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Card Lifting and Purging

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As I travel around blogland, I frequently save images of cards and layouts I love to vi.sualize.us. I started using it long before Pinterest arrived, and although I also save to Pinterest, I use vi.sualize.us a lot more. One of the best things about it is tagging the images so they are easier to use. Recently I've started adding tags for the specific stamp set as well as manufacturers, design, and occasion.

Before either of those internet resources appeared, I clipped ideas for projects from magazines and put them into binders. I realized recently that I never use those binders anymore so I emptied two huge binders and combined two binders that housed articles and class notes from photography classes and blogs. I kept the photography inspiration binder because I want to start making better use of that. Several online photography classes I've taken suggest that keeping an inspiration folder is a great way to help you identify what images draw you in, and suggest possible projects. Going through mine is one of next week's projects.

All of this to say, I used two images from my vi.sualize.us collection to make three cards this week. Two are nearly identical. I needed a couple of retirement cards, one for a man and another for a woman. I was pleased with how they came out. You can see the original inspiration piece here.

CongratsBlue

CongratsBlack

Both cards use the "Celebration" stamps from Papertrey Ink. The blue cardstock came from my stash (I'm guessing it's Bazzill), and the patterned papers are from Cosmo Cricket, Lime Twist (MME), Martha Stewart, and Papertrey Ink (Pretty Pastels, Vintage Holiday).

The next card is for dear friends of ours who are celebrating their 60+ anniversary next week. I loved this card by Debby, and used the white on white and cluster of leaves and flowers from her design.

HappyAnniversary

I never purchased the Turning a New Leaf dies from Papertrey Ink, but found both the leaves and the flowers in my Silhouette files. The frame is an embossing plate from Lil Inkers which turned out to be a bit more difficult to use than I thought. I still like it a lot, and hopefully next time I'll find it a little easier to use. The sentiment came from Fillable Frames (Papertrey Ink)

Today is another busy day, but both little blocks for Saturday and Sunday are empty on our calendar. I'm hoping to get a lot of crafting and computer cleaning-out done. Hope yours is a good one!

Runway Inspired Challenge #14

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I took a break from scrapbooking today to get a few cards made. I'll be back later with some more, but I wanted to post my card for the Runway Inspired Challenge. This is the first time I've ever participated in it, but I was so inspired by all the designers' creations, I decided to give it a go.

Here's the inspiration:

Max-Kibardin-Fall-2012-4 (from fashionologie)

What stunning shoes! I'd barely make it across the room in heels that high, but I sure do like them. Here's my card based on the colors.

WishBig

I love these colors together:  Raspberry Fizz, Simply Chartreuse, and Hibiscus Burst. I used the Papertrey Ink chevron dies to cut both a large and small chevron of each color and decided two small and one large looked best. The sentiment (stamped in Simply Chartreuse) is Think Big Favorites #3, also by Papertrey Ink. I added three tiny gems since the inside sentiment is a continuation of the sentiment on the front:  it's going to be your best birthday yet!

WishBigDetail

The chevron dies are long enough that I was able to make two cards, so now I have two more summer birthday cards ready to send.

Three Cards

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I've been having fun with the new Papertrey Ink stamps "On the Farm." Like several other bloggers, I thought at first I wouldn't use this set very much, but by the time the release posts were over, I realized there were a lot more ways to use a set of farm images than I imagined. The first one is cased from K and R Designs. I made it for our friend who celebrated his birthday over Memorial Day. The inside sentiment reads:  "Herd it was your birthday!"

HowdyBD

I finally used a 6X6 stencil "Mini Chicken Wire" from Crafter's Workshop that I picked up awhile ago. I sponged Tim Holtz "Antique Linen" ink over it and distressed the edges of the card with PTI's tea dye inks (my favorites for distressing.) The patterned paper is from MME's "Everyday Fun Day" 6X6 paper pad, and the dies are "On the Farm" and "Spiral Notebook Page." The twine is PTI as well.

The next card uses the same set for a baby card that I based on Ashley Cannon Newell's card posted during the release.  One of my best friend's son and wife just had a 9.1 pound baby boy. I ended up cutting the hen and her chick with the Silhouette since the die and stamps were the wrong orientation for what I wanted. The card is from Paper Source and all the patterned paper were scraps from an old piece of Making Memories "Pitter Patter."

JustHatched

I wanted a card for my friend and her husband which I tucked into a bag with some board books for the new grandson.

HappyNewBaby

This one uses PTI's "Bitty Baby Blessings" set, always a good standby. I used two different Spellbinder dies for the mats and handcut the onsie. The card is from Paper Source and both of the patterned papers were in my scrap file.

Encouragement and Thanks

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I needed some encouragement cards and a thank you note. When I got home from Oregon, I made a list of some of the stamp sets I haven't used recently and decided to pull one of them out. All four cards were made with "Four of a Kind" (Papertrey Ink), a set that was available only to people shopping at CHA a couple of years ago. Some of the sentiments came from "Floral Frenzy," another set on my list.

FlowerCardSet

OrangeEncouragement

RedEncouragement

BlueEncouragement

PurpleThanks

The patterned papers were from A Muse, Memory Box, and Basic Grey's "Wisteria." The pearls and gems from A Muse, Michael's, and Queen & Co. 

All four cards are in the mail. It's a sad fact that I have too many friends in need of encouragement right now. The thank you was for a very lovely birthday gift from a friend.

Papertrey May Blog Hop Challenge

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Bloghoplogo

It's time once again for the monthly blog hop at Paptertrey Ink. As soon as I saw the inspiration photo, I knew I wanted to participate. I love this color combination.

MayInspiration

Although I had a vague idea of what I might want to create, it wasn't until late last night that it all came together. Luckily my May order with the On The Farm stamps arrived the day before so I had the perfect checked border for the cards. After I finished the first card, I had some reject pieces laying on my desk and reconfigured the card to make use of them. That's good because I have two June 1st events for which I need cards. These will be perfect.

PTIMayCards

Both cards use Select White cardstock, Simply Chartruese ink, the Rosie Posie stamps and dies, a circle punch, and the On The Farm checked border.

PTIMay!

This card uses Simply Chartruese cardstock, a sentiment from the Fillable Frames Additions: 2 and two tiny gems from KaiserCraft

PTIMay2

Here I used True Black cardstock and a sentiment from Round and Round. 

You can find more inspiration here.

Back to the Crafting Table

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It's taken us a few days to adjust to the new time zone and get settled in on our routines at home. It was a fabulous two weeks in Oregon, and there'll be more to share here soon. But almost as soon as we got home I needed a "quick recovery" card for my sister-in-law who suddenly needed a pacemaker implanted. The surgery was yesterday, and she's due home today. I took the opportunity to combine two challenges:  The Embellish Bicycle Color Challenge, and the most recent Retro Sketch Challenge. I rotated the sketch to fit my image.

2Challenges

And here's my take on them. The inside message reads: Hope the road to recovery is short.

FeelBetter

Supplies:  Memory Box card; patterned paper:  Lime Twist Happy Go Lucky (MME); stamps: bicycle (Hero Arts), sentiment (Papertrey Ink); twine (Divine Twine); cloud die (Papertrey Ink); washi tape (Studio Calico kit)

A Cut Above: Silhouette Lessons

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The emphasis has shifted in A Cut Above from regular die cutting machines to working with the Silhouette. Between this class and the Kerry Bradford class at Jessica Sprague, I'm seeing a lot more possiblities from a machine I already loved! Here are three I made this morning:

SilhouetteHeart

This was a simple one. The heart came from the Silhouette store and is backed with red American Craft cardstock and then adhered to a white card. The inside sentiment reads "Happy Anniversary."

AnniversaryTree

This one started with two different Silhoutte shapes, both of which I altered. I originally thought I'd use a paper punch to cut out the heart, but it wouldn't reach the place where I wanted it, so I found a heart in my library files and resized it to fit. (The tree is also resized, and I deleted the interior branch design.) I hand cut the grass, and the clouds are Papertrey Ink dies. The background paper is Basic Grey and the stamp is a very old Savvy one that I still love after many, many years!

AEThankYou

I've seen Ali Edwards use these designs on her Project Life pages, but I didn't really understand how easy it is to cut it from the Silhouette. As part of the class, Ali donated six phrases perfect for cards. I just love it! The paper is from the American Craft Neopolitan line. I adhered the die cut with a spray adhesive. Another tip from this class. I've had some for years, but rarely use it. That will change!

April Papertrey Blog Hop & More from A Cut Above

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Today's the monthy PTI Blog Hop, and as soon as I saw the inspiration photo . . .

AprilBlogHop

I immediately thought of the Rosy Posy stamp set. I had just watched Nichol Magouirk's video on A Cut Above about stamping within an embossed frame, and thought the two would go together nicely. I reversed Nichol's process and masked off the area for the frame first, did my stamping, and then embossed the frame around the image. It's been a long time since I used masking to create an image, and I was surprised at how easily it went. I wanted to incorporate some polka dots as well, but couldn't think of any way to do it without the potential of ruining what I had, so here's another pretty CAS design. The sentiment is from Inside and Out: Birthdays. The frame was embossed with the largest of the Spellbinders Small Labels dies.

RosyPosyPTIBlogHop

Then in my desire to use the polka dots I went in search of some quilt-like patterns as seen in the photo. I found several, but the colors aren't as true to the inspiration photo as the first card. But that's OK, it's the patterns and polka-dots I'm focusing on here. I tried a whole variety of layouts, but finally ended up with two CAS cards:

HBDuow

In keeping with the focus on die cuts and embossing folders, I used the Beautiful Blooms 2 dies to cut the flowers and an old favorite Cuttlebug embossing folder, Swiss Dots. The brads are Basic Grey and the sentiment is again from Inside and Out: Birthday. I think I have all the cards I need now for the May birthdays. Just two more anniversary cards needed.

A Cut Above: Dry Embossing with Dies

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Yesterday's lesson for A Cut Above was a series of four videos about embossing folders, Tim Holtz diffusers (I'd never heard of them), and dry embossing with dies. All the lessons are accompanied with pdf documents with the steps to creating all the sample cards. The best part of this class is that all the videos remain available to you after the class ends. This might be my favorite card yet, and certainly one of the simplest ever. The inside sentiment says, "Happy Anniversary." I need four anniversary cards in May. Since we'll be gone for the first two weeks, it's good to get them completed now.

Butterflyw

I used some black wire to create the antennae (another tip from an earlier lesson), and used Copic markers and glitter markers to color the Hero Arts "Antique Engravings" stamp. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Pretty Poppies." I embossed the circle with two Small Classic Circles by Spellbinders. Here's a closer look at the butterfly.

ButterflyDetail

I'll definitely be using this technique again.

Here's a view of our front yard yesterday morning:

4.23AprilSnoww

Luckily we didn't lose any trees, though some of our neighbors lost large branches from the trees. It's not that we haven't had April snowstorms in the past, but this winter was so mild, this seemed really shocking. It's just as windy and cold today (30's), but the sun is out.

I spent a lot of time yesterday editing photos from our weekend in Washington. I'm doing it in Lightroom with the Visual Quickstart Guide right next to me. I watched the "Up and Running with Lightroom 3" videos at lynda.com so I knew some of the possibilities, but it's impossible to remember where all the tools are, and exactly how to use them. It's taking a long time, but I'm learning a lot in the process.

A Cut Above: Lesson 5 Other Than Paper & Retro Sketches

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Recently I've seen the Retro Sketch site show up on some of my favorite card-making blogs. This week's sketch appealed to me and was perfect for trying out the lesson on cutting materials other than paper in the Cut Above Class.

Rs8

 

I used some Magenta Adhesive-backed cork and some Papertrey Ink felt to die cut the banner.

CorkBanner

The cardstock is Classic Kraft by Papertrey Ink and the patterned paper from the new Neopolitan line by American Craft. The twine is from Paper Source and the brad is an old Making Memories one.

We've had a fabulous weekend despite cold, rainy weather. Yesterday afternoon I attended a three hour workshop with Cole Thompson on Black & White Photography. If I had paid double or triple what I did, I would have thought it worth the money. An excellent speaker, very well-prepared, adn wonderful content.  I've been reading some books by David DuChemin (Within the Frame and Vision and Voice), and Cole's workshop was a perfect accompaniment to what I've been reading. The lessons from my current online course, A Sense of Place, also fall right in line. I could easily immerse myself all day in this material!

Today was the birthday brunch and later this week, I'll have several posts heavy on photography. The egg boats were fabulous (thanks, Deb!) as was the cinnamon French toast, and Chocolate Raspberry Ganache Cake. My sister-in-laws brought wonderful fruit salads. It was great to have the family together. Most of them had not seen Matt since January, or Skylar since October. 

A Cut Above: Lessons 2 & 3 Plus 1

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Lesson three in A Cut Above was about making shaped cards. It's something I've done in the past, but I used a different die than I've ever used in the past, and am very happy with it. I know I'll do this again. (Had to edit this since I had the lessons reversed in the original post!)

ShapedCard

I started with a Memory Box premade card and lined it up with the top of a Spellbinders Grand Nestability Labels die so the top did not cut. Then I cut a the orange piece with a regular Small Labels die and added the die cut "Thanks" from Memory Box. The patterned papers are both from an older MME paper pack: Lime Twist "Fly A Kite." The stamp is from Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings."

Lesson Two was to create a window card. I loved the star card Jennifer made, and did a very close copy of it.

WindowCard

The angle I shot the photo from makes the top look as if there is more space than on the bottom, but IRL the green layer is even all around. I didn't have time to take the photo again. I used Lifestyle Crafts Nested Stars, and patterned papers from Echo Park's "Hometown Summer" Petite Paper Pack. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's "Tiny Tags." Here's a look at the inside:

WindowCardInsidew

Since I had all the scraps from this project laying on the table I decided to make another birthday card.

StarCardScrapsw

The only supply I used that is different from the card above is an Edger die on the yellow border strip from Papertrey Ink. The inside sentiment reads: "Have a star-spangled day!"

Matt arrived safe and sound this afternoon. It's always good to get my eyes on him and my arms around him!

A Cut Above

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Traveling for four days put me a bit behind with all the classes I'm taking. But today I almost got caught up with the lessons for A Cut Above, a card-making class using die cuts. This afternoon I got a card finished for the first lesson on layered die cuts.

LayerDiesw

I used a Lifestyle Crafts layered bloom die for the flower, and the Sending You die from Papertrey Ink for the leaves. I gave both some dimension by using some distress inks around the edges and bending them slightly. The flower is popped up with dimensional dots and the leaves slid in underneath. The patterned papers are from the new Classic Calico (Studio Calico) paper pad and an old MME pad, "Rosy" Lost & Found. The border punch is a new one from American Crafts. The button is from Papertrey Ink, and the twine from Michaels.

We had a fabulous weekend away. It started a bit ominously, but ended up being great. More on all of it later. I took a lot of photos, and have them all uploaded into Lightroom with key words :-), and have started editing them. I hope to have enough for a first blog post by the weekend, but Matt arrives tomorrow so I'm not sure how much time I'll have. I'm signed up for a class on black and white photography with Cole Thompson on Saturday afternoon. One of the photography galleries has brought him in for an exhibit and this class. On Sunday I'm having the family for brunch so everyone can see Matt, and we can celebrate two birthdays (one for 91 years and one for 29). I'm planning to serve Deb's egg boats, French toast, and fruit salad—and a birthday cake of course.

Cards for Friends and Family

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I took time out from a major purge and clean project here to make two cards. The first is for a good friend who fell off a ladder several months ago. Although it might well have been a fatal fall, he has undergone multiple surgeries, the latest of which was Tuesday. He'll be in a cast/brace for 6-8 weeks, and can't drive or lift for 6 months! Although we keep tabs through phone calls and emails, I thought this latest episode required a card as well.

GetWell

I've purged about half of my wooden rubber stamps. My plan at the moment is to store them in the basement until the next garage sale at Buffalo Stamps and Stuff. If I don't want any of them between now and then I'll see what I can sell there. After that there may be a giant give-away here on the blog. This cute pill bottle was one stamp I hadn't used in several years. I can't read the name of the company on the side of the stamp any more. The card turned up in another purge/clean episode a couple of days ago. I bought several sets of these years ago, and am no longer sure who makes it.

The next card is for a much happier occasion. My niece is getting married this summer. Her wedding shower is in two weeks. Normally I would drive down to my brother's for it, but Matt is coming home that weekend, and I haven't seen him since January. My brother sweetly agreed to buy and wrap the gift for me. I mailed this card to him today, and my other niece will take it to the shower for me.

ShowerCard

Another similar card from the set. I used a Memory Box die for the wreath, and some very old Prima flowers. The sentiment is from Papertrey's Mat Stack 2 Collection.

Easter Cards

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Well, I know I'm not too late for this challenge, but I wasn't planning on posting these until Sunday. But since The Scrapbook Trends CREATE blog is looking for Easter cards, I thought I'd get them up today.

EasterCards

I actualy made the pink card a year ago for a Scrap-Mart post but I recently found it and realized that unlike last year, I have two cute grandchildren to whom I can send cute bunny cards. Both cards use Jillibean patterned paper, Papertrey Select White cardstock, doilies cut with the Lacy Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder) and a bunny cut with my Silhouette and scraps from the scrap folder. Skylar's tag was cut with a Papertrey Tag Sale die, and Caleb's is a tag I bought years ago from Impress. Both sentiments are from Papertrey, and both bunnies are embellished with some Fun Flock. (I knew I kept that around for a reason!)

ColorQ Challenge

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ColorQ has another bright and cheerful palette. As soon as I saw it in my Reader I knew I'd be playing along. 

Cqc130

Here's my card. I ended up with two cards (nearly identical) since I cut each star border out of the four different papers.

MakeAWishChallenge

Nothing but cardstock (all Papertrey except for the green which came from my scrap folder). The star borders are also Papertrey Ink as is the sentiment from the "Fillable Frames Additions 2" set. Now I have a start on the many May birthdays on my calendar.

Well, it turns out I was a day late to post this for the challenge. Too bad as I had it done in plenty of time!