Learning New Tricks

Hello and good morning.

I will say right up front that yesterday, which started out with high hopes of playing in the craft room for most of the day, ended with very little playing at all.  I had a doctor's appointment, and in the attempt to make a story short, let's just say that age has finally started making his dastardly appearance in the area that I treasure the most - my HANDS.  I can deal with grey hair (that's what Ms. Clairol, or in my case, L'Oreal, is for), thinning hair (bangs to camouflage and lots of hairspray!), and weakening eyesight (contacts and glasses!), but when my hands started aching and the end knuckles became inflamed and swollen, well, it was time to see a doc.  Long story short, it's the beginnings of osteoarthritis and is manageable since I'm catching it early, but it can't be reversed as it's genetic and something that is inevitable with age in my family.  A couple of Aleeve a day and I'm good to go.

However, since I ALWAYS try to find the silver lining to every cloud, the doc told me that shoveling all that compost that I've been doing the past few days has got to stop.  Well, alrighty then!  Say no more!  Yahoo!  Guess I'll have to hire out that unpleasant aspect of gardening and thus save my hands for more important things.  Like crafting.  And crafting.  And more crafting.

All that being said, today's crafty offering is a single, simple tag.  

I've been wanting to make tags anyway, but I had planned to make another, more involved, card as well; however, I did at least get one started which I will post tomorrow.  That being said, here's my blue tag.  Simple design, a single stamp, some silver embossing, a little custom made charm, some ribbon (two at the top, a single piece below), and voila, a simple, yet still sparkly, tag.

I inked up the sides with the Versamark pad and embossed with Zing silver metallic embossing powder.  Same with the image.  I made the little charm, though unfortunately it doesn't show up as well as I'd hoped it would. 

Of course the back had to be finished, which is just as well as there was no room for the words, also heat embossed in silver, on the front.  This tag, by the way, was also two pieces of cereal box glued together.  I find that, combined with the two layers of designer paper, they make a nice, sturdy tag for much less than the price of readymade chipboard tags.

BTW, today's post title came about because I decided to play around with my new Photoshop software a bit  to try to add that little something extra to the photos, so I practiced with some of the photo effects.  Very fun, but I know I have much to learn.  You'll get to experience my progress.  :)

Thank you for joining me today and listening to me vent a little.  I am learning this much: Old(er) Age - it's not for the faint of heart.

Happy crafting!!

Ingredients:

Stamps: All That Glitters (Flourishes), Seasonal Sentiments (MFT)
Paper: SU Night of Navy, Regals DSP Stack
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Ribbon, custom charm, Zing silver embossing powder, heat tool, Sissix Scallop Tags 2 die

Challenges Entered:

The Pink Elephant TPE 176 - Pretty Packaging (another tag to make a package pretty - hoping it still counts!)
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 197 - Use gold or silver
Anything Goes Challenge 81 - Tags
Simon Says...Anything Goes!

Charisma Cardz Challenges #47 - Christmas w/a Twist (No green, gold or red)
Crafty Ribbons Challenge 33 - Use At Least Two Ribbons
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C164 - Put a Bow On It
Allsorts Week 182 - Bring On the Bling
My Sheri Crafts Challenge #99 - 'Tis the Season

Back to crafting!

Hello and good morning!

The Great Fall Garden Cleanup is finally over and I can get back to normal and back to crafting, especially playing in paper and glitter!  Yippee!  And no more worrying about the garden for at least 3 more months, though that doesn't include starting hundreds of annuals from seed in January.  That doesn't take days, though, so it doesn't count.

Today's card isn't a card at all, it's a gift tag.  There are challenges out in blogland which frequently feature tags as their theme - either gift tags themselves or tags on cards.  I've never really made a gift tag per se, and time was limited yesterday, so I decided to make a tag rather than a card since it was so late in the day, figuring I could knock a tag out in less than an hour.  NOT.  But it was still quicker than my typical cards, and very fun.  AND...if I choose to make any more like it, I'll know what I'm doing and they WILL go more quickly.  That being said, here 'tis.

