Crafty Wednesday – more Blue Christmas

The crunch is on! I’ve been getting cards ready for the mail, writing letters about our year, and printing off pictures of the Grandson to send with the cards, which I hope to get to the post office today. I may already be too late getting the two across the sea to my cousins, but at least the thought was there! Anyway, I’ve got a couple more cards in blue to show you.

I found this cute penguin stamp at Michael’s and fell in love with it. I stamped/embossed it in black and filled in the image with markers, this time, to get the more vibrant colours I wanted. I glued on some cotton batting to the fluffy collar and hat trim areas, with mini pompoms on the hat ends. After cutting out the image, I placed them on a 3-1/2″ scalloped circle embossed with the D’vine Swirls plate & the Cuttlebug. I also embossed the base card, added some snowflake ribbon and tacked on the sentiment, stamped onto velum, with two white brads. Inside, I covered the brad backs with snowflakes, added the simple sentiment and stamped/embossed snowflakes (from a tnowflake stamp set byInkadinkado) directly onto the card using Versa Mark & white embossing powder with a bit of glitter.

I ordered the stamp for this card from Stampin’ Up at the end of the season, last year, and finally had the chance to use it. It’s a bit more complicated, needing a lot more painting than some of the other stamps I’ve used but I love the whimsy of all the children gathered around Santa and the sentiment that came with the set. I embossed the base card with the swirls, glued on some blue glitter and added a bit of ribbon. Inside, I stamped the sentiment (from the Polar Bear Holiday set from Close To My Heart) & cut it out using an oval stencil. I placed it on the oval die-cut I made, using the middle-sized Beaded Ovals (Nestibilities) by Spellbinders, which I sponged lightly with blue ink. I added a few stamped/embossed snowflakes, also from the Polar Bear Holiday set.

Next week, I should have a few more of my painted-silk card creations, so stay tuned! 🙂

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Crafty Wednesday – cards for boys, big and small

Welcome to another Crafty Wednesday. I apologize to my reader/writer friends. I know I’ve been neglecting my duties as a writer, lately, with only sporadic reviews and interviews. I just can’t get my head into that space, these days.

Since I still had a few cards that I haven’t shown you from the summer gathering, I thought I’d get them done, today. Next week, I may be able to give a tutorial on some pretty, pull-out style cards I made, based on a beautiful one my sister-in-law made for me, a while ago.

Let’s begin with the big boy card. I started with a cream-coloured base, 5″ x 7″, pre-cut from a package that included envelopes. I trimmed all the corners with a corner-rounding punch, as I did with all the other rectangular elements. The brown background piece was cut an inch smaller than the base card out of embossed card stock from a paper pack by Tim Holtz. All the embossed card stock from the pack has a white core, which looks very cool when you sand down the top layer. I didn’t do that with this card, though. I attached the brown background to the card base with Sookwang double-sided tape.

The Art Philosophy cartridge for the Cricut (available exclusively through Close To My Heart) had this amazing alphabet graphic that I had to try out while I was at my sister-in-law’s place, since I, myself, don’t own a Cricut. I cut it from turquoise card stock and placed it on a piece of cream patterned paper, then placed it onto the top right-hand corner of the background colour.  I cut a 7″ piece of striped ribbon and secured it over the brown background as well as the background for the alphabet graphic. Onto a small rectangle of cream-coloured card stock, I stamped ‘Birthday wishes’ using one of my sister-in-law’s stamps. (If you wanted to make a similar card any birthday greeting would suffice.) I set it on a beige background with a kind of crackle design and attached it over the ribbon with 3-D squares. The final touch was adding the self-adhesive wooden star (from CTMH) to the top left-hand corner, over the ribbon.

I have two young nephews who both enjoy cars and trucks. For this card, I started with a white card stock base of 5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″ (half an 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet, folded in half). I used one of the thin embossing folders from my Cuttlebug‘s edging set to emboss the top & bottom of the card, then gently sponged blue ink over the raised part of the design. I cut green paper to fit within the embossed areas, allowing a 1/2″ to show on the ends. I attached it to the card with Sookwang.

