Boo Banner

Another Halloween banner and this one was almost embarrassingly quick and easy to make. Once again I used flags and twine from a banner kit I bought on post-Halloween clearance at Target last year. The triangular flags are super cute with their little Halloween pre-printed story and spider web and the top edge decorated with black microbeads. The kit also included a few plastic spiders so I attached one on top of the web on the center banner panel.

To save time and effort, I used black and ivory rosettes that I picked up on post-Christmas clearance at Target. (Did I mention that I love shopping post-holiday clearance sales at Target. Yeah, it's a bit of an addiction, but who can resist when you can use this stuff to make such cute decorations?) The black and ivory color on the rosettes coordinated perfectly with the banner flags, so all I needed were some letters and some die cut circles to make the rosettes pop even more. I used circle framelits to cut circles out of basic black card stock and glitter gold paper. I also used gold glitter paper and the Sizzix Phrase Boo w/ Frame die to cut out just the letters. Because the rosettes already add dimension, I just used regular adhesives to attach the letters to the rosetttes and the various layers to the banner flags and each other.

I love the way this short banner looks hanging on the door of our antique china cabinet. It's the perfect addition to our dining room Halloween decorations.

Plumber Thank You

I was in a race to make this card today. Unfortunately, my hubby discovered that one of our toilets was leaking so we needed a visit from the plumber, which was scheduled this morning. Fortunately, the plumber is a neighbor from down the block who is really cool and has a great sense of humor. As he was working, I decided that I wanted to make him a quick thank you card. I finished it, but just barely. He works fast!

I saved time by using Cathy's  really cool sketch from this week's splitcoast sketch challenge. It's a straightforward sketch which makes it perfect to make quick cards - I love it.

I embossed about half of the front of the kraft card base with the Measuring Tape embossing folder by Sizzix and added a piece of retired SU designer paper to the other half. (This scrap of designer paper is so old - it dates back to when SU sold single sided designer paper - wish I could remember what it was called). I found another scrap of retired SU designer paper for the center rectangular panel and mounted it on a mat of dusty Durango card stock before attaching both to the card front. I stamped the tools and saying form the Guy Greetings set on a scrap piece of manila folder in soft suede ink and die cut it with a framelit from the starburst assortment, attaching it to the card front with dimensionals. Finally, I stamped the sentiment form the Plane and Simple set on another scrap of manila folder and punched it out with the word window punch before mounting it on a mat made of a piece of not quite navy card stock punched with the modern label punch.

It's a pretty simple card but I think our neighbor will appreciate it, especially knowing it was made while he was working. I had fun making it and this was the best reason to make a card, even if I had to rush.

Recipe:

Paper: manila folder, dusty durango, not quite navy, SU retired designer papers, kraft card base from Neutral Smooth A2 cards and envelopes assortment by Darice
Ink: Soft Suede
Stamps: Guy Greetings, Plane and Simple
Accessories: Starburst Framelits assortment, word window punch, modern label punch, measuring tape embossing folder by Sizzix

Time to Bloom

Sorry it's been so long since my last post - the week got away from me and blended into a long weekend with too much going on to make it into the stamp room. I managed to make up for some of it today, but I'll post my creations one per day so I don't leave this blog hanging if I get busy again. I made this card to meet three challenges, though two of them are virtually the same so it's a bit of a cheat. The first challenge is from QKR Stampede, whose challenge this week was Wild West or Anything Goes. (As an aside, I'm thrilled to bits that my crazy cat yarn balls card got picked into the top 5 in QKR Stampede's challenge last week. It's a real honor and it will keep pushing me to stamp outside my comfort zone.)  Coincidentally, Go West was also the theme chosen for this week's splitcoast clean and simple card challenge. I took a somewhat unorthodox to the western theme by featuring blooming cactuses, and I stamped three of them to meet last weeks splitcoast's Ways to Use It challenge, which was all about 3s or thirds.

I started with a strip of whisper white card stock onto which I stamped three cactuses from the P.O Southwest Magna Stamp set from Clearbox using pear pizzazz ink and a wild wasabi marker with the thumping technique. I then used my stamp-a-ma-jig, melon mambo marker and a flower stamp from the Bella's Bloom set to stamp the large and small flowers. I used an aquapainter with crumb cake and soft suede inks to watercolor a sandy surface at the bottom and used the same technique with soft sky ink to create the sky.  I layered the whisper white strip onto a soft sky mat and distressed the soft sky layer edges with the SU distressing tool. I then added three pink gemstones to the centers of the large flowers for a bit of bling.

I used the wild wasabi and melon mambo markers to ink up the sentiment from the Bella's Bloom set and stamped it on a scrap of whisper white, which I die cut using framelit that coordinates with a Tim Holtz Sizzix coffee stamp set. The actual framelit is longer than I needed, so I simply moved the strip over and ran it through the big shot twice to get a shorter piece. I added a soft sky mat and freehanded the diagonal corners before distressing the soft sky edges.

Finally, I used the Wonderfully Worn background stamp and crumb cake ink to stamp the crumb cake card base. I then attached the image strip and the sentiment to the card base with dimensionals.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white. soft sky, crumb cake
Ink: soft sky, crumb cake, soft suede, pear pizzazz, wild wasabi, melon mambo
Stamps: Bella's Bloom; Wonderfully Worn, P.O. Southwest Magna Stamp set from Clearbox
Accessories: Aquapainter, Stamp-a-ma-jig, distressing tool, Tim Holtz Coffee Time framelits by Sizzix, Multicolored Bling from Want2Scrap

Yarn Ball Anyone?

I've been thinking about making this card since last Friday, when I saw that this week's QKR Stampede challenge was Keep Your Eye On The Ball or Anything Goes. The challenge immediately had me thinking about a cat playing with balls of yarn. I didn't have time to stamp over the weekend and yesterday I got distracted by the National Bow Tie Day challenge, so I didn't get a chance to actually make the card until today. The good news is that waiting let me check out this week's color combo challenge on SCS and it was one that was (nearly) perfect. The colors were: soft suede, crumb cake, very vanilla and tranquil tide. I didn't have any tranquil tide so I substituted a piece of retired forest foliage card stock and a Bic permanent marker in For-Ever Green. I also used the sketch form last week's sketch challenge because why pile on another challenge, right? 

I started with a crumb cake card base which I stamped with the Sanded background stamp in crumb cake ink for some subtle texture. I added the strip of Forest Foliage card stock and a piece of twill tape. I stamped the basket and yarn images from the Basket Full of Fun set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink on very vanilla card stock and colored them with crumb cake marker for the basket and For-Ever Green marker for the yarn. I stamped the basket image again on a scrap piece of very vanilla card stock and fussy cut just the top of the basket and the two handles, coloring both with my soft suede marker. I glued the fussy cut piece over the matching image on the basket and punched two 1/16" holes where the handles met the top, decorating them with two bronze brads. I used my aquapainter and crumb cake and soft suede ink to wash a surface at the bottom of and around the basket. Finally I cut the card stock with a framelit from the circles assortment and cut a soft suede mat with a framelit from the Starburst assortment.

On a separate piece of very vanilla card stock I stamped the sentiment, cat, and several yarn balls from the cat chat set in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored the cat using crumb cake and soft Suede ink and my blender pen. I colored the yarn balls with the For-Ever Green marker. I die cut the cat and yarn balls with the corresponding framelits and I used a framelit from the Everyday set to make the word balloon for the sentiment (I actually fussy cut the top of the word balloon because it was a little too big) and sponged the edges with crumb cake ink. I attached the cat and a couple of yarn balls to the stamped very vanilla circle with dimensionals. I cut off the circle at the side as dictated by the sketch and attached it to the card base over the other layers with dimensionals. As a final step, I colored a piece of white baker's twine with the For-Ever Green Bic marker and looped it around the front of the card to make it look like a meandering piece of yarn, attaching it with liquid glue.

I think the card turned out really well. I love the image of the cat getting caught with his paw in the yarn basket and still managing to casually ask "What's up?"

Recipe:

Paper: very vanilla, crumb cake, soft suede, forest foliage
Ink: Crumb cake, Memento tuxedo black. SU crumb cake and soft suede markers, For-Ever Green Bic permanent marker
Stamps: Basket Full of Fun, Sanded, Tim Holtz Cat Chat from Sizzix
Accessories: SU Circles and Starburst framelit assortments, Sizzix Everyday and Cat Chat framelits, Twill Tape, metallic basics mini circle brads by Making Memories, baker's twine, aquapainter, blender pen, stampin' sponge

Back to Shool - part deux

Wednesday I couldn't resist making a card for the "Back to School" Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog Challenge, but I really don't have any use for a single card with this theme. I do, however, have a niece and nephew who are starting eighth and sixth grade, respectively, and those seem like perfect enough occasions to send cards even though I've basically ignored all their previous "back to school" occasions. Can you tell where this is going? Of course you can, and of course it leads right to me making another card.

My supplies from the first card were still out and I really like the color combination from this week's SCS color combination challenge, so I decided to use them for the second card as well. I like the way that makes the cards look like a coordinated set and I think the siblings will appreciate that as well.

Once again I used a Bermuda bay card base with a patterned paper mat. I dry embossed the patterned paper with the Print Blocks embossing folder and sanded it before attaching it to the base. I stamped the Dictionary background on a piece of whisper white card stock in Bermuda bay ink and applied the sentiment sticker over the background, coloring the notebook on the sticker with a gable green marker. I used an oval framelit to die cut the sentiment and used a larger oval framelit to die cut a mat from basic gray card stock. I attached them together and then attached them to the card base with dimensionals.

To create more interest on this card and to coordinate it better with the other, I added two strips of the gray arrow paper tape. I also used Bermuda bay and going gray markers to color the pencil image from the Elementary Essentials set and stamped it on whisper white. I fussy cut the image and attached it to the card with a dimensional at the eraser end and snail at the graphite tip. To finish the card off I added two green sequins and a bow made from the Parakeet verigated fancy floss, attaching all three to the card with mini glue dots. I know my niece will like the sequin "bling".

I love the way the cards turned out and how they look together. I think they will be the perfect encouragement for my niece and nephew for their first day of eighth grade and middle school.


Recipe:

Paper: bermuda bay, basic gray, whisper white, green patterned paper of unknown origin
Ink: bermuda bay, whisper white craft, basic gray, gable green
Stamps: Dictionary (background), Elementary Essentials
Accessories: sanding block, Ovals Framelits Assortment, Neutral arrow thin paper tape by K&Company, Print Blocks Textured Impressions Embossing Folder by Sizzix, velum sentiment sticker of unknown origin, Parakeet verigated fancy floss by We R Memory Keepers, Crafter's Corner green sequins from Greenbriar Inc.

Time to Hit the Books

The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Blog Challenge this week is "Back to School". I don't have kids, so I don't normally make back to school stuff but recently, while rummaging through some really old scrapbooking supplies, I found some school related stickers, so I decided to play. And because one challenge is good but two are even better, I also decided to use this the awesome colors from this week's SCS color combination challenge - Basic Gray, Bermuda Bay and Lemon Lime Twist - or as close as I could get with my supplies.

I don't have anything in Lemon Lime Twist, but I found a piece of very vibrant green patterned paper in my scrap pile that Worked well with the other two colors. I embossed a 4x5.25" piece of the paper with the School Days embossing folder and used my sanding block to make the embossed areas more prominent. I then attached the mat to a bermuda bay card base.

For the tag, I cut a piece of basic gray card stock and a slightly smaller piece of whisper white card stock. I stamped the white card stock with the Off the Grid stamp in Bermuda bay ink, using the image a couple of times to cover most of the tag. I added the vellum sticker with the books and "hit the books" sentiment. I added the words "time to" by using the Stampin' Up! Alphabet Rotary stamp. I also colored the books and book ends with the gable green and basic gray markers.

I adhered the white card stock to the basic gay may and punched both with the tag topper punch. I added the basic gray hole protector which I created with the tag topper punch and the 1/2" circle punch. I cut several lengths of Parakeet verigated fancy floss and looped them thought the tag hole. I die cut a couple of arrows from the patterned paper and added them to the tag along with some gray arrow thin paper tape before attaching the tag to the card with dimensionals.

For the final element, I die cut a pocket watch shape using the Dear Old Dad Shapeabilities and Chalk Talk Framelits (I used the little oval for the hole in the top of the pocket watch). I embossed a piece of Bermuda bay card stock with the Clocks embossing folder and punched out a clock face with the 1 1/4" circle punch. I used whisper white craft ink to highlight the embossed areas on the face and attached the face to the pocket watch die cut. I attached the pocket watch to the tag with a dimensional.

I really like the way this non-traditional back to school card came out. Not bad for a stamp room that's really mostly devoid of any scholastic themed supplies :).

Recipe:

Paper: bermuda bay, basic gray, whisper white, green patterned paper of unknown origin
Ink: bermuda bay, whisper white craft, basic gray, gable green
Stamps: Off The Grid, Alphabet Rotary Stamp
Accessories: sanding block, Chalk Talk Framelits, 1/2" and 1 1/4" circle punches, tag topper punch, Neutral arrow thin paper tape by K&Company, School Days and Clocks Textured Impressions Embossing Folders by Sizzix, velum sentiment sticker of unknown origin, Dear Old Dad Shapeabilities by Spellbinders, Every Dray Framelits by Echo Park from Sizzix, Parakeet verigated fancy floss by We R Memory Keepers

Sweet Popsicle Birthday

In the Clean and Simple challenge today on SCS Tricia asked us to make a sweet birthday card. Although my usual style is not exactly clean and simple, when I saw this challenge I had an idea so I decided to go for it and I actually love the way it turned out.

I started by die cutting a piece of whisper whit card stock with the Ornate Card #2 Extra Long Bigz Die from Sizzix. Because I planned to use a portrait orientation, I used my paper cutter to trim the semicircle on the non-fold side so that the card could stand (which also made it completely symmetrical.) I then ran the card though my Big Shot with the Note Card Center Simple Impressions Embossing Folder from Sizzix, which gave me a raised rectangle in the center of the card for my image and sentiment.

I thought a popsicle would be perfect for a sweet summer birthday card, but instead of a single "flavor" I wanted a "swirled" popsicle. I inked up the popsicle image from the Mouthwatering set with the calypso coral ink pad and inked up the Baroque Border stampin' wheel with melon mambo ink. I then used the faux shaving cream to create my "swirled flavor" look by wheeling the melon mambo ink onto the popsicle image, making sure to twist my wheel occasionally to create the marbled look. I stamped the image on whisper white and fussy cut just the top of the popsicle.

I broke a real popsicle stick in half and attached it to the card with mini glue dots. I attached the popsicle image to the stick with more mini glue dots. I then used calypso coral and melon mambo markers to color the sentiment from the Cycle Celebration set and stamped it on whisper white before punching it out with the large oval punch. I attached the sentiment to the card with dimensionals. The card still seemed a little too plain to me, so I added strips of gold paper tape along both sides of the main panel. That little bit of "flash" was enough to let me stop.

Since the card base is die cut, I will be posting this card to the QKR Stampede Shaped Cards or Anything Goes challenge. What a fantastic challenge that is - it really got me to try some things that I wouldn't have thought of myself. If you have a little time, try making a shaped card of your own. Sometimes it's good to think outside a rectangle or square.

Recipe:

Paper: whisper white
Ink: Calypso Coral, Melon Mambo
Stamps: Mouthwatering, Cycle Celebration, Baroque Border wheel
Accessories: popsicle stick, Ornate Card #2 Extra Long Bigz Die from Sizzix,  Note Card Center Simple Impressions Embossing Folder from Sizzix, Large Oval Punch, Neutral Arrow Thin Paper Tape from K&Company