A Touch of Grace

This post almost didn’t make it ladies.  When I design the purses, luggage and wallets, I start out with a rough sketch of what I want and create pattern pieces similar to that of sewing a garment.  As I continue with the design, I usually make adjustments and alter several of the pattern pieces.  Usually by the time I’ve finished the design, the first template has so many alterations, it’s unusable for a tutorial; hence the need to re-create the pattern pieces.  I sat down Friday night and began work on a new template for this post.

Saturday, I cut pieces to make three more wallets and took these photos as I went along.  I apologize for the quality of these shots.  I don’t have sufficient lighting in my stamping room and I don’t have enough room to create an area for photo shoots using artificial lighting.

By Saturday evening I had completed the wallets and uploaded the pictures on my laptop to begin the process of editing in Photoshop, placing my watermark on them, and resizing them.  Sunday, after church, I moved the pictures into my blog.  Once there, I realized they were too small to see the writing on the template so I deleted them and went back to Photoshop and started the process all over again sizing the pictures large enough to see the writing on the template.  I then moved the pictures back to my blog only to discover that about 25% of the picture had run off into the right margin and couldn’t be seen.  So Sunday evening, I deleted everything once again and went back to Photoshop to resize the photos so that they would be large enough to see the writing, but small enough to fit within the margins.  No matter what size I made the pictures, they would not work.  By 11:00 p.m. Sunday night, tired and frustrated, I concluded it just wasn’t meant to be.

I had a full schedule Monday and wasn’t able to do anything stamping related.  Last night after dinner, I decided to give it one more try and uploaded the photographs onto my main computer instead of my laptop.  Spending an hour and half in Photoshop, I tested each picture one at a time and was able to get the photos a size that is readable and will fit within the parameters of my margins.  Success at last!

In the spirit of sharing, please remember that all content (including text, images, photographs, and designs) is copyright © Jerri Kay Jimenez.  My artwork is shared for your personal inspiration only and may not be copied for publication, contest entry, or personal financial gain.  Thank you.

It’s not necessary to know how to sew to make this wallet, but if you have sewing experience, you will find this project much easier.

There are ten pieces to the wallet template. This picture gives the measurements and shows what the wallet should look like when sewn together.  The front of the wallet consists of three pieces which can be seen three pictures below.  All drawn lines are stitching lines.

This picture shows the measurements for the inside insert and the lining. Drawn lines are stitching lines.

These pieces are for the inside of the wallet, measurements are written on each piece.  Drawn lines are stitching lines.

These are the three pieces for the front of the wallet.

This picture shows the pieces of the inside insert, lining and pieces to be sewn together.

Using your JustRite rectangular stamper, spell out “Genuine Leather” with the small letters (see photo below).  Using a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig, center the words on one of the tan leather pieces measuring 4 1/2″ x 3″ using Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip Craft ink (die inks will not work on this paper).  Then stamp the name of the individual on the tan paper measuring 4 1/2″ x 2 (see picture above with pattern pieces).  Helpful Hint:  Heat set the craft ink being very careful not to burn the paper.

Helpful hint:  Leave your letters on this storage case for easy storing.  I mist the letters with water when I’m finished, using a toothbrush I gently clean them.  I use a tissue to absorb the “dirty” water and then place the letters back onto the black storage case they came in.

Place the three front pieces on grid paper, adhering the tan piece on the wrong side of the crocodile paper (here’s where sewing experience comes in, right side to wrong side, adhere with right side of the tan leather paper to the wrong side of the crocodile paper).  Your finished measurements will be 3 1/2″ x 9 3/4″.

Stitch around all edges of the pattern pieces as shown above.  For the piece with the name on it, sew across the tops of all three pieces, then stack them together and sew around all edges.  DO NOT sew around the edges first and then across the tops or you will not be able to use the slots to insert gift cards.

Take the lining piece (crocodile paper) and adhere it to the top of the wrong side of the front of the wallet.  This is needed to cover the top of the back of the paper.  The rest will be hidden once the pattern pieces are adhered on.

Fold the crocodile flap over the piece that says “Genuine Leather” and adhere on the back side.  On the back side of the pieces, place double sided tape on three sides (the sides and bottom).

Adhere the brown leather insert to the wrong side of the wallet front, leaving 1/16″ of an inch on the ends.

Now adhere the last two pieces to the brown leather insert, placing the piece with the crocodile flag on the left and placing the personalized piece on the right.  All of the pieces are functional, you can place dollar bills between the wallet front and the tan leather insert, and gift cards in the three slots on the right side.

Fold the wallet together forming the crease line.

