Card 19: 30 Days

Hi All!
Sorry for the late post - again! And I'm sorry, but this one is going to be short and sweet. For Card 19 I decided to do a Christmas Card - WHAT?? In August?? Yes, in August! If I want to send out handmade Christmas Cards I should have started last December!

Anyways - I used Cosmo Crickets new Christmas line - it's pretty cool - it's the traditional red/green but they threw in a lavender on some of the papers - it's an interesting color combo - the paper's also a little bit shabby chic or retro and I just love it - especially the red and cream holly paper - I didn't use it in this card but I'll use it in the next Christmas Card. I also used Flower Soft in Diamond White for the snow on the window. I used my Silhouette for the window, green bough and Noel. Nothing like making snow in August in 100 degree heat!!

See you all tomorrow... I have no idea what I'll be making... it'll be a surprise for everyone!
Andrea

Card 18: 30 Days

I'm sorry this is such a late post - I've been to 2 doctors appointments, x-rays, pharmacy... a busy, tiring day.

Anyways, Card 18 is such a fun, any occasion card - although you probably won't want to give it to your boyfriend/husband/son. I've been paying close attention to scrapbooking/cardmaking and crafting trends, and one trend is hot air balloons - which are totally cool and you can do any type of card with them. For my hot air balloon card I choose The Girls Paperie line again, I just can't get enough of it and I love the elegant, shabby look of it. I also used my Silhouette SD for all of my shapes, quick and easy!

(Wishes Floating Your Way Card)

I took a 6 x 6 in. tan card base and matted a 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 dusty pink to it. I then matted a 5 3/4 x 5 3/4 in. printed ledger piece. I used a scallop border punch on a 1 1/2 x 6 in. floral print, then cut a 3/4 x 6 in. blue patterned piece and adhered it to the scallop piece and adhered the whole thing about 1/2 in. from the bottom of the card. I then added crocheted lace over the whole border piece. I used a House of 3 label and cut it from a white solid and a slightly smaller label from the same blue patterned piece and then backed the label with chipboard. I popped up the label with foam tape. I then stamped a scallop circle on a cream/black dotted paper and cut that out, adhered it to the bottom right corner of the label. I added 2 green/white dotted tickets (Silhouette) and 1 white "wish" ticket (Silhouette- House of 3) and adhered them to the label. I put a 3 layer flower that I cut from sheet music over the corner of the tickets and part of the label - adding a button with blue/cream bakers twine in the center (don't forget to curl up the petals for extra dimension). I then adhered the hot air balloon that I cut from a tan solid, floral print and blue solid. I used foam tape to adhere the center section of the balloon. I then added 5 clear Dew Drops randomly around the card, put blue stickles on the ribbon on the balloon and Diamond Glaze on the "Wish" ticket. I distressed everything - I used Tea Dye Distress Pad from Ranger.

I love this card, I think it's super sweet and can't wait to find someone to give it to!!

See you tomorrow!
Andrea

Card 17: 30 Days

Card 17 - as masculine of a card that I can make (I did add stickles, I just can't help myself)! It's funny, I was a total tomboy growing up, I played softball, preferred tennis shoes and flip flops to any sort of ballet flat or anythig with flowers on it. I did NOT like pink or purple at all (pink is my fav now), my teenager room was black, white and blue with pops of pink (I compromised with my Mom, she really wanted me to be girly). I did like make-up and clothes but would not wear prints and preferred black (I wasn't goth as all, I think I just understood that black is slimming), but I would not wear a dress until one day I totally manipulated my Mom and said "Okay, if I wear a dress once every few weeks will you always buy me whatever dress I want??", to which she agreed and I decided to live in dresses as a college student just for the ease of it (we live in So.Cal, the weather lends itself to dresses nicely). Anyways, I just find it amusing that now I can't seem to do anything without a feminine touch - like this Grandparents Day Card with glitter.

