The Power of the Cuttlebug and Color

 You may have heard that I am a major fan of my Cuttlebug, that cute little machine that does my die cutting and embossing.  Well, I have been at it again, and I came up with two cards.  Here's the first-

This was done with a Cuttlebug folder on black paper.  After impressing the design, I pulled out a white chalk ink pad, and did a direct to paper application, pressing lightly so I would get most of the ink on the cogs alone.  As you can see, some of the ink did indeed get on the background, but it sort of gives it a distressed sort of look.  I then did a very pale blue chalk ink around the edges, just for some depth.

The little telescope pop-up of the sky and sentiment (GinaK Designs stamp) was done by sponging yellow and pink dyes onto sky paper (DKWV paper) and then cut and embossed with, you guessed it, the cuttlebug.  It popped it up with some pop-dots for emphasis.  Seems I can't make a card without them these days.

I then dug out my growing collection of brads and pulled out an assortment.  I placed them in strategic centers of many of the cogs, and then I put the whole thing onto a white card base. 

I really like the strength of this card, and I think there is a terrific implied theme and message.  I think I will hold onto this one and think about submitting it for publication at some point.

But WAIT!  There's more.  Digging about in my scraps folders, of which there are MANY, I came across a piece of white paper that I had used to test out the very same embossing folder that I used in the above project.  Hmmm, I thought.  Hmmm.  I pulled out some ink pads and got to playing around.  Some soft pinks and white later, I had this one going.

This one's pretty too, right?  The telescope piece is smaller here, and the brads are perkier and shinier.  I get a much softer mindset here, too.  Not so labor-centric, but maybe more "busy Mum needs a spa day" feeling, maybe.  Not so much has changed, but you definitely get a different feel with a totally different color group. 

I also wanted to share one more card I made with that FAB gift from my buddy AJ.  This was made with the GinaK Designs set, Wishes, and some GinaK Designs DP (that's Designer Paper).



The images and sentiments are all embossed with embossing powder and my heat tool.  I used Versamark ink and stamped everything onto the DP and the background at the same time, and then took the DP away and did all of the white Embossing on it, and the black embossing on the white paper.

I moved pretty quickly, so the ink wouldn't dry.  It was NOT a panic or anything, because Versamark stays sticky for a fair amount of time, and I did do the flowers before I stamped any of the sentiment. 

I adhered the DP to the card base, carefully lining up my letters, and then I dry embossed the border design with my scor-buddy and bone folder.

If you look really carefully, you'll see the "g" in wishing did not work perfectly, and I could've lined up the papers a bit better.  Also, even though I used my thingy that supposed to eliminate grease and static before I embossed, I still have some loose flecks of embossing powder.  I really need to figure that one out.  Practice, practice!!   I also thought that maybe "joy & laughter" might better be expressed in something other than black and white, too. 

All in all, for a first attempt with this technique, I am pretty happy.  Thanks again to AJ for gifting me this set!

That's all from me for now.  Thanks for stopping by!!

All best-

Richard

Thanks Dad, and More Thanks

Father's Day is Sunday.  I love how making cards to commemorate events now has me aware of when things are happening.  I usually have a scramble to come up with a card on the last possible day to send them and get them there in time.  I have often been late, too.  Don't judge me. 

Anyway, I DID remember Father's Day this year, and actually made a pretty cute card for my Dad, too.
Looks like this--

I think this is the first card I have made where I actually DREW something on the surface and found it acceptable to use.  Those clouds were done with versamarker, my new friend, and white embossing powder.  I did the embossing twice, which gave the clouds some great depth, and did the lines with a white gel pen.  Oh yeah, and I did the grass with the gel pen, too. 
The stamp is from SU, their Loads of Love set.    I stamped the truck twice and cut out the bumper so I could coat it with some clear embossing powder and then bump it up with some pop dots.  It's a bumper, after all!  I hit the window, the door handle, hubcaps and flowers with Glossy Accents to give them some shine too.
Btw, I got the stamp set at a great bargain price from a shop that was selling some sets at 25% off the OLD prices.  Love me a bargain, baby!  I now need the companion set.  I do believe I'll have to call my demo and pay retail for that one, though.  Rats.   Hate paying retail on anything.
The sentiment stamp is from GinaK Designs, and the DP is from DCWV. 
Super easy, and cute, right?  Hope he likes it.  Thanks for everything, Dad!!

