BLACK, WHITE AND SILVER

These Scripture cards are a little "louder" than I usually make, so I hope our  pastor can still use them.  They are definitely more modern than my usual style.

I have an old pad of glitter dsp that I hardly used, so I decided to give it a try.  These are the designs I came up with, inspired by the glittery dsp.

(Click to enlarge.)

HAPPY 4TH TO YOU!

FROM HOBBY LOBBY

I'VE BEEN BUSY!

With VBS coming next month, I thought it might be a good idea to supply our pastor with some cards to send to visiting families.  There are ten cards, all using the same verse and card recipe, but different borders and dsp.  The verse, Proverbs 30:5, encourages us to trust in the word of God and take refuge in Him--an appropriate evangelistic tone, don't you think?  (Click to enlarge.)

These cards were easy to do assembly-line-style.  All the dsp used were from scraps in my scrap box.  The verse was stamped on white, cut to size and sponged on the edges.  The stamped borders were from the SU set, "Bordering Blooms."

Quick, easy and fun!

BASIC BLACK CARDS

I don't usually go for black cardstock, except for Halloween cards; but these two fit the scraps I had perfectly.

First is a gray top-fold card.  The black panel is textured, and I wrapped some washi tape around the lower part.  The red frame and silver butterfly were in my stash, so I decided to use them here.  Since the butterfly was too plain, I stamped a butterfly swirl on its wing and embossed it.  I attached it to the card front as shown with a SU dimensional.  The verse was stamped in black and clear embossed, then cut down to the size I wanted.

TIP:  For the curve on the left, I held a circle on the top and cut around it.

For the second card in black, I used two pieces of musical dsp cut down from a larger piece that had the words included.  Since the lyrics were to "Strike Up the Band,"  I didn't think it would be appropriate for a pastor card!  With the fold on the left, I tied some jute around it and added the music note I found in my stash from ages ago.

Now That I Reorganized...

...it is such a pleasure to work in the Tower again!  (stamping, that is...)  It was certainly a lot of work purging and tossing; but now that it's done, I'm back to card making.  Not only did I clear out a lot of "dead wood," I also incorporated some new storage ideas found on Jennifer McGuire's video HERE.  One of her best ideas was to precut lots of cardstock to card front sizes and also to cut some cardstock for A2 cards, some the regular way and some the long way.  It's so much easier to grab what I need as I construct a card with the cardstock containers on my table filled with these standard sizes.

Today I made some pastor cards, after mailing out a few note and birthday cards I did yesterday, long overdue!


TIP:  Pre-cut sizes for card fronts are 4 x 5 1/4 and 3 3/4 x 5.

MY CHRISTMAS DESIGN FOR 2014

I found this designer paper at Hobby Lobby, but wasn't sure what I'd use it for--now I know!

HAVE YOU ZENTANGLED YET?

 For a tutorial on Zentangling, click HERE!

This card was done in black, white and silver for a really mod look.  The card started with a standard white A2 size and a silver panel die cut, "Tipped Tops" from Papertrey Ink HERE

After zentangling the flowers, I added rhinestone centers and attached them to the panel.  "Happy" was included in the die cut set, which I cut from black cardstock.  "Birthday" (from a Simon Says Stamp set) was stamped in black on white cs and trimmed down.  Before mounting the panel to the card, I added the silver and white bakers twine and some silver sequins.  Another tiny flower was added inside.

Zentangling is a simple art form which is very relaxing--kinda like doodling.  I'm happy to have found a use for the pens I bought after taking a class on pen and ink drawing.  This is much easier to do than drawings, for me anyway.  Enjoy!



(Scroll down for the previous post which I just added.)

Fathers Day Slider

Here's the card I made for my Dad.  He lives near the water on Long Island, so I thought a sailboat would be appropriate.

To make the waves, I used the wavy blade on my rotary cutter in two colors of cs.  I then layered them on the card as shown, leaving a gap in the second row for the boat to slide along.  So not only does it slide to reveal the message in the upper left (behind the sails when closed) but it also glides through the waves.  Cool!

My Dad is 95 and still lives independently and drives his car to do his errands.  My sister lives only a mile away, so he has help available if he needs it.  His Fathers Day gift was a basket of goodies that he could microwave for breakfasts and lunches.  He thoroughly enjoyed being surrounded at our house by his grandchildren and their spouses and the 4 great grands!

SIMPLE SATURDAY #35--Butterfly Birthday

TWO HANDS...

This pastor card was made from scraps on my table.  The frame is the outline from a previous rectangular die cut.  The opening had been cut from a larger piece, as was the blue pansy.

After stamping and punching the pansy, I added pearls in the center.  Then I attached it to the white piece with a glue dot and added the gems.  Finally, I used dimensionals to pop up the panel in the center of the frame.

THANK GOD FOR WHAT YOU HAVE...

...TRUST GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED.

This is another pastor card that started out with a watercolor panel done with distress inks and a honeycomb embossing folder.  After pressing the paper to the folder and letting it dry, I used a stitch-edged die to cut it down for the card front.  The verse is stamped in black directly on the panel.

The bee and leaf sprigs were stamped on the same paper and colored with distress markers.  The bee was added with a dimensional, and Crystal Stickles was applied to the wings.  Before mounting the panel to the card, I stamped some sprigs on the sides of the green card base with Versamark.

For the inside, I stamped another sprig on the bottom left of an inner white panel cut from printer paper.  This sure looks summery inside and out!

ONE LAST SWALLOWTAIL...

As I cleaned off my table after this afternoon's flurry of butterfly activity, I came across this one last watercolored Swallowtail.  I just had to put it together before it got lost in the shuffle.

The verse I used is a two-parter from Sweet & Sassy that I find so true.  The inside part reads "He helps us handle what we've been given."  I think this assures us, along with Romans 8:28, that "all things work together for the good of those who love Him..."  When difficulties arise, it's comforting to know that they are part of a bigger picture that serve a good purpose and that we are not left to face them alone. 

SWALLOWTAIL FUN...

Since there was a stack of pre-stamped images we made at Jackie's house last week just laying on my table, I thought it was time I did something with them.  A couple hours later, I had them done on actual cards (imagine that!)  It's amazing how different they all are, even though it was the same stamp for all of them.  The gold-embossed one (center left) I finished at Jackie's, the rest were water-colored at Jackie's and finished here this afternoon.  Enjoy!

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

SILVER STAMPER GATHERING

Yesterday I had the joy of meeting with several of my fellow Silver Stampers!  Standing behind me are Dawn (our gracious hostess), Linda, Angie and Sue.  We had just finished making cards from kits brought by Linda.  Dawn lives in the Poconos, Linda drove in from Minnesota, Angie drove from the Scranton area and Sue flew in from Arizona!  Several others who couldn't make it this week are coming in next week.  What a fun group!

Also joining us was Precious, who just HAD to investigate everything!

Rainy Day Fun

 
Actually, it's not raining today, but it sure is dreary--chilly and damp after all the rain from last night.  So I went upstairs to my tower and looked through the cards I made at Cyndy's Technique Classes.  This is my version of a card we made last Fall--easy to make and fun to embellish!

ONE LAST CLASS

Mothers Class is done for the year.  This is one of the designs we used for yesterday's class--after the wonderful breakfast we had!    First we stamped the flowers branch in white and colored over it with colored pencils.  They all came out different!  This one I did today, using a new die set that came in the mail.  (The cost will be covered by the gift card from the class.)

The other card we did was with the French Foliage set and three shades of green ink, one for each stamp.  The strip on the left was done with double stick Score tape.  After applying it along the edge of the fold, we pulled back the paper covering and added some green mini confetti and two shades of green glitter.  Next we stamped a panel (3 3/4 x 5 1/2") and popped it up on the card front with dimensionals.  Unfortunately, the photo doesn't do the card justice here--the glitter really sparkles and the raised panel adds dimension.

Both cards were easy for the Advanced Class to do and complete quickly (as usual!)  We were all amazed at how many new techniques we learned this year and look forward to even more next year.

CHRISTMAS CARD DESIGN

Brandy Cox did a YouTube demo of this design which I have CASEd for some of my Christmas cards this year.  This first version  features a flap that goes over the entire opening and is held in place with the greeting.  She actually CASEd the new catalog (p. 127) for her version!  I thought this would work nicely for a Christmas card, so I came up with this one.  However, to mass produce it (I send 100 cards/year) the flap closure would take up more time, so I came up with the second version below.   I also reversed the colors to see which looks better.  Instead of the flap, the pieces are simply glued down on the front as shown.  I could still do it either way colorwise, but can't decide which color scheme I like better.  Which do you like best?

WATERCOLOR BLESSINGS

Here's another attempt at using techniques I've been learning in the Online Card Classes for watercoloring.  This is the better of the two I did today.

After stamping the image from the SU So Very Grateful set, I water colored the leaves and blossoms, added the "blessings" and butterfly, and mounted the panel on green cardstock.  I used Barely Banana cs for the embossed panel and mounted the stamped image over it with dimensionals.  The base is Very Vanilla cs.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

 PLEASE NOTE:  HERE is the corrected link to the online classes site.  There are many classes to choose from, so go for it!

WATERCOLOR ONLINE CLASS

It's not too late to sign up for the Online Watercolor Classes.  I'm learning tons of new watercolor techniques from the videos in this series.  They are so well done, and I'm inspired to go beyond the basics I already knew!

This card is my first attempt since watching the videos.  I used my peg stamps, some markers and my water brush to create this basket of flowers.

Enjoy!

DESIGNER PURSE

I got the idea for this card somewhere, but can't remember.  Anyway, I thought it was adorable so I came up with my own version.

Starting with a standard white card base, I stamped and colored the Greenhouse Society Chrysanthemums along the bottom two thirds of the card.  For the flap, I used a large label die and cut just over half of it out of the green cardstock.  At the center points, I scored it and secured the overlap on the back with sticky strip.

After punching holes for the ribbon, I knotted one end, ran it through the other hole and knotted the other end.  It was starting to look like a real purse!

For the final touches, I added the gems and rounded the corners on the bottom.  The greeting will go inside and the card will open at the bottom.

If you wanted to make it even more realistic, or include a gift card inside, you could start with the fold at the bottom.  After securing the sides with an accordion fold piece of matching cs,  you could then add a flap at the top opening.  Just secure it on the back and add a clasp, magnetic closure or belly band to the front so that it could be opened later.