I've been stamping like mad!

By the way, how cute are these Hero Arts birdies?! I am totally digging this set, it's called "Happy Everything". (the wings dont have the ornamentation on them in the set, I added that myself)

Supplies: (Blue Card) Stamps - Hero Arts, Rubber Stamp Tapestry (wing ornamentation). Paper - BoBunny (paislee), Paper Loft (dots), Bazzill, WorldWin. Ribbons - American Crafts, Offray. Prisma Pencils, Mona Lisa Odorless Paint Thinner, Lasting Impressions mini brads.

Supplies (Purple Cards) Stamps - Hero Arts, Studio G (heart in wings). Paper - Paper Pizazz (I know, it surprises me too!), Bazzill, WorldWin. Ribbon - Offray. Prisma Pencils, Odorless Paint Thinner, Fiskars Threading Water Punch

ATC Stand

Okay, as much as I adore the 7 gypsies ATC spinner thing, I just dont have the space for it. So I came up with my own display for ATC's. I cut a bunch of craft cardstock down to 4.5x3 and punched holes in the top. Then I cut two pieces of chipboard the same dimension and covered them in cute paper. I also punched two extra holes on the bottom of each of the chipboard pieces to string ribbon through to stabilize the stand when it is opened up. I opted not to tie ribbon on the binder rings because I actually want to be able to flip through the little display once in a while and you cant do that with ribbon in the way. I decided to anchor the ATC's using photo corners, then I can pull them out and see the back if I want/need to. (I only used one long piece of ribbon but you could use two if you wanted to, I wont cry.)



And here's the front cover, I didn't want it too fancy because lets be honest, it'll rarely be seen...LOL. I used some new Pink Paislee paper on this, the letters are Basic Grey punch outs from the Infuse collection.

Flamingo Gift Set

Fun tropical color scheme for this set...I was really getting into too, I think I may use this color grouping again for another card.

Supplies: Bazzill CS, MME patterned paper, American crafts and Dots and Dashes ribbons, Lasting Impressions mini brads, prisma pencils, odorless paint thinner, glitter glue, and another hand drawing.

thanks for stopping by!!

oh, i almost forgot here's the link for the card tote tutorial that followed for this! While you're over there, check out the rest of Leslie Miller's blog, it's amazing, she is so full of talent!!

Quick Little Post

Hey Kids! I went a little outside of my comfort zone for this gift card holder, I admit it. But oh boy was it FUN! I had a few oopses that I ended up running with, but isn't that the nature of the creativity beast?

First off, I started out with a fun "chalkboard stamping" technique that I ran across in a magazine, super cool! I will toss together a tutorial for it in the future...but in this card, the winged heart is stamped using this technique (supplies for that were white pigment ink and chalks, the stamp used is part of the Rhonna Farrer "Love with a Flourish" Set)

Then I decided to distress the heck out of the card with Tim Holtz distress inks (I used frayed burlap and tea dye)...now I thought that it looked pretty darn cool, but not cool enough...lol. The heart seemed to be "floating" with nothing holding it down so I had a weird idea to try embossing some of the distress ink, so I loaded the card up with embossing powder...big mistake...it turned into a solid sheet of powder...lol. So I scraped and tapped until their was a random dusting of the powder and then heat set that.

As if that wasn't enough, I had a hair brained idea to try out my Heidi Swapp flower masks (I know...a bit out of order, but whatever...lol) Here's a tip, after the ink dries you can just buff it off of the embossed areas like it never happened!

Then things got weird...I had a chipboard bookplate that I wanted to use, so I embossed it silver, then stamped swirls on it and embossed those in clear...can you see it? Underneath the bookplate I used a K-Ology word sticker I've had for a bagillion years. (bagillion years...technical phrase that loosely translates to "i dont know when I bought it") So anyway, so as not pretend I was finished yet it was at this point the stitching happened...it was difficult to get around that chipboard once it was glued down, so I think it's best if you try to organize your a-ha ideas into a logical sequence. Unlike me....

So after more distressing, a few swirl stamps and a hand glued bling heart...I decided it was done. What do you think? It's so different than what I usually do, but it was such a stretching project for me in so many ways.

Thanks for hanging in there through to the end of this post! You rock!!

If you want to come hang out with me on AMR, the door is open!!

10:00pm (9/8/7pm) AMR Crop Challenge!

My challenge for today's All Moments Remembered Online Crop is Decorated Gift Bags!! I love using cute gift bags, but I never can find the right one for what I want....so I challenge all of you croppers today to decorate a plain old ordinary gift bag using any of your supplies on hand! For the small bag I stamped and colored a couple images. For the large bag I just cut down some birthday themed patterned paper and mounted a cute cake sticker that I've had for a while. The sky is the limit with this challenge, so have fun and dont be afraid to use up your paper!

Chipboard Card Purse Tutorial

supplies:

one sheet of 12x12 chipboard (i used the backs of colorbok paper pads from walmart, those suckers are THICK!)

two coordinating sheets of patterned paper
ruler, heavy duty paper cutter (or craft knife and ruler), emery board or sand paper

mod podge or other glue medium of choice for adhering paper to chipboard

dry adhesive (you want a strong one, this is for the ribbon strap)

approx. 52" of ribbon, it's best to purchase a spool for this project so that you dont run out! (I prefer stitched ribbon, it makes it look more like a purse)

sugar cookies...oh wait...those are just for me...hehehe

From the chipboard cut a 6.25"x12" piece, and from that piece cut two 5"x6.25" pieces and one 2"x6.25".

Next cut a 2"x12" strip from the chipboard, and cut that strip down to two 2"x5" pieces and save the 2"x2" square for an embellishment!

Choose the pattern for the inside of the purse and cover one side of all chipboard pieces. If you are using a stripe or plaid it will be more difficult as you want to make sure your stripes are all going the same direction, so to be safe you can either choose a solid or a random pattern (like a floral or polka dot) for the inside.

If you've never covered chipboard in patterned paper before, it's not that scary. Dont worry. Just use either a foam paint brush or yes, your fingers and spread a thin layer of adhesive down on the chipboard. I use Mod Podge because that's what I have on hand. A lot of crafters swear by Yes Paste, I just have to run out of my mod podge first before I can try it out.

So anyway, spread a thin layer of glue down, and then press the chipboard down onto the paper and smooth it out. You can go over it with a bone folder or brayer if you get bubbles, but the thinner the glue the less bubbles you'll get. Now sit and wait for it to dry. As soon as it's dry (give it at least 5 minutes) cut around the chipboard pieces with a craft knife. I find it much easier to do it like this because it's more work to measure and cut out the patterned paper and then try to line it up on the chipboard...lol.

At this point I have a few of the pieces trimmed, i wanted to show you that I lay the paper face down so that the chipboard is UP when I am trimming, it helps me to get closer to the edges. (What's that? A cookie is missing? hmmm...oh and there's a soda there too now? Guess I'll have to add that to the supply list...)

From your next sheet of patterned paper cut a piece measuring 8.25"x12". Lay it down horizontally in front of you so that the pattern is face down. This is important if you actually want your pattern to show....heed my warning, I've seen the results if it's done reverse, you end up with LOVELY white chipboard...lol.

Spread another thin layer of glue on the un-covered side of one of the 5"x6.25" pieces and line up the 6.25" edge of the chipboard so that it is centered along the 8.25" edge of the paper as shown in the photo.

Now at this point, measure the thickness of your chipboard with a ruler, that is the amount of space you want to leave between the pieces when you glue down your next piece of chipboard. Make sure that you line up the outside edges and that the gutter between the spaces is even and equal to the thickness of the chipboard. See photo for example of the next placement. Now again, same as before, thin layer of glue on the uncovered side of the 2"x6.25" piece of chipboard. Another trick if you dont want to measure the thickness, you can wedge a scrap piece of the same chipboard in between the edges when you are gluing your next piece down.

Repeat the same procedure for the final 5"x6.25" piece, this one will overhang the patterned paper a bit, but dont worry, we'll hide it!