(On Papa's Team Card)

I made this card for my little cub to give to my Dad for Grandparents Days (Sept. 12) and it's pretty basic. I took a 4.25 x 5.5 white solid card base, then matted it with another white solid and then matted it again with another white solid but embossed it with small dots. I then used a blue/white patterned paper and die cut clouds from my Silhouette SD. I inked them in blue and then glued 2 of them down but then popped up the 3rd one with foam tape. I then took a small piece of brown burlap and cut it into 2 hill shapes - I didn't do a perfect cut or even try for one because I wanted it to look a little rugged, I adhered it with Scrappy Glue. I then took an orange patterned piece and cut out a Dump Truck with the Silhouette and added some black tires, I used foam tape again to pop it up. I added Diamond Glaze to the dump truck to give it more dimension. I then tied a thin piece of green/white ribbon around the bottom and tied a simple knot. I cut "PAPA" from QK Chicken Noodle and adhered it to the top of the card. The inside reads "Thanks for picking me for your team", which is a saying that my Dad always uses with his grandchildren "You're on Papa's team, huh, Buddy?". It's a very simple and easy card, you could change it around and instead of doing a dump truck, do flowers or a basket of apples depending on your theme!

Happy Sunday! I'm off to Collective Journey's today to teach the Lazy Days of Summer Mini-Album!
Andrea

Card 16: 30 Days

Emboss, emboss, EMBOSS! I love it, I don't know why it's taken me so long to get on the emboss band wagon because it's such a simple technique but it adds so much to your projects!

(Sweet Little Witch Card)

For my "Sweet Lil' Witch" Card I used the Tim Holtz Bingo Embossing Folder. I cut a solid cream piece of paper to be 4.25 x 5.5 in. and ran it through my Epic using the embossing folder. I then cut it down to be 4 x 5.25 in. and rubbed Chalk Ink Pad in Chestnut and in Black over the numbers and letters to get them to pop. I then took a 6x6 in. black solid card base, then added a 5 7/8 x 5 7/8 in. cream mat, then a 5.75 x 5.75 in. orange patterned (Making Memories Spook Alley) piece and then I glued the Bingo Card toward the right hand side of the card, leaving about 1/4 in. border around 3 sides. I then adhered a 2.5 x 6 in. solid black piece across the center of the card, then added a 2 x 6 in. spider print (Making Memories Spook Alley) centered on the black solid, and then .75 x 6 in. black word print (Making Memories Spook Alley) and scallop border punched one long edge. I then used the little witch from a sheet of images and backed it in black solid. I tied a bow with cream lace and glued it down, added 3 black buttons and called it good. I wanted to add a plastic black spider ring around the bow but couldn't find one until after I had finished the card, but I thought it'd be an interesting touch.

Hope you like it, and remember, embossing adds dimension and texture to any project, you can sand it, distress it, ink it, spray it - anything you want to make it stand out as much or as little as you want!

Have a great Saturday!
Andrea

Card 15: 30 Days

Hello Everyone! Happy Friday!

Well, we are half-way through our 30 Days of cards and today I'm going to show you a card that is kind of a repeat, hope you don't mind... I'll explain as I go!

I made another Halloween Card yesterday, and it looks an awful lot like a Hallowe'en Card from last week, which was totally my plan! I was looking at the Mad Hatter Hallowe'en Card and just felt like something was missing, something was off... I had plenty of embellishments (possibly too many??) but I wanted more texture, so I made another card and I love this one even more than the 1st Had Hatter Card. So, my point is, if you create a card and you like it but after a few days or so, you start thinking about how it could look better, then go ahead and use your original as a sketch and create another card that's similar but that has everything you want in it! Use your own designs as your jumping point, or inspiration!

(Hallowe'en Card)

So, I'll tell you the changes in my NEW Mad Hatter Card. I took a 4.25x5.5 in. burgundy solid and embossed it with a Cuttlebug small dot folder and glued it towards the left side of the card - you can see it behind the frame. I also double matted the Eerie paper just for more dimension. I also used Melissa Frances Glass Glitter on the frame instead of the Black Stickles, it just pops way more (I felt like the black Stickles got lost). I backed my frame with a chipboard frame for more stability, I also backed my Rabbit and Tea Party cards with chipboard. I decided against the "31" and instead added a key hole since so much as to do with keys fitting into doors in Wonderland.

