Here Comes The Bride

Happy last Friday of September everyone.  I do hope your fall is cooling off and full of lots of fun plans.  I know as we move into October that our life gets very busy.  We have pumpkins to carve and turkeys to cook.  I have to say these last 3 months of the year are my favorite time. 

One of the projects that took up some of my craft time in September was making bridal shower cards for my daughter's friend who is getting married in October.  Since the shower is now over, I thought I would share these with you.  Let's get started.

 

I started with a base card of Old Olive card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Night of Navy to this with runner adhesive.  The navy was cut at 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  The final layer is a piece of Whisper White measuring 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran this through the big shot with an impression folder that made the trio of dots.  I attached this to the card with the runner adhesive.

 

The hat for the bride was made using a 1 1/4" circle and a wide oval both punched out of Whisper White.  They were run through the big shot using the square lattice impression folder.  I attached the circle to the oval with a bit of runner adhesive.  I then punched a 1 1/4" circle from Night of Navy.  I set this aside to be used later.  I then punched the 1 1/4" circle again just offset from the hole.  This piece is the hat band.  It is attached using a 2 way glue pen.  I then took a piece of Old Olive card stock and punched out a large oval.  I offset the punch from the hole and punched again.  This makes the ribbon for the bow.  The actual bow itself was made using the retired heart to heart punch.  It is the smallest heart from this punch.  I added a 1/4" circle to the center of the bow and placed a pearl on it.  All bow pieces are attached using a 2 way glue pen.  The hair is a scallop oval punched from Chocolate Chip card stock.  It is attached to the hat using a bit of runner adhesive.   I always try to use a color to match the actual bride's hair if I can.

 

The bride's back is the wide heart from the retired heart to heart punch.  It is punched out of Blushing Bride.  To make the arms of the bride, just off set the wide heart punch from the wide heart hole and punch again.  Do this one more time so you have 2 arms.  The dress is make using the Whisper White card stock and the retired butterfly punch.  I ran all the pieces for the dress through my big shot using an impression folder I have.  The main part of the dress remains a whole butterfly.  Turn it sideways and adhere the heart back to the top portion using runner adhesive.  Take your other butterfly pieces and cut them in half.  You will layer these making each row a little bigger than the one before to get that full dress look.  The arms were attached using the 2 way glue pen.  The finished bride was attached to the card using dimensionals.  

 

Remember the 1 1/4" navy circles I set aside before?  Well now it is time to use them.  That is what I build my bouquet on.  The flowers for this are from a retired punch that punched a trio of flowers.  You can use the scallop flower from the itty bitty punch pack as well to make these.  I start by covering the 1 1/4" circle with runner adhesive and layering flowers on it.  I added more adhesive on the flowers as needed.  The leaves are from the bird builder punch.  I cut them off the stem and placed them in the bouquet with my 2 way glue pen.  The final touch for it is a pearl in the middle.  The finished bouquet is attached using dimensionals.

I learned to make this from Ellen Kemper.  She referred to this girl as little miss backside.  I have used it for other girls and not just a bride.  It is really easy to make and goes together quickly.

Well that's it for today.  I will see you all next week.  Have a wonderful weekend - the last weekend in September.  Thanks for dropping by today.   

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Heather!!!!

Today I am celebrating my daughter Heather's birthday.  She is turning 25.  I can hardly believe it.  Where does the time go?  I hope she has a wonderful day and spends it laughing and doing things she loves.

Well by now you probably have been wondering if I fell off the Earth completely.  I entered the month of September with high hopes of crafting and blogging.  I had no idea what was waiting around the corner.  I ended up coming down with a throat virus.  Now I have had sore throats over the years but nothing like this one.  It felt like someone had taken sand paper and scratched my throat all up.  Since it was a virus, there was nothing the doctors could do to help.  It kept me in bed for a while and the overall tiredness was horrible.  Then my hubby got a sinus infection.  He has suffered with sinus problems all his life and has had 4 surgeries on his sinuses over the years.  When he gets sick with an infection he really gets sick.  The first round of antibiotics did nothing to help.  He is currently taking a second round and we are hoping for the best. 

While all the illness was going on, I did manage to do a couple of special order cards and of course the birthday card I made for my daughter.  Therefore, I am happy to say I am going to be sharing these with you finally.

 

Since her favorite Disney princess is Cinderella, I decided to make a card with her dress on it.  I started with a base card of Daffodil Delight cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Night of Navy measuring 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" using runner adhesive.  For the final layer I used a piece of Whisper White cut to be 4" x 5 1/4".  I ran this through my big shot using the Beautifully Brocade impression folder.  Once it was impressed, I attached it using the same runner adhesive.

 

To begin the dress, I first cut out a dress mannequin using Basic Gray and the dress up framelits set.  Now I wanted to get as close as I could to the color of Cinderella's dress.  I chose to use the retired Bashful Blue card stock to make it.  I cut a dress using the same framelits set.  I cut out the one with the little sleeves.  I attached it to the dress form using runner adhesive.  Next I used the retired build a blossom punch and punched out 2 of the smallest petals.  I added those at the top of the dress with the tips meeting in the middle.  I then punched out two 3/4" circles and two 1/2" circles.  I flattened one side of the 1/2" circles and attached them to the back of the 3/4" circles using a 2 way glue pen.  I then attached the 3/4" circle to the dress with the same 2 way glue pen to make the sleeves.  Pearls for the necklace and blue rhinestones at the center of the dress top complete the look.

 

The bottom half of the dress is made using the retired build a blossom punch and the wide oval punch.  You will also need to use the oval framelits set for the inside piece of the skirt.  I first cut the oval using the framelits out of Bashful Blue and vellum.  I glued the vellum to the blue using a glue stick.  I attached this to the bottom portion of the dress and built the rest of the skirt onto it.  I punched out 10 wide ovals.  4 of them are layered across the bottom of the dress.  The other 6 makes up the sides of the skirt.  I started at the bottom and went up being sure to have the top 2 meet in the middle.  I added the small wide petals to this to form the waist. Again I added blue rhinestones to the waist of the dress to enhance it.  

I will tell you that I started this dress by punching all my pieces and sponging the edges using Bashful Blue ink.  It gives the dress a depth but is not necessary.  I attached all the skirt pieces using runner adhesive.  The completed dress is attached to the card using dimensionals. 

 

The greeting for this comes from the Create A Cupcake stamp set.  I stamped it using Night of Navy ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I punched it out using the word window punch.  I layered this onto a Night of Navy modern label punch using runner adhesive.  I added a blue rhinestone to the ends of the greeting as well as one to the letter "i".  The completed greeting is attached using dimensionals.  

Once I had the greeting and the dress attached, I sprayed the card lightly with my champagne shimmer spray.  You can kind of see the sparkle to the dress in the photos.  I also added blue rhinestones to the white background of the card.  

I truly appreciate your patience and the fact that you have continued to come by to see if I am breathing or not.  I have started a new schedule with my favorite little man, Jackson, and will be seeing him several times a week while mommy and daddy are at work.  I cannot promise to post every day but I am hoping to post more than once a week.  

Thanks again for stopping by to visit.  I will have another post up on Friday so drop in to see it.  See you all later!

Why Are Weekends So Busy????

Hi everyone and happy Monday.  I hope you had a relaxing weekend.  If it was like mine, you were busy but still did some fun things.  I spent the first part of mine working on tickets for the charity banquet my hubby is hosting at the end of this month.  These tickets are for the VIP's who will be attending.  I also spent some time with my sister who has been super busy lately.  It was so nice to see her and have lunch with her.  Sunday was my mother in law's birthday.  We went to lunch with her and had a chance to just visit and catch up.  Sometimes you really just need that time to talk and catch up.  Life goes by so fast.


Since the tickets took up most of my time, I thought I would show you what they look like.

 

The bottom layer is a 2 1/2" x 6" piece of Night of Navy card stock.  I added a 2 1/4" x 5 3/4" layer of Real Red to this.  The top layer is a 2" x 5 1/2" piece of Whisper White.  I punched the 4 corners of each piece with my ticket corner punch and attached them together using runner adhesive.  I added the logo for the charity which was punched out using the decorative label punch and framed with the same punch to the ticket.  I cut the letters for ADMIT 2 out using my Cricut machine and a Storybook cartridge.  The rest of the information I wrote by hand using the Night of Navy and Real Red markers.  Usually I would print this info out on my printer but my printer decided not to work so I improvised.   All in all I think they turned out fairly nice.

 

This is the card I gave my mother in law for her birthday.  I have posted it before so I will not bore you with the details again.

Well that's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by to visit.  Be sure to come back and see what I have next.  See you all later!

The Owl League Strikes Again!!

It's Friday!!!!!!  For me, Friday's are also my afternoons with Jackson.  I just love spending time with him. 

The card I am sharing today is one I made for my daughter's boyfriend's birthday.  I don't like to post these until after they are delivered to the person so that's why it is being posted now.  Anyway, let's get started. 

 

I started with a base card of Read Red card stock cut at 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", scored by 4 1/4".   I added a layer of Basic Black card stock to this with runner adhesive.  The  black was cut at 4 1/8" x 5 1/4".  I then added a layer of Night of Navy card stock cut at 4" x 5".  I ran this through the big shot using the star impression folder.  Once it was embossed, I attached it to the base card with runner adhesive.

 

The sunburst look of the background was made using a scrap piece of Sahara Sand (not visible) cut at 2 3/4" x 5".  This served as the base the sunburst would be built on top of for the card.  I took strips of Real Red and Whisper White card stock which measured 1 1/2" x 4" and embossed them using impression folders and the big shot.  The red were embossed with the houndstooth impression folder and the white were embossed with the argyle impression folder.  Once embossed, I cut each of these strips diagonally using my paper cutter.  I took the piece of Sahara Sand and marked the center of it with a pencil on each side.  I then layered the strips of embossed red and white onto this using a glue stick.  Be sure to cover your corners of the sahara and once all pieces are attached, trim off the excess that overhangs the sides.  This finished sunburst was then attached to the piece of navy on the card using runner adhesive.

 

The black strip that goes across the card where the sunburst and card meet is a 3/4" x 5" piece.  I attached it using runner adhesive.  The greeting is from the stamp set Teeny Tiny Wishes.  I stamped it using Night of Navy ink onto Whisper White and punched it out using the retired small oval punch.  It is layered onto a large oval punch from Real Red card stock with runner adhesive.  The finished greeting is attached to the card using dimensionals.

 

All the characters on here were made using the owl builder punch.  I will introduce each one and list colors used for them.  This first one is Spider Owl.  I used Real Red, Pacific Point, Whisper White and Basic Black card stock for this guy.  The spider web and spider were drawn on by hand using a fine tip black marker.  

 

Next we have Super Owl.  I used Pacific Point, Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White and Daffodil Delights card stock to make him.  His hair is an owl vest cut down.  The emblem on his chest was hand cut by me and the letter "s" was drawn on using a red fine tip marker.  I also added white get pen to his eyes.  The black lines on the belt were made using the fine tip black marker.

 

Last but not least we have Bat Owl.  To make him, I used Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight and Basic Gray card stock.  I did use one extra punch on this one.   I used my handheld 1/8" circle puch to make the openings for the eyes in the mask.  For his emblem, I drew the bat by hand with a fine tip black marker and cut out the oval with by hand also.  I added lines to the belt with the black fine tip marker too.  

