Every Day Is Magical

There is a fine line in the world of paper crafting. It's a line you get more accustomed to the more time you devote to your crafting. Nonetheless, it's a line that whether you are a beginning crafter or a very experienced one, you deal with on nearly every project. The line? When is too much too much? As crafters and souls obsessed with sparkly things, we tend to love our embellishments--perhaps a bit too much. Knowing when a project is done or needs just "a little something" is in the end a matter of personal taste and artistic vision. I know that I've been guilty of overdoing a design or using one too many embellishments. Sometimes, too much can be a good thing and you'll discover an odd color combination or a surprisingly appealing excess of bling that you might not have otherwise discovered unless you allowed yourself the freedom to let go and experiment. In the end, it is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Don't be afraid to try new things, mix different textures and elements, play with odd color combinations--because it your art and your expression. Not everyone has to "get it" every single time. Being creative means coloring outside of the lines now and again.

This particular card project is a fine example of trying to find the point where you tow the line and say, "This is done...or maybe...".



To start the project, I chose the following papers to work with:

(1) 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Stampin' Up! cardstock in Rich Razzleberry

(1) 4" x 5" piece of SEI cardstock from the 'Jolie Chocolat' collection

(1) 3 3/4" x 4 1/4" piece of Stampin' Up! cardstock in Whisper White

(1) 4" x 5 1/4" pice of Stardream Fuse Mica cardstock in Amethyst

The Rich Razzleberry cardstock is my card base and is scored at 4 1/4" to create an A2 card size. The Whisper White cardstock is my stamping and embossing base. I used the Stampin' Up! scalloped edge punch on the top of the cardstock. The two stamps I used (fairy and sentiment) are from Unity Stamp Co. I heat embossed the fairy image with a silver tinsel embossing powder after stamping it in Versamark. The sentiment was heat embossed with a fine black embossing powder.



Next, I used my ATG714 adhesive gun to adhere the decorative SEI cardstock to the front of my folded card base.



Before adhering my embossed mat to the decorative cardstock, I thought it would be fun to use my Ranger ink blending tool and some Tsukineko Dew Drop ink in Lilac Posies to ink the edges of my stamped piece. The replaceable sponge pads on the tool are really wonderful to work with and give you so many different looks and techniques to try.




At this point, I seriously considered stopping. It was a nice card and very colorful. Yet, something still gnawed at me. After looking at it for a while, I decided it needed another pop of "oomph" to really meet the standard of being magical. My eye zoned in on the top flower of the embossed image and decided it needed more interest, bigger presence. The solution was to take three die-cut flower images and layer them with Stampin' dimensionals to create an image that leapt off the card front. A bit of glitter, a Prima pearl in the center, and a chocolate heart stick pin and now the fairy really had something magical to gaze upon.





Finally, because of the deep color of the Rich Razzleberry cardstock, I adhered the piece of Stardream Fuse Mica cardstock to the interior to have a place to write a note or sentiment.




As always, thanks for stopping by....and may your days be filled with magic always!

Note Card File Prototype

The project I'm sharing today is one that I've been working on for a while now. This is actually the fourth prototype I've created continually tweaking the design. I was inspired by all of the envelope albums that seem to be in vogue right now.

I knew I didn't want to create an album per se. I was interested in taking the "pouch system" created with the envelopes and adapting it to a type of holder or file system. I originally thought it would be a cute idea to use as gift packaging for a set of personalized note cards. However, after working with the design for a while now, I think this would be a great design to hold tags, photos, gift certificates or coupons.

The main problem I encountered was coming up with an appropriate closure system. Previous versions used a hook and loop closure, a constructed tab closure, and a button closure. Through trial and error, I've decided the most effective (and best looking) closure was made by using simple eyelets and ribbon.

The base for this project was a piece of thin chipboard measuring 11" in length and 5" in width. I scored the chipboard piece at 5 1/4" and 5 7/8". This creates the spine of your book, which measures 5/8" in width.

With the interior structure of the folder created, I chose a lovely patterned paper from SEI's 'Oasis' collection to cover my chipboard with. I allowed a 1/4" overhang allowance on all sides of my covers to allow for the paper to wrap over the edges and be adhered to the interior backing of the chipboard. I used separate cut pieces to cover the front and back covers and the spine.

At this point I punched holes on each side of the covers and set eyelets to hold my ribbon closure. For the actual ribbon, I used some 1/2" Stampin' Up! silk ribbon in Old Olive. By threading each piece of the ribbon through the eyelet and then using my ATG 714 adhesive, I taped the ribbon to the interior raw chipboard. Not only does this allow you to anchor your closure, but it allows you to hide the backsides of your eyelets and the ends of your ribbon. I then used the same decorative paper to cover the inside panels of my folder book.

For the actual accordian fan folders, I used some Stampin' Up! A2 sized Kraft envelopes. I took four envelopes and sealed them. Then I cut 2 1/2" off each end of the envelopes to create the eight pockets used to create my filing system. To create the fan file, I used two strips of ATG adhesive in the center of each of the envelope pockets, adhering the back of one pocket to the front of the next. Once all eight pockets are adhered to one another, all that is left to do is adhere the pocket bundle to your chipboard covers. I covered the front of the first envelope pocket and the back of the last pocket and attached them to my cover.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the results. I might work on a couple other design modifications, but the basic folder shape is there and it is very functional. [TIP: A cute Valentine's Day idea for a project like this is to create eight coupons to place in your file folders (e.g., "redeem for one kiss", "redeem for a massage", "redeem for a candlit dinner", etc.)]

Picturesque

After an internal battle with my will and common sense ended in gory defeat, I finally succumbed to this itch that has been plaguing me for nearly two months and begrudgingly (with a slice of giddiness) gave in an purchased the illusive Cricut cartridge 'Picturesque' on the secondary market. It goes without saying that this has become my most expensive cartridge yet (replacing 'Potpourri Basket').

Finally, it came down to a simple matter of supply. It does appear (via information from a well-placed source) that ProvoCraft will NOT be making 'Picturesque' available for individual sale any time in the near future. Originally, paired with a champagne-colored Expression, 'Picturesque' was to be an exclusively bundled cartridge to Home Depot. However, a contractual problem occurred and the deal fell threw. It is my understanding that the rumored 300-500 bundles were sold to a warehouse club--and were quickly broken up to sell on the secondary market by some savvy consumers. My source says that the cartridge will reappear in a new set of exclusive machine bundles that will be exclusive to a major retailer in approximately the same quantity. The retailer has been chosen, but has not been officially announced. Meanwhile, there are no plans through 2010 to offer 'Picturesque' as a solo cartridge.

In my opinion, that really is a great shame as this is a bursting-at-the-seams chock-full content cartridge. The artwork by Noralee Peterson is intricately detailed and filled with decorative flourishes and embellished elements. The cartridge features the following creative features: tags, corners, frameworks, cards and seals, shadow and blackout on over 99 individual pieces of artwork. Among the images included are: florals, dragonflies, butterflies, birds, nests, swans, vines, scallops, celtic knot elements, greek key elements, and iron work elements.

Here are a few photographs of some of the elements from the enclosed handbook:







My first project using 'Picturesque' was a quick greeting card. The three lighter blue cardstock pieces (card base, mat, and die cut) are all Bazzill cardstock from a Fourz pack with a grasscloth texture. The mat cardstock was punched with an EK Success border punch called "Swiss Cheese". The backing paper on the diecut tag is an SEI glitter cardstock. The "love" sentiment was cut on the Making Memories Slice (from the 'Think Pink' card) out of silver foiled SEI cardstock. The actual diecut tag I chose to cut on my Cricut Expression is called "cotton blossom" and was cut at 4" (Shift + Tag). The polka-dot ribbon is from Papertrey Ink's "Enchanted Evening" collection and the mabe pearl accent is from the Stampin' Up! Pretties kit. I used my ATG 714 adhesive to assemble the card. The inner sentiment is from a Stampin' Up! Sale-a-Bration stamp set entitled 'Whimsical Words' (#119119). Finally, I used a Martha Stewart corner rounder punch to shape the final card.









With the addition of 'Picturesque' to my cartridge library (and Gypsy), I am now only down three cartridges of all that have been released thus far: 'Keystone International', 'Don Juan International', and 'Pink Journey'. As always, the search continues...

Well, I was rather wordy today. I hope you enjoyed the peek at 'Picturesque'. If you have a way to add it to your collection, I highly recommend it. It really is a beautiful set of images.

As always, have a terrific Friday ahead...and keep crafting!

Butterflies Are Free

I know it's not proper etiquette to rave about your own work, BUT...I LOVE this card. It started out as something entirely different and morphed into what you see below. It features a new Stampin' Up! exclusive Sizzix Embosslits die that was just introduced in the new 2010 Occasions Mini Catalog.

The die is called 'Beautiful Wings' (#118138, $ 11.95) and it cuts and embosses four different delicate butterfly diecuts. Measuring a scant 2 1/4" x 2 1/2", this must have die will fit into anyone's collection (lol). The A2 sized card below was made from a sheet of DCWV 'Latte' cardstock. The mat is from the gorgeous SEI collection entitled 'Jolie Chocolate'. Throw in a little tea staining, glitter, a corner rounder and you have a card with implied motion, dimension and joyful charm.

Now, pardon my overindulgence in the photography department. (Oh, and just a friendly reminder: If you are ever looking for any Stampin' Up! products, feel free to check out my on-line boutique.









Wherever the day takes you, flutter your wings...and create! Keep crafting!

Give'm That Ol' Razzle Dazzle...

If you are anything like me, you're submersed in the wonderful world of gift wrapping, last-minute gifts, and decorating every nook and cranny of your home...and loving every second of it. Somehow, in all the madness, I've still found a few minutes here and there to work on a few projects (and of course, buy more supplies). We even had a surprise light dusting of snow on the grounds as December rolled in. It's been years since we've had an honest-to-goodness White Christmas in my neck of the woods, but a boy never stops dreaming.

For today's quick card project, I have to say that I'm slightly disappointed that I didn't have more time to fidget with the camera to try and get some better shots of this card. It was my first time experimenting with the Stampin' Up! Heat & Stick Powder and the Dazzling Diamonds glitter. Let me just assure you that these pictures do a poor job of getting the glitz across. If you are a bling junkie, you really need to play with some of these wonderful powders and potions.

The base of this A2-sized card is a piece of decorative cardstock from SEI's 'Glitzmas' collection. I used a 4 1/2" x 4" piece of Stampin' Up! Whisper White cardstock to create the mat for the card. Both the card base and mat had the corners removed with the SU! Ticket Corner punch.

I ran my white cardstock through my Sizzix Big Shot using the "Christmas Ornaments" Cuttlebug embossing folder. I then used a sponge dauber to apply Tsukineko Memento ink in "Lady Bug" to the embossed front. After the ink was set, I used a VersaMark pad to coat the raised portions of the embossing. Then it was time to sprinkle with Heat & Stick powder and get out the heat gun. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but the powder applies wonderfully and melts with minimum heat. As soon as my adhesive powder was melted, I scooped some Dazzling Diamonds glitter across the top, shook off the excess and reheated a bit for a final set.

For the greeting, I used my SU! scalloped circle and circle punches, pieces of Riding Hood Red and Whisper White cardstock, some Tsukineko ink in "Cottage Ivy" and a stamp from the Stampin' Up! set 'Holiday Best'. (If you'll notice, I sort of missed the mark on my stamping job--but I convinced myself that it gave the piece the illusion of being a round ornament, lol). Sometimes mistakes do add a bit of charm to the finished project--or so I tell myself.






Before I leave you for a pile of bows and tape dispensers, I thought I'd share a sneak peak of a home decor project that I'm working on. I think it's coming along nicely...and I'll share the completed project soon.



Wherever the day finds you, keep warm and more importantly, keep your heart warm...and keep crafting!