Remake Your Shirts!

Okay, so this isn't related to papercrafting. It is related to creativity!

Learn how to remake an old T-shirt into this lovely, chic top here!

Perpetual Card Calendar Class Project

Every year some of us enter names on our calendars for the new year to remind us of cards that we need to send. But, with a perpetual calendar we don't have to do that. You just flip to the next month, the next, and the next. No filling up the calendar ever again. So I thought it would be fun to create one for a class. We just had that class last night.

It turned out to be a pretty good class and we had fun working together. I did. however, forget to bring some small thing or another to bring for the class, even forgetting to put it on my list of things to bring. But it all worked out in the end (I think). An interesting thing happened during class. At the beginning of the class the task was to sand the edges of the Core'dinations cards. It was silent, well let's say there was no talking, as the class concentrated on sanding the edges of the 12 Core'dinations paper. If you weren't looking it sounded like a couple of people busily sanding walls in preparation to paint.Any way here is the calendar.


This first image is a photo taken before I changed the date sheet from this to the computer generated version in the next photo.

I used the following Cricut cartridges in the making -

          - Designer Calendar - the names of the months, shamrocks, and watermelon
          - Home Decor for August's swirl
          - Plantin Schoolbook for the apple
          - Storybook for the Poppies
          - Walk In My Garden for the layered vellum daisy

On the Cuttlebug I used Cuttlebug die for the butterfly, the hearts and the Christmas wreath. For the monogram tag Spellbinders scalloped circle and regular circle die were used.

If you want to make and design your own perpetual calendar I'd love to hear about it and even see a picture of it if you'd like to share.

Caardvarks Celebrating Core'dinations Monochromatic Challenge

What a way to celebrate the multiple capabilities of Core'dinations paper! I could not resist Caardvarks latest monochromatic challenge. Monochromatic schemes are a good way to stretch the creative and imaginative skills, plus they are beautiful.


As I was going through the Core'dinations that I have left, the color choice came down to the lilacs/purples and the turquoises. Since I have recently been preparing for a class using purples, I wanted a change of color and went with the turquoise. Turquoise is a bright and cheerful color It makes think of the tropical waters and ocean breezes which brings a happy, calm feeling.

What kind of a card to make though? I found the perfect sentiment in PTI's Signature Greetings - "Hope Your Day Is FABULOUS". So here is the card -

There is no pink on the card. What you see is the reflection from the pink matt. I have to get a white setting to take photos with.

I used a Cuttlebug folder, for which I could not find the name for, to emboss the darker turquoise paper and sanded it to expose the nearly white color beneath, placing the tiniest pale green pearls in the centers of the flowers. When looking at the card it looks like I sewed or stitch on the turquoise paper layers. Nope...I paper pierced, about 1/8" from the edge of the paper, all the way around. I then used a white gel pen to connect the holes or dots if you will, making it look like it was sewn on. I used Spellbinders Labels One and Pendants Lattice. After embossing them, I again took a sanding block and sanded the raised embossed surface exposing the light paper beneath.

I tried to get a good close up of the details with out much success. This is the best one of the bunch and it isn't nearly as close as I would like it to be. **Just click on the pic to zoom in.



The many layers of the card is created by using dimensional tape ( or you can use pop dots). The pearls were fun to place on. My only wish is that had a slightly narrower ribbon. I had the choice this one or one of nearly the same color in 1/4" wide. I ended up choosing this wider one even though it may too wide, but it would look better than the narrow ribbon. Unfortunately this wide ribbon covers up a lot of the beautiful sanded embossed surface and the tiny little pearls. But overall, the card is beautiful, don't you think?

By the way, for any of you out there that read our blog entries, we were talking about how much we wish you would leave comments on our postings. You can say negative things/constructive criticism, we don't mind, because if you have suggestions on how we can improve our designs and such, we welcome it. Plus, it lets us know that you are viewing our postings. So don't be shy, it only takes a minute. Thanks to all our viewers and followers.

Brother & Sister Moments Growing Up

For a little while now, whenever I had a moment to work on the many boxes of photos I have, I have been using many of them as a single picture on a single page. While discussing this with my 32 year old daughter, we decided that I could make a double page layout using many of them, giving them this title.Aren't we smart? lol. There will more than likely be more created using this title. Might have to make an entire scrapbook dedicated to this theme since with five children there where many such moments. Well here it is.
Dana, was a little disappointed that there was only one photo that included her. I told here that there would be more of these pages to come, and that there would be more of her.

I liked the idea of using circles/rings because it made me think of lightness and happiness which I associate with family, good times, and bubbles. When my children were young, like all children, they loved to go outside and blow bubbles.

