Birthday Card Die Cut

It's time to gear up for summer birthdays. I have a bunch of them, so I sat down with the new It's Your Day coverplate die cut and some Whimsy Fundamentals paper and went to town.

I cut the image three times in White Daisy Cardstock, once each in Canary, Pixie, and Crystal Blue, then pieced everything together. The chisel tip of our Bonding Memories Glue Pen really came in handy on this. When I was done, I had the leftovers to make three more cards.

I think it probably took me an hour to get all six cards done. I don't know about you, but that's lightning quick for me.

Until next time,
Becca

More Fun with Classic Summer Bash

I've been having such fun with the May Stamp of the Month: Classic Summer Bash. What hasn't been fun is my spotty internet service. Repair man is on the way so, naturally, my internet is working fine right now. As soon as he leaves because he can't find the problem, it will go out again. Just my prediction...based off years of experience! LOL!

Anyway...here's my third card with this set.

I began by stamping the jar twice, once on White Daisy Cardstock using Charcoal ink and once on Vellum paper using Mink pigment ink and embossed with Clear Powder. I also stamped the lemons in Lemon ink and rolled the edges in Tangerine with a couple stamped in Tangerine alone. The ice cubes, which are barely visible here but show up quite well in real life, were also stamped with Mink pigment ink on Vellum and embossed with Clear powder. I colored the back side of the Vellum with a yellow marker, cut a slit above the front side of the jar top, and inserted the straw which I stamped in Poppy ink.

I also used a stamp from the new Documented - Scrapbooking set. I'm determined to do more scrapbooking, and I loved all the images in this set. I stamped the scallop border in Poppy then added a 5.5 x 2.75 piece of Basic Fundamentals Paper. I stamped the sentiment in Pebble ink and added a dot of gray with a marker between each word. I scribbled a border with a black micron pen then added the jar over top.

I'm not sure who's getting this card yet...someone who needs to make lemonade from life's lemons. So basically I need to make about five dozen more of these.

Until next time,
Becca

Classic Summer Bash with Build-A-Picnic

I was inspired by the color challenge over at Color My Heart this week. The colors are Bashful, Canary, and Linen. I substituted Pebble for Linen to make this card...

This was really quick and easy. I simply stamped the dual string and banners from May Stamp of the Month, Classic Summer Bash then added the sentiment from Build-A-Picnic. The sentiment can be changed for birthdays, ets. I can easily see this as a congratulations card for graduates using school colors or a baby card using pastels. So many possibilities!

Wishing everyone a Happy Mother's Day!

Until next time,
Becca

Classic Summer Bash Stamp of the Month Card

I had fun playing around with the May Stamp of the Month, Classic Summer Bash (and Heart2Heart's "Get Creative with Vellum" Challenge). It's such a fun, fresh set with endless possibilities. I'll have a couple more for you in the next few days, but lets start with this one...

I stamped the canning jar twice in Mink Pigment ink on Vellum paper and embossed with Clear powder. I stamped the straw in Smoothie ink and the lemons in Lemon ink with the edges rolled in Tangerine and one in Tangerine ink with the edge rolled in Sorbet ink. I used alcohol markers to color the vellum on the back side with yellow (top layer) and gray shading (bottom layer). After cutting out the lemons and straw, I glued them to the bottom jar, trimmed off the top edge of top jar, then glued the two jars together with Liquid Glass. I cut a slit in the lemon wedge and tucked part under the jar top.

I cut a piece of Beautiful Friendship paper to 5 x 4.25. This is two-sided paper, one with the tiny floral print and the other side with the yellow triangles. I then trimmed off the bottom at 1.5", turned it over (to the yellow triangle side), and glued half of a paper doily on it, folding over the top edge to give a more stable and finished edge. I glued the floral print above it leaving the top 1/2 inch of the card base plain. The borders are a small piece of Smoothie cardstock and blue ric-rac that's been retired for a long time. (I used this same ric-rac product recently on this card.) If you wanted to recreated this look, you could easily die white ric-rac with Sapphire ink or re-inker (though you will need to let it dry overnight before adhering it. See this post for instructions.). I used Liquid Glass to adhere the jars together to the card. I used very little and just along the edges.

I created my own gems by punching circles in Smoothie cardstock, gluing them down, then topping them with Liquid Glass. This is my "go-to" trick for custom-colored gems. I also used Liquid Glass to adhere the ric-rac. I'm tellin' ya, Liquid Glass is my best friend.

There was this small Die Cut Banner sitting on my craft area cut from Whimsy Fundamentals that didn't get used on a previous project. I tucked it under the ric-rac just for giggles and grins and ended up loving it.

The sentiment comes from Short & Sweet and was stamped in Sapphire ink.

I'll admit, this took me about an hour from start to finish, but I really love how it turned out. I'm going to send it to my daughter just to tell her I love her. She uses canning jars for everything from storage to drinking glasses. I think she'll get a smile out of it...and that's worth more than an hour of time to me.

Until next time,
Becca

A Baby Card for Grandparents

I'm getting to the age where lots of my friends are becoming grandparents. The new CTMH catalog includes the perfect stamp set in the Hostess Rewards.

 

I liked the idea of graduating colors, so I inked with Glacier pigment on the top then Juniper on the bottom with a bit of overlap. (NOTE: these colors are part of the Whimsy pigment pad set which is out of stock.) To minimize the color contamination, I started with the lighter color first. I stamped in on the light side of Linen cardstock then embossed with Clear powder. I cut the paper to about 3.25 square, tied ribbon from the Basics Ribbon Pack around it, then backed it with one of the browns from the Basic Fundamentals Patterned Paper. I'm not sure if it's Espresso or Nutmeg. I cut a 4.25 x 5.5 piece of Fresh Air paper and glued it to a cardbase then added my sentiment square with foam tape over top.

I've got one minute before it's officially office hours time. I've figured out that I need to write 1400 words a day, five days a week if I'm going to meet my next deadline. Off to work I go...

Until next time,
Becca

Bad Influence

With the release of a new Seasonal Expressions catalog from CTMH, I'm finding lots of inspiration. One of them is through combinations of stamp sets. This simple card combines three sets.

I stamped the wine bottle and glass from Build-A-Picnic in Pewter ink, colored the images with markers, then stamped the sentiment from Documented-Cardmaking in Black over the top. To ground the image, I stamped one of the images from Splash of Color also in Pewter ink. And...done!

This is going out to a dear friend. It might not be the traditional Mother's day card, but we're those kinds of friends.

Until next time,
Becca

Customized Wedding Card

The daughter of some dear friends is getting married today. Using the invitation, I created a customized wedding card with the new Beautiful Friendship paper that I featured yesterday with this post.

I used some retired products, which is why you need to get what you love when they're available because - though you can't purchase them anymore - they still work! (And someone please tell me I'm not the only one who still has that ric-rac.)

"love" was die cut from Canary paper. I made my own accent gems by punching circles from Bashful Glitter Paper, then adhering them and topping them with Liquid Glass. I also used Liquid Glass to adhere the ric-rac and seal the edges so they don't fray. People...if you don't already own Liquid Glass, what are you waiting for. That stuff is MAGIC in a bottle.

To cut out the picture, I used retired oval die cuts. However, the new Seasonal Expressions product line includes stitched oval frames. While that would have been really cute, I thought I was pushing the cuteness factor on this already. Poor men. They get married and everything is hearts, flowers, and glitter. However, you have to admit...their photo is perfectly color coordinated with this paper. Or maybe the other way around. Whatever.

Back to the craft room. It's National Scrapbooking Day, and I'm determined to get at least one layout done.

Until next time,
Becca

Making a Mess

It's amazing what you can do if you aren't afraid to make a mess. For example...

After a writing deadline, I always go into crafty mode. I've been surfing the web and watching videos for days now. I saw something that sparked a memory about making homemade texture paste. I did a bit more web surfing and basically figured out that making your own involves a thickener and a hardener. After that it's a matter of personal preference. I made mine by squirting white acrylic paint into a small plastic container and adding baking soda until it developed a paste consistency.

Other options include talcom powder, cake flour, baking powder, or cornstarch as you thickener with various combinations of glue and/or acrylic paint as your hardener. Some recipes use water, some don't. It doesn't have to be exact. I went with baking soda because it was handy and I didn't care whether it went on completely smooth. I like the gritty look.

I then smeared it over a stencil I made myself using plastic notebook dividers and my Cricut. This cut is the same as for this card. (Link includes the cutting file for Design Space if you have the USA cartridge from CTMH.) This new Beautiful Friendship paper from Close To My Heart is going to be a hot seller because it's just so stinkin' pretty. So why did I cover it with texture paste? 'Cause my upline is sponsoring a color challenge and this was the paper we were supposed to use along with Canary and Smoothie. (NOTE: I used Sorbet by mistake, but it still worked okay.)

The stencil was too flimsy, so paste smeared underneath. Again...I didn't really care. I wasn't going for pristine and neat. I mean, it's a Mother's Day card. If my mom couldn't find beauty in imperfection and joy in messes, she'd have sent me to live with an aunt before I turned twelve.

My next mess was to custom color White Burlap Ribbon using Sorbet ink. This is easy to do, but take it from me, you'll want to wear gloves. Yeah...

I swiped ink directly onto the ribbon, spritzed it with water, then smushed the ink into the ribbon to even out the color. It didn't give me even coverage, but I didn't care. (For more even coverage, swipe ink directly onto your craft mat, spritz with water, and then run your ribbon through the watered down ink. At least that's my theory on how to get even coverage.)

I blotted up the excess water and then had to wait. And wait. And wait some more. Fortunately, I got a phone call from a friend at this stage of construction. We hadn't talked in a long time so it took a long time to catch up. My ribbon was dry by the time our conversation was over.

The final step was to stamp my sentiment from Short and Sweet (one of my all-time favorite stamp sets) in Sapphire ink and die cut it with the new stitched circles. I adhered the circle directly over the texture paste. Then it was time to glue my layers together, wrap the ribbon around the card front, and adhere everything to the card base.

It was fun to get messy, and I have quite a bit of texture paste left over so you might see this technique again soon.

Until next time,
Becca