Sunday, December 27, 2009

January Bulletin Board

Suppplies:
  • Blue/White/Light Blue Card-stock
  • Snowflake die cut (sizzix)
  • Liquid Applique
  • White Glitter
  • Martha Stewart Lace Punch
  • Numberic Border - (Limited Edition)
  • Garden of Bee Balm Wreath - (Rubber Stamp Tapestry)
  • Various inks
  • calendar from here
  • dimensional pop ups

Monday, December 21, 2009

Cardinal Tag

I made this very quick card "tag" for a gift we were giving today.  Since my f-i-l's birthday is in December we waiting until they arrived at our house (for Christmas) to give him his b-day gift.  He loves birds/flowers/gardening etc. AND it matched the present we were giving him (in color at least). I modeled it after the punch art cardinals I've seen on splitcoast, but not having any of the right punches I improvised with templates and freehand cut the smaller pieces.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Christmas Rose


Decided to experiment with my blossom nestabilities today.  After cutting one of each size (except the next to smallest one), I embossed them with the script embossing folder.  Then I cut into the flower at each indention and curled the edges around my paper piercing tool.  (The smallest blossoms were curled around the thin pointy end.)  Layer one inside the other and add a few beads to the center and you have a "Christmas Rose!"  The leaves were cut freehand and embossed/curled.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Birdhouse Calendar



My friend has been posting frugal ideas for Christmas.  Well here's one of my own "frugal" gift giving ideas......homemade calendars (for hanging on the fridge).
I actually made these calendars for my sister/mother/sister-in-laws, and was going to stop at that.  BUT I needed a gift for two of my husbands co-workers (ladies), so I made two more.  I'm posting one of them here, as it's slightly different than the others I made.  This one I turned into a birdhouse (for a lady who loves birds and anything to do with them).  It was actually my seven year old daughters idea to cut the chimney off the house and turn it into a birdhouse.  Decided to add some extra "bling" and make a butterfly fluttering out the top.

Poinsettia

INSIDE


A friend ask me to make a card for her niece.  She picked the sentiment she wanted in it, and gave me free reign to design her special card.  I chose to make a Poinsettia card, and am very pleased with how it turned out.
Supplies:
  • White/Red/Green Card stock
  • Martha Stewart Lace punch
  • Textile Embossing Folder
  • Beads
  • Brown Ink (on edges)
  • Template from Mainly Flowers -- No Tools needed patterns

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Other Vintage Cards





 
I used the same basic technique and supplies as I used making my vintage Christmas cards (here and here) with clip art from these two sites.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Let it Snow!

Trying to wrap up my Christmas gifts.  I made a set of these for a friend that LOVES snowmen and hinted that she'd like some snowmen cards for Christmas!
Snowman Stamp - Inkadinkadoo
Border Stamped with these stamps (Rubber Stamp Tapestry)
A set of five stamps that you use to build wreaths, swags, borders etc.  

Matted the stamped image three times, added a little color with markers, placed a ribbon/bow/snowflake brad in the corner and wa - la -- all finished!  Oh, forgot to add that I used Liquid Applique and glitter to make the snow on top the snowman.
One more gift checked off the list!

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

More Vintage Christmas


Sharing three more vintage "Christmas" cards. Though you don't usually think of pink as a Christmas color -- I like how they turned out.  The first two have images from this site. The last one's image comes from here. I actually made four of the last one as a gift. 
Other supplies used inlcude:
  • snowflake embossing folder
  • script embossing folder
  • snowflake die
  • white/brown/black inkpads (inking edges and over embossing)
  • Etched Holly Stamp (Rubber Stampede) THANKS MOM!
  • Gold embossing powder
  • Misc. Card Stock

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Vintage Christmas


Sharing a few cards I made this past week-end for Christmas.  I'm actually NOT making my Christmas cards this year as I just don't have time (one of those things I should have done back in July!). IF I were making my cards.....this is what they'd look like as I'm very pleased with how these turned out.  I did need a few cards for Christmas gifts from our church though, so here are the three I made.  I used images from Clearly Vintage on all three.
Other supplies used:
  • Script embossing folder
  • Snowflake embossing folder
  • Textile/Swiss Dots embossing folders (on the flowers)
  • Blossom Die cuts
  • Sun Punch (centers of flowers)
  • Misc. Buttons
  • Brown/Black/White ink (for inking edges and swiping over the embossed card
  • Misc. card stock
Stay tuned for a few more vintage cards coming up tomorrow!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Glittered Images

Here is my first attempt at a new technique...using embossable window plastic and glitter.  How it works: Stamp your image on your embossable plastic using  Stazon ink.  Turn plastic over and apply glue (that dries clear) to one section.  Sprinkle the glue with your choice of glitter -- shake off excess and move on to a new color.  After the image and glue are dry attach your plastic to coordinating cardstock.  The lady I learned this from (Nora) says to start with the darkest areas first and work your way to the lightest.  (You'll notice I forgot this part of the directions till too late -- my star has some blue bleeding through the yellow!)

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

December Bulletin Board

Here's the December bulletin board decoration for church.
The angel is a paper piecing from Annie Lang's 202 Paper Piecing.  
I stamped a branch all around the tree to give it the pine look - added a star, tree trunk, and punched out letters to finish it off.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

More calendars

Thought I'd post a few pictures of the calendars made (over Thanksgiving) by my Mom, Sister, and Sister-in-law.  Thursday night after supper we cleared the table and got down to scrapping.  Four of the calendars  in the previous post were for these three (and another sister-in-law who wasn't able to come till Friday).  I figured they would enjoy making some of their own for gifts this year so I took supplies along to do so....I was right.  I didn't quite anticipate just how much fun they would have making them though.  By the time it was all said and down each of them had turned out five calendars.  Both my mom and sister have never done any kind of paper crafting before, but they seemed to really enjoy making these very practical and decorative gifts.
Here are a few pictures of the first two completed by each of the ladies.

Mom's calendars

My sister's creations

My sister-in-laws calendars
I don't think you'd guess that the first two ladies don't paper craft on a regular basis -- they did a great job on their projects.  We had such a fun time together talking, laughing, and paper crafting.

While up north I also got to visit my all time favorite shop -- run by a sweet lady named Nora.  She has oodles of stamps and other paper crafting supplies for a very reasonable (and considerably lower than the chain stores) price.
Can't wait to share a new technique I learned while there, and also some build a scene stamp ideas.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Recycled Cereal Box Calendars


Tea Cup Calendar

Teacup Calendar #2


Purse Calendar

Home Calendar

Teapot Calendar
I interrupt the 4x6 calendar pages to present an easier and faster method of making calendars for gifts.  Got to thinking how long it would take to make individual calendar pages for all the people I wanted to give them too, and went in search of a simpler method.  Splitcoast Stampers proved helpful in selecting a new method...the above are my latest creations with 2010 tear off calendars attached.  All five of these are made using cereal boxes and paper from K & Company Hannah Scrap Pad.  I used my Blossom nestabilites to make the big flowers (most have a sun punch out in the center), and various flower punches for small flowers. The two border punches used were Martha Stewart lace punch and Fleur Delis punch. I stamped every page of the calendar with something that coordinated with the shape of the card. To give you an idea of how big they are -- they measure around 6 x 8 inches.
These were so easy and LOTS of fun.  Wish the pictures would do justice to them -- they look so much prettier in real life.
(Side Note: I gave Teacup #2 away last night to a very good friend [who thoroughly enjoys drinking tea] and she loved it!  After making five calendars in this way I can now whip one up in no time!) 

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Link

If you're running short on time and want something cute to adorn your Thanksgiving table --- heres a link for some very cute and simple place cards.
A not so simple, but totally adorable "Christmas House."  Here's the link --- the lady does the same thing I do (my friend Becky taught me this trick) --- buying "containers" to rip apart and make a pattern out of.   Becky made the cutest "ornaments" one year from a template made from a thrift store purchase.  Ever after I keep my eyes open for things to rip apart and use as templates.

April Calendar Page


April's Page --Supplies used:
  • Digital Image from Magical Monday
  • Frog Stamp
  • Flower Stamp
  • Misc. Scrap card-stock
  • Markers - Ink
  • Corner Punch

Friday, November 20, 2009

March Calendar Page


Here's the page for March
Supplies:

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Calendar Gift - January - Febryary

I've had this project in mind for quite a while now, just really didn't have (and still don't have) the time to get it finished.  Since I'm finally finished with Thanksgiving Place Cards (here and here) - I hope to have some time to work on this project (If nothing else I'll squeeze it in while my daughter does seatwork!).
Here's the project --- making a small magnetic calendar for the fridge.  I used a 4 x 6 in. magnetic photo frame (found a stack of them at the thrift store for something like 30 cents a piece!) and am making individual "pages" to be cycled throughout the year according to the month.I Googled "printable calendar 2010" and found calendar pages for next year. Copied them and pasted them in Word and then shrunk them to the size I needed

Here's January's page

Supplies
  • Free stamp set that came with "Card making and Paper Craft" magazine
  • Hampton Art Relaxed Snowman Stamp
  • Snowflake Punch
  • Markers - Blue Ink
  • Snow writer
  • Misc. Paper 
 February's Page shows the page half way in the magnetic photo frame to give you an idea of what it is I'm talking about

Supplies
  • Misc. Scrap Paper
  • Rubber Stampede Hogs and Kisses Stamp
  • Studio G Heart Stamp
  • Markers - Red Ink
  • Heart Punch
  • Corner Punch
I'll be posting more pages as I get them done.... I'm hoping to make up a few of these to give as Christmas gifts this year.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Snow Globe


An extra special card for an extra special "somebody" who has a birthday in December! I went through all kinds of tortures making this creation, but in the end I'm happy with the results.  It will match the gift I got perfectly, but I can't say anymore because "somebody" reads my blog!

Supplies:
  • Circle template
  • Snowflake die cuts 
  • Swiss Dots embossing folder
  • Snow flake punch
  • Snowman sticker
  • Snow Writer and White glitter
  • Silver embossing powder
  • Blue ink
  • Blue/White cardstock
  • Blue marker
  • Small snowflake stamp

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Mayflower Place Cards

I finished the place cards for the adults last night, and wanted something a little more "fun" for the kids.Nothing struck me so I gave up and went to browsing the web.  Then I hit upon these Mayflower ships( with the template here and her ship's picture here). I thought these would be cute as part of a centerpiece, but they were too big for what I wanted them for. I found Martha Stewarts template to be just the right size when printed.
Here's my interpretation of Mayflower Place Cards.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Music Card


A card for a man ---
Black cardstock embossed with music folder.  Violin from Leaves of Time - printed on dark brown paper.  Key hold template from Mel McCarthy (Mel Stampz).

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Tractor Paper Piecing


Made two of these as "thank you" cards for two farmers who help keep the parsonage/church yard looking nice all summer long.  I got the paper piecing pattern from Four Twin Sisters web site.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Thanksgiving Place Cards

Thanksgiving will be at my oldest brother's house this year.  I can hardly wait.  I love both the holiday and time shared with my family!
I volunteered to make place cards for everyone -- here is what I've come up with for the adults.
Supplies:
  • Free image ( a few weeks ago) from Magic in the Air  
  • Blossom Nestabilites
  • Markers
  • Colored Pencils
  • Brown Got Flowers
  • Leaf Punch
  • "Girls are Weird" die cut letters
  • Swiss dots embossing folder
  • Textile embossing folder
  • Red/Brown/Tan cardstock

Sunday, November 1, 2009

With Sympathy

Another sympathy card for a friend who recently lost her mother.  I wanted the card to look warm and comforting and convey just how sorry we are.  At first I thought maybe the teddy bears would be too childish, but I really liked how the boy bear had his arm around the girl bear -- it looked comforting to me.  You'll notice the bears mouths are not "happy" mouths, but rather turned down in a sad little look.  I used the Swiss dots embossing folder on their clothes and inked over it to make the dots stand out.  Chalked their cheeks with pink chalk (also used it inside the card on the edges of the lace).  The lace is made with the Martha Stewart lace punch, and the letters are die cuts - I think their name is "Girls are Weird." This is another paper piecing from 101 Paper Piecing Patterns.  I'm getting a lot of use out of that book!


Inside

Friday, October 30, 2009

Happy November (a little early)


The November Bulletin Board decoration I created for church. Got the turkey pattern from the book --- 201 Paper Piecing Patterns (and found it for mere cents on Amazon)!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Makayla's card

My 6 (almost 7) year old "built" this card for her friend Ryan out of stickers. I was busy working away and she brought me her creation --- have to say I was surprised at how neat it turned out! She used a green border sticker for grass and drew the tree limb to put the birds on.  Pretty creative for her age, if you ask me (but then I'm her mom right?!).

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Christmas Moose

The free image over at Digital Delights last Friday was this moose. I knew when I saw him that I'd have to make those legs dangle.  I have a friend who loves anything with legs that dangle so I'll probably give the card to her (maybe even make her some).

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Two for Tuesday

I was so thrilled when Cora ask me to guest design for her blog - Two For Tuesday - this week.  Using the two images she sent me here is what I made...
The first item is an altered notebook
Materials used:
  • Composition Book
  • Denim Paper (covered notebook in)
  • Star Punch (pink, white, yellow stars on the notebook)
  • Image from Two for Tuesday
    • Printed on dark blue cardstock - little lady printed on white and layered over top - sentiment on pink and layered
  • Watercolor Pencils (colored image)
  • Snow Writer - Dimensional snow  (on moon)
  • Prisma Startdust Glitter (around image)
  • Transparent Embossing Powder (on small stars and poem)
The second item - A Hawaiian Card
Materials used:
  • Two for Tuesday clip art (I printed two and cut out three flowers to slide in behind the Hawaiian scene)
  • Palm Tree clip art from here
  • Photoshop brush from here
  • Swirls embossing folder
  • Watercolor pencils (coloring Hawaiian scene)
  • Bic Markers (coloring Two for Tuesday clip art)
  • Circle Template (cutting out Hawaiian scene)

Monday, October 26, 2009

A Knight in Shining Armor

One of my daughter's friends has a birthday party next week.  I purchased his gift a few weeks ago (While shopping with his mom recently I heard him asking for a knight/horse - hopefully he still wants something along that line....cause that's what he's getting!) - I wanted a card in the same theme as his present...
The card is one of these (she gave me a couple in my birthday present!)

Knight image from here (colored with Bic markers)
Swords are die cuts (from the Kids Cuttlebug Pirate set)
Name is Bubbles die cut letters
Since this card is really an envelope card - I decided to put some Knight pictures/puzzles inside for him to color - got them here
Here's a picture of the gift --- I found these knights/horses/dragon at A.C. Moore a few weeks back (on sale too!) -- then later in the day I found the helmet and simply could not pass it up.  Ryan likes to dress up as things (At least I assume he does from all the different dress up things he has --- fireman, astronaut etc.) - so what better gift -- he can be a knight or play knight either one. Maybe I'll have to see if I can find a play sword to go with it too!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Space

A very special nephew is turning 10 later this month and I needed something "masculine."To be honest masculine cards are hard for me --- I do much better with lace and flowers.Here's what I came up with this time...
  • The astronaut came from here
  • The moon came from here (has transparent embossing powder on it to make it sparkle)
  • Stars are punched
  • Background embossed with bubbles (?) embossing folder

The inside looks like this....


Art work and word art from Microsoft Word

Thursday, October 22, 2009

More Blossoms

Same paper - different layout.  Just messing around with my Blossom Nestabilities.
I embossed each layer of the blossom with a different embossing folder and inked over it to make it stand out better.

This one was so simple, but I really like it.
This was one thing I was looking forward to - making shape cards without all the hassle of cutting it out by hand.