I Don’t Scrapbook…

although I wish I did!   No reasons why, I just don’t have the patience I guess.  But a little 6x6 layout usually doesn’t take too long and since I have a workshop tonight with some scrappers, and my DD recently got married, I thought I could do at least one page!!

I love this picture of Dana & Charlie; I tinted it sepia and mounted it on a piece of Close to Cocoa that I had wheeled with the Very Vintage wheel (at an angle).  I used the Poppin’ Pastels technique for the flourish from Friends 24-7, using Chocolate Chip chalk.  The “three little words” sentiment is embossed in Chocolate Chip Craft ink and clear EP; the “i love you” is stamped in Chocolate Chip and I did the same Poppin Pastels technique on the circle, but barely touched it with the chalk.  I don’t have any journaling on this one right now…..maybe I’ll add the date at the bottom below the photo.  Thanks for visiting today!

A Pink & Green Day

I had some scraps on my table and decided to play around with them, making two cards to fill my “for sale” basket at Curves:

A cute card using Forest Friends---I did not put on a sentiment, as I am still trying to decide whether to make it an Easter card or a birthday card!

Same papers, different image and sentiment….what a fun color combo!  And speaking of pink and green, I forgot to show this last project we made at our stamp clubs this month, using the Sweet Pea Felt Flowers:

This is a little felt pin; the bottom layer and the hot pink layer were cut with the Big Shot using a Flower die and a Nestability; everything was glued together with low-temp hot glue, the only thing that has worked for me so far.  It is especially nice because it cools and bonds quickly.  Thanks for visiting today!

Trim-a-Scallop Tutorial

I just got home from a delightful afternoon attending a local high school production of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.  Two brothers from our church played the lead roles, and several other church kids had parts, so that made it even more special!  It’s amazing to watch these children grow up from infants to teenagers with such wonderful talents & energy! 

I had a couple people ask how to cut down SU’s Square Scallop die cut from a square to a rectangle.  So while making my ugly Christmas card shown here, I took some photos to show you what I did.

Get your card stock and scallop square die…..

and run it through your die cut machine.

Whoa, all of a sudden my cardstock turned from Old Olive into Mellow Moss!!!  Anyway, move it over a couple “scallops” and realign it so that the scallops on the cardstock fit into the scallops on the die; you see the extra hanging over the right side there.  You could move it over as many scallops as you want to make it even narrower---you’re the boss.

Here’s another view---just make sure those scallops are seated nicely in the die.

Make your sandwich and run it through the machine again.  Don’t worry about that little overhang; it should still fit through the machine.

See how nicely that cut? 

And tada!  A rectangle!  And if you’re really frugal, you’ll save that little extra piece and cut off the edge and use it for something else!  Hope this was helpful! 

I must tell you this Scallop Square die is really awesome—it will cut through eight layers of fabric, as well as chipboard and other goodies.  I made this rag purse:

(using directions from Angie Juda’s blog) by cutting the fabric squares with this die, and it will cut through two layers of folded cardstock to make a scalloped-edge card!  If you need one, just contact me!

O Christmas Tree…

O Christmas Tree, how ugly are your branches.   Can I just say that this is the most unattractive Christmas card I ever made?  You know how you have an idea in your mind but it doesn’t work out on paper?  This is one of those times.  But just to keep you on your toes and remind you that we can’t all make beautiful cards all the time, I am going to share it with you anyway:

Fortunately, it uses Karen’s Sweet Sunday Sketch, which is a lovely sketch, but only helps it a little:

I deviated a bit, using an oval instead of a circle, as my tree from Lovely As A Tree would fit better.  It was stamped on watercolor paper, then I lightly watercolored it just to “spread” the branches a bit…..glitter adds a little extra touch to draw one’s eye away from the ugliness of the whole thing!  The background paper is SU’s Bride DP, sponged with Old Olive;  the card is Rich Razzleberry, wheeled with the Baroque Border wheel.  I added a Build-a-Brad on to the ribbon from my stash.  I do like the inside:

The little pine branch image was colored with markers and stamped on watercolor paper as well, then overstamped with the sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  The only redeeming piece on the whole card.

Oh well, you can’t win them all…..another card to add to my Christmas card stash and hopefully someone will realize that it’s the thought that counts, right?!  Enjoy your day!  Oh, and I plan to do a quick tutorial on how to make the square scallop into a rectangle…stay tuned!

Stamp Club Projects

My three stamp clubs did these projects this month:

They practiced watercoloring with this card, which was inspired by a sample in the Spring mini catalog……..and then they did this fun-fold card, which I cased from Kay Kalthoff here:

Here it is open:

as well as a close-up of that yummy bunny, embossed with Chocolate Chip craft ink and clear ep:

I also gave them a little peep treat:

I ran the small glassine envelopes through the Big Shot with the Perfect Polka Dots EF, then added a little topper.  The egg is the large oval punch, stamped with Boho Backgrounds in white craft ink and shaded with a sponge dauber…the “highlight” was done with SU’s white gel pen.  Can you see those little pink bunnies in there?

We are enjoying some wonderful spring weather here---hope you enjoy your day!

Happy Spring!

I have two happy cards today---happy because the weather is warming up and it is actually spring-like, happy because my cards have flowers on them, happy because I did some watercoloring, and happy because they came together quickly!

The first is for today’s SCS challenge, F4A4, Colorful Baskets….to make a card or 3D basket item using Perfect Plum, Certainly Celery and Barely Banana.  I had a chance to use PTI’s Vintage Picnic Basket set, one I never use enough.  I stamped it on Shimmery White paper and used Copics for the basket and reinkers to watercolor the flowers. Here’s the finished product:

The DP is from Tall Tails; ribbon is retired SU and the butterflies are some leftovers from a previous project using the Beautiful Wings embosslit.  I purposely left off a sentiment and will add one when the occasion arises!

My next happy spring card uses some scraps from an old Hostess pack I had laying on my table and a current SAB set:

I stamped the image on SU’s little note cards that are in the current mini catalog (can’t remember the name of them!) and used markers to color them in…..added a Regal Rose ribbon, and a sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes, popped up in a small oval punch, and it was done.  EASY!!!  I am hoping YOU are having a lovely spring day too!

Birthday for a Friend

Yesterday was my friend Beth’s birthday—a St Pat’s baby!  I made a little easel card for her:

And the sweet little image was a RAK from my new blogging friend Lesley---she sent me some a couple weeks ago!  Wasn’t that sweet of her?  So now I am passing along the luv!!  And the great thing about this card is that I had all the elements just hanging out on my desk from other projects---just added a couple things here & there!!!  Thanks for visiting today!