Enjoy Your Day Card Two Featuring Newton's Nook

Today's card is another image from the delightful Newton's Summer Vacation set from Newton's Nook.  I actually fussy cut this image after coloring it with my copics.  I hate fussy cutting, but it was the perfect thing for this card.  I used two sheets of paper from the Echo Park 6x6 pad A Perfect Summer.  I love that paper pad and it seemed the perfect one to go with this stamp set.  I die cut the wave paper using the largest die from the Avery Elle Pinked die set.  I then stamped my sentiment on a scrap piece of white paper and cut it out with the banner die from the Avery Elle set.  I then ran it through again with the large die to pink the other end to match the background.  I cut the polka dot/pie chart paper to cover the entire card base.  I adhered my wave paper and then tied it with some Martha Stewart baker's twine, adhered it my card base and then added a few Doodlebug sequins to finish it off.  It was cute, but still needed something.  So I covered the floatie with some Glossy Accents and called it good.

XOXO with the Simon Says Stamp July 2014 Card Kit

Now that the card samples from the kit are done, I feel free to play around with the rest.  I had this diamond panel sitting on my craft desk for a long, long time.  I made it with some multi-medium and Rock Candy Glitter using a stencil from StencilGirl Products.  I just selected a sheet from the paper left over in the kit as the background, added my panel, some baker's twine from Queen and Co., a couple of flowers punched from the kit paper with a Fiskars punch layered with a sticker from the kit to build my card.  It still seemed to need something, so I punched a Martha Stewart heart punch through some red card stock sitting on my craft table.  I added a few of the hearts, brushed them with some Wink of Stella and finished them off with some Glossy Accents.  I swear those two products have been my go to finishing touches lately.

Sweet Treat Carton Inspired by Sabine on the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog

When I saw this sweet milk carton design from Sabine on the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog, I just knew I had to give it a try myself.  It was so stinking cute!  For my version, I choose some blue paper from My Mind's Eye Twinkle, Twinkle Little Boy 12x12 paper pad that I love so much I bought two.  Then it was just a lot of stamping, coloring and fussy cutting from a few Lawn Fawn stamps sets including Critters on the Farm (thanks Mom for the cow, sheep and hay) and Critters from the 'Burbs (tree).  Then I just cut some green paper with my Martha Stewart fringe scissors (thanks again Pat) since the cute new grass die from (who else?) Lawn Fawn doesn't hit the stores until later this month.  I downloaded the milk carton from Silhouette and cut it out on my Cameo.  I put it all together and filled it with some chocolate before sealing it up.  But the top just seemed a little too plain.  So I cut a cute scalloped edge with Deco Scallop border punch from EK Success on two sides of a small strip of white card stock.  Once it was glued in place, I punched a couple of holes with my We R Memory Keepers chomper and threaded through some twine I had left over from the packaging of a Citrus Twist kit.  Super cute!

Inspired by Laura Williams on Papercrafts & Scrapbooking

I was trolling through the blogs I read (hmm... I wonder how many times I've written that?) when I saw this clean and simple, but oh so wonderful card made by Laura Williams on the Papercrafts & Scrapbooking blog.  I had marked it to pin to my Pinterest Card Layout board for some day when I needed some quick inspiration, but it struck me that it was the perfect card to use a new set I just received from Technique Tuesday called Say It - Hello.

On a side note:  After a disastrous try of a kit club a while back, I shied away from them for a long time.  But then I finally broke down and joined two stamp clubs (Stamps of Life and Studio AE from Technique Tuesday) and the Project Life kit from Citrus Twist.  I must say that each of them is exactly what I expect from a good monthly club and have revived my belief in the concept.  I also love that with both Studio AE and Citrus Twist I can add extras for no extra shipping.  Stamps of Life charges extra shipping, but it's very reasonable and they give you a discount on the stamps that pretty much evens it all out. 

