Saturday's Cards

Hi Everyone!

A few weeks ago I took a great class at InkAbout It in Westford, MA. We used Memory Box stamps to create Christmas cards. One of the stamps we used is called, "Birch Trees". Even though we were making Christmas cards and I wasn’t yet in "Halloween" mode, when I stamped the image and saw trees in a woods I immediately thought of a poem I used with my Kindergarten students, "In a dark dark wood..." Along with the poem an idea for a Halloween card came into my head. That idea has been hovering in the back of my mind because I needed to purchase some black alphabet stickers before I could create the card. I’ve been in and out of the craft stores for weeks and never once thought about the stickers until yesterday. I found exactly what I wanted.

So I cut some orange paper from my stash and used some black ink to stamp the birch trees. I stamped slightly on top of the first stamped image to make the trees taller. I stamped another partial set of trees next to the first set and then stamped slightlly on top of them to make them taller. I affixed the alphabet stickers to the paper and then attached the paper to the card, held it up to admire it and...it was crooked. I ever so carefully peeled the paper from the card, placed it again, and...it was still crooked. I peeled it off again. I measured the paper. It was only the slightest bit off, but it bugged me. Big time. So...I trimmed the orange paper and of course that made it smaller. I placed it on the card, got an idea, and trimmed it even smaller. I like it! It works for me. I thought about adding a paper punched witch, bats, or ghosts...but...the card doesn’t need it. It’s simple, but effective. And now as I look at my card I don’t see a dark dark woods...in my mind I see a winter woods! With some wintery words on it. That card will have to wait for another day, but it’s filed in my memory!

MaryBeth and I attended the Creating Keepsakes Conference in Manchester, New Hampshire a few months ago. We saw some chipboard robots from My Mind’s Eye, loved them, and purchased them. Mine have been sitting in a container for months. I saw them the other day and decided to play with them. I’ve created 5 cards with them so far today. Each card is only slightly different from the previous one. I didn’t buy any special paper to use with the robots. I have tons of scraps that are most definitely user friendly. Super easy cards to create...trim the papers, add some ribbon, attach the paper to the card, affix the robots and other embellishments to the card, stamp a message, attach it to the card, done!

Have a great weekend!

Carol

Sympathy and Apology Cards

Happy Sunday Everyone!

The Hero Arts ClearDesign Everyday Sayings stamp set features a large scope of phrases. I challenged myself this weekend and tried to incorporate each of those phrases into one or more cards. Turns out the challenge was easy for me. The hard part will be spreading those cards out over my blog posts for a week or longer as I am not good at keeping secrets when I am excited about something. The good news is I have already photographed all of the cards and edited my photographs.

I feel that sympathy cards don’t need to be dark and dreary. A touch of color may be just what it takes to brighten someone’s day. I remember when our mother passed away my sister Paula insisted upon wearing a bright outfit to the funeral because our mother had bought it for her and had loved the colors in it. Sometimes something that is beautiful and elegant makes us cry. Sometimes crying helps us cope with a loss.

The paper from SEI’s chocolat stack has just the elegance that I wanted for my sympathy cards. If you study these first 2 cards you will notice that I played around with the same blueprint when I created them. I’ve decided that I prefer the one that has the patterned paper at the top, the ribbon/bow in the center and the solid paper at the bottom. I think the patterned paper at the top helps lead your eye to the message at the bottom of the card. The card with the solid paper at the top feels bottom heavy to me. I added pearls to both of the cards. Although I seldom wear mine I love pearls. When I saw my mother wearing her pearls I always thought she looked very dressed up and beautiful and that’s how I wanted my sympathy cards to look

I’m happy with his card. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to place the sentiment and had accidentally glued my patterned paper onto the blank card before I made that decision. At that point rather then run the risk of stamping a sentiment that wasn’t clear and crisp directly onto my card I stamped it onto a coordinating strip of paper and added it to my card. The lettering on many of the stamps in this set is tiny and doesn’t require much ink so I like to practice with each of those stamps before I use them on my cards. Both of the papers I used on this card are also from SEI's chocolat stack.




I love this card. I think it looks elegant and tasteful. I used my corner rounder punch on the layering paper and on the card. I used a Martha Stewart butterfly punch to create the butterfly embellishment. I fashioned some antennae for the butterfly out of thin jewelry wire. I don’t think they show up in the photograph. Both of the papers I used on this card are from SEI's chocolat stack.

The phrase "I’m sorry" is included in the Hero Arts Everyday Sayings stamp set. I had to really think about how I would use this stamp because I feel that no matter how hard it might be "I’m sorry" and all life changing messages should be delivered face to face. I actually fell into a great article the other night called "How to Apologize". I highly recommend that everyone take the time to read that article because at one time or another each of us has needed/will need to apologize to someone. Maybe an "I’m sorry" card could be the place to write out an apology which could be handed to someone as you apologize face to face.

I used the "Posey Penguin" from Memory Box stamps on this card. The paper is from SEI’s Poppy paper stack. The blank card is from

A Muse Artstamps. The card is smaller than most of the other cards I create, but I felt it worked perfectly for the card I wanted.

This card has a "Sun Days" stamp from Penny Black stamped on it. I added some gems to add a little sparkle to the card. The butterfly was punched from an EK Success small butterfly punch.

I’ll be back in a day or two to share some of the other cards I have created this weekend.
Have a nice night!
Carol