Easy Taffeta Flowers Tutorial

I am not that much of a flower person - I love the real things, but in my crafting, I don't use them often.

Part of it might be cost.
Pre-made flowers are EXPENSIVE.
Part of it might be time.
Hand crafting flowers can sometimes take longer than making five layouts.

Today, I was experimenting with a flower for a gift and I stumbled upon magic. They cost almost nothing to make and I finished a bloom in less than 5 minutes. Now that I know how to make them, I can crank out a bloom in 2 minutes flat from beginning to end. Now THAT'S my kind of flower. :)

First, I took some light pink taffeta that's been clogging up my top craft drawer for years. I folded it over about 7 times so I'd have 7 layers. I rooted out my Spellbinders Nested Peony dies and picked out the 2nd and 3rd largest. I die cut the flowers using my Spellbinders Grand Calibur and a piece of cardstock beneath the taffeta - it sometimes helps you get a clean cut when you're working with flimsy fabric.

After I had my layers of flowers, I put them together (I made two flowers, so this one below has 4 layers of large flower taffeta and 3 layers of medium) and fastened them with a pretty fabric brad.

These are pretty just like this, but I wanted to add some distressing. Taffeta reacts VERY easily to heat, so carefully using my heat gun, I blasted the flower until it curled just the way I wanted it. Remember, it reacts very quickly (MUCH faster than heat embossing) so start off slow with the heat gun about 6 inches away. You could probably try a blow dryer for this as well.
Here's the flower after heat blasting it. Again, it's pretty just as it is. I wanted some pink ink on the edges, though. :)
I just used Memento "Rose Bud" ink and it worked well. Easy peasy!
And here is a shot of the project I'm making. I don't want to post all of it though, because certain people might be looking at the blog ;)

Thanks for taking a peek and Merry Christmas!

Winter She Art

Earlier this year, I took Christy Tomlinson's She ARt Workshop. I have shared three already, but I have been wanting to do a winter themed one for a while now. So today, I did it!
I had a lot of fun with the dimensional details on this one. Flocking, glitter, lace, buttons, pom poms, snowflakes and a decorative branch.


If you want to make some She ARts of your own but don't know how, I encourage you to check out Christy Tomlinson's site. Her workshops are a ton of fun!
Thanks for taking a peek!

Cool Color Combo

I got the cutest holiday buttons in a button grab back from Hobby Lobby earlier this fall and I was so excited to pair them with a Papertrey Ink stamped button card! I wanted to play off the sparkly silver, so I used American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. The beautiful ribbon is from May Arts - it's got a pretty sheen to it, but you can't tell very well in the photo.

On another note, I AM DONE for the semester! Just turned in my last final today -ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. :)
Thanks for taking a peek!

Pretty Poinsettia

I bought this stamp set from Flourishes a couple of years ago because I adore elegant poinsettias (Flourishes - "Boxwood & Poinsettia"). This set is really fun for making backgrounds, but it works well as a focal point as well. On this card, I heat embossed the large poinsettia with clear powder on white cardstock. Then I colored in a few spots with a red watercolor pencil and shaded it with a water pen. Then I cut it out and embellished the center with pearls.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Baptism

Today, we are attending a baptism and I wanted to share the card I made for the occasion. I used a thick, opalescent cream cardstock and die cut it using Spellbinders dies - "Cross Collection" and "Fleur de Lis Pendants." I layered two of the crosses with foam dots to get some dimension. The embossed section was embossed with a Cuttlebug 5x7" embossing folder. Afterward, I embellished with a few mini pearls.

This card is deceptively simple to make - I had it finished in less than fifteen minutes (planning included!).
Thanks for taking a peek!

Button Boutique Christmas

Today is the last day of classes for the semester. I have finals week next week and then I'm free until January! Well, as free as a mom and wife can be around Christmas time, I suppose. We have quite a few activities planned! Hopefully we'll get around to making a lot of fun stuff : )

And on that note, I love vintage button cards. (I know, that's not really related, but just try to ignore that.)

Of course, when I saw the Papertrey Ink stamp set called Button Boutique, I knew that I would love it. And I do! I had fun yesterday afternoon making up three different button cards for Christmas cards. This is one of them.
I stamped the button card with two colors of ink (red and green) and then inked it with Antique Linen Distress Ink to give it an aged appearance. With pop dots, I affixed the die cut tree I made using my Spellbinders Nested Tree die set and American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. I added a cute little punched bow on top - this punch was a gift from Japan, so I'm not sure where to find it in the US. It's brand name is Daiso. To finish it off, I adhered buttons as ornaments with Fabri-tac glue.
And here is the finished card. I used paper by MME (Lost & Found Christmas) and some more American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. By the way, if you're looking for a sturdy and GORGEOUS glittered cardstock, I highly recommend American Crafts. It even comes in a variety pack that sells at stores like Hobby Lobby. It's not messy, and as you can see, it die cuts beautifully.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Vintage Christmas

I like to make up several vintage style Christmas cards to sell at the store (Annie Kay & Co in Kearney, NE) because there don't seem to be many around. Vintage Christmas is a very popular theme in decorating, but I don't often see pretty vintage Christmas cards in retail stores.
For this card, I used a traditional vintage image I received from The Paper Dreams Factory. They have tons of gorgeous vintage images for all occasions! They're the real deal too, printed in Germany. The garland of red bows is a trim by May Arts. They have the cutest holiday trims! The embossed paper was made with a Cuttlebug embossing folder and the patterned paper is by MME.
On this card, I used a sheet from Elizabeth Craft Designs. It's all shimmery and rainbow-like, so the embossing really brings that out. It's hard to photograph though, and it looks much better in person. The ornament was made with a Spellbinders Heirloom Ornament 2010 and some Webster's Pages patterned paper. I embellished it a bit with some pearl paint and bronze glitter for a distressed look. The gold bow was actually from a broken Christmas ornament. I couldn't bear to throw it away!

Thanks for taking a peek :)

Wait!

I just wanted to pop in here to let you know that I'm alive and to tell you not to give up on me! It's that lovely time of the semester where all the projects, papers and exams pile on and I've got 4 days left of classes and 3 days of finals before I can officially cut loose with all my creative Christmas craziness! I do have a couple of cards to share with you in the meantime. This one was created using Basically Bare Banners. The buttons (including the rattle) came from a misc. button bag at Hobby Lobby and the paper is from Authentique.
This card was made with my Waltzingmouse stamp set and the snowman is a button from the same bag as I mentioned before. The candy cane rope is from May Arts. All die cuts are Spellbinders and the patterned paper is a Christmas MME stack. The cork is by Quickutz.


Thanks for taking a peek - stay warm!

Past Scrap n' Art Publications

Today, I'm just sharing some cards and a layout that were published in the September issue of Scrap n' Art. The supply lists, tutorials, full articles and contributions from the other Design Team members are still available for viewing in the "Past Issues" section of the Scrap n' Art website (for subscribers). Thanks for taking a peek!

Yee Haw!

That's right, I'm not quite done with those Waltzingmouse western themed stamps.
I had to one with pink!

I love how I can pick and choose which stamps to use to finish off a sentiment. I used 4 different stamps for the above sentiment. On the inside, I used 2.
I love how this all looks with that Authentique "Brilliance" paper. I also used a Papertrey Ink "Parisian Doily" die and American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. the yellow stars on the sentiment are accented with mini pink rhinestones - this card is for a rhinestone cowgirl!
Thanks for taking a peek!

Rootin' Tootin' Merry Christmas

Last week, I was lucky enough to win two western themed stamp sets from the talented Niki Estes - the stamps are Waltzingmouse sets. I was especially excited because I have had my eye on these stamps since they came out. I knew that I wanted to use them in making some western style Christmas cards.

One of the sentiments in the "Back in the Saddle" set reads "Have a rootin' tootin' time," so when I was inking that stamp up, I covered the word "time" with a scrap of paper. Then I was free to change the rest of the sentiment to "Merry Christmas" using another stamp set. I also added the holly from the other set to offset the red.

