TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

2015 Simple ScrapTags

Ok looks like I can squeeze in 1 more post before Thanksgiving!  TAGS...I  Love tags.  Some of my friends think they're too time consuming and generally people don't save tags but I say "So What".  All those tiny scraps that I would be throwing out anyways can quickly be made into inexpensive tags.  The only extra embellishments I used were sequins.  All twine was left overs and just some have stickles.

I decided to give these to my sister as a little surprise mail. There are 4 different sizes because I used all scraps so the top folded ones are 2.5 x 2.4 the large ones are 2.75 x 6, the medium ones are 2.75 x 4 and the small ones are 2 x 2.75. 
So don't throw out those scraps!  As your cleaning up your work area just put a few tags together.  Slip them into a cello bag with a piece of decorative paper on top to staple the bag closed.  I'm giving my sister but you could easily just make a gift out of 8 tags in a bag!  Easy hostess gift.  You can never have too many tags...and when you do...give them as gifts!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING AND HAPPY CARDING!!

Monday, November 23, 2015

Santa's Watching

So Christmas is quickly approaching and although I have all my cards done (not addressed, yikes!  That would be too productive for me!  LOL) I know alot of you are scrambling for last minute cards.  This one is adorable and very similar to one I saw on Splitcoast.  They did more stamping and I did more sponging.

The base is cherry cobbler 4.25 x 5.5 the next layer is from a paper pack from Hobby Lobby a Kraft color with dark green music notes.  I sponged with some Corduroy distress ink from Tim Holtz around all the edges.  The trees are from Lovely as a Tree and stamped with Tombow markers.  Santa is stamped with a Dew Drop ink pad in copper and also sponged.  Ribbon is just a sheer silver.  I brought the card to our card night and some of the ladies preferred using a Stampin Up ink pad Soft Grey for the Santa because it showed more detail.  I should have taken a picture but I forgot.  They also used a Cherry Cobbler ribbon.
Well that's it for now.....Today I'm making homemade French Onion soup!!  Roasted the bones for the stock yesterday and today the house smells yummy!  My kind of comfort food on such a cold snow covered day!  If I don't get another post in I want to wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!  I am so thankful for my family and our health and I'm thankful for all of you who keep coming back to check out my blog!

HAPPY CARDING!

Saturday, November 21, 2015

WINTER PINE BRANCH

Have you ever made a card....decide to blog about it .....and then think????  Did I do this one already?  My mind seems so confused today.  I had to look back on some previous post to see if I did this one yet.  CRAZY!!!!
  Ok well its a clean and simple one.  Once again I saw it on pintrest.  Boy I have got to stay off that site.  I pin wayyyyy to much stuff!!  LOL  Well this one originated on Splitcoast by ceedee.  She used a Stampin Up stamp which I do not own and she used Stampin up inks.  I only own 2 of those Black and Old Olive.  So my card I used white card 110# Recollection and a stamp by Hero Arts.  I used Tim Holtz distress inks in Corduroy and Evergreen to smudge the edges of my ovals which were cut from Creative Memories cutting system.  The emboss folder is from Darice.   There wasn't any name on the Merry Christmas stamp but I got it from the dollar bin at Michael's years ago.  This card can be whipped out in no time making it quite ideal for large amounts of cards.

Well that's all for now...I'm going to keep watching all this beautiful snow we are getting.  12" and still counting.  I live in a heavily wooded area so it is simply gorgeous out there!  Enjoy your Saturday wherever you are!

HAPPY CARDING!!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

C.A.S. OR K.I.S.S.

So I was thinking of Clean and Simple (C.A.S) Cards and noticed that alot of people also post Keep It Simple Silly (K.I.S.S) Cards.  I'm assuming that they are about the same type of cards.  But I also noticed that alot of those cards posted seem to have quite a few additions to the cards.  Or maybe my interpretation of simple isn't what everyone else thinks is simple.  I think I'm a little more simple when it comes to simple cards.  LOL  A great example of that is the card I have for today.  I wanted simple, I want clean and I wanted quick.  Something that even my granddaughter could accomplish and yet still look terrific.  This is what I came up with....................

I started with your basic 4.24 x 5.5 Whisper White card base.  Then I went through the scrap basket and found some reds and greens.  I punched some circles from 2 different size punches and randomly scattered them on the card front.  I then made the embellishment from scraps also using a large oval punch, a medium label punch and a small oval punch .  Layered all three together and adhered it to an empty spot on the card.  add a little stickles and done.  Can't get much simpler.  I think I'll have my granddaughter do these for her other grandma and great grandma.  They'll love it.  

Well until next time...............................
HAPPY CARDING

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Simple Christmas Cards 2

First I wanted to start with a tip that I forgot on my last post.  As I was blinging up those cards, I noticed my silver glitter gel pen stopped working.  Dang it I didn't have a spare, it was nighttime, no stores are open and I wanted to get this done!  For the heck of it I put the pen, tip side down, into a cup of very very hot water for about 5 minutes or so while I cleaned up a bit.  Low and behold.......it WORKED!!  The pen started writing and I was able to finish my project.  I checked it again today and so far so good...still working!  So a quick fix could be hot (very hot) water.  May not always work but it did that time for me.
So now cards.....again super simple.  This time I was just browsing through some emboss folders and noticed I had a few with winter scenes on them.  No idea why I bought them. (impulsive I'm sure) So I thought????????????Hey just emboss card bases and the residents at the nursing home can color or watercolor.  Maybe add some bling?  Hmmmm the possibilities????  So here's the starter card for them to work on.  







Since the basic card is white any color can be used for the embellishments.  In my sample I decided to use blue.  I made alot of different sentiment tags for them to use in various colors so the sky's the limit!  I also used chalks for coloring mine but they will have a choice of colored pencils or watercolor paints.

I also added some Stickles to some of the snowflakes.  These are so cute and definitely can be considered 0 layered cards.  Why didn't I thinks of these before?  I could have made all my Christmas cards in 1 week instead of months.  LOL

So I still have some ideas up my sleeve so stay tuned!
HAPPY CARDING!




Monday, November 9, 2015

Quick Change Christmas


Hello!!!  Yes it's been awhile.  Life has taken a busy detour and prevented me from even looking at other bloggers :(  I've got alot of catching up to do!  Today is a down day so I thought it would be a good idea to get some blogging done.  Hopefully I'll get this posted today.  The last few days I've been battling a cold that has just left me darn right tired.  Ok enough excuses (lol)....on with the cards!!
Although I have plenty of cards done for this year to send out, my friend June and I do crafts at a local nursing home. (I believe I've mentioned that before)  She had done a few card classes while I was up at my summer place (how dare she!  LOL) and wants to hold another later this month so we got together to put together samples and start cutting the kits.  June C.A.S.E.D. the first one which took us the longest cutting out.  Only due to measuring and gabbing!  LOL  Anyway super cute and can be left in it's simple state or blinged up.  It's your basic 4.25 x 5.5 card base and we used the  Mary, Joseph, Jesus stamp from a Stampin Up's set that I believe is retired.  
original



slight bling






















I guess my slight bling doesn't show up well but if you really look hard you can see there's some glittering.  I used just a bit of Stickles on the card on the right.

This next one could NOT be simpler!!  We used the scallop edge Sizzix flip it die and designer card stock from DCWV.  Since we did all the cutting all they have to do is adhere the circles and stamp their sentiment on the first one.  We needed to try and add different levels to the cards since the spectrum of abilities varies.  Then I upped the anti with the second one using some little snowflake sequins!  I also added another circle to the center and put a snowflake on that too.  


original outside










2nd one with little bling



inside original























So these aren't too bad for a super simple card .   Now this last one is just like the above ones except that I used more of the pieces from the die set.  Instead of the designer cardstock used as the base I used a solid cardstock.  Then the layers were cut from the designer cardstock, added some bling and we have a more complexed card for those who can do a little bit more.

The inside of this looks pretty much like all the others.  So all together we have 3 different levels so I think I covered every ability!

Well that's it for now.  We still have a few more super simple cards coming so check back they should be uploaded soon.  Until then have a glorious Monday!

HAPPY CARDING!!