Mr Cardmaker is in Orbit with 12 Kits of Occasions

Well, I am going to try to avoid space-y puns for this WHOOOOOOOLE post. We'll see how that goes...(Titles don't count, right?)

I am so happy to share the cards that I designed with the BEAUTIFUL kit that Jeanne Jachna created for 12 Kits of Occasions. March is sort of a weird month to do a kit for, especially when Easter is in April this year. St. Patrick's day comes and goes so quickly, so you're left with....SPACE! I love it!

Anyway, I just loved all the stamped images and die cuts, the papers and embellishments. Jeanne really leaves you wanting for nothing with her kits!

I made five cards with this kit, and I kept every little thing that was left over for a DEFINITE return for more.

So, on with the cards!
I made this--

These rockets are so awesome. Clean, tight, totally representative of everything that says ROCKET. Love the flames. Aren't the swirls in the background cool? That Jeanne. She finds the best stuff for us...
I love that this makes a great masculine card. I think adding stripes into the design helps to strengthen that idea, but there's no reason a woman wouldn't dig it, too.

Next, I came up with this--

GOOGLY EYES!!!!  These aliens cracked me up, especially once the eyes got attached! Coloring them with my copics was really fun, because there's really no way to pick a wrong color.
I went for a sort of theatrical feel with this card, thinking of the stars die cut as a curtain. Some serious flying skills are happening there with those space ships; they manage to maneuver that thing with ease.

Next, more space ships--

This one started with the blue diecut panel. I went crazy trying to figure out how to break up the navy. I knew I didn't want to stamp on it, because I didn't want to compete with the stars. I finally decided to break out my scoring board and add some score lines. This worked out perfectly for me-The stars are in a strong linear formation, so more lines just add to the strength. The super stylized space ships are a great foil to all the lines, and the two circles help balance things.
The brightly colored space ships really pop off the dark navy, too.
Uh, note the sneaky googly eye...

This next one--

We're a bit closer to home here, but I just LOVE the way this worked out. I love Seattle's Space Needle, and when I saw these super billowy cloud diecuts, I was INSPIRED! The yellow paper was actually the reverse of a more space-y theme, but it was just so strong, I had to use it.
I was a bit nervous doing such a simple card, which is why I went for the stars, and I'm really glad I did.
You'll notice that I didn't reach for any bling on my cards, and all shine comes from the papers themselves, or my Spectrum Noir shimmer pen, which doesn't really show up in photos.

My final card--

There were quite a few space themed stamp sets released this year, and IMHO this is the BEST.
My Favorite Things came out with these CUTE kids in spacesuits, with some really sharp vehicles and planets. I just love this set.
The upside-down guy is on an action wobble! This thing is wonderful! It makes him shake around, yet it compresses down super flat, so postage is easy!
I do believe it's time to break down and invest in those skin toned copic markers. I'm going to have to go back and dig out my gamsol to make my face coloring work just a bit better. Hey, and how about some glossy accents over them? They're wearing face shields, right? 
I clearly have some work to do.

So, I now have five cards that can easily be sent to either a man or a woman of almost any age.

This kit was a blast to play with. (rats, I was so close. Missed it by THAT much...PUNS!!!)
Seriously, though, Jeanne supplied SO much to spark a ton of creative energy. I was able to just lay everything out on my work surface, move things around a bit, and GO!
The only (ONLY!) downside to these kits is the fact that now I have to go BUY so many of these things I was so happy to play with. Cry, beloved wallet!

PLEASE go and see all the wonderful creations linked up at the 12 Kits of Occasions blog. Worlds to see! (argh!) Go! Take off! (oh, come on...)

PUNS!!! (insert shaking fist here.)

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is a Krafty Devil

Well, 'tis the season to start making those Christmas/Hanukkah cards. Yup, already. I have been scouring the stamp makers' websites, TRYING to find just the right stamps to get into my hot little hands for this year's cards, and I'll be DANGED if there just has not been exactly the right thing come down the pike for me yet. There's been some contenders, and some things are on the short list, but the big thing has yet to come along and blow my skirt up, so to speak.

However!

I do have my stamps from last year, and those puppies never did get enough inking up, for my taste, so I'm back to them for the moment. And the rest of my Christmas stash, don'tcha know...
AND!
I won a challenge over at My Favorite Things a while back, so I did manage to use my prize to grab up the new Hand-Lettered Christmas sentiments stamps. they are wonderfully LARGE sentiments, and I SO dig them.

So, I grabbed some kraft card stock, because I love it (especially for winter cards), and went to town.

I made SIXTEEN of these in one day--and I may even do MORE, I love them so much.
Warning: many photos ahead.

 I used several stamp sets on these cards, mostly Stampin' Up and Stampendous.  Oh, what an impact a white gel pen can make on kraft !
The panels are all cut with Simon Says Stamp stitched rectangle dies. I love the stitched detail.

 These cards are done with SU Warm Wishes stamp set from 2015. I really wish this was still available. Papertrey ink has a set with similar images, though, and theirs has matching dies, which I love. The sequins here are from Neat & Tangled.

 More from the same set, trying to use a tighter focus image(s). Do you love those sentiments, or what? The white heat embossing is so great with them, too!

 This was one where I thought it might be fun to get tricky. I stamped the skis in Early Espresso ink, and the boughs in Soft Suede, and then just smooched the soft suede with a paper towel to soften it up. It's fine, but I decided to stay on the cleaner side, for the most part.

A detail of that idea.

This tree image is from Concord & 9th.  I adore it. My white gel pen turned it into a birch tree. I also grabbed a water brush to move some of the ink around the tree rings a bit. That's about as fancy as I got with these cards...

 Jumbo Snowflakes from Stampendous. I don't know if these are still available. There are so many snowflake stamps available...

Speaking of Stampendous, this stamp is from their Jumbo Cardinals set. There's a ton of white here, but I think the image holds up really well. I SO dig the white holly berries...

I love that you can see how detailed these stamps are here. Repetition is such a fun design idea, too. It always works, and it's usually pretty easy to do.

Snow covered branches is my FAVORITE use for that magic white gel pen on kraft.

The effect is A. MAZE. ING. These trees are from SU Wonderland set, also from last year.

I imagine these sets appear on ebay from time to time, but trees like this are easily found.

Using the smaller accent stamps can make a wonderful impact, too. Don't ignore those babies!

I did have a few flecks of white embossing powder here and there (you may have noticed), but I'm calling it snow and considering it all part of the rustic look I have going on...that works, right?

Hard to believe I pumped these all out in just one (long) day. I love how relatively easy they were to do, and how wonderful brown and white and kraft look together!

Remember you can find me on Instagram @RLBreaks
More to come...

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

Mr Cardmaker Gets His Spooky On with 12 Kits of Occasions

Believe it or not, I have TWO blog posts today! Scroll around to find the other one!

Well, there couldn't be a BETTER reason to get back into the blogosphere than to join in with the AMAZING team at 12 Kits of Occasions. This is a great group of card makers and stampers that actually take the time to put together twelve months of kits that contain the most amazing things, and they send the out to the group (and to guests!) to see how everybody interprets their goodies. It's a FANTASTIC idea, and I'm thrilled that I was asked by the fabulous Jeanne Jachna to join in for my second time!

I LOOOOOOOOVE Halloween cards--almost even more than Christmas cards! They can be cute, spooky, weird, whatever. SO freeing!

I had TONS of fun with this kit! Can't wait to share!

I made ALL of these--

(Pssst! See that swirly stem thingy under the biggest pumpkin? That's actually part of a Christmas word die!)

I'm making a conscious effort to NOT blather on like I usually do, because this is a photo heavy post, but I wanted to jump in here a sec.
There was a TRIO of the trick or treaters, and I went nuts trying to get them AND the castle on without overlapping or cutting anything off. I finally had to give up on the third guy.

But I got him in! Literally!

INSIDE! He was too great to waste.

Well, there's PLENTY more stuff in the kit to keep going, but I am SPENT!

EDIT! EDIT! EDIT!

NO! There's MORE!!!

Because I am crazy like that...

I made these, too--

 These images were SO cute, and the papers that were left over were so great, I just HAD to make these 4"x4" sweet little things! (Besides, my card list is GROWING, so I actually needed more cards!)

Whew! NOW I am done!

I really want to extend a HUGE thank-you to Jeanne Jachna and all the crew at 12 Kits of Occasions for letting me play along. I had a BLAST!

I appreciate YOU sticking with me in this really long post.

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

PS-Instagram RLBreaks
Follow me!

Mr Cardmaker is Tagged and Bagged

Believe it or not, I have TWO blog posts today! Be sure to scroll around and find it!

I am SO happy to be guest designing for the "Tag! You're It!" blog today! The wonderful Tracey McNeeley was kind enough to ask me to create a tag for this challenge. I am honored and flattered!

The weather is FINALLY cooling off (at least here in the Northeast), and that means more warm beverages, which to my mind, means COFFEE!! Hot, steaming mugs of joe, PSL (That's a pumpkin spice latte, which you already know, if you're a Starbucks fan), cappuccinos, café au laits, on and on and on!

So, I made this--

This is done with Altenew's Coffee Love and Coffee Talk stamp sets. I needed these sets the second I laid eyes on them! I LOOOOVE the artwork, and the sentiments are wonderful.
I also bought, but didn't use here, the Coffee Ring stamps, which offer the sentiment "Coffee, Craft, Repeat." Perfect!

I colored the pot with my new Zig clean color real brush watercolor pens (OMG, that's a LOT of words for a pen) and then coated it with some Glossy Accents. Because, shiny.
The sentiment is all embossed, in both white and clear over Versafine Onyx Black.
A bit of ink blending and water flicking finishes off both pieces.

I also took this opportunity to try out my recent purchase of Ranger's Copper super fine detail embossing powder. Yeah, love that stuff.
The coffee beans in copper remind me of all the copper molds people used to hang on the walls of their kitchens. I went further by using the copper embossing powder to create my own copper card stock for the starburst behind the coffee pot, and used a bit more to frame my sentiment piece. I tapped the edges onto my Versamark ink pad, and then into the copper embossing powder. It makes such a delicate little frame!

I think this is a great tag to use when giving a gift of the grind to your favorite coffee buddy!

I am so looking forward to seeing what my tag inspires you to do! Join in and have fun!
Thanks as well to all the great designers at "Tag! You're it!" I had a blast!

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

PS- Find me on Instagram! @rlbreaks

Mr Cardmaker Earns His Stripes

I just love CASE-ing talented people. CASE (copy and share everything) is a wonderful way to come up with a starting point for a project, and gives you the most marvelous ways to stretch your creative muscles.

Jennifer McGuire has been a fantastic resource for all things card making, whether it's a new technique, new product, or new way to look at something you're already doing. She is also a major organizational champ, and a Sweetie, too, so DEFINITELY check her out, if you don't already do so on a regular basis.


She did a terrific tutorial about doing masked stripes, which I really enjoyed, and I knew I had to dive into this one for myself.

To start with, I made this--

This technique is done with ink and ink blenders, with the help of some low-tack tape. Layer of ink create different depth of color, and when you stay in somewhat of a rainbow order, you can safely move from color to color without being in danger of creating muddy messes. I used Distress Inks, which are terrific for blending like this.  I didn't actually stay in rainbow order here, but I liked these colors, and they all have so much yellow in them, I think it worked out just fine.

My favorite part is going back over areas with stripes of white pigment ink, which makes some pretty amazing highlights.

I tried to keep the rest of this card to a minimum, so the background could really shine. 

I also did a second panel, but I had some trouble getting the tape to adhere to the wet ink where I was trying to do layering, so I had some boo boos I had to cut off.

I ended up with these--

These are tiny 3" cards, which would be great for gift enclosures or tags. I quickly colored up some Hero Arts critters and flowers, and managed to salvage what I could of the panel.
Note that I DID manage to achieve rainbow order here!

This was so fun to do, and other than my challenge of getting the tape to cooperate, these were pretty idiot proof (ME, being the idiot in question). Oh the key is to use enough tape that you can tape to your surface, as well as your paper panel. Once I grasped that one, it was smooth sailing!

So, thanks to Jennifer for the idea. I'll be returning to this technique, I think!

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

#jennifermcguire #heroarts #distressink

Mr Cardmaker is a Sketchy MFT-er (Part Two)

So, in part one I did a sort of refined version of the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge.  I was determined to get in on this one, especially since I missed the last one by EXACTLY one minute!

I decided to
A. Use SOME of that huge paper stash I have.
B. Go just a bit free and loose with the sketch, while definitely adhering to it.
C. More Crazy Birds!!

I made this--

The sketch Looks like this--



I used the MFT Absolutely Fabulous dies and Leafy Greenery dies here, and I added in a Tim Holtz Crazy Bird, because I love them so. These beautiful papers are from My Mind's Eye, and it always hurts me to have to cut into them.

I also heat embossed some wood veneer stars with Ranger Liquid Platinum embossing powder to add some detail. I did this last Christmas I think, and I love the effect.

I received the Absolutely Fabulous dies as a free-with-60 gift, and I was happily surprised to see how the "absolutely" cut, leaving the bottoms of the letters attached to the card stock.

I did substitute the "sentiment flag" portion of the sketch with the Fabulous die cut, but as it becomes part of the sentiment, I think it achieves the sketch.

Speaking of the sketch, there are millions of way to interpret it. This was my other card--

Bit of a difference, right? You can read more about it if you scroll down to the older post!

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

Mr Cardmaker is a Sketchy MFT-er (Part One)

Well, last week I missed entering the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge by EXACTLY one minute. For reals. Boo, hiss.

Not gonna get myself in that trouble this time!

I made TWO projects, and I'm posting them separately, so I can enter them both.

I made this--

Here's the sketch--


I used the Flashy Florals stamps and dies here, and I went with a pretty tight color scheme, staying with green and gold, with a touch of gray here and there.

I used Memento Delicato Golden Glitz ink to watercolor some shine onto my background panel, which, sadly flattens out in photos.  I amplified the effect of the gold with the gold glittered banner, and gold flower center and gold thread.

Does anyone else have issues doing those thread nest things? I think they are just too random a thing to make for a control freak like myself. I never think they turn out right for me...Anyway...

I like how this one turned out; all nice and refined-ish.

Stay tuned for part two, where things take a big turn!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
All Best-
Richard

Mr Cardmaker is Triptychal

I have been remiss in posting lately, mostly due to the fact that I can much more easily head over to Instagram and toss up a photo of what I've been doing, rather than compose all the words and stuff I do for the ol' blog. Plus, I post pics of Max the Beagle and Charlie the Husband there, as well.
Check me out- HERE.

HOWEVER, I have not forgotten YOU, faithful blog reader, and so today I want to share Charlie's birthday card, which is NOT on Instagram yet, so you haven't missed anything!

So I made him this--

Which opens up to look like this--

I know I call this a triptych in the title, but I think it's actually just a trifold card, since it's really just one long picture, and not three scenes that go together, which I believe it the better definition of a triptych. (Who says you don't learn little tidbits here and there when you visit my blog?)
I just think that punny title is better...

The base is just a regular piece of 8 1/2"x11" piece of cardstock trimmed at an angle (which made it just about 7 1/2" inches tall at one end, and 4 3/4" tall at the other) which I scored on my Scor-Pal at the handy little arrow marks which are there to allow this kind of card fold. I'm not sure what the exact measurements are...The overall width is just under 3 3/4", so it easily fits into a regular business size envelope with some wiggle room, which allowed me to overlap that cloud on the first panel just a bit.

So, most of this is done with Lawn Fawn's Hello Sunshine stamps and dies, but is did sneak in an old Stampin' Up or two to do the underbrush-y stuff, and a SU set called Happy Happenings for the sentiment(s).

I colored the chicks and bees with Copics, using just a couple of yellows. I love how simple these images are, and they kind of remind me of those Minion things as well as marshmallow peeps.

To make the card look right when it's closed, I had to also do some stamping on the BACK side of the middle panel.
That looks like this--

Not terribly eventful on that side, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

So closed, it looks like this--

Sorry about my fingers in there, but that's 110# cardstock, so it doesn't lay flat when folded so well.
You can find the little vellum clouds in there a little better in this shot, too.

The balloons are all coated with Glossy Accents to shine them up, because, shiny!

So, Charlie loved it, and I was really pretty happy with the results. Yay!

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

MrCardmaker is Hostful

A couple of weeks ago, I had my friend Stephanie over for a day of card making. I would have loved to have made it a BIG event, with ALL my local crafty friends, but it was sort of last minute-ish, and it was mid-week, when lots of people are working, so...

Anyway, Stephanie is the gal who introduced me to card making about, wow, is it SEVEN years ago now? Well, all that time, and all that $$$ later, I was able to actually teach her a couple of new techniques, and we just had the very best time of it. 

We made these!

We started here--

 This one was SO fun and easy! I love, love, love ink blending, and rainbows, especially when it goes along with emboss/resist. Can't ever say no to a great big sentiment, either!

I made samples and kits for the two of us to grab and go with, and so I got to have two of everything when all was said and done! Lucky me! I am entering this card into Virginia's View color challenge, at the urging of the lovely Donna Mikasa!

The next one was really fast and easy, and made the most of a tiny scribble with a white gel pen--

This is a single panel, partially dry embossed, with a wet embossed sentiment. The birdy-butts are the white gel pen part...But you may have read about this one on THIS earlier post. I used white pencil on that one, but I like the pen better...

Now, I thought this one would be super simple as we did it, but explaining the smooshing technique is not as simple as I hoped--

I CASE-d this idea from Dawn McVey at Papertrey Ink, using this panel die as a background. (I went looking for the link for her doing this, and cannot find it, so if it was somebody else, please forgive me. Senior moments happen more often, these years...)There has to be a better way to move all the pieces back and forth than the way I did it, but the Press'n'Seal and I became close friends doing it all, so...
VERY different results every time you try this technique, so you CAN'T get bored.

These babies were awesome--

I had stamped and colored sheets and sheets of these birds a while back, so it was great to have them on hand to just grab. I love how a change of color story makes all the difference here...

THESE, however, were the BIG deal of the day--

I watched Kristina Werner do a watercolor version of a galaxy sky on her BLOG, and I just loved it.
I wanted to try it with Distress Inks and NOT as watercolor, but as ink blending instead, and I LOVE how these turned out. You will definitely wear out your arm doing  the black layer, but it's SO worth it!

There was a LOT of drying time involved, so we started early and worked the steps in between other cards. WELL worth the effort involved, I think. It's hard to see here, but the "blessed" die cut is done from white glitter paper, so there's tons of shine. The white spattered stars are KEY to making this technique work, as are the water splatters, so don't skip these steps.

I'm entering this card into Virginia's View as well, because COLOR!

And that was our day!
There's very little better than a day spent with friends, creating and laughing!
I need to set up a weekend day of this for more friends, SOON!

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