Polka Dots, Paint, & Cake Batter: Echo Park Merry Christmas

Showing posts with label Echo Park Merry Christmas. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Tree-mendous Wishes

It’s beginning to look a lot like . . . summer. Cause I live in Alabama and it’s hotter than a box of firecrackers on the Fourth of July. Anyway, I welcome you on this great Wednesday!

I have a quick Christmas card to share with you today. I was trying to make it vintage, yet fun.

For today’s card, I wanted to incorporate a little more stamping –because that’s what I mainly consider myself to be these days, a stamper. And, one of my favorite things to do is stamp onto die cuts. In this case, Cricut cuts. I stamped on the lighter green cut with my Just Jeans stamp from Stampin’ Up.

I totally winged this card. With the exception of the Kraft base an the Christmas tree cut from Winter Frolic, the rest just kind of came to me as I was creating. Just to let you all know where I was going, the Christmas tree is basically a vintage pin. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. When I cut the tree, the little circle that are meant to be balls were incredibly tiny. But no matter, I grabbed my Melissa Frances pearls and colored a few with my markers, problem solved. A little Crystal Stickles and my little tree was complete. The button card stamp is from Button Boutique and I stamped it with Real Red ink.

Standard card base, no need for reinventing the wheel today. Continuing the theme, of the week, my pattern papers are from the Echo Park Merry Christmas Collection. The green polka dot measured 4” x 3,” and the stripe is 4” x 2.25.” Adhered them with a small amount of ATG – just enough in the center so they won’t shift while sewing. By the way, I use Coats & Clark thread for all of my sewing. While I had my machine out, I stitched some lace over the seam where the papers met.

Once I added the lace, I figured I might as well keep with the fabric/texture theme, so I stitched some burlap with Liz’s Boutique onto a scrap of Vintage Cream cardstock. Initially, I was going to distress the edges, but I decided to trim it with my pinking shears to match the little paper sack I used. Which reminds me . . . Before I stitched the burlap, I used Background Basics: Houndstooth to stamp on a Canvas Corp bag. I used Stampin’ Up’s Soft Suede ink. Words cannot describe how much I love that color. Love it. I know some of you are thinking, Trell, it’s just brown. Errr, no it’s not, so there!

From there I tied a bow with some red seam binding, because everything is better with a bow. I adhered the bag and the button card to the card with red line tape. I have found that I like to use it because it has such a strong hold. Anyway, I stamped my sentiment from My Creative Time’s newest sets, It’s a Magical Season, onto a negative from a frame that I kept. I know it’s on Elegant Edges. The main cut is a postage note frame.

To finish it off, I inserted a corsage pin into the bow, and inked around the card with Antique Linen Distress ink and a little Soft Suede.

Thanks for stopping by and leaving such wonderful comments. Have a blessed day!

Monday, August 20, 2012

Joy

Hello crafty peeps! So, you’re in for a treat this week, because I am guesting on the Everyday Cricut blog! That’s right, every single day. Before I get into my project for today, I want to thank Joy and Melanie for having me, it’s an honor.

I think most people that read my blog, know that I am a cardmaker. That’s my passion, but would it surprise you all that I did something, “off the page,” to kick off the week?

Joy to the world . . . Kidding, I have a terrible singing voice. But, this makes me want to sing! I wanted to offer some ideas for the upcoming holiday season, and banners are great décor items. I opted to keep it simple and small, but if have a mantle, why not go all out?

The inspiration for this came from the Fontopia Art Cartridge. When I looked through the handbook, I knew I wanted to make a banner with the letters. I just love the typography. But, I digress! I’ll walk you through the process, it was really easy, and I worked on it for a few days (I have this job . . . I know, ugh. Joking, I love it.), but it really wouldn’t take long to do in one sitting.

I woke up my Imagine from a deep slumber, and printed out three patterns from the Teresa Collins Black & White Pattern Cartridge. Because everyone loves a visual, I took a picture of the patterns I printed:

I am a big fan of options. Know what I’m saying? In the end, I went for the sheet music because I think it conveyed Christmas the most; to me, anyway. Also, as you can see, I printed on Kraft cardstock and it came from Jo-Ann. I think I spent more time deciding on and printing patterns, than anything else during the making of this. Trell’s creative method is to sit and stare at the paper. It works though!

I sized my cuts and everything with my Gypsy. I have the file for those that want it. And, I might even make a Craft Room file. I used Birthday Bash for the pennant cuts.

I am a man of few embellishments. Don’t get me wrong, I love them, but I can’t afford to buy everything under the sun, so I tend to concentrate on a few. I will sing the praises of paper doilies. I love them and you will see them again this week, I’m sure of it. They’re cheap, and we all have at least one place where we can find them. Anyway, I used my Antique Linen and Vintage Photo Distress Inks to age the pennants and doilies. I then adhered them with some Tombo Mono Multi. I punched a scallop border strip from cream cardstock and adhered them to the bottom of the pennants. And, I added a little trim to the top of the pennants.

In this case, I also use paper as an embellie. I make my own rosettes with my score board. I measured my the width of my pennant, and I deduced that my rosettes should be 3 inches. So, I cut my patterned paper, from the Echo Park Merry Christmas collection, to 1.5” x 12.” Inked them and adhered them with my hot glue gun. I find it to be the fastest and best adhesive for rosettes. I adhered them to the pennants with hot glue as well.

Next up were the letters, I cut out three of each letter because I wanted them to be like a lightweight chipboard. I adhered them all together and sprayed them with Krylon Spray Adhesive. I then coated them with Melissa Frances Glass Glitter. I got that, and the Melissa Frances Pom-Pom trim from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique. I like spray adhesive because it cuts down the drying time, and it holds glitter very well. I also adhered the letters with hot glue. In the center of the O, I used my small star punch to cover the center of the rosette.

Lastly, I used some twine from Liz’s Paperloft to tie some loose double bows and connect them. Little extra nugget, eyelets would have been great, but I didn’t have any! I finished it off by tying some double bows with some ribbon I picked up from Hob Lob eons and eons ago.

Welp, sorry for the super looong post, but I like to leave no detail spared! Thanks for stopping by, have an amazingly blessed day!

Friday, August 17, 2012

MCT August Release Blog Hop!

Hello again crafty peeps! I want to welcome you from wherever you came, but I hope you hopped here from Tracy’s wonderful blog. If not, start here.

I was assigned the 3” x 3” card and envelope for the hop, and I decided that instead of reinventing the wheel, I would keep it short and sweet. I think that is the point of a note card anyway. And, once again, I used vellum for my envelope, but I like it, so there! (Imagine me sticking my tongue out like a little kid . . .)

I know that we all get really busy during the last few months of the year, and most of us are cardmakers, right? So, I figure, take a few hours and diecut a few of these little beauties and have them on hand for the upcoming holiday season.

Now, I will admit that I might have went a bit overboard with the bling and pearls, but they were cheap coughdollarbincoughcough. And just because I love the Melissa Frances pearls, I couldn’t stop at one!

The snowflakes are element stickers from the old Echo Park Merry Christmas collection. Confession, I haven’t purchased Christmas paper for the year yet. But, I like to use what I have, and what better way, that to embellish a quick card?

Before I forget, I diecut the card from Rustic Cream cardstock. My personal advice is to keep these light, you don’t want to have to put a layer on the inside. I feel like the Rustic Cream satisfies my need to give it a homespun feel without using Kraft cardstock.

My sentiment is from Gift Card Sentiments. If you don’t have this one, you need it. I use it all the time – it has a special place on my work table, along with a few other sets. I stamped it with my favorite red ink, Stampin’ Up’s Real Red. I opted to finish it with a silk ribbon bow, but I don’t think it is absolutely necessary.

BLOG HOP GIVEWAY ALERT

For our Blog hop giveaway, there will be 2 winners chosen from ALL the comments combined! The 1st prize is: A guest design spot for our next release in Sept & the 2nd prize is you can pick $50 worth of products from the "My Creative Time" store! All you have to do is leave a comment here along w/the rest of the design team's blogs AND also leave a way for us to contact you! Emma will use random.org to pick the lucky winners! All you have to do is leave a comment on all blogs in this hop for more chances to win! The deadline is Sunday, August 19th at midnight! EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK!:)

Blog Hop Line Up

Trell (You’re here!)

Before I let you go, I want to invite you all back next week. I’ll have more Holiday (both Halloween & Christmas) themed projects that you don’t want to miss! I even have a 3D project!

