Falling Leaves - Part II

    Wow! It's been a while since I've sat down to do a blog post. I have been working on a number of projects, but just haven't managed to get pictures taken and edited. I finished the last of my "root canal" dental appointments on Thursday (it was a 3 week process) and I just didn't feel like myself.

     Here's a card I made for my husband's birthday last week-end. I used PTI"s Falling Leaves again ( it was sitting on my desk from the last card posted) and thought it would be a good image for a masculine card. 

      I used a single tree image in Brown ink with Autumn Terracotta ink for the leaves. 
A shimmery brown ribbon was added to the right side of the image and then accented with a knotted ribbon on the bottom and three copper pearls on the top.

     The sentiment was stamped in Autumn Terracotta and placed across the bottom of the card.
The image and sentiment were matted with chocolate brown card stock and then applied to a beige card base.I used chocolate ink to distress the card stock before I placed the matted images on so it is quite rustic looking.

It was a simple design and a quick card to make, but my DH thought it was just right!!

Card Details:
Stamps: PTI Falling Leaves; CTMH  Birthday Sentiments
Inks: CTMH Autumn Terracotta, Brown.
Paper: Recollection beige and browncard stock
Other Supplies: ribbon, pearls

I will be back tomorrow with a cute Halloween card that I made for my nephew's daughter.
Thanks for stopping by!

Falling Leaves

     It's been another beautiful fall week here and the leaves are quickly falling from the trees. DH has been raking them, but they still keep coming!

     I received the new PTI stamp set Falling Leaves in my last order and finally got a chance to play with it. Originally I wanted to make a card using Nichole Heady's sample from the August 2010 release projects, but couldn't seem to make it work.... so this is my "version". 

   We went to visit my aunt and uncle last week - they live in a city 700 km  (about 450 miles) from here, so we don't see them often. My uncle has been living with terminal cancer for this past year and I wanted to send a card, just to let them know that I'm thinking of them.

     I started by stamping the tree trunk and tree topper three times, onto white card stock. I used Close to My Heart inks - Cranberry and Autumn Terracotta and Stampin'Up's More Mustard for the leaves. Text Style was stamped on top using PTI's Tea Dye ink cube: Chai, and then the edges of the card stock were distressed with Chamomile and Chai. I mounted the image panel on two layers of card stock - chocolate brown and autumn terracotta.- that had been punched with an EK Success border punch.

     The sentiment, from Vintage Picnic, was stamped with Autumn Terracotta onto a cream card stock and then mounted on a piece of Autumn Terracotta.  

     I had to place the sentiment on the left side because I made a mistake with my Text Style stamp right at that spot!! Has that ever happened to you??  Luckily I was able to "cover" it up and save the card! 

     Finally I added a few extra "falling leaves" with the single stamp included in the set and then outlined each leaf with a glitter pen, just to add a little bit of glitz!

The inside of the card uses a Clear Dollar Stamp set called "Baskets of Blessings" that I stamped and then coloured with markers. I wanted the inside to have a little colour too! I left some space on the right hand side to add a little note.

Card Details:

Stamps: PTI Falling Leaves, Vintage Picnic, Text Style; Clear Dollar Stamps Baskets of Blessings.

Papers: Kraft card stock, Autumn Terracotta, chocolate, white card stock

Inks: CTMH Black, Chocolate, Cranberry, Autumn Terracotta; SU More Mustard; PTI Chai, Chamomille.

Other Supplies: markers, Sukura clear Gelly Roll glitter pen; EK Success border punch; 

Have a Great Week-end!  Hope you have time for a little Stamping!!

Wreath for All Seasons

      I really love PTI's Wreath for All Seasons.  I've seen so many great projects from PTI stampers, and I knew I "needed" it too!  I finally got my new order on Friday and spent the week-end playing with everything, but this is my first project with all my new goodies!

      .  

       I made this card for a fellow stamper who has been dealing with cancer for the last 9 months. One of her friends set up a schedule for sending cards so she receives at least one card every week. I knew that I wanted to use this new stamp and the brown and pink combo for a card for Ellena.

