A Winner & Simply Amazing

Hello everyone! I have a new project to share at the start of this wonderful week! I would say that it’s a return to my style, with a little drama – by way of some navy. I haven’t been using dark colors very much as of late.

Sparkly strawberries! Why yes, I went there. I just couldn’t leave well enough alone, so I added some glitter, but I’m getting ahead of myself here! I used three sets from WPlus9 on my card today. I started with a panel of Rustic Cream cardstock and made my own patterned paper with the berries and leaves from Fresh Picked. Instead of doing the entire panel with the berries, I decided to add in a more subtle pattern to the top of the card. So, I used Country Charm to add some diagonal stripes to a small piece of Melon Berry cardstock.

I diecut a Label Number 5 and stamped it with the coordinating border image. When I sat down to make this card, I knew I wanted to use that label and I also knew I wanted to use that very sentiment. Now, the problem – if you’d like to think of it as such, was that the sentiment would not fit on the label without looking, to be frank, horrible. So,  I used an EK Success ticket punch because it fit my sentiment perfectly. From there, I adhered my floral embellishment and some navy seam binding bows on both sides.

Back to my glitter bombing. I did this with some stickles. I wanted hints of glitter, so I I just dabbed it here and there. And, finished the entire card off with a spritzing of Mister Huey in Calico Shine. Bam. And, I’m a happy boy!

Supplies

Stamps: Fresh Picked, Country Charm, Quite Like You: WPlus9.

Cardstock: Kraft, Rustic Cream, Melon Berry: Papertrey Ink.

Ink: Crumb Cake, Night of Navy, Cameo Coral: Stampin’ Up.

Dies: Circle Stackers & Label Number 5: WPlus9.

Other: Calico Shine Mr. Huey: Studio Calico, Button: Papertrey Ink, Seam Binding: Liz’s Paperloft Boutique, Crystal Stickles Glitter Glue: Ranger

WINNER, WINNER!!

Okay, I used Random.org to select a winner for the My Creative Time stamp set giveaway, and the lucky person is: Vivi J! Congratulations my dear, I will be emailing you shortly!

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

Vintage Fabric Love

Yes, I know, I said I would make a better attempt to blog, but well - I work two jobs. My schedule can be kind of crazy. I work a mixture of days and, on occasion, overnight. A boy has got to eat and sleep sometime. However, I DO have three more projects to share soon (already photographed) because I HAVE been making things here and there. And, I have a list of things I want to make.

I’m here today with a card for the Moxie Fab Trigger Tuesday Challenge. It seems that I miss challenges a lot of the time, and I am so happy I found the time to participate in this one because the trigger is totally up my alley. A vintage embroidery pattern:

I love everything about this, from the pattern itself, to the colors. So, I tried my best to make a project that reflected the original. I bought Lovely Layers from Papertrey a while ago (like, October!) and I hadn’t the chance to ink it up, but it was perfect for this.

Lot’s of stamping here! I made this knowing that I was going to send it in the mail, so I wanted to keep it kind of, “simple.” The majority of the stamps from Lovely Layers. I went back in with an Inkadinkado flourish to add more detail. I also used some dots from Polka Dot Basics II, and a leaf from WPlus 9’s Folk Art Florals. To give it more of a fabric look, I took my Just Jeans background and stamped over the entire panel. I do this when I want to add more texture.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed day.

Supplies

Stamps: Lovely Layers, Just Jeans, Folk Art Florals, Polka Dot Basics II

Ink: Regal Rose, Brocade Blue. Wisteria Wonder, Crumb Cake (SU); Limeade Ice, Scarlet Jewel (Papertrey Ink); Walnut Stain Distress Ink

Cardstock: Kraft, Rustic Cream (Papertrey Ink), Vellum (Jo-Ann)

Other: Tread (Coats & Clark), Button and Twine (Papertrey Ink)

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop

Hello. Yes, it’s been forever since I’ve posted, but I’m popping in before I head off to work! I wanted to join in on the festivities this month. Nichole selected some non-traditional color schemes and given that I am a bit out of the box with color, this was right up my alley.

