Minions card

Happy New Year! So I'm going to try to keep a resolution about blogging...  but I don't want to make too big of a deal about it because yeah, I'm pretty sure I'd still rather create things than write about them! But I am going to try.

Here's a project that has absolutely nothing to do with New Years, a card that I made for a friend of my daughter who  turned six last week. She insisted that he likes Minions so that's what he got, a Minion board game and a Minion card. I found a super cute cut file to download (that I modified slightly) and I cut it with my Silhouette. See, I told you I've been trying to use it more!

This was the first item that I've made with so many layers. I actually cut all of the pieces at once by trimming scraps to correct size and putting them on the cutting mat in the corresponding places. So much easier than I thought it would be! I didn't have a slightly darker blue for the pocket so I used the same blue as the overalls but colored it with a VersaMark marker.

Then I pulled out this patterned paper that's been in my scrap stash probably since I started scrapbooking in 1996. Remember Paper Pizzazz and how patterned paper wasn't usually sold in individual sheets back then but in booklets? I think this was one of theirs. It has never worked for anything in the past 20 years but somehow I liked it for this card.

Shake your booty shaker card

It has been a long time since I made a shaker card. I always found them rather... fussy. But this one actually worked out well for me. I knew I wanted a black and purple color scheme for this card. I ended up being inspired by this purple strip of cardstock that I found on my desk, which I had used to punch a circle for another project.

I wrapped a piece of wide black polka dotted washi tape around the card. I like how it is kind of translucent. Then I stamped the sentiment above the tape and embossed with silver powder.

I attached a piece of clear plastic that I cut from some packaging (I'm always up for upcycling). Then I added pieces of foam tape around the circle on the back side and filled it with large silver and iridescent glitter. After deciding that I would use a black panel on the white card base, I attached a piece of black cardstock slightly larger than the circle opening with the foam tape. I think this is where I have always gone wrong in the past -- I had tried to attach the shaker panel directly to the card instead of closing it off with another piece of paper.

I dry embossed another piece of black cardstock and attached it to a folded card. I punched a border from white cardstock and attached it across the bottom of the card. Then I adhered the purple panel using foam tape all around the edges. I stamped the letters onto white cardstock and embossed with silver powder, ran them through my Xyron, cut them out freehand and layered them on the card (one of my favorite easy personalization techniques).

Finally I found the perfect paper flower to attach with a glue dot and topped it off with a large gem that I had purchased for a decorating supply at my daughter's birthday party.

Tutu cute!

It's that time of year again -- teacher present time! I haven't figured out yet what I'm going to do for my daughter's preschool teachers (thankfully there's still a week of school left), but I did have to scramble for the dance teacher last week. I ran to Target for a gift card and plunked it inside of this card I made that reflects this year's dance recital costume:

It was actually pretty easy to make, once I saw the idea for a cupcake paper tutu on Pinterest. I could only find an aqua cupcake paper with white polka dots in my stash of baking goodies and I needed light blue. So I turned it inside out and sprayed it with my new Heidi Swap Color Mist in Ocean. If you haven't used these mists, try them out! I think they may be my favorite brand of spray ink as the color is predictable and consistent. I ordered them from www.joann.com when they had 50% off of all papercrafting supplies.

I freehand cut out a leotard and sprayed that with the same ink. Then I used Stickles around the the top to mimic tiny sequins. The bow and rose came from my stash  -- I've had them for years and finally found a use for them! I adhered with Zots glue dots. I really like the singles as opposed to the rolls -- much easier to apply in the right spot. 

The background is embossed with a butterfly embossing folder -- I think it's made by Darice. The card is 5 by 7 so and the embossing folder only 4.24 by 5.5 so I had to trim the panel in width and allow the bottom inch or so to remain unembossed. It left a perfect place to add my daughter's teacher's name, which I stamped with mini lettters using Colorbox Chalk Ink in Pink Pastel, ran through my Xyron, cut out invididually, inked the edges and then adhered. Then I used the Tim Holz ink blending tool with the sponge pad and the same ink to lightly apply pink to highlight the butterflies.

 
 I wrapped a piece of butterfly washi tape around the butterfly panel between the end of the embossing and the stamped name. Finally I mounted the butterfly panel onto a purple panel and then onto a white 5 by 7 card.

It came out so cute that I'm wishing I had made another tutu to use as an embellishment on the scrapbook page I'll make of my daughter's dance recital!

Not-quite-right engagement card

I made this engagement card for my husband's cousin. It features a partially embossed background, rows of scallops accented with black gems, silver embossed letters and a white and black layered flower with pearl center. It was a bit of a rush job and I don't quite think I nailed it.

