Tag Card

Anita Houston's Giant Tag Cards at The Artful Maven Haven have been on my mind. She has a great tutorial there!

Here is my "rendition". I used white cardstock, cut to 5-1/8 x 10-1/2 inches, scoring at 2-3/4 inches from both sides as Anita has shown. I was glad to use some of my new Tim Holtz tissue tape! Embossed the front left flap. I did not do the beautiful "spritzed distress ink technique on craft sheet"--saving that idea for another card!

Supplies:
Stamps: Dina Wakley, Hero Arts, PrintWorks, Stampendous
Cuttlebug embossing folder
Tim Holtz Tissue Tape
Tim Holtz Distress inks: broken china, tumbled glass, spun sugar, worn lipstick, wild honey scattered straw, shabby shutters
Caramel Twine

Recycled A Good Egg

The front of this card is a Recycle! Emily, my daughter who teaches 1st grade, shared a party favor made by her student's mom (for 30-something kids) for Easter. There was a tiny package of mini M&Ms slipped inside the paper pouch.  Too cute to throw away! I recycled it by using the front part of the pouch on my card.

The inside of the card does not match, but I wanted to use my favorite Printworks bird set.

I didn't make the front, but the stamp used is A Good Egg from Stampin' Up!
On the inside I used the following PrintWorksstamps on flecked paper:
E3432 Twas Her Thinking (sentiment)
B4086 Birdie
B4085 Shelter (the nest)
P4083 A Good Egg
Distress Inks

Flower Card For Special Ladies

Made this quick 'n easy type of card for my Mother-in-law and my Aunt Laura this year for Mother's Day.

Our whole family is blessed to have my Mother-In-Law, Lois in our lives. She has been a wonderful grandma to my two daughters! She is so loving, kind and generous to me and my husband! 

My Aunt Laura, mom's sister, has been so good to me and my family also. She has been my spiritual guide introducing me to Holy Scripture and guiding me along the spiritual path. When my daughters were small, she would stop by unexpectedly to babysit so my husband and I could go out to the movies and supper! 

I am blessed to have these strong and loving women in my life, for support and guidance! I miss my mom, who passed in December 2012, at the age of 89. I believe she is in a better place, waiting for the time when we all will be together again.

Fiskars Scrapbooking Photo Corner Heart Punch was used on the bottom corners of the inside layer. The "stitching lines" were drawn with a a Zig permanent pigment marker.
Other materials used:
Stampin' Up! Flower Burst and Sweetest Stem Sizzix Embosslits
Lifestyle Crafts QuicKutz Honeycomb Embossing folder
Stamps: Hero Arts
Inkpads: Stampin' Up!

Mini Photo Book for a Very Special Occasion

Our family is thrilled for our daughter, Rebecca, who was sworn into the bar this month!
WAY TO GO, REBECCA!!! WE ARE SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!
I made this quick and easy mini photo book as a little remembrance of the occasion. My friend, Hetty, from The Netherlands, inspired me with her wonderful "cardsize brag book" tutorial. I used the full 6" height--half of a 12 x 12" piece of designer paper for this.

And here is the card I made for her.

Architectural Elements and "Congratulations" stamps from Stampin' Up!
Notebook texture fades embossing folder from Sizzix.

Stampfest with Lynette on April 30, 2013

Here are the cards Lynette and I made on our April 30th Stampfest.This poppy card was inspired Steffi's card here

Our "sewing" card is Lynette's design, using Stampers Anonymous Haberdashery CMS105 and Mini Blueprints 3 sets. The Sizzix Stencil-2 embossing folder was used for the word "SEW".

Doc took our photo at the end of our stamping session.

Card Captain, Day 5, May 3, 2013

Happy Friday! It has been a blast sharing cards this week with my dear friends and talented artists on the  Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps Yahoo Group. Thanks to everyone who sent me lovely compliments! You made my week FUN!!!

This card was inspired by Kim's card on Inspired Paper and Ink which I found on  Pinterest. I used kraft cardstock for the base and stamped repeatedly with the "create..." word stamp from the Urban Tapestry set.

Used printed paper from an old book, frayed the edges with a sewing thread cutter gizmo, then used spun sugar ink onto the edges.

Cut a Labels Eight Nesta in cream cardstock and sponged spun sugar then tea dye ink on the edges. Stamped a portion of Mike's Cloisonne Pot stamp twice as shown, using tea dye. Used worn lipstick for the words.

The vellum tag was a gift from a friend who has a Memory Makers Tag Maker. I stamped a portion of the "create" word stamp on the vellum with Distress tea dye ink. To dye the string, I tapped tea dye ink on my kraft sheet, spritzed with a dab of water and crumpled the string in the wet dye. It dried very quickly. You can use a heat tool to speed the drying, but be careful not to burn it.

Used a heart eyelet to secure vellum tag. Added a metal "photo turn" with a mini brad and also added a bit of double stick tape underneath to keep it from moving. Used a strip of Scrapbook Adhesives Craft and Photo Tape to secure a strip of pleated ribbon on the left side.

Below is the inside of my card. Used spun sugar on the edges of white cardstock with flecks. Stamped Lonely Girl on the left with spun sugar ink.

FYI...you can see a green variation of this layout here.


MATERIALS:

Papers: Kraft cardstock, white cardstock with flecks, printed paper from old book.

Stamps: Hero Arts-trust your heart, Michael Strong-Cloisonne Pot, Rebecca Sower/Nostalgiques-Words from the heart, Stampers Anonymous-Urban Tapestry CMS 061, Stampington/Dina Wakley-Lonely Girl

Ink pads: Tim Holtz Distress tea dye, spun sugar, worn lipstick

Dies: Spellbinders Nesta Lables Eight and Cuttlebug decorative swirly die (from an alpha set)

Embellishments: Stampin' Up! Blushing Bride pleated satin ribbon, Making Memories vellum tag, heart eyelet, silver photo turn with brad.

Card Captain-Day 4-May 2, 2013

Happy Thursday! My project for today is an altered book layout. Maybe not so much a tutorial but an encouragement...when you alter a book, there are no rules! It's really fun and relaxing. You can do whatever you want. And if you make a mistake, you can rip out the page and start again in another part of the book.

My stamping friend, Lynette, and used Dylusions spray ink outside in her backyard. The colors are bright and vibrant, but we had trouble with the spay mechanism on 3 of the 4 bottles. We both wanted the fine mist look. We tried stencils and masks. After spraying over the stencil, we closed the book to transfer the ink from the top of the stencil to the other side of the book.

Stamped Michael Strong's dragonfly, butterfly, bird and egg on cardstock with various ink pads. Added additional color with colored pencils. Stamped various sentiments on cardstock. Used wavy scissors and the end of Labels Ten Nestabilities die to trim. Added Distress inks to edges with foam applicator. Trimmed purple paper with scissors to create "grass". Used dimentional foam adhesive to secure the egg in the "grass". Used  a small amount Perfect Paper Adhesive to adhere part of the the trimmed dragonfly, bird and butterfly and the edge of the tag. Used several strands of variegated sewing thread for the end of the tag.

I am not a fan of the ink sprays. I find that the spray gets all over the place. I worry that I'll ruin my clothing or something in my home! I prefer to sponge distress inks on the altered books. However, you may be intererested in the sprays. There are many tutorials online. Here is one from Dyan Reaveley
(Sorry for the incorrect link. It should be good now)

First she sprays water on her surface, either paper or her journal/altered book. I think that helps to blend the color. However, I was looking for a misted look. I would love to hear your comments on any of the info presented here.

Materials:

An old book-nice to start with a book with sturdy/thick pages (instead of very delicate ones)

Dylusions Spray Ink: Fresh Lime, London Blue, Vibrant Turquoise

Inkpads: Tim Holtz Distress peacock feathers, scattered straw, Stampin' Up! marvelous magenta, Colorbox Chalk (a shade of purple from Lynette's house-possibly blackberry or lavender)

Various brands of colored pencils from Lynette's and my stash

Stamps:  

Hero Arts Treasure the Moments

Michael Strong's Cloisonne Dragonfly, Cloisonne Cameo, Mini Cloisonne Wings, Mini Cloisonne Shapes

TPc studios Playful Expressions & Secret Garden Collage

Cuttlebug Measure by Measure 7" embossing border
Perfect Paper Adhesive

Dimensional foam adhesive square

Card Captain-Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Some of you know that I love interactive cards. Today's card of the day for the Enjoy Michael Strong Stamps Yahoo Group is a Criss Cross No Waste card using Little Houses and Mini Cloisonne Wings (the butterfly and dragonfly) . I used Lynn's tutorial for the no waste version of the criss cross card.

Basically you start with cardstock that is 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 inches. Score at 4-1/4"then fold in half. A triangular portion of what will be the front it cut.  I embossed that cut piece (see it on the right) with one of my favorite Cuttlebug embossing folders called Victoria. That piece is turned and added back under the other diagonal flap and secured with a high tack adhesive strip. I like Scrapbook Adhesive's Craft & Photo Tape 81'.  

Below you see the criss cross part and the insert separately:

Below you see a closer view of the insert:

My insert  measures 4-1/2" wide by 4" high. The white overlay is 4" wide by 3-1/2" high.  I stamped off twice to get lighter versions of the Distress pickled raspberry (butterfly) and Distress seedless preserves (dragonfly). The "Thinking of you" stamp is from Hero Arts and stamped with Marvy black ink.

Materials:
Green and White cardstock
Stamps: Michael Strong's Little Houses and Mini Cloisonne Wings (the butterfly and dragonfly), Hero Arts (sentiment)
Distress inks: Tim Holtz barn door (house), pickled raspberry (butterfly), seedless grapes (dragonfly); Marvy Matchables #1 Black
Distress Marker- peeled paint for the dashes on insert
Stampin' Up' Tab punch
Tim Holtz Mini stapler
Adhesive: foam adhesive squares and Scrapbook Adhesives Craft & Photo Tape