Sage and Celery...

TGIF! Friday seems to be just about everyone's favorite day of the week around here. We might have a bit of rain around these parts this weekend...the temps have cooled off to the mid-80's, the barometer is headed downward, and it's a bit muggy today...so maybe they'll be right this time...it's a welcome change.

Recently a friend asked why I haven't made any more mini twin sets...and my answer was, "I don't know...it wasn't intentional!" LOL  So I decided to give my triceps a little exercise by making a pair of die-cut mini note cards....there's a bit of machine cranking involved when making sets like this. One die is used to make the shaped card, one for the raised panel, and a couple more for the frame for the rose image at the center of each.  It's fun mixing and matching different die sets, but I'll admit, the fun of die cut cards can also be time-consuming. (But I always like the end results!)

So today's share is a pair of die cut monochromatic mini note cards in sage and celery green...

I used the same rose image for each card, but changed the background for one and flipped it 180 degrees, and desaturated the other a bit more. After die cutting the celery green cardstock pieces behind the rose images, I ran them through an embossing folder for a little bit of texture...

Adding more flowers to the center of the satin bows seemed a bit overdone, but a tiny pearl cluster fit perfectly, and added a bit more brightness...

The frame around the rose image was die cut from a very pale celery color, but it looked a bit "flat" for my taste, so I coated it with fine clear German glass glitter for texture and subtle sparkle. That's one of the main reasons I like using glass glitter...the sparkle isn't overwhelming...

Supplies:

Dies:   Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles,  Opulent Ovals;   Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Embossing folder:   Cuttlebug Geometric Rings

Rose digital image:   The-Feathered-Nest.blogspot.com

Ribbon:   Offray          Pearls:   Reflections          Lace:   local craft store

Miscellaneous:   Clear German glass glitter

Thanks for visiting today...I hope you have a fun weekend!

(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!

TSTR-Beautiful Romance

Once again I had fun participating as a Guest Designer at The Shabby Tea Room.  For this week's challenge, I made a pair of all-occasion mini note cards, 3-1/2" x 5", using two vintage image collages from the "Lady Rose" set in Janet's shop, Digital Paper, on Etsy.

Starr is our host this week...our challenge was to use green and white, and lace, gathering inspiration from the beautiful photo below...

Of course, the lace part of the challenge was the first part I picked up on...by using a lacy edge punch along the bottom edges, and adding some crocheted lace along the side edges.  The soft, pale green patterned paper is cut from the centers of a couple pieces from the Prima Romantique 6x6 paper pad...

I simulated the white plates in the inspiration photo by using chipboard frames around the images, and the crystal glasses and vases with the clear glitters used on the white painted frames.  The pink lady card uses a clear German glass glitter, while the bicycle card uses clear coarse glitter...two different types of sparkle...

Supplies:

Patterned paper: Prima Romantique collection      Digital images: byDigitalPaper on Etsy

Chipboard frames: Tattered Angels      Lace: TheFunkieJunkie.com      Edge punch: Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace

Pearls: Recollections      Paper roses: Prima      Dies: My Favorite Things Royal Leaves      Hug Snug seam binding

Miscellaneous: clear German glass glitter, clear coarse glitter, handmade pearl wires

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



A Picture Heavy Pink Tuesday...

Yesterday was "blue Monday," so today I'm sharing some pink cards....yep, it was a pretty productive weekend. :)

This first card uses a few papers from Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden collection...muted pink and cream stripes and dots, and a piece of another with text from a "journal des roses," or book of roses...I don't think I'll ever tire of this paper line.

I went "back in the archives" at Card Positioning Systems, and used sketch #193 as the basis for the design of this card.  I've left it sentiment-free for now...it will be easy to add a sentiment tag later...

A gathered piece of crocheted lace serves as the base for the taupe rose and pink rosebuds...

Each of the card layers was attached with 1/16" foam tape, so even though there are a lot of square and rectangular shapes, there's still dimension without a lot of height...

Supplies:

Patterned paper: Pink Paislee Butterfly Garden collection 

Dies: Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles; My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Paper roses and pearl/crystal flourish: Prima      Rosebuds: ViolaMahr on Etsy     Mini pearls: Recollections

Scalloped lace: The Funkie Junkie on Zibbet      Hug Snug seam binding     Miscellaneous: Wilton doily, crocheted lace

Card two is actually a matching pair of mini note cards...3-1/2" x 5".  I used a piece of Melissa Frances paper that has beautifully soft and muted designs...simply cut out the two I liked the best for the front of the note cards.

The fun discovery was that the border punch scallops and the scalloped lace all matched the spacing of the scallops on the edge punch...love it when things come together so well!

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Melissa Frances 5th Avenue "Antonia" & "Jewell"     Edge punch: Martha Stewart Flower Bed

Dies: My Favorite Things Dizzy Border, Decorative Doily Duo, Royal Leaves

Scalloped lace: The Funkie Junkie on Zibbet      Pearls: Recollections      Rosebuds: ViolaMahr on Etsy

Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks for visiting today...I 'm headed back to work in the Korner, and hope to be back in a few days with more to share with you...

