Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Hearts, Hearts, Hearts #1

This card really doesn't have hearts but the other two do. I have been in a slump. My Inspiration has been missing in action. A very wise friend of mine told me to do a bunch of cards with the same layout different colors. Well, I am backwards. What I did was use the same colors, just different layouts. I took out a piece of DP that I have been HOARDING for ages. Then I (gasp) cut it up and did different cards with it. I picked out the CS that I thought would match and Voila!!!! 3 cards. I still have DP left so let's see if I will make more cards with it, at least it gave me a starting point and I like the results. The #2 and #3 cards below actually do have hearts on them. TFL!!!
For this card I wanted Polka Dots to accent the stripes so I used the little polka dot stamp I made by punching a bit of left over rubber (you know the stuff that is left over after trimming your stamps and mounting them) with a hole punch. I mounted it on the end of one of my calligraphy pens which makes it handy to grab when ever I get the urge to polka dot. I actually made 3 different sizes as I had 3 different size hole punches LOL!!
I also used my MS Scallop edge, SU Scallop punch, the white circle was cut with the Cricut. A piece of green ribbon and there you go.

Hearts, Hearts, Hearts #2


Card #2. I was tired of Red hearts so I looked through my Cricut cartridges and found some hearts on the George Basic Cartridge. I cut 2 different types of hearts in 3 different colors. One fat the other long. 2 sizes. 1 1/2 inch and 2 inch. Ran them through in the Swiss dot folder. For this card I used the swiss dots on the side and framed the sentiment by doodling around it in the 3 heart colors. Also put a self adhesive crystal in the middle of the "O".

Hearts, Hearts, Hearts #3


This is Card #3. The differences in this card is that I put a white ribbon, Wal Mart self adhesive clear crystals on each heart. Used the Scor-Pal to put a line next to the Swiss dots, distressed the edges of the sentiment and the DP is horizontal not vertical like #2.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Blogging can Be Fun

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I donated this card:

Pretty in Pink - Rabbit

It's done. I worked on this image forever it seems like!! I was not happy with the basket. It just did not want to blend. The problem I know is that I stamped it on the wrong paper. I have to remember to use either my Matte white or my SU Whisper White if I intend to color an image. The color comes out so much better. I finally finish the image, then I got my Labe 2 Nesties. So I tried those out too. Then the image sat for a long while because of course nothing worked.
Yesterday, at the end of the day as I was cleaning up my area, I came across it again. Then within like 10 minutes I had it together. Go figure. My problem was I was resisting using the Pink as a background but I soooooooooooooooo love pink. And, it seems everything I do lately has a white base. That is a good thing I think because it Brightens my day. So I will be loading several cards I made recently and most of them have a white base. Ah well, maybe next week I will have a color epiphany, meanwhile here is my number one post for the day!
1. White Xerox CS with Pretty in Pink mat.
2. SU polka Dot BG stamp with Pretty in Pink Ink
3. Pink with white Polka Dot Ribbon from Walmart (I think, possibly Joanne's , my only 2 options here)
4. Prima's were originally white, dyed Pretty in Pink.
5. Wal Mart crystals, pink of course. These are self adhesive and I love them.
6. MS branch punch and MS rose leaf punch, green CS , Mat Pack, Joanne's
7. Last, but not least the SU stamp from Serene Spring which was a gift from a friend who coincidently love Pink also!!!!

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Acrylic Stamp Storage

Here are some of my new $1.00 sets. The acrylic stamps adhere to the plastic case with no problem. (picture #1) I just cut out the plastic picture that comes with the set and stick it to the opposite side of the case with double stick tape. I put a piece of white paper over the pictures strictly so that I can see what is in the case much better. (picture #2) As with the SU unmounted, I then photo copy and put it in my Stamp Catolog binder, print a label with the set # and stick that on the side of the case and put it on my shelf. (when I get an opportunity I will take a picture of the catalog, the side of the case and the shelf so you can see the entire system.)They sit on the shelf in numerical order so all I have to do is look in the binder for the stamp I want, look at the number and find it on the shelf. I already have my SU stamps cataloged and I am keeping the number I assigned them originally, so all I have to do is put them in the case I don't have to put them in the catolog again and that is saving me some time.
One drawback I have found with the unmounted is that I have to be VERY careful when I set them down after I take them off the acrylic block. I MUST put them back in the case right away or I will lose them, and I MUST put the cassette back on the shelf right away too as I have misplaced a full cassette and I can't find it. I KNOW it is stuck in a stack of paper somewhere, but I haven't run across it yet. I know this because I found an empty cassette stuck in a stack of paper. The only other drawback is that with my other system if I was using a stamp repeatedly I would take it out and leave it on my desk and put the others in the set away. I knew where to put it back because it had the box # I assigned it written on the side of the wood. Made it wonderful for returning stamps to their assigned places. Guess what? You can't write on acrylics. I have found that with a sharpie I can write on the SU ones but I have yet to do that. But that is a peculiarity to my system only and may not bother anyone else.
Sorry about the long winded explanation, but some of my Pen Pals wanted to know how I did this. More pictures to follow and I hope to also post a few cards. TFL!



Monday, January 5, 2009

Unmounting my stamps

I am in the process of unmounting my SU stamps as they take up a LOT of my space in their little plastic boxes. I microwave the stamps for around 10 seconds, pull the stamp, foam and all, off the wood, pull the plastic picture of the stamp off and put that on top of the foam, and trim. I then fit them into the CD plastic case (I put double stick tape on the plastic case to keep them in place)

Then I photo copy the finished case. I put a copy (cut to size) on the opposite side of the CD case so I know what goes where when I put the stamp back. I have all my SU stamps sets numbered so I print a label and attach it to the side facing me from the shelf.

The 1st picture is of the photo copied side, the second is of the actual stamps.

I have also put my acrylic stamps into CD cases. I cut up the plasctic sheet with the picture of the stamp that comes with each acrylic set and use double stick tape to adhere each picture to the CD case.



Friday, January 2, 2009

Daisy BG Sympathy & BD cards

I received a new Cornish Heritage Farms Shady Daisy Background stamp. It is soooooo luscious! I really really like it. Here are two cards made using that stamp. I used a chalk finish dye ink pad, embossed the edges with silver embossing, also embossed the sentiment in Silver. Dry embossed around the sentiment using a brass stencil. Two dewdrops finish it off. The second card is almost the same except that I used my Cricut to add the With sympathy and added Silver cord.