Thinking Inking

Vintage Mistletoe

I cut into that last pattern of  my Wonderland Cosmo Cricket paper. This is the Holiday Cheer--such an elegant old pattern, rich and playful at the same time.   I kept my mistletoe sprig very simple because of the busy-ness of the paper. You can't see it, but I used a red gelly roll pen to color the berries so that they are slightly raised and shiny.  I matted with gold metallic card stock and used my ticket corner punch to notch out niches for mini brads.  The top green is Always Artichoke ink stamped on Always Artichoke card stock with the pine bough. I finished with a  strand of narrow twill and an "S" clip from the Aged Copper Hardly Hardware. The entire front is matted in Bravo Burgundy, on a Ivory Naturals base.  Here's one more version--same basic colors with just a few differences.

Now, time for true confessions (don't worry--it's about stamping!): I'm in a rut tonight. . . Everything that I have in progress on my desk looks pretty much the same. Do you ever get that way-- realize that you are in a design rut?  Some nice Spring stamping might help. . . but I need to finish my Christmas cards first. New stamps might help, but they won't come until next week. We'll see what happens!

Time to get the Tree. . .

I have to tell you, I just loved this little card!  Background papers are more of my Basic Grey Blitzen stash from last year.  (I ordered some of this year's BG Christmas paper, but it still hasn't come. . . Arrgh!)   Back to the truck card: I still don't have the Loads of Love Accessories set, so you'll just have to imagine that the glare of the sun on the snow is preventing you from seeing the driver, okay?  I painted the truck with my Watercolor Wonder crayons and Aquapainter, then cut it out. I stamped a tree on Confetti White card stock, then used my Coluzzle Companion to cut it out, allowing the tip of the tree to break the circle for more visual interest. I used a torn strip of plainer designer paper to make a road with snow on the edge, and I raised my truck with dimensionals.  The truck and tree image was matted in Real Red, punched with a Marvy Giga Scalloped Circle punch. The "wishing you" was cut out with SU's word window punch. Embellishments were simply a red mini brad and some very narrow white organdy (non-SU).  One of the things like I like most about using printed papers is the ability to sand its edges for the look of one extra layer of depth, Got to love that Blitzen; the worn stripe just reminded me of the paint on an old farm truck!

The Perfect Tree?

I've been playing with Loads of Love and last year's Christmas Basic Grey, Blitzen. This is a very simple card--pretty much a one-trick pony. The only different/special thing that I did here was to use a square scalloped punch (Marvy Giga) to mat a rectangle. . . Want to guess how? 

Probably everyone else already knew this except me, but in one of those "duh" moments it occurred to me that I could just punch two squares and lay them on top of each other to extend to a rectangle of almost any length, make sense?  Okay, punch two scallopped squares. Now line them up so that they are the right proportion for your rectangular image, being sure that the scallops match perfectly. Using a bit of tape to keep them from sliding, trim across them both simultaneously and discard the excess so that they fit each other perfectly. Tape them together from the back.  As long as the mat is pretty narrow, it truly isn't noticeable that the mat is pieced. Slick, huh? 

I added some dots of dazzling diamonds glitter to the snowflakes on the patterned paper, and some liquid applique to the tree and the ground. A star brad finished the top of the tree, while AMuse twinkle sticker rhinestones became the ornaments. I floated in a hint of a turquoise sky with my Watercolor Wonder crayons and aquapainter, being careful not to get the tree wet enough to make its ink bleed. Finally, I added a washer (from Riveting) embossed in Sterling Silver EP and cut from Old Olive card stock to finish off the knot. This was a fun little card.  I'm saving my favorite one for tomorrow though! (Same set, but used the truck too. . .)  Thanks for visiting!

Retro Bodacious Poinsettia

I finally succumbed to the lures of the dotted background. . . I tried inking it with markers to get different colors of dots, and I had a less-than-stellar experience, even after huffing on the ink before stamping.  (Maybe that was in part because it was a new stamp and still had some of that release agent on it.) Anyway, I decided to try using my 1/2" circle punch to punch alternative colors of circles.  It is a hair too big, but it was still kind of a quick, fun way to color the dots. For the poinsettia, I needed a clean, graphic image to go with the dots.  I was looking at my Bodacious Blossoms set and realized that the little veined leaf would work well to build my own poinsettia.  I did have to cut a couple of masks from Post-It notes in order to layer the leaves and petals properly. Cardstock and/or ink colors are Old Olive, Real Red, and Chocolate Chip. Ribbon is non-SU. (SU, we need a grosgrain that coordinates with Old Olive and Always Artichoke. I repeat. . . )

I used my Marvy Giga Scalloped Oval punch for the  brown mat and my Coluzzle circle companion for the focal image. The nice thing about using a Coluzzle instead of a punch is that it allowed me to leave parts of the image breaking the border of the circle, adding visual interest. Finally, I used some A-Muse twinkle sticker rhinestones for the center of the poinsettia.  Who would have thought that these little twinkle sticker rhinestones would have become one of my absolute favorite little accessories to dress a card? They are right up there with coffee and chocolate in the list of things that I do not want to run out of. . .  Tomorrow will bring more Christmas cards--ones that are more in my comfort zone than this one. My stash is growing! 

Amanda's Pinecone Pattern

Amanda Sewell has created an excellent tutorial on making a styrofoam ball into a cool paper ornament that looks rather like a pinecone. TexasJodyLynn gave me some great directions as well; I am linking you to Amanda's site simply because she has step-by-step pictures.

My ornament  is covered in Holiday Thyme designer paper. When I got to the top, I cut a poinsettia bloom out of the paper and slit it between two petals to make a collar to cover the top of my ornament. I inked the poinsettia in Versamark and applied Iridescent Ice EP to give it some shimmer. My main ribbon is Cranberry stitched grosgrain, but I added some olive wide organdy as well. I'm almost at the end of that roll and it wasn't laying quite right, so I used my heat gun to shrivel it slightly and give it a vintage crinkle.  (That will teach that ribbon to mess with me! Seriously, if you try this, be aware that there is a very fine line between crinkling your ribbon and melting holes in it.) I then applied a single rhinestone to the olive green organdy bow for some sparkle power. I briefly considered applying a tiny rhinestone to the tip of each paper triangle but decided that my sanity wouldn't hold out for that long. This was great fun, and I was pleased with how it turned out. I will not be mass-producing these, however.  By the way, you really should heed Amanda's advice to use a thimble. . . 

The couple of days that I took off for Thanksgiving were profitable; I finished a few little projects. It's easier to get things made when you are not worrying about the write up and whether the dial-up connection will stay stable for long enough to update every night!  Thanks for your patience.

Snow Peaceful

I was playing with that Cosmo Cricket Wonderland paper again!  I have one more sheet that you haven't seen yet, but I'm still playing with it and will save it for another day. Yes, I confess that I used retired sets on these. . .  These seemed to go with the vintage snowflake paper better than my current Christmas sets did.  Doesn't this shade of green remind you of your grandmother's home?  It makes me think of my grandmother--ahhhh!  (Did your grandmother have one of those silver foil trees? Yikes!)

Besides the Cosmo Cricket Wonderland Sleigh Ride paper, I used Ivory Naturals, Mellow Moss, and a bit of Chocolate Chip. Retired SU sets used are Nature's Secret and A Beautiful Season.   I probably won't post again until late Sunday night or Monday; I'm the cook for Thanksgiving this year. . .  Have a truly blessed Thanksgiving!

Simple Thank You

Tonight's card is the last of the brown backgrounds from a few days ago. (I am working on Christmas cards with that Cosmo Cricket green snowflake paper tonight, but they aren't photographed yet.) This was a super-simple thank you card. The background is stamped with Canvas and Flourishes in Chocolate Chip and Craft Vanilla. I used a stamp from the designer tag label set, left out the words in it through omitting with markers, and used my stamp positioner to stamp only the "Thanks" from my "Happy Thanksgiving" stamp. (Probably "Thank You" would have been more appropriate, but my Thank You stamps were either too large or too small.) I edged the tag in gold paint pen and used antique gold brads to adhere it over the top of Chocolate Chip ribbon. I also edged the Chocolate Chip background in the same gold paint pen just to add a bit of elegance.  If you have tried the vanilla craft pad and haven't liked it, give it another chance! Several times I have stamped in vanilla craft ink and decided that it didn't work out well, only to come back the next day and find that I really liked it after all. It takes a while to dry completely and get to its maximum lightness.  You can always zap it with your heat tool if you need instant gratification. Tomorrow I am planning to get back to Christmas cards. Thanks for reading!

Pinecone Christmas

New paper alert!  I saw some Cosmo Cricket Wonderland papers in this month's SCS Dirty Dozen gallery, and I just had to have some. . . ( I mean, they were so lovely that not chasing them down online never even occurred to me!) One of them was the Pinecones paper used in the background of this card by CardsbyCarla.  The other was the Sleigh Ride paper used in this card by Sweet Miss Daisy. [If you do not have access to the SplitCoastStampers Dirty Dozen Gallery, you will not be able to see these two cards.  You'll just have to trust me that they were both gorgeous! I added many pieces of art to my favorites list from the DDGallery this month, but these were the two that I noticed the Cosmo Cricket paper on.]  My paper arrived shortly before noon, and I was already cutting it by noon. . .

Background is Mellow Moss card stock stamped with Linen in Close to Cocoa classic ink. The brown strip is from some Spring Flowers designer paper that I had a few scraps of left. I couldn't bear to waste any of my pinecone paper on the backside! I stamped my pine from Peaceful Wishes (okay, it looks like spruce to me, but the cones look like pinecones) in Always Artichoke classic ink, spritzing with water as I stamped off to soften the image slightly in the Ivory Naturals card stock. I stamped two pinecones in creamy caramel, rolled in Chocolate chip classic ink. I stamped a third pinecone and cut it out to layer above one of the cones on the main image. I then added Liquid Applique to resemble snow. For the greeting, I used the Holiday Greetings stamp and inked just Greetings with a marker; next I used my stamp positioner to position the word Christmas from Everyday Flexible Phrases.  I finished it with a piece of my Aged Copper Hardware.  (Yes, if you own it, you really should use it!)   This was a very simple card, but I was pleased with it and will probably make a few more now that I am the proud owner of four whole sheets of pinecone paper. Thanks for looking!

Heartfelt Thanksgiving

Still playing with Flourishes and brown. . .  I was admiring a piece of richly-textured, tapestry-like designer background paper and wanted to get that look with my stamps. I used Close to Cocoa card stock stamped with Canvas in Chocolate Chip classic ink, and stamped with Flourishes in Ruby Red, Old Olive, and Very Vanilla craft inks. The focal image is the small round flower from Heartfelt Thanks, inked in Marigold Morning classic ink, then edged with Ruby Red and Old Olive markers, spritzed, and stamped on Ivory Naturals card stock.  Happy Thanksgiving is from the All Year Cheer I set. I stamped it in Chocolate Chip classic ink, cut it out with the large oval punch, edged it in gold paint pen, and mounted it on a designer tag punch-out in More Mustard. A piece of Chocolate grosgrain finished it off.  Did I achieve the look of that lovely designer paper? Well, not exactly. . . but I had fun trying!

JOY Flourished / Drawing Completed!

FIRST order of business: Wow!  After reading through all of those comments, I feel bad that I don't have enough loot to send to everybody!  But I did manage to dig up enough to pick two numbers instead of just one. If Heather Barrett and Lauri (the lkryb Lauri) will send me your addresses via my e-mail button on the side, I will be happy to send you a goodie box.  For all of you, I thank you so much for your sweet and encouraging comments; I will truly treasure them! 

There has been a lot of talk lately about simple, one-layer cards.  I have to confess that "simple" is not my forte!  But I decided to give it a try tonight anyway.  The background of this card is Flourishes and Linen stamped on Bravo Burgundy. You can't really see the Linen in the photograph, but, trust me: it's there, and it helps.  The JOY is stamped with Letterpress alphabet on Ivory Naturals card stock. I stamped my letters, then trimmed them. Since simple was the point, I did not mat the letters but instead outlined them with a gold paint pen after sponging the edges with Close to Cocoa ink. I used my new Winter Mini set Carte Postale (available on December 1) to stamp a flourish on top of the letters in Gold Encore metallic ink and put a tiny rhinestone (A-Muse) in the center of the gold flourish. The letters are raised on dimensionals, and hardware is antique gold.  Ribbon is Burgundy wide organdy and gold metallic grosgrain, which I must confess are no longer available in the SU catalog. . . but I need to use them up! Narrow burgundy organdy is still available through SU, and I have a couple of ribbon sites listed on the side of my blog that could get some of the wide stuff for you if you prefer it. I'll have to heat emboss (in Winter White) the greeting on the inside since I was avoiding another layer.  There now--that was simple--right? Again, thanks so much for taking your time to visit me here.

Sunflower Thinking of You

Tonight was brown night; I made three cards, all with brown backgrounds. (You guessed it, once the backgrounds are inked up, I don't want to stop working to go upstairs and wash my brayer!) This was the first chance I've had to play with Finest Flourishes.  Not only does it have the two larger, more solid flourishes, but it also has two line flourishes that would pass for Bohemian style. Guess what's going on my next order? The coordinating brass template!  I love the elegance of the flourishes, so I kept the focal image rather small so that the background would still show. I tried a new color combo too--new for me anyway--Sage Shadow, Close to Cocoa, and Marigold/Pumpkin. Sage Shadow has to be one of the more underrated colors of card stock. I'm not that fond of it for typical Soft Subtle applications (like baby cards), but I really like it outside of its Soft Subtle compatriots!  I stamped the sunflower (from 2006-07 HA set, Measure of a Life) in Staz-On Timber Brown and painted it with reinkers: Sage Shadow, Marigold Morning, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, and a touch of Pumpkin Pie. Also, I used my little cutter kit distressing tool to scuff the edges of the card stock. Since the focal image was small, I left its border larger than I normally would have and pierced a row of faux stitches around it. While I was digging for antique gold brads, I ran across some green ones that worked perfectly--figured I'd better use them since I don't get that chance very often! This was a pretty quick and easy card.  I'm saving the other two brown cards for when I'm in a pinch for blog fodder! Thanks for looking.

The Alpha and Omega of my Origami Experience / Drawing!

NEW post below; I am leaving this as a sticky post through Saturday night. Thanks!

I saw a super idea in the SplitCoastStampers gallery the other day. (Now why is that no surprise?) Kardizzy had posted an origami tree card, along with directions that even I, the motion-card-and-folding-challenged, could follow. (A huge thanks, kardizzy!) When I started playing with her tree pattern, it morphed past a card and into a Christmas gift.  I added just a couple of things: I added one more layer at the top because I wanted a taller tree. My final square was 1" x 1". It looks fine, but it was not fun; I probably won't try that again simply because the folds are getting very tight at that size. Next I decided that my tree needed a skirt. Two attempts later, I came up with a strip of paper cut at about 5" x 3/4" and scored every 1/4" which I tucked the ends of up under the bottom branches of the tree. When my tree needed ornaments, I remembered that I had picked up a package of miniature light bulb garland a couple of years ago. I glued the mini bulbs on very carefully after liberating them from their little green string and plastic holders. This was a fun project, but not one which I am likely to repeat in the near future; I spent over three hours putzing away on it.

In other news, I noticed tonight that my little three-month-old blog has gone over 100,000 hits. I am still surprised that 1. you ever found it, and that 2. you keep coming back!  I've been going through some of my hoarded stamping toys--things like patterned papers  and metal boxes to embellish--and I'd like to send a goodie box to someone who leaves a comment to this post in the next two days. I'll take all names from commenters through Saturday night at midnight, have my son draw a name, and announce a winner on Sunday night or Monday morning. I truly appreciate the feedback and encouragement that you have offered. Thanks so much!

Edited to add: I just found another origami tree on SplitcoastStampers, and it was posted even earlier. It is by the talented Lisa Sommerville, and you will find it here. Thanks, Lisa!