Progress...

Last week, my craft room looked like this...

Last night I took pictures of my progress and thought I give you a sneak peek. I know I've been talking about these updates for a while now, and I wanted to prove to you that I actually do have a craft room...I think some people were starting not to believe me. :) There is A LOT of work yet to be done, so please excuse the mess.

This is my main stamping and miscellaneous craft area. I have been using a folding table, but I am trying to find a new white table or desk. I hoping to find something a little bit smaller as I have found the more horizontal place I have, the more stacks of paper/junk I can put on it. I'm hoping once everything is put together and everything has a designated place, that won't happen as much. The walls above the ledge are Full Moon and the blue is called Sleepy Blue (it's a little bit more grey in real life), both by Sherwin Williams.

I have a few crafting ideas to fill in the space between the windows so stay tuned. In this picture you can see my ink tower which was generously donated to me by a stamping friend. I'm hoping to paint it white later this year. You can kind of see under the desk that I have some storage cubes. This is were I store paper scraps, coloring accessories, brads, buttons, punches...you name it, it's probably there. It will be great that everything is within arms reach.

If you rotate a little to the right, there is my main storage wall. There will be a floating shelf at the top and this is where I store my stamp sets, paper cutting dies, sewing projects, and sewing supplies. I'm hoping to get another flank of storage cubes for more fabric storage.

After stepping into the craft room and rotating more to the right, you see my sewing table. This is also a folding table and hopefully will be replaced soon as well. I've been itching to start some projects, so this was one of the first areas I worked on putting back together.

The last side of the craft room is more storage. My stamp table is there in the lower right of the picture. Resting on the ledge above that is my ribbon holder that my husband constructed for me. To the left of that is where my two floating shelves are going to go (I had to take the bottom cleat down temporarily). I added some flower vinyl wall art from Stampin' Up! and have to put up a few more tan ones towards the right side. They didn't photograph well, so I'll try to get a better picture in my next update. Right now this is my biggest obstacle as I'm not sure if I want the floating shelves painted in white or in the blue wall color.

And last but least, below the two floating shelves will be my custom built printer stand. Steve made this as well and designed it to fit my paper storage underneath it. The paper storage used to be black plastic but I spent about $20 on spray paint and in a couple hours (plus a few days for curing) they were white. I used Krylon Fusion spray paint and it didn't even require priming. The white is holding on pretty well, so I'm quite happy with the results.


So, that's my progress report. I'm hoping to get a bit more done this weekend, as I have Monday off. However, I just got my first stamp order of the year in the mail on Friday, so I have some playing around to do. Thanks for sticking with me!

52 Things in 2010 Review

Well, I can't believe how fast 2010 has flown by. In some ways, I'm very happy to see the end of 2010 in order to hopefully move on to better and happier things in 2011. On the other hand, I look at my list and wish there was more time. However, the beginning of 2011 has started off rocky... with a severe stomach virus, no food for 60 hours, and having to say good-bye to the Scooter kitty.

The last 6 months have been both great, hellish, sad, painful and tiring. They have contained a wonderful vacation to England with my husband, some health issues, an accident with a DC metro escalator, a fall off a ladder while painting the basement, a broken oven during Thanksgiving and a car accident. There have been days that I have just felt like pulling the covers over my head and going back to bed.

My absence from baking, crafting, and blogging has not gone unnoticed by me and I truly feel unbalanced when I don't have a chance to do the things that calm and center me. I've been trying to stay positive through these last few months, but it seems difficult when the things that bring me comfort are stacked in boxes and shoved in a corner. Yes, the craft room is still out of commission, but we are getting closer. It is my #1 priority. I'm waiting on help to hang the last shelf so I can start moving things back into place...so I 'm very much hoping to have pictures soon.

I thought I'd share my final update on my 2010 list. I'm still debating if this helped or hindered me in accomplishing my goals, so a list for 2011 is still up in the air....maybe I just need to make a more realistic list (consider item #1 had 52 things on it alone).

I want to wish all my readers a safe, productive, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A key to understand my progress:

Strike through = completed
Blue = partially completed
Italics = in progress
Normal = not started
Red = didn't complete

For me
1. Make a list of 52 desserts to make and blog about in 2010. Attempt to bake/blog once a week. (8/52) - I did not do nearly as well as I had wished with this, but I actually did bake a few more things on my list but did not blog them for one reason or another.

Mint Chocolate Truffle Tart Grand Marnier Souffle Beignets Citrus Chiffon Pie Crepes Caramels Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream Butter Pecan Ice Cream Olive Oil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sugar Plum Candies Cheesecake with Stout Sauce Pecan Pumpkin Butter Triffle Raspberry Rose Vanilla Cream Cake Choux with Grand Marnier Mousseline Marshmallows Raspberry Mousse Tartelettes

Apple Cider Pound Cake Peach Creme Caramel Lemon Crumb Cake Tea Glazed Biscuit Cookies Lemon Cream Cookies Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Rice Pudding Poached Pears Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes French Silk Pie Macarons Chai Bread Plum tart Madelines Vanilla Zabaglione Peanut Chocolate Tart Chocolate Souffle Gooey Butter Cake

Bananas Foster Cakes Lemon Basil Lemon Tartlettes Strawberry Thyme Shortbread Citrus & White Tea Jelly Pistachio & Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes Yogurt & Brown Sugar Cake Pate de Fruit Rhubarb Cheese Bars Roasted Apples & Vanilla Bean Souffle Pomegranate White Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines Cinnamon Caramel Mousse Roasted Glazed Peaches Vanilla Brown Butter & Almond Cake w/custard filling Panna cotta Pot de creme Spiced Plum Compote w/Plum Pit Cream Bread Pudding

2. Organize and maintain tags in Google Reader and Delicious.
3. Plant a garden.
4. Make and can tomato sauce (hopefully with tomatoes from my garden) .
5. Lose 20 pounds.
6. Walk 2 times per week. (1/52)
7. Lift weights 1 time per week.
8. Start an etsy shop.
9. Sign up for at least one craft fair.
10. Participate in a Photography Project365. (0/365)
11. Get a new hair style/cut.
12. Rent 10 movies you've wanted to see.
13. Complete name changing process.
14. Get new passport with new last name.
15. Make and start using reusable shopping bags everywhere, not just grocery shopping.
16. Read 5 books. (5/5)

 The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs),
Knit Too (Kate Jacobs),
Comfort Food (Kate Jacobs),
Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert),
On The Edge: My Story (Richard Hammond)

17. Take a crocheting/knitting class.
18. Make Ireland scrapbook.
19. Finish decorating my craft room.

For Steve and me
20. Complete Tshirt quilt for Steve.
21. Go to 5 new non-chain restaurants. - Steve reminded me that while I did not eat at many non-chain restaurants at home, I did eat at new non-chain restaurants while we vacation in England. It counts...sort of. :)
22. Go see 5 movies in the theater.

    Valentine's Day

23. Go camping.
24. Go to a Capitals hockey game.
25. Go to a DC United soccer game.
26. Take a long weekend vacation.
27. Take a picture of Steve and myself (and the kitties) once a month.
28. Save 3 months of expenses.
29. Schedule a financial planning consultation.

For the house
30. Clean out front hall closet.
31. Sew couch covers. - Since it took me about 4 months to chose paint colors for the basement, I'm still working on making a decision on fabric. I'm going broke on fabric samples though.
32. Make picture collage for stairwell.
33. Buy/make new curtains for living room.
34. Purchase and hang new blinds for the dinning room.
35. Purchase/make new curtains for dining room and kitchen.
36. Design/build/assemble closet organization system for master bedroom. - We were planning on purchasing some items from Ikea, but they recently changed their dimensions and it no longer works in our closet. So, it's back to the drawing board, but something has to be done soon.
37. Repaint master bathroom. - We have decided that we're going to be renovating the master bathroom next year (we're aiming for September), so we've decided to put this on hold and have been working on painting the basement in addition to my craft room.
38. Paint/decorate guest bedroom.
39. Repaint and change hardware on front door.
40. Hang Christmas lights.
41. Schedule and set up a yard sale.
42. Get broken window fixed.
43. Install new thermostat.
44. Fix leak in front door.
45. Purchase nut for yellow vacuum.
46. Purchase case for and organize misc screws, nuts, etc.
47. Set up coupon organization system.

