Mr Cardmaker is feeling Seasonal

Well, my good friend Lisa Minckler posted her FINISHED collection (yes ALL of them) of Christmas cards, so I thought I should spill the beans and show you what I have managed to come up with for Christmas so far.

You may have seen the Christmas tins I did, but I also came up with some cards. 
I was theoretically going to do some every month so I wouldn't go crazy in December.  Yeah, that....

Anyway!
They look like this--

My Charlie gifted me much of these supplies--The papers and the wood trees, and the two woods stamps. I think there are wood snowflakes waiting to be used, too.  Such a nice man, him.

Super simple stamping with just as simple punches.  The berries are my office punch!  I think all of us have that stamp, too....Love the gold cardstock and bokeh paper here.

 See the deer in this one below?  Such a lovely stamp.  I white embossed this, then rubbed some white ink on it to make it look "chalkboard-y."

 This one was so simple--Stamp image, stamp sentiment, add strip of paper.  Boom.

 I love the red on red hounds tooth paper  that the flair piece is on. It's just a strip, so you can write something above.  I have no idea whatsoever where that little tag came from.  ?????  Sure works here.
Oh, and yes, I did fix that ribbon.  OCD me, except when taking pictures, apparently.

 

 

Well, that's what I have so far.  I have MANY more to go, and I am hoping to get multiples of some of what I come up with next.  I will try to share some along the way, but as you know, the posts are fewer and farther between these days.  Hope springs eternal for the Cardmaking Man!

 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by! 

All Best--

Richard

That Awkward Moment when the Rubber Band Snaps You Under the Chin...

I was never a big fan of those point birthday hats when I was a kid. The rubber band always hurt when it snapped under my chin, and I just could never get comfortable wearing it.

So, it's weird that I chose to make them the focus of this card. This was for my nephew Jared.
I made this--

This is a CASE of a card I saw on Pinterest.  I can't find it in my "almost a million" card pins, but suffice to say that I liked it, and I ran with it.

I used Stampin' Up's Banner punch and coordinating stamp set to make the hats, using clear embossing powder to give some texture. 
The paper is from Crate Paper, I believe, and the asterisk top-thingy is a die from Paper Smooches snowflakes dies.

The "scrabble" paper is popped up on foam tape, as are the hats, and the card stock squares are dry embossed in a Swiss dots folder, as you can see.

Another view--

And the inside-

The sentiment stamp is another Stampin' Up set. 

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Glad to See You

Well, it seems I am not dead after all.  I have actually been slightly creative, at moments. I have NOT had the motivation to drag my butt to the light box to photograph anything, though, and so here I sit with little to show for myself.

However!

I do have a card to share with you today, using a cute little die that I bought at Archivers' going out of business sale. They're these cute little glasses, and I don't even know who makes this die....Oh wait, here it is. Taylored Expressions, they're called Spectacles (imagine that). I don't know this company, but the dies are super cute. 

Anyway, I made this--

I used some WICKED old paper I had, which I believe is from My Mind's Eye. I cut the flower shapes with a Sizzix flower die, and the sentiment is from Wplus9 I think. (I really should keep notes....) I centered my die on the flowers in the paper to show them off, and I think that worked pretty well here.

The inside is kinda fun, too--

Same papers and stamp set, but here I die cut some clouds with my Amuse Studio Cloud Duo dies.  Clouds just make me happy.

So, that's my card. More to come!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

And Now for Something Totally Christmas

Well, I'm finally back in the blogosphere, here today to share some altered tins.  I am enjoying doing more 3D work, and I hope to get into doing some more.

This is the first one--

This is an emptied Tazo Tea tin from Starbucks.  I covered it with some Christmas Papers by Heidi Swapp that I picked up at Michael's after the holidays. 

I love the large scale chalkboard label, and I was given the idea to do the little banner by the strip of paper that was there to help seal the tin. 

Another view--

I really love the graphics of these papers.  I could do this stuff all day long!

The second one--

Same paper pad, same idea.  This was a tin that held cookies from Williams-Sonoma, so I had the little stripes at the top and bottom to help me along already.  I used a Papertrey Ink die cut border on this one (the lacy black piece), and mirrored the top tab idea from the tea tin. 

Another view of that one--

Great papers, right?  Love them!

I am now on the lookout for some great cheap (read free) tins.  This stuff is FUN!


Well, that's all I've got for now!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Well, There's That Calendar I Made....

So, as I paddle furiously, trying to catch up on posting about some of the things I have been making, I wanted to show you one of the two calendars I managed to get put together this year.

This one was for Charlie's mom--

Sorry about the photo quality.  I forgot to photograph it at home, and this was taken with my phone.

I decided to try my hand at mixing papers.  Clearly, not a HUGE effort on this one, but I am slow on the pickup on some of this stuff.

So, my first layer is a text sort of paper, with recipes and stuff.  I layered the blue floral on top of it, and then added that strip of weird green graphic paper on the left side.  Whoa, hold him back!  He's goin' CRAZY up in here!  Those got layered onto a green piece of cardstock, picking up the green in the paper, and that got put onto the base which is a blue that goes with the blue flowered paper.  In between I punched a white piece with a large scalloped punch, just for a bit of movement.

The 2014 is die cut from black card stock, and the 0 and 4 are popped up on foam adhesive.  I found a free download for the calendar itself, which I printed out.
I cut it into 12 pieces (for the 12 months), and used Elmer's to glue together the tops of the sheets, so it formed a pad.

The flower stacked die cuts, with a stamped die cut for one of the leaves, and another die cut leaf from a glitter paper that has been lingering for years in my scrap box.  Add the button as a flower center, and there it is.

I made one for Charlie, too, which I also forgot to photograph.  If I can remember to ask him to run it home for me, I'll show you that one someday.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Catching Up a Bit

Well, I have just been terrible about blogging this year so far, and it's almost MAY.  Boo, me!

 

I have been hanging onto this photo for a while now, and I wanted to share it. 

Nephew Elliot has his birthday in January, and he's a BIG ski buff.  He and his dad take a few skiing trips every year, and they have a bunch of ski jumping steel structures in their yard as well, so I would definitely say they are INTO it.

 

For Elliot's birthday, I made this--

 

 

 

I am always glad to come up with a snowy card for Elliot, because I already have all my things out from all my Christmas cards. 

 

I was given the skier stamp by my SIL Jan, who stamped for about 3 seconds years ago.  I guess the bug either bites, or it doesn't.  I stamped him in 5 different inks, going from lightest to darkest.  The first two don't read terribly different in this photo, but they do in real life.

I punched lots of snowflakes out of vellum, and used the edge with all the negative cuts as the base for the two layers to the left of the skiers.  I stacked up lots of vellum snowflakes with some white ones, and added some white Enamel Accents dots.  Snowstorm accomplished!

To mount the skier panel, I popped up just the left side with foam adhesive and adhered the right side right to the card surface.  I wanted it to look like the snow was bursting out of the card.  Whether or not that reads, I am not so sure.  I kinda dig it, though.

What I would do differently (in the event of a next time)--
1.  I would have trimmed the velum panels down to fit inside the borders of the skier panel.
2.  I would have done even more punching along the inside edge of the velum pieces, so no straight line was visible in the snowstorm.
3. More snowflakes! 

So, that's my card. 

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



Papertrey Ink Make it Monday-- Quilty Goodness

I was inspired to join in on Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenge this week.  I was however, in a weird spot, because it is mostly a paper challenge, and I have no decorative papers from PTI.  I DID have some scraps of red cardstock from PTI left over from my sample pack, but that's all.  I hope it's enough!  Happily I DO have a cover plate die that would work.

The challenge was to make paper look like a quilt, using a cover plate or embossing plate on top of a quilted paper pattern.


I made this--

I think it looks SO MUCH like a real quilt!    The cover plate die used as an embossing plate really makes the paper look like a top stitched quilt, I think.  Clever!  I liked these red pearls added, too, because they remind me of old fashioned quilting pins stuck into the fabric. 

I made this, too--(so I can enter TWICE!)

Same idea, different treatment with the red strip.  And, of course, now many quilting pins have the pearl tops on them (my Grammy was a quilter).

Here they are together--

This was  a fun thing to try!  Oh, I should mention that the solid blue squares are the card base.  Since I used white background papers in many cases, I decided that more color would be better!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

PS--I was only allowed to enter once, for some reason.  I am a bummed pup...

And Now for Something(s) Totally Different

Well, as the birthday madness keeps charging through, I have a couple more cards to share.

Nephew James is 22 this year, I think.  He's at U of F, and is going to go on to become a dentist, so there's much more school ahead for him. 
His cousin Sophia is 11, and is the only girl in this generation on my mom's side.  She is quite the little lady.

I made this for James--

Super simple and classic.  EVERYONE knows this stamp if they have even heard the words "Stampin' Up", so this is nothing new.  I am loving the Papertrey Ink sentiment from the Think Big Favorites line.  I ESPECIALLY love it in the gold embossing powder on the navy blue.  Classic.

For Sophia, I went in a very different direction--

This was done with papers from My Mind's Eye, the Quite Contrary collection.  I mixed some of the scrapbooking scaled papers with some of the smaller scaled 6x6 pad papers, added some stickers from this line, and used a sentiment from SU.  That little owl peeking out is so cute.  I have been hoarding those stickers forever.  I like the little hot pink pops of color, too.

So, that's it for the kids of April.  Today is my Charlie's birthday.  As soon as I get the pics lined up, I'll share his card, and I'll share the card set and birthday card I made for his mom, too.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

April Showers Bring BIRTHDAYS, Apparently...

The nephews are a-comin'.  Well, their birthdays are, anyway.  I have one of their cards to share today.

I made this--

I love mixing up these random patterns.  I think this came out rather well, actually.  The majority of these papers are from Cosmo Cricket, and the retro patterns make me happy.  This one is for nephew Adam, who, at 19, just bought his first HOUSE.  I thought the household gizmo paper the that the sentiment is stamped on was good for the new homeowner.  I think the birthday check will buy a few of said gizmos, too.

Another view--

And, the inside--( I can NEVER get these to photograph correctly.  I just don't know what to do about that...)

Imagine this with much less yellow involved. 
I think as long as I use a black pen, this busy paper will still work out ok. 
So that's that.

Hey, we got a dog!  Our friend was in need of a home for his dad's dog.  His dad passed away, and his mom just couldn't manage Max, since she has some health issues.  So, we got to take him home with us!  So cute--

Meet Max!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Birthday Wonkies

Well, you know how nice and crisp and lovely a shaped card can be?  I love getting out my bigger dies and cutting shapes and making them into smaller sized greetings.

So, I made this--

This card was made with a Spellbinder's set called Jar Labels, which was a very generous gift from my friend Michelle Woerner, and Grommet Tags, also by Spellbinders.  The papers are from Basic Gray's Boxer collection, and the sentiment stamps are an old favorite from Stampendous, called Everything Happy.  Teeny-tiny words that are just lovely!

So, I am of the school that says you don't let the cut off part of a die cut show, so I cut a full piece to use as the card front.  You can see the fold on the back, but who cares about that?

I think this is a rather handsome card, even if it is small--as I'm typing this, it looks like the photo is just a tiny bit bigger than the actual card. 

Of course, you notice right away that the point on the bottom makes it so the card can't really sit on it's edge very well, at least, not without a bit of wonky factor.  Solution- Give the card AFTER a couple of Happy Birthday cocktails.  No one will EVER know the difference!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

It Must Be Spring, Because The Birthdays Are Upon Us

In our family, we have gluts of birthdays--March/April, then August (mine's the third, so's you know), then late October/early November.  It seems a wild whirlwind getting everyone on the list taken care of, and you STILL have to remember all the people who fall into those off times.  My side of the family is happy with a card (and a check for the children--who are now NOT children at all, but still stay on the payroll), but Charlie's side is BIG on birthdays.  Your birthday is your own personal holiday!

Luckily, lately, it's been my side of the family.  My much younger brother Chet had his birthday this month.

I made him this--

Chet is 20 (Oh. Em. Gee.).  I was going with young and bright, yet gender neutral enough for a twenty year old man.  Twenty.  Sheesh, I am old.  Yeah, I am just over 30 years older.  My dad is a wild man.  There are two more brothers beneath him, too!

ANYWAY--

I used a Papertrey Ink movers and shakers die and stamps for this card.  See the little zipper thing there?

Here's a close-up--

Under the zip strip it says, "a birthday as awesome as you are!"
I hope he finds the thing.  I AM sure he'll find the check.  He IS a twenty year old guy, after all... BEEN there!

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

A Couple of Cards, and The BEST DAY EVER

I am recently back from a trip to Key West, Florida!  We managed to do our yearly trip to a warm place at winter's end, and I am so glad we were able to go.  We had great weather, great food, and met some lovely people.  I love a good vacation!

Well, as I said, I am back, sharing some cards I made a few weeks ago, using a die cut and its inverse.

First, I made this--

I love this paper combination.  I am pretty sure these are all Crate Paper papers.  (I gotta start keeping some notes!) I am digging the combination of graphics and florals here.  I think using the big stripe, medium graphic, and tiny floral makes it all work.  If they were all the same scale, they would compete with one another.
The leaf die is from Sizzix, and the little flower is as well, I think. 
The "thankful" is on foam tape, and I attached the leaves only in spots, to give some movement.
This is a happy card, I think.

The second one looks like this--

I liked this floral paper so much, I had to make a second card with it.  I actually cut through the card base on this one, and managed to do it well enough that the two lined up with minimal trimming!
I die cut a blue word as well, and mounted it on foam tape.  It's a tricky, tight squeeze getting it all to work, but I think it's okay.  The hearts are on foam tape as well.

The inside--(I NEVER am able to take good photos of my card interiors for some reason...)--

So, there's the cards.

Now for some news!

I got MARRIED!

Yes, after almost 24 years together, Charlie and I managed to get hitched! 

We took full advantage of Michigan law being changed (some 15 hours earlier) that allowed us to get married, and we were among the first 100 couples in the state to rush to our County Clerk Lisa Brown for our marriage license.

Well, we got it, and got married right then and there.  We couldn't believe we were doing it; so quickly that we couldn't even call anyone to join us!

We then made lots of calls, saw some friends, went out to lunch, then went and bought some wedding rings.   You do stuff out of order when you're running to get things while the getting is good!

Looks like that Key West trip was the honeymoon--also out of order!

We've spent the last few days getting used to calling each other "husband."  Boy, I'll never get sick of THAT word, let me tell you.  I am smiling as I write this, just thinking about it.

So, that's my story. 

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard
(A Married Man)

These Rules Were Made for Breaking (And That's Just What I'll Do)

Do you all remember that crazy rant I had about masculine cards and how much I hated "dusty blue" as a color for anything?  Well, you can check it out HERE, and then you can see the follow-up post with the colorful men's cards HERE.

 

ANYWAY--

 

I bought some leaf dies by Tim Holtz, and I was trying them out on some text paper.  I colored them with inks and daubers, and then ran them through some embossing folders and re inked them.  Cool dies, GREAT size.

 

Then it was time to make a card.  AAAAAAAAAAAAnd, I liked this plaid.  I did.  I REALLY liked it.  I paired it with some other papers, with other colors, with other patterns, and I came up with a card. 

 

I made this--

 

Well, I'll be damned if that isn't DUSTY BLUE.  Both on the plaid, and on the more navy colored leaves.  I was so taken in by the other colors (and that rather feisty blue in the tiny leaves) to really notice until I was just about done. 

