Under the wire...

 

I just finished my Christmas Card Challenge for August with three hours to spare (see side bar)... woo hoo!!  With all that's been going on this month in my personal life, this challenge took a back seat.  BUT, because I never quit... I had to get working FAST, before August disappeared. 

 

Using the new found knowledge that pads of paper are color coordinated, I took ALL of these from a 12" x 12" pad I purchased two Christmases ago after the holiday called Yuletide by K & Company.  The blingie thingy's are something Sherry sent me in a swap... they are pretty cool!   Sentiment is from a Stampin' Up set.

 

Merry Christmas everyone!

 

Following a Tuesday Tutorial...

The Tuesday Tutorial over on the Stars and Stamps blog yesterday was a lesson on turning one 6" x 6" pad into several cards.  When I first saw this by Kristie a few months ago, I gave it a shot with a couple pages from an existing pad.  The couple I did came out great!  It was enlightening to learn that all the papers in such a pad are color coordinated... how great is that!  I always wanted to try to do a whole pad and I took the opportunity today to do just that.  This pad is called "World Traveler" by Teresa Collins.  I spent hours and hours doing these.  The final total was seventeen cards.  And if I wasn't so tired right now, I'm sure I could make a few more with the scraps that are left...

A little bit of this...

 

Sometimes I surprise myself...

 

This card is a combination of a couple other projects.  A little bit of this and a little bit of that and it came together so well.  I wish I'd had enough of the red paper to layer between the patterned and brown outside layers but I only had enough leftovers for two of these.  However, if I received this in the mail, I'd be delighted... 

 

Happy Halloween...

 

This card came to me in a dream last Holloween... scary, eh?!!  This is one I designed myself.  Creating from scratch is not my forte.  I am usually the "Queen of CASEing"... lol.  So, when I thought this out from start to finish, I was very proud of myself...

 

How did I do this, you ask?  I started with watercolor paper since it's one of my favorite mediums for it's weight and texture.  I distressed with Tim Holtz' spiced marmalade distress ink and then dry embossed with the Stampin' Up web folder.  Using the vintage photo distress ink, I lightly distressed over the web to help it stand out.  A distress tool is used around the edges.  The sentiment is heat embossed with black ink and clear embossing powder and popped with dimensionals.  I made a dozen for my current box to Operation Write Home which will be shipping in a couple days...

 

Red and yellow flowers...

I found this cute little packet of red and yellow flowers in the dollar bin at Michaels several weeks ago that I thought would make a cute card.  I put them in my stash until an idea would come.  After Susan Hiles' cardmaking party a couple weeks ago (hilighted in the previous post), an idea took shape.  I CASE'd her layout on one of her kits, added the yellow paper from a stack she gave me that night and created this.  The red paper and bling are also from Michaels.  I used some Tombow Mono Liguid Glue on the jute, which are the stems of the flowers, and quickly ran into problems.  For one, I used too much, so it stuck everywhere including my fingers as I was trying to keep the stem in place.  If that had been video taped you'd all be in stitches.  Secondly, when it dried, it dried tacky.  So, my creative friends on the OWH facebook page guided me to correct my errors.  For problem #1, they said use less glue and get an adheshive eraser for removing excess on the paper.  For problem #2, use baby powder applied with a brush to make the stem no longer sticky.  Both worked.  I am always amazed at how extremely helpful everyone is in sharing their knowledge and secrets.  It makes this hobby an easy one to do with a full encyclopedia always at my fingertips... :)

Productivity...

Linda and I joined Susan Hiles' card making group in Whippany, NJ last night where we assembled card kits to be sent to Operation Write Home.  I'm not sure we assembled as many card kits as Susan had ready for us but between the yip-yapping, snacking and coffee we sure had a blast!  However, I'm not sure coffee at 7pm was my smartest idea... :)



To all the little boys...

OMGosh!!  These came out better on paper than they did in my head!

I've wanted to make a card for a little boy for awhile but haven't had any appropriate supplies or ideas.  I put out a request for a "truck" on Scrap to Treasure and received these from Rachel Guerrero!  Thanks Rachel!  Here's what I did with them.  I thought by putting toy type items in the truck bed, that would make it more boyish then manish... was I right?

The "street" is part of a sticker set I have had since the early ninties when I was going to make a scrapbook page using them for my little boy.  THAT little boy is now 27... how the HECK did time get that far ahead of me?  Well, since they never became the scrapbook page I had in mind, why not this?!!

More Scrappy backgrounds...

I may be the biggest fan of the Scrappy Background from the OWH Stars and Stamps blog.  I have used it more times than I can count.  However, I have switched it up a bit by using different size strips and adding prints with solids.  It gives a more eclectic look, I think (my middle name, btw).  Here are some examples of what I've done...

In the first example, I made the sentiment part of the scrappy background.  Interesting effect, don't you think?  The sun I hand cut since I don't have a punch or die of a sun.  The second example, I threw in some light colors for contrast and popped the sentiment with dimensionals.  In the third example, you'll see under the "celebrate" sentiment some other words.  They are leftover stickers from a set that I just didn't know what to do with.  I thought they worked well here and not in my stash...

The example on the left, I have used only solid colors and the example on the right only prints.  The prints are from the same 6" x 6" pad so they match perfectly.  If you are doing some of this technique yourself, don't forget to emboss.  It really adds such dimension to the card.  As I said, I use this technique frequently.  Whenever I notice that I'm accumulating too many scraps of one color... it's time to do the scrappy background... :)