I started by stamping the willow branch wreath in chocolate brown and then added the pink berry stamp. I wanted the pink to stand out, so I added pink glitter pen dots on all the little berries. I cut out the wreath using one of the inverted scalloped Nestabilities dies and then matted it on brown and pink card stock. The brown mat has been run through my Cuttlebug with the polka dot embossing folder.  

I used a few other 'new' stamps from my recent order - Text Style background was stamped with chocolate brown on the white card base.. The pink strip of paper across the bottom draws attention to the sentiment "live your bliss" from Fillable Frames #7. Finally I added a pink flower and a little brown pearl to the wreath and two pink pearls to the sentiment panel.

 

      

     On the inside of the card I used the Fillable Frame #8 in chocolate brown and two sentiments from Vintage Picnic in pink. The little flower stamp was from another new set - Places, Please. I stamped it 3 times in pink and brown for an extra detail.




Card Details:

Stamps: PTI Wreath for All Seasons, Fillable Frames #7 & #8, Vintage Picnic & Additions, Places Please

Inks: Close to My Heart Chocolate Brown; SU Pixie Pink

Card stock: white ,brown and pink from my stash

Other  Supplies: Cuttlebug embossing folder, glitter pen, flower, pearl, SU punches, Nestabilities

Mug Cozies, Birthdays and More!!

Happy Saturday! I'm still trying to get back into a routine after my vacation. We have lots of yard work to do - we've had cooler nights and many of the annual flowers are looking kind of "droopy"! It's a good time to start planning for  fall and winter 'crafty' projects.

I've seen a variety of "mug cozies" on different blogs, but most have been felted fabric with instructions for covering a coffee shop paper cup. My sister-in-law gave me a great pattern book (Cider Mill Road: Art to Heart by Nancy Halvorsen) for quilting and applique. It has several patterns for a mug cozy that will fit around a regular 10" china mug. So.. I decided to make her a few for her birthday, along with a card and a few other treats! 

I made 4 cozies with two different applique patterns. Each design was traced onto a fusible webbing and then ironed onto the fabric. Once positioned, I used a blanket stitch on my sewing machine to stitch around each design. The buttons are used for decoration - Velcro holds the ends together at the handle.

Here they are wrapped around the mugs, all ready for a 'spot' of tea!

The birthday card uses a Stamping Bella image Content-to-be-a-bella that I coloured with water coloured pencils. All of the coloured "scallops" around the main image are actually little circles that I punched and then arranged on the back of the oval. I added a little pink flower with a pink ribbon and some Stickles" and the sentiment from a Close to My Heart  Birthday stamp set.

My SIL is a great photographer, so I decorated the envelope for the card with a variety of stamps from my stash, to create a collage effect.

Along with the card and envelope, I wrapped a box of photo card paper with paper that I made with stamps from CTMH Picture Perfect set.  The little box on the left  was made so the mug cozies would lie neatly inside. I covered the box with birthday paper from my stash and added a paper flower and ribbon.

 NEW HOME & HAPPY BIRTHDAY

My niece and her husband bought a new house recently, so I thought mug cozies would be a great housewarming gift. They live in New Zealand and shipping small items is always a good choice.  I used the same basic pattern as above for the cozies.

The card uses CTMH set Around the Block. I coloured the house with water colour pencils and added a red ribbon and little Stamping Bella Dots. The 'smoke' from the chimney is liquid applique.

 Here's a close up view of the two cozies. It uses a 'leaf' design with little red buttons as flowers. The green button shows the position for the Velcro closure.

 Since it was Kristen's birthday, I also made a birthday card to include in the package. I used the Stamping Bella image Cecily Cinnamonsticks. I cut the white card stock from the inverted scalloped Nestabilities and then sponged the edges. A little pink button and ribbon from my stash finishes the main image.

Card Details:

Birthday Card #1  Content-to-be-a-bella

Stamps: Stamping Bella; CTMH Happy Birthday,  Picture Perfect; SU Scene in a Garden, Pocket Silhouette, Garden Whimsy

Inks: CTMHGarden Green; SU Pixie Pink
Paper: from my stash
Other Supplies: Stickles, pink flower, ribbon, markers, water colour pencils.

New Home Card

Stamps: CTMH Around the Block
Inks: CTMH Black 
Paper: from my Stash
Other Supplies: Stamping Bella Dots, Liquid Applique, water colour pencils, ribbon, Nestabilities

Birthday Card #2 Cecily Cinnamonsticks

Stamps: Stamping Bella; CTMH Sweet Treats
Inks: CTMH Black; SU Pixie Pink
Paper: from my Stash
Other Supplies: Stickles, water colour pencils, markers, Nestabilities; mini pearls, button, ribbon


Have a great week-end and thanks for looking!!

Happy Birthday, Son!

     I'm finally back in my craft room after more than 2 weeks away!! We flew into San Francisco on September 8th and then "sailed away" on the Sea Princess for a 10 day Alaskan cruise. Once back in San Francisco we toured this fascinating city - and also visited Napa and Sonoma Valleys for some wine tasting delights!

 STAR BIRTHDAY! 

It was my younger son's birthday yesterday and these are the two cards I made for him - one from DH and me and the other from his older brother.  

I made my own background paper by using PTI's Star Prints on the top and and Distressed Stripes on the bottom portion of the card front with a purple and green colour combo!! 

The Spiral Notebook Page Die was stamped with the lined page from School Time and then sentiments from Star Prints and Fly Away were added. I "tucked" this into the Library Pocket Die and then added the rest of the details - faux stitching with a gel pen, a stamped and cut star, a sentiment and the small Stamping Bella white Dot.The circle of purple card stock was added to the top left hand corner in order to highlight the white 'star' button that has been tied with purple ribbon.

Supplies:

Stamps: PTI Star Prints, Distressed Stripes, School Time, Fly Away

 Inks: CTMH Clover Meadows,  SU Lovely Lilac.

Card stock: Recollections

Other: PTI Sprial Notebook Page Die, Library Pocket Die, Stamping Bella Dot, button, ribbon, white gel pen.

 SURF'S UP ........ 
Ian lives and works in Halifax Nova Scotia on the east coast of Canada. When he first moved there he started surfing - - -  I still can't believe that he surfs all year long - - - even in the coldest wintery months!! This card certainly celebrates his adventurous spirit. 

Stampin' Up  "Extreme Surfer" and "Surf's Up" were used for the front image and sentiment. After stamping the image I added a fine glitter to the 'waves" under the surfer. The red saddle stitched ribbon and Stamping Bella 'dots' add some colour to the front of the card. I also used a button and some embroidery floss from my stash.
     

On the inside of the card I used PTI's Just the Ticket stamps and border die leaving a space on the right side for his brother to add a comment. The lower section looked a little 'bare' so I added the wave stamp from Surf's Up and matted it with the Ocean colour.

Supplies:

Stamps: SU Extreme Surfer, Surf's Up, PTI Just the Ticket

 Inks: CTMH Holiday Red, Ocean

Paper: K & Company, Brazill card stock

Other:  PTI Just the Ticket border Die, circle punch, corner rounder punch,Stamping Bella Dot, button, Dots & Dashes ribbon, embroidery floss, DecoArt Glamour Dust, glue pen, white gel pen.

Vintage Inspiration Notebook

Happy Sunday to Everyone!!

     It's Labour Day Weekend here in Canada, so everyone I know is in great spirits ... Monday is a "sleep in" day!   Even though I have retired from teaching, Labour Day still means the end of summer's lazy days and the beginning of cooler, shorter ones.  We're having family over for a barbeque today - just hope the weather is sunny and warm. It's been very cool, rainy and windy here the last few days.

     I wanted to update my Inspiration Notebook - I've been collecting card sketches and other ideas for cards in a little notebook that I bought at the dollar store. The only problem... it was getting full and I had no way of expanding it. So I cut it apart and used binder rings to create a notebook that I will be able to expand over time. 

