A Baby Girl Mini

WARNING!!  Photo heavy!! ☺

    If you're a follower you probably remember the card I made a few weeks ago for my daughter's boss who is expecting her first child.  Well this is the mini album I made to go with the card.
     As you can see it's a girl and her name is going to be Ansleigh.  The entire album is made with DCWV's Nana's Nursery papers.  I used a chipboard album for the base.  All the pages have hand stitching and inking around the edges.
     For the cover I made all the flowers.  Some are inked, some are Glimmer Misted and rolled, and some are Glimmer Misted seam binding.  The ribbon slide is chipboard covered in Crackle paint.  I crocheted the butterfly and gave him a bling trail.  The baby shoes were created from a pattern I found here.  I resized them for the cover.  There are some bead charms I made and some pieces of fun fibers tied to the book ring.

     For the first page I cut stars with a Sizzix die from a sheet of fleece I found at Hobby Lobby.  I thought it was felt at first.  It's soooo soft.  I added some buttons with embroidery thread, some fibers, and a cute ticket stub.

     Page two has double postage stamp frames cut from a Sizzix die and covered in Crackle paint.  There are some more rolled roses and a couple of little chipboard pieces covered in paper and decorated with some Cosmo Cricket rub ons.

      For this page I found the dress image online and printed it out to make a template.  The flowers are punched and inked and the sentiment is on another little chipboard piece.  Isn't that little duckie by the flowers cute!  He's a button I cut the back off of.

     Page four has a large photo mat tucked behind some fleece flowers.  The banner was created with a Nestie die and strung on some embroidery thread with pearl spacers.

     Page five is a punched flower frenzy.  I made the bib by cutting out an oval with a Nestie and then cutting out the neck with a circle Nestie.  I ruffled some pink ribbon and covered the neckline with some more of it.

     For page six I used some more punched flowers and cut the frame out with a Nestie die.  The butterfly is a MS punch and I gave him a pretty bling trail too.  He has embroidery thread antennae.

     You can't have a baby album without a diaper in it!  I found the pattern here.  I wanted it to have the feel of a cloth diaper so I covered the paper with some thin cotton fabric which made it so easy to add those little "diaper" pins.  The lace has a pretty white ribbon run through the middle, but I found some matching green fiber in my stash and ran that through on top of it.  There's another handmade flower too.

     Page eight was the hardest page.  Not because it was all that difficult, but because I kept cutting it wrong.  I wanted to keep the little animals from being covered so I decided to make the page a pocket.  I cut the paper along one of the pattern lines and added a little lip of cardstock to help make the pocket opening easier to find.  The two tags just slide right in.  I added some ABC buttons on some little fleece flowers and ruffled some more ribonn which I added on top of a pretty piece of lace.

     And here's the back cover.  I found a sweet Helen Steiner Rice poem and added my name and the date by gluing on a piece of acetate I printed out the info on.
     I hope you like the album.  I think I'll give it a whirl in a few challenges.
Top Tip Tuesday--one for the kids
Digi Design house--anything but a card
Inspire Me Fridays--anything goes
Divas By Design--one for the girls
My Mum's Craft Shop--anything but square
Have a blessed day!

For Mom

     It's time for Mother's Day again!  Where is this year going?
     My Mom is a huge flower lover so I HAD to do flowers for her card.  I love the lattice look so I decided to do the card in that style.  All the flowers are made from punched white cardstock.  The largest pink ones and the daisies were colored with Glimmer Mist and then inked with a little Distress ink.  Here's a close up of the flowers.

     I went around the edge of the cream paper with a gold gel pen which made me a nervous wreck.  I just knew I was going to mess it up. 
     The butterfly was made from vellum.  It was stamped, embossed with clear embossing powder, and colored with Copics. (I had to sneak a little coloring in there {grin})  I even went around it's wings with a little of the gold gel pen too.
     I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges.

Aud Sentiments--Happy Mother's Day
Charisma Cardz--April Shower/ May Flowers
Craft Us Crazy--Mother's Day and/or Flowers
Dutch Dare--For Mom
Little Miss Muffett--die cuts or punches
Moving Along with the Times--anything goes
My Mum's Craft Shop--flowers
The Paper Shelter--Ode to Moms
Going Grey with Scrap Creations--flowers
City Crafter--Mother May I?
Sentimental Sundays--let's get punchy
Stamp Something--stamp something with wings
Hand Stamped Sentiments--Mother's Day (Thanks Shannon!)
Fairy Fun Fridays--April showers bring May flowers
Fairy Tale--Mother's Day
Fashionista Friday--things with wings
Inspire Me Fridays--anything goes
Just Add Ink--just add a flower

     Thanks for stopping in for a visit!



Supplies


Papers:  Recollections, Georgia Pacific, Bazzill, Anna Griffin, Kraft Outlet Vellum
Stamp:  Martha Stewart "Butterflies"
Inks+:   Glimmer Mist in Vintage Pink and Candlelight, Tea Dye and Wild Honey Distress inks, Copic Y17 and Y26, Sakura Gelly Roll Metallic pen, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Versamark, Zing Clear embossing powder
Tools:  Nestabilities Labels One (S4-161), Cuttlebug, Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Sizzix die, Marvy Uchida daisy punches, EK Success Retro Flower punch, Martha Stewart Rose Leaf, Frond, and Branch punches
Miscellaneous:  acrylic gemstones from my stash, The paper Studio gemstones, Jolee's pearls, Studio 112 pearls, Recollections bling swirls

A peach and green ballerina

     The challenge this week at Lili of the Valley was to create something with a LOTV stamp using peach and green.  So here's another stamp that was sitting in my drawer never inked.  I'm almost as bad at hoarding my stamps as I am with hoarding paper.  LOL
     My ballerina is colored with Copics and surrounded by lots of pearls and pretty peach ribbon, some of which I tied on the thin green satin ribbon and some of which I made little ribbon flowers with.  The DP behind the image has a soft peachy floral papttern on it.  I also added a small amount of green chalking around the image and some peach glitter glue around the die cut.
     I'd like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Lili of the Valley--peach and green
Card Ideas--card for a young child
Card Patterns--sketch
Fussy and Fancy--a card for a child
Wags 'n Whiskers--ribbons and pearls
ABC--r is for ribbon
Flutterby Wednesdays--anything goes with butterfly, fairy or angel
Freshly Brewed--flowers
The Stamping Boutique--handmade flowers

     Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!
     Blessings!


Supplies

Papers:  Paper Pizazz, Bazzill, Recollections, Copic Express-it Blending card
Stamps:  Lili of the Valley "Little Ballerina", Martha Stewart "Butterflies"
Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black
Copics:
            skin E000, E00, E11, R20
            hair E31, E35, YR20, YR21
            clothing R000, R00, R02, G40, G82, G94
Tools:  Nestabilities Standard Circles Large(S4-114) and Classic Scalloped Circles Large(S4-124), Martha Stewart Layered Arches edge punch and  Frond punch
Miscellaneous:  ribbon from my stash, Recollections pearls, Studio G glitter glue, Inkadinkado Blending Chalks

The Kraft Journal Challenge #12

     Our challenge this week at The Kraft Journal is "Flowers'" and this post is actually kind of a tease because this mini album is a work in progress.  My hubby and I are planning a trip to Yellowstone this summer for our anniversary and this album will hold the pics.  The cover is complete unless I decide to add a few more trinkets to the Tim Holtz swivel clasp hanging from the binding.  I probably would not have started the album yet, but I hang out some over at Your Paper Pantry and there is a contest going on for projects made with Tim Coffey papers.  This album uses his Blossomwood collection and it's just gorgeous AND jam packed with FLOWERS!  For the cover I created three Tim Holtz grunge style roses with some of the papers.
     The album covers were made from two sheets of Kraft Outlet Precut Chipboard Full Sheet pieces that I glued together and then covered with Lunch Bag Kraft cardstock.  More paper layers and tons of the embellishments that go with the paper collection were then added.  I printed the title tag on my computer and then gave it a single layer of UTEE(Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) which gave it the wet look.

     The inside of the album is composed of three different envelopes found at the Kraft Outlet store.