Thanks for you coming by and leaving such awesome comments, I love reading them. Have a blessed weekend!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

MCT 12 Days of Christmas ~ Day #11

Hey there! We’re on day 11 of our 12 days – can you believe it? Welcome and hopefully, you made it here from Tracy’s blog, if not, start at Emma’s blog: My Creative Time.

So, I had to go into work unexpectedly yesterday and after that, my mom and I went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping, I am sooo incredibly broke right now! Anyway, I decided to make my project for today sweet and simple. I love the chewy peppermint from Brach, so I raided the cabinet and dug out the little paint can from my stash for a little treat bucket.

Again, not a whole lot involved in making this, so you could turn out a bunch in not time at all. Had I not been Facebooking with Nikki and Shar, I would have been finished in minutes. The little paint can came from Michael’s. I think I might have paid $1.00 for it. The ribbon I used came from Jo-Ann and it was left over from last year. I simply wrapped it around the can and secured it with some sticky strip from Thermoweb. I used My Creative Time’s Fancy Frame Die and the Scallop and Stitched Circle Die set to create my embellishment. The candy cane paper is from Echo Park’s Merry Christmas Collection. Really love this collection. The scallop was cut out of Kelly Green felt. And the stitched circle was cut out of Kraft. I stamped, “Happy Holidays,” with Cherry Cobbler ink from Stampin’ Up. This sentiment comes from All Around Christmas.

I adhered the frame die cut with more sticky strip. I used dimensional adhesive and hot glue to secure the stitched circle to the scalloped felt diet cut. And hot glue to secure it to the frame. To finish it off, I took some more of the stitched green ribbon and some red grosgrain to tie some knots.

***12 Days of Christmas Give Away Alert***

To qualify for ALL the AMAZING giveaways for the next 12 days, you must comment on every blog in this hop! You will have until Tues, Dec 13th @ midnight to have all of your comments in! VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE LEAVE A WAY FOR US TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU ARE ONE OF THE WINNER'S!

There are some AMAZING giveaways for this special 12 day event & some SURPRISES to help celebrate "My Creative Time's" One Year Anniversary! Yep, Emma released her 1st set of stamps one year ago! So make sure you are tuned in because this is ONE hop you do NOT want to miss!;)

Blog Hop Line-up:

Trell (you’re here)

Veronica (Next stop)

Thanks so much for coming by! Have a blessed day!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

MCT 12 Days of Christmas ~ Day #8

Hello everyone! If you arrived here from Tracy’s amazing blog, you’re on the right track. If not, start at Emma’s blog here: My Creative Time.

Okay, so for the sake of full disclosure, I was totally planning on posting something else (mini recipe album) today, but I haven’t been feeling well. I did come up with a card for today and I have to say that it’s very different from what I’m used to doing, but I totally like it.

If you can’t tell, it’s clear! I really didn’t want to do a lot of extra embellishing (Do I ever?) because I really wanted the base of the card to be a focal point of sorts. It’s a standard A2 sized card. I ordered a designer paper pack from Stampin’ Up a while ago and this was in the pack. When I ordered it, I didn’t realize two of the sheets were acetate. I figured I would never used them, but a little light bulb went off and I’m glad I went with it.

Because it’s clear, you have to adhere mats to the inside for a message. But, I didn’t want my adhesive to be seen on the back, so I adhered a 3.375” x 5” mat to the back of the card and then ANOTHER to the inside of the card. If none of this makes any kind of sense, let me know in the comments and I will make this card on video as soon as I feel better.

For the front, I adhered a 2.5” x 4.25” patterned mat the the front of the card with Zots. Again, I did not want the adhesive to be seen, so I used my Fiskars Apron Lace border punch and punched two 2.25” wide strips. I secured them to the inside of the base to cover the Zots. My patterned paper is from the Merry Christmas collection from Echo Park. I used My Creative Time’s, “Gift Card Sentiments,” for my sentiment. I am so in love with the font Emma used for this set. I am a big fan of writing in cursive, and when I was a student, I always had the best handwriting. I think I won best handwriting from 5th until 8th grade. All the girls with pretty handwriting were jealous, I know it. Anyway, my sentiment was stamped on a Fancy Frame die cut, also from My Creative Time. I used Cherry Cobbler ink from Stampin’ Up. It’s probably my favorite red ink at the moment. To finish the card up, I took some dark green grosgrain and tied a bow! Easy peasy!