Masculine Cards from DSP odds and ends

After organizing my Designer Series Paper (DSP) yesterday, my goal today was to make some masculine birthday cards.  I found a couple on Pinterest that I wanted to try. 

Rustic Argyle

The argyle print is from a color collection several years ago (probably longer than I think) and the banner is from a package of 'sweater' prints.  The embossed background card stock is some that my sister, Jane, embossed for me several years ago (again probably longer than I think).  A great way to expand your designs.  I asked Jane if she had some of the embossing folders that I would like to try and for those she did, I told her which colors I wanted done with which folder.  For the most part, I did a color collection per folder - like Regals with this folder.  So she took a sheet of card stock in each color in the Regals collection and cut it into 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 pieces and embossed them for me.  When she came to visit next, she had a shoebox full of embossed pieces.  I replaced the card stock from my supply at that time.  I still have about 3/4 of embossed pieces to use up!

Angled DSP

The angled strips interested me on this card design.   I have lots of strips in different widths and this would be a way to use up some.  At first, I tried to find strips that were all from the same DSP package so they would coordinate, or at least use common colors.  I soon decided that would make it too complicated and I would wind up with more scraps that I started if I cut from larger pieces of DSP.  So I just started grabbing strips and playing with them.  I like the graph paper as the background on this one. 

More angles

I came up with so many combination of strips that I made 6 more cards based on that design.  Not sure which one I like the best but the upper left corner really catches my eye.  I'll have to remember this design.  It could be used for ay theme depending on DSP used or colors.  I want to try it with baby prints for a New Baby card, or maybe some strips of birthday prints for a birthday card.  So many possibilities!

Snow Day Fun - my style

We got hit with about 7 inches of snow Friday night so Saturday was a snow day.  I don't care to play in the snow - plus I have been battling a persistent cough so didn't feel I needed to be outside anyway.  Thankful I did not have to go anywhere and could just spend the day in my jammies and binge on McLeod's Daughters on Amazon Prime.  But I did get quite a bit accomplished.

Our beautiful backyard

I organized my DSP.  I took all the partial sheets and cut them into sets of a 6 x 6 inch square for an envelope liner plus a piece to use on a card.  For those that were not large enough for the 6 x 6 square I cut a 3 x 6 strip to use to cover the envelope flap.  So now I have a big stack of DSP all ready to make cards with coordinated envelopes.  I also divided them into three categories - Flowers/Feminine; Basic/Masculine; Colorful/Juvenile.  Doesn't mean I would not use a Colorful piece for something other than Juvenile or a Basic (polka dots for example) for something other than Feminine. It just gives me a place to start if I am looking for something to make a particular card.
I also sorted the 12 x 12 sheets (and numerous unopened packages) into similar categories.   I had a few extra categories for those - single color, specialty papers, holiday papers, etc. 

One of the many piles of DSP.

 After lunch, Bekah and I worked together to get the Christmas tree down and everything boxed up.  Tom planned to shovel the driveway when he got home from work, but a couple young men came by about 30 minutes before I expected Tom home and gave me a decent price to clear the snow, so I hired them.  They were just finishing when Tom got home and he agreed it was worth the price.  So he helped me finish up the Christmas stuff instead, carrying the larger boxes to storage in the basement or garage, cleaning up the needles, and getting furniture put back in place.  It was nice to get that done - but my snowman decorations and snow village will stay out through February.

After supper, I found some time to make some cards.  I took some of the kits I had left from my last card workshop and used them to fill up my birthday and anniversary stash. I figured it was appropriate to use a few snowman kits to make some birthday cards. So I guess you could say I made a couple snowmen without getting in the snow.

Snowman Card Kit

To change this kit from a Christmas card to a birthday card, I just trimmed of the sentiment and then adjusted the blue card stock to match. 

Snowman Birthday Card

I plan to write Warm birthday wishes inside the card.   But on one of the card I forgot to trim the sentiment so had to do a little modification. So I turned the card horizontal and added the DSP at the bottom.

Snowman Modification

I could not get the snowman image off the darker blue card stock so I punched the circle through both layers, then mounted on a scalloped circle.  I added a little ribbon and voila!  I kind of like this card, especially since there is limited space to write inside (just the top half ) so it will be fine to just write Warm Birthday Wishes and sign our names.  

Gryffindor Quilt Square

Before going to bed, I pulled out the Gryffindor quilt square. Haven't done any cross-stitching for about a month!  I didn't get a lot done but it was good to at least do that.  

Today I am headed back to the craft room to make a few masculine birthday cards.  Seems like I am always running out of those.  

Masculine cards using up some old DSP

I set out this morning to use up some of
my scraps of DSP.  I was planning to make cards like this - just varying the DSP and colors.

But, as so often happens, plans change. I came across these beautiful envelopes that a friend gave me. 

They matched my scraps of a retired DSP called Muirfield.  I had to adjust the card sizes but using a whole sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 card stock and scoring at 3 3/4 and 7 inches made some cute tri-fold cards. I also made some single fold cards using a piece of card stock 8 1/2 x 7 1/2 and scoring midway along the  shorter side. (3 3/4) 

The colors for the DSP are Pacific Point, Baja Breeze (don't have any of that any more), Kiwi Kiss ( never had that) and Very Vanilla.  I pulled out Pacific Point, Soft Sky and Summer Starfruit.  Not exact matches but close. 

This is one of the tri-fold cards. Front. 

Inside fold

And inside. 

The DSP had some really bold designs and some subtle designs. 

Here are cards using the bolder designs. 

And these use the subtler designs.  

I got 10 cards done and still have some of the DSP and a few odd sized envelopes that were with the long green ones.  My goal is to use all the DSP and envelopes today. I'll post more cards when I have finished that goal. 

Something old, something new

Had a day off today so have been playing with some card stock :-)  I needed to get some samples done for a workshop this weekend and used a piece of some retired Designer Series Paper - Everyday Enchantment.  So when I finished with my samples, I decided to use up the sheet and make some birthday cards.   Here are some I made using the 'old' DSP and some 'new' items.

 

This is the sample for the workshop.  We are going to do heat embossing and I did this one to see how the Wild Wasabi embossing powder would look on Wild Wasabi cardstock.  I wound up heated one section too much and sort of bleached out the color of the embossing powder so I overheated all of it.  Then I sponged over it with Soft Suede.  The stamps used here are from  Elementary Elegance - both it and the DSP were Sale-a-bration items that I got free. 
The something 'new' is the Baked Brown Sugar ruffled ribbon.  Love this stuff! 



Calypso Coral is used for this card.  The ribbon was another item from Sale-a-bration the same year as the DSP.  The stamp set is Simply Sketched, a new hostess set.  The vintage button is a new item this year.

On this one I flipped the DSP and used both sides.  The 'new' item is the two candy dots.  They look like brads but don't add the bulk to the card.  Love them!   Stamp set is Perfectly Penned.

I paired the Calypso Coral with Basic Gray for this card.  The paper doily is the 'new' item.  They came out some time ago but they are fairly new for me.  The brad is from Sale-a-bration too. 

And here are a few cards that don't really have anything 'new' on them.  Just using up the sheet of DSP.

The little butterfly brad is from the Sale-a-bration also.  I love free stuff!  The brads coordinate so well with the DSP.

Just a little different version of the same items. 

Now - back to playing - have a punch art workshop in a couple weeks and need to find some designs.

Thank you cards

My daughter has a need for Thank You cards after the birth of our granddaughter and all the wonderful friends who have provided meals for their little family.  They will be moving next week and some of the ladies at church will be providing freezer meals for them to help out while they get settled.  No more sitting and holding the baby for hours with nothing else to do :-)  Plenty of unpacking and setting up the house.

I made these using prepped items I had for the Simple Card Workshop a couple weeks ago.  The cards work up so quickly when the cutting is allready done.   The Designer Series Paper is retired but one of my very favorites!

Another retired DSP.  I got the idea for these on Pinterest.  Someone posted a one-sheet-wonder layout where you take an 8 x 8 inch square of DSP and cut particular sizes so very little waste. I had already cut this DSP for another project and then did not use it so did not have an 8 x 8 inch square so just cut what I wanted and went with that.  

I love the linen thread and crochet trim.   The beautful warm brown for the sentiment and floral stamp is the new Baked Brown Sugar IN Color.  



Another idea from the one sheet wonder layout.   So simple but attractive.  You can do this with any DSP and just use coordinating colors.



This one is nothing like the one I saw on Pinterest. :-)  Sometimes you just have to go with your own mojo.

So - since I just had a few scraps of that one sheet of DSP left, I went ahead and made a few birthday cards since I am always in need of those.

 I really do like the crochet trim and the linen thread so had to do that on one of my cards.  It was hard to give my daughter all the thank you cards but this helped.

 And something different here with the seam binding pulled through the card stock and tied.  I like the off-centered circles.  So easy!

Seeing lots of cards with the banner type strips of DSP and card stock.  The one on the left has some 3/8 inch ribbon tied on with the linen thread.

And this was the last of the DSP.  Just random sized pieces so I threw them together on a couple cards and topped with the postage stamp punched sentiment. 

I have also been working on another OMG album.



  This one is for my husband's niece, born last month.  Mom picked out the dark pink and lime green colors and I am excited about doing the rest of the album (I just have the front and back done but will finish it up this week I'm sure). 

Look who came to see Grandma and Grandpa this evening.   She comes to visit and always falls asleep - guess we are boring old folks :-)  That are we just have that touch and she feels comfortable in our arms.  It is such a joy to hold her.

Repurposing kits

I made up some kits for a Kids' Mother's Day workshop and had extra since I made about twice as many as I need.  Wanted everyone to be able to pick the color and paper they liked for their mom.  So when they were finished and gone this afternoon, I repurposed the paper that was already cut for layering.  It was fun trying to come up with some different layouts - some are not so different.

This is the one that started it.  One of the kids mis-punched the holes for the ribbon and then made another mistake so we just started over on that one with a different kit.  I knew I would be able to use the pieces for something else.   I love the colors on this paper ( and they would have been a good choice for the mom - but oh well).   The patterned papers are all retried and some of the card stock will be soon.

 Here is another.  For the Mother's Day gift they used one side of the paper for part of the design and the back side for the other.  I really like these two patterns together.  Some did not work so well.

 The back side of this paper did not look right so I just did all three with the same side.

 For this one I modified a little.  It was fun trying to come up with new ideas.

 I am not an 'orange' lover but I do like it with the red and blue.

I love the soft suede with the blues.  I quickly got the 6 cards done with the leftover from the kits and did not have a lot of leftover scraps.  I do haves some of the solid card stock so might work on another design I want to try from the new catalog.

Cheap therapy

Cheap Therapy

When I am stressed, I have a couple different therapies that I use.  Who needs to pay a professional therapist when you can craft, cook , consume and cuddle.

For the crafting, I made some masculine cards.  I had some of the retired Dusty Durango designer paper and just cut it into 5 x 3 3/4 inch rectangles and went from there.  I chose random samples of Whisper White and took the splash image from the reitred Extreme Elements set.  I stamped some Wild Wasabi splashes on the Whispery White.   I stamped the sentiment using Early Espresso.
My DH may not agree that this is a 'cheap' therapy but he has learned that if I am grouchy, a couple hours in the craft room and my mood improves.

I mounted the designer paper and the Whisper White on Early Espresso card stock.  I wrapped some Early Espresso baker's twine around the card pieces and tied with a short pice of the twine.  These were adhered to a Wild Wasabi card base.

On a couple I added a Wild Wasabi button.  I put some twine through the button holes and tied the button to the twine.  I put some mini glue dots behind the button as it was a little heavy for the twine.  The glue dots held it perfectly. 

I stamped 6 images but only had enough designer paper to make 5 cards so one used a smaller piece of the designer series paper. 

And while I was crafting, I had some buttery roll dough mixing up in the bread machine. 

These are so good.  I had two with my supper and then had two more for an evening snack.  Who needs sweets!??!?   You can get the recipe here -Buttery Rolls  I found this in a magazine many years ago and don't know whose recipe it was originally. 
Working with the dough helps relieve som eof the stress.

And that brings me to the thrid cheap therapy -consuming, or eating  :-)  Somedays you just need to indulge yourself a little and eating these rolls was my indulgence.

The last therapy is cuddle.  Dear granddaughter Adelyn, came over with her mommy and daddy.  We could all just stit and watch her for hours :-) Some cuddle time with her and everything looks better.

Saturday Morning Therapy

After 10 hours of sleep last night (making up for a restless night before) I spent some time in the craft room finishing up baby announcements for the granddaughter and then playing with some of my retired stash.  I have lots and lots of retired or non-Stampin Up items so those are the ones I play with for my personal use.

The piece of Whisper White is from a Top Note die that I used recently and had cut it in two pieces.  The swirls had a small heart in the center that I covered with a Melon Mambo heart punched from the Owl Builder set. I then sponged the edges with the So Saffron to match the card front. 
I took a scrap of Soft Suede that was still lying on my worktable from the other day and rubbed the edges with the blade of the craft scissors to 'rough it up' a little.   Hello is stamped in Soft Suede.

My daughter needs some thank you cards for those who have been so kind to bring her meals while she recovers from the Adelyn's birth so I played a little with some old Dusty Durango paper and DSP that I still have.   The stamp is from the Occassions Alphabet set and it was perfect for these cards.   I used the Finishing Touches to trim the edges with the zig zag and layered those where I could.  I used Always Artichoke paper and seam binding to complement the Dusty Durango.

I have always liked the stamps on the newsprint type papers so tried one of those too.  I used the Elements of Style and Forest Green Stazon ink.   I was going to color in the flowers but couldn't decide which color to use so did not do that part.  The ribbon is the retired polka dot Dusty Durango turned so the solid side is showing.  I used Very Vanilla for the sentiment and card base.

For this one I took a piece of DSP and adhered it to the card stock, then embossed with the Honeycomb embossing folder.   The embossing on the DSP did not show up very well so I sanded over the it and it popped out :-)

I did a couple more with the honeycomb embossing folder, DSP and sanding but this time I did a faux felt flower with a Cajun Craze button in the center.  The Itty Bitty Banner stamp set and dies made the label really easy to  make.  I used some DSP for it too - it was mostly white with some Dusty Durango flowers scattered on it.   Fot the third card I butted the flower up to one edge and cut it to match.  Just a little something different. I used the soon to retire Not Quite Navy and Always Artichoke card stock and the Not Quite Navy ribbon on these. 

When going through my paper stash I found this sheet from a scrapbook store.  I am always running short on cards for the pre-teen and teen boys and thought this would work for them.  I used Basic Black on some and Perfect Plum on the others to back the paper.  The ribbon is Perfect Plum and the sentiment is from the Wacky Wishes set stamped in Dove Gray Stazon ink. 

And when I was finishing up the baby announcements (I will post a photo of them after my daughter gets them mailed to family) I had to use Sticky Strip to adhere part of the card.  The worst part about using Sticky Strip is the static cling on the red film and you wind up with it all over the place.  This morning I came up with a way that helped control those little rascals and clean up was so easy too.

As I pulled them off I laid them on a scrap paper - they came off my fingers fine and had just enough static to stay put on the paper.  When I finished I simply picked up the paper and threw it away.   So much easier then trying to shake them off your fingers into a trash can - or laying them on the table and then trying to get them all into the trash. 

So - waiting for Adelyn to come visit and we can finish up the announcements and then will have to start prepping for the Simple Cards class next weekend.  Still room if you would like to come :-)