Crazy Patchwork Scrap Frame

I've always had a yearning to make a crazy patchwork quilt and never quite got around to doing it. 

So it came to me the other day that I could modify that concept and create a crazy paper patchwork frame with a little stamping, some texture and stitching.

Here is the solution. I took this photo earlier this week and loved the colours .

Stamp Sets used are from Stampin' Up! and include:

Faith In Nature (hostess set)

Artistic Etchings

French Foliage

Life Definitions (retired)

Tidy Alphabet (retired)

The frame was created first then matted on Whisper White Card Stock  then a second mat of Basic Gray. This was then place on an angle on a 30 x 30 cm piece of Basic Black Card Stock. This detail shows the use of some collage stamping - Cajun Craze and Not Quite Navy Classic Inks. 

The variety of textures are created using Finial Press, Perfect Polka Dots and Stripes Embossing Folders. (all available from Stampin' Up!)

The stitching is done with Linen Thread and a needle. The swirly embossing folder has been pre-inked by randomly swiping the ink pad over the folder then sponging some additional colour on before embossing with the Big Shot.

A hand made and stamped calico flower enhanced with a a few leaves from the French Foliage stamp set and buttons from the Regals Collection is also sponged and then spritzed with Shimmer Mist made from the Stampin' Up! Shimmer Paint - Champagne Mist.

Shapes for the flower are cut from the  Flower Folds Bigz XL die.

Until Next Time,

Stay Crafty!

Paris in Springtime with Stampin' Up

I had lots of fun making this card today - it has been weeks since I was able to sit down and actually have time to think let alone get something done. 

My vision was for a brayered card in pinks and blues and although I deviated quite far from the original plan, I still quite like the end result.

After creating the background with my brayer, (Pink Pirouette, Pretty in  Pink, Bashful Blue and Baja Breeze) I used the wonderful "Artistic Etchings"  clear mount stamp set from Stampin' Up!® for the tower and crown. 

I'm loving the "lollipop flowers" at present and have been making them in all types of media. They make a fabulous embellishment. 

I've entered this card in the following challenges

Anything Goes: Flowers

Cards and More: Points and Pearls

Midnight Madness - Sketch

 I usually brayer colour on a larger piece of card - that way I can pick the area I want to use for my design. I'm not quite good enough to determine exactly how it will work, but I'm happy to manipulate things to suit!

I wanted a misty effect so decided to stamp off the Eiffel Tower before stamping it on the brayered background.

I was working from the sketch for the jac-inks Challenge 14 Sketch, and as usual loosely interpreted the guidelines. Why don't you pop over to jac-inks challenge blog and enter the sketch challenge.

Some hearts received a number of different techniques, including stamping, sponging, dry embossing and Designer Series Papers. I've used some ribbon and a button along with plenty of pearls, and layered the hearts for a more 3-D effect. 

The blossom image was stamped with Baja Breeze Classic ink and hand coloured with a Blender Pen and the classic inks. I wanted this to be a stronger image so - no stamping off this time. 

I still love my Vintage Brads and use them often on my cards. This time I stamped the medallion image from Artistic Etching twice - once using Pretty in Pink and the other using Baja Breeze. I punched the center out of the Pink image and popped it on dimensionals. The edges of each component were distressed, and the images were sponged randomly to soften the harsh outlines. 

Finally, the Confetti White base card was dry embossed  with the Elegant Lines embossing folder and a scrap piece was embossed with Finial Press before being torn and sponged.

I hope you like the card  - I'd love to hear your comments.

Until Next  Time,

Stay Crafty,

jac-inks Challenge #6

Hi everyone,

It's been another one of those weeks where I seem to have been racing to catch the clock and stressing that I wouldn't meet dead-lines. Last night I did something I hardly ever do - I MADE A LIST! 

Eeek! That is just way too organized for my chaotic life, but it did help me to prioritize all the things I had to complete by tonight and I'm pleased to say this post is the last item on that dreaded list. And tomorrow I'm going to do some stamping just for the fun of it.

Now this post is all about a very quick card I whipped up for "jac-inks" Challenge #6.

And when I say quick - I mean quick.
I did some paper weaving for the background, using some of the fantastic Stampin' Up!® papers from the Hostess Free In Color Designer Series Paper Pack.

I used the Concord Crush and the Poppy Parade

Next I added a paper flower from the Paper Daisies (item 119243) and stamped the lovely mandala image from the Artistic Etchings stamp set from SU. I punched this out with the 1 3/4inch Circle Punch I sponged a little Poppy Parade ink around the perimeter.

Flowers need butterflies, right? And what better to give you a selection of embossed and different sized butterflies than the Beautiful Wings Embosslits Die available also from SU.

Add a small tag, some grosgrain ribbon and a frame of Concord Crush in another pattern and the card is complete.

Hope you like it - it is a bit different from my usual style, but I love to try a bit of this and a bit of that at various times.

Until next time,

Stay Crafty!