Inspiration for the wallet came from one I saw at Steinmart.  I was shopping for my son’s birthday and came across a wallet that I liked.  My son didn’t need a wallet, but I really liked this wallet.  A lightbulb went off in my head.  I opened it up and looked at the inside and thought, gee, I think I can do this, the wallet was just a plain old cowhide leather wallet.  When I got home, I went upstairs and went through my stash of designer papers and found the tan leather paper, then I came across the crocodile paper and decided to use both in the design.  I sat down and started drawing out rectangles and created the template.  It took a couple of hours to make the template and to get it all to fit together. It was a hit with my son and husband.

I know I sure do!  I dread when I have to design a card for the male gender .  .  . LOL.  Well the beginning of the year is definitely male birthday season in my family.  My husband and brother’s birthdays are in January; my son, nephew, and dad’s birthdays are in February.  Well, I totally blew it with my husband and brother in January.  I was so busy getting ready for CHA I gave them BOTH store bought cards.  BIG MISTAKE!!!

My husband was very put out that I didn’t make a card for him and while I was at CHA, I received an e-mail from my brother stating that he couldn’t believe that his sister, who is a card designer, would deem it appropriate to send him a “store bought” card for his birthday.  He then told me how much he looked forward to his birthday card . . . you know . . . really laying the “guilt” trip on me.  And, it worked!

So once I finished up a couple of commitments I set about designing a card that I hoped would make everyone happy.  I made four of the design and now realize I need to make two more.  It was a hit!  My husband and son both loved the card.

I designed a wallet card using designer papers from Hot Off The Press.  I first made the design on regular xerox paper to get the template and then once I had the template, I set about cutting the paper.  At $1.99 per 8 1/2 x 11 sheet this paper doesn’t come cheap, but I think the end result was worth the expense.  When I handed the card to my husband to sign for Daniel, he said, “You got Daniel a wallet for his birthday?  I thought we were getting him gym shoes?”  I told him the wallet was the card, it was paper.  He couldn’t believe it, he turned it over and over in his hands looking at it.  I knew then it was a hit and later that evening, after Daniel’s birthday, I gave my hubby his card.  I’ll be sending one to my brother and one to a friend as a thank you.

The wallet opened from the back side.

The inside of the wallet.

A group shot of all four wallets.

A view of the inside of another wallet that hasn’t been written on.

A visual of the Just Rite stamper and font set that I used for the lettering on the inside of the wallets.

I strongly recommend that everyone who stamps should have at least a few on the JustRite products in their arsenal of stamps, and more if you’re like me and have to have it all . . . LOL!  They really are a must have!  I used the Harmony Rectangular Stamp Set together with the Small Letter Set to spell out the words “Genuine Leather” on the left side of the wallet and the names of the recipients on the right side of the wallet.  I love having the ability to spell out anything I want on the rectangular blocks, in any size or font that’s available at JustRite.  There are so many to choose from, and I have to admit I have several of the font sets.  I love having so many choices with the different font sets that are available for different occasions.  The thing I love most about the JustRite products is that once you begin to collect the various sets and fonts, they all work together, they’re interchangeable, and as more designs become available, you can make additional purchases either as kits or by individual items, to suit your needs that will coordinate with what you already have.  I was tickled pink when Violettes chose several of the JustRite products at CHA to carry in their store, more toys for me to play with.

Thank you so much for stopping by, I appreciate your comments, they keep me inspired.

• Stamps:  JustRite Harmony Rectangular Stamp Set; Just Rite Small Letter Set
• Paper:  Hot Off The Press
• Ink:  Stampin’ Up! Chocolate Chip Craft Ink
• Accessories:  Scor It (available at Joan’s Gardens); sewing machine, doubled sided strong adhesive (red tape); Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

This is one of my favorite cards and can you believe I didn’t keep the template when I made it!  What was I thinking????  I changed the template so many times while designing it that the original one no longer applied to the finished product .   .   . LOL. 

I used multiple papers in the design, the card has several layers.  The lapel and pockets are a shimmery charcoal gray cardstock that I purchased from Flourishes.  I didn’t have stripe paper so I used shimmery silver and Basic Black SU papers to make the striped paper for the tie.  I cut black strips and adhered them to the gray paper and then cut out the tie.  The tie tack, cuff links, and buttons on the vest are Kaiser pearls that I also purchased from Flourishes.  I used a Krylon silver pen to paint the buttons on the vest to match.  I watercolored a rose, cut it out and attached it to the lapel for the groom’s boutonniere.  The size of this card is about 5 x 7, possibly a bit larger.

I made a tag on the inside of the card that says Happily Ever After.  If I give this card to a bride, I’ll leave the tag in, if I give it to the groom, I’ll replace it with a plain piece of note paper.  The flowers and leaves were painted on watercolor paper, cut out and adhered on dimensionals.

• Paper:  Shimmery Charcoal, Shimmery Silver, Basic Black, Whisper White, watercolor
• Ink: Versamark, Basic Black
• Accessories:  Tombow markers, Ranger gold/gold tinsel EP, heating tool, watercolor brush, Kaiser pearls, dimensionals, Nestibilities, craft knife, cutting mat

Okay, I have to share this with you.  I don’t normally endorse products, but I want to tell you about this product I recently purchased.  I ordered the Scor Mat from Joan’s Gardens (and Joan I shamelessly harvested this picture from your blog because I’m way too lazy to take the time to photograph my mat).  I have to say this is the best mat ever!  I’ve used it non-stop the past several days while making Christmas designs that I’ll soon be sharing.  What I love most about this mat is that the measurements go all the way to 1/8″ increments .  .  .  fantastic for perfect placement of layers on cards or any other projects.   As you can see in the picture, it also has diagonals lines that are fabulous for cutting angles.  I love the mat so much I’ve placed another order with Joan for a second one.  I want one for cutting on and one to be kept perfect, I’m a tad bit spoiled, but in my defense this mat is very affordable.  Check out Joan’s store on her blog, it’s fabulous and she ships immediately.

Sometimes in life we receive unexpected blessings, meet people who are extraordinarily kind, and overall are just nice to be around.  I recently met some very kind and generous people when I attended CHA.  I designed this card to say thank you to a very kind and generous individual for a very special dinner and evening out with the “gang”.  I was blessed to meet artists, designers, internet friends, and individuals from all over the map that have enriched my life. 

I’m embarrassed over how long it has taken me to get to my thank you’s and I have many more to design.  Being busy is no excuse, but it truly is the only one I have.  Moving my son to Tennessee and all the preparations involved took far longer than I anticipated.  Since returning home I thought I would have my stamping room, my son’s room, and my busy schedule in order in a week or so.  NOT SO!!!  My stamping room is still utter chaos, oh my . . . that’s another story! 

The design of this card is very similar to another design I have in the July Fan Club gallery over at Splitcoast (my home away from home).  Note:  The link provided will work for Fan Club members only.  I changed a few aspects of the design and attached the sentiment directly onto the card.  I used Nestibilities to cut the circles.  The bottom circle is cut on a sheet of copper metal; the Nestibilities did a wonderful job in cutting through the metal like butter.   I flattened the copper brads using a hammer from SU’s tool kit, as I wanted a flat antique appearance.  The stitching was all done by hand.  I first pierced the paper using SU’s mat pack for placement of the holes, I then threaded a needle the old fashioned way and sat down and stitched away.  Now, you may be asking why I stitched this project by hand instead of using a sewing machine and the answer is very simple.  Do you see how small the corner pieces and the narrow strips of paper are?  Well  .   .   .   I was afraid that I might possibly sew through a finger while holding those small bits of paper on the sewing plate.  Now, don’t ask me if I’ve ever done that before and if it was quite painful, especially reversing the machine to get the needle back out of my finger .  .  . LOL! 

I used the JustRite Small Letter Set for the words around the outer perimeter of the tag and used the Damask Borders & Letter Kit for the initial and center design.  I used a small fern stamp from a tapestry stamp kit for the fern beside the words “Thank You.”   I added a little bit of Dazzling Diamonds for a hint of sparkle on the fern. 

• Stamps: JustRite Stampers, Tapestry fern stamp, SU Paisley BG
• Paper:  Night of Navy,  Basic Black, K & Co. Blue Awning DP
• Inks:  Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel, Basic Black
• Accessories:  Copper metal sheet, copper brads, sewing needle  & thread, corner punches (sm. & med.), SU circle punch, Nestibilities, Dazzling Diamonds, Quickie Glue Pen, Scotch Wrinkle Free Glue stick, sponge, Coluzzle, SU mat pack, SU tool kit

Today Stephen and I start our official packing (packing boxes, affixing labels to the boxes, etc.).  Wish me luck and much patience!  I’m so not looking forward to this.  We leave this Thursday and I keep pushing that date to the back of my mind.

It’s hard to believe it’s been two months since Stephen asked me to make thank you cards for the high school graduation gifts he received.  The summer has just flown by so quickly.  He asked me to make something masculine with no ribbon, I interpreted that to mean no bows and he asked for masculine colors as well.  After a few prototype cards this design is the one he chose.  He asked me to keep it simple and I think I was able to accomplish that (no watercolors). Instead of using the typical masculine stamps that I have, I decided to monogram the cards.  I love the DIY monogram stamper from JustRite, it was perfect for this project, I used the Small Round Monogram Stamper for the monogram.  I chose Stampin’ Up!’s Chocoloate Chip ink for the monogram color, I simply used the re-inker to fill up the JustRite ink pad for the stamper. For the thank you sentiment I used a set of sentiment stamps from Flourishes.  I made seven cards of each design for a total of 28 cards.

• Stamps:  JustRite Small Round Stamper, Flourishes
• Paper:  Crate Paper, Close to Cocoa
• Ink:  Chocolate Chip, Vintage Photo
• Accessories:  Making Memories copper brads, SU Mat Pack, sewing machine, oval punches, nestibilities, dimensionals, grosgrain ribbon