Here is the scheme I selected:

And, from that, this is what I came up with:

This is one of the quickest cards I think I have ever made. Kept pretty true to what I like. I had he hardest time incorporating the Berry Sorbet. I love the color, but it’s much brighter than what I generally like to use, so I used it to compliment the Melon Berry.

Supplies Used:

Stamps: Background Basics: Sheet Music, Peaceful Pinecones & Think Big Favorites #20; Acanthus Background from Delta.

Cardstock: Spring Moss, Harvest Gold & Melon Berry.

Patterned Paper: Colorbok Victorian Parlour.

Ink: Stampin’ Up Certainly Celery, Calypso Coral & Groovy Guava; Versamark and Harvest Gold.

Dies: Peaceful Pinecones and Mat Stack 4; Woodgrain Impression Plate.

Other: Wilton Doily and Doodlebug Lily White Sugarcoating. 

That’s it for me! Thanks for stopping by. and I wish you a blessed day!

Autumn Greetings

Hello everyone! So, I’m starting a new adventure, and I am having a lot of fun with it. I have found myself being drawn to image stamps for a long time now, and I held off because I didn’t want another thing to spend money on. Well, that didn’t work, but I tried!

Disclaimer: I have never taken a class and I do not profess myself to be an expert, nor do I think you have to be. That being said, if the powers that be at Copic ever come across this, please schedule a class in the South! Like, Nashville or Birmingham please. Thank you.

I think it is kind of hard to give a step-by-step description of the making of this card, so I’ll be doing it a little differently this time. I still kind of struggle with that.

I started with the cutest image from Stampin’ Up’s Greeting Card Kids stamp set. I have eyed this set since I started stamping, and I am so happy to finally have it. Because I am easing my way into coloring, I used a variety of markers for this project. I *think* that I will be buying the Copic Sketch markers. I am researching my options. I might stick with Prismacolors. Anyway, for this card, here are the markers I used:

Pumpkin

Prismacolor PM-15 Yellowed Orange, PM-16 Orange & PM-13 Poppy Red

Dress

Prismacolor PM-193 Mint Cream, Pm-166 True Green, PM-32 Parrot Green & Copic Sketch B000 Pale Porcelain Blue

Cape, Hat & Socks

BIC Mark-It Polynesian Purple, Prismacolor PM-55 Rhodamine & PM-50 Violet

Hat Band & Buckle

BIC Mark-It Cloud Nine Grey, Tuxedo Black & Prismacolor PM-123 Spanish Orange

Hair

BIC Mark-It Tiki Hut Tan, Prismacolor PM-69 Goldenrod & PM-98 Dark Brown

Skin

Prismacolor PM-72 Eggshell, PM-170 Peach & PM-65 Sienna Brown

Broom, Leaves & Branch

PM-166 True Green & PM-31 Dark Green, BIC Mark-It Tiki Hut Tan, Prismacolor PM-69 Goldenrod & PM-123 Spanish Orange

Shading

Copic Sketch Warm Gray No. 1, B000 Pale Porcelain Blue & Colorless Blender

The card base is 4” x 5.5.” Yes, I trimmed it because I felt it was a little bit too wide. The card base is Kraft and the patterned papers are from Pink Paislee’s London Market 6” x 6” paper pack. I stamped the image with Memento Rich Cocoa Ink onto Stamper’s Select White cardstock. I diecut it with my Spellbinders Petite Ovals Small dies and inked it with Antique Linen and Wild Honey Distress Inks. I set it aside to dry while I worked on the card base, but I went back to it and stamped stars around the image with Versamark Dazzle ink and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder. I then matted it on a Petite Scalloped Oval Large cut from Terracotta Tile cardstock. And before I forget, I dry embossed the Aqua Mist cardstock with the Textile Cuttlebug folder.

I tried to keep everything relatively neutral. The only non-neutral color comes from the red-orange of the Terracotta Tile. In my opinion, aqua and lavender are colored neutrals, but again, that’s my view.

I did some embellishing with Prima Say it With Crystals, scrunched seam binding, and a faceted button. I used sentiments from My Creative Time’s Piles of Smiles stamp set. I popped up the sentiment banner with dimensional adhesive, and added some rhinestones to bring in a little more lavender. Lastly, I rounded the corners with the .25” setting on my Corner Chomper and hit the entire care with Mister Huey Shine.

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

Victorian Halloween

Good day wonderful people! I have another one of my vintage numbers to share with you all today. As I type this, I have the urge to add some glitter to it, but what’s done is done!

Okay, so I challenged myself to make a Halloween card without using traditional colors, and to also use some of the things that I’ve been hoarding. I’ve been on a bit of a, I need to buy this and this and that phase, and, I have to kind of lay off the buying because I’m going on vacation in November. Moving on!

For the first time in a long time, I made an odd sized card. The base is Sweet Blush and measures 3.75” x 5.5.” I basically made an A2 and shaved half an inch off. That keeps you from wasting cardstock.

All of the patterned papers are for Colorbok. I bought the Victorian Parlour 8” x 8” pad and the die cut accents from Jo-Ann this summer. Basically, I just picked some patterns that coordinated, starting with a brown scroll type pattern. I stamped Background Basics: Sheet Music with Crumb Cake ink on the pink doily paper. I wanted something a bit subtle. I stitched the papers together and then adhered them to the base.

I found some new (Well, new to me!) doilies at Jo-Ann a few weeks ago, and it' wouldn’t be one of my cards if I didn’t use one, so I took one out and gave it a misting with Boss Lady Mr. Huey spray mist from Studio Calico. Again, trying to bring in the pink more. Ohh, I did ink the doily with Antique Linen and just the tiniest amount of Vintage Photo Distress ink because white would have ben too stark for this card. I rarely, if ever, use white cardstock. When I do, you will know it!

From there, I adhered a large rose die cut and then I layered on the vintage postcard I printed from Beatriz Jennings Etsy shop. A little more stitching – to fully secure it. I added a little pearl flourish from Recollections across the bottom. I used some trim on the edge of the card. I really love this stuff. I need to get it in more colors.

To finish it up, I made a bow from natural jute ribbon and seam binding from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique. I glued one of the butterfly die cuts from the collection in the center. If you look closely, the little girl on the postcard is holding Jack – O – Lantern, so I found the perfect sentiment in All Around Halloween from My Creative Time. I stamped it with Soft Suede ink from Stampin Up. The very last touch was to swipe my Fresh Ink Paper White ink pad to soften the hard edges of the card. I decided to do this instead of Distressing it with Antique Linen. I wanted it to stay kind of light.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a 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!

Birthday Wishes

Hello crafty people! I hope everyone is having a good week! I’m popping up today to share a number that I made for my mother’s birthday a few weeks ago.  I got to use some new to me goodies on it!

Okay, so there’s a lot going on here, as you can see. I would like to think that it’s organized and well put together, but I will let you all be the judge!

The base of the card is Kraft. However, I did something that I rarely do – I covered the entire base with a piece of patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye. For this card, I used paper from the Miss Caroline Dilly Dally 6” x 6” pad. I did quite a bit of inking. I used Antique Linen, Tea Dye, and just the tiniest bit of Walnut Stain Distress Inks throughout the card. I sewed the patterned paper front directly to the Kraft base with a perimeter zig-zag stitch.

Next, I cut a 3.75” x 5” piece of Kraft and embossed it with my Sizzix Square Lattice folder from Stampin’ Up. I’ve had this for a while, and just never got around to using it. I bought it during my style transformation, so it kind of sat in my little embossing folder crate. Anyway, I *think* I used the debossed side, and I sewed another piece of patterned paper to it. I then used my edge distresser to rough up the edges. This was adhered directly to the card base.

