Catchup on cards and new Paper Smooches

Busy, busy, busy. Aren't we all? But when you have to make a card, you have to make a card. Happened to me twice. Needed one for a friend's daughter's wedding and another for dh's birthday.

First, the wedding card... I have a cute old Quickutz die that cuts that happy couple. I love that I can cut through different papers and then assemble the couple (fine motor skills and tweezers required... Lol.) I put them on that heart frame that was made with another tool that I bought a while back and is fun to use. (Remember it?) The background was the result of using a Stampin Up embossing folder with T!m Holtz' distressable cardstock with the white core. I kept it simple with just a little delicate ribbon. It was almost too simple for me so I stamped Happy Wedding Day inside the card and threw in a few scattered silver adhesive backed dots from the $1 bin at Michaels. Their presence in the card made me smile.

I picked up some other T!m Holtz products recently when Joann's put them on sale and the tree trunk embossing folder was one of them. I paired it again with T!m's distressable cardstock and then sanded it a bit afterward for a little white to peek through. The bird and the branch are from a TH Sizzix die. The sentiment comes from Paper Smooches Birthday Buddies. (I just hand cut the little banner long enough to fold it and pop it up. Love how easy that is.)

By the way, at midnight tonight, Paper Smooches is releasing new stamps with coordinating dies (which I think is the best idea since sliced bread!) In celebration, they are running a blog hop and if you hop along you have tons of chances to win some goodies. Head over to their blog to check out what you need to do and get a little inspiration at the same time!

Thanks for dropping in....

Always late, but worth the wait

I saw this on a magnet once, so I had to buy it as a constant reminder that my heart may be in the right place sometimes... it just gets there a little late. Hee hee.

Which brings me to one of the few recent cards I've made at home. I told you that I'm working for EK Success on their Creative Artist Team, so I'm working on projects when I'm there. Doesn't leave much time or energy for other crafting, but when there is an event that can't go without a card, I put it in overdrive.

Such an event was my son's girlfriend's 22nd birthday. Sent it a day late but I like to think about another quote I found: "The deadline is the greatest inspiration." I believe that I wouldn't have made this card if I'd had more time because the theme is the lateness. Ha.

I used Paper Smooches' turtle from Party Posse (I have to tell you that it is one of a few that have been pre-stamped, pre-cut and pre-colored and are sitting in a little stash for just this purpose.) He's sitting on the latest card sketch #158 from Operation Write Home. (Sketches are another life saver when you're in a hurry.) The sentiment is from a Dollar Store stamp. (Those little impulse buys come in handy, too.) Oh and those cute little birdies are my absolute favorite stamp from a Unity kit. They never fail to make me smile. Lastly, the wonderful papers are from DCWV's Playtime stack.

I have Mr. Turtle pulling a wagon with the sentiment on the inside. The wheels are from my numbers stash. Cute, huh?

Thanks for dropping by. We are experiencing a blizzard here in the Northeast today and I'm hankering for a little crafting on this cozy day, so maybe the next post won't be so far off.

Oh and I just discovered an iPhone app called Vine. Have you? I don't have an iPhone yet, but I got the app on my iPad. Unfortuantely, it doesn't have a camera so I can't play along yet but it is fun to see this new 6 second video sensation. Check out Claudine Hellmuth's videos. So cute!

Til next time, *smile*

Altered Brush Project

Hello,
I had the pleasure of taking some mixed media classes with the one and only Donna Downey recently and it inspired me to work on and finish the altered brush project that I'd signed on for last summer. You can read about the project on the Donna Downey Studios website: go to her blog. I hope you choose to participate. She posts pictures of the ones she gets back, so there's your chance at being published. *smile*. I just mailed mine on Friday, so I'm hoping when she gets back from her world travels, she'll put it up on her blog.

