JustRite Friday Challenge 112

I am so tickled to be able to participate in a JustRite Stamp Challenge 112 Color Inspiration.   Life leading up to the holidays, and by holidays I mean all the way back to Thanksgiving, I have not been able to take part in one of my most favorite challenges.  I love JustRite stamps and dies and have been slowly building up my supply.  This particular Friday challenge is a color inspiration challenge and I gotta tell you it was pretty difficult for me!  I actually like all three of the colors included in the challenge but found it very difficult to use them all together in a cohesive and attractive way.  But in the end I am pretty satisfied with the finished card....so I guess this challenge stretched me!  The challenge was to use these colors....

And then also to use Spellbinder dies as well, of course, JustRite stamps and/or dies.    In my card I used several Spellbinder dies as well as a few JustRite dies that coordinated with the JustRite Stamp set that I chose.  I LOVE it when dies coordinate with stamps....such a nice clean look without any extra fussy cutting!

I actually hope to try and get another entry into this challenge before it expires.....now that I have the colors worked out in my mind!  And, as always, thanks for stopping by!

Be well,
Sheila

Just a little somethin'-somethin'....

My friend's daughter is going on a mission trip this coming summer and she sent out a letter asking for some financial help.  I sent back my check inside this little card.  Again I used my new most favorite die....Taylored expressions colorblock plate!  Super Duper easy!

I just love the classic color combination here.....in fact, I love black and white and just about any pop of color!  I did highlight each black and white panel with some silver stardust pen.....it's hard to see here but really quite pretty in real life.  I hope no one gets sick of these cards because I think that they will be my new turn to pattern for some time!

Take care and be well!

Sheila

Oooofff....

It has been soooo long since I have blogged.  Well, over a month now.  I have been able to do a bit of crafting but have not have the chance to photograph or sit down long enough to record it.  I hope and expect that now life will slow a bit and allow me to get some fun crafting time in.  It has been very cold here....we have been at the heart of the polar vortex and have had wind chills inexcess of -40-50 degrees.  It has been so cold that my son boiled a pot of water and then we went out on the deck and threw it into the air....it disappeared immeadiatly....literally it freezes to mist in an instant.  It actually was so cold that we did stupid winter experiments....Fun in the Midwest!

Anyways, I made two card sets for a friend of mine for Christmas.  She loves to have sets of all purpose cards about and I wanted to try out a new die that I had ordered from Taylored Expressions.  I ordered this die some time ago and finally had the chance to  work with it.....it is the Colorblock Die Plate and I just am so happy with it.  The sets came together really quickly and I can see using this die many, many times.  I first made her a set that was pink and then remembered that her favorite color was yellow....so, no problem!  I quickly whipped up a yellow set too ;-)

First is the pink set which I just LOVE!  This particular color combination is lovely to me....I hope that I have enough paper left to make another set for myself ;-D

The first photo shows what the gift looks like all packaged.  I made a simple belly band and then used JustRite stamps for the decorative image as well as the sentiment.  I matted the sentiment upon a piece of paper that coordinates with the inside of the card.  The band goes around an acrylic card box.

Then, I cut out 5 cutting block plates out of black paper as well as  5 plates out of coordinating patterned paper.  Then I used the different black sections to make up "chalkboard backgrounds" for the various sentiments. 

I had never tried the blackboard effect before this but really am pleased with how it turned out!  I will definitely be using this technique again.  I am late to this trend's bandwagon but I will do my durndest to keep it going!

I switched around the cards....some were vertical tents, some were horizontal tents and the rest were "book" openings.

Finally, this is what the inside looked like.  Just very simple and clean!

Here is the yellow set....I won't do a walk thru as I followed the same directions as I gave above.  I will point out though that I added to both cards sets a bit of coordinating colored pencil to both card sets' chalk sentiment area.  I love that little pop of color.  I can remember being so pysched when I was younger to be able to use the colored chalk!

Anyways, my friend loved the sets!  And, I will for sure be making more of these to have around the house....so easy and so quick!  I hope you all are staying warm wherever you may be ;-D

Be well,
Sheila

A Quickie for Cas-ual Friday's Challenge 122

Just a quick pop in for the Cas-ual Friday's Challenge 122 of Tree or Trees.  I needed to make a sympathy card for my daughter to give to a friend who just lost her grandmother.  This family has a rustic cabin in the northwoods of Wisconsin so even though this isn't a typical sympathy card I thought that the image was fitting.  The inside, which I forgot to photograph, has a lovely sympathy sentiment.

It is made with Taylored Expression dies and although the picture doesn't show well, it is heavy 120lb white cardstock mounted on white, then choco brown and finally kraft.  Take care and enjoy your weekend!

Be well,

Sheila

Working with Metal...

Hi and I have something really fun to show today!  My oldest is living in her first "real" apartment....one that she can finally decorate the way she would like to...but on a very tight budget.  So, enter "mom".  I have been shopping with Bess and seeing what she likes then trying to recreate it on a cheaper scale.  And, when her tastes change, she can "deconstruct" the decorative items that I have made and repurpose the different pieces and parts into some other use.  One thing that she seemed to like was "tiles"....and we saw different decorated tiles at nearly every store we went to.  Most were accented with metal and had an overall shabby chic look to them.  I found my "tiles" at the paper mache' aisle of Hobby Lobby.  Each paper mache tile was only a few dollars and that of course is before coupons.  I  had Bess pick out the various papers that she liked and wanted me to work with.  And from there I had free rein to go where ever my imagination took me. The tiles measure 6" x 6" and so a the small paper packs are a perfect fit. And, wow, this was so fun.  I first decided that the floral would be the center tile and then went from there.  I decided that the two "bookending" tiles would be decorated exactly the same but with coordinating papers in order to tie the whole grouping together.  The "metal" is foil paper that I embossed in some Spellbinder embossing folders and then worked over with Distress Alcohol Inks as well as some copper Perfect Pearls and then finally, Staz On Saddle and Timber Inks.  I LOVE HOW THIS LOOKS!  I really think that this looks like burnished metal!   In the center tile I also cut a simple circle out of foil paper and then stamped it lightly with a "script" stamp as well as a IO crackled background stamp.  This stamping was also carried over to the two side tiles for continuity.  I then used that foil circle as a mirror effect for the center tile.  The two side tiles were accented with the same door/dresser pull that I bought from Hobby Lobby.  Hobby Lobby has an amazing variety of these pulls and they are almost always on discount.  I find that when I can't find the metal style that I want I can easily change almost any of the others with some sanding and ink to look the way that I want them.  I am entering this project into the Drunken Stampers Challenge #152-Thing: METAL.  I haven't ever entered this particular site before but have followed their various challenges and love the the fun approach they have to crafting.

First I will show a pic of how the tiles look as a grouping.....I am sorry the pic is so small...not sure how to make it bigger.   Then my next pics will be of each tile on it's own.

I am really excited to get this in the mail to Bess and actually, to try another set of tiles.  I am envisioning a 9 tile wall grouping......

Thanks for stopping by and be well!

Sheila

Hello!

It has been a while but of course the holidays always take me away from crafting!  But, I did see that City Crafter Challenge Blog has a challenge that is right up my alley....."Snow White"....basically an all white card which I love to make!  Here is the lovely inspiration photo that was included:

 
And, I actually went almost totally with this photo....even down to the placement of my bling and ribbon to mimic the lit candle.  I used a Spellbinder's tapestry die to create the "lace curtain"  and then to copy the opaque look of the windows I used vellum behind the die cut.  Since the challenge refers to "Snow" white I also used double sided tape along the edges of the velum  and then pressed some glitter on it for a frosty look!   Finally, I used silver for my sentiment along with some rhinestones to further a crisp winter look.  I loved this challenge and really, really hope that I will be able to play along again before it is done.  It is such a challenge for me to work an all white card and still make it interesting!

I am also entering this card in the Simon Says Stamp Monday - Countdown to the Holidays and also the Simon Says Stamp Blog Anything Goes.

The inside is really hard to see but it is white card mounted on silver with a silver embossed Merry and Bright and two snowflakes on the upper portion.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday yesterday....and are ready to gear up for the next one!  

Take care and Be well,

Sheila

Another day....Another Jewelry Box....

I really have had such a good time with making  these jewelry boxes.  They have been a really nice accompaniment to the TV when Joe was out of town last week.  I was able to sit and listen to a show....usually a documentary or a TED Talk and then just craft away.  I use those two types of shows because  I can just listen and craft rather than having to actually watch what is going on like I would with a movie or other type of show.  So, I have been getting lots of "larger" crafting done and also improving my mind with documentaries....Win/Win!

One of my daughter's friends saw the box I made for Bessie and asked her if it would be alright to ask me to make her a box.  I was tickled that she asked....Bess and this girl have been friends since they were in second grade.  She asked me if I could use the color purple and I said yes before I discovered that there is almost no purple paper out there!  I searched thru my own stash and basically came up with nuttin'!  Just random bits here and there that even with distressing didn't really look well together.    Then when I went online I did find one pack by Authentique that seemed more eggplant or Aubergine than truly "purple" but I like the way this turned out anyway.  It seems more sophisticated  shabby chic than just shabby chic.  I hope she likes it!

The first two pics are the box laying flat....so you can really see how it is constructed and then standing up so you can see how well these Tim Holtz products support the box!  I also am entering this into the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge of Patchwork.  I think this look like a lovely homemade patchwork quilt!

I then picked up some fake vintage hardware from Hobby Lobby and placed the cabinet knob on the top panel of the jewelry box.  I love how this looks!  This shot also shows the two different types of corner hardware that I used on the top of the box.  I like how it finishes off the project but I also think it gives greater stability to the overall box.  

This is a shot of the back of the box.  The first box that I made I used a 12x12 sheet of paper but really struggled with it and the small bubbles that would form below the surface.  I do think that cardstock would work but I used some Tim Holtz coordinations and think that it was too absorbent for the ModPodge.  I now distress the pack of the cardboard after I seal it with some ModPodge and really like this warm, vintage-y look instead.

Finally, these last shots are of the sides....both sides are the same as far as being framed out with a piece of hardware.  This helps to cover the seam that is created when i used two pieces of paper from the 6x6 paper pack.  Now I know I could just use a 12x12 piece of paper to eliminate the seam but if I did I think that I would still use the hardware here as I think it adds even more interest to the piece.

Well, I hope that you liked my piece and I certainly hope that Jenny loves it!  Thank you so much for stopping by today and I hope that your weekend is FABULOUS!!!

Be well,

Sheila