I'M BACK (Almost...)

Check back tonight for some news and new posts!

Greetings from WDW!

Having a magical time at Disney World! The weather has been perfect, and it's been wonderful to spend so much time as a family. The grandchildren have been having fun both at the parks and at the pool.

Haven't missed stamping (sorry...)

Shaker Card Tutorial

I recently came up with an easier way to make shaker cards. I love using pouches from Impression Obsession that are thin for mailing, but deep enough to hold most fillings. (To follow this tutorial, each step comes after the photo.)

I start by assembling all the supplies I'll need. I also wiped a dryer sheet on the inside of the pouch to remove any static that might make the beads cling to the cup.

After stamping and coloring in the image, I peeled back just 1/2 of the protective liner on the back of the pouch. Holding the liner up away from the card, I attached the bottom of the pouch to the cardstock as shown. Notice the other half of the liner sticking up from the pouch.

Holding the cardstock away from the unattached portion of the image, I added the beads.
With the filling in place, I pulled the liner completely off and carefully pressed the cardstock to the pouch, keeping it upright so the beads stayed in the bottom.
Then, I added a small piece of double-stick tape in each corner of the top of the image cardstock and placed the overlay (which I ran through a CB folder first) over the pouch, forming a "sandwich" of image, pouch and overlay.
Finally, I attached the "sandwich" to a red card. I plan to embellish and add a greeting later.

I hope this helps make it easier for you to enjoy making shaker cards!

Sympathy Cards

Sadly, today I needed to make not one, but two sympathy cards.

For the top one, I used a Bible verse from my collection of Our Daily Bread Designs stamps. They have a wonderful variety of verses in beautiful fonts. I left the inside blank to write a personal note.

The second card has a Stampin'Up saying, and "With Sympathy" (also SU) on the inside.

I used Tim Holtz distress inks on the white edges of each saying. The blue/green butterfly was also sponged with Peeled Paint and Broken China distress inks. The other was stamped on coordinating background paper from K & Co.

When making sympathy cards, I like to put whatever encouraging verse I've used on the outside so that if the card is displayed, people will be reminded of their source of comfort.

CASE-ing the Catalogs--Repeating

The apple card on page 96 of the SU Idea Book reminded me of the value in repeating an image 3 times (or sometimes 5, usually an odd number.) Here's a card that repeats one of the blossoms from the SU "Growing Green" set.

With Spring around the corner, I thought yellow flowers would be appropriate. After stamping them on a scrap piece of dsp and cutting them out, I painted them with yellow Twinkling H2O's. For the centers, I used green mini beads held down with Crystal Lacquer. Once they dried, I mounted them on the card with dimensionals.

The ribbon on the side was glued down in one flat strip. The "bow" is actually another piece of ribbon, knotted and attached with a glue dot. Very handy way to do that for those of us who are "bow impaired!"

The greeting was stamped, cut down and mounted onto the card. Then the flower strip was mounted over it with double-stick tape so that just the words would "peek" out.

CASE-ing the Catalogs--Scallops

I got the idea for this card from the Christmas card on p. 69 of the SU Idea Book. Since I used such a dark cardstock for the base, I went bananas with the scallops to lighten it up. It makes me think of all those crinolines we used to wear under our full skirts--remember???

The stamp I used is "Elizabeth" from Stampin'Up and a Hello! stamp from Hero Arts. The brown gems add a little sparkle.

Watercolored Flowers

Last week I taught the Mothers Class how to watercolor using markers. We first made a palette by scribbling, very precisely, of course;) on a non-porous surface such as the lid of an ink pad or the back of an acrylic block. We then used our brushes to pick up the color to apply to the image.

For the class, I die cut some watercolor paper using a Nesties label die. They stamped the image in class with India Ink Black, a good ink to use that will not run or bleed. For shading, we added more of the same colors to parts of the petals and the envelope. Then we spread some gray ink at the bottom to "anchor" the image.

As a final touch, we added gold Stickles to the centers of the blossoms and mounted the finished label to the card with dimensionals. Some dsp, self-stick ribbon and a Bo-Ho Blossom all added to the finished look.

CASE-ing the Catalogs

Thanks to the card shown on P. 110 of the SU Idea Book, here is the card we'll be doing in Mothers Class next week. Since I wanted to use blue for the card base, I used blue chalk in the one flower. There is also a blue gem in the center, surrounded by mini-pearls.

The stamp sets I used are Fabulous Florets for the flowers and Abundant Hope for the words inside and out. I also used a crimper for the green floral strip, and added three larger pearls beneath it.

Just for variety's sake, I also made another card using the same pattern but different flower and greeting. Isn't it amazing how the same sketch can look so different!

HERE'S A TIP: When I need to make sure I stamp a greeting perfectly straight, I mount it on an acrylic block with grid lines etched into the other side. When I go to stamp it, I look at the grid line instead of the stamp itself. Works every time!

NEW SERIES

Here's the first card for a new series I'm featuring called, "CASE-ing the Catalogs." (CASE stands for Copy After Someone Else.)

The idea for this card came from Page 12 of the 2011-12 Stampin'Up Idea Book. I especially liked the texture on the long strip. It is shown there vertically, but I turned it around to make a horizontal card. The stamped piece was on a card I received from one of my Silver Stamper friends (thanks Alice.) The rest was added using the bird punch for the leaves and a Martha Stewart edger punch.

Enjoy!

CASE-ing the Catalogs

Here's another CASE of a card in the SU 2011-12 Idea Book, page 74.

What drew me to this card was the color combination of the red and lime green, which I also carried through in the embroidery floss on the side. Although I basically used the same color scheme, I did move the side strip to the opposite side and placed it under the label image instead of over the point.

I like the idea of cutting the words apart and placing them where I want them. That's nothing new, but I always forget to do it.

It's also handy to make a card with just one set, don't you think?

FEBRUARY BLUES BASH #14

Today was the day to "Leap into Leap Year." For photos and further details, click HERE.

HI!

Here is my card for the Impression Obsession challenge using their stamps and the word "Hi" (or hello, etc.) The diamond impression folder was the ideal backdrop for this coffee mug with the diamond design. Since I don't have an I.O. "Hi" stamp, I used letter stickers instead.

This is one of the images from the set, "Smell the Coffee." For another card using the same set, go to my January 21, 2011 post HERE and scroll down 6 posts. For other entries using I.O. stamps, click HERE. I bet none of them feature purple coffee!

(Next time I think I'll use SU's Early Espresso and Crumb Cake cs.) Hmmm...now I'm hungry...

HELLO!

This shaker card features a square opening turned on the diagonal, which was the perfect match for the dsp I had on hand.
Using a shaker cup with straight sides makes it a bit easier to fold back the paper around the opening than with a circle or oval. (See Feb. 6 post.)

The tuxedo cat is from an old set by All Night Media that I've had for years and still enjoy using. The dsp is from Basic Grey.

SIMPLE SATURDAY #25

TIP: To save time, assemble all supplies before starting.

Click on photos for a clearer view.

Another Way to Step It Up

Here's the first Easter Card I made for the Less Is More challenge, until I realized the color was supposed to be aqua; so I made the one in my previous post. Meanwhile, I decided to add some depth to this card. As you can see, initially it was "flat" and decidedly ho-hum.






However, just a few slits with a craft knife changed the look to a 3-D effect that is much improved. Hopefully, you can see the dimension added by cutting along three of the petals and lifting them up without foam tape. I also lifted the top of one of the leaves.



Just this little bit of extra effort makes a big difference!

Stepping It Up

1st photo: Since I wasn't happy with the card I made for the Less Is more challenge in the previous post, here is my attempt at taking it to the top.

2nd photo: I restamped the flowers, colored them, cut them out and popped them up on the card. I offset them a bit to create a "shadow" around the top and left sides. I then added yellow Stickles in the centers and rounded the top corners of the card.

3rd photo: Since I had some dsp that matched the color of the flowers, I used my rick rack die and placed the strip across the bottom of the image to ground it. The bold color also added some life to the card without overdoing it.

This is still a simple card, but I think it's better than before.

LESS IS MORE--Aqua

One-layer cards always are a challenge for me, especially when the card seems so empty when I'm done. Nevertheless, here is my entry for the latest challenge, using the color aqua.

First I sponged aqua ink around a scalloped oval mask as a background. Then I stamped the flower and the greeting over it. The floral image is from Gina K and the greeting is from StampinUp. After coloring the flower and rounding the bottom corners, the card was done...for now. I plan to step it up later, so check back for another post.

Meanwhile, the other entries can be found HERE.

Easter Shaker Card

Here's another shaker card where I stamped on the overlay instead of covering it with dsp. (See previous post.) I guess you could say I'm on a shaker card roll!

Before sealing up the shaker cup, I wiped it off with a dryer sheet to remove the static and used sequins and micro beads to shake. The shaker and overlay are from Impression Obsession, which sure makes it easy.

SHAKER CARD HOW-TO

First, select a card base, the overlay and a shaker cup.
I've chosen to use pre-made shakers and coordinating overlays
rather than making my own.

Next, cover the overlay with lightweight dsp (or use a background stamp.)
After gluing it down, turn the piece over and make an X with a craft knife. Then cut away most of the dsp to about 1/4" from the edge of the oval, make slits 1/4" apart all the way around, and bend them all back over some snail. (Shown in photo further down.)
Then stamp the image and color it in with markers. It must be one layer so that none of the contents will get hung up inside.

Next, place the overlay on the image, moving it around until it's centered where you want it. Holding it firmly, turn it over and mark all four sides with a line as shown so that it will line up the same way after putting the shaker contents in the cup.

First, place the cup into the opening, turn it over and wipe the inside with a dryer sheet to prevent static. Then add beads (or whatever else to shake) and remove the liner that covers the sticky strip around the cup. Using the marks made earlier, line up the image piece again.

You'll now have a "sandwich" with the shaker between the overlay in front and the image piece on the back. It's time to mount it to the front of the card base.

Here, add a greeting and some gold twine with glue dots and a dimensional.

Please let me know if this helps get you started making shaker cards. They're so much fun and not as difficult as they look. Once you've done one, you'll realize how easy they really are!

(Shaker pouches and overlays are from
Impression Obsession HERE.)

SPLIT COAST TO THE RESCUE!

Split Coast Stampers is such a wonderful resource, which is where I went for ideas to make a birthday card using the SU "Greetings, Earthling" set. Thank you, Understand Blue for your ideas.

I posed my alien under the moon on another planet where balloons could easily float upward. There are three for my grandson's third birthday.

Starting with a white card for the base, I tore the brown cs and pasted it onto a piece of black cs. I then punched a circle out of a piece of grayish cs, sponged it with black and white inks, and attached it with double-stick tape. I then sprayed my "scene" with Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Mist.

After stamping the alien on yellow dsp, I cut it out and colored in the circles with a purple glitter gel pen. While that was drying, I punched out the three balloons and placed them in position with mini glue dots, then added the embroidery floss strings, using TomBow glue. By then, the alien was dry enough to mount him to the card with a thick foam square over a black oval "shadow." I added his eye and glued the ends of the strings to the underside of his hand. (That's how they hold balloons on other planets...so I've heard.)

I could have stopped there, but I wanted to add some depth to the card. Using a Nestabilities die, I cut the opening and mounted the frame to the card front with black foam strips. Lastly, I added the greeting.

Children's cards are always a challenge for me; but I love how this one turned out!