Blog Archives

Gift Tag for two challenges

11/28/2018

Two design teams have issued gift challenges this past week: Simon Says Stamp Monday, on November 26, 2018, said:

"Christmas will soon be here and we thought it would be nice to dedicate a challenge to think about gifts. Handmade gifts are always well received, so maybe you would like to make someone something special, or you can make something to be used for the wrapping, tag, bag, box, paper etc."

white Frilly & Funky, on November 21, 2018 said:

"I know at this time of the year, we are all VERY busy cooking and shopping. There's never a spare moment and we often neglect our crafting passion. However, if you are like me, crafting is so gratifying, and is a much needed activity that feeds and renews our soul.
"Because it's that time of the year when we're all thinking about the perfect gift for our friends and families, let's combine our crafting passion with our "to do" list by creating a vintage or shabby chic gift for a special someone in your life. Your gift could be as simple as a handmade card or tag, or an elaborate piece of home decor. Maybe you like to place your gifts in handmade boxes? Your imagination is the only limit on this challenge!"

As a general rule, I don't make gift packaging, tags, home decor tags for Christmas, and, as I said in the precious post, I am pretty much DONE with making Christmas cards! However, I was watching one of Tim Holtz' Holiday Hack videos where he made some tags using the latest Side-Order dies and I thought I'd tackle some of those.

Products used in the making of these tags were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous "watercolor Trees' (CMS317)
Dies: Sizzix Side-Order "Noel" (663112)
Inks: Versamark; Pigma MIcron #1 Archival Pen "black"
Embossing Powders: UpTown "detail gold"; JoAnn CraftEssentials "black"; and "Stampendous "detail white" (47788)
Papers: 4" x 2.25" inch kraft tags in three shades; Marco's Place "ATC Blanks" in four colors; scrap of pink cardstock
Embellishments: red satin ribbon
Adhesives: Sizzix Adhesive Sheets (663051)

I'm also entering these tags in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, November 28, 2018: Anything Goes

5 Comments

Christmas Card Project Finale: November 27, 2018

11/28/2018

0 Comments

Click In this September 9, 2018 blog post, I described my "Christmas Card Project" where I tried to emulate the “The Best Things in Life Are Pink” You Tube Tutorial (one of her many tutorials on creating MANY cards cards from a single pad of 6x6 papers. I made 31 cards from a single pad of Whimsy Stamps “Christmas Cheer” 24 single-sided 6x6 paper pad (TWDP102) and a set of Ink Road Stamps “Fir Real”. I modeled my cards after some Operation Write Home sketches.

In October, I continued with the project, using A Penny Black 6x6 pad ("Holiday Trimmings") And a set of Avery Elle stamps "Quirky Christmas" and, by the end of the mont I had 63 cards in total.

By this time, I was tired of the entire process and decided to fill out the remainder of our card list with purchased cards. Hoe er, as my husband was address in envelopes, he was not aware that pre-packed card blanks usually provide more envelopes than cards and so we ended up with four envelopes with no cards so, on November 27, I made for more cards:

~~~~~
Card Set using OWH sketch #36

Products used in the making of this card set were:

Stamps: Avery Elle "Quirky Christmas" (ST-18-32); Personal Impressions 201J; Wiggins Stamp Art
Inks: Archival "Library Green" and "Jet Black"
Papers:Park Lane Paperie A2 notecards “white” (15919608); Penny Black 6x6 pad "Holiday Trimmings" (80-013); scraps of dark red and grass green 12 x 12 papers
Embellishments: K & Company Grand Adhesions "Christmas Cheer Ornament" (569331) and "Classic Metal Art" (558649)
Adhesives: Tombow Permanent adhesive.

I used my Fiskers paper trimmer, my MISTI stamp platform, and a 2" punch.

~~~~~

I also fixed the one card from the October batch (card set #10) which had the "made by" and "sentiment stamps switched! I simply removed the card front and attached it to a new notecard with the sentiment in the right location!

All cards are signed, stamped and mailed as of yesterday afternoon, although there are still several address labels in limbo that may require more cards. A few boxes of Unicef cards, however, will serve to deal with any unexpected card recipients!

0 Comments

My November Progress in my 2018 Organization Resolution

11/28/2018

0 Comments

Back at the end of December, 2017, I blogged about the mess my craft space was in, and how I hoped that, in 2018, I would make some progress in getting it all put back together and neatened up. I posted my January progress here. My February progress report on that organization is here. My March organization efforts can be found here. My April report is here. May report is here; my June report is here; and my August report is here.

