Sunday, July 28, 2013

Inspired by my Mother-in-Law

Many thanks to Carol Cel who pointed me in the right direction to work around the problem of uploading photos and allowing me to finish this post! Thanks so much, Carol!

When we met my husband's family in Minnesota last week, my mother-in-law gave me this make-up bag she made:




Isn't it too pretty to use?!?! I just love the colors and blend of prints and the color blocking and really everything about it. Quilting is an art form I simply have no ability or desire to do (sewing machines make me break out in hives), but I just love the results of other people's work!

And yes, I did use it but kept it nice and safe.

Anyway, when I got home, I decided to try to make a card inspired by my MIL's beautiful work.

These are the supplies I gathered:



And here's the final card:




You'll note that in the finished card, some of the items gathered for the project don't show up, such as the salmon card and the musical background. I added PTI's Harvest Berries, too. It's hard to see the tone-on-tone of the poppy-red block, but I used the small-scale branch from Harvest Berries on it.

The Process: Basically, I played around stamping strips of various backgrounds on various card stock, cut them out, and played with arranging them in a row. This involved lots of tweaking of size of the blocks to fit the scale of the card (standard 4.25"x5.5"). The card took a LOT longer to make than I usually take...about an hour and a half. But I was in the zone and barely noticed the passage of time.

Confession: After making this card, which is a clearly bit different from my usual style, I made about a dozen different cards that are all one layer, on white card, and just about as simple and quick as simple and quick can be. While it is fun and creatively invigorating to play around with other styles and techniques, it's also extremely comforting to return to being "youself." So expect a super-CAS series of post in the days to come!

Supplies
stamps: a lot of different ones!
ink: VersaColor, VersaMagic
paper: PTI various colors
accessories: glue, quilting ruler, craft knife

14 comments:

  1. both projects came out beautiful. i agree quilting is scary for me too. love your blog and read it daily, keep up the beautiful work.

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  2. What a pretty card based on the beautiful cosmetic bag your MIL made for you. Both have such pretty colors.

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  3. B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L!!
    perfection, indeed!
    thank you so much for sharing.
    wd love to know that pattern of that little bag,
    if mom would share.
    welcome home, and it is always great to see your special works.
    marty

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  4. The quilted bag is beautiful, and so is your card! It's fun to see your creative process in such a different style.

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  5. I love that card. I'd love to CASE it, with your permission and some help from the math gods in figuring out the sizes!

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  6. Your cosmetic bag is gorgeous and what a great inspiration for you (and us). I bought a sewing machine a year ago and it's still in the box. I'm hoping by the end of summer I will have attempted to use.

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  7. Susan, the rectangles are 3" x 1", I think, or maybe 3.25" x 1 1/8". I've already mailed the card, or I could measure exactly! Cut them larger and you can always trim down as needed.

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  8. Gingko leaves just make me happy.

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  9. The makeup bag is quite lovely, and so is your card. I really admire the way you find inspiration for your cards.

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  10. boy you clearly cased the makeup bag and what a lovely gift from your MIL..thanks for the measurements I can see using a lot of DP this week
    blessings
    patti moffett

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  11. Your makeup bag is lovely - gorgeous patterns. And how totally AWESOME you were able to create a card that so closely matched the design.

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  12. Beautiful card. I love looking at your work, and reading all your tips for creating cards. I try to keep your words in the back of my mind while creating ---
    Glad the HTML tip worked for you to upload photos -- I'd hate to see your blog out of commission!!

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  13. Your mother-in-law is not only very talented, but knows you well. What a nice balance that she sews things for you and you can make her cards in return. Those gingko leaves are a favorite nature image of mine. The colors and patterns are perfectly blended, coordinated and even comfy looking--like a nice quilt.

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!