"Fore" Father's Day

I love alittle play on words! Here's a Father's Day card that went a bit heavy with tools and gadgets, but I love the results. The golf balls were made with the dotted SU texturz plate/BigShot and punched out with a 1 inch circle punch. The top golfball is popped up with dimensionals. The Top Note Sahara Sand background was ran through the crimper, and the peaks were touched with an inked up brayer with Sahara Sand ink. I sponged the edges with Pacific Point ink to define it alittle better. The large rectangle background is sponged with Sahara Sand and Pacific Point, then dotted with a Brocade Blue marker. The golfer is from the "And Many Mower" mini catalog stamp set - he's darling, don't you think? He was colored in with Stampin'Up chalks and blender pen. I lightly sponged Baja Breeze ink around him for the sky. The edges were sponged and dotted as well. The sentiment's label is from the Cute & Curly stamp set which is punched out with the Curly Label punch. I stamped the golf ball on it's tee again, cut it out and glued it onto the sentiment label. I would have just stamped it there using a StampaMaJig, but I forgot about this little addition until after I placed my dimensional popdots (oops!). Brads were inserted and everything mounted on my Pacific Point cardbase.

(A small product plug here... In case you didn't know, the Cute & Curly stamp set has 4 stamps that coordinate with the Curly Label punch, and the stamps will be discontinued after this month. If you are considering it, it's part of a bundle that includes the Curly Label punch. The item # is 112966, and is $33.95.)

I hope you enjoy today's card, and that it gives you an idea or two for your Father's Day card. Till next time!

Stamps - And Many Mower, Cute & Curly

Cardstock - White, Sahara Sand, Pacific Point

Ink - black, Sahara Sand, Pacific Point, Brocade Blue marker

Accessories - dimensionals, chalks, blender pen, crimper, brayer, sponge, brads, BigShot & impression accessories, Top Note die, SU texturz plate, Punches: corner rounder, 1 inch circle, Curly Label

Spring Wagon

Recently, I made some clean and simple cards that used Wagon Full of Fun for my main images, and they were colored in with a SU blender pen and Stampin Pastels. Stampin Pastels are chalks that come in all of our standard colors, and are held together in a flat, easy-to-store container for just under $25 - you can't beat that! Truly, it's a very economical, versatile, and useful product. Instead of using the included sponge applicators to color - which gives a soft, pastel coloring to your projects - I chose to use the blender pen. This technique results in a darker, more pronounced coloring. Simply touch the tip of the blender pen on the corner of an individual chalk block to pick up some color, and off you go! When you are done with that color, just clean off your blender pen tip by scribbling on some scratch paper until the color is gone, then pick a different color to use. Easy-peasy, and oh-so-pretty!!

I used the masking technique to make the flowerpot and cupcake look like they are inside the wagon. Stamp the wagon on a post-it note and trim around the top edge of the wagon. After stamping your wagon on your card block, use the post-it to cover the wagon, then stamp your other image just above the wagon. Remove the post-it and ta-da - your image looks like it's sitting in the wagon. How cute! :)

The sentiments were stamped, punched out, and layered. I assembled the cards together and finished them by using a 2-way glue pen and sprinking Dazzlin Diamonds on the images.

Have a super Saturday, everyone... see you next time!

Stamps - Wagon Full of Fun, Sentiments are from Thoughts and Prayers, Voila

Paper - Lavendar Lace, Old Olive, white

Ink - black

Accessories - Stampin Pastels, blender pen, Scallop and Circle Punches, Dazzlin Diamonds glitter, 2 way pen

Easy Coaster Chipboard Album

Hi Everyone! I thought I'd post about this 4x4 inch coaster chipboard birthday album for you today. I made this for one of my daughter's this weekend while scrapbooking with some wonderful friends. We are so fortunate to be able to get together once a month at a clubhouse and share ideas & laughter - I think we've been together over 4 years now! Anyhow, I've posted both sides of the album fully open up above, and the pictures below are each of the individual squares so that you can get a better view.

First, this type of album is very easy to put together - it's held together by 2 strips of long ribbon.... in the picture directly below, you will see how I started laying out the strips of ribbon about 3/4 inch from the top of the coaster edges and leaving 1/4 inch gap between coasters so that it would fold accordion-style when closed - I needed nine coasters all together. I decided to keep the ribbon in one long, continuous piece for strength. I glued the ribbon to the coasters, but I would have simply "scotch-taped" them in place if I had remembered to bring it with me! Anyhow, I repeated this with the ribbon about 3/4 inch from the bottom edges. Then I cut 18 4x4 inch squares of cardstock (Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive) and swiped the edges of cardstock with an inkpad to add some visual interest. I glued the squares on the front and back of the coasters, alternating colors on both sides, then decorated each square.



On a side note, I used wallet sized photos that I printed from my photo printer beforehand - this size is perfect for projects like this! Our family was celebrating my daughter's birthday in 2007, and the letters on the front cover are my daughter's initials. I used the BigShot and Naturally Serif Alphabet Sizzlet strip die for that purpose. The chef serving the birthday cake is chalked and watercolored with markers. The cake is directly colored w/markers. See you at the end... enjoy!












The back side of the album spells out my daughter's name. It's the second picture at the beginning of the post. It starts off with a cupcake block, then a letter on each block thereafter. I used the BigShot and Serif Essentials Alphabet dies for this... I hope that you enjoy my little project ~ Heather loved this little gift to her. Take care, and have a great day!!

Stamps: Voila, Party Hearty, Crazy for Cupcakes
Paper: Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, white
Inks: black, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, SU markers for coloring
Accessories: Coaster Chipboard, ribbon, silk flowers, brads, chalks, dimensional popdots, mono-multi glue, BigShot, Naturally Serif Sizzlet Alphabet, Serif Essentials Alphabet, SU punches: photo corner, designer label, scallop circle, 1/4 inch circle, spring bouquet flower

Warm and Toasty

This is an anniversary card created for my DH. I know it's not the traditional type of anniversary card to give someone, but DH and I have been married 22 years, and a bit of humor and variation does a marriage good. :)

My message in the card: "After 22 years of marriage, you still keep me warm and toasty inside. Happy Anniversary!". I know, it's corny (but true)!!!

This House Mouse image was colored with chalks and colored pencils. I used deckle scissors and matted several times to create a nice frame around the scene. I added several brads in the upper right corner. I hope you enjoy it!

Stamps - House Mouse
Inks - black
Paper - white linen, summer sun (chalked on edge to tone down brightness), soft sky and blue bayou
Accessories - deckle scissors, chalks, colored pencils, brads

Get Well Wishes

It's been a while since I've been able to participate in the daily challenges on Splitcoaststampers. Although my work schedule the last part of the week usually prevents me from playing, I was able to sit down for a while yesterday and put this together. I love these colors together! The link to the challenge is here.

I cut 4 ovals in Purely Pomegranate and white cardstock in various sizes using my wishblade, and stamped the large flower from Embrace Life and used a "get well" stamp from Sincere Salutations. I offset this on the oval because that is what the daily challenge was all about. I really like that different look! I colored in the flower with SU chalks and blender pen, and then sponge daubered the Pumpkin Pie ink around the edges. I glued the layers together and added dots around the ovals with a black and white pen. I distressed the largest oval with the cutter kit to give it a bit of texture. I made the Pumpkin Pie cardbase matchbook style - score the right side at 7/8in and fold, and from that score line, measure to the left and score at 5 1/2in and fold. I stamped the flower sprig from Embrace Life in versamark on the front of the card, and added the HodgePodge hardware and tied a ribbon bow.

I hope you enjoy it and I hope you get a chance to try out Splitcoaststamper's daily challenges - they will get your inspiration and creativity flowing!

Hip Hippo Ray!

I really love that sentiment found on the hippo stamp from SU!'s Pun Fun set. I made this card for my friend's daughter who is expecting her first child in the next few weeks... Having given birth to 4 kids of my own, I remember the anticipation and excitement when "The Day" was getting close at hand (not to mention the relief because you felt like you were going to POP!). Well, I thought I'd better get busy with a baby congratulations card, and I knew I wanted to keep it simple. I love the large scallops that you can create with SU!'s slit punch. I daubered the scallops to add color and set a couple eyelets with my crop-a-dile. I inserted a double pink ribbon and made a simple knot. I used a ticket corner punch for the bottom white panel where I stamped the hippo. I stamped the sentiment on the lower right corner, daubered the edges on the main white panel and colored in the hippo and balloon with chalks and blender pen. I added a couple of brads and mounted on the dark pink layer, then glued it all down on a lighter pink cardbase. I look forward to sharing more with you this weekend (dang work-week interferes with everything! - LOL)... post again soon...

Recipe:

stamps - Pun Fun

paper - Pretty in Pink, Positively Pink, white

ink - Pretty in Pink, black staz-on

accessories - dauber, slit punch, ticket corner punch, ribbons, eyelets, brads, crop-a-dile