Coral and Gold Wedding / Anniversary Card with Woodgrain and Roses

This week's ColourQ has had me thinking and planning ever since Tuesday, but

I was out of town and couldn't do anything about those ideas until now.

And wouldn't you know--

I still haven't gotten any of those ideas out in paper because

new ones took over.  I got a little carried away, but I think it's OK.

Jay (my card-making buddy) was crafting with me again today
while Robin read us a couple of books.
Thus the sentiment du jour made its way to center-stage.
 

 

I just love this sentiment.  It will be perfect as a special anniversary or wedding card.

I added a little bit of embossing inside the white roses to carry the
gold woodgrain background and gold edge-embossing of the tag
over into the embellishments for continuity.

 

We'll see if I can get around to those original ideas before the ColourQ challenge

deadline hits.  I'll have to monitor how this carpal tunnel thing is going after the weekend.

Coloring has been *really* tough of late,

so I'm trying to avoid having to grasp a small tool like a pencil for extended periods.

We'll just see how it goes, day by day until baby H arrives! :)

 

 

ColourQ #343: 

 Allsorts #365: In the Pink

(Coral pink)

 

 Alphabet Challenge: G for Girlie

Fussy Fridays #164: Dies and/or Punches

Word Art Wednesday #233: ATG / Family Friendly 

Suffer the Children to Come to Me

 

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {Textured white for base - DCWV; Berry sorbet - Papertrey Ink}

Patterned papers {Metallic Gold Woodgrain - Recollections}

Leaf outline stamp {In Bloom set - Papertrey Ink}
Kraft label tag {Recollections}

Flourish frame die {Spellbinders}

Clear sentiment sticker {The Paper Studio, family collection}

Gold superfine embossing powder {Recollections}

ZIG glue pen (outline label and add gold embossed detail in roses)

White paper roses {Recollections and The Paper Studio}

Burlap bow, gold brads {The Paper Studio}

Champagne / gold gems {Darice}

Floral stem leaf, gingham ribbon, doily, cotton twine {stash}

 

Finished inside, embossed in gold using blossom outline
and snow/splatters from Altenew.
You can't see it because of the shadows, but the black mat paper
is actually a metallic script over black.

 

I wish the metallic gold woodgrain texture would show in these photos but... alas.

You will have to use imagination.

 

Thank you so much for visiting!

I hope you will take just a second and

enter for my Spring Giveaway before you go!

Inlinkz is so quick and I've opened the giveaway to both US and

International crafters as well.

Picture and link are on my right-hand sidebar. :)

Take care and

Be well,

 

--Kathryn

 

 

Motherhood in Blue

Good morning!  I've spent a wonderful, unexpected but
relaxing and refreshing week with family

and now I'm back with lots of ideas.

But first off, as guest designer for Fantasy Stampers' 2nd challenge for May,
it's time for the midway motivation post:

All About the Girl

 

Now I've had a good long think about this one--mostly because,

since I'm pregnant with our 3rd, EVERYONE now asks,

"Is it a girl this time?  Don't you wish it was a girl?"

Right there in front of my boys,

as if I had been cheated,

or as if having boys was some kind of bad luck,

or as if no one would blame me for regretting something.

And while every mom of all boys that I've ever met will pretty much tell you they LOVE IT,

somehow people just don't understand.

Even when my smile is huge and I say, "Nope!  We've got another boy and it's GREAT!"

they want me to get a female pet at least, "so you're not outnumbered."

Well, technically, I was outnumbered when I had my first boy, you know.

And let me tell you,

THIS ONE GIRL COUNTS FOR A LOT.

 

When it comes down to it, I feel pretty happy with things as they are.

I get to be the princess every time.

They take pretty good care of me,

and I'm doing my level best to raise real gentlemen.

And to do that,

it's all about Mom's influence,

Mom being there.

For a little while, I'm the number one girl in their world

and I aim to teach them as best I can while I have that trust and teaching opportunity.

To be where I am when I'm there.

To be there for them, so that they know I always will be.

 

So this week at Fantasy Stampers, it's All About the Girl--

and for this girl, that means it's also all about my boys
and my own identity as a joyful mother.

  

This tag will be a nice decoration for a baby shower gift,
as I have a number of friends who are also expecting.
It's nice to discuss the quiet beauty of motherhood,
rather than just the easy gripes over frustrations, sleeplessness and labor.
I try hard to let them know that their role is special,
that the time with their babies is precious and even sacred.
I'll probably need some reminding of that myself from time to time
as I go through the newborn stage again with baby H over the next few months,
But it truly is wonderful.
We all need reminders that the work we do as mothers is essential and special.

So to all you mothers reading this,

PLEASE REMEMBER:
You are valued, amazing, and essential.
Your role is one that no one else can take.
Your privilege to bridge eternity is not one to take lightly.
You are capable, courageous and stronger than you think.
You cradle, coach and counsel generations.
You cannot possibly imagine
how far-reaching will be the effects of your influence.

God bless you!

 

 Here are the challenges:

 

Just Add Ink #313: Just Add "B"

I thought it would be fun to challenge myself even more and use ALL "B"'s for my tag.

So here they are:

Baby Boy

Blue (Monochrome)

Burlap, Button, Bow
Butterflies
Blossom Background

 

Fusion Challenge: Something Blue

I've used both the blue theme and the sketch this time.

 

 ModSquad: Use it or Lose it

(First ink on an old unmounted rubber stamp from 100 Proof Press)

Shopping Our Stash #253: Anything but a Card 

 

Word Art Wednesday #233: ATG (Family Friendly)

 

 

Materials Used on this Tag:
Tag base {Recollections}
Cardstock, Patterned paper {Papertrey Ink}
Main image stamp {100 Proof Press}
Background Stamps {Snow/Splatters & Blossom outline - Altenew}
Dye ink (splatters) {Blueberry sky - Papertrey Ink}
Brown pigment inks {Craftsmart & Stampendous}
Distress Ink {Antique linen - Tim Holtz / Ranger}
Deckle edge ruler {Westcott}
Glimmer mist {Pearl white - Tattered Angels}
Sentiment sticker {The Paper Studio}
Classic butterfly punch, border punch {Martha Stewart - 2009}
Burlap paper {DCWV}
Copic Sketch markers / Watercolor pencil
Button, cotton twine



Thank you so much for visiting!

I hope you will take just a second and

enter for my Spring Giveaway before you go!

Inlinkz is so quick and I've opened the giveaway to both US and

International crafters as well.

Picture and link are on my right-hand sidebar. :)

Take care and

Be well,

 

--Kathryn

 

 

Cheerful Rain Boots and May Showers - Clean & Layered Card

We are finally getting our "April" rain here. 

Someone must have forgotten to tell Mother Nature

to flip her calendar because this April and May have,

until recently, been two of the driest we can remember in our region.

The birds are out enjoying themselves tremendously though and

my bird-watching buddies and I have really enjoyed observing them.

 

And thank goodness I found some rain boots that fit the boys
a few weeks ago, because this spring rain

has been just right for stomping. 

 

All together, It's put me in a happy rainy mood.

So here you are....

  

I triple-masked a single boot and sentiment stamp to make this card.

First the foreground boot, masking off the sentiment.

Next the background boot, masking off the first boot.

I did this twice in order to fussy cut one set and get some dimension.  Then

I masked around the pair of boots to do the gray rain splatters

using Altenew's snow mini-stamp.

The sentiment is actually the side-piece of the mask, which has been

overstamped a couple of times.  I didn't bother to include the whole thing,

since the "April Showers Bring May Flowers" saying

pops to mind as soon as you see even portions of the words.

 

My clouds are hand-cut and then I used a tissue wiped in

London Fog Memento ink to streak some very light shadows and cloudbursts.

 

 The sunshine is a fussy-cut flower center from the Happy Day Papertrey ink set.

Here are the challenges!  I particularly liked the layered
triangles of this sketch, and that's what gave me the idea to mask all the elements
instead of a more straightforward stamp-and-go approach.  I still have some
more ideas brewing for this sketch though, so CAS{E} hasn't seen the last of me this week ;).
 

CAS{E} this Sketch #173:

 

 

PALS Paper Arts #301: Color challenge from Rae Harper

Great colors, what can I say?

Aqua I've always loved.  Yellows are a fairly new thing for me,

but I like it. I'm not so much a pop-of-pink decorator in my home or wardrobe,

but the mustard yellows I really enjoy. 

Just ask my fabric stash sometime.

 

Other challenges:

 

Fashionable Stamping #111: Blots and Splashes (2nd entry)

*I can assure you that 'blots and splashes' were CERTAINLY on my mind

 on this rainy rainy day as the boys put their rain boots on...

and came in for an early bath.  Splish splash everywhere!

 

Creative Knockouts #142: Finish the Inside

 The aqua misting rain on the inside is difficult to pick out in this photo...
my apologies.

 

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {White; Aqua mist - Papertrey Ink}  

Stamps {Studio G; Altenew; Papertrey Ink}

Inks {glacier Lake - Colorbox; London Fog - Memento;

Harvest gold, Lemon Tart - Papertrey Ink}

Glossy Accents {Ranger}

Sparkle embossing powder {Recollections}

Thank you SO MUCH for visiting!

I hope you will take just a second and

enter for my Spring Giveaway before you go.

I've opened the giveaway to both US and

International crafters as well.

Picture and link are on my right-hand sidebar. :)

 

Take care,

Be well,

and enjoy the rainshowers!

--Kathryn

 

 

Maritime Natural History Card - Felicitations

Evening, all!  I have a card here that I've been really looking forward
to sharing with you, but had to wait until it had reached its final destination
first, so as not to spoil the surprise :).

I'm also a bit late due to a particularly exciting arrival...but more on that later ;)

It's a Vintage Maritime / Natural History inspired card
and pulls together all kinds of things that I love:
vintage ephemera, nautical history, naturalism and natural history,
botanical illustration (inside detail), wood and knot-work.

 

Since the recipient of this card in the Card Chain is a native French-speaker,

I used a French sentiment so that she can use it the more easily.
My father and brother both spent two years in France.
My French is rusty indeed, but I think could pick it up again with practice.  I'm trying
to introduce the boys to French phrases as I can.
When I do it in public though, people must think elle est Canadienne
and so they speak v-e-r-y  s-l-o-w-l-y.
Until my own kids answer in perfect English, that is.

 

These big bows are so fun to make.  I keep all the layers together with a few
quick stitches on my sewing machine, then cover the stitches with the wooden spool
or a flower, and finish with my favorite utility cotton twine.

This is the same twine that goes out with me to the garden to tie up blackberry canes
and other plants that have grown faster than expected.  The twine
that made the zillions of bows for my Etsy banners,
that gets cut-to-length to make cereal necklaces with the boys
and ties train car boxes together.  It's made homemade kites
and tied homemade birdfeeders to the garden arbor.






As for the inside, there's a nice patterned and edge-punched vellum insert for writing.
I was going for a sort of sheer-curtain effect that reminded me
of a pleasant dream I've always had of a remote tropical island or beach,
a bungalow and sheer curtains blowing free in the windows.
(We won't bother about the reality of mosquitos and such just now).

I also had in mind the symbolic palmettos of my home state while finishing the inside.
Deborah lets me know that I'm the first South Carolinian in the Card Chain,
which does make me smile.  So the palm tree is
a friendly from-my-side-of-the-Atlantic-to-yours kind of subtle detail,
from one card-maker to another.

 

As you can see I really am excited to be participating in the
Card Chain Challenge at Society of Stampaholics
with this one, utilizing the water theme for the month.  I think there was also an option
for buttons in there somewhere, but really that was an afterthought.

My partner is the talented Agata from Switzerland,
so as I said before, I wanted to do a trans-Atlantic sort of card for her
and the water theme worked out well.
I look forward to getting to know Agata a little better, as her blog demonstrates
some really fantastic scrapbooking in particular.

I won't be participating in the July card chain because, with a newborn
coming in just a couple of weeks, I'll be rather preoccupied.
But I look forward to hopefully participating again in the fall!
 

 

Materials Used on this Card:

Cardstock {kraft - Papertrey Ink}
Patterned papers {K & Company; American Crafts}
Vintage image {the Graphics Fairy}
Border embossing folder {Sizzix}
Chalkboard tag, Wooden spool {the Paper Studio}
Stamp, Ink {French Greetings & Fresh Snow ink - Papertrey Ink}
Thai braid trim
Burlap ribbon, cream grosgrain {Ribbon Boutique; Offray}
Glimmer mist Gold {Tattered Angels}
Wooden buttons {stash}
 

 

 Thank you so much for visiting.

Best wishes to you, be well, and always, always

enjoy life's sunshine.

Look for the sunshine.

Even, sometimes, make a little of your own to share.

The world needs the light of your goodness and your smile!

 

--Kathryn