Happy Holiday Wishes

Taking a break from blogging this week, due to Holiday madness.  I'm sure you understand.

Hope you have a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving.  I, myself, am grateful for YOU!

As always-
Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

With 47000 You Get Eggroll



Well, you get another post about Christmas cards, not an eggroll.

Hey!  I just reached 47000 page views here on the ol' blog!  That makes me happy.

So, in keeping with the whole Christmas card theme, I wanted to share a couple I had made a while ago. 

I made this--

I made this with the Memory Box Catalina Wreath die.  I did two die cuts, and glued them together, and added a few rhinestones.  That die is a TOUGH one to cut!  I need either a metal plate for the Cuttlebug, or a new die cutting machine.  That new blue Big Shot looks nice.....

Great.  I made a wreath.

I needed a door!  So, out came the Spellbinders Nestabilities Classic Squares dies (I don't remember if these are large or small, but really no dif, if they fit your card. 
I like the Nestabilities dies for this application, because I can emboss the edges of my diecuts without a lot of fuss, and it really makes it look like a paneled door. 

I left off anything that would resemble the door hardware; it just was going to interrupt the overall look.  (Door purists are going OCD-nutso at this moment, I'm sure.)

So, a pretty blue door.  With a wreath.

Next, I made this--

So, I really loved this Crate Paper, uh, paper...(?)  and if you have read the blog for, oh, about six minutes, you know I have a thing for doilies AND Papertrey Ink dies, so this was sooooo perfect for me. 
All those "merry"s ("merrys"?) are from scraps, and the snowflakes are from my now dead (read, the handle snapped off while punching glitter cardstock) Martha Stewart Alpine Snowflake punch.  (A moment of silence, please.  I LOVED that stupid punch.)  The killer gold glitter cardstock is still wedged in there, too....

Did I mention that pink is one of my FAVE Christmas colors??  Oh yeah.  Pink, red, lime green, aqua.  Perfect Christmas colors.  And whatever comes in "shiny."

Well, anything that helps the pile grow is a good card, now that the Hols are nigh. 

GO MAKE CARDS!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker LOVES a Quick Stash Builder

Well, leave it to us (me, I mean) to decide to remodel the bedroom in NOVEMBER.  Too cold to open the windows for the paint fumes, no TIME to do anything else (and we have leafpocalypse going on at our house right now--the last pickup of leaves was 75 bags!), and of course, NO CHRISTMAS CARD MAKING!!!

However!  The room is looking great, and we have very little left to do.  You should have seen us installing the plate rail moulding on Sunday.  You really did NOT want to HEAR us, especially if you have small children or ears.  It all came together somehow, and I have it all caulked and painted and it's DONE! 

Photos when it's all done, I promise!

Anyway, I lied about the NO Christmas cards part.  I did manage to get a few put together, but the list is going to shrink this year, I do believe.

I made these--

This is a wonderful and BIG stamp from Stampendous, that also comes with a big snow swirl stamp that I LOVE.   I stamped it in SU Soft Suede ink on Kraft cardstock.  A little color, a little white, a little Stickles, and Viola!

I did try a few different ways to go about getting there with these.

This one has some flocking on the hats.  I do NOT love that bit on the top left where the edge of the stamp got in there, but it sort of looks like a cartoon "action line", so I'm going with it.  The person who gets this will never even think about that.  Oh, and this one has white line detail on their scarves.

Trying to get even simpler, I left off the flocking on this one, and just used my white pen to "dot" in the fur parts.  It goes with the dotted shading that is on the stamp, so I went with it!  Oh yeah, test your red pen with your Stickles before you apply it.  Mine went a bit pink from the moisture.  No disaster or anything, but you might want to be aware of that!

Ok, so I went really lazy on this one, and my Stickles bit me in the butt.  Same general idea as the one above, but I dragged some color around with my Stickles bottle because I trying to see what I could get done as quickly as possible.  (Those leaves are not gonna rake themselves into those bags!) 
Also, notice where I got a "blat" of glitter glue  (I'm not writing Stickles AGAIN) on the little one's tummy. Rats.

Again, this is "fine", but I would never send it to a crafting friend.  This one goes to a more casual acquaintance, at best.

So, lesson here is, you can get 'em quick, or you can get 'em good.  But quick doesn't suck, either, some days.  Write it down.  This stuff is GOLD, I'm telling you.

Thanks for stopping by!
GO MAKE CARDS!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Bitten by the Ebay Bug

Well, a while ago, I clicked on the Ebay app icon on my phone, and got sucked in to all THAT entails.  I have now resigned myself to being a die-hard Papertrey Ink skulker, and Amuse Studio is up on the list, too.  Others will follow, I'm sure....

 

I lose WAY more auctions than I care to mention, and I find myself "watching" things and forgetting to bid at all, but I HAVE come away with a couple of fun things.

 

I won (I won! I won!) the Birthday Basics stamp set and dies for a reasonable price (which I don't remember), and I LOVE them!  The garlands and the balloons are terrific, and it all makes me happy.  Just like anything that comes with a matching die.

 

I made this--

 

 



 This one went to Charlie's brother George for his birthday last week.  I really like the bright colors popping off the dark grey, and the darker sequins are so fun.  I LOVE these candles.  Can't you see these garlands and the candles being used for Christmas and Hanukkah cards, too?

So, to continue with a theme, I made this--

Actually, this was the first attempt with this set.  I have some Memento Fireworks spray inks, and that's what you see there on the card base.

I think this would have been much more successful on a card base that was anything other than the kraft.  I don't know....It just leaves me kind of flat.  The white panel is too big, there are too many colors going on with the sequins...I'm just sort of "meh" about this one. 

I DO like the big, "so full of fun they're about to pop" balloons, however!  I may have to attack this one at some point for a Friday Fix card.  (Remember that short-lived series here on the blog?) 

So, I'm back to Ebay to find more goodies!  Actually, I better get my butt into the craft space and make some Christmas cards!  I am SO behind!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

SNOW!

We have snow on the ground here today in Michigan, and so it's time to start panicking thinking about Christmas and holiday cards.

I made this one--

This is my VERY favorite stamp and die sets, In the Meadow, by Papertrey Ink.   I have been hoarding the red faux bois paper for a while and I think it was the perfect choice here.  I have it on a base of watermelon cardstock from Amuse Studio.  Great match, right?  Who'da thunk?

I actually cut my sleigh diecut from red paper, and you can see a pee of it coming through the white embossing on the horse, but I used a sponge dauber to make most of it gold, to better match the embossed areas. (Plus, the red wasn't a good match for the background paper.)

I really like the way the sleigh sort of "interrupts" the sentiment.  EVERYBODY knows what it says, for pete's sake, so it couldn't really mater, and I think it gives a feeling of the sleigh moving across the card.

A few rhinestones for some snowy sparkle, and that's that!

Have you gotten started yet?  How many do you need?  I need at least 60, and I have a feeling I will end up needing more like 75-80 this year.  I best get buzzing!

Thanks for stopping by! 
Stay warm!
All best--
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Says Fare Thee Well to a Moxie Fab Lady

Well, today is the day I say goodbye to one of the loveliest ladies ever, Cath Edvalston, and her Moxie Fab World.  You should have arrived here from Stephanie Muzzulin's Blog.

I've had more trouble coming up with a card...How does one card say all the things you want to say?

Anyway, I made this--

 

And now, back to Cath...

If you've been anywhere in Blogland checking out people's cards and other papercrafts, you have no doubt been privy to Cath and all the wonderful things she and her blog Moxie Fab World have had to offer.

Whether it's your first exposure to a new (or OLD) stamp company, or whether you needed (and got) a blast of inspiration from one of the awesome pictures she posts week after week, or whether you were chomping at the bit to see if you maybe won one of the MILLIONS of giveaways she offered, or whether you were lucky enough to be named Moxie Fabber of the Week (like I was!), Cath was there for YOU. 

I've said it before, and I'll say it again--
There will be a BIG hole left when Cath leaves us.  Of course, she'll be popping up at folk's blogs from time to time, and I'm SURE she'll be asked to be a guest here and there, but that daily dose of all that is Moxie Fab in the world will no longer be at our fingertips. 

*SIGH*

But, as selfish as I am about NOT wanting her her to go, I could not wish Cath MORE ongoing success if I tried!
I'm sure there is a NEW world of Moxie Fabbishness just waiting for Cath to put her hand to it, and boy, you better WATCH OUT when she does!

Cath, my hat's off to you, my heart's out to you, and my mind will SO often travel back to the days of Moxie Fab World.
Be well, safe, and successful, Pretty Lady! 

Now, head over to Gretchen Belknap's Blog. 

Thanks, Cath, for stopping by, now and always!
All Best--
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Needs to Just Breathe

Just a quick post today to share a card I made for our friend Shannon and Jason for their anniversary. These are friends we haven't seen in almost 10 years, but we were able to pick up exactly where we left off.  I think that is the mark of true friendship.

Anyway, I made this--

I started with the clouds that were hanging out in the little bowl that has all my extra die cuts in it. That led me to the idea to use bold patterned papers.  Looking back, I DO wish I had used a pattern paper in the sentiment area, but at this point, what's done is done.  NEXT time...

I think the biggest point of interest on this one is the strip of red and green papers at the top of the green area.  If you look closely, you can see that it's actually popped off the green panel.  I have no memory of WHY I did that, but it turned out to look pretty cool.

The more I look at that sentiment, the more aggravated I become with it.  I want to hunt them down and make them let me change it.

Deep breaths...

I hope you are enjoying your Wednesday!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Gets Wet, Cold and Knee-ed in the Back...and Makes a Card.

We are back from East Lansing, MI as of yesterday, having watched Charlie's U of M Wolverines get heartily spanked by Michigan State.  We were asked to the game by his sister Sue and BIL Mike, and they threw an amazing tailgate at their home before the game. They went ALL out for this thing, and everyone LOVED it! They live within an easy walk to the stadium, so it is great to go to games from their house.  Most days.

 

Well, the weather was in the 40's and WET, and I must say, I met the whole affair with some serious trepidation, and by halftime, I was just about through with it all.  I had been squished into my 12" spot on the bleachers, my knees in my nose and the man-behind-me's knees in my back (I WILL hunt you down, buddy--hide and watch.); rain trickling down my face and off my rain poncho into my shoes, AND the un-bemused viewing of U of M's lack luster performance.  At halftime, I tried in vain to even find the LINE to the men's room in the vast sea of people on their way to wherever they were going, and I made my way instead to the exit. 

 

I walked back to the house, where half of our little party has ALREADY arrived (No one told me about this plan, by the way--.Charlie included.  Grrrrrr...) and made my way to a very steamy shower that lasted for about eight days, with a very large whiskey in tow.

 

So that was MY Saturday afternoon. 

 

Sunday was bright and sunny, and we had a lovely brunch and shared some birthday presents with Sue, before heading home.   Oh sweet, sweet salvaged football weekend! 

 

OK, so I made a card!  This was NOT for Sue, actually, but for another BIL, Ronny, who had his birthday a few weeks ago.. 

 

I made this--

 

I have some text print cardstock from Stampin' Up, and I inked a block of it with sponge daubers to create a grass and sunset sky on it.  I stamped it with SU's good ol' Lovely as a Tree set and some Archival black ink. That got adhered to a card base of white cardstock, and embellished with some washi tape strips.  The sentiment (from Papertrey Ink, Birthday Basics) was also stamped in Archival black ink. 

 

I die cut a tree out of black cardstock with a Memory Box tree die, and I went to mount it to the card, but it was really pretty flat looking. I decided a frame around the main image would be nice, and I used my Spellbinders Classic Squares dies (both Large and Small) to make it.  I played around with the different sized dies on the card to visualize things before I cut.

 

I mounted the frame to the card front with foam adhesive, and used more to add the tree die cut.  I used a glue pen to adhere the tree to the frame.

 

This really isn't that hard of a design, but the different blacks, the colors in limited use, and the strength of the frame really come together nicely.  I also like the juxtaposition of what is "inside" and what is "outside."

 

So, that's my card and my story for this Monday.  Hope your weekend was drier than mine, and that you had as much fun as I did (overall-wise).

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard

Mr Cardmaker Has What Would SEEM to be the Last of the Autumn Cards

Well, I have been diving into Christmas cards lately, albeit slowly, because I have a ton of birthdays coming up right about now. 

I did have some Autumn cards that I wanted to show you, though, so here we go...

I made this--

I did this card with GinaK Designs Fall Foliage set, with a sentiment from, you guessed it the Enjoy the Sunshine set.  I stamped these leaves with various Hero Arts inks, and I have to tell you, that Butterbar ink (the bright yellow) has to be my favorite color EVER.  So rich!  I used it on the leaves, of course, but the I used it to sponge in that glow-y background.  I love this!
It went to my sister Lisa for her birthday.  She liked it.

I also made this--

 

4

 

 

 

 

Well, I seem to be using this stamp set a good deal of the time!   A different color treatment here, plus some fussy cut and foam mounted leaves.  Oh, and the sentiment is from Inkadinkadoo.  This was an exercise in trying to get some blue into my fall cards.  I also used daubers to get more than one color onto the images before stamping, and a bit of hand coloring on some, too. I like the teal in there, but this is a rather frenetic card.  Good thing that sentiment is there, or your eye would have no place to land.

APPARENTLY, I did not get enough of the blue idea pumped out of my brain.

Remember my blue Delft card I tried a while back?  This one....Oh yeah, and there's This one too...I did that for my friend Melanie Meunchinger's blog  a while back.  Love her!

Well, I made this--

Same stamp sets, ONE blue ink pad.  I was SO psyched at the way this one turned out! 

This was done with Memento Blue Danube ink, and I just stamped and restamped without reinking anything, and LOOK at what happened!!  I stamped some extra leaves and fussy cut them, as you can see, and mounted them onto the card with foam adhesive. Love this!  Notice there is a bit more breathing space on this one.

NOW I have enough blue in my fall cards.  The End.  Except for this photo, which shows two of them together....A study in blue, you could say.  (I wouldn't...)

On to the next season!  Snowflakes, anyone?  I DO think I'll have to sneak some non-seasonal things in, just to keep sane (ish). Just sayin'.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Candy for Halloween! And a Giveway, of Sorts....

A while back, I stumbled onto a Pinterest pin of this thing called "Card Candy", and I was intrigued.  These are lovely bits of punchy, ribbon-y, embellishment-y goodness that you can add to a simple card to get a fun, more intricate focal point in one second.  (I'm inventing the words as I go along, folks!)

The best part is that you can make these with the millions of scraps you have lying around (and I KNOW you have them) in front the TV in an evening.  AND they make for fun gifts, too!

Well, I made some.  Dragged ALL of my favorite punches and my scrap box, plus a few stamps out to the TV room, and got busy.

They look like this--

Yes, there ARE four sets there.  I was busy!!

 

 

Do you like the packaging?  I made that, too.  And I did my signature stamp on the back--

These are mounted with glue dots onto acetate sheets from stamp sets that I have hanging about.  Lift them off like with any other packaged embelly, and adhere them to your project! 

I imagine these working nicely on a set of note cards.  Make the base, add some ribbon or twine, and pop one of these babies into a focal point.  Super simple!  All KINDS of ways to use these.  Oh! How about if you made your own cardmaking KIT, and tucked these in?  Huh? Right?

And now, for some close ups--

Well, now that they're all packaged so nicely, I can't use them myself!  I am not sure what I will do with them.  I considered doing a giveaway, but is there really anyone who wants this?  I'll be entering this over at the Simon Say Stamp Monday Challenge Blog in their Anything Goes challenge, so I figure folks will see them at east a few times.

How about, the first four followers of my blog to ask me for them each gets one set?  That way, I am not foisting them onto someone who would like to comment, but has no interest in having them.  Just make sure I can reach you via email for your address.

Oh, and I will save one set until 10/31 @ 5pm for those of you who reach me only via Facebook.  Did I mention I have a Facebook page?  I need to add that to my sidebar!

Oh, and I thought I'd mention, for those of you who came looking for me last week--
I was on vacation!  They tell you not to post such things until you come home, lest the burglars read your blog.  That idea makes me laugh!  But seriously, you never know.
We were in the Pacific Northwest, and it was gorgeous.  If only I had time to hunt down my crafty peeps that live out that way!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr. Cardmaker Can't Help Himself

Well, I really don't have many people to send Halloween cards to, and so I TRY to stay away from making them. I also don't have that many people coming over during the fall season, but it doesn't stop me from decorating with all my Fall stuff, either!  LOVE me some Autumn!!

Anyway, I ran across my jar of Amuse Studio black glitter the other day, AND I got my Authentique Enchanted paper pad from Oozak recently.  What can I say?  What could any self-respecting, over-shopping crafter say?  I could NOT help myself! 

Photo-heavy post ahead!  Get ready!

I made this--

I stamped the haunted house onto some SU Summer Starfruit cardstock and fussy cut it.  I covered it with Glossy Accents, and when it was dry, I restamped the image onto my paper, and adhered it.

The tree is a Memory Box die.  I covered cardstock with my 2" Scor-tape and ran it, with the die, through my Cuttlebug, took off the liner paper, and covered it with black glitter.
 
NOTHING says Halloween more to me than black glitter all over something! 

I stamped my spiders, then assembled the card, adding strips of paper and some hand drawn squiggly lines to fill out the design.  I added more scor-tape, in thinner strips this time, and glittered them up, too.  This makes SUCH a wonderfully clean line of glitter!  Once you get me started with the glitter, you better keep moving, because if you're sitting still, you could be "made pretty!"

I moved to the inside of the card, and I did this-- (all of my interior photos are weird for some reason. Sorry!)

I masked off and stamped the edges of my cardstock with a web stamp, and was really happy that just a tiny border read really well.  The sentiment stamp is so great, with the skull and pumpkin lurking in there.  I did get that smudge, but I let it go, what with it being all Halloweeny and all.  I will add more smudges before I send it, probably.

I was so happy with the Scor-tape as adhesive idea, I kept going.
I made this-
This one is being entered at Ribbon Carousel, for their Fall/Halloween challenge--

I made the glittered leaves with more scor-tape, then layered them with a plain cardstock leaf for contrast.  I love that look!  I did these with my Fiskars punches.  They were not happy about cutting through so much at once, but they finally did it!

Here's a better look--

To do the cat and sentiment, I used some Sticky Powder from Gary Burlin and Co.  I was not terribly thrilled with the amount of "sticky", to be frank, and will have to try another variety.  I got the general idea, though, and I was able to go back and add some glue on top of the cat, so I could reapply some more glitter.  The sentiment was to thin for me to mess with, though. I keep looking at this one, thinking I smudged it next to the cat, but it's part of the paper, I SWEAR!

I added some black twine, and I used my 1/4" hole punch to lock it into place at the top and bottom of the card.  More Scor-tape and glitter at the left side there, but you already knew that...

I did the inside of this one too, like this--

I love that sentiment stamp from Studio G.  (All the stamps are Studio G, btw, except for the clouds and the swirls on the first card which are from PTI and Inkadinkadoo, respectively)  I think the hand drawn lines really work with the webs here, too!

Finally, I had to do one more--

See how I am good about not wasting any of my papers?  Because I'm stingy frugal like that!

So, clearly I couldn't stop at just the black glitter, and I had to get out the orange as well for this one! 
The dies here are from Papertrey Ink, and I added more of those punched leaves, one glittered and one not.

I like the gray rhinestones added to this one!

The inside of this one looks like this--

I added the speckles after I found a speckle-sized smudge.  I think they work here!  That big spider is so great for a creepy surprise!

So, that's my Halloween collection for this year.  I will definitely make sure they find homes (along with the couple of cards I made last year, and THIS CARD. 

I love making them, and I will send them to those who love them.  Seems it's always my crafty friends who REALLY appreciate them!  Plus, sometimes I get some in return!  Love that!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Papertrey Ink Make it Monday Challenge and ABNH Shape it Up Challenge

       ***This is my second post today.  Scroll down to see my paper-laden Get Well card.***


Well, I am trying to get into some more contests these days.  Seems you get a bit of exposure that way!  (BTW, you ARE all telling your friends and neighbors about me, RIGHT?)

I made this--

 

I made this card, (Which is actually on the small side--Probably best used as an enclosure) for Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge, which this week is to use a layered embossed technique.

I also wanted to enter A Blog Named Hero's Shape it Up challenge, and I did it as a shaped card.

 

I had also planned to enter Case this Sketch's challenge, and Simon Says Stamp's  Dotty challenge, but I was too late on the trigger for those.  Wop, wop....

 

I started by making my base with a Spellbinders Labels Four die, the largest one, on white card stock, and then made another die cut to be the card front. This way, the fold wouldn't show at all.

 

I stamped the background with my dot background stamp (my only non-PTI stamp used here, btw) and then stamped over it with the balloons and sentiment for PTI's Birthday Basics set.  The balloons were stamped in versamark, which I then embossed with clear powder so the background would show through.  I then used three purple inks to highlight the embossing, which, of course, left the background of the balloons the dots on white. 

 

I added some of the dots from Birthday Basics , and hand drew the strings of the balloons on with my white gel pen.  Add a few sequins, and this pup is ready to sign and mail!

 

I really enjoyed doing both (all) of these challenges, and it was really fun finding a way to combine some!

 

Wish me luck!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard

 



Mr Cardmaker is Letting the Paper Do the Work

Well, in the continuing story of "I need a card, NOW", I found myself in need of a masculine-ish (because you know about me and masculine cards, #dontgetmestarted) get well card.

*Now I am laughing, because I do NOT tweet, and am not sure what that hashtag nonsense even IS.  Please ignore my madness...*

ANYWAY--

I have a HUGE assortment of cards hanging about.  THREE shoe boxes full, to be exact.  Do you THINK I had what I needed in all of that? 

Nope.

Well, it was off to the craft room, at a rather late hour, to come up with something.  Happily, I had just loaded up on all kinds of new 6x6 paper pads, and I found some really good inspiration.

I can go crazy with layers, or super minimal with a CAS, but that middle, nice-card-with-not-so-much-stuff area gets wombly on me sometimes. 

So, I let my papers guide me this time.
I came up with this---

 

Now, this is nice, right?  Strong colors, nice geometrics, not so fru-fru.  These papers actually had been cut for some other project, so I played around with the scraps, and added some new pieces where they were needed.  I do love my scraps!  All in all there are seven (!) different papers on this card, all from the same paper pack.  Oh, it's My Mind's Eye Dilly Dally, under the Miss Caroline label.  Everything is layered on a chocolate brown card base.

 

The sentiment is embossed with Stampin' Up Early Espresso powder, and I don't know if it was this project, or my versamark was dry, or what, but I was not a fan of that stuff.  I'll have to play with it some more, but it wasn't sleek and shiny, and I'm really pretty sure I didn't overheat it.  Anyway---

I thought it was getting a bit lost on the dots, so I swiped some white pigment ink over top of the area, and wiped it back off the letters with a baby wipe.  Gently does it here!  I like that the effect looks like a worn fabric.

 

That button is actually some replacement button for a pair of shorts I bought recently. It kind of looks like leather, so I liked it for this project.

 

So, while this isn't SUPER simple, it was made easier by letting the paper take center stage.  I do like to pair up papers and cardstocks and all the rest of the stuff, but this one just came together with the paper all by itself. 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard

 



 

So, This was a Cool Thing

While bouncing about in Blogland recently, I happened upon a really cool site, called Tagxedo.com.  They do this word cloud thing, and you can use your favorite words, or you can link to your blog, or a website or whatever, and it picks the most used words and it seems to give them this hierarchy thing as it makes the cloud. 

 

So I did my blog!  This is what I got--

 



Pretty cool, right?  I don't know why the word "stopping" made it to be so big.  I will have to read some entries to see how often THAT one is used...Maybe it's not such a word hierarchy as I originally thought.  I was pleased to see the word "love" being so prominent.  Apparently, I use the words "really" and "thing" WAY too often...

Isn't this FUN?!  Imagine doing this with motivational words, or fun things your kids say....

Just a fun thing to look at today!
Oh, and PS--Charlie was out of town this past week, so my card pile has grown.  Lots of fall and Christmas cards coming up!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Get Well Wishes for a Lovely Lady

Our wonderful friend, Betty Ann, is eighty-something, and manages to live alone with her cat, and just a bit of help that comes in a few times a week.  Well, she had a fall in her tub, or into her tub...we are not too sure.  At any rate, she broke her collar bone, no fun at any age, so she has herself a bit of an uphill battle ahead.

Her assistant let us know what is going on, and mentioned that the only thing we could really do to help is to send her one of my cards.  Isn't that just the sweetest thing, ever?  Well, I wanted to get one out to her right away, and I had nothing on hand.

To the craft room, Robin!

Boy, the moment you need a card is NOT the moment for the mojo to vanish.

I grabbed some inks and a stamp set from my collection and got down to it.

I came up with this--

So, I began with stamping a background, using 4 colors of ink, and stamping without reinking as I worked my way across the card.  The boldest ink was toward the middle, and then got lighter in both directions.

Once that was done, I used sponges too ink up the edges of the cardstock, one color for each side.  When that was ready, I attached it to the front of a cardbase that matched one of the inks.  The sentiment was done in the darkest color--here, an olive green.

I stamped and punched out more of the same flower in the same colors and inked the edges.  I pulled out my glitter collection to do the centers, because I really love my shiny surfaces. These were adhered with some foam tape, but looked lonely without some foliage, so I went back and added some die cut leaves.  The leaves were a bit dull on their own so I took my white gel pen and gave them a doodled look.

In my continuing search to make everything more shiny, I added rhinestones in the colors of everything else, and I called it done!

I barely remembered to get a photo before getting this thing into the mail, but it got off safely, and I hope it's now in a spot where Betty Ann can get a good look at it in some sunshine. The glitter looks best then, of course!

We are hoping Betty Ann is much better in a big hurry, and that her feet stay securely underneath her in the future. I'm sure all good energies sent her way would be very appreciated, as well!

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

Crisp Temps and Falling Leaves

We finally have some blue skies today, and I am hoping that means some cool temperatures came with them.  Weird, warm wetness is NOT my idea of a good time, let me tell you.  I want my AUTUMN! 

Speaking of, I have an Autumn card to share with you today.  I was playing around with some masking techniques, and I am happy with what happened here.

I made this-

 

I masked and inked that colored panel, using a wicked old text stamp from Inkadinkadoo, and many, many inks.  I started with the yellow in the center, and moved my way to the darker edges, adding  layer after layer of ink. Some of the inks were Distress inks, so they did some really cool things when I flicked water on them.  Pull off the mask, and it's ready to mount onto a Kraft card base.  I love that wicked crisp line!

 

The leaves stamps are from GinaK Designs Fall Foliage, and I used sponge daubers to get the colors right.  I tried to do that "rock and roll" technique, but the lines just didn't blend well enough for me.  I like how the daubers did.

 

I fussy cut the leaves, curled them with my bone folder, and mounted them with runner and foam tape.  I left quite a bit of air under areas, and I love the look.

 

I used a punch to add grooves to the top and bottom of the card, so the twine would have a nice place to nestle.

 

On the inside, (sorry, no photo) I did another piece of the cardstock, and did another small leave at the bottom-left corner.  No sentiment needed!

 

Well, I am off to take my walk.  If I get to wear a jacket, I will be VERY happy.  Autumn is never a lengthy visitor.  I want to make the most of her!

 

Oh, yeah, we DID make it to the cider mill for apple cider doughnuts already, so we have that going for us.  Now I need a stack of pumpkins, and I will be pretty well set.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard

 



Spooky Scenes

I am playing with this weeks Curtain Call Spooky Scene challenge, and the Ribbon Carousel Blog's challenge!  I pulled out my favorite owl stamp, from GinaK Designs, and some other stuff and got to work.

This is the inspiration photo--



Aaaaaaaaand, mine really has nothing to do with that photo.  LOL!  (Ok, mine has a bird in it...)

I made this--

It's hard to see, but the black frame piece is embossed with a clockworks embossing folder.  I'm sad it doesn't show up better here, but then again, neither does the glittery stuff I did.

So, I started by coloring my white cardstock direct to paper with a grey inkpad, after masking out a circle for my moon.  I colored my moon with a dauber, and then stamped some clouds with more of the same grey ink.
I stamped the owl, colored him with colored pencils and a white gel pen, then masked him off and stamped my sentiment.  I added the swirling leaves at the bottom, and to keep it sort of spooky and dark, went with mostly brown and yellow pencils. 
I used a yellow copic marker to trace around my moon and owl, to add a glowing effect.  There is actually some Sakura glitter pen accents in the letters and on the owl, but they didn't photograph at ALL.  It looks cool, though, especially in the owl's eyes.  Kinda gives that "animal in the headlights" look.

