Hi Everyone!
While Jeanne and I were out shopping last week I found some 12" x 12" "Birthday Wishes" paper pads from Momenta at HomeGoods.
As soon as I saw the paper in those pads I knew I would use it for more than cards so I quickly scooped up two pads for myself and one for a friend. Robbie and Jeanne celebrate their birthdays in July. Rob's birthday was yesterday.
I used my Martha Stewart circle cutter to cut placemats for Rob's party table. Each circle measured 11.5". I used a removable tape runner to adhere each of them to our outdoor table.
I trimmed some of double sided papers so that they measured 9" x12", folded and cut them, and turned them into paper lanterns that I hung from our patio umbrella.
I trimmed other papers, used my pinwheel die with my Cuttlebug and created pinwheels that I attached to the railing posts on our deck.
The drink stirrers that I made were inspired by one of the headers on the Scrapbooks and Cards Today web site. There were 2 identical sheets of paper in the Birthday Wishes pad that had 2.5" circle images of cakes, cupcakes, and ice cream. I used my pink Marcy Uchida circle punch and punched out those images.
Then I used a 2.75" scalloped circle Nestability die to cut different colors of solid colored tag from my scrap stash.
I adhered a patterned paper image to one side of each scalloped circle.
Then I used 1/2" wide Scor-pal tape to attach a skewer to the other side of the scalloped circle. I glued a patterned paper circle to the skewer side so that it covered the skewer.
Now I had decorative drink stirrers.
Set the table with solid colored red, blue, yellow, and green Hellerware dishes and turkey napkins. Marie wondered where I could have gotten turkey napkins at this time of year. I told her I found them with my Thanksgiving dishes. I realized my Hellerware dishes are more than 30 years old and they still look great. (Didn't take a photograph of the table when it was completely set.)
Okay, the table is set...on with the party! Get ready for part 2 of this blog.
Carol
Good Morning Everyone!
I have another 4th of July card to share with you today.
I used mini porcupine balls to create the fireworks. Mini porcupine balls are 1" balls that have little flexible rubber points. Some are rounder than the ones in my photograph.
You can find them in party stores. I clipped a clothespin to a ball before I dipped it into a puddle of paint. Then I pounced the ball onto a sheet of tag so that a spatter of paint was left on the paper. I did that over and over again using red, white and blue acrylic paint.
The patriotic puppy was created with a Serendipity stamp. I used a Hero Arts clear stamp from their Celebrate Everyday set to create the text. The dog's shirt was colored in with a couple of red Copic markers.
If you have children they would enjoy painting with porcupine balls. Potato mashers, dish scrubber brushes, and bottoms of soda bottles are also great for gadget painting.
Have a great day!
Carol
Good Morning Everyone!
Instead of sharing a card with you this morning I want to share a recipe. First a little background information. From the time he could first stand Rob has been at my side in the kitchen. We have a double sink in our kitchen. I'd fill one of the sinks with water and Rob would stand on a step stool and scrub mainly potatoes and carrots while I was cooking dinner. I tell people that story over and over again and mention that we always had the cleanest vegetables in town because when dinner was ready I'd put those vegetables away and would often give the same ones back to Rob the next day.
I enjoy cooking and baking, but I am not a pie maker. Or let's just say that my pie crusts come from a box. For as long as I can remember Rob wanted to learn how to make pies from scratch. One Sunday our friend Herb's mother, Louisa, taught Rob how to make a pie crust. Rob regretted that he didn't write the recipe down because Louisa passed away a short time later, but happily he did remember the techniques that she taught him.
Louisa would be so proud of Rob. His pies are as beautiful and tasty as hers used to be.
That's a cherry pie in the photograph. If you are planning to make a dessert for a 4th of July celebration or just as a treat for your family try this recipe. The recipe is posted on Allrecipes.com and this is the link for it.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-fresh-cherry-pie/detail.aspx
Everyone who has tasted this pie says it's the best cherry pie they've ever had.
