Echoes of Petticoats & Pinstripes

Good Morning.  Our first weekend of the new year.  I hope you have great plans for the day.  And 'great' can be defined many, many ways.  For me, it is to keep with my new years resolutions: eat better, get more exercise, spend time with those who truly are special to me, make time to create something pretty, and be productive & efficient.  I don't want to waste anymore of my time, on nonsense (people, objects, or projects).

I carved out some time this morning to craft something beautiful.  [I know, that's not shocking, considering that I don't sleep past 5a on weekends.  {smile}]  I noticed three of my favorite paper crafting sites have challenges up this week.  And I really want to play along.  They are very inspirational.

First stop is  the Card Concept challenge.  Their current challenge is titled Pretty Things.  That alone makes me want to craft.  Now, look at their inspirational photo.  Super gorgeous!

Am I right?  I just love the whole photo!  The gold stripe coffee cup, with the blossoms, and dot pattern on the screen!  Oh my beating heart!  The gold zebra is too cute!  This seems too easy!  I used a combination of Clean & Layered, and Classy & Elegant styles for my card.

I had to join an old favorite, Mojo Monday!  Their sketches are super user-friendly!  and this week is a challenge.  Double score!

Ok, when I first saw the sketch, you know I instantly thought of a doily for the circle element, right?

Well, I didn't do that.  I used the smaller rectangle for my sentiment piece, and my bow for the circle piece.  I layered two trims for the green stripe.  And you know I had to add some machine stitching. {smile}

And finally, a very dear, and sweet challenge site: Word Art Wednesday.  These talented ladies always have positive and motivating blog posts.  And their art work is just beautiful!  Their challenges are Anything Goes, Family Friendly.  How refreshing!

here is what I created:

Recipe:  The card base is Sweet Blush card stock by Paper Trey Ink.  Just love this heavy weight card stock.  It makes my cards stand up without falling over.  Also feels nice in your hand.

I used two pattern papers from the Petticoats & Pinstripes collection by Echo Park.  I just love the clean, fresh colors, floral bouquets and interesting 'dots'.  

I cut the floral pattern paper 3" x 5 1/4".  I cut the green 'dot' pattern paper 1" x 5 1/4".  I laid them side by side.  I added a simple border stitch with my sewing machine.

The sentiment i stamped onto shimmer white card stock by Stampin' Up!.  I wanted some 'shine'.  I stamped the sentiment in basic black classic ink, by Stampin' Up!.  I just love the contrast.  I used my Chose Joy stamp set by Paper Trey ink.  This whole set, has inspirational quotes, that are just beautiful!

had to show the gleam of the gold metallic 

I layered my sentiment onto gold striped vellum paper by My Mind's Eye, it's from their Market Street collection.  And yeah, I purchased a whole package of this single sheet (25 sheets of gold stripe vellum)!

I layered two trims for the horizontal rectangle (green strip).  The bottom layer is a white lace, topped with a super pale pink seam binding.  I tied the seam binding into a simple bow.

And finally, I added a trio of gold sequins.  One large sequin just below the bow, and a pair of smaller sequins by the upper right corner of the sentiment block.

And viola! I am done.  Like the inspirational photo, the imagery is clean and not cluttered.  So, I kept my card the same.  Now, I am off to make 9 more cards, as these will go to the ladies who are attending my Christmas Friendship Tea later this morning.  Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have been inspired to play along with any (or hopefully all) challenge sites.  And that you keep with your new year's plans, whatever they might be {smile}!

She Reached Double Digits

Howdy, and welcome.  Yeah, been a bit busy with crafting, decorating, cooking, baking, and getting everything in place for my annual hosting of Bunco.  It was a success.  Everyone ate too much, and laughed too much, too!  {smile}  Is there such a thing?  Well, everyone had a grand time, and I am thankful for such wonderful friends!
And along the lines of celebrating, guess who has turned 10 years old?  Yep, my oldest granddaughter.  Crazy, right?  I don't think of myself as old.  But, I have 7 grandchildren.  So, maybe its their parents that are old, and not me.  {smile}
My granddaughter H, is such a wonderful girl.  She is kind, considerate, smart, talented, and simply beautiful!  She scored in the top 3 of the state during scholastic testing.  She reads at a much higher grade level then the one she is in.  She is in gift classes for math and science.  She dances competitively, and is so graceful.  She is creative and artistic - she has won some art contests at her school.  She makes bracelets and sells out during craft fairs.   She is such a warm, and loving kid, too!  Gosh, I could simply go on and on about how wonderful she is.  But, then it just looks like I'm bragging.  {smile}
I made her birthday card.  You aren't surprised by that, are you?  And I wanted to make something girl-y, something sweet, and beautiful.  

I am entering H's card in three challenges.  My first stop is Word Art Wednesday.  Their current challenge is anything goes, and family friendly.   I just love the creativity of their design team.  

My second stop is The Ribbon Girl Blog.  Their current challenge is anything goes, but you have to use ribbon, and it has to be a card.   Easy peasy!

And the final challenge is Cupcake Inspirations.  Their inspiration is a cupcake!

I used the colors and not the flamingo. 

this card was selected as their 'winner' & 'sweet six'!  

I have posted my badge on my Awards page.

here is what I came up with!

Recipe:  I created an A2 size card.  (4 1/4" x 5 1/2").  The card base is made from Pool Party card stock by Stampin' Up!.  I just love this color of blue.  Its a blue green aqua color.  Very shabby chic.  The pink gingham pattern paper is from My Mind's Eye.  It came out about 4-5 years ago.  Yeah, I love this paper, and I have a few sheets left.  (when I run across a paper that I love, I buy a package = 25 sheets of the same 12" x 12" paper.)

I used the same pool party card stock to matt the smaller rectangle on.  I wanted it to look like it belongs, that is why I repeat colors and papers.  The beautiful floral, pink polka dot, text paper, is actually a digital download.  I printed it onto whisper white card stock by Stampin' Up!.  I just love how beautiful my digital papers print on this card stock.  I used foam tape to lift this panel off of the card front.

I hand-stamped my sentiment onto the floral text paper.  I used basic black classic ink by Stampin' Up!, and the Number of Years stamp set.   I cut the numbers out, I  used the Number of Years matching die and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer paper by Stampin' Up!.   I used foam tape to pop up the numbers.

I wrapped and machine sewn some white lace and pale blue seam binding across the front.   I made a triple loop bow out of the same seam binding.  I used some pale pink bakers twine to tie a white vintage button to the bow.  I adhered the bow & button to the card front with hot glue.  I tied a scrap piece of the pink bakers twine through a small white blossom shaped button, and adhered it to the card front, too.  

Thank you for stopping by!  I hope that you have been inspired to create something beautiful today!

Fabric Banner and Tutorial

~ photo heavy post ~

Howdy!  If you were here this weekend, I had great asperations to have an Explosion Box to show you.  Well, I have never made one, and so my first attempt is taking longer than I expected.  Therefore, I don't have mine finished.  But it is underway.  And yeah, its a Baby Girl theme.  {smile}

I hope to have it done in a few days.  You see, I won't be able to work on it until the evenings when I get home from work, and finish my wife-ly chores (cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc).

But I did want to share with you another craft I finished Sunday evening.  {smile}.  I have been wanting to make a fabric rag banner for quite a while now.  I see them on the internet, and the tutorials say they are 'easy'.  So, I have finally sat down to create one.  There are quite a few photos, so grab something to drink, and take a look at what I made! {smile}

Fabric Banner

I made a shabby-chic fabric strip banner!  I have to admit, when I was done, I was sooooo happy with it!  I couldn't stop smiling!  I love a project that comes to together with ease and actually looks the way you believe it will, when you are done!  So, let's get started with this tutorial!

I have looked at several (and I do mean several!) tutorials.  They all basically say to start with 5 different fabrics.  Well, I didn't.  I wanted my banner to be a product of a mixture of what I had on hand, and what I envisioned it to be.  I wanted something shabby chic, farm-land, country, sweet, and a lot girl-y.  So I started with three fabrics I had purchased just for this project.  These fabrics are from Tilda.  Love their stuff: paper, fabric, ribbon, embellishments, etc.

these are the fabrics I used.  Fat Quarters

I used fat quarters for my fabric sizes (18"  x 22").  I didn't want a long banner, or a super short banner.  I washed and dried my fabric before I started.  I wanted that soft, 'worn' look. 

I laid my fabrics out, and with a ruler, cut a slip at each inch, on the long side.

cut slips one inch apart

Now, this will seem a bit rash, but tear your strips.  Tear the fabric.  It's ok, tear it.  By tearing it, you give the fabric a rough edge.  Which is what I wanted.  But, if that is NOT what you want, cut it.  I would suggest a rotary cutter, so your cuts are straight.  You could also use peeking sheers, so you have a decorative edge.

Now, gather more 'material' that you believe coordinates, and cut/tear lengths that measure the same as your fabrics.  I used trims: ribbon, lace, seam binding, and decorative trim.

my three fabrics, white lace, trim, gold satin ribbon, blue seam binding and pink seam binding

I used a thick twine for my 'sting' to loop my pieces onto.  I simply pulled out a length of the heavy twine that roughly measured the length I wanted my banner, and then added a foot and a half on each end.  That way, I would have plenty of length to tie my banner.  
To start, I looped a strip of the white lace at each ending point.  This served two fold: mark the end and to keep my banner confined to a measured space.
Next, I only had enough length for three strips of the gold satin ribbon.  So, I tied one to the center of the banner space, and then eye-balled the placement of the other two strips.
Next, I only had four lengths of the cream ball trim.  So, I looped those pieces onto the twine, so that the banner was divided into quarters.
This type of measuring isn't exact, but it did help guide me as to how many fabric strips to add to my banner, so that it looked balanced, and not too wonky.
Lets get those fabric strips on the twine!  My pattern was simple.  Fabric. Fabric. Fabric. Lace. Fabric. Fabric. Fabric. Lace.  I think the blue floral pattern fabric looks the boldest/strongest, so I used that fabric strip as my middle fabric.  I repeated this pattern across the whole banner length.
I added the seam binding last.  I didn't have a lot of either seam binding.  So, I added a length of the blue seam binding to each side of each gold satin ribbon.  I added a length of the pink seam binding to each side of each cream ball trim.

To finish, I simply fixed any places where the fabric was bunching up, too much, and viola!

close-up of a section of my banner

Now, you are probably wondering what I am doing with the banner.  I don't plan on selling this one.  If you would like me to make you one, just convo me, and we can talk particulars: size, length, price, etc.  This one was made for a friendship high tea I am hosting at my house this year, late spring.  But, I love it so much, it just might make it into my display booth at this years Spring Craft Fair on May 2nd, 2015!

Stay tuned, I promise, I will have photos of an Explosion Box this week!