Part of why I took a couple of months off from blogging is that life had gotten a little more than crazy around here. We had a very unusual March. Truly. I don't need to go into all the details; they aren't important now. But it was rough, I won't lie. And I have been asked, how do I deal with all that is going on in life and still have time to scrapbook. I have always said how fortunate I feel to be part of such amazing design teams. I actually like having assignments! Really. Sometimes if it weren't for an upcoming deadline I might not create at all. And the thing is, I tend to get antsy if I go too long without being creative. Those deadlines, in a strange way that may not make sense, help feed my soul.
Today I want to share with you three cards I made using Vintage Bliss. I made these for the Simple Stories blog some time ago, but with Mother's Day quickly approaching I thought this would be a good time to finally share them here too. When I made these cards I was in a pretty bad mood. Even though I don't have little girls and don't tend to use this style of paper in my scrapbooking pages, I do like using more feminine lines when making cards. With it's beautiful springtime palette and butterflies, I was hoping creating with this collection would put me in a better frame of mind.
You probably know by now that Simple Stories released embellishments along with their new collections at CHA this past winter. I am in love with all the options. My favorite are the brads... I have a thing for buttons and brads. But the adhesive chipboard stickers are very cool too. The frame, saying, and butterfly in the close-up above are all chipboard. I don't care for too much bulk in my projects (this is my own personal preference) and these are a super-easy way to add just the right amount of dimension to a project.
The bingo cards that are a part of each collection make card making so easy. No need to stamp a sentiment or agonize over placement. I really love layering them with other elements like patterned paper and butterflies or flowers. Easy and fast.
This last card is small, only 3.5 x 4.5 inches. To make the previous two cards I cut a 12 x 12 inch sheet of cardstock down to 8.5 x 11 and then cut that in half. This was the scrap of cardstock leftover from those cuts. It ended up being the perfect size for one of the Sn@p! pockets.
You can tuck a gift card or photo into the little pocket as a small present. Inside I lined the card with grid paper so that I can write a note or short greeting for the recipient. A lot of fun to make and I made use of something that would have otherwise been thrown away.
So, did my experiment that day work? It did. I spent a couple of hours crafting and just enjoying the process. As always, I have to thank Glen for watching the boys for me. He knows his wife is an introvert, and sometimes I really do just need some time alone. He gives me that time to recharge and then I come away feeling so much better and able to tackle the madness again!
These next projects were made for our product swap with Petaloo. You can probably guess that I am not much of a flower girl, but these were perfect for card making, and they coordinated quite well with Vintage Bliss.
I decided to layer two flowers for this first card by removing the stamen from the larger blue flower using jewelry wire cutters and then I adhered the smaller pink flower to the center. You can see a close-up here,
To match the gold center of the little pink flower, I embossed my sentiment with metallic gold embossing powder. I am still completely in love with metallic embossing powder. It is just so much fun to watch the powder melt and go from matte to shiny as it sets. Plus, it is a simple way to add an elegant touch to a card.
This last card has lots of simple layers including my favorite card embellishment, a layered butterfly. I loved the bold color of this flower, and wanted it to be the focus.
And again, to customize it I removed the stamen, this time placing one of the brads from the Vintage Bliss collection in the center. Instead of punching a hole through the flower though, I used my wire cutters to remove the prongs from the back leaving me with a flat surface. I then used a glue dot to adhere the brad to the flower. The chipboard embellishment was the perfect final touch and an easy way to add a sentiment to this card.
Do you have any plans for Mother's Day? We are still deciding... I think we may go out for gelato. Keep it simple. We'll see. =)
Happy Friday, and I hope you have a great weekend!
