Quilt Much?

My grandmother made us quilts when we were little.  I still have mine.  I enjoy quilting and have seen several quilted top note cards on different blogs and wanted to try my hand at quilting a card. 

I used DSP Patterns Stack Regals Collection and the 1 1/4" square punch to make my squares.  I adhered my squares to a piece of cardstock and then ran it through the Big Shot with the Top Note die.   I used my paper-piercing tool and mat pack to create the pattern for my stiches.  Luckily, I had some gold embroidery floss that matched the More Mustard ribbon.  I used a cross stich to add stability to the paper pieces (some of them ended up quite small) and to add more texture to the quilted layer.  The card base is Night of Navy card stock layered with More Mustard DSP Patterns Stack Regals Collection and Very Vanilla.  The senitment is from Inspired by Nature and stamped in Night of Navy Ink.  I used the cutter kit distressing tool to distress the edges of the Very Vanilla and Night of Navy layers of the sentiment.  I loved making this card.  I hope you will try this technique too!

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Happy Labor Day!

Our Fall 2010 Special $199 per person is good through October 31, 2010.  We have a few spots left for the weekend of October 22-24th!  Reservations via e-mail, info@crafthavenretreats, or telephone, Nanci 708-259-7482 or Melannie 708-441-9531.  Happy Crafting!

Original Content Removed at the Request of Stampin' Up! Compliance

By the way,  my Squash Book was featured on Young and Crafty's blog for Scraptastic Saturday.  On Saturdays you can link up a project to the site.  It's a fun way to see what other people are creating!  Thanks again Hannah for featuring my project!  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting!

Versamark and Chalk?

Yes, you read correctly.  During my YouTube video tutorial marathon session, earlier this week, I saw not one but two videos talking about using chalk with Versamark.  I decided to try it for myself because I couldn't tell what the end product looked like from either video.  I have owned a box of chalks for about 5 years and I can count on one hand the number of times I have opened that box.  Most of the chalks have never been used, but I will be using them now!

I started the project with some Very Vanilla, left overs from when I made my Squash Book.  The stamp set is  Merci by Stampin' Up--I love everything French!  I inked my stamps with Versamark and applied chalk to the stamped images with a q-tip. It was as simple as that!

I love the soft fuzziness of the image.  When you are satisfied with your image you simple tap the paper and blow away any excess.  I was concerned that the image might smear because you do not emboss it with a heat tool, but it sets without heat.  I had a couple of my initial attempts in an envelope in my purse for a couple of days. They looked the same each time I took them out of the envelope.

I also used the Versamark to stamp the More Mustard card stock with stamps from the Merci set to give it a tone-on-tone look.  I did set the Versamark on the card stock with clear embossing powder and a heat tool.

I mounted both panels on DSP Patterns Stack Regals Collection. The polka dot is Bravo Burgandy and the stripe paper is Not Quite Navy.  I love the Regals Collection!  The colors are so warm and vibrant.  The gem stickers are from the Martha Stewart birthstone  package--I love these embellishments also!  I hope you will give this technique a try!  Happy Crafting!