Collage Money Holder

Well, once again it has been a while since I posted.  It's frustrating when the daily grind gets in the way of my creative time.  I have several projects lying around my studio just waiting for the finishing touches, but I just can't seem to get them done.  While I am grateful that I have a paying job, said job has been literally sucking the life out of me lately and in turn my creative spirit.

As my daughter so eloquently puts it, "Life rips the creativity right out of you and repeatedly stabs it to death".  Yes, a little dramatic, but she is a teenager after all.  :)

I did manage to complete a swap for a demo meeting and am extremely happy with the results.  I didn't feel like making a standard card this time so I created a money holder.

I adapted the size of this money holder from previous ones I have made.  We can only use current product for these swaps and since the slit punch has been retired for awhile now, I needed to find another way to keep the money in place.

This holder measures 3 1/4" x 7", and the inside slider measures 3 1/8" x 6 3/4".  I used the 1 3/4" circle punch to make the "holders" for the money on each end.

I used an Aqua pen filled with re-inker and water to make the splotches on the front of the holder.  Lay your project flat.  Make sure that your work area is protected and items that you don't want colored are not close at hand; I use an old lidded box when I do this so that I don't get ink where I don't want it.  I then took the pen in my right hand and knocked it against my left hand, moving it around the project.  For the larger dots, I let the pen drip onto the project. I also used the Spritzer tool to get a fine mist in some areas.

The flowers were colored by rubbing them over the ink pad and then misting them with water for a softer tone; I used Pool Party, Island Indigo and Midnight Muse.  The doily was folded and torn into fourths, then lightly sponged with Island Indigo.


Stamps: That's The Ticket
Paper: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Naturals White, Fan Fair DSP
Ink: Island Indigo, Midnight Muse, Pool Party
Misc.: Fabric Flower Trim, Pool Party Bakers Twine, Victoria Crochet Trim, Paper Doillies, Ticket Builder, Itty Bitty Butterfly, Scallop Edge, and 1 3/4" Circle punches, Basic Pearls, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Crop-a-dile, Aqua Pen, Color Spritzer tool, Sponges, Mini Glue Dots


ETA:  I started this post a while back, many of these items are retiring.  Today (5/31) is the last day to get items from the Spring Mini and Monday (6/3) is the last day to order retiring items from the 2012-2013 Annual Catalog.  If you are interested in purchasing any of the retiring products, click here.

Triple the Celebration

Even though I used the same stamp for the focal point, I created three different card types/styles.  The SAB set Feeling Sentimental is a fun and actually very versatile set.

Here is a group photo.

The feminine version was done in a vintage/shabby style.

I'm not a huge pink fan, but I do like it with a dark brown.  Here I used Early Espresso and Pink Pirouette.  The DSP is from the Fan Fair pack. It has the most wonderful patterns and color combos.  I simply distressed the edges and then sponged them with both colors.  I also sponged over the paper with some of the pink.

For the embellishment I took a strip of Pink Pirouette and created a banner using the technique found in THIS post.  The sentiment is from Something to Celebrate(retired).  I tied a piece of linen thread around the Victoria crochet trim and then inked it up to age it a bit.  I placed a small Antique brad inside the largest of the Vintage Faceted Designer buttons.  The brad "legs" will just barely fit inside the button holes, but it was enough to bend them and secure it to the button.  I secured the lace and the button to the card with mini glue dots.

Stamps: Feeling Sentimental, Something to Celebrate
Paper: Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette, Fan Fair DSP
Ink: Early Espresso, Pink Pirouette
Misc.: Victoria Crochet Trim. Linen Thread, Vintage Faceted designer buttons, Antique brads, Basic Pearls, Square Punch, Sponges, Glue Dots, Distressing Tool



The middle card is clean and simple.

The black and white color scheme is elegant, yet still fun.  This could be given to either a female or male and could be used for a birthday, wedding or anniversary; or, simply just because you want to celebrate a child's accomplishment, a friend's promotion or any other life event.

Stamps: Feeling Sentimental
Paper: Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack/Ranger)




The final card is geared with a masculine slant and is kind of a combination of the two other styles.  Clean and shabby? :)

It is also a CASE of the card posted HERE.  I LOVE Sandi's addition of the French Foliage stamp images, but for mine I wanted to keep it a little "cleaner".  Instead of linen thread I used Basic Black Taffeta ribbon to help highlight the sentiment and I used a black and tan (Crumb Cake) color scheme.  To ink the edges I used the ink pad directly on the paper to give it a little crisper edge than sponging would have.

Stamps: Feeling Sentimental
Paper: Crumb Cake, First Edition Specialty paper
Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack/Ranger)
Misc.:Basic Black Taffeta ribbon


In all, I think it took me roughly half an hour to make all three cards, so time well spent in my opinion.  Even though the feminine card is really more my usual style, that is actually my least favorite of the three.  Go figure... 

Which do you like the best?

Fun Distressed Glue

I found a cool new technique on SCS a few days ago.  Well, it's new to me anyway.  It's called Distressed Glue and is a lot of fun.  You can use it on small pieces or make really interesting backgrounds.

My youngest niece is very much a girlie girl, and her favorite color is pink.  So, for her birthday card I used Pretty in Pink and Rich Razzleberry to make a background using the technique.  I wasn't that thrilled with it when I was done, so I used the Floral Frames Framelit dies and the Daydream Medallions stamp set to turn it into a flower.  The leaves are from the Autumn Accents die in the Holiday Mini catalog and were colored with Old Olive using the same technique.

This even falls into the quick and easy category.  The technique only takes a couple of minutes to do and the card itself is pretty straightforward. 

After creating the background, I stamped the Medallions in Rich Razzleberry and used the framelits to create the flower by simply layering three pieces and holding it together with a Clear Rhinestone brad.  The leaves were adhered with glue dots.

The flower still looked a little blah on its own, so I jazzed it up a bit with some Victoria Crochet trim looped behind the piece.  The sentiment is from Int The Stars (retired) and is stamped in Rich Razzleberry.  There you go, easy!


Supplies:
Stamps: Daydream Medallions, In The Stars (retired)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White
Ink: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Ruch Razzleberry
Misc.: Floral Frames, Framelits, Autumn Accents Bigz Die, Big Shot, Victoria Crochet Trim, Scotch Quick Dry Glue, Clear Rhinestone Brad, Mini Glue Dots, Sponge Dauber

Very Feminie Swap

For this swap we were to make very feminine cards.

I really like the designs in the Patterns Paper Stacks, they cover all styles from elegant to fun.  To dress up the DSP even more, I used one of the flourishes from the Vintage Ornaments stencils (retired) with Pretty in Pink ink.  Several punches were used on this card and I think they added some wonderful frilly detail.

For the flower, punch out 3 flowers with the Blossom punch from the Pretty in Pink DSP.  After lightly misting them with water, crumple them up into loose balls.  Let them set for a few minutes, then carefully unfold them and set aside until they are completely dry.  To speed the process, you could dry them with a heat tool.  Once dry, sponge the edges with Pretty in Pink.  The center of the flower used Raspberry Ripple and the Boho Blossom punch; and Gumball Green and the Itty Bitty Shapes punch, with a pearl.

Stamps: Four Frames, You’re a Gem

Paper: Early Espresso, Gumball Green, Pretty In Pink, Raspberry Ripple, DSP Subtles Patterns Paper Stack

Ink: Early Espresso, Pretty in Pink, Raspberry Ripple

Misc.: Blossom, Decorative Label, Scallop Trim Border, Boho Blossom & Itty Bitty Shapes Punches, Victoria Crochet Trim, Basic Pearls, Vintage Ornaments Décor Stencil (retired), Dauber, Sponges, Dimensionals, Cutter Kit Distress Tool (retired)

Have a great day!

One of the Few

As I patiently wait for my order of new catalog sneak peak products to arrive, how about a sample for one of the sets that will be carrying over into the new catalog.  Since this was a swap for a demo meeting, all items on it had to be product that would be in the new catalog.

Well, it was a little hard for me to find a stamp set that I could still use.  Out of the several hundred (yes, you read that right) SU sets that I own, I only have 26 sets that will be in the new catty.  Granted, that is still a good number of sets to work with.  But, 4 are Holidays, 3 are sentiments with no images, 2 are alphabets, and 3 were sets I earned free that weren't necessarily my style.  Now I am down to 14.  Still a decent number, but I had challenged myself to use a set that I had either never used or had only been used once or twice.  That didn't leave me a lot.  To top it off, almost all of the embellishments and ribbons that I own are retiring.

I do want to say though, that having the limitations actually made me think more creatively.

The color combo is Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette and Certainly Celery with Early Espresso thrown in as an accent or "grounding" color.  The stamp set is Fabulous Florets.  I stamped the leaf/stem in Certainly Celery and then stamped the small flower in Early Espresso on Pink Pirouette.  I cut it out and popped it up on dimensionals.

The celery piece was embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.  To give a little feminine charm to the card I punched the Early Espresso mat with the Scallop Trim Border Punch.  All of the pieces were sponged with their respective inks.  The focal piece was lightly sponged with Early Espresso and then I re-sponged it with Pink Pirouette. 

I wanted to use the Happy Birthday from Bring on the Cake, but the stamp was too big for the Modern Label punch.  So, I used MDS to create the sentiment in the size I needed, printed it on Baja Breeze and then punched it out.  That was then popped up on dimensionals also.  To add just a touch of bling, I placed two small pearls on the sentiment.

ETA:  How about some Blog Candy!!

I thought I would celebrate my birthday today and Mother's Day tomorrow-crafter's style-with some blog candy. :)

 

It's kind of a weird mix of items, but I have been cleaning out my craft room and of course finding multiples of some items.  Plus it's FREE stuff. :)  Included in the package are: 4 gift card holders, Red Riding Hood wide striped ribbon, Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, a package of Carousel Notes, Pumpkin Pie Corduroy buttons, Blooming With Happiness stamp set, Deck the Halls Fabric, a covered notebook, and Butterflies and Rings Sizzix Die.

But that's not all...

What's a celebration without a few surprises!  The winner of this Blog Candy will also receive a few surprise goodies in the package. Party!!!

For a chance to win, just leave a comment below telling me what your favorite birthday or Mother's Day present has been.  Leave the comment by midnight Sunday, May 13th.  The winner will be selected by Random.org on May14th and posted that evening.  If there is no contact info with your comment, I will have to move on the next person.

Good Luck and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!!


Make it a great day!

Blooms

The effects of the psycho weather patterns this year are starting to show in the plant life around here. Many of the early Spring flowers are already dying off, so I thought I would create some blooms that are a little more permanent.

The Blossom punch and Mixed Bunch stamp set from the Occasions Mini have been sitting in a box, unused, for over a month now. {Not for lack of wanting to use them though. :)} My niece's birthday card was a great way to break them in.

She's a girly girl and loves pink, so the soft but cheery colors in the Beau Chateau DSP made a great background for the single bloom. The card base and flower are Pink Pirouette. The sentiment is stamped in Lucky Limeade.

I used the Large Tag Punch to create the "v" in the end of the banner. Any square punch will do.

I don't know about you, but this card just makes me happy when I look at it. It reminds me of warm sunny days working in the flower garden or sipping lemonade by the pool.

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Curly Cute
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Whisper White, Beau Chateau DSP
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Lucky Limeade
Misc.: Blossom Punch, Large Tag Punch, Designer Buttons, 1/8" Lucky Limeade Organdy Ribbon (SAB 2012), Mini Glue Dots

One of the patterns in the Beau Chateau paper has this ornate vintage frame which I thought would work as a great background to showcase the focal bloom.

To create the bloom I stamped the more ornate flower in the Mixed Bunch set three times on First Edition Specialty DSP in Pink Pirouette. After I punched them out with the Blossom Punch, I sponged the edges with Pretty in Pink and crumpled them up. Be careful when doing this, you don't want to rip your blooms.

The center is a half inch circle of Daffodil Delight. The flower is kept together with an Ice Rhinestone Brad. To add a little more texture, I used Chantilly Crochet Trim to make the "leaves". The sentiment is from the Because I Care stamp set (retired) and stamped in Marina Mist.

Stamps: Mixed Bunch, Because I Care (retired)
Paper: Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, Pink Pirouette, Beau Chateau DSP, First Edition Specialty DSP
Ink: Marina Mist, Pinnk Pirouette, Pretty in Pink
Misc.: Blossom Punch, Ice Rhinestone Brads, Chantilly Crochet Trim, 1/2" Circle Punch, Mini Glue Dots, Sponge

For this last bloom I wanted to go a little more dramatic, so I decided to use black. I also wanted to create a 3-D project.

The little Kraft boxes are currently in the Occasions Mini catalog and are the perfect size for small gifts or little treats. A 3" x 3" gift card is the perfect compliment to the gift box.

A stylish label made with the Decorative Label Punch and Four Frames stamp set creates the perfect place to add a sentiment.

In the Mocha Morning Specialty DSP there are two designs with flocking and they give some elegance to this simple little box. Since the flocked papers are not double sided and I wanted the flower to be dimensional, I needed a way to make the white back of the paper more interesting. What I decided to do was glue two flowers back to back and create my own double sided paper.

I ran both sheets of the paper through the Big Shot using the Fun Flowers Bigz Die.


Then I glued them together and sponged the edges with black ink to cover any white.



I layered all the flowers along with Raven Lace Trim (retired) to create this elegant bloom.

Stamps:Four Frames, You're a Gem
Paper: Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Mocha Morning Specialty DSP
Ink: Basic Black, Sahara Sand
Misc.: Kraft Gift Box, Blossom Punch, Fun Flowers Bigz Die, Big Shot, Ribbon Originals (retired), Raven Lace Trim (retired), Mini Glue Dots, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Sponge

Make it a Great day!!

A Warm Paisley Welcome

Here is a welcome card I did for my VC Rocks roommate a while back. At first glance, this may not seem like a Quick and Easy card, but it actually is...by my standards anyway. :) There is very little stamping on the card, and using the DSP as a design element, makes it go together pretty quickly.



I embossed a piece of Soft Suede card stock (to match the base of the card) with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder and then sponged the edges with Soft Suede. My lightening seems to have been a bit off for these pics, as that bottom mat is actually Night of Navy.




What I really like about the Paisley Petals DSP is that there are so many colors in the patterns that the color combos are almost limitless.

Stamps: Tiny Tags, Charming Ink: Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Soft Suede Paper: Always Artichoke, Baja Breeze, Night of Navy, Soft Suede, Paisley Petals DSP Misc.: Mini Vintage Tags, Vintage Trinkets, Marina Mist Seam Binding (retired), Chantilly Crochet Trim, Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder, Big Shot, Sponges


Make it a great day!

Unloved Colors

I've pretty much ignored the in-colors this past year, so I figured it was time to give them some love. For this card I featured Poppy Parade.


I used the Faux Silk technique to create the focal point. After coloring the large floral stamp from Just Believe with Old Olive and Poppy Parade markers, I spritzed it with water before stamping onto Naturals White cardstock. I crumpled white tissue paper into a ball and then carefully un-crumpled it. Don't rush through the un-crumpling because you will end up with holes in the paper. Cover the focal piece with glue, I used Tombow Multi for this one, and then place your piece of tissue paper on top. Carefully press the tissue paper over the cardstock to get any bubbles out. Take care not to rip or stretch your tissue. Set aside to dry-it won't take too long.

Once dry, I trimmed the excess tissue paper from the piece and matted it with Poppy Parade. Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain covers the bottom of the piece. Using the Scallop Trim border punch and Old Olive cardstock, I created an accent for the side.

I colored the stamp again with Poppy Parade and Old Olive and stamped a Vintage Mini Tag. Due to the coating on the tag's paper, the colors ended up in a paler shade of the original. It gave it a kind of watercolor effect, which I really liked.

The sentiment is from Tiny Tags and I used the Jewelry Tag punch on it. I cut the string on the vintage tag, right under the knot, added the punched tag then tied it around the olive ribbon, trimming the excess string. I added a basic pearl for just a little more detail.

Stamps: Just Believe, Tiny Tags
Paper: Baja Breeze, Old Olive Poppy Parade, Naturals White
Ink: Old Olive and Poppy Parade Markers
Misc.: Mini Vintage Tags, Basic Pearls, 5/8" Old Olive Grosgrain ribbon Jewelry Tag punch, Scallop Trim border punch, Tissue Paper, Tombow Multi-glue


Have a great day!

Graduation Shimmer

Here is a different take on the graduation card I recently made for a class. This is obviously a more feminine version. :)

The card base is 6.5" x 6.5" Chocolate Chip, scored at 3.25". I cut the flowers out from the Tea Party designer paper. After cutting out the two layers, I put them together with dimensionals and a rhinestone brad. The graduation stamp can be found in the new Summer Mini catalog for under $10.

I used some of the new Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz on the Certainly Celery textured cs, the flower and the stamped image piece. I think it gives it just enough glitz without going over the top. This is a very quick and easy card.

You can turn it into a money holder, by making the base 6.5" x 7.75" and scoring at 3.25" and 6.5", glue the edges of the 1.25" flap and there you go. A nice little card and money holder all in one.

Stamps: Happy Grad
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery (textured), Very Vanilla, Tea Party DSP
Accessories: Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz, Pretty In Pink Satin Ribbon, Circle Fire Rhinestone Brads, Dimensionals