1st Birthday - Boy

A friend asked me to make a b-day card for her grandson's 1st birthday.  The party is going to be a rock n roll theme.  She said he loves drums so this is what I came up with.


The drum is from the "Joys of the Season" cartridge.  I found the star on "Accent Essentials" and the words "You rock" are on the Jubilee cartridge.  I use glossy red and glossy gold cardstock for the images.  Gold stickles were added to the corners of the cuts but that is hard to see in the photo. I made the card 5x7 so that the images weren't so small.

The inside of the card reads "Grandson, Sound the trumpets, beat the drum.  Happy Birthday, today you're ONE."

I also stamped some music notes on the inside around the verse.  I'm going to take the card to her tomorrow.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Hope this is what she had in mind. 

Birthday Fiddle

Here is a card that I made for my son's 30th birthday.  I wanted a card that was masculine but still slightly humerous. 



The "fiddle" was stamped onto Stampin Up Very Vanilla cardstock with Aged Mahogany Distress Ink and embossed with clear EB.  The edges were inked with the Aged Mahogany and Walnut Stain inks.  I added the music notes to tie the image to the saying.  The striped paper has a glossy shine.  I found this at an expo 2 weeks ago.  I love the colors for a masculine card.  Embellishing a guy card is always hard for me.  No flowers, bows, etc.  I had the metal buckle and threaded 3 ribbon strands through it.  Gives the card a finishing touch without being "girlie", don't you think?

Minnie Mouse birthday card

My Granddaughter's 3rd birthday is coming soon.  I dusted off my cricut for this one.  Using the Mickey & Friends cartridge I cut out Minnie Mouse.  I used a glossy black cardstock for the base of the image.  It sure makes the other pieces "pop".  The roses are a border image from that cartridge also.  I flocked the roses then added glitter to them.  The Happy Birthday is from the Beyond Birthdays cartridge. 

The background paper was some that I had made for me at a convention 2 years ago.  I had been hording it for a special occasion and decided this was that occasion. 

My cricut started making this "clunking" noise while it was cutting.  Sure hope my baby bug is not getting ready to croke! 

Sympathy Card

My friend's brother passed away and I wanted to make a nice card for her.  I realized I didn't have any stamps for making sympathy cards so I took an afternoon and went to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and Joanne's.  The pickins were slim but I managed to come up with a couple of stamps.  I know what I'll be looking for at the next expo I go to.

I used Black Magic cardstock and a Cuddlebug embossing folder to create the background. I sanded the embossing to bring out the green design.

The flowers were stamped in Olive Green Stazon then colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  I went over the image with a Versamark pen and heat set clear embossing powder.  I used a script background stamp and Dove Gray Stazon to add the script on top of the flowers. 

The cardstock is Stampin Up River Rock.

Here is the inside of the card:

It's hard to be creative when you are sad.  But I'm sure she will appreciate the thought.

The Calm After the Storm

Here in Wisconsin we have been having some pretty scary storms for the past 2 weeks.  Which is why I haven't been creating much.  We have lost power almost every evening so I have all my toys unplugged!  The other evening after one of the storms passed through I noticed this orange glow coming from my living room windows.  When I looked I saw this absolutely beautiful sunset!  I snatched up my camera and ran outside to snap a few pictures.  This one is my favorite. Isn't this pretty?

Underconstruction....

Please bear with me as I redesign my blog.  The publisher of the old layout is no longer.....

Karen's Doodles Easel Card

I wanted to try my hand at making an easel card.  I got the instructions from Split Coast Stampers.  The image is another Karen's Doodles. 



All the paper is Stampin Up.  I colored the image with Prismacolor Pencils and added Stickles to the flowers.  The corner is a chipboard piece covered in SU paper and tied with fuzzy yarn.

The border punch was a gift from a friend.  It is a set sold by Oriental Trading and comes with 6 different punches.  I love the look of these leaves.

All the edges were inked with SU inks.

Here is a side view of the card:



Isn't this cool?

