Vintage Suitcase Card

I love vintage suitcases - the travel stickers that tell stories of someone else's adventures, the cracked leather, and the beauty of scuff marks and tears hard earned in who knows how many countries. This shaped card features both heat and dry embossing to get that faux crocodile finish. The "travel stickers" were hand cut from Creative Imaginations paper and then coated with a bit of Mod Podge to give them a slightly lacquered look. The suitcase itself is from the "A Child's Year" cartridge. It was intended to be a tag, but I cut it out at 9 3/4" to turn it into a card. The cluster with the hat pin, Eiffel Tower and button is a compilation of fun vintage stuff from my stash.

I am entering this card in two challenges. The Fantabulous Cricut is featuring a challenge for shaped cards this week and the Cuttlebug Spot is hosting a challenge for projects using a hat pin.

Recipe:

Cricut Cartridge: A Child's Year
Cuttlebug Embossing Folder: Animal Prints
Patterned Paper: Creative Imaginations
Embossing Powder: Stampin' UP!
Ink: VersaMark
Halfback Pearls: Reminisce
Hatpin: Jenni Bowlin
Sealing Medium: ModPodge

Thanks for stopping by,

CarrieAnne

Inked up Fingers ...

Though I spent three years as a Medical Officer in the US Army, I am not a huge fan of dirty hands.

Most of my artwork has clean simple lines and you would be hard pressed to find gobs of paint on a layout, and I may not even currently own a bottle of gesso. So for me using watermarking on this card was a step outside my comfort zone. I first stamped the background image (from Stampin' UP!) in Versamark's Clear ink and then I went back over the stamped images with red ink and a sponge. I cut a similarly stamped and inked butterfly out a few times and layered them for dimension. I then distressed the edges of the white cardstock. I used my paper piercer on the green cardstock mat and one of my favorite punches for the flourish. The patterned paper is Jenni Bowlin and the buttons are from my stash.

I plan on sending the card to my brother (hopefully he doesn't read my blog). He is going through a bit of a rough patch and I thought a little love note in the good ole snail mail might cheer him up.

I am off to wash the red ink of off my hands!

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne

Box inside of box, inside of box.

When I was a little girl my dad brought me back a set of stacking dolls from one of his many trips. I still have them to this day, and now my own girls marvel at how fun it is to open the ever tinier little dolls in the set.

Stacking dolls or matryoshkas as I learned they are called in Russian (the things Google can teach you) are also becoming quite the hit in the paper crafting world. Hero Arts, Stampin' UP!, Buzz and Bloom, and Cricut have all come out with nesting doll themed products in the past year or so.

I made this set of cards from a coloring page in one of my girl's craft stash. I simply traced the outline, and then increased or decreased the size to get the three I needed. I then used circle, heart and flower punches to add details or just sketched pieces and cut them out. Cuttlebug folders were used to add depth and interest as was Jenni Bowlin paper, pinking shears, and a paper piercer, which was used to pierce the outline around each doll.

Thanks for looking,

CarrieAnne