Thursday, August 30, 2012

Tuesday Trigger - A Pin Therein

I'm not sure what jumped out at me first when I saw the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger - the hexagons or beaded pins - but I knew I would be using them both on a card.





This is what I came up with.




Once again, I poked through my scrap basket to see what I could quilt together and came up with a pink and yellow color palette. I adhered the hexagons to a rough cut cardstock base just to keep them together while I worked on the rest of the card.

The "fabric" is a piece of 1.5" ribbon that I stained with Vintage Photo distress ink. This ribbon feels like raw silk and came from either Michael's or Hobby Lobby  I like that there is a nubby texture to this and the ink enhanced it.




Once stained, I cut the ribbon into 2 pieces and ran 1/8th inch tape down one side of the front of each piece.  I hope this picture shows how I adhered the ribbon at the top and bottom of the card front and flipped the loose ends toward each other in the middle.




The loose ends were overlapped slightly and adhered to the card front. The hexagon piece was then added on top, covering the ribbon seam.

I glued beads to a few different pins. They dried quickly while I was putting together the other parts of the card and slipped easily into the ribbon. 




Whenever my dear daughter is ready to give away or throw out a piece of beaded jewelry, I always check to make sure there isn't something I might want to add to my stash.  I know some of these pink beads have come into my possession this way.

Sorry for the blurry picture - I still need to resolve my damaged camera lens problem {sigh}.

A piece of lace tape and a sentiment from Papertey Ink round out the supplies.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #54 Purple Pizazz

Purple is my longtime favorite color, yet one that I rarely use in a papercrafting project. You are looking at the lady who once painted her house purple, and yet I shy away from using it on cards or scrapbooking layouts?!

Hmmm . . . the Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #54 is Purple Pizazz and Ribbon, so I had to give it a try.




I really adore the plum pleated ribbon from May Arts and have hoarded this for too long. I also had a piece of organza ribbon in the right color.

The wheels started turning and I decided to highlight the organza ribbon by putting it under a piece of patterned paper (BasicGrey Eerie) that had a decorative border punched along one side.. The pleated ribbon was layered on the patterned paper and a piece of ivory rickrack ribbon covered the center seam.

The card is finished with a sentiment from the Papertrey Ink Thanks All Ways stamp set and a few pearls (the smaller ones are colored to match with a copic marker).

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie


Monday, August 27, 2012

MFTWSC86 Splash of Color

With both dear children in school this morning I had a little time to play!

I'm loving the color in the My Mind's Eye Summer Splash designer paper pad, so that inspired me to pull out the My Favorite Things Clearly Sentimental About Art stamp set and the current Wednesday Stamp Club Sketch to create this card.




Here is the sketch from the MFT Blog.


I used a couple of sentiments from the stamp set, mounting one on a fishtail flag that I cut both ends and used as part of the bottom border along with the notched border die.

A cascade of buttons was used to embellish the center panel - all tied with my favorite waxed linen of course.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie







I Spy Sketches ISSC30

A while back, Kim from I Spy Sketches asked if she could one of my cards in the gallery at Splitcoast Stampers as the basis for their sketch challenge. Of course I said "yes"!!!!

Head over to the I Spy Sketches blog where this week's challenge,  ISSC30,  is a sketch based on this card.



I can't wait to see all the ways this design will be interpreted!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Papertrey Ink August Blog Hop Challenge

I loved the inspiration photos from Nichole Heady's blog for this month's Papertrey Ink Blog Hop. Head over there and join in the challenge to use autumn textures, textiles & patterns in a project.


Blog-hop-1
Blog-hop-2

I put a few of my new PTI products to good use with this card.




My first step was to score a white card base for a faux corduroy look. I die cut "thankful" from a piece of Kraft cardstock that had been embossed with the Herringbone Impression Plate. To enhance the embossed pattern, I lightly inked over the top of the die cut.

The stamped sentiment is from the PTI Thanks All Ways stamp set and is tucked under a small panel stamped with the PTI Background Basics: Herringbone Stamp Set.

A little Baker's twine and the leftover piece from a zigzag border cut round out the pieces that were used to put together this card.

Off to check out all the other Blog Hop creations!

Thanks for stoppng by,

Jacquie


Friday, August 24, 2012

Colour Q #151 plus CAS-ual Friday 67

Just a quickie card today to satisfy my crafting craving - I hope to get in some real time tomorrow morning.




I saw the CAS-ual Friday Challenge this morning was to use banners and flags on a project. Hmm, my new PTI Hello Sunshine die set was sitting on my desk - I wonder what kind of banner it could create?

CFC67:  Create a Clean And Simple project that features banners or flags.

A quick check of the current Colour Q Challenge, and I had my palette.


I stamped part of the string from the PTI Banner Builder die set for my banner to sit on, cut a few "sunshine" rays and finished the card with a sentiment from the My Favorite Things Let's Toast stamp set - super fast and easy!

The turquoise paper is from  My Mind's Eye Hootenanny line and the orange is from Authentique's Enchanted pad. The gray dots came from my scrap pile and I just don't have time right now to track down the origin.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie


Thursday, August 23, 2012

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #165

What a surprise to discover this morning, when I went to link this card to the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge here at Karen Giron's blog, I had a whole extra day {grin}. This means I ran off to do a few other chores and am now getting back to a blog post.

The first couple of weeks transitioning into the school schedule are always a little tough in our house. One dear child is still in vacation mode and one is already into early mornings & homework. Lots of little things being thrown at us this month to further add to the chaos - I will not bore you with the details, but have ended up cell phoneless for a month because I can live without one, but apparently dear daughter can not.

Whine over, back to the sketch:



And my take on it:



I did rush it a bit, but need to get onto other things, so the wonky star stays.

The card is for my dear daughter, so I used the My Favorite Things License Plate Die & Stamp to put a smile on her face: she starts school on Monday and is eagerly anticipating getting her driver's permit November 1st.

This is the girl who was only interested in playing with dolls if they came with a car. In fact, when we moved to California, we whittled her Barbie vehicle collection in half. I want to say we brought 17 with us, that is the number that jumped in my head, but it does seem excessive. I'll have to ask her when she wakes up. Just to be clear, most of the collection was gifted to her or inherited from older cousins (an huge advantage of being the youngest female on dear husband's side).

The MFT Stax dies were used to cut the star and the fishtail flags layered on the bottom panel. Another Teresa Collins bling star is (sort of) centered on the die cut star and the edges are stickled.

All the designer papers are from the same My Mind's Eye School Daze pad I picked up last weekend and used on the last card I posted.

I am really looking forward to mid-September when (crossing fingers) we will be into a nice, steady rhythm and routine.


Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Monday, August 20, 2012

MFTWSC85 Knowledge is Power

In honor of my dear son's first day back to  school, combined with my desire to play with my new My Mind's Eye School Daze paper pad, I made this card using the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club sketch at Splitcoast Stampers.




My card:




I used the MFT Inspired by Knowledge stamp set for the book stack, globe and sentiment on the tag. The ink I used for the globe & books is new to me: Memento Espresso Truffle and I really love the brown/black shade. The images are colored with Copics, trimmed and mounted on the patterned paper. The stars are cut using the Staxs dies, with a Teresa Collins Bling star in the center, and adhered with foam adhesive to pop up in the corner.

A number of MFT border dies were also put to use today: the small open scallop, large scallop and large scalloped scallop.

Sadly, I  am on the lookout for a good deal on a Canon DSRL 18-55 mm lens. The repair estimate was just a smidge over the amount we were willing to pay, so I am relying on one of my dear daughter's point & shoot camera's for now (and trying to figure out how she has come to own three?!).

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie



Friday, August 17, 2012

Make It Monday #78 Stitching Take Two

I'm hiding from our heat wave, playing away in my crafty space. I think we have used the A/C more in the last week than we have in the last three years. You know it is hot when dear husband suggests we turn it on!

I had another idea for the Papertrey Ink Make It Monday challenge that I wanted to play around with. Check out Heather Nichols' video here at Capture the Moment for details on the challenge.




I used the PTI Banner Builder stamp set to stamp the longer banner first, then masked it and stamped the second banner behind it.

I have very mixed feelings about the front banner - not really loving the stitched outline of the triangles, but like the way they are stitched to the string.




I zigzagged the purple banner to the line and just backstitched the top of the pink banner. The centers of the banners were colored in with Copics.

You just might see another card based on this challenge and using the Banner Builder dies before the weekend is over.

I combined a few different stamps to create my sentiment. The "welcome" (from "welcome to the neighborhood") and "sweet baby" are from PTI's Daily Designs Sentiments stamp set and the "bundle of joy" is from PTI's Mega Mixed Messages stamp set.

I love the way the silver metallic floss looks, but it is a bear to work with. I have only used it with a tapestry needle in the past, which has a very large eye to thread. The tapestry needle was too thick for the holes, so threading the metallic thread through a smaller sewing needle was the biggest challenge of this card.

