Jar of Flowers

Here is another clean and simple card, using watercolor pencils and the masking technique.

The base is Pool Party with a mat of Olive Green. The image is stamped on Whisper White.

Stamp the flower on the bottom from the Butterfly Basics set with Old Olive. Stamp a second image on a piece of masking paper or post-it. Cover the flower image with the mask and stamp the jar from Sharing Sweet Thoughts with Marina Mist. (This set also benefits the Ronald McDonald House Charities and is on the inside back cover of the annual catalog.)

Create another mask with the top rings of the jar. Place this mask over the image and stamp another set of flowers into the jar. I found it a bit large, so I places some scotch tape over the part of the stamp that I didn't want to use, inked the stamp and removed the tape. This leaves just the part that you want to stamp. Color the image with your favorite product.

I used the Watercolor Pencils on this card. The secret to good color is to keep the pencils well sharpened and for more vibrancy, use an Aqua Painter or Blender Pen.

Stamp your sentiment on Whisper White with Marina Mist and mount onto Pool Party. When you don't a the size of die to create the small mat, just cut the same size as the sentiment. Then cut it into four pieces. Add adhesive to the back of the sentiment and place the pieces on the back so they just show around the edge. There is a bit of a gap at each cut, but it really isn't noticeable.

As fellow demonstrator, Connie Stewart, would say, here is a stepped up version of the same card:

I used the triple snowflake from Star of Light, stamped with Pool Party to add a bit of texture, plus the dots from Sheltering Tree. Afterwards, I think that either stamp would have been enough.

Hope you are having a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Clean and Simple

I know it is Fall and the cooler weather has set in..... So here is a card for Fall, with the reminder that the flowers are still blooming.

This is a really simple card and sometimes, that is perfect. A fellow demonstrator shared the idea of the wreath with circles. (She also shared using the same idea to create pumpkins, using oval thinlits).

The card base is Crushed Curry mounted with a piece from the Wood Textures DSP stack. Then using your circle dies, cut out three rings of the same size from Soft Suede, using two of the thinlits that are closest to each other. (Mine leave a 1/4" piece between them, which I thought was too much, so I cut mine in half with the paper snips. It gave it a rustic look and gave me another slightly smaller set to use on another project. )Spot glue these in place to create the wreath, or use glue dots.

Add the leaves from Flourishing Phrases, stamped with Old Olive onto the same color of cardstock, and cut them out. I stamped three sets and cut one apart, creating the three cluster of leaves. Use glue dots to adhere them to the wreath.

The flower is from the set, Flower Shop. Ink the flower with Pumpkin Pie, then color over the center with the Soft Suede marker. Stamp on to Crushed Curry cardstock and use the Pansy Punch to cut it out. Attach this between the leaves with a dimensional.

Add your sentiment to the bottom in Soft Suede. I used a positioning tool to make it darker by stamping twice.

It seems like a lot of steps, but it does go quickly so I hope that you will give it a try.

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Coordinating Paper Pumpkin!!

Have you heard the news?? The October and November Paper Pumpkin kits will coordinate!! That doesn't mean that one can't be used without the other, but can you imagine the possibilities!!!

So, if you aren't already a subscriber, what a great time to sign up! And if you have been in the past, you might want to give it a try again. Remember, you can skip a month or cancel at any time. And have you seen the cost and obligation of other monthly kit subscription? Paper Pumpkin is less than $20 a month, with enough product to complete the samples PLUS leftovers to create other items! AND it comes with everything you need to create the sample products.

If you have any questions, just let me know. I would love to have you sign up HERE! Or click on the Paper Pumpkin picture in the right hand column.

You must sign up by the tenth of the month to receive that month's kit, so if you want to start with the October kit, make sure that you sign up by October 10.

Can't wait to have you join me in the fun!

Hope you are having a great week and thanks for stopping by!

Strawberry Card gift and tutorial

First, let me thank all of the great crafters out there that share their talents! I get so many ideas from all of you. This card gift box comes from a fellow crafter, Deb.

I LOVE the Sharing Sweet Thoughts set from the back page of the annual catalog. Another plus to this set is that it helps the RMHC.

This card is created from Real Red cardstock. I stamped the image of the jar with Smokey Slate, then the strawberries with black, all on Whisper White. I used black ink to stamp the lid onto Real Red, cut it out and added it to the top of the jar with dimensionals. I colored the strawberries and covered the jar with Crystal Effects, then set it aside to dry. (You could also use the Fine Tip Liquid glue for the same effect. This is then mounted on DSP and attached to the front.

The cards stands alone with a box base, but lies flat to mail. Or to give it as a gift, add kisses, treasures, or some other small candy to the inside. A mint patty will fit in the upper part, too. (Never too much chocolate!)

NOW for the tutorial on how to make this. As usual, I have tweaked Deb's idea to fit my own ideas. I think I should warn you that my tutorial creation wasn't going exactly perfectly for me, as you will soon see!

Start with one piece 8 1/2 x 4 1/4, scored at 1/2, 1 1/2, 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 along the long side. This will be your base.

For the front, cut a piece 3 x 5, scored at 1/2 and 1 1/2 along the long side

Crease all of the score lines in the same direction
Add strong adhesive (Fast Fuse works great!) to each 1/2 tab.
With the larger piece form a small box at the end with the scores. The tape will attach to the card base.

Flip the smaller piece over and add adhesive to the other end.

Lie the base down flat and adhere the smaller piece (not the scored end like I did, which is why it looks a bit rough on the top of the picture) to what will be the front of the box that was just created.

This is what it should look like (ignoring the extra score on the box, remember the warning I gave you at the beginning, well, scoring in the wrong place is where I started!!!)

Now press this all down flat and fold the taped tab in to attach to the base.

When you open it back up, this is what it should look like (without the extra score lines!)

And this is how I finished it! The strawberry panel was the same size as the front of the card panel, but the door was a bit taller, so I just extended it over the top. All of these images are from the At Home With You set, then colored and cutout with the thinlits, attached with dimensionals. The garland is actually the holly garland stamp and I just randomly colored with my fall colors, using the images as a guide.

Fold it flat and it will fit in a standard A2 envelope or as stated before, add some surprises to the "box" or "boxes" and give as a special gift.

I hope you will give this a try. It really isn't difficult once you figure it out AND if you get the score lines correct!

You can decorate the back as you would the inside of a card.

Have a great day and let me know if you have any questions.

Christmas Bells

There is a bit of a chill in the mornings, so time to start thinking of the holidays. I have quite a few Christmas cards to create, so have already started on them. As you know, I am not an assembly line card maker, so I think making all different ones takes a bit longer, but sooooo much fun.

So here is one on them:

The card base is Black, with a Real Red mat and then the music mat (check out the Merry Musical DSP on page 13 of the holiday catalog!). The image is from the Seasonal Bells stamp set and placed on dimensionals, attached to a 2x4 whisper white. Add the sentiment to the bottom in Black ink. Add this to a Real Red mat, 2 1/8 x 4 1/8, then to Garden Green, 2 1/2x 4 1/2. I, then, placed it on top of the card, but am thinking it would look nice placed with dimensionals.

This one is fast and simple and would work great for those of you who like to assembly line.

Here is another card, created with some retired products, that would work great, too.

The bells are from the Christmas Magic stamp set, stamped randomly on Very Vanilla and colored. Then matted on Real Red, DSP, and Very Vanilla (although Crumb Cake would work, too, which is what I had originally posted) card base.

I hope your week is wonderful and thank you so much for stopping by!

Basket Full of Fall

Fall is definitely in the air and my chest, this morning. The cool moist air was so great coming through my window the other night, that I only closed it down when I should have closed it completely...... Oh, well, love this time of year anyway!!

Here is one of my Fall samples:

The basecard is Chocolate Chip with Flirty Flamingo mats. The woodgrain mat is actually one that I created by stamping the image onto Crumbcake, then creating score marks for the boards. Then I sponged on Chocolate Chip ink for a bit more texture. One of the leaves is from my stash, but the bottom one is from the Colorful Seasons Bundle. I used the Watercolor Pencils to color in my image from the Basket of Wishes Set, stamped on Whisper White with Black ink.


Here is another fall card that I created with retired products, but wanted to share it with you. Maybe you have some of these, too.

Hope you have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Floral Owl

Sometimes I find a great project on line and even though I don't have the same products, I have to give it a try with what is available. This is one of those projects, which was just FUN to create!

Here is the piece I created first:

Okay, not so great, but stay with me. It does get better, or at least I think so! :)

Here are the products that I used:

Stamp Sets: Butterfly Basics, Garden In Bloom, Bloom w/ Hope, and Beautiful Bunch
Inks: Crumb Cake and Black
Watercolor pencils: Yellow and Gray

This is my completed card:

See, not too bad. LOL

The base card is Cajun Craze with a scrap of DSP for the mat. I also used the Linen Thread.

Okay, so now for the inspiration piece, which came from a fellow demonstrator from the UK, Jay. And a big thank you to her for sharing!

Find her information and another fun project HERE

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

Paper Pumpkin Special!

Just a quick reminder that there is a great special on now for NEW Paper Pumpkin subscribers. If you have been thinking about this, now is the time to give it a try. These kits come with everything you need to complete the sample projects plus extra supplies for alternatives, which are available online. You even receive a clear block with you first kit to use with the exclusive stamp set.

You can cancel or skip a month at any time before the tenth of that month. So give this a try. I am pretty sure you won't be sorry. The price is a great deal normally and this promotion just makes it even better.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Just click HERE to sign up.

Now is also great time to sign up again if you are a previous customer. The holidays are coming and the kits as especially fun now.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!!

Colorful Seasons Fall

I know I told you that I have finished with my fall cards, but sometimes you come across a new idea and just have to try it. This is one of those times. Besides I can always use another card.

This card is so simple and elegant. I love it and hope that you do, too.

The card base is Crushed Curry and the mat is Whisper White. I used Versamark, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, and Real Red inks, plus the Gold embossing powder and the gold washi tape from Year of Cheer Specialty Washi Tape. The tape is in the new Holiday Catalog which went live TODAY!!!!

I used the leaves and sentiment from the Colorful Seasons stamp set. They work perfectly for this project. Want to know how I did it?? Rather than me trying to explain it all, HERE is a link to Jennifer McGuire's technique video.

I will definitely be looking for more ways to use this technique. I hope you will give it a try, too.

REMINDER: Only a few more days to sign up for the Paper Pumpkin special for new subscribers!

Have a great day and Thanks so much for stopping by!