Chocolate Baroque: Vintage Dressmaker

Hello again, friends. I'm back with 2 vintage inspired card projects featuring stamps from Chocolate Baroque's The Sewing Room, Floral Mannequins and Dressmaking Collage. The patterned papers used on both my cards are from an old magazine - a great way to recycle. Bear in mind, I haven't a clue what vintage or shabby chic truly mean. As long as it's old, wrinkly and distressed - that's good enough for me. We'll all end up like that... eventually! :)

My first card features a dress form from The Sewing Room sheet which I heat embossed in black with WOW Ebony EP and fussy cut. There's also some second generation stamping of safety pins at the bottom ... if you look hard! :) I used Memento Toffee Crunch. The sentiment is form the Birthday Words A5 sheet, stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa. I dabbed a little Old Paper Distress Ink all over the background paper for that aged look.

I coloured the dress form and the pin cushion from the Floral Mannequins sheet with Polychromos. To finish, I added Liquid Pearls in Rose Gold and White Opal to the printed roses on the left and stitched down cream cotton lace along the right edge of the card.

Challenges:
All Sorts #311: No Squares Allowed
Suzy Bee's Blooming Challenge: AG. Twist - Add Pink

************

I went on a manic distress-fest on my second card. First, I stamped the lace from The Sewing Room sheet along the top edge of a page from an old magazine with VersaFine Spanish Moss. Next,  for the background stamping I used the Dressmaking Collage clear sheet and Tea Dye Distress Ink. Finally, I distressed the edges... good and proper ... and inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I stamped the greeting with VersaFine Vintage Sepia, did a little stitching and finished the project with a few buttons from my stash..

The dress form is from the Floral Mannequins sheet, heat embossed in black, fussy cut and adhered to the card. I dressed it with a piece of sheer green ribbon around the waist.

Challenges:
Hiding In My Craft Room #199: Button Up
Left Of Creative Centre #78: Distress It

Supplies:

Thanks for stopping by. I'm still catching up on visiting and commenting. Please bear with me while I make my way through the backlog. In the meantime, here's a photo of Peanut. Not sure what she's up to... potty training perchance, or is she trying to grow herself?!

Peanut gone potty!

Have a Blessed Sunday, friends!

Beijinhos

CASE-ing Christmas #20: Anita

Tell me it isn't true! Is it Friday already?! I guess it's time to welcome you to another lap of  CASE-ing Christmas - a weekly challenge devoted to the holiday season all year 'round. Today we're starting Challenge #20.

Here's how you play along. Each week you'll be given you a card to CASE and ... you CASE it! It's as easy as that. If you've never CASEd a card before, here's how you do it:

• Look at the photo of the card to CASE; 
• Be inspired by some elements of the card - the colours, layout, image, embellishments, etc 
• Make a card based on that inspiration and link it up at CASE-ing Christmas Challenge Blog by Noon (Central) / 6pm (UK) on Thursday,  21st May 2015. 

And that's all there is to it. Our CASE card this week is this gorgeous creation by Anita. Lots of ideas here and I can't wait to see how this project inspires you.

Sometimes the original is so perfect and you don't want to mess with it. Sometimes, your mojo is a no-show and you feel the need to copy, Sometimes, you are inspired by the individual elements of a project, only to discover that, quite by accident, you've produced pretty much the same thing. I'll let you guess the route I took to get to this card! :)

The background paper is from an ancient A5 pack called Papermania Signature Linen Collection - A Christmas Carol. I think it's out of print now. The bauble is from Chocolate Baroque's Pears And Baubles A4 rubber stamp sheet. The greeting is from Clearly Besotted's Be Merry clear stamp sheet, stamped with VersaMark Crimson Red. I used WRMK Corner Chomper to create the label for it. The twine is from Doodlebug's Doodle Twine Christmas Assortment.

I heat embossed the bauble with WOW Gold Rich EP, fussy cut popped it up on foam tape. And Christmas just wouldn't be complete without some bling... red bling, to be precise!

Challenges:
CHNC Extra May: AG Christmas
CHNC #228: Vintage or Shabby
Word Art Wednesday #183: AG Family Friendly
Wonderful Wednesday: AG
Inspiration Destination #32: AG
Freshly Brewed May13-19: Ribbon / Twine

Supplies:

Now it's your turn to make a Christmas card by CASE-ing Anita's creation. And if you played along last week, the Winners of Challenge #19 will be announced on Wednesday, 20th May 2015.

You'll find more ideas over at the DT's blogs: Mynn ... Donna ... Ellen ... Pat ... Steph.

Thanks for dropping by and Happy CASE-ing. I'm looking forward to seeing your take on Anita's card. Have a lovely Friday, friends.

Beijinhos!

Tuesday Throwdown #244: Add A Doodle

It's Tuesday again, friends! And that means another week of crafting fun with the Tuesday Throwdown gang. The theme of our challenge this week is "Add A Doodle". Our sponsor is Doodle Pantry but you can use any stamps from your stash as long as you follow the theme.

Here's my card. I made a get well card for a friend who has been and (still is) battling a bug for the past 2 weeks! I'm using the pre-coloured image and patterned paper from the Everyday Jargon set, making it so easy and fun to churn out these cards. There are several themes to choose from.

Here's a close up. I fussy cut the little bugs and stuck them around the jar. With a blue marker, I doodled their buzz-paths and added doodle dots around the die cut frame.

Challenges:
Cards In Envy: When Nature Calls
Crafting From The Heart #59: AG
Craft Your Passion #261: AG
Digi Sketch: Animals
Cutie Pie #87: Layer It Up
Dream Valley #106: Things With Wings
Love To Scrap #53: A Stitch In Time
Whoopsi Daisy: Things With Wings


Thank you for stopping by today. Now it's your turn to create a project based on this week's theme: "Add A Doodle". For ideas and inspiration, take a peek at what the rest of the DT members have made. Remember to link up your project at the Tuesday Throwdown Challenge Blog by 3pm Pacific / 11pm UK on Monday, 18th May 2015. And the most important requirement: Have Fun!

Beijinhos!

Polka Doodles #19: Things With Wings

Oh my word!!! Can you believe it's time for a brand new show and tell over at Polka Doodles! The theme for the next fortnight is "Things With Wings". And that's your cue to go bird-crazy!

My crafting mojo has gone off to mountains and is determined to remain gone for the time being. But the Twiggy And Toots CD Digital Papercrafting Collection has everything I need to make a quick and easy birthday card. Am I fretting? Heck no! This collection has several adorable birdie images to choose from and loads of coordinating papers, embellishments and sentiments.

So, in keeping with the challenge theme, I picked two pre-coloured images (easy or what?!), fussy cut and put them together as a couple. 

Here is a close-up of the adorable couple. The details on this image is amazing! Nikky Hall has done it again! This really is top notch work, folks.

Challenges:
Sister Act Cards #105: AG Cards Only
Moving Along With The Times: Birds & Feathers
Southern Girls #110: Animal Crackers
Penny's Paper Crafty Challenge #226: AG
Creative Moments #67: AG + Optional Colour Twist

Supplies:

Now it's over to you, my friends. Create any project - card, tag, lay-out, box, bag, etc. You have until Noon (UK Time) on Friday, 22 May 2015, to link up your entries over at the Polka Doodles Challenge Blog. You don't have to use Polka Doodles products to enter, but if you have it, by all means, flaunt it! One randomly selected winner will receive a £5 Gift Voucher to spend on Ickyink Stamps from the Polka Doodles Digi Download Store. 

What better excuse to head straight to your craft room! Thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to see your projects. Have a warm and sunny crafty weekend, friends.

Beijinhos!

Chocolate Baroque: Ribbon & Lace

Good morning all! Chocolate Baroque has released new stamps for May and they are gorgeous. The theme haberdashery. New to me and I am LOVING it.  These unmounted rubber stamps come in 2 A5 sheets:

The Sewing Room

Floral Mannequins

Here are 2 card project ideas featuring these stamp sets. It's been over 4 decades since I had this much fun playing dress-up! Follow me into The Sewing Room and let's have fun with the Floral Mannequins.

My first card highlights the lovely dress-form from The Sewing Room A5 sheet. I was inspired by a wedding dress. I heat embossed the dress-form in black with WOW Ebony EP onto Carftwork Cards Pure Kraft 350gsm heavy weight card and fussy cut it. Then I ruffled up some sheer white ribbon and cream lace to "build" the under-skirt of a wedding dress. It's work in progress, not that the bride would walk down the aisle in something quite see-though... I hope! :)  The patterned papers are from Papermania's Capsule Collection Lincoln Linen 6x6 pad. The greeting is from Loving Sentiments A5 sheet.

I did fuss about making the skirt. Each layer is carefully wrapped around following the shape of the dress-form. I used Range Multi Media Matte to adhere down the ribbon and lace. The ribbon is from my stash but the cream lace is real vintage material from my friend Sandie of London Days.

Can you imagine the hustle and bustle in a real sewing room! For a touch of bridal glamour, I added Anita's 2mm clear bling to make a necklace, holding in place with a little Ranger Glossy Accents.

More lace on my second card, only this time I'm using stamps from the Floral Mannequins A5 sheet.  The background was created by stamping the lace fragment directly onto a piece of patterned paper from Basic Grey's Picadilly 6x6 pad with Memento Rich Cocoa ink followed by a little colouring with Faber Castell Polychromo pencils. The ruffled lace is also from the Floral Mannequins A5 sheet, but this time I heat embossed it with WOW Bright White EP onto Bazzil 40lb vellum and fussy cut it. Then I wrapped a piece of green ribbon around it and tied a simple knot. The greeting is from the Birthday Words A5 sheet stamped on a piece of the same patterned paper withMemento Rich Cocoa ink.

I coloured the mannequin with Graph'It alcohol markers, fussy cut and mounted it with some foam tape. Same deal withe the pin cushions and spools, minus the foam tape. I LOVE the vellum lace, so delicate and beautiful.

Challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: Let's Get Sentimental
Inspiration Destination #31: AG
The Paper Shelter #202: Lace
Sisterhood of Crafters: Monochromatic
Wonderful Wednesday: AG
Word Art Wednesday #182: AG / Family Friendly
Shopping Our Stash #200: Big Bold Beautiful
Retarte #46: AG

Supplies:

Thank you for stopping and playing dress-up with me. Back to the real world now! :) Have a lovely day, friends....the weekend is sooo near... almost here!

Beijinhos!

April Card Chain Challenge

Well hello, my friends! It's May already, can you believe it?! The days are passing by so fast...and for once I am not complaining. Ever since Rosie crossed over the Rainbow Bridge I have not been able to get into my crafting routine. I'm not feeling creative. Instead, I'm neglecting my blog, not doing enough visiting or commenting and I keep waking up at night because I can't hear the gentle rumble of Rosie's snore. So yes, I want the days to pass by quickly to help me not think or wallow too much. Life goes on, right?

Here I am taking a step in the right direction with my April Card Chain Challenge project. This girly number went to Mrs A in the UK. And I got a beautiful card from a sweet card from Greta in Oregon.

If you're new to the Card Chain Challenge gig, check out the CCC FAQs over at Debi's Society of Stampaholics. Basically we send out card a card a month and receive one in return from anywhere in the world. It's fun getting something other than bills in the mail. You should try it!

On to this month's CCC exchange. We were given a choice of Colour or Sketch or Theme (Cinco de Maio / Memories / Friendship) or Products (Dies). I picked Friendship and Dies for my card. The stamps and dies are by Clearly Besotted. The flowers and greeting are from the Fabulous Fuchsia set, cut out with coordinating flower and branch dies.  I inked the background with Tim Holtz's Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink and finished the project with 3 sequins.

Here's a close-up.  I'm having a go at CAS... again! Take a look at how I've used the dies: the branch is in-laid and the flowers are over-laid. Nothing new here but I was thrilled! To colour the flowers I used Promarkers and stamped the branch and leaves with VersaMagic Tea Leaves. For the sentiment I used Memento Espresso Truffle.