 

Back to our regularly scheduled post:  I couldn't believe how quickly this card came together.  I pulled out a rainbow of Distress Ink:  Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade, Mowed Lawn, Broken China and Dusty Concord.  Then I stamped them using my Martha Stewart stamp press just to make sure I lined them up well.  Once I had that done, I noticed the "Just Saying" sentiment stamp and light bulb went off.  A little VersaFine Tuxedo Black ink added the right touch. I rummaged through my box of card blanks and narrowed it down to a sunny yellow or this beautiful teal.  Teal won out in the end through.  I used my We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper to round a few corners then added that last touch with some enamel dots from the Cut & Paste line from My Mind's Eye.

I have to say that I really liked this one (even the hello I heat embossed in VersaMark on the inside, but you don't get to see that here). 

Happy Halloween!

I'm sharing today the one and only Halloween card I made.  I love the holiday but I rarely do cards for it.  But I wanted to use the cute Lawn Fawn set I picked up called Heebie Jeebies.  One of my favorite crafting on-line stores, Two Peas in Bucket, runs a message board where people can sell the stuff they no longer want.  It's totally random what you'll find there, but I've managed to pick up a couple of things from there that I cannot get in any store anymore.  One of my favorite finds was a bundle of a couple of Lawn Fawn sets.

So I just stamped the spider web, spider and bat in Onyx Black Versafine and heat embossed them. Then I fussy cut them and colored in the spider with some Spectrum Noir pens.  I then dug through some of my stash and found some cute Halloween paper in an old Fall Stack from DCWV.  I cut both the mat and the background paper then layered them together and wrapped them with some Queen & Co. black and white baker's twine.  I then adhered them to a black card base I found in my stash.  Then I just added my stamped pieces with some pop dots to finish it off. 

I decided to dress up the inside of this card too by matting my sentiment panel and adding the spider and bat from the outside to the inside along with the a sentiment stamp from the set.  Too cute!

So here's the really fun part.  I bought the We R Memory Keepers envelope punch board, but I haven't really gotten to play with it yet.  I also picked up a new score board; it's the smaller, more portable version of my big Martha Stewart one.  When I was packing it for our recent failed camping trip, I noticed that it had markings for making envelopes on the back.  So I decided to play with those pieces when I was making this card.  I started out with another sheet from that same DCWV Fall Stack and followed the instructions on the Martha Stewart board to make the envelope.  It turned out pretty good.  I decided it needed a liner so I used some scraps of paper from making the card to cut a liner using the punch board.  It turned out pretty good for my first try.
 

Denver Cards - Day Three

I found the inspiration for today's card all on my own.  I had this lovely card from Project Life Cinnamon Edition on my desk that I really loved and thought would make a great card.  But I knew it was going to need something else, but not too much else since I really prefer a very simple style.  A while back, Simon Says Stamp had a fabulous stamp sale and I bought the Happy Sentiments set with the happy die.  I decided to try a double cut of the happy using the coordinating card stock from Project Life with some pop dots (cut really, really small) to pop it on top of the happy in the Project Life card.  Instead of putting it in the middle, I decided to right justify it with a kraft card stock mat.  I used my Stampin' Up paper piercing guide to add a border of dots and finished it off with some Martha Stewart baker's twine.  Love this one!

Denver Cards - Day Two

For today's card, I visited Tracy Casil's blog Learn to Stamp after being inspired to scraftlift the card she made that was shown on Stampin' Pretty the other day.  For this card, I used a 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye called Love Me, plus some scrap pink card stock and a white card stock base.  I again used Word to create my sentiment and the Silhouette to cut the hearts out of my patterned paper and the card stock.  I used my Martha Stewart border punch on the edge of the pink card stock then layered my pattern paper on top of it.  Then all I had to do was layer the hearts then adhere them to the card.  I found a cute sparkly button in my stash and tied some Queen & Co. bakers twine through it.  I punched the little pink heart out from a Fiskars (I think) heart punch.  Finally I layered my sentiment on the pink card stock with the pennant edges cut before adhering it to my card.  I found the cute little heart in my stash (I think it's from Queen & Co. too if I recall correctly) to finish it.  Fun!

Happy Father's Day

Before I show the card I made, I've been lucky to have a fabulous father and I'm grateful for everything he has done for me over the years and the memories we've gotten to make together.  Happy Father's Day Dad!   I want to take a moment to wish my father-in-law a happy Father's Day.  We're grateful that he's still with us and finally out of the hospital!  Also, happy Father's Day to my Uncle Jim, Uncle Louis, Uncle Gordon, Cousin Pat, and Brother-in-Law Mike.  Finally, to my wonderful husband, I'm sorry you never got to the be the fabulous father I know you would have been, but we have four great fur babies who are awfully lucky to have you. 

So now on to the card of the day.  A while back I found this cute card from The Sweetest Thing pinned on Pinterest.  It wasn't a Father's Day card per se, but I loved the masculine look of the card and decided I would scraplift it into a Father's Day card.  I used kraft card stock and some white linen paper for the sentiment and mat, but everything else was from the Swagger 6x6 pad from Fancy Pants.  It's the perfect paper set for a masculine card.  It simply cut two 1 1/2 inch strips and one 1 1/4 inch strips from paper selected from the pad.  I cut the edges into a banner then taped them together offsetting a little.  I cut a background piece to 4 inch square and poked holes all the way around it using my handy Stampin' Up paper piercer and eyelet placing tool.  I hardly ever stitch on my layouts cards.  I love the look but never take the time, so thing time I didn't a faux stitching with a white pen. I then adhered that to a mat cut from the linen paper at 4 1/8. 

I used my Cameo to cut the linen paper for my sentiment and then stamped in Vintage Photo Distress Ink using the Swanky Sentiments set from Technique Tuesday.  I added some Martha Stewart baker's twine then used pop dots to adhere the sentiment.  I found a button from my stash, tied it off with a scrap of baker's twine and glued it to the edge of my sentiment.

All that was left was to cut a 4 1/2 by 8 1/2 chunk of kraft card stock to make my card base and tape it all together.  I love how it all turned out. 

 

Another Birthday Card Inspired by the Technique Tuesday Blog

Since I my last try at the card inspired by Teri Anderson's card from the Technique Tuesday blog didn't turn out quite like what I originally had in mind, I thought I would give it another try.  This time, I really focused on the banner and the card came together very quickly.  I used some washi tape from my ever growing pile to create little pennants for the banner.  I strung them on some Martha Stewart baker's twine.  I hung the banner over some kraft card stock, backed it with white paper and used another DCWV card base from the Brights set.  Then, I stamped a sentiment from a set from Fiskars using Momento Espresso Truffle ink.  I still thought the card needed a little something so I added some Studio Calico veneer stars.  The Glossy Accents I used to glue them down were a little messy so I'm definitely going to have to work on my skills of attaching small embellishments.  But I do have to say that overall I really liked this card and I can't believe how one card can inspire so many looks. 

Your Fortune Is... Love

For National Scrapbooking Day, I did a little shopping and picked up a cute Lawn Fawn stamp set called Good Fortune with matching dies.  Coincidentally, that night I was trolling through the blog posts from the week when I found this cute card using the set on the Lawn Fawn blog.  So I was inspired to pull out the set this week and try my hand at a card using this set. 

I stamped the carton and thought it needed a little sprucing up.  So I took the solid heart from the set and jazzed it up.  I then stamped, colored and cut the chopsticks to go with it.  I finished it off by cutting and coloring two of the cookies and made sentiments to fill them using the little stamps included.  I used more of the Love Me 6x6 pad paper from My Mind's Eye to mat it and added some Martha Stewart baker's twine.  But I still thought it needed a little something, so I cut another cute little tag on my Cameo and stamped the love stamp from Inkadinkado Heartful of Love set.  Fun and cute!

Wood Grain Fun

I've wanted a wood grain patterned embossing folder for a long time, but no one sold one in town and I never got around to buying one off the Internet.  But I was at Craft Warehouse the other day and was so happy to see that they are carrying a whole line of Darice embossing folders.  I just couldn't help but buy the wood grained pattern I had wanted for so long.  So then when I was trolling Splitcoaststampers where I stumbled across this fabulous masculine valentine using wood grain, I just had to try my own hand at it.  I embossed the card, then cut out a heart using my Cameo.  I then drew in some texture in the opening using my colored pencils and added my "carving."  I finished it off with a metal piece from my stash and some Martha Stewart baker's twine.  Pretty simple to do but I love the masculine feel of it. 