I think it's missing something at the bottom. I probably should have added another row of scallops, but my EK Success Embossed Curve Slim Edger Border Punch was being impossible and kept jamming. Usually EK Success border punches are pretty good but this one has been a dud since I bought it, always jamming and ripping the paper. I wasn't that surprised when using thinner weight scrapbook paper but I expected it to be fine with cardstock. I did just Google this and saw a video on YouTube where they layered thinner paper with cardstock in order to make the paper thick enough to punch, so I'll definitely try this out to see if that will help make this punch work.

I was going to stamp "Congratulations" on the bottom of the card to fill up that white space but I was afraid of messing it up, since I was rushing. Also I tend to overdo it a lot and struggle with keeping things simple so had second thoughts. What do you think?

Yellow butterfly thank you card

Finally getting around to posting one of the other "end of the year" thank you notes I made. This one was for my daughter's babysitter. She likes yellow. Totally not a color I usually reach for unless it's super bright, but I liked this butter yellow cardstock and I think it came together nicely with the piece of flowered patterned paper that happened to be on my desk. The yellow in the patterned paper is actually closer to the color of the cardstock in person that in this photo. The butterflies are stamped, cut out, raised up with pop dots and finished with jewels. Overall a cute and easy card to put together.

Bold Ballerina thank you card

It's the end of the school year. It's thank you season. Teachers, coaches, babysitters, you name it, whatever your child is moving on from, you need to give a thank you. I didn't want to spend a ton on thanks yous this year so I decided to include a handmade card. I made the outsides and my daughter scribbled all over decorated the insides.

First up was a card for my daughter's dance teacher. I wanted to create a special card because she was so patient with my hesitant daughter, even buying her special stickers to entice her to go on stage at the recital and holding her her entire time they were backstage. I decided to make something that reflected their recital costume.

 

I made the leotard by freehand cutting the shape out of yellow cardstock and running it through my Texture Boutique to emboss the swirls. Then I experimented with a few different ways to make the tutu (folding a doily, overlapping scalloped circles cut from vellum) and then I remembered I had crepe paper left from my daughter's birthday party. It took a few minutes to pleat and gather the tops to form a half circle but I think the effect really works. I used glue dots to adhere. Dressed it up with some gems, a strip of glittery patterned paper, a yellow border made with the EK Success Moroccan Lace border punch and pink gingham ribbon tied in a knot. Stamped the sentiment (which was harder that I expected because it's a wood mount stamp and I have gotten so used to using clear stamps) and it was ready to go.

Mother's Day hexagon card

So I may have gone a little crazy with the hexagons, buying not only one but all three sizes of the Fiskars squeeze punches and a Darice embossing folder. So I had to make use of them on this Mother's Day card. If you haven't used the Fiskars squeeze punches before, check them out. They do really make punching easy. You can even make chevrons with the hexagon so they're pretty versatile.

On to the card. I used kraft colored cardstock that I ran through my Texture Boutique using a the chevron embossing plate. Then I punched six patterned paper scraps that were on my desk with the largest sized hexagon punch. I stamped the sentiment with pink chalk ink onto white cardstock then trimmed the edge by putting the strip through the punch from the top, so that it just cut one side. I adhered it with foam tape over one of the hexagons. Then I punched flowers from three of the papers, adhered with with foam tape and topped each one with a pink pearl.

Valentine, You Make My Heart Glow

Well Valentine's Day was almost two weeks ago but I'm just getting around to looking at our photos from that week and it occurred to me that I should share the super cute valentines that I made for my daughter to hand out to her schoolmates. I thought she would want to paint or draw something but that didn't seem to be happening so instead I had her help me make these.

They were totally inspired by several that I saw on Pinterest. None of them were quite what I had in mind so I designed my own printable. This really couldn't have been any easier or inexpensive -- print, cut, punch holes, poke glow stick through. I bought the glow bracelets at Michaels, last summer I believe. I think there were 15 in the tube and it cost $1.

We decided to write the kids names and use some pink glitter glue on the heart, but neither is really necessary. You or your kids could color in the letters or decorate in some other way. My daughter chose to make a few half-hearted scribbles on the back.

I made a printable that you and your child can personalize -- feel free to download it and use it for your valentines next year!

Download valentine printable

4th birthday boy card

Yes, I have been crafting. Here and there. No I have not been blogging. Anywhere.

Here's a quick card that I made for a four-year-old whose birthday party my daughter went to over the weekend. I got to make it in the time that my daughter made her own card. Hers mostly involved scribbles, so I had to pull this together pretty quickly.