     This large pocket was made from a Catalog Lunch Bag Kraft envelope.  This envie measures 6"' x 9" so yes this is a pretty good sized mini (10" x 6 1/2").  There are four of each of these envelopes in the album and three of the other two kinds.  To hold the pocket closed I punched three circles from some more of the chipboard that I used to make the cover plus a circle of Brown Kraft Cover Weight cardstock.  All these were glued together and covered with a coating of Triple Thick.  I used my Crop-a-dile to punch holes in the middle and added an eyelet.  The "buttons" were glued to the front of the envie with a piece of hemp twine attached to the back of the top one.  The twine just wraps around the bottom and top buttons to keep the envelope closed.  Inside each of these pockets is a huge photo mat.  All the papers and envelopes were inked with Walnut Stain Distress ink and machine stitched.

 The next envelope I used is a Lunch Bag Kraft #10 Standard Envelope.  The photos on these pages will be fairly small so I didn't want to take up any space with journaling.  To create room I made a pocket in half of the top layer of designer paper.  I just cut a small slit and used a circle punch to create a little tag pocket.  The tags I used are the Large Kraft Shipping Tags with a little bit of Twill Tape added for easy pull out.  There are photo mats on both sides of the envelope and two long photo mat tags for each envelope that slip into the end of the envelope that has been trimmed and also punched with a circle punch for easy pull out.

     The last type of "page" I added to the album is created with Lunch Bag Kraft CD Sleeve envelopes.  There are only a few embellishments on the inside of the album.  I have tons left to use but want to coordinate them with the actual photos so I'm holding off on finishing the album.  This page also has a photo mat tag in the pocket and I have added a Small Kraft Shipping Tag with Twill behind the embellishment on the front.

     I'll share the completed album after the trip!  By the way, if any of you have visited Yellowstone or the Redwoods in Northern California I'd appreciate any tips you might have.

     So "Flowers" is the order of the day for our challenge this week.  Get those projects linked up by 6:00 p.m. EST on Sunday for your shot at this months $15.00 Kraft Outlet store voucher and/or a Top Three spot or Feature Me Friday.

     Have a blessed day!

Kraft Outlet Supplies

Precut Chipboard Full Sheets
Brown Kraft Cover Weight cardstock
Lunch Bag Kraft cardstock
Catalog Lunch Bag Kraft Envelopes
Lunch Bag Kraft CD sleeve Envelopes
Lunch Bag Kraft #10 Standard Envelopes
Large Kraft Shipping Tags
Small Kraft Shipping Tags
Twill Tape

Other Supplies

K & Company Tim Coffey's Blossomwood Designer papers and embellishments
Recollections cardstock
+plus

The Lavender Lady

May I introduce you to the Lavender Lady.  Isn't she beautiful?  I got this image from Magic Moonlight.  Her dress was a little too pink originally so I tweaked her a bit in Photoshop.  She needed to be lavender for one of the challenges I entered.  I inked the pale lavender paper with Dusty Concord Distress Ink and used the same paper to make the flowers, inking their edges and misting them with water.  I'm really happy with the way this card turned out.  Thanks to Linda Robinson at City Crafters for the lovely sketch for this weeks challenge.

The card is being entered in the following challenges:

City Crafters #23--sketch

A Pocket Full of Posies #7--lavender and old lace

For Fun Challenges--vintage

Charisma  Cardz #38--anything goes

A Spoonfull of Sugar #122--anything goes

Supplies

Papers:  Recollections cardstock, Anna Griffin, K & Company Floral Dreams, Provocraft Mini Slab III

Image:  Magic Moonlight; leaves from Fred, She Said Paper Roses and Leaves digi set

Ink:  Dusty Concord  and Peeled Paint Distress Ink

Tools:  EK Success Retro Flower punches

Miscellaneous:  Kaisercraft pearls, Offray ribbon, lace from my stash, Wrights pearl trim

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Break out the rake!

I'm so ready for fall. It was so hot this summer I just hibernated inside in the air conditioner the whole time. I'm ready to get outside and plant some fall flowers in my planters and hubby's ready for me to pull some weeds and grass.
I made the following card with an old Mojo Monday sketch and one of the digis offered this week for the challenge at Digi Doodle Shop's Best. I colored it with Prismacolor pencils and OMS. I did some doodling around the frame of the image too. I loaded it with my handmade flowers and used some leaves from Fred, She Said Designs Paper Roses digi set. The kraft paper at the top was run through a paper crimper for texture. This one is being entered in a lot of challenges because one of the requirements for the Digi Doodle challenge was to enter you project in as many challenges as possible, plus . . . it's fun!
Digi Doodle Shop's Best--anything goes using DDS image
Paper Sundaes--fall or Halloween colors
Scrappy Frogs--make your own flowers
Stampin' Sisters in Christ--fall colors
Craft Your Days Away--autumn and doodles
Stamp Something--use something digital
C.R.A.F.T Challenge--colored pencils only
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge--anything goes
Stempel-Magie--autumn colors
Crafty Little Place--brown, green, and orange
Creative Card Crew--autumn or fall
Everybody Art Challenge--autumn
Tuesday Morning Sketches--handmade flowers
Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge--chocolate and green

Supplies

Papers: Bazzill, Moxxie, Great White cardstock, Recollections cardstock
Stamps: Digi Doodle Shop fall leaves, Fred She Said, Designs Paper Roses leaves
Inks+: Prismacolor colored pencils, Gemini Masterpiece Odorless Mineral Spirits; Dried Marigold, Spiced Marmalade, Wild Honey, and Forest Moss Distress inks; Sakura Pigma Micron pen
Tools: Fiskars Circle Cutter, EK Success Retro Flower punches, Fiskars paper crimper
Miscellaneous: Recollections brads, Offray ribbon

Blessings,

Papercraft Star Challenge #12

This week's challenge at Papercraft Star was a photo inspiration challenge. The photo was of a French Press coffeemaker. Don't ask me how I know what that is, because I am NOT a coffee drinker. :) Yikes! All those groans I just heard were deafening. hee hee Sorry guys, but I just don't have a taste for the beans. However, I do like tea, so I decided to take my project in that direction.

The digital image is from KLM Digistamps. After I printed out the image I colored it with Prisma Colored pencils and used odorles mineral spirits to blend the pencil color. Then I covered the tea pot with Glossy Accents.

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock, October Afternoon, white cardstock, DCWV
Stamp: KLM Digistamps Rose Tea Pot, sentiments were computer generated
Inks+: Tumbled Glass and Worn Lipstick Distress ink, Ranger Glossy Accents, Crytstal Stickles
Tools: Nestabilities Standard Circles large (S4-114), Classic Scalloped Circles Large (S4-124), Labels Eight (S5-019), and Classic Ovals Large (S4-110)
Miscellaneous: Offray ribbon, Recollections Adhesive pearls
The link is open for submissions for this challenge until 12:00 p.m. EST Saturday, then voting begins. I see we have lots of new players this week and since I know all you coffee drinkers have the energy to make a card, come play along with us this week. :) The more the merrier! AND . . . there's a prize this week-- a year's membership to Your Paper Pantry, one of my favorite places to get together with other crafters.
Blessings,

Isn't She Lovely

I have to laugh every time I think about reading Kirsty Vittetoe's blog post this morning about her three hour card. This card took over three DAYS! I knew what I wanted to do, but I just couldn't get it to pull together--until this morning. Huff! Now here I am down to the wire on submission time, but. . . it's done.
The photo is my beloved grandmother on the occasion of her tenth grade graduation. She's been gone seventeen years now and I still miss her. Living out in the country and being an only child, she was my playmate when I was a kid. Endless hours sitting on her front porch playing Scrabble, Rook, dominoes, and Monopoly. Letting me lick the beaters after she made a pound cake. If you've ever heard the expression "cathead" biscuit--by golly she could make 'em and they'd melt in your mouth. She wrote down the recipe for me, but I've never been able to get them to turn out like hers. Sigh.
For the card I printed off her photo and placed it in a chipboard frame that my sweet friend Silvia made for me because I am probably the last living human being on this earth who does not own a Bigshot. hee hee I covered the frame in silver embossing powder twice and stamped into it with a rubber stamp. I then used some Pitch Black Alcohol Ink over the EP to antique it. The pink and white flowers and leaves are from one of the awesome Digi stamp files I purchased recently from Fred She Said. The yellow roses are just spiral rolled paper strips.
Although this is in card form, I just night cut the other half off and use this in a heritage mini album. Haven't decided yet, but that's why I didn't add a sentiment. If I do the mini, I'll probably put her name or initials in the top corner.

Here are the challenges I'm entering this card in. Thought I try a couple more new ones out.
City Crafter Challenge Blog--"Isn't She Lovely"
Crafts and Me Challenges--petals and pearls
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges--flower power
Creatalicious Challenges--Vintage

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock, white cardstock, American Crafts Dear Lizzy
Stamp: Stampabilities Ornate Textured Background, Fred She Said Paper Roses and Leaves Digital Stamp File
Inks+: Tattered Rose and Peeled Paint Distress Ink, Adirondack Butterscotch ink, Pearl Perfect Pearls, Brilliance Starlite Silver Dew Drop ink, Ranger Silver Superfine Detail Embossing Powder, Ranger Pitch Black Alcohol Ink
Tools: sewing machine
Miscellaneous: clear glass microbeads, seam binding, acrylic rhinestones, silver heart charm, Recollections adhesive pearls, silver sewing thread

I'm happy with how it turned out and I hope you like it too.
Thanks for visiting!

Flower Challenge at Ellen Hutson's the CLASSroom Blog

Ellen Hutson has a wonderful blog attached to her store called the CLASSroom. You can find some really cool techniques taught there. At the beginning of the month a challenge was announced that really caught my eye. You all know how much I LOVE flowers, especially making them myself. The challenge was to make a project with flowers. I encourage you to check out this link and the following posts, especially the one about Susan Tierney Cockburn here. Her hydrangeas and ivy are incredible!

Supplies
Paper: Recollections cardstock, October Afternoon Thrift Shop, unknown brand maroon cardstock
Inks+: Tattered Rose Distress Ink, Derwent Water Color pencils, Olive Vine Glimmer Mist, Inkadinkado Blending Chalk, Cotton Candy Stickles
Tools: Martha Stewart Modern Garden and Rose Leaf punches, EK Success Retro Flower punches, Nestabilities Classic Ovals Large (S4-110) and Classic Scalloped Ovals Large (S4-111)
Miscellaneous: Vintage Shabby Seam Binding

This is my second post of the day so if you'd like to see my card for the opening challenge at the brand new 7 Kids College Fund Challenge Blog click here.

Hope you like the card! I loved every minute of making all those petals (white cardstock I colored with the distress ink) and the stem (packing paper and Glimmer Mist)--haven't made one of those in a while.
Blessings,

Paper Shoes

A few weeks ago I made a paper shoe for my friend Rina as a thank you for some goodies she sent me. I searched and searched for something unique to make for her because she is definitely a unique person. :) I lost the pictures I took of her shoe when my computer crashed, but you can see it if you're interested on her YT channel here. After she posted her video several comments were posted wanting me to do a tutorial. Wish I could take credit for this idea, but I'm not that talented. I got the idea from a blog called Artful Affirmations. She has a tutorial on her blog for the pattern and instructions for the shoes. I went ahead and made a tutorial too and created the shoe on the left (the one on the right was my practice shoe for the video). You can find my tute (parts 1 & 2)on my YouTube channel if you're interested.

I'm making several posts to my blog today so make sure you scroll down.

Have a great day!

CCCB Week 13

This weeks challenge at City Crafter Challenge Blog was to create a project with the theme of "English Rose" using the colors red, blue, white, and the optional color of rose. I'm just as crazy about all things English as I am about all things French. I would love to go tour the British Isles and see all the old castles and the beautiful countryside.

It's been a while since I've created any of my little paper roses but I knew that was what I was going to put on this card. Some stitching on some of the adorable October Afternoon paper I just got at my LSS, a little vintage seam binding and my little handmade roses are what I put together for this challenge. And look! I mixed patterned papers! LOL I'm going to defeat my phobia about that yet. ha ha

Supplies:

Paper: October Afternoon Thrift Shop, Bazzill and white cardstock

Tools: Nestabilities Labels Two (S4-162); EK Success Retro Flower punches, EK Success Daisy punch, Martha Stewart Rose Leaf punch and Frond punch, sewing machine

Miscellaneous: Oatmeal Cream Vintage Shabby Seam Binding

If you didn't see my earlier post today, you can scroll down and read it to learn about a Blog Hop that Papercraft Star will be starting this Friday. Don't miss out! There are goodies to be won!

Have a great day!

Bloom Mini Album

Finally! My latest mini album is finished. This album has been one of the reasons that I haven't been playing all my usual card challenges lately. Minis take me a long, LOONNGG time. I'm really picky about how I put things together so i go through lots of ideas before I finally setlle on what each page is going to contain and look like.
I had decided that I was going to make a mini album as a giveaway prize once I reached 500 subscribers on YouTube. Well, 500 came and went and I still didn't have the album made. My friend Rina kind of summed up the way I feel about making minis. Basically she said she didn't want to just slap something together. She wanted it to have purpose and meaning. This mini had a purpose--a thank you to one lucky person who liked my work enough to subscribe to my channel so they could see more of it. I wasn't just going to throw something together willy nilly. Now I'm not trying to say I'm some spectacular crafter. I can name off quite a few ladies out there who are. Everything they make is just incredible. I just enjoy working with paper, I love to share ideas with other people, and I felt the need to make something to give back as thanks for all the encouragement and support I get. Don't get me wrong. Who doesn't love to get goodies like TH stuff, or cool papers. I just felt compelled to make something handmade to giveaway--something personal from me.
The album idea finally came together after I watched someone I subscribe to on YouTube make the flowers I used on the cover of this album. I absolutely adored the combination of Distress inks she used to make these daisies and lo and behold, when I went to Michaels (one of the numerous trips I make there each week LOL) I saw this We R Memory Keepers paper that matched perfectly. I also knew right away that I was going to use the brand new Cricut Lite Bloom cartridge that I had just bought at Wally World on this album. My Cricut has definitely been underutilized since it was bought, but I gave that little bug a work out on this album, even learned how to do some new stuff with it. :)
So here are a few of the pages. This is not the whole album. If you'd like to see the whole thing you can check out my video for it here. If you'd like a chance to win it, all you have to do is be a subscriber to my YT channel and leave a comment on the video.

For those of you who don't do YouTube and are more into card making, don't worry. I'm going to come up with a special giveaway in the future for you too. YouTubers aren't the only ladies I've learned from and been encouraged by. I follow some awesome cardmakers who are teaching me about art without even knowing it.

I'm ready to make some cards, but I also have an itch to make another mini so we'll see. At least this one won't have a time constraint on it. Whew! LOL

My new Sarah Kay and Penny Black stamps came yesterday and today I dropped by my LSS and my buddy Jen had gotten in some of those scrumptious October Afternoon Thrift Store and Fly a Kite papers. YEAH! I'm ready.

It's the start tomorrow of another challenge at Papercraft Star, so if you haven't already, check out the blog AND the Forum and give it a look see. This week's challenge is a sports theme. There's so much you can do with that theme so come on over and play along with us for this weeks challenge.
Have a blessed day!

Some Like It Hot at CCCB Week 12

Cheryl Nelson has offered up the challenge this week at City Crafter Challenge Blog to create a summer themed project using the color red. I'm dedicating this card to my sweet friend Silvia who sent me this adorable Sarah Kay stamp (my first) for my birthday last week. Check out her blog to see some gorgeous cards she's been making including the teapot easel card she made for me. It's even better in person!

I always thought the Sarah Kay stamp images were so cute but never bought any. After I got Silvia's gift I had to order some more. They shipped today and I can't wait to get them!

Summer to me is flowers. I LOVE flowers even though I'm a terrible gardener. Yes Jan, I did tell you I have a brown thumb, and the only reason I have those flowers on my layout growing in my yard is because they are self reliant. LOL Houseplants beware, unless you're a cactus!

I'm trying to grow in my card making (and my watercoloring). You know, get out of the same old same old rut and try stuff I usually cringe at--like mixing paper patterns. I did a LOT of layering on this card too.

I learned how to make the flower from one of the crafters I subscribe to on YT. Her YT name is diamondrose123 and if you click on this link it will take you to the first part of her tutorial for this flower.

Supplies:
Paper: Bazzill cardstock, white cardstock, Martha Stewart Floral Gingham Crafting paper
Stamp: Sarah Kay Spring Blossoms
Inks etc.: Derwent Watercolor Pencils, Fired Brick Distress Ink, Inkadinkado Blending Chalk, Red Sharpie Marker, Irridescent Gold Glimmer Mist
Tools: Nestabilities Large Deckled Rectangles (S4-202)
Miscellaneous; ribbon, lace, flower stamens

Don't forget to vote after 12:00 noon tomorrow over at Papercraft Star!
Thanks for popping in!

A Little French Vintage ATC

Well, I've survived my week as Vacation Bible School director. We had a great group of kids and everything actually went pretty smoothly, but I've got so many things to catch up on.

Hubby and I spent the morning putting up a garbage bag full of fresh green beans. We LOVE green beans so I can't complain about the extra added chore for today.

I've been slowly working on two swap projects for Your Paper Pantry this week. If you haven't been to this awesome place of craftiness go check it out. I'm a member of the ATC group and the Collage Melange Group, but there are several other different kinds of crafting groups you can join.

Our ATC swap this month was kind of a freebie. You got to make your cards in your own style. Ya'll know that I love my vintage/shabby chic/French stuff so that's what I did for my card. It's pretty simple although it uses several different kinds of media as you can see from the photo above.

The card base is watercolor paper. The background was colored using watercolor crayons. After it dried I stamped it using a script stamp. Two vintage images, some lace, and one of my little handmade roses finish it off. I hope my swap partners like it. I had to make ten of these and I finished them up this morning. One project I can check off the list. :)

Supplies:
Paper: Strathmore 90 lb. Watercolor paper, Great White Imaging
and Photo paper--matte finish, white cardstock
Stamp: Inkadinkado Script stamp
Images: French Label from The Graphics Fairy; can't remember
where I got the little girl
Inks, etc.: Faber-Castell Watercolor Crayons; Frayed Burlap,
Vintage Photo, and Tumbled Glass Distress Ink; Creme de Rouge and Garden Fairy Glimmer Mist

Hope you're having a great weekend!

A Few of My Favorite Things

This week at Tag Tuesday Challenge #55 Louise challenged us to use our favorite things or things that are kind of signature items in our creations. I love making tags. They may be small but they open the door for a lot of creative imagination. This one includes some of my handmade flowers and one of my dryer sheet butterflies. You can find a tutorial on how I make these on my YouTube channel.

Here are the favorite/signature things that I included on my tag.

1. a vintage image--I LOVE any and everything vintage

2. wrinkle distress--gotta make it look old and worn

3. pink and brown color combination--these colors just make me think of something that has been loved and well worn from repeated use, like a love letter that you read over and over

4. distress ink--nothing compares to the look of distress ink

5. ribbon--love the soft touch it adds, most of my stuff has a definite feminine element to it

6. French script--this just adds a little romantic flair. You can't go wrong with anything French

7. butterflies--they just always seem to add the perfect little accent

8. my handmade flowers--anyone who's looked at my previous work knows that I LOVE to make my own flowers and I incorporate them a lot in my work. They take a lot of time but I never regret putting them on a project.

Supplies

Images: ballerina from The Graphics Fairy; French script letter from

Paper: manilla folder, copy paper, photo paper, black and white cardstock

Ink: Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain, Peeled Paint, and Tattered Rose Distress Ink; Tsuninko Galaxy Gold; Vanilla Breeze and Creme de Rouge Glimmer

Tools: Nestabilities Classic Ovals Large (S4-110)

This was a really fun challenge. Thanks Louise!

And thanks to everyone who left me a sweet comment about my place on the Papercraft Star Design Team. If you don't know what I'm talking about check the previous post for today.

Thanks for popping in.