Autumn Wishes Card

Today is the first full day of Autumn (it officially began yesterday at 4:44 p.m.).  Our weather has been beautiful with bright blue skies and that touch of crispness in the air.

I had some errands to do in town and decided to walk with my camera, hoping to see some changing leaves.  The leaves are still mostly green but I did see one bright tree - I am sure there will be more to follow soon.

With the changing of the seasons, I change the wreath on our front door.  The current wreath is made from a garland of leaves and a few of them fell off when I put the wreath up.  They have been sitting on my craft table along with lots of other bits and pieces waiting to be put to good use.

A little over a year ago, I shared this card that I designed using the Silhouette Studio software.  You can see that post HERE.  I actually designed both a square and a rectangular version but I never put the square card together and posted it.  The colors of the leaves from the wreath made me think about my stack of semi-completed projects, so I pulled out the square card pieces in their autumnal colors at last and made this card.

The pieces were ready to assemble and I looked for a stamp small enough to fit on the front circle with the leaves.

I found a set that I bought quite a while ago and just never got around to using (do you have any of those?).  This set is from Papertrey Ink and is number 7 in the series of "tag-its" stamp sets (item #2404).  I think these small sets are a great value at only $5.

The card base is cut from Core-dinations textured cardstock and I inked it along the cut edges with Gathered Twigs Distress Ink to hide the lighter core color.  I heat embossed the sentiment in gold and I was pleased that it is quite legible embossed on the textured cardstock even though it is only about 3/8 x 3/4 inches.

The coordinating insert is attached to the back of the card so the cut out design is highlighted.

 
 A few gems clustered here and there add some nice sparkle to the card.

You have to remember to keep the inside sentiment in the center area so it won't show through the cut work pattern when the card is closed.

Happy Autumn to you!  I hope you are enjoying some beautiful weather too.

Important Note for Creative Memories Digital Center users

September 23rd was the original date given as the final day to order digital StoryBooks, Page Prints, Calendars and other Digital Center products.   Due to issues with the servers (so many people uploading at once) the date has been extended to Thursday, September 26th at 11:59 p.m. Central Time.  The Digital Center will be shut down at that time.  All items ordered will be processed and mailed but it won't be possible to access the Digital Center after Thursday to check on order status.

September 30th is the last day for the Creative Memories.com website and all consultant personal websites.  If you haven't downloaded any purchased digital content or programs you need to do it now before the websites go down.  For more detailed information about the digital programs and content see THIS POST.  If there are ideas or techniques that you want to remember from the help pages or project center you should copy them and save the copy to your computer for future reference.

Do you have any fall colors showing in your area yet?  The colors of the changing leaves are so pretty - if only they didn't have to fall and then be cleaned up from the lawn!

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Simple Birthday Card

I can't resist pretty paper, especially when it is on sale.  I am sure this is an affliction that I share with many of you.  I wouldn't dare to tally up my paper stash but I have no doubt that I could spend a year crafting and I wouldn't run out (but I might not always have the perfect color...that's why we buy so much, right?).

Sometimes papers are just "too pretty to use" but I am working on conquering my reluctance to use them.  No matter how pretty the paper is - there is always new paper coming out that is even prettier and we need to make room for it!

 

I've had this pad of double-sided paper by Susan Winget called Spring Blossom for quite a while.  I was lucky to find it on clearance for about $8.  The large floral designs are beautiful but not something that I would generally use for a scrapbook page.

I chose this sheet of daisy paper and looked at it carefully to find a section that would work well for a card front.

Sometimes I cut pieces from the center but in this case the top left corner was just right.

The large daisy fits neatly in the typical A2 card size and there is a nice "blank" space for stamping the sentiment.  The "Happy Birthday" is from one of the stamp sets that comes with the Art Philosophy cartridge.  I stamped it with brown ink - I thought black would be too harsh on the pretty watercolor design.

The card base is pink shimmer cardstock.  Even though I am trying to use my paper stash, I still like to be "green" and conserve my supplies.  I've showed this little trick before (but not for a while...).  When I am simply matting a card layer, I often cut another shape from the bottom layer.  In this case I used a scalloped oval Nestabilities die from Spellbinders. 

This is the side that will be adhered to the card front.  There is plenty of room for the adhesive around the edges.

The brown layer adds a nice frame to set off the floral paper from the pink card base.  I cut the brown cardstock at 4 x 5 1/4 inches and trimmed the floral layer a bit smaller to leave just a thin line of brown showing.

I will keep the cut and embossed oval shape in a dish on my table and it will probably show up on another card soon.  Sometimes when I don't know what I want to make I "browse" through my extra bits and pieces and find interesting combinations.

I used a Martha Stewart Punch Around the Page set called Geometric Frames to make a mat to write the message inside.  My punched edge was slightly misaligned  (look carefully at the corner) but I was planning to add some flowers to the inside and I knew that they would cover this.

The green flower was too light and bright so I inked it a bit with some Crushed Olive Distress Ink.  Here you can see the before and after.

I added a smaller white flower and held them together with an antiqued frosted gem brad in pink.

The card front is very plain so I decided to add pink pearls in three corners to coordinate with the flower inside.

I also added some pink pearls on the lower right corner of the mat inside the card.

This card was for our niece and when I was wrapping her gift I noticed that the pattern on the inside of the fabric card holder had a design very similar to the punch that I used - almost like I planned it!

It is a nice change to make the card front very simple and then add more decoration inside the card. 

We will be off on some adventures today - we might even end up in Salem (always a fun place to visit this close to Halloween!).

I hope you have a great Friday and a crafty weekend planned!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  For the rest of the month, everyone who leaves a comment on my blog will have a chance to win this Sizzix "Scrap Pink" set.  You can see more photos and details at THIS POST.  For more chances, you can leave a comment everyday for the rest of the month - but just one comment per day please.

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Happy Monster Shaped Card for Halloween

There is definitely a nip of fall in the air and Halloween will be here before we know it.  Yesterday I started testing some new project files.  I have been using digital content that I have purchased over the years to create print and cut as well as regular cut files.  I have been doing digital scrapbooking for years and I have lots of papers and elements from Creative Memories and many other sources.

Creative Memories now sells digital content in a universal format (jpegs and pngs) in addition to the self installing sets that work with directly with the StoryBook Creator 4.0 program.  You can purchase these downloads and use them for digital scrapbooking in any program or adapt them for print and cut projects.  I chose this set of Classic Halloween Digital Embellishments.  I liked the little green monster shaped candy bag in the top left corner.

One of the things I like the most about using the Silhouette machines is the freedom I have to use my own images for print and cut projects.  I'll explain the step by step process in another post.  It is pretty simple to import an image into the Silhouette software and then trace it to create cutting lines.

I traced the monster (I called him Frank) and then created a shaped card.  The back of the card is blank but you could print both sides.  I was trying to conserve printer ink.  I don't have a 12 x 12 printer (but I hope to someday soon...) so I had to set the card up to print on 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock.  I filled in a few small monster images to use on another project along the side.

The cut was nearly perfect - I moved things around on my mat and I didn't quite get it back into perfect alignment when I set up the print and cut.

 I simply inked all around the front of the card with some "Mowed Lawn" seasonal Distress Ink - this hid any white lines and gave a nice bit of shading to the card.  (Distress Inks and reinkers are on sale this week at Blitsy).

I used some Black Diamond Stickles glitter glue to highlight the monster's hair, mouth and added small centers to the eyes.

 It's a bit hard to see the Stickles - here is another view.

I stamped the inside with a Studio G dollar stamp set (I collected these for a few years and stopped when I realized that I hardly ever used them.  I keep them in a binder and "rediscovered" them while sorting out my craft room).

I had to take one more photo with my spiky flower frog holding the card.  The monster seems to be immune to the pain of the spikes!

Have you started making Halloween projects?  I am planning to actually send some of the cards I make this year...

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Ninth Birthday Cards for the Triplets

Last Sunday, our triplet nephews celebrated their ninth birthdays.  Each year, I try to make cards with something a little different that might possibly get their attention before they open their presents.

While I was doing the summer shop hop to stores in Connecticut and Massachusetts I found these action wobbles.  These have been quite popular for a while but I never got around to ordering any online and hadn't seen them in the stores before.  They are made with two sticky discs with a plastic spring between the discs.  I decided to give them a try for the birthday cards.

 

Robert and Max are playing football this year - we got to see the second half of their game before the party.  I decided to put a football on the front of their cards.

Julian has been playing hockey and his team got all the way to the championships last year.  An ice skate was the right thing to wobble on the front of his card.

I found both the football and the ice skate on the Sports Mania cartridge.  The skate is on page 41 and the football on page 60.

I cut three layers for the football - shadow, blackout and base layer.  There is a separate layer to make the center of the football a different color but I didn't want to use it.

The cardstock I had on hand in the best color for the football was a white core by DCWV.  The cut edges always show a bit of the white with white core cardstock so they look better if you ink them.

Inking hides the white edges and also gives some dimension to the cut.  I used vintage Photo Distress ink.

I glued the top layer to the white blackout layer and then ran the footballs through the Cuttlebug using the mesh folder.  I thought the texture would add more interest.  Then I adhered the footballs to the black shadow layer.

I cut the same three layers for the hockey skate - and completely forgot to cut the layer for the blade!  It looked OK but I think some shiny silver on the blade would have been better.  That's what happens when you are doing three things at once!

The Action Wobbles come clearly marked with a top and a bottom.  I peeled the protective backing off the top side - you can get a good look at the spring here.

Then I flipped it over to adhere to the back of the football or skate.

Once it is stuck to the item you want to wobble, you just peel off the second protective layer and place the element on your card.

I used the Cuttlebug Number Collage folder to emboss a piece of red cardstock for the front of each card.  The numbers worked out to have a "9" placed very conveniently at the top right corner.  I tried dabbing the 9 with some white paint but I made a mess (too messy to even show you!).  Plan B - and actually a better idea - was to add Stickles directly to the "9".  The Stickles are much easier to control and glitter makes anything seem special.

The card is very simple - I wanted the wobbling action to be the main attraction.

Yes - it definitely would look better with a silver blade.  Maybe I should cut one and sneak it on to the card next time we visit!

I used a dark blue cardstock for the base so I needed a liner for the inside sentiment.

The star border seemed festive and fit in with the sports theme for "all stars" but I have a little secret...

The punch I used is actually from the American Girls craft line by EK Success (I don't know if this would be popular with the boys!).

Here is the inside of the card.  I cut the white cardstock at 5 1/2 x 4 inches and punched the borders.  The sentiment is from the Close To My Heart "Casual Expressions" set which coordinates with an oval cut on the Artiste cartridge.  I didn't want to add any more layers so I simply stamped it on the white cardstock.

The wobbles really give a lot of motion.  If there had been more time, I would have done a little video to show you how much they move.  I think the boys liked the action but it was getting late by the time they opened their cards and presents.

They each had their own cake - this year they were all ice cream cakes.  Delicious - luckily there were lots of family members on hand to share the cakes before they melted!

Today is the first day of school in our town.  I'll be heading to the bus stop for the traditional elementary school send off, "Breakfast at the Bus."  The weather looks like it might be rainy - keep your fingers crossed that the parents can get some nice photos!

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