Sing and Make Music in Your Heart to the Lord!

Well, I got some fun stamping in yesterday since it rained the whole day and I felt a need to create. This card started out with lots more green in it and little black, but transformed over time to this heavily blue and black creation. With as much ribbon that I have, you'd think I'd use more variety. What can I say? I just can't get enough of the black and white stuff!

The inspiration came from Angella's card with her button flowers. I loved the tied ribbon in the button holes idea. Despite having a rainbow of buttons, what did I pick? Black! I'm hopeless!



Anywho...I wanted to play with my new Shapeabilities/Poseabilities Flower Creations 3 set. So that was where I started. I figured I could use a button for the center and add the ribbon. It's really tricky getting ribbon through a button hole, but I just used a small embroidery needle with a large eye and folded the ribbon in half lengthwise on the end to fish it through the eye. The needle with the ribbon took a bit of pulling to get through, but it did make it through. If you have one of those rubber grabbing pads you use for opening jars, I think it would work well in helping to grab and pull the needle.

For the holes around the oval, I used the same oval nestie die, placed the cut paper oval back into the die, front facing down and then turned it to face up and held it down on my sponge mat while I punched the holes. The inner edge of the die worked well as a template. For the flower, I just did it freehand, punching in the corners and ends first, then in the centers of the rows and then filling in evenly the rest of the spaces. Does that make sense?



For the blue bird on the oval I stamped in SU Bashful Blue ink and then in CTMH Crystal Blue ink to get the color as close as possible to the blue in the Basic Grey paper. I sponged the edges of the oval with CTMH Blush ink.

You'll notice I used Cuttlebug folders on this card. I used Script and Perfectly Paisley.

Although it's barely noticeable, I will point out that I stamped SU Canvas on the SU Soft Sky cs in VersaMark ink.

This card fits in an envelope like the ones in this post. The size of the envelope is 4.75"X6.5".

This was a fun and enjoyable card to make. I hope you enjoyed looking at it! Have a blessed Sunday!

Recipe

Stamp: Our Daily Bread Designs Sing to the Lord, SU Canvas

CS: Black, SU Soft Sky, Basic Grey Lemonade 6X6" pad, white

Inks: SU Bashful Blue, CTMH Crystal Blue, CTMH Blush, Versafine Onyx Black, VersaMark

Other: Cuttlebug Script and Perfectly Paisley embossing folders, Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Oval Small, Classic Oval Scallop Small, Poseabilities (Shapeabilities) Flower Creations 3, paper piercing tool, sponge mat, black button, black gingham ribbon, 3D-Dots, sponge dauber

Sporty birthday

I've got SO many cards I need to make! This card is for my teenage nephew whose birthday is already past. Oops. Wish there were more stamping hours in my day!

I felt the need to simplify again. Mind, this isn't 'simple' in some people's eyes, but it is in mine. It's hard to go backwards once you're used to flinging the bling!

The base is one layer thick (excluding the inside) with a minimum of bling (for me). But the bling I did use works well enough, I think.

It's always hard trying to come up with a card for a teenage young man. Men's cards are difficult, in general, but a teenage version is the hardest. And thinking about it now I should've used the Nestabilities Labels One set (forgot I had it! Can you beLIEVE it?) rather than the scallop for the car image (which btw is from Stampin' Up! Classic Convertibles - retired). It would've been less foo-foo-y. Oh well, he'll never know. My 16 yo son loved it and thought my nephew would like it, so that's enough for me.

The base is Taken with Teal, but I couldn't get that color to look right in the photograph to save my life. It looks more like Tempting Turquoise, doesn't it? Some colors are just like that when you photograph them indoors. I used the Cuttlebug Traffic Jam embossing folder to add some visual interest.

I used 2 black jumbo eyelets that I think are by Making Memories. I wove black hemp through and around and pulled one end back through again, tying it on the inside.

I used the small and large oval punches for the birthday greeting, which I stamped in VersaMark ink and embossed with white ep. The sentiment is from the Stampin' Up! Amazing to Zany set.

The car scene is popped out with 3D-Dots as is the sentiment piece. I used black and Chocolate Chip cs for the sentiment piece.

When coloring the car I used the CTMH Breeze marker and Prismacolor pencils. I added highlights here and there with my Inkssentials opaque white pen. To finish it off I added Diamond Glaze (aka Crystal effects) to the windshield, side panel, hub caps and headlights. I had colored it before running the image through the Cuttlebug. I added the Diamond Glaze afterward.

Don't you just love my new watermark? I had it made by Dina Kowal. Here's her digi-sig site. She's very reasonable and ever so nice to work with. I got 4 watermarks for $11. Very reasonable, indeed!

Thanks for looking!

