happy valentine's day

Well, almost.  Hi my friends.  I'm still working on the challenges for the first half of February at OWSE yahoo group.  This one is for a valentine using a vintage image.  When I saw the technique challenge on SCS for tomorrow, I decided to combine the challenges.  I'm also entering this in the February challenge for Inspiration Journal, which is to put a heart on it.

The background is made with wrinkle free distress technique using victorian velvet and tea dye distress inks.  I also crumbled the card stock and added some tea dye ink to highlight the wrinkles.  The edges are distressed and sponged with tea dye ink. 

The digital image is die cut using spellbinders classic ovals and the layer of designer paper behind it using big scallop ovals.

The lace edging is hand crocheted.  All the little hearts are punched from the same paper that is behind the image. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

a little bit of vintage

Hello my friends.  Yesterday in the late afternoon, I looked out the window and saw robins, maybe five or six.  Now what on earth are they doing in Wisconsin the first week in January?  I think they are confused by the non-winter weather that we've been having.  We had maybe an inch of snow early this week, but most of it has melted.  Today was about 50 degrees.  I'm just waiting for the big blizzard that is sure to come. 

Although I should have been working on cards for my class next week, I was inspired to work on a challenge over at Outlaw Women Scrapbook Emporium Yahoo group, that called for something vintage.  I made a card. 

I started with a scrap of background left over from a card last week, where I had collaged with a Gina K set called Nana's Needlework.  I brushed a coat of matte medium over the piece, causing the ink to bleed and smear a bit, and I really liked that.  Then I went and searched for a vintage digital photo and found this sweet little girl (sorry, I don't remember what site it came from).  I used pastels to tint the photo just a tiny bit, and used deckle scissors to cut around it. 

I added a piece of black velvet ribbon, and flowers and trim which I crocheted.  The flower centers are card stock and pearls and the leaves are a Martha Stewart punch. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Have a great weekend.

CCC #35

Hello my friends. I should have been working on a card for my class on Thursday, but today is my daughter's birthday, and I wanted to make her a special card. She's 25 today and such a sweetheart. (I can say that, 'cause I'm her mom.) Where has the time gone? We're going out to eat tonight, so I'm going to time this post for when we're out, since I know that sometimes she checks my blog and I don't want her to see it ahead of time.

I tried to make this card a bit more artsy than my usual style, since my daughter's very artistic, so I'm hoping she likes it.

This is also for the Compendium of Curiosities challenge on Linda's blog. The challenge this week is found on page 67 - Design Details.

I actually built this card around the inside of the card, which is a pop-up style card. The idea I had in my head was to use Tim's gear dies and have letters coming from the gears like they were being manufactured. However, because I was pressed for time, I made it a lot more simplistic, but hopefully the idea still comes across. I used the bricked embossing folder behind the gears to make it look more like a factory.

The alphabet letters are an old EK Success stamp set called Typewriter ABC Set from their Nostalgiques line. My 1/2" circle punch was giving me grief and I thought I might have to cut the letters out by hand, but I managed to get them all punched by partially punching, turning the punch a bit and finishing it off. Not fun.

For the front of the card, I die cut some gears from corrugated cardboard and then added some direct to paper vintage photo ink to age them a bit. The old metal buttons in the centers are actually sewn on, since I don't know where my big wire cutter is and I'm not sure I'd have been able to cut the shanks off anyway, since they are a molded part of the button back rather than a wire loop.

The background is stamped with extreme elements (SU) in several colors and then embossed with distressed stripes embossing folder and sponged with vintage photo ink.

I cut a piece of twill and then sponged it a lot with vintage photo and added the print of the little girl. The crown is part of the extreme elements set and I put some black pearls on it.

Some old buttons from my stash, some brads and some stitching complete the card.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you're having a wonder-filled week.

inspired by a purse

Hello my friends. The inspiration challenge today on SCS seemed like a good reason to stamp, so I went to the web site listed and browsed around until I found something - a tapestry handbag - to inspire me. My card is a take off on a number of cards is Karen Barber's gallery.

I stamped the large floral stamp from Elements of Style (SU) with black stazon on a piece of cream cardstock and then colored it with SU markers. Then I embossed it with my square lattice embossing folder and sponged creamy caramel ink lightly all over and a bit heavier along the edges. I layered that on black.

I also embossed a strip of certainly celery in the same folder and sponged it. This was also layered on black and glued to the first image layer. Then I wrapped a piece of black lace ribbon around the card and glued all of it to the base layer of pink pirouette, which was also sponged with caramel.

For the sentiment I used the thanks stamp from Think Happy Thoughts (SU), stamped on cream, punched with a 1-1/4" circle punch and sponged. Then I stamped the large floral image again & colored just one flower and cut it out. I glued it to the center of the sentiment and them embossed that with the same folder. I backed it with a 1-3/8" black circle & a pink pirouette scallop circle.

Thanks so much for stopping in to visit today. Be blessed.

paper flowers

Hi my friends. When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot, so we learned early how to make use of things that many people would toss into the garbage. Today, that's trendy. I love being able to make something instead of purchasing it, especially when it comes to crafting. So today, I made a paper flower for my card.

The Hope challenge on SCS today was Sentiments only - no other stamping allowed.

I pulled out a very old stamp by Artistic Stamp Exchange and stamped it in jet black stazon on saw grass cardstock (Neenah). I used nestabilities labels one to cut it out and sponged eggplant ink on it.

I used a piece of old world mat stack dp and embossed it with my textile embossing folder. A strip of saw grass was embossed with Swiss dots embossing folder.

I wrapped a piece of machine made bobbin lace (I have no idea why this is sold as 'crocheted ribbon', since the two types of lace are very different) and eggplant grosgrain ribbon around the card and attached the sentiment panel with dimensional tape.

The flower is made from the same cardstock, die cut with a small cuttlebug flower. I used five layers, because I didn't want a really full flower. Here is a video tutorial on making these flowers. I sponged mine with eggplant ink after I had formed the flower, but it was still wet. The leaves are a Martha Stewart punch, which I sponged with always artichoke ink and then used a stylus to add veins. I always snip off the stems before tucking them under the flower - just makes it a bit easier.

The butterfly (Martha Stewart punch) is two layers and the wings are popped up.

Thank you for stopping by today. Have a blessed weekend.

More Hope challenge cards

Hi, my friends. Just a quick post to show you a couple more of the cards I've done for the Hope challenges on SCS. The little dress is for a challenge called Thank Heaven for Little Girds, and the other is Vintage Style. I used a pattern for the dress that I had made some time ago and kept the card very simple. The flower was inspired by flowers seen here. Gorgeous card! Here is a link to a video that shows how to make them. I worked many hours on the 2nd card. Although I love the look, I don't make vintage style cards very often, because that style does not come easy for me. I used labels six nestabilities (spellbinders) and a new die that I bought at a stamp expo this past weekend from Heartfelt Creations. The die as made by spellbinders. It's part of a set that includes a butterfly (of course) and a border. And the stamp is from my all time most favorite stamp set from SU called Natural Beauty.

Thanks so much for stopping by.