I die cut it with Spellbinders Labels Eight and then matted it over an oval I had previously stamped with the woodgrain image from the 2nd Waltzingmouse stamp set "Way Out West."
The red cardstock is from American Crafts and I embossed it with a 5x7" Cuttlebug embossing folder before inking over it (Fresh Snow ink by Papertrey Ink).

Of course I couldn't limit myself to just Christmas cards with these sets. I couldn't wait to do a sunset background with the "Way Out West" set! The sentiment was made with both sets (woodgrain & sentiment) and die cut with a Spellbinders Eyelet Squares die.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Beautiful November

Today was gorgeous. The high was about 65 degrees and it was crystal clear and still. It was a great day for a hike, so Levi and I went geocaching in a big park that stretches out into the country. The air smelled sweet and the sunshine was delicious.

We still have some pretty fall colors, but some trees (like the cottonwoods) are completely bare. I did manage to snap a few photos of my favorites a couple of weeks ago, though. This is at our church, St. George Orthodox Church.
I love the contrast between the trees and the sky - it was a perfect day.

This is obviously not showcasing any amazing fall colors, but it is a funny photo of Max under the clean laundry pile. Levi thought it would make him mad to pile it on top of him like that, but he rather seemed to enjoy it and proceeded to take his 4th nap of the day.
OK, now we're back to fall colors. I love how her hair looks with the leaves. I told her she could be a fall pixie.

This week was a fun mail week. I won a blog candy from Niki Estes and she sent me two fantastic western themed stamp sets from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I've made a few cards with them already, but when I went to take photos this afternoon, the camera battery had other plans. So hopefully, I'll have time to post some tomorrow.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Shabby Chic Birthday

When I was a teenager, I wanted nothing to do with pink or anything that looked too girly. I'm glad that I managed to grow past that stage, because there's nothing sweeter than a shabby chic birthday card!
On this card I started out with the paper - The Girls Paperie paper, to be exact. The die cuts are items that I already cut. They were waiting in my "die drawer." I just realized how ominous that sounds.

I embellished them a bit with stamps (Papertrey Ink Doily Details on the oval, Mega Mixed Messages on the banner), gems and ink (Memento Dandelion and Rosebud inks). The butterfly cut was made with American Crafts Glitter Cardstock, so all it needed was a pink button. The lace bow is made with May Arts lace ribbon and I attached it with Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac.

As for the die cuts themselves, they're all from Spellbinders (Standard Ovals, Butterflies 2, Banners).
Thanks for taking a peek!

Penguins

Penguins are adorable. These penguins (Fiskars Winter Wishes stamps) are super adorable. My awesome friend Dayna and her hubby Troy came over this weekend and she got this stamp set from Hobby Lobby. Of course I had to break into it and stamp up some paper before she left.
Pure cuteness.
I anticipate more of them making their way onto winter cards soon.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Vintage Glam

It's been a while since I've blogged - it just seems like I've been incredibly busy. I had Fall break from classes earlier this week and it was wonderful. That also means that this was a short class week which is also wonderful. Then it's back to the same ol', same ol' though until Thanksgiving break. sigh.

I do have a card to share that I made with this beautiful Webster's Pages paper. The glittery chipboard piece comes plain and it's by Want2Scrap. It coordinates with a Spellbinders die that I don't own, so I chose to add glitter. I just used a super fine iridescent glitter, so it sort of plays off the colors that are near it. The two pearl thingys are vintage style buttons I got in a big grab bag at Hobby Lobby. The Thickers are of course by American Crafts and the ribbon is May Arts.

As usual, I'm busy, so I don't have time for more at the moment. Got to get to class and then hurry home to clean up because Alexis's friend is coming over and they have early release from school today. I think we'll be baking cookies this afternoon and doing a craft. Maybe.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Congratulations

I like to make cards that can have more than one use. A Congratulations card can be used for several occasions and I find that the more versatile a card is, the easier it sells. On this card, I die cut the leaves and flowers and layered them with foam adhesive dots. The leaves were cut out of American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. The dies are by Spellbinders (Nested Poinsettia and Foliage Shapeabilities). The paper is from an old Cosmo Cricket collection - I believe it's called "Enchanted." The rub-ons are by Melissa Frances.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Fall Photos

We've been having some nice fall weather and some interesting animal behavior. First up is this sweet little line of kitties that I photographed at my parents' house. It was a little chilly that morning, so when the sun came up, they formed a line so they could enjoy the maximum benefit while still sharing body heat. Pretty smart and very cute :)


We've also been having swarms of butterflies invade the yard. In this photo taken in our front flower bed, there are SIX butterflies on that one plant. Can you spot them all?
We have a bird feeder in the back yard that serves many a meal to the neighborhood chickadees, sparrows, robins and other various birds. Lately, it also seems to be serving fast food to a sneaky squirrel and his sneaky squirrel buddies on the ground. I haven't seen him actually get into this position, but I've seen him eating more than once. He's so greedy, he lets me get within six feet to take his picture.

Nom, nom, nom, nom...


And this is just so you can see how precarious a stunt this really is. How the heck he gets all the way down there UNDER the eaves of the garage is a mystery.
So all in all, it's been an interesting few weeks. :)
Thanks for taking a peek!

Basically Bare

I love to alter chipboard. There is something very satisfying about taking a plain and raw piece and changing it into something else. If you've been following my blog for a while, you might know that I love to make dresses out of ribbons and trim and affix them to plain chipboard dress forms. There are an infinite amount of combinations! The colors, patterns and textures of trim all work together to make a new creation. Not to mention that I can get by without a sewing machine or pattern!

On this card, I used a cutie pie dress form from Basically Bare. They have an AMAZING selection of alterable items made of chipboard, cardboard, stiff felt, canvas and acrylic. This one was perfect for a card, so I started by cutting the pleated May Arts ribbon for the skirt layers. I adhered everything with Beacon Adhesives "Fabri-Tac" - even the gems.

These dresses are so fun because you don't have to worry about perfect seams or edges. Everything is glued onto the back, never to be seen again. They make pretty accents for wedding shower cards, birthday cards, invitations, scrapbook pages, home decor and more.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Leaves are Falling

In Central Nebraska, we don't get much of a fall most years. Sometimes it seems like it's t-shirt and shorts weather right up until it snows. Other years, we get an early hard freeze that kills all the leaves before they have a chance to turn. This year, however, fall has been beautiful so far. The leaves are starting to change to gold and red and we've been having some lovely Indian Summer days with chilly nights. Our tomatoes have been moved to the back porch to avoid any frosts we might get - they're in planters, so moving them is pretty easy. The lawn hasn't been mowed in more than a week and it looks just fine. Right now, I'm sitting in my room with the window open and a crisp, cool breeze is toying with the curtains. All in all, I am enjoying this fall weather.

I love the look of leaves on cards, but using real ones can be pretty tricky. I get a lot of use out of my Spellbinders Nested Maple Leaf set because I can make leaves for spring, summer or fall. It just depends on what colors or materials I use. On this card, I also used half of a Spellbinders Labels Fourteen, American Crafts Thickers, Quickutz adhesive cork, Cosmo Cricket patterned paper scraps and some pearls and a gem.
On this card, I used American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. I just love that shade of yellow! I used a smaller Spellbinders Labels Fourteen die cut along with American Crafts Thickers and Cosmo Cricket "Matilda" chipboard candy corns. Very simple design, but the glitter background really makes it sparkle.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Spellbinders Shapeabilities

I have a lot of fun with my Spellbinders Shapeabilities. I was lucky enough to win a boatload of Spellbinders sets a couple of years ago and I enjoy jazzing them up for holiday cards. Check out this kitty - Micah thought it was the best thing ever. I die cut black American Crafts cardstock - THE BEST for die cutting in my opinion - and embossed it. then I added light green gems after I adhered it to the card. meow!
As for most of the other shapes, I inked over them with white ink (Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow). The light gray tomb was inked with black. The orange is glitter cardstock from American Crafts and it really shows off the black accents. It's hard to tell in the photo, but it's super sparkly.

