Fly Me to the Moon...

Let me play among the stars. Let me see what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars. Now that you have one of my favorite songs stuck in your head, I'll let you in on a little something about myself. I simply LOVE music from Frank Sinatra! I've been a big fan since I was a little girl. I LOVE Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. too! The sentiment was reason enough to grab this new TCP set, but I LOVE the bunny in the hot air balloon too! How fun! You can find this set from The Cat's Pajamas right here. The TCP Tuesday Challenge this week is to watercolor. It has been quite a while since I've done that, but I thought that I'd give it a whirl! I used Creamy Caramel and Pixie Pink ink on the bunny and the balloon's basket is watercolored with Chocolate Chip. The little presents and strings on the balloon basket are rather tiny, so I used Copic Markers (BG11, C1, YR21) to color them in. All of the patterned papers are from the Fly A Kite collection from October Afternoon. I also used some Papertrey Ink Kraft card stock and some machine stitching. For the clouds, I used the new TCP Cloud Border CutUps. I simply cut the clouds apart after I ran them through the Cuttlebug with some white felt. The My Favorite Things Jumbo Ric Rac Die-namics was used on the bottom of the card with a button accent that I made with the TCP Flower Buttons CutUps and some Lemon Divine Twine.

The weather has been beautiful here in New England. I hope that you have had a wonderful weekend! Thanks so much for visiting with me...Toodles! :D

Blogger's Challenge Sketch!

Happy Friday Friends! I'm sorry that my posts have been so sporatic lately. My summer cold kicked me to the curb!! I have a lot of commenting to catch up on, but I'm feeling so much better. I can't wait to see what everyone has been up to lately!

Today's card is for this week's Blogger's Challenge. Lisa gave us this fantastic sketch to work with. Of course, I had to change the panels around...lol! When I stamped my sentiment the first time, it turned out terribly, so I flipped things around to hide my mistake. If you'd like to play along with the sketch, you can find all of the details here.

I picked up this new Inky Antics set at Right at Home Scrapbooking store last night. I was there for Joanne Basile's My Favorite Things class and I treated myself to a couple of the new TCP CutUps, this new IA set, and a few new Copic Markers. This sweet little bird is colored up with BG10, BG53, E23, R27, R29, R59, YR16, YR30, and the Colorless Blender. The blue background paper is from The Girls' Paperie and the red polka dotted paper is from Memory Box. I used Papertrey Ink Kraft as well. The circles were made with the Classic Circle and Lacey Circle Nesties. I finished things off with a pearl flourish and some machine stitching.

Thanks so much for stopping by for a visit. Have a beautiful weekend! Until next time...Toodles! :D

Sewing Tutorial for Right at Home Scrapbooking!

Happy Monday Friends! I hope that you are doing well and enjoying a beautiful summer. The Right at Home Scrapbooking Design Team members are taking turns each month and providing crafty tutorials. This month, it's my turn. While I am certainly not a sewing expert, I LOVE to sew on my cards. Here are a few tips if you'd like to give sewing on paper a try. I find that a zig zag stitch is the most forgiving so that is what I'm going to show today. I start off by lining up the piece of paper that I want to stitch over with the middle opening of the presser foot of the sewing machine.


After I have sewed down the side of the piece and I reach the corner, I stop the needle on the right side of the zig zag.


Then I raise the needle by turning the sewing machine wheel.


With the needle raised, I lift the presser foot and turn the paper. Next, I line the paper's edge up with the middle of the presser foot and then lower the presser foot so that I can continue sewing.


This is how the corner will turn out.


After I have sewed on all four sides of the piece, I end up back where I began. This is where I end up with the string octopus...lol! Some strings come from behind the piece, and some come from front of the piece. They are not so cute or so pretty...lol!


I keep this handy dandy tool (needle threader) right on top of my sewing machine. It is perfect for taking care of all of the left over strings.


Coming from the back of the piece, I push the needle threader through one of the sewing holes.


Whatever strings are remaining on the front of the piece, I put through the eye of the needle threader and then pull them to the back where I can tie them all together.


Now all four corners look nice and neat like this!


Here is a shot of all of the strings tied together on the back layer. I use a piece of scotch tape to hold them down. (I learned that little trick from Jody Morrow's blog.)


Now I have a layer with zig zag stitches on all four sides.

Thanks so much for visiting with me. You'll be able to see what I create with this layer a little later on this month. Until then...Toodles! :D

Well, Hello!

Happy 4th of July! I was happy to squeeze in a little bit of stamping time this afternoon and create a card for this week's sketch from The Cat's Pajamas. You can find the sketch and all of the details right here on Alma's blog. This time around, I pulled out this sweet bunny from the TCP Joyride set and colored him up with Copic Markers (C0, C1, C3, C5, C7, E31, E33, R27, R29, Y11, Y21, Y35 and the Colorless Blender.) All of the patterned papers are from the Thrift Shop collection from October Afternoon. I added some faux stitching to the sentiment (it is from the TCP Field of Pinwheels set) and some wide grosgrain ribbon for the vertical piece. Thanks so much for visiting with me! Enjoy the rest of your evening...Toodles! :D

All Rolled Into One!!

Happy Sunday Friends! Yesterday, I was telling you all that I've been away and I've missed some of my favorite challenges. So today, in between coughing and taking care of my runny nose, I decided to roll a few of my favorite challenges into one card. This past Friday's Blogger's Challenge was to use red, white, and blue (I went with aqua blue on this one) and the week before that, the BC challenge was "winged things." I thought that this MFT Pure Innocence cutie would work perfectly. To play along with this week's Blogger's Challenge, just click here. My image is colored up with Copic Markers (BG000, BG11, BG32, E000, E00, E01, E25, E29, R27, R29, R59, and the Colorless Blender) and layered with the Classic Circle and Lacey Circle Nesties. I used this week's sketch from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club. I turned the sketch to go along with my sweet MFT Ladybug girl. Just click here if you'd like to play along too. All of the patterned papers are from October Afternoon and I used Papertrey Ink's Pure Poppy card stock. My other accents include some crocheted lace, a strip of PTI Aqua Mist ribbon, and a PTI Aqua Mist button. I also used my Janome Sew Mini on some of the layers. Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with a creation for the challenge from The Cat's Pajamas. Thank you for visiting with me...Toodles! :D

We've Been On Holiday!!

Hello Friends! Can you guess why I haven't been around lately? My family and I have just returned from Disney World! We had a spectacular time! That is why I haven't been posting anything crafty for awhile. Between finishing school and getting everything ready for our trip, I haven't had any extra time, and now I'm sick with a summer cold...ugh! I've missed being a part of all of my favorite weekly challenges. I am hoping that I feel better tomorrow and can squeeze in some card making time. To my fellow Americans, have a very Happy Independence Day, and I hope that my Canadian friends had a Happy Canada Day! Thanks so much for dropping by for a visit! I'll be back soon...Toodles! :D

Cheers!

Hello Friends! It's another beautiful day here in New England! I hope that it is lovely in your neck of the woods. My card today is for the sketch challenge from the My Favorite Things Wednesday Stamp Club. I turned the sketch and made a card for one of my co-workers. I used the Cheers a' la modes from MFT. She is colored up with Copic Markers (BG000, C7, C9, E000, E00, R30, E40, Y32, YR21, and YR24.) Her glass of bubbly is accented with Star Dust Stickles. I used So Saffron and Basic Black card stock and the patterned papers are from the Circa 1934 collection from Cosmo Cricket. My other accents include the MFT Die-namics Decorative Doily Duo (out of stock at the moment), the MFT Simply Scallops Die-namics with a few rhinestones, and the MFT Pretty Posies Die-namics with a Papertrey Ink button and some craft thread. The sentiment was made on the computer to personalize the card. Thanks so much for visiting with me today! Enjoy the rest of your evening...Toodles! :D

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Sunday Friends! It is a beautiful day here in New England! Mother Nature really gave all of the Dads out there a very Happy Father's Day! I hope that you are having a lovely day too. I used this week's TCP Tuesday challenge for the colors for DH's Father's Day card (Yes, he is manly enough to handle Cotton Candy pink on his card...lol!) Here's a peek at the colors...

And here is what I came up with. I am having a love affair with Big Bear lately and he works perfectly with Jen's Sketch For You To Try. The only Copic Markers that I used today are C3 and the Colorless Blender. The red polka dotted paper and the aqua print in the circle are from Papertrey Ink. I also used their Pure Poppy and Aqua Mist card stock. The pink patterned paper is from Melissa Frances. The large doily was made with MFT's Dainty Doily Die-namics Die and the buttons were created with the TCP Buttons CutUps and some of their Divine Twine.

Thanks so much for visiting with me today! Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and until next time...Toodles! :D

A Special My Favorite Things Sketch!

Hello Friends! My Favorite Things is the sponsor for this week's sketch over at Card Positioning Systems. My co-worker needs a card for her niece's recent graduation. I loved all of the panels in the sketch and thought that this Pure Innocence girl would work perfectly. She is colored up with Copic Markers (BG000, C3, E000, E00, E01, E11, E25, E29, E40, RV10, R27, R29, R59, R83, R85, YR2O and the Colorless Blender.) I layered many different reds to get the shading and color just right. I embossed the white panels with my Cuttlebug and then I added a few pearl accents. The organdy ribbon is from Michaels. Thanks so much for visiting with me. I'll be back tomorrow with another Father's Day card. Hope that you are enjoying your weekend...Toodles! :D