Ran some scrap navy cardstock through my Texture Boutique (really almost typed Bowtique there -- entirely too much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse has been playing at our house) for the background. Cut some scraps into banners using the quick square punch technique. (Just slide the end of the strip into a large square punch at a 45 degree angle, squeeze and you've got a banner.) Stamped the birthday boy's name letter by letter onto white cardstock, cut out freehand and edged with blue ink. Stole a foam number four from my daughter's craft stash, tied around a piece of bakers twine and the card was done. With 20 minutes to spare before we had to leave for the party. Whew!

Funny, I looked back at cards I've made for the same kid the past two years, and apparently I think banners and bunting when I think of him.

Last year's card:

The year before:

I'm definitely going to have to come up with something new next year!

Fastest cards ever

So this weekend was a busy one and the crafting just couldn't take priority. I've been working for months on a fundraiser for a really great organization that I'm on the Board of the Friends for and our big event was Saturday night. I was stuffing grab bags, making luminaries and doing other last minute tasks. But I still like to give handmade birthday cards and my daughter had a party for not just one three-year-old, but two. Consequently, I made two of the fastest birthday cards ever. Literally I slapped them together minutes before we left for the joint party, while my husband took a shower. Totally not my typical style of agonizing over the position of each element but it was rather freeing. Sorry about the abysmal photography -- I took the pictures with my phone in the (moving) car on the way to the party. That dark background is the jeans I was wearing.

The secret to this super fast card design was having 1 inch strips of patterned paper already in my scrap box. I've got tons because as an 8.5 by 11 scrapbooker, I often cut 1 inch off of 12 by 12 papers. I selected three strips that used purple for my daughter's friend Violet and three with oranges for the little girl named Clementine. I stamped some birthday and letter stamps using chalk ink, punched two circles, added scrap ribbon and voila! The stamping is rather messy and not up to my usual standards but I'm thinking three-year-olds won't really notice.

Do you have any tricks for getting cards made fast?

Kids' birthday cards

My daughter has also been invited to a lot of birthday parties lately and I've been trying to make a quick card for each kid. I've really been loving making strips of patterned paper into banners. It's fast, colorful and uses up those scraps that I always feel guilty about throwing away.

TIP: I used a square punch to make the triangular portion of the banner. You can use any size square punch as long as it's bigger than your paper strip. Just feed end of the strip through the punch, held diagonally, so you cut off a symmetrical triangle shape. So much easier than using scissors or a craft knife!


Please pardon my photography -- my scanner has been on the fritz so I photographed the cards and I don't have any kind of professional setup for card photography.

A cute first birthday card using primary colors:

I stamped the elephant directly onto the card using Charcoal Colorbox chalk ink, then drew the string of the balloon. The hat I cut freehand from patterned paper and for the balloon I used a circle punch, then inked the edges. I cut out the 1 using my Cricut and used that ever-popular Fiskars scallop sentiment punch to make the ground the elephant stands on. After cutting and assembling the banner strips, I stamped the birthday boy's name.

A horizontal variation, this one totally girlie. I'm sure you can see the influence of the first card on this one! Instead of the elephant I stamped with Charcoal chalk ink (as you can see, it's one of my favorite inks!) a large sentiment that I decorated with dots of clear Stickles. Instead of stamping directly on the card, I used a white panel and attached that to an aqua card base. I was able to wrap a piece of pink ribbon around the white panel this way (I hate for the ribbon ends to be seen in the inside of the card -- pet peeve). I stamped the birthday girl's name on white card stock and punched out the letters with a small circle punch, then attached them with pop dots. I added a Prima flower and of course a gem because this was for a very girlie two-year-old. I also embellished the designs on the patterned papers with additional Stickles, because you can never have too much glitter, right?!

Thankful greetings from Boston

Well, it's been a little crazy in the Boston area lately. To say the least. My family and I are fine and don't really know anyone who was directly affected by the Marathon bombing. Thankfully we felt too lazy to go down to see the Marathon that day and even though my office is really close to the scene of the manhunt for the suspects, I was safe at home, three miles away.

My five year wedding anniversary and my birthday also happened the same week, and we are getting ready to move, so it was crazy on a personal level as well. 

I did get to do some crafting though -- yay! Made this cute card to thank my boss for bringing me back a beautiful pearl necklace from her trip to China:

My inspiration was this card I saw on Pinterest:

This was an awesome card to use up small scraps! As you can see, I used scalloped circles instead of plain ones, moved my sentiment and raised it up on pop dots, and embossed a piece of brown cardstock with my Texture Boutique instead of using a patterned graph paper for the background. I also rounded the bottom corners and added pearls in the center of each butterfly to reflect the pearls that I was thanking the recipient for.

