Saturday, June 9, 2012

Hand Stamped Sentiments 121 and retro sketches 15

Today, when I should have been mowing the lawn, I went into my stamp room and made a card.  I feel a little guilty, but I got a bunch of new stuff yesterday and I needed to try some of it out!  The lawn will still be there tomorrow, after all.  Not to mention that Hand Stamped Sentiments has a really cool color challenge this week and I didn't want to forget to participate.  Paired with the latest retro sketch I think I made a pretty card.



I used a little old and a little new with this card.  The Daffodil Delight DSP is from Beyond the Garden and that beautiful flower is from the new Stippled Blossoms.  I was pretty sure that flower would look fabulous in yellow and I was right!  I'm a little excited about my bow.  I think it looks nice and I have a new gadget to make them.

I'm a huge fan of ribbon and bows on my cards, I'm just not a huge fan of making bows.  I am able to make a half-way decent one and some of my blogging friends have generously given me tips and tricks to make me better at it.  I've got the Bow Easy, but I don't like using it because I think the "fingers" should be longer so that there's less chance the ribbon slips off it.  I have this huge wooden bow maker that I bought years ago for tying ribbons on my Christmas packages and I realized that what I really wanted was a smaller version of that.  So today, I went down cellar and made this from a scrap of walnut (so fancy!) and dowels.


I've seen other similar bow makers for sale on other's blogs, but I'm cheap and I've got a cellar full of wood and figured it would be pretty easy to put together.  So far I like it.  It's super simple to use and the dowels move around so I can make different sized bows.  Yay me!

Thanks for stopping by!


23 comments:

Marisa said...

Beautiful take on the sketch and always love this colour combo :)

Tracey McNeely said...

Fantastic Jen, I really like the colour combination.

Lauri said...

That is a gorgeous color combination for this set! ad I love how you made your own bow thingy! I have a little one like that but I like yours better!

Allisa said...

Gorgeous Card! I have the same thoughts on the bow easy...but I love that it takes up no space! I have often thought of making a similar bow maker...but that is as far as I have gotten! Congrats on making your own bowmaker!

Rita W said...

Wowzers. That is stunning...and I'm not just saying that because of the colors! :) You are too handy making your own bowmaker! I should ask my friend to hook me up with one. No woodworking skills here.

Elizabeth Price said...

This card gets a standing ovation! It is absolutely divine in every way--I can't say it enough. Thanks for sharing such a PERFECT card over at Hand Stamped Sentiments. Brava Diva, Elizabeth

Diane Vander Galien said...

Beautiful!!! Flower is so pretty!!! Great layers and the bow is just perfect!!! Thanks for playing along with Hand Stamped Sentiments, Diane

Unknown said...

I agree with you Jen, your card is beautiful and love the color combo.

Shannon said...

GORGEOUS! I love the layout and the bow is perfect! So classy and retro. So impressed with your carpenter skills too:) Thank you for joining us at Hand Stamped Sentiments.

Allison said...

Beautiful take on the sketch and colours. Love your way of making bows.

Linda Callahan said...

Wow - you garden, you mow, you compute, you do woodworking and make gorgeous cards! Awful lot of talent goin' on here :)

Vicky Hayes said...

Yellow and grey is always wonderful together and I love that yellow flower with the beautiful grey bow. What a resourceful woman you are to make yourself a bowmaker!

Mieke'S said...

Beautiful card!
Greetings Mieke'S

Bonnie said...

Yeah, yay you! Great job on the bowmaker, the bow and the beautiful card! I love yellow roses and this is no exception!

TrishG said...

Beautiful! Love the colors. Great job with the layout.
Beautiful flower!!!
Really great card.

Laurie said...

Jen this is so pretty! I love the layers in the label! Those colors are gorgeous too! Thanks for playing along with us at RetroSketches!

Bada-Bing Creations said...

Jen, this is just gorgeous! I really like this stamp set...trying to resist:-) Thanks so much for playing at HSS!

Larissa Heskett said...

WOW!! What a BEAUTIFUL card!! I LOVE your take on the challenge!! Have a FABULOUS WEEK!! =)

Bobbie said...

LOVE LOVE LOVE this card! The bow is fab-will have to do some research. The framelits are perfect, love the direction. So happy you joined us at HSS this week.

Danielle Vincent said...

Hi Jen - this is a VERY pretty card. I absolutely love the colors and the bow is perfect. I am bow challenged too :o( I saw some contraption similar to yours a few weeks ago at Farmer's market but I felt they wanted way too much for it (guess I'm a little cheap too - lol). Maybe I'll head to Lowes and this could be a fun summer project for my kids. Thanks so much for sharing your great bow idea and your beautiful card.

inkypinkies said...

I adore what you did with the color challenge AND the sketch, that is one exceptional card! The Framelits look so great. Thanks for joining us at Hand Stamped Sentiments! Erika

LeAnne said...

First, stamping ALWAYS trumps mowing in my book!!! Second, the card is fabulous! Just gorgeous! Third, I agree with you on the bow easy...it must be made for someone with miniature fingers...so frustrating! And fourth....YOU MADE THIS YOURSELF!! I do have one of these contraptions that my DH made for me to use with big ribbon for wreaths, but I never think to use it for little stuff! You're a genius!

Lisa Elton said...

Jen this is just beautiful, love it!