Charmed Rosette

Hello!!

Today's project is a special one that's going to be given to my daughter.  Last Christmas I was doodling around in the craft room and made a rosette out of paper cones and decorated it with feathers, a shrink plastic image (colored with Copics), snowflakes and ribbon.  OK, if you insist, here it is.

I joked about how she'd probably keep it hanging until I gave her a summery one.  Well...it's still hanging and I figured I needed to give her a new one more suitable to the season.  This one is a scored and folded rosette.  Sorry for the blurriness, I did my best to sharpen the pics but the light just wasn't cooperative in the living room, and using the flash would have ruined it.  Well, ruined it worse than the slight blurriness.  At any rate, here 'tis.

Hmmm...I think I'm going to fire my living room from having any more photos taken in it.

To start off with, and in keeping with this week's Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge (the theme of which is "Good to be Green"), the chains on both ends are recycled from old necklaces bought at the junk store.

The two little gold-embossed stamps are from Inspired By Stamping's Summer Postcards Add On set. 

A bow using hand-dyed seam binding, and a shimmery butterfly using fantasy film and fantasy fabric melded (or melted?) together.

This is a banner using turquoise crafter's foil and stamped with IBS Vintage Banners and a sentiment from the Arrows set, also from the Inspired By Stamping store.  I swiped on some white gesso then rubbed most of it off, taking some of the turquoise color with it and giving it a more aged appearance.  That little bitty spool of thread came from a real sewing kit I bought at an antiques store last year.

A little golden shoe button, wiped with some black ink to tone down the shine, is perched on the end.

The centerpiece consists of pearls and gems glued to a large button adhered to a rosette of IBS Scallop Border Crochet Trim.  This was placed on top of a shimmery die cut doily on top of a second, and very delicate, doily die cut.

And that about wraps this little gift up.

Oh wait, I almost forgot the charms at the bottom.  I made the circular one using a digital collage image and resin and added the scissors to go with the teeny tiny spool of thread.  A few pearls sprinkled about finish things off.

Thank you for joining me today, and I hope you are gearing up for a lovely, summery, crafty weekend!

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

Oozak #18 - Anything Goes w/Texture
Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp & Show - Good to Be Green (all chains are recycled from vintage necklaces, small spool is an actual vintage spool of thread)
Oldie But a Goodie - In the Garden (the chains are all from vintage necklaces, the spool of thread is from an antique sewing kit)
Really Reasonable Ribbon #76 - Sizzlin' Summer Colors + Ribbon
Eclectic Ellapu - Flowers
613 Ave. Create - Anything Goes

Shabby Cherries

Hello!

Today's card is for the challenge going on at The Shabby Tea Room, and I knew I had to play because of the inspiration photo and the fact that I LOVE cherries.

 

Cherry pie was one of my favorite summertime treats as a child and just writing about them makes me want a piece.  A big FAT piece.  With vanilla ice cream, no less.

After dry embossing the base layer, I decided to use some of my favorite Inspired By Stamping stamps for this card beginning with the recently released French Country Backgrounds for the red checked strip.

The washi tape strips are from the set appropriately named Washi Tape ...

...while the center panel was stamped with one of the sentiments from the All Year Wishes I set.  It was also cut using one of the Fancy Labels 2 dies.

See those cute little cherries?

They were stamped from the Mason Jar Summer Add On set, and what's really fun is that I cut them out on my Silhouette Cameo because Joanna is kind enough to include FREE cut files with many of her stamps!  Pretty cool, huh?  I gave them some shine with Glossy Accents and adhered them to my seam binding/baker's twine bow arrangement.

Oh, and the washi tape strips were also cut using the cut files designed for this set.  No need to fussy cut!

Some stitching and pearls finished this little gem.

Thank you for taking time to stop by and visit, and I wish you a lovely day full of crafting goodness if at all possible.  Even a little bit done at night after the kids are in bed is better than none.  That's what 8:00 bedtimes are for.  :)

Happy crafting!

