My World Father's Day Card

It is time to create and send Father’s Day cards.  This is the first of three I will make this year.  I recently purchased The Everyday Heroes I want It All set, and felt like I could put it to great use for Father’s Day cards.  

The background stamp for this card is “My World” and it is stamped on cream card stock with Tsukineko StazOn Black.  I colored it with Rexel Derwent Watercolor pencils in Smalt Blue, Brown Ocher, and Sap Green.  Then I blended the colors with a Niji Water Brush.  The water brush is so easy to use and put the water to blend right where you want it.  Just a slight squeeze and there is water at the tip to blend.   The edges were torn using the Plaid Deckle Edge ruler.  I selected a few complementary colors from the Everyday Heroes paper set and torn the edges as well.  All the torn edges are inked with Tsukineko StazOn Saddle Brown.  An ornate die from the set was left over from another project so it was cut in half and adhered in with the layers of paper.    

Two more of the globe portions of the image were also stamped and colored then die cut using the Everyday Heroes die set.  Just the globe from one was trimmed and the second was left complete.  An ornate die from the set was also die cut.   I shaped the globe portion with McGill tool set.  The globe was adhered with dimensional foam in the center and Dries Clear adhesive around the edges.

This was a quick and fun card to put together.  It may not be considered CAS, but it was simple to put together using the Everyday Heroes set.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Fantasy Stampers #38 Father’s Day

Polkadoodles Wk 23 Father’s Day Anything Male

Sweet Stamps #226 For Dad

The Pink Elephant #303 Father’s Day

Dream Valley Challenges #108 Father’s Day

Aloha Friday #49 Masculine / For the boys

It is wonderful that this card was selected as a Design Team Favorite for TWO challenges!
Thank you!
Eureka Stamps #145 Father’s Day
Amusing Challenges Father’s Day

Congrats Grad Card #2

It is graduation season here in Oregon.  We typically don’t start school until around Labor Day, so school is in session and graduations happen in early June.  I like to make the cards in the high school colors of the graduates.  It just so happens that the three I have made thus far this year all use red and black! 

The Sketch Saturday provided a great jumping off point to get this card started and finished quickly!  I do have a stash of red and black patterned papers from the days that I coach a High School Dance Team that was of course . . .  red and black!

This is an A-6 size card to allow room for the image and design.  The image is Technique Tuesday’s Grad, along with the sentiment.  A recent purchase that was a lot of fun to get inky!  Tsukineko Versa Magic Cloud White ink was stamped on black card stock and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  The sentiment is stamped in Technique Tuesday red ink on white card stock.  The patterned papers were trimmed and adhered to black card stock, with each of the layers backed with opposing color card stock.  Quick, easy and ready to sign and present to the graduate!

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Sketch Saturday #364 

Mema's Crafts June AG Graduation
Inky Impressions #212 Make it for a Man 

Top Pick at
4 Crafty Chicks #249 Graduation

Retro Rubber Blog Challenge May Flowers

The Retro Rubber Blog Challenge for the next two weeks is a project that includes flowers.  Remember to use your retro stamps and please tell about how retro they might be!   I am featuring the 2015 version of my Mother's Day card . . . after the fact, but now the recipients have them in hand!

When I heard about this challenge I immediately thought of my first Heartfelt Creations acquisitions that can be used to make three-dimensional flowers.  At the 2011 Portland CKC I first saw the wonderful combination of dies and flower stamps used to make incredible flowers for cards and layouts. They started with existing Spellbinder's dies and drew images that could be stamped then die cut.  Brilliant idea! Now their dies are custom to their images, and are very beautiful.  They were not in my budget that year, but the next year I went for broke and joined the Heartfelt Creation's Platinum Club and dropped a wad on the start of my stash by HC.  Now they have many collections to choose from that include very intricate dies, dies that match stamps, inspiring stamps, and paper collections and designed to work together and create amazing projects.

Using Spellbinders Grand Labels Four and Labels Four I created the card base and layers from Heartfelt Creations Vintage Floret paper pack.  In truth I practiced three times with plain card stock to decide on the dimensions of the card and which dies to use for the base and layers.  I started with a tutorial video over at Splitcoaststampers, and modified the design to fit the dies that I own.  

