Keeping in Touch!

I wanted to send a "remembering a friend" card to one of my Splitcoaststampers forum teammates, who is on leave for a few months, just to touch base.  I had a finished friend card in my stash that I made over two years ago at a card class given by SU demonstrator, Liz Thayer.  Though there were a few changes I made from the sample design as I built my own card, I still was not totally happy with mine, but I couldn't put my finger on what bothered me.  I couldn't do much else with it at the class, so I took it home knowing I wanted to do something different, but what! 

In the past few months, this card kept surfacing and catching my eye every time a delved into my "to do" box for whatever reason.  I had an itch to pull it out and remodel it several times, but at the time, Christmas cards beckoned.  Then, this week I needed a "friend" card, and I remembered the card.  It was time to pull it out and re-evaluate it.  What I found was that it had been marinading in the recesses of my creative mojo, and I was excited because I immediately had some ideas!  

Take a peek below at the remake of my "remembering a friend" card.  I'm  really happy with it, and I look at it and I say, "What took you so long!"  I think my friend will be pleased with the results!  Following the card front is the inside design that I created with a little homemade verse for my friend.  In addition, if you are interested in the back story of the makeover, scroll down beyond the ingredients list and read on!

Ingredients:  Papers:  Stampin' Up - Cardstock--Very Vanilla, Mint Macaron, Calypso Coral; Pattern--Wildflower Fields DSP; Corrugated Kraft (retired).  SU Ink: Early Espresso.  SU Stamps: Bloomin' Love.  Dies: SU-Bloomin' Heart; Bitty Banners; Reverse Confetti-Lacy Scallop Frames.  SU trims: 1/4" Venetian Crochet Trim (retired); 1" Dotted Lace Trim-Cucumber Crush (retired); Metallic Thread-Gold.  Rhinestones (colored with Copics). Size: 4-3/4" x 6".

The Make-Over Story

I actually liked the basic bones of the class sample design, but as you can tell from my words above, there was just something about it that I knew needed to be changed.  As I made my original card, I changed the placement of some of the elements, which were subtle changes, but as I said before, I liked the balance the changed elements made, however subtle they were. 

 

For starters, on my original card, I dropped my lacy heart about 3/8" lower and folded less over at the top, making my heart a bit bigger, plus I added five flowers instead of only four as on the sample design.  I also used only the larger flowers rather than a mix of small and large.  For me, elements are in harmony when they are presented in odd numbers rather than even; otherwise, they just seem off.  These slight changes enabled me to have the placement of my lacy bands lower on the card; thus, there wasn't as much negative space at the bottom...the sample design seemed a bit top heavy.

My finishing change on my original card was to wrap several strands of gold metallic thread around my vanilla lace and make a small multi-strand looped bow under the banner sentiment and to slant banner and top it off with a coral rhinestone.  This little rhinestone tied in the orange color from the top toward the bottom of the card.  (The sample design had big loose loops of metallic thread under a vertical sentiment with wrapped strands and no rhinestone.  For me, the area needed to be a bit more tidy and the vertical banner just looked wrong.)  I was happy with these small changes as well.  But, in reality, I still felt my card needed something else...so, it resided in my "to do" stash for two years!  I have a photo of my original finished card before its reconstruction yesterday.  Take a look below and see if you can follow where I made my original changes described in the sentences above.

Yesterday, I was excited to get started remodeling my two-year old card, because I finally realized what changes I needed to make to be really happy with the final version!  First, there wasn't enough color overall, but second was the color palette.  The sample design used contrasting colors on the opposite sides of the color wheel, of which I'm not often a fan, especially with green, blue, and orange shades.  It has to be just the right balance of each color, or it can seem a bit jarring to me.  That was the crux of my dissatisfaction, and I really wanted to work on that feature for sure.

My thoughts were, if I was going to continue with the contrasting colors of mint green and orange, I needed more orange than just the few rhinestones for flower centers.  I sure did not want to start the card all over, because as I said, I like the bones of the design, it just needed something added.

I decided to switch from orange to Calypso Coral as my contrast to the Mint Macaron...the coral is a softer hue and compliments the mint better.  That would be easy because so far the only orange on the card was my five rhinestones.  Second, it sorely needed more coral to balance all colors and bring continuity throughout the card.  I decided more coral could be added by using a mat just beneath the front kraft corrugated cardstock layer, and I would add a mint layer sandwiched between the coral and the vanilla cardbase.  I also had the idea to add faux stitching or a die-cut pattern around the coral mat edge to dress it up.

I found a patterned paper of wispy dandelion seedlings on coral that I thought would look great for my coral decorative die-cut layer.  I cut a second decorative layer of coral cardstock and adhered the dandelion seedling die-cut to the cardstock die-cut to add extra thickness and sturdiness to this layer.  I trimmed my corrugated front layer smaller, both horizontally and vertically, to allow the coral decorative edges to peek out about 1/4" around card front.  Next, I added the mint mat layer between the coral mat and the vanilla cardbase.  Doing all these paper additions and size changes actually allowed my card to grow from the standard 4-1/4 x 5-1/2-inch card to my favorite larger size of 4-3/4 x 6 inches.

Yeah!  I was finally happy with my card!  Don't you think the change from orange to coral was the right thing?  I felt the orange was not a soft enough hue against the mint.  Remember that word "jarring" used above in another context.  It was my problem with the orange as well.  The card need more color...just not bold orange!

I am entering this card and my original version into Splitcoaststampers Dirty Dozen Monthly January Themes:  MORE IS MORE.  The instructions are to take any card or project in its first or "minimal" version and then "stepped up" it up in a second version.  The "stepped up" version or remake the card is posted at the beginning in this blog,  and the "minimal," or first version, is the second card picture further down in this post.

Belated Birthday Sentiments for a Long-Time Friend

So, I'm under the eight-ball AGAIN!  What seems to be news about that, I say.  Yes, I am late for birthday wishes for a long-time friend of more than 50 years. . .shame on me!  I decided to send her a card that I made last spring while visiting in California at a card event hosted by Stampin' Up demonstrator, Darla Watson.   This card will be perfect, because it is for sending belated birthday wishes! 

I really liked Darla's card design, but as I always seem to like lots of color layers, I decided to add a new black cardbase under the original Cajun Craze one.  To do this, I cut off the back of the base, making it ready to become a mat layer between the patterned card front and the new black cardbase.  I liked this additional color mat for all the usual reasons. . .it complimented the black sentiment tag and the black flower stamens in the patterned paper.  Now, all I needed to add was a suitable inside design and verse befitting the outside design and the card occasion, and voilá, my card is done.  Take a peek below to see the finished product, which will be on its way in tomorrow's mail! 

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up products:  Cardstocks--Basic Black, Cajun Craze, Mint Macaron. Corrugated Kraft (retired).  White Emobssing powder.  Botanical Gardens Jewels (2016 Occasions).  White Baker's Twine.  Daffodil Yellow button (retired).  Rhinestones.  Papertrey stamps: Inside & Out: Birthdays.  EK punch: Victorian Corner.  Memento: Black Tuxedo ink.  Size: 4-1/2" x 5-3/4".  (Thank you Darla Watson for the original design idea).

Getting Well After Surgery. . .

My son's girlfriend recently had surgery and spent a day in the hospital.  She's in that after-surgery rough patch where the pain becomes worse and nothing seems to be going the way you think it should.  I wanted to send some meals and a little homemade get-well card to cheer her up and to let her know that we are thinking about her and hoping she feels better real soon.

I'm still in my vintagey mood, so I put together what I call a simple vintage card, using soft-colored patterned papers, distressing, layering and embellishments to dress it up.  I love word dies and this lower-case "get well" word die that I recently purchased will be perfect for my style of card.  Take a look below at my finished card creation, showing both the front and the decorative inside with a little "get well" verse made up just for Katrina!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up cardstocks: Blushing Bride, Soft Sky, Very Vanilla.  Iralamija Music Notes digital paper.   Darice Opulent Opal Glitter paper.  Currugated paper: DCWV sask.  MFT dies: Corners (modified).  Paper Smooches die: Get Well.  Papertrey Ink die: Large Scallops.  Accu-Cut die: Bird.  Stampin' Up Pearls.   Hug Snug seam binding ribbon. Computer verse (Fonts: DaddyO 14/ Shelley 10.5).  Size: 4-3/4" x 6".  

A Coast Guard Retirement...Congratulations!