The black frame is mounted over the image with foam tape, and the whole thing is on a yellow green card base (Summer Starfruit for you Stampin' Up folks), which is a fun surprise when you open the card.  The twine has a yellowish color, which speaks to the yellow in the image, and that awesome crystal-y button is also from Stampin' Up.

I LOVE making Halloween cards, but very few people (other than crafty folks) really care about them, so I don't do many anymore.  This was so much fun to do, though, so maybe I need to start back up with them.  I better get going, if I'm going!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and get over to Curtain Call and play along if you get a second. 
All Best!
Richard

The (Clean and) Simple Things Make Me Happy

I spend a good amount of time following card blogs, and I try to make sure I find EVERY giveaway out there.  FREE is my favorite word, after all!  I really like the ones where they randomly pic from the comments left by readers, because there's no WORK involved (although, crafting is never really WORK), and there's free STUFF sometimes.

I won some really GOOD stuff from Paper Smooches a while ago!  The Crystal Clear set, which has the ever popular Ball jar, AND some really cool bottle shapes.  I also won the Many Thanks set from them at another point (or was it at the same time?), and I LOVE that!

I used them to make this--

I just love how layering these bottles works!  I LOVE colored glass, and this is perfect for me.  I think I will try to see what happens if I rough up the surface of these stamps a bit, because the inks I used (Memento and Papertrey Ink)  are pretty splotchy.  I really don't mind the splotchiness here, but in other applications, I will probably want it a bit smoother.

I like how I kind of get the feeling of forward movement from the placement, and the small bits of sparkle from the sequins.  Happy colors, happy little sprig (Ooo, that was very Bob Ross of me).  All in all, pretty simple.  Makes me smile.

Do something that makes you smile today!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Love is an Everyday Occurence

This is my second post for today!

Scroll down to read how I pat myself on the back for my PUBLICATION TRIUMPH!

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

Well, here we are, Mr. Cardmaker and his Mr., twenty-two (22!) years later, and yes, miraculously enough, he still puts up with me! 

Our anniversary coincided with the appendectomy and the sinus  infection, so it was what you would call "low-key."  Like, "here's a card" low-key.  Hey, it works.

I made this--

I have no idea why this is so blue.  Same camera, same lights, same everything as always.   Weird.  BAD PICASSA!

So, the fun thing here, for me, anyway, is the GOLD being interjected into this here new fangled chalkboard thing I hear tell of. 

Is anyone already over this idea?  Don't tell the manufacturers!  There's new stuff coming out daily that lets you chalkboard better, faster and easier!

I just liked the colored pencil on the black cardstock, to be honest.  The gold embossing powder is one that I a NOT over yet, so stay tuned to more of THAT in the future!

The card is really awfully simple--Punch out and adhere hearts, a border punch strip, and some rhinestones on a panel of pink.  Add your matted image, and a little flourish with some ribbon and more hearts and rhinestones.

Oh yes--The gold hearts were made by embossing a small scrap entirely with gold embossing, then punching the hearts.  Just a little extra "sump'in'-sump'in'."

Oh! Charlie made ME a card!  I love it when he invades the craft room.  He puts stuff back (good boy), and he makes the sweetest things.  I will be keeping it private, however.  Suffice to say, he's a good one!

Is there one of those card making trends STILL going on that you wish would go away?  What is it?  Did you even TRY it? (Just curious--no judgments here)

Hope you find love as an everyday occurrence in YOUR life. 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard

Mr Cardmaker is in PRINT! Well, Digital, Anyway....

SO, I can finally tell you that I have been PUBLISHED!  TWICE!!

The Winter edition of CardMaker Magazine has hit the web, and there are TWO of my cards in it!  I am so stinking excited, I can't EVEN tell you!

I am holding back on posting the pictures here (because I don't know if I'm allowed to show them), but if you are a subscriber to CardMaker, (no relation, by the way) you can log in and be among the FIRST to see the new issue!  AND!  You can see MY CARDS!  (Not TOO proud of myself, am I?)

Uh, YEAH.  Picture me with a big, cheesy grin right now.  Yuppers, that's me.

Check it!
I'm not sure when the print issue hits the stand, but LOOK for it at your craft stores!

Thanks for stopping by!
Cheers!
Richard

Merry Monday

Well, I'm jumping into some Christmas card making today, by entering the Merry Monday Christmas Club #77 challenge at Always Playing with Paper.

The idea this time is to use red, pink, light green, dark green and white in a Christmas card.

So, I made this--

So, pink and lime green are my FAVE Christmas colors. Oh, and light aqua (though they didn't ask for any here).  For reals.  Add some red into the fun, and I am all over it.

You may be thinking the angle I shot the card at is awfully weird.  It was the only way to make all the glittery stuff work properly.  I have two glitter papers in the ornament (one is from a Springtime pad, don'tcha know) and there is Ranger holographic powder embossed as snowflakes on the striped paper.  Oh yes, and a tiny bit of Sakura red glitter pen on the scallops.

I made this card in about 30 minutes, because I wanted to get in on this challenge.  I may have reconsidered the twine and button, otherwise.  I think they lend themselves to a more rustic setting, really...

I do like the overall idea of this card, and I like these Spellbinders dies that made the ornament.  I bought them for like, $4.00 at Michael's last year after Christmas, and they should be some fun, decorating them!

*****UPDATE******

SO! I changed out the twine and button, after all.  Bad photo, but it looks like this now--

I think it's more in keeping with  the rest of the elements now.  Call me crazy....

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard

Tuesday Trigger, or Sometimes It Just All Comes Together

Well, this is just a quick one to get this card I made for Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger contest.

This is the trigger photo--


Ooo, pretty, right?  Lovely colors, and nice shiny porcelain....

Ok, so I made this--

 

This took me a million hours to do, mostly because I struggled to do another card, only to go back and see I used TOTALLY wrong colors....I would have SWORN I remembered blue in that photo...

 

That one looks like this-- 

 

But wait!  Let me tell you about the one I LIKE first!

 

So, I really wanted to get the idea of the comb, so I scored vertical lines on the card front to reference them.  LOVE my Scor-Buddy for this stuff.  Now, I also love my Scor-pal, when I am doing big stuff, but for every day, if you have the choice, pick the Scor-Buddy.  MUCH easier to deal with.  I also see a TON of the Martha Stewart mini boards, but while they do have way more grooves, I hear about the stylus jumping all over your cardstock sometimes.  Don't have one, can't say for sure.

 

 

The text paper is from Stampin up, and I tore the edges and swiped the whole thing with white pigment ink, pad to paper, just to soften it.  On top of that is half a doily, then little sprigs punched with a Martha Stewart punch.  (A must have, for me)

 

The flower.  Well, I really wanted a peach flower, but I have NO peach paper.  How is THAT possible?  So, I used orange, and topped it with vellum.  Peach-ISH! Or peach via trick-o'-the-eye!

 

That's done with a SU punch and stamp set. I did the stamping in versamark, and embossed with white powder.  I love how some of the stamped part actually shows through the vellum!

 

The center is one of the old build-a-brad things from SU, and the center is a scrap of the paper I did the leaves with.  They're done with a Sizzix sizzlit on some VERY old paper I had been hoarding a scrap of.  Happy to use it in JUST the right spot!

 

The best part, for me, is where I get to reference the white porcelain bowl by using white enamel accents around the center brad, and in among the leaves.  Subtle shine, but nice impact, and that "little something extra."

Ok, now for the one that didn't make it--

So, remember the card I made HERE?  On this card I used the piece that was used as the stencil.  Waste not, want not.  I seriously thought a day after looking at the photo, that the flowers on the comb were pink and cream, with some green and a pop of blue.  WHERE did I get THAT from? 

This is a bit (!) on the fussy side for me, really, but I guess it's an okay card, all in all.

I was lucky enough to hear Vidal Sassoon speak a few years ago, and he showed some photos from over the years.  Some were CRAZY hairdos, which he admitted to, but he said about them, "if we hadn't done this, we would never have gotten HERE (Insert picture of lovely hairdo)."  The process isn't always pretty.  The results are what we present to everybody else. 

I showed you some of my process because we're tight like that.  I don't do this with just ANYBODY, you know!  Hope it helps, somehow.

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy Weekend!

All Best-
Richard

Papertrey Ink September Blog Hop and Make it Monday

I haven't done a contest in a while, so I thought I would jump on a two-fur this week.

Papertrey Ink is doing a Blog hop to coincide with their September release, AND their normal Make-it-Monday challenge all together.  SO-  I did a combo of the two!

I made this-

SO, the Make-it-Monday challenge was to make a stencil with a PTI cover plate, and then make a background using some textural material.  Ok, so mine is SPACKLE.  I'm a guy; sue me. 

Once the spackle was mostly dry (No patience, me) I sponged some Distress Inks on top, to point up some of the texture.  Hint-  POUNCE, don't rub!  BTW-This is actually a grey card stock, not purple.  I think the book that the card is sitting on makes it look really purple...  Anyway, I like the effect.  I originally was unconvinced that a card stock stencil would reveal enough of a lift from the surface, but it really worked!  It was actually supposed to look flocked, but maybe the spackle dries differently than regular dimensional paste.    I still like it!

The second challenge , for the Blog hop challenge, the thing is to incorporate a wreath into your design.  Well, I decided it was time for some fall, so I got out my PTI acorn dies, and several different stamp sets (Up, up and away, Medallions, and Rosey Posey), and got to work.

I die cut 3 sets of acorns, in three greens, and stamped each with a different motif.  I LOVE the way the rainbow stamp from Up up and Away worked as curvy stripes!  Almost wood grain-y!

Then I cut the caps from the acorns, mixed them up, and attached them with foam tape in different heights to a Memory box wreath die cut I had laying around.  Some rhinestones, and  Grey twine bow, and I was ready to go!  But wait!  I had to go back with my Sakura glitter pen to spice things up a bit, adding it to the seam where the acorn meets the cap.  Subtle, but I think it helps the eye in those places where two of the same cardstock pieces might overlap.

So, as I look at it, the whole "wreath" idea might be hard to see unless you're looking for it--Maybe I went overboard with the amount of acorns?  Unfortunately, once they're stuck down, they're down, unless you like that shredded look.

I AM a fan of the colors-  Kind of "Soft Autumn", if you will. 
Normally, I might add something to fill the space beneath the wreath (See what I did there?), but I really wanted that spackle background to have some room to shine.

I love trying new techniques!  I may actually trade in my spackle for some real dimensional paste, but hey, you never know when you might start a new fad!  That's me, Mr. Fadmaker!  SO NOT!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

My Last Hurrah for the Oozak Design Team

Well, it has been a great 4 months, working with the Oozak Challenge Blog Design Team.  The ladies and Rusty (Oozak's owner) have been so wonderful and helpful, and I am sad to say goodbye. 

My final task was to create a card for the Anything goes/Fall challenge.  Stop by and play along!  You KNOW you are making Fall cards right now!

I made this--

Yes, I actually parted with one of my desperately hoarded flair pieces for this one!

I stamped a block of brown paper with leaves from GinaK Designs Fall Foliage set in white pigment ink.  (The sentiment is also from that set.)  I love how the white  ink layers on itself!

After heat setting, I ran it through the ol' Cuttlebug in a wood grain embossing folder from Stampin' Up.  That got foam mounted onto an Olive green card base. 

