Vintage Paris!

I've really been enjoying this week's focus on May Arts and Our Craft Lounge!  One of the things that has been fun about it is the variety!  The ribbons and fibers the generous folks at May Arts shared with me ranged from cutesie, happy polka-dots to rustic jute, elegant velvet, organza, and tinsel.  This gorgeous lace and rich velvet combo is one of my favorites!

Do you have stuff that just sits in your stash for ages, waiting and waiting for the right moment?  I have had these swirly Prima pearls for a really long time, and finally found the perfect occasion to use them.  They brought forth the old world elegance that I was hoping for with this lovely vintage image of the Eiffel Tower from OCL's Vintage Traveler.  I have only been to Europe once, and am grateful to say that this was one of our stops!  Sooooo romantic!  :)

The background print from Basic Grey's Oxford designer paper pad is reminiscent of a beautiful brocade traveler's bag.  I used Memento Rich Cocoa ink to stamp some other images from Vintage Traveler collage-style onto a layer of card stock, then tea-dye inked and distressed everything, machine stitching  the background layer to draw the eye to its worn, frayed edges.

The blossom accent is actually from May Arts' beautiful chiffon wedding floral ribbon with wired edges...I snipped the stitching to remove the flower and replaced its single pearl center with a cluster of pearls to match my pretty Prima pearl swirly.  A few strategically placed mini-glue-dots helped shape the petals into something resembling a dogwood blossom.

I really love how simple and yet elegant this card turned out!

Notes:
Our Craft Lounge Vintage Traveler
Memento Rich Cocoa ink
Ranger tea-dye distress ink
Basic Grey Oxford designer paper
Prima e. pearl embellishments
May Arts velvet lace
May Arts wired floral chiffon ribbon

Once again, remember to visit the Lounge and the May Arts blog for more inspiration and details on entering for a prize!  (My apologies to those of you who are having trouble leaving comments on my blog.  Blogger seems to be intermittently having trouble, and I'm not sure what the solution is!  Some have suggested logging out and commenting anonymously, leaving your name/email within your comment, although even this workaround seems not to be consistently working!)


And remember, we have one more day!  I hope to see you again tomorrow!

Hello stampers! Happy Monday! As you read this post, I am in Pensacola at Copic Marker Certification! I'm so excited to get to see my friends Faith, Pinky and Theresa again, and to meet Dee, Bev, and lots of other stampers! I'm sure we'll be having a blast together!

I am thrilled to show you my very first design for 2RedBananas! Wait til you see all the fabulous sets in this month's release! I'm glad they told me which set they wanted me to preview first...otherwise I would have had a terrible time deciding! You gotta visit what's new at 2 Red Bananas to check them all out!

This beautiful image is from a set called Wrapped in His Love (#3903) which was illustrated by my friend, Jami Bova. When I first saw it I knew I wanted to make a sort of shabby chic old-fashioned card...I hope you like how it turned out! I used markers directly to the stamp to color the flowers, leaves, and branches, stamped the sentiment, and then applied several layers of clear embossing powder over the entire thing. A few minutes in the freezer and a little twisting/bending and it cracks for a nice crackled enamel look. I used October Afternoon's Rain Boots designer papers, a scrap of old crocheted trim laced with crinkle ribbon, and a bow-trimmed prima to embellish. Everything was heavily distressed to give it that age-yellowed, vintage look.

One thing I did accomplish this week was to stamp my card for Spellbinders' final...please whisper a prayer for me and wish me luck! Wednesday is the day the finalists will be invited to join the 2009 Design Team. I'm hoping I'll be one of those to receive a phone call! I'm cheering for Karen and Kelly too!

I'm also excited to tell you that the card workshop that we held Saturday morning at our church was a genuine success! Finally what I've been hoping for and dreaming of (for over a year!) has become a reality! Six women gathered to stamp together, address envelopes and pray over our creations. We made 64 cards in just under 3 hours! Of course, by most card-makers' standards they were very simple, but we were extremely excited over what we accomplished and are filled with eager anticipation to hear the response of the recipients when those first cards hit their mailboxes!

Pearly Medallion

I missed the TLC challenge last week when Becca's fabulous circle medallions were featured, so I thought I would give those a whirl along with today's ways to use it challenge for pearls. I really love vintage things, and decided that this paper and lace would go well, and so this is what I ended up with. The medallion is definitely not perfect and I could use some practice, but I am pleased with the overall result. This would make a nice thinking of you card, or even a sympathy card, which I find very difficult to make.

I'm looking forward to seeing some new rubber today! Can't wait for it to arrive! In the meantime, I need to be cleaning my house and beginning my Thanksgiving grocery list! I LOVE this season!

Blog candy is still available so check below and at all my other i {heart} papers DT members' blogs. Three of us still have different prizes available, so don't miss it!

Blessings to you and yours!