Friday, August 30, 2013

Moxie Fab Challenge: Ombre Effect

Happy Friday!

Any plans for your 3 day weekend?  Hopefully lots of crafting for me, and you. :) 
Well folks, I'm giving it another try.  I'm entering another Moxie Fab Challenge.  Here is the inspiration picture:

Honoring Ombre
Doesn't it just look DECADENT?!  And elegant?  When I first saw this picture I thought, "Oh, no way.  This is beyond my skills."  Well, actually just about everything else is, too.  :-)   But then I noticed that I had ribbon of similar colors.  So I decided to play around and see what I came up with.  And here is the final result.

 
 
 



I tend to stick close to the challenges.  Sometimes a little to literal.  Can you tell? :)  But the whole inspiration photo inspired me from the colors to the pedestal tray to the butterfly.

I placed ribbon diagonally.  For the butterfly, I traced the shape onto a piece of debossed paper & fussy cut it. (The paper reminds me of the swirls on the butterfly.)  Then I inked it with Versa Mark ink, poured lavender embossing powder over it, and heat set it.  Next, I stamped the sentiment (from Plaid- a very old set) and added the pearls for the final touch.

What about you?  Did you create anything for the Moxie Fab Challenge (moxiefabworld.com)?  If not, give it a try and see what you come up with. 

Supplies: cardstock, debossed paper, ribbon, glue, pearls (David Tutera), Versa Mark Ink, embossing powder, heat gun, sentiment (Plaid)

Thank you for stopping by and for keeping me company.

Happy Crafting,
Angie

ETA: Adding this to the Moxie Fab Challenge: Honoring Ombre.


Wednesday, August 28, 2013

And the Envelope Goes to.....

Hello!!

How are you fabulous folks doing?  Well, in my previous post I mentioned that I was cleaning and rearranging my craft/guest/storage room.  I'm not quite done with it, so I haven't been crafting up a storm yet.  But I was itching to do something "creative" last night.  And I needed something that was quick, simple and didn't require too many tools.  And that's when an idea came to mind: envelopes! :) 

I always feel that my cards are incomplete without an envelope.  When my honey requests a card for a coworker or I give one, we never use an envelope.  The ones I have aren't the correct size.  But last night I discovered a site that has templates for different envelopes.  Yipppeeee!!!!  Now, I'm sure most or all of you have been creating your own envelopes since forever.  But mine never came out the right size.  So here is the link for those of you who might want it: http://www.creativebloq.com/design/envelope-templates-2131850.

And the envelope goes to: pattern paper envelopes.

Here is the stack I made using various pattern papers. 



Here are some pictures of individual envelopes.
Front side (Top).  Back side (bottom)


 Back side (Top).  Front side (bottom)



 Back side (Top).  Front side (bottom)


 
 Supplies: pattern paper, template of envelope, scissors, glue, bone folder, ruler.  You could use a foam pad when scoring the lines, but not required.
 
The template I used for these ones is from Jessica Jones at   howaboutorange.blogspot.co.uk
 
No more naked, I mean, incomplete cards!  ;)  Thank you so much for your visiting me today. 
 
Happy Crafting,
Angie
 
 


Monday, August 26, 2013

Hello Hummingbird

Hello Crafty Friends!

How many of you are lucky enough to have your very own craft room?  I constantly dream of having an inspiring, spacious craft room.  Currently, my craft room is also a guest room and a storage room.  It is very crowded and tiny.  And I am very limited as to what I can do in our apartment.  Needless to say, I have not been feeling inspired or creative for a while.  So I finally got fed up & decided to rearrange things.  Thankfully, my hubby was off to help me with the heavy duty lifting.  It's not quite finished, but I am beginning to feel the creative juices flow. :)  I tell you all this because in the midst of rearranging the room and lack of inspiration, I only have one card to share with you today.


I colored the hummingbird and flower with watercolor pencils.

 
Supplies: cardstock, ribbon, watercolors, bird stamp from Inkadinkado, sentiment from Calligraphy Stamps, David Tutera pearls from his Bridal Collection  
 
 
I hope that wherever you craft you are feeling inspired.  And I thank you so much for stopping by!
 
Happy Crafting,
Angie

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Cool thoughts & Gift Wrapping

Howdy Y'all!

Feeling hot, hot, HOT.  The sun continues to blaze & burn here.  So if I can't have cool weather, I might as well think cool thoughts.  :)  And my recent stamp goodies help me do just that. 
For this card, I sponged the "ice pond" using Color Box Chalk Ink.  The penguin, snowflakes, & sentiment are all from Recollections.  And I love me a little sparkle, so I added blue glitter glue to the snowflakes.  The penguin's hat & ice skates were colored using watercolor pencils.  I used pop dots to adhere the picture to the card base.


Supplies: Recollections stamp set, chalk ink, glitter glue by Martha Stewart, watercolor pencils, sponge, pop dots.

Here is a simple little snow tag that uses the same snowflake stamp as the card.  The center stamp is also from Recollections.

 
 
 
 

Ok, now on to the gift wrapping.  One of my dear friends asked if I could decorate a little basket for a bridal shower.  The bride-to-be's favorite color is brown.  And I've had this brown ribbon for YEARS, so now I can finally use it. 

 
For the tag, I used a paisley pattern paper & stamped it using American Crafts wedding collection set.  I also stamped the tissue paper with the same stamp as the tag & added gold dots.
 
 
Supplies: Fabric Fancies flowers, Sheer Creations ribbon, paisley pattern paper, gold & black ink, American Crafts Wedding Stamp set.  Others: glue gun, glue dots, pencil eraser (for the dots)
 
Thanks for hanging in there through this long post.  I appreciate your company. :)
 
Happy Crafting,
Angie 
 



Tuesday, August 20, 2013

BOO! and Christmas Trees

Hello All,

I hope everyone had a good back-to-school day yesterday.  Everyone I spoke to said it turned out better than expected.  Let's hope it stays that way throughout the year.  :)
Cath at the Moxie Fab World has posted some Christmas card and tag challenges.  But I decided to make a Halloween card since it arrives first. I rarely buy items for Halloween, so I didn't have much to add to my card. 
 



Supplies: black and orange cardstock, Doodlebug die-cut eyes, pattern paper, Martha Stewart glitter glue, sewing machine


I continue to experiment with my watercolors & watercolor pencils.  So here is a little Christmas tag using watercolors & the crayon resist technique.  I stamped the trees and colored the ornaments with watercolor pencils.  I used a white crayon for the clouds and white glitter for the snow.




Supplies: Recollections stamp, watercolors, watercolor pencils, Martha Stewart glitter glue

I guess I better make dinner so I'll close. :)  Thank you for stopping by!

Happy Crafting,
Angie

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Important Dates


Happy Saturday!!

Summer is ending but not in my town!!  Still blazing hot here.  So I am content to stay indoors & craft.  Well, today I would like to share a little creation that I made to help me remember important stuff.  I use to have a good memory.  Then I started college and all my important information (birthdays, baptisms, anniversaries) got crowded out of there, hehe.  I have missed waaaaayyyy too many important events, so I needed to have a way to remember those dates.  Enter my "Party Time (Important Dates)" Flip Book.  I do have an address book that has a section for birthdays.  But I RARELY use it.
I wish I could say this idea was ALL mine. :)  But I actually got the idea from Eva Pizzaro's blog at evascrap.blogspot.com.  She is another fabulous crafter!
 
Here is the cover.  I drew the balloons by free-hand, so they aren't perfect.  Neither is much else.  :p 
Cover
 

 The butterfly & balloons were painted with watercolors.

 
 
I created a page for each month.
 


I think this is much cuter than my old, ugly address book.  Now I BETTER not forget any more important events.
 
Supplies: chipboard, tan cardstock, pattern paper (for banners), Radiant Rain Shimmering Mist, TCW template, cupcake stamp, watercolors, pink glitter glue, clear letter stickers, & ribbon
 
Thanks so much for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
 
Happy Crafting,
Angie
 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Another Watercolor Card & Xmas tag

Hello Fabulous Crafters!

Today I am sharing another watercolor card.  It's a simple one, but I am enjoying playing around with this techniqueFirst, I painted my stamps with the watercolor & stamped them.  Then I inked only the edges of the stamp with a similar stamp pad color & stamped over the watercolor image.  I learned this technique from Erin Lincoln (I just can't remember her webpage.  Yikes!).  The sentiment is from My Favorite Things. 


Here is another little Christmas tag that I made.  I was playing around with the bow trying to figure out how to place it.  But in the process, I ended up cutting too much of the ends.  Oh well, live and learn. 


Gotta run to a birthday party!  That's why I'm short on words, but thank you SOOO much for stopping by.

Happy Crafting,
Angie

Monday, August 12, 2013

Tags & Watercolor

Howdy Folks!

Well, I mentioned in my previous post that I am experimenting with watercolors.  So today I have another card using watercolors.  Now, I will confess that I am not an artist.  I inherited my father's drawing abilities (He's great with stick figures.  Sorry dad).  :-)  It's kind of sad when I'm illustrating a concept for my students & they end up more confused!  :-P  (I guess I should have taken the art class instead of drama.)...

