Heartfelt Creations- Encouraging Card

Brandy has been at it again, my friends.  Don't you just love the richness of her creations?  This little gem was created for a coworker who is moving on to bigger and better things.

Each flower was first stamped onto colored papers.  Because Brandy wasn't feeling well (that darn back!) she chose to hand-cut each flower before shaping and layering the flowers to create the lifelike look.  I'm sure you, like those who gasped out loud when first viewing this lovely card, are wondering how she was able to get that sheen on the flowers.  Me too!  That is a thin layer of Glimmer Glaze applied to the finished flower.  The finished look is really stunning and the picture doesn't do it justice at all.  There's so much detail in this creation that it's very difficult for me to identify everything.  A small list of supplies is found below.  I believe that Brandy's inspiration is this beauty from the Heartfelt Creations website. 

Great job, Brandy.  This is one for the portfolio if I ever saw it.  The colors, the richness of the design, the tattered "vintageness"... wow.  This card has me making up words...

Heartfelt Creations Tattered Blossoms
Heartfelt Creations Vintage Floret
Heartfelt Creations Butterfly Medley 

Happy Birthday for My Man

I needed to make a birthday card for my hubby whose birthday is next month.  An extra day off is a perfect opportunity to let the creative juices flow.  I've even uploaded photos of cards from the scrapbook convention (my how time has flown).  I'm hoping to get to the blogging of those soon.  Additionally, Brandy forwarded a picture of a beautiful creation she made this weekend as well.  I'm telling you, creative juices baby!

This little card was inspired by the latest Mojo Monday sketch 295.  Given that round is just more feminine, I decided to go with the square look.  Additionally, since square envelopes are rare, I decided to alter the design and go rectangle.

I also decided to reach into the scrap pile and use up some of those scraps available to me.  This strip is quite old and there is little left, just the right fit for my card.


 I found a bunch of coordinating solids to fit the design.  Again, to make it a little more masculine I decided to forgo the flower and leaf motive.  Ms. Jessica over at Errant Scraps inspired the embellishment I finally decided on.  Her layout was just right and the rosette eye catcher fit perfectly- not to girly, not too plain and just the right depth for my design.  The pictures don't really capture the distressing done with my Vintage Photo and Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  The sentiment comes from my Titled Banners Sentiments stamp set.  The medallion is a 25 cent special in the bin at Michaels and the bird is from a Fiskars set, long stored in the Scrapbox.

I think I hit just the right note.  It will be a few weeks, but this one's ready and no rush will be needed.  He doesn't follow the blog, so it will still be a surprise.

Andie

A Crafty Softball Party

I am afraid that this might just be my last post of softball craftiness.  My youngest daughter moves onto high school next year and the commitments for high school activities are likely to make her too busy for participation in recreational softball any longer.  She's completed 13 seasons with her dad over the course of 7 years.  Twice a year for 6-8 weeks we were a dedicated mom and seasoned dad/coach that focused our energies on eleven (or thirteen) lovely young ladies and development of their talents/skills.  My contribution was mainly the picture taking during the games and then this type of craftiness for our end of the season party.  Without further ado (read: ending the bemoaning of the fact that my children are growing up)...

Each season the girls sign a frame for the team photo.  This is the thank you gift for the coaches.  We've always had multiple coaches helping.  This is a great support system to ensure that no matter what delays in a coach getting to practice there would always be enough help on hand. It makes for a better team and the girls love having dad help out.

I once again collected photos of each girl and created a photo album with their specific shots. 

Each book contained kid specific, team and friend photos.  This season was marked by quite a few funny faces, embarrassing/weird positions and an abundance of tongues hanging out of mouths.  I wisely edited the photos to pick those where the girls might be *shyly* proud of themselves on print. 

This season was marked by growth and frustratingly close losses.   Yet, it was a satisfying season and if it ends up being the finale of my husband Dan's softball coaching career, I think he'll be quite proud. 