I just think scenes like this are so fun to make! Thanks for taking a peek :)

My Favorite Pumpkins

I mentioned before that I love pumpkins.

Now, I love the traditional looking pumpkins, but I REALLY enjoy doing the not-so-traditional kind as well. I actually own a set of nested pumpkin dies and I do use them. However, this is how I make my favorite pumpkins - out of eggs!

Yep, these are actually "Nested Egg" dies from Spellbinders. I love cutting out all sorts of lovely Easter eggy goodness in the spring, but these babies pull a double duty by letting me make pumpkins in the fall.

I like to cut out a whole bunch of these, so I use various shades of orange/gold/yellow cardstock and different scraps of patterned papers of the same color scheme. I like to emboss the cardstock pieces for some texture as well. Then, I can take any three I want and create a pumpkin. I position the bottom two first, angling them out slightly and touching a bit. I take the top middle egg and adhere it over the others with foam dots. Then, I cut a but of a stem out of patterned, embossed or glittery green paper. Or - like one card below - I use stuff like gems, buttons, etc.
Sometimes I ink over the embossing and sometimes I leave it plain. The fun part of these is finding out just how many combinations you can come up with!

Thanks for taking a peek :)

Ready or not - here it is!

Well, whether or not I was ready, fall has arrived! We got down in the 30s this week for a low and today was Cccccccoooooold and rainy. I did make time to cook up a whole large squash (one that substitutes for pumpkin) and make a yummy pumpkin spice dessert yesterday. There's nothing quite like fresh cooked pumpkin/squash in a dessert! So much better than canned.

I've been so busy with classes and cards that I haven't had much time to post. I made up a big ol' batch of fall cards and took them into the store this week. I'm in the process of making some really fun Halloween cards for the Scrap n' Art October issue as well. I do have a couple fall cards to share with you today. I have been pulling out the Spellbinders dies and going to town because I won a huge supply of fall/winter dies last summer and I LOVE to use them :) The banners are a new addition and I love them as well!
That pretty bow is made with May Arts ribbon. Isn't it just an amazing color?


Well, hopefully I'll be back soon with more to share - thanks for taking a peek!

September SNA and a chance to win!

Have you seen the newest issue of Scrap n' Art? I spy some Unity stamps, some Want2Scrap, Photojojo and more! There are some really fun tutorials with step by step photos along with reviews. Digi scrappers - don't miss the Pixel Gypsy download! Also, remember to check the SNA blog. We have great projects and features every week for FREE!

I also wanted to point out this chance to win.

http://kwiksurveys.com/?u=consumeradhesives

Be sure to take the survey by the end of the month for a chance to win a Brand New Cricut Expression 2!

The Great Pumpkin

No, I'm still not quite ready to give up summer.

This week, Hobby Lobby tried to entice me to do so with its holiday scented aisles and pretty decor, but I plugged my nose and walked on by. Having a fully stocked Christmas section by mid July is a bit nauseating, but I have to admit that once the fall decor goes up and they bring out all those warm, spicy candles and pumpkins - well, I get a little excited.

I love pumpkins.

I love cinnamon.

I love fall colors.

I love baking and chilly evenings.

*sigh*

Ok, so maybe I can still hold onto summer with one hand and use the other to smell fall candles. I guess I'm wavering a little. I really do like pumpkins a lot.

Here's a little card I made, hoping to get all that fall nonsense out of my system.

It didn't work.

I think I may do more.

Thanks for taking a peek ;)

Supply List:

Pumpkin: Spellbinders Nested Pumpkins dies, Provo Craft Cuttlebug embossing folder (Ornamental Iron), American Crafts cardstock

Tickets: Unity Stamp Co, Cosmo Cricket paper, Memento ink

Stickers: American Crafts Thickers

Card base: American Crafts Cardstock, Cosmo Cricket paper