Practicing My Coloring!

Hi Everyone!

I think I can get this posted before midnight! I told you that I bought some copic markers on Monday. I am very excited about that purchase and I’ve been practicing my coloring! I’d say my grade is slowing changing from N (needs improvement) to S- (almost satisfactory). I saw that there’s going to be a copic’s beginner’s class at InkAbout It in September and I am hoping to attend it. Meanwhile, I’ll keep watching copic youtube videos and practicing, practicing, practicing....

At the moment I think that the Colorless Blender marker is my friend. It takes away some of my ink when I get a little too ink crazy.


So for tonight I have just one card to show you. One that has some of my practicing on it. I used my Tuxedo Black Memento ink pad to stamp a series of daisies using my large daisy stamp from Purple Daisy Designs. Then I practiced my coloring. Doesn’t it sound so funny that a 57 year old woman would need to practice coloring!

After I had stamped and colored I cut out the flowers. I realized after I had finished cutting them that I do have the paper punch that coordinates with that stamp and could have used it. Oh, well. I practiced my cutting skills too. I used some Glossy Accents in the middle of each flower. The leaves were stamped with a clear stamp from PaperTrey Ink’s Turning Over a New Leaf set. I used medium glue dots to attach just the center of each flower to the card.

So that is it for tonight. BUT...I have other cards to show you tomorrow that I LOVE! I didn’t/don’t need to color them. You’ll be able to look at my ideas and create cards of your own using your favorite papers. So, please stop by again tomorrow and please leave some comments that I can post.

OH! I forgot to tell you about something very cool. Blogger has added a stats button to my dashboard. The stats show that there are crafters from all over the place....the United States, Canada, England, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore reading my posts. I think that is SO Cool!
Okay, time to clean up today’s mess!


Carol

Gift Card Holders

Hi Everyone!

Talk about going out of your mind! We didn’t have cable TV or Internet service for more than 24 hours so I couldn’t read or write e-mails, couldn’t post my blog, and couldn’t read the blogs that I follow. I contacted our provider and was told that more than 4000 people didn’t have service. Happily everything is working again.

Sometimes, when you want to give someone a gift, it’s hard to know what they may want or need so you might decide to give them a gift card to a store or to their favorite restaurant. To personalize that gift card it’s nice to create a special holder for it. Today I thought I’d share some gift card holders that I recently created.

I found the template for this holiday stocking gift card holder on the Splitcoast Stampers web site. It was created by waltzingmouse. I adapted the template just a little to transform the stocking into a sock. I trimmed the sides of the stocking’s cuff to make it look more like the cuff on a sock. I crimped some scrapbook tag and glued it onto the cuff and also used it for the sock’s heel and toe. I used paper from the dcwv "Guy Paper Stack" for this sock. If you study the template you will see where the gift card is placed. When you lift up the sock’s cuff you will see the gift card. A greeting can be stamped on the inside of the cuff. This card will fit in a 4.75" x 6.5’’ standard envelope.

When I read the Hero Arts blog on Monday, I realized that it’s been a while (last one I made was on May 7 for a friend’s birthday) since I created a gift card holder with a pocket. To make this card I cut a sheet of 8.5" x 11" white tag so that it measured 4.25’" x 11". I used my Scor-Pal and scored a line at 1.75" and at 6.25". I folded the paper at the 1.75" line and put some Scor-Pal tape on the edges to create a pocket. I folded the paper along the 6.25" line to create the card. I used one of my Martha Stewart edger punches to create a decorative edge. I stamped the heart bouquet image from a Heartfelt Creations stamp onto some dcwv sky paper. I used my Marvy Twinklette markers to color the balloons. Then I filled in the balloons with Glossy Accents to give them dimension. The "Thanks a Bunch" stamp is from Stamp of Excellence. The gift card is placed in the pocket. It can be seen when you lift up the front of the card. This card will fit in an A2 envelope.


It’s not too early to be thinking about the holidays so why not give these ideas a try and turn them into gift card holders for the holidays. Talk to you soon!
Carol