When I ordered the paintbrush I knew what I wanted to do with it. I'm not sure if it qualifies as mixed media but it certainly was "altered" with paint, yarn and beads, so maybe? She's a hula girl. The bristles looked to me like a perfect grass skirt. Hula girls are stereotypically voluptuous so I went with it. She has a top cut from flowered fabric, I made her lei with beads and paper flowers and her hair was made with eyelash yarn and a tassel making tool. She even has a belly button and a word tattoo on her hip. It came together easily after the layers of gesso and tan and green paint, thanks to my trusty glue gun.

Hope you enjoyed the peek. So glad that is off my to do list!

Have a nice week!

Hi all!

Nothing like late notice....

Tomorrow (Weds, Jan 23rd) is the air date of Martha Stewart's segments on HSN, the Home Shopping Network. They are scheduled to air at 4am, 7am and 12 noon EST. I'm not positive, but I think the patterned paper segment is during the noon hour. If I'm right, all my projects will be on the table for that segment. Although the papers have a love theme to them, I created cards, boxes, flowers, a scrapbook layout and more with themes besides Valentines Day. I hope you have a chance to watch!

I should be able to show some pictures of these projects after they've aired, so stay tuned.

Thanks for checking in,
*smile*

A new year, a new card...

Happy new year to you. I've been absent because I started working as a design team member at EK Success. I go in a few days a week and work on various projects. Some are for Martha Stewart's HSN products (I will alert you later this month when we have our January show coming up.) Some are for new packaging for EK Tools. It's a dream job so I'm still pinching myself to see if I'm dreaming. *smile* I will be posting some of the projects in the near future so continue to tune in.

While on vacation though, I had to make a few birthday cards for friends so I relied on a design that is quick and easy. (A tutorial can be found in the sidebar under "Pages".) I used a pad of Recollections paper that had a nice weight and cool patterns on a kraft background. There was also nice gold embossing that added a snazzy touch to the resulting card.

I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of the solid kraft, then matted it twice and popped it up with foam squares.  I glued down the front panel on just three sides so that I could slip a gift card in the resulting pocket.

And as you can see from this angle, I used smaller pieces of the same papers for my greeting inside.

After I made my diagonal cut, I realized that if I wanted maximum exposure of the patterned side, it required folding the card unconventionally. Let's just call it serendipity.

Before I go, I just have to share some good news. I was told that this card that I submitted to my gallery last July over at Splitcoast Stampers, was chosen as one of the Favorites of 2012. I've got a big smile on my face over that fact.

Thanks for visiting!

Caring Thoughts

I needed a sympathy card and didn't have a lot of time so I reached for the prettiest glittery paper (from the same KandCo pad that I used for my in-laws anniversary card), cut it down to size and then stamped an old Hero Arts sentiment. I wanted to keep the sentiment small so I grabbed a label punch by Stampin 'Up but the entire sentiment "With Caring Thoughts" didn't fit. I found that if I limited it to "Caring Thoughts," it did fit. A quick punch and done. Even better was that the backside of my pretty paper was a colorful pattern of stripes that worked perfectly for the inside of my card. I used the stripes as a guide for my handwritten note. Perfect.

It reminds me of the type of cards that you can buy in a boxed set, but by making my own, I'm not committed to 10 of the same cards in the future.

Frugal tip: Cut 4"x 5-1/4" rectangles from your leftover papers so you have panels that are ready to go when you need a quick card. Oh, and if your paper is double-sided and you can cut two panels, you may be able to use one to coordinate the inside of your card.

Have a nice day!

Oh Crab...

A belated birthday card for a cousin. Again, Paper Smooches came through. How did they know that from time to time I need that sentiment from Chubby Chum Pals? The little crab comes from the PS set called Surf and Turf. When I saw his little claws, it reminded me of the "L" people make with their thumb and forefinger to represent the word "loser" and I had to use it to express a little self-deprecating humor at my forgetting her birthday. Lol. I love creating scenes on cards, as you may know, so it was fun to use sky, water and sand papers to make this little beach scene. It made my cousin laugh. Whew! I'm forgiven. *smile*

Coming up next, a sympathy card that proves you don't need much time or product to make a pretty card.