mim#329: die cut as stencil

Just one time I’d like to finish a card for a challenge with more than a few hours to spare. With the time constraints, this post will be short and sweet.

For this week’s Make It Monday #329, Melissa Phillips shared how she creates stencils from die cuts. I used a cover plate to make a stencil for my card.

 

This card started out completely different in my head because I remembered the dies from Strawberry Patch to be completely different than they are. I thought there was a large die rather than several individual strawberry dies. My fussy cutting did not do justice to the image, so that plan went out the window. The second backup image is waiting to be used on a different card since I couldn’t find a way to make it work with stenciling. The above card was my third attempt. It was going to be my final attempt no matter how it turned out. Thankfully, there’s something about its simplicity that I really like.

Hope you’re enjoying your summer.

nancy

supplies:

stamps:  strawberry patch and summer sweetness (PTI)

ink:  scarlet jewel, pure poppy, harvest gold, stormy sea, new leaf, pine feather, aqua mist and smokey shadow (PTI)

paper:  watercolor paper (Strathmore); mint julep card stock (PTI)

dies:  cover plate: stripes horizontal (PTI); stitched rectangles (SSS)

extras:  clear wink of stella (ZIG)

tt: white flowers to pale peony

Last week, I made a card following Papertrey’s Make It Monday #325, flowers in reverse. Dawn’s gorgeous cards had multiple layers and texture along with some strong color from the leaves. My card was not as layered, textured or colorful, which is probably why I wanted to add some color to the flowers. Enter Papertrey’s Transformation Tuesday. (Please note:  Not sure why, but I’ve noticed the enlarged photos are a better clarity than those in the actual post.)

 

For the transformed card, a very light wash of pale peony was added under the Circle Scribbles die cut.

 

To me, the subtle addition of color to the flowers was just the right added touch. I preferred this card until I added the sequins. Unfortunately, there were no pale peony enamel dots in my stash, so sequins it was. You know the story; everything looked great until it was glued down. It ended up being just a little too much sparkle for me, but the recipient will like it. So all is good.

  

The peony card is an encouragement card for my niece who has some career decisions to make. I want to share the sentiment from inside the card because the font from Book Club blends so well with the font from Fresh Bouquet. Love when that happens.

 

Thank you for taking time from your day to check out my card.

nancy

supplies  (original card):

stamps:  Spring Hills (PTI)

ink:  mint julep and spring rain (PTI); grey flannel (Memento)

paper:  fresh snow linen and aqua mist card stock (PTI); watercolor paper (Strathmore)

dies:  Circle Scribbles, Heart-2-Heart #7 and Happiness in Bloom Leaves (PTI)

extras:  enamel dots (MME)

supplies  (transformed card):

stamps:  Fresh Bouquet, Book Club, Mini Blooms and Garden Grace (PTI)

ink:  mint julep, spring rain and pale peony (PTI); grey flannel (Memento)

paper:  fresh snow linen and pale peony card stock (PTI); watercolor paper (Strathmore)

dies:  Circle Scribbles, Heart-2-Heart #7 and Happiness in Bloom Leaves (PTI)

extras:  sequins (Studio Calico and MFT)

mim#326: inchies

Last summer, I made the invitations for my daughter’s wedding and they sucked up my creativity.  In April, I returned to card making and finally am ready not only to try a challenge, but share my card as well.

Lexi Daly has taken us old-school with Papertrey’s Make It Monday #326, using inchie elements.  Rather than duplicate Lexi’s pattern, I went on Pinterest for some inspiration and came across this card with an additional larger die cut element. The wheels started spinning and I ended up with the following card.

The card is for my nephew who is working at the Jersey Shore at The Music Man Singing Ice Cream Shoppe. He studied voice and musical theater in college and told his mom that he wants to audition for a Broadway show (or two or three) while here, but is anxious to do so. I want to send him a note of encouragement, hence the card. It combines a go-after-your-dreams-type sentiment with a shore feel. (Kites can be seen up and down the beach.)

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this card since I had trouble working with inchies way back when, but am happy with how it turned out. The card hit the note I was going after. Please click on the picture to view it; the quality is better that way.

I wouldn’t mind being serenaded by my nephew at the shore with an ice cream cone in hand right about now! How about you?

nancy

supplies:

stamps:  City Scene; Heart-2-Heart #6; Ahoy; Up, Up & Away; Bitty Background Blocks; and Dream, Fly, Soar! (PTI)

ink:  bright buttercup, summer sunrise and blueberry sky (PTI); summer sky and tuxedo black (Memento); VersaMark

paper:  white and blueberry sky card stock (PTI)

extras:  clear embossing powder (Ranger); white embossing powder (Filigree)

mim#259: ombré triangles

Just a quick post to share the card that I made for Papertrey’s Make It Monday Challenge #259, ombré cluster stamping, shared by Dawn McVey. I worked with shades of olive green to make a guy’s birthday card. Some Classic Kraft – second generation stamping – was added to the mix because it needed a little something extra.

 

And because I’m planning ahead, an October birthday sentiment was chosen for the inside. The sentiment was stamped in Ripe Avocado rather than the Rich Cocoa used on the front because I really was planning ahead and will be writing birthday wishes with a brown pen.

 

Hope you don’t have to be hard at work this Labor Day.

nancy

supplies:

stamps:  Tiny Triangles; Botanical Silhouettes; and Birthday Classics: October (PTI)

ink:  classic kraft (second generation), spring moss, simply chartreuse and ripe avocado (PTI); rich cocoa (Memento)

paper:  classic kraft and rustic cream card stock (PTI)

extras:  Boho stickers (Recollections)

mim#258: cover plate tags

Wow, look at me posting for PTI challenges three weeks in a row. And while I’m patting myself on the back, I’m even more impressed with myself because something in the circuit panel blew yesterday and there is minimal electricity in my house right now. Fortunately and thankfully, the refrigerator, two a/c window units and a handful of outlets were not affected. Unfortunately, the outlet for my internet box – not sure what the technical term is – does not have power, so I have to switch it out with the a/c when I want to get online. Good thing the temps are getting cooler at night.

So, back to why it’s kudos to me. The room where I craft does not get a lot of natural light; it’s located on the northwest corner of the house. That means I usually have a very bright overhead light on that illuminates the whole room. Last night, when I made this card, I had one table lamp that, in comparison, seemed to be like working in candlelight. Oh, how spoiled I am.

This week, Papertrey’s Make It Monday Challenge #258,  combining tags and cover plates, was presented by Laurie Willison. Because I tend not to use a lot of tags as tags, I usually make them on an as-needed basis to match the packaging. That meant that my tag for this Make It Monday would be going on a card, a guy’s card. This seemed to be a great way to add texture and keep it graphic, both go-to elements for me when making a masculine card. When the MIM video finished playing, YouTube was kind enough to recommend this video from Vicky Papaioannou and my plan for the card came together. Don’t you love when things like that happen?

Do you think guys wish upon a birthday star?

nancy

supplies:

stamps:  Wishes Come True and Simple Stars (PTI)

ink:  enchanted evening (PTI)

paper:  rustic cream card stock (PTI); passion fruit card stock collection (Recollections)

dies:  Tag Sale #3, Cover Plate: Stars, Seeing Stars, Coffee Cozy Details, Super Star Border, and Double-ended Banner (PTI); Linen & Canvas impression plate (PTI)

extras:  jute twine (Westrim)

it’s the pits: a card for mim#257

Each week, I try to play along with Papertrey’s Make It Monday Challenge, but I usually don’t finish a card in time to post. This week, I was determined to complete and enter my card for Make It Monday #257, sentiment strip grounding, presented by Lexi Daly.

Back at the start of July, I bought two pounds of cherries and pitted them the old fashioned way – with a sharp knife. From those cherries, my daughter made a cherry-blueberry crisp that was amazingly delicious. I mentioned to her that I wanted to buy more cherries and freeze them to have the crisp in the winter, but that I dreaded pitting all of those cherries and having my fingers be stained for two plus weeks. Brianna asked why I didn’t buy a cherry pitter and I explained that I had one many years ago that was worthless, so I’ve just stuck with the knife. She shared that her dad has one and insisted that it is easy to use. Fast forward one six-cherry pitter and five pounds of cherries later and I have a freezer filled with washed and pitted cherries just waiting for a cold winter’s day when Brianna bakes us a cherry crisp.

What do cherry pitters have to do with grounded sentiments? In actuality, nothing, but I incorporated that approach on a card using the cherry from Scent-imentals. I made the card for my father-in-law so that I could share the cherry pitter story. He lives in a nursing home a few states away and I like to send him cards and share little tidbits about what is going on in our lives. In reality, it is easier for me to make a card and write a note if there is a story that guides both; otherwise, I sit there staring at a blank page with my mind just as blank (for both making the card and writing the note).

