Twisted Card #052 "FRAME"

Happy Saturday Everyone! Today Twisted Sketches has revealed the newest card sketch #052 with "frame" as the twist. Let me just say that when I first saw the sketch I thought it looked rather complex for just a card. Man was I wrong! I created this card for Nancy (my artsy cousin) and for some crazy reason it came together so smoothly. I would have to say this is my favorite card I have made to date. It is fun to create for Nancy as she truly understands every painstaking detail I put into everything I make.

Onto the details...I started with a square card base and covered it with Doodlebug Designs pink glitter dots paper (love this stuff!). To create the vertical band down the center, I punched some Bazzill aqua cardstock with my Martha Stewart Deep Fan edge punch. I then put vintage yellow tickets on top. To create the bracket, I simply used the actual sketch for the template using LUXE's Sprinkles Bell Bottoms paper (what a fun name!). The focal point of the card is definitely the baroque frame that I absolutely adore! I found it in the $1 section at Michael's! It is resin and has lots of fun texture/detail. To give it even more dimension, I dry brushed some light pink paint over the top and love the way it turned out. :) As for the ultra fabulous vintage aqua flower button and the super cute black bird clip, I received those from Tiffany. (One of my partners in the recent Box Swap that I participated in.) So fun! Lastly, I topped it off with a vintage "N41" bingo marker. The N stands for Nancy and I'm sure you can figure out the rest! :)

I think I have just about covered every fun detail. Please be sure to check out Anam's fantabulous sketch and the other amazingly creative cards at http://www.twistedsketches.com/! You will be glad you did!

Thank You Nancy!

For Jack's birthday, my cousin Nancy presented Jack with the most amazing gift for his room. Nancy Hanttula aka Miss Scrapbook Diva Extraordinaire recently started taking Christy Tomlinson's "She Art" Workshop that teaches all types of fabulous mixed media techniques incorporating scrapbooking goodies, tools & supplies. This masterpiece was Nancy's first attempt at this new art venture she is exploring with. Let me just say, if this is just her first one I can only imagine what is yet to come. If you think this is amazing, you should see all of Nancy's over-the-top layouts she creates for Twisted Sketches and Scraps of Darkness. She can be "stalked" at http://www.justaboutthedetails.com/. I warn you now, you will be hooked instantly. : )

For additional photos and all the yummy details of Jack's newest artwork, please visit Nancy's post at http://justaboutthedetails.com/?p=2778. The fabulous photo taken is courtesy of Nancy's blog.

Thanks again Nancy for the fabulous gift. Nothing compares to such an amazing handmade gift from the heart. I love you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

I just wanted to wish you some Irish Luck on such a festive day! And of course to share some "Irish" inspiration! :) As I mentioned in the previous post, Jack's birthday party was on Saturday. Since he was turning 7, we decided to go with the "Lucky 7" theme. Jack's actual birthday is March 16 so it was also fitting to go with the whole Irish colors and decor. As seen in the top photo, this was the cake table. The fun framed print was provided by the ladies over at the fabulous blog http://www.eighteen25.blogspot.com/.

The invitations were all handmade using the St. Patrick's Day Noteblock Stamp by Purple Onion Designs. I love the subway poster look they portray. To see their entire line, you can check them out at http://www.purpleoniondesigns.com/StephanieWheelerStamps.html. Basically I heat embossed the stamped image with some funky lime green powder from Hamilton Arts a' la mode collection. I then used the Cricut's Graphically Speaking cartridge to diecut the "Lucky 7" out of vellum. Next I applied Shamrock Medley rub-ons from Hobby Lobby. Lastly, I decided to cover up part of the stamped image with Making Memories Rummage Alphabet rub-ons so that it would say Happy "Jack's" Day for the party. The kids had a great time at the party, and of course it helped that the weather was beautiful! :) They had leprechaun relays, hunting for gold coins & playing"lucky" horseshoes. As for the cake, my mother and I made it using a shamrock shaped Wilton cake pan and covered it up with kelly green fondant. (Thanks mom for always helping me with these cakes, I couldn't do it without you! )

As I have mentioned before, my husband Frankie is an Irish fanatic. He went to Ireland 2 summers ago in search of confirmation of his distant heritage and has been hooked ever since. Our last name is Baldwin, but in fact it was originally Flannery. Frankie's great-great-grandfather's name was Patton Baldwin Flannery. In the late 1800's he and his brothers were in trouble with the law. Apparently he fled and dropped the Flannery in hopes to not be found. Very interesting indeed. Through lots of determination and research, Frankie found an old newspaper clipping dated January 19, 1899 that documents the 4 brothers referred to as bandits fleeing arrest in the southern hills! Of course Frankie always loves anything from Ireland anymore. He purchased a Bodhran; an Irish drum for Jack's birthday and had me paint the skin. The top says "O'Flannahbra" which means Flannery in Ancient Irish. I created the shamrock using my Cricut Indie Art cartridge for a template. Using the celtic heart image, I created the clover shape and painted it with a dark green acrylic.

Since Jack's birthday was yesterday, the entire day was centered around him and what he wanted to do. After meeting MeMe & Papa for lunch, we went to the duck pond to play and feed the ducks. Jack decided he and Sam would dress in their Irish best...their Irish kilts. I leave you with this quaint picture of my little guys...don't they look precious? I must go as the festivities are about to begin! Happy St. Patty's to you all!

Twisted Card #050 "PRETTY"

Wow, it has been a weekend and I am truly exhausted. My little Jack had his birthday party yesterday and I am totally worn out from that. I literally tried to post my card yesterday evening, but I kept dozing off at the computer! Pretty sad, huh? For this week's sketch, the twist was "pretty" but I knew I wanted to create a special card for my son's birthday. Since he is turning the big "lucky" 7, I decided to incorporate things that symbolize good luck...like 4-leaf clovers and a horseshoe to commemorate this special occasion. As for pretty, I chose the fancy paper collection that Little Yellow Bicycle came out with last Spring, called Lucky Me. Not only are the colors so vibrant and festive, there is "antique foil" on the paper that gives it that extra pretty shine! : ) As for special techniques, I sliced around the edges of some of the clovers, inked them & curled them up a little to give it some dimension. The products I used on the card are as follows...Little Yellow Bicycle's Lucky Me Medallion & Denim Clover paper & Clear Cut Shapes; Karen Foster's Green Houndstooth paper; Fiskar's Upper Crest Edge Punch; Fancy Pants All About a Boy Mini Blue Pom Poms; black ink; staples; Pink Paislee's Daily Junque Mini Notes & Labels for the "No. 7" (from my fabulous prize pack :)) and last but certainly not least a fantastic mini cast iron horseshoe I scored at an antique flea market last month. That is my favorite part about the card...my Jack is artsy fartsy like I am, so I know that he will totally appreciate it for what it is.

Thanks dearly for stopping by, and be sure to check out the other fabulous cards over at http://www.twistedsketches.com/!

Don't Hate Me Because IT'S Beautiful!

Let me start by saying I am the world's unluckiest when it comes to winning anything. Through the years the only thing I recall really winning was when I was 9 years old playing bingo. My prize was a brown "pleather" briefcase....boy was I thrilled. Let's just say I don't even think it made it to the toy box! Well it seems my friends, my luck must be changing! Please don't be too jealous when I tell you this, but I won the ENTIRE new collection of Pink Paislee's/House of 3 "Daily Junque." Can you believe it? I still can't. There are so many beautiful new lines that have come out of Winter CHA, but my most favorite one was this one! :) The wonderful gals over at http://www.pinkpaislee.com/ did a reveal back in January for one person to win, and there were 570 entries! Courtesy of Pink Paislee's blog, above is a snapshot of all the goods...

To see all the goodies in more detail, please visit http://www.pinkpaislee.com/2011/01/sneak-peek-week-day-4-daily-junque/ Thanks so much Pink Paislee, I love you! Now excuse me while I continue to freak the freak out! :)

Speckled Egg's Petite Inspiration Box Swap

Hi Ladies! I hope all is well with everyone! Today I would like to share with you the first ever box swap I just participated in. Heather, the blog owner of http://www.speckled-egg.blogspot.com/.speckled-egg.blogspot.com/ has such fantastic inspiration you will definitely want to check her out. She also has a fabulous online store, http://www.speckled-egg.com/w.speckled-egg.com/ filled with what she refers to as "vintage treasures and artsy treats." That is the perfect description, I love her stuff. Anyways, this wonderful gal put together this "Flea Market Swap" so that we could share some of our goodies in exchange for someone else's. When I heard that it was vintage inspired, I was all over it. If you want to do a fantastic swap sometime, Heather's are phenomenal. She apparently has lots of experience at these as she has hosted many in the past. So fun and inspiring...

Onto the details of the boxes I created...

The lovely girls in my swap share similar taste in vintage goods like myself. That is how we got grouped together. At the beginning, we were to choose our "flea market style" from the following...

(a) neutrals, whites, aged, chippy, rusty

(b) Victorian, pastels, florals, foof, cottage

(c) bright, bold, kitsch, retro funky

(d) anything goes!

Can you guess what category I picked? Yeah, if you know me I am definitely letter (c) bright, bold, kitsch, retro & funky. Isn't it great that we were grouped with people sharing similar interests? I love it! We even got to visit with one another beforehand just to share specific things we truly love. My first partner was Tiffany...a lover of reds, sky blue, kraft & vintage office supplies. My other partner was Jessica...a mother of 3 girls who loves anything with girly imagery, Dick & Jane illustrations, embroidered ribbon, lace & buttons. What a treat it was creating these boxes for them. It also gave me a chance to go through my goodies to see what I actually have in all my boxes of vintage ephemera. Everything on the outside and inside the boxes is 100% vintage. I covered the outside of the boxes in pages from a 1948 children's "My Very First Picture Dictionary." I tied vintage lace, ric rac & some super luscious scalloped red trim around the box and adorned them each with 2 vintage buttons. The contents include so much stuff...I am amazed I was able to "cram" so much stuff in them! Here is a comprehensive list included in the boxes...vintage lace, embroidered ribbon, ric rac, buttons, flashcards, flocked wallpaper, playing cards, sequence nursery rhyme cards, price tags, lotto cards, tickets, marquee letters for their names, wooden ruler, book envelope, graph paper, ledger paper, vintage short-hand dictionary pages and more!

I hope you enjoyed taking a "peek" inside the boxes I made for my new friends! To see lots of the other amazing box creations included in the swap, please check it out at ww.flickr.com/groups/petiteinspirationboxswap.

I have received my fabulous box from Tiffany and have already put some of the delicious goodies to use. I will be able to show you that creation later on...it is a future Twisted Sketch Card with some super fabulous embellishments on there! Thanks Tiffany, I am going crazy over the vintage aqua buttons! I am anxiously awaiting my box from Jessica as I am sure it will be fabulous too! How fun, it feels like Christmas in March! :)

Have a good one! Amy