Thank You, Pt. 2

Hello!

Today is the second thank you card in this miniseries for another lady who helped me out recently.  I suspect she won't be looking at the blog, and if she does, she's probably going to know who it's for, but I'll pretend like I'm keeping the secret anyway.  

This one was fun to make.  Unlike yesterday's card (here) which used colors with which I'm pretty unfamiliar, this one is shabby vintage all the way which is my card making bread and butter.  The two printed papers have a lovely linen texture, and I do love texture on my cards.  The red paper is faux distressed (it's printed that way) and looks wonderfully old.  I inked the edges of both and distressed the edges of the red even further before matting them both on dark brown card stock. 

The greeting and its matching shadow layer were cut with nesting dies and the shadow layer was heat embossed all around the edges with my favorite metallic copper embossing powder.  So was the greeting.  I do love the copper, it's got more character than a simple brown embossing powder.  I sponged inside the smaller die for a bit of a halo effect with Antique Linen and Tea Dye distress inks.

I added a couple of bits of net ribbon and a delicious Colleen bow (directions here) for the decoration and topped it with a vintage button.

The inside was distressed but left blank for my personal message.  This card and yesterday's will go in the mail on Monday.

Thank you so much for joining me and here's wishing you a lovely day with a big THANK YOU from me for stopping by to visit!

Thank You, Pt. 1

Hello!

Today's featured card is a thank you card for a very lovely lady.  I can't be any more specific than that because, on the off chance that she's checking out my blog, I don't want to spoil the surprise. 

Believe it or not, this card was quite difficult for me.  I'm thinking it's because I don't use a lot of green of this shade in my cards, and I had quite a time figuring out how to incorporate it into a cohesive whole.  The image was easy enough to work with, and I knew I wanted to make the card blue and white with yellow accents, but that pesky green nearly got my goat.  In fact, I had the bow adhered to the card with some other bits of ribbon attached underneath, and it screamed "hot mess!" at me so loudly that I took it off, took it apart, retied the bow (no small feat with bits of glue dots still adhered) and simplified the whole decoration a bit.  The patterned paper is just plain white card stock with my favorite flourish from the Stampin'Up! stamp set "Everything Eleanor" stamped all over it.  This was layered onto green card stock and sewn with a nice "U" stitch.  In green, of course.

The image was colored with Copics and the flower centers have a bit of gold glitter added for pizzazz.  It was then layered onto a yellow lacy oval die cut and decorated with a green satin bow.

Sooo...when reading a tag, one reads from left to right, correct?  Note to self: stamp the words backwards on the tiny tag so they don't show upside down on the finished card.   <sigh>

Rhinestones finish the front of this fresh, springlike card.

The inside has been completed with contrasting card stock and some stamped-off flourishes from the same  stamp as was used on the front.

I hope she realizes how grateful I am for her and the assistance she gave to me recently.

Thank you for joining me today and I wish you a lovely, floral fresh spring day full of crafting goodness.

Happy crafting!
 

Copper Beauty

Hello!

Today's card was a special commission that my husband wanted to give a co-worker who is in need of encouragement, and he asked that I make a card that was full of STUFF, which is my favorite kind to make.

I've used one of my favorite stamps, this quote by Audrey Hepburn.  I've heat embossed it in metallic copper and layered it on a contrasting layer having also heat embossed the edges in the same color.

See that metallic glint?  It adds a nice shimmer to a card.  I even embossed the edges of the patterned base layer for continuity.

I knew that I wanted to add a nice big fat double looped bow to this card and I used a metallic copper ribbon from Really Reasonable Ribbon to do the job.  This is the Silky Crush Rust Ribbon and it's a dream with which to work.  I've topped it with a mulberry paper rose from Wild Orchid Crafts which I've glittered with a bit of champagne glitter.

When I really want to pull out the stops on a card I will add one of my handmade stick pins.  To this one I had added what I call a "guardian angel" charm.  I thought it fitting for the occasion.

Some stitching and a few pink pearls finish this card.

The inside was kept simple with contrasting layers and some subtle stamping.  I hope this card made the recipient feel a bit better and know that nothing truly is impossible.

Thank you for joining me, and I wish you a happy, healthy week. 

Happy crafting!

Organized at LAST!

Hello!

Do you mind if I dance a little jig?  Because that is what I've been doing pretty much every day since last Friday which saw the final day of The Great Craft Room Makeover.  I've been crafting for 2 1/2 years in a small bedroom which was formerly a nursery in its past life (before I bought the house).  This room had been many things in my early years in this house - a sewing room, a gift wrapping room, and more often than not, a place to throw things to get them out of sight when company came.  You know, the JUNK room.  I would periodically go in and clean it out just to have it get messed up again a few months later.  Then I retired a couple of years ago and started crafting and I cleaned the room out again, though, not being the DIY type of person, I never put any shelves up.  I just started crafting, having moved an antique table in there, and things progressed from there as I acquired more and more craft supplies with no place to put them.  Or should I say they DI-gressed from there.  What had initially been a lovely room for using my Viking embroidery machine devolved into an ever shrinking circle of functionality until, at last, I could function no more.  (If you've wondered why my production and blog posts have been decreasing, this is why.)

