I am in the midst of disappearing another 6x6 paper pack, and yes, I am very proud. This time it's my Basic Grey Marrakech 6x6 pad. I am absolutely in love with these papers, so why I've so rarely used them is beyond me.
I took this week's OWH sketch:
and made 15 cards. Here's one of them:
This turned out to be the only one I made with a horizontal orientation. Here's the same paper on a vertical card:
I liked this one better, so all the rest are also in this direction. Yeah, I know the ribbon should be going the other way, but at least I'm in the spirit of the sketch, right?
Speaking of ribbon, this is SU Navy, and I may have hoarded it. We went so long without a real navy ribbon, I was beside myself when it finally appeared in the SU catalog and went a bit nuts. I have a lifetime supply, in case you were wondering.
Here's another one:
All the papers were matted with SU Night of Navy, and I made a pretty good dent in my box of 1/4-sheet card stock. I also used more Night of Navy to cut the layers for the sentiments. I like that navy goes with all these papers, even this orange one. Gotta love the matchy-matchy of these paper packs.
This next one may be my favorite paper in the pack:
So soft. Did you notice I used eyelets on the sentiment panels? They were boring with nothing there, and I thought to try eyelets. I rummaged in my Every Color Blue Eyelet and Brad drawer and found a box of Making Memories eyelets that were pretty close in color. I used my Crop-A-Dile to set 30 of those buggers. Remember back to the hammer-setting days? Yeah, I don't miss them much.
This next one is the busiest paper in the pack:
I never know how to use these busy papers, so this worked out well for me.
Last one:
Don't you just love these colors?
About the sentiment panels. I used an MFT die for the white pieces, and I wanted to layer them, so I fell back to my old ways of making my own mat layer. I cut some Night of Navy card stock with the same die, then cut it in half. I put adhesive on the back of the top and bottom of the white layers, then stuck them onto the blue.
Here are the front and back of one of them so you can see what I mean:
See how the blue is only at the top and bottom of the sentiment? Here's the back:
I also trimmed off the pointy pieces of the blue layer so they didn't stick out. If I were a perfectionist, which we all know I am not, I would have cut more navy pieces and cut them in half the other way to make side layers. Maybe if I was making one, but I made fifteen, and I wasn't going there.
Oh, and I had a Save Yourself From Yourself (SYFY) moment I wanted to share. I saw a squirrel and wasn't paying attention, and I used the wrong side of the Crop-A-Dile to punch the hole for the eyelet. After stamping and layering, I was NOT making another one, so I patched it. I put a piece of card stock over the hole and re-punched the smaller one:
I added a handsome (if very faint) red dashed line to show the edge of the scrap piece I stuck onto the back of this panel. Once it was in place, I just punched a new hole, and the eyelet went in perfectly.
So there you have it: 15 more cards for OWH. Today I shall repeat a previous session and use up my solids and cut-off pieces from that pack. I could get used to this. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used:
Basic Grey Marrakech 6x6 paper pack
SU Night of Navy card stock
SU Naturals White card stock
MFT You Move Me stamps & dies (SSS | EH) dies only (SSS | EH)
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
Crop-A-Dile (SSS | EH)
SU Navy grosgrain ribbon
Making Memories navy eyelets
SU Dimensionals adhesive
Monday, December 31, 2012
Saturday, December 29, 2012
Just About Gone
In my continuing quest to use up a whole pack of 6x6 paper, I went into The Captain's Quarters today to tackle the remnants:
I had an idea, but then I got distracted, but I did use up almost all of what you see, resulting in 15 cards. I'll show you a sampling.
First, I went with yesterday's theme from Linda's card and made two like this:
Then I layered a 2" piece under the banners and made one or two like this:
Next I grouped some of the longer strips and made a few like this:
For the next few - a long version with layering, I measured wrong and cut the 2" strip too short (duh) and had to come up with a way to save myself, so I tore the paper layer and then tore the black layer to make it look like I meant to do that:
And no, the bling isn't black; it's just more bad lighting. Sigh.
Then I started layering the 2" pieces onto black and cutting them too short, like this:
Oh, wait, you didn't know I meant for that to reach end-to-end, did you? Rats. But again I was saved because I tied that twine around the piece, and when I stuck it on the card front, the fuzz didn't hang over the edge of the card, so again, I meant to do that.
I have a "don't be like me" story for you. See those banners:
I thought I was being SO SMART by not trimming them until after they were put onto the card. Again, I was stamping without a net and had NO idea what I'd do for a sentiment, so in my mind it was smarter to not trim the banners until I knew how short to make them. In theory, there is some logic in there, somewhere.
Trust me when I tell you they would be much, much, MUCH easier to trim before they are stuck down. I was a little excited while applying the adhesive when I stuck the strips to the horizontal pieces and it ran over so when I put them onto the card fronts, some of the banners were stuck down. Yeah, next time I might plan better. Or not.
Here's the black version:
I didn't layer the black ones. Also, I used some of my collection of "do you have that in smaller than 200-yard quantities?" twine collection. It's very thick. I was hoping it would pass as neon to go with my Hero Arts neon inks, and it still might, but in the mean time I used it here since the black wasn't going to work. I cut a slit in the fold of the card to feed it through. Some people don't like the ribbon to show on the inside of the card, but fortunately that doesn't bother me.