It's a simple tag, really, but it still has layers and bling.  I made it out of two layers of cereal box die cut with a tag die, glued together, then painted with Ivory Creative Inspirations paints.  I discovered after the paint dried that dye ink doesn't really stick to it all that well.  The words kept smearing, so I used it to ink up the edges a little bit and then I watered some refill down and spattered it with a toothbrush.  The watered down ink dried and stayed.  Strange, right? 

I wound up heat embossing the words with my own mixture of brown and metallic gold embossing powders mixed with a little SU Iridescent Ice from a previous project.  You can see the glimmer a little bit in the picture, but it glimmers more IRL.  The little charm is of my own making, which I attached to the seam binding ribbon which I dyed with Evergreen CI paint.  The tiny little jingle bells even tinkle a little bit!

I made the flower with the two smallest SB Layered Poinsettia dies, painted them with Rustic Red CI paints and applied a bit of gold glitter to the petals once assembled.  I took a bit of botanical license with the leaves and used one of the SB Foliage dies, plus the MS pine branch punch.  I painted the larger leaves with CI Evergreen paints.  I do love the subtle shimmer that CI paints give.  The milliner's stamens are from my stash.

And lest you think I left the cereal box tag plain on the back side...

I did not.  As a good friend of mine often says, a lady must look as good leaving as she does coming.  So the back side was finished with dp, also cut with the tag die.

Thank you so much for visiting me today, and I hope you enjoyed today's project.  Until tomorrow, happy crafting!

Ingredients used:

Stamp: MFT Seasonal Sentiments
Ink: SU Soft Suede, Versamark
Paper: Cereal box, SU Garden Green, red from stash, KaiserCraft December 25th
Accessories: SB Foliage and Layered Poinsettia dies, Sissix Scalloped Tags 2 die, MS pine branch punch, custom charm, gold glitter, CI Paints (Ivory, Rustic Red, Evergreen), milliner's stamens, seam binding.

Challenges Entered:

Paper Playtime #89 - Anything Goes
The Pink Elephant TPE176 - Pretty Packaging (the tag is going ON a package to make it pretty - that counts, right?)
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday 197 - Gold or Silver
Tuesday Throwdown #125 - Lots of Layers
Anything Goes Challenge 81 - Tags
Creative Card Crew Challenge 24 - Anything Goes
Simon Says ...Anything Goes 
Divas By Design Challenge 63 - Glitter and Sparkle
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #47 - Anything Goes
Drunken Stampers Challenge #107 - Not Too Shabby
Allsorts Week 182 - Bring On the Bling 
My Sheri Crafts Challenge #99 - 'Tis the Season
CI Paints Inspired By...Anything Goes

Fall cleanup

Hello and good morning.

Well, today is the last day of working in the yard doing fall cleanup, raking leaves out of the beds, spreading 3 cubic yards of compost, and planting a tree and two shrubs.  I believe 3 cubic yards is at least half a ton.  At least that's what it looks and feels like.  This is what it looks like when blocking my driveway.

I had already shoveled two wheelbarrow loads by then, so, using your imagination, just add a bit more to the pile.  Each one of those purple buckets (known as a "tub trug") holds six shovels full.  My wheelbarrow holds four of the trugs, so 24 shovels full.  That's a lot of compost.  And my legs, back and arms are reminding me of same.  But the end result will be worth it when my soil is that much finer and healthier in spring.

It's a deep wheelbarrow.

Some of the beds look a little bare and naked, but that's because I've trimmed back the shrubs.  I say "trimmed" when actually I gave them a scalping haircut.  (The roses fought hard, but I won in the end.)  And some of the beds are just plain soil that I'm trying to turn into what's known in the gardening world as "chocolate cake."  North Texas soil is rock hard clay and it takes an enormous effort to turn it into "cake."  Some of my beds are there, and some have a way to go.

A few pansies for a spot of winter color in the backyard.  They're starting to bloom, finally.  These are NOT the main focal point. I planted 262 of these things.  In two days.  The color to the left are mums and the last, diehard marigolds.

Today was quite nippy, so I wore several layers, including socks with my gardening shoes.  Speaking of which...

Aren't they just darlin'?  Yellow with little red ladybugs.  And that is the only picture of the head gardener that I'll share.  Gardening is dirty, messy work, not for wearing makeup and pretty polished nails.  Only in movies.

That was my day Monday, yesterday and part of today, after which I'll be finished for the winter and can play in my craft room again.  Oh wait, I need to start putting up Christmas decorations.  DRAT!  At least that won't exhaust me and I'll still be able to make and post pics of my cards again.

Here's to you and your happy place, whether it be a garden, craft room, or in bed with a good book.

Happy crafting!  (And gardening.)

Challenge Day

Hello and good morning!

It's Challenge Day again over at Tuesday Alchemy, and the theme this time is Anything Goes.  The prizes are awesome:

$10 Store Voucher

$10 Store Voucher

You have until Monday, December 3 at 3:00 p.m. to submit your entry (or entries!), so get busy and start creating, and let us see you there!  

This week I needed something to hold a gift card for my stepson's birthday, so I made a Crimped Envelope Pocket Card.  The instructions for this interesting gift card holder can be found over at Splitcoaststampers.   

The gift card I gave him was too big for the standard A2 envelope, so I used a 5x7 instead, which worked out perfectly.  I sponged the edges with More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and a tiny bit of Soft Suede, then stamped the balloons in the background before crimping using my crimping tool.  Then I embossed the image in gold, stamped and embossed a second image and punched out the clock face with a circle punch and pieced it to the first image.  I embossed the edges of the two background diecuts with gold embossing powder as well.

The pennants were made with the SU Pennant Punch in Early Espresso and Bo Bunny Apple Cider dp, and I attached gold grommets to each corner and hung them up with hemp twine.

I stitched around the base of my card and discovered that stitching a crimped piece tends to "uncrimp" it, so perhaps I'll hold off stitching crimped pieces in the future.  The gift card straightened it out, thankfully.

Here it is with the insert.  The gift card is attached to the back of the stamped greeting insert with temporary adhesive.

The birthday boy/man (newly turned 21) was fascinated with this card and went for it before any of his other gifts.  Made this crafter feel good!

So that's it for this project.  Thank you for joining me, and head on over to Tuesday Alchemy to join us for this week's challenge!

Happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Stamps: TCM Vintage Clocks
Ink: Versamark, Soft Suede, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie,
Paper: Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze, Bo Bunny Apple Cider, SU Neutrals DSP Stack
Accessories: Petite Pennants Builder (SU), SU gold embossing powder, SB Labels Eighteen, SU Apothecary Accents Framelits, hemp twine, grommets, crimper, sponges

Challenges entered:

Paper Playtime #89 - Anything Goes
Anything Goes #80 - Stitching Real or Faux
Creative Card Crew #24 - Anything Goes
Divas by Design #62 - Use 2 or more patterned papers
RRR Challenge #60 - ABAC w/ribbon
CCEE1247 - Brown, yellow, orange and designer paper 
Pause Dream Enjoy #47 - Anything Goes
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C164 - Put a Bow On It
Drunken Stampers #107 - Not Too Shabby
Pile It On #48 - Anything But a Christmas Card
 

Back to Normal. (For now.)

Hello!

Today is going to be spent in the garden shoveling 3 cubic yards of landscaper's mix onto all of my flower beds.  That's a lot of mix and it will take two days, I'm sure.  I should be decorating for Christmas, but I procrastinated doing this autumn chore for so long that it's time to pay the piper and "git 'er done."  I know exactly WHY I put it off - I was having too much fun playing in paper and glitter.  Whoops.  

Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, I've been away from my craft room for a few days and am going through withdrawals.  And they're not pretty.  So no matter how much dirt I have to shovel tomorrow, I WILL be playing in paper and glitter by the end of the day.  In the meantime, I'll pull another card to show you from my stash.

I made this card for my mother for Mother's Day this year.  It was before I had discovered sketches and challenges, but I think it still turned out ok.  I applied Perfect Pearls to the raised part of the dry embossed bottom layer and colored the image with Copics.  The bow was tied with two ribbons at once, and I finished everything off with a few rhinestones and a small brass butterfly charm.  I love charms.

Thank you for stopping by, and here's wishing you a lovely day.  I'll have one too after the dirty work is finished.  Ha!

Happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Paper: I just flat don't remember.  Eeek!
Ink: Tuxedo Black
Stamp: Flourishes A Year In Flower I
Accessories: Unknown name embossing folder, Perfect Pearls, ribbon, rhinestones, Copics, Dienamics oval and oval scallop dies, butterfly charm, corner rounder punch.
 

The Holiday Countdown

Well, here we are at the backside of Thanksgiving, and you know what that means - Christmas will be here before you can say "Already??"  It happens every year.  The year just kind of moseys on, then it's September and the kids are headed back to school, and Halloween is on the horizon.  And that's when it all happens seemingly at once.  When the last trick-or-treater trudges down the front walk, suddenly we are thrust into the holiday season with a vengeance.  "Oh, Thanksgiving is almost a month away, I have plenty of time."  Really?  Because to me, Halloween was just last week.  Yes it was.  And suddenly the television ads are all jingly and Sugar Plum Fairy-ish (which is played every third commercial), and it's time to decorate the house, and "When are you making your homemade eggnog, hon?"  And "Are you making gingerbread cookies and decorating them this year, Mom?"

Sigh.  So much to do, so little time.  And Monday and Tuesday will be devoted to spreading 3 cubic yards of compost on all the flower beds when I should be hauling the decorations down from the attic.  Because I thought I had plenty of time back in September.

Sigh.

Today's card is non-autumn, non-Christmassy, and very springlike.  It's for newlyweds and is the only such card I have in my stash at the moment.  

It's a simple, yet elegant card.  I stamped the image onto watercolor paper and colored it with inkpads and a blender pen.  I popped up the top layer using dimensionals, added the greeting and a bow made with two ribbons simultaneously, and that's it - soft, simple, yet very colorful and it still has texture and a bit of embellishment

I will be making a birthday meal today which, knowing me, will probably take all day.  The cake will take the longest, but a birthday needs a proper birthday cake.  So no time in the craft room, but there's always tomorrow.  No, that's right, there'll be 3 cu. yds. of compost waiting for me in the driveway.

Sigh.

Have a lovely Sunday, and here's to slowing time down and spending it wisely (preferably doing something you love.)

Happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Stamps: SU Teeny Tiny Wishes, Flourishes With Gratitude
Ink: Staz-On, Tuxedo Black
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder (I think), Watercolor, Whisper White
Accessories: SB Labels 18 and Lattice Rectangles, SU Oval and Oval Scallop punches; ribbon, SU inkpads, dimensionals

Black Friday

Hello and good morning!  VERY early morning!

It's just past midnight and I'm just now posting on the wonderful day Black Friday was this year.  My daughter and I spent it in McKinney, Texas, at the 32nd Annual Dickens of a Christmas - Home for the Holidays, as we have 3 out of the past 4 Black Fridays.  We shop the town square, which is closed to vehicular traffic for the day, eat at the restaurants there, watch and listen to the live musical talent, and just generally enjoy all that the sweet, historic town square has to offer.

This year we spent most of the day at our favorite antiques store, The Antique Company Mall, which is enormous, two stories, and easily took us nearly 5 hours to go through.  That's because we investigate each and every vendor's booth in minute detail so as to not miss a thing.  

We arrived in town at 10:30 a.m. and strolled around all four sides of the old county courthouse.  There was a miniature train giving rides around the square, though we didn't partake of that offering.

 

There were many shops old and new that we wanted to visit, so we looked at one of the street signs to get our bearings.

There were several choral groups, but the holiday tap dancers were my favorite.  There was one older lady front and center who had GREAT legs and really knew her stuff, proving that tap dancing is not just for the Shirley Temples of the world.  This gal was dynamite (as were they all).



My daughter and me in front of the antiques mall.  This was right after our "pie and coffee" break.  Shopping is hard work!

The weather, though extremely windy, was very cooperative and was cool but not too cold, though it was a little too warm inside the store.  Still, it was better than rain!

We left at sunset to go to her apartment to decorate her Christmas tree after first stopping at the grocery store for some goodies (hot cocoa mix, mini marshmallows, and a frozen pizza), but we were a little too tired to decorate the full-size tree, so we decorated her miniature tree for her bedside table and watched a movie instead.  I got back home at 11:30 pm and have to say I am TIRED.

But before I go, here is a harbinger of the season:

I made this a few months ago as the first handmade Christmas card I'd ever made.  I love the images in the SU Greeting Card Kids stamp set - they're so vintage.  And here's the inside:

The snowflakes are from the Confetti stamp set, also by SU, which comes in handy quite a bit, and the greeting is from the Petite Pairs stamp set, again by SU.

Tomorrow, with the holiday over, I'll be back in the craft room.  Wait, it's today already.  (It's past 12:00 midnight.)  I think I'll sleep late today.  Ha!

Enjoy YOUR day and happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Stamps (all by SU): Greeting Card Kids, Petite Pairs, Confetti
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Gumball Green, Be Of Good Cheer, Watercolor
Ink: Gumball Green, Cherry Cobbler, Pacific Point
Accessories: Various Inkpads and Blender Pen, Oval and Scallop Oval punches, Gelly Roll glitter pen.

More bling

Hello and good morning!

I wanted to get one more card in before the holiday because I'll be spending time with family over the next few days.  My stepson is coming to visit from Denver, so the house will be full of football action, which means my DD and I will be spending time at her place before and after Thanksgiving Day so as to allow them some major father/son macho bonding, plus I won't feel like I'm getting in the way going from my craft room to my office and back, which cuts right in front of the tv.  Three whole days with my DD is something I've been looking forward to for a long time.  She has taken a couple of days off from work, and tomorrow we're crafting all day the way we usually do every Friday.  Thursday is Thanksgiving, and Friday she and I will go to a sweet "little" (it used to be) town here in North Texas that gets all done up for this time of year.  McKinney, Texas, will be doing its 32nd annual Dickens of a Christmas - Home for the Holidays, and many of the shopkeepers will be dressed in period clothing from the era of A Christmas Carol.  It is lovely.  The streets right off of the town square are closed to vehicle traffic and there is always a festive holiday air about the square.  We may even stay for the lighting of the Christmas tree this year!

Then Saturday and Sunday will be spent here at home with DH and DSS (Darling StepSon) and we will celebrate his 21st birthday on Sunday, though his actual birthdate was the 9th, but we couldn't be there for it (he lives in Denver).  I will, however, be back in the craft room on Saturday.

My card today is not my usual style, but I loved making it because I pulled out all the stops.  I always see such highly decorated cards on various blogs and have aspired to be able to make them myself, so today I gave it my best shot.  As I told my DD, "this is what over the top looks like."

And how.

I had such a nice response to my little piggy stick pin yesterday that I decided to make another one and incorporate him into a card.  I'm not saying who's getting it, but I have made it for a specific person.  And that's all I have to say about that.

 I've colored the image with Copics and thought about doing something other than coloring the centers, but since the card has a wee bit of other interest going on, I figured fluffy centers would be just a tad too busy.  Gee, ya think?

Here's my little piggy stick pin custom made specifically for this card.  If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll notice the little angel wing charm that is attached.  You can barely see it in the first picture - underneath the bottom of the bow, there is also a point protector so that this pin may be removed and either worn as a lapel pin or used in some other decorative fashion. 

You may be thinking that these are unusual colors to put together, and you'd be right.  SCS is having a fun color challenge using plum, navy and white, and thankfully I had the barest bit of navy left in my stash.  Must place an order TODAY.

The rose was made with SB Rose Creations die, and the smaller blossoms were made with the SU Boho Blossoms punch using plum, navy and white for the various layers of petals.  I spread a bit of glue on the petals afterwards and sprinkled them with superfine glitter.  

Have you noticed the stitching?  Isn't that a hoot??  At last I can use the lovely embroidery machine my DH bought for me two birthdays ago!  I'm not doing any sewing of late, but at least now I can use the machine AND the zillion colors of embroidery thread I've collected.  And fancy schmancy stitches that I never used, too!

I've put one of the tiny blossoms on the ribbon bow and attached a couple of tiny tags from SU's what else, Tiny Tags stamp set.

And that, dear friends, is my purplelicious, over the top card.  Thank you for joining me as I detailed it, and I hope you have a fantastic, happy and SAFE Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving, and happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Paper (all SU): Perfect Plum, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Subtles DSP Stack and a tiny bit of Elegant Eggplant.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Elegant Eggplant
Stamps: SU Tiny Tags, Flourishes With Gratitude
Accessories: SB Rose Creations, Oval and Floral Oval Nesties, SU large oval punch, ribbon, custom stick pin, Boho Blossoms punch, pearls, rhinestone swirls, Copics, glitter, embroidery thread, dimensionals, Scor-Tape.

Challenges entered:

SCS CC402 - A Perfect White Night 
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Thank You Challenge
Paper Playtime #89 - Anything Goes
Incy Wincy Designs - Hip To Be Square 
The Pink Elephant TPE175 - Giving Thanks
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #196 - Whatever Makes You Happy (my friend, the color purple, and the piggy stick pin make me happy!)
Anything Goes Challenge #80 - Stitching Real or Faux
Creative Card Crew Challenge 24 - Anything Goes
Simon Says...Thanksgiving/Thank You!
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #46 - Thank You Projects
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C163 - Create a Tag!
Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge #134 - Pop It Up!
Drunken Stampers #106 - Cut, Crop and Die
CI Paints - Thankful For You


Alota Rubberstamps #95 - Sketch



 

Purple, Gold and Bling

Hello and good morning!

Warning, this post today is photo heavy.

Today is a new challenge over at Tuesday Alchemy - Challenge 41 Anything But a Card.  Do you KNOW how fun that is?  The sky's the limit, and the prizes are awesome.

4 Digital Stamps

  

3 Digital Stamps

So hop on over and start crafting.  You have until Monday, Nov. 26 at NOON Pacific to submit your project, Anything But a Card!  (You may enter as many times as you wish and combine with as many challenges as you wish, too!)

My "anything" this week is the jewelry I make for my cards, specifically, hat or stick pins.  Not all of them wear a pin, but I'm starting to use them more because let's face it, no matter how pretty the face, doesn't it look a little better wearing a bit of jewelry?  

You'll have to forgive the dreadful green tomato pincushion, it was the best I could find, which tells me I need to make my own - something tall (in a wineglass maybe?) and lacy and elegant in which to hold my sparkly bits.  It would be decorative all by itself.  Now on to the pins...

The variety can be endless when you make your own.  Some of mine are short, made on pearl-head dressmaker's pins, some are 3" long, and some as yet to be made will be 5" long.  Now THAT'S some serious pinnage.  I've only just received those long ones in the mail and will be starting on them later this week.

Isn't this little pig cute?  But hmmm, to whom can I send a card with a PIG on it?  

I love these copper angel wings.

 

Dominoes - how fun!

 

I often add a charm to the pin.

And now for an example of how to use them.  The colors used on this card are for the current CR84FN color challenge to use plum, gold and tan.  (There's a wee bit of tan around the edges of all that purple!) 

