Moonrise from SEI

Hi Everyone!

From the moment I first saw SEI's Moonrise paper pad I loved it. The oranges, yellows, golds, and browns which are the dominant colors in the collection remind me of fall leaves, pumpkins, and gourds. I knew the papers would be perfect for some Thanksgiving cards.

I told you that yesterday I purchased a new Fiskars oak leaf punch, the SEI 6" x 6" Moonrise paper pad, and Martha Stewart's scallop dot edger paper punch. Well, last night I "played" with my new "toys" and created the cards I am going to share with you in today's post.

I used my new Rich Cocoa Memento dye ink pad to stamp the text.

The small "Happy Thanksgiving" was stamped with a Northwoods wooden stamp. The large "Happy Thanksgiving" was stamped with an Inkadinkado wooden stamp.

Aren't the papers on these cards yummy! And elegant! Love 'em!

Please be sure to visit the first ever link party at SEI by visiting the blog at http://www.shopsei.com/

Have a great day.

Carol

This 'n That

Good Morning Everyone!

I decided to post today’s blog before the anticipated humidity settles in on us. I’ve just skimmed through my picture files and saw some photographs of cards that I have created recently, but haven’t shared with you.

I purchased the Debbie Mumm paper and embellishments that I used on these cards a few weeks ago. You’ve seen me use that paper over and over again. Even though the paper is from small blocks that are called "Baby Boy" and "Baby Girl" , I’ve used it on all sorts of cards. The paper and embellishments were in the clearance aisle of one of the craft chain stores and I scooped it up knowing it has tons of potential. Look at the paper I have used on these cards and you will understand what I am saying.

These clean and graphic cards deliver their message immediately. They were quick and easy to create. The text is from Inkadinkado’s Baby Boy and Baby Girl clear stamp sets.

The clouds on this card were created with a

Puffy Velvet Fabric Marker from Marvy Uchida. I used the marker to draw the clouds and then I heated them up with my heating gun. The paint from the marker puffed up nicely. Don’t get the gun too close to the paint because if you do you’ll have a toasted marshmallow effect. Hmm, guess that would work if you wanted to make some toasted marshmallows on a card!

I saw a card like this one displayed at InkAbout It in Westford, MA and on the Great Impression’s web site. I loved the way the waves were created with an EK Success dotted wave paper punch and knew I had some Recollections whale stickers at home, so I purchased the "Have a Whale of a Good Time" Great Impression's wooden stamp and the EK Success punch . I created the card shortly after I came home with my "new toys". I stamped the text on a scrap of white tag and then trimmed the tag to make it look like a cloud. I inked the edges of the cloud to make it stand out.

Okay! That’s a nice variety of ideas for you to try.

Stay cool!

Carol

Welcome Little Star

Hi Everyone!

A friend called and asked if I would make a card for a new baby girl. Tonight I will tell you how the card I created for her evolved.

I felt like using some dies to create the card so I looked through my collection. I found one of my favorites which is the moon wearing a nightcap and decided to use it.

I have several different sets of clear Inkadinkado baby stamps. In the baby boy set there is one stamp that says, "Little Star" and another that says, "Welcome, baby".

I thought for a while.

Hmm. Moon? Stars? Hmm. I love that moon die cut. Oh, wait...I have several star die cuts. Moon and stars? There’s no reason that a girl can’t be a "Little Star".

And that thinking lead to this card.

I used a Martha Stewart paper punch to create the bow on the large star. I punched out an additional bow and used my scanner to reduce the size of it so that it would fit the small star.
Added some rhinestones so that the moon and stars would "twinkle".

Change the colors and this could easily become a card for a new baby boy!
Enjoy!
Carol

Happy Friday!

Good Morning Everyone!

I often purchase stamps that have specific messages such as "Happy Birthday", "Congratulations" or "Get Well", but the stamps I want to share with you today are just for fun. I’ve learned that humor works as well in cards as it does in life. We smile, we laugh, sometimes we nod our heads in agreement when we read a humorous card or one that "plays with words".

I order many of my stamps from http://www.addictedtorubberstamps.com/ which is one of my favorite sources for stamps. I think their search engine is fantastic. Sometimes I get an idea for a card and think I’d like a stamp for it so I search on their web site and more often than not I find exactly what I wanted. They ship quickly and protect the stamps by placing them on corrugated cardboard and shrink wrapping them. The stamps arrive with a couple of pieces of hard candy and a sample sheet of scrapbook paper. If you are a member of their "Red Carpet Club" your order gets priority shipping and arrives with a surprise in it. Sometimes the surprise is a stamp or some ink. I ordered all of the stamps that I am writing about in today’s blog through addictedtorubberstamps.

First up, "I like you better than flies!" This stamp is manufactured by Penny Black and is called "better than flies!" "Inky the Frog" is manufactured by Inkadinkado. I didn’t have any "flies" handy, so I substituted some dragonfly gems from Favorite Findings. I figured the frogs wouldn’t mind. I used my Twinkling H20s to paint my frogs

Next up, "Life’s a beach" from A Country Welcome stamps. I’ve had that stamp for a while, but hadn’t used it recently. I picked up some Jolee’s "Beach Bikini" dimensional stickers in the clearance section of Michaels the other day, and thought they’d work well with my stamp. I threaded the clothesline onto the "pebbles" paper before I attached it to the card. The clothespins are just strips of adhesive labels. I know that there are mini clothespins, but decided that the other embellishments added enough dimension to the card.

Now that I am creating more and more cards when I am stamping an image, I stamp extras, emboss them, and set them aside so I can "grab" one when I need it. I have extra images of "Life’s a Beach" so I decided to use one for the next card.

My July/August 2010 issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine arrived in the mail the other day. I love the sandcastle idea that is shown on pages 27 and 28 of that issue. You can print out the template for free on the Creating Keepsakes website. The sandcastle is created from sandpaper. I’ve used sandpaper on other cards so I store some sheets of it with my scrapbook paper. The different grades of paper have different shades and textures. You can pick up packages of sandpaper at the dollar stores. There will be several grades of paper in each package. To create the sand on the beach just tear strips of sandpaper. Don’t try to tear it straight...just tear it!

I used Cloud9Design rub ons on my card. I was amazed that they stuck so easily to the sandpaper. I backed some scraps of red and blue paper with Scor-Pal tape and then cut out the flags for the castle. The backing for the tape peeled off easily and then I attached the flags to the card.
And that’s it for today! Have a great day!
Carol