Aaaaaand That'll Just about Do It.....

Well, I am happy to report that I am here with my LAST Christmas card post from the 2013 cards.  I have already done some 2014 cards and a few other projects, but those are for another day.

So, without further ado--
I made these--

 Love the tags paper.  Notice the restraint on the bling factor.

 Letting the paper do the work here.  Just added a few snowflakes, branches, and sequins, and the twine.

 I hand stamped the background paper on these two. 

This is the one that killed my Martha Stewart snowflake punch.   Wah. And I LIKED this one, too...

 Sweet Christmas words dies from Paper Smooches.

 This is an older Spellbinders' Ornament die, with a Sizzix snowflake, and Papertrey Ink word die.  I stamped extra snowflakes on the paper with gold Delicata ink.

Yeah.  Not sure what this one was.  Fail.

 I could use about 20 more of that Dec 25th flair...Note the Enamel Accents dots.  Love that stuff.

This is some of that pretty-yet-maddening red plastic sheet. Oh how I wish it liked to be die cut.  SO shiny....

 

A little black pen turned the teensy red birds into cardinals here.  I like them. Die cuts that small are HARD to keep up with, though!



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

 

Okay, so,  I certainly did NOT save the best for last.  Here they are for posterity, if for no other reason!

 

The thing I like about Christmas cards, though, is that you can do a good bit of experimentation, and you can count on just about ANYTHING being appreciated when you send it out.

 

Thanks for sticking with me through this one.  Better things to come, I promise. 

 

Now, if I can drag my butt and my stuff downstairs to get photographed....

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard

Mr Cardmaker's Christmas Collection, Part Deux

Back to share some more of the 2013 Christmas cards. I have actually been working on some for 2014 already, and throwing in a birthday card here and there, but those are for another day.

I did some hand coloring, both with colored pencils and watercolor, and a marker here and there. 

With the pencils, I did this--

Trying to keep things simple, I did some super fast coloring on this happy snowman and his birdie posse. I really like how the white shows up so well on this grey paper. Some torn paper to make the ground, some Stickles to add some sparkle, and there they are! I popped the panel up onto a patterned paper background piece, added that big snowflake, and we were done.

Oh, and a quick trick--The white "merry"?  The liner paper from the red sticky vinyl one! It was so shiny and bright, I just HAD to use it! Sad that the vinyl itself was such a challenge to work with. I abandoned it almost immediately.  

Then it was time to watercolor--

This is a Stampendous stamp that I really like. I stamped in Versamark and gold embossed it. A water brush and some red ink to fill in some key areas, and I was done with that! A quick sentiment strip finishes it all off.

In a similar vein--

This one was stamped in Archival ink, so it wouldn't run when I hit it with the inks. I went a bit closer to real life coloring here, and I merely added some punched branches that were punched from white glitter paper to add a wintery feel.

I love to do the hand coloring, but it takes SO long to do well, I left that idea for more Christmas cards, and thought I would do a big stamp project instead. 
I made this--

I had an idea I would be able to do this rather quickly. Yeah....That didn't happen. This was a GREAT amount of fun, though, and I think I used about six kinds of stamps and stamp companies to create this one. My fave was using the top of a Christmas tree to make the parts that look like evergreens (or ferns, depending on your point of view). I also learned that my red inks are VERY pink, except for one. Hmmm....

So, that's more of the collection.   I have a few more to share, but I have to run to work!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best to You-
Richard

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Carry on.

He's Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack....

Wow.  Whew.  This is tougher than I expected.  Getting back into the groove after being away for so long is NOT an easy thing.   But, I'm back, I'm creating, and I hope that I will finally have something interesting to say, now that we are WELL into the new year!

So!  Where have I been?  I am back to work now, and I have one of those changing from week-to-week schedules.  It has taken me a while to get into the groove of that, while trying to do the house and laundry and groceries, etc.  It's the first of this that I have had to do since moving back to MI, and while it's no different than all the things we ALL do every day, I needed some time to "re-groove" myself, since it's been almost two years without work.

I think I (vaguely) remember promising Christmas cards when last we met.  Too late?  Well, you can pin them to your Pinterest boards and look at them next year, I guess.....
Without further ado, here we go--

I made about 60-something cards, all in all.  Some of them are in past posts, so please browse round the blog to see some of them. 
I went (or TRIED to go) really simple for the most part. 

 

I bought Paper Smooches' Christmas Words and Snowflakes dies this year, as well as a Sizzix snowflakes die set whose name I don't remember. 

 

I made these--



The washi tape is some past year's Martha Stewart Christmas tapes, as well as other stuff in my collection (mostly Queen & Co.). 
The letters were cut from this crazy vinyl stuff I found at JoAnn's, but it was so had to cut, I abandoned the idea pretty quickly.  It's wicked shiny, though, so I really wish it had been easier to work with.  I REALLY need to get one of those metal shims, I think, and all will be better.
Oh, and my fave parts are the white dots.  Those are done with Enamel Accents.  I LOVE that stuff!  I have the black kind, too, so watch out for some of that to appear in the future.

