Shabby Chic

I somehow lost track of the days! Is it really Wednesday already? 

I have a shabby chic card to share with you today. I wasn't really all that sure what exactly classified a card as shabby chic, but I googled it (trusty ol' Google) and I found out that it's usually to do with making something new look old. Fairly simple. I also read that mixing neutrals (like whites and creams together) is another way to make something shabby chic. I did a little of a lot of things on this card as you'll see.

I saw this card on Pinterest and loved it! I changed some things up, but not much. The paper doily and the flourish pattern in the designer series paper really struck me as being vintage and lending the "old" feel to the card. Some newer elements, like the soda pop top, bring a modern take to this card. I also like how the neutrals are mixed. It's not often that I use both Very Vanilla and Whisper White on a card, but here I did and I like it!

Are you tired of seeing projects from me featuring the Chevron TIEF? (waits for response) Good! I love it and I know you're planning to add it to your wishlist just because of how versatile it is.

Hope you've enjoyed your time visiting my Sweet Stampin' Spot today!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:

Stamp Set: Collage Curios

Card Stock: Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Basic Gray, Gumball Green, Crumb Cake, Poetry Prints DSP stack

Ink: Gumball Green & Raspberry Ripple classic ink

Tools: Big Shot Die Cutting Machine, Chevron TIEF, 1 3/4" Scallop Circle Punch, 1" circle punch, paper snips

Accessories: Paper Doily, Basic Jewel Rhinestone

For the Girls!

I'm so excited to be heading out to my first papercrafting retreat tomorrow!! My upline, Desiree Spenst, along with some of my sidelines and downline, are hosting the Papercrafter's Paradise Retreat! I don't know what to pack so I'll probably just pack EVERYTHING! Good thing there are only 2 people in my vehicle. I'll have 100 pounds of SU! stuff to take.

My husband's cousin (so...my cousin-in-law?) asked me to make her some cards. She's getting married in August and wants to send a card to each of her ring bearers and flower girls, as well as one for her sister-in-law who will be doing the bridal party's make up.

Here's what I created for the little girls (5 & 3):

 I cut the letters out using the Big Shot and the Typeset Alphabet Bigz Dies. I covered each letter in Versamark and then heat embossed Iridescent Ice on top to give it a really pretty shimmer and shine! I wish the photo could capture it better. It's beautiful in the light. I used the Scallop Oval Frame (retired.Boohoo) in Pretty In Pink. 

 
That cute flower is just the 1 3/4" scallop circle punch. I punched out two of them and then used my bone folder to break down the fibres and carefully peeled the two layers apart. The layers were brushed against a Melon Mambo ink pad to give some definition.  I then roughed them up a bit by crumpling. I secured all 4 layers together with a mini brad and spritzed the flower with Stampin' Mist (stamp cleaner) to make it crunchy.  There's a small soda pop top (flattened) hiding in the center with a butterfly from Collage Curios and basic rhinestone glamming it a bit.

 The letters here are done the same way, but I went for a different approach for the rest of the card. Because of having 5 letters to work with, this was the only arrangement I could come up with that would fit on a standard size card. I stamped the Sweet Floral background stamp in Pink Pirouette to add some interest to the whisper white panel. Otherwise it was just too stark. That cute ribbon flower was made a while back, but I wanted to use it for a 3D element and I liked how the yellow really popped! It's made using satin ribbon (retired) and a heat tool. It's finished off with an antique brad. 

Wow! A lot of words. Did you make it through all that, or just look at the photos? That's ok. I probably would've skipped the words too ;)

Enjoy and remember to check back to see the other boy card!!

Tamara

Kaleidoscope Blog Hop!

Thank you so much for joining us on our very first Kaleidoscope Stampers Blog Hop! We are very excited to share what we have been working on with you.

EEeeee! I'm so excited! It's my first ever BLOG HOP!! Our team, Kaleidoscope Stampers, is hosting our own. Why did we never think to do this before? I dunno. We just didn't. BUT then Danielle over at StampEnvy did and now this great thing is happening!

The theme of our hop is SPRING! As I'm writing this post, I can hear birds chirping outside and water dripping! Hopefully that means winter is on it's way out and spring is coming in!!

The card I'm sharing with you today was created for someone very special. My sister-in-law, Jessica, celebrated her 18th birthday recently. She's heading to France over March break and so I snuck in the Eiffel tower image from Collage Curios. Jessica loves anything vintage so that's the feel I was aiming for. I also wanted it to be complex and believe me, this card took me close to 2 hours! Mostly because I couldn't decide on colours, stamps, or ANYTHING. I am so happy with how it turned out though! I guess you kinda want to see it, huh?

I'm loving the ombre technique so I did that using water and Elegant Eggplant reinker. I forgot to write down how many drops I used for each dip but I think it was 2 drops, then add 4 or 5 more, then add 6 more. Something like that. I wanted it to be quite a dramatic spread of colour. I patiently let that dry held it up in front of my space heater and then used my heat tool to speed up the drying process. I may or may not have singed my fingers....

While my ink/water mixture was at it's deepest purple, I submerged 3 of the Vanilla Flower Trim flowers and then let them dry on a paper towel. They weren't as saturated with colour as I had wanted so I used my Elegant Eggplant marker and just lightly brushed it along the tops. The colour bled down as it was still a little wet and I was pleased with the result. I think I'll do that again sometime.

I flattened the bottle cap top in my Big Shot Die Cutting Machine using a piece of chipboard in between my cutting pads and on Tab 1 (same as how you use embossing folders). That squashed it. Then I punched out a circle with the 1" circle punch to fit inside. I stamped it first, then adhered it to the bottle cap using a couple glue dots.

I did some stamp-a-ma-jigging next (That's a real verb, ask Brian Pilling from SU! headquarters!). I love the images in Oh, Hello (Spring Mini) and thought it would be fun to have a chevron border along the bottom. I stamped off once before stamping on my page in Elegant Eggplant as I wanted to mute the colour a bit. The ombre canvas needed to be center stage.

I couldn't find a Happy Birthday sentiment that was the right size or style so I improvised. I really like it now though, as this card can be on display anytime and won't look odd. I would even frame it if someone gave it to me ;) (wink wink) In case you can't read it, the sentiment is, "Each one of us is God's special work of art.".

I hope you have enjoyed my portion of the hop today! If this is your first time here, don't worry, not all my posts are so wordy! I'm just excited...

Hope to see you again!

Tamara

Stampin' Supplies:
Stamp Set: Collage Curios, 
Card Stock: Elegant Eggplant, Canvas Creations, Whisper White
Ink: Elegant Eggplant reinker and Classic Ink pad, Jet Black StazOn, Elegant Eggplant Stampin' Write Marker

Accessories: Vanilla Flower Trim, Large size Bottlecap, glue dots, Chipboard (for Big Shot)
Tools: Big Shot Die Cutting Machine, Heat Tool, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Other: Tweezers, Water & container, paper towel
 

Hop on over to the next blog by the following the next link:

1. Desirée Spenst 

2. Danielle Calder 

3. HeatherCooper

4. AmandaTurner

5. TamaraCasorso(you are here)

6. KristinNoble

7. TaraAngus