One would think that after a woman pits five pounds of cherries, she would know exactly what they look like. Right? Well, the blank mind above apparently carries over into other parts of my life. After a “watercolor cherries” search on Pinterest, the following image jumped out at me, more for the design than the actual cherries.  Please note that the pin only went to the image and I was unable to find the original work of art to give credit to the artist.

I was not planning on doing anything that detailed since I am not an artist, but I did want to try to use the flow of colors. After working with a paintbrush for color placement and drips, I gave up and went to the smooshing technique. So much easier!

Sentiment strip grounding was a perfect approach with this card. The woodgrain tape was not only great for the sentiment strip, but it also symbolized a tree branch from which the cherries were growing. Obviously, I overthink things.

Hope you had fun visiting.

nancy

PS – One would think from the length of this post that I wouldn’t have any trouble filling a note card. ;-)

supplies:

stamps:  Scent-imentals and Flower Fusion #10 (PTI)

ink:  harvest gold, bright buttercup, hibiscus burst, pure poppy, scarlet jewel, green parakeet, new leaf and classic kraft (PTI); espresso truffle (Memento); VersaMark

paper:  citrus blend card stock (Recollections); watercolor paper (Strathmore)

dies:  Scent-imentals (PTI)

extras:  wood tape (Studio Calico); black embossing powder (PSX)

mim#203: doodling over stamps

My approach for Papertrey’s Make It Monday #203, doodling over stamps, was a little bit different than Ashley’s. Rather than stamp the actual line image, I used the back of the stamps to get a group of rectangles.

 

After watching the MIM video, I saw a wonderful image on Home Depot’s Instagram that inspired my card.

So I used Ashley’s doodling technique to create a group of frames by stamping the backs of the stamps, softening some of the edges with water, and then doodling loose rectangles to make frames.

The paintbrushes in the inspiration photo were replaced with a wood veneer deer, the recipient’s spirit animal. This is a birthday card for my daughter’s friend, so there were some “suggestions” given, e.g. the deer, for its design.

The soft, muted colors of the card were difficult for me to photograph, but are lovely in person. The card was rushed to the mailbox or else I would have tried for a shot under better lighting conditions. I like the card so much more in person than in my photographs.

Thank you for stopping by.

nancy

supplies:

stamps:  Keep It Simple: Belated Birthday; Framed Out #12; Love Lives Here; Tiny Tags; Grunge Me; Gobble, Gobble; No Strings Attached; Birthday Bash Sentiments; Background Basics: Inspiration; and Stylish Sentiments: Birthday (PTI)

ink:  clean slate (Studio Calico); teal zeal and elderberry (Memento); violet pigment (ColorBox)

paper:  soft stone card stock (PTI); watercolor paper (Strathmore)

extras:  wood veneer deer (Studio Calico Penny Arcade kit); neutral Color Theory enamel dots (Studio Calico)

with <3

This was going to be a quick post Sunday evening to get my card in for Papertrey’s 201st Make It Monday, using a cover plate die cut as a stencil. The post never went up because I used "<3" in the title and it is an HTML code and caused a break in the link. Who knew. Anyway, back to the more interesting part of the post. I used a portion of Cover Plate: Hearts and added glitter over the light molding paste. For some reason the glitter wouldn’t stay stuck, so I went over it with Glossy Accents and additional glitter.

 

My first idea, which didn’t work out, used clear glitter over the light molding paste. Almost a week later, the glitter is not coming off. I’m not sure what happened with the colored glitter, one of the great mysteries of life, like using <3 in a blog title.

Winter is still making itself known. Hope you’re warm where you are.

nancy

supplies:

stamps:  Monthly Moments: February (PTI)

ink:  tuxedo black (Memento)

dies:  Cover Plate: Hearts and Tiny Tags (PTI)

paper:  white, pure poppy and raspberry fizz card stock (PTI)

extras:  washi tape (stash, mainly from Michael’s); blossom twine (The Twinery); light molding paste (Golden); garnet and tourmaline fine glitter (MSC); light pink glitter (Doodlebug)

autumn mason jar

There have been so many incredible releases at PTI that I need another source of “income” in order to be able to buy items from my wish list; so, rather than just attempting the Make It Monday challenges without sharing, I decided to start posting projects again. Yes, you’ve got to be in it to win it. And, we’ll see how long this lasts.

Melissa’s MIM#182 with embossing on a painted mason jar was the perfect reentry challenge. The mason jar is one that should work through Thanksgiving with its fall colors and, because I only embossed on one side of the jar, there are options for decorating.

Autumn blessings to you and yours.

nancy

supplies:

stamps:  tag-its #7 (PTI)

ink:  VersaMark

embossing powder:  apricot, butter, chestnut (AC Zing!)

extras:  gray wolf acrylic paint (MSC); mason jar; ribbon (stash); stems (Michael’s); inspiration (Melissa Phillips)

happy happy happy…

A birthday card for my nephew was on today’s agenda and Ashley’s MIM#146 looked like it would be great for a masculine card. Then I checked the Sunday Sketch on the Studio Calico blog and realized in would work well with the angled background from the Make It Monday Challenge. Doesn’t it make you happy when things like that happen?

Thanks for stopping by. I’m off to watch the new season of Downton Abbey.

nancy

mim#144: heat embossing on vellum

Just a quick post to share a card that I made for Melissa’s MIM#144, heat embossing on vellum. I was so happy to see this Make It Monday because I had asked Melis to share her secrets on this technique. I just wish that I had time to make a few more cards.

 

I blew the entire concept of using vellum when I covered it with a Flea Market photo overlay. Even though the softness of the vellum was lost, I do like how the card turned out, especially with the gold border. The sentiment is actually stamped on the overlay; the candles are embossed on the vellum.

The last three weeks I’ve been slacking on commenting on blogs, for which I apologize. My daughter had surgery to repair a torn ligament in her ankle and has needed someone to fetch and tote for her. During that time, Brianna fell (literally) into the ‘if it can go wrong it will’ group with the latest thing being catching a brutal case of the flu during an ER visit. With her stomach settling down today, we decided to look on the positive side and agreed that it was good that she has gotten the flu out of the way and lost about five pounds in the process. It always helps to see the silver lining.

nancy

joy

While making Thanksgiving cards, thoughts about the upcoming holidays kept popping up. One thing led to another and an idea for an Advent card came to mind beginning from a glassine bag by Melissa Phillips that had stayed with me.

The card is going to my two young great-nieces who love the colors purple and pink, which works out perfectly for an Advent card. I planned on sending it to them the third week of Advent so that I could use the word “joy” on it. The die cut is glittered using Heather’s MIM#141, applying glitter via heat embossing. After several attempts at different variations, I ended up mixing fine glitter into clear embossing powder and heating that. It required extra heat to melt, so the paper did get scorched. I’m sure that Ayla and Zoe won’t notice.

I don’t like to push my beliefs on others, but, since this is an Advent card, it really needed a verse or prayer that had something to do with Advent. (My niece and her family are the same religion as I, so I wasn’t concerned with insulting them in any way.) The prayer that I had on hand was too advanced for my great-nieces, so the Internet came to the rescue. I found a song, sung to the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, that hit just the note I wanted.

So often cards do not turn out the way I imagine, but this surpassed my imagination. It shares a message of faith while being fun and girly. Even better, when I showed the card to my daughter, she started crying. No, I am not a horrible mother. It was the reason for her tears that touched me. Brianna immediately thought of my mom when looking at the card and shared, “Grandmère would have loved this card. It would have brought a smile to her face.” And that is one of the reasons why I make cards.

nancy

thank you

A few weeks ago, one of my religious ed students and I had a conversation about rainbow bracelets and the friendship bracelets from my daughter’s generation. Last Sunday, Amanda came into class with a rainbow bracelet she made just for me. I wanted to let her know what her kindness means to me, so I thought a fun card in bright colors would be just right for a note.

My inspiration for the card came from two places – a sketch from Studio Calico’s Sunday Sketch based on a layout by Shanna Noel and Dawn’s MIM#139, which is to create a square frame with Papertrey stamps. The arrow from tag-its #11 was used for the frame.

Thanks so much for taking time from your day to visit my blog.

nancy

blessed

Last week’s Make It Monday was the starting point for a card for my DRE. This week’s influenced the design of a card for a fellow fifth grade catechist and her husband. A mood board from Studio Calico’s LOAW picked the colors for me.

 

Pam and Kevin allowed me to vent after my challenging class last Sunday. More than that, they offered me sound advice and pushed me to move forward rather than giving the situation just one more week. I often need that nudge.

One of the things that I enjoy about card making is the ability to put a piece of my heart into the process. I like to think about the recipient of the card while choosing colors or sentiments or even while taping down a strip of paper. Cards seem to be my version of a prayer shawl.

I always like to add a little something to the inside of the card, even if it is a strip of washi tape. On this card, the dotted paper used on the front added a pleasing softness inside, so I went with it. And those little pumpkins are just cute.

Enjoy your weekend.

nancy

trick-or-treat

Just quickly stopping by to wish everyone a happy Halloween and to post an entry for this week’s Make It Monday, using inlaid die cuts.

The design is simple, but when making multiples with all of the die cuts involved, I don’t think I could have added more and mailed the cards on time. Brianna saw me cranking the handle of my Cuttlebug and asked if there wasn’t a motorized version I could buy. She is ever so practical.

To me, what makes this card is the patterned paper used for the eyes, mouth and stem. That detail added a little bit of whimsy to the pumpkin. And, with shifting the triangle dies ever so slightly, each pumpkin had its own personality.

I live on a busy street, so only the most diehard trick-or-treaters, adolescent boys, make it to my door. I’ve been tempted to shut off the floodlights, since the buying of candy, etc. seems almost too much trouble for two or three kids, but I just cannot allow myself to turn into that old fart each neighborhood has. Hope you get lots of children in fun and original costumes gracing your door.

Happy Halloween!

nancy

ever so grateful

Melissa Phillips is hosting this week’s Make It Monday and she created the most enchanting card with its focus being a dimensional leaf wreath. I had hoped to play along and use some of the vivid colors that are so prevalent this time of year. Well, I’m playing along, but the colors I used are of the softer, muted side of autumn.

I also managed to incorporate into this card a challenge from Studio Calico to use three stamping techniques with one stamp set. The set that I used is Papertrey Ink’s Autumn Acorns. The outside of the card used the stamps with embossing and paper piecing.

Tucked on the inside corner, the leaf stamp was inked using the rock-n-roll technique.

Today’s religious education class presented me with a test of my patience and, unfortunately, I didn’t pass. This card is going to our DRE to tell her how much I appreciate her help with the situation. (Yes, I am intentionally being very vague here.) I should be sending a card to Linda each week to let her know what she means to me. This is a start.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope your week is off to a great start.

nancy

mim#110: collage elements

Dawn McVey is hosting this week’s Make It Monday and she has challenged us to create a stamped collage. Even after watching the video a few times, I wasn’t quite sure how to tackle this. I wish that Dawn had shared a few more of her tricks with us as she made her fabulous card. It could be that there were more suggestions in the video, but my very stuffy head made it difficult for anything to be absorbed. (The allergy season seems to have started early here. Ugh.)

When starting this card, I knew that I wanted to make a birthday card and include elements from this tag by Nichole Heady. (It’s the second project.) I pulled out all of my PTI birthday stamp sets along with other sets that would work in a collage and got to stamping.

While uploading my photos, I came across another collage card that I had made for my daughter to send her an iTunes gift card. It appears that I lean toward neutrals with a single color pop when stamping collages.

We are in the midst of some gorgeous spring weather, so it’s time for me to go out and do some yard work. Hope you have some sunshine in your world today.

nancy

noted: happy day

Happy Easter. I hope that you’ve been able to spend a wonderful day with your family whether or not you celebrate this holiest of days. Without having little ones around the house, the festivities surrounding our Easter celebration have changed drastically. As a result, I had some time to play with paper and stamps this evening and gave Betsy’s Make It Monday a try. The challenge for MIM#109 is to heat emboss on a watercolor image.

Please excuse the messy embossing. The drafting paper that I used held onto everything.

Using the violets image from PTI’s Year of Flowers Collection, I added the color using the back of the violet stamp and some Heidi Swapp Color Shine. When I started the card, my intention was to capture the look of a field sketchbook, so I stamped onto drafting paper and backed it with Fawn & Flora Ledger paper (K&Company). That muted, journal feel was quickly abandoned after I tried out my new container of Zing! gold glitter embossing powder. (The jar was sitting right in front of me, tempting me. I succumbed.)

I got a little carried away with the gold glitter embossing powder, which is how the gold chevron ended up on the card. With that addition, I decided to enter this card in the Moxie Fab World Chevron Challenge.

Remember to take note of your happy days. Hope you have an overwhelming number of them.

nancy