Green, the color of harmony

Happy Friday.  I have been crafting some holiday ornaments for our family reunion.  Stay tuned for a few photos of those.  But, today, I want to share a card I made for a very special friend.  I used this week's sketch from Sketch Frenzy Friday.  Tammy is this weeks designer of the sketch.  Tammy has given us a great sketch, that I am sure you will easily be able to incorporate into your crafting.

The first thing I noticed about this week's sketch, is how versatile it is.  If you follow me, you know that I am a huge fan of text paper, and those flag-ended strips.  So, I really had fun with this one.

I just loved the rectangle piece at the top, but I love portrait orientation cards.  This card was a labor of love.  Because yeah, there are quite a few steps.  But, I just love how it turned out.  I cut a piece of old olive card stock, and inked the en francias background stamp with versa mark ink.  I did that finger tap stamping.  I didn't want all the words to be stamped.  But rather a random look.  I used white embossing powder and heat set the text.  I inked the 'very vintage' wheel in old olive classic and ran along both sides of the card.  I used a kleenex to buff the old olive classic ink off the embossed text.  I did a simple machine sewn border on this main panel.  I scrunched the lower right corner of the card.  I thought it added a little visual surprise.

For my rectangle piece, I actually created a tag.  I used the Etc. DSP for the green stripe piece.  I matted very vanilla card stock.  And ran a simple machine sewn border to that piece, also.  I love repetition.  I wanted to add a doily to the tag, but I didn't want it to 'steal the show', so I used vellum card stock and the perfect pennant die.  I used crumb cake seam binding to create my multi-loop bow.  I thought the neutral color would pull your eye to the top of the card.  I created and adhered a button out of clay, using the button & blossom mold, to the center of the bow.  I also added a pearl to the button.

For the blossoms, I cut several floral pieces with the blossom die.  I bent the petals to give them some shape.  I brushed whisper white craft ink along the petal edges and sprinkled on dazzling diamond glitter.  I adhered the trio of blossoms to the lower edge of the vellum doily.

I wanted the bottom of the tag to have a bit of flair, so I added a trio of flags.  I used very vanilla card stock and the square lattice embossing folder. to give the cardstock some texture.  But I wanted to add more,.  So, I repeated the machine stitching along the middle of the banners.  I also topped their point of origin with another clay button and pearl.

For the sentiment, I stamped 'amazing you' from the Express Yourself stamp set, in basic black classic ink.  I flagged the ends and folded the long tails.  I used foam tape to lift the sentiment off the card front.

Thank you for stopping by.  Leave me a comment on your opinion of machine stitching.  I'd love to know what you think!  And break out your cardstock and favorite stamp set, and create something using our sketch.  We would really love to see what you create!

thanks

Hi! and thank you for stopping by this Friday!  So, the weekend is right around the corner, and Sketch Frenzy Friday has another challenge for us today.  The sketch was brought to us by Angela, and the sketch is pretty 'user-friendly', and your only requirement is to us Stampin' Up! products.  I decided to use all current products, so if you find some inspiration, you can purchase all these products today!  Don't forget to stop by Tammy B. 's blog to see what she has created.

Here is the sketch

Here is my card

For some reason, I have this urge to use this same color combo.  Sorry!  But, isn't it just beautiful!  Crumb Cake, Calypso Coral, Pink Pirouette, Peach Parfait, and Very Vanilla!  Before you say it, yes, that is Stampin' Up! seam binding.  I just dyed it!  First, I measured how much seam binding I needed  and cut that measurement.  I sprayed the seam binding with water, and then added several drops of Pink Pirouette classic re-inker.  Then used my heat gun to speed up the drying time.  I wadded up the seam binding to help create the crinkled look.  

The flower was made with circle punches.  I used peach parfait card stock, pink pirouette card stock and First Edition DSP.  I used a metal button brad to hold the card stock flower together.  I punched the leaves from a scrap piece of Beau Chateau DSP and First Edition DSP.  

I used three stamp sets: Clearly For You, Creative Elements, and Notably Ornate.  I used the Lots of Tags die to create the fancy tag design from Calypso Coral card stock.  I also stamped the 'take note' in Calypso Coral classic ink.  The 'for you' and 'thanks' were stamped in Soft Suede classic ink.  The scallop piece is made from the Tasteful Trim die.  I added a small faux half-pearl jewel to the tag to help give it a girly look.

Thank you for looking, and now go play with your paper crafting supplies, and join us in this sketch challenge!

SSC211 & JUGS 92

I hope that everyone had a fabulous weekend! and was able to carve-out some crafting time!  I sure did!  Phyllis Shepherd, who is my up-line has sent me an email, informing me that she has a 'gift' for me @ the Stampin' Up! Convention!  How fabulous, huh?  Well, Phyllis is a warm, wonderful lady who always has a little gift for me at Convention and Leadership.  So, its a wonderful feeling, knowing that she hasn't forgotten me!  :)  So, I wanted to make her a special Thank You card, to show my appreciation and thank her for her thoughtfulness.

So, I went to two of my 'go-to' challenge sites to get some inspiration.  Stamping 411 has a wonderful sketch, that is easy to work with.  JUGs has a technique challenge.  So, I combined them both!

Here's my card!

I used Pink Pirouette cardstock, for the base of the card.  I received my first order from the new catalog, so I HAD to use some of the pattern papers from Beau Chateau DSP.  I used probably every thank you stamp that I have.  I stamped them in different classic inks: Soft Suede, Sahara Sand, Crumb Cake, Pink Pirouette, and Pretty in Pink.  I had to add a hand-made flower!  So, I used Floral Fusion to create a flower using Pink Pourette cardstock.  I used the Square Lattice to give the flower a softness.  I added a hand-made button to the center.  I die cut some leaves with the little leaves die and a scrap piece of the DSP.  I had a scrap piece of Pretty in Pink Satin ribbon, and so I added it on! 

So, now for the technique!  Just Us GirlS, want you to make your own button out of cardstock.  Sound hard, not really.  Just use your head, die cut several 'buttons'.  Stack them, to give then some bulk, or die cut a button out of chip board.  Adhere them all together.  I added some Diamond Glaze to the top button to help give it some dimension and gloss.  I used my stylus to keep the thread holes clear and usable.  I threaded some linen thread through the holes and tied a tiny bow.

I hope that Phyllis likes my card.  She is truly a very warm, giving and thoughtful person.