Kennedy House ~ ScrapFIT Reveal Workout #66

What a gorgeous color combination for our Workout challenge at ScrapFIT!! I had so much fun working with these luscious colors ~ sand, mint, and cherry. 

When all the children were still at home we made an annual trip to Salt Fort State Park. While Gary and Joseph would go out fishing, the girls and I would take to the trails. One of the trails leads to the beautiful old stone Kennedy House. There is no road to the house, so the only way to get there was by the trails.

Here is my inspiration layout for you:

Workout #66 ~ Color/Photo Inspiration

Diana, our Creative Trainer, has put together this rigorous workout just for you! Let this color inspiration direct your Layout/Card/Paper Craft project! These colors are a beautiful combo of soft and subtle with a pop! Be sure to join us and stay on your FIT track with our Creative Trainer!

Our Sponsor for this Workout is My Divine Inspiration Etsy Shop

The prize is this wonderful embellishment package:

Be sure to drop by her Etsy shop to see all the wonderful goodies she sells. 

Techniques:

Layered Flower ~ I've enjoyed making these layered flowers lately. The bottom layer is a woven fabric cut on the Tattered Floral Die and inked with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. The next layer ~ the daisy-like green leaves were cut from a kraft color coffee filter. I love the texture in this paper with the miniature dots. They were inked with Iced Spruce Distress Ink. Next comes one of my hand crafted twine flowers created with a thinner hemp cord using my Twine Flower Tutorial. I topped that with two layers of red pearlized paper cut from the Donna Salazar Carnation Creations Spellbinder die set.  I wet the paper and pleated the petals. Then finally the center is a Petaloo flower center.  I cut this gorgeous mint Prima Pearl and Crystal flourish to use part of it here.

Carnation Flower ~ Again I used Red Pearl paper to cut a single flower with the Donna Salazar Carnation Creations die, wet the paper and pleated the petals. Once dry, I inked the edges with Pumice Stone Distress Ink. then folded it in half and in half again to form this carnation shape and layered the piece of Prima mint  pearl/crystal flourish over the folded edge. 

Sign ~ I cut the sign post from a very heavy cardstock using the Spellbinder Elegant Posts die. I painted it with a heavy coat of Gesso, then while wet applied the heat tool until it bubbled up. If the gesso doesn't bubble as much as you want, add more gesso and continue to heat. I tinted the gesso with some brown paint and also applied some Vintage Photo Distress Ink. A photo tutorial for this technique in a darker color can be found here.  I use mini 1/16 inch eyelets in the sign to hang it with chain from my stash. 

Doily ~ My doily was cut from the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge. Thanks for loaning me your cart, Mandy!! I then cut a circle of paper for the inside of the doily and distressed, inked and hand stitched the edges. Finally, I applied a couple layers of ATG adhesive on the back edge of the circle and then carefully applied the lace to the edge. 

Tag ~ I used the Tim Holtz 12 tags of 2012 April technique to create my tag using the reflections stamps and an embossing folder.  I created the stick pin with beads from my stash, and the crinkle ribbon was dyed with Distress Stain. I painted the word trinket with red paint and wiped it off leaving the word "Wander" much more visible. 

I hope you have been inspired to join us at ScrapFIT for this fabulous color challenge. Be sure to head over and check out the DT examples and link up your paper crafted project. 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments

~ Blessing ~

Easter Card - Bo Bunny Card Challenge Tuesday

Wishing each of you a blessed and joy-filled Easter. 

I have an Easter Card for you that I designed to enter the Bo Bunny Card Challenge Tuesday contest. The challenge is to use a shaped card and a handmade flower. Here is my card:

I posted an earlier version of this card last week, to show the butterfly made with the Tim Holtz March tag technique. I changed out the kraft layer in my flower to yellow and added the stick pin and some more inking. 

Here is a close-up of the flower. 

I have posted a tutorial for the twine flower portion of this layered flower. The other layers were cut with the Tattered Floral die. 

The shaped card was cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge by Close to My Heart. Thanks Mandy for letting me use it!! I cut the base card with white card stock and then cut the scalloped circle from Bo Bunny Barefoot and Bliss Word. The yellow layer in my flower and scalloped mat for my sentiment inside the card were also cut from this paper. I used snippets of Bo Bunny scraps I had in my stash for the butterfly and leaves. 

This was my first time at color work. I used the Berol Prismacolor Pencils and blending pencil. 

I went to my bead stash to create the stick pin. My former craft hobbies come in handy for scrapbooking! 

The leaves were cut with the Spellbinder Foliage dies, then crinkled and inked for dimension. 

If you're interested in participating in an online crop, head over to Scrap-Friendzy to see the great challenges that are being posted. The crop starts today with three challenges, and there will be 2 more challenges posted each day through Thursday. You'll have until April 15 to complete your paper craft projects to have your name in the hat for the Hippity Hop Crop grand prize and til the end of the month to be entered for the Girlfriend of the month prize and honors. I'll be posting this card as the inspiration for my challenge today. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a blessed Easter. 

~ Blessings ~

ScrapFIT Reveal ~ Priceless Memories

When I saw this oh so fun challenge in ScrapFIT Workout #65, I knew I my inspiration would be the rich masculine colors. This fabulous Weekend Market paper by Bo Bunny worked so wonderfully as a backdrop for these early fishing photos of our son, Joseph. The vintage scale and rulers are so perfect since he weighed and measured all of his big catches.

ScrapFIT Workout #65 ~ Good Ole Boys

For this Workout use the photo below for inspiration. You can gather inspiration from the colors, the time period, the style, you can use anything about this photo that inspires you!

This Workout is being sponsored by Diana at My Divine Inspiration Etsy Shop. 

The winner of this Workout will receive this wonderful set of embellishments from My Divine Inspiration.

Be sure to hop on over to ScrapFIT to see what our fabulous DT did with this challenge. 

Here are some close-ups and details for my layout. 

I used another of my twine flowers. Did I say in a previous post that these are addicting?? This time I used a fine hemp cord to create my flower for a more wispy effect. Because the dark twine faded into the rich dark background, I created a back drop by cutting layers of Kraft Glassine paper with my Tattered Floral die. I then stamped a script image onto the flowers using StazOn Ink and heat embossed to set the ink into the glassine paper. I finished up by inking up the edges. I used open layering in this section with the fish net and crystal flourish. My tutorial for the twine flowers can be found here.

I went to a scrapbook expo last weekend and picked up some wonderful chipboard pieces by Creek Bank Creations. I painted the raw chipboard, stamped with a script image, and then inked the edges. You can't really see it in the photo, but I mixed some metalic paint into the brown to give just a little shimmer. 

I learned this fabulous polymer clay tile technique from a tutorial over at Gabrielle Pollacco's blog.  Polymer clay is an inexpensive way to create wonderful stamped, paper covered, or in this case sticker topped tiles. The unused clay stores well without drying out until your ready to use it for your next project. Notice that I used old rusty screen pieces for my photo mats. 

I hope you've been inspired to Workout with us at ScrapFIT. I can't wait to see what you create!!

Thanks for dropping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Easter Card

I've been wanting to try out the butterfly that Tim Holtz demonstrated on his March tag and was finally able to locate some Antiquities Cement Embossing Powder last weekend and created one for this Easter card. This is also my first attempt at color work. This photo was taken tonight to post on Tim's blog, so sorry about the photo quality. I will take and post another photo when I can get a good day shot. 

The butterfly is such an amazing technique. I really enjoyed doing it (once I was finally able to locate the embossing powder.) I'm pretty happy with my first attempt at this technique. I'll be making more of these! 

The shaped card was cut on the Close to My Heart, Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge. My friend, Mandy let me use hers this afternoon. This cart has some amazing cut images on it. 

For my color work I used Berol Prismacolor Pencils and a blending pencil. The fussy cutting around this image was a bit of work with my scissors and the inner parts with a craft knife. 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments. 

~ Blessings ~

You'll Be My Friend Forever ~ Reveal for The Stamping Scrapper

It's reveal day for the Shannon's gorgeous sketch at the Scrapping Stamper.

This photo of Elizabeth and Maria hugging is so precious on a beautiful spring day back when we lived in North Carolina. The Bo Bunny Country Garden collection was perfect to scrap this photo. 

 Here is Shannon's fabulous sketch:

Be sure to head on over to The Scrapping Stamper to see what her design team did with this fab sketch. 

Here are some technique details:

Layered Twine Flower ~ You can find the tutorial for my twine flower here. Underneath the twine flower, I used the tattered floral die to cut fabric and netting. I also used a daisy die to cut a paper flower from blue paper which I inked the edges. The fabric was cut from a white shear fabric which I dabbed with blue distress ink to color. I topped it off with an adhesive flower center by Petaloo. 

Crocheted Flowers - I crocheted the little white flowers, inked the edges and added a rhinestone to the center of each. 

Leaves ~ I used the Spellbinder Foliage Shapeablilities Die to cut the leaves, then folded and crimped the leaves and inked for added dimension. 

Prima Build-a-Frame Stamps ~ My friend, Mandy, helped me locate these fabulous stamps that I used to frame the corners of this layout. The image in the bottom corner includes the words that I used for my journaling. "I love you and I like you and you'll be my friend forever."

Banners ~ I was thinking about buying the Tim Holtz Banner strip, but when I looked at it, I realized it was just paper strips with cut ends and I figured it wouldn't take any longer to fussy cut them with my Honey Bee Scissors (the best scissors I've found for fussy cutting) than running the die through my Bigshot. So, cut I did. I then folded and inked to get the shabby banner effect. 

Bead Dangles ~ I found this fabulous earring finding on clearance at my favorite craft store, Pat Catan's, and added the yellow shaped beads to the ends of the chain and if you look closely - very closely indeed, you'll see a tiny yellow bead in the bottom loop of each as well. 

Stick Pin ~ I created this stick pin from a pearl topped floral pin and some beads left over from my jewelry making days. I simply placed the beads on the pin and glued the bottom bead to hold it in place. 

If you keep looking, you'll see other techniques I've done before like the dictionary page ~ of course with the word sister, painted metal, stitched and distressed photo edges, real chicken wire, fussy cut and stickled butterflies, lace, painted resin, inked paper edges . . .

I'm entering this layout in:

City Crafter Challenge Blog CCCB#102 ~ use the spring color pallet Pinks, Yellow, Blue, Green (April 2)

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments.

~ Blessings ~

Love Letter and Twine Flower Tutorial

Update March 2016: I now have a video tutorial for Girlie Grunge Twine Flowers showing how to create the loom and twine flower using Donna Salazar's new bakers twine for Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L. The process is exactly the same for jute twine or hemp cording. Only the size of the loom you use would change. A chart for suggested loom sizes and twine lengths can be found HERE. (scroll to the bottom of that post for the chart) My VIDEO TUTORIAL can be viewed HERE.

Our son, Joseph, wrote a love letter to his bride, Rachel, and sent it to her with a rose while she was waiting for the wedding ceremony to start. This photo is of her reading his letter. The list are some of her responses to his love letter.

I have seen some fabulous twine flowers on Pinterest, but have not been able to locate a detailed tutorial to create them. After some experimenting, I've come up with these lovely gems and have written a step by step tutorial for you to recreate them as well. 

Twine Flower Tutorial

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

***An updated version of my tutorial can be found HERE.***

Now I'd like to share a tutorial on how to make these beautiful twine flowers. I got the idea from a tutorial at The Bug Bytes. I made several changes to her flowers, so I'm posting a tutorial here for my version of her twine flowers. 

Please don't be intimidated by the number of steps. I wanted to make sure the directions are clear, so I would rather err on the side of giving you more information than you might need. The tutorial I learned from had fewer steps, and I found myself doing some trial and error, that hopefully will be avoided for you. 

Once you have made your loom and have a couple flowers under your belt, these little beauties only take about 10 to 15 minutes each to create.

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

SUPPLIES:

a) Twine - any kind of thin hemp, jute, or baker's twine will work nicely ~ about 7 feet of twine for a 2 inch loom.

b) Two same size chipboard circles ~ I used 2 inch circles. 

c) Glue ~ any kind of glue that will hold the two chipboard circles together will work. I used Scotch Quick Dry Adhesive. 

d) 12 Straight pins ~ Mine have plastic balls on the ends, but any pins you have will work or even small finishing nails if you don't have straight pins. 

e) Large eye tapestry or yarn needle The needle doesn't have to be flat on the end with a curve like mine, as long as the eye is large enough to thread the twine and a rounded rather than sharp pointed end, it will work. 

f) A pencil or pen and ruler (not pictured) are needed to draw lines on the top circle. 

MAKING THE LOOM:

Step 1. Cut two identical chipboard circles ~ I used 2 inch circles cut on the AccuCut machine at my LSS. They could also be traced and cut with scissors. Don't worry if your circles aren't exactly perfect. The petals aren't going to be exactly the same even with perfect circles. St

Step 2. Draw 6 lines evenly spaced on the front of one circle ~ This will give spacing like the numbers on a clock. 

Step 3. Spread glue on the back of the circle you drew lines on and adhere to the other chipboard circle. 

Step 4. Once the glue is dry, push your pins between the cardboard pieces in line with your pencil lines. If you don't let your glue dry first, a pair of pliers will be needed to pull your pins out the first time. (Go ahead, ask me how I know!!)

If you turn the chipboard on its side, it will look like this:

***Note*** My loom has held up well. I've made over 20 flowers, and the pins are still nice and tight. 

MAKING THE TWINE FLOWERS:

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

Step 1. At first you will be working from your spool of twine. Don't cut anything yet. Think of your loom like a clock. Leaving about a 4 inch tail, hold the twine at 7:00. Wrap the twine up to the left side of the pin at 12:00 and wrap over and behind the 12:00 pin, moving from left to right, then wrap straight down to the right side of the pin at 6:00. Wrap the twine behind the 6:00 pin from right to left. 

Step 2. Now wrap your twine back up to the left side of the 11:00 pin, wrapping over/behind the pin from left to right and straight down to the right side of the 5:00 pin, wrapping behind the 5:00 pin from right to left.

Step 3. Continue this pattern until you have one loop around each pin. 

Step 4. Continue wrapping around the pins in the same pattern until you have two loops around each pin. 

Step 5. This was the confusing part for me, so I changed out the twine to a contrasting color to help illustrate the remaining steps. Your final wrap will be back around the 7:00 pin where you started. My loom is rotated in the photo, so it is no longer in the 7:00 position, but this last wrap goes around the pin that was in the 7:00 position when you started wrapping.

You will leave the starting tail at the 7:00 pin. On the working end of your twine, cut about a 20 inch length of twine. That's 20 inches from the last wrap on the loom. The amount of twine needed will depend on the thickness of the twine you are using. A thicker twine will require more and a thinner twine would require less. The twine I used is about the thickness of bakers twine. I also made a flower with a thicker jute which you can see in the photo at the end of this tutorial. That twine required about 24 inches to do the center weaving in the flower. When it doubt, cut a longer piece that you think you might need and then you will know how much to cut for your next flower. 

Thread the twine onto your large needle. 

Step 6. Now you are going to start weaving around the center of the flower. This will secure the flower petals in place and give the decorative stitching around the flower center. You are working from the back of the flower, so you won't see the pretty decorative stitching until the end when you remove your flower from the loom and turn it over. 

Move your 7:00 pin so it is now at 12:00. You will start weaving behing the "petal" to the right of your final wrap. So, take your needle and go underneath the 4 strands of twine wrapped around the 1:00 pin and push the needle all the way behind the 5 strands at the 12:00 pin, (the 4 petal strands and your starting strand of twine - this is the only place there will be 5 strands of twine.)  As you can see on the photo, your needle will be under a total of 9 strands of twine. 

Step 7. Pull your needle through. For this weaving stitch only leave a little slack in the end of your twine. Notice what the yellow twine is doing. 

The last wrap around the pin is now at the 12:00 position only goes to the center of the flower, so when you take your next weaving stitch with your needle you will secure that half thread in place. Moving to your left, push the needle under all 4 strands of the 12:00 petal plus starting tail and keep pushing it under the 4 strands of the 11:00 petal.

Step 8. Pull your woven stitches tight, pushing them towards the center of the flower with the tip of your needle. This is the only place where you may need to work with your stitches a little bit to get them nice and tight. Sometimes after I pull the stitches tight, the first stitch is too loose, if that is the case, I use my fingers to pull on the second stitch to take the slack out of the first stitch. Your stitching  should look like the stitches in the photo below. 

Step 9. Continue weaving by stitching under the petals, moving to the left in a counter clockwise direction. Please note, now that you are past the starting tail at the 12:00 petal, you will continue going behind two petals each time, but now for a total of 8 strands of twine. 

Step 10. Continue this pattern until you have 2 stitches around each petal, coming back around to where you started. Your last weaving stitch will still go behind 2 petals ~ 8 strands of twine. Pull the working twine on your needle down between the petals and between the stitches to the center of the flower. 

Notice how the yellow twine in the photo is pulled to the center of the flower between the 12:00 and

1:00 pins.

Step 11. Use your needle to weave the end of the thread under the top layer on the center stitches until it seems secure. I take two to three stitches to secure, usually going under about 10 or so threads all together. I start the needle under a thread that is right where I am pulling the thread between the petals and stitching so I don't distort the woven design on the back side of the stitching, which will actually be the front of the flower. After weaving the end of the twine to secure, cut it close to where it is exiting the flower center. 

Step 12. Pull the starting twine to the center and secure it in the same way.

Step 13. To release the flower from the loom, pull the pins out one at a time to release each petal, then put the pin back in place to be ready to create your next flower.

Turn your flower over to admire the beautifully stitched border around your center. 

I created a 2-inch loom. You can change the size of your flowers by using different size circles, but keep in mind that the center of your flower will be determined by the thickness of your twine, and will stay the same regardless of what size circle you use. You can see that my jute flower has a much larger center than the twine flowers. If I make another jute flower, I will probably use a larger loom so it will look more daisy-like. Because this jute was thicker than the twine, the center turned out larger, giving more of a sunflower appearance. 

You can also dress your flowers up with a button or other bling like I did for my layout or even layer them with other flowers. 

*** A video tutorial for my twine flowers can be viewed HERE.***

I hope you give these flowers a try.

Here are a few more examples of how I've used these flowers in my projects: 

Thanks for stopping by! I treasure your comments. 

~ Blessings ~