A Challenge Card for Friday...

Remember those plans I had to head into the Korner and work away on cards this week? Well, "best laid plans" and all that...it didn't happen quite the way I thought it would.  But I did get a birthday card made (that I can't show just yet), and a card for this week's challenge over at The Shabby Tea Room, so at least I have something to share for 3 days of absence...LOL

Banners became popular quite a while ago, but it's a trend I didn't follow until now...no real reason why, just never happened and I didn't force it. Then this week's challenge was to use the colors in the photo and include a banner, so I played with a few ideas. None of my hastily drawn sketches really fit my usual style, though.  I did finally settle on an idea, yet I'm still not sure of it...but...here goes, for all the world to see...here's a "Love, Happy, Enjoy" birthday card...

lots of "shabby" touches on this card...along with bright and muted colors all blended together...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Echo Park Victoria Gardens collection, Dots & Stripes/Metropolitan collection, For the Record 2/Tailored collection; MyMindsEye On the Bright Side 2 collection (aqua dot)

Shabby fabric flower: Frogfeathers on Etsy      Pearls & crystals: Recollections      My Favorite Things Royal Leaves die

Edge punches: EK Success Dotted Scallop; Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment

Miscellaneous: fern punch, cotton lace, twine, star button

And here's the photo that we used for inspiration this week...just overflowing with design possibilities, don't you think?  I picked up on the aqua, red, green and cream colors (and how can you not spot the jar of pink candies in the center?), the rosettes, ferns, twine banner ropes, shabby poles, and of course, the banner...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit...I'm going to try again this weekend to accomplish what I thought I'd accomplish earlier this week! :)



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...

Celebrate Your (Mon)Day...

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's the last day of the final 3-day holiday weekend of the summer...so it's been filled with a little work and a little play...all mixed up so far...but definitely no time to sit around and be bored!

I recently won a set of stamps from Debbie at Paper Sweeties that I couldn't wait to start using...so fun! Little did I know until I contacted her to say "thanks!" that this is a brand new set, due to be released in the Paper Sweeties store on September 15 - so I did make sure it was okay for me to show part of the set to you now. :)  There are multiple sentiments within the set, so you'll see more cards using it in the future, too.

Once again I pulled out some of my new Graphic 45 papers and added some shabby touches...

Months ago I sat in front of the tv crocheting little flowers, some single layer, and several double and triple layer - and "put them away" - and then couldn't find them the next time I wanted one (insert red-faced shame emoticon here).  But they were found last weekend, hiding in the wrong storage basket...and now reside in their little zippered pouch in the basket with the fabric flowers...where they should have been all along.  Here's a cream single-layered one, layered over some gathered tea-dyed crochet lace trim and under a blue paper rose...

and here's one of the sentiment stamps from the new Paper Sweeties set...love that all the sentiments in this set are a mix of text styles.  I especially like this particular sentiment because it opens up the possibilities for the use of this card - it's appropriate for a birthday, wedding, anniversary, or any other day that's cause for celebration...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Graphic 45 A Ladies' Diary collection      Sentiment stamp: Paper Sweeties

Dies: Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves; My Favorite Things Royal Leaves      Chipboard sentiment chip: Studio G

Scalloped lace: The Funkie Junkie on Zibbet      Paper rose: Prima      Pearls: Recollections

Miscellaneous: hand crocheted flower, tea stained crocheted lace trim

And I have a second card to share today - a frilly little pretty using some new Echo Park papers. 

When it first came out, I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch...so I purchased it as soon as I saw it hit the stores.  It's gotten a lot of use the past few years, but about a week ago, I punched down through a piece of paper, and heard a crack...the punch was dead...and the paper inside it irretrievable, even after all sorts of pries and pokes and pleas.  Not only did something(?) inside apparently die of old age (and probably overuse), but the heavy plastic housing broke.  Funny how you miss something once it's gone...I went online last week and got one shipped to me in two days.  So, of course, I had to check out the new punch to make sure it works, right? 

It does...

This is a pretty simple flower cluster ...a piece of white lace trim gathered so it becomes "frilly," a piece of heavily gathered tulle, topped with a small yellow rose and a couple Prima mulberry leaves...so I "gussied it up" a bit by taking a cue from a recent wedding photo I ran across, and scattered some tiny pearls randomly around the tulle layer...

Once again, my favorite scroll die topped with bits of pearl flourishes to go with the lacy paper edges...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Echo Park For the Record 2/Documents collection

Dies & punches: Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch; Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork die

Pearls: Recollections      Paper flowers, leaves: Prima      Sentiment stamp: Papertrey Ink

Miscellaneous: cotton eyelet trim, tulle, crocheted lace, handcrafted stick pin

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

A Little Cottage Chic...

I decided to work in a shade of blue I don't often work with in papercrafting, but used to wear a lot of...royal blue. It's such a striking color, and it makes me want to reach for bright white and celery green. I'm not sure why, but as long as I can remember, I'd pair crisp green and white with any royal blue articles of clothing I wore...I guess I haven't outgrown that tendency yet.

Echo Park's new For the Record 2/Documented collection has some beautifully bright colors, including royal blue, so I had to pull out a couple sheets to play with. I paired it with a green and white subtle patterned paper from My Minds Eye...and here's the end result...

Here's one of my favorite shabby fabric roses again...topped with a heavily gathered piece of white tulle, and three royal blue rosebuds, accented with green diecut leaves and a white pearl cluster...all sitting atop a diecut crisp white doily...

Two of the rectangular patterned paper layers are adhered with foam tape for dimension...and then lots of scalloped lace is used to offset all the sharp corners of the rectangular pieces...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Echo Park For the Record 2/Documented (blues); MyMindsEye/On the Bright Side 2 (green)

Dies: My Favorite Things Decorative Doily Duo, Royal Leaves; Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Large fabric flower: Frogfeathers on Etsy      Pearls: Recollections      Scalloped lace: The Funkie Junkie on Zibbet

Blue rose buds: ViolaMahr on Etsy      Maya Road heart stick pin (embellished with pearls & spacers)

Miscellaneous: eyelash fiber, tulle

Thanks for stopping by for a visit...enjoy the rest of your weekend! As for me, I'll be working away in the Korner on little pretties to restock my Etsy shop. Thank you to those who have purchased, and emailed me...you make my heart smile!

Love is a Flower...

I'm on a "shabby" roll these days...more so than usual, I guess. So when the new challenge at The Shabby Tea Room had "distressing/shabby elements" specifically as part of the challenge requirements, I knew I'd have some fun with this one, too.

This card, with all its inked, dry-brushed, and distressed edges and "shabbied" embellishments...

resulted from this inspiration photo...

There were lots of little details on the card that I pulled from the picture, just none of them exactly as seen in the photo...simply "inspired" by.  Of course, there were the colors...and the whitewashing on the cabinets. And I couldn't help but notice the gold accents back on the sideboard...which meant that the little gold key was a perfect touch atop the resist canvas heart lock. :)

and a little peek at the inside...

Supplies:

Patterned papers: Echo Park Victoria Gardens collection (pink); Echo Park Dots & Stripes/Metropolitan (aqua);

Basic Grey Cappella collection (white on white pattern)

Sentiment block: Crafty Secrets      Rolled fabric rose: Creative Imaginations      Chipboard Frame: Tattered Angels

Canvas resist heart lock, paper leaves, paper rose: Prima      Pearls: Recollections      Hug Snug seam binding

Dies: Spellbinders Floral Ovals, Classic Ovals Lg      Edge Punch: Martha Stewart Eyelet Lace

Miscellaneous: metal key charm, cheesecloth, handcrafted pearl wire spiral

Thanks for visiting today...I hope you're having a great week so far!



A Page From My Own Book, Part 2

I had another masculine birthday card to make up this month...and you know I've written before how masculine cards don't come as easily to me as the shabby, floral, feminine ones I make more of.  So I copied one of my own designs again, by using the same digi collage I'd used for a Father's Day card earlier this year (thankfully, two different recipients...LOL), and switching up the colors and patterned papers.

I picked up on one of the digi papers I used in the collage, and duplicated it for the background of the card...it gave a whole new "feel" to the digi collage at the center of the card...

The sentiment stamps are a combo of two different sentiments in the same set from Papertrey Ink...I was happy to find I had the same fonts on my hard drive, so I could duplicate the fonts from the stamps on the computer-printed verse inside the card. :) 

Supplies:

Patterned papers: K&Co Maison collection (dot); Graphic 45/Communique collection (black diamond)

Green pearls: Queen & Co    Miscellaneous: corrugated cardboard, burlap, twine, button

Digital collage elements: Free Vintage Digi Stamps: grungy polka dot paper, bird, auto;

The Graphics Fairy: crown, olive branches, vintage label;

Vintage Feedsacks: berry floral

And here's the Father's Day card I CASE'd, from a post back in June - by changing the size of the digi collage and the colors of the papers, I think I got a very different look, even though the design of the card was the same...

Thanks for visiting...I hope your week is going well!