Thinking Inking

Just a Note Set

I have a set of three notecards to share tonight, a gift set for a special music teacher. All three used the same basic materials, with a twist on the sentiment section. The Just a Note sentiment is one of the Just Rite Stampers pre-inked 2x stamps. I just ordered a few of these to give away with do-it-yourself notecard sets for some of my young crafty friends. (They are on sale for $1, along with several other stamps and sets--great gift deals!)

The background is a Cornish Heritage Farms Aged Music Scrapblock, stamped in PaperTrey's Vanilla ink on black cardstock. Black ribbon is 1/2" silk ribbon that ties beautifully. Red cardstock is PTI's Pure Poppy, and card base is PTI Vintage Ivory.

Thanks for visiting!

Happy Birthday to a Sweet Friend

Tonight I have a cupcake card to share with you. As I was browsing my patterned papers, I ran across a couple of sheets of Heidi Grace Valentines papers that I knew would be perfect with one of Taylor's cupcake stamps.

The foiled cupcake paper had some dark brown line work, so I stamped the image in Memento Brown ink and colored it with the Copic markers listed below. After coloring the image and stamping the sentiment, I die cut both and outlined them with a silver paint pen to tie in with the shimmer of the paper. All of the details are listed below.

Have a lovely day, and thanks for visiting!
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Product Details
Stamps: Sweet Celebration  (Taylored Expressions)
Papers: Shimmer Foiled Paper, Valentines Day/Cupcakes, and  Shimmer Flocked Paper, Valentines Day/Dots (Heidi Grace/Fiskars -- see the Valentines Collection)
Cardstock: Stamper's Select White, Plum Pudding (PaperTrey Ink)
Ink: Memento Brown; Plum Pudding (PaperTrey Ink)
Markers: (All Copic) RV10, RV32, RV34, YR31, R000, R81, W1, 0
Accessories: Buttons (Autumn Leaves and Buttons Galore); Plum Pudding Satin (PaperTrey Ink)
Tools: Spellbinders Plain Circle Nestability and Labels Trio dies, silver paint pen

Lucky to be Me: Twelve Days of Christmas on the CLASSroom

Just in case you haven't already seen it, there will be twelve days worth of fabulous prizes given away randomly on Ellen Hutson's CLASSroom blog.  I have posted directions for this little 1-1/2" square charm on the CLASSroom blog today, made with the Cornish Heritage Farms Shoe Boutique stamp set and soldering tools and accessories. Have you ever wanted to try your hand at soldering? Today's giveaway could enable you to do so. . . Be sure to scroll down past my post there to sign up for both today's and yesterday's prizes.

What are you waiting for? Go sign up!

All You Need Is Love

Good evening! I'm trying to climb back into my blogging routine, though we still have some family visiting and it may take a bit to get back to normal. Tonight I'd like to share a couple of Valentines cards made with the PaperTrey Ink Love Songs set paired with Cosmo Cricket's Chemistry papers. These two products were meant for each other! Even the PaperTrey colors (Berry Sorbet and Summer Sunrise ink and ribbons here) work beautifully with Chemistry.

For the little lips, I stamped two images in Berry Sorbet, and then cut out one image and mounted it on foam tape, enhancing with some Spica clear glitter markers for shimmery lips. Punches used were a Fiskars Threading water punch and a Stampin' Up notebook edge punch.

The top envelope is stamped in Marigold Morning ink, with the heart on it being stamped in Berry Sorbet ink.  I used a Spellbinders Nestability Petite Scalloped Circle die for the Dark Chocolate mat under the focal image.  Buttons on both cards are Autumn Leaves Foof-a-La. Both of these cards are notecard-sized--3-1/2" x 5", folded.

I hope that you are having some special family time this week! Thanks for visiting.

Gift Card and Chocolate

Last week I found some Wilton candy molds that looked like they would be perfect with one of Lauren Meader's Timeless Templates, Lollipop Along. These little snowflakes out of white chocolate turned out pretty cute, even though they were a bit large to stand up straight in the template box. I ended up adding a mini glue dot to the end of each stick, then inserting them from the center out, sticking them to the bottom of the box to hold them upright. The coarse sugar crystals on the fronts are attached with a tiny bit of corn syrup that I rubbed on the face of the snowflake. Papers are from PaperTrey Ink's Holiday Vintage Prints Collection.

The card is a cash/gift certificate holder, cut at 4-1/4" x 11", and scored at 4-1/4" and 8-1/2" on the long side, leaving a 2-1/2" flap that I folded in, notched with a circle punch, and glued on the edges to form a pocket.  I used the same Holiday Vintage Prints papers to coordinate with the Lollipop Along piece, in addition to the 2008 Holiday Tags Collection--a wonderfully useful little stamp set!

Well, I need to get two more gift cards made and finish up some simple Christmas cards to hand out tomorrow night. Thank you for visiting!

The Greatest Gift: CPS 96

This week's CPS 96 Sketch was stretch for me; I'm sure that I'll kick myself  for being stumped on this one when I see what fabulous ideas my CPS friends came up with! I stuck pretty closely to the sketch, turned on its side, and added the gold bow to function as the third shape on the layout.  I used PaperTrey Ink's Silent Night set again, paired with their Metallic Gold and Vintage Ivory cardstock.  The rectangle at the top is cut from cardstock, then coated in Versamark and heat embossed with Filigree Detail Gold embossing powder.  Sheer Gold Metallic ribbon is also PTI, and gold mini brads are from StarLitStudio.

I'm off to the Post Office with the Christmas cards that I drove in to town at 4:57 yesterday, only to find that the Post Office closes at 4:30. . . and then back to cook for my lunch crowd. Enjoy your day!

Silent Night, Holy Night: Last Minute Cards

It's getting way to late to still be making cards, isn't it?  I'm resigned to being happy if my cards are simply postmarked by December 24!

I'll probably be tossing posts out randomly in the next week as I finish gifts, cards, food, etc. This simple card is one of my last-minute ones--you know the ones I mean--the ones in which layers and embellishments start to get slim. . .

In case you are too busy to be stopping by in the next few days, a very Merry Christmas to you and the ones you love!

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Product Sources
Stamps: Silent Night  (PaperTrey Ink)
Cardstock: White Shimmer and Night Sky Shimmer cardstock (PaperTrey Ink)
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: Filigree Detail White embossing powder, May Arts silk ribbon
Tools: Spellbinders Double Ended Tags Trio, Cuttlebug A-2 embossing folder

Somebirdy Special

It's quite cold and snowy here today, the perfect reason to make a Spring card! I have posted full instructions on the CLASSroom blog, if explanation would be helpful to you. 

I hope that you are having a special time with your loved ones this week!

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Product Credits
Stamps: Pretty Birds by Kim Hughes for Cornish Heitage Farms
Paper: Basic Grey Urban Prairie
Accessories: Rose Grosgrain (Stampin' Up), hot pink pearls, foam tape
Markers: (All Copic) W1, BG11, E55, E57, YG03, YR21
Tools: Spellbinders Plain Square Nestabilities, Copic Airbrush System

Just a Spoonful of Sugar. . .

A couple of weeks ago, I was sent a link to some eco-friendly craft ideas, one of which was a re-purposed spoon (aka Sparkly Spoon Ornament). I thought that the spoon idea was so clever, and I had an idea for a twist on it right away. I found a baby spoon and made my sister a little keepsake ornament for her sweet little girl's first Christmas.

First, Rick drilled two holes for me--one to hang the spoon by, and one to attach some dangle-y bling to. Getting the picture into the bowl of the spoon was a bit tricky (but not nearly as tricky as trying to take a picture of this project--sorry!) I finally trimmed closely around her head since that made the picture small enough to gently mold to the bowl of the spoon without developing wrinkles.  I ran the cut-out image through a Xyron, using permanent adhesive.  Next I used some E-6000 adhesive to attach the Dew Drops to the handle of the spoon.

