Floral Birthday Card

Hi my faithful readers. I don't know where the month has gone but it is already the end of August and next week begins September to seduce us. I just looked at the calendar and realized that there are September birthdays so time to make cards.

I made this card for someone special who is feminine but not over the top girly girl. So I left off the ribbon and lace.

I first cut out my card base from pink cardstock. For those who know me I normally don't craft with pink. Then I cut my panel out of textured core cardstock. I used a Cuddlebug embossing folder but I don't know the name of it. I think it is part of a set. I normally don't make 5 x 7 cards so it has pretty much been gathering dust.  After embossing I sanded the raised embossing so that the white would show. The sentiment was stamped on cardstock which I had sprayed homemade color mist on and then applied Creative Medium Shimmer with a damp sponge while the cardstock was still damp. The ink I used for stamping was actually pink. I did not realize that the stamp was last used with a water base ink and not cleaned so of course when I stamped it became purple.(Opps! I better teach my granddaughter to clean stamps when she is done with them before she puts them away.) I used a spellbinder die for the scallop oval and also sprayed homemade color mist and used the Creative Medium Shimmer on that also. After cutting out the intricate floral die/stencil which was a freebie from the August UK Cardmaking and Paper Crafting magazine I adhered it with the Creative Medium and then using a cosmetic sponge which was damp rubbed over it. Because my cosmetic wedge had been used with red ink it turned the cut out piece pink.  I didn't think about that when I grabbed the used wedge instead of getting out a new one to use. Using gelatos and my small tip water brush I painted in the flower. Then pop dotted the panel onto the card. I really wish you could see the shimmer on this card. I will have to keep in mind using the Shimmer Creative Medium on a damp cosmetic sponge when I want to give a project some shimmer but not necessarily wait a long time for something to dry.

Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Time To Knit Old Man Winter Is On The Way

Hi everyone I know I have been absent lately but what can I say the sunny weather, a hammock and good books have been beckoning me lately. Old Man winter will be here before I know it and I have to be storing up that sunshine and warmth before his arrival. Too bad I can't bottle all that sunshine up.

One of the books I just finished  reading is "The Friday Night Knitting Club" by Kate Jacobs. I wish I could say it inspired me to get out my knitting needles and the shawl I started a few years ago. Last time I looked at it I had no idea where I was in the pattern. Nor whether the pin side was the wrong or right side. No,I have a feeling my days of knitting with needles are over. Especially since I've discovered how easy it is to use a knitting loom.

O.K. I will confess that I originally bought the set of knitting looms thinking I could learn how to use them and then teach my granddaughters. They sat untouched for six months until I went and visited my sister. She got me going making my first hat. I made my hat longer only because I like my hats to cover my ears and neck.

 With one hat under my belt I decided to try to make a beaded hat for my "diva" granddaughter. It was great as I could take the loom with me camping and not worry about stitches getting accidentally dropped off of needles. I had forgotten to take the flower loom with me so had to wait until I got home to make the flower for on top. I decided to add some pony beads in the center of the flower. I wish now I had used the purple yarn for the flower middle but I'm sure my "Diva" will love her new hat.

My sister asked me how to do the beads on the hat brim. It is really simple. You thread the beads on your yarn before you start. How many rows you want beaded will determine how many beads to thread on. I decided to just use three rows on the brim of the hat. When you get to the row where you want beads instead of wrapping that row you place the yarn on the outside of the pegs with the beads in between the pegs and then knit as you normally would. If you should get too many beads on like I did you can just keep pushing them down the yarn until it is time to cut the yarn at which time you can slide them off the yarn.

 I used a 36 peg large gauge loom to make these hats. I think most of the Knifty Knitter loom sets are large gauge so I doubled the stitches knitting over two rows instead of one giving a tighter stitch. I am ordering by Knifty Knitter their purple loom which has 48 pegs closer together and is slightly larger for making adult hats. The men in my life have asked for hats with closer knitting so they will be warmer. Also dare I say it they have bigger heads because their brains are like the computers back in the 60's which took up a whole room. ;-).Of course if you have a better explanation of why their heads are larger I would love to hear it.

By the way a round knitting loom can be used for more than knitting hats. It can be used to knit cords,knitting flat panel scarfs,etc. So if you only have the money to buy one loom instead of a set buy a round knitting loom. Of course you just might luck out and find a set at a thrift store. :-)

I just picked up at the library the sequel "Knit Two" by Kate Jacobs so I'm off to go sit in the hammock and read until the sun sets. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!

Creative Blog Hop

There is a new blog hop going around and I was tagged by my good  friend Beth Norman of  Sunflowers and Dragonflies to join in. Beth is the queen of card making and creates whimsical cards which are sure to bring a smile to your face. Also her coloring of stamped images is so fabulous it is sure to bring on a bout of coloring envy if you are like me and your coloring looks like a toddler did it.

My sincere apology for being late posting this as I was suppose to post this Monday. Alas when Beth asked me I did not realize I would be in the midst of vacation somewhere with no internet, no cell phone service, and limited electricity. I just got home this afternoon and am trying to get this up as soon as possible.

When Beth asked me to join the hop I was excited as I have never participated in a blog hop and thought it would be fun. Also since this is a "Creative" hop it is not just about paper crafting.By the way everyone is creative whether they realize it or not. It might be in the way a meal is presented that you cooked, The colors you use where you live, even the way you put together an outfit to wear.

This blog hop is a little different as there is no list to click through. It is an ongoing blog hop and so far doing a search for Creative Blog Hop I've found an entry Here from June. It is a great way to introduce readers to other bloggers who are creative in different ways as well as introduces to how other people approach the creative process.

Now for the question and answer part of this post. What am I working on? Well like usual I have several irons in the fire but some things I'm not too sure how I want to go with them right now. The ideas are going to have to percolate a little longer. Right now they are really weak coffee.

 Lately I've been playing with my gelli plate. Since I like creating my own papers and backgrounds for me it was a good investment. For someone else it might not be. They are a little expensive but if you take care of one it will last a long time. Definitely longer than the three months the gelatin plate I had made with Vodka lasted. It eventually went moldy on me.

Lately I've been playing with using dye ink pads,stencils, and stamps. In fact I spent an interesting day after this picture was taken later playing with my granddaughters and index cards. Their mother loved that we played with dye ink instead of paint. The girls had fun applying the ink pad directly to the plate and stamps.

 The card on the far right is what I used to clean off the brayer, The one in the middle was done using two different stencils. The one on the left and above were done using a square stencil. I inked the stencil and then placed the ink side down on the gelli plate. I found it worked great to place an index card under the plate to use as a guide for positioning. 

This is the front of an altered board book I'm working on. I keep changing my mind of how I'm going to use this. Right now I'm thinking of using it with some of my flower photos.

Here I've been sanding the inside pages to use. Before the book police come after me this was really a worn book with lots of stains on the pages. I bought it at a thrift store for a quarter.  If you have really worn board books you might want to consider using them as a mini album of some sort. 

This is what I worked on while on vacation. Although I used to knit all the time with needles I've come to love the idea of using a loom. This is a beaded hat I'm making for my "Diva" granddaughter. I'm thinking of putting a yarn flower with beads on the top. When I'm done on this hat I'll be making another one for the other granddaughter. 

I hope I have not bored you yet. Now to answer more of the questions.  For those who wonder how my work differs from others. I am an experimenter and love to use several different mediums when creating cards which is what I usually do. As well as using my tools in different ways..

This is one of my most favorite cards where I coated the inside of an embossing folder with colored glue. When the glue was dried I carefully took it off the folder and coated the crumpled foil with glue and glued my embossed glue panel to it. Then added a print and cut where I had cut out an extra butterfly and pop dotted it.

Some people ask me why I create. The answer is simple I create because it is fun and because I love to challenge myself. Also I love sending cards, or making gifts to give.

Now to answer the last question. What inspires me? Often I'm inspired by what I see around me. It may be a piece of fabric or an image. Often it is seeing random things scattered in the work area. In fact there may be an image I want to use but not sure how I'm going to use it until I see things on my work space and everything seems to come together. Of course a lot of my inspiration comes just from playing and seeing how different elements look together.

Although a couple of people who I invited to join this blog hop are not available to join this hop I encourage you to check out their blogs. Also if you would like to join in on this blog hop please leave a comment with a way to contact you and I'll send you the information.

First check out my dear friend Myrna's blog. Myrna is the queen of making simple but elegant cards using her Cameo cutting machine. Her blog is What was old is new again

The other blog is by Roni who plays with ink and mixed media. She does a lot of comparing different papers and media using them. She also is always experimenting with different medium and gives her honest opinion of them. As well as shows often different ways to use products.  Her blog is Inkstains with Roni.

Thank you for stopping by and do come again. Now I'm off to unpack and do laundry. Wishing you Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!