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

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Missing You

How is everybody on this fine Tuesday? We had a great weekend with perfect weather. On Saturday morning, we headed out for our family's annual apple-picking trip to a local historic farm. We picked a 1/2 bushel of Macintosh apples, my hubby's favorite apple. He certainly loves his "apple a day," always packing one in his lunch for at work. Anyway, it was a fun, relaxing outing. The kids are old pros at apple-picking now, and we all love doing it! It takes no time at all to fill our half bushel. After tromping through the orchard, we headed to the farm stand to buy a half dozen of apple cider donuts and a gallon of apple cider--it's all a {yummy} part of our tradition!! In all it was a fabulous trip, perfect for recharging our batteries!! And, oh, the memories we made as well. :)

Do you remember me telling about my dear friend who had to move away over the summer? I sent her this card to greet her at her new house. Yesterday I got a note from her letting me know that not only is the card I made for her now framed and hanging in the living room at their new place, the colors I used in the card inspired the all-new decorating scheme they used for their living room!! Talk about happy mail!! :D That made my day.

Ever since I opened yesterday's mail, my friend has been on my mind, so I had to make her a card to let her know how much I miss her.

My color scheme was inspired by Flourishes' Fall Fashion Challenge to make a project with one or more of these hot fall colors for 2011: The bamboo, emberglow, and cedar colors really caught my eye, so I used all three, with a splash of coffee liqueur.

I have also been intrigued by the card sketches featured in the current crop of challenges at the Moxie Fab World. I don't make shaped cards very often, mostly because they are so hard to make without dies (which, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you know I don't have). But the MFW shaped sketch challenge really caught my eye, and--having recently found my missing mojo--I was really feeling up to, well, . . . a challenge!! Working without dies meant that I wasn't tied to set die sizes, so I decided to make this big to really show off the pretty patterned paper I used. The card is massive (or seemingly so to me, at least) at 6.25" in diameter. And because I made a shaped card, I was able to play along with today's new Flourishes Timeless Tuesday challenge #135, which is to make--what else?--a shaped card!!

The scallops are 1" circles that I punched from cardstock and adhered to the back of my main circular panel. That pretty edge stitching is also functional--it's keeping my scallops from falling off!!

Finally, this card also gave me a chance to use some fabulous goodies that I won from two terrific bloggers over the summer. Both prize packages arrived just before we left on our month-long vacation, which was torture because I knew I'd have to wait a while before I could use any of these!! The Flourishes Country Charm Labels stamps and BasicGrey Nook and Pantry patterned papers came from the lovely and talented Christine Okken. That beautiful two-tone sheer May Arts ribbon came from the sweet and equally talented Jessi Fogan. Jessi sent a whole box of beautifully wrapped goodies, each parcel tied up in a length of lovely May Arts ribbon. You can't let something like that go to waste! So each and every bit was rescued to be recycled on future projects. And because I have recycled some of my saved ribbon on this card, I am entering it in Lynn's Recycling Challenge over at Do More With Less.

Thanks for stopping by to check out what's making me happy today!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Country Charm Labels, Flourishes Tag Lines
Paper: SU Dusty Durango textured CS, SU Crushed Curry textured CS, patterned papers from BasicGrey's Nook and Pantry collection

Ink: Versafine vintage sepia
Accessories: SU 1" circle punch, Creative Memories circle cutting templates, foam tape, sewing machine, May Arts sheer ribbon, grass green rhinestones from Queen & Co., Tiny Twinkles from Taylored Expressions, Bow Easy
Techniques: shaped card, machine stitching

23 comments:

Beate said...

Emily, your card is beautiful! Thanks for playing the Timeless Tuesday challenge with us.
Hugs and smiles

Colleen Dietrich said...

Emily, I loved reading this post. I'm happy you rescued some ribbons from packaging, that you won some (more!) blog candy, that you had a chance to do a shaped card, and that the shaped card is very cleverly constructed! Do you have an envelope big enough?? Guess it's gonna have to be a padded envy, huh? Stephanie is sure to love it.

Emily (stampingout on SCS) said...

This is beautiful, Em. I am sure your friend appreciates the happy mail you send her. :)

Benzi said...

I'm sure your friend will love this pretty, shaped card. What gorgeous paper!
The apple orchard sounds like a lot of fun for the entire family..great times, memories for a lifetime.

ChristineCreations said...

Such a lovely card all the way around Emily! The pretty ribbon, shape and layout and the feeling of fall. Great job with these colors!

Cindy Haffner said...

PRETTY PRETTY PRETTY!~

Stacy Morgan said...

This is beautiful Emily! What a great way to spend the day with the family. And such a wonderful suprise from your friend. I don't think any o fmine have anything hanging from me. ha ha Thanks for playing in Flourishes Fall Fashion Challenge.

Anita said...

This is so pretty Emily. I love the shape and that sheer ribbon looks so soft and pretty. I'm sure your friend misses you very much too!

yyam said...

Oh wow! This is a beautiful card Emily! Love the color combo and the ribbon! Such a beautifully composed card! :)

Thanks for playing along with my guest Lynn's recycling challenge! :)

Stephanie said...

This is a beautiful card! I especially love the stitching!

Pam said...

Such a lovely card Emily! I need to do more shaped cards too! Your friend will just adore it, and am glad to hear she cheered you up. It must be hard to be apart. Love your stitching on the edge, and the colors are very cheerful!!
Pam

~amy~ said...

woooooo hoooooo....your friend scores again! LOVE your take on the sketch...the colors and of course all that glorious stitching!

Erin (Homemade Cards by Erin) said...

Wow, you've done wonders with that sketch, I'm a little afraid of shaped cards...

Unknown said...

What a pretty card.. Your friend is going to love it.. That stitching looks wonderful..

Theresa said...

Emily, this is fabulous!! I love that you used the 1" circles - I tried it once and they didn't come out as even. Love the colors and the stitching. Love it!! Thanks for joining us at Timeless Tuesday.

Marisa said...

Love the colours you used and well done incorporation all your new goodies :)

Auntie Em said...

Oh Emily, your card is beautiful! Smart lady to create a fun shaped card with out dies. The papers and ribbons are so pretty together. I am sure your friend will be so pleased...wonder if she will decorate another room to go with this one? :)
You will have to get her to send a pic with the room decorated from your other card...which was so gorgeous, BTW...for comparison. Now she is reminded of her friendship with you every day! How special is that!!!
Good luck with the MF challenge!
Thanks for sharing and inspiring me today! :)

Jessi Fogan said...

*cough, cough* totally blushing ;) I just thought it would be prettier to tie the ribbons than to put them in loose. Plus, I KNEW you'd use them! Your beautiful thank you card has a prominent place right on my newly organized desk :) Thanks so much for the compliments - and the congrats for my MFW win yesterday. It made me smile big-time to know you were happy for me on what was otherwise a pretty crummy day :)

farmhouse-story said...

beautiful, emily! awesome challenge card and your attention to detail is fabulous, as always! thanks for palying along:)

dpkennedy said...

Wow, totally handmade and completely gorgeous! I love the stitching, the design, the colors! So glad you played the Flourishes color challenge!

nwilliams6 said...

I hope this comment posts - I don't think my last one did. I love your story - I love your card and the colors. I want to know what card you sent her that inspired a new color scheme.

Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Editor said...

Hey Emily! Thanks for linking this up to the Shaped Sketch Challenge in the Moxie Fab World! I'm so glad you joined in on all the fun! :)

Silke Ledlow said...

Emily, you card is so beautiful. Love the colors and the shape :)! Thanks for playing the FTTC...hugs ~S~