Stampin Up - Engraved Greetings

As I am working on a couple of as yet unfinished projects I thought I would quickly stamp a few simple cards.  For me going back to basics can be a good thing as I look at all the wonderful cards on the internet but they just seem to get more elaborate and more like works of art.  It can be a bit intimidating if one is not overly artistic and I need to remind myself of why I started making cards - the cost.  Here in South Africa greeting cards are really expensive and seeing I was scrapbooking and had the tools, I figured I would start to make the cards we needed as well.  Needless to say, the scrapbooking has been sidelined and I mainly concentrate on making cards these days.

Anyway, this simple card starts off with the Stampin Up image Engraved Greeting die cut with Spellbinders Deckle edged rectangles, matted onto a piece of brown paper also cut out using the same die.  The mottled brown cardstock was on offcut which I cut to size and used an old Creative Memories corner punch to finish it off.

Lili of the Valley - Sprinkled with Sugar

This is a rather cute stamp from Lili of the Valley.  I stamped the image onto watercolour paper using black Archival Ink and coloured it in using a variety of markers, Distress inks, Stampin Up crayons and Liquid Pearls mixed with water (on the icing sugar box).  For the most part I used an aquabrush with the colouring in.  I then sponged Antique Linen Distress ink around the edge and popped it onto a Spellbinders Fleur de Lis rectangle.

The background paper is Creative Memories and I think the sentiment is from a Hero Arts set - not certain on that.  The sentiment is on a Spellbinders Ribbon Banners die.

Square Envelope made from Template

I don't think I have ever made an envelope first then the card to suit it.  I wanted to try an idea with my new envelope templates and thought I would make a birthday card for my niece later. 

This is a 5" square envelope decorated on the front using a Spellbinders Labels 21and a Magnolia Doohickey Leaf & Swirl die for the flourish.  The name was cut out using a Cuttlebug alphabet.

On the back of the envelope I used the same Magnolia die to cut out the flourish and backed it with gold vellum.  The seal is a stamp from Lili of the Valley called Mixed Circular Sentiments.

Tim Holtz - Old Jalopy die

When I buy a new die I like to use it straight away to ensure it is not faulty. I had this Tim Holtz Old Jalopy die cut out on my craft desk for ages and finally decided to do something with it.

I think what put me off was the colour of the cardstock I had used so I altered it with Distress Ink and stamped over it with Hero Arts Old Letter Writing wooden stamp using Coffee Archival ink.  The background cardstock was embossed with a Cuttlebug folder and sanded for effect.  I used (or should I say abused) my Zutter Distresser for the edges.  I am still fairly new to the machine and have not quite got the hang of it.

The sentiment is from Tim Holtz - Stuff to Say and was stamped also using Coffee Archival ink.

Envelope Templates made with old X-rays

The only square envelopes which are fairly readily available here in Cape Town are 6" ones.  I often make cards that are smaller and decided to look for some free templates on the internet.  There are quite a few around and I am not entirely sure which site I took these from.

The first of the templates is a 4 ½" square envelope and the one below is a 5" square template.  Both are made from old x-rays (and do I have loads of those !!).  I printed out the envelope templates making sure I used the borderless printer setting, then I cut them out.  After sticking them onto the x-ray using masking tape I cut around the outline.

The site I took these from did not have liners so I made my own up also using x-rays.  Below is a photo of the 2 sized liners and a couple of the paper ones I cut out ready to pop onto an envelope.

After doing these I then decided to have a look at some of the metal dies which require a template.  Some of the newer Whimsy dies do not come with one and I thought a cardstock template might need replacing so I cut some out of the x-rays as well.  I also did the same with the new Peachy Keen dies. With the way I am going I will need to start searching through the cupboards for some more x-rays soon ! 

Kaszazz - Seahorse Love Large - Valentine's Day card

With Valentine's day coming up I thought I had better see what stamps I had in my collection.  I love Kaszazz stamps (an Australian company) as they stamp well and they have some really good designs.

I thought a square card would be easier for this design and I used an embossing folder (Sizzix I think) with hearts on for the red cardstock.  The cream heart is cut using a Creative Memories cutting system pattern called Gemstone and the pink frilly bit to the right is part of a Marianne D - Circle die.  The middle 3 circles were cut using Spellbinders Classic Circles small and large and the central heart is from a Creative Memories heart punch.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts set called Valentine Sayings and I popped it onto a Spellbinders Ribbon Banners die.

The image was stamped onto watercolour paper and coloured in using an aqua painter and Antique Linen Distress ink with Broken China for the boy and Victorian Velvet for the girl.  I then attempted to cut it out and realised when I got down to the tails that I would have to chop a bit off as it was virtually impossible to cut out such fine detail.

For the inside of the card I used, on the left, various Spellbinders Classic and Scalloped hearts and on the right a Go Kreate die called Large Square - two different sizes.  The hearts at the bottom are from, on the left, a Creative Memories punch and the other two are from a Stampin punch.

Stamp & Die Storage idea

With Cape Town experiencing a heatwave at the moment I am unable to sit and create in the evenings at my craft desk.  What I have been doing is organising my stamps as this means I do not  have to put my craft light on - it is just way too hot !

