Artful Avocations

Splitcoaststampers CHA Cupcake Reception

The very lovely and sweet Lori Craig from Splitcoaststampers invited me to attend their reception for CHA.   I'm so glad I was able to attend because AJ Otto was coming down from Washington to attend CHA and I finally got to meet her in person!! AJ came to help out Angela (who took this picture for me - another really sweet lady I got to meet!) of Unity Stamps in their booth.  AJ is a member of their design team, but she is also a member of the A Chemistry With Paper DT and I was so excited to meet her.  She was just as nice and friendly as I have found her to be working with her on the ACWP DT.  Although I only get a chance to check in on Splitcoaststampers a couple times a week, I really don't have time to be much of a regular there - wish I did!  I saw a lot of familiar faces from their avitars and blogs and actually got to meet a few of the girls. Another nice lady I met was Joy from EP!  Duh!  It didn't even click with me until after I had returned home....lol...I thought her name and face were familiar!  I've ordered several things from EP too...I'll just blame that brain malfunction on my age!  lol  It was such a pleasure to meet these ladies as well as Diana and Roy Crick of Scor-Pal, who chatted with us for quite a while.  What nice people they are!  If you don't have a ScorPal yet, you seriously need to get one...what a time saving tool it is!

I hope everyone who attended CHA had a safe and enjoyable time.

Have a great weekend!

Pretty Little Basket :) - No Stamping!!

A few of years ago I made a basket/box pattern folded slightly different from the norm. Download basket_box_tutorial.pdf It's a super easy pattern too.   Since spring and Easter are on the way, I thought about making one, so here it is!

I was going to just used the plain card stock (Sage Shadow) and stamp on it, but then I decided to use this lovely designer paper from K & Co.  It matches the Sage Shadow perfectly in real life.  I used my Scor-Pal to score the fold lines on the box, which makes it really quick.  I used my Martha Stewart scalloped eyelet punch to make the lace trim.  The button brads are from Karen Foster.

Thanks for stopping by!  Let me know if you try this box!

Happy for You!

Yesterday afternoon I created this box with my Scor-Pal and large oval punch from Stampin' Up!, but wasn't sure what I was going to stamp on it.  This morning I saw these scraps of River Rock and Close to Cocoa card stocks laying on my work area and like the color combo, so I went with it to create this bag.

Stamps are from A Chemistry With Paper - Stylized Flowers and Oval Labels.
Papers and inks are from Stampin' Up! - River Rock, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Soft Sky.
The button brad is from Karen Foster.
The brown and white mini brads are from my stash.
The ribbon is from Michael's.
I also used SU! small and large oval punches and the 3-flower punch.

Thanks for stopping in and taking a look!

3 x 3 Stylized Flower notecard

I just love these little flowers!  I stamped them in Palette Noir and watercolored them.  They are cut out and attached to the card with dimensionals.  The background frames are stamped in Soft Sky ink.  The card is scored/embossed into fourths to create a square for each image.

The stamps are from A Chemistry With Paper - Stylized Flowers, Labels and Tags, and Ribbons and Frames.  The ribbon is from SU!

Thanks for looking!

Cupcake Card

Cathy has made so many cards using this cupcake from ACWP's Holiday Treats and inspired me to do something with it.  I've never used this stamp before and thought maybe I should, so I made this Saturday, but didn't have a candle for it.  After going to the store (twice!!) and forgetting to buy birthday candles, my neighbor who was with shopping with me and supposed to remind me (lol) found one in her kitchen drawer and gave it to me after we got home and remembered I needed candles.  Yeah, this kind of stuff happens all the time when you're 50-something.  All you can do is laugh at yourself and it helps to have a wonderful friend and neighbor the same age to laugh with you.  :)
So, back to the card....staying focused is another little problem that happens  ;)  .............The paper is Cutie Pie, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, and Whisper White from SU!  I also used Certainly Celery ink to watercolor the bottom of the cupcake, and blue mini brads and dimensionals from SU!

Thanks for looking!

Baby Boy Envelope Scrapbook

I made this to go with the onesie card.  It's pretty self-explanatory, I think.  You can see by the pictures how it was put together.

I really like the speckled alphabet (Autumn Alphabet) from ACWP!  It lends itself to so many applications!

Cardstock is Whisper White and Soft Sky, ink is Soft Sky, from Stampin' Up!  the envelopes and ribbon, flower, and tag punches are also from Stampin' Up!

The envelopes contain pull-out cards with tabs on them where the recipient can scrapbook their pictures.  The ribbon is sandwiched on the front between two pieces of card stock.  On the back of the book, I installed a small eyelet to hold the ribbon.  The ribbon is knotted on the inside of the book, behind the envelopes, and is threaded through the eyelet to come out the back of the card.  (I hope you can figure this out!  I should have taken a picture.)  Thanks for stopping by!  

It's a Girl! Baby Dress Card

I made this a few days ago after I made the boy onesie.  I was thinking about some of the little dress cards we (stampers) used to make years ago.  Anyway, I really liked the simplicity of Lauren's onesie and therefore used it as my inspiration for this dress as well.  It's basically the same except I cut the sleeves shorter to allow for the paper lace edging (made with the Martha Stewart eyelet punch) and I didn't punch out leg holes.

The stamps are from ACWP's Stylized Flowers and the paper is from Stampin' Up! - Certainly Celery and Whisper White.  The ink is Palette New Canvas.  The brad buttons are from my stash and sorry, but I don't remember who made them.

Thanks for looking!

It's a Boy! Baby Onesie Card

Is this not the cutest card?!  We've seen lots of baby onesies, dresses, overalls, etc. card shapes over the years, but what makes this concept by Lauren different is she used the 1-3/8" circle punch and the scallop punch from SU!  You can see her card and tutorial HERE.  Thanks Lauren!

I've been meaning to make a baby card for a couple at church that just had a baby boy and this will be perfect!  I used Lauren's basic pattern, but added my own embellishments so it would lend itself more for a boy.  I used SU! textured card stock in Blue Sky and Whisper White.  I've had the little button brads in my stash and I'm not sure who they're made by.  I used a white Soufle pen to add the stitching.  If you look closely you can see it on the button front, sleeve trim, and collar.  Speaking of the collar, I used the small SU! oval punch for that.  I punched two ovals, centered them and adjusted their placement so it was "just so", then punched off excess with the 1-3/8" circle punch - aligning it with the neck opening punched earlier, finally trimming what was leftover on the shoulders with scissors.  The pocket is a one-inch square that was rounded on the two bottom corners.  In person, this looks almost real with the textured card stock.  It's so cute!  Thanks for stopping in!

Praying for You

Another card for a serious occassion tonight.  I have another post for tonight and I promise it will be for a happier occassion.  I wanted to make a cheery card for someone I know who has just had some major cancer surgery. 

I used "May the Lord Bless You and Keep You," "Praying for You,"  and mini sunflower stamps from the Spritual Sentiments set from A Chemistry With Paper; SU! Certainly Celery card stock, Cutie Pie dp, chipboard flower, and Wild Wasabe ribbon.  The button is from Foo-Fa-La.  The Staple Bar is from Making Memories.  I also used Palette New Canvas ink (white) and Certainly Celery classic ink.
Thanks for looking!
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With Sympathy

I needed to make a sympathy card the other day and just had the opportunity to post it tonight.  I used stamp images from Spiritual Sentiments from A Chemistry With Paper.  The card stock is Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, and Blue Sky.  The ribbon is from Michael's and matched the SU! colors perfectly.  The flowers are from the SU! Pretties kit and water colored with Groovy Guava and Blue Sky.  Also used was SU! tab punch, three flower punch,  and 1/8" circle punch.  The second picture shows how it opens.
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Thanks for stopping by!