Inspired Card #1...and 2

Bonjour peoples!
We are enjoying a lovely cool day here today, after an absolute scorcher yesterday!
After dinner last night we took a drive into town (yes, our "town" is where the beach is...I only just realised how funny that sounds) intending to have a refreshing swim. It was already starting to get dark and stormy (a southerly was on it's way), and we'd only been in the water a few minutes when the wind whipped up, bringing sand with it and ouch - did it sting! Then the rain came, and that - combined with the sand and wind - created a...I don't know what...but we had to run run run to cover! Very bizarre, but quite fun!

Anyway, speaking of fun, I have a card to show you (as promised) that I created using my inspiration folder I discussed in my last post (found here ):

The card that I well, copied, is found in the top left hand corner of the next photo...can you see it?

(NB: all the images in the photo below are from Stampin' Up)

This was my first attempt at bunting (I know, it's everywhere isn't it?) and although it's not my bestest card I've ever made, I was still pretty happy with the end result, and the great part is that it was quick to make.

I was happy to find that I could make this card using product from my stash, all I needed to do was substitute a few things, like the sentiment and the ribbon.

(I would not enter this card into card challenges or submit it to a magazine because I have imitated everything about the card.)

Here's the next card for you to have a look at.

(Notice that it is the card from the top right hand corner of the above photo...)

I was super duper happy with the way this one turned out, even though the photo is not that crash hot :(

Instead of using die cut butterflies, I used my Tim Holtz "Tattered Florals" die, applied Broken China distress ink, then white heat embossed a Kaisercraft stamp (from "Flora and Fauna") onto the flower. The sentiment is a little Hero Arts stamp ( I love Hero Arts) from the "Friends" set stamped with brown ink.

Can you see the pattern behind the green panel?

I partially inked my "Woodgrain" stamp (Hero Arts again), stamped it on the lower half of the card base, and white heat-embossed it - I like the suggestion of texture it gives. 

The card base is kraft cardstock - I'm really into this at the moment, it goes with every colour and it's a nice change from white.

So, what do you think?

I'll be back soon with a couple more cards to show you, and in the meantime how about you go create something? I'd like to see it!

Come back soon,

Rebecca ;)

Happy 2013!

Hello!

For my first post of the new year I wanted to share with you an idea I have been implementing with my crafting.
Do you ever feel like you want to create, yet when you sit down at your desk the creative juices just aint flowing? That's so me, so often! It's so frustrating!
Thankfully I have found an answer to this debilitating illness (called "lostmojo-itis").
For me, the remedy for this ailment has been to put together an inspiration folder.

As you can see, all it is is a display folder with clear plastic sleeves. Easy to get from anywhere - the newsagent, supermarket, Kmart...anywhere.
I am in the process of filling the pages with pictures of cards and projects that represent my style, my favourite techniques etc, as well as card styles and techniques that I would like to attempt.

What I like about this idea is that when I sit down to craft, I can get straight into it, producing a stunning card in no time because all the fiddly time-consuming work of planning has been taken care of. I have been super happy with the results, and it is quickly building up my supply of cards.

Now, you could go from page to page, here and there but I have started from page one, and am systematically working my way through, card by card, by card. I don't copy the card examples to the letter, but I'll explain that more in later posts.

Over the next few posts I will be showing you cards that I have made using the card images in my folder as inspiration.
Why don't you try this idea, I bet it will give you the boost you need!

(Full credit for these card images to Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner, Stampin' Up!, Amy Tangerine, and Joy Taylor.)


Hope you can come back soon,
Rebecca ;)

"Hello Life"

 

Hello there!
I hope you had a lovely Christmas, celebrating with family and friends. 2013 is just around the corner!

I wanted to share a cute little album I have just finished.
I had a go at Following The Paper Trail's paper bag album project, the YouTube tutorial is found HERE. Very easy to follow, give it a go!

I called mine "Hello Life" and using simple photos and very few words (no journalling) I was able to put this together with a minimum of fuss!

Here are a few pages...











 

 

A little while ago I bought the 6x6 paper pad of Amy Tangerine's "Sketchbook" paper range, as well as the die-cut elements and clear stamps. I challenged myself to stick to using only these products, as well as a couple of colours of cardstock (kraft, grey, black).  I found that the bright summery colours co-ordinated beautifully with the yummy new-ish set of "Summer" distress inks (Picked Raspberry = pink; Mowed Lawn = green; and Salty Ocean = blue) and also the happy Squeezed Lemonade yellow from the "Spring" set! So bright and happy.

 

Thanks for dropping by, I hope you can come back soon!

XRebecca





Love Those Distress Inks!

Hi there!
My mum had the kids for a couple of hours today, so I had the most wonderful time playing with one of my favourite mediums...distress inks!
If you have never tried these before, give them a go - they are so much fun, and the results are outstanding!

I created this card today, using a technique I discovered on Kristina Werner's blog. She is an amazing cardmaker, so talented, and I love that she posts a video for every card tutorial she makes. So helpful for a visual learner like me!

The card I used as the inspiration for my creation today can be found here.

And here is my card. 

For the sentiment I cut a label shape out of the blue "distressed" using a die and my cuttlebug, creating a negative space - or a hole (!). I stamped the sentiment onto the card front so that it peeps through the die-cut hole.

I adhered the blue card to the card front with foam tape.

A simple yet effective result, don't you think?

Check out Kristina's blog and learn some new techniques for yourself. It's a lovely way to spend a few quiet hours.

Hope to see you again soon!
XRebecca

Framed Monogrammes

Hello!

This pretty idea is something I made for my DDs several months ago - framed monogrammes for their bedroom doors.

They look good, don't they?

So easy.

All you need is a frame (mine were 2 for $5.00 from Big W); paint; and assorted papers.

The frames I got were already white, but because they were only cheapies I gave them a cupla coats of white paint to cover any marks/ scrapes on the wood (happy to do that - after all, they were only $2.50 each!).

You may prefer to use a colour to match the room instead.

You will find the painting easier if you remove the back of the frame as well as the glass.

You won't need the glass if you are planning on attaching dimensional embellishments.

Set aside to dry thoroughly.

While the paint is drying (or in my case 3 weeks later...well, life's busy!) cut your background paper to size and adhere it to the backing of the frame.

I printed the monogrammes on the computer and used them as a template to trace onto the paper I had chosen for the letters. If you're really clever you can draw them freehand.

Adhere letter to background paper, add desired fancies and...voila!

This would suit a boy's room too, using robots or space creatures or monsters, grrr!

I hope you have fun trying this out for yourself.

Have a great day,

X Rebecca

Something to Try...

Hi there!
Thanks for calling in.
See the cute little cupcake photo in my new header? Aint it suhweet?
I thought today I would encourage you to think outside the box when it comes to this hobby of papercrafting that we all know and love.
Don't limit yourself - or your supplies - to making cards or scrapbooking.
Let's face it, with the amount of money we spend on our hobby we are obligated to do much more with it than we do!

Take these cupcakes, for example.

I made these for my daughter's 12th birthday - very, very simple cake and icing - but by creating a flower (using the mini rolled rose die from Die-namics and a little leaf die from Stampin' Up) it transformed a plain old cupcake into something quite exquisite.
You don't need a die-cutting machine to do this, you can create a freehand flower and stem instead and get the same result.
What do you think...worth a try?

A bientot mes amis!
X Rebecca

Challenge Entry

Hi everyone!
I'm joining in a couple of challenges this week!
Here is my entry...

It's a card I made for my beautiful daughter's birthday - happy birthday sweetie!
For the background I used my "Large Flower Background" stamp by Hero Arts. I white heat-embossed it and painted it with watercolour pencils.
The little girl stamp is from the Pure Innocence range by My Favourite Things, called "Love You With All My Heart". I added her little leggings, and also painted this image using watercolour pencils.
I love doing this, it has to be my favourite technique at the moment - so easy to do and so effective!

The challenges I'm entering are Simon Says Stamp summer challenge, and the Hero Arts birthday challenge.
Why don't you join in the fun too?
See you soon,
XRebecca

A Dress for my Princess

Hi there!
My "baby" turned four a couple of months ago (where does the time go??) and I wanted to make her a princess dress that wasn't "scratchy", like most of the shop-bought dresses are. She and her sister have had a couple of beautiful dresses given to them over the years but refused to wear them due to their scratchy, stiff fabric used for the sleeves and skirt.

Seeing as Ariel is her favourite princess, I thought I'd have a go at making a dress similar to hers. (You know Ariel - she used to be a mermaid and then decided to be a human so her dad gave her a pair of legs.)

Anyway, I had no idea how to go about it so I googled "how to make a princess dress" and found an amazing blog called "Make It and Love It". It's creator, Ashley, is an incredibly talented lady who makes the most beautiful things for her home and children. If you want to take a look, you can find it here. (You should see the Mary Poppins costume she made for her daughter!)

On her blog I found some very simple, easy to follow instructions on how to make a Cinderella dress. I adapted it a little as I went and this is what I ended up with.

I don't think I could have chosen a more difficult fabric to work with! It's a silky stretchy material that feels really lovely but played havoc with my sewing machine.
Nevermind, I'm really happy with the result and, more importantly, my little princess loves her new dress!

Thanks for stopping by!
XRebecca

Hi there!

I recently made this cushion for a friend of mine and wanted to share it with you.

Well, when I say "friend" I mean "beautiful lovely christian psychologist".

Anyway, on one of my recent visits to her she told me of an analogy the Lord had given her explaining the value of the precious peace we've been given. We need to hold onto our peace, and not lose it when we face problems and frustrations.

I thought this cushion might be a nice visual aid for her consulting room. I chose green and aubergine (that's eggplant for you unsophisticates!) as they are the colours in the room.

It was soooo easy to put together, and the best part is it only cost me $10 to make!







I wanted to make a cushion, but didn't really have the time or patience to make it from scratch (it was the school holidays), so I decided to take a shortcut and use premade cushions.

 I toddled off to my local Kmart and found these PERFECT specimens for only $5 each. Don'tcha love Kmart?



         

First I unpicked the side seams of both cushions.

I did this for 2 reasons: I needed to access the wrong side of the green cushion in order to embellish the front; and I wanted to use the aubergine cushion's fabric to make the embellishments!

After I had unpicked the seams, I ironed the wrong side to get the creases out.

Voila!  

Using WordArt, I typed the word "peace", then flipped it horizontally.

I made that sound so simple, didn't I?

The truth is, I spent about an HOUR trying and trying and trying to do this on Word 2010...ironically I lost my peace in the process.

It did not want to work for me.

Then my incredibly intelligent 11 year old suggested I do it on our OLD computer using Word 2003 (2003!).

After the poor old thing managed to boot itself up, I produced a flipped word in 2 minutes flat.

Go figure.

The next thing I needed to do was scrounge up some "Vliesofix", which thankfully I found a piece big enough to do the trick.

What is Vliesofix?

It is a type of fusible webbing used for applique (attaching fabric to fabric). It comes in a roll, and you buy it by the metre. Quilt shops carry it, but I get mine from Spotlight.

You can see me tracing my word onto the paper backing of the Vliesofix.

After the words/pictures have been traced, cut around them roughly.

Next I placed the word and pictures onto the WRONG side of the fabric and ironed over the Vliesofix (paper backing and all) using a dry iron. I actually used a little steam because I didn't want to melt my fabric. Probably not the exact right way to do it...but it worked for me!

When you cut out the word/pictures the webbing is fused to the wrong side, which you then flip over and iron that onto the RIGHT side of the cushion front.

This is why the word/pictures need to be reversed.

(Does that make sense?)

I wanted a simple, peaceful design and when I was happy with the placement I placed a clean teatowel over the word/leaves and pressed it with a hot steam iron. I could use hot this time because there was a cloth between the iron and the applique piece.

Using backstitch I embroidered a circle and then around some of the leaves with matching green embroidery floss. (I had traced around a dinner plate to make the circle.)

Nearly finished!

With right sides together I pinned around the 4 sides of the cushion.

See how I've put my pins in vertically? That allows the sewing machine to run right over them without snapping a needle, and no pins strewn everywhere.

(I confess that I'm a bit of a shocker with pins. When I was 15 I slid my foot over the carpet in my bedroom and onto a pin lying in wait in the pile. It snapped off inside my foot, jamming itself between 2 toe bones. Youch!)

Starting about 3/4 of the way along one side, I sewed around the sides of the cushion using straight stitch and a seam allowance of 1.5cm.

When I got back around to the side that I started on, I finished off  about 1/4 of the way along. This provided an opening for the cushion insert to go back into.

I then turned the cushion cover right way out and inserted the cushion.

Because the cushion insert was smaller than the cover I had enough room to sew a flange. Simply put it's a seam sewn on the right side about 1.5cm in. This also allowed me to close the cushion opening off neatly. 

So there you go.

A simple, quick and easy way to brighten a room or someone's day.

I hope you have fun with it.

Please leave a comment, I'd love to know how you went!

A bientot,

XRebecca

 

PS - I need to add that the leaf design was reproduced with permission from Martha Stewart's "Encyclopedia of Sewing and Fabric Crafts" .