Frilly and Fussy

Hello!

I've been going through FC (Fussy Card) withdrawals lately, so I thought I'd enter the latest Fussy and Fancy challenge (buttons) and really pile on the F&Fs (Fussies and Fancies).  I also wanted to enter the latest Frilly and Funky challenge, too because their challenge is to include both a bird AND nest on one's project, and I've been seeing quite a few clever handmade nests out in blogland and wanted to give it a try.  How fun are THESE!

Is this fussy and fancy and frilly and funky enough?

The stamps are all from the Inspired By Stamping store because they work so well together.  To start with, I used French Country Backgrounds to stamp the chicken wire pattern at the bottom of the pink layer.  I just love the country flavor it imparts without being too homespun.  (Not that there's anything wrong with homespun, mind you, just not for this particular card.)

The sentiment is comprised of the two stamp sets: Just Because for the frame and All Year Wishes I for the sentiment itself.  I sponged the inks on the frame stamp in various colors and inked all the edges.  The shape was cut with the Fancy Labels I die.

The doily was cut with my snazzy new Silhouette Cameo.  I see a long and fruitful relationship with this machine in my future.

These two pieces are stamped with the IBS Summer Postcards Add On stamp set.  I colored the flower image with Copics.

Check out the little heart.  It's a button I made using shrink plastic then stamped it with the aforementioned French Country Backgrounds before shrinking it , then tied it with linen twine.  Just p'ecious.

The bird is a digital image that I fussy cut (told you I was having withdrawals) and glittered up with clear and blue glitters.  The nest was so much fun to make.  I used one of my homemade large glue dots to wrap thin rope twine around, then glued some pearl beads and mini pearls in the center.  By the way, the rope twine was wrapped around some ribbon in 4 or 5" increments in a recent stamp order (from Inspired By Stamping, I think!) and I saved them thinking they might come in handy.

And last but not least, I sprinkled some vintage buttons all around and added some IBS Small Flowers.  Talk about exquisite little blossoms. 

And that, dear readers, is my card today.  Thank you for taking the time to come visit, and I hope you are having a lovely Father's Day weekend.  I know we are (F&F&F&F withdrawals notwithstanding).

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Fussy and Fancy #91 - Button Up
Frilly and Funky - Birds and Nests
The Ribbon Reel #55 - Treasure Pearls (lace doily, twine nest, pearl eggs, ribbon)
Crafty Ribbons #48 - Anything Goes w/ribbon

March Guest Designer - IBSIC Challenge #52

Hello!

Today is a happy day and a sad day all at the same time.  Once again, I am privileged to play along with the delightfully talented DT over at the Inspired By Stamping Inspiration Challenge (IBSIC).  That's the happy part.  The sad part is that this is my last week to do so.  Waahh!!  I have enjoyed my time with them immensely and will continue to play along in future challenges, so no, they can't completely get rid of me.  Heh.

The theme this week is inspired by this photo:

So as it's officially Spring (although some parts of the world have yet to see it), I thought I'd do something light, cheerful, perky.  WELL.  Do you ever have a card make itself?  OK, not literally, but what I mean is do you ever have a card that goes in the polar opposite direction of where you wanted it to go?  Because this card did just that.  

This is not light.  Nor cheerful.  Nor perky.  It's vintage.  And dark.  And er, um, downright (dare I say it?) MOODY.  Not bad moody, just...moody.  It's not my fault.  I sat and stared at my papers and dies and stamps and embellishments for a long, long time.  Ask my daughter.  Ask my DOG.  This card took on a life of its own, and if I didn't like it so much I'd almost be afraid of it.  

There are a lot of techniques here (and a lot of words to go with).  I stamped the first layer with a French script stamp because the subtle design already there wasn't enough for me.  

The flourish-y pieces started out as Nearly Navy over which I dry brushed some tan CI Paints, but that wasn't enough, so I then dry brushed Copper, which got the mood going.  The sentiment, from one of my favorite IBS sets "Just Because," was heat embossed with metallic copper ep (also from CI) and then cut with the IBS Fancy Labels Die 1.  Talk about gorgeous.  I inked the edges and then layered it onto a piece of blue CS cut with the next larger die.

I had recently made the tissue paper flowers and airbrushed the larger one with sage and blue Copics and sprayed the smaller one with my homemade antiquing spray.  The leaf flourishes are sage because, by then, I was concerned that the mood was getting too heavy and I needed to lighten things up a bit.

The fan was made with a strip of kraft that I had first drybrushed with a custom mix of CI paints lengthwise before scoring, then brushed over the top with Tan.  I added a gold button (antiqued with CI paint) and some ribbon bits underneath, then placed the whole thing on a lovely seam binding messy bow that I also airbrushed with a couple of colors of Copics.  Actually, it looked dirty when I had finished, so I went and rinsed out as much ink as I could, and THEN I liked it.  Go figure.

And that, lovely readers, is my swan song card for the divine IBSIC site for the month of March.  Maybe it's fitting that it be a little moody.

Thanks ladies, and happy crafting!!

 
Supplies:

Stamps: Just Because (IBS); En Francais (SU)
Ink: Versamark, Marina Mist
Paper: Crumb Cake, Sahara Sand, Marina Mist, Nearly Navy (all SU); sage scraps, Watercolor Bouquet (K&Co.)
Extras: Dies: Fancy Labels Die 1 (IBS); Leafy Flourish (Dienamics); Antique Frame and Accents (SB), vintage button, ribbon, tissue flowers, seam binding, copper ep (CI Paints) and copper paint (also CI).

Challenges entered:

Ladybug Crafts Ink - Anything Goes
Simon Says...Anything Goes
Divas by Design - Use Metal (button on fan embellishment, metallic copper paint and ep)
Really Reasonable Ribbon #68 - Flowers and Ribbon
Red Carpet Studio #29 - The Secret Garden
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes