friend 2 friend

Hi, everyone.

This week's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge is to make a friend-themed card. I decided to go all girlie, girlie for this one!  :)

Stampin' Up! garage-sale-find dp; AC cardstock
Paper Smooches stamps: Teen Scene and Alphadot, in Staz On jet black
Glossy Accents; Fiskars border punch; Marvy circle punch

I'm thrilled with the way this turned out...but it sure was a long and winding road. And, the arduous journey really surprised me because I knew early on that I wanted to use some fun Stampin' Up! paper and these adorable Paper Smooches Teen Scene stamps. But, choosing the right cardstock to complement the paper, the exact combination of stamps, and getting the stamping to look halfway decent... Well, all of that took quite a while.  : )

Tip for the Day: I taped along the edges of the screens and envelope before applying Glossy Accents.

Moments of Inspiration: Inspiration hit when I realized I should use a first generation/second generation/third generation stamping technique on the arrows. Inspiration hit again when I decided to make the middle arrow 2-ply thick, and the right arrow 3-ply thick.

Think I'll post this at Paper Smooches.

Parting Thoughts

UPDATE: Just learned there was a Facebook part of the challenge to make a masculine card. Since hubby and I are probably the only people on the planet that doesn't do FB, I messed up that part of the challenge. Sorry about that!

Not much else to say. Pretty tired after a taxing day at work.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Have a ROARing Good Day!

Hi, everyone.

The card below was in the box that I mailed to Kris just yesterday. It is a perfect fit for today's OWH Tuesday Tutorial to get punchy.

Stampin Up! products
Please click here for product details.

Can you believe the mane and legs of this little guy are made from a flower punch? We started the card in Bernadette's technique class. I finished him at home to add the computer-generated sentiment and Baker's Twine. 

  Parting Thoughts 

Thanks, Nancy, for a great tutorial.Thanks to Lauren for a great sample card.

And, thanks to everyone for stopping. Happy scrappin' to all!

A More Unified Look

Hi, everyone.

Today was another wonderful installment of Paula's OWH Design Bootcamp. This month's topic was about creating a more cohesive relationship between a card's elements or, in other words, the principle of unity.

Original Card

Paula challenged us old-timers to go back to a past card and think about how we would rework the design to create more unified look. I have to admit this was rather painful. At the time that I made the card at the right, I thought it was a pretty good little card. After all, I had created an adorable free-handed ghost -- with brads for eyes, nonetheless, and a clever computer-generated sentiment. What's not to like?

Well, as it turns out, there's quite a bit not to like, starting with three "focal points" spread around the card: ghost, pumpkins, and sentiment.

 The Reworked Layout

In the revised layout, I'm going with:

• a much better defined focal point,
• bigger elements,
• a strip of paper that pops the sentiment,
• a physical connection among the ghost, sentiment, and pumpkins, and
• a few (odd in number) brads under the sentiment to give it a little extra emphasis.

One thing I did get right in the original was creating a contrast by placing the ghost on dark color paper. Seems like a good thing to keep in the revision.

Parting Thoughts

The original card had a few Stickles -- an OWH no-no. This may have been a card made for nephews, although I made the mistake of using Stickles on some of my OWH first generation cards. :(

Thanks, Paula and Sandy, for another fabulous Bootcamp session. I've really learned so much this year. Hope it shows in the revised sketch!

Thanks for stoppin' and happy scrappin'!

Autumn Foliage

Hi, everyone!

Seems like it's been feast or famine for me when it comes to cardmaking lately. This past week was a drought, but today's turning out to be pretty productive. The card below is for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown challenge to make fall-themed cards.

Distress Ink core and Bazzill cardstock; stash dp
dp: distressed and inked in Distress Ink black walnut
OWH fundraiser ribbon; Stampin' Up! brads

I'm so loving this OWH fundraising ribbon. My challenge is to find more creative ways to use it!

The designer paper may be Creative Memories. Not sure about that since I bought it a garage sale -- a nice pack of 8" by 8" autumn papers for $3!

So that the dp would really pop, I went with monochromatic ribbon and brads, keeping the layout really simple -- but remembering the Design Bootcamp Rule of Thirds lesson. 

I only wish the scanned dp didn't look so yellow. It's actually more of a cream or ecru -- much prettier than it looks on my monitor.

Parting Thoughts 

Two posts for two OWH challenges -- and it's only 3:30! Better yet, I still have a little time to work on some Christmas cards.

Have a great week! Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Stars and Stripes in Red, Blue, and Kraft

Hi, everyone.

Hope everyone is enjoying a great weekend.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #185. I really am partial to CAS cards. So, today's sketch was right up my alley.  :)

Distress Ink core paper, embossed/crimped and lightly sanded
Darice and Sizzix embossing folders
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches; garage sale brad
Creative Memories circle cutting system

I took liberties with the square element in the bottom right of the sketch. I immediately knew this was going to be a star, and probably a star in a circle. My first circle was smaller, with a diameter closer to the width of the square in the sketch. But, the larger star seemed to be crying out for a larger circle.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to work on a few Christmas cards this afternoon.

Have a great week. As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Ooh La La!

Hi, everyone.

Not only is Thursday great because it's one more day until the weekend, but it's extra great when it's the night of a Stampin' Up! technique class. The cards below were designed by our wonderful demonstrator Bernadette Kirk.

Ooh La La #1

Someone in our group said the card below was just a tad French-maid-like. We decided that an Ooh La La Valentine's Day sentiment would be great for this image. (Hence, the name of tonight's post!)

SU paper, sentiment, ink, punches, and pearls

What I loved about this card is that the little black top was made entirely by using circle punches. So clever... and so cute! (Couldn't this technique make an adorable baby bib?!)

