Wedding Invitations Complete

Hello All!  It's been a week since I posted.  I apologize for being slow.  With the help of some GREAT people, I was able to finish my sister's wedding invitations.  The wedding is about 10 weeks away, and I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for Jen and Paul.  I'm also REALLY excited to have finished their invitations. 

 Here are the outside of the invites with the belly band in place.

Here is the inside of the invitations with the belly band off to the side.

I have an exciting day and my paying job tomorrow.  We have meetings that we call Fast Fun and Friendly, and this month, I'll be doing a make and take of cards for the group.  All are new to stamping and card making, and only one of the 14 has scrapbooked before, so I will start them out slowly, and then see if they have interest to do more later.

I'll post photos tomorrow of the cards they are making.

Thanks for stopping by!

Thrifty Scrapbook Tips: Chipboard and Acrylic Distress Tutorial

I apologize for today's post being later than usual.

In pasts posts I’ve shared with you some ways that I use the chipboard that I find around my home. It is really easy to find usable chipboard around your home. Toilet paper rolls, paper towel rolls, boxes from pasta, cereal, crackers, backs of used notebooks, soda packaging, packaging from scrapbook supplies…the list is endless. I have only shown you very few things that can be made with the chipboard you find around your house.

First I showed you a calendar, and then I showed you a notebook holder, and a box made from the packaging from crackers. Today I’m going to show you how to make great coordinating embellishments with chipboard and die cuts or Cricut machines. (Note that if you are using your Cricut machine you’ll want to ensure you have the deep housing blade).

First cut out the shapes you want to use on your project. In this case I created one label from my Cricut, and three from my Top Notes die and Cuttlebug. You can decorate these anyway you choose. You can cover them with pattern paper, ribbon, leave them “naked”…I chose to paint my pieces with Making Memories paints and then used my embossing folders and Cuttlebug to add dimension. As I mentioned, you these are great to use with this simple embossing, but I chose to use a technique to add even more pop to these items.



This is a label cut from the Storybook Cricut cartridge



After selecting a different embossing folder for each of the three Top Notes die cuts, I painted each a different base color: Chocolate, Marine, and Cantaloupe. The next step was to sand the raised images of these with sanding paper. These removed the paint from the raised sections to reveal “naked” chipboard again. This technique is referred to as Acrylic Distress. The last step was to choose a coordinating ink and use the direct to paper technique of running each pad over the embossed image.



I used the label from the Cricut to make the card for today.

Are you thinking about how you'll used your chipboard?  Let me know what you come up with!

Vintage Elements Greeting Cards

Today I have two cards to share with you.  Yesterday I mentioned that I had been working with my Cricut machine, and my Storybook cartridge to be specific.  Will the oval and oval scallops that are on the two cards today are cut from that cartridge as well.  Each ensemble is adhered to a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock embossed with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder (Thank you Norma!!).

Both of these cards are considered CAS (Clean and Simple).  I used chalks to color the image from Elements of Style for this card.  I also trimmed the embossed piece to 4 x 5 1/4".  The oval is cut at 3 1/2" and the oval scallop is cut at 3 3/4". 

 I chose to select the same colors of paper for each layer to make the card more elegant feeling.

 I chalked the flowers with varying intensity to add to the subtleties of the card.

 Here is the last look at card number 1.

 Card number two has very few difference.  The most obvious is the lack of coloring in of the image.

 I also used the entire piece of vintage wallpaper rather than trimming it.

 I added pearls and paper roses in place of coloring.

 The ink is Chocolate Chip.

 I also added a pearl to the each corner of the embossed background.

One last look at card number two.

Up until a few days ago, I had only used my Cricut for scrapbooking, but since I haven't scrapped in quite a while, it was time to see what else I was overlooking!  I'll keep digging, and I hope to share more Cricut card creations with you this week.

Cricut Eastern Bloom Greeting Card

Today I decided to play around with my Cricut.  I love the look of Eastern/Asian flowers, but I don't have any stamps of them, so I used my Storybook cartridge, and using the Accent/Frame function for the letter "K", I got my image.  Below are the steps I took to make this card.

The base measures 4 1/4" x 11" and is folded in half at the top of the card.  The layer of Ruby Red measures 4 x 5 1/4" and the layer of pattern paper from K & Compaby measures 3 3/4 x 5".

 I started with my image cut to 3 1/2" on Very Vanilla.  I used chalks to color with branches, leaves, and flowers, then I used Chocolate Chip ink to go around the "frame".  I punched flowers and added them on top of the die cut.

 Then I adhered the frame to a single layer of white tissue paper and trimmed it down.  I followed this layer by adhering it to a paper doily, and then again trimming it to the edge of the frame.

 I added pearls to the flowers.

 Old Olive is the base of the card, then Ruby Red and pattern paper by K & Company.

 I machine stitched around the edge of the pattern paper

 Added the sentiment (from Trendy Trees), ribbon (Old Olive), and accent flower with matching punched flower, and that was all.

Thanks for looking!  Look for future posts with Cricut die cuts.

Sketchy Frog Greeting Card

I made today's card for the SC340 Challenge at SCS.  I decided to use a technique that I don't use very often, masking, and I also used a stamp set that is retired, but newly acquired by me that I've never used. 

 Here is the sketch we were to use.

 Here is my card.  I  was inspired by the ribbon, and built the card around it.  When I saw the sketch, I thought the ribbon would be the perfect element along the left border in the sketch.

 I used a base of Kraft, the embossed piece is Pear Pizazz, and the ink is Pear Pizazz and Chocolate Chip.

Thanks for looking!

Tutorial: Acrylic Resist Technique

Today's post has a lot of photos.  I wanted to show you detailed steps to make duplicating the process easier.  This is another card that I made using the Acrylic Resist technique.

 The supplies are a white pieces of cardstock (papers for finishing the card later as well), a background stamp and accent stamp, acrylic paint and applicator, coordinating ink pads, Paper towel, wet wipes, adhesive and other embellishments for finishing.  Heat gun is optional, but I use it as I am NOT patient.

 Start by applying the paint liberally to your stamp (don't worry, it will wash off when you're done).

 All coated and ready to stamp with

 Stamp onto your cardstock.

 This is what mine looked like when I was done stamping the background.

 As I said, I'm not patient, so either let your image dry naturally or help the process with a heat gun.

 Using two different lavender colors Versa Color, I stamped the image from Elements of Style

 Wipe excess with paper towel.

 Your image will look similar to this.

 Now wiped the entire pieces of paper with a wet wipe and smear, blend the ink into the cardstock and off of your painted image.

 Here is the finished piece.  Trim as desired and create away!

 Here is a look at the card I made with the piece created in this tutorial.

 The striped paper is left over from the scrapbook page I made the other day.

 The purple and black pieces are extras from the wedding invitations that I'm making for my sister.

 Black satin 5/8" ribbon and a sentiment from Well Scripted finish the card.

 Here is a close up of the acrylic resist piece.

Thanks for stopping by!  If you try this technique, please let me know and send me a photo!

Happy crafting!