August 17, 2013

Two For One

Hello!

How's your day going?  I'm enjoying a bit of a break from the chaos that is 4 teenage girls sleeping over, while they're at the pool.  I can only imagine that they're going to come back sunburned and/or "crispy" from being there most of the afternoon. lol  In the nice, quiet, alone time I have had, I created two cards.  I usually only post one at a time, but I wanted to share both of these right now.  I was a bit impatient in sharing these. :-)

Here is the first.


A few weeks ago I saw a card posted using a crochet mat.  I did some investigating, and found that Jessi Fogan, makes AND sells them.  I was super excited to place my order, and was even more excited when they arrived so quickly at my house the other day (she's awesome!).  I've asked her to try to find some neon thread.  Wouldn't they be awesome?!  It had been a while since I'd created anything but a square card, so I went with round for this one.  My peach/white flourish panel is actually the emboss resist technique, which I really should do more often.  I matted it in a pale yellow, and added it to my sage green crochet mat.  I then added a wood veneer banner that came in one of my Simon Says Stamp card kits, a twine bow, a hand crocheted flower I ordered on Etsy, and a few sequins.  In all, I think this card took me 20 minutes to complete, and I love it!

I've combined the following challenges in this card:

Stampin Royalty #189 - Photo Inspiration (hope I got close enough to the colors)
Drunken Stampers #137 - Twine (Hi Jessi!!)
Totally Gorjuss #197 - Die Cuts/Punches (my shaped card was made with dies)

And, here is the second card. 


If you know me, you know I LOVE blue.  I reminded myself about the need to continue my use of the emboss resist technique, and wound up with this beauty.  I made two identical panels, only one is embossed with snowflakes and has Mr. Huey's mist on it.  For a bit of added interest, I matted them in opposite directions.  The bottom layer starts with the darker colors at the top, and the focal panel starts with the lighter colors at the top.  I have to say, this turned out much better than I expected.  I added an MFT snowflake, a beautiful I Am Roses paper flower, and some cork paper leaves on top of my ribbon and sentiment, and was finished.  I think the emboss resist technique will be used again this afternoon, for some gift tags.  Or maybe a couple of bookmarks.  Ooooh, yeah...that would work!

I've combined the following challenges in this card:

Cards Galore August Challenge - Bingo (embossing/masks, sprays/inks, ribbon)
Cardabilities #81 - Sketch
Jingle Belles - Tic Tac Toe (embossing heat or dry, ribbon, stamping)
Just Add Ink #178 - Just Add Snowflakes
Just Us Girls #202 - Monochromatic Blues

Now that my long post is done, I've got a question to ask you awesome crafty people!  I recently started thinking that I might want to try my hand at getting published.  I've added it to my bucket list, but am in no hurry.  What advice would you give someone who's never tried this?  Any tips or hints at anything to help me out would be greatly appreciated. 

I'm off to try to create something else to share later in the week.  I'll be back on Monday with my next House of Cards project.  Hopefully, you'll get the chance to stop by and check out what I've made for that.  I do hope the rest of your weekend is fantastic!

Stay crafty my friends!

23 comments:

Christine Blain said...

Steph, your Christmas card is really beautiful!! I just love the graduation of colour, on both the card base and the main panel. Beautiful use of emboss-resist. Thanks for joining us at Just Add Ink this week.

Diane said...

oh my- where do I begin? Your blue card is stunning- I love how you flipped the direction of the gradation of the colors- strikingly beautiful effect!
Now the top card- uber gorgeous! The mat is pure brilliance- that Jess is one talented lady- and you are as well- to have used the crochet mat so perfectly! I love how all of your elements can stand on their own but combined- you created a card anyone would keep forever! thanks for playing along with the Drunken Stampers!

Jessi Fogan said...

OMG, Steph, I am in AWE of what you made! The little crystals, the wood veneer...eek! I'm still on the lookout for neon threads, and you will be the first to know if I find them!
The winter card - oh wow - that background is so perfectly saturated. LOVE :)
I've never been published (too anxious about rejection!) but there are some really good articles about it at Paper Crafts magazine, and the Sweet Stamp Shop has a recurring series too.

http://www.papercraftsmag.com/submissions/TopTenThingsToKnowWhenSubmitting.html

http://sweetstampshop.blogspot.ca/search/label/get%20published

Vicki Dutcher said...

Stunning detail on your JUGS card - love the ombre and the touch of cork! Thanks for joining in with JUGS!

SmilynStef said...

Both cards are stunning ... you really made Jessi's awesome handiwork shine ... and I love how you flipped the panels on the blue holiday card ... it really draws your eye into the design ... and those little cork leaves are such a great touch ... always glad when you join us at jingle belles.

Adriana B said...

great take on sketch, such amazing colour and details thanks for playing along at Cardabilities :)

Paula Dobson said...

I love the graduated panels on your Card Steph! I also like that you rotated them - very effective. Thanks for playing at JAI this week ♥

KimB said...

Love the blues of your snowflake card Steph, you really showcase the emboss resist technique beautifully! Thanks for joining us at Just Add Ink.

Carole said...

Beautiful blues... beautiful cards.

lauren bergold said...

oh wow, WOW, ♥WOW♥!!! both of these are utterly jaw-dropping! (& for the record i am also a MASSIVE jessi fogan fan... she is awesome!!!) :) of course i'm bound to say that your JINGLE BELLES tic-tac-toe card is my fave and truly it is a masterpiece from that gorgeous background to the super-skinny mats to the perfect cluster of embellies! and again i say, "WOW!!!!" ♥

Chris Dring said...

Wow Steph, where do I begin?! First of all, you showcased Jessi's crocheted mat stunningly on your first card! The soft colors, the resist embossing - beautiful! Secondly, your blue ombre card is absolutely amazing! Love how you reversed the panels!
As for getting published, I haven't been...yet! (I try every so often) I see Jessi gave you some excellent links to read. I've talked with a few ladies who have been published, and they all said the same thing: They submitted a boat load of projects before getting one picked up in a magazine. They told me to just keep trying, don't be afraid of rejection, and don't give up!
Thanks for playing along with the Drunken Stampers Twine challenge!

Lindsey said...

Two gorgeous cards! The blue Christmas card is stunning. And how can you go wrong with one of Jessi's crocheted mats? So great that you could link it up to our Drunken Stampers challenge!

Lee aka Violent Kittie said...

Your cards are beautiful! I can't believe that you can make them so quickly! I love your flourishes on the crocheted card! Thanks for entering the challenge at Drunken Stampers!

Anonymous said...

Wow this snowflake card is so pretty - I realise I would not have put snowflakes and flowers together - but it looks fantastic. I love your bold colours too. Chantell JAI

Jacki Daniels said...


What gorgeous creations thank you for playing along with us at Drunken Stamper this week
Jacki xx
http://scullduggery-cardsbyjacki.blogspot.co.uk/
http://punkyougirl.blogspot.co.uk

Donna said...

Gorgeous!! I was lucky enough to get some of Jessi's mats...aren't they (and she) awesome??? Thanks for playing along with us at Drunken Stampers this week!

Barbara Godden said...

Awesome cards, those crocheted mats are fabulous kudos jessi, Thanks for playing along with the Drunken stampers for the Thing/twine challenge.

chanya13 said...

Beautiful card!!! Love colour combo :) Thanks for playing along with us at Cardabilities!!! Agnieszka

Olga said...

This is gorgeous!! Thank you for playing with Cardabilities! Good luck!

Hazel said...

Hi Steph

Well - both cards are just gorgeous - love the simplicity of the first one and the blues on the second - gorgeous!

Thank you for joining us over at Totally Gorjuss - I wish you the very best of luck.

I hope you will join in the fun with us on our next challenge on Saturday.

Have a great weekend.

Toodle Pip

Hazel xx

Maire Gamber said...

Love what you did with the die cut challenge! I am your newest follower. Love your card. Thank you for joining us at Totally Gorjuss for our challenge!
Hugs,
Marie XX

Barbara said...

Your gorgeous Christmas card for the Jingle Belles brought me here but the Thank You card with the crocheted edge (or is it in fact a whole mat??) really caught my attention!

Leslie Germain said...

Absolutely Beautiful!