I decided to skip the usual picture cake and get some pre-made Angry Birds (the team mascot/name) cupcakes topping them with these rosettes framing the player's photos.  I used the same technique as that recorded in last years post- Softball- Its almost over.  Instead of using the Cricut to cut the image out, I used my ancient but functional Creative Memories Circle Cutters.  I think the final result a little bit neater. 

Dan talked to the girls about transitions and how next year's high school activities move them on to new and exciting opportunities.  He encouraged them to pursue the opportunities whether they involve softball, band, or social growth with friends.  He also encouraged them to remember these times playing recreational softball with their friends and look for the lessons learned to apply them to their lives.  There's a tiny part (read:BIG) in me that deeply regrets passages- especially those which clearly point out that my children are growing up.    However, the enthusiasm and maturity evidenced by these young women make me excited to see what they turn into and how they change the world.  Truthfully, they've already changed my world...

Andie

Happy Father's Day- Early Peak

My grandparents were in town for a wedding celebration.  This is just one big excuse to celebrate Mother's Day (*late*) and Father's Day (*early*).  The way I look at it, celebrating at 43 years old with your grandparents is a good thing, no matter whether you've marked the right Hallmark day on the calendar or not!

This card was created using all scraps and the Mojo Monday Sketch- 293.  The striped patterned paper was a lonely 5 x 12 inch scrap that became the inspiration for the card.  I needed to make two versions (one for my dad and one for my grandpa) of the card, so I didn't have enough paper for any kind of layering.  The Mojo Monday sketch afforded the perfect use for small scraps.  Then it was a trip through the other paper scraps to find coordinating pieces of cardstock to embellish the remaining parts of the card.

The bow was a forgone conclusion- omit, omit, omit!  However, I'm very pleased with the final design, simple enough that my boys didn't immediately toss it away and nice enough to post on the blog- winner!  

The sentiment was printed on my printer and the circle distressed a little with some black Archival Ink.  I stamped the "enjoy" from one of my Fiskars cling stamp sets onto the paper that I embossed using my Scor-Pal.  I can't decide whether the "enjoy" is crooked or not.  Just when I've decided it is uniform I realize the stamp is probably crooked on purpose.  At least that's my story!

Even though I didn't get this post written (we've been celebrating, remember?!!), I did post the card over at Mojo Monday for their challenge.  For the design-challenged amongst us, check them out.  Their sketches are easy to follow and allow you enough input to make simple and/or complex cards with their designs.  Hey, if I can follow them then you can too!

Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary

Today is my mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary.  What an astounding accomplishment?!  I thought I might celebrate this ruby anniversary with a card.  Knowing that this anniversary is very special, I've been trying to design a card all week and had many near misses, nothing seemed to work with my vision.  This morning I thought I would try it with some scraps of red cardstock.  This simple result worked for me.


The flowers are made using my Heartfelt Creations Posy stamps and dies.  It's hard to tell in these photos, but I stamped the flowers with Versamark ink creating a watermark look and then cut them using the dies.  After shaping the flowers, I individually applied glitter to the edges of the flowers and then glued them together in layers.  This allowed me to be able to place glitter only on the edges of the flower.  The flourish comes from the Spellbinders Floral Flourishes.  The trick here was selecting the right green so that this didn't look like a Christmas card!  The sentiment was printed on the white cardstock using my printer.  Once again, I used text boxes to selectively place each word to create the sentiment.

The inside sentiment was also printed using my printer.  Everything came together and I now have just the right card to give.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Andie

I've entered this card into the Simon Says Stamp: Flower Power challenge.  Come join the fun!

Darling, Sweet and Delightful

This little 6 x 6 paper pad from MME has really caught my fancy.  I'm almost out of paper, but there's just something sweet and alluring about the patterns from The Sweetest Thing- Tangerine set.  The flowers cut with my Heartfelt Creations Posy dies are simply sublime.  The flowers were created by shaping them with my Heartfelt Creations mat and stylus and layered together.  That center portion is the very smallest flower that was shaped and then petals pressed into the center on each other.  Darlin'!