Close To My Heart has a cool stamp set called Fast and Furious, that includes the race car, a dump truck, various sentiments (including the one I used here) and tire track stamps. For the race car, I stamped its design onto white card stock with Versa Mark, sprinkled the image with blue embossing powder, and heated it until set. I punched out a small circle in which a wrote the #7. Onto a separate piece of white card stock, I stamped and embossed the wheels in black, which I cut out and attached to the car. Before attaching the car, I stamped the ‘tire tracks’ across the green paper all the way to the edges of the card. I used 3-D squares to place the car onto the tracks. I also embossed the sentiment with blue embossing powder & cut it out to place above the car. I stamped two different sized stars, cut them out and placed them on either side of the sentiment.

For this card, I started with the same sized base as above using white card stock. I cut a piece of turquoise card stock two inches smaller than the base card. I used the large tire track stamp from the CTMH set to create the tracks on the turquoise card stock, then attached it to the card with Sookwang. I tried to use the dump truck stamp from the set, but it didn’t turn out too well. (I need to get a dark yellow ink pad so I can stamp it better because the stamp itself is not just an outline.) Instead, I used a the digger and pylon stickers from Darice‘s sticker book called Tough Stuff. The ‘non-STOP-fun’ sign from the stamp set was stamped in red ink onto white card stock, then cut out and placed on a Popsicle stick broken in half. I used white glue to affix the stick onto the card. Finally, I stamped the ‘beep!’s along the right-hand edge of the card.

Well, that’s it for now. I’m off to get ready for a Grandson visit. Hard to believe Daughter will be celebrating her 3rd anniversary, today! 🙂

PS. I just noticed something new that WordPress has added to my site. I apologize for any advertisements that might pop up. It is not something I can control until I decide to purchase the ‘No Ads’ version of my WordPress site. (sigh!)

Crafty Wednesday – cards for young ladies

Welcome to another Crafty Wednesday! Sorry I missed posting last week. It was such a whirlwind day, I just didn’t have time, with some necessary shopping in the morning, lunch with friends and a board meeting in the evening. I really need to start organizing my posts ahead of time so they’re ready at the push of a button. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, I thought I’d make up for last week by adding a few more cards than I would normally show you. Above, you’ll see a couple of cards I made using the Close To My Heart‘s stamp set called Fashionista, which includes 4 different ladies, the background and 3 sentiments, including ‘Beautiful’. I used black embossing powder for the ‘Beautiful’ sentiment, girls and background stamps from the set, as well as the ‘Happy Birthday’. I used my shiny paints to add a bit of colour to the silhouettes before cutting around them. I used a 2″ round paper punch to cut out the ‘Happy Birthday’ and a 2-1/2″ scalloped circle punch for the colourful flower behind the sentiment. I added a bit of bling in all the swirly parts of the sentiment, too. The background can vary, as you can see, depending on your whims. These cards both began with 1/2 a sheet of card stock with the backgrounds cut 1″ smaller than the bases. I sponged around the edges with complimentary inks.

We also had a graduate in the family, this year, so I made my niece the card above. I embossed the front of the base card (5-1/2″ x 4-1/4″) with Sissix‘s Butterflies & Dragonflies embossing plate. I cut the pink polka dot background to 3-1/2″ x 2-1/4″, allowing the embossing to show around it. The numbers were black embossed using CTMH‘s Varsity Alphabet stamp set. I used the small letters of the Trinity Alphabet, also by CTMH, to stamp & emboss ‘class of’. The embellishments are stickers that can be found almost anywhere.

The card above is for the second youngest little lady in our family. The base of the card is yellow card stock (8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″, folded in half). I cut a sheet of orange paper 4-1/2″ x 3-1/4″ and yellow gingham paper 3-1/2″ x 2-1/4″. I attached the yellow gingham to the orange paper, then wrapped red & white bakers twine around them. I used CTMH‘s Varsity Alphabet stamp #1 to stamp & emboss in black, carefully cut it out, then attached it at the centre where the twine crossed using small 3-D sticky squares.

My sister-in-law has a cute pair of stamps – this little girl and a little boy, which I will use on a different card at a later date. I stamped & embossed the girl, then added colour with my shiny paints.  I cut her out and attached her with 3-D sticky squares. For the ‘YOU ARE’, I used self-adhesive foam letters.

Finally, this card was made for a special young-at-heart lady who recently retired from SAM (Stroke Recovery Association of Manitoba). She was an integral part of the non-profit organization, in charge of the crafty fundraising ladies who sew, knit and crochet items that are sold at many of their social functions & available for sale at the SAM office.

Now that she’s 90 something, she figured it was time to retire! I had only met her once when I was asked to make her card. Fortunately, I came across this dress-makers paper that I thought would make a great background for her card. I cut the dress-makers piece 4-1/2″ x 3-1/4″, the yellow card stock 5″ x 3-3/4″ and the green card stock base 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″, which I folded in half. I trimmed all the corners with my corner punch and sponged all the edges with green ink. I used Sookwang to attach the papers and card stock. The ‘Happy Retirement’ sentiment was stamped in black ink with a backing of yellow card stock. These, too, had their corners trimmed and edges sponged. I added the green polka dot brown ribbon, attaching it with wide Sookwang double-sided tape. I found 3 khaki-coloured buttons and attached them with sticky dots. I cut out a spool-shape out of cream-coloured card stock and wrapped green thread around it, attaching it with a 3-D sticky square.

Well, that’s it for this week. Hope you have a great ‘Hump Day’! 🙂

Crafty Wednesday – Honey Pop

Welcome to another Crafty Wednesday. Today I’d like to introduce a fun new product, a honeycomb paper called Honey Pop by Inky Antics. You’ve certainly seen this pop-up product in cards and decorations, such as the bells for wedding and umbrellas for showers. I learned how to use this product while at my scrapbook weekend back in September. I noticed the product while browsing the ‘store’ at the event, which was an area set up by the owner of The Scrapbook Cottage. The stamp set first caught my eye, because it was very cute, and then I noticed the sample card with the pop-up element, so of course I had to buy the green honeycomb paper, too! 🙂

The stamp set was called ‘Ornament Birdy’ – and I’m sure you can see why! The tree and present are from a stamp set I borrowed from my sister-in-law and I’m afraid I don’t know the company or stamp set names. The chick is one of two bird stamps in the set by Inky Antics as is the star on top of the tree.

The inside is the fun part. Start by placing the stamp in the direction indicated on the honeycomb paper. See the arrow printed on the paper? There is a corresponding arrow on the stamp that came with the ‘Ornament Birdy’ stamp set. Ink up your stamp, line up those two lines, and press the stamp onto the paper to give you the outline around which you should cut. The dotted line indicates that it will be on the fold of the card and should be cut along with the other edges of the image.

Once you’ve cut out your tree (or whatever object you might want to pop out of your card), you’ll want to secure it to your card. They suggest glue, but I think that takes too long to dry and could muck up your paper. I used a sheet of Soowkang double-sided tape. I first stamped two of the half-tree images and cut out around them. I removed the backing on one side of the tape and attached it to the honeycomb tree. I did the same to the other side of the tree.

I peeled off the backing on one side of the tree and attached it near, but not quite on, the fold of the card. I then peeled off the backing from the other side, closed the card over it and rubbed the card so the Sookwang stuck evenly to the card. When it opens up, it looks like this:

Of course, I then added all the other elements, too. Please note: The inside of this card is not the one that matches the front of the card above. I made this one to demonstrate the process. Below are the inside & outside of these two cards. They can be mixed and matched any way you like, or you could come up with your own combination.

For the one card, before adding any of the elements, I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the ‘Dots’ embossing folder. On green paper, I heat embossed the tree (from the Stampin’ Up ‘Christmas Lodge’ stamp set) using green glittery embossing powder, then cut it out and attached the star and jewels with craft glue. The ‘Merry Christmas sentiment came from the ‘Ornament Birdy’ stamp set.

For the other card, before I stuck on the tree, I first attached a silver doily as a backdrop for the tree, using the strong Sookwang tape so it wouldn’t pull away from the card base. The other elements, including the sentiment, were from the ‘Ornament Birdy’ set.

Personally, I think I like the plainer inside of the ‘Dots’ card (without the doily) and the swirly tree stamp of the other card. I’ll definitely have to get my hands on that stamp, or borrow it from my Sister-in-law, again! 🙂

What do you think?

Crafty Wednesday/Who wants an Interview?

Before I begin another Crafty Wednesday, I want you to know I have some Sundays open for Interviews, if there is anyone out there who would like a little face time on my blog. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a published author or not, or whether you are crafty or whether you just blog about everyday things.  If you are interested, please leave a comment below and I will contact you.

Now, on to the crafty stuff:

For the musical folks in your circle of family & friends, here’s a simple little number that’s sure to please. I started with a dark green card stock for the base card which measures 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″, then folded it in half. I found some green polka dot paper that I cut to 3-3/4″ x 5″, then trimmed the corner with a curved-corner paper punch and attached to the front of the card with a glue-runner. If you have any old sheet music lying about (or if you can find printed paper packs with musical paper in it) cut it to 5-1/4″ x 2-1/4″ and trim the corners with your curved-corner paper punch. I sponged the edges with green ink and angled it over the polka dot paper and attached it with a glue -runner.

The scrolled ‘Happy Birthday’ was created with a Stampin’ Up stamp and the ‘Groovy’ is from the Close To My Heart ‘Groovy’ stamp set. Both sentiments were first stamped using the Versa Mark sticky pad, and then heat-embossed with black embossing powder. I cut out the HB with a 2″circle punch and the groovy was cut out using a 1-1/2″ scalloped oval punch. I sponged their edges with green ink.

The inside started with more green polka dot paper measuring 3″ x 5-1/4″ with corners rounded with the corner punch. It was attached to the inside of thecard with a glue runner. From the CTMH ‘Love Life’ clear acrylic set, I stamped the ‘cherish simple pleasures, Live. Laugh. Love.’ with Versa Mark and heat embossed with black embossing powder. I sponged around its edged with green ink and attached it with a glue runner. The musical grid, notes and treble clef were stamped with black ink using the CTMH ‘Groovy’ stamp set. I cut around the treble clef and stuck it on the card with 3-D sticky dots.

Here’s a masculine card. I started with a white piece of card stock measuring 8-1/2″ x 5-1/4″ and folded it in half. I sponged the edges with brown ink. The brown card stock measures 5″ x 3-3/4″ and was attached with a glue runner. Around a piece of wine-colored card stock, measuring 5″ x 1-3/4″, I wound twine three times, tying it in the front a little off-centre so the ship will hide the bulge of the knot. I attached this piece to the card using Sukwang double-sided tape to secure it & the twine. With my 3-1/2″ scalloped circle punch I cut out the centre piece out of gray card stock, then embossed the bottom half of it with the Cuttlebug‘s embossing folder ‘Vine Swirl‘. I cut out white card stock with my 1-1/2″ scalloped oval punch and stamped ‘happy birthday’ with the stamp from my Stampin’ Up set ‘Plane & Simple’, (there’s a similar ‘happy birthday’ stamp from SU‘s ‘Just My Type’ set) using a blank ink pad. It was slipped under the twine and stuck on with 3-D sticky dots.

The main features of the card front were created using the SU‘s ‘Open Sea’ stamp set for the ship and the globe and a black ink pad. I added color with my shiny paint set & a thin brush. I carefully cut around the ship and used my 2″ circle punch to cut out the globe. The globe was attached with a glue runner, the ship with 3-D sticky dots.

Inside, I cut a 3-1/4″ square, embossed it with the ‘Vine Swirls’ Cuttlebug embossing folder and lightly sponged it with brown ink to bring up the swirl pattern (I probably should have done that on the front, too). It was then secured to the card with a glue runner. Next, I cut out the scalloped circle out of brown card stock with my 2-1/2″ scalloped circle punch and glue-runnered it to the centre of the embossed square. I stamped the compass (SU‘s ‘Open Sea’ set) with black ink. The ‘Go confidently in the Direction of your Dreams’ (from SU‘s ‘Word Play’ set), was stamped with black ink and carefully cut out. Both the sentiment and compass were attached with 3-D sticky dots.

For the super hero among your friends and family, here’s a card that will be sure to ‘fly’ with whoever you choose to give it to. I started with a blue card stock for my base, measuring 8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ folded in half. I cut out a yellow card stock ‘sun’ with my 2″ circle punch, & attached it to the lower left-hand corner of the card with a glue runner. Superman was cut out of a wallpaper sample book and attached with 3-D sticky dots. ‘Built Tough’ (CTMH‘s ‘Hero’ set) and ‘Brave and True’ (CTMH‘s ‘Brave Adventure’ set) were stamped with Versa Mark and heat-embossed with black embossing powder. I carefully painted a bit of color onto them with my shiny paint set before carefully cutting them out and attaching them with 3-D sticky dots.

For the inside, I cut out the Superman emblem from a wallpaper sample book page, cutting out the ‘S’ and replacing it with the appropriate letter cut out of red card stock using a Cricut and the ‘Winterland’ cartridge. (Thank-you, Sister-in-law!) It took some adjustments to get the right size, but we finally did it. I attached the red emblem outline to yellow card stock and the whole emblem onto the card with a glue runner. I attached the ‘J’ with 3-D sticky dots. The ‘Incredible’ (from CTMH‘s ‘Hero’ stamp set) and the ‘Happy Birthday’ (from SU‘s ‘Punch Bunch’ set) were stamped with Versa Mark & heat-embossed with black embossing powder and carefully cut out. I colored the ‘HB’ with my shiny paints. Both sentiments were attached with 3-D sticky dots.

Well, I think that about covers it for today. Now, it’s off to make more cards! 

Don’t forget to let me know if you’d like to be interviewed! 🙂

Crafty Wednesday

Hello, fellow crafters! Here’s another couple of cards fresh off the presses, so to speak. I might not be as exact with the details, today, as I left my crafting supplies at my sister-in-law’s, and my memory isn’t that great! I plan to go back to her place tomorrow and get more cards done, so I will make a note of the things I forgot today and maybe add them in later.

The first is obviously a birthday card. I started with a white card stock base (8-1/2″ x 5-1/2″ folded in half). I cut yellow card stock to 5″ x 3-3/4″ and trimmed the corners with a corner punch. I wrapped green cord three times around the centre of the card and tied it at the back. The scroll patterns are from the Close To My Heart set, Love Life. The large one was embossed with green embossing powder and green sparkles (I sometimes mix the solid embossing powders with glitter) on white card stock and cut out with precision scissors (really sharp pointy ones!) The Happy Birthday (from Stampin’ Up) and small swirl were stamped with green ink (I think it was CTMH’s Olive shade), as were the stars which were from the Love Life CTMH set. I cut out the ‘Happy Birthday’ using a 2″ paper punch and attached it to the upper left-hand corner. To the large swirl I attached 3-D squares and attached it diagonally across the page.

On the inside, I continued the stars, adding them randomly along the top half of the card, interspersing them with other small stars. The Swirls are also from the Love Life set. The ‘Celebrate You’ stamp is from the ‘b is for birthday’ set by Stampin’ Up. I cut it out with my 2″ punch. Using my 2-1/2″ scalloped circle punch to cut out the yellow scalloped circle on which I stuck the ‘Celebrate You’ circle. I attached them to the centre of the card.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, on to the anniversary card. I used the other half of the card stock from which I cut out the first card for the base. I cut a piece of wine-coloured card stock, then punched out the scalloped edge with an edge punch. I used my 2-1/2″ scalloped circle punch to create the centre design and attached it to the front of the card. I stamped the ‘Love’ (I can’t remember which set it came from) in the centre of the scalloped circle and added the two little hearts (from the Love Life set). I attached a gold/silver bow to the right-hand side with 3D double-sided tape. I stamped the hearts on white card stock and cut them out. I added heart-shaped jewel to the largest heart on the stamped hearts and attached both large hearts to the left-hand side of the card with 3D tape.

Inside, I used the punched-out scalloped circle from the piece I used on the front of the card. I stamped the heart (from CTMH’s Roxie Workshop-On-The-Go set. I typed out the sentiment using MS Word and  added one silver and one gold heart beside the word. I cut it out, then cut out a piece of wine-coloured card stock 1/4″ bigger, on all sides, than the sentiment. I stamped the ‘Happy Anniversary’ (using a Stampin’ Up stamp) onto white card stock and cut it out carefully, attaching it to the card with a glue runner. I attached one large gold brad and two small silver brads to the right-hand side of the card.

And there you have it – two more card to add to my stash, awaiting the family gathering. Only 30 more to go!

Happy crafting, everyone!

Just in time for Father’s Day

Someone made a comment on my last Crafty Wednesday post wondering if I was going to make a Father’s Day card, so I sat down and made this one for my son to give to his Dad. I used the motorcycle, flame and the ‘Feel The Wind’ stamp from Close To My Heart‘s Born To Ride set. The letters for ‘DAD!’ are from the CTMH Hero Alphabet stamp set. The ‘Incredible’ sentiment and frame on the inside of the card were from the CTMH Pure Adventure set. The ‘Happy Father’s Day’ was from the Stampin’ Up set Plane Simple.

For all the stamped elements, I used my Versa Mark sticky pad and heat-emboss powders. The ‘DAD!’, ‘Happy Father’s Day’ and motorcycle were embossed in black. For the flames, ‘Incredible’ and ‘Feel The Wind’ I used copper embossing powder. Using my Cuttlebug, I cut/embossed an orange ‘Fanciful Label’ with a folder by Provo Craft. I brushed a non-heat gold embossing powder over the label to make it shiny.

The base of the card is half of an 8 1/2″ x 11″ white card stock, folded in half, making the final card dimensions 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″. The brown paper on the front of the card measures 5 1/4″ x 3″. The polka dot paper is 5 1/4″ x 1 1/2″ and tucks under the brown, slightly. The paper was fastened to the card base with double-sided sticky tape. The flames were attached with a glue runner. The motorcycle and letters were attached with 3-D squares.

Inside, I glued a brown square, 3″ x 3″, to the centre of a strip of polka dot paper measuring 3″ x 5 1/4″. ‘Incredible’ and ‘Feel The Wind’ were glued to brown paper and trimmed to add contrast to the orange paper. The ‘Happy Father’s Day’ was attached with Sticky Dots. The orange label and sentiments were attached to the card with 3-D squares.

Well, the instructions weren’t step-by-step today, but I hope you got the idea. If you want to used this as a model for a card for a dad in your life, go for it! Make changes, add your own embellishments, if you like. I’m sure the dad you give it to will love it and appreciate that fact that it is home-made by you! 🙂

Happy Father’s Day to all dads, grandfathers and great-grandfathers! 🙂

Crafty Wednesday

I’ve made a few more cards for various events. I made a get well card for a young lady who broke her leg, one for a woman who just finished her university courses, and another for a wedding. All of these cards were made using a half sheet of 8 1/2″ x 11″ card stock for the base, making the size of the cards 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″.

