Pretty Poinsettia

I wish I had more time to make Christmas cards.
They are some of my favorites and it seems like I'm always too busy to make enough! I suppose I could make them all year round and then when Christmas rolls around I'd be set. However, I just have to be in the mood - and that mood doesn't hit above 60 degrees.

Oh well, I suppose if I made a ton of Christmas cards, I just might get sick of them.

Eh...probably not. ;)

Here is a pretty simple card I made last week. I don't always want sentiments because I feel like the images are enough on certain cards. I love poinsettias, so I just kept this one simple. The poinsettia is from a set by Flourishes and I heat embossed on red cardstock (Judi♥kins "White Diamond" powder). I put some pearly yellow paint in the middle and sprinkled glitter over the top. The red glitter strip is American Crafts Glitter Cardstock (a staple of mine!) and the leaf is from Prima. The embossing folder is by Provocraft - it's a 5x7 inch folder. 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Elegant Christmas

Each Christmas I find myself wanting to do white on white or white/silver cards. As someone who loves bright and vibrant color, this is a bit odd, but I do love the results when it comes to Christmas cards! Here are a couple of the elegant-style cards I've done this year. The card below is actually a lift of one of my cards I made 2 years ago. I love those pine cone stamps (Flourishes stamps). The original card is pictured below the white/silver one.

 I also love layering white die cuts. These are all by Spellbinders and the embossed background is by Provocraft. I used some red Stickles for the nose.

 Thanks for taking a peek!

Pretty Trees

It's over!
My last semester of classes is over. :)
I will start student teaching in January.

To make up a bit for the 2 month dry spell, I have some Christmas cards to share. More soon to come!
These 3 cards were made with a Stampendous! "Vintage Pine Tree" stamp. I love this stamp for winter cards because there are so many things you can do with it. On these cards,  I used heat embossing. The white powder is a "White Diamond" powder by Judi♥kins. It's got white opaque powder and beautiful flecks of glitter. The red is "Glitter Finish (Red)" by American Crafts Zing! and the gold is "Metallic Gold" by Judi♥kins.

Thanks for taking a peek!

I know...

It's been forever.

Things have been busy with school and we also "adopted" three new Japanese college students, so I haven't even been crafting. My days are filled with homework, cleaning, chauffeuring, Zumba, and fun with our family and the five Japanese students we host. It's always fun to get students who are new to the US because they are so excited! Everything is a new experience - Homecoming parade, Halloween decorations, football games...it's just a lot of fun. :)

Soooo, that's why I've been so quiet.
I do have a couple of fun cards to share though. Super easy and fun!

 The shoes are from the Witches' Brew Spellbinders set (I used American Crafts cardstock). I've never used them before, but they're pretty cute. I just free handed some tights to fit the shoes - the star paper is from a 6x6 Cosmo Cricket Mini Deck called Matilda. The background paper is from Ready Set Go by Amy Tangerine for American Crafts This collection is seriously cute! For the skirt, I layered May Arts ribbons and trim. The orange is NR38 1.5" - TEXTURED/TWO TONE and the black is WQ10 2" - WEBBED WEAVE. I adhered them with GlueArts "Adhesive Squares: Extreme Tac" and Beacon Adhesives "Fabri-Tac."

On the card below, I used the same adhesives and papers from the same collections. The trims are again May Arts as follows: The plaid is BN22 1.5" - PLAID/TWO TONE/WIRED and the stars are AX30 7/8" - SATIN/CUTOUTS.

 Here is a peek at the inside - the stamp is by Unity Stamp Co. and the witch is from the same Spellbinders set, Witches' Brew.

Thanks for taking a peek !

September

September is here! Make sure you check out the brand new issue of Scrap n' Art, because it has some amazing projects and tutorials in it.

Just check out the rotating pics on the homepage to see a FEW of the awesome things in the September issue!

I also have something of my own to share - a little bit of French country.
The paper was stamped with TPC Studios stamps (Roosters set) and an old Stampendous! French text background stamp that I picked up at Goodwill several years ago. The "Merci" and text strip at the top are clear stickers. The doily was cut with a PTI Parisian Doily die and I accented it and the top with Liquid Pearls. The ribbon is from May Arts and the lace is vintage. I used Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac to adhere the fabric elements and GlueArts Extreme-Tac for the rest of the card.

Merci!

Simplicity

I'm not a very simple papercrafter; I tend towards the more elaborate and fussy. Sometimes though, I think enough is enough and I end up with a super simple card like this one. That funky bow just didn't need any other help!

Maybe this is a sign of the semester to come. I'm back in college for my last semester of classes. Yea! It's definitely a process as I attempt to adjust from summer's carefree ways into the schedule of school (for the kids and for me). I might find simplicity has a bigger place in my life.

Break over

Well, that was a long enough break, don't you think? ;) Back to the wedding cards! I just got two fresh invites in the mail this past week, so the push is far from over. This is a pretty simple card that mimics a design I did earlier in the summer. I just like how the doily looks with this theme. On this card I used two of the rings (I ran to HL with a 40% off coupon in my sweaty little hand and purchased a package of them!) and went with a bolder color scheme.The background was embossed with a 5x7 Cuttlebug folder and both of the trims are from the HL wedding department.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Break

OK, even I'm getting fed up with all the baby and wedding cards - sheesh, already!

So here's a sunny card that is neither. I made it with the left-over stamped paper I had from my stamping challenge. That's still open, by the way if you want to join in! I inked around the panel and adhered it to a white card base. The doily is from Papertrey Ink and the sentiment is from Verve Stamps. The flower is a silk flower with a Glue Arts Raisen's flower center that I made for a tutorial a while back. Glue Arts Raisen's are SO cool :)

Thanks for taking a peek!

Want to be published?

If you are gearing up for fall, make sure you check out the Fall Scrap n' Art publication calls!

Scrap n’ Art is currently looking for submissions for our October 2012 issue. We are looking for your layouts, cards, altered art and out of the box creations that follow the theme ”Fall Traditions.” Are there certain traditions that you look forward to every fall? Maybe it’s the yearly state fair or the start of football season. Or are you a baseball fan and October is all about the World Series. Perhaps October signifies the start of the holiday season for you, beginning with Halloween. Whatever your fall traditions may be, we want you to share them with us! Digital, traditional or hybrid, anything goes! You can also submit as many projects as your heart desires. To submit, please follow the guidelines below. Deadline for all submissions is September 1, 2012.
To submit, please send the following information to submissions@scrapnart.com:

• Your name and email
• A photo of your project (Please include additional photos of details. Limit photo size to less than 1 MB each.)
• Title of your project
• A supply list of all items used. (Please include manufacturer and item. If in doubt, please include the information.)
• In the subject line, please put “October 2012“
• If you would like for us to include a link to your blog, please share your blog address.

Dresses and digital stamps

I'm mostly a traditional stamper, but every once in a while, I break out some digital stamps. If you want to dabble with some super cute and FREE digital stamps, be sure to check out Birds Cards! That's where I got the bodice part of the dresses I'm sharing today. There are a ton of really nice digi stamps on her site - and did you notice I said they were free? ;)

Here are two bodices I printed off on plain white cardstock. Before cutting them out, I decorated them - if you cut them out and THEN add wet substances (paint, glue, etc) they tend to warp pretty badly. If you do that while they're uncut, then the surrounding paper cuts down on the warping.  I wanted a dual color bodice for each, and here's how I achieved them:

1. On the first bodice, I used Liquid Pearls. Instead of making little pearls, I spread it all out. The top part of the bodice is Platinum and the bottom is Silver. I used a straight pin to blend them together so there wasn't a harsh line. Afterwards, I put some chunky glitter on the top.

2. On the second bodice, I covered it with Diamond Glaze and put Diamond Dust on the top of the bodice and silver hologram glitter on the bottom.

3. As you can see below, I added 3 loose pearls to the top bodice as an afterthought :) After they dried, I cut them out and fashioned dresses for them. I just marked on white cardstock where the bodice would be and then free-handed some simple dresses.

4. To embellish the dresses, I used paper punches (a daisy and a sakura blossom) and some Liquid Pearls.

 5. Then I assembled the dresses.

6. I wanted to keep the card bases pretty simple, so I just chose silver glitter cardstock and white cardstock (both from American Crafts)for the one bodice and some Webster's Pages paper for the other.

 7. After I put this bodice on, I added a doily portion to it - I'm always adding something!
Thanks for taking a peek!

Baby boy

This baby card is so sparkly!I used American Crafts Glitter Cardstock in blue and silver - I adhered them with Beacon Adhesives Zip Dry. Zip Dry is a MIRACLE liquid glue because it doesn't warp or wrinkle your photos or papers. Not only is it good for lightweight paper, it's also very handy for this heavy glittered cardstock.  Zip Dry works because it dries VERY quickly - I'm serious, it dries almost instantly. Because of that, the applicator tip tends to get gunky and clogged; however, I've figured out something that is an easy fix. If you stick a straight pin (the sewing pins that have a little pearl at the top work the best) into your tip, you can actually store it like that. The pin keeps the tip clear and the pearl at the top fits into the cap and keeps the air out! Here's a photo of what it looks like when you take the cap off.

When you want to put the cap back on, just stick the pin into the applicator tip and it's ready until next time. Pretty simple, huh?

Anyway, back to the card! I used American Crafts Thickers to spell "Baby" on the top and I used a bit of Zip Dry on the back of them as well. Even though Thickers are adhesive backed, it doesn't stick very well to rough surfaces like glitter.

The decorative edge was punched with a Martha Stewart Crafts Deco Shell edge punch and adhered with Zip Dry. The stars were heat embossed with glittery silver powder - the stamps are by Unity Stamp Co.

 

On the inside, I stamped in light blue ink with some more of the Unity Stamp Co set and used a sticker sentiment from SRM Stickers.  

That's all for today - thanks for taking a peek!

More babies...

Babies, babies everywhere!
If you're not into the circus themed baby cards I shared yesterday, perhaps this is more your style.

I used some lightly embossed cream cardstock, matted with the same shimmery pearl pink paper that the doily is cut from. The doily die is by Papertrey Ink and I use it ALL THE TIME...as you can probably tell if you're a regular follower. ;)
The sentiment is a rub-on by Melissa Frances. The delicate lacy ribbon and the pink flower are from May Arts - I simply adore May Arts. I adhered them with Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac; that's my go-to glue for ribbons, trims and other fabrics.

Below is the inside of the card. It's a pretty bad photo, but I am far to lazy to retake it. The "Baby" is a stamp from Papertrey Ink's "Mega Mixed Messages" set and the second part is Melissa Frances rub-on. The damask is from Papertrey Ink's "Damask Designs" set.

More baby cards to come, each a different style and color palette!

Let's go to the circus!

I picked up these circus themed stamps a while back at HL; I think I paid $3 for them out of the clearance section. They're pretty cutesy, so I figured they would be good for baby cards. I whipped up a girl and boy card and took them over to Annie Kay & Co yesterday along with a few others. There must be a lot of babies being born, because I was all out of baby cards!
Thanks for taking a peek! :)

Double Embossing

 

On this card, I did some double embossing - first I embossed the pattern with a Cuttlebug folder and then I heat embossed over the pattern. To make this stand out even more, I used a blue pigment ink (pigment ink stays wet long enough to emboss with) that was a few shades darker than the blue cardstock. Then, I used a sparkly white embossing powder to heat emboss. I brushed a bit of the powder off to make it look distressed. What resulted was a 3 color pattern - the light blue cardstock, the darker blue ink where some of the powder came off, and the sparkly white embossed portions. 

As for the dress, I used a Basically Bare chipboard dress form and wrapped it with ribbons and lace. They are fastened on the back with Beacon Adhesives Fabri-Tac. 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Stamping Challenge

I'm hosting a challenge at www.scrapbook.com right now through the end of August and I want you all to join in! Here is the CHALLENGE THREAD with the rules and everything. :)

It's a challenge for scrapbookers to use their stamps to create paper that mimics their favorite new papers or paper collections. For example, I chose to lift some papers from the new MME "The Sweetest Thing" collection. So far I've done two patterns and I want to finish one more to complete my layout for the challenge. These are the two patterns I've chosen to use as my inspiration...

...and here is what I ended up with.

 This is the finished layout, using the two papers I stamped. I used some stamps and black ink to further embellish the papers after I constructed the layout.

So come on over and join in the challenge! I can't wait to see the different papers that everyone comes up with!

Dollhouse Beds

My daughter has a giant dollhouse.
A few years ago, my dad custom made it and it pretty much takes up most of her room. Alexis didn't start out with much in the way of furnishings, but over the years, we've remedied that with a few birthday/Christmas gifts and some craftiness. We found out that the store made doll beds don't tend to last long and we've glued one back together at least five times. Instead, we decided to make our own and we loved them so much that Alexis now has more beds than dolls!

First of all, we started out with half of a check box (the boxes that bank checks come in). Most of the beds we've made are just stand alone check boxes, but on this one, I had the perfect "headboard" - a chipboard piece that was shaped like a house. I glued the "headboard" to the box with Beacon Adhesives Fabri-tac.

After the glue had set, I picked out a May Arts ribbon for my "dust ruffle" and glued it around the bottom of the bed. The pleats really make it look like a dust ruffle!

Next, I took another piece of trim and adhered it on the top of the bed sides. I also added a rub-on to the headboard.

After I had the bed made, I went piddling around my craft drawers looking for something to make a pillow and comforter out of. I happened upon a square of deep aqua felt, an old pink kid's sock and some flowery and lacy trims.

For the pillow, I cut the sock in half (until it was as long as I needed to match the bed) and filled it with some extra fabric. I glued the end shut with Fabri-tac and then adhered the pink floral ribbon around it. That floral ribbon is AMAZING and it's from May Arts.

For the blanket, I cut pieces of lacy trim to match three sides and adhered them with my trusty Fabri-Tac.

Then I cut out one of the flowers from the flower ribbon and adhered it to the center.

And here's the finished bed & bedding!

So inexpensive, easy and a lot of fun. There are so many possibilities with these - we've used pom pom trim, elegant lace, embossed paper - you name it. Here's the bed inside one of the dollhouse rooms we've decorated.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Weddings, continued

Apparently I need to get busy making more wedding cards - they were pretty depleted when I checked in at Annie Kay & Co. yesterday. Until I get some new ones made up, I have a bold wedding card I made last week for a wedding we attended. I lean more towards pretty and delicate, but the invites to this wedding were bold, graphic and modern - they were also done on the exact same grey metallic cardstock I used on the center of this card.

 The silver strips are stickers - super easy borders. I adhered the bow (with Beacon's Fabri-Tac) at an angle to give it a different look.

 The sentiment is an old rub-on I've had for years. I embellished it with some stick-on gems and this card was finished! Here's a peek at the inside.

Pretty simple, but it matches the style of the invites and that's what I was going for. Thanks for taking a peek!