Friday, May 28, 2010

Feminine Graduation Cards

Here are two feminine graduation cards I made for this year.  Have one more to do (masculine for a nephew).  One of these is for a Kindergarten Grad and one for a High School Grad.
Supplies used:
  • Graduate Stamp (Me and My Big Ideas - Inkadinkadoo)
  • Crayola Markers
  • Congratulations Stamp (Hampton Arts)
  • DP - Bermuda Shorts (Pink Paislee)
  • MS Daisy Dot Border Punch
  • Fleur de lis punch 

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Pocket Envelope Mini Album

My daughter wanted a mini album of her own to decorate.  She decided she'd like to have the envelope/pocket album so I helped her to make it up.  It was a very simple/fast/easy/"frugal" album to create....here's how it goes:
1.  Here's what we started with ----- a stack of 11 envelopes from junk mail (i.e. credit cards applications/magazine subscriptions/even bills if you pay on-line and don't use the envelope enclosed).
2. Seal the envelopes and then cut off ONE end making the envelope the size you'd like your album to be.  (We went with 5 inches)
3. Cover each side of your envelope with your choice of patterned (or solid) cardstock
4. Punch holes for comb binding (or choose a different binding method -- ribbon, rings etc.)
5. Cut two pieces of cardboard slightly larger than your envelopes and cover one side of each piece to form the front and back cover.

6. Bind Together with comb binding and you have a mini album all ready to decorate!
Here are some of the inside pages (my daughter went through the scrap bin and picked the papers she wanted in her album).

Inside the front cover

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

I Challenge You - Scraps

My friend picked the challenge for this week, and it was....."Use your scraps in making your cards."As I understood any leftover scraps were fair game.  Since I recently cleaned out my bin of images/sentiments/flowers that never made it onto projects I didn't have a lot to use in that area.  BUT....I have a pretty big scrap bin (of leftover bits of paper), so I decided to go that route in making my cards.  As you will notice, once I got started I couldn't quit.  I had so much fun making up these "room" cards from the images over at Birds Cards. 
Supplies:
  • All the paper on these cards came out of my scrap bin
  • The flowers are from a scrap pile (from borders punched with the MS Daisy Dot border punch)
  • Images:
  • MS Scoring Board (used to make the lines on the wall and the floor)
  • Crayola markers (used on the walls -- to make the stripes and to highlight chairs)
  • Small square punch (used to make the photo corners)
  • Black Bic Marker (used to color the bottom of the chair and lamp)
  • Fleur de lis border punch (EK Success)
Now go here and see the projects my friend created from here scraps.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Mitten Mini Album post #3

Pages seven and eight of mini mitten album
Back page
Supplies (other than those listed Friday and Monday)
  • Provo Craft Snowflake die cut

Monday, May 24, 2010

Mitten Mini Album post #2

Pages three and four of my mini mitten album.
Pages five and six
Supplies used (other than those listed in Friday's post)
  • Fabric Stickers (Hot off the Press)
  • Snowflake punch
  • White glitter
  • MS Branch Punch

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Link

Added another link to the mini album post below.  Keep finding more inspiration -- fun!

Friday, May 21, 2010

Mitten Mini Album


As I mentioned two posts ago -- mini albums seem to be my niche!  Well here's one that I just completed....a mitten album about the "big" snow we got this year. I put the word "big" in parenthesis because it wasn't really all that big to the people up north, but for those living here it was a BIG deal.  One person told me that they hadn't seen a snow this "big" in 30 yrs. --- that being 9 inches.  The thing that really made it wonderful (to this girl from the north) was that it stayed around for more than one day!! Anyway, I wanted to make an album about this first REAL snow since we've moved here 5 years ago.
Above is the cover and here is the first two pages:


Supplies used:
  • All DP - K and Company - Classics
  • Snowflake brads
  • Blue/Pink/Silver Fibers (to tie together)
  • Blue Gingham Ribbon
  • Blue/Pink ink (to ink edges)
  • Alpha Punch Outs (Colorbok)
  • Snowflake stickers
  • White Flocking (on mini mitten tops)
  • Mitten Template from here (I copied to Word and enlarged it for the album template and shrunk it for the little mittens inside)
This album was SO MUCH FUN to make, and very rewarding when finished!  I'll post more of the inside pages on Monday....come back then!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Leftover Card

For this card I used leftover pieces from my scrap bin.  The image came from Two For Tuesday, I loved it and colored several of them at once.  The verse was printed on my computer. The rose came from Birds Cards - printed three times and layered.  I recently went through my "scrap bin" and cleaned it out -- these are the few things that didn't get discarded.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Mini Albums - Book Review


This post is for my friends Lauren --- new to scrapbooking and excited about mini albums.  I sent her home with a paper bag book to decorate and a whole bunch of patterns.  This book came the day after she left, and I know she would have LOVED all the ideas in it.  Thought I'd post about it on here, in case my other readers were in need of mini album inspiration.

