Inkspiration

Checking the Mail...

So a few days ago, I worked on this little project. We do not make a huge deal of Valentine's Day in this house - we know we need try to express our love for each other daily, not just on one prescribed day of the year. So cards and perhaps some flowers, not roses, from Brian are the extent of it.

I thought it would be fun to put this on the table and place my cards for Brian and Sarah in it:

Hang on a second, that's a Christmas mailbox!

That's a bit better! When I saw the little tin mailbox in the local dollar store before I Christmas, I snagged it, knowing I could do something with it! I went searching through my papers for something sort of Valentines-ish but not too cute-sy since this was for both Brian & Sarah. (Though I imagine Sarah will abscond with it...)

I used some Best Creation paper I had - that gridded heart pattern was my first choice and I decided to use it for the ends of the mailbox, because that small yet bold print was going to be a bit hard to look at across the whole side of the mailbox. The cherry print worked with it colour-wise, and we all like cherries (thought about the strawberry print but Sarah is not a strawberry person), so that's what I went with. I wrapped taffeta ribbon over the lips of the mailbox ends. Some cute embellishments with hand made flowers and a diecut sticker (I cut off the rolling pin below the sentiment and just went with made with love, which applies both to the mailbox and the cards that will go inside). I used another Epiphany Crafts epoxy - this time as an accent on the flag.

I'll show you the simple card I made for Sarah, too. I kept this one simple and like how it came out.

The hearts are fussy cut from a border paper by Bella Blvd and the sentiment was cut from a sticker page by Bella Blvd. I added Crystal Effects to the heart and sprinkled some diamond glitter in while it was still wet.

Here is the inside sentiment:

More Bella Blvd stickers layered on each other and the same glaze and glitter technique on the cupcake.

I will be back to show you the card I made for Brian, but I think it needs a tutorial, so it gets a post of its own!

If you notice anything looking a little wonky around here, it's because I'm in the midst of a blog makeover. So I'm experimenting with columns and widths. This should all be done in a day or two! Hang in there!

Thanks for popping by!

 

 

 

Hambo Cat for a Friend

Every other month, as part of job as a DT member at My Sketch World, I offer up a layout challenge on the members' forum. This month, picking up on one of the hot trends of 2010, I challenged members to use bakers' twine in an innovative way on a layout. One of my friends there bemoaned the fact that she doesn't have any twine, so I offered to send her some. She picked a few colours that she often works in. Rather than just stick a few lengths of twine in an envelope, I thought I'd enclose it in a card. I know Danielle loves cats and they are often the subject of her scrapbook pages, so I searched some images saved on my computer and found this (I knew I didn't have any actual stamps with cats on them). I found this Hambo digi stamp saved, I guess, for such a time as this!

In the interest in keeping my envelope light, I have not embellished this enclosure card, but I think it's pretty cute, and I think she'll like it:

I printed the image on white cardstock and then coloured using watercolour pencils that I blended with mineral spirits and a stump. Since I didn't want the smooth cardstock to start to pill, I blended with this instead of water. I wanted the cat to slightly resemble a lovely but indulged cat that used to be in Brian's family (she went on to her maker last year). So this cat is shades of brown and orange in honour of Patches.

I mounted the coloured image on some Authentique paper, from the Free Bird 6 x 6 loose collection.

I hope she likes it and gets to put that twine to use before the month is over!

Thanks for popping by!

Blessings,

Ann

Merry Christmas!

Here is the last card I created for Christmas this year.

This is a fun shaker card that I know the recipient is really going to enjoy! Assembling the shaker card is actually quite straight forward, thanks to the Shake It kits available at your lss through Impression Obsession. You can purchase the square or round plastic bubbles and the perfectly cut out cardstock pieces that fit over top separately. What I did underneath the shaker is a fun masking technique that I wanted to show you. I decided that the cute penguins needed a snowy environment, so I ran the white cardbase through the Cuttlebug using the Snowflakes folder. Stamping on top of the embossed surface would leave a very uneven impression and I had just one penguin stamp, the right facing one.

