Welcome to a baby girl

A good friend at work solicited my help in creating a card that had multiple purposes.  She wanted to write a letter to the new baby girl, she wanted it to be able to be posted to a scrapbook or displayed in a frame, etc.  I re-watched the quilting instructions from my recent Pattern Play online card class. 

I found MME's The Sweetest Thing- Tangerine as a 6 x 6 paper pad and the colors seemed so soft and the prints small and varied.  It seemed perfect for this technique.  The quilt is made on a 1 1/2 in x 6 in strip of white cardstock.  I used my self healing cutting mat and placed the bottom of the strip where the two diagonal lines meet.

Then, I glued 3/4 in. strips of paper on the diagonal, alternating from left facing to right facing until the entire white cardstock is covered.  I used a tape runner, but any type of glue would work.  I used a pair of scissors to trim off the excess portions of the quilted piece.

I edged the quilted piece using my Ripe Persimmon Distress Ink.  To make the easel card, I scored 5 x 10 in. piece of white cardstock at 4 in. and 6 in. to create the easel effect.  I glued the 5 x 7 in. front face of the card to the 4 in. x 5 in. folded piece approximately 1 1/2 in. from the top.  I finished the card with a 3/4 in. strip of coordinating paper and a flow made with my Heartfelt Creations Posy die.    The flower will help the card to stand up.

I worked through a little series of improvements on the final product with my coworker.  In the end, the look was almost exactly the same, but structurally it was more sound.  The card was delivered to the mama and new baby girl and tears ensued.  Ahhhhh, that was TOTALLY worth it!

Andie

Word Art Wednesday- Challenge #77

I thought I'd get in the mix over at Word Art Wednesday again this week and participate in their Challenge #77.  This is one more card using the fabulous Heartfelt Creations Posy stamp and dies along with my MME The Sweetest Thing- Tangerine paper pad.  The flowers were stamped and cut from white cardstock and colored using a Fantastik and my Peacock Feathers, Ripe Persimmons, Scattered Straw and Worn Lipstick Distress Inks (from left to right on the card).

All layers of paper are edged in Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  What you can't see is my messed up printing job.  The sentiment comes from Word Art Wednesday and I printed onto white cardstock.  The first print job was to the wrong location, printed approximately over the teal flower.  So I ran it through again and it printed right over the location where the teal flower now sits.  This wasn't what I was looking for, so I tried a third time and got it right where you see it.  I've just hidden those two missteps under the patterned paper.

This card will be sent to the mother of one of my co-workers as a get well card.  She's scheduled for surgery this week and I thought the flowers might brighten her day and the verse would be an encouragement.

This card is a loose interpretation of the Mojo Monday 290 sketch.  I'm going to enter this into their challenge as well.  Time's almost up on this week's challenge, but they'll have another one up tomorrow.  I've also entered this card in the Simon Says Stamp: Anything Goes! challenge.  Come join the fun.

Andie

A Little Bridal Shower Card

My cousin's kid is getting married in a couple of weeks.  I'm always so confused by the relationship phrases.  When I was growing up (in the Midwest) my grandma was very concerned that we know everyone we were related to.  She didn't want us to end up marrying a cousin or something.  This reality becomes humorous when you find out that I'm not biologically related to this grandma or her family :).  But, my dad is really my dad- though not biologically my dad- so I think she thought the bond (or perceived bond) so real she didn't want it to look bad around town.  Either way, I grew up hearing about my cousins once removed and my first and second cousins.  I never really got the clear connection.  

I think the daughter of my cousin is actually my first cousin once removed and my children's second cousin.  Either way, a bridal shower is definitely an occasion to make a card.  This one is made using MME's The Sweetest Thing Tangerine collection.  I am running out of the best/smallest patterns and that is going to make finishing strong difficult, but I've so loved this set that I am convinced to use it some more. 

The flowers were stamped using my Heartfelt Creations Posy stamps and brown Archival Ink.  I then cut the flowers using my Heartfelt Creations Posy dies on my Sizzix Tagalong.  I shaped the flowers and glued them together.  The rest of the card is simply cutting solid cardstock to size, inking the edges and gluing everything down.  

 

The sentiment was made using Word.  I commonly use text boxes to create these type of sentiments.  You can see that I've used three different text boxes leaving open spaces in the brown typeset to place the smaller "one" and "soul" text boxes which also have different font, font size and color.  Just make sure to set the text box settings to have no fill color and no line color.  I used the arrow keys to fine position the boxes until my eye was satisfied. 

Edited to add:  If you've not used text boxes before, these instructions can be a bit sketchy.  For a tutorial on text boxes, try this. Notice the options for "No line" and "No fill".  This is what I'm referring to above.  You can edit the font, font size, and font color just like any other part of your Word document.

I've included the jpegs of the sentiments inside and out.  If you can pick them up with enough resolution to be useful, have fun.  I just found the sentiment perfect for the occasion and thought I would share. 

For the inside I simply layered more paper with another computer generated sentiment printed on my printer.  I haven't decided on purchasing a gift and/or a gift card.  You might see a finely decorated package next or not.  We'll have to see.  Either way, my decision needs to be a fast one because the shower is now less than a week away.

I created this card using the Mojo Monday 290 sketch.  I think I'll post it over there and get in on the fun.  You should think about joining the fun too!  Just hurry as the Linky ends tomorrow at 8 pm Mountain time.

Andie

Word Art Wednesday- Challenge #76

 I thought I'd join the fun over at Word Art Wednesday again this week.  This is in part because I was playing around with my new Heartfelt Creations Delicate Asters stamps and dies.  This week's challenge (#76) featured the Bible verse for inspiration.  You can post anything- it doesn't have to use the Bible verse.  I just thought that it worked with my flowers and this paper.

The asters were first stamped onto a scrap of light blue non-textured cardstock using black archival ink.  After taping the die to a scrap piece of cardstock, I ran the die through my machine leaving the die taped to the scrap and creating a window for die placement.  Each flower was individually cut out by taping the cardstock window to my stamped flower and running through my die cut machine. The flowers were then shaped.  Using my Heartfelt Creations mat, I pressed the stylus into the backside of the flower petal (approximately the middle of the flower).  The flower ends up looking a little like a dead spider (the only kind of "good" spider to me since they totally creep me out!).  I then flipped the flower over and rolled my stylus around the base of the petals at the center of the flower.  Each flower was made with 2 large flowers, two middle sized flowers and two small flowers.  The flowers were placed on the card front using my Crystal Accents.  Glitter was applied to Crystal Accents at the centers and randomly on the petals of the flower.

The inside was decorated with a piece of coordinating patterned paper edged in the Ripe Persimmons and Vintage Photo Distress Inks, just like the sentiment.  One random little aster was glued to the corner and some more Crystal Accents and glitter applied. 








This was a pretty easy card to put together after I made the flowers (I made up a batch of them in various colors on Sunday).  It was pretty easy and fun.  Check out Word Art Wednesday and specifically their Challenge #76.  It's fun to play along.

Andie

2013 Heartfelt Creations Card Class- Delicate Asters

This class sold me on the whole Delicate Asters from Heartfelt creations.  These flowers didn't really WOW! on the website when they were first announced.  However, the card class at this year's CK Scrapbook Convention in Mesa, Arizona completely changed our minds.

Brandy and I took this class simply because we loved Heartfelt Creations product.  in the class pictures, the asters weren't really stunning.  I can tell you that the final product is even better than the pictures here.  The flowers are so delicate and the stamping on the flowers even adds dimension. 

 The background stamp and sentiment from the Delicate Asters collection was used.  Fantastiks were used to pick up ink from a stamp pad and brush onto the image to color in the stamped image and glitter added over the color. This card took very little time (we had the background image already stamped on the cardstock) and is basically finished.  I might add to the inside a bit of paper and some stamping when I decide where to use this card.  Until then, this goes in the done pile!

 One of the great aspects of the Heartfelt Creations products is their paper design.  The 12 x 12 papers are designed to work as 12 x 12 or to be cut down into 6 x 6 papers for use on cards.  This card is the perfect example- the background patterned paper is 1/4 of a 12 x 12 piece.  It is the perfect offset for these design details.  Glitter and ink applied with a Fantastik enhance the stamped images. 