I used some twinkle stickers (micro dot and heart) at the top of the spoon bowl near the handle, and some pink chandelier crystals at the bottom of the spoon. The little silver charm is one that I picked up at JoAnn.com, I think. Ribbon is my new 1" wide white silk ribbon from Cindy Lyles, aka StarLitStudio. I've just ordered some cream and black too--I love how real silk ties!

There are several other great crafty recycling ideas on the Ecologue site too--I hope that you get a chance to check them out. Also, Cosmo Cricket has been running some fabulous "Thrifty Gifty" projects on the Cosmo Cricket Blog, definitely worth perusal. Thanks for stopping by!

Beauty for Ashes

I've been playing with one of those beautiful little Verve Visual Plain Janes again! Tonight's card uses the Isaiah 61:3 stamp combined with a Spellbinders Labels 1 die, some Copic airbrushing, and some Blue Hill (Crate Papers) patterned paper.

Although I loved that little peacock  and didn't want to cover him up, any layout I tried seemed to cover him up. Finally it occurred to me to use a craft knife to slice carefully along his underside so that I could insert the edge of the focal image in and let the peacock serve as a photo corner element. He's coated in some clear Spica glitter pen as well; you can see the shimmer better in the close-up picture.

I wanted to add a splash of the tangerine color to the focal image, but I didn't have the right color of pearls or rhinestones--not a problem. I airbrushed some small pale yellow pearls with a Copic YR09. (I had already airbrushed the background , leaving the Labels 1 die in place to serve as a mask, with a Copic BG13 marker.) Inks were Versamagic Aquatic Splash, Turquoise Gem, and Tea Leaves.

This was a fun little card to make! Thank you for visiting.

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Andrea at Crafty Engineering has a friend with a very sick newborn in NICU. She is collecting cards, as well as offering some blog candy. Andrea's address is on her blog on this post, if you'd like to be a blessing to the parents.

Friendship Gives Wings

I loved the sentiments in the PaperTrey Ink Heart Prints Sentiments set and wanted to share a card using one of my favorites today. As soon as I saw the sentiments, I tried to think of a way to add wings to one of the Heart Prints images. I know that Tim Holtz has a set of grungeboard wings, but I haven't had a chance to try grungeboard yet. (Yes, we live WAY out in the middle of no-craft-stores-land!)

Then I remembered having a set of Spellbinders butterfly and insect dies--wings (Flying Beauties). I liked this particular butterfly shape the best, but I had to cut it in two and spread the halves apart to make it work. I also cut the lines of the sentiment apart to add some visual interest. Ink for the heart is PaperTrey Ink's Berry Sorbet, as is the stitched grosgrain.

Patterned papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Chemistry line--coming soon, no doubt, to a store near you! To add to the cool vintage look of the papers, I did a bit of sanding and punching (Fiskars Threading Water punch and Stampin' Up's Notebook Edge punch). The button is either Autumn Leaves or Buttons Galore--they are all sorted by colors in my little jars now. Rhinestones are A Muse Micro Dot Twinkle Stickers. The card is only 3-1/2" x 5" folded--notecard size rather than A-2.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you have a great day!

Happy Birthday, Cuteasaurus: CPS95

For this week's CPS Sketch 95, I chose to make a boy's birthday card. This little guy, a Kim Hughes cutie, paired with Cosmo Cricket's Hello, Sunshine papers, just makes me happy. I colored him with the Copic markers pictured here. We'd love you have you play along with the CPS Sketches!

I'll probably be cutting the blog babble short as Christmas nears--just like many of you, there are way to many things to fit into the time that's left. Have a productive day!

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Product Details
Happy Birthday, Cuteasaurus
Stamps: Little Guy by Cornish Heritage Farms
Paper: Hello, Sunshine 8" x 8" pad by Cosmo Cricket
Cardstock: Stampers Select White) PaperTrey Ink), Black (Prism)
Markers (All Copic) YG01, G12, G14, 0, C3
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: buttons from www.buttonsgalore.com, green Stickles (Ranger), foam tape
Tools: Spellbinders Classic Circle Nestability dies; Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for the cardstock rickrack; Black Gelly Roll pen (Sakura); sanding block