This is the first get-well card I’ve done. I don’t have a lot of stamps for that kind of card, but I just picked up a magazine (Simple Cards & Paper crafts) which included a cute rabbit stamp set and specialty papers. I liked the polka dot paper and the flowered paper, which were from the magazine. I attached peach-coloured ribbon to one side of the polka dot paper and used a glue runner to attach the paper to the pink card stock base. I used my 3 1/2″ scalloped circle punch to make the centre accent. The flower petals were from a box of wedding flowers I bought on sale. I placed the pale green on the bottom, then layered the yellow, peach and pink petals, securing them with a yellow brad through the centre and through the scalloped circle before gluing it onto the card. I used my 1 1/2″ scalloped oval punch to cut out the shape. I sponged the edges with Cherry Red ink. I heat-embossed the ‘for you’ greeting and attached it with a large pop-up square. Although the stamp set was garden-themed, the one rabbit was so cute I thought he would cheer up the patient. I used my Versa Mark sticky pad and black heat-emboss powder so the outline would stand out, then filled it in with my shiny paints. He was attached with pop-up squares.

Both the canvass-look paper and the plaid were also from the magazine. (I love getting free stuff like this!) The ‘Consider Yourself Hugged’ stamp is from a Close To My Heart set called Thoughtful Tidings and attached with a pop-up square. The magazine’s flower stamp and cherry red ink added a cheerful touch to the inside.

Here is the grad card. I started with purple card stock, embossed it using the Cuttlebug Polka Dot embossing folder. I then added some grad-themed paper that came from a Scrapbookers Calendar that my sister-in-law gave me a few years ago. I picked up the grad stamp from a bargain bin at Michael’s and the satin star ribbon came from a special deal at one of the craft weekends I went to in the past year.

I typed up the sentiment using MS Word. I used the 3 1/2″ scalloped circle punch to cut out the sentiment. I also used it for the background scallop, which I cut in half and taped it to the back. I used one of the stars from the satin ribbon strip for the top and there you have it!

For this wedding card, I started with a light blue card stock. The background paper is part of a lo-o-o-ong sheet of specialty note paper that contains a full rainbow, clouds and four unicorns. I cut off the other three unicorns and part of the rainbow so it measures 4″ x 5″ (approximately) and used a glue runner to attach it to the base. I typed out the sentiment and cut it out using a 2″ circle punch. The wedding couple is from an old Stampin’ Up wedding stamp set. I used my Versa Mark and black embossing powder, heated it up and cut around the image.

I cut another strip of the rainbow for the inside. I typed and printed the sentiment onto white card stock, then cut it out in a cloud pattern. I finished it off by using a silver marker to outline the edges and glued down both the rainbow strip and the sentiment.

Well, that about covers it for today.

So, what did YOU do on this ‘Hump Day’?

Crafty Wednesday

I thought I’d take a break from all the Symposium stuff to show you what I did this morning. I made a card for my newest grand-niece. Since it’s the only crafty project I’ve done in awhile, I wanted to take you through the creative process – from choosing the paper, the stamps, the punches and the embellishments.

Since the card is for a baby girl, I considered the colours I would use. Pink was a definite for the main part of the card, but what went with it? I considered the polka dot pattern, then added blue for contrast. I cut out some samples of each paper to decide which combination of colours would work best together with the stamped words. Using my 3″ scalloped circle punch, my 2-1/2″ scalloped circle punch and my 2″ circle punch I cut out some of each colour and put them together. I’ll show you what I came up with in a minute.

Also, in this picture you will notice the ‘Word Play’ stamp sets. I thought the ‘So worth the wait’ stamp would be the best sentiment for inside the card.

Next, I had to decide on a design. I have two Recollections stamp sets that would be appropriate, one with animals, the other more for baby showers, although some of the phrases could be used. Since there is a turtle theme to the baby’s room, I chose that and the ‘It’s a Girl’ stamp from the other set. I also chose ‘Congratulations’ from Stampin’ Up’s wedding stamp set so that the front of the card will say ‘Congratulations. It’s a Girl!’

So, what other types of embellishments should I use? Ribbon? Let’s see what we’ve got that might look nice on a baby card…

What do you think of the wide pink polka dot ribbon on the right-hand side? The dots will go well with the theme, I think. Maybe I’ll also look in my box of silk wedding flowers, put a few pastel petals together with a pink brad. Now that I have a good idea of what I will use, I’ll put them all together. The sentiments were stamped using the Versa Mark sticky pad and black embossing powder to make the words stand out nicely.

For the main part of the card, I cut my 8-1/2″ x 11″ sheet of pink card stock in half, then folded the card so it was in a landscape orientation (4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ ). I cut out a rectangle in blue that was 3-1/4″ x 5″, then used a curved corner punch to round out the corners of both the card and the blue rectangle. I wrapped a 5-1//2″ piece of ribbon around one side of the blue rectangle attaching it on the back with two-sided sticky tape. About 2/3 of the way up the ribbon, I fastened the flower, just through the ribbon and the blue paper. Then I fastened the blue rectangle onto the front of the pink card. I used pop-up squares to fasten the scalloped polka-dot circle, then fastened the smaller pink scalloped circle in the centre of that using a glue runner. I attached the blue circle into the middle of the pink one using a glue runner and finally attached the sentiments.

On the inside, I placed a 2-1/2″ blue scalloped circle off-centre to the right and added the sentiment. Beside it, added a turtle. I stamped and embossed the turtle on some designer paper I had that was various shades of green, which reminded me of a tortoise shell. So, there you have it. A bit of insight into what goes through my head when planning to make my cards.

Is that pretty much how other scrapbookers do it, I wonder, or do they follow patterns set out by someone else? WHat do you think?

Crafty Wednesday

While Hubby & Son were helping Brother and Nephew put up drywall on Saturday, Sister-in-law & I made a few cards. I was anxious to try out a couple of new stamp sets from Stampin’ Up, ‘Rue des Fleurs’ and ‘You’re My Type’. Since I like vintage things, these two sets were right up my alley.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are two cards I made with the ‘You’re My Type’ set which is basically just the typewriter with sayings that will fit onto the paper. For the green one, I used the polka dot embossing folder on the Cuttlebug. To that I added a 3″ wide piece of yellow plaid paper and a 1″ strip of peacock feather-patterned paper. For the blue card, I used a vine-patterned Cuttlebug embossing folder. The yellow strip is only 2 1/2″ wide. The blue pattern is stamped with one of the stamps from the ‘Rue des Fleurs’ set.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the ‘Rue des Fleurs’ set there were other pretty stamps like the flower-filled corset, a parasol with clocks hanging from it and a fountain pen with flourishes flowing from its nib. You can see them in the two cards above. The scrolled ‘Thanks’ is also part of the set. On the orange card, I stamped ‘Time to’ from a set called ‘Get It In Gear’ and haven’t yet decided whether it will be turned into a birthday card or a shower invitation.

Since my brother’s anniversary is coming up, I secretly made this card for them. The horn was also from the ‘Rue des Fleurs’ set as well as the 3 patterned pieces in the centre, which I cut out separately. I tried to use two different coloured inks when stamping the horn so that it was brown and the flourishes were green, but it didn’t show up too well. I used an edging embossing folder (and the Cuttlebug) to create the impressions on the top and bottom of the card. The hearts are from another new Stampin’ Up set called ‘Sprinkled Expressions’. It comes with the heart stamp, a flower and a star with sentiments that go along with each one. I used one of my sister-in-law’s stamps for the ‘happy together’. Again, I cut a 1″ strip of peacock feather paper from the Recollections Peacock paper pack. I love that pack, as it has so many beautiful paper patterns, some with glitter.

What are some of the hobbies that YOU like to indulge in whenever you get the chance?