Happy Holidays!

Since I am feeling under the weather again tonight, I decided to make a really easy card.  I used my trimmer to cut all of the overlays for the pre-made card.  After the overlays were cut out, I embossed the middle white one with my big shot.  I then stamped "Happy Holidays to you & yours" and a snowflake on the other white overlay.  Once everything was completed, I assembled my card.  Even though tonight's card is easy, I still like it.  This card could be made in several different colors and would be very easy to reproduce.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Thinking of You!

Being able to relax was definitely the change of pace my body needed today, as my cold is progressively getting better I hope to feel even better for school tomorrow.  After taking a nap (after all everyone else in apartment tends to sleep on Sunday), I decided to make another creation from Julie Davidson's blog.  Keep reading or skip to the end, where I will post a link to the video for those who are interested.

Starting with two pieces of cardstock which are going to be used as the base of the card (a) I scored them at 1/4" on one side.  Placing a piece of sticky strip on both of the scored ends, I then put the two pieces to the side to use later.  Stamping a total of  nine flowers (three of each design) I used my Pansy punch to give them the flower shape.  It's very evident that I have been using my flower punches a lot lately as it doesn't take nearly as much time to line them up.  Once the flowers were done, I used my trimmer to cut a piece of window sheet into the lengths were needed for this card.  After the window sheet was done, I put adhesive onto the back of one flower and then place the window.  Then using the same flower on top so that the flower can be viewed from both sides.  I repeated this step three more times until I had all flowers for my card complete.  Removing the backing on the sticky strip and then started lining up my flowers on the scored side of one piece of the cardstock.  I had to make sure that the flowers weren't too close to the edge or they would stick out of the card.  Once the flowers were in position, I removed the backing from the other piece of cardstock and affixed them together.  This made my card base and when I opened up the card, the flowers were given the appearance as if they were floating in the air.  I added a scalloped border on both sides of the folded part since they didn't line up quite right.  This gave it an look of grass which really tickled my fancy as to how well that turned out.  After the inside was complete, I added a 3" circle and three more matching flowers to the front of the card.  When everything was adhered down, I stamped "thinking of you" from Sassy Salutations in the center of the circle and thus completing my card.  I love how this card turned out.  I am already started thinking about different themes that I could use for this card.  Someone might be receiving a floating snowflake card for Christmas.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Front of the Card

Inside of the Card

Measurement Guide
(a)  Base of the Card:  4.5" by 5.5" (2 pieces)

Link to the video tutorial:  http://juliedavison.blogspot.com/2013/07/papillion-potpourri-floating-pop-up-card.html

Snowman!

Today I spent a lot of time in my craft room helping one of my friends with a scrapbook for her husband.  Once she was off to a great start, I decided that a nap was in order since I felt a cold coming on.  Darn children and their germs and always wanting to share them with me.  After my nap, I thought it was time to start my card before the day got too far way from me.  So let's talk about tonight's remarkable creation.

I wanted to use my score board tonight since I haven't used it in a while and decided that using it for rosette's would be a great idea.  I cut three strips of white cardstock and scored them every 1/4".  Once they were scored, I fold them like an accordion.  Bringing the two ends together and placing 2-way glue on one end to attach the other now shows a rosette taking shape.  I then pushed the sides together to create almost a fan in shape, I pushed the rosette down into the hot glue to help keep it shape.  Holding it on top of the glue seems like a waste of time, but after a thirty seconds the rosette peeled right off the silicone pad.  This technique worked way better than the one I used last time.  I didn't have to fight with the rosette to make it stay glued together.  Once the three rosettes were finished, I put them to the side so that I could cut out the card.  After the card was cut out, I used a small snowflake from the "Festive Flurry" collection and stamped until the first of the card was completed filled with snowflakes.  I then grabbed the three rosettes and placed 3D foam squares on the back of them.  Since they are an odd shape, the foam squares were the only thing that would keep them in place  I had to overlap them to make sure that the whole snowman fit on the card.  Once the snowman was adhered to the card, I was able to finish adding the final touches to help him look more like Frosty the Snowman (no copyright violation intended).  Even though this card took me four hours to complete, I would create this card again because it is a new twist on Frosty the Snowman.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Thank you!

Snow Day! (Not yet but they're coming soon!)

Another long day of teaching left me drained and most definitely ready for tomorrow to be Friday, as well as  Winter break (although it's plenty early it'll be here soon enough).  In honor of colder weather ahead as well as an extended break from teaching and long days in my classroom I decided to do a winter themed card.  So enough of the usual complaints, let's get to the creation for this evening.

As my favorite color is purple (in case you didn't know this by now) I decided to go with a simple color scheme.  Including a deep purple base with a lighter but not too light purple overlay, I followed this up with another dark purple to help the snowflake pop off the card.  Using a few special tools I was able to make the snowflake extra cool tonight, the first tool I used was my framelite which helped create the snowflake design (to which I created with my Big Shot).  After this portion was done I then used a versa stamp to attach embossing powder. thus making it easier with such a detailed item to attach the embossed piece.  When the embossed part is attached it looks blah at first, but when heat is applied it changes colors right before one's eyes.  The silver really helps draw everything neatly together for the snowflake, to attach it to my card I used glue and a few dimensional's to help make it pop even more.  Once this was completed, all that was left to do was to stamp my greeting.  A perfect card for the right person who love purple this holiday season.  Until next time, happy carding everyone :)

Telescoping Card

With the dog being sick and having a moment of temporary insanity (as I thought I lost my Ipad), the cards are definitely not in my favor this week. I'm looking forward to Friday once more so that school can be done until Monday.  But unfortunately I still have two more days until Friday arrives, so alas who knows I'll be dealt until then.  Enough negativity and onto the positive of my day, my remarkable creation for this evening.

Even though today was not the best of days, I decided that I wanted to make a card that I've been wanting to try for a while.  It's a telescoping design that I found on fellow card maker, Julie Davidson's, blog.  She even had a video tutorial that I'll post at the end of my blog for tonight.  First, I used my Big Shot and circle framelits to create the scalloped and middle circle.  Once these were completed, I used my Silhouette sketch pens to write "Thank you for being a friend" and then I cut out the next circle so that everything was lined up correctly.  Finally I cut out the scalloped circle and the regular circle on top with my Silhouette as well since it was easier to cut out the whole thing.  I then used a flower stamp to add a bit of color to the two white circles.  I then stamped "to my friend " on the inside of the smaller circle.  After the two circles were stamped, I glued the larger circle and scalloped circle together.  Repeating this for the smaller circle and the small scalloped circle.  Once the circles were attached, I laid the largest circle on top of the scalloped circle and took my 1/4" hole punch and punched a hole through both of them.  I then put a teal brad through the hole and closed it.  Then opening up the second circle and laying the smaller scalloped circle in the middle, I used my hole punch to punch through those two layers and put another teal brad through that hole and closed it.  I had to make sure that the sentiment was upside down so that it would be right side up when it was opened up completely.  I then open it up and punched a hole through the top of the scalloped circle for the ribbon.  The card is different then the cards that I have created previous for this project, but I am trying to use a different technique or fold once a week to keep my project more interesting.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Fold all together

Opened up completely

Here is the link the video tutorial.  (http://juliedavison.blogspot.com/2013/08/video-telescoping-card-tutorial.html)

Hello Friend

While today didn't start out any better than yesterday since I woke up to a sick dog again at 2:30 in the morning, but my day did get better when I got to school.  My day was not as crazy as yesterday and that helped as well.  It was a very tiring day since I didn't get much sleep, but I made it through the day.  Once I got home, I searched Pinterest and then decided that I need a nap before making tonight's creation.  Let's discuss the skinny of tonight's card.

Tonight I used my Silhouette sketch pens to write "Hello Friend" on the overlay.  Once the sentiment was written, I used my Silhouette to cut out the overlay so that the sentiment was in the correct location.  Using my trimmer, I cut out four rectangles that are all different sizes.  Once the rectangles were cut out, I glued the pattern paper on top of the solid pink.  I then overlapped them on my card and I tired to make sure that both sides had the same amount of space.  After that part of the card was glued down, I used the Mixed Bunch stamp set to stamp the flower and the center.  I used a dark purple (Elegant Eggplant) and a dark pink (Melon Mambo) for the flower since you can't really tell the colors in the picture.  I adhered the flower onto the card with dimensionals to make it pop off the paper a little more.  Finishing my card, I custom cut the card and adhered the overlay onto it.  This card turned out exactly how I envision it.  The layout could be used for several different occasions.  I will be making this card again, but changing the theme to something else.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

What a Day!

Today was one of those days where you want to crawl back into bed and hide underneath the covers all day.  My day started with cleaning up after my sick dog.  That is not a great way to start off your Monday.  I was hoping my day would go better once I got to school, but it didn't.  I was so busy that I barely had time to seat down and eat my lunch before the my day got even busier with back to back classes.  Enough of me complaining how crappy my day was and onto tonight's creation.

Tonight's creation I started last night, but I didn't have the right color ink for the snowman so I decided to wait until I got today's Stampin UP shipment.  In today's shipment, I got a greenish-blue ink color called "Pool Party," which was perfect for the snowman.  Last night, I used my Festive Flurry framelit and ran it through my Big Shot to create the snowflake frame of my card.  I wanted something to go inside my snowflake frame so I stamped the body of the snowman from the "Snow Day" stamp set onto a piece of white cardstock.  I then finished my snowman by adding extra details like I did when I was a little kid playing in the snow.  Once my snowman was complete, I positioned him in the middle of the frame and glued the two pieces together.  I then cut off the white cardstock that was hanging over the edges.  After the overlay was done, I finished my card by custom cutting the base of my card.  Even though Christmas is 92 days away, it is never to early to start making Christmas cards.  If you are like me, I have over 50 cards to make this year and I usually wait until the last minute to complete them so starting early is a plus for me.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Acorn

Autumn is now offically here, and as it is the first day of a new season it brings a new series of cards to create.  While Thanksgiving is just over tow months away, 6 months has already passed since we celebrated Easter (hard to believe it), thus turkey and family will be gathering again soon.  This is probably my favorite part of the holiday season, getting together with family and friends that I haven't seen in forever.  So to go with the autumn theme, let's see how things went in place.

