Next Card Kit

Hi everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. I had a busy one but still it was good.

On my last post, I showed you all the next card kit I am listing on Etsy. But I decided to try something a little different out of my normal kit process this time around. I always get idea overload and come up with several concepts that I want to attempt. But because of time, most of them get pushed back. So what I decided to do this time was to create a few cards at a time, and then make the kits for each card at once. That way I can still use my creative energy to make the cards that I want to in this moment, get them out of my system, and finally move onto creating the kits. I am hoping I can then start the cycle over again. So I plan to make 5 cards in this particular series - so far that is how many I have planned out in my head; we'll see how that goes though - before I start making the kits. Designing is always my favorite part anyway. And seems to take up most of my time. So cross your fingers for me and here's hoping! :)

So I continued with the same sketch to come up with this next card. I do have to say though that I made the dimensions 4 1/4x3 this time, just to try to get more use out of one sheet of cardstock. I am still LOVING this Echo Park paper line - and as I mentioned above I am trying for a series here - so I stuck with that patterned paper. For the stamp image, I went with Stampin' Up! of course, as well as for the embellishments, punches and cardstock.

And here is the card:

Amour Eiffel Tower card:

Cardstock - Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla Stampin' Up!

Patterned Paper - For the Record Echo Park

Stamps - Stampin' Up!

Ink - Early Espresso, Crumb Cake Stampin' Up!

Button and Bling - brown button and half pearlie Stampin' Up!

Ribbon - 1/8" Old Olive Stampin' Up!

Punches and Die - Small Heart, Scallop border, Designer Label, butterfly {embosslit die} Stampin' Up!

Adhesive - glue stick 3M; Continuous Line Glue Dots; liquid adhesive Crystal Effects Stampin' Up!

I thought it would be fun to make the focus of the card not fit on it entirely. So that is why I kept with the smaller card and made the main section taller than the card itself. And I do have to say, I like the results. It was fun to experiment with going outside of what I normally do. Another thing I don't usually do is mat the main stamped image, but again, I wanted to try to get out of my comfort zone a bit. Although I don't love that part of it, I like the color the mat provides, as well as helping with the overall flow of the card. So my gut told me to leave it. :)

Hope you all are good and staying crafty! I am off!

Mother's Day Present To My Mom

 

Hi Mom! Just want to take a moment to tell you thank you for being my mom. Thank you for teaching me to always remember who I am and to try to be the best I can be. Thank you for loving me even when you haven't agreed with the choices I have made. Thank you for loving my daughter like she was your daughter. Thank you for teaching me how to sew and not getting mad at me - too bad - when I totally messed up that service project. Thank you for all of the times you have babysat, bought me lunch, told me you liked my outfit even when you didn't : ), put myself and my siblings needs before yours. Thank you for teaching me what being a mom is all about. I love you.

 

I can't help it. When any type of holiday is around that is a chance to give a gift to someone, I always have to make something. It's rare these days when I don't. Okay, one exception is that for my niece and nephews I always give books. My nephew Trae has become a total book nerd just like his aunt! But I still always end up making my niece something. And for my sister and Mother and pretty much anyone else, it's usually something hand made.

 

My friend Amber had made the cutest birdhouse for her mother. And as Mother's Day drew near, I couldn't think of anything other than doing the same for my mom. Our friend Cori also made some for her mother and mother-in-law that turned out super cute. Ok, so I copied the idea from Cori who had copied the idea from Amber. All of the results look completely different though : D

 

At Roberts they have these adorable bird houses that are super inexpensive. So I got the house for less than $3 after my coupon! I think even less than that. I completed the whole thing in about 2 hours. 

 

Here are some closeups of the fun details: 

 

 

As I have said before, I am addicted to making these paper roses. I can't help it. I love them. They take a little time, but are super easy to make. I did take some pictures for that tutorial that I talked about next week, but I need to do them again. So I am shooting for this weekend to have my tutorial up. 

 

                                  

 

I took the Scallop Circle punch and cut the hearts out from the circle, punched them on each side with my 1/16" hole punch and strung them with linen thread. I thought this was A fun take on all the banners that are showing up on all sorts of projects these days.

 

 

This bird is from Stampin' Up. I love that it cuts out the bird and wing separately so you can make them two different patterns. The twigs are from Taipan Trading. You can also see where I used the Scallop Circle punch to make a border around the opening to the house. Amber used her Cricut to do that instead and got a thinner border around the opening. I like the way hers looked better, but alas, I don't have a Cricut! : D. She is really good at cutting stuff out for me when I ask her though. Our friend Marci, who also has one, has also cut things out for me as well.

 

 

I used the Pinking Hearts border punch also from Stampin' Up to make the fun trim on the side of the roof. I feel like this is a little cookie cottage from a fairy tale. Can I live here!

 

Ok, so I liked my mom's so much, that I am now in the process of making myself one. It will also have October Afternoon paper, but on mine, it will be from the Fly A Kite line - which I absolutely adore!

 

So here are the supplies for my Mom's house:

• Robert's Crafts - bird house
• Tai Pan Trading - twigs
• October Afternoon - patterned paper {wish I could remember the line name. I'll find out and update it here}
• American Crafts Dear Lizzy Line - patterned paper {only the yellow with white polka dots and bees}
• Americana - cream paint {I'll look up the exact color of this as well}
• Mod Podge glue
• Glue Dots - Pop Dots, Memory Dots
• Martha Stewart - Butterfly Punch
• Stampin' Up - Bird, Scallop border, Pinking Hearts, Scallop Circle punches. All ribbon and linen thread. Tempting Turquoise Ice circle brad.
• My stash - light fabric starch {used to make the paper rose}, 1/16" hole punch , low heat glue gun {to attach the twig bundle}

Something to note: Mod Podge can be tricky. I tend to apply it on in a thin coat, lay the paper down, then apply another thin coat. I do this because if too much is applied it starts to bubble. Plus it takes longer to dry. I have also found that it works best if you are doing a lot of altering to whatever paper you Mod Podge, to let it dry completely over night and then come back and work on it. And it doesn't hurt to put some weight on the project to help the paper dry flat. It can still be tricky, but for the most part is really easy to work with. 

 

As I mentioned above, I have a bird house that I am now making for myself. It's going to be more in the color scheme of my living room/kitchen of red, black/brown, green and blue. The Fly A Kite papers have more of a raspberry color to them than red, but I think I can make it work. I saw the papers and I just went crazy for them. Of course as soon as I get it finished, I will also post it. 

 

I have a fun project that I have been working on using the My Little Shoebox brand. I eluded to it in my previous post. It's almost finished, so I can't wait to get that posted too. Plus I still have the project I am working on for my daughters room and a bunch of stuff swimming around in my head that I want to do. And I got some super adorable photo's of Peyton from this weekend that my sister took and I can't wait to get them printed and scrabooked as well. So needless to say, I have a lot I am working on, but I don't mind because it is a lot of fun to me and the results always make me happy. 

 

Hope you guys are doing well!