Back to Simplicity....

Now granted I haven't been doing this craft blog thing for very long...and I am no where near talented as other crafters with blogs...but I do what i can...

As I have mentioned before at my core I am a simple stamper...I like clean lines...

So when I got my NEW Stampin' Up Set "A Little Birdie Told Me" - it just screamed out for some simple cards....

and this is what I came up with....

So FREAKIN CUTE...and how much time did it take me...practically NONE at all...

I grabbed an SU white folded notecard (LOVE THOSE THINGS) - my set and my black stamp pad.

Now the half oval stamped in Going Grey under the birdies feet is a stamp from ALL THAT SCRAPS - you can find it HERE . I bought it with it already mounted on wood because I had a "feeling" that I would be using it alot... BUT if you don't have an oval or half oval stamp - let me tell you what you can do if you have the SU Oval punch...simple punch an oval out of scrap paper...then put it on your card and use a sponge to sponge in an oval to anchor your image.

I simply used a blender pen and some ink (I like to take my marker and scribble on a CD case and then pick up the color) to color in the birdies and the umbrella - I also added white dots to the umbrella with the Signo white gell pen.

Added a piece of SU gigham black ribbon and BAM...a super cute clean line card that only takes a few minutes to do...

And what I like best about this card is that it is very easy to switch out - need a bithday card - well change out the "under the weather" for the "celebrate" stamp and add the hats on the birds...many different possibilites with one little set, a pack of notecards, a roll of ribbon and a few markers....

Time to stop being a HOR

-DER that is...

Yep folks it is 2008 and my New Years Crafting Resolution is....

to stop being a HORDER!!!!

I have all types of accessories - brads, gems, chipboard, flowers, glimmer mist, twinklin' H20's, etc.....

I have tons of pretty printed paper - Stampin' Up, Around the Block, Basic Grey, Reminensce, etc....

I have all sorts of tins and chipboard coasters and alterables

I need to stop HORDING and start creating...

I need to let go and put a Rhinestone brad on that card...to cut that beautiful paper...to go ahead and alter that cute wooden box...

I just need to DO IT...

...cause when I use it that means I get to buy more :)

My first tutorial...Watercolor Sparkle

Well at least on my blog...I actually have a tutorial over at SCS...Stamping on Candles

But this one...well I am not sure if I came up with it - I do know I discovered it myself soon after getting my Water Color Crayons and having an "accident" while crafting...I accidently grabbed the Versamarker instead of my Aquapainter

I have used this particular technique ALOT when I do swaps because I personally feel it is a little beyond ordinary...

So I give you - Watercolor Sparkle...(hey if anyone can come up with a better name let me know)

So what do you need....


Watercolor Crayons
Versamarker
Iridescent Ice Embossing Powder
Permanant Ink (I used Basic Grey)
Stamp set with open design
Embossing Gun
and of course Cardstock




Stamp your image using a permanent ink











Use Watercolor crayons to add color to the stamped image - it doesn't have to be fully colored in...in this case I used a lighter yellow (So Saffron) in the middle, a rose color (Regal Rose) ringing the yellow and finally a Coral (Cameo Corel) on the outside






Use your Versamarker to blend the crayon together - I work from the middle out using circular strokes







Dump your Iridescent Ice EP on the image...you want to do this fairly quickly after you have blended your colors with the Versamarker. Shake or tap off any excess - the EP will only adhere to the areas you have used the versamarker on.

Use your embossing gun to melt and set the EP






Finally put your card together...now you have a card with a beautiful, colorful sparkle image.











Side view to see the sparkle...





I have used the technique a number of times you can see samples

Sparkle Birthday

Ornament Card

Sparkle Butterfly

I {heart} stampin' gal val

If she ever reads this blog she is going to think I am a big stalker...and I am of her BLOG

She comes up with the cutest ideas...so do a lot of people but what I love about her is they are uncluttered, simple and well fabulous...

She had a posting one day about using Junkitz paper to create easy beautiful cards with no stamping involved... and another one where used preprinted cards she and very little stampin'. I will tell you that after i saw the Junkitz cards I HAD TO buy that paper and recreate them...

I have pitures of her completed projects in a little folder (yes I obsess much) and whenever I need a quick card and I am not in a creating mood I usually find one of hers to CASE because they are fast quick and simple - but STUNNING...

So I was wandering around a LSS in my parents hometown and back in the corner were some holiday Around the Block papers...I thought to myself "self these are cute" and my self replied "yes they are you MUST buy them"... so I bought them, brought them home and put them away...


Yesterday I decided to clean up my workspace since I had finished most of my holiday crafting and I came accross the paper...so I decided to whip up some cards...they took me all of an hour from start to finish....


Cards I dub - "Val style"...

I used Around the Block "Seasons Sayings" "and "Christmas ribbons" - I simply cut the word blocks out...on the dark red ones I swiped the edges with a little white craft ink...on the green ones a bit of SU Pomegrante ink. I used prefolded white cards I bought from Micheals (note these are 4 x 5.5 cards) and some dark green and wine organdy ribbon I had hanging about that I had dug out of the $1 ribbon bin at Micheals.

I cut the Christmas Ribbon paper into 5.5" x 2" strips and attached it to the bottom portion

The saying blocks are popped up on SU dimensionals. I thought about adding some colored brads to the sides or the the blocks like Val did with her Junkitz ones...but since I was planning on giving them to my husband to give to his coworkers I decided not to waste my precious brads and kept them simple...

So my final cost - let see...

.75 per sheet of paper (it was on SALE :) )

1.00 for the ribbon (cause I still have half a roll of each left)

~$1.65 for 11 cards and envelopes (got to love that 40% coupon - $3 for 20 cards)

so my final cost for 11 cards (note I had more squares left over but a few were too big for the size card I had) is about $4.15 - so a whopping .38 cents each to make...

I have recently found out that Around the Block makes a ton of other "blocked" word papers...I'm in heaven....

and better yet a great place to get them is A Scrapbookers Legacy - which is having a fabulous holiday sale of 40% off EVERYTHING... plus get FREE goodies...and FREE shipping on orders over $50. I have bought from them before and have had fabulous service...(and no they are not paying me to say this :) )

ACK - only 12 more days til the big man comes...

OK a post today without pictures... {edited to say NOW there are pictures :) }

More about my musing on being a crafty person in this the Holiday giving season....

I enjoy crafting - it all started with a Creative Memories party about 8 years ago and well probably thousands of $$$ later I am swimming in the big pool of crafting...

BUT...just because you are crafty and you make things you think are...well...pretty cool - doesn't mean everyone does...

My favorite place on the web has to be Splitcoaststampers I have been a "member" since May of 2004 and I have seen some simply wonderful and stunning creations...

some of them I have CASED for my personal use...others I have CASED to give to friends and family...

Some of the creations have been so breathtaking I look at them and think "man I would love to do that BUT who would appreciate it" - sure my good friends who are crafty like me would appreciate things...my sister who is pretty artistic in her own right would appreciate things....my best friend in the whole wide world - Michelle - would appreciate things...but beyond that circle it turns into a crapshoot...

I just finished up personalized BIA journals for my nieces for X-mas...(pictures tommorrow I promise) - I thought about really embellishing them out but in the end I decided to go simple, for fear that they won't appreciate the work I put into them...Sure I could have save myself a lot of time, money and sanity and just bought them a little journal and wrapped it up...but in my heart I am a crafter...

So that is the crux of what I am getting at...here I sit among all my crafty stuff - itching to make something...I do elaborate plans in my head - I sketch out my ideas but when it comes to actually implementing them I fall short...either I give up and don't make something as elaborate that I had planned for fear that the receiver will just throw it in a drawer or I just give up altogether and buy something storebought and call it good...

anyone else feel this way?

Edited to add pictures of the journals...see this is what I am getting at - I had ideas to add more ribbon...maybe an extra felt flower or two with a rhinestone brad...but then I just decided to stop...and leave them as is...had I known that they would really APPRECIATE them for what they are I might have gone a step further... but for all i know in a months time they will be shoved under a bed somewhere...

Sometimes I surprise myself...

So one of the things I love to do is make slider cards...for popcorn and hot cocoa.

This year I had a friend order some popcorn sliders for Halloween and she asked if I could make some for the Holidays...

Why of course!!!!

It also needed a place for a gift card and a To: From:

Not a problem - or so I thought...then I got to the nitty gritty...how to have a place for a gift card...how should I do a To: From: label...

Hemmed and Hawwed...hawwed and hemmed...tried a few different things that were a no go

THEN I finally came up with this...

The pouch itself is 6.5 inches tall and holds a small bag of microwave popcorn.

The front has a small card (3.5 x 4.25 folded) - inside the card is a small pcoket I made using designer paper - it will fit a standard gift card perfectly. The top half has a little decorated To: From: label.

The card is held closed with the scalloped circle. The circle is popped up on dimensionals on the bottom half.

It is hard to see in these pictures but I did use a bit of cinnimon Stickles in the centers of the flowers on the front stamp, the scallop and inside next to the Merry Christmas.

28 more days...

ACK......only 28 more days until Christmas!!!!

so every year I send out close to 75 cards....all handmade. In previous years I have taken part of lots of X-mas card swaps and sent those out - sort of fun sitting on my bed with all different types of Holiday cards surrounding me trying to "match" the card to the receiver.

This year time just got away from me and I didn't participate in any swaps...so I am on my own for creating holiday cards...something "easy", something "quick" but something "good" - and since I can't stand making more than 20 or so of the same cards...it means a few different designs....