For others
48. Complete Tshirt quilt for Lauren.
49. Host a holiday party.
50. Host a cookout/dinner party.
51. Send random cards to 5 people.
52. Send a birthday card to everyone on my birthday calender.

52 in 2010 Quarterly Update

Well, my second quarter post did not happen, but that has given me the chance to look like I'm accomplishing more. I've resigned myself to the fact that I won't get everything on my list done, but the list has been so helpful in motivating me to get things done.

July threw a wrench in my baking plans, but I've mentally made a new list of my priority items that I want to make, so stayed tuned for more updates. Before leaving for England, I was able to harvest many of my tomatoes and canned a few quarts of tomato sauce. I'm very interested in learning more about canning, so I'm excited for next year's garden. Here is the latest treat to come out of my kitchen.


I'm quite surprised by the progress on one of my items...I pretty much wrote the "Read 5 books" thinking that I would not even come close to accomplishing this. As much as I want to read, I get frustrated at how slow I am...my reading comprehension has always been bad and I find myself rereading paragraphs over and over because I get distracted somewhere in the middle and don't really read the words. However, in England I started reading a book that I purchased on a whim over a year ago. I really got into it and finished reading it while waiting for my flight home. The first day I was home I rushed to the bookstore to buy more books by the author.

The first three books I read are by Kate Jacobs. I found The Friday Night Knitting Club while perusing the books at Costco over a year ago and threw it in my suitcase just in case I was bored while Steve was playing on his laptop in the evenings. I didn't start reading until the last 3 days in London, but once I started, I couldn't stop. The characters developed quickly and I was very attached. There was definitely a twist in the plot that I was NOT expecting and I must have looked like a nut case in the London airport (don't want to explain why, it might give something away). The second book, Knit Too, picks up with the characters five years later and continues the stories of the women of the Friday Night Knitting Club.


The third book, Comfort Food, is a completely different book with new characters, but I just had to read it since it had something to do with food. I enjoyed this one as well, maybe not as much as the other two since it seems a little forced, but that didn't determine me from flying through it.


The fourth book I read was Eat, Pray, Love. By now, most people have at least heard of the movie. I have yet to see the movie but I did enjoy the book very much. It was very interesting learning about her experiences with religions I'm not familiar with and it was eye-opening and intriguing and definitely made me think. I've heard mixed reviews about the movie, but I'm very curious how they adapted the book for mainstream America, so I'm hoping to see it as soon as possible.

Since Steve returned from England, we've been working on the house quite a bit. We got the broken window fixed and have made serious progress in decorating my craft room. Steve and I spent one weekend making some floating shelves and I'm trying to decide paint colors for them now. Last weekend, we took the opportunity to prime the shelves and I spray-painted some paper storage that was black and just wouldn't work in the new room. I'm going with a yellow and blue scheme and we have purchased the paint, but of course now I'm having second thoughts as I'm concerned how we will coordinate the rest of the basement. I'm hoping to have pictures of the progress soon, as I think I'm going to take a leap and start painting this weekend.

So, that's a pretty good summary of the last couple of months. I did sign up for a second craft fair in October, so I better finish this craft room soon, as I have a lot of Christmas cards to make. I realize that this is a craft blog and I haven't been crafting very much, but I'm hoping that I can start to produce a few items this weekend.

So, on to the list.

A key to understand my progress:

Strike through = completed
Blue = partially completed
Italics = in progress
Normal = not started
Red = didn't complete

For me
1. Make a list of 52 desserts to make and blog about in 2010. Attempt to bake/blog once a week. (8/52)

Mint Chocolate Truffle Tart Grand Marnier Souffle Beignets Citrus Chiffon Pie Crepes Caramels Strawberry Tart with Orange Cream Butter Pecan Ice Cream Olive Oil Gelato with Balsamic Strawberries Mint Chocolate Ice Cream Sugar Plum Candies Cheesecake with Stout Sauce Pecan Pumpkin Butter Triffle Raspberry Rose Vanilla Cream Cake Choux with Grand Marnier Mousseline Marshmallows Raspberry Mousse Tartelettes

Apple Cider Pound Cake Peach Creme Caramel Lemon Crumb Cake Tea Glazed Biscuit Cookies Lemon Cream Cookies Lemon Pistachio Shortbread Rice Pudding Poached Pears Chocolate Salted Caramel Cupcakes French Silk Pie Macaroons Chai Bread Plum tart Madelines Vanilla Zabaglione Peanut Chocolate Tart Chocolate Souffle Gooey Butter Cake

Bananas Foster Cakes Lemon Basil Lemon Tartlettes Strawberry Thyme Shortbread Citrus & White Tea Jelly Pistachio & Vanilla Bean Cheesecakes Yogurt & Brown Sugar Cake Pate de Fruit Rhubarb Cheese Bars Roasted Apples & Vanilla Bean Souffle Pomegranate White Tea & Honey Ginger Yogurt Verrines Cinnamon Caramel Mousse Roasted Glazed Peaches Vanilla Brown Butter & Almond Cake w/custard filling Panna cotta Pot de creme Spiced Plum Compote w/Plum Pit Cream Bread Pudding

2. Organize and maintain tags in Google Reader and Delicious.
3. Plant a garden.
4. Make and can tomato sauce (hopefully with tomatoes from my garden) .
5. Lose 20 pounds. - I'm actually about half way there. England was very good to my waist line as we did a lot of walking and I've managed to keep all of it off. I'm hoping as the weather cools a bit more, I'll be more motivated to go for walks with Steve.
6. Walk 2 times per week. (1/52)
7. Lift weights 1 time per week.
8. Start an etsy shop.
9. Sign up for at least one craft fair.
10. Participate in a Photography Project365. (0/365)
11. Get a new hair style/cut.
12. Rent 10 movies you've wanted to see.
13. Complete name changing process - Steve and I decided to refinance so this is helping me get in gear. This is helping me change the name on the deed which I was way to lazy to do before.
14. Get new passport with new last name.
15. Make and start using reusable shopping bags everywhere, not just grocery shopping.
16. Read 5 books. (4/5)
The Friday Night Knitting Club (Kate Jacobs),
Knit Too (Kate Jacobs),
Comfort Food (Kate Jacobs),
Eat, Pray, Love (Elizabeth Gilbert)
17. Take a crocheting/knitting class.
18. Make Ireland scrapbook.
19. Finish decorating my craft room. - This is what I've been doing a lot of since Steve returned from England. I've picked the new paint colors and Steve and I have been spending our weekends building some floating shelves. Labor Day weekend was very productive and we'll be slowly working on painting over the next week or two because of needing to phase all my craft supplies.

For Steve and me
20. Complete Tshirt quilt for Steve.
21. Go to 5 new non-chain restaurants.
22. Go see 5 movies in the theater.
Valentine's Day
23. Go camping.
24. Go to a Capitals hockey game.
25. Go to a DC United soccer game.
26. Take a long weekend vacation.
27. Take a picture of Steve and myself (and the kitties) once a month.
28. Save 3 months of expenses.
29. Schedule a financial planning consultation.

For the house
30. Clean out front hall closet.
31. Sew couch covers.
32. Make picture collage for stairwell.
33. Buy/make new curtains for living room.
34. Purchase and hang new blinds for the dinning room.
35. Purchase/make new curtains for dining room and kitchen.
36. Design/build/assemble closet organization system for master bedroom.
37. Repaint master bathroom.
38. Paint/decorate guest bedroom.
39. Repaint and change hardware on front door.
40. Hang Christmas lights.
41. Schedule and set up a yard sale.
42. Get broken window fixed.
43. Install new thermostat.
44. Fix leak in front door.
45. Purchase nut for yellow vacuum.
46. Purchase case for and organize misc screws, nuts, etc.
47. Set up coupon organization system.

For others
48. Complete Tshirt quilt for Lauren.
49. Host a holiday party.
50. Host a cookout/dinner party.
51. Send random cards to 5 people.
52. Send a birthday card to everyone on my birthday calender.

Returning from my absence...with pictures

I'm so sorry to disappear like that. I had every intention of posting before I left for England, but getting work wrapped up and getting the house and pets in order, left me with just enough time to breath. I returned to some surprises that have occupied my time and have kept me from away from crafting and blogging. I hope that the pictures I bring you will be accepted as my apology.

England, in a word, was FANTASTIC! It got out to a rough start with jet lag and a hidden pole in an alley in Bath, but Steve and I got to spend some great quality time together and I found everything and more that I was looking to shop for.


We explored Bath the first full day after arriving. We forced ourselves to get up and visited the Roman Baths first thing in the morning to avoid the rush. I was so glad we did because we were able to linger and truly appreciate the beauty and the engineering. I can't imagine how amazing it looked at its best. Afterwards, we took a bus tour around the town of Bath and spent the day learning the history of the city - including visiting museums and gardens. The gardens were absolutely splendid...Bath is renowned for its displays throughout the city during the annual flower show.


The next day we drove out of Bath and visited the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and Avebury. Avebury is similar to Stonehenge (which I saw in 2007 during a speed trip to England on my way to Ireland), but is definitely larger and is unique in the fact that a small town built itself among the stone circle. The town is so charming, a population just under 500 residents. It consists of a single road, a manor house with a beautiful garden, a splendid church and small houses and cottages with thatched roofs and charm up to their chimneys.

We tried to make the most of our time and traveled to smaller castles and sites during the days where we were driving between bed and breakfasts. One castle was Chepstow castle which has a stunning view over the River Wye.


We spent an entire day at Blenheim Palace. This palace is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill (kind of a big deal in England) and is still home to the Dukes of Marlborough. The 11th Duke of Marlborough resides in the house during parts of the year and occupies the same rooms as the 1st Duke and Duchess. The house itself is gorgeous, but the grounds are stunning - water gardens, a rose garden, a lake and miles of paths to meander the grounds. After a tour of the house, we spent a good portion of the day walking the grounds, enjoying the views.


London was by far my favorite - and not just because I was extremely successful in my shopping endeavors. Despite the unusual heat and very blistered feet, we had a blast visiting the British Museum, the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, the Parliament Building, Westminster Abbey and so much more. I think my favorite day was after taking a bus tour of the city (such a nice rest for my footsies), we explored Harrod's and grabbed lunch from the gourmet foods department. After a short walk to Hyde Park, we spent a while just snacking on quiche, panini and Laduree macaroons for dessert while we people watched and took a short nap in the shade. It was amazing how far from the city we felt despite being right across the street from a construction site.

Another thing that struck me was the sheer number of people out enjoying a Thursday afternoon - and many were not tourists. I think Europeans in general know how to work hard but also play hard...it's a priority to them. Despite my work having picnic tables scattered around buildings, I never see anyone using them - myself included. Steve tried to rain on my parade by suggesting that they were escaping their offices because many do not have air conditioning and they were suffering with temperatures reaching the high eighties.


And lastly, the shopping. I must say I'm very glad I had a mental list of things I wanted to look for before arriving, because I can see myself spending us into bankruptcy will all the cute stores we visited in England. From fabric to crafts to housewares, all the small towns we visited were made up of small cafes and small personal shops oozing with character and charm. I returned with my carry-on full and my pockets semi-empty (really - I didn't spend THAT much). I still haven't put away my purchases because I like to look at them on the dining room table and squeal do a happy dance smile.

So, I have returned. I'm extremely late in posting Stampin' Up! news and an update on my 52 Things, which I promise will be coming soon. I've signed up for a second craft fair in about a month and a half, so I hopefully will be posting more with holiday cards and gifts I'm preparing for family and friends. I hope you have stuck with me during my absence.

Celebrating A Baby

My office mate was attending a baby shower last week and asked me to whip up a card for her to give with their group gift. We did a little espionage and looked at her registry for inspiration. The mom-to-be is having a girl and all the bedding was pretty neutral with light blue and brown and had a bit of an jungle animal theme to it. The moment I saw pictures of it, I knew exactly what set to use.

To make a subtle background, I used most of the animals in the Fox & Friends set and stamped them onto the Close to Cocoa card base in Close to Cocoa classic ink after stamping off once to mute the intensity. I then used the turtle from the same set on Whisper White cardstock with Old Olive ink and carefully cut it out. A wide strip of Bashful Blue textured cardstock made up the majority of the card and I used the Scallop Edge punch to bring in a touch of femininity.


To celebrate the baby girl, I added a strip of Pretty in Pink cardstock at the top and made a pink present out of Pretty in Pink Cardstock and a Chocolate Chip marker. I attached the turtle and present with dimensionals and tied some twine around both for the turtle to make the delivery. I also stamped the balloon from the Owl Together Now set in Chocolate chip ink onto a scrap of So Saffron cardstock and cut out the top portion only. After adhering with a dimensional, I used the Chocolate Chip marker to make the string. For the sentiment, I individually stamped the letters from the Rough Edges Alphabets set. I didn't worry about lining the letters up perfectly, letting the slight slants add some whimsy to the card.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!® unless noted:
Stamps: Fox & Friends, Owl Together Now, Rough Edges Alphabets (retired)
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue Textured, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, So Saffron cardstock
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Old Olive and Chocolate Chip class ink
Accessories: Chocolate Chip Stampin' Marker, 1/4" Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon, Scallop Edge punch, Paper Piercing tool, Dimensionals, Twine (Papertrey)

Happy Mother's Day!

It's day's like this that make it hard to live half way across the country from your family. Yes, gifts of appreciation and cards were sent and phone calls made, but it's not the same...it doesn't help that I haven't been home since Christmas 2008 (I can't believe it's been that long). Luckily, I will be going home later this summer to celebrate a vow renewal and new baby in the family.

Crafting has been put aside these past two weeks, as we were gearing up for the community yard sale, participating and then recovering. It was quite successful and we made $250! All of the remaining items were sorted and donated. It's extremely satisfying seeing all the extra room we have now. We used my craft room tables for the setup, which shut down the craft room. It's slowly getting pieced back together but I was able to whip up these cards for my mom and mother-in-law.

I made similar cards to these in preparation for the craft fair and they were the first to sell. I loved the look so much, I wanted to make them again for the mom's in my life. This first card was made for my mom. In my effort to use more designer series paper, I pulled out the large Sweet Pea stack from the last occasions mini catalog and picked out the polka dot and striped patterns for the cards. Expanding the color scheme based on the designer paper, I pulled in So Saffron, Sahara Sand and Old Olive cardstock. I particularly like the pop of Old Olive that comes from the designer paper as the edges are rolled.


I used the faux suede method to make the flowers again and secured them with Pretty in Pink Sending Love epoxy brads. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these brads and have a pretty substantial stash that I plan to horde and admire. I pulled out the Big Shot machine to die cut the leaves. I layered the Old Olive leaves with Certainly Celery cardstock to bring a bit more brightness to the card and embossed veins into the leaves with my bone folder.