The card base is 4 1/2" x 12" and is scored at    3 1/2", 4 3/4", 7 1/4", and 8 1/2".  The sections are folded and taped with removable painters tape to hold the layers together.  I used the Grand Labels Four die that just fit the now folded card stock, the third size.  The next size smaller die was used to cut the next layer, which was then cut in half to layer on the card base.   The smallest die was used to cut the front label.  Labels Four die cut the sentiment labels and the backing layers.  Each layer was edged with a sponge dauber using Viva 3D Stamp Paint in Walnut Brown Metallic.  Love the metallic sheen of this paint, plus it dries very quickly!

The front sentiment is by Heartfelt Creations and is in the Inspire Me Sentiments Pre-cut set.  It is stamped on Labels Four third size, and mounted with dimensional foam adhesive on the next size up.  The "Happy Mother's Day" sentiment is from a set I have had since about 1998 by Dream Ink.  I have over 220 words that can be combined into sentiments for ANY occasion.  Both are stamped in Tsukineko StazOn Saddle Brown.  I used my stamp positioner to place the Mother's Day in the proper position on the label.  Once these were adhered together the labels were trimmed to fit in position behind the panel as to not show until the card is opened.

The front of the card is decorated with a variety of Heartfelt Creations dies and stamps:  Vintage Floret Die, Mini Vintage Floret Pre-cut, Open Vintage Floret Pre-cut, Leaf Medley Pre-cut, Cut Mat Create Dies 1B and 2A.  Spellbinders Foliage die was also used.  I used pink and green card stock from my stash to die cut all of the layers.  I die cut the flower layers BEFORE stamping, see this post about the quicker way (for me) to stamp and die cut multiple times. For the bud, opening bud and rose I die cut 4 of the smallest, 4 of the next, 3 of the next, and one each of the next two.  I did not use the largest die in the set.  All of the flower layers were die cut from one 4" x 12" strip of card stock.   The flowers were stamped in Memories Sand and the foliage was stamped in Tsukineko Spanish Olive, Niagara Mist and Jumbo Java.  Heartfelt Creations has a number of video tutorials on how to shape flowers, this is a basic rose shape.  All of the edges were inked with the Viva 3D Stamp Paint in Walnut Brown Metallic.

The inside of the facing panel was left blank so we can write our own messages.  I made two of this card at the same time, one for each Mother, my Mom and my Mother-in-Law, and it took the better part of one afternoon to design and complete, but the end product is well with the effort.  

So now it is your turn!  Come show us your flower creations using your retro stamps and join the fun at Retro Rubber Blog Challenge!  

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Fab and Funky challenges #258 May Flowers

Lil Red Wagon #288 Distress It (with the Viva 3D Stamp Paint)

Deep Ocean challenge #103 Flowers

Brown Sugar #145 Layers (I used a ton of layers!)

Fussy and Fancy #138 Lots of Flowers

Creative Knock Outs #88 Distressing
Scrapbooker PhD #23 Mother's Day (with optional Flowers)

Honorable Mention at:
Scrapyland Blog #17 Use Dies 

End of year add on!
Clear It Out Challenge Blog Favorite Card of 2015 

Watt’s Up Birthday Card

After a very busy Easter weekend I did get to spend a little time crafting this afternoon.  I have a friend who enjoys punny messages, so this card is perfect for his birthday which is coming up this next week.  Finished in time to get it in the mail tomorrow!

This set by Your Next Stamp is Perfect Chemistry is a fun set to use because I am a Chemistry teacher.  The image is stamped on white card stock with Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black and then was colored with Chameleon pens.  Bubblegum (PK3), Cool Grey (CG8), Seville Orange (OR4), and Summer Sun (YL02).  I also like the YNS line because there are matching dies for these fun images that make it quick to die cut a colored character.  

The speech bubble is from Hero Arts Stamp & Cuts “Yes”.  It is die cut from white card stock, and before removing the shape I used a fine tip Zig black marker to run a thin line around the edge.  The YNS sentiment was masked to be able to stamp the “Watt’s” and “up?” in two lines rather than the way the image is designed in one line.  This allowed the sentiment to fit in the bubble. 

The light yellow card stock and yellow patterned paper are from my scrap paper stash and were trimmed to 4” x 5 ¼” and 3 ¾” x 5”.  The orange card stock banner was adhered across the patterned paper along with the Recollection’s Washi tape.  The A circle was die cut from the center of all the layers using Spellbinders Standard Circles Large.   This layer was adhered with dimensional foam adhesive.  The Light Bulb and sentiment were then adhered.

