I *heart* rolled posies – made from paper or fabric. Granted, making them from paper is easier but they don’t last as long as fabric ones. I’ve found a couple of Silhouette cuts that make the cutest rolled roses or posies. Here’s a card I did with some of them:
There are now dies out from Sizzix and My Favorite Things that feature rolled posies, but I’m liking the Silhouette ones because I can cut them whatever size I want. Again, LOVE them.
Traci
Shall I begin by saying I’ve never had good luck with masking? So this Make it Monday was enough of a challenge for me to give it another shot. Huh! It turned out pretty good :)
I used one of the large Limitless Layers dies as my mask. It’s soft and feminine – perfect for a Mother’s Day card….or two.
The second one…This is like an I SPY game – can you spot the differences?
I needed two Mother’s Day cards – so I created them very similarly, but simply. This one is pretty flat so it will mail well.
OK, you masking Goddesses out there – I’m drinking the KoolAid. See ya next time,
Traci
Over the last few months, I’ve been redecorating my foyer. I repainted, added some floral arrangements, repainted a bench, and added some cute frames.
Here’s what it looked like after I painted the walls and the bench. My Aunt Jackie helped me create the floral arrangements (all supplies & container from Michael’s). I am absolutely dreadful with floral arranging. I just can’t do it. But, I’m lucky to know people who can do it!
So look at that big empty wall. What to do?
I love the empty frame walls that I’d seen in magazines, so decided to try it myself – on the cheap. I went to Walmart and got their cheap frames in a few sizes and styles. Then I got some paint in three colors – yellow, cream, and brown.
Spray painting IS something I can do. It took several light coats to get the coverage I wanted. Tip: If you want a more antique look, sand some of the paint off in places and add an antiquing stain.
Here’s the wall today. I added all those frame in random order (using those awesome removable adhesive frame mounts). I also added some family heirlooms in the photo – my great great grandmother’s hand woven blanket and a bowl of my grandma’s old wooden spools and her favorite thimble. I’m not the type of person who likes to put valuable stuff away in a drawer or cabinet. I say use it, display it, treasure it everyday.
Here’s a closeup of the yellow frame. I cut some dandelions and our name in Silhouette heavy duty vinyl on my Silhouette machine. Very simple and very me.
I started this project last fall. Just finished it last week. Phew! I can mark that off my to-do list.
Traci
Last week’s PTI challenge was to use their impression plates on only part of the card. Well, I was dying to try Erin Lincoln’s double impression plate technique. So I combined the book plate and the floral impression plates. I really love how it turned out.
I’ll definitely be trying this again. One tip I do have is if you try this, you definitely have to use PTI really thick cardstock. It would tear right through regular weight cardstock. TFL,
Traci
My daughter, Rachel, wanted to start a monthly bowling league with some of her friends – doesn’t that sound fun for a bunch of 13 year old girls? Of course, I was drafted to create the invitations. So I created this easily mass produced invite using Silhouette die cuts and some old retro SEI papers I had sitting around.
The font is Showcard Gothic – the perfect choice for a retro bowling feel!
Here’s the inside of the invitation. I blacked out some of the pertinent information for her privacy.
They’re going to have a blast! Now…how can I make a customized bowling shirt for each girl?
Yours in lunacy,
Traci
For this week’s Make it Monday (although I’m posting this on a Wednesday!) challenge, we had to distress the edge of something on a project. I decided to use white core cardstock with an impression plate. That’s how the project began…
When you use cardstock with a white core and then dry emboss it, you can sand it on top and wherever there is a raised edge will lose it’s color and turn white. Very cool effect!
First, I stamped the cardstock with a stamp from Button Boutique (LOVE that set). Then I used the canvas Impression Plate - I impressed it on the front and back for extra texture. Then sanded it and distressed the edges with scissors. I really like how it turned out. Very vintage, indeed.
Traci
This Monday’s PTI challenge was to use fun foam as a die cut stamp and as a die cut on a project. This was so fun! I had never used fun foam as a stamp before - it was so easy and it worked beautifully.
First, I die cut the fun foam with PTI’s button dies to use as background stamps. I stamped with Versamark ink and embossed them with American Crafts’ Zing embossing powders. Love it!
Then I die cut a yellow piece of fun foam with a Mat Stack die, then dry embossed it with PTI’s polka dot Impression Plate. That turned the foam into a kind of leathery material that was really cool!
Added some zig zag stitching and a centerpiece image and die cuts (Limitless Layers) to finish it off.
This was a very fun project and I will definitely be using Fun Foam again! Now off with ya so ya can go create your own masterpiece,
Traci
Well, what did I see last week when I was shopping? These adorable paper lantern stamps by American Crafts. These stamps went into my basket faster than a frog can catch a fly! LOVE them. I’m sure you will agree.
Oh, I’m in love for sure,
Traci
This month’s Papertrey Ink Challenge was to use scallops in your project. No prob! I love their scallop dies. Here, I used their medium scallop die to create this easy card that doubles as a gift card holder.
The little fabric pocket I sewed onto the card holds a gift card for these lucky newlyweds! Notice my sewing and cutting weren’t perfect. That was on purpose! As were the shabby chic scallops below. I crinkled them before I adhered them.
All supplies except patterened paper (My Minds Eye) and fabric are from Papertrey Ink. Happy blog hopping,
Traci
Rachel and I have a tradition of making handmade Valentines for her friends. We did a really simple chocolate bar wrap this year. It’s easy and you can adapt it for any occasion. And kids can totally get in on the action.
We found the cutest little weiner foam die cuts at Target a couple week ago. We snapped those babies up immediately. We love weiner dogs.
The first step of this project is to measure the length of your chocolate bar. 6x6 patterned paper is easiest to use because you only have to make one cut (the length of your bar.) This bar measured 5.25”. Then you just wrap your paper around and secure it with a few glue dots. Then decorate however you like.
You can use these for wedding or birthday party favors. Or for any holiday – Easter, Halloween, Christmas. The sky’s the limit.
So cute! And we love cute. Have a great sweetheart day.
(papers are all My Minds Eye. Yes, I’m obsessed.)
Traci
This gift box will be just the thing for a friend at a crossroads. I filled this lovely gable box with some yummy cupcakes and will take them over to her this afternoon.
Now, to the really good stuff – the tag!
Using PTI’s Library Card tag, I die cut My Minds Eye patterned paper for this large gift tag. Next, I die cut Hawaiian Shores felt using the large limitless layers die, then white cardstock with the Fillable Frames die. With another piece of MME paper, I cut it using a PTI border die.
I stamped the white frame with the stars from Star Prints and “Just do it” from the same set. I used orange chalk to outline the frame to give it more emphasis. I pop dotted the frame and stuck a couple decorative pins into the foam pop dot. (Learned that little tip from Dawn McVey this morning!!) Don’t you love little tips like this?
I’m loving this color combo! And when you have a tag that stands out like this, you can get away with leaving the box plain.
Have a great weekend – it’s going to be in the 60’s in NC. Can’t wait. I’ll be the one doing backflips around the house (actually I’ll be doing them in my head since I sure as hell would end up in traction if I attempted it!)
Traci
Whew. Now this is more my style and colors. Officially back in my comfort zone. And I like it.
This color scheme is: aqua, sweet blush, harvest gold, and simply chartreuse. Stamps are Garden of Life, Text Style, and Daily Design Sentiments. Patterned papers are My Minds Eye. The dies are PTI large Limitless Layers, which is my absolute favorite thing they’ve EVER come out with. Do you enjoy them as much as I do?
Later ya’ll,
Traci
This was so far outside my comfort zone, I might as well have been in a different time zone…
But, it challenged me to use colors I would have never combined and some stamps I had not used before. So without further ado-
I used the melon berry, terracotta tile, kraft and dark chocolate color scheme from PTI. The stamps were from Big, Bold Wishes and It’s Official.
Wow. I’m not sure I like this card. What do you think? And am I the only one who can’t line up that notebook paper background stamp? I’m background-stamp-challenged.
I still learned! That’s the important thing, right? See ya,
Traci
Today, there is a challenge going on over at Papertrey Ink – use sentiments from different stamp sets to create a card. Oh, I was all over that one! I love doing that.
I went for a monochromatic color scheme using Summer Sunrise and Lemon tart. I used sentiments from about 8 different sets. I also used the polka dot impression plate on the lemon tart background. The paper used for the mat stack die is My Minds Eye. Everything else is Papertrey Ink.
I love how this card turned out! Here’s a bookmark gift tag I did around Christmas that used the same sentiment technique.
If anyone is wondering, the brown bottle in the background of the first photo is one of two bottles I rescued from my Grandmother’s outbuilding. They looked horrible at first, full of dirt and insects. I popped them in the dishwasher and they cleaned up so well. I don’t know what the bottles were used for – it says “Benedictine” and “B and B” on one side and there’s a horseshoe on the other side. The one pictured is the smaller of the two. If anyone can give me some history, it would be appreciated.
Have a fabulous day!
Traci
Boy, did I need a creative break today. So I got busy with this cutey owl card. 30 minutes in my craft studio is all I needed to recharge my mom-wife-farmer-business-daughter-gottoomuchtodo battery.
Owl was made using my Cricut Imagination and the Give a Hoot cartridge. Yellow patterned paper is My Minds Eye, cardstock is Papertrey Ink, stamp is Papertrey Ink.
This little guy will be for sale in my Etsy shop. Ya’ll have a fantastic day!
Traci
