Flower Pot Card

This was my first attempt at a flower pot card. I created this card for my mom for Mother's Day this year. The "pansies" were made with the butterfly punch from Stampin' Up! I punched the butterflies out of Whisper White card stock then water colored them with various colors of Classic ink. The flower pot was made from Creamy Caramel card stock. The insert uses Lovely Lilac and Whisper White card stock as well as Lovely Lilac ink and a stamp image from All Year Cheer. The leaves are punched from Green Galore card stock. All supplies (except the ribbon) are from Stampin' Up!

Complete instructions can be found here
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/flowerpotpocket/

Thanks for looking !

Americana Basket Skirt and Brownies

I used to go to yard sales regularly looking for gently used children's clothing and items. I rarely go to yard sales now that the kids are grown; besides I don't need any more "stuff" no matter how good of a deal it is. I found this woven basket on one of those yard sale trips many years ago. It originally had a handle on it and I put pinecones, etc in it for a Christmas decoration. One of the kids broke the handle on it playing with it, but I didn't throw it away hoping I'd find another way to use it.

We had been invited to an Independence Day boat party the summer following the breaking of the basket incident. I decided to make brownies to take and thought of that red basket. I was able to get one more use out of it by making a "skirt" for it to dress it up a bit and hide the crack on the side.

I guesstimated the width and length of fabric that I needed, making a really long tube out of it. I then stitch a seam along the top to run elastic through sewed the ends together and had a basket skirt !

Above is a photograph of brownies I made in 2008 for our Independence Day celebration. That particular year the Mississippi River was flooding, turning our front field into a pond. We took advantage of the situation by having some friends and family over to watch fireworks over the newly created pond. We had lots of food on hand, one of the favorites were these patriotic brownies! I used my folk heart paper punch to punch out the stars. I cut strips of paper with my paper trimmer. I placed them on the top of the brownies, lightly sprinkled over them with powdered sugar then carefully removed the paper pieces to reveal a "flag" design. Everyone loved them !

Thanks for looking

Happy Fourth Of July

Whisper White, Brilliant Blue, Real Red card stocks and inks all from Stampin' Up!

God bless America stamp image, retired from Stampin' Up!

Grosgrain ribbon and heart brad from my craft stash

I've seen several versions of this card so I am not sure who the original designer is to give credit to, but thank you for sharing your project whoever you are.

Brown Paper Bag Americana Heart

Making "wall hangings" out of brown paper bags was an economical and easy project for the holiday bazaar that I ran at the elementary school years ago. They were cheaper and easier, though not as sturdy, than using wood cut with a scroll saw. This is one of those brown paper bag projects.

Cut out two of the shape you want. Paint and embellish as desired (I used acrylic craft paints). Glue (or sew) along the edges, but leave a small portion open to insert stuffing (or shredded up plastic shopping bags!). Finish gluing or sewing. You can add twine, wire, ribbon, raffia, etc to make a hanger for your item. You may want to sew/glue the ends of ribbon into the seams of the item for a more finished look. I made also small versions of this repurposed paper bag craft to be used as Christmas tree ornaments for the holiday bazaar.

TIP: Dip an old toothbrush lightly into acrylic craft paint then run your thumb along it to splatter the paint onto your project.

Thanks for looking, have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend !

Americana Clay Pots Wind Chime

I made this years ago; now looking at it I think I'd make it three pots long and paint horizontal stripes on the lower two pots (the way it is now, it reminds me of a candystriper jumper or maybe barbershop singer vest). I've made several types of clay pot bells over the years, so many ways to paint them - and they are cheap, too !

I used indoor/outdoor acrylic craft paint on this project. I didn't seal them with anything first, I just painted a couple of coats as needed. The star was stamped with a cut up kitchen sponge dipped lightly into acrylic craft paint. The stripes were hand painted with a paint brush.

After the pots are thoroughly dry, string them together with twine and wooden beads to create the bell / wind chimes.

Thanks for looking !

Have a happy and safe Fourth Of July weekend!

Americana Bunny Figurines

Happy July ! I am going to share a few Americana / Patriotic projects the next couple of posts in honor of Independence Day!

The first project are these two adorable Americana bunny figurines I painted. I found them at a yardsale several years ago. They were unpainted and made of a polyresin type of material. They had $10.00 written on the bottom as their original price, but I paid $2.00. I know, I know, die hard yard salers would have haggled on the price, like trying to get them for 25c (they were rather ugly unpainted). I'm not like that. If I go to a yard sale and see something I like, I buy it knowing that it is a fraction of the original cost anyway, why haggle on the price ? Besides, if the person really would have accepted 25c for the set of two bunnies for instance, they would have had them priced for 25c and not $2. Not to offend anyone, I know that haggling is part of the fun for many yard salers. It's just not me.............

Anyway, I bought these two unfinished bunnies and painted them with acrylic craft paint and antiquing medium then coated them with a sealant. I was proud of how they turned out when I completed them in 2001 !

Wishing you a safe and happy Fourth Of July weekend !

Thanks for looking.

Father's Day Cards

I've seen the new Stampin' Up! Idea Book and was sad to see that there are no new automotive stamps to speak of. I loved the old now retired Classic Convertibles and Classic Pickups sets, was hoping that they would introduce another stamp set similar to those. There is a new farm themed set with an old 1956 Ford pickup. It has the bed full of apples and a sign on the tailgate; I doubt I buy it since it has such limited use for me. I like classic muscle car and hot rod car stamps since my friends and family are into them. I don't know that they would care for a card with "Fresh Apples" on it  =)

I've used those two Classics stamp sets so much for cards for my dad that this year I decided to make a card with a photo of his show truck on it. The card folds at the top; it is 4 1/4" wide by 5 1/2" tall.

Supplies all from Stampin' Up!:
Basic Black, Whisper White and Metallic Silver cardstock
5/8" black satin ribbon
Whisper White craft ink - to stamp on ribbon, set aside to dry at least 24 hours before handling
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set
Texturz plate

The above card I created for my dads birthday earlier this year. It is an easel card, the instructions can be found here:

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/easelcard/

Supplies from Stampin' Up!:
Glossy White, Basic Gray, Basic Black card stock
Basic Black ink
colored pencils
scalloped border punch
white crayon
sponged Going Gray ink over the colored image (Crayon Resist Technique http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/crayon_resist/ )
to get a sort of faded, antique look to the colors.

The stamp sets are Classic Convertibles, Classic Pickups, Antique Autos, Highways and Byways background stamp  and Birthday Best , all by Stampin' Up! and all are retired.
The gray satin ribbon was bought elsewhere.

Thanks for looking !

Cute As A Button

One of my favorite creations, made for a cousins baby shower.

Chocolate Chip, Pretty In Pink, Very Vanilla card stock from Stampin' Up!
Chocolate Chip ink, Stampin' Up!
Snap Stamps rubber stamps

button, miniature beads for eyes, craft doll hair, ribbon scraps, actual blush makeup for blush on cheeks

Thanks for looking !

Baby Onesie Card

I know this has been done thousands of times before, but I have never made one. A friend requested that I make a template for her to follow to make it easier for her to create 20 of them. If I made one of these to give, I'd do it slightly differently by adding more detail.

My test sample uses a sheep image from the retired Stampin' Up! set DD Noah stamped with Basic Blank ink. I should have heat embossed the sheep in black. I then colored it in with white dimensional paper paint. The card stock is Bashful Blue from Stampin' Up!

Cut your card stock 4 1/4" x 11". Fold in half to create a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card that folds at the top.

I cut in from the sides 5/8 " and 1 5/8" down from the top fold to create the arms. You could change these measurements, it just happens to be where I cut by "eyeballing". I did not have a pattern to follow so I started cutting up scrap paper - the way I normally make things from scratch. The pattern making started with a piece of 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 scrap paper folded in half to give me the center. By creating the center first, when I did my cutting and punching through both layers the left and right side of the onesie would be the same. I flattened out the folded front piece pattern and saw that this idea worked well. That scrap paper pattern can then be traced (or carefully held up to the card while punching), saving time and ensuring that each of the 20 onesies are the same.

Also by using the scrap paper first, I decided it looked a little weird having both layers punched through on the leg openings. I then tried punching a semicircle through the top layer, trimming the bottom layer diagonally across the leg opening with scissors and liked it much better.

The friend wanted to use a punch as she had seen other people do to create the openings, punching through the top and bottom layers at the same time. I used a 1 3/4" punch to create the neck and leg openings.

After punching and trimming I made a dry emboss template out of scrap lightweight cardboard. Use a stylus/empressor tool/dried up ball point pen to emboss the seams. TIP: Rub waxed paper on the back side of your card stock before running the stylus along the template; the stylus will glide better and not be as likely to tear your cardstock.
I detailed the seams with a Bashful Blue Stampin' Write marker from Stampin' Up!

The bottom flap seam should have been higher up, I wasn't thinking when I made it so now the sample looks "off"to me. For the sample I punched brushed silver card stock with a 1/8" punch, glued the tiny dots on to mimic brads. To create mail friendly faux brads, I'd add a little bit of Crystal Effects from Stampin' Up! to make them shine and have more dimension.

Honestly, if I made one of these cards to give to someone special, I would create layers, sponge ink along the edges and use a real sewing machine along the "seams" as well as use real brads or eyelets, more 3D embellishments, etc. I would also cut it from 12x12 card stock, using that extra inch in length to bring up as a real flap closure at the bottom. This is basically a template, test project for my friend. She can add more to this pattern if she likes, but since she needs to create 20 to send out very soon, I imagine she will like the faster, cheaper, mail friendly faux details.

Thanks for looking !

Americana Flag Card

Today was fun, oohing and ahhhing over the new catalog items, sobbing over the loss of some of our favorite colors and items, as well as helping the ladies create projects. I didn't personally complete a project today, I was too busy helping them. I always get flustered when I am helping someone, so many ideas get going through my head, running here and there in the craft dungeon to get what they ask for only to be sidetracked by another idea to share....or as it so happened today, trying to remember exactly which drawer what color of card stock (or a particular stamp set) was now in since I redid my organization system a couple of weeks ago. Since I decided to reorganize the card stock colors in a "rainbow" after having them stored by the Stampin' Up! color families for 10 years, it is going to take a little getting used to.


I will be making a baby onesie card tomorrow to be used as a template at the request of one of the ladies.

In honor of Flag Day, I'm posting this card I created several years ago. This is one of my favorite creations. It was inspired by home decor pieces I saw in a catalog about 10 years ago, created out of old painted and worn wood slats. I thought, "I could make something similar to those out of an old wood pallet perhaps, use it in the yard or on the side of the barn......." I never got around to finding an old pallet to paint, but I did make a miniature version out of popsicle sticks - and a flag card with that idea a couple years later !

I used the retired Stampin' Up background stamp Cracking, Creamy Caramel classic ink, Night of Navy, Baroque Burgundy and Very Vanilla card stock. The Burgundy strips of card stock and Navy rectangle are glued on top of the vanilla. A stylus was useful to create the "slat" look. The star is punched out of sandpaper then painted with acrylic craft paint to resemble rusty tin, mounted on a dimensional (pop dot) . Hemp twine "distressed" with a touch of acrylic paint for the roping.

Thanks for looking !