PLAYING CATCH-UP . . . CLASS SWAPS FROM FEBRUARY

The Decorative Corner card was the theme for our February class swap.

I had received this fantastic Christmas card from my talented friend, Laura:

Because I liked Laura's card so much, I designed this one for one of our January class projects:

And because it was such a fun and easy one to make--and well-liked by all--we decided to each make a Decorative Corner card for our February swap.  Just look at the variety of these awesome creations!

For my card, I used the Country Road stamp set:

"HIGH TIDE" NAUTICAL DOUBLE Z-FOLD CARD + ENVELOPE

I was recently commissioned to design a masculine birthday card that would be hand-delivered.  The fun thing about a hand-delivered card is that the sky's the limit since size and bulk won't be an issue.  However, making a masculine card never seems to be an easy task.  I literally had no idea what I wanted to make, but my first step in the process was to look at each of my stamp sets and start bringing some of them to my desk.  Nautical was it!  Stampin' Up!'s High Tide stamp set appeared to have all that I needed, and I chose to make a Double Z-Fold design . . . with a coordinating envelope, of course.

The Envelope Punch Board was very handy for making the envelope!  I used the Happy Birthday Thinlits die to cut the shape from Very Vanilla cardstock, and it was the perfect size to decorate the envelope.

The anchor image was borrowed from The Open Sea stamp set, which retired a while back.  I used VersaMark ink to stamp the image on the envelope flap and then embossed it with gold embossing powder.  Don't you agree that a shiny heat-embossed image takes a project to a higher level?

In case you're wondering, this card was 5-1/2" x 5-1/2".  The cardstock colors used throughout this project are Very Vanilla and Night of Navy.  Other products used include Stampin' Dimensionals, twine, and non-Stampin' Up! designer paper that was found in my stash.  Tear & Tape adhesive was placed on the flap so that once the card has been signed and placed in the envelope, it will be ready to seal.

SPINNER POP-UP CARD

When I plan projects for my monthly class, I often end up with rejects because of this little rule of mine . . . I must LOVE the project, or it doesn't make the cut.  What ends up as a "reject" may not necessarily be a bad project, but rather it might just need a little something more loveable added or changed.  The project that I'm sharing today was one of my March class projects, and I LOVE it!  It's a Spinner Pop-up Card:

When the card is closed, the layer with the candles attached to it rests behind the "cue the confetti" layer.  When the card is opened, the "cue the confetti" layer pops up while the candle layer spins out to the right.  Really. Cool.

Not gonna lie.  There's a learning curve to the mechanism for this card, and not everyone at class enjoyed it.  That is kind of disappointing, and maybe my teaching method was to blame.  I had to make a couple of these cards before I got comfortable with the three-part mechanism, but I thought it was worth the effort.  Before some genius came up with a way to cut and score three pieces for the interactive mechanism, I had purchased and used Karen Burniston's Spinner Square Pop-Up dies, one of which cuts a one-part spinner mechanism.  I think there's actually less room for error when working with the non-die three-part mechanism, but maybe that's because I've used it the most.  

Stampin' Up! products featured on my card include:

Stamp Sets:  Birthday Banners, Picture Perfect Birthday

Cardstock:  Thick Whisper White, Highland Heather, Granny Apple Green

DSP:  Botanical Butterfly (Sale-a-Bration product)

Ink:  Highland Heather, Granny Apple Green, Crushed Curry, Black

Sizzix:  Basket Weave embossing folder, Bunch of Banners Framelits

Accessories:  Rhinestone Jewels, Old Olive Stitched Edge Ribbon (purchased from the Clearance Rack, Mini Glue Dots, Stampin' Dimensionals

FIREWOOD CRATE: ANOTHER CHALK COUTURE HOME DECOR PROJECT

Although we haven't had a fire in the fireplace for a few weeks, a few logs in my living room were really needing a more compact and visually appealing storage solution.  When I found this crate, I thought it would be perfect . . . AND . . . I could decorate it!  The exterior is smoother than you'd expect, and it was soooooooo easy to apply Chalkology Paste to transfer the designs.  

Didn't it turn out great?  I should have made a video of the process to show how quick and easy it was, but I was too anxious to see the end result.

The following Chalk Couture products were used to decorate the crate:

Bright White Chalkology Paste

Multi-Tool

Squeegee

Corner Market Collection - Sheep

Corner Market Collection - Mercantile

If you have any questions about the fantastic Chalk Couture products, how to use them, etc., let me know.  I would love it if you would like my Facebook page.  Feel free to share any of the videos or posts that you find there!

SHEEP + CHALKBOARD + WOOLY PENNANT GARLAND

A few weeks ago, I ordered quite a few of Chalk Couture's brand new products, and the Chalk Transfers that I was most anxious to use just happen to be from the Corner Market Collection (Sheep and Mercantile).  The project that I created today has been bouncing around in my head for weeks, and I am so excited to share it! 

This sheep.

This is such a healthy sheep, yes?

As soon as I saw the Corner Market Collection - Sheep Chalk Transfer, I knew that I had to have it since it pays perfect homage to my love of wool applique.  This framed art is going to eventually hang on the wall in my stamp room.  

In case you're wondering, this project is a pretty good size.  The frame is 17.5" x 24".  

To adorn the top left corner of the frame, I created (from wool, of course) a little pennant and lace garland.  

Although I can't imagine that I will one day want to re-use this framed chalkboard for another project, the fact remains that it's totally possible to do so.  All I will need to do is spritz water on the chalked design and wash it away.  Since that's an option, I didn't permanently attach the garland--it's held in place with thumb tacks for now.

In case you'd like more information about the Chalk Couture products that I used to create this framed art:

Eucalyptus Chalkology Paste

Bright White Chalkology Paste

Multi-Tool

Squeegee

4" Handled Squeegee

Corner Market Collection - Sheep

Corner Market Collection - Mercantile

If you have any questions about the fantastic Chalk Couture products, how to use them, etc., let me know.  I would love it if you would like my Facebook page.  Feel free to share any of the videos or posts that you find there!

PLAYING CATCH-UP . . . CLASS SWAPS FROM JANUARY 2019

Can you believe that we're all ready for the January class swaps?  It feels so good to be catching up!  For our January swap, my stampin' friends and I followed the following sketch:

And these are the fantastic swaps:

My card (below) features the Gingham Gala DSP, Ruffled embossing folder, and the Butterfly Gala stamps and dies.

Are you loving the swaps???

PLAYING CATCH-UP . . . CLASS SWAPS FROM NOVEMBER 2018

Our class swap theme for November 2018 was to create a Christmas card, and just look at the beautiful creations!

And this is the card that I created for the November swap:

We didn't have a class in December, but stay tuned for the January and February swaps!

PLAYING CATCH-UP . . . CLASS SWAPS FROM OCTOBER 2018

In the spirit of keeping up with catching up . . . following are the awesome class swaps from October 2018.  We had a sketch to follow for that month's swap, but I am unable to find the source for the sketch.  At some point between then and now, I got a new computer and, as you might imagine, finding things is still a bit challenging.  For instance . . . I can't locate my project photos album for 2018.  [heavy sigh]  

But . . . I have three gorgeous swaps to share with you today.  

As is evidenced by the swap that I created (below), my focus on Christmas was still going strong when I designed my October swap.  Without the Christmas sentiment, this would be a perfect Winter greeting card.  

I apologize for not having a clean sketch to share with these photos, but I think it's an easy one to figure out.  I really enjoyed this one!  Click on the pictures to really enjoy all of the gorgeous details on these cards!

GORGEOUS SWAPS FROM 2018

This is nothing new . . . actually, it's more like my standard operating procedure . . . but I couldn't stand my stamp room any longer today and started processing some pile-ups and putting things away.  In the process, I unearthed these wonderful swaps (from last year).  I didn't see where they had been posted to my blog and even if they were, they are worth sharing again.  The first three are fantastic shaker cards:

And then this precious little dilly that I'm pretty sure was created by my stampin' friend, Tracy:

It's been a long time since I have made a Magic Slider Card, and I thought this one was so cute and very well designed.

Check back often because I have three or four more posts scheduled that showcase swaps that I and my stampin' friends have created!

"SHAKE & SPIN" POP-UP CARD FOR MY GREAT-NIECE

It's hard to believe that my great-niece celebrated her 17th birthday this week!  I swear, it doesn't seem that long ago when I kept a box of stamps and ink pads in my stamp room just for her.  She always seemed so interested in making cards, and you know that was pleasing to me.  

I wasn't exactly sure what kind of special card to make for her or colors/designer paper to use, but I decided to make a Spinner Pop-Up.  Last November, I treated myself to a set of dies to make the mechanism for this fun card, but I've barely used them.  This seemed like a perfect occasion!  Once I had the spinner part in place, I just started reaching for papers and stamps to decorate the card.  That's when I decided that a shaker element would be fun for the front, and I just barely had enough space to punch the 2" window for it.  I love it when things just work out like that!

Enough words, right?  Here's the card:

 

In the photo below, notice that the die-cut sea turtle is hiding behind the squares:

And once the card is opened a bit more, the sea turtle spins into view:

Once finished, I saw several things that I would have changed or done differently, but that's pretty typical for diving into a motion card that you've only made a couple of times.  I didn't know that this card was going to turn nautical, but I hope my great-niece (who lives in Texas) likes it.

A SHINY RED TRUCK-SHAPED CARD

I can still remember the first Chevy Silverado truck my daddy owned--and how much he loved that truck!  Since that time, there have been several shiny Silverados--mostly red--in his garage.  Several years ago, he bought his first Colorado (when they used to be much smaller) as a "daily driver" because doesn't everyone know that to keep a shiny Silverado shiny, it must stay in a garage? Uh huh.  At that time, his red Silverado didn't see a lot of sunshine--and never saw a cloudy sky if he could help it--but the little Colorado got lots of drive time.  

Fast-forward to recently . . . after a short while of driving a non-Chevy pick-up truck, daddy came to terms with the fact that he is--absolutely, undeniably, unequivocally--a Chevy truck man!  Always has been, always will be.  I kept telling him that he should go ahead and get another Chevy since he clearly wanted one, and . . . he finally did!  He was so happy to bring home a brand new, red and shiny Colorado last month.  It got running boards, tail pipe covers, and some other bling, and he was pleased.

To congratulate him, I had originally designed a cute truck-shaped card using Cricut Design Space but, before I could get it cut and mailed, this happened:

Anyone who has had a brand new vehicle knows how terrible you would feel if this happened.  I know some people would say that it's just a little scratch and only a tiny piece of the light is broken but, to my daddy, this is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E.  You will be hard pressed on any given day to find a blemish on any of his vehicles, so imagine how the sight of this made our family members gasp!  When I was a teenage driver, it amazed me the kind of details that daddy would get from just looking at one his parked vehicles.  He missed NOTHING!  I can remember gently scraping paint off of the chrome bumper one time after I had bumped into a white-painted wooden post.  There wasn't a lot of paint on the bumper, but it didn't have to be a lot for daddy to notice and I didn't want that to happen.

So . . . considering the turn of events with his new truck, I had to make a couple of alterations to the original card that I had designed, and this is the finished card ready to mail--complete with a paint brush and flashlight accessory:

It's hard to tell from the photos, but I used Silver Foil paper for the chrome accents on the truck (door handles, wheels, etc.).  I think daddy will enjoy getting this piece of mail, and I definitely enjoyed making it!

PLAYING CATCH-UP . . . CLASS SWAPS FROM SEPTEMBER 2018

Shame on me for neglecting to share the awesome swaps created by my stampin' friends (aka customers).  We have a swap theme at each month's class, and the September theme (yes, waaaaayyyy back in September 2018) was to create a card featuring a grid design.  I 💗 grid designs almost as much as I love shaped and/or 4-1/4" square cards.  And that's a lot.  It's taken long enough to share these awesome swaps, so let's get to it!

Way back in September, I had Christmas on the brain, and this is the sweet little card that I designed for the swap (just happens to be a square card filled with squares).  My card features the Stylish Christmas stamp set, which is just gorgeous--in a quiet, yet cheerful, kind of way.

Didn't everyone do a beautiful job with our swap theme?  I've said it before, and I'll say it again . . . no matter what kind of swap theme we decide on, the swaps are always going to be so different, which makes card/project swaps that much more enjoyable.