Vintage Scribble & Scrap

     Sunday morning -- the sun is shining and we had a bit of rain late last night (which we desperately need), and another new challenge starts today at Scribble & Scrap.  We always have an "Anything Goes" theme so there's absolutely no excuse not to play along.  You don't have to use a Scribble & Scrap image or digital papers to enter the challenge but they are all so lovely, why wouldn't you want to use one or the other or both?

     I used a wonderful image called "Vintage Beauty 2" and paired it up with papers from the "Fabulous Florals 2" set.  Wow, do I love the blue papers in that set!  Check this out --

 I used the sketch from Outlawz Sketch challenge this week.

     This vintage lady is colored with ProMarkers, then die cut.  I printed two of the blue papers from the set, and die cut one for the mat behind the image.  The second paper for the background is double printed at the bottom to make the darker strip but it's only one piece of paper.  I added no embellishments at all because I just wanted to show off that beautiful image and the gorgeous papers.  This has to be the most CAS 'vintage' card I've ever done but I think it qualifies as somewhat elegant, don't you agree?

     Challenges:
A Creative Romance -- Spring Flowers
Art Impressions -- Getting Girly
Crafty Catz -- A/G
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper -- A/G
Digistamps 4 Joy -- Vintage
Fan-Tastic Tuesday -- A/G
Graph'It -- Spring Pastels
I {heart} ProMarkers -- A/G
Just Inspirational -- Monochrome
MFP Simple Salutations -- Elegant
Outlawz Alcohol Markers -- A/G
Penny's Paper-Crafty -- Fav color combo (blue & white)
Red Rubber Inspirationals -- Vintage
Southern Girls -- Floral Frenzy
Stampin' for the Weekend -- Spring colors

     Come play along with us over the next 2 weeks, won't you?  We'd love to see your fabulous creations.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Roses Mean Love

     One more card which could be for your special Valentine or just to show that you love someone.  It's a new challenge day at Scribble & Scrap, which always has an Anything Goes theme.  I used the beautiful Vintage Rose Bud 2 image.

     The rose is colored with ProMarkers, then die cut.  I cut a black mat with another of my new "vintage" frame dies from Spellbinders.  I really love the way those frame dies make the card look so fancy when they really are just CAS.  In this case, the image and the frames make for an elegant vintage card that's just 2 layers of CS and a bit of sparkle in each corner.  The sentiment is mine, computer printed and hand cut, then layered onto the die cut.

     Challenges:
Crafting for All Seasons -- For the girls
Creative Moments -- Add sparkle
Cuttlebug Mania -- All you need it love
Frilly and Funky -- Valentine w/o hearts
LEJ Designs -- Anything goes
Little Miss Muffet -- Love
Miriam's Crafting -- Flowers
Party Time Tuesday -- Anything goes
Passion for ProMarkers -- Anything goes
Through the Craft Room Door -- Anything goes

     I hope your weekend is going well and that whatever your plans, the weather where you are will co-operate.  Personally, I'm staying in and watching the Super Bowl.  I may be one of the few who remembers the days when the Seattle and Denver teams were both in the same Division of the AFC.  Then Seattle got moved to the NFC and now the two teams are facing each other in the Super Bowl.  How odd.  :-D  Oh, well -- Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie

Hand Made Bows

     As part of my DT commitment with Scribble & Scrap, I get to do a tutorial once every 10 weeks or so.  So two things inspired today's post.  Volunteering to be the first of the DT members to do a tutorial for Scribble & Scrap was one, and the other was more personal.  For many moons now I've been promising to do a tutorial about the bows I make by the dozens and toss into my stash for future use.  It was impossible to do the steps and photograph them at the same time without a much more sophisticated system than I have.  But, now that I live in the same city as my daughter and her family, I recruited some help.  Thanks, daughter dear.  :-D  You're the best!

     I should note that for those of you who either don't have a needle and thread or don't want to ever sew anything, you can buy these types of bows at most of your local fabric shops in packages of 4 or 5.  They tend to be expensive if you use as many as I do on your cards and projects.  Being somewhat budget conscious and loving to sew, I learned to make these by taking apart one of those I bought and figuring out how to make them myself.  It took some practice, so don't give up after the first one.  I can now make about 15 of these in an hour.  Making them myself also means that I have a much wider variety than just blue, white, and pink, which is mostly I see in the fabric stores.

What you will need:
Ribbon
Needle
Thread - matching the color of the ribbon  (For demo purposes, I used black ribbon and white thread)
Small pearl or other decorative bead
Scissors for trimming ribbon tails

     For the photographs, I used 5/8ths inch wide ribbon but I usually use 3/8ths inch for the bows and that results in a tighter "middle" of the bow.  You can actually use any size or style of ribbon you choose but 'softer' ribbon works better than stiff ribbon.

 

Step 1. --  Cut a length of ribbon about 4 inches long (for 3/8ths inch ribbon -- longer for wider ribbon.  You'll be trimming it at the end.)  Fold it as though you were doing a "remember" ribbon, with a loop sticking up above the crossed tails.  The loop should be twice the length which you want for your finished bow loops (both measured together.)  Photo 1a isn't actually anything you're going to do but is there to show you that getting your needle in the exact center of the loop is vital!   What you will do is fold the very top of the loop down to the back of the center spot where the tails cross.

Step 2. -- Bring your needle and thread up from the back in the exact center of the crossed tails.  This will be done holding it in your hands but we had to lay it our on the table for photographic purposes.

  

Step 3. -- Wrap the thread around and around the mid-point (top to bottom), pulling it as tightly as possible.  The tighter the wrap, the smaller the middle and the closer together the tails will be when finished.  I've done two different angles just to give you a view of how it would look when completely wrapped.

Step 4. -- Bring the needle and thread from the back side up through the right side loop, close to the wrapped middle.  Add the pearl bead and pull the thread through.

Step 5. -- Push the needle and thread down through the left side loop, again close to the middle, pulling it tightly and centering the pearl.

Step 6. -- Sew a "tie-off" of the thread at the back of the bow, keeping the pearl as tightly against the bow as possible. Clip the thread.

Step 7. -- Trim off the excess tails to make them the appropriate size for your bow.  Some people like longer tails so trim them to your preference.  I happen to prefer shorter tails on the small bows I make which are approximately 3/4 of an inch across and only a smidgen taller than that.  Here's a photo of a finished bow I did using the 3/8ths ribbon.

     You'll notice that the tails are much closer together when I don't have them deliberately spread out to photograph the various steps.  However, I will advise you that either stiffer ribbon or wider ribbon will result in a wider spread between the tails and a larger mid-point because there is more ribbon in the wrapped center.  It's just not possible to wrap that much ribbon as tightly so you won't get a really tight mid-point.

     That doesn't mean the wider bow isn't exactly what you want on your project.  I have done many bows in different sizes and styles.  But when I sit for an entire weekend afternoon and sew these little bows together for my stash, I tend to do the smaller, tighter bows mainly because I have a ton of pearl beads in the smaller size and I intend to get rid of them by making as many bows as possible over the next decade!  :-D  It'll take that long to use them up.  Experiment with the basic idea and come up with something that totally pleases you.  It doesn't have to be what I make.

     Have a great day, my crafty friends.  NanaConnie

A Vintage Autumn

     This was one of the last cards I got to make before all the paper crafting supplies got boxed up for the move and I'm proud to say that it's my Guest DT card for this week's 'Anything goes' challenge at Scribble & Scrap. The image is a magnificent one from the Scribble & Scrap shop called "Vintage 3."  If you haven't been to the shop before, you really should go explore it.  More is being added all the time.

I used a sketch from I {heart} Sketches, elongated to fit the image

and the colors are from There She Goes.

.

  

     Isn't she marvelous?  Maybe it's because fall is my favorite season but I thought she'd be perfect done in muted fall colors.  Of course, I can see her done up in spring pastels, too, or even summer brights.  This time, she's colored with ProMarkers and then die cut with that magnificent Cheery Lynn frame.  I did two cuts with that die; one on the image (the white) and a second cut on brown CS.  I fit the white image piece into the brown frame, then matted it with pumpkin CS.

     The leaves are also from a Cheery Lynn die.  All the flowers were in my stash.  I added pearls to the corners and a few places on the frame, plus in some of the flower centers in the image.  They don't show up as well in the photograph but IRL they just shine!

     Challenges:
Artistic Inspirations -- Make it girly
Crafty Sentiments -- Anything goes
Die Cuttin' Divas -- Use brown
Eureka Stamps -- Anything goes
House of Gilli --  Anything goes - Fall
MFP Simple Salutations -- Flowers
Outlawz Monday -- Smiles (even soft, gentle ones)
Parade Your Crafts -- Fall
Rhedd & Rosie's -- Shades of Autumn
Simon Says Stamp Monday -- Inspired by Tammy Tutterow
Top Tip Tuesday -- Flowers
Vintage Stamping -- Feminine Beauty

     I hope you'll come and play along in the challenge at Scribble & Scrap.  Remember, it's anything goes and there's nothing better than that!  I'll see all of you in a couple of weeks when I'm settled and back online after the move. Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie