Cork and Chalkboard Valentine

Happy Monday!  I spent part of the weekend working on the reorganization project in my craft room, but I managed to carve out a little time late last night to put together a card for a couple of challenges at Splitcoast Stampers.  The Ways to Use It challenge asked us to use cork on a card.  I have a big roll of cork but I never think to use it on my cards, so this was a fun challenge.  

The other challenge I tried is a new one to me, the Fan Club Central Theme challenge.  This month's theme is "dirty laundry", and let me tell you, this one hits close to home for me!  The only way to access my craft room is through the laundry room, so I have to walk past Mount St. Laundry whenever I want to make a card!  One of the options was to make a card using color combinations from the clothes in our laundry baskets.  I surveyed my laundry and noticed a lot of black and red, so I decided to use those colors for this card (and white, in honor of the big pile of towels my kids used for their baths!).  

I also have a "dirty little secret" (another challenge option): I used a little piece of plain old Scotch tape to clean up the extra bits of embossing powder that stuck to my black card stock before I heat embossed it.  I've found it pulls away the excess powder much cleaner than the brush I usually use.  I also used Scotch tape to hold the twine in place on the back of my red panel.  That stuff is handy!

Here's my card:

I started by die cutting the cork to make a frame, then set it aside to make my chalkboard (to see more about the chalkboard technique, please see this post).  I stamped my image and sentiment in white craft ink on black card stock, then heat embossed them using white embossing powder.  I sponged white craft ink over the panel and rubbed it with a towel to create the look of eraser marks.  I adhered the black panel to the cork frame, then attached the framed piece to a panel of Real Red card stock.  I wrapped red and white baker's twine around the red panel and secured it with Zots and a decorative white button.  Finally, I attached the red panel to a heavy white card base.  

I'm really excited by this month's Fan Club challenges ("laundry" is normally a dirty word at my house, no pun intended!) and look forward to trying other options in the challenges.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Products Used:

Ink: Craft White (Stampin' Up!)

Stamps: Heart (Stampabilities); Be My Valentine (Hambo Stamps)

Paper: Classic Crest Solar White 110 lb. card stock (Neenah); 

Real Red card stock (Stampin' Up!);  black card stock (unknown)

Tools and Accessories: Stampin' Emboss Powder White (Stampin' Up!); frame die (Sizzix);

Zots (Therm-O-Web); baker's twine (purchased from Strands Etcetera on Etsy); cork; button

Chalkboard Technique with Rick Rack

Happy Friday!  Today's card was a bit of an experiment.  One of my creative goals in 2013 is to try lots of new techniques (not just pin them on my Pinterest boards!), and this week's Try a New Technique challenge at Splitcoast Stampers intrigued me.  For this challenge, we were asked to use the chalkboard technique.  I also wanted to play along with this week's Ways to Use It challenge (also at Splitcoast Stampers) which asked us to use things that are new to us, so I designed a background using some new rick rack I picked up while Christmas shopping.  I like the wavy effect of the rick rack against the solid panels of the sentiment:  

To make the chalkboard panel, I ran my Embossing Buddy over a piece of black card stock, then stamped my sentiment in white craft ink.  I added white embossing powder and heat embossed the sentiment.  I set it aside to dry for a few moments, then sponged white craft ink on the panel to create the effect of chalk dust.  Since craft ink is slow-drying, I set the stamped panel aside and started working on my background.  I ran my rick rack through my Xyron Create-A-Sticker to get a good line of adhesive on it, then attached it in rows to a black card base.  I attached my sentiment panel to a piece of white card stock and trimmed it to fit, then attached it with Stampin' Dimensionals to the card base.  To add just a bit of color, I punched two hearts from a piece of shimmery hot pink card stock and added them to the sentiment panel.

I really had fun with this technique and plan to try it again soon.  I love that it uses ink in place of chalk (no chalk dust!) and looks quite realistic in person.  This stamp is one of my new favorites with its lovely message (you may remember it from this post).  If you want to see more cards using the chalkboard technique, I have a few pinned to my "cards" board on Pinterest.  Feel free to follow me and see more examples of this fun technique!

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Products Used:

Paper: Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!); black card stock from stash;

shimmery hot pink card stock from stash

Stamp: 7 Gypsies/Hampton Art

Ink: Craft White (Stampin' Up!)

Tools and Accessories: Baby Rick Rack (Wright's); white embossing powder (Stampin' Up!);

heart punch (Marvy Uchida); Stampin' Dimensionals (Stampin' Up!)

Joyful Trees for Christmas

Yay, it's Friday!!  I don't know about you, but I could sure use a weekend! 

This week's Ways to Use It Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers asks us to use "fussy cutting" on a card.  Fussy cutting is cutting very carefully (usually with precision scissors or a craft knife) around an image, so it takes some extra time and effort.  I've also been a bit fascinated by a technique I've recently learned about called "inlaid embossing".  This technique involves adhering die cuts, layers, etc. together and then dry embossing those elements right into the paper.  There are so many possibilities for this technique, but for today's card I combined fussy cutting with inlaid embossing and kept my design fairly simple. 

Here's my card:

 

I started by fussy-cutting the trees from some patterned designer paper I had in my stash.  I tried to keep just a tiny bit of the border around each tree to help it stand out against the background.  I adhered the trees to a piece of dark green card stock in slightly uneven rows (intentionally this time!) and then ran the whole panel through my Big Shot using the Bow Strings embossing folder horizontally.  I stamped my sentiment in Pine on a piece of Natural White card stock (which is a lovely off-white color), then adhered the sentiment to dark green and kraft card stocks.  My kraft card stock isn't very heavy, so I lined the inside panel of the card with Natural White card stock to add support. 

 

I pulled a fiber strand from some off-white burlap I have in my materials stash and adhered it over my inlaid embossing panel. ( I love the slightly frayed look I can get from burlap.)  I attached the embossed panel to a card base made from kraft card stock.   I added some Glossy Accents to the "joy" sentiment and set it aside to dry.  I wanted this card to be understated, but just couldn't resist a tiny bit of shine!

 

I hope you are having a blessed Advent season  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

Products Used:

 

Stamp: Naughty or Nice (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Ancient Page Pine (Clearsnap)

Paper: Solar Crest Natural White 80 lb. (Neenah); Cutesy Christmas Trees patterned paper (The Paper Studio); dark green card stock (unknown); kraft card stock (unknown)

Other: Burlap fiber; Glossy Accents (Ranger)

Thanks a Bunch!

I finally had a chance to spend some time in my craft room and boy, is my craft table a mess!  Looks like I will be doing some reorganizing this weekend.  Doesn't that sound like fun?!

I want to give a shout-out and thanks to my followers.  Some of you have just started following my blog, and I thank each of you for taking the time to follow and visit!

After a busy week without much creative time, I really wanted to get back to challenges.  I combined this week's Ways to Use It challenge at Splitcoast Stampers (make a "thank you" card) with this week's sketch challenge at Operation Write Home.  Here's the sketch:

I love the simplicity of this sketch!  I chose to make a few small additions but tried to stick closely to the measurements provided.  Here's my card:

(I apologize for the shadows on this card, particularly the one around the sentiment panel.  The shadow and the brown card stock really blend together and it's hard to tell where the paper ends and the shadow begins.  I didn't notice it until I had already deleted my other pictures...ugh!)

I really struggle with matching patterned papers, so I was pleased as punch to find this two-sided paper in my stash!  I used the flowery side for the larger panel and used the lighter side for the smaller piece.  I made a card base with Chocolate Chip card stock and added some brown and white baker's twine to tie it all together.  I stamped my sentiment in Rich Cocoa on Crumb Cake, used watercolor crayons and a slightly wet brush to color the image, then layered that piece with Chocolate Chip.  I had planned to simply attach the sentiment panel to the middle of the long strip, but I made an error as I was adhering my layers and tore the flowery paper slightly.  Thankfully there's usually a way to hide errors like this, and it often involves adding more layers or moving elements around.  I moved the sentiment panel to the left side of the card to cover my mistake and adhered it with dimensionals.  I knew I'd need some sort of embellishment on the right side to balance it all out, so I decided to fussy-cut two of the flowers from the leftover patterned paper (I am not a fan of fussy-cutting, so I did not come to this decision easily!).  After cutting out the flowers, I added a small white brad to the middle of each and attached them to the card with mini glue dots.  To add a little dimension, I lightly rolled the ends of the flowers so they would stand off the paper a bit.

This is a simple and quick card that could be used for many occasions just by changing the sentiment.  I am sure I will be using this sketch again!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Products Used:

 

Stamp: Thanks a Bunch (Unity)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)

Paper: Chocolate Chip and Crumb Cake card stock (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (unknown)

Accessories and Tools: Watercolor crayons (Staedtler); white mini brads, brown and white baker's twine

Sympathy in Blue

Wow, it's Tuesday already!  Time seems to be flying by, although my son thinks time is really dragging (he's getting quite impatient for Halloween!).  For those of you affected by Hurricane Sandy, my thoughts and prayers continue to be with you.  Stay safe, friends!

When I discovered this week's challenge at Sunny Challenges & Creations, I was inspired to make a sympathy card.  I always find it hard to get motivated to make sympathy cards, but sadly, they are always needed and my supply has run quite low lately.  For this challenge, we were to make a sympathy card using this sketch:

I also incorporated the current Splitcoast Stampers Ways to Use It Challenge, which required us to use embossing on a card.  Here is my card:

 

I embossed a panel of Night of Navy card stock with a Texturz Plate in my Big Shot.  I inked the lower section of the panel with layers of Memento Tuxedo Black and Faded Jeans Distress inks, which created a subtly different shade for the lower half of the card.  I applied the ink one layer at a time, stopping between each layer to remove the excess ink by rubbing with a soft cloth (be sure to use an old cloth if you try this, as the ink will stain it).  Once I had the shade I wanted, I set it aside for a moment to dry.  I inked my sentiment stamp with layers of Night of Navy Classic and Faded Jeans Distress inks, then stamped it on a die cut label of white card stock.  I wrapped a piece of white grosgrain ribbon around the large panel, adhered the tag over the ribbon, and attached the entire panel to a white card base. 

 

While I will usually stamp "With Sympathy" or a similar sentiment on the front of the card and save the message stamp for the inside, I decided to do the reverse for this card.  I think the quote works well on the front for this one. 

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

Products Used:

 

Stamp: Close As A Memory (Stampin' Up!)

Paper: Whisper White and Night of Navy card stock (Stampin' Up!)

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Faded Jeans Distress Ink (Tim Holtz); Night of Navy Classic Ink (Stampin' Up!)

Tools: Big Shot (Sizzix); Texturz Plate (Stampin' Up!); Nestabilities Labels Eighteen (Spellbinders)

Accessories: White 1/4" Grosgain Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

 

 

 

 

 

Black Lace/White Tag Card

Today's card is for this week's Sketch Challenge and the Ways to Use It Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.  The Sketch Challenge was a tough one for me, because I knew at least one of the layers needed to be a patterned paper.  Patterned paper and I have a love/hate relationship: I love to buy it but I hate figuring out how to use it!  As a personal challenge, I am trying to use more patterned paper in my cards.  I followed the sketch pretty closely.  If you want to see the sketch and play along with us, you can go HERE to get all the details!

For the Ways to Use It Challenge, we were to use a tag on a card.  If you want to see more about that challenge, just click HERE.

This card is a bit outside of my usual style, but I loved using these colors and this patterned paper.  I think the lace on this paper is so vivid!  This week was my grandmother's birthday (she passed away last year) and this card is very much her style.  So in honor of my Grammy, I made a card that reminds me of her:

On this card I incorporated some mulberry paper (the torn black paper behind the tag).  I love the texture mulberry paper provides.  Here's a hint, though: When you're tearing black mulberry paper at 2:00 in the morning, there's a darned good chance some of the little scrap pieces are going to look like hairy spiders on your craft table when you see them out of the corner of your sleepy eyes!  Don't ask me how I know this...

I adhered a strip of Black Floral Lace patterned paper (Recollections) to a piece of red cardstock.  I used the Dainty Lace Border Die-Namics die (My Favorite Things) on my Big Shot to die cut the white border.  I attached the border to the back of the long red piece and adhered both pieces to the black card base.  I embossed a piece of red card stock using the Square Lattice embossing folder from Stampin' Up! and attached that piece to the card base.  I tore a piece of black mulberry paper and adhered it to the patterned paper.   I stamped the sentiment in Memento Black using a Gina K stamp on a white tag, then attached the tag to the card with a small silver brad.  I also used a small amount of Tombow Mono Multi adhesive to secure the tag. 

You could easily change the sentiment on this card to fit any situation.  I chose "smile" so I could use this as an encouragement card, but the sentiment is general enough to be used for almost any occasion.

Thanks for stopping by!