Monday, June 28, 2010

A Little Felt Purse

Mornin' all!

Did you see my little felt purse on Spellbinders Blog over the weekend? What a nice surprise to see it at the end of the post!  You can see it here.  It's one of my April projects......my first month on the DT!  I'm super pleased with how it turned out!

Here are a few more photos and details.....
The purse and all the flowers are made out of felt.  I used various Spellbinders die templates to create the flowers.  I cut a number of them and then started putting colors together until I liked the combinations.    Then I went searching for felt or fabric to make the purse and settled on this beautifl blue......given to me by Mom years ago, just waiting in my stash! 

Spellbinders Die Templates used for the flowers:

  • S4-192 Blossom - #2,#3
  • S4-232 Blossom Two - #1,#2
  • S4-101 Dahlia - #2, #3
  • S4-109 Flower Creations Three – 3 petal flower #3,4; 5 petal #2
  • S4-116 Standard Circles SM #1 
  • S4-114 Standard Circles LG #1
I machine stitched all the ribbon stems and most of the flowers.  Some are hand sewn with yellow pearl cotton.  I added stitching along the top of the purse, too.   The little "leaves" are folded pieces of ribbon.   
 You cans see all the flowers here...

...one single little flower......
(I couldn't get Blogger to put these photos where I wanted them.............grrrr!)

This was such a fun project to put together!  I don't often work with such a bright palette of colors!  So fun!

If you have any questions or want more details, just email me!!

I'm working on June projects now plus CHA for Spellbinders!  Lots to do and deadlines looming!!! 

Have a great day.....create something!
-judy

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

More Chickens

.....created with Artistic Outpost Country Life stamps.

I promised to show you 2 more chickens cards...........
Both scenes are watercolored. Both have the chickens stamped, masked and then the background farm scene stamped. 

This card done with red is basically the same stamped scene as the card that I posted a few days ago.  You can see it here.  I distressed the edges and placed it on a dark red mat.  There's a narrow dark brown mat and then the textured piece for the card front.  That paper is Core'dinations paper embossed with the Wizard over a piece of burlap.....yes, I like that technique!   I sanded it to reveal the under color and added Distress Vintage Photo and Walnut Stain.  I knotted each piece of twine for a touch of interest.



This 2nd card has more stamping......a little more difficult.  I again stamped and masked the chickens.  I stamped the farm scene the same as the other cards.  Then I cleaned the stamp and inked just the fence.  I didn't mount it on a block so I could curl the stamp to line it up with the already stamped fence.  I kept the stamp curled and rolled it to stamp just the fence.  I repeated that again to extend it even further.  I used a touch of watercolor to fill in any blank spaces.  It helped to have the chickens break the fence line.  Looks pretty good, huh?  I was really pleased with how well it turned out! 
I chose a horizontal layout for my card with the bigger farm scene.  The dark edge was stamped with the seed packet stamp from Bloom and Grow. I inked just the very edges to frame my scene.
That's all the chickens for awhile!

I'm really busy........overwhelmed more like it!.......with working on my June projects for Spellbinders plus CHA projects.  Remember the Spellbinders Blog Frenzy is coming up in July!  I always look forward to that!!!  Makes me  nervous thinking about it......only because I have a deadline soon approaching.

Thanks for visiting! 
Happy Creating!
-judy


Saturday, June 19, 2010

Seeds of Friendship

Here's a friendship card featuring stamps from Artistic Outpost's Bloom and Grow set. 
I had no idea where I was going with this card when I stamped the marigold seed packet.  I colored it with watercolors. Okay.....now what?  I chose a gold Bazzill mat and a cream mat.
Then I searched for another color to use.  I found this dark green card stock with white back that coordinated with the stems. (I'm working on using up my old card stock!)  I embossed it with Spellbinders Flowers Impressabilities 12-1004 and sanded it.  My sanding block was pretty worn so it didn't take much color off, leaving a lighter shade of green........just enough to show off the pattern.  I added just a touch of Vintage Photo Distress ink, too.
I had just experimented with cutting the piece of paper "lace" that you see behind the seed packet.  I first used the smaller Ric Rac Diamond Border Petites S4-243 for the ric rac edge (hidden a bit under the ribbon).  Next, I matched the smaller Classic Scalloped Borderabilities Petite S4-239 die with the ric rac edge.  The spacing is perfect!  I cut and embossed that edge.   Once I decided to use it on this card, I added Distress Antique Linen and Vintage photo. 
To finish off this card,  I stamped "seeds" and "of friendship" separately, masking off each unused word.  I simply cut out each word leaving space for a hole to create a little tag.  I diagonally cut each corner which gives the appearance that the ends are rounded.  Little strings tucked behind the ribbon knot fasten them to the card.  I added a tiny piece of foam tape to each to keep them in place.
Although the colors in this card are a bit out of my usual range, I like how it turned out.  It's good to step outside one's comfort zone on occasion!

Supplies:
Versafine Black Onyx
Watercolor paper
Watercolors
Gold Bazzill
Cream card stock
Ribbon
String

Have a great day!
-judy

Friday, June 18, 2010

Country Chickens

I really got hooked on these chickens this week!  I love coloring them!   I made this card for Fond Memories.  I'll show my other 2 cards another day.
The chickens and farm scene stamps are from Country Life by Artistic Outpost.  I stamped the chickens first using Versafine Black Onyx ink.  I created a mask with Eclipse tape to cover the chickens.  Then I stamped the farm scene.  Remove the mask and the chickens are in front of the barn!
I used watercolors for all the coloring.
I made the narrow dark brown frame with Spellbinders Deckled Rectangles LG S4-202 #5 and Classic Rectangles SM S4-130 #5.  The farm scene is mounted with foam squares over a light blue mat framed with a narrow dark brown edge.  The card front is Core'dinations paper sanded to reveal the lighter color.  I added 3 strips of thin dark brown twine.
For the title, I simply trimmed around "country life" with my scissors.  It may look rounded on the corners but actually the corners are just snipped off at an angle.

Happy Creating!
 -judy

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Projects on the Spellbinders Website!


Yeah! My Spellbinders Design Team projects for April are now on the Spellbinders website!  So exciting!  Believe it or not, it's almost unreal......a dream

So for the details.......you can find my card in the Idea Gallery under "Cards" here!  Hint:  it has a little purse on it!  
 My Layout is in the "Layouts" on the first page that loads.   You can see it here today:

This is the layout I created as my final project to make the Spellbinders Design Team.   

 Our challenge was to use Spellbinders Film Strip
 You can easily see the Classic Inverted Circles around all my photos.  Can you find the Film Strip???
If you guessed the dresser, you're right.  I used 3 film strips to create it.  The drawers are the cutouts from the Film Strip with a slightly larger rectangle (from Classic Rectangles SM) behind each one.   Each cutout was embossed and distressed with Antique Linen ink.   All the photo frames were created with 2 Standard Circles dies and the Classic Inverted Circles dies.  I'm not going to write all the details..... email me if you have any questions.
As for my last April project........an "Altered" project, which is anything not a card or layout, you can find it in the "Quick and Easy Projects" on the lower left side of the Spellbinders website.  Just click on "Altered".  Can you guess which project is mine???
Hint:  it's quite bold and bright colored.  I'll post both my card and altered projects later.

My apologies if this post loads crazy......blogger is very stubborn tonight!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my layout after all this time!  Thanks for stopping!
Happy Creating!
-judy

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Blue Flowers

I love blue........so I colored these flowers blue.  Probably not a true color for these flowers in the gardening world.  That's an advantageof stamping, we can make our flowers any color we like.

This bouquet is from the set Bloom and Grow by Artistic Outpost.  I stamped them with Versafine Black Onyx and then watercolored them.  I washed  a pale yellow over the background.
I used Spellbinders Labels Thirteen S4-248 to cut the shape.  For the navy mat, I used the die as a template to cut around with my craft knife.  It's a little putsy but sure makes a nice even edge.  There's also a very tiny white mat that I freehand cut.
For the decorative strip behind the flowers, I cut 2 of Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Borderabilities S4-213.   They are glued over a piece of satin ribbon on the card front (Bazzill paper).  I used a corner rounder on 2 corners.  A little satin edged bow and some pearls finish the card.

Happy Creating! 
-judy

Saturday, June 12, 2010

County Fair

County Fair season will be here before we know it!  The summer seems to fly by once the weather warms up!
With fond memories of our county fair, I put this card together using stamps from Artistic Outpost's Country Life!
I stamped the barn scene first using Espresso ink on white card stock.   Then I masked it and stamped the boy.  I colored all parts with watercolors. I would usually use watercolor paper but didn't this time.  I had in mind to use Distress inks for coloring when I stamped it.  The trick with regular card stock is not to get it too wet or it starts to pill......I dab off the moisture as I work with a paper towel.
The pig, flags and "county fair" ticket were stamped separately and cut out.  I created the 1st place ribbon with Spellbinders Pinking Circles SM #1 die and the #1 die from Blossom Two.  I free hand cut the ribbon tails. I added a little metal number that I had in my stash.
I used my burlap again to emboss the reddish background mat....I love the texture it creates!  I rubbed Distress Fired Brick and Aged Mahogany inks over it to really accentuate the texture!  I used Distress Stormy Sky on the blue card stock for my card front.
A little twine across the bottom adds to the country feel!  I stamped "country life" on a piece of craft stick that I simply broke to size.  I added a touch of watercolor to "stain" it which also made the stamping wash out a bit.  Seemed appropriate for this card!
My favorite part?  The little pig.  He is just the cutest!

Supplies:
Artistic Outpost Country Life
Watercolors
White, royal blue card stock
Bazzill - blue, dk rust, brown
White, blue card stock
Metal "1"
Wood craft stick
Thin Twine

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

A Walk in My Garden

I took time to walk in my gardens yesterday evening with my camera.   So come with me......

 
Climatus right outside my door

......another flower on same Climatus

.....flowers waiting to be planted...

.......and more.......

Newest area of my shade garden....lots of hostas

Miniature rose in a sunny area of one shade garden

Do you see my cat?  He blends into that log so well.  He had to be with me everywhere.

Lamium is over running this little hosta and tiny coral bells

Cardinal flowers tower over hostas

A new little niche between logs

a view from the opposite end of my new hosta bed

A blue bell flower down the path in my older shade garden

Closer view......just loaded with flowers!

Same color climatus near the shade garden with bell flower in background

Wm. Baffin rose near one of our sheds.....near shade garden but in the sun

A rose that belonged to my Gr. Grandmother.  This rose has been here almost 100 years.

Sun garden now..........one last remaining dark purple iris

A lone blue iris

A hen and many chicks in the rock wall

I finally got a photo of this bee.  He was so busy gathering nectar.

Bennie in the flowers again.....he's sitting in a tile that I usually plant with flowers. 
Maybe I should leave it empty?  He loves to sit there to watch birds. He thinks he's hiding!

I hope you enjoyed the mini garden walk.  I'll show you more as the season progresses.

Hopefully, I'll have something stamped to show you next visit! 
Thanks for visiting!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Seeds of Love

This cute little girl with her wheelbarrow full of flowers is from Artistic Outpost's Bloom and Grow.  Isn't she cute peering out from that big hat?  I used the seed packet frame, also from Bloom and Grow, as a frame around her.   I used Ranger Espresso ink for both.  All the coloring was done with watercolors. The dotted mat and card front paper is from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary line.  I really like that collection of papers!   There are 3 bands of ribbon tucked under the image.  I stamped the verse, cut it apart, and mounted it with foam squares.   This was a quick card to put together.  I didn't even spend much time on watercoloring, just a wash of color over most of the image except for the flowers. 
I hope to spend some time with my wheelbarrow and flowers tomorrow!  I bought some flowers today to fill a few baskets and planters to set outside.  I also plan to weed some of my perrenial gardens.  Lots o' work but I sure enjoy their beauty!
Enjoy your day!
-judy

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Waiting for Me

Somewhere, beyond the sea.......


This is another card created for one of Artistic Outpost's latest releases,  "Beyond the Sea". 
I stepped away from watercolors and used Copics for the image.  See the photo below for colors.

Can you guess how I embossed the background?  Do you recognize the pattern?

If you guessed hardware cloth, you're right!  Yes, I bought a piece of hardware cloth.  I trimmed it to a size just bigger than most card fronts.   I put it through my Wizard with the embossing mat.  Voila! a great pattern.  
 I started with a piece of white card stock which I misted lightly with water and then embossed.  Slight moist paper will take the pattern much better.  I wanted to highlight the pattern so I rubbed Distress Rusty Hinge DTP over the raised pattern.  Then I sprayed  Glimmer Mist over it using Patina, Bubbles and a touch of Juniper. Sometimes the moisture will relax the embossed image too much.  With the ink defining the pattern, the pattern will be visible even if the paper flattens! 
I added some mats and placed it all on a tan card front.  I placed a piece of ribbon across the card and tied a separate bow around it.   The words were stamped on scraps of paper with the same Glimmer Mist on it..

I hope I've inspired you to try some ordinary things around your house to use for embossing.  Ordinary metal screen makes a great pattern, too.  I haven't tried plastic screen.......I think it would work, too, just not quite as defined.  Go ahead, try it!
Happy Day!
judy