A Geranium Card

Summer is half over! Doesn’t seem possible. The days are flying by. Whatever happened to the ‘lazy days of summer’? I think they disappeared with childhood. After a busy morning of catch-up, I decided to take a break and spend some time at my ‘card’ table and play with my rubber stamps and ink. I used older stamps to make this card.

The background stamp is by Hero Arts (2002) and titled Delicate Vine Background.
I love the spicy scent of geraniums. The potted geranium on this card is actually two stamps from a 1994 Stampin’ Up set titled Little By Little.
For the die cut, I used Sizzix #657911 Fancy Tags. The shape gives this simple card a little pizzaz.

A warm soft breeze is coming in through the open window and the cicadas are buzzing in the afternoon heat. Perhaps for just a few hours this afternoon, I’ll relax and rediscover that ‘lazy day’ feeling.

Stampin’ Up ~ Bordering On Romance Card

Another card made during an evening stamping and chatting in The Rubber Room.

This was the first time I’d used the Adorning Accents Edglit die and small embossing folder by Sizzix. The edge of the pink Designer Series Paper was cut with the die then embossed for added detail. Love it!

Mixed Media Cards

I love these! Could it be because I got to play with my stash of fabric and vintage buttons?

Layers include fabric, printed paper, tissue paper from an old pattern and cheese cloth. Cut small, medium and large flowers and circles (I used Sizzix dies – Flower Layers and Circles #2 – but cutting shapes free hand would work just as well.) then stack with the largest on the bottom and smallest on the top. Add a bit of cheese cloth at the bottom and between one of the layers. Sew a button in the center to hold the stack together and soak with spray starch. Pinch and scrunch to shape the flower, then let dry overnight.

Center a 2′ Glubers on the embossed background (Cuttlebug’s Textile folder). Add bits of ribbon, yarn, lace and beads around the edge of the Gluber. Then press the flower into the center.

Easy and fun!

‘My Special Valentine’ Heart Garland

Pinterest! Oh my, the ideas I discover over there. I fell in love with a Christmas garland made from cards. Knew I had to have one, but Christmas had passed and I couldn’t wait a whole year to make one and display it. So I climbed into the attic and got out the box holding all the cards I’ve received over the years. I pulled out the Valentine cards Old Rhody and I have exchanged for the past twenty-eight years and, using my Cuttlebug machine and Sizzix dies, created a pretty garland complete with loving sentiments.

Here’s a short tutorial of what I did:
Each heart hung on the garland consists of two hearts – a front and a back. The heart for the back side of the garland is cut from the inside of the card as a way of preserving the sentiment. If that portion of the card is only paper, cut another heart from card stock and glue the paper heart to it.

Lay the heart that will show on the front of the garland face down, run adhesive just beneath the notch in the heart, glueing the ribbon in place.

Now, glue on the back – the heart with the sentiment – so the ribbon is sandwiched between the two hearts.

This is a view of the back of the garland as I added hearts, working from the center of the ribbon out to either side.

Here is the back completed.

A couple of close up pictures of the front when completed and hung.

I truly love the fact that these beautiful cards from years past are no longer hidden away in a box in the attic, but are hanging on a garland for me to enjoy. Going through that box of cards brought to light lovely Easter cards and Mother’s Day cards, too. So, yes, there are more garlands in my future. But right now, I have a few Valentine cards left over. Perhaps I’ll make some strings of hearts to hang in the window. Heart strings. Ohhh… that sounds like the name of a blog….

Penny Rug

I’ve always loved the look of little ‘penny rug’ runners and mats and have wanted to make one. Most often the ones I see in gift shops and mail order catalogs, are dark colors giving them an old primitive look. Though I love the ‘prim’ look, I also love color, so going through my felt stash, I found several ‘colonial’ colors that worked well together.

Penny rugs originated in the 1800’s. Women gathered bits of wool and wool felt from old clothing and hats, then using coins as templates, created table mats, floor rugs and bed covers. The blanket stitch was used to apply each small fabric circle to a background made of feed sacks or burlap.

Instead of laboring over the tracing and cutting of ‘pennies’ like my sisters of days gone by, I cut the felt circles using my Cuttlebug machine and the Sizzix Circles #2 die. How easy! Tonight I’ll go through my embroidery floss and pull out complementing colors. Hope to have a finished doily-size penny rug to show you next week.

Do you have any projects in the works?