Papertrey 5th Anniversary: Day 7 Hearts Challenge 3

This is my third post today. If you have seen all three posts, leave me a comment, and you may be my new best friend! This card is being posted as part of Papertrey's 5th Anniversary celebration - day 7 - hearts. This card does not look like any of my others.

For Christmas every year, there is a small group of us who love to create together, and we choose craft supplies for one another's gifts. We inevitably get given wonderful items that we would not have chosen for ourselves, and this leads to creating pieces outside our comfort zone. (Don't you just love it when you create something totally unexpected? It feels like uncovering a treasure.)

I found a tutorial for this brilliantly designed card format over at 'Graphic 45's beautiful blog. (Scroll down to the second item in the post for this card.) I love the look of a deep black background with vivid colors on top. At first Papertrey's cardstock seemed a bit too heavy for the folding in this card, but after trying lighter weight papers, they just didn't hold up well enough, to my mind.

I used the 7 Gypsies paper pad for the prints (except for the pattern behind "To a friend's house..") and the wonderful bird house frame with two birds behind, that my friend gave me, to make her a thank-you card. The coral heart on the front is die cut from the coasters sold by Papertrey for that purpose. I love the feel and heft of these coasters. I discovered however, when I tried to stamp a 'Heart Prints' image with a chalk ink, that the image completely bled out to a solid. (In the future I will only use dye inks with these if I want a crisp image.)

Judging by my dear friend's reaction to her card, the extra bit of effort to cut the card template, was well worth the work. Besides, it's great fun having all those different sized areas to work with.

Papertrey Supplies: coasters, black card stock, 'Mat Stack #3' stamp, and 'Button Boutique' stamp
Other Supplies: 7gypsies 'avignon' paper pad, Crafty Secrets-Clear Art Stamps 'Home Sweet Home', Spellbinders Nestibilities 'Heart Circles' dies, Nestibilies 'Heart' dies, free bookplate image from Dover Books, scaled down Graphic 45 paper 'Once Upon Springtime', Martha Stewart doily edge punch, 'Liquid Pearls', 'Circle Pop-Up Card Template' from Party Hearty, and miscellaneous stamps and embellishments.

Thank you for taking the time to visit and leave a comment.

A Woman of Letters

 One of my favorite kind of Christmas presents to give is a store bought item I know someone needs, adorned with a little something to make it personal. My very talented friend Linda, takes fabulous photographs, and bless her heart, shares them all with family and friends. She has albums that travel far and wide with her. When I found this pretty, yet o-so-plain album, I knew just what to put on it.

As I've mentioned before here, I love vintage images, especially those from Dover Books. I had found Floral Designs and Initials in a book store four years ago, and immediately fell in love with the designs. (If you click on the link above, you be able to see some of the beautiful pages in this book.) The motifs are from a old Spanish book of embroidery designs that were ordered by, and sold to, individuals. 

In the book's most recent incarnation, it comes on a CD allowing you to find and print out letters any size you want. I have used just a computer printed letter to adorn gift tags. They are fun to color with pencils or paint with 'Sparkling H2Os', as well. I had never tried embroidering an initial before, and it was considerablly easier than I thought. (Definitely needed the reading glasses though!)

I did the work on mid weight cotton, used a 'Big Shot' to die cut a piece of 'Timtex', and turned and sewed the cotton's perimeter down to the back of the Timtex. To finish the adornment, I die cut felt, backed with 'Heat and Bond', using the next size larger Nestibility die. Before adhering the felt to the back side, I sewed a strip of Velcro across it. This allows my friend to remove the initial if she desires.

Thank you for visiting and happy crafting!