Another Flower Bear Card

I love coloring this cute little bear so I made another card.  This one is going to a friend as a thank you for some terrific goodies she passed my way.

I have been having trouble with my camera.  The blue paper is more purple in color but after taking over 50 photos at different settings I can't get my camera to see it as purple!  Time for a new camera?  Anyway it's a cute card no matter what color it is. LOL



I used a lot of pop-dots on this one.


 I can't decide if I should stamp "Thanks" on the front of the card or make a small tag....  What do you think?

Karen's Doodles - Challenge #17

Red White & Blue is the Challenge colors at Karen's Doodles USA Challenge blog.  Click here to check it out.  This is my entry.  Cruisin' - Celebrate Freedom



Card Recipe
Stamps:  Karen's Doodles Cruisin' & Studio G Celebrate Freedom
Paper:  Stampin Up Whisper White Cardstock, Paper Studio Designer Paper & The Paper Patch Red & Navy Allstars Vellum
Ink:  Stampin Up Real Red
Tools:  Crop-a-dile, Sissors, Paper Trimmer, ATG tape, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots
Embellishments:  Rhinestones, ribbon, eyelets, brads
Other:  Prismacolor Pencils, Mineral Spirits, Sakura Gelly Roll Glitter Pens

I loved the "Flag" paper but it seemed too bright so I topped it with the vellum.  The image was colored with both colored pencils and glitter pens.  Glossy accents was added to the sun glasses and headlights.  Here is a closeup.  You can click on the picture for a larger view.



I love how carefree these 2 look.  Arent' they cute?

Rubbernecker's Ethel

Isn't she a pistol?  I love the expressions on these old character stamps.  I started this card at a friends house this past weekend and finally finished her at home.

Ethel was stamped in Stazon Black and colored with Prismacolor Pencils.  After matting the image I added a lace frame.  The buttons are from Stampin Up.  All the DP is Paper Studio from Hobby Lobby.

The inside sentiment reads:  "I'm in shape. Round's a shape isn't it?"  A perfect card to give as encouragement to a friend that is trying to lose weight.

Karen's Doodles Challenge #16

I created this card as my entry in Karen's Doodles USA Challenge #16.  We were given the following sketch to follow:

The image is a digi freebe that I printed out onto SU Whisper White cardstock.  The bear was colored using Prismacolor pencils and blended with mineral spirits.  I added my own doodles to match the sentiment (which I found at an expo several years ago).  I've never done a long card before so this was a fun, out of my comfort zone, challenge.  

I didn't win....

I entered this card in the "Featured Diva" contest over at Karen's Doodles.  I met Karen at the Fall 2009 Milwaukee Rubber Stamp and Scrapbook Expo.  She was just getting started and I enjoyed speaking with her.  She was demonstrating her drawings and she drew a character for me.  I also received a copy of her new children's book.  Here is a photo of Karen and my "Doodle"!




A couple of months ago I saw her again at the Spring 2010 Milwaukee Expo.  She now has a website selling her Digital Images and has recently launched a line of rubber stamps.  She told me about her website and since I picked up a couple of her stamps I thought I'd give it a try.  There are some exceptionally great card makers entering her contests.  I didn't stand a chance.  But it was fun trying. Pop over and take a look at her stamps.  They are sooooo cute!

Playing around with my stamps

Do you find that you collect stamps and then never use them?  Well I do... so I dug through my stamps and came across this one from Rubbernecker.  I hadn't used her because I was looking for just the right saying.  I found a saying at an expo 2 months ago so I have no excuse!  This is Edna, one of the Rubbernecker "Old People" stamps.  They are so cute I wish I had them all.




I used Stampin Up cardstock in black, Night of Navy, and Sage Shadow.  Using Versamark Ink I stamped a coffee cup over and over to create a background pattern.  The black decoration is a left-over frame that I had cut from my cricut for another project.  I think it was from the Storybook cartridge.  I took a background stamp that is coffee beans and stamped with versamark over the frame then heat set clear embossing powder.

Edna was colored with Prismacolor pencils.  I added glossy accents to the lens' of her glasses and stickles on her slippers and necklace.

The inside saying says...  Behind every successful women is a substantial amount of coffee.

Las Vegas - Paris

The Paris Hotel and Casino was very cool.  I was impressed with the architecture of the building.  I decided to go for a layout that had the look of an old photo album.


I created a mock postcard for the journaling on this page.  I printed my journaling from my computer onto a tan cardstock. I increased the font size for the word Paris to act as the page title.  The postcard was grunged up with Old Paper Distress Ink.  I used a Stampin Up postage stamp from an old set and smeared it a bit to give it an aged look.  Photo corners were added to all the pictures.  The corners were cut on the cricut using the Jasmine cartridge. 

Las Vegas - The Tropicana Casino

We had such fun playing the Wizard of Oz slots at the Tropicana Casino.  For this page I created tags to put the title on.  I cut the letters out using my George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  For the tags I used some small tags that I had in my stash, and stamped the circles 3 times with different color inks to match the polkadot border at the bottom.  I have a tornado stamp that I found at an expo so I stamped that over the circles.  Added some fiber for "fun" and I think this is a cute layout that really blends.

Here is a close up of the tags.

Black Magic Technique - Round 2

Here is another card using the Black Magic Technique.  You really have to try this!  The image gives you a look as if you actually drew it, but in reality you cheated!  How cool is that?



And the close up:



For those wanting to try this technique here is a link to the instructions on Karen's blog.

Black Magic Technique

I've had fun trying the Black Magic Technique I read about on the SplitcoastStampers web site.  It really is easy and the end result is very striking.

Using Stampin Up's Whisper White Craft Ink I stamped my flowers 3 times on black cardstock.  Heat set the ink with your heat gun.  When totally dry color over the flowers with Watercolor pencils.  After you finish coloring add accents with a white gel pen. 

Take your unique creation and make a card!  Here is my 1st attempt.


 

And here is a close up showing the detail a little bit better.

Las Vegas - We have arrived!

Since this was my first trip to Vegas I was so shocked to see that there were slot machines in the airport!  I was even more shocked when an airport employee came by and put his arm around me and welcomed me to the city.





I realize this is a pretty plain page. But I wanted the focus to be on the photos not the design of the page.  I used the Keystone cartridge to do the title.  I welded the shadow letters together in Design Studio and cut the tan letters out separately.  I added dots of stickles to give it that Vegas Lights look.  Since this page is next to the first page I used the same patterened paper but changed out the solid cardstock.  Same but different.....

Las Vegas Scrapbook - The beginning

This isn't the most elaborate scrapbook but I tried to do something creative on each page.  This first page I used the Cricut to cut out an airplane from the New Arrival cartridge.  Then I typed my journaling in Word so that it would fit on the plane.  I think this is a cute trick to make your journaling a little more interesting.  The clouds were cut from Mickey and Friends and Jasmine was used for the title.

I'm back....

You wouldn't believe what I have been up to lately.  I finally finished my Las Vegas Scrapbook!  It took a lot of time and dedication to stick with it, not get distracted, and keep my mojo going.  But I did it....  So watch for my upcoming posts where I'll show off all the pages. Well maybe not all of them, but most.

In the mean time I wanted to show you this adorable card I made using a stamp set and template that I purchased at a recent expo.  It's made by Art Gone Wild.  They have some really cool stuff.

We needed a birthday card for one of the bosses at work and I was asked to make a card.  This is what I came up with.  Hope you enjoy it!




Now here is the cute part....  The oven door and the broiler door open!



You can click on the pictures to see a larger view.  Isn't that cool?

Get a load of these!

We had such fun creating and swapping ideas at the card swap last night.  Every card had something to love.  Some have great color combinations and others show how to think outside the box.  I love all the cards and especially how enjoyable it was chatting, and joking, and snacking!  Check out these terrific cards!

