Another Ladybug Thank You

Here's the second card I've made for my mom's set of ladybug thank you notes. I made the circles and the scalloped circle with my Cricut, but you could do it with punches or Nestablities too.
The red circle is 2 1/2". The black scallop is 2" (Make sure you press Real Dial!). The center circle is 1 1/2 inch. I used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get my "thank you" and the ladybug in the right spot. Because both of the stamps I used, have other parts to them, I placed tape over the part of my stamp that I didn't want to use, then inked it, peeled off the tape and stamped.

I used StazOn ink and then coloured my ladybug using ink squished on the plastic part of the Stamp-a-ma-jig and a blender pen. I think the blender pens are great for someone like me who doesn't make a ton of cards (yet). It allows me to have markers in any colour that I have ink for without the expense of buying a set of markers. I'm always looking for ways to stretch my stamping budget!

The white dots on the black scallop were made using a Gelly Roll white pen. I purchased the one from Stamping Up and it did not work for very long. The Gelly Roll one has been great. I got it at my local scrapbooking/stamp store.

Thanks for checking out my card!

Kim

SU Cardstock - Real Red, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink - Black StazOn, SU Real Red

Accessories - Cricut, White Gelly Roll Pen, Blender Pen, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder, stampin Dimensionals

Ladybug Cricut or Punch

My mom is getting married soon... actually on her 70th birthday. Her new last name will be Bugg and she likes ladybugs so I decided to make her a set of ladybug thank you notes.

I went to a Cricut workshop a few months ago and made a cute card using the ladybug from the Doodle Charms cartridge. I don't own that cartridge so I was trying to use Sure Cuts A lot and Inkscape to create my own ladybug. That didn't go well so I abandoned that idea for now. But after thinking about it, I decided that I could make a ladybug using circles.

The ladybug body and wings are 1 1/2 inch circles cut with my Cricut. The head is a 3/4 inch circle punched with my Marvy Punch. I punched the holes in the wings using my Crop-o-dile. The wings are on dimensionals so they are raised. The antennae are drawn with a thin Sharpie marker.

I really like how my bow turned out, but I'm not quite sure how I did it. I was making my bow my regular way and my hands slipped and this is how it turned out. I'll have to practise that one so I can duplicate it!

It doesn't show too well in the picture, but the red cardstock was embossed with the Fiskars Whimsy textured plate. I'm still working on my sandwich for those plates in my Big Shot. I think it needs a little more pressure to have the embossing stand out more.

The black border was cut with my Fiskar Wave scissors.

Kim

SU Cardstock - Green Galore, Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red
SU Stamp - Wonderful Words
SU Ink - Black
SU Ribbon - Red Gingham
Accessories - Cricut, Marcy 3/4" punch, Fiskar Wave scissors, Fiskary Whimsy Textured Plate, Big Shot, Black Sharpie, Crop-o-dile

Tickled Pink

There are so many great blogs out there with so many awesome ideas! This card idea is from Angie's Chic 'N Scratch blog. I love the zebra she used from Zoofari... I may have to get this set - hopefully it isn't retiring! She also has a video tutorial of it over at her other blog site, Stampin Academy. I really like her style and both of her blogs are on my Reader.

I used VersaMark to create a background on my cardstock on the front. A thin black marker was used to create the doodles around the window. The cute little piggie was coloured using the Aquapainter and ink on the ink lid.

I used my Cricut and the Cricut Design Studio to make the window. I drew my cardbase first and then placed rounded 1 1/4" (George Cartridge) where I wanted it on the cardstock rectangle, then erased my cardstock rectangle as I didn't need the Cricut to cut it. I'm really beginning to enjoy using my Cricut and am finding more uses for it.

I don't have any black gingham ribbon, which I think would finish this card off nicely. I placed my order for some yesterday!

Kim

SU Cardstock - Whisper White, Positively Pink (Retired)
SU Ink - SU Basic Black, Staz-On Black, SU Positively Pink,VersaMark

SU Stamps - Very Punny, Background Basics, Greetings Galore
Aquapainter, Black Marker

Peace & Love

The idea for these two cards came from here. I made the one on the left first and then decided that I wanted to have the sentiment closer to the edge... .and then I decided to change the sentiment font. I printed the font on the computer using this handy resource to set the ink colour to Not Quite Navy.