In total, I made 15 more cards for OWH, and this is all I have left of that 6x6 pad of Urban Prairie paper:
Two narrow strips (one patterned and one white) and eight 2" squares. That's it. All gone. I may even use these pieces on a card or two, just to use it ALL.
That reminds me of an old Hi and Lois comic. Remember them? The mom asked Ditto (of the Dot and Ditto toddler twins) if he'd eaten all the cookies. He said, "No." The mom said, "Well, there's only one left; here, you can have it." He took it outside to eat, then he smiled and said, "NOW I've eaten them all." HAHA!
On that note, I shall leave you to get back to your lives. I'm kinda glad all that paper is gone. With the long weekend (I took Monday off), I may need to disappear another pack. We'll see.
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used:
Hero Arts Many Birthday Messages (SSS | EH)
Vertical Happy Birthday by Inky Antics
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
Hero Arts white embossing powder (SSS | EH)
Versamark ink (SSS | EH)
May Arts black twine string burlap (SSS)
Wishy Washi Tape Bakers Twine (I got the sampler)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pack
SU Naturals White card stock
Bazzill White OP card stock
I had an idea, but then I got distracted, but I did use up almost all of what you see, resulting in 15 cards. I'll show you a sampling.
First, I went with yesterday's theme from Linda's card and made two like this:
Then I layered a 2" piece under the banners and made one or two like this:
Next I grouped some of the longer strips and made a few like this:
For the next few - a long version with layering, I measured wrong and cut the 2" strip too short (duh) and had to come up with a way to save myself, so I tore the paper layer and then tore the black layer to make it look like I meant to do that:
And no, the bling isn't black; it's just more bad lighting. Sigh.
Then I started layering the 2" pieces onto black and cutting them too short, like this:
Oh, wait, you didn't know I meant for that to reach end-to-end, did you? Rats. But again I was saved because I tied that twine around the piece, and when I stuck it on the card front, the fuzz didn't hang over the edge of the card, so again, I meant to do that.
I have a "don't be like me" story for you. See those banners:
I thought I was being SO SMART by not trimming them until after they were put onto the card. Again, I was stamping without a net and had NO idea what I'd do for a sentiment, so in my mind it was smarter to not trim the banners until I knew how short to make them. In theory, there is some logic in there, somewhere.
Trust me when I tell you they would be much, much, MUCH easier to trim before they are stuck down. I was a little excited while applying the adhesive when I stuck the strips to the horizontal pieces and it ran over so when I put them onto the card fronts, some of the banners were stuck down. Yeah, next time I might plan better. Or not.
Here's the black version:
I didn't layer the black ones. Also, I used some of my collection of "do you have that in smaller than 200-yard quantities?" twine collection. It's very thick. I was hoping it would pass as neon to go with my Hero Arts neon inks, and it still might, but in the mean time I used it here since the black wasn't going to work. I cut a slit in the fold of the card to feed it through. Some people don't like the ribbon to show on the inside of the card, but fortunately that doesn't bother me.
In total, I made 15 more cards for OWH, and this is all I have left of that 6x6 pad of Urban Prairie paper:
Two narrow strips (one patterned and one white) and eight 2" squares. That's it. All gone. I may even use these pieces on a card or two, just to use it ALL.
That reminds me of an old Hi and Lois comic. Remember them? The mom asked Ditto (of the Dot and Ditto toddler twins) if he'd eaten all the cookies. He said, "No." The mom said, "Well, there's only one left; here, you can have it." He took it outside to eat, then he smiled and said, "NOW I've eaten them all." HAHA!
On that note, I shall leave you to get back to your lives. I'm kinda glad all that paper is gone. With the long weekend (I took Monday off), I may need to disappear another pack. We'll see.
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used:
Hero Arts Many Birthday Messages (SSS | EH)
Vertical Happy Birthday by Inky Antics
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
Hero Arts white embossing powder (SSS | EH)
Versamark ink (SSS | EH)
May Arts black twine string burlap (SSS)
Wishy Washi Tape Bakers Twine (I got the sampler)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pack
SU Naturals White card stock
Bazzill White OP card stock
Friday, December 28, 2012
Happy Birthday, Linda!
Today's post is for a very special lady: Linda, of Linda Trace Designs and A Blog Name Hero fame. Anyone who has a birthday in December, and after Christmas, certainly deserves a special shout-out, don't you agree? So welcome to our little blog hop for Linda!
Hopefully you've arrived here from Kelly Marie's blog. If not, please either start with Mary Dawn, or heck, just hop around! We're trying to work around the time differences, so if we're not all live yet, the participant list is below.
Here's my card:
For those of you who've been following my 6x6 pad disappearing act: yes, more paper from my Basic Grey Urban Prairie effort. These are my three favorite papers from the bunch, and I love them against that black background!
The sentiment is from Hero Arts Many Birthday Messages, and I chose the "dazzling" one because Linda's Twitter avatar always has her dazzling smile. :D I even added some bling to drive that point home.
Up next in our little adventure: Stephanie B! So hop on over and see what she's made!
Again, in case any links along the way aren't working (it happens), here's the list:
mary dawn quirindongo
jennifer mcguire
danielle walls
cheiron brandon
kelly marie alvarez
leslie hanna (***you are here**)
stephanie britt
cristina martinez
melissa shea
chari moss
tina basa
stephanie klauck
lucy newton
kelly latevola
Thanks for stopping by!
Hopefully you've arrived here from Kelly Marie's blog. If not, please either start with Mary Dawn, or heck, just hop around! We're trying to work around the time differences, so if we're not all live yet, the participant list is below.
Here's my card:
For those of you who've been following my 6x6 pad disappearing act: yes, more paper from my Basic Grey Urban Prairie effort. These are my three favorite papers from the bunch, and I love them against that black background!
The sentiment is from Hero Arts Many Birthday Messages, and I chose the "dazzling" one because Linda's Twitter avatar always has her dazzling smile. :D I even added some bling to drive that point home.
Up next in our little adventure: Stephanie B! So hop on over and see what she's made!
Again, in case any links along the way aren't working (it happens), here's the list:
jennifer mcguire
danielle walls
cheiron brandon
kelly marie alvarez
leslie hanna (***you are here**)
stephanie britt
cristina martinez
melissa shea
chari moss
tina basa
stephanie klauck
lucy newton
kelly latevola
Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Birthday Cards for OWH
Today on Twitter, Carla and I were discussing the art of disappearing a 6x6 pad of paper. She mentioned she used the patterned papers first and was left with the solids. I actually do this, too (perhaps we shall call it residual hoarding), but I usually also have at least a few cut-offs from the patterned papers left.
Then she linked us to this sketch from the Paper Craft Crew blog that she was following for her own paper disappearing exercise:
and I got a clue for the next wave of cards I'd make. I didn't follow the sketch, but I used it as a jumping-off point for this:
A solid from the Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pack plus three pieces of cut-offs from the last batch of cards. They were 2" strips I cut down to 1.5", and I matched them up in threes the best I could.
Here's another one:
I decided to do the black layer again, and tied it together with some black twine. (Get it: tied? I crack myself up.)
One more:
I realized near the end that had no idea what I'd do for a sentiment. I had that twine at the top, so I was kinda forced to just stamp at the bottom. Luckily for me, I had left enough room.
Now that I look at these, I think I should have put the center paper strip on top instead of tucked under. Oh, well.
I ended up with seven (7) of these, and this is what I have left from that pack:
On the left we have the cut-offs from yesterday's adventure; center are the cut-offs from the patterned papers from tonight; and right are the 2" strips from tonight's solids. I also have two A2 sizes of the black paper plus two 6x6 of the white. Not bad. I have some ideas for these already, and I'll work on them later. Like tomorrow. Or Friday. Maybe. But I will not put them away. Nope.
So look for more creations as I continue to use up this paper pack. Almost done!
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments (SSS | EH)
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink (SSS | EH)
May Arts black twine string burlap (SSS)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pack
SU Naturals White card stock
Then she linked us to this sketch from the Paper Craft Crew blog that she was following for her own paper disappearing exercise:
and I got a clue for the next wave of cards I'd make. I didn't follow the sketch, but I used it as a jumping-off point for this:
A solid from the Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pack plus three pieces of cut-offs from the last batch of cards. They were 2" strips I cut down to 1.5", and I matched them up in threes the best I could.
Here's another one:
I decided to do the black layer again, and tied it together with some black twine. (Get it: tied? I crack myself up.)
One more:
I realized near the end that had no idea what I'd do for a sentiment. I had that twine at the top, so I was kinda forced to just stamp at the bottom. Luckily for me, I had left enough room.
Now that I look at these, I think I should have put the center paper strip on top instead of tucked under. Oh, well.
I ended up with seven (7) of these, and this is what I have left from that pack:
On the left we have the cut-offs from yesterday's adventure; center are the cut-offs from the patterned papers from tonight; and right are the 2" strips from tonight's solids. I also have two A2 sizes of the black paper plus two 6x6 of the white. Not bad. I have some ideas for these already, and I'll work on them later. Like tomorrow. Or Friday. Maybe. But I will not put them away. Nope.
So look for more creations as I continue to use up this paper pack. Almost done!
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments (SSS | EH)
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink (SSS | EH)
May Arts black twine string burlap (SSS)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 pack
SU Naturals White card stock
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Mother's Day (maybe) Cards for OWH
I spent most of today making cards for OWH. I spied this sketch from the Verve blog:
and decided it lent itself well to disappearing a pack of 6x6 paper. I took out my largely intact pack of Basic Grey Urban Prairie and tore out all but the solid colored pages. I cut them all to 4x5.25, then stopped. I had laid them onto a base of SU Naturals White, and it was (yawn) boring.
Now look at that sketch. You know if I matted that layer, I'd have to mat the central square, too, right? Sigh. So I did it. I had 22 pieces of paper, so I was going to end up with 22 cards. I proceeded to cut 22 pieces of 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 black. Fortunately I can get four of those out of one piece of card stock.
Here's one of the finished cards, then I'll whine some more:
Here you can see the black mat under the two pieces of patterned paper. This turned out to be a brilliant step, because when I cut the patterned papers kinda in half, but not really, and then I started pairing up the pattern tops and bottoms, I found they didn't meet in the middle. (imagine that) So I rescued some trims of the black card stock from the cutter area, and they became useful additions as seam cover-uppers.
Here's another one:
Since I matted the patterned papers, I needed to mat the white piece, too. I still didn't have a clue what I was going to stamp on the white pieces, but I dutifully cut and matted. I was thinking I'd make Mother's Day cards, but there it is again: a specific holiday. Hmmm. Then I spied the Hero Arts set with this sentiment, and I thought maybe these papers were girly enough to pass as Mother's Day cards.
Here's another one:
Oh, look, that one was stuck on crooked. ;/ To add to the girly look, I decided to use washi tape for the horizontal element in the sketch. Pink washi tape. I found this roll of what I call "lace" in the pink section, stuck it onto strips of 3/4" card stock, notched one end of each, and stuck it onto the card fronts. It looks fine even when the base papers don't have pink in them.
Next challenge, since I was flying without a net here, I needed an element to anchor that washi strip. I tried several different things before I decided a black heart would be okay, so I punched them all out and stuck them on using some Sookwang permanent tape. Not a lot sticks to washi tape, but that stuff seems to work fine.
Before I stuck the black layer to the card bases, I needed to decide what sort of bling to add to the hearts. If I went with a brad, I could add it before I attached the layer. I was like Winnie the Pooh ... think, think, think. In the end I went with my Ice White Pearl Pen. I did try my white Liquid Pearls, but they looked awful. I think these came out pretty okay.
Last one:
This one was a stretch pattern-wise, but I was running out of choices. Sigh. And there is red (dark pink) in the bottom paper, so there's that ...
So that's it. Twenty-two Mother's Day (maybe) cards for OWH, and one largely disappeared 6x6 paper pack. I have the cut-offs of the papers I used here, and I have big plans for them. Later.
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink (SSS | EH)
Sookwang 1/4" tape (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 paper pack
Hero Arts Tree, Birds and Messages stamp set
Viva Decor Pearl Pen - Ice White
SU Naturals White card stock
SU Basic Black card stock
SU 3-heart punch
Misc washi tape
and decided it lent itself well to disappearing a pack of 6x6 paper. I took out my largely intact pack of Basic Grey Urban Prairie and tore out all but the solid colored pages. I cut them all to 4x5.25, then stopped. I had laid them onto a base of SU Naturals White, and it was (yawn) boring.
Now look at that sketch. You know if I matted that layer, I'd have to mat the central square, too, right? Sigh. So I did it. I had 22 pieces of paper, so I was going to end up with 22 cards. I proceeded to cut 22 pieces of 4 1/8 x 5 3/8 black. Fortunately I can get four of those out of one piece of card stock.
Here's one of the finished cards, then I'll whine some more:
Here you can see the black mat under the two pieces of patterned paper. This turned out to be a brilliant step, because when I cut the patterned papers kinda in half, but not really, and then I started pairing up the pattern tops and bottoms, I found they didn't meet in the middle. (imagine that) So I rescued some trims of the black card stock from the cutter area, and they became useful additions as seam cover-uppers.
Here's another one:
Since I matted the patterned papers, I needed to mat the white piece, too. I still didn't have a clue what I was going to stamp on the white pieces, but I dutifully cut and matted. I was thinking I'd make Mother's Day cards, but there it is again: a specific holiday. Hmmm. Then I spied the Hero Arts set with this sentiment, and I thought maybe these papers were girly enough to pass as Mother's Day cards.
Here's another one:
Oh, look, that one was stuck on crooked. ;/ To add to the girly look, I decided to use washi tape for the horizontal element in the sketch. Pink washi tape. I found this roll of what I call "lace" in the pink section, stuck it onto strips of 3/4" card stock, notched one end of each, and stuck it onto the card fronts. It looks fine even when the base papers don't have pink in them.
Next challenge, since I was flying without a net here, I needed an element to anchor that washi strip. I tried several different things before I decided a black heart would be okay, so I punched them all out and stuck them on using some Sookwang permanent tape. Not a lot sticks to washi tape, but that stuff seems to work fine.
Before I stuck the black layer to the card bases, I needed to decide what sort of bling to add to the hearts. If I went with a brad, I could add it before I attached the layer. I was like Winnie the Pooh ... think, think, think. In the end I went with my Ice White Pearl Pen. I did try my white Liquid Pearls, but they looked awful. I think these came out pretty okay.
Last one:
This one was a stretch pattern-wise, but I was running out of choices. Sigh. And there is red (dark pink) in the bottom paper, so there's that ...
So that's it. Twenty-two Mother's Day (maybe) cards for OWH, and one largely disappeared 6x6 paper pack. I have the cut-offs of the papers I used here, and I have big plans for them. Later.
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink (SSS | EH)
Sookwang 1/4" tape (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Urban Prairie 6x6 paper pack
Hero Arts Tree, Birds and Messages stamp set
Viva Decor Pearl Pen - Ice White
SU Naturals White card stock
SU Basic Black card stock
SU 3-heart punch
Misc washi tape
Just Playing
I came here to post my OWH cards I spent all day making, but then I found one that I made first and forgot about, so you'll get to see that now. My next post will be my OWH cards. You've been warned. :D
Today I started out just playing. I still had my Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 stamp out *ahem* and I spied a pack of Strathmore Canvas ATC papers, and suddenly I had a plan. Here's the card, then I'll explain:
It all started with the embossed image on that piece of canvas-y paper. It's just a textured paper - not real canvas. And it's not as texture-y in real life; that darn camera picks up detail when I don't want it to. ;/
I wanted to do gradient colors, so I grabbed three of my neglected Gelatos and colored over the embossed paper. It mostly stuck to the embossing until I spread it around with my finger, and that filled it all in. I took a wet wipe to clean off the embossed area, and although I tried not to rub any green onto the blue (and visey versy) I still managed to do so. There is some green in the blue section at the top. Oh, wait, I meant to do that. I like it, anyway.
All I did was round the corners of the ATC piece and the base, stick the ATC piece down, and add the banner & sentiment.
Now, if someone could explain to me why I insist on stamping on textured paper, I'd love to hear it. ;/
Okay, I'm going to attempt to get the OWH post up next.
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 stamp (SSS | EH)
Hero Arts white embossing powder (SSS | EH)
Versamark ink (SSS | EH)
SSS Banner Sayings (SSS)
SSS Banner Die (SSS)
SSS Banner Sayings and Die (SSS)
Faber-Castell Gelatos - Green (SSS | EH)
Faber-Castell Gelatos - Metallic (SSS | EH)
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink (SSS | EH)
Best Creations Small Square adhesive (SSS)
Strathmore Canvas paper ATC (I think I got mine at Mike's several years ago)
Today I started out just playing. I still had my Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 stamp out *ahem* and I spied a pack of Strathmore Canvas ATC papers, and suddenly I had a plan. Here's the card, then I'll explain:
It all started with the embossed image on that piece of canvas-y paper. It's just a textured paper - not real canvas. And it's not as texture-y in real life; that darn camera picks up detail when I don't want it to. ;/
I wanted to do gradient colors, so I grabbed three of my neglected Gelatos and colored over the embossed paper. It mostly stuck to the embossing until I spread it around with my finger, and that filled it all in. I took a wet wipe to clean off the embossed area, and although I tried not to rub any green onto the blue (and visey versy) I still managed to do so. There is some green in the blue section at the top. Oh, wait, I meant to do that. I like it, anyway.
All I did was round the corners of the ATC piece and the base, stick the ATC piece down, and add the banner & sentiment.
Now, if someone could explain to me why I insist on stamping on textured paper, I'd love to hear it. ;/
Okay, I'm going to attempt to get the OWH post up next.
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 stamp (SSS | EH)
Hero Arts white embossing powder (SSS | EH)
Versamark ink (SSS | EH)
SSS Banner Sayings (SSS)
SSS Banner Die (SSS)
SSS Banner Sayings and Die (SSS)
Faber-Castell Gelatos - Green (SSS | EH)
Faber-Castell Gelatos - Metallic (SSS | EH)
Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink (SSS | EH)
Best Creations Small Square adhesive (SSS)
Strathmore Canvas paper ATC (I think I got mine at Mike's several years ago)
Monday, December 24, 2012
Thanks For Your Service
I mentioned I wanted to try heat-embossing in white onto Neenah Desert Storm card stock. I just tried it, and I love the results! Here's my card, then I'll explain:
This definitely looks better from afar ... my coloring skillz have a long way to go. I white-embossed the Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 background onto the Desert Storm card stock, then colored it with my Derwent Inktense pencils. I cut it in half, mostly because I got tired. I originally wasn't going to wet the red and blue colored sections, but then I remembered these pencils come alive when wet, so I did, and I'm SO glad I did. I LOVE the result.
Now, to deal with that diagonal white space, and fit something into it. I had in mind to do the last OWH Mid-week Throwdown of Red, White & Blue, so I went with my Paper Smooches Circle of Honor set. The sentiment is stamped in Distress Faded Jeans and I colored the cutie-patootie eagle with my pencils. I declared him to be a bald eagle, so I left his head white. The Bazzill White OP card stock is textured, so you can see where the stamp missed spots on his body. I declared them to be baby pinfeathers, and embraced it.
I stamped the eagle twice: once onto the card front and also on a scrap of the same paper, then cut him out of the scrap, sans legs. Then I popped him up on dimensional adhesive over the stamped image. He looks a bit floaty to me now, so I may go back and add some ground under his feet.
This will be a one-of-a-kind card, and I'll make it into an Any Hero card, to be sent to one of our troops with a message in it. That way they get mail, too!
In other news, Bobrah got a prezzie today. He has his own bowl! Personalized:
Isn't that awesome!? And it's heavy, so he can't pick it up with his teeth and fling it like he did with one I had on the counter. ;/ Kids - what are ya gonna do?
Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate, and thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 stamp (SSS | EH)
Hero Arts white embossing powder (SSS | EH)
Versamark ink (SSS | EH)
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
Paper Smooches Circle of Honor stamp set (SSS | EH)
Derwent Inktense water color pencils (SSS) I have the 72, but they come in smaller sizes
Signo white gel pen (SSS | EH) Say what? Yeah, it covered some smears...
Distress Faded Jeans ink (SSS | EH)
Neenah Desert Storm card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Bazzill White OP card stock
SU white twine
This definitely looks better from afar ... my coloring skillz have a long way to go. I white-embossed the Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 background onto the Desert Storm card stock, then colored it with my Derwent Inktense pencils. I cut it in half, mostly because I got tired. I originally wasn't going to wet the red and blue colored sections, but then I remembered these pencils come alive when wet, so I did, and I'm SO glad I did. I LOVE the result.
Now, to deal with that diagonal white space, and fit something into it. I had in mind to do the last OWH Mid-week Throwdown of Red, White & Blue, so I went with my Paper Smooches Circle of Honor set. The sentiment is stamped in Distress Faded Jeans and I colored the cutie-patootie eagle with my pencils. I declared him to be a bald eagle, so I left his head white. The Bazzill White OP card stock is textured, so you can see where the stamp missed spots on his body. I declared them to be baby pinfeathers, and embraced it.
