Many years ago, my sister (-in-law), Judy, Retired2stamp, invited me to a Stampin' Up Party. I was drawn to the 6X6 recipe card swap our local group was doing and had wanted to scrapbook too. I wasn't really interested in card making because I had witnessed my brother (in-law) Ed fold up a handmade card and put it in his pocket. I almost fainted and I didn't even make the card. But after a few parties, I was hooked and now make more cards than I had ever thought I would. My most recent passions are ATCs, tags & altered art. As you look through my blog I hope you can see how I've grown in my crafting ability!

Monday, November 28, 2016

Eat More Cake!

My BFF Lisa & I are always looking for new things to try so when I found the faux crazed porcelain technique on Splitcoaststampers I decided to try it when I made her birthday card.  I thought it looked pretty neat but mine didn't turn out like theirs did & here's why...

The technique calls for Distress Picket Fence Crackle Paint over chipboard.  Well I love red & thought red showing through the picket fence crackle instead of natural chipboard would be so pretty. So I inked the chipboard with fired brick & painted over it with Picket Fence.  Well you can probably guess how the ink reacted when I put the Picket Fence paint over it.  Bingo!  The ink was reactivated so the Picket Fence paint was no longer white, it was, well pinkish!  I should have known better & left the chipboard natural.  I'm gonna give it another try because I think it's such a neat technique!!

What did go right...It was die cut with Spellbinders Labels 3 prior to painting.  I embossed it using UTEE then stamped the sentiment from Tim Holtz's Handwritten Sentiments Stamp Set with black archival ink then embossed it again using the UTEE.  The SU Red Riding Hood card front was embossed using We R Memory Keepers Quilted EF.

It's it wonderful when friends understand & still like your screw ups???  I love you Lisa!!


Sunday, November 27, 2016

Birthday Quilt

This birthday card was for one of the Giggler's, Renee'.  She loves to quilt & works in a quilt shop so how could I not make her a quilt card?

I started with a SU Very Vanilla mat embossed using We R Memory Keepers Quilted Embossing Folder then adhered it to the SU Marina Mist card base  The Papertrey Ink Quilters Sampler Stamp Set squares are individual stamps so I positioned them on my Misti so I could re-stamp if necessary.  They were inked with SU Marina Mist, Wild Wasabi & Regal Rose markers, lightly spritzed with water & stamped on watercolor paper.  Once the quilt squares were matted, I popped it up with thin dimensionals.  I used Impression Obsession Birthday Top Edgers Die for the sentiment...I love these cute dies (& they're perfect for the pop-up box cards)!  After matting the die cut, it was popped up with thin dimensionals too. 

I love doing quilt cards & hope you enjoyed my project!  TFL!


Forty!

My baby boy turned 40 a few days ago & believe it or not he was excited.  I saw this card by Fizzi-jayne makes on Pinterest & was inspired to make one for him.

I started by printing the sentiment from Word & cutting the CS to 5 X 3 3/4.  Each number was cut twice, offset, glued together, then popped up.  Once the sheet of Scrabble letters was printed, I roughly cut them out, glued them to chipboard then trimmed them off.  I also lightly sanded & inked the edges before adding them to the card front using thin dimensionals.

It was a fun little birthday card to make!  TFL!


Cardstock:  SU Basic Black, Pacific Point & Whisper White
Die:  Sweet 'n Sassy Numbers Die

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Grateful - Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2016 Technique Remix - November 2016

Last night my friends & I got together at The Craft Shack to do Tim's November tag.  I thought it was going to be a quick one but there were a lot of steps & we loved doing every one of them!! 

After reading over both techniques, I decided to start with Technique 2 - Dimensional Coloring which is from November 2015  I thought it would be easier to make the additions to the tag first so we'd know where to place the rubs.  The maple leaf is from Autumn Blueprints stamp set using distress markers (rusty hinge, wild honey, fired brick, candied apple & carved pumpkin).  I blended the colors a bit too much so you wouldn't think I use that many colors but I do love how it turned out! Because I have a wonderful life, I decided to use the word "grateful" die cut with Tim's 1" Alpha/Numeric die set (love all the letters this set has)!  I used a #10 manila tag & the word was a little wider than the tag but I think it adds some nice dimension.  It's held on the corrugated with the smaller hex fasteners. 

Technique #1 Remnant Rub Resist is from May 2013 & is something I'll definitely do on future projects.  I used botanical remnant rubs & peeled paint, dusty concord, victorian velvet, fossilized amber & carved pumpkin stains.

I tied a dark red jute from my stash onto a quote band & added it using my tiny attacher.  I used carved pumpkin, candied apple & peeled paint stains on the crinkle ribbon & I kinda of "muddied" it up but it does look like fall. 

Only one more tag left this year & I can't wait to see what Tim has in store for us!  TFL! 

Monday, November 7, 2016

Snowy Christmas

I wanted to keep my project for the Christmas Card Swap at our SCS event simple because I had to make 18 but in the end I couldn't do it.


I started by stamping the sentiment from Tim Holtz's Retro Christmas in VersaMark then heat embossed it using Ranger Gold EP.

The Memory Box Snowflake Ornament & Memory Box Frostyville Border were cut from shimmer paper that I had in my stash.  I did run the paper for the ornament through my Xyron machine before I die cut it.  The back of the ornament is cut from a Tim Holtz Gold Deco Sheet using a Memory Box Classic Ornament Die.  After putting the ornament together I ran my brayer over it to make sure it was adhered good.  Then I used a sliver of the deco sheet to "hang" it on the SU Night of Navy card base.

The Frostyville Border was added using a glue pen then trimmed off.  I used a few tiny snowflakes from the trimmings as accent pieces.

If I do say so myself, I think this is a very pretty card & has just enough sparkle for the holiday season.  TFL!

Christmas Card Candy

Another swap for our Jingle All The Way SCS Event, was Christmas Card Candy.  I'm fascinated with card candy & seem to collect them instead of using them...LOL!  Only 6 participated this year so it wasn't bad at all  For each one I made 6 pieces plus a topper.


This sentiment is from the SU Christmas Punch Set & stamped in VersaMark, heat embossed with Ranger Red Tinsel EP (it's really sparkles) then punched using the SU Extra Large Oval.  It was popped up on the Mossy Meadow mat which was punched using the SU Decorative Label.




I felt I needed to use at least one jingle bell which is from SU Jolly Bingo Bits set.  The stamp was colored with SU Cherry Cobble & Smoky Slate markers then embossed with WOW Embossing Powder.  Punched using SU 1" circle then popped up on a mat punched from SU Cherry Cobbler with a 1/4" scalloped circle.






This sentiment is from SU Tags Til Christmas & was stamped in Mossy Meadow then heat embossing with WOW Clear EP. Once trimmed it was matted on Mossy Meadow CS punched with SU 1" punch.  It was then popped up on a SU Cherry Cobbler mat which was punched using a SU 1 1/4" square scalloped oval.






This stamp is from SU Christmas Punch set, colored with SU Mossy Meadow & Cherry Cobbler markers.  Punched using SU Scalloped Oval.  The center of the poinsettia was colored using a Gelly Roll Gold Star Pen.  The Cherry Cobbler mat is punched from the SU Oval Punch.  The sentiment is popped up also.




This is my favorite!  The stamp is from SU Tags Til Christmas set & inked using SU Cherry Cobbler, Mossy Meadow & Soft Suede markers then embossed with WOW Clear EP.  It was cut out using SU Decorative Label Punch.  I used the same punch in Mossy Meadow which is cut in half & adhered to the back using white 3D foam squares.  I punched another white piece & placed in on the back to cover the gap of the cut piece.


This image is from the Tags Til Christmas set & stamped in Mossy Meadow then cut out by hand then then edges are sponged.  It's popped up on SU 7/8" oval punched Cherry Cobbler.  The red berries are colored using a Gelly Roll Red Star pen.







Once complete I cut a piece of acetate 4X6 & adhered the pieces using mini glue dots then placed them into a cello bag.  The topper was printed from Word on white CS, matted in Cherry Cobbler which is 4 X 6 & scored at 2" scored so it folds over the back.  Using glue dots, I added Candi Dots from Craftworkscard in each corner.  It's attached to the cello bag using the sticky envelope flap & sticky strip  so you can access the card candy without taking the topper off.

Really had a lot of fun making these!!  TFL!

Jingle All The Way

The theme of our 2nd SCS Event is "Jingle All The Way" so I decided to use it in my ATC. There are 10 people in the swap so it wasn't too bad making them.


The cardstock is SU Cherry Cobbler cut 3 1/2 X 2 1/2, Night of Navy & Basic Black cut 3 3/8 X 2 3/8.  The free printable Jingle Bell music was resized to 3 1/2 X 2 1/2, printed on SU Whisper White CS & trimmed to fit the black.

The sentiment from SU's Jingle All the Way set was done in 2 steps using my mini misti because it is one stamp & I could bear cutting it in half.  I inked "jingle" with a Versamark pen, embossed it in WOW White EP then moved the stamp & repeated the step with "all the way".  Even though I did "jingle" for all 10 then moved onto "all the way", it was still a little time consuming but I like the look plus then the stamp fit portrait style.

I placed the sheet music over the black CS leaving enough room for the sleigh & horse from SU's Sleigh Ride Edgelit at the top.  After die cutting, I used the impression left by the die on the sheet music as a guide to hand trim it to match the curve of the cut.  I distressed around the edges of the music with frayed burlap ink.

I sprayed the Night of Navy & Basic Black layers with Ttsukineko Shimmer Frost & Sparkle Spritz for a snowy effect.  After adhering the music to the black, I trimmed off the bottom after the 3rd line of the sheet music. After that layer was adhered to the navy, I wound natural twine thread around it & tied on a rusty bell before adhering it to the base.

Hope you enjoyed my ATC swap project!  TFL!

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Noel Wall Hanging

This is a wall hanging I made for a gift swap I was in yesterday at our SCS Event.  The gift was to be something related to stamping & of course handmade is always the best.  We had so many great gifts & played a cute Christmas left/right game for the swap.

I started with 4X4 pieces of 4 different patterns from Tim Holtz Idea-olgy Yuletide 8x8-paper pack & adhered them to a 4X4 coaster using Tombow Liquid Glue.  Once dry, I rounded the corners of the paper then distressed the edges with frayed burlap ink.

To make the holes, I measured using Tim Holtz ruler (the best thing since sliced bread) & punched with the bigger side on my crop-a-dile.

The capital letters are cut in SU Cherry Cobbler & Forrest Moss using the Cricut Winter Woodlands Cartridge & popped up with 3d foam squares.

I used items from Tim Holtz's idea-ology to embellish - a lot of pieces from a pack of festive ephemera, a typed Christmas token with a hex fastener, a sticker from occasions small talk, a jingle brad, mirrored stars, frozen snowflakes & snowflakes from gilded holidays remnant rubs.

It's finished with olive green ribbon with a bow tied at the top.

This was a fun easy project & I know I'll be making more of them.



















Saturday, November 5, 2016

Breakfast Strata Recipe Card

I love doing recipe cards so of course I participated in the swap for our Jingle All The Way SCS Event!  I usually make this recipe for breakfast on Christmas morning so it was perfect!
The Judith & Heather images are stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink then colored with Copic markers.  One little trick Judith does is outlining everything with a light gray & I think the shadowing makes the images pop. They were then cut using MFT Oval Wonky Stitched Dies.  After I printed the recipe I die cut it with a MFT Square Wonky Stitched Die.  I wrapped a piece of SU ribbon around the top of the DSP, added a bow then adhered it to the SU Baja Breeze CS.  The panels on the right were adhered down & the oval on the left is popped up using white 3d foam squares.

TFL!!

Christmas Gift Card Holder

Another swap for our Jingle All The Way SCS Event is a Christmas Gift Card Holder.  I found several designs on Pinterest but decided to do one I saw by Tara Bazata using an envelope.  I did make a couple of changes but the basics are the same.


I started with a SU Crumb Cake Envelope, folded it in half & used a bone folder to make a crisp crease. Using a trimmer, I cut half the flap off then adhered the other side down.
I made three panels using SU Mossy Meadow CS cut 2 11/16 X 4 1/4 for the base; two with DSP from SU Home for Christmas & one in SU Crumb Cake cut 2 1/2 X 4.
To add the Real Red Holly Berry Bouquet Button, I measured up 3/4 from the bottom in the middle using my Tim Holtz ruler then punched a small hole.
I cut 11" of jute thread & put it through the button & tied it at the back.  The thread was pulled through the hole in the panel & scotch tape to holds it in place.  I placed 1/2" Scor-tape on the back of the panel.
The front panel has "To" & "From" from SU Old Fashioned Christmas set & a pine bough from SU Christmas Punch set stamped in SU Mossy Meadow on the SU Crumb Cake.  The jute thread was taped down & this panel was adhered over top of the jute using Scor-tape.



The last panel was adhered on the inside over the envelope flap that was adhered down. I make one mistake on the next part. I had stamped the sentiment on the envelope but I didn't like the direction so I cut another panel of Mossy Meadow 2 11/16 X 3 1/2 then added a piece of Crumb Cake cut 2 1/2 X 3 1/4. I then stamped the sentiment from SU Wishing You Cherry in Real Red Ink. This boo boo made the card a little thicker than I wanted it to be but oh well. As you can see the gift card slips into the envelope!

I made a small tag using a stamp from SU Christmas Punch set. It was inked with Mossy Meadow then I wiped the poinsettia leaves off & inked them with a Real Red marker. Once dry, I used a Gold Star Gelly Roll pen on the center & Clear Wink of Stella on the leaves. It was punched out using a SU Medium Scallop Punch. & adhered with mono adhesive. The thread is long enough to wrap around the button to keep it closed.

Maybe it's a little elaborate for a gift card but it sure is pretty!! TFL!





 


Winter Cottage

My friends & I hosted our 2nd SCS event today.  This is my shoebox project which needed to take 5 - 10 minutes to complete.  I made 2 completed cards then 16 kits so each person completed my card during the event.
The cardstock used was SU Crumb Cake, Cherry Cobbler & 2 layers of Whisper White.  I used a very pretty stamp by Altenew called Winter Cottage with my Mini Misti so there would be no guessing where to stamp the image.  For a reference point, I lightly stamped the image on the 1st piece of white CS before die cutting with the next to largest snowflake die from SU's Festive Flurry Thinlit Set.  Once it was cut, I used the Sizzix Snowflake EF to embossed the snowflakes.  To stamp the 2nd piece of CS, I inked the entire image with a SU Crumb Cake ink pad.  Since the image is small I didn't try to wipe off the trees before inking them with the SU Mossy Meadow marker.  Once the image was stamped, I re-inked the stamp with markers to touch up the image where it didn't stamp well.  To pop up the snowflake layer, I used a lot of white 3d foam squares around the outside edges & cut edge of the snowflake.  "Joy" from SU's Wonderful Wreath Thinlit set was added using a glue pen.  I brushed Clear Wink of Stella over the snowy roof & ground for a little sparkle.   Really a pretty easy card with a classic look!  TFL!!