Help Friends - Wedding Invite ?'s

Hi All...hope you're having a super week so far.  Today I am asking for your opinions.  I'm making the invitations for my son & soon to be DIL's wedding.  I have the basic design down, have the supplies bought (and on it's way) but I have a couple questions for you...

Here is the basic design - ignore the color - it was just the first 12x12 piece of cardstock I grabbed.

First question - The square and white band are wrapped around the outside -

Do you think it would be tacky to have a small round bit of velcro behind the square to hold it shut?

Next ? - 

Should the band be attached to the invitation or removable?

In my example I adhered the back and right flap - that won't work - 

when it's fully opened the right flap bunches up and won't lay properly.

I think I can fix it by only attaching it on the back.

Or should it be totally removable?

The inside of the card is pretty much set - Invite on the left - pocket on the right which will hold the RSVP postcard (already addressed & stamped), info card on the reception and a card that tells where they are registered at.

I have the wording they want for the invitation - Do you think it would be cheaper to print the insides, (on all the cards) myself or do it at Office Depot?  - I'm thinkin' about 50-75 invites at the moment.

Did I forget anything?

Any other suggestions?

I appreciate your help with this -

I want them to be perfect!

Pink Beauty

Today I wanted to share a card I made for 

The Card Concept Challenge #51 - Naturally Pink!

It was made with a lovely pink pattern paper from Club Scrap - Paris Flea Market kit, the sentiment was then stamped & mounted on the card.  I added lots of little fun bits in the opposite corners.

The inspiration for my card was the Shabby Chic card that Deanne Kay made also with a Paris theme and very much me.

#51 - Naturally Pink

Supplies:

ClubScrap.com - Cardstock, pattern paper, ribbon, stamp

Imagine Crafts - StazOn Spiced Chai

Other - Die-cuts, flowers, pips, Eiffel Tower brad

St. Patrick's Day Post Cards!

Today I thought I'd share some fun mixed media St. Patrick's day postcards I've been working on.  These little gems can be sent for a fraction of what it costs to mail a card and they brighten lives along the way!  

Official stuff from the USPS - To be considered a post card they must measure no larger than 6" x 4.25" in size and be .016 thick.  About the size of regular watercolor paper or heavy cardstock.  These cards can be mailed (at the moment) in the US for $0.35 ($1.20 International).  You could also send a larger size - 11 1/2" x 6 1/8" and be .25" thick which are $0.49 to mail in the US.

These cards are the standard smaller size.

Let's make the cards!

Started off by scribbling Gelatos onto my craft mat; misted with water then pressed the paper into the mix.  Set aside to dry.

I like to make 2 cards at the same time - the first I taped down with about 1/2" strip around the edge.  I left the other card loose.

Place a stencil over the taped down card and mist with Fireworks! Spray.  

This one is Cottage Ivy.

Remove the stencil...

Flip it over and press it onto the 2nd card to make a ghost image.

Now it's time to stamp!

I used a few St. Patrick's Day stamps from JFF Stamps

as well as a few flowers from Altenew.

I press them under a piece of marble or heavy books so they are nice and flat to send.

Your postcards are ready to be signed, stamped & sent!

Supplies:

Watercolor Paper

Gelatos

Imagine Crafts - Fireworks! Spray - Ivy Cottage; Memento Inks; Delicata Gold Ink; Memento Dual Tip Markers

ClubScrap.com - Stencil

JFF Stamps - Sentiment, Shamrock, Ribbons & Rick-Rack

Altenew - Peony Bouquet

Say Yes to the Dress!

This past weekend was a very special day for our family - Mom and I were invited to our future DIL's own version of Say Yes to the Dress. Morgan and our son Bob are getting married in early August so we're all getting very excited.  I wanted to share a bit from the day....keep in mind that all of these are "Not THE Dress".  She did say Yes to one particular dress, but I can't share that one just in case Bob happens to sneak a peek ;)  LOL!!   Don't want any bad luck.

