Popsicle Card

This is another idea straight from the October issue of Cards magazine.  I'm so glad that I took advantage of an offer they had a while back for their online subscription!

Each month I get access to the current issue online.  I can just view it that way or save it onto my computer and have offline access to it whenever I want.  Since my storage space is limited it's a good choice for me.  My cardmaking magazines and books were taking up too much space in my craft room!

It's another A2 sized card.  Supplies used:

• pink striped paper 5 1/2 x 4 /14
• blue paper 3 3/4 x 5
• popsicle shape 1 7/8 x 2 1/2
•   
• dark blue scrap
• cotton twine
• black marker   
• corner rounder
• 1 1/2" scalloped circle punch
• SU scallop border punch
• chestnut roan ink
• french blue ink
• white Signo pen
• popsicle stick
• Cursive 101 cartridge

The eyes were done with one of my favorite tools to keep close by.  It's a Staedtler combo circle template. 

It has 1/16" to 2 1/4" circles on it.  Love to use it checking punch sizes as well as for the circles.  You can find it in the drafting section of office supply stores and craft shops.

I just chose a small circle and filled it in using my white Signo pen.  Added the dark spots in the eyes and the mouth with a black marker.

The edges of the blue piece and the popsicle were inked.

I cut the word "sweet" at 1" using Design Studio I nudged all the letters and welded them into a single word. The stick is half a popsicle stick and I used ATG tape to apply it to the popsicle.  Cotton twine was used for the bow.

Patterned flowers

The October issue of Cards magazine features some cards done with these flowers.   It's such a neat idea and one of those "how come I never did this" ones!

Just stamp onto patterned paper, trim close to the inked lines and add some bling or a button for the center and you can have a multitude of patterned flowers to use on your projects!

I used chocolate chip ink from SU and black Staz On.  The dark brown gives a much softer look on the papers that I used.  Of the six flowers in the bottom of this photo, the three in the top row were done with chocolate chip and the others with the black Staz-On.

This shows how different inks will work on a light blue background.

The stamp I used is one without a lot of detail so it will be simple to cut out once you get the image onto the paper. 

Santa Face Card

This little guy is so cute!  And talk about fast and easy to assemble!

It's a good way to use up white cardstock scraps as well as smaller pieces of red that you may have leftover from another project.

Thank you to Dee Slater, a SU demo, for sharing this idea!

It's an A2 sized card.  I cut an 1 1/2" x 4 1/4" piece of red for his hat,  ran 4 strips of white cardstock through various Cuttlebug folders and then tore the edges.

Layer the torn pieces onto the white cardstock then use a marker to make his eyes.  Punch a 1" circle  for the nose and pop dot it so it will stand off the white base.

Dee didn't give him rosy cheeks but I thought Santa always had rosy cheeks so I just brushed some chalk on with my fingertip.  Then I added some white accents in his eyes and on his nose.

The snowflake is from Accent Essentials cartridge and was cut at 1".  It's been accented with a Clear Star Gelly Roll pen to add a little bling.

The cardstock I used is pure white, it just has sort of a rosy tint in the photo.  I haven't mastered using the digital camera yet.  I keep experimenting with different backdrops, etc to get the best photo I can.  I'll figure it out yet!

Thank you card

This card was made from some paper I got at stamp club a couple of months ago as part of a challenge.

The dark blue and patterned flowers were punched with a SU punch.  The white center flower are some bridal confetti flowers from Michaels all attached with a tiny gold brad.

The cream background paper has a texture like tree bark on it.

I printed the sentiment on my PC and added a bow, put brads on the corners and some ink on the edges and decided that was all this card needed.

Blue and brown are a great, versatile color combination!

Wedding Card

This card was made recently for our friend Brent's wedding.  The little hearts turned out so cute!

I believe the inspiration for it came from a Splitcoaststamper posting.  When I'm looking around on the internet and I find a card that I like, it's saved in an "Ideas" folder.  Frequently I'll scroll through the photos in my folder and find something I want to make.