Recipe

Stamps: Stampin' Up! Classic Convertibles, Stampin' Up! Amazing to Zany

CS: Taken with Teal, black, white, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, VersaMark

Other: Cuttlebug Traffic Jam and Tiny Bubbles embossing folders, Nestabilities Classic Oval Large and Classic Oval Scallops Large, large and small oval punches, 3D-Dots, white embossing powder, Making Memories jumbo black eyelets, black hemp, Croc-a-dile (for making holes and setting eyelets), Diamond Glaze, CTMH Ocean marker, Prismacolor pencils, Inkssentials opaque white pen

Dad's Pickup - CC193 and TECC43

I am in a mad dash to get this done and up before I go in for surgery tomorrow. I tore my rotator cuff several years ago and am finally getting it fixed. I can't wait for this pain to be gone. I've lived with it for far too long. Stamping has even become difficult.

Anywho, I had a couple of cards I needed to do before the surgery since I won't be doing any stamping during my recovery (at least that's what I'm assuming). I got one done yesterday and the other I'm not sure will be done by tonight. Ugh! Nothing like waiting until the last minute. I might end up having to buy a pre-made for that one.

My dad turns 70 on December 11th. He's retired, and he and my mom run a little ranch in Texas with longhorns and donkeys and chickens. Well, when he retired and went into the longhorn business he needed a good pickup truck to haul hay in and take trash to the dump and haul the cattle trailer and...you get the picture. He ended up getting a really nice one that looks kind of like the modern version of the one on this card. So I had fun making up this card just for him.

He was telling me yesterday that he had had to milk one of the longhorns recently when her newborn calf got sick. He penned her up in the shoot they use for vetting purposes and milked her! What a guy! At first, she didn't know what in the world he was doing to her, but the next time she really liked it. lol We women who've breastfed can relate, yes? That relief we felt after the baby nursed was sheer bliss.

Back to the card: I went with Color Challenge 193 on SCS using Real Red, Basic Black and Kraft. Perfect for my dad's card. I used Taylor's TECC43 design sketch, as well.
For the black base I used the corner punch on the corners and then used my paper piercer to add holes along the edges. For the red piece I cut the cs, did direct to paper with Real Red ink, ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Distressed Stripes embossing folder sideways (notice the stripes don't go up and down? I liked it that way) and DTP'd it again with Real Red ink and attached it to the black.

For the Kraft piece I stamped it with the truck from SU Classic Pickups in Basic Black ink, then DTP'd it with Creamy Caramel, punched the corners, did a more spaced-out hole pattern (I put a hole at each end, then one in the middle of those, then one in the middle of those, etc.), and attached it to a piece of black cs.

I stamped the truck again on white cs and colored it first with a Real Red marker, but found that my Prismacolor pencils were superior to the markers for this particular image. I used a Silver pencil and then a Light Umber to do the metal on the truck (the Light Umber softened the Silver a bit). I used Crimson Red to go back over the truck body and used Black for the tires and to highlight some parts of the body. I also used the Light Umber for the windows to recede them a bit. I cut the truck out and then I put Diamond Glaze on the windows to imitate glass. I used Sticky Doos to pop it out on the Kraft piece.

For the word stamping I used the "Happy Birthday" stamp from Taylored Expressions' Sweet Celebration set. But I stamped it crooked! Oops! Do you think he'll notice? The "DAD" part was stamped using CTMH Storytime upper case alphas. Then it was punched out, paper pierced and mounted onto a black punchie. I popped it all up as you can see below and did lots more paper piercing because I can't get enough of it! What is the allure, I wonder? Oh, who cares! I like it!

No pics of the inside, but all I did was DTP some Real Red cs with Real Red ink and punch the corners to keep the theme going. I also paper pierced around the edges of the black back of the card to match the front.

Thanks for looking!

Stamps: SU Classic Pickups, Taylored Expressions Sweet Celebration, CTMH Storytime upper case alphas

CS: Black, Real Red, Kraft, White

Inks: Real Red, Basic Black, Creamy Caramel

Other: Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder, Corner punch, 1" and 1.25" circle punches, Paper piercer, Spongy mat from Mat Pack, Sticky Doos, Diamond Glaze, Various Prismacolor pencils, Real Red marker

Fairy dream card using CTMH Toadstools set

I love the Toadstools set by CTMH, but I rarely use it. Today I decided to play with it and some, you guessed it, designer paper.



First I ran the designer paper through the Cuttlebug using the "Stylized Flowers" embossing folder. Then I sponged it with some dark brown ink to pop it out.

I punched out a black oval and punched 3-1/16" holes in it for the mini-brads. I also punched out 3 squares (1/4") and punched holes in those, too. I assembled the whole lot and adhered it with Dimensionals.



For the word stamp, toadstools and fairy I stamped in a golden brown ink and then marked up the stamps with a black marker. Then I huffed warm air onto them and stamped. That gave a nice multi-colored effect. I used Mini Pop Dots to pop out the fairy. I made an extra pair of wings so the fairy would look more dimensional. I sponged black and moss green inks over the toadstools and fairy. I used Dimensionals to pop out the Dream/fairy scene.

Recipe:

Stamps: CTMH Toadstools, "Dream" stamp by TAC
CS: Dark brown, Basic Grey designer paper, Black, White
Inks: Black, Dark brown, Mossy green, Vintage Photo (golden brown) distress ink
Other: Cuttlebug "Stylized Flowers" embossing folder, oval punch, 1/4"square punch, 1/16" punch, antique copper mini-brads, plaid ribbon, Black marker, sponges, Dimensionals, Mini Pop Dots

Father's Day card

Recipe:

Stamps: Horse stamp (can't remember maker), alphabet stamps by CTMH "Storytime alpha lower"
Paper: Black, Chocolate Chip, Basic Grey Urban Couture designer paper
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black pigment ink, "Vintage Photo" Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, Chocolate Chip, More Mustard
Accessories: bleach, water brushes, sponges, Detail Black embossing powder, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze, antique brads, leather strips, 1/16" hole punch, 1/4" circle punch, sm. oval punch, Cuttlebug "Mesh" embossing folder
Techniques: Bleaching, heat embossing, cuttlebugging

This card is for my dad using the same technique as this card.

I just used different colors and images. I bleached out the horses and used Chocolate Chip, Vintage ink by Tim Holtz, and More Mustard to get the dimensional look of the horses. The white parts are where I left the bleached part alone.

Yukon birthday card

Recipe:

Stamps: Paisley Print, Yukon, CTMH Spunky Greetings

Paper: Black, Bravo Burgundy, glossy white

Ink: Versamark, Basic Black

Accessories: Markers: Baroque Burgundy, Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive; Other: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, black grosgrain ribbon, silver buckle charm, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze, silver mini brads, 1/16" hole punch, 1/4" circle punch

I really do have other Cuttlebug embossing folders! I just keep reaching for the Tiny Bubbles one, though, don't I? ;) I like its versatility. The ones Provocraft makes with only words on them are cute and all, but they're so limiting on what you can do with them. The non-word patterned ones are able to be used on any card. Maybe even every card as I demonstrating. hehe

This card is for my young nephew who likes nature. It's a simple design with a few extras that make for some WOW. Of course, I used the Tiny Bubbles folder! Am I getting obnoxious about using that thing yet? :D

I stamped Bravo Burgundy cs with the retired Paisley Print background stamp using Versamark ink. Then I ran part of the front through the Tiny Bubbles folder and Cuttlebugged it. When using the embossing folders with heavy patterns, you need to consider that the cardstock will shrink a bit due to the pulling up of the cardstock into the textured pattern. I generally allow for some extra length and then trim off what I don't need after running it through the Cuttlebug. Some cutters are terrible at hacking at the Cuttlebugged cardstock. Be careful if yours is like that or you'll have a not-so-nice mess on your hands. My Cricut cutter was like that, but my new (& improved, it says) Fiskars 12" cutter smoothly cuts it.

I stamped the CTMH "Happy Birthday" word stamp on the lower front (don't you just love the clear acrylic stamps? So easy to position!). Then I added the black grosgrain ribbon and adhered the silver buckle charm thingy onto the ribbon. I'm hoping it stays put! I used a Dimensional and some Diamond Glaze, so there's hope.

For the deer feature I stamped in Basic Black on glossy white cs and let it dry. Then I did the watercoloring with markers and a water brush. I recommend that if you try this, you have a scratch piece of the same cs you're using and test the markers to see how fast they set by rubbing them on the scratch piece and then wiping over them with the water brush. Then you can figure out how soon you need to hit the ink with the water brush. Some set REALLY fast. Some give you time to blend. For those that set fast, I usually just take the water brush and rub the bristles on the marker tip and then apply it, rather than putting the marker tip directly onto the cs. I used Baroque Burgundy (don't have the marker for Bravo Burgundy yet), Really Rust, Creamy Caramel, Summer Sun, Close to Cocoa, and even some Old Olive to achieve the colors you see. I did lots of blending. Using just Baroque Burgundy would've given it a pinkish appearance. So I just kept adding colors until I got the look I wanted. After it was done drying, I used Really Rust and Close to Cocoa markers and the Inkworx air art gun to give the background a splattered appearance. I let that dry.

Then once that dried I punched 1/16" holes in the corners. I punched the same-sized holes in black cs and then flipped my 1/4" circle punch over and positioned it with the 1/16" inch holes in the center and punched out. That gave me circles with holes in the middles. I used those under the silver mini brads in the corners of the deer scene. They look like rivets. Pretty cool. And they accent the buckle very nicely, I think. I adhered that to black cs and mounted it onto the card with Dimensionals. And then it was done.

It was nice to do a simple design for a change, although I like being stretched by Amy's and SCS's challenges. It's just what I needed to help my floundering creativity along.

Pocket card

Recipe:

Stamps: Canvas, Love without End, Amazing to Zany, Stampabilities "Love is a Fruit", Print Pattern (although almost not worth mentioning), CTMH Storytime Uppercase and Lowercase

Paper: Black, Bravo Burgundy, True Thyme, Naturals Ivory, Basic Grey "Blitzen" collection designer paper

Ink: True Thyme, Basic Black, Versamark (on circles/flowers scraps)

Accessories: Cuttlebug "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folder, sewing machine, many different circle punches (1/4", 1/8", 1/16", 1"), corner punch, double rectangle punch, lg. flower punch, sm. flower punch, mini brads, Dimensionals, Diamond Glaze

Here's my contribution to this week's Sunday Sketch Challenge.

This time Amy used a pocket card design which thrilled me, as I was wanting an excuse to make one!

This one is actually a little bigger than her standard design sketch because I gave in and framed it in black after doing the main part without it. Just can't hep myseff. So this probably wouldn't fit in an A4 envelope.

The cardstocks used are black for the biggest piece, then Bravo Burgundy, then a piece of designer paper from the Basic Grey Blitzen collection. The cardstocks used on the pocket insert are black and True Thyme. The word saying on the front is stamped on Naturals Ivory (aka Quest Cover Ivory). The circle/flower thingies use black and True Thyme.

*deep breath* Okay, where to begin? lol This card is so convoluted, I'm not sure what to talk about first! I guess I'll go from back to front.

Nothing to speak of on the black. The burgundy was sponged with Basic Black ink. I used a corner punch on the burgundy cs and the designer paper. The designer paper was tacked very lightly with mono to the burgundy cs and was then sewed on using a zigzag stitch, although my sewing machine's settings must be a bit off - technically, the stitch isn't quite right. Nonetheless, it did look pretty cool. I am a major amateur sewer, btw! (Don't you hate that the word "sewer" means such different things, yet we think of the yucky definition when we see it spelled out? lol) Then I ran that sucker part-way through the Cuttlebug Tiny Bubbles folder and Cuttlebugged it, leaving the top un-Cuttlebugged. heh Finally, I sponged some Basic Black ink on the Cuttlebugged part to emphasize it more.

The piece I created to resemble the "edge" or "lip" of the pocket was made by punching holes with 2 different hole punches in a random fashion on black cs using a 1/4" punch and a 1/16" punch. I adhered that to a slightly smaller piece of True Thyme cs and mounted that onto the pocket with Dimensionals and a bit of Diamond Glaze for extra strength.

For the word phrase feature, I stamped the Canvas background stamp in True Thyme ink on the Naturals Ivory cs and then stamped the "Love is a Fruit" stamp by Stampabilities in Basic Black ink on top of that. I mounted it on black cs and used a 1/16" hole punch on the corners to allow for some antique copper mini-brads to be affixed. I mounted the whole thing on the front of the card with Dimensionals adhered with Diamond Glaze.

A close-up of the circle features:

For the circle features to the right, I used 4 punches: a larger circle, a larger flower, a smaller flower, and the 1/16" hole punch to put the mini-brads through. Honestly, the tiny hole punch was hard to use on such tiny objects. So I ended up using the tip of my x-acto knife to make the hole. I adhered these with Dimensionals and Diamond Glaze. You might notice a pattern on the True Thyme cs I punched out. That was from a cardstock scrap that had some stamping on it from the Canvas and Print Pattern stamps. I thought the look would be more interesting rather than just punching out of a plain, unstamped piece of cardstock.

Pocket insert:

For the pocket insert, I stamped with the Canvas stamp in True Thyme ink. Then I used the solid flower stamp from Love without End and the tiny word stamps from Amazing to Zany to decorate the surface. The letters for Jesus's name are from CTMH's Storytime Uppercase and Lowercase sets.

I cut a half circle in the True Thyme part of the insert by holding a circle punch upside down and positioning the punch where I wanted the half circle to be. Then I punched a double rectangle in the black and cut out the center with my x-acto knife so I'd have a larger rectangle with which to insert the ribbons. The ribbons are black organdy, blue grosgrain, and olive grosgrain with lines stitched up the middle.

On the home stretch

I'm nearly done with my card swap - 13 cards in all. There is some tedious cutting-out to do, some pieces to adjoin, and a recipe to write and then I can package them all up and mail them.

I finished the P&P series last night and decided to watch Amadeus next. I've nearly memorized Mozart's music from this cd, so the pieces are much closer to my heart when I hear them in the film.

That's one nice thing about stamping, I get to watch many good movies while I create. :)