For my stamping, I used Teeny Tags from My Creative Time, and the Strawberry Patch dies and a Mat Stack 4 diecut from Papertrey Ink. The stamps I used were Strawberry Patch and Teeny Tag Greetings. The Strawberry Patch stamp set is kind of a double use set, it has stamps for those that like to color, and stamps for those that just like to stamp. Personally, I’m kind of in the middle. I would like to attend a Copic class, but they seem to avoid the South! Anyway, I used the leaf outline stamps, and stamped it on the diecut with Always Artichoke ink. I went back in with the large flower and stamped it with Paper White Fresh Ink. I colored in the center of the flower with my Spanish Orange Prismacolor Marker. After all of that, I used my Woodgrain Impression Plate to give it something a little extra.

This is where I am going to digress and let you all know why I tend to not video myself making cards. More often than note, they are very involved! But, I do have plans to make more tutorials! Back to your regular scheduled programming . . .

I diecut the the strawberries from Kraft and stamped them with Real Red and Always Artichoke inks. Then I adhered them to the Mat Stack with dimensional adhesive.

Now, putting it all together! I pulled out a doily and inked it really good with Baja Breeze ink. I did this to pull out the blue from my pattered paper. I adhered the mat with my strawberries with more dimensional adhesive. It wouldn’t be a card from me if I didn’t tie a bow. For that, I used some May Arts Chevron Twill ribbon. And, I secured my sentiment to it with a vintage button from Papertrey Ink, and Maraschino twine from The Twinery. Lastly, I added some Lime Green Stickles, cause you know I loves me some glitter.

Before I go, I have a little announcement. I have decided to step down from the My Creative Time Design Team. It was a really hard decision, but it was something that I thought over for a while. I sincerely love Emma and the ladies on the DT more than I can express. There aren’t many guys in this craft of ours, but they welcomed me with open arms. This doesn’t mean that I will stop using My Creative Time. A lot of my most favorite sentiment sets have a special place on my craft table.

As always, I thank you for stopping by, and I wish you a blessed day!

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!

Best Witches

Hello beautiful people! I hope your week is off to a great start. Mine definitely is, thank you the the awesome comments yesterday, I really appreciate them!

How about a little vintage Halloween number today? What’s that? Yes? Well, I will surely oblige!

Believe it or not, I don’t really celebrate Halloween. I do love Thanksgiving and Christmas though. Anyway, this came together better than I could have ever imagined. I am in love with silhouettes. I think they are classy and elegant, and when I was planning my projects, I knew I wanted to cover the witch with some Martha Stewart glitter.

I was shopping around for vintage/shabby crafting supplies and I came across some crepe paper trim. So, a light bulb went off and I thought, I bet I could make my own. And that I did. Super economical. I bought five colors for $6.45 – a total deal. I do regret not picking up the purple though. But, I will be making a trip back to Hob Lob this week so I might pick it up then. I used my sewing machine to stitch six strips of crepe paper together, and then I just cut it with my scissors. Really easy.

So, my card is a standard A2 – True Black from Papertrey. I adhered some of that star paper that I printed from the Teresa Collins Black & White Pattern cart to the bottom. It measured about 4.25” x 2.25” – the width matters more than the height because it will be covered. The top portion of the card is a piece of Stampin’ Up! Wisteria Wonder that I stamped with my acanthus background stamp. I inked up with Versamark Dazzle in Frost and embossed with clear embossing powder. It measures 3.75” x 2.25.” I cut a 4.25” x ,” strip from a diagonal stripe I found in the My Mind’s Eye Mischievous pad. And the vintage bingo card is a printable that I purchased on Etsy. It comes as a 8.5” x 11,” sheet and I trimmed them out. I inked it with Wild Honey & Black Soot Distress inks. I should mention that everything is sewed to the card, with the exception of the bingo card, I used some red liner tape to adhere it.

I tied a bow with some seam binding that I purchased from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique. I like mine crinkled. I found the frame and silhouette on the Happy Haunting Art Cartridge. Again, I tend to use my Gypsy whenever I cut, so shoot me a line if you want the file, but they were cut at 3.75.” I sprayed them with adhesive and covered them with Onyx and Sterling glitter from Martha Stewart.