So here goes....

Dress #1 - Loved the top!

Dress #2 - I didn't like this - part of it was pretty but it looked like there was a sheet wrapped around the bottom half?  Don't know why you'd want that look.

BUT - it did look amazing from behind!

Dress #3 - This one was one of my fav's - Love how the ruffles look like ringlets.
 

That ringlet thing went all the way down.

Dress #4 - Another sheet looking thing but it had a classy look to it.

Dress #5 

Dress #6 - Another Fav. of mine.

Dress #7 - Beads and Sequins all the way down - loved it.

The girl helping us let me hold it when she was hanging it back up.

That sucker was HEAVY!

Dress #8 - This was pretty too...

Dress #9 - Chevron Beaded top - pretty but not quite right.

Which is your fav?

The dress she chose is beautiful on her - It was actually the very first dress she picked out and the first she tried on.  When the gal helping us added the head piece, veil & necklace it was amazing...she looked like a fairy princess.  I teared up - she was just so pretty.   

On one hand I can't wait - I have had my dress for about 2 months now - LOL!!  I don't want to wish the summer away before it even starts but I'm ready for August to roll around.  But then I stop and think - my baby is getting married....that also brings tears to my eyes.  I'm going to be a basket case - LOL!!

Deep Red Stamps - Watercolor Spring Challenge & Give Away!

Did you know that Deep Red Stamps is hosting a challenge this month? It's a Watercolor Spring Challenge - right up my alley and yours too!

Here are the details...

We're is hosting a challenge during the month of March. The inspiration for the challenge is SPRING and/or WATERCOLORS (pencils, paints or pastels count!) 

• Your project must contain at least one of our Deep Red Stamps. 
• Your blog post must feature the SPRING CHALLENGE graphic (above). 
• Link your blog POST for THIS challenge (no links that go to youtube, pinterest, general blog) 
• You can use your project in other challenges. 
• Enter as often as you like, one blog post per entry. 
• Challenge entries close March 31st, 11:55 EST. 

Winners receive $35 in Rewards Points to use at DeepRedStamps.com. At least 1 winner for every 20 entries will be chosen. Share this with your friends!

Well, you know how much I love watercoloring and DRS stamps so I decided to give it a go! I actually made 2 cards - I couldn't decide which I liked better. Which do you prefer?

DRS - Garden Doorway

This image was stamped with Memento Dye Ink then watercolored with InkTense watercolor pencils.

DRS - Wishing Well

This card was also stamped using Memento Dye Ink but I colored it with my Staedtler watercolor pencils. It doesn't really show in the photo but the wishing well is actually pop-dotted off the background away from the frame.

So, which do you like better?

Be sure to vote because I have 4 fun brand new Deep Red Stamps for one lucky Ink Stained Friend that casts a vote for their favorite design!

You have until March 19th to vote for your fav.!

Remember - Be sure to enter the DRS Spring/Watercolor Challenge TOO!!

DRS March Spring / Watercolor Challenge

Good Luck Everyone

and

Have an Ink Stained weekend!

Mixed Media Spring!

Well, I'm taking up a challenge of a different kind today.  

Andy Skinner has a Bold & Bright challenge 

going on over on his blog that inspired me to dig into my supplies.

And this is what I created!  It is VERY bright for me but I like how it turned out and what's more, I had fun making it which is the important thing.

I started out by stenciling on the flowers using DecoArt Media White Modeling Paste on one half of the canvas board.

I then embossed the other side with Gears - and I also used Andy's Gear Border Stencil to add gears to the centers of each flower (also with DecoArt Media Modeling Paste).

I painted the entire canvas with Americana School Bus Yellow.

A layer of Apple Green was applied over the gears.

And then I rubbed Blue Lagoon over them for a second coat to highlight the gears.

I went to work on the flowers by using Flamingo, Iris and Pumpkin Patch.

I then stenciled on some french script with a bit of Memento Luxe Danube Blue Ink.

Next I took a white and grey pastel pencil and highlighted the flowers (white) and gears (grey).  It doesn't show up much in the photo but it does in person and makes quite a difference.

A few flicks of diluted white paint on the top, Turquoise Shimmer Mist on the bottom; A spritz of Shimmer Mist for a bit of glitz and finally a bit of carbon black along the edge and on my chipboard letters.

and a couple more views close up....

And there you have it!

Hope you enjoy.

Supplies:

DecoArt Media: White Modeling Paste, Fluid Acrylics - Carbon Black, Titanium White; Shimmer Mist - Turquoise

DecoArt Stencils - Old French Script; Cogs & Gears

DecoArt Americana Satin - School Bus Yellow; Pumpkin Patch; Blue Lagoon; Flamingo, Iris & Apple Green

Andy Skinner - Gear Border

Imagine Crafts - Memento Luxe Ink - Danube Blue; Sponge Dauber

Blick Art - canvas board

Conte' Pastel Pencils

Other - random chipboard letters

Masterboard Stampings

Hello Friends, Happy Wednesday!  I hope you've all had a fine week so far.  Today I wanted to share a bit about stamping masterboards.    Masterboards are a great way to create your own personalized pattern papers for loads of projects like the card below.  It just so happens that it is also the featured technique for the challenge on the Club Scrap blog this month.

Like all techniques, there are hundreds of ways to make a masterboard.  Today I just wanted to share a stamped masterboard. 

I start off by gathering all of the stamps I might want to incorporate into a masterboard.  It might be 3-4 stamps or it could be 10-15.  It just depends on the look you're going for.  

Begin by stamping the largest image first.  In this case I started off stamping the bird cage. The size of your beginning piece will determine how many times you stamp each image.  I am using a 12x12 sheet of cardstock so I stamped it 7 times.  You will notice that some of the images are stamped off the edge.  This will make for a completely usable finished masterboard.

Ink color choices are up to you. Some people prefer to stamp everything in black so that they can color the individual images once the masterboard has been cut.  I knew I wanted to use several colors of ink so that no additional coloring was needed once I cut it up.

After you've got your initial image down, continue stamping additional images and/or text as desired.  The number of images and spacing is also up to you.  Some people prefer evenly spaced stamped images in specific design patterns....mine is more random and filled.  I even have a bit of over lapping in some areas which is o.k. too.

Here is a close up of my masterboard.

All of the images used are from the March Club Scrap kit - Paris Flea Market which I'm excited to share was my idea for a kit (more on this later).  

So after you have your masterboard stamped, it's time to cut it up!  YES, I said cut it up...that's the whole idea behind the MB.  So I cut mine into several pieces -  a couple slightly smaller than A2 card size, others smaller.  The larger pieces will be used for backgrounds while the smaller pieces will be used as accent pieces.  All in all I made 11 cards out of the single 12x12 masterboard.

The card at the beginning of the post used one of the larger 4" x 5.25" pieces.  The rest of the cards are shown below....

These are the other cards made using the 4" x 5.25 sections.

I cut a strip of the masterboard into 3" x 3" squares. 

These two pieces were smaller sections of the masterboard...

And finally the left-overs were used to make these cards.  

The card above is a small 3x4 gift card.

And my final card is my attempt at conquering white space.  Every time I look at it I want to stamp the heck out of the top but I have refrained (so far).

So, there you have it...one example of what a masterboard can be.  I hope you give it a try...it really is a fun technique for making LOTS of cards in a very short amount of time.

Supplies:

ClubScrap.com - cardstock, rubber stamps, pearl buttons, fleur de lis brad, lace paper doily, ribbon, cut-aparts

IMAGINE Crafts - Memento Dye Inks

Other - faux gemstone strips, sticky back pearls, twine, sequins, die-cuts, mini paper flowers