So, that's it. This card has everything that I wanted, I don't think that I'll do another one again... but we'll see in a week!!

See you all tomorrow - and sorry, it's another Halloween Card but it has Embossing again; my new favorite technique!
Andi

Card 14: 30 Days

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to address a topic that my Mom and I have been discussing lately, and that is "Do cards fly out of my ... head?" And the answer is, NO! I don't always have inspiration, some days I walk into my scrapfice and just turn around and walk back out. Sometimes I get started on a card and keep working and working and I end up spending 2 hours on a little 5.5 x 4.25 in. piece of paper that looks like Adam (or Alan) made it. Sometimes I totally copy other people's masterpieces! Creativity doesn't always flow, if I have a great week where I'm making 3 cards a day that are all original to me, then I have 3 weeks where I can't think of a single original idea and all I do is duplicate (as close as possible) what I see in a magazine. So, my point is, don't get down on yourself if you're just not feeling "it" for a day, a week or a month, it happens to all of us (I think). I'm sure even Martha Stewart or Heidi Swapp or Tim Holtz have days where getting their socks to match seems like an obstacle in color choice.

So, now that I have said my piece, here is a card that I created yesterday after being inspired by a card I saw in a magazine (I kinda copied the card but made it my own in some ways...). Yesterday (and I'm afraid today is going in the same direction) I was not "into" it. I was looking at tons of blogs, planning out upcoming classes, pouring over idea magazines but when it came to me actually sitting down and cutting and pasting... well, it was a struggle.

(Falling For You Card)

I used WeR's "Maple Grove" paper line for this card that I grabbed from Collective Journey's the other night... I also broke out my sewing machine - WHATTT!!! I know, I'm so lazy sometimes, I'm always impressed when I take 3 minutes out of my day to move my sewing machine and put in the correct color of thread... anyways, took a cream 5.5 x 4.25 in. card base and used Chalk Chestnut Brown to distress. I then took a portion of the green/blue patterned paper from "Oak" and cut it down, adhered it, then added a piece of their wood grain patterned paper, cut it down and adhered it as well. I then sewed the edges with cream thread, alternating between a straight stitch and a zig-zag just for fun (I'm crazy like that). I then used my Fiskars Scallop Border punch on a tan solid piece and adhered it towards the bottom of the card. I ran brown and white bakers twine around the solid piece and also threaded it through my button holes. I then used my Silhouette SD, cut out 3 solid orange leaves from their "Fall Leaves" image, then made the leaves smaller and cut them again from the patterned paper. I adhered them all down, but used foam tape to pop-up the top leaf. I added my buttons to the base of my leaves and I was done!

This card will be in the October 2nd class of "Our Favorite Cards" at Collective Journey's 909-793-2200.

Have a great day, everyone!
Andrea

Card 13: 30 Days

Who says 13 is an unlucky number? Not me!! That's why today's card is my "Lucky Bingo" Card. I've been dying for this stamp... and I couldn't find it in any of my LSS, sooo, I went online and found it and bought it and did a happy dance when it arrived in the mail. I know, I know, I said I wasn't going to buy anything new for my cards... but I didn't buy it just for the 30 Card: 30 Days project, I bought it because "I died" when I saw it (quote courtesy of Rachel Zoe).

(Lucky Card)

So, I used the Girls Paperie Line (again! I just love it!) for all of my patterned paper, I stamped my BINGO image using Chalk Ink in Chestnut Brown and cut it out. I added an organza cream bow, added a few cute pink buttons and some pearls in a flourish design and here it is! I think it'd be a nice wedding, thank you or get well card. Even a friendship card, with "I'm lucky to have you as my friend" saying inside.

Hope you have a fun and lucky Wednesday!
Andrea