Time marches on...

More than 6 months since I've last posted...but I'll be back with cards again soon. It has been crazy and very busy time for our family all spring, all summer, and all fall...I am tired, but ready to dig in for the coming winter and just stay put for a while.

C-Ya soon!

Having Long Distance Technical Difficulties...

Hello - been seeing some busy times the last few months, with trying to get things at home organized while planning to spend some time in Grand Rapids, MI with my oldest daughter and her family helping out where I can as they await the arrival of their soon-coming twin girls. I am now "there" and I will openly admit that I am not being totally selfless in this endeavor, as I (& 5 year old Auntie Nattie) am/are truly enjoying this time getting to see all my grandchildren, the youngest one being just one year old last week, and this was my first visit with him...and he is adorable...as all are of them and I would LOVE to show them off...but it is with great anxiety that I am not able to use my 'puter until I work out some kinks in the system. I am hoping I can figure out how to get pictures up tomorrow... so please don't give up on me...I also will have a card set to share and a challenge... IF I cannot get pictures in, I will at least write out a good description of the card challenge...and see how many will try it!

Until then!
Cheryl

Vintage Vogue Valentine

This card is to be my Mom's Valentine card - for she truly is a WONDERFUL mom to me! When I was working on it, I grabbed papers that struck my fancy and only realized after it was all together that I used "Vintage Violet" cardstock on the base, which was an In-Color back in 2007...so for the campers that made this card we used Brocade Blue, which looked equally vintage.
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On the bottom Pale Plum panel of the card front, I used Versa Mark on the the new Jumbo Stampin' Around wheel called "Very Vintage" (page 27, Occaisions). I then dabbed my Stampin' Pastels over the VersaMark in various colors to bring out the pattern. I used texture plates (page 195 Idea Book) on the Always Artichoke and Rich Razzleberry smaller panels on the top half of the card. I punched a strip of cardstock that matched the card base with our new Scallop Trim Border (Get this free with a $50 purchase until March 31 during Sale-aBration! page 9) After layering a white panel on an Always Artichoke panel, I added some Mellow Moss leaves (Sizzlets Little Leaves on page 196 Idea Book) and Rich Razzleberry Flowers stamped on White with the Vintage Vogue Set and then cut out by hand (Paper Snips, page 191 Idea Book) Lastly, I selected the greeting from Well Scripted (page 19 Occaisions).
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Have a great week!

C-ya later!

Bear Hugs!

This was a very quick card to make. Using the bear from "Under the Stars" with Chocolate Chip ink on a Creamy Carmel cardstock oval, I then re-matted it onto a larger Chocolate Chip oval. Using the "Woodgrain" background stamp, (first time used) I decided to stamp the image and move it over ever-so-slightly and re-stamp it without re-inking. to give it a more grain without overpowering. It has a blotchier (is that a word?) look, but I did get the campier

(is that a word???) look I desired. I used an old image from my vast collection for the greetings as it seemed perfect for my 14 year-old grandson who is too big for hearts and birdies from Grandma!

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Have a great Day and C-ya soon!

Back to Stay!

Life in our home has taken some interesting turns in the last 2 months, but we are adjusting and in spite of the fact that my DH is unemployed and at home all the time now (in the county with the highest unemployment rate in the state). We knew this was coming a while back and were well prepared when it came to pass. What I wasn't prepared for, was all this "togetherness time." It sure is different to be under the surveilance of my "beloved boss" 24 & 7. As I said, we are adjusting. We've worked on some long overdue projects around the house and of course homeschooling our little girl goes on and I have been working harder on weaving my rugs for a local gallery where my stuff will be at this summer. It sounds so busy, but I realized that I have apparently been finding quite a bit of time for stamping, when I started taking photographs of my recent cards. So here is the first of a bunch of cards I have to share...I am committing to posting more regularly in 2010.
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My LoveBirds card has a Pretty in Pink base card and Mambo Melon Scalloped Heart, with both pieces being run through my Bigshot with Stampin' Up!'s Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder. The birds and the branches were all punched with SU's new Extra Large Two-Step Bird Punch from page 10 of the Occaissions Mini Catalog. I sponged the birds' bellies and wings and the branches with Platinum Shimmers that was in the Holiday Mini Catalog (and still available as are all the Big Shot items in there as well). The label was punched from Modern Label and Word Window, and the words were from the set "Three Little Words" available for sale in the Big Catalog, or as one of the free choices for a Sale-a-Bration selection. To finish the card, I dotted the birds' eyes with tiny spots of black shiny paint, and added stick-on diamonds on the word window.

