Under the Sea Octopus Card Set

Winner at Crafty Ribbons
Winner at The Male Room

Coffee of the Day - Coconut Macadamia

Today begins a new challenge over at the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog, with a theme of 'Masculine plus ribbon or trim.' the DT has created some gorgeous projects to inspire you, so stop by to see their pretties! :)

since our son, Mick, was heading off to Canada for a work/study program, I wanted to make some cards for him to take along from me - notes of encouragement and filled with love. :)  his course of study is Wildlife Resource Management, so nature themed cards are always a hit with him. for a while, he was fascinated with the octopus, so when I came across these vintage postcard digital downloads in the Cameo Shoppe, I snapped them right up. I paired them with the seashell domino prints from the same store.

I made the paper for each of the cards using gelatos, SU! ink refills, and glimmer mist on watercolor paper.  each card also uses the same 2 1/2" natural cotton ribbon, sometimes cut into smaller strips. this is one of my fave of all the ribbons in the RRR store! :)

a Martha Stewart fern punch works well to mimic coral or seaweed. cardboard that has been torn and inked creates the perfect texture and backdrop to the vintage postcards. miscellaneous octopus embellishments include charms that I distressed with various inks as well as wood veneer from Michael's. one of my big finds while out on an antique adventure with hubby was a jar of seashells. perfect to use on these cards!

other ribbons used include: natural burlap string, brown burlap string, moss mini ric rac, orange plaid ribbon, and brown wrinkled ribbon. this last card shown also has tiny beads and Prima micro beads added to it for even more fun. Tim Holtz clips were added to several of the cards. all of them have vintage buttons.

I hope you have enjoyed the cards I sent along with Mick. I sure will miss that guy, but I also know that he is going to have a once in a lifetime experience! :)

have a most amazing weekend, dearest friends! love ya & thanks so much for stopping by!
Jennifer

Challenges:
Crafts and Me - anything goes with optional shabby chic/vintage theme
Creative Craft Cottage - include an animal
Lunagirl Moonbeams - Fathers/Grandfather/Brothers or for a man (my son)
Our Creative Corner -  A Beautiful Mess (handmade watercolor paper)
Petal Lu - anything goes
Southern Ridge Trading - masculine
4 Crafty Chicks - masculine
Crafty Ribbons - masculine or transport with ribbons
DL Art - boys and/or men
Male Room - critters and/or bugs

Tips for Distressing Ribbon and Mother's Day Card

Coffee of the Day - Carrot Cake

Happy Monday, everyone!

With Mother's Day right around the corner, I knew I needed to get a card made for my Mother in Law so I could get it in the mail soon along with her gift. I turned to the RRR current monthly club kit for my inspiration.

The turquoise gingham in the kit is one of my very faves! I knew I needed to use it on my Mother's Day card, without a doubt!  I'm also addicted to every color of the seam binding, so I use it on almost every project I make it seems.

my card took on a shabby/vintage flair, so my ribbons needed to follow suit. one of the things I love about almost every ribbon at RRR is how easy it is to distress them.

the turquoise gingham was run through kraft ink to give it a county/shabby feel. you could also use a kraft marker to achieve the same effect.

the forsythia seam binding was slightly dampened. while wet, I added small amounts of 2 different shades of ink to my hands and crumpled it all up into a small ball. I kept rolling and rolling the seam binding into a ball, similar to what you would do with clay or play dough until I had achieved the desired effect - lots of wrinkles and different shades. unravel and it's ready to use! if the seam binding is still damp, just let it air dry or hit it very fast with a heat gun.

the mulberry flowers are just as easy to distress. the turquoise chrysanthemum was a bit bright, so I added a wash of kraft ink with a watercolor brush. used the same technique to change the color of the white one, too. easy peasy! pale yellow open roses and a mini sweetheart blossom were added to the floral bouquet.

natural burlap string is tied through the large vintage button. the digital papers are from the Prima Anna Lee collection, which matches the gift I made for her. digital library card printable is from Cameo Shoppe, and the Mom digi is by SheepSki Designs as part of the Outlawz progressive challenge. distress stickles was added to both the digi and the little tag.

be sure to play along in our current challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon, "Things with Wings and ribbon or trim!"

Challenges:
Eclectic Ellapu - spring flowers
Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends - anything goes
Allsorts - ribbons and roses (roses are tucked in with the chrysanthemums as well as on the papers)
Hiding in My Craft Room - lots of layers
Little Claire's - spring colors
Through the Purple Haze - layers
Creative Corner - spring flowers
Pattie's Creations - Easter or springtime
Polkadoodle - floral frenzy
A Beautiful Mess - anything goes

Gingham Cherry Card Set for the RRR Blog Hop

Top 3 at Quick Quotes

Coffee of the Day - Cinnamon Hazelnut

Welcome to my stop on the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog Hop! :) grab a cuppa and sit back for a moment while I share a little project made with our current lovely set of ribbons in the monthly kit!

You should have arrived here from Ginny's absolutely gorgeous blog. if at any time you ever get lost, head over to the RRR blog for the complete list. plus you'll want to be sure to stop there at the end for the magic question. one lucky person who comments will win the monthly ribbon kit! you know you want to be the winner! :)

I decided to make a set of cards to give as a gift later on. I've used several of the ribbons in the kit. as much as I simply ADORE the turquoise gingham plaid (because I've bought quite a bit of it!!!), I decided to go with the red houndstooth and sheer cherries.

I started with a base of kraft card stock, inked the edges, added red gingham paper by Die Cuts with a View and faux stitching (after distressing edges), some solid red cs, and a doily cut from a paper bag with a die by Prima. whew... that's a lot! ;)

the cherry tags are from the Cameo Shoppe and matted on brown cs. edges were again distressed. sentiment dies are by Tim Holtz. one tag is mounted on foam tape to give a bit of dimension. a little scrap of cardboard was adhered beneath the the tag on foam tape.  a Tim Holtz paper clip holds a tiny banner punched from kraft cs.

the red houndstooth ribbon is tied across the bottom of the card into a bow. red burlap string ties a little cherry charm to the bow. flowers include red trellis roses, red aster daisies, white sweetheart blossoms, pink cosmos, and lillies.

I recently saw a challenge calling for the whitewash technique, so even though these are too late to qualify, I thought it would be fun to give it a try. it was fun and fit perfectly with the country feel.

thanks so much for stopping by! now hop on along to Amber's fun blog to see what wonderful project she has made to inspire your creativity! :)

also there is a big sale going on over at the RRR store! check the blog for the appropriate codes.

Challenges:
Deep Ocean - Spring is in the Air (cherry blossoms turn into cherries, right?!)
Ribbon Girls - anything goes cards
Paper Minutes - ribbons
Craft-Dee Bow Z - anything goes with a handmade bow
Li'l Patch of Crafty Friends - anything goes
One Stitch at a Time - anything goes with distressing
Catch the Bug - recycle/upcycle a household item (paperbag made into doilies)
Brown Sugar - anything goes
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - Spring is in the Air
Quick Quotes - tag it
Simply Papercraft - anything goes

Happy Easter!

Top 3 at {Pin}spirational Challenges
Winner at Crafty Gals Corner
Top 3 at Double D Challenges

Coffee of the Day - Carrot Cake

A most blessed Easter morning to all of you! It is the hope of all of us at Really Reasonable Ribbon that you are surrounded by your family and friends as we celebrate this most special day! :)

The projects I am sharing with you today as similar to the ones I posted on my blog for the monthly ribbon club blog hop, is you stopped by for that. I had several requests for some of the wooden rabbits I had made, so I was busy these past few weeks getting them ready to hop to their destinations before Easter morning. ;)

The first pair were going to the same house, so ribbons and flowers are similar.

items used:  pearl pink roses with scalloped edge grosgrain, brown micro gingham, 5/8" robin's egg satin with stitched center, bay leaf seam binding, moss green gingham, ivory burlap string, parrot green netting, spring moss mini ric rac, Wild Orchid Crafts: magnolias, cosmos, lilies, rosebuds, hip rosebuds, daffodils, aster daisies, light turquoise open roses, and leaves.

The next bunny was going to a home that had a similar color pattern, but I tried to mix up the ribbon choices a bit. this wooden rabbit is larger than the other ones. it was already packed up and mailed when I realized I didn't get the measurements of it. to give you an idea, it's actually larger than the aqua rabbit above.

items used: pearl pink roses with scalloped edge grosgrain, brown micro gingham, aqua seam binding, aqua gingham plaid, celery gingham plaid, ivory burlap string, Wild Orchid Crafts: magnolias, cosmos, cottage roses, daffodils, rose buds, mini sweetheart blossoms, and leaves.

I used vintage buttons for the eyes and tails. the little cards are from Cameo Shoppe.

Don't forget to play along in our 'Welcome Spring with Ribbon or Trim' challenge! we'd love to see what you make! :)

Challenges:
Creative Craft Cottage - anything goes
Petal Lu - anything goes
Crafting with Friends - anything goes
Creative Corner - anything but a card
Fussy and Fancy - pastel colors
Crafty Girls - anything goes
If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - photo inspiration
Crafty Gals Corner - Easter or Spring
Li'l Red Wagon - Easter/Spring
{Pin}spirational - photo inspiration
Decorate to Celebrate - anything goes
Double D - Easter
Our Crafty Corner - anything goes
Where the HeART is - anything goes/Easter
Choux Choux Paper Art - Easter/Spring linky party

An Altered Wooden Easter Bunny for the RRR Blog Hop

Top 3 Pick at Crafting Musketeers

Coffee of the Day - Carrot Cake (just seemed appropriate!)

Welcome to my stop on the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog hop! as we do every month for the hop, the DT shows projects made with the fun ribbon club kit. if at any time you ever get lost while hopping, just head back to the RRR blog for the complete list. plus you will want to stop there at the end for your chance to win your very own set of the monthly ribbons! :)

you should have landed here from GINNY's wonderful blog. she always has such neat projects, doesn't she?! :)

our oldest son, Tyler, is going to spend Easter with his girlfriend and her family. he is even going to meet the 'grands' so this is BIG! I made a little something for him to take to her grandparents.

I found this little wooden bunny on the JoAnn's website. actually I first saw it in their sale flyer, but couldn't find it the one time I was able to get to a store. so I ordered it online. I knew it would be fun to fix up!

you can see the various ribbons from the monthly club kit that I used. I also added my fave Wild Orchid Crafts magnolia (I added a bit of watercoloring to make the color match), aster daisies, cosmos, tiny rosebuds, and a sweetheart blossom. I also used a bit of  the iridescent string to tie on the little tag, but it is currently out of stock in the store. you could easily use any of the wonderful burlap or jute strings that Bonnie currently has.  or even some of the thicker baker's twine. :) you could really go for fun with the metallic gold or silver!

the pretty floral tag is from a great new vintage digital company I have found on Etsy called Cameo Shoppe. I promise you will be seeing much more from them on upcoming posts! their sheets print out so crisp and clean! bark heart is from Live and Love Crafts and the safety pin is a found treasure from Tyler's girlfriend. I thought she would appreciate seeing it on here! ;) she is always picking up little goodies for me to use on my projects. what a sweetie!

----> I'm adding another bunny project at the last minute because my youngest son, who has been home this past week for Spring Break, asked me to make one for his girlfriend after seeing this one.

I used this larger aqua wooden bunny from JoAnn's and another tag from the same digital sheet by Cameo Shoppe. here I used the yellow gingham plaid ribbon from the monthly club kit, the aqua version of the pink scalloped edge roses grosgrain found in the ribbon kit, iridescent string, 1/8" pink diagonal stripe ribbon, and light pink mini ric rac for the bow.

parrot green netting is the base for the floral arrangement made of WOC chrysanthemums, lilies, hip rosebuds, and daffodils, a 30mm leaf was added to the daffodil at the bunny's ears.

your next stop on this fun hop is at the most amazing blog of AMBER. you know she is going to have something fabulous to knock your socks off! :)

thanks so much for stopping by!
Jennifer

Challenges:
Allsorts - Spring is in the Air
CRAFT - Easter/Spring
DL Art Thankful Thurs - Easter
Crafting Musketeers - use 3 ribbons (I actually used a lot more than 3 on each!)
Crafty Enjoyments - Spring or Easter
WAW - anything goes
Champion of Champions - anything goes if previous winner