Sketch Frenzy Friday 1/30/15

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

Another week and another month has gone by! Wow it is flying...
But, one thing I am happy for is our weekly SFF Sketch Challenge!

This weeks is a good one and all the designers did a great job with it!

Here is the sketch

This is what I came up with

I used DSP from the new catty called Stacked with Love.
Whisper White , Basic Black and Real Red card stock. I kept it real simple just only turning the sketch. I have only one little embellishment a white heart also from the new catty.

Here is a look at the inside

I love this little sentiment from Yippee Skippy! The XOXO (Hugs and Kisses) say it all... I LOVE YOU!

Have a great week, I am so far behind in my day I have to run.

Please join us in creating a card from this sketch. We would all  love to see it
http://www.sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Chat soon,
Patrice

Butterfly Basics

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I really love this new stamp set called "Butterfly Basics". It is so right up my alley with all the eclectic pieces it has in it.  There is also a coordinating Butterflies Thinlits Die that is available and it is amazing also. I created several cards so far with this set but gave them away before I had a chance to take pictures. But, I did manage to take this photo before I gave it to a friend to send to her aunt who loves butterflies.

These cards are just so beautiful. I really do like to work with this stamp set It has 11 different pieces in it. I used 7 just on the front of this card. Every card I made from this set was different so that's a plus in it's self. I love the Dies too. They are really sturdy and if you take care the image comes out without tearing. I added Marina Mist to the edges of the butterfly with a sponge and rolled the edges with my bone folder to give it some dimension. The left side of the sentiment is rolled up like a scroll can you see it? I chose to only ink the flowers in the background in Wisteria Wonder and not the entire image because I did not want all the greenery blocking out the pretty ferns. I think the honeycomb piece gives the background really great depth. I used a technique called "stamping off" You stamp your image once on a scratch piece of paper with out re-inkling then you stamp a second  image that comes out lighter on you card.


Supplies used to create this card.

Ink - Marina Mist, Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Soft Sky and Daffodil Delight.
Paper - Marina Mist, Whisper White, Naturals White and Calypso Coral.
Stamp Set- Butterfly Basics and Something to Say.

Die - Butterflies Thinlits Die.
Embellishment - Basic Pearls.
Punch -  Bitty Butterfly.

Here is a look at the inside;

That's all I have for today. I really hope you give this stamp set a try. It is well worth the purchase. If you do create a card from it let me know and I'll drop by your blog for a look. Have fun creating.

Chat soon,
Patrice

Creative Blog Hop

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I was so honored to have been ask to participate in this Creative Blog Hop. My Good Friends Maria Vanderform and Karen Gibson asked me to take on this Mondays segment.
 I thought and thought about what to make for you all, I knew it had to be something very special. I sure hope you like it and get inspired to create something fun too! I tried to make it a tutorial so you could follow along with my creative process.

I always make my Honey something special for Valentines Day. So, I made him a special Heart Box that will be filled with his favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies (homemade of course) and Dove Chocolates both are his favorites! Mum's the word though OK! I don't want him to catch on before Valentines Day.

Here is a completed photo of the Box;

I'll take you through it step by step in a little tutorial form.

First, I drew two hearts free hand using the card board from DSP package. One for the lid the other for the bottom of the box.

Second, I had to make the box frame. I think SU should make Heart kits just like the Stars kit it would have been much easier than doing all this free hand lol.

Steps Three and Four, I attached one of the heart pieces to the frame to create the bottom of the heart box. I cut 3 strips at 2 1/4". I scored  the extra 1/4"  and made several small cuts then put Sticky Strip along the inside edge of the bottom piece. Then molded the 2 1/4" strips to make the attachment to the heart bottom as you can see in the photos. I glued DSP to the inside of the  bottom of the heart pieces with Tombo Mono Liquid Glue.

The fifth and sixth step, was to make the lid and cover the top and inside of the lid with DSP. I cut 3 strips at 1 1/4" and did the same scoring at 1/4", cuts and Sticky Strip for the attachment as I did to the bottom of the box.  The lid edge is 1" deep.

Step seven, was to  cover the outside of the heart lid and bottom with Cherry Cobbler paper. Now set it aside.

Step eight, was to make the tag. I used the small heart, 1 3/8 Circle, Scallop Circle Punches and the Scallop Circle and Heart from the Thinlets Circle Card Die. The sentiment is from the Hello Life Stamp Set stamped in Cherry Cobbler. I ran the heart through the Big Shot with the Decorative Dots Impression Folder. I used Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, Basic Black, Natural Ivory Card Stock and Glitter Paper on the tag.

Step nine, decorate some tissue paper to wrap the cookies in and complete the gift box. I used the Hello Life stamp set. Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black, Mellon Mambo and Real Red inks and stamped the stamps in a random fashion.

Step ten, the fun part to decorate the top of the heart box.

 I used 1 1/4 Cherry Cobbler Striped Grosgrain Ribbon to create this beautiful Bow. The ribbon around the edge of the lid is 1/8th " Black Taffeta. The hearts and XOXO were cut from pieces of Circle Card Thinlet. The tag was attached with Silver Bakers Twine and a large Early Espresso Cloths Pin was attached to the tag as an embellishment. The finished piece is  9" x 10" and 2" deep.

Step eleven, was to make a card and envelope to match the heart box. The second photo is a peek at the inside.

I hope you like this little tutorial so much so that you give it a try. I had fun creating this Heart Box for you all and especially for my Honey. I know he will take it to work share the cookies (maybe not the Dove Chocolates) and then put it on a shelf to show it off. I just love this man for being proud of my creations!  I do Freakin' Love Him so.

Part of the Creative Blog Hop is to give you a little in site into my creative process by answering 4 questions. Here goes, This was the hardest part of this whole adventure for me.

1.  What are you working on?
Right now, I am working on re-stocking my "On Hand" gift card stash. I decided to make several specific cards this year like, Birthday, Wedding, Baby, Shower, Anniversary, Get Well and Sympathy to name a few. I'm always giving my cards away as gifts. So I need to replenish my stash often.

2.  How does your work differ from others in your genre?

I hope I have a unique style. I generally shy away from CAS cards because I believe more is better I feel sort of left out of the mainstream because CAS is so popular. But, I do make CAS cards from time to time. I really like Vintage, Grunge and Masculine cards the most. I try to make a scene when I create a card. It's like telling a story with my cards. I enjoy distressing edges and using ribbons, texture and adding lots of embellishments to the cards I create.

3.  Why do you create what you do?
I love to create anything hand made, especially cards and 3-D items. I love working with paper and stamps the best. But, I also love working out in the garden. Growing vegetables and cut flowers for arrangements are up there with paper crafting. I took a Master Gardener course last year so I could learn what grows best in West Virginia. Jeff recently bought me a new sewing machine so this year I am going to learn how to sew. I need some new pajamas. We will see how that pans out (smile). I think cooking is creating too and I love to cook and bake. Bake/Make someone happy is my motto. I really appreciate hand crafted items and admire all types of art forms.

4.  How does your creative process work?
I really like sketch challenges. Sometimes I just need a little jump start and or direction and sketches do that for me. If I don't have a sketch in mind, I usually pull out my paper and or DSP first, then I choose a stamp set to go with the paper, then the embellishments. Then, I pull out what ever form of texture I will be adding to coordinate everything with. Then, I put that all together and create the card.

Wow, that wasn't so bad!

Thanks for joining me today this was one long post. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

I would love to hear from you. Your comments  always make me so happy!
Let me know if you have any questions about the Heart Box as well. I'll try to get back to you ASAP. Just leave me your e-mail address OK.

I have asked Stacey Tomkowiak http://gottastamp2.blogspot.com/ to take on next Mondays segment. I know you will like her work as much as I do. Stacey is a member of the Sketch Frenzy Friday Design Team with me. Please make sure you check her blog out next Monday.


Chat soon,
Patrice

Balloon Bash

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I have been busy creating with all my new SU goodies. I can't wait to show you.

My goal this year is to a have a healthy stash avail of "All Occasions Cards ".
Birthdays, Wedding, Baby, Sympathy, Holidays, Hi Hello, Illness and so on. That way it will keep me stamping and have plenty of cards for gifts on hand too!

Today I created a card for a friends Birthday.

Stampin' Up has a very fun stamp set in the New Occasions Mini Catalog this year called "Balloon Bash". This stamp set is so versatile, all of the images front and back on this card are from this set. There is also a DSP pack that coordinates with it called "Birthday Bash". I used a piece of it for the background on this card. I has specks if Gold Foil in it that makes it shimmer really nicely!

This is what I came up with;

I stamped the focal image two times, once using various markers and the second time in Calypso Coral. I fussy cut the "Celebrate Banner" out from the second one and mounted it with dimensionals on to the first image that I also fussy cut and mounted on to a Bermuda Bay piece of card stop to help make the image "POP". I added a few Gold Glimmer circles to the front of the card for shine and texture. I find from time to time I have to use a Blender Pen to smooth out the ink of an image I have stamped. I think it gives the image a more uniform look. I fussy cut the three balloons and mounted them on dimensionals and tied a white piece of Bakers Twine on to each of them just to keep them from floating away lol.

Supplies I used to create this card are as follows;

Ink- Basic Black, Calypso Coral, Bermuda Bay and Crushed Curry.
Paper- Whisper White, Bermuda Bay and Gold Glimmer Paper.
Stamps- Balloon Bash.
DSP-  Birthday Bash.
Misc- 1/8th " Circle Punch, Bender Pen and White Bakers Twine.

Here is a look at the inside;

I think the candle image along with the DSP strip looks like a cake. I added a few Gold Glimmer circles to the top of the candles for fun.

I hope you like this card and you too can get some time in your craft area to create something fun.

Chat soon,
Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday 1/23/15

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

It's Sketch Frenzy Friday time and I am so excited about this sketch! I looked at it for several days before I came up with a card I idea I really liked. This weeks sketch was designed by Kim Innis our Fearless leader and boy oh boy it's a tricky one. You gave us a really good challenge Kim! I can't wait to see what the other designers came up with also.

Here is Kim's sketch;

This is what I came up with;

I really like this card! I don't know why but I do. The sketch was tricky with the three lines in it. It's fun when you get a good challenge sketch to create with. So it tickled me that the card turned out so well. I hope you all liked it to!

Supplies used to make this card.

Ink-Mossy Meadow, Real Red and Old Olive.
Paper- Natural White and Early Espresso.
Stamps- Wood You Be Mine, Hello Life and Something to Say.
Embellishments-Wooden Embellishments,Autumn Wooden Accents, Linen Thread and Heart Punch.
DSP- Adventure Bound.

Here is a look at the inside;

I hope you were inspired as much as I was and give this sketch a try. We would love to see what you come up with! http://www.sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

Looks like that's about all I have for this sketch. I hope you to too find some time to create something fun this weekend. I'm really planning on staying in the craft room all weekend (It's supposed to snow so what better excuse right)!

Thanks for stopping by.
Let's chat soon OK,
Patrice

PCCCS#128 Baby Bumblebee

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I am finally feeling better! Thank Goodness!!! I have been dieing to get into my craft room and play with all my new goodies that I have recently ordered! I love SAB time and this years New Occasions Mini Catalog. It is filled with all sorts of wonderful stamps, papers, dies and embellishments. You just have to see it all!

I am really not into a lot of baby stamps and things most of the woman I know are working on grand children so, I don't have a big request for baby cards. But I just fell in love with this one called "Baby Bumblebee". This little baby has the sweetest face.

I was looking on line today and found a great sketch from the Paper Craft Crew http://www.papercraftcrew.com/pcccs-128-card-sketch/  Here is their sketch #128. It is an easy sketch to create with why not give it a try.

This is what I came  up with,

Supplies I used to create this card were;

Ink- Memento Black and Calypso Coral Blendabilities.
Paper- Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar and Crisp Cantaloupe.
Textured Impression Folder- Honeycomb.
DSP-Sweet Dreams.
Embellishments- Artisan Embellishment Kit and Basic Pearls.
Punches- Bitty Butterfly, Bird Builder and 1/8th Circle.
Stamp Sets- Baby Bumblebee, Something to Say and Butterfly Basics.

Here is a look at the inside;

I cut the sweet little face out and popped it up with dimensionals and placed it between the two sentiments.

Thats all there is to this card. I hope you were inspired and find some time to create something fun. I have been busy and have lots to show you....stay tuned.

Chat soon,
 Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday 1/16/15

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I just can't shake this cold/cough thing... YUCK! It is so draining.  I'm tired of being sick! I want to feel normal again... What ever that is lol.

Well this week is my turn at creating the sketch. I hope you like the simplicity of it. The other designers really did an outstanding job on it I know you all will be happy to see their work too.

Here is my sketch,

This is what I came up with.

 I just turned the sketch on its side and went with it that way. I received my new SU Order (Ya New Goodies) and immediately thought about using one of the new stamp sets called Hello Life.  There are three sweeping stamps in this set (amongst others really cute ones) that are so pretty. I knew "So Sweet" would work out nicely in the space provided. I chose to use several bright fun colors because I was not going to utilize a lot of the space on this card and thought that would give the card the extra "POP" that was needed. The DSP is from Sweet Taffy it has lots of bright fun colors and patterns in it. I am also enjoying using the In Color Sequin Assortment gotta love me some shinny bling! I added a few Basic Rhinestones too. They both add just the right amount of jazz where needed.

Here is a look at the inside;

The sentiment is from Something To Say.

That's all from me today. Won't you give our sketch a try we would love to see what you come up with post it here  http://www.sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

Have a great week!
Chat soon,
Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday 1/9/15

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I bet you are asking where has she been? It's going on well over three weeks since I got this flu/cold/bronchitis thing and I'm just now starting to feel a bit better. This  never ending yuck that is going around is no fun! I really hope you haven't gotten hit with it!

With that said, lets move on to a more happier note! I needed some fun this week how about you?

We have another wonderful SFF challenge for you Elizabeth Harris designed it. I was so excited to show you this sketch and to show you what everyone had created with it. You did a great job Elizabeth!

This is what I came up with.

 I really do like to work with sketches. They give me a starting point and inspiration for my cards. I chose Crumb Cake card stock for my card base. Then added the background with the Decorative Dots Impression Folder.

Wild Wasabi, Early Espresso and Natural White card stock for the matting, star and the banner. I used a scrap of Trim the Tree DSP and a scrap of Burlap Ribbon  for accent pieces, I punched three little stars and added three gold sequin pieces for some bling! The sentiments are from the Petite Pairs stamp set. The larger stars were cut from the Star Framelits set.

As you know I like to decorate the inside of my cards too. I think it makes the card have a more custom look to it.

Well that's it for this week. I hope you give our sketch a try it really is a great sketch to work with. If you do please add it to our blog here http://www.sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

Take care of yourselves my friends. Try to stay warm, get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids (I know it's the mother in me ).

Chat soon,
Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday New Years- 1/2/15

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I hope you all had a fun and safe New Years! Jeff and I have been sick with the flu since Christmas. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck! So this is going to be a really short post. We didn't have much planned but being down for the count wasn't on our list either! I just can not seem to get rid of this chest congestion and cough.

But, I did manage to get a card made for this weeks sketch challenge. It took me at least 4 hours to make it! Really, my head was a fog mass! The creator of this weeks sketch is Terri Tanks and she did a really great job with it.

Here is Terri's amazing sketch,

and this is what I came up with. Thanks for the inspiration my friend!

I used the Feathers Framelits Die and some Silver Glimmer Paper cut the feathers out with. I also used the Petite Pairs Stamp Set for the sentiments.  The sentiments were mounted on Whisper White and Basic Black card stock using the Scallop Oval and the Large Oval Punches. The DSP strip is from Back to Black. A bit of 1/8th inch Taffeta Ribbon for the little bows.

Now for a look at the inside,

Please join us this week we would love to see what you come up with!
http://www.sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

We had so many people create cards from our sketch last week we were all really excited! Please join us again this week too. We are fans of all of your work!

Here is to an amazing New Year! Wishing you lots of extra time to create something fun, good health and lots of love!

Chat soon,
Patrice