Paper Piercing and Roses

Well...here I am after a couple of weeks. I made this card a while ago but have suffered from what my husband calls "a brain fart", lol (I hope that wording does not offend anyone) I just could not think of a thing to write. Finally, I decided to just sit down, type and hope that it all makes sense.

Thank you Checkerbeads and Lisa808, for answering the question I asked in my last post. Both of these wonderful ladies have fantasic blogs full of beautiful and unique creations which you can find by clicking on their names. I am glad that you said you don't mind reading the supplies" through out the post. To be honest, I really am not sure how to write any other way than to "talk" in it :o)

I did decide, though, to add a list of supplies at the bottom of my posts for those who are short on time and are not able to read the whole post.

I absolutely love paper piercing, paper stitching and paper tole. The past few months, I have not had much time to do so because of babysitting my grandson. But...I had to take the past 6 weeks off of sitting due to some surgery I had. Yee haw...time to do my fav!

This is a paper pricking pattern from Fred She Said that comes in the kit called "Diamond Rose w/Paper Pricking Pattern". Such a pretty pattern. I have seen lots of people color in part of patterns (especially those who do paper stitching) and wanted to give it a try. With a such a simple pattern, it was soooo easy to do.

I am not sure if you can tell, but I used 3 paper piercing tools on this, each in a different size. The largest for the leaves, mid size for the flourished and the smallest for the vine in the leaves. Of course, pearls are a must!

This rose is from the same kit. In Photoshop Elements, I cropped off the paper piercing pattern on the corners, deleted the pre-colored background (using the wonderful Magic Wand) and printed the rose 4 times. I made the rose 4 layers but the top and bottom leaves only 2 layers.

If you look closely at the first 2 photos in this post, you can see I replaced the deleted background color with a softer one using chalk.

For the base of the card I used the Ruche paper I purchased from Paper Temptress. What I really like about this paper is that it adds a nice texture without having to pull out embossing templates and my big shot (saves time, tee he he). The colors tend to better match my color schemes than other papers also.

I just love this patten paper called English Rose by Kaiser Craft, which a dear friend Elizabeth gave me. Wasn't that just the sweetest!!! She has a beautiful blog called Visions Of Paper, which has the loveliest creations, that you can get to HERE.

This is 12 x 12 paper which I very rarely use since the patterns are much bigger than I think look good on a card. I find this paper not only beautiful, but easily cut so that the pattern doesn't make the card looked cluttered with the larger images.

I very rarely use rub-ons on paper either. These rub-ons go on so easily and completely, I just can't help but use them to snaz up the card. In 2 photos, above you can see the 5 flower and 4 leaf rub-ons I used for the inside of the front. 

In the photo just above that one (3rd one up) you can see how well they rub on and adhere to the paper. You can't even tell they are rub-ons, they look so much like a part of the paper. I just love that, since one of the reasons I don't like rub-ons is the "frame" (for lack of a better word) around the image.

You can barely see it here unless you click on the photo, but I added some rub-on words to the left center rose and the lower left corner of the opposite side.

Phewww...I guess I was not lacking words to write, lol. Thank you so much for stopping by!

• Image: Fred She Said Diamond Rose w/Paper Pricking Pattern
• Pricking Pattern: Fred She Said Diamond Rose w/Paper Pricking Pattern
• Paper: Ruche from paper Temptress, English Rose by Kaiser Craft, Neenah Classic, layer under main image is from SU though I don't remember what color
• Rub-ons: Part of the English Rose Paper Collection
• Accessories: Jet Ink Printer, Paper piercers, chalk, dimensionals, pearls from Pizzazz Aplenty, 2mm   ribbon from Hanky Panky Crafts (sorry I don't remember which color this is), copic markers for around the cut layers

{{{HUGS}}}

Paper Piercing Butterflies And A Couple Of Questions

I am so excited that I was able to do something in the craft room this week. Using the big shot kind of gave me some stomach cramping, but nothing that would keep me from playing!

I received this template in about 3 weeks ago from Ecstasy Crafts. It is weird that it has no name, only being listed as "exclusive small template". It comes with a piercing/embossing mat that is the perfect size for the template, which is nice especially for the low price.

Anyway...After embossing it the first time, I tried to color it with my copics. WOW...what a mess it was. The colors bled so bad, which surprised me. I really thought that copics dried fast on anything.

For the corners I used part of a flower flourish that is on the template. Really wish I could have colored them, but with the embossing you can still tell they are flowers, lol. HMMMMMM..I am wondering now if color pencils would have worked. Funny I don't think of these things until talking (typing, lol) about it.

I was able to use spray adhesive on the butterfly die cut to adhere it to the vellum, but it did not work to adhere the vellum to the shimmery base paper. I ended up using my ATG which, surprisingly, did not show through. Good to know!

The edge embossing is also made up of 2 flourishes on the template plus a tiny flower centered on each edge.

This flourish was cut out from the same homemade paper as the butterfly die cut. I have had this paper for years and finally found something to use it on. I pull it out all the time and it never seemed to go with anything I was doing. Coloring it with a copic made it a bit darker than I expected, so I covered it with some stickles.

It always amazes me that the camera picks up details that the eye does not see. In real life the flourish looks completely and evenly covered, but in the photo it looks the opposite. I wonder if I should not have gotten such a good camera, lol

Here is a "bow" I made...ha ha ha...doesn't look like a bow because of the type of ribbon. It is a 3 loop "bow". It looks to me that if I made it a 4 loop "bow", it would have looked like a flower. I'll have to try that next time.

This is all those things put together to made the front of the card, lol

The butterfly embossed paper I used under the vellum only comes in white. I used my brilliance blue ink pad to color it. I have no idea how others get the embossing to stay white when doing this. I just could not get the butterflies to stay white no matter how much pressure I put on the ink pad. Do any of you know the trick to this? Though it doesn't look bad this way, I think that if the ink did not get into the embossing, the white butterflies would have really looked pretty.

I have never used the smaller dies from this set, though I have used the large one quite a few times. Figured I should finally give them a chance. This tiny embossed butterfly, which does have some piercing around it, is also on the template.

Here is the inside. I only used the tiny, tiny pearls here, as opposed to a larger size in the butterflies on the front. I figured that would make it easier to write the note. I really like how the flourishes looks here. When I was finished the inside, I thought "wow, I think I like this better than the outside" tee he he
Thank you all for sticking with me though I have not been able to post often. I am not as tired as I have been, so am looking forward to checking out your blogs and leaving comments this coming week.

I also have my Egg Transformer blog finished as well as the Etsy store. All I need to do is take photos and plug them in. I have been told by a few people that I should also sell some of my eggs in the Etsy store. What do you think?

I have another question for you all. I have noticed that several blogs just list the items used at the end of their post rather than talking about them in the post. I suppose that would make the post shorter, which is most likely better to read, but I am not sure. Do you prefer the items listed at the end?
{{{HUGS}}}

Suede Paper Tri-fold

I had some major surgery a little bit ago. I was so tired, to tired to even think about what to write on the blog. I also could not bend or stretch enough to take photos of the 1 card I was able to make. I am feeling so much better now, so here it is.

This tri-fold card is made using some designer paper called English Rose that a dear friend, Elizabeth from Visions Of Paper, sent me. One of the sheets in this set has flocked flourishes and I so much wanted to use it. I decided to use my much beloved and hoarded suede paper with it.

The die cut is from Cheery Lynn Designs called Waltzing Matilda Doily Die. I also purchased the matching Angel Wings. That is what made the matching layer under the die cut. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that the bottom layer was larger than the die cut, but rather than cutting it down, I decided to just go with it.

The ribbon is stitched velvet that I used my copic markers on to have the stitches match the paper.

Here you can see the suede look of the paper on the top right of the photo. I also used suede paper for the corners. I used a squarish die cut, cutting it diagonally to make the corner. I am sorry, but I don't remember the name of this die.

The actual score of the fold is not a single score line like most cards are, so as to accommodate the inside embellishments. I made 2 score lines 1/8" apart. If you click on the photo, you can see that I used the same velvet ribbon as the front of the card along this 1/8" fold, minus the copic color along the stitching. Why not the copic, well...I just did not think to do it until just now, lol

I used the awesome flourish jewel templates from Bazzill to make this pearl flourish. These help making your own flourishes evenly spaced. (you can tell that 2 of my pearls fell off and I reapplied them unevenly, lol)

See those pretty rose/leaf/flourish designs along the bottom and edges of the side panels. Those are rub-ons that came with the English Rose paper. I hardly ever use rub-ons but these are so pretty. And they rubbed on perfectly and easily, even over the flocked flourishes on this paper. It is hard to tell that they are not printed right on the paper!

This flower vine is from Prisma. The flowers have a velvet look to them which totally matched the paper.

The sentiment is on the bottom of the right panel. It is also a rub-on from the set. I just love this sentiment.

I think I am going to use this card as a "Thank You" to my wonderful church family for providing meals for my husband and I as I recuperate. How blessed I am to have such a wonderful church to go to and loving church family.

Hugs...

Paper Punch Flower

Woooh, I have been so busy that I have become a bad, bad blogger! As I said a couple of posts ago, I am taking an on-line quilling class at My Creative Classroom. Sheesh, I am as bad at that as I have been at blogging. I finally figured it is like learning the piano, lots of boring practice before you can play Mozart, lol.

I am also taking a class there to open an Etsy store. I could probably figure it out myself, but this seemed so much easier than trial and error. It really is, but going slow.

I have also been working with someone to design a blog exclusively for my egg art. It is pretty much finished now. All I have to do is redo the home page pictures and little notes. The blog itself is finally finished. One needs to click on "blog" on top of the home page though and that took me a few minutes to figure out when she had me take my first look, lol

It is called "Egg Transformer" and you can find it here. The set up is so different due to the fact that it is Word Press rather than Blogger. I would LOVE to know what you think of it. So far I have only transferred my egg posts from here. I do have quite a few eggs that I will be photographing and posting on there soon.

Have you read this far? I try to keep my writting fairly short but I have so much going on that I wanted to share with you.

Now onto this post, lol,  which is kind of picture heavy.

I have an egg (yes, another egg) that has an opening cut out of the front which is surrounded with cutouts of butterflies. It is so pretty. What I want to do is make a nice butterfly garden in it with a trellis in the back and a birdbath in the center. In my mind it is so pretty, tee he he.

To have a proper butterfly garden, I wanted to have several different flowers as well as some vines going up the trellis. Maybe even a couple of butterfly bushes if I can figure out how to make them. The many different flowers turned out to be 10! WOW...this is only a goose egg, so I hope it all fits!

So far I have made 4 types. I have made a few more of each type of flower than what I photographed, but I think you will get the idea. You can click on any of the photos to see the fine paper tole details on the petals and leaves. It really adds a realistic look to them. I kind of hope you do so you can really see those details.

Queen Ann's Lace:

Cone Flowers:

Garden Holly Hock:

Lisiantus:

The lisianthus are supossed to be white on the inside bottom of the petals. I am not fond of them that way, but nature certainly knows better than I do. 

What do you think?

I have a card all planned out in my head that I am going to make this afternoon. I had previously ordered several new toys that I just need to play with, lol

HAVE A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY WEEKEND!

Easy Candle Holders

Walking through Micheal's (or it could have been ACMoore) I found these awesome rub-ons in a section where they had all kinds of wall decals and such. They were so pretty I purchased several of them. Not only are the images lovely, but they are glittered! Who doesn't like flowers, butterflies, birds and dragonflies!

They have been sitting in my sticker drawer since. When I cleaned out my craft room, I pulled them out, placed them on my desk and vowed to use them. After racking my mind for a few weeks, I decided to use them on some candle holders I got for $1 at the Yankee Candle Shop.

Here is a close up of one of the rub-ons on a candle holder. Can you see all the pretty glitter! Love, love, love it.

 I found that since these rub-ons are quite thick, I needed to pre-heat the glass before rubbing them. WOW, was my hand sore from rubbing before I figured this out. The only hard part after that was touching the glass while it was still hot. The rub-ons practically adhered themselves, so I did not have to hold the candle holder long!

There are a couple of "cracks" in the image since it had to be wrapped not only around, but curved around the upper lip. They are so small that you can't really see them though.

This is what they look like next to one another. I am not sure why the tall one looks crooked. Must have been the angle of the camera. As you can see in the above pictures, it really is straight. I made each one slightly different because I really like them that way...AND...I did not have enough identical rub-ons to make them all the same even if I wanted to anyway.

You can't see the images on them to well in this photo, but in real life they really came out so pretty. The best thing about them is that the flowers match the ones I have hanging on my walls.

I have not lit them yet, but I have tried this before and did light them to make sure the rub-on's would not melt or warp. The did not, yayyy! I am guessing it is because they are quite thick. I do suppose they would have softened and been quite easy to rub off, but who would want to try that, lol

Well, I am off to try my hand at quilling again, sigh. Since I paid for the class I at least want to finish all the "homework" and get some advice on how to make it "easier". I did find that my problem with getting the twirled paper to behave might have been the weather. Sonya, the "teacher", told me she has the hardest time getting hers to behave when they have a drought. I am so hoping that was the problem and not that I have just stubborn paper.

Hugs,