Here are close ups of the two pages.


TOOLS:
Cricut - Base Camp font & Wild Card font, and forgot which cartridge i used for the circle rings - will add when I look into it.
Spellbinders circles for smaller and more circle ring sizes.

Mercy Challege (MTSC69) - Mothers Day Cards

In preparing for my "Mother Dear" cardmaking class coming up this Thursday, I had some scraps left over, and thought that I could still create some cards from them. They are good Mother's Day colors after all. I realized that the deadline for Mercy's sketch was near and frantically tried to meet it and so here are three versions of the same sketch using the same papers.



My favorite one is the upper right one. The one on the left is identical except that I used a bow rather than the flower cut out.


For all three cards the strip behind the oval is raised using dimensional tape; then the oval is again raised even more with dimensional tape. These two cards, above, I created after the next one included, and after making the initial one, I decided to use PTI's Mother clear stamps instead using Tsukineko Memento Sweet Plum ink going over it with the lilac Spica pen to give it sparkle (which you can't see in these photos- oh well...). The patterned paper is BoBunny Jazmyne and Jazmyne Mist, which has sparkle on it as well. The cardstock is one of the olive green by Bazzill.
This is the first one that I made.
The scrap paper pieces allowed for the purple to be more dominant in this one. I like all the layers on this card as I hope you can see with the following close up.
I thoroughly enjoyed working with this MTSC 69 sketch. Thank you for the challenge! I'm making some more for friends wanting to purchase some cards.

Tools & Supplies

Paper: Bassill cardstock - medium olive green color, BoBunny - BoBunny Jazmyne and Jazmyne Mist
Ink: Tsukineko Memento Sweet Plum, and Tsulineko Versa Magic Spanish Olive
Pen: at you Spica - Lilac
Spellbinders: Petite Ovals small and large

Happy Birthday

This card is for my stepmom (Wendy, if you're reading this, sorry for ruining the element of surprise!). It was supposed to be her Mother's Day card, but I accidentally made it her bday one instead... Whatever.

The tag is from Spellbinders Fancy Tags, the butterfly from Spellbinders Butterflies 2. The stenciling and sentiment are done with VersaMagic Eggplant Dewdrop. The ribbon is Papertrey's Silk ribbon. The sentiment is from Gina K Designs Inside and Out set (which I got for free!). I also used a birthday sentiment from this set on the interior of the card (not pictured).

Happy Mother's Day

Whew, after this project, I definitely have some pearls of wisdom to share in regards to using Glimmer Mist!

First, use painter's tape to hold your card to your workspace AND also rolled up under each of the corners inside the card to keep the portion you're working on from curling up with the moisture! Second, Glimmer Mist will stain your clothes (not firsthand knowledge) and fingers (definitely firsthand knowledge!) so be prepared!

I used the colors and inks below for this project:

I stamped a sentiment from Mother onto vellum using Memento Dandelion, only to discover that light colors don't work well for that purpose on vellum! Duh! So I restamped it in Pearlescent Purple, which was more visible but, unfortunately, crooked and not well lined up with the previous ink. Oh well. The strips of glitter were done with 1/8" ScorTape and my mother's Cool Highlight Glitter Ritz. I DO NOT like working with Glitter Ritz (I've tried a few times now)...

Anyway, card turned out alright regardless of my amateur methods.

Color Cue {3} and Kazan's Sketch 50 Challenges

This posting is an entry for two different challenges. You know the saying- "two birds with one stone".


Color Cue {3}                        2S4Y - Kazan's Sketch 50

Both of these challenges caught my eye. I love the colour combination which struck me as not only unique, but cheerful. The sketch I found to be more unique than some of the others I've seen and I wanted to participate.

I made this card for my eldest daughter as she will be returning to work in a week after her one year of maternity leave for their third child. While she was on leave functions and job descriptions were changed. It will all be new to her, so I want to wish her the best of luck on her return.

Paper used: sei -Claire (the patterned paper), PTI - Summer Sunrise, Melon Berry, and the blue/grey from Cor'dinations.
Spellbinders: Labels-large
Stamp: PTI - 'Wishing You' clear stamps set

I had a lot of fun making this card. Love the challenges.

Embellishment Magazine Challenge


As it happens my youngest daughter loves this color scheme, and she is turning 22 in July. So, of course, I could not pass up this opportunity to make a birthday card for her and submit it for the Embellishment Magazine Color Challenge. 

I used PTI paper, except for the Kraft paper-Martha Stewart corner punch-PTI Pure Poppy ink-Brilliance Graphite Black ink and heat embossed with Stamp Stuff clear embossing powder-Flourishes Poppy Patch clear stamps- Hero Arts Birthday Sayings clear stamps.

I cut out the poppies and attached them to the card using different thicknesses of dimensional tape to pop up the poppies at different heights, and the last one I applied on top of the polk-a-dot ribbon. The 'have a fabulous birthday' I took and gently curved it on the clear stamp block to come up from the bow knot and button to curve around the poppies. The last thing I did was to place a red pearl in each punched corner and a tiny red pearl on the dot of the "I" in birthday.'

I think my daughter will be thrilled with this card. I've never considered using kraft paper with white, red, and black before. Thank you for stretching my imagination!

Thinking of You

Wishing You Well

April Visiting Teaching

This is not the greatest photo, but it was a bit of a challenge to take a photo to display all the keys and tags.


The message for this month is about the keys to seeking and receiving personal revelation. I used Cricut's Sentimentals cartridge to cut out the keys, and Spellbinders Fancy Tags. Each key is labled with the catagories in the lesson- Faith, Prayer, Inspiration, and Temple. The back of the key has a short quote from the message, and the tags attached to the keys have another quote or scripture. The keys are on a key ring with ribbons and matching colours of embroidery floss tied to the ring.

Happy Birthday -CPS Challenge 162

I'm participating in another challenge, and in creating this card, I decided to create the last card for my other twin sister's birthday in June. (I posted the other card previously).


CPS Challenge 162                                                

I started with a white 5 1/2" square and pastel pink and green cardstock with a light pink, green, and white patterned paper. All the paper edges are ink distressed and Spellbinders Labels Two, and Pendants Lattice were used. Using the Pendants Lattice die, I traced the center outline and cut it out with scissors after stamping and heat embossing the sentiment. 
The rectangles are adhered together then attached to the card using 3-D tape and pearls placed in each corner. The green Labels Two is alson attached with 3-D tape, as is the pink Pendant Lattice, and the "Happy Birthday" sentiment.

This is the first time that I tried to tie ribbon through the bottons' holes. It was a little bit of a challenge, But I love the effect. The pale green ribbon on the light pink buttons make me think of little rosebuds.

For those of you out there participating in this challenge as well, I hope that you have as much fun as I did in the creating process.

Brother-in-Law: Happy Birthday

I've been using my Men of Life stamp set to no end lately (the "in-law" is from Women of Life)! It's not that masculine cards are "difficult," it's that they're not as fun as creating a card with flowers and glitter! I enjoy the simplicity of masculine cards, however. No point in putting a ton of effort into something they won't fully appreciate! ;)

The tag is from Spellbinders Tags Five. The stenciling was done with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint distress ink and the edges touched up with TH Black Soot. The sentiment was stamped in Memento Tuxedo Black Dewdrop. The brads add to shipping weight but the little "screws" are always impossible to resist for a masculine card!

Father-in-Law: Happy Father's Day

This really just started out with the two scraps on the front... I liked the color combo. The kraft cardstock was a scrap as well and I didn't like it with the other scraps until I created a second mat out of Dark Chocolate cardstock. I Cuttlebugged the first scrap using an exclusive folder from Oh My Crafts and then stamped the sentiment (I can't recall the ink color at this moment but the bottom is heat embossed with clear powder, the top was not) on the second scrap. After that, I decided to play around with the rest of the Men of Life stamp set (the "in-law" part is from Women of Life). Using VersaMark ink, I stamped the boat above the sentiment. After stamping the anchor on a separate piece of kraft scrap, I cut it out as best I could and attached it to the boat with a brad. Using an idea I found here, I stamped the sun using Dot Spot. Simple and quick!

Happy Happy Birthday

I am absolutely in LOVE with Fillable Frames! Sentiments have never been easier to dress up!

This card is for my sis-in-law's husband... He's the favorite of everyone with kids because he unfailingly takes them off of our hands for a time. Where does he get his energy?? The kids love him!

I apologize for the pic quality... My mother is opposed to using flash so they turn out blurry. (Love you, mom!)

This card is simple... Kraft stamped with Cornish Heritage Farms woodgrain in VersaMark and embossed with clear powder. A notched piece of Dark Chocolate grosgrain was adhered using ScorTape and the Fillable Frame, after being stamped using Dark Chocolate ink, was pop-dotted in the center. The Ripe Avocado buttons were tied with Jute and pop-dotted as well. (To hide the white pop dots, I colored them with a brown Copic marker... This is best done BEFORE attaching everything...)

I'm Cool Like Dat

Cooking Class

Dance Class

A Birthday Card for the Military Man

This card is for my brother-in-law who joined the military.

I masked a Tim Holtz barbed wire border along the top and bottom using his Black Soot Distress Ink. After darkening the whole card, I realized I should have done one down the middle as well. It's kind of difficult to notice it anyway, though.

I had quite a bit of difficulty using these Tim Holtz border masks. On a previous card, it ripped the paper when I peeled it off. Thinking it an isolated incident since I hadn't had a problem with the previous mask I used, I was surprised when my camo mat was shredded... I removed all the adhesive when removing all the paper stuck to it so when trying it again, I had to secure it by taping the mask down on either side of the card. Not ideal, but it worked.

The sentiment--a birthday phrase from Faux Ribbon--was stamped on kraft cardstock using Versamark and heat embossed using clear powder on Long Rectangles Spellbinders. Leaving the frame on, I used the Black Soot ink over the rectangle centers. I also inked the edges and then pop dotted the two together and on the card.

I pierced the mat in the upper left and bottom right corners and applied the brads. Mat was adhered to the card et voila!

Little Miracles

Another Scrapbookers Paradise class that I taught Tuesday, April 6th. This is the photo that was taken by Scrapbookers for the store advertisement of this class. I will take some individual and close up photos and add them in later.



I call these 'display cards'. I don't know if there is a title or label out there for such a thing, but, because the left side is like a card that you can write in, and because the right side is displaying a photo, birth info, and a quote, it is something like a display announcing the birth.

When it is to be put away, two things can be done to display it in a different format. You can adhere it to a 12" by 12" paper and add elements and photos and then either display it in a 12" by 12" framed shadow box, or on a scrapbook page.

I will be adding more information such as a scoring/folding/cutting illustration, and about tools and such,once I get the individual photos added to this posting.

ADDED Sunday, April 18, 2010

As promised here are the individual and close up photos of this project.

My Card Is Being Featured! -Sabrina

I am so excited! Not long ago I made my first circular card for a little girl turning eight. It was not quite three weeks later that I came across the OCC Sketch Challenge that fit the card I had created, so I entered it. I have had many wonderful comments since then. Thank you all so very much.

Then late Wednesday night I was checking my email, and there were more comments for this card. The exciting thing is I found out from Jennifer Meyer's comment that my card will be fetured on their OCC Blog this week!!! Wow! This is so very exciting for me. I can hardly wait to see it on OCC.

Color Cue #2 Challenge: Sabrina (#2)

Well I tried to enter a second entry for the Color Cue #2 Challenge because I wasn't too happy with my first entry for this challenge. However, I missed the deadline by 6 minutes! Rats. Oh well. Here it is for you to view and compare.
Better, don't you think? Simplicity usually looks better. You know the saying, "Less is more".
Here is a close up. I decided while I was making this card for the challenge, that I might as well make a card for someone I need to give a card to. That would be for my twin sisters' birthday coming up in June. So this is one of them. I remembered that I had leaves that were almost the same colour as the teal paper I used, and they have bright pink tips too! That brought to mind the flowers, and the pale yellow button brads. Sometimes it is just amazing how some projects just come together.
After I completed the card, my daughter, Dana, suggested that some flourishes coming from behind the flowers and leaves whould have been nice. It may have been, but tonight I think I like the plainess and the amount of white showing. I wonder what I will think about it tomorrow or some time later? The faux stitching turned out well. I wasn't sure about using a white gel pen on white paper, but it worked!
I started another one using the same colours for this challenge. I will post it later as I haven't quite finished it. Well, I still will try for more challenges, and hopefully make the deadline on the next one.

Color Cue #2 Challenge: Dana

I've never participated in an online challenge before but I loved the colors Dawn chose for the Color Cue Challenge so much, I kept thinking about it! Finally, I decided to do it. Unfortunately, RL (real life) prevented me from getting this done until the last second! Literally! Double unfortunately, the submissions were closed by the time I went to add my link... :(

I went through several ideas and even scrapped one project before I settled on the above. I used Papertrey Ink's Lemon Tart cardstock for the card, their Raspberry Fizz ink for the sentiment (Giga Guidelines stamp set) and their Ocean Tides, Lemon Tart and Raspberry Fizz buttons for the accent. And, for the "piece de resistance," I used Dawn's Funky Foliage stamp set on PTI's Guidelines II grid cardstock using Tsukineko's VersaMagic Dewdrop in Oasis Green ink for the mat! The sentiment was heat embossed using VersaMark Frost watermark ink and clear powder and the edge of the popped up sentiment was "glimmered" up using the Sakura Clear Star gel pen!

Time was against me and I kept having paper trimmer malfunctions (seriously, is their a good one out there??), but I enjoyed attempting to participate in this challenge!