Petite Petals Punch

You’re in my Thoughts & Prayers

~ moanaj ~ Leave a comment

This is day three of seven projects re-purposing leftover workshop kits.  The only thing this card has in common with the first sample is color and a floral motif.  Wow, I love how it turned out.  When I made this I thought it was lovely, but didn’t have a special someone to give it to. Sad to say that now I do.  I do love having somewhere to express sincere thoughts and feelings. This will be perfect.

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The card front was stamped with the huge image from Rose Wonder.  The small flower image is also from the same set and I used it plenty all around.  I then sponged color lightly over all of the images.  I wanted soft color not exact or even water coloring.  The color almost glows. Then I ran it through the big shot with the elegant dots embossing folder.  The look was stunning.  I nearly left the rest of the decoration off.  It was lovely enough to be a one layer card.  But I kept on and dressed it up some more.

The doily was sponged with sweet sugarplum to match perfectly, love that option.  I crumpled it up some to offer more texture.  I was surprised on how many flowers I got out of that little piece of glimmer paper in the kit.  Careful use of specialty paper sure does make it last.  I staged the doily and sentiment tag before putting down all of those flowers.  There was a nice spot for everything if I do say so myself, and I do.

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Everything was sponged and sponged some more.  It put everything in a soft focus look which lends itself to a card like this.  I didn’t want any harsh lines.  I don’t always re-create a project, but I can see myself making this one again.

Have a creative day!

Moana

A Perfect Day

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It is kind of ironic that I created this card last Thursday evening for Friday’s blog post. Then I entered into a series of hectic, not perfect days at all.  So, here it is five days later.  Today can still be that perfect day though, right?

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I usually am not into realistic photo paper, but this designer series pack has some really nice pieces in it.  This one especially. It looks really dimensional to me and I know it isn’t. It did create a lovely background though, and is the inspiration behind the card, literally.

I went with the country feel and scattered flowers all around the sentiment.  That was stamped, die cut and layered up a bit.  Those stitched shapes framelits are cool.  I debated turning the sentiment into a wall hanging with brads and linen thread, but knew I wanted to use burlap ribbon, so I left it alone.

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The pearls were so fun to place.  I usually don’t use the largest ones that often, or so many, but this card called for it.  I might have to make an envelope for this one, I don’t think it will fit, or very well.  Works for me!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Affectionately Yours

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One sheet of awesome designer series paper can really do so much.  These bakers boxes are made showing similar embellishments, cut from the same die cue, but just different sides of the paper.  That is one thing I really do like about Stampin’ Up! designer paper.  They are two sided, so even if you might not favor one pattern, odds are you will like the other side. I have not been disappointed over the years, so let’s keep that one going!

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The bakers box thinlits die is so fun.  It also comes with a lot of other dies to add some fun, but I opted to not use them this time around.  I stuck with a floral theme throughout.  It has been a while since I pulled out my lovely little petite petals punch, such pretty little flowers. I like to give them a little texture by ‘coloring’ on them with a large rounded stylus on both sides.  Love that technique so much.

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This one got two little pansy punch windows put in to show the treats inside.  I added small pieces of window sheet to keep the treats inside, but decided to add a flower to the middle as well.  Cascading flowers down a gift box really make me smile.  I guess that is why I have been doing them for so many years.  Flowers never go out of style.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

I Do…

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

This is one huge, and most wonderful wedding card.  I think it is to the grandest scale I have done so far.  Must be because we are only a week away from our sons big day!  I think that I just might use this one for myself. I will have to think long and hard about what to write…

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This card measures 11 1/4 x 3 3/4″, how about that!  I used a sheet of 12 x 12 to put this one together.  The front is layered with a large piece of dazzling diamond glimmer paper with a special water color panel for the card front.  The lettering was done with the Larger Than Life Alphabet & Number stamp set.  It is, sad to say, retiring.  Along with this beautiful Lost Lagoon color.

I spent quite a bit of time moving ink along this piece.  Painting, distressing, drying, and then repeating all of that until I liked what I saw.  The stamping was simple.  The first layer was done with lost lagoon and then again with silver encore ink.  The result gave a shadow look, but it is still two dimensional and flat as can be.  The flowers aren’t of course, and I love the look.  Kind of like blossoms traveling in the wind.  It will be interesting to try and create an envelope for this one, maybe it is too beautiful to put it in one. Hmmm….

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Awesomely Artistic with Watermelon Wonder

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The weekends seem to get busier all of the time.  I guess that is what happens when you have a child getting married soon.  Errands and then some.  I wouldn’t have it any other way though.  I enjoyed some relaxing time yesterday afternoon finishing this gift set I actually started Friday night.  Talk about being busy.

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With my love of water color, you would have thought the card came first.  Not this time.  I started with this awesome designer series paper and made an adorable gift bag.  You would think I had tons of gifts to give all of the time with the amount of bags I make, not true though.  I just love to make them.  I do share them with others though, usually as a gift to use for others.  They all find happy homes, I promise.

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I did try something new with the card though.  The dragonflies were stamped in versamark on the water color paper, not new there.  I used iridescent ice on them, also not new. However, using them together as a resist for water coloring is new.  As color was applied the resist was pretty neat, not as clean as embossing powder, but still holding up.  I decided to add silver ink as well and then it changed even more.  The silver ink clung to the images more than the watermelon wonder ink did.  The look is fantastic, don’t you think? I added a little bit of silver metallic thread and five clear sequins to finish off the look.  Just divine.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

A Little Organization Please?

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Sitting down to have a little fun and make something pretty can be cut short if you aren’t organized.  This can often happen when I get a little extra filing built up.  What does a crafter need to file?  More than you might think.  What I get built up is extra kits from workshops.  I used to just break them back down and file the unused paper back.  But I have found that it is a great way to make a quick card if you have materials all cut and ready to go.

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I don’t have to make the exact project, but the cutting is done.  All there is to do is pick a fun stamp or two and maybe a punch and it is ready.  For a busy mom on the go, the constant go, a quick creative burst is always needed.  So this morning I put this little number together and cleared up those kits.  Feels really good and looks adorable.  I love being able to make just what I need.

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Have a creative day!

Moana

Shine On Birthday Gift

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It seems like I have gift bags and boxes on the brain lately.  Nothing to be done about that but enjoy the ride.  This one was a touch different than my usual, but only because I wanted to show both sides of this awesome craft card stock.

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I created a tall slender gift bag using the entire sheet of paper.  I gave additional score lines along the center of the side panels for a much easier fold when the bag was shut.  The tops of the sides were removed which left me with these pretty top flaps, which when folded over showed the foil patterned side.  So very pretty.  The pack has several prints and the paper is very hearty.  You could really put heavy items in these and they will be quite secure.

I hadn’t had out my trusty petite petals punch for quite some time.  Kind of like a long lost friend.  It sits on its shelf, along with the others, but other toys were getting more use.  When I was at a bit of a loss as to how I wanted to finish off the embellishments, there it was.  Worked like a charm and made me very happy with the results.  Now I will have to make a card to match it instead of the other way around.  Something different for a change is nice.

101_1174 copy

Have a creative day!

Moana

Delightful Birthday

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It has been a while since I made a matching set like this.  For a while it seemed like I couldn’t get enough of them.  But, you can only use so many, and share so many, and eventually store so many.  I took a break, but found my way back.  So much fun!

Delightful Birthday

One full sheet of the wonderful ‘Color Me Irresistible Specialty DSP’ was used to makey great set. I love that is has white sheets that can be altered to any color or tone, but I also love that it comes in colors and patterns.  The options are great, so diverse.

Delightful Birthday

A pretty gift bag with a lovely matching card has to be one of my favorite things.  I think people feel special when the attention to details are brought together like this.  The assembly was pretty direct, nothing very fancy.  Simple work and lovely results, my favorite.

Delightful Birthday

Have a creative day!

Moana

Floral Gift Bag

~ moanaj ~ 2 Comments

The seasons are all backwards, so why not create a spring themed gift bag!  Seems kind of silly to really feel like fall might have arrived, then summer heat, then what.  Who knows, so I will craft what I like, and I like this.

Floral Gift Bag

One whole sheet of 12 x 12 dsp went into this bag.  The dots are too much cuteness, so they had to be out front.  I wasn’t feeling a particular stamp, so I curled a couple of flaps over to show the writing side.  This paper pack is so adorable.  A bunch of bright and happy paper going on.

Floral Gift Bag

The diagonal scoring plate is what helped this box happen.  I scored on the 3″ marker, on the diagonal, on each corner.  It worked out pretty darn good.  I don’t always feel confident my scoring is accurate when using the diagonal plate, but when putting the bag together, my sides and corners matched up.  Go me!

Floral Gift Bag

A few punches from the heavy whisper white cardstock and regal buttons for centers made the embellishments I wanted.  The bag was sealed, but not sealed, with a stretch of dotted lace trim.  It is stretched around the top, under the front and back flaps, and then tied in a bow.  Just untie it and the bag will flop open.  Easy to use and re-use.  My kind of bag.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Grateful

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It isn’t very often you get to design a special card like this one.  Tomorrow will be me and my husbands 25th wedding anniversary and I feel truly grateful for every day we have loved together.

Grateful

I didn’t want to use a traditional ‘anniversary’ stamp or theme.  That isn’t how I feel.  I feel gratitude.  Having a lasting marriage isn’t the norm these days and I feel very fortunate to be among those who get to celebrate like this.  Hence the grateful sentiment.

Grateful

This card was made with the ever so lovely heavy weight whisper white cardstock.  I love that stuff like crazy.  Especially when embossed.  It handles the embossing folders so much better.  Look at that texture!  The flowers are my favorite, like always.  They were attached with glue dots and given a basic rhinestone center.  Just right.  Now, about the grateful phrase.  That thinlit will be available for order on September 1st, but since I am a demonstrator I got to get in on the pre-order during August.  Such a fun perk.  So, you can get to it too, soon.

Grateful

I wanted it to be dimensional a bit, so I used glue dots on it too.  I rolled a glue dot up a bit and stuck it on thicker parts of the word.  I ended up using four dots all together and it turned out great.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Floral Gift Box

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When my daughter came home this week for her university break she brought this little birdhouse box with her.  My mother had given it to her to deliver to me to try and create a version of it.

Floral Gift Box

I don’t have a diecut that would do this, so I had to think it out a little bit.  Although I had several frustrations, I ended up with something cute.

Floral Gift Box

I started out with a piece of paper 7″ x 8.5″.  I scored along the 8.5″ side at 2, 4, 6, and 8″ leaving an edge of a half inch.  I turned it one quarter around and scored it at 2″.  This became the bottom.  Along the top, with the long scores going up, I proceeded to cut with my trimmer, not scissors.  I cut along the score lines down to 2.5″ on all score lines.  This gave the top flaps.  Two of them were punched with the scallop tag topper and the other two were trimmed down a bit.  My design became a bit flawed and I had to improvise a bit.

Floral Gift Box

I stamped the paper with versamark ink and applied white embossing powder to give me the cute little flowers you see.  They turned out so pretty.  The rest of the box assembly was pretty basic.  I know I don’t give a lot of detail, I get impatient.  I am working on it.

Have a creative day.

Moana

Timeless Elegance Birthday

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Well, this was to be yesterday’s post.  Talk about an adventure.  I think I killed my laptop.  Apparently it isn’t a good idea to drop your full cup of drink and have it spill all over the keyboard and stuff.  Who knew.  Either way, moving forward.

Timeless Elegance Birthday

Could this paper be any more beautiful?  I could probably open a pack and just project away until it was empty.  It truly is my favorite.  Elegant and so simple.

Timeless Elegance Birthday

Just some simple layering, one stamp, five punched flowers with tiny pearls at each center, dotted the “i” with a pearl, and laid down a string of pearls under ‘birthday’.  There you go.

Timeless Elegance Birthday

 

I did make a project for today, but I will be saving that for tomorrow.  Wait til you see what I did with a tiny cup die cut from my paper pumpkin kit.  Oh My Goodness, just amazing!

Have a creative day!

Moana

You’ve Got This

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I love beautiful paper, just love it.  This Timeless Elegance set is truly wonderful to work with.  Once I cut this piece for a card front the rest of the card came together so easily.

You've Got This

The card base is very vanilla with a narrow background of the same color.  It isn’t easy to see, but it gives it just the right touch.  The stamping was also done on the same color and cut out with the tags and labels framelits.  That new set makes me very happy.  I like a tighter border in layering and this set does it well.

You've Got This

Of course everything is layered up on dimensionals, I have to have that.  And that ribbon.  I just got this one and couldn’t wait to use it.  The stitched satin ribbon is lovely, just lovely.  A pretty bow and then on to flowers.

You've Got This

The petite petal punch and the flower from the itty bitty accents punch pack make it work.  I filled the corner up nicely and gave everyone basic pearls in the center.  Simple and yet very elegant.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Cucumber Crush Party

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Getting back into the groove can be a bit slow at first.  I also gave myself a challenge this morning by making cucumber crush my main color.  We haven’t become friends just yet, so I thought we needed some together time.  I helped it find a friend in blushing bride, and I like how it worked out.

Cucumber Crush Party

I used a full sheet to make this pretty gift bag.  I stamped the background paper with the fun leaf from the Kinda Eclectic set.  Loved it.  I used it full strength some, but mostly stamped it off once first.  I like how different this color looks at different strengths.

Cucumber Crush Party

I sometimes stop myself from using flowers, because I feel like I really get them everywhere.  I just love flowers!  So, I didn’t hold back at all here.  I usually stamp off blushing bride, but it needed to be strong to work with this fun green.  The combo is full of life.  I think a yellow would have paired nicely, but I had to stop somewhere.

Cucumber Crush Party

These pretty clear faceted buttons are so fun to use.  It helped me finish up this gift bag nicely.  Sometimes I go overboard on bling, but not today.  I wasn’t sure when I started this project, but I love how it ended up.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Lullaby Gift Carton

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

It has been a while since I have scattered flowers across a project like this.  But sometimes, you just really want to.  I like trying an unlikely pairing and seeing how it turns out.  Especially when it works!

Lullaby Gift Carton

I started with the paper, thought of the cute baby tag idea and decided it needed flowers.  Even though we traditionally put boys with blue and not flowers so much, doesn’t mean we have to stick to it.

Lullaby Gift Carton

It would be easy enough to swap out the tag for something else though.  I do like a versatile project, don’t you?

Lullaby Gift Carton

Each day brings me new opportunities to stretch my mind and try to challenge myself without too much frustration. Quite the interesting balance sometimes.

Have a creative day!

Moana

So Much Joy

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

There is so much joy in every day life, why not in our cards and paper projects too?

So Much Joy

When I saw this weeks specials on the Stampin’Up! site I knew I had to break out some tools and make something special with them together.  Both framelits shown here plus the large pansy punch are all on sale.  Plus a few other goodies that I don’t have, yet.  I love a good sale!

So Much Joy

I grabbed a piece of paper from the birthday bash set to set the color stage and gave it some friends with crushed curry and tangelo twist.  Good friends.  I knew I wanted to make a gate fold card and decided to anchor the fold with a flower.  Since it was going to be layered, I knew it needed some strength.

So Much Joy

Enter the awesome huge designer vintage faceted buttons.  They are so fabulous!  Just when you think you couldn’t possibly use a button that large, bam!  The perfect choice!

So Much Joy

Lots of sponging, some glue dots, and a few dimensionals and here is another great set!  I love it when everything comes together to create beauty like this.

Have a creative day!

Moana

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

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I have Easter on the brain and these are the colors that keep coming to mind.  So saffron and pear pizzazz.  They are so lovely together.  This might suggest I am ready for Easter.  Ooops, I am not.  I still have a bit of time though.

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

So, are you a card person, a bag or box person, or do you need a matching set?  I keep going back and forth.  But I do like a bag that is beautiful enough to be a card as well.  This bag is big enough to hold a nice gift for sure.  Almost too big for candies.  Wait, is there a bag too big for candies?

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

I used the same stamp to decorate each piece to tie the set together.  But, since they have the same sentiment, I wouldn’t use them together.  They just coordinate nicely.

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

Either way, I enjoyed making them.  I also hadn’t had the work of art set out for a while.  That one just begs for a quiet afternoon to play with it.  When does that happen anymore?

Mixed Bunch Work of Art

Well, I am off with my girls to enjoy our first day of spring break.  Shopping and nails then lunch.  Wonderful for sure!

Have a creative day!

Moana

Back to Black Throw Back Thursday

~ moanaj ~ 1 Comment

I let myself get so caught up in the fun of the spring and sale-a-bration catalogs that I neglected one of my favorites.  Digging into old product and paying homage.

Back to Black

It might be hard to tell just what is retired here, because it looks familiar.  Well, the pool party paper used here is the retired version.  If you look closely, you can see some of the texture.  Remember that?  Just a subtle thing, but nice.  Also, how about all of that bling?  I was quite generous with the rhinestones, even the retired ones.  Yup, the large rhinestones.  When they hit the clearance rack, I bought a bunch.  It will be sad when that stash is gone, but that won’t be any time soon.

Back to Black

I might have used all of the floral punches, but one.  Have to love a good floral card and matching box right?  Now it just needs something fabulous to go inside.  How about some jewelry or truffles?  I like it.

Back to Black

If you want to re-create any of these, just get out your back to black dsp, all of your floral punches, pool party paper and matching ribbon, and a healthy stash of basic rhinestones.  I took the guesswork out of the box and used my box punch board.  You might notice all the lift.  Of course there is a serious dimensional party going on here too.  So, join in!

Have a creative day!

Moana

B.Y.O.P. Trio

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How about waking up to this bundle of sunshine!  I’ve noticed that I have migrated to yellows quite a bit.  It must be a bit of spring fever in the air.  I know it is only February, but with how warm it has been, everything is bright and in bloom.  Just like this bundle.

B.Y.O.P.

This awesome stamp set B.Y.O.P. has the best sayings ever.  If you are a gift card giver, this is the set for you.  It has sentiments for everything and they range from funny to nice to just right.  I’m telling you, just awesome!

B.Y.O.P.

The products are pretty basic here today.  I think it is obvious that I love flowers.  There are four different floral punches and even a floral die cut.  Yup, I love flowers.

B.Y.O.P.

The color scheme is all about crushed curry.  That is one of the colors used in the free designer series paper pack.  The ribbon and buttons are also from a coordinating set.  Also free.  Don’t you love that?

B.Y.O.P.

So, no matter what kind of gift giver you are, this totally works.  But really, giving a gift card can look kind of tiny, even though it can be just right.  Why not give it a beautiful wrapping?

Have a creative day!

Moana

Tickled Pink with Flamingo Lingo

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Well, doesn’t this just shout Good Morning?  Absolutely, with a giggle I am sure.

Flamingo Lingo

This stamp set, Flamingo Lingo, is the set that has been waiting for me.  Since it had to wait so long, I thought I would do it a service and give it my new favorite one two combo.  I just love putting half of a sentiment on the card and finishing it on a bag or box.  Perfect right?

Flamingo Lingo

I thought about adding more color and making it look a little more tropical, but with a phrase like ‘Tickled Pink’ I stuck with this lovely melon mambo.

Flamingo Lingo

I like this one so well I think it will be one of my projects for workshop this weekend.  Yes, definitely.

Flamingo Lingo

Find a color and just go with it!  I seem to be playing that game a bit these days and I love how it turns out.

Have a creative day!

Moana