Monday, January 30, 2012

Some Welcome New Additions to My Craft Room


My husband built this for me this past weekend.  I wanted storage for all my stamps - stored in DVD cases.  I wanted shelves that were the right size and not way deeper or taller than they needed to be.  These shelves are the PERFECT size for the dvd cases without wasting space.  I have plenty of additional space on the shelves so I won't have to change them as my collection grows.  For now that extra space works to store a few other odds and ends and display some cards.  I notice when I put my cards in boxes I forget I have them and don't send them to anyone.  I'm hoping maybe displaying them will help with that problem.


The desk you see a little of in the photo was also built by my husband.  He was using it in his office and let me have it for sewing.  The photo is pointing towards my new organizer from The Container Store.  It's one of their Elfa storage pieces, which I LOVE.  Nice and sturdy.  I just have to put the labels on the drawers and they'll be done.  I have a thread organizer on top.  The drawers hold all my sewing essentials, scissors, bobbins, patterns, pins, sewing manual, etc.  I love that they are RIGHT there so I don't have to get up every time I need to get something out or put something away.  The desk has plenty of space for cutting too, so I put my rotary cutting mat above these shelves.


We just found these adorable storage containers at Target.  Purple is my favorite color so I was pretty excited.  They hold things for embroidery, cross stitch, knitting, crochet, and jewelry making.  I didn't like too many random things loose on the shelves so I think this looks better, and it's also practical since I can carry an organizer over to a work space if I want.


The reason for the new additions is that I have been dabbling a lot more with my sewing, knitting, and other types of crafting lately.  I really needed to re-arrange my craft space to better accommodate the sewing in particular.  

Thanks for stopping by.  I know, I stink.  I haven't been posting many projects and I keep falling behind on visiting all my friends to see your beautiful work and leave you nice comments.  I promise I still love ya'll.  I'm just going through a phase of getting into new habits and haven't adjusted yet. I could go on and on about all the fun things my kids and I are doing,but I'll just say it's been AWESOME and worth it.  I just need to find some balance when it comes to getting my time in my craft room too :)


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Good Friend Card


The papers are all from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 pad.  I have left this pad on my desk and have been playing with the scraps created from other cards.  This is the 3rd post in a row using that paper and I think all the cards have a different feel.  I need to use scraps right away like this more often! *LOL*  Less waste and it's very efficient.  Once I put the scraps away I tend to forget about them and they go unused.  If I use them right away I save time and waste.

I used my Stampin Up Scallop Border punch for all the layers along the button.

The green buttons were from the Michael's $1 bin and I threaded them with purple embroidery floss.

The stamp is from a Stampin Up set called Good Friend that is now retired.

The bird brads are from Oriental Trading.  I'm not sure where the purple brad in between them came from.
 
I used a Sakura Stardust pen to do some stitching lines.
 
Thanks for stopping by!  I know I haven't been around much lately.  I've actually been crafty.  Just not much to show off.  I have been working on a crochet project, but it looks pretty gosh darn boring right now - It will eventually be a snazzy gingerbread house.  I've also started knitting, which so far I am horrible at!  *LOL*  No worries, I'm stubborn and I'll keep practicing.  I've also been messing around with my sewing.  One of these days I'll actually have something nifty to show you from all that dabbling ;)



Thursday, January 19, 2012

Patterned Hearts Card


All the patterns used are from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 pad.

I cut 3 hearts in each pattern from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge.

I wanted to make them as even as possible so I used some strips of paper adhered with removable adhesive around the edges to help keep things as even as I could.  It's still not perfect, but far better than I think I would have done without some guidelines.

After I had all the hearts in place I started drawing the lines with my Sakura Gelly Roll pen.  I wanted to create a kind of frame.  When I was done drawing the lines I didn't like the way the corners looked, so I added some pink dew drops.

The sentiment on the bottom is from SP & Company's set I Love Love.  I stamped it in Versa Mark and then embossed it using white embossing powder.

I rounded the top 2 corners on a 1/2 inch setting on my corner chomper.  

As a finishing touch I decided to add Diamond Stickles to the pink hearts.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Thank You Teacup Card


Hello Everyone!

Today I have a sweet little thank you card.

The base is Kraft cardstock and it measures 4 by 4 when folded.  The top 2 corners are rounded on a 1/2 inch setting using my Corner Chomper.

The stitching lines were done with a Sakura Gelly Roll pen, truly it's my very favorite gel pen.
 
All the patterned papers used were from the My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky 6 by 6 pad.

The teacup was cut using the Winter Frolic Cricut cartridge.  I custom created the scalloped part by using my Stampin' Up scallop border punch and then cutting little slits in the top so I could make the curve to match the teacup.  I was inspired by this Stampin' Up stamp set to use polka dots and then scallops:
 
 
  Sometimes I find inspiration that way, when I like a product but am not sure I will get it I search for ways to get a similar look with things I already have. The stamp set is called Tea Shoppe and it's in the Occasions Mini catalog that runs until April 30th if you happen to like it and want to get it.  I'm not a demo, just passing along the info.

I used the same border punch along the bottom.

The stamp is from a set called Short and Sweet from Stampin Up.  The ink color used was Mellow Moss.
 
I think this will make a nice card for a friend :)
Thanks for stopping by!

The button is from the $1 section of Michael's and the ribbon was in my stash.  I threaded the button with embroidery floss.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Baby Boy Card


I started off with a kraft colored card base.  I rounded all the corners at a 1/2 inch setting on my Corner Chomper.

I added a layer of paper from Echo Park's Little Boy collection.  It was cut to 4 by 5 and 1/4 and I also rounded the corners at a 1/2 inch setting.

Once the two layers were together I grabbed a Not Quite Navy marker from Stampin' Up and did some stitching lines around the edges of the card.

For the center I grabbed a tag from the Same Echo Park paper line.  I used a stamp from Pink By Design's Baby love set and stamped it in Real Red ink from Stampin' Up.  I felt like it needed a little something so I found this swirly green clip and added it too.  Then I pop dotted the tag onto the card.

For the banner along the bottom I used a Stamp from SP & Company's Ultimate Sentiments 1.  I used Stampin' Up's Pumpkin Pie ink and some green bling from my stash.  I hand cut the banner and then used the marker I had handy to help me curl the paper.  I used 2 layers of pop dots under the part I wanted to stay up.

Monday, January 2, 2012

You Are a Lovely Friend


I started off with some vanilla colored cardstock.  I stamped a journaling area using Stampin' Up's Creamy Caramel ink.  The stamp set used was Close to My Heart's Key to My Heart.  I cut the tag out by hand.  
 
I grabbed some Smoothie colored ink to stamp the heart from that same set.  It is pop dotted up and I added some Star Dust Stickles to the swirls in it.

The sentiment was also stamped with the Smoothie ink and the stamp set used was SP & Company's Mix N Match: Friends.

I popped up the tag onto a layer of paper from Echo Park's Little Girl collection that I rounded the corners on.

For the card base I used Kraft and rounded the corners.  I also stamped a woodgrain background using the Creamy Caramel ink and a Hero Arts background stamp.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Confetti Card


Happy new year!

I hope your holiday season was filled with fun and lots of love.

Today I set out to make a new year's themed card with confetti, and that's not exactly the direction it went in.  Now I think this card might be used for a thinking of you, a get well, or maybe for a young girl's birthday.

I started off with a standard A2 sized card base in light pink.

I cut a green layer at 4 inches by 5 and 1/4 inches.  I used a Nestabilities die to cut out a circle, and then I embossed it using the Cuttlebug folder called Spots and Dots.

I laid the green layer on top of the pink and lightly traced the circle with my pencil so I could see where to place everything.  I used the pencil mark as a guideline for where to stick my flower down.  It is a K & Company embellishment.  After sticking the flower down I erased my pencil marks.

I grabbed a Stampin' Up Sweet Treat Cup and filled it with confetti.  Then I peeled off the backing.  The tricky part is sticking down the cup without spilling what's inside.  I held the cup up at an angle and lowered my card base down on top of it.

After my Sweet Treat cup was on I glued down my green layer over the top.

To create the gumball machine I used the Stampin' Up set called Something Sweet.  I stamped the gumball machine in Pink Passion ink.  I attached it using pop dots.  To embellish it I added a couple pink rhinestones and I covered the white parts of the machine with Star Dust Stickles.

I added some more pink bling in the top corners, and then finished off with a ribbon and bow along the bottom.  To get the bow to sit perfectly straight I attached the ribbon by itself.  It has ends taped to the back of the card.  Then I tied a little piece of twine around the ribbon where I wanted to stick the bow.  You don't see the twine, it just makes the ribbon go inward like it would if you tied the bow with it.  I used my Ultimate Crafter's Companion to tie a perfect bow and then attached it with a glue dot.