Rob makes his pie crust from scratch. He uses a recipe from the Wilson's Farm Cookbook, but you can just use your favorite pie crust recipe if you don't happen to own that book.
Here's a photograph of Rob holding the pie he baked last night.
Jeanne and I both have today off so we're going on an outing.
Have a great day!
Carol
Good Morning!
I think we're finally going to see some sunshine today. The sun is fighting its way through the clouds.
We live in the suburbs of Boston where squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and a variety of songbirds have always shared our backyard. I've been told of coyote and deer sightings, but have never seen either of them. Recently turkey sightings have become as common as squirrels and chipmunks. Rob just told me that he saw a fox crossing the road the other day.
Earlier this spring Rob and I would race outside each time one of us spotted a turkey. Our neighbor Jan would call us on the phone whenever she saw one in our side yard. We'd join her and Bob and watched adult male and female turkeys roam from one yard to the next. About a month ago 4 poults joined the adults in their early morning and early evening strolls.
Every morning....EVERY MORNING...EVERY MORNING one of the male turkeys struts back and forth in front of our house gobbling over and over again. He puffs himself up and spreads his tail feathers wide to let his female friends know he's awake. He starts to gobble shortly before 4:30 AM and doesn't stop until he has successfully woken every human, dog, squirrel, and crow in the neighborhood. Then he strolls off into our woods to take a nap. A few hours later some of the females appear. Mother turkey and her 4 poults come on their own. She purrs softly to her children if we try to get close to them and hurries them along.
Although I find the early morning antics of the male turkey annoying, the novelty of seeing these creatures hasn't worn off. It's amazing to see large adult turkeys fly from the ground onto the railing of our front and back decks. Rob and I have seen them fly up into the trees to sleep there for the night. One day I sat at my worktable and from my window watched a male turkey carefully preen every one of his tail feathers. Mother turkey often rolls in the soil on the side of our house and each of her poults mimics her actions.
Robbie continues to race outside each time he spots a turkey and I usually join him. Our fascination with turkeys was the inspiration for some of the birthday cards I created for Rob this year. I don't give him more than one card. I create the cards that Jeanne, Marie, and I give him and if (when) I get carried away with my creations I bring the extras to craft fairs, etc.
I just had to make another accordion card. I think they look so "rich" and they remind me of the incredible cards that are displayed near the check out area in Barnes and Noble.
I pulled out 3 of my turkey stamps, inked them up and stamped them, colored the images with markers and fussy cut each image. I used a craft knife to cut a slit in each of the larger turkeys mouths and slipped a party noisemaker sticker into the openings. I layered 2 identical noisemakers with a piece of foam tape between them to add dimension to them. The party hat on the largest turkey is covering a "Pilgrim's hat". I cut off the Pilgrim hat on the middle size turkey and replaced it with a party hat. I masked the word "ham" that was on the middle size turkey stamp and replaced it with "pizza" which is one of Rob's favorite foods. The gifts and balloons are from my sticker stash.
I used a 4th turkey stamp for the images on this second card. I added tiny googly eyes to the birds and musical brads near the text before I adhered the layering paper to the card. The picket fence was created with a Martha Stewart punch.
I've now created at least 4 cards that can be used for Rob's birthday.
In our family Jeanne's birthday comes up next. She's turning 55 this year so I must think of an extra special card to create for her. Any suggestions?
Enjoy your day!
Carol
Hi Everyone!
Rob's birthday is approaching so I have been in birthday card making mode. For most of his life Rob saved every card he received. One day he gave me a backpack full of cards so that I could use them in a workshop. Later he regretted that decision and once again started saving his cards. It wasn't until sometime this year that I learned that Marie has also saved most of the cards that she has received. Now I make sure to write the date and an extra special message inside all of the cards I give them.
Rob's a quiet guy. When he's home he mostly hangs out in his room. He reads, goes on his computer, watches TV, and writes in a journal. When I ask what he's doing he usually responds, "Just chillin'". So a while back when I saw a "just chillin'" wooden rubber stamp from Purrs and Pants I knew I had to add it to my collection. I used it when I created this card. The popsicles are brads from Eyelet Outlet.
I have a great (and constantly expanding) collection of brads. I used to store them in silicone muffin wrappers on a cupcake stand that can hold 12 cupcakes. As my brad collection grew I continued to store them in the muffin wrappers, but moved them to cupcake stand that holds 24 cupcakes. That stand was taking up too much space on my worktable so I moved the muffin wrappers into some of the plastic drawers that are next to me. When I am working I just pick up the muffin wrapper of brads that I want to use and place it next to me.
I keep my bird and musical note brads in the same muffin wrapper because "birds sing". I keep party hat, cupcake, and ice cream cone brads in the same muffin wrapper because they are all part of a birthday theme. I think you get the picture.
I have more cards underway for Rob so check back soon to see if I have posted them.
Have a great day!
Hope some sunshine comes your way!
Carol
Hi Everyone!
I do not scrapbook. I make cards, tags, gift boxes and bags, wreaths, and other paper crafts. Yet, one of my favorite magazines is Scrapbooks etc. This magazine arrives in my mailbox 6 times a year. In addition to scrapbooking ideas there are always wonderfully creative ideas for cards and crafts. I do study the scrapbook illustrations and read the ideas for them because many of the techniques can be applied to cardmaking.
In addition to being a subscriber to the magazine I frequently visit the Scrapbooks etc. web site. I love using the paper piecing patterns and there are always all sorts of great tips and techniques to learn.
The August 2011 magazine arrived in my mailbox on Friday. I tossed it into my bag as I headed out the door to my parent and child class. I sat and flipped through the magazine while I waited for my students to arrive. As soon as I saw the card idea on page 54 I wanted to run home to make it, but I taught my class and did some errands first.
I was amazed at how simple the card was to create and how quickly I finished the first one.
The tagweight paper I used is from SEI. Most of the embellishments are from SEI's Happy Day collection. The ribbons are from my stash. I stamped "Make a Wish!" and backed it with a scrap of blue tag before I adhered it to my card. See the ribbon on the side of the card? It's attached to a tag that is inside of a little pocket that is on the card. The directions in the magazine explain how to fold the card and create the pocket and pull tab.
When I woke up on Saturday I created my second card.
I used some double sided tag from SEI's Happy Day collection for the card. The paper embellishments are from the Me & My Big Ideas 12" x 12" Celebrate paper pad. The adhesive pearls, stickers, and ribbons are from my stash. This time I made my pocket a little wider so that a gift card will slip in and out of it easily.
The technique for this card can of course be used for any type of card. Saturday night I used it to create this baby card.
I dug through my stash and found all of the embellishments that you see on the card. I did not put a pocket on this card.
I cannot give you the specific directions for these cards, but you can purchase Scrapbooks etc. at newstands and you'll most definitely get your money's worth of ideas from it. In the August issue in addition to great card ideas there's a cool idea for an ABC album and an On the Road Bingo that I am dying to create.
Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Carol
Hi Everyone!
Thank you for all of the comments you made on Sammi's card a few days ago. I am definitely in summer cardmaking mode and decided to create a variety of cards with the Denami Designs castle stamp and some sandpaper.
I started out by using a sea sponge to dab some acrylic blue and green paints on white tag. When the tag was dry I cut a piece so it measured 4" x 5.25".
As I did a few days ago I stamped some castle images onto sand paper. I also tore some strips of sand paper and adhered them to the layering paper.
Then I fussy cut the sand castles and adhered them to my card.
I used a DieNamics sun to cut my sun, stamped text onto it with an Amuse Artstamp and added a rhinestone brad to it to make it sparkle.
When I attended the CK Conference in Manchester, NH I purchased a variety of brads from the Eyelet Outlet booth. When I attended the Stamp Show in West Springfield, MA a few weeks ago I purchased even more brads from Eyelet Outlet because they are so much fun to use on my cards and gift tags.
I looked through my brad stash and picked out some of the summery ones and added them to my card. They add color and additional texture to my card.
Have a great day!
Carol