This next card is another good example of the background paper and 1/4 of the 12 x 12 patterned paper to create the base.  I decided to wait to stamp the sentiment (which I will place in the upper right corner) until I knew what I wanted to use this card for.  The asters were stamped and then die cut and shaped before gluing together.  Some glitter on the patterned paper finishes this card to wait for it's sentiment.

Another great class from a great company whose designs are always stunning.  Brandy and I would both highly recommend this class to anyone attending a CK Scrapbook Convention this year.

Andie

Comment Verification and the Bane of the Simple Crafters Blog Management

I'm not a technical person.  I work heavily on a computer, but a computer is simply a tool used by me to accomplish a task that I'm actually good at.  What never ceases to amaze me is why anyone would want to backlink to my little ole blog which doesn't see a lot of traffic (did I mention earlier this year that after almost 2 years of posts we've just had our 10,000 visit?).  It is mind boggling.  Yet, here is where we find ourselves... the amount of spam comments has dramatically risen in the past month.  This pesky occurrence might be the result of the 10,000 comment milestone or it might be a random thing that some genius somewhere created software to do and they've no idea how useless connecting to my blog is.

Either way, in hopes that I might be able to prevent the spam and maybe go back to a certain amount of oblivion, I've instituted the comment verification here at Contagiously Crafty.  It seems that better minds than I are skeptical whether this will help.  So, if I can stop the verification I will do so.  Please bear with us while I try to figure this out.  I hope it will not prevent your comments from being made.  Each comment is precious to both Brandy and I and we love to hear from you- especially Karon, Anni and Jessica who do so regularly and are a source of humor and encouragement. 

Enjoy life in the new age of information sharing!  I'm going to go focus on uploading the last photos of our work at the convention and see if I can put a post together for tomorrow.

Andie

2013 Heartfelt Creations Class- Heartfelt Layouts

 
Brandy and I typically do not take layout classes.  There's something in creating the exact same layout for your scrapbook as 40 never-before-met strangers.  Even though our lives don't overlap, there's something to think your pages are your own.  When we saw this lovely class, we decided to make an exception.

The layout uses the Vintage Floret paper for the background paper.  The layout is littered with Delicate Aster and Vintage Floret stamped die cuts. 

The asters were colored with a teal ink using a dauber.  I started with the dauber in the middle of the flower and "pulled" the dauber out to the edges of the aster repeating until all the petals are colored. 

The sentiments come from the Timeless Amour collection.  The LOVE sentiment was cut from the background stamp.  I think that is easy to do when you aren't paying for the stamp yourself. Still, this sentiment worked wonderfully on this layout.  The Decorative Blossom Corner die cut was then added to the layout.  Now, to identify those perfect pictures and get this layout in the book.

Andie

2013 Heartfelt Creations Class- Decorative 3-D Cards

It is that time of year again.  Brandy and I made our annual trek to the CK Scrapbook convention in Mesa, Az.  You may have read about our beginnings- Brandy and I became friends over scrapbooking.  This turned into a general love of papercrafting and this blog was born.

I thought I would try to get photos of the product of our classes posted.  We've talked before about our strategy for taking classes at the convention.  It bears mentioning, we're picky.  We feel like we've seen a lot of what's out there or can find a tutorial on the internet.  We tend to look at classes from the standpoint of value.  Heartfelt Creations provides the kind of value we're looking for- each class comes with a free $15.99 stamp set.

Our first lovely card utilizes acetate to create this beautiful window effect.  The window stamp comes with a full frame which we cut off to create the scroll worked window panes.  Simply bending the window at the frame and gluing down behind the die cut coordinating frame produces this lovely effect.  Some glue and glitter applied to the scenic stamped image behind the frame creates a little drama to draw interest.  The posy flowers were stamped and cut with the coordinating Posy dies.  You'll notice I've munched the sentiment stamp during class... proof I'm a more considered stamper and in the rushed atmosphere I blew it.  I'll have to do some kind of card repair 101 on this before using- I'm thinking patterned paper strip with a solid cardstock sentiment, maybe some ribbon.