My camera is heading to the repair shop this weekend and I hope to fit in a field trip to a few of the local stamp and scrapbook stores a little further from home with a couple of crafty friends. You wouldn't know it by the weather here, but summer vacation is winding down and school starts Monday for dear son.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie


Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Make it Monday #78 Stitching & Stamping on Paper

Within seconds of reverting the office back from it's weekend role as a guest room, I was at my desk putting together this card.

The Make It Monday #78 challenge this week is to Stitch and Stamp on paper. Heather Nichols' video at Capture the Moment gives you all the information you need to try this technique yourself. The idea came to me to try and use the "happy" die from the Wonderful Words die collection. 




I used the negative of the die to create a stencil first.


I penciled the word, used my paper piercer to poke holes and then backstitched along the lines using three strands of embroidery floss.

The butterflies were stamped on colored vellum paper and heat embossed before being cut out. They are attached to the white panel just by the stitching.

The "birthday" stamp is from the PTI Birthday Bash Sentiments stamp set and also heat embossed.

The main white panel is adhered with foam adhesive on teal vellum and then onto a white card base.

I am linking this card to both ColourQ Challenge #150 and CAS-ual Fridays CFC165.

The cQc came together easily when I realized I had vellum paper in three of the four colors in this week's palette.


I love making square cards, but CAS is never as easy as it looks  . . . it does force me to think carefully about my design elements before getting started.

CFC65
CFC65: Create a Clean And Simple Square shaped card


Can I whine a bit about my camera? I have an awesome Canon, but my main lens stopped working this weekend?! It must be the lens, because my camera base works just fine with my telephoto lens. So, yes, I did look pretty silly taking a photo of my card while standing miles away from it.

My other camera choice is my dear daughter's point & shoot, but it won't allow me to do any close-up work. I took the photo of my stencil with it, and you can see how fuzzy the photo is (even if it looks good through the lens when taking it).

Any suggestions as to what might be wrong with my camera are appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Tuesday Trigger - Type Hype

I'm kind of glad the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger was a two weeker - I love the inspiration picture. Finding time this week has been hard, but I really think taking a few minutes to play has helped me focus and breath as we prepare for a very busy weekend.




Who doesn't love manual typewriters? True story, or, as dear husband would say "no word of lie", I saw a gentleman sitting in Starbucks pecking away on a manual typewriter!?

This Tuesday Trigger typewriter is a little older looking than the one I learned on and much younger than the image in the stamp I used.



I used the My Favorite Things Just My Type stamp and die set for the main body of the card. The paper is partly adhered with foam squares so that it pops out of the typewriter a bit.

The sentiments along the border are made using the Making Memories Rummage magnetic alphabet stamp set. It is amazing how often I pull this out!

You could say I was inspired in many ways by this Trigger - the typewriter, the color palette, the juxtaposition of an old form of communication and a new (the evolution of the typewriter?).

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

CAS-ual Friday 64 & Colour Q #149

I'm back! Did you miss me? I missed you . . . we are back with suitcases full of Smarties & Cheezies, have seen incredible fireworks and are extemely thankful the weather was wonderful. Just based on that little bit of info, some of you may be able to guess where we were.

I should be cleaning and rearranging my house for the fourteen (yes, that's right, fourteen!) house guests that are rolling in on Friday, but after 10+ days wth no crafting, the pull of the office was too great.

In fact, I am supposed to be cleaning off my table so we can pull it out of the room and use the space as a temporary guest room, so I might be in big trouble when dear husband gets home.

I am combining two challenges with this card:


This is my first time playing along with the Colour Q Challenge and I tried to color match the palette as best I could.

I was also inspired by the CAS-ual Fridays Guest Designer Challenge:


cfc64

So how did I do?



For CFC64, the challenge was to make a project featuring things you would see in the sky. My chipboard birds (Maya Road?) are painted and layered with a bit of scrap paper. 

Something close to the Certainly Celery green from the cQc was the hardest one for me to find, but the smaller bird/larger wing were painted with a close color before the paper was added - this photo shows the color better.




The sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts and the panels are diecut with the Spellbinders Reverse Wonky Rectangles Nestabilities.

Our guests are coming for a five family annual weekend that has evolved to involve some sort of friendly competition. The dear kids & I have been in planning mode for a while and used the crafty supplies to make these aprons for our Chopped/Master Chef salsa making competition. Anyone recognize the Making Memories foam stamps? And the Man & Woman stamps - those are from a Creating Keepsakes kit that I just can't seem to part with.


Some of the ingredients the kids wanted to put in the "mystery box" for the challenge were pretty outrageous until I reminded them we were the judges and would have to eat everything!

Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie