After a month-long closure, the stores in Quebec were finally able to reopen this week. My local scrapbook store had received a few items I had requested, so I stopped by to pick them up and did a little shopping while I was there as well. When I came home, I decided to pull out paper scraps and test out the new dies and stamps I had purchased, without the pressure of doing anything specific for a project. This has worked out well for me in the past when I wasn't sure what to create. I pulled out leftover patterned papers and the Spring Market collection from Carta Bella jumped out at me, as I thought it would work out great with the vintage style of the stamps I have purchased. This is one of the first "market" collections Carta Bella has come out with and I remember being hesitant about buying it because flowery stuff is not usually what I create with the most. I had selected a few individual sheets and it turns out I have absolutely loved using this collection!
When I sat down, I was planning to only die-cut a few items to see what they looked like (especially the script word dies, which are always incredibly hard to read as a mirror image) but within five minutes, I was totally in the zone and already stamping and assembling things away. I remained in the zone for four hours straight and did a double-take when I looked at the clock and saw that the whole evening had zipped by! It was totally worth it, though, as I LOVE everything I've created.
So to give a little more details about the dies, I mainly used the Sidekick Essentials 11 and the Sidekick Essentials 16 collection from Elizabeth Craft Designs. I do not own any Sidekick planner, I only have the regular-size one. That means that any piece with holes on the side will not fit in the albums I have, but there was a lot of dies in those two sets that can be used individually or modified to be used on different projects, so I should still use the content enough to warrant the purchase. For the stamps, I purchased the Sidekick Stamps 2 set so that I would have fun boxes to include short journaling on scrapbook pages or layering elements when creating embellishments. The Ticket Express stamp from 49 and Market was a happy find. I like that there's a mix of numbers and text in various fonts, with a few images, on it, which will make for great texture and backgrounds. The third one is Dates from the Past. My store owner does weekly Facebook Live streams to show the new arrivals and this stamp set had caught my eye. It includes a variety of dates in vintage prints and script fonts, which are great to add detaling to punched or die-cut elements. The company also offer rub-ons (which I am happy to see make a comeback), but the stamps will be great since they can be used as many times as I want.
The first item I made was the "This week" pocket. I was really curious to see how it looked in person. The die-cut piece has six holes on the left edge, but as I said, this won't fit in my planner, so I covered them with patterned paper and I will add this to a larger page (either in my planner or scrapbook album). Another item I purchased today is the Sticky Thumb cordless glue gun from American Crafts. The idea of not having a cord in the way was really appealing. I used it here to glue the twine in place on my project and the pink flower (which comes from pink flower trim Stampin' Up! was selling years ago, that I snipped apart to get only one flower). I'll let you know how I like the glue gun once I can test it out more thoroughly (how hot does the glue get, does it drip, do you have to change the four AA batteries often?), but so far, I wll say I love that it has a light in the front underneath the nozzle to light your project and that it actually stands up properly when you put it down on the table. (My other one was always tumbling over, which annoyed me and means that the side of the gun was often all gunky.) In that pocket, I slid two tags, created with dies from the same set. Some of the dates from the Dates from the Past stamp sets were added, and I stappled a piece of vanilla seam binding using my mini stapler. Isn't that big die adorable? You can use a second nesting die to cut out the center and add stitching, or leave it full if you prefer. This is one of the dies I know I will use a lot. The other one is the Viewmaster shape. I just find it fun, and I've noticed it's often included on 49 and Market's embellishments, so I'm happy to have it as a die. (As a side note, I thought it would be bigger, but it'll probably be easier to work into layered embellishments as a smaller piece (it's 2" wide).
Next embellishment was the Seed Pocket. This is another die I was excited about. I love the shape and size of it. The pocket already has the hole part in it (you don't have to add a second piece). The opening has stitching around it, or you can die-cut a second frame that you can layer over it if you want. It does hide the stitching, but it is a great way to add contrasting color. I added a piece of acetate inside my enveloppe before assembling it to be able to layer something over the window. I did mess up, though, as I played around with a few ways to embellish the envelope, and I had finally decided I would glue the word "Seeds" in the center of the window, but I forgot about it and glued it down on the envelope instead. I tried pulling it back up, but it left a nasty mark, so it went back down and stayed there. It still looks cute, but I just add to rearrange other pieces. For the flap, I decided to do a circle closure (would have done two had I not glued the word in the wrong spot). I used a copper eyelet and I added linen thread around the circle, leaving it loose as decoration. I alsp stamped a number from my date stamp set in Crumb Cake ink on the envelope.
The three rectangle embellishments are stamped tickets and die-cuts I layered. The rolled flower is something I picked up of my desk. I recently found a quilling tool in one of my drawers, which I had forgotten about (it was given to me in a kit, I believe). I tested it out on a paper scrap lying on my desk and left it there. It'll be nice to have that quilling tool when making rolled flowers with the die I have for this purpose, so I was happy to find the tool and know where it is. I love when I find unexpected elements on my desk and manage to embellish projects with them. It often takes me in different directions that what my mind would be thinking about at that particular time. Another good example of that is the little metal buckle on my ribbon by the boots. I had pulled out my eyelet container and in one of the dividers, I have a few random items, including this old ribbon buckle, which I decided to include on a whim. It looks great, but I never would have thought to add that element otherwise.
The last element is the Specimen piece. I wanted to test out the Ticket Express stamp, so I stamped it on one of the paper scraps in matching colours I had pulled out of my scrap drawers to have more to work with since the Spring Market collection was already low on paper left. I tore the top off and then I decided to layer all of the leftover elements I had on my desk. I added another pair of boots, fussy cut from the patterned paper. I absolutely love this new embellishment collection and I can't wait to work it into a project.
Supplies
Stamps: Ticket Express (49 and Market); Dates from the Past (Creative Expressions);
Sidekick Stamps 2 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Cardstock: Various
Patterned Papers: Spring Market (Carta Bella); Various
Ink: Blushing Bride, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede (Stampin' Up!)
Dies: Sidekick Essentials 16, Sidekick Essentials 11 (Elizabeth Craft Designs)
Accessories: Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Stapler, Calypso Coral Ombre Ribbon, Eyelets,
Natural Trim, Lace Trim, 1/8" Old Olive Grosgrain Ribbon, Window Sheet (Stampin' Up!);
Metal Ribbon Slide (Making Memories); Seed Beads (Mill Hill); Lace and Stitch rub-ons (Creative Expressions)
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