I created the trees by cutting a rectangles from my Designer Paper that were 2" x 2 3/4" and 2 1/4" x 1 1/2". I marked the center of the top edge on the back of the paper and then cut from both bottom corners to the to the mark at the top to form a triangle. I found it easier to cut the shimmery white base of the triangle first rather than glue it on paper and then trying to trim it. The rectangle bases are 2 1/4" x 3" and 2 1/2" 1 3/4".

On the second card, I used a double layer of Stampin Dimensionals on the smaller tree so it would stand out from the larger tree.

Kim

SU Cardstock - Not Quite Navy, Shimmery White, Chocolate Chip

SU Paper - Petals and Paisley DP (Spring '07)

Ink - sentiment printed on the computer using the Not Quite Navy Colour

Accessories - Real Red SU Ribbon, Stampin Dimensionals

Happy Birthday with Scalloped Border

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm spending time making cards this summer to learn and improve my skills. I get great joy (and inspiration) from reading a number of blogs, but sometimes I find it rather depressing that my skill level (and supply level) are nowhere near that of the stampers I admire! Then I remind myself that I will only get better by continuing to work at it.

I started this blog to keep a journal of my progress. Today I wonder if I can also use it as a way to learn. I'm hoping that by posting some of my struggles with this card, somebody will share some of what they've learned that might help me.

My inspiration for this card came from Dallas's second card on this blog entry. I love the simplicity of the card as well as the colours which were for Kristina's Color Challenge. But, I don't have most of those colours, so I had to come up with something on my own...

What do I see as the positives with this card? I'm pleased that I was able to figure out how to use my Cricut and the trial version of the Cricut Design Studio to create my own scallop border. I had downloaded a cut file for a scalloped border a few weeks ago, but it has one inch scallops which are too big for this card. To be able to look at that file, I had to learn how to change the date on the file. If anybody else has that problem, go to Susan BlueRobot's blog for instructions on how to correct the problem. So, I figured out how to make my own with 1/2" scallops and it was quite easy! Yahoo! I've downloaded the Sure Cuts A Lot program and Inkscape and plan to play with them before I decide to buy a program.

I like the colours of the card, and that I was able to use some more of my Costco DP, cardstock and ribbon!

What were my struggles with this card? I could not dry emboss with my Crop-o-dile. It always left a little crinkle in the paper below the embossing. I think it was because Costco cardstock is thinner than SU cardstock. Unfortunately, I'm out of Only Orange {SIGH} so I had to give up the idea of dry embossing.

I'm also not pleased with the quality of the stamping of the sentiment. I used a clear stamp from Studio G (from Michael's). I think it is because the font is thick and it doesn't stamp as well with SU ink. I've tried using a white eraser to clean the stamp, but the ink still beads up on the stamp. One positive thing about the clear stamps that I noticed is it allowed me to try different sentiments on the card and see how they would look before I stamped them.

I'd be happy to hear from anybody who has suggestions to help me out!

Kim

Cardstock - Costco

Paper - Costco

SU Ink - Only Orange

Stamp - Studio G

Ribbon - Costco

Accessories - White Gelly Roll Gel Pen, Crop-0-Dile

Sweet Sixteen

Okay, here is the card I set out to make on Wednesday when I ended up with this card. Doesn't it look more like Silke's than my other one?

I decided to put the white squares up on dimensionals as well as the scalloped squares. I see from my picture that I need to use another dimensional on the pink flower.

I printed the "Sweet Sixteen" using the computer. I used this handy resource to set the ink colour to Chocolate Chip. Because I don't own a ton of stamps (yet), I often end up printing sentiments on the computer. Also, because I don't have an oval punch, I used the Drawing Tools in Microsoft Word to create an oval that is the correct size to fit inside the Hodgepodge Hardware and then just cut it out after it is printed. (Just draw an oval, right click on it and go to "Format AutoShape" and go to the "Size" tab. You can add text inside the oval by right clicking and go to "Add Text'.)

The only thing I'm not thrilled about is the ribbon. I don't find that it quite matches the Pretty in Pink paper or the stripes on the Designer Paper. Has anybody else noticed this?

Kim

SU Cardstock - Chocolate Chip (8 1\2 x 10' scored at 5"), Whisper White (1 3\4" square), Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, and Cool Caribbean (Cricut 2 1/2" NOT Real Dial Sized Scalloped Square from Mini Monograms)
SU Paper - Petals and Paisley DP (Spring '07)
SU Ink - Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, and Cool Caribbean
SU Stamps - Delight in Life
SU Ribbon - Pretty in Pink
Accessories - Stampin' Dimensionals, Hodgepodge Hardware, Cricut, Corner Rounder Punch

A Different Destination

This card was inspired by Silke's card. If you checked out Silke's card you are probably saying, "WHAT?!!" Well, my card looks the way it does because this creative process thing is very much a journey...

