The 5-2-1 is Back!

I created this 5-2-1 workshop back in 2009 and it was a hit.  I put it aside until now. I wanted to have something that would incorporate lots of cards and some other projects as well for my project playgrounds. So, I pulled out my old instructions and went line by line creating the projects. The first set of projects came out pretty well especially with some added flair like dry embossing and ribbons and brads.  The first time around I kept it super simple without the extras so that people could see you can make cards in a simplistic way and they can look great.  The second time going through the instructions and making the projects I made a few adjustments on measurments and added a picture stamp rather than just word stamps. My first thought in creating the 5-2-1 was to use up most all the paper given.  The project asks for 2 12x12 coordinating patterned papers. 2 12x12 coordinating colored cardstocks and 4 white or cream colored card stock. All of these papers need to work together for it to work. I used the Emma Soar with It collection which was nice because of the double-sided patterned paper it gave me a couple more options to change the look if desired. I played around with embossing and embellishments to give a general idea of the possibilities you can do to enhance the projects. So, I am going to add a slideshow at the top of the blog with all the projects so far created for the next Project Playground on April 17th including one of the flower pot cards I was so frustrated with last week. I did do another version with more lively spring colors and made it a Mother's day card.  I will have to add that into the slideshow at some point. I have to work on my daughter's birthday invites next. They are going to be wild!

March TAC Four-legged Friends and Flowers Promotion

http://www.theangelcompany.net/Promos_FourLegged_Flowers.html

Frustrating Challenge Conquered!

I saw this cute flower pot card in a magazine and have been trying to reproduce it. Well, I didn't have any flower stamps that were big enough so I decided to go with die cut flowers using my Cricut but after 3 attempts I was so frustrated. It just wasn't looking right. I finally figured it out. I needed the flower a little bigger and more than just 3. I will have to get my camera going in the next day or so and show you all my flower pot card creations. I am very happy with the last one and now know I can create more! yeah.

Experimenting can be so much fun!

I have really enjoyed looking at the Savvy Projects Blog for TAC each day to see what the designer of the day has done. Lots of fun ideas. I also got some inspiration this week from the new Cardmaker magazine that I just started subscribing to. It was so awesome to see some familiar stamps and names from TAC in the magazine. The diagonal accordian card was interesting to make. Not always easy to make something without any dimensions to go by but just a photo but I like what I came up with. I think the middle part would be a great spot for a photo of maybe me and a friend together. I made up a couple for the Project Playground in April so some of my friends can try out this kind of card. I totally forgot about the downloadable from TAC so was very happy for the remind of those and created what I call the fold back card. Simple but elegant! This card will be wonderful for a birthday or wedding. My last recent experiment was inspired from the magazine. I really liked the idea of the kite. I am not happy with how the sky and clouds turned out but I have another idea or two that I will try out. Creating the kite was a challenge in itself. I had nothing on the Cricut nor in all my punches or die cuts to help me but finally found my large clear ruler with all kinds of diagonal lines on it and right smack in the middle was the kite shape I was looking for. Felt weird using a ruler and pencil to get the shape cut out that I wanted and then getting the patterned paper kite for the inside a little smaller. Wow that was challenging too but I somehow managed it. Going to work on that some more and see if there's an easier way? It's been fun experimenting this last week.

April Project Playground will be here before I know it!

I have been following the designer for a day on the Savvy Projects blog for TAC and got inspired this last weekend to try the retriform techniuqe from the recent blog hop. It's a fun technique. A little more labor intensive but with very nice results so it will be worth it to give it a try for a project for Project Playground. I made the thank you cards I just sent to those who came to the first PP in January with this technique. The other card I made was inspired by one of Michelle's designs ont he Savvy Projects blog. I just happend to have the tools to try this out. I was not really happy with it at first. I tried a fish stamp but that didn't pop enough so I went with a die cut of a sea horse from the Cricut and was very happy with that. You will get to make one of these in April if you wish. Here's to more creating!