Card Kits - Cmas - Copper Snowflake

I started with deep purple card stock.  I cut the card 4.25 x 11" with a top fold.  I cut the large snowflake in great copper card stock with my Sizzix Large Snowflake die. I used a MS Snowflake punch to create smaller snowflake in the card color.  I layered these and mounted them on the top of the card front leaving enough space below for the greeting.  I held those in place with a large copper brad. I printed the greeting in the same color as the card onto a warm taupe card stock and then I cut it with the Spellbinder ribbon slider die. The slider was slipped over copper ribbon whose ends were taped to the inside of the card. The alternative for this card was navy blue in the card, snowflake and greeting.
 

Here's a picture of how I set up to cut my color printed greetings.  I determine how far apart my words need to be and print them on card stock. I take them to my Big Shot and lay the die over the greeting and a bit of tape on the right hand side was helpful to keep the die in place. Put it into the sandwich and roll. Out comes a perfectly aligned greeting!

Card Kits - Cmas - Glitter Tree

I started with the warm green glitter paper.  I selected a pea green card that coordinated well. I layered a quarter sheet of warm Ruby Red onto which I color printed some texture in a deep red color. I cut the 12x12 glitter sheet into 21 triangular trees (3"Wx4"T). Once cut I punched out several holes with a 1/4" paper punch and added a daisy confetti in red which looks like a poinsettia held in place with a gold brad in the center.  I printed the greeting on the same card stock and punched it out with the Word Window punch. I die cut stars from gold foil paper and mounted it with 3D foam tape.

Card Kits - Cmas - Polar Bear

I made some card kits for a friend on the weekend.  I made 5 designs.
This is a sketch I've used before. On this one I used navy blue card stock with white flecks which looks like snow falling.  The polar bear is Cricut which I glued down the scarf, added the eye and nose.  I ripped a piece of white card stock into a snow bank.  I added the yellow star in the sky. The alternative for this one is Bashful Blue for the card like this one.

Card - Ribbon Slider

I made this card for friend whose granddaughter is celebrating a birthday soon.  I selected some designer paper and mounted it on a pink card.  I cut a Spell Binder ribbon slide in chocolate brown and placed it on the card on a silver 5/8" ribbon through a slit in the fold on the left hand side. Scotch taped the ends to the inside of the card. I color printed the greeting and cut it with  my Creative Memories oval cutter and glued it down onto the slider. I added a white silk flower with a metal on layered over all held in place with a tiny pink brad. I made an identical card with a Thanks greeting for my card box.

Were you one of the lucky ones to get a Spellbinder die at Michaels with a 50% coupon last week?  This set of 3 ribbon sliders was my choice.  They are great because they take 5/8" ribbon and my Cuttlebug sliders take 3/8" ribbon.

Not a Card - CST Challenge #18

I made this little pocket for a challenge which indicated "not a card". I used the Sizzix Petal Card die on scrapbooking cardstock in Soft Sky polka dots on Chocolate Chip.  I created the little sentiments on the computer.  They are 2 3/8 inches square.  This is a little gift for someone who has given support.  The first square is a place address and sign it.  The others are customized to the particular situation.  I made holes in 2 of the flaps and tied it closed with brown crochet cotton.

Card - Train

This card is for a little boy soon turning 3. I used a QuicKutz die. It has all the pieces on a 4" square die so I was able to cut each piece from a different color paper. I used the cool tool glue applicator to get just a bit of glue where I needed. The 3 is cut with the Cuttlebug Red Tag Alphabet dies. The blue sky piece of paper I crunched then flatten and rubbed an inkpad on the high points to create an interesting sky. I ripped a piece of DP paper to create the grass below the train.
I'm submitting this card to the CST Challenge #17 which needed punched or die-cuts.

Card - Teenager - Bold graphic

I made this card for a friend for her grandson who is celebrating a birthday this week. He is a teenager so I wanted to keep it bright and bold. I use Kiwi Kiss card stock and found this bold graphic paper which I layered nearly to the edge. I cut the HB with Sizzlet Notepad Alphabet in coordinating colors. I mounted these to a white tag with I edged with a navy ink pad. I added 3 ribbons in coordinating colors.
I'm submitting this card to the CST Challenge #17 which needed punched or die-cuts.

Card - Black Felt Border

I made these cards for my monthly card exchange. I started with the black flocked border I bought at a dollar store. I thought it was smart looking. I designed a square color printed greeting which was layered on to a colored square that matched the card color. This was layered onto a embossed layer then onto the card. I attached the felt border with several brads that matched the card color. Top - Devine Swirl EF and Bottom - Finial EF. This is a very versatile design as the color of the card can easily be changed to suit different sentiments. I have designed several other greetings for the design. Keep and eye out for them later.

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.

Cmas Card Challenge - September - Non Traditional Color (2)

Here's the another card I made for this challenge but was having a hard time getting the colors right in a scan. I made a triangle tree of the 3 colors bright pink, green galore and turquoise. Embossed them with 3 different folders. Punched some small yellow stars for the top. Added hand drawn stars in the sky and snowbank on the ground with a thin black marker. The trunks were added with marker as well.

Cmas Card Challenge - September - Non Traditional Colors

I chose Turquoise, Green Galore and Bright Pink for my non traditional colors for my September challenge and nice textured white cards. I could not decide on one design so I made several. I don't remember the company which makes the rubber stamp greeting.

Top Left: The tree is a QuicKutz die so I cut each layer in a different color. The trunk was cut in black. I glued the snowflakes cut by the die in the sky. I drew by a hand a snowbank with a thin black marker.

Bottom Left: The tree is created by gluing narrow strips of pink and green card stock on a piece of turquoise card. I then drew the sweeping tree shape on the back of the white piece and cut it out with scissors. The trunk was cut from black card stock. The snowflakes were hand drawn with a thin black marker. I added a small yellow star at the top. The snowbank was cut from the leftover from the tree and laid in the opposite direction.

Right: Again a QuicKutz die which creates a tall tree which needed a taller card than an A2. The 6 pieces cut into the 3 colors and alternating the colors. Cut the stem in black. Added a yellow star at the top. The greeting stamped and I drew a border with a thin black marker.

I made 4 cards
Total so far 76.

Photo - Vacation Pics

Here's a few shots from my summer. I was up early one morning and took this great sunrise with the pine tree in silhouette, Queen Anne lace against a dark sky (we nearly got wet), a swan on Lake Ontario with a great reflection, the Canada Flag in late evening, a punched tin lantern at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough and the dew on the car as we were leaving at 6:30 am for a day of photo taking (now that the life of a photographer). We were trying to avoid the heat of the day and the harshness of the midday light.

I spent time with my sister and we took lots of pictures, make lots of cards, chatted and walked most days. It was very good!

Card - CST Challenge #16 - Summer Inspired

Sunflowers are my favorite and a great summer flower. I started with a photo of a sunflower I took at Muttart Conservatory on Friday. I printed it and cut it out with my Nestabilities circles, then cut a yellow circle a bit larger and then a corresponding circle scallop in brown. I placed this central element on a ginger colored card. I found some fiber in my bucket which matched. I have notched both sides of the card edges to accommodate the chunky fiber tied around the front of the card. I add a sentiment stamped on a SU word window punchie in Chocolate Chip ink. Held in place with a bit of adhesive and a tiny copper brad. I added the copper butterfly cut with my Spellbinder die. I added a bit of dark brown to the body. Rubbed my ink pad along the edges of the card.

Card - CST Challenge #15 - SSS Sketch

I made this card for the CST challenge based on this sketch. I started with another photo of a lily from my Mom's garden. It's got this really nice dark purple edge which makes it look exquisite. I printed the lily and cut into an oval. I mounted it onto a coordinate plum textured cardstock rectangle. I chose an cream card to match the center of the lily to which I added a couple lines of embossing on the top half using a border folder. I stamped the greeting in Orchid. I added a moss green satin ribbon. I glued the plum rectangle on an angle. Found a silk flower for the top left corner and bling for the bottom right hand corner.

New Blog Header - Tiger Lily

I took some pictures while I was on vacation. I really liked this Tiger Lily one so I chose it for my new blog header. I'm getting the header to look more like I want. It's taking a while.

Card - CST Challenge #14 - Sympathy Card

I created this card for this week's challenge - Sympathy card. I had just taken several photos a couple of days before and thought they would make nice sympathy cards and here's the challenge. I cropped the photo into an oval shape and printed it on heavy white paper. I cut it out and glued it to white cardstock which I trimmed with scallop scissors. I stamped the Stampendous sentiment with Always Artichoke ink on same color card. I glued the oval just above it and added a white satin ribbon bow on the right hand side through a slit in the fold.

Card - Bird Cage

I used some mellow yellow cardstock and stamped a background with Ancient Page Sienna ink using some swirls and dotted stamps. I rubbed the edge of the card with the sienna pad. I cut a Tim Holtz bird card die cut in a sienna cardstock and chalked it would dark brown. I used a black marker to define the ring at the top. I distressed some green crochet cotton with the sienna ink pad. I cut the bird from dark brown cardstock and added a eye and beak in black marker. I glued him with his beak coming through the bars and his wing stick out. I added a Sizzix leafy branch in always artichoke and glued it to the cage. Punched some ivory flowers that were chalked with brown, orange and yellow. I pressed the edges of the flowers in the dark brown inkpad to add some contrast to the edges against the yellow card. Two were glued to the card/cage and the center one was mounted with 3d foam tape. I made 2 of these cards for my exchange group.

Card - CST Challenge #13 - Large Sentiment

I made this card for the weekly challenge on CST. The challenge was to make the sentiment the main element on the card. I stamped a Stampin Up! greeting "Warm Wishes" on white and watercolored it in fall colors. I cut it out with Nestabilities scallop circle thin die. I cut a scalloped circle the next size up in brown. I embossed a tan layer with a leaf embossing folder which I ripped on the bottom. It was layered onto a brown rectangle which I ripped on the bottom too. I chose a warm orange card. I glued the brown, the tan, the 2 scallop circles then I added a small tag on which I had stamped the word FALL and added several small leaves with a tan brad.

Card - CST Challenge #12 - Fav Coloring Technique

I created this card for the CST challenge. My favorite technique is watercoloring so I selected this peony and use a watercolor palette and paintbrush. I painted the whole flower in a light layer of color. Adding a second layer of a bit darker color in the shaded areas adds depth to the flowers. I layered it onto a coordinating pink cardstock then onto a green card. I added a stamped "Happy Birthday " greeting in green.

Cmas Card Challenge - August - Christmas Glitters

I found this POW glitter paper at a local scrapbook store. It is gorgeous! Unfortunately, scanning does not do justice to it. The paper is plastic backed with created a bit of a challenge for the Sizzlet die.
I bought the polka dot paper at the same time because they worked together well. I found a dusty blue cardstock for the card. I created a gate-fold card with the split in the middle. I trimmed the designer paper to fit both sides of the card fronts. Then, I selected a taupe cardstock to cut the scalloped circle with my Nestabilities Classic die. The brown layer is cut with the coordinating Nestabilities circle dies. The word "Peace" was cut with a Sizzlet border die, recently discontinued by Stampin Up! I used a snail tape runner to apply glue to the back of the die-cut because it is very shiny. I wanted a touch of blue repeated so I use a Martha Stewart snowflake punch to add it.
I made 5 of these so bring my total to 72 cards.