Thinking Outside the 4.25" by 5.5" Rectangle

Hi, everyone.

Hope the weekend is going well.


OWH Sketch #220 was the inspiration for today's Any Hero card.

Today's sketch was a departure from our typical sketches. And since I love Penny's cards, I will follow her almost anywhere.

Let's just say that it wasn't as hard as the challenge originally seemed but not quite as easy as Marlene described. :)   Either way, glad I took on the challenge and hope the card below is worthy of one of our heroes.

Signify Pink Pages of Honor dp; Bazzill admiral
Distress Ink scattered straw, embossed with SU/Sizzix ef with Close to My Heart desert sand
SU/Sizzix scallop die; Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches
Distress Ink embossing powder and Inkadinkado gold powder

A few  quick notes:

• The dp I used is a paper that I only use for Any Hero cards. Gold Star families are families who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Despite the gorgeousness of this paper, I don't use it for cards going home to family and friends because of its gold star pattern.
• Because of the strength of the pattern in the paper, I decided against a sentiment. To try and soften the look of the card just a bit, I chose to add a scalloped banner across the top.
• The gold strip in the banner at the top was made by heat embossing a plain sheet of Recollections white using gold embossing powder.



Parting Thoughts

 

Hope to get to a couple more Father's Day cards today. It's just so pretty outside, wish I had a screened in porch to make cards "outside".

 

The Words 2 Scrap By challenge to make a card inspired by the words Shine Like a Diamond is open until the 21st.

 

 Enjoy the rest of the weekend!  Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

#14reasonstocelebrate

Hi, everyone!

Hope the weekend is off to a good start.

I have two cards to share: one for my nephew's birthday and one for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown.

#14reasonstocelebrate

The card below is for a nephew's 14th birthday. Gotta say I'm really loving this # idea that was inspired by a Tim Holtz stamp set. Thanks, Tim! I'm also liking the multi-matted sentiment look.

DCWV Natural matstack; Recollections black; Crate Paper neutral
computer-generated sentiment
Creative Memories oval cutting system & sticker
Tombow foam adhesives

A Solitary Bird

The second card started with the embossing folder for a masculine feel. Then, it kind of evolved from there. I had originally intended to add a Miss You sentiment, but liked the card without it.

Distress Ink core paper; Cuttlebug embossing folder
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon; garage sale brads

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get a few more Dad cards made.

A quick reminder that the Words 2 Scrap By April challenge closes on April 21.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Some Bunny Loves Me

Hi, everyone!

A rare weekday post for me. Took a quick break from Father's Day cards to revisit a paper-pieced bunny from a while ago for two challenges:

• Shopping Our Stash's challenge to make a card featuring paper piecing and
• CAS-ual Friday's challenge to make a project featuring ovals.

Stampin' Up! dp; Distress Ink core weathered wood and vintage photo; ??? beige
SU oval and owl punches
Creative Memories circle and oval cutting system; Maevy circle punch
edges sponged in Distress Ink vintage photo
Zig chocolate pen; adhesives: Recollection foam and Glossy Accents
Inside Sentiment: Some Bunny Loves Me

Hoping this little non-Easter bunny card will bring a big smile to the face of one a little one when he/she receives it from an Operation Write Home mom/dad.

As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

A Tribute Fit for a Hero

Hi, everybody!

Boy, what a gorgeous day here. Perfect for a long walk and some reading out on the front porch!

Today's Any Hero card was inspired by OWH Sketch #219. The inspiration for the sketch was one of Kathryn's cards. Kathryn is one of my favorite card makers and it was great seeing one of her creations featured today. :)

Bo Bunny Liberty; Distress Ink core antique linen
Bazzill admiral and watermelon; Crate Paper cottage collection neutral
Martha Stewart and Paper Studio star punches
Creative Memories circle cutting system; crimper
garage sale brads; Tombow foam adhesives

When I decided on the starburst/ray paper, I felt this paper needed to be at the bottom. Then, I thought the circle element should be on the left so as to not cover up the blue design on the right of the paper. While the basic elements are the same, I've taken a little poetic license with their placements. The only thing I would change is to move the three brads a little closer to the right edge of the bottom paper. But, that paper is not going anywhere now.  :)

 

Parting Thoughts

Short and sweet today... the sun is calling my name. And a good friend is celebrating her birthday. So, a phone call is in order.  And, yes, there are Father's Day cards to make.  :)

Have a great week! A quick reminder that the April challenge is underway at Words 2 Scrap By. As always, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

{Ovals}, Insects, and TPC Studio sentiments

Hi, everyone.

Boy, what a pretty day here. A little brisk, but sunny and warm enough for a nice walk.  :)

I have two very different cards for two different challenges. What the cards share is that they feature a sentiment from my first set of stamp sentiments. Still love this font.

Card 1: CFC #130 to Make a Project featuring Ovals

After mulling this over for a week, I decided to go in a rather unexpected direction. I used ovals to create this little tulip peeking out from its vase. 

Love the simplicity of the palette and the flower's design. Also really like the texture of the white cardstock. I originally thought about using different embossing folders to create different, contrasting textures. But, chose to stay with the texture of the paper for the flower and vase -- popping the whole thing against the taupe background.

white paper: Cardstock Warehouse Paper Co; taupe: Bazzill ???
Creative Memories oval cutting system
Stampin' Up! oval punch; Paper Shaper circle punch
TPC sentiment heat embossed in SU white powder
Tombow foam adhesives

• Step 1: Cut an oval for the vase. Then use a circle punch to cut out the top and a paper cutter to make the vase's flat bottom.
• Step 2: Cut out a "rounder" oval for the tulip head, cutting out a section of the oval to create the appearance of the tulip head.
• Step 3: Use my Staedler bendable ruler to draw a curved section that I cut out to form the stem.
• Step 4: Use the piece punched out from the first oval as one leaf. Then cut another oval, punching out a section for the second leaf.
• Step 5: Piece together the tulip and vase.
• Step 6: Repeat Steps 1-5 to form a second tulip from the taupe cardstock for the inside of the card.

So, I hope this isn't too far out of the box to meet CFC's challenge criteria. But, I have to say, I'm really pleased with the way this little card turned out.  And, maybe... just maybe... I'm getting the hand of this CAS thing.  :)

Card 2: ODBD April Challenge

Our Daily Bread Design is continuing its generous support of Operation Write Home. Thanks so much, ODBD! This month's challenge is to make a card featuring an insect, or two, ... or eleven. :)

Since OWH is always in need of Missing You cards, that seemed like the perfect sentiment for the card below.

My Mind's Eye moments; Distress Ink core scattered straw; Bazzill admiral
TPC Studio sentiment in Night of Navy on Recollections white cardstock
garage sale brads; Tombow foam adhesives

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get back to some more Father's Day cards in between challenges.

Thanks for stoppin' and happy scrapping!

H is for Happy, F is for Father's...

Hi, everyone!

I am so excited to be able to participate in this week's Midweek Throwdown challenge. Seems like my timing has just been off these last couple of weeks. But this week's personal crafting goal was to make Father's Day cards.... perfect timing!

Distress Ink core; Recollections white and black cardstock
Stampin' Up! dictionary background stamp, heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
Stampin' Up! dies and brads
computer-generated font; Recollections foam adhesive

Parting Thoughts

Have a great rest of the week. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

And, if you have a chance, check out Bobbi's April challenge at Words 2 Scrap By.  :)

W2SB #4: Shine Bright Like a Diamond

Hi, everyone!

Wow, who would've thought an Oscar-inspired challenge would result in such wonderful cards?! Congrats to Linda for her fabulous winning entry. We just couldn't resist that adorable little fish. And, thanks again to Bonnie from Really Reasonable Ribbon for sponsoring last month's prize -- and for making such a lovely sample card.

Bobbi's selected this Rihanna song for this month's challenge. I'm thinking it has to be a pretty special card to shine bright like a diamond!

Recollection foil paper and black cardstock; Distress Ink core weathered wood
Celebrate It silver organza ribbon; Paper Studio brads

I really love this foil paper. But, I wanted to challenge myself to do more than just use shiny paper -- even though it's pretty cool paper.  :)

Then, I realized there must be links to cards featuring diamond folds on the Internet... Right?! Not only did I find diamond fold cards, I also found a couple of You Tube tutorials. The tutorial linked here was the one I used. Pics illustrating the steps in the making of my SHINE card are shown below.

A couple of points worth noting that are not shown in the steps below.

• The Distress Ink core paper is so textured and thick that it absorbed a lot of the printer ink. So, I went over the sentiment a number of times with a black pen.
• I really debated over the embellishments to use on the front diamond. I considered crystal gems, but thought they might add a little too much thickness. And, I considered black brads, but didn't know if they were shiny enough. Not sure I'm thrilled with the silver brads. But, that was my decision and I'm sticking with it -- there's no taking the blue diamond off of its base diamond.  :)
• Like the card in the tutorial, my card didn't want to close. Then I came across a photo of a diamond-folded card that used a ribbon (that tied in the back) as its closure.

Step 1: Score and fold, as shown in tutorial.

Step 2: Cut out foil paper for side rectangles and top diamond.



Step 3: Adhere side rectangles. Cut out and adhere folded triangles.



Step 4: Cut out layers that will be adhered to top of card.

Step 5: Measure and cut ribbon, and adhere it to back of top diamond.
Step 6: Adhere layered diamond to front of card.



Thanks for stopping!

Hope you all will join us for this month's W2SB challenge, and happy scrappin'!