Sunday, September 28, 2014

More Fall Stuff

This week I did a couple more fall cards.  You know...I LOVE flowers, that is not a secret, given what most of my cards and bookmarks look like.  But wow, it has been so much fun to work on something a little different!  I have had a blast experimenting with some of the fall themes in my cards!  I just love fall-colored leaves, so it has been great to be creative with that theme.  This week, I tried my hand at making pumpkins on a card, and I like how it came out!
 These are actually pretty easy to make.  The one on the left is 3 die-cut circles with an oval in the front.  The one on the left is 3 ovals.  They were cut out of a pumpkiny orange paper, and then I inked the edges with a darker orange dye ink.  The leaves were from fall leaf punches, and I even cut thin strips and curled them with a quilling tool to make whatever that curly thing is on pumpkin plants.  All of this set on an embossed background.  I also made another leaf card today, since the similar one that I had at Top Drawer sold this week.
I used the same leaf punches on this one that I used on the pumpkin card, instead of the maple leaf punch that I had used on the previous ones. These leaves are a bit smaller, so there was room for more.  I figured out on this one the easy way to ink the leaves: ink a piece of paper, then punch the leaves from it, rather than inking the individual leaves.  Duh!  Not sure why I didn't think of that before!

Yesterday we had a great meeting of the Salem Etsy Team to talk about team structure and the upcoming holiday.  It was nice to see everyone!
It was so much fun to see new and familiar faces!  We haven't gotten together in quite awhile, and this really made me think that we need to do it more often!  We are making plans for our holiday sale and doing some neat new things too, like workshops.  Can't wait to see what we all come up with!

Finally here is a picture of the co-captains (Me and Megan, of Phytotherapy) after the meeting, when we both stopped by Top Drawer to fluff our booths.  We are SO ready for fall- bring it on!!
Oh!  And check out the great new Salem Etsy Team blog!  We just launched it this weekend, and can't wait to do more with it!  http://salemetsyteam.blogspot.com




Sunday, September 14, 2014

New Fall Cards

I'm so excited to have some fall cards to post about!  The other week, a Tim Holtz Sizzix tattered leaf die that I had been eying went on sale on Amazon, so I finally bought it, along with some stamps and embossing folders, both fall leaf-themed.  My package finally arrived on Friday, and I couldn't wait to get to work!  It took until today, but I spent some time playing with my new toys and made a few cards.  Love the fall colors, even though summer is not over yet...in fact it is in the 90s here today, ughh!  Well, looking at these cards makes me look forward to fall!

This is a design I have made before, waayyy back when I first started making cards, and was a member of PBS Swappers.  There was a fall card swap, and this was the design I made.  It was fun to get my fall color dye stamp pad and leaf stamps out again!  This one features a punched leaf that I stamped with one of the new stamps I got- I love the veiny look, just like a real leaf!

This one has two layers that are embossed with mixed fall leaves, and two leaves in the center.  One is cut from my new die, stamped with a stamp, and embossed, while the other is from the same punch as the first card.


The above two are simple, embossed cards- found this fun fall leaf embossing folder at Joann's awhile back.

Another card featuring a die-cut, stamped, and embossed leaf, as well as some jute ribbon.


I really like these two!  The trees are embossed, and then I added some punched maple leaves, which I stippled with dye ink in fall colors. These are mounted on the cards with foam tape, so they are raised, and sort of float above the card.

These will be going to Top Drawer Upscale Resale and Boutique tomorrow, along with the Paris bookmarks, and some pressed fall leaf bookmarks that I've had hanging around for awhile.  Time for fall to come to my booth!  Next time, I am looking forward to making some cards that feature pumpkins...I've seen pumpkins made by layering die-cut ovals and circles, so look forward to trying it!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Paris Bookmarks

This past week, I stopped by Top Drawer Upscale Resale and Boutique to "fluff" my booth, and while I was there, I fell into conversation with a woman who was shopping there, assisted by Krissy, the owner.  The woman was looking for Paris-themed items for a charity event- she was sponsoring a table, and had to decorate it with a theme, which in this case was Paris.  She was interested in some bath teas by my fellow Salem Etsy Team member/captain, Megan, of Phytotherapy, and was looking for other small items.  Krissy asked me if I had anything, and I said that while I didn't have anything currently, I might be able to design a laminated bookmark with that theme.  The woman was interested, and I gave her my card and told her to let me know if she wanted to talk about doing something.  Long story short, Krissy contacted me and passed along the woman's phone number, I called and left her a message, but alas, I did not hear back from her.  I imagine she probably changed her mind, or found something else to use.  She had been looking for small gifts for each of the 8 seats at the table, and I am sure there are plenty of things out there that would be lovely for that purpose.  Easy come, easy go- I am used to getting inquiries that do not pan out by now.  It's disappointing, but I don't take it personally.

Well...sometimes when I get an idea in my mind, I can't let it go until I actually do something with it, and this was another one of those cases.  I had done some research and had found some neat digital images that I had thought I could layer for a sort of Paris-themed collage.  I stopped in to Top Drawer again today, and Krissy said that even though the woman did not call me back, she thought I ought to make a few items anyway- she said the Paris stuff flies off of the shelves there.  That was all the encouragement I needed!  I spent some time this evening working on my idea, and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out!
Here is the front.  Let me break this down: the background is an image from a vintage postcard written in French, and I lightened it up considerably so that it made for a softer background.  I then layered on other images: a Paris postmark, an image of the Eiffel Tower, a fleur de lis, some roses, and a butterfly.  I like it!  On the back, I put on some paper in a black and white damask pattern that looks a bit like fleur de lis.
I also managed to get my shop name on the bottom of the back- you can barely see it down there, but it's there!

I have never done anything quite like this before, and I am pleased with my first attempt.  I actually had to print it in two separate layers, the background first, and then the items that are on top of it.  I set up the layout in Power Point in two separate slides and printed them one at a time, so that the top images printed right on top of the background.

Next up I will be working on some fall-themed cards- I just ordered some stuff from Amazon and can't wait to get it and play with it!