I started out creating a card very similar to Silke's layout, but I got sidetracked when I went looking for DP to use for the base. When I put one of the flowers on the scalloped square next to "Together" from the Petals and Paisley (Spring '07) DP I just knew I had to to do something with it. So the parts to the original card are scattered on my table and this is the card I created. I'll use it for my niece's wedding anniversary on the 22nd, but the card I set out to create today is needed for my daughter's 16th birthday on Sunday! Well, at least I have a start on it!

What did I learn on this particular journey? Besides the fact that a simple card can take a l-o-n-g time to make if you keep changing your direction, I learned the Cricut scalloped square is not 2 1/2" if you don't use the Real Dial size button... it took me three cuts to get the right size square. I've kept the cutouts to put my Cricut binder so hopefully I'll look and remember for the next time!

Kim

SU Cardstock - Tempting Turquoise (8 1/2" x 9" scored at 4 1\2"), Rose Red (Cricut 2 1/2" NOT Real Dial Size Scalloped Square from Mini Monograms), Whisper White ( 1 3/4" Square)
SU Paper - Petals and Paisley (Spring '07) DP
SU Ink - Chocolate Chip and Rose Red
SU Stamps - Delight in Life
Accessories - Corner Rounder Punch, Dimensionals and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter

Wedding Invitations

My mom is getting married again... on her 70th birthday... to her first husband... how cute is that? Since she decided rather late that she wanted invitations we had to work with what I had on hand. She chose pink and white and I used ideas from here design her invitations. Once I figured out what to make, they were super easy and I think they look quite elegant.

Kim

SU Cardstock - Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, SU Cardstock Vellum

Card Base 9 1/4" x 7" scored at 4 5/8"

Pink - 2 pieces of 6 1/2 " x 4 1/8"

White (2) and Vellum - 6 1/4" x 3 7/8"

Accessories Pink Satin ribbon from Wal-Mart ; White Flower Brads - I don't know who makes them. I picked them up at my local scrapbooking store; 3 M Vellum Tape; Cuttlebug Birds and Swirls folder

The Creative Process

One of my goals while I'm home this summer, (I'm a elementary school teacher-librarian) is to work on improving my cardmaking skills. I've been making cards for over two years, but mostly what I do is copy somebody else's idea and make a card to use right away. What I would like to do this summer is do more than make a card. I want to work through the process of creating and work at improving by creating multiple versions of a card. I plan to record my journey on this blog to help me remember the process...

For this card, I started with this idea from Amy Rysavy which I like because it uses up scraps - which I never throw out and it is clean and simple looking which is a style I admire. I don't have that paper, so I used Almost Amethyst, Apricot Appeal, Cool Caribbean, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, and Certainly Celery on a Whisper White card base. I guessed at the size of the strips and made them all 0.8" x 4" which in the end makes the card a little bigger than standard 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"size. I started out gluing the strips on my card base, but because I wanted to use a brad and I don't like my brads to show on the inside of my card, I ended up cutting around the glued on strips and gluing that piece on a new card base.

I didn't have the flowers Amy used, but found a cool looking stamp of three flowers that my sister-in-law gave to me that I thought I would try. I also don't have white StazOn ink so I decided to substitute white SU Craft Ink. That created problems one and two.
- Craft Ink does not dry on a transparency - even if you wait 24 hours!
- My flowers did not suit the card.


So, I decided to use my black StazOn ink to stamp on the transparency. I put a Post-It note on both ends of my transparency strip so that when I stamped "friendship", the tails would be shorter, leaving room for flowers on both ends. I goofed the flower that I put to the left of "friendship" so I had to cut it off, which made the transparency too short to go the long way on the card. So I attached it with a black brad through the flower on the right and two sided tape under the Pretty in Pink Ribbon. I was happy, with this card, but thought it really didn't need the transparency so decided to try it again.

For my second attempt, I decided to make the strips slightly thinner so I could make a standard sized card. That was a mistake because it made it difficult for me to get "Celebrate" to fit on the strip. I found it difficult to cut this size of strips from scraps of paper because they slid in my paper cutter (Fiskars Triple Track).

So I decided to go for a third attempt. I went back to the 0.8" x 4" strips. If I was going to make it a fourth time, I would make them 4 1/4" long because I ended up having to trim my base. I had to change Almost Amethyst to Lavender Lace because I didn't have any more Almost Amethyst scraps. After I glued the strips to a piece of flimsy cheap card stock that I'm trying to get rid of, I ran it through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder. I used a piece of SU Cardstock Vellum and embossed Celebrate on it. I attached it with two silver star brads.

While I'm pleased with all three cards, I'm happiest with the third one and glad I took the time to make the "same" card again and again.

Kim

P.S. - This whole blogging thing takes a bit of work and I don't even want to talk about editing pictures!

SU Cardstock - Whisper White, Cool Caribbean, Pretty in Pink, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal, Almost Amethyst, Lavender Lace
SU Window Sheet
SU Stamps - Flower is from Delight in Life, Words are from Wonderful Words
SU Ribbon - 1/4" grosgrain - Pretty in Pink
Ink - Black StazOn, Versamark
Accessories - SU Sterling Silver Emboss Powder; Making Memories Star Brads

Cricut Monkey

I created this card using the George cartridge for my Cricut. The idea came from Leelee. Here is my second attempt. Not much changed - just the base colour and the sentiment!

5 1/2" x 11" Base scored and folded at 5 1/2"
- 1st Card - Costco Card Stock
- 2nd Card - Night of Navy SU Card Stock
5" Square Designer Paper - A Day at the Beach - Beach party
Monkey Head - 2 1/2" Circle (Cricut George Cartridge) Chocolate Chip SU Card Stock
Monkey "Muzzle" - 2 1/2" Shadow Oval 1 (Cricut George Cartridge) Chocolate Chip SU Card Stock
- 2 1/2 Oval 1 Tan Costco Card Stock
- Chocolate Chip Stampin Pastels brushed on edges tan muzzle
Monkey Ears - 1" Shadow Circle (Cricut George Cartridge) Chocolate Chip SU Card Stock
- 3/4" Circle (Punch) Tan Costco Card Stock
Googley Eyes
Marker for nostrils and mouth
Sentiments - $1 Stamps from Michaels, Slit Punch and Pewter Brads

Wishing You the Best

The idea for this card is from Kristina Werner's MACM (Make a Card Monday). I have been checking out her blog for a month or so now, loving what she creates, but not being daring enough to try anything!

I am so excited about this card. Not just because I like how it looks, but because I was able to use my Costco ribbon, patterned paper and cardstock and my Cricut! I bought the paper and card stock a few years ago because it was a good price... then I became more picky with my card making. The cardstock is not as heavy as Stampin' Up so it is only really good for layering. I love the ribbon, but was disappointed to find out that it only has he pattern on one side. Plus, I found that I had a harder time matching the colours of the cardstock, patterned paper and ribbon with anything else I owned. Until I become more confident in the whole cardmaking thing, I think I'll stick to Stampin' Up for now because at least I know everything will coordinate...

I got my Cricut over a year ago thinking I would save so much money by not buying punches. I haven't used it a ton and have even considered selling it. Today I was so happy to find a use for it. I used it for the turquoise circle and for the letters in "BEST". I could have also have used it for the white circle, but I wanted to only cut a partial circle so I could use a scrap piece of white. I used my Orbis Circle Scissor, another cool tool that I haven't used very much. I used my Marvy circle punch (3/4") for the scalloped circles. I could have also used the Cricut for those, but I thought it would be quicker with the punch.

Here's my second attempt with the card. The letters in "BEST" were made thicker by using the shadow feature and I printed "Wishing You the..." on the computer. I also used dimensionals to raise the flower up like Kristina did because the scallop edge creases over the ribbon.
I also used a fine glue pen for the BEST letters as it was tough cleaning up the glue on the first card.

Card Base: Whisper White (SU) 4 1/4" x 11" scored at 5 1/2" and folded in half

Ribbon: Costco from April 2007

Flower: Turquoise Circle - Costco CS - cut with Cricut at 3 1/2 "

White Circle - SU Whisper White - cut at 75 mm or about 3 1/8"

Green Scallops - Costco Paper - punched with 3/4" punch

BEST: cut with Cricut "George and Basic Shapes" at 1" (Second Attempt 1" Shadow)

Why I'm Blogging My Cards

I decided to put my cards on a blog as a way of keeping track of what I'm doing. This summer I really want to try to improve as a card maker and I'm trying to figure out the best way to keep track of what I've done. We'll see how this goes...