(It's not that I totally bailed in September or October; I merely tried to keep putting things away as I used them and generally tidied my workspace. - nothing photo-worthy).

On November 5, II finally got back to organizing with the purchase of a new cart , this one intended for my 12 x 12 paper “collections” which I had previously stored in 12 x 12 paper keepers from Totally TIffany. The cart held all the 12 x 12 collections and some additional smaller items (6x6 pads and 8x8 pads in a handlers, and assorted chipboard).

It looks like I could use a second similar cart for all my 12 x 12 single sheet paper which now resides on the floor.

I also came back to the cart I bought in August and used the top tray to hold all my Distress Oxide Ink pads. I even went so far as to label them and arrange by color family!

I’m thinking/hoping that the other two basket/shelves in this cart might hold all my Tim Holtz mini-ink storage tins that now live on my table top (Hero Arts, Ranger Archival, Altenew and Distress Inks are all in tins, as are several other smaller ink cubes form different manufacturers.), but I haven't tried that out yet.

Next up… the newest two sets of Distress Oxide reinkers! I have the reinker storage box — just need to resurrect it from under neath a lot of stuff.

I was running out of space in one of my stamp storage trays so I pulled all the wide clear stamp sets and repackaged them in Altenew and (when I ran out of Altenew) Avery Elle storage envelopes. All these larger stamps sets were divided into two trays: one stamps only and one stamps with dies. New dividers are needed for both trays. All clear stamps (except those from magazine covers) are now in the same location. (Luckily, cling rubber stamps storage papers to be sufficient for now, so I don't have to arrange for a different storage location because of additional bins.)

After I finished this repackaging, I put away all the stamps, dies and most of the stencils that were waiting for a place to live (although the dies and stencils need a better solution than two Iris card drawers…). 3-D embossing folders need a home, and I could use yet a third paper cart to hold all my Tim Holtz stamps storage boxes… (this card obsession could become pricey!)

So, at the end of November, I had freed up significant desk space and even a little floor space and access to my 8.5 x 11 papers is much improved.

0 Comments

Challenge: Baby, It's Cold Outside!

11/25/2018

3 Comments

It sure IS cold outside here in NW Ohio (and in some rooms of our house, inside as well ---we had furnace issues this week) so this challenge for Simon says Stamp Wednesday, November 21, 2018 is very appropriate. Also, since we have had at least five independent snowfalls this month (with another one possible in the coming week), the challenge "Let It Snow" by the Simon Says Stamp Monday design team on November 19, 2018 is also spot on, meteorologically!

Because I was time-challenged this week: trying to deal prep for family Thanksgiving festivities (husband made pies), getting the holiday cards ready to address and mail (ready but not addresses or mailed),hauling the tree up from the basement (BIL helped husband today --- that darned thing is HEAVY) and other holiday seasonal chores took up a lot of time, to say nothing of the usual mundane weekly stuff (waiting for the furnace repairman, the tree surgeon and the housecleaner and getting my haircut), I decided to combine these two challenges in one sparkly card.

I die-cut some small snowflakes in a corner of white card, layered it on a mat of metallic glitter paper and added a die-cut snowflake from the same glitter paper, before adding an Idea-ology sticker to finish up:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Dies: Sizzix Thinlits “Flurry 3” (663114) and “Paper Snowflakes mini” (661599)
Papers: Scrap of Neena Solar White; Simon Says Stamp “Metallics Glitter 6x6 Pack” (sssme18); scrap of pale blue yardstick; pale blue square card blank
Embellishments: Idea-ology “Small Talk - Occasions” (TH93245)
Adhesives: Tombow permanent adhesive; Wendy vecchi “Perfect Card djesive” (WVA62134)

3 Comments

Challenge: Shine

11/25/2018

0 Comments

The mini-challenge for November 2018 over at More Than Words is to create a postcard, card, tag or ATC which features the word "Shine".

I elected to go with an ATC and, using navy cardstaock, white embossing powder and glittery paper, I created this nativity scene:

Products used in the making of this ATC:

Stamps: PSX nativity (D209)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits “Snowy Stars” (663117)
Inks: Versamark
Embossing Powders: WOW! “Opaque Bright White Super Fine” (WL01SF)
Papers: scrap of navy cardstock; Simon Says Stamp “Metallic Glitter 6x6 Pack” (sssme18)
EMbelilshemnts: Idea-ology “Big Chat” (TH93192)
Adhesives: Wendy Vecchi “Perfect Card Adhesive” (WVA62134)

0 Comments

Challenge: Thanks/Thanksgiving

11/17/2018

2 Comments

The November 12, 2018 challenge at Simon Says Stamp Monday was "Thanks/Thanksgiving". Having just done a few "that-you" cards for other challenges, I was hard-pressed for an idea so I started with my file of cling stamps and started through them, alphabetically by manufacturer. I stumble upon a set called "Mod" by Avery Elle which I had never opened and which featured a large block-print "Thank You". OK, let's do clean-and-simple, using heat embossing!

The only thing "not" simple about this card was the stamping --- each stamped part of the card was a separate action when I could have simplified it a lot by dry-running the stamps before I started. Oh well, it worked...

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Avery Elle “Mod” (ST-18-14) and Altenew “Bejeweled”
Inks: Versamark; Altenew Crisp Dye Ik “Moss”
Embossing Powders: Anita’s “Copper” (25106); Comotion Clear top “Holly Berry Haze” (161368); and Personal Stamp Exchange “Claret Tapestry” (S 118)
Papers: The Paper studio notecard “ivory” (225219)

2 Comments

Challenge: All That Glitters is Gold

11/16/2018

1 Comment

That's right... in the case of the November 14, 2018 challenge from the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Design Team, all that glitters IS gold. We are to add some "gold sparkle" to our projects!

Well, My "sparkle" is more like "shine" but it is gold!

I started with an old envelope (saved from a stamp shipment, origin lost in the mists of time) that was white-and-gold foil striped:

Since I don't have a laser printer or a hot laminator, this seems the best way to get foiling into my piece.

I cut the envelope up, avoiding creases and wrinkles, and the end result determined my card size.

Next, I cut a piece of Neena Solar white and heat-embossed it with WOW! "Metallic Gold Rich" embossing powder to create my own gold card:

I trimmed the embossed card so it would function as a mat for my striped piece and mounted both on an ivory notecard:

I took a small scrap of Neena Solar White card, stamped and heat embossed a sentiment (also in gold) and die cut with one of the smaller archway dies from Sizzix's "stacked archway" set. I then edged the sentiment with a gold marker and mounted it with foam squares on the card:

Products used in the making of this card were:

Stamps: Stampers Anonymous “Mini-Doodle Greetings) (CMS287)
Dies: Sizzix Thinlits “Stacked Archway” (662692)
Inks: Versamark; Marvy Uchida “gold” marker
Embossing Powders: WOW! “Metallic Gold Rich regular” (WC04R)
Papers: gold foil-striped envelope; Neena Solar white; The Paper Studio notecard “ivory” (225219)
Adhesives: Tombow permanent adhesive; EK Tools 3-D foam dots

1 Comment

Challenge: November Inspiration Challenge

11/12/2018

0 Comments

Altenew has posted a color/photo inspiration for November:

I started with a background of leaves using the Altenew Layered Laurel stamp set and four green shades of Altenew Crisp Dye Inks on an ivory tag previously coated with white gesso:

I stamped a layered anemone on Neena Solar White using three colors of red Crisp Dye Inks, "Pure Graphite" and a touch of "Parrot". I die cut with the coordinating die, fussy cut to remove excess white borders and attached it to the tag:

Using a blending pad, I edged the card with "Moss" and stamped a sentiment in Pure Graphite. A sparkly "parrot" ribbon completed my tag.

Products used in the making of tis tag were:

Stamps: Altenew “Layered Laurel” (ALT1877) and “Bud A Flower - Anemone” (ALT1832)
Dies: Altenew “Build A Flower - Anemone” (ALT1833)
Inks: ALtenew Crisp Dye Inks “Parrot”, “Moss”, “Olive”, “Bamboo”, “Grapevine”, “Frosty Pink”, “Coral Berry” and “Pure Graphite”
Papers: Graphic45 Regular Tag Album “Ivory” (4501221); Neena Solar White
Embellishments: sparkly “parrot” ribbon
Media: Liquitex Acrylic Gesso “white”
Adhesives: Tombo Permanent Adhesive

0 Comments

Challenge: November Color Palette

11/11/2018

2 Comments

The color palette for the November 2018 challenge for Lindy's Gang is bright and colorful:

I decide to make another tag.

I started by coating the tag with gesso and, when dry, added a schemer of texture paste embedded with some prills.When the paste had dried, I sprayed with Lindy's Flat Fabio “Rizzo’s Rowdy Red” and Shimmer "Grab a Guy Gold”:

I coated two chipboard elements with more gesso. I sprayed the feather with Lindy's Vintage “Tawny Turquoise”, and painted the "eye" of the feather with “Grab a Guy Gold” and “Rizzo’s Rowdy Red”. I then embossed with clear embossing powder:

I heat embossed a circular frame with Lindy's “Twilight Jade Slate” and “Guten Tag Teal”:

I sprayed a paper doily with “Tawny Turquoise” and heat embossed with “Twilight Jade Slate” and “Guten Tag Teal”. I glued the circle frame to the center of the embossed doily and the feather to the circle frame. The feather needed something so I covered the "eye" with Nuvo Glitter drops in colors that matched the underlying ink. I then attached the unit to the tag and trimmed to fit. A sentiment and coordinating ribbons completed the tag.

Products used in the making of this tag were:

Inks: versa mark; Lindy’s Sprays “Tawny Turquoise”, “Grab a Guy Gold” and “Rizzo’s Rowdy Red”
Embossing Powder: Lindy’s “Twilight Jade Slate”, “Guten Tag Teal”; Viva Las Vegas Ultra High Gloss “clear”
Papers: Graphic45 Regular Tag Album “ivory” (4501221); Paper Doyleys; Creative Embellishments Chip board feather and frame
Embellishments: USArtQuest Mini Prills (ANC801); four coordinating colors of satin ribbon
Media: Liquitex Acrylic Gesso White; Ranger Texture Pate Opaque White Matte; Nuvo Glitter Drops “Ruby Slippers” (752N) and “Honey Gold” (762N); Idea-ology “Clipping Stickers” (TH93583)
Adhesives: Wendy Vecchi Perfect Card Adhesive (WVA62134)

I'm also entering this tag in teh Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, November 5, 2018: Create Your Own Background

2 Comments

Harvest of Gratitude

11/10/2018

5 Comments

"There is always something to be thankful for. In this gratitude themed challenge, we are asking you to create a vintage or shabby chic project that portrays something that fills your heart with thanksgiving. Use harvest colors and be sure to tell us how your project reflects your thankful heart."

That is how the design team at Frilly and Funkie Challenge Blog explained their challenge for November 7, 2018.

Now I had this Altenew Stamp set in my stack of "to be used" stamps for a while now and it not only fit the "Thankfulness" of the challenge but also worked into one of the things I am most thankful for: the chances over the past 50 years or so to travel and see please many people have only read about.

On this set are words for thanks in several different languages:

I chose seven of these words t make a background, based on places I have visited and/or lived: Hawaiian ( for my husband's Uncle and out lovely tie we spent with him in Kauai), Italian (for two marvelous cruises to the Mediterranean and a lovely two days in Rome), Arabic (for the more than four years we lived in the Middle East - and a marvelous Nile cruise back in the early 90's), German (for the many trips we took there between the early 70s and the late nineties), Chinese (for the 2 years we lived in Beijing), French (for the hot August day I spent in Paris with a broken toe - and the follow-on trip to French-speaking Algeria for work), and Welsh (because my mother's side of the family is of Welsh descent and because we loved visiting Wales when we live in the United Kingdom)! I arranged them on a card front, stamped with Versamark and heat embossed with gold embossing powder:

(Note: If this card was being made NEXT Thanksgiving, I could add Finnish, Polish and Russian for the cruise we are planning on taking and Hungarian (for a trip we took in the early 90s to Budapest) and Spanish (for teh many times we have gone to Mexico) could have been added!)

I die cut the word "Thanks" from three sheets of white and one of shimmer black card which had been run through my sticker maker. I layered them so the black was on top, added are shimmer with a Wink of Stella pen, and coated the letters with Glossy Accents (which looks like I intentionally left a shadow border on each letter, in fact, the Glossy Accents was unwilling to self-level - perhaps I need a new bottle?). I stamped the rest of my sentiment on a strip of white card and attached both to the card front: