Rainy Days

Well, at our house we have card days. Usually, a rainy day that has inspired nothing good or productive, like chocolate chip cookies! mmmmm..... chocolate chip cookies.... no, focus now. The girls and I sit around the table with all our assorted scraps and make thank you cards or open ended cards for occassions which haven't arisen yet: you never know when you will get invited to a birthday party or need to encourage a neighbour with prayer. So here are a few of our creations to jump start your imagination.

Ok, I admit it. This one was made with a certain intention.

Just some paper and ribbon and stamps. Instead of colouring all your images you can always colour the stamp using Stampin' Up markers for a different effect. If your stamp dries too much while colouring just huff on it like you were going to clean your glasses. That will bring the moisture back and make the image crisp.

The thing about these cards is that the whole idea is to mass produce simple, but cute, cards quickly. I don't usually make any two the same, but may use the same papers for a similar feel, like the above and below cards.

I used the same blue cardstock and patterned papers and while on one I used the punched images on the inside, on the other I used the negative image from the same punch. So, not only did I save paper, but I also used the beauty that each provided on their own.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _

One of my all-time favourite punches. My girls love it too and many, many cards end up with at least one of these cute birds on it. I only added the stamped "Kind Thanks" to the background paper in varying degrees of ink so that it would tie-in better with the inside. However, it also broke up the polka dots a little too.

Well, that should give you a start. I have many of these little cards and you will notice that not only are they not alike, but they aren't even the same size. When I say I use scraps, that is all I use. I have a hard time cutting up a big sheet of 12x12 to make a card, so I don't. It's okay, you can call me cheap, but frugal has a nice ring to it too. =)



Sold!

Well here is the doll card that I SOLD! So exciting! I had so much fun making it I am going to make a few more and a mini based on the same idea.

Here are some close ups.

Happy girl!

Hair Bling!

Every girl needs a snazzy handbag

and lacey underwear. =)

Precious Baby Mini

I made this album for a friend of mine. She is my Stampin' Up demonstrator and a couple of years ago she had a baby girl, Evelyn. I had so much fun playing with light happy colours and fresh baby ideas. I also used bling.... duh, duh, duh. To many of you this means nothing, but for the scrapbook goody hoarder like myself, it was a huge turning point. It was very freeing to give some of my stash a loving home. And since her mommy is a hoarder too, she truely appreciated the sacrifice and the love that went into the album. =) With no further delay...

Gotta love baby poetry.

Love Brad on a pop dotted heart.



 

I used pink rhinestones all around the Little Princess page and don't you just love the Suzy's Zoo stickers?

My all-time favourite stamp set by SU. I used the bird here and...

the heart here!

More bling!



From the same stamp set, I used the little flowers on my 'ribbon' pennants.

Love baby's naptime! 



Gnome sweet Gnome

Gnome, sweet Gnomes! I love the new gnome stamp set I got from the Stampin' Up mini recently and thought it would make a sweet card for some family who has moved recently. Hopefully, they aren't tuning in right now, 'cause I don't have their new address and haven't sent it yet!

I drew the mushroom freehand and then traced it to cut out the top in another patterned paper. I will be trying my hand and loading templates for those of you who would like to copy these cards, but so far I have not figured that out yet. Other than the cute stamps I was really needing to use that blue paper that maked the strips across. It is my absolute favourite and that was the last of it. I don't throw out scraps and it is a good thing too as I am constantly raiding my scrap stash at moments like these. Ahem... and so are my 3 little girls.

After the mushroom was put together, I snipped some grass and stamped my gnome. I just coloured him and his friend with pencil crayons and then found a scrap for the door. It conveniently had a circle with a star inside that made the perfect door handle.

Inside, I used SU's decorative label punch and drew in little lines for stiches. I then penciled in the home sweet home letters, but just in straight lines. When I penned it in, I added the x's for a cross-stitch look. Cut a little tag, add congrats and a ribbon and this gnome is home!

Graduation Card

So after my last entry I am pretty pumped! I sold a paper doll card! Yay for me! I have never sold any of my creations before and now I have hopes to sell more. Wait to see a link to my upcoming Etsy store!

Well on to more goodies. It is that time of year again when people all over the planet are graduating. I made this card for my husband's grandson and as a young guy, I really did not expect any comment. He complimented me with " this is very unique and well done".  That is practically gushing, no? LOL. I hope you enjoy it as well.

First you will need to get the template for this card here. Print it off and blow it up until the centre is 3.5" across. Ok, I tried that and this was as big as my photocopier would go. Cut it out and trace onto your black cardstock. Then STOP! It was a mistake to cut this out of the black first. You will see that this is not my first attempt.



After you have it traced on the black, line it up on your scoring tool and score the lines that make up the square. It must have been easier because of the square corners because when I was trying to score just the card I could not get it to line up at all!

Then you can cut it out.



Next you are going to choose your embossing folder. I selected Stampin' Up's Vintage Wallpaper. I love Stampin' Up products. They are such good quality. I really wanted an elegant feel to this card. It is not every day that you graduate and I wanted the card to reflect that.

So this is the hard part and I don't have pictures to show you how. Line your embossing folder up in the top right hand corner. I had a little left on the bottom and quite a bit to the left hand side. Of course, this will vary as to how well you succeeded in blowing up your pattern.  Run it through the machine. I use a Big Shot. There was just enough room to run this card through without damaging the edges. Now to line up the second part, move your embossing folder to the left. You are going to going to slide it into the rut of the previous emboss. Make sure it is securely in that rut; this will prevent that smeared or blurred image from happening. Then do the bottom strip in a similar fashion.

This is the finished product of the embossing. Isn't that pretty? So now we find the perfect black button.... which proved to be my biggest challenge, and attach it with a pop dot. Then raid your stash for some gold embroidery floss and make a tassel. Just measure out what looks like a good length (3"?) and wind it out between your fingers until you get enough. Cut the ends at one end and pinch together about a centimetre or two from the looped end. Take a single strand of the floss and tie it around to keep the tassel together. You should leave about 1 1/2" of single strand dangling. This you can wrap around the button, it should sort of slip under the pop dot a bit for a stick.

Now for the inside. Cut a square of pretty paper to fit the inside. I chose something that matched the tassel. And then add a small square in the top in cream or a light solid so that you can add your sentiment. I found a beautiful golden butterfly in my stash which I attached to the cream square with a brass brad. 

Turn your card over and fold, overlapping your petals so it will stay closed and

Voila! You are finished!



Paper Doll Card

So excited to start scrapbooking with you! This blog will be full of ideas on cards, minis and layouts and really anything paper I can think of. I will post tutorials and links and I hope we will have alot of fun together.

To start us off I will share a little cutie that I made for a friend who gave me a big bag of clothes. Nothing says thank you for clothes like a paper doll!

She was pure imagination, no templates or patterns. I just drew a paper doll and made sure that the head was on a fold and then I decorated her with little scraps of paper of which I have many, many peices. I used 2 little green jewels for the buttons and a bit of ribbon to attach the purse, but you could use anything that came to mind or was at hand: fabric, buttons, flowers....

When she opens up...

she is the shape of the paper doll. This kinda lets the recipient of the card know that you were the costume designer =). And you can add whatever sentiment you wish.