PACK YOUR BAGS, SUMMER! | SUITCASE SHAPED CARD

 

It was so nice to enjoy a few low humidity and cooler temperature days recently.  Actually, it just made me that much more ready for Fall, and that's what gave me the idea for this suitcase card.  At first glance, you might have thought I was ready to pack a suitcase and run off to some warm, sunny, tropical place but, no . . . I'm just inviting Summer to pack her bags and move on out.  Anyone who has visited my blog for a long time already knows how much I adore shaped cards.  I designed this one using Cricut Design Space and then cut all of the pieces (it was a handful).  For the first time, I used six print-then-cut images, which is more than I've ever used at one time.  Since I made about six of these cards, the process involved a lot of cutting and assembly.

The above photo shows the inside, which was the main card base.  The front of the card had a Crumb Cake layer, and the inside had a white cardstock layer.  The two images on the inside were print-then-cut images.  They look quite nice, huh?

I'm not even gonna lie . . . I fall in love with my Cricut machine all over again each time that I use it.  Designing cards is easy, and it seems that there is always a huge abundance of shapes and images to use.  Being able to press a button and have everything cut while I do something else is quite enjoyable.  In the above photo, you can see the tag, which the Cricut not only cut but also did the writing.  Notice the texture on the Crumb Cake cardstock layer?  I inked the inside of the embossing folder with ink, and it really made the texture stand out!

Above is a view of the card from the top.

And below is the front of the card again:

So where do you stand on the Summer/Fall debate?  Want more Summer or ready for Fall?

"WHAT'S COOKIN'" SLIMLINE CARD

The other day, I was looking for a stamp set and enjoyed re-visiting the baking/food stamp sets that I had grouped together.  It was "What's Cookin'" that really called to me and, when I opened the stamp case, I found a card similar to the one that I'm sharing today.  It looked so fun and easy that I felt compelled to make another one.  The background for my card was a scrap of paper that was laying on my desk, and the only new product that I used was that gorgeous copper-colored twine (from the upcoming mini catalog) that was also on my desk.

The images were stamped with Crumb Cake ink, although it looks a bit gray in the photos.

The utensils were die-cut from Silver Foil, of course, and looked so much nicer in person.  For some reason, I struggled with taking photos of this card.

It's unfortunate when fun stamp and die bundles (like this one) seem to retire too soon, but I'm glad I held on to this one.  

Have a stampin' good day! 

SOMETHING DIFFERENT: A WOOL FELT ORNAMENT

 

I have several hobbies.  The trouble with having a variety of hobbies is there's not always enough time (or space) to get all the supplies out and start working--at least not without having to first do a major tidy-up.  If you enjoy crafts like I do, then you are probably like me and DREAD the tidy-up.  And then a package arrives with new supplies, and . . . well . . . it would be wrong to not open and test them, right?  That's what happened the other day.  I had ordered two nesting templates from Missouri Star Quilt Co.  This one and this one:

    

I shoved everything else to the side (in what I call teetering fashion) so I could get busy choosing the colors for my project--an ornament.  I chose wool felt rather than felted wool since it's less expensive but also because my ornament would not be laundered.  I used both of my new templates to create this project:

It turned out pretty cute, huh?  For the backing, I used a piece of grey felt.  Now that the ornament is finished, I know that I should have chosen blue or white for the backing since some of the grey shows around the edges.  All of the snowflakes were cut with dies and my Big Shot machine.  I had planned to put a larger snowflake in the center of the mitten, but then I found the cute holly leaf and berries buttons in a kit at my parent's house.  I figured since I hadn't yet done anything with that kit, I could use the buttons on this project.

Finishing touches were the addition of pearl beads in the center of the snowflakes.  I've just recently been working with sewing beads onto wool projects, and it really takes them up a notch.  It's a bit tricky, though, finding a needle with a small enough eye for beads--especially the really tiny ones.  

What you can't tell from the photos is that this finished ornament is 8.25" x 8.75" from the widest points.  It's quite large and will show prominently on my Christmas tree!  I think my next project will be a pillow with a sweater applique in the center and two mittens tied to one corner (of the pillow).  Won't that be sweet?  Or maybe I will make a wall-hanging instead of a pillow.  Maybe I'll make both!  All I can say is that this was a really fun project--and it was kinda quick, too.

I guess it's "tidy-up" time now since my room is a hideous mess of teetering items all around.

MORE "SIMPLY ZINNIA"

 

Can you ever get tired of these gorgeous vivid colors???  I absolutely adore the "Flowering Zinnias" designer paper and, as you can tell, I just keep reaching for it.  Today's card features a very simple technique that's quite relaxing to make.  You just cut strips of paper (mine were 3/4" but you can cut to whatever width you like) and place them randomly on your cardstock (mine was 4" x 5-1/4").  You want to make sure your strips are long enough to extend the edges of the cardstock, and then cut off the overhang.  

When I sat down to make this card, I was quite frustrated with myself.  I had found a card on Pinterest that I really wanted to make, and there was even a video tutorial.  I can't tell you how many mistakes I made or how often I felt lost while watching the video.  I've watched that person's videos numerous times and have always had great respect for her ability to demonstrate how to create projects, but . . . argh!!!! . . . I really think she went too fast or maybe it was the angle of her camera over the project that made following along such a challenge.  At one point, I was sure that she was angry about someone forcing her to re-create that project for the video and thought she wanted viewers to be lost.  Okay, so maybe that was my own moment of madness.  I can't say for certain.  Anyway . . . I was left with a mountain of cardstock cuts and an unfinished project which, if I'm honest, made me mad.  It's so rare for me to get lost watching a tutorial!  I even found two other videos demonstrating that same type of card and was able to follow them both.  The last one really excited me because it used just two pieces of cardstock and went together quickly and easily.  The only problem was that it was top heavy with a base that wasn't sturdy enough.  So I tossed those failures and chose another challenge.  Again, I got turned around and didn't flip or turn when I should have, and then adhesive that was supposed to be useful was on the wrong side.  It was time to turn out the lights and call it a day.

My first order of business today was to successfully complete a card, so I chose cheery paper and something easy to make.  For this "Simply Zinnia" project, I cut four of the flowers from Flirty Flamingo cardstock and sponged the edges of the petals with Flirty Flamingo ink.  Didn't they turn out pretty all layered together?  Of course, I had to add some sparkly rhinestones, too.

Well, this is all that I have to share today.  Maybe I'll re-visit something new and/or more challenging soon--and I hope to end up with a finished work of art.  I guess the take-away from today's post is to not give up.  When something is too challenging, stick with it.  If you still don't succeed, back down to something less challenging.  It will definitely make you happier!

Have a stampin' good day!

"SIMPLY ZINNIA" EASY SIDE-STEP CARD + INSTRUCTIONS

 

The "Flowering Zinnias" designer paper is so bright, colorful, and cheery!  To accompany the paper that I chose for this card, I stamped three zinnias from the "Simply Zinnia" stamp set, colored them with alcohol markers, and then cut them with a coordinating die.  A white gel pen was used to add highlights to the center of the flowers, which I think enhanced the depth and brightness of the coloring.  

This side-step card is the easiest one that I've ever made.  It required none of the awkward cuts and scoring that are usually necessary to create a card like this; instead, you only need two pieces of cardstock to create it.  The main card is 5-1/2" x 8" and scored at 1, 2, and 5 inches.  The tall stand-up panel is 3-1/4" x 8-1/2" scored at 4-1/4".  As you can see in the above photo, I adhered the stand-up panel before adhering the strip of designer paper across the bottom front "step".

The stand-up panel is adhered at the bottom front and the bottom of the card back.

The right portion of the card had a wider space--perfect for the sentiment label.

It's a fun design, huh?