Papertrey Ink February Blog Hop

Well, I don't know about you, but I am READY to see the snow melt and new growth come up.  Some SUN wouldn't kill me either.

 

Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop Challenge for February is to create things that bring SPRING to mind!

 

Some inspiration--

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I made TWO cards, (well, two versions of the same idea) using PTI's Harvest Berries stamps and dies, and their Funky Florals stamp set.

 

I made these--

 



Now, there is a die that coordinates with the flower stamps, but I don't have it, so I cut the basic shapes with circle dies, and hand snipped the rest of the shapes. The label is a Spellbinder's die.

Now, if my yard would just start to resemble these cards, I would be a very happy Mr. Cardmaker.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Never Met a Box He Didn't Like

So, I am working at Starbucks these days.  The hair biz is off the table for now, and I am happy about that for the moment.  I am mostly having fun while working my butt off, and so things are going well.  I am Le Barista!

Anyway, we sell these travel mugs that are made of steel and come in this handsome cylinder box. 
Well, one day, a woman came in and wanted the mug, but asked us to remove it from the box because she didn't want it, or need it, or whatever.  I took one look at the situation and made SURE no one threw the box away.  It comes as just a simple, flat black cylinder with the gold band, and a small label.

I got it home, and IMMEDIATELY did this to it--

I covered the box itself with some DCWV black-with cream-writing text paper, again, leaving that gold part visible, since changing it would involve disturbing the working part of the box where the top comes off.

I punched and curled the petals of  many a flower punched with Stampin' Up's Blossom punch, using some almost black, newsprint papers, and a leaf printed paper I have been hoarding for ages. There are also some gold metallic colored cardstock flowers as the base levels; a sort of brassy gold.

I then punched some many leaves from a cooler gold card stock, and ran them through an embossing folder.  Those got curled up and worked in next. 

Lastly, I used a bunch of rhinestones in gold shades to bling it all up, making them flower centers and buds.

Here's a bit of a close-up--

This was one of those projects where I got the idea, and was NOT going to be happy until I got it realized.  Luckily, Charlie was out of town, and I had a good chunk of time to get this done.

So, my box is ready to be filled.  With what, I do not know, so I am happy to get some input there.

I also managed to get hold of a nice tea tin.  That one is for another day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard

Puttin' on the Dog for Valentine's Day

Well, I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. I will, of course, do a Valentine for Charlie, and I am happy (!) to do so, but for the most part, pink and red together doesn't blow my skirt up, and I think the 70's and 80's killed ANYTHING heart-shaped for me.

However, I bit the bullet, and came up with this- 

Note the big hit of coral in with the aforementioned disliked red and pink.  Makes it all that much more palatable for me. 

Charlie just about always has a dog card for me, so this year I returned the favor.  This is from a Hero Arts set called Happy Day Animals, and I really like both him and the butterfly that is giving him a kiss in his big pink nose!

I hand stamped the background as well with an ancient set I have.  What is it called? Hmmmm....

The scallops were done with a PTI die, and the cloud dies are Amuse Studio.  I fussy cut the images, and colored them with Copics.

I made a lovely chicken and asparagus risotto, and chocolate cupcakes for dinner, and we ate our weight in the chocolates we bought each other. They were delish!

Hope you had a lovely V-day.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Aaaaaand That'll Just about Do It.....

Well, I am happy to report that I am here with my LAST Christmas card post from the 2013 cards.  I have already done some 2014 cards and a few other projects, but those are for another day.

So, without further ado--
I made these--

 Love the tags paper.  Notice the restraint on the bling factor.

 Letting the paper do the work here.  Just added a few snowflakes, branches, and sequins, and the twine.

 I hand stamped the background paper on these two. 

This is the one that killed my Martha Stewart snowflake punch.   Wah. And I LIKED this one, too...

 Sweet Christmas words dies from Paper Smooches.

 This is an older Spellbinders' Ornament die, with a Sizzix snowflake, and Papertrey Ink word die.  I stamped extra snowflakes on the paper with gold Delicata ink.

Yeah.  Not sure what this one was.  Fail.

 I could use about 20 more of that Dec 25th flair...Note the Enamel Accents dots.  Love that stuff.

This is some of that pretty-yet-maddening red plastic sheet. Oh how I wish it liked to be die cut.  SO shiny....

 

A little black pen turned the teensy red birds into cardinals here.  I like them. Die cuts that small are HARD to keep up with, though!



..................................................................................................................                                

 

Okay, so,  I certainly did NOT save the best for last.  Here they are for posterity, if for no other reason!

 

The thing I like about Christmas cards, though, is that you can do a good bit of experimentation, and you can count on just about ANYTHING being appreciated when you send it out.

 

Thanks for sticking with me through this one.  Better things to come, I promise. 

 

Now, if I can drag my butt and my stuff downstairs to get photographed....

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard