Urban Prairie Flower Card…

Hi there! Okay, pick yourself up off the floor, I managed to get into my crafty corner this afternoon and make a card! I know, I am just as shocked as you are. LOL

The girls and I have had a nicely busy first full week of summer break. We are going to a local school for lunch almost every day like we did last summer. It’s not being offered at our home school this summer (they switch schools each year), but it’s still close by and it’s still free. Another family we got to know last summer is going too, so it’s nice to catch up with them. We are also going to the library each week for their free programs and to check out books. They are having a summer long reading “contest,” where if the girls read each day during the week, they turn in their log for a prize. I am participating in the adult version since I read every night before going to sleep. The program this week was by Mr. Bones, a guy who studies dinosaur fossils and even goes out on expeditions to find them. He  found a dinosaur egg not far from where we live (within 20 miles). I’m bummed that I didn’t bring my camera to the program because he makes “puppets” of dinosaurs out of paper mache and foam. They were incredibly realistic. Next week, we’ll start swim lessons again as well.

So, in between our daily activities, I have continued to work on cleaning up around here, helped the girls with their needlepoint projects, worked on a few of my own projects-I got one microphone made, and started the second…should be able to share those soon. The girls still don’t know, so shhhhhhh…

Today I did a aluminum can recycling run and cleaned off our deck before finally heading into my crafty corner. The card I was inspired by was created by Carol of Happiness Blooms blog. It’s the middle one on this post.

Obviously, I don’t have the same stamp sets, but I thought Hero Arts’ Trees, Birds and Messages set had a lovely “vine” that worked nicely. I colored in the flowers and leaves with Prisma and Koh-i-noor pencils and blended the colors with odorless mineral spirits. Very simple.

Last week, Nichole Heady challenged her senior design team at Papertrey Ink to come up with cost effective embellishments and she participated as well. She shared a tutorial on how to make crocheted flowers using DMC floss instead of cotton thread. You know I was all over that! I have loads of floss and was eager to try her tutorial. You can see the result of my first attempt on this card. I just picked a color, any color, and it just so happens that it coordinated pretty well with the Cranberry color in the papers I used for this card. Serendipitous, yes?

I added the circle image from Verve’s Artful Elegance set to help offset the flower on the Nestie scallop circle. Other than that, this card is pretty straightforward.

Supplies:
Stamps: Trees, Birds & Messages (Hero Arts), Artful Elegance (Verve)
Paper:  Cranberry, Breeze (CTMH) Black, Urban Prairie (Basic Grey)
Ink: Breeze, Cranberry (CTMH), Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Accessories: Black Brad (dollar store find), Prisma, Koh-i-noor pencils, odorless mineral spirits, DMC floss, size 2 crochet hook, scallop circle Nestabilities, piercing template/mat (SU), piercing tool (Making Memories)

*******
The Windows Live Writer “format fonts” function is still not working correctly, despite my attempts to contact them again. Sigh. I’ve tried finding a way to uninstall and reinstall, but I can’t find it. I’ve also tried a repair on the program that didn’t help. Guess the WLW team must be stumped or feverishly working on finding a fix. (at least I hope they are). I can’t change the font in my post, nor can I resize the font. However, all the fonts show up in the watermark feature and I can resize those. Go figure. I suppose I could type up my posts in Blogger, but I do like the features in WLW, so I guess I’ll just deal with this minor inconvenience for now.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I’m hoping to have more to share with you over the weekend.

Hugs,
Jeanne

Metallic Embroidered Thanks Card

Happy Thursday to you! One more day til the weekend...yea!

I've been working on this card for a few days (when I could steal away from working on the dresses) and finally got it done today. It's not that it was so hard, just took time. I got the pattern from a book called Basics of Embroidery on Paper by Erica Fortgens. After I did the stitching, it took me a little while to figure out just what to do with it! Here's what I came up with...

I chose to use some metallic cardstock I had called, Gilded Rust, by the Paper Company. I picked it up at Archiver's with one of my 5 free sheets of cardstock coupons. The photo corners are from Joann's, they just clearanced out the line and I don't have the packaging anymore. I think it was called Memory Boutique. The center is a button from Joann's with the shank clipped off. I found some metallic DMC embroidery floss and have been itching to try it out. This took quite a bit of it! LOL There are lots of pieces of tape on the back side of this focal piece!

Overall, it's a simple straightforward card. In the book, this pattern was with the Christmas designs. I liked the "flower" that appears in the center and thought it would work for a card not Christmas-y in theme.

Believe it or not, I'm already working on another Barbie outfit! That I already have the top done lets you know that it is not nearly as intense as the Puff dress was. hee, hee. Maybe sometime today I'll finish the bottoms and will be able to share. If not...it'll happen tomorrow, I'm sure.

Cardstock: Black (CTMH), Gilded Rust (The Paper Company)
Stamps: For Every Occasion (CTMH)
Ink: Black (CTMH)
Accessories: DMC metallic floss, adhesive photo corners (Joann's), brads (my stash), button (from Joann's)

In family news, Amy lost another tooth last night. Now, in and of itself, this is not terribly exciting or out of the ordinary. However, the tooth that finally came out is one that has been loose for a good year or two. Amy is notorious for bonking herself and has hit her chin or that tooth a number of times. In fact, her dentist told me over a year ago, that the root was calcified and to have her avoid chewing with the thing for fear it would come out too soon and mess up the position of the other adult teeth. Amy got so good at chewing from the sides of her mouth that she rarely worked this one! She's lost 6 other teeth before this one, losing one just this past weekend. When I went in to wake her up this morning she grinned her usual sleepy grin at me and I noticed the gap! It apparently just fell out while she was sleeping (or so she said). She couldn't find it at first, but she had been laying on it. I told her it must have happened after the Tooth Fairy's rounds, so it's now tucked safely under her pillow for tonight. Finally I don't have to see that loose tooth anymore! LOL

Thanks for stopping by! I hope your Thursday's been a good one!
Jeanne

                                                        

Another Paper Pierced Card...

Happy Sunday to you! I created another card today using the third template I ordered from "across the pond." This template is Erica Fortgens template EF8032 as shown here, and I also looked up the name of the corner punch I used. It's an EK Success Corner Adorner called Victorian Lace. You can see it here.

Here's the card, which was inspired by a sample in the Handmade Paper Pierced Cards book my Patricia Wing.

There were no dimensions given in the book for this card, so I winged it! I ended up making it a 6x6 inch card so I could be sure to have enough room for the corner piercing on the card base. I really like the swirls on this one. The center "jewel" is actually a button with the shank cut off. I got it at either Joann's or Walmart, the two stores where I seem to find the neat buttons. Today I added yellow Stickles to the flower buds. I used a good old fashioned pin to do the pricking.

I started another card, but I think I've used up my allotment of patience for the time being. I was having a hard time focusing and decided to quit before I really messed up. LOL

 
Cardstock: Garden Green, Pansy Purple, Petal, Vanilla Cream (CTMH)
Inks: Olive, Pansy Purple, Parchment (CTMH)
Punch: Victorian Lace Corner Adorner (EK Success)
Piercing Template: Erica Fortgens EF8032
Accessories: Stickles, Gold Rhinestone stickers, button, pop dots. straight pin

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a great start to your week!

Jeanne

                                        

Paper Pierced Cards

Happy Valentine's Day! I have been able to do something I really love...make cards! LOL

The other day I received the templates I'd ordered from "across the pond" and have been itching to play with them. Today was the day! I bought three, but only used two of them today. I am really happy with how they came out.

The template for this first card (I made it pretty large so hopefully you can see the details better) comes as a half circle. You flip it to do the second half. It has the areas for embossing and for paper piercing and comes with the scalloped edge as well. The type or name of the template is Brodery and you can see the template here. This isn't where I bought the template, but this company sells it, too. In the book I used by Patricia Wing, her sample uses pressed flowers in the center. I don't have any of those, but I had picked up these pendants from Michaels not too long ago with the hopes of being able to incorporate them onto a card. The package comes with 4 and I just snipped the part off where you would add a chain. The metal is fairly thin so it wasn't difficult. I added gold rhinestone stickers and then decided to run the Vintage dies with the Cuttlebug for the corners. The pieces around the gold center are the punch-outs from the die. This card is 6x6 in size. Not my usual size, but it works for this card.

I used textured Barn Red cardstock as well as Vanilla Cream (both CTMH). I also sponged ink around the edges, using Barn Red and Parchment (figuring Parchment would show up more than Vanilla Cream).

All in all I am thrilled with the final result.

I used another sample in the book for this next card. I'd ordered the template she used, but apparently it's discontinued. Pat sent me a comparable template and even included a sample she made so I could see how well it coordinated. Pretty impressive, I think. I've just tried googling to find the template, but have been unsuccessful.

This card is 4 1/4 inch square. Again, not my normal size, but this one will fit in a standard envelope at least...should I decide to give it away, that is. LOL

I used an EK Success corner punch (not sure of the name, though) and I punched the same image out several times using the different colors of cardstock. I then filled in the spaces with the punched out pieces. I used my Quickie Glue Pen to do this...it's small enough to fit in the tight spaces. The colors used are from CTMH: Barn Red, Garden Green and Honey. I punched a small daisy for the center and adhered a jewel from Hobby Lobby on it. I used more of those little gold rhinestones from Michaels and then added some Stickles to give a little sparkle. I like the country vibe I get from this card.

I have one more card that I made, but because it's very different from these, I'll post it separately.

Thanks for visiting. Check for the next post soon.

Jeanne

Vellum Butterfly...

When I saw this card by Laurie Schmidlin of Just Give Me Stamps, I actually said out loud, "Oh my heavens, this is a gorgeous card!" My girls quickly ran over to see what I was talking about. They loved it too, and asked, are you gonna make it, Mom? They know me SO well!

Here's my take on that gorgeous card...

At first I couldn't remember if I had that Basic Grey stamp set, but I quickly found it. Whew! When I saw the inspiration card with the lace she added, I knew I wanted to crochet my own lace/edge, so I did! And I really like how it turned out. I need to figure out a way to tuck the edges around the back, though. I ended up not sewing on the card because I was afraid I'd screw it up, so I used white brads to hold the vellum down. You may not be able to see it well, but I pierced the right side, using an Ornare template I got from Ellen Hutson's online store. That pin (yea, I finally used one) is from Making Memories Love Notes line. Found it at Archiver's. The "hello" is from Mixed Messages by Papertrey Ink.

But, I have to tell you about that vellum butterfly! Laurie used Copics to color hers in after heat embossing with clear ep. I decided to use pencils to color on the back side of the vellum. It looked okay, good enough, I guess. Then I wondered if using odorless mineral spirits to blend the color would work on vellum. I tested it on a scrap piece and grinned that it seemed to work well. So after coloring with the Kohinoor pencils, I used the spirits and blending stumps to soften the look. I've never seen that done before (that I know of). I love how it turned out!

The dp is some Doodlebug paper I've had in my stash for quite some time. It's a bit bright, but I think using the colors I did on the butterfly makes it work okay. That pink organdy ribbon is from my stash as well.

This was the card I was antsy to work on before. I'm glad I was able to get it out of my brain, too!

That's it from me this weekend. I am working on a new critter and can't wait to show you. It shouldn't take too much longer to finish it, so I'm sure I'll be able to share it tomorrow. Then I might have to start some Barbie clothes...LOL

Til next time, thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great start to your week!

Jeanne

Sweet Lavendar Card

Happy Sunday to you!

After I got my Sunday Stuff done, I was able to head to my corner and finish the card I started yesterday. Boy! Was it ever time-consuming, but worth the effort I think. I decided to try my hand at creating the card that is on the cover of the Paper Pierced Cards book by Patricia Wing. She gives a step by step on how to create the pieces to this particular card in the book.

I was able to quill all but 6 of those teardrop shapes yesterday. All that was left was to make the stems, leaves and put it all together. I say all, but it took longer than I thought it would to finish it. LOL Especially because I was antsy to get to the next card I wanted to create (which I will share in a separate post).

I've been mini obsessed with locating some of the templates that were used in the book. I managed to get an email address for the author (who is super nice and so is her associate, Tony) and by week's end had three templates from the book on their way to me...from England! Pretty cool, huh? The embossing template I used is by Anna Griffin and can be found at Quirks of Art. I was excited to find it and another one that I'm sure I'll find a use for. The shipping was super quick, too. I don't have the template to pierce those corners you see (yet-it's coming), so I tried photocopying the cover of the book and using that as my template. It worked pretty well, but some of the corners aren't quite even. I ended up putting the top layer on pop-dots so it's not as obvious. And yes, I glued those seed beads in place, too! The purple mats are Hydrangea cardstock from CTMH and I also used their Colonial White cardstock. The other colors are from Michaels, their value pack cardstock. It's solid color and thin enough to quill pretty well, I think. The only thing I couldn't find were those pearly looking leaves, but I think it looks okay without them.

I'm happy to have gotten this card done and off my brain. I've been wanting to create it since I got the book!

Thanks for reading if you got this far, and for stopping by. It's time for a yummy chili dinner with cornbread. I'll be back with the other card.

Jeanne

Mojo Came Back!

Here are two of the cards I completed today. Man, it's nice when the creative process flows...LOL

 

This first one is the embroidered one I referred to yesterday. I found some DMC floss that is metallic and had a few colors to choose from. I wasn't sure that I really liked this variegated color, until I decided to add some metallic gold with an American Crafts metallic marker. Now it works better for me. I found the pattern in a book, of course! It's hard to see but I did stamp a sentiment using PTI's Mixed Messages set. The word says Celebrate and I stamped it in gold ink. I attached those seed beads with nylon thread.

This card was inspired by one I saw on Dawn McVey's My Favorite Things blog. You can see my inspiration here. I used CTMH's pigment White Daisy ink on their Holiday Red cardstock. Because I've found this ink takes awhile to dry, I decided to heat emboss with with white embossing powder. The card base is Vanilla Cream (I think) with Holiday Red ink sponged around the edges. The stamp set is Guide Lines by Papertrey Ink. The ribbon is some I found at Michaels. The heart is a Martha Stewart punch and Embrace Happiness is from PTI's Mixed Messages set.

These are the first and last cards I made today. I will have to come back later and post the other two. I was pleased at how quickly these came together.

I need to work on making dinner, but check back later if you like.

Jeanne

Quilled Posy Card

I'm back! We ended up going out to Chili's for dinner~yummy! That was a nice, unexpected treat.

I picked up a book called Handmade Paper Pierced Cards at Joann's recently because the cards inside are just gorgeous. I loved that the author showed paper piercing and quilling together. The drawback to this book is the lack of usable patterns to do the paper piercing and the labeling of the stencils used is very lacking. However, I managed to create one of the cards myself by looking at the picture. It took me the better part of the day to complete it, but I really, really like how it came out.

I think you can see why it took so long. It wasn't hard, just detailed. I cut the 1/8th inch strips myself (3 inches long) and found some seed beads in my stash of craft stuff from the time I used to do some beading. (There's something to be said for hanging onto one's supplies for a long time...who knows when you'll use it again). I found the image for the paper piercing here (it's number 45) and just followed the picture in the book as best I could. Sorry, I don't have a link to the inspiration card. I used Vanilla Cream cardstock (CTMH) and sponged Parchment ink (also CTMH) on the edges. I also used the Oval Nestabilities. To glue down the pieces, I used PVA glue that I picked up long ago at a scrapbook store. I used a toothpick to dab small amounts of glue where needed.

I'm not sure what else to say about it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away.

There's not much else to report right now, since most of the day was spent on the cards I shared. I'm going to go snuggle with the girls before bed and work on a yarn project for the evening. Oh wait! I DO have something else I've been meaning to share...a recent project!

I found the pattern for this (I did make a pair of them) in the Nov./Dec. 08 issue of Crochet Today magazine. I showed the magazine to my friend, Susi, and she fell in love with these wristlets. Her birthday is coming up, so I decided to make them for her for a gift. It probably looks a little more complicated than it actually is to create. Each of those centers is done as a square motif and you join them. There are 6 motifs for each wristlet. Thank goodness I had experience doing the joining from one of Amy's ponchos, or I might have been hopelessly lost. The pattern was just a tad confusing on that part. LOL

That's all for now! Thanks again for stopping by. I hope your weekend is going great.

Jeanne

Paper Piercing Medallion Card

Happy Friday to you!  Were you wondering if I fell off the planet? LOL Nah...I've just been busier than anticipated and haven't been able to complete cards I'm working on.

So just what have I been doing you may be wondering...let's just say I have more ideas of things I want to create than I can implement! I think I have a bit of creative attention deficit. You have seen how I am liking creating crocheted/stitched embellishments. That has kind of shot off into other directions. One look I REALLY like is paper piercing or paper pricking. Not a difficult technique, but finding templates other than online has proven to be difficult. I was spending time this week Googling this and that and came across a couple of websites that have nicely fed my desire to practice this technique. One in particular struck me hard. Fred-She-Said is a blog with an interesting name and even more interesting products! Click here to see what inspired the card I am sharing today...well card front for right now. I was loving the paper piercing and I think I have a thing for medallions. Then look around the blog and see if it doesn't inspire you in some way.

Here's the card...

Now, my original plan was to color three layers of this medallion (downloaded and printed onto cardstock) and stack them like the author did. But, it was taking me way longer than I thought to just color (using pencils and odorless mineral spirits) in one layer, so for now that is all it is. But the layer is pop dotted for a little dimension. Isn't that piercing just the coolest? I think so! It takes time, but I think it is oh, so worth it.

I don't think you can see it very well unless you enlarge the picture, but I stumbled across some of the Shimmerz paints that have been popular recently. Yes, I know I could have ordered it online, but somehow never got around to it. I needed to get a prescription filled at the pharmacy (everyone's fine and healthy, no worries) and there is a small independent scrapbook store right by the pharmacy. I used the drive-up window and decided to pop into this store while waiting for the scrip to be filled. THAT's where I found the Shimmerz! I couldn't resist and bought the pink and white. I used both on here and I wonder if you can see it. It's very subtle.

The dp is Basic Grey's Bittersweet and while the colors aren't a match I think they coordinate fairly well.

I also got a very nice surprise in the mail from Kathi. Thank you SO much, my friend! I love it all! She made the card (the cardstock is shimmery...love it), the calendar and the origami box and she included the stampset she used for the calendar so I can make sets for next year...awesome! The book is wonderful too and just warms my heart! Love it, love it, love it!

Well, that's going to do it from me for right now. I hope you have an awesome weekend...oh wait...been meaning to share that I think (hope and pray) that we are mouse-free now! I have been afraid to say anything for fear another one would show up, but I haven't seen signs of one for a couple of weeks...so maybe they are all gone! (either that or they are laying low, lulling me into a false sense of security). Maybe I should think of other ways to detail silly things that will entertain you??

Okay, now that's it for now! I am hoping that I will get lots of time to create this weekend! Check back and see if I am successful.

Jeanne