Red White and Blue Hello

Isn't this little girl the cutest? I found this stamp in a Craft Store in Ohio when we were there last September for my brother's wedding. We don't have the store near by here, and since it is at least a 10 hour drive to get there, we always make time to stop in and see what is new.
Anyway, I made this card for my Addicted to Cardmaking swap on my Favorite MB. I used my Stampin Write markers in Real Red, Daffodil Delight, Soft Suede, Blush Blossom, and Brocade Blue (I think). The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's "Hello Again". I love how it sort of looks like she is peeking through a window! The background is also embossed with a star folder and my BigShot.

LOL It appears I had the wrong picture there! But It's fixed now! Sorry about that!

Country Flowers

I thought I would share the finished card that I made to show the simple knots below. This is for my card front swap on my Favorite MB, the theme is ribbons. I used a now retired Stampin' Up set called "Country Morning". I stamped the image on watercolor paper and used my Stampin' p markers as well as Classic Ink pads and a blender pen to color the image. The cardstock, paper and ribbon are all stuff I had on hand.

Tying a simple knot

There was some discussion on tying bows and ribbons on my favorite MB. and I thought I'd make a photo tutorial of the way I tie my knots. I love doing them this way. No guess work! AND it uses less ribbon!!!

Step 1 cut a piece of ribbon long enough to fit your card with some to overlap:

Step 2. Adhere the overlap to the back of your card. I like to use masking tape, just to be sure it isn't going anywhere:

Step 3, slide a second piece of ribbon (still attached to the spool - or you can cut a second piece about as long as the first)under the ribbon:

Step 4 "fold" the top piece over the bottom of the "knot" part, a fellow crafter described this as what the Awareness Ribbons look like:

Step 5 tuck the tail of the top piece into the "hole":

Step 6 Pull ribbon tight. If you have a two sided ribbon, like I used, flip the top piece over so you can see the design before you pull it tight:

Here's what it will look like, You can make the tails of the knot longer or shorter according to your preference:

The part I love about this knot, is if the knot isn't where you want it, take a hold of one of the tails and slide it until the knot is where you would like it. If you want shorter tails, just trim them down. You can also pull the tails in a different direction if you'd like.

I hope this helps anyone who was having trouble!

Addicted to Cardmaking - Friendship

I created these cards for my Addicted to Cardmaking card swap on my favorite MB for March's theme, Friendship. Okay, I am working backwards, but that's okay, at least I am posting right?? I love this little bunny and mouse! Aren't they cute?? I went with purple backgrounds, not sure why, but I liked it with the pink. And I am trying to use up some of the millions of sheets of papers I have weighing down my shelves in my craft room! So I am making a conscience attempt to use patterned paper in my cards whenever possible! I colored the cute little critters with my Stampin' Up Marvelous Markers. I picked some nice bright cheery colors. I really like how it turned out!

White on White Addicted to Cardmaking

These are my cards for February's Addicted to Cardmaking swap. The theme is White on White with one other color. I chose to go with this leaf stamp from Stampin' Up's now retired "Lexicon of Leaves". I first inked up the stamp in Pumpkin Pie and then "Bammed" some Cherry Cobbler ink on top. The edges are all distressed and the sentiment is is stamped with Pumpkin Pie. The background was embossed with one of the texture plates from Stampin Up's "Perfect Details" Texturz plates (item #115962)I think it gives the card a nice touch. (although you can't really see it in this picture.)

Rain Rain Go Away

The theme for February's Card Fronts is Green. I made my hubby buy me some of these stamps a few years ago for Christmas but, sadly I haven't used most of them until now. I pulled these out and her gear just screamed Green to me! I colored them with my Stampin' Write Markers in Green Galore, Gable Green, Bashful Blue and Creamy Caramel. The puddle actually came out well in this picture even though the picture is kind of yellow. I added Crystal Effects to the puddle to give it some shine. For the Card fronts I included "Rain or Shine" and also "Heard you're under the weather?" (Or something to that effect). This front I made into a card and added the little silver beads before the sentiment. Inside I stamped another pair of boots, and the sentiment. The great thing about clear stamps is that you can put them onto your blocks and bend or alter the way the stamp looks. So although this sentiment is really in a straight line, I made it go in a wave. Perfect for those of us who can't stamp our sentiments straight just by eyeballing!
Still messing with my light box. :( I accidently put my hand through the top of the tissue paper the other day. Then I needed to get a new lamp (I "borrowed" my kids computer lamp - which was mine way before they were born, and they wanted it back) and now I just can't seem to get it right. I am not giving up though!!!

Bright and Happy Thoughts - Card Front

I am still playing with taking pictures in my light box. I did get a bigger box, but I need a brighter light I think. Or maybe less tissue paper? I have the poster board in there now at least.
Anyway I made these card fronts for my Card Front swap on my Fav MB. The theme was shapes. You had to incorporate some sort of Geometric shape in the background of your cards. I have a stack of paper that has a bunch of this square papers in that I never know what to do with, so it worked out perfect for this! The sentiment is from Stampin' Up's now retired set "Think Happy Thoughts". I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up the flower in the center of the sentiment. The flower is embossed with white embossing powder. The speckles are done in VersaMark's Dazzle ink.
As usual lately, I couldn't decide where to put the sentiment, so I didn't attach it. I originally used this sketch for the card, but I'm not sure I like the sentiment where they have it, I like it more on the bottom, off to the side.

This is from PageMaps by BeckyFleck, and can be found in the March Card Maps 2008 Archives.

Show me the Love - ACM swap

One of my goals this year is to take better pictures of my cards. So I made a light box out of one of the empty Girl Scout cookie boxes we have laying around. I have a little more work to do on it. I didn't have any poster board, so I used what I had, kids drawing paper which comes on a roll. It is sort of on the off-white side, but I just wanted to get a feel for the box, so I used it. I also have different kinds of light bulbs. I do have an Ott-lite, but it's on a short bar, so it's on the side. I think it would work better if it was the one that on the top, but like I said I am still playing with it. These are the first pictures that I took.
Anyway, the theme for January's ACM is "Show me the Love". I totally CASED this idea from the WONDERFUL Ilina Crouse. Ilina is a fellow Philly Inker, and her creations are amazing!! I changed up the colors from her card. I used everything I had on hand for these. I have this tablet of 4 x 4 patterned paper that I never know what to do with, and so I used some papers from that. One pattern had stripes (first picture), and one had a damask pattern (second picture). The ribbon is also some that I had on hand. I used the Full Heart punch and the Heart to Heart punches. The large (Full heart) heart I first layered it on white cardstock to give it some thickness. Then I ran it through the BigShot with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, and then then used dimensionals to give it dimension. Then to finish it all off, I used a glitter pen to make "stitch" marks around the hearts.

Christmas In July SWAP-Snowmen

It's that time again! The Christmas In July Card Front Swap on my favorite MB! This year we had a few different themes to choose from. This one is for the Cold Twigs, Warm Heart (aka Snowmen) theme. I first stamped the snowman onto a plain piece of white cardstock, then created a mask. I also created a mask for the moon using a circle punch. I sponged on some of Stampin' Up's Basic Grey, then Bashful Blue all around. Then I colored the snowman in using various Stampin' Up's Marvelous Markers. The edges I embossed with my new favorite toy, the ScoreBuddy which I ordered at a recent Convention.
More Christmas cards to follow, I am spacing them out over the next couple of days! Oh and PS sorry for the angle of the photos. I need to get down lower next time, but on the upside you are able to see the embossing!