Papertrey Ink Make It Monday

I couldn't resist taking part in a new-to-me challenge over at Papertrey Ink called "Make It Monday."  This week, the Make It Monday challenge is to hand draw a line frame as a border on your card.  I hope this counts, since I did in fact start out with a line frame - two, in fact, one around the entire periphery and one around the sentiment.  But then, it seemed to need a bit of whimsy.... so I doodled around the line frame.  And then I colored in some of the loops with Copics... and gave some others some polka dots.....  Seriously fun. ;)

A little tip I discovered for doing this type of doodling... actually, a couple of tips:  Doodling, by its very nature, is not perfect, so don't try to be perfect! It is much more appealing if it's got some character to it.  That being said.... so that you don't end up with a ginormous loop at your corner, or two teensy loops scrunched in at the end of your line... start out by making the little doodled loops at each corner first, on all sides (also at the ends of your lines, if the lines are broken up by your images).  Then start doodling loops along your line to fill in between the corners.  After you get about 2/3s to 3/4 of the way through, go to the other end of your line and make loops (in the opposite direction) until you meet up with the ones you have done.  Why?  Because then, if you have one loop that is notably larger or smaller than the rest, it looks like you *meant* to do it, since it is in the middle.  Follow? (Hmmm, I'm probably being as clear as mud..... should have taken pictures along the way... sorry!)

Anyway, the details..... the little girl image is from Paper Whimsy, cut out and distress inked.  The houses and wings are cut from Papertrey Ink's Love Lives Here Collection dies (one house from corrugated paper), and the house and sentiment stamps are from the Love Lives Here stamp set.  I started out by cutting out everything, stamping and distressing the diecuts, and arranging them on the card to get an idea of placement.  I then laid out my frame using the technique in Nicole's video.  I masked out the framed area, added Distress Inks in Antique Linen and Tattered Rose, then stamped a Text Style stamp in Tattered Rose as a background.  After doodling my frame, I added the little road using Copics, then glued down my elements.  A couple of little details... I added some vintage glass glitter behind the heart in the middle house, and popped up the house.  I also went in and "shaded" my doodles and the sentiment frame with a warm gray Copic marker (W2, I think) to give it all a bit of dimension.   


I know Papertrey is kinda known for it's clean and simple approach.... but as you can see, you can certainly take it all shabby chic and vintage.  Thanks for stopping by - I hope you can give this technique a try. :)

CR84FN25 Color Challenge

There's another gorgeous color challenge over at the CR84FN blog - the CR84FN25 colors are red, aqua, and white.  What a fab combo to take us into spring!  Here's the yummy inspiration photo:  

For my little card, I started with a Unity bicycle stamped in black, then colored over the top of it with colored pencils to bring in the bold red and aqua.  For the background, I stamped PTI's text background in aqua, and distressed the edges of the panel with Tumbled Glass Distress Ink.  The sentiment is PTI as well.  I also made the background paper on the top of the card by stamping with another Unity stamp repeatedly, and blending in some more Distress Ink.  The red scalloped border is Crate Paper Restoration (I swear I will use every last scrap of that line!)  Finished off with a little lipstick red bling.  I kept this quite flat because I'm going to be mailing it soon. 

As always, there's tons of inspiration over at the CR84FN blog.  (And have you noticed the great quotes that are included in every color palette photo?)  Thanks, ladies! 

Happy Easter! and Tag Tuesday

Happy Easter!  I wanted to get my little Tag Tuesday entry in for the weekend - you can check out the latest tag challenge at Blog Challenge Garden.  I almost scrapped the base of this tag; the colors didn't come out at all as I expected.  But after I walked away from it and hunted down the right vintage image, I made peace with it.  The base is a resist chipboard (I think from Heidi Swapp) that I've been hoarding for ages.  I cut out the egg shape and colored it first with mists (which was too pale), then with some distress inks.  The bunny image is from Dover.  The little egg is from an image transfer to muslin that didn't come out quite right, but I couldn't bear to part with the bits that were okay. ;)  Stamped sentiment is Papertrey Ink.  Lots of other fun goodies... crinkly ribbon from Bluebird Lane Etsy shop, glittered hydrangea petals, vintage mother of pearl baby buttons, and a little pin that I made.

I want to thank everyone who has been voting for me over at The Handmade Gift Guide!!!  Voting will continue for the next few days, so if you haven't checked it out, you can follow the link.  My project is in my previous post *here*.  Also, a big welcome to my new followers!  I've actually hit 200 sweet followers, which makes me happier than words can express. :)  I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow! 

Poppy Picnic Hostess Gift - Please Vote! :)

I am so excited to share this little project with you!  Over at The Handmade Gift Guide, they are having a contest sponsored by 100 Proof Press.  Ten of us received this gorgeous poppy stamp and were asked to come up with a handmade gift idea using the stamp.  Their readers get to vote on their favorite project, and the designer with the most votes gets a gift certificate to 100 Proof Press.  I loooooove their stamps, and I would greatly, hugely, enormously appreciate your vote!   You can see all of the projects and vote by  following *THIS LINK*.  Pretty, pretty please with poppies on top???? ;)

So, what did I make, exactly?  I put together a little Poppy Picnic Hostess Gift.  I started out with a jar filled with organic poppy seeds (actually an old Prima flower bottle).  I stamped the image on adhesive-backed paper from PTI, then colored it with Copics and adhered it to the bottle.  I also bought two plain muslin flour sack dish towels, and stamped the image repeatedly in red or black inks.  I tested this out a bit with another towel I designated as my "trial towel", LOL!  I used waterproof dye ink, stamped the towel, and allowed it to set overnight.  I then heat set the images with a hot, dry iron.  Just to be absolutely certain it would set, I threw the towels into a hot dryer for about 20 minutes.  They came out pretty well in the wash - just be sure not to wash red ink (*any* red ink) with anything white the first time around!  To tie it all together and give it a special purpose, I included three poppy seed recipe cards, stamped with the image in red.  Here's another view of the project:

You can click on the images for a larger view.  In case you can't see the recipe card, below is a recipe for a really yummy salad with poppy seed dressing.  It may sound like an odd combination, but trust me, it's so good, so quick, and so easy!

Strawberry Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Dressing:

Mix together:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

2 Tbs. raspberry vinegar

1/3 Cup sugar

1/4 Cup milk

2 Tbs. poppy seeds

Salad:

Toss together shredded crisp leafy lettuce (romaine or green leaf), sliced strawberries, and thinly sliced sweet onions.  Toss with dressing immediately before serving (if you put it on ahead of time, the lettuce will wilt).

If you like what you see, would sooo appreciate your vote. :)  Happy Easter weekend!

Gingersnap Creations Challenge: Fans

It's time for another Random Redhead challenge over at Gingersnap Creations, and this week's challenge is to use *Fans* in your creation.  You could make a fan, or make a card, canvas, hanging, or other piece that incorporates a fan.  Take it wherever you'd like!

My card uses an image generously provided by Lululiz in Lalaland on *this post*.  I saw it a while back and knew this challenge was coming up, so I immediately filed it away in my collage art file.  You can click on the image to see the sentiment better if you'd like.... it says "The Language of Fans - The fan a language sweet imparts, 'Tis read my many loving hearts."  Apparently in Victorian days the flick of a woman's fan could have special meaning?  Goodness, but love is complicated, LOL!  Anyway, I used some patterned papers from the Curio collection, scored and folded them accordion style, and used them as trims behind my ladies.  The sweet postcard got only a few rhinestone embellies on the fan part.  I also tied a little tassel behind the image to evoke the tassel on the fan image.

The design team and visiting artists have produced some stunning fan art over at the Gingersnap Creations blog - I've had such fun looking at the details on each piece.  We'd love for you to have a look and play along. :)

More Scrappy Stampy Gluebook Pages

Happy Palm Sunday!  As some of you know, I've been a bit neglectful of my blog, and it's because I really haven't had much time to craft just for fun (although I am working on some very fun projects for Craft Stamper.... they will be coming in late summer/early autumn).  Anyway, that means my only other craft time has been - in the carpool lines, of course.  So I bring along my traveling art case and use up my scraps.  The images above are leftovers/rejects from this ATC project.  This is turning out to be a fun way to experiment - for instance, I love the look of the blue paper torn away to reveal some text on the left-hand page.  I'll have to incorporate that in a card or scrapbook page (or even - gasp! - a canvas someday).

Her are a few more:

Some favorite birdies from CHF and Artistic Outpost.

Using up some of my purple scraps.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful spring weekend! I'd love to leave you with a stanza from a poem that always speaks so perfectly to this time of year.  We are having a beautiful spring here in North Carolina, but we just had some powerful tornadoes go through yesterday.  Thankfully our house and family are fine.  You just never know with springtime weather.  This is from Robert Frost's "Two Tramps in Mudtime":

The sun was warm but the wind was chill.
You know how it is with an April day
When the sun is out and the wind is still,
You're one month on in the middle of May.
But if you so much as dare to speak,
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,
A wind comes off a frozen peak,
And you're two months back in the middle of March.