The YNS sentiment is stamped in the interior of the card with Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black to finish off the perfect birthday card for my friend.

This card was inspired by and entered into the following challenges

Simon Says Happy Birthday Challenge

Crafting by Designs Anything Goes

Polkadoodles Wk 14 Usea Die

Moving Along With the Times Color by Birthday Month,

Mine is November andthe primary color of the card is yellow like the Topaz.
   Amusing Challenges Birthdays

Pleased to announce that this card was selected as a top three pick here!
Sketch Saturday #355

It's All About the Chemistry

I just love this stamp set from Your Next Stamp, Perfect Chemistry!  (It's so phunny, I love teaching Chemistry too!)  I’ve made a few more Valentine’s cards with the set and here is the latest reiteration.

The test tube and erlynmeyer flask are stamped in Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black on white card stock.  (My fav for a dye based inkpad.)  Chameleon RD4 Crimson Red shades the images before they were die cut with the matching dies from the set.   The sentiments are stamped on Die Cuts With a View chalkboard card stock in Tsukineko StazOn Opaque Cotton white trimmed to 3” x 6 ½”.  Chalkboard card stock behaves a bit like glossy card stock, so take care when stamping so the stamp doesn’t slip.  I added 3 glossy heart brads from my stash, and adhered it to Imagination Project Great Grid Paper Black trimmed to 5” x 6 ½”.  The Target Dollar Spot ribbon is adhered along both edges with Zips Ultra Thin adhesive.  The card base is Recollections red card stock trimmed to 6 ½” x 12” and folded in half.  There was just a bit of ribbon left, so I tied it in a knot and used a glue dot to hold it in place.  The fun Chemistry images are adhered with dimensional foam adhesive. 

There are so many challenges that fit for this card! 

I was inspired by the following:

 Your Next Stamp Sketch and Color Challenge #6

It just so happens that it fits the Incy Wincy Tic Tac Toe perfectly with the row of Brads, Use 3 or More Papers, and Ribbon.
 Happy to say the DT team at Incy Wincy picked this as their top choice!

and the following challenges are all about Valentine's!

Crafty Boots: Hearts and Valentines

Scrapbook Stamp Society #59 Valentines

The Crazy Challenge #190 Love

Mema’s Crafts Valentines using Red, White + Black

Simply Create Too #78 Happy Valentine’s use hearts.

 

Your First Snowman in the US

My boys have been home for a while from Russia, and I continue to scrap some of our early experiences as a family.   These photos were taken just five weeks after joining our family.

I created a layout for each of the boys’ scrapbooks, and they are exact duplicates.   I started with a dark blue card stock base and used a Martha Stewart edge punch to make a snowflake border, which is layered on white card stock.  I added a paper ribbon from Little Black Dress Designs between the blue card stock and the snowflake paper.  The snowflake paper is from my stash. 

The Snowman is a Sizzix die, Snowman Two and is die cut in a variety of papers.  I used black brads for the buttons.  The snowflakes are a mix of McGill punches and Spellbinders Create a Flake Three.  They are die cut from white and blue vellum, and are pressure embossed.   The title is a  Quickutz font, Ginger die cut from white card stock.

This was a special day for the boys, and deserved a special layout to celebrate the joy of the day.

This layout is entered into the following challenges:

Scrap It Girl Snowflakes

Crafting By Designs Snowman

Great Impressions Snow Friends

Clean and Simple Thanksgiving Card

So close to Thanksgiving and I thought I would share another Thanksgiving card with you.  This time I went directly to the leftover’s in my yet to be put away scraps bin.  I had a blast making this card,  HappyThanksgiving;  which incidentally was the Design Team’s favorite over at Crafting By Designs in the Give Thanks Challenge. I had a few leaves and some Gelato colored Bristol card stock that quickly become this wonderful card to send to our daughter who is away at college and unable to come home for Thanksgiving. 

1.     I started with a Recollections 6-Bar Kraft card base.  A yellow-gold scrap trimmed to 4 ¼” x 5 ½“ was pressure embossed with Darice Foliage embossing folder and adhered to the center of the card.

2.     A section of the Gelato colored card stock was trimmed to 4” x 5” then I marked 2” from the top edge to draw pencil lines to a diagonal cut.  I trimmed the edges away.  (I also used the trimmed triangles as practice sections for the stamping.)

3.     Another scrap was trimmed to 1” and laid down the center of the Gelato piece.  I hand trimmed the edges to match.

4.     Technique Tuesday’s Hanging by a Thread provided a quick stamped image of stitching along the edges.  The Gelato section is stamped in StazOn Saddle Brown, and the dark red card stock is stamped in Timber Brown.  The “Thanksgiving” sentiment is from Technique Tuesday’s Say It Happy stamp set and is also stamped in Saddle Brown.

5.     I die cut the Technique Tuesday Say It Happy die in Kraft and red.  My favorite glue to use when adhering tiny die cut words is Quickie Glue pen by Sakura. 

6.     The oak leaf is left over from the card mentioned above and is made with Gelato colored brown card stock, Heartfelt Creations Leaf Medley Pre-cut stamp, and Spellbinders Foliage die cut. 

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

 The CuttingEdge Challenge #15 

Digi Sketch Challenge Use Die Cuts/Punches

Great Impressions: Challenge Thankful Thoughts

The Kraft Journal Leftovers Challenge 199

Selected as a Design Team Top three at
One Stitch at a Time Anything Goes with a Giving Thanks

As always, thank you for stopping by and enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A time for Sympathy

I find myself in a place where I need to make two sympathy cards this week.  This card is for my best friend from high school as her mother passed recently.  I took the time while I created this card to pray for her and her family as they mourn the great loss of a Godly woman.

I started with a card base of 7” x 11” and folded it in half.  The frame layer is an embossed mulberry paper trimmed to 5” x 6 ½” purchased at Costco years ago.  A tip here . . . apply the adhesive to the card, not the mulberry paper, as it will just pull up!  The micro-beads are applied with Terrifically Tacky Tape, followed by Art Institute Fools Gold to fill in the tiny open spots.  I can no longer find the Terrifically Tacky Tape in the thin widths so I applied a length to adhesive backing repurposed from the Xyron X and carefully trimmed it to a ¼” width using my self-healing magnetic mat, metal ruler, and an Xacto knife.

I stamped Unity Stamps Blossom Stacker image in Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold ink on ivory card stock and heat embossed with Think Ink Gold Glitter Gloss embossing powder.  The image was then die cut with Spellbinders Blossom Tags and Accents and a Spellbinders circle to remove the center of the image.  The center is DCWV Metallic Gold card stock die cut with Heartfelt Creations Decorative Blossom Corner that has been trimmed to fit inside the circle.

I tried a new method of stamping and die cutting my flowers.  Previously I had stamped the images first then painstakingly lined up the die with a mask and die cut each flower section.  This time I die cut a series of Spellbinders Rose Creations flowers from ivory card stock.  I was able to put all five dies through and not use up much paper on each pass.  Each layer has two of each size of flower.  I lined up all the same size flowers to match the image as it lay on my table.  Then I inked the image with Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold ink and carefully laid the flower over the inked stamp and then placed a 1/8” acrylic sheet over the top and applied pressure.  I carefully removed the now stamped flower with tweezers.  I was able to cut and ink the individual flowers much more quickly. (The next time I do this technique I will take photos!  I’m feeling a little under the weather so creating the card was a little higher priority!)  I sprayed the flowers with Tattered Angels Sun Sisters Glimmer Mist and let them dry.  The flowers are shaped using the McGill embossing mat and stylus set; Heartfelt Creations has great tutorials and shaping many types of flowers.

The leaves and swirls are die cut from DCWV Metallic Gold card stock using the Heartfelt Creations Bella Rose die.  The sentiment is from a set I purchased from Dream Ink; I have all three sets that includes 252 words and phrases and can write just about any type of greeting I need!  I could not find a die cut shape to fit the sentiment, so I used a McGill corner punch to shape the ends of a ¾” strip of ivory card stock.  The sentiment is edged in Dr. Ph. Martin Iridescent Plate Gold.  I assembled the card and it is now ready to send a message to my dear friend.

This card is entered in the following challenges:

Cardabilities Sketch 111 

Love To Scrap Challenge Blog #42 Say It in Color
Paper Wings Productions November Challenge Anything Goes
Party Time Tuesdays 190 Anything Goes

Selected as a Design Team Favorite at
Artistic Inspirations Challenges 117 Anything Goes in Gold and Ivory

I love to read your comments, so leave one below!  Thank you!