A Blog, A Swap, & Cards...

Hi & Hello!

First, thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm not entirely sure how this will turn out considering that I'm kind of new to this... but I love finding inspiration and learning new things by browsing other crafters' blogs, and so I figured, why not share the love? Maybe, someday, another fellow crafter will find inspiration from my creations!

That said, a little about me... I've been crafting pretty much my entire life. I've always LOVED paper... but I've tried other things: jewelry making, candle making, wood crafts, etc.  It wasn't until about 2006 that I was formally introduced to scrapbooking.  And then my collecting began... Looking back, I think that's mostly what I've done - collect.  It's only recently that I've actually started using what I've collected. And in searching for inspiration, I was introduced to a really huge crafting community! So, like I said earlier, this blog will serve as my little way of "giving back" the inspiration!

Soo... on to some projects!  This first project was for a swap I participated in at My Scrap Room. We were to make some ATCs (artist trading cards) with a vintage lady on it. These are how my ATCs turned out:

I really enjoyed making these and just love how they turned out! I used Graphic 45's "A Ladies' Diary" collection for the patterned paper and the vintage ladies.  I added some cream lace and a strip of 1/8" brown satin ribbon with a bow to the left side.  To the top right corner, I added a brown photo corner and a handmade brown satin ribbon flower.  From the flower I just have some beads and a heart charm dangling.  I added a little banner sentiment and inked all the edges with Walnut Stain Distress Ink (my favorite color so far!).  This swap was the very first time I created an ATC, and I've got to say that it's pretty addicting! They're a really nice, small size to work with, and a really great way to dive into swapping!

My second project is a pair of thank you cards:

This first card is a 4.25" x 4.25" square card.  The patterned paper is from K & Company's Jubilee collection (another collection that I absolutely adore!).  The stamps are from Inkadinkadoo's Nostalgia clear stamp set.  I heat embossed them with American Crafts Zing embossing powder in Chestnut.  The "thank you" sentiment is also embossed with EP 101's Psychedelic embossing powder.  It's such a pretty whitish color!  I used one of Tim Holtz's mini styled labels to cut out the sentiment and added some blue rhinestones to the sides.  I added some Prima flowers and twine, mounted the front to a kraft cardstock base, and called it done!  Then, because I really liked how this card came out, I decided to do a second one!

This card is also a square card, but it's a bit smaller at a 3.75" x 3.75" size.  I used the same kind of background paper as the first card along with the same sentiment (except I used Walnut Stain Distress Ink only).  I did, however, emboss the little bird and flower in the corners.  I used the American Crafts Chestnut powder for the branches and circle the bird is standing on, Tim Holtz's Distress embossing powder in Peeled Paint for the leaves, and EP 101's Pearlized Sapphire for the bird and flower.  I know there's a technique for using multiple colors of embossing powder - carefully pouring the different colors where you want them and then shaking them all off together - but when I stamped my images on my background paper in Versamark ink, I couldn't see them for the life of me! So I decided to try something else: I poured one color at a time over the entire image and just used a detailed brush to brush off the color I didn't want on certain parts of the image - and it worked perfectly! I was soo happy with the end product...

Anyways, sorry for the long first post... I hope, though, that if anything, you're inspired to do something crafty today! I'll be back before long with another project to share!

Thanks for stopping by!