Love You Sew

As a child growing up, I remember my mother often sitting at the sewing machine, putting the final touches on a skirt or blouse or Halloween costume for me.

In high school, when I took Home Ec and learned how to sew, I was quite proud of myself for being able to sew something that I could actually wear!

However, my love for sewing didn't last long. When I wanted to sew something new at home, my mother tried to teach me her method of laying out the pattern on the fabric.

In school, I had found it quite easy–follow the picture in the pattern directions! My mother did not take this easy route. Instead, she had to fold the fabric and lay out the pattern in countless configurations to gain about 12 more inches of leftover fabric to throw in the leftover fabric bin!

I just couldn't wrap my head around how to do it her way and of course it had to be done her way. So, I said so long to sewing until I was out of the house and could lay out the pattern according to the directions but my love for sewing just wasn't there anymore!

Despite my history with sewing, I decided that my card design for today required me to do some stitching on the card itself!

To begin, I cut a standard Basic Black card base and a Hello Honey matte. I cut another matte from a piece of the Botanical Gardens DSP. I then cut a square of Cajun Craze and proceeded to create zig zag edges (like those done by pinking shears) by using the Finishing Touches Edgelits.

I used a template from the Essentials Paper-Piercing Pack to pierce holes in the zig zag matte. I used two strands of Gold Metallic Thread to cross stitch across the top of the matte, leaving a long tail of thread.

On a scrap of Very Vanilla card stock I stamped the spool of thread from the Love You Sew Stamp Set (this is a hostess set you can only order as a hostess!) using Basic Black Archival ink. I fussy cut this and then wound a length of the Gold Metallic Thread around it, securing it with Fast Fuse Adhesive. I then wound a little from the end of the stitching thread around the spool and placed a Dimensional on the back.

I used Versamark to stamp the sentiment on the Cajun Craze matte and then heat embossed it using Gold Stampin' Emboss Powder.

I adhered the Botanicals matte to the Hello Honey with Fast Fuse and then those mattes to the card front using Dimensionals. I angled the Cajun Craze matte and adhered it to the card front using both Fast Fuse and Dimensionals.

I wound the leftover thread from the stitching in a circle around the sentiment and secured one edge with the Fine Tip Glue Pen while attaching the other end to the spool. I adhered the spool on the matte using the Dimensional. I added a lick of Wink of Stella to top and bottom of the spool.

To cover the glue spot by the thread and to add further embellishment, I used to Hello Honey Botanical flowers and one Mint Macaron Flower cut with one of the Itty Bitty Accents Punches. Each flower was adhered with a Glue Dot and given a generous coat of Wink of Stella. Rhinestones were added to the centres. A scattering of crystal sequins completed the front of the card.

For the inside, I used a matte from the now retired Naturals Ivory card stock. I adhered a strip of the Botanicals DSP to the bottom and then used Versamark to stamp the ferns from the Awesomely Artistic Stamp Set around the end. I heat embossed them using Gold Stampin Emboss Powder and adhered the matte to the inside of the card using Fast Fuse Adhesive.

I think that my stitching is presentable on this card. What do you think? What's your history with sewing? Drop me a comment below and let me know!

Botanicals For A Friend

These Stampin Up Botanicals keep calling my name!

We weren't too busy at Walmart yesterday so I got the chance to sketch out a few designs and color combos to try. One of the sketches was for today's card!

I started by cutting a 5 x 7" card base from Kraft card stock and then cut a 5 x 7" matte from the corrugated Kraft paper and adhered it to the card front with Fast Fuse Adhesive.

I used the Botanical Builders Framelits to die cut flowers and greenery although it was actually black and white! I inked up the edges of the red flowers using Basic Black Archival ink and a sponge dauber and then used my McGill Paper Blossom Tool Kit on these as well as the other die cuts.

I played around with my arrangement a bit, taking pictures as I went, until I was satisfied that I had a balanced design. I then added the centre parts to my flowers, including pearls.

Next, I removed all the flowers, leaving the greenery in place and one by one I adhered them using Multi Medium Matte.

Just last week, I had finally received my 3.8 oz jar of the stuff and I had completely filled my Darice Ultrafine Applicator Bottle with the medium in hopes that I would actually be able to squeeze some out! I have had great difficulty with this medium but I am persevering since no one else seems to be having trouble with it and because it dries matte so if you make a bit of a mess, no one will know!

Everything was going fine until I attempted to add glue to my last leaf. As I was squeezing glue out onto the leaf, the cap exploded from the bottle and I got a very large blob on my card, the leaf, and on stuff lying next to my workspace! Needless to say, I uttered a few choice words about the situation but remembered to snap some photos quickly before cleaning up!

Luckily, I was able to salvage my project (again due to the matte factor of the medium) with the help of a stiff piece of card stock and a damp paper towel. I die cut another black leaf and glued it in and then adhered the flowers with Dimensionals.

Note to self: In the future, don't apply glue directly over your project if you can help it!

I cut a strip of Real Red card stock and glued it to the card front and then cut a strip of the 1 1/4" Burlap Ribbon. I trimmed off the sides and then pulled threads out of the ribbon, saving them for later, and frayed the edges a bit. I used Fast Fuse to adhere it to the card stock strip.

I stamped the sentiment from the Awesomely Artistic Stamp Set using Versamark on Basic Black. I heat embossed it with White Stampin' Emboss Powder and then topped it with the little frame stamp from the Rose Wonder Stamp Set, embossing it as well. I die cut the sentiment using the die from the Rose Garden Thinlits. It was adhered with Dimensionals over the burlap.

From the threads that I had set aside, I made three bunches of two burlap threads, slightly offsetting one, and tied a knot. After trimming the ends, I used glue dots to adhere the knots under the flowers to add a little texture to my flower arrangement.

For the inside of the card, I cut a matte from the now retired Naturals White card stock. Using Real Red, I stamped tiny flowers from the Botanicals For You Stamp Set. You can get this free with a $60 order during Sale-a-Bration! I inked the edges with Basic Black and then adhered the matte with Fast Fuse Adhesive to complete my card.

I love the way the red, black and white look together with the Kraft card stock!

What have you created with the Botanicals? Drop me a comment below to let me know!

I Spy A Dragonfly

I'm back today with another card inspired by the mood board in Catherine Pooler's online class, In The Mood. Monday's post, Brushstrokes For A Friend was also inspired by the same mood board.

Once again, I was captivated by the color combo of pinks and greens.

To begin my creative process, I taped down a piece of watercolor paper on my craft mat. With a broad watercolor brush, I wet the entire paper.I then stamped a bit of Pumice Stone distress ink on my craft mat, added a bit of water and then proceeded to give my paper a wash of color. I dried it with my heat tool and repeated the process a couple of times until I was satisfied with the depth of the color.

I then used a bit of Spun Sugar distress ink to provide a few streaks of pink. I did the same using Peeled Paint distress ink.


I dried the paper and then added a few flecks of water–ordinarily I love this effect but in retrospect I wish I hadn't done it this time because I was left with strangely colored areas where the water hit the paper. I dried the paper again and then trimmed it down to 3.75 x 5".

Using Pear Pizzazz ink and fern stamps from the Awesomely Artistic stamp set, I stamped around the outside of the card, being sure to stamp off sometimes to build depth. I then added a few spots of grunge with Sahara Sand ink.

I stamped the sentiment in Crumb Cake and used a sponge dauber to ink the edges of the matte with Mossy Meadow ink.

I adhered the stamped layer to a Pear Pizzazz matte and then tied a sheer pink ribbon around it. This matte was then adhered to a Melon Mambo card base using Dimensionals.

I stamped the dragonfly from the stamp set with Versamark on vellum. I heat embossed it using Zing Pink Embossing Powder and then fussy cut it. Because the legs looked weird, I cut them off.
The dragonfly and some sequins were adhered to the card front using Crystal Effects.

I stamped the leafy stamp from the stamp set on a matte of Naturals Ivory card stock. I also inked the edges with Mossy Meadow. I adhered the matte inside the card using Fuse Fast.

 What has inspired you to create a particular card? Share your story below!

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