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Monday, January 18, 2010

A Real, Honest-to-Goodness Project!

Hello Blogland! Well, I've been prattling on about how I was hoping to share an actual project now for awhile, so I thought I might go ahead and do that this evening. I held off buying the Everyday Button Bits stamp set from Papertrey for months. I'd look at it every once in awhile and wax poetic about what might be, but ultimately end up removing it from my shopping cart; preferring instead something practical like stamp cleaner or cardstock or ribbon.

Then, last month I received a gift certificate for Christmas and that stamp set found its way to my house before I could talk myself out of its purchase. I was so happy when it arrived I showed Sean at least a half-dozen times. He, of course, couldn't care less, but tried to match my enthusiasm anyway.


This card is one of the first I made with the set. I loved the hot air balloons image from the moment I saw it during the countdown week. And the sentiment is so totally perfect. There are several in the set that coordinate well with the image, but I thought this one would be cute for my first effort.

So anyway, I started by stamping the polka dots onto Aqua Mist cardstock and rounding the corners on my card base. Then I stamped my balloon baskets onto white cardstock using Burnt Umber ink and stitched on a few buttons. I adhered my white panel onto the card base and stamped my sentiment in Burnt Umber as well.


Then I free-hand cut a couple of little hills from patterned paper and stitched along the top edge to give them a little texture. I rounded their bottom corners and mounted those to the white base with foam adhesive. And there it is. A lovely little "pick-me-up" card for a friend having a bad week. Not that I'm hoping any of my friends have a bad week or anything, but it would be totally fun to send this to somebody. I can be patient...ish.

Well, I hope it's been worth the wait (or at least worth the visit). Take care and have a happy tomorrow!

Recipe:
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics, Everyday Button Bits - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Aqua Mist, Stamper's Select White - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Bitty Box Basics (Spring Moss, Ripe Avocado) - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Burnt Umber - Palette; VersaMark - Tsukineko
Embellishments: Vintage Buttons (Ripe Avocado, Melon Berry, Aqua Mist) - Papertrey Ink; Embroidery Floss - DMC
Other: Foam Tape - Scotch; Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers

Friday, January 15, 2010

What I've Been Up To

Hello, Blogland! It's been awhile, hasn't it? I'm afraid I haven't been able to blog recently as I've been hyperfocused on business as of late. I hope you're all well and the new year is treating you kindly. I've been adding new Valentine's Day cards to the Etsy shop recently. There are several there in the "Seasonal" section. Here are a few little peeks if you're interested:


I hope to add more of the non-holiday stock to the shop soon, too. If you ever have a question or special request just let me know and I'll let you know if I have something on hand. If not, most times I can get something put together in short order.

Hopefully, in the next week or so I will have something a little more exciting to share. Until then, all the best!