Punchy Wreath

I really enjoy visiting the Flourishes blog, and since I have two practically un-inked sets of theirs I thought I'd try a hand at their Hearts challenge.

I wanted to try a little punch-craft, so I made this little wreath. I embossed the yellow cardstock with the Fiskars' Lace texture plate on my BigShot, then punched out the hearts. First, I framed the circle (cut with a Spellbinder's die) with flat hearts. Then I scored more hearts (using a hand embossing tool), folded them in half, and used Glossy Accents to make them 3D.

For further inspiration, I turned to the Photo Inspiration/Recipe Challenge at The Ribbon Reel (below right) and the simply lovely layout at Sketch Saturday (below left). I also included the elements Heart, Stamp, Love per the BINGO challenge at Addicted to Stamps.

The Ribbon Reel

Both the background & sentiment stamps are by Flourishes Boutique. I used the "step on it" technique for the background stamp; I was really pleased with how even it came out. The background is stamped in Memento Rose Bud ink, and the sentiment is stamped in SU! Wild Wasabi.

The ribbon & lace seam binding are from my stash, and I bought the tissue-paper rose at an artist's market in Mexico. 




Challenges/Inspiration:
Addicted to Stamps: BINGO (right vertical column: Heart, Stamp, Love)
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday: Put Your Heart On It
Sketch Saturday: Sketch
The Ribbon Reel: Photo Inspiration + Yellow & Pink + Ribbon, Flower, Lace/Twine

Thank you for visiting,

Pa' ella

My husband works in the Technology department of Johns Hopkins Medical Center's Radiology Lab at their East Baltimore campus, and every Thursday they have a small Farmer's Market at lunchtime. He takes the opportunity to enjoy Max's Empanadas, but often brings me home this awesome Paella from another booth:

As you may know, I grew up (and met my husband) in Andalucia, Spain, as part of the large American presence there, and for me nothing says "Home" like paella ... my mom never made Apple Pie, she made Paella in the pan regularly oiled by Dad! It's a tradition they adopted during their 17 years there, but it's definitely become our family tradition. My husband's family spent 3 years in Spain, but they definitely adopted some of the culture as well; my MIL has a modern Teflon paella pan that browns the rice beautifully in the oven, despite my original doubts about such a modern version! To be honest, I cook my Paella de Casa in a non-stick skillet, and if I'm feeling really fancy I finish it off in the oven in a pre-warmed, glass pie dish. Not proper at all, but it works well enough!

Alota Rubber Stamps

So when I saw this week's Inspiration photo (right) at Alota Rubber Stamps, you know I about flipped (sadly, I missed the deadline!) Maria chose the theme for her favorite dish, Paella Valencia ... Paella is a basic Spanish dish, and I guess what I remember best is Paella de Andaluz ... but it's all good!

I made this card for a childhood friend (so it's Pa' ella, get it‽ "For her"). She's like me with paella -- she visits Spain fairly often and makes sure to take photos of all the delicious food for us to drool over!

I always like an opportunity to use my Dilo en Español stamps, and my friend is bilingual so this sentiment from their Queremos Pastel set worked beautifully. I stamped it in a simple primary red, but I had to try a few inks to find the right saffron-ish color for the medallion stamp, before settling on TH's Mustard Seed distress ink. And if you're wondering what the white paper is ... yes, it is a paper towel! I couldn't find the right paper, and while walking through the kitchen it just came to me. Wow, what a nice material to stamp with!

I ran across the great tutorial for these Patchwork Chevrons by SEI Crafts for Creating Keepsakes over a month ago, but this is the first time I've had a chance to try it. I modified the size to 1.5 x .5 inches, which I don't think is quite right but it worked! This double-sided DP seemed just right for this project ... it's been long-hoarded!

Following my "ingredients" theme, I made some tiny pea-like embellishments. I used my hand-held hole punch to make some small circles from the green part of the paper I used for the chevrons, and coated them with Glossy Accents. They didn't come out perfectly, but I guess they're a little cooked!

I'm entering this card into the following challenges:

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #37: Recycle Something + use a stamp (I guess this is technically reverse-recycling ... Although the paper towel hadn't technically been used before I stamped on it, I did use the rest of the paper towel to clean up my crafting!)

Hooked on Crafts Challenge #23: Let's Celebrate

Many thanks to everyone for the inspiration!

Thank you for visiting,

Shakin' it up for Dia de los Muertos

I so fun much making a shaker card with these cute stamps, that I had to try it again with this lovely sketch from Addicted to Stamps.

I'm also entering this into the Halloween challenge at Drunken Stampers.

Inspiration:
Addicted to Stamps Challenge #14: Sketch

Drunken Stampers Challenge #76: Halloween

Stamps: Studio g, Queremos Pastel set from Dilo En Español

Paper: Recollections, Core'dinations

Tools: Fiskars papercutter & deckle scissors, stamp block, MS detailing scissors, Marvy heat tool, awl, Cricut, SCAL, Sizzix Texture Boutique & embossing plate

Other: ZipDry glue, Recollections adhesive rhinestones & micro beads, Versamark inks, Copics, Sakura & Elmer's gel pens, Studio g ribbon, Shake It set from Impression Obsession, Stampendous, Recollections & Speedy the Cat (from Mark's Finest Papers) embossing powders, flowers from Sandra