autumn cards

now that we live in NC, i get to appreciate the change of seasons again. never thought i would miss that, but 6 years in FL made that happen.

i may be the only person to send fall cards out, but then, i send cards anytime i can. i love to create mini pieces of art (well, sort of art)....so here's a few i just made for this autumn.

shaped box challenge

challenge was to make a shaped box. i think this is pretty close....it IS a bag, but you can put things it in and that's what you do with a box. right?

used my nestability label die for the shape, and wonderful K&Co CS, double sided, so it looks good from any angle.....a white lunch bag serves as the "box"....handles are large ovals cut from the same CS

happy birthday embossed with a 2x2 CB embossing folder.....and inked with chalk ink for emphasis, topped with a cut out stamped blutterfly....adhered with a popdot.

buttons

just got this neat set from papertreyink.com. called "everyday button bits". you stamp the stems, strings, and other basics shapes and then add buttons or felt circles or even paper circles to finish.

i discovered there is a amazing amount of interesting buttons to be had. i spent quite a time in the button section of my local fabric store ! i also have a box of buttons collected over the years....shankless buttons work the best, but if you are careful you can snip the shanks off.

the set has many sentiments in addition to the basic shapes....they include a bicycle, regular balloons, flowers, chicks, trees and more ...... really nice set.

for my hot air balloons i found the perfect larger button for the main balloon and then used plain ones for the other two. the paper is from a debbie mumm stack....clouds seemd perfect for this project. sentiment: "soaring by to say HI".

new camera, so i need to practice more....not getting details as sharp as i want.

another paint chip project

paint chips are so much fun !

for this i stamped a dollar michaels shoe stamp on 3 shades of gold paint chips.....the sentiment is from a papertreyink stamp set. it says "you can do anything if you have the right shoes". some gold stickles add a bit of bling to the shoes.

background paper is from a sizzix mini stack purchased eons ago !

kit card

southernebreezes.com had a challenge this week....to use an old kit (or old papers) to make a card. i immediately remembered a kit i had purchased several years ago and amazingly, i was able to locate it (after two moves, that in itself was a challenge).

for this card i cut circles out of chip board and glued a thin layer of foam to each piece. i had really pretty handmade paper (a gift from a friend ) so it was perfect. wrapping the paper around the shapes was another challenge !!

i punched a hole in the centers and added large gold brads to each flower. i used a strip of the paper to make a vertical element....

for the flower stems i twisted strips of the handmade paper and tied a bow to anchor them to the background CS. whew. i think the next time i will use a lightweight fabric.

the kit has several shapes....a pear, a heart and a kimono. you were supposed to use washi paper to cover the shapes, but the kit didnt come with that and i was not able to locate the washi paper (which i had more than likely bought along with the kit).

the challenge was fun and it did make me use a kit that had been languishing in my craft closet for a long long time...lots of effort so i dont know how many more i will try. i think that fabric would lend itself better to the project though.

challenge: handmade embellishment

these flowers were made from coffee filters, dyed with reinker and sprayed with glimmer mist....cut out with a nestability die. the centers are jeweled brads. paper from a joanns stack....the leaves are ribbon from Hobby Lobby....

no sentiment yet, waiting to see what the next occasion calls for.

owls in a row

stamped this cute owl on three paint chips....used versafine onyx ink....found that in trying to color it with my copics, the ink smudged even after a day of drying....so i only did parts of the "gals". since the shape is weird, i also made an envelope with some patterned paper.....no sentiment, waiting to see what i might need in the future

the background cardstock is from a "glitter stack" i got a few years ago....put a small yellow dew drop on each cause it looked a bit bare......

lemonade

made this using a paper from a summer DCW stack....reminds me of the 60's !! flower power and all.

the glass is made of vellum, sponged with some brilliance inks. the lemons and limes are from the Tart and Tangy SU set. the paper had a matching border...so i cut the 1 in circles of drinks and used a small sentiment stamp for each. covered with a clear jelly.... it pops. the glass is frosted with diamond dust....

makes me thirsty just to look at them !!

bear made from nestability circles

made this little gal using nestability scalloped circles and SU small oval and 1 inch circle punches.

background tan cloud paper was stamped with a wheat-like stamp in olive chalk ink....sentiment is "enjoy today" . i think the bow gives her a jaunty look.

sun shaker

needed to make a card with glitter on it for southernbreezes challenge this week.

this is a shaker card...cut the sun with a nestability borrowed from a friend (NO, i do not have every nestability made...surprised me too) and filled it with gold microbeads. the background paper is from a pack i got last year at Sams Club...it is two sided and a nice weight for layering. i rounded the corners of the card for a change in pace.

i used "diamond dust" on random stars, dots and around the sun itself....i hope the camera picked up the sparkle of the ultrafine pearlescent glitter.

shakers are easy and fun to make, it was nice to do another....havent made one in a long time.

Christmas in July

since we are having guests for the next few days, i had to go back to my Christmas stash of pictures, no time to dig out Christmas stamps etc !! I made these last year....i used the gingerbread man sizzix die and made shaker cards. tiny little shakers...only in the cut out heart buttons !

i also included my great gingerbread cookie recipe ! background papers were from Michaels open stock. I sure hope they get more paper this year as they havent changed the Christmas stock in a looooong time....i see papers there that i have had for a few years !!

goin' fishin'

i think this little guy is cute. cut the bowl with my round nestability die, fish are from the "just beachy" SU set, reeds from "pond life" from papertreyink.com.....glazed cat, and fish with crystal effects....used that to adhere the little beads on the bottom of the fish bowl as well.

background paper from a stack i got at Sams Club months ago, i stitched the inside papers to each other...had to use my new mini sewing machine from janome.....gives it a nice texture.

4x4 in notes

i used stazon ink and stamped the flowers on paint chips.....the background paper is from a stack from joanns. i also made the envelopes using my scorpal. the scorpal site has lots of tutorials and envelopes are fun to do !! and it uses paper you otherwise would not use.

fishy grid card

this is easy and fun to do....i used a 4x5 in top layer and made 1 inch grids in pencil. then stamped fish from "just beachy" (SU)...., colored with copics and went over the pencil lines with a fine point black marker. then i randomly colored squares to accent them

popped some fish out, glazed them with crystal accents/diamond dust.....the inside has multicolored "bubbles"....that was from a stack i got at Joanns awhile ago. i typed the sentiment on the computer....

summer theme

wearing flip flops and eating a dreamsicle ! does it get any better?

summer flip flops

another pair of flip flops. these are so easy to make, couldnt resist another pair. paper flowers attached to the toes with floral brads make me want to go to the beach now !

fourth of july challenge card

made this pair of patriotic flip flops for the southernbreezes.com fourth of july card challenge. soles made from corrugated navy cardstock, tops from a summer stack and red, white and blue ribbon from AC Moore. two sparkly blue stars give a bit of bling

explosion box cards

made this for a southernbreezes.com challenge....to make a gift box/bag. this has to be presented in person of course !!!
it's very easy to make, http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/explosion_box/, instructions by the talented beate johns

i put just the word Happy on the inside....i'm waiting for a specific occasion to complete it.

Janine made a fathers day shutter card !!

we had fun playing with paper...she made this super card for her hubby ! so easy, but soooo great

shutter cards (trifold shutter)

this one looks quite complicated but actually it is really simple to make. of course, i couldn't stop at one....

i found the directions here (craftiblog) when i googled shutter cards:
http://craftiblog.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/2009-04-23-quad-fold-card-sample-tutorial/

a really nifty site....Bonnie does beautiful work.....thanks to Bonnie's sharing her artistic skills !!

gift card holder

i am still in love with the dimensional lady bug....so i made this gift card holder with another bug on it.

i used a regular A2 envie, sealed it and then cut off 1.5 inches from one side. then i ran the larger piece (the bottom) thru a crimper. this allows the top to fit over it.

for the gift card holder itself, i used the word window punch to make a slit, edged that with black dotted ribbon....i made a little card since i didnt have a gift card and it fits in the slot...of course, another ladybug had to show herself....stamped the image, colored with copics.

i'll be ready for the next time i give a gift card.....

ladybug....ladybug

made this one using the SU scalloped circle punch.....( 3 circles, folded each in half and glued them together to form a 3-D bug body), a 1 inch circle punch for the head....and 1/4 in hole punch for antennae...made the black dots on the card and ladybug body with a new pencil eraser and memento tuxedo black ink

a cute 3-D ladybug.....happy looking i think !!

another dad's day card

this one is for our son.....a great dad to his 3 beautiful children.....

made this with a wood embellie from Hobby Lobby...doesnt get easier than that !

fathers day

i just found out our son and his wife and 3 kids are coming from MD to visit us on fathers' day weekend ! it will be their first visit to our new NC home.

so....i made a fathers day card for DH and will do another for DS too.

this is a spinner card.....thought the owl was sort of wise....like a dad is. on the inside i stamped "happy fathers day"....

i find that you have to play with the spinners to make sure they work, so it will be neat to hand it to our son instead of risking it getting smooshed in the mail....maybe i'll make his a spinning froggie ! he used to collect frogs....not real ones....and his frat in college had frogs somewhere in their wacky charter.....i think they had to eat small ones during pledge week. how barbaric. thank goodness he survived college....in my day we just studied.....but my BSN is now 41 years old. times have changed !!

i'll post the froggie card when done.....

left over paper challenge

my goodness, i do have lots of leftover paper. i never seem to toss anything, ya never know when you might need a certain scrap...right? so most of this card is made of leftover pieces of paper.....

this dress from stamp looks "vintage to me".... so distress inks seemed to be perfect....

I created the background for the form using the "distress ink smeared on craft mat" technique....a technical term. i ran the tattered rose distress ink pad over the craft mat (non stick) and then spritzed it with a fine mist of water. placed the leftover white cardstock piece on the beaded ink and pressed gently. each one turns out differently....the background is sort of striaed and the from itself more aged.

the sentiment (from a Micahels $1 set) is popped up on a grograin ribbon.....
i used crystal effects on the dress form stand to give it some dimension too

ballerina

i do love the house mouse stamps.....and i DO love this little ballerina. sparkled her tutu and used a nestie for her to dance on.....

i made a blue one for a cyber friend's granddaughter's friend who was a victim of a horrible shooting recently. hope the little mouse puts a smile on her face.....

another grid

these grid cards are very addicting....i popped a few bees up for interest.....

a grid card

saw this on

http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stamping_thoughts/2009/05/faux-grid-technique-video-.html

and had to try it. i used the "unfrogettable" set....snail and dragon fly, colored with copics and sprinkled with diamond dust. it has a nice crisp feel to it.....sort of a happy card. no sentiment yet, have to wait and see what card is needed next

flower for a special friend

stampin'up daisy is popped up and glittered with some diamond dust.

i made the background paper using several distress inks smeared on a craft mat, misted with water and shimmery mist. then just put the cardstock over the mess and tada....a glistening background paper

pretty cool. i did have to iron the cardstock as it curled up though

shaped card

for this little butterfly i used my butterfly nestability set. largest is the card and the smallest the popped up butterfly. antennae made from colored wire.....Dream is a clear sticker. how easy is that