I really liked these cards. 
They led me to different versions on that theme--

 
 So , clearly, more color, and more "shtuff" going on. 
Those led me to another variation of my "words at the bottom" theme--

The "merry" die is Papertrey Ink, Wonderful Words, Christmas, and the stamped sentiment is from the coordinating stamp set.  Charlie found the hounds tooth stamp for me at an art store, and the dotted background stamp is from Amuse Studio.  The blue snowflake is an SU punch, and the little branch is a Martha punch.

 Letting the paper do most of the work here....Just adding a few die cut snowflakes and some bling finishes it all off.

Then I went a little wild.  I liked these next ones a LOT, but they were a bit of a time suck...

One of the first stamp sets I ever bought was this one by Stampendous, called "Holiday Home."  I LURVE this stamp set.  The images are amazing, and so crisp and tiny, the sentiments are perfect, and I use this set all year round.  The houses are great, the snowman is adorable....I could go on and on.  This is the set I grab during the craft room fire, for sure (craft gods forbid!).

ANYWAY--I used this set on this card, but I only used the sentiment on the front. 
Wait, you say?  You can see images, you say? 

But they're not ON the front of the card--I did some fancy junk with my square punch....
They're on the inside! 

That looks like this--

Is that sentiment not GORGEOUS?  I so love it.  great fonts, great semi-vertical orientation...I swoon.
I love the way a light blue copic marker makes the images come alive.

I made others like this one, I loved it so much--

These made me so happy, but they do take a long time to put together.
This one also took a good while (but I had SO much fun doing it)--

Same stamp set.  *Sigh*......
Oh, and then I did this. 

I really don't think this one turned out the way I had it in my brain.  Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.....Oh, and yes, the same stamp set.  Could you just DIE?  There's a second house, too...


Well, that's enough.  There are more cards, but it's a long year, and I will work VERY hard at finding the time to get my blog posts in at LEAST once a week.  Promise!

Thanks SO much for stopping by!
You make it all worth while.

All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Spreading Around the The Birthday Goods; Packaging and All

It seems like forever ago that I was here with you.  I hope your Thanksgiving was amazing.  We spend the early part of the day at Ford Field in Detroit, watching the Lions get a well earned victory over the Packers. 
We were treated to a luxury suite by Charlie's brother and sister-in-law, and we had turkey and pumpkin pie to go with our vat o' wings and hotdogs! 
Except for the 2+ hours it took to do the 40 minute drive (Yes, you read that correctly), with accompanying scream fest, we had a really fun time.  I did almost ditch the car and get a taxi home, but all was finally okay.
oh, and I may or may not have been videoed with a turkey hat on my head, acting like a fool during the game. With any luck, you'll never know for sure.

Later in the day, we all gathered at the brother's house to join in their Hanukkah celebration.   I am not Jewish, but it is such a lovely candle ceremony, and I can chow down on some latkes and brisket like the best of them!  Yum, YUM!

Anyway, back in late October and early November, my sister and Charlie's two sisters celebrated their birthdays.  I decided that they each needed a card set, so I got to work.

For my sister and one of Charlie's, I made these--

Sweet little packages!
I enjoyed making these every bit as much as I did making any card, ever!  They're big ol' envelopes, really, and they are super sturdy and oh-so-cute!

And inside--

I can't TELL you how much I love this Swallowtail stamp from Stampin' Up.  I stamped these cards in SU Soft Suede ink, and colored some areas with white and yellow colored pencils.  Then for even MORE fun!

I had been hoarding these bits and bobs for a good while now--
They're from the Fact and Fiction collection by Basic Grey.  One is chipboard pieces, and the other is all kinds of fun paper and vellum bits.  I kept like with like as I made the two sets, and I think they are just so fun!

Some close-ups--

 (Seems I missed taking close-ups of the chipboard ones...oh, well.)

They were VERY well received, and I got the required oohs and ahs about the packaging, too!

Then, for Charlie's other sister, I made this--(Still with me?  I know we are REALLY photo heavy here...)

Another cute package.  I am kinda digging the stenciled "4" on the tag.  Less goo-gahs than on the others, because the paper is so awesome.

That one held these--

Weird pic, thanks to my too small light box.  Cool shadows, though....
Maybe this is better--

This started with 2 gorgeous pieces of 12x12 paper.  I must really love this girl, because I hated parting with this ombre dot paper AND these cards.

They are SO wicked easy, and yet such a statement--

This stamp is the retired SU Upsy Daisy set, and it is embossed in gold powder.  I added some washi tape(one of which miraculously matched this green), and, upon finding it in need of something, I added a simple punched 1" circle that I put through a hounds tooth embossing folder. 

To  switch things up, I changed up the washi placement a bit--

Before packing it all up, I wound some twine around the whole set, and added a tab for decoration--

 

And that was that!  She HATED opening it, she liked the packaging so much.  I did get one back as a thank you, so that makes me happy!

 

These were GREAT fun to make, and I am glad they were appreciated. 

 

Christmas cards next!  I am back to work these days, so I may have to be a bit more sporadic with my postings.  I will do my best to keep up!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best--

Richard

 



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