something a bit different

I really slacked off on the Christmas cards this year!  I typically make over 100, and this year I'll be lucky if I have more than 10!!

For this card, I ventured a bit out of my comfort zone.  It's for a friend who (I think) would like this style, so I just went for it!

The flower is from the new Altenew set, Vintage Roses.  I die cut the word "Joy" from glitter paper, and then went to town with "extras" such as a little bag (thanks, Jingle!), paper sequins, splatter, and an embossed card base.

Since I only managed to make a handful of cards this year, Dave and I decided to do a photo card!  We've never done one before, so it was fun to have a little photo shoot.  We took the tripod and the camera remote out to a tree farm, and had so much fun snapping pics!!

We had so many great shots, that we chose 4.  Different friends and family members will be getting different cards...fun!

Yeah, we're weird.  

If I don't post before Christmas, I wish you all a happy holiday and New Year!

ric#74

Hey folks!  Check out the lovely inspiration we have for you this week at the Runway Inspired Challenge!

source: style.com

As always, you know I totally want that dress and would wear it in a second!  I'm not typically an orange person, but I sure would make an exception for this dress. 

I used a loose watercolor style to paint a bunch of flowers in the same colors as the dress.  My red sentiment strip mimics the belt she's wearing- you wouldn't believe how long I mulled over the exact placement of the strip, and I'm still not 100% happy with it!   The sentiment is from the Many Thanks set.

Please visit my talented DT:

Karolyn Loncon - Paper Therapy

Gayatri Murali - Handmade By G3

Mayuri - Candles in the Garden

Lindsay- Note To Self

Tasnim Ahmed - Cards & Bookmarks

Have a great Tuesday :)

Paper Crafts Magazine Special Thanks Blog Hop

(hopefully you arrived here from Ashley!)

Wow.  What can I say?  I was shocked when I heard the news about Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking Magazine closing its doors and shutting down.   To say I am disappointed is an understatement.  I'm sure that my feelings are echoed by those of you who participated in or are visiting this hop, and I am sad for all of us.  I am sad for the amazing people who recently lost their jobs, and I'm also sad for anyone who is new to this hobby and will not ever get to enjoy an amazing magazine with an even more amazing community.

But instead of going on and on about what I will miss, I will briefly thank PC&S.

• Thank you for always providing me with a fabulous source of inspiration
• Thank you for giving me a chance and picking my first card for publication in 2011 (with many more to follow!)
• Thank you for fun contests, including the monthly challenges and bigger competitions such as Stamping Royalty and Gallery Idol, which I feel so honored to have participated in.
• Thank you for inviting me to try out to be a Go-To Gal.  I still remember the day I received that letter in the mail.  It was a fun and challenging process, and exciting to have made it through many elimination rounds!  Even though I wasn't selected, I will always remember it.
• Thank you for publishing my husband!  That was awesome!

and most importantly....

• Thank you for providing the world of papercrafting with a supportive community.  Thank you for bringing crafters together.  Thank you for the friendships I have made.  I honestly don't think I would have gotten to know such incredible people in this industry without you.  These are lifelong friendships- ones I will cherish for all time.

This card uses stamps from Painted Poppy and Label Love.

(I am also posting a card on the Altenew Blog today)

Your next stop on the hop is the wonderful Dana! :)

ric#73

Good morning folks!  Sorry for my long absence.  Things have been busy, as usual!

I love the fun colors and stripes in this week's Runway Inspired Challenge inspiration pic:

source: style.com

I basically used elements from her dress in my card.  I love that even with a typically feminine flower, the colors and stripes make the card a bit gender-neutral.

I used two of the newest Altenew sets to make my card:  the flower is from Peony Scrolls, and the sentiment (from Festive Silhouettes) shows how you can stretch your stamps to work long after the holidays have passed!

I embossed the peony onto some faux red leather I had lying around.  Yes- when you make costumes as frequently as I do, you tend to build up a collection of pleather, vinyl, suede, spandex, etc.... :)

Please visit my DT to see the incredible cards they whipped up for this challenge!

Lindsay - Note To Self

Karolyn Loncon - Paper Therapy

Gayatri Murali - Handmade By G3

Mayuri - Candles in the Garden

Tasnim Ahmed - Cards & Bookmarks

Aga - Just Made From Paper

Taheerah Atchia - *Fill Your Paper With The Breathings of Your {Heart}*

Thanks for stopping by!

ric#72

Good morning!  Today there is a brand spanking new Runway Inspired Challenge, sponsored by Ellen Hutson!

source: style.com

This dress is beautiful!  You should click on it and zoom in to really appreciate the details!  The curvy shapes made me think of a vase, so I went with that theme:

I stamped the flower outline from the new Altenew set, Painted Poppy, onto watercolor paper.  It was fun to watercolor the image, instead of using the corresponding stamps. Then, I splattered gold ink (which I diluted with water) all over the image.  I hand cut the vase from white cardstock, and edged it in the same Delicata gold ink.

I didn't want to cover up all of the shiny gold splatter, so I chose the "hello" outline from Altenew's Halftone Hello and stamped it in black ink.  The finishing touch is the strip of cardstock along the bottom- I tried to match the tan color of the model's dress, and the embossed dots coordinate with the dot detail it has.

Please visit the DT to see their awesome cards...the other girls will be joining soon! :)

Lindsay - Note To Self

Mayuri - Candles in the Garden

Gayatri Murali - Handmade By G3

Taheerah Atchia - *Fill Your Paper With The Breathings of Your {Heart}*

Aga - Just Made From Paper

Poinsettia and Pine

Just a few sneak peeks of the cards I have on the Altenew blog today!

"in the air" baby shower

One of my closest friends is having a baby this month!! A few weeks ago we threw her a baby shower.  The theme of her nursery is "up in the air," so we went with the same for the shower.  I volunteered myself for centerpiece duty, and here's what I made:

I started with a 10 inch paper lantern (on clearance- under $2 each at Target), and attached it to a mason jar with lollipop sticks and hot glue.  Next, I glued string around the lantern, and covered the neck of the jar with ribbon.  To make the banner, I cut triangles from teal, light blue, and silver glitter cardstock, then glued them to a loooooooong piece of crochet thread.

To make it more hot air balloon-y, I wanted a flame.  I bought battery-operated tea lights to put on each mason jar.  Looking back, it makes it look a bit like a baby bottle.  Whoops!  (or maybe that's a good thing for a baby shower??)

I folded about 120 paper airplanes for the tables, and hand-punched cloud confetti from more of that silver glitter paper.

My friend's mom made this sweet diaper cake. Honestly, I don't really understand the whole diaper cake thing, but I must admit this might be the best one I've seen.

On the morning of the shower, I decided I wanted to give a handmade gift.  I was so busy with the decorations, that I didn't sew a plushie or design a custom book or anything!  Literally 30 minutes before it was time to leave, I painted this hot air balloon (it was loosely based on a painting I saw online....sorry I can no longer find the link!).  I then quickly painted the Boston skyline onto a separate piece of watercolor paper, cut it out. and stuck it down.

Luckily Dave was at Target when I had this crazy idea to do a painting, and I was able to catch him before he checked out so he could grab a frame.  Once he got home, I popped it in, and drove off to the shower!

We put it on a music stand near the gifts :)


Of course the card had to match the "in the air" theme, so here's what I made:

Hope you have a great night!

ric#71

Hey folks!  Today's Runway Inspired Challenge is a bit different.  Sadly, the fashion world is mourning the loss of the incredibly amazing and influential designer, Oscar de la Renta, who passed away just two weeks ago.

To honor his memory, the RIC team each selected an image from his most recent show.  Here's the one I picked:

source: style.com

I love the gorgeous lacy cutout over her dress. It's very feminine, but I think a little toughness is added in with the metallic belt, slicked back ponytail, and flat shoes.  This chick looks so cool!!  I'd wear that in a heartbeat.

I was thrilled to find a die with a similar pattern in my stash, so I cut that out of white cardstock and applied it to my white card base.  I originally had the whole thing covered, but felt it was too busy- so I adhered a white panel on the top half and separated the two with a gold glittery "belt."  The flower (from Poinsettia and Pine) was embossed in gold onto vellum, then backed with some white cardstock cut in the same shape.  

I even added some vellum leaves around the poinsettia- I think I've seen Wida do stuff like that! :)  I finished off the card with a die cut sentiment, keeping the card entirely white and gold.  Classy, and a bit of a different look for me!

To see what inspiration looks the designers chose, go visit their blogs then check out the Runway Inspired Challenge!

Aga - Just Made From Paper

Taheerah - *Fill Your Paper With The Breathings of Your {Heart}*

Gayatri - Handmade by G3

Lindsay - Note to Self

Tasnim - Cards & Bookmarks

Mayuri - Candles in the Garden

OCC Winner

Just popping in to share the winner of a spot in the OCC Holiday Card Class!

Dolly Bhattacharjee said...

:) who wouldnt love a class taken by Kristina and jennifer!

November 1, 2014 at 5:22 PM

Congrats!  Dolly, please email me (ourchangeofart@gmail.com) so I can help you get set up for class!!