Card-making...

For me it is therapeutic to make cards. I just love gathering all the pieces and materials for making them. Beautiful and intricate, or elegant and simple; making cards is a form of expression so personal and endearing to the recipient that the maker derives a gratifying satisfaction from the knowledge the his/her creation will be loved and well received. Here is my very own latest creation:

The design is simple and easy enough and I used some paper scraps I had on hand to come up with the concept. The first thing I did was raid my little box of keepsakes from pen pals to find the flower I was going to make.

Box where I keep little trinkets sent to me by my wonderful pen pals...

Once I'd found it I traced it onto an index card to make a template and not ruin my little bit of paper joy...

Original and template from index card...

I used the template to make my large orange flower and also to trace flower "silhouettes" onto my linen card for added effect. The silver "ribbon" is a paper band that came from some stationery I'd exhausted; just measured it, cut it to length and pasted it right onto the card. The center of the flower was made from some scraps of scrap-booking paper I had and I just dotted it with various colors to give it that effect.

Template and scraps of paper used...

Pens, markers and some creativity aided in the end result...

Ready to be sent out...

I wrote the message by hand and drew the smaller flowers by making series of dots...

The little details make all the difference...

Isn't it darling? I need to make some more fun ones! Enjoy!

Focus is on the flower...

Monday Musings: Literature Inspiration

As I watched Little Women last night with my nieces I began to think of all the beautiful crafts described in the book made my the March sisters and the ones pictured in the 1994 film version. I love the late 19th century arts and crafts, the Victorian ones in particular are my favorites. Today I decided to see if there were any arts and crafts inspired by Louisa May Alcott's wonderful book and found a listing for a book called The Little Women Book: Games, Recipes, Crafts and Other Homemade Pleasures. I have decided to purchase the book from Powell's Books. It should be here in 4-9 days.

I am very eager and excited to do crafts from that time period. Inspired by the idea of the Little Women book, I decided to find crafts inspired by other favorites such as Anne of Green Gables and found this blog: Steph's Cup of Tea. Steph featured the Anne of Green Gables Christmas Treasury on her post which is full of wonderful crafts and recipes inspired by that series of books as well as the films. I think I may wait on getting that one but it is definitely one to collect as well. I love old-fashioned Christmas traditions and would like to make some of those wonderful crafts in that book. Just looking at the cover makes me want to get cozy in a nice room full of wonderful supplies or keep warm by the oven in the kitchen while whipping up something delicious to eat!

Steph also mentioned another blogger who loved this treasury and had posted a few tutorials on her own site of Anne-inspired crafts: Christmas with Anne of Green Gables. The post makes me want it to be Christmas again! Looking back at the Victorian era, of which Little Women in a part, Victoriana magazine has wonderful craft links and tidbits for all to use. I found this tutorial for making your own Victorian ABC Dishes for children with printable alphabet illustrations:

Here is an article on Perforated Paper Needlework which, by the way, has made a comeback and has led this curious crafter to do some extra researching for possibly making a few adornments for the home using this antique craft style. Further research brought me to "bluing" which was a form of whitening clothing in the Victorian era. You can read all about it here at the Victorian Passage.

Another great find that has more to do with crafting and less to do with laundry which I found on A Victorian Passage is a set of Victorian e-papers designed by Edenshale Cottage. These are available for download here. The link directs you to the post on A Victorian Passage and allows you to access the gorgeous papers as I did! I cannot wait to use them!

{from A Vintage Passage}

I have enjoyed sharing these antique craft books and sites with you! I hope this week is beautiful and filled with the promises of Spring!

Cheers!