Mr Cardmaker Has A Different Idea of Christmas "CHEERS" Than Most People...

Prototyping is harder than it looks. Oh yeah, it is.....Just sayin'.

My goal here is to make a design that I can do many multiples of, from my card stock and DP stacks, where I can use different combinations of papers to get the same general effect.  This way, I use some of what I HAVE, instead of making a big investment of cash just to make identical cards.

MEANWHILE, I want to create something that will be beautiful and memorable.  That means, no junky materials.  Inexpensive does not necessarily equal junky.  Flimsy and tacky equals junky.  But, you knew that already.

SO, I already made some prototypes, and they can be seen HERE.  I'm now adding to the choice-making madness.....

I made this one--

So, this is on an Ivory base, which I ran thru the Cuttlebug with another embossing folder.

I made an "asterisk-y" snowflake of sorts with strips of DP, pink and teal and cream glitter paper, as well as red ribbon. Then, I stamped and embossed the sentiment in white embossing powder on the teal plaid and adhered it.

Then I stamped the martini glass and its contents onto white card stock with silver and green ink, respectively, and added the red rhinestone to shine it up. I adhered it with some foam tape.

I think this needs a brighter background, (maybe inked on top of the dry embossing?) and a MUCH brighter ink for the martini. And more bling, somewhere...Otherwise, not too bad.

This one is particularly good for conserving materials, since the expensive stuff is being used only in those tiny strips. I think it's worth a second look, for sure.

Then, I made these--

The photos don't do justice to the papers, I'm afraid.  This is done on a dove grey card body, and the sentiment is stamped on it with silver ink and is embossed with clear embossing powder.

The trees are cut by hand from pink shimmer paper, and run thru the Cuttle bug with Sizzix embossing folders. 

I adhered the "verbage" paper to the card body, adhered the plaid with foam tape, and then applied the trees behind and on top of the plaid.  The tree on top is mounted with foam squares, which are twice the depth of the tape, to cover the difference in distance.  You could do it by doubling the thickness of the foam tape.

The snowflake is done from cream glitter paper, and adhered with a glue dot.  The pearls finish it off.

I did two versions, just slightly different, as you can see. 

In all honestly, while I like this, I think I need to add some ribbon somewhere; maybe on the plaid?

I have to ponder on this one.  Plus I really am not sure what will happen in a different paper background.  I think the words give a lot of action to this card.  We shall see. 

CLEARLY, I have a good bit of work ahead of me.

Anyway, that's me, so far....

Materials-

Martini card-

Papers--the Paper Company, American Crafts Patterned Papers, DCWV, GinaKDesigns

Ink-Studio G, Stampin' Up

Ribbon- The Paper Source

Bling-AC Moore

Tools-Sizzix embossing folder, Scor-pal, EK success punch, Tombo mono-dots, Scotch foam tape.

Pink Trees card-

Same as above, with the addition of pearls from AC Moore, and Martha Stewart snowflake punch.

I have to make a decision on these babies soon, because I really don't want to run out of time.  November starts next week, already!!! 

This is now your time to ofer me some feedback on these, or to tell me to chuck it all and go in a different direction completely.  Seriously, I do well with (constructive) criticism.

Hey, thanks stopping by and checking out my stuff!

All Best-

Richard

Mr. Cardmaker Has More Birthday Stuff to Share

SO, the fall birthdays continue!  I shared George's card with you last time, and today I want to show you Jan's and Sue's cards.  (This is your SECOND SPOILER ALERT, Sue and Jan!!  Go watch some puppy videos or something!)

For Jan, I made this--

This is the first time I've printed out my own sentiments.  I found some fun, FREE fonts at kevinandamanda.com, and I have a feeling I will be using my downloaded fonts frequently!!

I stamped some leaves with lots of color onto the sentiment, and then trimmed and rounded three corners.  I also used my glitter pen to highlight "hey girl" and "two".  The inside has some personal stuff, but ends up saying "Happy Birthday".  Duh.

I layered a strip of teal card stock onto my swiss dot embossed baseto highlight the sentiment a bit, and then added a small piece of striped dp, also with rounded edges to the back of the sentiment.  I added a leaf punched with my leaf punch, and then adhered the whole thing with foam tape to give it some lift.

I cut a small slit in the fold of the card to allow the ribbon to slide through, then added a dry embossed circle on top.  I lined up some leaves and adhered them with foam tape.  Orange rhinestones finish it all up.

For Sue, I did this--

I dry embossed a piece of cream cardstock with my cuttlebug and a sizzix folder, then highlighted the embosing with a direct to paper techinque, using orange ink.  Then I adhered the ribbons and rick-rack.  There was a reall fun, happy accident with this big, chunky rick-rack.  It doesn't CREASE so well, so it pops itself off of the card front in a really charming way.  I could've glued it down flat, but I really like this effect.

I punched some leaves from scraps of DP, creased them down the middle to make them have more movement, and tucked them under the rick-rack, lifting them off the surface with some foam tape.

The sentiment is also popped off the surface, and highlighted with a white brad and some orange rhinestones. 

The pumpkins are in blue ink on some orange dp, and I did my usual cutting thing where I leave some space around the image, rather than "fussy cutting" it. 

Pop the whole thing onto an orange card base, and you're set!
This one is really pretty easy, but the effect is something much more busy and detailed.

So, these are my fall birthday cards.  Hope you found some inspiration!
Thanks so much for stopping by!!
All Best--
Richard

Supplies--
Jan's card-
Paper--DCWV (base and teal strip), SU dsp(leaves), M&MBI (leaves and stiped piece)
Ink- Colorbox
Embellishments- AC Moore (my old pal, the Dollar Bin) 
Tools--Scor-Pal, Fiskars punches, CutterBee snips, Cuttlebug, Sizzix embossing folders
Sue's card
Paper--SU (base, pumpkin pie, leaves, dsp), M&MBI(leaves), The Paper Co.(card front and sentiment strip)
Ink-Studio G, Colorbox
Embellishments-AC Moore (of course)
Tools--Scor-Pal, Fiskars punches, CutterBee snips, Cuttlebug, Sizzix embossing folders, SU piercing tool and Mat pack.

Mr. Cardmaker has LOTS of Fall Birthdays Coming Up!!

My DP has two sisters and a brother, and they all have November birthdays, two days apart.  Jan and George are twins, so (obviously) they are on the same day, and Sue is just two days later (but two years earlier).  Is that confusing enough?