I found a whole lot of CD's we used to use to backup our computers on in the office and I decided to re use the cases for the stamps that are mounted on cling cushion.  Most of the labels are too large so they require trimming down but otherwise it is a quick and easy job to do.  I will get around to labelling the spines once I can find a tape that is thin enough.  I also store these CD cases in a larger plastic bin - I went down to the local plastic store with a CD case and measured all the containers until I found one that was just right.

Besides stamps, a lot of Spellbinders, Whimsy, Marianne D and other metal dies fit these cases perfectly.  I managed to source a magnetic sheet (had to buy a couple of meters of it) and cut squares for each CD case before popping in the die.

All this came about as a result of having a mouse eat some of my stamps - it ate right through the packaging.  I figured the stamps would be a lot safer if they were in a CD case and then in a plastic container !

Address Book project

A while back I bought a Pine Cone Address and Perpetual Calendar Book in Melbourne. In one of my periodic spring cleans I found it - just as well as I had completely forgotten I had even bought it. You just have to love getting older, it is so exciting clearing out - you never know what you might find next !

For the covers, which I covered in patterned paper on the insides, I used Distress Stains, Tim Holtz stamps called Good Thoughts and Nature's Discovery (on back) and French Market Place plus Flourishes Medallion Motif on front.  The images were all stamped using Archival Inks.  It might look like a bit of a mish mash type of design but I like it.

Tea Bag Dispenser

In honour of January being "Hot Tea Month" (I kid you not) I thought I would make this nifty Tea Bag Dispenser as a gift.  I saw the idea for this project on 2 sites - RunningwScissorsStamper and on Scrapparazzis Blog.  I had these ideally wrapped teabags for it and naively thought I could knock this up in next to no time.  Yeah, right !!

This first one I completely messed up the measurements with the second one not being too much better.  I then decided not to waste any more cardstock and that I would use the second one making it up as I went along.  Well, 4 evenings later I managed to finish the box after everything that could go wrong did.  I will not be making one of these again, not unless I find a suitable die to cut the container and lid out first.

Here is the lid decoration on which I used Magnolia dies called Doily Flower and Rose Leaf.  The tag is a Go Kreate one called Concentric Tags and the sentiment used is from a Flourishes set called Taglines.

JustRite - By the Sea

I have had this JustRite By the Sea oval sitting completed on my craft desk for a while now.  I used Copics to colour it in and matted the image plus frame onto 2 Spellbinders Ovals. 

The embossing folder is from Craft Concepts and is called Sunrays. The nautical knots are from a Flourishes stamp set called A Guiding Light.  I stamped the knots using Cobalt Archival ink on white cardstock and shaded the image in with Distress ink.

Whimsy Stamps - Hot Air Balloon Die

With so many different companies offering dies I find it difficult to focus on which ones I will use - I want them all !! 

This Whimsy die is another which is different and allows the crafter decide on what to do with the balloon part.  I opted to use a patterned piece of paper then I must admit I did struggle a little to stick the strips in as the main die was cut using cardstock and the balloon was cut using paper.  It would have helped if I had used the same thickness cardstock for both.

I stuck the balloon onto a Spellbinders Labels 18 which I edged with Antique Linen Distress ink.  Next came a Spellbinders Oval, matted onto a rectangle.  Both the yellow and the burgundy paper are from Creative Memories.  The photo corners are an EK Success punch and the border top and bottom are from a Martha Stewart border punch.



Hero Arts Clings - Timely Bird

I fancied using a different technique and decided to see how Distress Stains worked on stamps.  As I only have 4 of them, Broken China, Fired Brick, Wild Honey and Peeled Paint, those were the only ones I could use on this card. 

First I stamped the Timely Bird image from Hero Art using the different colour Distress Stains and then applied the same colours in Distress Inks randomly over the cardstock using Inkssentials blending foam.  I did the sentiment oval using the same concept.  The image was matted on a Spellbinders Lacey Squares die and placed on 2 different colour papers.  The background paper is from a pad I bought years ago and I used a white gel pen for the faux stitching.

Whimsy Owl

This dear little owl looks like me in the mornings !  I originally coloured this Whimsy stamp in using Copics but made such a hash of it I tossed it out.  I struggle to use Copics in small areas like the whispy hair as the ink just seems to bleed.  Yes, I am using the right paper and ink plus I have a light touch so I really cannot fathom out what I am doing wrong.  Anyway, I used my old faithful watercolour paper, blender pen and Marvy Le Plume II markers and had finished colouring in so quickly.

I used Nestabilities Labels 3 to frame the image and sponged it with Antique Linen Distress ink.  The green background paper is from a Stampin Up hostess gift pad, the sentiment is from a Clear Dollar set called Charliene April Showers and it is on a Cuttlebug die cut.  The sewing is hand done - not my strong suit !

Cottage Cutz - Carousel Silhouette

Here I am back again with Cottage Cutz dies.  Even though I strongly object to their latest "hunting" release I will still buy their dies - just not from that release.  I am passionate about animals and taking a life in the name of sport is something I will never understand.

Anyway, I am off my soapbox - the background paper is from Creative Memories and I used 2 Nestabilities Labels Ten to mat the carousel die on.  The actual die was simple enough but I did have a slight problem taking all the little bits out of the main die cut.  As one is normally unable to run these dies through the Cuttlebug twice I placed a shim on top to properly cut through the paper which was not very thick.  The card was finished off with a sentiment punched out with an SU oval.