Wednesday 29 February 2012

Spring is coming, or so they tell me...

Happy Leap Day everyone!  Today's card I'm entering in the spring challenge at the cuttlebug spot.  This challenge came at a good time because after the last storm we had I think it may be awhile before spring arrives in person. :)


I started with Tim Holtz's Seasonal Paper Stash.  I used a strip from the 6x6 sized print of vintage seed packets.  I love this print as it reminds me of my Nanny and Grampy's garden that they had when I was young, and going with Grampy to pick out seeds. 

I chose cardstock, ribbon and ink to coordinate with the print.  After stamping and embossing with my Cuttlebug, I added some ink with a Ranger Inksentials tool to bring out the embossed pattern on the background, and around the edges of all of the pieces with an artist sponge. It seems that these days I can't help but ink everything!  I decided not to add a sentiment because its always nice to have a pretty notecard on hand as you never know when you will need one. 

I love how this card turned out! Perhaps spring isn't as far away as I thought. :)

Here is my list of supplies:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up!  Rich Razzleberry textured, Very Vanilla.  Recollections Kraft.  Tim Holtz Seasonal Paper Stash.

Stamps:  Fancy Pants "Little Star" clear set.

Ink:  Stampin' Up! Rich Razzleberry, Mango Mambo, Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip.

Embellishments:  Stampin' Up! Hemp Twine.  Purple satin ribbon from my stash.

Embossing folder:  Cuttlebug paper Lace II.

Other tools:  We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper, paper trimmer, Ranger Inksentials blending tool, artist sponge.

Adhesives:  Tombo Mono permanent adhesive runner, foam squares, Mini Glue Dots.

Tuesday 28 February 2012

February is the month of love..

I know Valentine's Day passed quite a while ago but I really enjoyed making Valentines this year, and you could adapt these to use for any holiday or birthday.


The first cards I made were sent to family - my son's grandparents, godparents, and aunts and uncles.  I rarely make square cards but I felt like doing something different when I sat down to make them.  These were 4.25" square so that they would fit in an A2 size envelope and wouldn't cost any extra for mailing.

I started with the 6x6 Be Mine collection from Echo Park.  I looove these papers!  So cute and sized just right for cards.  I coordinated the card stock and baker's twine once I decided on which sheets to use, and once I decided on layout I made these assembly-style using my Cuttlebug to cut all of the circles, flowers, and banners ahead of time.  I made these over several days, but if I had make them in one shot it really wouldn't have taken much time.  I made a total of 8, but I just photographed my favourites. :)


Here is my supplies list:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up! Melon Mambo textured, Very Vanilla, Whisper White.  Echo Park "Be Mine" collection 6x6 pad.

Stamps:  Fancy Pants "Little Star" clear set.

Ink: Color Box Chalk ink Charcoal, Rouge, and  Dark Peony.

Ribbon:  We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy Baker's Twine.  Pink satin ribbon from my stash.

Adhesives:  Tombo Mono adhesive runner, foam squares.

Dies:  Spellbinders Standard Circles, Large.  Cottage Cutz  Flower mini.

Other tools: Sponge, paper trimmer.


I also made a card for my husband.  This was our 10th Valentine's day together, and while we didn't do a whole lot to celebrate I wanted to make a special card for him.


Again I started with the "Be Mine" papers from Echo Park. Since I don't have a whole lot of Valentine stamps, I chose the sheet that had the sentiment "so In love with you" in the corner.  At first I considered cutting out the sentiment by hand, but my cutting skills aren't the greatest, and since the sentiment was flush into the corner I didn't have a die that I could use to cut it out evenly, so I decided to use one of my circle dies to cut it off center, and then I would just put the sentiment in the corner of the card, like it was on the sheet I took it from.

The circle set the tone for rest of the card.  I cut various circle shapes from the sheet the sentiment came from, and a music sheet from the pack to layer together.  I also used Cuttlebug's "Seeing Spots" embossing folder to add more circles to the background.  Some ink, an arrow to emphasize the sentiment, and some sparkles I couldn't resist finished off the card. This card turned out to be one of my favourites and my husband loved it too.  :)

The only change I would make is that the arrow and strip at the bottom was die cut from a sheet I embossed first, so the emboss flattened a bit when I ran the dies through my Cuttlebug.  You can still see the emboss though so I wasn't concerned enough to start over, just something to remember for next time.

Here are the supplies I used:

Cardstock:  Stampin' Up!  Basic Grey, Melon Mambo textured.  Recollections Kraft.   Echo Park "Be Mine" 6x6 pad.

Ink: Color Box Chalk Ink Charcoal, and Rouge.

Dies:  Spellbinders Standard Circles Large.  Quik Kutz (Lifestyle Crafts) Arrows Cookie Cutter dies.

Embossing Folders:  Cuttlebug Seeing Spots.  Quik Kutz (Lifestyle Crafts) Hounds Tooth.

Other tools:  Ranger Inksentials blending tool.

Adhesive: Scotch Quick Dry.

Embellishments:  Pink gems from my stash.

Tuesday 14 February 2012

It's been a while...

Hi All!  Its been a lot longer than I thought it would be between posts, it appears life got in the way.  With that said, I've still been crafting like crazy and I have a bunch of things to post. Keep an eye out over the next several weeks and you'll see what I've been working on.  :)