Silent Auction Item

There is a benefit Trivia Night for a friend who used to work with me and I decided to donate some things for the Silent Auction. I went through my stash of handmade cards and pulled out a variety but then needed something nice to put them in - so off to the drawing board. I took the instructions I found online for a card box that was only about an inch deep and redesigned it to be 3 inches deep - enough to hold 25 of my handmade cards plus envelopes.

Isn't it cute? I used Certainly Celery and So Saffron card stock with the Shades of Spring designer paper. The stamp set is Merci which is no longer available. I used the ticket corner and round corner punches. The ribbon is 5/8 inch satin Pretty in Pink. I pulled 22 cards from my stash with a variety of birthday, thank you, thinking of you, praying for you and a couple get well. I wanted to add a few for kids so here is what I put together to make a total of 25.

This one uses a stamp that I picked up at a craft store. Card stock used was Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Brilliant Blue, Garden Green and Yoyo Yellow. Punches were the small star, modern label, ticket corner and heart to heart. I colored the image using the watercolor pencils.

This one uses the stamp set, Just Soccer, and an alphabet set that I found on E-Bay. Card stock was Whisper White, Read Red, and Yoyo Yellow.

This paper and Happy Birthday stamp are some things I picked up at a craft store. I combined it with Gable Green and Brocade Blue card stock. I used the ticket punch. It was fun putting together this box and the cards - hope they bring lots of money for the benefit.

More Paper Craft Fun

This is a cute little tree that I saw on Jan Tink's website on one of her projects - so I cased it and made some changes. She used a sequin star but I had the little star punch (from some craft store many years ago) that seemed to be just right. I also had some scraps of crimped Garden Green card stock that gave it a different look. The tree is made using the Scallop Circle from Stampin' Up and the 1/8 inch hole punches. A friend came over to start a Christmas scrapbook for her mother and she made about 10 of these colorful trees to use on some of the pages.

Then another idea came to me. We didn't get any snow but our friends to the south of us did and they were all posting about it so I made a little snow covered tree. I colored in the white using a gel pen and then added Stickles (diamond) to give it some sparkle. I have a picture of the girls when they were about 5 and 6 standing in front of a snow covered tree with their treats from Santa. I think that would be cute framed with this little tree in the corner on the glass.

After cutting out the pieces for the tree on a Scallop Circle there is one little piece left that has 2 scallops - so to not be wasteful I made up a sample scrapbook page for St Patrick's Day. I stamped the background with the Teeny Tiny Words stamp that says Happy St Patrick's Day. I made the stems using my Garden Green marker. Now I just need a couple pictures of some leprechauns. :-)

I've also been making some cards - Easter Easel cards for our SU Club in March.
This was my first attempt. I like it but it is not my favorite. The Easter Easel cards all use the Abundant Hope stamp set which can be found in the Mini Occasions catalog. I just love the dafodils! This one is on Sahara Sand with Orchid Opulence as the background for the dafodils. The image and saying are stamped on Very Vanilla using Basic Brown and the ribbon I think is Lovely Lilac (I got it in a grab bag type purchase on E-Bay). I colored all the images using the Watercolor Pencils and a blender pen.
This was another attempt - it uses YoYo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore card stock. The ribbon is YoYo Yellow.

This one is a little different. I made the dafodils purple :-) I used So Saffron, Sahara Sand,Very Vanilla and Ballet Blue card stock, and Lovely Lilac ribbon. Punches used were the ticket corner punch, photo corner punch and the 1/2 inch circle punch.
This is my favorite. I sued Sage Shadow, So Saffron, Very Vanilla and Bashful Blue card stock. Punches used were the ticket corner punch and the modern label punch. I used Basic Brown ink.


The technique for the dafodils is called spotlighting. The image on the card was stamped in Basic Brown and left uncolored. I stamped a second image and colored it with the Watercolor Pencils and a blender pen. Then I used the 1 3/8 inch circle punch and punched out an arear around one of the flowers. I attached the circle to the uncolored image using dimensionals and lining up the image. This is the one we will make at club in March :-)

Masculine Cards

I always have trouble designing masculine greeting cards and was recently challenged by a member of our SU Card Club to come up with some. After help from an online friend, I have found one way that I like to make masculine cards. All the supplies listed are from Stampin Up.
Using the designer series paper (DSP) I made this birthday card. The DSP is cut in squares and arranged on the card front - then the sentiment is attached using dimensionals. The papers used on this one are from the Merry Moments, Autumn Traditions and Close to Cocoa DSP packets I used Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and More Mustard card stock,the Teeny Tiny Words stamp set and Chocolate Chip ink. Punches used were the Wide Oval and Small Oval.

Another that I made used the Close to Cocoa DSP, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, and Taken with Teal card stock, Teensy Tiny stamp set and Chocolate Chip ink. Punches used were the Wide Oval, Small Oval and Designer Label.

So then I tried something a little different. This one also used the Merry Moments and Autumn Traditions DSP, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla and More Mustard card stock, Teeny Tiny words stamp set and the Wide oval, Small oval and Designer label punches. I added the Sahara Sand card stock - that is my current favorite 'neutral' color.
And one more - this one uses the same as the first one with the addition of the Out of the Box stamp set. What man can resist cupcakes ?
It was fun playing with the different colors and designs in the DSP - flipping them over and rearranging them - the possibilities are endless :-) And it is a good way to use up some scraps.

New stamp sets and new technique

I had some new stamp sets so decided I needed to try a new technique. I found this easel card at Split Coast Stampers. All the supplies are from Stampin Up. It is really simple but makes a special card. This one uses two stamp set, Thoughts and Prayers, Whimsical Words. The paper is Lovely Lilac and Sahara Sand. The patterned paper is from Pattern Pack #3. The ink and ribbon are Lovely Lilac. I used the Curly Label and the Photo Corner punches.

This one uses the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set, one of my favorites. This is Night of Navy, Sahara Sand and Very Vanilla card stock, Night of Navy ink spot, and some patterned paper than came in a pad of 6 x 6 inch pieces - again from Pattern Pack #3. Punches used were the Scallop Border, Scallop Oval. and Photo Corners.

This picture does not do justice to the colors. I had a scrap of Dusty Durango polka dot ribbon so wanted to use it up. This card uses Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry and Soft Suede card stock. The ink used was Basic Brown. Punches were the ticket corner punch and the modern label punch. The stamp set is Three Little Words.

This one uses an old stamp set I bought on E-Bay several years ago. The card stock is Almost Amethyst and Green Galore. The ribbon is Green Galore and I used the ticket corner punch. I used the chalks to watercolor the images that were stamped with Basic Brown. Inside I used the stamp - "The more candles the bigger the wish" - from the Whimsical Words stamp set.

I also played with some Easter cards using the Easel technique. I will post them soon.

Christmas Spiders

Every year we three sisters make Christmas ornaments for the whole family. This year we met on Halloween weekend in Rockford and make spiders. Spiders for Christmas ? Check out the Legend of the Christmas Spider. How appropriate that on Halloween we were making spiders :-) I arrived in Rockford before the other two and while strolling through the mall found some little spider earrings at 50% off so had to buy us each a pair. So when we had our family Christmas gathering we all wore our spider earrings.

Any way - here is a photo of the spiders.
My sister made the little books with a very condensed version of the legend to go with the spiders.
The spiders are made of wire and beads - something different for us. The kit was designed to have 6 legs on the spider. My sister realize that after making 2 so we added to the ones already made and did the rest with 8 legs. Fortunately there was plenty of everything in the kits so we were able to make all 40 with 8 legs in red and green for Christmas.

New Stamp Sets

I got a new Stampin Up stamp set, Thoughts and Prayers, and had not been able to play with it yet so I got it out this weekend and tried a few cards.
This card was made using:
Card Stock: Sahara Sand, Taken With Teal, Very Vanilla
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal
Tools : Piercing Tool and mat set

This one uses Orchid Opulence, Very Vanilla, and Elegant Eggplant card stock. Elegant Eggplant ink and grosgrain ribbon.

This one uses Very Vanilla and Rose Red card stock, Rose Red and Garden Green ink.

I thought they all turned out pretty good. I think I am going to like this stamp set a lot!

Stampin Up Club

Our Stampin Up Club has it's first workshop on Jan 16 so I have been planning the cards. I am using the In Colors for all the projects this time.

Here they are:
Stamp set Wings of Friendship; DSP Razzleberry Lemonade; Card stock, Whisper White, Dusty Durango and Crushed Curry; Ink pads Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry and Melon Mambo; Ribbon Dusty Durango.
I stamped flowers randomly on the Whisper White card stock using the three inks. The stamp is embossed using Glassy Glaze Enamel then using a brayer I spread Bermuda Bay ink over the embossing.

Stamp Set Holiday Best and Medallion; Card Stock Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo and Rich Razzleberry.
I like the non-traditional colors for Valentine's Day - not just reds and pinks. Using the brayer I haphazardly spread the three inks on the Whisper White card stock then stamped the Medallion using Rich Razzleberry.

I also want to do a candle but have to decide what to stamp on it yet. Will post that later this week I hope.