Shabby Fun...

TGIF...happy Friday!  I'm ending the week with a shabby card that was made just for fun. I gathered up a few coordinating scraps of papers from previous projects, a few dies that I wanted to include in some way, and just started layering and combining elements until I got something I liked.

The end product turned into a card that can be used as a friendship card, or even a birthday card, but in contrast to Wednesday's card, this one's definitely feminine. :)

The three roses were made using Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies...small rose buds from the craft store were paired up and placed around the largest of the roses, and a couple handcrafted stick pins were added to provide a bit of sparkle...

I gave the cardstock diecut frame a little dimension by cutting one from cream and a second from dark brown cardstock, and gluing them together, after offsetting the brown just a bit to look like a shadow...

The little sweetheart blossoms scattered among the roses were pink and white until I misted them with some diluted Tea Dye Distress Ink to "age" them a bit...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:  Glitz Pretty in Pink collection (music);   My Minds Eye Lost & Found/Madison Avenue collection 

(pink text);   Authentique Gathering collection (cream);   My Minds Eye Tres Jolie/Cute (pink dots)

Dies:   Spellbinders Rose Creations and Foliage Two;   Memory Box Tiffany Frame

Sweetheart blossoms:   Wild Orchid Crafts          Rosebuds:   local craft store

Sentiment stamp:   Papertrey Ink          Pearls:  Zva Creative         

Miscellaneous:   handcrafted stick pins,  dyed cheesecloth,  hemp twine

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

A Little Change is Good...

Today's card is a little change of pace for me...no flowers and lace here...because today's card is another masculine birthday card.

I was playing around with the pad of burlap paper that I mentioned a couple posts back, trying to determine what would cut well with it and what wouldn't.  I decided to play with Spellbinders' Grateful Lattice die, and had a go at trying to cut the burlap paper with it.  It did cut, but not without many, many passes through the machine, adding a shim here and there. I kept all the little "inside" pieces, thinking I'd come up with some fun way to use them sooner or later.

When I had determined the colors I wanted to use for this card, I remembered those little shaped burlap pieces, and they actually helped decide the overall design of the card for me...

I cut another full lattice piece from cream cardstock for the front of the card, and decided to cut part of it away to make room to stamp a birthday sentiment.  Then I took some of those little burlap pieces from my burlap lattice, and popped them up with foam tape inside the cream cardstock in a fun and random placement...

In the center of the card, I used some metal embellishments, twine, cheesecloth, a cardstock flourish, and some dark pewter beads in a cluster...

And the piece of the cardstock lattice I cut off the front?  I decided to use it on the inside of the card, and glued the burlap pieces down flat inside the lattice, instead of popping them up with foam tape...

Supplies:

Dies:   Spellbinders Grateful Lattice and Foliage Two;   Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork

Sentiment stamp and metal gear:   The Paper Studio          Metal keyhole:   Tim Holtz Ideaology

Pewter pearls:   Creative Imaginations          Metal key:   local craft store          Burlap paper:   DCWV

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Warm Wishes...

Happy Monday, everyone! Today's card carries a sentiment that works for a few different occasions - birthday, friendship...maybe even a get-well-soon message. I mixed what might be considered "spring" colors with dark bronze glitter and shades of cream and tan to turn this into a card for any season.

There's quite a variety of Lili of the Valley stamps used here, along with one of the beautiful aqua and lavender patterned papers from LOTV's Antebellum paper pad. This particular paper has a water-colored look, and I love that the subtle shades of aqua and lavender have some pale green mixed in, with just a touch of old newsprint pattern in the corner. I was able to find a scrap of newsprint paper in my stash that coordinated perfectly for the larger background piece. The small music sheet in the corner, with the distressed and bronze-glittered edges, is from LOTV's Set 46, Background Bits/Notes ...

The large rose is made with Spellbinders' Rose Creations dies, using a light lavender cardstock that's inked around all the edges with a darker lavender. The "Paris" tag is from LOTV's Set 50, Tags/Madame, and the "fleurs coupees" tag is from LOTV's Set 66, Grunge Elements. They all sit atop a die cut paper doily and a tea-dyed cotton lace gathered layer...

The butterfly, from the same Grunge Elements set as the "fleurs" tag,  was stamped onto cold-pressed watercolor paper, colored with a water brush and Distress Ink refill inks, and accented with some Stickles and bronze glitter.  The fun part about watercolor paper is that it can hold shapes that some other cardstocks won't. After the glitters were dry, I spritzed the *back* side of the butterfly with water, and gently formed the wings around my pinky finger, and set it aside again to dry. The wings now have a permanent arched shape that adds a bit of interest and fun up in the corner...

Between all the larger pieces, I added some aqua and lavender mini roses and pearls to create a long floral cluster diagonally across the page...

Once again, I used a few different sentiments from LOTV's Set 35, Christmas Handwritten Phrases  to customize my sentiment. :)  "Sending" is from "sending you festive cheer,"  "warm wishes" is from the "warm winter wishes" stamp, and "across the miles," used just as it comes in the set...

Supplies:

Patterned paper:   Lili of the Valley Antebellum collection

Stamps:   Lili of the Valley  Set 46 Background Bits/Notes,   Set 50 Tags/Madame;    Set 66 Grunge Elements;    

Set 35 Christmas Handwritten Phrases

Dies   Spellbinders Rose Creations;    My Favorite Things Royal Leaves;    

Memory Box Quinn Flourish and Elegant Scrollwork

Punch:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch        Small Paper Roses:    Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:   Recollections          Miscellaneous:  glitter, Stickles, tea dyed cotton lace

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

White Christmas...

