PATRIOTIC GERANIUM BASKET

Sunday was a sewing day for my mother, sister, and I.  That usually means that I will work on a wool applique project, but it's been so long since we had a sewing day that I couldn't remember what I worked on last.  My task on Saturday evening was to search my applique patterns (I've been "collecting" them for several  years) and choose one for my Sunday project, and I chose the geranium basket designed for the 2017 Summer Mystery Blog Hop by Primitive Gatherings.  By clicking the link, you can read all about it.  My basket doesn't look quite as neat as the designer's, but I'm pleased with it.  HUGE shout-out to my sister for cutting all of those tiny red petals for my geraniums!  I thought about using a die to cut them, but the pattern called for 92.  What???  At the very least, that would have required 46 passes through the die-cut machine since my tiny flower die was a thin one!

The original pattern had embroidery stitches for the red stripes, but I really liked the look of red wool and felt that it made the flag a more prominent feature on this project.  Besides, the last stripe on the U.S. flag is red, and that's what I wanted for mine.  I liked the look of the stitched stars on the blue field (as depicted on the pattern), but I knew that I'd make a hot mess trying to stitch star shapes and used die-cut stars instead.  One of the best things about being a paper crafter and owning a lot of dies is that they can also be used to cut fabric, wool, felt, etc.  Dies were also used to cut the USA letters, which turned out to be too large for my basket and required a different plan.  After finding a new place for the letters, I ended up not wanting to put a geranium under the "U".  I had already stitched a stem there, and covering it with a leaf wasn't quite enough, nor was the chain-stitched skinny stem.  Cue the yellow heart embellished with a Hotfix Swarovski crystal!

I haven't yet decided where this patriotic block will end up.  I am considering stitching it to a pillow cover or I could just finish the edges and display it in my home.  I have even thought about stitching some more patriotic designs to be used in a quilt.  There are many options, of course, but the pillow cover idea is really calling to me.  I'll be sure to post a photo if I decide to do that.

JULY CLASS SWAPS - TUCK N FOLD BOXES

At my June class, one of the projects was this Tuck n Fold box (or maybe it should be called a Fold n Tuck box):

This box was so well-received that we decided to make more of them for our July class swap.  Just look at the beautiful boxes my stampin' friends made:

And these are the boxes that I made for the swap:

This box, which I believe was the brain child of Sam Donald, is such an easy and fun one to make.  Best of all, it can be stored flat until ready to use, and requires no adhesive.  Does it get any simpler than that?

"BEAUTIFUL FRIENDSHIP" NOTE CARDS

I think I have already mentioned that I ❤ the Beautiful Friendship stamp set.  Just look at the gorgeous images and perfect sentiments:

This is one of those sets that you will reach for again and again.  With a lot of stamp sets, you need to have an idea in mind before you begin stamping.  With Beautiful Friendship, you can just start stamping and see where your art takes you.  You would have to try pretty darn hard to make an unsalvageable mess with these stamps!

I was playing creating a few nights ago while watching a movie, and I didn't have any specific design ideas.  A birthday card was needed, and I chose a few ink colors (Grapefruit Grove, Balmy Blue, Mossy Meadow, and Gorgeous Grape) and just started stamping.  

I was so pleased with how well the colors and images worked for the birthday card that I cut a few more pieces of cardstock and whipped up these "a little note" cards:

Of course, I couldn't stop there.  It didn't seem right to send these beauties in naked envelopes, so they got stamped, too.

Other Stampin' Up! products featured on these cards include:

Stamp Set:  Butterfly Gala, Varied Vases

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Balmy Blue

DSP/Specialty:  Gingham Gala (retired), Perennial Essence Vellum

Accessories:  Whisper White Baker's Twine

If this post inspires you, I would really appreciate your business!

"FLOURISHING PHRASES" POP-UP FLOWER BOX

Don't you love it when you need a card idea fast, and Pinterest provides the perfect one--and you didn't have to spend hours searching the boards?  The usual visit to Pinterest might require a snack and drink before you begin, but that wasn't the case for me last night.  I needed a cheery card to send to a cousin who hasn't been feeling well for a couple of weeks.  I knew that I wanted to use the cute turtle from Stampin' Up!'s Back on Your Feet stamp set, and this is what the front of my card looked like:

Too playful with that flower spray?  I'll admit that the two images don't seem to pair all that well, but I wasn't so turned off to the idea that I omitted the sickly turtle.  Hopefully, this card will make my cousin smile, and I'm sure the inside will lift her eyebrows--and maybe her spirits!  

Is this not the cutest pop-up flower box?  The creative genius was France Martin, and I loved her idea to stamp the flower spray on the inside of the card before adhering the pop-up box.  She may have stamped hers using green ink, but I used black and then colored the flowers and leaves with Coastal Cabana, Old Olive, Crushed Curry, and Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Markers.  The Flourish dies were used to cut assorted shapes from Lovely Lipstick, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, and Pear Pizzazz cardstock to fill the pop-up box, which was a piece of Soft Suede cardstock.  I used Soft Suede ink to stamp the Birch background image on the box, which I thought added a lot, and then adhered the decorative die-cut strip from Whisper White cardstock.

This is not the last pop-up flower box that I will make, and I'm pleased to have yet another fun use for the Flourishing Phrases stamp set and Flourish dies!  

Want me to make one of these cards for you?  When you order the stamp set and dies AND use my current hostess code (located in top left sidebar), I will make one of these cards to send to you!

