THD Challenge #12: Flights of Fancy

When I think of this month’s challenge graphic, fancy free comes to mind.  This is absolutely one of my favorite inspirations of the year– and our team really rose to the challenge in their bold and fanciful interpretations.  Can’t really get better than aqua, hot pink and silver or gold.  Look at those old books stacked up (those colors–swoon) or that gilded table setting; not to mention the dress with that bag!

Last month’s turnout was stellar, and I hope you will participate again, and bring your friends to this colorful party!

I’ve incorporated the colors, butterflies, florals and even books into my piece– and I’ve even upcycled!  The craft/art world sadly generates quite a bit of plastic and waste, so I try to reuse as much of the packaging as I can, and recycle what I cannot.  Here I have used a glossy cardboard purple-dotted background piece from a selection of paperclips. It is cut from the Gina Marie Cross Stitch rectangle die.

My card also features a favored technique you’ve seen me use before with the Altenew Wild Hibiscus florals and butterfly stamped on vellum and, this time, patterned paper, then heat embossed.  This set is designed for Mother’s Day, which is coming up soon, so I will be featuring the set in a future post that also uses our challenge graphic.  Stay tuned!

Where are the books in my design?  Well, hidden a bit, but I have cut a strip from Maggie Holmes’ Chasing Dreams paper collection that matches our inspiration graphic perfectly. This paper is a line up of vintage books– and all our colors are featured!

 

I am having a serious love affair with these Doodlebug Design Matte Sprinkles.  They are exactly  like the old-fashioned button candy that comes on the paper strips.  I loved this candy as a kid, but hated getting the paper off the candies.  The goal was a perfect peel-away.  Nothing worse for a kid with hyper-sensory processing than eating paper!  I am a really tactile person, and certain textures create extremely negative responses. But these little epoxy dots, I really, really want to eat. The colors are ridiculously delicious too. (No sprinkles were hurt or consumed in the making of this card)

Finally, I used Waffle Flower’s With Love die for the sentiment, adhering only one corner and popping it up for dimension.  You know I love my dimension and texture!  The inside is finished with some ombre washi.  If you are wondering about the phenomenal background paper– well, sadly it is no longer available.  This is truly a one-of-a-kind card because it uses a scrap of old Basic Grey paper.  Amy and I horde our Basic Grey, but it comes out every now and again for special cards!  I sure do miss that company!

But Tonya’s has many great items from some of your favorite companies– so this month play along, possibly with some new goodies from THD–check out her updated selection!

I can’t wait to see how you’re inspired!

Take flight!

The Heart Desires: Challenge 9

Hey Everyone!  It’s that time of the month again over at The Heart Desires and I am so excited to bring you some cards to brighten your February!

Using Altenew’s Wild Hibiscus and Concord & 9th’s Crazy Awesome sets, I created my first card.  The flowers and bird were stamped on vellum in Unicorn white, heat embossed and fussy cut.

I have layered the focal point on Maggie Holmes’ Bloom and Gather papers.

For my red card, I am featuring Studio Calico’s scissors die— which isn’t easy to find, but Tonya has it for sale in the store!  Cut from foam and layered with pattern paper.

The flowers below are from the Crazy Awesome set, created the same way as those on the other card.  Border papers are from Maggie Holmes’ Bloom collection.

I hope you will get crazy creative with us this month over at The Heart Desires!

Holiday Gift Bags

Make-It Monday # 142 Decorated Kraft Bags

Happy December, all! I am excited to share the kraft gift bags I made for the Papertrey Ink challenge this week.  This was a really inspiring challenge as the possibilities are endless and playing around with ideas on little kraft bags is a great way to experiment, since the bags are so inexpensive.  Once I got started, I could barely stop!

I am going to start with my favorites and explain my process, as I discovered a really cool technique somewhat by accident!

First up, Twinkle.

As you can see, I used the light bulbs from Papertrey Ink’s Come All Ye Faithful additions set.  I just love these and want to use them all the time!  Labor intensive, but worth it!

So I first sponged Unicorn White ink onto the Crafter’s Workshop birch trees stencil.  Then heat set.  Next I stamped all the lights, and heat set again.  Then I had a bright idea 🙂 I had earlier experimented with stamping Versamark Dazzle directly on my embossing, covered with clear embossing powder and heat set.  You can see these cards here.  I wanted to create a sparkly winter forest, so I covered the bag with Versamark Dazzle in Champagne; then added Ranger Sticky embossing powder, heat set and sprinkled with white glitter.  Ta-da!

The effect reminds me of sugar-coated gumdrops and I was thrilled.  I will be using this technique on cards and tags this season for sure!  I finished it off with a sentiment stamped in blue Brilliance Ink from Amuse Studio’s Hello December set, which I will feature in my next post!

Next up, Candy Jar!

Here I have used Papertrey Ink’s fabulous Tag Sale #8 die as the focal point.  Inside, I have placed my little mason jar from Poppystamps, and filled it with candies from Lawn Fawn’s Sweet Christmas set.  The bag’s background was stamped with the Versamark Dazzle and then covered with Bridal embossing powder, which I love and have had forever, from Personal Stamp Exchange.

For all the candies, I masked and stamped each one with Tuxedo Black ink so they would overlap.  Then I colored with Copics.  I heat set and then covered with Versamark Dazzle and clear embossing powder and heat set for a glossy sheen which you can see in the first  and last photo.  Pretty sweet, don’t you think?

Bag #3: Delicate Doily Snowflake

This bag was stenciled with Crafter’s Workshop doily in Unicorn White and covered with bridal embossing powder.  The little button says “sweet” and I thought it was a perfect embellishment for the tag.  I love Papertrey Ink’s font for the “joy” sentiment, which is from the Mega Mixed Messages set.  The green ribbon is covered with doily images that reflect the bag, and instead of using traditional red and white, I opted for juicy, bright pastels.  It doesn’t quite represent here, but I used Brilliance Ink in red-gold, which is very iridescent and matches the pink sparkly ribbon.

Bag #4: More Joy

I embossed a few of my kraft bags which really added to the basic brown bag.  After embossing, I again covered with Versamark Dazzle, then covered with bridal embossing powder for this shimmery, iridescent quality.

I used Papertrey Ink’s Boutique Borders die and their Joy sentiment again.  I hand cut some flags from my snowy-white sparkle paper and adhered with silver sparkle brads.

Bag #5: Rustic Winter Wreath

I just LOVE this delicate wreath stamp from Memory Box.  It is so versatile and can be used for any season.  For this bag, I again embossed it with Tim Holtz’s wood-grain embossing folder.  Then I stamped the image with Unicorn White, and embossed with detail white powder from Stampendous.  Here you can see the embossing folder detail and glossing effect of the wreath.

Instead of using Papertrey Ink’s Fillable Frames #4 die as a label, I folded it and used as a closure!  Way to re-purpose!  I love seeing products in a new light.

The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps Halloween Party set.

Whew!  Are you ready for just 2 more?  Okay, here they are!

Bag #6: Fa-La-La-La-La!

Here I featured Papertrey Ink’s Come All Ye Faithful Additions Set and keeping with the musical theme, added some die-cut  silver bells from Memory Box.

Bag #7: Sweet Swag!

Last, but not, least (though it is my least favorite of the bunch), is my sweet swag bag, featuring Paper Trey Ink’s Come All Ye Faithful Additions sentiment.  I used the Memento Brilliance inks for iridescent shine. Ribbons are from American Crafts.  The circle tag can hold a sentiment or someone’s name.

So I am more than half-way there for 12 days of Christmas treats!

Thanks so much for stopping by–I hope my creations sweetened your day!  Comment or email if you would like to know more about my techniques.  I love hearing from you and connecting!

Now I think it’s time for a few sweets myself–Almond Roca, anyone?  While you are indulging, head over to Nichole’s blog for some serious eye-candy!