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Monday 26 September 2011

Halloween Card

Good Morning,
     I have been working on this card this weekend and I really like how it is coming togather. I still have Chris helping me by punching and cutting my papers down to size. He doesn't think I have finished nearly enough for the amount of time we have spent on cards. hehehe Maybe he's starting to realize how much time actually goes into making cards.

I love how this card turned out. It took a little time and little trying this, and trying that, but I think the final product is really nice.



I took black card stock and used my scalloped circle template, for making clouds, and made white clouds on the black background, to create a nighttime setting.




Next Chris punched out a bunch of black owl bodies. I was going to make black owl silhouettes for the card and then thought I would like to have a bat "flying" by the moon. So we then punched out some yellow moons and I sponged them with So Safron. And using the scalloped oval punch I punch out along the edge of black paper and then finished cutting out the wing with the 1 3/4 inch Circle Punch.



Next I sponged the edges of the owl body and wings with white, to help them stand out better on the background.



 I decided to add pumpkins to the setting, so another job for Chris. hehehe He punch out ovals in orange card stock and I sponged the edges with Dusty Durango and glued two oval to the back of the center oval, to make a pumpkin. I used my Creative Memories maple leaf punch and punched out some green leaves, sponged them in Old Olive and added them to the pumpkins.





The vines you see were punched from the Two Step Bird Punch. I stamped the sentiment from the Teeny Tiny stamp set, so glad I got this stamp set, punched it out with the Word Window punch and sponged the edges with Dusty Durango. I layered the sentiment with the Modern Label punch and attached it with Stampin' Dimensionals.


Hope you like and hope this gives you a little inspiration.
Happy crafting, Tina

Sunday 25 September 2011

Strawberry Hearts

Hello everyone,
I have had Chris home all week, and have had him cutting paper, to try to keep him occupied but that is growing old I think. He feels better one day, does too much and then feels exhausted and tired the next, today is a tired day. So I have put him to bed and hopefully he'll get some rest.



I have been playing with my Square Lattice embossing folder, I really like impression it makes. It looks like wood or a basket. I am working on some bird houses that I think are cute, both 3-D and flat ones for cards, and I embossed them with this folder, but I'll show those another day when I figure out what I am going to do with them. I also used my Scalloped Border punch by Fiskars on the edges.



I used my Cricut and the Designer Calendar cartridge and cut out some hearts with red card stock. Then I used my Petals Punch, from Michael's, and punched out some white petals and green ones, and some yellow centers.





I ran the hearts through the Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.



Then I attached both a green and white petal and used the yellow for the centers, to make strawberries.
Next I took pieces of light brown card stock and cut it for the front of my card, and ran it through the Cuttlebug with the Square Lattice embossing folder.


I cut strips of red card stock and used the Scalloped Border punch and punched the top and bottom edges, and added ribbon along the center. As you can see I ran out of one type of ribbon and had to switch to another.



I attached the strawberries to each card with Tombow glue, and added a ribbon and sentiment to complete the card front. I then attached the card front to an A2 size card base.



I used a yellow brad down through the center to hold the blossom together and Tombow glue for attaching the little pieces.
Here's a whole patch of cards. Hope you enjoy.
Happy crafting, Tina

Christmas Cards

Hello everyone,
Well thank goodness for the ability to save draft posts. I have been working on four or five drafts and trying to get the pictures I need for each one as well. Then to find the time to get the pictures uploaded. Well I got up this morning and decided I would do that while everyone was still asleep. Well everyone is now awake and I have one post finished and here you go.....

My mother in law asked me to make her Christmas cards this year, to give out to the family. I had some Christmas paper that I received from my mom and I wanted to use it.


As always I love my Lovely as a Tree stamp set, and thought I would stamp some trees in Handsome Hunter green on some vanilla card stock. Next I wanted to add some glitter to the trees so I stamped on top of the images with Versamark. Now, I could have used my Stamp-a-ma-Jig, but I just eyed it instead. I then sprinkled Kaleidoscope embossing powder over and heat set it. This just adds a bit of sparkle to the card.


I then cut the trees 2 x 3.25 inch and layered them in red and vanilla, each layer being cut 1/4 inch bigger than the last. I took the pretty Christmas designer series paper and started cutting strips, 3/4 inch for the sides and 2 inches for the center. I centered the tree on the card about 1/2 inch from the top. As you can see, as I ran out of one type of paper I just switched it up and used what I had.

The insides are always a difficult decision of how to decorate or what to put inside. I saw on another blog, which if I can find it again I will add as a favorite site to look at, that she decorates the inside simply by adding a piece of card stock, sponged and then coordinating strips; I used leftovers. Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Not sure what sentiment I am going to add yet, but I will let you know.


Happy crafting, Tina

Saturday 17 September 2011

Word Window Fence

Hello everyone,

I showed you in an earlier post how to make the pumpkins shown in this card, well now I will show you how easy it is to make the fence.


You will need a paper cutter and your Word Window punch.

First cut strips of card stock, whatever color you want your fence, into  just slightly less than 3/8th inch strips.



Next, feed each strip into your Word Window punch, like being demonstrated in the picture, and just punch one end. Looking at the card after I realized you could also just snip the ends into a "v" and make a picket fence, for a spring/Easter card, Mother's Day etc. The options are endless.



Next sponge the edges around your strips, space out your fence posts how you want them and then lay a strip across them, to "join" them together. See, and you though this was going to be difficult.



As you can see above I have made two little fences, I will just cut them in half and round each of the remaining ends with the Word Window punch.  I space the long posts 1 inch apart and the short fence posts 1 inch apart, but you could make the fence any size you would like.

You can use these little fences anywhere you would want a fence on your cards. I spaced the two long posts and the fence posts all 1 inch apart, and just added dabs of Tombow glue to glue them together.

Happy crafting, Tina

Friday 16 September 2011

Pumpkins made with Punches

Hello again,

I just love it when you can get more out of your punches than just an oval or circle. Not only do they make even layering options, you can turn multiple punches into say....... Pumpkins!


For this project you will need the large oval punch, which I do not have but instead the second sized oval from Creative Memories and the red blade will give you the same size. You will also need the medium oval and I am using, yet again, my leaf punch from Creative Memories.

First punch, or cut, a large oval and two medium ovals out of orange and one maple leaf out of green, for each pumpkin you want to make.




Next I sponged the edges of the orange card stock with Cajun Craze, and the green maple leaves were sponged in Old Olive.



Take a small amount of Tombow glue and apply it along each side on the back of the large oval. Then take the two medium ovals and place one on the back on each side where you placed the glue. Move them around until they are where you want them. Further apart for a fatter pumpkin or closer together for a skinnier one.





Next take the maple leaf and place it on top. I used the Scribbles Swirls Sissix Sizzlet die to make the vines for the pumpkins.



These make a nice pumpkin for placing on your scrapbook pages or on your cards.



I will show you in another post how to make this easy fence for the background, and how to use your inks to get the background.  Hope you are having a nice day.
Happy crafting, Tina

Making Penguins with the Two Step Owl Punch

Hello there,
Well another week is almost over, but you know what they say......time flies when you're having fun, or are very busy. Hehehe Mike and I have been busy getting him ready to start work next week, and he is excited.

I know there are lots of places on the Internet that you can find different ways of making the most of your punches, but I thought if you came here to browse why not offer another example.

These are really very simple to make, just a few punches and snips with your scissors and you have a cute penguin to add to your cards.



 Start by punching out the body and circle for the eyes in black card stock. Then using white card stock punch out the vest shape and circles for the eyes again. Then take a piece of orange card stock and punch out the feet at the bottom of the owl body. If you want to add a little heart to your penguin then just take red card stock and punch out the heart



Next use your scissors and cut off the feet and ears on the black body.


Take the orange feet that you punched out and attach them to the back of the body shape you now have.


Turn the body over, he's starting to come together. Attach the white vest and eyes, and a little piece of orange under the top of his vest, to make his nose.



I added the little heart from the Two Step Owl Punch as well. Tombow glue dries quickly and is great for attaching little pieces. The other tool you see in these pictures is my QuickStik, while watching video tutorials I would hear them mention this little tool. The end that you see in the upper picture has tacky putty in it, and it is great for picking up those little pieces that you try to get in just the right spot. I ordered it from the states, and I will try to find out what the site is for you. But I have to say it is a big help and for only about $5.00 it was a great purchase.

Hope you enjoyed this little penguin, and actually looking at him now, I think I would also sponge the edges of his body, to give him a little more dimension. Well I am off to play with some of my new Stampin' Up stuff, I have an idea for tomorrows post.

Happy crafting, Tina


Thursday 15 September 2011

Making Clouds with your Scalloped Circle Punch

Hello again,
I just realized that I had said in an earlier post that I would show you how easy it is to make those puffy clouds that you see in the background of this card. It's funny how you can make such a difference in the look of your card with just a few simple "tricks of the trade", once you learn them.





These clouds are made by punching out about 7 scalloped circles. I don't have the Stampin' Up circle punch but I do have the Fiskars scalloped circle punch. Now if I had known when I purchased it that you end up with three holes inside of your circle I probably would not have paid the money for the system, but I have it now, so I am going to use it. Those little holes cover easily when you layer, hehehe.



Next using your snail adhesive apply a little adhesive and start gluing them together. Four on the bottom row and then attach three more to the top portions, you could add more to make it longer or less to make it shorter depending on the look you want. Just practice and you will decide what works best for you.



Then take a sponge and your blue ink, ink up your sponge and hold the template you have just made down on your card and start sponging around the edges of the scalloped circles. Move the template around and keep inking up your sponge, the more ink the darker the color, and as you get further down your card, use less ink and it will be lighter. Be sure to keep turning your template and moving it often after sponging small areas, to get the best effect. I bet this would look nice on a nighttime background by making puffs of clouds throughout the night sky.



Also a little tip, so I don't see these circles stuck together and toss them by accident, I used a piece of paper to sponge on when I first started to see how it turned out, well I kept this piece of paper, added a piece of Velcro to the paper and my template and I attach the template back to the paper when I am finished.



Hope this ideas helps you in creating beautiful cards,
Happy crafting, Tina

Wednesday 14 September 2011

A Beautiful card for Fall Using Chalk

Good morning everyone,
I had great intentions of posting this card yesterday but my friend called me and I went on a road trip with her to buy her new car. Here is a picture of her behind the wheel. So we headed out around noon hour and got back around 9 last night.everyone had to fend for themselves for supper, and all of my card making stuff was over the table. Oopsie, hehehe



Also my Stampin' Up order arrived yesterday, so I can hardly wait to get into that.

Ok enough of me, on to the card. I saw this card idea, and when I find out where I saw it I will give her credit, and I really wanted to try it. I think this would really be a nice way to add color to some of your really intricate stamps.

I added more layers then i usually do, but I really wanted to bring all of the colors together. I cut each of my layers 1/4 inch bigger than the previous one, and I don't know about you, but to make sure I have my layers cut just right, I write out the dimensions on a sheet of paper. You know what they say, measure twice cut once.
I used my Stamp a ma Jig for this project, and you'll see why as we go.

First I cut white card stock 4.25 x 3 inches, then using my Stamp a ma Jig I stamped one of the trees from the stamp set Lovely as a Tree in More Mustard. This is one of my favorite stamp sets and one of the first ones I bought. You can use the trees for so many possibilities.






Next take your chalks, and using a cotton swab, or even the cheap eye makeup applicators that you can buy at the dollar store, start adding dabs of color all over the tree. I chose greens for the base, where the grass would be, and then added greens to the tree foliage as well as yellow, orange and red. It isn't going to look like much to begin with.




Ater you have enough color where you want it, take your Stamp a ma Jig and line up where you stamped your tree and re-stamp over your chalking in chocolate chip. Amazing, huh?





Next I took orange card stock cut at 4.5 x 3.25 inches and sponged the edges with Cajun Craze. Yellow card stock cut at 4.75 x 3.5 inches and sponged the edges with More Mustard, and green card stock cut at 5 x 3.75 inches and sponged the edges with Old Olive. I just realized, looking at my posts, that I said Cajon Craze but in the picture an orange stamp pad is showing, I tried the orange first but it didn't show up well on the card stock so I switched and the Cajun Craze gave a much nicer effect.



I cut a 5 inch piece of Old Olive ribbon and wrapped it around the top card piece and attached with snail adhesive. Then assemble the pieces.



I wanted to add a little something more to the card, and I have a fall leaves punch from Creative Memories, so I punch out some leaves with my leftover coordinating card stock and sponged the edges as well.



I stamped a sentiment from the Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set, this is one of my new stamps sets I just received. Punched it out with my Word Window punch, and layered it with the Modern Label punch. I think it came out beautiful, and as I always do when making cards, you could easily have a dozen of these laid out and made in a short period of time, and I think they are a nice masculine card as well. And masculine cards always seem to be a little more difficult to make.



I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and that I have inspired you to try this on other stamps. Happy crafting, Tina