Thursday, October 16, 2008

Jewish New Year

Happy New Year to all my Jewish Friends. This is one Holiday Day to many special friends in my community school and workplace. So Hard to create a Jewish greeting since sentiments and Stamp Sets are limited. But when I created this card Papertrey and ink had not mailed their Jewish Stamp Set to me in time for me to send the card. But not to worry I have it for the December Holidays. A lot of Cuttlebug and it is a 5 1/2 in ch Square Card. I used Marvy punches also from http://www.papertreyink.com/.
The ribbons are organdy to tie to the elegance of the card.
L' Shana Tovah!!

RECIPE: Stamps: SU Retired from Old Holiday Mini 2006
PAPER: Papertrey White, SU Silver Metallic, SU Night of Navy
INK: SU Night of Navy
ACCESSORIES: Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, Swirls, Fancy Corners, Marvy Scallop and Circle Punch Super Jumbo, Michael's Organdy Ribbon in Navy and White. Hand drawn Star Template. See Wedding Card for details.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Star of David Wedding

This is a card I created for a customer whose daughter was getting married. Being the couple was non-traditional I had to keep it simple. I created the star of David by Stamping two triangles from an old Stampin Up set called "The shape of things". It was a pretty big triangle. I then cut the triangles out and taped them together to form the shape of the Jewish Star. I then traced the stamped shape onto a piece of cardboard that is enclosed in the Designer Paper from Stampin UP. I wanted my tempalte to have weight to it. Thinking Green. Right!!! This star could be made in all different colors and represent many events in a jewish celebration. I used "Quartz" Paper and the cuttlebug, and Pink Paper to create elegance.

RECIPE:

Stamps: SU Embrace Life

Paper: Stardream Quartz, SU Vellumn Cardstock, Papertrey Sweet Blush

Accesories: SU Word Window Punch, White Double faced Satin Ribbon, Swiss Dot Cuttlebug Folder, Clear Embossing Powder.

Ink: Papertrey Sweet Blush

Thursday, October 2, 2008

The Wedding Cake


Oh my! I forgot to write about this card. This is a card I made for a co-worker.. It is quick and simple but uses one of my favorite "RETIRED" Stampin up sets. I think it is called Sweet Treats. I used the cuttlebug embossing folder to give it an elegant look. The Chocolate Sating Ribbon is from last years Holiday Mini. Loved that ribbon. A prima paper flower at the top with a Martha Stewart Pearl in the center. Some Copic Marker coloring and Liquid Applique. Just enough to make it elegant yet simple.
RECIPE:
Stamps: SU SweeT Treats (retired), Studio G clear stamps from the dollar spot in Michaels.

Ink: SU Craft Chocolate Chip

Paper: Papertrey WHITE, SU Mellow Moss, SU Chocolate Chip,Stardream Metallic Paper in Bronze from Envelopemall.com http://www.envelopemall.com/detail.aspx?ID=337

Accesories: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Divine Swirls", Marvy Jumbo Scallop Punch, SU 1 3/8 Punch, SU Tab Punch, Prima Paper Flowers, Martha Stewart Adhesive Pearl, Copic Markers and White Liquid Applique.

Monday, September 15, 2008

The Bride & Groom





Well what a weekend. I do not know where to begin. My husband and I went to a great wedding and my nieces were there to take my camera and get some pictures of us. We had a great time. The kids stayed home with Nonna and Nonno and we had the weekend off. So of course I made the wedding card for the gift.
I have been in a determined state of mind to learn "Iris Paper Folding" a technique that just takes concentration and time. But it is quite easy once you understand how it works.
I was guided through this technique by a fellow stamp artist and former student of mine. She has now grown and graduated to a inspiring "Card Artist". She had done this technique several other times and walked me through this card. I was fortunate enough to find http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html the template for this couple. I then incorporated the brides colors from the wedding and designed the card. The top of the dress is Su Card stock vellum and I put it through the cuttlebug. The Tux is Su Black Paper and I ran that through the cuttlebug as well with the "distress" embossing folder. But my favorite part are the Brides legs. I used the legs from the mft set called "School Days". I colored her legs in with SU Blush Blossom and an aqaua painter. I colored the shoes in with an American Crafts Metallic Marker. The book plate is from Joann's and I used SU Crystal Brads on each side. The ribbon is from the Holiday Section of Michael's Arts and Crafts store. I used a gel pen for the buttons on the tux.

RECIPE:
Paper: Stardream Metallic "Quartz" Paper, SU Smooth White, Anna Griffin in Clearance at Michael's, SU Vellum Cardstock

Stamps: MFT "School Days" (http://www.mftstamps.com/catalog/), Su Taggers Dozen

Ink: Su Blush Blossom Re-inker, Versafine Black

Accessories: Cuttlebug Folders "distressed, Swirls, Swiss Dot", Offray Double Faced Satin White and 1/8 Black and 7/8" White, American Crafts Metallic Pen, Michael's Holiday Ribbon, SU Crystal Brads Green, Joann's Fabrics label.






Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Baby Blue Elephant


Another Quick Baby card. These I did for my son's teacher. The class gave her baby shower. This was part of my gift basket. There are 20 cards with matching envelopes. I made a Belly band for around the envelopes, which holds them together when I place them in the basket. I slide the band up a little so you could see how I hold the envelopes and still see the design on the matching envelopes. Again I used the cuttlebug
a white base and a square scallop punch. I used the stampin wheel from SU called spot on and rolled two sheets of white paper. I then stamped the Papertrey Baby Elephant http://www.papertreyink.com/stamps_bittybabyblessings.html on the wheeled spotted paper. I cut out each elephant and put them up on a dimensional on the blue scallop square. I used the "bug" again. The swiss dot folder. It took me 30 minutes to make 20 of these. Notice not one embellishment. Easy Easy Easy.....
RECIPIE:
Stamps: SU Spot On Wheel, Bitty baby Blessing http://www.papertreyink.com/stamps_bittybabyblessings.html, Su So Many Scallops. I can not remember where who or where I got the Thank You stamp.
Ink: SU Bashful Blue, Versa fine Black
Accessories: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder "Swiss Dot",
Marvy "giga" Scallop Square Punch http://www.papertreyink.com/, 1 1/2 inch Circle Punch
"Pop Dots" and/or "Dimensional".
Paper: Xeorx White, Su Bashful Blue

Easy Baby Elephant

Easy and Quick is today's theme if you will. I am putting these up because these are some of the cards that I make in large quantities. Now those of you that are familiar with my card making know that I make cards usually in sums of 20 or more. I give these cards as gifts for the many occasions that I attend with my friends and family. It gives me chance to show others that a handmade card still has a place in the world of 'High tech" communication. "Thank you" cards are always an easy and appreciated gift by the people who have to thank their guest for their gifts or attendance in a celebration.

All that being said I need to be quick and cute in those types of cards. So here is a card for a baby shower where the "Mother-to-be" does not know if it is a boy or girl baby. So green is always generic.

A white based card. Some spots and a cute ribbon with a brad. A little water coloring with an Aqua painter and re-inkers. Done!!!

For this shower I made and put 40 of them in a white box. In the box I include a pen and a pad. At the shower the pad and pen come in handy for writing down the gift and the gift giver's name. Then the
Mother-to-be can put the cards that came with the gift in the box and she is instantly organized and has her shower cards saved. The box can hold future items that the Mom may want to save of the babies. Just a quick way to start that memory box without a lot of effort. She has everything in one place. Cute idea I thought. And she doesn't have to make time to go out and buy "Thank You" cards. How do I know how many to make?

Good Question!!!! When I R.S.V.P. to the party I usually have conversation with the host of the event. I ask a lot of general questions that give me information on the event. I ask about the theme, color, boy or girl, number of people invited and thus I have good information for design. I usually write all the information down on the invitation that I get for the party and then use that to create my design. I then add 10 to the count of invitation's mailed. This way I am within a range that the right amount of "Thank You" cards are in the box.

The finally touch is a big fluffy bow with really pretty ribbon. It is about about presentation. And on top of the box I make an extra card and put it in a clear envelope and stick on top of the box to show the receiver the content of cards inside the box. Voila! a practical gift.

RECIPE:

Stamps: SU Riveting (solid circle), SU Year After Year, SU Noteworthy (Thank you word).
Paper: Xerox White, SU Certainly Celery
Ink: Versamagic ink Sage, Versafine Black, SU Certainly Celery and Going Gray re-inkers
Accessories: Su Oval Punches small and Large, Mary Square Scallop Punch "Giga" (purple), SU Silver Brad, Michael's "Dots n Dashes Ribbon".

"Baby Ducks"

Hello all!
How cute and simple is this card. One of my favorite tools is the cuttlebug. Now if you own a microwave in your home then you need a cuttlebug. A cuttlebug is the microwave of paper crafting. Literally you can create a card in 10 minutes. This card took 10 minutes. So think of how many you could make and stock up on with just a few hours of time. The stamps are part of an adorable set called Bitty Baby Blessings from Papertrey.http://www.papertreyink.com. Papertrey has some of the best clear stamp images out there. The owner is the former Chief Editor of Papercrafts Magazine. She is not only a fantastic artist but a talented and savvy business women. She has vision and tenacity. I love their products and service.

The "inches" are made with a 1"inch square punch and the ducks punched out with a 1/2" circle punch. The cuttlebug embossing folders are Baby and Swiss Dot. The very straight scored lines in the photo are created with a "Score Pal". Papertrey sells the "scorepal" now, and here is the website for the scorepal. http://www.scor-pal.com/. It is another fantastic tool. Finally these quick cards are inspired by a lady at SCS named SusieB. I personally think her simple and elegant cards are wonderful. The fact that she shares them is heart warming. She does have a website and gallery on SCS.http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=9069.

Now you know before I could finish the card one of my children had to interrupt so that is why a ten minute card is great because a child wants 5 minutes of that 10 minute card time to participate in the process. (My son was the colorist on the envelope and on the baby ducks you see on the card. He also did the square punching.) So now really think about how many you could create without an assistant that is 3 feet tall. So my coloring assistant used his "Crayola"™ colored pencils on the Mother and Baby Duck on the envelope as well as on the 1/2 circle ducks on the card.

RECIPE:
Stamps: Papertrey "Bitty Baby Blessings"http://www.papertreyink.com/stamps_bittybabyblessings.html
Ink: Pallete Ink in Burnt Umber
Paper: Papertrey White, Lemon Tart, DP baby Blessings www.papertreyink.com/pp_bittybabyblessings.html
Accessories: 1" Square Punch, SU 1/2" Circle Punch, Papertrey Lemon Tart Grosgrain Ribbon
Crayola™ colored pencils. Cuttlebug Embossing Folders "Baby" & Swiss Dot.