Design Inspiration

Lately, I've been considering updating the painting in my house. I've lived here for over 11 years now, so it's just time for some changes, and paint is definitely going to be cheaper than finishing the basement (though that's on the "To Do" list for sure).

Jess had mentioned once that she looked for colour palettes on Pinterest for card making, so I had a look. Some had links to looking for inspiration from other fabrics or things you have, so I'll probably head in that direction. I already used my kitchen chairs (some of the seat pictured above) as inspiration for some accent paint around my pantry door, so I'll now probably use some of the neutrals in it to have some continuity throughout the house.
*Note: The two paint sample strips on the chair were to figure out the best colour to use and my design friends said I could actually use any of those colours. I went with the top left for the wall as I thought it was a little more vibrant than the bottom row.

Aaaanywho, I ended up pinning quite a few colour palettes as I figured I'd need them at some point anyway in my crafting. And I discovered that I had quite a few from Design Seeds (http://design-seeds.com/), so I explored that site more and thought I'd share.

http://design-seeds.com/home/entry/petaled-hues5

What I liked about that site is that it gives you an image and pulls colours from it. Then if you like a particular one, you can click on it on the right side under "see similar colours" and it will take you to other colour palettes that use similar colours. For example, I clicked on the top-right greenish colour and got to eight different palettes that might work, depending on what overall feeling your going for. http://design-seeds.com/search?hex=cfccb0

So this is all well and good, great for card making, maybe some clothing design, inspiration for choosing colour options, but this doesn't really help you buy the paint for the walls.

But wait! I found another website that will help with that. EasyRBG http://www.easyrgb.com/?X=SEEK

This will take computer colours and turn them into the paint colour names from different companies. You'll need either the RGB values or the hex code of the colour. The beauty of the Design Seeds site is that if you hover your mouse over the colour, the hex code will pop up. It's also the end code of the webpage you follow if you click to see the similar colours. So for the greenish colour noted above you can see the end string is "cfccb0".

I know my local paint store sells Benjamin Moore paint, so I entered "cfccb0" in the colour code, chose the "Benjamin Moore Color Preview" as my color collection, and voilà! It gives me the names of four optional matches that Benjamin Moore produces. The centre block is the colour I entered and the four smaller ones around it are the options. In this case, it came up with Guillford Green, Soft Fern, Abingdon Putty, and Carrington Beige.

So now just head to the store, grab those colour samples and decide where your project is headed.

Translating computer screen colour to real life may take a little trial and error, but here's some help to getting the ideas from your head onto the walls!

~Lisa

60 Years Young!

My Dad is 60! 60 years young!

We had a party this weekend, complete with hats and candles and a coffee chocolate cake. 

I made this card for him. I like the mix of olive green, brown, and beige.

I think it is a nice masculine combination. 

I added some dimension with pop-up dots on the "60" and also on the end of the "happy birthday" banner, it makes it look like it's kind of waving in the wind. 

Happy 60th to our wonderful Dad!

The best thing about having him for my dad is that he also gets to be my daughters' Grandpa!

~Jess

Baby Cards

I get to welcome a lot of new babies in the next few months. And two very special new nephews will be arriving soon!

If you are keeping count (and I know you are!), I will soon be the lucky Auntie to 7 boys!

 Believe it....7!

So I got working on a few baby cards.

This cute sail boat seems suited to a little boy. Super easy to change the colours to suit a girl or make it in yellow or green for the baby who's gender is yet to be revealed.  

I saw this little man card somewhere on Pinterest and thought it was just adorable! I have also seen something similar with a pink tutu skirt and necklace instead of a vest and tie. I love this one!

This one with the clothes on the line was meant to be. I have had the cloud paper tucked away for ages and the mini clothes pins were leftover from another project. Cute cute cute!

These baby cards took me a few hours to create, spread over a couple of evenings. 

What a nice way to welcome a new baby!

~Jessica

Christmas cards

Back in October I started planning a Christmas Card making party. I wanted to get a bunch of ladies together and get a jump on Christmas projects. The plan was made for late November and RSVPs were in. But, unfortunately that weekend the snow came....lots and lots and lots of snow! And along with it the very cold weather. It turns out that at the last minute everything I had planned was off. Well, being the Crafty Girls that we are, we just improvised!

A few brave friends made it through the weather and we ended up creating cards here at my house!

This beautiful bird card was made with a grey base and a silver metallic poinsettia stamp on the background. The white was punched with the scallop edged and then stamped and embossed with silver sparkling powder. The little bows proved difficult for most of us, but they added the perfect final touch!

My favorite card! We created this one on a beige background layered with red. Using the wood grain background stamp in brown, then adding in foliage in green and brown. The sentiment is stamped in bright red to make it pop. I love the vintage look so I distressed the edges of this one, too. The addition of the green twine and the button make the rustic look come together.

