Crafty birthday adventure, Day 1

Last week was my birthday, and to celebrate I went on a crafty birthday adventure with my aunt Terry and friend Lisa. We attended a crop/craft retreat hosted by Memory Bound papercrafting store in Ankeny, Iowa, from Oct. 16-18. Memory Bound was having a celebration, too, for their 25th year anniversary. It was a party weekend! I have lots of pictures to share, so I’ll be dividing them up into a few posts.

We started our adventure on Oct. 15. Lisa brought each of us a gnome to join the fun, so we snapped a group shot when we stopped for lunch. Meet (left to write) Gretchen, Penny, and Hamish. (Penny is my gnome, and I’ll tell you, she can be a little mischievous.) The drive was uneventful but seemed long because it rained the whole way.

After we arrived in Ankeny and checked into the hotel, we headed over to the Taylored Expressions studio, where we did a little shopping and made a card. Penny was pleased with her work.

The next stop was the Memory Bound store. I found a few packs of Tim Holtz word/sentiment stickers I had on my wishlist, a pack of alphabet cards (an impulse purchase, but they seemed cool for mixed media projects), and some beautiful Christmas papers from Paper Rose Studio. (I have ideas for holiday projects with the papers. We’ll see if I actually have time to make them.)

Time for dinner! I wanted pizza, so we decided to try Nonna’s Pizza and Pasta. Penny helped decide what to order — a Sicilian-style Margherita pizza — and it was delicious!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel, relaxed in our room for a bit, and then went down to the lobby for a little birthday party. Lisa brought homemade cupcakes, a birthday crown and sash for me, and some silly cupcake glasses. We called my sister on FaceTime so she could join the fun from home (Lisa had also given her a gnome and some glasses).

It had been a long day so after the party, we went back up to the room to settle in for the night. Lisa and Terry fell asleep first, and then Penny and I decided to get ready for bed, too.

That’s it for Day 1. Stay tuned for the continuing story of our crafty birthday adventure.

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Snarky Halloween cats

Now that we’re well into October, I’ve got more Halloween cards to share — specifically, three cards featuring Tim Holtz’s Snarky Cat Halloween set (Stampers Anonymous).

I don’t do a lot of ink blending, so I’m really pleased with how these two cards turned out. I used Distress Oxide inks and spritzed the background with water to create the look of a starry sky. To make the moon I used the Tim Holtz’s layering moon mask (Stampers Anonymous), and the tree branches were made with a die I had in my stash.

For the stamped line-art images (cats, pumpkin, etc.), I stamped the images on the card panels and also on white card stock. I ink blended the images on the white card stock then cut them out and glued them over the images stamped on the card panels. This was the easiest way for me to get all the tiny details, like the little cat hairs, without having to do a lot of masking. (It also meant I didn’t have to keep my ink blending inside the lines since I cut out the images anyway.) I used a stamp positioner to add the bats so I could stamp them multiple times and get them really dark. I love how everything came together!

For the third card, I decided to create an indoor scene — a room in a not-too-spooky haunted house. I used patterned papers to create wallpaper and a hardwood floor. I stamped the cat, pumpkin, and mushroom jar using the same technique described above. I stamped the cobweb in the upper left corner, but the background needed something else. Using the Haunted Gallery die set (Hero Arts), I added a framed portrait of a black cat. I ink blended the background in the frame to coordinate with the pumpkin. I think this card turned out pretty cute, too.

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Nature card sets

Today I’d planned to share the collection of autumn cards I made last month for seniors in Minnesota, but apparently I forgot to take photos before I dropped them off. Oops. So instead I’m sharing a couple of card  sets featuring nature scenes and images.

I made this set using the On the Horizon cutting-plate die (Taylored Expressions) and the long-retired Epic Day This and That Designer Series Paper (Stampin’ Up!). I chose eight different patterns from the paper, cut the die with each paper, and then mixed the different pieces. I glued the pieces onto kraft card stock as I reassembled the scenes and adhered each panel to a coordinating card base. I did emboss the card bases first to add some subtle texture, although it’s difficult to tell in this photo.

I ended up with eight cards in this design. I kept two for my stash and, after adding sentiment strips, included two in the cards I brought to work last month. These last four I decided to group together into a card set. I didn’t want to add sentiments, so instead I finished each card with a small hemp twine bow.

The second set of cards has a much earthier color palette than the first set. (Sorry that the lighting isn’t great in this photo.) To make this set I used one of the alcohol ink backgrounds I made over the summer along with the Mushroom Medley die set (Concord and 9th). I cut the mushroom tops out of the alcohol ink background and the stems from a variety of neutral card stock colors. I glued the mushroom pieces together and then divided them into four groups of five mushrooms.

I used heavyweight white card bases for these cards, and I added a panel of white woodgrain-textured card stock to the front of each base. I adhered a dark brown die-cut frame on each card and then arranged the mushrooms in the frames, along with a few bits of greenery. To finish each card, I added two enamel dots in the upper right or left corner of the framed area.

I love how these mushrooms turned out, but I’m not sure how I feel about the white background on these cards. I used cream card stock for the mushrooms, and I don’t usually combine white and cream. What do you think?

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Big batch of cards

Earlier this month I brought a big batch of cards to work to share with the teachers and other staff. I enjoy sharing them, and it’s fun to see which cards my coworkers pull out as they flip through the assortment. It’s also a great way for me to focus on using patterned paper; this time I used three different paper collections. These layouts are all pretty straightforward and I have several photos, so I’ll skip the details. But as always, if you have a question, leave a comment and I will respond as soon as I can.

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Sweet Havana

A few weeks ago I needed to make a sympathy card. I decided to use the Sweet Havana stamp set and the coordinating dies (Mama Elephant). It’s an older set that I haven’t used a lot, but I love the style of the flowers and the jug/vase. Using the Spa Collection - Zen Garden set of mini ink pads (Catherine Pooler), I stamped and then die cut a bunch of pieces and began assembling the bouquets.

The first two cards I made were both sympathy cards (I figured I might as well make more than one while I was at it). I created two simple bouquets in blue jugs and added a banner that said “sending love and hugs”to each. Using foam tape I adhered each bouquet to a die-cut stitched white oval.

For the card bases, I chose blue card stock to coordinate with the color of the jug. I embossed the front of each card base with an embossing folder and then added one of the completed focal layers. Inside each card I added a white panel stamped with a sympathy sentiment.

I had enough pieces left to make a couple more cards, so I created two more bouquets. For the first card (left) I used a white card base and embossed the front with a floral frame embossing folder. Inside the embossed frame I stamped “thinking of you.” I added a banner that said “and smiling just because” to the jug of one of the bouquets and then used foam tape to place it below the stamped sentiment.

For the second card (right) I used the same embossing folder, but this time with a light purple card base. I used liquid glue to adhere the bouquet near the top of the open area within the embossed frame. I found a die-cut “hello” in the tray on my desk that coordinated with the flower colors, and I glued that below the bouquet. I finished this card with a small linen thread bow on the handle of the jug.

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