The Seaside Rose Cottage

Katie, the Home Wrecker - Girl Interrupted

2010-06-21T11:14:00.015-04:00

Katie (short for On Golden Pond's Katherine Hepburn) is our newest Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. An adorable, almost 10 months old Blenheim, Katie is quite the character. Her facial expressions tell you exactly what's on her mind and she has attitude with a Capital A. Usually she's loving and playful, smart and cuddly, and she's always finding new and interesting ways to get into mischief. But she does not like having her "fun" interrupted.

For almost a month now, it seems like every time I turn around, I am finding Katie with a nail or a screw in her mouth. It's been driving me crazy because we are very careful with little things a dog could swallow. If she did manage to swallow one, it would be a medical nightmare.

Typically I will hear something going "clink clink" on the wood floor and I'll look down to find Katie playing with a big nail or a short rusty screw. In the past three weeks I've taken away at least 3 screws and almost a dozen nails. I have gone crazy trying to figure out where she is getting them.

At first I thought that someone must have spilled some in the workshop and that she was somehow getting in there and scavenging. That part of the house is generally off limits to the dogs and the workshop door is not left open so that was a stretch to begin with. And these were not new nails and screws - in fact, they all appeared used.... as in, old.... with painted or rusted or tarnished tops. But I couldn't come up with an other reasonable, alternate explanation so to be sure, I checked the workshop half a dozen times. For the record, there are no nails or screws lying around there at all, nothing on the floor she could have gotten into, even if she could have morphed her way through the door.

This morning, while I was cooking my husband's breakfast, I heard the familiar "clink clink" again on the wood floor right next to me. Lo and behold, there was Katie playing with another short rusty screw. I took it away from her, again totally puzzled as to where she'd found it. She was clearly unhappy with me and scowled her indignation. I saw that same expression many times on my teenagers' faces. Yikes. Wait till she starts asking to borrow the car keys and I say "no". I can imagine the look I'm going to get.

After breakfast, I went out to clear the last of the breakfast dishes off the table on the deck and there was Katie, on her belly, wiggling and twisting with her snout locked in what appeared to be a kiss with the outside wall of the house where the trim boards overlap the exterior clapboards. It took a minute for my brain to process what I was seeing and then I did a double take when I realized that she was actually pulling a nail from the cement fiber clapboard siding. These nails are flush with the siding and the trim boards, so don't ask me how she is getting her little teeth under the lip of them, but there she was, twisting and pulling, twisting and pulling, until she finally eased the nail out. I quickly snatched it from her and when I told her "No, no, no!" she gave me a baleful look and then took her sweet time coming inside. I told her she can't play outside alone anymore if she's going to dismantle the house.

I checked a little more carefully and discovered where she is getting all the screws - she has been raiding hardware from here and there around the frames that support the many sets of sliders we have. I could not figure out why the kitchen slider keeps jamming and won't slide open and closed easily, but the frame and track are loose!

What a character she is! She gives new meaning to the term "home wrecker". (Cute though, isn't she.)

(Top picture: Unhappy when she can't have her way, she scowls. This picture: The dogs are not allowed to beg at the dining room table and are expected to nap when the family is eating. Katie found a way not to beg but still remain under foot by curling up under the table and resting her head on the ornate curved bars that span the table legs.)

It's Garden Tour Time Again

2010-06-19T22:07:00.002-04:00

It's that time again, the time when we share the beauty of our gardens with the public. Recently we were honored to be a part of the Newburyport Horticultural Society's first ever water garden tour. Although it was very early in the season (for us -- we are used to tours closer to the end of the month!), we were ready, and we even treated our visitors to a truly Victorian tea.

The next tour is the Country Gardens Water Garden Tour, the largest tour of it's kind in the region. You can learn more about this fabulous tour at the Country Gardens web site. This year, our garden will be open to the public for viewing on Saturday, June 26th. If you can spare the time, bring a book and curl up in any of the little sitting areas we have and just enjoy beauty, the birds, the waterfall, the fountains, and the gorgeous blue and black dragonflies that have been flying around all week.

Rest in Peace, Dudley....

2010-05-31T07:28:00.011-04:00

Our very difficult winter - illness, flooding from the severe winter storms, downed trees - is finally behind us but the sad news continues.

At 6:43 AM, our beautiful German Shepherd, Mister Dudley, passed away at the age of 12 years and 5 months after a long struggle with inflammatory bowel disease, perianal fistulas, exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, pancreatic failure, and degenerative myelopathy.

His playful antics and perfect imitations of fire and ambulance sirens will be deeply missed.

This picture was taken two weeks ago. He was the fabulous big brother to Emily, Toughie, Katie, and Elizabeth.

The bottom two pictures were taken in December, when Katie was 3 months old. Dudley showed such patience with her!

We're going to miss you, Big Guy.

Congratulations Jake!

2010-05-19T21:32:00.000-04:00

Our son, Jacob, recently graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a Bachelor's degree in Communications and Political Science (double majors). Jake was named a Student Leader by the faculty of the Communications Department and the chair of the department and one of the other professors took the time to tell us how much they enjoyed having Jake as part of their program. They were genuine and effusive in their praise and we were so proud that they think so highly of him!

We surprised Jake with a graduation party. When asked how he wanted to celebrate, he wavered about a party and then asked if we would take his small list of closest family and friends to a restaurant. We knew that deep down, he would love a party so we agreed to take everyone to a restaurant that happens to be across the street from the Newburyport Masonic Hall. Surprise, waiting inside the Masonic Hall were more than forty friends and family who turned out to totally surprise Jake and wish him well.

Jake will be attending Massachusetts School of Law in the fall.

Artist Trading Cards -- Tip of the Week - Recycle!

2010-02-15T01:22:00.003-05:00

Today I am introducing a new weekly column that will appear each Monday and feature helpful hints and design ideas for creating unusual and eye-stopping Artist Trading Cards. Click on the individual pictures for a much larger view.

I fell in love with these miniature works of art about a year ago and have posted about them in the past. For the basics of ATC's, you can read more in my archives here and here. For inspiration, you can also check out my ATC album in my gallery at Splitcoast Stampers.

One of the most important aspects of creating a truly fabulous art card is to start with a sturdy foundation or base. A double layer of watercolor paper or very heavy card stock makes an excellent foundation, but watercolor paper is not inexpensive and I don't always have the color I want to use in the heaviest grade of card stock. I also hate to cut a full sheet of card stock for a couple of panels for art cards, and using thinner card stock might require three or four layers to achieve a substantial, sturdy base for a card.

If you reuse, recycle, and repurpose the way we do, you have wonderful alternatives to expensive card stock or watercolor paper in your recycle bin. I use the cardboard backings from packaging materials, thin cereal boxes, jello boxes, the cardboard that lines packages of pantyhose, and even used cardboard flat rate mailing envelopes as a middle layer. With such a substantial base, you can adhere even the thinnest card stock or patterned paper to either side for a very sturdy yet economical foundation for your artwork.

At 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches, Artist Trading Cards are a perfect canvas for designs utilizing your smallest scraps. I save even small pieces of card stock, patterned paper and vellum. Sometimes only a few inches are needed to add a lacy border or to paper piece a portion of a design. I store my smallest scraps in a shallow drawer sorted by size. It's my first place to rummage when I am designing a new card.

I also save pieces of punched lace that are left over from larger projects and I'll often go ahead and punch an extra strip when I'm making punched lace and set it aside to use later on a greeting card or ATC. A strip of punched lace along the side of the card or across the bottom, layered under a strip of ribbon, can set an otherwise bland piece of ribbon off or turn a plain background into an eye catcher. I also save some of the punched out shapes that remain when you punch lace.... these miniature fleur de lis, hearts, flowers, and tiny scrolls are often a perfect embellishment for these very small design canvasses.

My "regular" scrap bin - where I store larger scraps.... anything larger than 3 or 4 inches square - is my next "go to" place for paper for ATC's. My scrap bin has hanging files where I store larger scraps sorted by color. When I make greeting cards, I will often cut the extra card stock into ATC sized panels so I have a rainbow stash on hand. They fit nicely in a plastic fruit or vegetable box, the kind that strawberries are sold in.

Here are a few ATC's that I made entirely from my scraps for a recent swap using recycled cardboard panels between layers of coordinating card stock and patterned paper.

Come back next week for some helpful hints about finishing touches - techniques for giving your card a beautiful finished edge and where to find the "perfect color" for your background.

Where has the time gone?

2010-02-03T00:23:00.005-05:00

It's hard to believe that it's been nearly two months since I last posted. Where has the time gone? In the past two months, we've said a sad good-bye to some close friends and family members who died too soon, well, too soon for me anyway. Finally, though, I am back at work, crafting and designing.

Here is one of my recent projects.... a page from a set of several pages with the same style and colors that I made for an album for a friend whose daughter recently got married.

I used coordinating papers from My Minds Eye's Asparagus Collection, ribbed ivory card stock, and medium brown and brick red card stock. I pleated the paper to form the outside and bottom borders.

When making an album for someone else, I have always been stymied by the problem of how to make it so they can easily add pictures to mats and frames. I solved that with this set by creating the frame on folded card stock.

I made triple layered frames that I embellished with grungeboard flourishes inked with red ink and then dry brushed and edged with gold acrylic paint. Charms dangle from each side adding an ornate, Victorian touch.

I also added glass gems and other charms. The round glass gems are new embellishment that I'm currently carrying in my Etsy store. Think dew drops but on a much larger scale. They add a punch of vibrant color to a scrap book page.

The frame lifts up so a photograph can be secured underneath, and I added mounting squares to the underside so she can adhere the frame to the base once she has inserted her pictures.

Announcing my ETSY GRAND OPENING!!!

2009-12-14T10:59:00.005-05:00

Do you love those gorgeous old stamps made by PSX (The Personal Stamp Exchange Company), Delafield, and the other companies that are not in business any longer? I love stamps that have a lot of detail, elegant scripted lettering, and especially vintage themes. Unfortunately, most of the designs I favor are from companies that either are either no longer in business or the design I want is long retired. So what's a stamper to do? There is now a place where you can find the lucious botanicals from PST and discontinued but still gorgeous images from the last twenty years - my new store, The Seaside Rose Cottage, at ETSY.

These stamps are all wood mounted and many have never been used. And right now, shipping in the US and Canada is that four letter "F" word -- FREE.

Here are some of this week's new listings! Click on the image to be taken to the store listing.

Happy Chanukah!

2009-12-11T18:48:00.005-05:00

Happy Chanukah and Seasons Greetings to all. Chanukah, Hanukkah, or however you want to spell it is one of my favorite holidays because of the history and symbolism associated with it.

As a Jew, I have my given name and my Jewish name. My Jewish name, one of my middle names, is Yehudit, Hebrew for Judith, and in my case, named for Judith of Maccabee, the real heroine of the story of Chanukah.

The story of Chanukah is not well documented in the Talmudic literature and is documented sporadically and relatively perfunctorily in historical writings, so here is the Cecile B. DeMille version and the real story of what happened way back when.

The story begins in the Second Temple Period at about 200 BCE. When Judea was originally invaded by the Greeks, King Antiochus the Great guaranteed the Jews religious freedom and the right to worship in the Temple of Jerusalem. Although they weren’t thrilled to be living under the rule of conquering warriors, they lived and worshipped in peace until 175 BCE when Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus the Great invaded Judea.

Antiochus took the city by force and at great cost in Jewish lives. He enslaved the Jews and outlawed Judaism. Anyone found observing the Sabbath or Jewish rituals was put to death. He plundered the city, took over the temple, looted the treasury and defiled the religious artifacts, and eventually erected a statue of Zeus in it and ordered the Jews to begin worshiping Greek Gods or be out to death. When he ordered pigs to be sacrificed on the temple alter, the Jews revolted.

The Maccabees led the revolt but the small, rather bedraggled group of Jewish freedom fighters was up against a much larger, well-armed and highly trained army. Still, they were able to hold their own and the conflict dragged on, costing much money and lives of invading soldiers. Annoyed by the hassle and the expense caused by this band of ragamuffins,, Epiphanes ordered one of his five star generals, Holofernes, to gather a massive army and end the insurgency once and for all.

Holofernes was regarded as one of the premiere military strategists of his time and with an army of 100,000, the rough and tumble Jewish boys didn’t stand much of a chance. This is where Judith comes in.

For all of his military acumen, Holofernes did have his weaknesses. He had quite an eye for the ladies and his roving eye eventually wandered to my namesake, Judith. He was so impressed by her beauty (I think I look just like her) that he ordered his soldiers to snatch her and bring her to his tent for dinner and …uhhhh….. dessert.

Now Judith was a gal who knew how to think on her feet. She plied the good general with lots of salty cheese (some say she actually made him quiche, something akin to my signature recipe) and encouraged him to wash it down with lots of sweet Jewish wine. In a word, she got him so drunk he passed out, and while he was snoring away, dreaming of doing the wild thing, she yanked his sword from its scabbard and cut his head cleanly off. Judith was definitely my kind of woman.

The upshot was that without their military leader, the Greek army couldn’t get out of their own way and the Maccabees, adept at guerrilla warfare, a military technique unheard of in those days, soundly routed them and sent them packing.

Once the Jews regained control of the Temple of Jerusalem they wanted to clean the filth and rededicate it. To do this, they needed spiritually pure olive oil, oil that had not been defiled by the Greeks. All they could find was one small vial, enough to light the candles for at most, just one day. It would take at least a week for more ritually pure olive oil to be produced but anxious to reclaim the Temple and rededicate it, they lit the temple menorah and this is where the miracle of Chanukah occurred. The vial produced enough oil to keep the menorah lit for eight days, until more oil was available. Hence, we celebrate Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, for eight days to honor the eight days that the candles in the Temple menorah remained lit following the Jews successful revolt against the enslaving Greeks.

Although it occurs in December, usually in close proximity to Christmas, Chanukah is not the Jewish "equivalent" of Christmas, nor is it a significant gift giving occasion. Each night, we light candles, one the first night, two the next, and an additional candle each night until the eighth night when all the candles are lit. The mitzvah, or commandment, is to kindle the lights in front of a window or open door so the light can spread to the darkest corners of the world.

We also celebrate with traditional foods frind in olive oil. We serve latkes (potato pancakes) fried in olive oil, sufganyot, fried donuts, especially filled with jelly, and lots of sweets, chocolate candy gelt (chocolate coins wrapped in gold foil) being the favorite of children.

A Special Birthday Celebration

2009-11-10T17:22:00.000-05:00

During Kate's Birthday Celebration week at I {heart} Papers last month, she challenged us to make a "special" birthday card. Coincidentally, Lynn Mercurio shared the technique for making easel cards in her weekly Try a New Technique Monday challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.

My best friend Marsha's mom, who has been my kids' and my own Grandma Berman for the thirty years that Marsha and I have been friends, will be celebrating her 99th birthday next week. Can you think of anything more "special"? This was the perfect opportunity to make a wonderful card for "Grandma B". I can share it here because even though she has always kept up with the times and still has plenty of spunk, computers are something she has never had any interest in so I don't envision her surfing the net and finding it! Whew! By the way, this picture of Marsha and her mom sitting in our garden was taken in early spring.

Easel cards are fun cards that open to form their own "stands", revealing a greeting or other decorative elements. I stamped and embossed the birthday greeting on the card base and embellished it with an ombre rose flower that holds the lower edge of the card when the card is open and on display.

I modified the dimensions to make a 6 inch square card with some wonderful fall themed paper from My Mind's Eye's "Fall in Love" glitter stack. I used the large grapevine wreath from Stampington and embossed it in brown on brown and embellished it with a wired ribbon bow, Prima flowers finished with Kaiser half pearls, one of Kate's ombre rose flowers, a vintage button, and some punched leaves that have been inked and lightly distressed. The stop on the easel base is another of the ombre rose flowers.

The glittery flowers are part of the original paper design but the darker image in the center of the wreath is a a tone on tone embossed spray of butterflies and leaves.

More Halloween Fancy

2009-10-28T10:35:00.009-04:00

I have received some wonderful vintage Halloween images from Dover Publications through their weekly free image samples. Here are a couple of wonderful cards I've made this week to send Halloween greetings to friends. Click on the images for larger views.

The top image is mounted on a scrap of paper that has a brick print background. I stamped spider webs in the corners and then embellished it with Martha Stewart's "Glow in the Dark" glitter.

The lower image has panels of paper from the Twilight Collection (Memory Box). Both have some of that to-die-for silk ribbon from I {heart} Papers.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-27T20:23:00.010-04:00

Fall is my least favorite season -- it means winter is just around the corner! But the colors are never more magnificent than they are this time of year.

Recently, Lynn Mercurio shared the technique for these windshield wiper cards on Splitcoast Stampers' Monday Techniques challenge. You can find her post and tutorial information here. The first one you make takes a little bit of time, but once you figure out how these deceptively simple cards go together, it's a breeze, so don't let a card with moving parts intimidate you!

This first card was my first attempt at a windshield wiper card. I finished both the front and the back. The image on the front is a free download from Dover Publications. The sentiment is on the back and is a Unity Stamp, "Tis Near Halloween". The patterned paper is from Memory Box's "Twilight Collection". Both are from I {heart} Paper.

I also used Gina K's Chocolate Kiss card stock, which makes a very sturday card base, Versafine's Vintage Sepia ink, copper Stickles, the Martha Stewart Leaf Edge Punch, and a small scrap of a two-sided red and orange ribbon from Michael's. I actually used the punched out leaves from the decorative border punch to embellish.

When I made the second card, I used paper from an 8.5 inch K&Co. paper pack for a base and the size of the paper limited the width of the card.

This card is also reversible and features a watercolored pumpkin on the card front and tag. The bright orange ribbon is inch wide silk from I {heart} Paper. I am a silk ribbon junkie - it's so easy to work with and it makes a stunning bow.

For this card, I also made a coordinating envelope lined with the same patterned paper and with the smaller pumpkin stamped and painted on the lower left front corner.

I used a large spider web stamp from Tim Holtz to stamp across the side panels on both the front and back sides.

To get the rounded corners, I punched each corner with the card completed and closed. I used the Crop-a-Dile Corner Chomper to do this -- first time I used this gadget and I love it. I'm embarrassed to admit that my husband Steve decided I needed this and bought it for me -- about three months ago. I'm so intimidated by gadgets, it has sat in the package in my closet since I got it! This was the first time I used it and I am now thrilled to have it!

Here's the complete recipe for this card:

Stamps: Large pumpkin, Inkadinkadoo #9515; Small Pumpkin, Hero Arts #LP017 Halloween; Spider Web, Tim Holtz' Trick or Treat Collection (Stamper's Anonymous by Stampendous)

Paper: Que Sera Sera Collection (K&Co.)

Ink: Burnt Umber (Palette); Classic White (SU); Aged Linen Distress Ink (Ranger)

Accessories: Orange silk ribbon (IHP); Brads (Making Memories); Nestabilities dies; Mica Watercolor Paints; Tombow markers; Watercolor pencils.

Fall Colors at the Rose Cottage

2009-10-24T17:17:00.004-04:00

I can't believe that Halloween is just days away! The summer here lasted about ten days. Spring lasted forever, with eight straight weeks of cool wet weather extending through July. We got a hint of summer in the August humidity, and then autumn arrived very early, with November temperatures settling down on us in early in October and our first snow fall two weeks ago (and melted already, thank heavens). Even though it's back up to the 50's and 60's this week, and projected to be 70 degrees for Trick or Treating, I am suffering summer withdrawal!

But the garden looks lovely every time of the year, and so I decided to update my blog with a new look for fall. If you like the background, you can find lots of gorgeous ones at this blog, which I recently discovered. And if you want a special treat, visit her Etsy shop. Kirsi has an amazing collection of vintage ephemera. I indulged this weekend and am having so much fun just looking through all of the images, planning ways to incorporate them into projects of my own.

In the meantime, here are some more pictures of the glorious fall colors in our garden this year. While the summer was a definite disappointment, fall has never been so lovely at the rose cottage!

Happy Birthday to I {Heart} Papers

2009-10-22T20:46:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite places to spend some time chatting with other artists and getting inspiration is the I {heart} Paper group at Papercraft Planet. This friendly and talented group is the namesake of group owner Kate's store, where I have found many incredible finds -- gorgeous papers, some great new stamp lines, the most luscious silk ribbon ever, and my absolute favorite adhesive in the world, Kate's I {stick} Paper.

This week, I {heart} Paper is celebrating the one year anniversary of the opening of the store with a week of fun challenges and prize drawings for great prizes for randomly selected daily winners. The one hitch -- all cards or projects have to somehow be tied into a birthday theme.

Birthday challenge #1 was to create a card using the colors of IHP's logo: rose, light green, light blue, and black. I was fortunate to have some rose, green and blue plaid patterned paper from Paper Pizzazz and a scrap of green that matched perfectly to mat it on and embellish it. Another small scrap of a rose and green print added extra depth to the tag panel. The butterflies, all from different Serendipity sets, are stamped in Palette Noir and clear embossed and watercolored with pearl and light green mica paints.

The flower is layered silk, shimmer, and tulle Primas attached with a shimmery rose brad. The green tulle leaves are several thicknesses that have been heated and shaped with a heat gun. Ribbon is one of my most favorite embellishments and nothing makes a perfect bow quite like this 1-1/2 inch wide light pink silk ribbon. My friend Jerri, of A Touch of Grace introduced me to silk ribbon earlier this year and I have been hard pressed to use anything else since I acquired my first length of it.

The lay-out of this card was inspired by this week's sketch challenge at StampTV.

Image Swap Card Exchange

2009-08-21T14:00:00.007-04:00

I recently participated in a fun and challenging swap hosted by Faith at the Stamp-Shack, which is a terrific site for stampers who enjoy card making.

In this challenge, swappers submitted multiple copies of an image stamped on card stock to the swap hostess and she sent each participant an image from each of the other players to make a card -- any kind of card.

The completed cards were returned to the hostess who sorted them and sent each player the cards that were made from her image. Here are some of the cards I made for that swap. I also made a coordinated envelope for each card.

I originally planned a black, gray and brown palette for Captain Jack but when I painted his bandana, the mica paint had a greenish patina to it, and I picked up on that with the celadon colors of this patterned paper from Wild Asparagus (Me and my Big Ideas). The twine gives a rustic finish to the image.

I punched holes with my tiniest hand punch and used fine, stiff twine (Wal-Mart) to overcast the edges of the image panel, which I distressed.

I used two coordinating papers, also from the Wild Asparagus collection, for this card and the coordinating envelope.

After painting with watercolors, I cut the image out and matted it on ovals.

The dark rose petals on the scalloped border are a part of the print that just happened to be in the perfect spot.

The headband was embellished with Ruby Slipper Stickles and gold microbeads. Larger gold beads and jump rings made wonderful jewelry. I adhere them with Diamond Glaze.

This adorable House Mouse image was watercolored and then mounted on a striped lavender and kraft patterned paper. The background I chose has lavender flowers on a kraft background. I embellished with die cut corners and punched flowers.

The image provided for this card was the largest butterfly. which I painted with Winsor and Newton Iridescent Watercolor Medium. I kept the color theme to black and white with a tiny punch of navy in the punched butterflies. The larger punched butterflies were stamped and embossed in black on navy.

Here is the inside of the card and a stamped embellishment on the envelope.

After watercoloring, I added some gold ink to the robes, then matted the image. I used scraps of the paper from the card front and border to embellish an inside panel that was stamped with a holiday greeting.

This card started out as a happy accident and ended up being my personal favorite of the lot.

When I first saw the image, I was stumped. I decided to paint first and let my muse take it from there. I intended to paint the beach ball in primary colors but grabbed the wrong green (olive instead of grass green). Seeing my mistake, I searched through my patterned papers and found Mellow, a lovely Basic Grey collection in a small (6" by 6") pad.

The "solid" blue has clouds and shading and made a perfect mat for the image, which I cut out and mounted on it. The water was treated with irridescent medium and stickles for shimmer.

The sun was stamped, painted, and embellished with Stickles.

The red and green panels are from the same paper pad and coordinate perfectly with the floral background.

The tiny flowers and buttons came in a tiny bag of embellishments as a freebie with a stamp set I bought ages ago. Punched leaves and vines, brads for flower centers, and a tiny bit of twine finished it off. I hated to return it! Doesn't that pup look like he's having fun?

Hats, Handbags, and Shoes... and Chinese Peonies

2009-08-20T11:58:00.008-04:00

Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) have become one of my favorite ways to "doodle" with paper. I just love creating these tiny masterpieces and they also feed right into one of my passions - finding a use for even the smallest scrap of "pretty" paper.

ATC's are very small artisitic creations that can be used to adorn card fronts, altered projects, and scrap book pages, or just enjoyed for their beauty and creativity. Some people use them as business or calling cards.

When it comes to ATC's, there are only three rules:

Size - ATC's are always 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches;

Construction - a foundation of quality material - card stock (two layers is considered the minimum), cardboard, grungeboard, watercolor paper, even fabric - as a canvas for your personal best work.

Value - They are art for art's sake, traded or given away but never, ever sold. In fact, once an ATC is sold, it is no longer an "Artist Trading Card"; it becomes an "ACEO", or Art Cards, Editions and Originals.

This monochromatic collection of fashion accessories used scraps of four different patterned card stock and design papers in addition to a solid textured card stock and watercolor paper foundation. For this card, I stamped the images in dye ink and clear embossed on the patterned card stock and used detail scissors and a craft knife to cut out the images.

These Chinese Peonies are a free clip art sample provided by Dover Publications. You can subscribe to their weekly free clip art samples here.

This card is an example of Paper Tole - using multiple layers of the same image to create a three dimensional picture.

I cropped and printed multiple images of the peonies and then cut out three layers for each blossom, trimming off a few petals with each successive layer so the center of the flower is increasingly prominent.

The flowers on the card were painted with Mod Podge and allowed to dry briefly. More Mod Podge was added to the bottom central area of the flower and the next layer of petals was applied and that layer was also painted with Mod Podge.

When adding additional layers, I used my fine tweezers to curl each petal forward slightly. It's important to then carefully coat both sides of the petal with Mod Podge. After all three layers were attached and coated, I let the cards dry thoroughly - several hours in the humidity we're having now. Then I painted them with Diamond Glaze. After they were again dry, I added a tiny drop of Diamond Glaze to the center of each bloom and sprinkled them with copper microbeads.

ATC's are a great way to use up those small bits of leftover punched borders, scraps, and extra images from larger projects. While many swaps require that you make 8 or more cards for a "swap", more and more, I am finding swaps involving 3 or 4 cards.

Pick a Theme swaps provide another one of my favorite ways to use leftover scraps of punched lace, extra images, and scraps of pretty paper. These swaps involve making one-of-a kind for participant's chosen themes. PAT swaps are available on several card swapping sites. You can read more about them here at a the newest PAT Swap posted in the Swap Forum at Splitcoast Stampers.

Sad news....

2009-08-14T11:24:00.005-04:00

Well, I am very sad to report that a neighborhood cat discovered our babies and their nest. We had penned the area off to protect it from the dogs, never thinking that a cat might somehow find them. We don't even know who owns the cat, but early this morning, Toughie, one of our Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, gave an alert that there was an animal in the yard and seemed to be chasing something.

In the early morning dim light, we didn't immediately see what had attracted his attention but a short time later, a very large orange tiger cat sat licking his chops just outside the fence and a quick look showed that the nest had been destroyed, our babies and the remaining eggs, gone.

Several times this morning, Toughie has alerted and has raced to the trellis where the cat was stalking the bird feeder.

I know that this is part of the natural world we live in, And I know that this is what cats "do". But I am sad that we didn't get the chance to see these little ones take flight and join the rest of the birds who favor us with their wonderful song in our garden.

The Baby Sparrows Now Have Feathers!

2009-08-09T17:14:00.005-04:00

Our baby sparrows are four days old now and they now have some feathers. It's amazing how much they have grown in just four days.

When they were born on Wednesday morning, their eyes were so huge, they literally bulged from their tiny faces. They have grown so much, their eyes now appear normal in size in proportion. We caught them napping here, while Mama is out getting food.

We are now leaving some sunflower seeds under the plant for Mama Sparrow, and since they are disappearing, I am guessing she's eating them. Best of all, none of the other birds who come to our feeders seem to be aware. We are still keeping the area barricaded with a puppy pen, but even when she hops down the walk to the butterfly garden, the dogs ignore her. The other two eggs still haven't hatched yet.... I wonder if they will. Perhaps she laid them at different times?

The Baby Birds are Doing Well

2009-08-07T08:42:00.008-04:00

I finally was able to photograph the mama bird in her nest. She's a sparrow! Here she is, sitting on the two remaining eggs and her two little chicks. The babies are still so tiny and fragile looking!

Pleated Ribbon Border

2009-08-07T00:01:00.001-04:00

Both Splitcoast Stampers and Scrapbook Dreamer recently issued challenges to incorporate pleats into a design.

I incorporated a pleated border using a wide wire-edged ribbon in this two page scrap book lay out.

I used several papers from Basic Grey's Porcelain Collection which were a perfect color choice for the pictures I wanted to display. Prima flowers and large copper brads added another decorative touch.

On the companion page, I carried the zigzag theme through with a zigzag edged border cut from coordinating papers in the collection.

The text box is from the embellishment page included with the collection.

Border:

Cut a strip of plain ivory card stock 12 inches long and 1/8 inch narrower than the ribbon. Secure the cut edge of the ribbon over one end of the card stock, then fan-fold the ribbon in 1/2 inch wide pleats. Secure pleats in place with plastic clothespins on one side. Finger press the wire edge on each side to keep the pleats in place.

Working on 3-4 inch segments, lift up the unpinned edge and lay down roller adhesive onto the card stock and press the pleats into the adhesive.

Remove the pins from the opposite and fasten the pleats to the card stock with adhesive. Continue working along the length, then cut a short length of ribbon and fold it over and adhere it to the back of the panel.
Secure the border to the page with roller, adhesive. Insert two brads on each end. Run a thin bead of tacky glue over the upper edge of the ribbon pleats. Add coordinating braid. Using a miniature needle nose glue bottle, squeeze a thin bead of glue under the edge of the ribbon and braid to secure the pleats and the braid in place.

Paper: Rosenthal, Chatworth, Silver Birch, from the Basic Grey Porcelain Collection; Brown card stock (K&Co.); Scrap of sage green card stock

Accessories: Zigzag edging punch (Martha Stewart); 1-½” wide polyester-nylon blend wired sage green ribbon (Kirkland, from Costco); Pink braid (Wyla, Joann Fabrics); Copper brads (Making Memories); Large decorative copper brads (Making Memories); Prima flowers; Cricut font cartridge (Storybook)

We Have Babies!!!!

2009-08-05T11:52:00.004-04:00

Several weeks ago we noticed that a bird had built a nest in the middle of a large and sprawling clump of cranesbill in one of our perennial beds. I thought that was odd, since another bird has built a nest in the climbing roses on one of our trellises and there is no shortage of trees in our yard. But there is was, barely a few inches off the ground, nestled in among the stems and branches of the plant.

I've checked on the nest regularly and occasionally I've seen a nondescript brown and white bird sitting on the eggs in the nest. When I get too close for comfort, she hops out of the nest and under the leaves onto the garden floor.

Today when I was gardening, I saw her hop out of the garden and down the entire length of the walk to the butterfly garden, where she disappeared among the butterfly bushes. It occurred to me that perhaps she had been injured at some point and can no longer fly. Checking on the nest, I was delighted to find that two of the four eggs had just hatched! The pink, downy covered babes were opening their mouths for food but not making a sound.

We've cordoned off the area from the dogs and if the violent thunderstorms that are predicted for this evening come to pass, we'll shelter them with an umbrella. What a joy to see new life spring from the garden! I can hardly wait for the other two to hatch!

Shirred Ribbon and Fancy Bows

2009-08-05T01:05:00.015-04:00

I {Heart} Papers at Papercraft Planet challenged crafters to use wide ribbon in a card or project. I love using wide ribbon. (I define wide as anything wider than 1 inch.) I think a generous length of luxurious ribbon adds elegance and sophistication to a card in a way that nothing else can match.

For this card, I started with a watercolored rose and ribbon painted to coordinate with this beautiful patterned paper from Amy Butler's Tea Box Collection (K&Co.). The image was stamped and embossed in gold on Strathmore watercolor paper, painted with watercolors, and then carefully cut out and mounted on a double mat of ivory and gray card stock.

I chose a soft pink wired satin ribbon. Cutting a length twice the width of the card, I shirred the ribbon on the wires, knotting the wires on each end and folding the ends of the ribbon and wires under at each edge. After gluing the shirred ribbon strip onto an ivory panel with punched lace edges, I tacked each side of the ribbon strip with an embellished button (K&Co.) and attached a separate bow.

Finishing touches include a double matted oval with a sentiment for the inside of the card, and green glitter brads to anchor the corners of the design paper.

Another simple technique for adding elegance to a card is the use of multiple mats. For this card, I started with a dark gray card stock foundation and then layered first an ivory mat and then the patterned paper card front. The intermediate layer defines the patterned paper and pulls the eye toward the ivory lace on the print.

The extra mat also serves the added purpose of providing an extra layer in which to conceal the ends of brads and ribbons. The button brads and green corner brads are secured through the patterned and ivory layers only; once the card front is attached to the base, the brad ends are hidden and the inside of the card is clean and intact.

Adding an ivory panel with punched lace edges under the shirred ribbon strip gives a finishing touch to the ribbon trim that also coordinates with the overall scalloped lacy design of the print.

Recipe:

Stamps: #96614 Expressions (inside greeting) and #90438X Roses and ribbon (both by Inkadinkadoo)
Paper: “Tea Box Collection” (K&Co. Specialty Paper Pack by Amy Butler); ivory card stock; Gray card stock (K&Co.)
Ink: Antique Pewter (ColorBox); Versamark; Detail Gold embossing powder (Ranger)
Accessories: 1.5 inch wired satin ribbon (SewEssentials, JoAnn Fabrics); decorative buttons (K&Co.); green glitter brads (Karen Foster); lace edge punch (Martha Stewart); Pink rhinestones (Darice); Watercolor pencils

Thinking of you....

2009-08-04T18:30:00.010-04:00

When friends or family members are struggling with personal or family issues or health problems, a card is a tangeible reminder of your love and concern. This card is a non-traditional size (6 inches high and 8 inches wide) which means either a handmade envelope or a bubble wrap mailer. I chose the latter when I mailed this card out, and I wrapped the card in a piece of tissue paper before inserting it into the mailer. Little touches like that add so much to the presentation.

Silk flowers can be used in place of paper flowers for a stunning effect. I used one blossom from this cluster of chrysanthemums to create the flowers on this page.

Separated into layers and then reassembled into individual blooms with ornate centers (brads) gave me the opportunity to use flowers in a color that was a perfect match to the other elements of the card.

Simply pull a flower off the stem, then separate the plastic pieces that hold the petals in place. In the case of these chrysanthemums, it was easy to just snip the little plastic ring and pull it away and then the petals slid right off. I layered two of the individual petal segments and used large vintage brads as flower centers.

The leaves can also be pulled off the wire stems and the little plastic stem sections that hold them in place can be trimmed off. In this cluster of flowers, there are many small leaves, but you can also trim and shape the larger leaves as well.

I love using dark card stock as a foundation for my cards but if you do, you really need to layer a panel for the inside of the card to make it easy to add a handwritten greeting.

I used scraps of card stock and patterned paper to stamp an encouraging message, trimmed with a small piece of punched lace edging, and mounted it on one side of the lighter card stock panel so that I could add a handwritten note as well.

Materials Needed for This Card:
Ink: Versamark; Amethyst Pearlustre embossing powder (Stampendous)
Paper: Card Stock, lavender/gray and purple (Core’Dinations); Patterned Paper, "Wisteria" (Basic Grey)
Stamps: I Care (Daisy Bucket); Shine on You #N035 (Stampendous)
Accessories: Sheer purple ribbon (Morex, from Michael’s); Purple silk flowers (on clearance at JoAnn Fabrics); Vintage brads (Making Memories); Lace edge punch (Martha Stewart)

Another Vintage Scrap Book Page

2009-08-04T12:36:00.004-04:00

This scrap book page is another of the series of pages I made following our trip to Ellis Island. This photograph of my husband's mother as an infant had sustained water damage and is extremely brittle, so scanning it allowed me to preserve it and correct some background defects.

Lacking a current Photoshop program (can you believe it, and with all the photographs I take!), I was able to successfully use the Microsoft "Paint" program to copy a tiny section of the background and paste it over the adjacent section of background to hide several flaws. Although it is painstaking, the results were amazing and well worth the investment of time. I did the same thing with the family group photograph in the previous post to cover over some handwriting that was done in ballpoint ink on the front of the picture.

Looking for a different way to display the photograph, which was much smaller than the other family portrait, I framed it with a mat that I cut from a panel embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile folder and matted it on several mats that were ultimately edged with a vintage style paper lace that was punched with one of the EKSuccess border punches.

I used the largest Nestabilities "Labels Four" die to cut out the center opening in the mat, and then used that scrap as the base to mat a small journal box. To get a slightly larger mat to mat the black label panel, I flipped the die over onto the tan card stock and traced around the outside edge to give me a tan mat to carry the color theme through. The embellishments on the top and bottom arches are two of the flourishes that remain from the punched lace that were glued in place and fastened with copper brads.

The hinges are from Tim Holtz Grungeboard Elements collection. I used Martha Stewart copper ink (darker and more subdued than ColorBox's copper) and clear embossing powder to emboss the entire front surface and sides of the hinges. I then painted them with Folk Art's Acrylic Crackle Medium and after drying, used Folk Art's Antiquing Polish #590 Brown. Although I didn't get as much crackling as I'd hoped for, the antiquing polish darkened the hinges enough to give them a truly vintage appearance. I was pleased that the color matched nicely with Making Memories copper brads. (Click on the pictures for a larger view.)

If you look closely at the lower right corner of the background design paper panel, you can see an image of the Statue of Liberty. I was delighted to find this piece in my scrap bin, a remnant from a very old DCWV travel themed paper stack. I could not have asked for a more appropriate image for the background of this page. I distressed and sponged the edges to keep a vintage feel.

To identify the family members in the portraits, I created small text boxes in a Word document and typed names and dates using the Monotype Corsiva font. As much as I preferred something more elaborate, Monotype Corsiva is decorative as well as readable. After printing and cutting, I sponged with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and mounted each on scraps of tan card stock.

Vintage Scrap Book Pages

2009-08-04T12:14:00.003-04:00

Recently, my husband, brother- and sister-in-law and I visited my husband's elderly aunt and uncle in New York. My husband has been putting together a family tree and researching his family's genealogy using a program offered through Genebase.com.

A visit to Ellis Island was an important and moving part of our trip. Touring the museum was enlightening and provided us with a wealth of information about what our immigrant family members experienced on their voyage to America. We found the names of family members of both of our families on the Memorial Wall. And with some nudging from Scrapbook Dreamer, one of my favorite sites for scrap book inspiration, I put together several scrap book pages featuring vintage family photographs and images of documents we were able to acquire through the Ellis Island Data Base.

If your family came through Ellis Island, you should be able to locate such critical documents as ship manifests and even some naturalization documents. Be sure to check alternate spellings since many families names were anglicized after they arrived to make them easier to pronounce and spell in English.

I scanned and was able to enhance and correct scratches and flaws in the original pictures, as well as preserve a copy that I can share with other family members.

I used lace edge punches, store bought crocheted lace, and multiple layers of matting to display the cherished photographs. Distress Ink (Frayed Burlap) was used to "age" documents that were printed out on white matte photo paper. The wide lace border on the wedding photograph is actually a row of narrow lace with scallops of pearls glued over a length of wide saw tooth crocheted lace. I used some brown wooden buttons and large pearls (Kaiser) to embellish the flowers.

The flourishes are from Tim Holtz Grungeboard "Elements". I painted them with off white acrylic paint and then smudged them with patina colored Stickles. Although they look bright and glittery in the photograph, in real life, the patina is a soft green blush on the off-white that picks up the green in the background panel.

Congratulations Heidi!

2009-06-19T08:30:00.007-04:00

Recently, our niece, Heidi, graduated from Quinsigamond Community College and this fall she'll be continuing her studies at Keuka College in upstate New York.

Heidi has been majoring in ASL, with the ultimate goal of becoming a sign language teacher and interpreter.

What is amazing about this is that there is no one in our family who is hearing impaired! After becoming introduced to ASL in school, she found that she loved it so much, she decided to make it her life's work. Heidi, we're all so proud of you, and delighted for you that you have found something you truly love to do!

I made this card for Heidi in honor of her accomplishments. The idea for this card began with a stamp, Confident Grad" by Stampendous and a lovely scrap of Washi paper by Hanko.

The paper is beautiful, with brilliant colors and gilding. Settling on card stock to enhance the Hanko paper was the hardest part of the design, but Core'Dinations had several that keyed on the colors in the paper in their Nostalgia collection (one of my favorites).

I used Serendipity's large dogwood stamp to create a floral background on the card stock and on a panel to enhance the front of the card. I stamped and embossed in gold and painted the blossoms with watercolors. To get a gentle shimmer (not really visible in the photographs), I glazed the watercolored blooms with Winsor and Newton's Iridescent Waterolour Medium (available at Michael's and most artist supply stores).

I stamped half of the verse on each of two card stock blocks to create a message for both the front and the inside of the card. Using a small scrap of the Washi paper and some coordinating card stock, I created an inside panel embellished with a sprig of the dogwood stamped "over the edge", leaving plenty of room to add my own personal note of congratulations.

Offray's 1.5 inch wide ivory Arabesque wired ribbon made a wonderful bow to finish the card off.

Go confidently, Heidi, as you undertake your next big adventure at Keuka this fall!

A Mother's Day Thank You from Mother's and Daughters

2009-05-10T13:37:00.004-04:00

On behalf of Mothers and Daughters Creations, I'd like to extend a great big thank you to everyone who participated in our Traditions blog roll. We hope you've enjoyed the challenges and memories we've shared.

The fun actually continues throughout this week, as you have until this coming Saturday, May 16th, at 12 noon, to submit challenges for a chance at some of our fabulous blog candy.

We'll be recapping the entire Blog Roll for you, with links to each and every challenge. Watch for that here and on the MDC challenge blog as well. I'll be posting additional tutorials throughout the week as well - including the instructions for making this fabulous floral creation. This is one of our terrific blog candy surprises. Yes, that is authentic Theodore Haviland Limoges being shown off by hand made paper flowers.

Stay tuned... the fun continues!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T12:19:00.005-04:00

Happy Mother's Day! And I am truly having a wonderful one. My son, Jacob, surprised me by driving home from college last evening for a late dinner and to have Mother's Day breakfast with us. And my husband is spending his day with me working in the garden. What could be better!

If you've been following the Mothers and Daughters Blog Roll, you know that it's been all about traditions and memories. Today I want to remember a woman who is uniquely responsible for the love, happiness, and joy that fills my life every day: my late mother-in-law, Frieda. Without Frieda, well, my husband wouldn't be here now would he? ;)

I'm one of the the few people I know who wishes that she had more time with her mother-in-law.

I first met Mother Frieda during a weekend visit to my parents-in-law's home in Florida when my husband and I became engaged. She was already in failing health and shortly after our visit, her health declined precipitously. She had a massive stroke the day before our wedding and another six weeks later. We flew to Florida when she was transferred to a hospice, where I remained, joined by dear friend Marsha, to care for her and to perform the sacred Jewish rituals for her, the chevra kadisha, when she died. The time I spent with her was important to us both. Marsha and I recited her favorite Hebrew prayers and recite the Mi Sheberach, the Hebrew prayers to ease suffering and improve health.

During the times she was lucid and able to communicate, our family was able to express our love and appreciation for her, and to reassure her that her husband would be coming home with us to live. This had been a great source of anxiety for her, as my husband's elderly father was newly blind and though very independant, she had been his "eyes" for many months.

After my father-in-law died in 2004, I returned to their home several times to clear things out and prepare their home for sale for my husband and his brother. During those trips, I learned much about the wonderful, intelligent, forward thinking, and kind woman that she was. As I read through notes she wrote in her careful handwriting for lectures she gave at Elderhostels about important women in history, women of valor, Yiddish themes, and the importance of family, I discovered that her values, her belief system, her views about family and her role in her world were more like mine than she ever knew and I wish that we had had more time to explore and share our philosophies and perspectives. I know she would have enjoyed that, as I would have.

Marsha had once again accompanied me to Florida to help me with the onerous task of sorting, shipping, packing, and disposing of all the things they had cherished. My husband's parents lived into their ninth decades and were avid travelers and collectors. My most poignant memory is of the afternoon that Marsha and I were cleaning out the walk-in closet in their bedroom. I was gathering my mother-in-law's shoes into a large garbage bag when a tissue and a piece of writing paper fell out of one of them and landed on the floor with a thunk.

Wrapped in the tissue was a diamond ring in a platinum setting and the note, folded up into a small wedge of paper, was addressed to me. We quickly went through all of the shoes and found more "treasures". Over the course of the year before she had died, in the toes of three different shoes from three different pairs, she had tucked her diamond engagement ring, her original wedding band (not the one she usually wore, but the ring that no longer fit over arthritic knuckles), and another pearl ring. Each was accompanied by a note, thanking me for my kindness and sensitivity for things I had done for her.

After we returned home from our initial visit and during her last year at home, I had sent care packages to her every couple of weeks... sanitary undergarments, lotions and scented body washes, and other things I knew she needed. She was a fastidious woman, always particular about her appearance, even when she was infirm. She always called to thank me when the packages arrived, but her notes and the jewelry were a tangible indication of how much she cared for and appreciated me and how much those boxes of goodies meant to her. My only regret is that she was not there with Marsha and me when we found them. Then again, maybe she was.

Happy Mother's Day, Mother Frieda. We remember you fondly. Oseh Shalom bimromav. Hu ya'aseh shalom aleinu.

Easy Gift Bags

2009-05-08T15:07:00.009-04:00

This is Part 2 of the Mothers and Daughters Traditions Blog Roll Day 3 challenge. In the previous post, we talked about gift boxes. Here, I'm going to show you some quick and easy ideas for decorating bags and for making your own bags from a template.

I love the ease of using decorated bags for gift-giving. A few simple embellishments can turn a simple bag into a work of art. The simplest thing is to take an existing bag and put your special touch on it. Even bags with holiday themed prints can be recycled by covering the holiday images with your own hand stamped and decorated ones, matted and mounted on coordinating papers.

For a more feminine look, I like to replace the knotted cord handles found on many bags with a wide piece of sheer, wired ribbon or soft satiny ribbon, pulling it through the holes and knotting it.

Satin ribbon tends to fray, but as long as it contains synthetic fiber, you can heat and fuse the fibers of the cut edges with your heat tool to prevent further fraying. For very thin or delicate ribbon, the heat tool may be too hot; I use a candle, running the flame close to the cut edge. When the fibers melt, there is a subtle but noticeable change. You want to barely melt the cut fibers. Too much heat, and some ribbons will melt into a hard ridge.

To decorate the panels, I like to create bands of paper and lace and overlay those with matted panels that I embellish with either a stamped and painted image or some hand punched and hand stamped flowers. You can also make personalized medallions with monograms or ephemera.

For smaller gifts, you can make your own bag and you have the ultimate control over the size of your bag. Coordinate the bag with a handmade card for a fabulous “designer” gift set.

If you use a double sided heavy paper (lightweight card stock) that is printed on both sides you’ll have a bag that is beautiful both inside and out. When you make your own gift bag, you can design the bag to fit the dimensions of your gift. Remember to leave “finger room” – enough space for the recipient to reach in and easily remove the gift.

If you want the bag to stand without tipping over, the narrower side panels should be about half as wide as the front and back panels. This proportion works well and your bag will stand without falling over, no matter what the actual dimensions are and no matter how tall it is. Here are templates and detailed instructions for making your own bags.

This template can be cut from 12 inch paper and trimmed to the desired height plus 1-1/2 inches (which folds under and in to form the bottom of the bag). With this bag, the seam is at a corner and you have two large unblemished panels that can be decorated on the front and back of the bag. To score the folds, orient your panel in a landscape position and score at ½”, 2-½”, 6”. 8”, and 11-½”. Then turn the bag a quarter turn and score across the lower edge at the 1-1/2 inches. All scores should be valleys on the outside of the bag. If the paper has a directional pattern, make sure to orient the score for the bottom edge properly so the pattern is right side up.

The blue lines in the diagram can be used as guides for cutting away excess if you are making a small bag with particularly heavy card stock. If your paper is lighter weight, when you fold the bottom, natural creases will form where these fold lines are marked.

To Assemble the Bag:

First, fold and set each fold with a bone folder to insure crisp folds and corners. Apply a roller adhesive or light ribbon of glue along the inside edge of the first thin (1/2 inch) panel, fold the panel to the inside and secure the paper. Apply adhesive to the outside edge of the first thin panel on the opposite side, fold it inward and fasten it to the glued panel on the other side.

To form the bottom, cut a diagonal line into the corner (along the blue lines in the diagram).

Fold the side, front and back panels inward and secure with adhesive.

If you are folding, rather than cutting the bottom, fold the sides in, bulging the front and back out slightly, and fold creases in the bottom flaps of the front and back panels, as you would if you were gift wrapping a box. Set the folds with a bone folder and repeat on the opposite side and then secure with adhesive.

Finishing the Bags:

The ways in which these little gift bags can be finished and embellished are endless. The first example is made from a dragonfly print paper from Kaiser's Dancing Jewel line. I trimmed it with a scrap of Wesley from Melissa Frances. A dragonfly stamped in Versamark and embossed in copper is finished with gold and copper seed beads set with Diamond Glaze along his body and over his wings.The wings were stamped twice and layered for a 3D effect. The flowers were punched from scraps of other papers n the Dancing Jewel line, leftover from a previous project.

The second bag is made from Imaginisce's Wildflower Soup paper. I love the bright colors and cheerful print. Trimmed with the reverse pattern and some Prima flowers, a bright red ribbon finishes it off.

When I am making an elegant bag, and for bags that are larger than 4 inches, I usuallyadd an extra half inch to the height of the bag so that I can fold the cut edge over to form a cuff. This gives the top of the bag a finished edge. Another way to combine a finished top edge with a decorative edging is to create a binding to go over the edge.

Use a lace or decorative punch or decorative scissors to create the edging and then trim the length of paper to about an inch wide. Fold the strip in half and set the fold with a bone folder. Unfold and apply adhesive to the entire length of edging, being careful to keep it open. Attach the edging to the front of the bag, taking care to keep the crease level with the top of the bag.

I find it easier to do this section by section, one side of the bag at a time. After you adhere the edging to the front of the bag, snip the inside piece at the corner and press that section to the inside of the bag, and work around all four sides the same way.

Prima flowers and buttons from the Basic Grey Sugared collection, sewn together with red sewing thread, set off the sentiment and anchor the ribbon handle.

A truly decadent finishing touch is tissue paper trimmed and stamped to coordinate with the bag. A fast and easy way to trim with decorative scissors or a lace edge punch is to fold a half sheet of tissue in quarters before trimming, then cut or punch through four thicknesses.

A flower or flourish is a perfect design to stamp randomly on the paper. I used Imaginisce's "Wildflowers" stamp from the Twitterpated collection with Warm Red ink (ColorBox Chalk) to stamp the paper.

(Note: Click on any image to see a larger version.)

Back on Line..... and Jumping into the Blog Roll with Gift Bags and Treasure Boxes

2009-05-08T11:35:00.008-04:00

Fifteen years ago I never would have believed that a computer crash would be totally paralyzing! But that is exactly what I've experienced for the past week. Eureka, my system is almost finally back to normal. (Now, if I can only figure out how to get my desktop back the way I had it, I'll be in techno heaven.)

While I've struggled with a nasty flu (not the swine flu, just a regular old knock down drag out seasonal flu) and computer glitches, the Mothers and Daughters Creations Traditions Blog Roll has been happening around me. So I'm signing on this morning to play catch up with some projects for some of the challenges that have been posted this week.

The challenge for last Friday, Blog Day 2, disappeared into cyberspace but I am resurrecting it for you now. Remember, you have until 12 noon on Saturday, May 16th to complete a challenge and post a comment in the appropriate blog to be eligible to win some truly fabulous blog candy! To be eligible, make either a treasure box, explosion box, or a gift bag and post a link to your creation on any of the three blog posts that show how to make these fabulous gift packages. (Post more than one, and your name will be put in the hat for each one you post.) Blog candy for this challenge is a hand-made green and gold treasure box (filled with some card making treasures!).

So let's get started and lets talk about gift boxes first.

The secret to making the easiest gift boxes and bags is to use a lightweight card stock (or heavy weight, stiff paper - 60-90 pound stock) that is patterned on both sides. This gives you a wonderful exterior and a lovely patterned interior without the work of lining it.

Marks paper, Melissa Frances, Kaiser, Imaginisce, Basic Grey, and Bo Bunny are perfect for this and make excellent boxes. Daisy Bucket papers have a unique weight and texture to them. The softness and suppleness makes them especially suitable for "coffee type" gift bags that you will close and fasten at the top.

Last week I gave a preview of some miniature treasure boxes. Whether you make them large or small, the instructions are the same. Both the bottom of the box and the top of the box are set up something like a tic tac toe board, with the bottom or top as the center square and the sides and corner squares forming the sides of the box and rim of the cover.

For the bottom of the box, determine how wide and deep your box is going to be. If you would like a box that is 4 inches wide and 3 inches deep, you will need a square that measures 10 inches on each side - 3 inches for each side and four inches for the bottom of the box. A box that is 6 inches wide with 3 inch sides would be cut from a 12 inch square.

If you want a rectangular box, determine the length and width, and then add twice the height of the box to each dimension. To make a rectangular box that is 3 inches wide, 5 inches long, and 2 inches deep, your card stock needs to measure 3 inches + 2 inches + 2 inches by 5 inches + 2 inches + 2 inches, or 7 inches by 9 inches.

The box top is made essentially the same way, but the sides that form the rim of the top are usually 1 - 1-1/2 inches deep for a larger box and as little as a quarter inch for a miniature box.

Here are some templates to guide you. Rick click and save the image to your own computer and either use it as a guide or enlarge it to the size you want to make your box, print it out, and use it as a pattern.

I have found that the absolute simplest way to cut a box top or bottom is to use the template only to visualize the dimensions, then calculate the length and width of the paper I need for the bottom of the box. Then I score it all the way around with the help of the Scor-Pal, making a score mark at the incremental mark for the height of the box. Using my 3 inch by 5 inch rectangular box as an example, I score the 7 inch by 9 inch piece of card stock at the 2 inch mark on all four sides.

To figure out the size paper needed for a cover, take the length and width of the bottom of the box and add 1/16 of an inch to each dimension. Then add twice the depth of the rim of the box cover to each dimension as well. For my 3 inch by 5 inch box, if I want the cover to be 3/4 inch deep, I will need to cut a piece of card stock that is 3 + 1/16 + 3/4 + 3/4 inches by 5 + 1/16 + 3/4 + 3/4 inches, or 4-9/16 by 6-9/16. That extra sixteenth of an inch is what allows the cover to slide on and off easily yet fit snugly on the box.

Score all four sides at the 3/4 inch mark. On the Scor-Pal, the easiest way to do this is by lining the paper up along the middle of the groove at the 3-1/2 inch mark and score on the 4-1/4 mark. Be sure to consistently line up along the middle of the groove or that "measly" sixteenth of an inch will either shrink or expand and the cover won't fit properly.

After your box has been scored, cut along the score marks of the corner panels, cutting only as far as the inside corner, on opposite facing sides. These are the blue lines in the diagram. When you assemble the box, you will fold along the score lines and these flaps will be secured inside the box and will hold your box together. The cover is made the same way.

To adhere the side panels of the box and cover, I use either an ultra-strong tape adhesive like Scor-Tape or Thermo Web's Super Tape, or I glue them with two-way or tacky glue. If I glue them, I clip the panels with lightweight clothespins to hold them securely until the glue has dried.

I love to make 3D flowers and other embellishments to decorate the top and sides of the boxes. Future posts that will be appearing in the next few days will include a template for a gift bag, an explosion box, and a tutorial for making the fabulous flowers seen on today's miniature boxes.

Day 1 of the Mothers and Daughters Traditions Blog Roll and our Thursday Card Challenge “Rolled” into One!

2009-04-29T23:40:00.007-04:00

I am excited to be the first Design Team member to host a challenge for this fantabulous event. Mothers and Daughters Creations is sponsoring a blog roll involving the members of the the scrap book and card design teams. Each day we will be featuring one or more challenges plus some wonderful information about Mother's Day, the meanings of flowers, ideas for gifts you can make yourself, and inspiration galore for wonderful cards, scrap book pages, and decorative elements.

You can find all of the exciting details about this blog roll at Traditions Central on the main Mothers and Daughters Challenge Blog, where our own Mother and Daughter Team of Linda and Tamara will be sharing some very special Mothers Day memories and traditions to start us off. I hope to see you playing along with us every day, now through Mother's Day!

Our first challenge for you is our weekly Thursday Card challenge. This week, we challenge you to create a card using layers. You can use layers in a number of ways... your card can have a variety of layers, your image can have layers to "pop" it, your layers can be one on top of another and adhered together, or you can have separate pages lying atop one another.

Blog candy for this challenge is sweet.... Linda has put together some cuts of some of my favorite Bo Bunny papers along with key lime and strawberry ribbons. Yummy! Deadline for all challenges is Saturday, May 16th at 12 noon. We'll announce winners the next day.

So, make a card and upload it to any gallery or your blog. Then, pop back here and post a comment with a link so we can see it. Unlike some of our other upcoming blog challenges, the winner of this challenge is not chosen randomly. We agonize over the entries and then choose the one that we feel is the best.

Need some inspiration? Check out this wonderful card made by my fellow design team member Dawn Knight. Dawn used Bo Bunny papers and one of my favorite Serendipity stamps. She colored the image with colored pencils and Gamsol - beautifully done, Dawn. And I love the Flowersoft on the potted blooms.

Melissa and Leah have also made some terrific samples as well. Be sure to visit their blogs and post a comment and you will be eligible for an additional mystery prize at the end of the Blog Roll. More details about that to come!

Going Green for Earth Day and Every Day

2009-04-22T21:27:00.011-04:00

Happy Earth Day - and I'm not a day late. ;) In our home, every day is Earth Day. We've been Going Green for years. But I love Earth Day because it's an opportunity to learn about so many new and creative ideas for living green.

We live by the mantra reuse, recycle and repurpose. If you want some great ideas about ways to do this, check out Kelli's blog, Simply Altered. Her blog is fabulous anyway - Kelli is the queen of altered projects with a definite minimalistic influence - but her Earth Day efforts are back to basics, economical, simple, and earth friendly. We're already doing most of the same things that Kelli does but I got some other great ideas from her blog and I'm hoping to get her recipe for home made laundry detergent!

At SplitCoast Stampers, Lauren (lollies) posted a poll and started a thread of recycling ideas. I picked up some wonderful hints there as well. Check it out.

The project I'm featuring today comes to you courtesy of the scrap box in my studio. In the course of a month, I actually throw away less than the equivalent of a small plastic grocery bag, and that is mostly the non-recyclable plastic parts of adhesives packaging, empty adhesives containers, and tiny scraps of ribbons and other non-recyclable scraps. The few scraps that I don't save to use later for another project get recycled in a box next to my work table.

I don't remember the last time I purchased gift wrap. I recycle and decorate bags and make small treasure boxes that become a part of the gift. Even the smallest scraps have found new life in these miniature treasure boxes. They're the perfect thing for wonderful "little" in size only gifts - pair of earrings, charm, or other small trinket. Click on the individual images for a larger view and check out the details.

During the Mothers and Daughters Blog Roll, which begins a week from today, I'll be posting detailed instructions and templates for these beautiful yet simple to make boxes and for many other equally fabulous treasure boxes in a variety of shapes and media. Some are designed to hold gifts and can be made to the exact size you need. But my friend Robyn recently spent a day crafting with me and showed me a fabulous idea for turning a treasure box into a photo album - a gift and package all in one. (Hint, if you subscribe to my blog now, you won't miss a single event! Scroll down for the link on the left.)

Be sure to pop back here for all of the exciting details, and most importantly, for all of the exciting projects and blog candy that we'll be featuring.

Stay tuned as well for more exciting pictures from our garden along with ideas and techniques for using home grown herbs and real flower elements in your card making and scrap booking, which will find their way into my blog throughout the gardening season.

I so love these Hellebores, the lovely Lenten Roses, which are blooming throughout our cottage, woodland, and shade gardens right now. The blooms are long-lived on the plant and the bloom season in New England is extensive. Last year they bloomed for over two months. But resist the urge to enjoy cut blossoms indoors. They much prefer the cool spring temperature and nutrients they get by remaining on the plant.

Thursday Card Challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations

2009-04-16T10:10:00.013-04:00

Hi All, and welcome to another sunny, warm, and wonderful spring day.

If this fabulous weather stimulates your creative muse the way it does mine, then check out this week's card challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations. For a change of pace, Tamara offered us a sketch and she chose one that has a lot of versatility. I've had a lot of fun with it and hope to post another rendition or two of the same sketch later today!

For this card, I paired two different papers, Uber Persian and Turkish Delight from one of MDC's newest lines of Imaginisce papers, Exotic East. These are not your typical spring time colors, but aren't they stunning! And they are perfect for an expression of condolence no matter what the season. If you're concerned about stamping on the dark colors, don't be! I used Detail Black embossing powder with Versamark and as you can see, the results are striking.

The stamp I used for this card is from the Serensipity line, Queen Anne's Lace. I stamped the butterfly in the picture on a separate scrap of paper and cut it out and then mounted it on a pop dot to help it to stand out in the design.

With a dark (in this case, black) card base, you need to think about how you're going to finish the inisde of the card. I have embossed sentiments with Detail Gold and Detail Silver embossing powder, but it can be difficult to "sign" these cards unless you have a white, gold or silver gel pen.

Often, I will mat a white or coordinating light colored panel with the same papers that I use for the front of the card, but in this case, I chose to use the lighter of the two design papers and embossed in black. I also stamped and embossed edges of the stamp design around the edges of the panel. It takes it from plain to special and I love the effect!

I also discovered that the Prima Romantica papers and flowers coordinate well with this line of papers and today I am playing with the scraps from this project as well as some Romantica scraps and the Romantica flowers for another project. Join us for our Mothers and Daughters Mother Day Traditions Blog Roll where you can see the fabulous results!

Spring is Here

2009-04-14T15:18:00.010-04:00

If something looks different about my blog, you're right. I replaced the wintry photograph in the heading with a picture taken last spring.

While the Chinese dogwood and azaleas are not in bloom quite this early, spring has definitely arrived and I couldn't be happier.

We have hellebores, crocus, snowdrops, hyacinths, and daffodils spreading gorgeous color throughout the flower beds and the grape hyacinths and miniature iris won't be far behind. The later blooming jonquils, daffodils and tulips are sending sword-like leaves and bud stalks skyward.

Everywhere I look, there is new green growth and beautiful punches of color. Our koi have come out of hibernation and swim to the surface when the sun warms the water. And at night we hear the peepers in the marsh.

The most exciting finds of the day, however, were not the most colorful. I was delighted to see the lilac shrubs loaded with leaf buds and flower spikes, still tiny but definitely hinting that their glorious fragrance and color will arrive early this season.

In our woodland garden, trillium are sprouting everywhere. Last spring, we imported several varieties from a grower in Canada and I can hardly wait for them to start blooming.

But most exciting and most indicative of the rebirth that is the hallmark of spring is the bird's nest that has appeared this week, nestled in the canes of the climbing rose on one of our trellises.

I haven't witnessed any birds attending to it but I'm hopeful that whoever built it will take up residence shortly and that we 'll be blessed with a growing family in residence in our rose garden.

Announcing a New Blog Roll

2009-04-13T23:03:00.004-04:00

I'm tickled to be part of a new adventure... my first ever blog roll! Mothers and Daughters Creations will be hosting its very first blog roll beginning April 30th with their weekly Thursday card challenge, and culminating on Mother's Day with a gallery of entries from designers and visitors alike. The theme, Mothers and Daughters Traditions, promises a bouquet of fabulous projects - cards, scrap book designs, gift and packaging ideas, altered projects, and much, much more.

So starting Thursday, April 30th, grab your cup of tea or coffee and a sweet roll and join us on the MDC Challenge Blog for our daily posts. We'll share fabulous projects, memories, and recipes, inspirational ideas for journaling scrap book pages and writing personalized messages for cards, and the secret language of flowers. Create a card or a treasure box, embellish a picture mat or a scrap book page, test your knowlege of trivia, or simply share a memory and you could win some of the fabulous blog candy we'll be offering each day. Sweet!

Scatter Joy With the New ATC Challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations

2009-04-05T23:16:00.004-04:00

Hello, Everyone! Continuing the new challenge series we started last month, Mothers and Daughters Creations invites you to play along again with our newest ATC challenge. This month we are looking for ATC’s featuring spring, Passover, or Easter themes.

If you’ve never made an ATC before, here and here are links to two recent tutorials on my blog that give tips and and answers to any questions you might have. You can post any other questions you have here or on the Mothers and Daughters Creations challenge blog.

The rules are simple: Create a 2.5 inch by 3.5 inch ATC with a spring, Passover, or Easter theme. It’s okay to stretch your imagination (and ours). Any and all media and techniques can be used, but the card must include stamping somewhere on the front of the card and the stamping needs to be in the form of an image – not just a sentiment. It can be the primary image or part of the background, such as a flourish or background stamp. Aside from that, anything goes. There are no vendor or color requirements.

This week, I was inspired by the fresh green sprouts of the iris, lilies, tulips, and daffodils that are already 2-4 inches high. I'm tickled to be seeing green after the harsh winter we had. I can't wait until the trees start sprouting leaves!

The deadline for submissions is Wednesday, April 30th at 12 noon EST. We’ll announce the winner on Thursday, May 1st. The winner receives a goodie box with an assortment of papers, stamps, and embellishments for making ATC's, plus one of my own original ATC's.

All you need to do to enter is upload your card to any gallery or to your blog and post a comment here on my blog or on the Mothers and Daughters challenge blog with a link to your card so we can all see it. Be sure to subscribe to my blog to get weekly updates plus tricks and tips for making ATC’s.

Happy Spring, a Blessed Easter, and Joyous Passover to all.

A New Challenge, A New Season!

2009-04-03T09:32:00.003-04:00

Welcome Spring! It's finally here in the Northeast and I couldn't be happier.

This week's card challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations is to make a card with a box, with your design spilling out of the box. Check out what Melissa Earnest did. She created the design inside of a box on her card. I thought that was truly inspired!

For my card, I chose to feature violets. Next to lilacs, pansies and violets are my favorite spring flowers, hands down. So I popped a bunch of violets into a box, and of course, some blossoms fell around the box as well.

I stamped the image several times on white card stock, and watercolored and cut out the images. I also stamped it directly on the striped background paper. Then I layered the leaves and blossoms over it for depth and shading. Ordinaruly I stamp images onto heavier weight watercolor paper and cut them out, but the intricacy of the stems in this design would have made the job of cutting them out rather formidable. Stamping the design in a little bit darker shade of green ink directly onto the card gave me a canvas upon which to build the nosegay without having to worry about the stems.

For my background, I chose a striped paper from Melissa Frances that says spring in a big way and ties all of the colors together. I matted it onto two layers of lavender card stock that were from the same card stock collection - Core'Dinations - as the card base. I matted the patterned stripe onto the darker shade first, then onto the lighter shade, then onto the dark card base.

Usually the tendency is to mat in increasing or decreasing depth of color. Mixing it up so that the lightest hue is sandwiched between the two darker tones makes each color stand out, and highlights the striped paper with a totally different effect than mounting it on the lighter color would have.

Since I used a dark card base, I had to provide a panel on the inside of the card. I stamped and clear embossed a sentiment and matted it with the same design paper and card stock I used on the front, and added a spray of violets across the bottom.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2009-03-26T18:29:00.011-04:00

This week’s challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations is a color challenge – they've challenged their blog readers to create a card with a spring theme with the colors light blue, yellow, and black. Now that IS a challenge for me, since black is not a color that comes to mind when I think of spring. I had to make a concerted effort to use it as an accent color on one of the two cards I made for this challenge. It would have been a lot easier with a bumble bee stamp!

When I think of spring, I think of April showers and May flowers and Stampavie’s Lily and Milo “Rainy Day” stamp is perfect for this theme. I used different shades of light blue to create two very different cards with very different personalities.

Using a light navy blue as my primary color for my image for this first card, I matted the rainy day friends first on a delicate floral pastel Imaginisce paper and then onto yellow and black card stock. I added a layer of light navy gingham checked paper and then another layer of black card stock. I punched the edges of each layer with one of Martha Stewart’s lace edge punches. A thin sheer black ribbon provided a bold but not overpowering place to anchor flowers in black and yellow. I used Prima’s Heavenly Cut flowers which have flowers in both silk and a thin, organza-like material which I topped with a small yellow Prima flower. I used Kaiser blue pearls to embellish the umbrella with a larger pearl on top and smaller pearls on the curlicues, on the little girl's hair bow, and in the center of the flower.

For this second card, I used both sides of the double sided “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” patterned paper from the For Peep's Sake Collection by Imaginisce and overlapped them to create a pastel blue stripe and floral background.

I stamped the image in Versafine Black Onyx ink, my token “black” for the card challenge. Watercolored in pale yellow and aqua, I mounted my rainy day couple on a background of solid light blue card stock embossed with Cuttlebug’s “Bubbles” folder. In the original image, the children are standing in a small puddle and I cut and layered their “puddle” from pieces of vellum.

The corner embellishment was cut with a Cuttlebug victorian corner die. With its central tulip, it’s the perfect compliment to the tulip print paper. Light aqua and yellow Prima flowers, some punched yellow branches, and a yellow button from the Sugared button collection finish the right lower corner.

On the inside of the card, I added a panel of the same floral paper, edged with a lace edge punch and embellished with a corresponding corner treatment.The stamped sentiment, "Feel Better Soon" brings the colors in the floral panel to life.

As much as possible, I try to embellish the inside of the card to coordinate with the cover. It's just one more thing that makes a hand made card stand out from the crowd.

Artist Trading Cards 101 - Tips and Tricks

2009-02-17T09:47:00.008-05:00

I've been enjoying my latest passion - creating ATC's. I just can't get enough of these miniature works of art. This past week, Mothers and Daughters Creations introduced these little wonders as their weekly challenge.

If you haven't tried your hand at making one, now is the perfect time. In a previous blog post I discussed what they are in general. In this post, I'm giving detailed start to finish instructions for making them.

To "start", you need card stock cut to 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches exactly. If there is one hard and fast rule, that's it. And you need at least two pieces of card stock to make a sturdy base - more if your card stock is thin - less than 110 pound card stock.

You can get 10 panels from 8.5 inch x 11 inch paper by cutting the paper the long way in two 2.5 inch and one 3.5 inch strips and then cutting ATC panels to size from each strip.

With 12 inch by 12 inch paper, you can get 14 card panels. I cut two 3.5 inch strips and two 2.5 inch strips and then cut ATC sized panels to size from each strip.

In my view, a work of art requires a sturdy and well constructed base. Two layers of heavy card stock is considered the minimum standard base by most card artists. A layer of cardboard (the weight found in cereal or cracker boxes) is also an excellent base and I will occasionally use that instead, covering each side with either heavy weight patterned paper, card stock, or layers of both.

Sometimes I use different colors of card stock in creating my cards and if so, I may cut subsequent layers 1/8th inch shorter and narrower to give a matted effect, but my base is always a minimum of two layers that measure 2.5 by 3.5 inches precisely. The majority of my cards have four or more layers of card and paper stock when I'm done.

Adhering the pieces of card stock can be a headache. After much trial and error, here is my fool proof way to make sure the layers don't separate. I use a permanent bond adhesive on a roll-type dispenser. I use either Tombow or my latest favorite, Memory Tape by ThermoWeb (both available at most retailers such as Michael's, AC Moore, and JoAnn's, as well as specialty craft stores). I run the tape all along the edges of both papers I am adhering, being careful to completely cover the corners. I add a few lines of adhesive across the middle of the card piece. Then I adhere them together and run a brayer over them to bind the adhesive. Successiev layers are added the same way.

If I am securing ends of ribbon or brads between the layers, I find that dimensional adhesive is needed to adhere the layers securely.

After I use the tape runner to apply tape to each piece, I add a small amount of the glaze in those areas with a tooth pick and hold the layers together with a plastic clothespin type of clip for a minute or two until the glaze dries.

I think that edging the layers adds both elegance and a finished touch, and so I generally treat all cut edges of my cards at least by inking and often by either embossing the edges or with glitter. But first they must be evened out.

No matter how carefully you cut and line up the edges, it's almost impossible to get the edges of the cards completely, perfectly even. If I am off by a noticeable margin, I trim first with my detail scissors. Then I gently buff the edges with a sandpaper block and wipe them down with a tack cloth.

I've found special "cleanup" cloths for glitter and embossing powder sold on line but tack cloths are readily available at places like Home Depot and even Wal-Mart for as little as a couple of dollars and can be opened and cut into four smaller and more manageable pieces. You can even make your own tack cloth from cheese cloth, turpentine, and varnish.

Gilting, inking, or embossing the edges of your cards is a finishing touch that sets off the art in a beautiful way and adds enormously to the overall effect.

At a minimum, I will at least brush cut edges with the side of an ink pad. This is especially important if you use white core card stock to cut your panels as it will cover the white and finish the edges in either the same or a contrasting color (such as gold).

If I want a bit more glitz, I'll use Versamark and then edge with embossing powder.

The easiest way to do this is to sprinkle embossing powder along the inside fold of a folded piece of scrap paper to a depth of about 1/8th inch. Drag the inked edge of the card in the powder to coat, and then heat emboss. If you find that there is too much powder in some areas, it can be dusted off with a paint brush. If you miss an area, just re-ink and emboss that area again.

Decorative touches can take many forms. In the cards on the left (click on each image for a larger view), I added punched flowers and hearts, painted and cut out stamped flowers and then layered them over the stamped image, and embellished them with Liquid Pearls.

I wanted to finish the bottom card at left with a Prima flower but the ones I have were too large and too dark to coordinate well with the card. The fix was easy. I simply cut it down with detail scissors, brushed the petals with Versamark and dusted it with Seafoam White embossing powder. After embossing, I finishedit off wtih a center of Liquid Pearls.

Recently, my husband and I hosted a Valentine dinner party. I used ATC's as place cards at each place setting. The cards were made by stamping a lovely swag of roses under a computer generated name. I used the Vivaldi font and adjusted the font settings to give a shadowed effect. In Word, click "Format" on the tool bar and select "Font". You can choose from several options including embossing and shadowing effects.

The roses were stamped in Versamark, embossed in Detail Gold, and painted using Dewalt watercolor pencils. I used patterned papers from two different premium DCWV paper stacks that matched the colors in our china. Each layer was inked in gold and the card was finished with an organza bow.

Placed on fan folded napkins and embellished with some sprigs of baby's breath, these ATC's were a lovely place card and a beautiful keepsake for our guests. The napkins were folded with a simple accordian fold and slipped into silver plated napkin rings and fanned over the plates. I simply laid the cards down over the rings and tucked baby's breath under the bow in front and into the ribbon behind them.

A Wonderful Valentine's Day - A MultiMedia Event

2009-02-16T11:40:00.013-05:00

Winter can be incredibly drab and depressing in the Northeast - it's cold and snowy and generally unpleasant to be outside (unless you are a lover of winter sports... I'm not).

Valentine's Day provides a lovely break from the snow and the cold, the post holiday bills, and the long dark nights, and it's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate love and friendship. My husband and I have a special way of doing that.

We both love to dance and we enjoy fine dining, but we've always disliked going out to celebrate Valentine's Day. Our favorite restaurants pack in extra tables, offer a revised (and much less varied but more expensive) menu, and rush us through a marginal meal and out the door to make way for the next couple. Where's the fun in that?

Several years ago we started a tradition of inviting friends who love to dance in for a private dinner dance. We "hire" our college age son to be the waiter and DJ, and we host 2 or 3 other couples for a very fancy formal dinner and dance. Dress is evening attire, a suit or tux for the gentlemen and evening gowns for the ladies, plus flowers. Think "prom" for the over 50 crowd.

We decide on a menu as a group and each couple pitches in with the cooking. This year, the evening started with an assortment of gourmet cheeses and hot and cold appetizers in the living room in front of the fireplace. After some wonderful conversation, we moved across the room to the dining alcove where dinner began with an authentic Italian antipastos and fresh baked bread courtesy of friends whose origins are in Rome.

We followed that with a remarkable beef tenderloin, a variety of side dishes, and beverages for everyone's palate and culture, a dark merlot, the last bottle of Pino Grigio from our wedding, and some sparkling grape juice from Israel.... all this on fabulous china and crystal laid out on spectacular linens.

I've been collecting Haviland Limoges for years and I
set the table using pieces of this exquisite antique china in a variety of patterns, but all with pink roses. Adding pink candles and napkins pulled it all together. I arranged some small pink roses, fern, and baby's breath in a sugar bowl and creamer to make low but delicate floral table decorations.

I made Artist Trading Cards for place cards. I began by printing the names of our guests in a fancy script (Vivaldi). I used Versamark and Detail Gold embossing powder to stamp a spray of roses underneath each name. I watercolored the roses and then cut each name and rose spray with a plain oval Nestabilities die.

Using some luxurious papers from two different premium paper stacks by DCWV, I cut scalloped ovals in a green print to mat the names and then cut two additional layers of card stock in a pearl pink print and the same green to mount and mat the ovals. Before adhering the layers, I edged each with gold ink. After I assembled the cards, I added an organza bow and embellished them with sprigs of baby's breath.... truly "multimedia".

After dinner, we moved to our great room for dessert in dancing.

We had moved out the regular furniture and carpet and brought in two bistro tables from our garden furniture storage shed. They were the perfect size at which to enjoy Waldorf Cake (Red Velvet Cake) and Tiramisu and cappuccino. The remainder of the evening was spent dancing to all of our favorite music and sharing pleasant conversation.

Consider hosting a formal "dress-up" event for a few friends. (Who doesn't like to get all dressed up?!) It's an economical way to have a million dollar evening. With formal attire, corsages and boutonnieres, it was like being at our own "mini prom".

An Introduction to Artist Trading Cards

2009-02-01T06:38:00.009-05:00

Artist Trading Cards, or ATC’s, are limited edition collectible works of art made in the same ways and with the same techniques that are used to create "regular" greeting cards and scrapbook pages. The primary purpose of an ATC is to share a miniature work of art in one’s own personal style with another artist. (Click on the image for a larger view.)

Three rules apply to ATC’s: First, dimensions of an ATC are always 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. It doesn’t matter whether the card is oriented in the portrait or landscape lay-out, but the actual dimensions are not negotiable.

Second, by definition, Artist Trading Cards are never sold. They can only be traded or given away. Cards of this size and conformity that are sold are referred to as ACEO’s, or Art Cards, Editions, and Originals.

And lastly, ATC's are signed and numbered by the artist as for any other valuable collectible. Typically, the artist will sign the back of the card with the following information: the name of the art piece, the artist’s name and on-line ID, email or web address, the date, and the individual card numbers.

Most serious ATC artists give their cards two numbers. The first is the actual design number – each uniquely designed card or card set/series receives a sequential number for the design. As miniature collectibles, ATC’s are made in limited numbers and often in sets of either “like” cards or theme-related cards and the cards within a set are also numbered.

When the card is a one of a kind, unique ATC, it’s referred to as an original and numbered 1/1 or 1 of 1. When sets of nearly identical ATC’s are created, they are called editions and are numbered according to how many cards are in the set or edition, such as 1/10, or 1 of 10. Sometimes a group of ATC’s will be created based on a theme. They are not identical but they share common elements that link them in what is called a series. They are numbered as for an edition, but are identified as a series. This information can be written randomly on the back of the card or on a variety of stamped templates including those designed specifically for ATC’s. Small stickers with the information printed on it can also be used, although the artist’s actual signature or initials are usually handwritten.

Making an ATC:

I love to make ATC’s because it provides a perfect opportunity to use up small scraps that I am loathe to discard, and because I can try out new techniques and experiment with different products in a small way. Also, unlike a greeting card or a scrapbook page, ATC’s don’t need a reason or an occasion. They are art for art’s sake.

To start, an ATC has to be created on a sturdy base. The thickness and sturdiness of two layers of card stock is considered the absolute minimum in terms of thickness. You can actually use a trading card or even a card from a standard deck of playing cards if you prefer rounded corners. I have used cardboard from cake mix and cereal boxes, but my favorite way is to start with two pieces of heavyweight card stock and build additional layers of card stock and patterned paper onto each piece, creating a front and back that are ultimately adhered together. I end up with a very sturdy card and this works well for me since I like the back of my cards to be “clean”; any brads or ribbons are secured in between the layers.

My cards typically have four layers of card stock and one or two layers of patterned paper. I start with two base layers that are exactly 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches. I then layer a coordinating or contrasting card stock that is 1/8^th inch shorter and narrower onto each base to form a front and back of my ATC. If Iadd a third layer, it will be smaller in length and width by 1/8^th inch than the preceding layer. This provides an attractive "matted" apearance to my layers.

I usually use permanent roller adhesive such as Tombow and glue dots to adhere the layers. Glue sticks don’t provide a secure enough bond and wet glues cause too much buckling. I use dimensional adhesive to secure ribbons, brads, and other embellishments. If I am adhering layers and securing ribbon ends between layers, I use dimensional adhesive to secure the edges, with small plastic clips to hold the layers together until the adhesive dries.

When designing the layout of your card, it’s important to think of the scale of the card. If you simply “shrink down” the design and lay-out of a larger card, much of the detail will be lost. Instead, lay out the elements you want to include and choose portions of images judiciously. And look for techniques and finishing touches that lend themselves to small canvasses. A single tree branch or a flower stem or two, or a portion of a clock or building can make a wonderful image, whereas a large tree or flower garden, miniaturized to fit, will be lost in the small size of an ATC.

The typical swap will ask for a minimum of “at least two card stock layers and one embellishment”. Any and all techniques and materials can be used in fashioning an ATC. Metal, fabric, paper, clay, and acetate have been used to create ATC’s. Embellishments should be tasteful and securely applied. The only caveat is that whatever is used, the cards must be thin enough to fit into an ATC envelope or sleeve and they must be sturdy enough to be mailed, stored, handled, and used in a variety of ways.

There are a variety of ways that the back of the card can be finished. Many artists simply leave it plain and sign it. Others add a tag or label with identifying information. I tend to decorate the back in a small way to coordinate with the front, and I often use an ATC stamp or other stamp that provides an area to journal on the back of the card to record identifying information. I also occasionally use the back of the card as a mini “business card” and I include one with things I sell, especially when I am selling vintage china or an elaborate album.

Once they are finished, ATC’s that are being traded are usually stored in plastic bags, transparent sleeves, or paper or vellum envelopes. Collectors keep them in a variety of ways; they may be stored in boxes or albums, or framed to be displayed. They can be used to embellish scrap books or cards or altered items, or used alone as miniature cards, such as Valentines. Here are some samples of cards I’ve made.

Elegance and Inspiration

2009-01-24T21:51:00.008-05:00

The inspiration for this card, one of the challenges for last weekend's Crush mini VSN at Splitcoast Stampers, was a vintage chocolate box which you can see and read about here.

The chocolate box, an elaborately decorated and absolutely exquisite Whitman's sampler box, featured a profile of the bust of a woman who has flowing golden hair adorned with a wreath, and the box is decorated in mosaic tiles set in gold. In a word, it's gorgeous.

I just happened to have a scrap of this checked paper from a Debbie Mumm paper stack. It was the perfect paper to recreate the mosaic effect. I briefly -- and I mean briefly -- considered outlining the little squares in gold. When I came to my senses, I decided to put it through the Cuttlebug using the textile folder and then I ran a gold ink pad over the embossing. I used an embossed gold paper for the card base - reminiscent of the metallic gold box cover that was the inspiration piece.

I knew that the subtle gold of the ballerina would be lost against the brilliant gold embossing and bright pink and green of my attempt at making a mosaic panel, so I softened the background with a panel of vellum and edged both the vellum and the patterned paper with gold.

The way I do this is to brush the edges with my large ink pad and then dust them with embossing powder. In this case, I used Versamark and my regular gold embossing powder (not fine detail powder). Once you coat the edges with powder, if there are areas that are too heavy, you can brush a little of the powder off with a paint brush.

I cut the ballerina with a QuicKutz die that I ran through the Cuttlebug using A, B, and C plates. I gilded her with Perfect Pearls. I simply ran the Perfect Medium pad over her and dusted away. The flowers are a two stamp process with a Sugarloaf set (Easter/Spring Collection, #50678). I stamped and embossed the outline stamp for both the blossoms and the leaves in gold and then stamped again with the solid "filler" stamp in pink and green, and added a few blooms just to embellish. The colors I chose for the ink looked like they were made for the paper. (They're from Versafine, and you can find all of the details of all of materials here in my gallery at Splitcoast Stampers.)

The floral heart is a plastic trinket that came with a set of vintage buttons and ornaments. It was originally ivory, but I "painted" it with gold ink. Once it was dry, I simply placed it over the knot and pulled the ribbon tails through the center of it.

The ribbon, from Offray, is an inch and a half wide with gold threading and adds a rich finale to the card.

"Burned Batik" - Not Exactly What it Sounds Like!

2009-01-23T20:34:00.000-05:00

One of the challenges at the Crush mini VSN last weekend involved a technique called "Burned Batik". You can see a terrific tutorial written by SCS's Beate Johns here.

This technique involves using a resist or embossing pad to stamp a design which is then clear embossed to form a background design that will not accept ink and will appear white or translucent when ink or paint is applied as a second step.

In the burned batik technique, color is not simply sponged on; instead, the paper is misted and ink is sponged onto damp paper and the effect is the wicking and blending effect one sees in fabric batik. The technique itself is very easy as long as you avoid a few basic pitfalls.

While it's possible to do this technique on good quality card stock, I found that unless you mist sparingly and work quickly, you run the risk of having the top layer of the paper shred while you're sponging on the color and this is almost a sure thing with a lesser grade of card stock. I had the best results and a lovely effect using watercolor paper.

The other place where you can run into difficulty is with the embossing. It's important to over emboss - hence the term "burned" batik. But you don't really want to "burn" or scorch the paper in this technique, which is also easy to do.

So here in a nutshell is the technique:

Using a Versamark or other embossing or resist pad, stamp your image randomly all over your paper. If you look at the paper from an angle under a light, you should easily be able to see where you've stamped and if there are any glaring spaces. But if you miss a spot, don't worry. Once you've embossed, it's very easy to see where you've been, and you can fill in the spaces by inking and embossing a second time.

After you stamp the pattern, cover with clear embossing powder the usual way. I sprinkle it on liberally and then shake and tap it off onto a folded (and open) sheet of paper. Then heat emboss.

When you heat emboss, you want to overdo it a bit. You want to melt the powder as you ordinarily would, but then you want to heat it enough (without singing the paper, of course) to make it bubble and glaze a little bit. (Heck, for me, that's almost normal LOL... I tend to overdo at times....)

You'll know you've probably embossed it enough if the embossing powder gets absorbed a bit into the paper and the image shows through the back of your card stock (sort of like the way grease is absorbed into paper). This happens with card stock but it will not happen with good quality watercolor paper. This is a picture of the back side of the card stock after heat embossing and "burning" the embossing on the front.

Next, spritz the embossed sheet with water. Although any kind of spritzer will do, a mini mister or small mist bottle is easiest to manage. You want a light spray of water to coat the paper, but you don't want to saturate it too much. The paper, especially card stock, will curl and the surface will warp. This is normal and after it's dry, it'll flatten out on its own and if it's still not as flat as you'd like, you can iron it. You will see this to a much less degree (if at all) with heavy watercolor paper.

The next step is to sponge on your color. You can use one or several that work well together. Colors that work well together are those that are close together on the color wheel and would naturally blend together, like blue, green, and lavender, or rose, yellow, and orange. I tried purple and green together, and well, you didn't see a card made with that combination for a reason!

This is where I ran into a problem using what was actually a good quality card stock. I was a little too liberal with the spritzer and my paper was saturated. When I tried to sponge on the color, even gently, the top coat of the paper literally shredded.

This was going to be my attempt at green and purple. As you can see, it was a disaster. I switched to a palette of rose (and rose LOL) and used watercolor paper, and the final result is the beautiful card you see at the top of the page. I embellished the card with a few flowers I had left from another project, and used a fabulous ribbon to finish it off.

I didn't want to detract from the beauty of the technique so I didn't add a busy, hand painted image. What I did was make a small panel with the sentiment using the same technique, mounted both on beautifully coordinating card stock, and used a ribbon to enhance it all. Hope you like my card, and hope you'll try the technique.

Shy Kisses - A Limited Supply Challenge

2009-01-21T15:18:00.010-05:00

This week’s challenge from Mothers and Daughters Creations is a Limited Supply Challenge. With a Limited Supply Challenge, you are challenged to make a card using certain required elements and at the same time, restricted from using certain tools, techniques, or supplies that may be things you use all the time.

For this week's challenge, you can't use either Nestabilities or your Cuttlebug. (You can’t use a friend’s Cuttlebug either!) In addition to card stock, you may use only one patterned paper and one embellishment. For me, the Queen of Embellishing, that was a tall order! Also, you have to use two stamps and one has to be a sentiment. Whew!

For the "required" elements, I chose an adorable Stampavie image called "For You", a one-word image - "Kisses" - from Imaginisce, card stock from Core'Dinations, and patterned paper from Basic Grey's Granola collection.

I decided that I would tear and distress the edges of my paper since I had to sacrifice any embossing or scallops. I brushed the distressed edges of the card base and the torn edges of the Basic Grey patterned paper with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. I left the torn edges of the blue card stock uninked because I like the light and darker blue contrast in those edges.

Once my image was mounted under the blue “frame”, I punched tiny alternating holes with a 1/16th inch hole punch on the blue card stock and striped patterned paper for the twine. Although I could have “sewn” it with a large needle, it was much easier to thread the twine through punched holes. To make it even easier, I put a tiny drop of dimensional glaze on the end of the piece of twine to make it stiff and prevent the cut ends of the fibers from fraying.

As a finishing touch, to bring out both the blue and the brown in the patterned paper, I off-set the image panel on the card base so that more of the brown card stock showed. I can’t take credit for the curl in the twine; it remained that way after unrolling it from the ball.

Be sure to pop on over to the Mothers and Daughters Challenge Blog and check out the Design Team's cards. Play the challenge and upload a card, and you could a win a wonderful treat from the MDC Store.

Having Fun With "Perfect Pearls"

2009-01-21T14:57:00.008-05:00

This is another card I made for last week's CASE challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations. (See the post just before this one for more information about CASEing cards.)

I “CASED” this card from this card by Lynda Benden in the MDC design gallery. As Lynda did, I used an Outlines image, although instead of the butterfly, I chose one of my favorites, the Sparkle Flower Frame. I kept her basic sketch, modified slightly for a rectangular card. I replaced her short ribbon tail with a satin bow and her round sentiment with a Prisma flower. I used a different lace edge punch to border my central panel, but used a similar polka dotted paper from the Bo Bunny line.

For my card base, used plain ivory card stock and then built my card on a panel of Kosomi card stock from Hanko. I chose this paper because the delicate small floral design compliments the polka dots in the darker panel and the two colors worked well together. Although it may be hard to see in this picture, Kosomi paper is embossed with a tiny pale star shaped flower design arranged geometrically like the polka dots.

I used Ranger’s "Perfect Pearls" to color the images. I love the soft, shimmery effect of the Perfect Pearls. The colors are subtle, perfect for the color shades of the paper I’d chosen. Lynda had embellished her lace border; I chose to embellish the flower frame image instead, and added blue and clear rhinestones.

How to color with Perfect Pearls:

Ranger’s Perfect Pearls has become my new favorite way to color when I want to add shimmery elegance. The colors are subtle, but show up brighter than they did on this card if you use a coated paper like textured or glossy card stock. Applying Perfect Pearls is easy. You can stamp an image using the Perfect Medium in place of ink and then dust the image with the color, or you can color in an image as I did here with a Perfect Medium Pen.

For this paper, I didn’t plan ahead and stamped my image on regular card stock, which has a lot of “tooth” and grabs and holds the powder. I had stamped and embossed my image using Detail Gold embossing powder before I decided to use the Perfect Pearls. Thus, I had to work a little harder than usual to remove the excess pearl powder.

First, color in the design with the colorless Perfect Medium pen. Color only the areas that will be finished in the same color.

Next, using the smaller of the two brushes that comes with the Perfect Pearls kit, lift out a small amount of powder and brush it over the area you’ve covered with the Perfect Medium.

Brush off the excess (if there is a lot, you can brush it onto a piece of paper and tap it back into the canister) with the large brush. In this case, because the paper I used was holding the powder, I had to buff off the extra powder, but the Perfect Medium bonds the Perfect Pearls, so you can actually buff it with a piece of microfiber fabric and the color will remain where you put the Perfect Medium.

Continue to add color, one color at a time, until the entire image is colored. Here it is before I added the rhinestones.

Adding the rhinestones added glitz to glam. I did find, however, that self-adhesive rhinestones don't stick well to the Perfect Pearls. I used a little drop of dimensional adhesive even with self-stick rhinies and that worked like a charm.

Creating Scalloped Oval Note Cards

2009-01-21T14:02:00.012-05:00

Last week’s card challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations was to CASE a card by one of their designers. Depending on the source, to CASE someone’s work means to “Copy And Share Everything” or to “Copy And Selectively Edit”. Whichever description you use, the process is still the same. You use someone’s card or project as inspiration for one of your own and you change at least two things on the card, so it's not a duplicate of the original work.

I love this set of note cards made by Maria Levine.

What I did: I loved the scalloped border but since I don’t have a set of round Nestabilities, I cut my cards with scalloped oval Nestabilities. I used a different palette and different papers, but I used a floral design and layered the ovals to add depth as she did.

How to Make Oval or Round Cards That Open on a Fold:

The goal is to cut a folded card with an oval die placed slightly over the fold so that there is a residual fold left in the card that has been cut in the shape of an oval.

First, score and fold a 5.5” by 8.5” piece of card stock in half to create a card base. Then select three oval dies in serially increasing sizes, with the largest being as close as possible to the size of the card base. Choose designer paper for your card and an image that will be the focal point of your card to coordinate with it.

For this card, I chose this adorable little girl from Stampavie and colored her with watercolor pencils. Because I planned to cut her out and mount her on my card, I only painted the portions of the image that I planned to use in the design – the little girl, two parts of the flower sprigs, and the butterfly.

Using a Cuttlebug and Nestabilities: Although most any type of cutter/cutting system can be used, I made these cards using a Cuttlebug and Nestabilities, so I am giving instructions for using these tools.

Layer the cover stock or patterned paper you plan to use for the card front under the folded card base and position them on the A and C plates of a Cuttlebug. Place the die perfectly level on the paper with the left edge far enough over the fold to leave 2-3 inches uncut. Cover with a B plate and run through the Cuttlebug. (Note: Ordinarily you would run this through with the die facing up, under the paper, but to try and flip it over makes it almost impossible to get the papers lined of correctly for a perfectly even cut.)

Cut ovals in a contrasting paper and white with the middle and smallest sized oval dies. This paper from Bo Bunny is reversible, and for this card, I used the reverse pattern for my contrasting paper. The paper has a distressed effect and I cut my oval over a portion that had streaks of the contrasting colors running through it.

Punch flower shapes from the scraps of paper with various sized decorative flower punches. With a scrap of olive green, punch 1/8 inch circles and small (1/4”) suns for flower centers, and small leaf shapes.

Arrange blossoms along the bottom curve of the oval. I added the two painted blossoms as well, and then added my image of the little girl. Although it shows up as golden yellow in the photograph, I touched up her kerchief with a gold gel pen – it looks much better in real life! I also added tiny gold dots and flourishes to the punched flower border and glued a small punched flower over the flower she is holding in her hands.

I like a finished look to the inside of my cards and I am always concerned about ribbon tearing through punched holes, so if I am going to thread ribbon through holes in a card (rather than wrap it around a panel), I generally set eyelets. I used two eyelets in a coordinating color for placement of ribbon for a decorative bow.

The finishing touches.

On the inside of the card, I added some punched blossoms and the painted butterfly and embellished them with tiny gold dots and flourishes. Then, I finished the card off by layering two pieces of ribbon tied into a soft bow.

Getting Ready for VSN -- Setting up a Work Area

2009-01-13T16:41:00.014-05:00

VSN is an intense event in which challenges are posted hourly. You have 45 minutes to complete each individual challenge and then fifteen minutes to neaten your work space, photograph and upload your card, and grab a quick snack. If you’ve made cards for any of SCS's daily challenges, you have some idea of what to expect. The difference is that the VSN challenges have a time restriction and they come one after another. While you don’t have to complete them immediately in the hour after they’re posted, a lot of the fun and excitement of participating in the VSN is to do just that – to work along with everyone else and get each card completed during that hour, before moving on to the next. Unlike daily challenges, with the VSN challenges you are restricted to a 45 minute time frame regardless of when you complete them.

If you do want to challenge yourself to complete each new project as they’re announced, then having an organized work space is key. If you can negotiate an area in your home that will be off-limits to everyone else for the duration of the VSN, you can set up work stations and spread out your craft supplies in a way that will let you work quickly and efficiently. This can make a world of difference with the timed challenges. Before I was blessed with a room in our home dedicated to my crafting, I would commandeer our living room/dining room area to set up a work area. This is one large room and I made use of every table and cabinet surface.

Setting up Your Work Area

After you decide where you are going to set your work space, the first step is to plan out how to lay out and arrange “work stations” for different tasks in a logical way. Bring out the things you use the most – you don’t need to bring out everything you have, just the things you are most likely to use, plus whatever is on the VSN shopping list. This is also a good time to go through and organize your stuff wherever you have it. You’ll rediscover things you might have forgotten you have and they’ll be fresh in your mind for the weekend.

I am manic about cleaning my stamps and paint brushes immediately after I use them and so I set up a stamp cleaning area by the kitchen sink. I love micro fiber towels (you can get packs of 25 at Sam’s Club for a very affordable price). I use them for all kinds of cleaning chores and they are great for drying stamps and blocks. I do use a fair amount of paper towels as well so I make sure that there is a fresh roll on the spindle and extra rolls under the sink. When getting ready for VSN, I set out my stamp and brush cleaners, a stamp cleaning pad, and a soft toothbrush, which is another one of my favorite cleaning tools.

For the Mini Cabaret last fall, I set up a work area in our living room and dining room. I had my husband push the living room furniture to the side and set up a large folding banquet table that I used as a work table where I planned and designed the cards, gathered what I would need for a given card, and painted with watercolors or colored with my Prismacolors. I also set the Cuttlebug up there.

I used the dining room table to set up stations for cutting, stamping, embossing, and assembling the cards, and also set up a “bling bar” on the china cupboard. I’m one of those folks who loves china and fancy things, and how I set up my tables for the VSNs as well as my studio reflects that. When I set up for the Mini VSN, I dug out silver serving trays and baskets and a pretty crystal goblets and bowls. When I moved into my new studio, these things went with me. I think being surrounded by beautiful things enhances my creativity. Certainly, having things organized and neat allows me to stay within the time restrictions of the VSN.

My cutting area has my rotary cutter, Cropodile, and CM cutting system, which are laid out on a quilt cutting mat. For cutting a single oval, the CM cutters are much quicker to use than the Cricut, and so despite numerous dies for the Cuttlebug and cartridges for the Cricut, they are still among my most favorite tools. Now, with my collection of Nesties and Cuttlebug folders, I’ll probably substitute those for the CM cutters when I get ready for this weekend’s “Crush”. Something new that I have to find a spot for is the Scor-Pal, which has become one of my top five favorite tools.

I set the rotary cutter on the corner so I can sweep small scraps right into a trash can. To the left of the cutting area I set out some paper – not a lot, just some seasonal stacks, some pre-scored and folded card backings, and some extra plain white cardstock. On a small step stool (so I don’t have to bend so far to get to it), right in front of the paper area but out of view in the photograph is the plastic file box I store my scraps in. My scrap file is the first place I look for paper before heading to my large organizers, and when I’m cutting, I set new scraps on top for filing during clean-up. If I don’t clean up my areas after each card, my work area rapidly descends into complete and total chaos!

I also set out a basket with my most favorite punches, including the lace edge punches I use the most and some shape punches that I’m likely to use as well – mostly seasonal ones and some corner punches, plus a couple of different sized single hole punches. Yes, I love the Cropodile, but it only punches two sizes of holes. I punch holes for brads with a 1/16th inch hand punch.

Moving around the table, I set up an area to stamp and next to that, an area to emboss. I found a package of two cutting mats for $2 at the grocery store that have proven invaluable at containing messes. These are pretty large – about 18 by 24 inches – and made of very thin, flexible, heavy duty acrylic of some sort. They are designed for chopping vegetables on the counter but I like them because they are a flat, smooth surface that cleans up easily. I am an expert at making a mess so I also lay out wax paper when I am going to stamp a background.

Again, I don’t bring out every stamp I have. Based on the time of the year, the season, I set out some old favorites and some seasonal stamps. I also set out some new ones I was itching to try. I can always go to my stamp cabinet and get whatever I need, but it helps to have a few stamps already in mind and close at hand. I set out a tray of mounted stamps as well as several sets of the unmounted rubber and clear stamps that I use the most. And I gathered together an assortment of acrylic blocks into a flower bowl so they would be handy when I needed them.

Likewise, with the ink, I set out some of my favorite color stacks, plus the embossing ink, greeting ink, and the stamping inks I use most often. I also set out the embossing powders I use most often as well, along with a tray for the powder and some of the tools I use for embossing.

The place where I actually put my card together is recreated from my work table in my studio. I have all of my adhesives, tape runners, Inkessential pens, pencils, ruler, my favorite little detail scissors and tweezers, paintbrushes, Exacto knife, and a mat to work on. In the basket are extra tape refills, glue dots, corner mounts, and adhesive. I don’t want to have to spend precious time on search missions for extra packages of things I’m likely to run out of.

Our china cabinet was the perfect place to put the things I use for finishing touches and embellishments. Again, I chose a selection of ribbons I use most often, plus twine and gold cording since I use those a lot as well. On a tray, I organized brads, eyelets, rhinestones, pearls, beads, and other things, and also set out some of the glitters I use the most. I also have a fishing chest full of buttons and other little accessories that I set down in the corner next to the cabinet. Since my studio is on the lower level of the house, I want to have the things I use the most handy so I can save myself time and energy running back and forth for things.

The last time I set up for a VSN, I think it took me an hour and a half to gather and arrange everything. But that investment of time and effort allowed me to thoroughly enjoy the VSN and to make fully half of the cards without ever leaving this work area. Yes, there will be things you’ll have to get – different stamps, paper, dies and embossing folders – but having the area set up allows you to spend your card-making time very efficiently and for an event like this, where you have time constraints, having things organized and in easy reach helps enormously.

Speaking of “time”, shortly before the VSN starts, I set out a couple of clocks so I can keep track of time and stay on target with the time restrictions. While I have always made a supreme effort to stay within the time limit for the VSN, with the Mini Cabaret, I actually made a note of the amount of time I spent on each card, a habit I’ve carried through with a lot of the cards I now make for the regular challenges. Doing so has helped me to see what kinds of techniques take more or less time and I’ve also become very sensitive to where my time is being “wasted”. I can easily get distracted and a card that takes me “an afternoon” to finish probably only took me an hour, if I take away the time I spent filing paper, talking on the phone, opening the mail, and playing with the dogs. During the last VSN, I got so carried away chatting, there were a couple of challenges where I found myself using much of my “work” time “chatting”. That’s fine – I thoroughly enjoyed the conversations and needed a break from working at that point – but it’s amazing how much time can pass if you aren’t paying attention.

My First Valentine Cards of the Season

2009-01-13T14:04:00.006-05:00

The newest stamps from Stampavie are out and several of the whimsical images are perfect for Valentine’s Day. I’ve had so much fun making Valentine’s Cards with them.

The first card I made features two adorable hedgies. Watercolored and then decorated with Martha Stewart’s fine gold glitter, love truly sparkles on this card. The lace edge is done with a Fiskars lace edge punch. I layered a strip punched from the dark red card stock under the punched edge of the card. Before adhering it, I brushed it with gold ink and dusted it with gold embossing powder. A few waves of the heat tool later, the gilt border adds a touch elegance.

These youthful skaters brought back wonderful memories of my youth. I grew up on a pond and ice skating was a favorite winter sport. I used Core’Dinations Vintage cardstock for the background and a scrap of one of the Bo Bunny holiday papers for the large striped panel. Valentine’s Day is a good time to use up some leftover holiday papers. The background was stamped with one of the “Snag’em Stamps” (Flower), from the Imaginisce line.

When making a card with a dark card stock base, I generally add a white panel inside the card to either stamp a greeting or hand write a note. You can quickly and easily add a few simple embellishments and a decorative edging punched from the scraps to make the inside of the card as warm and attractive as the card front.

My favorite of the three Valentine cards I’ve made so far is this one, which features “My Prince Charming”. I used some decorative punches and scrap paper to make the daisies, which are assembled from two punched daisy shapes and a “sun” shape.

I clustered them in front of the frogs, and also embellished the two tall flowers that form the left and right borders of the design. I scattered a few more daisies over the background panel and decorated them with a punched triple leaf.

It's VSN Time Again!

2009-01-12T22:24:00.003-05:00

Introducing the VSN – Virtual Stamp Night

The next VSN, What’s Love Got to do With It, is set for the weekend after Valentine’s Day (February 20th and 21st) with the “mini” VSN, the Crush, scheduled for this Saturday. In addition, the creative coordinators of this Love Fest have added an additional “teaser” event to this VSN. The excitement begins with a “flirtation” this Friday at 7 PM, so be sure to tune in (log in to SplitCoast Stampers) for this extra little bit of fun on Friday evening.

If you’ve ever been able to go away to one, Stamping Retreat Weekends are a lot of fun and a real treat. Generally, you go away to a resort or a hotel where you can totally immerse yourself in crafting projects from breakfast to bed. Your food is cooked for you and someone does the dishes, makes your bed, and brings your morning and afternoon coffee. There’s no one barking or meowing, no one to cook for, no housework, no phone, no one asking what’s for dinner, no one calling “Honey, I need you!” or “Mom, I can’t find my [fill in the blank]???”

A Virtual Stamp Night is essentially a virtual retreat weekend, “virtual” being the operative word. We immerse ourselves in card challenges and crafting. We all work together on projects that often have tutorials associated with them that introduce us to new techniques. But while we do it as a group, we all work alone in our own space, in our own homes, and we interact with each other on-line via chat threads. (And no, I have no clue why it’s called a Virtual Stamping Night, since it’s actually two nights plus a mini event a few weeks ahead of the main course. My guess is that it started out as a single night and has just grown and evolved from there.)

VSN can be for anyone. You don’t HAVE to do it all. You can make VSN as much or as little as works for you. At any time during the VSN weekend, you can take the time to do one or a few of the challenges. You don’t need a reservation… all you need to do is log on if and when it works for you.

But for those of us who want to immerse ourselves in a VSN, we usually have to work doubly hard to manage all of the potential distractions around us since we are still at home, still the “Mom,” still chief cook and bottle washer, still the “go to” person in our family. It takes some advance planning to organize our family and our work space in order to be able to “host” a “retreat for one" at home, with “family” going on around us.

Even if you are blessed as I am with a room or a space in your home that is dedicated to crafting, it helps to prepare your work space to maximize your efficiency for the timed challenges which are the hallmark of the VSN. If you don’t have a space set aside just for crafting, you can easily turn any area of your home into a temporary “studio” for the duration of the VSN.

Preparing for a VSN

Preparing for a VSN means preparing both your family and your work area. The “Crush” event this weekend will be a perfect opportunity to test your plan and see what changes you need to make in terms of your family and your physical set up. I have changed how I manage myself and my family with each VSN I’ve participated in.

First, decide how much of the VSN you want to participate in. The key to successful pre-planning is to anticipate and prevent distractions and interruptions during that block of time. Plan ahead to have meals in the crock pot or already cooked and in the refrigerator, or settle on take-out. Decide who is going to be responsible for child care, pet duties, cooking, and clean-up. If young children are part of the equation and you want to try to do the entire VSN, you might consider arranging for a sleep-over at Grandma’s or for a babysitter to come in and help.

If you haven’t already done it, right now is a good time to check over your supplies and make a shopping list so you can restock things you’re low on and that you know you’ll need no matter what the challenges might be, such as adhesives, embossing powder, plain old cardstock, and watercolor paper. A “shopping list” has already been posted on the VSN Forum for this weekend’s challenges, so be sure to check that out and see if there is anything on the list that you don’t already have on hand.

Negotiate an area in your home that will be off-limits to everyone else for the duration of the VSN, a work area where you can spread out your craft supplies and leave them set up for the full two days of the VSN. Check out tomorrow’s blog post for some ideas for setting up an efficient work area in your kitchen or living room.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T11:28:00.004-05:00

Happy New Year!! I'm going to start the New Year off with some posts about the most recent cards and scrap book pages I've made.

Christmas is a time of wonderful memories, traditions, decorations, food, and ... GIFTS. The pre-holiday days are filled with shopping and gift-wrapping, the post-holiday days are time time to say "Thank You". Although email has largely replaced handwritten notes (my grandmother would turn over in her grave at the thought), you may want to make some cards for a more personal holiday thank you to the special people in your life.

This week’s challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations is to make Thank You cards. While I love to labor over T-Y cards as much as any other, if you need many cards to send out after the holidays, you need to keep them simple and quick or you could still be writing thank you notes at the beach! (I don’t think that’s what they mean when they talk about “Christmas in July”.)

I made a pair of quick and easy “Thank You” cards using a wonderful paper from Melissa Frances. “Gracie” is a winter themed paper in non-traditional colors – gray, a very subtle sage green, and a touch of lavender… one of my favorite color combinations. The colors in “Gracie” are very subtle: the olive is more gray than olive, and the lavender is mostly found in the distressing. But it’s an effective way to add color and the same color matting brings your eye to it immediately.

I used Core’Dinations card stock for the color base and matted my greeting in the same card stock. I love Core’Dinations, especially the Nostalgia collection. The colors are just the right shades to go with most vintage patterned prints, and they include gradients of each color in each pack. That makes monochromatic mats a breeze. They’re on sale now at MDC: http://www.mothersdaughterscreations.citymax.com/CoreDinations_CardStock.html

The greeting is from the Snag’em Stamps by Imaginisce – most of these stamps are only a dollar. (Here’s a link to the entire collection of them at MDC: http://www.mothersdaughterscreations.citymax.com/Imaginisce_Stamps.html) I painted the flower on the greeting with water color pencils adding just a hint of lavender and olive.

I used Martha Stewart lace edge punches to add some elegance and chose two completely different style ribbons. For the more sophisticated card matted in gray, I paired a more formal lace edge with a gray satin ribbon. For the card with the more flowery lace edge, I used a wispy wired edge organza, a bargain at MDC as well for ribbon this wide. You can see it here: http://www.mothersdaughterscreations.citymax.com/catalog/item/6622142/6489103.htm

The finishing touch is a row of dew drops. I was wishing I had them in the right shade of lavender but decided that clear added just the right touch without taking away from the gorgeous paper.

If you need to make some holiday thank you’s, visit the blog at MDC for some more absolutely stunning ideas and submit your cards to this weeks’ challenge! (Here’s a link to the blog: http://mdcchallenges.blogspot.com)

Chanukah Scrap Book Pages

2008-12-15T10:39:00.003-05:00

Today's scrap book challenge at Mother's and Daughters Creations (you can find the link to their challenge blog on the left under their logo) is to incorporate numbers or a list of things to do to count down what's left to do before Christmas.

I have this "thing" about scrap book pages - it's sort of like eating potato chips - I can never make just one. Even if the topics are different, I always make pages in pairs that coordinate at least in terms of color. It offends my eye to open a scrap book and look at two adjacent pages that don't work well together color-wise or worse, absolutely clash.

I made two pages for this design challenge featuring numbers, and since we are Jewish, I made them for Chanukah. There is not a lot of "stuff" out there for making scrap book pages or cards for Jewish holidays. But it's easy to incorporate almost any pretty paper into a Jewish theme. I used the Cricut Expression "Joys of the Season" cartridge to cut the menorahs, which are one of the primary symbols of Chanukah, the other being the dreidel. Blue is a popular Jewish color, and the Daisy Bucket paper I used has a beautiful shade of blue and a floral design that went well with my plan to make ornate numbers (also cut with the Cricut) and decorate them with flowers that I stamped and painted.

Why make pages ahead of time? This is such a busy time of year, by the time I finish making and sending holiday cards, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and entertaining, it’s hard to squeeze in the time to work on my scrap book. In Chanukahs past, I’ve even forgotten to take critical pictures! And then, after the holiday rush, I don’t want to go back and deal with holiday things. I’m eager to put everything away and move on to Valentine’s Day, Passover, and Spring.

Before an event or holiday, while am eager with anticipation, it's easy for me to be motivated to make the scrap book pages. So I often make the pages ahead of time and slip them into page protectors where they're ready for me to finish, which is a very quick task. When I do this, I take whatever extra little things I've made that I didn't use on the pages already, along with the scraps that are left over and if I have any left, a sheet or two of the design paper and card stock I used, and slip it all behind the pages I've made in their page protectors. That way, if I want to add anything or even make some extra pages, everything I need is handy.

Chanukah is late this year; it begins on December 21st and ends on December 28th. During the eight nights of Chanukah, I’ll take pictures and it will be a simple enough matter to sit down at some point and download them, print out the best ones, and add some journaling or a recipe or two, even as we celebrate the holiday. Since I may want to adjust thesize or placement of the picture boxes slightly, I have adhered everything with removable glue dots for ease in both repositioning and adding pictures. Once I get all of my pictures set the way I want them, I’ll secure them with permanent dots or adhesive and add them into our family album.

Now, all I have to do is to remember to keep the pages handy and take the pictures!

Modifying Envelopes for Square Cards

2008-12-13T09:32:00.003-05:00

The post office charges a higher rate for square envelopes and cards with bulky embellishment and this is definitely a consideration if you are making cards that you plan to mail. I’ve always hated to mail square cards in a rectangular envelope which is the obvious solution for saving on postage. They slide around in the envelope and they look mismatched and well, tacky.

For yesterday’s square “Snowy Jo” card, I modified 5-7/16 x 7-1/4 inch greeting card sized envelope to accommodate his square shape and the end result is an embellished, matching envelope that fits the card snugly and can be mailed with regular first class postage.

I got the idea for this modification from something I recently saw on Julie Ebersole’s (JulieHRR at SCS) blog. Julie modifies an A2 envelope to fit a small square card. You can see Julie’s original post here:
http://papertrufflez.typepad.com/paper_trufflez/2006/10/a2_envy_for_a_s.html

First, a Bit About Envelopes

It’s easy to modify a first class postage approved envelope for an “off-size” or unusual shaped card but first, here’s a bit about envelopes in general. Of course, you can always make your own envelope for any card, but you may still run into the issue of surcharges by the post office for over-sized, bulky, and over-weight cards.

A2 envelopes are the standard invitation size envelopes and are a terrific choice for smaller square cards. They are designed for cards measuring 5-½ inches by 4-¼ inches. These are cards made from a half sheet of letter sized card stock (8-½ by 5-½ inches) folded in half and are a staple for most card makers. At 4-3/8 by 5-¾ inches, A2 envelopes can hold up to a 4-¼ inch square card.

A2 envelopes are made from a heavier weight (24 lb or higher) stationery grade paper (vs 20 lb paper for regular business envelopes) and they are readily available at office supply stores such as Office Depot and Staples in bulk (boxes of 50-60 up to 250 and 500) in white, cream, and pastel colors and are economically priced (less than 10 cents each for the smaller boxes and as little as 2.5 - 3 cents each for the largest ones). Compared with the cost of buying envelopes in a craft store at a cost of as much as much as 50 cents or $1 each even with a card, the invitation size envelope is perfect for most “small card” needs.

A 5-7/16 x7-1/4 inch greeting card size envelope is another card making staple and probably the size I use most often. These are also known as A7 envelopes and can hold square cards as large as 5-¼ inches. There is also a slightly larger envelope (approximately 5-7/8 by 8-3/4) available in bulk at office supply stores. I have a box of these labeled “greeting card” size, but they are more commonly referred to as catalog size envelopes and are designed to fit a sheet of 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper folded in half. As long as they don’t go over the maximum weight (0.5 ounce), these can also be mailed for regular first class postage.

Regardless of which size envelope you use, it’s a good idea to select the envelope before you cut the card base so you can be sure that your card is going to fit whatever envelope you have.

Lastly, if you are mailing a card with brads or other 3-D embellishments, if you slide a plain piece of card stock over the front of the card inside the envelope, unless the embellishments are unusually large, it will keep the outer surface of the card flat enough and will provide adequate protection for the card to be able to safely pass through the sorting and postmarking machinery at the post office. If the envelope can’t pass through the machinery, you’ll get hit with a surcharge (which means that the card will be returned to you for additional postage) and worse, the machinery might actually damage the envelope and card if the embellishments get caught in it.

Modifying the Envelope

For Snowy Jo, because of his size in relation to the sketch for this challenge, I wanted to make a larger card and so I chose an A7 greeting card size envelope and based my card size off that. To make sure I had ample wiggle room for the card, I made the card 5 inches square.

To embellish the envelope, I stamped Snowy Jo on the lower left corner of the front of the card in Versafine Vintage Sepia and clear embossed him. The post office does allow decorated (stamped or stickers) envelopes with embossing and glitter at no extra charge.

I cut his hat and scarf out of the stamped image. To do this, I slid a piece of very heavy corrugated cardboard into the envelope under the image and cut those areas out with an Exacto knife using fairly light pressure. The cardboard keeps you from penetrating through to the back side of the envelope when you cut.

I cut a strip of the plaid paper that I used for the card 2-1/4 inches wide and 5-1/8 inches long. Before I adhered it permanently in place inside the envelope, I put the card into the envelope with it to verify that it was the correct size for the space next to the card. It fit well, with about a quarter inch to spare, which is plenty of wiggle room for the card to be easily slid in and out of the envelope.

To set it in place, I put adhesive on both sides of the strip and carefully slid it into the envelope on the image side (return address side) of the envelope with the pattern facing the front, showing through the cut out area of Snowy Jo’s hat and scarf. I pressed to adhere the adhesive and voila, I had an envelope that fit my card perfectly. Just be careful not to put adhesive over the area of the strip where it’s going to show through the envelope!

Darn, that New England Weather!

2008-12-12T21:34:00.003-05:00

Today we awoke to a glittery surprise. Overnight we had a significant ice storm and as a result, we had no phone service, Internet access, or cable TV. We were extremely fortunate: unlike a million other people in New England, including much of our own city, the shopping center up the road, and most of the neighboring towns, we still had electricity.

I enjoyed the peace and quiet and spent the day finishing up projects and getting caught up on blog writing with our three little Cavaliers cuddled beside me.

I made this card for this week’s Design Challenge at Mothers and Daughters Creations. Click on the picture for a larger view. You can find their weekly card and scrapbook challenges on the MDC Challenge Blog. There is a link on the left side of this page – scroll down for the “MDC Design Team” information right under the MDC banner.

This week’s card challenge is a sketch challenge designed by Maria Levine. I love Maria’s sketch and I had the perfect paper sitting for it right on my work table – the same paper that I used for a gift card holder I made earlier this week.

The snowman, “Snowy Jo”, is from MDC’s Snag’em Stamps line. These adorable stamps cost $1-$2 and are a real bargain. The paper is from Basic Grey’s “Mistletoe and Pear” collection and is a light card stock weight.

This is a square card which ordinarily would result in a 20 cent surcharge over normal first class postage rates. I modified a standard envelope for a 5 by 7 sized card in a decorative way so that the square card fits snugly and can be mailed for regular first class postage. Check back tomorrow for detailed instructions for modifying and embellishing the envelope.

To make the card, I started with a 5 inch by 10 inch piece of the red paper for my card base, scored and folded in half. Next I cut a piece of the brown about 4-1/2 inches square. (Don’t attach the brown square to the red card base yet!) For the four corner boxes, I cut four squares 1-1/4 inch on each side and layered them onto red. I attached them to the brown square, placed symmetrically in each of the four corners, and then tied a piece of 3/8 inch wide ribbon in a knot around the middle of the brown square.

I stamped Snowy Jo in Versafine’s Vintage Sepia on white card stock and again on a small piece of the red paper and clear embossed both. I trimmed the red piece and matted it in the plaid and the solid brown. Next, I cut Snowy Jo’s body and hat and each of his mittens out of the white card stock and glued them over the image stamped on the red paper. At this point, when I made the gift card, I had stamped Snowy Jo twice in red and cut his hat and scarf out of the red. This time, I cut them out of the plaid and glued them onto him. I cut out three pom pom shapes (white) and layered them as well. Then I attached Jo and his mat to the brown square over the ribbon using pop dots.

The greeting,"Winter Wishes", comes with Snowy Jo. I stamped it on a scrap of brown and matted it in plaid, red, and more brown and attached it under the center square. To finish, I attached the brown square to the card back and added a brown eyelet at each corner as a decorative touch.

Remember, come back tomorrow when directions for the matching envelope will be posted. In the meantime, stay warm and safe

2008-12-11T10:05:00.005-05:00

Yesterday’s sketch challenge at SCS was the inspiration for this card. And seeing the lovely work done by Sharon Johnson (No Time to Stamp)and LeeAnne Pugliese with minimal stamping gave me the courage to submit a card to SCS that had no stamping at all in the design, just in the greetings. For some reason, I've felt that having a gallery and submitting cards for the challenges at SplitCoast STAMPers, the majority of my card should be STAMPED. Silly, huh!

This card (click on the image to enlarge it and see much more detail!) was fun to make and took almost no time at all with the help of my Cricut Expression. The paper is from Basic Grey’s “Mistletoe and Pear” stack. I love the unusual palette for a Christmas design, so reminiscent of vintage designs. Added to that, the edges of the printed pages and the surface of the solid pages have the appearance of being sanded and antiqued.

To cut the letters, I used the Cricut “Storybook” cartridge which offers several varieties of ornate lettering. The letters are made in three parts: a background shape using the “shadow” feature, the letter itself, and the ornate, filigree accent piece. I brushed each piece with Chestnut Roan (ColorBox) ink to carry through that antique feel in the design. I also brushed the right edge of the long thin panels that were edged with a Martha Stewart lace edge punch.

The cartridge includes a variety of accent pieces. I cut a fancy corner piece to cap a strip of the same designer paper I used on the cover to add a decorative accent to the inside of the card.

The ribbon was a lucky find. A Martha Stewart ribbon, it’s a perfect match for this Basic Grey paper. The only problem I had was choosing between the blue and brown (seen here) and the green and brown, also a perfect match to the pale green background of the design paper. The stamped sentiment on the front and the inside greeting are from Papertrey's "Holiday Wishes" set.

A Cricut is not essential for making a similar, simple and elegant card. Punched snowflakes, ornaments, bells, hearts, or even butterflies would make an equally lovely card. For a complete list of materials, visit my gallery at SplitCoast Stampers. There is a link on hte left under "My Special Places".

Snowman Snow Globe

2008-12-08T08:54:00.005-05:00

This week at Mothers and Daughters Creations, the card challenge is to make a holiday card in the shape of a holiday symbol. I made a snow globe with the help of Cricut Expression's "Joys of the Season".

With the Cricut Expression, using the "shadow" feature, I cut a 6-1/2 inch basic snow globe shape on very heavy blue card stock, since this was going to be a single thickness (not folded) card. The shadow feature cuts a shape a minimal fraction larger than the "regular" size so that when a "shadow" and a regular image are cut in the same size, they can be overlayed to give a small outline around the edge of the regular sized image.

With the shadow feature off, I cut another image in brown and cut off the globe, saving just the base. Then I cut the globe separately on vellum. I stamped the base with a wood grain stamp I got in a clearance bin at Michael's. (That was a super lucky find!) Then I stamped my image in white on the vellum.

I used the vintage mica paints to give touches of color to the image. I didn't want to completely color in the snowman - I was going for a more translucent look - so I mixed a very small amount of white acrylic paint with a watercolor iridescent medium and put a wash of that over the snowman's face and body and then used the white acrylic paint to redefine his eyes and mouth. For the white pompom and brim of his hat, I used the same mix but added more acrylic paint to it, swirling it with the tip of the brush as I painted.

After I adhered the vellum (using a tape runner specially designed for vellum that I got at Michael's and am really disappointed with)and glued the base on, I added a row of punched snowflakes across the top of the base.

I punched a tag in a scrap of the same brown paper, stamped it with the wood grain stamp, and hand wrote a message and signed our names in white gel pen on one side. I stamped snowflakes on the other side in white.

The card stands up on it's own with the help of a scrap of heavy blue card stock cut in the shape of a picture frame stand and glued to the back.

To finish, I embellished the punched snowflakes on the base and the stamped snowflakes on the tag and on the globe with clear rhinestones. I tied a red satin ribbon around the base and tied the tag on with gold cording.

Click on the link to my gallery at SplitCoast Stampers (scroll down the column on the left side of this blog)to find a detailed list of materials used.

Our First Snow of the Season

2008-12-07T12:34:00.005-05:00

Yes, you're at the same blog site. What's changed is our weather. Overnight, we were graced with a light dusting of snow, and all day, the snow showers have been lovely to watch. The large snowflakes swirling in front of the windows is right out of a Thomas Kinkade landscape.

I must confess, I don't like winter. I love to garden, love to tend my herbs and roses and perennials, and I hate being cold. Snuggling in front of the fireplace with DH and our pups makes winter bearable for me. But no one can look out of the window today and say that the Earth hasn't been brushed by the hand of God.

If only it would be 60 and sunny tomorrow! (And by the way, if you click on the image, a larger version will open in a new window. ;)

Cookies for our Soldier in Iraq

2008-12-07T00:25:00.006-05:00

As part of Sharon Johnson’s Stamp Simply celebration, Janine at 2bkrafty (http://2bkrafty.blogspot.com/) challenged visitors to her blog to bake up some cookies, create a festive package for them, and then share the packaging and the recipe. This was a perfect opportunity for me to make some cookie bars to send to our adopted soldier in Iraq. If you click on the image, a much larger version showing much more detail will open in a new window. ;)

We are the very proud “Angel” parents of a soldier who we adopted through Soldiers’ Angels. This wonderful group matches US soldiers who need support and encouragement from home with individuals and families who “adopt” them for the duration of their deployment. Over the past four years, we’ve adopted a total of 7 individual soldiers, six of whom have returned safely to US soil. And at various times, we’ve also adopted entire platoons and even a special forces unit. It has been rewarding and humbling. We lost ten members of one of our platoons in 2006 in three separate incidents all in the same week. It brought the war right into our kitchen when the sergeant emailed us pictures taken of a memorial to the soldiers who were lost. We got a fresh appreciation for the sacrifice our children are making by being there, and in a very personal way. For more information about Soldier’s Angels, please visit http://www.soldiersangels.org/.

The cookie canister was an oatmeal box in another life. DH loves hot oatmeal for breakfast and it just so happened that we emptied the box this week, and this made a perfect cookie box for shipping cookies to Iraq.

I decorated this cookie box with a little bit of everything. The ornaments were cut with the Cricut Expression, borders were cut with border punches, and I even used some stickers in addition to stamping snowflakes and the greeting, “Peace on Earth”. I got the wonderful snowflake ornaments I used to decorate the lid from Marnie (stamplady_13 at SCS) in a “Pay it Forward” box and I left the loops on them so he can hopefully hang them up as decorations. The card is one I made specifically for Tim in the November Cabaret VSN at SplitCoast Stampers.

As for the recipe for these super easy cookie bars, honestly, I’m almost embarrassed to tell you that these cookies are made from a Devil’s Food boxed cake mix. It’s a very versatile recipe, and I have substituted marshmallows and peanuts for the walnuts and coconut, and I’ve also added Health Bar pieces and M&M’s for color and crunch. You can’t make a mistake with this recipe! It freezes well and it mails well, so it’s great for care packages to kids in college too. For mailing to Iraq, which takes about 10 days, I layer them with wax paper and stack them in a vacuum sealer bag and vac seal them. They stay amazingly fresh and travel well.

Easy Bar Cookies

Ingredients:

One regular size (not Jiffy) Devil’s Food cake mix
One stick of butter (4 ounces)
8 ounce package of cream cheese
2 eggs, beaten
¼ cup sugar or equivalent non-sugar substitute
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 ½ cups chopped walnuts
1 ½ cups shredded coconut
½ of a regular size bag of chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 12 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

In a microwave safe mixing bowl, melt the butter. Add the cake mix and mix until all of the dry ingredients are moistened. The mixture will be dark and crumbly. Spread the mixture evenly over the bottom of the baking dish and pat firmly.

In a microwave safe mixing bowl, soften the cream cheese. It takes about a minute to get it soft, fluffy and easy to mix. Stir in the eggs, vanilla, and sugar and then mix in the nuts, coconut and chocolate chips, Spread the mixture evenly over the “cake” layer. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes – until the top just starts to get golden brown.

Let them cool completely in the baking dish before cutting. I find it helps to run a knife along the inside edge of the baking dish while they are still fairly hot. I usually cut them into about 18 squares, but you can cut them larger or smaller according to your personal preference.

I'm so excited!

2008-12-05T02:24:00.004-05:00

Well, the news is in and I'm thrilled to be able to share with you that I've been chosen to be a member of the Mothers and Daughters Creations Design Team. I went to bed tonight not knowing the outcome of the search. (I'm not sure how I managed to fall asleep, I was so anxious!)

I don't know what woke me up, but something did and so I decided to check my email, and there in my In-Box was the news I'd been waiting for: a note of Congratulations from Tamara telling me I'd been chosen.

I guess I'll head back to bed and try to get some more rest before I start in on MDC's latest weekly card challenge. Drop by their challenge blog at http://www.mdcchallenges.blogspot.com and join in the fun! They post card challenges every Thursday and scrap book challenges every Monday. You can also find some wonderful things on their web site at http://www.mothersdaughterscreations.citymax.com/MDCHome.html.

Good night - well, good morning, actually - for now!

Holiday Postcards

2008-12-02T23:46:00.003-05:00

Darlene Pavlick of Dar's Crafty Creations (see the link on the left under My Favorite Blogs) challenged visitors to her blog to make postcards for holiday cards. What an awesome idea! Postcards are "green" (at least half the paper, and no envelope), economical (they only cost 27 cents to mail instead of 42 cents for a first class letter), and they are quick. You can't add any embellies (ribbon, brads, Primas) and no layers either. You can emboss and add glitter, but other than stamping and painting, that's about it.

I made four postcards today, and plan to make a dozen or two more. We don't send a lot of cards out but for those we do, this is a perfect idea, and I like to write my own greetings anyway. Two of the cards I made had some special touches that didn't photograph well but in real life give these cards an amazing appearance.

I used the same image stamp, a country snow couple, for both cards. (Detailed information about the stamps and other supplies is included in the gallery at SplitCoast Stampers.(There is a link to my gallery on the left.) One card was made with a "vintage" style, the other with a more modern or contemporary style.

For the "vintage" card, I used a Basic Grey paper, Granola's Vanilla Bean. This paper is a pale linen with a distressed or antiqued look that is perfect for a vintage post card. For the other card, I used plain white heavy weight card stock.

On the vintage card, I added color using mica paints. These colors are more subdued but they shimmer. For the snow and snow people, I used an acrylic pearl white, which has a similar shimmer. I wanted to stamp some ornate snowflakes but to keep the vintage appearance yet add some "bling", I mixed a little bit of white embossing powder with some clear irridescent powder. Then I stamped snowflakes with embossing ink and embossed them. The result is a glitzy snowflake that is not quite as dramatic as a pure white one, which would have overpowered the vintage tone and background of the card.

On the more modern card, I painted in color with watercolor pencils and then added some shimmer with acrylic pearl paint for the snow. Then I sponged some colonial blue and after heat setting the ink with my heat tool, I washed the entire card with an iridescent medium, making the entire card shimmer.

I use Winsor and Newton's Iridescent Medium. This is a water-based product for use with watercolors. You can paint over something with it or you can use it as the "water" for water color painting. I love the effect. Unfortunately, from a photography standpoint only, it's a headache to try and get a picture without any glare or "hot" spots anywhere on the image.

Vintage Holiday Blessings

2008-12-02T16:00:00.003-05:00

Today's color challenge at SplitCoast Stampers is a combination of neutral colors - sand, black, and vanilla, which is the palest of pale creams. What a fabulous combination of colors! I love neutrals because they work so well with vintage themes, which I adore.

For this card, I used the Cricut Expression to cut a vintage style hanging sign and used platinum ink to edge it and "antique" it. The wooden placard is touched up with black watercolor paint. Simply draw the lines faintly with black watercolor pencil and streak them with a wet brush. I actually used a Sharpie marker (use a very light touch if you don't have a fine point marker handy) to make the nails.

The image I used is one of four that come together as a set from Crafty Individuals by Magenta. I think they're delightful and can't wait to use them on some other cards. They are about an inch square and would be perfect for "inchie" projects.

I used a tree stamp for the background for this card but wanted a subdued background - I didn't want to detract from the sign post and especially from the image, which would have had to compete with darkly stamped trees. So I "stamped off", that is, I stamped the inked stamp several times onto scrap paper until I got the image to a degree of lightness that was still quite clear but still had enough contrast to show detail. Then I sponged platinum ink over the background.

When stamping off, ink the stamp and then stamp the image repeatedly without re-inking to find the image that has the "right" depth of color and contrast for your project. Then, each time you ink the stamp, stamp off to that point and then stamp your card. I found that I could stamp three times between inking and get satisfactory images, so it's not a lot of extra work to do this.

Shimmering Cherry Blossoms

2008-12-02T15:02:00.004-05:00

For this week's technique challenge at SCS, Lynne taught us how to use Simple Green to make a speckled background. I didn't have any Simple Green, but Spray 'n Wash worked equally well.

I chose an array of shimmery inks - Amber Satin, Raw Silk, and Ruby Satin, all from ColorBox (available at my local JoAnn Fabrics and AC Moore's) - for the background. The only coated cardstock I have is textured, and while it made painting details on the flowers a challenge (no, make that "impossible" LOL), it actually worked well for the challenge.

I love the subtle speckling and was loathe to "cover it up" with a large image. This branch of cherry blossoms worked well and the colors I have traditionally used with this stamp were also perfect for the background. I painted the blossoms with mica paint and I regret that the photograph could capture the shimmer. It's lovely!

I made a treatment for inside of the card that imitated the cover of the card, using the same card stock colors but in a different arrangement. One satin bow makes a card hard enough to mail - putting a bow on the inside would make it impossible! But these bows, made with the Cuttlebug (they are part of a Christmas ornamnet die set) are perfect, and I'm starting to use them more and more on cards I want to mail as well.

If you've been considering purchasing e a palette of the mica paints but hesitate, wondering if they'll be easy to use, go for it! They are no more difficult to use for watercoloring than watercolor pencils. You just load your brush with water and moisten the pot of ink and water color as usual. You can also use them with watercolor pencils, adding shimmering elements over what you've colored already and mixing them with other colors to give you a broader rainbow.

I bought the "Vintage" palette and the colors are absolutely wonderful. I've blended them with both taditional watercolor pencils and acrylic paints and find them easy to use. And I love the wonderful effect of the shimmer.

Blizzards!

2008-11-26T12:42:00.004-05:00

One of the challenges in the recent VSN "Cabaret" was to create a card with the appearance of snow falling..... having the snow appear to be falling in the image.

Living in an area where we experience blizzards on a fairly regular basis has no advantage in a challenge like this! But here is how I created that effect in my card, which I made for our adopted soldier in Iraq.

In order to create the illusion of snow falling around the snowman, I first created falling snow as a back drop. I did this using my trusty hairbrush and white acrylic paint.

I put a few drops of white acrylic paint (FolkArt's Wicker White) into the foam plate (which I reuse all the time) and tap it with the bristles of the brush, tapping in the paint and off to the side as well, to leave just a bit on the bristles. Then I tap it onto my card stock.

When I tap on the card stock, I tap it first on an area off to the side or on a scrap just to see if I have too much or too little paint, and how the paint is going to "take". It usually takes a very light touch, and, you want to just tap the paper randomly. Then, once I have the "feel", I tap "snow" onto the area where I want to cut my background. I generally cut my background piece from the piece I tap with "snow", rather than cut the paper piece and tap it. That way, if I smudge or get a little too much paint in one area, I can work around it.

In the case of my soldier snowman, I wanted him to appear to be into the midst of the blizzard, so I took a piece of acetate and tapped snow on it the same way. Acrylic dries very quickly on acetate. Then I layered the acetate over the snowman, so he looks as if he is right in the midst of a snowstorm, with snow falling all around him.

For the card I made for today's Sketch Challenge, I used this tapping method to make the snow fall background for my snowman. I like this technique because it give s a very "natural" look and it is very quick and easy.

Marching Band Scrap Book Pages

2008-11-24T18:18:00.003-05:00

Well, they don't LOOK like "traditional" fall pages, but what could be more closely associated with "fall" than football? And what is more integral to a college football game than the marching band's half time show?

Our son, Jacob, has been a proud member of the University of Massachusetts Minuteman Marching Band, first on the tuba line, and then playing mellophone. The UMMB is one of the highest ranked college bands in the country. The director, Mr. George Parks, has been the band director for 31 years and he is credited with developing the modern band style and techniques you see in many college band performances today.

And oh, the places they've gone (and we've gone with them)! Army, Navy, exhibitions at Allentown (PA), Montreal, Symphony Hall in Boston to play with the Boston Pops, and last fall, as the premier band in the country, to play an exhibition performance at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis for the Bands of America National Championship.

DH and I flew to Indianapolis while the kids traveled by bus, a 22 hour trip that culminated with an absolutely breathtaking performance and then an hour and a half rehearsal after the performance. Then this awesome group of kids spent the night camped out on the floor of a local high school gym.

Here are the first four pages I've made to record and commemorate the trip. I stamped the background for this page, which shows the kids rehearsing after a long bus trip and show, using a stamp of the first couple of lines of music of a winter song.

First I laid out the pictures on the page and secured them with some removable two-sided tape so I could adjust the position and make sure everything was even. Then I used a white gel pen to draw a box around each one and gto draw a border around the page with a 3/4 inch margin.

Next, I removed the pictures and masked every place I didn't want the background to cover... the margins and each of the boxes for the pictures. Lastly, I inked up the musical score but not the song title, and stamped the background for the page.

The background for this page was made with torn strips of red and white paper. The flags and stars on both of the next two pages are stamped.

The stars were stamped with white ink on metallic gold paper and embossed with white embossing powder. The flags were stamped three times: on gold with gold ink, embossed with gold; on white with cranberry ink and embossed with cranberry; on white with navy blue and embossed with navy. The pieces were then cut out and assembled into flags.

Baby Cards

2008-11-22T13:38:00.006-05:00

What could be more adorable than a baby card shaped like a baby dress and pinafore? I found the template for this card at Stampington & Co., a great source for stamps, papers, and best of all, publications where you can get fantastic ideas for cards and other projects.

Here's a link to the template for this card: http://www.stampington.com/html/tempting_template_jj06.html.

I enlarged the template slightly so it would make essentially a 5 by 7 card, since it would then fit into an envelope for mailing when it was done. I traced the template onto white card stock, and then scored and folded it over at the fold line (shoulders).

Using the dress half of the card as I pattern, I traced around it onto designer paper, cut it out, and adhered it to the inside of the card. I then trimmed around the edges to even them.

I decided to treat the pinafore as an embroidered apron. First, I edged the entire pinafore by brushing it with an ink pad, daffodil for the yellow card and rosebud for the pink one. Then, I lightly penciled in a scallop, continuing along a gentle curve between the scallops on each side of the apron on the yoke area of the pinafore. I painted the scallop in with watercolor pencil paint, "floating" the color along the curve. To do this, load the color more onto one side than the other of a chisel edged or flat edge brush, not a brush with a sharp point. Place the heavily loaded side against the line and draw the brush along the scallops

I stenciled some "baby" designs from some wonderful stamps I got from Mothers and Daughters Creations across the lower curve of the pinafores. I used bronze ink on the apron for the yellow card and platinum ink for the designs for the pink card. I stamped the chick onto white card stock, painted and cut it out and glued it over where it was stamped on the pinafore. I also stamped some additional flowers onto card stock, then painted and cut them out. I stamped a flower cluster twice onto the apron itself and painted those flowers, but I wanted to add more blooms to make the flowers more dense.

Inside each card, I placed an oval with a message and a small floral element stamped right onto the oval and painted them.

To finish, I added a bow to the front of each pinafore, and used a gel pen to add small white dots along the edge of the sleeves and hem of the dress. These are perfect cards for a new mom who is making a scrap book or keepsake album, especially if made with acid free - lignin free paper.

Tutorial: Making Window Cards - and Reversible Images for Windows

2008-11-22T12:59:00.007-05:00

Recently, I made an acetate window card for one of Mothers and Daughters Creations challenges and then I made a similar but not as complex window card for the recent VSN. These were very easy cards to make, and here is how I made them. For details regarding stamps and products used, visit my gallery at Splitcoast Stampers by clicking the link on the left.

The Acetate Window Card:

I used the Cuttlebug to cut out 12 ornate squares to use as window panes. I glued six of them to a piece of acetate aligned in three rows of pairs, let the glue dry, and then turned the acetate over and glued 6 more over the original six, so the window on both sides of the card would be "finished".

I cut a piece of designer paper in a speckled gray design that I thought looked a lot like stone to use for the front of the card and taped it with removable tape at the four corners to my card base. Then I laid the acetate over it, centering it, and ran my scoring tool around the edge of the window to mark where I needed to cut. I cut the window through both the card front and the designer paper with an Exacto knife. (Be sure to open the card when you cut, and only cut through the front. Don't even ask how I know this LOL!) Otherwise, the back of your card will also have an unpected window.

After cutting out the window, I removed the designer paper, laid the acetate window over the opening, and touched up a couple of places where the cut wasn't quite perfect. Then I adhered the acetate to the card base and adhered the designer paper over the acetate.

I wanted the front of the card to look like a brick/stone wall, so I stenciled an architectural element onto a scrap of the designer paper, cut out several images, and placed them strategically around the window. The rest of the window card is simply "window dressing" and you can decorate it for any season or holiday.

Reversible Menorah:

I made a reversible menorah to place in the window, as I thought it would be clearly seen from the inside as well. I stamped the menorah onto acetate and embossed it with gold embossing powder.

You have to use a light touch with the heat tool to prevent the acetate from curling. Acetate can actually withstand a high temperature (these are designed for copiers, and they do get hot) but not a sustained high temperature, so your best bet is to wave the heat tool back and forth over the area you're embossing, changing the angle of the tool to direct the heat directly onto the embossing powder.

After embossing the menorah on the first side of the acetate, I inked the stamp and laid it ink side up on my work table.

Standing over it and looking straight down on the image, I carefully laid the unstamped side of the acetate onto the stamp, lining up the image with the stamped side. Then I simply rubbed lightly with my index finger to transfer the ink to the acetate. Then I carefully lifted the acetate off the stamp and embossed it.

You end up with an embossed image overlaying another embossed image on each side of the acetate. This makes for a lovely addition to a window card. You can do this with any stamp that has symmetrical right and left sides.

Window Without Acetate:

For a similar window without acetate, the process is even easier. For this card for the VSN challenge, I cut four ornate images wtih the Cuttlebug. I wanted more glitz on this card, so I laid these down onto my embossing pad, pressed gently to coat them with embossing ink, and then embossed them with marcasite embossing powder. I glued them onto the card, and voila, I had a window. The ornate corners are from another Cuttlebug shape from the same package (Victorian), embossed the same way. That glitzy filligree background is a random stamping with a filligree stamp, then also embossed with the marcasite.

The wreath was the most time-consuming part of the entire window. I stamped the leaf clusters and bow elements with embossing ink onto vellum, dusted and embossed them with marcasite powder, painted them with watercolor pencils, and then cut them out. Even the painting goes quickly... it's the cutting that's so tedious! But I was still able to finish this card well within the 45 minutes allotted.

Basking (and Yawning) in the Afterglow…. Life After VSN

2008-11-19T11:22:00.002-05:00

I’m slowly but surely “recovering” from this past weekend’s VSN. What a fabulous event it was! The Cabaret theme was fun, fun, fun, and I enjoyed every single challenge. But I have to admit, it was also a very hard weekend for me. DH was away at a four day conference, in-home help that had been arranged and that I was depending on canceled at the last minute, and I was at my low point post-chemotherapy -- my blood counts "bottomed out" and the fatigue has been oppressive. With no home care assistance, my physical reserves were already taxed when the first challenge was posted on Friday evening. BUT, I wouldn’t have missed it for anything!

This kind of intense weekend, though it may be hard for me, is something I really look forward to. One of my friends asked me, “Why in the world would you do this? Spend all this time holed up in your studio, working like a madwoman, and all by yourself? Ovderdoing, and you know you'll pay for that. Where's the fun in THAT?????”

I’ll tell you!

VSN is like a Virtual Retreat Weekend. Maybe they should rename it! Afterall, it’s MUCH more than JUST a night! I used to love to go to those retreat weekends where you totally immerse yourself in your work from breakfast to bed. Your food is cooked for you, and someone does the dishes, makes your bed, and brings your morning and afternoon coffee. There’s no one barking to be let out or whining for dinner, no one to cook for, no dishes, no one calling “Honey, I need you!” or “Mom, where is my [fill in the blank]???”

Those of us who immerse ourselves in a VSN have to work doubly hard to manage all of the potential distractions around us since we are still at home, still the “Mom,”, still “Honey”, still chief cook and bottle washer, still the “go to” person in our family. It takes a lot of advance planning to be able to organize your family and yourself to be able to “host” a “retreat for one" at home, with “family” going on around you.