Using the back of your craft knife score along both long edges of the 2"x6.25" piece, dont press hard you dont want to cut the paper, just assist with the folding process! Then score along the 5" edges and the 2" edges of the chipboard. At this point you'll also want to cut skinny triangles out of the patterned paper so that they point at the gutters between the chipboard pieces. See photo!

Fold up the edges of the patterned paper and make sure that it knows where it's going to end up...lol. (this is so that your corners and edges are crisp.) Next fold up the chipboard sides to get those creases enforced, when doing this you want the larger pieces to sit ON TOP of the 2" chipboard strip, that is why we left the gutter equal to the thickness of the chipboard.

Next, we are adhering the skinny sides of the purse. On the first of the 2"x5" pieces of chipboard, apply a thin layer of glue along the long edge, about 1" wide. You are gluing this to one of the patterned paper flaps, again, leaving the gutter the thickness of the chipboard.

Repeat with the second 2"x5" piece of chipboard, adhering it across from the first. See picture.

This is when things get wild and you'll start to wish your hubby was crafty too...lol. Fold up the end with all the chipboard pieces on it and fold in one of the 2x5 pieces so that it sits on top of the 2"x6.25" chipboard "bottom" and place a thin layer of glue on the bottom edge of the 2x5 side and fold up the little tiny flap. Turn the purse around and do the same with the opposite 2x5 side. See picture.

Next fold up the remaining side so the all the outside edges of the chipboard are flush and glue down remaining flaps.

From the remaining patterned paper (the outside of the purse pattern) cut two 2.125"x5" pieces to finish off the "sides" of the purse and hide the seams. After gluing the small pieces of patterned paper to the sides, you can either ink or paint the thin raw edges of chipboard at the top of the purse. I chose to ink mine with a colorbox chalk ink in a similar shade of pink. (hint: to smooth out the edge of the patterned paper and chipboard, rub it with an emery board, it'll look purdy)

now it's time to hide the thin edge of raw chipboard along the top. For this, I grab a piece of scrap cardstock in a coordinating color, I chose a green to match my ribbon. you can either leave it straight or cut a decorative border. This time around, I left mine straight. To add more dimension to it I did stitch along one edge. (I used two one inch wide strips cut from scraps) Wrap the first strip around the purse without glue to fold the creases, you'll want to trim the strip so that it fits both the skinny sides and the front of the purse but does not continue around to the back. Then smear on some glue...this time I put the glue on the cardstock not the purse, i didnt want to put too much on and thought this would be cleaner. From the remaining strip I cut it down to 6.25" and adhered that to the back of the purse so that the "seams" were at the corners and less visible.

If you wish to dangle a tag off the handle, it's best to slide a jump ring onto the ribbon before you glue it. Using a dry adhesive (like a tape runner, i use ad tech) run adhesive along one side of the ribbon for 6 inches. I started the ribbon on the center of the bottom, and it's about 1.25" in from the sides. Next leave 8 inches unglued for the handle. If you need to mark on the ribbon where to start gluing you can slide the jump ring to that position or poke a pin in the ribbon. Next you'll need about 12 inches of glue (this will wrap around to the start of the next handle.) Leave another 8 inch section unglued. Glue down remaining ribbon and trim where it meets the starting point so that the seem is "hidden".

From here you can either leave it as is or grab that 2" square leftover chipboard and decorate that as well and hang it from the jump ring on the ribbon. Hope you had fun, and shoot me a link if you decided to make this project!!

Chipboard Card Purse

This was a bit of work, but also very fun. I started with a sheet of plain chipboard and kinda just "went from there" my finished dimensions are 5.25"x6.25"x2.25" and I fit 10 cards and 10 envelopes inside...but you could fit way more. My cards are so layered and dimensional that they take up a lot of room...lol

The papers are MME (inside and out) the scalloped edge is bazzill, the rub on is Karen Foster. The sequin flowers are doodle bug, held on by a tagger tail (around the block). I have no clue who made the bookplate, it's most likely a JoAnns product since I get most of my metal embellishments there when they are on sale. I'm sure I forgot a few things, so feel free to ask away!

A2 Card Folder

So Sam has posted an awesome tutorial for this card folder on her blog if any of you are interested!

For this folder I used a bit of a basic grey scrap, and a couple sheets of Bazzill. The stamps are autumn leaves (floral) and heidi grace (sentiment). The chalk inks are colorbox. Now...if you look closely you'll notice I only have two cards and about forty envelopes in there...so quit looking so closely! I didn't have a bunch of cards on hand to stuff in there for the photo so I improvised...lol. There is about an inch of space for cards, so depending on how elaborate and dimensional your cards are, I'd say you could jam...err...lovingly house about 8-10 handmade cards plus envelopes. Not too shabby.

Card Box

Well, I have no tutorial to link you to today, sadly. I saw a similar design for this posted on a SU! Demonstrators' blog however she didn't post instructions as it was a fancy schmancy class she was teaching for other demonstrators to pay her money to learn this technique. Well I took one look at it and thought "Self: That cannot be too difficult to replicate!" So I got to work. Really it was just a few quick measurements to make sure the cards would fit inside (note to reader, if you are craft savvy and you attempt this yourself, keep in mind that the envelopes are slightly larger than the cards and you shouldn't be a dweeb like me and forget that little detail...lol)

I also had intended on using some fabulous BoBunny paper so that I could link you on over to AMR so you could buy some yummy goodness, however, all I managed was a 3x4" rectangle of BoBunny polka dots...so there you have it. Take my advice, visit AMR and shop anyway. Regardless of my inability to follow through with my own intentions.

Glitter and Embossing

For this card, I stamped the stems with a studio G clear stamp, and added glittered rub on flowers. The sentiment is also Studio G. Polka dot paper is doodlebug, cardstock is all Bazzill.

As you can see I made a few in this design...lol. The stems and leaves are all stamped, the leaves are studio G, the dotted stems are autumn leaves (build a flower set). The flowers are Autumn Leaves, I stamped those on scrap patterned paper and then embossed them in polysparkle by ranger. (I used colorbox inks on both cards)

Alterred Lunch Pail

I dont know why my camera read the lighting two different ways for these photographs, good old technology for ya....lol. Anyway, just think of it as a study in the effects of mood lighting on a red lunch pail.

I spent an hour alterring a plain old red lunch pail that came in a colorbok kit, and now it's home to a lovely all occasion set of handmade cards. I used Fancy Pants floral Chic paper, DaisyD's rubon floral flourish, faux suede fabric (a little duct tape, shhhh.) and Duck brand permanent glue stick. Yes I used a glue stick...and you know what it worked great! I did not sand the tin first, I coated the back of the paper so thick with glue that my fingers were gummy, I didn't let it set up at all first I just slapped it onto the tin and rubbed it down smooth for a few minutes until the glue dried and it's still holding strong. Aaaah the wonders of glue....lol

I decided to keep the outside rather low key as the real gift is the set of cards inside the pail. Plus, while all the extras are pretty, they get in the way and/or get damaged, so this way there are no worries.

Thanks for wandering by!

Chatterbox Birthday Cards

Okay, deep dark not no secret time...my second favorite paper line is Chatterbox....mmmmmm. I am addicted. The sentiments are studio G stamps, and the floral shadow stamp is rhonna farrer/autumn leaves. Thanks for peeking!

A Break from Valentine Cards

Sorry about the difference in lighting in the photos, for some reason my camera thought it suddenly got darker in a matter of 8 seconds...lol. I used some DCWV floral paper on these cards, and a studio g sentiment. TFL!

More cards with Blush Paper!

Have I mentioned yet how yummy the basic grey blush line really is? If you have these patterns in your stash of paper, break 'em out and just look at how rich they are! Now use them....lol.

I used my cricut for the cutting this time around, the scalloped rectangle is from the celebrations cartridge (it's the numeral 5 on blackout) and the rounded rectangle and hearts are from George. I {heart} my bug.....

And just a bit of information for ya...I choose to photograph my cards standing in front of patterned paper to block out the messy piles all around them. Seriously, it's bad...lol. I just lay a sheet of paper on my work surface, and prop another up behind it, aim a light in the direction of the card and presto! instant display....lol.

Someone left some mojo laying around...

and I stole it...hehehe.

I saw this awesome tutorial on Martha Stewart Crafts yesterday and HAD to try one for myself! I didn't have any miniature scallop scissors, my scallop scissors were too large, so I settled for my fiskars "torn" edgers. not my first choice, but they worked out so-so. I am on the hunt for miniature scallops now! I also use my fiskars anywhere spring loaded punches to get the flaps pinned back. Those punches are awesome, I've punched through 7 layers of cardstock with those bad boys, and it takes out some great agression...lol.

For this Card I used Daisy Bucket papers, DCWV Cardstock, Jolies 3-d stocking sticker, studio G holiday sentiment and OTC glitter brads.

A Little Birdie Thanks

Yes Nicole, the birds again....Perhaps you need a set of them for yourself too? hehehe.

Supplies for this card:

Bazzill Cardstock, Paper Bouquet Cardstock, Lasting Impressions Floral, Fancy Pants Stripes, Heidi Grace Bird Stamps, Studio G Tag Stamp, Distress Ink (that didn't look right and got covered by pigment pen anyway...), Colorbox Fluid Chalk Ink (green), Prisma Colored Pencils, American Crafts Ribbon.

And because someone suggested that a cure for my scrappers block is smaller 8x8 or 6x6 pages... I thought I would say this:

Making cards is a new avenue that I am exploring lately. I by no means have scrappers block, I have no problem with 12x12 layouts....I just have no ink in my photo printer, and I refuse to rob a bank just to print a few photos of my crazy kids with food on their faces. While I love scrapbooking, this card making and stamping thing is pretty dang fun, You can pack a pretty good punch into a well layed out card. I find that the more layers on the card front the more put together and cohesive it feels when its done. And hey, least i'm using my stash a little more than i used to!

A little birdie with a valentine

Nothing crazy like a layout today, my back is acting up on me, so i'm kicking back on a heating pad for a bit making a couple cards. (And everything that rolled off my table onto the floor is just going to have to live down there til tomorrow...lol)

Supplies used: Bazzill Cardstock, Chatterbox patterned cardstock, Oriental Trading Ribbon, Colorbox Ink, Rubber Stampede Ink, Bird Stamp - Heidi Grace, Envelope Stamp - Studio G Series 7

Funny Valentine Cards

I concocted these bad boys in response to a photo-card challenge on Allmomentsremembered.com , they have a new message board....go see!! Anyway, it's a hybrid card, the tags and hearts are a mix of a bunch of digi stuff, plus my handwriting...lol. I plan on making paper flower bouquets for both grandma's and these are the cards that will hang on the buckets.

Thanks for looking, and Happy New Year!

Used my new stamps!

NO IT'S NOT ME....lol.

This is a card for a good friend of mine.

Supplies:

Studio G stamps, Colorbox chalk inks

MME (Stripe), Autumn Leaves/Rhonna Farrer (Flourished floral), Bazzill Cardstocks

K&Co mini tag

ribbon, prima flower, MM antique brad

and the rectangles were cut with my cricut using the celebrations cart. (the number 5 on blackout and to matte it set it to shadow)

To Etsy or Not To Etsy

I've been off and on hearing wonderful things about selling and buying on Etsy...and I'm on the cusp of diving in. I think I would focus my efforts in a few small areas to keep it "do-able", I enjoy pre-making blank layouts to use later, so I could go that route, and I'm really getting my mojo moving making a bunch of all occasion cards, so I plan to make coordinated card sets. Plus, I've had recommendations to make and sell some funky aprons, so I may do that too. I think it all depends on the Niche I want to inhabit, ya know? I mean, there is an etsy shop that from what I can tell caters mostly to funky camera straps, and that is awesome, everything in that shop is always sold out.

I like that etsy is all handmade, and that people shopping on etsy WANT handmade! So it's really the right community to turn to.

So for my readers who are etsy buyers and or sellers, give me some feedback here, how have your experiences been with etsy? is it a worthwile venue to explore? I've never done the craft shows, and I would love to participate in one or two in the future, I just dont have much to sell at the moment...but that's easily fixed...lol.

so, hit me with your best opinions, experiences and advice!