Ruffles

The theme of Sandy's OWH tutorial today was ruffles. She showed how to make a card with dimensional adhesive and a border punch. I switched it up a little and ended up with this. No surprise that I used my oval nesties again! All of the paper is Making Memories except the green from American Crafts. The border punch is MS. Ribbon was recycled from packaging from new dishtowels from Target- couldn't toss good grosgrain!

Also, my picture looks good (finally a decent one!) because I took it outside. Must. Make. Lightbox.

My first nesties!

Over a month ago, I took the plunge into the world of Spellbinders Nestabilities. JoAnn finally had an awesome sale and I was able to get 20 dies for $30 plus tax. I knew going in it could prove to be dangerously addicting, collecting sets of nested dies that cut and emboss. I waited an entire month to get my purchase. (Long story involving a less-than-pleasant transaction at JoAnn's and the need for a special order that arrived after four long weeks. I need not bore you with the details.) So, when I finally cut the package open, I was thrilled to get to use my sets of ovals and scallopped ovals.

My first nestie card went to my parents. I was proud of a few techniques I used on this one. First, I tried to match the pattern of the paper with a stamp design. I never manage this! Next, I inked the stamp with two colors, something I always forget I can do. I like what I ended up with- a CAS card!

My next card was for my grandmother. I had just gotten the moped stamp and wanted to ink it up. Knowing I didn't have a good matching sentiment, I did it by hand. Please note that if you are making cards for OWH, it is not acceptable to handwrite sentiments as it can worry spouses and families of heroes back home because they don't recognize the writing. As this card was for personal use, I went ahead with the handwritten greeting. Also my first use of stickles!

I'm having so much fun with my nesties. The next set on my wishlist is a label die (I think it's #8). I'm making myself wait on that.

Stickers part 2

So, I tried another sticker card with basic stickers. Flat, shiny, boring, round stickers . The card I ended up with is prettier than I expected.

I first cut up my sheet of Colorbok stickers so I could plan which stickers I wanted to use together. I used four of 18 and the others are grouped also, so I'll have sets when I get a chance to use them.



I mounted the individual stickers on cardstock borders and found a coordinating piece of paper and card base. I think the result is a gender neutral card (if men would use the sentiment "special friends") and looks better than the cheap stickers. Note: the card is not pink! It's an orange-red color but the camera didn't capture the color correctly.

Sticker fun

After making 45 baby shower invitations this weekend, I needed to do something for me. OWH sponsored a blog skip today which featured creative ways to use stickers on cards (without making them look tacky or like afterthoughts). I dipped into my sticker collection and grabbed a few things that looked fun. I have a lot of stickers for scrapbooking, but I almost never use them on cards.

Here's what I came up with. The yellow paper is Bazzill, the pink is Wassau. I cut the hexagons with my Cuttlebug and embossed them all with different folders. Then, I adhered a large embellished sticker from Jolee's. Finally, I added a sentiment from Scrappy Cat.



For my next sticker card, I'll be sure to use some less interesting stickers to see if I can make them pop!

I had one of those days at work today when things weren't going well, there were a number of demands put on me to do things in my personal time, and to top it off, the weather was crummy. Suffice it to say, it was an unpleasant day. That is, until I got home, logged into Facebook, and saw that the OWH shippers put one of my cards on the site for today's card. I was so thrilled to be selected and felt very honored. :) You can see the card here.

I don't have many new cards made as I have been up to my ears in baby shower invitations and favors. I made 50 paper shirts last week, so now I need to get busy turning them into Father's Day and other cards. No so sure what the "other" will be, but I know I can't send 50 holiday cards in as multiples. That would be a nightmare my shipper.

Paper Quilting

Inspired by a friend's illness and her love of quilting, I've been "paper quilting" some cards recently. Both are CASED. The first is from a site I've long forgotten because I've made this design before. The second is from OWH's Stars and Stamps Featured Cardmaker, Denise.

This first card I made as a get well card and then copied it to make an extra Mother's Day card since OWH was calling for more at the last minute. I promise the colors actually go together, but the picture isn't doing this any favors.


I knew my friend would appreciate a new quilted card, so I got right to work copying Denise's design. I chose some blue papers that reminded me of calico prints. The 8 squares measure 1 3/8" and are from DCVW winter combo matstack. The solids are from Joann's value packs. Because my papers were thin, I chose to emboss the entire card front before I embellished it just to give it extra oomph. I used the Fiskars embossing plate in the fabric design. After that, I glued on a button with glossy accents and attached a sentiment punched out from Stampin' Up. I'm making multiples of this one, it's so much fun.


My pictures are crummy. I need to work on a lightbox. :-/