Christmas Thank Yous

As per tradition I used paper from one of my gifts to make my thank you cards.

It was great to add these owls to my cards.  I chose burgundy, green and brown as my card bases.   I did have to go around the scotch tape which meant different shapes of decorative paper.

I made a large greeting which I printed on ivory card stock then punched out with the large 2" circle punch.

I used a coordinating ink color to smudge the edge of the greeting.










I really appreciated the gifts I received.  The best was spending time with family for a full day on Christmas day.

Our gift exchange for adults was a bunch of consumable gifts.  I got beef jerky and smoked cheese.  I swapped out the bottle of red wine for mulled spices.

Card Club - May - Pop Bottle Flowers

Here are the cards for Card Club.
I started with the flowers I printed back in April. You can check this post for the How To.  I decided to add some definition for the flower so I drew petals around the pink dots with a silver marker.  I used a glitter marker for some of them.  I added the black layer behind to hide the design on the back side of the painting since I had use calendar pages.  I mounted this layer to the front of a pink card.  I color printed the greetings to coordinate with the flower and punched them with the Stampin Up Word Window punch.  I layered that onto a SU Bitty Banner die cut in black.  This greeting was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

How To: Printing Flowers with Pop Bottle

I did this activity at Easter during the girls get together with my Mom at Easter.  I see I had not blogged it so here it is.

Here is my original inspiration.

I wanted card sized flowers so I chose a smaller bottle.  I used recycled paper from a calendar so it was earthly friendly activity.  I dipped the end of the bottle in the pink paint and printed it on my white paper.  I used the bottle lid for the flower center. I painted the stems and leaves with a paint brush.  Once dry, I spattered them with silver paint.

You can check out my Card Club cards on Monday to see the final look.

Card - Wax Crayon Paper Flowers

Here's the card I made with my wax crayon paper from yesterday.

I cut the paper with the Sizzix Flower Layers #10 Bigz die.  I printed my nature poem onto white in blue.  I added the stem and flowers I designed over the script background.  This layer was color printed and trimmed to leave a small border.  I mounted it onto a medium blue card.  I placed my blue wax paper flower to work with the stem.  I added a white then a yellow silk flower and held all the flowers to the card front with a small white brad.  I made a hole for the brad with a push pin. I'm really happy with the way the card turned out.

I may have to use this idea for card club!!!  Great idea for earth day crafts.

How To: Wax Crayon Paper

I'm thinking about Earth Day (April 22 2014) ideas already.  I have been collecting wax crayons given away at restaurants when children are at the table.  This happens regularly for me so I decided to recycle/reuse them rather than them being thrown in the garbage.  There are some great ideas out there. Being a card maker I wanted something I could use in my regular projects. I did some research and here's my process.

1) Cover your work space with a couple of layers of scrap paper.
2) Strip the paper from the crayons.
3) Use a pencil sharpener to create wax shavings
4) Lay your shavings on wax paper in whatever manner you want.  Mixing the colors will create colors like orange, green, and purple.
5) Cover your shavings with another piece of wax paper.
6) Add a couple of layers scrap paper.
7) Heat with an iron designated for crafts on medium setting.
8) Lift scrap paper to reveal your wax crayon paper.

Next time I will use more wax crayon.  Trying to align yellow in the center for flowers was not worth it. Check tomorrow to see what I made with my paper.

Christmas Thanks Yous

As my tradition, I made these cards from gift wrap which held one of my gifts this year!  I think this makes them more personal to the recipient.

I glued the paper to bond paper to give it enough stiffness to cut with my Creative Memories oval cutter.  I then cut the snowman out.  I selected black card stock.  I then embossed a piece of red card stock with the Cuttlebug Winter Snowflake large embossing folder.  I trimmed it to leave a small border and added satin green ribbon. The ribbon was cut to allow the ends to be brought to the back and taped down.  I then mounted the snowman oval over top with 3D foam tape.



On the card on the right I used caramel card stock with the same elements as the first.  I moved the ribbon joint to the left hand side.

It's important to remember to say Thank You to those you remembered you this year, whatever form that takes. Do it!

Cool Tool - Refillable Bottles for glue

If you find yourself trying to glue down small pieces of paper like thin die cut letters or small punchies you know that a glue stick won't do a good job. Snail adhesive a bit better because it's dry but still covers way more area than you want and wastes glue. Double sided tape is really not flexible enough to meet the need. You need an application of glue in a very thin line. This requires a narrow tipped applicator. On the left with the purple lid is the tool I use for this job. I buy it a the craft store and it works great. What if you would like several of these then it becomes expensive. In comes the idea of recycling bottles sold with various other contents. You need ones with very fine tips which are removable from the bottle. Once emptied it can be converted to glue. Good old white glue works well and is inexpensive and likely is on sale right now for "Back to School." The middle one is fabric glue bottle and the other is used in stained glass. I found these in the clearance section for very little money. And since I was more interested in the bottle and not its contents that was great. Once I have used the contents I will have 2 small bottles for dispensing glue on small items. I teach classes so that will provide several to share around the table. Maybe you have some already in your craft supplies, maybe you have a friend into fabric or stained glass. Maybe a posting on-line will connect you with those who empty these bottles regularly. This is a cool tool! I can't take the credit for this idea, it came from my sister during my visit this summer.