Framed Papercraft #1

 Best. Day. Ever. #1 

 This first design is my submission to the Atlantic Hearts Challenge, Sketch #97, My Creative Moments: Monday Morning Challenge #4 and the Stamp and Create March Challenge.

I turned the sketch on its side because the acrylic frame is oriented as landscape instead of portrait. This is a not a traditional card in that it is a design inserted into an acrylic frame. The ribbon, doily and die cut are adhered to the paper layers inside the frame. On the exterior, I stamped the sentiment and added the bow and the butterfly.

Congratulations - Masculine

 Congratulations!

This card was made for my stepson a while ago. He decided it was time to get into better shape. He gave up tobacco, lost weight and started a running program. The image was an inexpensive Internet download from this site. At that time I only had a few Stampin' Up! non-alcohol markers so colored it with what I had. Materials included cardstock and markers but I am unsure what brands of cardstock were used.

Technique: Color blending

Brooke's Quilt

 Brooke's Quilt

 

 

 

I decided to make a play quilt for my granddaughter, Brooke. Since children play on the floor so much, I thought she could enjoy playing with her dolls on this quilt. It is larger than crib size but smaller than twin size. It is totally machine made as well as washable and can be tossed in the dryer. It is simply 8" squares, cut from fat quarters, some of which I embellished with machine embroidery or ribbon and lace, sewn together. Some sashing was added, I quilted it on a standard sewing machine, then the edges were bound, also by machine. All of the quilt fabric came from my sister's stash as she was cleaning her sewing room. The ribbon, lace and fabric for sashing and backing came from my own stash of fabric. This is a very basic quilt with simple techniques because I expected it to get a lot of wear!

Butterfly Top with Capri Pants

Butterfly Top with Capri Pants

Another fun summer outfit for Brooke made in 2009, it is made totally from coordinating fabrics purchased at Hobby Lobby. For the photograph, I purposely spread the fabric out to show all of it. The outfit is identical to the photograph on the Simplicity pattern right down to the fabric choices. It is actually a short dress with a handkerchief hem and Capri pants. I also made the piping for the waistline and the ties at the sleeves and on the pants.

Pajamas

Pajamas
 

 

 

Winter was approaching and my daughter-in-law asked if I would make Brooke some warm pajamas. These were made with cotton flannel each using the same pattern but embellished differently. The front closures are all made with soft snap tape for easy opening and closing and the buttons are for decoration. All tops included matching pajama bottoms. Later, for the traditional "new pajamas for Christmas" I made the fourth top exactly the same but using Christmas print cotton flannel. The green buttons are decorative and soft snap tape provides the front closure. The pajama bottoms were made from the same snowflake fabric from which the pockets were made.

Green Sundress

 

Green Sundress

In 2009, my granddaughter, Brooke, was age 5. I had made her several cute dresses that year and this was one of them. The green material is a multi-toned cotton blend. It has a fitted bodice trimmed with a white lacy ruffle and shiny ribbon. The skirt portion is gathered onto the bodice and the hem is embellished with two rows of white lacy ruffles and shiny ribbon. The dress also has a tie back. All materials came from Joanne, Etc.

More Dresses for Brooke

 

More Dresses for Brooke

 

 

More dresses lovingly made... all sewn from the same pattern but styled differently. All have back zipper closures and sashes tied in a bow.

No. 1: Dotted print cotton blend dress with lavender border trimmed in yellow ric-rac. Buttons are stacked yellow on white. Bodice lined in lavender.

No. 2: Turquoise with daisy print cotton blend dress with two-tiered skirt embellished at waist with a bow and a yellow button. Bodice lined in white. (In retrospect, the bow should have been made in a different color.)

No. 3: Pink cherry print cotton blend dress trimmed with pink and white satin ribbon. Bodice lined in pink.



More Dresses for Brooke

Dresses for Brooke

More outfits handmade for Brooke and sewn with love.
No. 1: Brown floral gathered corduroy jumper lined w/blue cotton blend fabric & coordinating blouse.
No. 2: Gray pleated corduroy jumper lined w/pink dot cotton blend fabric & coordinating blouse, covered buttons and appliques on pockets.
No. 3: Red gathered corduroy jumper w/lined red print cotton blend bodice & coordinating blouse.
No. 4: Red plaid A-line polyester blend jumper with center pleat & velvet ribbon with white cotton blend blouse trimmed with picot edge.
No. 5: Teal A-line corduroy jumper with cotton knit mock turtleneck shirt.
No. 6: Periwinkle blue seersucker sundress.

Happy Birthday - Masculine (Wetlands)

Make a Wish

Update: This card qualified for the "Top Three" at AHSC!

This is a masculine birthday card for a family member. For inspiration I used the Atlantic Hearts Challenge, Sketch #96, using a favorite color combination. I also entered the card into the challenge at Retro Sketches.



My card was in the Top Three for the Atlantic Hearts Challenge, Sketch #96!

I wanted the card to have depth and tried to show it by taking the photo at an angle in the sun. The image and sentiment banner are popped up with foam tape. The sentiment banner was curled using a bone folder. By design, the card was placed to the left on the card base with a strip of brown showing on the right as demonstrated in another photo below. The inside is embellished with a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock stamped similarly to the front of the card.

Happy Birthday - Masculine (Moose)

Latched Gate Fold

Update: The AHSC team chose this card for the Top Three!

Today's card is being entered into three challenges: the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #95, The Paper Players #233 and MFT Challenge and Inspiration. Next month I will need a masculine birthday card for a family member who is a hunter and fisherman so I thought this would work quite nicely for him. The photo does not show the paper very well. The plaid paper is brown, gold and soft aqua. The print paper is soft aqua. The sewing machine thread is bright aqua.



After creating the card I realized I had not used any elements from MFT ("My Favorite Things"), which carries fabulous products and from whom I have purchased many stamps and dies. I'll be more careful in the future!

The card qualified for the "Top Three" in the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #95. My thanks to the design team for selecting my card.

This card is styled as a Latched Gate Fold and I folded it so the front edges were off-center allowing for button placement on-center. More photos are below.

Thinking of You

Thinking of You

With the deadline approaching, I decided to enter another card in the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #94. I love pretty paper so decided to use cardstock and paper from one of my favorite paper packs - "Brushed" from Close to My Heart.

 



You're a Great Catch!

St. Valentine's Day



This is the card I made for my husband, Bob. Masculine cards are a challenge for me so I started this card using only the sketch from the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #94 for inspiration, which has a decidedly Valentine theme. The interior is stamped with a red heart, leaving sufficient space to write a note.

Oodles of Love

I decided to enter another card in the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #93 so this is my second entry. I realize I am competing against myself but submitted it anyway. This card was CASE'd from a card found here. I used a different sentiment, changed the colors slightly, added another stamped image, repositioned the focal image and changed it into a Valentine. The interior is also different.



Sending Wishes

Sending Wishes

Yippee! I'm delighted that my card was in the "Top Three" for Challenge #93.  My sincere thanks to the talented design team at Atlantic Hearts.

 



 

This is a card I made specifically for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #93 and is my first-ever submission to a challenge. I have been making cards for about two years. This card was CASE'd from a card found here. The primary differences when CASEing the card: I added more pearls and used non-alcohol markers in colors other than the original, which was colored with alcohol markers. The inside is decorated differently as well. I did not use pop dots or mounting foam because I will be mailing this card and wanted to keep it flat.

Big Thanks

A Great Big Thanks - Masculine

This card was made for a masculine recipient. I like using aqua and brown together so that's what I went with. I admit I made this "by the seat of my pants" meaning I did not have a plan. The card is 1/4" narrower and 1/4" shorter than A2 size and on a single piece of cardstock. Because it was more narrow, I was able to nudge the frame for the sentiment off of the right edge slightly.  I was satisfied with the basic design so a few weeks later I made another for a birthday but placed it on a proper card base in brown, matted with aqua and lined inside with vanilla.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter - 2014

 

 

I've been reorganizing my small work space and came across a few old cards that I thought I would post. It's far too lovely a day to stay indoors. Here in the Arizona desert it's warm and windy and the air is fragrant with blooms. My photos were taken outdoors under the shade of a Rosewood tree so the dappled sunshine and shadow is visible on the card face.

 

At the time I made this, I did not have an Easter stamp so handwrote the sentiment. In retrospect, I should have left the front without the writing and probably made the bunny on the left yellow and the one on the right pink. Live and learn...

 

Techniques: Stamping, fussy cutting, die cutting, dry embossing

 

Products are from Stampin' Up! - the die for the label is from Spellbinders.



Thanksgiving Card

Thankful

 

 

 

I've been reorganizing my small work space and came across a few old cards that I thought I would post. These cards were made for Thanksgiving 2013. At the time I did not have many stamping supplies. I used a masking tape technique to apply the ink to the cards. I found the tutorial for the method at Splitcoast Stampers.

Techniques: shadow stamping, masking tape application.

The paper is from my stash of nondescript cardstock and the leaf stamp and ink is from Stampin' Up!

Welcome Baby

Baby Boy!

 

This card was one  of the first I ever made. The stamps, inks, markers, dies and punch were from someone else's craft studio. The paper was my own - something from a pad I picked up at WalMart. I used the card to accompany a gift for my niece when her fifth child was born. Welcome, Carpenter William Moore!

St. Patrick's Day



Just a fun card for a St. Pat's Day with the following Irish Blessing inside:

May God grant you always...

A sunbeam to warm you,

A moonbeam to charm you,

A sheltering angel,

So nothing can harm you.

A little Irish history:
My family tree and DNA testing has revealed that I have plenty of Irish ancestry. But then, we're all Irish on St. Paddy's Day! My family came from both Northern Ireland (aka Protestant Ireland and part of the United Kingdom) and the Republic of Ireland, which is predominantly Roman Catholic. These countries have suffered great turmoil over religious and political differences for centuries.

Most of us know that the three leafed shamrock represents the Holy Trinity and St. Patrick's ministry, as he preached to pagans and brought Christianity to Ireland. Most of us don't know that the "wearing of the green" is representative of the green "Harp" flag used by Roman Catholics in Ireland since the 1640s and that the color orange represents the Protestant movement in 1690 when William of Orange defeated the army of the Roman Catholic king, James II, at the Battle of Burgoyne during the "Glorious Revolution."

So with that in mind, I always use both green and orange in my cards and I use a shamrock, not a four-leafed clover.

Slipcover & Upholstery

Slipcovered Sofa (& Upholstered Chair)

 

 

My niece, Carrie, has a sofa that had been ruined by a cat she was keeping for someone else. The sofa was still good but the fabric was ruined. We made a trip to the fabric store - Jackman's. Oh, how I wish there were a Jackman's in my area! Carrie selected the fabric and I proceeded to make her a removable, dry-cleanable slip cover for the sofa. The four sofa cushions have zipper closures so they can also be easily removed. Because the cover is custom made, it fits the sofa like a glove and gives the sofa an upholstered look.