C-ya later!

Felted Sweater Tote Bag Gift

Here I am with another secret sister gift I have been working on, this time for a new secret sister. The gift theme this time around is to be “making something new from something old” or in other words to recycle something, but the catch is…something we haven’t done before! What a challenge that turned out to be to just find something I haven’t done before, since I have been crafting and recycling since I was old enough to read, beginning with a potholder loom and trying everything I could find.

Felting is something I have wanted to really try for a while. Last year I attempted to make slippers, the wool didn’t felt properly, so I “felt” it would be all right to try again and pray for success this time. My research to find an easy pattern with good instructions was found here, and I began with a sweater that was already partly shrunken.

One thing I realized about felting wool, is that one needs the agitator in a washing machine (top-loader) to do this quickly. Having a front-loading washer, I ended up doing the agitating by hand (my 5 year old daughter was delighted to help) in a sink of hot water…and had better success when rubbing the sweater against itself, especially the inside, which I needed to make as meshed together as possible.

Then it was a matter of drying it and cutting it out, which was easy. Stitching took a bit more time, I thought a “blanket stitch” would work well, but after having most of it stitched, my stitches looked too uneven, so I pulled all that out and used my sewing machine to turn the edges under.

I added a deep narrow pocket on the front for her cell phone or checkbook, and used an old Sizzix flower die on my Big Shot to cut out the flower trims, adorned with old buttons and carpet thread to detail them a bit. I threw a few flowers on the backside of the bag for good mearsure too. I saved the sleeves to maybe use on another pair of slippers for my little girl.

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Remember when I said I started crafting with potholders? The rug used for a background under the felted bag in the photos, is one that I wove with loopers very similar to what I used way back then!

Hope she likes it!

Cheryl

Photo Collage Gift Project

This framed photo collage is a gift I made to give my Secret Sister at our revealing dinner this evening. The theme for the gift exchange is "For their Heart." My secret sis is all about her family, and so this is a project that I hope will touch her heart each time she sees it, if for no other reason is that she will see her family members.

Okay ---not one stamp image was used here, but it is mostly all made from odds and ends of various pattern papers I had around my stamp room.

I recycled a picture frame I bought cheap from a hotel that was changing the decor, so this was a rather large piece (for me) to paperscape, so not only a work of my heart, but also a frugal gift.

I went with colors that coordinated with the existing matting, and offset 12x12 pattern paper to fill in the backround. I finish the edges and gaps with paper strips, ribbon, and some metallic gold eyelash yarn. {I could not get a photo without the satin center ribbon showing alot of shine and color variation from my camera's flash, but I promise you, the entire thing blends and looks better in real life.} Then I hunted around for colors that would kind of bring up the not-so-noticeable colors from the background. After finding a few, I made my photo mats and frames using my Big Shot, some Sizzix frames and ovals and put together several photo mats and frames, and used the ones I liked best when I was done with that. (I saved the others for the next project...I have 3 more the same size frames to do, but because I am using scraps, they will all be different!)

Lastly, I added butterflies and gold bows around to glam it up a bit, and am leaving it the way it is, until I help my Secret Sister (who will learn my secret identy tonight) put her photgraphs in it, so we may add a few stamped images or phrases at that time, depending on what she chooses.

Hope she likes it!
C-ya Later!