Welcome New Followers, a Birthday Tag and a PARTY! Die Cut Dreams Challenge #80

View from my kitchen

Brrrr......baby it's cold outside! Hope everyone is staying warm and cozy today. It was a snowy one here in the Hudson Valley.
Very pretty but not nice if you had to drive in it! I took advantage and worked on a few things that I have been putting off for awhile. Great excuse to sit back and be creative. Did you hear we can also PARTY?? Enfy from Going Buggy is having a party and a challenge for some GREAT CANDY!! So my B-day card tag is going to visit her blog as well! Hey Enfy....you did say Butterflies are "bugs" for this one! Join in the fun!
 I want  to welcome my new followers and thank those from Flaunt it Fridays who visited and left such nice comments on my Hello Kitty card. They didn't even scrutinize me for not following directions ( duh....that was a cupcake Kath not a plane!) and for that I am grateful. Sorry ladies I'm real new at this!(Can't read either obviously!) I was thrilled to see all of the sweet comments !

I have sat on the sidelines for months loving all of the Vintage Tags I have been seeing out there, I just adore them. So I decided to be brave and try one today. Actually I made one a few days ago but it was a bit drab and I wanted to use it as a Birthday card. So..if at first you don't succeed, isn't that what they say? So I tried again and I am happy I did!  The tag was cut from Tags,Bags & More (7 X 3.24) I used Kraft paper for the base and gorgeous papers  from K & Company for the layers. I used water distressing on the edges of the  papers. This is the very first time I used this technique. I love the vintage look it gives the over all appearance of the papers and tag. I used a MS punch for the butterflies and heat embossed them 3 times with clear embossing powder.  The pink was sprinkled with MS glitter. The key and heart charms were out of my stash. I do not know the brand however they were bought at Michaels on the clearance isle of course! The stick pin is one of the very first I made. Again the sentiment was from a set of stamps I purchased at Michaels but it had been out of it's packaging for sometime..long before I began blogging so I have no idea of the manufacturer. That is one of my favorite sentiments!
The lace border is Wrights brand "Pearls on Beading". Pretty isn't it? I coated the entire card, front and back with Modge Podge to give it some substance. As you can see in the picture I was impatient and took the picture before it was thoroughly dried. Patience is not one of my strong points!
I used my Helmar Tape Runner on this project and I have to tell you that I was really impressed. It glides easily across the paper and I was able to manipulate it around the scallops without a problem. I had no issues with the adhesive balling up as I have with other runners. I really love it! I can't find it in the stores yet but you can find it online. Follow the link for a list of retailers. 
So there you have it. Sure hope the recipient likes it! Lots of TLC went into this one!
Stay warm dear friends!
I getting braver peeps. I've entered this tag in yet another challenge-Die Cut Dreams . Check 'em out!
Happy Crafting!
Kathie

Another Victorian Christmas with a Birthday Card thrown in!

It sure is a damp and dreary day in my neck of the woods. Great excuse to kick back and create. My creativity is a bit off these days with the studio in progress and my guest room looking like..........well quite frankly like an episode of Hoarders! I can't find a thing-it is pure chaos! Many of my projects have made major detours because I can't find what I am looking for. Oh well..........sometimes detours are good!
I have another Victorian card for you today. I love that era & if I did believe in reincarnation that is the time period I would choose for my last life (like one isn't hard enough?). I love the architecture, the clothing, furniture and the romanticism. Ribbons, lace....horse drawn carriages over the cobblestone streets....well anyhow here is my take on it:
Very simple card. The hardest part was tying that darn bow. It only took me 2 nights to do it, Yes,,,you read correctly. I changed ribbon until I finally found one that would cooperate with me. I used my Cricut George Cart to cut the circle and my Cuttlebug to emboss. You can't see it in the photo however the muff and the brim of the bonnet are done in white and silver flocking to get it dimension and shimmer. The vine below the picture was taken from a gold glittered vine I found in Micheal's.
I have been playing around with flowers and Christmas cards way too long and left little time for a birthday card for my grandson in Jacksonville, Fla. So I worked quickly and this is what I came up with:

For this I used my favorite cartridge: Sweet Treats. It is such a fun cartridge to use and I just love using this "frosting" or in this case "ice cream" technique. Makes a great card I think! So.......excuse me as I run to the post office!
{{{Hugz}}}

It's my first!

Happy Monday morning friends! I finally cleared enough space in my second bedroom (you know-the one buried with everything from my new craft studio room that's under construction) to create my sisters birthday card.  Just locating everything was a big job. I have been admiring the Vintage cards many are doing. I am especially fond of the work a very talented woman from Sweden, Pojjo. If you love Vintage art it would be well worth the few minutes to visit her gallery at Scrapbook.Com. She is incredible-my card "idol" as source of inspiration! I set out to try my hand at Vintage card crafting. My youngest daughter bought me some Vintage art CD's from Lunagirl Images for my birthday and I've been dying to play! This is what I came up with:

I'm really happy with it! I got to play with lace (adore it!) and flowers (my passion!)
My base was made from basic Ivory cardstock-Joann Fabrics
Brown matting was cut 3/8" smaller than base and inked with Ranger Distress Ink-vintage photo
Ivory was embossed using a 5X7 Cuttlebug Folder (I believe it was called Florishes) and edges inked with brown ink-it was a small sample cube-uncertain of brand.
My lace was cream but way to light for the card so I brewed up a strong cup of Lipton tea and soaked it for about 10 minutes,rinsed in cold H2O and hung on the line while I played with the music sheet.
Expect alot of sheet music from me....I love the look. This piece I scraplifted from Vintage Ephemera. If you are into Vintage this is a wonderful place to visit and they have everything there free for the taking. Even if you aren't into papercrafting it is a fun place to just browse through all the old photographs, postcards and art. Hummm..........back to the directions! I printed the sheet music on regular paper so it would be easier to crumple and play with. I distressed it using  the Ranger Distress Ink-Vintage photo and then sprayed it with a mist of water...crumpled...flattened and allowed to dry. (okay.......so I really didn't "mist"-my mister was missing(buried) so I didn't get the effect I wanted. I just sprinkled the water) In the mean time I printed my photo from Lunagirls-Sugar and Spice CD,tore selected edges inked with the Distressed ink then covered it with a very thin glaze of Crackle Accents by Inkssentials for that aged look.After drying I adhered the lace and Pima flowers - The sentiment was done from my computer and cut from Spellbinders label die and adhered with foam for dimension.
The antique heart was from a jewelry set I found at Micheals.
And there you have it. I love this look and plan on doing much more of it.
Thanks for looking. Would love it if you would leave a comment! Hey...if you happen to know my sister....don't give her this link just yet! *wink*
Have a super week!