Two Takes on CPS 254

Caged Bird Sings
"A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song."
Vintage book page, sheet music, and seed beads, recycled corrugated packing, denim, button, and snaps, K & Company Julianne patterned papers, Prima paper flowers, DMC embroidery floss, Sizzix Tim Holtz dies, Canvas Corp kraft card base and envelope. CPS 254

Enjoy the Ride/Joy Ride
"Life is a journey, not a destination. Happy Birthday."
Vintage bus ticket, twill tape, and buttonhole gimp, Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride patterned papers and button, Papertrey Ink cardstock and tag die, Dymo label. CPS 254

I'm still here! I realize I have been rather quiet both on the blogging front and the letter-writing front.

I'm currently obsessed with creating cards for spring and masculine birthdays, combining my collection of new and vintage supplies into pleasing designs, and updating my collection of card sketches (done).

My love-hate relationship with my old computer printer came to an end this week when it finally kicked the bucket. My sweet husband now had his answer for what to give me for my birthday! Thank you!

Recycled Cross Stitch Card

We visited Lancaster Creative Reuse on First Friday and again yesterday to close out the Mail Art celebration in honor of the Lancaster County postage stamp. It was such a pleasure to work with them; I certainly hope to do it again in the future. Tina and Vanessa were the lucky winners of Deluxe Travel Mail Art Kits. While we were there yesterday, the girls all worked on projects, my hubby was kind enough to corral the little one, and I did a little more shopping (it's addictive since the selection is constantly changing.)

One of my finds was a stained cross stitch piece made up of four smaller designs for a mere 30 cents. I brought it home and washed it, then tea stained it to even out the coloring. I separated the four smaller elements to use as focal points on cards. (I wish I had scanned it before I cut it!) I chose Card Patterns Sketch 150 and spent some time flipping through my stash of K&Company patterned papers to match colors and styles.

I originally had a light neutral solid paper at the top, but it needed a little something more. I dug out some of the 1840s bank ledger paper, and I liked the look of it. I may try one with an old dictionary page in place of the ledger paper. Papertrey Ink's Ocean Tides was a perfect match to the darker green stitching.

I realized I left a few of my mail art samples behind at Creative Reuse. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to go back to collect them!