Mr Cardmaker has been Tagged for Good

Well, we interrupt our usual card making schedule too bring you some TAGS.  Never had been big on the tag thing before, but here we are. Can YOU say, "new addiction?"

But before we get there, how was your Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/non-denominational, secular winter extravaganza? We had a nice day-- quiet morning, family lunch, quiet evening.  Except for the lack of snow, just lovely.

But now, the tags.
I made these--

and these--

These started with me finding a little box with the trees, saved from my FIRST! Christmas cards ever.
I stamped and fussy cut these puppies for hours, and finally figured out I had way too many of them, so into a box they went. Six years later, here they were, and, as I hate to trash anything,, they needed to be used for SOMETHING.
Lots of Distress Ink blending, stamps by Lawn Fawn, lots of washi. Twine. Viola!

Then these, with the same Lawn Fawn set--

 

 With a doily and deer from Papertrey Ink--

And with a tree (from PTI as well)--

I DO like the snowy tops on the letters on this one...I'll have to remember that idea.

SO along with this Lawn Fawn set that has coordinating dies, I also picked up the Tim Holtz set of tag dies, which has, like seven different sizes of tag.  I think I will be all set for pumping out plenty of tags.

I will be right back with the last of the holiday cards for this year. I would like to get them out in the blogisphere before the year ends!

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

Mr Cardmker Finds That One Stamp Leads To Another

So, at the beginning of card making season, I pulled out all my Christmas card stuff--the stamps, the papers the dies, the embellishments, all the red ribbons, the silver twine, the glitters, the metallic inks and embossing powders, the gold, silver and white pens. I put it all in bins and on trays so I could see it all splayed out in front of me as I worked and made decisions...My endeavor to get it all organized made such a freaking MESS!
I was, however, happy to have everything pretty much at arms reach, and while I didn't use everything, I was glad to be able to know I wasn't forgetting about anything. I think it helped...

Well, one of the things I did NOT have was a "joy" stamp. I was well into the season, and I didn't really have time to wait for shipping, so off to JoAnn's I went. Yup, right there in the dollar bin was a "joy" stamp.  Off it went to my house, in my hot little hands. And off I went into the craft room.

I made this--

Charlie bought me that beautiful star stamp two years go, I think.  SO pretty in gold. Looking back, I would like it better if the joy stamp was a teensy bit higher...and I would have inked the white panels edges...Look, they cant ALL be home runs...stay with me here...

I used my Stampamajig to do the "joy", because I wanted to stamp it a few times so it would get a super color saturation (and because dollar stamps are NOT mounted perfectly on their wood blocks). 
I like the red on the snowflake. It makes it sort of ecclesiastical, or something.

ANYWAY, using the "joy" stamp here made me think to use it again, but in a different way--

I made this--

This background stamp is from Hero Arts, bought last year, I think.  I inked it with Distress Inks, using ALL the reds going lightest to darkest, then went in with my blending tool and went over it all with the same colors.  The snowflakes are embossed with holographic embossing powder.  This stuff is SO cool, because at some angles, you don't really see it at ALL.  Made the medallion with the joy stamp and other stuff, and there it is.

Well, I loved that technique with the background stamp. I needed MORE.
It was nice in red. How about GREEN?

I made this--

What a difference a colorway change makes!  Other than the obvious change to the die cut, not so different...No snowflakes this time.  I have no idea why.  The gold glitter dots make me happy.
Another view of this one--

And because I can't leave a good thing, I had to go blue.
This one is my FAVORITE CARD OF THE SEASON.  Perhaps EVAH.

I made this--(drum roll, please)

 

Okay, so this came together is such a crazy way.  I did the background, pretty much the way I did the others, but I wanted a wood grain on it this time.  So I inked the stamp with all my blues, then spritzed it with water to make it softer.  Well, instead of layering on more color, it actually lifted the color that was there OFF!!
I am SO happy I don't do videos of these things, because there would be a record of me squealing like  little girl out there on the web!
I grabbed a tree stamp, and layered in some trees, triple stamping off in blue and gold.  I just LOVE it. The text looks like it's emerging from the mist, right?

Look in this direction--

The trees are so pretty, right?
Straight on lets you see the wood grain better, but not the gold--

I just love how everything layered up so well.  I will be doing this again, to be sure!
Wow, gush about your own work MUCH? Ahem...

Thanks so much for stopping by.
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Getting Thickers in his Bottoms

One of my favorite stamp sets is In The Meadow by Papertrey Ink. It comes with so many iconic silhouetted images AND there are DIES to match.  I just LOVE this thing.  One of my faves in that set is the kid on the sled.  I've done him completely airborne, like in THIS card.




That is my favorite way to use him.  He just gives such a feel of dizzying speed, the crazy stunts kids do, and the feeling of hurling your body through the freezing cold air.

