Kraft Thank You Banner

Hello Friends -

I'm back with another fun project, a banner.

I am hosting another teacher appreciation lunch for the Wonderkid's school.  This one is much smaller, only the seven preschool teachers but I still like to dress-up the room.

Here is a close-up of the leaves in the corners of each pennant.

As you can see, all the edges have been inked.  All of the pattern paper came from a stack from Micheal's.  It is part of their partnership with DCWV.  The name of this lovely stack is Night and Fall. It has some Halloween papers and the rest are this lovely fall motif.  My only frustration, they don't sell the pack of matching solid cardstock.

The pennant and leaf cuts are all from SVGCuts.com.  I love this Serene Leaf set.  There are about a dozen different leaves which I've used over and over again.  I started out cutting the maple leaves in multiple sizes and the oak, aspen and others but then I decided it was too much.  I went back to just the oak leaves in a small size.

The baker's twine is from the Kraft Outlet and can be found here.

I'm entering this in the Kraft Journal Challenge - "thanks".  I actually started this project last week with the intention of entering it in last week's challenge -- "banners" but the week became far too busy and I couldn't pull it together.  I wanted to make something I really liked so I chose not to rush for last week.  I think it was worth the wait.  I recommend checking out some of the other incredible creations at the Kraft Journal.

This is going to be a busy week but I hope to be back to show you some more crafty projects.  I'll be making some of my Christmas cookies which can be stored in the refrigerator until I'm ready to put them in tins.  I also need to get ready for our annual trip to the Colorado mountains.  Well, I just made myself crazy thinking about all I need to do.  Back to the grindstone.

Vintage Cowboy Card

Hello Friends --

Sneak peak of today's card

There are two challenges going on right now that I've been thinking about and wanting to enter (The Kraft Journal and Gingersnap Creations).  Somehow they both became combined and these two cards are what I've created.  

Let me back up.  For any of my readers that were around back in November, you will remember a picture of a little slice of paradise.  You can see the post I'm talking about here.  This is my brother's place in Granby, Colorado. If you want some gorgeous pictures and a real look at a working ranch I recommend checking out his website.  If you go to the bottom (just keep scrolling, it is a long ways down) you can see a slide show of the ranch.  There are some great shots of one of my nieces and some other fantastic pictures.

One of the barns on the Strawberry Creek Ranch

My brother's office

So, back to the crafting, my friends over at Gingersnap Creations have an Old West theme this month.  When the first challenge was Cowboys and Cowgirls I HAD to play along (You can find the challenge here.  It doesn't close for awhile so you still have plenty of time to join in the fun).  I mean how could I not?  So, I started searching for a nice little digi with a vintage feel.  I found a couple that might work but not perfectly.

So, then I thought about all the wonderful pictures of my brother.  You see, he is the real thing.  An honest to goodness cowboy.  I thought about the tons and tons of pictures we have of him but none were quite what I wanted.  So, I ran over to his website here. 

This picture at the top of his website was perfect for what I wanted, well almost.  

photo by Emily Kitching

It doesn't have much of a vintage feel, now does it?  So, I went about turning it into this.

Now that is better, with a bit of a sepia modification with one of my favorite tools, Picnik it looks like a fantastic vintage photo.  

This is the first card I made with the photo.  I reprised some cardboard from last week's Christmas Gift Tags.  You can see that post here (in case you missed it with all the blogger issues).  The design paper is some I bought a LONG time ago.  In fact, I think I might have purchased it in Montana with my sister-in-law.  The button is a wooden button I dyed with Tim Holtz Fired Brick Distress Ink.  I used the same ink on the twine wound round the card base.  

The photo at the top shows a close up of the button and some of the twine.

Here is the second card.  This one was made specifically for the ladies over at The Kraft Journal.  They wanted to see Buttons and Bows.  While my first card has a button and a bow, I didn't know if they would find one sufficient so I worked up a second card just for them.  It doesn't have quite as much depth to it, it is a bit cleaner than the first card but still has that dramatic photo. 

What do you think of the two cards?  Do you have a favorite?  Do you get that vintage feeling?  Are there any special changes you would recommend to make either of them better?  

Finally, just a little warning for all those folks thinking they want to chuck it all and move to this bit of paradise, it comes with a price.  When I called my brother today to confirm the photographer of the photo I learned that the day had been nice but they were getting ready to drive through a snow storm.  For my readers Down Under remember we are heading into summer and here in Atlanta we were forced to turn on the air conditioning this week and have had quite a few days in the 90's already.  I love visiting the ranch but for longer periods of time, I'll stick to summer in the mountains (the months of July and August).

Is it still your favorite color if...

Ask anyone that knows me well, they would tell you my favorite color is purple.  Its been my favorite  since I was a tweener.  That being said, I wear very little purple.  I don't have a significant amount of purple in my home.  Here and there I've got some purple -- a purple water bottle, a purple dress I wear for bed, that kind of thing.   When my family recently purchased paper for my birthday I received a few sheets of purple paper.  I think it is the bulk of my patterned purple paper.

Until yesterday, I don't think I had made a purple card in at least 18 months.  And, I don't own purple ribbon -- of any shade.  I didn't have any purple buttons or embellies or anything.

However, I had two shades of purple Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  Now I have purple ribbon, buttons and paper.  I made them myself.  I must say, if you are willing to be a bit adventurous, Tim Holtz can be a HUGE help.  His Distress Inks are incredible and if you buy them in "families" you can do some fantastic things (even more than stamping).

On the other hand, not a week goes by without my using some kraft paper.  It is as common for me to use kraft as a card base as white.  I love to stamp onto kraft paper.  But can I tell people my favorite color is kraft?  I think not.  I'd be laughed right out of the blogosphere.  And my family, well they would have a fit.  You can't make a decision on which  ____________ (fill in the blank) to buy if a person's favorite color is kraft.  Isn't that like saying your favorite color is white?

So, can I still say my favorite color is purple?

On to the Card

I'm certain you would rather see my card.  I've quite rambled on and on about this favorite color issue, and probably beaten that poor dead horse to bits.

So, while making yesterday's card I had so many mis-steps I was able to make two more cards.  I'll tell you about one today and keep one for a "rainy day".

Anyone up for a kraft and purple card (It is the best of both worlds, isn't it)

I've been dieing to use these library book pockets since I bought them almost a month ago at the oh so lovely Kraft Outlet.  Every time I thought I had a place for them I couldn't make it work.  Today, I persevered and it stayed in the project with some yummy Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Milled Lavender.  The design on the top is from Tim Holtz Seasonal Stack.  Underneath the library pocket is a bit of the other side of the Tim Holtz paper.  Do you know how tough it was for me to turn that wonderful print over so I could have the matching purple paper?  Luckily, I bought two stacks of this so I have some still uncut.

A better view of the wonderful Tim Holtz paper.  Doesn't it look wonderful,
almost like a seed packet.

The tag is a stamp from Unity stamps -- It is called Becoming Butterfly although my LSS had it as a set with four other stamps.  I stamped it using the Tim Holtz Concord Grape Distress Inks.  I used a combination of Concord Grape and Milled Lavender for the ribbon and my tiny attacher keeps it in place.

This is my submission for this week's challenge at Kraft Journal.  It not only has kraft in it, it also has the library card purchased at Kraft Outlet.  The theme was spring.  Do you think it turned out spring like?

Kraft Journal Bling Challenge and Cooking with Cricut

Before I get into my card, I have tons of Kraft Outlet/Journal news.

First, if you look on the right side of my blog there is something new.  I WON!!! Can you believe it?  I was one of the top three at the Kraft Journal last week.  You can see the card here.  I was so excited and honored to have won.  They had a number of wonderful submissions for the challenge, I especially liked Jan from Chai Tea 'n Me.  And any time I see Laurel from Seabrook Design I know I'll be in for a treat.  You should definitely check out the other entries.

In addition, my order from Kraft Outlet arrived.  I can't wait to start playing with my dictionary pages and library cards and library envelopes.  It is going to be fun.  If you haven't had a chance, check out their cool stuff. 

Now for my card.  The challenge at Kraft Journal is bling and the challenge at Cooking with Cricut (remember this is not a Cricut Cake site, it is paper cutting and they have a ton of cool cuts) is swirly and twirly.  Now, I'm not a huge bling person.  I think it is one of the reasons I like kraft paper so much.  Kraft paper feels more organic and not so formal.  However, I rose to the challenge and channeled my inner princess.

The card base is kraft.  I tried to decide if this would have worked with white or cream cardstock as the base and I came to the conclusion, no.  It really looks best with the kraft.  The pattern paper and the three layers above it are all DCWV's Amber Autumn stack and coordinating cardstock.  I must say, I looked at these papers a number of times and thought I would never use them but I'm very glad I had them. 

Here is a close-up of the cut.  It is from the Martha Stewart Elegant Cakes cart.  Isn't it absolutely wonderful?  I cut it at 4 3/4 inches.  The bottom layer (darkest brown) is a glitter cardstock which cut amazingly well in my Cricut.  The middle layer is the shimmery brown and the top layer is the blue.  All three colors are also in the bottom layered pattern paper.  I can see a number of additional cards in these wonderful Martha Stewart carts.

Then came the bling.  I used my favorite, Creative Charms, gradient gems.  I chose the largest brown gems and the next size down in clear and blue.  What do you think of my bling?

Then, to finish off the card...

I added an 1 1/2 strip to the inside to dress it up just a big. 

Does it look swirly and twirly?  How about bling?  Do you think I got it right?  What would you recommend changing or adding?

Kraft Outlet Challenge

This week's challenge at the Kraft Outlet is "Hip to be Square".  Well, I thought of a number of different things to do for this challenge but this is where I landed.

 The card is a square (5 x 5 card base) with three layers of cardstock ( a pretty green from Stampin' Up which I think I bought when they were discontinuing but don't hold me to that, I'm not a SU specialist).  The base of the brick wall is a cream cardstock from my stash.  The stamped images come from a company called Florishes.  I bought them at my LSS.  The sentiment also comes from the same set. 

Here is a close-up of the stamped images.

I thought this would make a nice St. Patrick's Day card.  Can you tell where my mind has gone now that Valentine's Day is over?

What do you think of this design?  How about the inking?  This card is so linear, it feels very square.  Thank you for looking and check out the other cards over at the Kraft Outlet Challenge.  There is still time to join in this challenge.  It is due by Sunday evening. 

Hedgie Valentines Kraft Card

I'm having a blast with the challenges at the Kraft Journal.  That being said, it took me a while to land on this design.

I thought long and hard about the hedgehog/groundhog on the Cricut Give a Hoot cart.  I like the cut and he would have been cute in Kraft paper but that wasn't moving me.  A couple of weeks ago I picked up this wonderful set of stamps by Penny Black. 

I have a wonderful little stamp shop in town which sells some lovely stamps.  This is one of the ones I landed on.  Aren't they fun.  I'm not really a cat person but I loved the hedgehogs. 

I tried stamping it with Sepia Archival Ink but it just didn't seem to look correct and then I couldn't color it no matter what I did.  The ink kept bleeding outside the puzzle pieces.  It just wasn't pretty.  So, I decided it might be fun to stamp it and use embossing powders.  Can I say, I think I stamped that image a dozen times trying to find the right embossing powder.  I still don't love it but it was better.  What I wanted was a non-metallic brown embossing powder and I just didn't seem to have it.  I thought I'd go buy some before I finished but life got in the way of that plan. 

Here is a close-up of the stamped image.

I love the way the little hedgies look.  After looking at the pictures, I'm thinking the card still needs something.  Anyone have a recommendation?

Kraft Explosion Box

I want to show you a fun project today.  It is an explosion box using kraft paper, brown paper and cream paper with just a little bit of red.  I really pushed myself on some of the techniques but I'm so pleased with the way it turned out.  It just goes to show, trying something new can be very rewarding.  The cuts were all done using my Cricut (it requires a 12 x 12 mat) and SCAL2.  I used an SVG from SVGCuts.  You can find the explosion box here.

First the top.  I have never made paper rosettes before.  I love them, I've been eying them but I hadn't tried them.  I must say, I think I'll be doing more.  This rosette is two strips of kraft paper, each 2 inches wide.  I then scored them every half inch, glued them together and pushed the middle down so it would fan out for the rosette.  I then glued a one inch circle to the back of the rosette and the heart with the twine through it to the top of the rosette.

Here is a close-up of the top.

On the edge of the top, I glued a piece of velvet ric-rac from Creative Charms.  I love the way the velvet ric-rac looks with the kraft paper.  It is elegant with out being inappropriate.  I also used Crackle paint along the sides of the top. I used Rock Candy so it would have texture without adding color.

I think this side is my favorite.  You can see the velvet ric-rac again.  I heat embossed the LOVE stamp on the pocket.  I also heat embossed a great Tim Holtz stamp to the tag.

Isn't that fun.  The final thing on this side, I used Versamark to give the kraft paper a little bit of texture.  I stamped the LOVE stamp under the pocket and through out the side.

This is another side.  The flower is part of the cuts from SVGCuts.  The brad in the middle is one of the very fun ones from Creative Charms.

Here is the explosion box opened up.  Doesn't it look fun.  All of the pictures were taken at one sitting this last Thanksgiving. 

You can see more of the velvet ric-rac and the brads in the middle say "We Love You".  They are from the Spare Parts by the Paper Studio.  It is the Hobby Lobby line of products.

Here you can see more of the mats.  I put pictures on the back of each side, in addition to the front.  I never print pictures at wallet size (and normally don't know that to do with wallet sized pictures when I get them) but this was the perfect size.  On the inner pages I really couldn't frame or mat them but the second and third level was perfect for matting.

One last shot of the pages.

I think there will be more explosion boxes in my future.  They are sooo much fun.  Thank you for looking and let me know what you think.

Kraft Family Card

I love Kraft paper and will look for almost any excuse to use it.  But this week's challenge at Kraft Journal was tough.  It isn't that I don't love my family LOTS but I just didn't have anything that I wanted to scrap.  I started looking at quotes about families which reminded me of a favorite quote.  One of my brothers sent this quote to me when I was designing t-shirts for the family vacation (anytime you get 30+ family members together for a week on a small island, you need to keep your sense of humor close). 

Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family... in another city. 

I was going for a grunge look so the inking is a little messy.  I cut the heart, family and city scape from kraft paper, in addition to the card base.  The words are computer generated on ivory cardstock. 

All of the cuts were made using my cricut.  I used the Plantin cart for the heart and cityscape.  The word art Family is cut from Going Places cart.  I didn't want any bling, it just wouldn't have looked right on this card but I couldn't resist putting something on, so I added some velvet rick rack to the bottom.

Kraft Thank You Card with a Florish

One of my favorite things to craft with is Kraft paper.  I know it is brown and doesn't have a lot to it but it has such an organic look to it and I love to use it as a base.  I'm not crazy about white (too easy to get dirty) and cream, vanilla, beige can be tough to match.  I have some "cream" colored cardstock that has way too much yellow in it.  In fact, it probably should be called "butter".  OK, ok, enough about my love of Kraft paper and lets get on with it.

I recently found a blog and company the Kraft Journal and Kraft Outlet.  Oh boy, this could be fun.  They did a challenge this week to make something with a flourish.  At first this doesn't seem to fit together.  Florishes are fancy and elegant, Kraft paper is organic and down-to-earth.  However, I wanted to play along.  I decided to be very literal with the design. Here is my design.  I used my Cricut Expression to cut the file.  Don't blame the Cricut for the edges on the dark brown cardstock.  It actually looks much better in person.  It is funny, some things look better on the blog and others look better in person.  I get very frustrated with dark cardstock with a white core.  This is one of those.

This is a thank you card for a friend of mine.  I don't think she is reading my blog so it should be safe to show before she actually receives it.  The florish is a free file from SVGCuts.  You can find this cut (already laid out as an A2 card) here.  While you are there, I recommend looking at their other cuts. If you have SCAL and a Bug, you will love their work.  It cuts like a dream and really is quite beautiful.

I used it in my SCAL2 program.  It was designed as the top layer (the one on the right) but I wanted to add a shadow to it.  SCAL has a wonderful feature allowing you to make a shadow or a blackout shadow of anything you choose.  You can make just a tiny shadow or a much larger shadow.  Or you can make a blackout of the items.  This function is under "appearance" on the right side when you have the handles highlighted on an object.  If you haven't done anything, it will say "Normal" if you want a shadow, you have seven options on the pull down menu (pointy, rounded and straight shadow, blackout, pointy, rounded and straight shadow blackout).  Then you choose how thick to make your chosen option.

I also used SCAL2 for the lettering.  I hate my handwriting so it is unlikely you will see me printing anything.  Therefore, I love to use my Cricut to do headlines or lettering such as this card.  I have a full set of the Cri-Kits pens with the holder.  I love them.  They work so much better than the ones that come from Provo Craft (mostly because they aren't markers, they are pens) and they work better than my old method of inserting a sharpie or gel pen into a pencil holder and then trying to get the placement "just right" so I could get a nice line.  This font is part of the Lucinda package of fonts and was already loaded into my computer.

As much as I like the organic look of Kraft paper, I decided the card need a little bit of bling.  I used a combination of embellishments from Creative Charms (another favorite of mine) and Recollections, the Michael's brand.  I think they look great together.  If you haven't checked out Creative Charms, I highly recommend them.  They have a Deal of the Month and Kit of the Month.  I love them and this months is great for valentines.

I hope you liked my card. I'll try not to "talk" so much tomorrow.