So Grateful For You

Since it's Thanksgiving week I am continuing with a card that can be used for Thanksgiving or just to send to someone that you feel grateful for. 

I used Gina K's Wreath Builder Template again (Yes! I love this whole system!) with the Wreath Builder Stamp Set and Gina K inks. The wreath is on a 4 inch square white cardstock and after stamping the wreath I die cut a circle right in the middle of it. Then I stamped the sentiment onto green cardstock and placed it behind the wreath and popped up the wreath panel with pop dots. I punched the bottom of the green cardstock with a Martha Stewart border punch.

I finished embellishing my card by adding an older piece of Stampin' Up ribbon (It pays to hoard a little 😂). 

And again I added some cardstock layers and a little stamping to the inside of the card.

I am so grateful for my husband, my daughter, my son & his wife and my three wonderful grandchildren. I am also grateful for my sister and brother (we are the only ones from our immediate family left 😢), and the rest of my extended family and friends! I'm grateful for my health and my home. Even with so much uncertainty and fear going on in the world this Thanksgiving I know that I am blessed and I am so thankful to God for all the blessings I have! 

God bless you all this Thanksgiving Day! Stay Safe  - Wear your mask - And Craft! 

Until Next time, Happy Crafting

Thankful, Grateful, Blessed

Hello Crafters! I have a Thanksgiving card to share today. I really enjoyed creating this one because I used some new (to me anyway) tools and techniques. Most of the supplies are from Gina K Designs - my new favorites! 

Gina has a Wreath Builder system that is so easy to use but the results are spectacular! 

Here is the link to the Wreath Builder Templates:

 

Gina K Designs Wreath Builder

With these two templates you can create the most beautiful stamped wreaths for cards and so much more. Gina has several wreath builder stamp sets to go with the templates but you can really use any stamp set that has small to medium stamps included.

So here is the Thanksgiving card that I made with the Wreath Builder -

Along with the Wreath Builder Template I used the Wreath Builder Stamp Set, the Autumn Wreath Builder Stamp Set, the Take Care Stamp Set and Gina K inks to create the gorgeous wreath at the center of my card. I stamped the sentiment and the circle border - both from the Autumn Wreath Builder Stamp Set  - then cut it out with a circle die cut which I popped up with pop dots in the wreaths center. 

The lower background looks like patterned paper, doesn't it? Nope, its plain white cardstock that I used a stencil on. It's the Gina K Designs Sassy Stripes Stencil (love that name 😊)

Gina K Designs Sassy Stripes Stencil

I turned the stencil so that the stripes were vertical, taped the paper to it and, using a blending brush, blended the ink onto the cardstock. Always start blending with a very light hand and if you need more color just add a little more ink but use that light hand. Trust me, a lighter touch is key to blending!

Since I don't have some of those 'fancy' dies, I took a die that I do have and used it in a different way! The bottom scalloped on the top two layers was cut using a Lawn Fawn Scalloped Rectangle die. I put the corner of my two top layers into the corner of the die making sure that the rest of the card was on top of the die as it went into my Vagabond.

 

For a finishing touch, I added three coordinating buttons and some twine. 

Here is a peak inside my card. I love putting a little something on the inside to make it look just as nice as the front of the card. I used the same stamps that I used in the wreath on the front and stamped them on the bottom inside corner.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing this card as much as I enjoyed making it! So until next time, Happy Crafting! 

Falling for Halloween Blog Hop ~ Day 2

First I’d like to thank Maria for hosting this incredible Blog Hop this weekend and to also thank her for letting me participate in it. I’ve had a wonderful time and I hope that you have too.

Remember, you should have arrived here from Khrista’s blog. If not, you missed the beginning of the hop, so please go to Maria's blog to start so you don't miss any of the projects. I will also be picking one lucky visitor on Monday to receive a box of Blog Candy so be sure to leave comments on both days of the hop and become a follower! Now on to today’s projects!

I guess I wasn’t quite ready to put the vinyl away since I used it here in my first project. You gotta admit, this stuff is so addicting! Here is my Bewitching charger plate:

I bought the charger plate at Michaels with the bling already on it. I got it at a steal since it had some scratches on it – perfect for a Halloween craft project! For my image, I used the Cricut cartridges A Frightful Affair and Chic and Scary by Teresa Collins. I used the Cricut CraftRoom and my Expression to cut the witch from orange vinyl at 8” and the word ‘bewitching’  from iridescent vinyl at 1 1/2”.

I tried to take a photo from a different angle so you could see how beautiful this vinyl really is – but unfortunately I failed! But you can see that I blinged her up a little by placing rhinestones on her hat and shoes. After all, we all like bling – even the little witch in us, lol!

Next I made a Halloween Treat Milk box. These would be so cute to hand out to those special little ghosts and goblins that knock on your door this Halloween.

I used CTMH’s Artist cartridge and cut it out at 8” using paper from DCWV (Midnight Spell pad). The nice thing about this cart is that there is an extra handbook that comes with it with assembly instructions. After I adhered it together, I inked all of the edges with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade. I inked a piece of patterned paper from The Paper Studio and wrapped it around the box, added some rhinestones,

and the potion bottles that were cut from A Frightful Affair at 3”. The “liquid” in the potion bottles and the skull and crossbones were cut from glitter cardstock. I used pop-dots to give the bottles some dimension and added more bling.

The potion bottles cut is actually one piece that I cut into two separate pieces and placed on each side of the box. Just because a cut is a certain way in the handbook doesn’t mean that it has to end up on your project that way!

Before and after

The Happy Halloween is stamped with a Stampin’ Up stamp onto a Tim Holtz Sizzix die cut called Tattered Banners which I distressed with Distress Ink and Glimmer Mist then adhered with pop dots. I also used the mist and some Distressed Stains on some white seam binding to change the color of it. The flowers were punched out and also distressed and misted then adhered with glue dots and I placed a rhinestone in the center. Can you tell that I’m also addicted to distressing stuff? (Sorry, the ribbon looks washed out in the photo but looks much better IRL!)

But the following is still one of my favorite projects that I made last year – my little mummy and his tomb cut from the Happy Hauntings cart! Can you tell what the mummy is?

It’s a mini candy bar wrapped up in some plain white gauze with a couple of googly eyes attached!

Thanks so much for joining in on the hop today. Please be sure to check out all the participant's wonderful projects. I've posted the list below in case you've missed anyone. The next blog you will be visiting belongs to the very talented Nadia at http://www.withglitteringeyes.com/. Enjoy!

Maria @  stampcutcreate.blogspot.com

Michele @   scrap-n-dance.blogspot.com

Paulette @  http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

Cindy @  http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/

Beth @  http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Renee @   icameisawicreated.blogspot.com

Debbie @ www.debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com

Khrista @ http://creativeandcraftyteacher.blogspot.com/

Angela @ Angie's Paper Passion YOU ARE HERE!

Nadia @  http://www.withglitteringeyes.com/ 

Donna @  http://CarolinasCreativeCropper.blogspot.com/

Diane @ http://dianesdribble.blogspot.com/

Sara @  http://www.sarawandrews.com/

Michele @ www.michelegreen.com

Please come by again because I have more projects to keep you crafting!

Until next time, Happy Crafting,

Control Those Ink Pads!!!

In the process of redoing my craft room I realized that I had WAY too many ink pads –not that I’m complaining, mind you- and I didn’t have any kind of plan to tame my growing collection. Until I found these two tips. The  first tip was found at Rebel Inker. Stacey King has a pdf file that you can download with instructions for making this ink pad holder that uses only 2 pieces of foam core board. She used white foam core in her tutorial but I decided to use black and I got it at Hobby Lobby when it was on sale at 50% off- I’m ALWAYS looking for a good deal!

(Now I didn’t say that I was a master builder, ok? This is as good as it gets!)

This system was made to fit the Stampin’ Up! Ink pads but I found that with a little tweaking, you can use the basic pattern to create a number of configurations, not just for ink pads but for all kinds of storage.

It wasn’t that difficult to put together. I guess the hardest part was just cutting the foam core nice and straight. There are 5 compartments for the ink pads and each compartment holds 12 pads – again, these are SU pads. There is even a place to store your re-inkers at the top!

Because I bought the 2 pieces of foam core at 50% off, this project cost me about $5.00! Now what am I gonna do with the other 100 other brands of ink pads? LOL! More to come on that one. After I figure it out!

The other solution that I found was for my Tim Holtz Distress ink pads. –Hold on for a minute, AT! ok! I’m better now!

I like to use his inks with Inkssentials ink blending pads and Tim’s wooden tool. ok, did I just say that? That didn’t sound good -I’m really a good girl! But I didn’t want to get the inking pads & colors mixed up. So! I went back to Hobby Lobby –right, any excuse!- to purchase Velcro squares that were stick-on and some more ink blending foams.

I first stuck the rough side of the Velcro on the back of the ink pad and the softer side on the back of the blending foam.

Next step was to put the blending foam on the ink pad:

Now, when I need to use a certain color of ink, I grab it, take the blending foam off the back and stick it to the blending tool!

Even with the piece of Velcro between the pad and the tool, I have no problems at all getting a smooth, even color on my project. When I’m finished, I just reverse it – take the pad off the blending tool and place it back onto the bottom of the ink pad.

Easy as pie! Give it a try! If you do try either one of these storage tricks, please comment on this post and let me know. I just want to know if you like getting some tips & tricks on storage, scrapbooking and cricut related items also.

Dakota Bear, I hate to do this, but I can only give you until Wednesday, March 9th to contact me for your Blog Candy. After that date, I’ll have to pick another name!

Thanks for looking and until next time, Happy Crafting,

More Stamped Cards to Share and The Winner from My Fabulous and 50th Birthday Blog Hop!

First I wanted you to know that I will start sharing my Design Studio and Gypsy files soon! I only have a few now but I am designing more and more and I’d be delighted to share them with you. I’ll keep you updated!

I wanted to share a few more of my stamped cards with you. The first two were stamped with Stampin’ Ups Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set. I think that the sentiment on the left card was made with a hostess stamp set. I love these stamps and use them a lot!

 

In the next set of cards, the one on the left is very special to me – this is the very first card that I made with SU stamps and ink pads! When I saw this stamp set and the background stamp I was hooked – bought both sets on the spot! did you notice that the flower stem is upside down? You didn’t? Then I shoulda kept my mouth shut! lol It wasn’t long afterwards that I became a Demo for SU. The background stamp is En Français and I can’t even remember the name of the other set and since I am still re-doing my scrapbook room – yes, STILL -, most of my stamps are boxed up right now.  The card on the right was one of my demo cards using the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set and the Upsy Daisy set for the sentiment.

 

On the next card (left), I stamped the  flowers from the Petal Pizzazz set, punched them out and adhered them with foam dots. The sentiment is from the Sincere Salutations set – a great set! The card on the right was stamped with Bird on a Branch set.

 

The first card was done for a card swap and there are no SU sets used on it. I used an embossing folder on the background and a watercolor technique on the stamped image. I just love the next card. It was created with only punches! I used circles, ovals, a flower, and a heart to create this Easter Bunny!

 

The card on the right was made using Bird on a Branch again and Birds and Branches strip die cut from Sizzix. One of my all-time favorite stamp sets is the one that I used to create the first card – Baroque Motifs! The technique used on this is a faux 3-D shadow technique. You need the same color of cardstock and ink color (that’s one of the things that I like about SU – everything matches!), a white pigment ink pad and a Stamp-A-Ma-Jig! Stamp the image in the white pigment ink and let it dry. Then using the SAMJ tool, re-stamp the same image again with a dye ink in the same color as the cardstock , just a slight bit off center from the first one. (see the next photo for a close up) It looks very dimensional but without the bulk – great for mailing.

 

The next card (left) was stamped with the Bloomin’ Beautiful stamp set. I stamped the image on watercolor paper with a VersaMark stamping pad, sprinkled it with gold embossing powder, then heat embossed it. Then using my ink pads and an aqua painter (a plastic paint brush filled with water), I water colored the image in. I used the Razzle Dazzle set and a scalloped die cut to make the next card.

 

Ok, last set! I promise! First card – I stamped the image  - Inspired by Nature – with a VersaMark ink pad and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. Second card – used my favorite stamp set again, Baroque Motifs, and the Baroque Border using the Stampin’ Around Wheel. Those two strips on the top left of the card were made with the Word Window punch – a very versatile punch!

Thanks for taking the time to look at my work. I hope that you enjoyed the cards and get some ideas from them!

Now for the winner of my Fabulous & 50 blog candy!!!

 

And the winner of a new Nifty Fifties Cricut cartridge is………..

(drum roll please!)

 

Dakota Bear!

Dakota Bear said...

Happy Birthday!
The box is beautiful. Thank you for the great tutorial. I'm looking forward to seeing how you did the glass.

Dakota Bear, please email your name and address to me so that I can get your cartridge in the mail! Thanks to everyone for the warm and wonderful birthday comments! I appreciate each and every one of them! Until next time, Happy Crafting,

It’s a Card Day! (Stamping but no Cricut!)

Since my Mom doesn’t get out much but she loves to send cards to people, I try to help her out by making cards and sending them to her with a book of stamps. I made an altered lunch pail for her last year to keep her cards all together. So when there’s a birthday, anniversary, or a death – hey she is 91! – she only has to go as far as her dining room table to pick out a card! Well, I have been cleaning out my scrap room – seems like I’ll NEVER get it finished – and I came across some cards that I made in my Stampin’ Up! days. I gathered them up to send to my Mom but I wanted to share them with you first.

I used one of my favorite stamp sets on the card on the right!

I tried my hand at water coloring with the card on the left! I used watercolor paper to stamp the image on and then embossed it in gold. I really liked how it came out!

The stamp set on the left was the very first set that I purchased before I became a SU Demo. It’s been discontinued but it is still one of my most favorites. I did some masking on the card on the right. I miss Kiwi Kiss!

I have a few more cards to share with you tomorrow. One is very fun and only uses punches! I’ll bet that it could be created on the Cricut! Ummmm! Something to think about!

It’s blog candy time from the Craftin’ Sistahs Blog Hop! I hope that everyone enjoyed the Craftin’ Sistahs very first Blog Hop. I had a great time and it has inspired me to host my own Blog Hop to celebrate my birthday! So keep in touch – there will be some great blog candy given away then also!

So the winner of my Blog Candy is………………… (drum roll please!)

 

Craft Creations by Netta

She said... “great project..thanks for the instructions..I am now a follower of your blog”

Here are your random numbers:

3	

Timestamp: 2011-02-16 12:15:17 UTC

Thanks Netta for joining us in the blog hop and for becoming a follower! Please send me your name and addy to I can get your candy to you! I also hope that you liked my blog. I would love to have you come back and visit again.

Until Next Time,

ProMarker GiveAway!

I love all of the coloring and blending that many are doing on their stamped images. They are simply gorgeous! These crafters make the images look so real and that makes them pop right off the page. I really wanted to try my hand at this but the Copic markers were just a little too expensive for me! (Ok, I know that I could’ve bought a ton of them with the $$$ that I have spent on Cricut related stuff but when I’m on a roll with something I can’t just turn and go in a different direction on a whim. That’s my story and I’m sticking with it!) Anyway, I still want to try it. With all of the stamps and stamp sets that I own it would really be a waste not to (Boy, see how easy it is to talk myself into something?) But there is another brand of markers called ProMarkers made by Letraset. They contain high quality alcohol dye based inks that are fully blendable and produce clear and vibrant color. I first saw them on two of my favorite blogs, Diane’s at Capadia Designs and Okie’s at Okie Ladybugs Scrap N’ More. Both of these talented ladies had a link to Enfys at Going Buggy. Enfys does wonderful work and has a lot of tutorials and, even better for me, videos of how she uses these great markers. Enfys also has a terrific giveaway on her blog right now. She is giving away an entire set of 148 ProMarkers! Look HERE to see their awesome marker colors! So hop on over to Going Buggy to leave a comment on her post to enter to win.
Until next time, Happy Crafting,