A Cut Above the Rest

Hi Everyone!

Whew!  What a day it has been.  Rob bruised his finger while he was sawing one of the trees we lost in that freak storm we had at the end of October.  Happily the finger is only bruised and not broken, but Rob said it's throbbing. 

Today I learned that I need a new computer and was told I'd have the one I ordered by the middle of this week.  However, an e-mail says it's not being shipped until November 30.  As you can see I can use this one, but I cannot print anything from it. 

There were some good parts to this day.  My crafting class was fun. Brenda was nice enough to pose with the Christmas doors frame she created. 

And here's a close up of the frame.

Tonight  I started to work on some of the card orders I have received.  My sister Jeanne asked me to create a card for her hairdresser and a card for Riley's groomer.  I decided to use some of the same stamps on both cards.  Here's the card for the hairdresser.

I don't know if you can see it in the photograph but the layering paper has bobby pins on it.  That paper is from dcwv's All About Girls stack.

And here's the card for Riley's groomer.

Doesn't the tiny brad on the pairs of scissors make them look realistic?

I took some pictures of other cards today. 

Hopefully I'll have time to post them tomorrow. 

Carol

A Variety of Cards

Hi Everyone!

I usually keep my worktable and work area clean so that I have room to create, but right now I have papers, stamps, and inks strewn around me.  I have been working on a variety of cards.

Jeanne's boss, Eric, turns 50 tomorrow.  Eric loves to ride his bicycle so I created this card for him.

A friend asked me to create a dozen cards with a "tea theme" for her sister.  Here's the card I made today.

Another friend asked me to create cards for a variety of happy and sad occasions.  Here's one of the cards I made for her. 

That's it for today.  Will be back soon with more cards. 

Have a great night!

Carol



Holiday Doorknob Hangers

Good Morning Everyone!

I am sure that many of you are familiar with Ben Franklin's adage, "Early to bed, early to rise..."  Well, the sinus infection that has been lingering in my body for what seems like forever sent me to bed on the early side last night and so I woke up early and got right to work.  Now we just have to hope that the rest of the adage will apply to my life, "makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." 

Next Saturday's craft fair is being held in an Assisted Living facility and I am planning to create some cards and crafts that will be affordable for the residents, families, friends, and staff of that facility.  I've decided to create some winter wreaths and holiday doorknob decorations that can add some cheer to the hallways. 

Here's the doorknob decoration I made earlier today.  I can tell that the photographs don't do it justice.  The trees and snowbanks are completely covered with fine glitter.

I know that I shared the technique for creating sparkling trees with you a few weeks ago.  I learned the technique on a Hero Arts video that was presented by Julie Ebersole.
I had planned to laminate the doorknob hanger, but I decided that might take away from the sparkling trees and snowbanks so I just backed the Martha Stewarts snowflakes patterned paper with a piece of red tag to make it stronger. 

My circle paper punch punched too close to the edge of the paper so I used one of my standard circle nestabilities dies to punch the hole. 

The text was stamped with a clear stamp from PaperTrey Ink's Think Big Favorite's #8 clear stamp set.  This set has been one of my most used sets this holiday season.  I definitely plan to buy some of the other "Think Big" sets. 

I could have added rhinestones or stickles to the trees, but as I said previously I want to make this product affordable so I have kept it simple, but also made it sparkle. 

I also want to mention that this doorknob hanger fits in a standard business envelope so it could be used as a holiday card./doorknob hanger which makes it 2 in one!

Have a great day!
Carol

Tea theme cards

Hi Everyone! 

Someone I met at last week's craft fair requested that I create some cards with a tea theme.   I pulled out my Hero Arts "Big Cup" cling stamp, my Hero Arts "What's Perking" clear stamp set, and some American Crafts, Memory Box and dcwv papers. 

Here's one of the cards. 

The text is from the Hero Arts "Holiday Sayings" clear stamp set.  That reminds me of a suggestion I may or may not have shared with you previously.    My clear stamps are stored by set in cd cases in alphabetical order by the name of the set.  I listed the names of those sets on my computer and then below each set's name I listed all of the text messages that are in that set.  Many clear sets contain a variety of messages and I don't want to forget what I have.  So when I am creating a card I browse through my list to see the different messages that I have.

I stamped the big cup on a piece of Memory Box paper and fussy cut it.  I used a craft knife to score along the lip of the cup so I could slide a real tea bag in it.  I also cut out the handle before I adhered the cup to the American Crafts layering paper. 

Here's another card.

Once again I stamped the Big Cup cling stamp on some Memory Box papers and fussy cut the cups.  I used a craft knife to cut along the lips of all 3 cups.  I slid the cups inside of each other and added a real tea bag to the cup that is stacked at the top.



The layering paper on this card is from dcwv's Nana's Kitchen 12" x 12" paper stack. 

The text is a clear stamp from the Hero Arts "What's Perking?" clear stamp set. 

I used a different color Memory Box paper for this cup, but other than that the card is the same.

I've had craft fairs the past 2 Saturdays and I have another one this coming Saturday.  I also have some very exciting news to share.  The owner of a new Art Gallery contacted me recently and purchased about 75 of my cards and 25 of my mini cards/gift tags.  So between the craft fairs, gifts for Christmas, card orders from friends and family, my craft classes, my cooking class, and my consulting work I am busy, busy, busy!  But that's a good thing! 

Will be in touch again soon. 

Carol

Holiday Luminary

Hi Everyone!

I cannot go to bed until I share today's creation with you.  A picture of a Halloween luminary caught my eye and I decided to create a Christmas one.  I played around for a couple of hours as I figured out how to create the one I had in mind. 

I used the Sizzix Vintage Cabinet Card die and the Sizzix Mini Cabinet Card die to create my luminary, but I am sure you could create something similar using square, rectangle, or label Nestability dies. 

If you study the photograph you can see that clear tag vellum is sandwiched between die cut pieces of chipboard.  I misted the chipboard with Maya Road mist.  I misted all 8 pieces (each panel has 2 pieces) and then covered 4 of them with some SEI paper.  The reason I misted even the 4 pieces that were covered with the paper was in case I adhered them slightly off and to give the side edges a finished look. 

I used dye ink to stamp Hero Arts cling tree stamps onto the clear tag vellum.  The cling tree stamps are from the "Season's Greetings" collection and are among my favorite and most used stamps this season.  Don't touch the stamped images right away because it takes a while for the ink to dry on the vellum.  I added tiny rhinestone jewels to some of the trees.  I highlighted the stamped garland on the trees with gold and white Uni-ball pens.

I used a Crop-a-dile to punch through the chipboard and then used some thin ribbon to tie the sides together.  Then I placed a battery operated tea light in the center.  The trees look so cool when the candlelight is flickering. 

That's it for today.  I have a craft fair on Saturday and am still busy creating for it. 

Thanks for visiting.  Hope you'll leave a comment. 
Carol

Sewing theme Note cards

Good Morning Everyone!

It all began with some rolls of American Crafts ribbon.  The moment I saw the collection I knew it would be perfect for creating cards with a sewing theme.  Images on the ribbon include pincushions, spools of thread, buttons, scissors, needles, zig zag stitches, basting stitches, etc.

I pulled out my wooden "Thank you sew much" stamp from Stampendous, Lawn Fawn’s "Sew Lovely" clear stamp set, Hero Arts "Sew Artsy" clear stamp set, and PaperTrey Ink’s "Quilter’s Sampler" clear stamp set. I planned to mix and match stamps from each collection and decided to use them with papers from Heidi Grace’s "One Sunny Day" paper pad. 

This was the first card that I created.

I stamped the dress form directly on the layering paper. Then I stamped it on some patterned paper, fussy cut just the body, and used foam tape to adhere it to the layering paper.

This second card was basically created the same way as the first one. The heads of the pins on the pincushion are tiny brads.

I stamped, colored, and fussy cut the spools of thread before I adhered them to this card with foam tape.

I stamped the sewing machine onto some blue tag and fussy cut it. I cut off the paper needle and added a paper clip "needle". The knobs on the sewing machine are tiny brads.

I paper punched a scalloped heart and then paper pierced it. I used a white gel pen to create the "stitches" on the heart. The heart is threaded onto the paper clip to make it look as if it is being sewn.

I plan to create a coordinating gift bag for this set of cards.

Have a great day!

Doors Altered Frame and Card

Hi Everyone!

Woo hoo!  It's Saturday.  I have a cardmaking class here this afternoon with a few friends which is always a blast.  After that I am free, free, free to create until Monday morning!  There are so many cards and projects that I want to make that I have barely been able to sleep. 
I saw the idea for this ornament in the Better Homes and Gardens Special Interest publication, Holiday Crafts 2011. 

I used a large clear plastic ornament and filled it with strips from two 12" x 12" sheets of KasierCraft music patterned paper.  The ornaments come in glass too, but I chose the plastic and am glad that I did because I dropped mine a few times while I was maneuvering the strips into it.   If you try this project I suggest that you wrap the strips as loosely as you can so that the roll just fits through the opening.  I used a crochet hook to help turn the strips so that I could see the words.

When I was in Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA about a week ago I purchased some door cutouts that the store had punched out and packaged.  I also purchased some pieces of screen that can be used with the door to make a screen door.  I think the screens are adorable, but I am saving them for spring and summer cards.  I cut up some sheets of clear tag from PaperTrey Ink to use as "glass" for my doors. 
I loved the door cutouts so much that I ordered the die from Cheery Lynn Designs.

First I used the door and clear tag to create this card.

The cat die comes with the door die.  I stamped a wooden A Muse Vine Wreath a little off center in the window.  I added red Stickle berries and a bow that was punched from a Martha Stewart paper punch.  You may not be able to tell from the picture, but I cut a sheet of white tag to use as the front of the house.  I scored every half inch to make the white look like strips of wood. 

While I was sitting in my new couch reading last night I glanced up at the craft display I have on my mantle and noticed one of the tiny grapevine wreaths that was sitting there.  Suddenly an idea jolted through my body.  My fingers had a hard time keeping up with the ideas that were racing through my mind.  I cut 3 house fronts from red tag and 3 white doors from white tag.  I sandwiched some "glass" between the 2 pieces of each door before I adhered them to the red tag.  I adhered the red tag to my frame and then I used a hot glue gun to attach a small grapevine wreath to each door.  Love it!

I use those tiny wreaths as ornaments and as napkin rings.  The ribbon and decorations on them are from my collection of "stuff".  Yes, I have a lot of cool "stuff".  A lot.

Not sure if I will add some text to the frame.  I am thinking about it.

Okay, Diane will be here soon and will be followed by Angela and Amy. 

Have a great weekend.  I will try to stop by again tomorrow.

Carol