Scraps Cards

It's been way too long since I played along over at Heart 2 Heart Challenges! This week we were challenged to use scraps. I have A LOT of scraps.

I keep them divided up into bags, roughly by the size of the scrap. The larger/medium pieces are reserved for use in other projects, the little ones I use for piecing, but Ellie also has access to the bag for her projects.

So, this week we got out the bag of scraps and both made some cards.

Here's Ellie's card. She's definitely my daughter - see the fussy cutting on the watermelons? ;)



For my card I used scraps from the Stella papers. This is one of my all time favorite collections, so I'm pretty happy that it's one of the four that was carried over from the last Idea Book.

The sentiment is from last month's Stamp of the Month, Live Out Loud, and I colored in the words You and Better with Spectrum Noir markers. It's hard to tell from the photo, but that panel in front with the tiled strips of paper is popped out using some zap dots.

One other thing I wanted to mention. I often collect up the cards I have on hand and send them out when people are collecting cards for different drives. My go-to card size is usually 4x6, but I recently learned that Operation Write Home accepts only A2 (4 1/4" x 5 1/2") cards. So, I'm going to make a conscious effort to make more A2 size cards in the future.

Thanks for coming by, have a great rest of your weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: CTMH - Stella papers, Lagoon and Cocoa cardstock, Colonial White Bulk card base
Stamps: Live Out Loud
Ink: Cocoa
Other: Helmar Zap Dots, Tombow Mono Adhesive, Spectrum Noir DR3, BT5

A card for many occasions/challenges: H2H, RCC32, SSD #105, Moxie Fab Trigger Tuesday

This is another one of those cards where there was a perfect storm of challenges....partially owing to the holiday season. The challenges at H2H and Ribbon Carousel both had inspiration photos which you can see below. I was inspired by the colors and the candy stripes at RCC32 and all the all ornaments an polka dots at H2H.





Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger also had lots of those round metallic ornaments, and while I took my color cue from H2H and RCC, I was inspired by the lovely line of the scattered ornaments on the grounds, and tried to get some of that feel in my card.



Finally, I followed the sketch at Skipping Stones Design for the layout of the card.

This was a fun card to make. I used the Happy Clusters stamp set, which is one of my favorite. I've pulled it out on so many occasions, and the truth is I haven't even made a star/tree card using it yet. I just love all the little circle elements that are included.

For the little green squares, I used three of the larger circles, random stamped them onto the cardstock using Topiary ink, and then mounted them on two larger squares of Topiary cardstock.

The piece with the sentiment is a little trickier. It's NOT die cut (hope for all of you who don't have a machine yet). The 'Merry' was hand drawn and then cut out using my CTMH cutting knife--a great cutting knife that gives you tons of control. If you don't like your writing or don't think you can do it, not to worry. A simple solution is to use alphabet stickers. Just adhere them to the cardstock, and then cut them out in the same fashion. You could also trace a dimensional element in pencil. You don't have to have the fanciest/most expensive tools to achieve the same look!

After I cut my letters out, I used Cranberry and Topiary ink and random stamped all those circles onto the cardstock. As I mentioned before, I was trying to get a feel similar to that from the Moxie Fab trigger photo. Then I added the solid circles. I have two hol3 punches. They're about 3/8" and 3/16". I punched a bunch of circles out and then adhered them to the sentiment piece. Then I adhered the whole thing to an old piece of Bazzill scrap.

For the ribbon/twine element, I cut a very thin piece of cardstock (thinner than the 3/8" grosgrain ribbon, so it looks like it's just the ribbon there. Then I added two strips of twine (I wanted it to look a little like wrapped present). The little bow is so easy to make. Just wind the twine around two of your fingers a bunch of times. Remove, cut a small piece of twine and tie it tightly around the middle and fluff. I added the green bow on top for a little added contrast.

Hope you are having a great weekend and getting to do some crafting too!

Supplies Used:
Stamps: CTMH - Happy Clusters
Paper: CTMH - White Daisy, Topiary, Cranberry; Bazzill - Scrap of Red paper
Ink: CTMH - Topiary, Cranberry
Other: Twinery - Maraschino/Peapo twine; CTMH - Cranberry Grosgrain, cutting tool, Misc - Hole punches

H2H Challenge - Metal Mania, and Moxie Fab Medallions

Seems like I am just always behind on my Heart 2 Heart challenges these days, but at least I'm not as late as last week, right? Maybe by next week I'll be caught up...

This card is for the hubby who celebrates a birthday on Wednesday. I'm also going to link it up with Moxie Fab World's Medallions challenge.

I started off knowing that I wanted to use the little photo hangers to string up the banner, and that it would say i heart u, but beyond that I wasn't quite sure where we would end up.

The medallions I made are 'smashed'. While I like the look of medallions, I just kind of think they're impractical. I mean, if you're going to send someone a card, or spend all that time on a layout, don't you want something that won't end up smooshed? So, I set out to make mine smooshed to begin with.

I scored 3/4" pieces of cardstock every 1/4", but when I went to fold them, on the 'hills' I pivoted the cardstock a little bit, so that the scored line ends up in the center of the fold.

I used the tombow to connect the ends, and then shaped it into a nice tight medallion which I adhered to a small punched circle using the tombow. It's kind of an imperfect science, but it gives you the same basic look and feel of a regular medallion. And, you know it's still going to look that way even if you put a ten pound weight on it.

The pennant pieces were cut using the Cricut Art Philosphy cartridge at 3 1/2". They are scored 1/2" from the top and folded. I wasn't planning on using the hinges, but in the spirit of 'Metal Mania', I thought we could use some more metal. The hinges are great because it's a nice tight fit with the hemp...doesn't slide around, yet you can still move it and adjust it easily.

Originally I started with plain Cranberry cardstock and an Outdoor Denim frame, but I thought it looked too plain, so I cut a smaller frame using the same paper I used for the medallions to put on top of the plain frame. Then I busted out my Happy Clusters stamp - the Christmas tree one, and stamped inside the frame using Cranberry ink to get the tone on tone effect.

I really like how it turned out, and hopefully the hubby does too!

CTMH Products Used:
Stamps: Happy Clusters, Cocktail Alphabet, Set from Elemental Workshop on the Go
Ink: Outdoor Denim, Cranberry
Paper: Cranberry, Outdoor Denim, Bamboo, White Daisy, Lucky Level 2
Other: Photo Hangers, Hinges, Hemp, Dimensional Foam Tape, Cricut AP cartridge

Heart 2 Heart Color Challenge

I'm getting caught up this week, and wanted to go back and work the Heart 2 Heart color challenge from last week, because I like the color combo so much: Autumn Terracotta, Juniper, and Bamboo.

To create the background, I took a piece of White Daisy cardstock, and then swiped my Autumn Terracotta ink pad across it. I started from the corners because I wanted to create a diagonal pattern/texture.

The two large hearts are from the Elemental Workshop on the Go set, and the small one is from Happy Clusters. The large heart is Goldrush cardstock stamped with Autumn Terracotta. The medium heart is paper from the Typeset Level 2 kit, and the small heart was rock and roll stamped with second generation Chocolate ink.

I edge distressed the longs sides of the pieces of Juniper and Bamboo cardstock and then lightly sponged with Autumn Terracotta. Then I swiped the short sides with the Autumn Terracotta stamp pad, much like on the background piece.

The sentiment is also from the Elemental Workshop on the Go stamp set.

This was a quick and easy card to put together, and one that you could recreate in many different color schemes. Hope you are having a great long weekend!

CTMH Supplies Used:
Stamps: Elemental Workshop on the Go Set, Happy Clusters
Ink: Autumn Terracotta, Chocolate
Paper: Juniper, Bamboo, Goldrush, Typeset Workshop on the Go, White Daisy
Other: Edge distresser, sponge

Fall card for SSD, Create, and H2H

Due to technical difficulties at work today (strange electical outage), I find myself home with time to blog and craft (yay!).

I was originally going to submit this card for the H2H challenge and Skipping Stones Design Sketch, but it turns out I should pay more attention to deadlines, and I had to have posted the card to the H2H site by Saturday night.

Oops. (This has happened to me a couple of times recently, also a product of waiting to the last minute, I guess).

Anyway, I really enjoy the Skipping Stones Design sketches. For any who have not tried them out, take a look....you might even win something (I did!). They are very basic, which means you get to be very creative. I often feel a little tied down by sketches, but never over at SSD.

I am also submitting this for the Create Blog challenge this week which is 'no sentiments'.

So let's get down to the creative process. I am a huge fan of this blog: http://stampingmathilda.blogspot.com/. If you've never visited, you must. Godelieve does great work, and must just stamp all the time. I'm no mathematician, but if you are posting 500ish times a year, you are posting more than once a day. While I'd love to be that prolific, I'd also love to have some of her stamping chops.

Godelieve has a weekly post called Sunday Scraps where she uses the scrap materials from her projects for the week to create a new creation. I love that idea, and since I have LOTS of scraps, wanted to try that on this card.

This is what I started with (some of the scraps from my card for last week's CAS-ual Friday and Play Date Cafe card, which incidentally got posted too late to make the PDC cutoff....told you it had been happening a lot lately):



I cut the top and bottom of the frame down to make them even, then I used a tissue (since I need to get some more sponges) to add some Autumn Terracotta ink to the Honey cardstock to give it a richer color. I wanted the edges to stand out a bit more, so I started swipe/sponging Chocolate ink on them, but it gave it a kind of greenish tone, so I went back and did the same with Cranberry ink to balance the colors.

For the center portion, I cut the rectangular piece down 1/2" on both the width and height, rounded the corners, and used it as a mask. First I sponged chocolate, and then added some Autumn Terracotta. Lest you think I am a neater stamper than I actually am, I cut that masked piece out and adhered it to my white background piece hiding the edges beneath the frame.

The leaf is cut out of Kraft paper using the Cricut AP cartridge and stamped with the coordinating stamp set in Autumn Terracotta. I swiped a tiny bit of Chocolate ink on the edges for contrast.

I wanted the frame to stand out a lot, so it's adhered with a double layer of 3-D Foam tape, the leaf has a single layer, and I added a bit of Cocoa grosgrain ribbon to complete the look.

Thanks for visiting and have a great Halloween!

CTMH Supplies Used:
Stamps: Cricut AP cartridge coordinating stamp set
Ink: Autumn Terracotta, Chocolate, Cranberry
Paper: Autumn Terracotta, White Daisy, Honey, Kraft
Other: Cricut AP cartridge, Cocoa Grosgrain Ribbon, 3D Foam Tape

Custom Journaling Spots for H2H

I just can't get enough of the new AP cartridge! This idea came to me while I was at work and I just had to try it out when I got home.



It's pretty easy to do, but a little complicated to explain and unfortunately I didn't think to take pictures during the creative process. Should you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

- I cut a 4 1/2" pillow box from some Dreamin' paper (LOVE those prints!) and folded the box following the vertical lines so that it lay flat.

- Then I trimmed the curved ends on the side of the box that does not have the skinny flap you use to adhere it together.

- On one end I scored the remaining flap so that I could fold it over for one end of the journaling spot.

- On the other end, the open end, I cut a small piece of Pacifica cardstock to the width of the box and about 1 1/2" deep and traced the curve of the flap. Cut the piece along your traced line.

- Use this piece to trace a curve on the other side of the opening.

- Cut the box along the line you just traced and then adhere the other piece (Pacifica) to the inside of the box as a liner.

- Adhere the envelope for the journaling spot along the long end and bottom.

- Cut a 4" tag. I used White Daisy and cut a Chocolate tag also. I trimmed the top piece off for an accent and adhered it to the base tag.

- Stamp your sentiment on the tag.


- The envelopes can be decorated or left plain, it's up to you. I used the AP cartridge to cut the branch with leaves in Chocolate at 2" and White Daisy at 1 3/4". The White piece I 'painted' using the blending pen and chocolate stamp pad. These are so cute and now you can create them in whatever size you'd like to perfectly complement your layouts/cards!

CTMH Products Used:
Ink: Chocolate
Paper: Dreamin, White Daisy, Chocolate, Pacifica
Stamps: Notice the Details
Other: Blending Pen, AP Cricut Cartridge, Bonding Memories Adhesive

Four in One Card

I have another card for you today. It's for my grandfather-in-law and I'm entering it into three challenges. I love it when things come together like that!

The Heart2Heart Challenge from three weeks ago was a die-cut challenge, a perfect way to practice with my new Cricut and AP cartridge; this week's Mojo Monday challenge is a sketch challenge featuring rectangles and squares; and this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge is to use three shades of a monochromatic color plus brown.

I knew that I wanted to use some frames cut with the Cricut, and that easily lent itself to the Mojo Monday sketch challenge. Since I'm just getting used to the Cricut, I often end up thinking that the size I'm entering is the reverse of what I end up cutting, i.e. I enter 2" because I want the rectangle to be 2" tall, and instead it is 2" wide. This ended up working out well for this card since I ended up with a number of frames/shapes that I could layer until I got the look I wanted.

It's a simple card, and one you could easily make using scraps. For the two top frames, the Cricut shape I wanted to use originally didn't have the right dimensions, so I ended up just cutting the square and rectangle with the trimmer, and using a single hole punch to round the corners, a trick I saw just today here: http://danieladobson.blogspot.com/.

Thanks for stopping by!

CTMH Products Used:
Ink: Outdoor Denim
Stamps: Say it in Style, Notice the Details
Paper: Colonial White, Indian Corn Blue, Lilac Mist, Chocolate

Just wanted to drop you a line for H2H Challenge

I'm working on a few cards for friends/family, and I thought I would share this one as it ended up being perfect for this week's H2H challenge: use at least three shades of cardstock and no patterned paper.

I used the CM 12" cutting system wave to make the waves and the edge distresser on the edges. The little fish is from the Hot Diggity stamp set. It is stamped in Honey, and then I used the blending pen with Autumn Terracotta to do the shading. I did this in stages, letting the ink dry and going back for more color until I got the shading to where I wanted it to be.

For the hook/line I freehand drew a hook and cut it out and used a little piece of hemp secured with Liquid Glass. I also went over the hemp very lightly with a black marker to give it a more distressed look.

It was a lot of fun to put together. Hope you enjoy it!

CTMH Products Used:
Ink: Honey, Autumn Terracotta, Pacifica (second generation)
Stamps: Hot Diggity, Classmate Alphabet
Cardstock: Pacifica, Indian Corn Blue, Lilac Mist, White Daisy
Other: 3D Foam Tape, Hemp, Blending Pen

H2H Challenge Sketch Card

I was inspired by this week's Heart 2 Heart challenge to create essentially a ribbon with paper. I realized when I was working on the last project (Journal cover), that distressing small pieces of paper is not the easiest, so for this card, I distressed the edge of an intact piece of cardstock, and then I just cut a sliver off. I cut a wider piece of black cardstock, about 3/4", and then lined it with Tombow adhesive. Then I just layered the slivers of colored cardstock on top. I did supplement with some liquid glass as needed. Then I cut the entire 12" 'ribbon' into the smaller pieces (3", 4", 5").

The clouds were hand drawn, cut out and then sponged with Heavenly Blue ink. The writing was (biting fingers) handwritten, and the sentiment on the inside of the card reads "look for the rainbows". I popped out the black frame as well as the cloud with the writing on it with 3-D tape. Finally, for the small circle, I used a circle punch, sponged the outside, and handwrote the verse reference - Jeremiah 29:11 (For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.)

Heart to Heart Challenge - Create background paper to use on a Father's Day card

As I mentioned in the previous post, I've been excited about the possibilities of creating my own background paper, and have been experimenting with it this past week. My upline emailed me yesterday to tell me about this week's H2H challenge. You have to create your own background paper and then use to make a Father's Day card.

I had already been kicking around a plan for how to use the 'Something Splendid' stamp set my upline had given me. It's a really pretty set with large flowers where you build the flower by stamping the flower petals, then details, the center of the flower, and also includes some leaves/leaf vein stamps. I used the smallest leave, stamping it in a circle to form the flower/starburst images. Then I used the center of the large flower as the large circle and the center of the small flowers in clusters. It took a couple tries to get the spacing right, but I was really pleased with how this came out. It's pretty abstract but organic at the same time.

I used the paper to make a 5x7 card, accenting it with kraft borders sponged with Garnet (same as the large circles on the paper, also used Garden Green and Desert Sand). The other stamps were from The Works alphabet and the Lucky workshop set.