76 Days

There are only 76 days till Christmas! 

I am already seeing Christmas decorations out at some of our local stores. Before we know it the kids will have written their letters to Santa and will be tucked in to bed with the anticipation of Santa coming with a few goodies from their list.  BUT WAIT, have he kids been good. Have you had to warn your kids time and time again that Santa will not come unless their attitude changes? 

I put together this card for parents to slip into the mail box or to set out with their Elf On A Shelf.  I used the Elf Report Card and Santa Mail stamp sets by Jaded Blossom. 

Late Night, Lots of Kraft Paper & The Ink's Run Dry

Vintage Rustic. What do you think about when you hear Vintage Rustic, old and worn?  Here is a set of 50 cards that I put together this past week. Distressing was key in giving these cards the look that was requested. Tim Holtz Distress Ink and Rangers blending tool was used to edge the card mats. The cream paper was torn by hand to give it a distressed look, this was probably the most time consuming part of the process. The sentiment and images on the card base and mat were all stamped. I also ran a thin ribbon across the bottom to add a touch of elegance. 

When you have a set of cards this large it's important to store them properly to prevent fading and damaged corners. For this set I used a blank recipe file box to hold the cards and then provided the matching envelopes tied off in lace. On the front of the file box I made a smaller version of the card front so that when placed on a desk, it is easy to identify it's contents. 

Please let me know what you think about this card and the way it was packaged for the recipient. By the way if you like Scentsy products order from Pam at this link and you just may get one of these cards in return! Thanks Pam.

A Little Whimsy

These cards are just adorable.  I really enjoyed making these cards and look forward to purchasing more stamp sets from the Whimsy collection through Unity Stamp Co.

Lot's of Yellow...

My family and I took another short trip out of town this past week. Knowing where I would be I placed an order through Amazon for some Zig Clean Color brushes and sent then to my sister’s house so that we could play with them and so that she could decide if they were something she would use on her own crafts. Being sisters we didn't get much done but we also didn't give ourselves much time. 

Tonight I decided to sit down and color a stamp with my new zig brushes, water coloring is still very new to me and these brushes are going to take some getting used to. I can't tell you for sure which colors I used as I put them away before taking note of it. At first I really wasn't sure that I wanted to use my finished image on a card but after stepping back from it for a few minutes I decided it wasn't all that bad.  The stamps used on this card are from Unity Stamps Smile In Your Dreams. I stamped the images with the help of MISTI using Stampin Up's Early Espresso, and then re-stamped with VersaMark to allow for embossing. The image was embossed with a clear powder and the sentiment was finished in silver.  I also added a strip of washi tape that I had picked up at Tuesday Mornings awhile back, but I don't recall the manufacture name. The yellow background layer is from Heidi Grace Designs Sunshowers paper pack, which I had also picked up previously at Tuesday Mornings. All in all I like the card, but I feel like it's missing something. Please leave me a comment and tell me what if anything you think this card is missing.

A Little Encouragement Through Cards

 I believe personalized cards can be emotionally healing and a great way to provide encouragement to our loved ones. Here is a card that is fit to do just that.

Today I found some quiet time that allowed me to  sit down and play with some inks and came up with this beauty.  I wanted to create a nice soft background and was tempted to try it with watercolor until I came across the ink daubers that had been sitting a drawer. I don't have much experience using the daubers but I now see myself using this technique more frequently. Here I used the daubers to apply the grassy area using Stampin'Up Certainly Celery (a retired color) and then a VersaMagic Dewdrop Chalk Sea Breeze. I was a little heavy in spots with the ink and found it to be a bit difficult to blend the color when that occurred. 

Prior to completing my background I stamped the tree image. The tree is part of Unity Stamp Company’s Itty Bitty collection, and is called “Pain & Strength.”  I then colored the tree using my Spectrum Noir markers. I am starting to understand the process of blending with these markers but improvement is being made with each attempt.  The sentiment is one of two that is included with the Pain & Strength stamp set. I stamped the sentiment using my Misti and Memento Tuexedo Black ink and then restamped it using Versamark. I then coated it with clear embossing powder and hit it with my heat gun to give it a nice shiny look.

Once the image was completed I used Jaded Blossom's stitched card mat dies to cut out the card front and then applied it to the front of an A2 sized top fold card that I cut from 110lb cardstock. 

Trying Out Some Basic Water Coloring

Upon receiving the stamp set "Cosmo" by Technique Tuesday I found myself intimidated by the floral stamp and put it aside. Then later in the week I came across a watercolor brush that I had previously purchased on a whim.  With the exception of water coloring as a child, it was something I hadn’t yet explored.  I started pulling up some videos on the process and came across one using a water based stamp pad and the water brush, it looked simple enough so I gave it go. 

This turned out to be a simple, fun, cost effective and a beautiful approach to making a card.  I am really pleased with how the cards shown below have turned out.  I started by stamping the floral image onto 140lb water color paper with Memento Tuxedo Blank ink and then colored with Stampin’ Up ink.  The first two cards were colored with Lavender Lace and the final card was YoYo Yellow.  There is also a touch of Only Orange in the center of the flowers. To apply the color I stamped the ink pad on a clear acrylic stamp block, dipped my water brush and applied to the paper.  The Memento ink was not completely dry which allowed it to bleed into the color allowing a shading effect. I am now in search of more stamps that I can apply this technique to.

You can also see my first ever YouTube video, it the cloring of the first card. 

Shaker Card

Hello!  I apologize for being away for so long but I am back now. Lately when I get the ability to craft and I have an idea in mind that idea seems to get lost amongst all my supplies. I have too many fun things in my craft room and they often distract me, but it's not always a bad thing.

I have received lots of "happy mail" over the last couple weeks and just yeterday I received a new set of stamps from Unity that I just had to use. This shaker card was made using stamps from Unity  (cow and front sentiment), Jaded Blossom (Happy Birthday), So Suzy Stamps (Balloon) as well as Peachy Keen (birthday girl). I also used the card mat die from Jaded Blossom to make the stitiched panels and Spellbinders Nestabilities for the circle cut out.

 The shaker was made by layering watercolor paper and craft foam. I filled the space with Betty Crocker Sprinkles that had been in my pantry for  years, I figured this would be a great way to use them.   The birthday card was stamped then colored using spectrum noir markers and you can't really see it here but her hat is glittery. The cow on the inside panel was also stamped and colored in using spectrum noir.

I really enjoyed making this card and love how it turned out!

Rag Doll Thank You Card

I know she isn't Raddedy Ann but she's just as cute and  I just love the stitching on this thank you doll stamp by Peachy Keen. I colored the doll in with Spectrum Noir FS3, DR3 and TB5. The bottom row of poka dots is a stamp from My Favorite Things.

Happy "B"

I sat down in my craft room with no particular goal tonight started going through all my cut files and came across a sketch design by Rivka Wilkins called Daisy.  Then with my Silhouette I sketched out the daisy on yellow cardstock using a Silhouette Sketch Pen.  With the help of myMISTI I then applied the background stamp from Unity Stamp Co. Take Care of You kit in a copper colored ink.

Not having planned ahead I started sifting through my stamp collection and came across Jaded Blossoms Love Stings stamp collection I hadn’t yet used this stamp set and decided it was time.  Again using myMISTI I stamped the Bee amongst my daisy’s using a shimmering gold ink, then stamped it a second time with a light brown and finally a third time applying a light gray ink.  The sentiment in the lower left corner is from the same stamp collection.  I finished off my card from by running some yellow washi tape across the top and bottom. The card front was then applied to 110lb black cardstock. The back inside panel of the card is lined with the same yellow cardstock. 

Dust, Stamp, Sprinkle, Tap, Heat..... what is that you say?

Dust, stamp, sprinkle, tap and heat. Those are pretty much the steps to heat embossing, sounds pretty simple right?  It would seem to be but then when you think you have gotten it perfect you find a couple specks of color outside of your stamped area.  Just like everything else it all comes down to practice, practice makes perfect or in my case almost perfect is as close as I have yet to achieve. When you look close you can see the specks of color that are out of place in person the specks are barely noticeable but I see them.  I have to say that I am happy with the card overall, just wish I had the proper lighting to capture the true colors of the card.

In the making of this card I used:

Papertrey Ink Mum’s The Word Stamp Set

Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad

VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

Hampton Art Embossing Powder in Gold and Black

Some random Washi  tape (Black Stripe)

Green 65lb card stock –Top Layer

Cream 65lb card stock – Card Base ( I typically like to use 110lb for card bases)

Darice Heat Gun 

Bowl-Full of Comfort

I received some “Happy Mail" this week. I had ordered some stamps from Unity Stamp Company during their big sale, this was the first time ordering from them so I didn't know what to expect. I love the quality of the images that the stamps produced, however their stamps aren't stamped with the image. By that I mean the red rubber stamp was adhered to foam allowing it to cling, but they don't stamp the image on the foam so you really have to pay attention as to which direction you are holding the stamp prior to stamping. I am not sure how I feel about that, but again the image quality is there.

I produced this square card using a couple of the stamps I had ordered, and I have to say I really like how it turned out.  This is a rather large square card it measures 5 ¼ x 5 ¼ making it a great card for hand delivery, to avoid the extra postage cost. I do think that in the future any square card I make will be smaller; I found it hard to fill the space without over doing it. 

The stack of bowls and the sentiment is from Unity Stamp Company's itty bitty collection, bowl-full of comfort. I stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black and then colored it in with my Spectrum Noir markers. The stamped image behind the bowls is a background stamp from the Unity set Take Care of you, I believe this could become one of my favorite stamps from those that I own. Both of the stamped images were fussy cut and adhered to the card, prior to adhering them I added a couple of torn pieces of gold polka dot washi tape to my scrapbook paper. The green stripped paper is from The Paper Studio The Basics No. 2 paper pack. 

I would love to hear your comments and opinions on this card, so leave me a note below after you have chosen to follow my blog. Thanks for looking!

Chasing the Bug Away With Rum

When I sit down to craft or create for an order I want the product to fit the personality of the individual who has requested it. This is not always possible and sometimes my desire to do so takes away from the originality of the final product. This last week I received a request to make some get well cards from someone who collects mason jars and loves the country life. Her only request was 

that the inside of the cards read:

So Suzy Stamps #D00220

My mind almost immediately went to cards that I had previously seen variations of that used a mason jar and referenced catching a bug. Being that I had the supplies on hand to create my own version of this the mason jar card I went with it, and the client loved it. 

Inkadinkado Mason Jars 60-31236

The sentiment "Heard you caught a bug" was sketched with the Silhouette Cameo using a font titled SimpleSketch. The lady bug is a file from the Silhouette Design Store titled Bee and Ladybug Sketch, design 43496. The outline of the bug was sketched with the Silhouette Camoe and then colored in by hand using a Spectrum Noir marker. The card front was cut using the Jaded Blossom Card Mat Dies. I also used my MISTI to double stamp the mason jar.The base color of the jar is VersaMagic Sea Breeze chalk ink and the final layer is with StazOn Dove Gray.

Sunflower Shadow Box

I really like how this turned out.  My original plan was to make an all paper flower pot filled with what else but paper flowers but as I was finishing assembling the flowers I realized that I didn't have anything weighted to use as a filler. Then I recalled something I had seen on several different FaceBook craft pages, crafters were making rolled flower shadow boxes and it dawned on me that I had a shadow box frame just hanging out in my craft closet.  It's a bit hard to tell in the picture but the frame is maple and blue in color. I would have preferred a solid maple box but I was going to use what I had on hand. 

Determining how to arrange the flowers and fill the frame so that it would be balanced without actually filling it 100% with flowers was slightly challenging. I also wanted it to have a little character so I scavenged through my collection of paper and came across the textured background. The background is an 8.5 x11 piece of paper that I had purchased at Joann’s a few months back as a single sheet, it's made by The Paper Company and titled Green Floral Embossed. The paper is embossed images of leaves and flowers making it a perfect fit for this project. 

I have zoomed in on the embossed paper in an attempt to give you a better visual. 

I still have a lot to learn about photography!!

To help add some dimension prior to cutting out my leaf shapes I dabbed my green cardstock with a brown ink pad. Then after cutting out my leaves I crumbled them up in my hands and reopened them, placing them on a plastic mat so that I could apply Perfect Pearls Mist. If you look closely you can see the leaves have some shine.

The flowers themselves were made using the last two 12x12 pieces of yellow card stock that I had on hand, and they just happened to be of two different shades. The stars must have been aligned as things were falling into place perfectly. As I did with the leaves I took an ink pad this time in a bronze color and dabbed the yellow paper. For the flower centers I used a two colored double sided cardstock, one side was a dark brown the other a tan. This again was done to help add dimension to the final project. 

The sentiment on the glass that was tough. I wanted something that was catchy yet positive and fitting of the recipient. When I came across design #70844 in the SIL store I knew it was the right one.  I cut this from a permanent glossy white vinyl from Vinyl Ease and adhered it to the inside of the glass. 

This was a fun project that was inspired by a friends love of sunflowers and her crazy lifestyle. 

Let's Celebrate

Here are a few cards that I have put together recently. There have been a few others but they were mailed out without first taking a photo. During this time of year there always seems to be something to celebrate. 

Happy Mail, MISTI has arrived!

I received some goodies in the mail this week, something many of us refer to as  "Happy Mail." I have more on the way but I couldn't sit around and wait for it all to get here so I started playing around and in the end had this beautiful, confident card. 

The Happy Mail items shown above are the two the larger stamps, the top sentiment and the dress forms set. These two stamps are from So Suzy Stamps, she has some really great stamps that I can't wait to go back and purchase.  The brown/black bakers twine and then the MISTI. I am super stoked about the MISTI, a product by .My Sweet Petunia.

Here is a picture of my MISTI in action. 

This is not my picture, but it is a better picture than I was going to take at this hour.

The MISTI is a stamp alignment tool that makes stamping easy when you have multiple colors to layer or identical cards to produce. As I build up my stamp collection MISTI will be my go to tool.

Mother's Day

In case time has gotten away from you, Mother's Day is just around the corner.  About a week ago I was browsing the SIL store and purchased a card file that I wasn't overly thrilled about but I thought if nothing else I would make it up and send to one of the many "mothers" in my life. Anyways I had been struggling to come up with even a basic card design until last night when I started to cut out this card file. I finally came up with something, and I am just thrilled with how it turned out.

For my family Mother's Day wasn't just a day for mom but it often fell on my grandmothers birthday as it does this year. Although she has past I still long to honor her life, so it was only right to create a card with her in mind. This is a card that will be given to her daughter, my mother. Grandma loved her flower beds and would tend to them regularly allowing her to have fresh flowers in her kitchen all summer long. She was the most AMAZING person and a role model for many. As I put the card together I realized it was missing something, so I grabbed my markers and created the border. I think the border makes it look like "kid's refrigerator art."

The surfer on this card stock makes the perfect gardner!  I was lucky to have the perfect background in this paper stack that I had purchases on clearance this last winter. Also used in this project are three Prima flowers that I had purchased off eBay and then my Spectrum Noir markers. The sentiment "Amazing" was stamped and heat embossed, giving it a glossy shine. 

And in case  you are wondering my mother doesn't frequent the Internet so it's unlikely that she will see this post prior to receiving her card. Now off to find some more inspiration for a few of the other mothers in my life. 

"Construction Zone" Kids Birthday Party

Birthday parties are fun for the little ones, and for me it is fun to see it all come together. It's especially enjoyable when I am able to create decorations that match the choosen theme. This post will display some of the items I put together for a constuction zone themed party. 

 Our construction worker is what I like to call a layered paper doll, his name is Emmet. I obtained the Emmet file by completing a Lego themed blog hop with SVG Cutting Files the cutting file for Emmet is not an item for sale.  The do not pass , fun ahead and pit stop signs were all purchased from the SIL store. The proceed with caution sign was made using the fun ahead sign, I deleted the text and replaced it with what is shown in the picture. 

Please excuse the backdrop for the banner photos, I just simply don't have an area suitable for taking photos of larger items. These banners were made using the work zone banner flag kit.  The top banner is what is sold in the kit and then on the personalized name banner I only used the kit for the flag shapes. I like to do a personlized banner as the child can then have it for their bedroom, playroom area, or recyle it for future parties thrown in their honor. 

Last but not least my favorite part of this party package was the favor box. The tool box is a perfect size for fitting candies along with other small goodies for the guest. The thank you sign was one that I had drawn up and printed. There are several other signs, some invitiations and boxes that would all work well with this theme available in the SIL store. 

Making Your Own Enameand l Dots

Before

After

Here is the tutorial I promised you on how to make your own enamel dots. This process can be a bit time consuming, but it's totally worth it in the end. The dots that I made were done using Ikea's pyssla beads you get over 1lb of beads for $5.99, that's a price you can't beat considering you can pay $5.99 for a sheet of  only 60 enamel dots all of the same color.   Pyssla beads are very much like perler beads.  Perler beads are the ones that you place on peg boards to create a design and then melt with a hot iron, they are great for entertaining tweens. In addition to perler beads I have seen crafters make enamel dots using pony beads. 

You will need a cookie sheet, parchment paper and the beads you've selected to use. As you pre-heat your oven line your cookie sheet with parchment paper and lay out your beads. Laying out your beads can be time consuming especially if you are using small perler beads. The beads must be layed out so that they are standing up, leaving enough space for them to double in diameter as they melt. 

For pony beads set your oven at 425 and allow 8-15 minutes for the beads to melt evenly. 

For perler beads set your oven at 275 and allow 30-40 minutes for the beads to melt evenly. 

In the process of doing this I found that some colors took longer to melt. In the pictures (sorry they are not great pictures) you see the second pan that I did and it contains all the colors that seemed to take longer. You do have to watch the beads as they can burn, so don't walk away from your oven during this time be sure that you are checking them ever 5 minutes or so. There are many tutorials available on YouTube  

Spring Tree Gate Fold Card

I had seen this card being made by several on a FB page that I follow, and just loved the idea of it so I had to make my own.  Although it's creator has named it Spring Tree Gate Fold Card, with the fresh floral blooms I prefer to think if it as the Tree of Life as this card is fitting for many occasions. I just love the color combination that I put together as well, I just wish I had known to save the paper pack cover so I could tell you the shadges of green. 

This past Valentines Day...

This past Valentines Day I wanted to make a little something for my son, who I will refer to as "Flyer" becuase he is always flying through this house. I made this cute robot mailbox for him to receive Valentines at home. As you can see I kept it pretty basic no desinger papers, just added the googly eyes.  The mouth is open and drops items into the bottom box, and the belly of the robot opens allowing you to retrieve the mail. It's a cute quick project that would work great as a birthday center piece or decor in your childs playroom or bedroom.

Knowing that I wasn't going to receive any flowers or chocolates for Valentines day, I decided to make myself a box of roses. Here I have a dozen roses in the form of a large box card. This box card will fold flat to allow for storage or shipping. 

Both of this projects were made using files from the SIL store. 

Words of Comfort

Whether you pray to God or another object of worship, the phrase "Praying for you" is commonly used when comforting another being. Here is a set of simple cards to let others know that we are thinking of them and praying in their time of need. 

This card design is available in the SIL store and is listed as design #61999. The file does not include the four corner dots, in each corner I added an enamel dot. I made the dots using Pyssla beads that I had purchased at Ikea, this are also known as pearler beads.  I will try and post a brief tutorial on how to make your own enamel dots in the near future.  

Easter Morning!

Many children woke up today to fin that all sorts of edible bunny's had been left for them to enjoy.  Instead of hopping on the bunny bandwagon this year, I whipped up this adorable owl treat box.  You can't tell here but the owl is double sided. 

I wanted to do something a little different to embellish my owl, so I turned to my drawer of washi tape as I have been wanting to try cutting it with my Cameo.  I applied the tape to a piece of white card stock that I had pulled out of my scrape drawer and it worked perfectly. I think this is reason enough to start building up my washi tape supplies. 

Happy Easter!

Mini Photo Album

Happy Hump Day! I was looking for a quick project the other day and come across this mini album. I have had some pictures that I have been meaning to print and send out to a relative, this was the perfect push to finally get that done.  This album comes with eight pockets, intended to be used for photos or life cards and measure 4"x 6".

I completed the eight pockets placing two photo's in each one. You could easily add more pockets to fit your need as there is plenty of room to do so using the given binding. Without using too much dimension the front of the first pocket would be an ideal space to add embellishments or an album title.

The album cut file also includes a storage box. The box does require 12" x 12" paper, I used a heavy  printed cardstock by Darice. The pockets for the album each require 8.5" x 11" cardstock.  The creator of the file is Lori Whitlock and she has provided a great tutorial on assembly.