I have a close crafty friend that makes cards often in the larger sizes, she sent me one at Christmas time and I love it so much I decided to take her card as inspiration and make a few extra large spring cards myself. These wouldn't be so great to mail by themselves, but work great in a package or hand delivered.
These are the 3 I made, a birthday, Happy Easter and a Friend card. They are 7" square and use Strathmore Bristol paper. You can see them all on today's video along with the process of how I made one in case you'd like to try the layering effect for yourself.
Check out this fun Happy Mail that arrived full of Spring goodness from my crafty friend Paula DiGiovanni.
Paula is just the most creative soul around and I love when she surprises me with fun things like this. It's now all sitting in a cute little Easter basket on the dining room table. Thank you Ms Paula!
Please check out the video walk through if you'd like to see all the fun things she included up close and personal and be sure and stop by her channel and say hello and Patti sent you.
Hi everyone, Beebeecraft contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I'd like to select some items from their online store, review them and work them up into some projects. Well of course! It took two weeks to arrive because mine were shipped from their China warehouse. They do have warehouses in the US and lots of items are shipped from there. I'll link to my video walk through and unboxing of all the products I recieved so you can get a good idea of sizes and textures and how things were packaged. (Video link at bottom of post)
I choose 5 items this first time but each item has from 20 to 100 pieces in it. Fabulous bargains for your money. Above this is one of my items a burlap, drawstring bag, filled with 20 large safety pins with attached charms, won't they look cool on some of my mini's or even a card. Wow what fun this is going to be.
This was another great find, 50 glass Cabochons with flat backs. They measure 1 inch and are filled with gorgeous butterflies. There are ten options on their store front for the Cabochons ranging in size from 10-25 mm (25mm is 1"). I loved the butterflies and can picture them as flower centers.
Thanks for stopping by, check out my video for all the items I received, check out the store for oodles more items.
Any of you that follow my blog or YouTube have heard me say before that my middle child should have been born in the 50's. She's my real retro gal. So when any occasions arise like anniversaries or birthdays I always try to make some type of retro card for her. Today I'm sharing the newest one and will provide you a video link below where you can see the entire start to finish process if you like. Perhaps it will give you some ideas to make a similar card for a Retro lover you know.
After I'd finished and given the card away I realized I never took a photo of the envelope so this is one from my iPhone that I had to try and crop all my desk out of but it will give you an idea of how you can create something visually grabbing before they ever get to the card.
Join me on the video and thanks so much for stopping by, Patti
Hi everyone, I've been watching YouTube and the napkin journal pages and have just been taken by how gorgeous they are. One YouTuber, Umut Rados, has such great video tutorials with so much useful information. I followed a lot of her instructions on how to blend the napkin into the background. But, as with everything new you don't realize how much you don't know until you get into something that's outside your comfort zone.
These are the times I wish I had the luxury of having someone standing over my shoulder saying, yes do that and then do this next. But I just kept plugging along, I made some mistakes along the way, which is always a good thing because then you have to figure out how to fix them.
I only had two napkins to choose from but one of them, this one, was so special. It was sent to me by Chrissie Crosser, from A Grandmother's Attic. I've treasured and hoarded it for way too long so it was good to see it get a new permanent home in my journal.
I did do a process video I hope you'll pop on over to my YouTube channel, the links below, and see how I put together my first napkin journal page. And oh yes, if you're the kind soul that gave me this quote would you let me know so I can thank you properly. Speaking of thanks I have another one to go to Kimmie Hogan for the fantastic hand made mixed media journal she sent me. So much love she put into this special gift to me, thank you Kimmie, as I fill up the pages it's going to become more and more of a treasure.
Hi everyone, I was contacted a while back from one of my viewers asking if I could make a mini for her. She'd purchased some bits and pieces of collections but then gathering them all together she was so hesitant to cut the paper and start on this journey.
So here I'd like to share what I created for her. It's a six page mini measuring 6"x8.5"x3". I wrapped the book and constructed the pages with Artisan Black Cardstock. I used Carte Bella's Metropolitan Girl and For the Record along with Authentiques Saucy. I threw in a few pieces here and there from Retro collections from my own stash.
I've used lots of glitter and glossy accents to create glittery pieces of fun throughout the book. The corners are capped with Tim Holtz corners and I added a Door Plate and Glass Knob to loop the elastic closure around. This is by far the most convenient type of closure if you aren't sure how large you mini will grow once you begin adding photos and what nots.
There are lots of mats and tags throughout the pages along with numerous pull out journaling booklets. One thing that was requested was lots of space to capture thoughts and memories. Here's a little show and tell of some of the pages
I have a complete video walk through posted below, I hope you'll join me there to see all the pages with descriptions of what I've used, punches, paper etc.
I have a special crafty friend that lives clear across the United States from me, but that hasn't hampered our friendship's growth. Recently she got a new puppy, believe it or not the first dog she's ever owned. Well her excitement has been infectious so I knew I had to create something special just for her.
This is Coco, the love of Miss Paula's life now. Isn't she just a sweetheart?
I'd love for you to pop over to my YouTube channel and take a look at the heart shaped mini I made for Coco and Paula. This was a pre-shaped chipboard mini consisting of 8 heart shaped pages.
I also have a short 'what and how I did it' video, not the whole process just some thoughts and ideas I'd like to share for anyone thinking of using a pre-shaped mini. Years ago this is what many of us made before we ventured into the start from scratch kind. They both, in my opinion still have a certain place in our crafty studios.
I'm back again today with a tag or card, whichever you prefer to call it, using more of my crafty room scraps. I used several different paper collections in this tag, both sizes of the Graphic 45 Alphabet tags and other embellishments from my stash. As always check the video link at the end of this post to get the complete process of how I made my tag along with tips and ideas for using your own crafty scrap stash.
I store my 6x6 and 8x8 paper pads in a bin on my shelves and leftovers from paper collections either by themes or manufactures in 13x13" art bins in my wire shelving unit. For this card/tag I pulled Websters Pages papers and a Victorian Valentine pad my friend Paula had gifted me from the 6x6's and then looked in my art bin labeled Love/Marriage. In here I toss remnants of paper lines that pertain to love and romance. I found an old Basic Grey sticker sheet from the Bittersweet Collection (circa 2008!) I found great cut aparts from Authentiques Adore collection, I think that's a couple years back. The jist of it is if you group things together you can pull them out and begin seeing what piece from this will go with what piece from that. It's amazing how you can cross over manufactures and collections for your project.
I had some white doily paper hearts in my stash and I lightly shaded them to dull down the white and let the color scheme flow better with the natural tones of the paper. By backing the thin doily with paper you can form a pocket while strengthening the paper. I also slit the paper (upper left) along the curved line to create a second pocket on the front for the tuck in tag you see in the first photo. I love slitting through the paper when I'm trying to preserve the image. You don't loose any of the picture part but you can create an additional useable accent.
One of my favorite parts of this project was running across this die from Creative Expression by Sue Wilson, I love her dies. This one was perfect to create an addition pocket on the back side to slip the cut apart in. I used a tinted glassine bag (gifted from Manuela) to slide the cut apart into.
Come and spend a few minutes with me on the video where I can share more of what I've created here and inspire you to dig into those crafty scraps you have in your own art space. Thanks for stopping by, Patti
Hi everyone I decided I'd use up some of my crafty room stash and make either embellishment clusters, tags or cards. For this first experiment I ended up with a pretty 5x7" card. What do you think?
I pulled out a handful of 6x6" paper, which I'm really bad about using anymore. I also found two boxes of Graphic 45 Alphabet Banner tags. I never use these and thought they'd make great bases for cluster elements or card fronts. I still love that they have these fabulous grommets at the top and wanted to be able to utilize them in something revamped. I used some old packaging acetate and made templates that were 1/4" smaller than the tags so I can cut mats to decorate them with. Since the middle is cut out where the letters are I wanting a backing for stability.
I have a bin that has die cuts in it. Ones I've cut and didn't use, just odds and ends. I found the arrow and leaves in this bin and used a jar of Nuvo Mousse to give them shimmer. Mind you I've had the Mousse for well over a year and never used it. It dried out from sitting around being neglected for so long. The jar says you can add water and that's what I did. It's not the soft creamy texture it was to begin with but it still gave a gorgeous glimmer to my die cuts.
Another thing that's been stashed on a shelf is this wonderful dictionary I bought at a paperback book store. I love the look of torn pieces of it on my cards or art. Since my image on the front is a frog and fairy I thought it would be great to incorporate the word Believe (like kiss a frog, get a prince, you know believe the impossible). You can see how I've torn and inked the edges and placed them on the card front on the picture above. The word stickers, oh my goodness they were a Tuesday Morning find I just had to have, and really I'm so glad I got them but I rarely used them, will today was the day and they were perfect, just the right size, just the right sentiments. So Hoorah! I've used up bits and pieces that have just being laying around and have a new card as well.
If you follow my channel you know I always like to put something on the inside. Here's a sampling of the inside, more die cuts with the Nuvo Mousse, another sticker, some seam binding and a great journaling spot.
Come on over to my YouTube channel and check out the process video. I'll share lots of tips and ideas for using up your crafty scraps. Thanks so much for stopping by!
Today I'm sharing a new album made from Lemon Craft's collection Sweet Secrets. Archana Joshi owner of Crafty City was kind enough to send me this collection to play with as a Guest Design Team project for her store. A Video link to the complete walk through is at the bottom of this blog post. Archana is offering all my viewers a 10% discount through the end of October with the code PattiDT10, be sure and check out the Crafty City Store for some wonderful products (discount does not include kits)
This Mini is FOR SALE
USA only, payment via PayPal
Please email me if you are interested nwlady2@gmail.com
I am calling this original design a Graduated page mini which is easy to see why. The base of the mini is 8"x10" with a 4" spine. Constructed of medium weight chipboard and covered in a cream cardstock. Each page of the mini graduates in width by 1" starting with the first page being 4" and the last being 9" for a total of 6 page sections.
Inside the front cover I've included a huge circle photo mat to complement any photo you'd like to showcase. I am including a circle template that fits perfectly inside the pearl trimmed frame so whomever purchases this will have no problems filling it.
All the pages measure 7 1/2" high. The first section, as I said, measures 4" wide when tied and closed. Open to the right, as shown above, it expands into 3 sections each housing a tucked in spot for photos or journaling or those little treasures you'd like to keep.
When opened to the left the sections expand to include a fourth. Lots of space for a variety of photos, journaling and whatever you'd like to preserve on them.
The next section expands to 5" and has a beautiful side lace pocket with a nice folded tuck in inside. The lace has been mounted onto clear acetate to create stability and strength to the pocket.
The next group of pages expands to 6" in width and showcases a beautiful lace pocket filled with tuck in mats. I found this fantastic beige mesh butterfly in my stash that had just been waiting to adorn this page. It's so fun to use things you've looked at many times and now find they fit perfectly. To secure the surprise hidden inside this page I used a LOVE white clothespin with a cream Seam Binding bow on one side and a button adornment from the collection on the opposite side. The clothes pin neatly holds the mats on both sides in place.
When you remove the decorative LOVE clothespin from these pages they pop open to share side by side Belly Bands complete with fussy cut sprays of flowers. The flowers are free in the middle so the tuck in can slide behind. Folded, large, photo mats store neatly on each side behind each belly band.
Increasing another inch to 7" the next page has a gorgeous flower and paper element anchoring the top flap and acting as a stopper. Released it pops up, down and out to reveal numerous large areas for photos.
The backside is a simple, but lovely, pocket housing three mats.
Moving to the 8" wide page shares a plain page with just the lovely print of the collection showing except for a tied ribbon bow at the bottom which promises something fantastic when opened.
Within these two pages are 3 sets of waterfalls each allowing for different sized photos. Because it's secured with the tied ribbon closure it allows the waterfalls to grow in size to accommodate all the photos. So much is here in such a small area, I love it! There are lots of surprises under the waterfalls as well but I'll let you discover them when you watch the video.
Probably my favorite duo of pages are these with the lace scallop pockets across the bottom. I would be remiss if I did not thank Cheryl Wells for the lovely laces within the pages of this mini and Manuela Ott (Bunny Bow) for the bags, sacs and envelopes tucked here and there throughout. I am blessed to have such generous crafters share their things with me.
Inside the back cover is a humongous envelope filled with all sorts of goodies for the purchaser of this mini to help decorate the pages to their liking. Some ribbons, and paper elements, butterflies and clothespins, some tab pulls and oh yes photo templates to take the guesswork of what to put where.
Please join me on the video to see the full walk through front to back of the mini. I do not have a tutorial for this but I do have a playlist of many How Do I Do That videos that will walk you through basic mini album construction.
Well if you're a regular visitor to my Blog, YouTube or any of my social media outlets you know I've been trying to stay in the habit of using up my scraps before I store them away. This time it was with Authentique's Solitude collection, a wonderful assortment of very vintage Christmas designs and images. I had so little paper scraps left I had assumed I'd only have a couple of cards to share with you. As happens lots of time the scraps grew and I ended up with twelve Christmas cards and still a few designs left for maybe three more.
This was the first card I made and wow do I love it. Super simple, super elegant and something I'd love to share with anyone. This one was larger because the image is 4x6", all the rest are 4 x 5.5".
On the video (the link is at the bottom of this post) I'm going to give you three examples of perhaps making a card a little differently than you usually do. I'll share all the cards I made to give you loads of food for thought and hopefully inspire you to look at and use up your scraps into cards. On this particular card I fussy cut the little girl out of the mat. Popped both the mat and the little girl on scraps of chipboard, or a couple of sheets of scrap cardstock work well too. I then added the ribbon and bow and glued the girl back into the design. Now she's dimensional! To hide where I snipped the border to get to her I've added one of my snowflake clusters. Easy Peasy!
The next idea, well there's no two ways about it, I'm going to be an enabler and tell you if you don't already have a branch punch in your crafty stash you need to invest in one. Mine is an older pine bough punch by Martha Stewart. All your little scraps can be punched to make a lovely wreath like the one shown here. The scrap only has to be as wide as the widest part of the branches, which is pretty small. It takes a bit of time to punch them all but I love the visual it provides! I've also included some of these same branches around the fussy cut robin on this card. It will add so much punch to your cards if you add them here and there.
OK the last idea I'm sharing here is using the negative space to create a card. I had punched out the snowflakes and I was left with this beautiful negative space image of a snowflake. I added an acetate pocket behind and filled it with sequins and shiny bits and glued a backing on it. Voila instant shaker card. Across the middle is the punched snowflake with of course some shiny Stickles added to it. The small photos show the negative space cutting to add just a small border around to form another snowflake (on the left above) and the dimension of the altered negative space (on the right).
So come and join me on the video and see the other cards I created.