This card measures 5 1/2" x 8 1/2".  It's not very often that I make one this size but this was a special wedding to me so it called for a nicer card.

The sentiments were computer generated in my card making software.  The hearts were cut at 2".  For the groom I cut one plain white one and one out of some black striped SU paper.  I hand cut the notch in the black one so the white "shirt" would be visible and added 3 tiny red brads for the buttons.

The bride heart is glossy white paper that was run through the Cuttlebug.  I added pearly white brads on it.

The silver patterned paper is from an old stack that I had on hand and I mounted it onto metallic silver paper.  Added a small organza bow for an accent and I was done!

The inside of the card didn't get photographed but the sentiment is "Through every step you take together, may joy and happiness walk with you....may laughter dance along your path and love always shine on you."

Isn't that a nice sentiment for a wedding card?

Christmas Card

I computer generated the definition of Christmas.  Added some hot set rounds and a star.  Used up the last of my Wilton premade bows which makes me sad since I can no longer find them at Hobby Lobby.

The little tree is from the Paper Studio Christmas pack that I mentioned in an earlier post.  I just colored it a darker green with a SU marker and cut it out.  The edges of the definition piece are inked.

The red polka dot background came from a package of mini file folders that I got at the Dollar Tree last year.  I had searched high and low for red paper with tiny white polka dots on it for another project and had no luck finding any at the craft stores.  When I saw these I grabbed a pack!  Who wouldn't since I got 25 of the folders in the pack for only $1!  Ya' gotta love a bargain!

Halloween and Fall Cards

This photo sure came out dark!  I used chocolate chip SU cardstock for the background and ran it through the Cuttlebug.  Cut out the leaves with my E and used the negative cut out for the border.  The glittered leaf came from the floral department in a bag of loose leaves.

I always like to find striped paper inside a stack then tend to struggle to find

a good way to utilize the stripes.  Two shades of brown cardstock were used to accent the stripes.  Copper colored brads are in the center of the squares.  I added a Studio G sentiment and a ribbon.

The ribbon is chocolate chip but looks like a deep burgandy in the photo.

The next card is one that I saw online last year.  It's strips of cardstock cut about 1" wide, edges were inked and then I layed them over an orange card base.  Used my E to cut ovals for the eyes and used the negative cut of the word "Boo".

I like the effect of the negative cut outs on these two cards. 

No post on Tuesday

Yesterday DH, (Fred) and I went to our state fair. So that's why there was no post done.

We try to go every year just to see the exhibits and buy great deals.  LOL!  I'm a sucker for watching the "amazing salsa maker" , "never sharpen again knife" and the "easy mop" demonstrations!

Although we will see what they're selling, about the only purchases we make are food items, especially if it's a Mom & Pop business.  Fred is a big time snacker so we buy things like the dried dip mixes from the smaller entrepreneurs.

It's a rare occasion for us to eat a meal at the fairgrounds.  Neither of us cares too much for the typical fried foods they offer and we prefer not to sit perched on the edge of a retaining wall trying to balance food on our laps while not getting stepped on by passersby or run over by a distracted stroller pusher.

But this year they offered something different...fried alligator on a stick!  And yes, as the old saying goes "it tastes like chiken' " LOL!  It was actually better than I thought it would be.  We've eaten alligator before at a local restaurant that served some Cajun dishes and offered alligator egg rolls, of all things.  It's something that I'd classify as "OK" but not something I would eat very often.  Here in Oklahoma, we're beef people!

I suppose most state fairs offer the same types of food, lots of hamburgers and corndogs but I swear, if there's a way to poke a stick inside something and fry it the food vendors will do it!  We saw chicken on a stick, shrimp on a stick, chocolate coated frozen bananas on a stick and even pizza on a stick.

They deep fry everything from catfish to candybars!  And by the way, deep fried candy bars are NOT my idea of how to eat chocolate!

Oklahoma has a pretty good wine industry going these days.  We enjoy taking day trips out to local vineyards and wineries and I've learned to appreciate the different types of wine they offer.  At this year's fair I believe there were five wineries in the Made in Oklahoma building so we had to see if they'd developed any new types.  Fred enjoys a dry red wine and I prefer more of a semi-sweet and a wine tasting is the perfect way to see what you like without having to get a whole bottle.

The current thing around here these days is frozen wine drinks.  I call them Icees for big people.  They're generally made with a red wine, some simple syrup and a little added water.  They remind me a lot of a frozen daquiri; something nice to have on a hot summer day.  A winery from Vinita had a peach bellini mixed up and that was my treat for the day!

The state fair is pretty much the end of summer to me.  Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before I know it!

Christmas cards for soldiers

This paper pack was picked up at Hobby Lobby and I have used the heck out of it this past week!  For a pack that only has 60 pages in it, I've already finished over 75 cards using the paper and have a lot of pages left.

Here are three of the cards that I've finished.  One of the patterned papers in this pack has holiday images that are 2" square so they fit great on the tags I cut with my Cricut.





The sentiment was printed on my computer, then I used a SU scallop punch on the strip and added some red dots with my SU marker.

Of course I had to ink the edges of the card or Okie would have really dinged me about not doing that!

The heart images are one of the preprinted squares in the pack.  I just added a red bow, inked the edges and mounted it on the card with some of my home made pop dots.

These cards are super simple to make but I'll still be proud to donate them for CFS.  As I've said before, I try to limit the amount of embellishments that are on the card front so they won't get damaged in the mail.

About every 6 weeks the Cards for Soldier group will announce a new challenge.  I committed to making 250 cards for the current challenge and have met my goal.  The majority of the cards are holiday type and I'm just about burned out on making them so it's time for me to switch gears and go back to making something different.

So, I can put away the Christmas themed paper, for now, and start looking for some inspiration for another type of card.

I encourage all cardmakers to pick a charity and donate some cards! 

Chistmas is coming! Easel Calendars for Gift Giving

Christmas will be here before we know it! 

These simple little calendars make nice "tuck in" gifts to go along with your Christmas cards.  I think that teachers and co-workers would enjoy getting them too.

It's an A2 sized card.  Cut an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock in half so that you have a piece that measures 5 1/2 x 8 1/2.

Score in the center and then score again 2" from the edge.  This is the fold used to make a step card.

Cut another piece of cardstock 5 1/4 x 4 1/4.  I used heavy patterned paper on the green one.  Attach a print out calendar to this piece.  Then just center it on the folded side of your cardstock base and glue down.

Cut a piece of patterned paper 3 3/4 x 5  1/4 and adhere it to the bottom of the card.  Add a punch out, brad, flower or whatever you like to make a "stop" to hold the calendar upright and you're done.

I just Googled "free printable calendar" and found the one I used online.  Here's one link that I used:          

http://www.calendarprintables.com/2011-printable-calendar.htm

http://www.printable2011calendar.com

The second one has more options to print out on it.  Scroll down to the bottom of the page for a full year calendar like the one I used here.

I keep one of these on my craft table so it's handy and have given several of them away for desktop use.

Since they're A2 size, they fit perfectly in an envelope to mail.  If your family does a Christmas photo this would be a nice way to send those out too.  Just adhere your photo onto the space where the calendar fits and voila`!, instant photo easel frame.

The decorating world is stuck on brown!

Recently I decided it was time to replace my couch and went to eight or nine furniture retailers checking out what was available.  After the first one, I told the salesman right up front "nothing brown".   He assured me that there were a number of couches I'd like and direct me to look at one........and it was BROWN!

He might have called it desert sand, mocha, mojave mist or some other euphemism but it was still brown.

After several days of searching I bought a couch,  and  it's comfortable. 
The saleslady pacified me by calling it "cinnamon". 
I felt as if I had no choice; it was either some shade of brown or nothing. 

Today I went to pick out carpet, floor tile and some laminate to re-do our flooring.

Evidentally, the home decor industry has RUN OUT OF DYES because carpet and floor tile samples are....BROWN! 

So, after a couple of hours I chose my new floor coverings.  The lady assured me they are all "very neutral" and will be easy to decorate with.  THEY'RE  BROWN!

There must be an entire course in interior decorating school devoted to naming colors.  Sahara sand,  mocha, hazelnut, chocolate, amber, truffle, logan stone, sienna, frontier, caramel, putty, cocoa, bark, walnut, spice, cinder, hickory or acacia.......all just fancy names for "BROWN".

Computer generated sentiments and digital stamps

Recently I've been doing a LOT of computer generated sentiments and background papers.  Finding appropriate stamps when you live so far away from a craft store is a problem.   Shipping costs on a stamp set are sometimes as much as the cost of the set, and I'm basically a bargain hunter!

When I began making cards, I found Hallmark Card Maker software at Staples.  This program is super simple to use and it shows you the actual card as you're working on it so you know if your design is going to work.

You can use any font that you have on your PC to do your words and resizing the letters is a snap.

The only thing Cricut on this one is the little bracket, cut from Tags, Bags Boxes and More.

See how you can just do a simple sentiment on your PC and then punch it out?   In the past I'd buy single sentiment stamps but now that my craft room has reached its capacity, I use the PC a LOT more.  Besides, I can change the font and size so easy and not be tied to just one image on a stamp.

This card has a lot of detail on it, for me.  It took a few tries to get the little envelope folded just right.  The sentiment was printed on white cardstock, inked the edges and attached it to the envelope with some brads.

The flower is from the wedding section at Michael's.  They're bridal confetti and come in a lot of different colors depending on the season.

Tuck in a nice tea bag and you have a good get well card.

Sigh***  I sacrificed some of my polka dot paper on this one! And of course-----------DOODLEDOTS!

The dragon on this one is a Dustin Pike image.  Digital stamps are great!  I have some that you can print already colored or you can just do a black and white one and color it yourself.  I've had people ask me if my printer ink runs when I color.  To date, I haven't had a problem.  But I suppose if you really scrubbed on the image it might bleed some.

I use SU markers, BIC markers as well as Prismacolor pencils with Gamsol to color images and my ink holds up pretty well.

The leaf and pumpkin are examples of the colored clip art images.  The sentiment was just printed and cut out with shaped scissors.

 Okieladybug made some cards like this last fall and I totally lifted her idea!  (imagine that!)

The pumpkin was printed in B&W and I shaded it with my Prismacolor pencils.  Two different Cuttlebug folders were used and then I just cut the scallop circle on the Cricut.

Just find some appropriate words and type them in MS Word. Vary your fonts and spacing then print and cut to size.  I spent some time online finding some Irish/St. Patrick's Day words to use on this example.  The center sentiment is a stamped image mounted on a circle punch shape.  The shamrock was cut with my Cricut.

If your storage space is limited in your craft area and you're like me, want to stretch your crafting budget as far as you can,  try using some of the digital stamps and clip art available online.  There are a ton of sites full of free clip art so you can play with some images.  You don't have to have card maker software either.  The images can be resized using MS Word.

Forever Young card

This girl has attitude!  You can tell with her hands on the hips, no nonsense stance!  When Forever Young came out I knew it was a caratridge I had to have.  It has purses and shoes on it and I collect shoes!  The eyeglasses remind me of my very first pair that I got when I was in the sixth grade.  They were blue, cat-eye and had a couple of rinestones on the corners.  Back then, that was all the rage.

The eyeglasses are cut from mica paper, the butterfly is a MS punch and I used my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder on it.  There are stickles on her belt as well as the handbag for a little bling.

Added my photo

Obviously, the photo I've uploaded isn't a current one!  LOL!  When I looked to find one I realized that I haven't had a photo taken in over 15 years!  So, I figured why not post one without my wrinkles and grey hair!

Don't you just crack up looking at your old childhood photos?  This is one of my favorites and I still remember going to the hotel in our town when a traveling photographer was there.  My mother had portraits taken of all four of us kids.

I think this was probably before color film had been invented!  LOL!  But I remember my dress was a pink fabric sort of like taffeta and that my mother had to work to get me dolled up for the sitting.  My mother made all my clothes and she loved to make dressy dresses for us to wear to church.  On our Easter dresses she'd go all out with ruffles, bows and pinafores!  Then she'd have to force me to wear one and not tear it up while I was running around outside like a banshee.  I was very definitely a tomboy and not too interested in getting all gussied up. 

As soon as I can drag DH to a studio I'll get a current one posted--------but only if it's flattering!   It's something I've wanted to do for some time and just haven't gotten around to doing.  He doesn't understand why I want a current photo of him so I finally told him I'll need one for the back of the milk carton if he ever goes missing!  LOL!

Gift bags

Don't you just hate it when you need a bag for a gift and you run out to buy one only to find out the bag will cost almost as much as the gift?  I keep a supply of decorated bags on hand for little presents or even food gifts.

These are super fast and easy to do and can be decorated for any occasion.

The Santa sack and the cupcake sack are just lunch bags that you can buy in a cello wrapped bundle in the aisle with the waxed paper and baggies at your local grocery store.

Lay your bag out flat and measure the heighth and width.  I add a little bit more to the measurement and trim off the excess after I get the paper applied to the bag since the bags aren't completely uniform in size.

Using my ATG gun I apply adhesive to the edges of the flattened bag and then apply my paper and trim as necessary. 

The "handle" at the top was punched with a SU oval punch. 

The ladybug bag is just a plain white purchased gift bag.  This was for my niece's baby shower gift; she did the nursery in a ladybug theme.

The M&M bag was for a secret sister exchange at a swarm.  I just used my Cricut to cut the circles for the M&M's and the letters.

Last year I made the Santa bags for all my food gifts.  Inside I included blocks of my DH's "famous" smoked cheese, my homemade salad dressing and some dip mixes that I made.  I made little toppers for the dip mixes.  The chili pepper image is available on Okieladybug's blog for download.  The file was made using her George cartridge.

The photos are making me hungry!  LOL!  I may just run in the kitchen and mix some of this up for a snack later!

Little gifts

Embellishing note pads and composition books is a good way to have a supply of little gifts on hand.  They're inexpensive to make, take very little time and you can customize them any way you like.

These are covers for basic white note pads that you can pick up anywhere that they sell office supplies.  They measure 3 x 5 1/2".   Cut your cardstock 2 times the width of your note pad plus the depth of the pad.  Score the cardstock so it will fold neatly over the note pad and just embellish away!  I used a few lines of ATG adhesive on the back of the notepad to secure it to the cover.  This size is great for tucking into your handbag or glove box in the car.

The paper I used on this composition book came in a book of papers from Paperwishes.  It included a lot of coordinating tags, images and alphabets.  Composition books are super easy to cover.  My grandaughter makes some every time she visits.  Her friends really enjoy getting the ones she's personalized just for them.

The flowers on this one are purchased embellishments.  Ribbon was threaded through a border punched piece of cardstock.

These papers and embellishments also came from Paper Wishes.

Another one using the Paper Wishes papers.  The envelope does open so you can tuck a note inside.

This Post-it holder was made a long time before I bought my Bind-it-all so it has a paper hinge rather than the wires.  There are Skittles across the top and bottom.  Mickey was cut from Mickey and Friends.  There are tutorials online on how to make these.  Dawn Griffith has one on her SU blog  http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/ and there's also one on http://www.chicnscratch.typepad.com/

With Christmas just around the corner I need to get more of these done and stashed away in my gift closet!

"Charlie Brown" cards

In the old comic strip, Peanuts, every year Charlie Brown has the saddest looking Christmas tree you'll ever see.  Its branches are sparse and it doesn't stand up straight but he bravely decorates it anyway.  DH and I often refer to something that looks a little pitiful as being a "Charlie Brown" and that's how I think about my first attempts at card making.

Over the past 2 1/2 years I've learned so much from reading posts online and checking out posted photos!

 I know now that cards need dimension added to them, inking the edges helps to soften the effect of embellishments as well as sort of giving the eye a "bridge" at the outside edge of a card front.  That way the card doesn't just seem to be floating in the air. 

My interest in using stickers has also virtually disappeared.  Once in a while I buy a pack if they really look like something I'll use.  Stars and American flags are some of my must-haves.

Using a color wheel has really helped me to put colors together that I'd never have considered on my own.  Bright green is still giving me a problem though!  A quilter friend uses a lot of chartreusse in her quilts and it amazes me how well it will blend in with other fabric colors.  Maybe someday I'll get there!  And, I can mix patterned papers now.  In the past, I'd never have been able to put flowers and stripes or checks together. (I can still hear my mother telling me when I was in gradeschool "Linda Faye, you cannot wear that blouse with those plaid shorts!" LOL!

So, here are a few of my very first cards from February, 2008.  Maybe they'll give you a chuckle to start your day!

Can you say "Stickles"?  This was one of my very first attempts at using it.  A trifle heavy handed, I think!

I had just bought my Baby Bug and was so thrilled that I could cut out shapes! Notice, plain edges on card and images are just stuck onto the card front using a glue stick!    I'll bet I used a hundred glue sticks before Okieladybug introduced me to an ATG gun.

An example of glitter gone wrong!  LOL! I did use the Cricut to cut the card out and thought the word needed to be emphasized so it would stand out more.  Boy, did it ever!  By the time I got the glitter to stick to the letters I had more glitter on me than an 80's Disco queen!  LOL!

On this one I was trying to add some pizazz--I think! Not sure why I thought dangling 4 little strands of yarn would do it!

Believe me, these were not the worst ones I made back then! LOL!  I had never done any type of papercrafting so it was a whole new world to me.  I began making cards on my sewing cutting table with some really basic supplies.  Now I have an entire room devoted to paper, tools and supplies and am constantly looking for the newest items to add to my stash. 

Graphic 45 card with vintage label

I just can't take good detailed photos of my cards!

Okieladybug and I bought sheets of this Graphic 45 paper during stamp club this month.  She's been

posting cards on her blog using the cutouts.

This is two sided paper, which gives me fits!  If I cut a box out on one side, I'm ruining the pretty checks on the other side and vice versa!

These vintage labels are all very pretty.  I can't resist the papers like this when I find them and then they're in my stash and hardly ever get used.  It's too hard

to decide how to use them!  LOL!

I just cut one label out, then flipped the paper over and cut a checked border from the back side. Then added an additional red border.   The corner motifs are online images of vintage doilies.  They were printed in B&W and I used a BIC marker to color the white areas to resemble a tea dyed color.  Gold colored circles were added to make the doily shape pop off the textured black background paper.  A simple cotton Sugar & Cream thread was used for the bow.

Spicy Dip Recipe

This recipe is for the dip that I gave in my goodie bags at Christmastime last year.  There's a photo below showing the bag topper that I made for it.

Mexican Fiesta Dip

1/2 cup dried parsley
1./3 cup dried minced onion
1.4 cup dried chives
1/3 cup chili powder
1/4 cup ground cumin
1/4 cup salt

Combine well and store in airtight container.  Attach recipe to gift bag.

Dip Recipe
3 Tbsp. Mexican Fiesta Dip Mix
1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream

Mix well.  Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips or fresh vegetables.

If you want it to be really spicy, add some red pepper flakes!
Low fat mayonnaise and low fat yogurt may be substituted but it won't taste as rich.

Cookbook pages

This has already been featured on Okieladybug's blog.  I'm loading the photos on here just for some friends that don't go blog hopping.

These pages were done with Cricut cuts, stickers, cut outs from printed paper and purchased embellishments.   Once I decided to do it, I stopped making cards until all the pages were done.  I knew if I ever put this project aside that I'd never go back and finish it.  It took me a full week of working every evening and quite a long time on the weekend to get it all done.    These recipes are ones that I use the most..  The pages are all 8 1/2 x 11 and fit into page protectors in a Debbbie Mumm recipe binder.

Doing this sure convinced me that I'll never be a scrapbooker!  LOL!  It was extremely difficult for me to come up with ideas for the pages so they wouldn't all look the same and be the same colors!