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Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Quick Joann's Paper Pack Scored Some Easy Cards

Since I need additional scrapbook supplies (NOT!), I found myself browsing through the clearance piles at Joann's and came across a 4 x 6 paper pad from K & Company- the Adrianna collection.  For $2.29 eighteen sheets of beautiful floral paper was at my fingertips.  The matching icon/die cut set was sitting there for only $1.79.  You mean to tell me I can have embellishments and beautiful paper for card making for less than $5?  Couldn't pass that up- It's a sickness.  I'm telling you, it's a sickness without cure as using the supplies spurs more creative juices...  I'll stop there.

Here's my first card-


The card is made using a basic olive green cardstock that I had on hand.  The printed papers were layered on top of each other to add depth.  The "I am Thankful" stamp comes from my stash- so old I forget from whence it came.  The bottom border with the green medallions is actually one of the K & Company papers that I fussy cut out to make it look like a border.  The purple medallion flower comes from the die cut pack and is actually an overlay backed by plain white paper to make the intricate design shine through. 


I used a pop dot to raise the purple flower medallion off the card- nice touch without too much height.  Everything is edged in brown chalk ink- adds to the muted tones of the papers and the overall shabby chic design.  A piece of left over satin ribbon and we're done.

With that fresh infusion of the disease (I was pretty pleased with my first concoction), I thought I might try a new technique suggested in the recent Paper Crafts magazine.  They described using a misting ink on linen fabric and then using the fabric as an embellishment.  I stalled a little here getting the technique right.  Your image needs to be detailed, your misting needs to be even handed and not too heavy.  After playing for a while, surprise (o.k. for











those who know me- no surprise) I ended up really liking the green on cream result.  Darker colors were much more tricky.  I actually used Glimmer Mist and one of my Tattered Angels stencils to create the background for this Gratitude card.  I pulled some of the linen apart at the edges.  The embellishment came from the Adrianna die cut pack- all glittered for me.  I layered a couple of different flower pieces and the green leaves behind.  The blue twine came from my Boxer Scrapbooks supplies purchased at the Scrapbook convention earlier this year.  Having had such success with the Glimmer Mist on the fabric, I decided to use my Distress Ink as well and stamped the Close to My Heart "Gratitude" on a piece of linen with green Glimmer Mist sprayed behind.  After fussy cutting out the image slightly larger than the edge of the stamp, I frayed the edges and adhered to the card.  All in all, I really like my two cards made with my "cheap" find at Joann's.  It was the next day that I discovered my Shingles infection and so, I haven't made more cards yet.  I do plan to get back in the saddle soon though.  Even writing this post makes my fingers itchy for some inky, sticky action.

Andie











Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Latency in viral infections and other non-crafty subjects

It has been a while on the posting front for both Brandy and I.  We've both been suddenly inundated with work including both traveling to the East coast the first week of September for very separate reasons.  Man, traveling can seriously cut down on the craft time with all the preparing to go, being gone for several days and the recovering (with laundry, grocery shopping, etc.) upon your return.  Let's not even talk about all the work that didn't get done while out of the office which now needs to be done (some of it urgent).

Additionally, I've battled a bout of shingles in the past month.  I had my first occurrence of shingles as a 12 year old.  I wasn't unfamiliar with the consequences, but I didn't consider how my 42 year body would react differently.  I fairly lost about 10 days in a sea of treatments (acupuncture really works folks!) and a haze of pain (they can be quite painful).  Needless to say, I'm feeling the loss of my crafting mojo and looking for a fresh source of infection of the crafty kind. 

I have been able to keep track of the Project Project Runway series (we've got their button right on this page) and NotMartha's ongoing participation in the Fantasy Project Runway sponsored by HP TouchSmart technology.  Megan's recent design mimicking Project 7's Make Your Own Fabric challenge was super slick (o.k.- who wants a pair of the brown heels she picked for her model to wear?) and definitely injected a little of the crafty inspiration.  If you haven't browsed (and dreamed) about the accessories on the Piperlime accessories wall, check it out.

Here's hoping for a fresh infection of the crafty kind.  I've got a few exciting opportunities to craft in the next few weeks and I am looking forward to sharing the results of a brand new crafting bug infection.

Andie