By the same token, VSN can be for anyone – anyone who can take the time to do even one of the challenges. You don’t HAVE to do it all. You can make VSN as much or as little as works for you. You don’t need a reservation… all you need to do is log on if and when it works for you. So it’s all inclusive.

VSN challenges don’t just give us an assignment; they create a mood, an ambiance, an atmosphere. That is incredibly hard to do in a “virtual” situation, yet they do an amazing job of it. But more than that, VSN makes you reach beyond your comfort zone and venture into areas you might not visit otherwise. The challenges are like board exams – you know those long exams with multiple parts and time limits – you get a new exam every hour on the hour with barely time to catch your breath in between.

I love the anticipation – you simply have no idea what is coming next. There is no set schedule like with the SCS daily challenges and since it could be anything, and very often it is, there is also a certain degree of anxiety – what is it going to be? Will I be able to come up with an idea? You don’t have a lot of time to think and plan – you have to get an inspiration and you have to get cracking on it because the clock is ticking. It puts me in competition with the clock and with myself. I need to come up with an idea and plan something that I can execute in that limited block of time.

But I think what I like about it most, though, is the camaraderie, the support, the encouragement, the feedback. Each challenge has a thread and even as you are scurrying to finish a project, you can interact, get feedback, laugh, cry, and share. That, to me, is one of the most valuable elements of the experience!

For the past three days I have caught up on much needed rest and recharged my sorely depleted batteries. And now, as I get back to work, I’ll be looking forward to the announcements for the next VSN and I will bring to that VSN the lessons I learned from this one: better planning for myself so that I pace myself better and use my limited physical reserves for card making, not for chasing after four frisky dogs (who need to go out, then in, then eat, then go out again), answering the phone and the door, and dealing with “nuisancy” things not related to VSN on a VSN day! I also learned some valuable lessons this time about uploading cards and plan to do things very differently for the next VSN.

Just as I was better prepared for this VSN than I was for my first, so will I be better prepared going into the next one. I’m looking forward to what the coordinators and hostesses will come up with for the next VSN, and I know I’ll be there, eager once again to “reach” with each and every challenge. Hope you’ll be there too. ;)

Getting Ready for a VSN

2008-11-14T13:05:00.001-05:00

SCS's "Cabaret" VSN, which I have been looking forward to participating in for weeks, is happening tonight and tomorrow. I’m a former classical musician and have played a variety of wind, string, and keyboard instruments. My disability has stolen many things from me including my ability to play several of the instruments I was quite accomplished with but it hasn’t affected my love of music, of Cabaret, of the entire performance genre. Oh, how I miss it! But oh, how I’m looking forward to what excitement lays ahead for us tonight!

This is my second full VSN as a member of SCS. I joined SCS barely two weeks before the August VSN but I jumped in with both feet and absolutely no clue as to what was involved, how to prepare, or even what to expect. The lessons I learned from that first, somewhat pathetic effort helped me to be better organized for both the World Card Making Day Challenges and the Mini Cabaret that was held a couple of weeks ago. I learned how to set things up for a much more successful (less stressful, more efficient) Challenge event, and that even guided me in how I’ve organized my studio.

Not everyone is blessed as I am with a room in my home that is devoted to my crafting. But there are things you can do to prepare your work space to maximize your efficiency for the timed challenges. Both the WCMD and Mini Cabaret took place before I moved to my “new digs” and here is how I prepared for both.

First, organize yourself and your family to minimize distractions and interruptions. Have dinner in the crock pot or already cooked and in the refrigerator, or plan for take-out. We have four dogs, three of whom have medical issues and need medications and special diets. When I fed them this morning, I also prepared their dinner so that anyone can feed them quickly and easily. I put their food, medication and supplements in little bowls, covered them with plastic wrap and taped their names on their respective bowls. These are in the refrigerator and ready to go when it’s time to feed the dogs. They just need 30 seconds in the microwave and a fresh bowl of water.

If you haven’t already done it, right now is a good time to check over your supplies and make a shopping list so you can restock things you’re low on and that you know you’ll need no matter what the challenges might be, such as adhesives, embossing powder, plain old cardstock, and watercolor paper.

Negotiate an area in your home that is off-limits to everyone else for the duration of the VSN, where you can spread out your work into “stations”. Then set up “work” areas” for different tasks in a logical way. Bring out the things you use the most – you don’t need to bring out everything you have, just the things you are most likely to use, plus whatever is on the VSN shopping list. But this is also a good time to organize your stuff wherever you have it and rediscover things you might have forgotten you have.

I am manic about cleaning my stamps and paint brushes immediately after I use them and so I set up a stamp cleaning area by the kitchen sink. I love micro fiber towels (you can get packs of 25 at Sam’s Club) and I use them for all kinds of cleaning chores. They are great for drying stamps. I do use a fair amount of paper towels as well so I make sure that there is a fresh roll on the spindle and extra under the sink. I set out my stamp and brush cleaners, a stamp cleaning pad, and a soft toothbrush, which is another one of my favorite cleaning tools.

For the Mini Cabaret, I commandeered our living room and dining room which is one large room. I had my husband set up a large folding table that I used as work station and planning area for designing the cards, gathering what I would need for a given card, and painting with watercolors or coloring with my Prismacolors.

I used the dining room table to set up stations for cutting, stamping, embossing, and assembling the cards, and also set up a “bling bar” on the china cupboard. I’m one of those folks who loves china and fancy things, and how I set up my tables for the VSNs as well as my studio reflects that. When I set up for the Mini VSN, I dug out silver serving trays and baskets and a pretty crystal goblets and bowls. When I moved into my new studio, these things went with me. I think being surrounded by beautiful things enhances my creativity. Certainly, having things organized and neat allows me to stay within the time restrictions of the VSN.

My cutting area has my rotary cutter, Cropodile, and CM cutting system, which I laid out on a quilt cutting mat. For cutting a single oval, the CM cutters are much quicker to use than the Cricut, and so despite numerous dies for the Cuttlebug and cartridges for the Cricut, they are still among my most favorite tools.

I set the rotary cutter on the corner so I can sweep small scraps right into a trash can. To the left of the cutting area I set out some paper – not a lot, just some seasonal stacks, some pre-scored and folded card backings, and some extra plain white cardstock. On a small step stool (so I don’t have to bend so far to get to it), right in front of the paper area and out of view is the plastic file box I store my scraps in. My scrap file is the first place I look for paper before heading to my large organizers, and when I’m cutting, I set new scraps on top for filing during clean-up. If I don’t clean up my areas after each card, my work area rapidly descends into complete and total chaos!

I also set out a basket with my most favorite punches, including the lace edge punches I use the most and some shape punches that I’m likely to use as well – mostly seasonal ones and some corner punches, plus a couple of different hole punches. Yes, I love the Cropodile, but if it’s set for brads, and I simply need to punch a hole for ribbon, a small punch is much more efficient.

Moving around the table, I set an area to stamp and next to that, an area to emboss. I found a package of two cutting mats for $2 at the grocery store that have proven invaluable at containing messes. These are pretty large – about 18 by 24 inches – and made of very thin, flexible, heavy duty acrylic of some sort. They are designed for chopping vegetables on the counter but I like them because they are a flat, smooth surface that cleans up easily. I am an expert at making a mess so I also lay out wax paper when I am going to stamp a background.

Again, I don’t bring out every stamp I have; I chose some old favorites and some seasonal stamps, and also some new ones I’m itching to try. I can always go to my stamp cabinet and get whatever I need, but it helps to have a few stamps already in mind and close at hand. Likewise, with the ink, I set out some of my favorite color stacks, plus the embossing ink, greeting ink, and the stamping inks I use most often. I also brought out the embossing powders I use most often as well. Although my heat gun is right there on the dining room table, off to the side is a an old TV tray with a wood laminate top that I use for embossing, so I can set the paper down on it, hold it with my tweezers, and heat it up, safely away from my wood table and other things I don’t want blown all over the place. I also have a hairdryer handy on the tray. I learned the hard way that a hairdryer is much safer to use to quick dry ink or glue or watercolors – I’ve burned too many projects to count trying to hasten the drying process with the heat tool!

The place where I actually put my card together is recreated from my work table in my studio. I have all of my adhesives, tape runners, Inkessential pens, pencils, ruler, my favorite little detail scissors and tweezers, paintbrushes, Exacto knife, and a mat to work on. In the basket are extra tape refills, glue dots, corner mounts, and adhesive. I don’t want to have to spend precious time on search missions for things I’m likely to run out of.

Our china cabinet was the perfect place to put the finishing touches and accessories. Again, I chose a selection of ribbons I use most often, plus twine and gold cording since I use those a lot as well. On a tray, I organized brads, eyelets, rhinestones, pearls, beads, and other things, and also set out glitter. I also have a fishing chest full of buttons and other little accessories that I set down in the corner next to the cabinet.

The last time I set up for a VSN, I think it took me an hour and a half. But that investment of time and effort allowed me to thoroughly enjoy the VSN and to make fully half of the cards without ever leaving this work area. Yes, there will be things you’ll have to get – different stamps, paper, dies and embossing folders – but having the area set up allows you to spend your card-making time very efficiently, and for an even like this, where you have time constraints and . One thing I set out at the last minute is a couple of clocks so I can keep track of time. While I have always made a supreme effort to stay within the time limit for the VSN, with the Mini Cabaret, I actually made a note of the amount of time I spent on each card, and that has helped me to see what kinds of techniques take more or less time, and also to help keep me on track for the time restrictions.

Back on Line….. and Ready for VSN

2008-11-14T11:59:00.003-05:00

Whew! I'm baaaackkk!!!

First of all, let me start by extending a very big and very sincere "Thank You" to everyone who sent me a PM through SplitCoast Stampers or a personal email to inquire as to my absence not just from my blog, but from the threads I usually post to on SCS, and from my gallery, where there have been no new cards posted in a week. I’m incredibly touched – and honored – by your concern. Although I did lay low for several days following my last chemotherapy treatment, the reason for my recent “absence” has been a trip to Italy. JUST KIDDING!!!!! (But, oh, how I wish! Maybe next summer….)

Actually, the real reason has been entirely technical: Since early last week, I've been stymied with some major computer issues that are well on their way to being resolved. What a nightmare this has been!

Not only did we have a catastrophe with my computer, but we've also been contending with a network disaster. Our previously fabulous in-home network was dismantled when “upgrades” were installed to bring my husband's home medical office on-line with the local hospital. The Reader's Digest Condensed version is that my husband joined an electronic medical record collaborative, a national pilot project funded by the federal government and BCBS. Under the guise of "improving things", our own network was ripped out, replaced with one that served only half of our home, and this essentially shut down my studio. They networked my husband's office to the hospital but made no provisions for restoring our existing network in the rest of the house and left the kids and me floundering. The frosting on the cake was someone's misguided effort to program my computer to back up to a tetradrive as an extra (and redundant) back-up. Why they did this, I'm not even sure; but they programmed it to set multiple restore points on it's own D drive (instead of on the tetradrive), totally filling both internal hard drives. It then crashed and could not be revived. To say that I was unhappy is a bit of an understatement!

A new computer was no longer in my future – it had instantly become my here and now. Of course, the one HP notebook that DH and I both agreed would be the best one for me – especially since it was on sale everywhere for a fabulous price and we could actually afford this unplanned expense -- was also out of stock in all of the local stores. We collected rain checks and promises of delivery for the end of the month. That did little to appease me.

Finally, one store came up with something workable: DH was able to get the next computer up the technology chain, a step up from what I originally wanted at a similar discount. And to sweeten the pot, DH was also able to negotiate a fantastic price for a printer that he’d also been planning to get for me eventually. They tossed in a goodie bag full of extra printer cartridges and several reams of paper and for $100 more than we had originally expected to spend on just the computer, I have a beautiful HP notebook with what DH says is more memory than I’ll ever need and an Epson WorkForce 600 which does everything short of blow its own nose. Well, it will do all of that if I can ever find my way around Vista and get around to reading the printer manual!

The company that set up the new network had made numerous unsuccessful attempts to restore Internet access to my studio and the faily room where the kids have a computer they use for school. This was a pressing and serious frustration. My studio and DH’s medical office are at opposite ends of a long house. For me to have to go between his office and my studio when I needed to be on-line was not workable at all given my physical disabilities. But our home is built into a hill, with lots of walls, cement, and dirt for a wireless network to have to penetrate through and work around.

We were told that our only alternative was to run cable to the other side of the house and that meant going through finished walls and ceilings, not something the collaborative was willing to cover or that we could afford right now. (Never mind that our house has only recently undergone a major renovation and we were not eager ourselves to rip out sections of walls that were recently wallpapered, or bore holes in cathedral ceilings, or run unsightly cables along the walls of an open concept home.)

This week, the network company finally heard my desperation and they sent someone in who was able to work some magic and expand the wireless network to the entire rest of the house by simply boosting one access point, moving another from one side of DH’s office to another, and with the simple addition of a 25 foot CAT5 cable, I am delighted to report that at this moment, I am sitting at the desk in my studio, typing this post on my new computer and I’m going to upload it momentarily with a few clicks of the mouse!

But the best news of all is that despite the loss of my “old” computer, I have not “lost” all of my files and work. A year ago, I had the foresight to subscribe to Carbonite, an on-line back-up service that I highly recommend. (I have no financial interest in the company – I’m simply a very happy, paying customer.) Although I lost everything on both of my hard drives when the other computer failed, all of my files were safely backed up off-site. As we speak, Carbonite is slowly but surely restoring all of my files onto the new computer. The complete download is a slow process – it will probably continue through tomorrow – but when it’s done, all of my files will be retrieved from Carbonite and this past week and a half will be little more than a bad dream.

Snow Nativity

2008-11-06T00:19:00.003-05:00

This is a second ornament card that I made for Technique Lover’s Challenge #TLC193. In this challenge, we were to use a technique developed by Becca Feekan to make an ornate inner border from a corner punch. While I was practicing, I cut various size circles with different punches and used this ornament shape to make a nativity shadow box with this technique.

I cut the ornaments and matching blue and white circles with my Cricut Expression cartridges – two round ornaments with no top (in navy and white), and two ornaments with the top (navy). One of the navy ornaments was used as a base. I cut the top off the other ornament with SU!’s scalloped circle cutter to make a top to “sit on” the decorative medallion. The white circle was used to create a background for my “scene”. The navy circle was used to cut a designer medallion with Becca’s technique.

After I cut the designer medallion, I brushed the medallion and cap piece with embossing ink and embossed with iridescent powder. The result was a glittery, iridescent, circle and ornament cap, perfect for making a shadow box. Before I cut the white circle, I embossed the piece of card stock with the Cuttlebug snow folder to use as a background for my scene. Then I cut the circle. I lightly brushed over the embossing with embossing ink and sprinkled iridescent powder on it to give some “glitz”. From the scraps, I trimmed down one snowflake to represent a star and brushed the edges with gold.

I stamped the Nativity in gold and clear embossed it. Then I painted it with water color pencils and cut the three main pieces with a craft knife and detail scissors. I water colored branches from a Martha Stewart punch for pine boughs to line my “Nativity Scene”

The Ornament

The ornament and holly sprigs are completed separately and then placed on a sheet of designer paper that has been carefully cut and trimmed to the exact size of the card that it will be applied to.

To assemble the ornament scene, the pieces are applied as follows: Snowflake round glued to ornament base. Snow Mary and Snow Joseph and pine boughs added next, laying them in place and checking with the medallion for proper placement before gluing in place. Then crèche was added next, with 1/16^th inch pop dot. Then, the decorative medallion is added with multiple 1/8^th inch pop dots, and the ornament top is also glued in place.

The holly springs were cut from white card stock with Cricut Expression, sponged liberally with bright green ink, and allowed to dry for several hours. I sponged them piece of waxed paper to confine the mess. After the ink was dry, I water colored them and then embossed the veins individually, by hand.

One complete holly sprig was attached with 1/8^th pop dots to serve as a “hanger” for the ornament. The others were trimmed down and leaves placed sparingly around the bottom and next to the ornament cap. The bow was applied and then the green sheet with the entire scene was secured to the card.

The ribbon finishes it!

Today Started out as a Wonderful Day.... Then I got a Dose of Reality

2008-11-04T17:10:00.006-05:00

Earlier today when I went for my final dose of chemotherapy, along with the laundry list of meds I was given, I also got a big dose of reality. I had miscounted. I still have one more dose to go. After the treatment, I was sent home to rest. Hopefully the medications they gave with my dose will keep the worst of the side effects in check. They've had me on a much better [Translation: more effective] regimen over the past several months.

Although I still feel a bit tenuous right now, I do plan to try to make some cards tonight and maybe even post a tutorial I've been working on. Okay, so that is a BIT ambitious.... I tend to think I can do more than I actually can. So I hope you stop back later to see what's new.

Thanks for all the support. We will get through this too!

Today is a Wonderful Day

2008-11-04T09:43:00.003-05:00

After an absolutely miserable week last week, today is a wonderful day! (No, this is NOT a political editorial LOL, even though this IS a wonderful day politically as well!)

Many of you who know me, know that I struggle with a very severe form of MS. With the latest flare of the disease, I've required a ventilator and supplemental oxygen to breathe adequately, a wheelchair, and a gastrostomy feeding tube. Since I can no longer swallow and don't have a gag reflex, I get medication, "food" (if you can call it that), and fluids all through a tube that is hooked up to a pump -- running 175-225 ml per hour, 18-20 hours a day. The treatment for this form of the disease is high dose chemotherapy, which I have been getting off and on for much of my adult life. It has kept me alive and functional, but it hasn't been easy. I started this treatment protocol in 2005 and I've been getting chemo (and all the headaches that go with it) ever since.

Last week, the G-tube "broke". The internal part separated from the external part - it happens, but it couldn't have happened at a worse (or, actually, better) time. My surgeon was out of town at a conference, due back the next day. It took a full 24 hours to get it reinserted, and then a follow-up CT to check placement showed a breast lump. Follow-up mammography was recommended, and when the doctor's office called the central booking department, they scheduled me for an appointment at the end of November.

End of November, you say? That, they claimed, was the best they could do. Oh, and if she doesn't have her old films from where she lived and had her mammos before, the radiologist won't do the exam. Say what???!!! That's ABSURD! No, I had been told this last year when they declined to schedule me for a routine annual mammo, that's the rule: no previous films, no exam.

And now I had something in my breast. I couldn't feel it, but the CT saw it. If I was absolutely freaking, DH was beside himself. There is breast and ovarian cancer in my mother's family and I share a statistically significant risk of cancer of these organs with many, many women, some of whom I'm related to, many of whom are already living this nightmare.

"Double mastectomies," my husband announced. "If this is anything close to ductal, you don't need them, get rid of them both. We aren't taking any chances. You're more precious than your breasts."

My DH is not a hearts and flowers kind of guy - he gave me a pressure cooker for my birthday last year (now that's a subject for a future post for sure!). I was touched and humbled by his eloquent profession of his love for me. DH called directly to the mammography unit and had an appointment for me yesterday. The radiologoist met with us both as soon as the exam was done and he had the biggest, sunniest grin on his face when he walked into the conference room where we waited. He said, "I love to give this kind of news. The CT looked suspicious but this test is much more definitive. Everything's fine." The sigh of relief we both gave could have propelled a sailboat. I have had issues with fibrocystic changes causing questions on mammos in the past - this was more of the same. Nothing to worry about.

And today, I am scheduled for my last chemotherapy treatment of this very long protocol. I've never looked forward to a treatment the way I am looking forward to today. I'm looking forward to whatever improvement I get from this treatment -- it has been helping enormously -- but even moreso, I'm looking forward to being done, to getting my life back, to moving on.

Yes, today is a wonderful day!

Fabulous Stamp... Fabulous Products!

2008-11-02T23:11:00.005-05:00

I found some wonderful stamps this weekend while shopping at A.C Moore. My husband spotted #80426 “New York Socialite” (Stamps Happen, Inc.) and a moment later, I found the perfect mate to it: “How Swank of You!” PC#296 (Paper Candy).

When I put this card together, I never expected the watercolor painting to go as smoothly and as easily as it did. I copied the image that was decaled onto the block and had no difficulty with it at all.

Putting the finishing touches on this card was also fun. I had sent DH off to get me some black embossing powder a few weeks ago. He didn't find black exactly.... he returned with “Marcasite” by Stamp-N Stuff by Stampendous. I adore it! I used it to enhance the ring, necklace, brooch, and hat ribbon and the pictures don't do it jusstice. It has the deep rich color of gunmetal pewter, with an iridescence to it.

I applied it using another new "favorite", Martha Stewart's Artist Glue Pen. I was able to get tiny spots of glue exactly where I wanted them, dusted the glue with the embossing powder, and then heat embossed. Not the usual way we do this, but it worked!

I don't know about you, but I am delighted with the quality of Martha Stewart's line of stamping and craft tools, stamps, punches, and embellishments. The glue pen has not clogged or dried up. The punches are easy for these tired, weak hands to operate, even with card stock. I love her embellishments, and I love her inks, although I wish the bronze were just a teensy bit darker.