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 Venice Card

I know this is a very simple card and it looks like I didn't do much to create it but...

I can't tell you how many times I stamped this image to get one that I liked.  It is a beautiful image (it comes from Darkroom Door an Australian company and I purchase from BlueMoon Scrapbooking) which makes it tough to embellish it.  I wanted the image to stand on its own.  I stamped the image in Archival Ink's Sepia tone.  It is stamped on cream paper which I then inked the edges using Vintage Photo Distress Ink.  Can I just say that ink is a lot darker than I was expecting.  I made a photo mat out of chocolate brown Core'dinations paper and placed all of it on kraft paper.

Here is a close-up of the Basillica de Santa Maria della Salute.

The dome of Salute dominates major portions of Venice's skyline.  If you visit the city you feel like you have been to Salute.  It is easily seen from the canal and many of the higher spots in the city.

Here is a link to additional information about Salute.   I have very fond memories of our visit to Venice.

I made this card for the challenge at Simon Says Stamp.  It is anything goes this week.

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?

Tiddly Inks Kraft Card

This is going to be a quick post with only one picture but I'm very pleased with this card.

The challenge over at Tiddly Inks Challenge Blog was to use Kraft Cardstock on a card with a Tiddly Ink image.  That wasn't much of a challenge for me.  I think I have more Kraft Cardstock than anything else.  It is interesting inking on Kraft as opposed to white or other lighter colors because you can't do a lot of shading.  It seems to make my work look better since I don't think shading is my strongest suit.

The boards are two copies of the one in Carpenter Joe's hand (click on his name to go to the store and buy him).  I made them much bigger and cut them out of his hand.  The interesting thing, the spot where it looks like I was drawing the continuation of that knot in the Tim Holtz Wood embossing folder is actually the edge of Carpenter Joe's hand.  It lined up when I wasn't looking.  I didn't even notice until I was taking the pictures to post here.

Christy over at Tiddly Inks released some very cool new digis, she calls them Gothic Pin-ups.  They are a ton of fun and well worth a look.  You can find them here.  She has 6 girls and 3 papers to go along with them.

So, what do you think of my card?  Is my inking getting any better?  Don't you just love Carpenter Joe?  I think I'm going to put this in the Wonderkid's lunch bag tomorrow.  I went to his "Narrative Review" (his school's version of conferences) and they said he was amazing.  The entire time they were talking I kept thinking, "Whose child are they talking about and can I take him home tonight?"

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?