Ooh La La #2

SU paper, sentiment, image, ink, punches, and ribbon

This card's Ooh La La factor came by adhering heavy weight aluminum foil to a piece of cardstock and then running the two through an embosser. I'm thinking shiny and Christmas... 

Parting Thoughts 

Thanks, Bernadette, for a fun class -- and a couple of great techniques!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Red, White, Blue, and Striped

Hi, everyone.

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #184. Immediately, I felt that the vertical 3" by 5.5" strip should be a deep blue, with a contrasting  3.75" by 2" horizontal jute/burlap strip and a star embellishment in the circle.

Bo Bunny Anthem, Recollections jute
Distress Ink core paper (chipped sapphire, fired brick, antique linen)
star punches: Fiskars and Paper Studio; Paper Studio brad
Creative Memories Cutting System
adhesives: Zots 3D glue dots, Glossy Accents

I tried several different combinations of solid and patterned papers for the 0.75" by 5.5" vertical strip, but none of them felt right. When I finally scored and sanded a strip of the chipped sapphire, I loved the simplicity of the look. Keeping it simple allowed the star to really pop. I'm also liking the diagonal stripes on the star.

Parting Thoughts

Wow... it's been a great day. But, I'm pretty beat. So, I think I'm going to call it a night.

Have a good week. Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

A Cupcake Fit for a Princess

Hi, everyone.

Back from an anniversary/birthday family celebration -- our 29th wedding anniversary and dad's 79th birthday. Getting in a little cardmaking while the men are taking recovery naps. :)

And, what's a celebration without a cupcake?

DCWV Sweet matstack, American Crafts brown cardstock
(cupcake papers heat embossed with clear powder)
Stampin' Up! cupcake builder punch
OWH fundraiser ribbon: Martha Stewart sticker gem

The card above was made for this month's OWH Our Daily Bread Design challenge to make a card featuring pink, green, and brown. I have to admit I was first stumped by this since my thoughts have turned to autumn and Christmas palettes. So, the pink really through me for a loop. Then, I remembered this sweet collection of DCWV papers. :)

card with added Stampin' Up! brads

I like the overall look of the card. I'm just a tad ambivalent about the green in the ribbon and the green in the paper. In some lights, they look great together... and, in other lights, not quite a perfect match. Hope they match well enough. Think I need to add a few sprinkles (aka brads) to the icing.

This is the second straight card I've made from my OWH ribbon fundraiser package. All of these ribbons are quite nice. Hoping I can find a good use for all of them.

Just a quick note about the glitter. It is baked into this DCWV paper and seems to be passing the sweater test just fine. DCWV seems to make really quality glittered paper, but that's always a good thing to check before sending in the cards.

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get time to work on a card for today's sketch. But, that might have to wait a day or two.

Have a great week! Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Thanks Sew Much

Hi, everyone.

Two posts in one day! Gotta get most of my cardmaking in today with tomorrow's anniversary and birthday festivities. :)

The card below is for the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge to make a card featuring buttons.

Bo Bunny Mamarazzi2; Bazzill cardstock
computer-generated sentiment (Lucida Handwriting)
stitching in DMC floss 543 with Sew Easy
stash buttons adhered with Glossy Accents

This card is a real departure for me. First of all, I don't often use punny sentiments. And since most of my cards go to Operation Write Home, I don't often use thick embellishments. Finally, this is the first card on which I've done any stitching. Up until now, I've only used my Sew Easy to pierce holes for brads.

Speaking of the stitching, I made a template for the holes by running a line of holes along the edge of a ruler. I drew a pencil outline of where I wanted the stitches to be placed. Then I used the template to hand pierce holes in their designated locations.

One more thing... Bobbi mentioned that the buttons she uses on cards always remind her of her mother since her mom always found them for her at flea markets. The same thing is true for me and embroidery/cross stitch floss. One of the last gifts from my mom was a collection of all the colors of floss made by DMC. The floss on this card is from that collection. Thanks, Mom!

I'm pretty pleased with the way the card turned out. Just wish it could go to OWH. Oh well, looks like this one is going to have to be saved for a friend. :)

Lastly, my apologies to the CAS-ual Fridays team for the double link. I'm still trying to figure out this digital photography thing and came up with a much brighter image after posting the first link. The second image is a little blurrier, but the colors are so much truer to the actual card. The first image just didn't seem to do justice to this little card.

Parting Thoughts

Enjoy the rest of the weekend. Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Have a Super Day!

Hi, everyone.

This card has been rattling around in my brain ever since the adorable Paper Smooches Super! stamp set released. (This is actually a second version using the Paper Smooches Alphadots stamp set.) And, even though I just ordered a set of the newly released dies that go with the stamp set, I couldn't pass up the chance to (literally) piece this together while I had some serious time to work on it.

Paper Smooches Super! stamp set in StazOn jet black
Distress Ink core paper (red, yellow, blue)
Bazzill black cardstock
Tombow foam squares behind super hero and buildings on right
LOTS of fussy cutting

Paper Smooches Super! and Alphadots stamp sets in StazOn jet black
Distress Ink core paper (red, yellow, blue)
stash white and black cardstock
computer generated shapes, requiring even more fussy cutting
(For details on making this popped-up sentiment, please click here)

Since this is going to Operation Write Home, I added a white strip to the bottom of the inside of the card for mommy or daddy to write a note to their super hero back home in the States.

So, with the popped-up sentiment and all of the fussy cutting, this little card was pretty labor intensive. And yet I can't help but smile when I think about the little super hero who's going to love getting this card from his mom or dad.  :)

Think I'm posting the card for this month's Paper Smooches Guest Designer Challenge.

Parting Thoughts

It's sure to be a super weekend around here. Hubby and I are celebrating 29 years of marriage tomorrow and my dad is celebrating his 79th birthday!  :)

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!