Anyway, I had to make them cards, of course.  Oh, yeah, SPOILER ALERT, Sue, Jan, and George!!!
You should go look at kittens or something unless you want to ruin your surprises....

For George, I made this--

This was made on SU Pumpkin Pie CS and I ran it through the Cuttlebug with my new embossing folder.  I think this is called "distressed stripes", but I got excited about new toys and threw away the package before I could note what it was called.  Boo.
I then inked the edges with some brown ink.  The designer papers I used are all Me & My Big Ideas, with the exception of the bottom green-striped leaf.  That's SU.  Oh wait, that tiny yellow-striped leaf is SU too.  Scraps, I tell you.  Scraps!!!

I cut a strip of leaf paper , layered some ribbon (AC Moore Dollar Bin.  My Home-away-from-home), and adhered it. 
Then on a piece of SU Daffodil Delight, I used a stamp from Inkadinadoo's Autumn Foliage set to make my own DP.  I used tombo and Memento markers, in orange and green, to "thump" ink onto the stamp.  I thumped in several different directions, then "huffed" warm air on the stamp to make sure all the ink was good and moist before stamping.  Then I used a Spellbinder's circle die to cut and emboss my circle on my Cuttlebug.

Can you believe I actually "fussy cut" my image?  I so rarely do that....These pumpkins are in the Harvest Greetings set from Inkadinkadoo.  I stamped them in brown onto some M&MBI designer paper and after cutting them out, I adhered them to my circle, popping the center one up with some foam tape.  Then I cut a scalloped circle from more DP with my cuttlebug and another Spellbinders die and adhered my circle to it. 

I bought a Fiskars leaf punch from AC Moore during a punch sale (I hate to pay retail) and I used it and another teensy leaf punch I've had forever to punch some leaves from scraps.  Some I adhered to the card base, but I adhered a few to the back of my scalloped circle; I then popped the whole thing off the card with some foam tape.

The sentiment is from SU's Teeny Tiny sentiments set, on a scrap of SU dsp, popped up with more foam tape.  The brads and rhinestones are AC Moore.

I think George will appreciate all the layering.  He has an awesome eye for detail.

You know what?  I think I will wait and do the girls' cards in a different posting.  "Always leave them wanting more", PT Barnum used to say. (I think it was PTB.....)
They're really cute though!  Y'All come back here and have a look, y'here?

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope I can help inspire you to do your own fun projects.
All Best-
Richard

Mr. Cardmaker is a Birthday Card Making Guy

My sister, Lisa, has a birthday coming up on the 29th of this month.  Because I value my life, I won't tell you "how many" she's going to be, but she is just 14 months younger than myself, so you can figure it out, pretty much. 

She is a very outgoing, fun girl, with friends and neighbors in and out of her house all the time.  This girl knows how to entertain.  With my reclusive self, it's hard to believe she's my sister.

Anyway, I made her this--

Cute and fun, right?  I think it suits her personality.  I made this card on SU Mostly Mustard card stock, stamped with images from A*muse Studio's "Tini Time" set.  I used Studio G inkpads. 

The circles were cut from scraps of GinaK Designs white, and DCWV green cs with my Fiskars punches, and then inked with some colorbox ink.  I am sorry to say I threw the labels away for several of my colorbox pads, so I can't share the color.  Boo.  Pearls and ribbon from AC Moore (I swear, I LIVE in that dollar bin). 

I stamped the sentiment on a scrap of SU Daffodil Delight, and popped it up with foam tape.  The 'tini image is mounted on SU Pumpkin pie. 

I cut it out with my usual technique of leaving a white border around the image.  I like how it gives it more substance, and a little pop, especially when you back it with another color card stock.  I used Colorbox and Studio G ink on the martini, and crayola markers to do the cherry.  I popped it up higher than the sentiment with foam squares.

On the inside, I stamped "Olive you!" from the same set, and under it, I used SU's Teeny Tiny Wishes "Happy Birthday" stamp.  (No photo, sorry.)

I like the cheery colors, and the bubbly feeling from all the circles.

I hope she likes it, too!!

Thanks for dropping by! 

All Best--

Richard



Mr. Cardmaker is Feeling Scrappy

Boy, fall is taking its sweet time getting to us in Boston. Ready for some color, Yo!! 
I am almost OVER making autumn cards, and am ready to get a move on with my Christmas cards.  ALMOST, I said.  I actually have some autumn stamps that have yet to be inked up.  Mr. Cardmaker would NEVER let a season go by without inking up ALL of his new stamps.

That reminds me, I need to do just a few dozen more Halloween cards to make that a true statement.  DANG YOU, AC Moore Dollar Bin!!!  Dang you, and all of your $1 too-cute-to-pass-up Halloween goodness!!!!

ANYWAY---

I had some scraps all over my floor from the rosette banner project I did (more on that later).  I decided they were just too good to throw away (like most of my scraps).
So, I made this--

This was made on a beige base, cardstock from The Paper Co. I layered some DP from Me & My Big Ideas, then some SU Mostly Mustard cs run thru my Cuttlebug with a Sizzix embossing folder.  I inked that up with some brown ink for some depth.  I popped that off the DP with some foam tape. 

I  gathered up my scrap DP (SU, M&MBI, and some Target "no name")  and arranged and adhered them just as they were; no extra cutting.  Then I cut out, edged, and stamped the sentiment (Studio g).  I stamped it twice, once in brown, and once in white to give it some pop.  I added a swirl from another Studio g set to give it some "somethin'-somethin'.
I added a little loop of ribbon to the back, and attached it with some more foam tape.
Easy-Peasy.

THEN--
StampTV did a "Red and Kraft" challenge for their "Mix-it-up Monday" challenge.  I had just won GinaK Designs' "Garden Fresh" stamp set during a blog hop, so I decided to bust it out and get inky with it. 

I made this--

This could not have been easier or more fun.  I stamped some GinaK Designs Kraft CS with the apple stamp in Versamark, and used some (really old) red embossing powder to get them nice and shiny.  (Gotta love a shiny red apple!)
I then used some crayola markers to re-ink the stamp, and I stamped it on some white CS, and cut it out.  I like to leave a little white area around most images I cut out.  I think it looks good, and it's often MUCH easier to cut.
I stamped the sentiment on another piece of white CS in Memento Tuxedo Black, and used the green marker I used on the apple leaf to hand draw the border.
I attached some Baker's twine to the back, added some foam tape to the back, and adhered it, using my two-way glue pen to attach the twine to the card base.
I added some foam tape to the apple image, and adhered it to the sentiment.
Easy as pie. 
Mmmmmmm, apple pie.   SO glad we went apple picking this weekend!!!

So, that's me for now.  I have some autumn birthday cards to share with you next time. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Feeling Sketchy...

Hey there.  I was making a bunch of Autumn themed birthday and thank you cards yesterday, and I decided to toss my cardstock into the mojo Monday and CPS arenas.  For this MOJO210 challenge, I made this--

For this card, I used SU chocolate chip cardstock, and the dp is from Me & My Big Ideas.  The other cardstock is DCWV.  The sentiment stamp is from Inkadinkado, and I used two colors of colorbox ink to ink it up.  Hard to see in the photo, but I also used my sakura glitter pen on the letters.  The pearls and ribbons are from AC Moore's dollar bins.

Then!  I found one of my birthday cards fit the sketch for CPS this week!  What luck!  I made this one--

For this card, I used SU CS for the base, and medalion, and the DP is from M&MBI and SU.  I used a new-to-me Sizzix embossing folder, and my nestabilities dies, as well as a fiskars leaf punch, and a punch from a million years ago for the tiny leaves.  Ink is Colorbox, and the embellies are from AC Moore's dollar bin.. Love that dollar bin!!

I have to say, I find sketch challenges to be sort of tough for me.  I guess I am a bit too literal.  This was a really nice sketch to use, thouigh, and I'm glad I tried it out!  I will have to get more practice!

Thanks for checking it out!

All Best-

Richard

Some Kinda Colorful

My dear friend Betty Ann Grove had a birthday, and I did a challenge at StampTV in the past month or so, so I wanted to quickly share some projects with you.

For Miss Grove, a wonderful 80+ gal with a TON of get-up-and-go, I made this--

I do love a circle.  Clearly.  This was made on a base cardstock from A*muse Studio, with CS and DP from SU.  The image is GinaK Designs, and I colored it with colored pencils, and used glossy accents on the flowers.  The pearls and ribbons are from AC Moore, the dollar bins, and I used an ek success punch and a Sizzix embossing folder on the orange cardstock.   Bright and fresh, just like Miss Grove!

Then, for a rainbow challenge at StampTV, I made this--

I like this one.  I used an image from Ditto, and colored on the stamp with crayola markers.  Who knew they would work on stamps?  The image is from SU, the Perfect Words set, and the DP that I used to make the bargello look at the bottom is all from SU, too.  The base is GinaK Designs Kraft CS, and I used a white gel pen to make the stitching lines.  I used SU Ballet Blue on the edges of my white CS and on my label (spellbinders Label Four), and used some baker's twine from The Paper Source to tie it all down.  I found my rhinestones in several different places, mostly from the box of HUNDREDS I bought at a yard sale for a dollar!

The bargello technique looks hard, but you merely adhere strips of DP to a piece of CS, cut it into strips going the other way (so you have all of your colors in one strip) and then arrange them in a pattern and trim to fit.  Looks like a quilt or something, right?

Thanks for checking out my projects!
Come back and see me, and feel free to leave me some feedback!  I am still learning here, y'all!
Take good care.
All Best-
Richard

Mr. Cardmaker Keeps His Promises

Home again! And only the teensiest bit of jet lag!
SO many thanks to everyone who answered my survey (in the post below).  Your views are such a big help!

So, Paris was as amazing as everyone has said.  Even more so, since it was my and my DP's 20th anniversary trip.  (Uh, Dear Partner, not designer paper in this instance.)  We ate and WALKED (and walked and walked and walked) through every street, monument, and museum we could get our butts near, and stopped for the best coffee, bread (!!) and cheese (!!!) we've ever had along the way.  Often.  Lots.  SO often.  YUM.  Just sayin'.

ANYWAY, here are the pics I promised from that trip--

Great collage courtesy of Picasa.  This is such a great feature!  This is only a few of the pics out of over 300 we took, but you get a flavor of what we did.  Loved the Musee D'Orsay, and Versailles.  Those charming cottage pics were taken @Versailles, at Marie Antoinette's hamlet. She had this little village built so she could play farmer.  Nice, huh?  Just past the very ornate theatre she had built so she could pretend to be an actress.  No wonder the peasants revolted.

ANYWAY!!

I also promised you some pics of the sweet little cards I made for Halloween.  These things make me giggle...

I made these things--

Cute, right?  I cased one of the lovely ladies at StampTV for the genesis of the mummy and Frank, but I really changed them up.

These are cards with only card FRONTS--they don't open (or st least, not so much.)  Let me show you what I mean.

They do this--

I made the raven card first, having attempted to make a triangle card and making it way too small.  I punched out some circles with my fiskars circle punches, extra large and medium, I do believe, and layered them up on some black cs for the crazy eyes, and then adhered the triangle as a beak.  I used SU stamps from TeenyTiny Wishes and Smarty Pants, and got the greeting on the inside.  Two little punched black circles with a regulation hole puncher from my desk make the nostrils.  I added dots with my glitter pen for highlights in the eyeballs, layered it on some white, and this was done! 

I felt there was only room needed to sign and give a little wish, so I left it as just the front.  Why not be different sometimes?  Oh yes, this card base is only 4" wide, which left me a bit of room to go off the edge and still fit in a regular A2 envelope! 

The mummy is done by tearing and inking the edges of strips of ivory cs (use a piece of cs a bit wider than the base, so you can play with your placement) layered on some mustard cardstock, with more circle punches used to make the eyes and tongue. 
Be sure to tear an extra strip to be used as your flap piece, and make sure to ink the edges of both sides of that one.

I crumpled the circle I used for the eyelids before cutting it to make them look old.  I used the same stamps for the sentiment, and adhered my flap piece to the back of my mustard cs before mounting the whole thing onto some olive cs.  Done and done.

For Frank, I really wanted him to have a flip top head.  To do this, I scored my olive green cs at 1/4", and 1 1/4"  I slid the black strip I used for hair (which was about 1 7/8") under the 1/4" fold, then stamped my greeting just under and above the second fold.  This kept things well hidden. 
I hand drew a scar line both on the flap and the cardbase, and I hand drew the mouth. 
The eyes are more punched circles, but I had the idea to punch the tiny holes out of black irises to make the highlights this time, and I inked the edges if the whites of the eyes with some red ink.  I like how that makes the eyes really pop.  Two little strips of black for the neck "plugs", an orange base, and this monster was all set. 

