Friday, February 15, 2008

Valentine's 2008

Hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day. As a single girl, I normally try to ignore the day...lol! This year, however, I made a couple cards, one for my mom and one for her friend Reno using the Happy Heart Day stamp set from Stampin' Up. I didn't mean to, but I ended up making these at the last minute on Monday, as I had to drop them in the mail Tuesday to make sure they got to their recipients in time!!


This is the card I made for my mom. I started with a card base of Pretty in Pink cut at 4 1/4 by 11 and scored at 5 1/2 inches. The Rose Red layer is ticket cornered and the flower image was randomly stamped all over in Regal Rose, and attached to the card base with adhesive. The scallop circle was cut from Pretty in Pink cardstock using the Nestabilities die cuts and my Cuttlebug and was also embossed using the Fiskars texture plates. I sponged a bit of Regal Rose ink over the embossing, and attached to the card with adhesive. I used the little mouse image with Black Stazon ink on Whisper White cardstock. I tried my hand at watercoloring with markers and a paintbrush. I have got to get me a aquapainter or waterbrush, to avoid the cup of water mess (my cat's obsession with water again...). The colors I used are Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red, with a bit of Going Gray. I matted the mouse image in Pretty in Pink and then again in Regal Rose cardstock. The Regal Rose layer was distressed with the distressing tool. The mouse focal image was then attached to the card with dimensionals. The final touch is silver brads in each corner.


Here is Reno's card. I cut a piece of Pretty in Pink cardstock 3x6 inches and scored at 3 inches to make a 3x3 square card. I cut a piece of Regal Rose card stock 2 3/4 inches square and stamped the flower image all over in Regal Rose ink. I wrapped a piece of sheer pink plaid ribbon I had in my stash around it and attached to the card base using adhesive. I stamped the Happy Valentine's Day tag image in Black Stazon ink on Whisper White, and watercolored it using Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red markers. I punched out the image using the small tag punch from Stampin' Up and matted it with Rose Red using the large tag punch. I attached a piece of pink grosgrain ribbon with a silver brad and then attached the tag image with dimensionals in the center of the card front. I love these little cards!

I got a Valentine from Mom, but she gave it to me early when she came over last weekend. She's caught the cardmaking bug too! Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, February 08, 2008

Shower Time

No this is not an x-rated post...lol. My fluffball Dexter loves to get in the shower and I thought I would snap a shot of him (with out me...yikes the thought!) sitting on my bath seat.


He is so funny, always comes running when he hears the water come on. Not sure exactly why, I thought cats HATE water! Not that he enjoys being drenched, but he doesn't mind a little spritzing on his face. He likes licking the water off the shower floor and the seat, and my leg when I'm in the shower. Gosh I hope my cat's not a perv. LOL!

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Reno's Birthday 2008


This card was made for my Mom's bud Reno's birthday. I think the dahlia flower challenge on Splitcoast is definitely one of my favorite challenges. I used the Fall Flowers designer paper, Soft Sky and Really Rust cardstock. The sentiment didn't exactly turn out how I had hoped, I stamped "CELEBRATE" from the Celebrate Everything stamp set (Stampin' UP!) in Soft Sky ink and then overstamped it in New Canvas Palette Ink. It was supposed to be a drop shadow but I dont think I inked up the stamp enough in the white ink. The picture doesn't show it well. What is cool is in real life it almost is holographic. Maybe I will try that again some other time. But the flower is AWESOME...thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Patti's Birthday Present 2008

This Friday was my great friend Patti's birthday. I don't usually know what to get her, and she would rather people not make a huge deal about her birthday. But I decided to make her something this year. She likes wolves, and I found a beautiful embroidery design of a wolf over at Embroidery Library. I used the concept of Joan Hawley's (Lazy Girl Designs) Perfect Pouches pattern to make a small pouch to put whatever in. It is about 8 inches square, and is made from a velvety corduroy I picked up at A.C. Moore.


I used fusible no show nylon mesh as a stablizer for the embroidery, and used the hoopless method to do the stitchout, as I was afraid of hoop burn (marks on the nap of the corduroy). However, I just used a simple tearaway and spray adhesive, and the denseness of the design caused the tearaway to rip away and there was serious puckering. But when I cutaway most of the mesh stablizer the puckers lessened and weren't as noticible once the pouch was assembled. Next time I will use a cutaway stablizer and really stick the fabric to it and baste it in place, so it won't pull away. All in all it was a beautiful stitchout and Patti was happy. She likes handmade items because she realizes the thought and feeling that goes into making something for someone. How nice!

I really like the simplicity of the Perfect Pouch pattern. The zipper installation method is ingenious! And you can make them any size you want. That's the best part!