TSOT #144 Fine Feather Marker

Welcome back.  Try Stampin on Tuesday has a challenge for you today that makes you think. For this card you must incorporate a removable tag.

I have a card for you that will incorporate a bookmark instead of a tag, which will go perfect for a gift of a book for any reader.  Using the feather as a bookmark it will add an additional gift to the book that you may give or even a gift card to a favourite book store.

I started by creating my card base and stamped it with three of the feathers.  I started with the largest feather and then created a mask and stamped the additional feathers on top, but actually they appear as if they are underneath the largest feather.  Then with French Script I masked all three feathers and stamped the base.  I distressed the edges to give the effect of a well read book.

Using the Spellbinders Labels 13 I cut out the next layer.  The longest feather from the set was used to create a buckle or belt for the bookmark to be attached to.  Then folding a piece of lavender CS the final feather was stamped out and then fussy cut.  A magnet was placed at the tip of the feather on both sides and then this was put through the long feather and held in place.  

Now all we need is a great book to go with this card.  What do you think you could come up with. Stop by Try Stampin on Tuesday and see what the other great Designers have for you.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

HOC Photo Inspiration Shabby & Vintage with Birthday Wishes on the Side

Today is my daughter Ashley's 27th birthday.  She is far from a Girlie-girl, but I thought that I would make her a vintage style card for her birthday.    The inspiration for the card came from the House of Cards, photo inspiration challenge that I used on Monday's post.  My style for HOC is Clean and Simple, but I thought that I would take it up a notch for this card and be a little more fussy.

Happy Birthday Ashley...

Love Mom and Dad

Clean & Simple to Shabby & Vintage

I have a bit of a twist for you today.  Over at House of Cards this week we are sporting our Shabby and Vintage Cards.  As you may have seen House of Cards is a month long challenge site that offers different styles of card making each week.  I am offering cards in the Clean and Simple Style which falls on the second week of each month.  This month our challenge was a colour one.

Use at least 3 colours from the above selection

This was the card that I made for the challenge.

Clean and simple allows you to leave lots of white space with basically just stamping and little to no embellishments.

Shabby and Vintage takes it to a whole new level.  This is what I have come up with for this weeks challenge. The difference is very obvious.

My version is very 3D but followed the same basic outline used for my Clean and Simple card.

By stamping out the flower from the Blooming with Kindness set four times using Red Riding Hood and Cherry Cobbler in a rock and roll method I then cut out the pieces.  After sponging the edges of the cut out pieces I started with a base and then worked on both sides of it to build up the flower.  I used two of the cut outs and cut them into quarters and layered one of them on the underside of the base flower, just outside the edge of the flower and then the other on the top of the base flower, just on the inside of the base flower.  The smallest piece I cut the centre section of the flower out and adhered it.  A simple button finished off the centre of the flower. You can see the different layers in each of the pictures.  Then simple butchers twine was added for an additional embellishment.  The card base itself was Very Vanilla.

I love this style of card as well as the Clean and Simple cards.

So as you can see it is easier than you think to take a card and CASE it to a different style.

Hope you like what I have come up with.  Drop by the House of Cards to see what the Shabby and Vintage girls have in store for you.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

A New Beginning...House of Cards

Over the past year or so I have acquired a dear friend through card making.  This person is Mynnette Kitchen.  Mynnette and I have been on other design teams together along with pay-per-use sites.  About a month or so ago Mynnette opened a new challenge to all us card makers to enter into her new venture House of Cards.  House of Cards runs on a four week (sometimes five) rotation and allows different kinds of card styles to be featured. The challenge although over a four or five week span is the same every week.  It will either be a colour challenge or a sketch challenge.  You can enter for one week or all of the weeks. 

Week 1: Fun & Cute

Week 2: Clean & Simple
Week 3: Classic & Elegant
Week 4: Shabby & Vintage
Week 5: Your Fave + Photo

I entered into the Clean & Simple style and to my surprise I was one of the lucky ones to be chosen to join the Design Team.  I do, as you can see from my blog, enjoy making other styles of cards, but I always love when I see a Clean & Simple card.  Now on to this weeks challenge and card...

Use at least 3 colours from the above colour palette

Using the rock and roll method I stamped the flower.  Then masking off the flower I added a stamped the French Foliage over it masking the areas that I did not want the letter to appear.

My three colours of choice were Bravo Burdundy, Red Riding Hood and Pacific Point.

 

Now it's your turn.  Lets see your Clean & Simple card.  Not a Clean & Simple card maker, then check out the other styles that are running this month at House of Cards.  I'm sure there is at least one style that you enjoy making and we would all love to see your card in it.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please remember to leave one.

Love Neutrally!

I am a little behind the clock with my Valentines cards this year.  I have made a couple of very special ones for the Stampin Fun and Friends Session which starts on February 1, but can't reveal them until later, so make sure that you keep your eyes open for some very special cards in the weeks to come.

For now I have been playing around with some simple neutral colours.  I have a couple of cards that need to go to males so they can't be too fancy.

This card was inspired by the one over at Less is More as well as the Colour Challenge at Dynamic Duoes.  There are so many great cards over there.

This is actually a flat card, with no dimensionals used, but I shaded under the hearts to make it look like they were floating on the page.  Then I added a simple butchers twine knot.

I hope you like what I have come up with.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me, so please remember to leave one.

TST #102 Butterfly Miles Away

 
It's Tuesday again and I am away from my regular crafting desk, but still able to take part in another great sketch by Jen over at Try Stampin on Tuesday.

So while I am away one of my co-workers is having a Birthday and I would never forget any of my girls birthdays, so I am using this sketch to celebrate with her even though I am butterfly miles away!

 

I have pulled another page from the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found DSP (ouch!) but I am just loving this DSP.  The banner was preprinted so I took advantage of that.  Then I cut another piece for the overlay on the card front.  Using the MS Circle Cutter I cut a 2 1/2" circle and stamped French Script over it.  Once I had assembled the card base pieces I ran them through the Cuttlebug using the Perfect Polkadots Embossing Folder.  

I cut three sets of butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Sizzlet and use two of the sets to lift the third butterfly to make it appear to be flying off the page.  Then I layered more butterflies on top of that.  The banner from the front of the card was long enough that I was able to wrap it around to the inside of the card and again accent the inside of the card with butterflies.  

I hope that you like what I have come up with.  I am certain that my co-worker with love it and be surprised that even though I am so far away on her happy day I had time to spare to make her a special card.  Happy Birthday Janet!

Now it's your turn.  What inspires you?  Need a little more inspiration.  Join us over at the Try Stampin site and see what the other Great Designers have in store for you.  Once you have been inspired don't forget to share your work with us.

Thanks for stopping by.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot so please remember to leave one.

Masculine Monday - Wheels of Motion

Ok so I have had a few problems this week with not only trying to put together my Masculine Monday card, but also with my computer.  Just as I was about to start writing my blog, my computer froze on me.  Nothing I could do would bring it back. Just when my husband said OK time to visit the Apple Store I think it heard him and decided to come back to life.  I just hope it continues to work and does not need shock therapy again in the near future.

I put together this card using the Cardabilities challenge and incorporated it into my Masculine card for this week.  My husbands bosses father passed away suddenly last week and he was the backbone of the company my husband works for.  I thought that this card reminded me of how the wheels of motion sometimes throw us curves and allows us to continue forward in the right direction.

I hope that you like what I have come up with.

Nancy

Your comments mean a lot to me so please don't forget to leave one.

TST#64...Stop the World

Can you believe that it is May 1st!  Where does the time go.

This week on Try Stampin on Tuesday my card is inspired by not only the sketch but by the fact that time is just flying by and I just feel like I want to "stop the world" so I can get off.





I used two Post-It notes to mask out the top and bottom of the card and stamped directly onto the card front, rather than layering the stamped area.  Then with a couple of scrap pieces I ran them through the Cuttlebug using the Diamond Plate embossing folder.  The green one was done again with the inked embossing technique.

Rather than placing the twine around the card front I decided to cut it into strips and just staple it to the front.  The sentiment inside is from Word Play - you mean the world to me! The envelop tab closure on the back was run through the Diamond Plate embossing as well.

Then once I was finished with that card I spotted some ribbon that inspired me to make another card using the same sketch, but with a different outcome altogether. This time I used the same stamp sets for the background and continued it through onto the top piece.  I stamped and cut out the maple leaf from French Foliage and used it as a mask on the front.  I usually keep my cut outs inside my stamp sets for future use, especially if I like the outcome on the first try. Then using Marina Mist and Crumb Cake I sponged around the leaf.  Once all of the sponging was done I removed the leaf.  Again rather than use ribbon or twine I chose three small eyelets and adhered them on the front corner with my Crop-a-dile.

So, do you have a preference?  Which one interests you more?

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

I like to hear what you think, so please leave me a comment.

TST #61 Mistakes Gone Right!

Good morning and thanks for stopping by again today. Once again Jen has come up with a great sketch challenge on Try Stampin on Tuesday.  I hope that you will give it a try.

I knew as soon as I saw this sketch which paper I wanted to use and who my card would be for.  I'm sure it will bring a smile to her face once she sees it.

The background paper has a very soft design to it.  I sponged the edges and then spritzed it with water and crinkled it up.  As an afterthought I shouldn't have spritzed the paper as it didn't turn out in the distressed fashion that I wanted, but I rolled with it and moved on.  I did the same with the smaller piece as well, just to keep the continuity in my mistake!  The flower consists of 3 solid pink and 1 designer paper punched from the Blossom Punch.  A brad was secured in the centre and from there I spritzed each layer, one at a time and scrunched them up to form the flower.  By using the water to spritz and form the flower your flower will become ridged once it dries.

I made a slight stamping boo boo when I was stamping the sentiment and had to turn the paper around so now the boo boo is under the flower.  However because you could still see the boo boo I punched out another flower in Whisper White and adhered it under the ribbon as a base for the scrunched flower to sit on.  Boo boo gone!  No one knows but us.....Shhhh!

Now for the fun part.  How do you put a card with a very stiff flower into an envelop? You punch out a hole in the envelop!  I took my envelop and cut off the back flap. Then I decided where the flower was going to sit on the front of the card and marked it.  Taking my punch I inserted the punch very carefully inside the envelop pouch and punched the hole.  Stamping the front of the card with my French Script and highlighting the opening with my pink ink.

Using the designer paper from the card I cut a flap that I then attached just inside the envelop and rounded the corners and sponged the edges as well.  Now when you insert your card the flower will pop out through the opening and adds a extra touch to both your card and the envelop.

So you see even though I had made a couple of mistakes (in my opinion) the card came out just fine and only we know the truth! 

Hope you enjoy!  Now it's your turn.  Show me what you got and don't forget to post your entries on the Try Stampin website.  I will be watching for them.

Nancy

I want to know what you think, so please leave me a comment!

Butterfly Thank You

My daughter needed a card for her other family (one that she has babysat for years and looks just like the girls in that family).  They were picking her up at the airport after her rainy and chilly week with us during her Spring Break.

The family is very much into nature so I figured butterflies would be a great touch.

The card was cut on a diagonal and then trifolded.  Each of the butterflies were die cut twice.  One shows on the front the other on the back.  Then the spaces in between were filled in with the smaller butterflies from the Beautiful Wings Sizzlet.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy

If You Want to Be Happy, Be!

 
This card originally started out as a card for my Brother and his new Wife, but then I changed my mind when I found a saying that was more appropriate for the occasion.

I started with a plain piece of Whisper White cardstock and stamped it with the French Script background stamp.  Then using Elements of Style of stamped the flowers twice. Then I sponged the edges of the card and flowers to give it a more weathered look.  

My new found love of the Spellbinders Nestabilities encouraged me to use two different sizes to create the sentiment focus and then finished it all off with a bow and hat pin.
 
The card that I did end up giving them was made at the last minute as we were going out the door.  In fact I almost forgot to photograph it.  

Still using the purple tones I die cut one of the Labels Five in Whisper White and used the Muscial Notes stamp to stamp over it.  Then using the Labels Five in a smaller size I die cut a hole in the oiginal one on a diagonal and stamped the inside with All Around Quotes.  I used the portion that was die cut out and turned it over and used it inside the card with the unstamped side out.  Finished the card off with a hat pin and bow.

Hope you enjoy!

Nancy