My son-in-law has decided to retire after 27 years of service in the Coast Guard.  His last duty station was at the USCG Operations Center in Kearneysville, West Virginia - the software development center for the Coast Guard and Homeland Security.  His first question upon receiving this assignment was:  West Virginia! Is there any water or boats in West Virginia?  And, the answer was, "No!"  For a man used to being on a boat in the ocean, I would say this was disconcerting to say the least! 

I am a lover of U.S. history, and I found the Coast Guard's history very interesting.  Here are a few of those items I found to be interesting tidbits:

• The Coast Guard is the oldest continuous seagoing service of the United States, and its original purpose was to collect customs duties in the nation's seaports under the U.S. Treasury Department, starting in 1790.
• It has changed the department that it reports to seven times in its history, as follows:  U.S. Dept. of Treasury (1790-1917); U.S. Dept. of Navy (1917-1919: World War I); U.S. Dept. of Treasury (1919-1946); U.S. Dept. of Navy (1941-1946: World War II); U.S. Dept. of Treasury (1946-1967); U.S. Dept. of Transportation (1967-2003); Dept. of Homeland Security (2003-present).
• It can be transferred to the U.S. Dept. of Navy by the President at any time or by Congress during times of war; therefore, its motto is Always Ready.
• It is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission with jurisdiction in domestic and international water, and also a federal regulatory agency as well.
• In terms of size, the Coast Guard, by itself, is the world's 12th largest naval force.

For Don's retirement, effective July 1st, I made this card with a few photos of "boats" and/or duty stations to which he has been assigned throughout his 27-year career to commemorate and thank him for his years of service to our country.

Recipe:  Bazzil cs (cardbase): Admiral; DCWV: Glitzy Glitter Stack/ The Corrugated Stack; Authentique: Pride/ Unified/ Amend; BoBunny: Dark Denim Dot; Recollections: Photo Burlap.  Recollections Essentials Distressed.  Dies:  Sizzix Tim Holtz Picture Reel BigZ; Spellbinders Labels 15/ Stars.  WRMK Deco Corner Chomper.  Zutter Corner Rounder.  Recollections Star brads.  Stash:  Button, Scrapper's Floss.  (Size: 5-3/4" square).

A Little Ford Coupe for a Birthday!

Now for the other brother-in-law celebrating his birthday on January 5th as well!  Both of them are owners of antique cars, so I thought I would focus on this idea for this second brother, Jeff's birthday this year.  His automobile is a 1933 Ford Coupe, so I went on the hunt for a digital image that I could use my Copic colors on and hope to come as close as possible to the actual color.  It is blue, but I think my little coupe is a slightly different blue than the actual car, but it goes nicely with the papers I chose for the card...LOL!

I have been seeing many cards on Pinterest using the sunburst ray design as the background and I really waned to try it out myself.  I found several U-Tube videos with instructions.  It surprised me greatly as it was a lot easier than I thought it would be.  I wished after I finished that I had done a little straight and zigzag stitching to finish off the sides of the rays, but oh well, maybe next time!

Note: There are eight colored flags in auto racing: green (start), yellow (slow...caution), red (stop), black (respond to concern), black/diagonal white stripe (suspended/ no response to black), blue/diagonal yellow stripe (slow autos must yield to faster...not in same lap), white (lead driver in final lap), checkered (winner crosses finish line).  In my card Jeff has been given two colors of flags:

• White on the front: he is lead driver on his final lap, and 
• Checkered inside: he is the winner crossing the finish line.  

I hope Jeff likes his little winning Ford Coupe that he will receive for his birthday!

Recipe:  Papers: Recollections-Dk. Green cs (base); DCWV-The Corrugate Neutrals Stack/ Kraft, The Shimmer Stack/ Dark Green; Heidi Swapp-No Limits/Champion; Graphic 45-A Proper Gentlemean/ Sophisticate, Bird Song/ Enlightment, LeCirque/ Wizards of Wonder, Renaissance Faire/ Romantique; Stampin' Up-Naturals/ Ivory. Spellbinders dies: Ovals, Deckled Ovals. Sizzix die: Tim Holtz Weathered Clock. Copic markers. Computer-made sentiment.

Following is the inside of the card designed using coordinating papers from the card front and a computer-made verse. 

Inside recipe: Papers: Recollections-Dk. Green cs (base); Graphic 45-A Proper Gentleman/ Sophisticate, Domestic Goddess/ Farmer's Market (checks); Stampin' Up-Naturals/ Ivory. EK Scallop Corner punch.