Wednesday, January 30, 2019

JUST A NOTE MUSICAL CARD


After making the envelope and running a black marker along the flap edge, I started on the card.

I then cut a piece of dsp and glued it to the front.  Next I cut away about a half inch off the right, adding a 1" striped piece to the inside of the card, giving it a piano-ish look.

Next, I die cut a black oval and punched the black cat from a leftover section of SU Halloween dsp.  I gave it some white whiskers and paws, colored the eyes gold and mounted it on the oval.  I slipped a piece of white cs underneath to ground it and finished up with a greeting banner.  It's now ready for writing and mailing!


Tuesday, January 29, 2019

MID WINTER NOTE



This was a fun card to make and will be going out to a friend on Monday.

I just love this sentiment.

Monday, January 28, 2019

BLACK, WHITE AND RED






Another easy card to make!  Starting with a scalloped panel of dsp, I then added a --you guessed it--Watermelon Wonder heart-embossed panel which I wrapped with silver twine before attaching with dimensionals.  The silver flower (looks black here) was layered with a smaller white blossom and a red sequin with some white sprigs behind it.

Once everything was mounted, it came to life!




Sunday, January 27, 2019

PAPER PLAYERS--Sketch




The sketch for this week was pretty straight forward.  The circle and sprigs were done using scraps of copper cardstock.  The rest was done with SU dsp, scraps of course!

For other Paper Player submissions, click HERE.

Thursday, January 24, 2019

NON-TRADITIONAL COLORS



It's been fun making Valentines with all kinds of scraps in my "tower!"

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

BLACK AND WHITE VALENTINE



Here's a super simple card to make:

First, I attached a floral panel to the card front.  Then I ran the heart swoosh through the die cut machine, glued it to the card front and popped up the heart with a dimensional.  The greeting is stamped on a scrap of white and red-dotted dsp.

Done!

Monday, January 21, 2019

TOWER DE-CLUTTERED (AGAIN!)

 The view from my door. When a guest stamper comes, I just pull the table out
 at an angle and provide the desk chair.


 This is the "view" from my chair. On the left side of the blotter is a
recipe box with index cards for each of the Silver Stampers I send cards to.
I jot down what I send so I don't send duplicates.
Next is a container of precut cardstock.  The LED lamp is a huge
improvement over the last lamp I had.  The cup holds pens and 
pencils, bone folder, brushes, etc.  Next is a box of tissues and a
wood crate for items of display.  On the wall is a narrow shelf
holding photos and a clock.


To the right of my chair is a small cart.  I use the top drawer
for all kinds of adhesives, keeping it open while I'm stamping.  This
prevents me from having to search constantly for an item.  The glue dots
are in a small red box easily seen when I need it.

 Behind me is another whole wall of supplies.  I store all my dies
in a plastic basket, easily reachable from my chair.


 This is my cutting station.  I keep most-used cardstock in the letter sorter.
The yellow slinky, which my DH made for me, holds outgoing mail 
and an envelope of seasonal "forever" postage stamps.  The lamp above
the radio goes on with a switch by the door.


 These three boxes hold polymer stamps, finished cards for mailing, 
and a collection of small dsp pads.


Above the previous 3 boxes are all my SU stamp sets arranged in
alphabetical order.  The top stack holds just word sets, and the stack on the right
holds sets that coordinate with punches or dies.  To the right of the sets are my
punches, housed in the slots on the bottom two tiers.  The rest of the
spaces hold ink pads I've had for almost 20 years and still work!

January is a good de-cluttering month!

Sunday, January 20, 2019

WATERMELON WONDER VALENTINE



As you know, I'm not fond of pink; so these two feature Watermelon Wonder cardstock.  It's actually more reddish than the hot pink look in the photo.

The heart swoosh is from Poppy, and it cuts out the heart and swoosh in one cut.  I chose to make one card vertical and the other horizontal, and used some floral dsp from a 6x6 pad I purchased at Hobby Lobby.






Saturday, January 19, 2019

Friday, January 18, 2019

SECURED BUTTERFLIES


I recently received a card with the main image loose in the envelope.  The sender had glued it over the white glitter paper, and it fell off the card along the way.  Here are two ways to secure something on a rough surface (like glitter):

TIP:  This card shows two butterflies attached with glue dots that were placed on the green cardstock, thereby avoiding the glitter paper.  The top one has glue dots on each upper wing, and the bottom one has glue dots on the lower section of the wings.

Another way to secure an image over a rough surface is to cut an opening out of the middle before attaching to the card front. Then add your image with glue dots or dimensionals to the exposed cardstock underneath.

Either way, no more loose pieces! 


Thursday, January 17, 2019

FIRST TURNABOUT CARD

The Concord & 9th turnabout stamp set that I ordered way back in November arrived yesterday afternoon.  (No idea why it took so long!)

First, I chose the card base and the dsp.  Then I took out 5 coordinating inks:  light green, dark green, pistachio, brown and red.  After stamping the leaves with the first four inks, I cut the panel down and edged it with a dark green marker. 

For the final touch, I added a red button and jute bow to the center.

Not an easy stamp set to use, but worth the effort.




Wednesday, January 16, 2019

VELLUM VALENTINE





This is just a clean and simple Valentine with a wooden heart and red button from my stash.  I don't have a set of heart dies, but my bestest friend, Evelyn, does; so we made a few at her house.

The scrap of dsp, more visible than in this photo, was attached to the card front with Fast Fuse.  The die cut heart panel was added on top with more Fast Fuse, ready for mailing.



Monday, January 14, 2019

TROPICAL VALENTINES--One month from today!






Just one month to Valentine's Day!


The backgrounds for these two cards came from a 6x6 pad, "Botanicals" I found at Hobby Lobby.  The heart on the first card was popped up with dimensionals and coated with clear Wink of Stella--simple and easy.


The second card is more ornate with flowers and leaves on a heart.  The embellishments (pearls and clear sequins) help make everything pop.


Sunday, January 13, 2019

FUNNY STAMPING STORY a la Jeanne Robertson

I just spent 20 minutes looking for a die I had used while working on some Valentines.  It was nowhere to be found--not my table, my desk, the floor, under some scraps???...nowhere!  Finally, I looked down and there it was, attached to the magnetic clasp on my bracelet!

BTW, if you don't know who Jeanne Robertson is, I suggest you head over to her YouTube posts and check out her FABulous sense of humor. (All clean, by the way...) She is a story-teller that will make you laugh so hard, tears will be running down your cheeks. 



PAPER PLAYERS #424--Color Challenge






This snowlady is ready for anything!  She also knows the value of good friends that can melt your heart...

Check out the other Paper Player entries HERE!

THE PERFECT MATCH--Rich Razzleberry

(Sorry--this is a bit out out of focus.  It's not your eyes.)

This card got started from one tiny scrap of dsp that happened to match the card base, so I carefully die cut two flowers from it.  One of the flowers is missing part of its petals, but I was able to tuck it underneath the other blossom to use it.

There was just enough of the dsp scrap to turn it over and cut three yellow flowers from it.  I also found three last matching purple sequins for the centers.  The greeting was stamped on the side of the yellow and cut by hand.  All this from the original scrap which was 3 1/4" x 2 5/8."

I sure got my money's worth out of that scrap!







Friday, January 11, 2019

VALENTINES GALORE!

As you can see by the shadows on these cards, the sun is shining today!  It's cold and windy outside, but just delightful in the stamping tower where I have been working on Valentines.

The first card is on a green card base with a floral panel on top.  To highlight the flowers and sprigs, I mounted everything on a Watermelon Wonder oval.

The square card is harder to see in the sunlight.  The heart is cut from a scrap of white glitter paper, and the pink flower beneath the heart has 3 pearls in the center.  I also added some copper threads under the flower and heart--all washed out in the sun...but I'm not complaining about too much sun!


Tuesday, January 8, 2019

IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW...

POSTAGE WILL BE GOING UP AGAIN!  WE HAVE UNTIL JANUARY 26th TO PURCHASE A ROLL OF FOREVER STAMPS OR SOME CHRISTMAS STAMPS FOR NEXT YEAR AT THE PRESENT RATE.

ON JANUARY 27th THE PRICE WILL GO UP TO 55 CENTS.

Monday, January 7, 2019

THREE OF A KIND--Snowflakes


In keeping up with my resolve to use supplies I already have in my stash, I came up with these three cards.  The card base for each came from a box of coordinated cards and envelopes I got at AC Moore a few months ago.  The dsp is from a 6x6" pad I purchased last Fall at Hobby Lobby which has a mix of floral and black & white designs.

The first card features fireworks I stamped with Versamark and clear embossed.  The greeting is a die cut and has a thin strip (barely visible) running along the top of the wood grain dsp.

The second card has a more bold dsp, some white stitching on the fold side and three snowflakes along the line.  I added clear sequins and tiny light blue gems in the center of each.

The third card was the easiest, although they're all simple and easily made.  It features a larger snowflake  die cut from silver cardstock.  I also added a tiny light blue gem in the center.

I have been drawing a lot of inspiration lately from Tina on Cards and Coffee Time (YouTube.)  One day a week she posts cards made with supplies in her stash, and they're always great!





Friday, January 4, 2019

FRUGAL CRAFTER RANT



I finally figured out why I've been in such a funk lately:  I turned from a card maker to a stamping shopper/collector!  I spent more time last year on line than in making cards and maintaining my blog.  Lindsay, the Frugal Crafter on YouTube, set me (and others) straight with her accurate analysis.  Some (or many) of us have been  keeping up on the latest stamps and supplies instead of using what we already have.  Thank you Lindsay for helping us get un-addicted to the habit of thinking we need so much stuff.

Think about it...haven't we all complained about not having enough time to get things done?  If we just practiced being content with what we already have, we wouldn't be buying more and wondering where to store it.  The time we've spent surfing YouTube and Pinterest, as well as all the on-line suppliers, could have been spent using our imaginations for cards that would actually get mailed to people who need a kind word or a chuckle.

This card was made with just one set that has been sitting here for months since it arrived in the mail.  It is a Hero Arts set of stamps and dies which also includes 15 greetings!  I guarantee you'll be seeing more of this set in the very near future...