Archive for March, 2010

I fell in love with this card when I watched a video, byVicky Papaioannoum, on how to make it.  You can also get a free download at www.clip-n-cuts.com.  She is pretty amazing so if you get a chance check out her site and you need to watch the video.  She doesn’t talk through them, she just shows you how to do it (love that).

This card features a tea pot, a cup and the tea bag string is actually attached to the tea bag that is inside the card.  How cute is that and it adds a very cute dimension to the card.

On the video she shows you how to make the little flap to hold the tea bag and she took her tea bag out of the wrapper.  I left my tea bag in the wrapper and took my craft knife and cut a slit in the back of the wrapper and pulled the teabag string out.

By the way the flavor of the tea bag is Ginger Peach and it is made by Stash.  This is one of my favorite tea flavors because it is so flavorful.

As you can see I kept the inside simple and used a CB embossing border to divide the card sentiment from my personal note.

Before I cut this slit in the card for the tea bag string to go through, I place the elements on the front of the card and “eyeballed” where the middle of the cup was going to set.  If you watch her video she demonstrates that technique.

I lifted the elements with foam tape as shown in this picture.

The sentiment on the outside of the card is a stamp I bought years ago, but always works well with a sympathy card.

The doodling around the card was done with a brown Prisma pencil.  I didn’t have a brown ink pen and I think the Prisma color pencil gives the card an informal look.

I also took Glossy Accents and covered the Tea Pot, cup and saucer to give it a china look.

Some additional things I added to the card ….. steam to the tea cup (Stickles, copper), a border that looks like it is sitting on a doily (MS scalloped punch).

This was a card that I sent to our Pastor’s wife Lori.  Lori lost her Grandmother last week and since Lori loves tea, I know she will find comfort in the scripture verse, and a good cup of tea.

I’m working on a real cute album for my Mother and I will share that process with you when I finish getting it made and all the pictures taken.  Thanks for stopping by and let me know what you think.

Our church “Elevate” is in preparations for Easter Sunday Services.  We are having a 12 hour Prayer Event and a Prayer Walk on 3/31/2010.

I’ve been burning CDs for the Prayer Event that have 30 minutes of music.  Our church members have been signing up to spend 30 minutes in prayer for our Communities on 3/31/2010.  I’m burning 50 (10 a day)  in all and hand making the envelopes and stamping them.

I decided the CDs needed a sleeve to protect them after they are burned and it would  make it easier to hand out.  A 5″x5″ enveloped worked and I stamped a “Thanks” on each envelope to dress it up a bit.  I just take a plain sheet of copy paper and cut it to an 8-1/4″ square.  I then take my Enveloper and score the lines at the E channel on all 4 sides.

Makes a perfect size envelope and tells everyone that is participating ” Thanks” for covering our Communities in prayer.  We are praying for 300 on Easter Sunday.

So my prayer for you, is that you find a church of your choice and attend Easter Sunday Services and if you are close and looking for a place to worship you are welcome at Elevate @ Cox Elementary School in Woodbridge @ Wylie, TX 75098.

Oh, I’m smitten!  I love the luscious spring colors.  This is vintage seam binding that I got from a awesome store called Smitten. You can find their website here.  Smitten is where I get my German Glass and I find things that have been reused, re-purposed and refreshed.

This vintage seam binding has a little texture to it because of the way it is woven and I can’t wait to use it on a card.  Besides vintage seam binding she also has satin ribbon, velvet ribbon and my favorite thing today was the German Glass Easter Eggs.  She has a lot more than ribbon and German Glass so be sure and check her website.

We went to McKinney because March 26th was our 40th anniversary and my husband (Red) knows I love looking through unique shops.  We stopped at a place call Spoons for lunch and then walked down to Smitten.   I can stand at the German Glass display and just admire all the beautiful colors.  However, I wanted to add more to my German Glass collection and chose these  three new additions.

At Smitten you will find various grades of German Glass, such as course, fine and a new one that is called tumbled.  This takes the shine off and gives the German Glass a more organic look.  I didn’t get any today but that is going on my “must have” list.

If you live close by be sure and stop by Smitten.   It is located at 118 E. Louisiana, McKinney, TX 75069 and tell Karen (who by the way is super nice)  you saw the post on Talent is Optional.  No, I’m not being paid, I just love the store and have enjoyed the unique things I find there and by the way they also have classes.

Check them out!!

Today Red and I are celebrating our 40th Anniversary.  I married when I was 18 years old and still in high school.

This man became my knight in shining armor.

Love you Red!  Today we are spending the entire day together doing things that we want to do and one of them is going to the driving range and hitting golf balls.

Sorry, I didn’t get back yesterday.  You know how it is some days flow smooth and some days you can’t get everything you intend to do done.  Oh well, better late than never!

Here is a list of Copic markers that I used on this card  (click on the picture to get a bigger view):

Y000, Y21, Y02 – This is everything that is colored yellow.

V000, V12, V15 – This is the violet pink.

YG03, G85, G82 – This is the green  (I zig zag stitched the grass in and then colored also)

R14, R20 – This is the inside of the bunnies ears, nose, and checks

B000 is the highlighting around the bunnies and C1 is used to shadow the white bunnies.  This helps the white look whiter and makes them look like they were colored white instead of just being the white of the paper (they were not colored that is the white of the paper).  I also use C1 to help deepen up some of the light areas that I wanted to have a little depth to the color.  The importance here is you need to make sure you use the right tonal quality with the colors you are deepening.  The C1, C3 etc. colors are a cool gray, so they work well with the colors of the picture.

I added some Stickles here and there and the little bunny has Glossy Accents on the apron.

I cut the scalloped egg using a piece of acetate (I’m recycling).  I then ran it through the CB using an embossing folder.  Unfortunately, I didn’t write the name of the embossing folder down on the folder so I have no clue what the name of it is; however, something like Floral Fantasy would work too.

I took Ranger’s Adirondack Lights Acrylic Paint (Lemonade) and went around the edges.  Be sure and let this dry (it doesn’t take long) or it will smear.

I also inked the edges of the egg card in a darker pink  before I adhered the scalloped acetate egg to the front.

I used some pop dots to lift the little white egg with the bunnies up off the acetate egg.  Tied the bow using my Bow Easy and placed it where the sun would be shining.

This is a little card, the egg card measures 3″ at the widest point across and about 4″ high.  You can make it as big as you want it if you are using something like Sure Cuts a Lot.   Be sure and check out my earlier post today for the website that has the freebie svg cut.

I’m am so loving the Copic markers, my #2 daughter said she thought I probably like them so much because it makes you feel like I’m are painting again.  I used to teach Tole and acrylic painting years ago.   Hmmm, there may be something to that!

Hope you have fun with making something similar.  I’m loving the look of acetate through an embossing folder.   Let me know what you think, I love hearing from everyone.

Oh it is so late, so I’m going to give you a start post and then try to finish it sometime tomorrow.

I got the egg shape from SVGcuts.com/blog (here). This is a great site, not only do they give away free svg files they also do video’s.  I took this and made it into a card using Sure Cuts A Lot program.

I cut the scalloped edge egg out of acetate and I printed the little bunnies on an ATC trading card made out of Bristol Smooth.

So these are the basics I started with and I’ll come back and update the post tomorrow when I have more brain power.

I took this picture on my way to church yesterday.  I wonder if you could get by with only going 2 miles an hour in the school zone.

Can you believe it was the second day of Spring and we (Texas), had a snow storm.  We received 6″ of snow.  Let me re-phrase that, we received 6″ of blowing snow.

This is looking out our breakfast nook window and and that is snow that is actually stuck to the screen and this window is between the houses.

Look how thick the snow is on the table.  This is a wrought iron table and it has holes in it but the snow got so thick it stuck.

This is our Bradford Pear that was full of white blooms but what you are looking at is actually snow.

It is so hard to believe that it was the 21st of March and we had this much snow.  I thought you might like to see what Texas looks like all covered with snow thanks to El Nino.  I’ll be back tomorrow to show the details on the bunnies and then we will start the instructions on how to put together the Advent calendar that didn’t come with instructions.

First let me say this is not my idea.  I discovered this (here) and she deserves the credit.  However, I had just bought some baking cups and was getting ready to mess around with them.  So here is my take on how to make them.  This is a long post, man I need to get me a video camera to make these instructions easier.

I found these at M’s but you can find them just about anywhere.  These are plain white but I also used candy cups that were foiled and they are smaller.

I also discovered after making several of these I like the flowers made with 5 layers better than the ones made with 3 layers.  I’m sure this is just a matter of taste.

The first thing I did was to take 5 white baking cups and used some chalk ink to give them some color.

I only inked one side of the cups.

I wanted them to have some shimmer so I decided to use my LuminArte water colors.  I’m sure you could do this some glimmer mist but I wanted a deeper color and shimmer and they worked very nicely.

I covered just the outside of the cups and didn’t worry about the white center since this area would be covered with a brad, crystal or button.

I also used my heat gun to help dry the watercolor paints.

I also used Mod Podge on all 5 cups after they were painted.  The Mod Podge acts like a little stiffener and it also makes the paper cups sturdier when you are curling the layers.

I used my heat gun to dry the Mod Podge but be sure and be very careful not to get it to close or it will bubble the Mod Podge.

Now we are ready to start the flower making process.  There are two folds that you will do to each of the 5 baking cups that make the layers of the flower.

First, you fold the cup in half like the top baking cup in this picture.  Then you fold it in half again like the baking cup at the bottom of this picture.

Next you want to cut down the center (through both layers) past the ridges but not all the way to the end.  I usually cut through about a 1/4″ past the ridges.

Flip it over and cut down the folded sides (both sides).  You do the same thing just cut down a 1/4″ past the ridges on each side.

I usually make one cut down the middle on the largest layer.  This will make four petals in this layer.

You do this same process on the remaining layers.  Usually on the rest of the layers I will make two additional cuts.  After I make the middle cut I move over to the left and cut between the end and the middle cut and then move over to the right and cut between the right side and the middle cut.  This makes the various layers of the flower have a lot of petals.

Since we have 5 layers to deal with, I will leave one of the layers at it’s original size and then each subsequent layer I cut down about a 1/4″ from the preceding layer.

This makes each layer a different size and gives some extra dimension to the flower.

After cutting them I opened up and layered from largest to smallest.

You can see after you get to this point the shimmer of the watercolor paints and the Mod Podge.

I decided I wanted to see what the layers would look like if I inked the edges of the petals.  I know, I know but it’s all about the details.  I really did like how this made this flower look.

After I inked the edges I glued the layers together.  I used Glossy Accents but all you need is a quick drying glue.  I put a dot between each layer.

After the glue dried I took the flower in my hand and scrunched it.  You can put this step in or leave it out.  If you put it in it just gives the petals a different look.

Be careful when you do this step as you open them back up.  Your flower petals can get torn as you try to straighten them out.  Mod Podge helps them be a litter sturdier but they still can rip.

After I straightened the petals and layers back out, I placed them on a piece of foam (you can use a mouse pad too) and took the straight end of my Cricut spatula (a pencil or pen will work also) and pressed real hard through the middle until the petals of the flowers started curling up around the spatula.

You can see it is already beginning to make a flower.

Now you can see how the various sizes of layers and the petals all start coming together.  You can continue to scrunch the layers and crimp them until you get the look you want.

I used a clear dew drop and colored it with Ranger Alcohol Inks (Latte) to match the flower.  Quick drop of Glossy Accents to secure it to the center.

I love the way this flower came out.  The picture does not do it justice.

Here are several others I made using candy cups and baking cups.  The black and white flower is done with the white baking cups and I stamped on the cups before I started folding and cutting the layers.

I hope you try these baking cup flowers.  The ridges in the baking cups adds a great element to the flower and you can also use your deckle scissors to give the edges a different look.  Of course you can use glitter and Stickles to have that extra bling.  I’ve started making these in various sizes and putting them in a glass jar, they are a beautiful decorating element and I’ll have some flowers ready when I need them.

You can see my post on Lollipop Flowers (here and here).  Have fun and be creative!

Hi everyone, it is suppose to be the first day of Spring but here (in Texas) it is raining with a possible mix of snow and cold…..burrrrr!

Let’s finish up this little monkey card.  On the out side of the card and the green part of the top of the tree, I took my Prisma pencils and colored around the edges and I also colored in the trunk of the tree.  I also colored around the little slits I put on the green top where the branches that the monkeys are holding on to will be inserted.

I inserted the monkeys in the top part and made sure that the white part of the limbs are hidden.

I flipped the green top over and secured the little branches with tape so they would not be sliding around.

This is going to be adhered to the card but I didn’t want to take any chances with them slipping out.

I glued the green top on to the outside of the card making sure I set it on the card off centered.  That is why I colored the edges of the top of the card green so that it gives it some dimension.  I also took a white pen and highlighted some areas to give it added interest.

The trunk of the tree is colored with Prisma Pencils (using odorless mineral spirits to blend).  The knot in the tree was free handed.  I took a foam dot and put it under the little monkey that is hanging down on the truck to keep it stable.

I found some scrap paper for inside the card and cut it and the original monkey out to put on the left hand side.

The pattern paper actually looks like tree leaves.

I cut the monkey for the inside to mimic the tree outline and used glossy accents on the leaves.  I also free handed an additional limb to make it look like it was coming from the tree.

On the side that contains the message I did the same thing but I free handed in some leaves and used glossy accent on them.

Gareth (my 4 1/2 year old grandson) went to Disneyland and Rylan (my 22 month old granddaughter) stayed with her Granna and Granddad while they were gone.

I mailed the card to them so it would come in the mail when they got home.  The monkeys represents me, Gareth and Rylan and it makes a date with them to go Monkey around at the park.  They love getting cards in the mail.

Hope you enjoyed seeing how the card was made and let your imagination run with new ideas.  This one came to me when I saw the coloring page and I couldn’t wait to get it done.  It actually came out the way I thought it would.

Thanks for looking and don’t forget to leave me a comment.  Next I’m going to show you how to make a new flower, so be sure and come back by.

We do not have a fix on the uploading of pictures to my blog…..but we do have a work around.  It is amazing how quickly we forget how to do something.  I’m having to upload pictures the way I did before my sweet SIL made me a button that allowed me to select the picture and then click on the button and it was done.

This post will be done in a couple of post, because it would be too long to do it all in one since I haven’t been able to do any good postings in awhile.

I came across this picture of a monkey hanging from a tree.  I think it was suppose to be a “fairy” monkey (whatever that is) but I didn’t like the little wings so I took white out tape and removed them from the picture.

Now with the wings gone.  I simply scanned the coloring page into my computer and put it in a word file.  This way I can size it and make it into a digital stamp to be used over and over again.

He is so cute and I instantly thought of my GKs when I saw him.

After I scanned it and resized it, I printed it out on Gina K. Designs Pure Luxury card stock (here).  I used Copic Markers  to color the little fellow and I really liked the way he came out.  Now as I write this I realized I didn’t write down the colors I used for this project.  So I will have to ask you to forgive me and I promise to start writing down that information so I can provide it in the post.

Remember, I’m still new at using Copic Markers so this will be a learning process.

I used a Sakura Scouffle white pen to make the little highlight marks and I also use Prisma Pencils and the MCPT to enhance my coloring.

Here is another little item I colored.  This is a stamped image of a Magnolia Stamp.  I inserted a little mouth on this one (the little girl without a mouth weirds out my daughter).

Once you start coloring with these markers you get hooked.  They are a lot of fun and you can color and shade pretty quick.  Again, this is a mix of Copic Markers, Prisma Pencils, Stickles and Glossy Accent.

This is a free digi stamp that I received and if you take a close look (just click on the picture) you will see they have some highlights in yellow around them.  I also used some Glossy Accents to give the picture some added dimension.  I also put some googly eyes on them to add a little extra surprise.

I found a tree on Paperdolls for Everyday cartridge and created a card in Design Studio (if you want to know how to do this just e-mail me and I’ll explain).

I cut the design out twice, once in a light tan card stock and again in a green card stock.  I’m using a light tan card stock because I’m going to use the Prisma Color pencils to add some color and depth to the tree trunk.

I cut the green card apart and cut the trunk off and then just laid it on top of the tree card.  Don’t glue this on yet because we will be making some slits in the green part to insert the limbs that the little monkey’s are holding onto.

I went into word and the digi stamp and copied the little monkey three times.  Another good thing about using a digi stamp is you can flip the image.  As you can see I made three different sizes (me, Gareth and Rylan) and printed them out on my Gina K. Designs pure luxury card stock and used my Copic Markers and Prisma Pencils to color the images.

I cut the little monkeys out including the limb they were hanging on but cutting off the leaves.  I also left a little extra card stock on the limb because I’m going to insert the limbs into some little slits in the green card stock so it will look like the limbs are coming out of the tree.

I messed around with how to place the monkeys on the tree and once I decided where I wanted them I took a pencil and marked where I needed to take my craft knife and cut the slits into the green card stock only.

I put Glossy Accents all over the three little monkeys.  This does a couple of things, it makes the little monkeys rigid and it also adds dimension.

We’ll finish the rest of this card up tomorrow.  As you can see this already sooooo cute and we haven’t even began to add the extra touches.  Thanks for looking and let me know what you think.