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,

Sharing ... Anything But A Card ... Sparkle!

Welcome!  Today I want to share my latest project for Anything But A Card, Challenge 33, theme of Sparkle!  I really loved this challenge, because I truly love sparkle and shine on my projects.  I also love them on ME!

A few years ago for Christmas, my sweet hubby of 29 years gave me one last, unexpected, gift, but he made me read the card first.  It was a sweet card, but inside he had written 'I finally found something that sparkles as much as you do'.  I know ... go ahead ... Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!    And when I opened the package, inside was a gorgeous diamond ring, and it sparkled (and still sparkles) more than any ring I had ever seen!  And I am wearing that ring right as I type this post!

Anyway, for my project this week I decided I needed to make some 'greeting tags' to take to a store where I sell some of my things on consignment.  Several years ago I found a brand new box of envelopes (500 in the box, with only a few missing) for a whopping big ten cents!  Yep, a dime for a whole box of envelopes, and the #5 manila tags fit inside perfectly.  I have sold a lot of my tags for sending, and my stock at the store is almost gone.  Here is what I made ...

Six greeting tags, each with the same sweet bluebird vintage greeting card image, with three coordinating color schemes of pink, green and a deep orange-y yellow.  Each tag is different, some with bling, some with flowers, some with sequins, some with buttons, but ALL with lots of Stickles!  The small sentiments are just printed on white 110# card stock, cut out, inked and glued down. 

Can you see the sparkle?  All along the edges of the image, as well as on the pink flowers, and wings of the bluebirds.

Don't you love that rich, deep yellow seam binding?  It was a part of my swap package from Debbie.  I love those sequins from Lawn Fawn that are on the left hand tag.

Aren't they so cute!  All you have to do is write a quick note on the back and stick it into an envelope and send or give it to someone special.  A friend, family member, child's day care teacher, hair dresser, anyone who needs a bit of encouragement.

I know this last one isn't a very great picture, but you can really see the sparkle on the birdies and flowers.

I hope you have enjoyed visiting today ... this will be my last post for Anything But A Card.  I have enjoyed my time on this team, but my heart just isn't in it, and I am in a different place these days than I was the last few years when I was really into doing the DT thing.  There will be a new team member to take my place next month, so please make her welcome!  Blessings,

Sharing ... Anything But A Card Design Team Project

Hi there!  It's time once again for a design team project for the Anything But A Card Challenge!  This month's theme is a 'Tic Tac Toe' challenge.  You have to pick three items in a straight line that goes up and down, across, or diagonally to make a tic tac toe!  Easy Peasy!  And here is the board for you to choose from ...
 

For my project this month I chose the center line horizontally, which is bling, hearts and mists or inks.  I had a heart shaped candy box laying around and decided it would work perfectly for my heart shape from the center of the board.  I also used up some old bling I had been holding onto for ages!  Here is my project ...

For the edge of the box shape, I guess you would call it the 'band' of the box, I added some yellow card stock and painted it with a glittery paint.  Then I added some tulle trim in a mauve color, and some brilliant blue seam binding ribbon.  For the top of the box I traced the top onto some matching blue card stock and adhered it to the top.

 Next I took a paper doily that I had misted with three different colors of mist and let it dry.  Then I cut the doily up into several pieces and decoupaged it onto the box top, leaving the center of the doily as the center of the box.  Next I painted the top of the box with a glittery paint, let it dry, and added the bling.  And I think I may have gone a little overboard with the bling, but it's okay!

Then I added a pretty bow of the blue seam binding and added a cute heart shaped button.  And that was it!  I think my box is pretty, and I think it would be a very cute treasure box for a young girl!

Oh, and does anything look familiar on this project???  Well, it should, because the doily I used on top of the box is the one that was on the board above!  When DT Leader Susan contacted me and asked me to help her with the images for the board, I just knew I wanted to use that doily in my project!  Here is a pic of the original image used on the board ...

And I used the piece of paper that I used to do the misting for the bottom of the box by simply tracing around the box, cutting it out, and adhering it to the bottom of the box.

Thanks so much for joining me today!  If you haven't already, why don't you go play tic tac toe with us, make a project and share it on the Anything But A Card blog!  Blessings,

Products:

• Card stock - Bazzill Basics
• Mists - Art Anthology Colorations - Heart, Glorious, and Waimea Bay
• Paint - Art Anthology Sorbet - Frost (clear with multicolor glitter)
• Ribbon - Schiff's Hug Snug Seam Binding
• Tulle Trim - Maya Road
• Bling - and assortment of Prima, Want 2 Scrap, and Recollections
• Heart Button - Buttons Galore and More
• Doily - Publix Supermarket

Sharing ... Design Team Project ... Anything But A Card Challenge #31 'Balance'

Hello there!  I am very excited to have joined the Design Team at Anything But A Card, a challenge blog where you get a new challenge every month.  I have participated a few times, and have known one of the designers for several years, since we were on another DT together about 3 to 4 years ago.  She kept asking me to join their team, so I finally said yes!

This month's challenge is all about 'balance' and how you interpret it, there is also a photo that may give your creative side a little boost if you need some help.  As this was my first challenge, I decided I should stay true to my vintage/retro style and went to Pinterest in search of a vintage image that fit the theme.  And I found one, too!  A cute vintage image of a boy and girl on a see-saw, apparently having a blast.  Then I found a quote that said 'life is a balance of holding on and letting go - Rumi' ... and isn't that the truth!  And I remember as a kid, hanging on tight until I got to the top and raising my hands up high until it was time to start back down again.  Here is my project ...