Flourishing Phrases Stamp Set

Flourish Dies

POP-UP CRIB FOR BABY

My mother recently requested a card to send to one of her friends who became a grandmother.  I don't personally know the magnitude of how special that is, but I do know that it's a hugely happy time.  And when you're a card-maker and your mother requests a card, you do it up in style.  Since the card was for a special friend, I wanted to make something extra special.  And so . . . this pop-up crib card was born.

I had so much fun making this card and adding special little details!  As a card-maker, I like to assume that most people won't throw my cards away--or at least not right away.  Stop it!  I can hear some of you laughing at me for being so naïve.  The front of the card included some keepsake-worthy details, such as the baby's full name, circled date of birth, and (albeit tiny) time of birth.

The WOW happens when the card is opened . . . 

The little crib pops up, and it is "filled" with a diaper pin and two ducks in coordinating colors.  At the back of the crib, there's a coordinating patterned vellum pocket (see the "Congratulations" layer?) where a note can be written.  This is also where the card was to be signed.  By the way, figuring out where to provide space for a written message took the most ridiculous amount of time.  Ha!

How cute is this chest of drawers, complete with a onesie, blanket hanging out of the bottom drawer, and an empty hanger?  You may have noticed that a die-cut toy got squished between the "wall" and the crib . . . [laughing at myself] . . . I should have known better than to glue the toy at the corner where the crib would be anchored! Sometimes when you're building and creating as you go, you just don't predict what could be coming next.  I tried to remove the toy, but it was stuck really well.  At the other end of the crib, I used the pretty space to include a punched glittery heart and more birth details.

I know I probably come across as really proud of this card, and I am!  Of course, it took longer to make than most cards, but that makes it more special to give.  What do you think?  Do you love it?

WIPER CARD FOR MY NIECE'S BIRTHDAY

My sweet niece had a birthday on July 4th but, instead of sending one of my patriotic cards, I made this Wiper card for her special day:

I can't remember the name of the paper pack, but aren't the soft purple and green shades pretty?  The paper also had a perfect amount of gold throughout.  Although the sequins appear to be the wrong color, they were actually the perfect purple--just not easy to photograph.

"HERE COMES THE SUN" . . . JULY CLUB COUTURE PROJECT

Want to see one of the best pieces of mail that I received this week?

It's the July Club Couture transfer ("Here Comes the Sun").  I always look forward to seeing what the club transfer will be, and I was anxious to start working with this one.  Chalk Couture Designers receive the club transfer free as part of the web site fee that we pay monthly, but we don't receive the Chalk Paste Singles--just the transfer.  I ❤ this one!  When I saw that big sun and waves image, I immediately thought that the sun would be perfect for the ombre technique.  What is the ombre technique?  I'm glad you asked!  Very simply, you place one color on the top portion of an image and a second color at the bottom portion, and then use your finger to blend the two colors together before the paste dries.  The Chalk Paste colors that I used for my sun are Lemon and Couture Coral.

Another fun and easy technique that I used on this project was to add glitter to the word "SUN".  It is so sparkly in person, and I was glad that I thought to add glitter before the paste dried.  The process is simple . . . sprinkle the glitter onto wet Chalk Paste and then, once the paste has dried, just use a brush (or Dust-Off) to remove the excess.

It probably wasn't even necessary to share the above close-up photo since the glittery sparkle is hard to capture.  Ha!  

Chalk Couture products featured on my project include:

July Club Couture Chalk Transfer ("Here Comes the Sun")

Chalkology Paste (Lemon, White, Caribbean, Couture Coral)

Greyson Style Frame (9" x 12")

Multi Tool

Small Squeegee

Fuzzing Cloth

Have you heard of Chalk Couture's Club Couture?  It's a monthly subscription kit that includes a Chalk Transfer (exclusive to Club Couture) and three Chalk Paste Singles.  The kit, which includes step-by-step project instructions, ships for FREE!!!  Following is the promotional project created by Chalk Couture featuring the July transfer and paste colors on the 5.5" x 7.5" Box Frame.

Have questions about Chalk Couture products?  Let me know!

PATRIOTIC "WIPER" CARD

Lately, I have been a wee bit obsessed with the making of "Wiper" cards.  I made 10 of the design that I'm sharing today.  Ten!!!  And they took f-o-r-e-v-e-r to complete.  My friend, Laura, sent me a patriotic Wiper card a week or so ago, and I just loved it.  She didn't have any red and white striped paper, so she had created her own stripes by adhering 1/2" strips of Real Red cardstock to the Whisper White layer.  I knew when I started designing my patriotic card, it was going to have those same stripes!

What took forever to make this card was basically the preparation of all the bits, pieces, and layers . . . small stars, large stars, sentiment stamped and punched, flag stamped and layered, etc.  After getting everything prepped, they all needed to be adhered--which was the easy part.

It's hard to tell, but I used a shimmery gold cardstock for the punched stars and the little punched heart in the blue field on the flag layer.  The cards looked so nice in person--the photos really don't do justice to the sharp and vivid colors.  

I never send cards or anything that I've made unless I like it, and I get excited about sending something that I really love.  In this case, I LOVED my patriotic cards!

Stampin' Up! products featured on this project include:

Stamp Sets:  Thoughtful Banners, Tabs for Everything, God Bless America 

Cardstock:  Real Red, Whisper White, Night of Navy

Ink:  Real Red and Night of Navy (ink pads and markers)

Punches:  Classic Label, Small Heart, Small Star, Large Star

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!