I decided to use a transparency. Here's how I did it:

1. I measured and trimmed the transparency to be slightly larger than the square bubble, about 3.5" x 3.5". I stamped the penguin on the left, using StazOn ink, which is ideally suited for non-porous surfaces, and it dries quickly. I then flipped the transparency over, and stamped the penguin again. This time I inked the stamp using a Copic marker, omitting the fin that carries the gift, so this penguin could be the recipient.

Now there are 2 penguins facing each other.

 

 

 

2. Next, I stamped the penguin using ordinary dye ink on a scrap of paper, and cut it out. I then used temporary adhesive to stick it on top of the penguin. If you have post-it notes handy, you can stamp on the post-it note, right up at the top where the gummy stuff is, cut it out and stick it on top of the image.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Ink up the background stamp, in my case the Christmas tree, with StazOn ink and stamp the it, allowing yourself to go right over the covered penguin, but not going so far as to stamp on the uncovered penguin.

Now, remove the mask you made with the scrap paper or post-it note and flip the transparency over. Repeat your background stamping.

Alternatively, you could create 2 masks and adhere one wrong side down on the penguin on the right, but I find this just as easy.

Use Copic, Sharpie or other permanent markers to colour in your images.

 

4.With your stamping done, you are ready to assemble the card. I placed the diecut cardstock on my cardfront and used a pencil to make light lines to indicate where I needed the transparency and bubble to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Using strong, clear adhesive, like Beacons 3 in 1, adhere the transparency to the cardfront. I find embossed surfaces sometimes don't adhere as well, so the Beacon's is good for ensuring the card won't fall apart. You can see my pencil lines under the transparency. Remember I made it bigger than the bubble, on purpose.

 

You can see the pile of "snow", about a teaspoon, piled in the centre of the transparency.

 

 

 

 

 

6. Remove the adhesive from the bubble and adhere it to the transparency (with all the transparent surfaces here, the photo is a little less than ideal, but I hope you can see how this is coming together).

 

Then adhere the cardstock panel to the front. Again, I used the Beacon's to ensure it adheres to the slick transparent surfaces and the embossed surfaces.

I stamped a sentiment, added a little bling and adhered it to the cardfront with double sided foam adhesive.

Have you made shaker cards? I'd love to see them! Leave me a link in the comments.

Merry Christmas, friends! May all the blessings of the season fill your heart and home with joy! - Ann

 

 

 

Ever Have This Problem?

You decide to give a gift card as a gift (that happens a lot this time of year) and you get to the store and they don't issue gift cards, they issue gift certificates? Not all establishments use plastic, especially small, independently owned businesses (Let's hear it for the local, independently-owned businesses!!!) So you get home with your gift certificate and think... Now What? How can I pretty this up with my crafty stash? Well, you can decorate the envelope with stamps or stickers... or you can cut some cardstock or patterned paper a little longer and little bit more than twice as wide and fold it in half (i.e. you are making a cardbase into which you can insert your gift certificate, perhaps using a slot punch to get it to stay.) Or... you can spend an hour on google finding no creative ways to deal with the gift certificate like I did earlier this week! Finally, I tweaked to the idea that a gift certificate is like money, sort of, and started searching for creative ways to give money. I ended up on the Hero Arts blog where Jennifer McGuire showed a way to fold a $20 bill into a scarf for a snowman, and into a Christmas tree. I had my aha moment:

Following the instructions in the tutorial by Jennifer here, I made my tree. I tied a beautiful glitter ribbon around the middle of the tree to help keep it closed, and to the top of the tree, I attached a gorgeous blingy chipboard snowflake that works as a star for me. The gift certificate paper is much thicker than the paper money is printed on, so this really sticks out, but I am very happy with it anyway. You'll probably notice how both of her cards inspired this one.

I love clear cards and seeing Jennifer's reminded me that I haven't made one in awhile, so I started out with a transparency sheet (Stampin' Up! used to sell Window sheets, and this may be one of those - very similar). I cut it to 11 x 5.5" and then folded it half, creating a 5.5 x 5.5 square. I used white opaque StazOn ink to stamp the snowflakes. StazOn is perfect for these kinds of surfaces that are non-porous, because it will dry. I stamped the tree using silver ink, then sprinkled on the silver embossing powder and put it under the heat tool to melt the powder. Then I cut the 4 trees out. The papers are from a winter/Christmas collection from last year by BoBunny - gotta love using up that stash!

I trimmed 2 pieces of light blue cardstock using the wavy blade on my trimmer. The more narrow strip is adhered on the back of the front page, and the slightly wider one is adhered on the front of the back page, creating a layered landscape. After attaching my certificate tree to the cardfront, I added on to finish the landscape. Two of the embossed trees are adhered with clear drying adhesive (Beacon's 3 in 1 to the rescue again!) to the front of the card, and 2 are adhered to the back of the front page. This is the fun part about working with a clear card: all the dimension you can create by working with all sides!

I used a bit of border sticker along the folded left  edge for more colour and to finish the card added some lovely silver cord. The sentiment is a rubon that I applied to the front of the card. It took a little longer than usual to apply, but it did go. The greeting and signatures for the card will all go on the blue strips so they are not seen through the card.

I considered stamping or inking the certificate tree, but decided I like the simplicity of the white and it works with the white snowflakes. Hopefully, it will also be obvious that this tree is "different" and that the recipient needs to do something with it.

Thank you, as always, for popping by my blog. I love sharing my ideas with you and I hope you are inspired by what you see. Blessings,

Ann

 

Christmas Cards in a Jiffy!

Some of my friends at My Sketch World started a thread in the forum for posting addresses to mail Christmas cards. I didn't want to just pick and choose a few and leave some friends out, so yesterday I found myself needing 17 cards. Even though I've been making cards this year (I've done MUCH better than last year!), I just didn't have 17 on hand ready to send. How would I crank out 17 cards when a card can take me just about as long as a layout sometimes? Solution: simple design produced manufacturing style. By manufacturing style, I mean piece-work and production line.

So I chose my card style: it would be stamped.

I selected a technique: heat embossing - it's a super simple yet super quick wow, and no colouring means perfect what I needed.

I chose my stamps: a clean line image that would like great embossed, plus a sentiment.

I chose my colours: for this image, I wanted it to look like it was dark, so I chose a nice dark navy cardstock and added white.

I cut 17 cardbases - fortunately I have a rotary paper cutter that can take 5 sheets of cardstock at  a time, so slicing 8 sheets of 5 1/5 x 11 went quickly.

I cut 17 cardfronts - again using the rotary paper cutter, this was speedy.

Working with 4 cardfronts at a time, I stamped with white pigment ink and sprinkled on white embossing powder. (Pigment ink is perfect for embossing, especially production line embossing, since it dries slowly). Melt the powder with the heat tool on all 4 cards. Repeat.  Then do the same thing with the sentiment.

Adhere the cardfronts to the bases. Wrap with silver cord for a finishing touch. Stamp a greeting inside and sign. Address envelopes and they went in the mail the same day. 17 cards done in about 1 1/2 hours. For me, this is good! Oh, did you want to see it?

I know that some of the recipients follow my blog, so I'm not sure I should show it to you...

... but then if I don't, and you're in a time crunch... Well, my blog is here to teach and inspire, so I guess I better share. If you are from MSW and you follow my blog and your name was on that thread and you don't want to see the card before you take it out of your mailbox, stop reading now. For the rest - here is my very clean and simple card:

Now if it weren't going through the mail, I'd be inclined to add a rhinestone brad to the centre of that star, but I've seen envelopes tear from larger brads or buttons, so for this purpose, really simple does the trick.

What do you think? Have you done mass-produced cards? I'd love to see your design!

Thanks for dropping by!

Blessings,

Ann

Birthday Card: Authentique

Last month, I enjoyed heading out for a card class with an old friend of mine. We blasted through about 12 cards in about 3 hours (because she had so much prep done in advance). Included in those cards, we made these:

Isn't that fold fun? These still fit in a standard sized envelope, it's just the cutting and scoring that change things and add interest. Carolyn emphasized that we must trace the cards, or something, before giving them, so that we could make these again. Remember when I said she had prepped a lot in advance? That included already cutting, scoring and folding these, so we didn't actually go through the process then.

Well, fast forward a few weeks. Today, my bff Christa is celebrating her birthday! (By the way, Christa has a really great tutorial and a giveaway on her blog today, so pop by there, when we're done here!)

Since she did not attend that card class with me, I thought I'd share this great card technique with her by using it for the birthday card I'm giving her:

I also tried to include a few of Christa's favourite things on her since I made it especially for her.

She loves Authentique, so I used some gorgeous Authentique papers from the Free Bird line. Christa loves playing with watercolour paint on her layout, so I splattered some on the sentiment (that is a digi stamp that I downloaded some time ago and I don't know the source anymore).

I added a detail to the punched layered butterfly. The bottom butterfly (can you tell that there are 2 layered there?) is the flip side of the top butterfly. I used my skewer to gently curve the butterfly to give it some dimension. I then added Crystal Effects to the centre of the butterfly and poured on some clear microbeads - just a fun little detail that is more noticeable in person, but it adds visual interest and texture. The top butterfly is adhered to the bottom with dimensional adhesive to make it pop/float.

Now, since Carolyn urged us to use and share the technique, and so that I would have the dimensions for the future, I quickly drew out templates. Would you like to see them?

This is the template for the longer card (like the one I used for Christa's card, and the top card with the stocking on it. My drawing might be a bit off, but the numbers are correct, so that's the important part.

Here's the template for the wider card (the Santa card).

If you make some of these, for Christmas or another occasion, please let me know with a comment. I'd love to see them.

What do you think of the card I made for Christa? It's not overembellished, but has a few little details that I think she'll appreciate.

Thanks for popping in today.

Blessings,

Ann

 

 

Stamped and Cuttlebugged Christmas Card

My friend Majo at My Sketch World issued a challenge to incorporate music into a card. I knew this stamp set with with the lyrics for the carol "Joy to the World" would be a perfect way to answer this challenge.

The card base was run through the Cuttlebug (can you go wrong with Swiss Dots - such a classic) to create a lovely subtle background. I stamped on the navy strip and used an edge punch on the silver strip to create a double vertical border and layered that lovely stitched grosgrain on top.

The focal point starts with a red circle cardstock base which I outlined with a glue pen and sprinkled microfine glitter on. Then on the white circle, I stamped with a silvery grey for the lyrics. Then using a pigment inkpad, I stamped the word Joy in red and stprinkled on glittery embossing powder and hit that with the heat tool.

Three rhinestones add even more sparkle, play on all the rounded edges,  and finish the card.

How about you? Are you challenged to incorporate music somehow into a card? I'd love to see it!

Blessings,

Ann

Poinsettia Flower Tutorial - Practical Scrappers

I was making Christmas cards a few weeks ago and wanted to add a paper poinsettia to the front of one. I went looking for a tutorial and couldn't find one, so it was time to make one of my own! I'm sharing this at Practical Scrappers too. Remember we've been sharing layout, card, altered item, and fun Christmas ideas since the middle of November and we'll be your Christmas idea central right up to Christmas, so check it out!

To make your paper poinsettia, you will need:

5 petal flower punch (preferable with sharp not rounded petals), or a diecut machine

scrap cardstock - green and whatever colour you'd like your poinsettia to be (I chose off-white)

ink

gem, dewdrop or microbeads

quick drying strong adhesive, like Beacon's

tools - scissors, bamboo skewer (a dry emboss tool or pencil should work too)

 

From the off-white cardstock scrap, punch 3 flowers. Then punch 2 flowers from the green scrap.

 

 

 

 

 

If desired, ink the edges of your flowers to add texture and dimension. I used green, since white poinsettias have a tinge of green throughout them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snip one green flower by cutting between petals, so one of the pieces has 3 petals and the other has 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using a bamboo skewer (my favourite tool!), curl the petals downward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Using strong quick-dry adhesive, glue the 3 white flowers together, staggering how they line up. Then adhere the intact green flower on, which will be one level of leaves, and place the other 2 pieces in a pleasing way, for a second level of leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take the skewer one more time and ease the petals apart as the glue will stick them together  a little bit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the poinsettia is taking the desired shape and dimension , you can add some finishing touches. I used my finger to dab a little gold Stickles to the petals, and added a Robin’s Nest gold dew drop to the flower centre. You could use micro beads or a rhinestone, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Use foam adhesive to attach the poinsettia to your project.

 

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

 

Inked Background Tutorial & Winner Announced!

I wanted to show you a Christmas card I designed to show some friends for a cardmaking night last month. I've done it up as a tutorial so you can do it step by step, too. This would be an easy card to mass produce if you need a bunch quickly (Christmas is only 2 1/2 weeks away, so cards going in the mail, really have to be done, soon, right? Ack - I know I have a few more to make, and soon!)

You will need:

- glossy cardstock (I get mine from Stampin' Up! - it may be available elsewhere. I haven't tried it with photo paper, yet, so I can't tell you how that works. But the glossy really makes a difference on how the card looks, so try to track some down.)

- ink pads

- sponge daubers (I really like the daubers. I've tried using tissue, and sponges, but I find the daubers easiest to handle and control and less messy)

I used a deer stamp, and a tree stamp, you can use whatever you have to create your landscape. Here we go:

Emboss an image on your glossy cardstock. I inked the reindeer with gold ink and stamped, and then sprinkled on gold embossing powder and set it with the heat tool.

Once the image is cool, apply ink to the glossy cardstock using the sponge dauber. I like to move the ink around in a circular motion, and on the glossy cardstock, you really can move the ink. It takes longer to absorb the ink than a regular cardstock.

Apply a second colour, if desired. I used navy for the night sky, applying the colour more darkly closer to the ground and more lightly as we moved up toward the sky. I used chocolate coloured ink for the ground.

Working on a scrap of paper, I stamped the tree image in hunter green, sometimes stamping more than once between reinking the stamp. You can see I stamped off the page, too. This multiple stamping creates the effect of a forest, and now the deer is in a setting.

Can you see all that ink on the embossed image from my tree stamp?

Now it's gone! I simply used a tissue to wipe the excess ink from the embossing. While I waited for the ink to dry on the glossy cardstock, I ran a cardbase through the Cuttlebug and created a sentiment by embossing and punching it out from a scrap. When the ink was dry on the central image, I applied a mixture of coarse and fine glitter to the line where the earth and sky meet to create a frosty effect. I then tied some linen thread around the card for a little extra punch. I also adhered fine glitter on the deer's rack.

Speaking of racks, someone is waiting to hear who won the RAK I was giving away during the MSW bloghop. Thank you to everyone who came by and left a comment - it really was gratifying to read how much you appreciated the simple to advanced approach I took. I will have to remember to do that again from time to time! We printed all the names of the commenters and numbered them, then Sarah picked a number between 1 and 31. She chose number 16.

And the winner is....

 

...

 

Stephanie!!!

Stephanie I will email you to request your address. Congratulations and thanks so much for joining the blog hop!

Thanks to everyone who popped by today. If you use this technique, I'd love to see it. Leave me a comment to let me know where to come see your creation!

Blessings,

Ann

 

 

Birthday Card for Mom

I made this card for my Mom:

This is fairly thick and could probably even go in a shadow box, but I love it and so did she!

The patterned paper is BoBunny.

The wired strand of acrylic baubles caught my eye. There were 2 in the package, and one got used on the Natural Beauty layout. When I put it together with the ribbon flower, I loved how it came together. Those brads finish it nicely, don't you think? The list of words are from a card of stickers by Authentique and I like how they describe her characteristics.

Thanks for popping by!

Be blessed,

Ann