BIG Day (with cake, and perhaps a little ice-cream)

You've got to love this Sale-a-Bration set from Stampin' Up!

Here are just four variations of the same card.
You can totally have fun with this!

Start with a simple layout on Pacific Point, with some Painted Blooms DSP for a colorful accent.










Or, just frame the center with the Pacific Point, leaving the card base white.














Then again, maybe we'll stick with the blue card base, but layer the white on top, so as to create a picture frame.











 

Or never mind the blue.  Let's go with a dark pink card base, using Rose Red card stock.

All Purpose Butterfly Card

Butterflies and blossoms--so easy to work with, and good for every occasion.

Here is a pretty card that is perfect for a get well, or sympathy.

The seeming challenge here is getting those windows straight.  It's actually very easy!  Here is my low-measure method.

Start with a Whisper White card base, plus a card front measuring 4" x 5 1/4".  On that card, about 2/3 of the way up, make a little pencil mark right in the middle, which would be 2 1/2 plus 1/8th.  (ok, 2 5/8 for normal people.) 

(The angle of this photo really messes with the look of the proportions, but card really does have the correct dimensions.)

Flip the card upside-down for easier handling, and line your 1 1/4" square punch over the mark.  Use the mark only to center your punch.  You should place the paper down into the punch as far as it will go, keeping it centered only laterally.  Punch out the center window.









Now slide your punch over to the side, resting the paper against your finger.  This will be the correct distance to punch out the next window.  Be sure the paper is pushed down as far as it will go. Punch the side window.

Turn the card stock over and do the same on the other side, using your finger to stop the paper in just the right spot.  Again, be sure the paper is down in the punch as far as it will go. Punch!

 Your windows will look like this.  (Your spacing will look better than mine if you don't try using one hand to take pictures.)

Now lay the window frame on the card base, and slide it over just a little.  Make two little pencil marks to give you an idea of the height of your windows.

Do both sides.  When you put the window frame back, it will cover the marks, but of course you may erase them later if you like.

Sponge your sky from near the top of the card base to the center between the two pencil marks, and your grass coming up from just below the marks.

Be careful not to sponge all the way to the edge, to keep the edge of the card white.  You may use scrap paper to mask the edges if you are not sure of yourself.

Or, you may go ahead and color all the way to the edges in blue, green, or both.  Have fun.  Once done sponging, stamp your favorite flower or weed several times across the meadow that you have made.  I used Serene Silhouettes for my card. 

Stamp your sentiment on the window card BEFORE attaching it.  (That way if you smear, you can flip over and do over!)  The window may be popped up on dimensionals or taped flat with snail tape.  Add your butterfly and your pearls, and you're all done!

I would love to see your variations on this card.  Show me what you can do!

Valentines!

 Valentines cards are so much fun to make.  Perhaps it's because the colors and theme are so well defined, that I find it so easy to just play and come up with designs.  (Too many choice tend to put me in a spin.)

So here is a card I made using the new Happy Hearts embossing folder:

To do this, add an extra sheet or two of card stock to Tab One on your Big Shot, to make the impression deeper.  After embossing on whisper white card stock, use a brayer and your Pretty in Pink ink pad to GENTLY roll the ink over the card face. Do not press. With such light pressure, you may have to re-ink and go over the card a few times.  It is a good idea to check first to see if your card, after being embossed is lying flat.  You can bend it back & forth genetly to try and get it as flat as possible.  This will avoid getting smears of ink inside and in between the hearts.  However, if you get one or two, that is where the ribbon or larger hearts will go!

Here's how to get a cute double-heart embellishment on this inside, using only a heart punch from the Itty Bitty Accents punch pack:

First, stamp your sentiment on the inside liner of your card.  I'm using Whisper White here. Next, punch a heart in the corner, pushing the punch up as far as it will go.

 Layer the Whisper White card onto the next color, which in my case is Pretty in Pink. 

Your next step is to punch another heart through the double layer, offsetting the punch a little down and to the side, shown here. 

Snail-tape your liner into your card.  Here's what it looks like when you're done: 

Quilted Cards

One of the most fun things to do is to make a quilt--especially when it only takes a few minutes, and you don't have to worry about a total inability to make straight, even stitches....

All you need is a few left over scraps of designer paper, preferably with very small patterns, a  nice embossing folder, your cardstock, a glue-stick, and the usual snail tape and cutting tools of your choice.

Here, I am using a very common star pattern; but laid out in two different ways, it gives two very different looks. I have chosen from my stash of retired dsp's, and color stacks. I am working with Wild Wasabi for the green, Early Esspresso for the brown. The dsp's contain both white and vanilla, as well as Cherry Cobbler, Real Red, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, and So Safron.  I chose to use Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, and Crumb Cake as well as the first two I mentioned.

When making a quilt, choose tones that go together, and pull your solid colors out of the design patterns that you are using.  Don't be afraid to use plenty of colors!  Depending on the back-ground colors you use, your quilt card will look cozy, vibrant, peaceful, or playful.  Have fun and experiment with the arrangement of the pieces.

When you have the arrangement you like, I recommend using a glue stick to paste the pieces onto your back-ground square.  Because this paste won't dry instantly, you will have a little time to push and slide your pieces a little, to make them fit against each-other just right.  To make sure everything stays put, however, I like to put a very thin layer of the paste down on the backing, and then put a little more on each piece as I lay it down.

Once everything is where it should be, select an embossing folder with a detailed pattern, and emboss the entire quilt together.  Because you already have two layers of paper here, you may not need to use any tabs with your folder (usually they take tab #1 on the Big Shot.)

To finish this card, I added a lacy edge using a border punch, and then backed the quilt with Crumb Cake over and Early Espresso card base.  The two different ribbons each make a totally different impact on the card; one quietly complements the card, the other giving a burst of color and cheer.

Learning From My Mistakes

It is really important to remember that we were designed for community.  When you're a crafter, community gives you inspiration, encouragement, and sometimes, a good laugh.

A fellow crafter recently gave me a really good example of a very silly mistake that was corrected by a friend with whom she was chatting.  It seems that she complained about the waste when cutting a 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 piece from her 8-1/2 x 11 card stock.  She ended up with an L-shaped extra that wasn't much good for anything.  She told me how incredulous she was when her friend said "(DUH!) Just cut the paper in half and fold!"  She had been cutting the card out from the corner, long-wise on the 11" side.

I found the story delightful, because it's always good to know that I'm not the only one doing things the hard way, or having a brain-burp in a certain area. 

Now for one of my own this month:  I decided to ring in the New Year with a do-it-yourself red manicure. Kudos to OPI--their polish has lasted amazingly well, with only occasional tiny chips on the very ends of my nails which I would touch up as needed.   One day, as I sat down to make some cards with Whisper White card stock,  I discovered little red pencil marks on my card stock.  No problem; I just erased them and put the red pencil I had on the table, away.  Then I discovered more red marks, and realized that it wasn't the pencil!


Although my manicure was covered with a clear-coat, the tiny little spot where I had dabbed a little polish that morning to cover a chip, was not.  The red nail polish was leaving little streaks here and there when the tip of my nail hit the paper.

So, two lessons learned:  one, always clear-coat your nail polish before crafting.
Two, life is better if you can laugh at your mistakes.

Happy crafting!
Gosia

Happy New Year

   Wow--the Holiday Season really threw me for a loop this year.  I'm always grateful for the birth of Chirst, but I just wasn't in the mood for huge amounts of festivities.  Of course you have to do certain things when you have kids whose eyes light up at the thought of Christmas, and it's such a joy to see their anticipation of good things to come. 
   Is it terrible to admit that I'm very satisfied that our big, beautiful tree is all undressed and out by the curb awaiting pick-up?  The living room is back to normal-ish, and the bright California sunshine has me very content and enjoying the newness of 2015.
  I wish for you all a joyful, healthy, and prosperous new year.
      Gosia
  
 

Crazy-Making

I don't know why, but it is evident to me that card making, whether alone or with friends, causes a type of myopia which is usually only typical in small children who can't find the sweater you asked them to pick up off the floor, or the sneaker that you told them three times is under their bed.

Last Monday, at the Cottage Crafts Make-and-Take, the ladies and I laughed when within 10 minutes, no fewer than three crafters sitting around the table asked loudly for the location of an item which was found right in front of them.  The Stampin' Dimensionals are notorious for hiding in plain sight this way, as are the scissors, ink pads, punches, and...actually, anything and everything.

As a matter of fact, a few days prior to this class, as I was sitting at my own table making a few cards, I made the little greeting tags for all of them, and laid them neatly aside on a half-sheet of Whisper White card stock to keep them safe 'til I was ready to use later.  They immediately disappeared from sight, but I didn't notice, because I was working on another part of the card.

When I was ready for the tags, I searched the table in vain to find them.  My little pile of butterflies were just in front of me; my card bases off to the left, and the ink pads (safely closed, see "Learning From My Mistakes") were at the far right.  My mini cutter was at eleven o'clock, my scissors were under a bit of scrap at my elbow, and the snail tape was in my hand.  I put it down, 'cause I was going to use the Dimensionals (right there next to the cutter) for those tags, if I could ever find them.

I decided to get up to get a drink, and from the kitchen, I looked with satisfaction at the mess on the table--the pretty butterfly medallions, the gorgeous spring colors, even tho' it's autumn, the papers that were begging to be made into more projects, a neat row of bright greetings stamped straight and cleanly, the card bases scored perfectly and folded and waiting for the card front, pretty pearls for embellishment, all the fabulous tools that make this so fun and easy...

Back to work!  What was I doing?  Right.  Put card fronts on bases.  Snail tape--excellent.  Butterfly medallion popped up & attached--very nice.  Where are those pesky greetings?  Where, where where?  Back to the kitchen to help someone get something...as I'm approaching the table, I clearly see a pretty row of scalloped ovals lined up amongst all the chaos.  Pretty.  I sit down.  What was I doing next?  Where are those greetings?  I'm looking under and around everything for a little pile of--maybe it's under this sheet of DSP--scalloped--maybe under the mini cutter? ovals with a--wait; were they behind the card bases? greeting stamped on them.

It amazes me still to think how long it took me to see the neat line of exactly what I was looking for right there where I put it so I wouldn't lose it.  And the fact that every time I got up from the table, I saw them; but since at that very moment I was about to do something else, I didn't see them.  Or the fact that since I was looking for a little stack of medallions, I didn't see them laid out in a row.  Right in front of me.

I would say that this is an easy mistake to fix; that the cure is to simply look right in front of you for what you have lost, but you know it doesn't work that way.  You know.  'Cause you've done it too.