PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Purses and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I saw a wonderful purse tutorial on Pinterst using the Envelope Punch Board and knew I had to make one for my dear sister in her favorite color: Any shade of blue!

Original Pin HERE

My purse turned out like this:

...and I made a matching card

to go with it:

I finished everything and realize that the purse really needed the bow that was shown in the original pin and video tutorial. Those finishing touches can made a BIG difference!

It helped me quite a bit to mark all areas ahead of time for the sticky tape placement using a pencil and to fold the velcro flaps before the purse was assembled. For my own future reference, here are the areas with adhesive tape:

I also increased the handles length to 10 1/2".

This purse started with a 12" x 12" piece of DSP and resulted in a final purse size of 4 1/2" wide x 6 1/2" high without the handles. With the handles, it was 8 1/4" high. That resulted in a large purse for any gift-giving occasion!

Next, I made a small version from a 9" square of DSP punched at 1 7/8" to hold a candy treat:

Here are a few more purse pins that caught my eye:

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

Original Pin HERE

...and finally...some handcrafted Thanksgiving cards

from friends who made me do a

happy dance:

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Fall is Here and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

Creative juices are flowing and I've received a number of cards this month from my card making buddies. I usually don't post the cards I receive, but from now on, I want to share the multi talents of these terrific friends with the readers of this little 'ole blog! It's a wonderful thing to be on the receiving end of so much sunshine and happiness that these lovely cards bring into my life, and I only hope that the cards I send out elicit a similar feeling  ^_^  Here are the most recent cards received:

Rina used the embossing folder set by Anna Griffin seen HERE on Amazon and shown below: 

Then she gifted me the entire set! Oh! happy day! I found this card on Pinterest and CASED it for a thank you card for Rina:

Original Pin HERE

My CASED version:

I've stayed up until 2 AM playing with all of the sayings and embossing folders that comes in this set - Time truly flies when you're having creative fun! (More posts using these folders to follow for sure!)

Then, I received the loveliest of cards from a thoughtful and creative friend:

I love the effect of this multi-layered card! I also loved the label that Juliette places on the back of her cards:

Next, my awesome pen pal and paper crafter extraordinaire in British Columbia, Canada made this card for me:

I LOVE butterfly cards and I love how she used vellum for the layer under the butterfly's wings. Check out my butterfly card board on Pinterest HERE.

Lastly, another oh! so beautiful card from my multi-talented friend, Alice, that made me smile from ear-to-ear:

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Pixie Paintsand the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

I received a bottle of Pixie Paint recently from a Paper Source store and decided to bust it out and give it a try to make some background papers! Here are the creations that resulted:

I did a search on Pinterest for some pins based on a "Pixie Paint Cards" search and here's what loveliness came up:

Click HERE for Original Pin

Click HERE for Original Pin

Click HERE for Original Pin

For tutorials, freebies and more info. on these Pixie Paints, check out the blog for the creative designer whose name is on the Pixie Paint bottle! Her name is Julie Comstock and you can find her site HERE. Below is a lovely card sample on her site:

Click HERE for Original Pin

What I love about these shimmery powder paints is that you don't need to be a watercolor artist to create some really cool backgrounds. Thank you, Mel, for introducing me to this awesome way to paint!

Finally...check out this watercolor video tutorial on YouTube that will definitely make you want to pick up a paintbrush and try these techniques out with a cheap watercolor set and some watercolor paper from Michael's:

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Cards from My Pen Pal and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

My pen pal, Leslie-Ann, in BC, Canada has been the source of multiple happy dances lately thanks to the lovely cards she creates and sends my way! Here are some of her most recent pieces of art:

Leslie-Ann sent me these pics of products used:

She put this die on the inside of the card.

This is the purrrrfect card for my cat-loving friends!

Here are some more cat cards on Pinterest:

Pinterest Pin HERE

Pinterest Pin HERE

Pinterest Pin HERE

Pinterest Pin HERE

Pinterest Pin HERE

PIN IT FRIDAY FAVS: Father's Day Cards and the Very Best of Pinterest Pins

Father's Day will soon be here and I found the perfect card to make for the dads in our family:

Original Pin HERE

My Version:

To make the shirt collar with the gray pattern on it, I cut down 1 1/2" in the center and the white shirt collar was made by cutting down 1" in the center. I wish I had attached the white shirt paper to the printed paper first before adhering to the black layer so the edges would have aligned a bit better.

This WOW! card has a moving

camera shutter effect inside:

Original Pin HERE

Sandi includes a terrific video tutorial that is a must watch and she even included all of the measurements below the video on her blog post HERE. The inside shutter effect will surely cause the recipients to say WOW! 

My Version:

...and here's a little video I made to quickly

show how this card works...click HERE then click

on the little play icon in the upper right corner.

It did take me a time or two to perfect a template for the inside moving parts as shown below. It also helps to lay the inside parts in the card before attaching to see if adjustments are needed. Placing the 1/4" sticky tape close to - but not on - the fold/score line is also helpful.

My sister's 60th birthday is in June. She loves blue and this is the card I made her:

I got the idea from my walk down
Memory Lane HERE:

Original Pin HERE


to one terrific sister!