My Oh My It's Dusty in Here

Hidy Ho crafty peeps!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know it's been F O R E V E R since I've posted in here. I won't go into the "why", but suffice it to say, I just haven't been able to be crafty for way too long.

The amount of dust that has accumulated in my poor, neglected studio is...impressive. I'm still trying to figure out what creative thing I can do with all these dust bunnies. Surely there is something. Perhaps, if I mix it with Elmer's Glue and some glitter, I can come up with some new medium to play with. Or, perhaps, maybe I can use it like embossing powder.

Perhaps not.

At any rate, I did manage to clear off a section of my worktable and I actually created something this week.

Don't faint.

I really did.

My dear friend Fran commissioned me to make her 2 birthday cards. One is for her niece who is an artistic person, and one for her nephew--the hunter. That's all the direction she gave me.

So, this is what I came up with.

For her niece's card, I employed one of my favorite paper-piecing techniques--paper quilting. I recreated a version of the Cathedral Window pattern. I dug through my paper scraps and chose some fun colors/patterns that go together (sort of). I used one-sided patterned paper for this because I think the white edges are striking. I suppose you could use double-sided paper...that would be an interesting effect. I used a black background to really make the colors pop. Then, I added hand-stitching pen marks all over the place.

And, sorry Jodi, I left my buttons un-flossed.

Oh, the horror!

For her nephew's card I broke out my new Shadowbox die set from DoCrafts. OMG I love these things. I couldn't decide which one to get, so I ended up getting 3 of them--the Forest, the Woodlands, and the Fairgrounds. For this card, I used the Forest set.

It is UBER dimensional. So much so, that the top layer is almost half an inch above the background. I made the hat, noisemaker, banner, and balloon by hand. Yeah, I made them bright. The rest of the card was soooo....monochromatic. I thought about doing it all in camouflage pattern, but decided it needed some pops of color. I thought about adding more to it...it still seems plain to me. But I sort of ran out of time. And yes, I had to make special custom envelopes for both of these.

Thank goodness for the We R Memory Keepers Envelope Punch Board. I love that thing. I mean...like I'd marry it if I weren't already married.

Seriously.

No supply list today. I'm too lazy. If you want to know about any specific product...just say so in the comments and I'll respond.

As always, thank you for coming out to Left Field!