Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Shopping Our Stash #91

Hello friends!  It's Tuesday so that means another challenge at Shopping Our Stash.  This week we want to see tags.  You can either make a tag or include a tag on your project.

I decided to make a tag to put on my card and I made a vellum pocket to put it in.  I inked and sewed all my layers including the edges of the vellum.  The seam binding, lace and ric rac are all vintage from my stash.  The gold cord at the top of the tag is actually from my stitching stash.  It's all curly because it was on a spool.  Since it's metallic I didn't want to iron it...it'll straighten out someday I think  ;)  The flower is from Prima.  I don't remember when I bought the package and I had only used 2 of them.  I think the colors match pretty well.
 Here's the tag out of the pocket.  I used a new (for me) MS border punch that I have been wanting for a long time.
My daughter asked me months a go to use this image to make her a bookmark.  She has already claimed this card as her own!
 The inside shows off the great DP and the writing panel follows the sketch from the front.

 I really had a fun time with this card.  I hope you will dig into your stash and play along this week!

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Monday, February 25, 2013

Twelve Months of Christmas

Hello friends!  I'm running late again but it is still the 25th and that means it's time for the second project in my Twelve Months of Christmas series.

If you recall I decided to make something each month to put into a gift basket for each of our extended family members.  I have quite a fabric stash so I have been on the look out for easy, useful projects to make.  This time around I chose a project I found on Pinterest.  I'm not sure of the designer's name but you can find her post here.
 These are great little fabric holders for a notepad, pen and receipts.  The great thing is I had everything in my stash (including a new package of pens) except the notepads....which I still don't have because my local stores are not cooperating.  Anyway, here are 3 of them.  I have 3 more cut out and ready to go and hopefully I will finish them tonight.  They are super quick to put together and her instructions are perfect.  I didn't find any errors at all.
This one is for my mom.  She loves daisies.
 Here's the inside.  The notepad will go on the right side.  The left side has 2 pockets which I think will be very handy.

So there ya have it!  Project number 2 done!  (well, almost)  Time to start thinking about next month!

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Pink & White Ballerina

Hello friends!  I'm back with a card to play along with the new challenge at Mo's Challenge Blog.  This week the challenge is to make a card that is not a square....time to step out of my comfort zone!  I have  a new set of punches I want to play with but I didn't break them out for this one.  Maybe next time!

I picked several challenges I try to join regularly and I'm pretty happy with what I came up with.
I chose one of my favorites called lil ballerina.  I think this one is so sweet.  She makes me smile when I look at her.  I colored her with my Prismacolor pencils and added white glitter to her tutu.
 OK....first, this picture makes it look like this is a square....but it's not!  I promise!  It's a rectangle. honest!  And I turned it into a tag.  So, that's not a square right?  I added tiny rhinestones to the image and larger bumpy bling on the mat.  I used some very old lace from my stash (not vintage, just stuff I've had way too long), some pink ribbon, seam binding, buttons from my stash and some twine (which is combined with the lace in the hole at the top of the tag).
This great design paper is from a new MME stack I bought called Laundry Line.


I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Mo's Challenge Blog - Don't Be a Square
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Doilies, Lace & Twine
Top Tip Tuesday - Tag, You're It
Papertake Weekly - Buttons & Bling
City Crafter Challenge Blog - All That Glitters
Divas by Design - Fancy Fold
Digi Tuesday - Pink & White

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Shopping Our Stash #90

Happy Tuesday dear friends!  (And Happy Birthday to me!  ;)  lol  Not telling you how old I am today, but I am celebrating with all my kids!  YEAH!)

It's time for a new challenge at Shopping Our Stash and this week we want to see you use your oldest design paper.  You know which one that is don't you?  You bought it and for some reason you have never used it.  Pull it out, find a great idea and use it!!  Whether you decided you didn't really like it or you couldn't figure out how to you use now is your chance!
My oldest design paper was this floral paper that is probably 10-12 years old.  The flowers are beautiful but the 12x12 paper was printed in such a way that it seemed as though any way I cut it was wrong.  The large bouquet in the middle of my card was actually right in the middle of the paper.  I cut my square for the front of the card from the middle of the sheet.  Then I fussy cut almost all the the smaller bouquets.  I used 4 here on the front.  I also die cut some lavender corners which I mounted on foam and added some pearls to the middle.
 This yellow embossed paper is probably almost as old as the floral paper.  I thought it went pretty well with the main paper and that's another old scrap being used!
 Here I added 4 more of the fussy cut bouquets around the writing panel.
And here's the back.  I picked one more scrap for the top mat, the pink gingham, and added the 4 bouquets I cut through when I cut out the center of the original paper.  I have to admit I think the back is my favorite side now!  I love how summery this looks!

OK Now that you have seen what I have done hop over to the SOS blog and see what all my lovely teammates have created.  Then dig out your oldest design paper and play along with us this week!

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Annabel

Hello friends!  Welcome!  Pull up a chair and stay a while!

Today I have a card to share that I made a couple weeks ago.  I bought several image from Funky Kits  and spent an afternoon coloring them.
This cutie is called Annabel.  I colored her with my Prismacolor pencils.  Isn't she beautiful?  These images are so sweet.  I think I'll be going back for the other three!
I kept the front really simple.  I had this very large lace in my stash and I attached it at the top with some bows of sheer purple ribbon.  The flowers are all from Wild Orchid.
 These papers are from a MME 6x6 pad.

I am entering my card in the following challenge:
The Sugar Bowl - Anything Goes

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Love Trip

Welcome!  I am so glad you have stopped by today.  I have a fun card for you.  Pull up a chair and stay a while.  Leave a comment so I can stop by your place too!

I have admired the images by Sylvia Zet for a long time.  I can resist them no longer!
 For my first card using her sweet images I chose Love Trip.  Are they not adorable?   Look at those face!  And their noses!  I colored these cuties with my Prismacolor pencils.
The DP is from a great MME stack called Where the Heart Is by Zoe Pearn.  These papers are so adorable and they have glitter too!  I inked and sewed all my edges.  Then I added pearls and flowers.  The seam binding, lace and button were all from my stash.
 I repeated the sketch on the inside for the writing panel and showed off the fun paper on the other side.
 If you have been here before you know I love to add DP to the back as well.

I am entering my card in the following challenges:
Digi Tuesday - Up, Up & Away
Top Tip Tuesday - Let Me Call You Sweetheart
Ribbon Carousel - Love is in the Air
Papertake Weekly - Hearts & Flowers
Divas by Design - Love & Romance

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Friday, February 15, 2013

Favorite Sewing Machine

Hello friends!  Today I have a card to share with you that I made just for fun.  My boys were gone for the day and I spent a very wonderful day in my studio creating away!  It was a glorious time!

For my card I chose a sweet image from a collage sheet called Sewing 01.  If you haven't visited Beatriz's shop on etsy you really need to!  She has the most beautiful images to work with.
 I chose this sweet vintage image to use.  I added some scrollwork to the corners and sewed the layers.
 I bought several new stacks from MME and I am in love with all the paper!!  This paper is from the stack Lost and Found Two.  See the vintage sewing machine?  That's on one of the sheets.  And I love the old looking yardsticks on the bottom layer.  I inked and sewed all the layers, then added pearls, vintage lace and vintage seam binding.  The flowers are all from Wild Orchid.
 Look at that dress form!  I love that paper!  I didn't add anything to that side, it was perfect just the way it was.  On the writing panel I used some sewing word stamps that are just perfect!
The papers were so beautiful I had to use them on the back too.  It's been a while since I have done the back so much.  I rather like it!

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Birthday Fairy

Hello friends!  It's Thursday and time for me to play along with another challenge at Mo's Challenge Blog.  This week the challenge is to make a birthday card.

I chose one of my favorite Mo's images.  Actually they are all my favorites I think  ;)  Since I wanted to make a very springy and flowery card I chose Teen Fairy Mia.  I have used her several times and I still love to color her.
 I colored her with my Prismacolor pencils and added just a bit of Stickles to her underskirt.
 Since cleaning and organizing much of my paper stash I have been trying to use up some of my older papers.  This paper is from a small kit I purchased many years ago.  Probably at least 6 or 7!  The kit only had 6 sheets of paper, some die cuts, matching ribbon and strips of stickers.  It's so pretty it really is a shame I haven't used it before.  The lace is from my stash and so is the dotted ribbon I put over the edge of the lace.  I used a new die on pink vellum for the circular medallion.  The 3 very pretty "bling" are some I just bought at AC Moore along with the tiny rhinestones near the image.  Aren't they great?  I added some pink tulle around the middle and flowers from my stash.  I used the green ribbon from the kit for "leaves" in the flowers.
Here's 2 of the papers from the kit.  I fussy cut the top layer to get that beautiful vine of flowers.

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

Mo's Challenge Blog - Happy Birthday

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Hey Hottie!

Happy Wednesday friends!  I am getting back into my groove with card making.  I do love sitting at my table and coloring.  Today I have a fun project I made for someone special.

I picked a very cute image from Whimsie Doodles.  I rediscovered these cute images and really wanted to use one.
 I chose this very adorable boy called Hottie.  Isn't he great?  I colored him with my Prismacolor pencils and added red and white Stickles to his box of candy.  I inked the edges and stamped some small red hearts as well.
 He comes with this great sentiment which I love!  This is not a card but a small box.  You can see the small red fastener that I attached with a small black brad.  The fastener rotates to keep this small card closed on the front of the box.  I also used 2 small red heart brads to keep the top closed.  The brads and fastener are from my neglected stash.  They have been around for several years.  I hope you can see that I embossed the top black layer with my Swiss dot embossing folder.
 Here is the card open.  I added a matching writing panel to leave a small note.
 The card opens up one more time.  You can see I punched an oval hole in the front of the box.  I put some acetate between the box and the mats.
Here's a side view.  I added panels to the sides as well.

I am entering my box in the challenge at:
Use It Tuesday - Fasteners

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Shopping Our Stash #89

Happy, happy Tuesday!  The weather is slightly warmer and the snow is melting.  It's a good day!  Today it is time for another challenge over at Shopping Our Stash and it's a pretty easy one.  This week we want to see a birthday card.  We always need those don't we?

I used the sketch over at CLP Challenge Blog and they are always gorgeous and the Design Team is always inspirational.
 I chose a sweet image from Pretty Little Stamps.  She is called Cammy with Gifts.  She was so fun to color with my Prismacolor pencils.  Isn't she a beauty?
 My papers are all MME.  I love these papers!  I inked and sewed the layers, then I added vintage lace and pearls by the yard down the side.  The beads in the upper right were in my daughter's stash.  I strung them and sewed them to the card.  You may recall that we have been asking you every other week to dig into your oldest stash.  Well, that's not this week but I did exactly that.  The flowers are probably 5 years old.  My local craft store has a yard sale every September.  The porcelain flowers have been in her sale forever!  The first time I went to the sale I bought several packages since they were 90% off and I have only used a couple flowers.  When I was deciding on flowers to add these caught my eye and the colors are actually a great match!  Score!!  They are somewhat tall so I decided to put some cheesecloth behind them to give them something to rest in.
 Here's the inside.

It's been a while since I have really embellished a card like this (at least it feels like it has been) and I am loving how it turned out.

Now it's your turn.  Dig into your stash and make a fun birthday card to share with us!

I am entering my card in the following challenge:

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle

Sunday, February 10, 2013

A Peek in My Studio

Happy Sunday, friends!  I hope you have a wonderful day today!  Thanks for stopping by.  Instead of a card today I have a peek into my studio where I have been busy organizing my stash!  The system I had for my paper simply wasn't working anymore and my table was way too crowded.  Time for some work!
This picture shows my table in all its messiness!  I have a real problem with horizontal surfaces....I put stuff on them!  *sigh*  It's a terrible habit I'm working one.  Slowly.  I knew I wanted to get rid of everything on the table that I didn't use for most every project.  I took everything off the table to start.  I had a mental list of what I wanted put back on there so those things made the cut.  The rest of the things found new homes.  To the right of the window I have a bookshelf and a 7-drawer organizer from AC Moore that hold the rest of my supplies.  No pictures of those today....they are still a bit messy!
And the nearly finished project.  I want to get a small antique crate for the back corner.  I'll put my ipod dock and a small box of tissues on the top.  Inside I'll put the stuff that's currently in the basket as well as my planner and the box of pearls that's sitting next to the dock.  My laptop sits on the back right corner in front of the window.  You can see my pvc file holder I built in the lower left corner.  I thought about it for months, planned it out, and finally bought the supplies and built it.  I kept thinking I could find something already made that would work but I simply did not.  Anything for 12" paper was usually out of my price range.  I knew I wanted my paper stored vertically.  I wanted it close at hand, not over on the shelf where it had been since I started making my cards.  I also wanted the full size and half sheets stored separately from my scraps.
I built this from 1 1/4" pvc.  I planned out the length and height according to the size of my table.  Eventually I would like to figure out how to put casters on the bottom (I left room in the height for those) but for now this works.  I added some 1/4" copper tubing (held on with wire ties) to the top of the pvc for the file folders to rest on.  I measured the legal size folders between the notches to get the right size of the cross pieces.  I had to alter the folders to get them to fit.  Legal size folders are more than long enough for scrapbook paper, but not deep enough.  So the first thing I did was slit open the bottom of the folder and add some thin cardboard (12"x8" folded to 12"x4") to the bottom.  I also had to cut about 1/2" off each side of the folder so it would fit in between the pvc.  I have more folders to alter but I have a good start and only have 3 colors of card stock not filed away.  I also added folders for the next card I'm going to make and my calendars where I keep track of design team obligations and challenges I want to enter.
As I said, my full and half sheets are in my folders.  Anything smaller than that I separated by color, then by size again.  Anything smaller then 6"x6" but larger than 3"x3" was trimmed and filed in this box.  I think I will use some packing tape to fold the flaps down and make the top of this a bit sturdier.  Most of my cards are 6"x6" and I matte pretty much everything including any layers.  It was hard to find small pieces to matte everything before when all the papers were stored together.  This is so much easier to look through and really didn't take too long once I got started.  One evening I sorted everything smaller than 3" into a large bag.  The rest was sorted by color.  Once I had them sorted I took each color and trimmed down the scraps to get rid of any uneven edges (like when you die cut a circle).  Then I stacked them neatly and was so excited to find this perfect size box in my basement (it is a hair over 6" which is just right!).
This is where I put all the scraps smaller than 3".  I am planning on getting some dies for tags and labels and know I will eventually use these so for now this is where they are.  They aren't organized at all but at least they are neatly contained and not mixed with the bigger pieces.

Now I want to show you my creative buddy.  He lives in a cage next to my table and I just love him.
This is Precious.  He is a Netherland Dwarf bunny and I believe he is 8 years old.  My husband bought him for our anniversary and he was so tiny when Joseph brought him home all I could think was how precious he was.  He makes me laugh all the time.  We have lots of animals inside and outside our home.  However, the sewing room/studio is his territory!  Especially the 12" perimeter outside his cage!  Sometimes Joseph will come in when I am working on a card and sit on the floor next to my chair.  Unfortunately that is within Precious' boundary and he will thump and run circles in his cage until Joseph moves.  Tonight both of our dogs decided they needed to sleep right next to mom's stamping chair (I don't know why).  Precious had himself so worked up I made Joseph call the dogs out so he would calm down.  And it's not fear!  I frequently take him out of his cage and let him hop around in my room.  If the dogs or cats come in he will hop right up to them.  He is scared of none of them.  The cats and one dog will leave very quickly.  The other dog is from the pound.  It took us a long time to get her used to the other animals (who we think she simply saw as opponents for food) and she looks at me with the most pitiful face when Precious comes up to sniff her face.  I know she really just wants to eat him but she also doesn't want to disappoint mom so she puts up with him!
This is where Precious hangs out when I am working on a card.  He hops around a bit but mostly just sits under here.  He loves to sniff my feet and nibble on my slippers or pant legs.  The only time that's a problem is when he nibbles the strap on my flip flops and gets too much skin!  When I yelled when he did that he simply sat up on his hind legs and stared at me!!  He really is very sassy.  (One of my boys says he is just like me....)

So anyway, that's a peek into where I create.  If you have any questions about my pvc frame feel free to contact me.  I'm not an expert but I can tell you basically what I did.  Oh yeah!  My dear hubby let me use his pvc glue too.  Don't forget that stuff!  The frame is fine if its standing still but I want to pull it in and out from under my table.....it fell apart twice leaving my folders all over the floor.  It's glued solidly now!

I think that's about it.  Thanks for taking a peek!

Blessings & Hugs,

Michelle