Welcome back everyone! Whether you're a longtime reader or coming here for the first time from the magnificent Marie, I'm excited to see you!
It's time once again for my favorite challenge: The Squirrelz Stash Bash! As a reminder, this is our hop where we make a project using a theme and technique or supply that we've randomly chosen. The challenge is fun, but the best part is getting to use some of those supplies we've had squirreled away for who knows how long!
When we picked the theme, I almost couldn't get to my craft table fast enough! I knew just the retro reboot I wanted to create! What I was slightly less prepared for was the sheer amount of inspiration that would overcome me! I went in planning on one card and walked away from the whole project with four!
I assure you: I did not set out to make a card set. While this is something I've often thought about, particularly when I strike upon a design set-up that I quite like, I honestly seem to lack the follow through. Inspiration (and time) were on my side, though! My inspiration was this great Cricut cartridge called Suburbia. Every die cut is 1950s themed, a decade I was obsessed with for a while when I was a kid.
The very first card was the bowling shirt, the one I'd always intended to make. I have a robust button collection, so I delved in to make sure I could find the right number of matching buttons that would be small enough for the front of the card. After that, the most complicated part of the process was adjusting the shirt to just the right size so the buttons would look appropriate on it. The shirt ended up being a bit bigger than I pictured in my head, so I moved away from one mental image of a background and decided I wanted to blend out some ink on the front. I grabbed my blending brush and some Stampin' Up Wild Wasabi and blended smoothly out to the edges. This is when everything changed for me. I'd never really tried tone on tone before with ink and I'd just happened to treat myself to a new stamp/stencil combo for my birthday. This one is a Tim Holtz bundle available at JoAnn called Halloween Doodles Stamp and Harlequin and Sparkle Stencils. I knew the sparkle stencil was the perfect retro vibe addition to the background so I taped it down and proceeded to blend more of the Wild Wasabi right over the top. The ink layers did all the work of giving me a dynamic background (and helping me use a new supply in a timely manner)! I glued that onto a black mat then onto a white card base. After that, I just had to glue the shirt down, attach the buttons with glue dots, stamp a sentiment onto a matching ink blend piece of paper, and I was all set!
I thought I was done, but the next day I kept thinking about a different die cut I saw on the same cartridge. The silhouette of the woman drinking a martini just wouldn't leave my mind, so that night I went home, cut her out, and used some inexpensive adhesive pearls I'd picked up on clearance several years before to bedeck her in some evening finery. I know adhesive pearls are a pretty traditional embellishment, but I like to think I used them in an atypical way! The background was created the same way as for the bowling shirt (except with Distress Oxide Vintage Velvet this time). I also stamped directly onto the background this time with a sentiment from the Happy Hour set from CZ Design and Simon Says Stamp. Matted in the same way, these cards are definitely a pair. And I was positive I was done.
Fate laughed at me, though, and made me think of this adorable apron. Wouldn't it look so cute with just a bit of lace along the bottom edge? Wouldn't that just be the best embellishment? Spoiler alert: I decided it would be. And this, perhaps, might be the biggest stash flex I have worked here yet! In case I never mentioned it, my grandmother was quite the crafter as well and also had a stash of "had to have" items that maybe didn't all get used. Honestly, that's where quite a few of my buttons came from, but also an assortment of ribbons and laces. I started digging through the collection and found this spool of lace from the '70s ($1.17!) and knew a little snip of it along the hem was the perfect touch! With some hot glue along the edge, this lace isn't going anywhere! Once the apron was assembled, I handled the background the same way as the two previous cards, this time with Hero Arts Deep Ocean. And with that, I accidentally created a card set! Whoops and yay!
After that, I knew I was done! So done! Couldn't be "doner". I was positive for like two weeks! But then I just kept thinking about another design on the cartridge: a poodle in full poodle cut. It kept reminding me of the poodle skirt that I wore for several Halloweens (and at one of my theatres when we debuted Happy Days: The Musical; a story for another time). I decided if I found a piece of chain, that would be the perfect final atypical embellishment. But when I perused my stash, it turns out I didn't have any chain. I figured I would let this idea steep and maybe down the road I'd pick up a small segment somewhere and make this card, but not for this hop. Cut to me sorting through some odds and sods from my childhood and coming across a length of plastic beige chain. Well, who am I to argue with fate? Once more I sat down and created the same background (now with Hero Arts Soft Purple), matted everything up, stuck on the chain with micro glue dots (leaving a little slack for wiggle), and calling it AGAIN! Really! I don't think I'm going back to this well!
I was very excited to be so inspired by this theme and to get to use so many random embellishments! So what's more exciting? Seeing how the Squirrel Squad interpreted this theme! You're going to love it too, so be sure to keep hopping! The Squirrel Squad is a small group so the hop won't take you long, but will leave you feeling totally inspired! Next up: the Maven of Mojo Karen!! If you love what we're doing, please leave a comment! We love it even more when you subscribe!