I fee like I'm cheating when I base my work so closely on that of someone else, but sometimes I'm in a bit of a rush and Pinterest and other sites really help get the creative juices flowing.

I have a really special scrapbook page that I've been working on that documents the first moment I saw my daughter. I'm hoping I'll get to finish it tonight (or at least sometime this week!) so I can post it.

Notecards for a 50th Birthday

I can't believe I have a friend who just turned 50 -- that makes me feel old! I know it is still a ways away for me, but it's a reminder that 40 is starting to loom very large. Anyway, my friend had a 50th birthday/Oscar viewing party and I wanted to give her a special present to mark such a big birthday. She is a creative type (although she'd probably tell you that she isn't( and she appreciates handmade things. She also always tells me how much she loves the cards I have made for her daughter's birthdays (which reminds me that at some point I should post the super-cute Angelina Ballerina card I recently made for her daughter's third birthday). Anyway, I figured she'd be getting lot of other presents so I decided to make her some monogrammed note cards that she could use for thank yous.

To keep things uniform and make it look like a set, I used one layout with three different color schemes and made two of each card, for a total of a half a dozen cards. The base cards are an 8.5 by 11 sheet of cardstock cut in half to make two cards that are 5.5 by 4.25 inches folded. I ran each card through my Texture Boutique using the Swiss Dots folder (love it!). Then I cut 5.5 by 3 inch pieces from three different patterned papers leftover from scrapbook pages I had made.

I then picked out coordinating cardstock from a mat stack my boss had given me for the holidays. I had never bought a small stack like this before, thinking I'd rather have larger sheets to cut down than be limited by their small size, but I found that I really liked the wide variety of colors and the ease of flipping through them to choose just the right one. They were also just the right size to make two border strips and punch two scalloped circles from with minimal waste. I used the EK Success Parisian border punch and a Marvy scalloped punch that is about 2 1/4 inches.

I had bought a large "D" stamp because my daughter's name also starts with D (I think it's Hampton Arts? The cheapo $1 ones they sell at Michaels/AC Moore). I stamped the D with Colorbox Fluid Chalk inks (my go-to inks) in Olive Pastel, Lime Pastel and Chestnut Roan on white cardstock and then punched each one out with my 2 inch Fiskars Circle squeeze punch.

I then ran all of the pieces through my trusty Xyron. I layered each D circle onto a coordinating scalloped circle. I wrapped a piece of white ribbon (from Target, leftover from my wedding four years ago) around each patterned paper panel, adhered a border strip and then placed the layered circles on the right side of each patterned panel, over the ribbon. I attached the patterned paper sections to the textured cards and then tied a piece of ribbon in a knot around the already attached ribbon. Finally I punched butterflies using my Martha Stewart punch. I attached them by cutting pop dot circles in half and putting on each wing. Then I topped each butterfly with a crystal gem.

I used one card to write a message to the birthday girl then packaged the other five up by wrapping with some baker's twine. I put them in a fabulous feathered bag (that I wish I had taken a photo of!) and gave them to the birthday girl.

Starburst card (nothing to do with the candy, unfortunately)

So I haven't been blogging, but that doesn't mean I haven't been creating! As my daughter has gotten older, (almost 2 1/2! -- she'll tell you that she's a "big girl") I have been snatching bits of time here and there to make cards and work on her scrapbooks. The scrapbooks are important to me so that she'll have a record of who she is and how she got that way. The cards are important because they are a much lower stress way to exercise my creativity on a small canvas that doesn't necessarily need to be of keepsake quality.

Here's a recent card that I am particularly proud of because it was the first time I created a "starburst" effect with patterned paper (I am sure this isn't the correct terminology for this, but I'm lacking time to look it up). This is something I had seen all over the place in magazines and had been pinning on Pinterest for some time and which, quite frankly looked simple to achieve digitally but too hard to do by hand. I had been struggling with scrapbooking my daughter birth and early days, feeling that no design I could come up with would somehow be special enough. Voila, "starburst" effect layout. But I wanted to practice before I did it on a scrapbook page, so came up with this card design for a co-worker's birthday.

I made a standard 5.5 by 4.25 inch card with white card stock and put a dot in the lower left corner. I then cut a long triangle from patterned paper and lined the point up with the dot. I trimmed off the excess paper that overlapped the edge of the card. Then I cut another triangle and overlapped the first one, also lining up one point with the dot on the card. I repeated until I had covered the card with a rainbow of patterned paper scraps. I thought there was probably a scientific way to do this but I just eyeballed it and I think it came out pretty well.

The point at which all of the papers met was a little sloppy. I toyed with adding a sentiment there but nothing seemed quite right so I saved the sentiment for the inside (it just says "Happy birthday" -- nothing special) and instead added a large paper flower. I layered on a smaller pink flower and of course added a little rhinestone bling in the center (those cheap adhesive gems from Michaels or ACMoore that are like $1/sheet). I stamped the recipient's name with tiny alphabet stamps in one of my favorite inks -- Colorbox Charcoal chalk ink -- added a bit more bling and I was done.

The recipient loved it and put it in her special box of cards that I've made for her that she claims she is keeping for when I'm famous (for doing what, I'm not quite sure, but I appreciate her confidence)! I loved that I used up a bunch of scraps and I got to practice a new technique, all during my daughter's nap time.

One of these days I will have a little more time to make a video or at least take pictures during each step so I can show instead of tell how I did something. Maybe when I (finally) make the scrapbook page of my daughter's birth that making that card is helping me design!

It's been awhile...

Whew, it's been a long time since I've posted, and that's due to a combination of factors. One of those being that I got an Android phone awhile back and the salesman had me set up a new Gmail account to forward my Hotmail email to, since apparently Microsoft and Google just can't play nicely together. In my excitement over the new phone I totally forgot that I should have used my existing Google account that was tied to my Blogger account. So I ended up with two Google accounts and all kind of confusion ensued. It seems there is no way to combine two and signing in and out to update the blog and check my email was too time-consuming. The blog was sacrificed until I figured out that I could set up a new blog and import the old posts into it. The blog address I am not as excited about, but it will do.

My other HUGE obstacle to posting was that I had a baby, and thus barely have time for crafting, never mind writing about it. But she's 14 months-old now and starting to sleep for longer stretches and I've got to get my crafty mojo back on! Unfortunately, she's only sleeping "through the night" according to the technical definition of six hours, and of course those six don't align with my own sleep schedule! So I can't promise that all of my posts will be 100% lucid...

I do, however, have to scrapbook my daughter's past year, a daunting task that I've just started undertaking. So there will be lot of pink in my upcoming posts! I've also been trying to get back on track with card-making, and today I've got some of those to share.

For my boss Kelly's birthday:

This is an example of a card that I created awhile back and then added to and personalized for the recipient just before sending. Having a child has made this a more practical approach for actually having cards available in time for a specific occasion. I often use coordinating leftovers from scrapbook pages to put together basic cards that can then be embellished later. 

Awhile back I was experimenting with digital scrapbooking a lot and had printed off some digital patterned papers. The patterned paper across this card is actually a printed digital paper that I wrapped sheer pink ribbon around and adhered to a white card base. The sentiment circle was  made to match in Photoshop, printed, punched out with one of my many EK Success circle punches (Love them! So versatile!) and attached with foam tape. The purple scalloped circle and hot pink cardstock were sitting on my craft table looking for a home after being rejected from a scrapbook page. The white label shape was an experiment with my new Martha Stewart anywhere punch. I was a little skeptical of my need for this punch but now that I have it, I love it and will definitely be getting more. I layered them up and topped them off with a hot pink gem. I put the card aside and a few weeks later when I needed a card for my boss's birthday, I decided to add some bright yellow to punch it up a bit. 

I had left an odd amount of open space at the bottom of the card because of the side of the already-cut pink cardstock. I punched a scalloped strip from a shimmery yellow cardstock I used recently on a scrapbook page and added that to the bottom of the card. I then cut out a strip of the same yellow carstock, ran it through my xyron, folded it in half, wrapped it around a corsage pin and notched the end. I added my boss's name with stickers and stuck the pin through the foam tape holding on the sentiment circle. I rounded the bottom corners to soften the look. A yellow dotted flower and a green gem later and the card was good to go. My boss has the card displayed in her office and told me that's she's gotten a lot of compliments on it!

For my "mom friend" Ashley's birthday:

This took me forever to get started on. I knew I wanted to feature the cocktails print patterned paper leftover from a scrapbook page that I'm working on about a girls night out, but just couldn't figure out what to match it with. I found a random scrap of hot pink cardstock on my craft table and decided to run that through my little Sizzix embossser purse (not the real name, but Mommy Brain has that escaping me right now). I got this new EK Success punch on clearance from Michaels that I've been using like crazy. Used that on diagonal-striped DCWV paper. Stamped "Cheers" sentiment with lime chalk ink on white cardstock and embossed with clear powder . Added a dotted outline with a pink Zig marker adhered with pop dots for some dimension. Stamped my friend's name with pink chalk ink on white cardstock, cut into a strip, notched the end to make a banner and edged with lime chalk ink. It needed a little something extra so I tied a knot in a snippet of ribbon and attached that under the name, and adhered with a glue dot a small yellow flower with a sparkly pink gem center.

Hopefully I can finish the two scrapbook pages that the scraps from these cards came from over the weekend and post them next week. I'm not going to be too over-ambitious this time in how much I'm going to be able to blog!

Quick Girly Card

Today's card was such a rush job and I thought I was going to hate it but I think the Making Memories Glitter Glaze turned it around in the end! I read to a public school student once a week at lunchtime through the Everybody Wins! Power Lunch program. I had my session with her this morning and realized last night at like 8:00 that her birthday was yesterday. We are not supposed to buy the students presents as they are supposed to learn to value the time we spend together reading but we are encouraged to give them cards so I like to make her a little something pretty. I know I would have loved this when I was 10!

This card was an inexpensive endeavor for me since the white CS was leftover from my wedding invitations and the pink, lavender and flowered papers were from a scrapbook page that I am still finishing up. The flower center and sentiment embellishments are just a circle punch from the pink CS with one of the many purple gems I got at the Christmas Tree shop for like $1. The letters in the name aren't stickers as they appear but the same letter stamps I used on the last cards I made. The Glitter Glaze I brushed onto the cardstock was an after-thought but I love it! Really hard to see in the scan but it looks go nice and girly in person.

Directions: Trim cardstock to 4.25 by 5.5 inch bottom-opening card. Brush with glitter glaze and let dry. Scallop the edge of pp and pink strips. Trim pp to cover about 1/3 of the card and pink CS to matte underneath. Stamp letters on lavender CS with Wisteria ink and cut each one out. Glue top edges to back of bottom of layered papers. Adhere entire piece to card. Punch lavender CS with word tag punch and stamp top tag with birthday sentiment (save other tags for future project). Attach to card and trim excess. Layer flowers and attach to card with glue dots. Punch two 1/4 circles from hot pink CS. Layer with gems and attach to flower center and edge of sentiment tag.

Supplies: White & lavender cardstock, DCWV Spring Glitter Stack hot pink CS and flowered pp, Studio G birthday stamp, small alpha stamps, Prima flowers, adhesive gems, Fiskars Scallop Sentiment border punch, circle hole punch, McGill retro word tags punch, Wisteria chalk ink, Making Memories Glitter Glaze, Zots glue dots

Still Stuck on Pink

What can I say? I seem to be stuck on pink lately! Well possibly because now I have a bunch of pink scraps on my desk since I haven't cleaned it off since my other projects.

This card is for my friend Kristina whose birthday is actually today but I am a bit late in the mailing. It's a bit of an odd size, slightly smaller than 5 by 7, but is is going in a box anyway. It is going to be sent with a hat and scarf that I knitted for her in this soft variegated-blue suede yarn and a pair of red, silver and black earrings with a matching bracelet that I also made. Yes pictures of these items would be nice but really I barely had time to finish them, never-mind photograph them!

I am not sure that I am loving the blue on this card but I thought it sort of went with the scarf. I also think maybe I overdid it with all of the gems AND the Stickles. Oh well, it was really late when I finished it last night so I can't claim it is my best work but hopefully she will like it.

One cool technique I did discover was that my black India ink pad stamps really well on coated cardstock and looks fabulous with this reversed alphabet (meaning the stamp makes the background and the letters stay the color of the paper). I think it will make me use this alpha more often!

Directions:
Cut card to 5 by 7 side-opening and scallop the right edge of the front panel. Trim strips of patterned paper to 4.5 inches wide and approximate heights as shown. Wrap ribbon around pink panel and tie bow around the ribbon. Attach all strips to card, aligning with the fold. Glue strip of black pp inside the card front so it shows behind the scalloped edge. Punch scalloped circles from black & pink pp and layer with foam flowers. Top with rhinestone flower and tiny clear gem. Die-cut swirls from white CS using Slice. Position above and below flower embellie on blue panel. Slide corsage pink through the bow and into small foam flower. Top flower with small clear gem. Stamp name with alphabet stamps using black ink on glossy CS. Cut out individual letters and attach. Edge strip of black dotted pp with upper crest punch. Attach tiny gem in each "valley." Apply Stickles to ends of each swirl.

Supplies:
Strips of patterned papers left over from other projects (bottom pink strip is DCWV Summer stack, blue is Target $1 spot, white swirl I stamped -- see the previous post, pink strip is cut from a gift bag), black & white ribbon, white cardstock, Icicle Stickles, foam flowers from kid's craft dept, corsage pink, letter stamps, rhinestone flower, tiny gems, Slice, Fiskars Scallop Sentiment & Upper Crest punches, Marvy scallop circle punches, Xyron

Pretty in Pink

I have two new cards for you today! Both of them are pink, which seems odd, considering it's October. The first one is a birthday card for my friend Katie. It's a bit of a takeoff on the last birthday card I posted. I bought her two books (craft cozies -- knitting fiction!) for her birthday and the gift bag I used was black, white and hot pink with dots and swirls. I'm not sure that these are really her colors, but I figured I'd make a card to match. We are going out to dinner tonight and I am excited to see her reaction.

I recently mentioned to Katie that I had crocheted some small flowers to use on cards and scrapbook pages and she said she hoped her birthday card would include one of the flowers, since we often "Stitch 'n' Bitch" together. I didn't use a birthday sentiment on the outside because I know she is sentimental and will probably keep the card, and this way she can put it in a frame if she wants. The card is 7 by 5 inches. I was excited to find in my stash the pink dotted flower but had the hardest time figuring out how to use it. I was happy to finally use some of the black flock that JoAnn's sent me (four containers instead of one!)

Directions
Cut white card to 7 by 5 bottom opening card. Stamp swirls repeatedly on white coated cardstock with black Staz On. Let dry. Trim, along with three other patterned papers, into 1.5 by 5 inch strips and attach to card. Use Treading Water punch along bottom of front panel of card. Trim black paper to 2 by 6 and round the corners on one end. Pierce holes around the edges and draw stitching lines with white gel pen. Wrap pink ribbon around bottom and tie bow. Die cut swirls from black paper and letters from white cardstock using Slice. Run through Xyron and then brush with glitter glaze while still attached to backing. Let dry. Attach letters to black panel. Attach panel to right bottom. Punch scalloped circle from white cardstock. Apply glue rub-on and cover with flock. Press in and then brush off excess. Attach pink silk flower and white crochet flower with crystal brad. Attach to card with foam squares. Attach swirls to card, applying gems to the ends. Attach flower gem to dot "i" with small glue dots.

Supplies
White cardstock, white glossy cardstock, scrap black glossy paper, DCWV Summer Glitter Stack pink patterned papers, unknown black dotted paper; Inkadinkado and Autumn Leaves swirl stamps; Black Staz On ink; Marvy scalloped circle, Fiskars Treading Water punches; K&Co (?) rub-ons for flocking; Black Stampendous flock; Slice die-cutting machine; White Stabilo gel pen; Making Memories clear glitter glaze; Xyron adhesive machine; Pink silk flower (from JoAnn's but unsure of brand); Crochet flower (I made it!); Offray ribbon; Making Memories crystal brad; Pink self-adhesive round and flower gems (unknown); foam squares; Zots glue dot


The second card is rather like the one I made for my husband's grandmother's 80th birthday, but I forgot to scan or photograph that one before I gave it to her, so I somewhat recreated it for my stash. What I like best is that I cut around the stamped butterfly wings, leaving the body attached, so the wings fold out from the card. I also messed up and forgot to add the stitching before I glued down the pink and flowered papers, so I cut a strip and attached it behind my scalloped edge to cover the stitching inside. Awkward to explain, but it looks really good, especially since it it two-sided paper so the flowered pattern make a border on the inside.


Directions
Trim ivory cardstock to 5 by 7 inch side-opening card. Scallop the edge of the front panel of card with border punch. Stamp butterfly on pink paper with brown ink. Trim around wings, leaving body attached and fold wings out. Stamp leaves below butterfly. Trim to fit, leaving scalloped edge showing, and attach to top half of card. Trim flowered paper, wrap lace around and attach to bottom of card. Stitch along edge. Trim strip of green paper (opposite side of flowered paper) to about 1 inch by 7 inches and attach to inside edge of card to cover up stitching. Layer pink Prima on cream one and attach to card with glue dots. Attach flower gem with glue dots. Attach pearls and pink gem to body of butterfly.

Supplies
Ivory cardstock; Pink SCWV paper; K&Co. Brenda Walton flowered paper; Lace scrap; Prima flowers; K&Co. butterfly stamp; Chestnut Roan and Olive Pastel Colorbox Chalk Inks; DMC brown embroidery floss; Fiskars border punch; Flower gem (unknown); adhesive pearls and pink gem (Nicole?); Zots glue dot

World Card Making Day is Tomorrow

Saturday, October 3 is World Card Making Day. I wish I could report that I have some kind of exciting plans, but I thought I had a conflict with a family event so I didn't schedule anything. Nonetheless, I'm planning to make three birthday cards tomorrow in my craft studio. I'm excited to use some new supplies that I picked up at an odd place -- the Christmas Tree Shop! Enabler alert: They have Martha Stewart punches for $3.99. Only two styles at my store but yours may have more!

