Sunday, February 24, 2013

Love

The theme this week at Card a Day Blog is "Weddings".  Seems my whole life is wedding-themed these days...LOL!

I'm really digging the color palette for this card.  Soft blush pink for romance...black and white for a modern edge.  A little velvet, a hint of sparkle, but mostly clean and simple.

A Detail:
  • I stamped my central image on white cardstock using Jet Black StazOn.  I used a permanent ink so that I could add a touch of color to the heart with a Spun Sugar Distress Marker and water pen.  I also added a swipe of Spun Sugar Distress Stain along the distressed edges.  The little stamped square is mounted to the card with foam tape for dimension and I gave the heart a layer of Rock Candy Distress Stickles for that itty-bitty touch of sparkle that every wedding card should have.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink ‘Sweet Blush’; Stampin’ Up! ‘Confetti White’
Patterned Paper:  Fancy Pants ‘Love Story’ 6x6
Stamps: SU! ‘Say It Simply’
Inks: StazOn ‘Jet Black’; Distress Marker ‘Spun Sugar’; Distress Stain ‘Spun Sugar’
Embellishments: Making Memories trim ‘Animal Crackers’; Distress Stickles ‘Rock Candy’
Tools:  Tim Holtz paper distresser; water pen; 3M foam tape

Monday, February 18, 2013

CCC #10: Hoppy Easter

Wow, I can't believe we're on our tenth challenge already!  I also can't believe that Easter is sneaking up on us already...eesh!

Our two-week "Easter - Not a Card" theme at Creative Cutting Challenge will help ease you into starting those Easter projects.  Click here to check out the creative inspiration from our Design Team and join the challenge.  Even if you don't use SVG files yet, it's definitely worth the visit for some great ideas!

For my design team project, I created an egg-shaped welcome sign for my front door.  It measures 10-inches high and is 3-layers of recycled cereal boxes thick for sturdiness.

The Details:

  • The Easter egg was cut using The Creative Pointe's "Easter Egg Set" SVG file.  It was a cinch to scale my egg up to 10-inches tall.  Since I don't own a deep-cut Cricut blade, I maximized the pressure, increased the blade length, and set Sure-Cuts-A-Lot (SCAL) on 3x multi-cut to get through the cereal boxes.  I cut three cardboard bases and glued them together.
  • The next cut was a plaid patterned paper base.
  • The final egg cut was the outline portion from the floral patterned paper.  I wanted a three-color egg, so I used the center section as a pattern to hand cut the pink patterned paper.
  • Font "Minya Nouvelle" was used to cut the letters.
  • The adorable bunny silhouette is from The Creative Pointe's "Easter Bunny Set" SVG file.  I love how his little tail is a separate piece for dimension.  It would be cute to replace it with a little pom pom!
  • The bottom of my egg needed just a little something, so in keeping with the white silhouette theme, I punched out three flowers and added green pearl centers.
  • The last thing required was a way to hang it.  I punched a hole in the top and added a fluffy seam binding bow and hanging loop.
Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Confetti White’
Patterned Paper:  The Paper Studio, scraps
SVG:  The Creative Pointe ‘Easter Egg Set’, ‘Easter Bunny Set
Embellishments: Pearls; Hug Snug seam binding ‘Ivory’
Tools:  SCAL; Cricut Expression; SU! punch ‘Daisy’, eyelet setter; emery board; 3M spray adhesive; Xyron Create-a-Sticker
Misc: Cardboard (recycled cereal boxes)

Thursday, February 14, 2013

XOXO

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's my final Valentine card for this season.  This was one big experiment, but I think it turned out pretty cute...a love-themed patchwork.  


Some Details:
  • So far, so good, on keeping that resolution to use older stamps!  I stamped this sketchy heart directly onto the patterned paper, embossed it with Ranger's sticky embossing powder, and added red glitter.  I used the fine point end of my Distress Markers to add some pink to the heart.  I wish glitter photographed better.  It's so much prettier in person.
  • Next, I cut the "you are my favorite" square from one of the pages in Fancy Pants "Love Story" 6x6 paper pad and adhered it in the lower right corner.  It's accented with a large clear rhinestone heart.
  • The coral-pink donut chain adds to the patchwork feel.  I used my Distress Markers again to scribble in the centers.  That just wasn't enough, so I also added dots of Petal Pink Liquid Pearls.
  • Finally, a little more stamping adds the finishing touches.  My favorite is the XOXO in the lower left corner.  The touches of black really help keep the sweetness down.

Challenges:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Sahara Sand’, ‘Cameo Coral’
Patterned Paper:  Fancy Pants ‘Love Story’ 6x6
Stamps: SU! ‘Listen with the Heart’; Glitz Design ‘Vintage Blue’; Scrappy Cat ‘Super Star’
Inks: Top Boss embossing pad; Archival ‘Jet Black’; Distress Markers ‘Spun Sugar’, ‘Worn Lipstick’; ‘Barn Door’
Embellishments: Liquid Pearls ‘Petal Pink’; heart rhinestone; glitter
Tools:  Ranger sticky embossing powder; EK Success punch ‘Donut Chain’; heat tool

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Love Letters

How perfect is this patterned paper for this stamp?!  The two happened to meet on my craft table one afternoon and voila!...a match made in heaven and an easy-peasy valentine.

A Couple Details:
  • I wanted to make the stamped image look as close to the envelopes on the patterned paper as possible, so I stamped it with red ink on white cardstock.  I then pulled out another seldom-used tool languishing in the stash...the chalk pastels!  They worked perfectly to replicate the soft pink background and accent the hearts.
  • I cut the edges with postage stamp decorative scissors and layered it on red cardstock for some pop.
  • A little baker's twine and a "be mine" stamped in the lower corner and done!
Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Real Red’, ‘Confetti White’
Patterned Paper:  Fancy Pants ‘Love Story’ 6x6
Stamps: SU! ‘Have a Heart’, ‘Festive Four’
Inks: SU! classic ‘Real Red’, Stampin’ Pastels
Embellishments: Darice baker’s twine ‘Red / White’
Tools:  Decorative scissors; 3M foam tape

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Unforgettable

I'm still focused on using all those stamps I've collected over the years.  This one's a definite "oldie, but goodie"...Stampin' Up!'s "Have a Heart".

I'm really loving my Distress Markers.  I used them to color in our elephant and birdie friends.  These markers blend very well and I really like how spritzing your paper with water after coloring gives it a softly blended look.  I'm also finally learning to leave a little white space for highlight.

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Confetti White’
Patterned Paper:  Fancy Pants ‘Love Story’ 6x6
Stamps: SU! ‘Have a Heart’
Inks: Archival ‘Jet Black’; Distress Markers
Embellishments: Photo corners; ribbon; felt heart sticker
Tools:  Tim Holtz tiny attacher; mister

Monday, February 4, 2013

CCC #9: Love Abundantly

We always need birthday cards on hand, right?

Our two-week "Birthday Cards" theme at Creative Cutting Challenge will help motivate you to get re-stocked!  Click here to check out the creative inspiration from our Design Team and join the challenge.  Even if you don't use SVG files yet, it's definitely worth looking...these ladies always come up with some great ideas!

I love the look of rolled paper flowers, but the technique eluded me.  I tried it once, failed miserably, became frustrated, threw them away, and moved on.  (Yep, a full-on craftantrum!)  For this challenge, I gave them another shot.  And did some YouTube research first!  So now, I'm pretty embarrassed because these are seriously so EASY!  My problem (other than a short fuse)?  I started rolling from the wrong end!  Oh, and my craft tweezers were a huge help.  Geez.

Now that I've figured it out (eye-roll), I'm pretty sure I will be doing a lot of rolling, rolling, rolling...

A Couple Details:
  • I used The Creative Pointe's "Rolled Roses" SVG set for my flowers.  She has three great options in this set. I used the scalloped version and it makes the prettiest rose!  Using the SVG file was fast and allowed me to scale my two flowers at various sizes.
  • Would you ever guess that the scrap paper I used for the roses is a postage stamp collage patterned paper? It really rolled up lovely!
  • I didn't have grey ink (can you believe that?!), so I inked the frame in jet black Archival, stamped once on a scrap paper, then stamped again on my cardstock for a lovely shade of grey.

Challenges:

Supplies:
Cardstock: Stampin’ Up! ‘Sahara Sand’, ‘Confetti White’
Patterned Paper:  My Mind’s Eye Lost & Found Two ‘Blush’; scraps
SVG:  The Creative Pointe ‘Rolled Roses
Stamps: MME Lost & Found Madison Avenue ‘Pretty’; SU! ‘It’s Your Birthday’
Inks: Archival ‘Jet Black’; SU! classic ‘Rose Romance’
Embellishments: Papertrey Ink leaf ribbon; K&Co diecut ‘Spring Blossom Seed’; washi tape
Tools:  3M foam tape; Glossy Accents; tweezers; Stamp-a-ma-jig