Thank You

I am sharing a Thank You card today.  Check it out to see if you can find a boo-boo:

What do you think?

If you look at the green slope, You'll see two layers.  The bottom layer has the stitched details while the front does not.  What happened was that when I ran the die on the paper, I put the die in the wrong direction, so the part with the stitched details was too small to ground the bunny and that's the last small piece of green patterned paper.......

Time to be creative!  So I layered those two pieces, the front one doesn't have the details but the details from the bottom one will peak through.  Not too bad, right?  This card will go to my co-worker, who is not a crafter, so I guess she won't notice the difference. :p

My card is entering the following:
Color Inspiration - coloring
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Incy Wincy Designs - Thank you cards
Crafty Hazelnuts - Patterned paper

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Homework

Today I'm sharing the homework I did for Clear and Sheer from Online Card Classes.

Sadly, I am a bad student.  I have not even finished watching all the videos and today's already the last day of class!  Oh no!

My two cards today involve embossing.  Have you tried embossing on acetate cards or vellum cards?  The results are stunning!

I turned them into two masculine cards.  First up, a Thank You card:

Then a card for my dad:

If you are wondering what happened to the orange stars in the Thank You card, rest assured that your eyes are fine.  It's just that I've put glossy accent over it but it has not completed dried.  (Gotta take a picture of it before the end of the class..........)

I have been enjoying the lessons in this mini class.  I would love to finish the lessons this weekend, together with some serious scrapbooking tomorrow, because it's National Scrapbooking Day!  Yay!

I'm linking my Thank You card to the following:

Crafting by Designs - Anything Goes

Through the Purple Maze - Anything Goes

Cre8tive Hands Friends - Anything Goes

Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Seriously Thanks for Everything

Happy Friday!

I'm sharing a quick and easy masculine Thank You card today.  In general I think the most difficult part on a masculine card is to strike the balance that it is simple and clean enough for a guy card but at the same time interesting and fun enough as a handmade card.

For this one I'm using patterned paper from the Regatta collection:

The Regatta collection has a nautical theme but it can be used in so many other themed projects.  I have made scrapbook layouts that are in no way related to the sea, beach, or even summer.

For this masculine card, I used one of the card sketches from Make it from Your Heart Vol. I.  I used the wavy background stamp in the Jumping Geometrics set to create my own patterned paper for the background.  Tone-on-tone stamping is one of my faves and I just couldn't resist it for this card.  The sentiment comes from the set Stamps of Approval, which will retire end of this month. This set has five badge-like images that are great for card-makers.  I'm sad to see it go but happy to make room for new products. :)

To add a finishing touch, I included a strip of silver shimmer tape.  These shimmer tapes last forever (I'm not complaining!). :)  They are a great helper to add a little something to any projects.  I like that they last forever and are easy to use.

My card is entering the following challenges:
Inky Impressions - All about boys
The Paper Shelter - For the Boys
Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

Happy Friday!

I said I'm on a masculine card kick and it's still going strong!

Although I think this one would be just as nice for a girl.  Well, I might use Sorbet color for the sentiment and use hearts instead of stars for embellishment.

I've used one of the sketches from Make it from Your Heart for this card.  Love that the book even provides dimensions for each piece to be cut.  That makes it really quick and easy.

The Zoe paper packet was first released in August last year and I heard that it has been one of the top selling paper packets.  I am not surprised.  It is so versatile.  I like that it has patterns and color combination that work well for a wide variety of projects.

My card is linking up to the following:
Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes
Crafty Girls - Anything Goes
Craft Rocket - Clean and Simple
Southern Girls - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Masculine Thank You card

I'm on a masculine card kick and am sharing a masculine Thank Your card today.

I want to make it more playful so I used my Lawn Fawn goodies to make this card:

I was really hoping to use the "Float My Boat" set to make this card so I started with that.  The next thing I knew was that I have the Ocean Wave Borders die which should go well with this stamp set so I took that out as well.  Because of the wave borders I decided to use the boat image.  Then I thought different shades of blue would be great for masculine card so I gathered my blue cardstock sheets.  To give the boat more interest, I did some paper piecing.  I added red cardstock pieces to the sail of the boat.

It is a standard A2 size card but just the boat on different shades of blue waves would make the card bare.  So I used the stitched journaling card die to draw our attention to the center of the card.  I added a sun and two clouds from Spring Showers die, stamped "Thanks!" on one of the clouds and it's done!

My card is entering the following:
Amusing Challenge - Shades of Blue
Addicted to Stamps - Masculine
613 Avenue - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - with a die
Fashionable Stamping - Thanks/Gratitude

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Gratitude

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm sharing a card that uses some of my new goodies:  The new Workshops Your Way: Charlotte Scrapbooking Kit and the January 2016 Stamp of the Month Beloved Bouquet.

