Pia's September Tag Challenge on Scrapbook.com

Each month we have a tag-making challenge on Scrapbook.com, hosted by Pia from Sweden. For September, the challenge is to take a tag from clothing, and make it into a tag using scraps. Here's my entry 'before'.

Since the tag says 'look east', and has an Asian look to me, I ran with the Asian idea and used some scrap papers from Basic Grey's 'boxer' line, which to me have an Asian look to them. Here's the front of the finished product.

I'm not into Feng Shui, but having watched many home decorating shows, I knew a little bit about it, so I went online and found out a little more about the 'elements' of Feng Shui. There are 5 elements: fire (reds), water (blues), earth (greens), metal (grey and metallics) and wood (earthtones).

The colors of the paper had most of the colors, but I did add some blue blue bling for water, and attached the 'family' tag with a metal safety pin.

I also added some sisal twine, and a silk hydrangea blossom.

The center of the hydrangea is actually a stone from some old jewelery - very earthy. I inked the papers heavily with Distress Ink pad in Pine Needles color. The fibers are from an old, old kit.

On the reverse, I added a tag with a quote by Joyce Brothers: "When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses".

I hope you've enjoyed this little tag, because I loved making it. Come back to see me soon! Have a great Labor Day weekend! Becky

Daring Cardmakers 'Dare' and another little something for Caardvarks!

I know that you will all understand this, because obviously you are a paperaholic if you are involved in scrapping and cardmaking. But you see, this new paper was equally 'burning a hole in my pocket' until I could use it, AND sitting to the side being enjoyed, because I was not wanting to cut it up! This was my first introduction to Daisy Bucket Designs, and I'm in love with their papers!

This little card was made using both sides of the 'Hadley' paper from their 'Perfect Harmony' line, and the pinwheel was made from the 'Avery' paper from the same line. The card is for the Caardvarks "Name That Tuna" music themed challenge. I am also submitting the card and the matching pinwheel for the Daring Cardmakers 'dare' called "A Side Order With That . . . ". The dare was to make something that matched the card as a little 'side order'. How cute is that!

First I distressed the Hadley paper using the scissors distressing technique, and inked the edges with black ink. Then I machine stitched around the edges with a bright purple-y thread. Next, I took some black grosgrain ribbon and wrapped it around the white section of the paper, then topped that with some black and white gingham ribbon and a cute bow. I topped the center of the bow with a white paper flower with bling from Petaloo. I also added a few more of the paper flowers down below the ribbon, in pink white and black. The bling comes on the flowers - isn't that handy!


I then took another small piece of the Hadley paper - the reverse side is a precious plaid - and scissor distressed and inked that as well, then crumpled it up and hit the high spots with a coordinating blue ink. After that I cut some music notes freehand from black Bazzill cardstock, added a few dots of silver with a metallic gel pen, and a dot of 'crystal' Stickles for a highlight.

The matching pinwheel was made using a plastic drinking straw, a 6 x 6 inch square of the Avery paper, a quilter's pin, and two Petaloo Tutti Frutti flowers. If you've never made a pinwheel, it's very easy. Simply take a square of paper, score it from corner to corner, making an X across the center. Cut the score lines within about 1/2 to 1 inch of the center point. DO NOT cut all the way through! Pull 4 corners to the center, pin with a pin or brad. If using a drinking straw, make a pin hole about 1/2 to 1 inch from one end, and once you've got 4 corners of the pinwheel pulled together, push the pin through the straw, cut the sharp end off and turn down the end with needle nose pliers so it won't slip out. Don't pull the pin all the way tight, because you will need a little room for the pinwheel to move when the wind catches it.

I hope you've enjoyed these creations. Come back to see me again soon! Becky

2 Sketches 4 You - Laura's Sketch #5 - My First Entry!

I've wanted to join in the fun on this challenge at 2 Sketches 4 You for a while now, but somehow never actually made the plunge, until today that is! I guess things were just 'right, and I'm happy with my little birdie card. Here's "Heartfelt Birdie".


I must confess that with the exception of the light green cardstock (Bazzill orange peel texture) all the papers in this are old as the hills, and came in a package I bought years ago. I actually think they were a K & Co. 'Brenda Walton' paper pack I got at QVC, but I wouldn't swear to it! But these papers blended so well, and set the mood I wanted for this soft little birdie, so yes, I did indeed use scraps.




The bird I copied from another card, traced and cut her with love, as is the case with the brown branch and leaves. I just cut out a leaf till I got it to look how I wanted, traced it onto the dark green cardstock, cut them out, glued them to the light green cardstock, and cut them slightly larger. Voila! A cute place for birdie to sit! A light blue seed bead was just right for her little blue eye.



The 'heartfelt' rub-on is from Melissa Frances, the organza ribbon is from a local shop called Grosgrain Annie's.


I hope you like my little birdie card. Please leave a comment and let me know you've visited Camellia Cottage. Till next time! Becky

Wonderful You!

I have a wonderful hubby! We've been married for just over 23 years now, and although we've had our trials and tribulations, ours is a sweet relationship. I was 33 when we got married, and had never been married before. I guess by then I knew what I wanted in a partner, and with God's help, I found him!


Now, you are probably asking yourself, 'but what does that have to do with cardmaking?'! Well, I'm telling you this to explain my newest card, titled "Wonderful You". I've been on a card-making frenzy lately, and he's never complained when I didn't cook dinner, or when the floor wasn't swept or vacuumed, or when I barely came out of my room to say Hi. That's because he understands what this is all about for me - escape, relaxation, enjoyment, and fun!


My elderly parents are depending on me more and more these days, and my mom thinks I only exist to listen to her gripe and complain about everything. She even called me on my cell the other day when I was at the local scrapbooking store (EMI Scrapbooking) just to tell me what was on sale at her local supermarket this week! And I was expected to stand there and listen! But I didn't, lol! My life truly means nothing to her unless it is in direct relationship to her. Now don't get me wrong - I love my mother - both my parents - to death, but sometimes they just stress me out big time, and that's where my cardmaking comes in!


So, just to show my sweet hubby how much I appreciate his enabling this obsession of mine, and letting me have my way when I'm really stressed, I made a card for him. I'm going to put it by the coffee pot so he'll see it first thing in the morning. Do you think he'll like it???


The base of the card is Bazzill cardstock, topped with Cosmo Cricket 'Fleuriste: Dew Drops' paper. The matting is just some old burgundy cardstock, and the 'Wonderful' tag is from Cosmo Cricket 'Fleuriste: Journaling Cards'. The beige and brown satin ribbon is from from Grosgrain Annie's (a local shop at an antique market). For the matting, I used brown ink and the stamps are Rhonda Farrar's Flourishes 2 by Autumn Leaves. I used clear embossing powder and heat embossed the flourishes for a little more detail.


On the bottom left-hand corner I used one of the Journaling Tickets from Tim Holtz 'idea-ology', and topped it with two flowers from Petaloo's Dahlia Box Blend - Small in the gold, peach, green, blue blend. A petty cut tortoise-shell look button centers the flowers.

On the upper right hand corner I used a Heidi Swapp ghost shapes heart, punched two small holes in it, and made a bow of thin brown satin ribbon with white dots along it. I just love those ghost shapes!

The bottom right hand corner I added the word 'you' in chipboard. The chipboard was from an old scrapbooking kit, and the letters were a horrible pink-y orange. I inked them heavily with 'peacock gold' from the Color Box Petal Point 'alchemy' colors. Then I added clear embossing powder and heat embossed them to get a shiny, pebbley look. I think they turned out quite well.

So now you know about my sweet hubby, and about the card I made just for him. I hope you've enjoyed this visit - come back soon! Becky

Welcome to Camellia Cottage Designs!

How do I start this thing??? Well, first, let me welcome you to my new blog home! There's so much I feel the need to say, but so little that you are probably interested in, so I guess the best place to start is with why I am here.

Hello, my name is Becky, and I am a paperaholic! There, I said it!!! I love papercrafting, paper, ribbon, buttons, rub-ons, diecuts, inks, stamps, and anything that I can work into one of my lovely cards.

Yes, I make cards! I don't do much scrapbooking because it's just hubby and me, and no kids around, period! So I take all those scrapping products and make lovely cards to send to family and friends. Let me show you my two most recent projects. They were for two challenges on Caardvarks card challenge blog >>>

This one was for Laura's sketch. I just love these springy colors. I used Fancy Pants 'Celebrate' papers. The striped paper is one side of 'Play', and the bird's body is the other side. The bird's wing is from 'Confetti'. The rub-on 'Hello' is from Scenic Route. The stitching around the edges is doodled with a metallic gel pen in a blue color. I used the scallop blade on my Carl PRT-100 rotary cutter to get the scallopping on the bottom of the striped paper, and a little bit of Sulyn Industries 'opal' glitter glue on the lines beneath the bird. The spiral clip on the edge is by Creative Impressions, and the ric-rack is by Wrights, purchased at WalMart.

I made the bird by using a pattern cut from another online greeting card, tracing it onto cardstock and inking the edges, adding a bead for the eye. I popped it off the card with foam dots.

This card is for Kazan's sketch. I made it

using Bazzill cardstock for the base, and Fancy Pants 'Sweet Spring' papers. The base of the card is one side of 'Abbi', the dotted paper is 'Marli', and the quote is from the 'Sweet Spring Card Set'. The flower was stamped onto the back side of 'Marli' with Tim Holtz' Distress Ink in Frayed Burlap, and I used the tiniest bit of Sulyn Industries 'opal' glitter glue on some of the petals, then popped it off the page with foam squares. The button is from Buttons Galore, the rub-on sentiment is from an old K & Co. Brenda Walton swatchbook, and the chipboard was a piece of a frame that I inked with turquoise ink and heat embossed with clear deep impression embossing powder. All of the stitching was done on my Kenmore machine. Oh, and the orange cardstock came with an old kit ages ago, but I distressed it with the same Distress Ink as used on the flower. This isn't at all my usual type of card since I'm usually about pastel and brighter colors, but I love how it turned out.

My online home away from home is at scrapbook.com. Here's where you can find my profile there >>>

http://www.scrapbook.com/places/Camelliacottage

Well, that's all for now. I hope to be sharing more with you as time goes by. Thanks for paying a visit to Camellia Cottage!