Tag Tuesday - The Chair

Yippee, had some time to craft!  I have been wanting to continue playing in the Tag Tuesday Challenge, but haven't had a chance since the big change.  In case you haven't been following in recent weeks, the lovely and talented Louise over at Kard Krazy, who has brought us countless challenges and inspiration, decided that she had too much on her plate to continue the weekly Tag Tuesday play.  So, she has handed over the baton to Rebecca at Blog Challenge Garden.  Thanks so much to Rebecca ("BelleSouth") for taking over!  This week she has set forth a rather challenging challenge.... "The Chair."  The chair has to be the focus, but you can have someone or something in the chair.  I hope this qualifies!!

Yes, I know that it might seem that the girl is the focus.... which is why I decided to paper piece the image and give her a rather over-the-top, girlie, flowered, chintz-covered chair.  Remember when chintz was all the rage in the 80s?  Oh, how I loved it then.  So we have our retro girl in her retro chair, and did you notice..... she has chair wallpaper! Yes indeedily, just in case my chair tag isn't chair-y enough, I added a few more chairs, LOL!  The lovely lady is from Rogue Redhead Designs' Relish Reading Plate, and the teensy chair stamp in the wallpaper is from Pink Paislee's House of Three Parisian Anthology set.  The throw rug is a cardstock sticker from Crate Paper (as is the sentiment), the trim is vintage Little Women, and the brad is GCD studios.  I think that's about it.  Hope you can play along.;)

Dreaming of Paris, Rogue Redhead Style

Hello and happy happy Friday!  I decided to pop in on my poor, neglected little blog.  We are having a very busy spring, to say the least!

I wanted to give you a little lookie at what I have posted over at the Rogue Redhead Designs blog today.  A little lady who is dreaming of taking an exciting tour of old-time Paris.  Count me in! ;)

Have a wonderful weekend.

Geishas with Gingersnap Creations

It's time for another fun "theme" challenge over at Gingersnap Creations, and this month it's GC97: Geishas.  I must admit, I had *no* Asian-themed stamps, so I got creative with a collage image, fun textured paper, and some doodling.  The beautiful Geisha image is from art-e-zine.co.uk, layered on top of some fabulous corrugated paper from The Paper Temptress (which I thought was reminiscent of the texture of Japanese lanterns).  I decided to "doodle" some tree branches and flowers with markers to give it a little more interest in the background. I also cut some black cardstock strips to mimic a Japanese screen design.  The little flowers are made with a Martha Stewart punch, and again I doodled to make them look more like a type of dogwood.  The centers are microbeads (also Martha Stewart).  The little birdie at the top is my only stamped piece, from Artistic Outpost.  Lastly, I cut (!) into some of my Kioshi paper from Basic Grey. All together it makes a rather spring-like card, I think.

And because I couldn't stop at just one.... I had also purchased a beautiful digital collage sheet from Curious By Design {Digital} on Etsy that had a lovely Geisha in blue.  I had printed her out and just couldn't part with her, so into my Scrappy Gluebook she went, along with some other old scraps of paper (PSX!) and stamped dragonflies from CHF and Impression Obsession.

I hope you'll join us at Gingersnap Creations for our Geisha theme challenge!

More Scrappy Gluebook Pages

Hello friendly, crafty, beautiful bloggers!  I've missed you, missed having the time to marvel over your wonderful and inspiring blogs, and then craft with all of your gorgeous artwork in my head.  Spring break is finally over for the kiddos (a generous 4 weeks this time), and although I love having them around, it will be rather nice to get back to a more normal rhythm.  I will be visiting, I promise!

A quickie little post of one of those carpool line scrappy gluey pages I've been working on.  A bunch of extras left over from *this* project, along with some that have been languishing in the scrap pile for ages.  Images are predominantly from Artistic Outpost and Oxford Impressions, but as always, if you have a specific question, please feel free to email me.  I've enjoyed working with purples, and I've noticed that very few (if any?) of the brand new patterned papers coming out these past few weeks have had any in them.  I suppose we'll just have to make our own, won't we? And use up those scraps, of course.  It's on to laundry for me... have a wonderful afternoon and evening. :)

Craft Stamper Best of 2010 E-zine - Free!

Hi there! I just wanted to pop in today to let you know that Craft Stamper Magazine has launched a fabulous "e-zine," filled with readers' top 12 favorite projects for 2010, AND..... drumroll, please....... it's absolutely free!  You can download your copy HERE at the Craft Stamper blog.  Every project has step by step instructions.  You can see a little peek above.  And, you can check out the Craft Stamper Blog for information on how you can win some great blog candy, just for helping to spread the word.  Happy Stamping. ;)