One seed can start a garden, one candle can light a room, one step can begin a journey, one conversation can start a friendship, one smile from a handmade card can lift one's SPIRIT!

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Valentine Treats

If you have followed this blog at all you know that I make little treats to give to my bible study ladies...and it is always "dark chocolate"!!  These little treats coincide with a seasonal celebration...like the one coming up:  Valentines Day!  I purchased some little ( and I do mean "little" glassine bags...2 x 3.5)  just the perfect size for TWO DOVE DARK CHOCOLATES!!  I then punched out a square and stamped a couple of different sentiments:  Special Delivery with a heart and a heart with Happy Valentines Day in the center...I attached the square to the glassine bag by using a strip of washi tape...red with white dots along both edges...I think it looks pretty cute.  I used Betsy's idea about turning the Front & Center die into a cone...I used some two sided designer Valentine paper and cut it out and adhered it as she demonstrated here...I added some embellishments, doilies, some K & Company old fashioned valentine pieces...I placed 6 of my treat bags inside each cone.  We break into 6 groups for small discussion during the bible study...so these will be placed in the center of the table and each lady will go home with a special treat!
Thanks for taking a look.

One Final Shaker Card...

I couldn't resist doing one more shaker card for the MIM over at PTI using the die from Signature Series:  Dress Form...I added little tiny red beads thinking...okay this is going to be a "hot" number for a romantic "fabulous" day!

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Lace Bouquet cards...love that stamp!



I really liked Betsy Veldman's card here where she used this stamp set and stamped it once with ink and then a second time with versamark and white embossed it...then she used some distress ink to help the white emboss really pop...I think one of the hardest cards to make is a sympathy card...especially when you really need it.  So I thought I would use the With Sympathy from the Think Big Series...and have some ready to go...

Friday, January 27, 2012

A new set of cards

On the last day of the Online Card Class, we were asked to make a set of cards...I just received the Lace Bouquet from Papertrey and decided to CAS one of Nichole Heady's cards here and made a set of four birthday cards.  I used four different colors and I also used the cane impression plate for the background.  I guess I still need to package them...I will get busy on that project and take another picture when it is done.
The sentiment is from botanical Silhouettes....thanks for taking a look.

A Window Card from the Clean & Simple Online Card Class

Still playing around with some of the cards for the Online Card Class.  In this one, Julie Ebersole embossed a card front and then cut out a window with a Label die and stamped the sentiment inside the card but so it would show through the window. 

I wanted to do this using the heart embossing folder...well, one problem, the hearts only go one way, so I had to cut a piece of card stock 4 x 5.25 and embossed that and cut out my "window", then using dimensional tape I adhered it to the white card base.  I stamped my sentiment (MFT) through the window, but it is only on the face of the card, not inside.  I still like this technique, it is surely clean and simple.  And what Julie did was make a whole set of cards this way...to give as a gift...the sentiment inside the window could be different for each card...maybe "happy birthday"  "thinking of you" etc...a very simple yet nice gift set to give!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Freshly Made Sketches # 19

Freshly Made Sketches has a new sketch up that has room for lots of different elements on the card. Here is my take on the sketch:

I needed another valentine card, so thought this might be the perfect fit for this sketch.  I cut out a scallop and then stamped a white heart inside each scallop.  Next I stamped a swirl on a pink PTI paper...the background was stamped with sweet blush using the Background Basics:  Hearts...it has a word sentiment that is very hard to read, but it talks about love etc...I then cut a strip of dp using a Martha Stewart edge die and scored it every 1/4 inch to make my own flower.  I had some stamps from MFT that had a lot of words that were perfect for a valentines card...so I used that as my background for the flower.  I don't think it needs any other sentiments on the face of the card.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Make It Monday #50 Shaker Card

I have never made a shaker card before...it took me a little while to figure out the process, but I like how it turned out.  I used the butterfly die from Signature Series and I stamped the background using Background Basics:  Sheet Music.  I stamped "Love notes" from the Friendship Jar: Spring fillers set inside the butterfly.  The sentiment on the face of the card is from Beyond Basic Borders.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Applying a simple and clean card for Valentines

It is possible to teach an old dog new tricks...it just takes a smack in the forehead!...my forehead to be exact!  So I have three elderly aunts and I send them a card about once a month to let them know that I am thinking of them and to bring them news from the family.  I know they love to get cards and especially ones that have some hand written notes inside.  I pulled out the PTI Year of Flower Collection and decided to use the rose stamp (to be honest this collection has not seen a lot of love from me).  I stamped it with versamark and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Now I saw that Amber had used this fun technique when stamping on paper with ink, to use a little bit of colored pencils to highlight some area of the image.  GREAT!  I am still learning about shading and such, so this seemed like a great way to add depth to my rose.  I cut a strip of raspberry fizz paper and stamped my image then proceeded to color in a bit with some prisma pencils.  Now I have to be honest, I don't really plan my lay outs ahead of time, so I just grab this and that and lay it out and think...what am I doing?  I just took a "Clean and Simple Card Class"...why don't I just keep this clean and simple?  And you know what, I like it!  I did sew around my strip of paper, I thought it needed that little touch...and then I also thought it needed a little bit of shading around the edge of the card, so I used some sweet blush ink...and now I call it done and good!