Speaking of thanks, I was very happy and humbled to get a package from awesome designer AJ OTTO the other day.  She made me the oh, so generous offer of sending me some stamp sets she was no longer using, and I gratefully said YES!  I was really excited when not only did THREE (possibly four) GinaK Designs stamp sets show up, but also some beautiful designer paper from their brand-new stamp set!  AND!!!!  Hold me back!  Some Nestabilities dies!  Ones that I NEED, too!  (OK, so "need" is maybe overstating things.  You know what I mean.) I was bowled right on over!   Such amazing generousity on her part.  Way to make the new guy feel welcomed and supported.  Many, many thanks to her.  Oh yeah, I made her a card with the stamps she sent, and with some of the DP as well.  Looks like this--

The images and border are done with two GinaK Designs sets, Cute as a Bug, and Bring the Bling.  I hand colored the bee and honey pot with colored pencils, and made some of the "bling" in the border bees with a fine tipped black marker.  I also made this one--

This set may be GinaKDesigns, but I don't find it on the website. Maybe it's discontinued?   I am a huge Armistead Maupin fan, and one of his books was called Babycakes, after one of the characters' nicknames.  I love the hot pink and green combination.I used the Glossy Accents on some of the frosting, and used Stickles to do the sprinkles. I kind of dig the use of negative space on this one, too. 

AJ says she's just "paying it forward", sending me this stuff.  I hope I can return the favor soon, and hope to carry on with the pay it forward idea.  Thanks again, AJ!

FYI-- AJ Otto does some amazing work, and you can see it and follow her blog by going HERE.  I love how she can take a handful of elements and make a huge statement.  She has an amazing feel for negative space, as well.  I hope to emulate her style a bit, as my own work progresses.  Rock on, AJ!

Oh yeah, I also did one more card with the sets she sent me.  I'll show you that one very soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheers-

Richard

A Silly Little Tidbit and a Teaser Alert!

So, I just started doing this recently, and although most of us probably already do this sometimes, I thought I'd throw it out there.

I had a burst of creativity, and busted out my stuff.  I went to mount my cling stamp to a block, and whoops!, no block.  Rats, I say.  Rats.

Lazy is one of my middle names (along with hungry), so instead of going to FIND an acrylic block, I grabbed the lid of my stamp pad, and used it, like this.

How easy is THAT?!  Especially when you just have one stinking tiny little stamp to do....right?

If you use a bigger stamp, you should probably think about how the center of that lid will need some extra pressure, since it is much flimsier than the acrylic block.  I have had no issues with smaller stamps at all.

I am sending this to Top Tip Tuesday.  I hope they like it.  You can find them HERE.

Anyway, that's the end of my story.

HOWEVER!!!    SUPER prolific day yesterday and this morning, too.  I'll have tons to share with you very soon!  Watch this space!  

Well, Ain't I Just Krafty??

Remember my first prize winning set of stamps that I won from GinaK Designs?  I made this from it, and I had some colored shells left over.  I made a medalion with them and some shapes I cut with nestabilities dies on my dear friend the cuttlebug, and I was holding onto that waiting for inspiration to strike.  Oh yeah, and I used some Inkssentials Glossy Effects to make the inside of the conch shiny( like it oughtta be). 

I have not done too much with kraft paper, other than haul groceries home in it.  So, when GinaK Designs did a Kraft challenge a couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be a great time to jump in with both feet.  Luckily, one of my pathetic little value paper packs had a sheet of Kraft in it, so I was ready to go. 

Here is my offering for that challenge....

I have a pad of paper called The Stack III, from DCWV (Die Cuts with a View).  I get a ton of great ideas from this stack, because it has patterned and photograph pages, and the colors are pretty amazing too.  I picked this up for a song at a local thrift shop, and I am so glad I found it before some other crafter got a chance! 
From this stack, I got this water paper.  I tore it to get the white edges to show, and layered it to make the ocean waves effect.  I used the sand stamp from the GinaK Gifts from the Sea set to stamp the sand, using two brown inks and some white.  I think the white is what really makes it pop. 

The colored cardstock is from my value packs from The Paper Company, and the sentiment is from GinaK Designs, the Enjoy the Sunshine set.  The ribbon is  a $1.00 special from JoAnn's, and I had the jute twine hanging around in my art supplies. 

Oh yeah, about the shell.  I had some shells I used as summer decorations in the past, so I dug this one out and drilled a hole in it so I could tie it on the card.  After ma few moments of sliding the drill bit across the surface of the shell, I figured out that if I drilled from the INSIDE, and started slowly, I could get the job done.  I actually made it work without shattering any shells.  Oh yeah.  It takes me a minute to catch on, but I get up to speed pretty quickly! 

All in all, I think this relatively simple card turned out to be a good one.  I am trying to get a handle on CAS (clean and simple) cards lately.  I have one to show you next time, but I have more to learn in this realm.  Seems negative space is my nemesis at the moment! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I love hearing your comments!

All best-
Richard

Simplify, Simplify

A few weeks ago, StampTV did a challenge that called for two designer papers to be used in a card.  I found at MARSHALL'S, of all places, a beautiful pad by K&Company, with textile designer Amy Butler's awesome graphics and colors.  Paid 3.99 for the big 12x12 pad!  Cha CHING!!  Love it when that happens!

Anyway, the card on the left is the card I came up with, based on a sketch by StampTV's Tina Gilliland.  Not bad, right?  I used green cardstock from "the stack2" and put it through the cuttlebug with a sizzix embossing folder, and I stamped a GinaK designs stamp on the little oval to do the floral.  I stamped it off a few times so it wouldn't get too dark, but if I had a gray inkpad, that would work too.  I also double stamped the sentiment, (also GinaK Designs) with blue and black, offsetting them just slightly to create a shadow effect.  I used a chipboad flower that I colored with an inkpad, and made a leaf by cutting out part of the paper's design.  Ribbons, pearls, ticket punch...Ta DAH!

Ok, so what's that other card, you ask?  I will tell you.  I'm generous like that. 

I had all this paper and supplies out, so I decided to make a couple more cards to be able to send or share.  I cut the shapes, and was about to go crazy with all the big embellishments and design stuff, and I stopped.
I looked at my card.
I had a LOT of stuff going on here.  Ribbons all over, pearls here and there, that ticket punch thing...

That PAPER is gorgeous.  Why do I need so much of this other stuff?  It was only taking away from the paper.  I made a few judicious edits, and came up with the second version.  The pearls were part of the sketch, so they stayed.  I really liked the touch of ribbon on the oval, so it stayed.  So did the embossing of the green cardstock, because it really went so well with the designer paper.

So, I learned  that you can have a really beautiful card without going so far out into designer left field. 
Edit, edit, edit!!!

I still like the first one. Lots.  But I like the second one just a teensy bit more, because it talks a touch more softly.  If you can say Ka-BAM! softly, that is.

Thanks for stopping by! 
All best-
Richard

Stampin' Sunday with my Peeps

Sunday I went to an AWESOME stamping party, with my friend of too-many-to-mention years, Stephanie, and her great friends Laura and Myra.  Laura and Myra are former and current Stampin' Up (SU) demonstrators, respectively.  Stephanie is the person I credit blame for my current stamping/cardmaking  hobby addiction.  We had an intro session at her house about a year or so ago, and I have been hooked ever since.  Love her, love her family, and love her friends Laura and Myra! 

Oh yeah, loved the spread too.  Curried chicken salad, goat cheese tarts, brie and a million blackberries.  YUM!!  A quick lunch, then down to work!

Myra came loaded with great ideas and three, count them, THREE awesome projects for us to tackle.  The first one looks like this.

CUTE, right??  We used a great sizzix border embossing folder, which I may just need, and a sizzlits die that cut and embossed the butterflies at the same time.  Gotta love a one step toy.  Cute little sentiment, some pearls, lace and a button.  Pop all that on the cute polka dot designer paper (also known around here as DP), and into the frame on the embossed card front.  Easy-peasy.  Pretty, too.

Then, we got serious with some watercolor markers.  Myra hauled out this really amazing SU stamp of these flowers, and a brown, green, and red marker, all from SU, which match their corresponding inkpads exactly.  SU knows what they are doing, I gotta say.  Anyway, we colored directly onto the stamp, and when we finished we misted the whole thing lightly with water, and stamped.

As you can see, we got this amazing watercolor look, that looks like we did it all by hand.  No siree, Bob!  I have to admit, my stamp didn't get pressed down correctly when I went at it, but the tag part was already planned, and it luckily fell underneath it!  Whew!
That tag is a punch from SU.  Really easy to deal with, and so pretty.  The sentiment is done on a scrap of white cardstock, and taped to the tag, and then we knotted some chocolate ribbon into that really cha-cha frame.  It had originally been tied all the way around the back of the image, but I am a ribbon miser, so I just taped about 1/4" around the back on either side with mono adhesive.  No need to waste what you can't see!
The ticket punch makes for a great detail on the corners of the image, and the chocolate cardstock pops it nicely off the green base.  I loved this technique, and I will be trying this one again. 

After this one, we took a well deserved coffee and dessert break, and we chowed on some little raspberry filled pastry things I brought, and some beautiful fresh fruit and chocolates.  These gals are FUN, let me tell ya, and they could not be sweeter!!  Armed with a good sugar and caffeine buzz, we headed back to work.

We made THIS!

Is this not the BEST?? Myra wanted us to experience embossing on patterned paper, and I could not like this any more if I tried.  She also had us do this beautiful ribbon technique which looks so great and really can't be easier. 

Lay a strip of strong adhesive where your ribbon will be.  Secure the ribbon at one endand then gently pinch up the amount of ribbon you want to see, and then press down on the adhesive.  It is sort of tricky trying to get the loops to be the same size at first, but loop and press, loop and press, and soon enough you've gone across the card.  I would say there's about 1/4" inch of ribbon pressed onto the card at every loop, but it's really best to leave your ribbon end on the spool, and cut it off when you've finished and secured the end to the card, just to make sure you have enough. 
We finished the ribbon off with a nice, big brad, and when it went on, the loops changed direction to frame it all by themselves.  Don't ask me how.  It seriously just happened.  The magic of cardmaking.

The scalloped edge was a nice easy trick too.  We used a punch to make the edge.  Put a strip of adhesive on the top of the piece of DP you're using to make the bottom of your card front, and (here's the trick), align it, sticky side UP, on the bottom edge of the inside of the card.  Wait, that sounds weird.  I mean, the edge you didn't scallop cut.  Get it?    Then just close the card and gently press.  The adhesive will grab exactly where it needs to, and the bottoms will line up correctly.  Nothing worse than a wonky card.  I really liked this card so much.  The colors and the softness against the graphics of the papers are so wonderful.  There is a bride-to-be out there who may be getting two of these, unless a certain little argument gets settled....but that's another story. 

Oh yeah, in the interest of full disclosure....I put my watermark on these pics because I made the cards, but these are merely copies of Myra's awesome work.  Isn't she talented?!

Thanks to the ladies for an amazing day.  I could NOT have enjoyed myself more!

Thank YOU for dropping by my blog!  See you soon-
All best--
Richard

My Latest Challenge, and the Joy of a Happy Accident



I made this card for a flower challenge at StampTV.  The image and sentiment are from GinaK Designs Enjoy the Sunshine set.  I really like this bunch of flowers, because there are so many ways to color them, AND they look great in black and white.  Or brown and white, the way this stamp started. 

Nestabilities oval and square dies cut the shapes, and I used cuttlebug's swiss dot embossing folder on the blue piece AFTER cutting the border with Martha Stewart punch-around-the page punches.  The orange piece was embossed with the folder that came with my cuttlebug. 

 I used the little paper flowers you find everywhere, but I flipped one over to give it a change of texture.  Little metal dots make the centers. 

So, secrets of the maker....The reason I put the ribbon around the oval the way I did was to hide the glob of ink I got on it while coloring the edges with a stamp pad.  The trouble I get in when I rush around, trying to finish a card before I go to work!!  But who's the wiser?  Bob Ross (remember him?  The oil painting guy from PBS?) used to call that a happy accident.  The flowers DO look nice that way, after all!

I hate to waste something that I took so much time to color.  There's a butterfly that had a nestabilities "issue" that's waiting for some happy accident to befall it.  Stay tuned for that one.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend, y'all!

Richard

Monday Madness at StampTV

Inspiration.  This is a photo from a Pier 1 ad. It was posed as an inspiration challenge at StampTV.  When I finally came up with my idea, I literally ran to my workspace and got super busy.

Perspiration.

I think I entitled this, "...and now for something on the literal side."  I wanted to see what kind of depth I could create with paper, ink, and pop dots.  I cut the plate circles with nestabilities, and the bowl was done with oval nestabiites, and then handcut to do the top of the bowl. 

I used Melanie Muenchinger's "Branching Out" set for GinaK Designs for the flowers, and a hero arts set for the sentiment, which is just a strip of paper on top of an orange ribbon, tacked on by a brad. Kinda different having the sentiment go the long way, right? 

I used a EK edge punch for the design on the left edge, and ribbons from Paper Source. 

There are actually two layers of popdots to get the bowl high enough off the plate.  Mailing this one could be a challenge! 

I did some sweating and snorting to get the shading to cooperate, and I think I wish I had some gray ink to do it, but I ended up pretty happy here. 

This marks the first time I threw life aside to answer inspiration's call, when it comes to cardmaking.  Houston, we have a problem!!!

Hey, if this is my addiction, I should consider myself lucky.  Could be a heck of a lot worse, right?

These Monday challenges at StampTV are a lot of fun!  Try this week's challenge by clicking the image below!

oh, and thanks Lisa for the help on getting this button up!

Thanks for stopping by!  I'd love to hear your feedback.

All Best-

Richard

A Noise with Dirt on it...

I needed a birthday card for little Ethan's first birthday.  I have some baby announcement stamps from Stampin'Up (SU), and since he's only one, I figured, close enough.  I also have the birthday cake stamp (SU) and it has only one candle, sooooo....
I have in one of my many discount card stacks, this AWESOME paper that says a whole lot of things, but I especially loved the one that says "Boy.n. A noise with dirt on it."  Cracked me right up!  Had to have it, and had to get that centered.  I am a fan of primary colors for kids, too, so the rest of the red, yellow and blue just seemed to be perfect.  I didn't want to do a ton of extra colors when it came to detailing, so I only colored the duck in the toy line, since it was the only traditionally primary colored (yellow, hello) one.  a splash of red in the candle to point up one year old, a flash of ribbon, and there it is. 

I haven't heard whether he liked it, yet.  No news is good news, though, right?

Since I had everything out, and I was digging the primary scheme, I decided to see what it would look like with the colors in different areas. I came up with this.

The teddy was in the same set as the toys line stamp .  I used my ticket punch on the edges this time.  I am always pleased when I use some sort of edge punch.  It makes everything look so nice and finished.
You'll notice that the swiss dot embossing photographed much nicer on the yellow strip in this one than on the red in the first card, but I did do it on both. 

Any baby boy out there need some greeting???  There's also some girl paper to be played with.  I will have to summon some strength for that one.  I'm feeling a whole lotta pink comin' on....

Thanks for stopping by! 
Best-
Richard

Spoils of the winner

So, when my FREE stamp set arrived form GinaK Designs, I was so geeked to get started stamping!  These shells are from the Gifts from the Sea set by Melanie Muenchinger.  She has been a real doll to me; so welcoming and helpful. 

Anyway, to create these two beauties, I stamped and colored the shells with colored pencils.  I wanted to keep them very soft looking, so I stayed away from the markers route.  I cut them out with my cutterbee scissors, and curled the edges ever so slightly to give them a rounded, more natural shape. 

Now, I know there is so amazingly sturdy and fancy cardstock out there.  I will work up to that, I swear, but meanwhile I am loaded up to my teeth with what I have.  So, my base cardstock is that stuff you find at every craft store, from The Paper Company.  You know, the value packs.  I also have some "stacks" and other things, but the majority is the value pack stuff.  Looks good, but I would like to quickly work through some of it and get a higher base weight paper. 

AnYWaY---
The flourish that makes up the cloud is a sizzix die cut.  I found it and the swirls embossing folder at GOODWILL!  I actually made a huge haul that day...made me decide I really NEEDED a cuttlebug!

One of these cards made its way to my friend Yasmin for her birthday.  I do have plans for the other as well, but she'll probably read this blog, and the surprise will be all ruined ....

If I go this route again, I will see what happens if I ink up my swirls folder with some white ink, and I may also see how some real shells work with the paper ones. There is definitely plenty of room for adding depth.  These were fun, though, for an early attempt. 

I really had fun coloring the shells.  Little boy time, I guess...

I have plenty more to share with you.  I'll tell you all about this card next!
Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you again soon!

Richard

I AM a winner! ( My mom was right!)

Ok, so I just won my first prize EVER from entering a card contest.  Ok, it was a random pick sort of thing, but I still WON!!!  Special thanks to GinaK Designs for the loot!

SO-- this is the card I entered.  It was for a color challenge, using a tomato-y red, mango, and cream. This was made with Fiskars stamps-- Latte Love, and Friendship Garden.  I was pretty happy with this one.

I used yellow embossing powder on the coffee cups to give them some presence, and did NOT emboss the flowers, so they'd be more of a background element. 

As you can see, I am sort of possessed by my cuttlebug and nestabilities dies.  I have the circles, squares and ovals with the coordinating scallop edge dies, both large and small, and I am pondering whether I really need the regular rectangle dies, or if I should do the long rectangles set. I may have to go into die-cut rehab, at this rate.

Oh, and I did make some cards with the set that I won, but the photos stink, so that will have to wait for a later post, when I can reshoot them.  (See how I work a teaser in there? )  Next time!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Y'all come back now, hear?

Richard

Hey, I have FOLLOWERS!!

Well, I am SO excited to see that I have some really terrific comments, and even two FOLLOWERS in just one day!  Thanks, Ladies, for joining me.  I am so happy to have you with me. 

I was so in love with the gingham paper in my last post, I decided to go at it again.  I bought these papers at AC Moore, and they were single sheets.  I bought them too long ago to notice who made them.  I will definitely take more note in the future.   This card was made with GinaK Designs "Enjoy the Sunshine" set.  The button was scavenged from some ribbon that Anthropology gave as gift wrap. (I loved this ribbon.  It was seam binding with tons of buttons and bells sewn on.  You'll definitely be seeing more from that ribbon in the future!)  OH YEAH!  Neat trick--I clipped the button out of the ribbon, but left a tab of the seam binding attached.  Made it SUPER easy to attach to the card and retain the stitching!!

I found the little clothespins at Paper Source.  Love them!  I also used a textured background stamp in versamark and embossed it with clear embossing powder. 

I did some other berries in colored pencil, but while the colors go nicely with the papers, these don't look as good as copic markers, I do like the vibrancy of the colors.  I NEED SOME COPICS!!!  (Let me know if you hear about a giveaway, will ya?)
I have more cards to show off to you, so stay tuned!  Thanks for dropping by!

Richard

Here We Go!

So, this is sort of an accidental start, of sorts.  I have been following myriad cardmaking blogs, and participating in many of the challenges at StampTV, and I found I needed a blog url in order to play with some of the other sites.  SO!  Here I am.  I will be posting some pics and explanations about some of my work soon.  Above is a card I did for our dog sitter, Suzanne.  The stamps are 97725 Flowers from Inkadinkadoo.  Welcome, and thanks for reading.