Running With Scissors…

Linda B. asked a question about this tin I posted earlier which I actually meant to address in my post.  I was in way too much of a hurry when I wrote that!  My non-stamping life was waiting for me to finish.  She asked how I adhered the paper to the sides and top.  Good question, Linda!  When I do a tin like this I always run Sticky Strip (red liner tape) around the sides and put either paper or ribbon over that.  The top is adhered to the tin with Alene’s Tacky glue.  Same with the lace bow.  This glue allows a little wiggle room before it sets, dries clear and defies you to try and pull it apart once it’s set.  The paper roses, by the way, are self-adhesive.  Thanks for asking, Linda!  If anyone ever has a question, please feel free to contact me!

Well, being a new blogger and all, this is my first experience with being tagged!  All you savvy blogger folks probably know that means someone lists 5 blogs they visit and recommend and the 5 that they listed will now list 5 blogs they visit, and so on…  I’ve been tagged twice on this go ’round that I know of…gee, does that mean I should list 10 blogs?  Okay, here’s my picks.  I just got done visiting every blog in my sidebar and I love them all!  This list is totally random.  Take a peek if you have time: 

Kirsten (Ked) @ Confessions of a Naptime Stamper

Jami @ More is More

Sharon (stampersharon) @ PaperFections

Sherry (badsherry) @ Walkin’ on the Bad Side

Dee (stampincuzIluv2) @ Stampin cuz I Luv 2

A friend gave me several of these tins which are discarded by the dozen where he works.  Of course, they don’t come all dressed up with pretty paper and flowers.  They start out with an adhesive label on the top which peels off easily after it’s been warmed for a few seconds with the heat tool.  He asked if I would decorate one for his Mom and I was happy to oblige.  The tins are perfect for altering.  They’re a nice size with a flat lid that slips on and off with ease.  I used the TP technique to change the silver tin to a vintage brown, using wadded up toilet paper smooshed into my Timber Brown Stazon ink pad, then dabbing it all over the inside and outside of the tin.  The rest is done with Wild Asparagus paper and my CM circle cutting system.  The paper roses were a gift from my Splitcoast friend, Sharon Johnson (notimetostamp) and the Spice Brown lace is Mrs. Wright’s hem tape.

I decided while I had this pretty paper out, I might as well make a card with it, too.  I used one of my favorite Stampin’ Up! sets, the retired Gentler Times, and some Close to Cocoa and Regal Rose cardstock.  The rose and vine image is stamped on Very Vanilla with Timber Brown Stazon and colored with markers.  I sprayed several coats of high gloss sealer on the image which gives it the look of a ceramic tile, although I know it doesn’t show much in the photo. The “tile” was mounted on a mat stamped with Linen in Close to Cocoa with Cocoa sponged around the edges.

Next came the Teddy Bear brown velvet ribbon, organdy ribbon and hardware.  The oval was punched through the top two layers of the card before they were adhered to the Cocoa card base.  I stamped the “thank you” on Very Vanilla, punched it and sprayed with sealer, then fit it into the oval on the card, so it’s slightly recessed.   I finished the inside, made a matching envelope and it’s all done!

I hope you’ll try the Stazon sometime for altering a tin.  It’s something a lot of us have on hand and I think we all have TP, too!  Rather than trying to blend the ink smoothly on the tin, I just smooshed it on there (dabbed it) so the silver is all covered but it has a really cool vintage look.  It’s super easy, no tricky technique to it.  If I can do it, anyone can!  Thanks for dropping in today!

They’re back for one more card because when I rolled out the wheel and cut my piece for my other card, Cats in a Row, these guys were left over on the end.  I can’t help myself–I love these cats!  I wish I had the set that goes with this wheel!  They fit perfectly inside the frame of this sei Foxy Epoxy sticker which I wrote about in my Scattering More Birthday Sunshine post.  I’m doing pretty good!  I used up a scrap and I used another sticker!  This is the SU! Treehouse paper with Cranberry Crisp and Bordering Blue cardstock.  The cats are colored with Really Rust and So Saffron markers.  I used the Creamy Caramel marker to shade the Saffron cat and the Chocolate Chip marker to shade the Really Rust cat.  The sentiment is stamped in Cranberry and punched out with the 1 1/4″ circle punch to make the little tab.   The flowers on the scalloped strip are from Background Basics; they’re stamped in Buckaroo Blue.  All supplies except the sticker and the ribbon are from Stampin’ Up!. 

I’d also like to share two RAKs I received this week!  The card on the left is from Adelina Starace.  She used a Papertrey butterfly and some of the Kaleidoscope paper she won in my blog candy giveaway.  ALERT!  She’s doing blog candy right now and it looks like some great stuff!  Thank you, Adelina!

The card on the right is from Dawn Vinson, dvinson on Splitcoast Stampers.  I don’t have this Stampin’ Up! set, but it sure looks cute on this card!  Love this pretty combination of colors.  Thanks, Dawn!

RAKs are such a wonderful way to perk up someone’s day.  I’ve got several waiting to go out.  Just need to look up those addresses!  Thank you all for stopping to visit a while.  Have a great day!

I hoard things unintentionally.  I’ll spend a wonderful afternoon shopping at the LSS for stamping and paper crafting supplies, then run home with a head full of ideas just in time to get dinner on the table and settle down for an evening of quality time with my husband.  And that’s it.  I’ve lost my momentum.  I’d like to not let that happen with this gorgeous BasicGrey Stella Ruby paper.

I put this card together with scraps left over from Mom’s Button Box along with some Ruby Red (of course!) and Chocolate Chip.  I was going along my stamp shelves trying to pick out an image, discarding one idea after another, when this old, retired Simple Florals set sort of drew me in, this stamp in particular.  I don’t know…maybe it’s just me, but it seems to love this paper.  I watercolored it with inks on Naturals White paper and distressed the edges, added a little Ruby Red Itty Bitty.  The Cranberry stitched grosgrain and the antique-looking brad were all I could think to add to it.  I’ve been thinking lately that I’d like to give this set another go around before I decide if I want to give it away, but I think I might like to keep it now, at least for old time’s sake.  It was on my first SU! order.

I’ve decided to set Tuesdays aside for me and Ruby–Stella Ruby, that is.  Every Tuesday I’ll post a card or project using this paper until it’s all used up.  There, I’ve said it.  Am I committed now?  I’ll keep my fingers crossed!  Happy stamping, everyone, and have a great Tuesday!

I stayed up late to finish this card, but that’s all right because I’m on vacation!  I started out wanting to do a vellum overlay on this particular paper from SU!’s Petals and Paisley collection because I hoped to tone it down a bit.  After I got to working with it I decided I liked it; it has a wild, tropical garden kind of look.  Soooooo…that’s how I wound up with that extra panel on the front.  Now I’ve got a muted panel and another panel, wild and unfettered.  The vellum is attached with glue under the border on the left, and with the eyelets on the right side of the card.  The tabs are stamped with the Paisley background in Old Olive on Certainly Celery.  Other cardstocks are Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White.  Every bit of paper, stamps, ink, eyelets and ribbon are Stampin’ Up!  This is the first time I’ve used this pretty little Polka Dots and Paisley flower.  I’m so behind the times!

I also had this card fold in my head that I wanted to share with you.   I’m not sure if you can call it a fold, technically.   The card front and back are separate pieces, hinged together with the tabs.  The tabs are cut 2 1/2″ x 1 1/4″ and scored on the stamped side at 1 1/4″.   Please see the photo below showing the inside of the card for a clearer idea of how it’s put together.  You’ll notice there’s about an 1/8″ gap when the card is open, which makes it just a little bit more interesting on the inside.  To allow for that 1/8″ gap, I cut the front and back pieces 1/8″ narrower–each panel is 4 1/8″ wide x 5 1/2″ tall.

So, you see, I lined up the front and back on either side of the score line on the tabs and adhered them.  The front is adhered with Sticky Strip (red liner tape) so it would hold securely over the ribbon, but the back is just glued on.  I did measure and mark to get them spaced evenly because I don’t trust my eyes and I’m particular about things like that.

There you go, just something a little different that’s pretty easy to do.  I had fun designing this card.  I hope you enjoy your next stamping adventure, too!

I vowed to myself that I would have a post every day this week since I’m on vacation.  Well, this is where I was today, out in the garden.  I did make a card, but it will be after midnight when I post it.  So, for my Sunday, April 15th post–here’s a garden picture.  Card to follow.  Thanks for visiting!  Hope you had a beautiful day, too!

I was shopping at our local scrapbook store one day when I came upon a package of Foxy Epoxy stickers by sei, the Winnie’s Walls collection.  That’s what’s framing the sentiment on this card, an epoxy sticker.  It reminded me so much of SU!’s set, Simply Said, that I just had to go home with those stickers.  No matter that I didn’t have the Simply Said set.  I’d just put it on my next order.  What’s another $24.95 to justify the purchase of a $4.00 package of stickers?   Of course, I had to have the Scatter Sunshine wheel, too–another $7.95.  Okay…so $36.90 altogether.  That’s not so bad.  After all, there’s twelve stickers in that package.  I’ve already used two of them and I’ve only had them since…hmmmmm…let’s see…………last summer.  For some reason I didn’t buy the stamp set right away.  I did, however, continue purchasing odds and ends that match it–buttons and papers, for instance.  Please tell me some of you can relate to this!

At long last, though, I made this card.  Sheesh!  You mean to tell me this is what it was all about?  Thank goodness I love the card, as simple as it is.  I am grateful to sei for making me buy the Scatter Sunshine wheel.  You know how some wheels seem to roll out better than others?  Well, this one works perfectly and it’s so pretty!  I rolled Craft White on Cameo Coral and stamped the Looks Like Spring lattice in Cameo Coral on White (just reversed the colors).  I caught myself about to add a scalloped border, but trimmed along the lattice instead.  The ribbon and the Celery brads went on next.  I framed all that with a border of Blush Blossom and layered it onto a Certainly Celery card.  So there it is, a year in the making.  I reiterate–sheesh!

This April birthday card is for my son who’s all grown up, but I still like to make “fun” cards for him.  He’ll like the cats, but mostly he’ll get a kick out of Mom making it for him.  Gosh, remember this wheel?  I’d forgotten how cute it is!  It’s the retired Stampin’ Up! Feline Friends wheel.  I colored and shaded all the cats with markers and added the greeting from It’s Your Birthday.  The cardstock is Not Quite Navy and Pumpkin Pie and the designer paper is Kaleidoscope with a scrap of brown BasicGrey Stella Ruby.  The ticket corner punch is one of my favorites and I have to hold myself back from using it on everything.  I haven’t held back much on the eyelets since I got a Crop-a-Dile, though.  It’s an eyelet setter’s dream!  Thanks for visiting!  I hope you enjoy the rest of your week!

It was a little drizzly here most of the weekend, but warm, still and quiet and I was able to spend some time in the garden.  This caught my eye the other day.  It’s not one of those WOW displays of color that you see from across the yard, but a small pleasure to happen upon when you’re taking the time to stop and smell the flowers, so to speak.  This low growing azalea branch has mingled with the Black Mondo Grass to create a color scheme we might not think to use in our stamping, but Nature just has a way…