Challenges entered:

The Shabby Tea Room #174 - Cherry Pie
Frosted Designs - Ribbon, Twine, Washi (how about all three?)
Pile It On #27 - Food
613 Ave. Create #27 - Anything Goes + Create Your Own (I used patterned paper, solid paper, sentiment, sketch, die cut, Glossy Accents, pearls, washi tape, twine and ribbon.)

Mojo Monday #301 - Sketch

 

Irish Eyes are Smilin' - Challenge at Digi Darla's

This is today's second post.  For my Guest Designer post for The Shabby Tea Room, please scroll down.

Hello and top o' the mornin' to ya!

It's time for another challenge over at Digi Darla's Challenges, and this week's theme for Challenge #52 is "Green Cards."   

I look forward to seeing everyone's interpretations!  One winner will receive 5 Digi Darla images, and any entries using a DD image get entered into a SECOND drawing for 3 images, so you could conceivably win 8, yes, eight Digi Darla images.  Very cool!


My card is using the lovely DD Irish Beauty, which you can find here.

I colored the image with Copics, adding the tiniest speck of glitter to the buckle on the lass' hat.  There might be 6 whole glitter flakes, the buckle is so tiny, but one must attend to the details, right?  Besides, nothing but nothing is too small to be glittered in my opinion.

The background and edges of the image panel are colored with chalks for that soft, sunny look.

I've dry embossed the two dsp panels with the same embossing folder, but the different patterns give a completely different look. 

The four leaf clover was made with four small hearts adhered to a glue dot, then painted with CI paints, striped with a Copic marker for the veins, then painted a bit more on top (with Sage and Evergreen).

The pearl here and on the small tag were pastel green before coloring them with the same Copic marker as that used on the clover.

I used two colors of ribbon plus some linen thread for the embellishment along with a picket fence die cut and the small tag, both the fence and tag of which I colored with more CI paints (Ivory and Sage).  I LOVE CI paints for the soft shimmer they give.

And that, lovely readers, is my "green" card today.  Thank you for joining me, and please head on over to the Digi Darla challenge and see what the other Design Team have created, then feel free to join us this week.  We'd love to see what YOU come up with!

Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Stamps: Irish Beauty (Digi Darla), Tiny Flowers and Tags (Flourishes)
Ink: printer, Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: X-Press It Blending Card, Whisper White, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Wild Wasabi (SU)
Extras: Dies: Labels One, Decorative Labels One (SB); Classic Tags (Flourishes); Picket Fence (Dienamics), Petals a Plenty ef (SU), dimensionals, linen thread (SU), ribbon, pearls, CI Paints (Sage, Evergreen, Ivory), Copics, glitter, chalks.

Challenges entered:

Oozak - Anything Goes w/Spring
Simon Says...Anything Goes
Divas By Design - Anything Goes
Crafts and Me #122 - Dies or Punches
Crafty Ribbons #40 - Anything Goes w/Ribbon
C.R.A.F.T. #196- Embossing
Really Reasonable Ribbon #67 - Show Me the Green & Ribbon
Allsorts #196 - For a Lady
Dynamic Duos #42 - Dark Green & Yellow
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes


MFT - Sketch #113

Pink Gem Designs all the way

Hello!

Today's card uses something I've never used before - digital papers - and are they ever so lovely digital papers.  They're from Pink Gem Designs and are sugary sweet in the nicest way.  In fact, they remind me of the hard candies one buys during the Christmas holiday season in colorful tins, and I never remember the name brand, but they're ubiquitous to the holiday season.  Yummy, soft-centered, pastel and delicious.  And that describes these papers to a T.

The papers are from the Spring collection and are named appropriately "Springtime."  There are 24 designs to a pack, and I have used 5 here, including one on the inside and one for Summer Milly's dress, socks and bow.  And that is the other thing I've done here that I've never done before - digi paper piecing.  I love paper piecing anyway, but to do it with digital papers means you can alter the size of the pattern to accommodate small images, which I've done with her clothes.  The dress and socks are one size (smaller than the original), the bow is the same paper but reduced even further.  Talk about versatility!  And I'm all about versatility.

See what I mean?  The pattern is much larger in its original form.  I think I'm going to like working with digital papers...

I colored the rest of the image with Copics and gave her a bright, sunshiney background.

I've used a sheer ribbon for the larger bow with a baker's twine multi-loop bow on top of that and a button to finish things off.  I normally add more embellishments, something in corners and on sentiments, i.e. flowers, pearls, bling, or whatnot, but today I chose to keep Summer Milly simple and fresh, just like the sweet little girl she is.  Not to worry, I'll be back with pearls and bling on my next card.

Here's a peek at the striped paper on the inside layered under a white panel, though you can't see much of it.  Trust me, it's every bit as delicious as the papers on the outside.

Thank you so much for joining me.  DH kindly took the puppy on some errands yesterday, giving me some much needed crafting time, and this was the result.

Here's wishing you a lovely day full of crafty goodness.

Happy crafting!!

Supplies:

Stamps: Summer Milly (PGD); Teeny Tiny Wishes (SU)
Ink: printer; Wild Wasabi, Blushing Bride (SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Blushing Bride (SU); Spearmint (MFT); Spring Collection (PGD)
Extras:  Dies: Framelits Labels Collection (SU), Circle Stax (Dienamics); Word Window and Scallop Oval punches (SU), baker's twine, sheer ribbon, vintage button, Copics.

Challenges entered:

Simon Says Stamp and Show - Unused Stamps (image is brand new to me)
The Pink Elephant TPE188 - Anything Goes
Love to Create #54 - Wrap It Up (baker's twine)
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner #51 - Paper Piecing
Tuesday Throwdown #136 - You're On My Mind (thinking of you)
Crafty Ribbons #39 - Buttons
3 Girl JAM #12 - Anything Goes w/Ribbon
Creative Inspirations - Anything Goes
Pile It On #8 - Sunshine

SSS#199 - Sketch

Love to Create Guest Designer!

Hello and good morning!

I am so excited today to have been invited to be this week's Guest Designer for the Love to Create Challenge Blog! 

 
I have only recently discovered this fun challenge site as I am relatively new to challenges at all, having only begun my blog last September; however, their challenges are so enjoyable that I try to play along every week.  The Design Team is fantastic, and I always enjoy seeing what they've come up with, and that's why I am delighted to get to play with them this week! 

This week's theme is "3 Favorite Colors," which for me was a little tricky since I have so many favorites.  Red is probably my all time fave in all aspects - wardrobe, wall color, furniture upholstery...(no, my house doesn't look like a bordello, but it DOES have a lot of red in it).  But I also love turquoise.  And pink.  And black. And...the list goes on.  Therefore, today's center step card has a big dose of turquoise with rose red and saffron yellow to complement because, while I wouldn't wear yellow per se, I love it and love what it does to other colors - it just warms them right up.

This little furry sweetie is a digi stamp called "Butterfly Friend" and you can find her over at Whimsy Stamps.  I love their images, they are perfect for coloring and/or paper piecing, which is what I've done with this image.  I learned a different way to paper piece from the lovely blog In Rosie's Book - she calls it "paper toile" and I was fascinated the first time I saw one of her cards using this technique.  You need to head over there pronto to see her work and see how she does this.

See the different pieces?  Put them together...

...and you get this.  Can you see the slight shadow the raised pieces make?  It looks 3-D indeed.  SO much fun if you like fussy cutting (and I do).  Now Rose cuts really, REALLY small pieces, but I just did three.

BTW, this was my first time ever to color fur with Copics, and I have to say I'm fairly happy with it.  Tutorial by Suzanne Dean here.  I used Copics for the coloring.  The purple edge to the butterfly is a bit sparkly, and there are the teeniest rhinestones in the centers of the flowers.

Here you can see the popped up nature of the pieces a little more.  I added stitching around all of the panel pieces and a nice little bow with ribbon from 3 Girl JAM.   I also added a few punched butterflies sprinkled about.

The greeting was punched with a ribbon banner die and stenciled in blue chalk which is soft and subtle in real life, although it doesn't show well in the picture. I also chalked around the image.  A few rhinestones both on the banner and on the punched butterflies complete the card.

Thank you so much for taking the time to come and visit, and I wish you a fabulous week full of all the crafting fun you can stand.  And many thanks again to the fine team at Love to Create!

Happy crafting!!

Supplies:

Stamps: Butterfly Friend (Whimsy Stamps), Banner Wishes (Paper Sweeties)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Whisper White, Rose Red, So Saffron, Tempting Turquoise, Brights DSP Stack (all SU); Sweet Fairy (Prima)
Extras: Circle Stax, Decorative Doily (Dienamics); SB Ribbon Banner, chalks, rhinestones, Copics, ribbon (3 Girl JAM), MS butterfly punch, sewing machine, dimensionals, Embosslits Beautiful Wings.

Challenges entered:

Allsorts #190 - Flower Power

"Rrrelax...and Be Beautiful".

(As told to my mother by a Brazilian lady friend many years ago.)  Good advice.

Hello and good morning!

Today's card was inspired by the oh so wonderful color challenge over at CR84FN, which was to use aqua, tan and light yellow.  I LOVE those colors together, and this card somehow came to be, although the aqua looks a little greener in the photos no matter how I turned the light to it.  Hmmm... OK, it's dark aqua.
 

Isn't she something?  She even has her own little crown. And the sentiment...well, it's true.  I mean, isn't it?  We gals know it is.


Here's another view where you can see the whole sentiment a little better, darn feathers.  (BTW, you can enlarge the pics by clicking on them.)

 

This card was a hoot to make.  I do love aqua to begin with, so I really wanted to drench the card in it.  It's huge, 5x7, which I did so I could fit the image and feathers on it.  I've been wanting to use this image for ages, "Spoiled Rotten" by Squigglefly.  I colored her with Copics and had a minor panic attack at first because the grays were so dark (I only have three - light, medium, dark), but I discovered that light Copics "push" darker colors as effectively as the Blender pen.  Pretty neat, considering I had already colored the chaise.

 
Here you can see her rhinestone collar a bit better, plus the metallic gold trim to her chaise, or Victorian "fainting" couch, which I did with a metallic gold gel pen.  I've wanted one of these couches for years and someday hope to have one.  I mean, every diva should, right?  And there will be a little pink pillow on it, too.

The feathers were fun.  They are from an ostrich boa from Michael's, and no matter how gently I maneuvered them, I wound up with tiny feathers all over the place.  Ptooey.

 A few more rhinestones and the card was finished.  I'd like to thank you for joining me and "Queenie" today, and I wish all of you queens and princesses out there a day to relax and be beautiful, even if only for a few moments.  Because you deserve it.

Happy crafting!

Supplies:

Stamps: Spoiled Rotten (Squigglefly)
Ink: printer, Memento Tuxedo Black (inking edges), Baja Breeze (inking edges)
Paper: Crumb Cake, Whisper White (SU); Curio (Basic Gray for the aqua/tan print); Sweet Fairy (Prima for the yellow print), Core'dinations (aqua)
Extras: Dienamics Oval Stax, crown charm, ribbon, feathers, rhinestones, gold metallic pen, SB M-Bossabilities "Elegance", dimensionals.

Challenges entered:

CR84FN - Aqua, tan, light yellow
Divas by Design (of course!) - Make it Girlie
Eclectic Ellapu - Recipe: 1 die cut, 2 patterned papers (the yellow is, though very subtle), 3 embellishments + ribbon (feathers, rhinestones, crown charm)