Wish Patchwork Birthday Card

Hi, there!

Last month I made up a set of patchwork thank you cards and decided as my mum has been a professional quilter, it would only be fitting to make a similar patchwork card for her birthday this year.  As I still had many tiny little triangles left over from the first batch of cards, it was a very quick and easy make.

Wish Patchwork Birthday

Like the original set, I used a small doily and a die-cut, this time scalloped, and a sprinkling of gold sequins.  I also added some of the pink thread I used for the stitching between the doily and the die-cut.  I had intended on layering up some other elements but I didn't want to detract from the patchwork background so I decided to just keep it simple.

And thankfully, while this card won't make it to her on or before her birthday, it won't be months late like her Mother's Day card was - whew!

Quilted Triangles Thank You Card Set

Whew!  I survived the crazy week leading up to Thanksgiving, then managed to throw (if I do say so myself) a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner with my closest friends, followed by another - although slightly less crazy - work week.  So, I think that calls for a much-needed blog update.

So with my guild's 10-year anniversary exhibition now over and done with, my friend Ingrid and I decided that the amazing ladies who organised the exhibition should receive some sort of recognition and thank you, if only just from us.  We decided to get them some miniature orchids and that I would make some thank you cards, so that's what we did.

As you can see, I decided to have some fun making little patchwork-like backgrounds from my scrap papers.  I used my still-new Fiskars hexagon punch to create many (many, many) hexagons, which I then cut down into triangles.  They were a lot smaller triangles than I had originally intended but by this point I was committed and honestly, there was something strangely therapeutic about sticking down tiny triangles onto cardstock.  Must just be me.  Yup.

Once glued, I then machine stitched the triangles down.  Then I layered up a small doily and die-cut circle onto each background and used either red/orange or green Thickers to spell out 'tack' (Swedish for 'thank you') as my sentiment.  Finally, a small sprinkling of gold sequins in a visual triangle to finish off the toppers.

Each card in the set is a little different, as I changed up the background base paper and card base colours and all of the die-cut circles were different.  And on the inside of each card I stamped 'thank you, thank you, thank you' in a vertical column.  Needless to say, they went over very well with the recipients.

I've been wanting to do this sort of 'Paige Evans'-style punched shape backgrounds for ages but I don't have a very large selection of punches to use so this was the perfect opportunity.  And while it was a bit fiddly cutting down all of the hexagons into triangles, it didn't actually take very long in the grand scheme of things and wasn't very onerous at all.  I think it all comes down to your own personal level of acceptance on fiddly tasks.

The triangle shapes could also work well for birthday-themed cards, as they give a bunting banner sort of effect.  You could also try this technique with a monochrome colour palette or an ombre effect would also be cool.  You could even add more stitching for a different effect and more texture, too.

Last one!  Cheers, everyone.

Pinspiration Sunday

So, a lot of new goodies in the crafting world with CHA-S last week.  I'll admit, I was hooked entirely on the scrapbooking market side of the event.  I'm really not sure how my budget is going to survive my next purchase once the new releases are available - I have something akin to at least 3 collections either already in or eagerly awaiting going into my 2Peas bucket - yikes!  Anyway, go grab your hot beverage of choice and cozy up for your weekly dose of photo love.

Currently:
* listening - to the birds chirp and the wind blow
* reading - Through the Kaleidoscope (Amy Heller's scrapbooking colour theory class)
* making - my first Amsterdam travel LO!  (trip 2 years ago)
* eating - far too many unhealthy things lately - really must get a grip
* drinking - water
* wearing - PJs
* weather - overcast, 22C
* feeling - hungry
* wanting - far too many beautiful new CHA products *sighs*
* planning - to set up my new paper stash system
* loving - having an old friend over for a weekend crop; thanks, Anya!
* enjoying - Oskar snoozing in his basket next to my bed (sweetness)

This past week's inspiration:

Heirloom: Citrus by Joel Dewberry

OMG, total *love*!  I just found this this morning and although I've been planning for years to re-decorate my lounge in a lovely mauve, I'm seriously considering changing my mind to these.  There is even a selection of the collection available in home decor weight fabrics.

Tips for Perfect Pressing

I will admit, I have a tendency to fall victim to this - I don't always properly press my sewing and it can turn around a bite me in the butt later.  Always good to review the 'basics', as it were, and not get sloppy.  I also quite liked the envelope tip to avoid getting seam allowance lines on your blocks - very handy.

Little Free Library

I just think this is so inspirational - a grassroots organisation promoting free lending and exchanging of books using tiny little birdhouse/mailbox-like containers in communities worldwide.  Such a great initiative!

2Peas Mix & Match Pinterest Challenge

This is my Pinterest board for the 2Peas Mix & Match CHA-S challenge game.  If you've not seen this, the premise is to choose 5 current products from the 2Peas store and 5 yet-to-be-released products and mix n'match them together for a unique look of old and new.  I based my board on the absolutely *gorgeous* Carta Bella Hello Again collection (yes, that will be jumping into my next 2Peas bucket for sure).  There's a mix of Maggie Holmes, OA, Webster's Pages and Fancy Pants in there as well.

Beating the Heat by Kiwijesta

How awesome is this page by Kiwijesta at 2Peas?  She was inspired by Paige Evans and her use of scraps but I really feel that she's made it her own, hands down.  I love everything about this page from the misting to the paper choices to the embellishments and especially that pop of dark turquoise in the title and journaling.  Just awesome.

You've Got Mail card

Serious cuteness alert - I love this idea.  I could see adapting a matchbox for this card or of course you could just DIY the shape from cardstock scraps.  Would be a really unique way of inserting gift certificates, event tickets or anything else.

DIY Embellished Bobby Pins tutorial

The Maggie Holmes embellished clips were very popular in her recent release and there's more on the way in the new collection.  I've also seen bobby pins being used in card making recently, too, so it's certainly a growing trend.  I love the look of these fabric covered button pins and they're super easy to make - you just need a button covering kit and some flat-backed bobby pins.

Origami Arrow tutorial

I also thought this origami tutorial could be fun to try for when you're short on dimensional arrows or want to focus on using up your paper scraps, etc.

North Pole by WRMK

I will undoubtedly have an entire post on the topic of finding this year's Christmas collection of choice, which seems to have been a whole 'drama' unto itself.  However, I'm really liking the look of North Pole, by We Are Memory Keepers (go figure).  More on this at a later time.

Colour Carb palette

And finally, since I'm taking a colour theory class at the moment, let's enjoy some colour love.  How yummy and delicious is this palette (haha!).  *swoon*  It reminds me of Amy Tan's gorgeous Yes, Please collection, which I believe I can safely say is my currently all-time favourite collection to date.  Just yum.

Pinspiration Sunday

It's been a lovely, long do-nothing sort of day today and since it's closing in on midnight, I'll keep this one short and sweet.  Go grab your hot beverage of choice and enjoy the photo love.

Currently:

* reading - Papercraft Inspirations (August issue)
* making - slab quilt blocks
* drinking - water
* wearing - PJs
* weather - partly cloudy, 16C
* feeling - excited to be starting two scrapbooking classes tomorrow (more info soon)
* wanting - to do everything and nothing at the same time
* needing - to get to bed
* planning - how best to rework my space & better organise my scrapping supplies
* thinking - not much right now
* loving - having spent the day playing Sims 3 (geek alert)
* enjoying - my summer holiday

Just One Slab

I have officially started sewing/collecting my own blocks for this project and should shortly have the last of my donation blocks ready to post to Alberta to assist in the recovery project.  Again, if you're a quilter and would like to get rid of your scraps and help others in need, please check out this awesome initiative.

Hedgehog Pincushion

OMG, how freakin' cute is this hedgehog?  I *love* hedgehogs (they're right up there with owls and cats).

Hello Jane by Paige Evans

This page reminded me that I've been wanting to use triangles for a while now and have yet to do so.  I have one final photo unscrapped from a quilt exhibition trip last  year so this could be the perfect inspiration.  I have some plans...  I've just not been very good about follow-through lately.  *sighs*

Washi Tape Brads

And a follow-up on the washi tape buttons idea from last week, how about covering brads with washi?  Love it (although it seems very fiddly, considering the average size of most brads).  However, I do have some extremely old - as in, one of the first scrapbooking supply kits I ever bought old - large brads in drab not-me colours that could seriously benefit from this idea.  We shall experiment.

Photoshop Tutorial: Remove Tourists

Okay, I haven't actually tested this yet because I don't have a series of photos for it but this sounds reasonably awesome for those of us who travel regularly and sometimes you just want that perfect shot without people you don't know standing around in it.  If you try it, I'd love to know what your results are like.

Kelly Perky Foody Stamps

So I've been catching up on listening to PRT and in one of the semi-recent episodes, Amy Tan and Kelly Perky were on discussing scrapbooking food.  Now, if you know me you'll know that my girl friends and I go out to supper every Thursday during the academic year and we love to take and post photos of our food.  Yeah, we're foodies all right.  So you know I'm interested in these awesome stamps.  I also know there's been a lot of chat lately on the 2Peas board about the generally not great service at Simple Simon Stamps but I just have to have these (there's a second set, too).  I'm thinking I'll order them sometime before Christmas and have them shipped to my parents in Canada, thereby cutting down on the shipping cost and if someone in the family wants to claim it as a gift for me, everyone's happy.

All right, the cat's freaking out and I need to get to bed.  Cheers and sleep well, folks.