Life is Sweet

Hello everyone! I told myself I would do a better job of blogging, and it helps that I have had moments of inspiration hit me here and there. I have one to share today that I really love, and I take a lot of comfort in the sentiment. Especially so, given the events in Boston on Monday.

I used, The Sweet Life, a multi-step floral set from Papertrey Ink. It builds the most wonderful cabbage roses. Next to hydrangea, roses happen to be my favorite flowers. The more hues of ink in ones arsenal, the more possible combinations. Personally, I like to make mine look as realistic as possible. I mean, I doubt you’ll see neon roses here. I guess it could be fun if you’re into that kind of thing.

Because I can’t be satisfied with less, I went back in with some paisley stamps from a Recollections cling mount set that I just love. And, I filled in the pattern further with the strawberry flower from Strawberry Patch. The dots are from Polka Dot Basics I. I used my Envelope Pattern backgrounder to add a little texture.

I stamped my sentiment on a strip of vellum and heat embossed it with some detail gold embossing powder from Recollections. I used the envelope pattern on the back of the sentiment strip because I felt it needed a little bit of color, and because, I just can’t leave well enough alone.

The panel was sewn to a Kraft base embossed with my Squared Lattice folder. And, to finish it off, I added some buttons threaded with Rustic Cream twine, and silk ribbon.

Alrighty, that is it for me! I hope everyone has a wonderful week. Keep the people of Boston in your thoughts. I thank you all for visiting, and I wish you a very blessed day!

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!

Papertrey Ink July Blog Hop

Okay, so I haven’t posted a card in ages. Basically, I’ve been quite the worker bee and I also might have had a fire in the backyard during the first week of the month that burned my cable lines. So yeah, but no matter, I have a card I quickly made once I got home from work today!!

I was finally able to order the dies that coordinate with Pretty Peonies, and I cannot be happier. I have said this before, but I am not a good fussy cutter. I also ordered like 4 new stamp sets! Might not sound like a lot, but homeboy here is on a budget and I can’t drop major dollars at Papertrey every month. I digress!

I trimmed a piece of Rustic Cream, which I am in love with, I cannot stress that enough, to 3.75” x 5.” I started off by stamping the solid peony from Pretty Peonies with Cameo Coral and Calypso Coral inks from Stampin’ Up. The yellow peony was stamped with Chamomile Fresh Ink from Impress.

Next, I stamped the largest leaf cluster from The Sweet Life with Lucky Limeade ink. I then went back in with the small cluster to fill in, but I did some stamping off and generational stamping to give my pattern more dimension and depth.

My third step was to use the medallion building stamps from Lovely Layers. I guess I should have mentioned this earlier, but I was kind of going for a vintage fabric kind of look. Anyway, I stamped the medallion with Mango and Chamomile from Impress, and Calypso Coral. After that I used the two small flower images from the Strawberry Patch set to fill in.

I don’t know if this shows up in the pictures, but my the last thing I did was stamp the entire background with my Stampin’ Up Just Jeans background stamp. I inked it with Antique Linen Distress ink just to give it the slightest bit of texture, and to again, bring out that fabric look. I inked the edges with more Antique Linen and a little Tea Dye. I used my edge distresser tool to roughen up the edges and then I crumpled it up into a ball a few times. It’s all about texture people!

The rest of the card came together pretty easily. I attached my stamped background to a Kraft card base. I took it to my sewing machine and by the Grace of God, I had brown thread in my machine, so I went with it.

I diecut the frame from Lemon Tart cardstock and the butterfly from Kraft. I then ran the butterfly back through my machine with the woodgrain impression plate. I tied a bow with some Berry Sorbet grosgrain and adhered the frame and butterfly with dimensional adhesive. I embellished the butterfly with my Melissa Frances pearls, because I just can’t help myself, and that is was it.

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all a blessed day!