A Card Makeover

Hello there!  There's a card I made back in 2010 which, at the time, I thought was so very beautiful.  I never gave it away, however, because it started to look too plain to me.  It needed something else.

Recently, I gave that card a makeover.  (for the "before" shot, please scroll down)

You can find the original post HERE, called "Inspired By A Pottery Barn Pillow."

Before the makeover

Sheesh, I shudder at my photography skills back then!

The two flowers, built with Blossom Party die cuts, look better with a few extra things added:  an Amira Flourish die cut, split in two and tucked behind the flowers; a sentiment tag; a button with twine.  I also trimmed the card front and mounted it to a pale pink card base.

NOW I have a card that is worthy to send off!

Before I sign off, can I just share something that makes me SO happy?  A few days ago I happened to notice this on Moxie Fab World editor Cath Edvalson's Pinterest page:

That's my 'Thank You Roses' card highlighted in yellow!  Swoon, swoon, swoon.  I feel like a million bucks to make it to Cath's "Cards I Just Love" board.  Thank you, Cath!  And thanks to YOU for letting me share.  :-)



Stamps: Friendly Phrases - Verve
Paper: Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Blush Blossom - SU
Ink: Frayed Burlap - Ranger
Fibers: twine - Creative Impressions; flower ribbon
Other: Vintage Wallpaper embossing, Blossom Party die, Lots of Tags Sizzlits die - SU; Amira Flourish die - Memory Box; pearls; vintage button
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"

Inspired By Stamping - Sneak Peeks Day Two

Hello there!  Welcome to Day Two of Sneak Peeks of our March release at Inspired By Stamping.  We're showing off little sneaks of our new stamps for a few days, to whet your appetite.

Featured today:   Fancy Circles & Princess

I'll see you tomorrow with another sneak peek!

Inspired By Stamping - Sneak Peeks Day One

Hello my friends!  Over the last month or two, our team at Inspired By Stamping has been putting together a marvelous March Release for you.  I think you're going to love the stamps, and you'll certainly be inspired by the Design Team's creations.

Your New Stamp peeks for Day One:

Be sure to visit owner Joanna Munster's blog for lots of inspiration, chances for blog candy, guest designer calls, how-to videos and more.  It's a wealth of crafting goodness!

Inspired By Stamping #48 - Best Wishes

It's time for a new color challenge at Inspired By Stamping!  This week our colors are White, Light Pink and Sage Green.

I looked through my stash of papers for the right pattern, and found just the right thing.   After adhering it, I embossed the whole card front with a brocade, one of my fave folders.

I LOVE the flowers from the Inspired By Stamping store, and wanted to draw attention to this pretty pink rose.  To make the fabric rosette behind it, I grabbed some green lace and a scalloped circle die, and cut out 6 circles from the fabric.  Two layered circles became the base, and with the remaining four, I folded each in half, then in half again.  The four "pie wedges" were laid upon the base and a brad secured them all together.  Then I glued on the IBS pink rose, and ta-da!  

A tiny tag adorns the big blossom.  I used "best" and "wishes" from the set Birthday Greetings, inked the edges, and tied on a twine bow.  See the pretty white crochet lace?  That is Fabric Tape from IBS!  I love it.    

Come play with us!  You don't need IBS goodies to play, there's a prize every week, and we'd love to have you.  Just link your card up HERE.  

Thanks for coming by.  :-)



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Birthday Greetings - IBS
Paper: Pretty In Pink, Whisper White - SU; Quite Contrary Summer Papers - My Mind's Eye
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Frayed Burlap - Ranger
Fibers: White Lace Fabric Tape - IBS
Other: Kassie's Brocade embossing folder - Cuttlebug; pearls; green fabric - Webster's Pages; Pink Flower - IBS; Amira Flourish die - Memory Box; Scalloped Tag punch - Martha Stewart; Scalloped Circle die - Spellbinders

Believe In Your Dreams

It's been ages since I played over at Runway Inspired Challenge.  I found the inspiration photo rather interesting (check below my project), as in, "I would never wear those clothes" but also as in "I can definitely make a card based on them!"

See the clusters of bright flowers on both pieces, but especially on the girl in black?  The flowers made me think of a pretty die cut by K & Co. in my stash.  I also was inspired by the radiator.  Yes, I know.  Kind of weird.  But it has thin lines rather like this chevron paper from My Mind's Eye.

The beautiful sentiment is by Verve.

As a side note, my 14 YO is so very interested in haute couture fashion.  She wants to be a model AND a clothing designer and envisions herself living in Paris someday.  She's quite the fashion expert, and can usually name a designer just by looking at a piece of clothing.  Her bedroom walls are filled NOT with pictures of the latest teen idols like so many other girls, but with pages from Glamour and Vogue magazines.

I made this card for her, to remind her that we believe in her dreams and she should, too.

By the way, that stomach virus made its way around our entire family but we are in the clear now, thank Heavens!




Stamps: Fairy Tales - Verve
Paper: white - PTI; Miss Caroline Dolled Up - My Mind's Eye; Naturals White - SU
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Other: pearls; bouquet die cut - Que Sera Sera - K & Co.; Labels Eight die - Spellbinders
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"

Mojo Monday Birthday

Hello my friends.  Shortest post ever for me, I think, as I want to get this uploaded into Mojo Monday's challenge before it ends.

The birthday card:

This is the Mojo Monday sketch:

I'll fill in my details later.  I think that stomach virus has got a hold of me.  :/



Stamps: Birthday Phrases - Verve
Paper: Union Square - Lost & Found - My Mind's Eye
Ink:
Fibers:
Other:
Dimensions:

Thank You Roses

Good morning, all!  While my kids are sleeping and getting some well-needed rest, I thought I'd pop in with a quick post.  Both girls and my DH have been through a nasty stomach virus.  The girls have been home from school for three days, poor kiddos, and hubby missed work too.  I don't know how I managed to escape it.  Last night it occurred to me that it might be our toothpaste.  Really!  I have my own (Sensodyne), but the rest of the family shares one big tube.  As of last night, they each have their own now.  Hope that helps keep sickness at bay.

This card happens to be a quick one.  A real bonus for this slow stamper here!

I'm a huge fan of Market Street Stamps' background stamps.  This one is Houndstooth, stamped in Antique Linen and edged in Frayed Burlap.

Quick touches:  a 'thank you' sticker, pre-cut doily from Martha Stewart, pearls and twine.  

Entering this one at A Blog Named Hero:  shabby chic or vintage style.

I wish you all good health!  Thanks for dropping by today.



Stamps: Houndstooth - Market Street Stamps
Paper: white - PTI
Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap - Ranger
Fibers: twine - Creative Impressions
Other: thank you / roses sticker - Studio 112; pearls; doily die cut - Martha Stewart; corner rounder punch - EK Success
Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"

White Woodgrain Wedding

A friend of mine commissioned me to make a wedding card for her boss.  I love making wedding cards.  It is an honor for me to create a keepsake that will be held dearly for such a long time.

I took inspiration for this from Alicia Thelin's card on page 54 of Paper Crafts Magazine's 75 Creative Card Challenges.  I included very similar elements as she did:  woodgrain, round doily shape, hearts, leaves. I added a bow, did not add pearls (gasp!), and glittered some of my hearts.

All-white cards are rather challenging to photograph, and some areas become washed out, but I hope you can see the details in this:

A close-up of The Cluster.  I used tiny dots of Liquid Pearls along the leaves' veins, and glittered those little hearts.  I spy some stray specks of glitter.  

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp 'White on White' challenge.

Thanks for coming by!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Love Story - Verve
Paper: white - PTI
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: white seam binding - Hug Snug
Other: Full Heart, Heart-to-Heart punches - SU; Floral Doily Motif die - Spellbinders; Branch with Leaves die - Sizzix; White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; iridescent glitter; Woodgrain embossing folder - Sizzix

Bandages and Tissues

Yes, bandages and tissues.  This is what I am featuring today. It's in honor of the many tissues I've had to use during this cold of mine.  ;-)

I made these weeks ago, and saved them for a future date to post.  So here you go!

These are simple, flat cards that are pretty quick to make:

Card base by K & Co., Lawn Fawn stamps.  I CASE'd Latisha's sweet stamp arrangement.

Lawn Fawn stamps

More Lawn Fawn.  I CASE'd Anni's card.  Loved this idea!

K & Co. card base, DeNami Design stamps.

On the DeNami umbrella above, I used some Copic markers in shades close to those on the card base and dotted on a pattern of my own.

It felt good to bang out a group of cards in a short amount of time.  That's hard to do with my fancier creations!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5" each
Stamps: On The Mend - Lawn Fawn; Large Open Umbrella, Under The Weather - DeNami
Paper: white - PTI; K & Co. card bases; Print Patterns - SU
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko
Other: Scalloped Rectangle, Scalloped Oval, Oval dies - Spellbinders; Copic markers

Sweet Cherub

Belated Happy Valentine's Day to you!  Sorry to be a day late with my wishes (and  love-themed card), but I was sick on the sofa all day yesterday.  I have caught my first cold in a long while.  Ick.

This Valentine card is SO not the usual style I go for.  It is very bold, and red is not one of my favorite colors for crafting.  I used a new-to-me stamp - the cherub - by Bo Bunny called Enchanted.  When I traveled to see my mom in the Houston, Texas area back in the fall, we shopped at Hobby Lobby (LOVE that store!) and this was one of my finds.

Vintage Wallpaper by Market Street Stamps is my damask background (mostly covered up), and the sentiment is Verve.  I happened to be die-cutting two Parisian Motif dies - one in red, one in black - and took the little bits of red and fit them into the black one like puzzle pieces.  This was mounted on a white circle, which peeks through.  Those white areas remind me of Batman.  I just think it looks like the Batman signal against the night sky.  ;-)

Challenges entered:

• Ribbon Carousel - Love is in the Air
• Papercraft Star - RED
• Frosted Designs - Be Bold

Enjoy your weekend, my friends!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Small Phrases - Verve; Vintage Wallpaper - Market Street Stamps; Enchanted - Bo Bunny
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Basic Black, Whisper White - SU
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: black satin ribbon
Other: pearls; Parisian Motif, circle dies - Spellbinders; Word Window punch - SU

Modern Baby

Hello everyone!  Remember my recent post about pinning one's own cards to Pinterest?  I really appreciated hearing what you all have to say about that.  I am a firm believer in pinning my creations to my boards over there.  Quite a bit of traffic to my blog comes from there.  :-)

I do love pinning what others have created as well.  These pins are a wellspring of ideas for me.  Today's card was inspired by THIS card found on Pinterest.  I tried to follow the links and see who the creator is, but it links back to Clear & Simple Stamping's general blog and I could not find the card.

This fun arrangement of different-size circles can be adapted to so many occasions, but I chose to make it a baby card with a Paper Smooches sentiment.

I'm a stickler for details (not always, but often) and when I photographed this card, I noticed a slight mar at the top of the card base.  Grrr!  Since this card is heading for the store to be sold (I hope), I wanted it to be perfect.  So after the photo was taken, I lifted off the blue section and mounted it to a clean white base.  Don't you hate when those mistakes happen?

The punch sizes used are listed below my signature.  I used some Brocade Blue patterned paper and cardstock from Stampin' Up!  I have several of the Print Pack paper stacks and they just languish beneath my other 6" x 6" pads.  So glad to have a fun way to use these!

I'm entering this at CAS-ual Fridays, where the theme is Love Song:  choose a song you love and make a CAS card based on it.  I adore the Christmas song, "Baby, It's Cold Outside", sung by many different partners over the years.  A fave version of mine is Dean Martin and Martina McBride.