I'll be sure to post my creations over the weekend or next week, but I wanted to leave you with some cards I made a few weeks ago to rev up my inspiration.


This first one was for my niece's 8th birthday so I made sure to use lots of pink and a little bling. I made the flower embellishment on the left side actually extends off of the card, so the card base is only 5.25 inches wide, allowing it to fit in a standard size envelope. The letters were made using my Slice, which I haven't been using enough. I brushed Stickles all over them to give them a bit of shine.

Card directions
1. Trim white cardstock to 5.25 by 8.5 and fold in half so the opening is at the bottom.
2. Trim flowered patterned paper to 5.25 by 4 and attach to card so .125 inch shows at top and bottom.
3. Die cut letters from white cardstock using Slice. Brush with Stickles and let dry.
4. Trim pink patterned paper strip so that it is taller than your letters and ink the top edge with brown ink.
6. Edge strip of white cardstock with scalloped border punch and attach edge to back of pink strip.
7. Wrap ribbon around seam and tie knot.
8. Stamp sentiment with brown ink on white cardstock and trim, round top corners, ink edges and attach edge to back of pink strip.
9. Attach pink strip section to middle third of card.
10. Glue on letters, leaving room for the flower embellishment.
12. Punch scalloped circle from white cardstock.
13. Punch flower from patterned paper scrap with circle punch and attach to white scalloped circle with foam tape.
14. Cut leaves from patterned paper scrap and attach to flower circle.
15. Spread stickles on flower and adhere gem to center.
16. Attach flower so that it overhangs the edge of the card by .25 inch.

Supplies
Paper: White cardstock, DCWV Summer Glitter stack patterned paper
Stamp: Studio G
Ink: Colorbox Chalk Chestnut Roan
Ribbon: Target
Punches: Fiskars Treading Water, EK Success scalloped circle and corner rounder.
Die cut letters: Making Memories Slice limited edition Seasons card
Gem: Nicole
Glitter: Stickles either Diamond or Crystal

The second card was for my Mom's birthday, only ten days after my niece's. This one is a similar design, with the scalloped circle flower extending off the right side, but with a more muted color palette. The little butterfly and staples give some added dimension.

Card directions
1. Trim ivory cardstock to 10.5 by 4.25 and fold to make a side opening card.
2. Trim blue cardstock to 5 by 4 and adhere.
3. Trim flower paper to 4.75 by 3.75, ink edges with pink and adhere.
4. Punch pink strip with border punch.
5. Trim strip of striped paper and adhere to pink strip.
6. Wrap rickrack around seam.
7. Attach pink strip.
8. Stamp sentiments on ivory carstock with purple ink and ink edges with pink.
9. Attach sentiments as shown, using staples on ends of bottom sentiment.
10. Punch butterfly from purple scrap cardstock. Fold in half, open and attach with staple.
12. Punch scalloped circle from blue cardstock and dot scallops with silver gel pen.
11. Punch circle from ivory cardstock and draw circle with template and silver gel pen. Attach to blue circle.
12. Punch three sizes of flowers and attach with foam tape to each other and ivory circle.
13. Finish flower with adhesive pearl.

Supplies
Paper: Ivory and light blue cardstock, scraps of pink and purple cardstock, Making Memories (floral print and stripes), DCWV (pink swirled)
Stamps: PSX (alpha), K&Co. (birthday sentiment)
Ink: Colorbox Chalk Wisteria and Pink Pastel
Punches: EK Success flower and butterfly punches, Martha Stewart border punch
Rickrack: Offray
Staples
Pen: Silver Uniball Gel Extreme
Pearl: K&Co

Dad

Today is my dad's birthday. I am a bad daughter in that I forgot to call him and he had to call me! But he didn't know I didn't call since he wasn't home and figured I'd just left a message on his answering machine. Yes most people would call his cell (which he was calling me from) but my parents never have their phones on. So annoying!

Anyway, I don't feel that I'm too bad of a daughter because I did send him this lovely birthday card, which should have arrived on time.

I finally used the rub-ons for glittering that I bought months ago. They don't work quite as well as I hoped but not bad. Also the blue glitter didn't quite match the DCWV patterned paper (summer stack, I believe) which was leftover from creating this layout:

This layout was one of the first that I actually used a sketch to create. I used stickers from the 2008 DCWV spring sticker stack. Some of them are flocked and glittered and I always like the bling. I also make the brown letter stickers by inking up some white ones. I added a little glitter shine with Making Memories glitter glaze paint.

I also made my dad this rockin' Father's Day card so I think he should know I love him! I think the bird and branch are Autumn Leaves stamps.

Happy birthday, dad!