Oh Hello swing card

 Not quite what I had in mind but it worked ok.  I wanted to do a swing card using the oval framelets but in order to make it swing I forgot that I would lose part of the front of the oval  so I had to crunch the image a little more to the right.  Take a base Crumbcake card.  I embossed the chevron- I cut the bottom so it would fit sideways into my bigshot.  (This -"it's to big to fit sideways with the new embossing folders" drove me crazy!)

I used the nesting oval framelets using selective cutting to make the swing.

Front of the card is made with a white oval stamped with Oh Hello in crumbcake lightly then Oh, Hello with Cherry Cobbler then used marker- more mustard and old olive to make the flower.  I used another white oval- same size as the front and stamped the Hearts a Flutter in crumbcake, the sentiment from You are Loved in Cherry and punched a heart with the Silver Glimmer paper.

Oh, whale case

I cased this card from the Stampin Up website January 2nd. They changed the look of the website and I had some mixed feelings about it at the beginning but I like it.  My only thing is that it is pinned from somewhere and I could not find out from the picture who originally made the card.
I changed up the color and added the sentiment and the hears but I think it is sweet.  Take a white cardstock, slight smaller than the base card.  Diecut the large oval as shown using the Oval framelets.  Emboss with the Needlepoint border embossing folder as shown.  Stamp the waves on the base cardstock with pool party -using stamp off technique to get various shades.  I used a post it on the right side to make sure it was not going to show when the top cardstock was mounted.   Stamp the whale and diecut with the Happy Whale clearlit.  Stamp the sentiment and the hearts with pool party and mount using dimensionals.  Mount the whale and add the tiniest pearl for the eye.  Easy peasy card.  Credits to Stampin Up for posting such a cute card and credits to original creator!

Lynda

Wine or champagne bottle label

 This was one of my projects last month - I just didn't have time to post it 'til now.  But it is usable for any time- just change the color and sentiment.

 Take a cardstock 8 1/2 inches x 3 inches and score from the top 2 3/4" and punch the large oval as shown- here I used wild wasabi cardstock and stamped the sentiment in expresso.    I added the piercing to add some interest.  I embossed the bottom 1/3 again to add some interest and then layered some coordinating paper.  Stamp the drink of your choice and decorate it however you want. Punched it out using a circle punch but you could use any shape that fits your event, layer it if you want too.

rain or shine make and take

This was my favorite of the cards I had at my stamping party this month.  I love the Rain or Shine set- although I wish they had a matching framelet or die to go with it.  I thought it would go well with the Cloudy Day embossing and so it does.

For some reason I have been gravitating toward Pool party these last few months.  I don't know what I am going to do when it and Lucky Limeade retires this summer.    Anyhow, I took a white CS and embossed it with cloudy days folder and then layered the Sycamore street DSP from Sale-a-bration (which you can earn for free for any $50 purchase- starts Jan 22, 2013)  I took the color lead from the DSP and tried the raspberry and the other colors but tangerine tango just was the thing- gave a just the right bit of cheeriness the card needed.  Stamp the umbrella in tangerine tango and the stem with crumbcake (tried black and grey and chocolate and they were all too dark and did not look right) and the sentiment in island indigo.  Layered the whole thing in tangerine and a simple card that did not need to have the umbrella cut out!  Looooove It!

Sweet thread simply sent bundle

 I've been a fan of cross stitch for many years having made several pillows and eyeglass cases even.  So when I saw this it peaked my curiosity as to how I could incorporate it into cardmaking which I never tried.  It is usually a bit of effort to do it and I was concerned it would take too much time but these went in no time at all.  You can do both of these while watching an hour long show.  I stamped the sentiment first in case I screwed up; I did not want to waste the stitchwork.   I did have to be careful to not pull too hard as in certain areas the hole could rip. I used the entire strand but it was a bit thick and next time I may take a strand or two out.  I love the simplicity of it but of course I had to embellish it a bit.  On the first one, I just added a

little seambinding ribbon and on the limeaid one, a layer of raspberry ripple cardstock and used dimensionals to pop it up a bit and I think it is really sweet.  I may even try it around some other paper pierced images. So simple, cute and easy!  It's just my style.

Enjoy!

Lynda

Victorian Dress Up

 I was gone for several weeks with no access to my stamping supplies so I took my catalogues and I sketched what I thought I wanted to do and this is one of those sketches come to life.  
I do have a thing for mannequin dies and stamps.  When I saw this die I really liked it and the sweet heart neck line dress die.  Not so sure about the stampset but as a bundle it was too good a deal to pass up so I bought the bundle anyway.  I love the die but I wanted a longer dress with a wedding dress /victorian dress feel so I diecut the dress in vanilla and then the bottom layer a bunch more times to the desired length, embossed the whole thing all at once with the lacy brocade embossing folder (although I did fussy emboss the bodice part to mimic a collar).  I diecut the mannequin just waist up since it was going to be hidden anyway in expresso.

This was one of the projects for the class I had and I just gave people a quarter sheet of vanilla cardstock and this is what it looked like after they were all done.

I put a small piece of 1/8 inch taffeta ribbon in vanilla and then added a piece of 5/8 inch vanilla flower trim and small pearl trim on the mannequin neck.

The dress seemed to get lost on the background when I did the pool party or some other color. So took pool party cardstock and die cut with apothecary accents and then pierced it with coordinating paper piercing pack, stamped the celebrate in expresso on the scrap piece of vanilla, then diecut using bitty banner framelet and slid it under the dress as shown.

Now that I am home, I just have to put the rest of my ideas into action. More to come....


Lynda

My little reversible bag

I don't know about you but where I live they don't give out bags any more when you shop.  You either bring your own or buy their paper bags for 10 cents a pop (feeding a family of 5 takes a lot of grocery bags).  So I do bring my own most of the time but I like having a little one rolled up in my purse in case I forget so I have been playing with this idea of a little bag I can put in my purse and here was my attempt at it.  There are lots of instruction on line and I certainly do not prefess to be an expert so I will just show you some of my triumphs and failures.  This was my final piece.  I used one pack of the designer fabric to make one bag.  I took the button fabric and stitched the right sides together to make the outside and the  orangish fabric the same to make the inside lining.  I cut up the stitch design to make the handles, the top border, the pockets and the left over loops and tab for the button and the closure mechanism. 

 I did learn to put the mechanism on one side so when you try to close it it does not gape open. And I put a little pocket on the inside using the last bit of fabric left over.  Both the pockets are completely finished so no raw seams on the inside. 

I wanted to make the outside pocket big enough so that I could flip the bag inside it to fold it flat instead of rolling it and this one worked.

 This was one of my first tries at the bag- I liked it for the most part.   Makani, my girlfriend said that she wished that she had a pocket inside the one she had for her wallet or keys so it does not fall to the bottom when she's at the market. So I tried. 

I liked how the pocket continued the handle but what was funny is that it was too narrow and I could not get my fat hands into it to grab anything.  That's why the final bag has the pocket going side ways.


I  loved playing with the fabric and now I ordered some more- how could I resist?  Maybe I will make a little blanket using this sweet fabric just for moi!  So I can have sweet dreams under my Sweet Stitches!

My Sweet stitches gift exchange

I am in love with the Sweet Stitches button fabric.  I bought a bunch when they originally came out with it because I thought it was so sweet- love the color combo and when it hit the clearance, I bought some more.  Where else can you buy 3 fat quarter pieces for 99cents?  Even at Joanne's it usually goes for no less than $1 each!   Anyway I found some tutorials on scissor holders so I had to make one of course.  I used the petite cone but I am told you can also use the Dresden Designs bigz die to cut the fabrics-
I found the instructions here: http://goinovertheedge.blogspot.com/2012/08/fabulous-comfort-cafe-fabric-holders.html although I had to tweak it of course- I do like a well padded  scissor holder and I did not like seams showing so I stitched the top round  turned it right side out, put all four layers together (with the batting between each of the layers) and stitched a scant 1/4 inch and turned it inside out then used some ribbon and button to sew down the flap-  It was pretty easy but I would advised you to sew the button on, don't glue it- I do think it is worth the effort.  It fits the SU paper snips perfectly!  I gave this away with a bag I made all rolled up.  Isn't it sweet?  I will tell you of my trials making the bag on tomorrow's post. 

Fabulous Florets- CASE

Paula Dobson had this fabulous calendar easel cards using this set and I just loved what she did.  When one of my friends ordered this set recently I had to try to make it as a thank you card and although my camera took a picture bit shady, ti came out exactly how I envisioned it.  Stamped the leaves and sentiment on white using midnight muse.  Sponge the paper using Bashful Blue. I stamped the flowers separately, sponged it too and cut it out mounting as shown using dimensionals.  Mounted the whole thing on midnight muse, wrapped the ribbon around it and used Bashful to mount the whole thing onto it. Add a littel bling on the big flower and it was really a 10 minute card- if you don't count the cutting out with scissors part.....

Notecube gift updated.

Remember the notecube?
I posted the how to on it eons ago in 2008 and with the diagonal scoring tool, it is infinitely easier.  I just took a 8x8 inch square cardstock, put it flush against the left side top corner and score diagonally at 2 1/4. 4 1/2 and 6 3/4 inch and it makes a perfect holder for a 3x3 notecube.  Easily altered for different cube sizes ( no longer sold by SU though)   I had some cubes I hoarded before and I wanted to make some last minute Holiday gift and I thought it was darling.  Used some Sycamore Street DSP (coming out with Sale-a-bration on Jan 22, 2013.  The DSP wrapper tells you what colors coordinate with it making it super easy to match it up. Used the Midnight Muse CS punched with 2 3/8 scallop circle and Pool Party CS punched out with 1 3/4 inch circle then embossed with the top part of the Holiday frame to add some interest.  The butterflies are stamped with Rich Razzleberry and colored in with pool party and summer starfruit markes with a a little bling added on at the end.  The big butterfly is mounted with dimensional and the little one is mounted on the scallop from Mixed medley- hostess set from the holiday catalogue using a sticky strip to keep it flatter. The original instructions are here:  http://stampingdoc.blogspot.com/2008/12/notepad-and-pen-gift-set.html  that explains what you do after you score the cardstock in case you need a more step by step help.

L.