Beautiful Bird Song!

One of the new Summer release paper collections from Graphic 45 is Bird Song. Bird Song is an Asian-themed collection with beautiful reds and blues, stunning birds and flowers, and lovely ladies. I felt this was the perfect paper to use for cardmaking. The possibilities for beautiful and elegant cards are endless with this collection.

I confess I have a stash of Asian coins and Asian-themed stamps in my studio! When I was a little girl my babysitter was from China. She had married my father's best friend and came to America in the 1950's. (I get my middle name from her! Her American name is DeeDee and I am Gloria Dee!) DeeDee watched over me for a few years before I reached school-age and taught me to love Asian food and colors, and to have a love of Asian art and culture. In turn, I taught her to read English! (Yes, folks, I learned to read at the age of two! By first grade I was reading at a jr. high level. That's your "Gloria Fun Fact" for today!)

Red is my favorite color, so you can be sure I was attracted to the reds in this collection! However, Asian themes also tend to have orange tones as well as some pinks. What a joy to use all of these colors together! Bright and vibrant!

I paired the new Graphic 45 metal key and keyhole staples with some flowers and Asian coins to make a pretty statement on my card.

Those bright colors, popped with the black and tan neutrals give me goosebumps! I also used a packaging tag, covered with paper for an accent. I love to use the pretty G45 packaging!

This card shows the soft side of the Bird Song Collection. Here, I used the soft blues and pinks for a feminine look. (I admit, the red is more ME!)

To make this fun butterfly accent, coat one of the G45 metal butterfly staples with matte gel medium and adhere paper to it. Trim the paper and sand the edges. Then, glue a metal pen nib to the butterfly to mimic the butterfly's body.

I used another keyhole and an Asian coin with flowers and punched butterflies. (My husband travels to Asia for work and brings me home Asian coins from all the places he visits.)

If you think that Bird Song is not "your style," why not give it a try and make a few cards or tags? You may be surprised!

Red Card:
Graphic 45 Papers: Bird Song
Good Fortune
Jasmine Dream
Harmony
Tranquility

Graphic 45 Staples:
Metal: Key, Keyhole, Brads

Graphic 45 packaging tag

American Crafts: cardstock
Clearsnap Colorbox: Dragonfly Black Pigment Ink; Graphic 45 Decades Photogenic Antiquing Ink
Hampton Arts: Stamp
May Arts: ribbon
Wild Orchid Crafts: paper flowers
Adhesive: Glue Dots, foam squares, tape runner, white glue
Other: Asian coins

Pink/Blue Card:
Graphic 45 Papers: Bird Song
Good Fortune
Tranquility
Cherry Blossom
Shanghai Girls

Graphic 45 Staples:
Metal: Keyhole, Butterfly

American Crafts: cardstock
Clearsnap Colorbox: Wicked Archival Ink
Hampton Arts: Stamp
Really Reasonable Ribbon: ribbon
Tim Holtz Idea-ology: pen nib
Wild Orchid Crafts: paper flowers
Copic: Markers
Martha Stewart: punches
My Favorite Things: Fishtail Flag Stax die
Adhesive: Glue Dots, tape runner, white glue, Liquitex matte gel
Other: Asian coins, brads

Back to School

For most of the United States, school-age kids are either already back to school, or will be shortly. My kids started back on August 13th, and my college-age son starts September 24th.

In honor of all that "back-to-schoolness," I thought that I would share a few older cards today - cards you may have seen these already, but they are still "good." If you need some ideas for cards to give your kids for their first day of school, or you want to give a card to your childrens' teachers, or even need to give your child a "pick me up," these cards may spark your creative juices! Besides, I really hate going to so much work for a project to show up on the blog only once!  {hee hee}

Graphic 45 An ABC Primer paper and stamp

Graphic 45 An ABC Primer, My Favorite Things and Papertrey Ink stamps

Graphic 45 An ABC Primer papers, chipboard, stamps

My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Two Rosy paper, My Favorite Things and

Stampin' Up stamps

Cosmo Cricket and Webster's Pages paper, October Afternoon image

unknown papers, My Favorite Things stamp

Pink Paislee paper, Mo's Digital Pencil stamp

Graphic 45 Once Upon a Springtime papers, Graphic 45 An ABC Primer

 report card image and stamp

Graphic 45 An ABC Primer papers

Cosmo Cricket Social Club and The Boyfriend papers, Unity stamps

October Afternoon Sidewalks paper, Stampavie Tina Wenke Storybook Friends stamp

Webster's Pages Game On paper, My Favorite Things stamp

 

October Afternoon papers

I hope you had fun going back to school!

