Mixing Pattern Papers

Hello!  A quick house keeping note: tomorrow, is your last chance to enter my drawing for some free Blog Candy!  So, please make sure that you stop by tomorrow.  All you have to do is sign-up as a follower, and if you already are - Thank You.  Then answer the last paper crafting question.  Your name is then entered into the virtual 'pot' and I will select 3 winners.  There are two $25 winners and one $50 winner.

Ok, now back to the business at hand.  I have a girl friend who ask me if I could help her with mixing pattern papers.   She likes some of the things I have done, and wants a few pointers.  

The first and easiest way to mix pattern papers, is to use products from the same company (i.e. Stampin' Up!, Basic Grey, Paper Trey Ink, etc.).  That way your colors will match.  Then, if you use pattern papers from the same collection (Tea Time, Sweet Threads, etc.) they all coordinate.  The company has basically taken the guess work out of the equation, and simplified it.  But, you can take papers from various companies and achieve this same effect, it's just a little trickier.  The other pointer I have is that the busier/large pattern papers tend to be the 'heaviest', and so these should be used on larger scale items.  To bring out a 'less used' color, repeat it (i.e. if you love the yellow used in a floral pattern, use that color on the mat).  

You can also use a repeating color.  My first card illustrates this tip.  The brown and vanilla are repeated, but they are also paired with different patterns.  The main pattern has the brown, and pink.  To introduce the vanilla, I added a brown and vanilla polka dot paper.   But this also repeats the brown, so it looks like it 'belongs'.   To 'anchor' the brown, I added a solid piece of brown.  I did the same for the vanilla by adding an accent piece in just vanilla, the crochet trim.  To give the card some visual interest, I added a paper flower made from a text pattern. 

You can also repeat a shape.  My second card is the perfect example of that.  There are circles in the main pattern paper, both accent pieces used at the top, the top layer of the butterfly, the doily, and the button.  

There you have it!  My quick and easy lesson on Mixing Pattern Papers!  I hope this helped, and Thank You for visiting today!  Don't forget to come back tomorrow for your last chance to enter my Blog Candy give-a-way!

Monochromatic & MoJo 198

Happy Saturday! It's time for another challenge over @ Our Creative Corner and what a wonderful challenge they have this week.  It's monochromatic!  And not just any one color, but WHITE!  Now, before you pull your hair out, take a breath.  And take a look at the inspiration board.  And now take a look at what the design team have come up with, to help get you inspired!

As you can tell from the inspiration board, there are alot of different shades of white.  And look how great they look together.  There are soft, rough, and mixed textures of white.  And all the different shades of white!  Everything from snow white to cream white.  Now, mix them, give the different shades of white a different texture, to help keep your card visually interesting.

Here's my card, and here is a close-up of the stamped panel.  I used a white craft ink and a cream craft ink for the heat embossing.  I added white EP and clear EP to the different inks to create a different texture and give the card some visual interest.  I also added some smooth and texture cardstocks.  I used silver glass glitter to the butterfly center: heart.  I added some white crochet trim to the card, for a different texture.  I used a new stamp set from SU!: Kindness Matters.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look.  Now, go craft something and enter our white monochromatic color challenge @ Our Creative Corner.

Congrats Friend

Well, I have certainly made my paper-crafting dollar stretch today!  I made a card for a dear friend, and it qualifies to be entered into not one, not two, but THREE challenges!  Yahoo!

I met this super lady thru a friend, while paper crafting.  Her name is Dorian.  She is the kindest person you could know.  Anyways, she has this boyfriend that she has been with, for a awhile.  And on Sunday, he asked her to marry him!  How exciting is that?  Well, since she is such a wonderful person I HAD to make her a wonderful card!  But lately my mojo has needed a little push to get going.  So, I went to the internet to find to inspiration.  And I did!

Mona, over @ Cupcake's Creations had a delightful color challenge, #29: light plum, plum, and kraft  (and their inspiration board has a wedding theme!).  The folks over @ Card Patterns has a super user-friendly sketch challenge this week, #116.  And the creative folks over @ {Lawn}scaping have a polka-dot challenge, #10.  Ok, now I have my focus.  Lets create!  

And so I did.  Here is my card: 

the sponsers:

Ok, so about the card.  I used Crumb Cake card stock as the base.  I had two purple scraps from a paper that is easily 6/+ yrs old, and so I don't know the name of the paper or company.  So, I added those to the card.  I cut one scrap with my largest scallop circle die and then cut it in half to the create the half-moon top and bottom.  I had just enough scrap crochet trim to wrap around the bottom third of the card.  I used Crumb Cake and Crumb Cake DSP to create the fancy shaped piece in the center.  I trimmed off the border of the polka dot piece and added some dimensional foam tape to 'lift' it off the solid piece.  I found this wonderful purple texture scrap and cut a butterfly out of it.  I sponged the edges, spritz with some home-made shimmer paint and added some gold ink to the edges.  I had two purple paper daisys that I stacked for the floral center.  I added some different beads from my 'jar o' beads' to a corsage stick pin.  I put a glue dot just under the last bead and tied some thin sheer ribbon around the pin and put it behind the paper daisy.  For the cameo, this was the fun part.  I made it!  Isn't it the greatest!  I bought some polymer clay from one of the big box craft stores, and a mold from MoldMuse.  (Its a virtual shop on Etsy).  Molded the clay and baked it.  Used my handy-dandy glue gun to attach it to the paper daisy and viola!  For my sentiment, I stamped 'Congratulations' in Perfect Plum classic ink onto a scrap of Very Vanilla cardstock and cut out the banner shape.  I edged that piece with some gold ink, as well.  I added three faux half-pearls to the bottom of the greeting, just to give it a little 'class'.

So, my card is now off to the mail box, to be sent to my dear friend Dorian.  I hope she likes it.  And I hope you enjoyed getting a sneak peak!  I encourage you to stop by the different challenge blogs and post your creation.  You never know, you could have an honorable mention, or be in the top three picks,  or be the winner! You'll be amazed how big your smile becomes when you see your card and name posted!  Happy paper-crafting!

Frame It!

Good Morning!  It's Saturday, and that means it's time for another challenge over @ Our Creative Corner!  Linda, from the funkie junkie, is our hostess again this week.  For those of you who have not visited her blog, she does shabby chic to an incredibly inspiring level.  So, for this week, our challenge is to create a frame and pop it off your card/project.  What a clever challenge!  So, won't you play along?

And, here is my card.  It was a lot of fun to create.  I used four pattern papers.  Three of which came out of the same package of DSP from Stampin' Up!  Brocade Background DSP.  The other pattern paper came out of my scrap folder.  But, I think they work nicely together.  And yes, I stamped on the pattern papers to help give them some focal interest and to 'finish' the look.  This card has alot going on! There's crochet trim, seam binding, a metal brad, linen thread, half pearls, a flower, a butter fly, a tag, some sponging and of course! a FRAME!

The non-Stampin' Up! items used to create this card are: the clear stamps to 'decorate' the pattern paper, the pattern paper used for the butterfly, the pearls, and the flower.  Everything else is Stampin' Up!

Thank you for looking!  I hope I have inspired you to create something and enter our Frame It challenge over @ Our Creative Corner.

JUGs #74 & Cupcake Creations

I haven't been 'playing' with my paper craft stuff lately. I entered the Chocolate Fantasy, again, so that took alot of my time. So, its back to my paper crafting! Yahoo!

I used two challenges to create this card. JUGs has a layout challenge this week, and cupcake creations has a color challenge this week. So, I combined them both!

I really do love the challenges over at both Internet locations. They are creative, fun, and challenging. Its good to work outside your comfort zone, sometimes.

This card was made for one of my co-workers for Chocolate Fantasy. I made this card for my daughter. She was a big help, very creative, and she did that beautiful zebra. Hand-painted with edible paint. Wasn't it beautiful?

Most of the materials to make this bright and cheerful card are from Stampin' Up! Everything except the pattern paper. The only retired product used, is the oval fancy frame stamp. But, everything else is current.