CASE-ing Masculine Cards

Recently I hosted a Masculine Card Swap with some other SU demonstrators. Each demonstrator that participated sent me 5 masculine cards. I sent them back 4 cards made by other demonstrators. The extra card from each will be donated to Operation Write Home or another charity if the card does not fit the OWN guidelines.
The best part about hosting the swap was I got to see all of the cards (I believe there were 23 different cards).
The other night I was trying to come up with some ideas for using the new Sweet Shop Designer Series Paper (DSP) and copied (or CASE-d) some of the masculine cards.


This card was made by Jane (my sister and upline). It is so simple yet appealing to the eye.


Here is my card using the Sweet Shop DSP in the squares.
Card Stock - Soft Suede, Calypso Coral, Pool Party, Sweet Shop DSP
Embellishment - In Color Brad
Tools - Simply Scored, 1 inch square punch, 1 1/4 inch square punch
I think I'll be making more of these to use up scraps of DSP.


This card was made by Kate. I love how she used three different designs of the DSP.


Here is my copy using the Sweet Shop DSP
Card Stock - Soft Suede, Lucky Limeade, Whisper White, Sweet Shop DSP
Tools - Decorative Label punch, Medium Oval punch
Embellishment - Soft Suede 3/8 inch taffeta ribbon
Stamp Set - On Your Birthday
Ink - Lucky Limeade


And here is one that Susan made. I really like the use of the Big Shot Scalloped Envelope die.


And here is my take on it using the Sweet Shop DSP.
Card Stock- Calypso Coral, Soft Suede, Whisper White, Sweet Shop DSP
Embellishment - Calypso Coral ruffled ribbon
Tools - ??? Punch, Scalloped Envelope die
Ink - Soft Suede


And here it shows the little card pulled out of the envelope. This would be a great design to use for a single layer card like a post card.

It was fun working with the Sweet Shop DSP but then I enjoy all the DSP designs!

3's Are Wild!

I am offering a share of 3 of my favorite tools from Stampin Up - Stamping Sponges, Blender Pens and Sponge Daubers. These are all sold in packages in multiples of 3 - so here's the offer -
for one share ($9.50) you receive:
1 sponge (which can be cut into wedges for sponging on ink accents)
1 blender pen
4 sponge daubers
These can all be found on page 203 in the big catalog.

Let me show you how these are used and what a difference they can make on a card.

Here is a layout using
Card Stock - Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink - Basic Gray
Stamp Set - Herb Expressions
Embossing Folder - Designer Frames

Now, let's see what a few tools can do -
First, the blender pen. These are double pointed so you have two tips on each pen. Squeeze the lid of the ink pad down really hard then open the pad. You will have some ink smeared on the inside of the lid. Use that as your palette.
Take the tip of the blender pen and pick up some ink - just a little bit at a time.

Color in the image. When using blender pens, you should use a waterproof ink for the image. Basic Black and Basic Gray both will work for this. When you have finished with one color, just rub the tip gently on some scrap paper until no more color comes off.

On to sponge daubers - very handy! And you get 4 of them in the share. You will notice mine is labeled for the Basic Gray ink (I have enough of them that I don't have to clean them between inks!)

Rub the sponge end on the ink pad to absorb some ink.

Rub the ink as desired on the card stock. I embossed this frame with my Big Shot and I am using the dauber to add ink to the raised areas. I got a little on the background but it just gives it that 'aged' look. It really brings out the embossing. I also rubbed a little of the Basic Gray ink around on the background using the dauber.

You can clean the daubers by first rubbing on some scrap paper to remove as much ink as possible. Then use some running water to rinse it out. Let it dry well between colors (good thing you are getting 4 so you won't have to wait for one to dry before continuing).

One of my favorite things to do with the sponge is to add some shimmer paint. I cut my sponges up into 8 wedges and they are perfect for sponging ink. I have one for each ink color and have it labeled with a piece of card stock stapled to the point. It works very well. The sponge I am using here is one of my extra ones so it is not labeled.

After thoroughly shaking the shimmer paint, press the sponge firmly against the mouth of the bottle. Tip the bottle to get a little bit of the shimmer paint on the sponge.

Dab and rub the shimmer paint over the image. This gives the paper a marblized or 'mother of pearl' look. You can add as little or as much as you like.

Now - I have put together the layout after enhancing with the blender pen, sponge dauber and sponge. The photo does notdo justice to the shimmer paint or the basic gray accents but I think you can see the difference.

Here is the finished card.

