Handmade Crochet Flowers and Shabby Chic Valentine's Card

Hello Friends! Happy Friday! I actually worked on this card a few days ago but I had other projects to post first so I now how a free day to post the card. I love the color combination of vanilla, teal and pink. I think it's such a pretty color combination.


I had stamped the Close to My Heart images then heat embossed them with clear embossing powder. You can't really see it in the photo but the hearts have a shiny sheen to them in person.

Going with the shabby chic design, I added a pretty velvet Prima flower, lace, vintage button, paper doily and beaded pin. That's about it. I'm planning to work on other projects soon including Mother's Day and Easter projects. The holidays creep by so quickly. . .it's amazing that Valentine's day is fast approaching already!

I do want to share a few items that I had recently listed on Etsy. I finally found time to create more crochet flowers in various colors. I've listed a few Stampin Up colored crochet flowers in Regal Rose and Marigold Morning. I'll be listing more colors as I find time to crochet more flowers. I'll probably list the Stampin Up colors Certainly Celery, Bliss Blue, Cameo Coral, Elegant Eggplant, Brilliant Blue, and Baja Breeze some time later today. The color of the crochet flowers above is in "Marigold Morning".

This one is a set of 10 in "Regal Rose". I love this color!

I also listed turquoise colored crochet flowers. The flowers measure 1 1/2 x 1 1/2". I do crochet the flowers my self. I don't buy them from China and resell them pre-made. . .LOL! I spend hours crocheting them using crochet thread. I usually find time to crochet while I'm watching television with my family because they do they a bit of time to make but I love making them! Hope you'll stop by my shop and support sellers who create "true" handmade created items. . .:)

Hope you all have a beautiful Friday!!

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Happy Valentine's Day

Hello Friends! This is the 3rd card I made yesterday. I decided to post it now because I made another card for tomorrow. Someone emailed me and asked me how long it takes to make my cards and why do I price them on Etsy at such low prices.

Honestly, I spend about 30 minutes and at the most 45 minutes on a card. I think that's pretty quick because many times people spend at least an hour or more making their cards. I actually give myself a limit on the amount of time I spend making a card. I would love to spend more time making a card. . .I probably could do a better job at making them but time is important in my opinion, especially if you sell your cards. Your time is valuable and the longer you spend making the card, the more expensive the card becomes. Material cost is also important in pricing a card. Every dew drop, every piece of layer and flower, buttons, and embellishment, the cost of making a card can become very pricey. It's not surprising that people charge $5 to $7 or more for their cards but I don't like to price them that high because for many buyers, that is too expensive and the customers that you have becomes limited to those who can afford to buy them. I don't make much money selling my cards but I enjoy making them so I make them for pleasure and sell them so I can make a bit of money to buy more materials and sometimes a little money for other things.

Anyway. . .with the heart images, I stamped the image using dye ink then I inked the whole image using Versamark and heat embossed them with clear embossing powder to give them a shiny effect. I then cut the images and layered them and mounted them with foam tape.

I really love the gingham ribbon. It's very pretty! I wish I could do a better job creating my bows. There's this tool that a blog friend recommended to use to create really pretty bows. I may need to invest in one.

To finish off the card I added lace trimmings and dew drops to my sentiment. That's about it! Fairly quick and simple!

Well I hope you all are having a wonderful Saturday!

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Valentine Cards

Hello Friends! I worked on a few Valentine cards yesterday. I actually made 3 of them but I'll post the 3rd one tomorrow! I had a blast making these cards. I'll work on a few more and I'll move on to Mother's Day cards.

To create this card I rubber stamped the Stampin Up heart image on to pink card stock using Versamark ink then applied white embossing powder and heat embossed it. I love heat embossing because it really makes images pop beautifully. It can make an otherwise bland image into something that stand out.

Here is a close up of the heat embossing of the image.

With this card, I actually used a part of another card I made that I didn't really feel came together as well as I would have liked and cut the lace embellished part of it and and attached it to a new card base.

To complete the card I stamped the heart images on to designer paper, colored parts of them with my Copic Markers and added the sentiment and crochet flower.

Well I'm happy to say my allergies have subsided for now. . .well, until it starts up again so I'm taking advantage of the time I have free of major runny nose, sneezing, watery eyes, etc. . .I have daily allergies but the attack I had for the past 2 weeks have been the worst I've had in a long time. I have these type of allergy attacks several times a year where it's constant and unrelenting that I have to be on constant allergy medications which put me in such a zombie state that I can't function. I don't take medications on a daily basis because even the mildest medications gives me some sort of side effect. . .primarily a zoned out feeling. I also end up with sinus infections or some sort of upper respiratory problems because the medications dry me out so much. I'm afraid of developing infections so I try to limit my medication for severe attacks. Most times I just tolerate the sneezing and runny nose as long as they're controllable. But yesterday and now today, the attacks have subsided somewhat and I'm so happy! I feel in control and it excites me to be creating!

Anyway, I hope you all have a beautiful Sunday!!

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Valentine Card and Scrappy Card

Hello Friends! Well, I've been a busy girl! I actually worked on 3 cards today. I'll share the 3rd card tomorrow. I've had the Valentine's sentiment stamp for a while now but never used it because I usually don't use sentiments as my focal point. I'm trying to be more mindful of using the rubber stamps that I currently own and haven't used so I decided to work with it.

This card's design is typical of what I normally create so I'm not going to discuss much about it. I did layer a few different type of flowers to create the flower embellishment on my card. I cut a felt flower using a Sizzix flower die, then layered a silk flower, then topping it with one of my crochet flowers and adding a heart button.

I created this other card today because I had an open package of chipboards and I wanted to use it up. I still have a few more chipboards that I need to use in that package but I'll use it probably on a scrapbook layout.

I am not a very good "scrappy" card maker. I had such difficulties coming up with a layout for the chipboards. It's so strange that I had such problems creating this card.

I had a lot of white space that I wanted to fill up so I created the banner at the corner to fill in the space a little. I'm not sure if I like the overall design. . .I need more practice working with scrapbook elements on my cards. I've never been a very good scrapbooker to begin with so it's not surprising that I would have difficulties creating a scrappy card.

Anyway. . .just sharing. .I've been on the roll lately. . .I can't wait to share my 3rd card tomorrow!

Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Shabby Chic Valentines Card

Hello Friends! Yes, another Valentines card! My focus right now is on Valentines cards so be prepared to see more of them. I'm trying not to go too traditional as far as colors and sentiments so the card can be used for other occasion if need be.

I used the same stamp as I did with yesterday's card. I also stamped the background rather than using a designer paper.

You can't see it in the photo but the hearts at the center of the card are heat embossed so it has a slight sheen and raised appearance in person.

To give it a shabby chic look I added a seam binding bow and topped it off with a crochet flower and a pearl at the center.

I also added lace . . .I love lace and it works really nicely for the vintage/shabby chic design.

Before I go. . .I wanted to share a little story. Yesterday, I was going through a container that I had stored in my hallway and as I was going through it, I realized that I had a buttload of rubber stamps that have not seen the light of day. Some were still in their mailing packages and unopened. I cannot believe that I purchase things and I don't even bother to open the package when it's delivered to me. I was a bit ashamed of my gluttonous self. I can't believe how I waste money the way I do. So. . .this year, my goal is to use all the stamps in this container. It may take a year to use them all I think but I'll try my best!! Do you do the same thing? Buy things online and never bother to even open the package . . .sort of just chuck it to the side, forgot about it until you come across it on a later date?

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Valentines Card and Photo of the Day

Hello Friends! Today is my first day of being allergy free and I'm beyond thrilled! I'm now in the creative mood and I decided to work on a Valentines card. It also works as an anniversary card.

Before I talk about my card. . .I wanted to talk about my blogging activities. For the past year or so, I've cut down on my crafting and blogging. I also stopped creating tutorial and cutting files. It's just that I no longer seem to have the energy or even the mojo to work on extra things. I really had fun coming up with new ideas for my blog and sharing what I've learned through my tutorials. I sometimes wish I still had the same enthusiasm and energy to create them but they take so much time to do that I had to prioritize my time. I may from time to time create them again but I just wanted to let you know why I haven't posted any new tutorial for a while now.

Now back to my card. I had stamped the heart image by Unity Stamps and cut the image. I did this twice then I mounted the stamps on to the designer paper with foam tape. I also created a fabric flower using a strip of left over fabric and crochet the flower with scrap yarn. I created a beaded pin using faux pearls and a heart bead to create the floral design on my card.

Do you see the lace with the ribbon? What I did was I took a grosgrain ribbon and inserted it through the holes of the lace to create the trimming. Some lace have holes between each design so by inserting the ribbon you can create different lace designs for your cards or projects.

Here is the close up of the beaded pin and crochet and fabric flower embellishment.


Photo of the Day
"Stairway to Steve Jobs"

This photo if of the Apple Store in New York City. It's located on 5th Avenue across Central Park. We walked passed it and I took a quick photo of it. The building itself is not an Apple building. . .just the glass cube entrance and the store is located below. You can't really see it in the photo but the glass entrance is actually a large cube shape. It has a 3D appearance in person. It's a pretty structure. I read that the store was on renovation and had recently re-opened. It cost Apple 6.5 million dollars to renovate. Isn't that a ridiculous amount? Now you know, for you Apple people, where your money is going. . .LOL!

Etsy Shop: Inspired & Unscripted

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Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C74

Hello Friends! Happy Saturday! It's Crazy 4 Challenges time again and Angela has challenged us with another fun and simple challenge! The challenge is to add something with a heart shape on your card! Well. . .I can surely do that! Actually I did one the other day and and last week!
LOL!

Before I chit chat about my card. . .be sure to stop by Crazy 4 Challenges and check out the super lovely cards the design team created or if you want, stop by the designers individual blogs.

* Barbara Anders

* Cindy Haffner
* Frances Byrne
* Jessie Rone
* Joanne Grzelak
* Joycelyn Pelkey
Lynda Benden
* Angela Wood
*Silke Ledlow
* Silke Kittmann
* Tammy Hershberger
Vicki Garrett

Hey I just realized I used the same designer paper for my C4C challenge card last week! I must have loved this paper. Anyway. . .are you getting tired of looking at my shabby chic cards? Hope not because I'm really into it right now! Maybe I'll do something different and create something not shabby chic tomorrow.

Honestly I have a ton of lace, beads, flowers, etc. so I'm trying to use them up so I can buy more! Just kidding. Actually I have a ton of everything and it's almost to the point of being silly.

Okay, a little info on my card. I adhered the lace and beads on to the card using liquid stitch because I found that it dries fast and clear. I don't have to wait around and hold it down and it sticks really really good. I found the clear embellishment glues that are used for crafting does a really weird thing once it dries. . . .for some reason the embellishments fall off after awhile. . .not that the glue comes off but it seems the embellishments just separates themselves off the dried glue.

Remember the SU Paper Crimper pictured below? Gosh, I've had it for years and I can't believe SU still sells it. Boy, lately I've been loving it. . .see, old stuff always become new again sometime or another. I used it for the cards I posted the other day as well.

I stamped the sentiment using SU "Always" stamp set on to fabric using Versacraft ink which works nicely on fabric. Actually any pigment ink would work on fabric but Versacraft ink on fabric after it is heat set can be washed. . .I don't think pigment ink and certainly not dye inks are water resistant but I guess it doesn't matter if you're using the fabric for paper craft projects because you're not going to wash it anyway.

I did a bit of sewing too on my card! Whoohoo fun stuff! My old sewing machine is being put to good use with my paper crafting. I have a newer sewing machine for sewing on fabric. I used a dyed seam binding to create the bow. . :)

Here is the SU Crimper that I used on the heart. . .again, it's still available at SU. I love it because you can crimp cardboard and thin chipboards with it.

Anyway, I've said enough I think. . .LOL! Hope you all have a fabulous Saturday!

Valentines Ribbon Rose Card Set and Play Date Cafe Challenge PDCC68

Hi Friends! Sorry I haven't posted anything the past few days. I haven't had time to craft anything until today because I'm in the middle of a garage reorganization. I decided to take a break today because all the dust churned up has been causing havoc on my allergies! I've been feeling stuffy and my lungs feel so constricted because of all the dust.

Anyway. . .I decided to work on a few Valentines cards. Lately I've been enjoying creating sets because I can whip up a bunch of cards really quickly if I use the same design on all of my cards.
I wanted to create a rose using fabric but I found a good video on how to create a rose using ribbons. I could probably use the same technique to create a fabric rose.

Because the Play Date Cafe's challenge this week is shabby chic/vintage, I thought it would be fun to enter in the challenge! I don't normally play in challenges much but this was a fun one because I do love anything shabby chic or vintage. Stop by the Play Date Cafe and play along in the challenge!!




The lady in the video created her roses using "satin" ribbons but I used a wired organdy ribbon for mine. The results are a bit different because the organdy ribbon is a bit more sheer so you have to do a bit more layering but I like how it turned out anyway. If you want to try out the tutorial, CLICK HERE. It takes a few tries but once you've done it a few times, it gets easier.

I added a beaded pin to the bow. I made a bunch of them a few weeks ago and decided to use them. I also did a bit of sewing on my card.

I stamped the sentiment from the SU "Always" stamps set on fabric. I used a Versacraft (formerly known as Fabrico) ink pad which is a wonderful ink for stamping on fabric. After stamping the image, heat set it and you're good to go!!


I think I'll sew something later today. I'm having a lot of fun with sewing!! Unfortunately, I can't finish a project as quick as I can a card.

That's it for today! Hope you all have a wonderful Thursday!!

Crazy 4 Challenges - C4C73 Valentines Card

Hello Friends!!! This week at Crazy 4 Challenges we have Angela hosting February challenges! Yay! This week's challenge is a simple one. . .I love simple! What's the challenge? Well, the challenge is to create a Valentines card. . .how simple can you get?

Be sure to stop by C4C and check out all the awesome Valentine cards that the design team created or stop by their individual blogs.

* Barbara Anders

* Cindy Haffner
* Frances Byrne
* Jessie Rone
* Joanne Grzelak
* Joycelyn Pelkey
Lynda Benden
* Angela Wood
*Silke Ledlow
* Silke Kittmann
* Tammy Hershberger
Vicki Garrett

I don't know if you read what I write on my blog but in previous posts I've mentioned the fact that I'm taking sewing lessons! What??? Another hobby. . .yup, yup! I tell ya'. . I'm never bored! So far I've learned to trace a pattern on to a tracer, measure a person correctly, read a pattern, cut a pattern, using the right fabric and threads, and alter a pattern to fit a person's measurements. Altering a pattern to fit a person's measurements is the most valuable lesson I've learned so far. . .it's a little complicated and it involves a bit of math but I'm so glad that I've learned how to do it. I haven't learned to actually sew anything yet. . .we'll be starting that lesson next week.

I know how to sew something together . . .I mean, who can't? But. . .I really want to do things correctly. I'd hate to sew something that'll fall apart or look sloppy.

As you can see on my card, I actually sewn something together. . .see, I can sew. . LOL!!! The heart is actually fabric sewn onto card stock. I love the idea of using fabric on my cards. . .I also have beads on my card to represent my jewelry making hobby.

I have a bit of scrapbooking on this card also. . .no stamping this time around. The sentiment "love" is actually a rub on that I rubbed on to card stock. I decided to tie an embroidery floss rather than using a ribbon to create my bow. I have so many different types of materials that I really love the idea of mixing the different stuff I have from different hobbies. Darn, I forgot to add something to represent my crocheting hobby. It actually entered my mind to add a crochet flower but forgot about it. Oh, well. . next time. . :)

Okay. . .that's it for today. Stop by C4C and play along in this week's challenge!!!

Hope you have a wonderful Saturday