Holiday mock-up

I think my kids are ganging up on me. It doesn't matter what time in the middle of the night one wakes up, the other will promptly wake up AFTER the first one has fallen asleep. This past week, I had been up since 5am, then 4am, then 3am then 2am! Needless to say, I had been a zombie all week. One night though, I thought I MUST do a little stamping. I thought it's time for me to start making up some holiday cards that I can reproduce quickly. Here's the first couple. They're done using an old snowflake wheel I had and a snowflake EK Success punch that I got from Joanne's a couple of weeks ago.

This first one was done using Ballet Blue paper and Ballet Blue ink. The snowflakes have glitter on them. The ribbon is from, shhh, don't tell anyone, Janie and Jack's gift boxes. Hey, reduce, reuse, recycle, right?
The second one is wheeled with Ballet Blue ink and Brocade Blue paper. The snowflakes have star brads in them. The ribbon is also reused from some gift box, I don't remember.
I don't know if I love this yet. They were definitely simple to do. I think I like the ink/paper combo of the second better. I don't really want to use brads for 100 cards, and they won't send well in the mail anyways. I also haven't decided if I will do ribbon, or do red paper with faux stitching. Then I think I might need to work on how the sentiment should be... stamped directly on cardstock; popped up; embossed, etc. The alternatives are endless. I'll have to keep playing with it.

Birdie Thanks

Needed to make some Thank You cards. Looked through my stamp sets, and still think these birds and cages are the most versatile set ever!
I made this last night, after the kids went to bed. My background stamp was a little off... oh well. Didn't want to redo. The pattern paper was a scrap from eons ago. I thought the colors matched, but looking at it this morning, realized they didn't really. Oh well again. Sigh. Serves me right for stamping while I'm tired and half asleep! I still like how this card turned out, though. I'm not sure if I have enough materials left over to make duplicates of this. If not, I'll come up with more Thank You cards to share later!

ETA: OMG, totally forgot to give credit to the inspiration for this card. Check this out.

Wedding Card

Earlier this summer I had made some wedding cards for my stash. One was specifically made for a friend's wedding this Sunday. However, my stash, including the one earmarked, quickly disappeared. My mother ended up using them all. The woman gets invited to more weddings than anyone I know. Anyways, now that my friend's wedding is fast approaching, I just realized I don't have a card for her!

For this card, I actually designed it all by my little self. No plagiarism anywhere. The finished card is 4 3/4 x 4 3/4. I have 5x5 envelopes, and like to use them whenever I can personally deliver the card. This is based on the Matchbook card. See tutorial here. I modified it to fit what I needed when finished. My friend is Asian, and didn't register anywhere for her wedding. So the easiest thing is to give "Red Envelop" (aka cash). I wanted to have a place on the card to put the envelop, without it falling out.

I began by cutting a piece of 4 3/4 x 11 cardstock for the base. I scored at 4 1/2, 4 3/4, and 9 1/2.
I used the Cricut to cut my shapes here. The scalloped oval came from Storybook cartridge. The ovals came from Wild Card. The oval in Storybook is a bit fat. I wanted it more elongated. The dress is popped up, embellished with rhinestones, Stickles and a little bow. The charm in the corner is the Chinese character for double-happiness. The colors here are based on the invitation colors. I remember my friend telling me her colors are purple, green and silver.

The inside.
I put tape on both ends of the small flap. This will house my Red Envelop.

Thoughts and Prayers

Here I am, did anybody miss me??? No? Oh well. :) This card was inspired by Sandy'sKorner. I love the simplicity of this card, yet elegant, using the Thoughts and Prayers set. I used Stickles on the flower centers for a little pop.
I like this set. I'll have to find some more inspiration to make some different cards with this set. I kinda enjoyed last week's Aviary week. I'm thinking I should do a week of cards with a particular stamp set. That way, maybe it'll force me to use a couple of the sets that I haven't used yet; or haven't used in a while. But of course, I don't want to put pressure on myself, so I guess you'll just have to wait to see what I come up with!

CCMC 111: Back to School Backpack

A friend has asked me to make a couple of cards for her daughter's teachers for first day of school. I originally was just going to make a couple of quick cards. But I didn't feel any creative juices in that direction. Instead, my mind jumped to making a backpack. I looked online for some tutorials and finally decided on marrying two together. The first was two videos by Tracy Greven of scrappinqueenbee88 (this one and this one). I also took the ideas for the handle and straps from Mary Arima on splitcoaststampers.com.
Side view.
I will not see my friend until Sunday. I can't wait to show her the bags I've made and see her reaction.

Oh, and I just saw there's a Back-to-School challenge at Create with Connie and Mary. I think I will enter the challenge!

Converting from Wood to Cling-Mount.

I'm super excited today. I have loved Stampin' Up's clear/cling-mount stamps from first sight. However, I was a bit disappointed that they didn't have clear-mount options for a lot of their existing stamp sets in the new catalog. Then I started reading about how people convert their wood-mount stamps into cling-mount. I finally found an option that I kind of liked here. However, I wasn't able to find the clear vinyl that she used at local Joann's. Then, ingenuity hit me like a ton of bricks! I would save the left over vinyl that came with my new Stampin' Up clear-mount sets. I had ordered Thoughts and Prayers set because I couldn't find any good sympathy sets anywhere. But sadly, these came wood-mount only. Not only that, they're double-mounted. Ugh. Super-hate that. So, I decided to not mount them on the wood blocks that they came with. Instead, I would try to convert them into cling-mount, using the left over vinyl like I mentioned.

Taking the advice from Susan of www.stampsomefun.com, I first carefully stamped on tissue paper. Without removing the stamp, I traced the shape of the stamp onto the tissue paper. I cut inside the line to get the index image. Since the rubber is unmounted, I just removed the paper backing from the adhesive on the rubber and put the index image on it. Then I would cut the vinyl from Stampin' Up, covering the whole stamp, trim away excess. Big plus using Stampin' Up vinyl is that it comes with adhesive in the back, eliminating need for tombow. The biggest a-ha was that I could have multiple small pieces of vinyl, overlapping each other, and it's okay. And not all of the area needs to have the vinyl. A couple of tiny areas left uncovered is okay. It will still work like a charm.

ETA: Bought Aleene's Tack It Over and Over.  SOOOO easy.   Just brush on a thin film.  Wait for it to dry (doesn't take long).  Stick it to the back of hand or jeans/pants to remove the extra tackiness.  All done.  Ready to use.

Aviary Week Day #6

This card was inspired by Inking Idaho. I had some scrap pattern paper and cardstock that I wanted to use up. I wanted to make something a little more elegant than whimsical. Don't think I achieved what I intended. Sigh...
This didn't actually turn out the way I wanted. I originally had the middle portion over the ribbon, and liquid pearls on the side. I didn't hold the pearl pen tightly enough that it accidentally dipped onto the liquid pearls I just put on the card, smearing the pearl. So I had to wipe it up and cover it with this middle portion. I also couldn't find a good way to put down a sentiment, so I went without. I think I'll have to find a sketch that's a little different and try this again. Sorry. :(

Aviary Week Day #5

Today's card is inspired by Lynn Put again. I changed the colors and placement of embellishment. I figured since I still had some of the cardstock left over from the other day, I might as well use them up. Plus I can't get over how fabulous these colors are together!
This card is also based on the Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.

Aviary Week Day #4

This card was inspired by Nikki Bond. I didn't have any of the colors nor the pattern paper she used. So I set to find a bold pattern in my stash. I love the bright colors on this paper. I was also glad to find some cardstock that would match the colors. The pattern paper is from DCWV; and I used Stampin' Up's Lavender Lace, Melon Mambo and Pear Pizzazz. Close, huh?
Guess I didn't look at her card very closely when I was putting mine together, though. I didn't realize she had a scalloped bottom. Oh well. I still think it's pretty nice for summer. :)

Aviary Week Day #3

Today's card was inspired by Lynn Put. Rather than using pattern paper, I used plain cardstock and embossed them. I used my Cricut to cut my circles.
I love the colors together. So bright and cheery. It's based on Colour Q Challenge.
And Taylored Expression's sketch.
I've never actually done a challenge. This was the closest I've gotten so far. But maybe I will start looking at these a little more closely and try to be more creative in the future!

Aviary Week Day #2

Today's cards' inspiration came from Chiaki of www.stampinpro.com. I made the card on the right first. Then I decided to turn the cardstock at an angle.

Aviary Week #1

I have so much fun with this stamp set that I declare this week to be Aviary Week at my little blog. The first offerings are inspired by Joanna Munster.
Of course I couldn't just do plain cardstock, I had to emboss it! Instead of brads, I used my pearl gelpen in anthracite.

This one, I already had a piece of the brown cardstock cut while trying out my extra large Big Shot die. I didn't know what I wanted to do with it and kept it in my scrap box. Today, I thought what I wanted to do was fitting for this scalloped card, so I finally got to use it.
Yet another variation:

Because I Care II

This card was inspired by yet another session of web surfing. I found this one as inspiration.
I used the Cricut to cut the similar-to-SU's Top Note Die pieces on the bottom. I'm so glad there is this cut on the Storybook cartridge (along with the scalloped oval and scalloped circle). It kinda feels like I'm cheating. Hee-hee. I am actually just glad that I am, um, saving money by having the cartridge instead of the punches. Heck, the cartridge came with the machine when I bought it, so it's like it's free, right? *wink*

The Color Purple

Today's card was inspired by Liz Hughes. She made her card for the Pals Paper Arts' monochromatic challenge. In her post, she said "so break out the Concord Crush, Rich Razzleberry, Elegant Eggplant or any other shade of purple that you may have and join in on the fun!" Well, I just had to get up from my comfy chair and find my new Razzleberry paper.
I really like how this card turned out. The background was done by stamping off the ink couple of times on scratch paper, with the third time on the actual cardstock. I had embossed the bottom layer with the Big Shot. I also got to use my newly acquired ribbon and brad. Added a little Stickle on the hydrangea for a little shimmer.

Goodies!

Lookie what I got with my workshop order! I know, I know, I'm not a bird person. And when I read about all the hype people had in regards to this set, and especially after I saw it in the new catalog, I really didn't think I would order it. Then I started seeing cards made with these birds and cages. I decided I NEEDED them! And now look what I've done!

OK, this really didn't come from my own little head. I had a little help with inspiration from Lynn Put of The Queen's Scene.
I modified the card design a little, mainly because I didn't look at Lynn's card very closely before I cut my paper; and also because I didn't want to figure out how I would make the flower and button.

One other toy that I got from my order was a big clear block for my clear-mount stamps. OMG, I love it! I could line up the cages before I stamped them; and lined up the birds on the other side, to line up to be inside the cages. It was great.

More toys that I got were the Modern Label punch and the Word Window punch. Caved after seeing these punches being used over and over and couldn't find similar cuts on my Cricut.

Here's the insides of the cards I made. 2 different versions.

Masculine Birthday

Once again, surfing for some inspiration and found this one. I changed the colors and the DSP; only because that's what I have. And I loved that I got to use my Basic Gray cardstock and ribbon from Stampin' Up. With these colors, I thought maybe this would be fitting for my Father-in-Law's birthday in a couple of days. Hopefully he'll like it.


The inside: