MINI TRAVEL ALBUM & SUITCASE COVER

My July project is featured at Craft Project Central today.

 

A mini travel album is the perfect way to save photos and memorabilia from a special trip and to keep special notes and give a written account of the events about the trip!  There is plenty of space for photos and journaling in this mini album, and there are pockets to hold memorabilia.  One thing that’s needed for every trip is a suitcase, and this mini travel album has its own suitcase cover, which would be a perfect way to present the album to someone who is getting ready to take a special trip.  Several of these suitcases could be placed on a shelf, and there’s plenty of space on the closed end of the cover to attach an identifying label!

Would you like the chance to win a FREE subscription to Craft Project Central?  If so, just leave a comment on this blog post, and I will draw a winning name and announce the winner on Monday, July 8th.

ROCK 'N ROLL "BLOOMING WITH KINDNESS"

It was probably four or five years ago when I learned the Rock 'n Roll technique, and I loved it!  At the time, Stampin' Up! had the perfect stamp set for it (a Sale-a-Bration set), although I can't remember the name of the set as of this writing.  I still have it, though!  I made this card about two weeks ago, and I can't remember the orange-looking color that I used.  The photo makes it look really orange, but that's not how I remembered it looking when I put it in the mail.  We'll call it orange anyway.  To accomplish the two colors for the flower, I first inked the stamp with the orange ink, then rocked and rolled the edges of the stamp in Rich Razzleberry ink, wiped the ink off of the stem and then used an Always Artichoke marker to color the stem.  Easy, easy, easy and full of WOWness!  Other Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include Blooming with Kindness, Sassy Salutations and French Foliage stamp sets, Always Artichoke, Rich Razzleberry, Whisper White, and "orange" card stock, natural hemp twine (available in the Clearance Rack), Decorative Label punch, and Stripes embossing folder.  Two of my stampin' friends brought refreshments to my class last month (homemade cheesecake, strawberries, and chex mix . . . YUM!!!), and I sent one of these cards to each of them.

"BY THE TIDE" BEACH BAG GIFT SET

Are you ready for summer?  This sweet little beach bag is comfortably packed with four By the Tide note cards.  It would make a great little gift to get anyone in the mood for summer! 

This ensemble was designed and created by Julie Beltramo, and her tutorial can be found at Craft Project Central.  I love the fresh color combo that Julie chose and the clean design for the cards.  Julie's tutorial also includes instructions for the tag to put on a candy favor. 

"MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

Today's MISM project is a shaped card, full of layers, that I designed using my Gypsy and Cricut's Kate's ABC's cartridge.  I ♥ shaped cards!!!  The sentiment, from Stampin' Up!'s June My Paper Pumpkin kit, was stamped on Crumb Cake card stock.  It's hard to tell from the photo, but there's a background image (Chevron--also from the June MPP kit) stamped on the Crumb Cake card stock with Blush Blossom ink.  Other Stampin' Up! products used to create this card include the twine and Square Lattice embossing folder.  The photo makes it appear that the layers are somewhat askew, but that must be the result of an interesting camera angle.  Photography is so magical.

GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO . . . BAIT

Sharing a fun little masculine card on this sunny and hot Saturday.  Once again, I reached for the Bic markers to quickly color the fisherhare.  Texture was added to this project with two Stampin' Up! embossing folders . . . Cloudy Day (retired) and my all-time favorite, Square Lattice.  The button and linen thread are also from Stampin' Up!

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

It's Julie's turn to share a Freestyle Fridays project today and, from the looks of the sneak peek photo she shared with me, she's been playing with dies again.  And doing a great job, too!  I hope you'll join me over at Julie's blog to see the whole project and learn all about it.  I'll be anxious to find out about the mission she has for me, and you might be interested in trying it, too.  Have a great weekend!!!

SEA TURTLES

Isn't this a cute beach scene?  I think the mother turtle looks so loving as she urges the baby toward the water.  Or maybe she's trying to talk him into resting on the sand for a while.  The beach (sand, shells, turtles) is a digital image that I printed onto Stampin' Up!'s Whisper White card stock.  I have mentioned on my blog before that I have decided that it's okay for me to use cheap Bic markers for coloring since I simply don't have the patience for all of the shading and blending with alcohol markers, and I'm quite relieved to simply enjoy coloring again.  Maybe I'm channeling my inner kindergartener or something--all I know is that it is liberating to be able to just grab some markers and color.  For the sky, I used Stampin' Up!'s Soft Sky ink to sponge around a punched scallop circle, and then I rough cut the two felt clouds.  Soft Sky card stock was torn and distressed to create three layers of waves, and I thought the middle layer was the perfect spot for the stamped sentiment.  The finishing touch was a Vintage Faceted button with a small piece of twine threaded through the holes and left dangling.

"MAKE-IT-SNAPPY-MONDAY"

For today's MISM project, I'm sharing a card made with a Stampin' Up! stamp set (The Great Outdoors) that has been on and off of my wish list for a while.  Obviously, it finally made it to the "get" list.  The images in this set are so fun, especially for someone who enjoys camping.  While I'm not that person, this card was made for someone who is.  I began by stamping the chair and then masked that image while I stamped the tent.  Other Stampin' Up! stamp sets featured on this card include Gorgeous Grunge and So Sorry.

CHAD'S "SIDE-STEP" BIRTHDAY CARD

My son's birthday was this past week, and I chose to make a side-step card for him.  When I began this project, all I knew was what kind of card I would try first--had no other ideas for the design and, as you can see, there are quite a few design opportunities on a card like this.  It took a while to get the window just right, although I wasn't 100% pleased with it.  At first, there wasn't a window frame, mainly because I always confuse myself with whether the inside of the house should be behind the frame or if it should be a "looking outside" scene.  I know it should be a simple and obvious decision, so why do I get confused?  I thought that I would just not use a window frame, but I ended up changing my mind about that.  Of course, it would have helped if I had already put the trees and grass on the card, but those elements hadn't yet arrived to the design process.  Want to know which element on this card came first?  It was the flagpole and sentiment.  Ha!  The stamped sentiment (from "Teeny Tiny Wishes" stamp set) and the oval punches and twine are from Stampin' Up!  For the trees, I rough-cut the trunks and then used Stampin' Up!'s Scallop Circle punch with Pistachio Pudding card stock and This and That Epic Day designer paper (with a Stampin' Dimensional between the two circles) for the tree tops.  The same designer paper was used to die-cut three layers of grass using a grass border die.  The last thing to be added to the card was the bicycle, and it didn't get added until the next day.  If you ask me, it totally completed the card!  I kept thinking that "something" was needed, and it took a while to figure out what that something would be.  As I used a craft knife to cut out the tiny white spaces from the stamped image, I made a deal with myself that I would throw the bicycle in the trash if the knife slipped too far and accidentally cut where it shouldn't.  Having had some success, I decided to not tempt fate by trying to cut between the spokes--they were just too, too tiny.  After everything had been glued in place, the card still needed something--a window frame!  Looking at the card now, I wonder how I could have possibly thought I could get away without one, but I finally was able to see that (thankfully) the frame should be on top of the curtains and wallpaper.  It wasn't as easy as just adhering the frame, though.  Oh, no!  I had to peel the curtains and wallpaper from the Crumb Cake card stock AND from beneath a portion of the grass so that I could trim the designer paper and then move one of the curtain panels closer to the center so they would both fit the window frame.  Fortunately, the few casualties were covered when I re-adhered the window layers to the card, and it's hardly noticeable that a patch of grass is missing.

"FREESTYLE FRIDAYS"

With her ever-so-cute balloons and clouds project last week, Julie Beaulieu issued a mission for me to create a balloon project this week--and it had to make me giggle at some point during the process of making it.  Hmmm . . . I was stumped!  I knew that I could access all kinds of balloons if I used my Cricut or Silhouette machines, but I would have had to clear a path to them and just wasn't ready to work that hard.  Wracking my brain, I faintly recalled buying a balloon punch at some point in my life, but where to find it?  When I finally found it, I giggled alright . . . it punched mini (seriously mini) balloons!  I got to thinking that those tiny balloons were sized perfectly for Stampin' Up!'s owl (punch), but the handsome owl didn't have a wing to hold the balloons, which I had already tied together and was bound and determined to use.  Creating his little wing (his left wing is behind his back in case you're wondering) made me giggle again because I do not have an artistic eye.  After a few tries, I finally settled on the one wing that you see on the card and, as I said, I declared that his left wing is behind his back, much the way a gentleman might stand at a door with a surprise in one hand and his giggles and overwhelming pride in his left hand behind his back.  Other Stampin' Up! products featured on this card include Yippee-Skippee! stamp set, Gingham Garden washi tape, rhinestone jewels, Baker's twine, one of the Finishing Touches Edgelits, and the Blossom punch (which was used to shape the sentiment banner).  So, Julie, are you happy?  Are you thrilled that I giggled?  Are you pleased with yourself to have made me squirm?  I love you anyway and still look forward to accepting many more of your challenges.