Simple and Pretty Thank You Cards

So do you recognise the background 'stamp' for these cards? 

Truth be told, while there is some ink on these cards, I didn't use a single stamp.  For a quick and easy background I simple pressed my ink pad directly onto the white card - I love the textured look you get.  I ran some coordinating card (pear pizzazz) through my bigshot with the 'thanks' embossilit die and then cut out just the thanks word part to use.  Add one of the daisies from the paper daisies pack and it was almost done.  The final step was to pile up some punched card circles in the centre of the flower, and give them a glaze of crystal effects (for the glue and the shine!)

Waiting for the crystal effects to dry was the longest step of this card, but well worth it, as it makes such a pretty embellishment.  The finished card looked so pretty I made up a couple more in Peach Parfait and Daffodil Delight, to add to the collection.

Beautiful Wings Butterflies

Another little taster from the new catalogue for you, and I think this product is going to prove very popular - the gorgeous little embossilit die - Beautiful Wings.  I just love the detail and texture you get with these butterflies - five different butterflies (I have used four on this card, there is another, larger butterfly too) and they are so quick and easy to make. 

The colours I have used are Regal Rose (a Rich Regal colour from previous catalogues), and the fruity cocktail of Tangerine Tango (an 'in color' from the last catalogue) and Melon Mambo (from the last mini catalogue).  These three colours now join together in the renamed, regrouped Brights Collection (along with Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, Real Red, and the new Daffodil Delight).

The front of the card has some texture thanks to the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.  The greeting is from the Teeny Tiny Sentiments stamp set.  I was tempted to add some ribbon, but decided that the polka dots and embossed butterflies provided enough texture and interest.   As a bonus, the card is less bulky (and so easier to post!)

These beautiful little butterflies make the perfect embellishment, and are just one of several new dies and embossing folders that the new catalogue has on offer.  Remember that if you don't have a big shot, most of these (including the Beautiful Wings Embossilit die) can also be used with your cuttlebug.

Cottage Garden Hair Clip Holder

Recently I was looking at some crafty blogs, lamenting the fact that I don't have my sewing machine with me, and I came across a great hair clip holder idea at little pumpkin grace.

I thought it would be perfect for Bridie, who is not very good at keeping her clips in one place (let alone in her hair!)  I decided instead of fabric, I would make use of what I had on hand, and the cottage wall papers worked perfectly with the frame I had.  To make the paper a bit sturdier (I didn't want it ripping the first time we put clips in it) I applied several coats of modgepodge, to both sides of the paper.  It worked perfectly.  The paper was now more of a cardboard weight, but more flexible, and a lot more durable.  

 I used the reverse, non dotty side of some razzleberry ribbon for the clips to attach to, and finished the frame off with made it myself embellishment  - a ribbon flower, also using the razzleberry ribbon, and a touch of old olive ribbon and a button.

Not only is it a great way to keep Bridie's hair clips together, it also helps to pretty up her room.  She is very happy about that!  She is even happier with the clips we decorated to go in the holder. - the flowers to go in this cottage garden. The clips in the photo are the 'before' version, but I will take some photos of the 'after' version tomorrow, along with some cute headbands we decorated.  Very stylish if we do say so ourselves!

The first of the Vintage Vogue 'One Sheet Wonder' cards

Before I show you the first of the cards I made I want to quickly explain what my understanding of 'one sheet wonder' is.  For me it is getting a plain old piece of card (in this case white, but it can be whatever you want) and going to town with your stamps and inks and decorating up the entire piece of card.  I am a fan of Do It Yourself (DIY) patterned papers, and this is exactly what this is!  When you are done you have a one of a kind patterned card that you can then use for all kinds of coordinating projects.  

One sheet wonder = DIY patterned paper

(at least, that is my take on it!)

What I like about it is that not only are you guaranteed to get the perfect patterned paper for your project (!), it is also a great way to just play, and is especially good for when you are in the mood for creating, but don't have a specific project in mind. I used the lovely new vintage vogue stamp set and grabbed perfect plum and pale plum, along with mellow moss as my ink colours. You can see it all stamped up and ready to go in the last post, if you didn't already :)  When it came to making projects I just needed to pull out the coordinating card and other embellishments, and play some more. Easy and fun!

Obviously the patterned paper was all flowery and pretty and best suited for girly projects (which, when I set out, was going to be an assortment of cards, little gifts, mini scrapbook project...  but ended up being all cards!)  My first thought was how nice a butterfly would look with that flowery background:

I punched out one butterfly in each shade of plum.  I used silver cord to tie them together, and threaded on some little silver spacer beads from the pretties kit for the body (I always forget to use those little spacer beads!)  The pale plum butterfly was then attached flat to the card front, and the darker, top butterfly has the wings free, and folded up to look like it is flying. 

I sponged the edge of the patterned card, and added another girly touch with the eyelet border punch, but didn't bother with a sentiment.  Sometimes it is good to have an 'any occasion' card on hand, and you can always add a sentiment to the inside of the card as needed.

I really liked that butterfly embellishment, so added one to the next card too - although this time with a couple of loops of silver cord instead of beads, for the butterfly body.  

I stamped one of the sentiments from the vintage vogue stamp set on a scrap of card, and added that too, along with some more scraps (I don't have any plum ribbon, and was too lazy to colour any, so card strips made an easy alternative).  I did run the moss card strip through the crimper first though, to add some interest.  And that crimping led me to the next group of cards... (coming soon!)

Valentines for Bridie's Friends and Teachers

This week the kids have all had Valentines parties at school, which of course requires them to have valentines to share with their classmates.  Although it would have been a lot easier to go out and buy some (we needed quite a few after all!), what is the point of having a cupboard full of crafty stuff if you don't use it?  So the production line was started up again, and 78 valentines cards were made.  

First up were Bridie's.  Initially she wanted them to have cars for boys, and flowers for girls, and all sorts of different colours.  The potential for tears (from Bridie and her friends) if they didn't get the 'right' colour or design convinced me to convince her, that maybe we could stick with birds instead. After all, the friend sentiment in the 'cheep talk' stamp set would be perfect for preschool valentines cards, and those little birds really are cute: 

 

We broke out some card from the retired pile (because kids aren't worried about a little detail like that!) and satisfied Bridie's desire for different colours, by alternating a pomegranate mat on a wasabi card, with a wasabi mat on a pomegranate card.  The stamped card front was the same for all the cards.  She was pretty happy with the results, and quickly set to the serious business of signing all those valentines:

We had had plans for some baking for the teachers,  but didn't quite get there.  With all the valentines we were making, as well as Hayden's birthday this week (and  the associated baking that went with that) we decided to go for a quick and easy little bag of chocolates instead.

  

We wrapped some Raspberry Tart patterned paper around the chocolates to pretty them up, put a matching little topper on the bag, and finished it off with one of the clever flowers that Megan McDonald has been inspiring us all with this week.

I think I will have to keep a stash of these chocolates hidden away for those times we need a quick little gift.  It is easy enough to choose a paper to suit (pretty and girly or all masculine and tough) - and who doesn't like chocolate? (or know someone to share it with?)

'I've got my eye on you' Halloween mini album

My big old monster eye that is!

Here is the first of my Halloween inspired projects.  Halloween candy inspired that is. Hayden was delighted to find an eyeball candy in amongst his trick or treat stash.  I was delighted to find the packaging that eyeball came in, and immediately claimed it as the perfect embellishment for a scrapbooking project.

I thought it was a bit too bulky for a conventional scrapbook page, but on the cover of a mini album it is just perfect, and I decided to go with an accordian spine album like this one.  Once the candy had been disposed of (thanks boys!) I was left with the plastic bubble, complete with red veins.  It was a quick job to punch out some circles of card for the eye, and pop those inside the packaging.  Best of all, the eye then fitted perfectly inside the 1 3/8" circle I had punched in a chipboard coaster. 

Originally I was going to cover the coaster with plain black card, but it looked a little too flat.  Instead I stamped with versamark ink and the sanded background stamp, and then heat embossed with clear powder.  It looks a bit too shiny in the photo, but is better in real life, and looks like a reptilian monster skin.  The back cover also has the embossed sanded look.  Inside it is black pages, and that is as far as it got - the printer ran out of ink before I could print the photos, so completing the inside of this little halloween memory book is still on the list of things to do.

So far I am loving this little project, and would love to do some more - I can see this in green, for dinosaur lovers.  I will confess, that while buying groceries today, I did keep an 'eye out' for some more of those eyeball candies.  No luck though, so it is looking like I might have to resort to cleaning the kids bedrooms, in the hopes of finding more discarded candy packaging...

Time for a Scrapbook Layout

As I have mentioned here before, Bridie sure does love her baby dolls, even more than her birdy pyjamas. Since the birdy pjs have a layout of their own, I figured it was time the dolls got in on the act too.

This layout is actually a little while overdue. I first started thinking about it way back when I was dyeing these flowers. Unfortunately, the original idea that looked awesome in my head, did not translate so well to paper. Sigh. Don't you hate it when that happens? So I set it aside for a while, and had a rethink. Version two didn't really do it either. More time passes. Until this week, as I had a bit of a tidy up of my craft 'room', rediscovered this project, and decided enough was enough, stick it down already!

So that's what I did. Punch out a few more flowers, rearrange some stuff, and STICK IT DOWN! I love it when you can make all your own embellishments to perfectly match your project. These ones were inspired by the dress Bridie was wearing in the photo. Flowers, hearts, and lines for the long stems. The crimped pieces were intended to mimic the texture of the fabric.

Ingredients for this one (All SU!):

• pink pirourette, pacific point, certainly celery, bashful blue, and white card stock
• pacific point ink, brilliant blue stampin'write marker, and pink pirouette ink (for dyeing the flowers, and sponging the edges of the pink card)
• 'ABC Alphabet lower' stampset
• Fabric flowers from the Pretties Kit
• Rhinestone Brads (ice, round)
• Punches: 5 Petal Flower, Boho Blossoms, Small Oval, Heart to Heart
• Crimper

Now to go and find what else is lurking in the half done pile!

The Waterlily Gardens Layout

Wow - I think this is the longest I have gone between posts. I feel like a slacker! We have been so busy exploring with our visitors, taking LOTS of photos, but other than that, not really being so creative. Except of course, the baking of 231 butter cookies for Hayden's cultural fair at school yesterday, and the recreation of 'cool belts like the Indians make' for Campbell and Bridie (did manage stamping, embossing, and eyelets on those!)

So here is a layout from a while ago. We had had a family trip to the very lovely waterlily gardens in Waihi, and I decided to try to recreate the waterlilies on a layout...

At the time 'Bodacious Bouquet' was the stamp set I had that was most likely to resemble waterlilies (if you squint your eyes a little!) and I was quite pleased with how it turned out. The lily pads were just flowers (I am thinking from another stamp set?) with a cut up the middle. Attached in random fashion, with some of the 'leaves' and flowers raised up with stampin dimensionals. The block of photos (6 photos, punched into squares) is also raised from the celery and blush mat, using dimensionals (having first attached the photos to a piece of hidden card to make life a little easier!)

Of course no waterlily garden would be complete without a dragonfly, the perfect 'DIY' embellishment. I first stamped it in place using celery ink on the celery 12 x 12 card, then stamped again on vellum, cutting out just the wings, and attached them over the dragonfly that was already stamped on the card. I added another card body over top of the wings using a dimensional (partly to hide the adhesive showing through the vellum) and added a couple of brad eyes. Because the wings are slightly offset, it kind of gives the impression the dragonfly is actually flying...

With only two days of school left for Hayden, we are in need of more teachers gifts - that promises a good chance of another post soon. If all goes well! On the other hand, Rocky Mountain National Park is calling us!

Embellishment share time...

because we all know it's good to share, and because our wishlists are long, and our budgets may not be, and sometimes you just need a few, not a whole pack, and for lots of other reasons too .....

Let the sharing begin!

Share #1 - Designer Brads (as pictured below, and p148 of the catalogue)

Price per share - $14.60 ($29 for a double share)

There are four great new brad designs - flowers, filigree, circles and stars - each design is normally $14.65 including 5% postage, for a total of 16 brads (eight of each size shown, plus 16 mini brads with the filigree design). If you are like me you want them all!

The way this share will work is that each person will pay for just one pack of brads, with four people per share. You will then receive a mixed brad pack, with two of each design shown - a total of 16 designer brads, and the four little brads that come with the filigree brads. Of course, you will get the container to store them in too - that will make life easier!

Share # 2 - Flower Fusion (see page 144 of the catalogue, or picture below)

Price per share - $12.60

The Flower Fusion pack would normally cost $37.75 including 5% postage, for approximately 130 felt flowers. They come in 14 different flower designs, as shown, and a mixture of three colours - Pumpkin Pie (pictured), Rose Red, and Old Olive. Yum, yum, yum.

The way that this share will work is that each pack of flowers will be divided between three people, with the cost also being shared between three. You will receive a bag of approximately 42 flowers - including each of the 14 designs shown, in a mixture of pumpkin, rose red and olive. (The tin is not included in this share, because, well, one tin between three just doesn't work).

Share # 3 - Flower Fusion Too (see page 144 of the catalogue)

Price per share - $12.60

exactly the same as share #2, but with different colours. The felt flowers in this share are pink pirouette, baja breeze, and chocolate chip. Flower Fusion Too has the same 14 flower designs (as shown above in pumpkin), and once again, you will get a mixture of all 14 designs, and all three colours - approximately 42 total.

For all of these shares, the order will be placed when all the shares are taken. For this round of shares, they can be included as part of a stamp club order. If you are interested please contact me ASAP either on my usual email address, on my new stampy email - tracee.creates@gmail.com

Oh, and just a little reminder - these shares are only open to people in New Zealand.

Now I am hoping this all makes sense. My head is a little fuzzy today. It makes sense in fuzzy world, but if you have questions, please contact me.

I will have some more shares coming soon, including ribbons and 'onboard' embellishments. I am thinking about designer papers too - but I prefer to keep those at 12 x 12 size as I think that is more versatile than a smaller sample, so still thinking on that one. Do remember you can easily organise your own shares for these though - just go halves with a friend!

How to Colour Fabric Flowers

As promised, this is how I colour white fabric flowers to match perfectly the colours of my project. You can use the same method to colour ribbon too. Best of all, it is very quick and easy!

What you need:

• plastic bag (I use a snaplock one, I think because that is what I had the first time I did this - but thinking about it, it probably isn't crucial to have the snappy lock bit! That said, a small clear bag is preferable to the supermarket bag variety).
• fabric flowers (or ribbon) - these ones are from the Pretties Kit
• a spray bottle with water (although I couldn't find mine this time so put a couple of drips of water in instead and it worked just fine)
• ink pad

Step One:

I turn the plastic bag inside out, put my hand inside, and then pat the bag on the inkpad, transferring ink to the bag. Keep in mind that depending on the colour of the ink, you may or may not be able to see the ink on the bag - hold it over a piece of white paper and this may help.

Step Two:
turn the plastic bag back in the right way and give it a couple of quick little sprays of water (or, as mentioned above, if you haven't got a spray bottle for water, I added a couple of drops off the end of my finger, and this seemed to work fine). You don't want a lot of moisture in the bag - just a bit to help the ink transfer evenly. When you have done this add the flower, and wriggle it all around in there. You don't have to put your hands in the bag to do this, just hold the flower through the plastic - I think I forgot to mention that not only is this quick and easy, but also clean!

To start off the colour may appear patchy, but just keep going until it evens out.

Step Three:

Remove the flower and set aside on a piece of paper, or a paper towel to dry off. Because we have only added a tiny amount of water, the flower shouldn't actually be that wet, so should only take a minute or two to dry off enough to use. If you are impatient like me, you could aways try drying it carefully with a heat gun for a couple of seconds. If the colour isn't as intense as you want you may need to repeat the process above.

The flowers in these photos are a pale pink that you won't be recognising

- fresh from an SU box - introducing...

Pink Pirouette - one of the new incolors that are headed our way!

It is so preeettty! Although I don't think it will seen within a mile of a boys project,

It is going to be just perfect for Bridie Isabelle. Luckily there are a couple of other new colours that will go well for the boys, so they won't feel left out at all.

Now my next challenge is to use these flowers on a project to share with you all

(you will notice I am not putting a timeframe on achieving that one!!)