You need to make sure that the embellishment behind which you stick these pins is secured to the card tightly so the pins won't become too heavy and try to lean or fall off the card.

 I made this pin specifically for this card, which was made for a couple (well, three actually) challenges today.  Believe it or not, I didn't have a single pin in my stash that would fit, but since they go together in minutes, it wasn't a problem.  These pins are very relaxing to make - the hardest part is deciding which blend of beads, gems and/or findings to use!

The base layer has been embossed with a snowflake ef and then brushed with gold pigment ink on a sponge dauber.  The squares are two layers consisting of a bottom layer of gold glitter CS and the top layer of purple CS embossed with an overall snowflake design, then again brushed with gold pigment paint.

The snowflake is a two layer die cut from the gold glitter paper, and the sentiment is a tiny Dienamics tag.  The bow is seam binding from my stash.

The pin in all of its glory.  These pieces really do finish a card nicely.  And they are so easy.

So thank you for joining me today, and I hope you find time to go check out Tuesday Alchemy and make your own "anything" for the Anything But A Card challenge!

Happy crafting!!

Ingredients:

Paper: SU Elegant Eggplant, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, gold glitter CS
Ink: gold pigment ink
Stamps: SU Teeny Tiny Wishes
Accessories: SU Northern Flurry and Snow Burst EFs, SU square and postage stamp punches, Dienamics Mini Wavy Pennants and Let It Snowflakes dies; seam binding, sponge dauber, custom stick pin.

Challenges entered:

CR84FN Color Challenge #67 - Plum, Gold Tan
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #46 - Thank You Project
The Sweetest Thing SSSC172 - Sketch

 

It's Time...

...to make a much-feared guy card.  I don't do a lot of them as I don't have a lot of guys in my family, but I was commissioned to make one yesterday and so had to bravely step forward into the guy-card arena and give it my best shot.  AND, for a special twist, I needed to make it in a different language - Spanish.  And guess what?  It wasn't so hard after all!  I have some much loved guy paper, and I have recently purchased some guy embellies, and I even found a stamp image that could be applied to a guy card.  And so, without further ado, here is my guy card.

The sentiment reads (in Spanish) "It is time..." and the inside caption finishes with (also in Spanish) "to celebrate YOU!"  I had a lot of fun with this card and once I figured out how to do it and what papers and embellies to use (which always takes me the longest time), the assembly went like a breeze.  I followed this week's My Favorite Things sketch.
 

The clock has been heat embossed and layered onto two contrasting circle die cuts after first being sponged around the edges with distress ink.  I've stitched around the outside edge of the base layers and also around the middle layer.  Underneath that layer is a border punched with a MS punch to which I applied a bit of bronze Perfect Pearls.

I distressed the edges of that base layer as well as sponged it too.  Actually, nearly all of the layers were inked - I just like the look.  The sentiment, which was computer-generated, is held on with a metal grommet, two more of which decorate the bottom, middle layer.

I added some burlap, some fringe (which I had sprayed with my own mix of rubbing alcohol, brown reinker and Copper Perfect Pearls), and an Antique Brad from SU. 

And that pretty much finishes my rare guy card.  I really need to step out of my girlie comfort zone and make some more, just so I can say "I'M not afraid!"

 
Thanks for joining me, and have a lovely day.  And above all, happy crafting!!

Ingredients: 

Paper - SU River Rock, Well Worn DSP, Nearly Navy, Early Espresso
Ink: Versamark, TH Tea Dye Distress Ink
Stamp: Vintage Clocks (The Craft's Meow)
Accessories: Burlap, fringe, Antique Brad (SU), MS border punch, Dienamics Circle Stax Dies, grommets, sewing machine, brown embossing powder.

Challenges entered:

Anything Goes #80 - Stitching Real or Faux
My Favorite Things Sketch
Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge 134 - Pop It Up
Drunken Stampers #106 - Cut, Crop and Die
The Pink Elephant TPE174 - Punches/Dies