Monday Madness . . . Imagine That!

Hello everyone! I am here with my first ever Imagine That project! It shouldn’t be a surprise that I made a card for today, but it’s a different card! Papertrey Ink is celebrating their 5th Anniversary this month and Nichole put out a challenge to pick one of the design team members projects that inspired you and make something new. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it on my blog, but I LOVE Ashley Cannon Newell. If you’ve never been to her blog, A New Design, I totally recommend it. I think she is just fantastic. So, my project today is inspired by her. Generally, I wouldn’t do a casing type of deal – I like to try and come up with my own ideas and even if I don’t love the resulting project, I post it. I don’t want to get in the habit of using others ideas. Click here to see the card that inspired my project.

I just realized that I totally used Teresa Collins’s signature color scheme, and it really wasn’t something I did consciously. Initially, I was going to make a spring themed card as a pre-release week appetizer, but I’ve been really into making Valentine’s cards.

Anyway, the jumping point for the design and color scheme came from the Teresa Collins Black & White Imagine cartridge. I printed the bold floral onto some Sweet Blush cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I did not print an entire sheet, instead I printed a 6” x 6” square. I trimmed it to 4” x 5.25” and matted it onto a A2 sized piece of Vintage Cream.

I used my favorite label cut from the Imagine to cut a 3.2” Vintage Cream mat. I then cut the label again in Sweet Blush at 3”. I used my Background Basics: Houndstooth stamp and VersaMark ink to give the label some depth. I built on the pattern by stamping the cherub from 100% Sweetness. I used More Gift Card Sentiments and another piece of Vintage Cream to stamp my sentiment and I embossed it with black Zing embossing powder from American Crafts. Err, backtracking a bit, after I adhered the floral paper to the cream mat, I used my sewing machine to stitch around the edges. Moving on!

To make the pocket, I trimmed a piece of True Black cardstock to 6.5” x 8.5” and scored it at 4.25”. I used a ruler to find the center of the pocket front and marked it on the inside with a pencil. I then drew lines from to corner to that center point and used an X-acto to cut the notched opening (It helps to adhere the cardstock to your cutting mat with repositionable adhesive.). I used white ink and Polka Dot Basics to give the front a little pattern. I then set it off with two rick rack die cuts. I used some black satin to trim the opening of my pocket. I would have loved to incorporate felt, but it wasn’t cutting to my liking. I stitched the pleated ribbon to secure it completely. It is important to sew the pocket together after you decorate it! After that, I stamped the cherub on the heart die from 100% Sweetness and embossed it with black Zing as well. I hope all of this makes sense and doesn’t sound complicated (it really wasn’t)! I know a lot of people like it when I give detailed instructions, so I try to include everything. Lastly, I used my white ink pad and swiped it around the pocket to soften it a bit.

Thanks for coming by! Have a blessed day!

Patterned Paper Valentine’s Card

Hello crafty people! I am starting the week with a card and a video showing the process! I’m really trying to keep my commitment to go outside of my box and try new things this year. Videos are hard for me, but it gets easier with each one. So, I am definitely going to keep trying.

Thanks for coming by! I hope everyone has a super blessed week. I will see you here tomorrow for Monday Madness . . . Imagine That!

Elegant Treat Box

Hello everyone! This is my second post of the day. If you’re looking for my blog hop post, click here.

I have a super quick post using some My Creative Time products. I am in love with the new Bubblegum Treat Box Die, and I wanted to show that one can make adult appropriate things with it. In my mind, yellow, gray, and black equals an elegant Valentine!

The paper is from the DCWV Lemon Flower Stack. I think the only place to get this is Jo-Ann. I cut out the stitched heart from 100% Sweetness and stamped the coordinating love stamp with Antique Linen Distress Ink. I then stamped, “Be My Sweetie,” in Tuxedo Black.

So, am I crazy, or does it work? I’m contemplating making these for coworker. I won’t be asking any of them to be my sweetie though!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed weekend!

XOXO Smitten–Papertrey Blog Hop

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a great week. I have a card to share with everyone that kind of grew from my rosette making spree on Monday night. I made some in various colors and patterns and I didn’t have a definitive plan of what I was going to do with them.

I was in the mood to make something Tuesday night and after a little brainstorming, I came up with a plan with the help of Sara and the challenge at Papertrey Ink for this month’s blog hop. Nichole is challenging everyone to pick their favorite card from 2011 and improve upon it.

I made this card in December, and I liked it so much I decided to make it a second time in a more traditional color palette for Christmas. You can read all about it, here. It would been really easy for me to case the card and change a few things, instead, I decided to take elements from the card and make it as new as I could. Here is the result:

My card is made from Aqua Mist cardstock and is a standard A2. I am so in love with this color right now. I found some light grey cardstock in my file cabinet. I honestly didn’t know I had it and I’m so blind I couldn’t make it out from white. Anyway, I used the brown polka dot patterned paper and the grey to make a background mat. I stitched around it with some dark brown Coats & Clark thread.

Next, I cut 1/4” strips of the grey and 1/2” strips of the pink and adhered them to a 3” x 4.5” piece of cardstock. I toyed with the idea of embossing the pink, but in the end I decided against it. I used the largest die in the Spellbinders Label Four set to give the striped mat a decorative edge.

Now, here’s where the big changes from the original came into play. Even though I am certainly happy with the original card, I felt like there was a bit of a balance issue. So, I decided to make sure the eye honed in on one spot – the rosette. However, I wanted to bring in the felt. I happened to have a white diecut from the Spellbinders Classics Scalloped Hearts Nestabilities set on my table. Well, the white wasn’t working. I felt the card could use a bit more brown so I cut another scalloped heart and stitched them together (right down the center). I adhered the felt hearts to the card with some 3-in-1 adhesive from Beacon and then I adhered the rosette on top and offset it a bit.

I used some Aqua Mist Saddle Stitch ribbon to tie a simple knot, and I then adhered the entire piece to my card base with dimensional adhesive. Originally, I planned to only use the XOXO stamp. But I decided to see how the Smitten stamp would look layered on top and I really liked the result. I adhered it to the rosette with hot glue and a dimensional circle in the center. And, to give the card a touch of embellishment, I took some heart gems and adhered them to the felt hearts. I would have preferred buttons, but I didn’t have any that coordinated.

That’s about about it! I don’t think I left anything out, but if there are questions, feel free to email me or leave a comment. I thank you for coming by and I wish you a blessed day!

Favorite Stamp of the Month

Hello everyone. I hope everyone is having an awesome week. It’s still gloomy here, and I think that we’re supposed to get a little snow today. The new year brings changes, and one of the changes that we’re having at My Creative Time is the Favorite Stamp of the Month. On specific Thursdays of every month the team is going to focus on an older stamp set and Emma is going to offer the set a a discounted price. This month’s set is, “You Had Me at Chocolate.”

If you own this stamp set, we would LOVE to see ANY projects you have made OR any NEW projects using this stamp set! My Creative Time is having a, "You Had Me At Chocolate," Link Party! Please link up your projects HERE to Mr. Linky on My Creative Time's page! If you do NOT own this set, it's your LUCKY day because it is on sale right now: HERE! Go pick up your set before they sell out!  We are ALL looking forward to seeing your projects!;)

I’ve had a desire to make a black, white, and red Valentine’s card for a few days now. It’s the idea that just seems to be at the forefront and I find that I have to make whatever project that is before I can move on to other things. My goal for this year is to also try my hand at making cards that are more simple.

My card base is from a sheet of patterned paper by DCWV. It’s called Dancing Polka Dot, and I bought it open stock, but it’s also in the All Dressed Up stack. It’s a 12” x 12” sheet that I trimmed to 4.25” x 11” and scored at 5.5.” I used my Scallop Sentiment punch to put a scalloped border on a scrap piece of red cardstock. I added a thin black mat and a piece of cream that was an eighth of an inch smaller. The red heart is the stitched heart from the 100% Sweetness stamp set. I used my Jenni Bowlin Malted Milk ink to stamp my sentiment on the cream cardstock to create sort of a patterned paper. And I stamped it once in Real Red. To finish it off, I tied a bow with some black grosgrain.

That is all for me today. Next week is Sneak Peak week – the first of 2012 and I am so excited to share the new things Emma has come up with! Thanks for coming by and have a wonderfully blessed day!