Thought I Would Give You a Hoot!

Hi Everyone!

Marie and Dan's engagement party is less than 2 weeks away.  Making the invitations and decorations was easy.  Preparing the food will take time, but won't be hard to do.  The hard part was deciding what to serve.  I have finally settled on the menu and can take a break. 

What did I do on my break?  Well, I made some cards, of course!  I decided to create a few cards with an owl theme. 

I used a small Spellbinder's Nestability owl die to create the owls.  I added wiggly eyes to all of the owls.  I used a Hero Arts woodblock stamp to create the sentiment on all of the cards.

 

The branch was created with a stamp from PaperTrey Ink's "Take a Bough" clear stamp set.  I paper punched the leaves. 

 

 



I did not create the background on this card.  I used a piece of patterned paper from Paper House's "Country Paper Pix" paper pad. 

If you saw the fox cards I posted about a week ago, you'll realize that this card is very similar to some of them.  It's funny, but even though I have used my Darice "Wood grain" embossing folder many times, it wasn't until today that I realized the folder debosses instead of embosses.  If I put the paper in backwards I can get an embossed look, but I didn't make the observation until I finished my cards for today.  Debossing still adds texture to the cards, but I prefer the look and feel of embossing. 

That's it for today. 
 
Have a good night!

Turning a New Leaf

Hi Everyone!

The stamps I used from my most recent cards were sitting on my desk so I decided to use them to create a few more cards.  I used the same stamp from PaperTrey Ink's "Turning a New Leaf" clear stamp set to create the 3 cards I am sharing today.  Notice that just by changing the flowers, layering paper, and sentiment I got 3 different looks.

See you again soon!

PaperTrey Ink Make It Monday z-fold card Challenge

Hi Everyone!

When I learn a new technique I like to practice it a few times so that I can remember it. Yesterday I told you that I had watched Ashley's video that showed how to create a z-fold card.  I also told you how easy and how much fun it was to make that card so I did make another one right away.  This time I did use a PaperTrey Ink product on my card so I am posting it in the PaperTrey Ink Make It Monday Challenge. 

I used 3 different leaf stamps from PaperTrey Ink's "Turning a New Leaf" clear stamp set on my card.

I paper punched the flowers.  Years ago my dear friend Susan Demuth taught me an easy way to add dimension to the flowers.  I placed them on my mouse mat and used a stylus to press down on the center of each of them.  That makes the centers go down and the petals pop up.  Since paper has memory even after the card comes out of an envelope the petals pop up. 

I used some Nestability flower pot dies to create the flower pots.

Here's a close up of the smallest panel on my card.

Have a great day!

 

Z-fold Card









Hi Everyone!

This week PaperTrey Ink has a challenge to create a z-fold card using at least one of their products. I watched an excellent tutorial on how to create an angled z-fold card on their web site at this link. I don't plan to enter the challenge because I don't have any of their stamps or dies that would work for the challenge, but I did still make a z-fold card.

I watched the video a couple of times. The first time I just sat and watched it. The second time I watched it and paused it each time I had to score my paper or cut it. You get 2 cards out of one piece of 8.5" x 11" tag.

I own a couple of Hero Arts stamp and die sets. I used them to create the flowers on my card. The sentiments were created with stamps from the Hero Arts "Wonderful Birthday" clear stamp set. "Happy Birthday" was cut with dies from Mama Elephant. 

I enjoyed learning how to make a card that is folded in a different way than the ones I usually make. It was easy and fun to create and I plan to make others.

Have a great day!

Solar Eclipse Day

Hi Everyone!

Happy Solar Eclipse Day!  When I woke up this morning I decided to make some cards in honor of the sun. 

I started out by sponge painting pool blue acrylic paint on some 4" x 5.25" white tag.  While the paint was drying I die cut some suns and clouds.  The clouds are stitched cloud dies from Memory Box. 
I cannot remember who manufactured the sun die. 

I used a stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Life Is Good" clear stamp set for the sentiment on this card and a Lawn Fawn "puffy cloud border" die to cut the white tag and give it that stitched edge you see.

I used a Lawn Fawn scripty die to create "hello" and a stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Hello Sunshine" clear stamp set for "sunshine" for this card.

The sentiment on this card was created with a Northwoods woodblock stamp.

I used the stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Life Is Good" clear stamp set again for this card.

Have a sunny day!

Fox Cards

Hi Everyone!

Foxes are a popular decorating theme.  Almost 6 months ago Paula sent me a fox oven mitt and a fox mini oven mitt.

I like them so much that I display them in my kitchen instead of using them.


Paula loves night lights.  When I was shopping at "Happy" in West Concord I saw an adorable fox night light that I knew she would love.

You charge it by leaving it in the sun or near a bright light.  When you turn it on the fox looks 3 dimensional and you can see trees in the background.

I was joking with an old friend last night who was telling me he used to be shy.  I said he was never shy, but has always been sly.  Sly...like a fox.  I said he had just inspired me to create some fox cards.

I looked through my paper crafting supplies and found just what I needed. 

The tree bark paper was in the drawer waiting to be used.  I used a Nestability standard oval die to cut a hole in the tree trunk.  Then I stamped a Hero Arts  fox stamp on orange patterned paper and white paper.  I fussy cut both foxes.  I glued the white eyes and white tip of the fox's tail onto the orange patterned paper.  The sentiment is a Hero Arts cling stamp. 

Here's a similar card, but this time I used a stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Critters in the Forest" clear stamp set to create the fox.  I added tiny googly eyes to the fox's face. 

This card is one of my favorites.  I found one piece of sienna tree bark paper in the drawer.  I used a standard circle Nestability die to cut 3 holes in the paper.  I stamped 3 Hero Arts fox heads onto white tag and used Memento markers to color them.  I glued them to make it look as if the fox is peering through holes in the tree. 

I made a card that is similar to this one a long time ago.  The tree was cut with an Impression Obsession die.  The clouds were punched with 3 different Fiskars squeeze punches.  The fox and the log are from Lawn Fawn's "Critters in the Forest" clear stamp set. 

That's it for today.  Time to do some cleaning up around here...YUCK!

Hope you have a great weekend!

Thank You Cards

Hi Everyone!

I seem to be making multiples of everything I have been creating lately.  I just finished making 20 thank you cards for Marie.  She's into pineapples these days so I stamped, embossed, and fussy cut 20 pineapples.  I also die cut 20 "thanks" sentiments. 

I rarely make many duplicates of the same card, but this time I only changed the papers that I used.  I had a 6" x 6" My Mind's Eye "Wood" paper pad.  The pad had 2 each of 12 different wood designs in it.  I used 20 of them for the thank you cards.  I used a Darice "Honeycomb" embossing folder to emboss some of the papers.

 
The pineapple was created with a stamp from the Hero Arts "Fruits" clear stamp set.  The "thanks" sentiment was created with a "thanks" die from Lawn Fawn.

Now that I finished some cards for Marie, I think I'll make some for my own stash.

Have a great day!

Cupcake Wrappers and Toppers

Hi Everyone!

One of the desserts at the engagement party will be cupcakes.  I decided to make my own wrappers and toppers for them. 

I used yellow and blue polka dotted papers for the wrappers and the toppers.  I purchased a Lawn Fawn cupcake wrapper die and used it with my Cuttlebug to cut the wrappers.  They are easy to cut and assemble.  There's a tab on them that slides into a slit.

  I will bake the cupcake batter in some navy blue and yellow liners from Cupcake Creations.  Those are my favorite brand of liners because they don't get greasy.  Once the cupcakes have been baked and decorated I'll put them in the wrappers.  The liners will peek out of the wrappers.

I used some Nestability dies to cut a solid heart and a scalloped one.  Then I stamped the word "love" in the center of the yellow polka dotted hearts.  I used glue dots to adhere the hearts to some picks. 

Have a good night!

Popcorn Tag

Hi Everyone!

I am stopping by today to share one quick creation.  I decided that the party favor for Marie and Dan's engagement party will be homemade caramel popcorn.  After I decide which recipe I am going to use I will share it on my blog.  But for today I will share the tags I made for the popcorn.

I used a font that is called "Adorable" to type the text.  I found some "adorable" diamond ring stickers to use in place of the "o" in the word popped.

I printed the text on the same yellow polka dotted paper that I used for other creations for the party.  I used one of my standard circle Nestability dies to cut the circle and a scalloped circle Nestability die to cut the navy blue backing paper.  I'll tie the tag onto the popcorn with some navy blue twine.

Enjoy what's left of this beautiful day!

Embossed Invitations for Marie and Dan

Hi Everyone!

I am going to share the invitation I created for Marie and Dan's engagement party.

I cut six 4" x 5.25" layering papers from many sheets of slate blue 12" x 12" paper.  I ran each of the papers through a Darice hearts embossing folder.  I love the way the embossing looks.

The sentiment, label, jar and lid were created with PaperTrey Ink's "Friendship Jar" dies and stamp.  The heart was paper punched with a small Fiskars heart paper punch.

I lined the envelopes with more papers that I embossed.

I found the perfect postage stamp for the envelopes.

Getting things ready for an engagement party is a lot of fun...and a lot of work!

Have a great night!

 

 

 

 

 



Cutlery Holder

Hi Everyone!

It has been a busy summer in our family.  Marie and Dan bought their first home and are now engaged.  I resigned from my career as a classroom teacher and visited one of my sisters for a week in Washington state. 

I have had a wonderful time working on my crafts, but this past week has been the most fun of all.  I have been busy planning and prepping for Dan and Marie's engagement party. 

The party isn't for a few weeks, but there's so much to do that I have been working on it all day, everyday. 

Marie has chosen navy blue and yellow as her colors.  Over the next week or so I will post photos of some of the things I've created. 

Today I will share the cutlery holders I created.  I cut 12" x 12" yellow polka dotted tag into 4" x 12" strips.  I scored along the 12" length at 1.5" and 6".  I folded the paper at the 6" mark.

I folded the 1.5" score back on itself.  Then I used a Martha Stewart hearts border punch to cut the edge of the paper. 

I used the PaperTrey Ink friendship jar die to cut navy blue jars.  Marie loves daisies so I added a paper punched daisy with a yellow brad in the center to each of the jar die cuts. 

I adhered a glassine bag inside each holder.  Even though a folded napkin, fork, knife and spoon fit perfectly in each bag, I decided not to put a spoon in them. 

The cutlery holders will be on one of the tables in some cute little wagons.

That's all for today, but stop by again soon to see what else I've made.

More Thinking of You Cards

Hi Everyone!

I have a set of 5 flower pot dies from Spellbinders.  The smallest one is 1.5" x 1" and the largest one is 6" x 3 5/8".  After you use one of the dies to create a die cut, you fold over the collar and you have an adorable flower pot. 

I used the smallest die to create 3 flower pots.  Then I glued them to the first card.  I stamped a variety of PaperTrey Ink leaves so that they looked as if they were growing out of the flower pots.  I glued some small paper flowers to the leaves and added a tiny pearl to the center of each flower.

I used the second smallest die (2 5/8" x 1 5/8") to create the flower pots on the next 2 cards.  I glued some paper flowers in each flowerpot.  Then I paper punched some leaves and added them to the flowerpots.

That's it for today. 

Enjoy your day!

Just because...

Hi Everyone,

The easiest way to let someone know you are thinking about them is to send a card.  Several people that I know need some words of encouragement right now, so I have been focusing on "thinking of you" cards. 

I used watercolor pencils to add color to this first card.  I am slowly getting better at adding shading when I paint and color. 

I bought the wooden stamp from Impress Cards and Crafts in Seattle when I was visiting my sister.

I used a clear stamp from an older PaperTrey Ink set, "Turning a New Leaf", for the stamped image on this next card.

Here's the last card for today.

I used some stamps from PaperTrey Ink's "Blooming Button Bits" clear stamp set for the images.  I paper punched the flowers and added tiny brads to the center of each of them. 

Have a wonderful night.