Card Swap

I signed up for a card swap that is tomorrow evening.  Why I thought I could do this I don't know....  I have been stressing over this card for 2 weeks.  Our instructions were to design a card, make a sample, then provide the materials for 6 other ladies to make the card.  We are to precut as much as possible.  Then we will make each other's cards at the swap.  Do you know how hard it is to design a card that can be put together in a short period of time?  To design a card when you have no idea how advanced the other ladies are?  So for 2 weeks I have designed, torn up, thrown away, ripped apart, and generally made myself crazy over this!  Finally I came up with this card.  I sure hope it is ok.



I precut the cardstock and designer paper then used my nestabilities to cut out all the ovals and my Cricut to cut out the photo corners. 

The inside is simple.

I will let you know what they thought and show you the other cards I make.  Keep your fingers crossed that I came up with an appropriate design. 

Playing with my Cuddlebug - Mother's Day Card

Do you get in a rut?  I sure do so I was looking at my dusty Cuddlebug and realized how lonely the poor bug was.  I pulled it off the shelf, dusted him off and put the little darlin' to work!



To begin this card I had colored my image with Primacolor Pencils.  I used a Classic Scallop Small Oval Nestability to cut it out and emboss the edge.  I figured out that Stampin Up's Certainly Celery color matched the leaves and Orchid Opulance matched the purples.  So I cut a layering oval out of the Certainly Celery and a used one of the Label Eight shapes to cut out the purple shape. I embossed the purple layer using a Cuddlebug embossing folder.  I inked all the edges using matching inks and gently rubbed over the embossing with a sponge dauber and Orchid ink.

Another stash find was my pack of Core'dinations Whitewash cardstock. (Forgot I had this!)  I cut a mat and embossed it with the swiss dots folder.  After I sanded the top the green dots came to life.  By now my Cuddlebug needed a nap!

I put the card together and wanted to add the heart pins but they were in a really gross orange color.  I had found them at a garage sale last summer for $.25 and at the time thought I'd find some use for them.  I   stared at these gross looking hearts for the longest time and finally remembered a tip my friend told me about. 

I dug out a violet pigment ink that was sitting in a drawer.  Then I inked the heart end of the pin with the violet ink and quickly dipped it into clear embossing powder.  Carefully using my heat gun I set the embossing powder and TADA... Violet heart pins! 

So keep digging through your stash and use up what you have!  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Perfect Pearls Mother's Day Card

In these tough economic times I have challenged myself to use things from my stash.  I was rearranging some of my inks and embossing powders and came across 2 pots of Ranger's Perfect Pearls that I had purchased last year.  I'm also on a mission to make my own background patterns instead of buying patterened paper.



To Create the background for this card I started with a 4" x 5.25" piece of Stampin Up Whisper White Cardstock.  I inked the cardstock starting with YoYo Yellow in the center, gradually blended in Marigold Morning and finished the edges with Rose Red.  After this dried I used a background stamp that I inked up with Destress Ink in Mustard Seed.  Destress Ink stays wet longer than dye inks and works great for applying Perfect Pearls.  I chose the Mustard Seed color so that it would be very subtle. 

While the ink is wet use a small paint brush and dip the tip in the pot of Perfect Pearls (I used Copper) and brush over the sections you want to highlight.  When you are finished adding the Perfect Pearls use a larger paint brush and brush over the entire image removing the excess.  What you have left is a shimmery pattern. Click on the top picture for a larger view.  It shows the pretty shimmer. 



I finished the card using a digi image that was colored with Prismacolor Pencils and cut out.  I also created a tiny Mom charm using Shrinky Dinks.  Hope you try using Perfect Pearls soon.  You will be amazed at how cool the finished image is. 

Here is a link to Ranger Perfect Pearls Embellishment Pigment Kit, Metallics so you can see all the cool colors it comes in.   Enjoy!

Punch Art Bunny Instructions

I promised you the instructions for creating the Punch Art Bunny.  I finally finished it so here is a link that will allow you to save, print, and view them.  Have fun and let me know if you find this useful.

Punch Art Bunny Tutorial


If you need Oval Punches here are 2 of them made by EK Success (the company that makes Stampin UP's punches)  The links will take you to Amazon.com:
Ek Success PSPNPOV003 2-Inch Paper Shapers Oval Nesting Punch
Ek Success PSPNPOV004 1-1/2-Inch Paper Shapers Oval Nesting Punch

Jet Max Cubes

Bindi from Australia asked me for information on some of my storage cubes.  I thought I'd share this information in a post for other people that were looking for the same info.

My 4 drawer Jet Max cubes were purchased at Michael's.  They are still available (I checked yesterday).  The overall demensions of 1 cube is 14.5" deep by 14.25" high by 14.25" wide.  These are the outside demensions.  They are made with a 1/4" thick board.

The individual drawers are 6.25" wide by 14.25" deep by 6.5" high.

The paper cubes have 4 sections.  The overall outside demensions of the cube is the same as the 4 drawer cube.  The individual sections are 3.25" wide. 



Lastly she asked about my ink storage.  I purchased the 48 Ink Organizer from Organizemore.com.  I have had the organizer for 2 years and have been totally pleased with it.  At one time I had the organizer hanging on the wall but right now it sits on a table next to my work area.  The quality and durability is fantastic.  They also come with different colored dividers for those of you that want to coordinate with your room.  I plan to purchase another one very soon.  Check out their web site and send them an email to see how much shipping might be to your country.  I love their product and didn't think it was right to give out the details.

Hope this answers all the questions you have.  If not.... just let me know.  Happy organizing!

Punch Bunny Cards

I stumbled across a tutorial for creating a rabbit from punched shapes.  Since I didn't have all the punches they used I modified it using what I have.  I thought this little guy was so adorable that I ended up making 3 cards with him. 



I'm creating a tutorial of my own and will post the instructions soon.

Here is the first card.  (Excuse the photos, my camera is giving me trouble)



I created a shaving cream background to go with the green that I wanted to use.  My friend's favorite color is green so this turned out perfect.  UPDATED PIC!  My friend took a good photo of the card.  Much better! 



I made this card for my neighbor.  He is an older gent and doesn't get out much.  I thought a cute little bunny might brighten up his day.  It's not really as green as the picture shows.



This last card is for my Grandaughter.  I love pink & purple together.  Try creating one of the cuties yourself.  They are easy and fun.    Happy Easter!

Emboss Resist

I have been playing around with the Emboss Resist technique lately.  This really is a ton of fun!

For this card I started by stamping the flowers with Stazon Black ink.  The flowers were colored in with Prismascolor pencils.  Then I went over the flowers with a Versamark pen and heat set clear EP.

Now the fun begins... Using one of my script background stamps I stamped using Stazon Dove Gray over the entire piece of cardstock.  Take a soft cloth and wipe the ink off of the flowers. 

Next using any colors you choose sponge your background.  When you finish that wipe off the flowers one last time.

Isn't that cool?  I added some white dots using a gel pen to the flowers.  It dries just fine on top of the EP.

Mat your image and you have a truly one of a kind card.  Give it a try!

Shaving Cream Background Revisited

Ok, so I got so hooked on the Shaving Cream Backgrounds that I had to try it again.  Here is another Thank You Card that uses this technique plus a technique that creates "bricks" out of your image.



Once again I used Groovy Guava reinker but also used River Rock.  Since River Rock is green based it came out a shade of green close to Old Olive and Mellow Moss.  Swirling the shaving cream is such fun.  Reminds me of finger painting as a child!

To create the look of bricks stamp your image then cut it into 1/2" wide strips.  Cut each strip into 1" lengths.  Alternate your cuts to create the brick look.  This technique is illustrated on Splitcoast Stampers if you want to give it a try.

The edges of each "brick" was inked with Distress Ink in Old Paper.  By inking the edges you define the bricks so they stand out when your image is reassembled.



This will be a nice card to give when I want to say thanks.