PTI March Blog Hop

Sequins.

They're not really my favorite.

But, they are super popular right now. They are also the subject for this month's PTI Blog Hop. I found some cute ones by Martha Stewart at TJ Maxx that perfectly matched Aqua Mist and Hawaiian Shores. They were in the shape of little stars, and I thought they were pretty cute.

A friend of ours is having a birthday party for their son, who is turning three. I thought the stars would be super cute (and appropriate) to accompany a 3 year old boy's birthday gift.

I used my new Birthday Style set from PTI... I just LOVE that little banner at the top. I think this card could be easily adapted to a girly color scheme for a little girl's birthday. (Not that I have any friends with little girls!!!)

I thought the star sequins were super cute, considering the starred exclamation point at the end of "birthday!" I didn't care much for the hole in the center, which would normally be used to adhere the sequins to fabric, so I covered them with some stickles. I intended to cover them with some gems, but I couldn't find any that were small enough.

Thanks for dropping by! I can't wait to see the rest of the entries for the blog hop.

Supplies used:
Card Stock: PTI White, Hawaiian Shores
Stamps: PTI Birthday Style, Stylish Sentiments: Birthday
Ink: PTI Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores, Aqua Mist; CTMH Slate; Versamark Watermark
Dies: PTI Birthday Style; Spellbinders Matting Basics
Miscellaneous: Clear Filigree Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Sequins, Stickles

Pretty in Purple... and some news!!

One of my closest friend's favorite colors is purple. She's told me that if she ever has a baby girl, she'll paint her room purple. Well, her birthday isn't for another couple of months, but I was in a crafty mood this week and decided to get a jump on her birthday card.

It gave me a chance to use a set that I won from Wplus9... Embroidered Bouquet. I sold my Stitches and Swirls set from PTI (stupid me!), so winning this made me really happy.

 I did a new technique with some of my seam binding: I used a Copic to dye it. (I can't remember if I mentioned this before?) I needed some ribbon that was a bit lighter than my Fine Linen ribbon, and so I colored on some white seam binding with my E42 Copic. I really like how it turned out!

I hope she likes this card! I personally love the sentiment inside... she has come to be such an incredible friend to me, helping me deal with some sucky stuff, and so I thought this sentiment from Stylish Sentiments: Birthday was very appropriate.

I just realized that I forgot to make a coordinating envelope, so I'll have to get on that soon.

Now, for some exciting news!!

For the first time, I submitted a couple of projects to the Papercrafts Magazine call for the September issue coming out this year, and GUESS WHAT?!!?!?!!? One of them was chosen! I am so excited... I may or may not have squealed a bit when I got the email. I'm not allowed to publish my project on my blog until after the magazine comes out, but I do have a reject to write about, which I will do in a couple of days.

Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing in my good news!!!

Supplies used:
Stamps: Wplus9 Embroidered Bouquet; PTI Stylish Sentiments: Birthday
Dies: Lifestyle Crafts doily; Wplus9 Label Layers 3
Card stock: PTI-Vintage Cream, Winter Wisteria
Ink: PTI Fine Linen, Winter Wisteria, Tea Dye Duo
Miscellaneous: Seam binding (Flourishes), Winter Wisteria button (PTI), jute twine, Bisque Liquid Pearls

I was an 18th Century Colonial in a Past Life...

tookSometimes, I really think that I was an 18th century colonial in a past life. Or a wealthy 19th century heiress, circa Jane Austen. There is something so incredibly charming about their clothes, manners, dinner parties, gardening, sewing, etc. I think I'd be in heaven. Except for chamber pots. And only being able to bathe once a week. And being blind. (I have terrible eyesight.)

One of the things I love most about 18th century fashions is the use of toile.... you know, that gorgeous print in a single color on a solid background, that includes incredibly detailed little vignettes of people having picnics, pastoral scenes, women chatting, etc. If I could, I'd have a blue and white living room with a white and cobalt toile couch and beautiful Delft pottery on the mantle. I was inspired by this cake from Pinterest.

Here's my take on it:

I love the subtlety of the pale blue-y aqua of the Sea Glass card stock from Avery Elle in conjunction with the bright white embossing powder. I've been in a CAS mood lately, which is definitely a switch from my recent obsession with shabby chic. Some white pigment ink swiped around the edges of the Photo Finishers die cut and the edge of my embossed panel highlights them nicely, I think. I thought about making a set of these, but this single card took what felt like FOR-EVER. I could probably streamline it a bit more if I were making, say, 8 of them to put in my Etsy shop. What do you think?

Thanks for visiting!!! I'd love it if you became a follower!

Supplies used:
Cardstock- Avery Elle Sea Glass
Stamps- Waltzingmouse Stamps Vintage Garden-Flowers; PTI Everyday Photo Finishers
Dies- Spellbinders Matting Basics; PTI Photo Finishers
Versamark Watermark Ink, White Filigree Embossing Powder, PTI Fresh Snow ink

Flowers and Babies and Lace...

Hi there!! This is my gift for the baby of our good friends, the ones for whom I made the Ellie banner! I wanted to make some personalized wall decor for her new nursery, and this is what I came up with:S

Sorry about the glare... it's quite a  challenge to photograph the glass in frames! Plus, it was super bright out that day, so our windows were basically glowing.

I used a variety of Cricut cartridges, including Font Envy, Art Nouveau, and Elegant Cakes. I outlined the silver letters with a pink Copic (I don't remember which color) to make them stand out a bit more, though I think it just mottled the letters a little bit. (Boo!) I used a variety of pinks, some lacy trim from Hobby Lobby, silver matboard, shimmery white cardstock, Stickles, Liquid Pearls, etc. The frame is 16x20, so it's plenty big! I tried to make it coordinate as well as possible with her "Ellie" banner, and I think (hope!) the momma liked it as much as I did!
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Baby Banner Love...

So, it seems like everybody that I've ever known in my entire life is having or has recently had a baby.

Seriously, everybody.

And it seems like nearly everybody that I know (or at least, everybody for whom I would make gifts/crafts) has had boys.

BOYS!

If you've been to my blog previously, you know that feminine, frilly, lacy, flowery, sparkly... those are my favorite. (I just heard Buddy the Elf say "smiling's my favorite" in my head. Teehee!)

FINALLY- one of our friends decided to have a girl!! (like there's much choice in the matter, right?) And they picked out the cah-yutest name for her: Elizabeth Leigh, to be nicknamed Ellie. Isn't that just darling?! And her nursery is going to be one of my favorite color combos-pale pink, white, and gray. Momma specifically requested one of my banners to be used at the shower, then to be added to the nursery decor after Ellie is born. Her stipulations: shabby chic, polka dots, the color scheme, and some chevron. Other than that, her response was "I trust your judgment." Yay!!! Free reign, and as girly and flowery as I can make it! Goody gumdrops!!

Here's what I came up with:

The frames are cut from the Cricut Fancy Frames cartridge, which is my absolute favorite cartridge to use for banners, other than Pretty Pennants. (None of those pennants lent themselves well to "shabby chic.")

 I combined her "polka dot" request with my love of roses. I used the MFT Royal Rose dies in various sizes to fulfill that requirement. I just LOVE how realistic they look! My Cricut can never cut tiny roses well, and they don't have the scalloped edges on each individual scallop, which I think helps to make them even more realistic. 

 The letters were cut with the new Cricut Letter Envy cartridge. I thought that font just screamed "shabby chic." (It will come back in another post when I showcase the baby gift!!) I used Elegant Cakes to cut the little floral garland at the top of each frame, which I thought could have been mistaken for that pretty shabby-chic molding that you find on resin frames and things from the Melissa Frances website. 

 Now, the rosettes on either end are one of my most favorite elements of the banner. I usually use styrofoam balls (cut in half) to make hydrangeas with stick pins. This time, I wanted more of a full bouquet look rather than the somewhat flat-looking hydrangeas-surrounded-by-roses look that I've done on previous banners. I ended up cutting a few dozen roses in various sizes with PTI's Bitty Dot patterned paper in Raspberry Fizz, Hibiscus Burst, and Sweet Blush. I cut several daisies out of white shimmer card stock from the Flower Shoppe cartridge and attached them with some cosmetic foam to add dimension. I punched some hydrangeas out of pink shimmer vellum from Hobby Lobby and attached them with yellow stick pins. I think the combination of all of these flowers creates a really pretty and full "bouquet." I put some lace trim from Hobby Lobby in pleats around the bottom of each bouquet. A gray and white chevron bow with a button finished them off.

Banners are one of my absolute favorite things to make, especially GIRL banners (yippy skippy!). I hope you've enjoyed reading my book of instructions on how to make these. (Sorry about that!) This banner took me about 10 hours to make, between all of the die-cutting, rose-rolling, Cricut cutting, bouquet-making, and paper-gluing... Time well spent, though, in my opinion! Everybody at the shower just loved it, and the momma is super excited to have it hang in little Ellie's nursery!

I will be back tomorrow with another post to show the baby gift that I made for her. If you've made it this far, thanks for dropping by!!

TTFN~ 

Emily