From the Heart

Hi everyone! I'm getting ready to make a quick trip to Minneapolis and the Mall of America...I'm positively giddy about hitting up Archiver's and seeing what's new at the Paper Source. Woot!

Before I head out, I need to post this week's Play Date Cafe colors:

I loved these colors so much, I made two cards (you'll see the second one next week). I needed to make a little Valentine's Day greeting for my parents, so I made this card:

Yep, those are my kids (not some random kids).

For this hybrid card, I started with the photo. Two Peas is carrying new Photoshop actions to alter photos, and I thought I would pretend to be photographer-like. I used Adrienne Looman's Bold Tea Action to give the photo the high-contrast look. As a forewarning, these actions are addictive!

After I altered the photo, I clipped it (Control-G if you're using Photoshop) to one of Meredith Fenwick's Fun Frames. I colored the hearts with a Copic after I printed the card front. Here's a close-up:

I can't believe I have a picture where they are both looking at the camera and no one is biting, howling, or pulling hair. ;)

I finished off the card by adding the Hero Arts digital sentiment. There are some cute love sentiments in this set.

If you'd like to join in this week's PDCC, the winner will receive a prize from My Creative Classroom:

You can link up your projects HERE. Good luck!

I also wanted to say that sadly, this post is my last with The Play Date Cafe. It was a hard decision, and I'm going to miss my awesome teammates! They are the sweetest ladies and so talented. Thank you especially to Julie for doing such a fab job leading the team. I'm going to miss them! :)

Have a great week!

Supplies
Cardstock: (magenta) Bazzill
Specialty paper: (Premium matte photo paper) Office Max
Digital supplies: (Bold Tea Photoshop Action) Adrienne Looman; (frame from Fun Frames 1) Meredith Fenwick; (sentiment from Love in Hearts and Borders digital brush) Hero Arts--all from Two Peas in a Bucket
Copic maker: (YG00)

Feeling Fried?

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a great weekend. I haven't had enough caffeine yet to be chatty. ;)

My blogging buddy Annette is hosting a Contenders Blog Hop for those projects not accepted for the latest Paper Crafts Magazine call. I thought I'd share a two-time reject:

This card was originally submitted to the last Paper Crafts Card Creations call and then to the sunshine category of the latest call (I know, it was an extra long-shot for that category).

I cut the egg on my Cameo, made my own sentiment, and double-stitched some patterned paper. The denim is part of my daughter's old jeans. I love using pants the kids have outgrown (or get a hole in) on cards.

Isn't that egg from Lettering Delights so cute? It's from the same collection I used for THIS card. Here's a close-up:

I intentionally put the demin, paper, and sentiment at wonky angles to match the sentiment. I know, I am way too analytical.

If you get a chance and want to link up a creation you submitted to the latest Paper Crafts call, you can link up HERE.

Thanks for stopping by. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


Supplies

Cardstock: (True Black, white) Papertrey Ink; (yellow, kraft) Bazzill; (pink) The Paper Studio; 

Patterned paper: (James from the Walnut Grove collection) Pebbles; 

Fibers: (black and white thread) Gutermann; 

Font: (Boogaloo); 

Die cut file: (egg from Oishii set) Lettering Delights; 

Tool: (decorative scissors) Provocraft; 

Other: (denim) recycled jeans  

Martini Time

Hi everyone!

It's time for this week's Play Date Cafe post. This week's colors are black, white, and a splash of emerald:

Do you ever have those indecisive crafty days? For some reason, I had a hard time coming up with something with only green. I flipped through my papers and realized I need more green papers. ;) I considered some stamps...nah.

Finally, I looked at my digital files and saw a great image.When in doubt, go with a martini (or maybe it was that I needed a martini by that point):

I started with the digital martini image and created my own sentiment. Isn't the font perfectly retro?

In the original image, the olives were solid black, but I couldn't easily recolor them in Photoshop. To make them partially white, I erased the centers of the olives in Photoshop. I finished by coloring and shading the images with Copics.

You know how I said I was having an indecisive crafty day? I considered a sheer ribbon, black bling, and changing the design. Nope. Went with the graphic look. Here's a close-up:

Want to join in this week's PDCC Color Splash? The winner will receive a prize from Viva Las VegaStamps.

You can link up HERE. While you're there, you can find out who is the new Private Blend Designer.

Ideas? Here's something about here: *I may live in the land of the Frozen Tundra, but I only really enjoy the snow when I'm looking out the window.  :)

Hee hee. Check her out on the Play Date Cafe site.

Have a great day. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies
Cardstock: (True Black) PTI; (Gumball) Stamp School
Digital image: (martinis vector image) Tack-o-Rama
Font: (Designers) Dafont.com
Copics

I'm Here for You

Hi everyone! I hope you're having a good week.

It's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge. Here are this week's colors:

Do you ever have projects that you love the idea, get all the way done, and then realize it didn't work? Yep, that's what happened to me this week.

I originally started out making a gift bag. I got all the way done, but once I saw the picture, I thought "this looks super lame." So, I cut the bag apart and made it into this card:

You can still see the brown paper bag as the card front. ;) I die cut the various papers, added some Bella Blvd washi (thanks, Heather!) and a Freckled Fawn arrow.

For the sentiment, I used my brand-spankin' new stamps from Precious Remembrance (I literally got the stamps an hour before I made this project). I also used the "X's" stamp to add a little texture to the digital purple paper. Here's a close-up:

Like the colors? Want to play along? This week's winner will receive a fabulous prize from the PDCC prize vault. You can link up your projects HERE.

Thanks so much for looking! Have a great weekend!

Supplies
Cardstock: (kraft) PTI
Patterned paper: (stars--Large Hexagon from Everyday Eclectic) Echo Park; (ivory--One of a Kind from The Sweetest Thing-Honey) My Mind's Eye
Specialty paper: (premium matte photo paper) Office Max
Clear stamps: (sentiment and cross stitch from Positive Thoughts) Precious Remembrance
Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Memento
Specialty ink: (Opaque White Mr. Huey's) Studio Calico
Digital elements: (purple papers from Wishy Washi) Jen Martakis at Two Peas in a Bucket
Embellishments: (wood veneer arrow) Freckled Fawn
Washi: (pink airmail) Bella Blvd. 

Paper Smooches Love

Hey everyone! I have been *super* excited to share today's post about the new Paper Smooches dies!

Paper Smooches is showing off their CHA release during the entire month of January.  37 designers are participating along with the PS DT, so there will be a ton for projects to inspire you this month.  Paper Smooches is known for their fun and whimsical hand-drawn stamps.  They decided that it was time to broaden their product line to include DIES and wood mount stamps! 

I have a few projects to share using NEW PS product that releases on February 1, 2013 at www.papersmoochesstamps.com along with many retail stores around the globe.

You will find a new blog link (or two) to follow every day in January at the PS Blog. 

Paper Smooches is giving away $500 worth of product!  

Hidden on FIVE of the participating blogs is a prize package worth $100. each. The prize includes a variety of stamp sets, wood mounts and dies.  Comment on as many blogs as you can to increase your chances to be one of the five winners.

Deadline is January 30^th – winners will be announced on the PS Blog on January 31^st.

These dies were so fabulous, I ended up making three projects using the new "Love Word" die. ;) Here are the first two:

Wouldn't it be cute to see a baby wearing Paper Smooches? I used the Love Word die to customize a newborn sleeper. 

First, I die cut the word out of felt and then used fusible web to adhere the felt to the sleeper. I ironed the web/felt from the inside so the felt wasn't scorched (I found that out during the test run--ha ha). My kids have outgrown these, so I wasn't too worried about washability, but you could use regular fabric, too. 

Here's a picture of the sleeper:

This die would be cute on hats, diaper covers, onesies... wouldn't it?

With the sleeper is a mini card using the Love Word die and a heart from the Word Salad set:

I coordinated the card with the sleeper to use for a gift, but the card would work for Valentine's Day, too. 

The first two projects are so girly, I thought I would use the die to make a more masculine card:

For this card, I die cut the word to create masks and then spray misted over the masks. I finished the card off by die cutting the word out of a green digital patterned paper from Dianne Rigdon.

I wanted to give a big thank-you to Kim for inviting me to participate. :) *hugs*

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!


Supplies

Sleeper:
Die: (Love Word) Paper Smooches
Fusilble Web: Hobby Lobby
Felt: (red wool blend) Simon Says Stamp

Girl Card:
Cardstock: (white) PTI; (red, Pinkini) Bazzill
Clear stamp: (heart from Word Salad) Paper Smooches
Dye ink: (Tuxedo Black) Memento
Die: (Love Word) Paper Smooches
Thread: Gutermann

Masculine Card:
Cardstock: (Grey Steel) MFT: (blue) Bazzill Card Shoppe
Patterned Paper: (green from The Tribute) Dianne Rigdon at Two Peas in a Bucket
Mist: (Opaque White Mr. Huey's) Studio Calico
Die: (Love Word) Paper Smooches

Something Other Than Paper

Hi everyone!

Do you ever have one of those crafty times where you can't get the project to work? That's what was happening when I first started playing with this week's Play Date Cafe colors. So, I decided to leave the paper behind and do something different this week.

First up, here are this week's Play Date Cafe colors:

And here's my take on the colors:

I made felt hair clips. Here's a picture of my reluctant model wearing it (she said, "You're not going to show my face, are you?").

And here's a picture of the two clips:

I used 100% wool felt from Felt on the Fly (luxurious!) and the larger Beautiful Bows die from My Favorite Things. The bows came together quickly other than the glue...the thick felt wouldn't hold and I ended up sewing the layers together.

When I finished with the bows, I attached the base to a hair clip (Hobby Lobby sells the clips by the bag).  Easy peasy! Here's how it looks underneath:

Now I used felt, but you could also make these bows out of paper for some super cute party favors (bows or bow ties). How fun would that be?

Want to join along with the PDCC this week? The winner will win a gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp:

You can link up your projects HERE.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies
Felt: (Brown, Turquoise wool felt) Felt on the Fly
Dies: (Beautiful Bows die) My Favorite Things
Buttons: (Hawaiian Shores button) PTI; (green) My Favorite Things
Twine: (green and white twine) Jillibean Soup; (turquoise) DMC

Getting Scrappy

Hi everyone! Just a quick post to share today. My little guy had a high fever this morning and hasn't been feeling well. I'm crossing my fingers that the rest of us don't get it.

One of the new digital releases this week at Two Peas in a Bucket is Adrienne Looman's English Rose collection. Her papers are always so fabulous and easy to work with as a card maker. I was feeling like making something more scrappy, and here's what I came up with:

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

This card has hand-cut chevrons, wonky stitching, misting, painting, stamping, glitter...I was about to add rhinestones when I stopped. ;)

I started off with printing the English Rose papers, trimming them into rectangles, and cutting the rectangles into chevrons. I didn't worry if the angles didn't wind up perfectly. Aren't they pretty papers?

Here's a close-up:

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

For the background, I misted with some Mr. Huey's Dewey. For the edges, I the perfect shade of pink mist,  but I wanted lighter and darker edges. I added a little white paint to make some of the mist lighter. I used the same concoction for the heart veneer and added glitter.

A little different for me, but I like how it turned out. :)

Thanks for looking! Have a great day!

Supplies
Cardstock: (Natural) My Favorite Things; (white) PTI
Patterned papers: (all papers from English Rose collection) Adrienne Looman
Clear stamps: (sentiment from Sweethearts) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Dye ink: (Tuxedo Black) Memento
Spray ink: (Dewey) Studio Calico; (Hopscotch Sprinklers) October Afternoon
Embellishments: (wood veneer heart) Studio Calico; (glitter) Martha Stewart

I Am Addicted to Bokeh

Hi everyone! I hope your weekend is off to a great start. We'll be taking down our Christmas decorations (I know, I know...a little delayed, but I love them).

So last week, I was looking through the new Two Peas releases, and my heart stopped when I saw THIS set by Dianne Rigdon. The journaling cards are so dreamy. I enlarged one to make this card:

*sigh* Don't you love that journaling card? I matted it over a light grey paper by JustJaimee and used one of her digital Ornate Circles stamps for the corner.

The stamp was black and distressed, which makes it harder to recolor. In Photoshop, I selected the entire stamp area (using the dotted rectangle tool on the toolbar), clicked on Edit-->Define Brush. Voila, I had a new digital brush when I opened my brushes.

I stamped the circle over the journaling card in white, and over that, I stamped the Hero Arts' Winter Wishes sentiment. Here's a close-up:

I added a little inking around the edges of the card and some embellishing at the top. That awesome wood veneer glittered feather comes from a local home decor store.

Jeez, my twine is really twisted. ha ha. I think it's still pretty even if it's not perfect. :)

For my Season's Givings blog hop post, it's time for the winner. Thank you all for commenting--you're so kind!

The winner is #168:

 Laura Jane said...

I'll have to check out the Paper Crafts Magazine's Creative Card Challenges issue..Your card is a HOOT!

January 1, 2013 10:15 AM

 

Laura, I'm not sure how to reach you by e-mail. Please can contact me through the "Contact Me" link at the top. Congratulations!


Have a great day!



Supplies
Digital Elements: (Chillin Journaling Cards) Dianne Rigdon; (Winter Fresh Solids and Winter Fresh Ornate Circles Stamps) JustJaimee, all available at Two Peas in a Bucket. 
Cardstock: (Natural) My Favorite Things
Specialty Paper: (Premium Matte Photo Paper) Office Max
Clear Stamps: (sentiment from Winter Wishes CL647) Hero Arts
Dye Ink: (Marina Mist) Stampin Up
Pigment Ink: (Weathered Wood Distress Ink) Ranger
Twine: (Natural) May Arts
Button: (Bitty Buttons) Stampin Up
Feather from my stash

A Tag and a Bag

Hi Everyone! If you're looking for the Season's Givings blog hop card, please click HERE. I was overwhelmed at the sweet comments about the card. Thank you! And if you're a new follower, welcome. :)

After a two week break, it's time for another Play Date Cafe Challenge. Here are this week's colors:

I was pretty gaga over the colors...the orange is so cheerful! Here's the gift bag I created:

I die cut a PTI wine tag out of the Ruby Rock-It gingham paper and tucked the top part of the wine tag inside a small gift bag. I figured in a pinch, I could use the tag for a bottle of wine. ;)

The sentiment, house, door and window stamps and dies are from the Where the Heart Is stamp/die set. I used the "thanks" sentiment thinking I could put a small hostess gift inside (as in thank you for your hospitality).

Here's a close-up to see the house and the cute arrow paper clip better:

When I was done, I thought the bag needed one more orange element at the top. I don't have any orange tissue paper, so instead, I took an orange Copic marker and quickly drew stripes on a piece of white tissue paper. Problem solved, and it was cheaper than buying specialty tissue paper. :)

If you would like to play along with this week's PDCC color challenge, you can link up your project HERE. We love seeing your projects!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!


Supplies
Cardstock: (white) PTI
Patterned Paper: (Miscellanea from the Cook line) Ruby Rock-It
Clear Stamps: (house, windows, door, sentiment from Where the Heart Is) Simon Says Stamp
Ink: (Tuxedo Black) Memento; (Antique Linen Distress Ink) Ranger
Markers: Copic
Dies: (house from Where the Heart Is) Simon Says Stamp; (Wine Tag and Picket Fence) Papertrey Ink
Accessories: (arrow clip) Kikkerland