Running With Scissors…

Today I’m sharing another one of those many baby cards I’ll be making.  This one is intended for a baby boy.  I borrowed this set from my friend, Nancy (thanks, Nancy!).  I should be able to get a couple more cards from this set without being too repetitious.

I found another piece in my scrap drawer that I was able to use.  Gee, this Cuttlebugged background is from Nancy, too.  I don’t have this folder but one day we exchanged a few backgrounds and this one sure came in handy today.  I rubbed my So Saffron pad over the cream colored cardstock and sponged the edges with Creamy Caramel.

The lion was masked so I could stamp the giraffe behind him.  The lion’s mane and head were stamped again separately and the head is popped up on dimensional tape.  I do like these colors for a baby boy card.  When I used Caramel and Saffron for the critters I decided to do the whole card in those colors with just a touch of blue.  I believe my next baby card will be specifically designed around some of my new papers.  After all, I made a special trip just to shop for them.

Thank you for stopping by!  Have a great day!

Stamps:  Wild About You, Hero Arts sentiment, Posh Impressions grass sprig

Paper:  Creamy Caramel, generic cream cardstock, Whisper White, Spring Showers designer paper (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Ink:  So Saffron, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Timber Brown Stazon (sentiment)

Accessories:  Ribbon, eyelets, slot punch, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

I probably didn’t need to mention that this isn’t a baby card.  I’ll bet you guessed that all on your own.  I wanted to use my new Montana Tree Bark Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms.  I’m particularly excited about several of CHF’s new Backgrounders because they were designed by our own Lisa Strahl (SCS user and Dirty Dozen Alumni, Mona Lisa).  I knew Lisa was a talented stamper but I had no idea she had things like this up her sleeve.  Nice work, Lisa!

I’m afraid by the time I’d finished my layout I’d covered up much of the background, but it still lends character that would be missing otherwise.  I’ll admit I was at a loss as to how to stamp this background, exactly.  My first inclination was to stamp it in a shade of brown.  Don’t we usually think of tree foliage as green and tree trunks as brown?  But when I looked out my window I saw that all the tree trunks were actually varying shades of gray, sprinkled with pale lichen and green moss.  Well, maybe I’ll go to more trouble next time but this time I just stamped it in Basic Gray on Sahara Sand.

Pretty much everything else on this card is a result of rummaging through my scraps.  The squirrels were already stamped and tucked away in my tablet of watercolor paper.  I just had to watercolor them, which I did with SU! classic inks.  The Mellow Moss Canvas was in my scrap drawer, already cut to size, as was the Rough Texture piece that borders the card fold.  It was wheeled in Mellow Moss on Sahara Sand — how convenient.  I not only lightened the load in my scrap drawer, but the scraps helped determine the layout, too.  I love that scrap drawer!  I found some other pieces in there I’d love to work with right away, but I’ve got more baby cards to do first.

This card will be set aside for an upcoming birthday.  I hope you enjoyed it a little bit even though it’s not girly.  I love outdoorsy-themed cards and it seems like most of my early stamp purchases were along these lines.  I had fun working with these images and colors for a change.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and I’ll see you again soon!

Stamps:  Forest Friends, Canvas, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel, That’s Nice, Lovely As A Tree (evergreen sprig & cone) — all Stampin’ Up and all retired except Canvas and Lovely As A Tree; Montana Tree Bark Backgrounder — Cornish Heritage Farms

Paper:  Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand, Mellow Moss, watercolor, Naturals Ivory

Ink:  Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Basic Brown, Basic Gray, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip

Accessories:  Linen thread, mat pack & piercer for thread holes, aged copper brads, distressing tool, Scotch brand dimensional mounting tape

Hello, again!  Yes, another baby card.  This one is pretty simple, though not as simple as I had originally planned.  I was just going to do the Cuttlebug embossing and tie the ribbon across.  I’ve seen lots of cards done that way and I absolutely love them.  Why, then, did mine not look right to me?  I’m definitely simple card challenged.

If I’m going to do as many different baby cards as I plan on I’ll need to stretch my resources a bit.  I thought I’d do a little stretching at the beginning rather than wait until I’d made umpteen baby cards and no longer felt the urge to stretch.  I don’t have a large collection of baby stamps, but every once in a while another one pops into my memory.  I may find I have more possibilities than I realize.  It’ll be interesting to see how this develops.

This rattle is from Stampin’ Up!’s Baby Rattle wheel, now retired.  I colored one rattle on the wheel with my Not Quite Navy marker, wheeled it, then cut it out, eliminating the bow.  It’s too bad it’s not apparent in the photo, but I coated the rattle with Glassy Glaze (ultra-thick embossing powder).  It’s very glossy in real life.  If you look closely you may see it’s hanging from a mini-diaper pin that’s attached to the ribbon.

The paper I Cuttlebugged is Wild Asparagus.  I’ve used parts of this sheet many times on various cards and I still have some left.  I’ve certainly learned not to hoard my DP.  However, if you looked in my paper cupboard you’d be skeptical about that statement.  I traced over the embossed words with my Apricot Appeal marker.  It came out darker than I expected but I’m okay with it.

Thanks for checking in with me today!  I hope you’re having a wonderful post-Christmas week!

Stamps:  Baby Rattle wheel (retired Stampin’ Up!)

Paper:  Soft Sky, Whisper White, Wild Asparagus designer paper

Ink:  Versamark for embossing rattle, markers in Not Quite Navy and Apricot Appeal

Accessories:  Ribbon, Cuttlebug Baby embossing folder, mini diaper pin

We have two expectant mothers in the lab where I work and many of my coworkers are asking for baby cards.  Since this activity is all contained within the same circle of friends all the cards will need to be different.  I love baby cards so I’m happy to oblige, but I’m thinking this will be quite a challenge.  Were I to accomodate everyone, I’d be looking at making 40 cards.  I’ll do the best I can without turning it into an ordeal.  At this point the challenge sounds like fun, but when the fun wears thin I’ll simply stop.  It’s first come, first served!

One mom to be knows she’s having a boy, the other has chosen to be surprised.  That eliminates pink from my color choices (boo hoo) but there are no holds barred when it comes to bulk and weight because all cards will be hand delivered (hooray!).  So, gee, why is this card so lightweight and non-bulky?  Well, it just felt like the right thing at the time.

There’s a baby shower in January for the mom who’s having a boy.  I’ve been wanting to stamp with my new Love Nest set from Flourishes and the more I thought about this image the more perfect it seemed.  After all, she hasn’t had the baby yet…she’s just waiting…interminably it seems to her, I’m sure.  I know in my final month I had nothing to do but wait.  The baby’s room was ready, my bag was packed, his first little outfit he’d wear home from the hospital tucked inside — so tiny, soft and sweet, a little sack gown I’d sewn myself.  I’d sit in his room and just look around, picturing him on his changing table or tucked into the cradle his dad made for him.  Oh, dear…I’m choking myself up.  My goodness, that baby was loved.  He still is.  It sure seems like yesterday.

My expectant bird mom is made up of four different images.  I stamped the bird first, then masked her (very easy because of the simple line drawing), and stamped the cage and nest (one stamp) in place.  The eggs were stamped next, no masking required.  The bow was stamped separately in Blue Bayou, cut out and glued on.  The coloring was done with a combination of markers, chalks and blender pen.  I love chalks best for a very soft, blended look.  The bird was done with Not Quite Navy, gray and black chalks.  Once I put my color in the general area I smoothed it out with a light touch of the blender pen.  I don’t always use a blender pen with chalks, but with such a small image its fine brush tip was helpful.  The sentiment I used is from Stampin’ Up!’s Love Matters (retired).  There are several great sentiments with the Love Nest set, including “We’re Expecting”, but for my purposes this one was ideal.  You can never have too many sentiments.

Just a note:  I started to stamp the eggs in Soft Sky and turn the bird into a Robin when I suddenly thought, “what would a Robin be doing in a birdcage?”.  I think this bird looks more finch-like but I was thinking “parakeet” so…I looked up a blue parakeet and its eggs on the internet and found that the eggs are a rather dull beige color.  Not much fun.  I stamped them in So Saffron.  I know it’s a little over the top to bother with all that realism but, hey, I’m on vacation.

I made a special trip to the scrapbook store for boy and gender neutral baby papers.  I needed them like a hole in the head, I’m sure, but, gosh, it was fun.  Of course, you know I picked up a few other things while I was there, too.  Hmmmmm…where are those baby papers?  They certainly aren’t on this card.  You know how it is when you get a picture in your head…  When I decided upon this image I pictured it with a lot of white around it — white with maybe just a soft petite pattern.  Naturally, that led me directly to my retired Stampin’ Up! Petite Patterns.  I’ve always loved these delicate tiny leaves and they seemed perfect for what I had in mind.  I stamped them in one of the softest colors I know — River Rock.

Well, time to wrap up this long post.  I’m going to go read now.  I’m not sure what I’ll stamp next.  I know I need to do a lot more baby cards but I’ve got some other cards that need making, too.  We’ll see.  I enjoyed our visit today.  Gosh, I love being on vacation!  I could so get used to this!  See you soon!

Stamps:  Love Nest by Flourishes, Love Matters and Petite Patterns by Stampin’ Up! (both retired)

Paper:  Soft Sky, Whisper White

Ink:  Basic Black, River Rock, Blue Bayou, So Saffron, markers:  Creamy Caramel, Not Quite Navy

Accessories:  Soft chalks (Stampin’ Pastels by SU!), Fiskars scallop scissors, eyelets, ticket corner punch.  Notice there’s no ribbon?  Yikes!  Since I had a paper bow, I didn’t feel right about using cloth ribbon…just one of those little things…

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas!  Some of you are probably still celebrating the holidays with family and friends.  It’s wonderful to extend the season into the new year.  In fact, sometimes the quieter days following Christmas are the most enjoyable. It’s business as usual at my house now except for the fact that I’m having a little stay at home vacation.  I thought I’d celebrate with this Crafty Secrets Kitchen Classics set I’ve been passing over in lieu of Christmas preparations.

This card just felt good and it was a lot of fun to make.  Mmmmm, those cherries look so juicy and yummy!  They’re all coated with Crystal Effects for extra plumpness.  The cherry border stamp includes the scallop which I cut out and positioned over this ancient red gingham Frances Meyer paper.  There’s Black Diamond Stickles trimming the edges of both the cherry border and the punched scalloped circle.  The white dots on the scalloped circle were done with my Sakura opaque glaze pen so they’re dimensional, as well.

The ribbon was fun and it worked out just perfectly.  I slid my double rectangle punch all the way in at the peak of each scallop.  I did this before I trimmed the scallop or colored and glazed the cherries.

These are a couple of refrigerator magnets I made for a friend.  She loves these Campbell Soup kid sort of images.  The card and magnets aren’t meant to be a set.   They’re for two different friends and were a fun diversion between some of the other cards I’ll be working on in the next few days.

I adhered the paper to the sticky side of the magnet and mounted the colored and cut out images on dimensional tape.  There are a number of different images for the figure on the left to hold.  In this case I stamped the turkey first, masked it and then stamped the kid.  I sprayed the kids with mat sealer before mounting them.

I’m heading back to work in my stamp room now (oh, what a tough job)!  I’ve got lots I hope to accomplish in there this week now that Christmas has quieted down at my house.  See you again soon.  Enjoy the remainder of 2007!

Stamps:  Crafty Secrets Kitchen Classics, Stampin Up! Hugs & Wishes

Paper:  Basic Black, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White, Frances Meyer Gingham DP, SU! Spring Showers DP

Ink:  Basic Black, markers for coloring

Accessories:  SU! ribbon, double rectangle punch, scallop circle punch, 1 1/4″ circle punch, Black Diamond Stickles, Crystal Effects, Sakura opaque glaze pen–white, magnets

Enjoy this time with your family, however large or small and however many you have gathered ’round.  We’ll all be stamping and sharing again after Christmas.  If there’s one thing I know, it’s that the Christmas spirit seems prevalent all year among the friends I’ve made through stamping.  Have a wonderful day!  –  Leslie

Clip art copyright pcCrafter and can be found here.

The quote was found here.

This card is prettier in real life so I almost didn’t post it.  I wondered what would be the point of sharing it if it was so misrepresented.  I decided to go ahead with it, though, and just let you use your imagination.

This is my final Christmas card of the 2007 season.   The part that requires a vivid imagination is the texture and sparkle of the embossed main image.  I used Stardust embossing powder — very sparkly — and dotted the flower centers with Crystal Stickles.  For the ultimate glitter experience I sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds glitter onto the Stickles.  This stamp is from my Fancy Pants Blissful Season set, one of two cards I managed with this set before I put my Christmas stamps away.  I never did make it to all my new Christmas stamps — I just ran out of time.

The Christmas festivities are approaching full swing now and we’re all busy with the final preparations.  I’m sure I’ll be back with more stamping, though, because I plan to take full advantage of my time away from work.  I guess this little vacation is sort of my gift to myself, and a mighty precious one at that.  Take care and I’ll see you again soon!  Merry Christmas!

Stamps:  Blissful Season (Fancy Pants), All Year Cheer (Stampin’ Up)

Paper:  Pixie Pink, River Rock, Whisper White

Ink:  ColorBox Orchid pigment ink, River Rock

Accessories:  Stampendous Stardust EP, Crystal Stickles, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, eyelet, ribbon

I’m not quite sure who this Mr. Elegant might be, but let’s just pretend for a moment we’re talking about my husband.  Truthfully, in terms of character, he’s the classiest guy I know.  Come to think of it, he’s a pretty class act all the way around.  In fact, I think this might be his Valentine.

I used my new Lace Heart set from Flourishes for this card and treat bag combo.  This gorgeous flourished heart can be used a lot of different ways but I wanted the full Monty for my first card with this set.  For a fabulous idea as to how else this heart can be used, you really must see this card by Dee Jackson.  I’ll definitely be CASEing her clever thinking in the future.

I used a Basic Black 5 1/4″ card base, layered with a panel of silver brushed metallic cardstock and burgundy suede paper by Hot Off the Press (purchased at my local Joann’s).  I wish the photograph could have captured the lush texture of the burgundy suede but perhaps you can “feel” it a little bit.  The heart is black embossed on silver metallic, then cut out and mounted on dimensional tape over the burgundy velvet ribbon.  I saved the sentiment for the inside since my feelings are also expressed on the matching treat bag.

The treat bag cover encases a cello bag holding five silver-wrapped Hershey’s Kisses.  I punched holes all the way through the front and back cover, as well as the cello bag.  Eyelets were inserted separately in the front and back cover (four eyelets total) and the velvet ribbon was tied through all layers, holding the cello bag in place.  Once the ribbon is removed the cello bag comes free, allowing the cover to be reused if desired.  The front flap of the cover is bound with the suede paper — a 1″ piece folded in half lengthwise to encase the edge.  “Love” is black embossed and the little heart is colored with a burgundy fine-tipped Sharpie.

To make the treat bag cover:

1.  Cut cardstock 3 1/2″ x 11″.

2.  Score across at 3 1/2″, 4 1/2″ and 8 1/8″. 

3.  Decorate and fold into shape.  Punch and tie as described above.

This cover fits some little Wilson cello treat bags, measuring 3″ x 4″, which I purchased in the wedding decorations aisle at Wal-Mart.

A little tip about the punching:  I put the Kisses in the cello bag, then applied a strip of Scotch brand removable double stick tape to the back of the cello bag to hold it in place at the top fold of the cover before punching all layers at once with my Crop-A-Dile.  I then removed the cello bag, attached the eyelets, then realigned the bag with the holes before threading the ribbon.

One more day of work and I’m on vacation!  I’d be doing the happy dance but I’ve stayed up too late to finish this project and I’m beat.  Perhaps I’ll do the happy dance tomorrow night.  See you then! 

Today I made this little altered Altoid tin and notepad set using a retired Stampin’ Up! Simply Scrappin’ Kit and some K&Company self-adhesive dimensional flowers.  The tin is tightly packed with stamping type goodies but can be used later for paper clips or whatever anyone might keep near their telephone notepad.   I don’t know why it is that I love altered Altoid tins so much.  I have quite a stash of them in all colors…wouldn’t dream of throwing one away.  It must be the treasure chest appeal of them.  I feel the same way about pretty notebooks.  A person can only have so many of either so I guess I’ll just keep making them for anyone I haven’t given a set to yet.

I sized the notepad around a Meade 3×5 scratch pad.  You can buy them in multi-packs in different colors.  They have a cardboard back and I designed the cover with a band to hold the pad in place.  When the sheets are all used up you can slip another pad into the band and keep the cover until it’s all worn out or you’re tired of looking at it.

To make the cover:

1.  Cut cardstock 3 1/4″ x 10 3/4″.  Score across at 5 1/4″ and 5 1/2″.  I also cut an 1/8″ strip of cardstock to adhere between the folds for reinforcement and lined the inside back cover with contrasting cardstock.

2.  Cut the band 2″ x 7″.  Center and adhere the band on the back cover about 1/4″ down from the fold and wrap it around to the inside.  It’s important to use the cardboard back of the Meade pad as a spacer so the band won’t be too tight.  Simply open the pad and lay the back on the cover, then wrap the band around it.  Adhere with Sticky Strip or your favorite adhesive.

3.  Decorate the front as desired.

I hope I have time tomorrow night after work to make another project.  The evenings are so short and I’m making quite a mess around me with no time to clean it up.  You know how that goes!  As of Friday, the 21st, I’ll be on vacation until after the first of the year.  Can you imagine how much I’m looking forward to that?  At least I’ll have time to wrap the last of the presents, clean up the house and maybe do a little holiday baking.  I plan to spend plenty of quality time in my stamp room before I go back to work, too.  I can’t wait!  Take care until we meet again!

Well, time has gotten away from me (again) and I’m working on some last minute Christmas gifts.  Actually, they can hardly be called last minute because I’ve been planning on making them all along.  It’s just that I waited until darn near the last minute to get started on them.  Somehow I thought there were two weeks left till Christmas…  I’m thinking some of the gifts I have to mail will arrive after Christmas.  Please tell me I’m not the only one!

Pictured here is a set I made for our closest friends with whom we’ve been playing the occasional Saturday night card game for many years.

I’ve included a score pad, coaster box, four card deck boxes and two matching RSVP pens. 

Taylor VanBruggen’s tutorial for the coaster box can be found here on Splitcoaststampers.  I added the pen holder in the corner of it by forming a bottomless cardstock box that I adhered to the coaster box with Sticky Strip.  I folded a border of designer paper over the top edge of the pen holder before I scored and formed the box–just to firm up the top edge.

The game we play most frequently requires four decks of cards, thus four card boxes.  They fill up one side of the 4″ x 4″ coaster box nicely and the rest of the space is taken up with (what else?) chocolate.  The designer paper for this project is American Traditional Designs’ Guy’s Life and the cool card suit chipboard pieces in varying sizes are self-adhesive by Creative Imaginations–all purchased at my local scrapbook store.

I discarded many different ideas for the score pad before I settled on this design.  Most importantly it needed to be just the right size and refillable.  Imagine my delight when I was enjoying the many wonderful sights to see on Nancy Riley’s blog, ISTAMP, and I saw these adorable Christmas wish lists.  Nancy was inspired by Heather Nichols and has included a link to Heather’s original design, as well.  So much great stuff to see everywhere you go!  Isn’t all this sharing the most fun EVER?  Nancy has provided a tutorial with all kinds of measurements.  I used her basic idea but with a full junior legal pad so I just resized the design to fit.  Here’s the inside:

I like the way it opens flat for easy access.  I firmed up the spine with a strip of cardstock-covered lightweight cardboard.  The junior legal pad is adhered to the cover with several pieces of Scotch brand repositionable double stick tape.  It holds quite nicely.  If you turned it upside down and shook it it would come loose, I suppose, but our card games don’t get that rough and tumble.  I mean, we have a good time but we don’t get wild.  One legal pad will last many a card game but can be easily replaced when the time comes.

As for the card deck boxes, that was not too difficult using a standard-size pre-made box for a guide.  If, by any chance, you’d someday like to make one of these I’ve included a photo and brief instructions:

This is what it looks like after I cut and scored it.  I’ve turned the flaps every which way so you can better see where all the cuts are.

1.  Cut cardstock 5 3/4″ x 7″.

2.  Score across the 5 3/4″ width at 3/4″, 3 1/4″, 4″ and 6 1/2″.  Turn and score across the 7″ width at 3/4″, 4 1/4″ and 5″.

3.  Use the photo as a guide for where you trim and clip.  See those two little flaps at the top?  Notice that they’re cut away just a smidgen from the score lines.  This will allow the top box flap (lid) to slip closed more easily.

4.  Adhere designer paper to box panels.  Punch a half circle in the panel on the left end — this will be the front of the box.

5.  Fold into box shape and adhere closed with Sticky Strip or any strong adhesive.  Finish decorating box as desired.

That’s it for today’s project!  Due to the Christmas rush I’ve had to postpone Ruby Tuesday.  I hope I’ll have more projects posted before Christmas.  Boy, am I ever hurrying now!  Happy holidays!