May the bluebird of happiness…

OK, I need someone old like me to help me remember which show from long ago had a shtick that started with this. Was it Laugh-In? I think Johnny Carson used it, too.Anyhow, this is just a pretty birthday card made with some of my favorite goodies from i {heart} papers, some old, some new. You can tell I’ve been in the mood for coloring lately.

What I used:
Stamps: Bird on Dogwood Branch (Stampavie); Everything Happy (Stampendous)
Ink: Memento black, Copic markers 
Paper: Everyday Moments (Teresa Collins)
Other: Ovals, and Floral Ovals dies (Spellbinders) – seems to be out of stock. If you ask nicely, maybe Kate can get more in.

Have a wonderful weekend, and may the bluebird of happiness…well, do whatever it’s supposed to do.

Playing Catch-up (again)

I’ve had these cards photographed and ready to post for weeks. These, and more. But we’ll start with these.

All supplies, other than the cardstock, are from i {heart} papers. This one uses paper from the Basic Grey Plumeria pad. I actually made 3 of these using paper from that pad, as you’ll see below. The window was made with the Memory Box Small Madison Window die, the clouds are made with the Puffy Clouds die. I made the molding by just scoring a strip of white cardstock. The greeting banner was notched by hand; the stamp is from the Mint Motif set Simply Sentiments (exclusive to IHP). The flowers showing through the window are Flower Soft. What you can’t tell from the photo is that the base card is light blue, and the whole “wall” is a separate layer attached with foam dots, with the clouds and flowers glued onto the blue base.

 
The next one uses paper from the Kaiser Craft Charlotte’s Dream pad.
The pattern on the peach-y paper is much prettier in real life – it’s shiny embossed. The sentiment on the focal piece, which was cut with the Spellbinders Floral Ovals die, is from the Hero Arts set Good Friends, which I’ve been giving a good workout! The image stamped behind the sentiment is – hmmmm, I honestly can’t remember where I pulled that from. If I find it I’ll come back and fix the post.

Anyhow, it’s embellished with a few pearls, and a few fabric flowers that were trimmed from a strip of the Tim Holtz Lavish trimmings. Now, the trimmings in the package are off-white, but I airbrushed them with a Copic marker to make them match the paper. Magic!

OK folks, that’s enough for now. I’ve got more to share, but you’ll have to wait a bit.

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend!

Still Coloring…

OK, coloring again. I did stop and do other things, like get out and enjoy a bit of the gorgeous weather we’re having here in NYC today. But more flower images were calling me, and I’m soooo weak….
Another little set from Taylored Expressions – Spring Tulips. Again, no greeting. It can be an “anything” card. No bling, nor ribbon, just the pretty flowers and more of the lovely paper from the Teresa Collins Fabrications line.

Pretty flowers make me happy.

Be happy.

Bright and Beautiful

Last night I felt like coloring. It’s one of my favorite ways to unwind from a stressful week – something about the focus it requires that just removes you from the rest of the world for a bit.

I couldn’t resist this stamp from Taylored Expressions when it came out this month. I LOVE gerbera daisies! I wasn’t feeling terribly imaginative, so I basically colored them the way they were on the package, using a whole mess of Copic markers.
I didn’t stamp a sentiment on it. First, I don’t know what I’m going to use it for, and second, I’m afraid I’ll mess it up if I do. Can you imagine spending hours (yes, hours) coloring and making a card, and then stamping the sentiment crooked or smudged? Done it.

This card just makes me happy, just the way it is! I used stuff I hadn’t touched in a long time, like that border punch, and those cool shiny fuchsia dots that I’ve had in my stash since who knows when. And those bright, beautiful flowers make me smile.

Hope your day is bright and beautiful too!

IHP May DT Challenge – and a SALE!

This is a jam-packed post today, folks! Make sure you read all the way through or you might miss something really good.

First, today is our May i {heart} papers Design Team Challenge. This month we are all using stamps from Paper Smooches.

I used a cute new set called Happy Camper. Now, I’m so NOT a camper, although I did try it a few times many years ago. Nope, I’ll take a comfy hotel bed and room service over a sleeping bag on the ground and canned beans any old day! But as you can see, there are some really cute things you can do with this set that don’t relate to camping at all. I colored the bear with Copic markers E25 and E27, and used one of them (can’t remember which) to airbrush the bling to match.

I also used some of the Konnichiwa paper from Basic Grey. As you can see, there are some nice, non-flowery papers in that pad. I think this card could even be considered masculine – is that too much of a stretch?

Now, you’ll definitely want to jump on this little piece of news: IHP is having their Spring Cleaning Sale! Beginning today, May 15th through May 19th. Save up to 50% on selected items and as always, free US shipping with your $60 order!

All stamps 15% off! Spellbinders 20% off! Alterables 25% off! Inks (Sorry, Copics are excluded due to the manufacturer's strict pricing rules) 10% off! 12x12 Collection Packs 15% off! 6x6 and 8x8 pads 10% off! Embossing folders 30% off! And much more!

PLUS! Have you heard about IHP's new rewards from the {heart} referral rewards program? If you love IHP and are looking for another reason to spread the word to your friends, you’ll now be rewarded for doing just that! With our new rewards from the {heart}, simply refer a new customer and earn 10% of their first order placed in the form of a gift certificate. Just have them list you in the “how did you hear about us” section at checkout and 10% of their order will be given back to you as a thank you.

Here are the nitty-gritty details: they must list you at time of checkout; rewards are not valid for any past sales and are only valid for their first order -- but you can refer as many people as you like! There is no limit to the rewards you can earn. We appreciate that you love IHP and want to give back when you share the love. Enjoy, and thanks!

Now, go forth and shop! And don’t forget to check out the rest of the Design Team’s challenge posts for inspiration:

• Carolyn (you are here)
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

Sometimes what seemed like a good idea…

turns out to be, well, a learning experience. This might turn out to be a long post, but if you like glitter (who doesn’t like glitter?) and you like die-cutting (again…) it might be worth reading it through.

So it started out with my wanting to make a card based on one I saw by Amy Wanford in the recently issued Card Creations Vol. 10 by Paper Crafts Magazine. This is my version of her card based on the supplies that I had:
Very simple to make. I used Paper Smooches’ Metropolis set and stamped it on some paper from Teresa Collins’ Everyday Moments pad (more on that later). The city scene is actually an outline, so I colored it in with a black Copic marker. I cut a strip of black cardstock with a scalloped die and adhered it to the bottom of the stamped piece, rounded the top corners and stamped the greeting. I then adhered a strip of double-sided sticky tape to the piece and covered it with glitter. The thing is, I thought I had some light blue glitter to match the printed paper, which is actually white with a light blue grid. But no, I only had turquoise glitter, so I airbrushed the piece with my BG15 Copic marker and there was no longer a problem! Then I stuck it onto a white folded card using foam adhesive dots. A small lesson there, but not the biggie.

Since I had the glitter out, I decided to try something I had been thinking about (danger, danger!). I had bought some of the Scor-Tape 6x6 double-adhesive tiles from Kate (you know, i {heart} papers Kate) with the idea of die-cutting them into shapes and glittering one side of them. Of course, I decided to try this idea out using the most intricate die I had – the Vivienne butterfly by Memory Box (which Kate seems to be out of stock on). The first thing I have to tell you about using this die, and any of the other more intricate Memory Box dies, is to make sure your cutting plates are NEW, or at least un-etched from previous uses. You will have much less angst. Trust me.

For my first attempt at this, I stuck one side of a piece of the Scor-Tape sheet to a piece of cardstock, and then ran it through my Big Shot with the die facing the Scor-Tape side. I ran it through MANY times, with many arrangements of shims, and just couldn’t get it to cut through cleanly. You can see the inner pieces I just couldn’t get out, and the mangled pieces near the top. What you can’t see is that in trying to get the other pieces out, I tore the back of the cardstock, which is very frail because of the delicate nature of the die-cut. You also can’t see the very long time and severe aggravation incurred in getting even this far. Fail.

The second time, I decided to die-cut the adhesive sheet alone, then while it was still in the die, peel off one side of the backing paper, stick it onto a piece of (thin) cardstock, and run it through the Big Shot again (and again, and again) with various shim arrangements. This worked a little better, and I was, with somewhat less aggravation, able to disengage it from the die, peel off the other side of the backing, and dip it in glitter.
Better. A little sloppy looking. You can see where the adhesive kind of missed on the edges a little, and there were a couple of small spots where it had not stuck at all. I touched a bit of Mono Multi Adhesive on those spots and re-glittered them. All in all, I think that this Scor-Tape adhesive sheet idea is much better suited to less delicate die-cuts, and I will use it for those at a later time.

HOWEVER. I was not ready to give up my glittery butterfly idea quite yet. I remembered that I still had some glittered paper sheets from an earlier order from Kate. Let’s try this again.
Betterer! It cut through cleanly (again, with a couple of trips through the Big Shot and some creative shimming). However, in the process of trying to get it out of the die, it stretched and got kind of warped. Still, not ripped, not sloppy looking, and so much better than before!

OK. There was one more trick I had figured out while working with the Tessatina border die a few weeks ago – putting a piece of waxed paper between the die and the cardstock. It helped the die-cut release much more easily from the die.
Voila! Perfect! That sucker pretty much popped out of the die, and the waxed paper peeled off easily. I’m not sure exactly how I’m going to use this little beauty, but I’ll show you when I do.

So the moral of this not-so-little missive is that if you want a delicate, glittery die-cut, use this awesome glittery paper. It’s just the right weight for die-cutting and will give you perfect results.

Oh, and the other moral: A little piece of waxed paper can go a long way in eliminating the frustration of getting intricate pieces out of a die.

Happy die-cutting!

Happy National Scrapbooking Day

Yes, it’s a lot of things today: Cinco de Mayo, The Kentucky Derby, the biggest moon of the year. But it’s also National Scrapbooking Day, something else that I generally just give passing acknowledgement to, since I don’t really consider myself a scrapbooker.

This year, though, as I realized that it’s almost Mother’s Day, I found myself thinking about gathering some photos of me and my mom and trying to do something with them. My mom’s been gone for 14 years now, but there’s a connection there that cannot be broken by time. Or anything else.

I decided to do a digital page and finally play around with some of the things I’ve downloaded over the years. I don’t have any special digital scrapbooking software, just Photoshop, so this is kind of plain since I really have no idea what I’m doing.

The photos span many decades – the first in the 50s, the second in the 70s, and the last in the 90s, not long before we lost her. In fact, I think it might have actually been the last Mother’s Day we had together. I know it was some kind of holiday where my sister gave me that scarf I’m wearing.

Anyhow, enough of memory lane for now. It’s making me a little weepy. I have officially acknowledged National Scrapbooking Day, and I’m rather proud of myself…

Still here…

I know I’ve been really quiet in cyberland, but I’m still here and still crafting. Things have just been a little crazy busy in my life lately, including a visit from my son and his family. I got to spend some wonderful quality time with my baby granddaughter, and everything else kind of took a back seat to that. But now that they’re back in Michigan, and my old-like-a-grandma backache is almost better, I can sit down and show you some of the cards I’ve made lately.

I’ll start with one I made today for the Clean&Simple Sketch Challenge (FTL189).

Honestly, I’m not crazy about this one, especially the way the sentiment is offset in the cut-out space. I think it looks kinda awkward. Oh well – they all can’t be winners. I do like the way the filigree of the butterfly goes well with the design in the paper and the loopy font of the “Happy".

What I used:
Stamps: Swanky Sentiments (Technique Tuesday)
Paper: Charlotte’s Dream (KaiserCraft)
Embellishment: Metal Filagree shape from S.E.I. Moonrise collection. 

This is one I made for the Splitcoast Stampers Mini Virtual Stamp Night tonight. The challenge was to use a sentiment as the focus, and no images.
I die-cut the heart out of the paper, popped it up on foam dimensional dots and stamped the sentiment inside it. A little red ribbon and a little red bling finished it off. Simple and cute. I think I like it. 

What I used:
Stamps: Good Friends (Hero Arts)
Paper: Coconut Lime (Jilly Bean Soup)
Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa

Anyhow, there’s more stuff that I made last week, but I’ll post that separately. Later.

IHP April Design Team Challenge: Felt

It’s time once again for the i {heart} papers Design Team Challenge, and we’re honored this month to be joined by a special Guest Designer, Karolyn Loncon.

For this challenge we are all using the sumptuously gorgeous 100% wool felt that Kate picked up at CHA this winter. She’s got it in 18 beautiful colors, and let me tell you, this stuff cuts like a dream! The rolled roses (Heliotrope Pink) on this frame were cut with the Scalloped Posie rolled flower die, and the leaves (Moss) were hand-cut.

I started with a dollar wooden frame from Michael’s that I had in my stash. I cut strips of paper from one of the 8x8 Teresa Collins Fabrications pads (which is apparently out of stock at the moment, but any subtly printed paper would do just as well).

Before adhering the paper to the frame, I went over the edges of the frame that would remain exposed with a Copic marker that coordinated with the paper, in this case YG93. My product of choice for this type of paper adhesive is Royal Coat Clear Satin Finish, a decoupage glue. I also used it to adhere the delicate lattice strips that I cut with the Tessatina Border Die. I particularly like the satin finish because it doesn’t show up shiny when it dries in the wrong place (if you know what I mean).

Two tips for cutting with this border die: 1) make sure you use relatively new cutting plates in your machine for best results, and 2) place a little strip of waxed paper between the paper/cardstock and the cutting plate. It provides just the tiniest bit of extra resistance for a cleaner cut, and seems to make the little inside pieces fall out of the lattice more easily. It also peels easily off the back of the finished die-cut piece. The strips produced with this die are 5-1/2” long, but because of the design you cannot tell where I joined them. (I had to do a little fudging on 2 of the corners, but they are hidden by the flowers and leaves –shhhh!.)

As a side note, just in case you didn’t know, the insanely adorable baby in the picture is my little granddaughter, Lilia. My heart swells every time I look at her, and I’m so excited that she’s coming to visit this month! Michigan is just tooooo far away from Grandma Cupcake in Brooklyn!

OK, enough chit-chat! Go see what the rest of the Design Team, including our special Guest Designer did with this yummy felt:

• Guest Designer Karolyn Loncon
• Carolyn (that’s me!)
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

Happy hopping!

Lattice to die for

I went a little die-cut crazy on this one. And punch-drunk. First, I have to say that the color scheme on this card was inspired by a phone conversation the other night with my oldest daughter, who told me she’s decorating her home office/guest room in grey and yellow with a splash of aqua. It started my wheels spinning…

The lattice look is achieved by cutting 4 of the Memory Box Tessatina border die strips and adhering them to a piece of medium grey cardstock. I did this with a foam brush and some decoupage glue. That’s mounted on a layer of yellow, and then onto a dark grey card.

A piece of aqua ruffled lace (very cool stuff – it’s elastic) is attached across the bottom. I die-cut a fancy tag and airbrushed it with my BG23 Copic marker to match the lace. A couple of punched yellow butterflies and a little yellow bling on the tag finishes it off. The greeting is from the Good Friends stamp set by Hero Arts, which I think is going to become one of my favorites. I just love the font and the touching sentiments. The Tessatina die, the lace and the stamp set are all available at i {heart} papers.

Hope you’re all enjoying your weekend. I’m doing a lot of cleaning and a little crafting. I really need to get outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather here!

Just so you know…

This is what’s been keeping me so busy for the last week or so. In my effort to bring in a little extra moolah, and satisfy the collective sweet tooth of my workplace, I’ve been busy in production making chocolate covered Oreo cookies for Easter. I’d show you a picture of my kitchen, but, no. Here’s a picture of my production tray with various pieces in the process of being packaged.

And here’s a composite picture of some of the completed packages.

Most of them are done with a bunny mold and packaged with some pastel jelly beans, but I had a request for something not so blatantly Easter-ish, so I made some with pink floral chocolate transfers. They are very cool – actually colored cocoa butter printed on acetate sheets, and the design transfers onto the melted chocolate as it cools. Here’s a closer shot.

 
Here’s a close-up of one of the bunny packages:I think I am pretty much done with the production part of this, and just need to make up some labels for the backs and finish the packaging. I’m also individually packaging some of them in cello bags so people can throw them in Easter baskets.

And I really wish I could say that I’m sick of Oreos, but damn they are good!

OK, quickly now…

Last day of the month. Here’s my entry for the March Sketch For You To Try challenge. Just finished it, and need to get my makeup on and out of the house in 15 minutes. This is a no-frills post:

The card. This pretty much sums up how I’ve been feeling lately.

The sketch:

 

Gotta run!

IHP Design Team Challenge: Featuring Mint Motif

In honor of the March release of two new sets from Mint Motif (designed by the uber-talented Kimberly Crawford exclusively for i {heart} papers), the IHP design team is featuring Mint Motif sets in this month’s challenge.