Here the details:  The base is an 8" x 4" manilla tag, and I don't know who made it as a friend ordered a case of them and gave me a stack ... she's sweet like that!  The papers are from a My Mind's Eye 'Playdate' 6" x 6" paper pad.  The trim at top is from Pebbles, and the tiny ric-rack is from an estate sale I discovered a few years ago.  The teal card stock is Bazzil, the white card stock is Georgia Pacific from Walmart.  The brown ink is from Stampabilities, the bling on the image is Stickles in both Ice Blue and Mercury Glass.

I wanted to do a close-up of the image so you could see the dimension.  I actually printed out two of the images and fussy cut one, leaving only the see-saw, tree stump and children.  Then I inked up the part I cut out and adhered it onto the base image using foam squares from Recollections.  Then I added stickles to draw your eye to the edges so it would really pop up that dimension.  Here is how it looks from a side view ...

Do you see the foam dots under there ... that is a very easy way to give depth and dimension to a paper crafted project.  I think I will give this tag to my niece ... she is a new Mommy and I think she is learning that there are just some things that have to be let go of so she can do the important things.  She is a really good Mommy and a wonderful husband for my nephew, and I love her a lot!


Thanks for joining me and please come back soon ... I will have another project to share with you soon.  Blessings!

Sharing ... Crafting ... After The Fussy Cutting, Then Comes The Assembly!

Welcome!  Do you remember THIS POST a few weeks ago when I talked about fussy cutting, and how you do it?  Well I am finally getting around to following up on the tags I made with the fussy cut images and how I assembled them.  This is one if the little puppy images, fussy cut and inked around the edges with a soft (and inexpensive) brown pigment ink pad.  I like the softer, less expensive ink pads much better than those 'famous', firmer ink pads that you have to use a blending tool (another expense) to get the softer look.  Just putting it out there!

As I was making a number of tags at once, nine to be exact, I played around with a few ideas, and then decided on a red paper with white polka dots, blue die cut scalloped circles, embossed with a cute swirly folder, and lots of Stickles! Once I decided on the elements for the tags, I cut out the pieces for one and put it together, just to see how it worked before cutting out all the multiples of pieces.  Here is what it looked like with the pieces all being placed but not glued down ...

Looks good to me, let's move on! Next up is cutting, embossing and inking the edges of all the pieces.  Once that chore is done, I started the assembly process.  Adhering the patterned paper to the white card stock I was using as the base of the tags.  That done, I added the circles of blue card stock.

Next up is the puppy images.  Because the card stock I used to print the images on is kind of flimsy, I want to add a scrap of card stock to the back to make it a little more sturdy.  I cut a piece of card stock slightly smaller than the image and just glue it on ...

... that adds just enough sturdiness so the image won't buckle if it's pushed in a bit.  Next up, I add some dimension.  Foam squares, pop dots, whatever you call them, they are great for dimension.

After they are attached I add some Stickles ... Christmas Red for the heart and Diamond for the blue bow.

An outline here, some filling in there, and the Stickles makes everything shiny and pretty!  Add a small hole punched in the top and some simple twine, and you have a tag, ready to give to someone special!

Aren't they cute?  And in a couple of days, I will be giving away five of them in my Facebook Followers Giveaway ... are you a follower of my Facebook page?  Better move on over there and 'Like' my page so you can be in on the action.  Blessings,

Sharing ... Crafting ... Moving On to the Next Holiday!

Well, Christmas is past (sort of) and today I have a day to myself to do whatever I please, and what pleases me, of course, is crafting!  And since I make crafts to (attempt to) sell, I have to look ahead to the next holiday ... Valentines of course!  And I just LOVE making Valentines tags using vintage images! 

Where do I find those images, you ask?  Well, these days I primarily find them on Pinterest, but I don't pin them, but instead save the images to my computer and use Picasa to edit and print them.  (The link on the word Picasa will take you to where you can get the free download)  For the Valentines tags I print 9 images per page, set at 'Wallet' and 'Shrink To Fit'.  Here is an image just for you ... simply put your cursor over the image, right click on your mouse and choose 'Save Image As' and save it to your computer.

This is one of my favorite vintage Valentines images because it is so sweet and simple!  Once you have saved this to your computer and printed out numerous copies (In my case 9 on one sheet) you want to 'fussy cut' these sweet puppies out from the white background.

What is fussy cutting?  Well, according to definition.net, it is to cut pieces of fabric (or paper!) so that a particular part of the printed design is centered or featured.  In the case of these images you can simply cut around the whole image, removing the white around it.  

The only really hard part of doing this is leaving 'just the right amount' of white outside of the printed area.  It really does make a huge difference if you do this!  Here is what I mean ...

I know the picture isn't great, but it's hard to get a very up close photo without it being a bit fuzzy.  But do you see what I mean?  Just a tiny bit of white outside the printed area is all you need.

One thing that I do suggest you have for this process is a pair of good 'detail' scissors.  The pair I have now is great!  I bought them at the 2012 Scrapbook Expo nearest me for $1 and they work great.  They have think sharp blades and a pointed tip.  When I went back to the 2013 Expo they had gone up in price to $2 ... but still a great value for these wonderful scissors!

The scissors I use are about three to three and one half inches long.  The blue ribbon tied to one of the finger 'holes' is because there are several of us at my LSS who have them, and with the blue ribbon I know this pair is mine!

And what do you get when you do the fussy cutting?  Well, you get a neat and clean image, ready for turning into something pretty!

Do you see how pretty those little images are?  They will look great on some valentines tags once I have inked the edges and prettied them up a bit.  But that's for another post!  Thanks for visiting today, and I look forward to showing you more about how I make some really sweet Valentines tags!  Blessings,