Hello Honey

Corner Garden Bliss

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

As another catalog year comes to a close I have to be brave and say goodbye to the things that I have loved so much.  This card has so much of that in it.  The stamp, and three of the colors.  A very sad farewell indeed.

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I masked a piece of water color paper and stamped the floral image in black stazon ink.  I have loved this stamp so much.  I do think it will stay with me even when it isn’t available to purchase.  The only color I wanted for the flower petals was blackberry bliss.  So, that meant some had more color than others and they all got special treatment to make them look unique but coordinated.

Before I painted the leafs and stems I applied the soft sky background.  I knew that mossy meadow would cover easily and I still wanted to allow it to blend out a bit.  It worked like a charm.  The flower centers were painted in hello honey and allowed to blend out a bit into the flower.  After the painting was done I  just stared at it wondering how I wanted to distress it.  I didn’t want splatters or spots, but didn’t want to leave it either.

I decided to use a spritzer and water.  Several sprays later I started to like what I was seeing. I did some sponging with a paper towel to lift off some color, then a neat thing happened. I took my damp, inky paper towel and sponged from the bottom to the top which brought a very light amount of blackberry bliss with it.  It looked pretty great so I went with it.  I bet I couldn’t recreate it though, but I will most certainly try.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Woodland Baby Shower Gift Set

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I admit it, I love giving gifts of thank you cards.  Especially when everything goes together so nicely.  This sweet friend was given a woodland themed baby shower and I knew I had just the right paper to fit the bill.  The invitations even had turtles and foxes on them.  Fun work time for me!

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The gift box and gift bag were even fun to make.  I honestly haven’t purchased a gift bag in the longest time.  I love it.  Gifts usually aren’t that large, for the most part.  I just set the gift on my score board, measure some and go for it.  I am usually right on target, the box for the card set was a bit long, but it still worked out.  How about the foil cloud bag though, so adorable right?  I hadn’t paired the silver satin ribbon with it yet, and it looks perfect together.

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The cards were very assembly line, both sets the same.  The background paper was cut with 1/4″ borders and a contrasting, but still coordinating, strip of designer paper from the same set was placed near the bottom.  A card stock 2″ circle layered with a stamped 1 3/4″ circle on top.  I stapled matching ribbon along the side of the circles for one more tiny layer and a bit of interest.  I do think they turned out adorable.

Inside this most adorable bag are two very silly baby books.  One is called “Toot”.  And yes, it is all about passing gas.  Just too funny to not share.  Both books were 7″ wide and 1″ thick, so that was easy enough to measure.  I scored at 2″ along each side and made the bottom scoring at 5″ and 7″.  This gave me a bag that measured 7 x 5 x 2 and worked out great!

All in all the set came together really fast.  From basic design concept, product choice and complete assembly it took about three hours.  Two gift bags and 24 cards, not too bad if I do say so myself.  I couldn’t attend the shower myself since I was teaching my card workshop, but one of my club ladies was also going and she took it with her.  It worked out great.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Tap Tap Tap into Retirement

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Well, it has begun.  The retirement list has been published and I can start getting sad over some of my favorites.  This has been one of them.  I love the images, but really love the little tap tap tap tap stamp.  It is so adorable.  Some stamp sets I just keep because they make me smile, and I love to smile almost as much as making someone else smile.

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This project was created with a few techniques.  I stamped my little typewriter  in cajun craze first, then did a bunch of stamping all around the base image with almost artichoke first and then moved on to delightful dijon.

When that was done I got out my sponge and went at the edges.  I aged the entire background by swirling around and around focusing on the edges to make them darker.  I added a little extra sponging around the edge to really darken it up.  I did the same on the inside, but left the center light for easy writing.

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I stamped my front piece with cajun craze and then sponged in three different areas to keep the colors blended, but still very separate.  I fussy cut it, layered it to some more card stock, sponged that too and put it up on dimensionals.  I did a single wrap of striped cotton ribbon sticking it down with glue dots on the front and back.  The background piece was placed on another sheet of card stock with a tiny border and then layered it up again on even more dimensionals.  Love those guys, they make me so happy.

I don’t normally show the entire inside of a card, but it turned out so awesome that I had to. I thought it was nice enough it could be a card front all by itself.  Not today, but I gave an extra peek just for fun.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

My Heart Smiles Just Thinking of You

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It has been a very busy, but very fun, visit to Utah.  We have stayed a week, been snowed on twice, enjoyed the rain, and driven all over to spend more time with our son and his fiance. I would always like more time, but also can’t wait to get home.  Facing the long drive isn’t very inviting though.

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This is a tall card, cut at 4 1/4″ and scored at 5 1/2″.  I like working with cards this way because of how easy it is to add ribbon.  I arranged my tag just under the ribbon to make it look like it was attached.  There wasn’t room on the tag for an actual punch, so I had to make do.  It looks great though, don’t you think?

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Have a creative day!

Moana

They Say It’s Your Birthday

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How about a simple birthday card!  I think this one could be for just about anyone, don’t you? Keeping projects simple allows for a lot of options, more than you would think.  And how awesome is this balloon bouquet punch?  I am absolutely in love with it.  I hope it carries over.  I am keeping it no matter what.

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I had to hold myself back to not put strings and all kinds of fun stuff here.  But, that would defeat the purpose of of a clean and simple cards after all.  This way I think it would even work for a masculine card.  Gotta love those!

I punched two large and three small balloons.  The large ones were attached flat to the paper and the smaller ones were raised up on dimensionals.  Of course everything is sponged.  The balloons were sponged in hello honey to coordinate as well as the tag.  I thought the color was too strong on the tag, so I sponged with silver encore ink as well to soften it.  It turned out great.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

 

Peek-a-boo to Someone New!

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Adorable and adorable.  With a sentiment like this, any project is bound to look adorable. However, the dandelion puffs do help tremendously.  This is the third in a gift series focusing on one set of paper from Sale-a-bration and just one stamp set.  With a few punches and some ribbon I was able to create a dozen cards and a container to hold them. Enjoy them like I have.

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One piece of paper for the card front, one tag layered with a scalloped background, and a simple bow.  I do think of a new baby with this card, but it could work for other situations I suppose.  There are several ladies in my life who are expecting little ones, so this just might get made a few times over.  Easy and fun to do.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Hello and Bonjour!

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Can  Sale-a-bration be any more fun?  How about getting another free stamp set just so you can have it in french?  I saw another awesome demonstrator, Mary Fish, use this set with the bonjour stamp and I knew I wanted it as well.  Isn’t that just how we work?  Well, it was worth it.  I love it!

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The dsp I am using here is also from a free Sale-a-bration set.  Most of the patterns are floral, hence the wildflower fields title, but not all of them.  These simple stripes are adorable.  I thought I would create two color choices and a gift bag that could go with either one.  It worked out great.

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I thought for sure the bonjour card would be my favorite, but the birthday boy is also very adorable.  I think the party hat stamp really made it.  You can never have enough birthday cards, especially when I get to share most of them with my mother-in-law.  She is so good about remembering literally everyone’s birthdays.  And she loves sending out special ones much more than a store bought card.  Who wouldn’t?

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Sweet Li’l Things

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I haven’t visited my little chickie for a while now and loved saying hello again.  This stamp just says adorable like crazy.  I normally wouldn’t get a stamp set for just one image, but this one was just too perfect to pass up.  Of course it helped that it was a free gift with purchase, so there you go!

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I used the Sweet Li’l Things DSP for the background.  That is how I created the pallet for my water coloring today.  I was a bit distracted chatting on the phone with my daughter while painting, so I didn’t dry as often as I should have, but I decided I could live with the little edge goofs here and there.  Besides, I wasn’t going for a blue ribbon, just a smile or two.

The strawberry patterned paper underneath the card is the other side of the designer paper I used for the background.  I think I will turn that into a matching gift bag when I decide to use the card.  Might not be too soon because I want my lil’ chickie to be on my desk for a while.  I made a tiny triple banner set for the greeting and used the bitty banner punch for the edges.  So easy to make the edges just right.  The paper strips are 1/2″, so they fit right inside the punch.  I twisted them the way I wanted them and gave them a quick staple.  Then I used my bone folder to give them a bit of a curl then added a ribbon knot to finish it off.

Everyone is layered in 1/8″ borders and set up on dimensionals.  This one would definitely require extra postage going through the mail.  But since I plan on using this as a gift set, I didn’t worry one bit about how thick it got.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Courage Doesn’t Always Roar…

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I wasn’t sure about posting this one, it is definitely not my usual type of project.  And if I am being totally honest, it is a bit of a mess.  It wasn’t my idea, but I needed to make a sample, so it happened.

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I work with the youth in my church, specifically the young women ages 14-15, and this was our project last Wednesday night.  One of the girls had suggested this activity and we went at it.  I was to make the sample and I rushed through it a bit too quickly.  We only have a little over an hour to work with, so I was on a timer.  Also, this wouldn’t be my best crafting area.  It is so okay to know there are areas to improve in, and I don’t mind sharing my learning opportunities. (I don’t like to call them mistakes.)

I used two sheets of dsp for this project.  I love the paper. I did get a bit of teasing from the girls.  “Are those artichokes?”  Yes they are, and I love them.  The back side of the paper reminded me of a double wedding ring quilt pattern, so it was a win all the way around.  We were to modge podge pretty paper to a clip board, add some decoration, and finish it off with a favorite inspirational quote.  I have creases and bubbles, but I still love it. I also got into my retired stash of ribbon and found a bunch to use.  I will be happily using this clipboard.  I do need to sand the edges a bit, but otherwise, it is all done.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Schoolhouse Thank You Gift

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People do kind things all of the time and never ask for anything in return.  I am fortunate enough to have people like that in my life.  A school secretary is definitely a wonderful person.  They do more than most people imagine.

Schoolhouse Thank You Gift

As it happens, I have been helped along once again.  So, I wanted to thank her, again.  This lovely box was made to look as school like as possible.  The Schoolhouse DSP had so many patterns to choose from, but I needed a vehicle of sorts, so I went with the bicycles.  I used a whole sheet of 12 x 12 card stock in Hello Honey and a good portion of the dsp to decorate it.  It is filled with large pretzel sticks that have been dipped in white chocolate. So yummy.

Schoolhouse Thank You Gift

I got into the Chalk Talk framelits for this huge tag.  I wanted to have a stamp and a spot for a tiny note.  Just right, don’t you think?  I forget about that set sometimes, but the tag options are really wonderful.  I gave them a bit of a go over with my bone folder for some added texture and clipped it around one of my favorite ribbons.  Gift done!

Schoolhouse Thank You Gift

Have a creative day!

Moana

Sparkly Seasons Pumpkin Patch

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

It may not look very busy, but these little pumpkins almost did me in.  I nearly got to the point of just showing you how frustrated I was and that there was not much to show for it.  Then I thought about iridescent ice, and the world came together.

Sparkly Seasons Pumpkin Patch

I love that stuff.  It can make the most simple things look almost magical.  I used three different framelits for my pumpkins and got to work.  I used a large stylus to create grooves and texture to the surface, but from the back side.  It really broke down the fibers a lot.  Then I began to water color streaks to give dimension.  That didn’t do a whole lot.  Then I spritzed water and swiped ink on with my finger.  It got better.  Then I sponged with pumpkin pie and added early espresso too.  At that point they looked okay, but still kind of sad.

Sparkly Seasons Pumpkin Patch

That is when I tried the iridescent ice.  I daubed the whole surface with versamark and sprinkled on the powder.  I only used one coating and thought that would be enough.  It was just right.  I did sponge a bit more with early espresso afterwards.  I layered the pumpkins together using dimensionals, with the stems too, and wrapped them all in linen thread.  I wanted to leave it then, but decided on a simple word phrase.  And there you go!

Sparkly Seasons Pumpkin Patch

Have a creative day!

Moana

Believe Bookmark with Lighthearted Leaves

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Welcome to my Sunday morning.  When I have the opportunity to teach a church lesson I always feel blessed.  Teaching often gives more to the teacher than to the student.  Maybe not at a school setting, but church, for sure.

Believe Bookmark with Lighthearted Leaves

I do my best thinking while I am crafting, so I almost always have some kind of handout that relates to the lesson.  It also allows me to think of who I am teaching individually, and to make sure I am taking into consideration who they are and how they feel.  Such a wonderful time.

Believe Bookmark with Lighthearted Leaves

I definitely dipped into my retired product stash for these bookmarks.  The cardstock and ink are hello honey, current, but the other color is summer starfruit.  What a great color to work with.  I thought they went well together, so I got to use some of my retired dsp stash and retired ribbon too!  Win for all.  I think people often overlook the fact that it is okay to stamp on patterned paper, as long as the pattern is small.  That was the case for this pattern for sure.  It came together so quickly.  Once the design was clear  in my mind, about five minutes, another thirty-five and I was all done.  Yup, I churned out a dozen of these in less than an hour.  Again, a win for all.

Believe Bookmark with Lighthearted Leaves

Have a creative day!

Moana

Lighthearted Leaves

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

I fell in love with this stamp set from the moment I saw it.  The images from Lighthearted Leaves are absolutely wonderful.  Artsy enough to get your attention, but not so simple as to be boring.  Such a nice balance.  I think I will case myself and make a Christmas version of this project.  I see mistletoe.

Lighthearted Leaves

I can also see an ocean theme.  The leaves kind of remind me of sea kelp and could be holding little fishies somewhere.  I do love an optional stamp set.

 Lighthearted Leaves

The layering is simple here.  Narrow borders help to not distract from the thin lines of the designs.  All around, I am very happy with how this turned out.  using the tags & labels framelits also make me happy. Subtle touches of color to accent the sentiment without taking over.  Just enough room to have a simple bit of ribbon and one little rhinestone in the center.  How perfect is that.  What more do you need than to ‘believe’?

Lighthearted Leaves

Have a creative day!

Moana

One Big Meaning Tiny Treats

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Welcome back and thank you too!  Going back to work yesterday, after taking a long weekend off, left me thinking I should give a little thank you to my student TA’s.  They are a great bunch and were honestly quite happy with these treats.

One Big Meaning Tiny Treats

I kept things very simple, because I knew they would really just want the candy.  So, I used some adorable retired ribbon, with an effort to keep it neutral.  I have young men and knew they wouldn’t appreciate anything too girlie.  However, I did give them color choices and they picked the ones they liked best.  Three of five kept the little tag in their things.  How cute is that!

One Big Meaning Tiny Treats

What do we gain from this?  First of all, saying thank you is so important.  Secondly, it doesn’t have to be huge and elaborate to be appreciated.  Honestly, these took me maybe ten minutes from start to end, including a quick set of photos.  Having great tools to work with makes all the difference.  Give something like this a try.  This punch combo is fantastic!  The 1 3/4″ circle punch is large enough that lots of sentiments fit inside quite easily.  Add the 2″ circle for a tiny border and it looks so great!

One Big Meaning Tiny Treats

Have a creative day!

Moana

Gather Sunshine

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It started with one stamp, ‘gather’, from the Seasonal Snapshot 2015 set.  I love it, just love it.  Then I began rooting around for word stamps or images that would go with it.

Gather Sunshine

I pulled out Crazy About You, because it has all of those phrases and word sets.  There it was, sunshine.  I immediately went to the Kinda Eclectic set because of the beautiful sunburst in it.  Great combo going on for sure.

Gather Sunshine

I wanted more than one yellow tone going on, so I have three.  The sunburst and the card base are So Saffron.  The base of ‘gather’ was done in Daffodil Delight and layered over in Hello Honey.  Sunshine was stamped in stazon and the inks were put away.  The paper layering is simple with a double layer of smooth whisper white put up on dimensionals.  No ribbon, nothing else, just clean and simple.  Not my usual style, but I rather like it.

Gather Sunshine

Have a creative day!

Moana

For All Things and Flower Patch

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

While enjoying a long and lovely visit with my daughter this morning, fall came up.  It is her favorite season of the year.  She is getting excited because where she is attending university fall has begun.  The temperatures, the colors, the smells, she loves it all.  So, together we created this card.  What a fun way to stay connected.

For All Things and Flower Patch

The card is made from a Hello Honey card base, layered with a Cajun Craze framed stamped card front.  I used the leaf stamp from the For All Things set to create the paper.  One full ink stamp and then several others around it until the ink runs out.  I did this using Cajun Craze, Hello Honey and Almost Artichoke.  Such a great trio.

For All Things and Flower Patch

A quick stamp from the Flower Patch set for the sentiment and it was nearly done.  I adhered a strip of the new Striped Cotton Ribbon and layered my sentiment with a bit of color.  The Bitty Banner Punch helped me get the banner edges and it was all done.  Well, I did have to sponge nearly everything of course.

For All Things and Flower Patch

Have a creative day!

Moana

Lovely as a Tree

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This project was actually ready for yesterday, there just wasn’t the time to sit down and put it together.  Yesterday was all about family and it was wonderful.

Lovely as a Tree

I started with ribbon.  Not my usual, but I am trying to get used to this new striped cotton ribbon, and the only way to do that is to use it.  Hello honey was the ribbon color, so I coordinated the card front with the same color cardstock.  It was too smooth so to the big shot it went for some embossing.  Since it was a tree image, woodgrain worked great for me.

Lovely as a Tree

Before I forget, as I finished up with my sponging, I decided I couldn’t see the embossing like I wanted, so I lightly rubbed my inked sponge across the top of the embossing until it was dark enough.  Loved how that turned out.

Lovely as a Tree

 

For this pretty tree.  A single stamp in mossy meadow on watercolor paper, that is all.  I wanted to soften it a bit, so I spritzed it was water and allowed the image to blend some.  Sponging with  sahara sand for everyone, a touch of tearing, plenty of dimensionals, and this was done.  I don’t often make masculine cards, let alone an all occasion one.  But here you have it.

Have a creative day!

Moana

You’re So Vintage

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I have been doing so many floral projects I thought I should bring out something different.  I have been waiting to use this stamp set, it is so different and funny to me.  The sentiment reminds me of something out of my elementary school wardrobe.  I might have had matching jeans, how exciting.

You're So Vintage

I am more happy with the sentiment layer than the rest, but I am happy enough with it to make up for the other.  It seems like the star boarder punch was a bit much, but I kept it there.  The colors though, they are spot on.  They were cool then and have made it around to be cool again.  How fun is that?

You're So Vintage

I knew I wanted to use markers to make the words different colors, but I wasn’t sure how it would react on the photopolymer.  By the time I did the last word the others had beaded up quite a bit.  I went over them, huffed a lot, and used my foam mat.  It still came up all splotchy.  However, it was perfect for the phrase!  I am so happy with it!  It looks extra cool for sure.  I almost created a lava lamp to go along, but relaxed on that front.

You're So Vintage

I can’t wait to try this out on other stamps and see which ones still look awesome. Floral stamps could look water colored even.  One adventure at a time.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Kinda Eclectic with a Ray of Sunshine

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This burst of sunshine should be posting while I am in Utah getting my Denali all settled at university.  She is a huge burst of sunshine in my life, so it suits the day perfectly.

Kinda Eclectic with a Ray of Sunshine

I have used the sunburst stamp from the Kinda Eclectic set in so many projects.  It is why I bought the set, but the rest of it is just as beautiful.  I am so glad that it carried over to the new catalog.  I wasn’t ready to say goodbye just yet.

Kinda Eclectic with a Ray of Sunshine

I loved using the super smooth whisper white card stock to make a matching bag.  It folds rather crisp, but is easier to manipulate that the other card.  And of course I love the stamp.  This set is done in hello honey and it works so well.  I even got out an embossing folder to give it a little extra.

Kinda Eclectic with a Ray of Sunshine

A simple card that is all about the saying and a few bright touches to bring it full circle.  Perhaps this one will find its way to someone in need of a pick me up.  Sounds about right!

Have a creative day!

Moana

May Workshop Club Thank You!

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

Everyone does their workshops in their own way.  I just love to say thank you in fun little gift ways.  I have the privilege of sharing Saturday mornings with some really wonderful people.  Some are regular club members and others come just for the projects.

May Workshop Club Thank You!

Both sets of friends come away with plenty of wonderful.  I go overboard on my projects on a regular basis, so that is always fun.  But my regular shoppers get a little extra.  I shop ahead and plan for special thank you gifts.  Like this awesome ribbon that I have had for quite a while.  It retired last year and I have been waiting, and waiting.  But getting a ten yard spool of awesome ribbon is so worth it!  They are going to be so pleased!

May Workshop Club Thank You!

I also try to make something that they can re-gift.  No need to be wasteful.  They are also getting a little embellishment treasure.  We all oogled over the something borrowed embellishments but decided they might be a bit too pricey.  They went on sale and I got us a pack to share and one for me to keep.  They are so pretty.

May Workshop Club Thank You!

As I write this I am watching the clock.  I need to leave in just over an hour to be nice and early for setup.  The bag is made with a half sheet of hello honey and coordinating paper and ribbon.  The paper will stay, but the rest is retiring.  The new product is lovely though.  Two weeks til the new catalog goes live!

Have a creative day!

Moana