Damask Pumpkin Tutorial

Happy Friday!  Have any good plans for this weekend?  My eldest daughter and I plan to visit a craft fair, in search of Christmas decorations, and really just to look around.  Can't wait to see what they have!

Today I'm sharing easy-to-make pumpkin cards:

• Choose cardstock or patterned paper for your pumpkin.  I chose a black and orange Halloween damask from Stampin' Up!  
• Using any size oval punch, punch out 5 pieces.  Ink the edges in a coordinating color.  I used black.

• Using a die-cut wreath (Breezy Wreath / Memory Box), snip off small sections to use as greenery on the top of each pumpkin.  One wreath helped me make 7 pumpkins.

• Layer the oval pumpkin pieces so that they overlap each other slightly; use your favorite adhesive to secure the pieces together.  I like Tombow's Mono Adhesive refills.  I buy them at officesupply.com because the price is so good.

• Stamp a sentiment on a card base. Center pumpkin over sentiment and adhere using foam tape.
• Use a bit of liquid glue to add the 'greenery.'
• Use a small scrap of brown cardstock (approx. 3/4" x 1") - ragged edges are good.  Start at one corner of the scrap, and roll diagonally into a tube.  Squish the tube around until it develops wrinkles, then unfurl it back to the tube shape.  Trim tube length if necessary.  Use a few drops of glue (I like Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue) to secure under top of pumpkin.

I know this is not a photo-heavy tutorial, and I apologize for that.  As I made the cards, I forgot to pull out my camera.  Duh!

I'm not the first to create a pumpkin in this way.  Plenty of versions exist on the Internet.  I might be one of the few to do it in damask, though!

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes - SU Paper: kraft - PTI; Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, orange/black damask - SU Ink: black - Rubber Stampede Accessories & Tools: Large Oval punch - SU; Breezy Wreath die - Memory Box/Poppystamps

Black Cat On A Fence

Hi!  Using just two colors for this Halloween card made the creation of it happen pretty quickly.

I stamped a circle from Halloween Tags / Inspired By Stamping as a moon, and added bats from that set as well.  Over top, I spritzed some Khaki glimmer mist and added clear glitter to the moon.

The cat and sentiment are from Stampin' Up!, and the die cut fence is from Memory Box.

It's a square card, which I rarely make anymore.  A mishap along the bottom of an A2 sized card necessitated some chopping off...and thus the square was born!

Stamps: black cat - Autumn Apparitions; sentiment - Teeny Tiny Wishes - SU; moon, bats - Halloween Tags - Inspired By Stamping Paper: kraft, black - PTI Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko Fibers: twine - Creative Impressions Accessories & Tools: crystal glitter - Martha Stewart; Estate Fence die - Memory Box; Khaki Tattered Angels spray mist

Bits & Pieces Make Elegant Cobwebs

Hello!  Halloween is next week, and I'm wondering how that happened so fast?  Seems it was the end of September just a few days ago, and I was putting out the Halloween decorations.  Time flies when you're having fun...

I'm sharing an elegant card for the October holiday, made with bits and pieces from my workdesk.

The sentiment (Autumn Apparitions/Stampin' Up!) has been hanging around forever, and the black die cut circle + cobweb patterned die cut circle were also languishing for far too long.

Threw them together on an embossed card base, along with some black seam binding and gems.  Ta da!  Done!

Thanks for dropping by today.  :-)

Stamps: Autumn Apparitions - Stampin' Up! Paper: white, black - PTI; Tangerine Tango, cobweb pattern - SU Ink: black - Rubber Stampede Fibers: Black seam binding - Hug Snug - The Zipper Stop Accessories & Tools: circle dies; black, orange and clear rhinestone gems; Lacy Brocade embossing folder - SU

A Custom Creation: Skateboard Girl Turns 16

Hello there!  I've had the pleasure of doing a handful of custom creations over the last couple of months, and this is one of them.  You can see another here, and it happens to use the same cute kitty from Papertrey Ink.

The background story for this card:

• birthday girl
• sweet sixteen
• loves cats
• loves black, loves blue
• loves to skateboard

I thoroughly enjoy the challenge of creating a very personal, unique card.  Here's the end result:

I created the skateboard by using a Word Window punch (Stampin' Up!).  I punched out three shapes using blue cardstock, stacked 'em up to give it height, and used a blue marker to add a shadow to the bottom edge.  The wheels were created with Pretty Pink Posh Onyx sequins, topped with silver half-pearls.

The background paper is flocked, which adds to the coolness factor.  :-D

I hear the birthday girl liked her card.  That makes me happy.  :-)

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Stamps: Cat's Meow - Papertrey Ink; Fancy Alphabet - Inspired By Stamping Paper: white - PTI; Basic Gray, Brilliant Blue, black flocked - SU Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; Basic Gray - SU Fibers: black seam binding - Hug Snug - The Zipper Stop Accessories & Tools: circle, Labels 15 dies - Spellbinders; corner punch - Fiskars; Copic markers; Word Window punch - SU; Onyx sequins - Pretty Pink Posh; silver half pearls - Recollections; blue gems - Michaels; Cat's Meow dies - Papertrey Ink

Almost One-Layer Sympathy cards

Hello!  I suppose I was in a mood to create quickly on the day these sympathy cards came to life. Each one is simple, using only a piece of pretty patterned paper (from Michael's Dollar Bin), some die cut / punched butterflies and a sentiment.

The sentiment - Deepest Sympathy Plain Jane - is from Verve, and I love the mix of fonts on this. It's a bargain at $3.00!

I'm not listing my supplies today, but feel free to shoot me an email or comment if you have questions about these cards.  Have a great day!

Make It Monday - Gold-Dipped Leaf

Hello friends!  My husband and I are celebrating our 20th anniversary this week, and I'm sharing the card I made for the love o'my life with you:

How's this for a coincidence:  I had been cooking up a card idea in my mind, and decided to feature a single golden leaf, made using gold embossing powder.  Then, on Monday of this week, Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday challenge is...guess what?  Gold-dipped die cuts!!  I used two PTI products on this card, so, of course, I'm entering there.  (Daily Designs Sentiments, Tiny Tags die)

This card has some symbolism going on:

• We were married in the fall, hence the leaf motif.
• Our fancy china, which we had registered for before the wedding, is Noritake's Opulence.  Look at the color palette:

Even the swirls in the 'black marble' portion of the plate are represented, using Elegant Flourishes dies from Tim Holtz.  I used the Faux Embossing technique to achieve it.

Sneaking this in to Virginia's View challenge - Clean and Simple, too.

This past weekend, my husband and I visited Newport, Rhode Island to celebrate our milestone anniversary.  We toured five of the mansions, ate wonderful food, stayed in an historic hotel - The Hotel Viking - and enjoyed each other's company.  The last time we visited there, I was pregnant with our first child, 17 years ago.  I want to show you pictures, but it's been a full week and I've not had the time to photo-edit yet.

Here's one pic to share for now.  This is The Elms, a summer 'cottage' built by the Berwind family.

Thanks for dropping in today!

Stamps: Daily Designs Sentiments - Papertrey Ink Paper: True Black, Vintage Cream - PTI; vellum Ink: Versamark - Tsukineko Fibers: vintage thread Accessories & Tools: Tattered Leaves, Elegant Flourishes dies - Sizzix/Tim Holtz; gold embossing powder - SU; Tiny Tags die - Papertrey Ink; Copper embossing powder - Creative Inspirations

Tough to photograph!

OH. MY. WORD.  This card was SO difficult to photograph!  LOL  And so, I am starting off my photos with the one I would typically place after the 'whole card' pic.

At least you can see the golden embossing both on the DCWV paper and on the stamped champagne glasses (Papertrey Ink's Propose A Toast) in the photo below.

And this next pic of the entire card, folks, is the best I could do.  And it ain't makin' me happy.

It looks much better in real life, and it's already in a shop for sale.  Fingers crossed someone thinks it's worthy!

Stamps: Propose A Toast - Papertrey Ink Paper: Vintage Cream - PTI; Once Upon A Time - DCWV Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark - Tsukineko Accessories & Tools: gold embossing powder - SU

A fancy pink dress + a customized graduation card

Hello all!  I've got two cards to share today, both completely different.  The first is a card I delivered to the bridal shop, A Beautiful Touch.  It is intended as a bridal shower card, but certainly it could be given to a young lady for her birthday, as well.

I hope you're not tired of seeing the dress image from Stampin' Up!'s Blooming with Happiness.  It really lends itself well to the bridal cards, and is very sweet; fun to color, too.  :-)

Stamps: Blooming With Happiness - SU; sentiment - Fresh Cut Wreaths - Wplus9 Paper: gingham - digital paper - Inspired By Stamping; white - PTI; Sahara Sand, pink and brown patterns - SU Ink: Antique Linen - Ranger; Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: white sheer polka dot ribbon - Really Reasonable Ribbon Accessories & Tools: circle, scalloped circle dies - Spellbinders; Copic markers; pearls; White Opal Liquid Pearls, iridescent Stickles - Ranger

One more card to share before I go.  My childhood friend's daughter graduated high school in May of this year.  I received an announcement in the mail, and wanted to send a special keepsake card for the graduate.

Using the announcement, I die-cut the circular panel for the front of the card, matted it with navy, and layered it on an embossed red panel.

I stamped a sentiment from Hero Arts on the inside panel, which reads:  YOU DID IT! Congratulations."  On the inside left, I die-cut a phrase which was in the announcement.  It reads: "The journey of a thousand miles, solely, begins with a single step."

Thanks for taking a peek at my cards today!

CASEing a Crafter - Baby Bokeh

It's so fun to see all the crafting inspiration out there.  My Pinterest boards provide a never-ending source of it.  I think I've got enough ideas in my head to last me the rest of my life!

Deanna of Kloset Kreations made the CUTEST bokeh-inspired baby card that I fell in love with.  I made two versions of it.

I cut white cardstock into two panels, then got my Simple Shapes set from Stampin' Up! out, along with various green inks.  On one panel, I randomly stamped one circle at a time with the ink full-strength (second card).  Then, without cleaning the stamp, I stamped the same design onto the second panel. Repeat. (top card)

The sentiment I chose is different from Deanna's.  This one is from Technique Tuesday / Ali Edwards - Sweet Baby.  I bought the set in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in an Amish furniture shop. Who knew they had a whole scrapbooking area off to one corner!

Thanks to Deanna for such adorable inspiration.  :-)  Have a great day!

Stamps: Simple Shapes - SU; Sweet Baby - Ali Edwards/Technique Tuesday Paper: white - PTI Ink: Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Certainly Celery, Sage Shadow, Kiwi Kiss - SU

Tick-Tock Anniversary

Hello!  I needed an anniversary card, and without too much thought, reached for this clock stamp by Inspired By Stamping's Paris set.  I like that it can look feminine or masculine, depending on how it's accessorized.

My dad gave me some Treasure Gold paste from Plaid Enterprises, long before he passed away.  He's been gone 19 years.  This stuff has a long shelf life.  ;-)  I swiped it randomly along the edges of the clock, then wiped it with a dry tissue to buff it to a shine.

An old book page became a flower with help from Flower Fusion dies by Sizzix/Stampin' Up!. After die cutting several layers' worth, I gently inked the edges, stacked them, wrinkled them a bit and added a brad. BUT: the brad was silver, which looked weird with my color scheme, so I dabbed on some of that Gold stuff to the center and buffed.  Perfect!

The dots on the oval around the sentiment were done with a fine-tipped Copic pen.

Thanks for your visit today.  Hope I've inspired you.  Happy October!

Stamps: clock - Paris - Inspired By Stamping; Daily Designs Sentiments - PTI Paper: vintage book page; kraft damask - The Paper Studio; burgundy patterns - SU; white, kraft, True Black - PTI Ink: Frayed Burlap, Walnut Stain - Ranger; Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: skinny black ribbon - SU Accessories & Tools: oval punch - SU; circle, Ribbon Banners dies - Spellbinders; Floral Fusion dies - Sizzix/Stampin' Up!; micro pen - Copic; silver brad; smoky topaz gems - The Paper Studio; Treasure Gold paste - Plaid Enterprises

A Chocolate Chandelier

Hi!  I'm always trying to come up with new ideas for cards to place in the bridal shop, A Beautiful Touch, in Westmont NJ.  This one is meant for a bridal shower, but truly it could be used for many different occasions.

What's a chandelier (Paris - Inspired By Stamping) without a little flicker? I added some golden glitter touches to the bulbs.

I'm fond of using this sentiment from Fresh Cut Florals / Wplus9.  I split apart the words when stamping (it comes in a horizontal format), inking each word separately and making it a vertical sentiment.  Fits better that way in small spaces.

Thanks so much for your visit today!

Stamps: chandelier - Paris - Inspired By Stamping; 'for you' - Fresh Cut Wreaths - Wplus9 Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla - SU; all patterns - Lost & Found - My Mind's Eye Ink: Antique Linen - Ranger; Versafine Onyx Black - Tsukineko; Chocolate Chip - SU Fibers: Ash Pink seam binding - Hug Snug - The Zipper Stop Accessories & Tools: button, chocolate pearls - Recollections; round circle punch; gold glitter glue - Ranger

Hanging Leaves

Hello!  This card reminds me of a pot rack, but instead of pots, there are leaves hanging down.

I had this assortment of die cut leaves from one of those amazing $1.00 Scrap Bags from my Stampin' Up! demo (alas, they are now $2.00 -- STILL a bargain), but didn't like them in their plain form:

So I painted, inked, shimmered and distressed a bunch of them....

....and thought they'd look pretty hanging in a row together.  I actually used my sewing machine for a change (yay!) to secure a snippet of burlap and a snippet of crocheted lace, too.

Annnnnd...I'm entering this in a challenge!  City Crafter's inspiration photo this week totally reminded me of the card I made, so it was meant to be.

Thanks for dropping in today!

Stamps: Tag-Its #8 - Papertrey Ink Paper: River Rock, kraft, assorted colors - SU Ink: Frayed Burlap - Ranger; Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko Fibers: burlap, lace snippets; vintage thread Accessories & Tools: leaves dies - SU; Victoria embossing folder - Cuttlebug; shimmer paints - Creative Inspirations; sewing machine; mini tag - SU; Treasure Gold - Plaid Enterprises

A Custom Creation: Have a purrfect day

Hi there!  Back in the summer, my 12 YO daughter was invited to her best friend's birthday party. My girl asked me to make a special card.

I LOVE custom challenges like this!  You can see some of my other custom creations here and here.

The birthday girl adores cats.  This fact gave me the purrfect (ha) chance to use my new Cat's Meow stamps and dies from Papertrey Ink.

I'm kind of new to the "coordinating dies" thing that everyone's doing these days.  Have to say I really appreciate having these dies.  Hand-trimming these stamped objects would not have been fun.

The sentiment comes with the Cat's Meow set, but I wanted my scene to have a picture hung on the wall above the cat.  Enter this pretty frame from Vintage Frames / Inspired By Stamping.  It was just the right size for the words.  I stamped it in chocolate ink, then drew on a nail and picture wire with a fine-tipped Copic marker.

I love cats, too, by the way.  Here is Cristabel, our sweetie:

She's pretty tough to photograph with all that dark fur.  I keep trying!

Stamps: Vintage Frames - Inspired By Stamping; Cat's Meow - Papertrey Ink Paper: white - PTI; hardwood strip - gift Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black - Tsukineko; Chocolate Chip, Ballet Blue, Going Gray - SU Accessories & Tools: Cat's Meow dies - PTI; Copic markers