Friends Forever

A couple of years ago, I purchased some Crafty Secrets sheets of vintage images for a few bucks each.  I was loathe to cut into them, and hoarded them.  When I was organizing my attic studio, they were unearthed and I thought, "Oh, yeah!  I forgot about these!"

In an "Aha!" moment recently, I thought about photocopying those images, thus stretching their use.  Duh!  Here's one of the images on this card:

I used some cereal box chipboard to punch a heart, then covered it in beautiful champagne glitter from Stampin' Up!

Have a wonderful day, and I'm so glad you stopped by.

Paper: Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake, green pattern - SU; white - PTI Ink: Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain - Ranger Fibers: twine - Creative Impressions Accessories & Tools: Full Heart Punch, champagne glitter - SU; Dotted Scallop punch - EK Success; Persian Motifs die - Spellbinders; Lemon Liquid Pearls - Ranger; clip art - Crafty Secrets

Dream of Me

My friend from the UK, Ruby2Shoes, is getting married in early May.  I made a card last month and sent it on its way to her for the big day.  I sure wish I could've stuffed myself in that envelope!

A few months ago, Ruby had won a sheet of digital images from a challenge but passed them on to me (with permission) instead, because she thought they looked more like my style.  I used one as a focal point here.  The sentiment - "Don't Forget to Dream of Me" - seemed fitting for a wedding card.

The tiny tag is a die cut from a retired sheet of tags by Stampin' Up!, with a Verve sentiment on it.  The rose is Prima, from my dear friend Emily.  The little chipboard heart is from Michael's $1.50 bin (inflation even affects dollar bins - sigh), with white ink rubbed on.  And that soft, satin ribbon is from my grandmother, who gave me rolls of vintage double-faced satin ribbons before she passed.  I wish she could see what I do with them now.  :-)

Challenge entered:  Really Reasonable Ribbon - Mother's Day/Feminine with Ribbon

Thanks for joining me today!  I'll be here tomorrow with my first card as May's Featured Designer at Merry Mondays.  See you soon!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Love Story - Verve
Paper: Mellow Moss - SU; Life's Journey - K & Co.
Ink: Walnut Stain - Ranger; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Whisper White craft - SU
Fibers: vintage rose double faced satin
Other: flower - Prima; kraft tag die cut, chipboard borders - SU; vintage digital image; chipboard heart - Michael's; pearls - Queen & Co.
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Happy Birthday, Punkin!

Hello everyone!  Thanks for all of your wonderful comments on my Artful Frame yesterday.  I am happy you liked the project as much as I did.  :-) 

Today is my Punkin's 10th birthday.  I love that she has an October birthday.  Fall is my favorite time of year, and our wedding anniversary passed just days ago.  We have a whole slew of birthdays this month too, in our extended families. 

This card is entered at City Crafter, where the challenge is Harvest Festival -  fruits or vegetables.

Kerry opened her gifts before going off to school today, and she loved her card.  We have a magnet of this pumpkin image on the fridge, so she thought I might've photocopied it from there.  I actually downloaded the image  from The Ephemera Society, through Pinterest. 

The patterned paper is from DCWV Four Seasons stack, which I picked up for $5.99 at TJ Maxx recently.  The black cardstock is mounted on a white card base. 

I seem to use white card bases ALL the time, and I do love Papertrey Ink's version - bright white, thick and sturdy.  When I was new to paper crafting, all I had was Stampin' Up!'s white cardstock.  Now I think it's rather flimsy, compared to other brands.  However, it comes in handy for a couple of things:  border punching (it's tough using PTI cardstock for that; I've broken punches) and sending it through my home printer.   I used the SU stuff to print this pumpkin.

Tomorrow is The Play Date Cafe's 2nd Anniversary!  Whoo hoo!  We've got awesome prizes from The Twinery, Layers of Color and Sweet Stamp Shop.  Be sure to stop by and see what we've cooked up for you.  :-)

Well, thanks so much for joining me today! 

Colleen

Stamps:  none
Paper:  white - PTI; Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Crumb Cake - SU; DCWV Four Seasons
Ink:  Antique Linen, Walnut Stain Distress - Ranger
Punch:  Dotted Scallop - EK Success; Lattice Edge - Martha Stewart
Other:  safety pin, brad - SU; twine; black ribbon - Stamp Simply Ribbon Store

Inspired by a Hat Box

Hope you all had a sweet Valentine's Day.  Ours was low-key, with a bit of chocolate exchanging.  Chocolate is always welcome, any day!

My card today is inspired by a hat box I own:

Isn't it romantic?

There were quite a few challenges that inspired me as well, and they are listed further down the post.

There was a lot involved in the making of this card.  Lots of distressing with ink and sponges, and subtle stamping.  The rose image is from Miss CutiePie:  Inspiration and Freebies blog, provided to me by my friend Sparklygirl-Tina.  Thank you, Tina!  My printer's calibration is a little crazy right now, so the colors are a little brighter than they should be.  I used Antique Linen Distress ink to tone down that rose a bit.  I cut it with a Spellbinders Circle Die, then mounted it on an Anna Griffin clip art I've had for years.  The crochet trim behind it was attached and ruffled using Scor-Tape double sided adhesive.

I chose three different patterned papers from my Anna Griffin stash (so happy to cut into it at long last!) as my background.  The lightest cream one is a floral, but I overstamped it with Hero Arts Old French Script in Tattered Rose Distress ink.  It's super subtle.

Here are the challenges I entered:

• Really Reasonable Ribbon - Spring, using ribbon
• Ooh La La - Someone Special (I wouldn't give this card to just anyone!)
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 105 - 3 patterned papers
• Inkspirations - sketch (I changed the oval to a circle, and made my card a square)

• EtsyInspired - Glow Girl - inspiration photo coupon organizer -- my green panel of Anna Griffin paper looks sooo much like this fabric

• Off The Wall Craftiness - GORGEOUS inspiration photos:

• Flourishes Bring Back Beautiful 07 - Love and romance
• Create: CARDS - border punches

Whew!  That's enough, isn't it? 

Thanks for joining me today.  It's almost time for another Play Date Cafe challenge, so I'll see you in a couple of days!

Colleen

Stamps:  Hero Arts Old French Script

Paper:  PTI Vintage Cream, Anna Griffin designer papers

Ink:  Distress Inks - Tattered Rose, Walnut Stain, Antique Linen

Punches:  Martha Stewart Double Scallop and Deco Fan

Other:  Big Shot, Spellbinders circle die, digital image, pearls from Queen and Co., crochet trim, sponge, Anna Griffin circle die cut frame, pink ribbon from stash, dimensionals, Scor-Tape

Free Berries for the Picking

 

See the strawberries on the card?  They are free images you can download from Victoria Magazine.  I printed mine on a piece of Whisper White cardstock and punched one out for my card.  The 'sweet' sentiment/berry are from Flourishes' Strawberries set.

I used this sketch from Repeat Impressions:

And I entered my card in the Splitcoast challenge, Free For All #24, "It's Garden Pickin' Time."  and a challenge over at Penny's Paper Crafty Blog, "Anything Goes." 
Here's a close up of the white embossed sticker strip along the bottom.

I do hope you enjoyed my card today.  I just love strawberry cards!

Happy Stamping,

Colleen

Stamps:  Strawberries by Flourishes
Paper:  retired designer papers by Stampin' Up!, white by Papertrey Ink, blue by SU (can't remember which blue!)
Ink:  Basic Black
Punches:  large oval, scalloped oval, wide oval, scalloped border - all SU
Other:  dimensionals, white embossed stickers by Martha Stewart, free strawberry image download, SU markers