I don't have much Thanksgiving paper so I decided to create my own background.  After receving my big Stampin UP order on Friday, I decided that using my new leaf stamp would make for a perfect background.  I used a technique called thumping to make the background.  I stamped the leaf into a gray ink pad.  I then starting tapping orange onto the leaf using my stamping markers.  Once I thought I had enough orange on the leaf, I repeated the process with a red stamp marker.  I then stamped it onto the paper.  Once it was stamped on the paper, I stamped again in another spot and this created a lighter image on the paper.  I repeated this process until I was satisfied with the background.  After the background was complete, I used my Silhouette to cut out the different layers of my acorns.  Assembling was required for the acorns, but it didn't take very long to put them together.  I then custom cut out the other overlay and the base of my card.  Once all of the my pieces were ready, I adhered them together.  Finishing my card, I punched out a Word Window and Modern Label and then stamped "Happy Thanksgiving" on the Word Window.  This card turned out super cute.  I hope I can create snowman card tomorrow since I will be getting a light blue ink pad in the mail.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Happy Holidays!

Today, I went to Madison for some grocery shopping and a Stampin Up workshop.  I made two cards this time and had a lot of fun.  Even though I knew the techniques that were being displayed, it was still fun creating the cards.  Out of the two cards that I created, this card is my favorite.  This card was made using items from the Stampin UP holiday catalog.  After making this card, I think I will be ordering the Christmas Collectable punch with matching stamps.  Just when I thought I was done ordering from the holiday catalog, I had to try out something new.   That is the way it always works.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Friend

Lately the theme has either been Thank You cards or cards about friendship and that is because of my recent order.  After creating abut 14 cards, I am starting to run out of ideas.  I am not used to working on the same themes for two weeks, but it has made me think outside the box more.  Enough about my creative block and onto tonight's creation.

Tonight's card took me a little bit of time since I had one idea and didn't like how it look.  It wasn't until three tries later that I finally settled on this one.  I used my Silhouette to cut out "Friend."  Once that was cut out, I custom cut the base and the overlay.  After those were cut out, I stamped 6 flowers from the Flower Shop stamp set.  Using my new stamp pads from Stampin UP, I stamped 3 different colors so I could alternate them.  I then adhered everything to the overlay and thus the card was complete.  It took me a few tires to figure out this card, but overall I am satisfied with tonight's creation.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Friendship

After the last few weeks of feeling tired, today was no different, but I found the energy to make a more challenging card then I have in the past few days.  Even though I received my Big Shot in the mail today, I decided to wait to use it until tomorrow when I receive the rest of the toys that go along with it.  Besides receving goodies in the mail today, it was a normal Thursday so let's discuss tonight's creation instead of boring you with today's events.

For tonight's creation, I was inspired by a similar card that I found on Pinterest.  Since one of my friends ordered 18 cards and wanted one of them to have a red theme with a cute friendship quote, I thought the design of the card would be prefect.  Since I now have a trimmer that I really like, I have tried creating the card and the overlay with it.  This will help put less wear and tear on my Silhouette.  After cutting my card and overlay out, I designed two different sized squares using the Silhouette Design Studio. It would have been much easier if I would have had two square punches that were closer in size, but I used what I had.  Once the squares were designed, I search my paper for different shades of reds that went together as well as a sheet of designer paper.  After the paper was chosen, I cut out my squares and adhered them together.  I aligned two of the squares on the overlay so that there was an even amount of space on each side.  I then placed the third square in the middle.  Once the squares were in place, I punched out a butterfly using the Elegant Butterfly Punch.  After all of the elements were adhered to the card, I stamped "a friend is someone who makes it easy" on the bottom of the card.  I really like how tonight's card turned out and how well the shades of red go together.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Mosaic Madness

Being on a new medication has left me way more fatigue then I would have liked.  Lately, I have not had enough energy to create a card that requires a lot of work.  Hopefully, in another week or so my body will be used to my new meds and I will no longer feel fatigue.  Enough of me complaining and on to the skinny of tonight's creation.

Tonight's creation didn't turn out the way I would have liked.  This is one card I will be redoing to make it look better in the future.  I used the 2012-2014 In Color Stampin' Write Markers to color in the mosaics and then stamped them on white cardstock.  After stamping the mosaics in different color schemes, I punched them out using the mosaic punch.  I then alternated the patterns and color schemes on the pre-made card.  Once the mosaics were in place, I punched out a Word Window and stamped "happy birthday" onto it.  I think the card still needs something else, but I can't think of what that something else would be at the moment.  Even though I dislike this card, I do not think any less of myself, but I know I have to make a crappy card once in a while to learn from my errors.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Rainbow Starbrust

Today was a much better day then yesterday.  My pounding headache has put me in funk and left me without words to describe yesterday's creation.  Best part of today was seeing smiles faces as they departed the classroom with a new bit of knowledge.  Today, I taught them the home row.  Being a teacher is great and the most rewarding part is knowing that I taught them something that they will use for many years to come.  Enough about keyboarding and kids, time to discuss tonight's creation.

Tonight's card was inspired by a card that I found on Pinterest during my lunch break.  Since I was feeling much better then yesterday, I decided to make today's card a little more extreme in color.  I choose different pattern paper in various rainbow colors to make the brightest part of the card.  Once the patterns were chosen, I cut them in 3" strips and then cut them diagonally from point to point which created a nice triangle shape.  After I made six triangles, I placed them in order on the overlay that was ran trough my Xyron to apply adhesive to the whole thing.  After the paper was placed on the overlay, I trimmed off the excess paper that was hanging over the edge.  I then cut off 1 1/2" from the bottom of the overlay so that I had room on the card to stamp a salutation once the card was complete.  Before completing the card, I had to stamp three flowers from the Flower Shop stamp set  in colors that went with my starburst background.  Once the flowers were stamped, I wanted for the ink to dry so it would not be smear and then I punched them out using the Pansy Punch.  I then arranged them in the middle of the card overlapping in the middle so that "thank you" would fit in the middle by the flowers.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Thank you!

After a long day at school and coming home with a migraine, I decided that an easy card was in order.  I searched my Pinterest board for a card sketch that caught my eye.  I found one that was simpler to the card that I made, but I didn't included all of the elements that were in the sketch.  But enough with the chitchat and let's discuss tonight's card.

When making this card, I picked out the overlay of the card first and then based the rest of the colors around it.  Once the overlay was cut out, I decided on a dark gray card base.  I then picked out three colors that went well with the overlay and stamped three flowers from the Flower Shop stamp set.  After the ink was dried, I punched them out using the Pansy Punch.  They did not line up perfectly, but after they were placed on the card you can't really tell that there is more white space in one area then another.  Once the flowers were completed, I used my Silhouette to cut out a circle that the three flowers could be placed around.  I then glued the flowers onto the circle and then onto the overlay.  Using Sassy Salutations stamp set, I stamped "thank you" in the middle of the circle.  Once the card was completed or so I thought, I decided that something was missing so I added rhinestones to the middle of each flower and thus my card was completed.  As you can see, I didn't follow the sketch exactly, but it turned out remarkable anyway.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Happy Birthday To Me!

The morning started out with homemade french toast for breakfast made by my sweetheart, being a Sunday we decided to be lazy and watch a few episodes of my newest TV addiction "Orange is the New Black" on. As today is my birthday I was given the title of "queen for the day" and was able to choose what we did.  Last weened was spent celebrating my birthday with family and friends, so sitting at home doing nothing was perfect just fine by me for this rainy Sunday.  Enough about me, you're hear to read about my card and how it was created.

Since I was able to finally catch up on my sleep, I decided to try out a new card fold technique called the "Flip and Fold Card."  First and most importantly I cut out the base (a).  Once I was done with this I scored it at 2", 4" 8", and 10".  After I scored the base, I folded the 4" score mark to the middle of the card and then folded the 2" score mark to the outside of the card.  Repeating these steps with the other two score marks as well the card was now folded. I then took my ruler and measured 2 3/4"  on the right and left side of the card and marked them with a pencil.  Unfolding the card and lining up the 4" score marks with the pencil line, I placed it within the track of paper trimmer and make a cut.  I then turned it around and lined up the score mark again as well as my pencil mark again and made another cut.

Lining the scraps up with the score marks on the card base, I applied adhesive and placed them on the inside of the card.  I then took my bone folder and gave each side a nice crisp fold.  This is followed up by decorating the inside of the card. I began by cutting two overlays (b & c) for the center and placed the whisper white overlay in the center of the rich razzleberry card stock.  After combining the two together, I then attached it to the center of base.  Using my Silhouette to cut out a label to go in the middle of the card to act like a gate.  Once this was cut out, I stamped "Happy Birthday" in the center using a ink that was similar in color to the base.  To keep the the tag on the card, I only applied adhesive on one half of it so that the card was able to open.  Now that my card is complete, it is time to go relax some more before it is back to work tomorrow and my birthday is over.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Measurement Guide:

(a)  Polka Dot Parade Designer Paper Card Base:  5 1/2" by 12"

(b)  Rich Razzleberry Overlay:  3 1/2" by 5"

(c)  Whisper White Overlay:  3" by 4 1/2"

If Friends Were Like Flowers

After spending most of the day grocery shopping and going to a local apple orchard, I found myself in need of a nap before creating tonight's remarkable creation.  Once I was re-energized, I decided to make some Ultimate Chocolate Chocolate cookies before deciding on a creation for this evening.  Now that you are filled on today's events, let's get to the creation.

Tonight's card was inspired by a card that I found while looking through Stampin Connection website for demonstrators.  I changed it up a bit to make it my own and using supplies from my station.  Using a stamp that I purchased this summer from a rummage sale, I stamped three flower squares onto white card stock.  I then stamped three butterflies onto light purple paper and using my Bitty Butterfly punch to cut them out.  Once the flower squares were dried, I used my handy scissors to cut them out as my square punch was too big.  I then decided to use one of my pre-made cards to place the elements on.  Arranging the square on my card, I choose to make them look like a stair case and then arranged the butterflies around them.  Once they were in place and glued down, I stamped "If friends were like flowers, I'd pick you" thus completing tonight's creation.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

TGIF!

After a long and exhausting school week, I felt like a semi-easy card was in store for today (seems like the running theme for this week).  Between the heat and having a full schedule this week, I was extremely tired on a Friday night (all things considered this is my blog for the card that I created).  After downloading the "Freebie of the Day" from Miss Kate Cuttables (something I have used before in my project), I knew that was it was the right image for tonight's card.  After the file was downloaded, I searched my Silhouette library for something to go with the provided one-eyed monster.  Since the monster reminded me of Halloween, I decided that a Happy Halloween was a perfect fit for this card.  Once the place of all the elements was arranged on the mat, it was now time to cut the paper with my Silhouette.  I then assembling the monster and  title I used a glue stick to put together some of the pieces.  This was the easiest part of the card as I found myself struggling to pick out a base that placed while with the elements.  When was the card base was finally chosen with an appropriate overlay, the card was nearly complete.  This left me with a cute card to complete my Friday night.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Butterfly Friendship

After having a few days that were unbearably warm in my classroom without air conditioning.  It has finally cooled down to the point where having 25 students in my classroom, doesn't cause to me to feel like I am going to overheat.  With the temperature being cooler, teachers and students are not as crabby, but all the same at the end of a day we are still all very tired.  Being overly tired today meant for yet another simple creation for this evening.

Using my ever ready Silhouette I cut four custom sized strips, each a slightly different shade of pink.  I then used my sketch pen (of a different shade of pink) to sketch the word "friend" onto one of the sheets.  I had to make sure to use a shade of pink slightly darker then the paper, as to make the word jump off the paper.  Upon placing my strips on the card, I found that I had over sized them and so using my trimmer I cut just enough to give a nice white border on all sides of each one.  Going with a pattern I then placed the strips in order from darkest to lightest, as this was a more gentle flow for one's eyes as they look down the card.  I then decided to added some butterflies to the card using the Elegant Butterfly and Bitty Butterfly punch to give some extra detail.  The next step was to create a flow opposite to the strips, so I placed the butterflies lightest to darkest. This was followed up by choosing a smaller butterfly that fit well with both shades of pink to overlay on top of the larger one.  Once all of the components were completed, I sat back struck by the simplicity of tonight's creation.  Even though today's card was inspired from Pinterest, it came out way different then the sample I used for inspiration.  This is very similar to a butterfly as when it is still a caterpillar, often times they turn into something much more beautiful afterwords.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Gobble Gobble

Thanksgiving is only 75 days away, so I decided there was no better time then the present to start making Turkey Day theme cards. With more unseasonable temperatures it felt more like summer and less like fall today.  While I enjoy many parts of summer I look forward to cool fall days (mainly because I have no AC in my classroom like I said yesterday).  Somehow over the years of my youth, the turkey has been transformed into quite a character weather pilgrims hat or plethora of colors on his tail feathers.  Enough chit chat and onto the gobble.

Tonight I used my Silhouette to cut the different layers of the turkey.  After all of the layers were cut out, the turkey needed some dressing.  Dressing the turkey was not the easiest tonight since he had multiple layers that overlapped with one another and they needed to be placed just right.  Once the turkey was finished, I used my trimmer to cut a custom overlay to fit the pre-made cards that I am trying to use up.  After the overlay was cut out, I ran it through my Cuttlebug and embossed fall leaves onto the background.  Then completing my card, I complied the pieces together to give an overall feeling of completion to the card.  Until next, happy carding!

HEAT WAVE!!

Today was blistering, record breaking heat across the state caused for many unhappy students as well as unhappy teachers at school.  As the building I teach in is out of date, unfortunately the amenities such as air conditioning do not exist; and we are left to bake like cookies for Christmas.  Ohh a September snowfall sounds wonderful right about now, minus all the traffic and other issues associated with it (just the cold will do for me).  As if the heat wasn't enough, my fiance made me run in the scorching heat after he got home from work.  Alas nothing a good shower can't wash away, after teaching and running all day I was left burnt not only by the sun but the physical activity today gave me.  A quick simple card was in store, but as you will find from reading this blog, it was more then I had bargained for!

I decided to go with a pre-made card since I am trying to use them up.  I don't really need them when I can custom cut my own, but at the same time I don't want them to go to waste.  After I picked the color of my pre-made card, I picked out the other elements for my card.  I chose three colors that went well together and then found a lighter shade of the colors.  I then punched out six different colored flowers and once they were completed I added rhinestones to the middle.  I then cut out my overlway, when this was completed I embossed it to make it pop more.  Then adding some ribbon to the card,  I thought about adding a bow.  Unfortunately the bow didn't turn out the way I wanted so I decided against it and will save it for another day.  Once the ribbon was in place, I glued the flowers onto the card trying to keep them equally spaced in distance from one another.  I then glued the base onto the overlay and my card was almost complete.  I used the Friendly Phrase set to stamp "WOW you're the best." but just when I thought I was done, it appeared that I had stamped the phrase upside down.  So I had to remove the overlay from the card with extra care so it wouldn't rip.  Finally getting out another I glued the overlay back on.  This time I doubled checked to make sure the stamp was facing the right direction and thus the card was complete.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

Thank You!

After a shortened work with Labor Day taking away Monday last week, I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into another week of school.  Turns out it was quite a manic Monday, keeping busy with meetings and a full day of teaching at school I had little time to myself when I got home.  It seemed as quickly as I arrived home, I had to turn around and run back out the door to go to Baraboo.  I was officially orientated as Stampin Up Demonstrator today, which while it was a time consuming process to learn new things after the day that was a Monday at school: I was thankful to be given the opportunity to learn something new.  Enough of the chatter and onward with the skinny on tonight's remarkable creation.

Using my Silhouette, I cut out all the required pieces for the card.  As this was the simplest part of tonight's creation I wonder what it would be like if I didn't have a Silhouette.  My hands would ache, and I'm certain the blogs would be a lot shorter (thus hands aching from card cutting).  Once the pieces were cut out I then used my butterfly stamp and made three equal butterflies to place on the card.  After punching the butterflies I scored them down the middle to give them a more 3-D appearance to essentially let them flutter off the card into the summer night.  I then used a custom cut light blue overlay and began placing them onto the card.  While the final card was a modification of what I had envisioned through a card I pinned on Pinterest, I was quite satisfied with the results.  There are few areas that I can see room for improvement, but for a 30 minute card it's not half bad if I do say so myself.  Onto bed until next time, happy carding everyone :)

Penguins

Although Christmas is three and a half months away, it is never to early to start working on Christmas cards for family and friends.  Each year I have to mail out about 50 to 60 cards plus make ones for the gifts that we give out.  So I have a lot of cards to make and waiting until the last minute just doesn't work that well.  It's more stressful and my creativity meter goes way down, leaving no fun for me.  I've decided to start early so that I will have lots of different designs to mail out (maybe each person will have their own remarkable creation).  Enough about how many cards I need to mail out and onto the creation portion of this evenings card.

Since my card from last was quite simple, I decided to use a new technique that I found on Pinterest.  Getting the most boring part of the creation out the of the way (cutting out the base and overlay), I then picked out an embossing folder that went along with my Christmas theme.  I wanted to give the overlay a little dimension so I added light blue ink to the side that the embossing popped off the page.  After the folder was inked, I placed the white overlay on top of the ink and closed the folder.  I then ran it through my Cuttlebug to emboss the paper and put the ink on the embossing at the same time.  Once that was complete, I put that overlay to the side so it could dry while I created my penguins.  Using my Silhouette, I cut out the different layers for these cute birds that are perfect for the Christmas theme.  Once all the layers were cut out, I used a glue stick to adhere them.  After my penguins were put together, I attached the overlay to the base of my card and then placed the penguins on after that.  The technique I used tonight didn't come out exactly like I had envisioned it, but that is what the experience is for.  Of course repetition will also help me master this technique and in time I may become perfect at it.  Stay cool/warm wherever you are reading this from, until next time happy carding everyone!
:)

Happy Birthday to Whomever

Although my birthday is just over a week away, I had many of my friends and family over to celebrate early as conflicting schedules kept everyone from being with me on my birthday.  As an equal opportunity celebration for all, I received numerous gifts with many inside jokes included.  But the biggest and best gift of all was having everyone here to celebrate, I am very people orientated and was glad all could attend.  As the afternoon grew to evening and the evening turned to night, I nearly forgot about creating a card for today (thanks Chris for reminding me constantly throughout the day)!  While we played card games into the night, eventually all except for one friend remained and I was left to do tonight's creation.  I was suggested a few different ideas, but ultimately decided to go my own route as it was much easier and simpler then the designs I found on Pinterest that I was suggested.  Enough chatter of the nights events and now onto the skinny of how tonight's simplistic card was created.

The yellow base was from a collection I purchased previously for Christmas cards, which while we are still seemingly forever away from the holidays: the reality is, we are less then four months from Christmas.  I've found that many of these pre-cut bases are beneficial to me as it is less work to create them this way.  Yellow was not so much an obvious choice but I felt that a bright base was needed to help draw attention to the rest of the elements.  Using a star punch from Creative Memories I punched four 1" stars to put in a column on the left side of the card.  Each with a new color, I then used a stamp from the Well Scripted collection (now retired from production).  Keeping the color pattern with the stamps as I did the stars, I placed each to the right of the star to match the color scheme.  Thus as simple as it is, this is tonight's creation; a late night of good times with good people.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

One (100) Hundred!

It's official, I have officially created a new card daily for the last 100 days of my life.  While this accomplishment is an uplifting moment in my card creation life, I also realize that many people have helped me on this journey.  My friend Jessica, who helped come up with the idea of doing a card for a year.  My fiancee, who has endured many tireless nights with me crawling to bed much later then expected.  As well as my best friend Chris, who many a times has helped me edit my blogs (on such tireless nights where sometimes what I write doesn't really make sense).  Without these people and the countless others in my life who have been with me during the journey over the last 100 days, I'm not entirely sure where I would be with this project.  All things considered I've reached a milestone, and to celebrate that milestone I am dedicating this card to all those (listed and unlisted) who have helped me with my cards over the last 100 days!

When I think of characters who are good friends, the first two people I think of are Pooh and Piglet, growing up they were the best of friends.  Now before you jump to the conclusion that I am comparing my friends to characters from a book, no I am not but rather just the friendship they have.  With my creative juices coursing through my veins I took my owl punch and decided to use it to create Pooh.  Using red and yellow I punched a total of three owls to create Pooh, he required a little bit more attention to detail as his outfit needed to be placed in just the right spot or else my red would overhang like a beer gut (and we all know that Pooh doesn't drink!  An extra owl punch was used for his head (complete with ears!), and to add in the finer details I used a fine tip Sharpie to draw them on.  Using my word windows I was able to create arms and legs for him, while they are not the most perfect appendages I feel that they fit the simplistic feel for tonight's creation.  Repeating the process with a new color scheme for Piglet, I found that my biggest challenge for him came in the form of ears.  So instead of attempting to make them freehand with a pair of scissors, I used my Silhouette to trim out to even/perfectly shaped lobes.  Drawing in his smile/eyes and lines on his shirt (just like Pooh) with my Sharpie another remarkable creation took shape.

Once the two most important pieces of the card were completed, I custom cut my base and overlay.  I decided to get a bit creative and embossed the overlay with clouds.  Just to make the paper pop and give a bit of depth to my 2-D creations, this was followed up by a creative word window cut with my Silhouette.  Inside the box I put forth my dedication stamp for my friends who've helped me on this journey "A friend is someone who makes it easy," so thank you to all that have supported me and I hope to collect more followers as the days go by!  I can't wait to see what the next 100 days hold but until next time, happy carding everyone!

A Haunting Good Time!

Nearly 100 days ago I set myself the goal to create a card a day for a year, as I was only just beginning the adventure at that time.  I always figured it would best to get in the habit of making a new creation each day, but here I am on day 99.  I've had many ups and downs in life since the project started, but with life happening every moment around me I take it in stride and try my best to be creative.  Tomorrow will probably hold a blog much more word filled, as it is going to be a milestone card.  Enough blabber and onto tonight's creation!

After a long day at school combined with a visit to the doctor, I knew that I was going to be run down by the time I finally arrived home.  I was happy to find a  SVG file on the "freebie of the day" from Miss Kate Cuttables, it was meant to be and I downloaded with much glee.  Many different Halloween elements are visible in this card but with enough smiles this card is perfect for any young child celebrating their first Halloween.  The color theme was an obvious choice, as the base card is black with an orange overlay (both were custom cut).  My ever ready Silhouette cut everything else to shape (which I'm surprised hasn't broken down with the amount of use I've put into in the last few months).  I decided to get a bit creative with my placement of the bats/moon/skeleton/tombstone on the card just to keep the flow semi-natural on the card.  I topped the card off with "Happy Halloween" stamped on the right side of the moon.

Measurement Guide:
(a) Card Base:  7" by 10"
(b) Overlay:  6.75" by 4.75"

My Deepest Sympathy

In time of sympathy words sometimes escape us, and so this is why we give sappy cards. Not to speak ill of those who have lost or those who have passed but I find that a sympathy card is one of the hardest cards to make.  Thankfully I have not lost many people in my life, but as a matter of fact it happens and cards are required.  Upon returning to school I was informed that one of the teachers I taught with during my first year lost her son in a motorcycle accident, a terrible tragedy and loss for her as he was still quite young.  As a dedication to her, I am planning on giving this card to her out of my condolences for her loss.

Tonight's card was cut out with the Silhouette it really looks bare, without any leaves (very similar to what we will see around these parts soon enough) but to add a bit of flavor I added butterflies.  They were punched with my Bitty Butterfly Punch, and then using my Simply Scored Board (an early birthday present from mom) I scored lines on both sides of the torso of the butterflies.  This helped give them a more 3-D appearance when I attached them to the card with glue dots, glue dots are best for something this small as adhesive requires a lot of attention to detail and a simple dot of glue really makes it easy.  When it comes to sympathy cards, as explained in previous blogs it's best to use softer colors.  This is very much like painting a baby room light blue or an off shade of pink, as a creative individual I choose these colors to please ones eyes.  Keeping a calm mood through out the card, to keep the viewer at ease with the situation that is being acknowledged through this card.  Thus why I chose a light pink base with a white overlay, I also made my butterflies a variety of shades including; light green, light blue, and light purple.  I topped this card with my "with sympathy" stamp in a light pink to match the underlay.

So even though a somber mood is associated with this card I hope that the recipient enjoys the peaceful tranquility, and can remember the positives of the loss of her son.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.

Popsicles!

What a busy day it was, much to do and so little time to do it.  It seems like yesterday the school year ended, but yet here we are back at it for another year of fun filled adventures.  It was great to see many of my students for the first time in almost 3 months, but living in the area I ran into many of them around town running errands and such this summer.  Enough of the emotions of a new school year and onward with the creation for tonight.

Fighting with the weather (which recently has taken a cool down) I felt it was a good idea to make a summer themed card as I'm not sure how many warm days we actually have left.  Popsicles are a great summer treat, even if they do leave your tongue a rainbow palette.  Today I used two of my go to tools: the always reliable Silhouette, as well as a stamp (which are always an easy choice).  The popsicles were cut out in layers of 4, each layer consisted of a different color to give it a more 3D look.  The first layer was brown, followed by white, thirdly a darker shade of the solid color making up the popsicle.  Only the solid color required extra cutting as it included the month and eyes to give a face to the popsicle.  Underneath these included features I placed a white piece of paper as to imitate white bottoms. As today is the 3rd of September I decided to go with the theme of threes, and thus created three separate popsicles.  Obviously each have their own color, but the smiles are all the same.  Using my "happy birthday" stamp from the "happiest birthday wishes" collection I finished this card off with a stamp in the bottom right hand corner, with a blue darker than my overlay I was able to make it stand out more.  Well everyone its been a long day and just about time for me to turn in for the night, until next time happy carding!

School tomorrow!

Today was a very productive day, with a very busy week ahead I accomplished a lot.  Firstly I got my apartment cleaned, and I also completed a total of 30 cards (an order from a friend I received last month).  With what seemed like all the free time in the world, I was able to complete and submit my lesson plans for the week.  Unfortunately, our plan of going fishing didn't happen because I made the most of the day.  Enough excuses about why I was unable to enjoy my last day of freedom, let's talk about this evenings creation.

The school year official kicks off tomorrow so in honor of teachers everywhere, I decided to make a pencil card.  Using my Silhouette and the included software, I created this adorable over sized pencil.  Just like last night, I had to weld all of the different pieces together and then mirror the image.  Adding another pencil to my mat, I cut out the different pieces of the pencil since the first pencil was already put together.  Once the Silhouette was done with its cutting, it was time for me to glue on the different pieces.  For the gray piece of paper, I scored it every 1/4" to give it the appearance of the metal on a regular pencil.  Creating the pencil was quite easy tonight even though it could have been a little bit bigger though.  It will still work great for a positive note to one of my students this year.  As it's only fair, I think making more is in store so that every student gets a positive note sometime throughout the school year.  Until next time, happy carding everyone!

You O'fishally Stole my Heart!

I spent most of my day cutting and punching out different pieces for the "Thank You" cards that were ordered in August.  All of the pieces are ready to for assembling tomorrow.  After the biggest workout my hands have had in a long while, I decided that my Silhouette would have to do a bulk of the work required for making my card tonight.  Enough excuses, let's get to tonight's creation!

Using inspiration I found an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic or in dummy terms a file that I was able to arrange to fit the dimensions I had in mind).  Because my fiancee and I discussed going fishing tomorrow as the last thing we do before school starts on Tuesday, I decided that this would be perfect to turn into a card.  Using my Silhouette Design Studio, I mirrored the bottom layer of my fishbowl above the original image and then welded the two images together.  I then put the fishbowl together on my screen and added in the fish and phrase.  This helped me get them to the right size (thus the SVG) so they were not too big or too small for my card.  Once the fish and phrase were in place, I added in the pebbles and grass.  After my card was designed, it was time to cut it out and layer the pieces all over again.  Even though this card has a lot of different layers, it wasn't that hard to put it together with a satisfaction almost like putting the last pieces into a puzzle.  The phrase was the most challenging piece of the card since some the words were very fragile due to be a thin cut.  I could have used a few more pebbles, but there is always going to be room for improvement on every card.   This card would be great for Valentine's day or save the date cards for our wedding.  It would fit our theme perfectly.  Until next time, happy carding everyone.