And that other triangle card was an easy do, just some $1.00 Studio G stamps, a paper pieced house, a strip with the sentiment, and clouds made with my A*muse Studio Clouds Duo dies, inked with black to make them "ominous."  That one also has the SU sentiment stamps on the inside (yes this one has an inside.)  One of these things is not like the others......

So those are my Halloween cards!  I did buy MORE stamps for more cards, but I need to move along into some Thanksgiving, Fall Birthday, and yes, even get started on some Christmas ideas! 

Speaking of Christmas ideas, I am having a heck of a time finding the right image stamps for both Christmas and Winter.  Not sure what I want, but my go to spots are leaving me kind of flat.  I am VERY much all set with sentiments; it's the images I need.  I am kind of non-traditional at Christmas, so I will probably do a couple-a-few with my Tini Time set from A*muse Studio, but I need MORE!!!  Ideas, anyone??  Please??

Hey, Thanks for stopping by and dealing with my ramblings.  So glad you're here!
All Best--
Richard

Hey, Quick Survey....and, Yes, I WILL Post those Pics I Promised.....SOON!

Hey!  Just home on Saturday, and dealing with just a tiny bit of jetlag....I WILL post those Halloween cards I was bragging about, very soon, I promise!!  Paris was AMAZING!!!!! 

Meanwhile, I was just reading a bunch of blogs, and I came across one where the writer was talking about cutting all of her 12x12 dp into 6x6 pieces, and then filing them by color.

As I am still new to a lot of this, I was curious as to whether everyone else (or anyone else, for that matter) is doing this. I only use my dp for cards, or at least, so far that's what I do. It sounds like a good idea, but I am unsure whether it's the best one.  Do I need a bigger, better cutter for this??

Anyone have an idea to share on this?

I would definitely not separate according to color, I think, beacuse I like to credit companies when I post a card on my blog. I would need to put the pieces in a marked ziploc or something, I guess.....

What are your thoughts??? 

Thanks-
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is a Non-traditionalist, Christmas-wise...

With my fall birthdays covered, I need to start thinking about my Christmas cards....Yeah, I know Thanksgiving is first, and I definitely need some cards for that, but I pulled out some beautiful American Crafts Papers, the Dear Lizzie Christmas set, to be exact-ish, as well as some DCWV Shimmer stack and Linen stack papers, and got started on some prototypes.

I made this--

As you can see, this is not your red and green kinda card.  I dig colors that you don't see so much at Christmas.  These are Christmasy-ish.  Who cares? These are beautiful papers.

I layered the teal onto some white to give it some presence, and stamped and wet embossed the sentiment in white onto some teal shimmer cs.  This sentiment is from A*muse studio, the Holiday Greetings Inside and Out set.  This is a really nice set; big, substantial letters.  I like the shadow effect on the bigger type.

The snowflakes are done with a Martha Stewart punch out of cream glitter cs and pink shimmer cs.

The rhinestones are AC Moore, and the ribbon is a scavenged one from a floral bouquet. 

Easy, I can do this idea in many paper combos, blah blah blah....

I made this one next--

I bough this sentiment stamp in Chelsea, NYC this summer, along with one that says "got snow?"  I edged the card stock strip with some pink (one of my SU stampin' spots) and popped it up on foam tape.  The pearl is from my ever trusty AC Moore.

The snowman is from Stampendous, the Holiday Home set.  I have used this set to make "New Home" cards, like the one seen HERE.  This snowman is so teeny-tiny, but I think he makes it look like a greater great outdoors.  He's colored with copics.  

The cream cs is actually glitter cs, hard to see in the photo, and that's popped off of the pink with more foam tape. The pink is a shimmer stock that I ran thru the Cuttlebug with a Sizzix folder.  The clouds are an A*muse Studio die, and I ran those thru the Cuttlebug with the swiss dots folder.  Love me some texture!!  Add some baker's twine from The Paper Source, and I'm done.  (Don't you like the way the red works here?  I gotta add some more red in with these colors.....)

So, this one is easy enough to do in other papers, colors, etc, too.  This way, I can use up MANY of the papers in my stacks, and still get the same, or at least a similar look in lots of cards without having to go out and purchase a ton of the same papers and stuff.

So, those are the first of the prototypes.  I actually have two, no, well....two and a half more to share.  Next time.

Thanks so much for stopping by!!

All Best-

Richard



Mr.Cardmaker is a Sneaky-Peeky Guy

So, I've been sort of spotty with my postings, lately, I know, but I am off to PARIS on Sunday (that's in TWO DAYS!!!), so I promise I will have lots to show when I get home.  Maybe even some stamping/cardmaking stuff from la France!

I made  the cutest little card set for Halloween, and just to make sure you come back in a week or so, I'll give you a peek at one of them....

I made this thing--

Wait until you see what this guy can do!!!  I have monsters, too!  Come back and see them!

See you in a week!
Au Revior!
All Best--
Richard

The CASE of the Pop-Up Truck

 I saw a really great video tutorial at Darlenedesign.com, where she used the SU Loads of Love stamp set to make a really charming pop-up card.  You can see this idea in video form at her website.  I loved it, and since I owned these stamps, I ran with it for my BIL Ronny's birthday.

I made this--

 And this was only the outside!  When you open it, it looks like this--

Isn't this FUN?  (sorry about the shadows)   The gift card sure doesn't suck, either.  Here's another view of the back and pop-up part--

I really like the way that the candles spring off the cake on those pieces of wire.  The cake is another SU stamp, but I do not know where from.  It was a gift.  It JUST fit into the back of that pickup!

SO, to make this , I stamped the truck onto white card stock, and colored the wheels and windows with copic markers, N3 and N5 on the tires, and N1 for the windows.  I stamped the same image on my random Target DP and fussy cut it out twice.  I also stamped the cake onto some SU DP, and cut it out too, and then I added some color with copics.  I stamped extra candles as well (for the ones that go airborne), colored them and cut them out too.  Oh, and I stamped EXTRA extra candles, because I wanted to back the ones that were going onto the wires, for added support. 

To do the inside background, which was done on separate card stock from the front, I used some Studio G chalk ink in a blue, and after masking off a circle for the sun and the bottom , used my Tim Holtz blending tool to make the sky.  I reversed the mask and then did the grass in a green ink, also by Studio G, and I used a yellow to fill in the sun. ( I really wish they'd label those little stamp pads with color names.) 
For the card front, I split the amount of green and blue, and I added clouds I made with my new A Muse studio clouds duo dies.  They are such cute little clouds...  I added trees with the same green as the grass both inside and out. 

