Blooming Garden

     I was playing around with some scrap card stock and thought this would make a cute centerpiece for the children's table for Easter. I really used a lot of recyclables on this one!
     First I started out with some card board dividers that separates cans. I just evened these pieces off to form a strip. You can make it as long as you want.

     In order to have some stability as well as flexibility, I taped some 18 gauge wire to one side before covering it with card stock.

     On the right you can see the taped wire for the floral base prior to covering it. Look at all those flowers. Hmm, is that tissue paper? Wrong!!  I was making a project with clear plastic and the sheets were separated with this waxed paper. It is so intriguing because it has a sort of texture like linen. I used Tim Holtz Alteration Floral dies but you can use any die cuts. I particularly like the floral cuts on the cricut cartridges. There are so many to chose from! After they were all cut I used Rangers Inkabilites Floral Brights and just had fun smooching all the colors. Then I mixed up all the colors and stacked them up. The centers feature a beautiful jeweled brad by Creative Charms.
     I used gypsy Wanderings to cut the stem @ 5" with the shadow feature on. I cut the stem and a piece of chip board ( using the heavy cutting blade) and actually cut a second set out of card stock but this time I flipped the design so I could cover the front and back of the chip board. Before adhering these together I added some more wire to the center of the stem to make it a little more sturdy however you could always use 2 pieces of chip board stems.
     This is my favorite part: decorating. As my husband always says "it's all a matter of preparation". I pulled out more of the blooming garden set from Creative Charms and decided this project would be so cute with these felt butterfly embellishments. I decided to wrap the base with some more wire but I think a nice springy sheer ribbon would also be pretty. The Flowers were adhered with some pop dots and, after slipping the "stems" into the wire I used a few glue dots to keep them in place.
     This takes up very little room and will be adorable with little Easter baskets at each place setting. The kids are going to love it!
     

Creative Charms Design Team Call

     The people who follow my blog know how much I rave about the quality of  Creative Charms embellishments. That is why I have decided to try out for their design team. I figure since they are my go to company for their gradient gems , brads, jewels etc. I might as well show them what I have been sharing with you guys. Diane Campbell Payne @ Capadia Designs shared these kits of the month with me through her blog and I have to admit I am hooked.

    
       This really is a simple A2 card (4.25" x 5.50"). The pink card stock is matted with white card stock followed by a plum print and is stitched with a beautiful metallic thread. I used Provo Craft's New Arrival to cut the "baby" scalloped squares. These were cut at 1" and included the shadow feature.  The distressed ink in milled lavender really helps to make the squares pop.
     Now for the fun part! I used a stamp from Inkadinkado and decided to emboss it. I used a flourish stamp with versmark's Dazzle Frost and Zing's metallic finish in silver. Before I adhered all this together I punched two ribbon slots on the fold side and threaded some ribbon so I could make a nice bow to add some interest to the side.
     Here's the exciting "pazzas" part. One of the kits I bought from Creative Charms was the Blooming Garden which had these sparkly pink flowers as well as some felt embellishments. They really brought the card to life. In order to make my silver "stem" show up more I pulled out another kit I had and added some green gradient jewels as well along the stem. Since I wanted to finish the side with my bow a little more I added a clear gradient gem to either corner on this side. Voila, there you have a beautiful baby card fit for the newest princess!
     Wait until you see what I've come up with for the kids table for Easter. Can I just say it has to do with a Blooming Garden, lol.

Copics class

     Well I think I'm finally getting the hang of this! For those of you who follow me regularly you know I love taking on line classes to learn all the latest and greatest in crafting. Simply Scrapping has a fantastic course on use these alcohol based markers. It's one of the most challenging courses I have taken yet. Its a lot like watercolor but using a marker like a brush. The on line teacher is a certified Copic Instructor although the course I am taking is not for certification. Let me tell you she is tough. That being said, I guess it is all about learning from your mistakes. Anyway I am felling a lot me comfortable now.
     I just thought I'd share my last attempt at my class. It's all about shading and light source as well as mastering 3 separate techniques. The original method, tip to tip and modified feathering. Are you impressed yet, lol?

     The only problem with this is you have to REALLY think about what you are doing.
     The wonderful thing about on line classes are that they are self paced and they give you up to 6 months to complete this class so if something comes up not to worry you have plenty of time to finish.
     The reason I jumped into this one so fast is that I have another class from My Creative Classroom starting this week with Donna Salazar. Her class (Artsy Fartsy II) was suppose to start last month but some supplies for the class were back ordered. So instead of starting March 12 it's starting April 13th and runs for 6 weeks.
     I love to devote my time to these classes without feeling rushed so it is great that there was a delay in Donna's class so I could get my feet wet in the copics class. Oh by the way Simply Scrapping has several great challenges going on so I'll be entering a few of these. Boy are the creative juices flowing! Just add a comment if you'd like more info about the links for these classes. Let the creativity continue!!!

Welcome baby!

     I'm having a hard time keeping up with all the cards I need to make, lol! We've had 2 birthdays  in the last 2 weeks and 1 more next week before I start on Mothers' Day cards now that the Easter cards are done, whew. However I have been remiss because one nephew and niece have both had babies in the last few months and I still haven't made a card let alone bought a gift! ( I am hanging my head in shame). I am glad they both had boys so I didn't have to think so hard to come up with these.
     First of all I had intended to use this as a color challenge for simply scrapping group but one of the colors was rose/pink so that would not have been appropriate. When doing something for the baby boys I usually do the typical blues and yellows but decided on a peachy color, kraft and blues instead.
     Once again I fall back on my scraps. Believe it or not the background paper was left over from a mini album I did a while ago and I had just enough for the 2 cards! Also, I get so upset with myself that I have small pieces of card stock hanging around that I cut out these baby monograms for boys and girls along time ago and put them in my embellishment box. I'm sure glad I did! I know they were cut from the Mini Monograms and I think it was 1". Next I took a scrap of peach color card stock and ran that through the cuttle bug with the tags die.
     The cute bunny is from Nursery Tails on the Imagine @ 2". I kept all the layers combined and printed the image however I really wanted a shadow on this. This particular image did not have a shadow so I used the background layer and chose a background print that would set it all off by cutting it @ 2.25". Its not quite perfect but I was satisfied enough to apply it to the card with pop dots. I even added a beautiful gradient gem to the flower center as well as the 4 corners of the card. Finished it off with some ribbon and a cute stamped sentiment.
     Now all I have to do is buy the gifts to go with the cards and I'm all set. Thanks for stopping by and be sure to leave a comment and say hi!

Just Rite Stamps Challenge

     So I noticed this challenge by Just Rite stamps and thought: "this is perfect".This challenge used buttercup yellow, soft apricot ( my personal favorite) spring green and violet-blue. I needed to make a birthday card for my mom's birthday tomorrow so I started rummaging through my papers. This was perfect since mom"s favorite color is blue.
     I started with some blue card stock and then found this striped paper with all the necessary colors. I was also lucky enough to find a solid apricot card stock which needed some dressing up. This is when I really love my cuttle bug. I chose the cherry blossoms embossing folder and did a light inking with a colorbox green ink.

     Next I pulled out my Spellbinders scalloped circle die and grabbed another scrap piece of paper. The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from Just Rite Stamps. I was going to cut the inner circle from the smaller scallop but decided to use a plain round circle so it would look more like a flower.  

     It's amazing what you find hiding on your craft table. I found this beautiful flower, scraps of the ribbon and even the pearls. I guess it was just waiting for the right project! Thanks for stopping by!