Snowy Tree Card Video

Here is my first YouTube video!!! I'm so excited having wanted to do this for a long time. 






This card is much prettier in person.  The colors tend to wash out when photographed. To get even more impact, use a darkers shade of green. ( I orginally made a card very similar to this last year for a color challenge and that is where I got started using the Mellow Moss, but then I really like the soft look.)

Thanks for visiting. Feedback on the video would be greatly appreciated.

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Lovely as a Tree and Home for Christmas by Stampin' UP!
Ink:  Whisper White, Mellow Moss, Soft Suede
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake (kraft)
DSP:  Stampin' Up!
Ribbon:  from Stamper's Alley in Mooresville

Vote for Operation Write Home

Last week I was nagging readers to vote in the mid-term election.  This week, I'm asking you to vote in an Internet election that is very easy.  You don't even have to leave your chair to cast a vote for the Operation Write Home charity.

JoAnn Fabrics is hosting a contest where whichever charity gets the most votes receives $50,000 to use for their good works.  Here is the link to vote:
http://www.joann.com/joann/common/content_noleftnav.jsp?catName=craftForaCause

What is Operation Write Home? 
Operation Write Home (OWH) sends boxes of hand crafted greeting cards to military personnel overseas who then select cards to send to their family and friends at home.  Think about it like this: There is no Hallmark store in the Afghan mountains or the Iraqi dessert. 

OWH only sends hand crafted cards that are donated by cardmakers from all over the country.  I started sending them cards early this year and have sent about 200 so far.  I love to make cards and make more than I send personally.  It is always wonderful for any of us to receive personal mail - a birthday card, a thinking of you card just out of the blue, etc.  But what about those who have loved ones in the line of duty?  Wouldn't they appreciate even more having something with a handwritten note from their husband, wife, father, son, grandchild?  When I pack up a box of these cards, I imagine how much they mean to those serving in these often desolate locales to see a bright pretty card and how much the card and its sentiment will mean to its ultimate recipient.

How does OWH work?
Cardmakers send their completed cards to one of three shippers in the US.  The closest shipper to me happens to live in Charlotte.  The shippers then sort the cards, add envelopes, and repack boxes of cards to go to units overseas each week. 

As far as I know, OWH is staffed only by volunteers.  The shippers are volunteers.  OWH costs are postage and envelopes.  Yet those costs can add up significantly.  A couple of weeks ago, they sent out 104 boxes across the world at a cost of $1500.  Do that every week and it really adds up. 

Winning the contest from JoAnn's fabrics would be a huge help to the OWH cause.  For more info on OWH visit them at http://www.operationwritehome.org/.

Now the competition for this prize are Project Linus and the American Cancer Society, both very worthwhile charities, too.  Project Linus collects handmade quilts for children in need. I've done a couple of those.  (If you are in my area and quilt, I'd be happy to put you in touch with the coordinator for our area.) 

The card above is one of the last I made before OWH Christmas deadline.  I used Stampin' Up! Season of Friendship set and cut Noel using the Storybook Cartridge on the Cricut.
I hope you will take a moment and vote at JoAnn Fabrics.  It just takes a second.  You can vote as often as once per day until December 4.  http://www.joann.com/joann/common/content_noleftnav.jsp?catName=craftForaCause

Thanks so much!

DSP Day - Strips

More and more designer paper packs are coming with a sheet of borders.  These strips of pattern in varying sizes are great for scrapbook borders. For cardmakers, we can cut them up and use them all kinds of ways.  One of the most straight forward is to create a card of strips.  I've mixed in strips from this paper from Stampin' Up! with some stamped images and another designer paper in the series.  Stitching lines are added for interest.

The row of stamped snowflakes is made with one of the techinques from Jennifer McGuire's Thinking Inking series at Two Peas in a Bucket.  The technique is to apply acrylic paint to a stamp and then sponge away part of it leaving a streaked appearance to the paint when stamping. 

The cool colors and theme of this card match the weather here in NC today.  As the weatherman said last night, it is more like January than November.  Brrr! 

I'm off to stamp club this morning.  Joining friends to make cards will no doubt warm up this cold day.

Hope you have a great weekend!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Cute Christmas and Suitable for Framing by Stampin' Up!
Ink:  Staz-on black and various markers
Cardstock:  Blushing Bride
DSP:  Candy Cane Christmas by Stampin' Up!

Fabric Miracle

It's a miracle!  Ok, not really, but it is a record.   I bought fabric to make something for our house and completed the project within the first month! 

This is amazing because usually, ok always, the project is conceived, the fabric is purchased and then it sits - for months, sometimes years!  I think the average is something like 2 years between purchase and my actually making something for myself.  I have some drapery fabric for the dining room that I know I've had a good 4 years.  It's gorgeous fabric but no one can see that all rolled up. 

Anway, when we went on vacation, we shopped in the lovely town of Healdburg, CA. All the shops around the town square were upper end, I'd say, and I was amazed to come to a fabric store!  We don't have many fabric stores at all and certainly not on the town square.  I oohed and aahed over everything.  Fabrications, the store's name, had very high end quilt fabrics and I was especially delighted to find some in weights suitable for table linens.  (yes, I know you have to be a fabric junkie to get excited about that.)

And so I just had to buy some of these beautiful fabrics for a table cloth and napkins.  We are already enjoying them because I promised myself these would not sit and wait on me to get to making something for myself.

I'd purchased a cookbook that day and along with these fabrics were the momentos I brought home from our trip.  Very suitable since we spent so much time eatting wonderful food in Sonoma County.  I've made a couple of recipes and then got derailed when the stove died.  It is finally fixed.  Yippee!  I'll have to pull out the cookbook and see what I was planning to try next.  For now, I'm just happy to boil water.

Happy Friday!  What will you do with your extra hour this weekend?

Blogger's Fall Quilt Festival - Sample Book Quilt

It's time for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Here's my entry, check the link at the end of the post for more.

When I was a little girl, I loved it when samples were discontinued.  My parents owned and operated a retail business selling carpet, wall paper and draperies.  Imagine all the fun materials I got to play with with sample books and drapery samples were dropped.  I used to make my own Barbie doll houses - more functional than intricate - and all kinds of fun experiments.

For the first few years of my own window treatment business I would give away discontinued sample books. After I saturated the local school and community college design program with books, I decided to keep some of them for myself.  Some of these books had such beautiful fabrics, many that I had not sold but had always wanted to work with.  So finally, I started tearing the books apart and using the samples.  This quilt is one of my first creations with discontinued fabric samples.

I just loved the colors in many of these fabrics yet the rose, corals and yellows were often too feminine for clients to use a lot of in their homes so I never got to work with them when they were current.  To make this quilt, I raided every discontinued book I had at the time to get enough.  I had to buy just a little fabric to finish it out. 

I started trying to construct blocks but eventually just filled in the blanks as best I could. The patterns were already cropped from the sample book so I didn't want to lose more fabric making a specific size block.

Contrary to what I've told customers all these years, you can wash decorator fabrics.  I still don't advise it when it comes to window treatments because the fabric and lining will shrink different amount leaving an undesirable result.  The finish also washes off the fabric leaving too 'soft' a look for a valance yet it is perfect for a quilt.  These types of fabrics are a bit heavy so I used the lightest weight batting in the quilt.  Also, I tied rather than tried to machine quilt all that bulk.  We use this quilt in the winter months and I still love looking at all these pretty patterns particularly these pretty toiles which are now so rare in new samples.

Making a quilt with these samples means a lot of hand prewashing and tons of ironing. But the benefits are free fabric (since the books were free to begin with or paid for anyway long ago) and every fabric is unique!  Since I did this one about two years ago, I did another last year in black, brown and beige tones for my parents.  I continue to save dropped books and every now and then get the notion to plow through them hunting up pretty patterns.  As fewer and fewer chintz are being made, less of these opportunities will arise so I'll keep holding onto books and storing up ideas for future projects. 

Check out the other entries for the 2010 Fall Quilt Festival at Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2010.  Thanks to Amy for putting together this great event.

TIPsy Tuesday - 4 Steps to great leaves

For today's color challenge at Splitcoaststampers, Mary asked us to use Cajun Craze, Peach Parfait, and Early Espresso - all new to the Stampin' Up! palette.  As new colors, I still don't have all the inks and papers.  I don't have anything in Cajun Craze so I had to use Dusty Durango but I darkened it with watercolor and embossing powder so I hope it will pass :-)  These colors go beautifully together for fall.  I threw in just a touch of kraft (now Crumb Cake) for my neutral to balance the chipboard.

To create the leaves:

1. Cut leaves with a paper cutting system.  I used the Cricut.  You could also trim some out by hand.
2. Score the main veins.  I used my bone folder and a ruler.  This makes the most difference in making them look real.
3. Add some color depth in the vein lines with watercolor crayons in slightly darker shades and a blender pen.
4. Coat each leaf with Versamark, dip in clear embossing powder and heat.  Be sure to use your tweezors!  I edged the lighter Peach Parfait one with a little Early Espresso marker.  You could distress the edges too with some Ranger ink.

Hope you have had a happy day!  I'm so thankful to have card making as a hobby.  I think this may have been the only constructive thing I got done today besides voting.  The repairman came but my stove still needs more parts. We are now on day 15 of no stove... and counting.  I'm to pick up the latest part tomorrow.   We'll see...

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Woodgrain by Hero Arts; Define Your Life by Stampin' Up!

Cardstock:  Early Espresso, Dusty Durango, Peach Parfait

Ink:  Versamark, Early Espresso marker; various watercolor crayons

Embroidery Floss:  DMC

Vote!

November.  I don't know about you but I'm thankful to have Halloween behind us.  I love all these scrapbooking product and technique videos, but I'm really sick of little monster papers and Halloween color schemes.  I'm ready for some holly, jolly Christmas!

Another thing I think we all want behind is is the mid-term election. Haven't we had our fill of TV ads (many of which don't even say what party the candidate is in - apparently no one wants to be affiliated with anyone this year.)  And my mailbox and trash can are filled to the brim with political ads, too. 

Despite the over exposure of many candidates, they do remind us of our opportunity to vote.  I'm a huge voting advocate.  If you are eligible, vote!   Remember, that there are people all over the world fighting and dying for the opportunity of walking into a voting booth without hassle and casting their ballot.

It is a privilege.  Honor those who gave you that opportunity.  Vote.

Poinsetta on Painted Card

Here is another card I did from the http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/ Holiday Thinking Inking video series.  There should be another video up today.  I wonderful what fun things we will have to try out this week!

To create the poinsetta, I cut the petals from Cherry Cobbler cardstock using the Cricut and Saru's Flower dingbat font downloaded from dafont.com.  I stamped over each petal with a leaf stamp in another shade of red ink to give a little more dimension.  Then I coated each leaf with Versamark and embossed in clear embossing powder. 

I thought the leaves might curl on their own with all this handling but didn't so I curled them a little.  I would do a little more curling next time.

Thanks for visiting today!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  leaf background from Hero Arts; All Holidays for greeting from Stampin' Up!
Ink:  Versamark; Peeled Paint, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo from Ranger;  Riding Hood Red from Stampin' Up!; Staz-on black
Ribbon and gems from Hobby Lobby
Cardstock:  Cherry Cobbler