Confession, I made a bit of an oopsie when I was sewing, so that is why there are buttons on the card. They are Papertrey and are stitched directly to the card with orange embroidery floss.

My sentiment is from My Creative Time’s new Treats For My Sweet stamp set. I stamped with Onyx Black Versafine ink. I stamped it on one of my favorite Cricut cuts from Plantin Schoolbook. I just love the shape of that tag. The pointed end helps it tuck nicely under the button when I secured them. Last touch was a little inking with my Slate inkpad from Impress.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed day!

Christmas House–MCT Sneak Peek Day #2

Hello crafty friends! I know I have been around, but I kind of needed a bit of a break to get the creative energy flowing again. But, I think I am good for a while now, and it couldn’t be a better time – it’s release week at My Creative Time!

I have a card to share with you using the new Christmas House stamp set. Keep in mind, I do not consider myself an alcohol marker expert, so go easy on me! I’ve recently started acquiring Copic markers, so we will see where this all goes.

 

When it comes to Christmas, I consider myself a bit of a traditionalist. So, I knew that I wanted to stick with a red and green palette.

I started by stamping the house image onto Stamper’s Select White cardstock with Onyx Black Versafine ink. I cut it out with the second to largest rectangle from my Spellbinders Classic Rectangles Large set. I loved that embossed border, makes it look like an old painting.

Next came the coloring, and believe it or not, I used six markers – three for the door alone! I used a combination of Prismacolor Markers and Copics. I started by adding a small amount of color to the snow covered roofline with PM-193 Mint Cream. Then I used B000, Pale Porcelain Blue, to color in the ground snow. I made very light flicks with the brush tip away from the house. For the door, I colored it in with R24, Prawn, and then I added shading to the right corner with PM-5, Scarlet Lake,  and PM-4 Crimson Red. I also added one little dot of PM-167, Apple Green, to the door handle. That probably sounds way more complicated than it really was, but, I try to give all pertinent information!

I inked the colored image with Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, and Walnut Stain Distress inks. Basically working from lightest to darkest. I added some dimensional adhesive to the back and mounted it on a small block of Scarlet Jewel cardstock from Papertrey Ink. I also used my trusty edge distresser to rough up the edges.

My patterned paper if from the My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Christmas pad. It measures 4.25” x 3.” I adhered it temporarily to my Kraft base. Then I trimmed a piece of Ripe Avocado to 4” x 2.5.” and embossed it with the Candy Cane Stripes Cuttlebug folder. I adhered it with some Tombo Mono Multi glue and took the base to my sewing machine for some perimeter stitching.

I tied a bow with some Scarlet Jewel satin ribbon. Let me say that this was probably one of the fastest bows I have ever tied. I only mention that because normally it takes me ages to tie a bow with satin ribbon. I threaded a Vintage Cream button with some button twine and tied it around the knot.

I stamped the sentiment from Christmas House with Cherry Cobbler ink from Stampin’ Up. I LOVE that color. Instead of my usual banner end, I opted to trim at a diagonal.

Sneak Peek Giveaway Time!
With all of our Sneak Peek weeks, I love to do FUN giveaways!

All you have to do is leave comments on our blogs! You do NOT have to comment on every blog, BUT if you do, you will just have more chances to win!

SPREAD THE WORD TO THE WORLD ON FACEBOOK about this release & whatever connections you may have! Let us know on "My Creative Time's" FB page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/My-Creative-Time/364568506334 that you spread the word!

I will randomly pick & announce all winners on Friday, August 17th during the blog hop release happening @ 12:01am PST in my video! GOOD LUCK!

That’s all for today! Thanks for coming by and 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!

Gingham and Toile

Hey there! It’s been a while since I posted a card just because I was inspired to create. That’s not to say that I’m not inspired with my other cards, but the card that I made for today is very good testament to who I am and to my favorite style.

Before I share my card, I’d like to share some inspiration photos that I found while Pinteresting:

Gideon Mendelson Design via Design Chic

Credit

Ginger Barber via Cote de Texas

As I have mentioned before, my first love is interior design. One of these days I hope to spend my time designing beautiful spaces as well as cards! I’m pretty patient, and I am sure God has a greater plan than I can even imagine.

A few months ago, I ordered a Papertrey Ink set that I had wish-listed, Button Boutique, and I was finally able to put it to use.  I combined it with Background Basics: Gingham, and some toile Paper Studio paper from Hobby Lobby to design this shabby card:

So, I have to confess that I have a total love affair with felt. It’s not the most luxurious of fabrics, but I love that it adds a bit of a soft texture to my projects. I will say that the non-synthetic variety is better for die cutting, but for uses like my button card, my craft felt worked fine. By the way, I used the Scalloped Circle die from My Creative Time to make my flower. The buttons are from Papertrey Ink.

I will say that I deviated from my normal process when I made this card. Since my flower was made previously, I started by stamping the gingham pattern onto a strip of Lemon Tart. Yellow is one of my most favorite colors – especially soft yellow. When it is the right shade, it can be incredibly neutral.

Next, I trimmed my toile paper. The sizing came to be about 4” x 2.5” – my focus was on the imagery within the pattern. I knew I wanted that particular vignette. Then I cut a strip of Aqua Mist – actually, it might have been a scrap, but I embossed it with the Perfectly Paisley Cuttlebug folder. Starting with my patterned paper, I adhered them all directly to a Spring Moss card base. I stitched the seam between the papers with red Coats & Clark thread. I then went back and stitched around the border with my normal cream thread (also Coats & Clark – I will only use that or Güttermann).

To soften the edges and give the card a bit of a weathered look, I took a foam brush and swiped on some vanilla paint from Jo-Ann. I then cut a Wilton doily in half and adhered it over the embossed portion. After that I ruffled some Antique White Offray grosgrain ribbon over were it met the gingham portion and went back it with my sewing machine to add a zigzag detail.

My button card was stamped with Early Espresso ink from Stampin’ Up! I don’t have the coordinating die at the moment, so I used my trimmer to trim it, and I then adhered it to a piece of Aqua Mist. And I then adhered that with a little Beacon’s 3-in-1 to my felt. Back to the sewing machine with red thread for a little stitching! More vanilla paint, some brown baker’s twine from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique, and my flower completed it!

I really love how it came together! Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

For You–Monday Madness Imagine That!

Hey there crafty peeps! It is Monday and I am here with a vintage inspired Imagine card. The theme for this week’s challenge is, “happiness.” Emma wanted us to create a project based on something that makes us happy. There are a lot of things that make me happy, but quite a few of them do not necessarily translate into card making. I’ve been wanting to use the Kate’s Kitchen Imagine cartridge for a while now. It has a very retro/vintage look, and y’all know that I love me some vintage stuff! What else makes me happy? Coffee, so vintage and coffee make an awesome combination for a card!

Okay, so for the sake of full disclosure. I kind of made a mistake during the beginning stages of making the card. I planned to do some random zig-zag stitching with red thread, but I couldn’t because I put my adhesive on the edges of the patterned paper. Adhesive and sewing are enemies! If you get into sewing on your projects, you only need to use a small amount of adhesive – and put it towards the center of whatever you’re adhering down.

Now, the details! My card is a standard A2 cut into a portrait style. The base is Spring Moss. All of the patterned paper was printed from the Kate’s Kitchen Imagine cartridge. I also inked all of the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. For the doily, I blended Antique Linen and Old Paper. I highly recommend buy a package of these doilies. They are super cheap and there’s like 40 in the package.

I made this card for a specific reason. We’re FINALLY getting a Starbucks in my little Alabama town, and I have a coworker that loves coffee just as much as I do, so when they open, I plan to insert a gift card into mini bag. I love that it functions as an embellishment AND a holder. The bags that I use are made by Canvas Corp.

The diecut that my cup is mounted on is actually a cut from Kate’s Kitchen as well. It is located on page 26. I actually intended to use the printed cut, but it was a hot mess, so I turned it over and stamped it with a polka dot in Real Red ink. I diecut the cup from Coffee Break in Lemon Tart cardstock and the sleeve was cut from Aqua Mist. I stamped the sleeve with the coordinating stamp in Crumb Cake ink. I used my heart punch – another item that I highly recommend, to add another pop of red. At the very end, I decided to cover it with some Glossy Accents.

My sentiment is from Teeny Tag Greetings. I stamped it with Early Espresso. Oh, I tied a bow with some red gingham ribbon from Offray. I am so happy that I finally got to use it. I think it is just the perfect touch.

Okay, so I am going to just stop typing now. I know my posts are kind of like information overload, but I know that I personally like to read how people make their cards when I visit their blogs, so I keep that in mind when I write my posts.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an amazingly blessed day (and week)!

Get Well

Hey all! I have a super quick card to share today. A friend of mine commissioned a masculine get well card and this is what I came up with. I know that I struggle with making cards for men. I like to use ribbon and softer colors, and I don’t think that translates well for a masculine card!

I recently ordered the Pink Paislee Nantucket Collection. I’ve seen it used so many places that I just couldn’t resist it any longer. Now, because the colors of the papers in the collection were feminine, I couldn’t use them here, but I did get the boat from the ephemera pack. It’s loaded with so many die cuts that I cannot wait to use.

My paper came from the My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Portobello Road pad. It’s an oldie, but definitely a goodie! I die cut a Label 4 from the patterned paper and a piece of Kraft to use as a backdrop for my boat. I inked around the edges of the larger label with my Slate Fresh Ink. It’s my new go to gray ink. Before I adhered my label, I did glue down a piece of burlap that I received from Liz’s Paperloft Boutique.

I stamped my sentiment from the WPlus9 Hope Seed Co. stamp set. I used another of my new inks, Blue Sage, also a Fresh Ink, to stamp it. I then trimmed it with my scissors.

Super quick card. I didn’t even have to change the thread in my sewing machine!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a blessed day!

MCT Sneak Peak–Day #3

Hello everyone! It’s day three of the April release week and I am so thrilled to show you the card that I made for today. I am back to my normal style, but I tried to up the ante a bit. 

When I found out the theme for this month’s release, I envisioned a shabby grayed out backdrop for a flower and this is what I came up with.  Now, I don’t think I did anything groundbreaking, but prior to this, I wouldn’t have gone near acrylic paint. But I’ll start at the beginning.

My color inspiration came from the Howdy Doody Collection from My Mind’s Eye. It’s composed of soft greens, pinks, cream, and grays. So, first, I brought out my Scallop and Stitched Circle Die set and diecut a circle and four scalloped circles in Baby Pink felt. The circle is the base of the flower, and to make the “petals” I folded the scalloped circles in half twice and hand sewed them to the circle. In this instance, I did them by hand, but you could also add a bit more detail by machine stitching. To complete the flower, I threaded a Vintage Cream button from Papertrey with their rustic jute button twine, and glued it to the center.

I impressed a 3.75” x 5” piece of Soft Stone with my woodgrain impression plate. Next, I adhered it to a Sweet Blush mat and embellished it by adding some lace and trim. I then added my piece of painted cardboard (I used Gray, Robin’s Egg, and Vanilla acrylic paint from Jo-Ann.).

The set that my sentiment came from is Floral Sentiments. I diecut an XL Label from Rustic Cream cardstock and stamped it with one of the coordinating borders using Angel Pink ink. I then stamped my sentiment, “With Love,” in VersaMark Dazzle and embossed it with Pewter Zing embossing powder. I trimmed the label in half and it adhered it above the cardboard towards the right of the card front. I tied a bow around the card front with Aqua Mist twill and then I adhered it to an A2 Aqua Mist base.

The finishing touch was to add some diecut felt leaves and my flower. I also swiped some white pigment ink around the edges of the base.

Sneak Peek Giveaway Time!
With all of our Sneak Peek weeks, Emma likes to do some FUN giveaways!

All you have to do is leave comments on our blogs! You do NOT have to comment on every blog, BUT if you do, you will just have more chances to win!

SPREAD THE WORD TO THE WORLD ON FACEBOOK about this release & whatever connections you may have! Let us know on "My Creative Time's" FB page here http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/My-Creative-Time/364568506334 that you did so! OR you can just tag me in your post!

Emma will randomly pick & announce all winners on Thursday, April 19th during the Stamp Release Blog Hop  happening @ 12:01am PST in her video! GOOD LUCK!

Log onto to your Facebook now & let start spreading word!;)

I am so glad you stopped by my blog! Have a blessed day!

My Creative Time March Blog Hop!

Hey everyone! It’s been a super busy week, but I’m back with a card to celebrate the March release! If you came to my blog from the wonderful and talened Tracy’s, then you are doing great, if not, start here: My Creative Time.

I decided to go vintage with my card for today. I’ve been trying to work with color palettes outside of my normal box and I have to say that I just love the little touch of turquoise. against the richness of the dark red, I think it makes for an interesting card.

My card is Vintage Cream and is a standard A2. I have a mat of Hawaiian Shores and patterned paper from a Paper Studio pad called The Classics. Lots of timeless patterns and I think it was around ten bucks. Totally worth it. I sewed those together with my sewing machine and some cream thread. I then inked the edges with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain Distress Inks. I used my blending tool and I used the Walnut Stain very sparingly. I didn’t want to overdo it.

I cut the stamp shape from Elegant Edges at 3.75”. I used the wonderful background Emma designed from Coffee Backgrounds and stamped it with Versamark. Initially I was going to leave it plain, but I decided on a whim to go ahead and clear emboss it. I then took the same Distress inks to my stamp mat. My to-go cup is from the AWESOME Coffee Break Set. I diecut it in Vintage Cream and stamped the sleeve with the polka dot background with Cherry Cobbler ink from Stampin’ Up. I love this red. Love it. I inked my cup as well. 

I tied a bow using some Offray grosgrain, one of my favorites. I adhered the stamp mat with my thicker dimensional adhesive dots at an angle, and I adhered the cup with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I stamped my sentiment from You Are Perk-fect on a piece of Vintage Cream with the same Cherry Cobbler ink.

***** BLOG HOP GIVEAWAYS *****

For the BLOG HOP giveaway each one of us will be giving away a brand new Release Echo Park 6x6 pad of paper! All you have to do is leave a comment and a way for the DT member to contact you if you should win. Each designer will be using RANDOM.ORG to pick the lucky winner. Emma and Each Designer will announce their winners on THEIR blogs on Wednesday March 21. So remember you have 16 chances to win! ! All you have to do is leave a comment on ALL blogs for more chances :) 
EASY PEASY!!! GOOD LUCK;)

Blog Hop Line-up

Emma~ http://www.creativetimeforme.com/

Amy ~ http://www.scrappingmommy.com/

Cassandra ~ http://www.ctimz3.blogspot.com/

Cathryn ~  http://inthepinkcathryn.blogspot.com/

Cindy ~ http://cindylee77.blogspot.com/

Glora ~ http://glorascrafts.blogspot.com/

Jeanne ~ http://www.jeannespapercrafts.com/

Katie ~ http://www.craftingwithkatie.com/

Kim ~ http://www.scrapinmomofoneinspiringlittleboy.blogspot.com/

Nikki ~ http://scrappinnavywife.blogspot.com/

Rosy ~ http://sweetdelightspapernmore.blogspot.com/

Shar ~ http://scrapendipity.blogspot.com/

Tracy ~ http://tracyscricutcorner.blogspot.com/

Trell ~ http://polkadotsandpaint.blogspot.com/

Veronica ~ http://www.vkcreate.blogspot.com/

Micia ~ http://yellowbirdcreation.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for coming by! See you for the Imagine challenge on Monday. Have a blessed weekend!!