Smile Wish Enjoy...

Hello, all! I'd like to say a big "THANK YOU" to you who took the time to comment on my last LOTV blog hop post, and "CONGRATLATIONS" to Keeley and Laila  who won the drawings for a set of all the newest stamps! And because we all had so many wonderful comments on our blog posts, Anne added one more third prize of a choice of one of the newest stamps, and the winner of that third price was Saxon and Jaedyn. I know you'll enjoy your prizes, ladies!

I was able to make some time to craft this past weekend, so I made up a center step card for my mom's upcoming birthday (she doesn't follow blogs online so I'm safe to post it....heehee). I had made several of these center step bases before Christmas, thinking I'd use them for holiday cards, but that didn't happen. So you may see this style pop up now and again in the near future, since I still have a few pre-made bases left. :)  (If you've never made this style card before and wish to, there's an easy-to-follow tutorial by Frances Byrne on Splitcoast Stampers here. )

Here's a side view, and a peek at the inside. (I haven't added the verse yet, as you can see.) The card measures a total of 5-1/2" square and will fit easily into a 6"x 6" envelope to mail, but I'll be hand-delivering it in this case...

The sentiment die cut along the bottom piece is attached with foam tape. I diecut the tag first in light teal, then again in pale grey, and simply handcut the grey center portion away from the rest of the tag before stamping the sentiment and attaching it with foam tape to the larger tag background...

The floral cluster was so fun to make on this card! I found a small basket of raffia that I had put away in the closet the last time I cleaned my work room. It's sad to say, but when I organize, clean, and put things away nicely, I tend to forget I have them! So when I ran across this bag of raffia, I pulled out the green and used it on this card to give the cluster an element of what I like to call "whimsy"...

Beneath the corner of the cluster, I placed a couple bows of seam binding that had been spritzed with a mix of water and Weathered Wood Distress Ink. The largest flower in the cluster was made using the two smallest dies in Spellbinders' Grand Peony Creations die set. I shabbied the edges first with a spritz of water and some pinching, then when dry, formed the petals with a round embossing tip, and assembled the flower. But it was made with pale grey cardstock, and looked a little too "matchy-matchy" with the background for my taste. So I inked the edges with a dark teal chalk ink, and since I had pinched the outside of the petals and formed creases, it gave the inking a fun effect. All it needed then was a cluster of stamens in the center...

I purchased these white pearl and berry cluster stamen clusters from Wild Orchid Crafts (I think I need to order more, since I can see these being used a lot in the coming months)...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Maja Designs, Vintage Summer Basics (can be found at TheFunkieJunkie.com )

Dies:   Spellbinders Grand Peony Creations and Fancy Tags;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Flowers & stamens:   LayoutsFromTheHeart on Etsy (dark mauve roses);   Wild Orchid Crafts (dove grey roses and white bead/stamen clusters);   ChocolateLetters on Etsy (yellow/grey stamen clusters)

Sentiments:   Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags stamp set          Hug Snug seam binding          Raffia

Thanks so much for stopping by...I hope your week started with a smile!