All supplies by Stampin' Up!® unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White cardstock and Sweet Pea Designer Paper (retired)
Ink: Pretty in Pink Classic Ink
Accessories: Wide Oval Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Extra-Large Fancy Flower punch, Scalloped Circle punch, Big Shot Die-cut machine, Little Leaves Sizzlits Die, Paper piercer, gel pen, bone folder, Pretty in Pink Sending Love Epoxy Brads (retired)

This second card was sent to my mother-in-law. With both cards, I used the paper piercing tool to pierce a border on the designer paper and used a gel pen to connect the dots to replicate stitching. I had wanted to actually use my sewing machine to really stitch the paper, but it was packed up in a box for storage and I didn't have the energy to dig through everything to get to it.

I centered the flower on this card with a white vintage button and some twine. The card was completed with the Teeny Tiny Wishes sentiment punched out with the Modern Label punch.


All supplies by Stampin' Up!® unless otherwise noted:
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes
Paper: So Saffron, Sahara Sand, Old Olive, Certainly Celery and Sweet Pea Designer Paper
Ink: Rose Red Classic Ink
Accessories: Modern Label punch, Extra-Large Fancy Flower punch, Scalloped Circle punch, Big Shot Die-cut machine, Little Leaves Sizzlits Die, Paper piercer, gel pen, bone folder, Vintage Buttons (Papertrey), Twine (Papertrey)

I want wish all the mothers out there a Happy Mother's Day!

Birthday Wishes

A friend had her birthday in March and due to my poor planning her present was a bit delayed, so we celebrated in early April and I wanted to give her a card she would love. Serena has loved the melon mambo color since we first got a sneak peek when the current catalog was sent to demonstrators. I couldn't think of a better card for her than one made with Melon Mambo!

As I was putting the card together in my head, I realized that I had only a few days before I had to send my April swap cards on their way, so to be efficient I combined the two efforts. Needing to incorporate designer series paper for the April swap theme, I pulled out the Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Paper and got to work. It was a pretty simple design that enabled me to spend some time to create the flower focal point.

I used a technique I learned at a previous class I attended called Faux Suede. The point of the technique is to work the cardstock in many directions and break down the fibers within. This softens the cardstock to give it that worn, veiny look. I punched out my shapes using three punches: the Extra Large Fancy Flower, the Scalloped Circle Punch, and a 1-inch Scalloped Circle Punch. Using my fingers, I worked the cardstock in multiple directions. When the cardstock had softened a bit, I rolled it in a tight ball. I unfolded it and repeated in different directions multiple times. The layers of paper that make up the cardstock eventually start to split along the edges. When this happened, I carefully pulled the cardstock apart to form 2 pieces of my punched shape. I also used Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper as two layers of the flower and used my fingers to gently work the paper to give it the worn look, but did not split it. I layered my flower and used a Summer Sun corduroy brad to secure the layers together. I made the leaves in Old Olive cardstock using the wings from the Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch. I used my bonefolder to make veins in the leaves.

Also, there are four things I learned while making this card:

1. When Steve offers to help because I looked stressed (because the kitties were running away with my balls of paper), he really doesn't want to 1. run around catching the kitties or 2. roll 15 flowers into balls until they start to fall apart while I run around catching the kitties.

2. This technique is not best for large number replication, as your hand will cramp after 3 cards.

3. I really really love the Rich Razzleberry color and I'm SO glad it's becoming permanent (more on this to come).

4. And lastly crushed curry is starting to grow on me...hopefully I use up my stash by June 30th.

Thanks for stopping by!

All supplies by Stampin' Up! ® unless otherwise noted:

Stamps: Heard from the Heart

Paper: Melon Mambo, Crushed Curry, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Razzleberry Lemonade Designer Series Paper

Ink: Rich Razzleberry

Accessories: Crushed Curry Polka Dot Ribbon (I used the back side), Extra Large Fancy Flower punch, Scalloped Circle punch, 1-inch Scalloped Circle punch (EK Success), Extra Large Two-Step Bird punch, Summer Sun Corduroy Brad, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, bone folder