Mr Cardmaker is Ready for His Big Break

I know we all have our mojo-free periods.  No energy to create, we force things, we hate everything we make, yadda, yadda, yadda....Oh, and that'll be me, over here, raising my hand to say, "Yup.  That's me."

A good friend of mine always has maintained that those times are our brains and spirits gearing up to have a big breakthrough, which will take you to a new and better creative place.  As this has borne true for me in the past , I have taken this on as part of my creed as well.
So, ok.....  Let's get ON with it, already, shall we???  Sheesh...

Hey, what do YOU do to break your Mojo-free moments?  Any great ideas out there??  SHARE, please!

Anyway--

If you made it through the pitiful post about THIS CARD, (for which, I offer up my apologies) you may remember the whole thing started with eight card bases I put together in order to finish up some paper from My Mind's Eye that I had been hoarding.  A sad end to that particular card base, I must say.  It never did anything bad to anyone....

HOWEVER!!

I had seven more to work with.  One became Charlie's Valentine.  I will share that later.  (It's not bad.  Not bad at all)

The remaining six made it out alive!!!  Aren't you glad this story has a happy ending?!

I have this really sweet stamp set from Papertrey Ink (PTI), called Funky Florals, which they GAVE you if you spent $100.00 at their online store.  I had a wonderful gift certificate from Christmas, and was able to get in on this deal.  They do not sell this, btw, and I am actually not sure if there are any left.  Be worth a check, however.

I used the stamps to make these--

Isn't his SOOOOO much better than the other thing?  I love that sentiment, and the flowers are so fun and pretty. 

PTI sells coordinating dies (from the Notched Flowers stamp set) that also go with this stamp set, but they rapidly sold out of them.  What I found, however, is that I could easily use my Nestabilities dies to cut the basic circle, and then my snips made easy work of the notches.  You just follow the image.  DUH!  There are no leaves in this set, so I used the leaf stamps and dies from the Rosie Posie set (also PTI).

When I adhered the flowers, I used foam adhesive, and put the medium flower on a 1/8" foam dot, while the other two flowers are on 1/16" foam.  I like the extra dimension.

I think my favorite part is the little "giggle of bling" that I sprayed across the bottom.  I like the mix of pearls and gems here, and the lighthearted placement.

Oh, I should mention that these are 4"x 5 1/2", and not the standard A2.  I wanted a little extra room to allow some of the leaves and flowers to go off the edge a bit, and still fit in a regular envelope.

I will decide later whether these go solo or as a set.  I am pretty happy about they way these came out, though!

I am back to a low mojo period after making these, however.  I threw three cards away this week.  *SIGH*  That's 3+ hours down the tubes.  It happens, I know, and then it goes away.  I am READY for it to go away now, thank you.

I think I will go dig out a favorite card, and either CASE myself, or just do the same thing in a new colorway or something.  That should get the juices pumping!

PTI is doing a "black background" blog hop on the 25th.  I made some COOL things for that, and I have been saving them for this.  Stay tuned for that!

Hey, thanks for stopping by.  I so apreciate you putting up with my ravings.
Have a great, creative, and love-filled day!

All Best--
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Averts(?) Disaster

So, as promised, I have a card that probably should have hit the heap.  I started poorly, had a bad initial execution, and many mishaps along the way.  I'm not even sure I shouldn't let this poor thing rest in peace after all of this after all.  BUT!  I promised to show you, and show you I will!

I made this--

OK, so I started this whole sordid affair by making several card bases with these really lovely papers from My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary set.  These are the 12''X12" pages, which have a larger scale and more texture than their 6"x6" pad counterparts.  These were gifted to me a while ago, and I ran across them and felt the need to work with them.

So, my initial idea was to cut a large panel out of the base, and then fill it back in with the leaf idea that you see in the photo.  The leaves were going to span the space, and be nice and lacy, and magically hide the second part of the sentiment, so it would be a surprise when you opened the card. Or some rot like that.

......Yeah.

SO--

I did all of this inside--

THIS part is not so bad. I actually kinda dig it.  The idea here was for the stamped leaves to appear behind the die cut ones on the front with the die cuts on the inside tying it all together, yadda, yadda, yadda. 

The lower sentiments were the big surprise.  They would be hidden from view through the cunning use of ginko leaves! 

SO, I die cut out a nice long rectangle from the front.  Crooked.  Nice. This is probably the REAL first indication to toss the thing.  I made 8 card bases with this paper, however, and I had no more paper.  Time to get creative if I wanted to make a set of these things.
I managed to re cut it and straighten it out well enough.
But, then I realized that the hole was WAY too big; the leaves would not cover the sentiment in the way I had envisioned it.  Even if I did do some serious magic with some leaf die cuts, once you went to write in the card, you would have NO PLACE TO WRITE.  I had ENOUGH of that nonsense when I made THIS CARD!

OK, so this is about the point where I really should've tossed the thing.  Well, the second time I should've tossed it.  I am NOT someone who gives in so easily, however.  I sallied forth!

So, I knew I had to fill in some of that gaping hole I made.  I dug out the first die cut that I did, and cut off the top.  Now, because I had cut it incorrectly the first time, and then recut the hole, the die cut was too small to properly fill the hole.  *SIGH*

But wait!  I can SUSPEND the little bugger in the space!  Yes!  (Right?)

So, I die cut and stamped these pretty ginko leaves from PTI.  Then I painstakingly placed them across the span of the card front, lovingly adhering them to the little panel.  Bleah.  Bor. Ing.

Make a, a.......A what?  OK, a  frame!  Okay, not enough! Now what? Uh...... DOILIES, of course!

Now, the nice thing about the doilies, is that if you attack them with a two-way glue pen, they just about perfectly melt into the paper you're adhering them to.  It's AWESOME, really!
I also attached a BIG piece of doily behind ye olde panel and the space it left around it, so the message that will finally (hopefully) be written inside is well hidden from the outside.  Oh, and what the heck, throw some dang rhinestones on the thing.  Razzle-dazzle, baby!!  Maybe the shine will temporarily BLIND them or something!  yeah, yeah, that's it.....

Well, anyway.  I now have a card.  A. Card.  If you think I was going to go through all of that to make a set of eight of these monsters, you are more cuckoo than I am.  Like I said, this thing may YET hit the heap.

Can you believe that you actually READ all of that?  I LIVED it!  What a nightmare....

I said I would show it to you.  So.  You've seen it.  And that's the story.  You know sometimes you go through all of that crazy nonsense, and it comes out a masterpiece.  And, sometimes, it comes out junk.  The jury's still out on this one.  It happens like that.  When in doubt, try to work it out a little.  If it starts to happen, keep going.  If it doesn't save yourself and TOSS THE DANG THING.
Sometimes, though, it's like a train wreck.  You just can't turn away from it.  Good thing I'm NOT a surgeon, for so many, many reasons.

Thanks for stopping by, and staying with me through this ordeal.  If ever you should get this in your mailbox, think of your poor, crazy friend Mr Cardmaker, and, please, be kind.

All Best!
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Challenged

---This is my second posting for today!  Check out my other post below---

Hi Again!  I am posting yet another card so I can play  Use 10 Embellishments Challenge in the Moxie Fab World at, you guessed it, Moxie Fab World!

The title of the challenge is pretty self-explanatory, so I will just do the photo.

I made this--

 And, the embellishments are--
1-4- Rhinestones
5-6- stars
7- Bird
8- white floss
9- brown cord
10- ribbon


Kinda cuckoo, right??  This was a fun one to make!

Thanks for stopping by (again!)
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is a Calendar Guy

No, no pin up pics of me.  I know you're disappointed.  Your breakfast will thank me for being allowed to remain in your stomach, trust me.  =)

I made a couple of calendars!  Early last Spring, I went to a craft show, and hit the Stamps of Life booth, where I picked up a couple of stamp sets, including Calendar to Build.  I thought this was a cute font, and I liked all the little things you could play with to really liven up a calendar.

Well, as much as I like this stamp, the calendar was TOUGH to work with.  You're supposed to be able to shift the days back and forth to make the month start when it should.  That DOES work, but only in months with 31 days.  30 day months (or 28/29 day February) really fouls you up.  I worked like a fool trying to line stuff up for hours until I finally decided to just cut the stamp up.  Muuuuuch easier! 

 Anyway, here's what I came up with--

I used white card stock from Staples for this project.  I found nice, smooth heavy weight card stock on the shelf there, and it has been a good staple card stock for me.  I cut it to 3"x 3 1/4", just large enough to hold the calendar.  I did all my numbers stamping first, starting with the easy 31 day months, then making myself cuckoo with the 30 and 28 day months.  I won't go into all the machinations that I went through, but suffice to say it was not so much fun.
I then went back and added the days header over the numbers, and the month headers above that.  It took me a while to decide to do the year and the flourish and little architectural stamping, but it all looked kind of naked.  The flourish is from PTI Menorah Medley  and the architectural stamp is from Stampendous' Tiled Quad Cube.

After getting all of that done (WHEW!), I gathered them together, and held them tightly at the top.  I laid down a big fat bead of hot-melt glue, and then dipped the tops into it, making sure I hit all the surface of the edges with glue.  I then let that cool, and trimmed off any extra with my snips.  It looked kind of messy still, so I added a strip of my patterned paper to the top to make it look nicer.

Here's a more face-on view--

Originally, I had this great idea to bind them all together with brads.  I even pierced some holes with my paper piercer to get started.  However, my lettering in several of the months was too high on the card stock to make that work.  Wop, wop... Of course, I already had hole in my January, so I added the brads and twine anyway.  Unfortunately, it will be gone once January gets ripped off.  Oh well.  This is a prototype, and it's going to DP Charlie, and he won't mind.  Good lesson learned!
ALSO-- I am worried about what will happen in February when it's time to rip off that first sheet.  Will the hot-melt glue be too strong to tear, and mess up the whole thing??  Maybe some of you know a better glue to use, or can tell me everything's gonna be okay?  I will tell Charlie to use scissors, just to be sure, I guess.

Oh, the brads are from Michael's, and the twine is from We R Memory Keepers.  The ink is Iced Spruce Distress Ink.  I also used Ranger Archival black ink, and Memento London Fog ink on the leaves.

The background is a 4"x 4" piece of Pink Paisley DP, with a stamped die cut from PTI, the Harvest Berries set. It's mounted on TWO pieces of GinaK Designs 120# white card stock.  I placed one of the pieces in my Scor-pal, and scored about halfway up the center.  I then cut from about an inch to one side of the score line to the top of the score line to create a stand for the calendar.  It stood a bit too ramrod straight up and down for my taste, so I snipped just a teeny tiny sliver off of the bottom of the "foot" so it would lean back a bit.
That looks like this--

See that little line at the top of the foot there?  That's where I assembled the front onto the backing without looking at where things were.  That's why there's TWO pieces of card stock at the back. (dumb, dumb, dumb...)  Actually, I like how sturdy it is with the two pieces.  I recommend that.

I also made another one.  This is the first one, actually.  It looks like this--

This is made with My Mind's Eye paper, and I hand inked the purple.  The numbers dies are from PTI.

So, I am glad I worked out all, well, most, ok, several of my problems with these guys.
I found a free print out of a 2014 calendar online, so I can try more, and save them for next year.  If I do one or two a month, I'll have gifts or something to sell somewhere.  These are pretty time consuming, even with all the adjustments I made.  We'll see how it goes.

PS--I just read on a blog somewhere that not having a good supplies list was a real bummer for readers.  You'll notice I linked to most everything I used on these projects.  There has to be a better way to do this, as well, I think.  Today, I went and looked up each and every one of these items and made a link to them. (Ouch!)
Who has a better idea about this?  Is a supplies list even important to you??  Let me know your thoughts, please.

Thanks for stopping by today!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Keeps His Christmas (card) Promises

Well, I promised some Christmas cards.  Now, I promise not to show you all sixty of them.  That would be ridiculous, you know. 
However, I will show you a good handful. 

The majority of these are made with papers from My Mind's Eye, and with PTI dies.  There's also some Stampendous stamps, Stampin' Up stamps, papers, and inks, as well as my Martha Stewart branch punch and sizzix embossing folders. 

Let's start the show!

 

The glitter paper used on these cards is from Michael's.  This is super sturdy card stock (which is actually more like card BOARD) and actually, when I tried to use my dies on it, it really didn't work at first.  I solved the issue by peeling away half of the backing on the paper.  Once I got rid of some of the bulk, it worked just fine.

 These snowflake punches are from Stampin' Up and Martha Stewart.  The background paper is from Basic Gray.

Shimmer paper used in the die cut is by DCWV, the Shimmer Stack.

Photo corner punch from EK Success.

The silver swirly paper is from AC Papers.  The swirly stamp (in red) is from PTI.

The globe stamp is from Jillibean Soup.  

Peace ON Earth.  Get it?? 

 

 

This is the first batch.  I have more.  I STILL promise not to show you all sixty.  On account of that would be ridiculous.  And, on account of I still have to make about 8 more to reach sixty.

Back to work!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard

 



Mr Cardmaker is a Make-It-Work Kinda Guy

So, my dear friend and SIL Jan had a birthday.  I made her a gorgeous set of cards and a box to hold them.  I was in a hurry, and never took pictures.

This is the part where I hang my head and shake it miserably.

HOWEVER!
I made her a birthday card, and I DID take pictures of THAT!

It looks like this--

Cute, right?  Those clouds, courtesy of my A*Muse Studio Clouds Duo dies are double layered--
A layer of vellum that is adhered on the inside of the card, and then the patterned paper that serves as an overlay.  There's also the flags, thanks to My Mind's Eye, and stamping (Studio G) and copic coloring, and some really nice leaf things I created with card stock, punches, and a bit of gold embossing powder.  Oh yeah, and those cute little photo corner things.  Jan bought me the punch, so of course, I had to use it on her card...

ANYWAY!
Those clouds should have NEVER looked like that.  Okay, okay, they look really nice and all....

BUT!  And this is a BIG but!  Not to be confused with my own big butt....but I digress...

The clouds were originally meant to be a reverse die cut, showing some lovely patterned paper (also MME) behind, as you opened the card.  However, my Dear Partner failed to understand the concept, and wrote his personal message ALL OVER the area that was supposed to be clouds!  ARGH, I say!  ARGH!!!!!!

Well, I stared at the dang thing for about 15 minutes before I came up with the solution.  I did make good use of the time, heaping copious amounts of guilt upon said DP.

When I finally did come up with the solution, I quickly got it all together, and was able to tuck it into DP's luggage.  Oh yes, did I mention the time crunch of the impending car to the airport that I had to beat?  No WONDER I didn't get to take photos of the card set and box I made her.

Anyway. she loved everything, and no one was the wiser...well, no one but my little frayed NERVES.

I guess it goes to show that things are RARELY really ruined, unless the dog or cat or kids get hold of them.  I have none of those at the moment, so no excuses for me!  A little creativity goes a long, long way!

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Thanksgiving to my US readers!!
All Best-
Richard

'Tis the Season to Break into a Cold Sweat

It's COMING!!  CHRISTMAS is COMING!!!!  Are you ready?  Are your cards started?  Designed?  Have you even shopped for the STAMPS and paper and envelopes yet?  WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE????

Oh, sorry.  Whew.    Just a minor freak out there.  But really, it IS time to at least let your brain start to wander into Christmas mode, just a little bit.  Many of my blog friends are full force already.  I can't.  Nope.  Can't do it.  I have five Autumn birthdays to create for, and I host Thanksgiving, so...

Ok, trying to make myself breathe after that last statement.  If I am not WELL on my way by Thanksgiving.....Head between my knees. Brown paper bag time. 

However!  I do have TWO, count them, TWO Christmas cards done!  I made them for sketch challenges that I did NOT enter, for some reason or other.

I made this--

This is a 4"x4" card on GinaK Designs Kraft card stock.  The papers are by My Mind's Eye, and the sentiment stamp is by Stampendous, the Holiday Home set.

To assemble this, I adhered the background piece (DCWV, embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder)and layered the biggest flag on top of that.  Then I used foam tape to pop the red and green flags off of the surface.

 I used Distress Inks to do the Sentiment oval, and I backed it with a scalloped oval made with glitter paper from DCWV's Linen stack.  They are put together with more foam tape, and even MORE foam tape is used to add it to the card front.

The snowflake is from a scrap of white glitter paper, punched with a Martha punch, and the button is one from my very old stash.  That went on with a mini Zots glue dot.

Then I made this--

This started with a piece of Beige card stock from the same DCWV Linen stack.  Same paper from MME is adhered to it, and the same glitter paper makes the scalloped oval.  I am sensing a THEME here, folks!!

The image is from Stampin'Up!, the SNow Much Fun set, and I used my Copics to color this cutie in.

As you can see, I am NO Copic expert!

The snowflakes here are PTI white shimmer paper, and the bling is from the dollar bin somewhere.  The ribbon is from Michael's.  The bow turned out like that because I didn't cut enough ribbon, but I kind of like it!

So, that's a start anyway.  Maybe these will inspire me (and even you) to get a move on!!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is an Anniversary Guy

Twenty-one years today.  That's how long I've been with my DP, Charlie.  Last year, for the Big Twenty, we went to PARIS!!!  Ooh, la la, fo' sho'!!  This year, after moving to Michigan, and all the MIL health drama (which always comes with EXPENSE, don'tcha know), we are staying home and having a nice dinner out.  Can't wait!  

We are not big gifts-for-anniversaries people, although I did get a lovely bunch of irises this morning.  I made him a card (as you do).

It looks like this--

So, while in Paris last year, I picked up these SWEET little Moulin Rouge windmill paperclip things while at Montmartre.  I THOUGHT I had gotten Eiffel Tower ones.  I planned this card to have a nice wire Eiffel Tower clip on it.  THAT'S why I have the cityscape right there with the natural environment.....Bleh.
Anyway, he got the idea, and he really liked this card.  It TOTALLY reminded him of Paris, which is what I was going for, so I guess it all worked out in the end.

This windmill moulin actually started out not so ROUGE, and not nearly so sparkly.  It actually started out as a plain, paperclip colored moulin.  I went after it with my R29 Lipstick Red Copic marker, which I dried with my heat tool.  Then I pounced my Versamark pad onto it and covered it with my holographic embossing powder, which I reheated to make it stick.  Warning--I DID get some red ink on my Versamark pad during this.  Hopefully, it won't transfer.

So, to make the card, I started with a base of PTI orange zest cardstock.  Added a layer of a sort of rust colored cs, then a piece of My Mind's Eye Out of the Blue DP.  I like the sky and the balloons!
I used an old script background stamp with some SU crumbcake ink to "french" it up a bit.
I punched a circle of yellow dp scrap to make a sun, using a Studio G $1 stamp, and red and orange inks.
I used Jillibean Soup's You Move Me set to get the skyline.  I sort of twisted this stamp around when I put it on my acrylic block, in order to get a wavy line.  I fussy cut it out and then adhered it to a piece of DP (with the trees ) that I hand cut into a wavy line.  Before I attached the to one another, I die cut some grass from some Old Olive (SU) dsp, and pieced that around the edge.  after putting all that together, I popped it off the surface with some foam tape.  Then I added the paper clip.

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.  I also curved it as I attached it to my acrylic block, so I could follow the shape of my sun.  That took care of the outside.

I wrote a lovely personal message on the inside.  I can't show you all of that.  What I can show you is the rest of the sentiment and what I did with it.

It looks like this--WAY magnified.

This was about 2"x3" in real life.  The sentiment is, again, PTI, but the "happy anniversary" is by Stampin' Up.
I used the same papers and background stamp, but I also fussy cut balloons out from the BACK of the DP used for the background, and I used an A*Muse Studio cloud duo die to cut out a cloud.  I used the die to trace around in order to make the outline around the die cut, so it would look a bit more like the clouds on the dp (see the front of the card).  I recreated the hill and the grass, and mounted it on a scrap of dotted paper.

So, that's my card.  Hope you like it.

PS--I have a light box now!  I am hoping it will greatly improve the quality of my card pics.  I made it myself, from a storage bin, some clip lamps, a poster board, and some white fabric. 

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

A Little Digital Never Hurt Nobody

The other week, my DP Charlie had a wicked cold and had to fly off to Boston for the week.
 
I decided to make him a QUICK get well card before he left. 

This is not as easy as it sounds.  Trying to help a sickie pack, make sure he has the proper medications with him, and hope that he's pumped with a good enough antihistamine that his head doesn't explode in mid flight doesn't give you a whole lot of time to be super creative. 

However!  I sallied forth, and somehow managed to come up with this--

This is a 7Gypsies stamp, and the dots are by A*Muse Studio, from the Tini Time set.
The cardstock is SU! River Rock and the red is from The Paper Co. The DP is from PB&J, by Basic Grey.  I hand drew the black lines and shadows on the letters with a fine tipped Sharpie, and the ribbon is from AC Moore.  I chose to do the red and green because of the sort of "sickly" sensation it gives, and I thought the wavy and uneven lines, as well as the dots sort of give images of illness (at least, it does in my twisted mind!)

The best part, though is on the inside, where I ran over to my computer and typed out this sentiment in Word--

This font was free from kevinandamanda.com.  Check them out!  I LOVE this font, and I thought the dots over the O was so funny!  It reminds me of seeing spots before your eyes.  I used 80# cardstock so it would go through the printer.  It's not exactly perfect in spacing, but I WAS in a rush, and I actually have no clue how to make sure the spacing is right while on my computer. 
If anyone out there has any clues about that, please let me know.  I really like making up my own inside sentiments, but have steered away from it because of my limited knowledge there.

He loved the card, and I had fun, even if I did have to rush it a bit.

Meanwhile, I had a birthday, and made some thank you cards.  I used the same 7Gypsies stamp, so I thought I would show you now.

I made this--

So, as you can see, WICKED simple.  I used Baja Breeze card stock from SU! as my base, cut to 8 1/2 x 4 1/4 and I ran the front through the cuttlebug with an embossing folder.
Now, this can be a tricky thing, because the embossing makes your card front SHRINK a tiny bit.  Be prepared to trim a tiny bit off the card back when you go to fold it over.

 I then did a layer of DP, this is from My Mind's Eye.  I made over a dozen of these, and the DP changed on each of them, but they all came from the same paper pack.  I mounted this onto my base with foam tape. To this, I added a square of SU! Chocolate Chip card stock which I dry embossed with a different embossing folder.  Both folders have square patterns, so I think they work pretty well together.
I topped that with my sentiment on white cs, which I edged with Distress Inks Antique Linen.  I can't remember which green ink I stamped the sentiment in, but I think it might be ColorBox Chalk ink.

Like I said, simple simple.I think that there are just enough touches to show that care and planning was put in, but I was able to make many of them quickly.

Hey! 
I am thinking about trying to start a cardmaking and SELLING business.  I am sort of weirded out about it, and can use ALL sorts of advice!  If you can help, or know someone who can, please let me know.

So, that's what I've been up to!
Thanks so much for stopping by.  I really appreciate you!
All Best-
Richard

Mr. Cardmaker is (sort of) Finding Some Mojo.

You may have noticed a lack of postings of late. 

Mr. Cardmaker has been a busy, tired, and burned out puppy. 

My wonderful MIL had a mild heart event that required some stent work.   About a week afterward, she fell several times, requiring stitches, a hospital stay, many drugs, a pacemaker (!) and a month at a rehab facility.  Guess who was at every stage of all that activity  (as was the in-and-out services of most of the rest of the family)?

You guessed.

Well, she is in a new home, doing MUCH better (if we could make sure she was using her cane, we'd all feel better), and I have had a moment to get a touch of rest under my belt.

SO!  Expect some postings to happen.


I was going to play along with this weeks Mojo Monday challenge.  However, I did not pay close enough attention to the sketch, so I think I will not enter after all.  I like the card, though, so I decided to share it with you.

I made this--

I bought these stamps at a new (to me) shop I found in a nearby town.  They are by Claudine Hellmuth Studio, and the set is called "So Retro."  I wet embossed the phone image with black embossing powder, and used my aqua painter and black and Mostly Mustard inks to color it in.
The base is a loose piece of gray cardstock I've had from my first supply shopping trip at AC Moore, and the DP is My Mind's Eye.  The ribbon is a one dollar special.
I used a sponge dauber to do the edges of all the paper pieces in black, and I used a stamp from Pennant Parade by SU! for the greeting.

I used my Corner Chomper to round some edges, and used an EK Success punch to do the scalloped edge on the DP.

This was simple, and fun.  I really like the stamps!  I will get to many more projects with those puppies!

I think I will give that Mojo Monday challenge another shot.  Stay Tuned.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Is Challenging

Well, as promised, I was host of the Free for All Friday Challenge over at GinaK Designs during the span of July 13-20.  I did a "Man Style" challenge, asking the participants to come up with a card for an adult male, as opposed to a boy.  It was SO much fun, and SO many people joined in!  SEVENTY-TWO, you heard me, 72 entries!!  Everyone did amazing work, and I was really happy to be host.

I made two samples for this challenge, using GKD Follow your Dreams set by Theresa Momber.
They look like this--

I used DP from MME, and card stock from GKD.  My die cuts were done with Spellbinders dies, and the embossing folder is a Cuttlebug folder.
I colored the dragonflies with colored pencils, and also used the pencils to do some detailing on the trees, reeds, and other images. 

I took some ink and lots of water and flicked some speckles onto the first card with a paintbrush.  As my shadowy photos can show you, I used copious amounts of foam tape to pop up different elements on both cards.

I'll use one of these for my dad's birthday next week.  I love it when timing works out like that!

Sorry to be away for so long.  My MIL had some serious health issues this week, and I have been at both hospital and rehab center for almost two weeks now.  Hope to be free to post more in the coming days!

Thanks for stopping by! 
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker LOVES Summertime Birthdays

Boy, summer in Michigan is a BEE-YOU-TEE-FUL thing!  Warm, breezy days, lots of lakes around, gorgeous trees and flowers.   We have had a week of pretty hot days, but they come and GO, and then we have marvelous, open-the -window kind of weather for two more weeks.  I am a happy, happy cardmaking man.

Being in such a great mood, I am able to summon up my mojo and make a fun card for my little brother Daniel.  I think he's 16 now!  OMG.

I made this for him--

This started with a base of PTI Summer Sunrise card stock., which I stamped with Unity Stamp Co.'s Ippity stamp set, "Cuppy Cakes" in Memento Tangelo ink.

The next layer is MME's  Fine and Dandy Boy paper pad, with a backing of some of SU Marina Mist CS.  I stamped candles from Ditto by Studio G in SU Marina Mist ink.  I adhered these pieces to the base.

Then I stamped the receipt stamp from Jenny Bowlin Studio onto some PTI white CS, and stamped the Wishing You sentiment from PTI Simply You with Distress Ink festive berries (part of the 2011 Christmas ink bundle).  I stamped in black, then paper pieced more candles, and colored the flames with copic markers.  I also used a sponge dauber and some Memento Cantelope ink to make a glow around the flames. I hand drew the red line at the bottom with a red tombo marker, just to add a third bit of red (the sentiment, the red brad, and the red line).  Without any red in any of the papers, I thought I needed to make sure there was a big enough presence of red, so it wouldn't look like a mistake.

I added three brads from AC Moore.  The red one was actually green to start.  I dipped the head onto my versamark pad and then into red embossing powder, then heated it to get a red brad.  My first attempt there.  I think it needs work.  BTW--use tweezers or something to hold your brad when using your heat tool.  Trust me...  Anyway, that then got mounted onto a piece of patterned paper to wait for the next step.

I cut a 1.5" x 4.25" pice of numbered paper, adhered a small piece of turquoise ribbon to the back, and adhered it to the card.  Then I added some foam tape to the top layer and adhered it at an angle.  I like to carefully overlap some elements of the underneath layers when I do that.  You can see here I went off the edge a bit, measuring to make sure it would all fit into a regular A2 envelope.

That takes care of the front.  But my sentiment promises some more info....so I went inside...

I did this inside--

I cut a circle out of Marina Mist CS and stamped some candles and a Happy Birthday! (GKD Happy Camper set)on it with Stazon Black ink.  I adhered it to the inside, and then stamped lots more cupcakes around with more Memento Tangelo.  This ink is light enough on the orange card stock that I can write a message without it getting lost in all my images.

I like this card for Daniel, because it's fun without being juvenile. While these images and other items could be used for a younger kid, I think the layers and composition make it sophisticated enough for a teenager without being stuffy.

Next time I have another summer birthday card to share with you.   This one is for another teenager, my nephew, Jared.

I hope your summer is a terrific one, too!
Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Searching

This week is graduation for Elliot, one of the nephews.  Everyone else has happened already.  I am BROKE, shelling out for gifties!  I DO love my nephews...

I made Elliot this card--

This is a really cool stamp from Stamps of Life.  I ran into this company at the MegaMeet in Novi, MI, and I really like some of their stuff!  I stamped this in Memento Paris Dusk ink onto PTI white card stock, and then mounted it onto some navy cardstock (probably SU Night of Navy).  That went onto a layered background, using DCWV Cotton Bloom paper (oval) Basic Grey Boxer paper (the blue piece) and My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Two Sunshine paper (the big houndstooth background piece.  The base is SU More Mustard (I think.  I also have a multicolor pack from PTI, and I may have used one of theirs).  All on a base of PTI white card stock.
I inked the edges of the puzzle piece with some Distress Ink Tea Stain, and I die cut the letters of his school initials with some sizzix dies, and used my glue pen to adhere them  That rhinestone is some random foundling.

The inside looks like this--

I used Spellbinders Labels Four and Labels Four Small dies with my old bud the Cuttlebug to do the center piece (Dollars to doughnuts there is some messed up stamping underneath it), and I used my pennant punch from SU to do the pennant pieces.  Stringing these puppies onto that twine was a pain in the butt, but it looks good, so, there that is.  The sentiments stamps are GinaK Designs and SU, and the twine is from Memory Keepers. 

So that's it!  Hope he likes it.

Thanks for stopping by! 
All Best--
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is (clearly) in a Punchy Mood

So, after showing you the card made with my new EK Tools punch HERE, I felt a kinship with the punch, and had to go further.  I felt the big loopy shapes really lent itself to a super feminine card, and I had to explore the possibilities.

I made this--

This is on SU cardstock, and the DP is My Mind's Eye.  The white card stock is PTI.  The sentiment stamp is also SU, and the die is Spellbinders Labels Four.
I hand inked the sentiment stamp (yes, it's one stamp) with Tombo and Crayola markers.  Who'da thunk my old OLD Crayola markers could be useful?  Love them!
The hearts are punched with a heart punch from the dollar bin. and I got them to line up by just sliding the punch down the strip as I went.  No guesswork! 
I used the circles that fell from the scallop punch to back them.  Much easier than trying to line up punched hearts, and no waste!  Love that.

Speaking of the circles that fell from the scallop punch, I used more of them on the inside--

Whoa, bit of a blur.  Sorry about that.
I stamped the sentiment (SU) first, then did the tiny circles. I found it really easy to place the stamped circles on top of what was already there.
As you can see, I am putting more effort into the insides of the card lately.  I am gonna get the biggest bang for my extra twenty cents postage that I can!

So That's my card.  Hope it gives you some ideas of your own.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard

He's BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK......

Yes, indeed, fellow crafters, stampers, and scrappers, Mr. Cardmaker has returned.  Whoopie, probably...

Anyway, the move went/is going really well, despite the fact that I have no job.  However, we are fine, and I am hoping to make a go of some sort of card business, once I get THAT part of my life set up.

I have a ROOM!  It has nothing but a table so far, and it also doubles as guest room #2, but it's mine!  I hope to show you how all that progresses.  Stay tuned.  PLEASE!   (I did lose TWO followers in my absence.  Wah, I say. Wah, indeed.

But I am in need of stamping buds in my new home!  I feel lonely.  If you are anywhere in the Detroit area, or know of folks there who are ready to welcome a man into their midst, please clue me in.

Meanwhile, I have a card to share with you all today. 
I made this--

Clearly, I bought a new punch!   This is an EK Success (or is it tools) punch, and it's SO big and chunky, and I LURVE this!!!  It that an amazing scallop or what???  The DP is all My Mind's Eye, and the base is, ummmmmm.....Ok, I forget.  The white is PTI, and the star punch is Fiskars.  The Birthday stamp is SU, and the pearls are $1.00 bin pearls.

So this is how it's folded--

I sliced about two inches off the bottom of my 4.25"x 5.5" card.  I popped the white up with foam tape to give the star some dimension.  I used a copic marker bg000 to fill in the "I" in Birthday.

It looks like this inside--

I used the insides of the circles that were punched out for the scalloped edge to stamp the sentiment (SU) on.  I think this is a really happy card, and still okay for a man, I think.

So, I guess I'm back!  I will show you some more girly stuff next time.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker has a Quicky for You

Actually, this was not so much of a quicky to make.  I fussed and fretted, and added and moved, and took a way and added back, stamped more stuff...

Anyway, I made this--

This is for my brother Chet's 18th birthday.  I started with this little Studio G stamp set, that had the sentiment, the guitar, the swirl and the fleur de lis.  Then I pulled out some background stamps, the crackle and the speckles, and SU's Inspired by Nature set, stamped the grass in red and brown, and turned it on its side.The DP is MME Fine and Dandy Boy, and the yellow card is SU.  I think the base is PTI, but don't hold me to that.The brads are from AC Moore, and the twine is some really old stuff from who knows where. 
I punched a hole with a regular old hand punch in the one end and wound the twine thru it.  Looks good, not so easy at envelope time....
Memento Rich Cocoa , and Distress Broken China and Festive Berries inks.
That skinny piece with the screw brad?  The final addition.  It's all about the negative space, people.
And, oh yeah, I pried the whole thing apart to get it under there.  You know I did.

Still in move mode, so don't know when I'll get a minute to get back here.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is All Set

Here in New England, when you don't want what's being offered to you, instead of saying "no thanks", people tend to say, "I'm all set."  I don't get this.  I also don't get/like/appreciate/admire using "no problem" instead of "you're welcome", or even "my pleasure", which is my own prefered phrase.

Anyway, putting my soapbox aside, I made this set--

 These are A2 (4.25"x 5.5") bases, with 4"x 4" white cards attached to them.  I used GinaK Designs "Garden Fresh" set, and My Mind's Eye "Ooh La La" 6x6 paper pad to create these.  To do the carrots, I masked and stamped three of the carrot image, then paper pieced them, popping the center carrot off the surface with some foam adhesive.  You can just see where I used an edge punch to do a pierced scallop edge.

 The red of the mellon is popped up on this one.  Same edge treatment on all of the bases; hard to make out in the photos.

 I love these pears.  I was worried about them at first, because the "skin part prints the color of the ink, and I didn't want to switch away from the black I had been using, but the patterned paper with a bit of green and lots of white carries it all off, I think.

 For the peas, I did a two level dimensional treatment.  The peas are popped 1/8", the pod is up 1/4".  I like the way it looks.

 For this one, I had to mask off the core part of the stamp in order to get a "whole" apple look.  Yum!

The "pulp" part is popped up on the dotted one, and the "pits" are above those.  I am just about "fussy cut" out!!!
The white card stock is from PTI.  These cards don't stand by themselves so well.  I really don't care so much about that.  This may be my favorite thing I have made to date.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

PS--I hope to be able to give you a positive report about our ventures in Real Estate next time I write!!

Mr Cardmaker is a Love Kind of Guy

For my DP Charlie--My Valentine.

I made this thing--

This was done with My Mind's Eye papers on GinaK Designs Kraft card stock.  The brown is SU, and that is attached to the striped band.

I then adhered the  pink strip with the Martha Stewart punched leaves (from PTI)to the underside of the green piece.  The green piece is popped up from the brown with foam tape.  To do the glitter hearts, I punched the hearts in the green paper, and then took a scrap of whatever else, ran my adhesive runner across it, and sprinkled some pink Martha Stewart glitter on it. I think they would NEVER look this crisp done on top of the paper. Oh yeah, that's a SU scallop punch used on the top of the green piece.

The frame for the sentiment is GKD, and the sentiment itself is SU.  I stamped it in Memento Rich Cocoa to go with the background.
The background script stamp is from Joanne's, I believe, and the heart punch is from AC Moore's dollar bins.  I STILL love poking around in those dollar bins! The pink pearls are also from AC Moore.

The tiny pink heart stamp in the sentiment is also from GKD, the same All Occasions Greetings set as the frame. That's a Spellbinders grommet tags die that cut it out.  Tiny piece of SU white satin ribbon through the tag holes.

That's my Valentine's valentine.  Hope you like!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker has a Lonely....

In my Pinterest travels, which now probably suck up no less than two hours each day, I came upon a card that had lots of birdcages, all filled with different birds.  It was really cute.  I did not bother to repin it, apparently, so I can't link to it.  However, it obviously left its impression on me.

I am thinking of my far away Mama this week, and I used the cage idea to make her a card.

I made this--

This is made on a GinaK Designs Kraft base, and I used My Mind's Eye  Quite Contrary paper to stamp my cages.  The cages are stamps from A*muse Studio, the Life is a Song set.  The fly away birds are from GKD, my friend Melanie Muenchinger's Gifts from the Sea set.  Oh yes, my panel backing piece is a random scrap, but the backing for my letters (which are Studio G) is done with SU Daffodil Delight.   The Button is from Basic Grey.

I popped the letters in the word "miss" up with foam tape, and used foam tape as well on some of the cages. 

Simple card.  I was hoping the yellow would keep it on the cheery side, since it's not the most "up" of cards... 

Thanks for stopping by!
Richard

Mr Cardmaker tries something new.....

Ok, so I have been all over Pinterest, looking for new and exciting ideas.  Don't know Pinterest?  FIND IT!!!  You will have sooooo much fun, and waste SOOOOOOO much time!  

I have seen really imaginative and creative cards, and somewhere along the line I got the idea to try something different.  Different for me, anyway...

I made these--

I did these with My Mind's Eye papers, on PTI white card stock bases.  The pink CS is PTI as well.  The ink is SU crumbcake with a SU stamp, and the hearts are from TPC Studio with Studio G ink.  The ribbons are from my AC Moore dollar bin stash.

To make the doily image, which is from SU, I stamped and embossed the image with white embossing powder, and cut out the center with a Spellbinder's die.  I then cut out the pink scalloped circles with another Spellbinder's die.  I saved the insides of the scalloped circle for the sentiment, and adhered the open circle to the back of the doily piece. 

Setting the inside circle took a bit of trickery, because I needed it to be placed perfectly, so no edges would show.  so, I used some removable adhesive, and gently stuck it to the pink frame.  I did this AFTER putting strong adhesive on the back of it, because I needed it stuck to the card base.  There was next to zero space to work with here, so imagine me cursing under my breath, because that's what happened several times while doing this.

The rest of the card front was given the big foam tape treatment, around the opening, and on the edges.  This was an adhesive nightmare to make work, especially since the inside circle kept falling off while I was trying to flip the whole shebang over.  DO NOT try this immediately after having coffee.

I finally got it all down and secure, and then I got to peel the bottom off, because, as usual, I forgot about RIBBON!...grumblegrumble.....It all worked out fine in the end.  There has to be an easier way, however.

I added the sentiment piece at the end, and trimmed the overhanging edge off by hand.
All in all, these look pretty good, but also look much easier than they were.  I think the idea is to LOOK hard and BE simple.  *sigh* 
But, I learned something, and I had fun, as always.  That's the name of the game.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my mad musings. 
All Best-
Richard