Knit Happens!

This summer has brought on many *knit happens* moments for my family. I won't go into the boring details, but don't you have those days where it all just falls apart? I'm sure we all know of friends who are in the same boat....or basket, shall we say? That is when it's the perfect time to send them a card just because you care. My most favorite types of cards are the ones I receive from friends and family out of the blue. No special occasion needed.


That's what I wanted to create with Karen Lockhart's Yarn in a Basket stamp. I also have wanting to use some more of this great patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket's Honey Pie line. I pulled out a bunch of Copic Sketch markers that matched my patterned paper and colored my image to match. I then cut and embossed it with Spellbinder's Square Nestabilities Die Templates. I sponged up all the edges of my card to give it a soft, vintage feel. Also added a little snippet of PapertreyRibbon, a brad and some Papertrey Polka Dots to the background and horizontal strip that runs across the card front. Sentiment is from A Muse. And here's my finished card along with a matching envelope. Be sure to add this layout to your sketch book. I forgot to add the photo of the sketch but it's a great one that I'm sure I'll reach for time and again.
I also added a piece of the polka dot stamped paper to the inside of the card. I thought that would make the perfect place to add a line of whimsical inspiration to a friend. And here's the back flap of the envelope. I went all out and stamped it with Papertrey's Polkadot stamp set. Gotta love the polka dots!

Note: I have removed the email subscription from my blog until I get the wacky widgets fixed! And also, I am in the process of straightening up my craft room....I've had lots of requests for photos so I will oblige. And I'll also take photos of the girls' rooms once they are re-decorated. We're picking out paint colors this week. Hope you're having a great weekend!!

Patterned Paper Creations

I've been trying to blog ALL DAY but no time! We have SEVEN children here right now so it's a crazy.....but FUN........night! So I'm going to keep this fairly short, so please enjoy the photos!

I made three cards last night while waiting out the storms. I used my hand stamped patterned paper that I posted on June 3rd. It's SO MUCH fun to make your own patterned paper. You get exactly what you want.

This first card uses one of my favorite images from the Crafty Secrets Bugs set. Isn't it fun to think about being SO tiny that you have a cherry for a house? I used to love little story books with themes like this. Cute, cute image! Sentiment is from Papertrey Ink. Spellbinder's Nestabilities Die Cut.I love this chair from Karen Lockhart, available at Ellen's store! It SO reminds me of the ones my folks still have. I can't recall how many colors they've been painted. I love this pink version! Sentiment from A Muse.
And here's another kitty from Anna Wight's Cat's Life stamp set from Whipper Snapper. Don't you love the jewels on her hand cut crown? I think she's SO sweet! I took the photos on one of Jordan's new finds for her room. I got this at a little sale that these ladies has trash to treasure items. This is a seat, painted shabby pink. I believe that many of these seats are meant to go around a big picnic table. There was only one at the sale so we nabbed it! Jordy's going to sit her American Girl Dolls on this or maybe use it to sit and tie her shoes before school. I love it!
And here's the sketch I used for all three cards. I used different snippets of my hand made patterned paper for each card. All ribbon and cardstock by Papertrey Ink, Spellbinder's Die Cuts, Copic Sketch markers, Palette Black Noir ink.

Note: I'd love to elaborate on some Copic tips but I gotta run. Be sure to check out Marianne's blog for some good information. I would just jot it in journal to check daily.....or sign up for her email updates. Awesome stuff! Okay, I reallllllllly gotta go now, the kids are wanting food!!!

Crafty Secrets....By The Sea

First things first: Marianne from Copic now has a BLOG! If you love Copics like I do, you should be jumping up and down in your seat! Marianne is the Product Specialist for Copic. What's that mean to us? Wellllllll, Marianne is going to answer all those trouble shooting questions we have and show us technique based posts so that we can continue to learn how to utilize our Copic markers. I would definitely visit her site, tell her I sent you and sign up for the email notifications. Congratulations Marianne, you're now a BLOGGER!! Also, I will be joining Marianne this summer at CHA in the Copic booth. So be sure to stop by say hi, ask questions and see lots of Copic coloring demos. I can't wait!

Okay now to today's card. I've been wanting to use one of the new Crafty Secrets stamp sets called By the Sea which can be purchased HERE. It's the perfect little beach set and I think it's just darling. I grabbed a bunch of Copic markers and colored my image then die cut it with a rectangle Spellbinder's Nestabilities Die Template.

