Madison Avenue

Embellish Challenge

 
Happy Thursday from a very very snowy California!  I decided at the last minute to play in the current Embellish challenge (that ends tonight) and I'm not even sure I followed the colors completely.  I just looked at the swatches and thought the red color looked like Scarlett Jewel.  So I used Turquoise, Chartruese, Hibiscus and Scarlett Jewel accented with white and black.  I used Mint Motif's Very Square, What a Card, and Sweet Hearts.  I love how all of the Mint Motif sets coordinate and Very Square is my hands down favorite!  I also used a Labels 17 die and a heart die from Provo Craft to cut the felt hearts for my little garland.  I threaded it with Black Licorice Divine Twine.  And I'm sorry if the felt doesn't look like it matches cause it totally does, just frustrating lighting today!!!

 
Supplies:  Stamps - Very Square, Sweet Hearts, What a Card (Mint Motif); Ink - Hibiscus Burst, Scarlett Jewel, True Black (PTI), Celery (Fresh Ink), Turquoise (Versacolor); Cardstock - SS White, Scarlett Jewel (PTI); Other - Labels 17 Die (Spellbinders), Black Licorice Twine (Divine Twine), Corner Rounder (EK Success)

Thank you for visiting today, please send me some warm thoughts, this weather is freezing!!!  Maybe I will get some stamping time in though since we won't be leaving the house much!

Embellish Challenge with Mint Motif

 
Okay, I'll admit, this Embellish challenge was a little difficult for me, not sure if I pulled it off but I tried for sure.  I am not the most vintage cardmaker there is...I use some elements  of it but I would not classify myself as having a vintage style.  At any rate, I inked the edges (like I love to do and do all the time), used this pretty wrinkly green crepe ribbon (from i {heart} papers), and made a rust color wrinkly bloom with a pearl center....does all that make my creation vintage?  I sure hope so!  I also made a fun frame using my Labels One and square nestabilities and stamped an image from Very Square in the center with a Very Square Sentiments sentiment.  The border pattern along the bottom was made with one of the newest Mint Motif sets, Beyond Borders. 

 

Supplies:  Stamps - Very Square, Very Square Sentiments, Beyond Borders (Mint Motif); Ink - Celery (Fresh Ink), Yellow Citrus (Clearsnap), Terracotta Tile (PTI), Antique Linen Distress (Ranger); Cardstock - Vintage Cream, Harvest Gold, Terracotta Tile (PTI); Other - Labels One Dies (Spellbinders), Square Dies (Spellbinders), Corner Rounder (EK Success), Blossom 1 Dies (Spellbinders), Adhesive Pearls, Green Crepe Ribbon

Thanks for stopping by today!  I hope you are all having a great week!!!

Embellish Challenge meets Mint Motif

 
I just love the colors in the current (ending today!) Embellish Challenge, they look so good together and are perfect for a more formal card.  The other requirement this time besides colors was to make a background, so I took out my Mint Motif set Very Square to create my patchwork yellow background.  I then cut is out with a Labels 8 die (also available at i {heart} papers and for a great price) then sponged some grey ink (Charcoal from Palette) around the edges and little bits in the middle.  The cirlce is stamped with my sentiment from Very Square Sentiments, then I made some of my fun wrinkly flowers and added rhinestones to the middle (the larger one is kinda gray and the smaller ones are black). 

 
 Supplies:  Stamps - Very Square, Very Square Sentiments (Mint Motif); Ink - Yellow Citrus Fluid Chalk (Clearsnap), Charcoal (Palette), True Black (PTI); Cardstock - SS White, True Black, Smokey Shadow, Harvest Gold (PTI); Other - Rhinestones (Kaiser Craft), Flower Punches (EK Success), Circle Punch (EK Success), Labels 8 Dies (Spellbinders)

I also wanted to thank everyone for the sweet happy birthday messages, they made my day that much nicer!  I had a great day with my little kiddo and a relaxing dinner with my hubby then some delicious ice cream cake!  And the biggest thing...my hubby got my a Cricut for my birthday, wow wow wow, I am still surprised!  I got it out and played with it a bit last night...needless to say I have lots to learn.  I also am floored at the # of cartridges that you can get, wow they can add up fast huh?!  I do love that you can use the cake cartridges too, how fun, love the Martha Stewart Elegant Cakes one but it is a bit pricey.  Anyhow, talk soon, thank for visiting. 

Embellish Challenge Paper Piecing

 
I have been wanting to participate in the latest Embellish challenge and I finally found the time...and the challenge ends tomorrow so I made it!  I love paper piecing and the colors for this challenge are so pretty and kinda fall-ish.  I chose to used some October Afternoon patterned paper to piece some flowers and leaves from PTI's Delightful Dahlia set - cut them out with the coordinating dies which makes it super easy to paper piece.  I layered one of each size flower then added a little flower rhinestone from Hero Arts in the center, so cute!  I also used a wonderful stamp from PTI, the Library Card, it is so fun and super inexpensive!  This is my first time using it but it certainly won't be my last!!  For this card I stamped it in Frayed Burlap distress ink (my closest color to kraft) and sponged some Shabby Shutters distress ink on it.  Another new to me fun thing I used is the Eyelet Lace Border die, I added two coordinating pieces to the side of the card, it just looked a little naked without them! 

 
Supplies:  Stamps - Fancy Flourishes, Delightful Dahlia, Library Card, Fillable Frames #5 (PTI); Ink - Frayed Burlap, Shabby Shutters (Ranger), Landscape, Raw Sienna (Pallette); Cardstock - Kraft, Rustic Cream, Ripe Avocado, Harvest Gold (PTI); Patterned Paper - Thrift Shop (October Afternoon), Early Bird (Cosmo Cricket); Other - Eyelet Lace Border Die, Delightful Dahlia Dies (PTI), Corner Rounder (EK Success), Yellow Flower Rhinestone (Hero Arts)

Okay, off to get the kids out of the bath and frost some pumpkin scones I made.  I am so excited to try them, I am crossing my fingers they taste like Starbucks - or maybe not as then I will want them constantly and my jeans might not like that.  I will share the recipe if they turn out well.  Have a wonderful evening!  Thanks for visiting!

 

Cake Shoppe Patterns (& Update)

Thank you all for the well wishes for my little Mikey.  We came home on Friday afternoon and he is doing pretty good.  He gets frustrated at times since he can't really move, especially at night.  He really wants to sleep on his tummy but obviously he cannot do that right now.  He enjoys a change of atmosphere regularly and shifting positions.  The above picture is in his little wagon nest which he likes, especially since he can see outside from there.  So we are doing lots of reading, coloring, watching movies (Elmo in Grouchland is the current favorite), playing blocks or cars, and just cuddling as best we can.  His pain seems to be getting under control, in fact he hasn't had any pain meds since the middle of the night.  I think this will probably be a very long six weeks but we are trying to make the best of it. 

Anyhow, here is a card I made right before Mikey's injury.  I made it based on the last Embellish magazine challenge (intended on posting it before the deadline), which incorporated the colors orange, turquoise, brown, and kraft and the use of ric rac.  I used the large dotted cake pattern from Mint Motif's Cake Shoppe Too to create the multi-colored background on the kraft cardstock.  It was super simple to line up and fun to create in different colors.  The sentiment is from Cake Shoppe, such a cute little curly font!  I added some fun embossed circles and cute buttons, the embossing folder is from Quickutz, it is polka dots pattern (small) and you can get it at i {heart} papers too!

Supplies:  Stamps - Cake Shoppe, Cake Shoppe Too (Mint Motif); Ink - Orange Zest (PTI), Turquoise Versacolor (Tsukineko), Dark Brown Fluid Chalk (Clearsnap); Cardstock - Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Orange Zest, Hawaiian Shores (PTI); Other - Vintage Buttons (PTI), Border Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts), Corner Rounder, Circle Punches (EK Success), Hawaiian Shores Felt (PTI), Ric Rac Border Die (PTI)

Thank you so so much for stopping by, I am going to try to post a couple of MTME projects (which I obviously missed posting due to Mikey's injury) this week too!  Have a good one!

Embellish Challenge Card

Time for another Embellish magazine challenge which I am usually posting at the last minute...however this time I found a little snippet of time to create a super simple lovely card.  The challenge is sponsored by Waltzingmouse Stamps so I thought I would use their stamps...I bought a few sets in May and I love them! 

 
For this card I decided to use the pretty Roses In Bloom set, I have only previously inked up a few of the sentiments so it was nice to get a chance to use the pretty rose images.  I stamped the larget rose in Berry Sorbet (PTI) on Stampers Select White cardstock.  I then sponged some Lemon Tart (PTI) ink in the center and some Spun Sugar and Worn Lipstick Distress ink (Ranger) over the petals.  I am not a really big fan of coloring (in case you didn't already know that - haha) so i love to sponge inks over my image to "color" them, it gives a soft look I really like.

The other part of the challenge (besides the colors) was to use a label on your card.  I punched this label from Lemon Tart cardstock using the Real Estate Sign punch from EK Success.  It is such a pretty curly shape.  I added the smaller rose image to the label in Lemon Tart ink (it is hard to see) and the sentiment in Dark Brown Fluid Chalk ink.

Here is the finished card, which was a little troublesome to get a good picture of...anyhow, it is long card measuring 3x6 and fits in SU!'s open ended envelopes.  The brown satin ribbon is from Target, I bought a big roll of it long ago and I just keep on using it with no end in sight!!! 

Supplies:  Stamps - Roses in Bloom (Waltzingmouse Stamps); Ink - Berry Sorbet, Lemon Tart (PTI), Spun Sugar, Worn Lipstick Distress Ink (Ranger), Dark Brown Fluid Chalk (Clearsnap); Cardstock - Lemon Tart, Berry Sorbet, SS White (PTI); Other - Corner Rounder, Real Estate Sign Punch (EK Success), Brown Satin Ribbon (Target)

In other matters, Mikey's birthday party on Saturday was a success.  The kids had lots of fun chasing everyone with squirt guns and blowing bubbles.  We had baseball cupcakes since Mikey is obsessed with baseball right now.  He blew out his candles at least twice and then commenced licking the bottoms of the candles repeatedly.  It was a good day for sure...exhausting but good.  Here is one pic from the day (Mikey squirting his little squirt gun)...I am not overly excited about the pictures I got but I did get a few good ones. 

 
Have a super fabulous day and thanks for stopping by!  Tomorrow I will be here to share a couple of MTME cards for our last group post for this release!

Embellish Challenge Meets 2S4Y & Mint Motif

Whew, that is a long title huh?!  Sorry, but I wanted to get the whole description of what I will be sharing today...a card I made for the latest Embellish Magazine challenge plus it fits this weeks 2S4Y challenge...AND it used Mint Motif stamps!  I love the soothing colors in the latest Embellish challenge and who wouldn't want to use butterflies?  I use them all the time...something perhaps you've noticed:)!

The butterflies were die cut with the PTI butterfly die and then stamped the pattern from Very Square with varying shades of green...the lightest being PTI Spring Moss, middle Versamagic Tea Leaves and darkest Versamagic Spanish Olive.  I added True Black Vintage Buttons to each butterfly and mounted them on a "long" card.  I haven't ever successfully used the "black line" on my cards but I like it here, a simple frame that sets off not only the butterflies but also the simple sentiment.  My sentiment is from Very Square Sentiments, I masked off the top and bottom of it to only use the "Birthday Wishes" portion. 

Supplies:  Stamps - Very Square, Very Square Sentiments (Mint Motif); Ink - Spring Moss, True Black (PTI), Tea Leaves, Spanish Olive (Versamagic), Cardstock - Ripe Avocado, SS White, Kraft (PTI); Other - True Black Vintage Buttons (PTI), Embroidery Floss (DMC), Black Pen

Well that's it for me today...have a super fabulous Thursday!!!

Embellish Challenge with Fabric

Time for another Embellish Magazine challenge card!  This time we needed to use the colors shown and incorporate fabric.  I used PTI colors - Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf and of course Kraft.  For the fabric portion I made a cute fabric flower, similar to the ones Betsy Veldman posted last week, you can see the tutorial here.  Here is a close up of the flower, I used some red polka dot fabric I had some scraps of and some white canvas for the smaller flower, I distressed the edges just a bit with some distress ink.  I also stamped the leaves on a piece of canvas and cut them out by hand.  The button is an Enchanted Evening Vintage Button from PTI and I sewed it right onto the flower once I had it all put together.  I love these flower and can't wait to make more from my fabric scraps!

 
Here's the whole card, used Fillable Frames #1, Polka Dot Basics II, Background Basics: Tin Types, and the small flower is from the CHA set PTI released last year.  I almost left the flower off but I thought that little frame needed something more.

 
Supplies:  Stamps - BB: Tin Types, Fillable Frames #1, Polka Dot Basics II, Floral Fusion (PTI); Ink - Fresh Snow, New Leaf, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening (PTI), Frayed Burlap Distress (Ranger); Cardstock - Rustic White, Kraft, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf (PTI); Other - Fillable Frames #1 Die, Corner Rounder (EK Success), Enchanted Evening Vintage Button (PTI)

Thank you so much for your visit and for all the nice comments I receive, they are so so appreciated!  Have a great Wednesday!

Monday Embellish Birthday Card

Happy Monday!  The babies are fast asleep so I thought I would post a card real quick while I have a few minutes of quiet!!  I told you I would use that color combo from the Embellish Challenge again, Raspberry Fizz, New Leaf, Enchanted Evening and Dark Chocolate - fabulous!!

I created that bold, pretty background using PTI's BB: Text Style II in Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and Inkadinado's Garden Delight butterfly in Raspberry Fizz, Enchanted Evening and New Leaf.  I intentionally did not stamp everything perfect just to give it "that" look you know, a little vintage but could actually be printed paper.  I also inked all edges and sponged a little in the interior with Peeled Paint Distress Ink. 

The sentiment is from PTI's Birthday Basics and is stamped on a die cut using Spellbinders Labels Dies.  I added a strip of embossed (with a Quickutz embossing folder) Enchanted Evening carstock and a scalloped border (done the old fashioned way with my corner rounder) in New Leaf.  I also stitched two New Leaf Vintage Buttons on the edges of the label with dark brown embroidery floss.

And here's a peek at the inside of my card, lined with ivory linen resume paper, inked the edges and stamped one butterfly and a sentiment (again from Birthday Basics) in both Enchanted Evening and New Leaf inks. 

I hope you all have a fabulous start to your week!  More to share later in the week! 

Supplies:  Stamps - BB: Text Style II, Birthday Basics (PTI), Garden Delight (Inkadinkado); Ink - Enchanted Evening, New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz (PTI), Peeled Paint Distress, Frayed Burlap Distress (Ranger), Dark Brown Fluid Chalk (Clearsnap); Cardstock - Vintage Cream, Dark Chocolate, Enchanted Evening, New Leaf, Raspberry Fizz (PTI); Other - Dots Embossing Folder (Quickutz), Labels Die (Spellbinders), Corner Rounder (EK Success), New Leaf Vintage Buttons (PTI)
   

Embellish Ribbon Color Challenge

 
Good evening!!  Just taking a quick few minutes to post my Embellish Ribbon Color Challenge card, I actually made it last week but have not had a chance to post it.  I love the color combo this week, turquoise in all its varieties is so beautiful and of course I love pink!!!  First off, I stamped Papertrey Ink's BB: Text Style with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Rouge on Pink Shimmer cardstock, this is so lovely, I recommend it if you haven't already purchased it.  Then, I used a big damask image from an Inkadinkado set called Bold Damasks and stamped it using Versacolor ink in Turquoise.  I love how rich that color looks on the pink paper, so so pretty.  The sentiment is from PTI's Inside and Out: Baby and stamped with Colorbox Chalk Ink in Dark Brown (this is a wonderfully rich shade of brown and I love the coverage of chalk inks).  The turquoise mat cardstock is from Bazzill.

I added the ribbon just wrapped around the bottom to frame the sentiment, it is PTI's Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon.  The finished touch is some Basic Grey gemstones added at the top of the damask image, they come in varied sizes so I was able to follow the design on the damask easily.

Supplies:  Stamps - Background Basics: Text Style, Inside & Out: Baby (Papertrey Ink), Bold Damasks (Inkadinkado); Ink - Colorbox Fluid Chalk in Rouge and Dark Brown (Clearsnap), Versacolor Turquoise (Tsuineko); Cardstock - SS White, Pink Shimmer (Papertrey Ink), Turquoise (Bazzill); Other - Dark Chocolate Satin Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Pink Gemstones (Basic Grey), Upper Crest Border Punch (Fiskars)

Thanks for stopping by!  I have a couple more Valentine's Day things to share, more tomorrow!!!  Have a great evening!!