Doors Altered Frame and Card

Hi Everyone!

Woo hoo!  It's Saturday.  I have a cardmaking class here this afternoon with a few friends which is always a blast.  After that I am free, free, free to create until Monday morning!  There are so many cards and projects that I want to make that I have barely been able to sleep. 
I saw the idea for this ornament in the Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest publication, Holiday Crafts 2011. 

I used a large clear plastic ornament and filled it with strips from two 12" x 12" sheets of KasierCraft music patterned paper.  The ornaments come in glass too, but I chose the plastic and am glad that I did because I dropped mine a few times while I was maneuvering the strips into it.   If you try this project I suggest that you wrap the strips as loosely as you can so that the roll just fits through the opening.  I used a crochet hook to help turn the strips so that I could see the words.

When I was in Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA about a week ago I purchased some door cutouts that the store had punched out and packaged.  I also purchased some pieces of screen that can be used with the door to make a screen door.  I think the screens are adorable, but I am saving them for spring and summer cards.  I cut up some sheets of clear tag from PaperTrey Ink to use as "glass" for my doors. 
I loved the door cutouts so much that I ordered the die from Cheery Lynn Designs.

First I used the door and clear tag to create this card.

The cat die comes with the door die.  I stamped a wooden A Muse Vine Wreath a little off center in the window.  I added red Stickle berries and a bow that was punched from a Martha Stewart paper punch.  You may not be able to tell from the picture, but I cut a sheet of white tag to use as the front of the house.  I scored every half inch to make the white look like strips of wood. 

While I was sitting in my new couch reading last night I glanced up at the craft display I have on my mantle and noticed one of the tiny grapevine wreaths that was sitting there.  Suddenly an idea jolted through my body.  My fingers had a hard time keeping up with the ideas that were racing through my mind.  I cut 3 house fronts from red tag and 3 white doors from white tag.  I sandwiched some "glass" between the 2 pieces of each door before I adhered them to the red tag.  I adhered the red tag to my frame and then I used a hot glue gun to attach a small grapevine wreath to each door.  Love it!

I use those tiny wreaths as ornaments and as napkin rings.  The ribbon and decorations on them are from my collection of "stuff".  Yes, I have a lot of cool "stuff".  A lot.

Not sure if I will add some text to the frame.  I am thinking about it.

Okay, Diane will be here soon and will be followed by Angela and Amy. 

Have a great weekend.  I will try to stop by again tomorrow.

Carol

Holiday Trees Altered Frame

Hi Everyone!

Last night I watched an awesome Hero Arts video called "Sparkling Holiday Trees" that was presented by the incredibly talented and humorous Julie Ebersole.  Here's the link to that video
http://www.heroarts.com/learning/technique.cfm?techID=229

I already have a set of Hero Arts cling Christmas tree stamps and a wooden Memory Box Christmas tree stamp so I didn't need any new tree stamps, but I did purchase the Xyron X sticker maker last night.  That was a great decision.

I used 2 shades of green Memento dye inks to stamp my trees on white tag.  Then I fussy cut them and ran them through the Xyron machine the way Julie explained in her blog.  Instead of creating a card I chose to create an altered frame.  I wish that the glittery trees and snowbanks showed up in my photograph.  In addition to glitter I added tiny rhinestones to the trees.  The letters were cut with a Sizzix die. 

The bottle caps are 3 inch bottle caps from Maya Road. 

Thank you Julie and Hero Arts for the inspiration for this project.

Have a great day!
Carol

Stitched Christmas Card

Hi Everyone!

I just have time to post one card right now, but it's one I LOVE!  Here's a photograph of it.

Click on the photograph to enlarge it.  All of the papers are from Cosmo Cricket's "Material Girl" Mini Deck.  I ran the layering paper through a Cuttlebug Christmas Trees embossing folder.  I think that makes the background look like large buttons with trees in their center. 

I used one of my Bazzill Christmas In Stitch'z templates and paper pierced the green paper.  I used a backstitch to stitch the tree and then fussy cut it. 

Added a strip of American Crafts ribbon that has tiny spools of thread printed on it and then adhered the tree to the card.  The star is a Favorite Findings button.

I haven't decided which text I want to add to the card so for now it is textless!

Have a great day! 

Carol

'Tis the Season

Hi Everyone!

I am completely in Christmas mode.  I was even playing Christmas music while I was creating cards yesterday.  My confusion with the holiday continues as now Halloween is just a week away, but my entire work area says Christmas and the display on my mantle is being taken over by Christmas cards, bags, mini cards, and tags. 


'Tis the season for purchasing a Christmas tree.  I've had my eye on a stamp that has the image of a car with a Christmas tree on it, but decided it was an image I could create on my own since I own an adorable car stamp and a multitude of Christmas tree stamps.

The car on this card is from a set of clear stamps called "Boys and Their Toys" and the trees are from Hero Arts.  I started out by cutting a snowbank and gluing it on a piece of decorative paper that looks a little like snow to me.  Then I put some Scor-tape on the backside of a piece of ribbon and adhered it just above the snowbank to make it look like a road.  I think that the stitched white lines on the ribbon totally make it look just like a road. 


I stamped 3 car images onto 3 different scraps of solid tag, embossed and fussy cut them and glued them onto the road.  Then I stamped and fussy cut 3 trees and used foam tape to adhere them to the tops of the cars.  The text is from PaperTrey Ink's Think Big Favorites #8 clear stamp set.  That stamp has already become one of my favorites.


'Tis the season for baking cookies which happens to be one of my favorite holiday traditions.  I used a Sizzix die to cut out the cookie sheet and pancake turner on this card.  The gingerbread men are Favorite Findings buttons.  This is a very cute and very simple card to create. 

'Tis the season for mittens.  I've told you stories about the mittens my mother used to knit for all of us and with her in mind each year I create a variety of holiday cards that have a knitting or a mitten theme.  This time I stamped a mitten image onto 4 scraps of yellow tag.  Then I stamped the same image onto 4 other scraps of tag and fussy cut the mittens before I glued them to the yellow tag.  The paper I chose looks knitted to me.  This card is also a simple one to create.  The yellow squares are 1.25" and the red ones behind them are 1.5".

I have many more holiday cards to share with you, but that's it for today.

Have a great day! 
Carol

Christmas Cards

Good Morning Everyone!

Not sure where the time has been going lately.  I get up early every morning, blink, and it's time to go to bed again.  I have been busy creating Christmas cards and until now haven't stopped to photograph any of them. 

Here's one of my favorites.

I stamped a Memory Box Bramble Wreath wooden stamp onto a sheet of patterned paper.  Then I used a Martha Stewart holly paper punch and paper punched 8 double holly sprigs.  I used a Xyron tape runner to adhere them to the patterned paper.  The bow was punched from a Martha Stewart bow punch.  The text was created with a Hero Arts clear stamp.  The bookplate that frames the text was created with a Sizzix die.

I am happy with this card too.  First I ran a sheet of patterned tag through a Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder.  I used Lawn Fawn's "Harold's ABCs" clear stamp set to create the text.  The moon was punched from a Marvy Uchida purple circle punch.  I stamped an Amuse Artstamps "Santa Silhouette" onto the moon. 

The houses were stamped with stamps from Paper Trey Ink's "Boards and Beams" clear stamp set.  I embossed them and cut them down so that just the rooftops were left.  Then I colored them in with markers. 

Here's one of the gift cards I made yesterday. 

The reindeer was stamped with a Memory Box "Lightbulb Reindeer" wooden stamp.  The tree was punched with a Martha Stewart paper punch and the text is from PaperTrey Ink.  I added tiny rhinestones to the reindeer's antlers and nose.  The stamped impression shows where the rhinestones could be placed.  I placed some 1/8" Scor-tape along the snowbanks and then pressed the tape into some white glitter.

That's it for today.  Hoping to have what I call a "Cookathon" today so that I can fill the freezer with some soups, stews, and spaghetti sauce.  First there's grocery shopping to get done.

Have a great day!

Carol



Christmas Mini Cards and Tags

Hi Everyone!

I haven't posted in 6 days which is unusual for me.  A fall cold wiped me out for a few days and I devoted any energy I had into creating crafts and cards for last Saturday's craft fair.   I met some fun crafters at the fair and told them that I have to stop and think about which holiday is approaching because I have been busy working on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas cards and crafts at the same time.  I didn't stop to photograph many of last week's creations, but I do have some Christmas mini cards and tags to share with you. 

The Christmas trees on these mini cards were made by overlapping 2 triangles that I punched from a Fiskars triangle squeeze punch. 

I used Stickles to create the garland on the first tree and rhinestones to create the ornaments on the second tree.

Here are some other tags I created using some stamps from my stash.

Going to sign off for today.  Will be back again tomorrow!

Have a good night! 

Carol







Wooden Spools Christmas Tree and Card

Hi Everyone!

A few days ago I shared a mitten altered frame that I created after seeing one in this year’s PaperCrafts special issue Holiday Cards & More magazine. Well, if that project didn’t convince you to buy a copy of the magazine maybe the project I am going to share with you today will.

There is the cutest wooden spool Christmas tree on the front cover of the magazine. It was designed by Courtney Kelley and is also shown on page 145 of the same magazine. I mentioned that I wanted some wooden spools so I could create a tree of my own and my dear sweet friend Diane showed up with some for me the other day. I should also mention that Diane also brought me a beautiful quilt that she made for me to use when I am sitting on our new couch. Thank you again Diane for the spools and for the amazing quilt that I will always treasure.

I looked through my container of patterned Christmas papers and found some scraps I could use on the spools. I used the 1/2" width of Scor-pal tape to wrap the papers around the spools. I used a hot glue gun to glue the spools together. I liked my tree when I had finished it, but felt it needed a little something extra. So I used some glue dots to adhere some holiday buttons to the spools. Now I LOVE LOVE LOVE the tree!

I wanted a gift card that coordinated with the spool tree so I stamped the spool from Lawn Fawn’s "Sew Lovely" clear stamp set repeatedly onto some white tag. I fussy cut the spools and wrapped some baker’s twine from The Twinery around each of them. I trimmed a scrap of SEI paper and adhered it to some solid tag that I had cut as a card. I stamped "merry Chrismas" from Lawn Fawn’s "Cozy Christmas" clear stamp set onto the layering paper and then adhered the twine covered paper spools to the paper and made them look like the wooden spool tree. The star at the top of the tree is a brad I had in my stash.

Have a great day!
Carol

Denami Design Fall Blog Hop

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the Denami Design Fall Blog Hop. Here are the details for this hop from Denami Design.

When: The blog hop starts on October 9 at 6 AM, PST. However, you have until October 10, 2011, 11:59 pm PST, to leave comments on all the blogs (to be eligible for a prize).

Why: To be inspired by cards featuring DeNami Design Fall themed stamps and also the chance to win mini shopping sprees on the DeNami Design website!

Prizes: We are giving away THREE $20 gift certificates to our website! We'll be giving away one gift certificate to a random participant (DT members not eligible) and then we'll also be giving away TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop!

If you started at the beginning you have arrived here from the incredible blog of Michelle Gross at http://studiomsg.blogspot.com/

If you get lost along the way you can always start back at the Denami Design blog at Http://denami.blogspot.com/

I recently discovered how much fun the Denami downloadable gift and favor templates are. You purchase the template(s) you want and within seconds can download your purchase onto your computer. You can print the template on patterned tag or paper or whatever you want to use.

I decided to use the downloadable gift bag template to create some gift bags to place at each place setting at our Thanksgiving dinner. I printed the template for this bag on some dotty yellow tag. Then I used a sponge tool to apply some Distress inks to the bag.

This bag was printed on some checked paper I found in my stash.

I used the Denami D125 Turkey stamp and the Denami F191 Give Thanks Circle stamp on the gift bags. I stamped "Give Thanks" directly on each gift bag. I stamped the turkeys on some white tag, colored them with markers, and fussy cut them before I used pop dots to adhere them to the bag.

I also used the D125 turkey stamp to create some Thanksgiving cards like this one shown here.

The text on the card was created with some Rub-ons I had in my stash.

Before you hop over to the next stop please leave a comment on this blog. You may also want to become a follower of my blog so that you’ll see some of my other creations.

Thanks for stopping by. Please head over to Lani Misner’s blog at http://mutantscrapbooker.blogspot.com/ to see her awesome creation for this hop.

Have a great day!
Carol

Turkey Day

Hi Everyone!

After I watched the wild turkeys stroll along across our yard this morning I decided to create another turkey card.  I used a die to cut out a couple of clouds and then used removable adhesive to adhere them to a 4" x 5.25" piece of white tag.  Then I used a foam pad to lightly apply some Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to the tag.  When I was satisfied with the ink coverage I removed the clouds.  The tag that was under them was still white as I had wanted it to be. 

I tore a couple of pieces of sandpaper and used Scor-pal tape to adhere them to tag and then I stamped the turkey from Lawn Fawn's "Happy Turkey Day" clear stamp set onto the tag 3 times.  I colored them in with some Copic  markers. 

I used a Fiskars triangle punch to cut 3 triangles.  I cut my Lawn Fawn "Happy Turkey Day" text stamp into 3 pieces so that I could easily stamp each word onto a triangle.  I've cut up clear stamps before and it doesn't hurt them.  They cut apart easily and then can be placed back together again on a clear block.  You just need to make sure that you put away all of the pieces. 

I used some tiny brads to attach the triangles to the tag and then added some baker's twine to either end to make the triangles look like a banner.  Attached the tag to a blank card and my card was done!  That was easy!

Have a great day!
Carol

Ornaments Frame

Happy Friday Everyone!

The idea for today's frame is from Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest "Holiday Crafts" magazine.  I used a Sizzix die to cut the ornaments from some paper from Roylco.  I love how realistic the tops of the ornaments look in that gold paper.  I adhered the ornaments to the layering paper with foam tape and embellished them with baby ric rac, ribbons, and bling from my stash.

Hope you have a great day!

Carol

Mittens Altered Frames

Good Morning Everyone!

I don’t think that I have ever confessed to you that at this time of year I am a magazine junkie. I subscribe to Paper Crafts and Scrapbooks, ETC so I receive them regularly. I also am the first person in line whenever Paper Crafts releases a special issue. But in October, November and December I purchase almost any magazine that will provide me with fresh ideas for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas decorating, gift giving, entertaining, and baking.

When MaryBeth and I attended the Creating Keepsakes Conference in Manchester, NH this past spring I purchased a set of Mittens Shapeabilities. I knew I would be using them to help me create a mitten wreath and cards. When I flipped through this year’s issue of Paper Crafts Holiday Cards & More I spotted a
Mitten Wall Hanging that was designed by Jamie Hurley. I immediately tagged that project as one I would create this year.

I wasn’t really looking for paper for my mittens when Janet and I went on our shopping spree last week, but some sheets of Memory Box paper called out to me as I walked past them. The print on them looks knitted to me so I just had to buy them.

I had some sheets of SEI paper in my stash that were perfect for the background in my frame. The paper I used is the back side of "Boxing Day" from their Kris Kringle line. This paper is currently on sale on their web site.
Score! In my stash of Christmas embellishments I have the most adorable tiny clothespins with gingerbread men, stars, Christmas trees, and snowmen on them. I chose the snowmen for this activity.
Here’s my frame.

And here are coordinating gift cards.

I love, love, LOVE the frame and the cards. Thank you for the inspiration Jamie Hurley. Thank you for the inspiration Paper Crafts!

Last night I used an idea from another magazine to make another altered frame, but you’ll have to stop by tomorrow to see it. The number of people reading my blog increases nearly every day. Some of the readers that I know personally e-mail me comments, but very few readers post a comment on the blog. I’d love some feedback or requests on ideas you’d like me to post.

Have a great day!

Carol



Happy Turkey Day

Hi Everyone!

I've told you about the fun we have had this summer watching some wild turkeys roam from yard to yard.  Well, their favorite yard is Bob and Jan's because Bob has been feeding them.  Every afternoon those turkeys race across the street and up Bob and Jan's driveway to the backyard.  They hover near the back door until Bob comes outside with a pail of food.  Some of them eat right out of his hand. 

Bob and Jan have a shed that looks like a little house.  Jan hangs a seasonal banner or flag from a hook on that shed.  I decided to make them this card.

The turkey and the text are Lawn Fawn's "Turkey Day" clear stamp set.  I cut a strip of Memory Box paper that is 4" wide and about 4.75" long.  I used my Scor-Buddy to score a line at 4" and folded the .75 under.  I adhered the edge of that fold with Scor-tape.   Then I used a Martha Stewart border punch to edge the other end of the tag.  Found some great fall ribbon in my stash to add to the tag.  Then I stamped on the turkey and the text and used some Copic markers to color the turkey. 

I slid a craft stick through the "casing" I had created at the top of the card and pierced it to make it looked stitched. 

I used Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to add color to a piece of white tag.  I adhered the tag to the blank card and the turkey banner to the tag. 

Jan saves everything that I make for her.  Soon she'll have this card in her collection.

Tonight we are making Get Well Sets and cards in my class.

Have a great night!

Carol

Batty 4 U frame

Hi Everyone!

Diane brought her copy of this year’s Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest magazine, Holiday Crafts, to Saturday’s class. As we flipped through it we all found something we liked so I picked up a copy yesterday while I was out grocery shopping. I like the "Halloween Boo-ology" altered frame on page 14 that Jennifer Hadfield created. I had a 10" frame sitting on a shelf and decided to use it to create an altered bat frame of my own.

I removed the glass from the frame and put a piece of dotty orange-yellow Memory box paper in its place. I folded some sheets of dotty purple, black and lime green PaperTrey Ink papers in half and glued them together so that both sides of the paper would have color. Then I used an EK Success paper punch to punch some bats in each of those colors. I attached a glue dot to each of the bat’s bodies and adhered them to the frame.

I liked the results, but wasn’t thrilled with them. I showed the frame to Rob, my best critic, and he wasn’t excited about it either. So I gave each bat a pair of googly eyes and Rob and I were both happier with the results, but I felt it still needed something.

So I used an Accucut Zip’eMate bat die to cut a few bats in different colors. I tried each color on the frame and finally selected a green one. I added some alphabet stickers to the bat to spell out, "Batty 4 U" and adhered the bat to the frame. Finally, I was thrilled with the results. Rob liked it too. Marie walked into the room and announced she liked everything, but the large bat with the words on it! Oh, well. You cannot please everyone!

I had some leftover bats so I used them on this card.

Have a great day!
Carol

Happy Halloween!

Hi Everyone!

I thought I'd stop by and share a couple of Halloween cards with you.  Hero Arts has a set of Halloween stamps called "Stamp It:  Halloween".  The set contains 4 clear stamps:  bats, a jack o'lantern, a monster and a ghost.  For today's cards I just used the monster and a text stamp from the Hero Arts clear stamp set called
"Happy Halloween". 

I used my Color Box orange, violet, and moss green pigment ink pads and stamped a monster with each of those colors onto white tag.  Then I used a black Memento ink pad to stamp the text.  I backed the white tag with a scrap of black tag  and then I wrapped some twine from The Twinery around the black tag.  I always run a thin piece of Scor-tape along the area of the card where I plan to add the twine to help keep it in place. 

I backed the black tag onto a 4" x 5.25" piece of Martha Stewart Halloween paper and then adhered that paper to the blank card.  For fun I added a large pair of wiggly eyes to the corner of the white tag. 

This second card is pretty similar to the first one except I mostly used some manilla tag on it.  I stamped the edge of a Lawn Fawn spider web from their Heebie Jeebies clear stamp set around the edge of the layering paper.  I got that idea from one of Kelly Marie's videos.  Her videos are always filled with great ideas.  

I am totally in craft fair mode and hope to share more of my creations with you soon.

Have a great day!

Carol

More Halloween Frames and Petal Cards

Hi Everyone! 
 

Happy World Card Making Day!  Today Angela, Brenda, Cindy, Diane and Toni came by to create an altered Halloween frame and a Halloween petal card.  Each person added their own touches to their creations.  It was fun for all of us to sit and talk and create together. 


Say "Hola" to Angela.  Angela teaches a Spanish immersion class.



Here's Brenda.  Brenda is Allison's mother.  Allison is one of Marie's closest friends. Brenda does all sorts of
creative activities with senior citizens.

This is Cindy.  Cindy and I met when Stephen and Robbie were about 3 years old. 
Cindy teaches sewing to middle school students. 

Diane's picture should be here.  Unfortunately she left before I took her picture. 
Diane teaches Kindergarten.  She's a quilter and is one of the most creative people I know.

That's Toni hiding behind her frame.  Toni teaches second grade.  Toni is the most organized person
you'll ever meet.  She just bought a new home.

Here's Brenda again.  She's holding her Halloween petal card.  Brenda lives within walking distance of my house,

but until recently we rarely saw each other.  It's fun to see her again.

Hope World Card Making Day was as much fun for you as it was for me.

Have a great night!

Carol