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

Necessity is the Mother of Creativity

Two of my clients just bought a new home.  They are particular favorites of mine, having been with me almost the entire time I've been at the salon where I work.  They are fun, hip, smart, great parents, and we always have a great time when I do their hair. Anyhoo...

 I wanted to congratulate them on their new home, and I find there isn't too much out there by way of sentiments that express that sort of thing (or at least not at my local craft stores).  I probably could've done a big search and found something online, but they were moving the very next day, and I thought, "wouldn't it be nice to get some real snail mail in your brand-new place?"  I like to jump on these sorts of things, mostly because my memory can be a bit shoddy these days, so I started digging through my supplies.

So, I made them this--

Please forgive the grainy photo.  I snapped this with my phone just before I mailed it....

I found a Christmas set that I could work with.  This is Stampendous' Holiday Home set, which I like because of the picket fence, which just says "home" to me. I stamped everything with Memento Tuxedo black ink, and used markers to color the house just a bit.  I attached the house and fence piece to the grass bit, and the popped it all off the surface with some foam squares.  The trees behind the fence were stamped right onto the cloud paper with Versacolor Split Pea.  The sentiment is from Stampendous' Everything Happy set, which I really like because it stamps really clearly, and is so cute and tiny. 

I used GinaKDesigns Pure Luxury 120#  white paper as the base and layered it with black and white stock from The Paper Co.  This is my value cardstock; not so fancy, but good for layering.

I used two papers from DCWV The StackIII, the sky and grass image papers.  I can't find anything similar to these papers anywhere, and I will be so sad when I run out of them.  I will have an "issue" with buying another StackIII just to get those papers, let me tell you!!

The inside was a bit tougher to come up with.  I did this--

Again, please forgive the lousy photo.  I really have to leave my camera nearby, so I won't be tempted to use my phone so much.  I really wanted to mail this one quickly!

Because I had no "new home" sentiment to play with, I got inventive.  I have these letter stamps that I bought at TARGET for $1.00.  I figured that this was a cutesy enough stamp set that I could go a little crazy, so I stamped the word NEW all askew like that in SU Ruby Red ink and hand drew the little bracket that tries to stuff the whole word into the sentiment.  I backed it all with some black and a tiny piece of my grass paper to tie it into the front, and there you go.  Oh yeah, those exclamation points are done by hand too.  Why not, right?

So, this was rather easy to accomplish, once I figured out where to go with it.  Stuffing words into sentiments probably wouldn't work with a more formal card, I know, but I think here it's rather fun.  And it sure doesn't look like something you bought at the drugstore!

I haven't seen them since they moved yet.  I hope they liked it, and that the move and settling in all went smoothly.

Thanks for dropping by! 

All Best-
Richard

Somebody Sang "Be Our Guest" to Me.......

I am always on the interwebs, looking for instruction and inspiration, learning new ideas all the time.  What I like BEST is finding those souls out there who not only are wicked talented, but are also SUPER generous.  These are the people who do hundreds of free online tutorials, and expect nothing in return, other than a peek at what you, yourself are doing with the info. 

Enter Melanie Muenchinger.  Melanie (not Mel, thank you) is a very talented designer and artist, as well as a wife and mother, and a HUGE support system for this burgeoning cardmaker.  I "met" this super talented gal at GinaK Designs StampTV, through our chatting back and forth during a release party, and by commenting on each other's work over these few months.  When I won a prize with my FIRST posting at StampTV, her Gifts from the Sea set was my pick out of everything else there.  I talk about it and show you a sample in my blog post, Spoils of the Winner. 

She is a such a super inspiration to me, and SO kind and supportive.  In fact, and HERE'S THE BIG, BIG NEWS!!!!, Melanie has asked me to be a guest designer for her JUST released stamp set The Vine.  I got this email from her from out of the blue, and she asked if I would be interested in getting a sneak peek at the new set, and would I like to have one?   WOULD I?  (hair lip, hair lip....)   I am such a fan of her work, of COURSE I wanted to work with this new set!!!

Next thing I know, the stamp set arrives on THE DAY of the release party, and I quick-like-a-bunny whip up a card with this set and post it HERE (lousy photo with my phone) at StampTV during the party, thinking I am getting the scoop on everybody.....SUDDENLY, other people are congratulating me on being Melanie's GUEST DESIGNER.  Wha?  What's that?  Hey, that's a cool thing, right?  HEY! I'm hanging with the cool kids!  (And if you know me, you know that is so NOT me...)

ANYWAY---I AM a guest designer!  You need to scoot over to Hands, Head and Heart, and see my sample card that I did with The Vine.  I'll wait for you right back here.  Go on.....(but come right back....)

Okay!  So you're back!  Wasn't that FUN?  Isn't she amazing?!   SO, while you were gone, I made these--

 On a GinaK Designs Pure Luxury 120# white cardstock base, I versmarked the vine image several times, and embossed with clear embossing powder.  I then sponged on Studio G ink to make the background, leaving the center brighter than the edges.  I stamped the vine onto green cardstock from The Paper Co., and on green plaid DCWV paper, and cut them out, and did the same with the flowers.  Then I layered everything together, popping up just about 2/3 of everything with foam squares.  I think I counted 27 squares in all!!  Then I used Stickles to glitter up the flower centers.  The sentiment was done with the same ink as the background.  I had such a great time, adding "just a few more" flowers for about 30 minutes.  Luckily, I had just bought some new foam squares, so I had no issue with running out of them!

On this card, I again used GinaK Designs 120# white for the base, then layered up pink and green cardstock from The Paper Company. This is a value pack of paper, and while it's not really the best for making card bases, I really like it for layering.   

I used a piece of light green CS from DCWV, and ran it through my ever trusty Cuttlebug with the Swiss dot embossing folder, and did the punched edge with an EK punch. I layered that with a piece of DP from AC Patterned Papers, the "Play" set on top.  Don't you love the Nestabilites Labels Four die with that paper?!  Works perfectly with the sentiment, too.  I sponged versacolor Split pea on the white piece while the die was still on to get the pretty framed edge.  I colored and cut three stamped images of the flowers out of the same CS I used to layer up the background, and did the same with the vine from the green.These are stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink, and I filled in the designs with Inkssentials Glossy Accents for some shine, and again popped it all up with foam squares.    

 Did you like the one I did at Melanie's blog?  They are all really different, right?  I love how versatile stamps can be.  This set also coordinates with Melanie's Branching Out set, also available at GinaK Designs., so the possibilities are just about endless. 

I could not be more honored to do this, my first Guest Designer spot, with Melanie, and I have to let the world (or at least you, dear reader) know that she has been, continues to be a great mentor and inspiration. 

Having this opportunity has revved up my inspiration level to a hot 11, and I hope I did her artwork proud.  Many thanks to her, and especially to you for stopping by.  Come back again!

All Best-

Richard

Mildred (Paper) Piece

So, I learned to paper piece recently.  Not pierce, with an "r". I kept rereading the tutorial, looking at the pictures for the cute little holes that make such a cute edge and stuff.....uh, no.    Big DUH for me. 

Apparently, when you don't put the "c" into the word, it means you are inserting a different piece of paper, either stamped or some designer paper (DP) into some or all parts of your stamped image.  OHHHHHHHHHH......

Once I re-taught myself to READ WORDS, I made this--

I made the card base from some Aqua card stock, and then cut a coordinating lighter weight card stock on top.
 I stamped three boats onto the same lighter card stock with Memento tuxedo black ink and cut them out.  I then stamped the same boat onto three different DPs and cut out just the sails.  I used a glue pen to attach the sails to the boats, and put them aside. 
I grabbed two different blue card stocks, and this great photo paper that has water on it, and tore them at different angles.  I layered them up and arranged them until it made the waves I wanted to create, then carefully stuck them together and attached them to the card front piece.  I trimmed around the card front with my snips to remove the extra overhang. 
I left the edges loose, since they weren't going anywhere, and that let me carefully slide my boats into place between the layers. 
I used a gel pen to create the clouds.  I LOVE me some gel pen!!  I decided to pull in some more of the pink from the DP, so I got out my pink colored pencil and highlighted the clouds just a bit. 
All that was left to do is stamp the sentiment, attach the front to the base, and that puppy was done! 
These stamps are from GinaK Designs.  The card stock and water DP are from DCWV, and the boat DP is AC Patterned Paper, the Play set.  I love this paper!!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Dang It All.....

I have to confess, it never is a fast process for me to make a card.  I can throw something together sometimes, but for something I really like, I usually can spend two+ hours on it. 

That's why it makes me CUCKOO when I find an error or a flaw in my project in the last ten seconds of production!  The litany of arghs and curses (yes, much as I try, the potty mouth does occur sometimes) is enough to send the dog heading for cover.

Example. 



Cute, right?  It took some time to figure out which punch on which edge, where does the ribbon happen, how about that swiss dot stuff?  Here, there, where?   Sweat, snort , layer......Carefully now with that ribbon ruffle.....whew.  Hey this looks pretty good....

Hey.....

Wait a minute....

What is THAT?
What is that LUMP on the top of my card?  LOOK at that...(it's in the pic, with the "dang it" next to it.)

What IS THAT???

I checked.  Nothing under there.  What the ...???

Apparently it's a flaw in the card stock.  Of all the crazy things.  Well, I am just OVER that!

OK, Mister Cardmaker.  Deep breath, Friend.  CLEARLY, we will not be chucking this one in the bin.  HOW are we gonna fix it?

Uh.....

Hmmm...

OH YEAH!  I have MORE PAPER!!

SO I did this--

See the extra little strip of card stock?  I'll wait while you scroll back and forth to check it out.)
How easy was THAT? 
I swear, I get my knickers into such a twist sometimes....Anybody feeling me on this out there??

Hey, thanks for stopping by. 
All Best--
Richard

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.