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)...

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

A Little Something for Miss J:

when i saw this card posted on the Scalloped Edge for CC221, i knew it would be a great card to CASE for Miss J's birthday... i forgot how much i love the "rock & roll" technique, especially on a great stamp like the large flower from Eastern Blooms...

Recipe:
Inspiration: this card by Jackie and CC221 on SCS
Paper: Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Rockabilly DSP
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Tangerine Tango, Kiwi Kiss
Stamp Set: Yummy & Eastern Blooms © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: Fresh Mowed Grass Dew Drops
Tools: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots embossing folder, paper piercer, SU Mat Pack, paper trimmer, Tombow Multi liquid glue, tape runner, dimensionals

KW Colour Inspiration Challenge 42

while i've been a devoted follower of Kristina's blog and videos for quite some time, i've yet to take part in any of her colour inspiration challenges... this morning, the mood hit me and this is what i came up with... love the card, slightly annoyed i couldn't get the ribbon straighter...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Kristina Werner's Colour Inspiration Challenge 42
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Really Rust, More Mustard, Whisper White
Ink: Really Rust
Stamp Set: Artfully Asian © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: Kiwi Kiss 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon, Thickers white foam stickers
Tools: Nestabilities circle dies, 1/2" circle punch, paper trimmer, tape roller, Glue Dots, dimensionals

Twin Congrats

one of my friends is expecting twins... this is the card i made for her when she first found out... the little image below is what i stamped on the inside of the card...

Recipe:
Paper: Gable Green, patterned paper from a Costco block
Ink: Gable Green, VersaMark, Black Staz-On
Stamp Sets: A Little Love, Short & Sweet, Define Your Life © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: Perfect Pearl Pigments in gold, sheer sheer polka ribbon, green 1/4" satin ribbon, safety pins
Tools: ticket corner punch, 1/4" rectangle hand punch, tape roller, paper trimmer

My Scrapbook Table Blog Candy Card

so this is my entry for my scrapbook table's blog candy challenge... on the left, you'll see the picture that we were given as inspiration... i ended up doing a pretty literal translation of the picture, with a few alterations to accommodate colours and tools... i knew right away that i would be using the Always stamp set for this challenge...

i started by stamping the background layer of Close to Cocoa cardstock with the branch from Always, using Close to Cocoa and Cameo Coral ink... i sponged around the edge of the cardstock with Close to Cocoa as well... i cut the next layer (Whisper White) and sponged the edges with Cameo Coral first, then Close to Cocoa (i repeated this around sentiment as well)... the Nestabilities circles were adhered with Mini Glue Dots and i hand drew the trunks of the trees with a brown Crayola Washable marker (highfalutin, i know!)... i added the ribbon using the Xyron 150 and then mounted my sentiment on dimensionals...

what excited me most about this card was how the bird stamp turned out... i ended up doing a strange hybrid of two techniques, Rock n' Roll and Thumping... i inked up the stamp in the Cameo Coral and then rolled the edges in the Close to Cocoa... i then took my Close to Cocoa Stampin' Spot and lightly tapped it all over the stamp... the result was a weathered look that let lots of the pink tone show through... not sure if this technique has another name - anyone? Bueller? here's a close-up of my lovely little bird...

finally, i don't know if you can tell from the smaller version of the card, but if you click on it you'll see on the enlargement that i fudged a rectangular Nestabilities behind the sentiment by shortening one of my squares... it's a little noticeable, but a quick little fix until i can afford to buy the rectangles (and ovals)...

Recipe:
Inspiration: Sarah from my scrapbook table
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, pink and peach cardstock
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Cameo Coral
Stamp Set: Always © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: ribbon
Tools: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities (circles, scallop square), Crayola Washable Marker in brown, Mini Glue Dots, Xyron 150, double-sided tape, dimensionals, Cutterbee scissors, paper trimmer

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

link: Make Your Own Dew Drops...

Heather posted this tutorial on her blog a little while back but, due to some computer difficulties, i just saw it yesterday... all i can say is genius! i've never been able to find Dew Drops locally in colours that i'd want to use...

photo credit: Heather @ Stamp With Heather

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)

Congratulations Card for Greg & Alicia

this particular card was made last month and was the reason i found myself in Vancouver...

i tried a different technique for the bow on this card, which can be found here... i'm pleased with how it turned out, mostly because i still need to work on my bow tying skills (which sounds ridiculous, as i'm almost 30 years old, but there you go!)...

this full-time working mum bit is a lot harder than i ever expected... after yet another particularly busy month, i've not found the time to craft at all... which better change because this blog has been sorely neglected, i have a card exchange deadline looming, and i'm leaving for a family visit halfway across the country in a week!

Recipe:
Paper: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip
Ink: Whisper White craft ink, VersaMark
Stamp Set: Always © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: Perfect Pearl Pigments in gold, chocolate brown ribbon from Michael's
Tools: Cuttlebug, Textile Texture and Word Hearts Cuttlebug embossing folders, ribbon punch, paper trimmer, Cutterbee scissors, dimensionals, tape roller

Thank You Card for Normande

last month we went to Vancouver for the weekend and were treated to lush greeness, beautiful cherry blossoms, and a lovely garden owned by my sister's friend, Normande, who hosted us for the weekend... i took many beautiful pictures of her spring garden and i wanted to use them as a Thank You to her for her hospitality...

this card is based on the accordian card tutorial from SCS... the only thing i changed was to add an extra panel so i could fit more pictures on the card...


Recipe:
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White, Summer Picnic DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Crayola Washable Markers
Stamp Set: Garden Whimsy, Friendship Blooms, Just Celebrate © Stampin' Up
Embellishments: SU Love & Happiness rub ons, Icon rhinestones, brown eyelets, brown ribbon from Michael's
Tools: SU scallop, 1 3/8", corner rounder, & 1/16" punches, Cutterbee scissors, Fiskar's Ultra Shape Express & 2½" circle template, paper trimmer, tape roller, photo mounts

All Occasion Criss Cross Cards

Started: February 23, 2008
Finished: February 23, 2008
Made For: me!
Inspiration: suen from SCS
Materials: SU Classic Stampin Pad in Ruby Red, Luxe Designs Multi-Coloured Floral rub ons, My Mind's Eye Confetti/Kaleidoscope pattern papers in Surprise "Summer" Dots / Yellow Orange, Surprise "Girlfriends" Polka Dots / Pink, and Surprise "Summer" Stripes / Light Pink
Tools: SU Curvy Verses, Edgy Eloquence, and Much Appreciated stamp sets, McGill Mini File Tab punch, rotary cutter, roller adhesive
Cost: $15
Would I Do It Again? i think i've done this style to death, so probably not...
Notes / Comments: these turned out really well, although i don't dig them as much as the birthday cards i just did...

i used rub ons for the first time since i've started paper crafting... i have memories of rub ons coming with McDonald's Happy Meals and had shied away from them because they never seemed to transfer correctly when i was a kid... as the fabulous Ms. M said last night, "The Hamburglar always ended up without a head." i was surprised at how easily the rub ons transferred and i only screwed it up once (i accidentally scraped the rub on away, as you can see in the last picture)... overall, i give Luxe Designs rub ons a big thumbs up!

Card Exchange - Birthday Theme

Started: February 13, 2008
Finished: February 14, 2008
Made For: message board card exchange
Inspiration: suen from SCS
Materials: SU Classic Stampin Pad in Not Quite Navy, My Mind's Eye Confetti/Kaleidoscope pattern papers in Celebrate "Boy" Dots / Yellow Green, Celebrate "Beach" Dots / Yellow Green, Celebrate "Boy" Harlequin / Light Blue, Celebrate "Brothers" Zig Zag / Dark Blue
Tools: SU Edgy Eloquence stamp set, McGill Mini File Tab punch, rotary cutter, roller adhesive
Cost: $15
Would I Do It Again? absolutely... i'm going out to buy more of the paper to make a whole stash...
Notes / Comments: what i love, love, love about this card is that it's relatively gender neutral... it's quirky without being frou frou, which i have a hard time avoiding... i bought some brads for embellishment and ended up leaving them off because it was just too much... as it is, i know that not everyone will dig the loud patterns... but anyone who knows me knows that it's pretty fitting...

Thank You Card For Maria

Started: December 30, 2007
Finished: December 30, 2007
Made For: Maria
Scraplifted From: my own layout
Materials: 2 colours of cardstock, ribbon, eyelets, VersaMark, Perfect Pearls Pigment Kit in Metallic
Tools: Cuttlebug, Olivia alphabet cutting die, SU All Year Cheer stamp set, SU So Many Sayings stamp set, MM Tool Kit, rotary cutter, gold metallic marker
Cost: under $5
Would I Do It Again? yes...
Notes / Comments: this is a card i made for my BIL's mother... i didn't have a specific design idea in mind when i sat down to do it, but i knew i wanted to use the purple cardstock and i thought the green ribbon would be a nice compliment to that... using the gold pigment from Perfect Pearls was just an excuse to use it... in total, this card took about 20 minutes to make, if that... the design element is very simple, but i like how it turned out... the second picture shows the gold pigment a little better than the larger picture... in person, it has the appearance of a very luminous watermark effect...

the Perfect Pearls Pigment Kit is easy to use... there are several kits available, each including 4 pigment colours, a small Perfect Medium pad (which is similar to VersaMark) and two paint brushes (one to place the pigment, one to dust off excess)... what is nice is that you can keep building up the layers of pigment until you get the amount of saturation you like... i find you can do about 3-4 passes before it won't take any more pigment... for more ways to use Perfect Pearls, Charmed Cards & Crafts has some project ideas...

'Tis the Season Scrapbook Page

Started: December 11, 2007
Finished: Work-In-Progress
Made For: J's scrapbook
Scraplifted From: Becky Higgins' Creative Sketches - Volume 2 - pg. 49 (very loosely based on this sketch)
Materials: 3 colours of cardstock, 1 patterned paper, silver eyelets, clear embossing powder, Christmas stickers
Tools: Cuttlebug, Red Tag Sale alphabet cutting die, Spots & Dots embossing folder, SU Christmas Mini stamps, heat embosser, MM Tool Kit, Mini Glue Dots, roller adhesive, Creative Memories Precision Point Adhesive, photo mounts, rotary cutter, silver gel pen
Cost: under $10
Would I Do It Again? no...
Notes / Comments: i did this layout very hastily and really just so i'd have a place to put these random Christmas pictures... i played a little with my Cuttlebug, which is why the red title letters are embossed... in hindsight, it might have been nice to tie in the embossed letters by embossing the red background matting for the photos as well...

the one element i really like about these pages is that i used the tag to label the pictures so i didn't have to journal (i didn't really have much to say)... not only did i get to heat emboss, but i got to set some eyelets... yay for embellishments!

there are two things that bug me, though... i love the patterned paper that i chose, but i don't really think it works with how i arranged it on the page or how i arranged the pictures on top of it... and i was left with the bottom left hand corner empty and i have no idea how to complete it without over-embellishing... Jes at Craft-O-Rama is sending me something that might work (little Christmas light die cuts) and i'm going to try using SU's Crystal Effects on them to tie them in with the stickers... my other thought is printing out J's first letter from Santa and putting it in an envelope there...

Monkeyed Scrapbook Page

Started: November 18, 2007
Finished: November 21, 2007
Made For: J's scrapbook
Scraplifted From: Simple Scrapbooks - November / December 2007 - pg. 109
Materials: 4 different colours of cardstock, 1 patterned paper, chipboard letters, vellum embellishment, thread
Tools: Cuttlebug, Olivia alphabet cutting die, roller adhesive, photo mounts, Cutter Bee Piercing Bug Rotary Tool, sewing needle, laser printer, rotary cutter, corner rounder
Cost: under $10
Would I Do It Again? yes, for another book...
Notes / Comments: my biggest complaint about this page is that, some how, i managed to cut the pattern paper incorrectly and there's about ¼" difference in the pieces (noticeable where the two pages meet)... of course, i didn't notice this until i had already stuck it down... oh well! overall, i like the colour scheme and it picks up on the colours in the photos, i think...

i tried out the Cutter Bee Piercing Bug Rotary Tool and with a little finesse it works well... slow, steady pressure on a self-healing mat and a ruler to try and keep lines straight are a must... i found it was easier to sew the embellishment if i went along the guide line and fully perforated the holes beforehand (i found that the Bug didn't really go all the way through the cardstock)... i don't think the variegated thread does wonders for this layout, but it was what i had on hand...

First Halloween Scrapbook Page

Started: November 18, 2007
Finished: November 21, 2007
Made For: J's scrapbook
Scraplifted From: Scrapbook Etc. - October 2007 - pg. 97
Materials: cardstock (background and title letters), 3 patterned papers, 1 plain paper, ribbon, stickers
Tools: Cuttlebug, Olivia alphabet cutting die, roller adhesive, Creative Memories Precision Point Adhesive, mini Glue Dots, photo mounts, corner rounder, rotary cutter, silver gel pen
Cost: under $10
Would I Do It Again? i love this layout and may use it for another scrapbook...
Notes / Comments: this was the first page i completed... i couldn't find chipboard letters that i liked, so i bought a Cuttlebug and the Olivia die to do the title... i love how this page turned out and besides the slightly crooked writing on the journaling section, i think it looks great...