Pretty Little Studio Giveaway!

It's time for another round of fun over at Word Art Wednesday! This time we have a prize from a company called Pretty Little Studio. I wasn't familiar with their products at first, so I went to their website and fell in love! I placed a small and very reasonable order and was able to get a lot of wonderful goodies.

I love working with ephemera. It's beautiful, easy and inexpensive. You can make some amazing cards quickly and have a greater variety of looks in your card making stash. The products I chose are:

Pretty Little Studio Centerpiece Florals

Pretty Little Studio Journaling Comfort Cards

Pretty Little Studio Home Accents

Pretty Little Studio ‘Twas The Night Before Scalloped Stickers

These four items were so reasonably priced and I have so much more leftover. I'l really looking forward to creating a lot of Christmas cards this fall. And, I've already seen some other things on their website that I'd love to have.

In addition, I used Michaels Kraft card stock for my base. It's an A9 size card, which is an 8.5 x 11 sheet folded right in half. It is mailable, but it costs a tad bit more. I'm hoping to be able to send this for around $2.50 this year. Or perhaps I'll hand deliver it! I also threw on a few old Stampin' Up! embellishments for texture.

Be sure to check out Pretty Little Studio. You'll fall in love with so many things! And we'd love to have you play along with us at Word Art Wednesday too! As always, anything goes. You can use our scripture below if you like, but you don't have to use it or products from our sponsor. Just come over and play along with us!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Two Quick 4th of July Finishes

I wanted to stitch something for America's 250th Anniversary, but didn't have a lot of time. These two patterns from Etsy come from Aliton Embroidery. The 4th of July pattern can be found HERE. The USA 250 pattern can be found HERE. They were both really quick and easy to stitch. 

The frames were a set of two purchased from Amazon. You can find them HERE. I love that they are a set and they are the perfect size for these two pieces.

Below is a step by step description of my (albeit primitive) framing process. Money is tight for many of us, myself included, and custom framing is just too much for me to justify right now. I did buy the Peel and Stick Mounting Boards for this project from Amazon. I've found them to be very thick and of good quality. And at $14.99 (as of today) for 10 11" x 14" boards, they're a real bargain.

After stitching and ironing the work, I gather all my supplies.

I use the plastic "glass" that comes with the frame to center my work.

After peeling off the protective film, I center the stitching on the piece.

I fold the edges upwards, creating a crease in the fabric. I do this on all four sides of the piece.

When I flip it over, it looks centered, but...

Once inside the frame I can tell it needs to be moved up and over to the left a bit.

Next I use the plastic insert to trace the lines onto the mat peel and stick mat board.

I don't have any professional tools for this, just an old box cutter and a pair of scissors. I cut the mat board along the lines. It doesn't go all the way through. However if you just fold it along the cut, you can then use scissors to cut the rest. It does give a rough edge, but that really doesn't matter because it will be well hidden once the piece is finished.

Next I position the piece in one more time to make sure it's straight.

Yep! That's much better. Reading for the gluing.

I use a hot glue that I felt is supposed to be acid free. However, I do have one piece of cross stitch that I made 30 years ago and the hot glue hasn't affected the piece at all. And since this is a small finish (as opposed to an heirloom piece that I want to last for generations) I feel confident that it will be fine for the time I intend to use it.

Next I trim the edges for a smooth fit into the frame.

Lastly I write my name, the date and location on the back. I love the fact that these frames come with backings that can be either hung or stood up on a table. So easy to finish any project!

Here are the finished pieces on the wall in my living room. My next project is to make a 4th of July quilt block cross stitch to hang where the larger piece is. 

Well that's all for today! Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day and a very safe and happy 4th of July this year!

Retro Rubber Challenge #273

As I write this I feel like a contestant on the Great British Bake Off reality show. They're always running around at the final moments making something that just gets in seconds before the buzzer goes off.

In reality, I have over 1.5 hours to finish this before Retro Rubber Challenge #273 (#rrcb273) closes. Plenty of time! But up until now, every smudged sentiment and wonky twine was a real stressor. But here it is! I always love to play along with them, it's just amazing how quickly the weeks pass by. 

Happy Adoption Day!

Today's card was made for a family who has just gotten approval to adopt their two grandchildren. I read about the post on The Angel Card Project, but didn't think too much about sending a card because I didn't think I had anything that fit. 

But later when I was going through my dies for another card, I came across these flip flop dies that I have never used. I instantly remembered that family and thought that four pairs of flip flops would make an adorable card for them.

Happy Father's Day Card From Word Art Wednesday

Today's card was inspired by the scripture that we are sharing over at Word Art Wednesday this round. I took the verse and decided to make a Father's Day card with it. I used the digital platform called Canva. They have a free version, a paid subscription, or you can pay for most images for just a dollar or so. It's so much fun and so very creative.

But before I go any further, I want to thank Waffle Flower for being our sponsor this month! You can't miss all their amazing stamps, dies and stencils as you wanter around in blogland. Their postage collection is so cool and it's definitely on my "to buy" list. We're giving away a $15.00 prize to anything in their store, so be sure to play along!

Here's my supply list for this card:

• Stampin' Up! Shaded Spruce Card Stock
• SU! Crushed Curry Card Stock
• Michaels Brown Card Stock
• Printed Graphic with Bible Verse
• Brads
• Unbranded Arrow Dies (Amazon)**

Here's the scripture by itself:

And just below is my free digital printable. As always:

1. Snag it to your desktop or photos.
2. Put it in a Word or Pages Document.
3. Resize it to the size card you want to make.
4. Print it out, either at home or at a copy center. 

I hope you enjoy the freebie! Remember that all images are for personal use only, please!

We'd love to have you join us over at Word Art Wednesday. You don't need to use the scripture, or use Waffle Flower products. All of our challenges are "anything goes." 

Thanks for stopping by my blog today and have a wonderful day!

** I try not to purchase unbranded merchandise anymore because I'm not sure it's not pirated. But at the time that I bought these dies I wasn't aware of that. I don't have any proof that these are pirated, so I thought that tossing out the dies would be silly.

4th of July Freebie & My Card From It

Here in the United States it will be the 4th of July before we know it, and if you're looking for a free graphic to send to someone, or if you'd like to make a cute card, here's a freebie that I made and you're welcome to use it.

Vintage Valentines For Two Challenges

So today's cards aren't what I had in mind when I chose to participate in the Paper Players Challenge 788 (PPC788) and the Sunday Stamps Challenge 387 (SSC387). But sometimes cards have a way of making themselves and that's what happened today.

Originally I wanted a brighter card using the colors at Sunday Stamps. But when I saw "patterned paper" as a slot over at the Paper Players I went digging through my 12 x 12 box.

That's when  I came across these two pieces of patterned paper that were given to me years ago. One piece was mostly used up, but the other seemed to have all the colors, so I went in a different direction. I cut out the two hearts, didn't like the look and was going to trash it but decided I'd at least make something from it. 

Valentine's Day came to mind so I went with that. Then there were enough extras on the table that I decided a second card could be made and there's no sense throwing the extras out.

I used the middle column in the Tic-Tac-Toe board (flower, free and patterned paper) but also included a die cut and layers.

Here are both of the cards I made:

Without using my envelope board, I made a matching square envelope from the remainder
of the patterned paper. I cut it straight up and down as I didn't have enough paper to make it the traditional way. The second envelope is embellished to match that card too.

And here's my supply list:

• Unknown Patterned Paper
• Speckletone Madero Beach Card Stock
• Speckletone True White Card Stock
• Spellbinders Dies
• Kohls Rubber Stamps (how crazy is that!)
• Stampin' Up! Border Die
• Misc. Rhinestones
• Misc. White Plastic Heart
• Dollar Tree Double Paper Heart
• Gifted Sheer Ribbon
• Stampin' Up! Cherry Cobbler Ink

I really do like to create cards based on the current season, but sometimes these craft supplies have a mind of their own! Next February I'll be glad I made these, but now it's on to some more bright and summery cards! Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!