     I started by covering two pieces of heavy cardboard (6 1/4" x 9 1/4")  with brown paper  
(inspiration from  PTI August Blog Hop Challenge).  This patterned paper has been in my stash for a long time, but I've never been able to make it 'work'. Since I have quite a few 12" x12" sheets it was a good choice...if I 'messed' up I wouldn't be destroying my only piece of patterned paper!!   As you can see it's fairly subtle with very muted colours.  It just needs some zing!

Back of Notebook

     I was was so impressed with Betsy Veldman's  botanical collage and her Moxie Talk on the Moxie Fab blog, I decided to experiment!! 

  

Front of Notebook

     
     I don't usually make cards and paper projects with a 'vintage' look, but I kind of like it... I want to try it again, now that I have figured out some of the techniques!! 

     Betsy comments that this trend is "popping up in home decor, stationery and paper crafting products" and  "the look is layered, full of details...lots of times with text and ledger backgrounds".  

     So I pulled out all kinds of stamps, punches, accessories and kept adding to the front cover until I was happy with the results.

I made a Pocket on the inside 

covers for both the front and the back.

Inside there is a section for different styles of 

cards with instructions and "mini" samples.

And another section has some card 

sketches that I would like to try or 

ones that I have made and really like.

Project Details:

Stamps: PTI - It's Official; Library Card; Mini Scrapbook Series: Tabs. Stampin'Up - Rough Type; Tiny Tags; Vintage Vogue. Close to My Heart (CTMH) Air Mail. Hampton Art- "K"

Inks: CTMH - Black, Cranberry, Olive, Indian Corn Blue. PTI - Vintage Touch Tea Dye Duo.

Papers: Recollections Olive & Cranberry. Patterned Paper - Karen Foster "Bouquet"

Other Supplies: Scalloped Border Punch; SU Tiny Tags punch; Boho Blossoms punch; circle punches. PTI- Spiral Notebook Die. Embroidery floss; binder rings; ribbons; Prima flower; brad; Marvy markers; cardboard; brown paper bag.

Baby Flower Power

     Happy Thursday to everyone!  I have a couple of cute cards today using Itzie Inkies Flower Power from C.C. Designs. Our local scrapbook store DAT'S has started carrying a number of stamp lines, so it's always fun to see what's new when I go in shopping!! I couldn't resist this image - several of my nieces and nephew are having babies and I knew it would see lots of ink!!

     I mentioned earlier that one of my nieces had her first - a little boy - in early August. She and her husband didn't want to know the baby's gender, so it was a surprise to all!  I wanted to be ready for the big day, so I made 2 cards for them - one for a boy and one for a girl. Here's the one I gave to the new parents of sweet little Nathan.

And here's the one I still have!!   Another niece is expecting her second child in December (it's a girl) so I have a card ready to pop in the mail!! 

      I started with a pastel plaid background paper that has greens, blues, pinks and yellows for both cards and just varied the colours for the card stock and the embellishments. I used this same pastel plaid for a retirement card I made for a friend (using PTI's Up, Up & Away). It's amazing how much mileage I'm getting out of this paper pack!

     I stamped and coloured the little monkey and flower with my copics and then cut it out with nestabilities. I then stamped, coloured and cut out the large daisy so I could pop it up on dimensionals. The little 'bug'  has glitter wings - I used a glue pen and DecoArt Glamour Dust for some sparkle! I also added a touch of sparkle on the daisy centers with some Stickles. 

      I found this sentiment on the internet and printed it out in a matching colour before cutting it and a coordinating mat with one of my nestabilities.

Card Details:

 Stamps: C.C. Designs Itzie Inkies Flower Power; Clear Dollar Stamp - sentiment; Stampin'Up Love Bug

Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black; SU Pixie Pink; CTMH Garden Green, Blue 

Papers: SU; papers from my stash!

Other Supplies: Copic markers; Nestabilities; DecoArt Glamour Dust; glue pen; pearls; ribbons; circle punches; markers; Stickles.