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

Holly Jolly Sparkly Snowman

Whew!  It's been several days since my last post but I finally have a new card to share with you. This card was so much fun to create!  I started with an idea in my head that actually worked out on paper, which is always exciting!

For today's card I decided to CASE (Copy and Share Everything) some ideas I saw recently and use them to make an original card.  I saw a project on Splitcoast Stampers that used embossed circles for a snowman's body (see the project HERE)  and I really liked the idea of embossing a snowman.  I also saw a card that used a swirled embossing folder with glitter glue (see it HERE), and I was inspired to add Stickles to my embossing.  This week's Try a New Technique Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers asked us to make our own snowmen, so I used these ideas to create this sparkly, swirly snowman card:

I tried photographing this many times and just couldn't get a picture of the whole card that really shows the sparkle on the snowman as well as the embossing on the blue piece, so here are a couple of close-ups:

I started with a Neenah 110 lb. white card base and added a piece of wintry patterned paper to cover the card front.  I die cut 3 circles from Whisper White card stock, then embossed them with the D'Vine Swirls embossing folder.  I created a hat from black card stock and attached it to the "head" of the snowman.  I stamped my sentiment on Whisper White in Versafine Onyx Black and heat embossed it with clear embossing powder, then attached it to a piece of black card stock.  I cut a strip of blue card stock and embossed it with the Swirls, Ribbons and Snowflakes embossing folder, then cut the end to a point.

Once I had all the elements cut and stamped, I attached them to the card front.  I carefully applied Star Dust Stickles directly from the bottle to the raised embossing on the snowman.  I wanted to add some dimension to the snowflakes on my blue piece, so I added Stickles to the centers.  I quickly decided I didn't like the way that looked, so I added tiny pearls to the centers instead. 

I set the card aside to dry overnight (and somehow managed not to smear my Stickles, which was quite a feat for me!).  I had so much fun with this card that I will probably make a few more using different backgrounds, colors and embossing folders. 

I am also entering this card for the Paper Players #124 Challenge (snowman cards) and the ABC Challenge #7 (holiday cards with bling).  Thanks for stopping by today!

Products Used:
 

Stamp: Merry Merry (Recollections)

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black (Tsukineko)

Paper: Solar White 110 lb. card stock (Neenah); Whisper White card stock (Stampin' Up!); Arctic Wishes Matstock (DCWV); black card stock, blue card stock (unknown)

Tools and Accessories: Circles #2 die (Sizzix); D'Vine Swirls embossing folder (Cuttlebug); Swirls, Ribbons and Snowflakes embossing folder (BasicGrey/Sizzix); Big Shot (Sizzix); clear embossing powder (Mrs. O'Leary's); Star Dust Stickles (Ranger); tiny pearls (Zva Creative)

Anniversary Card for My Husband

Recently my husband and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary.  He's the kind of guy who thoughtfully remembers the little details that I often forget, so I tried very hard to create a card with details that were reminiscent of our wedding.  Our wedding colors were black and white, and my bridesmaids and I carried red roses to add a splash of color.  I recreated those colors on this card.  The sentiment is from a set I used to stamp the napkins for our wedding.  I tried to keep the embellishments to a minimum, as I didn't want to "girly" this card up too much for my husband!  Here's the card I made for him:

I stamped the background stamp in craft ink on white card stock, then heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I attached a piece of red ribbon (repurposed from a package I received recently...I always save those ribbons!) to the embossed panel.  I used my Big Shot and a Sizzix die to cut rectangles of black and white card stock, stamped my sentiment and adhered the stamped piece to a larger black rectangle.  I added black brads to the corners and adhered that piece to the embossed card stock using dimensionals.  I then attached the whole panel to a card base made of black card stock and added a white liner to the inside of the card.

My husband and I have been blessed with beautiful children, a strong support system of family and friends, and a Savior who has carried us through the ups and downs of life.  There's a whole lot of love in our house, and life around here is always exciting.  If that's not worth taking the time to make a special card, I don't know what is!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Products used:
Background Stamp: Soft Swirls (Stampin' Up!)

Sentiment Stamp: Love Matters (Stampin' Up!)

Ink: Basic Black Craft ink (Stampin' Up!), Memento Tuxedo Black

Embossing Powder: Clear (Mrs. O'Leary's)

Embellishments: Black brads, red ribbon