Handmade Card - Thank You with Pastel Flowers

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend. I spent the majority of the past week working on my new craft room, but I was able to squeeze in a greeting card over the weekend and I hope to accomplish another something crafty in the near future. 
My hubby and I have had twenty-two Valentines Days together and now I find out on Facebook that Valentines Day isn't even the REAL holiday anyway, today is. 
"February 15th is the REAL holiday, because all the chocolate is 70% off". 
The photo the above sentence was written on showed a shopping isle of candy on clearance and I have to say that I had never thought of February 15th in that way, but I will from now on. I found the meme very funny and kind of true. So I want to wish all of you chocolate lovers a wonderful holiday!

Okay, now back to the regularly scheduled program. 

In early January I began making my own flowers again and I'm really enjoying seeing what I can come up with. I have collected a few more flower cutting dies and punches over the last couple of years and that steps up the flower design possibilities. What I don't have is a die or punch to make the flower centers so for these particular flowers I just cut long strips of paper and then used scissors to make the fringe. I cut the fringe very tiny so it took me about 10 minutes to complete each one. I think it was worth it because I really like the way they turned out. They're kind of Shabby Chic.

  

The flowers on my card have a very delicate appearance so I decided to keep my background soft as well. To make the background I used cream colored card-stock that I adhered white die-cut flowers to. I wanted the white flowers to be subtle so I used translucent card-stock over them to fade them out a little.  

To give the translucent card-stock a decorative edge I made stitches on all four sides by using a tracing wheel. Then I connected the dots by lightly scratching lines with a metal tool that has a fine tip. To make the sentiment I used the Sizzix Thinlits (660223) and colored the letters with Stampede ink in the color Purple and then went over the purple with Versa Magic Chalk ink in the color Pixie Dust.

How To Make the Flowers

Using a die-cut flower as a flower base to attach large petals to.

1. I used Fiskars Petal Punches in different sizes to make the petals
2. Then I used Stampede ink in Purple and Petal Pink and tried to blend them together so there wasn't a harsh line where the colors met.
3. Once the ink sat for a moment I quickly dipped each petal into a cup of water so I could break down the paper fibers and manipulate it more easily. Using the water also blended and softened the ink more.
4. When I had the shape that I wanted I used my heat tool to dry them which made them stiff and keep their new shape. 
5. Then I glued each petal to a small, die-cut flower.
6. Before placing the center of the flower I laid the flower on a thick foam mat and used the end of a Sharpie marker to give the flower more shape, concentrating on the very middle where my flower center would be placed. I basically pushed until I made the center a bowl-shape. Be careful not to rip your flower during this process. 
7. Finally I glued my flower center into place and shaped it by spreading out the fringe.

To Make the Flower Centers

I used an very thin 11 inch strip of white paper of which I colored with yellow Stampede ink and then I cut the fringe with scissors. Once I was done cutting I rolled the strip and glued the end.

What I like most about making my own flowers is that every one is different and just the slightest changes can have a huge impact on their appearance. I hope you'll give making your own flowers a shot if you haven't already.

Thanks for stopping by and come back again for more. Happy Crafting!

Make Your Own Blog Photo Gallery in Blogger

Hello everyone! I'm very excited about my new Photo Gallery page!
You can find it in the top tab menu of my blog.

   I had put making my photo gallery off for a couple of months because it looked a bit overwhelming. Although it was time consuming going back through all of my posts, once I got the hang of it listing my projects went much easier. It took me a few hours from beginning (learning) to end (posting), but it was well worth it. Now that I'm all set up, posting future projects should be a breeze.  

I'm so happy that a visitor to my blog can go directly to the photo gallery and click on an image that will take that person straight to what he/she wants to see.

   Having a photo gallery is essential for craft blogs, because it provides easy navigation to all of your projects. I know when I visit blogs it can be frustrating to have to go through archive menus or page by page (older posts) looking for things I like. I have Popular Posts listed in the sidebar of my blog, but that just means many people may not see something they would really like.

   So here is a quick screenshot of part of my new gallery. I also have scrapbook layouts listed and will be adding new categories for other projects. One option I didn't use was cropping my photos to make them all the same size. I didn't like the idea of doing that for cards and layouts, but there is a way to make sure you don't end up with a large photo in the middle of a row of smaller ones and that can be done after you have placed them in your gallery. If you decide to make your own photo gallery please feel free to ask me any questions as I finally have the hang of it now.
  

 

The information I used to make my Photo Gallery can be found at Sweeter than Sweets

 Happy Crafting!

Thank you Card in Chocolate and Pink

It's a dreary, cold day here in Pennsylvania, but I don't dare complain as I've been crafting away for hours already. Although I sure will be a lot happier when the sun comes out and makes picture taking easier. I took over a hundred photos of this card for a few decent ones. Thank goodness for digital cameras. I would be in big trouble if we were still dependent on rolls of film.

No sunlight in the windows led me to very tired arms; one holding the light up in the air and the other trying to steady the camera and push the button. We sure do go through a lot for a decent photo. I'm already planning on taking new photos when the sun returns one of these days, but I was too excited to wait. So here's my latest card.

 To make the tree I used the same die twice; once with the brown paper and then with the pink. I glued the two trees together slightly off center to let the pink peak out from behind on one side of it. The effect is gorgeous, especially in these two colors.

Happy Crafting!