For those of you who asked how we weathered this recent big snowstorm to hit the Northeast, my own area got barely anything.  Darn!  I want one big rock'em, sock'em snowstorm before the season ends.  ;-)



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Salutations - Paper Smooches
Paper: Brocade Blue, Brocade Blue Print Pack patterns - SU; white - PTI
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: white seam binding - Hug Snug
Other: 3/4", 1", 1 1/4", 1 3/8" and 1 3/4" circle punches

I Miss You

Hello!  I had some time recently to play with a new-to-me set by Wplus9, but I have absolutely no idea what the name of this set is.  It is not listed on the set, and after Google-ing it many times, I have come up empty-handed.  It's a cute, cute set with many mix and match trees and a few sentiments.  Does anyone know its name? ETA:  owner of Wplus9, Dawn Woleslagle, helped me out...the name of the set is 'Funky Foliage.'  Thanks, Dawn!

Here's a very simple "miss you" card made with it:

Pretty straightforward stuff.  I did add some yellow and white Liquid Pearls on the tree for a little more interest.  It's a flat card, and so is easy to mail.  With stamp prices going up again, it's a help to have a card that takes just one postage stamp.

So glad you came by.  :-)  Have a beautiful day!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps:  Wplus9
Paper: white - PTI; Lemon Flower stack - DCWV
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; More Mustard - SU
Other: Lemon, White Opal Liquid Pearls - Ranger; Deco Fan border punch - Martha Stewart; corner rounder punch - EK Success

Inspired By Stamping #45 - Beautiful Birthday

Have you checked out the all-new challenges over at Inspired By Stamping lately?  There is a new color challenge every week, and the inspiration pictures are simply amazing!

This week, we are playing with Off White, Light Brown and Red:

I am in love with the card I made (shameful!) and will probably hold on to it for a while, before giving it away.

I used pretty little flowers from Inspired By Stamping to top my bow, and a sentiment from Mason Jar Add-On II.  

The gorgeous papers are from a Swedish company, Maja Designs.  Their full line is very difficult to get here in the USA, but when I met with my friend Andrea recently, she let me cut into her stash.  (Thank you SO much, Andrea!)

Come play with us!  Link up your card HERE.  You do not need to use IBS products to play.  :-)

Thank you for coming by today!

 

Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps:  Mason Jar Add-On II - IBS
Paper: Crumb Cake, Riding Hood Red - SU; Life In The Country, Havrerutor - bs - Maja Designs
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: kraft seam binding - Martha Stewart; kraft gingham ribbon - SU; white pom pom trim
Other: pearl flourish - Zva Creative; Mixed Small Flowers - IBS

Wreath Gratitude

Hello, friends!  I've had some busy crafty days recently (including a craft date with my friend, Andrea on the weekend), but the card I'm showing off right now is a Paper Crafts Magazine reject from a while back (poo).

It was a sketch challenge, thus the unusual look:

The wreath is from Verve's Glad Tidings, a Christmas set.  I made my wreaths look summery with 'blueberries'.  The sentiment is from their Thank You set.   

You know the time-suck called Pinterest, right?  I've spent a lot of time there in the last several days, re-pinning many gorgeous cards by people like Debby Hughes, Iwona Palamountain, Andrea Ewen, and so many more.  There is a TON of inspiration there!  (You can check out all of my Boards HERE, if you like.)  

I'd been thinking about a conversation I saw on Facebook recently (possibly Emily Branch's?  couldn't find it again, though).  The question posed:  Should one post her own creations to Pinterest, or leave it to others to pin what they find interesting?  Many people responded with their opinions, and there were folks on both sides of that fence.  Me?  I like to keep a Board of my own creations, and so pin everything I make.  Why?  For one, it is a gallery where, with one glance, I can see what I have made without having to scroll through post after post (I used to keep my gallery at Splitcoast up to date, but I've just run out of time).  Another reason:  I hope to inspire people who do spend a lot of their time at Pinterest.  It's really like one-stop shopping.  You can find cards to interest you, plus recipes for tonight's dinner, crafts for the kids, books to read, and so on.    If I load my cards there, I'm sure to hit a wider market that may never even visit my blog.  

Just curious:  what is your opinion on pinning your own creations?  I'd love to read your answers!



Dimensions: 4.25" x 5.5"
Stamps: Glad Tidings - Verve; Thank You - Flourishes
Paper: white - PTI
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko
Fibers: lace
Other: Copic markers; Bracket punch - EK Success; pearls