Monday, November 29, 2010

Merry Christmas

I had made this card for ODBDSLC38 which was to make a holiday card, but then I didn't get it posted by the deadline on Thanksgiving Day.  {oops}  So I'll share that one today.

I stamped the poinsettia from the ODBD set "Blessed Christmas" and the sentiment is from ODBD's "Christmas Verses." 

Here's my card.

 
I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink to sponge around the edges of the panel.  The image is cut out with the coordinating Poinsettia die.  Then I just added a burgundy May Arts silk ribbon bow that I tied with my Bow Easy as I wanted to image to really be the focal point of the card.  The dp is from Basic Grey's "Jovial" collection. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Sunday, November 28, 2010

CCT Blast from the Past meets Verve Project Parade

The current Cute Card Thursday challenge is to revisit any of the previous challenges with the exception of anything goes.  I went back to the May 13, 2010 challenge which was "Someone Special."  The original challenge was to make a card for a special someone, either a family member or a close friend.  I thought this was perfect as I needed to make a thank you card for Ariel to give to her grandparents. 

Then I got to thinking that I could combine the CCT with the Verve Project Parade Challenge.  Julee has challenged us to make a trio of projects.  Someone is going to win the entire January new release and have the chance to be a Guest Diva!  I wish that someone could be me!  {giggle}

So here's my contest entry. 

Part 1:  I embellished a brown paper bag with some of my all-time favorite dps, "Quite Contrary" by My Mind's Eye.  I added a "lace" strip that I made with the MS doily lace punch and inked the edges of the "lace" with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  To cover that seam, I added some Webster's Pages Bloomers.  I cannot believe that the greens from these 2 different brands actually matched! 



I also made a tag to hang on the bag.  I started with white cardstock and the largest of the Nestie labels dies and then sponged the edges while it was still in the die with Vintage Photo ink.  I used another MS punch to just punch around a square piece of white cardstock and then inked my resulting "medallion" with more Vintage Photo ink.  I made a little rosette flower for the center of my medallion by just making an accordion fold and then adhering the ends together.  I put the rosette on top of a circle of cardstock and attached it with a bunch of Scor-Tape.  Then I added a button and a hemp bow to finish the rosette.  The sentiment is from Verve's set "Just for You." 

Here's a closeup of the tag.  The green is a bit distorted here since I had to take the bag photo in the evening.


OK, so what's in the bag?  Well, let's take a little peek.


Part 2:  The second item I created was this gift box.  Let's pull it out of the bag and have a look.

Here's the top view.  The sentiment is from Verve's set "Kind Words."  The leaves around the frame (same technique as the tag above, but I used the second smallest Grand Nestie die) are from Verve's set "Great Friend."  I stamped the leaves in SU! Old Olive and then stamped a second time without reinking to create a little more dimension.  The swirls under all of the flowers and bow are a Sizzix die, and I sponged their edges with Vintage Photo ink, too.  I also added a few MS leaf punches around the biggest rose.  I was trying to create kind of a trellis look with the roses climbing up the edges.


I also took some closeups.  I added Glimmermist to the white rose.


The bow is Moss May Arts silk ribbon that I tied using a Bow Easy.


Here's the box from the side.  I added more of the MS "lace" and sponged again with Vintage Photo ink.


Part 3:  So, now we just need to open the box and see what's inside.  It's my card for Ariel to give her grandparents.



I just love the softness of the patterns and of course the pink and green color combo. I used an image by Hanglar Stanglar and colored it with Copics. I used a MS doily lace border punch and the leaf punch on this card.

Here's a closeup of the flowers.  The biggest rose is a Prima Winter Rose - love the glitter on the edges and the smaller roses are Recollections from Michael's.  I curled the ends using a knitting needle.



Here's the inside view of the card.  This photo was taken at a bit of an angle to get decent natural light.  The card is actually 6" square, but you wouldn't think that from this photo!



I finished the back with more scrap paper and my personalized stamp from Scrapmagisinet.




Here's one last photo showing the entire ensemble.



Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed my project as much as I enjoyed making it!
Blessings,
Sarah

ATS Magnolia Challenge 4

For the 4th Magnolia Challenge at ATS, they are challenging us to make Christmas themed cards.  I'm using Tilda under the mistletoe.  Isn't she sweet?

I started using the VLV week 3 sketch for this card, but the square panel just didn't work with the image I'd already colored, so I just made a bigger bow instead to fill up the space!  The dp are all My Mind's Eye.  The green is embossed with a Cuttlebug folder.  I colored Tilda using Copics and used a MS doily lace punch. 



I used Tilda under the mistletoe available here at All That Scraps.  Here's a closeup of the double bow. 


Finally, the inside.   I tried to fit the little sentiment on the front, but it just didn't work at all, so I moved it inside the card. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Saturday, November 27, 2010

The Shabby Tea Room Pick a Cause

This week's challenge at TSTR is "Pick a Cause."  I decided to use Love Letters:  Random Cards of Kindness, Inc.  I've sent hundreds of cards to them over the past couple of years, and I have another box nearly filled, so I knew I wanted to use this cause for my card.

The Love Letters website is here, and the card guidelines are here.  They specifically ask that no glitter is used on the cards, and since the cards go to children, I try to use bright colors and include an uplifting sentiment or play on words if I'm using a colored image.

For my card, I used DCWV's "Blossoms and Butterflies" stack.  I fussy cut the 12 x 12 design to accommodate the 3 big flowers on an A2 standard card.  Then I just added the sentiment from Verve's "Let It Shine" set.


Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

I've been busy....

I'm going to post a whole bunch of cards that I've made over the last week.  I was going to separate them, but they are all kind of related, so here goes.

First, I made my card for VLV Week 4 of November.  This is the sketch Julee created for us.  I used a ribbon bundle with light pink, dark pink, and green called "Dozen Roses" as my inspiration from Prairie Bird Boutique.


Here's my card.


I used dp by My Mind's Eye called "Quite Contrary."  I just love this paper!  The sentiment is from Verve's "Kind Words" set.  I added some zigzagging around the edges of the base after I'd done some distressing with my Tim Holtz distressing tool.  I also did straight stitching around the slanted panels.  This was a great sketch for using up some little chunks of dp that were just too big to toss!  I used some pink seam binding for my bow and tied it with my Bow Easy.  I added some glimmermist to the entire card  but I sprayed it on a little too heavily and the panels slightly warped as a result.  {oops}

Here's a closeup of the biggest rose all glimmery and you can see some of the panel stitching better, too.


I finished the inside of the card and the back as well using up more of my scraps.  I used the same MS doily punch for the card back as I did for the front.
 




My second card was made for the week 5 VLV sketch challenge. 


I used the second inspiration photo, the Sweet Pea shower gel from Bath and Body Works as my inspiration and for the dp, I used some scraps of Imaginesce paper from their old princess collection.  I really am trying to use up some of the scraps I've accumulated!

I decided to use this Tilda stamp and pair her with a Verve sentiment to make a birthday card for my daughter.  The sentiment is from Verve's "Birthday Bash" set.   Sorry for the wonky angle on this picture but I was fighting glare from the stickles and the bling flourishes.  That's also why the circle mat looks like it is way off center.  It's really straight - I promise!


I used the bling flourishes and the seam binding with rose as the three dot elements in the sketch. 

Here's a closeup of the stickles on her wand.  Tilda is colored using Copics.  I gave her brown hair to match my daughter's hair. 



I also finished the inside and the back of this card.




After making card 2 with Imaginesce papers, I thought I'd try to use up a few more scraps with the Mojo Monday sketch for Week 166.  Here's the sketch and my card.




I did opt to straighten out the panel as it just worked better with my image and I also moved the three dots off of the ribbon. I still have more of this coordinating ribbon to use up, but I did manage to use up about 5  inches of it.   I used more seam binding for the bow.  The sentiment is from Verve's "Fairy Tales" set. 



Continuing on the them of using up scraps, here's the inside and the back.







I decided that I would try to finish using up the scraps of Imaginesce paper I still had so I next did a really simple layout to use up some of the glittery crown paper.  I made a Nesties frame for Tilda to sit in.  She's again colored with Copics, and I gave her crown a few gems and some glass slippers.


Here's a closeup of the "glass" slippers.


Next we have the card back.  I just did a little strip down the side on the inside panel, and I didn't photograph it.


I made good progress on my scraps but I still have a few more pieces to use up, so they will have to wait for another day.

Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah

Friday, November 26, 2010

A Little Somthing Different

I thought I'd share a non-stamping project with you today!  I knit this scarf for my mother-in-law's birthday back in August.  The yarn is silk with glass beads by Tilli Tomas.  It's a pretty short scarf.  I just used one skein, so there's enough to wrap around the neck once and have small tails that hang down or any of the other wrapping and draping options.


Here's a closer view of the glass beads.

I'm hoping to finish some projects today and post some new stamping things over the weekend.  Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!
Sarah

Sunday, November 21, 2010

TSTR 36 and Mojo 165

I hadn't had time before today to tackle the Mojo 165 sketch.  I decided to combine it with TSTR's food/thanks challenge and for this card, I used the cupcakes from the inspiration photo as my inspiration. 


Here's the sketch.  I thought that the tilted panel would give me fits but it came together pretty easily.




I used a bunch of different Verve stamps on this card.  The black circle frame and the sentiment are both from "Happy Hello."  The cupcake is from "Carpe Cupcake."  I paper pieced the frosting section of the cupcakes and attached them using foam tape to give it more dimension.  The liners were colored with Copics.  I used DCWV glittery paper for the base (it's an older collection, either Nana's kids or glitter stack - the title page is long gone!).  The yellow strip was cut with a Tim Holtz Sizzix die.  I finished it off with a little organza ribbon tied with my Bow Easy.

Thanks for stopping by! 
Blessings,
Sarah

Saturday, November 20, 2010

VLV Week 1 and 2

For week 1, here is the sketch and my inspiration photo.




I went with the red and cream color combo, and found paper by K & Co. that somewhat replicates the look of the alternating red and white pattern in the quilted place mat. 


On my original card, I just strictly followed the sketch, and when I was done, it seemed kind of blah, so I added (what else?!) some flowers.


Here are a few closeup shots.  First, some bling around the Verve sentiment from the set "Kindred Spirits." 


The center of the flower is a Prima sequin cluster that I found at Archiver's. 


I also finished the inside of this card and the back.  This card is 6" square.





For week 2 of VLV, here's the sketch and the inspirational photo I used for my color scheme.





I used Verve's set "Budding Blossoms" as I thought the flowers in it looked like the ones in the inspiration photo.  I stamped the leaves in SU! Old Olive and the flowers in SU! Purely Pomegranate.  The background was embossed with a cuttlebug folder.  The dp are both older designs from SU!  It was in one of the Christmas packs a couple of years ago.  I mounted my flowers on foam tape for more dimension.  This card is a standard A2. 


Thanks for stopping by!
Blessings,
Sarah