Mojo Monday 179 #2...a bit late

I started this one with the intention of getting in for Mojo Monday 179 since I wasn't thrilled with my first submission but life got in the way! We went to Portland, ME for Erik's best friend's wedding shower and had an AWESOME time! Maybe too awesome on my end! After being away from my frenchie all weekend and feeling a bit under the weather on Sunday, I never quite made it back to finish it in time! Better late than never though! I got to use my new Sizzix flower die, new lace and ribbon, new pearl embellishments and some new paper so I had a lot of fun trying out all my fun stuff! Also- my sewing machine is busted or something, can't figure out how to fix it so I had to compromise and do a little hand stitching on the side! After two Xs trying to get twine through paper I decided two was plenty!

Mojo Monday 179

So I did this one for the Mojo Monday 179 challenge of the week! I wasn't planning on doing this card today, but I had some techs over fixing my oil pipe at the house and they ended up being here for FIVE AND A HALF HOURS!!! The tough part was I didn't know how long they were going to be here so I kept starting and stopping this card and feeling all this weird pressure to finish before they left. Needless to say my head wasn't the right place! I can't say this is one of my faves but I think it's cute! I need some more pizazz somehow but can't quite figure out how to change it! Might I add I had a really hard time finding just the right orange for embellishments so I ended up just going with orange paper! Oh well, if I have more time I may try to make another one for this week!

Zentangle

So I took a fun new class today called Zentangle! My mother-in-law Robin got the kit for Christmas for herself, my sister-in-law Erin, and I and we took the two hour class today. It's kind of hard to explain what this is all about but basically the purpose is to create different patterns on the tile. There are no mistakes- which I love- and the point is to use your creativity and to relax and enter a meditative state while doing it. It's hard to understand until you try it, but once I started I couldn't stop today. It's really fun to try to come up with new ways to recreate patterns you've already learned and come up with your very own. To learn more about it, check out www.zentangle.com.
PS- Sorry the pics are blurry! 

Thankful

So I hardcore copied my friend Jess's card on this- you can see it on www.thepaperperchbyjess.com. I loved hers so much I had to make one for myself! It also makes me happy in my soul to use my Cosmo Cricket and October Afternoon paper. It makes me smile. The white fabric flower is Bo Bunny- I wanted to try to die it but then I got nervous and just left it as is! Maybe I'll be more adventurous about it next time! Thankfully no real drama with this one, nice change of pace for me!

Man card

A friend at work mentioned she wanted a card for her husband and of course I offered to make one! She just wanted a general card, no real purpose and she said he likes music, he plays the piano, and he likes food. So the wheels started turning for a design and I found this perfect quote online! Let me just say, making a card for a man is so much harder than for a woman! As my husband put it "guys don't give a sh** about cards, they just through them away after they read them". I guess that makes sense when you see that pretty much all cards are kind of girlie! So i finally came up with a dude design and at the very end decided to do a zig zag stitch on the edge. Big mistake, this paper is too thin for this! It kept ripping a little and the machine kept skipping stitches and jamming! I dejammed the machine probably four times and the worst part was the bottom but at that point I couldn't take it anymore. It was either throw the machine across the room or cover it up with ribbon. I chose option two thankfully. Finally got to use my Walnut Ink spray which was fun to use especially paired with my new Lettuce colored ink dabber.

quilted heart with key

Not to toot my own horn, but I think this is the best card I've made so far! Sure I had some mishaps on the sewing, but luckily because it's a busy print you can't really tell that much. For the green inking on the edges and the green ribbon I used some of the supplies I got for the Right at Home Scrapbooking layout class in March- oops! I'm supposed to be using that stuff to make a scrapbook layout to bring to class but oh well! I actually stole the idea for this card from Beate John's card posted on the Cosmo Cricket blog. I fell in love with her card and wanted to try it for myself! http://networkedblogs.com/eh8Go?ref=nf 

owls

This is one of those cards you think about all day and then when you go to make it you realize it looked way better in your head! Half way through making this I got a block and couldn't figure out what to do with this. I realized it wasn't quite right but couldn't figure out how to make it better! Any suggestions? I will say though that i bought banana leaf paper for the branch and I think it really looks like wood! That was fun to use!

Mojo Monday 178

Here is my first attempt at trying a blog layout challenge! This one is from www.mojomonday.blogspot.com. For some reason making a card with an agenda is a lot harder than just coming up with something on your own, but I definitely enjoyed it because it pushed me past my normal comfort zone of my typical horizontal layout! I finally used my cuttlebug birthday cake die which for some reason I've been avoiding (probably because getting each little piece adhered was a challenge all in itself!). I also stole Jess's little flower idea that she just taught us- thanks Jess! Since I'm running low on twine, I remembered I threw a couple shorter pieces away the other day so I shamefully dug through my trash can to find it for this card! To be fair it's only craft trash in there- don't think I'm disgusting! I'm on a budget here! I made the mistake of using light blue ink at first for the happy birthday and then when I took the pics of the card you couldn't read it at all so I had to go back over it with pink! Anyway, I hope you like it!

love birds

I "whipped" this valentine's day card together the other day! Well, not really whipped, more like a cumbersome construction! The lettering on each square turned out to be quite the process! I have a "Love" stamp that I like the font on so I ended up having to ink each letter and individually stamp each letter on each square. The stamp is wooden, not clear by the way, so guessing the alignment was nearly impossible. I must have done 4 "Vs" and 4-5 "Es". Once I actually got the lettering right I kept punching the holes too close to the edge and then ripping them to get the punch off the paper, thank god for glue dots holding the letters in place! But when all is said and done, I love the way it turned out! I'm clearly obsessed with this color combo!

Doily fun

I've seen other people use doilies on their cards and have thought that it looks so cute so I gave it a go! Same with the crocheted ribbon. Although adhering the crocheted ribbon is a bit harder than I thought it would be! I ended up using glue dots to hold it in place and then sewed it on but I'm sure there's a much easier way! Let me know! Also- I notice that the colors of the card always look a lot different in pics- like the "happy easter" on this one- I swear it's a lot closer in color to the paper! But I think the camera has it out for me and just wants me to look stupid. I definitely need to work on my photogs!

something new...but old

I figured I've been doing so many colorful cards, time to do something a little more vintage looking. More sewing jams but I'm starting to get less angry about it now and just deal with it! My mother-in-law got these pocket watch chips from a cute little store in Bristol called Time and Thyme Again for me because she knows I love vintagy (I know it's not a word) looking things. I also wanted to use the tea dye ink I bought about two weeks ago and have been dying to try. Because I don't have the right tools for it, I ended up putting it on with a makeup sponge, but it seemed to work alright! I also ended up writing the message by hand due to the lack of a proper stamp with the right message, which I don't love but I'm broke right now and can't by anymore stamps for a little while! The good old fashioned way will have to do for now!

SU order arrived!

My Stampin' Up order has arrived!! Of course I had to incorporate almost everything I ordered in one card! I used Stampin' Up paper, bird punch, and "happy together" stamp. I of course wanted to use my owl punch as well but thought that might be a bit excessive. I have to say, I'm very impressed with the stamping performance of these new stamps I ordered and it made me realize why some of the crappy clear stamps are so cheap- because they're cheap! I'm starting to realize that you get what you pay for!

designer snob in the making!

 

More attempts at sewing on the card, this time not so smooth! I think my sewing machine must have jammed like four times and did not like me very much when I made it go over the card, the paper, and the cherry (see break in stitch as case in point)! I have also now discovered the designer paper. Oh boy I'm in trouble and so is my wallet! My new faves are Cosmo Cricket, October Afternoon, and Bo Bunny. I also discovered the amazing scrapbook store down the street from my house thanks to my crafty friend Jess (I swear I'm not obsessed with her although it may seem like it based on my multiple mentions of her!). I think my exact quote after leaving Right At Home Scrapbooking was- "that place makes Joann's look like Ocean State Job Lot" and this is when I realize I am in trouble!

sew boy, here we go!

This is my first attempt at sewing on paper! I've sewed plenty of things with fabric, but never with paper. Didn't even know it was possible until I saw my friend Jess do it. Shameless plug for her- thepaperperchbyjess.com- she makes the cutest stuff! So I figured I'd give this a shot. I think I held my breath the entire time, but it turns out it's not so hard! I did just cut the thread on top of the card which was a mistake, I now know I need to pull it back through the bottom, but hey I gotta start somewhere. Needless to say this card will probably be unraveling any second!

I think I got it...

So now I'm thinking- ok I have a focal point and the colors aren't too bold together. Home run right? Not so much- where's the message he asks? Ok, I'm finally getting it. But on a side note, I really loved making this card and I still think it's really cute! You can't tell in the pic but the apples come off the card with 3-D squares.
PS- I should mention that my husband went to school for graphic design so he has an eye for this stuff and I ASKED for his feedback! I don't want to you to think he's some kind of mean person! Haha! 

Starting to get a little better...

Finally got the cuttlebug I ordered and wanted to use it right away! I thought this card was much better than previous projects, but as my husband so nicely told me- red, yellow, and black are too bold to all go together. That's a matter of opinion I think but ok. He also pointed out that I need to have more of a focal point. Ok. Again, this is all a growing and learning experience!

yuck!

Here's one of my first attempts once I got home armed with all my new crafting gear. Looking back on it, what was I thinking? Why did I think the rhinestones were a good idea? Stamping once again, not stellar. Oh well, you have to start somewhere right?!

And so it begins...

Here's where the card making obsession began! My friend Jess had a Stampin' Up party and I was instantly hooked- despite the hostess I must say. Names will be omitted to protect the innocent but lets just say I don't think she had a clue about how to use any of the products she was selling. Luckily Jess stepped in and showed all the girls how to use everything! But, that's besides the point. You can see here my stamping skills were not very good! But I had a great time making it and against our better judgment, my car full of gal pals decided to stop at Joann's to stock up on some supplies to continue the fun. $120 later I was ready to go and pretty much haven't stopped card making (or buying supplies) since!