I hand drew the swirls on the front of the card.  That always makes me so nervous! 

To make the pop-up part happen, I cut about a 1/2" by 1" tab right on the fold of the inside of the card and pushed it through in the opposite direction, so it would support my truck.  I layered two candles onto one of the ends of my wire pieces, did it two more times, and then adhered them to the back of the truck, and added a scrap of cs behind the wires to keep them from flopping around too much.  I also added a reserved cloud die cut to use as the exhaust coming out of the truck.

While attaching the truck to the pop out piece, I really paid a good bit of attention to what things were going to do when I tried to close the card.  Making sure you don't have wires exposed or crushed tires is really important at this point.  Go slowly, and don't mash down your adhesive until you're sure!

The sentiments are from the birthday messages  clear vision set by Hero Arts.  This set has a terrific assortment of birthday sentiments.  I use it often.  I thought Seize the Cake was perfect!

To secure the gift card, I colored two corner chipboard pieces with the same ink as my grass, and attached them with some 1/8" scor tape.  Hold the pieces on the edges of your gift card during placement to make sure it will fit! 

All that was left to do was to insert the inside into the card base with some scor tape..  I had some overhang, and I trimmed it off with scissors.  It was pretty heavy, so I did use an extra stamp when sending it.  I have a feeling he'll love it!

Thanks for stopping by! 
All Best-
Richard

PS-  I will most likely have some more to show you this week!  Keep your eyes peeled!!

 

The Halloween Card That Wasn't...

I was able to play with some "new to me" stamps that one of my generous benefactors gave me, the GinaK Designs set called "Nesting."  (Thanks Michelle!)  I really liked the owl image, and since I was doing Halloween cards this past week, I decided to go all fancy with it. 

I made this--

I stamped the owl with Memento Tuxedo Black on some light gray paper, and colored it with copic markers.  I used E25, E29, E53, for the feathers, and YR12 on the feet and beak and eyes.  I also used my glitter pen on the eyes, but it doesn't show in this picture.

Then for the background, I grabbed my extra large circle punch from Fiskars, and made a mask.  I placed the circle I punched where I wanted it, and used my repositionable Tombo tape to secure it.  Then, I pulled out some of my $1.00 stamp pads from Studio G and some Stampin' Up Perfect Plum, as well as some Broken China Distress Ink, and more Tuxedo Black.  I used sponge daubers and went from lightest to darkest to create my night sky.  I did LOTS of coats of ink, because things dry very differently, as I'm sure you have found for yourself. 

When I was happy with the sky, I took off the circle and masked off the sky.  I used a very soft yellow chalk ink and did a pouncing technique direct to paper with the ink pad to get as much ink as possible on my paper.  Then I went back with some white ink, and then went back in with the same yellow just right around the edges. 

After I was happy with the moon itself, I took the mask off and used the yellow on a dauber in order to infuse the sky with a bit of moon glow.  I also did the edges of the owl, to make it look like it was being backlit a bit.  I added some trees from two other GinaK sets, "Follow You Dreams" and "Happy Camper".  I really need to get myself a dedicated set of trees.  Anyone have a set of trees they ADORE?

I used GinaK Designs Pure Luxury Kraft cardstock for the base, and used Versamark ink and a verbiage background stamp on the top.  I layered some Fiskars DP with some purple cs, in order to relate to the focal image, and upholstered the bottom of the card with it.  I really like the sort of glowing leaves in this DP, so I made sure they were visible below the focal image.  I tore some value pack black cs to give it a rough edge, and backed my image with it, but this time I attached the black to the base first, and popped the image by itself over the black with some mounting tape.  Then I added the owl, the rhinestones, and that was it.

The interesting thing on this project for me, was how hard it was to make this a Halloween card.  The owl is really stately, so pairing it with kitchy, silly stuff was not going to work.  So, I went really dark and mysterious with it instead.  I could make it a Halloween card, I suppose, but instead I am using it as a birthday card for one of my best male friends who has a Fall birthday.  I think this is a nice, masculine card.

I am in the market for a great stamp for the BACK of my cards.  I think I would like to have my name and blog site listed, and I think a bit of a crazy font would make it just about perfect for my style.  Any ideas?  Hey, and what about watermarks?  What do YOU use on your pics?

Thanks for stopping by! 
For those of you on the East coast, I hope you made it through Irene unscathed!
All Best--
Richard

My Take On Halloween Colors, Cards, and My Bizarre Humor

Ok, so there's a big difference between Autumn colors and Halloween colors.  Think about it.  Halloween: Black and Orange (real Cadmium Orange).  Throw in some acid green, moonlight yellow, and purple. Oh, and a nice bloody red, if you want!
However!  Unless you're doing a really vintage looking Halloween project, BROWN just doesn't cut it, just like rusty orange, dusty blue and maroon really don't make it either.   I love autumnal colors. Save those for all the beautiful Autumn and Thanksgiving cards.

One man's opinion.  I'd love to see some projects where you prove me wrong, btw!!

How do I come to this conclusion, you ask?  Well, I pulled out my paper collection, which includes a beautiful pad of autumn papers from Me and My Big Ideas that my DSIL Jan gave me for my birthday.  LOVE these papers, but...yeah, not for Halloween.  Had to go to this cute collection of papers I picked up at Target's dollar bins.  This thing has no label.  Seriously.  Love to give credit where it's due, but...anyway.  Great papers.

I used them to make this--

This on GinaK Designs Ivory card stock.  The b&w swiss dot and striped paper is also GinaK Designs.  The stamps are from Studio G, and I have 4 little Halloween sets from them.  One dollar at AC Moore, these things.  Can't go wrong, and the all go together really well!    The moon was punched and detailed with copics, and white gel pen, and just about everything was sponged with Memento tuxedo black ink to age it all; Stamped everything with the same ink.  Ribbon is from AC Moore, as is the brad.  I used mounting tape to pop up the orage framed image, and a foam adhesive square to pop up the moon.  The label die is Sizzix for SU, the lots of labels set.  I did the swirls by hand with gel pen, and I really went for a non specific, hand-done look there. 
The inside and envelope look like this-

I really LOVE how creepy all these spiders are!  The label here is done with Spellbinders Nestabilities grommet tag dies, and again the stamps are Studio G.  I have just begun to decorate my envelopes!  Missed a lot of great  creative opportunities there in the past!  I like giving the recipient a hint of what's to come!

I decided to enter this into The Rubber Cafe's  Spellbinders challenge.  Check it out!!

Since I was in the swing of things, I made this too--

With this inside--

I had such a hoot making this one.  I giggled like an idiot at some moments here.  Don't you love the spiders on the ribbon? 

I started by making the pumpkins with my cuttlebug and Nestabilities small ovals dies.  I used scraps from the Target paper, some SU designer paper, and just orange cs from The paper company (my value pack).  I cut the stems by hand and I have a tiny oak leaf punch from somewhere and used scraps to make the green part.  I popped it off the base with mounting tape.

The letters are done from scraps with Sizzix wallflower letter dies and the cuttlebug.  These are so pretty, but some of them are rather persnickety, and take several passes and various pieces of cardstock in the machine.  I think they are worth the effort, though. 

The card base is GinaK Designs Kraft.  I used Versamark and more Studio G stamps to make the webs on the base, did the spiders in Memento Tuxedo Black and I used white gel pen to decorate and highlight things, including the spider eyes, the letters, and the faux stitching.  I also used glitter pen to highlight just about everything.  Hello, my name is Richard and I am a glitter pen junky.....

Since I made a ton of letters, and lots of ovals, not to mention a weird sense of humor, I also made this....Parents, avert your child's eyes--

I find this incredibly funny.  I am weird that way.  I did try to visually "bleep" some of the letters, but you get the idea. 

This isn't even a card yet.  Just the pumpkin.  This is a sort of family joke, so I apologize if it offends anyone.  It makes me giggle, though...

I have one more, but I'll save it for next time.  Leave 'em wanting more, they say...

And I hope you do.

Thanks for stopping by. 

All Best!

Richard

Birthday Cards for the Last Blast of Summer, and Some On the Road Fun

Hey, Readers!!

SO, I know it has been a while since I was here.  I had my birthday, and got LOADED up with stuff for card making, thanks mostly to my Dear Charlie (DC).  I am up to my eyeballs in new stamps and paper and ink and tools!  Woo to the Hoo! 

I actually made eight thank you cards, but I got a late start on them, and I wrote in and sent them BEFORE I realized I forgot to take photos!  ARGH!  They were really cute too.  Some were loaded up with stickers, some were CAS, some were hot pink and orange.....SIGH.  Dumb, dumb, dumb.  Oh, well.

ANYWAY--

My friends Susan and Karlah have birthdays coming up, on the same day!  So I made two of  these-

I just realized the colors kinda photographed funny.  They really DO all go together, I promise.

This project started with the bright orange cs from SU.  I took a background stamp with indeterminate words, and inked it up with versamark ink.  Then I put the paper on top of the inked side, and rubbed it really well.  I find this works better than stamping on the paper, because I invariably miss a spot of pressure somehow.  

I stamped some birdcages onto white cs with stamps from Amuse studio, the Life is a Song set, with orange and tan inks.  I added birds in blue and yellow, and then cut them out .  I highlighted the edges with more orange ink.  

 I used A*muse Studio card stock for the base of this card.  I really like their cardstock for bases, because the backs of all their cs is WHITE, so you can write inside it without any issue.  Looks very professional, IMHO.  Anyway, I really wanted to stamp with versamark ink a nice flourish all over the cs to make a nice design.  DANG, if my stamp wasn't filthy!  I don't know what I used with this stamp before, (inkadinadoo's dot flourishes, btw) but it did NOT come off, and left some nice brown marks on my cs.  SO lucky I was stamping with versamark!  I grabbed my white embossing powder and took care of that mess in a hurry.  Then I took a sponge dauber and did some resist technique with some studio g ink. 

Now, from the files of what NOT to do, I trimmed the edges of the stamped orange piece, backed it with  with some blue cs, wrapped it with a piece of blue organdy ribbon, and popped the whole thing on my cardfront.  With my permanent adhesive.  Oh.....wait..... I wanted to stamp a chain for the birdcage....oh poo...

Yeah.  It's all about doing stuff in the right order.  I was just kinda happy I actually thought about rounded edges and ribbons ahead of time. 

HOWEVER!  It's aaaaaalllllllllll fixable!  I just grabbed my stampamajig, and I stamped in my chain, right over the ribbon and everything.  What?  It worked.

I backed the image with the yellow bird onto more blue cs, and popped it up with some mounting tape.  The orange cage is popped on with some foam squares, which sit just slightly higher than the mounting tape.  I like the multiple depths that achieves.  I only wish I had used a darker ink on the sentiment, but I definitely know better than to try and restamp over something like that.  We're just gonna call it "subtle".

So, these turned out to be pretty cute, and I definitely got a nice lesson in PLANNING.

In other news-
I went to the A*muse Studio "On the Road" event in Nashua NH last weekend, and had a BLAST!  Yeah, I was the only guy in the room, no big surprise there....We made SIX projects that afternoon, and they look like this-

These were SO fun, especially the little favor box that was SO easy!  I really love the loose leaf cardstock, and the woodgrain, which comes in several colors.  They were kind enough to gift us the Life is a Song stamp set, so I used it to make the card in todays post!  I had a great time!

Thanks for stopping by! 

All Best-

Richard

   

Very A*Mused, Indeed

Last Sunday, I was fortunate enough to make my way to Arlington, MA, to participate in an open house held by the lovely and talented Ms. Liz Ballard.  Liz is an A*Muse Studio consultant, and I happened to find her on my search for a copic marker instructor.  She led me into another area for the copic stuff, but she was kind enough to invite me to her open house, to meet some of her peeps, and to get acquainted with A*Muse studio. I had never been to Arlington, and I was definitely into seeing some new product lines...who isn't? 

Anyway, she had a small gathering, and together (more or less) we each made our versions of these really fun cards--

Adorable, right?  Notice I have no watermark on these photos.  These are Liz's design work, not mine.  I was just lucky enough to be able to make and take them with me!  Thanks for a great time, Liz, Andrea, Mary Sara, Amy and Kathy!!

Aren't those clouds just TOO cute?  Those were made with an A*Muse Studio die.  Had to have it, and the one that die cuts GRASS!!  And some Christmas stamps, and some paper......You know, I pretty much spent WAY too much money.  In fact, when Charlie asked me how much I spent, I had to tell him, "Nunya."  As in, Nunya business. 'Sright.

Speaking of the grass die, Liz was so sweet to let me play with hers.  I cut a couple of pieces, and smuggled them out with me.  I really liked them SO much.  I can't wait for my order to arrive, but I have to, because Liz is holding it until I am able to shop the Holiday catalog after Aug. 22.  Wah, I say.  Wah.

Now that the pity party is over, I'll show you what I did with the grass cuts.

I made these--

So, these had an interesting creation.  I had the two pieces of grass die cuts, each of them about 5 1/2" long.  I really had no idea WHAT I was going to do with them, but I really wanted to use them asap.  SO, out came all the inks, papers and stuff. 

I got out a sponge dauber, and I sponged SU grass green on the blades of grass. I set them aside, and on a piece of white cardstock, I put down some post-its to make a mask, and I sponged more grass green onto the lower 2/5ths of the paper.  I turned it around, and sponged SU Ballet Blue on the top part, leaving some light places to make some clouds.  I added the grass die cuts, popping just the bottom one off the cardstock, in order to give the illusion of depth.

Ok. Sky and grass.  Lots of empty space.  Lots of possibilities.  Now what? 

I pulled out some SU stamps, Pocket Silhouettes, to be exact, and went to town with some SU inkspots , and made the garden of flowers.  Then, feeling like it was a bit flat, I pulled out my GinaK Designs Follow Your Dreams set, and added the dragon flies, stamping them both on the card stock, and onto a scrap to be colored and cut out to stick on for more dimension. 

Ok. Looks pretty good.  Pretty good, but not great.

I cut it in half!  Way to give the elements much more importance! 

I knew I wanted to use some of the new A*Muse paper I had just picked up, so I pulled out a sage piece and made it the card base for both of the cards.  Then I grabbed some of my new papers from my friend Michelle, these DP pieces are from MME-Quite Contrary.  I scallop edge punched the checked paper, and pierced the scallops with my piercing tool.  Then I layered it with some DCWV teal card stock, and in the first card, I popped it off the card front with some mounting tape.  I think it almost looks like an awning. 

Then some more DP, with a green cs backing, this from one of my value packs.  Yup, still trying to use that bad boy up.  Truth be told, I really do like the lighter weight for layering; I just would avoid it for card bases.

Some ribbon and brads from AC Moore, and it's done! 

But wait.  Hmmm.....

I think it's still just a tiny bit flat.  Not to worry!  I have a Glitter pen!!!  After going over stems and dragonflies and flowers, I felt that the negative space was the thing that was still bothering  me, so in a moment of inspiration, I did the random flightpath of the dragonfly, my mind's eye's version of it, anyway, in the less populated areas of the card base.  Now we're talking.  Done and done.

I think my favorite part of doing cards is the organic emergence that happens when you just grab your stuff and get started.  There are definitely some cards that have hit the heap and will never see the light of day, for sure, but I even have a few early cards that just want some tweaking.  And I'll get to those one day.  Really.  But just stamp and cut.  DO it. I looked at that grass die cut for no less than 4 days before I got inspired.

My list of followers has really grown, thanks to my buddy Melanie's blog candy bribe (which is over, sad to say).  Thanks to everyone who's joined on recently, and continued love to my tried and true gang! 

I turn 48 (!) tomorrow, and having 48 followers to mark the day would be so cool!  That's only 4 more.  Surely you know a friend who could use some bloggy inspiration?  

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Say hello, why don'tcha?

All Best--

Richard

Plain, Yet Fancy

I like what I see when I see people do cards on Kraft card stock.  Usually it's some fun, simple thing with a good bit of the kraft left visible.  Looks great, right?  Well, I decided to play around with this idea. 

I came up with this--

This was made with my friend Melanie Muenchinger's The Vine stamps from GinaK Designs, on GinaK Designs Pure Luxury Kraft card stock.  I ran the card front through my cuttlebug with the folder that came with it, and then added that piece of black cs from The Paper Company, which I cut with a nestabilities scalloped rectangle die, then embossed with my Swiss dots folder.  I had the flowers and vines cut out a while ago, but they are stamped on cs from DCVW, with Studio G chalk ink.  The ribbon and pearls were from the dollar bin at AC Moore. 

So, I put all of this together, popping up leaves and flowers along the way with both adhesive squares and my NEW friend, mounting tape.  Did you know this stuff is awesome?   And that it lifts stuff off your page, but not anywhere near as high as a foam square will do?  So you can do several heights of your elements??

I do now!  

However-- I decided there just wasn't enough LIFE in this card.  Enter my Sakura GellyRoll glitter pen!!!  Ok, I may have gone a LITTLE crazy with this thing, but isn't it cool?  Can you tell I just bought my first glitter pen?   It's around the pearls, all over the vines, it's just everywhere...

This bad boy was so delicate in moves, it let me touch the tips of my swiss dots and left the perfect amount of glitter.  I totally dig it directly on the Kraft too.  Gives a little glam to the roughness. 

Hey, so, head on over to Melanie's blog Hands, Head and Heart, and check out my last installment as guest designer for this "The Vine" series.  She's giving a chance to get some blog candy if you become or admit that you are a follower of my blog, and leave her a comment on her blog. I get all Dutch-like in that one.  Check it.

This has been such a great experience, living with this set, and being Melanie's guest designer.  I have never delved so deep into what a single stamp set can achieve.  I found it to be a great focusing exercise;  it makes you HAVE to be as creative as you can be.  Fun stuff!!  Thank goodness this was a great set to work with.  This one will show up again, I'm sure. 

Next time, I have to tell you all about my great stamping party experience with some gals working with A*Muse Studio products.  Oh, and I have been playing with using several companies stamps in one image, too.  More on that later!

Thanks for stopping by! 

All Best-

Richard

Lucky Me, Lucky Me!!!

A while ago, I did a posting or two about all the lovely things my buddy AJ Otto sent me to play with.  Paying it forward, she said.  Well, I have been graced to have not one, but TWO benefactors this week!!!  I got two majorly stuffed priority mail envelopes on Wednesday, and found them chock-a-block filled will stamps and papers and ribbons.....Enough to keep this newbie busy for weeks and weeks!

Who are these most generous ladies?  Well, as far as I can tell, they probably know one another, but I doubt each of them knew the other's movements.  They are Ms Emily Giovanni and Ms Michelle Woerner, both of whom I have come into with through StampTV.  They have both been so kind and encouraging and generous of spirit, and now they have been really generous with their supplies too! 

Emily sent me SEVEN GinaK Designs stamp sets.  I don't even know where to begin.  Then she also slid in some beautiful grosgrain ribbons to play with, too....Lots of it, in several colors.  Wow.  Lucky Me!

Then, in envelope #2, there were two out-of-this-world DP collections, a big bag of really beautiful buttons, more stamps, more ribbon (did I mention I am a nut about ribbon?), and a BoBunny cardmaking kit. (This I got merely a glimpse of, because my partner grabbed it and announced HE was going to make some cards now. Yours Truly has a birthday in a couple of weeks, you see...)  SO many beautiful things.....Again, Lucky Me!!!

And the CARDS!!!!  They each sent with all of these magnificent playthings, GORGEOUS cards, of their own making, of course.  That may have been the best part!! 

Well, I cannot thank these ladies enough.  I just can't.  However, they should be watching their mail; my feeble attempts are on their way.

SO, with my new toys, I made this!

This was made from a sketch from CPS, and I think I will enter the contest this week with it. 
The downlow on the supplies:
Cardstock: GinaK Designs, DCWV
DP:PinkPaisley
Ink: Ink it Up, plum and walnut
Dies: Spellbinders, labels four, grommet tags
Stamps: GinaK Designs, All Occasions Greetings
Embellishments: ribbons, buttons, brads

I used the inks to highlight the edges of almost all the cardstock and paper with a direct to paper technique.
The triangles are popped up with foam squares, as is the tag.  I used teeny tiny strips of paper to make the stitching on the buttons, and applied them to the card front with glue dots.

The papers are from Michelle, and the ribbon is from Emily.  Merci, Ladies!!
Am I lucky, or WHAT?  Maybe they should call me Lucky Breaks, instead of Richard Breaks.  That would be catchy, right?  Or is it Kitschy?  Yeah, maybe the latter....

Thanks for stopping by! 
All Best-
Lucky
Richard

It's a SEQUEL!!

There's a point in the summer when the wet, sticky air has been so hot for so long, the ocean lays back and decides it calls himself, "on vacation."  The waves are soft as a melody, and the noonday sun casts a light that commits to no certain time at all.  This is the time to pull your beach chair right up to the water's edge, and let the waves play around your feet. 

I had a longing for a beach day like that.  So I made this.

This was made with my friend Melanie Muenchinger's GinaK Designs set, Gifts from the Sea.  This set has the most beautiful beach sentiments, and the artwork on the shells is really outstanding.  There is even a stamp that does the speckles that were used to do the sand.  This was the first prize I won as a cardmaker.  I talk about that here, and here. 

Oh yes! And from the Toot your own Horn department, Sweet Melanie Muenchinger has another (!) guest spot with me on her blog, Head, Hands and Heart.  I answered a questionnaire, and also made another sample using her The Vine stamp set, from GinaK Designs.  She is such a magnificent supporter of Yours Truly, and she creates some beautiful artworks.  Check it out!

Oh yes, the card.
The background was done with my Tim Holtz Ink Blending Tool, and Antique Linen Distress ink for the sand, with Antique Linen and Tea Dye for the speckles, SU Marina Mist  and Baja Breeze for the water, and SU Bashful Blue for the sky.  I used post it notes to separate the layers.
I stamped the birds in Tea Dye, and stamped it off to make them seem further away. 

The shells were stamped with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, and I sponged over them with various colors.  I have used colored pencils on them before, but this kept them a bit simpler.  In with my other inks, I added SU Perfect Plum and Pretty in Pink.  I cut them out after inking them, and cut some foam squares in half width-wise, so they would pop off the card just a little less than usual., after attaching some 1/4 inch aqua ribbon from AC Moore.
(As a side note, I have these SU inks in Stampin' Spots.  I need to talk to my rep about them, because they seem really "NOT JUICY".  I may have gotten some old ones or something.)

The sentiment piece was a happy accident.  I originally wanted to stamp it directly onto the card face, wet emboss it, and then wet emboss a big sand dollar to look like a background for it.  This was pretty much a big fail at first.  In my frustration, I used the image to test out my Marina Mist stampin' spot in a direct-to-paper swipe, to see if I wanted to do the water that way.  Fail there, too.  But THEN......

When it came time to figure out exactly WHAT I was going to do to make the sentiment work, I looked down at the mess I had made. Inspiration struck!  I gently ripped the edges of the card stock away, and then sponged the rough edges with Tea Dye distress ink.  Well, what do you know?! It works! 

I attached the card front to a layer of sandy colored stock, then to a piece of aqua, leaving just a 1/16" reveal.  Subtle is the watch word on this one...

The waves were the last to be done.  The water was really pretty, but the sentiment is about WAVES, remember?  So, I got out my gel pen and drew some in by hand, and then added some depth with a green colored pencil.  Then to give them that last bit of punch, and to really wake up the whole thing, I added some Stickles to the waves, too.  I was really scared this would turn the whole thing into a cheesy mess, but I was very delicate with the application, and I think it really works.

I hope your weekends and vacations bring you to someplace restful.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Got Ten Minutes?

If you've got ten minutes, you can have a card.  The Free for All Friday challenge at StampTV this week was to make a card in ten minutes or less.  I knew I had some summer stickers hanging out in the bottom of my embellies box, so I quick-like-a-bunny came up with this--



My apologies for the weird color.  I actually fixed this one TWICE, but it somehow doesn't translate to blogger.  I need to practice with my picasa program, I guess.

Now, could this BE any easier? SO I cut a piece of blue green DCWV cardstock to 11"x4 1/4", and using my Scor-Pal, scored it at 5 1/2 inches and made a topfold card base. 

I then, again on my Scor-Pal, which I use on EVERY project I do, I scored the dry embossed lines that you see on the edges of the card.  The series of five lines at the bottom started at 1/8" from the edge, and happen at 1/16" increments.  The lines on the sides and top are at 1/8" in from the sides.  

The cute stickers are A touch of Joleen's, the sunbather set, which I got for a dollar at AC Moore during a sale.  I have enough left in that pack to do another one of these (maybe in orange?).

The sentiment is by my friend Melanie Meunchinger for GinaK Designs, Gifts from the Sea set.  I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black ink. 

 And, there she is.  I think five minutes of the ten was deciding what I wanted to do. 

I like a challenge, every now and again.  Anybody know of any challenges/challenge sites out there worth checking  out?   Drop me a link, and let's see what you're doing for these challenges! 

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your weekend!

All Best-

Richard