This easel card came pre-cut.  We used glitter (usually Art Glitter's Autumn Leaves and Lichen) to embellish the pre-stamped, rose-entwined gate and the tiny little butterfly. We glued the pre-cut fence and gate to the front portion of the easel card.





Simply bending the gate once the glue dried created our 3-D effect on the card.   The paper small amount of paper on these cards is from the fabulous Timeless Amour paper collection.  The paper is beautiful enough to stand alone on the page.  The picture does not do it justice.

  The last card is relatively unfinished.  The style is more stunning in person.  The card base was pre-cut.  We simply glued the pre-cut Layered Elegant Swirl die cuts to the scalloped edged.  The flower design sold me on the Vintage Floret flower dies.  I have an ancient Sizzix Tag-a-long die cut machine.  This machine is limited to 2" widths.  However, I can make anything small work.  Most of this die set fits.
The flower was white embossed onto vellum and die cut.  We used a pink marker on the reverse side of the flower to color the edges of the flower before layering to create the focal point on this card. 

The leaves were glued to the opposite side of the card.  I see a very soft, white insert on this card.  I am going to keep the inside plain until I find the perfect use.

This card got a thumbs up from the hubby.  It's kinda rare for him to single out any one thing I create even though he is very positive and supportive. Must be an extra special design!

We had such a fun weekend at the convention.  This 3-D class started things off. Both Brandy and I just love the instruction, finished product and the gift of being to pick out a new stamp set.  We would both highly recommend any Heartfelt Creations class.

We concluded Friday night at the crop. I'm hoping to get the other class products photographed and blogged this week.  Having taken Friday off, this is going to be a busy week of catching up.  I'm going to give it a good 'ole college try.

Andie

True Beauty

Another simple card made from the Prima Madeline paper stack.  Everything is edged in Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  The sentiment is a future tense.  So.not.true for my Brandy.  Her brilliance is currently blinding.  Still, the card is lovely enough to go in the batch I sent to her.

Andie

Word Art Wednesday- Encouraging Card 2

I used the scraps from my other Word Art Wednesday card to throw this version together.  Same basic set of papers (Prima Botanicals).  This time I used my Quickutz dragonfly die to cut out a little guy for the corner.  I think I like the bling version better, but it's always worth experimenting. 

I am going to enter this into the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Fly. 

Andie

Word Art Wednesday- Encouraging Card

I found a new challenge blog and thought I might combine a couple of needs and finish up some of my homework from my patterned paper card class.  One of the techniques involved using strips of patterned paper to create a quilt-like embellishment for a card.  This is my take.  I realized that I should have layered more patterned paper to create squares in a quilt about halfway through making this one.  I liked the final result enough that I didn't go back and do that.  The verse came from the Word Art Wednesday challenge blog.  I'm entering this in their challenge from last week.

The quilt and the sentiment are edged in some Worn Lipstick Distress ink and the bling brads come from the stash.  A quick card that came together.  I'm thinking of this technique for another project soon.  If it works, I'll share with you.

Andie

Blog Milestone Winner! Loly Borda-Towery

This is a day late (blast that working every day!), but a winner of our first blog candy has been selected.  random.org provided the winner through a random number selection:

That's right, Loly Borda-Towery, you are a winner!  Loly said "how I celebrated an accomplishment: it's very hard for me to loose weight, I've put on 10 extra pounds this winter, so at the beginning of March I gave up all sugar and flour from my diet, in these 3 weeks I lost 3 pounds, so to reward myself I bought 1 set of stamps from CAS-ual Fridays."

Hooray.  This makes you a winner twice over- new stamp set courtesy of weight loss and this small prize package from both of us here at Contagiously Crafty.  Please email me your address directly at viralscrapa(at)gmail(dot)com and I'll drop this in the mail.

Thank you to everyone who commented.  Big or small, accomplishments are to be celebrated.  It was fun to see how you all do so. We'll look forward to the next big accomplishment.

Brandy and  Andie