So Sweet of You...

Monday's card was pale and pastel...today's card is anything but!

It's been a while since I've participated in the weekly challenge at The Shabby Tea Room, and it's high time I fixed that.  And this week's Mojo Monday sketch looked like a lot of fun, so why not combine them both? So that's just what I did...

The Shabby Tea Room's "Vegetable Garden" inspiration photo is a wonderful vintage image, and the challenge was to feature fruits or vegetables, along with text, on our project. Since oranges and pears went together with my sentiments better than veggies, I chose to use those in the digital collage. And as you can see, I did make a few "tweaks" to my final design from the Mojo Monday sketch for this week - the card changed to square, the single banner turned into two on each side, and I moved the floral cluster just a bit...

  

Here are a couple close-ups of the floral cluster...

And a detail shot of the pearl and crystal stick pin that holds the little sentiment tag...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   My Minds Eye Miss Caroline/Dolled Up and Fiddlesticks collections;

Echo Park For the Record 2 Tailored collection (oranges)

Dies:   Cheery Lynn Designs Italian Flourish doily;   My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Sentiment stamps:   Paper Sweeties "So Sweet of You," "You Make Me Smile," and "You Are Amazing" sets

Pearls:   Recollections          Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Stamens:   ChocolateLetters on Etsy

Miscellaneous:   cheesecloth, handcrafted stick pin

Digital collage elements:   Fruits, vintage label, aqua background paper:   TheGraphicsFairy.com

Brown background paper:   AlteredBits.com

Thanks for visiting today!

Happy Birthday, Paper Sweeties...

My friend, Debbie, is celebrating the 1-year birthday of her Paper Sweeties Stamps, and I'm happy to be celebrating this milestone with her by participating in the Paper Sweeties birthday blog hop! You may have arrived here from Tina's blog...if not, and you'd like to start back at the very beginning, start here with Debbie's Paper Sweeties blog and join in on the fun!

I especially get a lot of use from the smaller sentiments in Debbie's line...I often use small tags as part of my card sentiments...and so many of Debbie's sets are perfect for this and for banner sentiments!  In addition, her stamp line includes adorable paper dolls with themed outfits and background images for them.  You can also find some beautiful accessories in her Paper Sweeties shop, such as oodles of colors of dyed seam binding sold in generous 4-yard bundles.

The birthday blog hop celebration will be going on for three days...August 2nd, 3rd, and 4th...with different participants each day. Here's a full link list of all the blogs participating on day one:

Debbie Marcinkiewicz

Jinny Newlin

Amy Tsuruta

Teresa Kline

Pattie Goldman 

Tina Milbourn

Kathy Montgomery (you're here! )

Michelle Bala

Jessica Kephart

Karen Letchworth

Lori Ulrich

And here's the fun part...Debbie will be giving away a prize of the ENTIRE AUGUST RELEASE to one lucky person during the month of August...there are 5 sets to be released, and that's a total retail value of $50.  Here's what you need to do to be eligible for the prize...

Follow the Paper Sweeties blog

Like and Share Paper Sweeties on their Facebook Fan Page

Comment on any Paper Sweeties August blog post - mention that you follow the blog and Fan Page!

So without further ado, here's the card I created, using Paper Sweeties Occasions and You Make Me Smile sentiment sets...a bright and summer-colored card filled with flowers...

And just a couple closeup pictures of the rose clusters surrounding the large daisy center flower, atop die cut cardstock flourishes. They all rest inside and on top of a Tattered Angels chipboard frame that's been inked and coated with clear coarse glitter...

The entire "happy birthday" sentiment actually fits on one small tag, but I thought it was more fun to have each word on its own tag inside the embellished memo pin  :) ...

Supplies:

Sentiment stamps:   Paper Sweeties "Occasions" and "You Make Me Smile" sets

Patterned papers:   My Minds Eye Miss Caroline/Fiddlesticks collection (stripe), Dolled Up collection (dot), and Howdy Doody collection (floral and damask)

Dies:   My Favorite Things Royal Leaves;   Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork

Punch:   Martha Stewart Doily Lace          Chipboard frame:   Tattered Angels          Paper roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Daisy and lace:   local craft store          Pearls:   Recollections          Memo pin:   Tim Holtz (embellished)

The next stop on the hop is a visit to Michelle's blog to peek at her wonderful project. Have fun on the blog hop, and don't forget the steps to be eligible for the fun August prize!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today...

Sending a Hug...

Happy Monday, everyone.  We're a little happier around here lately, now that the temps have cooled just a bit.(I never thought I'd consider mid-90 degree temps "cool!" )  That last nasty heat wave melted us when we ventured outside, and made us very thankful for working air conditioners.

I've got another pink card today...surprise, surprise! LOL  Today, it's "icy" pale pink combined with turquoise and golden yellow.

A couple months ago during my strolls around the Internet, I ran across a beautiful card with rolled paper edges here, and bookmarked it, knowing I wanted to try a variation of that technique on a card one day.  So, here's my interpretation of the technique...

Beneath the cluster of roses is a very pale pink mulberry flower, just large enough to cover any uneven edges caused by rolling the edges from the center...

Cheesecloth dyed pale pink peeks out from the center, topped with a pearl spray from a local craft store's wedding section.  The memo pin was dusted with white acrylic paint and embellished with a pearl and a silver spacer bead...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Authentique Grace collection/"Sweetness" and "Beauty;

My Minds Eye Bramble Rose collection (turquoise)

Sentiment stamp:   Paper Sweeties "You Are Amazing" set

Branch punch:   Martha Stewart          Pearls:   Recollections          Paper flowers:   Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts

Tim Holtz memo pin          Miscellaneous supplies:   pearl spray, cheesecloth

Thanks for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Mojo Monday 300...

I took a break from a couple projects I'm working on to play with Mojo Monday's 300th sketch celebration...it's a fun sketch, so I couldn't resist the temptation. :)

Pink seems to be popping up a lot when I choose my paper combos for cards these days, and today's card is no exception.  This time, I mixed it with gray, cream, and green...

Here's the Mojo Monday sketch it's based on:

The large center rose started as a white mulberry rose from the craft store. I wanted to color it a very soft pink, so I sprayed it with Spun Sugar Distress Ink diluted slightly with distilled water.  It looked too pale at first, so I spritzed again (while still damp) very lightly with Worn Lipstick diluted ink.  

As I carefully dried it using my heat tool, I was pleasantly surprised to see it drying much as my rayon seam binding does when I spritz it...the dye ran to the edges, giving them a deeper tone than the rest of the surface.  I was getting a two-toned rose without even trying...gotta love that kind of happy little surprise!

The small scalloped circle inside the fancy-edged square appears as though it's cut from the center of the square, but actually it's a separate piece popped up a bit with foam tape. Originally I wanted to punch the circle out of the square, but realized that the paper below it was the black damask as well...and I didn't want that paper to show through. But I didn't have enough of the floral wood stripe left to cover the back of the punched-out circle completely. What I did have, however, was a piece with a seam that I could match to the seam in the background paper. So it gives the illusion that you're seeing the background paper through a punch out...but you're not.

You can see part of the edges of the scalloped piece in the photos below...on the first, it's easier to see it's a separate piece...

...but in the next two photos, where it's in the background, it looks like a punch-out...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   My Minds Eye Bramble Rose collection (grey rose wood print, black damask);

Glitz Pretty In Pink collection (stripe);   Authentique Cherish collection/Cherish C (cream solid)

Dies:   Spellbinders Adorning Squares;  Sizzix Flowers Branches and Leaves

Sentiment stamp:    Paper Sweeties "You Are Amazing" set

Rose crocheted lace:   Prima          Pearls:   Recollections          Flowers:   local craft stores

Miscellaneous supplies:   pearl stick pin, cotton lace, cheesecloth

Thanks so much for stopping by to visit today...I hope your week is going well.  

For my USA friends, have a happy and safe 4th of July celebration tomorrow!

Thanks (Again)...

Hurray for Friday...it's still my favorite day of the week...and I don't even work in an office anymore. (Old habits die hard, right? LOL)

Today I have another thank you card to share...this one is light and bright, and even though the paper placements are similar to cards done in the past, the embellishment placement strays a little from my norm. Sometimes it's fun to do something different and resist the urge to change it back to what's "comfortable"...

Off to the right, a  few assorted heart dies and some layering with a piece of a flourish die and a few paper roses on top of a piece of white burlap and strips of tea-dyed embroidered sheer ribbon...

The sentiment's on a tiny tag up in the left corner with three little banners, a trio of mini roses, and hemp and white twine bows...

And a side view with a peek to the inside...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Prima Divine collection (pennants, green dot, floral print);  

Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden collection (green and white text)

White burlap, embroidered sheer ribbon, tiny tag:  TheFunkieJunkie.com       Sentiment stamp:  Paper Sweeties

Dies:  Papertrey Ink "Heart Prints";  Xyron Shapez/"Heart";  Sizzix "Flowers Branches and Leaves";

Memory Box  "Elegant Scrollwork"

Pearls:  Recollections        Miscellaneous:  Hemp and white cotton twines;  clear coarse glitter

Thank you so much for visiting today...have a great weekend!

     

TSTR-Frame It

I'm honored to have been asked to be the Guest Designer over at The Shabby Tea Room for the month of March. Tracey is hosting the challenge this week - to use white, with only one other color, and include a frame in our design. I loved making my all-white cards a while back, so adding only one other color is another fun twist...and a frame, too...I couldn't wait to get started.

I used foam tape to "stack" the different layers I used on the front, and the end result turned out that the whole card front became the "frame"...not just the fancy square frame diecut I started with. And believe it or not, there's not a single flower on this card...gasp...I know...but I'm not sick or anything...I just wanted to see if I could do it. LOL

Here's my card for Tracey's challenge...

...and here's the inspiration photo to go along with the challenge...lots of inspiration here, especially for a shabby-chic-style fan like me. The feathery wreath on the chair is what inspired me to use the white fringe trim sewn into a circle beneath the butterfly...

I shabbied up the edges of the little sentiment tag to match the edges of the layers on the card front, and ran the pearl and crystal stick pin through it to act as a "memo pin"...

There are no flowers on the card, but I did use die cut leafy branches with a touch of glitter in two of the diagonal corners...

Supplies:

Dies:  Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Squares, Classic Squares Small, Classic Squares Large;  

Sizzix Flowers, Branches and Leaves

Cuttlebug Geometric Rings embossing folder      Fringe trim:  Frogfeathers on Etsy

Sentiment stamp:  Paper Sweeties      Butterfly:  local scrapbook store

Pearls:  Recollections      Handcrafted stick pin

Thanks for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

It's All There in Black and White...

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a fun weekend, and if you're one of the lucky ones to have this as a 3-day weekend, you've got one more day of fun left! :)

Today I have a twin set of mini note cards to share...that both feature a black and white damask patterned paper as the main focal point.  I cut the 6x6 paper so the damask pattern could be centered on each note card, surrounded with a die cut chipboard frame, then complemented with black and white stripes and a dash of contrasting color.

Bright rose pink is the contrasting color for the first twin in the pair. I love this sentiment because of its versatility. It's fitting for so many reasons...get well, sympathy, friendship, and more...

Just a light touch of clear glitter accents the damask design...

And for the second, a subtle golden tan color alongside the black and white...a little more elegance for saying "Thank You"...

And lastly, a peek at the inside details...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Crate Paper Portrait collection      Edge Punch:   Martha Stewart Flower Bed

Crocheted laces:  local craft store      Black pearls:  Kaisercraft      Pearl circles:  Basic Grey

Sentiment stamps:  Paper Sweeties "You Are Amazing" set      Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks so much for visiting today...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

Little Boxes...

Friendly warning: I'm about to stray a bit from my normal again...that happens when questions lead to ideas and then to creations. :) 

When small wooden printers' trays started appearing in craft and stamping stores a few years ago, I wanted some - not just one, but some - I was filled with ideas.  But I have a small crafting room, and I've already over-filled it with "stuff," so I restrained myself.  I'm still wondering if there's a place here in the Korner for one, but that will have to wait until the latest reorganization is completed - which may be a while yet.

In the meantime, I got to wondering one day last week if there was a way I could make a little printer's tray-like embellishment on the front of a standard sized card.  But, I'm not one of those lucky people who can take an abstract vision to a tangible product easily. In fact, it usually doesn't work at all and ends up being torn apart and/or scrapped.  But this time, I made myself finish it...and share it.

I found a way to make some cute boxes from patterned paper, but the height of the sides would have made it difficult to send the card in anything other than a box. I finally settled on "circle/squares" - punched circles with the sides folded up to form squares - and hoped they'd still look like little boxes after I "shabbied" them up a bit.

I punched nine 1-3/4" circles from some coordinating double-sided patterned papers, and folded the round sides up around a punched 1-1/4" square.  Then I folded the sides back one more time to make a shabbier-looking edge, and glued the 9 squares to the top of a 4" x 5-1/4" piece of cardstock...and it still left room for some trim and a sentiment beneath the boxes.

Here's how it looks after filling in the little boxes with small embellishments, and adding some lace trim and a stamped sentiment...

After bending the sides of the boxes back a second time, I added some dry-brushed white acrylic paint here and there for a shabby touch.  I dug through my button stash for a couple coordinating large buttons, and backed each one with a scalloped circle cardstock punch with some shabby inking around the edges. The flower sections have tea-dyed cheesecloth along with some die-cut leaves for greenery...

The upper right and lower left corner boxes have some leaves dropping in from adjoining boxes, and pearl clusters in the corners to finish them off...

And two squares are filled with punched, glittered, and pearled butterflies...

From the side view, you can see it's pretty dimensional, but no more than any of my other cards. :)

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Echo Park For The Record

Dies: Spellbinders Eyelet Circles; My Favorite Things Royal Leaves; Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Punches: Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly, Royal Butterfly, & Medium Branch      Paper roses: Prima

Lace: TheFunkieJunkie.com (tea-dyed)      Sentiment stamp: Paper Sweeties "So Sweet Of You" set 

Pearls: Recollections      Miscellaneous: cheesecloth (tea-dyed), buttons, crochet thread

Thanks so much for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!