Pinwheel Birthday

Hello crafty peeps! I have a super special post for today. My former DT boss, Emma, invited me to guest design for her and I was more than happy to oblige!

We’re going to think of today as a bit of a Technique Tuesday. One of the most difficult things I can think of is mixing patterned papers. So, my card today will hopefully show you how you can mix different patterns cohesively.

I’m going to throw out a disclaimer, however. I am not a graphic designer so I can’t honestly say that I have special training that makes me an expert. I studied Interior Design,  so my pattern and color usage is influenced by that.

All of the papers  used are from the Dear Lizzy Neapolitan line. I bought it LAST year at Archivers and this is the first time I used it. My overall goal was to make a fun and bright card. Something a little outside of my comfort zone -  because my style is generally very shabby and vintage inspired.

The great thing about using a collection is that the color mixing is done for you. And, generally, the patterns will have a lot of built in coordination. I decided to choose four papers from the collection. I chose the wood grain chevron, green grid, and gray dotted papers because I wanted the banner pattern to provide the pop of color. None of them work against each other. They all kind of peacefully coexist because I used the right patterns in the right amounts.

Also, I left a lot of white space around the sentiment. Even though the pinwheel is a rather large embellishment. It doesn’t take the eye away from the sentiment. I think a lot of people would have used ink to splatter the sentiment card because the pinwheel had splatters. Doing so would have been a mistake because the pinwheel would have disappeared into a sea of ink splotches. Instead, I took some enamel dots and placed them around the sentiment to further define it and draw the eye in. And, in a way, you could imagine them as extensions of the ink spots flying from the pinwheel.

Supplies

Patterned Paper: Dear Lizzy Neapolitan by American Crafts.

Stamps: Journal It and Floral Sentiments from My Creative Time.

Cardstock: Stamper’s Select White.

Ink: Versamark. Mister Huey spray ink in Taxi, Water Cooler, and Boss Lady.

Embellishments: Rustic Twine from Papertrey Ink. Enamel dots and decorative brad from My Mind’s Eye.

Other: Corner Chomper by We R Memory Keepers. Apricot Zing embossing powder by American Crafts

Alrighty, before I let you hop away, I have a giveaway sponsored by Ms. Emma! I have a set from Emma’s last release that I just love! It’s called Life is Good, and I plan to use it in my Project Life album. All you need to do to win is leave me a comment here with a way for me to contact you. You’re not required to follow me or anything else. I will take comments up until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, June 13th. Easy peasy!

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I wish you all a very blessed day, and good luck!!

Thank You Blossoms

Hello everyone! I had to pop in and share a card with a warm weather card before Fall is full blown. I think if I went with the ideas that pop in my brain, I would be making tons of Halloween and Christmas cards.

I wanted to make a card using my newest favorite color, Wisteria Wonder, and this the result:

I have never thought of myself as a purple person, but I am in love with this color. Anyway, I started by stamping my roses from Stippled Blossoms (My first multi-step stamping set, and it’s divine!) from Stampin’ Up. The base layer was stamped with Wisteria Wonder, and the top layer was stamped with Elegant Eggplant.  I stamped them on Vintage Cream cardstock and I cut them out with my detail scissors.

From there, I matted a sheet of woodgrain patterned paper from the My Mind’s Eye Miss Caroline Howdy Doody paper pad onto a piece of Vintage Cream cardstock that I inked with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo. I swear, I use those inks like they’re going out of style. I digress! I took the card front to my sewing machine and did a simple perimeter stitch. I wanted to use a big sentiment with this card, so I pulled out My Creative Time’s Floral Sentiments. I embossed the sentiment with White Zing embossing powder from American Crafts.

Okay, pulling it all together now! I used my Expression to cut a large scalloped border from a piece of script patterned paper from the My Mind’s Eye The Sweetest Thing Lavender pad. If I recall, the scallop is on the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge. I adhered it directly to the card front. I then added some Victoria Trim from Stampin’ Up. Love this stuff, you will be seeing lots of it. And then, I took my flowers that I had stamped and cut out, and some leaves that I diecut from Simply Chartreuse Felt using my Sweet Life dies and layered them onto the card front. I used a combination of dimensional adhesive and hot glue.

The finishing touch was some scrunched seam binding from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique and an Antique Brad from Stampin’ Up. OHH! I also misted the card with Mr. Huey Calico Shine, but I don’t possess the photography skills to show you all. But in person, it has a really nice shimmer. Love that stuff!

Thanks for stopping by! Having a bit of a busy work week, but I do hope to find some time to craft. As always, I wish you a blessed day!

My Creative Time Designer Challenge

Happy Thursday everyone! September is off to a great start, and I am here with a really sparkly Christmas card to share as part of our new Designer Challenge.

Emma has decided to replace Throwback Thursday in favor challenges that members of the Design Team come up with. This week, Veronica, from VK Create, challenged us to recycle or reuse a product that wasn’t intentionally made to craft with. I decided to incorporate wrapping paper into my card (thanks to the lovely Shar!).

Okay! The really cute paper that you see on the bottom portion of the card is actually wrapping paper. I bought it at Hob Lob . . .  2 season’s ago, I think. I love their paper, it’s really thick and the rolls have so much paper on them.

The top portion of the card is covered in patterned paper from the original My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found collection.  It has glitter, and y’all know how I lurve my glitter! I did a perimeter zig-zag stitch around the top of the card with my sewing machine. I then diecut a border using my Super Star dies with Aqua Mist felt. I sewed that directly to the card (VERY SLOWLY!) where my to papers met.

I used Expression to diecut some snowflakes using the Christmas/Noel Solutions Cartridge. The red snowflake was cut at 2.59” x 2.18,” the aqua and vellum ones were cut at, 1.79” x 2.18.” I used the base snowflake for the red, and the other two are actually the shifted image. I used my spray adhesive to coat them, and I covered them with Martha Stewart Glitter in Garnet & Blue Topaz. SPARKLES, yeah!!!!

For my sentiment, I used one of last new releases, Warm Holiday Fun. The sentiment is what actually inspired the card. Personally, I fell like sentiments should fit in with the design of the card. It’s an integral part, so that’s where the glitter and shiny paper come in.  Anyway, I stamped the sentiment onto a strip of vellum with Versamark Dazzle in Frost, and I embossed it with Pewter Zing embossing Powder from American Crafts. Cut a notch in the end, and adhered it with red line adhesive. I put a glittered brad from Hob Lob through the snowflakes, and adhered it to the card with red line dimensional adhesive. Super cute right?!

Anyway, thanks for coming by. I adore you lovely people. I wish you all a blessed day! Oh, a while back someone wished I would do a layout . . . Monday!!! I’m not a scrapper so wish me luck!

Edited to add: If you want Warm Holiday Fun, I would suggest you order it now, because I talked with Emma, and she mentioned that they keep selling out!

Hi

Howdy! I hope everyone is having an awesome week. I’ve been super busy with work, but I carved out a bit of time to make this card, and complete another (which you will see soon).

Today’s card is being featured on the Platinum Scraps blog. I encourage you to visit to see my design team member’s take on this week’s card sketch.

I pretty much followed the sketch, but I wanted to do more than add patterned paper. Initially, I was going to do all of my pennants with ribbon, but I had these scraps laying on my work table, and I really like to use as much of my supplies as I can.

I really love using painted corrugated cardboard on my cards. It’s inexpensive and I think it packs a lot of punch. I tried to take good macro shots in order for you all to see the different colors. I painted it with acrylic paint that I bought from Jo-Ann. The colors I used were Vanilla, Lemon Ice, Grey, and Robbin’s Egg Blue. The green you see is the blue and yellow combined. I never imagined myself a paint artist, but I have a lot of fun when I do this. I’m sure you’ll see more of this in the future.

My card base is Rustic Cream from Papertrey Ink. I used the “Be Happy,” stamp set from the My Mind’s Eye Follow Your Heart collection to stamp the doilies and butterflies. The inks are Chamomile, Sugar, and Blue Sage Fresh Inks.

The patterned paper is also from the, “Be Happy,” collection. Again, I used scraps from previous projects. I find that I love this kind of color scheme, so I don’t mind using the same papers. The jute pennant is Offray. I took the pencil I keep in my craft caddy to curl the pennants and I used hot glue to secure them – it allows them to remain curled.

I round the corners of my cardboard element (and card base) with my Corner Chomper using the 1/2” setting and secured it with hot glue as well. Oh, I used Lemon Tart twill tape to tie a bow around the bottom portion. I also added an Aqua Mist vintage button that I threaded with some jute twine.

I used my Martha Stewart 3-in-1 Classic Butterfly punch to punch butterflies out of the same My Mind’s Eye Papers, and some Recollections yellow gingham. And to complete the card with a simple sentiment, I used some American Crafts foam Thickers in the Lullaby font. The color is Sunflower – a bit bright, but I can totally live with that.

That’s pretty much it. A pretty simple card to put together. I thank you for stopping by, and as always, I wish you a blessed day.

Stars and Stripes

Hello Friends! I am here with another card to usher in the weekend, AND I have an announcement. A little less than a month ago, I received an email from a dear friend that wanted to know if I was available for a design team position. So, just to cut to the chase, I am now a member of the Platinum Scraps Design Team!

I think my readers that have connected with me through Facebook or from the Cricut board know that I am not your mainstream paper crafter. I am male, which is rare, but I am also African American, which is basically a double whammy in the paper world! Platinum Scraps is a team of African American scrappers and card makers. My thought is that maybe there is another African American, male crafter waiting to be inspired, so it is with great pleasure that I join the team.

Now, for today’s card! I think for the first time, I made a card based on a sketch – maybe the second time. It’s not generally how I go about creating, but nonetheless, I tried to put my own spin on it! You can see the sketch an get all of the details by going over to the Platinum Scraps blog.

I’m calling my card Stars and Stripes – the design evolved kind of effortlessly. I even glittered the rosette without making a gigantic mess! I know that when I first got into crafting, glitter was one of my first purchases. I think I have maybe 6 colors, but they rarely see the light of day. I will admit that I am quite partial to the Martha Stewart Crafts glitter. I dare say it is the best on the market. I digress!

My card base is Soft Stone from Papertrey Ink. Until they release a medium toned gray, this is my absolute favorite. I used my Distress Stripes Cuttlebug embossing folder to give my Spring Rain layer texture, and to embody the stripes of the flag. From there, I selected some patterned papers. The antiqued book print is from an oldie, but a goodie, Lost & Found Portobello Road by My Mind’s Eye. I used some Tsukineko Gold Shimmer Spritz and water so I could ball and crinkle the paper. I dried it with my heat tool and ripped the bottom edge. I also did a bit of inking with my Antique Linen Distress ink. I adhered it to my card and did a bit of stitching with some red thread.

Next, I adhered another pattern from the Portobello Road pad. I rounded the corners with my Corner Chomper. The ribbon is gold satin from Offray. The Distressed Stars and Handkerchief (the rosette) are from Hobby Lobby. I added the postage stamp border for two reasons: first and foremost, I like the way it looks, and second, it’s thin paper. I also did a bit more stitching.

I used my Martha Stewart Scoring Board to make the rosette. I cut two 1.25” x 11” strips and scored them at every half inch. I glittered it with Jasper glitter, again from Martha Stewart. It’s a beautiful deep red that has incredible depth. It’s dark, but there is definitely a lot of glimmer as well.

My sentiment is from Here’s Lookin’ at You, from My Creative Time. I absolutely love the font combination that Emma used in this set. I used my Versamark Dazzle Frost ink to stamp my sentiment and I embossed it with Gold Metallic Zing embossing powder from American Crafts. I am happy to add that I finally have an embossing buddy! No more dryer sheets!

Thanks for stopping by. Have an amazing weekend (I’ll be working.)!! And, have the most blessed day!