Three Squares with Buttons

Three patterned squares with buttons and stitching.  For the April "Now That's Odd" (odd numbers) lesson in Paula's Operation Write Home Design Bootcamp.  From last month's lesson, I used my "rule of thirds" grid to position the button strip along the right side of the card front. 

While making this, I wondered how often I've used a trio of similar elements on my cards.  "Lots" was the answer, as I looked back through my blog.  I marked the cards with a "trios" label.  To see more, click here (or in the labels list on the right)

Note: the gray is background, not part of the card. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) kraft, summer sunrise (yellow), and stamper's select white, and the bitty dots, stripes, and gingham prints from PTI new leaf (green), enchanted evening (blue), and pure poppy (red) pattern packs.
• The kraft layer and buttons are edged with E44 Copic marker. 
• Embroidery floss is DMC white.
• Buttons are die cut with PTI buttoned up #1 (small and medium buttons).  Squares are diecut with WPlus9 pinking squares (1-1/2")
• Embossing folder is Lifestyle Crafts diamonds and dots.
• Sewing thread is Gutermann topstitch thread (similar to Coats and Clark dual duty XP heavy - and not as heavy as "button and carpet").  I just started using this weight for cards, and I like the result better than the normal weight sewing thread.  I do need more practice with my stitching though. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (280)

Lace Flowers with Hand-Stitched Felt

Something very different for today's card!  Lace flowers with hand-stitched felt centers and green leaf ribbon.   It's beautiful with lots of texture and color contrast, and the felt squashes down nicely for mailing.  The hand-stitching was fairly quick to do, just overcast.  It's not perfectly even, which I feel adds to the simple charm of it. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) harvest gold (yellow) and Hawaiian shores (turquoise). 
• Embossing folder is Sizzix berry splash on one side of the card front.
• Felt is PTI harvest gold.
• Ribbon is leaf ribbon by PTI.  I was happy to find more colors at a fabric store, where I bought some white (easily to color with Copic markers) and some bright green.  
• Lace flowers are by Maya Road.  I haven't seen them available recently, so I might buy these instead and try to detach the layers.
• Embroidery floss is DMC #3011. 
• Technique:  I die cut the felt with a 5/8" circle die, then adhered it to the flower center with just a 1/4" square of Scor Tape.  I didn't want adhesive on the edges where I would be sewing.  Then I stitched the edges (simple overcast stitch) with a full 6-strand of floss.  I found it worked better not to stitch the felt to the lace flower, except to sew and knot the floss ends through the flower center.   
• The lace flowers are also adhered with Scor Tape: a 1/2" square in the center and 1/4" strips across the petals.  Although the lace is openwork, the Scor Tape stickiness doesn't come up through it.  The leaf ribbon is also adhered with 1/4" Scor Tape squares on some of the leaves.  I'd be afraid of liquid glue showing through on it, especially because the leaves have small slits where the veins are formed.   

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (279)

Purple with Butterfly and Doily

The post title pretty much says it all - purple, butterfly, doily.   Inspired by this week's layout #236  on the Clean and Simple Stamping blog.  Thank you, Natasha, for another fun sketch challenge! 

Note: the gray is background, not part of the card.

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) plum pudding (purple) and rustic white (card base), lavender print from PTI pretty pastels 8x8" patterned paper, and bitty dot print from PTI winter wisteria pattern pack.
• Dies are PTI eyelet lace, signature series: butterfly (solid purple), and heart-2-heart #10 (dotted paper - larger of the 2 butterflies in the set).   The "signature series" butterfly has no antennae, so I cut an extra set of the "heart-2-heart" antennae in purple card stock, to glue under the patterned paper antennae and provide a foundation. 
• The dots on the butterfly are a few of the cutouts from the eyelet lace die. 
• Paper doily is 5", cut down to 2-1/4" and adhered with Scor Tape and Zig 2-way chisel tip glue pen.   
• My gluing technique: First I apply Scor Tape all across the solid center area and remove the tape liner.  Next I lay the doily face-down on a clean piece of scrap paper, and gently stroke the glue onto the lacy areas.  This works well for me.  However, in my experience, dots of glue will show through, and a finer tip glue pen is more likely to damage the doily.  On my wish list is a doily die, so I can use card stock and work with it more easily.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (277)

Leafy Stems with Orange Ribbon

Simple and serene with leafy stems and a bit of twill ribbon.  My picture doesn't do justice to the colors: the card base is more green, and the yellow panel is a bit more yellow.  But the overall effect is similar.   

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) spring moss (light green card base), lemon tart (light yellow panel), ripe avocado (dark green), and orange zest.
• Die is Savvy Stamps tall branches with leaves.  Adhered with tiny dots of Glossy Accents.
• Ribbon is PTI orange zest 3/8" twill.
• Texture on the card base is Sizzix Tim Holtz stripes embossing folder.  

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (274)

Pink and Yellow Flower Wreath

 

A sweet pink and yellow flower wreath for a special friend's birthday card.   In real life, the bow and the flowers are the same color pink.

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source sage (light gray-green) and blossom (light pink),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) berry sorbet (medium pink), lemon tart (yellow), berry sorbet bitty dots from PTI pink patterns, and stripes from PTI sweet blush (pink) pattern pack.
• Punches are EK Success small flower and 3/16" circle. 
• Dies are My Favorite Things winter wreath (including the bow) and PTI edgers #3.  The inside of the card (shown below) uses the shorter of the two edger dies.  
• Sentiment "Wishing You A Wonderful Birthday!" is computer-printed on Neenah solar white card stock with pink ink in Harrington font, bold.  (264)

Turquoise with Orange Bird

A bright orange bird accents this turquoise card.  I like the detail of the embroidery floss bow on the dark turquoise branch.

Card details:

• Card stock is Ellen Hutson white linen, Paper Source peacock (dark turquoise), Papertrey Ink (PTI) orange zest, Hawaiian shores (medium turquoise), and the leaves print from PTI Hawaiian shores pattern pack.
• Dies are PTI double-ended banner (short banner), heart-2-heart #9 (bird), and heart-2-heart #12 (leaves)
• The bird's eye is drawn with Copic 0.3 turquoise multiliner.  
• Embroidery floss is DMC #721.  I added a dot of Glossy Accents to the knot to secure it.
• Sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed in turquoise ink with Lucida Handwriting font.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (170)

Bright Banners with Dots

Nothing subtle about this card!  Bright banners and lettering, plenty of color with bright white.  The punched 3/16" dots tie the colors together and accent the banner shapes.  It was fun working with the banner shapes and multicolor sentiment. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Ellen Hutson white linen, Hero Arts azure (blue),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) pure poppy (red) and new leaf (green), and the polka dot print from PTI summer sunrise (yellow-orange) pattern pack.
• Die is My Favorite Things party banner.  
• Circle punch is 3/16" EK Success.  
• Sentiment "thinking of you" is computer-printed in red, blue, and green ink with American Typewriter font, bold.
• Technique:  To curve my PowerPoint sentiment along the banner shape, I placed each letter in its own separate text box.  I used the "format shape" menu to rotate each text box a few degrees (Z axis), ranging from 350 degrees and 11 degrees on the ends, to only 358 degrees and 2 degrees on the middle two.  I overlaid a picture of the die to position the letters.  Then I added arcs above and below the die to show me where to place it after printing the card stock.  It took some patience - not a "beginner" technique!  But now that it's set up, it will be easy to use, and I can print my banners with any sentiment and color. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (275)

Tan with Green Thanks

Simple and crisp with tan and green.  The dark green solid color gives contrast to the tan and light green patterns.   

Edited April 9 to add: I'm linking it for the "recent masculine cards" theme on Operation Write Home.  Thanks, Nancy, for collecting them together!  And I'd like to recommend a recent post, Masculine Card Creating, by Heather Nichols on her Pine Is Here blog, with a list of ideas and her "remake" of a flowery feminine card. 

The tan striped A2 rectangle began with all-vertical stripes.  To make it partly horizontal, I cut the A2 at 4.25" to make a square.  I then turned the square 90 degrees.  The green panel covers the seam.  

Card details:

• Card stock is Papertrey Ink (PTI) ripe avocado (dark green), fine linen (tan), spring moss (light green) bitty box basics print, and stripes from PTI fine linen pattern pack.
• Dies are PTI take three (rounded square) and inner shape from framed out #6. 
• The banner is computer-printed with solid and dotted green lines, and notched with a square punch. It is edged with Copic marker YG95, a bit darker than the printing, which creates some additional depth while darkening the tan edges.
• The sentiment "Thanks" is computer-printed in green ink with American typewriter font, bold.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (273)

Pink and White Birthday

My cards lately have used a lot of blues and greens.  No reason, just how it happened.  This card breaks the pattern with bright pink and white.

I started with a pink version of an earlier card's turquoise sentiment.  Then I played with a rickrack scrap and some leftover die cut flowers.  Added another rickrack shape, some starry flower centers, and striped paper.  Here's the end result, which I really like. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Ellen Hutson white linen, Papertrey Ink (PTI) raspberry fizz (dark pink), and stripes from PTI sweet blush (light pink) pattern pack.
• Note: the gray edge is background, not part of the card. 
• Dies are Memory Box fancy blossoms (medium flower) and PTI wonderful words: birthday,  photo finish strips and XL rickrack.  I used the "scrap" edge of the rickrack die cut.  It's easy to use this die for edging - just line up the card stock to the inside edge of the die, and cut.   
• The flower centers are punched with a Fiskars 1/4" star punch and dotted with pink 0.3 Copic multiliner.
• "on your" is computer-printed in pink ink with Century Schoolbook font, bold, expanded spacing.

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (271)

Blue Teapot - Rule of Thirds

 

Soft and serene with blues and grays.  A patterned teapot sits on a lacy layer. 

Today's card is for the Operation Write Home card making Design Boot Camp lesson on  Composition and the Rule of Thirds.  I drew a planning grid on clear card stock, with lines of Copic marker at 1-13/16" and 1-7/16".  As shown below, the sentiment and teapot are on the grid lines. 

Card details:

• Card stock is Paper Source frost luxe (a textured light gray - discontinued),  Papertrey Ink (PTI) spring rain (light blue), enchanted evening (dark blue),  and the leaves print from PTI blueberry sky (medium blue) pattern pack.
• I drew lid and base lines on my teapot with Copic 0.3 cobalt multiliner.  The teapot lid and base are shaded with Copic marker B45.  I also used B45 to edge the teapot and add some dots. 
• Technique: I wanted to stabilize and add some dimension to the top portion of my teapot.  Instead of using foam tape or dots on the irregular shape, I layered it onto Craft-a-Board (can also use PTI coasters) which is less thick than foam tape, lightweight, and easy to die cut.  I trimmed off the bottom, below the teapot handle, because the two layers of PTI card stock (light and dark blue) are about as thick as one layer of Craft-a-Board or coaster board.  I used my Copic marker to color the edge, so the cream colored layer doesn't show. 
• Dies are PTI tea for two and Memory Box charlotte border. 
• Sentiment "Thinking of you" is computer-printed in blue ink with "Handwriting - Dakota" font, bold, expanded spacing. 

Created for Operation Write Home, "supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them." (272)