MARTHA STEWART INSPIRATION

 (Don't forget to click on this post first so you see both photos.)


 From this turkey place card on the table setting (which didn't photograph well off the iPad) to the turkey card below, this was a fun project.





Instead of using the tail feathers to list trivia facts about Thanksgiving, I thought it might be more appropriate to count our blessings.  The "feathers" on the bird were done using Versamark ink and the pointed leaf from the "French Foliage" SU set.  This is another good way to use up some scraps.

Inside reads "Count your many blessings, name them one by one."  We certainly do have much to give thanks for!

KICKSTART INSPIRATION #3

Here's another card inspired by the napkin/plate setting from Martha Stewart Living.

While she used a bright white for her table decor, I chose an off white cardstock.   Instead of a feather, I used a leaf with a similar shape.  Her border is brown on white, mine uses some other Fall colors.  Her ribbon is black, mine is gingham.  Her napkin is plain white linen, my cardfront is embossed.  In addition, since mine is a card rather than a place setting, I also included a greeting.

Unfortunately, since the photo was taken after sundown, my card looks much darker here than IRL.  It's definitely white, just not as bright as the iPad picture.

Check back tomorrow for one more card inspired by Martha Stewart Living!

ANOTHER KICKSTART INSPIRATION

One of the ways suggested in the Hero Arts Kickstart classes to get inspiration for cards is to look through non-stamping sites.

The Thanksgiving card on the right was inspired by the plate shown on the Martha Stewart Living magazine that was "delivered" to my email today.  I loved the browns on the wheat-colored background, so I started with my Hero Arts "Wreath of Leaves" as the base for my leaves.  I stamped the wreath (barely seen here) with an Autumn Leaves Kaleidacolor pad onto a piece of plain dsp, then stamped the brown leaves over it using Chestnut Roan Colorbox chalk ink.  For each leaf, I first stamped off on a paper towel, then onto the dsp to keep a more muted look.

Next, after adding strips of brown textured cs on each side, I mounted the wreath on the card.  A little bit of jute, a sponged greeting, and the card was done--all under 15 minutes!

MOMS CLUB UPDATE

 Well, the card on top was made in class and was a disaster!  Because I tried to do it by memory, I forgot the part in the instructions about not putting tape too close to the slider mechanism.  Everyone had a beautiful card with a slider that kept getting hung up.   Very embarassing...

As soon as I got home, I remade the card the right way, and the slider works perfectly.  Of course, I had to discard the original top piece; but I think I like the plainer one better anyway.

So the moral of this story is:   FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!    (HERE)

Here's what I came up with for tomorrow's Moms Club.  It's quite easy to make and a lot of fun for the person who receives it.

Check back tomorrow night for details and photos from the class!  (Gotta run...)

KICKSTART INSPIRATION

After spending this past week with Hero Arts "Kickstart" classes, I was challenged to look for new avenues of inspiration.  Since I often CASE cards I find online, this gave me the opportunity to start coming up with my own ideas instead of borrowing from other sources.

Today when I walked into my "tower" the first thing I thought of was this die I hadn't tried using yet. Instead of coloring in the trees, I cut a strip of green dsp along with the white and glued the green trees over the white ones.  I then added a chimney and red door on one of the houses by attaching a tiny piece of red underneath so that a corner of it would stick up beyond the roof.  I added the smoke with a black marker.  It didn't take long, either.

If you haven't signed up for one of the online classes at Hero Arts, it's not to late to try one.  I can tell you it definitely is worth the cost!

BEGINNER BASICS--Christmas Card

 Here's a card made with one sheet of white cs,  a fancy fold, and a minimum of other supplies.

First, I stamped the poinsettia in India Ink Black on a scrap of white cs, colored with two markers and cut in a square.  After running the edges across the inkpad, I added yellow Stickles and set it aside to dry.

Next, I folded the card as shown and added the background paper from 2 sheets in a 4.5" x 6.5" pad of Christmas prints.

For the inside, I chose a stamp that would fit underneath the square on the front, stamped it in black and taped it to the inside.  You'll notice that it's slightly off-center so it doesn't show when the card is closed.

Yes, cards can be made with just a few supplies.  Add a fancy fold and some interesting background paper, and you have a really simple card.

BTW, ten years ago (before I moved into the "tower") ALL my supplies fit into a pencil box!

Supplies used:  white cs, poinsettia stamp, sentiment stamp, black India Ink, background paper, yellow Stickles, red and green markers, double-stick tape.

A MONTH LATER...

Well, here we are a month later and my stamping room is still in good shape!  In fact, if you'll notice and compare, I even recovered the desk chair cushion with fabric that coordinates perfectly with the carpet.

This time of year is the busiest stamping season for me.  I've got Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas all going at once, with preparations galore for various classes and workshops.  Not to mention the usual Autumn birthday cards to keep up with.  They call it "multi-tasking" but I call it "mayhem"  in a fun way.  If I ever get to feeling overwhelmed with it all, I'll just cut back.  So far, I'm keeping organized and able to get the things done that I really want to get done.

One of the ways I stay organized is to give away a lot of stamps and supplies that I no longer plan to use.  It was hard at first, but I've learned not to get sentimental about my stamps and view them as tools instead.  If I hadn't learned to do that, I'd have filled three rooms by now!


TIP: To keep things separated, I have a container for Christmas stamps in use, another for Autumn and later on I'll have another for Halloween, all sitting on my table in reach.  Just the stamps in use at the time.  Then they get put away before I pull out more.  These are mostly inside sayings.  Sets get used one at a time and returned to their storage spot.

AUTUMN IN NEW YORK...

...AND NEW JERSEY!

I just love the French Foliage set.  If I had to choose just one set for Fall, that would be it.

The main image was clear embossed on Very Vanilla cs and washed with Twinkling H2Os.  After drying, I mounted it on dark brown cs and laid it aside.

I used the french words as a random background and covered it partially with a piece of vellum to soften the look.  Then I mounted the painted piece with dimensionals, added a jute bow and some shiny stickers at the bottom for embellishment.

This was easy to make, but time consuming because of the drying process.  I like the soft look I ended up with, so it was worth the effort.  Enjoy!

CASEing the iPad

Jackie and I worked on this card at her house as we followed the tutorial on this BLOG.

Although the card shown on the iPad is for Christmas, we decided to do Fall leaves.  It was a little tricky getting the folds right at first, but they turned out great in the end!  Sponging the folds helped to define them, and adding the dsp underneath highlighted the design even more.

These will make beautiful Thanksgiving cards!

SIMPLE SATURDAY #26

Penny Black Mini

Here is my entry for the Penny Black mini card challenge HERE.

First I stamped the SU City of David in Denim Blue ink.  Then I sponged the sky with the same ink and the sand dunes with TAC Tumble Weed ink.  After adding a clear gem in the center of the star, I mounted the image onto a scrap piece of dark blue cs with dimensionals.  Before attaching it to the card front, I stamped "joy" at the bottom.

The inside reads "Wishing you the joy and wonder of the first Christmas" from the same SU set.  The finished card measures 3 3/4" x 4 1/4".

Christmas Ice Skates

Since I enjoyed making other cards with this layout (see previous post) I used it again for these skates.  This is a fun image to use because it requires so little coloring.  All I used was a silver pen for the blades, red and green markers for the Holly and a black Spica pen for the heel.  The Martha Stewart punch added some interest on the edge of the red dsp.

The bottom looked a bit plain to me, so I got out my Scor-pal and added three scored lines across the bottom.  It's just enough to add interest and texture without detracting from such a small, delicate image.

I'm too old for ice skating now, but I can remember the sheer  joy of lacing up my white skates and getting out on the frozen river for an afternoon of fun!

CASEing the Ipad #6

For World Card-Making Day on October 6th, I decided to hold a workshop.  When I saw this card on Simply Stamped HERE (July 12 post,) I thought it would make the perfect Christmas card.  Thank you, Maile Belles!

For the workshop, we'll do 3 of these poinsettia cards and three Autumn cards with a leaf.  To make the poinsettia, I used the main part of  a stamp from Our Daily Bread Designs and stamped it twice:  once on white for the leaves and once on red for the rest.   After coloring in the leaves and assembling the blossom, I mounted it on the corner of the white overlay with a dimensional.  Instead of a button, I used three tiny red gems on the side to make it more postage friendly.

This design lives up to Maile's beautiful work on her "Simply Stamped" blog.