Dash of Cheer

Whew, this week, is almost as busy as last week.  But, I'm grateful for the work, and the paper craft requests.  But, before I go back into my craft room, I played along with the lovely ladies over @ Nacho Average Challenge.  They have a color challenge this week, and I struggle with those.  So, I kept my card 'clean and simple' (CAS).

here is this week's colors

here is my card:

I used Marina Mist as my main color.  Then added splashes of Melon Mambo and Early Espresso.  The card base is marina mist.  I added a panel of marina mist dsp.  I used my scallop trim border punch to create the decorative border out of early espresso card stock.  I added a strip of plain melon mambo card stock across the front of the card.  

I hand dyed some very vanilla seam binding with my marina mist re inker.  To add a little pizzazz, I tied a vintage faucet button onto the seam binding bow with some thin silver ribbon.

I created my sentiment label with the four frames in marina mist classic ink.  I stamp the sentiment in both early espresso and melon mambo classic inks.  I adhered the frame onto the card front with dimensionals.  But, I felt the card was missing a little something, so I added a trio of half pearls along the right lower edge of the melon mambo card stock strip.

I hope you have been inspired to play along with us @ NAC.  We would love to see what you create.

Now, I need to get back to some chores and crafts.  I'll post a photo of these sweet little gift tags I have made for my 'exclusive' gift for folks who received my holiday craft fair schedule.

Take care, and take some time out of your busy schedule to create something beautiful!

'N' is for . . .

I wanted to share a quirky little side note with you.  But, before we get to that, a little back story.

I am a fan of monograms.  I actually do like them.  Not the weird, misplaced ones of yester-year.  The one's of today.  With scrolling beautiful fonts, and clever ways of incorporating them into our everyday lives.  And with this notion, I started altering chipboards letters.  I adhered strong magnets to the backs, and use them for decoration.  Ok, so the first one I made was for my locker at work.  But, I digress.  I loved the whole process, picking out the papers, collecting little embellishments, and decorating these stark, life-less letters into works of art.  My friends loved them, too.  So, I started making some for the various craft shows I sell my products at.  And what a hit!  These little gems do take quite a bit of time. But, they sure do end up very pretty to look at.  

Anyways, one of my good friends, Nichole, just loved the first 'N' that I ever made.  And boy, does she have an eye for pretty.  That letter 'N' was the first altered monogram magnet I ever sold.  And Nichole has loved every 'N' I have made since.  I typically create 'N's in black and white color combos with splashes of bright yellow.  But this year, I went another route. Cream and black with a pop of lavender. And it sold at my first arts and craft fair this holiday season!

packaged, and displayed on a framed metal sheet

So, my quirky little side note is this:  out of all the altered magnetic monograms I have created, the letter 'N' is my top seller!  I have sold more 'N's than any other letter, I have created.  Isn't that just funny?  And do you wanna guess what letter I am crafting again this week, for the upcoming craft fair?  Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!  'N'

Thank you, Nichole for all your love, support, and encouragement!

'for you' {CR84FN #30 & CP sketch #117}

There are a few challenge sites that I just go to; like a habit.  Cupcake Creations color challenge, and Card Patterns sketch challenge, just to name a few.  And this past weekend, was no exception.  So, the colors are: light blue, light yellow, and kraft.  The sketch calls for a center object with an object above and below.  Sounds easy enough, huh?  Here are their inspiration boards and sketch:

This past weekend, was a nice break.   It gave me time to catch up on some household chores, and some time to do nothing.  So, I feel a bit revived, and want to sit and create!  So, here is what I created with the inspiration and guidelines from these two wonderful challenge blogs:

My card base is Crumb Cake (Kraft).  I layered a scrap piece of Daisy D's pattern paper as my main paper.  I had a piece of Very Vanilla Satin ribbon that I wrapped around the card front.  I cut a strip of the lace pattern paper into a banner.  The blue is the other side - 2 sided paper!  I collected two Kraft buttons out of my 'jar o'buttons', threaded some 1/8" Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon through the button holes and cinched the satin ribbon, tying the skinny ribbon into a bow.  I found a doily tag, from Martha Stewart, and layered two circles on top of it.  The largest circle is punched from a piece of Crumb Cake DSP (1 3/4") and the smaller circle is punched from a scrap piece from the Bella Blue DSP (1 3/8").  I stamped the 'for you' in Crumb Cake classic ink, using my stamp-a-ma-jig.  I wanted it to be off-center and high.  The flower I made myself.  I used Shimmer White card stock and sponged the edges with So Saffron classic ink.  I used two different dies and a hand-held punch to create the three different flowers, and then stacked them.  I added a light yellow button to the center.  The leaves were made with a die and the other side of the Crumb Cake DSP.  I used glue dots to hold the leaves on. (the leaves are actually one piece.  I cut it into two pieces so that I could have leaves at the top and bottom of the flower.)  The butterfly was made with a butterfly die and Soft Suede card stock.  I added two faux half-pearls for the body.

I really like how my card turned-out.  I did have a few concerns about the flower.  At first I put it right smack in the middle of the doily.  But, then changed my mind to an off-center look.  I balanced the flower by adding a dark butterfly to the opposite corner of the middle circle.  I really wanted to add a faux half-pearl flourish on my card, but I didn't 'see' a good spot.  The button in the middle of the flower looks 'naked' to me, but I couldn't come up with a solution that didn't look yukky.  Any suggestions?

So, if you have a free moment, please stop by both challenge sites and enter!  Its fun!

Happy Birthday Daughter & CR84FN24

Cupcake's Creations, has posted a wonderfully elegant color challenge: Light Blue, Aqua, and Cream. And, my daughter is celebrating a birthday this week, so...I combined the two. I stamped the bird in Basic Brown classic ink and colored her with chalks. I masked the birds head to stamp the crown. I really wanted it to look as if the bird is wearing the crown and not just randomly over the birds head. Know what I mean? The scallop piece is actually box pleated. I'm not sure if you can tell, but I wanted to let you know. I scrunched up some blue seam binding and tied it around the box pleat. I put the pearl brad all the way through the seam binding and pleated scallop trim. The roses I hand rolled, and added a half pearl to each of the centers. The butterfly is die cut from felted wool. I finished the card off with a few spritzes of Vanilla smooch. And I have yet to figure out how to photograph a card with smooch on it, so you can tell. :(
Thank you for looking. I'm now off to decorate her cake!

You Have To Add a Card

I had sooo much fun altering a notebook for Dawn's Color Cue {11} challenge and JUGs wild card challenge, that I decided to make a card, to complete my 'gift'. These colors work beautifully together, and it so made me think 'wedding' and 'baby'. So, I chose 'wedding' and ran with it! Paper cones, and dollies are all the rage these days, so I put them together. The JUGs challenge is to make your own paper flower, so the 'aqua' flower in the cone I made, and the sponged 'aqua' flower on the seam binding on the paper cone, I made. The crochet flower, I purchased. I don't crochet. And if I did, I fear I'd be making too many of them. The ribbon rolled flower I purchased at one of those big box stores. It comes on a strip of toile and you purchase it by the foot. So, I just cut one off, and tucked the 'tails' underneath. I 'girl-y'ed my card, made it feminine, and tinkered with it for a day. The butterfly was a last minute thought. But, I think it looks great! I found these super cute bling-y 'beads' at a local bead store, so I added one to my corsage pin. I sprayed the whole card with some Vanilla Shimmer smooch. I like how it gave it a bit of sparkle without covering-up my stamping. My neutral for this 'item' was vanilla. At first, I didn't think it would go. But, I like how it turned out.

Thanks for taking a look. And, if you have time, you should check out the challenge blogs listed above and play along.

Let me know what you think about pairing vanilla/cream with white on a project. Have a wonderful day. Stay warm, and be safe out there!