When I'm coloring backgrounds like sand or sky, I don't color them in solid like what you see at the bottom of my scratch paper. I use very loose, sketchy strokes leaving some white space like what you see at the top of my scratch paper. By layering in these backgrounds very loosely, you give the indication of sky, sand, grass, etc.....without having to be a great rendering artist.
My colored image had some pretty stark white areas left once I cut it with my rectangle die. So I decided to add some airbrushing with the sky and sand colors to even out the colors a bit. It's hard to see in this photo but while the die template was still in place, I airbrushed some of the sky blue onto the top half of the colored image. I didn't really use that scrap piece of paper because I didn't want that stark line....I just layed it there so you could see the division line that I used.
Then I did the same thing with the sand color. I airbrushed some of the white space all along the sand area to blend out some of the color.
I then removed my die template and was ready to assemble my card. I reached for the patterned papers I created in yesterday's post. I decided to use the giant polka dots, the stripes and the ticking plaid. These three designs really remind me of fabrics and that you would see on beach chairs and in little beach side cottages. Paired with the crisp white, I thought they'd work nicely with my beach theme.
While picking out my card design from my sketch book, I added some Glossy Accents to the water and let it dry.

Here's my finished card. I paired the three patterns with Papertrey Berry Sorbet cardstock and twill ribbon. The twill ribbon reminded me of fabric on beach chairs and pillows.
I had so much making this first creation with my new hand stamped patterned paper. I think this card will be perfect for the girls to send to my inlaws.....they have an awesome pool and we spend a lot of time there during the summer. No sandy beaches for us though, we're smack dab in the middle of the USA!

Stay tuned for more to come with the patterned paper. Have a great day my blogging friends!

Vintage Cottage Charm Inspiration

My dear friend HB (Carol) sent me a birthday card with such a nice hand written letter inside. She asked me what my summer theme was going to be this year.....last year it was strawberries and she sent me the most wonderful vintage teapot with strawberries on it. So it got me thinking and I have to say that my decorating theme right now is what I would call Vintage Cottage Charm.

For my birthday, I purchased this old kitchen cupboard at an antique store. I just love the layers of old, white paint...the kitschy red strip and scallop cut outs. I wasn't sure it would fit where I wanted it in my kitchen/dining room but it does! I'll have to take photos of some of my other vintage treasures I've found too!

Then, Jordan picked out this bedspread(yes, all this pattern is on one bedspread) from Land of Nod. The girls get to redo their bedrooms this summer. Josey picked a more modern fuzzy bedspread. Jordan decided (with a little help) to do her room in the Vintage Cottage theme. Everything in her room will be inspired by the patterns in the bed spread. Her new furniture will be thrift store/garage sale/antique store finds. We've already found an old shutter headboard, a door panel we're going to make into a cork board, some old white shelves, etc. After we oohed and aahed over the girls' new bedding, I got inspired by all the fun patterns in Jordan's bedspread. So I challenged myself to recreate each pattern in the bedspread and make my own patterned paper. Below are the six patterns I created. These are 1/4 sheets of cardstock and I'll use them like little quilt pieces on cards. I'll be sure to post my creations!

I wanted to show you how I made each pattern. These are all just representations, not exact replications. It was fun to dig through my stamp stash to find just the perfect stamps. For the first samples, I made a plaid pattern that resembles the pink gingham pattern of the quilt. I used the Ticking CHF backgrounder....stamped it both vertical and horitzontal with Papertrey Berry Sorbet ink. Here's the stamped patterned paper up next to the fabric sample. Gingham and Ticking just screams Cottage Charm to me.
Next I used the Karen Lockhart Millinery Rose stamp to create an overall floral pattern. I used a polka dot from Papertrey Ink to add some fun. Ink color was PT Berry Sorbet.
Here's the patterned paper sample next to the fabric.
Then I used another CHF background called Victorian Pattern to stamp a paisley-like pattern.

Here's the patterned paper sample next to the fabric piece.
Here's one of my favorites, these giant polka dots! I used the big ones from the PT set called Polka Dot Basics and PT Berry Sorbet ink.
And here's the patterned paper next to the quilt. I love how polka dots add a touch of whimsey to everything.Here's another Cottage Charm basic......stripes. I used the PT Faux Ribbon set and PT Spring Moss to create stripe after stripe.
Here's the finished piece next to the striped portion of the bedspread.
And here's another one of my favorite the cottage rose. I use one of the flowers from the PT set called Garden of Life. Ink colors were PT Berry Sorbet, Sweet Blush and Spring Moss.
Here's the two pieces side by side. To create this look, I inked the flower in Sweet Blush then tapped the edges of the flower onto the Berry Sorbet ink pad..then stamped the image. I added a few more polka dots just for fun.
Sooooooo, now I have my very own collection of patterned paper......just like when you see a rack of coordinating papers and you MUST have it all. It's fun to make your own though too. So I hope you give it a try. Be sure to link me up if you create your own! I'll be posting samples soon with my new paper. Have a great day everyone!! I'm off to pick paint colors for the girls' rooms.

Supplies: All CHF backgrounds can be found at Ellen's STORE. Papertrey products can be found at the link HERE.

Square Butterfly Cards

My friend Bevie linked me to Cindy's cute blog below. Cindy has made some adorable square envelopes out of regular A2 size envelopes. It's the perfect solution for 4" x 4" square cards.

http://onehappystamper.typepad.com/stamping_inspirations_wit/2008/05/pun-fun-class.html

I was inspired by Cindy's blog post to create some square cards with matching envelopes of my own. Here's a close up of a single card with the back and front of the envelopes. My envelopes differ a little bit from Cindy's in that I covered the entire envelope side and then created a flap. For my project, I used new patterned paper by pebbles inc which I purchased at my local scrapbook store. The Polkadot Butterfly stamp is from Karen Lockhart and was colored with Copic markers. I cut and embossed my image with a square Spellbinder's Nestabilities Die Template. Notice how I created an assymetrical look to the main image by cutting off a portion of the butterfly. The creates visual interest plus it gave me extra white space to stamp a Papertrey Sentiment.
Here's how you create the square envelope. The width of my envelopes was 4-3/8" so to make a square envy, I cut it to be 4-3/8" square. Lick the envelope and seal or use adhesive to adhere it shut. The finished car inserts into the side that you cut off. Refer to Cindy's blog for more detailed photos. To cover the entire envelope with patterned paper, I cut my striped patterned paper to measure 4-3/8" x 6". By cutting at 6", you can get 4 pieces of this out of one 12 x 12 piece of patterned paper. You score at 4-3/8" so that you have the leftover portion to make the flap. I rounded the corners like Cindy did too. The finished card size is 4" x 4" square. The patterned paper piece on the front of the card measures, 3-3/4" square. I needed some little cards to send out in product orders to friends...I thought by tying a ribbon (May Arts) around the card and adding a little chocolate, it would make a little thank you gift of sorts. Notice on the card above that I used the Papertrey sentiment that reads *Live Your Bliss*. Hershey's now makes a chocolate candy called Bliss.....I love the dark chocolate flavor and have to say that these compare to the silky smoothness of my beloved Dove chocolates. So how cool is it that I matched the bliss sentiment up with a Bliss chocolate!?

Dang, I KNEW I should have bought more of this patterned paper. I was using restraint though....never works!! Hope you enjoy and thanks to Cindy for the inspiration!!

Vintage Cherries

I love today's card, it's so cherry.....I mean cheery! My card sketch today was inspired by a scrapbook layout in the Page Maps idea book. I just took a small portion of a layout and adapted it into a card layout. I couldn't wait to try this one. For supplies, I used Honey Pie patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket, the Itty Bitty Cherry and Cherries stamps from Karen Lockhart, Copic Sketch markers(from Ellen's store), Spellbinder's Nestabilities (from Ellen's store) and Papertrey cardstock and ribbon.

After choosing my supplies, I used my Copic charts that I made to find the perfect Copic colors to color the stamped images with. By lining up my solid colored cardstock and patterned paper right next to the Copic colors, I can find a perfect match every time. Here's what my Copic charts look like. I made simple charts by setting up a table in a word document with columns. I added every Copic color and filled in the colors that I have.

I inserted my charts into page protectors, both front and back, and keep them right next to my stamping table for easy reference. I attach mine to this *clothespin line* I created with wood trim and clothespins. It hangs with cup hooks from a metal shelving unit.
Now onto the card. If you look back at the card layout, you will notice that one of the blocks on the card looks like a tag of some sort, tucked under the horizontal strip. I created my tag by placing a strip of cardstock into an oval Spellbinder's Nestabilities Template. I only wanted one part to have the oval cut so one side of the die is placed to cut the cardstock and the other is placed under the cardstock so that it will not cut. Of course, this all was flipped when I ran it through the Wizard die cutting machine. Before I cut, I made sure that my stamped image would fit onto the cardstock. I simply placed the wood stamp on the paper to make sure the width of the paper was wide enough. I then cut and embossed the partial oval. Then I wanted to color the cherries. I started with the Itty Bitty Cherries to show you how to start. I always, always start with a lighter shade. Even though ripe cherries are not pink, you want the pink undertone to be the first layer so that you can build the color. You can always add color but it's harder to take it away.

After getting all the cherries colored pink, I added red to the left sides of the cherry. I continued to blend back and forth with my pink and red markers until the cherries looked like the ones on the Itty Bitty Cherry stamp.
Then I wanted to add a highlight to each cherry. I took my Copic Colorless Blender marker and refilled so that it was nice and juicy. You don't have to remove the tips to refill your markers.....you can simple squeeze some refill ink right into the tips. It soaks in little by little.
Then all you have to do is touch the sketch tip of the Colorless Blender to each cherry. Let it rest there for a few seconds and then the magic happens. The blending solution will actually remove some color from the cherries, creating a tiny dot of highlighted area. Cool!!! By having your Colorless Blender really inked up well, you get that nice saturation.Onto some distressing to make my card look vintage. The patterned paper from Cosmo Cricket that I chose for my card was aged looking so I wanted the rest of my card to match. I used Old Paper Distress Ink by Tim Holtz/Ranger and a cool new inking took that has a soft sponge applicator that velcros onto the wood handle. This inking tool gives THE softest application of color, I love it!! I inked up my stamped images, the edges of my card and some of the patterned paper to give it a worn paper look.
And tadaaa, here's my finished card below. I added a small Itty Bitty cherry image with pop dots, which was cut and embossed with a small Spellbinder's circle and scallop circle Nesties die template. I also added some polka dots (gotta love the polka dots!) to the top of the card with Papertrey's polka dot stamp set. I tied a little bow with snipped notches and added it to the bottom of the stamped cherries image. I just LOVE how this card turned out. I was able to incorporate lots of patterned paper and different design elements. You could easily stamp patterns or sentiments onto the two rectangle blocks where I have patterned paper. A sentiment could go on the horizontal strip also. For the tag portion, you could use pre-made shipping tags, etc. The possibilities are endless! Hope you enjoy!!

Well, I've procrastinated all I can this morning.....I have to go to the mean dentist to have a cavity filled. I DO NOT want to go and cannot wait for noon to get here so it's all over. I'm pouting like a little kid about the whole thing!! Waaaaa!!!

Soybean Summer Salad

Edit:
Radiatore pasta is simple pasta but in the shape of a radiator. If you click on this link and scroll down, you can see what it looks like. It holds the dressing really well. http://www.foodsubs.com/PastaShapes.html

Edamame is simply soybeans. Pronounced (ěd'ə-mä'mā) or like this: "ed-uh-ma-may" . My good friend Marcia let me know that you can also find the shelled variety in the organic section of the grocery store. My store did not carry this though.

Lastly, for the poster who requested the Hot Peach Jam recipe. I tried to shoot you an email but it came back. That is my one and only secret recipe that I do not share. I enter it in competitions so I like to keep it under cover. Sorry about that girls!

As you all know, I DO LOVE to find new recipes. My mom and dad went to a Memorial Day potluck and she brought home a little sample of this pasta salad. It was SO good, I had to have the recipe. My mom's friend scribbled it on a piece of paper she had in her purse.....and right away I made it into a new recipe card. I named the recipe Soybean Summer Salad. I've never tried soybeans (edamame) in a recipe so this was a new one for me. You purchase the edamame in the frozen foods section of your grocery store. I bought a Steamers brand bag...they come with the pods still on. You just steam them in the bag, in the microwave, rinse them under cold water and then shell the beans out. The beans are kind of firm and have a little *bite* to them....and they're full of good fiber! I hope you try this recipe. If you want good recipes, all you have to do is go to pot luck!! There are so many good cooks out there!

For my recipe card, I used Karen Lockhart's stamp called Pasta with Peas. Now I know that soybeans aren't peas....but I don't think there's a real market for soybean stamps so we'll have to improvise! LOL! I thought the pea pods looked close enough to the soybeans in the shell and there is pasta too! The script font I use on my recipe cards is called Creating Keepsakes Becky (Becky Higgins' hand writing) and the type font is called Autumn Leaves Nonmetric. Patterned paper is Basic Grey and brads are from Star Lit Studio. Cardstock is Garden Green from SU!. Recipe card measures 4" x 6".

Here's the typed recipe that you can print off:

Soybean Summer Salad

8 oz radiatore pasta, cooked
3/4 cup Kraft Cucumber Ranch dressing
12 oz edamame (soy beans) frozen
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
cherry tomatoes, quartered

Cook edamame (I get the Steamers brand that you do in the microwave) and shell the beans. Combine all ingredients. Chill, stir and serve. Yummy!! Michelle Wooderson May 2008

Hope you enjoy the recipe! My dad is a farmer and soybeans have been a plentiful crop for him for as long as I can remember. So I just love that this is a *Made in America* product. Let me know if you try it!

A little funny: Jordan kept getting the big bowl of this salad out and just dug in. She LOVES it....and she kept saying, *Mom, this tastes just like pasta salad!* She just kept saying it and when Eric came home to snap up what was left after Jordan's trough feeding, she said it again...*Dad, this tastes just like pasta salad!*. I said, *You little dork, it IS pasta salad!*. LOL!

A Whole Bunch of Cards

Edit: I totally forgot to add that the two Crafty Secrets cards were inspired by my oh so talented friend HB (Carol). She has such a unique way of putting card designs together. I just had to try some of her designs. You can visit her blog HERE! Tell her I said hi!!

I've been stamping up a storm......literally! Will the rain ever stop?

I have a lot of fun samples for today, starting off with Anna Wight's Cat's Life set from Whipper Snapper. I was really thinking outside the box on this first card. Those fishy images reminded me of one of my favorite sayings, *That stinks*!! I stamped the two separate images then added the squiggly lines for smelly fish and a sentiment made with Papertrey's Simple Alphabet stamp set. Paper is from Crate Paper. I love *every day* cards like this one....the kind that you just *need* sometimes for a friend or relative who's having a rough day. And these little kitties below remind me of our Frisky. She's as fat as a volleyball and just sleeps all day, all curled up on the porch. We're waiting for her to have her babies any day now, we hope. For these cards, I stamped the pillow image onto the striped patterned paper, then stamped the cat image on top of that. I cut out the pillow outline and where the kitty nestles into the pillow for some fun paper piecing. So the cat images are stamped onto the white piece and colored then I added the pillow. I added a grey shadow line beneath the kitties with a Copic Sketch marker. Patterned paper is from the SEI Dill Blossom collection. Sentiment is from the Cat's Life set and was stamped on Kraft cardstock, with Papertrey polka dots stamped on top. More fun cards that would work well for birthdays or to just cheer a friend up.
Switching gears a little bit, these samples below are made with the new Crafty Secrets stamp set called Bug's Life. I colored the image with Copic markers then added Diamond glitter to the wings for sparkle. Background paper is from a 6 x 12 Crafty Secrets Radiant paper pad. The three half scallops are made from a cut and embossed Spellbinder's Die Template.

And this card makes the perfect baby card or maybe a birthday card for a little toddler. The image is tiny and simply adorable....a little bug in her buggy carrying her teddy bear. I colored the image with Copic markers and also added glitter to the wings. Background paper is from the Crafty Secrets Pastels 6 x 12 paper pad. Ribbon from Papertrey.
Here's the inside of the card. The paper was just so cute, I couldn't resist adding it to the inside of the card.

I also wanted to show you some stationery that Josey made . I gave her a sketch to work with and she came up with the rest. She picked the cute little Itty Bitty fishbowl stamp from Karen Lockhart, the fishy paper from K and Company and the sentiment from Crafty Secrets. I thought they turned out SO, SO cute. These went right into our notecard basket to use this summer.Here's a closeup of the fish bowls. She used some sequins, Copics, Ranger Glossy Accents, Inchie Squares and Spellbinder's scallop squares to create the main image. I know Josey would LOVE to read all about what you think. And I'm also sure that this post will have Jordan begging for a little attention too so stay tuned for her cards I bet!!
Hope you enjoy! Have a great day!!