I recently purchased (from Amazon at a greatly reduced price) "Outstanding Mini Albums" by Jessica Acs (Mother's Day money)-- and must say I was very pleased with the book.  A lot of times I see books that I think would be interesting/helpful/exciting, but upon looking inside I discover they aren't all they are cracked up to be.  Well, this book isn't like that at all, in fact it was MORE than I could have hoped for.
Since mini albums are my niche I'm always looking for fun/new ways/materials to create them.  This book is divided into four sections....
1. Make Your Mark (Decorating pre-made mini albums)
2. Back to Square One (Creating Mini Albums from scratch)
3. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (Making Mini Albums out of everyday Items)
4. Think Outside the Box (crafting unique mini albums gifts)
If you're like me in that scrapbooking your life chronologically is way to overwhelming and not conducive to your short attention span, mini albums of "events" in your life are the way to go.  They are also a lot of fun to give as gifts as well.  So here's a plug for "50 ideas for creating mini scrapbooks!"
Thought I'd include a few sites on-line that have ideas/tutorials for mini albums as well.
1. Scrapbook crazy
2. Making Mini Scrapbooks
3. Mini Books 
4. Splitcoast Stampers Mini Album tutorials
5. Splitcoast Mini Album Gallery
6. Splitcoast Books, Handmade Albums, journals gallery
7. Crazy about Mini Albums (This site has some amazing albums! Thinking that mitten one might be the shape I choose to do our snow pics from this year!)
8. Gallery of Mini Albums on Flickr (lots of inspiration --- currently 3,099!)

Monday, May 17, 2010

Masculine Car

Needed a masculine birthday card and was so happy for my Creative Stamping Kit that gave me both the image and the inspiration.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I don't like to follow "recipes" (whether it be cooking recipes or cardmaking recipes) exactly....I'd rather tweak them a little to make them my own.  So...my card isn't exactly like theirs....I made it my own.
You may be thinking that I like my MS branch punch a little too much (adding branches to a masculine car card??), but in reality I did a big "whoops!"  When I was inking the "Happy Birthday" stamp I dropped the ink pad on the top of the card ---- I was too far along to start over and didn't want to waste my supplies, so the only thing I knew to do was cover it up.  You can ALWAYS add a flower here or there to a feminine card, but what to do on a masculine card?????  Branches was all I could come up with so branches it was.
Supplies used:
  • Stamps, Brads, Plaid DP, brown card, ink, ribbon --- all from Distinctly Classic Creative Stamping
  • Red/Brown Cardstock
  • MS Branch Punch

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Tractor

A get well card for a farm boy in the hospital.  (This picture makes it look like a square white card with the tractor in the middle....actually it's a scallop circle shape card laid on a white piece of cardstock for the photo!)
Supplies:
  • Clipart from my computer (tractor, chick)
  • Crayola Markers
  • Circle/Scallop Nestabilities
  • Die cut tags (provo craft)
  • Red Fiber
  • Star Eylet
  • Black/Red/White cardstock

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

I Challenge You - Scripture

My turn to pick the challenge again, and this is what it was "Use Scripture somewhere on your card."

Unfortunately my week was extra, super busy and I only got a few projects done.
 Supplies used:
  • Computer/printer (Scripture)
  • Black/ Yellow Cardstock
  • White embossing powder
  • White paint pen
  • Fleur de lis punch (EK Success)
  • Utopiary Clear Stamp (Inkadinkadoo)
This card I'm entering in the Stampin' Sisters In Christ challenge for this week --- use blue/brown/white on your card.
 Supplies used:
  • "Thy Word is a Lamp" (Rubber Stampede)
  • Pearluster Sapphire Embossing powder
  • Blue/Brown Cardstock
  • Brown Floral Paper (Everyday Stack)
  • MS Branch Punch
  • Seahorse Punch
  • Fleur de lis border punch (EK Success)

Supplies:
  • Black-eyed Susan Paper Shapers (EK Success)
  • MS Branch Punch
  • Silhouette from here
  • Scripture added on computer
  • DP - Bermuda Shorts (Pink Paislee)
    Now go here to see what my friend created in these two weeks.
    Here's my sneak peak card from last week.

    Tuesday, May 11, 2010

    CAS Rose Cards

    I needed a quick make gift for Mother's Day so here are the CAS (Clean And Simple) cards I came up with.
    I made two of each for a set of six, and stamped the same rose on the envelopes in matching ink.
    Supplies used:
    • Rose Stamp Set (Heartfelt Creations)
    • Blossom Nestabilties
    • MS Branch punch
    • Chalks
    • Textile Embossing Folder

    Monday, May 10, 2010

    Small Mother's Day Gifts

    As you can see I'm making good use of my rose stamps from Heartfelt Creations!  I made 26 of these little bundles this week.  Though you can't see it the belly band under that rose is punched (on both sides) with the MS Daisy Dot border punch.  That combined with all those little MS branches gave my hand a workout in punching!  I burnt the midnight oil several nights trying to get all of these punches, stamped, embossed, and assembled.
    The packet includes a matchbook notebook, pack of flower seeds, and a peppermint pattie.
    Supplies used:
    • Rose Stamps (Heartfelt Creations)
    • Blossom Nestabilites
    • MS Branch Punch
    • MS Daisy Dot Border Punch
    • Transparent Embossing Powder
    • Yellow/Purple Cardstock

    Friday, May 7, 2010

    Mother's Day Hats


    My 7 year old wanted to make two more Mother's Day cards to give.....one for an adopted Nana and one for her special SS teacher.   She came up with the idea of the hats and picked everything she wanted on them. I helped her with it (obviously she didn't do the big flowers!).
    Here are the supplies we used:
    • MS Branch punch
    • Scallop Circle punch (for flowers)
    • Misc. ribbon
    We had a lot of fun working together on these projects.

    Thursday, May 6, 2010

    Another Birthday Purse

    I'm afraid I'm not keeping up with birthday's nearly as well as I'd like to!  This will be a little late, but it's going to a special little lady who had a birthday yesterday!  I made her two sisters purses for their birthday's (here and here) and so I thought I'd continue the theme with her.
    Supplies used:
    • Blossom II Nestabilities
    • Sunflower stamps (Heartfelt Creations)
    • Versa Mark
    • Brown/Yellow Chalk (sunflowers)
    • Gold Glitter (center of flower)
    • MS Daisy Dot Border punch
    • Brown Ribbon

    Wednesday, May 5, 2010

    I Challenge You - Sneak Peek


    Here is a sneak peek into next week's I Challenge You.  You'll have to return next Wednesday to see what the challenge is.  Just realized how often I use my Cuttlebug.  There is rarely a card or project that I don't use it on.........and to think that one year ago I thought I could live without one!  (Well, I could live without it, but I do use it A LOT!!!)
    Supplies used:
    • Blossom Nestabilites
    • Rose Stamp (Heartfelt Creations)
    • Pink and Transparent Embossing Powders
    • Flourish Accent (Spellbinders Shapeabilities)
    • Textile Embossing Folder
    • MS Branch Punch
    • Pink Rhinestones
    • Pink Chalk (highlighted words)
    • Misc. Cardstock and DP from my scrap bin
    Thought I'd include a plug for a company I just recently discovered (thanks to my s-i-l!).  They make stamps to match some of the nestabilities.  Thanks to and early Mother's Day present and a discount code (sorry it's expired now) I got the above rose set.  The company is Heartfelt Creations - visit their site here.

      Tuesday, May 4, 2010

      Monogrammed Cards Cont.

      The other three monogrammed cards.
      Supplies used:
      • Rose digital image from here
      • Monogram - Word Art on my computer
      • Crayola markers
      • MS Daisy dot border punch
      • Circle Scallop Nestabilities
      • Misc. Ribbon
      • Misc. Carstock
      • Misc. DP

      Monday, May 3, 2010

      Monogrammed Cards

      Here are the first three cards in  a set of monogrammed cards I made for a gift.   I (obviously) have someone in mind to give this set to, but not sure just which occasion (of the ones coming up in the next few months) to use them.
      I made all the cards in the same basic design, but changed some of the little details on them so that no two are exactly alike.
      Supplies used:
      • Rose digital image from here
      • Monogram - Word Art on my computer
      • Crayola markers
      • MS Daisy dot border punch
      • Circle Scallop Nestabilities
      • Misc. Ribbon
      • Misc. Carstock
      • Misc. DP
      Tomorrow I'll post the other three

        Saturday, May 1, 2010

        May Bulletin Board


        Here's the decoration for the bulletin board for the month of May.
        Supplies used:
        • Free digital image from Birds Cards
        • Crayola Markers
        • Scallop Circle Nestabilities 
        • (For the technique I used to make these flowers see this post)
        • MS branch punch 
        • Scallop Scissors 
        • Wide pink ribbon