powder will melt into the paper towel and your design will be much less shiny!

I used Copics on the corset itself, I had a lot of fun colouring this one, I am actually REALLY pleased with the results. Copics do take a lot of practice but they are so worth the effort!!!! I started with a medium pink, covered it with red, then  shaded with deep red. Imagining this fabric is a bit shiny, I left a highlight where the fabric folds into the seams. I couldn’t decide what to do with the bottom of the dressform which had a wire ‘cage’ extending the bodice making it longer. The lines were too thin to cut out around and I didn’t like the white paper showing so I just cut them off. The skirt was fun to do, I had a roll of tulle left from my wedding! (1997!) so I cut off a piece, stitched a quick running stitch along the edge and inserted it into a slit I cut at the lower edge of the corset. I had cut almost all the way along the dropped waistline just leaving bits attached at each edge so the tulle fit in there perfectly. I attached the dressform with a double layer of extra tall foam dots so it is about 1/2” above the main card. The pearls are tiny beads meant to be strung so I placed them carefully so no holes where facing up. The ribbon is hand dyed and painted seam binding tape from Kim Hesson, her Etsy store is Miss Alayneeah (get it, miscellanea!), wasn’t it just perfect for this card??

  This card screamed, “Add Bling!!” so I put rhinestones all over, so pretty! I added clear Spica pen to all of the flowers and leaves on the sticker, outlining them, then added more to the roses and the lilacs. I also glittered the oval around the sticker, the dots on the corset and the dressform stand to make it look more like metal. I even managed to get an angle that shows the sparkle and bling. WAY COOL!!! You might have to enlarge it to see it though.

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Fashion Boutique-can’t remember! I thought I had transferred the company name to my newly organized CD cases but I guess not!, flower-Hero Arts, script-Hero Arts?
Ink: Memento brown, perfect plum, cocoa, caramel-SU!
Paper: pale plum CS-SU!, Taylored Expressions 
Accessories: tiny pearls, tulle-stash, ribbon-see above, rhinestones-Zva, Clear Spica pen, foam dots-stash, clear EP-SU!, Copics, sticker-Cavallier Printing, Shimmer Mist-Luminarte
Technique: emboss resist

Doggie Welcome

My girlfriend, Rebecca, absolutely LOVES animals and she is such a softie when it comes to any of them even if they aren’t smart or pretty! Her little Shit-zu is adorably funny looking, not too bright and mostly blind, he is so cute and we both love him to bits. Her other dog is also sweet but not quite so unusual! She just told me the sweetest story about her neighbour. Apparently she loves dogs, buying treats for all the neighbour dogs and was dying to have one of her own. Why she didn’t just buy or adopt one wasn’t part of the story! So she finds a beautiful, older Golden Retriever who is apparently lost and not only takes her in but takes her to the vet, tries to find the owner and treats her like a queen. The Humane Society finds the owners 6 days later and a woman and her 15 year old son come to get the dog. There is a lot of crying from the boy and the temporary ‘mom’, the ‘original mom’ didn’t really get how a stranger could become so attached to a dog in such a short time! The lady explained how she had bought treats, food, bowls, a leash, a bed and spent a ton at the vet. The family took the dog home but called back later, offering her the dog. Apparently the dog has arthritis and she was going to be put down later that summer because they couldn’t afford the vet bills! The boy is very attached to the dog but felt it would be better for her to live a couple more years even if it wasn’t with them! Isn’t that amazingly mature and sooo sweet! so after telling me this story, how could I not offer to make a card for Rebecca to give to her neighbour. There isn’t much to tell about how it’s made, you can see all the details. If you have any questions, fee free and email me!

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamps: Dog Lover-See-Dees, Right at Home-SU!
Ink: night of navy, ruby red-SU!, Memento brown
Paper: not quite navy, CS-SU!, white CS-Taylored Expressions 
Accessories: twill tape, fire hydrant charm-stash, Labels 4 Nesties, Copics YR20, Y00, E33, E35, Ranger Inkssentials white gel pen (eye accent)

Whimsical Butterfly Card for Twinkling Tuesday

So sorry I’m late y’all! I was at a three-day convention all weekend so I was too tired to make this card yesterday for posting last night or this morning! I took Monday to just CHILL! But it is still technically Tuesday so I guess I am safe! Hee Hee!! :) This card was inspired by a doozy of a sketch by Jack, Madelynn’s little brother. But just wait ‘til the next 2 weeks, then the sketches get really intense! I enjoy a challenge, that’s for sure. I don’t even usually post the sketch in advance of showing you the card but this card requires the sketch to make sense! This sketch doesn’t look too hard at first but look again at all the details! Dots in each corner of the card and the stamped panel, tabs at the end of each ‘line’ and all of the stars at the bottom. Whew. Now in case anyone is wondering, I had a great time trying to think of what to do and loved using this sketch. It is just that my card is a wee bit busier than normal; I decided to use ALL of the details in this sketch, every last one! Well, OK, I didn’t use the crosshatching on the lower tabs…

I love how this sketch allowed me to show off this awesome DP! It really shows through the design. I was thinking about butterflies lately because of the Butterfly Project. Heard of it? The Holocaust Museum of Houston is creating an exhibit of 1.5 MILLION butterflies, one representing each child killed during the Holocaust. The exhibit opens 2012 and anyone is able to send in a butterfly (or more) to the exhibit. They can be of any medium, flat preferred, no glitter or food products, no larger than 8x10”. I hope I get to see this exhibit once it opens. Please consider making a butterfly or two (or more!) for this worthy project. Craft Critique is going to send a huge package of butterflies so if you wish, you can send yours to them by September 15th. You can also send them to the museum directly. If you wish to read more, click HERE. If you do make a butterfly, I’d love to see it so leave me the link here. No blog? Registration is free to upload to Splitcoast Stampers or Paper Craft Planet. This is a great project to do with your kids, I’m pretty sure construction paper would make awesome butterflies. Craft Critique has and I’m guessing will continue to have ideas for butterflies for both kids and adults. You could paint, sew, quilt, stencil, weave, punch, die cut, knit, sketch, crochet, scrap, stamp, cut, colour, photograph, collage, tole, pierce, paper piece, emboss, iris fold, embroider, cross-stitch, needlepoint, rug hook, dye, tat, batik or silk-screen your butterflies. ‘Nuf ideas??

The paper I used was from Basic Grey Phoebe, the flower cut out from another paper in the same pack. I punched the butterfly from a solid section of the flower paper and outlined it in marker to help it stand out. I used a larger pearl for the head and two smaller ones for the body. The ‘red’ dew drops aren’t really red but a deep, bright pink, matching much better IRL. Ditto for the butterfly within the sentiment; I stamped the image a second time on white cardstock and cut it out. I can’t remember where I got the eyelet brads but they used to be silver, I heated them with the heat gun and dipped them into my white embossing powder which makes it stick and heated again to melt the powder until smooth. I LOVE that technique! You don’t even need embossing ink. The more I worked on this card, the more it appeared whimsical, like I should have a faerie on it somewhere, thus the post’s title! The sentiment didn’t end up quite as dark as I would have preferred it and then I think the camera focused on the butterflies wings making the sentiment a wee bit blurry. In case you can’t read it, it says, “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly. –Richard Bach'”

Enjoy, Rebecca

RECIPE
Stamp: Verve
Ink: Stazon brown, rose red
Paper: banana CS-SU!, Phoebe paper pack-Basic Grey, vellum-stash
Accessories: MS butterfly punch; flowers, sheer white ribbon, white EP, ‘eyelet’ brads -stash, Kaisercraft pearls, Dew Drops, foam dots-Jody Morrow, regal rose marker-SU!
Technique: use embossing powder to change embellishment’s colour