Challenges:
2 Crafty Girls #2: Colour Inspiration
Eureka Stamps #139: Feminine Cards
Stamplorations May Challenge: Stamps & Leaves
Make My Monday: Trees or Leaves
Perfectly Rustic #47: 3 of Something - sequins
Stamp & Create May: Flowers
The Shabby Tea Room: Photo Inspiration Pretty In Pink
Happy Little Stampers May CAS: Die Cuts / Punches

2 Crafty Girls

The Shabby Tea Room

Supplies:

That's all from me today. Thank you so much for stopping by and I wish y'all a crafty week. I'm going to force myself to get inky. Wish me luck!

Beijinhos!

CASE-ing Christmas #18: Mynn

I guess it's time to welcome you to another round of  CASE-ing Christmas - a weekly challenge devoted to creating  holiday cards all year long. Today we're starting Challenge #18.

Here's how you play along. Each week you'll be given you a card to CASE and ... you CASE it! It's as easy as that. If you've never CASEd a card before, here's how you do it:

• Look at the photo of the card to CASE; 
• Be inspired by some elements of the card - the colours, layout, image, embellishments, etc 
• Make a card based on that inspiration and link it up at CASE-ing Christmas Challenge Blog by Noon (Central) / 6pm (UK) on Thursday,  7th May 2015. 

And that's all there is to it. Our CASE card this week is this gorgeous creation by Mynn. Lots of ideas here and I can't wait to see how this project inspires you.

I pretty much stuck to Mynn's original card - colours, bird, dots, ribbon and tag. A shameless copy-cat, that's who I am! Somehow my card ended up a funny shade of Colman's English Mustard. I'm blaming my camera for it! 

For the dotty background I used Clearly Besotted Background Builder I and the tag is a die from Clearly Besotted's Tag Along set. The large scallop border is from their Scalloped Edges die set.  

Better get your shades on for the close-up. The bird is from Chocolate Baroque's Christmas Song. I added some red bling and Icing Sugar Card Candi to (unsuccessfully) tone down the blinding glare.

Challenges:
Crafty Ribbon Challenge #118: AG With Ribbon
Simon Says Stamp Monday: AG
Sparkles Forum Christmas #52: Tag You're It
CHNC Extra May: AG Christmas
Christmas Card Challenge #21: AG
CSAYL #45: Dots or Stripes

Products used in this project:

Now it's your turn to make a Christmas card by CASE-ing Mynn's creation. And if you played along last week, the Winners of Challenge #17 will be announced on Wednesday, 6th May 2015.

You'll find more ideas over at the DT's blogs: Mynn ... Donna ... Ellen ... Pat ... Steph.

Thanks for dropping by and Happy CASE-ing. I'm looking forward to seeing your take on Mynn's  card. Have a lovely May Day Friday, friends.

Beijinhos!

Polka Doodles #18: Anything But Square

Happy May Day, friends! It's inspiration week over at the Polka Doodles Challenge Blog and we are continuing our fortnightly theme of "Anything But Square".

Here's my a birthday card,made entirely from papers, images and embellishments from the Twiggy and Toots collection. Talk about a one-top shop!

Here's a closer took at the adorable owls.... cute or what?!

Just one more look at the sentiment ... I think it's beautiful. Dreams can come true at any age... we just have to believe.

Challenges:
4 Crafty Chick #244: Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday #181: AG Family Friendly
Aud Sentiments #130: Things With Wings + Sentiment
Cute Card Thursday #371: Use A Sentiment
Southern Girls #110: Get Wordy
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday: AG

Supplies:

Now it's over to you, my friends. Create any project - card, tag, lay-out, box, bag, etc - as long as it's Anything But Square. You have until Noon (UK Time) on Friday, 8 May 2015, to link up your entries over at the Polka Doodles Challenge Blog. You don't have to use Polka Doodles products to enter, but if you have it, by all means, flaunt it! One randomly selected winner will receive a generous gift of £7.50 / US$10 to spend in the Polka Doodles Digi Store. Now that's a prize draw you don't want to miss.

And before I sign off.... don't forget to check out this fabulous new release: Work & Play #11, continuing Polka Doodles' playful take on everyday work. Definitely worth adding to your Work & Play Collection.

Have a crafty May Day weekend, y'all!

Beijinhos.