Spring Sampler

I have been wanting to make a Sampler Frame (not sure what to call them!) for quite some time - let's say, over a year!!  At one of the Quarterly's a year or so ago, we did a "inchie" swap so we could make our own sampler card or frame when we got home.  Well, those "inchies" are somewhere here in my craft room.  I actually saw them a few weeks ago but can't remember where!!  So I decided to do my own.  I made this first frame a couple of weeks ago mostly using extra pieces that I had made for cards and not used.  I keep them on my desk in a little box.  So, I pulled them out - the flowers, bird, butterfly, pinwheel and added a few other pieces and made this frame.  I used a lot of retired colors in making this frame - Pretty in Pink, Bashful Blue, and Certainly Celery - a few of my favorite colors.

close up of pieces in frame

Spring Sampler Frame

Yesterday I decided to make a second sampler to fit in the same frame.  By the way, I bought this frame at Wal-Mart for about $12.  I am going to offer this sampler as a class and having the two samplers, the gals can pick the squares they want to make for their own sampler.

This second sampler uses In Colors - Coastal Cabana, Pistachio Pudding, Cantalope Crisp and Baked Brown Sugar.

Close up

In Color Spring Sampler

So what do you think?  Would you like to sign up for this class??

Paper Crew Challenge 83

Here is my card for this week's Paper Crew Sketch Challenge.  I used paper from the Retro DSP in the Occasions catalog in MDS.  Notice how 3D it looks?  I achieved that by doing the drop shadow feature at about 50%.

 I love this paper.  Check out all the great colors in the pack.

My eye is healing wonderfully.  I went to the doctor last week and my eye was 20/20!!  Now to get my other eye that way.  I have scheduled my second surgery for next week.  By the beginning of April, I should be seeing great!!

Sorry for the short post tonight.  I can hardly keep my eyes open so saying good night!!

Petite Petals Card in a Box

I made another fun Card in a Box.  This time I used my Fringe Scissors to make grass for the flowers inside the box.  I am loving those Fringe Scissors.  Obviously, a lot of people like those scissors and ordered them so much that they are now in back order for the second time.  This time though they are not due in until March 31!!  Marianne is waiting for hers so I lent her mine for a while.  She is going to make the wreath that is in the Occasions Catalog.  I will get her to send me a picture and share it with you when she finishes it.

I used the Petite Petals stamp and punch for the flowers.  I punched stamped and punched each one twice and inserted a thin piece of wire in between them using glue dots to adhere them together.  I used the small butterfly punch for the butterflies and adhered a small strip of a transparency behind them.  There are two rows of flowers, butterflies and grass.

I played bridge today and we have a new venue for playing.  We normally play in each others homes but a couple of the ladies have problems with their health or their husband's health which makes it difficult sometimes for them to host the group of eight.  So I came up with the idea of playing at a restaurant.  It worked great!  We met at the NY Bagel and Deli Restaurant in Mooresville which was centrally located for all of us and had a varied menu plus a gluten-free menu for one of our members who cannot eat gluten food.

We are having crazy weather!!  Yesterday it was almost 70 degrees and beautiful.  This morning when I left for bridge, it wasn't bad - in the 50s I think.  When I finished playing bridge, the wind was blowing like crazy and the temps had dropped to the 30s!  Brrrr!!! Marianne and I were supposed to go to Concord tonight to stamp with Allison's group but it was called off because of the threat of freezing precipitation.  We are supposed to have a low of 19 degrees tonight.  Sonny is going to have to get his "long johns" out to go skeet shooting tomorrow!!   The high is predicted for 43!

I have a few Sammi pictures to share!  When I was working in my room tonight, she climbed up on the tallest shelves that I have and nestled herself in my box of chipboard.

Laying in front of the fireplace!

Recycle with Envelope Punch Board

Do you recycle?  I think in this day and age, it is safe to say most everyone does recycle something in their life.  Recycling has come a long way in my life time .... imagine what it will be like in 50 more years???  Or what the earth will be like if we don't all do some type of recycling.  There are significant environmental as well as economic benefits to recycling.  Recycling helps create jobs, can be more cost effective than trash collection, reduces the need for new landfills, saves energy and adds to the economy.  I remember when we had our first recycle bin and rules for recycling.  Seems like there were more things we could not put in than things we could.  And, if it was supposed to rain, you couldn't put your bin out because they would not take wet paper!  Sometimes it was more trouble than it was worth.  When we lived in Washington state, we had different bins for glass, paper and plastic.  I don't think the trucks would take the plastic and if we wanted to recycle it, we had to take it to a Recycle Center.  Here in NC, we can recycle a lot of things but not cardboard.  So, Sonny collects our cardboard, and takes it to the "dump" periodically where they recycle it. I like to think I am making the world a better place for my children and grandchildren.  So, where is this going???   What does recycling have to do with card making?  I will tell you.  When participating in the recycling process, think about reusing a piece of artwork, which would otherwise be too small for a card, onto another piece of artwork.  Our hand made greeting cards are a great way to share with family and friends and through your creativity, you will help save some trees as well. .When I stamp on a piece of card stock and don't like the image, instead of tossing it in the trash, I save it.  I can always use the back side of it or punch a little square out of it for a future project.

I am a big advocate of recycling envelopes!  You know those return envelopes you receive in your junk mail?  Well, my Stamp Club gals will tell you I reuse them like crazy!!  That is what I use to put their projects in for club.  And I also use them when doing swaps.  All the little pieces of the project go in the envelopes.  Here are a few good uses for those recycled envies:

•  A good use for old envelopes is to write your grocery list on the back of the envelope. Keep  grocery coupons inside the envelope so that you have everything with you at the grocery store.
• Envelopes also make great scratch paper. Use a letter opener to open them straight across the top or across one side so that the edges will be neat.  Use the scratch paper for leaving notes, writing grocery lists, writing down   "to do today" lists, and also for jotting down ideas.
• You can make little note pads from your envelopes as well. Cut your envelopes in half to create smaller rectangles. You can staple small stacks of them together or you can punch a hole in one corner and tie them together with string. Reusing envelopes as scratch paper is doubly good for the environment because once you have used them, you can still recycle them. This prevents you from having to buy scratch paper pads and also ensures that even more trees will be spared by reusing the paper.
• Envelopes can be used to organize photographs and small papers (like I do with my swaps.) Sort photos by event and place them into individual labeled envelopes in a shoe box. Envelopes can also be used to hold coupons, cash, and old receipts.

This week, thanks to my Envelope Punch Board, I recycled a bunch of pages from an old Stampin' Up catalog by making envelopes!!  And you can mail them too. I did all of them in a couple of hours (or less) while watching TV.   Cut the paper 8" x 8" and follow the instructions for the Envelope Punch Board for this size of paper.  I had a pack of mailing labels that I put in the center of the envelope for the address and put my return address label in the top corner and, voila!  I have a bunch of envelopes!!

If you don't want to do the whole envelope, you could just make envelope liners with recycled paper:

 So, get busy recycling!!

Vivid Vases

I am again using the Vivid Vases stamp set.  It is a single stamp and is really versatile.  I haven't used it yet as a single vase but I'll be trying that soon.

For this card, I stamped the vases in Memento Black.  I masked the sentiment so I would just get the vases in my stamping.  Next I colored them using my Aqua Painter and the ink from the lid of the stamp pads.  I love to color this way.  You get just a wash of color and not real dark. I painted a little bit of blue below the vases.  Next I took a ruler and a thin Sharpie to make the straight line across the bottom of the card.  Next I masked the Vases and stamped the sentiment on the left bottom of the card.  

I'm going back to the eye doctor Friday to see how well my cataract surgery went.  I'm also going to talk to him about doing my right eye.  I'd like both of my eyes to work together!!  

Paper Craft Crew Challenge

It's time for another Paper Craft Crew Challenge.  I made a card (with MDS) this time using Sale-a-Bration products.  This would be an easy one to reproduce (or CASE) and you wouldn't have to use MDS.

Sketch 

So, what do you think??

Take Ten Magazine - Spring 2014

I had a nice surprise last week.  Sonny brought in the mail and gave me a package that I was not expecting.  When I opened it up, it was the Spring 2014 issue of Take Ten magazine.  No, I don't subscribe to this magazine.  But in the past, I have sent cards to the magazine in hopes of having them published in the book.  I have not submitted any cards to them in a couple of years at least.  So I was quite surprised to receive this letter from them with the magazine.

Guess they hold on to submissions for a long time!

Cover of the magazine

 I was especially surprised to find out that not only had they published one of my cards, but THREE cards taking up all of page 66 in their monthly "Variation on a Theme."  The challenge is to create a set of cards that share a theme- color, layout, stamp set, etc. while using a different stamped image on each card.

 The stamp set that I used is a retired Stampin' Up set - Awash With Flowers.  It is a beautiful two-step stamp set.

So, that is my claim to fame for today!!

Accordian Fold Tag Card

We had a fun weekend - what about you?

Friday Sonny and I went to the Social Security Office prepared to wait for an hour or so.  Surprisingly, when we arrived there were only 3 people in the office so our wait was not long at all!!  After that little trip, Sonny took me to one of his favorite restaurants that the guys visit on his skeet shooting days.  He has been raving about their chicken to me for a long time.  I have to agree, it was very good as was the fried squash and mashed potatoes and gravy that I had!!  Needless to say, we didn't eat any dinner that night still being full from lunch!

Saturday we met Marianne and Greg and drove to Greensboro to the RV Show.  It was fun to see all the different RVs.  Marianne and Greg were dreaming about their next RV while Sonny and I were just along for the ride.  If I could talk him into it, I would love to have a camper to travel around the US.  We used to have such good times as a family camping in our Pop Up Camper.  But Sonny says "no way" so guess camping is not in our future.  After the RV Show, we had some time to kill so we decided to try and find the apartment complex where Sonny and I met 43 years ago.  We couldn't remember the name of the street but Marianne did!  She remembered as a kid, coming to visit me in the apartment.  She would have been about 10 years old!   She says she remembers that we went over to Sonny's apartment for dinner and I made pork chops!  Her memory is sure better than mine!  Anyway, we found the apartments and they didn't look so bad.  There used to be a swimming pool in the middle of the courtyard but it is gone and there are a lot more apartments now than there used to be.  The complex is now called Smoketree Apartments.  When we lived there, it was Spanish Arms Apartments.  It was a brand new apartment complex for Singles Only.  I was probably one of the first 10 or so people to move in.  Sonny moved in later in the year.  In order to attract new tenants, they provided a keg of beer three nights a week in the clubhouse.  But we couldn't drink the whole keg in one night, so there was beer in the clubhouse every night of the week!!  It was a fun place and we both have good memories of our three years there.  We had hoped to eat at a restaurant that Sonny and I used to go to when we were dating, Cellar Anton's, but sadly, it closed last year after 53 years in business.  So we found another good Italian restaurant that Marianne and I had visited when we attended a Quarterly meeting last year.

During the snow week, I made this Accordian Fold Tag Card:

Front of card

Inside

Accordian Tag opened

The card was made using the Two Tags Die which (sob) is retired.  I think this is one of my favorite dies and I will continue to use it.

Measurements:

• 3-1/2 x 12″ piece of cardstock   
• Score at 3″, 4-1/2″, 6″, 7-1/2″, and 9″
• Panels for decorating the inside are 1-3/8″ x 2-5/8″ 
• Outside panel is 1-1/2″ x 2-5/8″ 

To make the topper for the tag, fold the 3 1/2" x 12" card stock accordian style and place the folds of Tag Die above the score line before die cutting.

Today I made this card using the same directions but using the new Scallop Tag Topper in the Occasions Catalog.  It is smaller (width wise) but it works.

Card open - I used Fresh Prints DSP stack

Card front - tag closed

Close up of opened tag.

Card In a Box

As promised, here is the Card in a Box instructions.  There are a lot of YouTube videos on the web but most of them use 12 x 12 card stock.  This one uses a piece of 4 1/4" x 11" card stock so you can two from one sheet of card stock.  They are a lot of fun to make and fold flat to fit into a regular envelope.

·        Start with 4 ¼” x 11” cardstock.

·        SCORE @ 2 5/8”   /  5 ¼”  /   7 7/8”  /  10 ½”

·        Turn cardstock to the left so the 4 ¼” side is at the top of the score board.  SCORE 1 ¾”

·        With the 1 ¾” (vertical) fold line on your left, Cut on the fold lines – STOPPING at the 1 ¾” fold lines.  (you will be cutting into the smaller rectangles)

·        Cut the small tab at the top completely off.

·        Fold all VERTICAL score lines

·        From the Tab, fold the THREE smaller flaps down.

·        DO NOT FOLD the 4^th small flap.  This is the back of the box.

·         Designer Paper for decorating:

·        Three pieces cut @ 2 ¼” x 1 ½” – for top flaps

·        One piece cut @ 2 ¼” x 4” – for back of box

·        Four pieces cut @ 2 ¼” x 2 ¼” (square) for bottom flaps.

Put box together with Red Line Sticky Tape for best results.

For inside of box:

·        Cut 2 pieces 1” x 4 1/8” – score @ ¾” from each end (for inside of box)

·        Fold the tabs on score lines on the inside pieces

·        Secure the tabs inside the box (dividing the box into thirds)

Card in a Box with Cupcakes and Balloons

Card in a Box with Party Owls and Balloons

Stamp Club Cards for February

This week is my Stamp Club.  We made a Card in a Box project and 2 easy cards.  The Card in a Box was a rather lengthy project so I made sure to make the other two cards easy and quick.  I will share the Card in a Box tomorrow with directions.

The other two cards used items from the Sale-a-Bration catalog.  I wanted to use the Good As Gold kit so the gals could see what was included and how easy it would be to put together a card but that you could also amp up the card with things you have in your arsenal.

This is the card I made from the Sale-a-Bration Gold kit.  I used one of the banners that is written in another language and stamped the "hello" hexagon and put it over the foreign language greeting.  So you can use everything in the kit!  The kit comes with an envelope and a gold liner.  I cut a portion of the liner off the bottom to use it on my card.  Once you put the liner in the envelope, you can't tell that I cut any of it off.  I backed the polka dot card with a piece of Island Indigo cardstock BUT later discovered that by adding the additional card stock, it won't fit in the envelopes provided.  The note cards and envelopes are smaller than our standard cards.

The second card we did was about a 10 minute card!  

This is my Washi Tape Card.  Washi Tape is growing on me.  This is the Watercolor Wonder Washi Tape that is in the Occasions Catalog.  There are three rolls of tape in gold - stripes, plain and dots.  We just took strips of tape and put them in the center of the Naturals White card stock.  Stamp a sentiment from See Ya Later (Sale-a-bration) in Versamark and emboss with gold embossing powder.  Use dimensionals to pop up the sentiment in the center of the card.  Adhere the whole thing to a Naturals White card.  Easy Peasy!!