Simon Says Tuesday Trigger - Frame by Frame

When I first saw the current Tuesday Trigger: Frame by Frame at Moxie Fab World I was stumped. The crochet frames overwhelmed me and I really wasn't sure how to use the image. I do have a few crochet flowers that I pulled out and left on the corner of my desk to see if inspiration would come.

Then I saw the new challenge at Simon Say Stamps is Anything Goes, but encouraging you to use Martha Stewart products, an idea started to form. One of my all time favorite Martha Stewart products is her butterfly punches and there are butterflies in the framed images in the Trigger.

I started with a circle from Pink Paislee Artisan Elements that I sprayed with Glimmer Mist in Pink Bubblegum. I blotted the spray before it dried to get a more muted color, but the shine is still there. I also sprayed a rectangle of textured white cardstock with Blue Skies Glimmer Mist. 

Before adhering the circle to the card panel, I stamped a Hero Arts sentiment with Memento Toffee Crunch ink in the bottom right corner.

This close up shows the color and shine from the mists.

The butterflies were punched from three shades of vellum and randomly adhered with a dot of Glossy Accents in the center of each, giving the impression that they are floating on the card.

I came very close to giving away my small collection of mists last summer, but today I am so glad they are still hanging around the office.

I just can't seem to put the vellum away. Last night I met up with a few crafty friends and spent some time cutting vellum snowflakes with borrowed dies, so expect to see them appearing on projects before long.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday #93 - Splitting Die Cuts

This week for PTI's Make It Monday, Ashley Cannon Newell challenged us to split a die cut on a project. Her tutorial and more details can be found here.

The Mega Gracious Vases dies were still sitting on my desk after being used for the PTI Blog Hop card last week and I immediately thought about using one of them for a get well card. To be honest, sometimes when an idea comes so immediately to my mind, I question whether it has already been done and was filed away in the depth of my brain under the "future use ideas" (and apologies if this was your original design).

The designer papers are from Teresa Collins, a little lace trim from my stash and one of the sentiments from the Mega Mixed Messages inked with Memento Espresso Truffle round out the supplies.

Last week I used some of my ancient vellum supplies - this week a deckle edge pair of scissors!

I was sure I had a sentiment that said something about "healing" or "on the mend", but couldn't find either. Maybe it is time to make up an index file of my stamps so I don't waste valuable crafting time searching.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MFTWSC99 Cheers Wreath

Just popping in for a quick post today before the schedule goes crazy in half an hour - dear son has a community service project to squeeze in before everyone gets their eyes tested. I'm anticipating being light sensitive for the evening and probably not crafting or on the computer.

I received a few new goodies from My Favorite Things, including their gorgeous wreath die, so just had to play a bit.

Here is the sketch for this week's challenge at Splitcoast Stampers and my version.

I tend to go crazy with the designer papers on these sketches - some days it works better than others and this one it looking a little too busy at the moment.

I almost didn't add any sentiment, but decided to include "cheers" from the MFT Let's Toast set on the mini-tab.

The MFT Winter Wreath die comes with this cute bow. I cut and layered the wreath three times to add a little depth and fullness.

All the designer papers are from the My Mind's Eye Merry 6x6 pad. The only other supplies are a ribbon and few pearls from my stash.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Papertrey Ink November 2012 Blog Hop

Yeah! I am back with my second post today, participating in the Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop.

This month Nichole Heady challenged us to take inspiration from cover art to create a project. She gave us these options to use, or we could come up with one of our own.

I hope you guess that I was inspired by the Liars poster.

I already had vellum out to use on the card I posted earlier today, and ribbons of color fluttering on the poster completely captured my attention and I knew I could capture their spirit with colored vellum.

I did start out layering free formed ribbons, but it just was not flowing the way I wanted it to.

When I went looking for a die that might work & found my Mega Gracious Vases die set, the design really came together quickly.

A piece of teal ribbon helps anchor the vases and a greeting from Birthday Bash Sentiments embossed in white on a Hawaiian Shores cardstock base finish the card.

I love that you can clearly see each vase and that there is such a range of color created by the overlapping pieces.

I am off to see what everyone else has done!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday #92- Layered Vellum Die Cuts

I have had this card sitting on my desk for a few days waiting to be photographed and woke up to a heavy marine layer shutting out the sun (what the rest of the world calls "fog", we in San Diego call "the marine layer"), but decided I wanted to get this off my desk and linked over to the Make It Monday challenge to use Layered Vellum Die Cuts at Nichole Heady's blog.

I know it is the PTI Blog Hop day, and so hope to get back with another post this afternoon.

I love the softness vellum adds to a project and the way you call play with the colors & layers.

The first step was to cut a piece of scrap white cardstock with PTI's Tag Sale #4 die and a piece of pale blue vellum. I love using this die to make ornaments for Christmas cards this year!

I sandwiched 3 snowflakes and a few silver & blue sequins between the die cuts and glued the edges shut. A line of Glossy Accents was run on the outside edge of the circle and Martha Stewart Coarse glitter was sprinkled along the edge.

A bow created with Really Reasonable Ribbon's Diamond Satin Aqua ribbon tops off the ornament. You can just make out the third snowflake as it is the same pale blue as the front piece, so shows as a shadow.

A few other snowflakes were punched in teal and pale blue vellum and layered - as you can see, a couple are also glittered.

A piece of the Diamond Satin ribbon runs between the tag die cut and the sentiment.

This sentiment is one of the PTI Think Big Favorites #9 and inked with Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass Distress Ink,  The designer paper for the base is from My Mind's Eye Merry paper pad.

Thanks for stopping by - hoping to check in again later today!

Jacquie

Really Reasonable Ribbon Anything but a Card Challenge

Since 90% of my crafting time lately has been card making, the Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #60 - Anything but a Card made me stop and think.

In the big November 2012 purge of things we don't need cluttering up our house, a few small jewelry boxes were discarded. My first thought was to try alter these, but really the only thing worth saving in one was the cotton pad lining the box.

I decided to make a new box that would fit the cotton pad, so pulled out a piece of heavyweight white cardstock, red double sided adhesive tape & my score tool.

I quickly made a simple 8x2x1" box and cut & scored the lid 1/4" bigger and only 1/2" deep. Before putting together the lid, I decided to use three of the ribbons from RRR's Christmas Diamond Satin Ribbon Assortment to create a woven design on the box lid.









I finished one end of the lid and didn't even measure or cut the ribbons to start. Using the adhesive tape, I adhered the end of the ribbon under the lid and then again on the outside of the lid.

Once the ends were secure, I could easily see how much ribbon I needed and trimmed the pieces.

Finding the center of the long side of the box, I repeated the same method of anchoring my ribbon, adding a piece to alternating sides, until 7 short pieces of ribbon were lined up.  Again, I could see how much of each piece was needed and trimmed the lengths as I went along.

             


Once the ribbon was anchored at one end, it is easy to weave the pieces. A length of adhesive at each end keeps the long ribbon pieces from moving and is all that's needed to keep the woven piece in place.

I finish anchoring the ribbon in place the same way I started, taping it on both the outside and inside of the lid.

For a little extra decoration, I formed a bow with a couple loops of ribbon scrunched together with a red bakers twine. A few bells are attached and a piece of the green ribbon is layered underneath.

This is a perfect little gift box for a piece of jewelry, chocolates or other small treat!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks for stopping by,


Jacquie

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #79 Winter Blues

I'm sneaking in a little creative time between loads of laundry and other big cleaning activities. Around here, my dear kids have the whole week off school, so I take advantage of them and have their help with a semi-annual purge & deep clean of the house.

I am not someone who lives to clean - I can let the dust bunnies gather while I read a book or make a card - but I really, really need things clean before the Christmas decor goes up.

This is my contribution to the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge.

CFC79: Create a CAS winter project featuring blue.

It has been many years since we have had a white Christmas, but I love this Memory Box Country Landscape die and used it to create this pretty little scene,

The card is 5x5 and the main panel 4 1/2 x 4 1/2". Tim Holtz Tumbled Glass distress ink is sponged over the main panel first.

I manipulated the die to fit the 4 1/2" width and then masked a Papertrey Ink stamp from Think Big Favorites #9 so that only "peace" was stamped with the Tumbled Glass ink.

A piece of baker's twine is wrapped around the die cut piece three times, with silver & blue bells attached to the end pieces.