All pieces of each character were adhered together using a 2 way glue pen.  Once complete, the characters were attached to the card using dimensionals.

I hope you enjoyed my card today.  I wish you all a wonderful weekend.  Stop by next week to see what I have to share with you.  Thanks for dropping by today!!

Quick Tip Thursday

Hi everyone.  Since yesterday was my Jackson day and my birthday, I did not get into the craft room to make anything new.  I was just having way too much fun.

I did want to share a tip with you about punch art.  Sometimes when I sit down and make a new punch art piece, I will make more than one.  I am usually tweeking it and changing minor things but I may end up with 2 or 3 or more of a single piece.  Instead of using all of them for cards, I use them for other things too.  I might add one to my punch art sample board or put one in my punch art sample book.  I can also use these on a scrapbook page as an embellishment.  If you like to make tags or gift bags/boxes, you might even use one on these to liven them up a bit.  Whatever you do, don't throw them away.  There is always a use for them and maybe it is just as a card item but that's a good enough reason to keep them.

Hope this tip helps you.  Come back tomorrow to see my newest card.  It is great.  See you all then!!!

Easy Thanksgiving Card

Well here we are into the 3rd day of September.  Fall is coming and I for one and ready for the temperatures to go down a bit here in Phoenix.  The summer was actually pretty mild compared to some we have had but it still had its moments.

I started this past weekend with high hopes of getting a lot done.  Well in a way I did as I was cleaning some and doing laundry.  However, the weekend went downhill on Sunday.  I was so looking forward to attending the birthday party for Jackson but it was not to be.  I woke up that morning with a sore throat, congestion and a low grade fever.  Well there was no way I was going to expose everyone to my cold so I cancelled.  I do hope he had a wonderful time.  I will get to give him his present tomorrow so I still get to celebrate with him. 

I did manage to get into my craft room to make a relatively simple Thanksgiving card.  I kept it simple this time.  I have lots of ideas running around in my head but need to decided which to do first!!  So here we go with a turkey-day card.

 

The base card is a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" Old Olive card stock scored at 4 1/4".  I added a layer of Cajun Craze to this.  It was cut at 4 1/8" x 5 3/8".  The final layer on top started as a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Whisper White.

 

Prior to attaching the piece of Cajun Craze, I stamped some leaves along the top and bottom of the card stock.  The stamp comes from the retired set A Season of Friendship.  They are stamped on using VersaMark ink and heat embossed using clear embossing powder.  Before I go any farther I wanted to tell you that after the tree and leaves were stamped on the card I used the retired eyelet border punch to punch along the top and bottom edges of the white.  You can see it here in the photo.  I added a pearl to the top dot in each scallop.

 

The greeting on the front comes from another retired stamp set called Full of Blessings.  I stamped it using Cajun Craze ink onto Whisper White card stock.  I then punched it out using the small oval punch and inked the edges using a sponge and Cajun Craze ink.  It is attached to a piece of Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (retired) using a dimensional.  I attached the ribbon to the card with runner adhesive.  Again you can see the eyelet border and the pearls along the bottom edge.   

 

The main image on the front is the tree.  The trunk and leaves stamps are from the retired Season of Friendship stamp set.  I started by stamping the tree trunk using Early Espresso ink onto the Whisper White cards stock.  I wanted to give my leaves fall colors so instead of using ink pads to stamp them, I used my Stampin' Up! markers.  I used the brush tip end and colored each petal on the stamp on of three colors:  Old Olive, Cajun Craze and Pumpkin Pie.  I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to help me place the leaves exactly where I wanted them.  I like the look of the tree.  I feel it represents fall and harvest time.

Well that's it for today.  I will be back again with another card to share with you soon.  Tomorrow is my day to keep Jackson and it is also my birthday so no promises to post tomorrow or Thursday.  I will see what plans my family have for me.  I do hope to have some crafting time again soon so check back each day to see if I have been creative!!  See you all later.