Just Because (it's Friday)...

As the old saying goes, "better late than never."  The sketch today's card is based on was a weekly challenge at Mojo Monday the first week of May.  I got as far as getting the patterned papers cut and stitched before I had to start packing up my work room for the cabinet install, so I couldn't participate in a timely manner. But I love the sketch, and the card was almost finished, so finish it I did...better late than never. :)

I went back into my 12 x 12 patterned paper drawer and pulled out some older favorite patterns. The result is a bit of a study in contrasts...burlap and distressed edges embellished with pearls, flowers, and lace...

Here's the sketch the design is based on...

I made the bow by pulling out about 6-7 long strands from a piece of burlap, and tying them into one large, loopy bow. It's a little tricky holding them all together while you're looping, but once it's done, a little dab of hot glue on the back makes sure the bow stays put...

The floral cluster takes the place of the scalloped circle in the sketch, and the small snippet cut from some tea-dyed scalloped lace takes the place of the lower banner strip in the sketch...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Graphic 45 Fashionista/Vintage Cherries (dot);  Botanicabella/Eden's Symphony,

 Love Letters, and Secret Garden

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

Laces:   TheFunkieJunkie.com        Pearls:   Recollections        Sentiment stamp:   Fiskars

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts       Miscellaneous:   burlap, pearl wire spirals

Thanks for stopping by for a visit...have a wonderful weekend!

Making the (die)Cut...

It's probably no secret...I love the newest line of dies with the very detailed edges, that make some of the prettiest shaped cards ever.  Even though they can be time-consuming in the construction, the finished product is worth it.

Today's card is filled with die cuts...and fancy edges...and pastel spring colors...

It was fun throwing the cameo frame into the mix of shaped dies...once that idea worked it was just a matter of adding more classic oval shapes beneath it to form a well of oval frames in the center of the card. 

The floral cluster is a mix of different spring pastel colors, with one bright pink mini rose in the center like the bright pink peeking out in the print of the patterned paper behind it.  Pearls, white fuzzy stamens, a pastel aqua bow to match the frame, and a "blinged up" memo pin holding the sentiment tag complement the soft colors of all the papers and cardstocks...

Last but not least, a peek at the inside...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Basic Grey Sugar Rush collection  (yellow dot);  My Minds Eye Miss Caroline/Fiddlesticks 

collection (grey floral)

Dies:   Spellbinders Decorative Labels Eight, Labels Eight, Classic Ovals Small;   My Favorite Things Vintage Cameo;   Sizzix Flowers Branches and Leaves

Flowers and stamens:   Wild Orchid Crafts       Pearls:   K&Company        Hug Snug seam binding       Tim Holtz Memo Pin

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today!

Thanks for Being You...

Another Monday...another new week.  I have a couple special project requests that I need to work on this week, and though the "deadlines" are still a bit away,  I hate waiting until the last minute.  After all, I have to leave myself time to change my mind/make changes before I finally send the photos off for approval!  :)

There's a particular patterned paper in the Prima Tea Thyme 6x6 pad that I've always been drawn to, but been unsure what to do with it.  It's a little darker than the usual papers I'm drawn to, so it's taken me a while to decide how I want to feature it on a card.  I finally decided to "give it a go," and here's what I ended up with...

The paper in question is the background paper...the distressed gray/brown tone with the softly faded roses in the corner was so pretty that I decided to feature it with a design where all the embellishments were on the opposite side.  So I combined a flourish die cut with a leafy branch die cut, and added some additional die cut small leaves to form a base for a large, winding corner flower cluster. 

The large deep pink rose that anchors the cluster is sitting on top of a tea-dyed fabric flower...one that I pulled off a branch of flowers from the local big box craft store.  Around it are softly colored roses in pink and cream, with a couple dark brown roses for a little contrast. And again, there must be pearls, but a large concentration of them didn't work, so instead I "sprinkled" a couple different sizes throughout the cluster...

I played around with a few different ideas on how to feature the sentiment block, but in the end, decided to make square die cuts in the two layers of patterned papers used in the vertical blocks, and stamp the sentiment down "in the well" formed by using foam tape on each of the blocks to add dimension...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:    Prima Tea Thyme collection (6x6)         Sentiment stamp:   Inkadinkado

Dies:   Spellbinders Classic Squares Small and Large;  Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves;  Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork; My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com        Flowers:  Layouts From the Heart on Etsy;  Wild Orchid Crafts       Pearls:  Recollections

Edited Monday afternoon:  Today's post was written in advance of the awful tornado activity that's been hitting the midwestern US this past weekend, especially the strong tornados that hit Moore, Oklahoma Monday afternoon.  Please keep the people in that area in your heart and prayers as they deal with the tragic loss of life and property caused by the tornados, and join me in hopes that the worst of the storm activity is past, so recovery can begin.

Thanks for visiting today.

Just Saying Hello...

Happy Friday, everyone! I must admit, I'm loving crafting in my new workroom setup.  I'm not sure why, but I'm able to work in a much more organized manner now...my workspace isn't a total mess after a project is finished. I can't help but wonder if it's because the organization is all "new"...and if, when the novelty wears off,  I'll be back to having a "white tornado mess" again...I hope not.  I hope it's because I finally figured out how to organize according to my work habits...LOL

I'm ending the week with a little card in soft, springtime colors. It was fun combining papers from two manufacturers and finding that they complemented each other so well...

I had fun with this floral cluster...lots of white and coral flowers, accented with soft green branch punches, scattered pearls, pieces of cardstock flourish diecuts...all sitting on some scrunched cheesecloth and a large Prima mulberry paper flower coated with Polar White Flower Soft that lightened the colors while adding dimension...

The scalloped layers of patterned papers were accented with edges dry-brushed with white acrylic paint...scalloped lace with pearls accents them all...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Prima Divine collection (coral honeycomb & lined ruler print);  

Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary collection (coral dot & black floral)

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com       Die:   Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork      

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts and Prima       Pearls:   Recollections

Punches:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch;  Fiskars Scalloped Sentiment       Sentiment stamps:   Hero Arts

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

TSTR-Sweet Springtime

It's been a busy 10 days around the Korner...the new cabinet shells are securely mounted to the walls, and restocked with all the supplies I had planned for them...and thankfully, everything fit and looks as I had hoped it would.  My husband built the cabinet shells to accommodate my request for 18" deep cabinets, but we can still use standard doors on them, so those will be on order in the next few days. In the meantime, I'm back to work with my new "organization" and it's working beautifully.  Once the room is a little more "ready for prime time," I'll post some pics here for you...it's not quite ready for that yet. :)

Yesterday I decided it was again time to play along with a current challenge, so I turned to The Shabby Tea Room to check out the newest...and quickly got to work.  Starr's challenge this week is to use the inspiration photo colors of pink, green, and white, and include a sewing element somewhere in the card design.  I chose to use some of my favorites for that requirement: seam binding bows, threaded buttons, pearl basting pins, and machine stitching.  Here's the result:

It was based on this fun inspiration photo...

Instead of running a strip of pearls along the top of the lace across the front, I dyed some white mini rose trim with Spun Sugar Distress Ink (the refill ink), and placed little pearls in the centers of each of the mini roses...

Inside a small crocheted flower, there's a threaded button...two seam binding bows are secured with pearl basting pins to the side of the crocheted flower...small lime green threaded buttons are scattered among the flower cluster...

Supplies:

Patterned paper:   Scenic Route       Dies:   Spellbinders Romantic Rectangles;  My Favorite Things Royal Leaves

Embossing folder:   Cuttlebug Script Texture       Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com

Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts       Mini rose trim:   Creative Imaginations       Pearls:  Recollections

Hug Snug seam binding       Miscellaneous:   pearl head basting pins, buttons, heavy duty thread

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

A Lovely (Mon)Day...

Happy Monday!  I'm starting the week off by sharing a softly colored, slightly shabby, totally "girly" card with a sentiment that works for so many occasions, from friendship to birthday to anniversary, and maybe a few more.  I guess that's why it shows up so often on my cards. :)

I cut the Quinn Flourish die in half, and glued one half to each end of the larger sentiment block, then added two mirror-image floral clusters on either side of the block . Each of the three layers of the sentiment blocks are popped up just a bit with foam tape...

  

And, well, there must be pearls... :)

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Graphic 45 A Ladies Diary collection/Afternoon Tea, Focal Point, La Gazette

Dies:   Memory Box Quinn Flourish;   Spellbinders Timeless Rectangle

Punch:   Martha Stewart Doily Lace       Flowers:   Wild Orchid Crafts       Pearls:  K&Company

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com        Sentiment stamp:   Papertrey Ink

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