My card uses the School Basics set. I stamped the notebook lines with Memento London Fog ink, and the words (mostly) in Memento Tuxedo Black, with a little Real Red thrown in for emphasis. The apple (also from that stamp set) is colored with Copic markers and cut out, then covered with Glossy Accents to give it shine and dimension. It’s popped up on a Sticky Thumb Dimensional Dot for even more dimension.

The patterned paper, including the ruler strip, are from the For the Record 12x12 Collection Kit (Echo Park).

For my layout, I used this week’s Mojo Monday sketch. 

Would you like to join us in this challenge? Kate has set up a Mr. Linky on her blog so you can post your project. Just take your inspiration from any of the Design Team’s challenge projects, and use products from IHP. They don’t even have to be Mint Motif stamps (but if you have some, why not take them out for a spin!). At the end of the week, the Design Team will select one of the submissions to win a featured spot on Kate’s blog! You have until 6:00 pm (ET) Sunday to submit.

Take a look at what the rest of the Design Team came up with and get inspired!

• Carolyn (you are here)
• Deb
• Gretchen
• Loretta
• Lori
• Lynn
• Tracy
• Kate

I can’t wait to see what YOU come up with!

February Sketch (just barely)

Well, it’s the very last day of the month, and a Leap Day at that. So that means that it’s time for this inveterate procrastinator to post my entry for February’s SFYTT challenge. Right under the wire again.

Here’s the sketch. I really wanted to use one of these doilies that I bought at the .99 store, and this was a perfect excuse. I ended up making the card a little bigger than my usual size to accommodate it. 

The stamps are from the On My Couch set (PTI), and the patterned paper is from the Hazel pad of the Stella Rose collection by MME. And I finally got to use this nifty embossing punch that I picked up for a song months ago (Martha Stewart). The chair is paper-pieced and accented with Copic markers.

Happy Leap Day!

IHP DT Challenge: Crafty Trends from CHA

Walking the floor of the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Trade Show is always an adventure! What could possibly be more exciting than getting to see three huge showrooms of brand new products that you can hardly wait to get your hands on? Only one thing: getting to share that experience with your girlfriends!

From the very beginning, the i {heart} papers team has had strong ties to Paper Craft Planet. Our mutual love of paper and paper-crafting was the foundation for our friendship, and CHA has given us the opportunity to meet face-to-face and translate those online friendships into real life. It's so much more fun in person than it is on screen!

Those who were fortunate enough to walk the CHA floor this winter (sadly I was not among them) were drawn to certain products and projects. Over dinner discussions they discovered some emerging trends. That's what today's challenge is all about.

Thankfully, those who couldn't be there can live vicariously through the next best thing: photos! Check out these in this post from Susanna, and several posts from MoxieFab!

Some of the current trends that they identified were:

Chevrons

Paris

Travel themed products

Sewing (not new but still going strong)

Quilt patterns as paper backgrounds

City skyline

Pinwheels and Flowers and Butterflies

Pennants

Twine

Small sticker letters

3d embellishments

The ones I used in my layout are highlighted in red. I created my own chevron pattern using the Mint Motif set Beyond Borders. This set has been getting a lot of play lately, having been featured in the recent issue of Stamp It! 3 Ways (published by Paper Crafts Magazine). I actually pulled out my sewing machine for this. Major shocker for those who know me. Almost as much of a shocker as the fact that I made a scrapbook layout in the first place!

The sticker letters came from one of my favorite 12x12 Collection Kits, Little Girl by Echo Park. I created my cupcake embellishment with an old Sizzix die I have in my collection. Cupcakes are also not a new trend, but I refuse to give them up!

The sweet baby in this layout is my adorable new granddaughter, Lilia. Don’t get me started…I have become the stereotypical grandma in so many ways!

Anyhow, you’ll definitely want to check out the rest of our team, as well as the Paper Craft Planet Supernovas, to see how they interpreted the trends. 

Carolyn (you are here)
Deb
Gretchen
Loretta
Lori
Lynn
Tracy
Kate

and our guests from PCP:
Adela Rossol
Lisa Somerville
Lyn Bernatovich
Susanna Boyd
Taylor Usry
Wendy Price

Have fun!