Cardabilities Sketch #52

Happy Saturday Everyone!

I'm up early so I could help The King of Smoke get his giant smoker out of the garage and going, so I thought I would share my latest challenge card with you!

It's amazing how many awesome card challenge sites there are out there.  I stumbled across yet another one recently.  This is my first time entering on the Cardabilities site.  They have a great sketch to follow along with this week.  And as graduation season will be upon us soon, I decided to dust off an old stamp and create a graduation card.  Although I used different shapes, hopefully you can see the outline of their sketch in my card.

I did my "snow globe" technique on the focal image.  (See here the card that started this technique and why I call it that.)

A little "star stuck" love for the inside also!

Be sure to head over to Cardabilities to see the sketch and the other great cards.  If you've never done a card challenge, I highly recommend it.  It's a great way to stretch yourself in your card making.  See my list of some great challenge sites in the upper left margin of my blog.

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Business Card Holder/Box Tutorial

Happy Friday Everyone!

I'm dipping my toes into uncharted territory today -- that of providing a tutorial for a project I designed!

I've been looking for a little DIY box for business cards.  My local Avon store lets me have my business cards at their check out counter, and currently they are just laying on the counter.  Well, no more!  Now they're going to be housed in a cute little display box!

I first saw this idea on Linda Kaiser's blog, The Paper Boutique.  Hers was made with her Silhouette machine.  Well, I am not in the world of electronic cutters, so I decided to figure out how to make one "from scratch" myself!  Here is what I came up with:

Nothin' fancy, but it's cute and gets the job done!

Here is the cutting/scoring diagram:

Hopefully when you click on the image and blow it up, you can see the dimensions.  If not, email me and I'll be glad to send it to you.

• Start with a piece of card stock 5.75" X 4.75".  
• Score 1" from each edge of the long side.  
• Score the short side at 2.5" from the left and 1" from the right.  
• Where the score lines intersect, add 1/4" score in the 1" margin.  These will be the flaps you apply adhesive to for assembling the box.  
• The shaded blue areas are what you will cut away.  
• DSP layers:  Front is 3 5/8" X 7/8".  Inside/Back is 3 5/8" X 2 3/8".  (I actually used a DCWV printed cardstock - The French Country Stack -  which gave the box a bit more strength.)

Here are some photos that may help:

On the next one I make, I think I will angle cut the joining 1/4" flaps, especially on the edge the joins to the front of the holder.  That should alleviate any excess that might show when assembled.

I hope this made sense.  If not, please feel free to email me.  I'll be glad to answer any questions and email the template to you if needed!  

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I have a fun little upcycling or recycling (not sure what is the politically correct term) item for you.  And I used a ton of retired stuff on it.

Yep, you guessed it.  It's an old powdered drink container (probably off-brand, knowing me).  I've been hanging on to these, having seen a lot of cute ideas on the internet for using them.  The first I spotted was from Kerry's Paper Crafts.  She makes such adorable stuff, and I would love to have the success at craft shows that she does!  (craft show envy rears its ugly head -- yikes)  I used some old card stock and DSP (Blue Bayou and Soft Sky) that I think were maybe "In Colors" ages ago.  The stamp set I used is an old Sale-A-Bration set called "Oh, So Lovely."  Some quick water coloring of the image, a punch and a die cut, and poof!  She's done!  There are Dazzling Details in the yellow center of the larger flower, but it didn't show up in the picture.  I also used a retired Baja Breeze ribbon that matched beautifully.  Love it when that happens!

I will mention that I had also saved a bunch of drink containers that are the square-ish type that Wal Mart was using recently.  Turns out they aren't really square and kind of flared out towards the top, making them a true pain in the patootie to try and wrap.  They are now in my recycle bin!!!  Too bad I only had a few truly round and/or oval ones.


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

The Friday Mashup #51 and Hand Stamped Sentiments #111

Happy Thursday Everyone!

I have had a wonderful day crafting away, and as a result, I have a second post for you today.

This cute little Easter card is in response to two challenges.  First, The Friday Mashup, where the challenge was to create a quilted card along with using something forgotten in your stash.  And secondly, Hand Stamped Sentiments' current challenge is an Easter project.

The quilted part of my card is a result of watching Dawn Olchefske's video of her herringbone technique.  What an awesome way to use up scraps!!  I took it a step further and ran my piece through the Square Lattice embossing folder, and then cut with the Top Note die.

I have several "forgotten" elements to this card.  The MOST forgotten element is a really O.L.D. corner punch!  Yikes - I have no idea how ancient that thing is!  I also used a retired image from a set called "Just For Fun" (an old Sale-A-Bration set).  And I also forgot I had some white baker's twine I hadn't used yet!

Be sure to pop over to both challenge sites and check out all of the awesome entries.  You'll be inspired!

(WOO HOO!  I just realized this is my 100th post!  Movin' up in the blogosphere!)


Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Easy Events + Scrap Stash = A Fun Set of Cards!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!   Warning -- this post contains a lot of pictures!!  :)

I really enjoy some of the "all occasion" stamp sets that Stampin' Up! has come out with over the years.  In fact, I still have (and use regularly) Nice & Easy Notes, Sweet & Simple Salutations and Fun & Fast Notes.  The current member of this family, Easy Events, is a great line-art set.

As with many stamp sets, I find myself using only one or two from the set.  So I challenged myself to make a complete set of cards, using each of the stamps, with the goal in mind to try and use only scraps of things I had already been using in my stash.  With the exception of cutting a few new card bases, I stuck to my guns and used only bits and pieces of things already cut.  As I'm sure many of you can relate, it's tough to use up all of that pretty paper and card stock when you're a paper hoarder!  And yet, that's why we bought it!  To use it!

I tried to appeal to all levels of stampers with this set of cards.  I kept the stamping simple (black Staz On on Whisper White card stock).  I attempted to not go overboard with techniques and accessories, hoping to also appeal to beginning stampers or those that haven't purchased a lot of additional goodies yet.  So here we go:

Simple water coloring with ink pads and blender pens.  Just a few pearls to add that special something!

I added Dazzling Details to the frosting and the edge of the cupcake stand.

Quick Tip:  Ever wonder how to keep your ribbon from sliding around on a panel like shown above?  Add a bit of Dotto adhesive to the center back of the ribbon before attaching both ends.  Works like a charm!

I tried to include cards that would appeal to men and boys as well, as I have a tendency to make "girlie girl" cards!

Sometimes all you need is a little bit of pearls or rhinestones to jazz up a simple card!

A bit of Dazzling Details to make the water sparkle!

Hmm... It looks like the grass beneath my tree needs mowing!!

I hope you enjoyed my tour through Easy Events.  It's always good to have a set like this in your collection so you can be prepared for many card-giving occasions.

(This post was created as a submission for the design team open-call at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  Be sure to hop over there and look at the other lovely submissions.  Thank you for the opportunity to "try out" for your awesome team.  I invite you to browse my blog and look at my other creations.)

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Hand Stamped Sentiments #110 and The Paper Players #88

Happy Monday Everyone!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

Today I'm sharing with you a pretty spring Easter card.  For this project, I've used the sketch at The Paper Players and the weekly challenge at Hand Stamped Sentiments, which is for a watercolor project.  Lucky for me, that happens to be one of my favorite techniques!  I've used an image that I colored one day recently while waiting for my car to be serviced.  Not fun being stuck there, but at least I used my time constructively!!

I used my markers and blender pens to color these.  Since I was "working remotely" I colored with the markers onto one of my acrylic blocks and picked up the color from there.  That's a handy tip when you're working somewhere else, as taking your markers with you takes up less space than a bunch of ink pads.

I just love this pink and green color combination.  It seems so fresh and clean, and definitely says "SPRING" to me!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

Throwback Thursday

Happy Thursday Everyone!

Today I'm sharing a "new" project (for me) with a retired stamp.  This was my first  attempt at making a "box in a bag."  I followed the instruction I found on The Little Blue Room after google searching images of these little baskets, and there are many, many other tutorials out there.

I thought this would make a cute little Easter basket, and it seems surprisingly sturdy.  The image I used is from last year's SU Sale-A-Bration set "Punch Bunch."  I think this is the only image I've used from this set, but I sure use it a lot!



Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

WOYWW 146 and Friday Mashup #50

Happy Wednesday Everyone!  It was nice to not wake up to severe storms and power outages this morning!

It's Wednesday, and that means it's time for our globe-trotting peek at creative desks courtesy of Julia at Stamping Ground.  My room looks a bit better than last week's pre-craft-booth-set up frenzy!  (Check out a few posts back for pictures of my display after we set it up this weekend.)

This picture of my desk shows the work in progress for this week's challenge at The Friday Mash Up.  They are celebrating challenge #50 with some great blog candy, a versatile sketch mashed up with the Faux Mother-of-Pearl technique.  I had never heard of this technique, and didn't have the proper supplies for it either.  The instructions I followed called for using shimmer paint.  Instead, I took my vanilla smooch spritz and "spritzed" a puddle on a small piece of acetate and sponged from there with plastic wrap onto a piece of glossy card stock.  After it dried, I stamped images over it with black Staz On and then sponged color over the images prior to punching them out.  I'm not sure if this is how it's supposed to look, but the result I got kind of reminded me of batik or even tie-dye to some degree.  See what you think:

Oh my, love that glare off the glossy cardstock!!  I'm not entirely happy with this card.  Not sure why, but something about it just doesn't sit right with me.  Oh well, I guess for an experiment with a new technique, it's ok.

Be sure to pop over to The Friday Mash Up to see the other great cards, and head over to Julia's to see what my crafty counterparts are up to!

Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!

A La Card Monkey #100 Celebration

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

It's a rainy and stormy morning here in the Houston area, but I have a super bright card to share with you!

A La Card Monkey is celebrating their 100th challenge with a great sketch and some awesome blog candy.

I really like the sketch, and I was inspired by the bright colors in the photo of the blog candy.  Here's my card:

I stamped the flowers with Versa Mark and embossed with iridescent ice before punching out.  I thought a riot of bright, sparkly flowers would certainly go with the "celebration" theme!  I had to dig in my retired stash to find an appropriate sentiment, but finally did in the "All Year Cheer II" set from days gone by.  I guess this could be a Throwback Thursday card because of that!  I don't normally work in colors this bright, but I have to say, I really like it!!

Congratulations to A La Card Monkey on your 100th weekly challenge.  I hope everyone heads over there to take a look at the other awesome cards.



Thanks for looking at my blog. I appreciate all the wonderful comments everyone leaves. Happy Stamping!