Friday, February 27, 2015

Botanical Rose meets Cheery Lynn Designs......

Good morning everyone.  I'm here this morning to share a quick card I made using a beloved Cheery Lynn Designs die called Sophia's Heart.  I have used this die several times and love it.  It makes such a lovely background for my flowers.


My card is 6" X 6" and the base card is watercolor paper for strength and stability.  It will hold up to most anything you put on the front of your card and not buckle.  I have handmade flowers using dies and stamps from Heartfelt Creations Botanical Rose Collection..  I love the little lacey edges of these flowers and think they make a gorgeous flower.  The pretty paper in the background is from the Prima Botanical Collection.  I have had this hoarded back for some time and decided today was a good day to use some.  The bow is colored seam binding all scrunched up and colored to match the flowers!  Also the little seed beads in the center of my flowers started out clear and were colored with the Blackberry Bliss ink to match the flowers.

I will be entering this into the Cheery Lynn Designs Design Team Call.  Wish me luck!

Supply List:
Cheery Lynn Designs Sophia's Heart Die
Watercolor Paper
Prima Botanical Collection Paper
Heartfelt Creations Botanical Rose Collection
Seam Binding
Stamping-Up Ink in Blackberry Bliss

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

WOYWW #299

Good morning everyone and welcome to our weekly WOYWW get together!  If you would like to join us, head over to Julia's blog and she will have the information you need to get you started.  Every Wednesday I take a photo of my space and blog about it then link it to Julia's blog.  Once you do that then you can join in all the fun and visit everyone's desk and see what they have going on.

I missed last week because of a very nasty bug and this was going on outside my window.  I was too sick to enjoy but the ice on everything was so beautiful.  It was also dangerous.  Mother Nature can be treacherous at times.


Then yesterday we had another little bit of snow on top of what was left from this one.  We received another 3-4 inches before it moved on.  Bella and I went for a little walk in the snow and she loves it!  She is two and this is really the first snow she has gotten to experience.


Now back to business...here is my desk this morning.


As you can see it's quite a mess there this morning.  I have several ideas floating around in my head at this time and it's about to get really muddled!  I need to focus on one thing at a time and get it done!  This crazy bit of this and that and nothing concrete is making me a little crazy this morning.  Right now I would like to put something in this small frame and use in my living room.  There are actually two of these frames and I just need to settle for something.  The pretty flowers in the background were printed off the internet and I'm thinking "paper toile".  Then the card with the die cut lying on the top of it is going to wind up being a birthday card.....I think.  The pretty lace just needs to be put away and the same goes for all the inks and seed beads, etc.  Just a bit of a mess right now and it totally is what I'm feeling in my head right now!  When I get like this, it is better for me to pick one and go with it and shuffle the rest off to the side for another day.

Now I'm off to visit your blogs and say a quick hello.  Have a good day and stay warm wherever you are!

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

February Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop

Good morning everyone.  Here we are at the end of February and ready for another Heartfelt Creations Alumni Design Team Blog Hop.

If you arrived here from Kerry Urbatch's  blog you are right on track and remember to leave a comment on as many of our blogs  as you can because you never know which blog will have the winning comment. You could be the winner of a $25 gift certificate for product from Heartfelt Creations.  You have until midnight February 27th. to comment and the winner will be announced on February 28th.



This beautiful paper is doing the heavy lifting for my card this month!  It's the Birds and Blooms Collection and I have fallen in love with these beautiful little birds.  I added some glitter to the swirls of the paper and fussy cut a bird and used dimensional tape to pop him up.  It's hard to see in this photo but it is the little bird under the bow.  Then all you have to do is stamp a sentiment, tie a bow and your card is ready to go.  I love how easy it is!

Your next stop along the way will be Mary Faus and don't forget to leave a comment on as many blogs as you can so you have a better chance of winning. Good luck!

Giovana Smith


Supplies List:
Heartfelt Creations HCDP1-250 Birds And Blooms Collection
HCPC3301 Hydrangea/Posy Patch Cling Stamp Set
Spellbinders 5 X 7 Mystical Embrace
Cream Colored Cardstock
Designer Dries Clear Glue
Glitter
Dimensional Tape
Memento Ink
Scor-Tape
Blue Ribbon



Monday, February 23, 2015

Card Re-Do.........

Good morning everyone and welcome back to my blog.  I've been absent for the last week doing some Spring cleaning and a little bit of paint work in my living room.  I still have quite a bit of both to do before I'm finished but I will be around this week.  I always like to take this time of year and do whatever cleaning I'm going to do before the weather breaks and I need to be outside digging in the dirt.  Of course as I get older, I have slowed down considerably and climbing up and down that ladder is a killer for me these days!


Remember this?  You can check it out on the post directly below this one.  I just made it into a larger card and added a few die cuts and a piece of lace and it becomes something totally new and different.  I like it much better this way. How do you feel about it now?

Monday, February 16, 2015

Indecision......

Good morning everyone on this frosty February morning!  I think we are in for our first real winter storm today and I'm sort of excited!  The weather report says freezing rain then snow which can make things treacherous out there and the ice part was not part of my plan but we don't get to pick and choose do we?

I want to share this Spring/Easter card with you and the indecision part is I just could not decide if I wanted another layer under this pretty paper.  I first thought yes, then I decided no and now I'm not happy with it again.  I hate it when that happens!  Now I've got to re-work this or just let it go.  Not sure about it yet!  So I think I will just watch it snow and let it go!


Have a wonderful day and I hope you can stay safe and warm!

Friday, February 13, 2015

Promised Flower Tutorial.......

Good morning everyone and welcome to my little corner of the world.  I'm going to try and share how I make a flower this morning and so be patient and kind please.  This is sort of a long tutorial and I tried to take lots of photos along the way so I hope I don't bore you.  The flower I want to show you is the one I used on my tag for the Craft Hoarders February Challenge tag.  In case you missed it here is the photo again of that tag.


I have been drooling over the new Stampin Up color Blackberry Bliss and just had to have it so that is the color I'm playing with this morning.  Also the die I'm using for my petals is the Tim Holtz Alterations Die Tattered Florals.  Mine is quite old and I've used it a lot.  I'm always happy to figure out how to make a new flower using this die.


I cut two flower petals out of watercolor paper and colored the center and the edges of them with the ink. I also always color the back outer edges in case I curl the petal in a way that shows the naked cardstock.  You want everything to look like you would find it in nature.


Once you have the color looking the way you like, place in a tray and spray with either water or I used a homemade shimmer spray. When you are spraying the cardstock you want to use enough to make the cardstock pliable but not so much as to make it pull apart when you start to shape.  I'm afraid this is a trick you learn as you go along.  If your cardstock feels like it might tear, just use a heat gun and dry it some. Spraying also makes the ink run, so if your color isn't even it is not a big deal.


Next I fold the petals in on themselves and scrunch them and break the fibers. You can also use a petal shaping tool with a ball on the end to burnish the petals and continue to break down the fibers.  Here I just folded and scrunched.


Now you want to open the petals again and at this point the paper is soft but sort of wet so be careful; you don't want to tear off one of the petals.  Also you can add more color to the edges if you like.  On this flower I wanted the color to be stronger so I added more ink.


At this point you start to shape the petals.  I have this yucky pair of tweezers that I use for everything from shaping flowers to holding things to glue or to glitter whatever I'm working on. I grab the end of the petal with the tweezers and just start curling it end over end and then release and leave to dry. You can curl in several directions and as you are playing with it you can find what suites you. Remember, in Nature all flowers are perfect so if each one is different it's ok! Once dry the petals hold their shape well and you can do whatever you want with it then.


The next photo shows how my flower looks after I have curled all the petals. You can see some have been curled up and over and some are from side to side. It's a matter of taste and you will figure out how you want it to look.  Sometimes I let them air dry


But I'm an instant gratification kind of girl and I will use a heat gun to dry my petals; you just have to be careful and if they start to uncurl use your fingers and scrunch them back into shape.


I use whatever I have on hand that sort of matches in color to do the flower centers.  I have taken clear glass beads and dropped distress inks into them to color them.  You can also color glitter as well so the re-inkers are a great thing to have on hand.  Whenever I buy a new ink pad, I try and buy the re-inker to match it.  Just put a dab of glue in the center of the petal and fill it with whatever you have chosen.


Next glue the two petals together and leave to dry.  I love the look of this flower and think that nature would probably make it grow this way.


I also like to add Glossy Accents to the edges of the petals to give some pretty shine.  You can also touch glue to the edges and add glitter or sometimes I even do some pretty embossing powder on the edges.  I love the Lindy's Stamp Gang embossing powders because they have two tone color...nice!


Here is my finished flower!  You can almost see the pretty seed beads in the center.  Now that I look back at this, a pretty yellow would look nice as a center.


So there you have it.  I hope this has not been too long to hold your attention. Flowers do take a bit of time but handmade flowers are always so gorgeous and well worth the bit of extra effort.  Now go fourth and make flowers!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

WOYWW #297

Good morning everyone.  We have worked our way round to another Wednesday and another WOYWW hosted by Julia.  We are at week #297 and it's hard to believe I've been around for a lot of those, but I'm totally addicted to this blog hop.  I seldom make it around to everyone's blog but I do see a bunch of you guys each Wednesday and I love seeing what is going on in your space.


This is my desk yesterday afternoon and it still looks the same this morning.  I have been working on a flower tutorial and taking lots of photos and so I needed my desk clear enough to have a space to lay the flower.  Come visit on Friday as I will be posting the tutorial then.  Those of you who know me, know I love flowers but I hate doing tutorials.  I'm always finished with a project before I realize I didn't take photos along the way and all I can actually show is the finished product.  So when you see the tutorial, please be kind.

Now I'm off to hop along the world wide blog hop this morning.  Hope to see you there!

Monday, February 9, 2015

Craft Hoarders Anonymous February, 2015 Challenge...How I Love Thee

Good morning everyone and welcome to the February Challenge for Craft Hoarders Anonymous!  This month you may create a Valentine, anniversary, wedding or other love-themed project for this challenge. You can create something that has the word "Love" on it. So go digging around on your shelves and in those drawers and find those hoarded hearts and pink sequins and papers that  you have been saving for the perfect project and let's play!


I love making tags and this one used several things that have been hoarded by me for a while now.  I love dies and am always checking under cushions for pennies to save so I can purchase a new die here and there.  I started with a tag cut from a die I have had in my stash for awhile. Then I ran it through my embossing machine with an embossing folder for texture.  I sponged some distress ink on the tag and then sprayed it with my homemade shimmer spray to soften the color and to give it a bit of shine.  That gorgeous  heart is also a hoarded die and the image inside the heart is a free one I found online.  I just printed it off and cut it out to fit inside the heart.  Next I cut out my flower petals and leaves and colored them with more inks and after they were shaped I added Glossy Accents to add some shine.  The banner with the sentiment is also a hoarded die and one I use often. Then to finish off the tag I used white seam binding and colored it with ink to match my tag and scrunched it.  Once dry it made the perfect topper for my tag.

Now come join us and show us your creation!  You have until midnight PT on 3-8-2015 to create a project and link it to the Craft Hoarders Anonymous blog.  I look forward to seeing what you create!

Supply List:

Tim Holtz Tag and Bookplate die
Anna Griffin Embossing Folder (Acanthus)
Spellbinders Sunflowers Set II (Retired and Hoarded)
HCD 729 Timeless Amour Die - Heartfelt Creations
Tim Holtz Tattered Florals Die (Hoarded)
Victorian Velvet Distress Ink
Adirondak Ink - Currant
Homemade shimmer Spray
Flourishes Life Lines
Gold Glass Beads
Ranger Glossy Accents
Two Ladies Image from the Internet
Seam Binding
Bow-it-All





Friday, February 6, 2015

February Crafty Secrets Challenge......

Good morning everyone.  Another Friday is here and we are getting ready to jump head first into another weekend!  It's a frosty 16 degrees here this morning and definitely February!  I have been trying to make a few Valentine's Day cards for special people in my life and this challenge falls right into that theme for me.
The theme for February is Love and what better way to show Love than with a Valentine.  Crafty Secrets even supplied us with a digital paper and a sweet image to work with.  I used them both here.


I fussy cut the image and changed out the heart she is holding to match the card stock behind my sentiment.  Then I used Crystal Lacquer to go over the small heart and dimensional tape to raise the image off the card base.  Pretty checked pink ribbon and pink fiber for the corner and a sweet sentiment from Heartfelt Creations to round out the card.  I think it made an adorable card and I will be sending this one along with my other Valentine's Day cards.

That does it for me this morning.  I'm off to link my card to the Crafty Secrets blog.  Have a great day and an awesome weekend!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

WOYWW #296

Good morning and here we are again on Wednesday morning and I'm showing you a photo of my desk top.  Each Wednesday a bunch of crafters get together and we show you what we are doing in our little worlds.  Julia Dunnit is the hostess of this group and this is her idea. It  has grown and grown over the past few years and now I find I can  hardly allow a Wednesday to come and go without being a part of this group!


My workspace on my desk this morning is a bit cluttered for my taste but I've been working on flowers, thus all the inks and sprays and embossing powders still out, as well as the red shaping mat I use for my flowers.  I'm also working on birthday cards this week, hoping to get a few ahead and ready to be mailed.  I'm afraid it's a lost cause with me since I just can't seem to stay on course!  A spellbinders die, some score tape and there is my Stamp-ma-jig in all it's glory! There is also a bottle of shimmer spray... I make most of my sprays myself using Pearl Ex, Gum Arabic and warm water. If I want a different color you can always use re-inkers or acrylic paints.  There are lots of videos on You-Tube about this and it is a huge money saver!

I just noticed the white thingy on strings at the top of my photo.  It almost looks like ear plugs of some sort but it's only the string from my blinds.  Sorry about that.

OK, I've shown you my mess, now show me yours!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Birthday Wishes.....


I am always vowing to have birthday cards made up and ready to go and always fail miserably in the actual doing of this.  Then I'm suddenly faced with a birthday countdown and no card in hand.  Since I make cards all the time, it would be a sin to buy a greeting card to send to a family member.  So get ready, I'm going to be making a few so I can be one step ahead of the situation.  Wish me luck!

My card this morning is a very simple card using cream colored cardstock, a few layers, an embossing folder from Cuttlebug called Madison, hand colored flowers and leaves and I also colored some seam binding to match the flowers. I always have cream and white seam binding purchased by the roll and then I just smear my ink pad across my craft mat, spray it with some water then drag my seam binding through the color...scrunch it up into a ball and let it air dry.  Then everything matches which I love.

What do you think about my bow?  I tied it using the Bow-It-All from Zutter!  It is becoming my most treasured tool as my bow tying skills are sadly lacking.

All that is left this morning is for me to remind you to "Breathe"!