At first glance, the Charlotte paper speaks love, Valentine's Day, or wedding to me.  But I assure you that it is not limited to these theme.  My Workshops Your Way: Charlotte Scrapbooking Kit is almost used up and I didn't make anything in those themes at all.

I do want to tell you something new about Close to My Heart's Workshops Your Way kits.  Do you know that you could download instructions to make beautiful scrapbook and Picture My Life layouts and from Close to My Heart website?   For instance, you can find Charlotte's layout instructions here and here.  Don't know what to do with the leftovers?  We have planned it out for you!  You will find card ideas and the additional supplies needed here!  It is really convenient, isn't it?  Since I started focusing more on scrapbooking last year, I have always been looking for more layout sketches to try.  These layouts with cutting diagrams and instructions by Close to My Heart are really the best!

Like I said I didn't make anything love-themed with my Charlotte kit.  I've made several layouts that feature family gatherings and this card:

I've used scraps from the kit and a sketch from Make it from Your Heart to make this card.  I want to give my mom a Thank You card and this one fits the bill.  Sometimes I do not want to just say Thank You on the card front, so the sentiment "You mean so much to me" in Beloved Bouquet is perfect.  Apparently I can't say enough "Thank You" to my mom and she definitely means a lot to me.  I think she'll like this card!

I'm linking the card to the following:
Crafty Calendar - Something New
Crafty Friends - Something New
Inkspirational - Thank you with something new
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
Crafting when we can - Something New
Fashionable Stamping - Thankful/Gratitude

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who live in the US!

I love Thanksgiving.  I love showing gratitude.  Yesterday I gave a card to my co-worker F to thank her for being so awesome.  I couldn't believe that she burst into tears and we gave each other a hug.  Not that I have any plans to leave my current position, but if things happen, I would regret not telling her how much I appreciate her.  F is not a emotional person so her reaction was a bit of a shock to me.  Nonetheless I'm glad I showed my gratitude and I encourage you to do the same.

This was not the card I gave F, but the sketch of her card was the same.  I love recycling.  :P

This card is entering the following challenges:
Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes
Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes
Crafty Girls Creations - Anything Goes
Moving Along with the Times - Give Thanks
Sassy Studios - Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Crafting!

Share Handmade Kindness

Jennifer McGuire has a Share Handmade Kindness challenge on her blog and it came at the time where I am about to make a Thank You card to my friend.

I want to make this Thank You card more special - one without the phrase "Thank You" on it.  This is what I've made:

She is indeed one of a kind and I can't tell how she can manage everything so well in her life.  She has a full time job, two small kids, leads an important role at church and spends time with her girlfriends (including me) and lends a hand to us without us having asked.

I was inspired by Kristina Werner's card here to make my own (speaking of that, I wanted to leave her a comment about her inspiration but I couldn't find the comments section of that blog post.  If you happen to know how to do that, please let me know!)  I do have the stamp sets that she used, but I love the new Close to My Heart Diamonds are Forever stamp set and thought I could make a card full of diamonds.

I stamped the diamonds with the following colors: Poppy, Sunset, Goldrush, Honey and Canary.  I like these colors!  After making this card, I like it so much that I also made a masculine version:

This one made use of Pear, Lagoon, Crystal Blue.  I love them both. :)

My feminine version is entering the following challenges:
Share Handmade Kindness
Simply Create Too - Give Thanks
Simply Papercrafts - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Extremely Simple Thank You card

I'm sharing an extremely simple Thank You card today.  I think it will be great for mass production, but I'll make them in various colors and stack them up, put a big pretty bow on top and give it away as a gift:

Kristina Werner shared this idea of creating an embossed background over at Online Card Classes Background Check and I immediately wanted to use my stash to make one.

I used the Stripe Embossing Folder to emboss the top and bottom part of the card front, leaving about 1.5" space.  Then I cut out the "thanks" from Artiste cartridge and added two skinny strips of the same cardstock to outline that sentiment area.  Easy Peasy.  Isn't that what we sometimes want?  A quick and easy card that looks great and satisfies our creative needs.  :)

This card is entering the following challenges:
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Creative Moments - Anything Goes
Fab 'n' Funky Challenge - no patterned paper
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

You are just plane awesome!

Happy Monday everyone!

I'm sharing a creation using the new Lawn Fawn goodies again!  I just can't help it.  Lawn Fawn goodies are fun and I like that I could mix and match the new goodies with my existing collection.

The card I'm sharing today is exactly a mix of the new Cloud border die with the older Bon Voyage stamp and the alphabet sets:

Many of us agree that masculine cards are more difficult to make than feminine cards.  I need to make a masculine Thank You card.  I could make one with colorful graphic designs but then when I saw the newly arrived Lawn Fawn goodies in the mail I wanted to play with them instead!

So I dug out the Bon Voyage stamp and die set and started playing with it.  I think no men could resist a plane image on a card, right?  Wait.  Oops.  I meant to do Copic coloring but I forgot to use the Copic-friendly cardstock.  At this point I had already cut out the clouds so I just used my trusty Prismacolor pencils and gamsol to color the plane.

Then I dug out my alphabet sets - Milo ABCs and Clark's ABCs.  Yet after I've stamped "You are just plane awesome" I realized that I have the Lawn Fawn So Much to Say set which includes a sentiment "You're Awesome."  Had I remembered it earlier, I would have just used that sentiment rather than lining up the letters from the Milo's ABC set.  Oh well, it's just fine.

It's my first time using the cloud border die and I like it a lot!  I used it both on top and the bottom of my card, so versatile!

My card is entering the following:
Come and Get it - It's a Guy Thing
One stitch at a time - anything goes with men
Stamping Sensations - Dies and Punches
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Craft Your Passion - Anything Goes
Crafty Card Makers - For a Man

Thanks for stopping by!

You are Awesome card

This is one of those cards that I don't make often.  Not that there are not enough awesome people around me, but it's just not something I'm used to make.

However, there is this one person who really rocks and I think that a regular Thank You card is not enough to show my gratitude.  So I decided to make one that says "You are Awesome" on the front of the card:

Do you think this color combo is not feminine at all?  After I am done with it, I was a bit worried about it.  But the recipient does not strike me as a girly girl, does it matter it is not in pink or pastel colors?  I hope not.

My card is linking up to the following:
Stamp and Create - Anything Goes
Mema's Craft - Die/Punch
Love to Scrap - Anything Goes
Creative Card Crew - Sentiment
Party Time Tuesday - Anything Goes
Pinspirational - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a great day!

Thanks

My stash of Thank You card has dwindled so it's time to make a few more.  I'm looking for sketches online for inspiration (and motivation).  I like the one at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

Using the Blossom paper and Cardmaking Workshop on the Go from Close to My Heart, I've made a simple Thank You card:

I love love love this Blossom paper!  It's so pretty!  I like the floral prints, the blues and greens with a pop of orange, the elegant style and everything else.  I've previously made a card here and that's already on its way to my mom!

My card is linking up to the following:
Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge - see sketch above
Scribble and Scrap - Anything Goes
Lil of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
613 Avenue - Anything Goes
Amuse - Feminine

Thanks for stopping by!

Some CASE cards

Today I'm sharing several cards that I have craft lifted from the talented and sweet Laura Bassen.  I took an online class that she taught and had to try some of the techniques shown using my supplies.

First up is this birthday card that involves blending the ink colors:

Then it's repeat stamping but the colors do overlap.  I started with this arrow stamp set (worried that it could be an epic failure):

The stamp image has four arrows.  Whenever I ink it with a new color, I stamp it with the overlap with the rightmost arrow from the previous color.

It was a blast and I tried it with the chevrons which is a border stamp:

Another one that I liked a lot is to add some depth to stamped images with colors:

I really could not take any credit for these cards except for one thing:  I don't have a perfect shade of orange for my flower card and guess what?  I'm not going to let that deter the progress.  I simply stamped the image twice - once with pink (called Pixie) and once with yellow (called Canary) to create my orange.  So glad that it is a clear stamp so aligning it wasn't difficult. :)

I'm going to try the other techniques in her class.  It's really fun!

I'm linking up my second card to the following:
Aud Sentiments Challenge - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Colorful
Dream it Up - Happy Birthday to You
Scrap and Craft - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Graphic stamps again

To make up for the bad picture for my post earlier today, I'm sharing another card that made use of geometric shapes and blue and green:

I'm linking up my card to
Crafting at the Weekend - Anything Goes
Crafty Calendar - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Third card with Graphic stamps

I hope you are not bored by the series of Thank You cards I made using graphic stamps.  I'm sharing one more today:

I'm sorry that the quality of the picture is not that great.  I took the picture using a bird's view angle and even though it looks fine on the screen, it does not look nearly as good on the blog post. :(  

Can you tell where the graphic stamp was used?  It's an outline diamond shape that I've stamped repeatedly using teal and green (CTMH Lagoon and Pear):

The picture above should give you a better idea of how the stamping was done, but boy, the glue was not even dry when I took this picture.  My profound apology about the low quality of picture again!

I have never been a big fan of graphic stamps but Stretch Your Stamps 2 does give us some great ideas!  Isn't the repeatedly stamped diamond shape a good disguise for some patterned paper?

It's my first time using this new "Thanks" die from Impression Obsession and I like it a lot!  Sticking the itty bitty pieces back to the negative space is not easy but the font and the size of it make it great for cards!

I'm linking my card to the following:

Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

Crafty Sentiments - Anything Goes

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Graphic stamps again

I am sharing another card made with graphic stamps!  I am very inspired to make more cards with graphic stamps even though they were not my favorite but now that I've learned some techniques from Stretch Your Stamps 2 I would like to challenge myself to use them more often.

 

Isn't it a great clean and simple masculine card?  I think so.  The color combo certainly suggests masculine, the font of the sentiment is straight-forward and to tell you the truth, I've actually removed the enamel dots after putting them on.  Fortunately the adhesive behind the enamel dots is rather weak so the removal did not leave any marks. 

Because it is so simple, it is importantly to ensure that the stamping is crisp and clean.  Every minute flaw could be magnified in a simple card like this.  After stamping the pattern, I went back to double stamp on them so the coverage is good.  Nothing bothers me more than a crooked sentiment in a card like this.  I am a big fan of starting with the sentiment.  Who wants to repeat the hard work because of a crooked sentiment?  I forgot to do it this time (because the card was quite an experiment for me) but I was fortunate that I got the sentiment right the first time! :)

In case you've missed it, please check out the feminine version of a Thank You card using the same stamp set here.

I'm linking up my card to the following:
The Squirrel and the Fox - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes
Robyn's Festish - Anything Goes
PR Design - Masculine card
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Flowers

Inspired by the sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, I've made a Thank You card:

The sketch looks like this:

Did you see the "doily" on the left of the panel?  I fell in love with that doily when I first saw it in the catalog and it was a "must-have" for me.  Too bad I can rarely use it as a doily because most of the time when I cut it, it doesn't cut all the way through. At most it leaves the cutting marks but the paper isn't cut through.  I've tried many things such as adding a shim, using new cutting plates but I just can't get it right.  Obsessed with it I decided to use it this way - it's a half circle with a lot of intricate cutting marks. :p

I've used color pencils and gamsol to color the image.  It was a lot of fun.  I can see myself doing it more often!

My card is also linking up to:
Crafty Girls Challenges - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafters' Café - Anything Goes
Creative Moments - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks

Remember the vibrant colors here?  I've made another card using the same technique but different colors.  This time I was also using analogous colors but it is the blue-green collection:

I can't tell you which color combo I like more - they are just different!  But I'd say this one is a great masculine card that I am always in need of!

I was inspired by this awesome sketch from Sketchbook Saturday Challenge:

I'm also linking my card to:
Fan-Tastic Tuesday - Anything Goes
Just Inspirational - Anything Goes
CRAFT Challenge - Thank you
Simon Says Stamp - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Playing with Distress Inks

Sometimes, I do not have a particular project in mind.  I just want to play and play without the pressure of completing a project.  I may create a major mess, but sometimes I could use the pieces made during the play time to put on a card, a layout and what not.  Here's one example of putting those pieces onto a card:

One day I wanted to play with distress inks and I just played.  I took out some bright colors and started to blend them on a piece of white cardstock.  Then I turned to some stencils and started to play with them.  It was fun.

I could really use the paper with the distress inks blended on it, I thought.  So I die cut them into three butterflies (the third butterfly has not flown anywhere, it will be used on a different project later).  Then I thought of the sketch from Sketchbook Saturday:

My piece with the stenciling was actually much bigger.  I cropped it strategically (to avoid the really random and ugly stenciling) so the part with the Doily stencil and the Dot Fade stencil is showing.  I added some Picked Raspberry speckles onto the card, stuck on the two strips of paper blended with Peacock Feather, added a couple enamel dots then the card was done.  It is really satisfying to use scraps from play time on a card! :)

I'm linking my card to the following:
Stampart Papel - Stencils
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Eureka Stamps - Thank You
My Craft Creations - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Thank You

Happy Memorial Weekend!

I am sharing a Thank You card today.  I guess it's part of the Memorial Day spirits - I am grateful for those who fought for us selflessly so we can enjoy everything we are enjoying.

For this card, I first heat embossed the tall wheat in green, then applied three shades of orange to the background.  I was trying to create a scene of sunset, but I guess I've edited the lighting of the picture a bit too much so it is rather light here.

I've used the sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge:

Did you know that there are quite a few good deals for card-making or scrapbooking supplies?  I am going to check them out!

My card is entering the following challenges:
613 Avenue - Anything Goes
Amusing Challenge - Anything Goes
Stamping Sensations - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!