This is a closeup of the ink enhancements. Below are some photos of cards that were enhanced using one of the three tools in the share.

On this card, I used the sponge dauber to add color after stamping the flowers and butterflies using black Staz-on ink. If you are using Staz-on or craft ink you have to let it dry a long time to avoid smearing.

A blender pen was used to color in the image on this card.

I used a sponge to add a dusting of ink around the edges of the Whisper White with the sentiment.

This is another example of sponging around the edges. This is one of the easiest was to dress up a card.

I used a sponge dauber to add some color to this image. I used several colors and the dauber allowed me to control the ink a little bit more than a sponge would have. I still colored outside the lines but I like how it looks.

Here I sponged some Basic Black ink around the edges of some heart punches. This gives them more definition. You can use a sponge or a dauber to do this.

So - have I convinced you that you need these tools? If you would like to participate in the share, let me know by posting a comment here or email me at cavmary63@yahoo.com.

Thanks for stopping by!

Altered Notebooks - my new addiction

My newest paper addiction is altered notebooks. I saw this on someone's blog and decided to use them for the club project on April 30. I am doing them again for the other club today and had forgotten to get the notebooks so when I ran out to get them I grabbed a couple different sizes to play with. I always try to have other items to show the club members to spark their imagination.

So - when I got home I played with the notebooks and am really pleased with what I came up with.

This is the club project. It is a small pocket size notebook and had a hole punched below the rings so the ribbon actually wraps around the cover and the ends come through from the back and tie for the bow.

Here is a birthday book. The notebook has 50 pages (actually had about 58 I think) so I put 5 days on each page and have room to record lots of birthdays. I left room at the end of each month for notes or comments.

The first page has January written at the top and then 1, skip three lines, 2, skip three lines, 3 - etc through 5. Page 2 has days 6 through 10, and so on. When I got to January 31 it is by itself on that page. Then I started February on the next page. Now I just need to go through my online calendar and add the names :-) This is small enough to add to a keepsake box full of birthday cards.


And my new prayer journal. This is one of those chubby notebooks. I covered both the front and back and tied on an ink pen with the matching ribbon. How handy is that?


A larger one - full size notebook. It had 3 holes punched through on the left so I used them to do some ribbon adornment. I used the seam binding in Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler and Pear Pizzazz.


This is a close up of one of the bows. I used the Very Vanilla to wrap around the cover. Then took a piece and pushed the ends through from the back. Before tying, I added the pieces of Cherry Cobbler and Pear Pizzazz and tied all three at once.

I also spent the morning cutting ribbon for my current Ribbon and Sticky Pages share. Aren't these colors beautiful! Daffodil Delight, Pretty in Pink, Night of Navy, Marina Mist, Real Red, Rich Razzleberry and Pumpkin Pie. What beautiful flowers these will make. There is still time to get in on this share - check it out here.

Technique Tuesday and RIbbon Share

The Technique Tuesday for this month (May 17) is Bargello. Here is the card we will be making.
To see more of my bargello designs, click here

Card Stock: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Wild Wasabi, Celebrations DSP
Stamp Set: Fun and Fast Notes
Ribbon: 1/4 inch Real Red grosgrain

And I am offering a Ribbon and Sticky Pages share so you can try the Heated Ribbon flowers

For $7.00 you receive enough ribbon and a half sheet of Sticky Pages to make 14 flowers.

The ribbon colors are Real Red, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink, Daffodil Delight, Marina Mist, and Night of Navy. You receive 1 yard of each.

Here is a flower I made using some dyed ribbon. This is on a card and the ribbon gets hard and stiff from the heat so they would durable enough for mailing.

And another which I put on a box full of cards for a Mother's Day gift. The center of this one is a retired corduroy brad.

Anyone purchasing a ribbon/sticky page share

Occasions Mini Ends Soon!

Hurry before they are gone! April 30 is the last day you can order items from the Occasions Mini Catalog. You won't want to miss these goodies if you haven't already ordered them. (Or if you need to get more :-)

Springtime Vintage Designer Series Paper, Big Designer Buttons, Framed Tulip embossing folder Red glitter paper - a great way to add some sparkle without the mess of glitter. Seam binding and adornments. There is still time to get a 'share' of the seam binding, adornments, buttons and designer series paper - for details see Shares and Swaps These last two cards were made by my sister and upline. You can see more of her talent at her blog, Buzzin' by Bee Jane.

Create a Cupcake stamp set and Build a Cupcake punch.

Build a Blossom stamp set and Blossom Petals Punch.

Contact me today to get yours before they are gone! Email Mary