Cards for my Ladies

I am continuing to lead card classes at the assisted living home.  While all of the ladies love the cards we make, several of them refuse to send them out because they like them too much.  One lady told me she has a large box full of them. I honestly can't tell you how long I have done this, maybe 4 or more years, but that's got to be about 150 cards she has accumulated. WOW!  Anyway here are the 3 from September's class.  I guess I was in a diecut kind of mood as they each use a different one of Close To My Heart's new Thin Cut dies. A Thin Cut is a metal die that is meant to be used in the Cuddlebug, Big Shot, Big Kick or some other die-cutting machine.CTMH is a great source for these dies and many are matched to stamps sets. Using a die-cut instead of hand cutting images is a timesaver and gives a certain amount of uniformity when making multiple cards.

 

This Halloween card uses the Cats & Bats Cardmaking Stamp + Thin Cuts set (Z4040.)  It is easy to see the cat, but there is also a bat towards the upper left. I did cut the bat by hand but the black shadow is the die cut. The large background stamp is retired CTMH and the green Halloween paper is from my (non-CTMH) stash.

 

This fall card uses one of my favorite Thin Cuts from the current Seasonal Expressions mini catalog, Leaf (Z4035.)  It is 2 dies, one for the background leaf and one for the veins and outline. This card pattern was inspired by a fellow consultant. I found a 6x6 paper pad with lovely fall colors in my stash for the two big strips, the sentiment stamp, brown strip, and banner are retired CTMH.

 

 I used the Beary Christmas Cardmaking Stamp + Thin Cuts (Z4046) for this Christmas card and copied the card pattern from the Beary Christmas Workshops Your Way instructions. The patterned paper, including the green backgound paper, is from my stash, but the gold stripe is Gold Shimmer Trim (Z1985) and is a current CTMH product.

I will try to get the August cards posted some time soon.  I think you will like them.

 

New starts

I proised you a post of my new starts and here they are.

I have had this pattern kitted up for some time now. 

It was a free pattern by Just Another Button Company from 2014 that shop owners could give to customers who bought the button pack.  It required a butt-load of Weeks Dye Works colors and some specialty threads besides, that I purchased in Colorado while visiting with my sister in June. My thanks to A Stitching Shop in Denver for their assistance in finding all the fibers with me. Together we made quite a mess of their Weeks Dye Works section.


I have rejoined the Sampler Guild of the Rockies after dropping out for a few years. Every year they select challenge pieces and this year I have started two of them. Their fundraiser patterns are three Orphan Samplers and I will be doing one of those, but don't have the pattern yet.

The first is The Winter is Past by Blackbird Designs.  It needs to be finished by April, 2018.  That is when Blackbird Designs will be teaching for the Guild.This workshop sold out in just days and I am grateful to my sister for getting our deposits in when she did.

It calls for Picture This Plus 36 count Oaken linen.  My LNS, Reflections, did not have this in stock but Julie did have 32 count so my piece (and my sister's) will be slightly larger. The linen is such a beautiful color and is perfect for this piece.

My second start for the Guild challenge is Elizabeth Sarah Oliver 1842, a reproduction sampler charted by Plum Street Samplers. I have until September 2018 to finish the stitching on this piece. The pattern calls for 35 count Confederate Gray fabric which is on order at Reflections.  But I have never been known for my patience, so I selected 40 count Pearled Barley which is a lighter version and prettier, IMHO. I find it interesting that anyone would chart a reproduction sampler with overdyed fabric and floss as it is in no way true to the original, but that did make it more comfortable to change out the called for fabric.  Elizabeth stitched colorful birds on her sampler, the first one that I have stitched is green!

Oops, forgot one.

Forgot to add this Quaker Hornbook by With My Needle to my list of finishes.  But as I checked the pattern for the correct info, I realized that I mounted this piece upside down.  The handle part should have been at the bottom. (Sigh)  It's not going anywhere now.

I was infected with the finishing bug a few weeks ago.  Thankfully I am nearly recovered.  but while under the influence I did finish up a few old and one new project.

This first is a pattern from the Sampler Guild of the Rockies. I finished the stitching a couple of years ago and finally put the thing together.  I really like it and it is the season to put it out on display.

  This is a Lone Elm Designs pattern, Ohio Sampler, that I purchased at Heart's Desire in Wichita, Kansas during a stitchy weekend get-together with my sister last year.  The display piece came from Hobby Lobby, I believe, and was painted and prepped by Julie at Reflections, my local LNS.  Another finish I am happy to display.









 This poor sampler has been a box-liner for many years.  (That is, in the under-the-bed box that holds my stitching complete, but not framed or finished pieces.  I have heard it refered to as a 'box of shame' by others.)  I had the frame and the piece was laced onto acid free foam core.  All it required was the glass, spacers, dust cover and hanging wire.  So I went to my favorite glass dealer, ABC Auto Glass, and had them cut me a piece.  I have no idea why I put it off for so long.  This piece is Treasured Friends by Darleen O'Steen.

And last but not least, is the 2017 Shepherd's Bush Scissor Fob.  This kit was purchased at their shop in Ogden, Utah,   The beaded, ruffled ribbon finish was a bit of a challenge and I have to say that when I also finished my sister's fob, she got the benefit of my experience with mine.

One of the after-effects of the finishing bug is the new start syndrome and I sure got it.  I will post my new starts in the next post, so stay tuned!

I am sorry I have been gone for so long.  This photo showcases several interests in my life.  The framed piece is paper crafted.  The table runner is quilted.  Both those pieces are several years old.  The Uncle Sam's hat and cross-stitch pincushion are newly finished.  I made 3 of these sets, one for my daughter, one for my sister, and one for me.  The ensemble is called Hats Off to Uncle Sam by Blackbird Designs.

Jackson card

This is a card I made for our CTMH Gotta Stamp Crew unit swap.  I used the new Jackson paper pack (which is a great outdoors, masculine paper set), a bulk card base, and cut images from the CTMH Cricut cartridges Artiste and Artbooking.  I also used buttons and a brad from retired CTMH embellishments.  I saw this card on Pinterest when I was searching for Artiste inspiration, the original creator is Karen Day https://www.pinterest.com/pin/206461964140216109/.

Supplies:

Patterned paper 2.5 x 5 inches and 5.25 x 5.5 inches 

Cricut cut bow tie - Artiste 0.80 inches, page 55, accent 3 (#M3B8BO for the Cricut Design Space)

Cricut cut name badge - Artbooking, page 68, icon both non-shift and shift 2.25 inches (width) x 1.62 inches (height) (#M447AB will import both base and badge together into Design Space)

Instructions:

Name badge: Import the image into Design Space and size as indicated.  Unattach the layers.  Using  the Hide Contour feature, hide the letters H E L L O.  Then, using a text box, replace them with the letters H A P P Y.  I used the Art Philosophy font, but you could use your favorite. Size the text box to fit on the badge layer and ATTACH them.  If you are not working with Design Space, you can do the same thing in the Cricut Craft Room.  I then used the Artbooking font in another text box and the WRITE function to print 'birthday' on the badge base.  Again, size to fit and attach.  (I LOVE the write function on the Explore, especially since I have acquired pens that work well)  You could use an appropriately sized stamp if not using the Explore.) 

Fold the smaller piece of patterned paper in half lengthwise and adhere   Fold the top edge back from the non folded corner to 1 7/8 inches from the bottom.  Do not completely flatten the fold.  Adhere the folded section. Trim off the part that sticks out.  

Fold back 1.75 inches lengthwise on the larger piece and adhere.  Fold this piece from the inside corner of the fold to 2 inches from the bottom.  Do not completely flatten the fold.  Adhere it just at the corner.  Adhere the smaller piece to the left side of the card base, then adhere the larger piece, matching it to the right side of the base.  There should be about a 1/2 inch overlap.

Assemble the bow tie and name badge and adhere them and the buttons.

October's projects

Here are two of the three projects I did with my ladies at the Assisted Living home.  I will post the third project next month.  The first is a birthday card.  I colored the stamped image with a combination of Copic and CTMH's Shin Han alcohol markers.  I love how you can deepen the colors by using multiple layers of the same color.  And since these are alcohol markers the paper doesn't get wet and 'pill,' no matter how many times you color over the same spot.  The stamp set is D1597 Hoppy Birthday.  While it is not in the current Annual Inspirations catalog, it is still available.

This second card uses an old CTMH paper pack when the B&T paper was lighter weight with the reverse side being a monochromatic copy of the primary side.  The center paper of this card looks like it is embossed but it is not.  But that does give me an idea for my unit swap card!  Anyway the stamps for the tag and cute little evergreen branches are from the Yuletide Carol WOTG G1084.  This Workshop on the Go has great layouts for Christmas scrapping.