Die Love!

Hello Friends!

At last I am on my last two challenge cards from the Love Fest over on SCS, but they were both fun ones and I used lots of my new dies!

I created this first card for the Love Fest challenge hosted by The Greeting Farm.  We were to create a card with a "love" theme using dies.  So, I used many dies!!  I used a "Framelits" die by SU!, the "Fancy Lattice" die by Spellbinders, a Vintage Noir #6002 flourish die from Joy Craft, a SU! "Embosslits Beautiful Wings" butterfly die and all three sizes of rose dies from the Spellbinders "Bitty Blossoms" die set. Now that's love!! 

After assembling all my die cuts, I glued them to my card base and I added some tear-drop pearls and a vintage button heart. I started to add a little banner with a verse about love, but decided to leave it off since the design was already so busy. Hoping my heart button alone qualifies as a "love theme" for the challenge!

My next card was super quick and simple.  This one goes in the mail tomorrow to my Aunt Dolores who has been battling cancer for almost a year now.

I made this card for the challenge hosted by Verve: "In Love with Color".  I used TH Large Rosette die, a Quickcuts Pinking Circle die and a new Sizzix "Decorative Border and Heart" die.  The sentiment in the center is from Verve "Hope Blooms" set.  This card was as quick and easy to make as it was to blog about! 

TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!
 

Little Cards and a Tip for You!

 

Hi Friends,

I love all the new dies I picked up at this weekend's Scrapbook Expo, so I've been trying to use them in all the challenges I've been doing over on SCS.  (BTW, if you're wondering, there's an additional drawing by the Member Companies if you complete all 11 challenges... so that's what I'm entering and that's why so many cards.)  Awesomely convenient that it fell on the same weekend I was gonna get new goodies!!  Woo Hoo... but I digress...

This 3x3 card set is for the Taylored Expressions "A Little Love Goes a Long Way" challenge.  The challenge is to make a set of 3x3 cards. I first created the card bases and used a Nestability Labels die to trim the ends so they had a wavy edge.

Next I started the design...

I used a Joy Craft "Cutting Embossing and Embroidery" die to die cut lots of the flourishes so I had a choice of using all the different colors combinations.  This die was a first for me (I never had an "embroidery" die), so when I bought it, I chose the smallest one in the collection to "test it out".  I have decided I LOVE it!  The texture and detail of the die cuts that it makes are awesome!

I tried to get a good photo of the texture, but it totally gets lost in translation.  The best way I can describe it is that it looks like an embroidered doilie flower, kind of puffy, and then stitched all around.  So cool and intricate.




Anyhow, next I used a Cuttlebug Border embossing folder across the top of each of the card bases to add some texture so that the background wasn't so plain.  Then I glued my die cut flourish and stamped a little sentiment to the side of it.  I finished by embellishing the die cut just a bit with a white or yellow Prima flower, a punched mini starburst (Fiskars) and a rhinestone flower gem.

And while I was at it, I took a few photos of adding the gems so I could share this tip for adding teeny tiny gems to your projects:

Just squeeze a drop of glue onto your surface, then take your piercing tool and dip it into a little bit of the glue, touch the glued tip to the underside of the gem and carry it over to my card and lay it down right exactly where you want it.  This always works for me!  Hope it is something useful for you!




Finally, here's a close up of a couple of the cards.

TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!
 

More Love Fest Cards

 

Hi Everyone,

I've been making cards for the Love Fest Challenges on SCS again this weekend.  I'm also incorporating a few other cyber challenges along the way, so below are the cards I've created for all of them today.

The first one above is for the "Die Crazy" Simon Says Stamp challenge and this week's IC.  The webstore for the IC is "Designs by Lucinda".  How could I not participate in that challenge when my MOM'S name is Lucinda!!  How fun!!

I used three dies on this card: "Absolutely" by Simon Says, A Sunburst from Lil Inker Designs (I love the way the die creates little perforations around the edges!), and a Cuttlebug trees die (one of those older silver-toned squares).


The paper is "Earth Love" by Cosmo Criket and the sentiment is the coordinating stamp set from Simon Says that goes with the "Absolutely" die.  I free hand cut the banner.  To cut the "hills", I used my fun new Kiwi Lane Design "Sentiments" template set that I won from the Scrapbook Expo yesterday!  (It's so much more fun to  "win" a new toy!)

This next card is for the Inspiration Challenge hosted by the Cats Pajamas.  I always have a hard time with the gray/yellow color pallet that was in the inspiration piece, but I gave it a shot anyways since I had some new stamps to play with (again from yesterday's Scrapbook Expo)!  All the stamps used on this card are by Rubbernecker.  The flowers are "Poppy Layers", the background is "Victorian Lace" and the the sentiment is "Easter Blessings."

I stamped my background, the images and sentiment onto white CS, die cut the shape then mounted it onto a gray panel. I added some jewel bling just to balance it out, but overall, left it pretty simple. The die I used is from SU Labels Collection.

This card is for three challenges.  The "Make My Day" Lovefest Challenge hosted by MFT; the current "Case Study #129" Challenge; and the current "Basic Grey Challenge #88" which is "Anything Goes" but you must use a Basic Grey product.  I used "Perhaps" DP.

The sentiment is from Crafty Secrets (I think the set is called "A Couple of Cuties") and I used some scalloped Peel Offs lines, a dove charm and some HL gold flowers to embellish the card.




Thanks for stopping by and checking out my work!!

  
 

Double Z Fold Card

DP used: K&Company Ancestry (all other supplies described below). 

Hi Friends,

Still messing around this weekend with the fun challenges over on SCS. Today's challenge is by Score Pal and they asked for fancy fold cards.  I don't do very many fancy fold cards, but there was a "Double Z Fold" card I spotted on Pinterest that I wanted to try.

This card on Marisa's blog is the one I cased.  Please check her post here for the  dimensions and layout that I followed (you'll see the similarities when you check it out!). 

Here's a "tour" around my finished card via different closeup pictures:



This is the top left.  I made the rosettes on my card with the Sizzix 3-D Flowers Die using the same DP as the main panel.  I made 7 small ones and 4 big ones (and got quite fast at it I must say, LOL!!).   I sponged TH Tea Dye and Walnut Stain ink on the petals and then added Ranger Star Dust Stickles on all the edges.  The swirl die cut is Cheery Lynn Tropical Flourish and the golden gems are by Want 2 Scrap.  The heart, fan, and white rose on this card are all buttons from "Favorite Findings" with the back shank cut off.

 

This is the bottom right side of the card.  The stamped sentiment is Fiskars Make a Wish Quotes on a Spellbinders Floral Oval using the same DP as the main panel of the card (back side).  Same embellishments used here as the top left. 

This is a view from the back.  The lace boarder is SEI Love Birds collection. 

This is a look at the inside of the card. The lacy background is also SEI Love Birds Collection. I cut a piece to fit the inside, sponged the edges, and adhered it with white glue. I will be adding a smaller (probably oval) panel over it that will allow me to write inside. 

Finally, this is the card closed as it will be presented.  Just FYI, those rosettes are not as dark as they look, they are a lot creamier IRL.
TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!
 

Love Fest 2013

 Hi Friends!

SCS is having a fun, week-long challenge called "Love Fest" that started last Thurs. (Valentines Day) and I thought I'd jump in and try my hand at a few of them this weekend!

This is the first challenge; you have to use items on your card that start with the letters L, O, V, and E.  Very clever!  My card is using a "L"adybug, "O"vals, "V"intage design, and "E"mbossing folder.

I'm off to try the next challenge!





TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!
  
 

Valentine Birds

Hi Everyone,

I'm hosting the IC this weekend and for the inspiration website, I found an awesome webstore called "An Angel at My Table".  Very charming, vintage style items that I just loved!  I decided to make a Valentine for my parents. 

I chose this gorgeous "St. Lucia White Bird Cage" as my inspiration piece.  ("Lucia" is my sister's name - how appropriate, right?!)   For my card, I started by punching the bottom border with a MS "Garden Trellis" Deep Edge border punch and embossing the floral "frame" right above it with a Sizzix EF.  I die cut a white Tim Holtz bird and birdcage using the Movers and Shapers dies.  I pulled out the "old reliable"  SU! Watercolor Minis" to create the stamped roses in the background.  Then I punched a smaller pink bird using a MS punch, and sponged a little bit of Crumb Cake ink onto all 3 of the punched pieces.  I adhered the cage and the birds to my card and stamped a SU! Valentine sentiment that says "Valentine Be Mine."  I raised the "V" in the word Valentine and the white bird with some dimensional tape pieces.

The finishing touches were Star Dust Stickles on the roses, gold gems on the bird's eye and the top of the bird cage, and a Peel-Offs gold sticker chain connected to the top of the cage.



Here's the final product!

TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!
 

I Made Tea Cup Rings

One of my fav things to do when I'm not paper crafting is bargain hunting at Estate Sales!  Yes, it's an obsession with me.  Estate Sales.  I check them out almost every weekend looking for items that are vintage, old, and anything I can re-purpose.  (NOT that I actually ever get around to re-purposing them, but I DO collect them just the same!! ) LOL!!  

One of the many many things that I've come across were some mini, ceramic tea sets.  And little bag of ring blanks (I don't know if that's what they're called but they are rings with no focal piece so you can glue something to them to turn them into rings!!)  So one weekend I put them both together and wa-la!!  I made Tea Cup Rings.

I sent them to my sisters and mom for Christmas, and they loved them.  My mom wore hers to church and her friend loved it and asked my mom if I would make some for her.  Of course!  She "ordered" 8 o them!  So I sent her the 8 rings and included a matching "pin" for her friend as a thank-you.  And then she ordered 6 of the pins! 

I started making her 6 pins, but by now I was out of the little tea cups from the sets I had, so I used the little pitchers and sugar bowls that were with the sets.  When I ran out of those, I went ahead and put a few little "saint" trinkets on the pins instead of tea cup pieces.  I'm told she was thrilled with them, thank goodness, and plans to "order" some for Easter!  Wow, talk about the accidental businessman (gal)!

 TFL, I'm so glad you stopped by!