Following My Heart ... Right Back To Sheer Joy!!!

Hi there!  Sorry it's been so long, but I sure hope to be doing this more often from now on!  With hubby at home most of the time now, our travel schedule, an elderly mother who needs me, and my desire to craft ALL.THE.TIME!, blogging just tends to take a back seat.  That said, I do have another, new, endeavor. 

For some time now I have wanted to form a new group in our area for a 'place' for women in our area to gather, chat, share, learn, and craft together!  Building friendships and relationships that will go beyond the group's confines is important to me!  So, one of the local craft stores is allowing us to use their classroom on Fridays ... for free ... and I have been advertising by word of mouth, Facebook and a local online newspaper.  I had great responses, and we had our first gathering yesterday.

It was a phenomenal success!  I had hoped and prayed for two people to join me.  Three and I would have been over the moon happy ... but we had more!  Five ladies joined me yesterday for some fun, fellowship and crafty fun.  It was amazing!  And we now have dates on the store's calendar through April.  The best part of this?  I walked away with five new friends, at least one or two that I can see becoming close friendships.  I feel so blessed that God has blessed this new endeavor!

Anyway, most of my time yesterday was spent talking to people, answering questions about my work, and walking people through the store and showing them where they should start on paper crafting, and I loved it!  But I did get back to my first love ... card making ... for the first time in a long time, and it was wonderful!  I made one card completely and started another, then this morning when I couldn't sleep I finished that one and made another.  It was bliss!  Card making is my first love, and I haven't made a card in months ... maybe over a year, and it felt so good to get back to doing what I love so much!

First up is 'It'll Be Okay' ...

Of course this is a Mabel Lucie Atwell image .... my favorites ... as are all three of the cards today.  I just love this little image, and have wanted to use it in a card for a long time.  Here are the 'ingredients' in the card:

• Card blank - Recollections from Michaels
• Background paper - Black Stripes - Recollections from Michaels
• Ribbon - May Arts
• White Eyelet - stash, could be from anywhere!
• Button - stash, could be from anywhere!
• Stickles - Black Diamond, Platinum, Diamond and Christmas Red
• Ink Pad for edging - Stampabilities Pigment Ink from Hobby Lobby - Brown
• Ink Pad for sentiment inside - Stampabilities Pigment Ink from Hobby Lobby . Black
• Sentiment stamp from 'Trust God' set from Stampin' Up  It says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Close up of ribbon and trim ...

Next up is 'Baby Boy' ...

 Here are the ingredients:

• Card Blank - Recollections from Michaels
• Background Paper - Light Blue and White Stripes - Recollections from Michaels
• Dark Blue Cardstock -Recollections from Michaels (no color name)
• Red Cardstock - Bazzill 'Card Shoppe' Cardstock
• Ribbon and Button - stash
• Stickles:  Waterfall, Diamond, Patina
• Sticker - SRM Press

Close up on ribbon ...

 And last, is 'Best Friends' ...

 

 Here are the ingredients:

• Card Base - Recollections from Michaels
• Background paper - Bold Yellow Stripe - Recollections from Michaels
• Dark Green Cardstock - 'Greenbrier' from Bazzill
• Trim is by Hug Snug Seam Binding
• Vintage Button from my stash
• Stickles:  Black Diamond, Patina, Icicles

And that is my first three cards in a long, long time!  If you are looking for the images, simply go to Pinterest and search for "Mabel Lucie Atwell Images" and you will find quite a few of them!  I save them to my computer using Picasa software and that makes it easy to organize and do minor edits to the images.

I hope you have enjoyed your visit today ... It really feels good to be making cards again!  Come back soon, Becky

Sharing ... Hello Card ... Mabel Lucie Atwell

Hello and Happy April!  This has always been one of my favorite months ... mainly because it is spring, and because it is my birthday month!  Although, since this is a 'biggie' birthday, we won't talk about that now!  Last night I couldn't sleep, so I got up and spent some time in my craft room, and made a card.  I have to say, this is one of my favorite cards in a long time!  Here ... what do YOU think ...

Isn't it adorable???  I used my new favorite Mabel Lucie Atwell image as the focal point.  You can search by her name on Pinterest and find lots of her images to use in your projects!  She was an artist and illustrator in England in the early 1900's.  I inked the edges of the image with brown ink, used my Spica pens to add a little glitter on the window sill, her hair, bracelets, the puppy dog', the flowers and the curtains.  I sure wish it showed up here, but the glitter is so very fine it doesn't really show up in the pictures.

I love the yellow and turquoise color combination ... never thought of it before, but it looks great together!  The star is made by adhering an Epiphany star resin bubble to the paper and cutting around it with a craft knife.  I have several of the Epiphany punches, but tend to just buy the bubbles in shapes with straight edges because you can cut them out easily.

To make the fluffy bow, I used the Boye flower loom ... I think it's called a 'knifty knitter' and did one loop on each of the posts.  Here is a picture of the loom .....

And that is my card!  I think it came out beautifully!  If you are interested in purchasing this card (blank inside), please email me at lifeatcamelliacottage@gmail.com and I will send you an invoice via PayPal.  The cost is $6.00 for card and shipping.

Thanks for visiting, and blessings,

Ingredients:

• Base card stock - Georgia Pacific 110# white (Walmart)
• Patterned Paper - Simple Stories 'Snap' Color Vibe 6 x 6 inch paper pad
• Trim - Ball Fringe (unknown)  Seam Binding - Schiff 'Hug Snug' eBay
• Sticker - SRM Stickers
• Star Bubble - Epiphany Crafts
• Brown Ink - Stampabilities
• Spica Pens

Sharing ... Creating ... Sketches ... Queen & Co. Featured Card

Hi there!  How's the weather in your part of the world???  This time last year we were already in an early summer ... temps in the 80's and pollen counts off the roof.  But this year, spring is dragging her feet and we even had some snow flurries last night.  I am so ready for warmer temps and sunny spring days!

