One touch of Geometry makes the whole world kin

I've been having a bit of a creative lull lately ... you know how it goes. That's one of the reasons I enjoy papercrafting challenges so much: it's nice to have some focus. I started at Less Is More, as I find the clean-and-simple style very challenging yet rewarding. This week's challenge is "Diamonds" which I found extra-challenging. The "Geometric" theme at Lawnscaping inspired me to use diamond shapes to create a pattern. I don't have a diamond stamp, so I used a hexagon punch to make 3 diamond shapes, cut 2 from foam, and adhered them with double-sided tape to a stamp block in a chevron pattern. There are so many possibilities with the foam stamping technique.

I used masking paper to mask my new Cardinal rubber stamp from Repeat Impressions before stamping the diamond/chevron shapes. The bird was stamped in Memento black ink & colored with Copic markers. The sentiment (a Shakespeare quote) is from Clear Art Stamps.

This was my first attempt. The shapes were stamped in Olive distress ink. I didn't like all the white space between the bird & the sentiment, so I added a branch from a Prickly Pear Designs stamp set. I'm entering this card into Less Is More #294: Diamonds.


Here's my second card. I used Pine Green pigment ink, inking the foam stamps just enough so that the ink pad lends texture to the final stamp. I'm entering this card into Lawnscaping #138: Geometric.

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

This glitter traveled 2000ish miles so that I could make this card!

Welcome to my final post for 2014; thank you all for sharing the year with me. I'm feeling even more nostalgic than usual, having spent two weeks at my parents' house going through our collected treasures, old and new. A new treasure that I couldn't resist bringing home from Arizona to Maryland was Mom's extra Starform outline stickers. She also gifted me with the tools I need for my favorite technique using the stickers and lots of glitter (like the transfer plastic; I still have lots of adhesive film for now and I've actually had these outline stickers for over a year.) Many thanks to my wonderful husband for lugging my 30 containers of extrafine glitter in his carry-on!

...And many thanks to the personnel at Southwest Airlines for lugging my suitcase, which contained this designer paper and ribbon!

I purchased the double-sided DP at Mom's local craft store Scraps of Love for another nostalgic family card. The "Warm & Cozy" sentiment piece is cut from the designer's logo.

I've had the paper candi for, gee, maybe two years‽ I even used some for the inside, along with a piece from the DP. The ribbon is new-to-me, but is from my mom's stash which is made of years collecting bits of others' stashes! 

This photo doesn't quite capture the true color of the glitter; the cups are cherry red & lime green. I edged all the papers with a gold pen.

This design was inspired by the birth of our newest niece, Luna ... the cups represent her awesome parents and the sugar cubes are Luna and her sweet sister!

Challenge #155

Inspiration/Challenges:

Eureka Stamps: Something Old, Something New (old: Candi; new: glitter)
Less is More: CAS + Family (Sorry, I got a bit carried away and this isn't as CAS as I meant it to be!)
Sketch N Stash: Sketch + Stash (tea-themed outline stickers & paper embellishments)

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!

I see you! Praying Mantis shaped card

I was very pleased to see that we have a Praying Mantis in our garden again this year. They're really fascinating creatures, and I've had fun watching it molt and grow this past week.

It went for a little walk today, possibly because some noisy meat-creature kept taking photos of it!

Anyhoo, I was inspired to make this simple shaped card:

I was also inspired by this week's Shaped/One Layer card challenge at Less Is More, so everything is stamped & heat-embossed directly onto the card base, which I cut on my Cricut with the Campin' Critters cartridge (I cut the "sign" card at 3 inches from <bird1>).

I want to make a brown version, but since the color of a praying mantis has everything to do with camouflage, I can just wait for my little friend to change!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Less Is More Week 128: One Layer card, not Square or Rectangle
The Stamping Chef: Monochromatic or no coloring

Here's a photo of my dog Walt... can you see the mantis in the foreground?

click images to enlarge

Thank you for visiting,

MAS/CAS

I saw a fabulous card using the Chalkboard Technique on my blog-roll recently, but of course now I can't remember where! If it was you, please let me know! I used Sharon Harnist's great tutorial on the Ellen Hutson website (think it was linked). It's really fun, because being messy is the goal! 

I won this Kraftin' Kimmie stamp ("Shine" and image), and it's so fabulous that I knew I had to make a CAS card. It's a rubber stamp, so I used the grid on my Fiskars Stamping Press to line it up for the double stamping. The "Your time to" part is from a stamp of the same sentiment by Verve Stamps.

Seems strange to use this technique for a Clean & Simple (CAS) card, but it seemed perfect this week's "One-layer card with colored card black" at Less is More. So I guess it's a MAS card (Messy & Simple)! [OOPS!!!!! I thought I had read their rules, but apparently I couldn't use black :( I always mess up my submission for Less is More...Sorry!]

I drew the border with a white pencil, and colored in the letters in a pink SU! crayon. I set it with a 3M matte spray coating, because the white ink (SU! Craft) takes a long time to dry. Like, forever. However, it washed out some of my white-pencil details, so I re-added those...It did bleed the crayon nicely, though, so I'll be playing with this technique. It really is fun, do try it!

The black card is from my stash...could be Recollections or Staples brand. The message section inside is cut from a bright white cardstock (Hammermill) with a Spellbinders die.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Kraftin' Kimmie Challenge 178: Use a Sentiment

Thank you for visiting,

Lightsaber Love

The fact that today is "May the Fourth" (a pun on "May the Force be with You") inspired me to make a Star Wars-themed card, for a wedding or anniversary:

I made a stamp with scrap rubber, inked it with yellow-orange/blue-purple & silver ink, and used a glue pen to cover the "light" part with glow-in-the-dark glitter. I then enriched the colors with Copics (I did do some research on appropriate lightsaber colors), and added some dimension to the handhold with a clear glaze pen (Sakura).

The sentiment is from a SU! stamp and heat-embossed in gold (Stampendous). The main image is cut with a PageMaps die and popped with foam tape on a shiny white base (Recollections cardstock).

The colors were inspired by the Less is More "Opposite Colors" Challenge.

As much as today's an excuse to be nerdy, it's also a day to think about the tenants of the Jedi: Quiet your mind and listen to the force within you! Thanks for visiting,

CAS Prams

I know several people who are expecting babies this year, so I wanted to make some Congratulations cards. Since I don't always know the sex of the child, I thought that the sweet color combo at Less is More would work well.

The little stamp is from Graphic 45's Little Darlings collection. I cut it out, covered with Crackle Paint, and added a raised border with a white Sakura glaze pen. I believe the little metal clips are by Graphic 45 as well. The [originally silver] stork charm is from my stash (Mom got it free somewhere!), and since I didn't want a silver charm, I heat-embossed it in copper (ZING).

The baby carriage stamp (well, they just look like prams don't they‽) is by Viva Las VegaStamps. First, I stamped the Lace (Kaisercraft) in Antique Linen distress ink, and then stamped the line of prams in Mustard Seed (a bit more yellow than I wanted, but it was the closest I had).

Inspiration/Challenges:
CYDI Challenge #30: Little Ones
Less is More Week 109: Colour Challenge
Kathy's Waffle Sketch File: March Sketch

Thank you for visiting,

CAS Kisses

I've really been enjoying making CAS cards, but I have so much trouble getting a good photo! For example, I made this card a couple of days ago and only now was able to get a good image:

I got some chocolate-scented ink second-hand from Mom, which she got second-hand from a friend, so it's really old but it certainly smells like chocolate! I free-cut the Hershey's Kiss template, and cut 5 white pieces and one brown piece, which I inked with the chocolate-scented ink. I ran the white pieces through my sticker machine and adhered them to foil (which I saved from a Pringles container). 

I used blue ink & vellum to recreate a Kiss tag; the text is much easier to read in person. I used a sentiment from SP & Company's Lucky Day set. It reads, "So lucky to have you in my life."

I wanted to hand-pierce the border but I couldn't find my piercing template (I found it about the second I finished this card, of course), so I whipped up a template using Stroke Styles in InDesign (you can do this in Word too). I pierced the border using my awl & Sew-Easy piercing mat.

Inspiration/Challenges:
CAS-ual Fridays #91: Use Silver
Less is More Week 108: Paper Piercing
Little Red Wagon #174: Vellum  
Retro Sketches #52: Choose a past sketch (I chose #18) / 2nd entry

Thank you for visiting,

Cheery Chevrons

So I know Chevrons have been in—and out—of fashion for many years, but I only just now bought my first Chevron stamp. I bought some fun background stamps from Viva Las VegaStamps and they just arrived in the mail today, so you know I had to ink up those Chevrons! Well, actually I stamped it with watermark ink and heat-embossed it.

The cloudy background was embossed on my BigShot with a Darice embossing folder. I embossed a scrap and stamped the sentiment onto a cloud, which I fussy-cut and glued to the main image (the sentiment & balloon are from the same set). 

I used foam tape to pop up the Chevron strip, the cloud and main image, and the balloon pieces. So there's a lot of height!

Inspiration/Challenges:
Less is More Week 107: Up in the Air
Hiding in my Craft Room #85: Embossing
Natalie and Amy's Challenge: Something old and something new (I've had the balloon & sentiment stamps for several years, but the chevron stamp is brand new)
The Play Date Cafe #169: Colour

Update: Color me honored! This was chosen as "Cup of the Week" for The Play Date Cafe Challenge #169.


Thank you for visiting, and may all the clouds in your life be fluffy!

Simply Blue Jay

I've been having lots of fun making CAS cards, so I decided to visit some of my favorite challenge blogs and get inspired ... and it worked so well, I made four cards!

Here's my favorite:

The CAS-ual Fridays challenge this week is to be Inspired by a Song (I'm pretty sure it's a song that I love, not just a love song ... anyway, this is my kind of love song!) I chose the song "Blue Jay Way" by The Beatles (read the lyrics and listen to song). This challenge paired really well with Less is More's Music challenge, and used the simple Blue & White color combo from Crafty Boots. 

One of the reasons I chose "Blue Jay Way" is that the other day I went open the back door to let out the dogs, and much to my surprise there was a giant Blue Jay poking around in our herb pots. The jay population in our neighborhood has really grown in the past few years, and I've witnessed some of their beautiful ferocity in the trees, but up close it was much bigger than I had expected!

The paper for this card and one in the middle in the photo below is China Blue Eyes Linen Finish Card Stock from Mark's Finest Papers. I used my very last piece for this project; really need to order more! I used a Prickley Pear Stamp/Die set for the bird image. I cut the shape from adhesive masking paper and filled in the bird directly onto the card with blue ink (all the inks used are from Memento). I heated-embossed the white overlay stamp. The sentiment is from the Rosy Wishes set by Crafty Secrets. 
 

Here are my other takes on the same design:

I sure had fun!

Challenges/Inspiration:

• CAS-ual Fridays #89: Inspired by a Song ("Blue Jay Way" by The Beatles)
• Crafty Boots: Blue & White
• Less is More #106: One-Layer CAS Card + Music

Thank you for visiting,

Sew Simple

Since I got to spend all day waiting for contractors (who never showed up, sigh), I pulled out some of my favorite products and got crafting!

I couldn't resist the "Kraft & Kreme" challenge at Less is More, and paired it with the current Clean & Simple sketch. The sentiment stamp is from Our Daily Bread Designs, and the corner stamp is from SP & Company. The sentiment is stamped in Rich Cocoa ink (Memento); the "stitching" is stamped in Craft White (SU!) and heat-embossed in Brown Sugar with embossing powder (Zing).

I cut the rosette from Kraft paper with a Tim Holtz die, and covered the edge with a "measuring tape" decorative tape that Mom got free with a British magazine. I covered the center with a paper button cut with SU!'s Sweet Buttons Embosslit die, and finished it with this stunning fabric brad from American Crafts' Amy Tangerine line.

Inspiration/Challenges:
Clean & Simple: Sketch #226
Less is More: Kraft & Cream

Thank you for visiting,

Where green grass grows there can't be wrong

Although most of my cards tend to be on the "sweet" side, in my personal life I tend to like art & music that is more on the edge. Like, dangling off the edge and screaming. For example, one of my favorite bands of all time is Jane's Addiction, in part because that's what I listened to with my best friend from college. We lived in Arizona, and would take long drives out in the desert or up through Oak Creek Canyon or into the winding roads to Jerome, listening to Perry Farrell's wailing and wondering what we wanted from life. We've remained friends all these years, and have shared the joys and sorrows that come from being strong-willed and naturally rebellious.

You may remember the "ballsy" card I made for him last year; I wanted to make him something special, so I decided to use a line from Jane's Addiction's "Ain't No Right"... 

I used two double-sided papers from BoBunny; I printed the lyrics in brown (set in three versions of Ablefont) directly onto the DP, and added a little dimension to the piece with Vintage Photo distress ink. The banners were cut with dies from a•muse studio's Cupcake Toppers set, and I used Creative Medium to give them a shine & make them pliable.

I added hand-stitching on the ribbon; it's really light, but worth it I think. Here's a close-up:

I feel like there's a sort of Medieval Festival vibe going on here... which I think Perry Farrell would appreciate. As he once said, "Don't blame me 'cause you got no honor in your life ... don't blame me 'cause you have no chivalry in your soul!"

Inspiration/Challenges:
Clean & Simple: Sketch #225
Dynamic Duos #37: Soft Suede and Crumb Cake
Glitter n Sparkle: Male Card

Thank you for visiting & rock on,