Inaugural creations

Finally! It didn't go exactly as planned, and I'm not completely organized yet, but I was finally able to get enough of my craft room put together that I could actually sit down and do some stamping today. My aunt also came over to help me christen the room, and truthfully that's probably the only reason it got done. I had a not-so-great week topped off by a pretty downright horrible Friday, so if I hadn't been planning on having company, I probably would have said forget it and drowned my sorrows in brownies and ice cream.

But the room is useable, and so far I'm pleased with everything, especially the craft tables (see Dreaming of my craft room). I absolutely love having two drawers in each table. Originally I didn't think the drawers would be terribly useful because they're not very tall. But this morning I picked up a few cutlery-type drawer organizers at IKEA, and now I have all my most-used tools, adhesives and embellishments exactly where I need them. And I don't have to keep everything in my workspace on top the table. Hooray!

So without further ado, here are the three cards I made today:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Card stock: Midnight Muse, Gumball Green, Summer Starfruit, River Rock
Accessories: Halloween felt pieces (Creative Impressions), Spooky Fence die (Amuse), Chevron embossing folder, Lots of Tags Sizzlits dies, 1" circle punch, Gumball Green stitched satin ribbon, Dimensionals

I decided to start off with a few not-too-complicated cards to get back in the swing of things. This one doesn't even have any stamping! I started with two felt shapes -- the bat and the pumpkin -- and then built the scene from there. Here are a few tips: I cut off one section from the right side of the pumpkin as well as the holes on the top of the bat and the pumpkin (the holes were meant for using brads to attach the pieces to the card). The clouds were made with a die from the Lots of Tags Sizzlits pack; I misted them with water and crumpled them to add some texture. To make the grass I embossed a piece of card stock with the Chevron embossing folder and then cut along one of the zig-zag lines to create two pieces. I used Dimensionals to layer the shorter top piece on the taller one.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Frightening Feline
Card stock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Basic rhinestones, Pumpkin Pie taffeta ribbon, Labels Collection Framelits dies, Festive paper-piercing pack, Chevron embossing folder, white baker's twine, Dimensionals

I love the Chevron embossing folder, especially for Halloween cards; it's just the perfect texture and pattern. For this card I cut out the Frightening Feline stamped image with one of the Labels Collection Framelits dies and then spruced him up with rhinestone eyes and a festive Pumpkin Pie bow. I matted the image with another label shape and used the Festive paper-piercing pack to add a pierced border around the mat.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!, unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Thankful Thoughts
Paper: Midnight Muse, Chocolate Chip card stock; ginger Rustic Wrinkles paper (Snickerdoodle Scraps)
Ink: Midnight Muse
Accessories: Bunches of Leaves felt pieces (Creative Impressions), glitter brads (unknown), linen thread, Dimensionals

For the focal layer on this card I used a piece of Rustic Wrinkles paper. This was the first time I've used that paper, and I really like it. It has a subtle wrinkled texture to it, but it's not too textured to stamp on. I added a few simple embellishments -- felt leaves and linen thread -- to complete this clean and simple Thanksgiving card.

I hope I'll be able to stamp a few more cards tomorrow. I have to get back into a routine so I have a good supply of cards and other creations to share with you. Thanks for stopping by!

From the files: 3D projects

I've been enjoying my "From the files" posts, and I hope you have, too. But to be honest, I'm hoping that this will be my last installment. It's been fun looking back through some of the cards and projects I've made the past few years, but I miss actually stamping. This week I've made quite a bit of progress in my craft room -- furniture assembled, closet organized, at least half of my stamping supplies put away -- so I'm bound and determined to make something this weekend. But for now I have pictures to share of a few 3D projects:

This is a gift set I made for the first craft retreat I planned a couple of years ago. Each person who came got a matching set of four 3" x 3" cards, a notepad, a pen, a bookmark and four decorated peppermint patties. I used different Designer Series Paper (DSP) and color combinations for each set.

The first time I went to the Stampin' Up!^® convention, I participated in a swap where each demonstrator had to make something representing her home state. I created these "Goodie bags" using a Pearson's Nut Goodie candy bar, made right here in Saint Paul.

These were very quick and easy prizes I made for a friend's wedding shower. I bought simple glass votive holders at a drug store and decorated them with rub-ons. I added a candle, placed them in small cellophane bags and tied the bags with coordinating ribbon.

This name frame was a gift for my friend Kim (couldn't have guessed that, right?). I covered chipboard frames with DSP and used large stickers for the letters. I used my Crop-A-Dile to make the holes and set the eyelets in the corners and tied the pieces together with ribbon.

This was a small inexpensive notebook from Target (the black elastic and binding were original to the notebook). I stamped the background paper and used a coordinating piece of DSP inside the pen. I covered the chipboard "j" with DSP and used the Crop-A-Dile to make three holes and add jumbo eyelets. I tied matching ribbons on the letter and the pen.

This was a pre-stamped build-your-own-card kit. I cut and folded eight colored card bases, stamped eight main layers, stamped eight greetings and cut out eight small layers. I also stamped eight coordinating envelopes. I included a roll of double-stick tape in the kit so the recipient could choose how she wanted to assemble the cards. To keep everything together, I decorated a plain white cardboard pencil box with punched card stock circles and covered it with decoupage medium.

Need more inspiration? Check out previous "From the files" posts for masculine, baby, Christmas, floral, birthday and kids' card ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

From the files: Kids' cards

It's hard for me to define exactly what makes a "kid card." Sometimes the stamped images make it pretty obvious. But the kid factor could be something else, such as a playful embellishment or a bright color combination. Here are a few of the children's cards I've made the past few years.

Need more inspiration? Check out previous "From the files" posts for masculine, baby, Christmas, floral and birthday card ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

Moving Day 2

That title isn't technically accurate. Last Saturday was more like Moving Day 7 since we had made several small trips over the past couple of weeks. But it was our second big moving day and the one that involved transporting all of our heavy, unwieldy furniture.

I had stayed up all night Friday night -- literally all night, although I think I zoned out for a couple of minutes when I sat down to eat something -- trying to pack. (By the end I was pretty much throwing things in bags and boxes. And we still didn't get everything.) So when my dad and uncle discovered they had to take apart my desk because it wouldn't fit through the doorway, I was about ready to call it quits. There were other glitches here and there, but I think we all made it through the day more or less unscathed.

You may notice that we don't have any living room furniture yet. Well, furniture to sit on, anyway. We gave away the old couch we had, and we haven't decided what we want to buy yet. So for the meantime we're either sitting on the floor or on a couple of old director's chairs. It's not the most convenient, but it's probably for the best. I have no idea where we would have put all this stuff we just dropped in the living room.

Last night we made our final moving trip to get all the food and cooking supplies we had left in the kitchen when we ran out of energy on Saturday. We aren't really done yet, though. We still have to donate or sell quite a few things and clean the apartment. And then we will be finally, officially and completely moved. Unpacked is another story.


Thanks for stopping by!

From the files: Birthday cards

Balloons, ice cream, cake, confetti, presents. With such festive images it's hard not to have fun while making a birthday card. And that's good, because if you're anything like me, you need to have a lot of birthday cards on hand, especially this time of year. (September and October seem like an endless succession of birthday celebrations in my family.) So for today's installment of "From the files" I'm going to share a few of my past birthday cards. Enjoy!

(Reminder: I don't have supply lists for these cards, but if you want to know which stamp set I used or how I made something, please leave me a comment. I can't promise a very speedy response, but I will answer your question(s) as soon as I can.)

Need more inspiration? Check out previous "From the files" posts for masculine, baby, Christmas and floral card ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

From the files: Floral cards

Floral cards are probably my all-time favorite cards to make. When I'm short on inspiration, I'm likely to reach for one of my many floral stamp sets. From delicate, realistic-looking flowers to bold, graphic blossoms, I love them all.

It was a challenge to select just a few pictures for this post. I hope you enjoy them!

Need more inspiration? Check out previous "From the files" posts for masculine, baby and Christmas card ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

From the files: Christmas cards

Now that fall has started, it seems as if Christmas is just around the corner. So for today's "From the files" I'm going to share some of my past Christmas cards to help you start thinking about the holiday spirit. Enjoy!

(Reminder: I don't have supply lists for these cards, but if you want to know what stamp set I used or how I made something, please leave me a comment. I can't promise a very speedy response, but I will answer your question(s) as soon as I can.)

Need more inspiration? Check out previous "From the files" posts for masculine and baby card ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

From the files: Baby cards

For today's installment of "From the files" I'll be sharing some baby cards. I don't make a lot of baby cards because they're not something I need every day. But I do love them -- there's just something about the stamps, colors, embellishments and papers. Everything is always so cute! I hope you find some cuteness in today's cards.

 

Need more inspiration? Check out the previous "From the files" post for masculine card ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!