9 posts tagged “cards”

Paper from Paper Zone.  Stamps from Rachael's endless supply of stamps.  Ink and ribbon-- using what I had!  Woot woot!  Rachael encouraged me to work outside of my comfort zone.  I typically make ONE style of card.  I could not pick between the stamps.  She said in a very matter of a fact tone, "well, make two different cards then".  Logic!  Damn it!! I love the use of non-traditional colors.  Purple and orange!  Wonderful!

DSC04371

Were your holiday cards store bought, handmade, online, TBD or MIA?

See Below (previous post).  OF COURSE they were Handmade.  I feel totally guilty the few times I actually buy a card instead of make it myself.  And the only time I buy one is because I want to get one of those nifty music-cards at Hallmark.  I can't do that myself.  Yet.

It was a very successful Saturday.  I got so much accomplished, I did not get out of jammies and shower till 4pm!  It is because I was busy finishing Christmas cards, making to/from tags

To from cards

 (the paper and the stamp are from the Christmas card, see- tying it all together!!!), finished the beeswax collages (both) and repaired 2 that needed it.  Plus I wrapped some gifts. I finished watching the movie Happy Endings.  I ate some Bellagios Mother Earth pizza (YUM!). I did not decorate for Christmas just yet, I think that is in todays cards. 

Speaking of cards, since I don't want to spoil the surprise of this years cards for anyone before they receive them, I will show 2005's.  I think they are super cute and clever. 

05 xmas card

Can you even handle how cute this is!!  It is made from a lunch sack!.  There are only 2 stamps used here, the girl with gifts-Hero Arts and the star background-Rubber Soul.  I could not find appropriate sayings stamps, so I printed my own on cardstock.  All three top components ran through my Xyron machine.  Boy is that handy. 

Here is a full shot of the card, so you can fully understand how the lunch sack concept works.

05 xmas card full

I loved this idea so much, I am gonna have to pull it out again for another card, that is for sure!!

Today, I am gonna finish that pizza, decorate, and go down to Hawthorne Blvd to do some Christmas shopping. 

There is a storm a brewin' here in the Oregon area, and I had already planned on calling this Saturday a crafty one. 

1. I need to finish making, sign and send Christmas cards.
2. I need to get started/complete a couple Beeswax collages I have in mind for gifts.  Check out this link if you don't know what it is.  Or check out this one. 
3. I have an "altering" project I have in mind for a gift.

Sorry so vague.  I think the few readers there are of this blog are the future recipients of the fore-mentioned gifts!!

*General complaint: I really don't like rotary paper cutters.  I will fight Fiskars-Fuzz any day of the week over the half-assed job a rotary paper "cutter" does.

*Another Complaint: Has anyone else noticed how Hermafix is not nearly as good as it used to be?  Let me rephrase that.  Hermafix used to be THE go-to adhesive.  Now it just pisses me off, to the point of wanting to write a letter to EK Success.  Not that that would do me any good at all.

It just dawned on me that the offending rotary cutter AND Hermafix are both from EK! I don't believe in coincedences!!  Sorry, no links- they don't deserve it.

That is off my chest.  For now.

I was digging through my stationary drawer in my desk looking for blank envelopes (those are like pens, they disappear so easy, yet I always need them!) and found these two cards I had made a while back 

Bike thankyou

I love this stamp, it is by Amuse.  In general I love their stamps.  But I have to tell you, I love Rubber Soul a teeny bit more.  I feel bad for saying that.  They are both Seattle based stamp companies.  But there is just something that PULLS at my heartstrings with Rubber Soul.  But trust me, Amuse is doing fine and they certainly hold their own, especially in my personal collection.  I have tons of their products. 

Anyhow, this card was used as my graduation Thank You card.  I truly used the "scrap" mentality with this card, the background floral paper had been sitting in my collection so long, I think since the Carter administration!!  Just kidding.  I am not THAT old.  I mean, I was alive during the Carter administration, just not coherent, and definitly not being crafty. 

Congrats

This card can be filed under the "made as a gift, yet never actually given!".  I made it as a housewarming card.  Which come to think of it, a friend of mine just moved into a new house, maybe I should send it to her!  Anyhow, the image of the house on the hill is on the inside of the card, shown through a window.  It is by Memory Box(?), the designer is Dave Brethauer and he has designed for another company whose name fails me.  If you follow the above link, you will notice his blog entry from 11/12/07 mentions Collage!!  Yippee!  Again, I digress.  So back to this card and Dave.  He has an amazing hand for blending colors.  I have seen a sample of his using this stamp before.  Trust me when I say, his looked amazing.  Mine pales in comparison, but lucky for me, you haven't seen his!!  I did try my hand at using the colored pencils sans watercolor blending.  The Harriet Tubman quote stamp is from Post Modern Designs.  I think they may have gone out of business unfortunatly.  They had fantastic images. 

So, I have made 2 cards this past week, one was for a wedding, that I tried to scan as I was getting ready to go and the scanner behaved in typical technology-in-a-rush fashion, and would not scan completely.  Had to go give the card to the newlyweds, dammit! I did get the front of the card. 

Scan

 The poem reads: She had dreamed how the gaze of his strange, bold eye would wake her heart to a sudden glow; She found in his face the familiar grace of a friend she used to know. ~Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

Weekend 111

On the inside top panel of the card, I included the photo of Matt and Olive, the grooms dog. She has a HUGE crush on Matt.  They know this.  It is supposed to be funny.  On the second/bottom panel, I added our personal message, and also a little 'pocket' of sorts to put a money gift in. 

Can you even handle how enamored Olive is with Matthew?!?!  This is while in the car driving to the coast during my Birthday weekend.

 Then, I made super cool Thanksgiving invitations for the relatives and mailed them out.  But they were mostly printed stuff rather than crafty-clever.  I did not get them scanned at all.

I am making this card for a thank you for some people that we had dinner with while in LA a few weeks ago. This is four pieces of tagboard stamped with a cool Thank you Collage stamp from Hero Arts with clear ink.  I embossed it with three different color powders: gold, denim and antique linen.  That was the first time I ahd ever done that, I think I will use the technique again, I really like it!  I knew I wanted to conect all the pieces with jump rings. But the piece needed more color.  So I used some of my beloved Lumiere paints by Jacquard to paint a border.  I think it looks really cool!  Please note that this is not on a card yet.  I need to mount and mail!!   Oh yes, you can see a live sample at Collage in the stamp section!

Scan0001

I got this card in the mail from Rachael and I think it is pretty awesome!!!

Bday card from Rachael

Invite outside

This is the invitation I designed and created for my friends baby shower, or Blessingway.  We are calling it a shower, but the idea is more that of a Blessingway.  Basically, a Blessingway is an ancient Navajo ceremony to celebrate a woman's journey into motherhood.  The idea behind the Blessingway is to surround the mom-to-be with support and encouragement as she counts her days down to the birth.

With that in mind, I decided to incorporate the idea of time into the design.  The quote on the top reads "Let choice whisper in your ear and love murmur in your heart.  Be ready. Here comes life.- Maya Angelou"  Except it just dawned on me, I spelled 'here'- Hear!  These have already been mailed and received!  That is beyond humiliating.  Well, I have since learned this past year that a major karmic lesson I am working through right now is- Pay Attention.  This would be an example as to why it is important to do just that.  God that is embarassing.  I wonder if I can pass it off as "That was how Maya Angelou spelled it!"  Uh huh, yea.  Anyhow, the second quote says "LIfe is always a rich & steady time when you are waiting for something to happen and hatch. -E.B. White, Charlotte's Web".    I did make both clock things.  The left is a stamp pressed into paper clay, then cut out with an Xacto knife.  The right is just a stamp on precut tagboard.  I used Glue Dots Vellum to adhere the vellum down.  It worked like magic! 

Invite inside

On the inside, I used some rivets I got on sale at Collage to create a pocket.  There are three cards, the invitation information which is in front, the blue describes the Blessingway and what we will be doing during the shower and the last is a shipping tag that had cardstock adhered to either side.  Each guest is supposed to write a wish for the baby on one side, and advice for the mother on the other.  I will bind them together to create a tag book that can be viewed for many years!  Or untill the baby chews it up.

Invite guts

I just found another spelling error on the card.  On the front of the card.  Next project: dig a hole I can crawl into in the back yard.

Wedding card for Suzanne

This is a wedding card I made for my friend Suzanne.  Who got married in early July.  I still have it.  It is the thought that counts, right?  Not really.  I need to get this in the mail ASAP.  I just feel like a schmuck sending it sans gift!

I also feel like it needs something in the middle.  An initial perhaps?