Running With Scissors…

I mentioned before that I needed to make a few thank you cards for our local Welcome Wagon hostess to send to the merchants who contribute to her business.  I don’t really enjoy making multiples of one design so I limited this to four cards.  It’s a very simple card but it meets the goals I had in mind.

For one thing, I wanted it to be light weight, requiring no extra postage.  It had to look hand made, or else why would she want my cards, rather than Hallmark’s?  Layers, dimension and embellishments are three things that distinguish our cards from store bought so I used all three of those elements, but minimally.  This batch of cards is intended to be suitable for men but could also be used for the ladies.  Even though the swirls and flourishes are thought to be traditionally feminine, I think it has sort of an elegant, business-like quality to it.

The “thank you” is part of my Flourished Words set from Flourishes.  This is a set of 27 petite but beautifully elegant words.  They’re clear for easy placement and they look wonderful with the swirls from the Priceless set.

I used Karen Foster paper that I bought some time ago specifically for masculine cards.  It’s layered on SU!’s Going Gray and last year’s True Thyme.  I scored the edges of the main image mat to give it an embossed frame.  The white is cut 2 3/8″ x 1 5/8″.  The Going Gray is 3″ x 2 1/4″.  I scored all around the gray piece 1/4″ from the edges.  A score line takes up about 1/16″ of space so you have to allow for that when figuring how big your pieces need to be.  Therefore, I made my gray mat 1/2″ bigger than the white so I could have 1/4″ borders, but I also added 1/8″ to allow for the 1/16″ score line on each side of the mat.  I hope that makes sense.  It’s easier to understand when you’re actually applying it.

I finished it off with some of SU!’s beautiful new taffeta ribbon in Basic Gray — wonderful stuff!  I’m glad you could stop by for a visit.  Have a great weekend!

Stamps:  Flourished Words, Priceless

Paper:  True Thyme, Going Gray, Whisper White, Karen Foster DP

Ink:  Bordering Blue, True Thyme

Accessories:  Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

Just a quick post tonight because I used up all my computer time downloading and installing a Norton Antivirus upgrade.  Gosh, I didn’t think it would take so long!

I wanted to have some more fun with my True Friends set but use some of my new Linen Prints paper, as well.  The two aren’t really made for each other but these seemed to work okay.  Isn’t there a wheel or a background that matches this paper?  I’m sure there’s a set that coordinates with it, but I haven’t taken the time to figure it out yet.  I guess it’s not one that’s caught my eye.  Any ideas?

The feel of this card is a complete turnabout from the last card I made with this set.  I used Cameo Coral, Ruby Red and Old Olive markers to color the flower.  I sometimes have a hard time discerning the difference between Regal Rose and Cameo Coral.  I do think this is Cameo Coral in this paper, though.  I shabbied it up with distressing and sponging.  Inside the card I stamped “Priceless” from…well…the Priceless set.  I love using these two sets together.  Don’t those leaves remind you of Doodle This, too?  Lots of possibilities!

I must sign off now and hit the hay (nighttime blogger, here).  There’s details listed below.  Have a wonderful day!

Stamps:  True Friend

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Whisper White, Linen Prints

Ink:  Close to Cocoa, Markers:  Cameo Coral, Ruby Red, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip

Accessories:  Non-SU! ribbon, brads, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

Would you like a chance to win a stamp set of your choice and a roll of taffeta ribbon?  There’s an added bonus to this contest, too, in that it’s designed to lift a soldier’s morale.  You can do that.  With one card.  Click here for details.

Stella’s card today uses Stem Silhouettes, a Stampin’ Up! set which will be available in the Holiday Mini September through November.  I know — I already have Garden Silhouettes but I can’t resist this type of stamp.  I tried to refrain from temptation but the pull was too great.  This is a stamp set I’ll keep virtually forever, knowing it will always be useful in some way.

Everything I did to make this card is pretty apparent in the photo, I think, so I’ve listed supplies below which will provide most of the details.  One thing I’d like to mention is the eyelets in the ribbon.  The two eyelets closest to the edge were applied with my Crop-a-Dile — holes punched and eyelets set — a breeze.  The one eyelet more toward the card’s center was not such a breeze.  I realized too late that my Crop-a-Dile didn’t reach that far — oops!  The whole card was already done and now I had a black Sharpie mark on my ribbon.  I persevered with various hole-poking techniques (the memory is too painful to recount in its entirety) and I wound up with the hole slightly off and the ribbon threads pulled askew.  Sad, but there it is.

Our Ruby Tuesdays have come to mean more to me than just a card or other paper crafts project, though.  They’re more an experience shared and a chance to meet with friends.  Have a wonderful Ruby Tuesday, always.

Stamps:  Stem Silhouettes, Wonderful Words, Small Script, Itty Bitty backgrounds

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Ruby red, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, BasicGrey Stella Ruby

Ink:  Chocolate Chip

Accessories:  Fiskars scallop scissors, paper piercer, slot punch, ticket corner punch, word window punch, SU! Sherbet ribbon, other ribbon, eyelets, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

I’m thinking this True Friend set might be one of my new favorites.  As a demonstrator I was able to preorder it, but it will be available in the Holiday Mini next month.  It looks a little bold in the catalog but it transforms rather nicely when stamped.  I inked the flower stamp with Garden Green and Bravo Burgundy markers.  Once stamped, I traced around the images lightly with Blush Blossom which gave the flowers a softer, somewhat hazy appearance.  The swirls, stamped in River Rock,  are part of the Priceless set.

I inked the sentiment with Really Rust and Bravo Burgundy markers and did a little out of the box cutting before I matted it onto River Rock cardstock.  The flower that’s on the sentiment panel is part of an image with a circle of dots around it.  I inked it with Groovy Guava, then outlined all the edges and colored the center with my Bravo Burgundy marker.

The papers are all from the Apple Cider collection, also in the mini.  I picked out my favorites for this card.  I simply must get a handle on my attraction to designer papers!  As if that’s going to happen…  I think I’ll hurry off to my stamp room now to use up some more of them.  Happy stamping to all!

Stamps:  True Friend, Priceless

Paper:  Bravo Burgundy, River Rock, Whisper White, Apple Cider double sided DP

Ink:  Groovy Guava, River Rock.  Markers:  Garden Green, Bravo Burgundy, Blush Blossom, Really Rust

Accessories:  Ribbon from the Jersey collection, antique brass Hodgepodge swirl clip, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

First of all I’d like to say…good grief, where have I been?  It’s been a long time since I posted!  It’s been one of those weeks where I didn’t feel much like stamping after work and I had nothing in reserve.  The days just ticked on by…another and another and another…still no stamping.  I spent most of today wielding a pick axe in the garden (don’t ask!) but after cleaning myself up, cooking a pot roast and doing a passable job of tidying my stamp room I managed to make this card.

This started out as a masculine thank you card.  The colors and design were all geared toward a masculine card.  Then I noticed the flower that’s part of this All About Gratitude wheel sitting right there on the front of the card — it’s positioned under the blue flower, smaller and Mustard colored, but once I noticed it that’s all I could see — a flower…on a guy card.  I stared at it and sighed and fidgeted for a while and thought about starting over, but I finally decided to just turn it into a girl card.

The big “gratitude” word was made by coloring just that word on the wheel with my Bravo Burgundy marker.  I had already done that part when it was still a guy card.  For various reasons it took several tries to get it to come out right so I had parts of several words rolled out on Very Vanilla.  I decided to emphasize the ” ‘tude” by cutting it out separately, giving it a little decoration and mounting it over the original word on dimensionals.  I added some ribbon and a flower with a glittered center and I hope that now these colors look sufficiently feminized.

I’ll be making a few more thank you cards in the coming days.  Our local Welcome Wagon hostess has asked me to make a few thank you cards which I think she’ll be sending to area merchants.  I’m not sure how it all works but I believe they sponsor the Welcome Wagon somehow in exchange for the advertising that finds its way into the goodie baskets.  She asked for both feminine and masculine cards but this is not what I had in mind to make…  Back to the drawing board!  Have a great rest of the weekend!

All supplies are Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise indicated.

Stamps:  All About Occasions, All About Gratitude jumbo wheel, Small Sayings (the little heart in the “d”)

Paper:  More Mustard, So Saffron, Very Vanilla, Bravo Burgundy

Ink:  More Mustard, Brocade Blue, Bravo Burgundy and Brocade blue markers

Accessories:  Ribbon, Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder, Art Institute glitter, Scotch Brand dimensional mounting tape

For today’s Ruby Tuesday card I stamped the Baroque swirls in Groovy Guava on one of those unpatterned sheets I’m coming to appreciate more and more all the time.  “Unpatterned” isn’t exactly a suitable term, though.  It may be subtle but it’s much more than just a plain piece of paper.  I’d make that background if I knew how,  but thank goodness Stella did it for me.  Otherwise I may not have had time to cut out all those little flowers.  The square panel is a floral print – one I didn’t mind using for support rather than the main feature.

If, by any chance, this layout looks familiar to those of you who play the SCS challenges it’s because it was SC75 from clear back in June 2006 which was based on one of my cards.  I point this out just in case a very observant and concerned individual may notice it’s a CASE.  Well, it is a CASE, but I CASE’d myself.  You can see a whole gallery full of cards made with this sketch here.  I’ve also included a thumbnail of my original card.  Please click on the pic for a closer look.

I think Stella’s thank you card pretty much explains itself, although I don’t know if you can tell there’s Linen stamped on the River Rock.  It’s stamped in the same color ink so it’s more a feel than a look.  I can never get over how Linen makes me believe I can actually feel it on the paper.  It’s a most amazing stamp.  All the colors and such are listed below.  Have a wonderful Ruby Tuesday and thank you so much for dropping in!

Stamps:  Baroque Motifs, Linen

Paper:  True Thyme, River Rock, Groovy Guava, Very Vanilla, BasicGrey Stella Ruby

Ink:  Groovy Guava, River Rock, True Thyme

Accessories:  Groovy Guava double stitched ribbon, copper brads, linen thread, Scotch brand mounting tape

Today I made a fluffy orange chiffon cake and I’d love to have a slice of it right now but I can’t because it’s made of paper, darn it.

This confection is courtesy of Cake Decorating 101 from Flourishes.  It’s a set of clear stamps with tons of fun images for cake decorating.  I made my orange chiffon cake with Apricot Appeal ink, sponged around the edges with Pumpkin Pie.  The decorative icing was then added with Versamark and Vanilla EP.  The plate is Craft Certainly Celery, clear embossed and lightly watercolored with ink.

These stamps are not limited to cake decorating, though.  See the pretty scalloped edge on the lace tablecloth?  I made that with one of the stamps intended for frosting.  Since clear stamps are flexible I was able to shape it into more of a curve.  I stamped it in Blue Bayou along the edge of a piece of Whisper White that I’d stamped with Fine Lace in Soft Sky.  I used my Bashful Blue marker and blender pen to shade along the upper row of scallops to give it a layered look.

I draped my tablecloth over a…well…let’s just call it a small dry sink or sideboard.  If you think about it too much you might wonder why the drawers are that far down on the cabinet.  Let’s just pretend there’s another row of drawers up there under the tablecloth.  I don’t usually keep a tablecloth on this cabinet but I’ve got company coming so I prettied it up a little.  That’s why I baked the cake — for company.   The cabinet is made from Creamy Caramel cardstock.  I used Creamy Caramel ink and the Dry Brush wheel to give it a wood grain finish.  I scored the drawers and glued them on, bumpy side up, and attached brads for the handles.  The cabinet and cake are mounted on dimensionals.

The wallpaper is Wild Asparagus designer paper and the chair rail (the painted molding between the two wallpapers) is Apricot Appeal.  I scored a double row and trimmed close to the upper score line.  This is matted on Apricot Appeal and then on a 5 1/4″ Soft Sky card base.  I finished it off with the 2007 SAB set, So Very, and some Soft Sky double stitched ribbon and a white eyelet.

This was a fun card to make!  I really enjoy this set because of all the little doodads that give me so much to play with.  In case you didn’t want to read this whole long post, I’ve listed details below.  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Cake Decorating 101, Dry Brush Wheel, So Very, Fine Lace

Paper:  Soft Sky, Apricot Appeal, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, Wild Asparagus DP

Ink:  Apricot Appeal, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky, Creamy Caramel, Blue Bayou, Certainly Celery Craft and classic, Bashful Blue marker & blender pen, Versamark, Timber Brown Stazon

Accessories:  Soft Sky double stitched ribbon, linen thread, eyelet, brads, small oval punch, clear EP, Vanilla EP, Scotch brand mounting tape

I had a request for some little girls’ birthday cards and being ill equipped in that genre I borrrowed this set from a friend.  Remember Fairy Nice?  She’s so cute!  I probably could have come up with something little girl-ish from my collection but the little girls these cards are for are only one and two years old.  Children that age love pictures of other little people so I’m hoping these will appeal.  Maybe they’ll at least appeal to the Moms.  I don’t think my son paid much attention to his birthday cards when he was that age.  He was more interested in the cake.

I colored two identical images simultaneously just to speed things along.  Let me say right off the bat that those unfortunate looking blobs around her are glitter.  You can see a little bit of the sparkle but glitter is simply not very photogenic.  It’s much prettier in real life.  I stamped the fairies in Timber Brown Stazon on Shimmery White and painted them with Twinkling H2O’s.  They’re sparkly, shimmery and shiny all over.  The pink card uses Loves Me paper and Pixie Pink with Gable Green.  The ribbon is from the Flirty collection with a little Offray satin floral on top.  The Gable Green is stamped with the retired Bitty Blossoms background in Craft White.

There’s not much difference between the two cards other than the colors.  The second card uses Amethyst paper from the Palette O’ Prints pad with Lovely Lilac for the card base.  I wheeled the Gable Green with Whimsey in Craft White.

So this is what I stamped today.  It’s nothing new and exciting but in real life if I’m going to make cards for practical use they can’t all be vintage florals and Priceless and Garden Whimsey.  Once in a while the old stuff has to come out.  I did have a little more fun with these than I did with the football cards in my last post.

I hope this finds you well and having a wonderful weekend!  If all goes well and the garden’s willing I’ll get to do a little more stamping tomorrow.  See you soon!

A friend requested birthday cards for each of her sons-in-law and she suggested football or deer hunting as their interests.  I’ve always meant to purchase Noble Deer but those guy stamps have a way of getting pushed to the bottom of the list.  So I borrowed Sporting Goods from a friend.  By the time I got around to making these cards I’d taken the plunge and purchased Noble Deer but I already had my mind made up to use Sporting Goods.  I’ve never made a sports-themed card before so there was a bit of the challenge element in it too, I guess.

As for the guys in question, one of them is a U of Oregon Ducks fan, the other favors the Beavers.  The Ducks are there on the left with Summer Sun and Garden green textured cardstock.  I stamped “relax” with the Headline Alpha in Close to Cocoa over a background wheeled with the Dry Brush wheel in a CTMH Vanilla ink.  “It’s your day” is from All Year Cheer I.  The words on the stamp are stacked one on top of the other but I used my Chocolate Chip marker and Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to line them up horizontally.  I don’t have any clever, sports-type greetings and couldn’t think of anything that didn’t sound corny or I would have computer generated one.  I could have Googled a greeting but I’ll admit I was in a hurry.  There’s been a lot going on lately.  I was thinking along the lines of the helmet in repose…set aside after the game…time to relax sort of thing.  I know, I was reaching.

I was thinking about doing both cards alike, but in different colors, and in retrospect I probably should have because I drew a blank when it came to the second design.  There’s Canvas stamped in Chocolate Chip on Pumpkin and the helmet is white embossed on black cardstock.  It took me forever to settle on this simple design but at least the colors are Beaver-ish.

So there you have it — my first ever sports-themed cards, such as they are.  I’m glad you could be here for this event!  I don’t imagine I’ll be doing this very often (I hope).  See you again soon!

Stamps:  Sporting Goods, Headline Alphabet, All Year Cheer I, Dry Brush Wheel, Canvas, It’s Your Birthday

Paper:  Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Summer Sun & Garden Green textured, Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White

Ink:  Close to Cocoa, Garden Green, Chocolate Chip classic & marker, Basic Black classic & marker, Versamark, CTMH Vanilla

Accessories:  Antique bronze brads, black whatchamacallit hardware thingy (on the tag - sorry!), fibers, Scotch brand mounting tape (dimensional)