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Clean & Simple Day 8 - Mirroring Card

Day 8 of the Clean & Simple card class Jennifer McGuire demonstrated how to do a mirror image for one stamp...the first idea is to use versamark on a plastic sleeve and place it on your card quickly pressing it well with your fingers.  Then white heat emboss that image.  On the other side, stamp the image using versamark and white heat emboss that also.  Well, I tried that several times and every time that I used my fingers to press into the image, it made the image thicker in the lines of the stamp and it just didn't look right.  The second way to get the mirror image is to stamp using Memento black ink on the plastic sheet and immediately pressing it onto the paper...that did work better, but as Jennifer pointed out, the  image is there, just not as dark as the one on the left...so you need to go over the lines with a fine point black pen.  As you can see, I opted for that style as it just worked better for me.  Now interestingly, I reached for a printed background paper...and then thought, oh wait, this is for a clean and simple card class...I best keep it simple and white with just a splash of color...so that is how it ended up and I like it alot.
......I know this is another Christmas card, I just didn't have many choices for images that faced one direction to practice this technique!  So I get to chalk up another card for the stash for next Christmas!!

Last Card for Day 7 in the Clean & Simple Card Class

In this example of using white space on the card, the images, or at least one of them, are stamped off the page and note that the sentiment is stamped opposite the image...I stamped the larger butterfly twice, once on the card face and once on a sticky note.  I cut out the sticky note butterfly and adhered it to the face of the butterfly on the card placing it exactly over the image.  Then I stamped the second butterfly and overlapped the image onto the sticky note butterfly...thus giving the effect of the two being close, but the smaller one under the bigger one...I colored with memento pens and then to give the butterflies almost a translucent look
I brushed on some "smooch" over the colored butterfly. It looks pretty good IRL!!

And another Day 7 Clean & Simple Card

Keeping with the Valentine theme of hearts, but using the sentiment from Signature Series:  Dress Form, I stamped that first, then added some hearts on either side of the sentiment.  Again, very simple with just a splash of color...note the expanse of whiteness...it is okay to leave a lot of white on your card...it really !

And another Day 7 Clean & Simple Card

This is my take on another card for day 7.  Jennifer McGuire actually used a die to cut a strip of spaces or 'windows' out of the face of her card (on both sides of her sentiment) and then she adhered colored paper to the inside of the card and it showed through to the front...if that makes any sense.  I did not have a die that I could achieve that look, so I tried it with what I had.  I first stamped my sentiment off center on the card.  I used a strip of hearts from PTI's Background Basics:  Hearts and stamped it off the card to the left and again to the right, then I colored in using some memento water color markers red and pink, of course!  I think I like this clean and very simple card.  I am feeling more confident in leaving more white space.  I think in the past I always felt I needed to add more or cover more space...now I am learning that leaving white space can be even more of a statement and it looks pretty darn good!

Another Day 7 Clean & Simple Card

Very simple... two circle layers secured flat to the card...an eyelet is attached at the top with a twine tied in a bow.  The bear is stamped and cut out and adhered with dimensional tape. i colored him using some water color markers (Memento) that I brushed onto an acrylic block and then used a water brush to pick up the color and apply it to the bear.   I actually used some glossy accents for the bears nose and eyes, in real life it gives them a bit of shine.  The edge of the card was edged with a "postage stamp" edger and then I used a light blue memento marker to add more interest to the card.

Clean & Simple Day 7

Today's class was about Plain White cards....using the white background as a 'stage' or 'platform' for focal images.  I used a linen impression plate for the card base itself, then I adhered two butterflies that I cut out with a polka dot paper and vellum.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Clean and Simple Card Class Day 4

Wow, just so happened that I had this same flower die that Julie Ebersole used for Day 4 in the Clean and simple Card Class...I used different color papers and I did not have the smaller of the flowers, so just used the same flower twice.  The idea for this card is using one stamp three different ways...so this is the first and the stamp I am using is an Inkado stamps that is script...I stamped the lower flower with the script, then heat embossed the flower itself with white embossing powder.  I used a versamark pen to make the zig zag and also heat embossed that...inside it says:  You're a Great Friend!

Clean & Simple Card Class Day 3 Tone on Tone Card

Jennifer McGuire demonstrated a tone on tone card using a beautiful Memory Box Amana Circle Die...she cut it out 5 times with white paper and the last time with the same color as the card stock she was using.  Unfortunately, the only die that I own that has any kind of extra cut outs is this Damask Snowflake...so I started layering the pieces and laid them off the paper...

Monday, January 9, 2012

Online Clean & Simple Card Making Class...Day 1

Today is the first day of this online card class...we were given three sketches and two example cards made by the designers.  The first card uses the Masking technique...I cut a square 3 x 3 and centered it on the card (4.25 x 4.25)  then I stamped my background image, which just happens to be a new after Christmas on sale stamp I bought ... a Hero Arts/Basic Grey Nordic Holidays Collection...then I die cut and stamped the bell from PTI Bells & Boughs...after stamping the sentiment, I used a Sakura pen for some dashed lines...the ink is "Encore" Ultimate Metallic Gold...I was hoping it would show the sparkle and shine a little more...this is the first card for Day 1.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Thank you baby cards for the Baby Shower

A friend and I bought a Pottery Barn "First Year Frame" for the baby girl expected in March...my daughters have one of these for each of their children and it is so fun to look at the Newborn picture and then each month for a whole year...watching how they grow and change...definitely something to always cherish and hang on the wall in the baby's room...along with that gift I thought I would make a set of "Thank you so much" cards for the new mom to use after the shower...I made 8 of them for her..
I packaged them in a PTI plastic stamp case...the sentiment inside the card is from Think big # 1, but the stamp on the outside of the box is from Verve...I kept the design very simple and not layered to allow ease of mailing...a little doily, a die cut giraffe stamped in purple from "Sweet Baby", a Tiny Tag stamped with "Baby thank you"...I like!!