Playing With Color

Sometimes when I'm making cards, I like to decide on the color group I'm going to use before I start. That forces me to get out of my comfort zone and choose colors that I might not ordinarily choose to color in my images. Here are some cards I played with today using orange/yellow, blue/green and pink/purple:




Stamps used: #5032 (Solid Flower1), #A105 (It's Your Birthday), #A134 (Gifts) and #B119 (Buddy's Gift)



Stamps used: #B106 (Little Something), #B144 (Little Wagon) and #C138 (Little Garden).



Stamps used: #A117 (Always), #B104 (Flower Border) and #B118 (Hoot & Annie). If you've noticed...I hardly ever make standard sized cards. I just make envelopes to fit my card:



Thanks for stopping by!!

You're Sweet!!

A sweet and simple idea for the sweet "someones" in your life:


The "insides" are candies wrapped in vellum and tied with ribbons...wrap a piece of cardstock around the candy and decorate.



Stamps used: #5059 (You're Sweet), #A132 (Sweetpea) and #C133 (Rosebud Heart) . Have a great night!!

To All Moms...

Easy as 1,2,3

I was passing through a gift shop yesterday, and saw a packet of cleverly wrapped bath salts. I got home and adapted the idea for a favor...click here to get a pattern.



It's perfect for a "flat" favor (like the Ghirardelli chocolate I used below, or maybe some tea bags)...or a small gift. Cut out the pattern and fold along the dotted lines. Place your item into the cut-out piece, as shown below:



Then with just a few folds...One:



Two:



Three:



Flip over, fold and tuck flap into slot:



I cut out contrasting papers to fit the different flaps, and glued them on to decorate (I used a Martha Stewart border punch that I got from J's Knicknacks...it adds just the right touch!!):



Here's an idea for graduation:



Before I go, here's an adorable Mother's Day card I received from Diane:



It's a four panel, pocketed card with a different tag in each pocket!!! Those of you who make cards know how much work and care went into making this!!! Thanks, Diane!!!!

Hope you all have a great evening!!!

4 Days and Counting

You still have a few more days til Mother's Day...are you ready? If not...maybe this will help:


A cute way to wrap up a little gift for mom!! Here's the how to:



Start by cutting out your colored image and gluing it onto a punched shape. Use a 1/16" hole punch at each spot where you want to place a flower (punch 2 holes for flowers that will have more than 1 bead in the center). Thread a needle and tape the end of the thread to the back of the heart. Place the heart into the bag and insert needle through one of the punched holes...then through the bag, flower, bead...then back down again. For flowers with more than 1 bead...always come up through one punched hole and down through the other. See picture below:


When you're done...tape the end of the string to the back of the heart. Punch one more heart and glue it to the back of the first heart to cover all your strings and tape. The trickiest part of this project is trying to work in the limited space inside the bag!!! I was happy with the way it turned out, so I decided to make a matching card:





If you change the sentiment, you now have a baby card:



Stamps used: #A116 (Baby Girl), #A144 (Mother's Day) and #C140 (A Mother's Love).

Have a great day...and Happy Boy's Day to all the little guys out there!!!

Clear Tote

Hi All!! Trying to get in a few more last minute ideas for Mother's Day...sometimes just a "little something" can add that special touch to your celebration!! Maybe this could be that "something":


I always have a really hard time capturing lavenders/purples in a photo...it always seems to come out a little too blue...anyway, click here to get a template for the base piece.



For the base, cut along the solid lines and fold along the dotted lines. Use double stick tape on the four tabs and fold into the base, as shown above (left). Once the base is completed...apply double stick tape to the inside edge of the 2 long sides of the base.

For the clear part of the tote, cut a 3" x 6-1/4" piece of acetate. Score at 1", 3", 4" and 6"...fold along these scored lines. Apply 1/4" double stick tape, as shown above...and adhere. Adhere the clear acetate into the base.



For the handles...I punched 2 holes with a 1/8" hole punch, then cut 2 pieces of 13" ribbon and threaded it ala Cinnamon Girl (a local dress shop). Thread the ribbon (as shown above) and tie a bow on the outside. Do the same thing for the other handle. Here's a shot of the totes empty:



To add the flowers...I used tacky glue on the stem and rolled the paw around it. The white, back side of the paper will now be showing...just color that part in to match the rest of the stamped image. Here's a close-up of the tag:



Stamps used: #1301 (Mom's Day), #B138 (Walking Ping), #C134 (Sitting Quincy) and #C135 (Sitting Pong).

Thanks for stopping by...hope your day is going well!!

Clownin'Around

"Mix a little foolishness with your serious plans; it's lovely to be silly at the right moment"
~Horace

Stamps used: #933 (Funky Snowflake), #A135 (Clownin' Around) and #B130 (Buddy the Clown).

Video Cards

For today's project, there are no actual videos involved...it just looks like a VHS tape!! This idea came almost by accident...I was just trying to think of a way to present the gift/card inside (wouldn't it be cute to put a special message on the side of the "tape"?):



To get a pattern to make this VHS box, click here. **(Just a little extra note: This pattern came out very close to the edge of the paper...when you're printing this pattern out, make sure you select "No Scaling" or your printer may automatically shrink the pattern to fit the page.)** I also used a 1" hole punch to make that half circle in the box. For the card, I used a 6" x 7-3/4" piece of cardstock (scored at 3-1/2" and 4-1/4"). Decorate the outside of the card with your sentiment (this one is for Boy's Day):





For the inside, I used three 2" x 3" cellophane bags (I got mine at Ben Franklin)...and filled them with goodies. I attached each bag with a couple of glue dots on the back.



Here's one for Mother's Day:





Fill your bags up with whatever tiny treasures you want:



That's it for now...Have a great week everyone!!!

Boy's Day

Boy's Day is coming up fast...it's already this Wednesday, March 5. My "boy" is getting too old for such things, but for those of you with little ones...I have a couple of ideas for you. The first one is a card using stamps #A139 (Happy Boy's Day), #B147 (Koi) and #C137 (Boy's Day):



Next is a simple, quick, inexpensive (all our favorites!!!) idea for those of you who have to make a bunch of boy's day goodies...just tie a koi (stamp #B147) to a pixie stick (or pencil):



Mother's Day is coming right behind...I'll be working on some projects this weekend...be sure to check back!!!