Have Scraps? Make Cards!

Good morning Bloggers, and happy Monday! I have a few cards from the Hampton Art Stamps Summer CHA booth to share with you today. I was asked to showcase 7Gypsies stamps and papers, plus some items from Canvas Corp. One of the directives I got from the Hampton Art sales team was "make the cards simple and easy to reproduce."

We all know that my cardmaking style is not usually "simple," but I always aim to please, so while I was working, I kept in mind all the scraps I have (even my blog is about scraps!) and how easy it is to make cards from small bits that most people would throw away! Let's face it, a "by-product" of all papercrafting is scraps, and lot of them!

There are endless ways to sort, store, and save paper scraps. But, wouldn't it be better us USE them? The best way I have found to use the endless scraps of paper and cardstock that collect on my work surface is to make cards with them. I donate cards to a few organizations that require cards be "mostly flat" and easy to mail. What a great time to pull out those scraps and get busy!

Here are four cards that use mostly small amounts of paper (I hesitate to call them scraps as they were all brand new papers!), plus bits of "this and that."

I used papers form the same family to create this card, and stamped the image onto a scrap of cream cardstock.

I edged the stamped image with ink to make it pop, rather than matting it with cardstock.

Sometimes our background paper makes a big statement, like the compass-themed paper from Canvas Corp. I stamped a simple butterfly image and trimmed it into a circle shape. It pops off the card.

At first glance, this card may seem complicated, but it really isn't. I used two prints from a 7Gypsies paper pad, and a few scraps of cardstock to highlight the stamped message. Adding a punched border and a few embellishments really pushes the card into the next level.

Instead of double matting my sentiment with the same die cut shape, I used two different shapes to give more contrast.

I love text stamps, and the NEW Distressed Words ATC stamp is amazing! I used a marker to highlight a few of the words, making them pop.

A scrap of printed paper and a punched border, and the card is finished! Easy as eating pie!

To see the Hampton Art Stamps summer release, CLICK HERE. I will share details of all the 7Gypseis art shown in the catalog here on my blog, all during the fall. Stay tuned for my posts!

Abundance:
Ink:
Clearsnap Colorbox:
Graphic 45 Decades Antiquing Ink (Venetian Lace, Photogenic)
Fluid Chalk (Chestnut Roan)
Stamps:
Hampton Art Stamps - 7 Gypsies (IC0191 Abundance, PS0679 Distressed Clock)
Cardstock - Cream, Black, Kraft
Designer paper - 7 Gypsies - Gypsy Packs
Embellishment: 7 Gypsies Pyramid Studs
Die cuts: My Favorite Things Die-namics (Fishtail Flag Stax)

Beautiful:
Ink:
Clearsnap Colorbox:
Graphic 45 Decades Antiquing Ink (Bon Voyage, Photogenic)
Stamps:
Hampton Art Stamps - 7 Gypsies (IC0191 Abundance, IC0195 Butterflies)
Cardstock - Cream, Black, Kraft
Designer paper - Canvas Corp.
Embellishment: satin ribbon
Die cuts: Spellbinders Standard Circles Large and Small

Blessing:
Ink:
Clearsnap Colorbox:
Graphic 45 Decades Antiquing Ink (Photogenic)
Stamps:
Hampton Art Stamps - 7 Gypsies (PS0630 Blessing Not in Disguise)
Cardstock - Cream, Black
Designer paper - 7 Gypsies - Lille
Embellishment: Canvas Corp. cord; button; bamboo string
Die cuts: Spellbinders Labels Twenty-one, Labels Twenty-five
Punch: Martha Stewart

Stamped Text:
Ink:
Clearsnap Colorbox:
Graphic 45 Decades Antiquing Ink (Photogenic)
Fluid Chalk (Chestnut Roan)
Stamps:
Hampton Art Stamps - 7 Gypsies (PS0680 Distressed Words)
Cardstock - Cream, Black, Kraft
Designer paper - 7 Gypsies - Gypsy Packs
Embellishment: Canvas Corp. cord
Punch: EK Success
Marker: Copic

Hampton Art Stamps Goes to the Beach!

It has most definitely been summer time here in southern CA! We have had a string of 90 degree days and our a/c has been running non-stop for two weeks! We don't normally get those temps here on the north San Diego County coast, and if we do get hot weather, it is normally in October (remember my annual pumpkin patch rant?!).

In celebration of beachy-type weather, here is a beach-themed tray that I made for Hampton Art Stamps for the Summer 2012 CHA booth (see it there on the right of the display?!).

And check out all of that yummy ink!!! Ok, here is a close-up of the tray. As soon as I got back from Alaska the end of June I had boxes from Hampton Art Stamps, 7Gypsies, and Canvas Corp waiting for me to get to work on trade show projects! I love the white tray and the beach papers! Plus, I always have beach photos...we live 8 miles from the beach!

It is pretty easy to decorate one of these trays because each of the openings is the same size. I trimmed 12 pieces of kraft cardstock to fit the openings of the tray. Each one is approximately 2 3/4 x 3 3/4 inches. I used the pieces of cardstock as canvases for each ATC configuration. Then I added photos, stamped images, and embellishments to each opening.

I used real sea shells and sea glass. Adding the burlap and cork made everything seem very natural.

The fantastic 7Gypsies stamps really gave everything a nice vintage look without being too busy.

I was able to stamp right onto the canvas. Very cool. I used the Mix'd Media Inx to stamp on all the various surfaces.

I love to use the little glass bottles on my various trays! I use them all the time. I filled some of the bottles with sand and other small items. For this one, I stamped  the 7Gypsies World Travel Words text stamp onto a scrap of cardstock, rolled it, and placed it into the bottle to create a message.

Those are my kids. You can tell my daughter allows me to take her photo more often than the boys!

To create the title at the tip of the tray, I trimmed the letters from the Canvas Corp. beach designer paper and glued them to the top edge of the tray.

If you loved this tray, here is a look at a few others I have done in the past year or so. I also have a few other new ones that I made for CHA to share in the coming months!

I created the London tray for the Hampton Art Stamps CHA booth Summer 2011. This was from our trip to London in 2009.

This tray was a project at CKU San Diego last year, but I modified it (A LOT) and gave it to my friend Tanya for her birthday!

This Graphic 45 tray was the first tray I ever made. I worked on it a my scrap retreat in 2011. It is still my favorite project of everything I have ever made. This one was published in a magazine, making me very proud of it!

I keep this tray in my studio to look at every day!

I made this tray for the Hampton Art Stamps CHA booth Winter 2012 CHA. That is my daughter, who is now nearly 17. The stamps are all Graphic 45 Little Darlings.

I hope you enjoyed my "tray day" post!

Ink:
Clearsnap Colorbox:
Donna Salazar Mix'd Media Inx (Black)
Graphic 45 Decades Antiquing Ink (Photogenic)

Stamps:
Hampton Art Stamps: 7 Gypsies: Time Pieces (SC0504), World Travel Words (SC0500), Things I Love (SC0499), Distressed Clock (PS0679)

Cardstock: Cream, Kraft
Designer paper: Canvas Corp.
Specialty paper: 7 Gypsies/Canvas Corp. (cork, burlap, canvas, corrugated)
Embellishments:
7 Gypsies: Pyramid Studs, Apothecary Bottles, Miniature Keys, Tag Envelopes
Canvas Corp: Cord, Mini Bags
Other: shells, bottle cap, sand, stones, bingo number
Tray: 7 Gypsies Artist Printers Tray White (12x12)
Tools: Tag punch, Circle punch

Let's Hear it for the Boys!

I have a handful of masculine cards and projects to share. I made these in the early spring for Spellbinders Paper Arts. I was asked a few times to do "manly" projects for them. I know for many crafters, making masculine cards and gift items is hard. Since I normally tend to pick darker, more masculine colors for my projects, I find that it is not as intimidating to make something that is more masculine. I just try to stay away from flowers! Which is very DIFFICULT! {grin}

I stamped the image and the sentiment with brown ink and then cut them out with Spellbinders templates: Classic Ovals and Labels Twenty-five. I don't like to make "fussy" projects for men and boys. The waxed twine worked great for this project.

The embellishments are all cut and embossed with the Nautical Frame and Accents die set. I love the sand dollar!

The next two projects feature the Carnival Dream "cut-fold-tuck" template.

It is best to use double-sided paper when working with the cut-fold-tuck templates since you can see the back of the paper when you fold. This card is not my normal style, but it works pretty well to give to a man or boy.

I really love the canvas-covered brad.

Next, I altered a CD tin to make a gift card holder, and again used the Carnival Dream template, plus the Sprightly Sprockets templates to give it a "manly" feel.

I always like to layer everything, and using die cuts is an easy way to get some dimension and texture.

I added some great metal brads that look like screw heads. I have a huge stash of those. I buy them all the time and hoard them. But, in my defense, I do USE them all the time. I have all different metal "colors" and several sizes. {giddy squeal}

This last project is a desk caddy that I made from cardstock. A sweet friend made me a similar project using some die cuts from another company, and I thought it was so cool. She filled hers with tiny note cards. I disassembled her project to see how it was constructed and figured out a way to make it just by folding cardstock. I basically made a series of little paper boxes and attached them to make the caddy. (Thanks for the idea, Wanda!)

The little base is the perfect size for a sticky-note pad. I decorated the edge of the box with the SB Edges and Inserts borders.

Here is a peek at it without all the goodies inside.

The back view. I love those hitch fasteners that I used as knobs. A friend gave me a whole package a while back. (Yep, hoarding them!)

I used Graphic 45 Olde Curiosity Shoppe papers to make a masculine project, but you could make this in any style by changing the colors and printed paper.

There, that is my tribute to "the boys!"

Anchor Card:
Spellbinders Supplies:
S4-110 Classic Ovals LG
S4-112 Classic Ovals SM
S5-077 Labels Twenty-Five
S5-082 Nautical Frame and Accents
Spellbinders™ Grand Calibur® Die Cutting Machine

Other:
Gina K. Designs, Showtime Stamp TV Kit Enjoy The Summer Stamps
My Mind's Eye, Lime Twist Fly A Kite 6 x 6" Pad Patterned Paper
Bazzill Basics Paper, Kraft Cardstock
Clearsnap, ColorBox Graphic 45 Decades Dark Cashmere Antiquing Ink; Prussian Blue, Dark Brown, Creamy Brown, Popcorn, Toffee Fluid Chalk Ink
Beacon Adhesives, Zip Dry Glue
SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L, 3D Foam Squares
White Cardstock; Blue, Brown Textured Cardstock; Twine; Adhesive Tape

Good Luck Card:
Spellbinders Supplies:
S5-029 Nested Lacey Pennants
S5-112 Carnival Dream
EL-002 Regal
Spellbinders Grand Calibur® Die Cutting and Embossing Machine

Other: 
Waltzingmouse, Fancy Phrases Stamps
Bazzill Basics Paper, Textured Butter Cream Cardstock
Clearsnap, ColorBox Graphic 45 Photogenic Antiquing Ink
Beacon Adhesives, Zip Dry Glue
SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L, 3D Foam Squares
Patterned Paper; White Canvas Brad; Adhesive Tape

Birthday Tin: 
Spellbinders Supplies:
S4-114 Standard Circles LG
S5-025 Labels Seventeen
S5-048 Sprightly Sprockets
S5-112 Carnival Dream
Spellbinders™ Grand Calibur® Die Cutting and Embossing Machine

Other:
Waltzingmouse, Fancy Phrases Stamps
My Mind's Eye, Kraft Fun Day Everyday Fun 6 x 6" Pad Patterned Paper
Graphic 45, An ABC Primer One, Two, Buckle My Shoe Patterned Paper
Clearsnap, ColorBox Charcoal Fluid Chalk Ink, Graphic 45 Photogenic Antiquing Ink
Core'dinations, Sand It Gadget Sanding Block
Beacon Adhesives, Zip Dry Glue
SCRAPBOOK ADHESIVES BY 3L, 3D Foam Squares
Black, Charcoal Cardstock; Adhesive Tape; Brads; CD Tin

Desk Caddy:
Spellbinders Supplies:
S4-318 Fleur de Lis Squares
EL-002 Regal
E8-007 Classic Edges One
E8-013 Classic Decorative Inserts Five
Spellbinders Grand Calibur® Machine

Other:
Graphic 45, Olde Curiosity Shoppe Counting Down, Race For Time 8 x 8" Pad Patterned Paper
Bazzill Basics Paper, Kraft Cardstock
Clearsnap, ColorBox Graphic 45 Decades Venetian Lace Antiquing Ink
Beacon Adhesives, Zip Dry Glue
Scor-Pal, Scoring Board, Scoring Tool, Adhesive Tape
Tim Holtz Hitch Fasteners