For this card, I traced a die-cut of a butterfly.  Then I painted it with a turquoise watercolor. After it dried, I cut it out & added some glitter glue, which I like, but I also discovered that the glue actually makes the watercolor fade!!!  Guess I won't be doing that again!  Then I stamped 3 flowers & colored them in with watercolor pencils.  The sentiment is from My Favorite Things.



For those of you who are Moxie Fab World followers, you know that Cath has several challenges going on.  One of the challenges is holiday gift tags.  So I created a little tag, but I am too sheepish to submit it.  (Have you seen all those fantastic submissions!!!)  But I will share it with you.  :)


 
 I used cute snowflake stamp from Stampendous! & a paper punch from Martha Stewart.

Thanks so much for stopping by & have a wonderful week.

Happy Crafting!
Angie



Friday, August 9, 2013

Blue Sympathy

Happy Weekend!

I am addicted to Pinterest & craft blogs!!  Thought I would start with a little confession first. :P   I can't believe the amount of HOURS I spend on those sites.  But in my defense, they are addicting & they just hypnotize you.  :)   Ok, maybe not hypnotize but they sure captivate my attention.  And I continue to be amazed at the creativity & techniques that crafters use.  I tend to stick to stamps, patterned paper, & ribbon.  At times I also use my sewing machine.   

So I decided to experiment with other techniques and I have to say that I was frustrated at times & giddy at others.  I'm trying to figure out how to "age" paper without using coffee, tea, or others items that destroy the archival-quality of the paper.  I welcome any ideas you may have.

Another new technique I tried is watercolor.  I added some watercolor to watercolor paper & after it dried, I embossed it with a Tim Holtz embossing folder.  I was trying to create an ombre effect with the watercolor.  And of course, I added ribbon & a stamp sentiment. 


There you have it- my first card with watercolor.  I would love to hear about your favorite technique(s).

Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend.
Angie

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge!!

Hello All,


Today I'm sharing a card that I'm entering in the CAS-ual Fridays Button Challenge.  Can you believe this is my FIRST time using buttons on a project?  That's right- first button project.  And can you believe I had a hard time with those little things??!!  They kept slipping, falling, & couldn't get the needle through the right area.  But I'm not giving up buttons.  :)

I used a Unity Stamp by Bella Blvd. & glitter from Martha Stewart.  And since the knots under the buttons created a gap, I used pop dots to add some dimension. 


Glitter detail.



cfc111

If you're itching to join their fun challenge, here is the link.
http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much for stopping by.

Happy Crafting,
Angie

Monday, August 5, 2013

Teacher Projects

Hello Everyone,

I'm sad that summer is coming to an end soon (except the heat).  However, Fall is my favorite season.  It is also the beginning of school!!  So today I would like to share a couple projects for a teacher or anyone who likes cute, flowery stuff.  They can also be made with masculine or sports patterned paper for the male teachers/coaches.  (And female coaches!) :)
First, let me confess that I wasn't bright enough to remove the top clip before adding the paper.  So there's a little gap in between the paper & the clip (Shhh, that's why I kept this one). 
    




Please ignore the Mod-Podge glare in the pictures.  It really doesn't look that bright unless I hold a BIG light above it.  :0

I originally wanted to create cards or a layout with these papers, but they were too pretty for me to let go off.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Crafting,
Angie

Friday, August 2, 2013

Moxie Fab Card Challenge!!

Moxie Fab Card Challenge!!


Hello Y'all!!!

I hope you are enjoying your summer because school starts soon!!!!  YIKESSSSSS.  I am so NOT ready.  I can just hear all parents across America scream- "Yipppeeee, school starts soon!!"  And I can hear all the teachers scream- "Nooooo, school starts soon!!!"  Where has my vacation gone??!!

Well, I will try and enjoy the little bit that's left....  A few post back, I mentioned that I was entering the Moxie Fab World birthday sketch challenge.  I created a card for it, but I wasn't completely satisfied with the first one.  The card has to be made using the sketch provided.  And the challenge was to create a birthday card using all stamps OR no stamps.  This is Betsy Veldman's sketch, a truly talented crafter.

Betsy Veldman's sketch

So I tried again, and this is version #2 of my interpretation of the sketch.



 A closer look at the detail

I embossed the white section with a Tim Holtz embossing folder from the Post Card & Sheet Music set.  I added floral embellishments from Recollections & heart brads, also from Recollections.  Then I added some stitching around it.   Here is the link if you're itching to join.  :)http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2013/07/birthday-creations-week-birthday-sketch.html

Thanks for stopping by & have a great weekend.

Happy Crafting,
Angie