 

Turns out this was hubby's favorite card of them all.

Birthdays, Birthdays Every Where

It just seems like there are a lot of birthdays this month and I find myself making a lot of cards for them.  Fortunately, there's a lot of inspiration on Pinterest, which is where I found the inspiration for this card.  The pin was from Clean and Simple Stamping, a style that I really appreciate.  I also loved that once again, it's a card that can be made with a masculine feel.  I also love that I was able to use paper from a Halloween line, the Lost and Found Halloween 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye.  I'm always a little hesitant to buy holiday themed paper, but this particular pad had designs that I thought I could transcend the holiday, such as this beautiful plaid.  I also was able to use the Argyle embossing folder from Cuttlebug and I always love when I get the use argyle.  It turns out that my Martha Stewart baker's twine was the perfect color to go with the scrap paper I used to mat the card and I finally got to use the circle stamp from the Fiskar's Happy Birthday stamp set.  I just love how the card turned out.  Clean and simple and just way I like it. 

Another Happy Birthday

Here's another in my quest to finish off my card list.  This time, I'm inspired from another find on Pinterest that led me to Arlene of Waterdots.  This simple and elegant card was easy to make.  I immediately recognized the Spots and Dots embossing folder from Cuttlebug.  I rounded the corners with my Crop-A-Dile Corner Chomper.  The sentiment is again from the All Occasions set from Inkadinkado.  I added some Martha Stewart Crafts baker's twine and a few metal dots from Darice to finish it off.  Fun and fast.  Just the way I like them.

Finally back!

You may not know this if you aren't family, but we've been without internet for a week.  You see we decided to upgrade to higher speed while switching our bundle for TV, internet and phone to a new provider.  It should have been without a hitch, but, unfortunately, they sent us the wrong modem for the higher speed internet (twice!).  So we've been without internet for a while and it took me nearly all of yesterday afternoon and evening to catch up reading the blogs.  I can't believe how much inspiration I found.  So get ready for a steady stream of posts of my inspiration (if I don't get sidetracked outside picking raspberries and refinishing the deck).  First up, though are some projects I worked on without internet. 

Before I talk about the project, I just want to add how shocked I was about how reliant I am on having internet. I get most of my inspiration trolling the blogs and such.  When I didn't have them, I felt a bit at a loss.  Fortunately, I have some good books to reference, but seriously, I am an internet addict.  There, I said it.  I MISSED the blogs.  I missed being able to read the news online.  I missed my e-mail (by the way, how crazy is it that they kept telling me they would send me e-mails to update me on the status of my modem, when I don't have intenet to read the e-mails????). 

So I relied heavily on two books and some sketches I've printed off the internet and organized into a sketch book.  This card was inspired by a sample in Papercrafts Magazine publication A Card-a-Day.  The stamp is from Inkadinkado's Garden Flowers set and stamped with Red Riding Hood ink from Stampin' Up.  The leaves I made in the Silhouette Design Studio by taking a leaf shape from an image I purchased then copying, flipping it, altering a few of the points and then welding it all together with a rectangle for the stem.  The flower head is from another image where I pulled it out because it was the shape I wanted.    Then I inked the edges with Old Paper Distress Ink.   I pulled a few random buttons from my stash and used a little crochet thread to finish them off.  I used my Martha Stewart score pad to add the embossed box and the card was complete.  It was super fun to make since I love getting to pull stuff apart and remake it in that software.

So before I sign off for now, I also wanted to share this photo of my dear cat Zoey who will soon be 19.  She just loves my chair in the craft room and I always have to shoo her off to her own chair (yes, she has her own chair in my craft room).  But every time I do, she gives me this look like, this is MINE!

Birthday Card

Wow, I know a lot of people with birthdays in June so I foresee a lot of cards in my future. Here's the first of what is likely to be many.  I found this adorable father's day card on one of the blogs (but so sorry but I can't remember where!).  I altered it for a birthday card.  Although I still think my inspiration is much better, I'm pretty happy with this one made from scraps from DCWV Lemon Flower stack and little bit of baker's twine from Martha Stewart.  It's my first foray into designing the words in Silhouette.  I'm looking forward to exploring that even more.