Mr Cardmaker is Tagged

Just a quickie post to share the tag I made for the Tag, You're IT Challenge, and for the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp Challenge.

I made this--

Isn't this FUN?!  Love the colors, and the liquid platinum embossing powder gives it such a nice shine.
I think the real fun, though comes at the bottom section, where I popped up a star in the DP, and added a wood veneer star.

Wait. Wha...?

Yes indeed, a wood veneer star. I dipped that sucker into some versamark, and triple embossed it with more liquid platinum embossing powder. Use a post-it to hold that tiny thing for you, unless you have Teflon fingers. Ouch!
Looks like it's made of metal though, right?

A close-up--

The inspiration comes from this tag by Debbie Hughes--

I gravitated toward the idea of the highlighted bottom area more than anything else, and substituted my sentiment die cut for an image one.

One more long, skinny, ribbon-y look--

I had so much fun creating this tag, and I am ready to make MORE!

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

Mr. Cardmaker Is Gaga for the GooGoo

It is always a happy day when you get to make a New Baby card!

My friend Kristin had her second child, a sweet, beautiful little girl. I HAD to get a card together.

Have I mentioned that my mojo has been on the fritz since the holidays? I think I might have blown a fuse, or something.

I have had very little experience doing baby cards, because the kids in the family were well beyond that place when I took up this card making thing. I DO like a challenge...

I made this--

I hand cut the onesie, (is that what it's called?) form pink cardstock, and found a teensy star stamp to give it some pattern. I used my piercing tool on the edges and added a tiny bow.

Do you LOVE that sentiment?!  I did it in liquid platinum embossing powder. Looks like my ribbon did some drifting while I did these pics...

I had JUST bought some felt in various colors, and what a perfect chance to use some to make flowers for this card.  I used a mini brad to hold the layers together, and I found if I pinched the flappy-part UP, it actually pinched the whole flower into a really attractive place.

Another view--

I think the baby liked it.  Her Mama said she did, even though I didn't see her eyes open up too much during my visit. I guess drool says much more these days than it once did.

Welcome to the world, little Miss!

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

Mr Cardmaker is Making the Most of Hibernation Weather

I don't know about you, but wintertime means indoors and hibernation as much as possible.
Max the Beagle keeps that from being true at my house, being privy to TWO two-mile walks a day. You definitely learn what 11 degrees Fahrenheit  feels like when you have an active dog. Oh, AND he gets up early, so no sleeping in, either. Good thing I love that good, good dog.

Outside or in, I have always been a HUGE house nerd. I love architecture and interiors, classical and modern. Give me a house, I'll tell you how I want to improve it, paint it, Christmas it up, whatever.
It made TOTAL sense to get my hands on Papertrey Ink's Boards & Beams stamps and dies. They came with my big box of Christmas goodies.

I was actually sort of slow to play with them--I don't know if it was a "sacred cow" syndrome or what. But, I did bust them out, diecut, stamped, and water colored a farmhouse and two town houses .  And then, they sat. And sat. Finally, after lots of staring at them, I came up with some cards.

I made this--

I think the painting turned out rather well on this guy, if I say so myself. LOVE my Distress Inks!

I borrowed a small stamp from a favorite Stamendous set to do that little grass/sidewalk-looking strip.
I love the chunky font of the hello die from Lawn Fawn. I did three layers, and did the top one from cardstock that was clear embossed. Hard to see the shine here, but it looks pretty good.
The house is also three diecuts, layered together, and the tree is on foam adhesive.

When I first stamped the fence and trees on the yellow card stock, I had to laugh at myself, because it looked like I stamped on a post-it!  My scallop punch gave it a more upscale look.

I thought it was done at this point, but I can't leave well enough alone, and I thought the card base was too plain.  I decided to add some stitch lines around the card with a white gel pen.

It looks like this now--

Better? Not better? I just don't know.  I need either a more steady hand or a better pen, I think, but it IS a handmade card, after all, so I don't worry about such things.

Then I made this--

I actually did a mix of stamps here. The background cityscape is from Jillibean Soup, called You Move Me, and the sentiment is from Stampendous. Everything else is from PTI Boards & Beams.

Another view--

Layers of the house diecut, glued together, pops the houses off the card front.
I think those tiny trees are so cute...

So, I am off and running with this set, and I'm happy with my start. More to come, I'm sure!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker has Finally Lost It...

I have had this tradition, for the past several years, of making calendars every year--one for Charlie, and one for his mom. 
These take me forever to make, for some odd reason, and I usually don't manage to get them done until the middle of January. This year, though, I had them done for Christmas! They still took WAY too much time to make, though, and I have vowed I will find a better way to do them.

For Charlie's mom, I made this--

I used The Stamps of Life's Calendar to Build stamp set to do the calendar pages.  Oh, my lawdy bees, this was a job.  Never again. way too much finagling with the 29th -31st on ALL of these months, and lining it all up just gave me heartburn.  I will find a calendar to download and print next time, fo' sho'.
Nana is a fan of the purples, so I went to town with my scraps and a butterfly die that I got for ONE DOLLAR at JoAnn's a while back.  It will come to me who made it...
Oh, and the tiny butterflies are done with my tiny heart punch on the fold of some paper scraps. SO easy, and a fun trick.

Another view--

For Charlie, I made this--

So, yeah. Stars and telephones.  You know, your usual, classic combo.
Yeah...
So, CLEARLY my brains had slid into my shoes on this one.  Call it "Holiday Fatigue", or whatever...
I liked the image, I like the glittery stars....So sue me. He likes it.
(Honestly, it occurred to me that he would be bringing it to work, where he uses the (WHAT?) TELEPHONE (!)--All day long. SOOO...)

Another view of this one--

And, so now Charlie will know what day it is. Tah-DAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard

Mr Cardmaker Makes Post (Card) Holiday Thank Yous

Well, this posting is rather late for the season, though, happily, these cards went out in a timely fashion.

Did you have a nice holiday season? Get lovely gifties? Take a trip? Get hammered on New Year's Eve?

We are very fortunate to have a generous family, who not only favor us with gifts, but also share their time and talents with us throughout the year. Making "Thank You" cards is always a pleasure, and I like spending lots of time on them, trying to get them to be "just so."

I made ten of these--

I LOVE old post cards.  I found this stamp (minus the Thank You sentiment--I added that) at Michaels after Christmas sale, and I snapped it up. I will get LOTS of use out of this over the coming years.

So, on white card stock, I used several Distress Inks to age the edges, watercolor the greenery, and add the "light in the window".  I also aged it more with some water drops, and then some black ink flicked onto the image.  Some shredding of the edges, a matte, a base, and there you go.

Then came the glitter.  OH, the glitter! Sadly, it is SO difficult for me to capture that shimmer in my photos.  you can just make out some of it in this shot..

Maybe a bit better now?  Look in the trees.
Oh well.  They were SHINY SHINY SHINY. For reals. Just sayin'. The roofs, the trees, the snowbanks...*sigh*...

Anyway...
This stamp will be great in a soft tan on cream card stock, or in red or green on matching card stock as a subtle background. SO much can be added on top of this, along with using it as is.  I look forward to doing many things with this stamp for next Christmas. 

My Michaels had several left this week at 80% off (!), so you might have a look at your local store...

Oh yeah, did you know that the CHA (Craft and Hobby Assoc.?) show is this week?  That means more NEW GOODIES coming available!  Oh my aching wallet...But what FUN! Watch for all the new releases coming up.

I am entering the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge, and Darnell's NBUS #3 challenge, because they want something NEW.  My stamp was just the thing!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard