Autumn Hello

Here's a card that couldn't be easier and uses very few supplies.

First, I used this embossing folder on white cs and added some color with chalks--just the pumpkins and one side of the tree trunk.  I used a gray marker for the bush on the left side, but you could also use orange for berries instead.  After rounding the corners, I sponged the edges with Wild Honey Distress Ink.

The "hello" stamp is from a Simon Says Stamp set of greetings in the handwriting of Kristina Werner.  I added the dashes below to bring it closer to the top of the fence.

Finally, I mounted the panel of the kraft card with dimensionals.

Musical Birthday Card

This card involved several steps, although it was quite easy to do for such a dramatic effect.

First I stamped the music notes from a Hero Arts set in black on a piece of  Very Vanilla cs and sponged lightly over it with Distress Inks (Wild Honey and Peeled Paint).  Then I stamped the G clef in Versamark ink and clear embossed it.  Next, I sponged more distress inks over it  to make the clef "pop" and wiped off the excess ink.

For embellishment, I added two white Hero Arts blossoms over a sliver metallic cord bow, placed some pearls in the center and mounted the panel on the card front.  To finish, I sponged the edges of the card and rounded the top right corner.

Stamp set:  Hero Arts "Musical Clef" cling stamps

EEK!

This is one Halloween spider I could do without! After I picked up the grill cover and placed it on the barbecue (in preparation for the coming storm) I noticed this scary Halloween monster! I'm grateful it was not on my clothing, since I hadn't noticed it until after I placed the cover on the grill...and yes, it was alive. Since it wasn't in the house, I brushed it off into the grass below where I hope to never see it again.

MORE RECYCLING!

 This really is fun!  Most of the actual stamping is on the inside, with sayings that are appropriate to the images used.

The top card is on a fancy fold card.  The second one was just cut with my personal trimmer to fit the card front.  The top was hand cut around the circle.  The bottom card was cut with a label die, taped to a piece of red cardstock and then cut by hand to give it a thin border of red.  The "merry" tag was added with a glue dot and embellished with a tiny red gem.

For the final card, I punched out the wreath, added a tag and metallic cord bow over the bow in the image and mounted it to the plaid dsp with dimensionals.

I can't believe how fast if was to reuse all these card fronts!
Why not ask your non-stamping friends for some of their old cards and see what you can do with them.

RECYCLING CAN BE FUN!

 Here's what I've been working on lately.  Ruth gave me a stack of  cards that she had received for Christmas in 2009, so I took them apart and made new ones.  The Moms class did the same with others in the package and just loved recycling them!

Most of them were very easy to do by taking off the card front and discarding the rest.  After cutting them down further, I mounted them on contrasting cardstock and attached them to new card bases.

The angel card now features metallic cardstock and coordinating gems on Very Vanilla cs.  The blue card is a Z-fold card with the image attached to the left side only.  The manger scene was cut down, mounted on green cs and attached to a white card base.
Christmas Joy was cut down from a much larger card and mounted to a piece of red cs for contrast.  After wrapping the red and white bakers twine around it, I mounted it to the white card with dimensionals.

Once I gathered all the materials together that I thought I'd need, these cards went very quickly.  It was just a matter of  cutting them down, matching up the best color cs for the contrast and mounting them to a new card base.  Since most of them were on shiny paper, very few embellishments were needed.

(Click on the images for a closer look.)

Grateful for Leftovers

This leaf was left over from a previous card, so I used it after seeing this card HERE.

The notches at the bottom of the card front were done with my square punch (as were the strips above) and an additional strip of dsp was attached to the inside of the card so it would show through.  Just thought it would add of touch of continuity...

This will make a nice Thanksgiving card for someone who feels as I do that we have many blessings to thank God for!

FOLDED CHRISTMAS TREE

Here's a simple card starting with a solid card base, a dsp oval and a semi-circle of double-sided dsp.

First I attached the oval to the card.  Next, I folded the tree and attached it to the oval with double-stick tape.  Then I cut a piece of brown cs for the tree base, added a glittered star and "merry" tag for embellishments, and that was it--done!

Christmas Deer

I designed this card for my Dad who gave me the evergreen stamp used inside.

After using the die to cut out the deer silhouette, I then cut out an oval on the front of the card.  Then I inked the pine tree with black India Ink, stamped off on scrap paper once and stamped it on the inside left.

Using dark green and chestnut roan inks, I picked up the colors with a watercolor brush and gently painted over the tree image.  The inside is stamped with "Merry Christmas" at the bottom right, leaving just enough room to sign it where it won't show through the opening.  A knotted piece of jute adds the finishing touch.

This masculine Christmas card is just right for my Dad!

Here's the simplified version I came up with for Moms Club this week.  I added a silver star so the deer will look like they're focused on something other than the trees.


Note:  Die set from Memory Box.

HALLOWEEN CARD

Here's the design I came up with for the next Moms Club class.  Since I abhor Halloween for its emphasis on things of the occult, (anybody else with me on this?) I placed the fence and the eyes to strategically cover up references to witches and ghouls.

The rest of the stamping projects that I've planned for Halloween will focus on candy corn and pumpkins!


(How appropriate that a shadow from the window was cast across this card!)

BACK TO ORIGINAL DESIGN

The previous design I tried for my blog was not working well from a viewing and commenting standpoint, so I'm back to the original layout.  However, I do hope you like the Autumn background I chose!  (At least that's another way to give the blog a new look.)

I just love this time of year when the air is clear and crisp, with warm afternoons and cool nights.  Of course, that final burst of color before the bleakness of winter is the highlight of October, my favorite month!

LET IT SNOW--NOT!

...not yet, anyway...


This Penny Black stamp set came the other day, and I finally got a chance to play with it.  I first stamped the snowflakes in Versamark on white cs and clear embossed them.  Then I sponged Broken China Distress ink over them.  After cutting down the image, I mounted it on a darker blue cs, tied the silver cord around it and popped it up on a white card with dimensional tape.

The tag was stamped and hand cut to fit the lettering.  I wanted one that was narrow so as not to cover too much of the design.  I added pearls and gems for embellishment.

Someone in Florida may appreciate this as a Christmas card!


TIP:  To adhere a panel that tends to curl after using a lot of inks or watercoloring, I use my Xyron machine to hold it down flat.

WORLD CARD-MAKING DAY--FUN!

We celebrated our day with a small, intimate gathering at the Tower.  After stamping images on plain white cs for future use, we made this one acetate card.  We thought of making up our own greeting inside of "Have you been naughty or nice?" but decided to use "Wishing you peace and joy this holiday season"  or "Ho! Ho! Ho!" instead.

The image was stamped in gold ink on white cs and mounted on the front of the card with the green cs behind it on the inside of the front.  The kraft piece was mounted on the outside of the back panel with the greeting attached on the inside of the card.

When we finished the card, we cleaned up the table and had lunch.  Joan received the door prize of a clear Christmas stamp set.

TIP:  If a stamp doesn't stamp evenly, check out the ink coverage on it before you stamp.  I find that "working" the stamp does a better job of  eliminating lighter spots than pressing harder on the paper.  Simply rub firmly with your thumb or two fingers on the back of the stamp before releasing it from the paper.  This usually does the trick!

Also, as you can see in the second photo, acetate static "attracts" dust and fingerprints, so be sure to clean off your card before slipping it into an envelope for mailing.

WORLD CARD-MAKING DAY

Festivities have been planned here at the Tower for tomorrow, Oct. 6th, in celebration of World Card-Making Day.  Imagine that!

Stamping friends are invited to bring their favorite holiday stamp sets, a stack of white cardstock and a sandwich to cut into quarters and share.  I'm supplying beverages for the sandwiches and black dye ink for the stamping.  We'll be spreading the stamps out on the table and sharing them to take home a bunch of images for use on later cards.  For the "finale" we'll make a card from whatever is on the table.

Check back tomorrow night for photos.  (If I remember to use my camera...)

  This is going to be FUN!