Bottled Heather

     I have strong Irish roots in my family tree and, while I've never been there myself, I remember one of my great-uncles sharing about the wonderful scent of heather when it was blooming on the 'moors' in Ireland.  Every time I see this particular bottle image from MHK Designs (Beautiful Bottles set), I think of him.

     I also used flowers from another set by MHK Designs.  I thought they really worked well together and provided exactly what I wanted for the sketch.

I started with the sketch from The Outlawz.

     I used my ProMarkers to color both the bottle and the flowers.  I fussy cut all of the pieces and then used a die from QuicKutz (oval with scallops) and another die from Spellbinders (plain oval) to cut the framing pieces from (my favorite color) purple and lavender CS.

     The diagonal cut, kraft CS was embossed with my "Linen" folder and then attached to the card front.  I layered on the ovals and added the bottle and flowers, centering them as much as possible to fit the A2 card width.  One row of purple rhinestones and a small sheer bow finished off the card in style.  I do believe that those tiny bows I sew up are my favorite embellishments of all time.  I make  them by the dozens and always have them in my stash.  Mostly I make them from white ribbon because then they can be 'dyed' with markers I've used in my coloring to match whatever color I want for the cards.  Besides, bows work on either fancy or CAS cards, for gals or for guys.  A very versatile embellishment.  :-D

     Challenges:
As You Like It
C.R.A.F.T.
Crafting with an Attitude
Day Dreamer
Fussy and Fancy Fri.
Outlawz Twisted Thurs.
Pammie's Inky Pinkies
Star Stampz

     I have two posts today and my second one shares some exciting and very recent news so be sure to stop by again in a few hours.  Happy Crafting.  NanaConnie

Beautiful Bottles - Second Day Release from MHK Designs

     When the title says "Beautiful Bottles," I know some of you are looking for beautiful wine bottles (you know who you are!) but that's not what we have for you today.  These are gorgeous vintage bottles from MHK Designs that are so versatile you'll want to have a whole stash of cards made with the bottles from this "Beautiful Bottles" set.  You can see a photo of the entire set at the end of this post.

     I used two of the bottles from the set for this card and I do believe I went a little crazy with design.  Both bottles are colored with my ProMarkers and the front bottle is fussy cut, while the other bottle is cut with a die.  The green mat behind it is first embossed with my "Linen" folder and then cut with another die.  The sentiment is printed and cut with another die, and all three of those dies are from the same Spellbinders set, "Radiant Rectangles."  All of those were cut from various scrap pieces lying on the table.

     The two bottles, the sentiment, and the mats behind them make up one half of the card front and they are actually layered onto the left side of a gatefold, overlapping the right hand gatefold which has the dp, ribbon strip, and bow.

     I found another scrap of dp on my desk, cut it with a plain, rectangle die and matted it with dark green CS.  The green ribbon was a leftover piece found in my stash and the white bow is one of those I make by the dozens and toss in the stash for later use.  On that one, I cut dovetails instead of just a diagonal slant. I may start doing that on all of them since I like it better.  :-D

     Challenges:
A Bit More Time to Craft
Classic Design Team Open
Crafts and Me
Crafty Awesomeness
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper
Lunagirl Moonbeam
Petal Lu
SLS Lines
Sparkles Forum
Stempelsonnen

     You still have a few days left to play in our July/August challenge.  The new one begins on August 21.  Check the MHK Designs blog for more information on it.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie



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