Well, PRIOR to doing the Hanukkah card I shared this week HERE, where I also did a ton of over stamping, I made two cards with my little sled rider.

I made this (well TWO of them actually)--

I had SO much fun stamping this panel!  Pink and green are my FAVE Christmas combo, and I so love this pink card stock that I used to make my base.
I have been hoarding these Thickers letters for just about ever, so I finally decided to pull them out and use them.
See the tiny bit of sparkle in there?  I stamped and embossed some snowflakes with holographic embossing powder.  I also hit the letters with some Wink of Stella pen, but that NEVER shows up in photos.  My Charlie loved these so much, he requested I send him one!

Since I had broken the seal on the Thickers, I decided to keep right on.
HOWEVER! I was out of H letters, so no writing Holiday or CHristmas..Hmm...

Ever resourceful,
I made this--

BIGGER snowflakes, so even MORE sparkle, and a wonderful Tim Holtz die set that has just about every holiday word you would ever want.  I cut three words-two in red, and one in the green glitter paper. stacked and glued them together, but on this one, I let the red die cuts be ever so slightly offset, so it would be more visible.
I think one of the best touches here is the dots I drew in with my white gel pen.  It is subtle, but so effective in the right spots.
Cool thing about the holographic embossing powder--it can vanish in the right angles.

Just looks like a black stamp on the grey here, right?  Now go back and look at the shiny one...
That stuff is COOL.

Hoping your holiday season is MAGIC!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker Gets Punchy and Stick(er)y

..................Hey there!  This is my SECOND post today--Scroll down for the earlier one!...................


SO, after my rant about eBay the other day, I return, hat in hand, to show you the cards I made with the mitten punch that I bought, you guessed it, on eBay! (Wait, whaaaaaaat?)

This thing is soooo cute, and it was a good deal, so I didn't fall into that crazy eBay trap.  I opened it up, tested it, then IMMEDIATELY ran and got a bunch of papers and sat down for a night of TV and crafting.

Oh, yeah, I also found these sweeeeet dimensional stickers from American Crafts at JoAnn's for $1.00 (!), so I bought eight sets, I think.  More on those later...

I made these--

These were so easy to put together, once everything was punched out.  My papers did so much of the work for me, some twine and glitter were all the additions that were needed.

Once I finished with my need for mittens, I grabbed my stickers and came up with these puppies--

I really love the graphic quality of these stickers.  Happy cards! And SO fast!

I find it really a really fun little challenge to see how many ideas I can come up with using the same collection of elements. 
Obviously, some turn out slightly better than others, but that's when I fall back this age old adage--

"They're getting a handmade card. They'd probably love it if you scribbled with a crayon." 

You DO know this old adage, right?
LIVE by it; make it your mantra!

Hoo, boy. I think my brains are suffering from working on a diet of coffee and Christmas cookies...

I'm getting a haircut today.  SO excited! You really don't wish to look at me in this "before" state...
Hope you have something to look forward to this weekend!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker and the Little Tag of Inspiration

Well, I have this habit of taking a small element, and using it as the inspiration for a whole card.
It can be a scrap of paper on my work table that looks cool, it can be a die cut, or the negative of a die cut, it can be a stamped image that was snipped halfway off another project that just happened to catch my eye.  Or, sometimes I'll make a small element, and, like a small dog, I'll refuse to let it go.

So, I had these tiny tags.  I stamped a bell on them, embossed them in silver, and added a stamped red bow. So cute.  Now, how to use them...

Well I made these--

See the insides of the letters in "jingle" INSIDE the card?  Sorta weird when you open the card, but cute when closed...

Now, You KNOW how I am about using my flair pieces. I must have REALLY wanted that Santa on there...

Getting a little wild with the sequins...Oh, and there's the positive die cut from the first card...

Why not a color change?  Pink is my FAVE Christmas color...I must have been feeling free and easy with the flair, once it was opened...

Well, I ran out of my tags, but I was on a roll with this card style...

This one is my fave of this series, I think.  The ombre on the letters just works for me. My little wooden trees make me so happy..
 PS-these Tim Holtz dies are SO much easier to work with than I ever dreamed they would be!

Here's the inside--

 

Hey, when I say Winter Wonderland, I don't mess around!

 

More to come...

 

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best--

Richard

Mr Cardmaker CASE-es His Way Through the Holidays

There were 72 Christmas cards this year, and only one Hanukkah card, plus a Hanukkah tag.  I did do multiples of some of the designs and I CASE-ed a couple of designs ( read: almost DIRECTLY stolen). Hey, when inspiration takes a vacation...

There are way too many cards to share in one post, so I am going to try to clump some together by type.  Hopefully I can get them all in posts before Christmas!

So, about the cards I CASE-ed--(CASEd? CASE-d? Whatevs...)

The wonderful Julie Ebersole made this card on the Ellen Hutson Blog (Julie has her own blog as well!)--


Lovely, right?
Well, I WON this stamp set during a blog hop, and I was STUMPED as to how to use it until I saw Julie's card.

So, I made these--

Yup, serious CASE here. I think I kind of NEEDED to do these, just so I could get the stamps in my hands and head.  They do make a fun rustic-y card.

A closer look--

 SO, I liked this idea so much, I took it and ran with it just a bit.

I made three of these--

So, not HUGELY different, but I did do some different things, including the silver stars, and the white detailing on the rooftops and trees.

Also, I did something I either hadn't seen before, or forgotten about.

To do my snow hills, instead of doing two layers of card stock, I cut a slit in the one panel, and wedged my foam tape under the center of that slice. The edges are flush mounted, as is the part of the slice that makes up the background hill.

Maybe a closer view will help with that weird description--

I added some Stickles to help point up the hills. I like the hand cut look with these rustic looking stamps.

Thanks for the inspiration, Julie!

Well, since I was on the CASE train, I wasn't about to hop off quickly
.
SU demo Connie Stewart has a great YouTube channel where she shares simple, fun and FAST cards. She also has a website, so stop by.

She made this card--

It was so fast, and really charming, in blue, white, and silver.

So, using this as a template, I made this--

I had NONE of the stamps that she used, but the idea is definitely there.  I produced five of these, I think, and they were so fast and so fun to do.  Thanks, Connie!

Finally, I saw a card made with a stamp set that was primarily frames.  I have no idea who did it, or where I saw it, and my apologies to the creator of this card, because I REALLY liked the idea. It was several frames together, in different colors.  That was all, except for maybe a sentiment.

I made two cards, really CASE-ing this card, using many stamp sets to get enough frames pulled together.  I was not happy with just the frames (I think I needed one more, probably), so I added some stickers. Love these ONE DOLLAR stickers from JoAnn's.

I made these--

If you know whose cards I CASE-ed, please let me know, so I can credit them!

Well, those are the cards that I made where I am happy to have been taken by the hand and led to success by somebody else's work.  I have a lot more to share, but I wanted to take a moment to thank those who so generously share their hard work for us all (and especially me, this time) to enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by!
All best-
Richard



Mr Cardmaker Sends Happy Hanukkah Wishes

So, Hanukkah started last night, and we have one part of the family that are Hanukkah people.  I love making a card for them every year. Having only ONE Hanukkah stamp set, I love challenging myself to get creative with it. We also give a gift (not eight, sorry...),so I also made a coordinating tag.

I made this--

You probably recognize the magic of Distress Inks (and the cool stuff that happens with water) going on here.  I love when I see the traditional blue and gold accompanied with lots of colors, so I really went for it here. 
Using a Papertrey Ink stamp set, I stamped the greeting in just about every blue I own, and followed with all the pinks, reds, and oranges in my stash. 
I followed up my stamping with my blending tool, using pinks on the left and reds/oranges on the right.
I liked the menorah in the red tones, because I feel like you get a stronger feeling of candlelight happening there.
A thin strip of gold washi finishes off the sparkle element on the front.

Inside--

Sorry, don't mind my fingers...
More gold, and glittered embossing powder on the candles, and just a touch of color around the edges of the white panel.
Yes, that little blob did happen--We made sure to write our greeting over it!

Another look--

and one last one--

And there's a tag!

Same idea, but done with embossing powders.  I had some loose pieces of powder when I did the liquid platinum (the ink was still a tiny bit wet), but I actually like the distressed look it gives.  I think the white candles give a nice pop here, too.

Hoping that your Hanukkah is joyous and filled with light.

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Oh, The Irony

              -------------This is my second post today. (When it rains, it pours, I guess.)------------

Well, in my infinite procrastination, I managed to completely miss buying some stamps and dies from Stampin' Up last year. They're called Festive Flurry, and they are these big, honkin' snowflakes, with matching dies ( like I already mentioned...stay with me here.) I waited and waited, and they were gone.

So, this fall, I decided to looking for them on eBay. Oh boy, what a joke. They were CRAZY prices.  Now, the set originally went for about $52.00, I think.  (We ALL know SU ain't cheap.  Don't get me going on the shipping thing...)

I saw this today on eBay..

 WHAAAAAAAT?!  What crack are people smoking, anyway??  Oh, and there were some in the 80 dollar range, too.  Madness, I tell you, MADNESS!

Well, come to find out, SU HAS SOME OF THESE THINGS, and are selling them on their end of year clearance sale.

Yup, got mine. $41.00 and change, WITH the shipping. Should've gotten TWO and make all of my Christmas shopping money by selling one on eBay.  Why don't these things occur to me in the moment? I couldn't do that. In fact, I may have to reach out to the nine people watching, and tell them to go over to SU and get themselves one.  $179.95...sheesh.

Anyway, that's my rant.  Please feel free to continue your day.

Thanks for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard