Holiday Card and a few other things...

Today my neighbor and I made 72 ornaments for the Christmas tree we are decorating for the Family Trees exhibit at our local museum.  Every year, volunteers decorate about 35 - 40 trees throughout the museum.  Each tree interprets a children's book - some classics and some new.  Some of the authors and illustrators come for a special event in December and many families in the area have a tradition of visiting the trees exhibit every year.

I'll show you the ornaments and the rest of the tree soon - I have to wait until the display goes up next week.  After spending hours cutting and assembling ornaments and doing some essential errands, I had no time left to work on my other projects.  So today I just have a few quick things to share.

First, the card at the top of this post is one that I made last week at the "Card Bar" at our local stamping and scrapping store.  On Tuesdays they set up a make and take project - so I try to go there on Tuesdays to try new things.  This card was made with one of the Hero Arts stamp and Sizzix embossing folder combos that came out this year.  The set is called "Birds N Trees."  There is a large background stamp and a matching embossing folder - you stamp first and then line up the stamped image with the folder to emboss the card front.

Here is a closer view - I didn't get the stamp and the folder perfectly centered but the added texture makes the card more interesting.  We added some bits of glitter on the stars (hard to see in the photo but it is sparkly in the light).

This is the same technique that I tried in the class at CHA last summer.  We made this card with the "Artistic Fern" set and I really liked the idea of using an image that is not specifically made for Christmas for a holiday card.  You can see more about the card at THIS POST from last summer.

Cricut Mini

The new Cricut Mini machine was launched this morning - this machine requires the Cricut Craft Room and an internet connection or the Gypsy to cut and can cut shapes from 1/4 inch to 11 1/4 inches on an 8 1/2 x 12 inch cutting mat.  You can see lots of information about the new machine on the Cricut.com site HERE and the Official Cricut Blog HERE.  As with most Cricut products, the Mini was released through HSN and the bundle offered has some exclusive items included (though the definition of "exclusive" can be a bit confusing - lately most of the "exclusive" items don't seem to stay exclusive very long).

There is also a lot of new content that is digital only and can be purchased and accessed through the Craft Room.  You can see this content in the Craft Room online - click HERE to try out the Craft Room if you haven't already had a chance to check it out.

I don't think I will be buying this machine - I have plenty of Cricuts now and, unless the Craft Room adds more design tools that allow you to create your own images, I'll probably get the Cameo or the Zing as my next new machine.  I really enjoy creating my own designs in addition to just manipulating the cartridge content.  It will be interesting to see how well this machine cuts - I have been very disappointed in the cuts from my E2 and need to call to see if the machine needs to be replaced.

If you go to a lot of crops, the smaller size might be appealing but it is often difficult or expensive (or both) to get internet access at crops.  I'll be interested to hear what you all think about the mini.

One more note for CM StoryBook users...

There is a 30% off sale on Thanksgiving-Autumn content (just click to go the the page - it is listed under "Featured Products" and a little tricky to find).  The sale lasts through November 16th (Wednesday) and Creative Memories is in the Central Time Zone - just so you know which midnight is the deadline!

Sorry for the quick post - with luck I'll have a chance to finish at least one of my Thanksgiving projects tomorrow.  My Dad came home from the hospital Monday and is settling back into his apartment - I can't wait to see him in a few days.  Are you getting your Thanksgiving plans together - the days are flying by for me and we will be leaving for a week the day after Thanksgiving so I have a lot to do before then!  I hope you have a great day!


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Two More Hero Arts Cards from CHA

A few days ago I shared a couple of the cards that we made in the Hero Arts workshop at CHA.  If you missed it you can find that post HERE.  Today I have the other two cards - I think these two are my favorites but all of the cards were really nicely designed.  Once again - these are cards I made in a workshop and they were designed by Jennifer McGuire who led a great workshop with the Hero Arts team.  If you have never seen Jennifer's scraproom you should visit her blog and look under the organization label HERE - it is amazing and so well organized!  Scroll down to see several posts and videos that show her space in detail.

 This card was so much fun to make.  We started by creating the background.  The swirl image was heat embossed in white on watercolor paper before we started the class.  We dabbed distress stain in two shades of blue (Broken China and Faded Jeans) all over the background, sprayed it with some Perfect Pearls mixed in water and set it aside to dry.  It looks like a mess at first but dries to create this wonderful pearly, swirly background.  The stamp used for the background was the Flower Dot Pattern.

Here is a closer view of the background - I definitely want to try making more of these (first I need to get this stamp - it really appeals to me and is so versatile).  This is one of the stamps from the Basic Grey collection.  Hero Arts has teamed up with Basic Grey to produce a coordinating line of stamps and paper.  If you want to see the stamp used on another card with very different colors, check out Jennifer McGuire's blog at THIS POST.

We stamped the sentiment on white cardstock and tore it to create the snow edge.  The sentiment is from the Snowflake Ornament set of clear stamps.  The wood grain circle behind the snowman is from the My Happy set stamped in Soft Pool Shadow Ink.  This stamp set is part of the Hero Arts/Studio Calico collaboration.  The little clouds are stamped with a stamp in the Hooray set and the clouds were punched for us before class with a Fiskars punch. The little snowman is from the CG364 Smiling Snowman clear stamp set.  We hand cut the snowman and added the gems for his eyes, buttons and the top of his hat.  The carrot nose is also hand cut.

The second card made use of a non-holiday image to create a holiday card.  The large stamp is from the Artistic Fern Sizzix Textured embossing folder and stamp set - yet another partnership that Hero Arts has made.  These will be available in October.

In this photo you can see how perfectly the stamp and the folder line up (you would stamp first and then emboss the stamped image).

There were two holes punch in the embossed card front and we threaded a ribbon through to tie a bow on the front.  The card kit included a layer to go between the card base and the stamped image but I chose to leave it out so more of the red base would show on my finished card.

The ornament image had been stamped on the patterned paper and heat embossed for us.  The stamp is from the Decorate Your Holidays set and we simply added some pearls at the centers of the designs on the ornament.

I completed the assembly of this card at home and added some foam dots to raise the ornament from the surface of the card.

The fern is a very pretty alternative to a Christmas tree.

For the finishing touch we added some clear rounded gemstones.  These give the card a lot of sparkle.

We are having beautiful weather here in Massachusetts - a little cooler and much less humidity.  It is birthday celebration weekend #1 so things will be pretty busy around here! I hope you have a great weekend!

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Hero Arts Cards from CHA (& a great sale from Creative Charms)

Today I have a couple of cards to share with you.  These were part of the Hero Arts workshop at CHA and were designed by the ever-so-talented Jennifer McGuire.  She is a wonderful teacher and the class was very well organized.  We made a total of four cards and I have two to post today.

Each card spotlighted a different technique.  For this card and envelope we did some double stamping to create a shadow effect.  First we stamped the image with white ink and then we came back with the blue ink and purposely shifted the stamp a bit so the offset would make a shadow.  I think a few of my stamps are a bit too far off - they make a very deep shadow!

We worked with a variety of stamps.  Some of these snowflakes are from the Magic Of Christmas set and some are from the Snowflakes set.  We also added tiny hearts.  The blue strip with the words was already stamped for us with the Holiday Background cling stamp.  We could choose various sentiments to complete the card - this one is from the Merriest Christmas Wishes set.  A felt snowflake topped with a button and a bow is placed just above the sentiment strip and the card is generously sprinkled with bling.

The second card was made with the image stamp from the Merriest Christmas Wishes cling stamp set.  The background of the card is stamped with the Holiday Background cling stamp.  The technique we used was "kissing."  After we stamped the main image with the soft sand shadow ink, we took some clean snowflake clear stamps and placed them on the wet ink just "kissing" the surface.

The clean stamps picked up a bit of the wet ink and left soft snowflake images in the background.  We accented these by adding pearls to the centers.  The bird was accented by coloring it in with markers and a ribbon, button and twine bow finish the card.

Both of these cards use small gems or pearls and I have some good news for you - Creative Charms is offering a couple of super deals this week only.

The first deal is for one of every set of gradient gem stickers and gradient pearl stickers for only $7.99.  This is a $30 value and there are 912 pieces - that's a serious amount of bling!  Click HERE to go to the page for the Gradient Gem and Pearl Sticker Sale.

 If you are looking for larger and fancier bling there is a second amazing deal - all of the basic colors of the Vintage Jewels for just $6.99.  There are 108 of these fancy gems included and the normal price would be $22.50.  Click HERE to go to the page for the Vintage Jewel Sale. 

There is also another giveaway on the Creative Charms blog this week - you could win one of the sets of Gradient Gem and Pearls Stickers.  Just go to THIS POST on the Creative Charms Blog, follow the blog and leave a comment for a chance to win this great prize.

I have two more cards to show you - and they are also wonderful.  I also have some photos of the new items that Hero Arts showed at CHA.  They have made some great partnerships with Sizzix, Basic Grey and Studio Calico for some wonderfully coordinated products lines.

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Flower with Swirl Center - surprise!

Sometimes you just have to look at things in a different way.  This card features the flower I showed you a few days ago.  The flower does not exist on any cartridge as you see it here.  It is made from four capital "C" letters from the Stork's Delivery cartridge.  This letter is from the the "girly" font on the cartridge which is lovely.

Here is a screen shot of the flower preview.  When the "C"s are turned at 90 degree angles and aligned with the dot at the top overlapping and welded a swirl pattern is produced.

You can click on this image to get a closer look.  It just takes a little care to make the spacing even for a nice effect.

 In order to make a two tone flower, I added a backer made from four circles welded together. 

I made it slightly smaller than the top layer of the flower to be sure that it would not show at the edges.

This flower is rather stylized and reminds me of art nouveau or arts and crafts style flowers (similar to some flowers in designs by Charles Rennie Mackintosh).  This sort of flower is also similar to those drawn by Mary Engelbreit in many of her illustrations.

I cut both the flower and the backer from some pearlized textured cardstock from American Crafts.  A pink gem brad from Creative Charms was a perfect fit for the center.

I used a sharp piercing tool to start the hole in the center for the brad.

I added foam squares to the back to raise the flower from the card surface.

I put together a quick card with a stamp from Hero Arts (stamped twice in green and then brown for a shadow effect).  The green cross hatch design paper is from the DCWV Nana's Nursery baby girl mat stack.  I added some more gems - I am not sure if I like the look of the pearl paper and gems for this design and I will probably try another card with totally different papers.

I wonder if anyone guessed how I designed the flower...I didn't see a correct reply posted in the comments...

It's still raining cats and dogs here - we might get sun on Sunday or Monday but its not a sure thing.  I keep telling myself it is good for the garden!

link to Discussion Day #4  -  How do you decide?

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Mother's Day Card

 Good morning.  If you are an email subscriber, this post will arrive later than usual.  Blogger was doing some maintenance and I couldn't put the post up late last night as I normally do. I didn't want to post this card until after it was received since my mother-in-law reads my blog.  This card could easily be used for any occasion - just change the sentiment.  I used some more of the flowers shapes that filled up my mat when I showed how to make the 10 petal flowers in THIS POST.

This flower was made with five 1 1/2 inch flowers (one for the base and four folded) and one 3/4 inch flower for the center.  The center is a Gradient Gem Brad from Creative Charms.

 

I placed one of the four inch flowers on the front of the card with six of the petals showing and folded it around to the back for an asymmetrical look.  I used a skewer to curl the edges of the large petals so they lift slightly from the card surface.

Scor-tape holds the dimensional flower to the large flower securely.

The card base is kraft cardstock.  I added some white pen stitching around the edges.  An ivory cardstock mat with the top and bottom edges punched with the Martha Stewart Floral Lace punch provides a place to write a message inside.

I added another piece of ivory cardstock to the left side of the card and attached it at the sides and base to make a pocket for a gift card.

I used this extra piece of cardstock which is larger than a gift card just to show the pocket (I didn't have the card when I took the photos).

The sentiment stamp is from the Hero Arts Celebrate Everyday set.

We will be leaving to attend our younger son's graduation later today - cross your fingers for good weather this weekend!  I won't be online much so please be patient if you send an email - I'll catch up next week.

link to discussion Day #3 - Time to Craft

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Color like a "Pro" - last day to join the celebration!

This week of celebration has been a lot of fun for me and, I hope it has been an exciting change for all of you as well.  I was so interested to read your comments and it seems that many of you enjoyed the chance to hear what other people thought about some of the question topics.  Today I am adding the final item(s) to the boxes and it will be the last day to leave comments for a chance to be chosen to receive one of the three boxes.  I'll cut off the time to reply at midnight today (April 12th) on the west coast (3 am Eastern Daylight time on April 13th - another "3" in the mix!).  I'll post the winners later in the day on Wednesday - I won't be able to figure it all out first thing in the morning and I need to drive to the airport so I won't be able to have the winners in the morning email (but I will post sometime on Wednesday)  If you are one of the winners I'll need you to email me with your mailing information as soon as possible.  Thanks!

We have family here visiting for a few days and I haven't been able to be on the computer as much as usual, however, the new smart phone is a big help for trying to keep up with email.  Thanks for all of the thoughtful and funny comments - and no, I wasn't put up to ask the question about collecting vs crafting by any of your husbands or significant others!  I am going to feel very lonely if you all stop commenting after the winners are drawn and I have a plan for a way to continue some discussions that I think you will like...

Today I am adding the last item - which is really 12 items (and one for good luck!).  Each box will have a set of 12 ProMarkers that were given to me by Letraset to help celebrate all of my milestones.  Two boxes will have the set pictured above with an extra fine liner pen inside and one box will have this set...

...in a plastic case with an extra blender pen.

Thanks to Letraset for providing these markers.  They recently sent me the full range of colors to work with.  Two of the sets are brand new and one of set is ever so slightly used (by me).  Instead of holding on to the extras as back up I thought it would be better to make the boxes relatively "even" and let the winners have a go with the markers.  I can't tell which of the two boxes was opened and used - they were only used a few times.  I think the markers will all last a long time.

I thought I'd list the contents of the boxes in one easy location to remind you what is inside..

Day 1 - Ciao Bella 12 x 12 stack

          Cricut Magazine (from Northridge Publishing)

Day 2 - Tipsy stylus in blue and matching lanyard (from Denise at Prime Global Enterprises)

              Glitter with glue stickers  K &  Company

              Blue photo/diecut storage folder

Day 3 - Creative Charms embellishment set - different in each box   one black and white, one vintage and one colorful (from Creative Charms)

Day 4 - Creative Memories paper album kits, Creative Memories mini tape runner, Creative Memories tin with sticker paper, letter stickers and pen

Day 5 - Martha Stewart Stamp Sets (one per box) 
Christmas Tree, Heart and Flower, Monogram and Frame
Three types of ribbon, glitter flowers, pink glitter dots and ladybugs

Day 6 -  Imagine printed papers (6 x 6) and sample print and cut images, imagine sunglasses, green apple tea light candle and IKEA bag (pink, blue or green)

Day 7 - set of 12 Promarkers (from Letraset)

Each box will also have a few more "secret" surprises from me - I want to be sure you have fun opening the box if you are one of the three random choices.

Instead of reposting the directions for the giveaway, I would ask that if you have just come upon this celebration week and want to start at the beginning you go to Wednesday's post HERE and work your way forward.  The rest of you already know how to play along!  You have to answer the question of the day by commenting on the blog and then you can leave an additional comment if you are a blog subscriber or follower and a third comment if you are a Facebook fan.

I know a lot of you don't use Facebook and I understand that choice.  For those of you who are on Facebook, please be sure that you "like" the Capadia Designs page (some of you are my "friend" but are not a fan on the Capadia Designs page and I don't want you to miss anything...don't worry - I plan to keep things posted on both the blog and the Facebook page so if you aren't on Facebook you won't miss much if anything.

I am still learning the technique of using the Promarkers.  Above is a wreath stamp from Hero Arts that I tried recently.  I wasn't sure how to handle the base green part and I added lots of colors - maybe too many... I am also trying out ways to use the markers for projects other than coloring in cute stamped images for cards.  I enjoy learning new skills and sharing what I learn with others.  I am a little outside my comfort zone sometimes when working on the coloring but I hope to improve with practice.  I have also looked to my friend Enfys for help - she does a lovely job with coloring and makes great cards.  You can find her at Going Buggy.

Learning a new skill or improving on a skill is a lifelong process.

Questions for Tuesday - Last Day (for now...)

What is your learning style?  What do you like to do to improve your skills and technical abilities?  When you want to learn a new technique or computer program do you prefer to read a book, watch videos on You Tube, follow step by step directions on a website or blog,  work one-on-one with someone who is an expert, watch a DVD, ask a friend for help, post on message boards and hope for reliable answers or some combination of all of these?  Are you a visual person who needs to "see" how to do it or can you follow directions from a recording or podcast?  What is at the top of your list to learn so you can make better projects?

Whew - a lot of questions again - please answer as much as you can and let me know if there are specific topics that you would like to see me discuss on the blog.

My fingers are crossed for all of you - even though I know there are only three boxes to send.  If not this time, your lucky day will come eventually!  Have a great day and Happy Crafting!

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