Craft Fair #2 and a Christmas Card

After MIA for a little over a week, I'm back with a new post!
It was a busy week of evenings filled with preparing for the D.P. Todd Craft Fair, but it was well worth it! The weekend was a great success! This was my first year doing this particular craft fair and I really enjoyed it. There was a great selection of vendors, from woodworking to baby bibs to delicious baked goods! There was a cupcake vendor on one side of my booth and jams and jellies on the other -- sitting next to the cupcakes was especially dangerous! My most favourite was the Salted Mocha Caramel cupcake - yum!

Here's a picture of my booth, much the same set up as the last craft fair:

This week will be another busy one as I keep on crafting for Thursday night's fair: "Ultimate Shopping Experience & Pampering Night". This will be a bit of a different atmosphere than most craft fairs. It's a ladies night, with a more interactive shopping experience - looking forward to it!

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I thought I would start sharing some Christmas cards I've been working on lately, since Christmas will be here before we know it!

Here is my latest and one of my favourites:

 

I used Early Espresso Co'ordinations cardstock for the card front. I love the distressed look it gives when it is embossed. The stamped image is from "Welcome Christmas", a retired stamp set that I snagged when it was on clearance (bonus!). I love this stamp set. The images are so adorable! My favourite part of this card is the Cherry Cobbler striped ribbon with the jingle bells and tags tied to it. The jingle bells add the perfect touch!

 

 

Thanks for looking! Hope this inspires you to get an early start on your Christmas cards! :)

 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Welcome Christmas (ret.); Tiny Tags

Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso co'ordinations

Ink: Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Jewelry Tag punch, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder

Accessories: Cherry Cobbler striped grosgrain ribbon (ret.), linen thread, jingle bells (Michael's)

 

 

A Perfect Sketch and a Fabulous Colour Combo

The past few nights have been quite cold in PG, making it take a little longer to warm up during the day. It doesn't feel like Spring is on it's way... I guess, technically, the first day of Spring isn't until March 20th. But, now is the time of year I get cabin fever and really want the seasons to change. I look forward to the snow melting, flowers blooming, opening windows to let the smell of fresh spring air fill the apartment, warmer nights for going on walks... ahh I can't wait!

Today's card combines a perfect sketch challenge from Deconstructed Jen and a fantastic colour combo from Colour Q.

 

I just LOVE this colour combo. I think the colours coordinate so well together. And the sketch is a perfect example of a combination of clean and simple with layers. Here's what I came up with:

 

I love how clean and simple this card is. I added detail by using different patterned designer paper and embossed cardstock. I wanted to deviate away from creating another birthday card, so I chose a fun sentiment from the Stampin Up 'Word Play' stamp set. I simply stamped it in Cherry Cobbler ink, punched it out with the Extra Large Oval punch and sponged the edges. I added rhinestones to complete the card.

 

 



Thanks for stopping by!

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Word Play

Paper: Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White, 2011-2013 In-Colour DSP, Regals DSP, Floral District DSP

Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Tools: Extra Large Oval punch, Square Lattice Embossing Folder

Accessories: Rhinestones (Michael's)

A Card Sketches Book and a Feathered Top Hat

Good morning!

It's the start of what's going to be a productive long weekend! That's my goal anyway :) I hope to complete a few custom orders, do some housecleaning, create a budget, do some baking, and more road trip researching! It's ambitious, but doable! In between my tasks on my to-do list, I want to enjoy the sunny mild winter weather that's forecasted for this weekend and catch up on a couple TV shows. Should be a great weekend!

When it comes to designing a greeting card, I often have to plan ahead on the layout, and decide on what colours, stamps, and accessories I'm going to use. I like to have a visual before I sit at my crafting table, so I sketch my ideas on paper. It started with drawing on notepads at work....

But these would end up scattered over my small workspace, making my desk look so cluttered! So, I thought of a solution... I went to my favourite crafting store - Michael's - and checked out the sketchbook aisle. They happened to have a sale that day - buy one, get one for 1 cent. Perfect! I found two small sketchbooks -- the perfect "purse-size". I decorated the front cover and voila!

 

Now all my sketches will be in one place!


I'm excited for this week's challenge!

The inspiration photo comes from a local Prince George artist. At the craft fairs that I participated in last fall, I met quite a few talented vendors, one of them being Amanda Jean of "Orange U CreativE". She is such a sweet and super-talented lady! She makes feathered creations from earrings to necklaces to head pieces. All of her stuff is so gorgeous! I purchased a few pairs of earrings from her and absolutely LOVE them!  (Check out her facebook page: Orange U CreativE) One of her unique items became the inspirational photo that I chose for this week's "Inspired By..." challenge:

 

 

This is a mini top hat to be used as a head piece. It is so unique! I love how it is all pieced together. I see elegance and 'wedding' when I see this photo. I sketched out an idea in my handy dandy sketchbook...

 

 

I thought of using a new technique that I hadn't tried yet. It's called the Starburst Technique. The stripes on the top hat made me think of this. I had seen a few samples on pinterest and have been meaning to try it! I will show you the step-by-step instructions. It's very simple!

 

1) Cut a piece of cardstock 4" x 5.25". It doesn't matter what colour - it will be covered up. I chose to use white.

 

2) Cut three pieces of patterned designer paper into strips of 1.5" x 4.5". (It can be three different patterns, or just two. I decided on two patterned papers for this card). Then cut each of these strips corner to corner so you end up with six triangles.

 

3) I sponged each triangle piece with Basic Gray to give it a softer, antique look. Arrange the triangles on the cardstock so that they slight overlap each other. Don't glue them down until you are happy with it. It should look something like this:

 

 

4) Trim around the base of the cardstock to clean up the edges:

 

5) Finish it off by adding a strip of cardstock on the bottom. It can be any colour that you like. In my case, I'm going to glue on a strip of Basic Black cardstock:

 

 

And there you have it! Simple, right?

 

Here's my completed card:

 

 

I scrunched up Cherry Cobbler seam-binding ribbon to tie it all together. The sentiment "happy I do day" is stamped with VersaMark and heat embossed with pewter embossing powder. I made paper feathers and added hearts and rhinestones to complete the card.

 

 

I may have tweeked my sketch a little bit as I was making the card, but I love the final product!

 

Make sure to stop by Karly's Creations to see how this photo inspired her!

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Word Play

Paper: Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Neutrals Collection DSP

Ink: VersaMark

Tools: Labels Framelits, Heart to Heart punch, Heat tool

Accessories: Pewter Embossing Powder, Rhinestones, Cherry Cobbler seam-binding ribbon

 

Thanks for visiting!