 

I LOVE the gold and the red in the plaid.  and the gold turning up again in the patterned strip in the middle there.  I think (my memory is going) that the big blue leaves may have been punched from the same paper as the plaid, but from the reverse side, but don't hold me to that.

 

I like how the brown patterned paper speaks to the leaf shapes, too.  And, I really love how those teeny, tiny leaves just POP.

 

So, this is me, eating my words about Dusty Blue.  Like most any color, it's what it's paired with and how it's used that really makes or breaks it.

 

Let's not get used to seeing posts of this ilk, shall we??  Especially since I LIKE this card.  Maybe we can just call it more "denim", and less "dusty?" 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

All Best-

Richard

Papertrey Ink February Blog Hop

Well, I don't know about you, but I am READY to see the snow melt and new growth come up.  Some SUN wouldn't kill me either.

 

Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop Challenge for February is to create things that bring SPRING to mind!

 

Some inspiration--

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I made TWO cards, (well, two versions of the same idea) using PTI's Harvest Berries stamps and dies, and their Funky Florals stamp set.

 

I made these--

 



Now, there is a die that coordinates with the flower stamps, but I don't have it, so I cut the basic shapes with circle dies, and hand snipped the rest of the shapes. The label is a Spellbinder's die.

Now, if my yard would just start to resemble these cards, I would be a very happy Mr. Cardmaker.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best--
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Never Met a Box He Didn't Like

So, I am working at Starbucks these days.  The hair biz is off the table for now, and I am happy about that for the moment.  I am mostly having fun while working my butt off, and so things are going well.  I am Le Barista!

Anyway, we sell these travel mugs that are made of steel and come in this handsome cylinder box. 
Well, one day, a woman came in and wanted the mug, but asked us to remove it from the box because she didn't want it, or need it, or whatever.  I took one look at the situation and made SURE no one threw the box away.  It comes as just a simple, flat black cylinder with the gold band, and a small label.

I got it home, and IMMEDIATELY did this to it--

I covered the box itself with some DCWV black-with cream-writing text paper, again, leaving that gold part visible, since changing it would involve disturbing the working part of the box where the top comes off.

I punched and curled the petals of  many a flower punched with Stampin' Up's Blossom punch, using some almost black, newsprint papers, and a leaf printed paper I have been hoarding for ages. There are also some gold metallic colored cardstock flowers as the base levels; a sort of brassy gold.

I then punched some many leaves from a cooler gold card stock, and ran them through an embossing folder.  Those got curled up and worked in next. 

Lastly, I used a bunch of rhinestones in gold shades to bling it all up, making them flower centers and buds.

Here's a bit of a close-up--

This was one of those projects where I got the idea, and was NOT going to be happy until I got it realized.  Luckily, Charlie was out of town, and I had a good chunk of time to get this done.

So, my box is ready to be filled.  With what, I do not know, so I am happy to get some input there.

I also managed to get hold of a nice tea tin.  That one is for another day!

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

Puttin' on the Dog for Valentine's Day

Well, I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of Valentine's Day. I will, of course, do a Valentine for Charlie, and I am happy (!) to do so, but for the most part, pink and red together doesn't blow my skirt up, and I think the 70's and 80's killed ANYTHING heart-shaped for me.

However, I bit the bullet, and came up with this- 

Note the big hit of coral in with the aforementioned disliked red and pink.  Makes it all that much more palatable for me. 

Charlie just about always has a dog card for me, so this year I returned the favor.  This is from a Hero Arts set called Happy Day Animals, and I really like both him and the butterfly that is giving him a kiss in his big pink nose!

I hand stamped the background as well with an ancient set I have.  What is it called? Hmmmm....

The scallops were done with a PTI die, and the cloud dies are Amuse Studio.  I fussy cut the images, and colored them with Copics.

I made a lovely chicken and asparagus risotto, and chocolate cupcakes for dinner, and we ate our weight in the chocolates we bought each other. They were delish!

Hope you had a lovely V-day.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

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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