Paper Woods

Sentiment says: “Life is a great bundle of little things.”

I have a few of the new Cuttlebug embossing folders and was playing around with them this weekend.  This one is called Flower Circle and it is so incredibly easy to make into a card!  I cut out the center of the circle so the message from the inside can be seen, but it’d be really easy to just stamp or decorate the center of the flower too. 

The stamp I used on the inside actually has a circle around it, but I didn’t like the way it looked so I only inked up the words of the stamp.  I always thought the phrase would be perfect for a baby card by adding “Congratulations on your new little bundle!” to the inside of the card.  So I thought it might be kind of cute to make the embossed flower look more like a baby rattle!  I added a peel-and-stick rhinestone to each petal and a gingham ribbon bow to the bottom.  Cute, and oh so easy!

Supplies: all cardstock from Die Cuts With a View, Signature background stamp from Rubber Stampede, VersaMark watermark ink from Tsukineko, brown chalk from Chalklets by EK Success, Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip ink from SU!, hemp cord from Darice, brad from Making Memories, font is “Cowboys” from www.1001freefonts.com.  I made the scalloped edges with my slot punch tool by Making Memories.

I made this card last week for the Gallery Idol Challenge over at Paper Crafts Magazine.  I really love it!  It was one of two I entered.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get chosen for the contest (totally bummed!), but there are some pretty amazing cards on there.  Check it out, and make sure you vote before Thursday!

A friend of mine got married over the weekend, so I made her this fun little card.  It’s very simple, but I like how it turned out.

Supplies: patterned paper from Memory Boutique, chipboard heart from Stampin’ Up!, “Blessings” stamp from Be Authentic set by The Angel Company, white craft ink from Stampin’ Up!, ribbon by Offray, peel-and-stick rhinestones from Jewelry Fundamentals

I used Nicole’s great tips on covering chipboard to cover my little chipboard heart with patterned paper.  Her best tip was to leave a little extra paper hanging over the edge, and then file the edges down.  I was always a little nervous to try covering chipboard shapes with paper because I didn’t think that the edges would look that clean - how could I cut it just perfectly so that it didn’t look ragged, you know?  So I was excited to try her tip!  I used a sandpaper sponge I keep with my craft stuff and took off a little more of the paper than she did in her tutorial, but I really like the way it looks - nice and clean.  Thanks for the tip, Nicole!

I was so surprised to get an email from Sarah over at the Craft Critique saying that they chose me as a finalist in their Fabric Challenge Contest!  WOW!  There are just 5 finalists, and they’re all beautiful projects.  Now it’s up to the public to vote for their favorite.  So go check it out!  (My project is letter A!)

I submitted this card that I made for a previous Valentine’s Day:

I made the centerpiece with some scrap velvet fabric from my mother-in-law’s old sewing box she gave me (Thanks, Mom!).  I cut a heart shape out of the center of a piece of cream cardstock, hand-stitched the velvet to the back of it, and then glued a piece of black cardstock behind that, making a sandwich.  I left an opening at the top of my “sandwhich” so that I could stuff some batting behind the fabric to make it pop out a bit.  It was very easy!

Earlier this month I made a birthday card for my father, and I liked it so much that I decided to submit it to the Inkadinkado online gallery.  They accepted it!  Yay!  You can see it here (it’s the first one at the top of the page, from Kate R. - that’s me!).  I think this card would also make a great Father’s Day card!

I only used stamps from Inkadinkado (a requirement for getting your projects accepted): Old World Map (#91085), and the compass image from the Clear-On-Clear Travel Time set (#93615).   

To make the background, I stamped the Old World Map in VersaMark watermark ink and then “pounced” over it with chalk filled applicators in a couple different colors.  This gives the image a subtle, mottled look that I really like. 

The medallion was made by impressing the compass image into a pool of melted embossing powder placed over a scrap of netting.  The text was printed on vellum from my computer, using the CK Magnificent font.  It reads: “If I searched the whole world over… I would still choose you to be my father.”

Because Inkadinkado accepted my card for their online gallery, I get a free stamp of my choice from their website!!  How cool is that?!  I think I’m definitely going to try to submit to them more often!

Happy Crafting!

If so, don’t throw it out! The latest March Madness challenge I completed over at Creative Crafts and Stickers was to create something using ugly paper. Whether it was a “what was I thinking” moment of weakness in your local scrapbooking store, or something you received as a gift that you would NEVER buy yourself, I think we all probably have some paper that makes us cringe. Well, this challenged forced me to look again at some paper I had mentally discarded the instant I received it. My outcome?

I think I kind of like it!! It turns out that it really wasn’t hideous paper, it just wasn’t my style - AT ALL! So the moral of the story is, challenge yourself to use something that you really don’t like, and you might discover a style you never thought you had in you! What can you make with your ugly paper?

Happy Crafting!

Check out this new blog called Caardvarks! They will be hosting bi-monthly challenges for card makers, with really sweet prizes. As a cardmaker I am always looking for things to inspire me to make new creations, and challenges do just that. This site looks like it’s going to be really fun and funky. I can’t wait to see what they come up with!

Their first challenge is to use photos on a card. So here’s my creation:

The photo is a picture I took while hiking in Yosemite National Park of one of my sisters-in-law and her boyfriend. I just love how the two of them are looking off into the distance together, as if imagining their future, so I thought it would make a great graduation card. The quote on the top is from Henry David Thoreau.

Go check out the Caardvarks blog, and get crafting! (Submissions for this first challenge are due March 17th)

March is National Craft Month!  This is always a good time to stop by your local craft store, because there are sure to be lots of sales and classes and extra fun to help spread the joy of crafting.

I recently started participating in an online paper crafting community at Creative Crafts and Stickers.  What a wonderful and talented group of crafters! (Hey ladies!)  They are doing some super fun challenges and contests all month long in honor of National Craft Month.  Go check it out!

The first challenge was to use some black in a design.  Here are my entries:

This card is very simple, but I like it.  I could easily turn the flowers into fireworks for a 4th of July card, or into balloons for a birthday card!

This card has been bouncing around in my mind for quite a while now, I just needed the challenge to get it out in the open!  It is inspired by this beautiful Chinese-style tunic my mother made for me.  I wore it to Christi’s wedding last weekend. 

 
(That’s me wearing it, and my wonderful husband beside me - isn’t he handsome?!)
 

Now on to the next March Madness challenge - Monochrome!  We can only use varying shades of one color in the whole design.  This will be fun!

Happy Crafting!

Well, my husband and I are now finally back home and recovered from Christi’s wedding. What a weekend! It was fabulous! We had a wonderful time together, and had a blast hanging out with my husband’s family.

The favors were a big hit! They looked great at everyone’s place setting, and I got lots of compliments on them. So mark this one as a success!

Whew!  After a last minute run to the shipping store I can now say that Christi’s wedding favors are done and in the mail!  Yay!  I finished up the assembly of all 130 sets of personalized stationery today while watching a movie.  (And entertaining the most adventurous of my four cats, Meriwether!)

I didn’t get to round the corners of each sheet of stationery like I wanted to (like in the picture of the sample below), but I just did not have enough time.  I realized that since there are 520 sheets total (4 sheets for each set) that would mean 2,080 corners to punch!  I wonder, do they make corner rounder punches that can cut through large stacks of paper?  Anyway, I think they came out okay.  I used the same cardstock for the bellybands as I did on her invitations, so they match.  And I also stamped the same double heart image in the same ink color.  I think they’ll really look nice at the reception, and will help tie in her wedding theme and colors.  What do ya’ think?