an apology and a card...

i've been missing in action since July... partially because i've been too busy to craft at all... partially because i've been uninspired... partially because the idea of sitting down and listing everything that i've used to make a card has changed the blog from something enjoyable to a chore...

so, as many bloggers often do, i'm prepared to make promises... i promise to post the few cards (some of them over a year old now) i have backlogged and haven't shared yet... i promise to list supplies when asked (so leave your comments!)... and i promise to try and get back into crafting regularly...

without further ado, here's the first card i've made in ages for a friend's daughter's birthday... i love how this card turned out, despite the fact that my handwriting pales in comparison to Kristina Werner's (from whom i CASE'd this card)...

Gift Card Holders for my Midwives

today i said goodbye to my midwives... it was a bittersweet moment, especially since a third pregnancy is unlikely for me... it's just hard to say goodbye to people you've spent the last 10 months getting to know as they see you through a really huge moment in your life...

due to complications, i ended up having kid 2 in the hospital (i had planned another home birth)... one of my poor midwives was pulled from bed at 5 AM to assess me and i could tell that running out to get a coffee or something to eat was the last thing on their minds... i thought i'd give them gift cards to the coffee shops and cafeteria in the local hospital, so they wouldn't be stuck for funds when at another unexpected hospital delivery...

Recipe:
Inspiration: this gift card holder by Amy
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, & Urban Oasis DSP
Ink: Whisper White craft ink
Stamp Set: Edgy Eloquence, Short & Sweet © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: Baja Breeze striped grosgrain ribbon
Tools: wide oval & slit punches, Mini Glue Dots, tape runner, paper trimmer

Birthday Card for E...

i've been a big fan of Kristina's (and her awesome videos) for a long time... and this particular card was so cute, i couldn't resist CASE'ing it for E's birthday... i didn't change too much up with this one, except for the addition of the scalloped edge and the use of Kiwi Kiss and Tangerine Tango (i'm so sad to see these In Colors retire)...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Kristina's Finally Friday card for June 19, 2009
Paper: Kraft, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White
Ink: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip
Stamp Set: Dots Are Hot © Stampin' Up, Birds Galore © Inkadinkado
Embellishments: Thickers foam stickers, white gel pen, Tangerine Tango striped grosgrain ribbon
Tools: scallop edge punch, paper trimmer, tape roller, dimensionals

Baby Shower Card for J

i've had a lot of friends have babies in the last 6 months... as a result, i've made variations on this beautiful card by Beate four or five times... my Punches Three baby buggy stamp has gotten a lot of action...

this card is for my friend J, who is expecting twins any time now... a boy and a girl... so i wanted to mash both genders up into one card with the light pink contrasting the starker grey... the peekaboo layer behind the doily lace punch is Pink Pirouette overlaying Baja Breeze and the Urban Garden DSP...

Recipe:
Inspiration: this card by Beate
Paper: Pink Pirouette, Basic Grey, Baja Breeze, Urban Garden DSP
Ink: Pink Pirouette, Baja Breeze
Stamp Set: Punches Three © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: pink sheer ribbon
Tools: wide oval punch, Martha Stewart Doily Lace edge punch, paper piercer, Glue Dots, dimensionals, paper trimmer, tape roller

Card for Baby Julia!

if you've perused the SCS gallery at all, you've probably noticed the work of markie's mom... her style of card-making is one of the most distinctive in the galleries... sponging, contrasting colours, layering and dots are key to her designs... needless to say, i've been stalking her blog for a good while...

one of my friends, S, was blessed with another little girl yesterday morning... i wanted to make something special for baby Julia and i knew i wanted to use the lovely little elephant stamp from the Just Celebrate set, as the raised trunk is a sign of good luck... once i started to play with colours, i decided to use markie's mom's style, mostly to see if i could do it...

each background layer of the Soft Sky and Pumpkin Pie cardstock was stamped with the large Baroque Motifs stamp in it's co-ordinating ink, and then i sponged the edges with the ink as well... i've come to learn that i much prefer sponge daubers to do my edging, as markie's mom posted in a tutorial last week... i ran out of them and had to use a regular craft sponge for my edging and, while it looks great in person, it doesn't show up as much as i'd like on camera...

since the dots tend to add all the embellishment one would need, the only things i added were a piece of orange ribbon and i coloured the elephant and flower with Sakura Gel Pens...

Recipe:
Inspiration: markie's mom
Paper: Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Ink: Soft Sky, Pumpkin Pie, Dew Drop Brilliance in Graphite Black
Stamp Set: Just Celebrate, Baroque Motifs © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: orange polka dot ribbon, Sakura Gel Pens (Stardust pens in clear & blue, Gelly Roll pens in white & orange), black Zig marker
Tools: Cuttlebug, Petite Scallop & Standard Circle Nestabilities, double-sided tape, dimensionals, paper trimmer, X-acto knife

Father's Day Card 2008

nothing says Father's Day like sock monkeys... i don't have any Father's Day stamps, so the origami shirt that i had seen used many times on SCS seemed like a good idea... i CASE'd westamp's card...

i found the origami shirt folding instructions here...

Recipe:
Inspiration: westamp
Paper: Sock Monkey DP by Daisy D, Bordering Blue, More Mustard, Real Red
Ink: Bordering Blue
Stamp Set: All Year Cheer I © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: yellow eyelets
Tools: Crop-a-Dile, Cuttlebug Spots & Dots folder, Cuttlebug, double-sided tape, dimensionals, paper trimmer

Beate's Challenge WSC52

while i've been a big fan of Beate's for a long time, i've yet to participate in one of her challenges... having a little bit of free time this afternoon, i sat down and made this little something something... clearly, i need to work on my sponging technique, but i kind of like the heavy-handed effect in the end...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Beate's WSC52 Challenge, this card by the fabulous Ms. M...
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Not Quite Navy, Purely Pomegranate, River Rock
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Not Quite Navy, Purely Pomegranate
Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: none
Tools: sponge dauber, double-sided tape, dimensionals, paper trimmer

Card Exchange - All Occasions

this card is for the third card exchange i've participated in (the first one can be seen here and the second here)... i bought a few packages of Soft Sky and River Rock and decided i finally should start using them... this exchange was an "All Occasions" theme, so i opted to omit the sentiment to make them a universal card...

i CASE'd 3 different cards for this project... thanks to Lynn Larson (the colour scheme), scrapshappen (the layout), and kaloso05 (the paper piercing for the band) for their inspiration...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Lynn Larson's Baroque Motifs Scallop Note Card, scrapshappen's Cherish Challenges, and kaloso05's Monochrome Old Olive Kindess
Paper: River Rock, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Ink: Soft Sky
Stamp Set: Baroque Motifs © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: River Rock double-stitched grosgrain ribbon, brushed gold brad
Tools: scallop, 1 3/8", 1 1/8" and 1/16" punches, paper piercer, SU Mat Pack, paper trimmer, double-sided tape, glue stick, dimensionals card (the paper piercing on the band)

Tutorial: Partially Embossed Card

when looking for ways to use my Cuttlebug (the item i just had to have, yet rarely use to its full potential), i stumbled across Heart Prints by Sue Nelson... i loved the look but just didn't "get" how she was able to partially emboss part of her cardstock... and those embossed lines intrigued me...

after searching out everything i could on the technique and then being blessed with
three great tutorials (thanks to Sue, Jay and Beate), i decided to add a tutorial of my own... not because it was needed but, rather, because i wanted to try my hand at doing a tutorial...

i started by getting my supplies together and cutting and scoring my cardstock... i went with a standard 4¼" x 5½" card for this tutorial... just keep in mind that you are somewhat limited by the size of both the Cuttlebug opening and the embossing folder... i stack my plates as you would for any Cuttlebug dies or embossing folders, with the B plate on top of the A plate...

next, i took my embossing folder (Birds & Swirls, which co-ordinates perfectly with the Always stamp set) and lined the edge of the embossing up with the line i scored earlier... i apologize that you can't really see that in my picture, but it's hard to get a clear image of the score line... it's really important that you look at your cardstock placement and ensure that everything is square so you don't end up with a slanted edge to your embossing...

once you have your embossing folder lined up to your liking, place it on your A & B plates with the portion you do not want embossed hanging over the edge of the two plates... in my example, i've left about 2" overhanging in order to fit my sentiment in later... then place the second B plate on top, lining it up with the A & B plates below... make sure that your cardstock hasn't shifted and then begin to feed the stack through your Cuttlebug...

when you're done, you should end up with a partially embossed card front that looks like the example on the left... you can see that i've gone ahead and stamped my sentiment...


now it's time to embellish! i selected the small dotted circle embossing folder because i wanted to keep the whole card fairly simple and clean in its design... i've always found that my smaller embossing folders can leave indentation marks where the folders end, but Sue suggested instead of running the folder all the way through, reversing the stack back towards you to solve that problem and it has worked perfectly... another suggestion is to shim it with another piece of cardstock...

here's a close up of the dotted circle... it's very subtle and doesn't look half as smart in the picture as it does in person...




time for the final embellishments: black ribbon to border the partial embossing, the lovely bird from the Always stamp set (also stamped in Graphite Black and mounted with a dimensional, although it's hard to see in the picture), and a few black brads to give some visual interest to the upper corner...

Recipe:
Paper: SU Whisper White
Ink: Dew Drop Brilliance in Graphite Black
Stamp Set: Always © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: black ribbon, black brads
Tools: Cuttlebug, Birds & Swirls and small dotted circle Cuttlebug embossing folders, Xyron 150, 1/16" hole punch, dimensionals

what i love most about this card is the simplicity... there's not a lot going on, but the different textures and images work well together yet are subtle... i have a feeling a lot more of my cards are going to be of similar design in the next little while (i have another card exchange coming up in June with a Thank You / Congratulations theme and i could see something like this working perfectly for that)...

something i didn't do with this card was the embossed lines, like the other tutorials show... that, dear readers, is simply because i'm still awaiting my Scor-Pal, the lovely tool that allows you not only to score your cardstock perfectly but to emboss lines as well... i'll be sure to do a product review / demo when mine arrives...

Card Challenge 3 - Monochromatic

the latest card challenge i was participating in was simple: use whatever you like but keep it to one colour, black and white excluded... i decided to go for something very simplistic and just stick to black and white in order to showcase one of my latest favourite techniques: partial embossing with a Cuttlebug... i won't get too far into explaining how i made this card, as i'm adding my first tutorial later today on how i did it exactly... in the meantime, here's the recipe...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Sue's beautiful cards at Heart Prints
Paper: SU Whisper White
Ink: Dew Drop Brilliance in Graphite Black
Stamp Set: Always © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: black ribbon, black brads
Tools: Cuttlebug, Birds & Swirls and small dotted circle Cuttlebug embossing folders, Xyron 150, 1/16" hole punch, dimensionals

Card Challenge 1 - Tool-Less

i first saw this card on SCS when i was searching out cards made with the Just Celebrate stamp set... Angie was kind enough to do a tutorial on how to make this card and my spinner card obsession was born...

the owl i stamped with Black Staz On ink on to watercolour paper and used my watercolour pen and my SU inks to paint him... i used Close to Cocoa for the body colour and Old Olive, Creamy Caramel and Summer Sun for the accents... i then cut it out and mounted it on one of the pennies...

the paper i used was Chocolate Chip for the main card, patterned paper from a Costco block, then Old Olive for the slider window... i used Whisper White behind the window to stamp the "Whoo! Hoo!" in Chocolate Chip... i finished of the card by using the white rub ons from the Love & Happiness set...

i actually quite like how this card turned out... a few things i would change would be the crooked "for you" that bugs me to no end... i also sort of wish i had done something more to accent the Old Olive cardstock (either put a rub on flower on it or dragged the edges in Chocolate Chip ink)... let me tell you this, though... i've made this card a few times and it's much easier with a word window punch than an X-acto knife and a ruler... silly challenge contraints!

because i'm a big loser and i think pictures just don't do justice for a spinner card, here's a little video i took of my little owl in action...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Angie at Chic N' Scratch / Stampin' Academy (that little owl is the whole reason i bought this stamp set
Paper: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, patterned paper from a Costco block, watercolour paper
Ink: Black Staz-On, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Summer Sun
Stamp Set: Just Celebrate © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: SU Love & Happiness rub ons
Tools: X-acto knife, ruler, paper trimmer, tape roller, watercolour pen, dimensionals