My Photos

Friday, March 23, 2012

Paper Bag Album

Have ya' wondered where I've been :) ? I've never, ever made a paper bag album yet, and I've wanted to make one for a really long time. I looked online for some instructions and, WOW! Paper bag albums have come a long way baby!!! I found some awesome videos on Youtube by The Paper Trail for mini albums. I loved one of them so much, I set about to make one of my own :). That's where I've been... making paper bag albums! I had so much fun! I used the Everyday Enchantment DSP from the Sale-a-bration brochure. What PRETTY paper! This post has 19 photos so be prepared to be here for a few minutes :)...
The top of the book

The entire front cover (made with duck cloth that I painted with gloss acrylic paint)

Close up of the rose (Very Vanilla, inked with Peach Parfait)

Close up of the butterflies- added Dazzling Details

First two pages- the left side has a pocket

Pages 3 and 4- I used the Two Tags die and the Scalloped Envelope die

The other side of the center flap on pages 3 and 4

Pages 5 and 6- I used the Top Note and Beautiful Wings embosslit

Pages 7 and 8- used the Scribble Swirls Sizzlit and the new Hearts embosslit

Pages 8 and 9- not done yet

The last page and the back cover

Each page is two bags and makes two pockets side by side

I alternated punches to make the tabs on the pull outs that fit inside the pockets

Here you can see the two pull outs in the two pockets

Side view of the double pockets

The duck cloth cover from the side

The duck cloth back cover- the cover is all one piece and adhered to mat board covers

The pockets from the side

The side view pockets and flaps. There is a flap between each page.
I used coordinating card stock and inks to the Everyday Enchantment DSP- Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Calypso Coral, Poppy Parade, and Peach Parfait. I used lots of stuff, including several punches and several dies, so if you have a particular question about any of them, please fire me an email :). Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!
Barb

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Build a Bear Leprechaun

If you've been following my blog for a while, then you know that the Build a Bear dies are very versatile- they are NOT just for bears! You can use these dies to make people and other critters, like bunny rabbits :). If you liked playing with paper dolls when you were little, you will LOVE playing with the Build a Bear dies :D. I would like you to meet Shamus... 
Several punches were used to create Shamus' little scene. The Scallop Trim Corner and Scallop Trim Border punches made my square. I cut my Whisper White card stock 5.25". After punching the outside edges of my first square, I cut another Whisper White square at 4.25" and then ran it through my Big Shot in the Square Lattice embossing folder, centering it in the Scalloped Trim square. Shamus' beard is made with the largest petal from the Blossom Petals Builder punch. His head is the 1 3/8" circle punch. His little pot of gold is done with the Extra Large Tag punch and the Word Window punch. The legs of his pot were made with the Word Window punch. The pieces of gold are actually the Small Heart punch, layered. His hat is made with 1 3/8" circle punch, the Small Heart punch, and the Word Window punch.

The inside of the card has a 4.75" Whisper White square, also punched with the Scallop Trim punches, matted on Lucky Limeade card stock cut at 5.75" square. This card is going in the mail today heading to my daughter in Texas :). Have a wonderful day today! I hope that the weather where you live is as beautiful as our weather! Spring is here!

Blessings!
Barb

Certainly Celery, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Cajun Craze, Basic Black, Soft Suede Textured, Old Olive, Blush Blossom (retired) card stock
Garden Green, Blush Blossom (retired) Classic Stampin' Ink
Cajun Craze Stampin' Write Marker
Punches- named in my post above, plus 1/4" circle and 1/8" circle punches
Build a Bear dies- Bear and Beary Essentials

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Miss You...

Last night we went to our grandson's 10th birthday party- wow, where did that time go to?! Although it was a happy occasion, my daughter Sarah was missing from the party :(. She moved to Texas two years ago when her husband came home from Iraq and they decided to stay. So, they don't get home often and family celebrations and holidays just aren't the same without them there. I made this card this morning to send to her to let her know how much I miss her. I used a SCS color challenge on my card- Pool Party, Poppy Parade, and Daffodil Delight with a touch of ribbon.
I inked up my embossing folder with Pool Party ink before inserting my card stock into the folder and ran it through my Big Shot. As you can see, this transfers the ink only on the parts of the folder that are not raised. This is not a new technique and has been around for a few years. There are some Christmas cards on my blog that used this technique. Depending on the embossing folder design, you can get some very pretty looks with this technique.
I kept the inside very simple, but adding a Pool Party mat and a few punched corners adds a little bit more interest to the inside of the card. 

On another note, when I woke up this morning, (very groggy to say the least, lol!) my husband said, "you have to get your camera and take pictures!" I looked out the window to see what had him so excited about my camera and I immediately got my camera and went outside in my pajamas. There is nothing like early morning on a farm, nothing. Everything is bathed in golden early morning sunlight as the sun starts its ascent in the sky. This morning though, we were treated to not only the golden sunlight, but the morning mist as well. Here are a couple of my favorite photos from my morning venture. I came into the house with cold wet feet from the dew, but it was worth it :).
The Horse Barn

Golden Sun Rays

The Garden Gate
As I type, the windows are open, the sweet, fresh air is flowing through the house, the sun is shining, the sky is a perfect blue, and I can hear the hens out in the yard squawking at each other. It doesn't get any better... :)

PS- when I was taking pictures of my card this morning, I kept seeing an orange paw pop up in the corner of my lens. Our cat, Dooberoo, decided he needed to help, lol! You can see the card in the upper left corner. Ya' gotta love kitties!

Blessings!
Barb

Whisper White card stock
Daffodil Delight, Poppy Parade, Pool Party, Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Ink
Up, Up & Away stamp set
Framed Tulips embossing folder
1" and 1 1/4" circle punches
Daffodil Delight 1/4" grosgrain ribbon

Monday, March 12, 2012

Oops! So sorry!

I have another email account that is linked to my blog. Most of my emails to this blog come to my regular email account, but upon checking my 'other' email account today for the first time in a looooooong while, I discovered some emails with questions about projects I've posted. I have answered all those emails today and my deepest apologies for such a delayed response! I will make it a point to check that other email account at least once a week, but if you send me an email and don't get a response in a couple of days, please post to my blog and let me know that you've sent me an email and I'll get you answered! Again, so, so, so sorry for such a long delay in answering those of you who sent me an email and it went to the other account.

Blessings!
Barb

Sunday, March 11, 2012

A Little Door

I had this card front ready, but not sure what I was gonna do with it, until I got this sweet little door. Perfect backdrop for the door :).
I added some flowers and a little fence, a wreath on the door and a butterfly flitting here and there among the tiny little roses. 

We just got back from another long trip, and I had this card ready for posting, just didn't get the post done until now. I'm gonna rest for a day and then I'll be back :). Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Blessings!
Barb

Whisper White, Daffodil Yellow, Marina Mist, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Soft Suede card stock
Cajun Craze, Creamy Caramel Classic Stampin' Ink
Whisper White Craft Ink


Friday, March 9, 2012

Pretty Flowers

I have long been fascinated by the art of making paper flowers. I have several flower punches, but my longing for Spring color really piqued my interest in creating some flowers :). I recently tried my hand at creating a purple pansy. LOVE purple pansies!!! I think it's the combination of yellow and purple that draws me to purple pansies. Yellow is one of my favorite colors and I love it paired it with blue or purple. Add a little white and it's a really fresh color combo :).
 My pansy was created with Whisper White card stock, spritzed with distilled water, and painted with a bit of re-inker and a brush. The petals were dried with my heat tool and then I sponged the edges with Elegant Eggplant. The leaves of the pansy are Old Olive, inked on the edges with Garden Green. The Designer Series Paper is from the retired Georgia Peach, but any soft yellow will work if re-creating this.
Thanks for stopping by today! Wishing you a wonderful and happy weekend!! 

Blessings!
Barb

Whisper White, Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive card stock
Lavendar Lace, Barely Banana re-inkers (retired), Elegant Eggplant, Garden Green Classic Stampin' Ink
Thank You Kindly stamp set
Scribbles Swirls die
Tulip embossing folder


Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Another Sketch, Another Thank You

I checked into Freshly Made Sketches this morning for the new sketch for the week... another great sketch, by the way :). I need several thank you cards this week, so I used the sketch for the first one of the day. Here's the sketch...
And here's my card...
I also used a color challenge from SCS for this week. The colors to use are Blushing Bride, Very Vanilla, and Wild Wasabi, with some heat embossing. My sentiment is heat embossed in pastel pink embossing powder, but it didn't photograph too well :(. If you can't read the sentiment, it says, "heartfelt thanks." I added a little Bashful Blue to ink up the clouds and a tiny Marina Mist butterfly. 

 
For the inside, I matted Very Vanilla on Wild Wasabi and added another little Marina Mist butterfly. Not too fancy, but plenty of room for writing my thank you note :). 

We  have a little down time between Meets for a while, so I'm hoping to spend a bit more time in my stamping room. I have some new stamp sets that I haven't even inked yet and a book full of sketches from my favorite sketch blogs, so I have plenty to keep me busy! Have a wonderful day today and thanks for stopping by!!

Blessings!
Barb

Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Very Vanilla, Marina Mist card stock
Blushing Bride Designer Series Paper from the In Color Hostess Pack
Blushing Bride, Wild Wasabi, Bashful Blue Classic Stampin' Ink
Daffodil Yellow Stampin' Write Marker (insides of the flowers)
1 1/4" circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch
Snow Burst embossing folder