The ribbon is a length of cotton, ruffled ribbon that was originally a cream color.  I simply spritzed the ribbon with my Glimmer Mist in a pink color.  There is a fair bit of variation in the color, but that adds to the vintage feel of this card.  Finally, I cut the banners on the outside from a piece of pattered paper, curling the edges up to add dimension.  The cardstock base was embossed using my Scor-Pal.  It really makes this card look fun. 

On the inside I stamped using my Tilted Banners Sayings to stamp on a die cut piece of coordinating paper.  This is a card I'm pleased with how it turned out and the sentiment is broad enough for a lot of different uses.  I'm going to have to move on to a new paper pack soon...

I've entered this card into the Simon Says Stamp: Flower Power challenge.

Andie

Oh My, I'm blushing! It really is a Moxie Fab World

You all have seen me make mention of Cath and her blog, Moxie Fab World, many times over the past years.  It is one of the few places that I frequent regularly on the internet.  Working full time just simply sucks up a lot of my extra time, so I chose my internet time wisely (or try to).  The Moxie Fab World has just the right mix of various informational posts and challenges.  I'll play along with challenges (rarely) but always check in and read the posts.

I watch others crafting posts and the prolific and beautiful creations are always inspiring.  Maybe its because we're getting my daughter ready for her 8th grade formal dance, but I relate the craft watching as somewhat like my high school dances.  I'm a joiner enough that I almost always went to the dances, but I'm an introvert enough to have spent a good deal of the time on the sidelines being a wallflower.  Not the kind of "wish I were out there enjoying myself" wallflower, but the kind of "I love people watching and this is so much fun" wallflower.  I realize this admission could label me a "geek" or "weirdo", but it's been a long time since high school and so I've had a lot of time to get use to and realize the truth of any label someone might use to describe me. :)  I'd occasionally be asked to dance with a boy and I'd do my best interpretation/imitation of dancing liked I'd watched others do.  Sometimes it worked out, often I think I must have looked like the short, gawky teenager that I imagined in my head.  Crafting and blogging sometimes feels that way too- I can imitate the creativity of others and sometimes attain the finished result that I'm looking for.  In the end even if I could compare myself with others and come out wanting, I'm always just so satisfied to have participated.  I'm a joiner!

I'm going to own that I can get unreasonably excited about some things.  *Squeal*  I'm super excited to share with you that I'm featured today over at the Moxie Fab World as the Moxie Fabber of the Week.  This is why I'm blushing.  I'm not good at tooting my own horn- it's a form of calling attention to oneself that no self-respecting introvert really seeks out.  And I'm a card carrying member of the introverts club.  However, I'm very pleased to have been asked to share about myself and hope that my sharing might encourage others.  If you've every thought- "my contributions aren't good enough" or "no one wants to see what I've been doing", you are wrong and I'm proof!

So, go check it out- Moxie Fabber of the Week.  Don't look too closely at any pictures of me.  I'm not sure they really look like me- I've got a much-bigger, more-stupid-looking grin on my face today.


Andie

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you out there.  I hope this day finds you celebrating your mother or being celebrated by your children and/or grandchildren. 

I've previously shared my Mother's Day cards for this year.  You can check out previous year's creations here, here, and here.  It's good to celebrate mothers after all their hard work and perseverance.  I say yeah mom's everywhere.

I also wanted to share a little goodness that arrived in the mail this week.  You might remember our Contagiously Crafty milestone celebrate earlier this year.  To celebrate, we offered a small bundle of blog candy to a random commenter.  We don't get too many visitors, but Loly Borda-Towery was our winner.  She blogs over at Card Ville.  You should go check her out.  She's pretty good about joining in challenges and her card creations are very inspiring.  Well, she ever so generously popped this card in the mail to thank us after receiving her small blog candy.  Inside was a very nice note of thanks.  No doubt about it, there is nothing random in this world and I'm so glad she was our winner.


I've heard it is not good etiquette to say thank you for a thank you.  So, I'll just say one more time, congratulations Loly.  We're glad you stopped by to visit us here at Contagiously Crafty.  We'll be watching to see what you do with the blog candy.

Brandy and Andie

Gratitude

Today's simple card was made using the Glitz Vintage Blue paper stack.  The Gratitude stamp comes from an older Close to My Heart stamp set, Thanks a Lot.  The hexagon shape was stamped using a Studio Calico/Hero Arts hexagon cling stamp which I fussy cut out.  The swirls come from a Recollections stamp set and the Gratitude sentiment was fussy cut and raised using foam squares.  All stamping was done using my Faded Jeans Distress Ink.

Andie

That's How We Roll

I had mentioned in previous posts that Brandy and I recently attended the CK Scrapbook Convention in Mesa, AZ.  I wanted to send a card that expressed my gratitude and enjoyment of the weekend.  Inspired by our Heartfelt Creations classes, I whipped out my Posy dies and cut some of the scraps from the MME The Sweetest Thing- Tangerine paper pack I picked up at the convention.  The flower center is made from the smallest flower  and all flowers are shaped using the Heartfelt Creations stylus and mat.  I also decided to use my new Simon Says Stamp Tilted Banners stamp and coordinating dies for the sentiment.  This set was featured in my recent online card class, Patterned Play, and was designed by Kristina Werner.  The die cuts out the banner with score lines to fold and tilt the sentiment just right.  Here I decided to only adhere the ends of the sentiment to give some dimension and lift the banner off the page to go with the 3D flowers.

Inside I layered some strips of paper and stamped the posy from the Heartfelt Creations stamp set using my Ripe Persimmons Distress Ink.  All papers are edged with this same ink. 

I already sent this little gem to Brandy with a handwritten note inside.  Best friends are simply precious and I don't tell her enough.  Mark one in the "let her know" column.

I've entered this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Happy Mail challenge.   I think this totally qualifies.  Go ahead, make a card and join the fun!

Word Art Wednesday- Challenge #78 Anything Goes challenge.  

Andie

Happy May Day!

That's right, it is May 1st again and an opportunity for celebrating the coming of May.  I've posted before about May Day and the tradition of giving May Baskets.   I think I've successfully transferred this tradition on to my children.  Whether they actually keep the tradition going remains to be seen.  I don't think they have a single friend (other than Keri's kids, check out the post linked above) who knows what a May Day Basket is or not. 

This year's baskets are minimalist designed.  Softball consumes a great deal of time, so the opportunity to make embellishments for these little babies is preciously small. 








I'd made up some of the Delicate Asters using my stamps and dies from Heartfelt Creations.  I layered two of the small, medium and larger flowers to create these full flowers.  A little Crystal Accents and some glitter added some sparkle to my basket.  The basket is a colored plastic cup that I punched a hole in each side and bent a floral wire up and around to make a handle.  The sentiment came from last year's (see link in first paragraph) baskets that I colored a teal blue in Word.  I cut the circles using my *very old* Making Memories circle cutters.  Brandy gave her's away at the CK convention and it made me think, either use it or lose it.  I really enjoyed the using, so I think I'll just use it as I'm not quite ready to lose it. 

The insides are filled with some traditional goodness.  Red licorice is usually the handle for the basket, but I couldn't bear to leave out.  Popcorn and malted milk balls are also a traditional favorite.  A couple of Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pops just to see if we can find out how many licks it does take.  I am missing the pixy sticks, might stop on the way home to pick some up to include in those made later today. 

Happy May Day!  Hope yours was special (or at least marked by your own kind of celebration).

Andie