Asian Screen Card

Crusin' through the Internet again and saw a screen card on Pintrest.  I clicked it and it took me to Vicki Y's blog.  She had written basic directions which were super easy to follow.  You start with an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of card stock.   I used heavy 110lb cream stock from Recollections that I bought at Michael's.  Not the normal $3.99 packs that are always on sale at least once a month but the $12.99 packs.  Usually never on sale so you can use you 40% off coupon.  Score at:    2.75     5.5    8.25

Do not fold yet.   Punch across the top with a border punch.  Any border punch will do,  I think all border punches can create a beautiful top.  More fancy and lacy punches for elegant wedding cards or more simple zig zag punches or bubble punches for a more fun birthday type card.

After the top is punched its time to crease your folds.  You need to do this so you can center your label punch for the bottom.  Center your 2" or 2.5 inch label punch in each section of the screen.  Line the paper only halfway into the punch and "punch.  Once done in all 4 sections the bottom will resemble feet.   "Waaayyyy Cool"!

Now decorate!  Each panel has a solid mat and a printed DSP mat.  Cut 4 pieces solid card stock at 2.5 x 6.75 and 4 pieces DSP at   2  3/8  x  6  5/8.  Adhere DSP to solid mat and then adhere to Screen card.  Each panel can then be stamped with choice of stamps and sentiments depending on what type of card you will use it as.  Add Bling!!!  This card will fit into a regular business size envelope.

TADA!!  I'm using mine as a birthday card.  I showed my group of ladies that I meet with how to do this and one of them is using the card as a wedding card.  Just goes to show you that if you choose your words wisely a card can have multiple uses.  This card exactly as it is can be sent as a Birthday, Wedding, Congratulations, or a just thinking of you card.  

Have fun with this card.  I know I'm going to be making quite a few more to keep on hand.

HAPPY CARDING!

SIMPLE CARD STANDER

Hi everybody.....back for a short time then I'm off again.  We just had real heating and air put into the cabin and I'm on cloud nine.  We use to cool off the place with just fans (didn't help with humidity) and warm up the place with a kerosene heater and a few space heaters.  With this weird season of summer I have been able to test out both my new heating unit as well as the air conditioning!  
  With no real Internet (except for my phone which the tiny screen is hard on my eyes) I was doing some thinking.  Many times when I want to photograph a card I try to find some way to prop up the card.  Looking out the porch window I noticed the cloths line with clothespins. I had some Popsicle sticks and tongue depressors from a previous project and I remembered my son making an easel picture frame some 30 years ago.  With supplies in hand and a little hot glue I put together a couple card holders.

With one Popsicle stick as a support it seemed a bit Topsy.  A gentle wind might just blow it over so I tried a tongue depressor instead...still not very sturdy.  So next I did 2 Popsicle sticks.  I guess it's OK but I think it still might fall over especially if there is alot of  "Embelly's".   These all will work for a quick photo shoot inside and most of us crafter have clothespins and Popsicle sticks laying around somewhere.  Plus there is no measuring and no special tools needed.  But I am on a quest to find a sturdier solution.  Let me see what can be done with a few tools now that I'm home and have more access to more stuff!!  Until I figure something else out, give these a try for a quick, simple, and cheap card stand.

HAPPY CARDING!

PAPERCLIP BOW REMAKE!!!!

I had wanted to post 1 more project before I left for the boonies!!Internet service at my summer place is terrible if I get it at all.  And to post from my cell phone?  Well I know people have done it but I can't imagine typing an entire post on such a tiny keyboard!  LOL  Besides the cell tower is about 2 miles from my house and they are still using 3G.  Plus side is that you can really go up there and have absolutely NO interruptions which at times can be wonderful.  
  Anyway to the point.....I'm sure alot of you have seen the new Stampin Up catalog.  Now remember, I am NOT a demonstrator nor do I work for Stampin Up in any way.  I know I mention Stampin up alot but that is mostly because all my other favorites (Archivers, Creative Memories, etc) have shut down there stores and/or home sales.  Archivers still sells on line but I rarely do that since the store has closed.  RAMBLINGGG.........heehee.  Any way if you check out page 152 they have the cutest bows on paperclips.  So how could I resist?  I found a tutorial by Kay Kalthoff on YouTube and I actually thought the bows were pretty simple in fact I was going to share the instructions with my stamping group.  But then I saw a video that better suited my needs which I think I will share with the group later.  I then saw a video by PoodlesPapercraft, and she had a little different bow on binder clips.  Cute cute cute! But I am quite frugal and you can get about 200 paper clips from the Dollar store vs 6 binder clips from the Dollar store.  All other tutorials used glue dots but I found the glue gun to work just as well (and it to is cheaper in the long run).  So I decided to take her idea for the bows but put them on the paperclips.  They are pretty easy and can be used to dress up a gift bag or a scrapbook page or just use them as a bookmark on your card magazines on the pages for cards you'd like to do.  You can also use it to keep some of those "Fancy" fold cards closed!

Here's what you need:

Any Scraps
2 oval Punch's any size will do but you need 1 smaller than the other
Rhinestones (optional. Bling or Pearls work too)
Paper Clips (I prefer the larger ones but the little ones work too)
Hot glue & gun (or glue dots)

I used 3 different size Punch's so I could make 2 different size bows.  Punch 2 ovals from both Punch's.  You need 2 larger ovals and 2 smaller ovals per bow.

This shows 1 of each size for larger bow.  You need 2

This is 1 of each size for smaller bow.  You need 2

Glue the ends together on all 4 ovals.  When using hot glue be careful that you don't burn your fingers.  I guess this is where glue dots are better but remember I'm Frugal!

Smaller bow pieces in left corner and Larger bow in Right corner

Glue the larger of the 2 ovals together at the ends with the single loop side of the paperclip between the 2 oval edges. Glue the 2 edges of the smaller ovals together.

I'm doing this with contrasting patterns so you will be able to see better.

Now put a little glue in center of big ovals (With paperclip on) and place the small glued ovals on top.  Press gently because you don't want to crease the loops.

Right here is the step where I added some Glimmer Mist (Homemade stuff of course)

Add a Rhinestone to the centers (or what ever you'd like in the center.  Sequins would work too.  Finished!

These are addicting!  I want to try some with Pearls and Sequins or Oooooooo  maybe just add 3 small beads in center and glue on a little folded piece of wire at top and turn them into butterflies!  Here are the Finished Sample ones.

Addicting

Attach to gift bags

Butterfly worked

Til I return.........

HAPPY CARDING!

FISHY FISHY

Well last night didn't go exactly as planned..then again when do things really go "Exactly" as planned?  Life happens and it was just June and I.  I saw a couple "Fish cards" on Pintrest and when I found out she had the stamp set...well how could we possibly resist C.A.S.E.ing a couple cards???  I emailed her the images and she liked the idea.  One problem I really have to work on is Pinning peoples cards so I know who did them and what they used if they provide that info but me staying true to form didn't do that again so here we spent a bit of time trying to decide what the measurements for these cards should be.  First one up was relatively simple enough.  My only gripe is the fussy cutting of the sea weed.  Lucky me, June is a fast cutter and she cut 1 of mine out.  We used these stickers from Ecraftdesigns.com  for the fish.   They are just called Peel Off Stickers.  I had never used these type of stickers before and I really loved the result.  We placed them on glitter paper and then used markers to color them in.  The card is a basic 4.25 x 5.5.  We used I believe Pumpkin Pie for the card base and for the 2x4.25 band, So Saffron for the 3" circle and Coastal Cabana for the 4 1/8 x 5.25 mat all of which were Stampin Up papers.

Card # 2 was a basic 4.25 x 5.5 Tent card.  We wrote down the measurements which I will give at a later date.  We intend to re-make this card at an upcoming gathering.  We used the stamp set "Fishing for Details" from the Rubber Cafe.  They have alot of cute stamps over there.  I think you'll like browsing their site Rubbercafe.com
As you can see we used the same Pumpkin color for the card base.  We through in another fish from the "Very Punny" Stampin up set.  I thought it turned out cute only after I added some sparkle and Bling bubbles otherwise the card looks kind of flat.  we also highlighted very slightly the edges of each white square with "Brown Sugar" ink pad from Stampin up.

This card looks much duller than it actually is.  The lighting inside is not the greatest today since it's pretty gloomy out there.

Card #3.  June just got a new "Flip it "die so of course we needed to play with this too.  Cute, simple but there is not much room inside to write anything if you don't want it to show when you close the card.  I think we are both going to watch a few more Stephanie Barnard videos and get a better grasp on how to use these dies more efficiently. 

Well that's it for now.  I will try to slip in 1 more posting before Monday when I'm off for a bit of a Hiatis.  Until then.....

HAPPY CARDING

A couple of Guy Cards

So last Friday I got together with my stamping friends and we made two cards.  The first was with an inking technique.  You use glossy paper, put 3 drops of ink randomly on the paper then using a straw blow the ink spots to spread.   Using a total of 4 colors you repeat the process of 3 drops and blowing for each of the first 3 colors.  The fourth color you add a bit more all on one end of the paper and with the side of your straw swipe the ink all across the paper so that no more white parts of the paper shows.  Rub off the ink and set aside to dry.  Once dried you can stamp an image onto the inked paper with Staz On.  It was so cool to see how different all of our papers turned out.  Any combination of colors can be used as long as you save the darkest for last.  Below I have both my card and the extra papers I did with different inks.  These inked papers are only about 2" x 4".

With the second card we embossed in white and then white washed the image and water colored over that.  Pretty cool idea.  We did however have a disagreement over the image.  I said it was a man but the others decided it was a woman because of the daintiness of the feet.  I suppose...but I'm still making mine a guy card.  Besides what man is really going to look at the image and say "Hey that's a Chick"!  Hahaha.  Anyway the card it's self is a Z fold card so it was pretty easy.




My stamping friends and I are getting together again Friday.  I'm not sure what June has in stored for us but I'm trying a new card that if I have it all figured out and supplies together I can show them something new too.  So until next time.........................

HAPPY CARDING

Its a Guy thing

Birthdays for guys are always hard.  When my son was little you could just buy any kind of truck and he was happy.  Now he's 34 and that same truck just won't do.  Oh don't get me wrong he'd still probably like a truck but now he wants one with a motor in it! LOL  Cards for guys are just as hard.  We can't get to fussy with them because he'll probably just look at it and say "Oh this is nice" and it will eventually end up in the trash.  We have a summer home at which there are approximately 7 different lighthouses.  A local stamp store carries all the lighthouse stamps of which I have purchased 2 of them.  Our little town has 2 lighthouses. One is located on our road and is non operational but a historic landmark and the other is just around the corner of us at the harbor tip.  That is the one I chose to use.  The Cana Island Lighthouse.  I made the card relatively simple and used Tombow markers and colored directly on to the stamp.  I love how it all sort of blended together.  I think this might be the best way to use this stamp since everything is so tiny and so close together it's hard to get more detailed coloring.  

I had this blue green twine that just seemed to match the rest of the card and I added a little star charm.

Til next time!

HAPPY CARDING!

COLOR PENCIL CHALLENGED

My summer has begun........I have just returned from about 12 days at my cabin.  It was so nice to get away.  We spruced up the outside with some red, white and blue flowers to get ready for our big 4th of July party.  And of course I could not resist stopping off at my favorite stamp store.  I was in search of a Jack in the Pulpit stamp and was alittle disappointed when I found out she was all out of them.  Of course I placed an order and only walked out with a tiny purchase.  (My husband was so proud! Hahaha)   My new stamp won't be in til later this month but that's ok since I plan on being up there alot this summer.  Since I knew I was going to be up there for over a week I pre-stamped and embossed a few sheets for coloring on my down time.  I had decided that this time instead of going to my usual markers I would instead try color pencils and get that watercolor look. I brought a paint brush and 1 blender pen (since I saw someone on you tube using a blender pen)  I thought traveling light this time was a good idea, since we were opening the cabin for the season and I didn't think I'd have much time for card making.  I've used color pencils before but strictly as color pencils, not using them for water coloring.  It's easier said then done when your someone whose as anal as I am with results!  First let me say I totally prefer using the blender pen over the paint brush.  What I'm not too crazy about is how flat the colors seem to look.  I also think I need to check out my embossing powder.  Does it get old?  No clue.  My issue was that when I colored with the pencils and rubbed near the embossed line, it actually scraped the embossing off so I was constantly brushing little particles off the paper.  Silly me also used just a pigment black ink so on some parts the ink bled (because embossing scrapped off) causing a muddier color.  Although the stampings are still usable, it is not my best work.  I think the ones I like the best are my Lady Slipper ones.  It may be because I used real dark colors.  I will definitely try this again because I have to admit layering colors with watercolor pencils (before adding the water or blending pen) is super easy.  Blending one color into the next is pretty easy too.  I just miss the "Brightness" I get from markers.  Maybe next time I'll try regular color pencils and Gamsol.  I've been meaning to try the Gamsol just haven't gotten around to it.  Well here you go....take a look!  Now I need to come up with some sort of card idea to put these on!

Ok on the last picture I started the balloons but gave up....Think I'll re-stamp, not emboss and use my markers instead.  Decisions decisions....LOL

HAPPY CARDING!