I pick up these mini jingle bells in almost every color at this time of the year! 

The final step to finishing this card is mounting the die cut onto the blue sponged panel with dimensional foam adhesive.

If I get ahead of my cleaning schedule, I might be back before Thanksgiving. We have relatives from Scotland ending a cruise here tomorrow morning. They didn't know it was Thanksgiving when making their plans. so are going to experience their first American Thanksgiving and their first deep fried turkey (the ONLY way to make it in my humble opinion LOL).

Thanks for stopping by.

Jacquie

Tuesday Trigger - Fantasy in Fall

I've decided we are going to have grapevine wreaths on the front door this year for the holiday season. For as long as I can remember we have had fresh pine wreaths, but since moving into a house with a green door, every year I put the wreaths up and say "why didn't I get something that will stand out better?"

This is a long winded way of getting to the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Fantasy in Fall.

Image Credit

You might see the colors or felt flowers first, but I immediately saw a grapevine wreath.

I coiled some heavy, coarse jute three times and then wrapped a 4th coil loosely around the other coils to make my wreath. Like the inspiration photo, I paired the hard wreath with the soft, feminine felt rolled flowers cut with a MFT die.

A few felt leaves, pearl centers and a swirly "merci" finish things off.

The Simon Says Stamp current challenge is "Thanksgiving/Thank You", so I am linking this card up to that challenge as well. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Make It Monday #91 - Faux Pockets

This card will need a little explaining, but rest assured my post (and card) are rated G.

Dawn McVey has the Make It Monday tutorial and challenge for Papertrey Ink this week and explains how to make a Faux Pocket for a tag on your card front. You can check it out here.

Now, before you get too excited by the "WTF", recently CAS-ual Fridays Challenge blog started producing their own line of stamps. One of the first they offered is called WTF and includes a few delightful sentiments such as "who totally  forgot?" and "where's the fun?".

I have a dear sister who is turning fifty this month and have been mulling over how to help her celebrate. When I saw Dawn's tutorial I realized a faux pocket would help bring together all the elements I wanted on the card front.

I die cut the letters out of glitter paper and adhered them to a PTI zipper die cut from Teresa Collins designer paper. Behind the zipper is the second half of my "WTF" sentiment.

This is a die cut I played with to see if my computer generated sentiment would fit - you can see how the zipper is pulled back to reveal the "who's turning fifty?"

A little glitter paper, Spica glitter pen and "pull here" help highlight the zipper and instruct dear sister on what to do with the card.

The clock seemed an appropriate embellishment and a piece of glimmery sheer ribbon helps pull the eye to the right spot.

This whole panel is mounted with foam adhesive to create the faux pocket and leave room for the tag with the birthday greeting,

I was going to stamp the PTI sentiment with black ink, but when I came across this gold glitter embossing powder I decided to give it a try. I love how close a match it is to the glitter paper!

The tag is made by cutting 2 pieces of designer paper with the PTI Tag Sale #5 die and adhering them together and the sentiment panel is Spellbinders Reverse Wonky Rectangle. A Pink Paislee butterfly charm and 1 1/2" Silky Crush ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon finish the tag.

A few pieces of designer paper scraps finish the inside of the card along with a sentiment from PTI"s Movers and Shakers stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Thankful CQC & CASual Friday

We took advantage of an extra day last weekend to head up to Los Angeles and visit this little vehicle at the California Science Center.

A few friends took their dear children out of school to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour when it arrived in Los Angeles and, after watching the news footage, I really regret that we didn't go up for that once in a life time event.

The exhibit is free (although you do need a time ticket) and really worth adding it to your things to do in Los Angeles list.

Today is the first day since the weekend I have had a bit of creative time, so I took a look at the challenges I still had time to participate in and decided I was going to combine the CAS-ual Fridays CFC78, Colour Q cQc#163 and Simon Says Stamp Thanksgiving/Thank You challenge on a card.

CFC78- Create a Clean And Simple project that has something torn on it.

Tear that cardstock, designer paper or even felt. Get creative and tear it up :)

Given all of the above, this is what I came up with:

The washi tape is from We R Memory Keepers and 2 strips are torn and added to the card base. Several sizes of the MFT Royal Leaves die-namics are cut in green felt and layered on the left side of the washi.

The "thankful" die and sentiment are both PTI - designer paper from the Authentique Thankful line and Memento Toffee Crunch ink round out the supplies.

Thankful is adhered with dimensional foam to lift it above the felt leaves. I love that the dies leave a vein impression in the felt!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

RRR59 Winter Holiday Ribbon Challenge

My square punch is still sitting on my desk, so I've been playing around with it and a pad of American Craft glitter paper that I picked up at Target earlier this week.

I wanted to spell out the word "merry" and back each letter with a glitter square, but because my smallest square punch is 1 3/4", I would end up making a 10" wide card. I could fit 2 letters on one square, so cut out "ho ho ho" and mounted the words on three white glitter squares, rounded opposite corners and then left them sitting on the desk for a few days, not sure what to do next.

Yesterday my order from Really Reasonable Ribbon came in with a few gorgeous red and white ribbons. Once the ribbons were here, it didn't take long to put together this money holder card.

The card is 7x4", which allows plenty of room for my sentiment glitter squares to spread across the top of the card.

The 5/8" white satin double ruffle ribbon is adhered first and then the 1/8" red diagonal stripe ribbon is adhered on top. A strip of 1/8" adhesive tape is perfect for holding this ribbon in place. I trimmed the ends and then slipped the extra pieces under the knot. A button tied with Baker's twine is added on top.

A Nestabilites Label die cut and sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Santa Stationery stamp set finish the inside of the card.

Another piece of the red diagonal stripe ribbon runs along the edge of the money pocket.

The use of the square punch was inspired by the Square Punch Challenge at Moxie Fab World, so I am linking this card over there as well as the Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #59 Winter Holiday & Ribbon challenge.

I'm thrilled to tell you Bonnie at Really Reasonable Ribbon has asked me to Guest Design on their blog for the month of December! Their ribbons are gorgeous & I can't wait to get started!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MFTGUESTDT1112 Let's Celebrate!

Every month My Favorite Things has a Guest Design Team challenge that offers great prizes - check their blog here for details on the November challenge and head over to Splitcoast Stampers to join in the fun. This month the sketch really fits their new Peek-a-Boo Squared die, which I don't have.

As often happens when I see a sketch, the wheels start turning and before long I became obsessed with an idea. A little measuring and a couple of Nestabilities circle dies helped me configure a rough facsimile of the four circle die and I created this.

I stamped four different a la Modes on a square of white cardstock: The Rainbow Will Come, Birthday Girl, Miss You a Latte and Cheers. They are colored with Copics and paper pieced with papers from Teresa Collins Vintage Finds 6x6 pad.  Only The Rainbow Will Come required a bit of masking as I didn't want her holding an umbrella. 

At first, I just planned to pop the champagne glass out of a circle, but needed to hide the missing hand on the Rainbow girl. Once I placed the metal present out of the circle, I fussy cut the coffee cups as well. 

All the girls have a touch of glitter from a Spica gold glitter pen that I also used to color the ribbon & bow on the present.

A clear Spica glitter pen gives a bit of glow to the candle.

The sentiment is from the ALM Cheers set and stamped on a double cut flag from the Fishtail Flag Stax dies. A little piece of rickrack from my stash runs along the bottom of the main panel.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

MFTWSC97 Merry Christmas

I'm back with a quick card using the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch. Head to the MFT blog for details.

Teresa Collins was teaching classes at a local scrapbook store last weekend - my dear daughter's Homecoming activities kept me away, but I was thrilled to find her new Christmas Cottage line was well stocked!

I don't have any MFT Christmas stamps and really, really wanted to play with this paper, so created a card that has no stamped sentiment or images on it.

Initially I planned to highlight the text paper, but it looked a little bare when I was done, so I cut another fishtail flag and added the sentiment using Lily Bee Designs ABC Stickers.

I had cut the text flag to highlight "Peace on Earth" - one of my absolute favorite holiday sentiments - so placed the small flag at the bottom of the text flag instead of centering it.

In addition to the MFT Fishtail Flags die-namics, I used the smallest Star Stax and one of the Mini Tab Quartet. 

A few gems and Diamond Stickles round out the supplies.

I am also linking this card to the Alphabet Stickers Challenge at Moxie Fab World.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie