Gingersnap Creations Random Redhead Challenge - Stitching

Real stitching, faux stitching, embroidery stitches - any kind of stitching you like is the theme for this month's Random Redhead challenge at Gingersnap Creations.  Use your machine, a needle and thread, a stamp, or a pen.  For my stitching example, I kept with the Haute Couture theme of the month and created a little French fashion-inspired pocket stitched from vellum and adhered to the front of my card.  The pocket holds a tag for a little additional message, stamped and colored with a fashionista from The Artistic Stamper's Twenties No. 1 plate.  Here's a better look at the little diva:

In addition to the stitching around the pocket, I also stitched the main patterned paper panel, alternating zig-zag and straight stitching for a little more interest:

The tag base is from 7Gypsies, and the words and Eiffel tower are from Cornish Heritage Farms.

I hope you'll have time to play along.  After you post your project, link up over at Gingersnap Creations so that we can all see what you've created.  Have fun!

Birthday Time at Gingersnap Creations

 

Gingersnap Creations is almost 1 year old!  And to celebrate, the Random Redhead Challenge posted today is to make a "Birthday Greeting."  My glamorous lady baker is an image from The Artistic Stamper's 20s Ladies Plate 4.  The original image actually shows her holding a statue, but I substituted a cake cut from a patterned paper that just might be older than you are, LOL!!  The swirly background is from Stampington, and the sentiment is computer-generated.  I embellished with a couple colors of Stickles, some wide satin ribbon, and a vintage rhinestone button. 

I'm sure we could all use more birthday cards in our stash, and you've got until March 21 to get in on the fun. Jennie has donated a beautiful Flower Lace Border stamp to one randomly selected participant.  You can take a peek at all the inspirational greetings over at the GC Blog.  Have a great day!

Gingersnap Creations Valentine Blog Hop!!!

 

Welcome to the Gingersnap Creations’ Valentine Blog Hop and Hop Stop #4!

If you’ve already been hopping then hopefully you have just come from Debby at Debby's Stuff. If you are starting here, welcome! It's a loop so you can start anywhere along the way!

At each stop, you will need to collect a word. There are 9 stops in all starting and ending with the Gingersnap Creations blog where you can get all the specific information and get a peak at the the goodies in the Valentine Giveaway, including some treats from The Artistic Stamper.

So, if you visit all the stops, you should end up right back at Gingersnap Creations with 9 words. When you get all your words, unscramble them to form a quotation about love. Once you have your guess at the quote, email it and your name to gingersnapstamp@gmail.com by February 20, 2010. We will be picking one lucky winner at random from the correct entries to win the Valentine Giveaway package! That's all there is to it!

If you get lost along the way, you can see the entire route at Gingersnap Creations.

My word is "everyone".

Your next stop on the hop is Joanne at Made by Joanne.

But before you go...... let me fill you in on my Valentine for today.  All of the stamps are from The Artistic Stamper.   The fabulous lady and the heart and sentiment sets can be found HERE.  I've also used some of their great small-scale Design Essentials background stamps (dots and houndstooth) to give some pattern to the hearts.  I colored my little lady with Copics, added a little glitter (which of course doesn't show up in the photo!) and cut her out.  I also cut out my stamped hearts.  Since one of the current challenges at Gingersnap Creations is to use lace and/or fibers, I tucked some blue lace trim in around the images and under the scalloped paper panel.  

For the background, I used a paper piercing template that I found online at Etsy's Every Thing Creative shop. 

I downloaded the file, then printed it out on heavy vellum cardstock (you can find some good quality vellum cardstock at Papertrey Ink and Stampin' Up).  I printed it on vellum so that I would be able to see exactly where I was placing the pattern on my paper.  

Once I aligned the pattern using the blue centering lines on the download, I stuck it to my paper with post-it notes so that it wouldn't shift while I was piercing.  I put the paper and template on top of a piece of plastic foam packaging (I got it out of one of my Close to My Heart stamp sets), and placed all of that on a self-healing mat.  Then I just pierced the part of the design that I wanted, to cover the upper portion of my background paper. 

Here's a picture of the final pierced background, before I added the images on top.

And that's it!  Easy peasy.  Don't forget to keep hopping and head on to Joanne's blog at Made by Joanne. AND, don't forget about the Gingersnap Creations Design Team Call.  Aaahh, so much crafting goodness happening!  Have fun and good luck! 

Lace and Fibers Challenge at Gingersnap

 

Hello everyone!  There is a new Spicy Supply Challenge up over at Gingersnap Creations - using lace and/or fibers in your creations.  Plus some blog candy from The Artistic Stamper for one lucky participant!  For my piece, I used some vintage lace trim and some Martha Stewart ribbon to accent this beautiful image of a Twenties Lady from The Artistic Stamper.  To me it looks like she is waiting and watching for her beloved to come back (must be the "Romance" theme at Gingersnap rolling around in my head, LOL!).  To make the scrunchy ribbon border up the side of the card, I first put down a line of adhesive (I use the Glue Glider Pro), then adhered the ribbon, scrunching it up and adhering small sections every inch or so.  Then I put it in my sewing machine and tried to scrunch it under the foot as I slowly ran a straight stitch line across the ribbon.  This is the first time I've done this, and it was easier than I thought it would be.  So go to Gingersnap Creations for some inspiration, get out those fibers, ribbons, and lace, and start experimenting and having fun!! :)