I punched leaves and that scalloped circle from some My Mind's Eye paper, and used more to create my banner strips, along with a scrap of white for the sentiment.   Notice all the blue going on?  I am loving blue for fall this year!  Aren't you seeing it everywhere?

Everything then got piled up, using both flat and dimensional adhesives.  I popped on my blue wood grain flair piece, and that baby was outta here! 

Outta here.  That's me.  Thanks so much Oozak!  Wishing you all the best!
Just because my time with Oozak is done, doesn't mean I will quit creating!  Come and see me, anytime!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

The Crazy, Weird, Bad, Rotten, No Fun Week, and Oh, Did I MENTION There's a Plumber Here Right Now? And a Card.

Okay, so DATELINE--

Thursday night, two weeks ago, while on business in Massachusetts, Charlie has this pain in his side that wakes him up in the night, and REALLY hurts.  Friday is very painful, and somewhere along the line of the day he realizes that this was a bigger version of pain he had, oh, about three weeks earlier.

He goes to WebMD, and puts in his symptoms.  One of MANY options says it could be an appendix problem, but he has very few of the symptoms, other than the pain.  However, it says DO NOT use any pain killers or laxatives, because it could cause problems.  Lucky for us, he is a very good rule follower.  He calls our Doc to see what's up, and gets an appointment for Monday morning. 

So, as Friday continues, the pain subsides; he flies home.  The weekend brings less and less pain, but he goes to the doc on Monday morning, and after everything else it could be gets ruled out, he is sent to the hospital for imaging--a CT, as I remember. 

All this time, I'm saying to him, "I am happy to come with you, do you want me to meet you at the hospital?"  No, no, no...

Finally, at about 6pm, I get the call.  "They are doing the surgery tonight, at nine.  You better come on over."  I grab my keys, and off I dash.

Well, the 9pm surgery didn't actually go in until midnight, and by the time I got him settled in his hospital room and got home, it was 4:30am.  I was back at the hospital at 7:30am.  Turns out the appendix had perforated, re sealed itself, perforated AGAIN, and was trying to reseal itself a second time.  Let's all be grateful for the self healer in our lives.

That's when the sinus infection decided to rear ITS ugly head in my body.

So, HE's in the hospital for two nights, I'm ready to pull my teeth out, they hurt so badly, and I am just about at the EDGE of my sanity bandwidth....
Well, Wednesday he is allowed to go home, and on Thursday, I finally(!) called the Dr. to see about my (seemingly) swollen and distended head.

So, Thursday, I am sent to bed with antibiotics and meds, he is sent to bed to recoup, and all will one day be well.  We're resting, we're quiet, we're good.

Then.

Sunday.  I had mentioned somewhere along the way that the kitchen faucet was sticky-acting, and not what it was.  Next thing I know, it's in pieces, and I get the call across the house, "I NEED you!"

Well, the thing never DID get put back together properly.  Oh, and we found that after shutting off and turning on the water several(!) times, that the valve that does the shutoff was corrupted.  So.....

Yeah.  The plumber, bless him, is here right now.  New valve, AND new faucet (of course), thank you very much.  Let's just say, it's a GOOD thing Charlie is back to work today.  $$$ -wise, that is.

Oh, but I DO have a card for you.  Super CAS.

I made this--

This is a Unity Stamp set, and that pitcher was just BEGGING to be done in Delft blue. Quick stamp, and some waterbrush accenting of the shape and shadows...That's it!

Oh, yeah.  The sentiment is done in Versafine Smokey Gray.  LOVE that ink. Dark enough for a sentiment to really show up, but not black, and nice and warm.
I also would love something a bit softer, so any suggestions there would be nice!

I think making the image panel float on the base with foam tape makes a CAS card just a little bit more.....considered.

So, that's my story.  I am still holing up, trying to get rid of this gunk in my nose and chest, and wishing I could flush my toilets and clean my dishes. (Happily, that will happen in less than an hour!) 

Go!  Create!  I fear I must stay here and moan.   Mmmmm.......Mmmmmm.......Mmmmmm....

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best to you.  Stay healthy!
Richard

What the Heck Do These Sentiments MEAN, Anyway?

I went on a buying spree at my local JoAnn's a while back, when they were doing clearance stamp sets for something like $2.99 a set.  I am a true sucker for the word "sale."  I snapped up MANY sets.

So, now I own this veggie set of stamps, and while I think the art is really pretty wonderful, I am at a loss when it comes to deciding who gets a card whose sentiment is "grow where you're planted."  Is it for the gardener friend?  For someone who's just moved? Gone to a new school/job?  I am not really sure.  O f course, I COULD just ignore the sentiment pieces...

But, anyway, I made a card--

The idea I was going for, MOSTLY, was the idea of trying to get my doily to line up on the two surfaces.  I had seen a similar idea on Pinterest (BTW--I would normally link to the inspiration piece, but I have WAY too many pins, and I can't find it.  I DID look.), and I found it was actually not as easy as it looks.   This is mostly due to the fact that I am not in love with how big the matting piece has to be if you try that double/tripe time stamping technique everyone was so mad for recently.  So, subsequently, mine took a more circuitous route, but I got there!  If I did this again, I would probably also try to finish the doily on the white piece.  Shoulda, woulda, coulda...

The other thing that was a fun thing to try is the little die cut at the top, where I inserted a piece of vellum.  Can you see it?  It's the white piece, the green one, and then the vellum.  NOTE-  Make the vellum big enough to line the entire inside of the front of your card.  My little hunk of vellum doesn't look so cute, and it is easy enough to avoid that with a bigger piece.

My buttons are "threaded" with tiny strips of cardstock.  I think that is easier than floss or twine, for me, and it matches so nicely.  No needle hunting, either!

So, I ultimately think this is a good card.  I think, however, it may sit in my stash for some time, or at least until I find a good candidate to send it to.  IDEAS?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a great start to your week.
All Best-
Richard