The little things that make me happy here on Bliss Road~~Emily Keaton

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Springy Birthday Wishes

I've been getting projects ready for the new Stampin' B's DT challenge (check back tomorrow for my sample!) and Mark's Finest Papers March Release Blog Hop which will be taking place next week on Tuesday through Friday, March 8-11. Busy, busy!! But I squeezed in a springy birthday card today. Still gathering birthday cards for all those March birthdays we'll be celebrating!
Last week while making this card, I ended up with an extra scallop-framed panel containing a square of text from a vintage book page (it was too big to use on the card I originally made). I've been mulling over how best to use it ever since. Well, today it hit me and I decided to try stamping directly on the text. LOVE how it turned out! Perfect for my 5" x 5" square birthday card.

This week's PTI Make It Monday Challenge #4 is to use fun foam (craft foam). The video tutorial that accompanies the challenge shows cutting sheets of foam into shapes using dies. Well, I'm a simple gal. When I started off down the road on my extended papercrafting journey, I made a conscious decision to avoid investing in expensive tools and equipment. There just isn't money in our budget or space in our house for extras like these. So, no dies, embossing folders, die cutting machines, or Copics for me. I do have some punches (and I make do with colored pencils or watercolor painting for coloring images), but otherwise I look for creative design solutions, make do with what I've got, or do without. Anyway, back to my PTI challenge story. So, die-cutting craft foam was out for me, and I quickly found that sheets of craft foam are too thick to fit in my punches. Not to be deterred, I fished around in my kids' craft supplies and dug up a few pink foam circle shapes--and not a whole lot else. Those reminded me of my PTI Button Bits stamp sets, and the rest of my design fell into place!

In addition to the PTI creating with fun foam challenge, my card was shaped by these challenges:
In other news, over the weekend I spent a bunch of time clearing unneeded stuff out of our attic. Wow, I was amazed by how much baby and little-kid stuff we had accumulated!! Now I am working on getting it ready to donate so we can get it out of the house. There's a {huge} pile waiting to be sorted and itemized for our records, but it feels SO much better acting on this. My kids were a huge help hauling stuff down the attic ladder and then down another flight of stairs. Of course, they were so curious about what was in each bag and box. It probably felt like Christmas to them!! (Especially since so many of the boxes and bags held toys and books--now that's exciting stuff.) It was a blast seeing what items they remembered and what things they had completely forgotten.

I also came across a few boxes of books that were mine when I was growing up. We found an old Pink Panther comic digest that my 8YO son claimed (along with some Encyclopedia Brown books) and this book of paper dolls that my 12YO daughter snagged. She has been having a ball clipping out the movie star paper dolls and their elaborate costumes and dresses, working a little bit on it each day before school and again before bedtime. She's getting quite an education in 1930s fashion--and loving it. :)

Well, thanks for stopping by for my little slice of bliss today. I hope you'll come back later to check out the new StampinB challenge!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: PTI Blooming Button Bits, PTI Everyday Button Bits (sentiment)
Paper:
SU chocolate chip CS, SU pretty in pink CS, Jillibean Soup DP, various unknown scraps, book page ripped from a vintage history book
Ink: Marvy LePlume II black marker, Ranger tea dye distress ink, Palette chartreuse
Accessories:
SU 1/2" circle punch, foam tape, sponge dauber, pink foam circles from my stash, pink brads, satin-edged sheer ribbon, ticket, sewing machine
Techniques: machine stitching, ink distressing

24 comments:

Deborah Frings said...

I really like the card - great detail with the stitching! Thanks for playing along with CR84FN this week!

Bonnie said...

This is such a bright, springy card! Someone is going to love getting this! I loved paperdolls when I was a girl. You don't see them much any more.

Georgia Ehrmann said...

great card and I love how you have used that text and stamped directly on it! Thanks for playing with us at Critter Sketch Challenge Blog this week! Hope to see you back again soon!
Hugs,
Georgia

Benzi said...

Oh you are so clever, Emily! Love how you searched around and found those foam circles and they look great. Someone is going to get a very special birthday card. I love those paper dolls...what a find in the attic for your daughter.

Meredith MacRitchie said...

Gorgeous! I agree - the stamping on the text is perfect! The foam shapes are so fun! Thanks for playing with CR84FN!

Sue Lelli said...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your attic adventures! I felt like i was right there with you! And how FUN, Emily, for your children to find such treasures! Now on to your card ~ I find it amazing that you make such GORGEOUS cards without all the fancy tools! I LOVE the stamping on the text and I LOVE your foam circle flowers! FAB card! THX for playing with us at CR84FN!

Stella said...

I am in the middle of decluttering my attic too and I love to read your story!
Your card is beautiful; it turned out gorgeous and you used your supplies in a great way. I'm impressed that you made this without any "fancy tools"
Thanks so much for playing along at CR84FN!

~amy~ said...

I ADORE your card...simply gorgeous!

Unknown said...

another amazing card, gorgeous!
Thanks for playing with Clear it Out

Céline said...

fab card Emily, love the combo!
thanks for playing with us at stamptacular sunday this week
hugs
céline

Teresa Zuehls said...

Cute card and I love the green with the pink.

Anita said...

This is so pretty Emily. Love the bright spring colors and those bits of foam make very pretty flowers.

Rachel B said...

Adorable card! I love the colors and the stamping looks great! Thanks for joining in at Clear It Out Tuesdays.

Mona Pendleton said...

Such a cute card! Love the bright ticket and all the layers! Thanks so much for playing along with CR84FN :)

Unknown said...

Beautiful card, Emily! Love your image on the text background and sweet ticket! Thanks for joining us at CR84FN!

Ann Craig said...

I love the eclectic nature of this card Emily. It is fun and bright with a touch of vintage and country. Glad you found inspiration from the jac-inks challenge#3. Thanks for playing along again.

Lovely Linda said...

Hello Emily - your card is divine! I love your colours and the fabuloud clean lines but with a vintage feel - very cool! Thank you for playing aling at 'jac-inks' this week - it is great to see you! {{{hugs}}}
Linda Guest Designer

Colleen said...

Gorgeous! I love everything about it! The stitching and the colors are fantastic. Thanks for joining us at Critter Sketch Challenge Blog!

Davi said...

Great tag card...pretty cards and great stitching. Thanks for joining us at TT this week.

Sharon Caudle said...

Adorable card, Emily! I love how you stamped right over the text! Very creative! Thanks so much for joining us at Papertake Weekly and hope you join us again soon!
hugs, Sharon

email: Steph@SimonSaysStamp.com said...

Some gorgeous stitching there! I like the Spring colors too!!

Thanks so much for entering the Simon Says Stamp Challenge!!!

-Sarah

Mandy said...

Gorgeous card, fab colours and your stitching is perfect.
Thanks for joining us at Simon Says Stamp for our recipe challenge
hugs Mandy xx

Leigh Ann Baird said...

Emily, your card is gorgeous! Love the colors and the design! Thanks for playing with us in the ABC DT Happy Birthday challenge!

Lori said...

I love this card...it just pops. Thanks so much for playing along with us again at ABC DT Birthday challenge. Be sure to add our blinkie to your blog for a chance to win even more.