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm ending the week with a monochromatic holiday card made up with the use of several dies, some embossing, and featuring a Lili of the Valley Christmas sentiment stamp as the center of attention.

I wish I could capture in photos how sparkly this card is in real life...between the embossed sentiment, the clear crystals, the shiny gold bells, and the glittery snow on the pine boughs, it really adds a lot of life to this white card...

The side view gives a better perspective of the dimension on the card, and actually, a better view of some of the "sparkle"...

A pearl stick pin balances out the area between the shiny mini bells and the sparkly bough branches in the upper corner...

This time, for the "snow," I used Snow-Tex that has glitter mixed in already...when it dries, you can see the glitter is multi-colored...

The sentiment was stamped with gold ink, then embossed with gold ultra-fine embossing powder...it really highlights the distressed feel of  LOTV's Christmas Grungy Messages stamp...

Supplies:

Sentiment stamp:  Lili of the Valley Set 33, Christmas Grungy Messages

Dies:   Spellbinders Floral Ovals, Twisted Metal Tags& Accents, Labels Twenty Three;

Impression Obsession Pine Branch;   Impression Obsession Twig Wreath (small pine branches)

Embossing folder:   Cuttlebug Geometric Rings

Pearls & crystals:   Prima          Hug Snug seam binding         Maya Road pearl stick pin        Deco Art Glistening Snow-Tex

As a reminder, there are still a few days left in September, so that means a few more days to enter Lili of the Valley's Ribbon and Lace monthly challenge. (The link will always be active over on the right side of my blog so you can check on the current LOTV challenge at any time.)  And have you seen the teaser photos of the new 8x8 paper pads coming soon? (check them out here) Oh my...can't decide which one I like best...LOL

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

...With a Friend...

Here's another card I prepped during my die cut "frenzy" a week or so ago...no patterned paper used at all. That's a big change for me, but every now and then it's fun to step away from my "usual" and challenge myself a bit with some different designs.

I purchased this twig wreath die a while back, and it seemed just the right style and size for autumn-themed cards. Today it's the focal point of the card...placed above an all-white background, it really stands out. And a little unexpected bonus - I die cut the wreath from a piece of Core'dinations cardstock (from their "Chocolate Box" collection) that's brown on one side, and rust orange on the back. When it's popped off the background just a bit with foam tape, it casts a rust-colored shadow beneath the wreath that adds even more fun to the design...

I die cut lots of little leaves in bright fall foliage colors...bunched them up around a small bow of scrunched seam binding, and sprinkled them with a little bit of clear coarse glitter...

Behind the bow and leaves is a die cut burlap heart sprinkled with clear mica flakes. While at a local craft store one day, I spotted a 6x6 pad of burlap paper...fabric backed with heavyweight kraft paper.  It's so much easier die cutting this paper than having to stiffen burlap fabric on my own prior to die cutting...

A couple more small clusters of leaves and pearls around the wreath gave me a couple more spots to place foam tape beneath the wreath and not have it show through the twigs...that little extra added dimension made a big difference!

Supplies:

Dies:   Impression Obsession Twig Wreath;   My Favorite Things Royal Leaves;   Spellbinders Fancy Tags;

Xyron ShapeZ by Spellbinders/Hearts

Embossing  folder:   Cuttlebug Modern Wallpaper              Punch:   Martha Stewart Medium Branch

Burlap paper:   DCWV          Pearls:   Recollections and Prima         Hug Snug seam binding

Thanks for stopping by to visit today!

Hello, Autumn!...

My favorite season of the year is officially here. The leaves haven't started to change just yet, but with the days getting shorter, it will start soon.  We have a few roads around here that are so beautiful in the spring, lined with trees that sprout with pink, white, and lavender blossoms. As pretty as they are in spring, those streets are even prettier in the fall when the leaves turn shades of gold, orange, and deep purple.

So Saturday, since it was a rainy and thundery day, seemed like the perfect time to make up a card using deeper, autumn tones. Out came the deep purple, dusty grey-blue, and deep gold cardstocks, and off I went into the drawer of "older" patterned papers to find just the right one. And that's when this card became another example of why I'm glad I didn't toss/purge/donate some of my papers just because they're more than a few seasons old (and a reminder to myself that I need to visit the papers in those drawers a little more often than I do!).

The large rose is made using Spellbinders Rose Creations dies...I added a "shabby" embossing powder detail around the edges with a powder that's sprinkled with pale blue fine glitter in the mix...

It's a bit hard to see the true color in the pics, but the leaves and the sentiment tag are edged with Eggplant colored ink, the same color as the base of the card...

And here's another "gussied" up memo pin holding the little sentiment tag...

Supplies:

Patterned papers:   Basic Grey Wisteria/Violet and Stone Wall

Dies:   Sizzix Tim Holtz Alterations Postage Stamp Frame;   Spellbinders Rose Creations;   

Sizzix Flowers Branches & Leaves

Lace:   TheFunkieJunkie.com          Mini roses and stamens:   Wild Orchid Crafts

Pearls:   Recollections          Memo Pin:  Tim Holtz

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