And one day I said enough is enough.  I hired a top-rated local firm, Get Organized!,  to come in, gut the room, and put it back so that I could find everything AND have a pretty room in which to play, and I had only two requirements:  I had to be able to either sew or craft at will without moving anything around, and I had to be able to have a space for another crafter.  And the wonderful ladies of the team did JUST THAT (with lots of "go-fering" from me).  They used products from The Container Store and IKEA, and I provided some vintage and antique storage pieces as well.  They took what to me was an insurmountable task and turned it into a fun adventure with a fantastic result, much like when Mary Poppins straightened up the Banks children's bedroom.

So without further ado, here is my craft room, before and after The Great Craft Room Makeover.  The pictures will be worth thousands of words, so I will stop talking now.  Except to say...

don't judge me please.  Ha!

Isn't that nursery border lovely?  It was there when I moved in 14 years ago.

My ever shrinking work space

The embroidery table cum storage surface

No words for this area

At least it was colorful.

Where it all happened.  HOW, I wonder now.

The only sewing I could do was on cards while sitting on the stool.

Two DVD towers.  And a blocked window.

The closet

Because you wanted to see the disaster up close, right?

And then...after 2 full 8-hour days and another half day (not including the day I took the border down and cleaned up the bare room)...

TA DAAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Check out the dual work station!

The Big Shot station including punches, dies and embossing folders.

A place for everything, and everything in its place.

My countertop is clean!  These buckets are from IKEA.

A vintage shelf, painted the perfect color, found in East Texas

Sewing central

One of the DVD towers, now a statement piece of decor.

It holds all of my ink sprays, ink refills and most of my shimmer paints.

Glitters and small shimmer paints.

Heat tools hidden out of sight until I need them.  And all in one place.

Adhesives

Gift wrap station and all of the non-pretties

The other DVD tower hidden in the closet.  It holds all of my glues and other media.

Out of sight, but still handy

The joint work table, or a second surface for project overflow.  The little trays are brilliant and hold my crafting essentials!

My trusted crafting companion.

And the darling ladies who made it all happen.  THANK YOU S. & S.!!

I still need to hang some decorative items, and I'm in the process of organizing my clear stamps in binders, but my crafting life has definitely taken a turn for the better.  My husband's delighted too as he now hears nothing but happy sounds coming from the room instead of the sounds he heard before.  (What's said in the craft room stays in the craft room.)

Thank you so much for joining me today and I wish you much crafting pleasure this week as I know I'm going to have!

Happy crafting!

Watercolor Comfort

Hello!

Today's card is another sympathy card, and this time I wanted to play with my Gelatos a bit for a soft, watercolor effect.

I first heat embossed the phrase "With Sympanty" in a loose pattern on white card stock and then scribbled a few colors of Gelatos on top.  A few spritzes of water, some rubbing with fingertips, and voila, a soft, watercolor effect layer.  (That blue looks a whole lot darker than it really is.)  I rubbed the color off the the words to help them stand out a bit more.  This is otherwise known as the emboss resist method.  I didn't want this phrase to stand out but to act as more of a subtle watermark on the layer.

I then adhered it to a dry embossed layer in the same color as the base.  No stark contrasts needed on this one.

The center oval was sponged around the edges while still in the die then adhered to a doily diecut.  Pearls adorn the die cut for added elegance, and a soft, seam binding triple bow complete the front.

The inside is kept quite clean with a simple sentiment leaving plenty of room for a personal message.

Thank you for joining me today and I wish you a lovely, joyful day full of that which makes you happy.

Happy crafting!

This card is for sale in my Etsy shop.

Calla Lilies

Hello!

It was pointed out to me recently that I didn't have any sympathy cards in my Etsy shop, so today's card is the first of a few that will rectify the situation.  This is my least favorite card to make, but there is a need for them, so I will make a few to have on hand.

I've kept the colors simple and subdued and used a lovely (but discontinued) image from Flourishes which I've colored with Copic markers after first stamping it using gray ink instead of my usual black.  Gray is a bit softer.  I've layered that on top of a contrasting circle and two layers of contrasting card stock, with the top layer having been heat embossed for a watermark effect.

The small sentiment has a couple of ribbon loops under it for a tiny bit of extra dimension, and I've edged the green layer with clear glitter glue for just a hint of extra elegance.  This is not the time to break out the glam.

I've kept the inside simple as well with two layers of contrasting card stock and a stamped image and sentiment.

Thank you for joining me, and I wish you a lovely day today.

Happy crafting!

This card is for sale in my Etsy shop.

 

You Make My Day

Hello!

Today is the final chapter in the series devoted to friendship/thinking of you cards.  I tried to make this one as gender-neutral as possible, which is yet another step out of my comfort zone.  Like dressing little girls, making cards with a feminine touch is far easier than making those for men, but I need to get busy and do more for the guys.  After all, they need lifting up too.

This one went together lickety split, though it wasn't my intention.  My cards usually take me hours, but this time I wanted to use layers of die cuts from Spellbinders Nestabilities "Resplendent Rectangles" to add importance to the simple heat embossed sentiment, and when they were assembled, the card really didn't ask for much in the way of embellishment.  Believe me, I tried.  I LOVE embellishments, even on cards for guys, and I tried this way and that to add more, but the card said STOP ALREADY, so I did.  Two small satin ribbon flags and two metal popped up corners was enough.  (I did sneak in some silver embossing on the edges of the base layer.  So there.)

I love these little metal corners and how they pop up to add depth.  And here's where you can see the subtle silver edge to the base layer.

I kept the inside super simple with contrasting layers only. 

Thank you for joining me, and I want you, my lovely readers, to know that YOU make my day!

Happy crafting!

This card is for sale in my Etsy shop.