A nice change to the traditional red and green, this blue card is a stunner! Using white as our base we stamped the trees and sentiment in blue and used pastel chalks to create the night sky. Some silver metallic snowflakes were added to the sky and a sprinkling of glitter on the trees and the ground. This is a classic clean and simple Christmas card.

We made this Santa postcard one using a variety of stamps. First we stamped the background script in a light brown, then added the 'stamp' and the 'Post Card' in dark brown. Using red ink, we stamped the Santa and then used the tag punch to create the shape. After mounting it to the red and punching a hole at the top, the little string tie creates a simple tag! The same red ink was used for the sentiment, and again mounted on red. With a bit of distressing of the edges using the dark and light browns, we easily pulled this vintage look together.

This green card was a lot of fun to make. We used a white base for our word and embossed it in black. This created the border lines for our own colour and designs with fine tip markers. Using a variety of strips and textures we created a few banners to add to the card. People really used their creative minds for this one!

It turned out to be a great afternoon crafting cards with friends and a wonderful way to spread some holiday cheer!

Did you receive a special handmade card for Christmas?

Lucky you if you did! That means a Crafty Girl loves you!

~Jessica

Red Stamp

Crafting handmade cards is one of my favourite hobbies. But there are times when a digital card is easier to send, and makes more sense. I have been using the Red Stamp app for a while now. It is super easy to use, it has a vast collection, and it will even help you with writing the message! Try it out. Send me a Red Stamp card!

The other day was my friends' birthday, I wouldn't be able to see her on her special day but I wanted her to know I was thinking of her. Perfect time to use Red Stamp.

I texted her a beautiful card so she would know that Miss R and I send her love and good wishes for her birthday.

In looking for the perfect card for her I browsed through many of the collections. I found some very nice background images that the 'crafty girl' in me knew I could use in other ways.  I saved the images to the camera roll on my phone to use at a later date.

When the update came for iOS7 I installed it. And then regretted doing it! I know I just have to get used to it. Everything is so different and my old wallpaper didn't look as good with the new colours. Thankfully I had some saved Red Stamp images to choose from. I used one as my home screen and rotated another one 180 degrees and then set it for my lock screen. Beautiful and so easy!

~Jess

Cards Galore!

I really enjoy making cards. I used to go to card making parties that my friends were hosting and pay a few dollars for the joy of it. I would always say that I like crafting handmade cards but I don't want to have to store all the stuff - boxes of paper and stamps and ribbons. No thanks! I am a bit of a minimalist and seem to get anxiety when I see messes, and piles of things. I know I'm crazy. My sister will definitely say that her kitchen island is a source of anxiety for me. Thankfully my husband is a neat freak as well!

Anyway, it seems that more I resisted owning anything stampin' related, the more it came into my life. I hosted a party a while back and based on the sales I ended up with some hostess gift stamp sets. Then I saw on my Mommy Buy and Sell Facebook group that a lady was selling most of her vast collection of stampin stuff. I went to meet her and she was just so lovely that hearing about her cancer diagnosis and her inability to scrapbook anymore made me tear up! She said that she wanted her stuff to go to someone who crafty and kind and could make good use of it. I felt kinda honoured. Seriously, I did. She sold me a ton of stuff for a great price. So out of respect for my new friend Lori, I got into card making.

I invited some ladies over for a "Creating Cards Party", have a coffee and a visit and make some beautiful cards.

We used chalks on this one to create that soft effect. So pretty!

Lately I have been into this 'quilted' look. Just made the zig-zag seam with a marker!

A bit out of my comfort zone, this bright one. I usually make cards with a more rustic or vintage feel but I like how cheerful this one is!

This one is my favorite. I love leaves and I think it was perfect for the season.

Looking forward to a Creating Christmas Cards Party!
~Jess

P.S. I clearly need to think about the photos a little more. Spread out the raffia on the counter to decorate the fall card, but didn't consider the dishes in the sink behind it. :-(
The dishes were from the scones Jess made, which were delicious, and they would have been better with the apple butter we made except Jess forgot to take some home with her!
~Lisa

Competition for Hallmark

These cards were made by Jess. I just had to share the picture because I thought they were so pretty!

We'll be having a card-making gathering at the end of September, but Jess made me some in the meantime because I was getting low on my stash. (I say "we" like I'm part of the planning for that event. I'm totally not, though I'll probably help with the very important aspect of choosing the snacks.)

I never got into the scrapbooking movement, but card making I enjoy. I particularly like to go to an event, enjoy some snacks and some good laughs, and then walk away with a stack of beautiful cards that I can give out. The cost works out to slightly more than the dollar store, but not as expensive as Hallmark, and you have one-of-a-kind cards to give. And thanks to Google for helping with the sentiments to write inside as I think that's the hardest part!

Lisa