For Dad

My Dad's 96th birthday is coming up so I decided to make this card and enter it into a couple of challenges: Paper Playtime's "For the Guys" and the sketch for Mojo Monday.  I chose to make a square one.

The paper is from MMI's Lost and Found DPS.  I liked the 4 and 16 on the side because Dad was born in the 4th month in 1916.  How coincidental.  ^_^ 

I knew I didn't want a bow on the small square, so what should I put?  I thought "we lock up our valuables" so I made a key from the Sophisticated cartridge.  I cut it in black, rubbed a VersaMark embossing stamp over part and embossed with silver powder.  Then I went over it again and embossed with UTEE.  It really looks a little like metal.  Dad doesn't say much but I think he'll like it.

Out Like a Lamb

I hate to say it but if the weather today is any indication, March won't be going out like a lamb.  It's actually snowing here in Michigan.  Not much but enough to make me wonder what is going on with our climate.  Only a week ago it reached 70.

"Out Like a Lamb" is also the challenge at Fantabulous Cricut this week - to make a card with a gentle animal.  I chose a sheep because I could use the punny expression.  Here's my card.

The sheep is from Just Because Cards.  I used the bubbles cuttlebug folder to emboss his fleece.  Most people use Divine Swirls but I thought that was too big.  The grass is cut from Plantin Schoolbook and it's on a cloud background paper with the sentiment  printed  from the computer.

Many Thanks

I have been in a card making frenzy lately.  Thanks what happens when you go cold turkey (I was away from my supplies while spending two months in the south).  Now I not only need cards but I need my creative fix.

Today's card is for two challenges.
1. Little Scrap  Pieces - use yellow
2. Celebrate the Occasion #56 - Thank you

This was made on Kraft cardstock with some Core-rdinations distress papers and a print from Basic Grey called Kissing Booth.  This is one of the papers I got when I shopped a "real" scrapbook store a couple of weekends ago.  I just loved the little birds.

The Cuttlebug embossing folder is one I recently purchased.  There are four small "thanks" folders in the package.  After embossing, I sanded the letters to make them show up better. 

 Some rounded corners, boucle' string, and dimensionals and the card is done.  I almost feel like I'm cheating when I don't use my Cricut but sometimes simplicity and speed is of the essence.

The Bold and The Beautiful

Sounds like a good name for a soap opera, doesn't it?  In this case, it's the name of the challenge at CAS-aul Fridays. You are to use pastels with black.  Anything goes good with black, the difficulty comes in what to choose.  I just got the Sophisticated cartridge and decided to use a cut from it for my card.

The under layer is lavendar and the top layer is pink.  I colored some white pearls with an old, old, art marker (those things last forever) that let the pearl quality show through.  I rounded the bottom corners and attached a shiny ribbon with a glue dot to finish it off.  I'm loving it's simplicity.

Quilted Card

Okay,  I'm a quilter so wouldn't you think making a quilted card would be easy?  Not so much.  Maybe it's my paper trimmer, or my eyesight.  Whatever the reason, I had trouble making the edges fit perfectly.  It came out in the end but working with little pieces of paper just isn't my thing and is the  reason I don't make tiny pieced quilts.

Oops, I can see even better in this picture that some of the "seams" show up a little too much. 

I waffled back and forth what to do with the quilted piece when I was done.  Make a square card and then where do I put the sentiment?  Certainly not over the top of the quilt pattern.  As you can see I made a border (quilts do have borders you know) and put it on a regular A2 white card.  I printed the sentiment on the computer in the same color as the border.  It's already in the mail to a quilting friend who is having some health issues.

I am entering this into The Friday Mashup challenge.

Leftovers

I made a card a few days ago using a punch that left a lot of paper strips left over.  When I saw them scattered on my white work table, a card came to mind.

I glued the strips on randomly, leaving spaces to stamp  "Happy Birthday" in different colors to match the adjacent paper.  So easy.  And it's recycling. 

Fresh and Bright

Here's the sketch for the Freshly Made challenge this week.

And here's my card.

This is the same paper I used on yesterday's card, K and Company - Best of Brenda Walton.  This is what the paper actually looks like.

I punched a circle out of each of the bigger stripes and then found a couple more papers that coordinated in the same DPS.  The same is true for the background.  That piece actually had birds printed in one corner and swirls in another but I just used the middle to get the soft green color.  I inked all the pieces with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and stamped the sentiment with the same ink.

I can see several more cards coming from this same page.  It's bright and cheery, just what you need for birthday and get well cards.

Bright Scallops

Sometimes I get an idea and search for the paper to implement it and sometimes the paper itself inspires me.  Today's card is a combination of both methods.  I wanted to enter a card in My Craft Spot's challenge #49 - Spring Scallops.  I ordered a DPS, sight unseen, from JoAnn's when it was such a good deal I couldn't refuse.  It's from K and Company, Best of Brenda Walton.  It has a lot of bright colored papers and several pages of combined prints.  I knew I couldn't use them on a card as is so I cut them apart.  Then I used a fairly new scallop punch to make my card.

I worked the punch so the scallops alternated.  I started out with 5 strips but didn't like the background paper (the light green on the right side) showing so much, so I made 2 more.  I thought it needed more - a sentiment maybe? - so I took a scrap of the green and punched a tag (a new EK Success punch).  I stamped the sentiment with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink and a PTI stamp.  The string tying it on is something I found in my ribbon drawer, sort of a boucle' looking ecru.  I tried various ribbons but nothing looked good, most of them being too overpowering and this string just seemed to fit.  I think it's bright and cheery and a good way to use an odd paper.  Wait until you see what I did with the strips that were left from the punch.  That will be posted in a few days.

Haul Part 2

Today was/is a busy one.  We had a women's Lenten luncheon at church with a number of other area churches.  I was the emcee for the program part and also played my hammered dulcimer.  That meant I had to tune and practice in the morning.  Tonight is the Community Soup Supper at church followed by bell choir practice.   We are starting up again after a winter hiatus, since I was gone.  I can't wait.  I love playing the bells.  Well, I love playing the dulcimer, too, but sometimes that's a solo activity.

I haven't had time to make another card so I'm showing some of the other things I bought while I was down south.  Wal-Mart had a clearance sale on some ot their valentine items so I got a couple of stamps, bling, flocking (which I've never used before) and glitter chipboard hearts for 25 cents each.  From the Target dollar bin, I got 2 packages of valentine ribbon although some of it could be used for anniversary cards. 

I ordered some stamps from JoAnn's when they had a sale and offered free shipping.  Love that free shipping.  I got the tag and oval seen here and also a couple of circle sizes.  I hesitated because I can always cut circles with my Cricut but sometimes it's easier to cut certain things that you want to center with a punch. 

I have two birthdays next week so I REALLY have to get some cards made.  I think Saturday will be a dedicated card making day.  I hope you are all making time to get your cards (and layouts) done.

Finally a Card

I've been away from my Cricut and paper supplies for 2 months.  I never thought it would be this difficult to get back in the groove.  But I made it!  Here's a card for the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #103 Celebrate Spring (include at least 3 flowers).

The little flowers in the post are from Stretch Your Imagination.  I made this as a Thank You card for my granddaughter who graciously hosted us last weekend.  She loves Gerbera daisies and I thought these looked a little like them.  I picked up the black in the plaid with the under layer and inked all the pieces, then popped them up with dimensionals.  Ahh, now if I can just keep the inspiration flowing.

Haul Part 1

I do not live any where near a really good scrapbook shop.  Yes, there's a JoAnn's 20 miles away and Michael's and Hobby Lobby are 50 miles but their printed papers are limited.  So Friday, while at my granddaughter's, I walked to a nearby scrapbook shop and went wild.  I walked through the store picking up wonderful papers right and left.  All told I bought $50 worth of designer paper shown below.

I can't wait to start making cards and scrapbook pages with these beautiful papers.

My granddaughter got a Cricut Expression for her birthday on March 14th, just before I arrived.  I got to spend time sharing with her about my card making experiences, showing her blogs, video tutorials, and the Cricut Craft Room.  I was going to buy her a cartridge for her birthday but we couldn't find a store that had any on sale. :(  I decided to give her the one I had ordered for myself on sale and had with me but never used - Elegant Edges.  Now that one will go back on my wish list. 

Kelsee's Quilt

Time for posting another quilt.  This one was made in 2009 for my husband's granddaughter Kelsee when she graduated from high school.

This is called a "coin" quilt, or sometimes "Chinese Coins".  It is usually made with white sashing between the stacked fabric strips but I thought the black made the bright colors really stand out.  That and the fact that Kelsee is not really a white kind of girl. 

One of the things I like most about quilt making is putting the colors together. It was so much fun picking out all these fabrics but since I didn't know how much I'd need of each color, I have a lot left over.  They'll show up in another quilt someday.  In fact, I have some set aside for a quilt pattern that I was intrigued by but haven't had a chance to make yet.

Gift Card

I sometimes make cards that represent a gift that has already been given or that can't be wrapped.  It may include a little poem telling the recipient what the card is for.  The card below is just such a card.  I took it at Christmas time and for some reason my camera decided that everything was going to come out blurry so it's my picture taking, not your eyes.

When we cleaned out my parents' garage last August, there was a small table saw that my son-in-law wanted.  They gave it to him then but wanted to let him know that it was his Christmas present.  I made this card using Handyman for the saw and Christmas Cheer for the wreath.   I don't think I saved a copy of the poem but I need to start doing that, just for my own records.  Again, my apologies for the quality of the phot.

BC Card

I started making cards a long time ago before I knew about the Cricut machine.  (BC=Before Cricut)  I found a CD of digital images at Michael's one day and decided that I would buy them to use on the front of cards.  They were put out by pcCrafter (early Provocraft, the mother of Cricut).  Over the years, I bought a number of their collections and enjoyed the artwork in them.  The images came in colored, painted and black and white for you to use however you wished.  I was going to post a link to their site but in going there, I found they have closed down.  I wish they had notified me.  Fortunately I have everything that they were storing online backed up on my computer.  I guess everyone is now cutting and stamping and their product is no longer in demand.

I have posted a couple of recent cards using their images and other bloggers thought they were stamps that I had colored.  You can see one of those posts here.  Here is another card using a digital image I made in June 2009.

I guess it was also before I knew to use a light background for the card to show up. :)  The cap and gown were printed from the "hugware" as they called it and cut out by hand.  The sentiment was printed on the computer.  The high school colors are red and black so I used a black and silver paper for the background.  It's not a bad card but when I think of all the things you can do with an Expression. . . . . .