My Cards and Tags: SOUS May 1st Card Challenge

I have to start this post with a huge kudos to Leah Schaeffer.  She is one of the co-creaters of SOUS (not to mention an incredibly class act person) and has been simply amazing to work with on the SOUS Design Team.  It's her wonderful sketch that we were inspired by in today's challenge.  So here's what I came up with:

And this is Leah's clever sketch that my card was based on:

 
For my card, I used a new collection that I adore: the DIY Collection by Crate Paper.  It's this cool combo of whimsical and office-- picture if someone really trendy and artistic took over your office supply store and there you have it!

For the background of this card, I layered the paper, then cut a semi-circle and inked a baking doily which I layered on top of the semi-circle.  I used Studio G alphabet stamps to spell out the "you're my type" sentiment.  The typewriter and speech bubble are from the DIY collection as well.

For the top, I added some layers of paper to make it look like there was a handful of notebook pages inside (sticking with the whole writing / office theme).  I used Prima paper and an edge punch from Stampin' Up! to make the torn edges on top.

This card was a lot of fun to put together.  Thanks to SOUS and to Leah for another great card sketch to inspire us!

Tutorials: Altering Patterned Paper

So there I was...night time...card assignment due and I could NOT, for the life of me, make the components work together!  You know how it is: we buy paper we adore, or we buy it in big packs, but then we can't find a sentiment or scene or picture that goes with the pattern (or maybe that's just my problem)!  That was the boat I was in.  It wasn't meshing!  I either had to abort my idea and find all new paper, or have a Tim Gunn "make it work" moment with the paper I had in my hands.  So what happened??  Check out the card I made and I'll show you how I altered the patterned paper from its original form so it fit the "card vision" I had in mind:

I started out with this bold floral print from DCWV's "Solstice" stack, as pictured below.  I loved the turquoise and coral-colored flowers, but needed more solid-colored space (as opposed to the pattern) to make my card idea work.

Using an old gift card like a spatula, I scraped gesso across the page, leaving some of my favorite flowers peeking through.  The great thing about DCWV paper is that it's sturdy enough to handle this process.

While the gesso was still wet, I patted on some torn vintage pages and rubbed the gesso over the edges of the pages with my fingers.

Next I used a foam brush and added streaks of three different shades of acrylic paint (light blue, green and yellow).  I used the same brush for all three colors (without washing it in between) so that they mixed on my brush to create new colors.

I waited for the page to dry, then I stamped some polka dots on the background with a rubber stamp (Punchinella by Christy Tomlinson) and dark brown and teal ink (Tim Holtz distress ink).

After that, my new background page was ready to go!  I cut it in pieces to use for cards, and there you have it!  See it peeking out from my card's layers? I attached the whole thing to a striped background (Fancy Pants), and added a Bingo card-type of sentiment on top (Teresa Collins).  The paper framing the Bingo card is from Simple Stories.  I also added a strip of fabric and a fabulous key-shaped clip from Prima.  There is some scalloped lace at the bottom and I stamped the sentiment, "make them matter" using a set of alphabet stamps by Studio G.

Altering patterned paper is a great way to re-purpose and make full use of your current stash.  Plus it feels like a pretty nifty accomplishment to make your "own" unique patterned paper!

My Cards and Tags: Prima "Sew Much Fun" Card

You know I've been LOVING all the new stuff from Prima lately and the Lifetime collection is no exception.  It has these whimsical scribbly-outlined pictures and sentiments that are fun to mix and match with other elements.

The tag and the "Sew Much Fun" picture are from the Lifetime collection and the orange lacy background page is from the yummy Sunrise Sunset collection.  The floral print in back of that is from the Divine collection.  See what I mean about an abundance of Prima goodness right now?  Love it all!

 
To go with the "sew" theme, I added a piece of vintage measuring tape at the bottom as well as some heart-shaped stick pins from Heidi Grace.  I cut a piece of lace in a scallop shape for the top of the tag on the card.  I finished it off with a little scrap of fabric and of course, what started me on the Prima path in the first place, some Prima flowers on the side.  If you look back through my blog, you'll see Prima flowers all over the place.  Still love them just as much as ever!

My Other Creations: Urban Birds

I made some "Urban Birds" that landed on the cover of this upcoming issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine (May/June 2013). 

Here's a picture of one of my little birdies from the article.  Again, all credit goes to the CPS photographers for this fine shot:

If you want to see more pictures as well as step-by-step instructions on how to make these Urban Birds yourself, check out the May/June 2013 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.  The whole issue is dedicated to birds, so if feathered friends are your thing, this is the issue for you!  

My Other Creations: Prima "Fly" Shadowbox

This past week I went to my favorite scrapbook store and stumbled upon a Prima bonanza!  You know that I use their flowers on pretty much anything and everything, but they had so many amazing paper collections and accessories and stamps that I hadn't seen before!  If you haven't seen what they've been up to lately, I suggest you check them out immediately !  I went into instant Prima overload (in a good way) and merely stood paralyzed in the Prima section for a good three minutes before switching over to "grab" mode.

After giddily making my purchases, I brought them home and created this little shadowbox from two of their collections that I absolutely adore: the Divine collection and the Fairy Rhymes collection:

Because I was loving so many elements that were part of the patterned paper, I cut around them or cut them out and either curled their edges (flowers) or folded them in half (butterflies) to add some dimension.

Since I went with a whole "Fly" theme for this shadowbox, I included birds, butterflies and the center picture which I loved: a hot air balloon. I stamped the sentiment "Fly" onto a fabric scrap with some alphabet stamps from EK Success.

Such absolutely versatile and gorgeous elements in these paper collections!  Really love them.  On an unrelated side note, really love my hubby, too.  He got stuck waiting for me while I shopped and went Prima-crazy for what had to be a good hour and didn't even bat an eye.  For a manly man in a scrapbooking store, that was nothing short of heroic!

My Other Creations: CKCB "Stickers Only" Challenge!

Wow!  Talk about a sticky tricky challenge!  Our Counterfeit Kit Design Team was challenged to use stickers as embellishments on our latest project.  I ended up making this little tin:

So how do I justify this as a "stickers only" item?  Well, I painted a tin to make it look vintage-y and added a scrap or two of fabric and a Prima flower to the base / background.  On the front of the tin, the main focal point is the bird and the sentiment.  And guess what?  It is a STICKER!  Ha!  I can't even tell you how many times I've meant to use this fabulous sticker from K & Company (it's been in the stash for a l-o-n-g time, believe you me), so this project is just what I needed to finally make a sticker the star of the show.

I also thought that Washi tape should count as a sticker, so I hung some of it down from a Tim Holtz hanger and connected it to the aforementioned bird sticker.  Sticker tape taped to a sticker?  Come on!  It just doesn't get much stickier than that, right??

So a hearty thanks is in order for CKCB for really making me scratch my head on this one!  And for those of you that still don't know what CKCB is, it's a fantastic blog that encourages us to "counterfeit" a current crafting kit that's out on the market with supplies we already own!  If you are a supply hoarder like unto myself, this is a great blog to help you de-stash and get excited about your old products again!

My Cards and Tags: Good Times

April.  The month of Spring and mild temperatures, yes?  Not today!  High wind warnings were issued and SNOW, yes SNOW, flew this morning!  As I tried to keep my face from freezing off, I thought about happy things like beaches and lemonade and reading in the sun.  Since that wasn't going to happen, I made a happy Summer-colored card instead.

One of the niftiest tools I used to make this card was a brand new product from Lifestyle Crafts / Quickutz called Detailz Dies.  They allow you to cut and emboss and there are some really fun designs.  Behold!!  This is the set I used for my card: the very cute "Banners" set:

To make this card, I used paper from My Mind's Eye (just like always!  Love, love, love!) and paper from the Simple Stories' "100 Days of Summer" collection.  On the Lifestyle Crafts banner die, I used a text stamp from 7 Gypsies and inked around the edges.  The "Good Times" sentiment is also from Simple Stories and I threw a binder clip on top of the banner.  I also included fabric because apparently that's just how I roll.

So hey!  Keep on enjoying Spring...unless it's really more like Winter...and we'll patiently wait just a little longer to fall asleep in the hammock with some Bob Marley on the breeze.  :)

My Cards and Tags: SOUS April 3rd Card Sketch Challenge

Are you loving the fact that we've hit April???  Yay!!  And although my Hydrangea plant is crispy brown and unidentifiable as a Hydrangea, I have high hopes for both my plants and my creative endeavors this month!

And what a great way to start off April: another fine card sketch from the Stuck On U Sketches blog.  Here's how my card turned out:

And here's the sketch I based it off of, created by the talented Nanne:

For my card, I couldn't decide if I wanted to go pastel shabby chic or grungy, so I sort of did a combo.  The paper is from MME (yep- I'm pretty much predictable when it comes to MME usage), Tim Holtz, Crate Paper and Glitz.  The stamp that I used on the fabric is from Stampabilities.

I also threaded some fibers and lace through a paperclip and added it on.  I'm lovin' paperclips these days, which is nice because my husband and I just bought an old desk from a courthouse auction and it had like a billion of them in the drawer.  :) 

So hey!  Let's enjoy April and hope that both our creativity and our snow-mashed flowers bloom!

Thanks, as always, whoever you are out there, for taking the time to stop by!  It's nice to know that we can come together on various blogs across the internet universe as fellow crafting geniuses (hey- I'll proudly claim that title if you do!)