Garden Variety Anniversary

     Garden Variety stamps and dies are among some of my most used and favourite sets. I made a square anniversary card for my niece and her husband, using the same colour scheme as their wedding - a deep burgundy (Scarlet Jewel), white and accents of green and gold.

* The card base (Scarlet Jewel) is a 4 1/2" square. 
* The card front panel (Stamper's Select White) was stamped with Background Basics: Tin Types and Vineyard Berry (Close to My Heart) and then stamped again with a gold ink and Text Style. It's not visible in the picture, but it does give a very subtle design IRL. The outer edges of this panel are sponged with the gold ink as well. 
* Two heart borders were added, cut from Scarlet Jewel card stock.

* The Button Card was cut, stamped and impressed with the Canvas IP. 
* The outer frame was stamped with Kraft ink; the other details with Vineyard Berry. A small circle image from Garden Variety was stamped, punched out using a gircle punch and then mounted onto another circle of Simply Chartreuse. The center of this image was accented with a candy dot from Stampin' Up. 
* The center of the frame was stamped with Spring Moss and Simply Chartruese using Pocket Silhouettes (Stampin' Up). 

* The watering can was die cut and then stamped with Grey Wool (CTMH). 
* The flower filler stamp was stamped and fussy cut, and then glued to the watering can. This image was mounted onto the front with 3D Foam Dots.

The inside of the card was stamped with a sentiment

from Everyday Photo Finishers & Vineyard Berry.

Card Details:  (PTI, unless noted)
Stamps -  Garden Variety I & I, Background Basics: Tin Types, Text Style, Table Service, Everyday Photo Finishers; Stampin' Up: Pocket Silhouettes
Inks -   Kraft, Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse; Close To My Heart: Vineyard Berry; Grey Wool; 
Martha Stewart: Gold 
Papers -  Stamper's Select White, Scarlet Jewel, Simply Chartreuse  
Dies -   Button Card Die, Garden Variety, Heart Border Die
Other - Canvas Impression Plate, circle punch; Stampin`Up Candy Dot; 3-D Foam Dots         

Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

SAF: Gallon - Quart - Pint Challenge

Betsy Veldman provided a design lesson using various quantities of colours to create balance and interest on projects. This technique gives a guideline for choosing and using colours and was very informative. I used another card sketch from earlier in the day to help design my card and I also included a "paper clay" button that I made from the custom coloured clay made for the Rolled Dough Design Challenge.

Gallon - Spring Rain    Quart - Enchanted Evening      Pint - Limeade Ice.

Card Sketch

Card Details (PTI, unless noted)
Stamps - Everyday Button Bits (sentiment)
Inks - Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Limeade Ice,
Papers - Spring Rain, Enchanted Evening, Limeade Ice
Dies - Buttoned Up #1, Back Pocket Basics, 
Double Ended Banner Die, Harvest Berries (little dots)
Other - Woodgrain Impression Plate; 
Cuttlebug: Spots & Dots Embossing Folder;
Simply Chartreuse re-inker, Delight: Paper Clay, 
embroidery floss & copic marker; sewing machine




Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

SAF: #3: Rolled Dough Designs

 

This challenge involved using a unique product called 'paper clay' that air dries after being rolled out into a flat sheet. Several different techniques for using this product were highlighted in these videos on Nichole Heady's blog.
I used a combination of techniques for my projects. Erin Lincoln showed us how to use re-inkers to custom colour the white clay and Danielle Flanders used her clay to die cut buttons - so sweet!!

I knew that I wanted to make flowers with the dried sheets, so I coloured 3 small pieces of the clay with the re-inkers. I only have a few, so I used:
1. Simply Chartreuse (it actually looked more like Limeade Ice)
2. Harvest Gold (good match)
3. Harvest Gold combined with Pure Poppy (fairly close to Berry Sorbet)

I let the clay dry for 36 hours ( I made them on Friday night and didn't use them until Sunday afternoon), and didn't have any problems die cutting the shapes I wanted to use on my project - several flowers, leaves and a little heart accent (seen on the card below).

My Card:

I used one of the card sketches from the earlier "Bake and Take" 

Challenge and it made this card go together very quickly.

Card Details (PTI, unless noted)
Stamps - Sweet Baby
Inks - Sweet Blush, Berry Sorbet
Paper - Stamper's Select White, Sweet Blush Patterned Paper Pack
Dies - Doily Details Die Collection, Flower Fusion #3 , Flip Flop Dies, 
Heart-2Heart #7 dies, Lovely Layers die
Other - 3D Foam Dots; pink adhesive pearls; sewing machine

Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

SAF #2: Tea Stained Flower Tag

 
 

My finished flower

Several Design Team members provided videos for staining fabric and/or paper to create unique coloured embellishments. Melissa Phillips showed us how to use tea to stain cotton muslin and then use it for a a rustic looking flower.  I decided to stain two pieces of fabric- one a plain cotton muslin and the other with a print fabric scrap that I had in my fabric scraps. 

 

 #1: Boiling the fabric in Tea

A close-up view of the fabrics with several tea bags and some loose tea.
   

#2: Rinsing 

Once I took the fabric out of the water, I realized the loose tea was NOT a 

good idea. It took a bit of rinsing to get rid of all of those 'bits and pieces'!!  

#3: Fabric Choices

 Original fabric - on the left; tea-stained fabric - on the right. 

The stained fabric really looks like the colour of a paper bag, so  I'm going 

to make a gift bag with this piece. I decided to use the printed fabric below 

for my flower, and I think together they will make a nice set for gift giving.

The tea really changed the characteristics of the fabric. The 'white' print on 

the original fabric now has a pinky/purple tint to it and is very noticeable.
 

#4: My "Melissa" Inspired Tag

Tag Details (PTI, unless noted)
Stamps - Peaceful Pinecones, To You From Me 
Papers - Kraft. Pure Poppy
Dies - Beautiful Blooms #1, Heart-2-Heart #7, Lovely Layers, Tag Sale #4, 
 Limitless Layers: 2 1/2" Circles
Other Supplies - Aida Impression Plate, Adhesive cork; cotton muslin;  
Close To My Heart: burlap ribbon; red/cream gingham; red button/embroidery floss

Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

SAF #1: Bake & Take Challenge

 

The first challenge for this year's Stamp-A-Faire at Papertrey Ink, involved choosing a colour inspiration and a card sketch, stirring them together and creating a project!! (details here). I used most of the colours from the inspiration photo (except Melon Berry) and decided that these colours 
would make a great Christmas/Holiday project.  

 

I looked through the card sketches to choose one that would suit my card.

 

My next step was to choose the papers that I wanted to include in the card. 
The paper with colourful light strings was the perfect starting point, since it contained many of the colours in the inspiration photo. Two additional papers were chosen from the same Bo Bunny paper pad and voila ....  the card came together quite quickly!! 

This was way out of my comfort zone - I usually start with a stamp set 
and image rather than a card sketch and colour scheme, so this was a 
definite challenge for me!!

Card Interior

Card Details (PTI, unless noted)
Stamps - Holiday Lights, Tiny Treats: Christmas, Label Basics
Inks - Pinefeather, Pure Poppy, Blueberry Sky, New Leaf. Harvest Gold; 
Memento: Tuxedo Black; 
Papers - Stamper's Select White, Bo Bunny: Mistletoe Collection
Dies - Double Banner Border Die, Fillable Frames #7 die
Other - copic markers; Simple Stripes Impression Plate; 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches; 
3D Foam Dots

Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

A Leafy Birthday

Masculine cards are difficult to make, but a combination of leaves or trees, woodgrain texture and colours of browns and greens can solve that dilemma!!

Card Front - Strips of patterned paper (Basic  Grey) and textured brown cardstock (Woodgrain Impression Plate) were attached to Certainly Celery cardstock and a card base of Confetti White (Stampin' Up).
 

Leaves - I did a some experimenting with the dies and stamps from Leaf Prints. After stamping them with Spring Moss, I added the veins in Rich Cocoa ink. There was too much contrast between the leaves and the veins so I sprayed the paper with water. The 'brown' ink actually turned a reddish/pink colour and still looked 'off'. I tried to remedy this by stamping over the image with Simply Chartreuse ink and distressing the edges with Tea Dye Chai ink. The three leaves were layered with some 3D Foam Dots; Linen Thread was used to create a multi-loop bow at the base of the stems. 
Sentiment - A sentiment from Beary Special (Taylored Expressions) was stamped onto a  die cut (Spellbinders Inverted Scallops). This circle was stamped with a polka dot detail (Bitty Background Blocks), sponged with Tea Dye ink. The sentiment panel was mounted onto a circle of Certainly Celery.

Inside - One of the leaf images was stamped on the inside of the card, along with two sentiments from Stylish Sentiments: Birthdays.

Card Details (PTI, unless noted)
Stamps - Leaf Prints, Stylish Sentiments: Birthday, Bitty Background Blocks; Taylored Expressions: Beary Special
Inks - Spring Moss, Simply Chartreuse, Vintage Tea Dye Duo; Memento: Rich Cocoa
Papers - Recollections: Brown; SU: Certainly Celery, Confetti White; Basic Grey: Sweet Threads
Dies - Leaf Prints
Other - Woodgrain Impression Plate; Close To My Heart: Linen Thread; circle punches;  3D Foam Dots

Thanks for visiting.
Karen C.

A Cupcake for Emily!!

     One of my grand nieces turned one last week. Family and friends gathered on the week-end to celebrate sweet Emily's birthday with a fun garden party theme. This card was inspired by Leigh Penner's baby card, where she used a variety of patterned papers and lots of machine stitching. I struggle to combine different patterns, but by using My Mind's Eye: Tickled Pink paper pad all the guess work is removed!
  

I used five different patterned papers on the card: 
1: the card front and interior - a lined notebook paper; 
  
2: a square and border strip of cherry paper

3: a square of coloured horizontal "stripey" paper

4: large rectangle and small circle of chevron paper

5: polka dot paper - accent strip on the top
                              - two scalloped borders at the bottom

* The  cherry patterned paper was a perfect choice to accent the cherries on Stamping Bella's Cuppycake with a HUGGABUG ON TOP. I stamped this onto Bella cardstock and coloured with copic markers, before fussy cutting. It was then mounted onto the aqua chevron patterned paper. Some red Stickles were added to the tips of the antenna and Sparkle Dots to the cupcake. 

 * The Block Alphabet Number die was cut three times from Berry Sorbet cardstock, layered on top of a patterned paper circle and matted with Berry Sorbet card stock.  
* Baker's Twine, tied into a multi-loop bow picks up the colours of the chevron paper and accents one of the patterned squares. 
* Machine stitching around the larger panels creates a patchwork effect.
* Berry Sorbet ink was used to stamp the sentiment. (Close To My Heart)

 * I used another piece of the lined note paper on the inside of the card.

* The sentiment was made with a combination of stamps (Big Birthday Wishes, Wreath for All Seasons) and the number die. 
* Fruit Fusion: Cherries accents the corners of the card. I coloured the leaves with copic markers.
 
Card Details
Stamps - Stamping Bella: Cuppycake with a HUGGABUG ON TOP!! Close To My Heart: Say It In Style
PTI: Fruit Fusion: Cherry, Big Birthday Wishes, Wreath for All Seasons
Inks - PTI: Berry Sorbet; Aqua Mist;  Memento: Tuxedo Black & Rich Cocoa
Paper - PTI: Berry Sorbet;  Bella White; My Mind's Eye: fine & dandy Tickled Pink
Dies - PTI: Block Alphabet Numbers; Heart Border die;
Other - copic markers; circle punches; Stampendous: Sparkle Dots; Stickles; SU: Scalloped Border Punch; Baker's Twine; Sewing Machine

Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.

Summertime Flip Flops

     I have several colours and styles of flip flops and wear them all summer long, so when I saw Papertrey Ink's Flip Flop Die Collection last year I knew that it would be fun to have these dies for summertime projects.  
     I used pink, yellow, orange and green polka dot papers from a Bo Bunny paper pad to cut and assemble seven sets of flip flops, before I even knew what I was going to make!!  Two sets were used for today's card, two sets for this anniversary card (Make It Monday #127) and I still have three sets left!! I haven't decided how to use those extras yet!!

* I liked the idea of the flip flops hanging on a clothesline, so I started with a blue patterned background paper (Recollections) to resemble the sky. To add more interest I stamped it with Polka Dot Basics (bottom portion with Simply Chartreuse; top portion with Spring Rain).
* The clothesline (Waltzingmouse Stamps), sentiment (Close To My Heart) and ribbon (Mini Blooms) were stamped with Rich Cocoa ink.
* The flip flips were "pinned" to the clothesline. (clothespins - Hanging Out).
* The card front was attached to a mat of Harvest Gold card stock and Dark Chocolate card base.

Inside View

* I used some of the same colours and elements to decorate the inside of the card. Two large banners were cut with Nested Pennants (Spellbinders) and stamped with polka dots from Off Beat Backgrounds (WMS).  
* The next layer is a 2 1/2" Limitless Layers Circle, stamped with more polka dots and a sentiment circle from Free Spirit (CTMH). The Swiss Dots embossing folder gives some extra texture.

* The center circle was stamped with a sentiment from Express Postage (CTMH) and decorated with a the flower die (Flip Flop dies) and leaves (Mini Blooms). Sparkle dots were used to decorate the centers of the flowers on the flips flops and the interior. Not sure who will receive this  - it could make a fun card for an anniversary or birthday card!

Card Details:  (PTI, unless noted)
Stamps - Polka Dot Basics, Mini Blooms, Hanging Out;   Close To My Heart: Free Spirit, Express Postage; Waltzingmouse Stamps: Bitty Banners, Off Beat Backgrounds
Inks -   Spring Rain, Simply Chartreuse, Blueberry Sky, Harvest Gold; Memento Rich Cocoa
Papers -  Dark Chocolate, Harvest Gold; Bo Bunny Double Dot Paper Pad (6"x6"); 
Recollections: Light Blue Distressed  
Dies -  Flip Flop Dies; Mini Blooms;  Limitless Layers 2 1/2" Circles; Speellbinders: Nested Pennants
Other - Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Embossing folder; Stampendous: Sparkle Dots
     
Some "Extra"  Flip Flops
I used one of the flower dies from Mini Blooms to create the little 'star fish' accents. All the straps on these flip flops were cut with Vintage Cream card stock and then impressed with the Simple Stripes Impression Plate. 

I'm still working on a design plan to use these 'leftovers'.  

What would you make with paper Flip Flops?

    
Thanks for visiting today.
Karen C.