Love Lives Here

Hey, look... usually there's a 10 Minute Scrap Pile Challenge card {right here.} But not today :) Because today is a Papertrey countdown day and that means you're going to get about one miiiiiiilllllion PTI project pics instead. Sounds good, right? Let's jump to it, then! So. I have this friend. Her name is Melissa. {And by that I mean THE Melissa. As in Phillips.} And she is just about the sweetest darned person you ever did meet. Except that we haven't actually met in real life. {I look forward to that day, though, cause I hear she is super super tall and I am super super short so I'm thinkin' we would make quite the pair.} So Melissa worked with Nichole Heady to conceptualize one of December's new sets - Love Lives Here. And it is just about the sweetest thing ever. Just like Melissa. Imagine that. It's filled with lots of love and homey sayings. You are going to *love* it. When it first arrived in my mailbox, I had just spent a few days with one of my closest, closest friends. The one who came along in life when I was newly married, living in a new place, and totally in need of friend. As fate would have it, she was newly married, living in a new place, and totally in need of a friend, too. And so we were. Over the years, she's done things like sit with us in a hospital waiting room for hours on end while we were waiting to see our newly born son. And served as my over-the-phone labor and delivery coach with kiddo #2. And flown directly in to see my newly born child #3 and look on in awe and wonder at the fact that I did, surprisingly and all of a sudden, have a daughter. Do you have a friend like that? I hope so. She had just left and I was already missing her when the idea for this project came to me.

"My heart is always with you..." so sweet, right? Here's what I used... I love looking through all of the hand stamped metal jewelry on etsy and I thought I could come up with a similar look at a fraction of the price. So I started with basic polymer clay... super cheap and easy to use. I have a clay roller (pasta machine) that I use to roll out flat sheet of the clay, but you can certainly just roll a flat sheet out with a small rolling tool. Once it's rolled out, just dampen your stamp with water and press it down firmly into the clay. {The water is necessary as it helps your stamp release from the clay.} You can tell that I made a few tries above before I got one I really liked. After that, I did something a little weird but totally natural to me... I just picked up some scissors and cut it out. Seriously. Scissors. They work great :) I smoothed the edges down with my fingers and that was that. Next up... Pearl Ex. Or any other brand of mica powder. Just rub it in with a soft brush and watch it become all pretty. It's kind of magical in the way it makes all the details suddenly appear . I used two different colors on mine just for some interest. Bake it according to the directions. My piece was very thin {less than 1/4"} and was baked for 15 minutes at 230 . When it's cured it has an almost leathery quality to it and is super durable. It will cool off almost as soon as you take it out of the oven. All that's left to do is finish it off with a glaze - I used Sculpey's Satin Glaze. If you have Future Floor Wax on hand for use with other Pearl Ex techniques, that will work fine, too. The Satin Glaze is a little more durable and less shiney, which is what I was looking for with this project. Whatever you use, just brush it on carefully and let it set for a little while. It dries fast. The circle image in this set fits *perfectly* in this bezel setting by Vintaj. I found all of the Vintaj jewlery findings at Hobby Lobby and they were super affordable. To glue the stamped piece in the bezel, I used just a little bit of Translucent Liquid Sculpey on the piece and baked it according to the directions. {Putting the bezel setting in the oven is just fine.} I attached the pendant to a chain link necklace, but don't you think it would look super cute strung on some Papertrey ribbon, too? I wanted to complete the gift by wrapping it up, so I made a little pocket and insert to hold the necklace. I used the medium scallop die to create the Simply Chartreuse scallops at the top of the Aqua Mist insert. The scallops are perfect for keeping the chain in place. I put a little clear tape on the backside as an extra precaution. I totally *love* how the flourished circle image from the Mat Stack 2 set frames the pendant perfectly! For the pocket, I measured the insert and trimmed one of Papertrey's glassine bags to fit. A little stitching at the bottom closes the bag off again. The die cut hole in the insert is super simple to do. Just slip the insert in the pocket, and trace the outline of the necklace lightly with a pencil. Then just slip the scalloped circle die {from the Love Lives Here die set} in with the cutting side up and die cut it. Voila... perfect window in the perfect spot. I am totally diggin' the way it highlights the pendant! Pull the insert out to stamp the sentiment on the bag. Be careful because the ink will take a while to dry on the glassine bag. {Do not ask me how I know this. It is possible that the bag you see is actually bag #2.} I used Dark Chocolate ink and did the stamping part last {and by that I mean I did it last the *second* time} so that I could just set everything to the side to dry when I was finished. A little Simple Chartreuse ribbon pretties it up and finishes it out. This was super fun project to do! I'm super happy with how it turned out. I'm hoping she likes it as much as I do! On to project #2! I used the same circle heart image from Loves Lives Here but in a project with a totally different feel... Ok, can I just say... that little circle heart die in the die set... *love!* It makes the cutest little circles and hearts that you can interchange with each other. Just die cut your cardstocks first, then stamp the circle image on top. Super easy to line it up correctly. Because this card is relatively simple in design, I wanted to really play with the depth of the die cuts to add some visual interest. I just alternated adhering the pieces with a tape runner and foam tape. That process is easiest if you lay out all the circles and hearts first, then glue down the pieces that will stay directly on the card front and finish with the popped up pieces. I also started with a white card base impressed with the Linen & Canvas impression plate... it adds just enough texture to the background to keep it from being too plain. I stamped the last circle directly on the card so that I could overstamp the sentiment. Love how simple but interesting this one turned out. It was totally one of those that turned out just as I pictured it... happy day! Whew! That was a lot of pics and words! But don't worry... there's always more. Like right here: Betsy Veldman Erin Lincoln Maile Belles Nichole Heady Lisa Johnson Dawn McVey Debbie Olson Heather Nichols Melissa Phillilps Michelle Wooderson Niki Estes The entire Papertrey Ink team has new Love Lives Here projects up, so go check them out! More tomorrow! Later, friends! {My Heart} pendant card Stamps - Love Lives Here, Mat Stack 2 Collection {to be released 12/15/10} CS - Aqua Mist, Simply Chartreuse Ink - Dark Chocolate Dies - Love Lives Here {to be released 12/15/10} Ribbon - Simply Chartreuse Other - glassine bag {Your Home} card Stamps - Love Lives Here {to be released 12/15/10} CS - White, Raspberry Fizz, Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, New Leaf, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest Ink - True Black, Raspberry Fizz, Ocean Tides, Aqua Mist, New Leaf, Summer Sunrise Impression Plate - Linen