All Occasion Twin Set...

Lately I've been learning on my own how to make digi collages. I'm getting better (if you had seen some of my early attempts, you'd understand why I can say that with certainty), but still have a long way to go. However, I still frequent some of my long-favorite Etsy sellers' shops for images, and a visit to Janet at Digital Paper a while back resulted in the purchase of her "Spring in Paris" set that contains the images used on these two mini cards, made up with soft neutral backgrounds, and accents in pink and green.

Each card is 3-1/2" x 5"...a nice little size for a short note to someone dear...

...each image is inked and dry-brushed around the edges, matted to pink cardstock, backed with a very light chipboard, and adhered to the card front with foam dots...

...tiny clusters of pearls in the center of the seam binding bows add just a touch of "elegant pizzazz"...

Supplies:

Patterned paper: Authentique Gathering Collection      Digital Images: Digital Paper on Etsy

Edge punch: Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace      Cotton lace: The Funkie Junkie on Zibbet

Pearls: Recollections      Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  It's supposed to be another hot one here (low 100's) so I predict another weekend spent in the much-appreciated coolness of an air-conditioned house...LOL!

Flower-y Twins...

Happy Monday to you!

Today I have a couple more "mini" cards to share.  I like to make these in pairs...no special reason why, just seems if I'm going to make one, I should make two. :)  They're 3-1/2" x 5", so they're just big enough inside to write a short note of thanks, or a quick note to say "hey, I'm thinking of you!"

So without further ado, may I present...the flower twins...

I couldn't resist adding mini crystals and a touch of glitter to the centers of the flowers in the images...

and I love the effect that little swirl of crystals and pearls gives beneath the scalloped lace - almost like a draped chain of gems over a painted wood fence...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: MyMindsEye Miss Caroline Dolled Up (floral) & Dilly Dally (woodgrain) collections

Dies: Spellbinders Classic Triple Scallop Edges; Memory Box Woven Circle (doily)     Lace: Little Red Cottage on Etsy

Vintage floral images: Vintage Workshop      Pearl/crystal flourishes: Prima

Pearls: Recollections      Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks for visiting...I'll be back on Wednesday with a soft, summery pastel pretty to share.



Just a Note...Mini-style...

I've used these two pieces of clipart before, but they are perfect for the little springtime mini notecards, and they're worth repeating. So for today, here's just a short and sweet post to show you a couple sweet cards...

the butterfly...

the rose...

and a peek at the insides...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Collage Press/Pink Paislee London Market (cream); My Minds Eye Stella Rose/Hazel (green)

Clipart: The Feathered Nest (rose); The Vintage Workshop (butterfly and blossoms)

Sentiment stamp: Hero Arts      Scalloped lace: Little Red Cottage on Etsy      Pearls: Recollections

Edge punches: Martha Stewart Arch Lattice, Fiskars Threading Water

Hope your week is going well. Thank you for stopping in for a visit!

Little Rose Twins, Take 2

Using more clipart images from Karen at The Graphics Fairy,  I made a couple more ATC-sized chips to adorn a new set of "rose twins"...mini 3-1/2" x 5" all occasion cards.  I guess you've noticed by now that I gravitate to the floral and vintage images...the colors just seem to attract me the most.  :)

So without further adieu, here are the newest little cuties...

Supplies:

Pink Landscape Card:

Patterned Papers: Echo Park Victoria Gardens collection (damask), Making Memories Sabrina (pink mini dot)

Lace: LittleRedCottage on Etsy, & local craft store      Hug Snug seam binding      Pearls: Prima

Clipart: The Graphics Fairy (pink roses, label, postmark, frame); Dover Publications (butterfly)

Red Portrait Card:

Patterned Papers: Basic Grey Curio collection      Hug Snug seam binding      Pearls: Prima

Clipart: The Graphics Fairy (French label and red rose)      Laces: LittleRedCottage on Etsy, & local craft store

Here's another of the gift bag/matching tag sets that I made up...this one with pink, red, and lavender colored flowers on the red base.  The fun part of making these three sets was finding artwork and embellishments that all worked with the red bags...and even more fun was finding out how many actually did!  This time, the large floral and butterfly clipart images are from Dover Publications.

Once again, I used Spellbinders Grand Scalloped Rectangles die for the background, and Martha Stewart's Infinite Loops Trim punch for the paper lace trim around the center of the entire bag...

Other Supplies for the gift bag:

Pearl/Crystal flourish: Prima      Hug Snug Seam binding

Button & sheer ribbons: stash

The bottom edge of the tag is scalloped with Spellbinders Classic Scallop Edgeabilities, and EK Success Abstract Flower punch was used on the pink mini dotted strip across the front of the tag...

Other Supplies:

Patterned Papers: Echo Park Victoria Gardens collection (damask), Making Memories Sabrina (pink mini dot)

Cotton lace: local craft store    Hug Snug seam binding   Paper leaves: Handmade

Lace doily: made with yardage of cotton lace from local craft store      Pearl: Recollections

Felt Rose: My Favorite Things Mini Rolled Roses die

Thanks for visiting!