I stamped the eagle twice: once onto the card front and also on a scrap of the same paper, then cut him out of the scrap, sans legs. Then I popped him up on dimensional adhesive over the stamped image. He looks a bit floaty to me now, so I may go back and add some ground under his feet.
This will be a one-of-a-kind card, and I'll make it into an Any Hero card, to be sent to one of our troops with a message in it. That way they get mail, too!
In other news, Bobrah got a prezzie today. He has his own bowl! Personalized:
Isn't that awesome!? And it's heavy, so he can't pick it up with his teeth and fling it like he did with one I had on the counter. ;/ Kids - what are ya gonna do?
Merry Christmas Eve to those who celebrate, and thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Impression Obsession Circle Fusion 1 stamp (SSS | EH)
Hero Arts white embossing powder (SSS | EH)
Versamark ink (SSS | EH)
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
Paper Smooches Circle of Honor stamp set (SSS | EH)
Derwent Inktense water color pencils (SSS) I have the 72, but they come in smaller sizes
Signo white gel pen (SSS | EH) Say what? Yeah, it covered some smears...
Distress Faded Jeans ink (SSS | EH)
Neenah Desert Storm card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Bazzill White OP card stock
SU white twine
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Blue Thanks
I have the Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Thank You Heart dies, and every time I go to use them, I'm stumped. The detail of the words seems to need a plain background, but I can't do plain (yawn) so I haven't used the dies yet. Until today!
I watched this video by Kristina Werner over at the Simon Says Stamp blog, and the way she colored her background and embossed the white sentiment? BINGO!
Here's my card:
On this first card I used the same colors Kristina did: Distress Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn. As I struggled to get all the bits of glue on the back of the sentiment, though, I got a clue and re-cut it from a piece of white card stock stuck onto a piece of a Sookwang sheet. That made the whole thing into one big sticker, and I lined it up with the blue heart. THIS I like!
Then I thought to try Evergreen Bough in place of the Mowed Lawn, because it was a bit less green (more blue), and here's how that looks:
It's more subtle of a look. I like them both, I think. I ran a piece of white card stock through my Big Shot with a Cuttlebug folder, and since I didn't have paper the right color, and I didn't feel like inking the edges of the card front, I chose a "close enough" color of washi tape and used it instead. Way less messy. :)
Here are the two cards side-by-each so you can see the different colors:
Both have their merits. Oh, and that Cuttlebug folder works best on a 4x5.25 piece of card stock. I've been spoiled by the larger folders that do the whole A2 card front. I failed twice before I trimmed some card stock down. Sigh. And I was going to round the corners, but I forgot. Double sigh.
I think I'll change gears and play with some colored pencils next.
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Thank You Heart dies (SSS)
Neenah Solar White card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Distress Salty Ocean ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Peacock Feathers ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Mowed Lawn ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Evergreen Bough ink (SSS | EH)
Blending tool (SSS | EH)
Ranger Craft Sheet (SSS | EH)
Sookwang sheets (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Cuttlebug Heart embossing folder (SSS)
Washi tape (don't know which company)
I watched this video by Kristina Werner over at the Simon Says Stamp blog, and the way she colored her background and embossed the white sentiment? BINGO!
Here's my card:
On this first card I used the same colors Kristina did: Distress Salty Ocean, Peacock Feathers and Mowed Lawn. As I struggled to get all the bits of glue on the back of the sentiment, though, I got a clue and re-cut it from a piece of white card stock stuck onto a piece of a Sookwang sheet. That made the whole thing into one big sticker, and I lined it up with the blue heart. THIS I like!
Then I thought to try Evergreen Bough in place of the Mowed Lawn, because it was a bit less green (more blue), and here's how that looks:
It's more subtle of a look. I like them both, I think. I ran a piece of white card stock through my Big Shot with a Cuttlebug folder, and since I didn't have paper the right color, and I didn't feel like inking the edges of the card front, I chose a "close enough" color of washi tape and used it instead. Way less messy. :)
Here are the two cards side-by-each so you can see the different colors:
Both have their merits. Oh, and that Cuttlebug folder works best on a 4x5.25 piece of card stock. I've been spoiled by the larger folders that do the whole A2 card front. I failed twice before I trimmed some card stock down. Sigh. And I was going to round the corners, but I forgot. Double sigh.
I think I'll change gears and play with some colored pencils next.
Thanks for stopping by!
Product enablement list:
Simon Says Stamp STAMPtember Thank You Heart dies (SSS)
Neenah Solar White card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Distress Salty Ocean ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Peacock Feathers ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Mowed Lawn ink (SSS | EH)
Distress Evergreen Bough ink (SSS | EH)
Blending tool (SSS | EH)
Ranger Craft Sheet (SSS | EH)
Sookwang sheets (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Cuttlebug Heart embossing folder (SSS)
Washi tape (don't know which company)
More Bear Hugs for OWH
Yesterday I made a Bear Hugs card, hoping it would be a good one for OWH. I appreciate you putting up with my whining in that post. It was a loooong day. I did go back, though, and stamp that bear 25 times (or maybe 26) onto various Basic Grey Basics Kraft papers and fussy-cut them. Yes, in my world this appears to be easier than coloring, at least for now, and for mass production.
Here is one of the cards I made, then I'll tell you my story:
First, not one of these cards would stand up nicely to photograph, so they are mostly laying down. I even creased them with my bone folder, to no avail. I might have to sit on them to force them into submission.
So, I went into my Basic Grey 6x6 stash and selected papers from Hopscotch and Max & Whiskers. I cut them into 4x3, so I got two pieces from each piece of 6x6. I rounded all the corners and stuck them onto bases. I am waiting for my ream of Neenah Solar White, so I'm scrounging for white card bases. Some of these are Neenah, some are SU Naturals White, some are Staples 110 lb, and some are Neenah Desert Storm.
Here's one on the Desert Storm base:
The patterned paper was too white to put on a white base, plus I'm running out of white AND I wanted to try this Desert Storm. It's got a smoother surface than I'm used to with Kraft card stock. I think I'll play with white embossing on it later.
I cut up a piece of Staples white into 3/4" widths and stamped the sentiment on all of them at once. Then as I stuck on the patterned paper, I grabbed one, notched it, and stuck it on, too.
Here's one with the Hopscotch papers:
It's more girly. And that bear and banner were strategically placed on this one. Okay, is it just me or does the name "Hopscotch" imply "children" to you, too? Yeah? Then could you tell me why the word "wanna?" is on this paper? Hmmm? I had to cover it up. *shakes head*
One more:
I was going to round the corners of the bases, then decided against it.
Here's another boy-ish version:
Thanks for stopping by!
Products enablement list:
Paper Smooches Chubby Chum Pals stamp set (SSS | EH)
Memento black ink (SSS | EH)
Memento black marker (SSS | EH)
Neenah Solar White card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Neenah Desert Storm card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Corner Chomper 1/4" & 1/2" (SSS | EH)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Hopscotch 6x6 paper pack
Basic Grey Basics Kraft 6x6 paper pack
Basic Grey Max & Whiskers 6x6 paper pack
Stampin' Up! brown flocking (retired)
Martha Stewart glue pen
SU Naturals White card stock
Staples 110 lb card stock
Here is one of the cards I made, then I'll tell you my story:
First, not one of these cards would stand up nicely to photograph, so they are mostly laying down. I even creased them with my bone folder, to no avail. I might have to sit on them to force them into submission.
So, I went into my Basic Grey 6x6 stash and selected papers from Hopscotch and Max & Whiskers. I cut them into 4x3, so I got two pieces from each piece of 6x6. I rounded all the corners and stuck them onto bases. I am waiting for my ream of Neenah Solar White, so I'm scrounging for white card bases. Some of these are Neenah, some are SU Naturals White, some are Staples 110 lb, and some are Neenah Desert Storm.
Here's one on the Desert Storm base:
The patterned paper was too white to put on a white base, plus I'm running out of white AND I wanted to try this Desert Storm. It's got a smoother surface than I'm used to with Kraft card stock. I think I'll play with white embossing on it later.
I cut up a piece of Staples white into 3/4" widths and stamped the sentiment on all of them at once. Then as I stuck on the patterned paper, I grabbed one, notched it, and stuck it on, too.
Here's one with the Hopscotch papers:
It's more girly. And that bear and banner were strategically placed on this one. Okay, is it just me or does the name "Hopscotch" imply "children" to you, too? Yeah? Then could you tell me why the word "wanna?" is on this paper? Hmmm? I had to cover it up. *shakes head*
One more:
After I had all the papers and banners attached, I added flocking to all the bears' faces. I did 26 of these and barely made a dent in the flocking container. That stuff will last me forever. I went back through my stack of cards and stuck a bear on each one with some foam adhesive.
One more:
Here's another boy-ish version:
I'm pretty happy with how these turned out. Now I need to go play some more. I've watched too many videos and pinned too much stuff on Pinterest, and the ideas are starting to leak out.
Thanks for stopping by!
Products enablement list:
Paper Smooches Chubby Chum Pals stamp set (SSS | EH)
Memento black ink (SSS | EH)
Memento black marker (SSS | EH)
Neenah Solar White card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Neenah Desert Storm card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Corner Chomper 1/4" & 1/2" (SSS | EH)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Basic Grey Hopscotch 6x6 paper pack
Basic Grey Basics Kraft 6x6 paper pack
Basic Grey Max & Whiskers 6x6 paper pack
Stampin' Up! brown flocking (retired)
Martha Stewart glue pen
SU Naturals White card stock
Staples 110 lb card stock
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Bear Hugs
Distractions abound. This morning I watched the latest OWHtv video and my brain registered the request for general cards that deployed soldiers can send to their kids back home. Then I went to Pinterest to look for some ideas - something that might give me some mojo, and you know what? If you search Pinterest for "kids cards" or "cards for kids" or "cards for boys" or "cards for girls" or "cards for children" all you find is baby cards or cards BY children, or card kits for children. I came up pretty empty.
So then I watched the OWH Interactive Card Project (ICP) and led myself down the path to:
Love cards for kids with a monster theme. I have several monstah sets, so I wandered into The Captain's Quarters and started thumbing through my stamp sets, when I happened upon my Paper Smooches Chubby Chum Pals set and remembered I'd found my missing "bear hugs" stamp, and bears would work for either a boy or a girl, and hugs are good, and I could play with my colored pencils ... yeah, this could work.