And speaking of sunny spring days ... I have a card to share with you that is colorful and cute and brings thoughts of blue skies, yellow sunshine and pretty flowers to match!  A couple of days ago, Queen & Co., a manufacturer of crafting embellishments extraordinaire posted a card sketch on their Facebook Page and encouraged us to try making a card 'inspired' by the sketch.  Now, I love a good card sketch, so I took it as a challenge and went right to my crafty space and got to work.  Here's a pic of the sketch ...

So I gathered together a few supplies, including a few of my favorite rolls of Queen & Co.'s 'Trendy Tape' and went to work!  I cut and trimmed and glued and even used my Cricut Expression to cut a cute label and some flowers ... and here is what I come up with ...

I love it!  I used the trendy tape to cover the piece of cardstock between the patterned paper and card stock label.  Kind of like 'wallpaper'!  And I also used it to cover the die cut daisy in the top righthand corner.  Here are the details ...

Ingredients:

• Card stock - Bazzill
• Patterned Paper - Lawn Fawn
• Washi Tape - Trendy Tape 'Summer Blooms'
• Stickers - SRM Stickers
• Button - Buttons Galore
• Twine - Maya Road Corded Twine
• Sequins - Lawn Fawn
• Adhesives - Ranger 'Glossy Accents', Scotch ATG and Foam Squares by Recollections (Michaels)

Notes:

• Cricut cartridges used are Walk in my Garden and Elegant Edges
• Glossy Accents works great for adhering the sequins or other small bits
• For the die cut flower, cut it first, then add the Trendy Tape and trim around with a craft knife or small detail scissors.

And that is everything!  A piece of advice ... if you love hearing all the latest crafty news, seeing sneak peeks of new products and giveaways, you really should go and 'like' your favorite manufacturers and stores on Facebook!  They all do a great job of keeping their customers and 'fans' informed!

Okay, that's all for today.  Hope you come back for a visit soon!  Blessings,

Sharing ... Three Pretty Cards!

Hello!  Yes, I have been MIA again ... no excuses other than life takes precedence over blog!  Also, part of the reason is that I have been working on some 'large' projects that I can't share with you yet.  One is for a birthday gift, and I will share that one with you in a few weeks, and the other is for the 'Retro Color Challenge' over at May Arts Ribbon, so I can't share that one with you yet, but I will!

Today I want to share with you three cards that I have made in the last couple of days.  I love them all, but I have to say the two masculine cards are my faves.  First up, though, is the 'Celebrate' card ...

Close up of rose image

Celebrate card by Melissa Frances

Paper flower by Prima

Sideways view so you can see how I layered the yellow rose

Ingredients:

• Card stock - Bazzill
• Patterned Paper - KI Memories 'Shimmer Paper' Baby Thin Stipe
• 'Celebrate' tag - Melissa Frances
• Pink Paper Flower - Prima
• Ribbon - stash (flea market purchase years ago)
• Stickles - Ranger - Waterfall, Diamond
• Brown Ink - Stampabilities
• Adhesives - Foam Squares from Recollections (Michaels) and Scotch ATG 1/4"

Notes:

• As you can see, I printed two of the vintage images (found on Pinterest) and fussy cut the yellow rose bloom, inked it and adhered it over the bottom image using foam squares.  
• To make tying ribbon across the top of the card, use a sharp craft knife and cut along the spine of the card and run the ribbon through it, and tie in front.  

'Daddy' Card ...

Vintage bird image found on Pinterest

Close up of image

Small bow, metal embellishments

Close up of detail ... bird fussy cut from another print of the image and put on the image, bumped up with foam squares

Ingredients:

• Card stock - Bazzill
• Patterned Paper - Authentique 'Blissful' Pleasant paper
• Metal pieces - Tim  Holtz 'Ideaology' Foliage, Mini Paper Clips, and Game Spinners
• Sticker (Daddy) - SRM Press
• Stickles - Ranger - Mercury Glass and Cinnamon
• Ribbon - Tim Holtz 'Trimmings' Inked with ...
• Art Anthology 'Colorations Spray' Focus
• Brown Ink (edgings) - Stampabilities

Notes:

• To change the color of the ribbon, simply place it on a scrap piece of paper or a 'splat mat' and spray with mist(s), crinkling and blending as you go, until you get to color you want, then dry with heat gun.

'Fathers Day' Card ...

Dear Lizzie 'Feather and Leaf' Sticker.  I removed the embellishments that were on it (too feminine) and added some metal bits to make it a little more masculine.

 

Close up of  image (Pinterest)

 Ingredients:

• Card stock - Bazzill
• Patterned Paper - Authentique 'Blissful' Pleasant paper (reverse side from previous card)
• Metal pieces - Tim  Holtz 'Ideaology' Foliage
• Vintaj Small Star
• Robins Nest 'Dew Drop' (in center of small flower)
• Dear Lizzy 'Feather and Leaf' embellishment sticker
• Sticker - SRM Press
• Stickles - Ranger - Mercury Glass and Cinnamon
• Brown Ink (edgings) - Stampabilities

 Notes:

• The Dear Lizzy Feather and Leaf layered sticker had a couple of jewels and a pink bow that I thought were too feminine for a masculine card, so I removed them and added some Tim Holtz and Vintaj metal pieces.  They add a great touch to this simple card.

Well, that's my three cards!  I haven't made this many cards in a long time, and it sure felt good!  I am also working on .... ummm, a couple of mini albums, and hope to show them to you one day, when they are finished.

Thanks for visiting today, and I hope to see you back here soon!  Blessings,