Have You Heard the News?

I'm having so much fun with the Monster Mash set from Lawn Fawn along with some new goodies from Simon Says Stamp and Hero Arts.  For Labor Day, Craft Warehouse was running a 40% off coupon and I hadn't been there in a while.  I wandered around and got some inspiration and decided I needed a new background stamp when I found the Newspaper Background stamp.  I immediately knew it would work as a perfect neutral for cards that need a little something extra and that was the perfect extra for the card that I had in mind today.  I inked that new stamp up with some Versafine Onyx Black ink and heat embossed it with some clear embossing powder.  Now, of course, I had to ink that up using some of my favorite colors of Distress Ink of Worn Lipstick, Broken China and Spiced Marmalade. 

Then I broke out my new Frames Dies from Simon Says Stamp.  I've played with one of them, but I wanted to use the oval frame and thought this card was perfect for that.  I used the frame to cut through my inked layer and the front of the card. 

I added the large and small one-eyed monsters from the set that I colored in copics with pop dots so they came through the top of the card.

I printed the sentiment on some cardstock and cut it out with a die from Mama Elephant then adhered it to the front of the card before stamping the sentiment from Lawn Fawn on the inside.

Congrats!

Yesterday I found out that a friend is engaged!  So, of course, I needed to make a card and yesterday I blogged about my failed attempt.  Of course you know I was in a hurry because I needed to pack for a quick trip to Seattle to take a class by the amazing Sandy Allnock.  In fact, as this post goes live, I'll be on my way with my mom and sister for the girls' trip. 

But, I still needed a card.  I inked up the Hero Arts Antique Flower Background again and this time, changed the order of the inks and got exactly what I was meaning to have in the first card.  I found a cut for Congrats for my Cameo and cut four to layer together.  I adhered them together and then to the background and then to my card base.  I added some Wink of Stella and some Glossy Accents to finish it off.  Fun and fast!

 

Sometimes a Failure is a Success

I was working on quick card tonight, but the idea I had didn't quite turn out.  I was trying to do a nice color background with Distress Ink over the Hero Arts Antique Flower Background stamp to make a quick congratulations card, when it turned out a bit grey and not at all the cheery look I was going for with this one.  Boo.  But the more I looked it, the more I thought it would work for something just a little different. 

I looked around my craft desk and saw the banner from the Dotted dies from Avery Elle and the many thanks sentiment from the Hero Arts Sending Smiles set and a new idea was born.  I made a quick banner stamped with Slate ink from Simon Says Stamp and added a little wood veneer heart (with Wink of Stella and Glossy Accents, of course) and, all of the sudden, that failed background was perfect. 

Thinking of You Inspired by Stretch Your Stamps 2

Since I still had the Hero Arts Antique Flower Background stamp sitting on my desk and I loved how it look embossed in the JudiKins White Diamond embossing powder, I decided to do another card to show off how pretty it is.  Kristina Werner had made a beautiful card on the Onlinecardclasses.com Stretch Your Stamps 2 class using a background stamp and a large die.  I didn't really have the right die to replicate that, but I saw the recent stamp from the Simon Says Stamp card set for July and knew that was perfect for the sentiment.  I couldn't believe how quickly this card came together and all I needed was a few Pretty Pink Post sequins to finish it off. 

Thanks for Things on My Craft Desk

This card was completely born from things sitting on my craft desk as I spent an evening doing odds and ends, like writing in cards, sending email, posting pictures and putting together a list of copic colors I wanted to pick up for an upcoming class.  By the time I was done, I pretty much ready to go to bed, but then I saw the Hero Arts Antique Flower Background stamp and some JudiKins White Diamond Embossing Powder sitting on my desk.  It was calling my name.  So I found a scrap of black paper, stamped it with some Versamark ink and added the embossing powder.  It was so pretty.  I cut it out with the stitched frame from Mama Elephant's Femme Frames (although you can't really tell) and then cut a white background with the scalloped frame from that set.  I wasn't sure about the sentiment, but the Scripty Thanks die from Lawn Fawn was still on my desk, so I pulled out some beautiful blue paper from Pop Tone that I've been hoarding since Paper Zone closed down and I knew I wouldn't have a local supplier anymore.  But now that I've seen how pretty the Audrey Blue paper is from Simon Says Stamp, I'm feeling more comfortable about using my stash.  I die cute the thanks several times and inlayed then stacked them.  I think if I were to do the card again, I'd put the sentiment in the bottom left corner rather than the middle.  I finished it off with some clear Wink of Stella and some Glossy Accents.

Thinking of You - Inspired by Watercolor for Card Makers

Today's card is again inspired from the class I'm taking on watercolor for card makers.  I'm a bit behind in putting together cards.  I have a stack of card background done from watching the videos in the class, but I'm just now working through turning those into actual cards.  Good thing too since I have a long list of cards I'm going to need this month and next. 

For this first card, Jennifer McGuire, one of my favorite crafters to watch, showed how to mask a stamp to leave the stamped image uncolored against the watercolored background.  While she demonstrated the true craft product to do that called liquid frisket, she also showed how to use rubber cement.  Do you think I can find rubber cement?  No.  I've been all over town and no one has it.  So this morning when I couldn't sleep, I got up and started playing with my inks.  I thought "I wonder if I can be careful enough to do the technique without a mask?"  Well, you be the judge...

I used one of my favorite background stamps called This is My Favorite.  It's a wood mounted stamp from Hero Arts.  I don't buy wood mount anymore because of the space they take, but for this one, I broke my own rule and it was a great exception.  I use it all the time in Project Life and was happy to break it out for this technique.  I used some Vintage Sepia Versafine ink after learning that it works with watercolors (something I previously didn't know) and then my watercolor set, which is a very inexpensive set I picked up a Michaels long before I ever knew I would be taking this class.  I have a feeling that a better set will find it's way onto my wish list for my birthday or Christmas, but for now, this (less than $5 with a coupon) set is getting the job done.  I finished the card off with a sentiment from Inky Antics' Delivery Benton set also stamped in the Vintage Sepia ink and some Darice sequins that were laying on my craft table.  Then I just couldn't help myself, I had to put Wink of Stella on the butterflies (but you can't really tell that here). 

Be Strong - from Watercolor for Card Makers

I'm taking a fun class, Watercolor for Card Makers, at onlinecardclasses.com.  The first day I was so inspired by the videos, I have watercolor card backgrounds all over my craft room.  Class is on hold for me for a couple of days while my evenings are filled with WHL finals (go Hawks!), but in between periods last night, I used one of those backgrounds to put together a quick card for a friend who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. 

That's two people in the last year in my office alone and we are a small office!  I hate that this ribbon4cure set from the Stamps of Life and the matching dies are getting this much use.  This is one set I would like to say I bought but never found a reason to use. 

Alas, I broke it out again to stamp the little ribbon, heat emboss the sentiment on vellum and add a few sequins to finish off the outside.  I stamped the "fight like a girl" sentiment on the inside for a quick card, courtesy of one of the watercolor backgrounds I had made based upon a Kristina Werner video (so love her work) from the class.  It was super fun and easy using the Lotus background stamp from Hero Arts that I bought on sale a while back but had yet to break out (at least I couldn't remember using it previously). 

Sigh, I think the next class I have to take though is one on photography (or maybe I need to adjust my schedule so that I'm taking my pictures during the day, rather than the dark night), because this picture just doesn't do the card justice.  The background is really quite a pretty swirl of yellow, orange and pink.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter every one!  I hope you  have great friends and family to spend it with.  I'm with my family, but I wanted to take a minute to share this cute Easter card on the way to my cousin.  I just love Lawn Fawn's Happy Easter set.  The bunnies are so cute!  For this card, I used Peacock Feather and Broken China Distress Ink to create the background, then stamped on some clouds from Lawn Fawn's Sunny Skies set with some Hero Arts Unicorn White ink.  Then I added grass cut from some paper from my scraps using the Grassy Border die from Lawn Fawn.  The eggs and bunnies were colored with colored pencils blended out with Gamsol.  I'm really enjoying learning all these new coloring techniques. 

Get Well Soon Inspired by the Lawn Fawn Blog

I had a headache (darn weather change) and yet I needed a card for a co-worker who just had surgery.  So, I scoped out the Lawn Fawn blog where I fell in love with this cute turtle card.  It was the perfect opportunity to break out my On the Mend set (with a few extra stamps from Critters in the 'Burbs, Sunny Skies and Bon Voyage) plus my new Grassy Border die.  After stamping out my selections with the Momento Tuxedo Black ink and coloring with my Copics (love them), I cut out my grass with some green paper and the sky from some blue paper in my stash.  I added some clouds with Hero Arts Unicorn white ink and the cloud from the Bon Voyage set.  I added some Hemptique baker's twine and a button from my stash, but it still seemed to need something.  So I cut out a black mat to bring it all together and adhered it to my card base.  Simple, easy and quick to let me crawl off to bed and see if I can sleep off this headache.

Soy Happy for You Card

I needed a card to congratulate a friend on his new job.  I was flipped through my stamps and decided I had to use the Let's Roll set from Lawn Fawn.  I have loved this set since I first saw it in the preview pictures from CHA.  It's so cute and punny.  I broke out my Momento ink and new Copics (thanks again Mom) and colored up a storm.  Then it was just a matter of using the dies and finding some cute paper.  I had some paper left in the 6x6 Print Shop paper pad from Studio Calico that I received as part of a Citrus Twist project life kit.  I thought it would work well for the background and yet leave the card suitably masculine.  I decided that the puffy star stackables from Lawn Fawn would add a nice highlight, especially after I edged them in Wink of Stella, too bad it doesn't really show in the cards.

Happy Birthday Card as Seen on Papercrafts

I was browsing through the blogs when I stumbled upon this adorable card using my favorite Stampin' Up stamp, Swallowtail, on the Papercrafts and Scrapbooking blog here.  So while I watched the Seattle/49ers game yesterday, I made my own version.  I stamped the butterfly in Versafine ink and heat embossed it with some clear embossing powder.  I then colored in one with my Spectrum Noir markers and left the other black and white for the base.  I then cut the black and white one down to fit a standard A2 card with a black mat and the colored version smaller.  I then matted both of them on plain black card stock and layered them together.  I stamped the sentiment from my Hero Arts All Occasions set in the Versafine on some vellum and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder to match.  I ran the sentiment through my Xyron and adhered it across the bottom of the panel.  Then all I had to was adhere the panel to my card base and I was done.

Looking back on it now, I kind of wish that I had made the colored panel a touch smaller.  Well, maybe next time...

MIA - Where Have I Been? and an Anniversary Card

I know, I know...  I've been MIA again for a while... for a whole lot of reasons.  First and probably foremost, I've been super busy on a hush, hush project for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary on September 28th.  To put it in perspective, I had to do about 50 layouts in 30 days; well, actually, it was only 28 days.  I still cannot believe I managed to do it in only 24 days, particularly since I'm slow scrapbooker who usually needs about four hours per layout.  I could not have done it if it was not for:  1) my dear hubby who took care of a lot of things around the house for me so I could scrap; 2) limiting my choices to mostly the Cinnamon Edition of paper from Project Life, 3) my scrapbooking layout board on Pinterest and 4) my scrapbooking layout notebook.  Now that it's done and the gift has been opened, I'll share the layouts and where I found my inspiration over the coming weeks.

It seemed like an impossible task, but I know that often times the impossible is possible if we simply reframe the situation.  That's probably why there are so many great quotations about achieving the impossible, like some of my favorites:

At first glance, it may appear too hard.  Look again.  Always look again.  - Anne Rodmacher

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says "I'm possible!"  - Audrey Hepburn

It always seems impossible until it's done. - Nelson Mandela

and, of course, the one that I think is my favorite of all the time:

Start by doing what's necessary, then do what's possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible. - Francis of Assisi

But when it was all done, I had to identify most with this one:

It's kind of fun to do the impossible.  - Walt Disney

Yes, that one was perfect for more than one reason if you know what a Mickeyphile my Mom is (and I have to admit that it's rubbed off on me a bit). 

But, in addition to that, it has been super busy at work so I've been tired when I get home and haven't felt the urge to be crafty if I didn't have to be, the hockey season started again, we have a lot of birthdays in September and early October, our anniversary was this week, I spent some time cleaning up the list of blogs that I follow as well as adding a few new ones, etc.  All in all, it contributed to a lack of things and time to post. Even when the project was said and done, I think I just needed some down time. 

But, due to a completely unexpected loss in the family this week, I've felt a bit numb the last couple of days and the need to keep busy.  Yesterday, in the glorious fall weather, we did the big outside clean up, hauled a year's worth of soda cans to the recycle place, ran a few errands and finally (on impulse despite a few weeks of research - go figure) bought a new laptop.  Oh, not that there's anything wrong with my glorious Dell.  No, it's still working just fine since Randy replaced the hard drive.  It's just that as much as I love my Dell, it's simply too big and heavy to travel with easily. Basically, what makes it perfect for my craft room (the huge screen) makes it difficult for travel.  I mean it doesn't even fit in a laptop bag.  I have my Ipad Mini that I adore, but it doesn't really work to work while I'm travelling, but is perfect for entertaining myself on the plane and in any down time I have (yeah, like I have any down time when I travel for work - it's like working two full time jobs).  I need a 10 key and the ability to have multiple programs open at once. Since it's clear I'm going to be taking regular quarterly trips for work for the next few years, I really wanted a smaller, lighter laptop for travel.  It didn't have to be fancy, but it did have to have a 10-key pad.  I've looked at them for a couple of weeks but while returning a cord to Best Buy that didn't work to hook my parents' TV up to my Mom's laptop, I saw a Lenovo on special.  It's a discontinued model, but it had everything I needed for work and, best yet, it was in the price I wanted to spend. 

So today, it was time to get back into my craft room.  To craft?  Oh no.  Rather it's to catch up the blogs I follow; I had almost 500 posts to either read or to pin something I saw that I thought would inspire me later. Interspersed with laundry, it took about five hours to finish. Now that is done (the blogs, definitely not the laundry), it's time to prepare all the posts of things I've completed but have yet to post.  So, yes, I've been MIA, but now you're going to see regular posts for some time to come with a mix of pages from the book and things I've been working on since then. 

To begin, let's start with the anniversary card I made to go with the gift.  Usually I have to start with some inspiration, but this one just came to me.  I had leftover Thickers from making the 50 year album for my parents and I loved how the O's looked like rings.  So I simply intertwined them, added a mat for some pop and then stamped the sentiment using a mix of stamp sets:  Creative Imaginations Wedded Bliss for the anniversary and the 50th and the happy from  Hero Arts' All Occasion Messages (using selective inking).  This is not the best picture, but with the flash it was too shiny.   

Just a Note card

Here's another card that came together pretty quickly.  I found the inspiration on Mary Fish's blog with a card she received from Lisa Pretto Ibinger.  I didn't have the dark polka dot ribbon, but I did have this sweet green ribbon that reminds me of Spring.  So I switched it up to make the whole card feel more in line with the glorious Spring weather.  I cut the negative on the flower out with my Cameo.  I used a Hero Arts set for the sentiment.  I just love their stamps.  They are such a great quality. 

Happy Birthday Rayna

My youngest niece turns 11 today, so I made her a sweet card to celebrate.  I took my inspiration from one of my favorite blog, Karen Thomas' Luv to Stamp.  Karen took a bit of a break from blogging and I'm so happy to see that she's back.  I love her style so much.

For this card, I used some paper I picked up from Paper Zone just before they went out of business (oh how I miss that store).  I cannot for the life of me remember the manufacturer, but I love it's flecked tones.  The pick paper is a Pop Tone that Paper Zone used to sell too.  The burgandy-ish (is that even a word?) color is from DCWV.  The ribbon I picked up on sale at Michaels quite some time ago.  The washi tape I bought there much more recently.  I'm pretty sure the heart tape is from Recollections and the pink tape is either from Queen and Co or Recollections.  The butterflies were cut on the Cameo using the Echo Park design and the shape is one that I bought from Silhouette and altered on the Cameo.  I embossed the smallest butterfly with an embossing folder from the "Phrases" set by Darice.  I think it's so wonderful that you would never know that the embossing on there is the beginning of the word "Thank."  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set I bought at Michaels. I finished it off with a few Liquid Pearls and called it good.

Quilted Birthday Card

I'm happy to report that all my scrapbook pages have homes now.  I spent a little time reading Stacy Julian's Photo Freedom book because I had a huge stack of layouts just stacked up in a container and not in books.  I never put them away because I'm not a chronological scrapbooker but I also was unhappy with how the others were just in books with no organization at all.  I loved her organization style and it was the perfect solution to my dilemma.  I was stunned at how quickly I was able to sort out all my layouts and get them organized into their respective books.  My photos in the boxes are next up, but I thought I would take a break and do something creative with paper while I listen to the Winterhawks win.

But first, I had to spend a little time fixing some layouts that fell apart.  I have found that the tape runner I used prior to my beloved ATG gun just doesn't stick long term.  Pictures will just fall off the page and, in some instances, you can even see the glue through the paper.  It didn't take long to "repair" the pages and get them in their homes, which still left me some time to play with new things.

I saw this pin on Pinterest and checked out the quilted card on Stamping with Blue Moon Creations.  I was inspired to try it myself.  I pulled out some scraps of DCWV paper from past projects and did a lot of hand cutting of triangles.  Once I had the pattern set out, I glued it all to scrap piece of paper, then ran the whole thing through my Sizzix Ornate Swirls embossing folder.  A few mats also made of scrap paper and a stamped sentiment from a Hero Arts set I picked up recently on sale at Michaels finished it off beautiful, just like the 'Hawks just finished off the Everett Silvertips eleven to four, yes, that's right eleven, with a beautiful hat trick by Ty Rattie!  I cannot wait for tomorrow night's game.

Hello Handsome

When I found this card on I'm in Haven, I absolutely loved it.  The ombre effect of the hearts was delightful.  I knew I just had to make my own version, yet again, with all the things I have I didn't have the die or the stamp set she used.  But I do have the capacity to do almost anything with my Cameo.  So I created the falling hearts pattern in the Cameo by first creating an entire sheet of hearts to fit on the page, then randomly deleting hearts until I had a sheet that looked good to me.  I then cut it out and cut three colors to back it with.  Then I pulled out my new Hero Arts stamp set that I picked up at Michaels a couple of weeks back.  I loved the stamp in it that says "Hello Handsome" because I say that to my dear hubby all the time.  So that was, of course, the perfect stamp for the outside of this card, with "I miss you" on the inside.  I love challenging myself to recreate cards when I don't have exactly the supplies of the original and I'm pretty pleased with how this one turned out.