For Claire

There's a wee mouse in Ireland who is struggling a bit with some trials at the moment. Claire Brennan is the purveyor of all good things at Waltzingmouse Stamps and it seems her manufacturer has let her down this weekend on the shipment of goods for her August release.

These things happen. That's life. But Claire is devoted to her customers and feels badly about letting them down. And in turn, we feel badly for her.

Nerina said it best on her blog, which asks us to post a card for sweet Claire to boost her spirits and let her know we understand.

Here's my card. I think it is appropriate for the occasion, and for Claire, who has remained lovely in the face of adversity. And let's not forget, people, it's just stamps!! They will be released soon, and in the meantime, we can pull out some oldies, but goodies, like these stamps from Afternoon Tea and Ovals - Classic Frames. Why not make a card for Claire and link to Nerina's blog today? 

Cardmaker's Dilemma

How long does it take you to make a card? I have not had a lot of time for papercrafts lately. (Nor blogging, apparently - it has been almost a month since I last scribed here!) So when I do, it is usually spent making something on my To Do List for someone. And when I make something for someone in particular, I try to make it to suit them. This, however, poses a dilemma.

For instance, I had wanted to send a colleague who is retiring a wee gift. I bought a beautiful designer scarf, which I can picture her wearing with pride. It is bright and vivacious, just like her.  Here's the scarf:

The store could not provide an appropriate box for the scarf so I decided to make one. Long before Crafter's Companion and Scor-Pal came along, there was this:

Do you have one of these? I used to be addicted to the Aleene's craft show on TV, but I believe this is the only thing I ever ordered from them. I dusted this baby off and set about making a box from some chipboard and patterned paper. My first attempt was lovely, BUT I had not considered the scarf colours in choosing the paper, so once it was made I realized it would clash. So I made a second box, and then I made a card to go with it.

Doesn't that sound simple?

Ah, but here is where the real work comes in - dreaming up a card that fits the personality of the recipient and coordinates with the box and gift. I tend to avoid cool colours, and modern styles. Hence the dilemma. When I looked at all my stamps and other supplies, I realized that - while I prefer vintage, antique images, and muted autumnal colours - most of the people I make cards for do not!

So I buy stamps and papers to please me - but I am never making things for myself. With my limited craft time, I am making things to please others. Birthday cards, thank you cards, farewell cards - you name it, they almost always are for people who prefer funky images and zippy colours! It becomes a real exercise in creativity when I want to customize a card for someone modern, bright and vivacious!

I started with this bird. I was thinking of retirement as freedom; flight from a cage. I already had the bird die cut from a gessoed old music score sheet. The bird cage was a natural, as well. I pounced it with Dusty Concord Distress Ink, then softened it with an acrylic paint dabber in Pearl.

I backed the cage with more score sheet that I coloured with Mustard Seed Distress Ink. It seems to glow against the purple background. (I think I used the paper upside down - oops!) I used a large rhinestone flourish from my stash. I have a few of these, but I think this is only the second time I have ventured to use them. 

I tied some sheer polka dot ribbon through the cage holes and added some rhinestones in purple and clear. 

I created a couple of mats for these items, one stamped with big blooms in Pearl acrylic paint and Brilliance blue polka dots; the other incorporating some of the paper used on the box. This is the fun of making things yourself - that ability to customize and coordinate; beats a store-bought box hands down!

I topped off the cage with a Grungeboard label that I inked, painted and lettered, and another bit of ribbon. The teeny white brads echo the dots in the ribbon.

Done! Am I alone in my dilemma - buying craft stuff that *I* like, but finding it doesn't help me achieve my goal of making lovingly hand-crafted items for friends and family that reflect them, their personalities and what they would like? Or do you struggle with this, too? Can you understand why, when I am asked "How long does it take you to make a card?" I can legitimately answer "ALL DAY!"

For the Lovely Bride

I recently attended my niece's lovely outdoor summer wedding. Living a day's drive away meant I was not able to be involved in all the wedding planning and pre-nuptial fun, including a wedding shower. I wanted to send her something in those days ahead of the Big Day that let her know I was thinking about her; hence this card.

 

The dress image and sentiment are from the Waltzingmouse Stamp set You're Lovely. It was surprising how much this dress looks like the one my niece wore July 14! The floral oval is a die cut made with a Spellbinders metal die. I sponged and stencilled Distress Ink to provide some peach-toned shading.

In the close-up above, I am hoping you can see the detail I added to the gown. I doodled swirls all over the dress with a clear glitter pen to create a shimmery texture to the "fabric." 

The designer paper is from DCWV's Coral Couture line and the flowers have a subtle shimmer, as well.

Thanks for visiting today. I hope your summer is filled with lovely events and cherished memories like mine!

Gessoed Christmas Bird

I struggle with pastel colours. I admire them and enjoy looking at others' works that are soft and pretty, but there is something in my brain that just keeps reaching for deeply pigmented hues. Consequently, I don't have much in the way of pastel papers in my stash. I do have gesso, though, and when I want to go pastel, I find it tones down my more garish printed papers quite nicely.

For this Christmas card, I coated sheet music and some printed scrapbook paper with white gesso and let dry. Then I rubbed on some Distress Inks, trying to use lighter shades to keep to the pastel end of the spectrum. (I was not kidding about the struggle!) The sentiment is from Waltzingmouse Stamps. This is my entry in the Sparkle Creations Weekly Christmas Card Challenge.

WMS Blog Party June 2012

Here's my card for the Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Party for June 2012. I used the inspiration photo to provide the colour-way.

The Authentique paper did the work, and coordinated nicely with the Big Blooms- Poinsettia stamps from WMS. The sentiment came from the versatile Say it Loud set. An orange Swarovski heat-set crystal and a few teal ones scattered on the background finished this off nicely.

Today was also Father's Day in Canada. I used the Stampendous Changito stamp I picked up on sale recently and coloured with Copics. So appropriate as my daughter used to do this when she was little! I used the WMS stamp "Thanks for being there!" for the inside greeting.

Part of my husband's Father's Day gift was this sock monkey adoption kit. Fun! 

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to go and see all the inspiration on the WMS blog.

100 Sketches!

Congratulations to Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Blog. They have posted their 100th Sketch Challenge this week. Here is the sketch:

I rotated the sketch slightly and used a couple of different stamps from Waltzingmouse Stamps for this pretty in pink card.

I paper-pieced the dress and added some pearls and clear glitter for posh highlights. My Spellbinders Nestabilities helped frame the dress.

Thanks for visiting. Be sure to go and see all the entries for this special centennial sketch challenge. 

Mixed Media Collage

Recently I took a Mixed Media Collage Workshop at my local stamp store Stampers!, with pewter/metal artist Elitia Hart from Alberta. I had taken foundational classes with her last year and was happy to have an opportunity to take a project-based class with her.

Elitia provided us with 9 inch square pieces of masonite covered with lovely art paper featuring antique French postal marks. This gave us a sturdy base to apply our tooled metal. We used a Ten Seconds Studio mold to create a basic grid pattern that we then filled with some metal embossing, more of the art paper, coloured ink jet transparency art images, and patinaed copper which Elitia also provided.

I followed Elitia's design and sample fairly faithfully as I wanted to focus on technique. I added the Swarovski crystals, above, and an embossed black background mat, below, once I got home, but the rest was pretty much as Elitia instructed. I look forward to trying some other collages using stamped images and other mixed media ideas.

If you have an opportunity to take a class with Elitia, don't hesitate! She is a lovely, generous teacher with a supportive nature. She'll even help fix your odd boo-boo, as I can attest!