Serene Love

Earlier this month, I made 3 cards using the Serene Love designer papers.  They were a special offering from Stampin Up and I got them on the Last Chance list.

For my first card, I made a frame with the papers using a couple of rectangle dies.  I cut out the flowers and added a couple of sprigs to match.  I like to keep the colors to a minimum because I like the cohesive look it gives to the cards.  

The "friend" cut out is from Friends for Life.  I love how it adds to the card!

My next card has a circle cut out with some designer paper taped behind it to create a focal point.  The flowers are fussy cut from the paper and then I added some sprigs from various die cuts to complete the card.  Funny thing is even though it is called "stamping class," there isn't much stamping at all on these cards, just the sayings.

My next card is a horizontal card with some designer paper at the bottom and a fancy die cut row to give it some pizzazz.  The circle is from Spotlight on Nature dies and then I added some sprigs and flowers.  

I love how these cards came out.  There are 2 other colors (navy blue and light green) in the Serene Love paper pack so maybe I'll make some cards using the rest of the papers.  

What do you think of them?  You could pretty much use any flowered papers to make similar cards.  

 

More Drawstring Bags

 The drawstring bags are easy and fun to make!  Here's one with some pretty coneflower fabric that I love.  Pinks and greens are one of my go-to color combinations.  

This next one features a little hen house on a farm.  You can use any image or panel for the front of the bag.  I have a lot of whimsical fabrics - now is a great time to use them.  :)

This one with the bunny came out kind of plain.  It needed some ribbon or rick rack to spice it up.  It was one of the first ones that I made.  Now I know better.  

Here is a more subtle colored bag.  Made with soft blues and pinks.  I love using up my older fabrics to make something pretty.  

Which one do you like?  

Drawstring Bags with a Sewing Theme

For my quilt guild meeting this month, I made a sewing-themed drawstring bag.  I found a cute image of a sewing machine on one of my fabrics and then added some button fabrics, word fabric, checkered ribbon and some measuring tape ribbon.  I finished it off with a crocheted flower and button.

 It measures about 7.5 x 9.5 inches.  I made up my own pattern and had so much fun making this!

Like most craft projects, you can't make just one.  So I made another one.  This one doesn't have a sewing machine, but some other sewing images on it.  I scrounged around and found some assorted ropes for the drawstrings.

When I made another sewing machine one, I noticed that I forgot to put the measuring tape and ribbon on it when it was too late.  But it still came out cute.  I gave these away to a couple of my sewing buddies.

The next day I went into my sewing room and made more from some different fabrics, this time with lighter colors.  They don't take super long to make and they are a lot of fun.  I will be giving these two away, also.  

I forgot to make one for myself so guess I'll just have to keep at it.  LOL

To Market

This weekend I was playing around with the papers from the "To Market" suite.  I didn't get the stamp set or the cut-outs for this set, so I worked on making a stamp class with just the papers.

For this first card, I fussy cut the totes and the flowers, the carrots and the onion from the papers.  I somewhat copied the sample that is listed on the website for this set.  I added some cut outs from Country Birdhouse to embellish the brown tote bag.  Okay, I just love this card!  So let's see what else we can do with these papers.  :)

For this card (isn't it pretty?) I cut out the barrel and the flowers from the designer papers.  I added a fancy frame cut out that I had and I love how it really highlighted the bushel of flowers.  I added more of the little flowers for embellishment.  So sweet.  :)

I have to admit, I would probably never use Pumpkin Pie cardstock with the purple that is in the papers, but because they are contrasting colors, I think these cards look cool.  This card is a book fold and the cut out is from Sentimental Park.  And of course, I just added more flowers from Country Flowers dies.  

After making these cards, I just wanted to make more!  But I had other things to do.  So for now, this is my rendition of going "to the Market."  

I'm sad that all of these sets are leaving - To Market, Country Birdhouse and Country Flowers and Sentimental Park.  They are some of my favs.  

 

Grow With Love and a Tri-Color Background

For this stamping class, I used the set, Grow with Love, a new online offering with pretty herbs.  To make the cards, I chose three different designer papers that went together and cut them a little bit larger than 5"x 3 3/4."  Like this:

You can see that I selected 2 sheets of blue and one piece of soft gray papers for my card backgrounds.

These papers are from Country Lace.  But you can use any papers that you have.

Once you have selected your papers, line them up all together and using your cutter, generously slice one of the corners off of all three of your papers. 

Keeping them all together, make another cut all the way to the opposite corner.

Here's what my papers looked like when I was done:

Once I was done cutting, I matched them all up like a puzzle with each card front looking a little bit different.  Then I adhered them onto a matching piece of cardstock that measures 5 1/4" x 4."  Then add this piece to your card base.  

This will give your cards variety and all three will be a matching set.

For this card, I used blue, gray and some soft greens for add-ons.  I cut a piece of white and embossed it for the focal point.  There's a little piece of vellum behind the saying to give the card some depth and interest.  

For my second card, I cut out a circle die from Spotlight on Nature.  Then I added some blue stamped images and a gray sprig.  This technique works well for making both the vertical and horizontal cards.

Next up, I added some coral and Pale Papaya colors to contrast with the blues.  The white focal cut-out is from Grow with Love.  I found some small coral butterflies as embellishments.

This next card also had some corals on it for contrast.  Once you start making these cards, you won't be able to stop!  There are so many possibilities of how to use the tri-color background.

Let me know if you try this out.  I got the idea from one of the demonstrators online.  Let me know if you know the name so I can give the credit.  

 

Making Nests

This month my friend Cindy came to stay with me for a week.  She came into town for a wedding that we both attended and then we had a whole week to make some crafty things. :)

Cindy's style is a bit different from mine and she helped me make some spring nests.  We went around to some craft and thrift stores to find items to put the nests on and to put in in the nests.

These two were pretty much my favorites.  I placed a small nest onto a wooden block (ornament size that I picked up in Michaels).  I added some moss, a couple of flowers, an egg and a little tag.  

I used the glue gun and a lot of glue. LOL

I like how the colors came together for these - pinks, soft blue, greens and turquoise.  

The little mushrooms are from Cracker Barrel.  They are salt and pepper shakers.  Don't they look cute among the nests?

At one of the thrift shops, I found a little pink depression glass ladle.  I thought it was so cute but I wasn't sure what to do with it.  It was Cindy's idea to put a little nest in it.  So that's what I did and I just love how it came out! 

This is my #1 favorite nest.  What else would I have done with the ladle?  Now it's a cute little spring display piece.

Once I started making these little nests (and a lot of mess I'll have to say), I just couldn't stop!  Here are a few of the vases and cups that I picked up from the thrift shop.  The nests look so cute on them!  

I tried to find little birds for the nests, but couldn't find any this time.  I guess I'll be on the lookout for some because I've got a lot more things to put in some more nests.

One year I had the idea of putting them on the Christmas tree.  And then I could make the fabric birds as ornaments, too.  Maybe next year.  

All in all, I made 12 nest projects.  There's a candle stand, some nests in jars, vases, cups, on little wooden slices and one in the depression glass ladle!  

What do you think of these?  A bit different from my usual crafting.  

 

Mixed Florals Reprise

Remember these cards that I made using the Mixed Florals?  Last week I had some ladies over from my Bible study to make a card.

Because there were eight ladies all learning to make a card, I showed them how to use the Q-tip technique for coloring in the flowers.  Just dab the q-tip into a stamp pad and then use it like a paint brush.  Then they didn't have to wait for the markers.  I have to say, I love the Q-tip look!  It looks like water coloring, only easier and you don't have to have water at your stamping station.

To prepare for the class, I stamped and cut out the tulip image for everyone.  Then each guest got to choose the background paper that they wanted on their card.  Some choices were the colorful tulips, a gray stripe or a purple stripe.  

Here's a card made using the purple stripe for the background.  I ended up with a lot of card supplies left over (I had planned for 12) so I just kept making more cards with the tulips.  

What an easy card to make that can be used for most any occasion.  Seriously, I just want to make more!