Two posts in one weekend!

Well, since I went back to work full time, I've had very little time for crafting and blogging. But, this weekend, I was inspired and created two cards with two tutorials. This latest Valentine card is more traditional in it's look, but uses an unusual technique. I call it the rock 'n' roll twist. You take a solid image stamp and ink it up in a light color. Then, you ink the edges of the images in a darker color. Then, you stamp the image, but instead of traditional stamping, you stamp and twist the image. Doing this on glossy paper gives a slightly blurred, tie-dyed look to the image. It's a very cool effect.

Click the image to the right to enlarge it and see the detail of the blurred hearts.

Here are the supplies you'll need:

Pretty in Pink cardstock

Ruby Red cardstock

White glossy cardstock

Ruby Red ink

Positively Pink ink

Your favorite Valentine images

I used Stampin' Up!'s Like it a Latte heart

and Close to My Heart's You and Me set

Love is in the air...

... which means Valentine's Day is just around the corner!  In the spirit of this day, I made a not too lovey-dovey card.  It would be appropriate for a girlfriend/boyfriend, husband/wife, friend, child, or parent!  It's a very basic card, which is all I have time for lately, that has been dressed up a bit with Stickles glitter glue.  See the video below for a demonstration of making this card.

Supplies:

Ruby Red cardstock

Blush Blossom cardstock

Basic Grey "blush" designer paper

Ruby Red ink

Basic Brown ink

pink, stardust, and waterfall Stickles

double-sided tape or other adhesive

Simple Christmas

With all the busy stuff going on in my life, I really need to maximize my time. So, I'm not able to spend excessive amounts of time making my Christmas cards this year. One simple way to make really nice looking cards, really fast, is to use patterned paper. There are lots of gorgeous patterned papers in the craft stores, and one of my favorite lines of paper is Basic Grey. I've used Basic Grey's "Fruitcake" line to make the cards shown here.

The snowman cards used Basic Grey designer paper, Stampin's Up!'s "Merry" stamp set, and Stickles glitter glue.

The ornament and tree card used Basic Grey designer paper, My Favorite Things and Stampin' Up! stamps, gel pens, colored pencils, and Stickles glitter glue.

The striped card used Basic Grey designer paper, Stampin' Up!'s Ruby Red cardstock and ink, and red and lime green Stickles glitter glue. The striped card also has a video tutorial that goes along with it. The dimensions of the paper and supplies are as follows:

White cardstock base: 5.5"x8.5"
Striped paper: 5.25"x4"
Ruby Red cardstock: 3.25"x2.25"
Holly paper: 3"x2"

Paper trimmer
Ticket corner punch
Double-sided tape
3-D round Zots (dimensional adhesive)
Gold gel pen
Red Stickles
Lime Green Stickles

Christmas card eye candy

Here are some of the Christmas cards I've been making lately. I'm trying to get a few done here and there so I'm not in a rush when the holidays come. I start back to work full time tomorrow, so I won't have as much time to make cards as I did last year! Here's hoping that by starting early, I'll have them all done with very little stress.

The wonders of summer

Every year, I'm just absolutely floored at how beautiful hydrangea bushes are. They have quickly become my favorite flower, and I have six of them in my yard now. My latest acquisition (see photos at left) is "Limelight." It is a hydrangea paniculata, which is just one of several types of hydrangeas you can buy. Paniculatas bloom on new wood, which means they can sustain a bit more pruning than some of the other types of hydrangea. They can be pruned heavily in late winter, but you can leave some of the stronger woody stems intact in order to support the large blossom clusters.










My next hydrangea purchase will be a hydrangea quercifolia, which is also known as the oak-leaf hydrangea. The flowers are generally a bit less showy on the oak-leaf hydrangeas, however the foliage is absolutely gorgeous. The leaves are large and are lobed similarly to oak leaves. Their crowning beauty is their autumn leaf color.

Blanket Flowers

Shirts and ribbons

I've been ridiculously busy lately. I can't believe it's almost been a month since I last posted here! So sorry! Here is the shirt folding tutorial I promised. I decided to try my hand at a video tutorial for this. A college friend of mine recommended that I do some video blogging, so this is my first attempt. I have the shirt tutorial and flat ribbon tutorial posted here today.

Shirt Tutorial


Ribbon Tutorial