Friday, August 16, 2013

New technique - baby wipe plaid

I found a new technique on  You Tube - baby wipe plaid.  It is very easy and you get a unique background for your card front.
I created a tutorial for the technique which you can find here - Baby Wipe Plaid

 
For this group I used Basic Gray plus two retired colors, Not Quite Navy and More Mustard.
 

By using the baby wipe on numerous pieces of card stock, you can get variations of color.  This one was the third or fourth piece I did in this group. 

Here I used Gumball Green with the retired Not Quite Navy and More Mustard.  i also made 4 pieces with the same inked applicator for this combo.

This was my favorite card of the groups. It makes a nice masculine card but is more interesting than just a piece of plain card stock on the front.


 
This is another favorite - using Rose Red, Gumball Green and Island Indigo.    I added a little bit of the Island Indigo baker's twine to the image to give it some depth. 
Le

Saturday, August 10, 2013

The family that Crafts together - laughs together ??

Some family craft time today - first some family and friends who are like family got together to make some cards.  So much fun!  Had some new techniques to show them and they loved all three.

This is a new technique to everyone - baby wipe plaid.   It uses glossy white card stock and a couple baby wipes folded into a applicator.  Drops of ink are put on the baby wipe and then smeared on the paper.   I found the technique here - Baby Wipe Background
 
 
This card used a baby wipe to make a stamp pad that is inked with drops of several colors.  I've done this years ago but don't use it very often.  It was fun for the oak leaves in the Lovely As A Tree stamp set.  The sentiment is from the Trust God set.  Don't the Calypso Coral candy dots make the card pop?

 
My favorite new technique uses painter's tape - yes, the blue tape you use to mask off areas where you don't want the paint to go.  Take a strip of the painter's tape and lay it on the ink pad so the sticky side is against the pad.  Rub gently with your finger tip then take the tape and lay it across the card stock.  Run a little - remove the tape.   You can repeat if necessary to get the amount of ink you want.  I found the new foam pads worked best but the old woven ones were okay - you just have to rub harder.

After the card makers left, my daughter and granddaughter came over so we could work on a mobile for the nursery.  My daughter found this idea on Pinterest.
 
 
The nursery is yellow and gray so my daughter wanted it to match.  We found a yellow plastic embroidery hoop at Michael's and some clear fibers for making jewelry.  Total cost was about $8.  Of course, I had lots of paper so I pulled out Smoky Slate, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry and So Saffron.  I also had some designer series paper (DSP) with stripes and polka dots in gray/white and yellow/white.  I cut out lots of circles and flowers using the Circles Framelits and Floral Frames Framelits.  So easy and quick! I glued the DSP on some solid card stock to make it sturdier. 
We took 4 yard lengths of the fiber and looped it over the hoop.  Then pierced a small hole in the center of a shape and ran the two ends of the fiber through the hole.  Tied a small knot in the fiber.  
 
 
 
We just did it randomly and sometime put two shapes close togetherso when it hangs the two line up and looks like the center to a flower, etc.
 
 
Here is what it will look like from the crib.   With the ceiling fan on the shapes will turn and seem to float in the air. 
We put 7 strands of shapes on the hoop and I adhered by putting a little Crystal Effects where the fiber is looped over the hoop.  I took three more strands of the fiber and evenly spaced them around the hoop and pulled them up to form a hanger.  I added a little Crystal Effects to them too.   We are going to tie those three strands to a small curtain ring and then hang it from the ceiling. 
I'm pretty happy with it.  Glad my daughter wanted to try it.    Love finding things on Pinterest that are useful :-)

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Dinner for Two and a Show

This week our younger daughter is volunteering at a camp in Indiana so we have an empty nest. So I am cooking for two - which really means cooking for four since Tom usually takes leftovers for lunch but now we each can take leftovers.    And it is time to get serious about maintaining my weight as it keeps creeping up since the Wellness Wins ended.   I have a 40 year class reunion and our 25th anniversary cruise in October so time to buckle down and cut out the junk food.
So tonight it was Pan Seared Salmon with Tomato Relish, Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Cucumber Salad  ( I used red and yellow bell peppers in place of the tomatoes) and Cantaloupe.  

After eating, Tom was at the kitchen sink doing his usually dishes and cleaning up and he said "Come here quick".    Right outside the kitchen window were two fawns.
We locked Buddy out of the kitchen and stood and watched them for a while.



 
Not the best photos - but they were sure a sight to behold!

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Favorite Color Combo

My favorite color combo (at least this week) is Crushed Curry, Marina Mist and Calypso Coral.  I used that on a card last week and just fell in love with it.

 This is the card that started it all. 
Card Stock - Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral
Paper - Marina Mist DSP
Ribbon - Crushed Curry Chevron
Candy Dots -  Crushed Curry
Stamp Set - Crazy for Cupcakes (retired)

And when you open the card.....

 a cupcake pops up!  I colored it using watercolor pencils and a blender pen.  Gave this one to a little girl at church who wanted to blow out the candle -- -now how could I rig that up ??

 And since I had this piece of Calypso Coral heart paper I made an anniversary card for some friends who celebrated their 32nd last week.  They are a special couple so wanted a special card just for them.  When you open it ......

hearts pop up.  This card is full of love - just like their marriage.  I have so many ideas for these pop-up cards.  And they are so easy!

 This one uses a masking technique to form a frame around the stamped image.
Card stock - Calypso Coral, Marina Mist, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Stamp set - Simply Sketched
Ink - Marina Mist, Basic Gray
Markers - Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz

And one more with a new technique  - using painter's tape used to transfer ink onto the card stock.
Card Stock  -  Marina Mist, Calypso Coral, Crushed Curry
Stamp Set - A Word for You (retired)
Chevron Ribbon - Crushed Curry
Ink- Crushed Curry, Calypso Coral, Marina Mist.

Aren't these fun colors?  I think they reminde me of Dr Suess books or the movie Hook when Peter begins to 'see' the food - all the bright colors. 

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Stampin' With Syd

My 12 year old great niece, Sydnie, spent the day with me and we did  a lot of stampin'.  We also make a roast with all the trimmings for supper (crock pot easy!) and some homemade bread (bread machine helped us out there).  It was a fun day and we have a lot of cards to show you.


For our first card, Syd said she liked one we saw that was a punch art pizza slice.   It was fun creating the toppings.  
Pepperoni- 1 inch circle of Cajun Craze stamped with 'specks' of Versamark ink
Green Pepper - 7/8 inch scallop circle punch
Black Olive - standard hole punch, 3/4 inch circle punch
Bacon - Cajun Craze card stock with some 'squiggle' lines drawn using a Cajun Craze marker, then cut around the lines.
Onion - Whisper White cut with the 1 inch circle
The cheese is Very Vanilla sponged with some So Saffron ink.  It was cut using a circle framelit.
The sauce (Cherry Cobbler)  and crust  (Crumb Cake) were cut using the large scallop circle die but could also be cut with the largest Circle Framelit.
Other items - Gingham Garden DSP, Melon Mambo card stock, Whisper White stitched ribbon, Perfectly Penned stamp set and Basic Gray ink

 
Syd's version
 


When I cut the Crumb Cake card stock for the pizza crust, Syd thought it looked like an ice cream cone, so we had to try that next.  The cone is scored every half inch using the diagonal Simply Scored insert. We then sponged the raised side with some Crumb Cake ink.  My ice cream is pistachio - I used Pistachio Pudding card stock and used some sprinkles from a retired set to give it some texture using Versamark ink.  The cherry is 1/2 inch circle of Real Red with a little highlight from a white gel pen.  I used Always Artichoke to add the stem.
Other items - Island Indigo, Real Red, Crushed Curry, and Whisper White card stock.  A Word for You retired stamp set and the corner punch.

Syd made Coffee Ice Cream with chocolate chips (bottom scoop) and Caramel Swirl with chocolate chips (top scoop).  She experimentd with the swirls to try to get something that looked realistic.  I took an old piece of the waste rubber from around the stamp images and cut a couple curved lines, placed them on the back of one of the wooden blocks and it worked beautifully.  I think it could slo be used to make some zebra stripes :-)  


Another idea we saw was a pop-up cupcake card.   I used a Crushed Curry card bask with Calypso Coral card stock and Marina Mist striped DSP.  I added the new Crushed Curry Chevron striped ribbon (love it!) and a couple Crushed Curry Candy Dots (love them too!).  The sentiment from the Crazy for Cupcakes retired set was stamped on Crushed Curry and mounted on Calypso Coral.  The picture does not do the colors justice.  They look so great together!

Open the card and a cupcake pops up.  I colored mine with some water color pencils and smoothed it out with a blender pen.

The front of Syd's card.  Soft Sky card base with Primrose Petals and Midnight Muse.  She also used a couple candy dots in Soft Sky.

And her cupcake.  She colored hers with the Marvelous Markers.  I love her striped candle :-)


Now it was Syd's turn to come up with some designs.  She looked through my book of all my stamp sets and wanted to use the Cottage Window and the hot air balloon from Ain't Love Grand.  The window is stamped using Baked Brown Sugar on Soft Sky.   Then we cut out the inside of the window.  After a lot of playing with the Stamp-a-ma-jig we got the balloon stamped just where she wanted in inside the card.


She stamped a second balloon on a scrap of card stock and colored it with the watercolor pencils and a blender pen.  The balloon was punched out with the 1 1/4 inch circle and placed over the image inside the card with a dimensional.  Cute idea!


My version.  I also stamped the window on Soft Sky using Baked Brown Sugar.  Cut the window out and placed balloons from Up, Up and Away set inside the card.  I used Melon Mambo, Pacific Point and Pumpkin Pie DSP to add some scallop trims along the bottom.  A piece of white baker's twine was tied around the card.  The sentiment was stamped in Baked Brown Sugar on Soft Sky and mounted on Baked Brown Sugar scalloped circle.

The inside- Melon Mambo, Pacific Point and Pumpkin Pie balloons.  Great idea Syd!  I may have to try some other ideas like this one.

For a while Syd designed and played and I just gathered items for her.  Her she did a hexagon card.  Notice the hexagon in the center is different and popped up with a dimensional.  Inside she wrote, 'Hope you're back to normal soon'

 Syd told me she wanted to try a shaker card.  She used the Branch Out set for the tree and the birds.   We cut the sun out using the 1 1/4 inch scallop of Crushed Curry.  The center was punched with the 3/4 inch circle.  She used the 1 inch Shaker Frame, Window Sheet and Crushed Curry to complete the shaker.


We dyed some mica chips with Calypso Coral, Peach Parfait and More Mustard re-inkers.  Added just a little inside the shaker.


Then she did some embossing.  The yellow embossed Flower Shop flowers are paired with some Perfect Plum square lattice embossed strips on Pink Pirouette card base.  Three little words... thinking of you. 

Some more embossed Flower Shop flowers with Basic Gray ribbon on a Whisper White card base covered with more flowers.  To get the lighter flowers on the card base, she stamped off on scrap paper then stamped on the card.


Butterflies --- these were heat embossed using yellow embossing powder on Basic Black card stock.  Some Pool Party ribbon wsa added and the butterflies are stamped in Wisteria Wonder and Pool Party.

Some blue crystal heat embossed butterflies scattered across Pink Pirouette and So Saffron card stock.  The retired ribbon is Melon Mambo.

I used a scrap from Syd's yellow and black butterflies and added some DSP behind it then mounted it on Always Artichoke and So Saffron.  I added a Rich Razzleberry ribbon and some rhinestones to accent.  The sentiment is from the Petite Pairs set.



Here is a close up of the butterfly.  You can just see the slight edge of the yellow embossing and the antennae. 

For the last card of the day I asked Syd to choose a card base color - Midnight Muse.  Then 3 other colors - Real Red, So Saffron and Pink Pirouette.     We worked on the inside of the card first. 


We used strips of Window Sheets of different lengths and adhered them between two pieces of card stock that had 1/2 inch scored at the end.   Then we added small stars in the different colors to the end of the strips.   This is the inside of my card.

And the front.  What fun to open the card and have stars popping up at you.   I would not have chosen these colors but it turned out nicely.

And the inside of my card.  Lots of stars.


And this is Syd's card. 

We had such a good time.  We ordered pizza delivery for lunch and I taught her how to use the bread machine (which her mom has but never uses).   Her mom and sister came to pick her up after they got off work and they stayed for supper.  A great day all around. 


Monday, July 29, 2013

More Madness of the Mosaic Sort

A few more Mosaic Madness cards from tonight.

Card Stock - Crisp Canteloupe, Early Espresso, Pool Party
Paper - retired Sweet Shoppe (I think)
Stamp Set - Perfectly Penned
Tool - Mosaic punch


 Card stock - Soft Sky, So Saffron, Midnight Muse
Stamp Set - Mosaic Madness, Bring on the Cake
Embellishments - Pearls
Ink - Midnight Muse
Tools - Mosaic punch, Mosaic embossing folder, Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch, Punch Pack


 Card Stock - Whisper White, Pool Party
Paper - Gingham Garden
Stamp sets - Mosaic Madness, Simply Sketched
Tools - Mosaic punch, 2 1/2 inch circle punch, Finishing Touches framelit
Ink - Pool Party, Island Indigo, Daffodil Delight

 Card Stock - Whisper White, Crushed Curry
Stamp set - Banner Greetings, Mosaic Madness
Tools - Mosaic punch, Mosaic embossing folder
Embellishments - Island Indigo baker's twine
Ink - Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, Island Indigo

 Card Stock - Whisper White
Paper - Gingham Garden
Ink - Melon Mambo, Island Indigo
Stamp sets - Mosaic Madness, Banner Greetings
Tools- Mosaic punch, 1 1/4 inch square punch


Card Stock - Pool Party, Early Espresso, Crushed Curry
Stamp Set - Mosaic Madness
Tools - Mosaic punch, Punch Pack, Paper Piercing pack
Ink - Early Espresso


Still have more ideas from browsing through other demonstrators' blogs and online albums.