I stamped six of the bears onto a piece of Neenah Solar White card stock and colored one with my Derwent Inktense pencils and then blended with water. I hated intensely disliked it. I colored another one by picking up the ink from the pencils with a wet brush and painting the image. I liked it better, but not much. So I broke out my Copics and colored one I could live with. Then I realized I'd splashed brown water on the three remaining images, so yeah, I got one image out of the six I started. Sigh.
Sketch. I needed a sketch. I decided to use this one from Try Stamping On Tuesday:
instead of the OWH sketch, and this is what came out:
Don't be impressed with that torn paper on the left ... the paper came like that. I only added the strips of green and orange on the right. Also, his eyeballs are very white because I slopped some brown marker into the whites of his eyes and my Copic Blender pen made it worse, so I was forced to re-whiten his eyeballs. And yes, his muzzle is fuzzy with flock.
One card. After all that I made one card. THIS, people, is why stamping is hard. HARD, I tell you. I will not be mass-producing this card. Hmmm, I wonder if I could stamp the bear on some brown patterned paper and cut him out. I'll have to try that.
In other news, I'm changing (again) how I link to things I've used on my projects. Inlinkz has changed their product pricing starting the first of the year, so I'm going to try just use text descriptions with links to a store or two, the better to enable you. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used:
Basic Grey Clippings 6x6 pad (SSS | EH)
Paper Smooches Chubby Chum Pals stamp set (SSS | EH)
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
Memento black ink (SSS | EH)
Memento black marker (SSS | EH)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Spellbinders Circle dies Large (SSS) and Small (SSS)
Stampin' Up! brown flocking (retired)
Martha Stewart glue pen
Copic markers E25, E27, 0 and W1
Neenah Solar White card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Signo white gel pen (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Corner Chomper 1/4" & 1/2" (SSS | EH)
So then I watched the OWH Interactive Card Project (ICP) and led myself down the path to:
Love cards for kids with a monster theme. I have several monstah sets, so I wandered into The Captain's Quarters and started thumbing through my stamp sets, when I happened upon my Paper Smooches Chubby Chum Pals set and remembered I'd found my missing "bear hugs" stamp, and bears would work for either a boy or a girl, and hugs are good, and I could play with my colored pencils ... yeah, this could work.
I stamped six of the bears onto a piece of Neenah Solar White card stock and colored one with my Derwent Inktense pencils and then blended with water. I
Sketch. I needed a sketch. I decided to use this one from Try Stamping On Tuesday:
instead of the OWH sketch, and this is what came out:
Don't be impressed with that torn paper on the left ... the paper came like that. I only added the strips of green and orange on the right. Also, his eyeballs are very white because I slopped some brown marker into the whites of his eyes and my Copic Blender pen made it worse, so I was forced to re-whiten his eyeballs. And yes, his muzzle is fuzzy with flock.
One card. After all that I made one card. THIS, people, is why stamping is hard. HARD, I tell you. I will not be mass-producing this card. Hmmm, I wonder if I could stamp the bear on some brown patterned paper and cut him out. I'll have to try that.
In other news, I'm changing (again) how I link to things I've used on my projects. Inlinkz has changed their product pricing starting the first of the year, so I'm going to try just use text descriptions with links to a store or two, the better to enable you. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used:
Basic Grey Clippings 6x6 pad (SSS | EH)
Paper Smooches Chubby Chum Pals stamp set (SSS | EH)
Hero Hues black ink (EH)
Memento black ink (SSS | EH)
Memento black marker (SSS | EH)
Tonic scissors (SSS | EH)
Spellbinders Circle dies Large (SSS) and Small (SSS)
Stampin' Up! brown flocking (retired)
Martha Stewart glue pen
Copic markers E25, E27, 0 and W1
Neenah Solar White card stock 25 sheets (SSS | EH) ream (SSS | EH)
Teflon bone folder (SSS | EH)
Signo white gel pen (SSS | EH)
Fiskars paper trimmer (SSS | EH)
Corner Chomper 1/4" & 1/2" (SSS | EH)
That Sucks V2
The other night I posted this card:
and one of my beloved readers chastised me for using Copics to color the image instead of my Derwent Inktense pencils. So I took that as a challenge and made Version 2 last night:
I definitely like this one better than the first version, and not because I used the pencils, but because I only used two of the three colors of washi tape AND because the stripes follow the direction of the OWH card better. See:
In this case, "less is more" worked for me.
In other news, today is looking like a lazy day in the Crooked household. It started with the cat attacking the blankets (and me) for an hour, and now I need a nap. It's cold and windy outside, so maybe I'll declare it a jammies day. Yeah, sounds good to me. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used and not linked below: Lil' Inker Designs Instant Camera Die, Marianne Designs washi tape, SU Barely Banana ink.
and one of my beloved readers chastised me for using Copics to color the image instead of my Derwent Inktense pencils. So I took that as a challenge and made Version 2 last night:
I definitely like this one better than the first version, and not because I used the pencils, but because I only used two of the three colors of washi tape AND because the stripes follow the direction of the OWH card better. See:
In this case, "less is more" worked for me.
In other news, today is looking like a lazy day in the Crooked household. It started with the cat attacking the blankets (and me) for an hour, and now I need a nap. It's cold and windy outside, so maybe I'll declare it a jammies day. Yeah, sounds good to me. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Products used and not linked below: Lil' Inker Designs Instant Camera Die, Marianne Designs washi tape, SU Barely Banana ink.
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