STAIR STEP CARD

WOW! I really like using natural lighting on the dining room table for photographing my creations. This one, especially, was a challenge because of the "stairs" of the folds.

It was fun filling this one up with cutouts and images for each "step" while avoiding the temptation to overdo it. There were lots of ideas in the gallery at Split Coast--check them out!

Treat Holder Thank-you

After watching Dawn Griffith's video for her treat holder using the Movers and Shapers die, I wanted to try my own version with my Cuttlebug. At first, I was going to use the butterfly shape as my window; but the antennae wouldn't release. Then I decided to leave it that way with the treats just peaking out the sides. Adding the dsp butterfly on top and bending the wings really made it unique.

Dawn used velcro for her closure on top, but I found that removable glue dots worked just as well and were easier for me to apply. After all, with chocolate in the cello bag, these holders would only be opened once!

You can check out Dawn's videos by clicking on her link at right.

WIPER CARD

Here's my first wiper card, shown opened. I tested it out on my DH, but he couldn't figure out how to open it. I guess I'll have to be sure and send it to someone who would know what it is!

The heat wave has broken here this week, bringing fresh crisp air from up north. It won't be long before the pumpkins hit the local farm stands and cards with fall leaves and pumpkins hit the blogs.

Thanks, Beate, for your wonderful tutorial on Split Coast/You Tube.

CYNDY'S RETIRED SALE

Don't you just love a bargain? This set has been one of my favorites and now it's part of my collection. Thanks to Cyndy, I was able to purchase it gently used for only $5! Is that cool, or what???

MOSAIC CARD

Dawn Griffith always has such good video tutorials, which is what inspired this card. Another great way to use up some scraps!

The mosaic pieces were attached to a sticky sheet that I found in the back of a drawer here in the "tower" from ages ago. Don't you just love it when something you need for a project is right there in your stash???

The side panel was applied directly on the card front. For the greeting, however, I mounted it on a piece of white cs to give it some weight before punching it out with the scalloped oval punch. Then I attached it to the card with dimensionals.

Enjoy!

Finished the Card We Started at Cyndy's

Here's my finished version of the Flower Pot Card we started last night for Technique Tuesday. The flowers were a little unbalanced to the left, so I added the butterfly. Kind of whimsical, don't you think?






Thanks Cyndy--you always have such fun projects for us!

ANOTHER TART AND TANGY

What I love about these apples is that you can make them red, green or golden. Since I had a scrap of green gingham left over, I inked up the apples to match. I also had some dew drops and ribbon in the same green. Handy, huh?

The Scor-bug lines also help fill in some of the blank space to make it work...

AND THE WINNER IS...

Here is the card that won First Place at the NJ State Fair. After retrieving my card and blue ribbon tonight, Rick took me to Applebee's for dinner. What a nice way to end the week!

(Don't forget to click on the image for a closer look at the details.)

Back to the Tower!

Now that VBS is done (and I've recovered) it was great to be back stamping again. This time I played with some new "toys": a new Martha Stewart punch, the Scor-Pal and Scor-Bug and some dew drops that arrived in the mail yesterday.

The punched squares were inspired by Kristina Werner, except that I added a grid with my Scor-Pal. The grid on the upper right card was done with the Score-Pal tool, the one on the lower left with the Scor-Bug. The green card has no grid, but features a square displayed on the diagonal. The tan card has Scor-Bug lines on the bottom of the front and also on the inside. (Click on photo for a closer look.)

These were fun to put together and easy to vary...also a great way to use up some scraps!

NOTE: Leave a comment naming your fave of these 4!

Vacation Bible School

For a few details of my week at VBS, see my family blog. Just click on Fox Mtn. on list at right...

Citrus Slices

Somehow, the scanner doesn't do justice to this card which looks better IRL. For one thing, the dots on the side are raised with clear ep, and the entire image is attached with dimensionals to give the whole card more of a finished look than captured here.

This design was inspired by Kristina Werner's tutorials where she often rounds one corner of her card. She's also unafraid of bright colors and patterns--thanks Kristina!

The card will be mailed out right away for Evelyn's birthday. She gave me the dots stamp and the Fiskar's rope edge punch, so I included them in my design. Inside is a birthday greeting with another orange slice. I also wrote "Don't worry--you're not ready for Medic-"ade" yet!"

I'm glad that all my good friends have a sense of humor...

Another Shutter Card

UPDATE: YES!! MY OTHER CARD WON FIRST PLACE AT THE NEW JERSEY STATE FAIR!!

(I'll have pictures next week when I get it back from the Fair.)


Thanks to Dawn Griffith's tutorial, I've been making my shutter cards using a full card-sized piece for the front.

This one features flowers with white Flower Soft in the centers, mounted with SU dimensionals. The polka dot dsp seems to fit the SU designer paper just right, and brightens it up a bit. Both were used on the inside panels as well.

Another card that I made the same way a few weeks ago has been entered in the NJ State Fair. I'll let you know if it wins a ribbon!

1 Down and 99 to go!

Here's what I came up with for my Christmas card this year, although it's showing up a bit dark in this photo. It's partly CASED from the sample in the catalog, with the dove from a card I saw on Gretchen Barron's blog this morning. (Hers is done in blue and is gorgeous! To take a look, click on the link at right.)

I used popping pastels on Very Vanilla cs for the poinsettias and yellow Stickles for the flower centers. The dove was stamped on white cs with Sahara Sand craft ink, cut out, and filled in with Frosted Lace Stickles. I then attached the dove to the main image with SU dimensionals. Versamark was used for the smaller poinsettia stamp up the right side and once on the inside next to the verse.

TIP: For an easy way to tie a ribbon, first cut a piece of ribbon slightly longer than the piece you want to cover, fold over each end and tape the ends underneath. After fastening the image to your card, take a shorter piece of ribbon and tie a knot around the other piece. Pull tight, trim and slide the bow up or down to where you want it.

Old Technique, New Card

Here's a card I did the other day using Embossing Resist with clear ep on white cs.

After inking over the flowers with Distress Ink (Broken China)I cut the cs to size and mounted it on red cs, leaving a very narrow border. With a bow of two matching colors of embroidery floss, I then mounted the design onto a darker teal textured cs with double stick tape. Using the Dotted Swiss Cuttlebug folder on white cs, I attached it to the Baja Breeze cs, then mounted the image layers to the dotted swiss with dimensionals.

I don't know what made me choose red for the accent, but I like the way it turned out. It seems to have given it a little "punch"...

Sunny Note Card

Here's an easy card done with black ep and yellow ink sponged over it. Some black and white check in the paper and ribbon, a butterfly stamped on yellow dsp and some yellow buttons finish it up.

It's always good to have some blank cards on hand for a quick note!

All-purpose Card Updated

UPDATE: 7/29/09
I decided to add a dewdrop on one of the lower petals and a small matching button to the left of the greeting. Thanks for the suggestion, LeAnne!

A Card and a Cat

Here's a masculine card using the tree from La Jardin Botanique and some Ranger Distress ink mounted over a piece of BasicGrey paper. For glitz, I used some ribbon with gold threads and rust edges. Adding some dashes around the image with a SU Really Rust marker coordinates the colors in the ribbon and bg paper.

Meanwhile, Jenny kept me company on the "visitor's" chair while the rain came down--not good outdoor weather, but great for stamping or snoozing!

A MIGHTY TREE

What is it about trees that makes them so appealing? This one looks mighty and strong, which makes it ideal for a masculine card.

I stamped the tree on Soft Suede cs using black StazOn ink and cut it to size for the card. Then I edged the sides with Versamark and clear ep. To add color and "sunshine" highlights, I used a Close to Cocoa marker for the trunk and several branches, Mellow Moss marker for the leaves, and a yellow Gelly Roll pen for the splashes of sun on the trunk and left-side leaves. Before mounting the image on Very Vanilla cs, I used the leaf from Carte Postale with Versamark to create the background.

Be sure to click on the image for a closer view of the details!

BONJOUR, BUTTERFLY!

If you look closely, you'll see yet another card with Scor-Bug accents.

First, I stamped the butterfly in black India Ink, painted it with Twinkling H2O's, cut it out and set it aside.

Next, I inked up the SU French Script background stamp with 2 shades of Colorbox yellow inks, leaving some spots untouched for a mottled look. After stamping the plain white cs, I then used the Scor-Bug partway along the top, bottom and sides of the card.

Once the card was ready, I used dimensionals to attach the butterfly so that the left wing would extend out past the opening in the Scor-Bug dots. Then I used my SU coordinating oval punches for the greeting, which also extends beyond the lower dot border.

For bling, I added some tiny black gems to the butterfly body, his "trail" and the dot over the j in Bonjour.



Tip: As you can see, I use the dots in letter sets I can get at craft stores. They come in lots of different colors (black, red, pearl, rhinestone...) and are ideal for small touches on a card!

Scor-Bug Revisited

Here's another card using the Scor-Bug for accents on the top right and lower left. This time, I ran it with the dots facing up. (Click to enlarge.)

The flower is mounted over the leaf in the same set, with added ferns punched out of dark green cardstock using a Martha Stewart punch.

The inside greeting is for a birthday.