Just a (Hybrid) Note...

Years ago, I used to make all my clothes...even took a couple advanced tailoring classes in college. I loved being in a fabric store, spending hours looking at and matching fabrics, feeling all the different textures and weaves, and dreaming of different ways to combine parts of different patterns to make unique outfits.  When the cost of making my own suits and dresses and casual clothes became higher than ready-made, and time for hobbies became less and less, sewing faded as my main hobby.

These days, I guess I've substituted papers for my old fabric obsession. :)  I can spend a couple hours just going through my stash of patterned papers, matching 3-5 different ones and stacking them together for future projects. And now and then, I like to dabble with my digital images, making collages and printing out card-sized digital papers to add to the fun. That's where the papers for today's card came from...with a little help from some scraps from previous projects.

This time I printed out two copies of the digital collage, cutting one into a decorative oval shape to sit above the rectangular one, to add some interest and dimension to the usual placement I'd use...

Small touches of Stickles are on the butterfly wings and daisy centers...

The little fabric daisies are from a chain craft store, with a bit of Aqua Stickles added to the centers for fun...

The sentiment tag is held by a Tim Holtz memo pin that's shabbied with white acrylic paint and fancied up with a crystal spacer and cream pearl...

Supplies:

Digital Paper:  Playing WIth Brushes Torn Paper edge over MTerasawa/Designer Digitals paper

Patterned papers:   BoBunny Gabrielle collection (tan);   My Minds Eye Lost & Found/Madison (banners)

Die:   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves          Punch:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch          Daisies:   local craft store

Hug Snug seam binding          Tim Holtz Memo Pin (embellished)

Digital collage elements:          

Background papers:   MTerasawa/Designer Digitals   

French label:   TheGraphicsFairy.com

Butterfly/daisies image:   KarensWhimsy.com

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!

      

You're the Best...

Another Friday is upon us...another weekend of fun mixed with summer relaxation to look forward to...I still love Fridays even if I don't work in an office all week anymore!

I ran across a paper collection in my 6x6 drawer that had some wonderful aqua and white patterns in it, and I was determined to use them.  I decided to mix them with coral, so it was easy to create a mini square digital collage to feature in the center square once the color combo was decided.  The sentiment is one I like to use, because it works for a friendship greeting as well as a thank you for someone special...

Since there's a floral bouquet in the digital collage, I wanted to keep the flower cluster small. I chose mini roses in the colors of the tulips in the collage, and simply added some green and aqua branch punches and dark green leaves, and nestled them all on top of a dyed Hug Snug bow...

The sentiment tag is one from a set from Janet's ByDigitalPaper shop on Etsy. I reduced the size after adding the sentiment to one, then shabbied up the edges and shabbied the one beneath it with white paint...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Pink Paislee Nantucket collection          Flowers:  Wild Orchid Crafts

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Pearls:   Recollections          Martha Stewart Medium Branch Punch

My Favorite Things Royal Leaves die          Hug Snug seam binding        Miscellaneous:   white hemp twine, button        

Tickets:   "Ticket Flower" set from ByDigitalPaper on Etsy  (text added)

Digital collage elements:   Dotted paper: A Wolff Designs "That's Life" bg 5; 

all other elements:   TheGraphicsFairy.com

Thank you for visiting today...have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday, Mister...

If you've been keeping tabs on me for a while, you know my "natural" style of shabby with lots of flowers doesn't really work for everything. There are times when you want handcrafted cards for the men in your family who aren't impressed with those shabby floral arrangements. :)  So it takes a bit more thought and planning for me to come up with cards with more masculine themes and looks.

You might recognize the vintage auto graphic on today's card...I've used it before, but in a different way.  This time, I made the collage the size of the whole front of the card, changed the background papers, added a couple birds...well, see for yourself...

The color combo is a little unexpected...dark purple/blue, with leafy green, and kraft...the dark berry spray (which is labelled "blue" on the packaging) on the left side was the catalyst for this color combo, and I like how it turned out!  

I printed out two copies of the collage, hand cut the birds out of one, and matted them over the other collage with foam tape so they gave some dimension to the front.  A heavy coating of clear coarse glitter over the crown gives it some texture...

Since I knew just who this card was for, I went ahead and printed the sentiment onto the cream cardstock before stitching it to the inside mat and adhering it inside the card...

Supplies:

Berry spray:   Petaloo       Leaf pin:   Maya Road       Hug Snug seam binding

Digital Collage elements:

Torn paper background:   PlayingWithBrushes on Flickr

Background paper:   Carina Gardner Curio 7

Music sheet, vintage auto:   FreeVintageDigiStamps.blogspot.com

Chocolate label, sitting blue bird:   TheGraphicsFairy.com

Florals:   VintageImages.org

Flying bird with note:   Bumblebutton,blogspot.com

Thanks for visiting today!

Just Because (it's Spring)...

A happy Monday to you!  Today's card is a soft, pastel, shabby little spring number, for no reason other than to send something pretty with a short note inside. :)

After I had embossed the pale pink and yellow patterned paper, I decided I like the subtlety of the back side better than the deep detail of the front, so I ran a second sheet of the same paper through the embossing folder so the right side of the paper showed the wrong side of the embossing.  (There's no rule you have to do things "the right way," right? LOL)

Here's the end result...

Because the digital collage has a basket of flowers and roses beneath it, I keep the floral decoration on the card to a single pink rose on top of a couple pink bows...used a pearl spray in lieu of the usual pearl flourish...and tucked a tiny sentiment tag into a painted and embellished memo pin...

The frame around the digital collage is adhered to the card with foam tape...the collage itself is popped up again from the frame for even more dimension...

I couldn't find the right wider lace to run across the front, so I "made" one by running two lengths of narrow scalloped lace with the straight edges meeting in the middle, and ran a double row of pearls across the "seam" to hide it...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Melissa Frances Pearl (pink);    Prima Divine collection (green dot)

Punches:   Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace and Medium Branch

Dies:   Spellbinders Opulent Ovals      Embossing folder:   Cuttlebug Geometric Rings 

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com       Paper rose & pearl spray:  local craft store       Pearls:  Recollections

Tim Holtz Memo Pin       Hug snug seam binding

Digital collage elements:

Music paper:  FreeVintageDigiStamps.blogspot.com

Hexagon grid:  PrintablePaper.net

Pink paper:   Memory Makers Wild Sorbet

Flower basket and roses:   VintageImages.org

Tree:   TheGraphicsFairy.com

Ticket:  AstridsArtisticEfforts.blogspot.com

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

Hybrid Happy - Take Three...

And another happy Friday is upon us...the last one in April...this month has flown by so fast for me!

Today's card features the same digital paper used as the background for the card front and for the small digital collage that's the focal point.  Backgrounds of soft blue and yellow, with a touch of kraft around the edges, and tea-dyed lace, are contrasted by the bright colors in the teacup and bouquet of roses in it.  It uses one of my favorite sentiment stamps - it's such a wonderful sentiment for a friendship card, or as a thank you note...

There's such a light coating of clear coarse glitter scattered around the roses in the teacup that it hardly shows up in the photos - but it's there...

One single red rose centered between two pale yellow roses mimics the rose bouquet in the teacup...

And lastly, a view of the inside that also shows the dimension on the card front...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Designer Digitals/KPertiet Color Challenge 92009-1 (blue); 

 Playing with Brushes Torn Paper (distressed edges)

Digital Collage Elements:

Flowers and Grapes:  VintageImages.org     

French sign, teacup, spoon:  TheGraphicsFairy.com

Ticket:  AstridsArtisticEfforts.blogspot.com

Butterfly:  Dover Publications

Cuttlebug Textile Textures Embossing Folder      Lace:  TheFunkieJunkie.com       Sentiment stamp:  Technique Tuesday

Roses:   Wild Orchid Crafts       Pearls:  Recollections

Thanks for taking the time to visit today...I hope you have a great weekend!

Just A(nother) Note...

Happy Monday to you!  This week is starting off with a light and fun note card...and believe it or not, no additional flowers except those in the digital collage on the card front!

Without a flower cluster to assemble, it seemed as though this card went together so quickly - but each time I played with adding more dimension to it with embellishments, it looked overdone - so I left it alone.

Once again, I used the dry brush technique around the punched edges, and some ink, paint, and distressing on the paper/cardstock elements...

I used a heavier coating of clear coarse glitter on the Eiffel Tower to give it the illusion of the tower sparkling with tiny lights...it adds a nice dimensional touch to the flatness of the digi collage...

A couple Hug Snug bows topped with a single large pearl are accented with a pearl wire spiral and a tiny sentiment tag...

And finally, a peek at the inside...all the edges of this card were dry brushed with white paint...inside and out, front and back...

Supplies:

Patterned paper:  Prima Divine collection       Edge punch:  Martha Stewart Cherish PATP   

Hug Snug seam binding       Large pearl:  Recollections       Lace:  TheFunkieJunkie.com

Leaves:  My Favorite Things Royal Leaves die       Handcrafted pearl wire spiral

Digital Collage elements:   

Eiffel Tower, Eiffel Tower postmark, French labels:  TheGraphicsFairy.com

Roses:  TheVintageMoth.blogspot.com;  VintageImages.org

Ticket:  AstridsArtisticEfforts.blogspot.com

Papers:  Designer Digitals: MTerasawa Color Challenge July 19 (aqua);  KPertiet Inspiring-4 (dot);

LynnG Crisp 2 (edge detail);  KHMize Measured Edges Grungy (rulers)

Thanks for stopping by for a visit...I hope your week is starting with a smile!

(Pretty in) Pink Thank-Yous...

Happy Friday!  I have a fun photo-heavy post to end the week on, so I invite you to pull up a chair and visit for a few minutes while you sip on a favorite beverage, and maybe sneak in a snack or two. :)

I mentioned last week that my crafting had gone on a "pink streak" lately...it seemed that no matter what color I started with, pink worked its way into the design.  Sometimes I wonder if I should buy Core'dinations Lotus Flower cardstock in bulk, because it seems to be the perfect shade of pink to work its way onto so many of my card projects!

The first thank you card for today is French-themed, with a fun digi collage as the focal point, and lots of lacy accents...

Soft pink, cream, and neutral paper roses and pearls are clustered to the right of the collage and the strip of tea-dyed crocheted lace that's also accented with small pearls...

The sentiment was stamped on a small tab to the left of the collage, and accented with pearls...I put the sentiment to this side so I could bring the tan color back to the left side to counter all the tan on the right side...

And if you know me, you know glitter has to work its way onto the collage somehow :)...just a light touch...around the petals of the roses at the top of the boot...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary collection/Timeless Memoir & Delicate Details

Die:  My Favorite Things Royal Leaves      Punch:  Martha Stewart Doily Lace       Lace:  TheFunkieJunkie.com

Pearls:  Recollections       Roses:  Wild Orchid Crafts       Sentiment stamp:  Papertrey Ink

Digital Collage Elements:   Boot/flowers, Rose cluster:  VintageImages.org;    French label:  TheGraphicsFairy.com;

French postmark:  SKrieger/French Laundry Frames;    Background paper:  Samantha Walker Cuckoo Melon Dot

Next up, a sweet pair of Thank-You minis...3-1/2" x 5" cards that pack a big punch for their smaller size...

The portrait-oriented card is done in soft shades of pink, cream, and taupe. Hopefully you can see this detail, but on both cards, the tulle bunched under a corner of the flower has a light dusting of clear coarse glitter...it adds a beautiful sparkle to the shabby details of the flowers...

The lace on this card is tea-dyed, then touched up with some Spun Sugar Distress Ink on a watercolor pen for a little extra blush of color next to the taupe shabby flower...

The landscape-oriented card is all pink and bright white, for a livelier feel...

And lastly, a peek at the insides, that have been "shabbied up," too...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Glitz French Kiss collection;  Basic Grey Cream Basics and White Basics collections;  Bo Bunny Chiffon Dot;  Echo Park Dots & Stripes/Candy Shoppe collection

Shabby fabric roses:  Frogfeathers on Etsy       Punches:  Martha Stewart Cherish;  EK Success Dotted Scallop

Dies:  My Favorite Things Royal Leaves       Laces:  TheFunkieJunkie.com

Sentiment stamps:  Fiskars       Pearls:  Recollections       Paper flowers:  Prima and Wild Orchid Crafts

Miscellaneous:  tulle, clear coarse glitter

Thanks for visiting today...have a great weekend!

Easter Wishes For You...

Today's Easter card involved a little experimentation on my part with another of my newer sets of dies. Much like the Opulent Oval dies used in yesterday's card, the Adorning Squares set comes with dies that emboss only and some that cut and emboss, and there are almost countless ways you can combine them.  I wanted to see if I could get a debossed look with some of the dies, and it actually worked the way I had planned...a pleasant surprise, because that's definitely not always the case with my ideas! LOL

Another happy discovery was finding that one of the Parisian Motif dies fit perfectly inside the solid center of the square die combo...it was all a series of fun surprises while die cutting this one...

I was able to get the debossed look I wanted by combining two of the square dies (the two largest in the set) and embossing them (no cutting at all) onto the square of cream cardstock.  Then I cut and embossed the purple cardstock with just the smaller of the two dies used on the cream.  After I glued the purple over the cream, matching the patterns, I ran it though the diecut machine with the circle die to cut out the center.  When I did that, it pressed the purple and cream layers together and gave it the debossed look I was after.

Wrapping floral sprays around shapes is one of my new favorites these days...and this design lent itself well to that...

The pretty cream ribbon flower with a pearl center came pre-made from the craft store...another happy accidental find as I cruised through the sale section one day...

The digi collage is "sunken" beneath the circle die cut into the cream/lavender layer, and the green layer.  It's adhered to the light lavender background layer, then the other two layers are adhered above it - the green layer with foam tape...

Supplies:

Dies:   Spellbinders Adorning Squares, Parisian Motifs, Standard Circles Large, Standard Circles Small;

My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Floral digital image:  The Graphics Fairy        Sentiment stamps:  Papertrey Ink

Paper Flowers:  Wild Orchid Crafts       Martha Stewart Medium Branch Punch       Pearls:  Recollections

Ribbon flower:  local craft store       Handcrafted stick pin

Thanks so much for visiting today.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and if you're celebrating the holiday, a blessed Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Easter Flutter-By...

I'll be sharing Easter cards today and Friday, but even if you don't participate in the celebration of this holiday, the cards could be easily adaptable for any occasion...well, any occasion where flowery cards would be appropriate...LOL

The focal point of today's card is another digital collage...clipped to an oval shape to fit another of the oval dies in the same set as used on last week's pink and purple birthday card...

The frame is popped up from the card front with foam tape. Rather than place the frame over the oval collage as on last week's card, the collage is cut with the decorative oval and sits above the frame on this card...popped up with a double layer of foam tape...

To continue the thick row of pearls from the left side of the card over to the right, I glued the center of the bows in line with the pearls, and placed another small cluster over the bow centers...of course, I had to add one of my fun stick pins...

It's hard to see, even in the close-up, but there's clear coarse glitter on the daisy petals...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Graphic 45 Fashionista/Vintage Cherries (dots-"b" side);  Prima Divine collection (aqua)

Dies:  Spellbinders Opulent Ovals;  Classic Ovals Large

Digi collage elements:  French label: The Graphics Fairy;   Background paper: KPertiet/Designer Digitals/Inspiring-4;  

 Grid pattern:  KPertiet/Designer Digitals/Ledger Grids 1;   Butterfly floral:  Karenswhimsy.com (Easter pictures-5)

Crocheted lace:  TheFunkieJunkie.com        Pearls:  Recollections        Sentiment stamps:  Hero Arts;  Papertrey Ink

Hug Snug seam binding       Handcrafted stick pin

Thanks for stopping in for a visit today...I hope you're having a wonderful week!